Tim Bursch

I love coffee. I gotta have my daily coffee. The darker and stronger, the better.

I went through a drive through recently to order a coffee. I made my order, paid, got my coffee, and drove away. I thought that it was a pretty average experience. I did not feel more or less excited about this brand. It was just okay. I think the employee smiled?

Now, I’m not saying I need lots of chit-chat or excitement in the morning, but maybe some passion or interest in me the paying customer.

Consider how many impressions we have from various brands and marketers trying to get our attention. Lots. How many leave you with a positive and memorable impression. I’d say a few.

I bet I could ask my kids. We just spent 2 weeks more than normal watching t.v. with the Olympics. Even though we mute most commercials they have big opinion about the parts that are worth remembering or not.

Tell a good story. Get passionate about your customers. Leave a great impression.

Photo by: Kevin Krejci

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I was in a meeting this week and the presenters forgot to take the temperature. It was a demo/sales meeting. We were the potential customer.
They talked. And talked. And talked some more. I think I remember about 3 questions and a lot of irrelevant information.

The thing about selling and meetings is that you need to check the room. It’s about the other person not the presentation.

I have a few ideas on taking the temp:
-Look up. You know, don’t rely on your powerpoint or sales sheets.
-Notice the body language. Are people crossing their arms?
-Check for understanding and tracking. Does this make sense? What do you think?
-Ask more questions and shut up.

Been to any good meetings lately?

Tags: meetings.

This is my story for #FAILweek. How to Fail. Don’t Plan.

The State: I was working with a partner in the investment business. Big dreams. Lots of ideas. We were targeting clinics and hospitals for new clients. Our project was a big conference down south at a hotel/casino. I was responsible for marketing and running our booth. Our goal was to find (big) clients and build relationships. I was hopeful that running a golf contest (Doctors like golf right) would work.

The Fireball: I walked away with one or two leads. Boom!

The 3 main reasons I failed:

1. I didn’t have a good plan. It was generic.
2. I wasn’t offering anything of value to prospects. Except golf balls.
3. I didn’t engage with people where they were. The potential clients were there for education. I stayed at the booth.

The Lesson: Looking back it’s pretty obvious. I got zero results because I didn’t have a plan. I am learning more and more to start at the goal and work backwards. Break the big mountain into small hills. I also learned to bring something of value to a prospect. It could have been a resource or a connection.

Failure is not fun, but I’m slowly learning that it’s part of being human.

Have a story about failure? Add yours to the comments. Or head over to #FAILweek.

Image by: PhotoDu.de

Tags: fail, plan.

A friend was recently telling me about a restaurant chain that has over 1 million customers in their email database. Granted they are a decent-sized chain, but that’s a lot of permission.

Here’s how they get permission: At the end of the meal the server intentionally asks the guests if they would like to join their newsletter. You get a free appetizer next time, something on your birthday, and…you get the point. Who says no? I have not been to this chain in a awhile, but I bet the servers are trained to frame a positive response question.

Big deal, they have people’s email address and are giving away free stuff. Actually that list is like gold. Why? People gave permission for that restaurant to market to them. Email is still the most shared medium. Targeted marketing. You can send a coupon to men a week before Valentine’s Day.

I think there a few ideas to borrow from this restaurant:

1. Just ask. Ask every person that walks into your store, visits your site, or becomes a fan on your Facebook page.
2. Get the whole store involved. Create an easy question and process that everyone can jump on board with.
3. Give to get. Offer some value for joining your list/e-club/newsletter. What do I get for joining?

Do you have a list? Do you have a process in your business for asking people to join your tribe? What’s working?

Image by: drcornelius

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If you need to find a business, do you call or look online? I look online.

I recently filled out two web forms. I waited a few days because it was the weekend and I wanted to at least give them the benefit of a doubt. Still waiting. No response.

So, why would you have a door to you company that no one answers? It is like having a phone with your voicemail not set-up. Please don’t put something out there unless you are going to cover it. Same could apply to Twitter or an email newsletter. Do you have a sign-up form, but only deliver content sporadically?

I know I don’t always call or email people back immediately. That’s not the point. The point is coverage. If you offer a customer a connection point, cover it.
Here are some ideas for consistent coverage:
-One person owns the online entrances
-Rotate the weekend coverage (we don’t want to wait two days or we’re going somewhere else)
-If you have an autoresponse, set realistic expectations and follow though

What would you add? How do you cover your connection points?

Image by: madmolecule

Tags: contacts, online, web.

The traditional sales cycle:
1. Mass market to big numbers of potential customers
2. Direct marketing (Push Marketing)
3. Find leads
4. Qualify Leads
5. Close the Sale

New Sales Cycle:
1. Listen to the market
2. Join conversations where customers are talking
3. Create a unique offer for small niche markets, based on what you’ve heard
4. Stay engaged in conversation
5. Customer makes the sale when they need your solution
6. Stay engaged in conversation for service and feedback
7. Still engaged and stay listening

My point is this: selling your product today takes a different use of time and engagement. If you are transparent and easy to talk to (Cluetrain Manifesto), we will think about buying from you when we need your help.

How has your sale’s process changed over the last 3 years?

Image credit: CarbonNYC

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