Seven Tips For Making You And Your Business Stand Out During A Slow Economy
Posted by | David Murdico | January 15, 2009 | What are Your Thoughts?
Everyone in every business, especially in these slow economic times, feels the need to stand out from the competition. Here are a few tips for optimizing your exposure and making sure that you are seen and remembered.
- 1. IDENTITY: PICKING AN APPROPRIATE TITLE
Every customer likes to know that they are speaking with the right person. We have all at one time or another, explained ourselves for ten minutes to a helpful customer service rep who ultimately responds “let me connect you with someone who can help you with that” or tried to negotiate for an hour with an eager car salesman who invariably says “let me check with my manager.” Whether you are the Regional Marketing Manager, the Senior Sales Director or the owner of the company, let customers know that you are a decision maker and that you are the one they should be speaking with. One of the most effective ways of doing this is by selecting a title that say you are powerful and in control. According to Amana Range of the USC Marshall School of Business, putting titles like “King,” “General,” and “Emperor” on business cards can lead to a startling increase in sales and customer satisfaction across all industries. Telling a prospective customer that you are King let’s them know that you are the final decision maker and the one they should be speaking with. NOTE: In meetings, be sure to always have all of the other members of your team refer to you using your new title.
- 2. FOLLOW UP: GETTING RIGHT BACK TO PEOPLE
Respond to people’s messages. According to a recent APL Marketing study, 67% of all businesspeople do not follow up on emails, phone calls or business leads. The most successful businesses are the ones that have perfected the Process of Effective Follow Up, or PEFU. The process dictates that when an email, phone call or personal contact is received, a businessperson should follow up immediately. If you have just spoken with someone on the phone, call them right back letting them know that you are following up to tell them what a pleasure it was speaking with them just then. This will let them know how important they and their business are to you. A nice touch is to send them an email confirming your most recent follow up call. Return emails immediately and send follow up emails requesting confirmation that the emailer has received your email. Consultant Ken Moore recommends a subsequent post-email telephone call follow up just to make sure that the follow up email was received. Most importantly, when meeting someone in person, always telephone them as soon as you leave the meeting to follow up and ask if they have any questions. Then of course follow up with an email and a follow up call to be sure they received the email.
- 3. NETWORKING: LISTENING AND LISTENING
Networking is one of the easiest ways to help you stand out from the crowd. This is your chance to really be yourself and shine. This is your one and only chance to meet someone face to face for the first time. According to the great Dale Carnegie, “To be interesting to other people, you have to be interested in them first.” The key to successful networking is “successful listening.” Don’t be so quick to talk about you or your company. Simply introduce yourself, hand the person a business card and then listen. Even if the person you are speaking with asks you a direct question, don’t answer. Keep looking them directly in the eyes until they invariably start talking again. When the conversation is over simply say “it was a pleasure meeting you and you have my card.” This will let them know how interesting you are. NOTE: Always get their business card so you can follow up.
4. RESEARCH: BEING PREPARED
Everyone likes to know you are interested in what they do. When you go to a first meeting be prepared, having fully researched the person you are meeting with. Study their website, see if they have a LinkedIn profile and in what jobs and in what capacities they have worked in the past. This is especially important if the person you are meeting with is important. Be tireless in your efforts by going through their trash at home to see where they shop, what kind of soap they use or hire a private detective to see if they are having an affair or dealing arms to the Saudis.
NOTE: This type of information, although not always usable, will give you a lot of confidence and leverage to ask for what you want when it comes down to negotiating.
5. ASK: GETTING PERSONAL
Invite your customers to share their personal preferences and information as related to your business and enter these in a customer database. Use this information to send thank you notes, reminders, holiday greetings and even birthday cards. Only ask for simple things like their email address, business contact number, home phone and address, mothers maiden name or their social security number. Tell them you need it for security purposes and that you never share personal information about them. That way they won’t suspect you when someone from a hut in Algeria empties out their bank account and puts them on the street.
NOTE: Be sure to get a forwarding address so you can stay in contact.
6. REINVENT: OFFERING NEW THINGS
One of the best ways to attract attention from new and existing customers is to give them the impression that there is something new and exciting that your company is doing that they won’t want to miss. You can change your logo or redo your website but sometimes change can be as simple as putting the words “New And Improved” in front of your business name and on your cards letting customers know that they are in for a real treat. Most customers will be delighted with the change but if one or two start asking exactly what is new or what has improved, ask them if they would like a free survey. Customers love anything that is free and the survey will be a great way to collect valuable information that can be used for future surveys.
7. BE BOLD: EARNING RESPECT
Everyone knows the importance of giving someone a firm handshake and looking them straight in the eye while talking. While these are valuable skills, Sales Coach Stanley Teemer suggests that the successful businessperson take the next step and learn karate. “While firmly shaking someone’s hand and staring them in the eye is effective, the quiet confidence that comes with even a rudimentary knowledge of karate can make a person really stand out,” says Teemer. He also recommends “visualization” whereby, during conversation, you imagine yelling “Keeeya!” and flipping the person over your shoulder or kicking him or her in the neck. He or she may not know that you know karate, but will sense your confidence in other ways. If they aren’t picking up on your confidence you might try a leading question such as “do you like Bruce Lee films?” or “did you notice the wonderful black belt that man is wearing?” or finally something overt like “are you aware that I know karate?”
These seven approaches will be highly effective in helping your business stand out from the crowd. The rest is up to you.
Supercool Creative is an ad agency specializing in online video creative & production, video seeding and integrated social media campaigns. Supercool Creative provides superior production quality, targeted viral marketing and relevant social media campaigns. Contact us: Supercool@Supercoolcreative.com.
Tags: algeria > amana range > apl > bruce lee > dale carnegie > follow up > ken moore > linkedin > marshall school of business > networking > pefu > saudis > spotzero > stanley teemer > supercool creative > usc
Comments
Leave a Reply
About
This blog is brought to you by Supercool Creative & SpotZero. Thanks for reading!
