Show them the Value

Show them the value.  Your customers don’t want features.  They want benefits. My 9-year old daughter’s entire class is excited about the new water fountain at their school.  It’s not just a fountain, it has a special spout for filling your eco-friendly refillable BPA-free water bottle.  That’s nice, but the kids love the fact that they see the benefit: there’s a digital counter that shows exactly how many single-use plastic bottles they’ve saved.  The counter increases the count by one bottle every time a kid fills their bottle.  The kids are amazed by how many bottles they’ve saved in the first week alone!  If a water fountain can “show the benefit”, you can, too!

Business is like Politics

September 21, 2010
Retail Industry News has an interesting article this week about how business can draw parallels from, of all places, politics.  Author Michael Sansolo tells a story about a politician being interviewed on The Daily Show to ask “whether real humans would get your message”.  It applies to both politics and your marketing message.  Read more at http://www.symphonyiri.com/portals/0/articlePdfs/9-17-10.pdf

We’re the best!

September 17, 2010
If you say something good about yourself, it’s bragging.  If someone else says it, it’s got to be true.

Consumers want to know what they’re buying before they buy it.  They want to know if they’re making the right decision.  But they don’t just want to take your word about it.  They want to know what your customers think about you.  So they know its true.

Marketing with testimonials is a proven idea.  But what makes a testimonial powerful?  A powerful testimonial should tell about the experience and about accomplishing the customer’s goals.  But to really work for you, there’s one more element:  What’s your consumer’s #1 concern when they’re shopping?  What’s their “hot button” issue?  Price, quality, ease of use…what ever it is, ask your customer to include this information in the testimonial.  A satisfied customer will usually be happy to!

Building on Success

September 16, 2010
Testimonials.  They actually serve a double purpose.  Everyone knows they’re a great advertisement.  But they’re also a barometer of customer satisfaction.  When you want to ask for a testimonial ask a few ‘warm up’ questions first: What are we doing that you like?  How good is our customer service?  How did our product perform?  Are you happy with the results we’re getting?  If the answers are all good, then ask “Could I ask for a testimonial so I could share your experience with others?”  If your customer hesitates, go back and talk about their experience.  There might be something you need to improve on…it’s an opportunity to really impress your customer, and build satisfaction and loyalty.

Make Lemonade

September 15, 2010
They say that when life gives you lemons, make lemonade.

Every week I contact my clients to help them sell more on every call.  This week I asked one client: “What’s the #1 question on your callers’ minds?” 

His answer? “Money”
So we started talking about how he can help them save money.  We ended up with a list of 6 ways he can save his customers money. Now his customers know he has 6 ways to help them that his competition doesn’t…because they’re not talking about it.

What’s the #1 concern of your customers?  Tell them how you can help them.

Practice, practice, practice

September 10, 2010
A bonus from going to a networking group every week:
Practice, Practice, Practice.

We had a new member of our networking group.  He was a young guy, probably pretty good at what he did (surveying).  But he was “technical smart”, not “business smart”.  He could survey a plot down to the inch.  But in front of a group of professionals, he never made eye contact.  He shifted from foot to foot.  He didn’t speak up.  That was when he first arrived.  By the time it came to renew his membership a year later he had changed.  He dressed better.

He was more comfortable speaking up, spoke clearly, and made sense.  Once in a while he even added a bit of humor.

There are benefits to going to a networking group every week, in addition to growing a business.  It’s honing presentation skills with Practice, Practice, Practice.

We’re cheapest!

September 1, 2010
Price or value?  What sells?

When you find yourself faced with a customer shopping for the lowest price, it’s often because they don’t recognize the value.  Price pressure is a signal that you have to invest more in identifying the customer’s hot buttons and educating them about the value…how your product or service helps them better than what your competition is offering.

Asking Questions…

July 26, 2010a
Asking Questions…

Questions are differentiators.  Your job is to help you client make the right decision: to choose you to work with.  How can you do it?  It starts with asking the right questions.
1. How do you make it easier to work with you that with your competition?
2. What one word do your customers (and potential customers) use when they first express an interest in asking for your help?
 3. When a potential customer first starts talking with you, what’s the one think they could say that would convince you that they’re a serious customer?

Questions are differentiators.  Marketing is what brings customers to you so you can help solve their problems and fill their most important needs.  Ask yourself the right questions, or work with someone who knows how to ask those questions, and you’ll be more successful at achieving your goals.

Practice makes perfect.  We ask lots of clients lots of questions every  week.  Taking the time to think of, and then ask the right questions makes Informer Messages on hold most effective.

It’s All Fundamentals

April 30, 2010
It’s all in the fundamentals.
“Gentlemen , this is a football.”  That’s what they say that Vince Lombardi, coach of the Green Bay Packers was said to tell his team…veterans and rookies alike…at the beginning of every training camp.  Lombardi wanted to drive home the message that success is achieved by mastering the fundamentals.

It’s the same in the game of business.  And the game of BNI
At BNI we have a few fundamental tools that we use to succeed: Your 60-second speech,
your 10-minute presentation, and 1:1 meetings with other members.
Your BNI group is your sales force.  They’re your eyes and ears to spot opportunities wherever they go.  Your job at BNI is to “educate, motivate, and train” your sales force.

Luckily, none of the fundamentals at BNI are tough to master.  Consider your 10-minute presentation.  It consists of a simple formula.  None of the ingredients are rocket-science.

Introduction: Who are you?  “My name is Casey Hart.  I help my clients sound more professional and sell more on every call with Informer Messages on hold.”
Qulalifications: What makes you worth listening to?  “We’re unique.  We use our own 8-step process to educate your customer about your products and services, and show how you’re different from your competition.”
Next is the heart of the presentation:  Offer 3 LCD’s and 3 “Asks.”  LCD’s, as you might remember from math, are the “lowest common denominators.”  They’re fractions in their simplist form, so anyone can understand them.  “Asks” are what you’d like from  the group.  Put them together and you might get something like “Apex Beverages has
80 different fountain syrups and beverages.  But most of their customers only buy the top 10.  I’d like a warm introduction to Mr. Apex to show how we can educate his customers about the profit they’re missing out on by not trying the other 70 syrups, and their beverage distribution system.”
And a Closing: “I’m Casey Hart, and I help my clients sell more on every call, with Informer Messages on hold.”

Write out your presentation and rehearse it until its perfect.
Then jot down some notes on the index cards to keep yourself on track when you present it. 
The 10-minute presentation is fundamental to your success.  This formula will make it more successful.

Talk to Strangers



October 9, 2009
Several years ago I was invited to a “networking group” that meets every week.  I went and met about 25 area professionals, and wondered about the value, and if I could contribute.  I was taled into trying, and have stayed ever since.  I’ve learned a lot!
Networking, I now understand, is what your mother always told you not to do: Talk to strangers.  To make it successful, it’s going further:  you have to actively listen to what they way so you can know what you have in common.  That’s where the real networking relationship beings.  It has to grow.  It takes work: growing anything…a vegetable garden in your back yard, or a business relationship…they’re very similar.  They need constant nurturing.

The group I joined lets you know that it’s net-WORKING, not net -sitting or net-eating.  It takes a while, but when you get it, it’s worth it.
So what do you do?
Come early.  The easiest way to meet people is when members start arriving one by one.
Spend 80% nof your tiem wiht strangers.  They’re the real opportunity.  Spend the other 20% of your time with friends who can introoduce you to others, and they’ll  do the same for your. 
Attend a variety of networking groups.  It’s great to find the ones that your customers and target market attends, but any group where you find like-minded professionals work.  How many networking events do you attend each month?  If you’re like me, not enough
Remember that networking isn’t selling, it isn’t advertising, and it isn’t marketing.  It’s getting to  know others.  So ask for their card to continue the conversation.  If you’re interesting enough, they’ll ask for your.  (My mentor said that you should always have cards in your pocket.  Do you?)  Make sure you can write on them: people like to make notes on the back of your card.  Keep meeting new people to try to find the ones with common interest, customers, and ideas.  Then introduce them to  someone. 
They’ll remember you for it. 
Come armed with one-liners…questions you can ask them.  Something that make them think.  Something that they’ll be interested in answering.  Long ago when I was dating, I thought that I had great lines. (I didn’t).  But when it comes to networking, I do.  Send me an email and I’ll tell you about some of them.  My email is hart@informermessages.com
So networking isn’t what your mother told you.  It’s what your kindergarten teacher told you:
Treat others like you’d like to be treated.
Share your ideas, thoughts, and your friends.
Play fair.
Don’t hit people.
Milk and cookies are good for you.

-Casey Hart 
hart@informermessages.com