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April 27, 2017May 10, 2017

Listen Up or Lose Out

We are taught at a very early stage in life to be quiet and listen. In contrast to the enthusiastic encouragement to speak those first words, once spoken we are then told that we need hush and just listen. It’s reinforced by our parents, family members, teachers, friends, bosses, partners, colleagues and others. The mixed message has good intent. Listening is core to our survival and the way that we learn.

Listen: to give attention with the ear; attend closely for the purpose of hearing; give ear.

So why is listening so difficult? We have ears and it appears obvious that we should easily be able to use this amazing gift. Listening should be inherent; yet, it is considered an acquired skill – a very basic and important communication skill that requires tremendous discipline and continuous practice.

Listening Skills: The ability to pay attention to and effectively interpret what other people are saying.

The challenge to being a good listener is that we have competing senses, active brains and a world filled with an overwhelming amount of distractions. The Internet and multitudes of devices have not helped in our degradation in listening skills. We also are challenged with the threat that “success” demands we always speak up, which comes in direct conflict with listening. If we are thinking and speaking, we probably are not listening.

How does listening impact business? Listening is by far the most critical communication skill that contributes to success in business and life. Listening is a particular skill that requires development, nurturing and investment by the company and leadership.

“If you aren’t listening, you are missing out.” Richard Branson

Beyond the standard people requirements of requiring good listening skills to do your job, listening is a core function of marketing in business.

Listening is required in every role; however, marketing serves the purpose to be the “chief listener” within the organization. Organizations should mandate marketing be the “listening post” for the organization.

Why marketing? Listening impacts the customer experience, how products are sold, what products go-to-market, customer satisfaction, brand loyalty, retention and positioning of value-added services, to name a few. All of this requires listening to start the process and it should be done through marketing’s participation.

Marketing should act as the gatherer, interpreter and reporter of information and data that results from listening.

Everything about the business starts with listening. The information gathered through listening needs to inform business plans and strategy. All marketing strategies should be defined by what is learned by listening. Assumptions are risky and expensive. As we celebrate heroic unicorns that went to market on a “gut feel,” there are countless examples of failed launches, campaigns and businesses that resulted from not listening first.

Listening is the most important skill for any marketer. Marketers are constantly challenged to cut through the noise to reach their audience. Listening requires concentration, focus and determination. Poor listening skills often results in misunderstandings and ineffective messaging, which can frustrate and annoy the recipient. Worse, it can result in lost revenues and customers. In other words, failure in marketing.

As a marketer, what does it mean to really listen?

L = Learn: Top marketers will use every opportunity to learn from customers, prospects, employees, and partners about what is most important to them. Listen to learn.

I = Identify: Brilliant marketers use listening skills to identify the buying signals, values and goals of their target audiences in order to create informed and personalized conversations that produce results. Listen to identify.

S = Study: Smart marketers will study the evidence obtained by listening to align with data and other marketing tools in order to better understand habits, trends, opportunities and demands from their stakeholders. It will also validate or negate assumptions. Listen and then study.

T = Team Up with Sales: Wise marketers will not let sales and marketing function separately. They will team up with their sales and business development professionals to go on prospect calls, sit in on client engagements, attend events together, participate in regular sales meetings to best know how sales is selling. It is the only way to truly support sales and without sales, there is no need for marketing. Listen to sales.

E = Engage: Shrewd marketers will engage all stakeholders at every opportunity to set up times, places, and occasions for listening. This includes participating in social listening, going to events to listen to experts, soliciting input and continuous feedback, listening to customer stories to replicate success and listening to the voices that have influence on your brand. Listen by engaging.

N = Nurture: Resourceful marketers build meaningful relationships by listening to their market stakeholders and then using what is learned to nurture and foster those relationships with that information to validate their needs, ultimately creating sustainable value for the buyer and seller. Listen to nurture.

Marketing is responsible for sending clear, concise and effective communications. The only way to begin this process is to listen to everyone that has a stake in that message, internally and externally. This includes past, present and future customers, employees, partners, shareholders and investors, suppliers, community members and regulators. They all have a stake in a company’s success and they need someone listening to their interests and needs.

A marketer has many tools to utilize as a listening post. This includes social channels, digital media platforms, websites and content distribution forums, direct mail, emails, phone, survey and feedback tools, martech, thought leadership and customer events, meetings and onsite visits.

Listening impacts growth. It is fundamental to how companies grow globally. The first step toward entering new markets is to listen to the target market to understand the cultural differences and required market nuances that will meet the demands for your good and services. Listening starts locally, in order to grow globally. Utilize resources in local markets to listen, test and create marketing content and messages that will reach your intended audience.

In a recent sales and marketing study by Altify, they found that one-third of marketers admitted that their team does not understand the company’s customers. My advice, start listening!

Jamie Glass, CMO + President of Artful Thinkers, a sales and marketing consulting company.

EXTRA: How do you rate yourself as a listener? Here is a quick quiz that can help you assess your listening skills. This is not an endorsement of this quiz or do I have any affiliation, I believe it is easy and provides interesting insights.

February 10, 2013June 13, 2017

Sales Referral Partners Lead to New Customers

Using partnerships to grow your business is smart business. Partnering drives market awareness, aligns your brand with other credible brands, opens doors to new customers and can even provide value-added products and services to increase your average sale.

There are different types of partners, which are defined by the level of engagement and the agreements each party enters into to manage the relationship.

Sales Referral Partners are the entry level of business development partnerships. This type of partnership has little accountability and responsibility for performance. The value of this strategy is often used to grow market credibility or to align with a partner that has strong relationships with your prospective customers.

Entering into a partnership for referrals is a first step to test the waters in a relationship. It allows both entities to measure the commitment, willingness and effort required in working together to develop business. A sales referral partnership gives you the ability to determine if this is simply a PR initiative or will actually grow revenues. You can also monitor the organizational support in sales and marketing required to get deals closed.

The relationship can be a one-way lead pass or a two-way referral agreement. Both parties need to determine the best opportunity to refer business by passing on leads, receiving referrals or both.

Sales Referral Partners can be “handshake” in nature if you do not plan to hold anyone accountable for the outcome. It is commonplace for business service professionals who network together to develop non-binding relationships to help open doors and extend value by making credible introductions to other service providers or their respective clients.

If you plan to use compensation as an incentive to drive referrals you need a legal agreement, signed and executed between both entities. Compensation is a way to show appreciation for the referral and is an incentive to work together. If your partner offers to pay you for referrals, you also want to make sure it is in writing.

There are two ways you can determine the referral compensation. Referrals can be compensated at the same rate as your sales commission. For example, you can offer a set figure between 5-10% of the net proceeds of any closed deal. You can also set the commission rate at the percentage of your average marketing spend to acquire a new customer. No matter the rate chosen, it should be perceived by your partner as rewarding and drive the expected behavior. Make it worthwhile for someone to act as your front-line sales person and help find you new customers. If the rate is not worthy of the effort, you can expect to pay few or no commissions, as you will likely not drive the behaviors needed to get a referral.

If you do choose to enter into a binding agreement that includes compensation for referrals, you need to set rules just as you do for your own employees. Specifically outline in your agreement how payments will be made and when the partner will be paid. For example, will you pay when the sale is made or when you are paid by the new customer? Be sure you state in your referral agreements if the referral fee will be paid over the lifetime of the relationship or for only the first sale.

It is critical that you track all your sales referrals, whether you enter into a formal agreement or simply take an email of a lead pass from a trusted business partner in your network. Enter the lead into your CRM with the proper tag to identify who gave you the lead. Enter when you receive the lead and monitor the progress of the lead as it moves through your sales pipeline. Measure all your partners quarterly to see how they are helping you grow revenues. It will provide you intelligence in how to manage the relationship for maximum profitability.

If you do enter into a sales partnership where the other entity is representing you on the front-line, you need to equip your partner with the same tools and resources you provide to your own sales team. You need to give them the ability to introduce you, what you do, the problems you solve and the value proposition of your products and services. Spend time providing regular updates about your business and services to keep your partners informed and engaged.

Top of mind awareness in this type of partnership is essential to getting value from your relationship. When you provide value, you will get value in return. A partnership requires efforts by the giver and the receiver. Be persistent in developing good partnerships, measure activities and reward the efforts of those that help grow your business.

“Try not to become a person of success, but rather to become a person of value.”
– Albert Einstein

Other types of partnerships that will be discussed in future posts include Co-Selling Partners, Channel Partners, Strategic Partners and Investment Partners.

Jamie Glass, Founder, President and CMO of Artful Thinkers

July 8, 2012

Who Makes the First Impression for Your Business?

business building handshake — Who Greets Your Potential Customers?

First impressions for your business are made by people that open doors, make cold calls, attend networking meetings and answer your phone. They are delivered by your marketing communications like social media and websites. How confident are you that your potential clients are greeted warmly and with a direct invitation to do business?

Years ago businesses paid someone to sit at a front lobby desk and answer every inbound call and greet every walk-in appointment. The receptionist qualifications were measured by friendliness, service-orientation and attentive disposition. The standard phone greeting of this time was “Thank you for calling, how can I help you?”

When is the last time were greeted this way? Today we are often met with automated attendants and empty lobbies. Some businesses have completely eliminated any dedicated space to a welcome station and filled it with another cubical. My impression is that first impressions are not a priority for this business. The decision that customer experience may be too costly to employ a dedicated person, may be costing you business.

It is not difficult to think back to a bad first impression. I recall three in the past weeks. One top restaurant asked me to wait outside in 110 degrees because they did not open for four minutes, yet the door was unlocked. Another restaurant hostess asked me to stand until my party arrived even though every table was empty. A technology company, which had a sitting place upon entry, left me for 20 minutes while employees stared at me. Not one person asked why I was there or if I needed help. I remember all of these first impressions, vividly.

Noted in a recent New York Times article Praise Is Fleeting, but Brickbats We Recall, “Bad emotions, bad parents and bad feedback have more impact than good ones. Bad impressions and bad stereotypes are quicker to form and more resistant to disconfirmation than good ones.” Sited from Roy F. Baumeister, a professor of social psychology at Florida State University in a journal article he co-authored in 2001, “Bad Is Stronger Than Good.”

How your employees are greeting the public, networking, making introductions, and opening doors for others is a direct reflection of hiring skills, company culture and leadership. Business owners, CEOs and managers own the customer experience. Every employee is responsible for making a positive first impression. How are you reinforcing how positive first impressions are made in your business?

Customer experience is a financial decision in business, unless revenues are low on the priority list. Reputation management is critical and costly. A bad review is hard to overcome. You can’t erase the Internet or someone’s memory. People use others professional and personal experiences as a reason to buy or not buy. Bad experiences are viral, whether online, through social media, on sites that track reputations or by word-of-mouth. Once word is out, it is permanent. You own it!

Every experience starts with the greeting. Take time to review how your potential and existing customers are greeted today. This applies whether you are selling B2B or B2C, for every industry, in a building or online. Use “secret shoppers” and have them rate how inviting, caring, and enthusiastic they were welcomed to do business with you.

Customer service is a pillar to good business. Customer experience starts when the phone is picked up, the door is unlocked or a web site is visited. We may not all have the luxury of hanging up a flashing “Welcome to Fabulous Las Vegas” sign to greet everyone. We do have the luxury to manage and train our messengers to provide an outstanding first impression.

Invest in your greeting. Define, train, test and continually reinforce how you want to insure a positive first impression. It your opportunity to create a long-term valuable relationship with your customer.

Jamie Glass, CMO and President of Artful Thinkers, a sales and marketing consulting company.