suzanne's mastermind question

this group of business people meets once a week to focus on sales and marketing issues.
every once in a while, one of us has a puzzling situation, and the group does a brainstorming session to offer solutions.

here's the question suzanne offered in our brainstorming session yesterday.
you are making a presentation - selling your services - to an group that you have met for the first time and that has had a bad experience with services like yours. the question is: how do you earn their trust?

from suzanne
The topic today was...How do you promote client service and convey trust. People do business with those they know, like and trust. In some cases, I am asking individuals and groups to trust me when we barely know each other and may have just met in person.

Highlights in no particular order:
Include testimonials from existing clients if possible.
Uncover the pain or reason why they are seeking your services.
Find a commonality and weave references into the conversation.
Do what you say you will do within the time frame promised. Be consistent.
Ask questions starting with How instead of What.
Offer some suggestions or solutions to the issue during your free consultation.
Ask what do I need to do to earn your trust.
Avoid making derrogatory comments about competitors.

from henriette
The most important piece from my end is being authentically representing myself and my work/service. That in itself rings true and allows others to tune into that invisible piece that makes people feel comfortable with each other. It's a mixture of know how and technical skill along with a personable and caring attitude. This is not to say that all meetings offered this way close the gap and bring us everyone's business, but the integrity of one's presentation is essential to gain those clients whom we can really assist and who will find value in our services. From this end we stop struggling and are not desperately seeking new clients 'no matter what' - we keep our heads and trust that even if there is no immediate deal or closing - the encounter has been of value for everyone and may bear fruit later in direct or indirect ways.

from vince
I was not at the meeting but through commercial insurance I deal with this often. Something that has worked many times for me is using references from current clients. I really think there is no better way of establishing yourself than through the experience of your clients. I have no problem putting a prospect in touch with someone I have done business with in the past to help build a sense of trust.

from christine
i just project love.

from peter
it's interesting that the responses are divided between "who you are" and "what you do"
and it's curious that the two responses from people whose everyday life is sales/ marketing were in the "what you do" category and the two responses from people whose everyday life is not sales/marketing were in the "who you are" category.
i wonder if this same difference would show up in a different group.
curious.

books are so.... last century

here's two websites that sell information
shootsmartertv is pure marketing.
this guy probably doesn't know anything about photography, but he knows how to sell other people's expertise.
he follows working photographers around with his video camera to show wannabe photographers professional photographers at work. and of course he wants your credit card to see the videos.
the socionomics institute sells books and videos bypassing the traditional publisher middlemen..
so here's the message.
if you have knowledge that other people would pay to see..
blog your knowledge one chapter at a time
make a video
get yourself a website.
trade your knowledge for your viewer's credit card number.

book review: seven practices of enduring businesses

harvard university recommends that you budget $150,000 for their two year mba program. they are gracious enough to note that this does not include the cost of a personal computer.
i got my copy of "the commensense mba" by richard m. astle from amazon.com for one cent [plus shipping]. it's stuff you'll never learn at harvard, yet it is fundamental to running a successful business.
"don't let school get in the way of your education" - mark twain

the seven practices

put people first.
never forget that your business is for the benefit of your customers and your employees... every transaction with customers or employees should be a both-win transaction.

do what you say.
be on time. return phone phone calls. do what you say. you'll never keep reliable employees or good customers without it.

build trust.
everything you do should be open and aboveboard.. if you don't know what personal integrity is, or you hesitate when asked about your business ethics, you should make it a point to learn more....

put needs before wants
focus on prudence and restraint in finances. it's best you start your business small and grow it from the profits rather than borrow a lot of money up front. you don't 'need' a fancy office or car to impress clients with your success. being debt free and a savings account will help you survive lean times.

focus on quality and customer service.

plan, plan, plan
making a business plan will help you think through areas that you would otherwise ignore. things like a financial plan. a marketing plan. read through your plan every day.

sell, sell, sell
marketing is everything. spend 20% of your time networking, advertising, getting the word out.

summary: start small and grow by reinvesting your profits. focus on serving your customers and your employees. focus on quality and integrity. focus on marketing. focus. focus. focus.

viral marketing

viral marketing is based on the theory that ideas travel from person to person like a virus...

your friends call you or email you with interesting stuff.
here's an example.
a maker of cell phone headsets wanted to float the idea that cellphones held next to your ear cause brain tumors, cancer, and other evil stuff.

so they made a video showing how cellphone radiation is so strong, it will pop popcorn.

this video is probably a knockoff and not the original.


wired magazine reports that similar videos had more than a million views in the first week.
soon after, when people realized they had been tricked, rebuttal videos started to appear.


this video had more than 500,000 views

google search on "cell phone popcorn" shows over a million and a half web pages.

here's a page that explains the whole story


so here's the message for entrepreneurs
be creative

i love this stuff

reading entrepreneur meetup group

welcome the the new reading entrepreneur meetup group

Click here to check out
The Reading Entrepreneur Meetup Group!

Book Review: The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People, by Stephen R. Covey

Be Proactive is about taking responsibility for your life. Proactive people choose their behavior. Proactive people focus their time and energy on things they can control: health, children, problems at work.
Begin with the End in Mind means to begin each day, task, or project with a clear vision of your desired direction and destination.Develop a Personal Mission Statement focused on what you want to be and do. It is your plan for success. Your mission statement reaffirms who you are, puts your goals in focus, and moves your ideas into the real world.
First Things First Focus on your highest priorities. First things are those things you, personally find of most worth.
Win-Win is a frame of mind and heart that seeks mutual benefit in every transaction. Many people think in terms of Win-Lose. Win-win is an abundance mentality; believing there is plenty for everyone. Win-Lose thinks "What's in it for me?". Win-Win thinks "What's in it for you?".
Listen. If you're like most people, you probably want to get your point across first. And by not listening, you may ignore the other person completely.
Synergize is the habit of creative cooperation. It is teamwork, open-mindedness, and the adventure of finding new solutions. Together, people can produce better results that they could individually. Synergy is the idea that the whole is greater than the sum of the parts. Do you value the differences among people? Or do you wish everyone would just agree with you?
Balance means having a balanced program for self-renewal in the four areas of your life: physical, social/emotional, mental, and spiritual. Here are some examples of activities:
Physical: Beneficial eating, exercising, and resting
Social/Emotional: Making social and meaningful connections with others
Mental: Learning, reading, writing, and teaching
Spiritual: Spending time in nature, expanding spiritual self through mediation, music, art, prayer, or service

this is part of the entrepreneur's connection MBA program

peter creates a blog

Introduction to blogging

Google tracks who is talking about what... And blogs are an important part of measuring what's hot.. ideas that are sweeping the country. So in Google's eyes, if people are talking about us, [and visiting us] then we must have something important to say.

Anyway, here is a short tutorial "Peter creates a blog"

welcome

welcome to ecreferral.. over the next 12 months we are going to present an mba course focusing on marketing for small business