“So they told her she could put an ad in the bag given to
the first 500 people that show up at the trade show,” I said.

“Yeah,” Kathy snarled, “And a lot of good that would do
her!”

I agree,” said Gail. “The
first rule of trade shows is don’t get into one late. If you’re going to do
it make sure it is planned well in advance so you can take advantage of the
personal networking opportunities.”

Chris asked, “What do you mean?”

Rick told him, “The booths aren’t where the business is done
at trade shows, Bunkie. Never buy a
booth and hope they will come. Try to arrange meetings for breakfast,
lunch, coffee, dinner and cocktails to get the business and whatever you do
don’t waste money on show promoter last minute opportunities.”

“He’s right,” I said. “Ask the maids at the show hotel how
many of those bags wind up in the trash cans. It is nearly all of them. We’ve tracked
it by calling down all the companies that put stuff in bags at multiple shows and
less than 1/10 of 1% of the offers were exploited.”

Gail said, “So the Solopreneur needs to get noticed and get
some business, what do you guys recommend?”

Kathy: Talk to
prospects you think will be there and set a meeting with them well before the
show.

Rick: “Put
together a private little sweepstakes for a really good prize that the only way
show attendees can get a ticket for is by talking to you. Make sure that a few
well-known blabber mouths know about it and then make yourself available. I
guarantee you will be sought out.”

Fletch: “After
the show be sure to send thank you notes to the folks that talked to you. One of
my clients added $1.2 Million dollars in sales in one quarter by simply doing
that.”

Rob: “Talk to the
show promoter. If it is a publication, suggest an affiliate relationship. I
knew a good ol’ boy with some software that did that and got a year’s worth of
ads. He got a gobbet of sales and a great pipeline on what was being planned in the
market.”

Chris: You mean
you can set up a deal like on clickbank?”

Gail wrapped it
up, “Yes Chris, affiliates were around before the internet. To me the single
biggest thing you can do at a trade show is Network. After you’ve met with your targets, ask for intros to others. Many times senior executives you would have
difficulty getting to are available at a trade show. Talk to them. Connect. And
then stay in touch.

Jerry Fletcher and his merry band of marketing rainmakers
will be back next week. What trade show tricks would you suggest?

Learn more about Jerry’ consulting services at www.JerryFletcher.com

Jerry speaks locally, nationally and internationally. You’ll
find video, audio and rate information at www.NetworkingNinja.com

Have you ever been mistaken for a clerk in a store? Perhaps
you’ve been asked to show someone a car when you, too, were shopping for one?

My friend Shawna Schuh was speaking at SignalCon, a
conference hosted by NSA Oregon in Portland
last week.

Shauna is one of the small percentage of professional
speakers that is a Certified Speaking Professional (CSP). She garners frequent
flier miles like a rock star gathering twitter followers.  Like most of us that fly to make a living she
works on airplanes and dresses comfortably so she can.

She opened with a story about boarding an airplane in her working
attire: black slacks, button front work shirt with shoulder epaulets and comfortable
flats with her hair pulled back into a pony tail.

As she entered the plane a cabin attendant berated her
saying, “Where have you been? We’ve been looking all over for you!”

Shawna turned, looked behind her, saw there was no one there
and then turned to really see the cabin attendant who was dressed in black
slacks, flats and a button front shirt with shoulder epaulets. Shauna explained
that she was actually the last frequent flier passenger to board and took her
seat.

The take away from her presentation is:

“People don’t see us.
They see the brand first.”

Kathy, my Sales Consultant friend was there as well. Later,
I asked her what she thought about that idea.

Fletch, she said, “Shauna is dead on. One of my areas of
expertise is the staffing business. People jump to conclusions so fast you
can’t keep up with it. The thing is that men and women do it differently and
the conclusions they jump to are different depending on a lot of things but
being male or female is the biggest one.”

I cocked my head to one side, squinted at her and muttered,
“Huh?”

She said, “You know that story you old me about your PhD
daughter about to chair a funding meeting at the Pentagon being mistaken for an
assistant and given a coffee order?”

“Yes,” I replied.

Kathy continued, “Would that general have assumed that a young
man was there to take a coffee order? 
I’ve had the same sort of thing happen to me for as long as I can
remember. You know I work with folks from the C-suite down but whether I’m
presenting to a CEO or doing a ride along with a new sales person I have learned
that I have to dress in tailored business suits and wear heels. Successful men
tend to be tall so the heels give me an edge. I’m close to six feet tall so I
can look them in the eye.

When people look at me dressed for a business meeting or
consulting gig they see a successful business woman. But if I run into someone
in a hotel that I met in my traveling clothes on an airplane they seldom
recognize me.

I know you cover this stuff in the No Budget Branding TM
segment of Marketing Without Money TM but Shauna’s point is something everyone
needs to understand.

How you dress is part of your personal brand. What you say
enhances your personal brand. Your behavior can boost or belie your personal
brand. Everything you do is matched against people’s expectations.

You can’t afford to
confuse clients and prospects. Don’t wear anything that could get you
mistaken. Use the terminology that fits your brand. Walk your talk. Make sure
they see you. Be the personal brand they look forward to.”

What are you doing to assure your personal brand meets their expectations? Just
as importantly, what are you doing to remove your own brand blinders?

Jerry Fletcher is a 20 year professional member of the NSA
(National Speakers Association) He keynotes on three continents (so far). Learn
more at www.NetworkingNinja.com

Jerry is a Marketing Rainmaker and a Contact
Relationship Magician. He consults in the US
and Canada.
Learn more at: www.JerryFletcher.com

I was taken aback by a quote I heard at a conference last
week hosted by the local chapter of the National Speakers Association.

In the middle of her presentation, Erin Donley quoted an old
acquaintance of mine, Yasmin Nyugen , CEO of Vibrance Global.

The Quote?

“You can’t see the label from inside the bottle.”

That’s why it is so difficult for individuals to craft our
own marketing. If you are a professional of any kind you know how difficult
this can be for you to pull off by yourself.

Rob, my branding buddy, said when I phoned him to tell him
about this revelation, “You just figurin’ that out ol’ son? Y’all find it easy
to work through what a product should be all about when you’re marketing it but
even the pros need help when it comes to their own Persona.

Yup, I used your word for personal branding ‘cause when it
is a professional of any kind it gets personal in a hurry. You know that. Y’all
been doin’ it for years with your consulting clients. That’s really what your
30 Second Marketing program is all about.

Most people go blank when you ask them what their brand is
and how they make sure people understand it.  

All the emphasis these days on social media makes it harder
than it has ever been.

A whole lot of what you know about persuasion is based on gettin’
to people one on one but the game has changed. Now, br’er rabbit were tryin’ to
get folks to join us in the briar patch even when we know we have to build each
relationship one on one.

You, me–all of us have to understand social media is a conversation with a crowd.

Think about your aunt Hattie and the ladies in the parlor
quiltin’. The word ‘I’ never gets said. If you listen you’ll notice that most
of the questions are directed to the group not to individuals. Like you’re old
auntie said, It’s just good manners.

So when you’re tryin’ to get likes and followers you have to
picture yourself out in the pasture talkin’ to a herd ‘stead of sittin’ down
for coffee with a prospect.”

How do you cope with personal branding?  

Jerry Fletcher consults on marketing, including personal
branding, with professionals, consultants and small companies that want to take
it up a notch. Learn more at www.JerryFletcher.com

Jerry Speaks about building businesses based on Trust on
three continents. See him in action at www.NetworkingNinja.com

Rick arrived, late as usual, and said, “The topic of the day
is sales funnels.”

Kate snorted and spat, “Who made you King for the day?”

I said, “Whoa. Let’s find out why he is so concerned before
we send him to the guillotine.”

Rick continued, “I have to understand how products go from
that first glimmer in a prospect’s eye to the final add-on sale and then, over
time, repeat purchases if I’m going to change ROI and Life Time Value of the
products and services I help sell.  But I’m
having difficulty getting some newer clients to understand what is and isn’t in
their sales funnel. I need for them to understand so I can find the places I
can be of most help. It could be just shining the light on the product or service
so the prospect can get that glimmer. Or it could be nurturing the sale in
early middle or late phases. It could be developing offers that are delivered
in mail or e-mail or in person or even in the store whether it is on line or
brick and mortar.

I’m trying to get them to analyze how their sales happen and
how the actions they take fit into the funnel. They keep getting hung up
between on and off-line, proactive and reactive plus automatic versus personal.”

Kate said, “Let me guess, the sales people and the marketing
people keep giving you different viewpoints and within either of those silos
there are differences of opinion.”

Rick replied, “Yeah, it’s as if they speak different
languages.”

“They do,” I said.

Gail picked it up, “The internet made the direct business
easier and harder because it used to be that the sales department asked marketing
for one thing: qualified leads. They grudgingly agreed that brand kind of
helped them but claimed that once someone showed interest the only way to close
them was to have a salesperson in the mix. But guys like you figured out how to
get a sale without having one of those nose-to-nose types in the equation. Then
the internet came along and made it even easier to nurture a lead. That used to
be a sales job. Suddenly, it has become a marketing job and you’ve got people
that don’t know how to recognize where someone is in the sales cycle trying to cater
to them and move them down that funnel.”

Kate nodded and said, “That is really the case. There are
what gamblers call ‘tells’, signals that prospects give you in meetings as well
as how they answer some questions. I’ve noticed that marketing folks are
reticent about asking some of those questions and they seldom notice the signs
that indicate real interest or concerns.”

“So how do we help Rick?” I asked.

Rob drawled, Bein’ the brand guy gives me a slightly
different way of looking at it that may help. Y’all keep talking about the
funnel as if it were the kind you use to put oil in the family flivver. You
talk as if there is only one funnel…yours. Well, I agree there’s only one
funnel but you got the shape and the physics all wrong. Try thinkin’ about it
like it was one of those vortex things they have in convenience stores. Ya
know, they’re sort of wider and flatter. You drop a coin into a slot and a combination
of gravity and centrifugal force rolls it around the edge and it keeps circling
the bowl until if finally gets flushed thru the hole down in the bottom. Now imagine
that there are some other holes along the slope. Your coin, your funnel
approach can be hijacked if you’re not careful.”

“And,” I said, “Rick is just one of the hijackers.”

“So how do we fix it?, Rick asked?

Rob said, “Help your clients understand that together you
can find ways to get folks to stop goin’ around the barn or, failing that,
discover a way to walk along with them listenin’ and looking at the clues they
give ya to move them to your product or service instead of somebody else’s.
First, though, you have to get them to move their thinking from that steep
direct funnel to the flat vortex model.”

Rick said, “I can see how that would work. The right offer
turns the coin from spiraling to plummeting directly into the sale you wanted and
if the offer doesn’t work you need to have information they need or want easily
and readily available so that when they ask for it you note the request and
compare it to what others that have purchased did next.  That is what automated marketing can do for
you and why you need an automated marketing system. And if you turn it upside
down how would that impact your marketing approach?

What problems or solutions do you see with this different kind
of funnel?

Jerry Fletcher is a Contact Relationship Magician. Part of
the magic he brings to marketing strategy is the ability to see standard models
from a new perspective. See more at www.JerryFletcher.com

Need a speaker for a business or association conference?
Jerry is a professional keynoter who speaks internationally. Learn more at www.NetworkingNinja.com

“Why are people afraid of Contact Relationship Management? What makes them shy away from putting it to work in their business even when they are already using an e-mail marketing program?”

Gail asked, “Is this a rhetorical question or do you really want an answer?”

“I reckon it’s nigglin’ at him like a fly on the summer porch when you try to take nap,” said Rob.

“That’s right, Rob,” I said. “I don’t mind being asked to facilitate a meeting when a company is about to adopt a CRM system. But, every time I do, I walk away shaking my head. On one hand it is very satisfying to get everyone in small company in a conference room to work out what needs to done to make the system effective for them. On the other it can be like skipping through a mine field. The tough part is getting everybody on the same page.”

Rob chuckled and stifled a belly laugh.

Kate asked, “What’s the joke?”

“When he said that thing ‘bout the same page it minded me of a Sunday mornin’ when there was a misprint in the order of service and the Choir was singin’ one thing and all the folks in the pews had their hymnals open to another. It was the worst caterwaulin’ cacophony you ever heard.”

“If you ever had to set up a CRM system, Rob, you would think that was the sweetest symphony ever,” said Kate. “I’ve been there and I just wish the companies I worked with had at least some of the folks that are going to use the Contact Management System work out what to call things. Too often they just have the managers designate how to identify things or assume the default is the best option.”

“You got it, Kate,” I said. “This week it was the usual hangup—classifying the people in the system not to mention identifying tasks and to-dos and trying to be sure the reports they want will generate properly. I think the single biggest problem is that the company officer who buys the software is usually not experienced with Sales or Customer service or Marketing which will supposedly perform better with the new system in place. And on top of that, the senior person in the room usually is the least computer savvy.

This time, the President of the company wanted to issue targets to the sales staff with no data other than the name of the company. The sales manager and her staff couldn’t agree on a way to differentiate between a lead, a qualified lead and a Prospect and preferred not to use the term Prospect at all. Then, of course, since they had multiple products, their clients had to be designated by product and, of course, some of them were purchasing multiple products.”

Rick took a sip of coffee and said, “Look, I know how you think. What did you figure out?”

“The direct marketing guy is as direct as ever,” Gail said. And I think he’s right. What did you figure out?

“It’s that old bugaboo: Change and the need to be perfect” I said. “People feel like they have to get it just right the first time. We approach technology sometimes with the idea that there is no second chance.

As I was working through things with this group a couple of them agreed to take over the keyboard and mouse to work through customizing the demo of the product we were using in the meeting. As soon as they understood that this demo could be completely or partially thrown away they relaxed and started experimenting.

What I learned is that there is a way to take the scary out of the selection, verification and setup of CRM systems for small companies. I’m adding it to my program: Contact Relationship Magic TM for all purchasers… including those that bought it previously.

The question for you is: What should I call it? Here are some possibilities:

Savvy Set Up
How to take the scary out of CRM

The Perfect CRM Setup
Tips and Tricks to avoid Traps in your new system

CRM Secret Sauce
Clear, concise steps to eliminate set up pain”

What would you call it?

Jerry Fletcher has been away enjoying the holidays and wrapping up the year. You’ll find some minor changes on his consulting web site www.JerryFletcher.com (including a new store by the end of the month.)

Jerry continues his speaking schedule but is taking time out to simply be an attendee at an Oregon NSA event for executives and professionals at the end of the month. www.SignalConference.com He will be happy to get you in for about half off.

Sergeant Friday from the old TV show Dragnet was always asking
for “Just the Facts”

Your mission on this first gathering of the new year is to
come up with one fact you’ve learned in 2013 that will change what you do in
2014.

Kate started, “If you want to sell in the Business to
Business market, learn how to use Linked In to your advantage. I was a skeptic
until I listened to what some consultants said about adjusting your profile and
learning how to use connections to get to the decision makers in target
companies including ones I hadn’t thought of. The best tip was: Make your title
sell. Put some emotional content into it. Make it a solution to your ideal
client’s problem.”

Rick nodded and said, “Mail is stronger than ever, mainly
because fewer companies are using it. But how you use it is incredibly
important. I had lunch with an old friend the other day that is getting 50 to
60% response rates. He is using a program that yields those kinds of rates because
it is highly interactive and delivers marketing information from clients plus
referrals and does it by delivering in boxes that rattle instead of envelopes. But
the secret sauce is something we too often forget: The more focused your list,
the better your response will be.”

Chris added, “And when your list isn’t focused you have to focus
on what the respondent is really looking for. That’s why if you are selling
expertise with an ongoing delivery you darn well better talk to the prospect. I
help people set up Pay Per Click advertising and I can tell you from first hand
experience that when the price hits a certain point even if you have great
reviews the prospect is going to want to talk to you. One piece of advice I will
never forget is that if you are a consultant you need to put your phone number
on every page of your web site. The best spot for it is the lower right corner
of the banner.”

Gail, our writing guru looked around the table and began, “You
know I’m late to the technology party but I finally got started putting together
some products. In order to do that I had to learn some new software and try
some stuff I didn’t have the courage to try
before. Anyway, I’ve done it. Here’s a copy of the first couple for each of you.
What I learned that I’m putting to work this year is that nearly 58% of YouTube
viewers are between 20 and 35 and 21% are between 36 and 60. I know the share
of the How To category is just 3.1% but when there are 33.2 Billion views
overall that small percentage is huge.”

“ Well, ol’ son,” Rob drawled, What I learned in 2013 is
that there are  a lot more carpet baggers
talkin’ about branding than know how to grow one. They all think branding
is something you do rather than gets done to you. ’cause of your complete attitude.
You want some facts about branding, study Ralph Lauren’s Polo label. Every ad,
photo, hang tag and garment contributes to a value image even when you buy the
socks on sale like I did last week

That great philosopher POGO said something
like, “We have met the enemy and he are us’ That applies in spades to the new
age ad geeks that push logos as branding. I learned again  the sad truth that Gresham’s law is right and it is true for
brand, too. But I will endure and brand shall rise again!”

“Jeez, Rob, tell us how you feel about it,” I said. “My 2013
factoid is that you can lead a small business to an integrated CRM that allows
them to automate their marketing but they are not ready to partake at that
trough. They just don’t understand what it can do for them.

I’ve handed that sling to a couple of Davids and they just
haven’t figured out how to put it in motion. That’s what I’m taking into 2014.
I’m going to take to the clubs and Chambers of Commerce and Networking groups and
tell them hat the research shows that 93% of companies that use automated marketing
win and it gives the little guy an edge over the big corporations. I’m going to
do everything I can to show them how to use it to their benefit.”

What did you learn in 2013 that will benefit you and your
customers in the coming year?

Jerry Fletcher has returned with his merry band of marketing masters and plans to publish the “Dialogue Blog” once a week in 2014. Join us with questions and comments.

Jerry can be found on Linked In, Facebook and at his consulting site or professional speaking site.

Bill opened a panel on the business of speaking by quoting one
of his mentors. She said, “You have to be lazy to succeed. Try to do things
once, figure out how to do them the easiest way possible and make it a macro.”

Kate grinned and said, “There must be more Fletch. You never
just drop a comment like that into the conversation and walk away from it.”

“Thas true you ol’ hound,” said Rob our steamy southern gentleman.

“Well,” I said, “It reminded me of what a friend of mine
calls administrivia. It’s a made up word for all that stuff that gets in the
way of getting real things done. It’s the repetitive tasks that crimp your
creative style.

Being lazy is a solution to that problem.”

“True,” Rick said. “I find in direct marketing that sometimes
folks are so intent on making sure that every little detail has been taken care
of that they overlook the truly important stuff. Take the reality that folks in
my business now understand.

When I was getting my spurs the adage was that the keys to
success in direct marketing were List, Offer and Creative. The percentages
assigned were 40, 40 and 20.

Today, we know there are some other factors that need to be
included. List, Offer and Creative are still there but Timing and Ease of Response
have been measured. The percentages shifted some but it is easy to understand
them he said drawing a pie chart on a napkin.”

“The list and the offer are still the most important” Said Chris.
“But the things we’ve found out from analytics in my online advertising
adventures really show how important Timing and Ease of Response are.

Timing is from the customer’s viewpoint. Where they are in
the buying cycle must match the offer and the creative and the ease of
response.”

“Thas where brand makes a difference,” said Rob. “It’s funny
how folks will complain about a little something and then y’all hear: ‘But I
don’t mind, bless their heart.”

“But the way you get to a brand,” said Gail, “is to keep
doing the right thing over and over.”

“It’s administrivia all over again,” I agreed and added, “Being
lazy is getting it right and establishing that behavior as a norm to build company
habits so your customer can be lazy. Concentrate on the big things and continually
try to find lazy ways to accomplish the administrivia. Long term the lazy way
will pay off.”

What is your advice for a lazy person?

Jerry Fletcher has been finding lazy ways to market businesses
for over 20 years as President of Z-axis Marketing, Inc. Learn more at www.JerryFletcher.com

Schedule a personal appearance. Jerry speaks internationally
on Networking, Marketing and Contact Relationship Magic. www.NetworkingNinja.com

Chris said to Kate, “How do you get lone wolves to become
part of a collaborative sales approach? How do you get them to actually put
prospects into a contact management system”

“He’s got a point,” I said, “Every salesperson I know thinks
that until a contract is signed or a deal is closed, the lead is theirs, not
the company’s. And even afterwards they believe that all future sales to that
customer are something they should be rewarded for even if they have not maintained
contact.”

Kate smiled and said, “ The eternal problem. Business owners
hire sales people because they believe:

The sales person works for a
competitor so they have lots of contacts that could be prospects for us.

The job of the sales person is to
define and hunt down the best prospects for our business.

The sales person is going to
convince them to buy from us.

Because they are sales people they
only have to have rudimentary knowledge of what we do.

They sell better when compensation
is directly linked to closes.

Usually the people doing the hiring in small companies have
never been professional sales people themselves and are looking for a real
boost in their business.”

Rob pulled out his aw shucks grin and syrupy voice to say,
“So we got some untrained youngster
wanderin’ ‘round in the dark who couldn’t find their own behind with either
hand, a guide dog and a flashlight tryin’ to tree the right sales person.”

I said, “Can I use that?”

Y’all are welcome to it, Fletch,” Rob said.

“So they wind up with lone wolves,” said Chris. “But how do
you get them to work with a team?”

“Leads, Kate said. “Today you can use the internet like you do all the time Chris with pay per click
advertising and some of the inventive things you’re doing with Linked In.
Without a lead, a sales person has nothing to work on so they have to go find
their own which is usually not their strong suit.

But, give them a warm lead where the prospect is truly
interested and you have their attention. If they get the first few sales from
leads you supply you can pretty much count on them to follow up most of the leads you give them.”

“Most?” Gail asked.

Gail,” I said, you’ve worked in advertising. I know you’ve
seen sales types walk away from ad generated leads without even trying them
out.”

“It goes right back to that lone wolf nonsense,” said
Kate. “If one of their pet sources
didn’t sniff it out it can’t be good is their attitude.

The way to make it work is to understand how people make
buying decisions n considered purchases and match that up to the sales person’s
basic desire. The prospect wants to get enough information to make a decision
and not be pressured to do so while the salesperson just wants to close.”

Rob injected, “Thass a tractor pull. Both of ‘em can’t win.”

“Wrong,” Kate said. “Both can win if the sales person
listens to what the marketing team doing the lead nurturing tells them about
where the customer is in the purchase process. Most importantly, the sales
person need to confirm hat status with the customer, help them get whatever
else they need stop selling and take the order.

What would you suggest?

Jerry Fletcher may write these dialogues but they come from
actual conversations. Learn how he thinks at www.JerryFletcher.com

Stories like these that have motivated teams on three
continents can be found at www.NetworkingNinja.com 

Rick Settled in and said, Even if I can get sales
gals and guys to put data in a contact system for their customers I’ve never
been able to get them to give me prospect data. Why is this?”

Kate looked over her glasses and said, ”Sounds to me like
you’ve had that problem more than once.”

That’s when I said, “No, he is the problem.”

Gail asked, “What do you mean Fletch”

“Well,” I recall a time when I was trying to get his sales
function organized and he just would not go along with any kind of data entry
or follow up. It was amazing. He’d meet someone while picking up a rental car
and half the time wind up with a meeting in their headquarters half way across
the country a week later.

The other half of the time he wouldn’t even get a business
card so we could follow up with them and set a date.”

“But I learned, “ Rick objected.

“How?” Gail asked.

“I heard a bout the results he got for another company from
their CEO. Their training division was way behind the previous year. They had
gone to a trade show to network for business just before the CEO hired Fletch
to get them out of the hole. After the introductions Fletch asked the VP of the
division who was going to write the thank you notes to the 36 leads from the
trade show.

The VP told him that they didn’t do that sort of thing.

The CEO told me that his phone rang and on speaker he made
it clear that the VP would follow instructions or he would clear out his desk.
As a result, the three folks that attended the show, including the VP, wrote
notes. Within a month they signed over $2 million in new business from
companies they met at that trade show.

Kate said, “I’m guessing you didn’t run into that CEO by
accident, you were introduced. Right?”

Rick answered, “Yeah. It seemed like we just met over drinks
here one night.

Then he looked at Fletch and said, “You devil!”

“How did that change you ?” Gail asked.

I made it a point to get cards and my assistant put them
into a system and we started contacting them on a regular basis. He put
together a combination of letters, emails and phone calls and so I never went
on a trip to a major city without having meetings with more than one company,
usually with a client and at least one prospect. I like people so it was always
fun and keeping track of them as they changed to more powerful jobs made it the
most profitable time in my company’s history.

Chris said, “So you were doing lead nurturing before there
was a way to automate I like we have today.”

“Yes,” I said, “But it worked because Rick is a brilliant
networker and a killer salesman who learned that a collaborative approach to
marketing, sales and customer service generates the trust that pays off big
time.”

Does collaborative selling work for your company?

Jerry Fletcher understands how Trust builds businesses,
careers and lives of joy. Learn more about his marketing perspective at www.JerryFletcher.com

Hear him speak about the Trust Goldmine at www.NetworkingNinja.com

“Kate,” I asked as she joined us, “Did you walk away from
that client or get a sales manager fired?”

“The lone wolf was told to take a hike,” she replied.

Gail said, “So what are you doing besides team selling to
make clients more successful?”

She said, with a twinkle in her eye “I’m using a Contact
Relationship Management system and I’m forging bonds between sales, marketing
and customer service. Yes, Fletch, sometimes I listen.”

“Whoa,” Rob said, The boy has been pole-axed! His eyebrows
are headed for his hairline and thas gettin’ to be a fur piece!”

Gail waded back in, “I believe he’s apoplectic so I’ll ask
the questions while he recovers himself. First, tell us about these bonds.”

Kate began, “Just about any business can profit by thinking
about making the people that buy from them customers or clients forever. I know
that’s a long time and most sales consultants are all about getting sales
closed and moving on to the next prospect. It’s that lone wolf viewpoint.

The problem is that your customer doesn’t feel that way.
Even if you run a solo business, the customer expects you to stay engaged. If
you do, it pays off.

For instance, the car salesman that remembers you and stays
in touch gets a shot at selling you your next car or the one your kid needs or
the neighbor who is looking for a good deal. Or the insurance gal that
maintains the contact and winds up handling your life insurance, car insurance
and house insurance.

Every business profits when the sale is the beginning of a
relationship.”

“You’re right,” Chris said, “Even when I sign up a client
on-line, the telephone work I do with them after the close is what makes them
stick around. Fletch, you look like you’ve recovered, what’s on your mind?”

I said, “When you have a simple CRM system that is used,
everyone in the company that touches that client helps build the relationship.”

Gail asked, “But how do you get them to put information into
the Contact Management system?”

What have you tried to overcome that obstacle?

Jerry Fletcher uses Trust-based marketing techniques and
technologies to build companies. Learn more at www.JerryFletcher.com

From the lightning in a bottle of finding your company mission
to building automagic on-line marketing campaigns Jerry speaks on what works in
today’s world. See video of him in action at www.NetworkingNinja.com