The Word for Trust is Confianza

Posted on 2017/01/27 by Jerry Fletcher

Plunging down the mountain side in a cab from the airport in Medellin, Colombia, Don Pepper and I were comparing notes on our careers in advertising.

He didn’t mention the fact that I had excused myself early from the luncheon attended by the sponsors and their key prospects.

Neither of us commented on the fact that the same translator that was working the lunch was also the translator for my after-lunch keynote.

I found out the hard way.

About half a minute into my opening comments a gentleman about 6 rows back started waving both arms in the air.

I asked him in my best high school Spanish, “Que pasa?”

He said in heavily accented English, “No translator!”

I said without thinking, “I will speak v e r y s l o w l y.”

The audience, some 600 strong, joined me in laughter. About a half minute later the translator was ready to go.

Tener Confianza

The key thought in that speech was Trust (Confianza) plus time = success. I talked about what it takes to be successful in business today, on and offline:

Trust in yourself
Trust in your staff
Trust in your company
Trust in your customer

That trip, I was to learn, was all about Confianza.

Because I was scheduled to speak at a convention in Reno, Nevada the following day, the meeting planner and I had tried every trick we knew to get me back there on time. It came down to having to leave for the Medellin airport as soon as I came off the stage.

The cab was ready, I wasn’t.

There had not been time to change to traveling clothes before heading for the airport. I figured I could change before boarding.

Nope. I was hustled onto the plane as the doors were closing by airline staff that had been alerted.

Tener Confianza

I had to change planes in Bogota so I figured I could slip into a bathroom, pull my jeans and sweatshirt out of my carry on and be comfortable for the remainder of my 16-hour commute.

The Bogota Airport was being remodeled.

The only bathroom available near my gate was a standard stall. The rest of it was under construction and open to the waiting room.

Contortionists have it much too easy. I’m not that supple. But I managed to change and make my flight.

Now I know why superman wears his costume under his suit.

Tener Confianza

When I changed planes in Houston I called the meeting planner at the conference in Reno and let her know I was back in the USA and my arrival information.

There was a limo driver holding up a sign with my name on it when I arrived.

The meeting planner wanted to make it easy for me. She knew how arduous it can be just getting there. That gift of not having to rush to find a cab, check in and don my suit to make it to the platform on time is one I will never forget.

Tener Confianza

En ti mismo
En su personal
En tu compañía
En su cliente

Websites:
Speaking: www.NetworkingNinja.com
Consulting: www.JerryFletcher.com
Brand: www.BrandBrainTrust.com
(Personal Brand Network beBee Featured this week)

Brand is the Legendary Made Real

Posted on 2016/12/24 by Jerry Fletcher

Back when I lived in Minneapolis I had the pleasure of dealing with a media representative for the legendary magazine The New Yorker. I acquired a taste for it when I was just starting in the ad game in New York.

Once, over lunch, he told me the story of how a little company in Medford, Oregon began selling fruit by mail. It seems a New Yorker Salesman had decided to drive to Portland and Seattle from San Francisco and he was making stops along the way to pitch his magazine. In those days it was beginning to develop the peculiar circulation it has to this day. Most of the print run goes to New York but it is also read by a solid coterie of subscribers in major cities and high income demographic towns across the country.

That little company in Medford was Harry & David. They decided to test a small space ad in the publication. They sold out their apple crop. Then pears. And the cherries. That was the beginning for them. They became a legend by selling fruit via direct ads and mail across the USA.

A few years ago my then wife and I went to the Shakespeare Festival in Ashland (just north of Medford in southern Oregon). We stayed at a delightful B&B. The first evening over wine, cheese and pears that were to die for we learned our host was also the marketing director of Harry & David. We talked of how that first ad had changed the lives of the partners but more importantly hundreds of people in the Rogue valley. He stressed the fact that the values that were in place for that first ad remained and would continue into the future.

They have.

Now I find myself living as my friends say, “where the sidewalk runs out” south of Portland. I’ve been a Harry & David Customer for more years then I care to count. I know a conglomerate bought them out a while back but the buyers haven’t messed with what makes the company outstanding.

This year I had to change my order. Mom asked me to. She said she couldn’t handle all that they sent in the Fruit of the Month club since Dad died.

So I made the call. I found myself talking to Margaret who understood completely. She walked me through some options. Then we settled on regular fruit shipments but in smaller quantities. She quietly checked all the pertinent shipping data and then helped me with the rest of my list.

The service was legendary.

This is what it took to get me to say that:

People that want to help on the phone. NO pushy sales types. NO hard sells.
Catalogs in the mail because I’ve told them I prefer not to get an e-mail every day for a month after Thanksgiving.
Pertinent details of addresses and greetings kept on file so I don’t have to dig them out
Great Product.
No questions asked returns or changes if needed. Dad couldn’t eat grapefruit due to a medication conflict. Mom called them and a substitution was made even though it was requested well before needed.
People you come to know, like and trust.

It takes time, vision, values, consistency, honesty and real caring. That builds trust and the outcome is a legendary brand.

Legendary can help a product resonate. See the story of Time in a Bottle this week at www.BrandBrainTrust.com

_____________________________________________________________________

Jerry Fletcher is the founder and Grand Poobah of www.BrandBrainTrust.com His consulting practice, now in its 26^th year, is known for Brand Development, Positioning and business development on and off-line.

Consulting: www.JerryFletcher.com
Speaking: www.NetworkingNinja.com

Get all the Brand Briefs. Sign up at http://www.brandbraintrust.com/home.html

Copy and the Customer Journey

Posted on 2016/05/21 by Jerry Fletcher

Bubba, the brand Buddha was pontificating as I slid into my seat. “Tain’t always what you say that matters, It’s what people hear.”

“What people believe already can be a big chunk of that,” I agreed. (I’m Jerry Fletcher and I’m the Watson of this unruly crew that meets over lunch on Fridays.)

“What people believe can make a real difference whether you’re talking printing or politics,” said Kate. “I’ve been in sales since I was teenager and both learning the right language to use and teaching folks to understand how important it is has been difficult for me.

Never let anyone tell you there aren’t different dialects in America. There are racial differences, geographic differences, class differences, age differences and where folks are in the customer journey differences. You can’t just blather along. You’ll never make a sale if you aren’t listening and using their words, viewpoints and meanings. You have to talk to them where they are now, in the moment.”

“Got an example?” Chris asked.

She asked him, “Did you ever go to Las Vegas?”

“Sure,” he replied. “It’s the gaming capital of the Universe.”

“And there’s your answer, plainer’n a cake donut with pink icing and sprinkles,” said Bubba.

Chris looked at him completely non-plussed.

“Think about what you just said,” continued Rob in his typical molasses patience voice. You said gaming. That word never was used in the old days as a reference to Vegas or Atlantic City before all the Indian Casinos and the ones on steamboats docked in Mississippi.

Back in the 1970’s Wall Street shifted from calling it the gambling industry to the gaming industry. By the 1990’s only politicians called it Gambling. For a time Las Vegas was promoted as a family vacation spot. Now it’s a little naughtier, you know, what happens in Vegas stays in Vegas.”

Folks heard the new word and over time the industry was perceived differently.”

The donut demo
“Let me use that donut idea to demonstrate how this works for Chris,” I said. People go through a number of phases where we can change how they think about a company or product or service:

Awareness
Consideration
Intent
Purchase
Satisfaction
Repeat

At every point on that spectrum you can provide content that will convince, persuade and keep them in your funnel even after they buy.”

Ramping it up
Rob jumped back in saying, “But y’all are mostly working on the front end of that process so you should know how to ramp up there first:

Awareness—Listen for the symptoms. Find out how it’s pushin’ on their business. Now, take it a step further and figure out the problem and help ‘em understand it in that larger context.
Consideration—This phase is when they’re bangin’ around looking for information Build strategic website pages or videos or blogs or other kinds of content that homes in on the clear ways you can solve specific kinds of prospect’s problems. The more directly it responds to their need the better.
Intent— is when they have come to the point where they intend to make a purchase. The information you provide at this point in their path to purchase should include examples of how others have profited from your product or service, that’s hard data, analytics that prove your point but most importantly. Make sure it fits with your earlier information. Include first hand suggestions, observations and comments.”

The Takeaways:

The customer journey or path to purchase doesn’t end when they plunk down the cash.

You have to prove that you know their concerns and interests.

The clincher is most often the small detail that you’ve observed from their questions, or observations they make. Always ask why they selected your product or service.

Jerry Fletcher’s blog recaps conversations with clients, prospects and the unruly mob of business development professionals he consorts with. They discuss marketing that works from solopreneur to enterprise level. Jerry, The Consultant’s Communication Consultant, is the ringleader and “Watson” of the dialogue. Sign up for the blog and other publications at: www.JerryFletcher.com/Profit.html

Jerry has been researching and implementing small business marketing that builds businesses, careers and lives of joy for 25 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

The Right Answer to the Most Common Question

Posted on 2016/04/09 by Jerry Fletcher

30 Second Marketing Part 1

“It never fails. You walk into a place, say hello and within minutes you get the question,” I said. “It happens to every consultant, coach and professional, daily.”

Chris, our digital marketing director and the youngest member of the lunch bunch blinked and asked, “What Question?”

Kate rolled her eyes, took a sip of iced tea and said, “It is THE Question. It is the simple request from someone to help identify you by the career path you are on. It is stock-in-trade for sales folks like me whenever we meet someone new.”

“It is the single most asked question in the USA,” I said. “And most people trip all over themselves trying to answer it.”

Chris asked again, “So what is the question?”

Gail, our resident writer, put him out of his misery saying, “The question is: What do you do?”

Bubba, the branding Buddha, drawled with his usual southern charm, “Theahs just no way you can avoid it. Seems like folks kindly want to put you in a little box in their brain with a label stuck on it that fits their piddly memory.”

“You got that right,” I responded. “People always try to categorize new information and that means if you want to be remembered you need to do whatever you can to avoid what Bubba called, that piddly brain box.

An elevator speech is not the answer. That approach has come and gone.”

“But everybody says that you have to have an elevator speech if you’re going to be any good at networking,” said Chris.

“Everybody?” Asked Rick. “I don’t think so. The uninformed…maybe. The slow to understand the difference between how to market and how to sell…probably. Those that don’t understand the primary lessons of direct marketing, where I make a living…for sure. There are way too many people out there that just don’t get it.”

“A conversation instead of a commercial is the right answer,” Kate said. Most people will take interest in you and your profession if it is presented in an interesting way. But if you fall into the trap of describing yourself in common terms you lose. For instance, which would you rather talk to, a guy who says I’m a cpa” or one that tells you, “They call me Captain Crunch.’ That’s what Fletch calls a hook.”

Chris turned to me and asked, “What’s a hook?”

I told him, “A hook is the opening gambit of 30 Second Marketing which is a formula that helps you get to that conversation you want to have to make yourself memorable and give the person you’re chatting with ways to explain your difference to your ideal prospects.

The 30-Second Marketing formula:

Hook ‘em (Get their interest)

Hold ‘em (Tell them the problem you solve for most clients)

Pitch ‘em (Tell them how you solve it)

Close ‘em (Persuade them to take the next step)

The problem most consultants have is that they know way too much about their area of expertise so they have difficulty sorting out simple terms that people understand which relate to the reason they are looking for a consultant or professional to help them.

For example:

I’m a mechanic versus I make cars go

I’m an IT expert versus I make computers do it your way

I’m a website developer versus I build web sites that make rain

The Takeaways:

Make your answer memorable by simplifying it and putting the parts of the formula in language just about everyone can understand.

Test it. Try it on people you don’t know including prospects and pay attention to what they say and do. Then revise based on remarks, reactions and responses.

Avoid lip service—the kind of responses that friends and family give you that aren’t realistic but rather are intended to make you feel good.

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

Prisoner of Expectations

Posted on 2015/11/14 by Jerry Fletcher

“I was listening as a client spoke about Succession Planning. Somewhere along the way he used the phrase Prisoner of Expectations and my mind went chasing that idea through the myriad of myths people have about all things marketing.”

Rick said, You mean like thinking that brand is more important than sales, right?”

“You’re right my direct marketing friend,” I responded. “That assumption is at the heart of so many expectations that people have of their marketing that are so wrong! Brand is something you have to allow to happen instead of trying to control it.

That’s why it is nearly impossible to put a number on it.

Rob, our southern-fried band guru arrived and jumped right in saying, “But you can measure it. You have to spend the money to learn the basic level of awareness and preference as well as sales to satisfy Rick and repeat to really nail it down.”

Jim, the lunch guest who had triggered my maunderings asked, “Can you explain that?”

Rob, who all of us call Bubba turned on his Georgia charm and said, “You betcha. Research folks believe you can figure out how powerful a brand y’all have by showing people your logo along with the competitions. Tha’s why lots of folks think a logo is a brand. Taint.

“The measures you can get that way break down like this:” he said indicating his points with raised fingers:

Awareness—that’s the percentage of folks asked that can identify your “brand” and what it is all about from nothin’ more than your logotype.
Preference—what share of the folks that can identify you and your competitors say they pick you first in a buying situation.
Acquisition—that’s when it gets harder ‘cause you’re dealin’ with actual sales versus the competition but if you keep good records even ‘little guys’ can use this measure.
Satisfaction comes next. Most marketer don’t want to admit that not everyone likes their product or service even when they buy and use it.
Repeat— Another way to figure out where you really stand is lots easier in today’s on-line purchase world if you’re price, delivery included, is still the best easily available.
Referral—is the final measure in reality. Y’all can get an idea about this by asking everyone that considers your product or service who told them about you.

Gail, the veteran advertising copy writer said, “If you run ads in national and sometimes regional magazines you can sometimes get Bubba’s first two from readership studies they do. B2B and B2C are pretty much the same except lower prices mean faster answers and acquisition is replaced with trial but it is pretty much the same game.”

“And,” I said, “the rule of thumb I learned long ago and far away is that the percentage drops by 20% each step of the way. In other words if 100 folks were aware than only 80 would Prefer my brand and then only 64 would actually buy. Of those, 51 would be satisfied 41 would buy again and of those just 33 would refer me.”

“Don’t forget,” Bubba said, just about nobody ever gets 100% awareness. Best ever I saw was barely north of 90%.

The Takeaway:

You can measure brand but generally only when it becomes a regional or nationally known product or service. A high awareness score is terrific but Preference, Acquisition (sales), Satisfaction, Repeat and Referral are always lower than Awareness. Always.

For the little guy, the better measure is found in knowing how your sales stack up against repeat and referral which you can easily develop from your B2B sales records

Jerry Fletcher’s blog recaps conversations with clients, prospects and the unruly mob of business development professionals he consorts with. They discuss marketing that works from solopreneur to enterprise level. Jerry Fletcher is the ringleader and “Watson” of the dialogue. Sign up for the blog and other publications at: www.JerryFletcher.com/Profit.html

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

Crossing the Divide.

Posted on 2015/10/03 by Jerry Fletcher

Rick asked, “Have you been across the new bridge, yet?”

“No,” I said, “but I hear it is beautifully lit at night.”

“I’ve seen pictures.” said Gail, “but knowing you, I doubt you will ever cross on it as it is limited to walking, bicycles and light rail and since you don’t do any of those…”

“Pardon me for being a child of the automotive age, I sneered. What they’ve done is used modern bridge technology in support of old time transportation. That’s just what is going on with sales and marketing. Suddenly sales and marketing are being forced to cross the divide that has separated them since forever.”

“Step back from the technology Mr. Marketing,” said Kate. What do you mean ‘cross the divide?’ There is a difference between sales and marketing. Like you say, marketing is one to many but sales is one to one. That is a chasm. How is technology changing that?”

“You’ve heard about big data, right?”

“Slow down theah, Fletch,” said Rob our Georgia-born brand guru. Y’all are fixin’ to pounce like duck on a june bug. I know that tone in your voice.”

“Okay, Bubba, I replied. “The thing that is so nifty about this is that the enterprise level folks are just starting to figure out what consultants and professionals, at least the smart ones, have known for years. There’s a Forrester Report that just came out on the CMOs new role in sales enablement. What it boils down to is that:

Marketing automation forces more communication between marketing and sales
Better understanding of the customer life cycle creates better customer engagement.
Marketing’s ability to probe customer concerns and interests via projections of big data analysis on individual accounts give sales deeper insights into how to more quickly build targeted trust-based relationships.

Kate jumped in, “so you’re saying that the age-old problem of Marketing not being able to figure out what a good lead is has been resolved. Is that right?”

“Only for a few companies at the enterprise level,” I said. “But as you well know from your own consulting business the divide between marketing and sales is, most of the time, not a big one. It is kind of hard for it to be when it is the same person. The only time it comes up is when a consultancy starts to grow and they add a sales person to the staff.

A consultant connects with a prospect, builds trust, reaches agreement, provides the service and maintains the relationship. There is no disconnect. Engagement flows freely from marketing activity into sales, delivery and, in the best operations, into a long term relationship.

Engagement is the key word. I believe mid-level companies can profit by building a closer relationship between marketing and sales particularly in the development of sales support materials that build trust and demonstrate real understanding of customer problems.

The Takeaway

Technology is paving the way for big companies to gather and analyze data to bridge the divide between marketing and sales. Consultants already routinely do this. Mid-level companies can move toward this new level of integration by giving sales people a starring role in helping develop communications that nurture the sale.

Jerry Fletcher’s blog recaps conversations with clients, prospects and the unruly mob of business development professionals he consorts with. They discuss marketing that works from solopreneur to enterprise level. Jerry Fletcher is the ringleader and “Watson” of the dialogue. Get all his publications at: www.JerryFletcher.com/Profit.html

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

Huggin’ and Chalkin’

Posted on 2015/09/05 by Jerry Fletcher

I arrived a little late and found our branding Guru in the middle of one of his southern fried soliloquys.

“So you see,” he said, “the answer is like my old friend Charlie would put it: You got to go to huggin’ and chalkin’ if y’all are gonna get anywhere in that situation.”

The others all looked just as confused as I felt so I asked, “huggin” and chalkin’ what does that mean?”

“Fletch,” he replied, “I was just talkin’ about solutions to the problem of getting a business from start-up to gettin’ profitable and how it was like my friend Charlie and his romantic intentions.”

“Okay,” I said, “I’ll bite. What’s the story Bubba?”

“We were talkin’ about that story you told last week about the company trying to get to a sustainable level of business and I allowed as how you don’t always have to go whole hog. It’s like my buddy Charlie’s approach to romance.

Charlie is a big ol’ boy He must be about 6 foot two barefoot and tips the scales somewhere about 220. He’s got rugged good looks, played a little football well enough to get a pro look. But he wasn’t interested in that so he took his degree and then went to law school. He’s practicin’ down in Atlanta these days.”

Kate asked, “Bubba what has all that got to do with building sales for a company?”

“Everything, Madame Sales consultant,” he said. “You see Charlie has a different viewpoint about women. As you might expect he is what is considered a very eligible bachelor. But he’s not into all those gals that are continually on diets. Evah hear of Plus size models? Charlie likes Rubenesque women. And his approach to them is what he calls huggin’ and chalkin.’

Just about like any woman, the ones he prefers like to be kissed all over but ever so often time doesn’t allow or other things come up or some distraction interferes so what he does is tell the lass that he’s goin’ to put a little mark on her where he had to leave off and come back to it later.”

There was a chorus of “What’s the point, Bubba?”

“Okay y’all, the point is he calls that Huggin’ and Chalkin’. It’s the same when you’re tryin’ to build a company on limited funds. You go as far as you can to build trusted relationships with the time and money you have making sure that anyone that becomes a customer knows you really care about them.

When you have more time or money or both you go back to huggin’ and bringing more folks to the party. But you never forget where you were. You put the current customers into a regular follow up process. You touch them regularly. You treat them with kindness, courtesy and make them feel loved. You find a way to be there for them. You can chalk all that up to building a brand and a business.”

The Takeaway
Building a business with limited resources can be done. You can reduce your acquisition actions but never eliminate them. Keep contacting your current customers regularly in order to retain them.

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

Content Schemes

Posted on 2015/08/15 by Jerry Fletcher

Chris our digital director type announced, “I need some help with a content problem.”

Gail, the writer/editor that joined in our luncheons asked, “What seems to be the difficulty?”

“Maybe you better introduce your guest and explain what you mean by content first,” I suggested.

“This is Jennifer, he said. “She’s a consultant who works with companies to bring them into the digital age and understand the benefits of business intelligence.

Jen, this is the lunch bunch: Jerry Fletcher is the one that got us all together and he does the blogs you’ve seen. Next to him on his left is Kate. She’s the most knowledgeable sales consultant I’ve ever met. Next to her is Rob. Do not be fooled by his syrupy southern drawl which is why we call him Bubba. He is the Buddha of branding in this group. Next to me here is Gail. She’s run ad agencies, radio stations and is our resident writer and editor. That empty seat next to you is usually filled by Rick who runs a world class direct marketing firm. There are some less frequent attendees but that is the usual group that comes together here each Friday.”

“So what do you mean by content?” I asked.

Jennifer said, “Like I told Chris, I believe I can be more successful if I do Content Marketing instead of the old fashioned pitching of products and services. The problem is I have to generate all this stuff and I’m not sure what will work and how to find the time to do it. I figure I have to do it well or not at all. Is there some sort of template or basic scheme that will work for me?”

Rick, who had arrived as she was explaining, said, “There’s a Roper Poll that says 80 percent of business decision-makers prefer to get company information in a series of articles versus an advertisement. About 60 percent say that information they get from companies helps them make better decisions.”

“That may be true,” I said but let’s do a round robin for Jennifer and each come at it from our area of expertise. I’ll start. I think you need to a have a strategy that is written down, followed religiously and that you need to measure the results regularly”

Kate said, “You also need to be darn sure of who your customer is and how what you do can be differentiated. I mean in benefit terms but more importantly the outcome the buyer gets from you.”

“It is a pleasha to have such radiance at the table with us, Bubba drawled. Y’all need to remember that theahs a Brand piece of this pie to be considered, too. You might could change your brand if you’re not careful. Make sure your brand is in sync with the differentiation that Kate was talkin’ about. Think your way through possible problems and make sure all your content is aligned with the singular brand your customers and prospects are lookin’ to buy into.

Gail, shaking her head said, “Radiance at the table…you have no shame!”

Jennifer blushed.

Gail continued, “I was looking at this another way. In order to provide information in a form or multiple forms that communicates you have to define the targets in depth. Demographics. Psychographics, Anecdotes. You have to understand where, when, how and most importantly why they want to engage with you. And knowing those things never do anything once. If you write an article think about how to turn it into an audio presentation, a video, a slide show, an infographic…whatever way your target might like to get it.

“I guess it’s my turn,” said Rick. “Two things. First, I think you have to consider the channels you’re going to use to get the word out. I understand that time is a concern so do you have to minimize some social marketing or change your emphasis from say a blog to a newsletter or vice-versa? Second, even though you’re trying to get the prospect to move through the Know/ Like/ Trust cycle you still have to ask for the order. Include a direct call to action in everything you do.

The Takeaway:

Successful content strategies are documented. You need to decide:

How it fits into your business plan
Who you’re talking to and what they want to know
What impact it has on your brand and how to cope with that
Which channels you’re going to use to connect
When to tell them how you’re different and ask for the order

Jerry has been researching and implementing small business marketing that builds businesses, careers and lives of joy for 25 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

Act Your Age!

Posted on 2015/07/25 by Jerry Fletcher

Kate, our sales doyen, sniffed, “Sometimes I think clients are like unruly kids!”

Gail asked, “How so?”

Kate responded, “Jonathan, a client who has been in business forever and over the years volunteered to advise start-ups is going through a life change. He’s retiring from his old business and about to start a new one. He’s so fired up he is overlooking all the basics that need to be done before a launch.”

Rick, Mr. Direct Marketing, asked, “What kind of business is he starting?”

“Consulting,” Kate said. She went on, “He just doesn’t want to do the work he needs to do to increase his chances of success.”

“Could it be an age thing?” I asked. “I don’t mean his age although that is important for consultants but rather a company’s age. Is he thinking like an ‘old-timer” when he is actually a newbie in the new business?”

You’ve updated your Company Phase research again, haven’t you brer’ fox?” said Rob, the Georgia born branding expert.

Chris looked puzzled so Rob continued, “He’s been surveying successful B to B businesses for more years than you’ve been alive. As I recall there are three phases:

Start up
Growth
Established

He’s figured out what marketing works in each phase and because he’s done so much work with consultants he can streamline recommendations and jus’ plain put a jack under your ROI.”

Kate jumped back in asking, “What should I tell Jonathan other than to come talk to you, Fletch?”

“He’s pretty definitely a start up from what you said, so maybe the thing to do is take him for a trip down memory lane. Every business starts the same way whether we want to remember it or not. The differences over time can be put into a 3D matrix. All that changes is Time, Money and Staff. In part, those variables control what you can do to market a firm. But they don’t really change what is effective.”

Chris asked, “So different things are more effective in each phase?”

“You got it. When anyone starts out, especially consultants, they have to get to Trust. There are three ways to get enough trust to get a contract:

Sell a previous employer
Sell someone referred by a previous employer
Network to a previous contact familiar with your work and sell ‘em

Over time, every successful consulting organization, comes to rely on referrals.

Every successful organization.

The Takeaway:

Here are the key ways consultants get business in each phase in order of importance:

Start Up Growth Established

Direct Sales Referrals Referrals

Networking Direct sales Prior experience

Referral Networking Direct Sales

Prior experience Prior experience Direct Marketing

Direct Marketing Direct Marketing Everything Else

Everything else Everything else Networking

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

Coffee, Catchup & Marketing

Posted on 2015/07/18 by Jerry Fletcher

“All I did was take her idea and run with it,” I protested.

“Not according to her,” said Gail, our resident writer. “She tells me that your comments are changing her life.”

I said, “I just met her for coffee and to find out what has been going on. She told me she was thinking about talking to people who stage houses for sale to see if she could get them to display some of her paintings.”

Boy, drawled Bubba, “You’re jus’ like a chicken, you don’t praise your own soup. What did you tell that sweet thing?”

“She’s an artist,” I said. “She’s started painting full time and has been successful at some local art fairs. She’s starting to get interest…not enough to get into a regular gallery yet, but interest. She suggested the staging thing and my marketing brain kicked in.”

“Thas’ all well and good,” said Bubba, “but will you tell us what you told her?”

“This is a perfect example of how I define marketing:

Go where the money is
Sell what they want to buy
Do it again

“I told her to think about the kind of houses that get staged. They are what I call McMansions. They start north of $400,000. Around here most of them have fireplaces.

The one place in a house like that which a painting of size will get noticed is above the fireplace. The painting must be big enough to hang there and command the space. It has to be an original. That’s the only way to get a good price. Big. Original. Commanding. Expensive.

Selling what they want to buy is where the conversation got interesting. She had been making very expensive photo copies of her work and selling those next to the originals.”

“And the originals sold better,” Kate said, finishing for me.”

“Yes, madam sales master,” I replied. “More importantly she had pretty good sales records of the three major styles she was working in. One approach was selling three times better than the others. Visually it was less complex than either of the others but still gave her a great deal of latitude in which to work. She will build an inventory in that series before moving on to the more complex canvases because she will be able to sell them more quickly.

Of course, I suggested she find some way to acquire the names and e-mails of anyone who saw one of her paintings and wanted to see more. For an artist, as foreign as the idea may be, a good CRM system can be crucial. People who buy original art tend to buy again. Staying in touch with them can be the difference between a hobby and career.”

The Takeaway

Go where the money is
Sell what they want to buy
Do it again

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

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