Tag Archives: Networking

Is Your Brand “Strangely Familiar?”

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Connecting

There is a point in time when your product is not a known quantity. People may not have an idea what it is and what it does. They need a way to wrap their mind around it. They need something familiar to connect to the strange. Here are some examples:

  • Horseless carriage
  • Digital camera
  • Flat Screen TV
  • Big box store
  • Electric car
  • Selfie stick
  • Virtual reality

That is the way to get hordes of people to comprehend what you offer. Those descriptions came from multiple directions. “Horseless Carriage” was first heard on the streets as the first automobiles were introduced. The” Digital Camera” dates back to the 1950s and is a spin-off of video camera design! The electric car was “invented” by multiple people starting in 1828. Today’s versions tend to be “hybrids” a combination of gas and electric but if fueling and range can be corrected an “all-electric” could be the coming thing.

This just in (sort of)

More recent additions to the above list might be:

  • Self-driving car.
  • Rollerblades
  • 3-D Printer

In every case, the familiar is combined with the strange to forge connections in our minds. Without such verbal equations we don’t have a shorthand term for the unknown product or service.  We don’t have a way to remember an offering.

It is all timing

There is a time in your life and that of the product or service you market that it needs to be strangely familiar and cited as “The.” The Selfie Stick, The rollerblades. The snowboard. If you’re lucky that yields a brand.  Later on you may have to add another word in order to protect your panache. Then you become “The original” as in The Original Pancake house,  The Original denim jacket and The Original Networking Ninja .

Factoring the familiar

Sometimes you need to add a little strange to make the familiar more powerful. That’s where Instant Brand and 30-Second Marketing come into play. Memorability can be added to anyone’s response to the question, “What do you do?”

Over the years I’ve used these responses:

  • Marketing Rainmaker (my original consulting title)
  • Networking Ninja (I’ve been speaking under that sobriquet and owned the URL since 1990)
  • Brand Poobah has been one of my titles for the last couple years as people kept asking me to help them with their Brand

Marketing, Networking and Brand are descriptive but not words that will tickle your little grey cells. Rainmaker says I can change your marketing and your life. Networking Ninja has a marvelous consonance and infuses expertise. Brand Poobah says expert but with a bit of tongue in cheek fun. All three are much more unforgettable than they were before the strange was added.

Want to make yourself “Strangely Familiar?”

Call me. 503 957-7901

Jerry Fletcher is a sought-after International Speaker, a beBee ambassador, founder and Grand Poobah of www.BrandBrainTrust.com

His consulting practice, founded in 1990, is known for Trust-based Brand development, Positioning and business development for independent professionals on and off-line.

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

 

Personal Brand Out Of The Dark.

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I went dark back in mid-November.

Shift happens. I put my house on the market and it sold. The condo I wanted to buy had not received FHA approval. The mortgage company bureaucrats demanded data at the last minute. Mom was in the emergency room so I flew back to the Midwest.

Then, not only Murphy but his minions decided it was my turn in the barrel. I figured my Personal Brand was going to take a hit.

Keeping your personal brand means you have to:

  • Constantly keep it in mind.
  • Unceasingly support it.
  • Always keep it visible.

That is especially true when Murphy and Minions grab hold of your life.

I’ve just come through three months of coping with the Murphy clan.

According to Google:

Edward Aloysius Murphy Jr. (January 11, 1918 – July 17, 1990) was an American aerospace engineer who worked on safety-critical systems. He is best known for his namesake Murphy’s law, which is said to state, “Anything that can go wrong will go wrong.”

How do you sustain your personal brand when everything you do seems to diminish your ability to look after it?

For me it started with three apparently unrelated decisions:

  1. I would assist Mom in getting the eye surgery she needed by being there.
  2. I’d sell my house, downsize and bank a little cash on the way.
  3. Speaking appearances would get more attention in 2018.

I wrote about how Murphy and his Minions started changing my life regarding the first two decisions in my Personal Note Series (Best Laid Plans, To Market To Market).

Little did I know back then.

You are who you are and that will not change catastrophically unless you run afoul of the law in a major way.

I went dark for three months. My last Small Business Marketing Blog and weekly commentary last appeared in mid-November. Updates to my Brand web site and Facebook page stopped about the same time. My regular contributions to BeBee became a trickle of comments and then just stopped altogether.

I did maintain my consulting business clients but had to discontinue most of my new business activities. I flew to Cincinnati, Ohio from my home in Portland, Oregon four times in two months Two of the trips were unplanned because Mom was in the Emergency Room.

There were a few concerned business phone calls but It wasn’t until I cancelled the land-line phone service that I got any major reaction. I only have one phone number now: 503 957-7901

Be yourself. Don’t allow the events of the day to muddle how you connect.

Base your personal brand on your core competence, convictions and confidence. Stick to it through thick and thin. People understand that your professional abilities can be impacted by emotional situations. You need to be transparent about how Murphy and Minions are impacting your emotions. They will give you credit when you are candid.

Honesty, candor and your web site are the night light you need when Murphy and Minions force you to go dark.

My consulting site continued to generate leads and proved to be the primary resource for clients that were referring prospects. The comment, “I felt I knew you before we met in person because your web site gave me so much information.”

Over the next few weeks you can look forward to updates in my speaking site (www.NetworkingNinja.com)

_______________________________________________________________

Jerry SpeakingJerry Fletcher is a beBee ambassador, founder and Grand Poobah of www.BrandBrainTrust.com

His consulting practice, founded in 1990, is known for Trust-based Brand development, Positioning and Business Development on and off-line. He is also a sought-after International Speaker.

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

 

Networks = Net Worth

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New World of NetworkingOnce your net worth was a single network.

No more.

Now it is up to three with another on the way.

New world of NetworkingYes, there are overlaps, but each is distinct in how it contributes to your life.

Personal Network

These are people close to you.

These are the people in your inner circle.

These are the people you want to stay connected to no matter what.

It starts with family. Add friends of long standing, trusted advisors, all the men and women you count on to tell you the truth and make life more worth living.

Their worth to you can’t be accounted in dollars and cents. These are the people that ‘get” you, ones that have your back and are there for you, no matter what.

Social Network

Formerly, this was the domain of clubs, membership organizations and volunteer groups. It still is, but the opportunities have exploded due to the internet. You can be friended for any reason or none at all. There’s a group for every interest. Can’t find one that suits you? Start one of your own.

People seldom move from the Social Network to the personal but it is not unknown. Men and women try out dating sites. Some wind up getting married. People write articles and viewpoint posts in beBee hives, agree to meet in person and SHAZAM! their relationship ratchets up.

The worth?

  • Finding your mate is a value most of us seek assiduously.
  • Establishing an intellectual relationship is never easy. The net of the Social Network is that it allows you to do so faster.
  • All of us profit from sharing with like minds. Here we can be sure that we are not alone and that we do, indeed, have a “tribe.”

Business Network

Customer or clients, referral sources, folks you can refer and specialists you recommend without reservation fall into this category.

Every business must, in the beginning, rely on networking to raise capital, make a sale or just be allowed to make a presentation. If your business is product based, sales determine whether the company lives or dies. Service company? Long term your reputation will determine your fate. And as you become better known, others will ask your opinion about the folks that help you build your business, the advisors you listen to and the professionals you would use to solve a specific problem.

Dollars and Cents Net Worth

If you keep track you can chart a profit or loss to the relationships. You meet someone at a networking event, hit it off and soon you find that you are working with them. You note the income and the profit. That client/customer refers a friend who declines but suggests you talk to his mastermind group. You do and find yourself with two new clients. The income and profit from them can be attributed to that chance meeting but too often we don’t track this sort of thing.

Your mission, should you choose to accept it is to track of those contacts, the results they produce and repeat them. If you’d like to learn how, e-mail me and ask about Nonstop Referrals TM.

Block Chain Network

Technology refuses to stand still. This is the “leapfrog” technology in networking in my view. It was originally developed to make cryptocurrencies like bit coin possible. Block chain technology gives internet users the ability to create value and authenticate digital information with greater security than ever before by distributing the files to multiple computers.

What is the payoff?

What new business applications will result? Those distributed ledgers enable the coding of simple contracts that will execute when specified conditions are met. Imagine how that would work if you are wanting to be sure your intellectual property is secured and can’t be copied if you want to share it or sell it. Think about how your profile can only be changed by you. Consider another level of security to any digital network you involve yourself in. It is well worth watching for the new networking capabilities that are sure to come.

Stay Tuned.

Jerry FletcherJerry Fletcher is a beBee ambassador, founder and Grand Poobah of www.BrandBrainTrust.com

His consulting practice, founded in 1990, is known for Trust-based Brand development, Positioning and business development on and off-line. He is also a sought-after International Speaker.

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

 

Brand Survival of the Social Media Conspiracy

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Social Media ConspiracyFeel like you are “behind the curve” on social media? Every professional I know is concerned that they may not be able to maintain their position, that their brand might slip.

Each day there is more in printed media and on-line assuring us that we are quickly getting passed by if we’re not up on the latest changes.  The dire warnings continue on and on.

Did you get used to the internet and go back to “business as usual”?

You got a website for our business even if you had to hire your nephew to do it. Things were pretty good for a while. You had an internet presence you could brag about. But then things started to change again.

We a pretty sure now that video and texting and smart phones is where it is at the moment but who knows what wondrous devices or “apps” are lurking in the technology woods? (Block Chain Technology is coming!)

We tackle this social media thing head on and wind up trying to find out what a “hash tag” is and why we should care. Regardless of what happens the press and the pundits will continue to tell us we have to keep up if we want to maintain our businesses. They will use arguments like, “If you don’t get savvy now…if you wait too long…the learning curve is getting steeper.” They could be right,,, if you buy into their viewpoint.

Social media applications are engineering answers to instinctive human urges to network including our fear of the unknown.

Every human being feels the need to connect with others. Some are shy about it. Some are forward. All feel the need to a greater or lesser degree. Yes we have concerns about “talking to a stranger.” The perpetrators of these arms-length attempts got it half right in my view. You can’t  substitute quantity for quality. For me, Social Media looks like an awful lot of work without a lot of connection with real people.

Be a survivor. Step back from the social media onslaught.

Stop listening to the hullabaloo. Take a deep breath and look at reality. All professional businesses need a steady flow of work. Small businesses need an ongoing revenue stream. The successful ones do it by satisfying a slowly expanding group of customers with whom they have a personal relationship. Even large businesses need a stable base that they add to over time.

In other words, each successful business needs a personal network of satisfied customers, a core of clients or customers that trust you and your brand.  They need to trust you at least enough to keep coming back to you for your product or service. A few of them, never more than a select few, will refer you. Their trust will be transferred to a new customer.

The core of trust is at the heart of building a business and a brand.

Initially, that core of trust is you. If you operate solo it will always be. With a partner or an ensemble or partners you all have to subscribe to the same central beliefs. In a larger organization each person needs to be driven by the same values.

You can’t fool customers for long. They see your brand from the outside in. They rely on how your decisions impact them to make judgments about you and your firm. If you are true to them, they will be true to you.

Jerry FletcherJerry Fletcher is a beBee ambassador, founder and Grand Poobah of www.BrandBrainTrust.com

His consulting practice, founded in 1990, is known for Trust-based Brand development, Positioning and business development on and off-line. He is also a sought-after International Speaker.

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

 

 

New World Networking

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New World NetworkingIt’s coming.

It started with Bit Coin.

Now there’s AirBnB, and Etsy and Task Rabbit.

Slowly but surely Block Chain Technology is edging out the Internet as we know it.

Here’s a great explanation of the technology:

https://blockgeeks.com/guides/what-is-blockchain-technology

This technology is the next step in the evolution of networking for business development.

Most people agree that people do business with folks they know, like and trust and that trust is based on reputation.

The more secure your reputation, the easier it is to get to trust.

This technology will make building a reputation and maintaining it easier but your brand will have to be carefully nurtured along the way.

Block Chain Technology is more secure than the server based internet. There is no central place a hacker can go to mess with your reputation. It is hosted by millions of computers, simultaneously.

Block Chain Technology is more up to date as it reconciles all transactions on all the stored blocks about every ten minutes. Your information is embedded and updated in the entire network not in a single place.

Block Chain Technology is more collaborative. The network operates on a user-to-user (or peer-to-peer) basis. An entire team can make changes in a document at the same time.

Block Chain Technology enables peer to peer payments.  You won’t have to go through an intermediary like Uber. OpenBazaar uses the technology to create a peer-to-peer eBay.

Block Chain Technology is transparent (nothing is hidden) and publicly accessible. Imagine if it were used for elections. Governance, even in the corporate world, could be managed in the block chain.

Block Chain Technology can protect your intellectual property. You could use smart contracts to protect copyright and automate the sale of your creative works online, eliminating the risk of file copying and redistribution.

Block Chain Technology will protect your reputation. Identity verification is critical to on-line transactions in the sharing economy. Applications currently in development will allow you to have a digital identity for you and your business deliverables that is secure well beyond what is currently available.

Are you ready for New World Networking?

Jerry Fletcher Keynote in ColombiaJerry Fletcher is a beBee ambassador, founder and Grand Poobah of www.BrandBrainTrust.com

His consulting practice, founded in 1990, is known for Trust-based Brand development, Positioning and business development on and off-line. He is also a sought-after International Speaker.

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

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

 

Your Brand is Your Secret Funnel Story

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Story FunnelYou can’t sell anything if they don’t buy your story.

You can talk at people until you are blue in the face and it won’t do any good.

You can “logic them” and “feature them” and even “benefit them” but your results will still be negative.

If your Web site or landing page starts with an “I” you are going to lose.

If you don’t make yourself memorable, communicate the problem you solve in their terms, tell them how you do it in their language and explain how to get your help in a couple minutes or less, you lose.

If you don’t make it easy for them every way you can, go back to your day job.

The secret is your story.

It makes no difference whether you are doing e-commerce for a product or a service. The distinction doesn’t matter.

Passion is what matters.

Why are you passionate about this thing you are selling? How did that happen? Want to bet that your experience is similar to other folks that might be interested? Have you watched someone’s eyes as you tell them the concerns you had about it? Have you noticed how they start nodding when you talk about how the change it made in you made you feel about yourself and your family? Have you noticed how you don’t have to sell but rather just take orders.

Your passion plus your story plus a formula.

Imagine you are in a room with a crowd of other folks that are entrepreneurial– consultants, coaches, professionals, guys and gals starting companies and people charged with launching a small company’s new product.

The speaker says:

Target “Are you the one that has to be sure that there is paying business in the pipeline? Do you find yourself looking for another place to network or a trade show to attend just to meet a few new prospects? Are you tired of waiting for leads from your web site or all the social media stuff they told you would work?

And even if it did isn’t that little voice in your ear saying things that make you doubt you’ll ever get this thing off the ground? Makes you feel like a failure that doesn’t take care of his family doesn’t it?

Ever wake up in the middle of the night worried about money to keep the business afloat and to be able to give your kids a college education?

We all know that people do business with people they know, like and trust.

Problem Would you say that your problem is building trust fast enough especially if your budget is zilch?

Guide I know what that’s like. I was the CEO of an ad agency dealing with national and international clients but my board and I agreed to disagree and I went from the corner office, the BMW and the expense account to a makeshift office in a spare bedroom.

I felt rejected. Put out to pasture. Trapped. I was afraid I wouldn’t be able to pay the bills.

I knew that I could help the little guys, the small businesses that couldn’t afford a big agency. I knew I could help them do it without breaking the bank.

First I had to get to trust. I had to find a way to reach them without looking desperate. But I had more bills than money.

I resorted to asking those pearls of contacts I had to help me get some business.

I sent a letter to just 60 golfing buddies. Six responded. Two wished me luck. Two referred me to prospects. And two gave me engagements.

That was in 1990.

I’ve learned a lot along the way. The most important is this:

  • What you know is significant
  • Who you know is important
  • But the single most critical factor in building a business, a career or a life of joy is who trusts you.

You can do what I did.

I can show you how.

It’s called Marketing Without Money.

Would you like to hear more about that?”

Jerry Fletcher Keynote in ColombiaJerry Fletcher is a beBee ambassador, founder and Grand Poobah of www.BrandBrainTrust.com

His consulting practice, founded in 1990, is known for Trust-based Brand development, Positioning and business development on and off-line. He is also a sought-after International Speaker.

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

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

 

 

The Journey From Mad Man to Brand Poobah

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Two MartinisKen asked me over lunch, “Was it really like Mad Men back then?”

Let’s just say I have a little more mileage than he does. He wasn’t born when I went to New York. He was fascinated by my experiences in the era popularized by the TV Series Mad Men.

Yes, I was there. I climbed the stairs from the IRT stop and walked a short distance to the entrance to 420 Lexington and the Offices of J. Walter Thompson when it was the largest advertising agency in the world. I still have the brass medal every employee was awarded on the 100th anniversary of the company.

That job, for a boy reared in southwestern Ohio, was a real eye opener. Everybody smoked. Men. Women. Youngsters like me. I’d worked construction to pay for college and picked up the habit, Phillip Morris Commanders—strong like Camels but longer. The scent of tobacco was everywhere.

Working in the mail room I was too young and too low on the totem pole to participate in the sexual hijinks but then I had a sweetheart back in Ohio.

Naïve? Yes. Stupid? No. I figured if I couldn’t get in on the physical side of things I could learn the lingo so I became the confidante of secretaries and traffic girls. I wound up having those lovely creatures buy me drinks since they made more than me.

I lucked out after a while and wound up becoming a TV paste-up guy who put the storyboards together for presentation and that put me into contact with some heavy hitter art directors.

That lead to my first (and last) two martini lunch. Ted took pity on me and asked me to join him for lunch on him. We went to an Argentine place he frequented. The waiter never asked. A martini for each of us showed up and so I clinked glasses and tried not to react. I thought I was going to be okay and then a refill magically appeared.

Ever see one of those cartoon rabbits that seems to have no bones and slide out of a chair to the floor? That was me. I believe the correct term is Blotto.

Working there was a great way to learn that even though I was getting a degree in Advertising Design the art side of the business was not where the power was. I quickly decided that being an Account Man with heavy knowledge of the art side of the business was what I wanted to do. I was lucky. That was the time when boutiques were giving the old line agencies fits. Powerful creative was being done by the upstarts that are now considered to be icons of the industry. That paid off when I made the switch.

Back then they had open training for all employees over lunch and you could learn about all and any parts of the business. I took advantage of the opportunity and made some friends at the VP level who gave me great advice on how to cross the divide from the creative to the management side of the business.

Ken really stirred up the memories including the summer of New York World’s Fair. The Ford exhibit became a Disney ride. The IBM exhibit synced up a battery of 35mm projectors and a couple of movie projectors. I think that was my first experience with that whole idea of multi-media. Years later I would use the same techniques with original scores for multiple clients.

The mileage check version of how I got here is straightforward:

  • Get job interviews for account work at 42 ad agencies at their expense based on a direct mail letter. Take the position offered by Campbell Mithun Minneapolis.
  • Become the fireman (one of the guys that pulls troubled accounts back into the fold).
  • Work in multiple offices and win your spurs as a new business guy.
  • Decide to leave CM when the agency is purchased by a British Conglomerate.
  • Move to Portland and in time become CEO of the largest B2B agency.
  • Hang out a shingle as a solo when you and your board agree to disagree.

I seldom ever look back even though those were great times. It takes a trigger like hurtling down the mountainside from the Medellin airport in a cab with Don Pepper and learning how often we just barely missed crossing paths. But that’s another story…

Jerry FletcherJerry Fletcher is a beBee ambassador, founder and Grand Poobah of www.BrandBrainTrust.com

His consulting practice, founded in 1990, is known for Trust-based Brand development, Positioning and business development on and off-line. He is also a sought-after International Speaker.

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

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

The Right Answer to the Most Common Question

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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 Singular most often asked questionblinked 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.

 

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

 

Selling Consulting: 5 Questions Rainmakers Listen For

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Ken contacted me through Linked In and arranged a phone call. Selling Consulting 5 questions rainmakers listen for

It started out with him pitching me his publishing services and ended with two questions:

  1. Would I have time for him in my schedule?
  2. What would it cost?

Kate, our sales doyen said, “Like I always say—Never Stop Selling!”

“You’re right,” I agreed. “And I usually just sort of stumble into it.”

“That,” she said, “can be fixed. Think back on the conversation. When did it switch from him pitching you to the other way around? Was there a question that either of you asked that caused things to put you in the seller’s seat? If you’re listening you’ll hear one of these which will make it easy for you to shift the conversation:

  • How do you work? This one is sometimes a general interest question but if it comes after you’ve mentioned some accomplishment for a client means they want a taste of that for themselves.
  • Why do you consult? At a cocktail party it can be an opening gambit but if it comes after you’ve revealed your years in practice or how you acquired your expertise to someone you’ve identified as a prospect… Remember, a prospect is someone that has a problem you can solve, is willing to talk to you and can sign the check to pay you.
  • How many clients do you work with at a time? The clue phone should be ringing if you hear this. Always answer truthfully noting that although you are busy, you have room for another now depending on the time commitment required.
  • What is your hourly rate? They are looking for a way to figure out what it would cost to put you to work for them. Do not answer directly. Yes, a lot of consultants and professionals work on an hourly fee basis and that is what the world expects. My recommendation is to work on a value based or retainer basis with all your clients. Value based means you agree to put together a plan just for the prospect based on the value they assign to solving the problem they have. Normally you will want to give them three options and let them choose. Option 1 solves their problem for an amount that is 10% to 20% of the value they assigned to solving the problem. Option 2 includes option 1 and adds a desirable add-on that will make the solution more effective. Option 3 includes options 1 and 2 and provides additional access to you for more complex and longer term fixes. Frequently, option 3 generates long term retainer agreements that allow you to provide your expertise on an on-call basis. That eliminates the requirement of developing huge proposals and all the time that entails. You still may have to map out how you’re going to handle something but it less of a pitch and more of jointly determined approach.
  • Have you ever worked in my industry? Again, tell the truth. If you have, give them information on successes. Never get into industry politics. Always speak of former clients positively—even if you fired them or vice-versa. The real reason they are asking is their belief that their industry is different. People believe that their industry, state, profession etc. can’t be understood if you don’t work in it. Don’t argue. Instead tell them how you were a total newbie in some industry you have had success in. Explain how part of your approach is to first understand how the industry works and then solve the problem by bringing to bear all the people knowledge and processes you have come to understand working in a spectrum of industries. Or, if you are truly knowledgeable in a specialized area, give them facts, figures and success stories.

All those questions just start the conversation. It’s up to you to take it to a profitable conclusion.

  • If it is in a networking situation either personal or business get agreement to meet at their office.
  • If someone is pitching you, Then decide when you want to schedule a follow-up based on the interest they show. Always follow up. Top sales professionals estimate that beginning and even experienced sales people miss out on 20% to 30% of potential sales just through not following up. Plan to meet with them face to face if possible.
  • If a referral source is asking questions, carefully determine if they will tell you who they are asking for. If they will, orient your answers and questions to that prospect. If not, answer and question and suggest that it might be wise to introduce you to the prospect over lunch, on you, of course. Then, try to get that face to face meeting in their office.

The Takeaway:

Never stop selling! Listen for the questions that suggest more than casual interest in your consulting capabilities. Pay attention to indications that there is real interest in what you do.

 

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

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!

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

Gail asked, “How so?” How old is our company?

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

 

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.

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