"There is something to be said for keeping everything under one roof, even if it is a very big roof." Jay Goltz NYTIMES
According to a survey Social Dollars: The Economic Impact of Customer Participation in a Firm-sponsored Online Community run in 2011, every second of the top 100 global brands host a so-called on-line community. But is it really worth investing? The answer is... YES, writes the Strategy and Business Magazine.
The Magazine reviewes a research paper published by The Ross School of Business in January 2012, and here's what they found out:
"We find that 19% of the post-launch revenue from community customers can be attributed to their joining the community. This result is robust across a variety of tests. In addition, social dollars persist over time, arise in both online and offline channels and affect all product categories sold by the firm. The analysis of community data reveals that social connections – the number and importance of friend ties – and interactions – personal page displays – are positively linked to social dollars." - the research authors say.
I was at a business presentation on selling the other day and the gentleman presenting discussed the “puppy dog close.” Let’s say, for example, that you sell copiers. You wheel the copier into a prospects office and tell her to keep it a few days. When you come back for it, she has fallen in love with it. It’s sort of a hybrid of a trial and an extended product demonstration. If your product is cute and cuddly enough, no one will want to get rid of it.
But what if you don’t sell a product? What if you sell a service? What if you sell yourself? What if you are in some kind of consulting? Then what? How can you leave a puppy for your prospects to fall in love with? How do you do a product demonstration?
Some people feel that to be successful in selling you need to be extroverted. I don’t believe that. In fact, being an introvert can actually be an advantage in selling as I see it. I know because I am one at heart.
Don’t know if you heard the news, but Slideshare is now totally re-written in HTML5. So what? Two main benefits:
A lot of people over the last few weeks have been talking about “the best ways” to locate new customers and clients. A lot of people think that the strategies required have changed and that many of the old strategies don’t work anymore.
Out with the old, in with the new?
Not really. I agree that there are many “new ways” of reaching prospects and customers…
I have a LinkedIn account and a LinkedIn group (Sales Psychology & Performance if you want to have a look). I have a Youtube channel, I Twitter, I have a sales training blog and was blogging well before most other’s in the market place. I have numerous other social media profiles which I don’t use as much and I am also looking at the newest trends all of the time. I love to use the new ways and embrace change…
With a few minor changes for publication vs. presentation, this is a presentation that I gave recently at the Dallas ASTD Southwest Learning Summit for their sales training track.
It’s been a long week to say the least. You’ve been working hard, putting in extra hours. But it also feels like one of those weeks where it’s one step forward and two steps back. Yes, you know what I’m talking about. We have all been there.
It’s Friday afternoon and you’re tired. You are already thinking about a weekend of must needed rest and relaxation. You decide that today, you are heading home early. Why not? You justify it to yourself in several ways saying; “I deserve it, I worked hard all week.” “Beside most of my clients are doing the same thing.” “The proverbial great escape is under way and traffic will be bad.”
Yes, this was me this past Friday afternoon. Like most tired and sometimes frustrated individuals, I needed an early escape to de-stress. It’s 4:30 and I’m turning on to my street. Mowing the yard seems to help but from the looks of the grooming process taking place with many of my neighbors, I am actually late to the party. It appears that every guy at every house is mowing their grass. Now most of my neighbors are professionals. A lot of Sales people, Vice Presidents and the like. But today something was different. I guess I looked at it a little differently from the thousands of times that I drove down my street. I noticed that the people that were out, were the sales folks, not the VP’s.
Many businesses are jumping on the social media bandwagon, utilizing Facebook, LinkedIn, Google+ and Twitter to promote business. Often one of the biggest challenges in creating social media campaigns however is spreading the word. One easy solution lies within your own assets – Specifically your employees.