Friday 29 January 2010

Me Love You Long Time

There’s nothing worse than a fair-weather friend.

Always there when the going’s good, they’re the life and soul of the party.

But then the rainclouds gather and they’re gone in a shot.

No staying power, zero commitment to the cause.

So how do you think consumers feel when a brand gives up on a property its sponsoring, or cancels an event it usually delivers when the economy takes a knock?

Look to the terraces.

Football fans will keep buying their season tickets, no matter what.

I know I’m a West Ham fan

Redundancy, inflation – nothing gets in the way of those ninety minutes in the stand cheering on their team.

If you’re going to convince people that you’re as big a fan as they are, you’d better have the staying power to prove it.

It’s about keeping the connection alive, especially during the lean years.

Thursday 28 January 2010

Upping Your Elvis

My mate Chris has just run a session here for our senior team
It was great
He's a genius
Go here to see what he does

Wednesday 27 January 2010

Greetings Pop Pickers

This post was going to be my top 10 sales rules but I know you guys are too individual, too........well.....maverick to follow rules, so I’ve reduced it to 10 words

10 simple words that can help in your sales endeavours, whatever they are.

So to the tune "at the sign of the swinging cymbals" and in the voice of Alan "Fluff" Freeman.

Here we go with the top ten.

Word 1 Goals
What are your objectives, make a plan.

Word 2 Action .

You have the objective, now in the words of the great god of trainers Just Do It.

Get something going …something…anything.

Doing something will get you closer to your goal.

Thinking, wanting, and wishing are not doing

Word 3 Change
What are you doing

Is it the same as last year with a date change?

The world of your clients is constantly changing and evolving and what worked last year may not this.

Word 4 Measure
Are you measuring the impact of your sales activity?

Knowledge is power and will tell you what you need to do more of (or change) to get the result you want.

Word 5 Empathy
Put yourself in the clients shoes

It’s really easy to think about yourself and how good you are.

How often do you think like your clients?

What do they need?

Only when you truly understand what’s going on in their head, can you truly match your offering.

Word 6 Man-up (you too girls)
Don’t make excuses or blame everyone and everything for your lack of success

If you find yourself making excuses for not achieving sales..... you’re in trouble.

We can blame, the economy, the client, the prospect; our partner, the dog that looked at you in a funny way, anyone and anything, the list is endless.

There’s only one person responsible for your results............you

Word 7 Listen
Not getting feedback from your clients is a crime.

Your clients like you, that’s why they buy from you.

Find out the reasons they buy then go find others that have the same buying criteria.
Word 8 Question
Asking open questions

That means no questions that can be answered with a ‘yes’ or ‘no’.

Got it?

Word 9 Talk
Talking to the clients that stop buying

When was the last time you talked with a lapsed client?
Word 10 Know

Don’t Guess

You may think you know the answers.

Even what someone is thinking, but you don’t, you only know what you think they are thinking

I think!

Ask

They are the only one that can tell you.


Ok so there they are.

They all come with a money back guarantee, so let me know how they work for you

Alright – Stay bright

Tuesday 26 January 2010

Making The Numbers Count

A couple of years ago Jack Morton conducted some research into the value of experiences.
Since we’ve been doing this for over 70 years, we weren’t too surprised by the results.
We’ve always known the value of an experience.

It was heartening to see that the consumer responses backed up what we believe.
82% of people find a brand experience more engaging than any other form of marketing communication.
And over 70% told us that experiences would increase their purchase consideration of a brand.
The upshot of all this – experiences give people something to remember you by.
We’ve known this all along.
But it’s good to see that the rest of the industry is finally starting to follow suit.
Better late than never.

Monday 25 January 2010

Nothing You Can Do About It

Regular readers know that I’m a fan of Chinese proverbs

(and the fortune cookies they come encased in).

One of my favourites is

“You cannot prevent the birds of sorrow from flying over your head, but you can prevent them from building nests in your hair.”

Sometimes bad things happen – it’s just the way of the world.

But you can dust yourself down and move on, or you can obsess about why it happened in the first place.

It’s so easy to become consumed with the ‘how’ and the ‘why’, rather than ‘what are we gonna do now’?

Failing that, if you don’t want birds nesting in your hair,

shave your head.

Worked for me…