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Monday Morning Motivators - January 21, 2007
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Enjoy your java with an eclectic collection of tips and ideas to use today and to get energized for the week ahead. Subscribing and unsubscribing at http://www.mondaymorningmotivators.com/
"Maintaining a complicated life is a great way to avoid changing it."
--Elaine St. James
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Table of Contents
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1. Ask Your Customers - Linda Fayerweather
2. Not All Prospects are Created Equal - Rebecca Booth
3. Take Responsibility for Your Life - Pat Altvater
4. Referral Gone Bad - Paula Frazier
5. To Do This Week
6. Fine Print
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Ask Your Customers What They Want
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Pockets - that is what this customer wants, lots of pockets. Now if you are a guy and just read that you may be scratching your head because most men generally have at least 5 pockets even when they aren't wearing a jacket! Believe it or not, it is a luxury for women's pants AND jackets to have pockets. Being more a geek than a lady, I only carry a large wallet so my keys are in my left pocket, my cell phone and business cards are in my right which leaves me in a pickle when I don't have TWO pockets. Now, I have queried sales professionals about this lack of pockets and have been told...
"Pockets spoil the line of the outfit."
"Clothes with pockets are costly to make, translating to higher prices."
"Women carry purses."
Well, listen up manufactures of women's clothing:
1. Most hand bags I've seen tend to spoil the fashion more than pockets and are a nuisance to organize and keep track of;
2. My grandson, who is only 2'7" tall, recently wore pants with 4 pockets, a shirt with 2 pockets and he isn't coordinated enough to even use pockets;
3. Oh yes, I pay more for my pocket-less pants than my husband pays for his many pocketed pants;
4. Women carry purses, well, see number 1.
What's a woman to do? I don't know, maybe just vent - but I know for a fact that if any politicians running for any office went on the Pocket Platform, they would have my vote.
I do digress, and since we can't solve the pocket problem this morning, maybe you might want to ask your customers if there is something your product or service is missing that would make their life better. You may not be able to change things for all customers, but sometimes just listening is important!
Copyright 2008 Linda Fayerweather is Lean Certified and articles about getting your business lean are at: Changing Lanes LLC
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2. Not All Prospects Are Created Equal
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Sure, all prospects are important, but some require special attention. It's best to assess each of your prospects and put them into ABC categories. You can either sort your ABCs by the prospective value of the new piece of business or by readiness to buy. Those prospects on your "A" list will need more contact from you, but make sure that contact isn't always a "buy from me" or "buy now" message. Instead pepper your communications with personal notes attached to articles of interest for the prospect as well as invitations to your company's special events (tours, seminars, exhibitions in which you're participating). FYI, this same concept holds true for communicating with clients. ABC your way to higher profits in 2008!
Copyright 2007 Rebecca Booth
Marketing Goddess
Imagine That!
http://www.rebeccaboothmarketinggoddess.com/
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3. Take Responsibility for your Life
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Rebecca Booth and I had the pleasure of attending a Jack Canfield Success Principles presentation in Detroit this past week. Principle #1 is to take 100% responsibility for your life because you created it! Everything that is in your current reality is there because of choices you made in the past - everything! You attracted it with your beliefs, thoughts and emotions. So if you want a different outcome in your life, all you need to do is change your inputs (your beliefs, thoughts and emotions). Start today and your tomorrows will be different.
I highly recommend Canfield's book, The Success Principles. To find out more about it, click here.
Copyright 2008 Pat Altvater
Owner, Transformations Institute
Author, Journey to WOW - Choose Health NOW
http://www.thesecretofpermanentweightloss.com/
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4. When Good Referrals Go Bad . . .2008 Fatalities!
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At a recent Certified Networker training, one of the conversations was around the significance of branding in a referral marketing plan. As a result, there was a husband and wife team participating that decided there was not enough consistency in some of their everyday marketing tools - business cards, letterhead, envelopes, banners, t-shirts . . . even their website. They realized the importance of pulling them together to effectively send a clear, memorable, repeatable message to create brand recognition in their market, and they were ready to take action.
So, I arranged a face to face introduction with a branding specialist that I was in relationship with to help get them on track. We all arrived the day of the meeting and THAT's when a perfectly good referral went bad . . .
Case #1 - Relationship Hi-Jacking: The person I trusted with my client's branding needs sent someone else to the meeting in their place, someone I'd only met a couple of times and that I truly didn't know well enough to entrust with my valuable relationships. The whole meeting could have been designated as a crime scene:
1. He (unintentionally) insulted me within the first 5 minutes.
2. He (inadvertently) insulted my clients within the first 10 minutes.
3. He (nervously) spent the first 20 minutes talking about his high profile/high budget clients and hadn't asked my clients the first question about their business.
4. And he neglected to properly thank me for the introduction. How rude!
Case Notes: If someone refers YOU, they are referring YOU not your business. They trust YOU not your co-workers. When it comes to whatever it is YOU do, they consider YOU to be the best. If it can't be YOU; they get to decide who, not YOU.
Are they guilty of relationship hi-jacking? No. They are innocent. They may have attempted it, but I allowed this injustice to happen. Remember, you're in charge of your relationships. Case closed!
Paula Frazier is a Master Trainer for Referral Institute and an Executive Director for BNI. While these are both international companies, she and her family have made Roanoke Virginia their home. To learn more about referral marketing opportunities in your area visit http://www.referralinstitute.com/.
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5. To Do This Week
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Pick on item this week you are procrastinating on and do it till it is done!
Enjoy a wonderful week.
Sincerely,
Linda Fayerweather, Editor
Changing Lanes LLC
