Author Archive
Microsoft releases technology for Connecting – How can it impact your business?
Posted by: | CommentsMicrosoft has just released Outlook Social Connector, an add-in for Outlook that links your emails and contacts to your LinkedIn network. It’s available as a free download for Outlook 2003, Outlook 2007 and Outlook 2010. It allows you to view existing LinkedIn connection profiles, their profile picture, recent updates, and allows you to add new connections without ever leaving your Outlook inbox.
While you are reading your regular e-mail messages in Outlook, you can see the “People Pane” below the message and view the picture, name, and title of the sender. You can also view your history of communication with that person by clicking on their name and see recent e-mail conversations, meetings, and shared documents. This feature has been a big time saver for me because I can immediately see all communications with an individual and no longer have to spend time searching for past emails.
Do you see this tool as being helpful for you and your business?
One of the best features of this add-in, in my opinion, is the addition of a new Outlook contacts folder with your LinkedIn contacts – even if you haven’t added them to your normal Outlook contact list. The display of contacts in the LinkedIn folder includes each contact’s photo (if they have one on LinkedIn) and other information accessed from LinkedIn. It’s a concise way of seeing some of your most valuable connections. If you’re new to LinkedIn, or only a light user, this is a great opportunity to get more involved with your connections. And for those more involved in the network, this just enhances the opportunity LinkedIn provides you.
In The Connectors
Once you activate this add-in, the People Pane can be turned on and off via Outlook’s View menu and you can also change the size of the pane. For more information on Outlook Social Connector you can go to http://blogs.msdn.com/outlook/archive/2009/11/18/announcing-the-outlook-social-connector.aspx.
Are You a Problem Solver or a Problem Blamer?
Posted by: | CommentsI fly a decent amount and have had a lot of good and a lot of bad experiences with the airlines. The biggest issue I have with the airlines, especially my carrier of choice, is not that they make mistakes. I don’t expect any business to be perfect. At issue is how they deal with problems. Too often, their first reaction is to put the problem back with me. The protocol seems to be to assume first that the customer is wrong (blame), and take responsibility much later, if ever. How do you react when there is a problem with your product or service?
When I had an issue checking in to a flight this week, I immediately heard, “You must have entered your frequent flyer number in wrong… You must not have checked in properly… I see here, you didn’t pay a change fee.” But actually a previous agent didn’t complete the transaction properly, and there was no ticket number associated with the reservation. It is like being guilty until proven innocent. It is such a backwards method to customer service.
Are you a blamer or a solver? The first reaction of a greater part of businesses – especially those in service related businesses – is to react to a problem or complaint by assuming that the problem was caused by the customer. That’s why we set up FAQ pages, and often retrace the actions of our customers as a first step to solving the problem. Even if we try not to displace the blame from ourselves, our natural defense mechanisms kick in, and we typically react by deflecting any blame. Unintentionally then, the blame is often placed on the shoulders of our clients and customers.
Instead of taking this blamer approach, try the approach of a solver – listening to the whole problem your customer has, asking questions, checking and then solving – no matter who made the mistake. It seems like smarter business to me.
We are all customers to somebody. The best way to determine if our customers see us as solvers or blamers, is to consider how we react when something goes wrong with a business working with us. Consider what actions they take to resolve your problem and how it makes you feel. They may think they’re being helpful, while you feel they’re blaming you. For most of us, it is those companies that accept responsibility for the problem that make us feel like our problems are really being listened to and that we are being taken care of.
Are you ready to be a problem solver?
The Biggest Mistake in Marketing
Posted by: | CommentsThe biggest mistake made in marketing — and a reason that success can be so elusive — is failing to clearly explain what you are selling. Specifically, the benefits to your consumer. We’re all looking for the answer to one very specific question: What’s in it for me? Consumers rarely make buying decisions based on a product or service’s features; yet that’s what most businesses promote over and over again. People don’t buy features; they buy the benefits that those features offer. Does what you are selling save me time, cut down on stress, or make me more organized and efficient? Because that is what I am looking for.
To make it a little clearer: people buy results. Many businesses assume that their customers know what the benefits are, and exactly why to buy their product or service. They leave it up to the prospect to derive their own benefits.
And you may say that of course you are selling you and your firm to your prospects. But how clearly? And are you focusing on features OR benefits? Do you fully understand the difference between the two? Oftentimes, the two are confused.
Definition of Features: Features are factual statements about — often distinctive characteristics of — a product or service. Features are a means of providing benefits to customers; for instance, “I have a ChFC designation” or “I complete 30 hours of continuing education each year” are features.
Definition of Benefits: Benefits are value statements about the feature of a product or service, with an emphasis on what the customer gets. A benefit answers the question, ‘Why should I care?’ A benefit tells you that you should care because of the result. For instance, “The intense requirements of holding a ChFC designation are there to insure that I stay on top of my game as an agent and provide an elevated level of expertise to clients. It has been incredibly important as I’ve taken clients who want to protect and rebuild their assets through the turmoil of today’s economy.”
Messaging is the key! When you create, define and refine the exact messaging, the first goal is to leave the prospect feeling that they might be making a mistake if they don’t at least schedule an appointment or find out more. Some professionals have spent literally weeks focusing on precise messaging to construct the benefit statements they use. Why? Because it makes a huge difference in ultimately closing more sales!
Are you ready to start focusing on the benefits that you and your company have to offer?
The Small Business Underdog: How to go head to head with the big dogs of business.
Posted by: | CommentsThe big corporations of the world seem to have endless resources to force smaller companies into submission. They have in-house marketing teams and hire advertising agencies to create marketing collateral, websites, messaging, advertising, direct mail, and email campaigns. They test and retest, conduct quantitative analysis to measure market share, develop new creative messaging, focus on brand development, and more! They hire the best and brightest out of business school and pay them hefty salaries. Marketing budgets are in the millions. TV advertising budgets alone are in the hundreds of thousands to millions of dollars.
Small firms, for the most part, have none of these things. So how can small businesses possibly compete, and more importantly, survive, and get the word out? Is it a losing battle from the beginning?
The answer is that, of course small businesses can and do get the word out about their products and services – but not in nearly the same broad way that the biggest companies do. In fact, big business is taking a page out of the small, grassroots marketing plan today because they are looking to reach their prospective buyers more directly. So how do small businesses compete without the resources of Goliath?
1. Focus on one or two target markets. You don’t need to reach millions; you need to reach buyers most likely to buy. Who are your most probable targets?
2. Concentrate on commonsense marketing that does not cost millions, in particular: referrals, your web presence, social media and public relations. In fact, the best marketing can be nearly free! What free marketing are you using?
3. Unlock the power of your employees. Marketing is an everyday, all of the time effort for small businesses. Everyone in a small business is involved in marketing the business because they are the business. It is easier for prospects to connect with a business they know. Small businesses are easier to get to know. Does your staff present the company well?
Marketing is the effort of getting people to buy. For small businesses, keeping a tight focus on what really matters eliminates the need to have the millions of resources of the biggest firms.
What is your connector style (and what does it say about you)?
Posted by: | CommentsToday the ability to create effective business relationships and connect with others is becoming more important than ever for success. A businessperson’s ability to establish meaningful relationships fast is essential as our world becomes more connected technologically, but less so physically. Those that are able to create bonds, engage others, and develop impactful business relationships have – and will – win in this changing environment.
How would you categorize yourself as a connector? Are you a Power Connector, Energy Connector, or a Social Connector? Knowing how you interact with others and your relationship building style is a critical first step in finding ways to improve your skills. See below for the definitions to determine your connector type.
POWER CONNECTOR: You reach out almost daily to others. You engage, and proactively create and maintain relationships. You have established a focus on interaction with others; you most likely have empathy for, are genuinely curious about, and feel a compelling need to connect with other people. You are a Power Connector.
ENERGY CONNECTOR: You reach out to others, but probably not on a daily basis. You may find that others reach out to connect with you as frequently as or more than you reach out to them. You have a great interest in others, and you want to connect and engage. You know relationships in your business are important, but you don’t focus on this importance every day. You are an Energy Connector.
CASUAL CONNECTOR: You reach out to others, but not as a focus in your business. You most likely create strong relationships with others, but do not want to or do not have an interest in increasing relationships with large numbers of people. You connect with others more reactively than proactively. You are a Casual Connector.
Consider jotting down a few ideas to become an even better connector within your selected category. Organize a list of whom you want to connect with, and how and when you plan to follow through. Set connector goals for yourself each week, challenging yourself to become better, and reward yourself when you meet your connector goals. There is no doubt that every one of us can get just a little bit better at connecting (yes, of course myself included).
