What Happened Since I Turned Off The TV?
I heard Brian Tracy the other night speak at one of his iLearning expos. Didn’t care for the iLearning model, but Brian still has it.
Since we preach “action”, here is the action I took after I heard him: I’ve turned off my TV.
Now, I’m not a big 4-hour-a-night-TV-guy, but I found myself watching too many news shows–how bad things are–how the world is going to explode–how we’re in a deep deep recession. All that BS.
Tracy Said, “You Control What Gets In Your Mind”
Actually, he didn’t say it quite like that (so Brian if you’re reading, I’m taking some poetic license). But he made a big point of “no one is more responsible for your future than you.” And with that comes ‘what goes into your mind.’
So I said “no more” to the news/business crap on TV. You’ll never guess what happened?
I actually felt happier this week.
I worked out more. I lost 3 pounds. I played basketball for the first time in months. I made calls that I should have made months ago. I blogged more. I spent more time with my great team. And I had a more optimistic outlook on the future of our business.
All from turning off the TV.
I encourage you to do the same. The media loves the “fear-scape” around the whole economic mess. Don’t blame ‘em. Most of them are failing out of business (Denver paper just went ‘belly-up). They’re losing so many eyeballs, they have to create fear. And they do. And they’re damn good at it. And what’s worse we get sucked into it.
Customers Rely On Your Clear Head
But a sales person is involved in a head game every hour of the day. And you and I don’t need anything going into our head – without our permission. Our customers rely on us to comfort them when making a big decision. They depend on our clear-headed thinking and being unemotional when recommending solutions to them. We can’t let them down by being dis-spirited from the news.
Take Those Hours and Spend Them Differently
So, what do you do in that open spot? Listen to podcasts on business. Read self-help books. Read books on internet marketing. Catch up with other business leaders and discuss ideas on ways to grow your business. Pick up old books on goal setting, time management, writing and marketing.
Watch what happens. Abundance reappears. Detachment gets stronger. Prospects show up. As do other opportunities. And you operate with more integrity and joy.
It’s a hard move to make. I find myself tempted. But I’m committed to the new TV-less me. Going to test it for a month or two and see what happens.
What about you? Would love to hear your comments.
How Social Media Affects Sales People
The game is selling. But the rules have changed. Cold Calling is out. Social media is IN. Convincing and persuading is out. Community and attraction are in.
As your company sits in board rooms and talks sales strategy, then think about Social Media as one leg of execution.
Definition: ‘Social media’ (SM). SM is the interaction that people have online that creates conversations in which your company and/or products are centerpieces.
You, as a sales professional or sales manager, had best get hip to what’s happening online to your company/products/customers. And how to use this knowledge to grow your business. There are several vehicles in SM. Here they are, in no order.
Podcasts. You should have a podcast for your business (every business should have a podcast–and I challenge someone to convince me otherwise) if you have expertise about something. Your podcast will provide valuable information that your customers/prospects can use to see you as a resource for bigger problems. Talk to customers about problems you’ve solved for them. Record them and you have a podcast. Giving a speech at an industry event? Good, record it and now you have a podcast. Have a technical guru in the back room? Turn on the mic, interview him and now you have yet another podcast.
Don’t tell me you have nothing to talk about.
Plug: Check out The Advanced Selling Podcast, which is produced weekly. It’s 15-minutes long and takes us about 20 minutes to create/episode. We have about 12,000 listeners per month and it costs us about $100/month to produce and host. Where else can I speak to 12,000 people for $100?
Another Resource: Go to Podcast Tools to check out Paul Colligan’s podcast on podcasting. He does 5 minutes/week. Short but to the point.
Another Point: The iPhone will sell over 10,000,000 units in the next year. Go to your Apple store, or go to apple.com and watch the instructional video. Guess what a big part of the feature set is? Podcasting delivered directly to the phone!
Your selling strategy should be to educate your prospects to the pains/issues they have that they don’t know they have. Every selling process or procedure should do this. What better way to do this than through podcasting or internet audio where your sales strategy is to help them see their problems–and help them see YOU as a solution to them?
Blogs. While there are 40,000,000 blogs, most companies don’t see them for what they could be. If you have a website and not a blog, then you’re missing a great way to lead people to your website. But make your blog a rigorous conversation about the industry. DON’T make it about you and only you.
Ask questions. Pose opinions and ask for feedback. Create controversy by being honest. Blogs should be written by people–not by some faceless company PR person.
You can also use blogs to create Case Studies on ways you’ve solved problems for your customers. Have a new product? Take a pic of it and post about it. But be honest about it’s strengths and weaknesses. Don’t tell one side of the story. If you do, it’ll sound like it came from your marketing department–more blah-blah-blah.
Video Blogs. This includes the addition of Video to your blog site. If your value can be told easier through pictures/video, then this is a great application. Here is one that came from the Executive Learning Network. I have no idea who they are, but it looks like they have a new video blog site. I spent 15 minutes watching it. Not the meatiest content in the world, but well produced. Your ideas should be flowing by now.
RSS. This is a tough one. You’ve heard about it, but you may not undrestand it fully. Here is a link to Capture The Conversation, a blog written about new media. This post tells you what RSS is and how important it is for companies investing in the web.
Every sales person should know about RSS because it might just be the future of client communications. Period.
Conclusion
The idea is that your customers/prospects aren’t at chamber meetings anymore. They are online in their own conversations with people. If you’re a sales manager or top level sales person, then here are some questions you should address:
==’How can you meet your prospects where they are?’
==’How can you create some of those customer conversations by what you know–and educate them?’
==’How can you share your insights so your market comes begging for more–which consequently puts you in control of the sales process?
If you think your goal is to merely make cold calls and get referrals, then you are thinking in the old world. Good luck with new thinking.
