SPAM, SPAM, SPAM, SPAM

I'm sure that at some point, we've all received a SPAM email. According to the BBC, Microsoft reports that more than 97% of all e-mails sent over the net are unwanted.

Here's an example of how we've received SPAM:

I have worked previously with a very successful social enterprise, they've been involved in Conferences we've run in the past. This organisation is run by fantastic people and I have an especially great relationship with one of their Directors.

I am not 'on their list' (i.e. I don't receive their Newsletters etc.) but the Director whom I get on with keeps me in the loop continually with development and opportunities personally.

Anyway, I recently received an email from this company but not from my contact. It was a 'Gentle Reminder' of something. Good idea as I am not the most organised individual.

RANT:

The trouble with this 'Gentle Reminder' is that I wasn't the only individual on the list. The person who had sent it to me had also included at least 40 other email addresses in the 'To:' box and about the same amount in the 'cc:' box. As you are probably aware, this ensured that I saw all the email addresses of all those sent the email also. Read this blog by Jaimie at iNETengineers. It outlines the dangers of doing this.

As a result of this, I have for the past week or so received emails from people and companies I don't know telling me about products and services I don't at this point in time need. Examples are: a new Hair Salon that's opening, promotion on a beef jerky product, an Arts & Crafts Fair.

What's made it even worse is that someone else who received one of the emails has replied to the sender, addressing them by name and promoting their service but hitting the 'Reply All' button, so I've received an email conversation between two people, involving at least eighty others, both promoting their services to all, but trying to 'disguise' it by talking as if they are the only two getting the email!

Obviously a terrible way to market anything but an even worse attempt at communication from the source of all this SPAM: The original 'Gentle Reminder'.

So, what did I do? I got straight on the 'phone and informed my contact what one of their colleagues was doing because I knew that my contact would have been horrified this was happening.

Was I correct? Yes. A massive embarrassed apology followed (I wasn't bothered about an apology, I just knew this wasn't how they did things and if it was my company, I'd want to know) with immediate action their end.

What's the point of this Rant? Well, simply to outline that SPAM is the worst form of Interruption Marketing there is. It's lazy, and those that do it think it's a great way of getting in front of loads of companies for free.

It's not.

What they don't understand is that it costs them - Big time. It costs them in when the email lands, as most people just hit delete immediately. It costs them as their details are probably tagged as SPAM so future emails don't even get through (i.e. a waste of time doing it again) and more importantly is costs them at the time when the recipient might just at some point in the future have a need for the company sending the email and they won't know about it because they've either blacklisted the sender or just see them as a pain in the ar$e and delete upon receipt.

Another post will follow soon outlining what we do at Hillrich to avoid sending out SPAM and it works for us.

My advice is seek out a reputable Web Agency and let them introduce you to a system that does it for you (once you've permission to so do from the recipient) as if you've read Jaimie's blog, you'll know that cc'ing everyone is a sure fire way to get blacklisted.

Judging a Book by the Cover

I recently received a call from a highly respected PR Agency. Now, this company is good, has a lot of high profile clients and I've worked with them in the past when I started a HR magazine many moons ago. At the time of the mag, I met with the Agency's owner and that person is a highly knowledgeable, experienced and respected individual - nice to boot and someone whom I enjoyed speaking/meeting/working with.

The reason for their call to me (it wasn't the owner that called) was to talk about one of their clients who is starting to 'do the rounds' on the speaking circuit at present. They wanted to know if I was interested in this speaker taking part in any forthcoming events I had.

Again, I've met the speaker in question previously. Again, heavily experienced, connected, knowledgeable etc. etc. and enjoying great success in their business. Importantly also (to me) they're a good person!

Anyway, after a brief conversation I requested a 'Biog' of the speaker so I could refer back to it should any opportunities present themselves. This came through within a couple of minutes after the call had ended.

'Nice one, prompt response', I thought.

I opened the Biog and it told me all about 'Speaker': qualifications, experience, successes. Basically what 'Speaker' has done and is doing now.

Here comes the Rant:

Not once did the Biog give me specific details of what Speaker's specialist subjects were, what his specific audience was and where he'd spoken before.

i.e. in Sales/Marketing speak, it didn't state 'WIIFM' (What's In It For Me), where Speaker's expertise was relevant to me, what the benefits of booking Speaker would be for me and my event(s) and it didn't give me any testimonials - e.g. where spoken before and what success/results this had brought.

Also (and this is a big one for me) there was no image of speaker attached. Why is this big? Well, I always harp on about people buying people and in my opinion; an image of Speaker along with a full Sales Pitch on Speaker would help me buy into Speaker more, as I can see the person who is going to WOW my Conference. I always prefer to see a customer or supplier face-to-face wherever I can, although I understand this isn't always possible.

All I received was a Word document with a couple of paragraphs and even worse, no call to action.

Bad Selling and Bad Marketing. Period.

The biog just smacked to me as an afterthought. What I know though is that Speaker would be horrified if he knew that this type of tat was going about with his name, literally all over it!

What's my point? Well, let's say I didn't already know Speaker, my perception of him/her would be the same as my perception of the 'Marketing Literature' I received about him/her. i.e. I wouldn't have the slightest inclination to book Speaker for any Conference I run in the future.

The 'literature' would not have created any need in me to find out more (i.e. take action) about him (costs, availability, interest) and I would most likely (see, definitely) think that, 'he can't be that good if this is the best they can do to promote him.'

The point is, bad sales and marketing is even worse than no sales and marketing. In business, like in life and sometimes wrongly, first impressions count and people DO judge books by their covers.

This Speaker's cover was tatty, dog eared and something you'd find in the bargain bin at a local Bring-and-Buy Sale.

The real shame is that the read of this particular book is a compelling journey of successful, self driven passion for the cause and if the cover doesn't get sorted, not many people will be bothered to open the page and read.

Bad Marketing from a Successful Marketing Company

I recently received an email from an individual in my network telling me about a new product that a well known marketing company had released. Now, the person in question is someone whom I have the utmost respect for with regards to their business knowledge and how they are as a person. As far as both categories are concerned this person is at the top of my tree.

Anyhow, this email comes through telling me how good this product is, what it is about, why it has been released, what it can do for me and my business followed by links on where to buy it, what discount I am eligible for as I'm a 'friend' and finally, how much it will cost me. The email was 'War and Peace' in length. A total sales pitch which is to be expected and I'm not knocking that in the slightest.

What I am knocking is that it was totally obvious that my esteemed friend had not written the email/sales pitch. The person in question is one of the busiest individuals I know and I would bet my mortgage on it that they would not have had the time to construct such an elaborate pitch for a product that was not theirs (or was it? Maybe they were a silent partner, although again, I doubt it).

What was also obvious is that the company who owned the product had constructed the pitch and requested that it was cut and pasted into an email and sent on to my friend's network as an endorsement. As I'm sure you are aware, referral marketing is one of the best forms there is and a referral from this person is more-or-less guaranteed to get people's attention (it did mine).

What was wrong with this was that knowing the person who sent it, I immediately knew that they hadn't constructed it for the reasons above so I instantly lost all 'need' to take action on the email (i.e. purchase or go to the website for more info). I thought if that's how a respected marketing company market their stuff then it's not for me as this is a terrible example of referral marketing.

In my eyes the BEST way of marketing/selling this product would have been something like this:

Hi Danny

I hope you are well. Just a quick one, I've been alerted to PRODUCT NAME/DESCRIPTION by COMPANY NAME. I know the people who run the company. They are fantastic at what they do and I wanted to let you know about PRODUCT NAME as I reckon you'll get real benefit from it.

Anyway, here are the web links to it (you'll get a discount for mentioning me!). Let me know what you think!

Cheers
FRIEND

What I'm saying here is that had my friend had told me about this in their style and not someone else's I would have been inclined to go through to the site and purchase.

An email from this person always attracts my attention and interest to read what it's about. By telling me about how they thought it would be good for me (she knows me and my business) she would have aroused my desire and my action would have been to look on the website and most likely purchase.

People buy people and what would have sold this product was the person selling/referring it, and this is the mistake that the Marketing Company made. They either didn't realise the true power of referral marketing or didn't realise the influence this person has, or to be honest, both.

They thought that an elaborate sales pitch made from them to someone they didn't know via someone we both did was needed. Now this (or some form of sales pitch) would have been needed had they gone direct to me.

This again is another example of a company getting it oh-so right at the start (asking my friend to refer it to their network) but executing it in a totally inept fashion (not pitching it as my friend would).

Remember, "People Buy People". Always be yourself and be consistent with how you are and your individual brand you carry.

If not, people (or at least savvy ones) will see right through you and these are the individuals/companies you want to be doing business with.

Top Ten Attributes of the STAR Salesperson

Here are the Top Ten Attributes that we believe make up the Star Sales Person, or as we like to say, 'a Hillrich Chameleon':

1. A Positive Attitude

When selling anything, your best friend is the power of positive thinking. Your biggest enemies are negative people, be that colleagues, friends or even your employer!

Always, always keep your thoughts positive. Avoid the negative people in your office who are jealous of others, who gossip and put people down, who are angry that their life is not going down the path they want it to. These are all negative thoughts and the actions of individuals who don't take responsibility for their own circumstance. These people will act like parasites and suck out the positivity from others. If you are working with people like these, ask to move desks. If you can't move desks and get away from these people, move jobs!

People like this are self fulfilling prophecies and will only try to drag you down with them.

Too many times have we heard sales people use the same old lines:

* ‘This area is a salesperson's graveyard.'
* ‘This database has been hammered.'
* ‘Everyone's on holiday this month.'
* ‘No-one's returning my calls.'
* ‘If I had a better company car, my customers would take me more seriously.'
* ‘All receptionists are just rude. None of them will help me.'

The star salesperson knows that their life and success is in nobody's hands except their own. If you're not happy in your job, move. It is truly that simple, because if you are a star salesperson and want to move, you can! Companies all over are crying out for top salespeople. The only thing you have to have when moving companies is belief in the product you are selling: You.

This shouldn't be a problem because who knows you better than you.....?

Hillrich Chameleons accept that whatever situation they are in, it is purely down to them and don't consider situations that they have no control over. Overall, they have an unshakeable belief that they will succeed.

This brings us onto number 2:

2. Confidence and Strength

Chameleons believe in themselves firstly and radiate confidence and strength. The old adage is true:

* ‘If you don't believe in yourself, who else will?'

The biggest battles are always, always within.

Confidence comes from the thinking that you know you will be successful and strength comes from set backs. The sales profession is a mirror of life: It is simply what you make it. It is a game of ups and downs.

Those that learn to overcome the downs and gain knowledge from them will succeed. Those that let the downs consume them will never win. It's much like having an angel on one shoulder and the devil on the other. Just make sure that you always feed the angel and starve the devil, because in 95% of cases, all other people will want to do is let your devil feed from their banquet of negativity.

Chameleons have presence around people. They have a good, strong, positive posture and align this with positive body language. They look people in the eye and never deal in lies.

Chameleons are not normal. In fact, the biggest insult to a Chameleon would be to call them normal. They are different from the masses because they actually welcome criticism! Sounds daft, right? No, because only by criticism can the Chameleon learn. They take on board what they could have done better and always make it happen next time. They also realise that criticism is just an opinion, and everyone has one!

Here at Hillrich, in the many businesses we've worked in and with, we learned more from those companies who do things badly, than from those that do things well.

If you are not sure if this is you, ask someone you trust to evaluate you and provide some suggestions for improvement. This will in a way, be a form of criticism and will help you in taking steps to becoming a Chameleon.

3. Enthusiasm

If you have no enthusiasm for what you are selling, move and sell something you love. Only with pure enthusiasm can anyone sell successfully.

Enthusiasm is like a fantastic virus - it is infectious! It travels through the air and makes people believe. The difference between prospects going with you or a competitor will on some level, be your enthusiasm for your product.

As we stated before, ‘If you don't believe, who else will?' This is the same for your product. If you don't believe in it, your prospects certainly won't.

4. A Genuine Interest in Others

Chameleons are truly interested in and enthusiastic about other people. They want to know what makes others tick and they can do to make other people's lives better.

In order to be a success in sales, you must have this, because sales is NOT a product business. It is a PEOPLE business and those who don't have an interest in others but pretend to have are immediately transparent.

Chameleons know how to make other people feel important and this is not by being sycophantic. By being interested in that person you make them feel important to you. They will open up to you, allow you to get to know them which in turn will help you determine how to help them and thus serve them better.

5. Persistence

Already if you have read this far, then you have some level of persistence!

It is said that one definition of a fool is someone who continues to do the same thing but expects a different result every time.

Persistence is linked into the positive attitude. Persistence is a result of not getting beat by finding different and more appropriate ways of overcoming a problem.

Thus, the persistence of a Chameleon, coupled with a positive attitude, confidence and strength, enthusiasm and a genuine interest in others will result in success.

6. Empathy

If you can genuinely empathise with people, you will connect with them quicker. Empathising with someone is really the process of putting yourself in his or her shoes. By doing so, you can begin to understand what issues and problems they may face and thus, what the solutions are to those issues. Selling a product or service is just about helping someone solve his or her problems. If you can keep this in focus, you will succeed.

By being sincere with those that you encounter, you will create strong bonds that will last. These bonds will result in you turning prospects into customers. From here, your customers will invite you into their network, resulting in quality referrals.

When selling, Chameleons always think not of the immediate sale, but of a long-term relationship that will follow them to whatever position in whatever company they hold in the future.

7. Goals Focussed

If you're serious about becoming successful in life and sales, you've got to set yourself realistic goals and put them in writing. Chameleons know exactly what they are striving for, both short and long-term. They know when this will be achieved and the results this will bring. It is really a job and personal ‘to-do list'.

Procrastination is to be avoided at all costs.

If you can see where you're heading, it's likely you'll get there and seeing progress through your goals will add emphasis to your mission, on a day-to-day and month-to-month basis.

8. A love of proving others wrong

Chameleons love it when someone tells them that they'll ‘never make that sale', or ‘that prospect will never become a customer', or ‘even Mr. X can't get in there so you'll never do it.'

Proving the doubters wrong is what drives a Chameleon.

9. Not afraid of rejection

Anyone in sales who is afraid of rejection is in the wrong profession. Chameleons dislike rejection, but don't fear it, as no matter how good you are, you will always face rejection. Facing rejection allows you to learn and go back in with another game plan, more appropriate to that particular prospect.

Putting it bluntly, it is terminal to those in sales who fear rejection.

‘Show me a good loser, and I'll show you a loser.'

Chameleons severely dislike losing, but at the same, are gracious in defeat. Nobody wins all the time, but winners are defined by how they deal with defeat.

10. Regular Investment in Themselves

All successful individuals recognise that they have achieved it by lifelong learning. They don't rely on their employers to send them on training courses, they rely on themselves.

This investment could be in the form of business books, seminars, television programmes or simply sourcing material on the web.

As the eight times gold medal winning swimmer of the Beijing Olympics, USA's Michael Phelps said, "I think that everything is possible as long as you put your mind to it and you put the work and time into it. I think your mind really controls everything....The solution is inside you."

A Golden Opportunity – Close, but no cigar….

We receive a regular email newsletter from a local company which covers their latest offers and products. This looks good, reads well and does the job from my point of view.

This ‘did the job’ so well that I emailed the guy (let’s call him ‘Bill) who sends it out and more-or-less said that I received his newsletter and in the near future I would need a company who could supply his product and would he mind if I popped into their premises to collect one of his product packs? (We’ve had one before. They are very good and contain product samples, prices, lead-times etc.) I even gave him the dedicated website of the event we needed the products for.

Anyway I thought nothing of it until a couple of day later until I got a call saying that Bill was here to see me with some samples and prices.

As you can imagine, probably like yourself I have a diary so I know from day-to-day where I am going to be and who I am going to be seeing. I look in my diary (Outlook) and see that there is no trace of any Bill anywhere. I’m snowed under at the time and immediately begin to worry, as organisation from an admin point of view is far from my greatest strength. I envisage that I’ve agreed to see Bill and forgot to put it in the diary.

“Damn (well, another four letter word), I’m so unorganised”, I tell myself as I’m trudge down to see my appointment, trying to perfect the ‘I’ve been expecting you’ look.

What makes me more disappointed with myself is that I would HATE it if that happened to me (i.e. a prospect forgot they were seeing me, although I’d blame myself for not making a good enough impression when we organised the appointment or Mr/Ms. Prospect wouldn’t have forgot about me in the first place. They would be waiting with great anticipation……I hope)

So, I walk towards Bill and hold out my hand to shake his (I realise I’ve never met him previously). Before I say anything he grabs my hand and says, “Hi I’m Bill from The Company. You emailed me requesting the Product Catalogue so I thought I’d pop in to see you and drop it off personally.”

Light bulb moment - I realise now who Bill is and what a golden opportunity he’s just blown.

I say thanks to Bill, apologise that I can’t see him due to my work load, duly accept his wares and trudge back to get on with whatever I’m doing at the time.

So, what was the ‘golden opportunity’ and why did Bill blow it? Why am I so important that he cocked up so badly? Why is my money so much better than anyone else’s? How much money did Bill actually lose?

Well in no order, I’m not important, my money is no better than anyone else’s and Bill could have lost only a couple of hundred quid as a potential order.

My point is that Bill got it so right at the start. His permission marketing was working so well that he’d actually got me ASKING him if I could come to HIS premises to see him and basically, be sold.

What Bill actually achieved in the end was turning the epitome of permission marketing into highest level of disturbance marketing I can think of.

In my opinion this is what Bill should have done:

• Email back and thank me for the interest.
• Ask me when I was coming in so he could be there, see me personally and discuss any potential requirements, as I can’t ask a brochure questions.
• He could have even asked what beverage I liked and said he’d have a cup/glass of whatever waiting for me on arrival.
• He could have even asked what biscuits I liked for the same reason.
• Offered if it was more convenient, for him to come over to see me.

So, what was the golden opportunity?

It wasn’t about losing an order as the value could have been a couple of hundred quid. Simply, it was to serve the (potential) customer how they wanted to be served and learn more about them in order to make his service more personal to them and create a long term bond.

By doing this he scuppered any chance of creating a long term relationship which would have stretched to us using Bill whenever we needed his service in whatever location we were in because he’d taken the time to work how the customer wanted him to. He’d done all the hard work by getting my attention with the email. Everything else should have been easy but he made it difficult.

When selling, always look to the long term benefits of any order. If there aren’t any then you cannot find what is not there, but in close to 100% of any customer/supplier relationship, there are always long term benefits. You’ve just got to find them……and that’s what makes the great salesperson.