In the meantime though, these self same business owners could be neglecting other and more effective, methods of business promotion.

Are you one of them?

Now don’t get me wrong here. I’m a big advocate of any business development technique that opens up new and ideally, low cost; marketing channels for any small business owner and for that I am a fan of social media in many of its various guises.

Neglecting Your Marketing Mix Leads to Ruin

Ticking all the Boxes

Social media ticks many boxes in this respect and does have its place in the modern marketing mix particularly as the learning curve to adapt the necessary techniques to get started is relatively short. Consequently, in some form or other, it’s here to stay.

However, the issue being observed and experienced by many business owners looking to capitalise upon the benefits of social media is that it’s generally not a thought out affair and whilst a pleasant way to spend ones time, many business types are finding that as a method of promotion, it doesn’t really deliver where it should.

Consequently, despite being the new kid on the block that is showered in hype, social media just isn’t paying its way for many and diverts their attention away from other strategies.

Any social media coach and marketer worth their salt will tell you to formulate a plan or strategy for your social media activities. What this plan is, varies from guru to guru, which in itself contributes to the issue for many: but added to this, ask any small business owner if they have any sales or marketing plan and you’ll probably get an answer in the negative.

Therefore it’s fair to say that having one for a social media strategy is going to be even less likely.

So whilst chatting away on Twitter, updating that Facebook Fan Page and trawling through people’s connections on LinkedIn is all fine and dandy, fun and strangely addictive in a voyeuristic, realty TV sort of way, ultimately you have to ask yourself;

Is this working? What results am I getting or do I want to get? Could I use alternative, more productive methods to achieve the same result?

Recently I began working with a business owner who had adapted Twitter as her social media channel of choice for the purposes promoting her largely internet based business. She’d been on a few courses (not mine I might add), downloaded Tweetdeck and was spending many a happy hour chatting with her followers but was seeing little return.

She came to me for advice with the cry;

Where am I going wrong?

In my initial fact-find meeting with this lady, I discovered that not only had she been neglecting her traditional marketing methods in favour of Twitter and her Facebook Fan Page, which whilst being less ‘sexy’ than social media, did work. But I also discovered that her target client just didn’t exist in any large numbers on the social media scene. It seems this client had been swallowed up by the social media bubble and was hooked as well as being ill advised as to it’s potential for her business.

Back to Basics

So it was time to go cold turkey and get back to the basics of marketing with this particular client.

Out of my sessions with this client, I;

• Implemented an effective and regular email marketing campaign which capitilised on her underused (and somewhat large) customer database.
• Put forward a strategy to redesign her website to make it more useable and to improve conversions.
• Scaled down her ineffective social media techniques.
• And are currently planning some editorial and advertising in some specialist national magazines.

It’s still early days, but after the first e-shot to her customer database she received an increase in orders of 20% compared to the previous month and her website visitors went up by 45%. A result in anyone’s book.

Stand Back

Ultimately if you’re using social media for business purposes, whether it’s lead generation, brand awareness or strengthening offline relationships don’t throw all your eggs into one basket at the expense of other marketing activities.

Stand back and measure what’s working. Junk what isn’t and develop what is.

Here endeth the lesson.

What’s your experience of social media as a business marketing and development tool? Is it working for you? Tell us how and why in a comment below.

Yet despite his success he never had any sales training, thought all marketing was ‘kidology’, had no idea what ‘open’ or ‘closed’ questions were and thought that ‘entrepreneurs’ were an American import.

So What was his Secret?

Over the years this is a question that I have mulled over many times with my Mother and those that worked with him and to be honest, the answer was not difficult to work out; although somewhat more difficult to replicate and implement as an aspiring businessman myself.

His secret of sales success wasn’t a new one and continues to be the base instruction of many a ‘sales guru’ or ‘motivational speaker’ in their respective books and presentations. His technique was so powerful that he didn’t need to bother with the hard-sell or ‘the close’ and his conceptual knowledge of ‘adding value’ was zero, even though his dished it out in spades with every deal he made!

Put simply, people had an in built desire to do business with him and as a result, hand over their hard earned cash in return for the pure luxury of doing business with him.

Trust me! As a teenager working for him during the school holidays I saw this technique in action first hand. It was only as I moved into the sales profession myself many years later, that it dawned on me what he was doing.

Okay I get the Idea! What was his Secret?

This was his secret: Dad simply loved people!

He loved to take a genuine interest in their lives and how he could help them for the better either through the use of the services he was offering at the time, or simply by investing his time, experience and knowledge.

The Secret of Sales Success

His attitude to business was never “what’s in it for me?” or “how much money can I make?” but “what can I do for you?”.

Of his customers I visited during my working Summer holidays I found him taking as much interest in the life of the bloke on the forklift truck as he would in the company director he’d just had a meeting with. He knew the names of the cleaners on the factory floor as well as the ages and names of the Managing Director’s kids.

Once he even took the time to sort out a Council housing problem on behalf of one operative that worked in the warehouse of one of his customers.

He wasn’t asked to do it! There was no hidden agenda! His customer wasn’t even aware of it (well not initially anyway). He simply had a genuine desire to help this person out with an issue that was making life difficult for him and his family. That’s just the sort of bloke he was.

Rose Tinted Glasses

This year marks sixteen years since my Father’s passing so there’s an argument to say that perhaps I’m looking back through rose-tinted glasses.

Perhaps that’s true, however I’m also conscious that my Father had plenty of failings which included a level of naivety that was quite childlike when it came to business finances. Naivety that proved to be a recurring thorn throughout his business life. That, and a penchant for dismantling my toys, bikes and later on, car engines; which when re-assembled also resulted in a box containing ‘spares’ that never existed before. However that’s a different story!

I’ve been in the sales profession in some form or other most of my working life; yet I still struggle to emulate the mark that my Father made upon his customers, the ease of how he could generate business or build loyalty and trust with them, simply because of his genuine interest in them as people not simply as companies or ‘account numbers’.

His was a rare talent which I’ve seen in only a handful of people over the years and is something I sadly lack, namely; that genuine desire to see the best in everyone and to take an enthusiastic interest in making their lives better.

Yes I’ve come across some great ‘sales closers’ who were great at making one off deals and who no doubt made a great deal of money in the process, however non of them came across as genuinely interested in the well being of their customers as my Father did and as a result, probably found themselves on the constant tread-mill of new-business rather than the easier, repeat-business camp where Dad used to dwell and prosper quite happily.

This surely is the real secret to sales success.

Jaimie Dobson at Business Networking Group proNet

Last Thursday was a busy day of networking and presenting as I made an exhibition of myself at the GRID* Enterprise Expo in Bradford.

The day started off in the dark at 7 am with a busy business networking breakfast courtesy of proNet which was immediately followed in the same building by a small business Expo organised by those folks at the Bradford Grid* Park Lane.

Despite early pre-match nerves regarding low advanced bookings, minds were set at rest on the day as numbers through the doors proved to be plentiful and steady.

Jaimie Dobson of iNet inSights

iNet shared exhibiting floor space with support agencies such as Bradford Kickstart, Business Link and service providers ranging from HSBC, a couple of marketing companies, an IT provider, an accountant and a HR consultancy to name but a few.

Wide Range of Interests

Interest from those that came to say hello ranged from a health counselor who wanted to know about the the ins and outs of blogging, through to a web designer start-up wanting advice on the logistics of running a web design business and a private healthcare provider wanting to get to grips with LinkedIn.

Mid-way through the event I contributed one of the mini bite-size seminars that were being run throughout the day by talking to a packed room of small business owners about the ways in which they can promote their website for free. This presentation may be viewed again on our slideshare account.

Pleasantly Surprised

Traditionally I’m not a great lover of exhibitions (both as an exhibitor or as an attendee) — however, this one proved to be a good one as not only did we run a busy stand but we picked up a few enquiries as well.

Lovely jubbly!

Currying Favour

Being in Bradford, the curry capital of Britain in my book; exhibitors and attendees were treated to a scrumptious curry buffet meal at lunchtime. None of this pre-made, politically correct manufactured rubbish either, the real McCoy with a bit of a kick to it. (You can tell I’m a curry fan).

What else would you expect in Bradford!

What a way to curry favour with local businesses? Great networking, a great mini-Expo and a great lunch.

Thanks to everyone at the Grid* for their hard work in pulling it all together.

Photos

The above pictures were taken by John Steel Photography. You can view more of John’s pictures of the proNet networking event here and of the Expo day here.

Confused about selling?

Judging by the number of books there are about “how to sell”, the business world must be full of salespeople and their managers who all believe that they could and should be selling more… if they only knew how.

If only they knew the right sales techniques… or had the right sales staff… or the right training… or any “if only” excuse you can think of…

But ask yourself:

• How can a book you dip into during the train journey into work or read for a few minutes at lunchtime or turn to in the evening while you’ve got one eye on the telly… how can that teach you how to “do” selling?
• How can something written by a complete stranger… who knows nothing about you or your organisation or your products/services or your customers … how can that teach you how to “do” selling?
• How can something that’s written for a mass-market… one size fits all… how can that teach you how to “do” selling?

Then there are all the seminars, conferences, training events, lectures, presentations and exhibitions that are about “how to sell”.

A lot of so-called selling experts are making a lot of money because they know that the business world is full of people who are searching for some kind of magic solution that’ll put their sales into orbit. Everyone, apparently, is looking in the wrong place. Must be, or else why do so many of them keep buying all those how to “do” selling books and attending all those events?

The starting point to getting more people to buy more of what we’re selling is to understand that

SALES SUCCESS HAS NOTHING TO DO WITH “SELLING” TO PEOPLE.

What Works and What Doesn’t

In a career as a marketing and business growth specialist, I have had the privilege of working alongside lots of sales people, (some good, some bad, some indifferent!) and their managers (ditto) and their employers in all kinds of businesses, big and small, and in all kinds of trades. In both the public sector and private enterprise. I’ve been able to observe at close quarters what “works”… and what doesn’t… in creating a successful and effective sales environment.

What doesn’t work is trying to “sell” to people. What works is:

Repeatedly and deliberately creating the circumstances in which people actively want to buy what you’re offering.

Create the Circumstances

How much easier and more rewarding would your life be if you didn’t need to put so much of your time, effort, energy and resources every day into “selling” because instead you have created the circumstances where your customers and potential customers come to you. Actively, willingly and happily. Time and again. And, just for good measure, recruit their family, friends, neighbours and colleagues as additional customers on your behalf.

Too good to be true? Back in the real world you have to slog every day in order to make that sale and earn that wage?

If that’s so, maybe it’s because “SELLING” DOESN’T WORK!” And that’s no reflection on your abilities as a salesperson.

Just about everyone of us is naturally capable of repeatedly creating the circumstances in which people actively want what we’re offering.

The key is to understand how to recognize and harness that natural ability and channel it into sustaining and growing our business.

Well I’m here to argue that this idea is a load of old tosh!

Hand Addressing Your Envelopes

The Argument For

However in case you’ve not come across this concept before, here’s the argument for it:

1. Addressing envelopes by hand to the recipients in your mailing list, is deemed to present a more personal approach to them and as such, is more likely to result in an opened letter. Using a typed address label is likely to give the impression that the letter is impersonal and forms part of a mass mail out.
2. Similarly, the use of a postage stamp instead of an office franking machine mark or SmartStamp® label, makes the recipient feel the letter is unique to them and is not part of a bulk mailing campaign. Again, the technique is said to result in an increased probability that the letter will get opened upon receipt.

The Argument Against

Having previously used this technique in my own business I can’t say that I’ve ever noticed any greater degree of success when it comes to mail-shot response rates over the accepted technique of mail-merging address labels followed by a whizz of each neatly addressed envelope, through a franking machine.

Instead what I did discover was the inconvenience of having to queue alongside the local pensioners, petty cash in hand, down at my local Post Office, in order to buy stamps. Having driven back to the office, I succumbed to writer’s cramp as I began to hand address each envelope and was left with a sticky fingers as I applied a couple of hundred stamps to a couple of hundred envelopes.

Practical disadvantages aside, can it be said that this “hand addressing” technique actually gives an improved response rate to any mail shot campaign?

I’ve stated above that my own personal experience tells me “no it doesn’t”. As someone who has been on the receiving end of such formatted mail shots, I accept that a hand addressed envelope will result in me opening the letter (after all it may be a cheque)! But to be honest, all mail sent to my company get’s opened anyway.

It’s stopping me chucking it in the bin once opened, that’s the difficult part from the senders’ standpoint.

Uphill Struggle

However, I can categorically say that if someone I’ve never heard of, sends me a hand addressed envelope with a stamp on it with the intention of influencing my opinion or buying habits then they have an uphill struggle on their hands, with the technique increasing the chances of the mail out ending up in the recycling bin!

Here’s why.

1. To me a hand addressed envelope says “I don’t know how to use mail-merge”. A sender credibility issue.
2. It gives the impression they can’t be bothered to print a label off.
3. It looks unprofessional and indicates to me they are not really a serious business.
4. The sender doesn’t know how to position an address on the typed letter inside and as such, isn’t able to use a window envelope. Again a credibility issue.
5. If the sender is unknown to me a hand addressed envelope is being overlay familiar in my book. A manners issue.

So if someone sends me a neatly typed and labeled envelope with either a franking mark or SmartStamp print in a good quality envelope, to my place of business. Then I perceive that person to be ready to to do business. That’s the impression I get and I haven’t even opened and read the letter yet.

Forget all this handwritten envelope tosh! Handwritten envelopes are for Christmas and Birthday Cards not business. Unless they contain a cheque that is!

What’s your experience? Is this a technique one you use with good results in your own business? Or do you agree with me?