Top Secrets of Marketing & Sales

While many businesses are now getting back to work, it’s not always smooth sailing. Some industries are returning more slowly than others, which leave many business owners and salespeople wondering what they can do to get their business back in gear. David: Hi, and welcome to the podcast. Today, cohost Chris Templeton and I will be talking about getting your business back in gear. Welcome Chris. Chris: Hi David. You know, it seems like many people thought that business would just automatically bounce back and return to normal. As soon as these restrictions were lifted. That’s not a given, is it? David: No, it’s turning out it’s really not a given, particularly in the early stages. You know, we just thought this thing would probably come and go fairly quickly and then it didn’t. And then the longer it went, I think the more difficult it got for people, but yeah, as different states come back at different levels, it’s really been a bit of a challenge. And so I think the idea of it happening by itself or happening automatically is probably not really the way that things are going. And so yeah, we have to see what we can do more proactively to get things going again. Chris: So when you think about getting a business going again, where do you think that business owners and sales people should start? David: Well, I think I’d start with looking at your existing customer base and asking yourself, okay, how many of these people are ready to move forward? How many of them are in a position to move forward? Because obviously it’s always easier to sell to your existing client base than it is to sell, to, or find new people. So we definitely want to start there. Just going back to them, trying to find out where they are, how they’re doing, what they’re thinking and all that sort of thing. So finding out from them also how well things are bouncing back or not bouncing back. And a lot of industries are responding in different ways. Certainly the food industry — restaurants have really struggled with a lot of what’s going on. I know hair salons here in Pennsylvania are still closed as of the time that we’re recording this. I’m sporting sort of a seventies, early eighties “do” at the moment because… Chris: Oh, but you look great, David. David: Yeah, I do. It’s fantastic. Just this sort of a Bee-Gees look. Vintage BeeGees. But anyway, some of those types of industries are going to remain affected until things get back to normal. But even then, it’s not a given that people are just going to automatically start spending again. So I think we need to look at “what is our existing customer base doing? How are they dealing with it? What can we do to help them to take action and move things forward?” And also just look at what are we doing? What are we doing in our own businesses to remind people that this is not forever. And we need to take as many actions as we can to help our customers to move things forward. Chris: One of the things, I think we’ve talked about this in a previous podcast, is the whole idea of doing a check in with my client base. All of them. I mean, why not call everyone and just say, “Hey, I’m calling to see how you’re doing.” I mean, just that as a starting point, and if you’ve got a prospect that you’ve been working with, I think it’s fair to say, “Hey, also want to check in and see how you’re doing. Where are you with what we’ve been talking about? Obviously a lot of things have changed and I just want to make sure that we’re on the same page moving forward.” Does that seem like a good way to start from your standpoint? David: Yes, absolutely. And we did discuss that in previous podcasts. I think if there’s anyone listening who has not yet done that, you definitely want to do that. Just reach out to them, find out how they’re doing, find out how things are going. And you can do that with a combination. You can do phone calls. If you can’t reach everyone by phone, you can certainly do something similar, initiate a conversation via email or on social media or via messenger, lots of different ways to reach people, particularly those that you haven’t heard from, the ones that you have not been able to sort of requalify and find out where they stand. If you haven’t been able to do it on the phone, try a different method, try something like email or social media or whatever else you can use to reach them and to find out how they’re doing. Chris: You know, there’s a product that I use and there’s a couple of them out there… more than a couple, probably three or four that are all geared toward simply being able to quickly record a recording with the screen or without. I use it to do a check-in, especially if it’s somebody that I haven’t heard from in

Social distancing has caused many people to feel isolated. This likely applies as much to you as it does to your clients. Helping clients is key. So what can we do to allow our prospects and clients to feel less alone and create more of a connection? David: Hi, and welcome to the podcast. Today, cohost Chris Templeton and I will be talking about helping your clients to feel less isolated and creating solid connections. Welcome Chris. Chris: Hi David. You know, the ability to create connections, especially now, is so important. We’ve discussed how to use technology in previous podcasts, but there’s a psychological component to this. So what are some of the things we can do to help our clients and ourselves, David? David: Well, that’s a great question. And we had touched a lot on fear in the previous podcast and how do you overcome feelings of fear? And I think it’s possible a lot of this also applies to feelings of isolation and feeling like we’re all in it by ourselves, we’re in it alone. And the fact of the matter is that we’re really not. And so a lot of it starts with, I believe, recognizing that fact. That essentially if everybody’s in the same boat, then we’re about as far from alone as we could possibly be. Everybody’s pretty much in the same situation. Now, if you’re where you are in California and I’m where I am in Pennsylvania, if you and I are not connecting, then sure, we’re going to feel a lot more isolated than we will feel if we’re having a conversation like this one, where it’s as if we’re together and we’re able to have a conversation and we are able to feel more connected because we’re be able to have those conversations. David: So I think a lot of it starts with that, recognizing that we are far from alone. We’re all in this together. And I think adapting that mindset is really important for everyone right now to recognize, yeah, we may not always agree with everyone else, but we are certainly all in this together and the clearer we can get about that, and the more we can understand that the common goals remain the same: to have better lives, to be able to continue to move our lives and our businesses forward. And then, you know, how can we help ourselves to do it and how can we help those around us to do it? If we recognize that everybody’s in the same boat, then maybe we can all start paddling the same direction and feel less isolated about it. Chris: And I think the thing that you said that really resonates with me, and I, I think it’s easier to walk right by is this is about as much for ourselves as it is for clients or for prospects. If we’re trying to build relationships with our clients and prospects right now doing that is as good for you as it is for anybody else. You know what I mean? David: Yeah, no question. And it’s like what we talked about before, you have to be able to do some of this stuff for yourself before you’re going to be able to get good at helping other people. It’s like what they talk about when you’re about to take off in a plane, you gotta put your mask on before you try to help someone else. And it’s the same exact advice here, you know, how can we allow ourselves to feel less isolated and more connected? And the way that we do that is essentially going to be by establishing connections. Just saying things like, who do I want to be connected with right now? Who would I like to be able to interact with right now? And then just reaching out and making it happen. And this applies as much or perhaps even more and our social lives as it does in business. But I think the two are very much related. Chris: Absolutely. And you know, we talked off air about having Zoom meetings with our friends that I’ve, I’ve had, I think four or five of them in the last month and a half, two months. And they are so refreshing to be able to see the people that matter and doing the same thing. And I think you really hit it. Now, who are the people that are prospects and clients that you really do want to connect with? Who are the people that you would enjoy? Just having a conversation with what a great way to help me and to help those people by just checking in, like we talked about in the last podcast, how are you doing? How are things going? I think that’s just huge. David: Yeah. And one of the things that I’ve done for years is I would put together a list and I would usually do this at least on a monthly basis, who are some of the people that I would like to interact with this month? Who are some of the clients that I’d like to interact with, who are some other people that are in our industry that I’d like to interact with, who are some friends that I’d like to interact with? I don’t really have to document it as much with the friends, cause that’s going to happen anyway.

The COVID-19 crisis caused many business owners to experience things for the very first time. Customers ordered to stay home. Businesses deemed nonessential and ordered to close. Many personal liberties curtailed. All of this has created a lot of fear. So what can we do to help clients overcome the fear and see past it? David: Hi and welcome to the podcast today. Cohost Chris Templeton, and I will be talking about seeing past the fear and helping our clients to do the same. Welcome back, Chris. Chris: Hi David, with everything that’s been happening, wall to wall news coverage of every detail. There has certainly been a lot of fear in the market and rightfully so. I know that our topic today is about seeing past it, but don’t you think a little fear is actually helpful? David: Well, I think it can be, particularly for some people. Some people are really motivated by fear. And so for those who are motivated by fear, I think that it can be helpful in encouraging them to do the things that we’re being told we need to do. But I think it’s a fine line. And sometimes the danger is that when there is too much fear, not enough fact, or too much fear, not enough critical thinking, that we all tend to start to devolve mentally. We tend maybe not to be able to think as clearly or think straight. So I think, yes, a little fear can be helpful to some people, but overall, I don’t know. I just feel as if most of us are better at making intelligent, thoughtful decisions critically than we are from a basis of fear. Chris: It’s a really, really good point. And I think a lot of people don’t even realize that they’re falling into it occasionally. And with what’s going on now, every detail on the news, it’s certainly easy to go down that road. And all of a sudden we start to behave in a way, make decisions in a way that are based on that underlying fear without even recognizing it. A balanced perspective sure does make a big difference, don’t you think? David: Yeah, I think balance is very important. I had this thought the other day about the words to the National Anthem, “the land of the free and the home of the brave.” And I think it can be challenging for some people to think in terms of the land of the free, when you’re required to stay home. And the home of the brave, when everything they’re telling you on television is designed to potentially make you fearful. And so, it’s finding the balance and recognizing that there are facts, and we need to be able to look at the facts and just think in terms of “how can we keep things moving forward?” How can we do it for ourselves to be able to think critically analyze situations intelligently and help our clients to do the same? Chris: Well, and I think from that standpoint, it is about perspective. It is saying to yourselves, into your coworkers and your family and friends, “we are going to get through this.” We don’t know exactly what it’s going to look like, but we know that we’ve been through it as a planet, in what, 1918 with the Spanish flu? And we do come back from these things. And even that, just as a starting point, in trying to bring more perspective and balance to what I’m thinking, has to be a great step in the right direction, don’t you think? David: Yeah, absolutely. And the better we get at doing that, the better off we’re going to be. But right now, I mean, when I look at what’s going on with our clients and with different people that I’ve talked to in business, a lot of the fear that I see people dealing with is the unknown. That seems to be the biggest thing. And it reminds me of childhood fears. The reason that children are afraid of the dark, is not because it’s dark. It’s because they don’t know what’s going on. It’s because they can’t see what’s happening. And as a result, it’s really the fear of the unknown. And that’s a lot of what we’ve been dealing with over the past couple of weeks and months is that there’s just too much unknown. And we hear lots of different conflicting reports. And as a result of it, people just don’t really know what to think. And that’s what generates a lot of the fear, because the question is, “should I go out, should I not go out? Should I approach clients? Should I approach clients? Am I going to appear insensitive if I talk to people about moving things forward and trying to continue life?” And so those are a lot of the fears that people are dealing with. It’s the unknown. And it’s the response that we could potentially get, which is also unknown. I think a lot of it just boils back down to unknown. Chris: Absolutely. And you said it, the top of that statement when we are in fear, it’s because we don’t know what to think. And so that’s where I thi

Over the course of our recent podcast series, we’ve been discussing pandemic and post pandemic selling skills. We’ve discussed things like Facebook, social media, LinkedIn, YouTube, video, teleconferencing, and today we’re going to be discussing generating leads online. Are you doing it? Do you know how to do it? Do you have the tools you need to do it? We’ll hit all of that in today’s podcast. David: Hi and welcome to the podcast. Today, cohost Chris Templeton and I are back, and we’re going to be talking about generating leads online. Welcome back, Chris. Chris: Thank you David. Nice to be here. You know, when we talk about generating leads online, that can mean a whole lot of things to a whole lot of different people. Talk about what your definition is of that process. David: Okay. Well, as you indicated, it can happen a lot of different ways. You could post something on Facebook that someone sees and they reply to it and they say, “Ooh, that sounds great. I’d like to be a customer!” Of course that never happens. Chris: But they may say, “ah, you know, I’m willing to take a look.” David: Exactly. So it could be that, but I’d like to get a little more specific on this, because as we move to these different methods of interacting with people and communicating with people, I think it’s important to understand that online lead generation can mean more than just somebody finds you online and then you connect offline and you end up establishing a relationship. Online lead generation can actually be a situation where you put something out to the marketplace. It could be some sort of lure, some sort of lead magnet, that is designed to get their attention and to sort of pull them into your orbit. You then would need to have the technology in place to be able to capture that lead. In many cases that would be through some sort of opt-in form, and then you want to be able to nurture that communication, which often involves autoresponders or ongoing communication. And so this starts to sound very technical (and obviously we’re not going to get into all the details in a podcast.) But this is exactly the type of stuff that we work with our existing clients on to help them to be able to increase their online presence, actually be able to generate leads online and to be able to replicate themselves — to be able to automate some of the process — so they don’t have to physically be doing all of the work themselves. And I think as we look at the whole topic of this conversation — sort of doing things in a post pandemic world — we want to look at how we can better leverage ourselves, how we can better utilize technology to sort of clone ourselves so that we don’t have to be all places at all times. We can actually utilize the technology to create an environment in which it appears that that’s the case, where we can be hyper-responsive without actually having to do all the work ourselves. Chris: And you know, one of the things that I think a lot of people kind of default to when they think about this is, “Oh, it’s going to be sales thing after another,” this automated followup type of thing, and that simply, from my perspective, and I think yours, should not be the case, should it David? These autoresponders should be something that are of value, that show who I am, help to figure out fit, that sort of thing. David: Yes. Just as in every business communication that we ever have. Chris: What? David: It should all be geared like that. We had talked in a previous podcast about sort of the 80/20 aspect of that, making sure that roughly 80% of what you’re saying to a client is just solid value and perhaps using the other 20% or so to sell. Maybe it’s even 85/15 or 90/10. But it’s about establishing those relationships. It’s about nurturing those relationships and helping our clients to get the results they’re looking for. Chris: You know, I used to be a consultant for a large financial services company and one of the seminars I’d give to agents was that marketing equaled relationship. And I think it’s very easy to forget that what you’re doing, what your goal is, is to create a connection with these types of communications. And so, I think you’re probably right, David, 90/10. 10% sales, 90% information. What do I do to help somebody feel like they’re going to be able to make an educated purchase of whatever it is that I’m selling, by providing information and talking things through that aren’t necessarily part of the direct sales process, but give that prospect enough information where they feel like number one, they know who I am, that I’m delivering value, I begin to trust you. I begin to feel like I’ve got that relationship going. And that can be in any form, too. David: Right. Absolutely. And when

In our recent podcast series, we’ve been discussing pandemic and post pandemic selling skills. How many of these do you have working in your business right now? David: Hi and welcome to the podcast. In the last couple of podcast episodes, Chris and I were talking about prospecting using social media that led to discussions about Facebook and LinkedIn and video, and I guess we’re just going to sort of pick up where we left off. Welcome back Chris. Chris: Hi David. Thanks for having me back and I am really pleased to talk about something that I’ve been doing for almost 20 years now, which is online meetings. You know, we talk about the idea of using video. Well, one of the things that I’ve been doing for almost 20 years is online meetings. I’ve had meetings with agencies between — I’m in Napa and New York, back in the day, and I have online meetings now almost every day and frankly that’s how we do this, isn’t it? David: It is. We’re having one right now, in fact. Chris: Yes we are. Although we’re not looking in each other’s eyes. Because we’re not using video, and that is certainly not a requirement. But let’s talk about, as a starting point, how well this has worked. You know, we’re on our 36th podcast right now together. David: Right. Chris: And we never looked at each other in the eye have we? David: We’ve never met. No. Chris: And that’s probably best that you’re not seeing me. But no, I’m kidding. But it’s amazing to me how quickly our relationship, in terms of being able to go back and forth, and really do this in a way that I think is compelling happened almost immediately, didn’t it? David: It did. Yeah. From the very first episode. And that’s the type of thing that can and should happen, ideally, in every meeting. In every online meeting between a prospect and a client, the whole purpose of being able to utilize online video or video conferencing is to be able to establish relationships and be able to foster those relationships in a meaningful way. So, yeah, absolutely. In our last podcast, we were talking about video, using it as a one-to-many marketing medium. So we can put together a video, get it in front of a lot of people, and be impacting a lot of people all at once. But what we’re talking about now, with video conferencing or even audio conferencing, as we’re doing right now, it’s just to be able to have a meaningful conversation with another person to be able to advance the sales dialogue and move things forward. Chris: And I think it’s so critical that people understand that the level of scripting that you and I have in these conversations is almost none. There’s a beginning, and maybe a few points to cover, and then a wrap up, but the rest of it is all genuine conversation. And so one of the things I think is really important for the audience to consider is “how can I have a conversation with somebody that will help me to bring out the best of myself?” And what I find is that I’ve done hundreds of radio interviews over the years, and I can count three or 400 interviews I’ve done. Gotta be less than 10 that I’ve been like, “how am I going to get through this?” I’m always shocked, number one, at how good people are at doing it and number two, how surprised they are that they’re able to be that articulate. David: Yeah. You and I both have radio backgrounds. I worked in radio from the time I was 15, so when you were talking about not seeing each other face to face, the old adage of “I’ve got a face built for radio” immediately leaps to mind. But it’s a very comfortable medium and I think that’s why podcasts have been so popular. Because you can listen to a conversation between two people talking about a topic of interest and it makes perfect sense. Now when we adapt this to selling in today’s environment, where we’re not doing it face to face. Or maybe we’re doing it face to face via video conference. A lot of the same things apply, like how to do this. And I think you really outlined it there, in the same type of approach that we take with the podcast, which is: you know where you’re going to begin, you know where you’re going to end, you might have a few points that you definitely want to hit in the middle, but then it’s just about authentic conversation. And so if you’re going to have a sales conversation with someone via Skype or Zoom or any sort of teleconferencing equipment, I think it’s the same thing. You have to know where you want to begin. You have to know where you want to get to at the end, and some sort of basic path for getting there. And of course, the road is going to wind around. Things are not going to go exactly the way you may love them to go, but as long as you’re able to foll

In our last podcast, we began a discussion on pandemic and post pandemic selling skills because the skills that got you to this point will probably not be enough to keep you moving forward. Do you have what it takes to survive and thrive in the new environment? Let’s find out. David: Hi and welcome to the podcast today cohost Chris Templeton and I are back to continue our discussion on pandemic and post pandemic selling skills. Welcome back, Chris. Chris: Hi David. You know in our last podcast we were going to talk about all kinds of skills that have to be developed in order to succeed in this new selling environment. David: Right. Chris: We didn’t get as far as we thought we were going to and we kind of left off on Facebook groups and the type of content that we can put up. Let’s talk about some other things that we can do in regards to social media. David: Okay. We started talking about Facebook groups and Facebook personal profiles and Facebook pages, but obviously there are other social media sources as well. LinkedIn is always thought of as being a good source for business. You want to discuss that one next? Chris: Sure. Let’s talk about LinkedIn. David: Okay. If you’ve been in business for a long time, you probably have some sort of LinkedIn account or presence. If not, you should definitely look into getting one. LinkedIn is one social media environment in which it’s okay to be in business, be in sales. Sometimes with some of the more personal social media platforms like Facebook, that can be frowned upon. But in LinkedIn people sort of expect the fact that you’re in business and that you might say things related to business. Now that doesn’t mean that you can just go on there and turn it into a 24 hour pitch fast, right? David: You can’t just go on there and say, “buy my stuff” all the time because you will alienate just as many people on LinkedIn as you would on any other platform. Chris: You don’t think that’ll work? David: You can try it if you want to. See how that works out. Chris: Yeah, you try it and let us know how it goes. David: Yeah, send us an email. But you can get on there and exchange ideas. You can initiate conversations that are more business related. You can connect with people. Because on LinkedIn it’s more about connections. Whereas on Facebook it’s about friends, quote unquote. So you’re friending people on Facebook, but you’re connecting with people on LinkedIn. So people expect that there’s going to be a business component to the discussion on there. So that’s helpful. The flip side is that since it’s all business, people do get pitched a lot, and so the way that we approach people on LinkedIn is going to have to be thought through and not just “winging it” the way that a lot of people do. Chris: And I don’t know if you want to go with 80/20 or some different split, but you know, like you said, if all you’re doing is pushing your sales messages, you’re not going to be very effective in generating connections and interest. And so, can we do 80% that is informational, maybe half of that tied to your specific products, but not as, you know, “Hey, buy my product” and then can you do things like we’re doing right now, which is how do we help people in these difficult times? And almost everybody in business has the ability to tie this to what’s going on with the pandemic, that sort of thing, don’t you think? David: Yeah, absolutely. And I think one of the primary changes in focus has been, and this is something we’ve talked about in previous podcasts as well, is that right now with everything that’s going on, sales is far less about what can I sell you and far more about how can I help you? How can I help you with what you’re looking to accomplish? And so if we’re looking to initiate business conversations, let’s say through LinkedIn, then we want to be clear up front that it’s not just about selling people, it’s about trying to figure out how we can help. And so if we’re initiating connection requests on LinkedIn. There should be a reason for that. In other words, you don’t use the generic, “I’d like to connect with you on LinkedIn” because if they don’t know you, they don’t know the benefit. They don’t understand the “what’s in it for me” and so they’re going to be far less likely to be receptive or to connect. If you can give them a reason about why you’re connecting, there’ll be a lot more likely to do it. For example, if you serve a particular niche industry and you are able to say in your connection request, “I work with a lot of people in your industry, I thought it might be worthwhile to connect. I have a few ideas I’d be happy to share with you.” Then ther