Characteristics of a qualified prospect

I’ve been reading a really cool series (4 books) on strategic selling by Patrick Henry Hansen.  The book I’m reading right now is called “The DNA Selling Method“.  Quite a bit of great historical stories are used to show sales best practices.

In discussing qualified prospects, he gives a pretty great succinct definition on page 89.

“A qualified prospect in any industry has four general characteristics:

1. Ultimate decision maker(s)
2. Available Funding
3. Acceptable Timeframe(s)
4. Matching Needs

If any one of the qualifying components is missing, the probability of closing the sale is diminished.  By asking simple qualification questions, sellers identify all four qualifying characteristics, and enhance the probability of working with clients likely to purchase.”

 

Two of my favorite business travel sites

I just got done with a ridiculous road trip.  I met with 6 customers and prospects yesterday, and drove (in less than 48 hours) from Detroit to Toledo, Columbus, Cincinnati, Lexington.  Business travel always takes it out of me.  What electronic / web based tools do you use to help you travel more efficiently?

Here are two I’m using as a key part of my business travel strategy.  I’m in to time savers.  I’m road tired, so I cheated and took their descriptions.  Bottom line?  I can’t live without them:

TripIt – http://www.tripit.com

With today’s myriad of travel sites, even the most experienced traveler has their hands full managing all the details of a typical trip. Booking airline tickets, hotels, rental cars and restaurants leaves you with lots of separate pieces of paper. Throw in maps, directions, things to do, and weather and the chaos multiplies.

TripIt turns chaos into order by making it easy for anyone to:

• Organize trip details into one master online itinerary — even if arrangements are booked at multiple travel sites
• Automatically include maps, directions and weather in their master itinerary
• Have the option to book restaurants, theatre tickets, activities and more right from within the online itinerary
• Safely access travel plans online, share them, check-in for flights, or print an itinerary

RideCharge – https://www.ridecharge.com

RideCharge completes the online travel booking puzzle, by giving travelers the ability to book taxis and sedans online.

RideCharge allows corporate travel managers to control ground travel costs with electronic booking, payment, and expense management for taxi, sedan, limo and shuttle services throughout the US.

RideCharge gets rid of paper receipts, eliminates the need to carry cash for taxis, and allows travelers to find reliable service in unfamiliar cities, all with a mobile phone.

Check out these sites… well worth it.  What travel tools are “can’t live without” for you???

 

What’s a social media guru anyway?

Lisa Wilberding posted a great post last week. Intimidation from the Alleged “Social Media Expert” that really got me thinking.

What IS a “Social Media Expert” anyway?  I know some who I’ve really enjoyed reading and learning from.  Some, I’ve started not to pay as much attention to.

Social Media is, and should be perceived as, simply another mechanism to hear and be heard. An extension of yourself as a human with human relationships. Just like any other format, there are good and bad things about the genre, and good and bad things about the interaction processes, and people who communicate better than others.

Personally, I think it’s rude to talk on a cell phone while at a table, but I know plenty of people who do it, and think it’s perfectly fine. (Example of differences of opinion on a communication methodology.)

I happen to be someone who uses networking events to meet new people and establish RELATIONSHIPS, but I know plenty of people who use those times as simply an ad.

My feeling is that as people become more comfortable with new communication mechanisms, that they will continue to gravitate towards people they like, or people that they can easily communicate with, people that they need, or that need them. Doubtless we ALL will break some china while we’re at it. And in the end, it will be interesting to see what happens next. It’s all transitory.

Keep communicating. It is, after all, part of what makes us human.

 

Really achieving your childhood dreams.

I’m revisiting some things that really inspire me.  This is one of my favorite lectures.  “Experience is what you get when you didn’t get what you wanted.”

If you’ve not looked at this before, it’s a must watch.  Randy Pausch (October 23, 1960 – July 25, 2008) was a professor of computer science, human interaction and design at CMU (Carnegie Mellon University).  After being diagnosed with terminal cancer, he continued to lecture, and share with his students, and his broader audience.

“Brick walls are there for a reason: They let us prove how badly we want things.  The brick walls are there to stop people who don’t want it badly enough.”

I also really appreciate his lecture on Time Management.

Check these out – well worth your time to watch.

 

Boxer Billy: Perseverance

Calvin Coolidge, the 30th US president, once said, “Nothing in the world can take the place of Persistence. Talent will not; nothing is more common than unsuccessful men with talent. Genius will not; unrewarded genius is almost a proverb. Education will not; the world is full of educated derelicts. Persistence and determination alone are omnipotent. The slogan ‘Press On’ has solved and always will solve the problems of the human race.”

I’m a big Tivo junkie.  I love the idea that I don’t HAVE to watch commercials… EVER.

One of the things that’s ended up on my Tivo is the Fox Sports Amazing Sports Stories which airs on Sunday evenings at 8pm.  These are incredible stories of survival, perseverance, and beating the odds.

In browsing for things to watch this weekend, I stumbled across the story of “Billy Miske: Dead Man Fighting”.

“It was a moment for a miracle, but death was closing in.  Billy Miske, one of the top fighters of his era, who was knocked out only once by the legendary Jack Dempsey, was struck down by a fatal illness.  But his family’s future was at stake.  So Billy kept on fighting, risking everything, including his life.”  So the show started, and I wasn’t planning to watch the whole thing, but it held my attention, and it’s an amazingly inspiring story.

Billy Miske, known as The Saint Paul Thunderbolt, was born in 1894. BoxRec.com calls his final career record of 77 wins (33 by knockout), 15 losses (1 knockout), 14 draws, with a total of 103 fights, and 782 rounds boxed.  He was considered to be an underrated, fast, and dangerous fighter.

I found a Sports Illustrated article that tells the story, between that and the Fox Sports show, here are some of the highlights:

In 1918, when Miske was 24 years old, Doctors diagnosed him with Bright’s disease, now called acute or chronic nephritis.  This is a severe kidney disease, accompanied by back pain, vomiting, and fever.  Doctors told Billy that he had five years to live… if he quit boxing.

For many reasons, Billy’s sole method of supporting his family was boxing.  He recognized his commitment to his family, and reportedly witheld the severity of his sickness from them.  You see, he had run up somewhere in the neighborhood of $100,000 in debt in a failed auto dealership business, and believed in both paying his debts, and providing for his family.

Billy fought in 30 more bouts after the doctors ordered him to stop, among them was his single knockout by Jack Dempsey in a 1920 title fight.

In 1923, Jack realized he was too sick to fight, and retired.  However, as Christmas drew near, and as he knew he would not live much longer, all he wanted was to provide his family with a Christmas to remember.  So he asked his manager, Jack Reddy, to set up one more fight for him.  Even though Jack knew Billy was sick, he understood his plea, and set him up with a fight with Bill Brennan, who later went six rounds with Jack Dempsey.

Though he was too weak to train properly, Billy knocked out Bill Brennan in the fourth round on November 7th, 1923, and won the fight.  He used his purse to provide money for his family, and a Christmas they all remembered, including a piano for his wife (a singer & actress), and all the latest toys for his kids.

The day after Christmas, he woke up in excruciating pain, was rushed to the hospital, and died on January 1, 1924.

Maybe it wasn’t always the smartest choice (healthwise), but what an example of not quitting.  Of doing whatever it took – to follow through on his commitments, to take care of his family, and to leave a legacy.  What’s your legacy?

Another great quote on perseverance comes from Dan Rather, “Courage is being afraid but going on anyhow”.

And it’s true.  It’s not luck, talent, or genius that makes success, character, or high moral value.  It’s perseverance.  Hard work.  “Chopping Wood”.  Being the best you can be.  Working to the best of your ability, and not being afraid to challenge yourself or those around you.  Leading by example.

When I make a commitment, I want it to always be known that I gave it my all.  That I pushed forward until it was done, done right, and when I looked back, I far exceeded even my own expectations.

 

Utilizing Social Networks

http://veryofficialblog.com/2008/10/24/leverage-existing-social-networks-or-find-an-influencer-to-do-it-for-you/

Shannon Paul makes some really great points in her article on utilizing social networks and influencers.  In fact, it’s so well written that, instead of wasting your time looking at my comments on it, you should simply click over and check it out!

The fact is that social media is not limited to millennials.  Whomever your target demographic is, you should be interested in understanding how to best promote your business, draw customers and quality employees by supporting your branding and advertising activities on the web utilizing social media sites in a strategic manner.

I’ve played with social media personally for quite some time, and am just working on how to translate some of our communications professionally (my day job).

Some of my favorite key reference points on the subject:

http://www.twebinar.com/archive.html – A series of three video webinars where they interview over 30 top names in social media and Internet marketing and get their best thoughts on how tools like blogs, social networks, wikis, and podcasts are changing the way companies do business.

http://www.chrisbrogan.com/ – Chris Brogan advises businesses, organizations and individuals on how to use social media and social networks to build relationships and deliver value.

http://sethgodin.typepad.com/ – General Seth Godin plug… his blog is a must follow (oh, and read his books too – one of the most prolific of the truly trustworthy resources on the subject)

http://veryofficialblog.com/

http://www.curvedetroit.com/blog.html - One of my favorite marketing company’s blog.  Very web/media aware and a fun read!

These are simply some of my favorites.  What are yours?  What has your social media experience been?

Next up, some of my favorite “social media” sites and communities.

 

Webinar series on utilizing Social Media for Business

http://www.twebinar.com/

Chris Brogan and Radian6 have launched a “Twebinar” series on utilizing Social Media.  The whole series looks VERY interesting.

I have struggled with the idea of social media sites as a business tool.  This series will bring some of the best minds to discuss and present on this topic.

Check it out: http://www.twebinar.com/

June 26 at 2pm EST kicks off the social media summer series hosted by Chris Brogan and brought to those registering FREE by Radian6.  Featuring interviews with over 30 of social media’s leaders, this series will explore various aspects of social media as they relate to the corporation.  The first topic is called “Game Changing Moves – Doing Business with Social Media.”

Title: Game Changing Moves – Doing Business with Social Media
Date: Thursday, June 26, 2008
Time: 2:00 PM EST

Description: How do companies like Boeing, Comcast, Sony, Yamaha, The American Red Cross, Sea World, General Motors, and Nike use social media to change the way they’re doing business? What can they teach you about building community, marketing, product development, and customer service? Radian6 and CrossTech Media have partnered on an incredible journey into how businesses can benefit from social media, and you’re invited along for the ride…

 

Picking Good People

“The best executive is the one who has sense enough to pick good men to do what he wants done, and self-restraint to keep from meddling with them while they do it.”

-Theodore Roosevelt

 

Be interested to be interesting…

So it’s official, Shannon Paul has a new blog, and it’s a great first post!

http://shannonpaul.wordpress.com/

Here’s an excerpt:

“The best way I have found since then to be interesting is to be interested. Being interested in other people and the world around me not only provides others with the motivation to be interested in me, it gives me a sense of what interests them; thus ensuring a cycle of mutual interest.”

I couldn’t agree more. Especially in my industry, I think we are often really misguided in our understanding what people really are interested in hearing about. And I hope that the mission of some of the real PR and marketing folks out there is to educate any industry on how to listen to their customers more. Collaborative messaging works best when driven by customer and prospect needs… and not just their needs, but their REAL drivers and desires- THEIR wants, not just what we as “experts” THINK they want.

It’s ok to educate, but only effective as it fits into a framework of what drives our audience.

In the first train the trainer class I ever took, one of the things that has stuck with me the most is the acronym WIIFM, or What’s In It For Me? Personal relevance, whether it’s meeting a want or a need, is the only real way to effectively reach anyone.

What am I doing to stay interesting? I think you already said it – staying interested.

Congratulations on your real live blog, and your “first real live blog post”.

 

Failing to Plan is Planning to Fail!

Notes from my sales meeting this morning.  We’re focusing on to-do lists and goal setting.

I was listening to a lecture by Randy Pausch this morning on time management, and I got some awesome information out of it.  I wanted to share my rough notes here with you.

The average corporate employee wastes 2-2.5 hours daily simply by lack of preparation, and their inability to find what they need on their desks.

A strong exercise prior to adding something to your to do list is to calculate how much money you cost your company per hour.  (Your hourly compensation x2 is a good baseline.) – This helps to recognize how much your time actually costs, and what its value is.

Whenever something crosses your desk as a candidate for addition to your to-do list, quickly analyze and ask:

1) Why am I doing it?

2) What is the goal?

3) Why will I succeed in doing it?

4) Am I the right person?

Whene you make a list, focus on doing the right things, rather than doing the wrong things right.

Always think of the 80/20 rule, or Pareto’s principle.  A very small percentage of your customers and activities will actually contrubute the vast amount of value.  Spend most of your time there.

While you’re focusing your energy, you need to create and follow a strategic plan.  You can’t run a race without knowing where the finish line is.  It’s the same principle with goal setting and achievement.

Walt Disney said, “If you can dream it, you can do it.”

Many people scorn this advice, but the facts show that if you can’t dream it, you can’t do it.

When Walt Disney was asked how Disneyland went from ground breaking to opening in just 365 days, his response was that they used every single one of them.

Use every minute, of every hour, of every day to recognize its fullest possibility.

Don’t be afraid of failuree.  Good judgement comes from experience, and experience comes from bad judgement… The person who succeeds is the one who picks himself back up and goes at it again – until he succeeds.

When you make a list of things to do, do the ugliest thing first.  If you have to eat a frog, don’t spend a lot of time dwelling on how bad it will taste, and if you have to eat three of them, don’t eat the small one first.

Touch each piece of paper or email once – discard it, put it into your list of to do’s, respond and file, or file it.

We also discussed Rotter-Covey’s four square time management matrix.