There’s an old saying in the sales biz that goes, “You no ask, you no get.” And it’s an old saying because it’s true. There’s an even older saying from a pretty famous book that goes, “Ask and it shall be given unto you.” This is the positive version of the old sales adage. When you meet people in person or on LinkedIn, Facebook, Twitter, or wherever, ask them how you may help them in some way. And if you’re in a position to help them, do it. What goes around comes around. But don’t offer to help people so that they’ll owe you. Do it because it’s a reflection of your giving nature and pay-it-forward attitude. Timid salespeople have skinny kids. This isn’t necessarily about sales, but really about human relations. Not offering to help people doesn’t serve anyone. Not the withholder nor the withholdee. Your success may be …
Don’t Be A Drive-By Social Media Connector
It’s nice to have a lot of Friends on Facebook, Connections on LinkedIn and Followers on Twitter, but don’t let the numbers fool you. Every connection regardless of the Social Media platform is an opportunity to add value to someone and to create a mutually beneficial, win-win relationship. Many people are “drive-by connecting” with people. They’re just trying to increase their numbers in an egotistical manner. This isn’t everyone by any means, but it’s certainly a lot of people. Just look at the evidence. A drive-by connection is someone who “friends, connects, or follows” and they’re then off to the Social Media Witness Relocation Program. You never hear from them again. Nothing, nada, bupkiss, goose egg. When connecting with someone, send them a personal message acknowledging them and asking if you may help them in some way. You may be surprised at some of the wonderful replies you get. Most people …
Who Did You Touch This Week?
While success is composed of a number of things, it’s pretty much agreed upon that our long-term success will be dependent on our ability to build and maintain relationships. The best kind of relationships are mutually beneficial, win-win relationships. Friday is a good time to look back over your week and see who you’ve interacted with and whether you’ve added value to everyone who has crossed your path. Take a few minutes and look back over your calendar for the week. See who you communicated with whether in person, by email, or perhaps on Social Media sites like LinkedIn, Facebook, and Twitter. Was your interaction positive? Did it add value to the other person? Did it lead to a stronger bond? Did you offer help in some way and pay it forward? If not, pick up the phone or drop an email to the person and let them know that …
Gain Client Engagement By Being Engaging
We hear a lot in the business world about gaining client/customer engagement. I’m a simple country boy, and although I did grow up in New Jersey, I think there were more cows and horses in my home town than people. Client engagement is a fancy word for happy, repeat clients. KISS : Keep It Simple Sweetie Folks can keep their metrics, analytics, NASA computations and so on. I’ll stick with what Dale Carnegie taught years ago: “You can make more friends in two months by becoming genuinely interested in other people than you can in two years by trying to get other people interested in you.” Engagement is not about advertising, spamming, stalking or any other intrusive ways of dealing with people. The easiest and fastest way to gain engagement is by being engaging. Let me repeat that, the easiest and fastest way to gain engagement is by being engaging. …
Get Back To The Basics Of Social Media
I’ve been off the road for a little bit and I’ve been getting back to the basics of connecting with people. Even though I speak all over the USA and internationally on a weekly basis on the subjects of Social Media, Networking, Personal Development, and Relationship Building, it’s easy to fall out of the habit of connecting with people like we should. What if every morning you got up a little earlier and checked in on your LinkedIn account to see who’s changed their photo, updated their profile, started a new job, joined a new group, received a recommendation or any of a ton of other updates that LinkedIn can provide you with. And then what if you sent them a brief personal message congratulating them or at least acknowledging that you’re interested in their success? What if you also looked at your Facebook account and congratulated your friends on …
Tim Sanders’ Masterpiece
Since today is Valentine’s Day, I thought I’d mention a book that I read back in 2003 which changed my life. That’s not an exaggeration. The book is “Love Is The Killer App” by Tim Sanders. The subtitle is “How to Win Business and Influence Friends.” Tim explains how to bring your compassion into business. It’s not a sappy book. It’s profound in its originality and authenticity. I applied what I learned in his book to my business efforts and saw huge immediate results. The book actually steered me toward the course I’m now on around the world with my speaking and training. Tim was actually going to kindly write a blurb for my book “The Social Media Sales Revolution” but it didn’t align with McGraw-Hill’s editorial calendar. Maybe he’ll kindly endorse my next book. I’m intentionally not going into a lot of detail here on what’s in the book. Wanna …
Social Proof Isn’t New, It’s Just Much Easier Now
Ever since the earth was cooling, the best form of credibility has been word of mouth. We do business with and refer business to people we know, like and trust. This is as natural as gravity. Whether it’s 912 AD or 2012 AD, word gets around. When people have good experiences and outcomes after working with you, you develop word of mouth. This is called a reputation. Prior to Social Media, we had limited ways of showing that we are credible, do a good job, take pride in our work, and have people saying good things about us. By creating a robust LinkedIn Profile including Recommendations from people who are in a position to endorse you based on your work experience, it’s never been easier to showcase your credibility. Similar displays of credibility can be created on Facebook, Twitter, and other Social Media platforms. The so-called, and often self-professed ‘Social …
Don’t Burn Bridges
The world feels like it’s getting smaller, but it’s the same size it has always been. It may be getting a littler bit warmer since Al Gore invented the internet, but it’s not getting any smaller. It feels like it’s getting smaller because we’re seeing more and more every day how interconnected we really are. And as I always tell my audiences, “You can’t outrun your character.” However you are, you are online, offline, in the boardroom and in the 7-11. Over the last few weeks I’ve had a few former bosses reach out to me and let me know that they’re looking to change careers or that they’ve been let go at their jobs. I let them know that if I can ever direct any opportunities their way, I’ll do so. Don’t burn bridges. The people who worked for you at one point may be the ones you’re reaching …
Dinner With Friends
High tech is nice, but high touch is everything. It’s great connecting with people on LinkedIn, Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, YouTube and many other Social Media platforms. But when you can, get together face to face. Start a relationship online and then take it offline. We’re all busier than ever. With all the traveling I do, it’s easy to not see friends face to face for long periods of time. I don’t like that so I decided to start a new tradition in 2012. Once a month Karin and I host a dinner party at our home for friends and people we’d like to get to know better. Many of the people we’d like to know better we’ve come to know online through Social Media platforms. I kinda like the 1950’s kinda feel of a dinner party. We have two or three couples and some singles and they bring their kids. …
Gifts That Are Not In Little Blue Tiffany Boxes
As you’re winding down 2011, I’m sure you’re taking a few minutes to review the year and take stock of how it all panned out. Did you hit your goals? Did you have goals? How did your job or business fare in 2011? Despite the economic tsunami, did you stay afloat or perhaps even thrive? Think about your professional and personal relationships. How are you doing with the people you work with? Look back at December of 2010 and think of how your professional relationships were then and ask yourself if there’s been any change between then and now? Is it for the better or worse? There is no status quo in relationships. How about your personal relationships? How’s it going with your spouse, kids, relatives, and friends? Take a minute and ask yourself if these relationships are getting stronger or are they getting weaker? Remember that kids often spell …
Attention Is The Most Valuable Commodity
In this more and more hyper-competitive, over-caffeinated, 24/7/365, Blackberry/Crackberry, Mach 5 with your receding hairline on fire world, one of the most valuable commodities on earth is attention. Yes, attention. You’re reading this right now. I am blessed to have your attention. Knowing this, always be asking yourself how you can over-deliver in the value department with everyone you come into contact with. Everyone. Not just the folks who you think may end up being your clients. Not just the people who you think may end up referring business to you. Everyone. The world seems to be getting smaller, but it’s not. It’s just that we’re now able to see all the hidden connections we already had, and we’re able to add more value to more people in more ways that we couldn’t have imagined ten years ago. Get people’s attention by becoming sincerely interested in them and their business …
Outcare Everyone Else By Listening Better
I love my barber. I love getting my hair cut because I get to sit and talk with Morris. He’s been cutting my hair for five years and although I moved a few months ago and he’s now 30 miles away, I still make the trip to see him. He and I were talking this morning about gaining and keeping our best clients. He and I are in two very different lines of work, but not really. We were talking about how little it takes to be above average. You do realize that just about everyone is average, don’t you? (that’s sarcastic, Jersey humor – which is redundant). Yes, you need to be technically competent in your chosen profession. But that’s just admission to the game. If you don’t have that, you won’t be in the game for long. Buh-bye, thanks for playing. By taking a sincere interest in your …
Give It Away
When I was a kid and my Mom took me to the butcher shop when we lived in Germany, I remember that the butcher would slice off a few pieces of deli meat and give them to me and my brothers. He would give samples. This is a smart business practice. As I get to know my clients around the world in all different industries, I notice that some of them give samples and some of them don’t. And a “sample” could be a meeting, a consultation, a product or anything of value to the potential client or customer. There was a time not too long ago, when people and businesses were very concerned about intellectual property. Intellectual property rights should be observed, but as we become more interconnected, I believe there’s good reason to loosen up a little bit. Being tight-fisted regarding your content and services will not serve …
You Can’t Afford The Luxury Of A Negative Post
Life moves pretty fast and if we really understood the impact that our words and actions have on other people and ultimately on ourselves, we’d probably be a little more selective with the things we say and do. Every interaction with another person is either a deposit or a withdrawal from that particular relationship. Be smart and make deposits. Negative comments and attitudes are withdrawals. There’s an old saying that goes, “You can’t afford the luxury of a negative thought.” I agree with that. That doesn’t mean that you have to become a superman of positivity and beat yourself up if you have negative thoughts. Everyone has negative thoughts. The question is: do you dwell on it, let it fester and then spread it like a virus, or do you choose to change your thoughts and focus on positive things? Take this line of thinking to Social Media. Everything you …
I Noticed That You Viewed My LinkedIn Profile
On the right-hand side of your LinkedIn homepage is a very interesting button called “Who’s Viewed Your Profile”. Depending on how a person’s LinkedIn settings are configured you can see with some limited visibility who’s been looking at your LinkedIn profile. Huge door of opportunity alert. Many people spend a lot of mental power trying to think up clever back door ways of doing things and getting people’s attention when they could just walk up to the nine-hundred-pound elephant in the middle of the room and hug it. I check this LinkedIn feature everyday and send a message to the people who’ve viewed my profile. Here’s my standard message: “Hi Bob, I noticed that you viewed my LinkedIn Profile. I’m all about paying-it-forward and adding massive value and I’d like you to make me prove it. May I help or serve you in some way? To your massive success, Kev” …
Get Real
People often ask me, “Kev, how should I be on Social Media?” I get a kick out of that question, because it’s similar to asking me, “Kev, how should I be on the telephone?” Let’s change the word “on” to “through.” You’re not “on” the telephone anymore than you’re “on” Social Media. You communicating through the telephone and through Social Media. So my answer to their question is usually, “Be however you would be face to face.” You should be yourself because everyone else is already taken. The words “authentic” and “transparent” have almost become clichés, but they make sense. People are going to figure out who you are anyway, so you may as well be authentic and transparent. But even those words are a little too “marketing speak” for me. I like a simpler word. Like “real”. Be real. Because people will figure out whether you’re real or not …
Netiquette Is Online Etiquette
Whether online or offline, manners make a difference. I like to call internet etiquette, “netiquette”. A habit I learned a long time ago that has served me very well through the years is starting phone conversations with, “Hi John, it’s Kev. Do you have a quick minute or is this a bad time?” There are very few people who start conversations like this. It’s a huge show of respect to the person whom you’re calling. Make sure you’re doing the same thing online. Because I often have Facebook running in the background on my computer, people pop up in the chat box all the time and often just launch into conversations. And sometimes they’re people I don’t know well at all that start conversations with sales pitches. Yikes. Remember that most people are quite busy. Approach them politely and be respectful of their time. I guarantee you the outcome of …
You Only Have One Chance To Make A Good First Impression
I’m catching up on some work in a coffee shop between meetings. And a stranger just walked up to me and said, “You look older in person than you do on Facebook and the internet.” How’s that for an icebreaker? You think I’m gonna forget her? I doubt it. I smiled and replied, “Thanks. I cram a lot of living into every day.” Things that our parents and grandparents used to tell us when we were kids are still true. Things like, “You only have one chance to make a first impression.” And, “If you don’t have anything nice to say, don’t say anything at all.” Whether online or offline, people are people. Remember the things our elders taught us. They make sense. It’s very hard to go back and make a good first impression. All things being equal, people do business with and refer business to people they know, …
You Just Popped In My Head So I Thought I’d Call
We all have times during the day when someone pops in our mind. These are great opportunities to build and strengthen relationships. Just for fun, the next time someone pops in your mind, pick up the phone and call them. You’re probably busy and don’t have much time, so start the conversation like this, “Hi Joan, this is Kevin. I only have a quick minute, but you just popped in my mind and I’ve learned that when someone pops in my mind, I should call and at least say hi. HI! Again, I only have a real quick minute, so maybe we can talk longer another time. Anything I can help you with real quick before I have to run?” People will be amazed that you took the quick minute or two to call them and they’ll be glad you did. With all the high-tech, many people are forgetting the …
Organic Growth Is Natural In Social Media
We can learn a lot from nature. In nature, few things grow extremely quickly. Things have their own pace and rarely spike in terms of growth rate. As you are growing your LinkedIn Connections, Facebook Friends and Twitter Followers, remember nature. Remember that slow and steady wins the race. And then remember that Social Media isn’t a race. Be leery of the folks who tout offers to “Grow your followers by 50 bajillion in 5 minutes” and crap like that. Be very leery. How unnatural. Yes, Social Media enables us to communicate with more people and much more quickly. But remember that relationships aren’t rushed. And effective Social Media is all about relationships. I don’t know exactly what ‘organic’ means, although I heard the word used a lot in business over the last few years. It’s one of those buzz-words that’s in style right now. I’ll use the word ‘organic’ …