The Salesby5 Blog

Today, we built, ran and executed a complete rebranding of a company in Alpine, Texas. It was special that with this 40+ year old company, with many employees that have been there over 20 years, we built a brand that was able to sell them on the future of the company. The response from 60+ employees was incredible and warms our hearts. They see the future and want to embrace it. Best of all—Carlos, who has been with the company for 28 years, said “It is time; it is time for the change. We are changing and it was time.”

What needs an update or a change in your company or organization? Is it time and you’re the only one that doesn’t know it? The big response we hear from most is “what took so long?”

 BEFORE

 AFTER

Do you think attorneys are pleased with LegalZoom.com, where you can get many (sometimes boilerplate) legal documents for a bargain?  How do you think designers feel about CrowdSpring.com, where you pay a deposit then designers compete to get paid?  I bet they feel similar to the way brokers felt when E*Trade came along - nervous and annoyed.  Some say it cheapens the value of their work.  I suggest that these people just need to do a better job telling a compelling story.  A custom designer is going to be able to give you a tighter look and feel to the heart of your company than a crowdsourced designer.  A personal attorney will be able to write tighter documents for your personal situation than a computer program.  Not only does this need to happen, but these people need to be able to clearly articulate their benefit.  What do you think?  Tell us in the comments!

Yesterday, we were in the airport on the way to Atlanta.  Starbucks, as usual, was packed, selling their $5 cups of coffee.  Then, Kevin, from Imagine Fellowship, chose to go to Dunkin’ Donuts and ordered a cup of coffee and two donuts.  Having been conditioned by Starbucks, he pulled out $10, but the bill for the order was $3.54.  Inexpensive, especially considering the standard airport abuse rates.  Kevin was in disbelief.  Having done this, Dunkin’ Donuts told a story, as we all do with our prices - “we are the low cost alternative!”  Starbucks, on the other hand, with a $5 cup of coffee was continuing to tell it’s story - “we are your place for escape.”  When you charge for your service, you are telling a story.  What are your prices telling your customers?

Recently, under duress from my friends, I decided to set up a personal blog for my ramblings and thoughts.  I purchased the domain and set up a tumblr.com site.  After a bit of research, I found that tumblr.com had some shortcomings.  I tweeted my frustration in having to find a new platform (I am no web development guy).  Shortly, I received a direct message from @coffeedaze telling me that he’d like to set up a Wordpress blog for me with various plugins and SEO for FREE.  He told me that he had read my blog post on BlackBerry Cool and that he liked to help good bloggers with a platform to write.  I took him up on his offer and I am sold on him.  He took a genuine interest in my blog and me, without wanting anything in return.  The experience in dealing with him on set up questions or changes has been nothing but amazing - as good as if I were paying him!  Rob sold me due to his attitude of kindness and has since shown me what he can do and how he works.  Now, I have another person that I am able to recommend.  Thanks Rob, the experience in dealing with you was remarkable!

I hear people whining about not being able to get to the decision makers or not knowing who they are. Here are a few tips you need to know, if you are selling.

You know someone who knows them.  You can find out how to reach them. Google is your friend!  You can meet them at events - what organizations do they belong to?  You can send them something that benefits them! Now, you have made a deposit in their bank.

Before you use any of these tips, I want you to know that you must have the right tool, software, problem solver or pain reliever. This takes effort.  You can send out shotgun style messages, but it won’t pass the gate keeper.  It is much easier to find me if you know where I am and what I want! The savvy are using twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, and other tools to connect to the people that can change, inspire or impact their sales and/or their lives.

Now the surprise: Decision makers are not who they used to be!  At Salesby5, I do not make decisions on any technology device or service. Can I introduce you to the right person?  Absolutely! But only if I feel like you will not waste his valuable time.  I also don’t make decisions on who we hire; the team does. If one person has doubts, the answer is no.  In fact, as CEO I am completely focused on driving my clients’ businesses forward and leading my team to greatness.  In our clients’ and friends’ companies, very few of the decision makers really make decisions about what most of the sales people are trying to sell to them.  Today, people are influenced by multiple factors, and as time goes on, they are influenced even more by a team.  How can you change the rules? This is the future of sales.

Yesterday, a couple of SalesBy5 team members were on our way back from Utah.  We went to a NASCAR Grand Am race for one of our clients. In the Salt Lake City airport, I was walking by and saw a young lady who was getting a drink from the water fountain.  For a late Sunday afternoon, she was dressed like a page off the cover of Vogue magazine.  She exuded comfortable confidence with an approachable smile as we passed. A few minutes later, I got back to our seats while waiting on our plane.  I told Kya I had just spotted someone special and she said the “blonde in the red top and black dress?” I looked shocked and said yes.  We agreed to meet her.  Two minutes later we met Kayla Barclay, Miss Utah, who was sitting in a chair waiting for her plane to L.A. to film a new reality TV show that is about the Miss America competition.  We told her that she stood out and that she dressed and looked fantastic. She was completely inviting and quickly asked about SalesBy5 and our trip to Salt Lake City.  We spent long enough with her to have an incredible feeling about this special person.  We know that she is going to be a tough candidate to beat in the next Miss America competition and for great reasons.  She was definitely beautiful, but her attitude and her personal brand made us want to buy stock in her or help her anyway we could. Our new friend has a place at SalesBy5 if she is ever in need, but in the meantime, it was awesome to see how one person can light up a bright airport with so much life and spirit.

So what can you do with this? How you look, dress, feel, act, and talk are all part of your personal brand. It sells or un-sells.

Thank you Kayla for inspiring us with your personal brand!

For a few years now we have helped a Fortune 150 company, Tesoro Corporation, increase their ability to recruit Generation Y by over 400%. Today the Salesby5 team all went to a job fair at a local university to see what was new or better to attract talent.  We found that our methods from 3 years ago are still 10 years ahead of what is being done.  We have new tactics that have not yet been implemented by our customers. Companies not using a recruitment website - which can be a part of or separate from your corporate site - are falling behind. This recruitment website must be controlled by Recruitment not IT!  Recruitment is marketing, and it is also sales. In the next 10 years, recruitment will be as important, if not more important, than marketing.

Here are a few more tips that these companies need to know about: RSS feeds for people interested in jobs, blogs regarding jobs, texting, twittering, and keeping it real and simple. No folders packed with your annual report.  No big brochures with financial figures.  No tradeshow booths that are full of words! The booth is a lure, not a book. The brochure is a hook, not a book.  Make the photos in your booth and on your materials reflect the people at your company.  Do they wear suits to work?  Show that!  Do they wear jeans and flip flops?  Print that!  Your new hire should not be confused by a culture disconnect between the fairs, interviews, and daily operations.  Recruitment is selling! Does your Marketing or Corporate Communications department know what they are doing or are they picking pretty pictures for a pretty tradeshow booth?

photo by heraldpost

Yesterday I had a great meeting with one of my favorite customers in the past 6 years. Now, I have many favorites, but this one is special in many ways.  In 2005, SalesBy5 was hired by Texas Military Institute, which we then rebranded as TMI-The Episcopal School of Texas.  At 265 students, they wanted to grow their population of students living on campus and the ones attending 6-12th grade.  The strategy was to show what I saw on my first tour given by a former TMI Graduate, Ryan Kohnen.  What I saw were happy students opening doors for me, saying “hello sir,” and greetings in passing.  I saw a campus full of respect, Christianity and heart.

We re-branded the school from a cold, gray look, where my wife said she would never allow our daughter to attend, to a warm and welcoming feel, which reflected the school I saw.  Further, we revised their website and print materials to showcase the same real, warm look.  The new brand was first sold inside of the TMI campus and then exposed to the many families looking for private schools or tired of overcrowded public schools in the area.

What’s the bottom line? They got real. TMI started selling the real opportunities that the school offers, from great people to connections after you graduate that last for the rest of your life. They realized that they had built a community of winners and leaders. These leaders want to be around each other and work with each other. They are challenged and motivated. The result: as of today, they have 400 students.  This is the highest enrollment in their 100+ year history.

Sell what is in your heart and what is real. Sell what you feel and sell what you love. TMI sells their true overt benefits and the reasons you can believe they will deliver those benefits. I have referred multiple families to this school and I hope my kids will be accepted. Real sells!

Thursday in San Francisco: Why are we here? Literally no one we know of in the US, that competes with us is here! We are at an event that shows and debuts the latest communications innovations and applications.  It has absolutely everything to do with sales!  Speed of communication, applications that help you sell more with less effort, ease and ability of keeping your overt benefit known to your customers. The wireless industry has grown beyond the wildest expectations of the founder that started it in 1983.  They had hoped to have 2% penetration by the year 2000.  At this point, penetration of wireless is at an (now) unsurprising 85%.

Bottom line: if you are not embracing change, you are falling behind. The good news is that falling behind is a commodity. What can you do to recognize that your competition is standing still, then leapfrog them?

photo by zzatharas777

Hello again from San Francisco!  We are at CTIA, one of the largest wireless conventions in the United States where we are exposing ourselves to great people and stimuli for the benefit of our clients. Yesterday we had dinner at The Franciscan, a seafood restaurant overlooking the bay with Alcatraz in the background. Their menu is also their 50+ page full color cookbook, which turns an expense into revenue, as they sell them for $7.00 each.  This includes a postcard and they’ll ship it to a friend for the cost of postage only.  A menu that is the cookbook and shows all the ingredients is great for more reasons than I can name, but here are a few groups that would appreciate this: lactose intolerant and vegan.  The best part for the restaurant is that it adds revenue and a branding element.

The waiters have wireless devices that allow them to place an order instantly from a table. Why? so they can spend more time out of the kitchen and taking care of the customer! I have not yet seen a wireless device for food servers, but to us, it seems like it should be salt and pepper. Why is it not?  What if your waiter had a two-way device and I had one at the table to communicate with him?  I could let him know I was out of water, had the wrong drink delivered or I’d like to add a salad after all. We asked our server what he thought. He said he has a one-way communication device to send orders to the kitchen and would love it if the kitchen could contact him with a response, but he was even more excited about our idea of the customers being able to interact through his device.  This is all today’s technology. Let’s see it happen! It sells your customer on your service. Someday the higher end restaurants will need to play in this game or be left out in the cold.

The final word on the food from Nan and I? GREAT!