The Salesby5 Blog

 Yesterday was all about your “Touch.” What do you leave people with regarding your pitch, your benefit and the reason to believe in you?  Today we will teach you the “See,” as in, what do your potential customers see in you, your company, and your brand?

I will illustrate with two stories, both real.

1.  Two partners of a creative firm walk into a client’s office. One wearing an expensive suit with a tie, the other wearing a t-shirt (with a stain) and a colored jacket with jeans. The client remarks how well the t-shirt and stain guy looks. Why?  One is living what he thinks is what the customer expects or respects, the other, natural. I was the guy in the suit, but that was 1993 and it stopped quickly. I realized people respect real. If I was a banker, I would dress the part.

2.  A client walks into your office door and is greeted by well dressed (no t-shirts with stains, but no suits either) people, all of which may have been caught in a laugh or joke while entering. It is real, no “act this way when he arrives” is announced by the management. The guest is greeted and asked for their beverage of choice, a special one is noted such as Diet Dr. Pepper or tea. It is then known to order their special drink without them knowing in the future.

Either way, what does the client see? Both situations are real and they are 15 years apart. Story 1 is a suit that is not the right brand for the product or service. Story 2 is SalesBy5 today.

Summary: Today, real matters more than ever before. People have no tolerance for fake. Make sure you are selling real. Real value, real benefit, real reason to believe and most of all, you really believe in what you are doing. Passion makes selling fun!

VP of Marketing, Account Executive, Customer Service Representative.  I wonder how many None of these people have received compliments on their titles.  Why do companies give their employees lame titles?  Maybe it’s laziness or just convenience.  What if you gave someone a title that ties to the benefit they provide the customer?  Don’t worry, it doesn’t have to encompass everything they do.  How about just the big stuff or cool stuff they do?  At our company, Kya is the Director of Remarkable Service, Erik is the Chief Energy Officer and I am the Chief Inspiration Officer.  People remark on how cool our titles are for two reasons; they are dramatically different and people receive those benefits when they meet us.  We didn’t come up with these titles for hype or fun, it was natural and real. What would be your ideal title?  Here’s a clue on how to figure it out.  When someone meets you for the first time and they email you to follow up, what words do they use to describe you - fun? energy? brilliant? ideas?  Pull from those words!

So how bad is it?  We recently met a very nice person with a top New York ad agency at CES in Las Vegas. He had a card he was proud of and when we asked why, he said it was because the designers had worked very hard and come up with a "less is more" design. It had his name and company name.  That’s it.  If you wanted to see his website, find out what he did (after you quickly forgot), or call him, you had to do work. Someone thought this was brilliant.

Look at your card. Does it tell the recipient what benefits them? Most do not and this can be an advantage! Most people do not look at business cards when you hand them over. It is rude, in my opinion, as I always review them when I receive them.  I like to find a benefit for myself, my clients or my vendors.

So check out your business card.  Is the back blank or do you have bullet points with the benefits you provide?  Does it have your website or blog on there?  You have a 70% greater chance of success and profitability with clarity in your message.  Sales is like dating, if someone wants to date you, they make it easy to be found and contacted.

Remember, people often misplace or file business cards, then find them weeks, months or years later.  If you make it easy for people to remember what you do and how you benefit them, you have a greater chance of having SalesBy5.