Having Trouble Creating Social Media Content?

April 10, 2013

Write simply and clearly. Be genuine by using your own unique voice. And talk directly to your audience.

Social media have democratized publishing. Now that everyone with internet access can broadcast their thoughts to the world, it’s not just professional writers who are getting their messages heard.

This offers both opportunity and challenge to those of us in the sales profession. You can speak directly to your prospects and customers. But you may dread composing blog posts – even tweets and other social updates – because you don’t think your writing is, “good enough.”

You’re not competing with New Yorker contributors. Your rivals are people like you, businessmen and women who want to connect with their social networks to help solve problems, build relationships and guide the right people to your products. You don’t have to be E.B. White to do that.

Who?

E.B. White may not have the name recognition of Hemingway, but you know him if you’ve ever read Charlotte’s Web. White also penned the definitive work on writing, The Elements of Style, more than 50 years ago. It’s still studied today. One of his most famous quotes is one you should take to heart:

“Don’t be tempted by a 20-dollar word when there is a 10-center handy, ready and able.”

You don’t need to dazzle your readers with a fancy-schmancy vocabulary. You need for them to understand what you’re saying, and quickly.

So there’s the first thing: Use common, simple language.

Second, that language should be your own. Present yourself honestly to your social networks. Your message will resonate with some people and not with others, but it should always be conveyed in your own unique way.

Here are some other things to keep in mind as you write for your online audience:

• Make sure you understand your own message. When I’m struggling with a blog post, I often find that I haven’t clearly defined what I’m trying to say. If you can’t explain it simply, you don’t understand it well enough, Albert Einstein said.
• Don’t allow interruptions. Writing is a solitary process. Make yourself unavailable to co-workers or family, and work in silence.
• Write what you can, when you can. Can’t write that title or first paragraph? Start at a point where you’re more confident and return to the opening later.
• Avoid hype like the plague. As a sales professional, you’re a matchmaker. You’re trying to apply your solution(s) to the right problems. If you oversell, you may have higher revenues in the short run. Long-term, you’re going to get slammed on social media.
• Address your audience directly. Get used to using the word, “you,” frequently.
• Compose short sentences and paragraphs wherever you can. Don’t make people work too hard to understand your message.

Whether you’re writing a brief Facebook update, a blog post or an entire web page, clarity, accessibility and sincerity are critical. Those qualities will help the “right” people find you.

In a Late-Winter Funk? Here are 5 simple suggestions that you can incorporate right now to freshen up your approach to sales.

April 2, 2013

If you live anywhere besides southern California or Florida, you’ve had a rough few months. Though you’re seeing signs of spring, it’s hard to shake off the malaise that winter weather can cause.

So now’s a good time to re-examine your sales approach and see if you can’t reframe it a bit. Sometimes, just making a few small changes can energize you. Here are five ways to tune up your tactics:

• Always suggest the next move. Just as your marketing materials contain a Call to Action (CTA), your personal interaction in sales conversations is never done until you’ve approached the possibility of a next step. Try not to be vague here. Don’t just say you’ll be in touch, or you’ll have to talk about this again soon. Do your best to pin down a follow-up meeting or call or online chat. Make sure that you both understand its agenda.
• Have many answers for “Why” questions. Make a list of the types of things you’re likely to be asked that begin with that word. Why are you bothering me? Why should I take the time to listen? Why me? Why would I want what you’re selling instead of a competitor’s products? Why doesn’t it have [feature]?
• Don’t focus on features. If you just rattle off features, your prospects will have to take the next step and match those to their needs. Do it for them. Emphasize how your products solve problems. If you’ve done your homework, you know something about the prospect’s challenges, at least in a broad sense. If you’re spinning your wheels in a conversation, ask the individual to name three stumbling blocks in his or her professional or personal life (depending on the product type). Even if your company can’t solve any of them, you’re developing rapport and displaying empathy.
• Never have an empty prospect list. When you lose a sale, it’s tempting to lay back for awhile and shuffle papers. Make sure that you always have a few possibilities waiting in the wings, and either do some of the groundwork required or reach out to one of them before you start noodling around with tasks that can wait. Get one good conversation with a prospect under your belt; it can help you erase some of the sting caused by your recent rejection.
• Separate the wheat from the chaff. Three small sales might equal a larger one in terms of revenue and commission, but who is the more promising repeat buyer? Whose recommendation might lead you into other big sales? Comb your contact database and prioritize. That major prospect will probably require more work on your part, but the potential payoff is more promising. Do this early in the sales cycle.

Take a page from nature. It can be hard to follow through on resolutions you make during the short, cold days in early January. Spring is a more invigorating, natural time to make fresh starts. Make yours manageable, realistic and achievable, and see what grows.

Stock images courtesy of FreeDigitalPhotos.net

Sales vs. Marketing: Many Differences

March 1, 2013

As your company grows, these roles may need to be more clearly-defined. Sales and marketing should be separate—but complementary–functions.

Ask the average consumer what the difference between sales and marketing is, and he or she may not be able to make a distinction. They’re both about persuading you to buy something, they might say.

They’re correct, of course; there is overlap between the two. But separating the two in your own mind (if you’re a very small business) or in the job descriptions of employees (if your company is large enough to staff both functions) can help you avoid:

• Team conflict
• Customer confusion, and
• Duplication of efforts, which can result in
• Bloated budgets.

The same goal, but different paths

The term “marketing” generally refers to activities that can influence potential buyers in a positive way about a product or service. These typically occur prior to the selling process. Depending on your company’s structure and reach, they can include things like print and email promotions, advertising, social media networking, public relations and brand awareness campaigns.

Salespeople, of course, try to close sales.

Both marketing and sales “touch” prospects –make them aware of the benefits of what their companies are offering — in various ways, though sales professionals, of course, do this in a much more personal, targeted way through cold calls, social network interaction, one-on-one meetings, etc.

Two learning paths

You could say that marketing is more predictable, polished and proactive. Marketing specialists labor over campaigns, fine-tuning them and perhaps even testing them with focus groups. What consumers see is often the result of a long, deliberate process.

Salespeople, too, learn about their prospects, refine their approaches and plan for their encounters. But they need to be more reactive than marketing professionals. They might have done social research on a prospect, and they’ve anticipated how they might handle a variety of different responses. They know their company’s products and/or services well, and they know how they can be used in many settings to solve many problems. But they can’t absolutely script their engagement with customers and prospects.

The work of a sales professional is usually more finite; it has a beginning (the first touch) and an end (a closed sale). Marketing is forever. The lion’s share occurs prior to the work of the sales team, but marketing staff is often charged with attracting repeat business (though salespeople are always prepared to upsell a customer).

Well-defined divisions

If your company grew quickly, your marketing and sales departments may have developed in a bit of a random fashion, as people just stepped in to do what was needed. In that case, you may want to consider an official reorganization of the divisions.

Depending on your corporate culture and staff personality mix, this kind of upheaval can be threatening. So be aware of potential reactions as you move into the new structure. Call out the strengths of individual staff members and explain your rationale clearly as you reveal changes. Designing your sales and marketing departments as separate-but-complementary entities will benefit all of you – and your customers.

Stock images courtesy of FreeDigitalPhotos.net