tearing up scrap foam by hand to using apaper cutter and labor supplied by closefriends (who worked for free). I registeredLoveSac as a company in October 1998.

LoveSac first appeared at local homeshows and boat shows. The Sacs finallycaught the attention of a buyer at RedBull, and LoveSac had its first official

order. College buds Christian Janke,James Hyde, and Dave Underwoodworked part time for years at LoveSacfor free—they are all still here today.

While friends made Sacs, I was finish-ing up my degrees in Chinese and AsianStudies with Business at the Universityof Utah. I felt it was time to get a “realjob” and took an internship in China.Eight months later, I found the crew in

by Shawn Nelson

ONE DAY IN 1995, WHEN Iwas 18 years old, I

thought to myself, “I want totake a beanbag and Oversize it.” So Idid, following five principles:

1. Do something. The reason this crazyidea, born while watching TV, grew into$20+ million company is because I gotoff the sofa, and bought 14 yards of fab-ric, cut it out, sewed it and stuffed it.Daily I meet people who tell me theyhave a great idea, but they just talk. Dosomething! In my case, I made a foam-filled bag. It didn’t cost much. I thendiscovered that others wanted one andthought, “There’s a business here.”

The huge Sac was seven feet acrossand took three weeks to stuff. I filled itwith everything I could find, from pack-ing peanuts to pillows to foam. Now allI needed was a name—the “LoveSac.”

I took my Sac everywhere. It wasperfect at parties and dangerous at drive-in movies. Word spread fast, and soonneighbors and friends were desperate toget their hands on their own Sac.

I sewed the first five Sacs on mymother’s sewing machine. The machinegave up way before I did. I eventuallyoutsourced the sewing and went from

Excellence

DAVID G. JENSENHow Do You Spell Belief . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .3JEFFREY GITOMERAre You On the Money? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .4ROWAN GIBSONSales at the Crossroads . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .4DOUG LIPPFace the Customer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .5COLLEEN FRANCISThree Fatal Mistakes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .6JOHN TSCHOHLService Recovery . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .6WILLIAM AND SHEILA COTTRINGERSmart Marketing Strategies . . . . . . . . . . . . .7

MARTIN LINDSTROMTween Marketing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .8HARVEY MACKAYHe Made ATMs Atomic . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .8YVAN BAMPINGDrive Traffic to Your Site . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .9CHRIS WINFIELDSearch Engine Submission . . . . . . . . . . . . .10CHARLIE COOKHide and Seek . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .10DENNIS SNOWService Excellence . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .11JULIE BEEDON AND ROBERT JACOBSInvolvement . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .12

DAVID SCHREIBERLeading Service . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .12JEFF THULLThe Presentation Trap . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .13PAUL THORNTONYou Get What You Expect . . . . . . . . . . . . .14TIM CONNORVital Roles . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .14SUSAN ROANECreate Your Own Luck . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .15GUS KOERNIGBest Advertising . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .16ANGELICA WAGNERButterfly Theory . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .16

Volume 5 Number 6 June 2005

The Path to SuccessM a r k e t y o u r p r o d u c t s w i s e l y .

Sa l e s a n d S e r v i c e

my parents’ basement still working tocomplete the order for Red Bull.

After finally completing the order, Ithought that we could sell Sacs as a pro-motional item for other companies. Iheard about an Advertising SpecialtyInstitute tradeshow and, using one ofmy many soon-to-be-maxed-out creditcards, flew to Chicago to catch the con-ference. I arrived without any experi-ence and left without a sale. Two weekslater I received a phone call from a largeretailer who wanted to order 12,000LoveSacs. Could I do it? “Of course,” Itold them, “LoveSac is the greatest not-a-beanbag company in the world.”

2. Be what you will be—not what youare. In my mind, LoveSac was going tobe (therefore, already was), the greatestnot-a-beanbag company in the world.We acted like it at the tradeshow, and Iacted like it on the phone with one ofthe largest retailers. Had I chosen to“be” the poor, starving, college studentthat I was, I would have never gottenthem to wire me a $60,000 deposit.

The new client wanted their Sacs cov-ered in a sparkly, fuzzy, purple fabric. Iwasn’t sure how or where to find it, butonce again the heavens smiled upon us.I heard about a fabric show taking placethat week in North Carolina and flew toanother tradeshow. I left with nothing to

I N S I D E

show for my visit. As the vendors startedpacking up their booths, a fabric swatchcaught my eye—it was the exact fabric I waslooking for. I had gotten lucky again.

I asked the vendor his price and realized itwas twice what we could pay. As the vendorturned around, I noticed a box containing thefuzzy purple fabric. On the side was the sup-plier’s address—printed in Chinese. Soon, Iwas on my way to Shanghai.

I visited the fabric supplier and met withboth the president and chief sales representa-tive. Every time the president and sales repdiscussed issues of production and pricing,they did so in Chinese. It took days of negoti-ating before the men realized that no matterhow much they insisted we pay, I insisted onless. They finally succumbed, accepting thedeal “just for the future of the relationship,”and I, knowing that the deal could not getany better, just had to find a way to pay for it.

The supplier needed money for produc-tion. I called the client and asked for a depositof $60,000, just enough to pay for the fabric,cutting, and sewing in China. The clientinsisted they never give deposits, yet I insist-ed LoveSac always requires deposits. Myconfidence must have been catchy, for I con-vinced the client to wire the money. I was 23years old and had just spent $60,000 of one ofthe world’s largest retailer’s money. Pro-duction was underway, and I was committed.

The next challenge was how to shredenough foam to make 12,000 Sacs. Shreddingit by hand was less than appealing, and thepaper cutter was clearly not up to the task.LoveSac needed something with more power.After visiting the farm country of Utah look-ing for small shredders, I was shown a hugeshredding machine called a Haybuster. Itseemed a sensible solution to the problem.The LoveSac crew secured an agriculturalloan for the equipment, bought a John Deeretractor to power it, and found an old ware-house to set up shop.

The Haybuster could shred hay bales butwas no match for foam. When the foam wasnot flying out of the Haybuster, it was jam-ming the blades. Once it was successfullyshredding foam, LoveSac started manufactur-ing the first of 12,000 Oversized Sacs.

The first day’s goal was to complete 500LoveSacs. After an eight hour shift, the grouphad completed 30 pieces. With only a fewweeks until the deadline LoveSac hired tem-porary laborers and instituted double shifts.Friends and I worked right alongside thecrew, sacking out at the factory between shifts.The struggle, sweat, and blood paid off. After25,000 pounds of furniture foam, countlesscold mornings, and gallons of tractor fuel,LoveSac completed the order on time.

At one point during production our foamwarehouse burned to the ground, and theprice of foam doubled. Combined with thecost of labor, the warehouse, and the equip-

Volume 5 Issue 6

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2 S A L E S A N D S E R V I C E E X C E L L E N C E

ment, LoveSac barely broke even on the order.The company found itself clientless and pen-niless. I was 24 years old, beaten, broken, andtired, not to mention $55,000 in credit carddebt from building the factory. Plan A?Approach furniture retailers and see if theywould carry the company’s product. I can stillhear the laughter—not one retailer took ourSacs seriously.

3. Embrace economic pressure. Never would Ihave gone to the lengths that I did, just to makethis thing work, had I not already spent $60,000of my client’s money in China. The fact that Ihad assumed $55,000 in credit card debt onlymade me push harder to make it happen.Economic pressure spurs more creativity, moredrive, and more raw ingenuity than any otherforce on this planet. By embracing this pres-sure, I learned Principle 4.

4. There is always a way. Plan B came frommy cousin Tres: “Let’s open retail stores.”LoveSac approached The Gateway Mall indowntown Salt Lake City. Mall managementflatly turned us down, but the upcoming 2002Winter Olympics and empty storefrontschanged their minds. Desperate to fill retailspace The Gateway offered LoveSac a three-month temporary lease. The store openedNovember 17, 2001, with the goal of sellingone SuperSac a day. In no time, the store wasfull of people hangin’ out in the Sacs, wearingthe clothes, and feeling the LoveSac Vibe.Customers lined up and waited for the factoryto deliver their Sacs. Franchising offers camein from around the country. By Christmas thestore was devoid of Oversized Sacs, SacCes-sories, and LoveSac apparel. Making people’slives more comfortable had never felt so good.

Since then LoveSac has opened over 60stores across the country plus one in Sydney,Australia. The company has plans for hun-dreds more. New LoveSac products, distribu-tion lines, and entire concepts are yet tocome—and it’s only been three years in retail.

5. Qualify yourself, then develop your people.I am not suited to be the CEO of a $100 mil-lion company. That is okay, though, becausewe are not there yet, and I am constantly striv-ing to qualify myself for that day. I readbooks, attend classes, ask a lot of questions,seek mentors, and try to listen. Over time Ihave attracted some of the best managers anddirectors a company could ask for—and amconstantly concerned with their personaldevelopment and happiness. All of my origi-nal friends and partners are still there, and,since the early days, it has never been aboutthe money. For so long, there wasn’t any.Seven years since the beginning, we’re onlystarting to reap the rewards. But we’ll spendthem all on new projects, continuouslyembracing that economic pressure! SSE.

Shawn D. Nelson is CEO of The LoveSac and President of VirginWorldwide. www.lovesac.com

Action: Commit to your business success

zations that had a performance orienta-tion (they emphasized reaching quotas)tended to de-motivate salespeople.Sales failed to increase for them.

Salespeople know their numbers.Hammering them about meeting quo-tas does not improve performance.Focusing on behaviors does! If youwant to reach your sales quotas, don’tworry about those quotas initially. Startby focusing on specific behaviors first.

2. Model best practices among sales-people. Sales managers should encour-age modeling among salespeople.Excellent sales managers create a systemof continuous learning so that self-effica-cy stays up even when sales are down.Here are a few action ideas to help youmodel your sales stars at work:• Feedback. Encourage your salespeople

to ask for feedback whenever theymake calls with managers or colleagues. • Report. Let your sales stars shine at

sales meetings and trade shows. Havethem give brief reports about what’sworking for them, challenges they face,and competitive strategies they use. • Develop. Add skill development to all

your smaller, regional sales meetings.Excellent sales managers make life-longlearning an agenda item of every teammeeting. They listen to audio-programs,read sales books (e.g., Selling with Science& Soul) and help their team adapt ideasto their specific sales scenarios.

3. Encourage salespeople to listen tomodels in their cars. I realized years agothat I had two choices when I sat intraffic: swear at the guy in front of meor listen to audio-programs. Encourageyour salespeople to turn their cars intoRolling Universities. Excellent salesmanagers build libraries of audio-pro-grams so their salespeople invest, notjust spend, time in their cars.

4. Remind salespeople to keep theirattention on their intention. Help yoursalespeople stay on the path of excel-lence by asking them to adapt, andthen print, the following affirmation:

I commit to spend at least 20 minutesevery day, for the next 40 days, model-ing sales skills by listening to audio-pro-grams in my car and modeling salespeopleat work. I know that as I learn from thetop salespeople in my company, I amgrowing my ability to serve my cus-tomers and reach my sales goals.

Ask your salespeople to tell you whatthey believe in and help them realizethe power of their own self-efficacy. SSE

Dave Jensen is a recognized expert, speaker in sales, suc-cess, and leadership, and author of Selling with Science& Soul. 310-397-6686. Dave@DaveJensenS3.com.

ACTION: Teach your sales people self-efficacy.

the ledge, and scrambled to safety. John wasalso able to leap to safety on the oppositeside of the cliff, separating us from each other.

While I sat on my perch, scared stiff,freezing, and waiting for the rescue team,John thought back to the childhood lessonshe had learned about hiking from his Uncleand within minutes, he had a plan of action:Worried about stumbling off the cliff in thepitch-black night, he decided to throw littlestones in front of him as he hiked. If heheard them hit solid ground, he took a fewsteps in that direction. John made it safelydown the mountain because he believed hecould take the action to get where he wantedto go. He had high hiking self-efficacy.

Hike Your Team’s Self-efficacyYour team can dramatically increase

the probability of achieving their goal

when their self-efficacy is high. One powerful way to build your

sales team’s self-efficacy is modeling,or learning from those who haveaccomplished what you are striving toachieve. These sales “models” havebeen there and done that. You can findthem everywhere. They are on yoursales team, they write books, createaudio-programs, and conduct research.There are four ways to use models:

1. Focus on behaviors, not quotas.Professor Sujan and his colleaguesfrom Penn State studied 190 salespeo-ple from eight companies before andafter sales training. They found thatsales increased the most in organiza-tions that focused on sales training asa behavioral learning process. Thisbehavioral orientation allows partici-pants to absorb and enjoy the salestraining without being weighed-downby the pressure of quotas. Organi-

by David G. Jensen

SALESPEOPLE OFTEN TELLme they know all about

the magic of believing. Butwhat do they believe in—your quotas?Yourself? That the sun will come outtomorrow? It’s time to take a look atwhat science says is the new belief intown—the one that can help you under-stand why several of your salespeopleare not reaching their goals: self-efficacy.

Take a HikeAfter an hour of hiking on the steep fire

road, I stopped to catch my breath and yelledto my friend John, 100 yards ahead of me,that it was getting too dark and that weneeded to turn back. As he jogged down thesteep trail, he lost control and fell toward me,arms flailing. I glanced down and realized Iwas standing at the edge of a cliff. If I didn’tstop my best friend, the pavement 1,000 feetbelow would. So, I charged up the path andtackled him. We hit the ground rolling andkept rolling onto a narrow, ledge.

TIME OUT. If one of your salespeo-ple was about to slide off a mountain(or needed to increase sales), which ofthe following beliefs do you thinkwould help them the most?• Self-esteem. Start repeating, “I like

myself, I like myself...”• Self-expectancy. Start singing, “The

sun will come out tomorrow...”• Self-pity. Start crying, “Why did this

happen to me...”• Self-efficacy. Start affirming, “I can

handle this, I’ve been training for thismoment for years...”

Of course self-esteem is helpful andhaving a positive attitude is great, butyour salespeople need more than just agood feeling about who they are to getwhere they want to go. They need self-efficacy—the belief in their ability to takethe action needed to reach their goal.Self-efficacy determines whether yourteam’s sales will climb sky-high or freezeright where they are, as it did for myfriend and I on our hiking adventure:

As John and I clung to the ledge, terrifiedthat we were about to slide off, I glanced upto my left and saw the top of the ledge taunt-ing me, a few feet above my anxious finger-tips. I thought about basketball, my ability totouch the rim, and then I leaped up, grabbed

How Do You Spell Belief?G reat t h in gs ha p pe n w h e n m e n a n d mo u ntain s m ee t .

S A L E S A N D S E R V I C E E X C E L L E N C E 3

SA L E S / B E L I E F S

you, and want to buy from you? Here’s how you can build your arse-

nal of power questions. 1. Stop asking questions in terms of

you and start asking questions in termsof your customer. Questions like “Whoare you using right now?” and “Howmuch are you paying?” are questionsin terms of you. Ask questions so thecustomer can talk about his or her expe-rience—questions that will show howthe customer will profit or produce more.

2. Stop asking stupid questions thatthe customer already knows theanswers to. Instead say, “Tell me howyou got started in this business.”

3. Stop asking sales questions andstart asking consulting questions. Startasking, “When would you like to beginproducing more?” or “When would

you like our profit to kick in?” 4. Ask questions that build a relation-

ship instead of promoting a transaction.Long-term salespeople are interested inseamless delivery, service follow-up,reorders, and referrals.

This is not hard sell—it is heart sell.Good questions get to the heart of theproblem or the need quickly, and thebuyer doesn’t feel pushed. Ask ques-tions early and often.

If you’re doing most of the talking,you’re boring the prospect and losingthe sale. Questions are the differencebetween Sale and NoSale. SSE

Jeffrey Gitomer, author of The Sales Bible, offers trainingprograms and the TrainOne online learning series. Hisnewest book is The Patterson Principles of Selling. 704-333-1112, salesman@gitomer.com

Action: Ask questions that will get you the sale.

by Jeffrey Gitomer

W H AT I S T H E S I N G L Emost powerful sales

question ever asked? Do youwant fries with that? This question hascreated billions of dollars in revenueand spawned thousands of other up-selling questions.

That question is a multifaceted les-son: It’s a closing question. It’s an up-sell question. It’s an easy question toteach anyone to ask. It’s a nonabrasivequestion. It’s an easy question to sayyes to. It’s a money question. It works.

McDonald’s has asked that questionfor 20 years. They have learned thepower of up-selling or add-on. Theyhave a tactical advantage when askingthis question because the people theyare asking are hungry. It’s the perfecttime to ask the question.

The object of asking a great questionis not simply asking the question, it’sasking the right question at the right time.

Most salespeople ask the wrongquestions, or they ask the right ques-tions at the wrong time. The science ofquestioning is the heart of the sale.

How critical are questions? The firstpersonal (rapport) question sets thetone for the meeting, and the first busi-ness question sets the tone for the sale.

Here are 10 benefits of asking theright questions: 1) qualify the buyer; 2)establish rapport; 3) create prospectdisparity; 4) eliminate or differentiatefrom the competition; 5) build credibil-ity; 6) know the customer better; 7)Identify needs; 8) find hot buttons; 9)get personal information; and 10) closethe sale. All these benefits come fromasking the right questions.

Power Questions.A power question is one that makes

the prospect stop and think andanswer in terms of you.

What questions are you asking thatwill differentiate you from your com-petition, make your customer considernew information, make you look likeyou have prepared for the sales call,make you appear to be an expert, andmake your prospective customer, yourprobable purchaser, have confidence in

by Rowan Gibson

SALESPEOPLE NOW FINDthemselves at a cross-

roads, facing an uncertainfuture and many strategic options.

Where do we go from here? Hereare three challengesfor sales teams:

1. Improving salesefficiency. Most salesteams are expensiveto keep up, with theircosts equalling on average 13percent of a company’sturnover. The only way to justi-fy their continued existence inhighly competitive markets is bycreating long-term ‘added value’ forthe customer.

2. Global sales and global keyaccount management. The trendtoward the globalization of business,markets and competition continuesunabated. This calls for better quali-fied and more internationally experi-enced sales professionals.

3. More process-orientation in salesactivities. Sales is not as simple as itused to be. As competition increasesinternationally, sales channels multi-ply, adding new complexity to thefield. This complexity is further com-pounded by the trend toward indus-try consolidation, resulting in the

merging of different sales organiza-tions and corporate cultures. Thesedevelopments call for process-orientedthinking and better co-ordination.

These challenges put extreme pres-sure on sales teams. But competitionoffers no alternative. The new demandsmust be met to stay in business.

The difference between one salesteam and another will be the compe-tencies of the people who work there.The way forward has to be continuouscompetence development, linked to thechanging demands of the competitiveenvironment and to the strategic goals.

Today, ensuring incoming revenueand reducing costs havebecome strategic priori-ties. “Profit is the nameof the game” is the newmaxim, and the sim-

plest way of calculatingprofit is by dividing the rev-

enues by the costs. That’swhy sales is becoming a

boardroom issue. Leaders should be-

come strategically involvedin revenue generation, and define theirown roles in connection with the ser-vicing of key clients. After all, the trendtoward deeper partnerships withclients calls for more management pres-ence in the market. Making sales aboardroom issue is not just aboutdeciding to invest in a new CRM sys-tem. It’s about becoming activelyinvolved in steering the company inthe right strategic direction to ensuremaximum revenue generation. SSE

Rowan Gibson is a global business strategist, keynotespeaker, and author of Rethinking the Future. He iswriting a new book on innovation with Gary Hamel.www.rowangibson.com

Action: Improve your sales competencies.

4 S A L E S A N D S E R V I C E E X C E L L E N C E

SA L E S / Q U E S T I O N S

SA L E S / T R E N D S

Are You Onthe Money?A s k t h e r i g h t q u e s t i o n s .

Sales at theCrossroadsF o c u s o n p r o d u c t i v i t y .

guistic minority, the deaf and hard-of-hearing customer. Based upon a singlemeeting with a group of 30 to 40 deafcustomers who stopped by on Fridayevenings, they simplified the processof ordering coffee in their store tomeet the needs of this group.

Starbucks even decided to alter oneof its long-standing operating proce-dures. Rather than writing the cus-tomer’s name and drink on the cupitself and then calling out the cus-tomer’s name to let them know theorder is ready, the team decided to usea red pen to write the customer’sname and order on the cup. When oneof the drinks with red ink was ready,an employee who was hired because

of his ability to use sign languagewould be summoned to step up andcall the customer appropriately.

The reward: In less than fourmonths, the small group of hearing-impaired customers grew to an eventthat attracts between 300 and 600hearing-impaired customers!• Continental Airlines: This airline has

gone “from worst to first” in customersatisfaction in the last five years and is apioneer in providing innovative serviceacross cultures. It grew its LatinAmerican market four-fold during thisperiod by making changes. One was rel-atively inexpensive, yet led to tremen-dous customer satisfaction. Continentalcreated a group of professional chefsthey called the Congress of Chefs to assess,then create in-flight meals that wouldappeal to a wide variety of tastes. • The Pebble Beach Company:

Founded in 1919, the internationally-renowned premier golf resort doesn’t

rest on its laurels. With both a multilin-gual employee and customer base, thecompany has taken a proactiveapproach to accommodate this diversi-ty. They sponsor free English classes inthe evenings for their employees sotheir multinational employees feel morecomfortable using English and greetingguests. Also, when conducting perfor-mance reviews for employees who havelimited English skills, the company pro-vides professional interpreters. Forguests who come from all over theworld, they created a database of thoseemployees who speak languages inaddition to English. The concierge deskhas the list, so an employee who isinteracting with an international guestknows that help with interpreting is justa phone call away. • Northstar-At-Tahoe: Ranked as a top

10 family ski resort, Northstar alsoattracts the elite skiers in SouthAmerica by using two strategies:

Strategy #1: They hired professionalski instructors from Chile, Argentina,and Brazil. According to their market-ing director: “Our winter is their sum-mer and some of the best skiers andwealthiest skiing families hate to waitfor the next season”. The ski instruc-tors instantly became ambassadors ofgoodwill and spread the word to pro-fessional ski organizations and ski touroperators in their home countries thatNorthstar was the place to visit in theUnited States. The practice of hiring skiinstructors solved another problemplaguing many ski resorts in theUnited States; Getting qualified skiinstructors is extremely difficult.

Strategy #2: They expanded on theirstrength as a family-friendly resort bymarketing themselves as sensitive tothe needs of South American guests.

As a result, the resort has grownfourfold in two years, with most of thegrowth potential yet to come.

Customers and employees wantboth products and services that meettheir unique cultural, linguistic, andphysical needs. Hence, you need to beflexible and adapt to the multipledemands of an ever-changing laborforce and customer base. If you acceptand act upon this reality, you will reapthe benefits of a stable workforce andexpanded, loyal customer base. Thedemographic pie is growing. Do youdeserve a piece? SSE

Doug Lipp is the author of The Changing Face ofToday’s Customer: Strategies for Attracting andRetaining a Diverse Customer and Employee Basein Your Local Market (Longstreet Press). This article isadapted with permission from his book.doug@douglipp.com

Action: Identify your customers’ unique needs.

Face of the CustomerT h i n k g l o b a l l y , s e l l l o c a l l y .

S A L E S A N D S E R V I C E E X C E L L E N C E 5

S E RV I C E / G L O BA L

by Doug Lipp

WHAT CAN WE LEARNfrom a coffee house,

an airline, a golf course anda ski resort? Plenty. Like many corpora-tions, Starbucks Corporation, Continen-tal Airlines, The Pebble Beach Companyand Northstar-at-Tahoe share a com-mon challenge: They are all in maturemarkets and offer a commodity that iswidely available from competitors.

However, unlike many of their com-petitors, these companies have the abil-ity to develop and maintain incrediblylucrative markets in areas that are oftenoverlooked. Their secret? They areattentive to the needs of customers andemployees who represent diverse cul-tural and linguistic populations.

Customers from around the worldare changing the way business is doneat home. In the U.S., the immigrantpopulation is 13 percent of 284 millionpeople. These numbers will grow.

Learn From the Best!Any company, large or small, can

reap tremendous benefits by catering toa culturally diverse customer andemployee base. Companies that havegone through the process of transform-ing a local service or product into onethat is attractive to both local and inter-national customer alike face issuesranging from simply translatinginstruction brochures into other lan-guages, to completely altering a prod-uct line or business philosophy.

Consider the following three pointswhen reading these examples:

1) Learn from others’ experiences. 2) Consider the variety of strategies,

large and small, for creating an envi-ronment of global service to both cus-tomers and employees.

3) Assess the effectiveness of yourown approach with your multinationalcustomer and employee base. • Starbucks: Pioneer of the coffehouse

and specialty coffees, Starbucks trans-formed a commodity product intointernational success. One of theirstores, in Orange County, California,increased business by 1,000 percent infour months for less than $500! How?By being attentive to the needs of a lin-

situation, I realized it was all a ruse.This rep had never spoken to me.

When you use a tactic that makessomeone else feel bad to get what youwant, you’re crossing the line. Askyourself: if your prospect found outwhat you were doing, would theywant to have a relationship with you?

3. The case of the “close, personalfriend.” Once a salesperson called ouroffice claiming to be a “close, personalfriend” of mine. My assistant asked if Iknew her, and while I didn’t think so, Idecided to take the call anyway. A cou-ple of minutes into her pitch, I interrupt-ed the rep and asked, “Excuse me, do Iknow you?” She answered: “Not now,but if we do business together, I guaran-tee we will become good friends.”

Needless to say, we didn’t do busi-ness together. Did the rep not think thatI’d realize she wasn’t the “close, person-al friend” she was claiming to be?

Any sales tactic that makes the

prospect feel like you must think he orshe is an idiot simply can’t end well.

Before you try any such technique,please ask: If the prospect finds outwhat I’m doing, will they want to bemy friend? Or will I risk earning a badreputation and a lost opportunity?Every time you call a decision maker,have a compelling reason to speak tothem, and make sure your opening lineor leading question is tuned to theirneeds and offers them value. Try usinga real reference. Tell them a story abouta similar customer you have helped.Offer information that shows you knowsomething about their business.

When it comes to being honest andlying, the line between what’s appropri-ate and what’s not, isn’t so much a“fine line” as it is a gaping chasm. SSE

Colleen Francis, CSP, is the founder of Engage SellingSolutions. www.engageselling.com

Action: Choose integrity first.

by Colleen Francis

K N O W I N G W H AT N O Tto do with your

prospects and clients is justas important as knowing what to do,as these experiences illustrate.

1. The case of the anonymousacquaintance. Once, I received a maga-zine article in the mail that detailed thebenefits of taking a public speakingcourse. On second look, I saw that thearticle was an advertorial, completewith a registration form for the course.Attached to the piece was a handwrit-ten post-it note which read: “Colleen, Ithought you would find this interest-ing.” It was signed with an illegible ini-tial. I had no idea who had sent methis “highly informative article.” I’dnever heard of the company offeringthe seminar. Clearly, they were hidingbehind their anonymity because theydid not know me and, in doing so,made the worst first impression thatany sales professional can make. Thislie is used in the hope that I’ll feelguilty enough about not rememberingwho they are that I will call the compa-ny to find out, at which point they cantry to sell me on their seminar.

If you’re ever tempted to try to lurenew customers with a lie, first ask your-self: If the customer or prospect findsout what I’m up to, will they be mad,or will I be embarrassed? If yes, thenfind yourself a different tactic—fast!

Staying in touch with your cus-tomers and prospects by sending theman article is a good idea. But make surethe article is relevant, identify who youare on the envelope, and make a fol-low-up call after they receive it.

2. The case of the schoolyard bully.While on vacation, I received a franticcall from my office. My assistant waspanicked because she got a call from aman who insisted that he had a meet-ing set up with me for that day, andthat it was “critical” that he talk to me.He also told her that he had talked tome directly, that this was a follow-upmeeting, that I had promised to talk tohim—and that he had “time-sensitiveinformation.” When she explained the

by John Tschohl

SERVICE RECOVERY ISputting a smile on a

customer’s face afteryou’ve made a mistake. It’s solving acustomer’s problem or complaint andsending him out thedoor feeling great. Itis bringing a cus-tomer back from thebrink of defection.

Service recoveryshould follow everymistake. You must apol-ogize, take responsibility for the erroror inconvenience, and give the cus-tomer something of value as compensa-tion, something that says, “We valueyou as a customer and want you to dobusiness with us.” What product or ser-vice can you give that will cost you lit-tle or nothing but has value in the eyesof your customers? A hotel can upgradea disgruntled guest to a suite. A restau-rant can give offer a free appetizer. Acell phone company can offer 500 freeminutes.

Nothing is as powerful as a person-al recommendation from a satisfied

customer, and service recovery willcreate word-of-mouth advertising that is10 times more powerful than any otheradvertising and is 20 times cheaper.

What separates service leaders ishow they respond to mistakes. Servicerecovery leaders master elements thatdrive superior customer service.Everyone walks the talk and reinforcesthe importance of customer service.They make sure their policies, proce-dures, and systems are customer-friendly, ranging from the hours thecompany is open to the rules govern-ing customer payments. They hiregood people, treat them well, andtrain and coach them in the art of cus-tomer service. They give their employ-

ees the authority to bend andbreak the rules and touse their sense to takecare of the customer.Employees must

have the authority to dowhatever it takes, on the spot, to takecare of a customer to that customer’ssatisfaction-not to the satisfaction ofthe company. Eliminate policies andprocedures that prevent employeesfrom effectively serving the customer.Then create specific proceduresaround service recovery that enableemployees to handle customer com-plaints effectively. By doing so youwill create a loyal customer base and ahealthy bottom line. SSE

John Tschohl is a service strategist and is the author of e-Service, Achieving Excellence Through CustomerService, The Customer is Boss, and Ca$hing In.john@servicequality.com, www.customer-service.com

Action: Fix your mistakes.

ServiceRecoveryRetain your customers for life.

Three FatalMistakesW hat not to do in sales.

6 S A L E S A N D S E R V I C E E X C E L L E N C E

S E RV I C E / S A L E S

C U S T O M E R S E RV I C E / L OYA LT Y

get lost in the mind’s crevices.• We overestimate our abilities to influ-

ence others. When you can finally adopta more realistic evaluation of your abili-ty to influence others, you will thenstudy the situation closer and get amore accurate picture. Then you willuncover the smaller but more powerfulways you can persuade the audiencepositively. Designing sales and market-ing materials according to these otherbrain realities is agood start.• We prefer concrete

things over abstractones. People preferreal, tangible thingsthat they can see,touch and know withtheir own personalsenses rather thanhave to think aboutsomething to under-stand it. Concreteobjects presentedvisually better conveythe intended messagethan abstract, second-hand words.• We prefer firsthand

experience over sec-ondhand evidence. We can easily use asmall, single firsthand experience tocreate a universal law, despite morecompelling evidence from a second-hand source. Marketing strategies haveto bridge the gap with the audienceand get up close and personal with realpeople. That is the success behind theChicken Soup for the Soul series—personalstories that people can relate to, asopposed to sterile, impersonal advicecoming from a third party. • We prefer certainty over ambiguity.

Successful marketing strategies haveto portray the certainty of somethingand remove all possibilities of ambigu-ity, unless of course that is what iswanted. The certainty has to be con-vincing, credible and believable or itwill get the opposite results. • Mental impressions learned with

emotion are persistent. When market-ing materials are wrapped in a stirringemotional package with a powerfulvisual image at the forefront convey-ing a simple message, the intended

message is bound to be well-remem-bered and assure high-impact.• We assume relationships because of

contiguity. A common thinking mistaketo take advantage of in marketing is topresent one thing contiguously withanother one so as to form a direct co-relationship between the two. The safeassumption will be that the one thingcauses the other like an expensive suitand business success or eating applesand keeping doctors away. • We think others think like we do.

This is a fatal marketing mistake if youtend to think differently and areunusually creative, because then youmay distance yourself and your mes-sage far away from the audience. Theway to learn what others think is tostudy your audience closer by getting

in the trenches andasking questions youcan’t already answer.• We are paradoxical.We often want ourindividuality to beaccepted and want tobe treated equally atthe same time.Successful marketingstrategies have toaccommodate bothgroup similarities andindividual differencesas much as possible.• We seek to proverather than disprove.People spend moretime and energy tryingto prove something is

right, even though they could use lesstime and effort looking for disproofand get the truth easier and quicker.Marketing materials and approachesthat focus on disproving something tothe audience can be correct and eveneffective and yet not accepted. Focuson proving your service or product.• We think in threes. Three is a magic

number because it offers a softer alter-native between harsh opposites likeyes-no, right-wrong, and excellent-poor.The third category allows for the need-ed “maybe,” “a little right and a littlewrong,” and “average.” Food menusthat have three sections—appetizers,entrees and deserts hit pay dirt like thepower of the three-sided pyramids,movie trilogies and tricycles for kids.SSE

William Cottringer, Ph.D. is President of Puget SoundSecurity. He is author of You Can Have Your Cheese& Eat It Too and The Bow-Wow Secret. SheilaCottringer is Retail Advertising Manager for TheOlympian of the Gannett organization. (425) 454-5011,cottringer@pssp.net

ACTION: Revise your marketing strategy.

by Williamand SheilaCottringer

M ARKETING STRATEGIES THAT MIRRORthinking realities are more likely

to be successful. Below are 15 well-researched thinking realities that caneasily be accommodated by specificmarketing strategies.• The brain seeks order and simplicity.

Marketing materials need to be verysimple, extremely well-organized andcrystal clear. Confusing ideas, visualclutter, extra words, disorganizationand all other distractions need to beeliminated with a critical eye. • We seek to affirm what we already

know. The mind accepts new informa-tion that connects and builds uponwhat it already knows. Marketingapproaches that present entirely newmaterial, which most people don’talready know something about, willlikely fail. Marketers must learn whatthe audience already knows to con-nect properly. • We embrace strong beliefs quickly.

Oddly, we can be quick to embrace a newbelief even with little evidence to justi-fy the belief. But the belief needs to bea powerful one that will help give uscertainty, simplicity, order and meaning.It must also be presented in a positivemental package of strong emotionality. • Our strong beliefs are resistive to dis-

proof. Once we embrace a strong belief,that belief becomes almost imperviousto unbelieving, despite overwhelmingevidence disproving it. Just think ofhow long it took people to realize andaccept the fact that the world wasn’tflat. You are fighting a losing battle try-ing to un-lodge a popular belief a com-petitor has advantage with. It would besmarter to create a new belief. • Memory is faulty. New, complex,

fragmented, unemotional and un-meaningful messages won’t be remem-bered very well, even the next day.Attention demand is at a fiercely com-petitive premium for clear, good, fast,and simple but powerful messages viapositive mental imagery. Empty sec-ond-hand words and abstract notions

Smart Marketing StrategiesT h e b e s t s t r a t e g i e s m i r r o r t h i n k i n g r e a l i t i e s .

S A L E S A N D S E R V I C E E X C E L L E N C E 7

M A R K E T I N G / I D E A S

its operations around the life of tweens—not traditional business routines—because this is the instant generation. Ifthey hear of something new and excit-ing, they want it to be accessible.

Fish streaming. Fish streaming re-quires targeting several tweens who areinterlinked and decide the direction, thebrand preferences, and trends. Notionsof individual brand loyalty don’t exist.

A tween fish stream involves muchmore than targeting tweens in one par-ticular geographic area, because thetrue influence can extend to the otherside of the world. In fact, 25 percent ofall tweens communicate with othertweens beyond their national bound-aries every week. International impuls-es clearly are more attractive andinfluential towards tweens than trendscoming from home.

Product Placement. Rather than look-ing to traditional media, tweens taketheir brand cues from how the brandactually performs. Product placement isthe most influential form of endorse-ment influencing tween brands.

Tweens have no trouble separatingthe commercial from the editorial con-tent, and are not fooled by blatant prod-uct placements in movies.

Brands are becoming increasinglydigital. Electronic screens, pocket com-puters, mobile phones and personalcomputers target tweens. Merchandisinghas taken center stage, and brandsstraddle online and offline worlds.

Tweens have become the most influ-ential brand gatekeepers. SSE

Martin Lindstrom is a branding expert and author ofBRANDchild. www.MartinLindstrom.com

Action: Plan your product placement properly.

by Martin Lindstrom

T W E E N S (K I D S F R O M 8to 14 years of age) are

described as the richest andmost influential generation. They’resophisticated consumers, and thusthey’re a marketer’s dream.

An average child in the UnitedStates, Australia and the UK sees about30,000 commercials a year, and spends60 percent more time watching TVeach year than they spend in school—and more time watching TV commer-cials than they spend with theirparents! Children’s financial spendinghas doubled every 10 years over thepast three decades.

Tween PowerTwo aspects of this generation make

them a potent market segment.1. Financial persuasion. Tweens have

developed highly persuasive skills.They have well-planned arguments tohelp ensure that family purchases gotheir way. Tweens even affect their par-ents’ own brand choices. Tweens con-trol the financial decision in up to 80percent of all brand choices.

2. Cradle to the grave. Brand loyaltycan be influenced from about the ageof two. Children as young as three canrecognize brand logos and experts saythat each lifetime consumer may beworth $100,000 to a retailer, makingeffective cradle-to-grave strategiesextremely valuable.

Three BrandsOur BRANDchild study sheds light

on some of the do’s and don’ts when itcomes to marketing to this generation.

The 24/7 brand. Today’s tweens nolonger expect to be informed by tradi-tional media. The purpose of televisioncommercials is no longer to communi-cate product details to tweens, but tosimply inspire. Once the inspirationhas kicked in, tweens will seek moreinformation about the brand on chan-nels available to them.

If you want your brand to survivetoday’s tweens, you will need to focus

by Harvey Mackay

W H E N ATMS F I R S Tcame out, they were

reviled, but Walter Wristonmade them essential. While everyonewas convinced that genuine tenderhad to be passed by a bankteller, Wriston separatedmoney into different stacksaccording to convenienceand set up different struc-tures to give customersaccess to each.

Instead of routine,Wriston made bankingracy. How do you make themundane magnificent?Juice it up in new ways.

1. Focus on convenience. The ATMmachine put cash on the same footingas fries and burgers. What is the sin-gle, most-repeated complaint aboutconvenience your customers have?How can you boost your convenienceAND streamline your expense struc-ture in a single stroke?

2. Differentiate. Japanese car-makersare legendary for staking out U.S.parking lots to see how you and Iopen and close car doors. Why? Sothey make doors that are easier toopen and close. How closely do youstudy the behaviors of your different

customer groups? What are you doingto serve each of these groups better?

3. Innovate on service. The commonwisdom on service was to offer more topeople. Wriston saw that the issue wasn’thaving people hand you the money, buthaving access to cash when you need it.By providing 24-hour access to cash, herolled out the red carpet to dough.

4. Take risks. “Judgment comes fromexperience,” Wriston said, “and experi-ence comes from bad judgment.” Theonly way to strengthen your judgmentis to keep exercising it.

5. Communicate. “The person whofigures out how to harness the collec-tive genius of his or her organization,”

Wriston contended, “isgoing to blow the competi-tion away.” Do you haveregular meetings to talkabout strategy and tactics?When innovative ideasarrive, are they greetedwith shudders of fear orshivers of anticipation?

6. Be people-driven.Wriston stimulated innova-tive learning. He autho-

rized many experiments; almost anygood idea was supported. He convincedmanagers that this was the way to suc-ceed. And he was willing to take hiringrisks with bright nonconventional types.

What percentage of your business isdriven by new products? Are you chas-ing the rest of your industry or settingthe pace? SSE

Harvey Mackay is the Founder of the Mackay Envelopecompany and the author of We Got Fired and it’s theBest Thing That Ever Happened to Us. www.mackay.com

ACTION: Don’t be afraid to risk.

He MadeATMs AtomicMake the mundane magnificent.

TweenMarketingI t ’ s n o c h i l d ’ s p l a y .

8 S A L E S A N D S E R V I C E E X C E L L E N C E

M A R K E T I N G / YO U T H

M A R K E T I N G / I N N OVAT I O N

tions, corporate newsletters—there arethousands of avenues to pursue, andthe ones with an online presence areeven easier to find.

Visit some ezine directories (ezine-dir.com for example) and find ezinesthat are relevant to your target mar-ket—ezines that your customers arereading or buying. The best ezineshave tens of thousands of subscribers,and if your article is relevant, you’reinstantly in front of all of them!

Don’t forget about getting yourarticles out to a slightly less targetedaudience by making some tweaks in itand publishing it as a press release.There are free channelsfor your finishedrelease, includingwww.prweb.com.

2. Ezine advertising.While talking about thehighly targeted natureof ezines and gettingarticles to them, youmight want to spend alittle of that tight bud-get on an ezine advert.

There are thousandsof ezines available inthe ezine directories, soyou want to be sure to pick only thoseezines that target your specific market.It’s not very effective sending your“Motorbike Widget” adverts to anaudience waiting for informationabout “Sports Car Widgets”. They’lljust delete it and you could be verydisappointed by poor results.

With most ezines you can place alink in your ad to a specific page onyour website that the readers can clickon to get more details or to place anorder. With more advanced ad-track-ing software, you can have a uniquelink designed for each advert you sub-mit. This way, you know exactly howeffective each ad or each ezine hasbeen for you and your products.

If it works, do it again. If not, trysomething else. Of course, acquiringthat software and upgrading your web-site to work with it might be out of thequestion for your budget or your tech-nical skills. You can also simply use aunique page on your website—justrename or renumber the page you wanteach unique ad to link to so that your

website statistics can keep track of theeffectiveness (don’t forget to recordwhich ad had which particular page init!).

The other route for ad tracking is touse an online ad-tracking service. Thecost is very reasonable for knowingexactly where your advertising budgetis being most effective.

As for cost of the advert, each ezinehas its own rates, but they are all waybelow what you’d pay for any offlinemagazine advert and again: it’s highlytargeted so worth that much more.

3. Pay-per-click search engines. This isone of the fastest ways to get traffic toyour site, and you get to keep a tightreign on your budget. However, PPC isprobably also one of the least under-stood and worst managed advertisingsystems around!

With PPC, you can get highly target-ed traffic to see your adverts almostimmediately and within budget.

The main reasonwhy PPC is potentiallydangerous for yourbusiness is the natureof the budget manage-ment is similar to auc-tions: you can veryeasily get caught up inthe heat of the “bid”and end up spendingmore money than youcan really afford andgetting less and poorquality traffic than youneed. Note: don’t even

think of visiting your PPC control paneluntil you are absolutely sure of howmuch you can afford to pay per visitoror click and per month. Without thesedetails, you won’t have any ideawhether your PPC ads are working ornot or how effective they are for bring-ing in the business.

That said, its possible to setup a PPCaccount within 10 minutes followingthe online instructions.

The biggest and best Pay-Per-ClickSearch Engines are Google Adwords,Overture, and FindWhat. Set up theaccount, get your keywords in and youcan have highly-targeted traffic clickingthrough to your site within the hour!

Articles, Ezine Adverts and Pay-Per-Click Search Engines—3 cost effectiveand highly targeted means for gettingsome traffic to your site with a day ortwo or even an hour or two. SSE

Yvan Bamping is a small business marketing consultantfor TipTop Marketing. For your Free Report, The 7 Deadly Sins of Business Websites.www.TipTop-Marketing.com

ACTION: Build your website to increase sales.

by Yvan Bamping

DRIVING TRAFFIC TO YOURsite doesn’t do any good

if your site doesn’t convertthat traffic into sales. But, if you’re notgetting any traffic, your sales conver-sion can’t be tested. So, how do you getsome targeted traffic to your site whenyou’re working on a tight budget?

Most people would consider searchengines as a primary source of free web-site traffic. However, there are prob-lems associated with getting free searchengine traffic. For example, you mightnot be able to wait for three monthswhile they index and rank your site.

And your ranking may not be in thetop 10 or 20, meaning that less than 1percent of searchers will see you at all.You need to be in the top 10 to get thegood traffic, and it could take up tofour months get any ranking, but youneed some traffic sooner just to keepthe site online. You need traffic—lots ofit—and you need it now!

Here are three inexpensive ways toget traffic to your website quickly:

1. Write Articles. Writing articles isprobably one of the most under-ratedmeans for generating awareness ofyour site and services. Often peopleunder-rate their own writing skills andcan’t see the value in retaining a free-lance writer.

Nonetheless, writing articles on yourarea of expertise is not as daunting asyou may initially suspect. You’re theexpert on your product or service andyour website sells widgets that providea widget solution to people’s widgetproblems. So, you write an articleabout, for example, “10 WidgetProblems Solved By Widget Gadget”.

If you don’t know what “10 WidgetProblems” your “Widget Gadget”solves, then perhaps you’d betterrethink being in the business you’re in.You can go to your existing customers(the ones who are happy with yourproduct or service) and ask them whatproblems your “Widget Gadget” solvesfor them. Now write your article onthose problems and their solutions.

You’ve got your article, now seeksome exposure. Magazines, ezines, pro-fessional publications, industry publica-

Drive Traffic to Your SiteH e r e a r e t h r e e w a y s t o g e t t r a f f i c q u i c k l y .

S A L E S A N D S E R V I C E E X C E L L E N C E 9

W E B / M A R K E T I N G

Google, Yahoo, MSN, and AOL. The“thousands” in question are free-for-alllinks pages—they won’t attract any-body to your site, because no one inhis-or-her right mind would use one,because they are just collections of ran-dom links with no structure. Many ofthese search engine submission ser-vices shouldn’t be bothered with.

If you are concerned with beingseen and ranked highly by the searchengines, concentrate your efforts anddollars on researching the best keyterms to place in the tags, headings,and titles of your webpages and find-ing the sites with content most rele-vant to that on your site to link upwith. If the task seems somewhatdaunting, or you’re too busy runningyour online business to get involvedwith the technical end of searchengine marketing, you can find a rep-

utable company who will do it for you.If submitting your site to the searchengines makes you sleep better atnight, then by all means do so. But toensure that you aren’t punished forkeeping bad company, you should do-it-yourself. For the most part, it is nei-ther difficult nor time-consuming tosubmit.

Unfortunately, there is no effectiveget-rich-quick scheme for search engineprominence. The only way to ensureresults is to have a quality, relevant web-site with useful links and information.Of course, if you’d prefer to treat theInternet like the Old West, you’ll have tobe satisfied with taking your chances. SSE

Chris Winfield is president and cofounder of 10e20 LLC, aglobal search marketing and web development company.www.10e20webdesign.com, CWinfield@10e20.com

ACTION: Have quality links to your site.

by Chris Winfield

THOSE UNAWARE OF ORunschooled to the actual-

ities of how search enginemarketing works are eagerly signingon, not realizing that they could bewasting their money, and worse, dis-tancing themselves with the searchengines instead of getting closer to thetop of the rankings pages. So, what isinvolved in search engine submission?

Many people think search enginesubmission is the act of submittingyour website’s URL, to search enginesso that they know your website exists,list you in their index, and start send-ing traffic your way. However, there areseveral flaws in the submission process.

Search engines mostly find websitesby following hyperlinks from othersites. That’s why quality webpage con-tent and quality links are extremelyimportant in order to succeed online.

Submitting your website to a searchengine, either for free or by paying aservice to do it, doesn’t mean that itwill simply “send” traffic your way.Search engines don’t work that way—they have millions of sites indexed, sowhy would they think your site is sospecial that they’ll bypass all other sitesto send traffic your way. Just as thereare billions of pages in the indexes ofthe search engines that matter, there aremillions of other pages with contentsimilar to yours against whom you’ll becompeting for search engine traffic. So,even if you do make the not-so-grandgesture of submitting your URL to thesearch engines, it is still unlikely thatthey will start sending traffic your waysimply for that reason.

Submitting your website to thesearch engines, especially through theuse of paid listing services, could con-tribute to blacklisting your URL andhelp to ruin your relationship with thesearch engines. A major selling tech-nique of search engine submission out-fits is that they will submit your site to“thousands” of search engines.

According to recent figures, 90.7 per-cent of all Internet searches are conduct-ed on one of four search engines:

by Charlie Cook

SO MANY PEOPLE NOW USEthe internet to search for

the goods and servicesthey need that “google”has become a verb. Thequestion is, when they“google” your product, dothey find you? Go towww.Google.com and trythe following three tests:

1. Type the problemyou solve or the solutionsyou offer into Google’ssearch box. Is your sitelisted at or near the top ofthe listings? Is it even inthe top 100?

2. Type your own name in thesearch box. Does your web site appearin the top 20?

3. Type your name or your compa-ny name in the search box. Did Googlefind your site in or near the top spot?

Don’t Play Hide and Seek Here are five tips to make your

website more visible on Google. 1. Choose a smart domain name.

Your domain name should be simple,obvious, and/or memorable. Makethe name of your company or whatyou do as your domain name.

2. Use keywords that work. You canboost your search engine ranking byusing your keywords in your pagetitle tag, your metatags and 4 to 6times in the text on your page. Makesure to use them in normal, well-writ-ten sentences.

3. Trash flash and splash. Searchengines rank your site on text. Pagesfull of pictures, with just your compa-ny logo (splash pages), or with flashanimations won’t help the searchengines judge what your site is about.Additionally, research shows that 90

percent of visitors findthese entrance Flash andSplash pages annoying.4. Build links. One of thebest ways to boost yoursite’s rankings and thusget more visitors is to getother sites to add linksfrom their site to yours.An extremely effectiveway to do this is to writearticles and distributethem to sites visited by

your target market. These site man-agers will be happy to use it and linkback to your site.

5. Stay in touch. Offer an incentiveto get site visitors to give you theircontact information, and join your e-mail list. Once a prospect has been toyour web site, you want to regularlyremind them of the problems yousolve and the services you provide. SSE

Charlie Cook, helps service professionals and small busi-ness owners attract more clients and be more successful.Sign up for the Free Marketing Plan eBook: 7 Steps toget more clients and grow your business atwww.marketingforsuccess.com

ACTION: Drive traffic to your site.

Hide and SeekGet more visitors to your web site.

Search EngineSubmissionIs it a necessity or a liability?

10 S A L E S A N D S E R V I C E E X C E L L E N C E

I N T E R N E T / E X P O S U R E

I N T E R N E T / M A R K E T I N G

jobs. My favorite example is this:Whenever a baby is born in the hospi-tal, the first 10-seconds of Brahms lul-laby plays softly throughout the entirehospital’s sound system. This remindsstaff members, in very difficult jobs, ofthe miracles happening in their work-place. They have found that patientsoften ask why the music is playing.When the staff member explains that ababy has just been born, there is anemotional connection that takes placefor the patient and the staff member.

3. Hold employees accountable forservice excellence. Leaders must ensurethat accountability processes are builtinto any service improvement initiative.Look at your performance appraisal

system. Do appraisals, for both man-agement and frontline employees,emphasize specific customer servicebehaviors? How much is customer ser-vice emphasized in the appraisal?

Whenever you see opportunities forimprovement for any employee, takethe time to coach. If you do this consis-tently, word will spread fast. Theimmediacy of the feedback is the key.Often leaders do not do this becausethey are concerned about offendingthe employee, or they are reluctant toconfront negative behavior. But hold-ing employees accountable for serviceexcellence is vital if you are seriousabout service improvement.

When I was a relatively new supervi-sor at Walt Disney World, I received acall to meet then Walt Disney WorldVice President Bob Matheison at a spe-cific location on Main Street USA. As Iwalked up to Bob, I saw that he wasstaring at one of the merchandise shops.I knew from his expression this was not

going to be a pat on the back for a jobwell done. “What do you see?” heasked. I saw that a small pane of glasshad been replaced, and that the installerhad neglected to take the protectivepaper backing off. Although I did notinstall the glass, it was my job as super-visor to make sure that Main Street USAwas “show ready” by the time theguests arrived. I missed this item. Bob’ssimple act of holding me accountable fora small detail had a huge impact on thefuture of my attention to detail.

Of course, the other side of theaccountability coin is also important.One of the main reasons for defectionis a lack of recognition for good work.Whenever you observe an employeeproviding excellent service, take thetime to reinforce the behavior throughimmediate recognition in the form of apositive comment, or somethinggreater if appropriate. Taking the timeto immediately reinforce the behaviorgreatly increases the likelihood of thebehavior being repeated.

As a leader, employees take theircue directly from you. By walking thetalk, keeping the vision constantly infront of employees, and holding every-one accountable for performance, youcreate a culture of service excellence.

A favorite example of “inculturat-ing” service excellence involves ahousekeeper at Walt Disney World’sContemporary Resort. A family was atdinner, and the housekeeper was con-ducting the room turndown service. Asshe prepared the beds, she noticed thatthe children had several stuffed Disneycharacters in the room. She arrangedthe characters on the children’s pillows,tucked them in, and left a note saying,“I know you had a busy day! The char-acters were tired so I tucked them in foryou.” She then signed her name, Helen.

Imagine the impact on this familywhen they returned to the room.Leadership told this story in so manymeetings that it became legendary.Other housekeepers have come upwith creative ideas, such as lining upthe stuffed characters in front of the TVand turning it on. Guests consistentlywrite thank you notes regarding thisactivity. Imagine the loss if leadershipdid not recognize this behavior, com-municate it, and reinforce it. Most peo-ple want to do their best. They justneed encouragement and reinforce-ment. Watch the magic happen! SSE

Dennis Snow is the president of Snow & Associates, Inc.and spent 20 years working with the Walt Disney WorldCompany. 407-352-1212, www.snowassociates.com.

ACTION: Embody the service you want to see.

by Dennis Snow

C U S T O M E R S E RV I C Einitiatives usually begin

with a lot of fanfare and endwith a quiet departure. With eachoccurrence of this pattern, employeesbecome more skeptical about serviceinitiatives. You must show employeesthat your customer service initiativeisn’t just another flavor of the month.

There is no shortage of vision state-ments, service strategy formation, andservice program rollouts. What fallsshort is the execution of these initiatives.Most people want a “smile pill” that canbe taken with little or no disruption tothe current routine. To generate lastingservice improvement, a top-down com-mitment to changing processes, behav-iors, and measurements is needed.

Three key leadership behaviorsdemonstrate commitment to executinga service strategy:

1. Walk the talk. Before employeestake personal responsibility for creatingan environment that shows a commit-ment to excellence, they must see thattheir leadership team is committed. If,for example, you expect employees toacknowledge customers promptly, youmust do the same. If you expect employ-ees to pay attention to detail, then pick-ing up a piece of trash off the floor assoon as you see it will speak volumes.

Erin Wallace, Vice President of theMagic Kingdom at Walt Disney World,always carries and uses a “nabbie grab-ber” which is a device custodians useto pick up cigarette butts off theground, when she walks park, reinforc-ing to Disney cast members that it iseveryone’s job to keep the park clean.

2. Keep the vision in front of the team.Communicate your service commitmentin every possible outlet. Repetition is thekey to behavior change. Start everymeeting with a customer service issue,spread service stories in your newsletter,and display service measurement infor-mation in behind-the-scenes areas foremployees to keep top-of-mind. Be cre-ative about new ways to keep the visionin front of the team.

I recently consulted with a hospitalthat has many ways to remind staffmembers of the true meaning of their

Service ExcellenceT h e l e a d e r s h i p f a c t o r .

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M A N AG E M E N T / C O M M I T M E N T

roadmap for getting from “here” to“there,”and others can do the job bet-ter, faster or cheaper.

2. Arms and legs involvement: Usethis involvement when the scope ofthe work exceeds your time and ener-gy, you’d be better off applying yourexpertise in other ways, the work issimple and repetitive—easily done byanother, or the work is more than youcan handle on your own.

3. Care and commitment involvement:Use this involvement to create buy-infrom others to do the work you need todo. This involvement is called for when:the work you are doing involves change,you need people to stay involved overtime, the work before you will be diffi-cult, or you’re not certain of success.

4. Teaching and learning involvement:Use this involvement to build others’skills and knowledge so they becomemore capable of doing their work in thefuture. Situations where this involve-ment is needed include: When otherswant to grow and develop and seekyou out as a mentor or when you makean effort to develop people.

You may need to tap into more thanone type of involvement. Getting clearon the involvement you need will gen-erate excitement and energy around thework ahead. SSE

Julie Beedon and Robert Jacobs are co-authors withRichard Axelrod and Emily Axelrod of You Don’t Haveto Do It Alone: How to Involve Others to GetThings Done (Berrett-Koehler, 2004).

ACTION: Get others involved.

by JulieBeedon andRobert Jacobs

EVERYONE LOVES THE IDEA OFinvolving others, but fears often

get in the way.What do you worry about? The

time it takes? The hassle that occurswhen you have to incorporate otherpoints of view? The loss of control?Maybe even failure? The truth of thematter is that both the involver and the“involvee” stand to risk losing time,control, and even failure, all for thehopes of getting the work done fasterand or reaping the rewards of the pos-sible synergy that you may create.

Return on InvolvementBy assessing your return on

involvement, you can decide whetherto involve other people in what you’reup to. Use the following assessmentpoints to make your decision:

1. Your own capability. Could youcomplete the work on your own? Andwould you compromise the quality ofyour work by so doing?

2. Wow others would feel about join-ing you. Are others likely to see thework as a good investment of theirtime and energy? Will they be excitedto join or even feel left out or resentfulif you did not include them?

3. How others could add value toyour efforts. What benefits could resultfrom involving others in this work?

4. What it will take to involve oth-ers. How difficult will it be to get oth-ers involved in this work?

5. Overall Assessment. How do thebenefits of involving others compareto the costs needed to involve them.

What Involvement Do You Need?Before you jump into action, you’ll

also need to decipher what type ofinvolvement you need. There are fourbasic types of involvement:

1. Know-how involvement: You tapinto skills, knowledge, or experienceof others to move your work forward.Use this kind of involvement in situa-tions when you lack formal schoolingfor the work at hand, you don’t see a

by David Schreiber

NEARLY 85 PERCENT OFall service managers

have never been taught thebasics of leading of a team that pro-vides superior service.

The leader of a high-per-formance service team willset achievable, measurable,mutually agreed-upon goalsand objectives with clarifiedexpectations. The employeesshould have the means tomeasure their own perfor-mance daily. This leader willcreate, sustain and nurture aculture wherein creative andflexible systems allow employees toserve the customer best. The front-lineemployee will be given a job design thatoffers him the responsibility and author-ity to complete the task for which hewas hired and understands what theend result of his labor should be.

This leader will encourage suchhigh dedication and commitment thatpeople will drive themselves to newheights of productivity and quality onbehalf of internal and external cus-tomers. They will meet and exceed theneeds, desires and expectations of thecustomer and will coordinate efforts toaccomplish these goals.

This leader will plan how to achieve

zero customer defections throughexcellence in service and out-perfor-mance of the competition and developa workforce of individuals who are 100percent customer-focused with anunparalleled sense of urgency onbehalf of the customer. This leader willpractice and demand total integrity,bring his employees into the loop,solicit feedback to benefit from theirideas, and involve them at the begin-ning of the decision making process.

He will create a challenging job forthe front-line, customer contact peoplethat allows for a sense of achievement,responsibility, growth, personal

advancement and earnedrecognition. He willestablish a culture thatsupports the innovativetraining, tools and tech-niques that he has createdto assist employees in thesuccessful performance oftheir jobs. He will create acontinual learning envi-ronment through hiseffectiveness as a coach.

Effective leaders develop a team inwhich all actions contribute to theeffectiveness of the organization. Thisleader must be available, approachable,have a proactive vision for the futureand effectively communicate thisvision. He must lead by example andsupport his employees’ efforts.

If you ask your employees to createthe superior service experience for thecustomer, you need to create the sameexperience for the employees. SSE

David Schreiber is President of The Customer RelationsGroup, which specializes in innovative training, speeches,seminars, service audits, needs assessment and consulting.(770) 395-1212. www.customerrelations

ACTION: Lead your company in customer service.

LeadingService Manage things, lead people.

InvolvementWhat to do before engaging others.

12 S A L E S A N D S E R V I C E E X C E L L E N C E

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S E RV I C E / L E A D E R S H I P

who are not sure of the exact nature oftheir problems, how your productsand services impact other areas oftheir business, who would be con-cerned about it, and what is the cost inabsence of it. Nevertheless, salespeopleare spending most of their time focus-ing on the solution and not the impli-cations in the customer’s business. Asa result, while customers may beimpressed with the offering being pre-sented, they don’t seehow it applies to theirsituation, and they donot know why theyshould buy it.

3. Your competitorsare doing the samething. Unless you haveno competition, yourcustomers will heartheir story, too. Theyhave meetings set upwith you and two ormore of your competi-tors. In each meeting, asales team is presenting the best sideof its solutions. Your team is telling thecustomers that they need the solutionsthat your company offers, and yourcompetitors are making the same argu-ments about their solutions. In everycase, the presentations are skewedtoward the seller and the solutions.

It is likely that two-thirds of theinformation that customers hear fallsoutside their comprehension. Further,what they do hear sounds much thesame. What does the customer under-stand? Price. As you may expect,everyone is now starting their down-ward spiral to commoditization—thenatural outcome of presenting toomuch, too soon and too often.

To help you avoid falling victim tothe presentation trap, ask yourselfthese five critical questions:

1. What percentage of your presen-tation/proposal is devoted to describ-ing your company and solution?

2. What percentage of your salespresentation/proposal is devoted todescribing your customer’s business,their problems and objectives?

3. How well do customers under-stand their own problems?

4. How much of your presentation is

focused on persuading and convincing?5. How well can your customers con-

nect your solutions to their situation?How do customers then respond to

competing presentations? They tend torespond in three ways:

First, they concentrate their effortson the information that falls inside theirarea of comprehension. Customers tryto make the complex understandableby weighing elements that vendors’offers have in common and eliminatingthose elements that do not fit neatlyonto a comparison chart. When thishappens, your ability to differentiateyour offering from the competition issubverted, and price becomes thedeciding factor in the sale.

Second, customers may also respondby not responding. They listen politely

as you “educate” them,thank you, and promiseto get back in touchwhen they are ready tomake a decision.

Third, some cus-tomers may activelyrespond. They may askyou to justify the infor-mation you have pre-sented or challenge theviability of your solu-tion. This is the responsethat every conventionalsalesperson is expecting.

The customer objects and the sales pro-fessional goes to work overcomingthose objections. There has been a dis-connect along the way and back ped-dling is often the only way out.

Ultimately, sales presentations exac-erbate communications between buyersand sellers, leading to frustration, mis-understandings, conflict, and adversari-al relationships—all of which impedethe salesperson’s ability to create coop-erative and trust-based relationships.

To avoid the presentation trap, don’tpresent. Instead, conduct a thoroughdiagnosis to uncover problems andexpand the customer’s awareness oftheir situation. Once the problem isclearly understood and the customerperceives all the ramifications of thatproblem, then make recommendations.When you guide your customersthrough this process, you will establishhigh credibility and find yourself joint-ly developing optimal solutions, whichwill ultimately benefit both you andyour customers. SSE

Jeff Thull is the President and CEO of Prime ResourceGroup and the author of Mastering the Complex Saleand The Prime Solution. www.primeresource.com,1-800-876-0378, 763-473-7529

ACTION: Uncover your customer’s problems first.

by Jeff Thull

E V E N T H E M O S Tsophisticated sales pro-

fessionals get caught in thepresentation trap. They spend an inor-dinate amount of time preparing for arazzle-dazzle presentation and oftenlose sight of the issues at hand.

Everything salespeople do before—the prospecting, contacting and qualify-ing of potential customers—seems to beaimed at creating the opportunity to pre-sent their solutions. Everything after—the downhill run to the sale that includesovercoming objectives, negotiating andclosing—is designed to support and reit-erate the presentation. So, sales teamsdevote time and resources to creatingcompelling presentations and proposals.

Most of this effort is lost on cus-tomers. Presentations that are too early incomplex decisions are largely a waste of time.

Conventional salespeople hate tohear this because the presentation isusually the key weapon in their salesarsenal. It is their security blanket andthey loath giving it up. They seem to beon a mission to relentlessly educate thecustomer because, after all, they willnot buy what they don’t understand.

Exactly right, customers will not buywhat they don’t understand. A presen-tation can take customers to a higherlevel of understanding, but it is one ofthe least effective methods for accom-plishing that goal.

1. A presentation is, in its essence, alecture. The salesperson is the talkingteacher, and the customer is the listeningstudent. The problem with teaching bytelling is that little information is remem-bered. People retain only about 30 per-cent of what they hear. The use of visualaids boosts retention rates to 40 percent,but more than half of even the mostsophisticated presentation can be lost.

2. A sales presentation is rarelyfocused on the customer. Generally, 80 to90 percent of a typical sales presenta-tion is devoted to describing the seller,its solutions, and the rosy future if youbuy. Therefore, while a presentationmay raise the customer’s understand-ing, that gain is usually centered on thesolution being offered. All too often,salespeople are dealing with customers

The Presentation TrapW h y m a k i n g p r e s e n t a t i o n s c a n c o s t y o u t h e s a l e .

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tive to negative interactions (P/N ratio).The higher the P/N ratio, the better theperformance.

Setting ExpectationsI see four reasons why some man-

agers and leaders set low expectations:1. Theory X assumptions: Some man-

agers believe most people have littleambition and motivation.

2. The need to be liked: Some man-agers want to be liked, so they don’tset demanding goals.

3. Fear of failure: Some managersfear failure: “What if I set these stretchgoals and we don’t hit them?

4. Heavy workload: Some managersbelieve that demanding more will puttheir employees over the edge.

Leaders often set stretch goals such

as improving productivity by 50 percentor cutting cost by 40 percent. How dopeople react to these “killer goals”? Theymay say, “You can’t be serious.”However, these leaders have great confi-dence in their people. They believe mostpeople possess far more ability, energy,and talent than they realize.

Changing your assumptions aboutpeople will often produce a change inwhat you expect they can accomplish.People typically respond to meet theirleader’s expectations. New assumptionswill lead you to “raise the bar.” You willnot only expect more, but you will alsoaffirm your belief in their talents. SSE

Paul Thornton is the author of The Triangles ofManagement and Leadership. PThornton@stcc.edu.

ACTION: Expect more of yourself and others.

by Paul Thornton

S U P P O S E O N E S A L E Smanager sets high stan-

dards and another expectslittle from his people. Who will get thebest results? Performance tends tomatch expectations. The self-fulfillingprophecy maintains that “what youexpect is what you get.” High expecta-tions lead to high performance; lowexpectations lead to low performance.

The three parts of the self-fulfillingprophecy triangle include:• Assumptions: X, Y or Z. What are

your assumptions about people? Doyou buy into Theory X? This assumesthe average worker: dislikes work,attempts to avoid work, prefers to bedirected, avoids responsibility, andwants security. Theory Y assumes work-ers find work fulfilling and enjoyable,are self-directed to meet objectives ifthey are committed to them; seek andaccept responsibility, and want to learn,grow, and develop. Theory Z assumesthat workers are loyal, can be trusted,can handle freedom in doing their jobs,and are interested in teamwork.• Manager/leader expectations and

behavior. The assumptions managersmake about their people influenceswhat they expect and how they treatthem. If I assume people are lazy, irre-sponsible and unmotivated, I willassign tasks on a piece-meal basis andmicromanage. But if I assume peopleare smart, motivated, responsible, andeager to learn, I’ll provide challengingassignments, freedom to do their jobs,and frequent coaching. Also, I’ll praisetheir accomplishments and affirm mybelief in their talents and abilities.• Employees reactions. Employees

tend to respond positively to a manag-er’s high expectations and confidencein their abilities. If you expect peopleto be “winners” and treat them like“winners,” soon they start to act like“winners.” As people achieve assignedgoals, they are given more responsibili-ties for growth. People do what theythink they are expected to do.

What makes one group excel andanother fail? It may be the ratio of posi-

by Tim Connor

MUCH OF THE TIMEyou spend in meet-

ings, plowing throughreports, solving problems, dealing withpoor attitudes, providing motivation,reacting to people and situations, andclarifying your communication couldbe reduced or even elimi-nated if you would spendadequate time in the fourcritical roles of a manager:

1. Training and coaching.Few employees today areadequately trained. Yet,management expectspeak performance,effectiveness, andresults. Why shouldyou train your people,if they just leave after afew months? What if you don’t trainthem and they stay?

Training is giving people the skillsthey need to do the job you expect.

Coaching is catching people doingthings right and validating theirbehavior with positive feedback, andcatching people doing things wrongand modifying their behavior. You getthe behavior you reward.

2. Interviewing and hiring. Evermade a bad hire? Ever held on to anewly hired poor employee too long?If you answered “yes,” you are not

alone. Have you ever computed thecost of a poor hire? A bad hire will costyou anywhere from three to ten timesthe employee’s compensation, andthat’s without any legal action or con-sequences on the part of an employee.

Most managers who do the hiringhave had little training on how to effec-tively interview and select new employ-ees. Invest in a training program thatwill guarantee better hiring decisions.When you hire under pressure you willalways make a hiring mistake.

3. Projecting and planning. The aver-age manager spends less than 5 percentof their work time in some planningexercise, routine or activity. As a result,they spend a great deal of time putting

out fires and fixingthings—two time-consum-ing and costly activities. Iguarantee that if you weremore proactive and spenta few hours a week plan-ning, you would spend farless time reacting.

4. Giving feedback andrecognition. People wantmore feedback, recogni-tion, and appreciation.Poor managers tend to

give far more negative feedback andcriticism—and then wonder whythey have problems! If your attitudeis that everyone is doing the bestthey can, then I guarantee you canfind some behavior or result to recog-nize and appreciate.

You get the behavior you reward.Appreciated, rewarded, and recognizedbehavior is behavior repeated. SSE

Tim Connor is a speaker, trainer, and best-selling authorwho is celebrating 30 years of service. www.TimConnor.com

ACTION: Fulfill these four roles.

Vital RolesW h a t g r ea t m a n a g e r s d o.

You Get WhatYou ExpectSet the r ight ex pectations.

14 S A L E S A N D S E R V I C E E X C E L L E N C E

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Well, in the words of my grandmother,“You never know!” That means whomthey know, what they know or whereit will lead you.

6. Make small talk. While manypeople scoff at the meaningless aspectof small talk, for the people who cre-ate their own luck, it’s often as a resultof small talk that led to bigger talkwhere they learned information, heardof options, and were presented withopportunities. They found out theyhad something in common and thatcreated a connection that formed thefoundation of a business or social rela-tionship and communication.

7. Eavesdrop as well as listen. Whilebeing an excellent listener serves peo-ple well, you can increase your oppor-tunities by eavesdropping. Sometimesyou will overhear something thatsparks an action plan. You may learnthat the company is looking toexpand. Once you verify it throughyour network, you sign up for anadvanced class at the local communitycollege. As a result,that you are preparedto step up to the plate.

8. Drop names.While it is somethingwe were taught not todo, dropping names isa counterintuitive traitof people who turnserendipity into suc-cess. It doesn’t meanthat you list the well-known, well-to-do, thecelebrities, politiciansor captains of industrywith whom you havelunched. What itmeans is that you askif a person you knowfrom a company knows an old friendwho used to work for that company.Once a person or place or favoriteteam or sport or school or movie or afood preference in common has beenestablished, there is a connection andthe conversation becomes more inter-esting and meaningful.

9. Exit gracefully to avoid burningbridges. Whether we are leaving a job,a relationship, a career or just a room,having a positive parting allows us toreturn, even briefly, without hard feel-ings, bitterness or embarrassment.

Sometimes the opportunity that weparlay into our good luck comes from asource that may be an ‘ex’… boss,beau, landlord, spouse, friend or co-worker. Because we left well, those weleft were left with their dignity.

10. Say YES, when you want to sayno. Many experts in time managementadvise us to say “No” to keep our timeto ourselves. The “You Never Know ItAlls” who had many of life’s luckyexperiences did the opposite. Whentheir plate was full, they said “yes”anyway. When asked by an olderwoman in her church for a ride to Biblestudy, Anna Maria Bertacchi said yes—even though she didn’t attend thatclass. The result was a loving friend-ship from a woman who financiallyhelped Anna Maria finish college andget a job that has allowed her to travel.If she had said “no”, Anna Mariawould not have been so very “lucky”.

How to Create Your Own Luck containsstories of people who started business-es that began as a result of a coinci-dence (kismet, destiny, fate); otherstories highlight how careers evolved.There are stories of discoveries, inven-tions and happy accidents that havemet a measure of success. All of thestories have the “You Never Know”theme that is the perfect explanation

for what seems to bethe inexplicable, the“meant to be”or “notmeant to be” events oflife. Each anecdotereflects not only theresults of the serendip-itous moments butalso the actions andtraits utilized whenthe opportunityappeared.And what’s luck got todo with it? Luck iswhen preparationmeets opportunity. Wecreate our own luckwhen we are preparedto see the opportuni-

ties and willing to take action.Contrary to the old cliche, opportunitydoes not ‘knock’ at our door but it sur-rounds us. We just need to be open,like the You Never Know-It-Alls whoprovide a guideline, a game plan andgreat inspiration so that the rest of uscan do it, too! SSE

Susan RoAne is an keynote speaker and best-sellingauthor of How To Work A Room, as well as TheSecrets of Savvy Networking, What Do I Say Next?and RoAne’s Rules. 415-239-2224, www.susanroane.com,www.howtocreateyourownluck.com

ACTION: See opportunity and take action.

by Susan RoAne

LADY LUCK OFTEN GETScredit for the wonderful

events in our lives, but if wecarefully analyze the situation, welearn that luck has little to do with suc-cess. What matters is what you do withyour “luck.”

“Lucky” people often have what Icall, “You never know” experiences.How often do you hear that expressionas a reason to attend a business event,go to a friend’s friend’s party or take aclass? Those who have experiences ofcoincidence, happenstance, and timingare open to have such experiences.

Many lucky people experience situ-ations that were unexpected andevolved from moments of serendipitythat they saw as opportunities. Theyembraced positive feedback or goodadvice or just struck up a conversationwith a stranger at a fundraiser or on aplane. Rather than being immobilized,they shrug and say, “Why not?” andforge ahead.

How to BE OPEN to ExperiencesHere are 10 things you can do to

create your own luck with you-never-know experiences.

1. Decide to be more open. When yousee people who have interesting expe-riences, laugh a lot, have stories to tell,notice how open they are. The first stepis to want to be more open.

2. Observe the open people you meetand assess what they do and don’t do,what they say and don’t say and imitatethose positive behaviors

3. Ask yourself the time-honoredquestion: What is the worst thing thatcould happen? Most often it isn’t evenclose to bad—much less the worst.

4. Be willing to apply the usual traitsof those who turn serendipity into suc-cess. Pay attention to issues, interests,preferences and your passion. Worksmart and hard. Cultivate a positiveattitude. Take calculated risks.Communicate clearly. Develop a realis-tic outlook that embraces possibility.

5. Talk to strangers. I first revealedthis counterintuitive trait in How ToWork a Room® and it is the best way toincrease possibility, coincidence,serendipity and luck in our lives. Why?

Create Your Own LuckT u r n s e r e n d i p i t y i n t o s u c c e s s .

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April 15. That initial prospecting land-ed her a spot on a Sunday morning TVpublic affairs program, and a story onthe evening news. Within two months,her firm’s revenue increased 33 per-cent, and it’s still trending up. Theaccountant doesn’t spend any lessmoney on advertising and marketing,but her ROI is a lot higher now. Thekey, she says, is to give listeners, view-ers and readers valuable information,for free. Those who need her profes-sional services don’t have to be toldwhere they can go to get help.

You’ve got to treat prospecting fornews media coverage like every othercrucial element in your business. Planyour free media strategy. Focus on some-thing current, often something that’sbeen reported by the national media tokeep your name, and your business pro-

file, high on the media’s radar.Here’s something you can start doing

right away. Pay attention to the news.When you come across a report thatraises an issue your business addresses,let the local media know how your firmaddresses that issue. Point out how thisnational story affects people and compa-nies in your community and how yourfirm offers solutions. Soon the mediawill be calling, wondering when you’reavailable for an interview. Then yournew soon-to-be customers will startlearning what a valuable resource youcan be for them. SSE

Gus Koernig is an award-winning journalist, public speak-er, and the author of I’m Glad You Asked That Ques-tion. His firm, BizNews Advisers, Inc. provides news mediastrategy development and execution. (406) 690-3006,gusk@biznewsadvisers.com, www.biznewsadvisers.com

Action: Get your company in the news.

by Gus Koernig

THE NEWS MEDIA NEEDthings to report.

Businesses get coveredbecause the people who run thempoint out to news directors, editorsand show producers that their firmsare providing products or services thatare new or unique or that address acommon problem or concern.

Things are newsworthy when theyaffect a significant portion of the popu-lation—families, women, senior citi-zens, or minorities. A business thatoffers something that matters to a lotof people, or to one group or another,has a story worth telling in the media.And timing is a major factor. That’swhy, for example, local TV news doesa story on debt counseling services, inthe same week that a national debtcounseling firm is the subject of a gov-ernment investigation.

When prospecting for news mediacoverage, remember: It isn’t about you,it’s about the client. How will yourmessage benefit people who choose todo business with you? That’s what youhave to point out.

Remember: You know more about yourbusiness than anyone who will ever interviewyou about it. Don’t worry that you’ll beasked a question you can’t answer.

This isn’t something you should doinstead of buying advertising. It’swhat you do to complement your paidadvertising. But no matter how muchmoney you spend on “advertising,”know that your most effective advertis-ing is what shows up in the newscolumns of the papers and the news-casts and talk shows on TV and radio.

It works with businesses too. This isa true story: An accountant in a city inthe Northern Rockies is certified toresolve tax problems with the IRS.She’s the only accountant so certified inher state. She spends a lot of money onmarketing, with ads in newspapersand on TV and radio, and she hires anexperienced marketing specialist tonegotiate the best rates and place-ments. A couple of years ago sheapproached the local media about whatshe offers, mentioning her unique qual-ifications. She did this right before

by Angelica Wagner

MARKET CONDITIONSchange just as quickly

as the butterfly’s path. So, itis wise to have many avenues for mar-keting your product or service. We oftenhave too few markets. Sometimes welook at a small geographic area, whenwe should be going global.Sometimes we rusharound, when we couldjust quietly sit in front ofour computers and crankout email blasts, or pick upthe phone to talk to ourclients.

We can also change thepermutations of the mar-ketplace when we addother languages, cultures, or outlets.

Look at a small sampling of thecombinations of the market. When youadd several of these markets, or multi-ply them together, you exponentiallyincrease your market share, as well asyour brand name experience.

Possible permutations of marketsinclude: print advertising, direct mail,flyer promotion, telemarketing, jointventure partnerships, media market-ing, the Internet and networking.Planned diversity is the secret to greatmarketing success.

In discovering which market nicheworks best for you, experiment with

several until you see the results thatyou seek. As you mix and match thesemarkets, be in harmony with the cur-rent events, and with the seasons formaximum coverage of your markets.

Why do you need different marketstyles? Your goal is to have constantmultiple streams of income so thatyou have consistent flows of moneyfrom different sources of marketing.Same product, same service, just sell itto another market.

Taking care of clients is the numberone priority in any market. It takes fivetimes longer to convert a new clientthan it does to keep an existing one, somatch your selling style with your buy-

ers purchasing style. If thebuyer is visual, he speaksand makes decisions quick-ly. If the buyer is an audito-ry, he will make speak and

make decisions. Consider corporations

as vertical markets. Showthe CEO how your productor service can make his lifeeasier, solve a problem, cre-

ate quick cash flow, make employeesproductive, and save time.

It’s easier to visit many markets inone building or corporation than mar-ket to a large geographic area.Befriending the CEO will open doorsfor you beyond your expectation.

The more people you help, themore you get what you want. Whenyour focus becomes “How many peo-ple can I help today?” the “how“ takescare of itself. SSE

Angelica Wagner is CEO of Miracle Newtorks and theauthor of Secrets of the Millionaire Mind.858-720-1728, angelica@angelicasSecrets.com

ACTION: Diversify your advertising venues.

Best AdvertisingUse the f ree media strategy.

16 S A L E S A N D S E R V I C E E X C E L L E N C E

P U B L I C R E L AT I O N S / M E D I A

A DV E R T I S I N G / M A R K E T S

Butterfly TheoryMake the market work for you.