Going From Good to Great!

As I looked at my personal business performance for last year, I realized that I had left a lot of “business on the table” because of my failure to do one particular action time and again.  It was the failure to execute.  Time and again I could clearly see the opportunity before me and yet I did not seize the moment.

As I began laying out my goals for 2011, I developed a personal strategy to ensure that this lack of execution is not duplicated this year!  The first part of this strategy is centered around my perspective.  I have been sharing this vision with my networking groups to start to the year and am looking for a few brave souls to join me on this path.

I’m looking for a few select individuals willing to put on a CEO mentality.  While most of us in business readily assume I am referring to thinking like a Chief Executive Officer, I am actually zeroing in on one of the most important character traits of the most successful of these individuals and using CEO as the acronym to describe it.  If I have your interest, follow me…

The C in my new CEO acronym, represents Constantly.  By definition I mean in the act of continually doing something.  This is not sometimes or most of the time, but all the time!

The E in CEO represents Exploiting.  While many will immediately conjour up negative images of exploitation, the positive definition means to make the best possible advantage of something.

At this point, the new title I’m encouraging you to embrace, describes you as someone who is continually in the taking of the best possible advantage of something.  That something is what I left on the table last year and will not repeat this year!

The O in CEO represents opportunity.  Opportunity comes in all shapes and sizes.  Let’s use the broadest possible definition as a valuable circumstance or set of circumstances.

If you’re interested in becoming the type of individual that Constantly is Exploiting the Opportunity before them, I invite you to stay tuned.  I’ll be discussing in detail how to EXECUTE at the highest levels your new position as a CEO!

If you live in the Brevard County area of Florida, please come visit one of the networking groups we host for an opportunity to meet some of the top professionals in Central Florida.

Finding New Referral Sources

Knowing who can best refer business to you is not rocket science. Look at where you get 90% of your business and you’ll be able to quite accurately identify to whom you need to talk. The great news is that not everyone in your city, state, or country has heard of you, talked to you, or personally met you. You have more sources! Let’s take a look at some of the more obvious.

Existing Customers

Finding good referral sources is not nearly as tough as you might think if you have laid the ground work in advance. Zig Ziglar, in my opinion, is one of the great speakers, authors, and motivators of sales people of all time. He has been my sales mentor through print for many years. Zig has been quoted as saying, “If you can dream it, then you can achieve it. You will get all you want in life if you help enough other people get what they want.” If the way you have been doing business already is to serve your referral sources rather than sell them, there is a good supply of referral sources neatly filed in your client database! Existing customers often make the best referral sources because you have already invested in their training. They personally know that they like, want, and need your product. They know that your presentation shows your product in a way that can be trusted. I often find that many business people have just never asked their customers to refer others to them! If you have been in the habit of selling rather than serving, this may not be as easy for you. I would consider Zig’s admonition above as a new approach.

Secondly, I would make a part of your regular sales presentation, a request for the names, addresses, phone numbers, and emails of ten of their closest friends or associates who could benefit from you the way they have. If you’re not comfortable asking for these, go back and read Zig’s quote again. If you have provided goods or services that they liked, wanted, and needed and you did so in a manner that served their interests based on listening to what they told you, you are doing them a disservice by not providing the same quality experience to their closest friends and associates. If my fishing partner discovered a new bait that flat nailed the bass, I would wonder if he were angry with me or something if he didn’t tell me what the bait was and where I could get some! If you write good business, you’ll be training good referral sources. Just be sure and complete your source’s training by asking for referrals and tell them what you need.

Networking Groups

Networking groups are another excellent source of referral sources. Networking has become one of the more popular places to meet new business contacts and develop business relationships. However, these venues require finesse in order not to waste a great deal of your time. Before attending a networking group, talk with people who already attend or have attended. Find out about the people that the group is made of. If there is not at least one of your natural referral sources in the group, spend your time cautiously. I wouldn’t disqualify the group because the group may be made up entirely of people who understand the value of doing business by referral and everyone is a potential prospect. If so, you might have just found a “Honey Hole.” (I tell you more about those later in the book). I’m always leery about networkers that use the term “lead” instead of “referral”. As we discussed in the beginning of the book, you need to decide if you want to go fishing or not. It requires a great deal of your most precious commodity, time! If the folks you’re working with don’t know the difference between leads and referrals, you have to decide if they are worthy of the time it takes to train them. People who really understand referrals call them by their right name!

Measuring Your ROE (Return On Engagement)

A Bass Fisherman’s perspective on doing business by referral.

In my fishing journal I record the name of the body of water, the date and time of each catch, the lure or bait I made the catches with, and all pertinent weather information including cloud cover, temperature, wind speed, and moon phase. I also record the name of my fishing partner. Some people are definitely more fun to fish with than others. Some have skills I don’t and I always learn something from them. I’ve found that there are definite patterns that can be duplicated that nearly always produce catching instead of fishing!

Keeping good records of your prospecting activities will help you repeat your successes, avoid non-productive activities, and measure your cost per referral. No matter how much fun you have fishing, if you don’t keep good records you can’t repeat the fun!

For me, time is money, and I want to get the most out of my time. Time is one of the most valuable commodities we possess. That’s why people appreciate it so much when we invest it in them. Once time is spent however, the only return we get is based on how we spent it. That’s why it’s vital not only to keep records, but to keep useful records to help us repeat our success and avoid waste. Here are the things I keep track of to measure my ROE or Return on Engagement .

Fishing Hole

Record the name of the networking group or referral prospecting event here. Be specific so you don’t confuse data from two similar fishing holes.

Day / Time

Record the day and time you go fishing. You may be surprised at the trends that develop over time in terms of what time of day is most productive for you. You would never know this without keeping your journal!

Pond Size

Be as accurate as you can about the attendance size of the group. Over time your journal will reveal more about your effectiveness in various group sizes. The size of the group does not in and of itself indicate how productive the group will be. My 11 ½ lb. bass came out of a 1 acre retention pond!

Casts

Record here the number of quality contacts you make in order to get one appointment. I keep business cards in groups of 10 in my shirt pocket and a full supply in my card holder. I only give shirt pocket cards to people that I believe will be worth my time for an appointment. I place their card in my shirt pocket. I ask for their card because we have either made an appointment or I believe we will. This process is how I tally my casts after the event. If I run out of shirt pocket cards, I take ten more out of my card folder and place them in my shirt pocket. I then make a small tally stroke on my left hand to keep track. I give cards from my card holder to anyone that asks for them but I always ask why they want my card. Remember to give your cards with purpose. You place value on your business card when you make people accountable for them. There have been times when I have asked this question that people have said they just wanted to collect as many cards as they can. My answer to them was when they realized how valuable my card was, come back and talk with me. I’m not another business card in the stack to show activity, I’m the business card in the stack that gives production!

Keepers

Record here the name of a contact that you set an appointment with to meet outside of the event. Remember, at a networking event you are closing the appointment, not the sale! This is one of the most valuable numbers that you keep track of!

Cost

Record here the price of admission to the event, if any. It is important to keep track of the cost per referral. The idea is to keep this to a minimum. People should refer business to you based on the relationship you have with them and on the investment of your time rather than money!

Find out more about doing business by referral at http://bit.ly/76veUZ.

Working a Crowd for Referrals

After you’ve gotten familiar with what’s in your tackle box and how your products and services are best presented, it’s time to launch out onto the lake. Knowing how to prepare ahead of time to “work a crowd” at networking groups or opportunities can help to ensure that your fishing time is well spent, regardless of the lake or pond you choose to fish. Chamber luncheons, after hour events, civic groups, professional organizations, and even at church can be great “fishin’ holes!”

I want to share six important preparations you should make as you launch out that will produce more “fish.”

1. Practice what you’re going to say, your “30 second elevator speech.” Your speech should be so well rehearsed that it sounds and feels like normal conversation, not recitation of a canned script.

2. Know for what or whom you are looking, your best referral sources. Your goal is to make appointments to meet one on one with potential referral sources, not sell your goods and services. Spend your time with those people who will be able to produce for you or are willing to produce for you. Your time is valuable and so is their’s. Choose wisely where to cast your line!

3. Know 3 topics that are specific to the event you’re attending. Your conversation value will rise with the appearance that you are “in the know.” You did the homework, now put it to good use. If you’re not going to use what you have in your tackle box, why go fishing?

4. Look people in the eye when speaking. If you can remember the color of their eyes then you’re getting good eye contact. You’re also focusing on them. If people know that you are interested in them they will be far more likely to give you what you want. Good referral sources want attention. If you help people get what they want, you’ll have what you want!

5. Take 2 – 4 minutes with each person but keep moving. Don’t get tied to one person unless you are making an appointment! There are several techniques I use to “move on” politely and professionally when I get hung up. I will excuse myself because I see someone getting my attention that I promised to speak with. I will introduce the “snag” to another fisherman and move out of the way. I will apologize for taking up so much of their time and allow them to speak to others in the crowd. Use your own personality to maneuver away from people that want to capture your time unless you are making an appointment. These techniques need to be practiced so that your presentation is effective in freeing you from the snag. I’ve spent some valuable time on the lake getting unhooked from a snag or catching fish I wasn’t fishing for because of poor presentation!

6. Write a thank you note or send out a card afterwards to those that gave you their time. This one simple act of professional courtesy can bring you more profit than a $1,000 ad in your local paper. A thank you note requires an investment of your time and the recipient knows it. You demonstrated that they are worth that precious investment, and that act makes them feel special. It is the critical first step in building a successful relationship with this new referral source. Hand written cards are the best with a reference to something that you specifically talked about or learned about them. If you’re going to write generic, “Thanks for your time the other day” kind of cards, don’t waste your time or their’s! Be specific so they know you were paying attention to them. Good referral sources want attention.

Please visit us on the web at www.thegallgroup.com

Finding Referral Sources

Knowing who can best refer business to you is not rocket science. Look at where you get 90% of your business and you’ll be able to quite accurately identify to whom you need to talk. The great news is that not everyone in your city, state, or country has heard of you, talked to you, or personally met you. You have more sources! Let’s take a look at some of the more obvious.

Existing Customers

Finding good referral sources is not nearly as tough as you might think if you have laid the ground work in advance. Zig Ziglar, in my opinion, is one of the great speakers, authors, and motivators of sales people of all time. He has been my sales mentor through print for many years. Zig has been quoted as saying, “If you can dream it, then you can achieve it. You will get all you want in life if you help enough other people get what they want.” If the way you have been doing business already is to serve your referral sources rather than sell them, there is a good supply of referral sources neatly filed in your client database! Existing customers often make the best referral sources because you have already invested in their training. They personally know that they like, want, and need your product. They know that your presentation shows your product in a way that can be trusted. I often find that many business people have just never asked their customers to refer others to them! If you have been in the habit of selling rather than serving, this may not be as easy for you. I would consider Zig’s admonition above as a new approach.

Secondly, I would make a part of your regular sales presentation, a request for the names, addresses, phone numbers, and emails of ten of their closest friends or associates who could benefit from you the way they have. If you’re not comfortable asking for these, go back and read Zig’s quote again. If you have provided goods or services that they liked, wanted, and needed and you did so in a manner that served their interests based on listening to what they told you, you are doing them a disservice by not providing the same quality experience to their closest friends and associates. If my fishing partner discovered a new bait that flat nailed the bass, I would wonder if he were angry with me or something if he didn’t tell me what the bait was and where I could get some! If you write good business, you’ll be training good referral sources. Just be sure and complete your source’s training by asking for referrals and tell them what you need.

Collateral Damage

Effective use of collateral materials is an important lesson to learn. It is obvious when a marketer owns his business versus manages a business because the latter is far more careless with the use and distribution of collateral materials. Not every location on the planet will be the right place to leave or display your collateral material such as business cards, tri-fold brochures, booklets, pamphlets, and the like.

Here are a few guidelines that will help you determine when it is appropriate to send out your collateral material.

1. The type of material you send to a prospect is generic. For example, if your material does nothing more than open up additional questions about your product or company that only you can answer, it should be okay to send it. Otherwise, it’s really a judgment call on your part. I would suggest keeping track of those prospects that you’ve sent collateral material and in turn, actually sold them something.

2. Some prospects don’t have a need now, but they may have a need in the future. If they plan on making a purchase at some point but refuse a meeting with you even after every attempt to schedule one, you can put them on your list of prospects to call back in the future. Your collateral material can then become a great tool to keep your name in front of them up until the point where they are ready to revisit your initial conversation, meet with you, or make a purchase.

3. The prospect needs certain information that is necessary to review prior to taking the next step, such as scheduling a meeting. These are just a few situations that would justify sending out additional material. Otherwise, keep your materials at bay. The use of collateral material can be justified and worthwhile in many instances. It can be a great complement to your selling efforts. However, in most industries and professions, collateral material is not meant to take the place of a well-trained, professional salesperson and his ability to provide the guidance, support and service that a prospect needs to ultimately make a buying decision. Once you develop and adhere to a prospecting and selling system that is aligned with your strengths, selling philosophy, product, and service, you will soon discover that the most effective collateral material you can send to a prospect is you.

If you bring material to networking functions, make sure that you pick up anything that is left. I’m amazed at how much money gets thrown in the trash at the end of a networking meeting! Leaving your material behind after a meeting ends will only get it distributed to the land fill!

I don’t know too many fishermen that throw lures in the lake just to make sure that the fish knew they were there and whose line to bite the next time they’re on the lake!

Effective Networking Time Management

Everyone you meet is a potential customer and/or referral source. Since you usually don’t have 10 – 15 minutes with each person you meet to describe your business in detail, you need to know your business so well that you can describe it in 60 seconds or less. Many people try to make a complete sales presentation on their initial introduction. This will rarely be available or appropriate. When I am at a networking event fishing for potential referral sources, I work to close an appointment with them, not a sale!

Here are three things you need to keep in mind at networking events that keep you focused on closing the appointment rather than the sale. Let me explain them to you:

1. Be Prepared. Know the general make up of the crowd before you ever arrive. Do some homework! Have your 30 second elevator speech sharply honed for this particular group. Know for who, and/or what you’re looking. Plan on making 3 appointments at every event.

2. Be Persistent. I rarely make 3 appointments at every event! However, I always make one appointment and usually make two. The idea is that if you shoot at nothing, you’ll hit it every time!

3. Be Professional. You attract what you are. Be what you want to catch! Look sharp, act appropriately, be polite and courteous, and mean business! Don’t spend your time only with the people you already know. You can visit with your friends another time. Remember that you’re there to make appointments that will turn into referral relationships.

Let me share with you three things I’ve learned in being successful at catching bass that definitely apply when fishing for referral sources and new business opportunities!

Bass are very particular in their feeding although they can be tremendously aggressive predators when they see what they want. So the first thing I do when I’m fishing is that I make sure I take into account the time of day, the temperature of the water, the color of the water, the type of vegetation and cover where I’m fishing, and many other details of the environment. All of these things determine what kind of bait to use. I know that if I select a bait that the bass like, want, or need I have significantly increased my chances of catching bass. But if this is all I do, I may still spend the day fishing rather than catching.

The second thing I know is that timing is critical. If I run the right bait by the bass too fast, they won’t pay attention to it. If I bring the bait by them too slow, they may get bored with it and leave! But if I bring the right bait, that is bait that they like, want, or need at the right speed so my timing is just right, I have doubled my chances of catching bass! I can assure you though that I have done both of the above and still found myself fishing and not catching.

The third thing I pay great attention to is my presentation. Even when I choose the right bait that they like, want, and need, I must present this offering in a way that builds trust and confidence to take a bite! If I present my bait wrong, it may look too good to be true or it may look like a total fake! Either way, my presentation must be the best I can make it each and every time I put the bait in front of that bass.

When I choose the right bait, that is what they like, want and need, and I bring it by them at just the right speed so my timing is perfect and I make the most believable presentation I can possibly make…the rod tip twitches and I pull back hard to set the hook!

See ya on the lake!

The 30 Second Elevator Speech

Being able to articulate your goods and services in a clear, exciting, and concise manner is vital to successful networking and relationship building. You have the opportunity to advertise your business many times a day and are not aware of it, or you are unable to take advantage of it. One of the most effective ways to achieve this is by developing a “30 Second Elevator Speech.”

An ʹelevator speechʹ is a term taken from the early days of the internet explosion when web development companies needed venture capital. Finance firms were swamped with applications for money, and the companies that won the cash were often those with a simple pitch. The best were those that could explain a business proposition to the occupants of an elevator in the time it took them to ride to their floor. In other words, an elevator speech that worked was able to describe and sell an idea in 30 seconds or less. Today, an elevator speech can be any kind of short speech that sells an idea, promotes your business, or markets you as an individual.

The basic components that should be in your elevator speech are listed below:

Your name
Your company or organization
What product or services you offer
Why others need to know you
What you need from that individual

The process is quite simple. Begin by writing out everything that pertains to the content listed above. Then reduce that list to what you believe the most important one item is in each category. Avoid using worn out or insider language to describe your business. Give your listener enough information to wet his appetite but leave him unsatisfied so that he needs to meet with you. Remember, close the appointment, not the sale! Now practice saying that information in 30 seconds so many times that it flows as if you were telling your favorite fishing story! Everyone’s time is valuable. Mastering this one presentation tool can set you head and shoulders above your competition!

The 4 Part Law of Fishing (Part 4)

In the last intallment of this 4 part series, we see see the need to state the obvious. Some times we need someone to remind us just to do what we already know to do. If you depend on doing business by referral, join me for Fishing Lake Referral. See ya on the lake!

Law 4. You Must Fish In Order To Catch
While it may seem obvious or possibly redundant, you must actually go fishing in order to catch. Good intentions never put a trophy mount on the wall! Knowing someone who is fishing does not enable you to catch. If you want to catch fish, you must go fishing.

Doing business by referral is on purpose, not by accident. It requires an understanding of the value found in gaining quality business. You must understand that building successful relationships of any kind requires an investment of your time.

The 4 Part Law of Fishing (Part 3)

Activity for the sake of activity does not produce any meaningful results. If you’re going to invest your valuable time in developing referral relationships, be sure to have specific goals in mind that drive specific activity. Just showing up won’t produce any business!

Law 3. You Catch After You Fish

Simply sitting in the boat never put fish in the live well! Talking about the fish you would like to catch with your fishing partner does not put them in the boat. You must not only go to the lake, but you must also cast the bait and reel them in! You must put in the proper effort in order to see the desired results. You catch after you fish!