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Are You My Customer?

6/28/2014

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Remember the Dr. Seuss classic, “Are You My Mother?”

A newly-hatched bird falls out of his nest while his mother is away. The little bird wanders the forest looking for his mother. “Are you my mother?” he asks a kitten, a hen, a dog, a cow and a boat.

All of the creatures responded with the same answer, “No! I am not your mother.” Then, the little bird met… the SNORT (steam shovel). The Snort picked up the little bird and placed him in his nest just as his mother returned. The Snort was wise enough to know where the little bird could find his mother and generous enough to put the little bird back in his nest with his mother.

The moral of the story is… Be a SNORT!

How the little bird looked for his mother is how most of us were taught to find our prospective customers. We run around networking, sending emails and making cold calls asking, “Are you my customer?” Remarkably, we get the same answer that the little bird got… “No.” We keep asking the same questions and expecting different results. The problem is, sometimes someone says, “Yes, I might be your customer. Send me some brochures.” That’s right, every time someone says, “Yes” or “Maybe” we convince ourselves that all we need to do is keep asking until we find someone who says something other than, “No.” It’s the same feeling gamblers get from slot machines. Sometimes they randomly win, encouraging them to continue gambling.

So, what’s a business professional to do? How do we cure the, “Are you my customer?” trap?

Stop treating everyone like a prospect. Not everyone needs what you’re selling and more importantly, even if they do need what you offer, they don’t want to be sold. No one wants to be pressured, manipulated, coerced or discounted into buying something, even if they might need it.

Treating everyone we meet as a prospect also appears in sales funnel systems. You know, you drop one hundred leads into the top of your sales funnel. You put the leads through a series of qualifying and filtering steps to identify true prospects, while discarding the leads (the equivalent of, “No, I’m not your customer.”) that are NOT your perfect prospects. If you’re lucky, ten of the one hundred leads drop out the bottom of the funnel to become clients. More realistically, the actual success number is closer to one client per one hundred leads. That doesn't sound like a very effective process to me, nor does it sound like a pleasant way to build business relationships.

Instead, turn the funnel on its side and treat it like a megaphone. Teach and inspire one hundred referral sources to talk about you and to look for your perfect prospect. If each one of them talks to ten prospects, then you have a thousand others who know about you and have likely learned about you from someone they trust.

The cure for, “Are you my customer?” is to treat everyone you meet as referral source, NOT a prospect. Referral sources may be a SNORT. They may know exactly where to find your perfect prospect. They may likely to want to help you connect with your perfect prospect. After all, most people are willing to be good connectors when they know your business is a good fit for their colleagues and friends. But, you must have a clear, concise and repeatable message to share AND you have to ask the right questions.

Instead of asking, “Are you my customer?” ask questions that start with, “Who do you know…?” Make the rest of the question as specific as possible. Make it easy for the referral source to connect your perfect prospect with your business. The end of the question may be:
  • A symptom of the problem you solve (Who do you know that has no clue if their bookkeeper is doing a good job or not?), or
  • An event that triggers the need for your business (Who do you know that just had a baby and needs life insurance?),
  • A specific need for your business (Who do you know that doesn't have a financial advisor?),
  • The solution you provide (Who do you know that is looking for a strategic marketing program?).
Structure your business dialogue around “Who do you know…?” questions and watch how the conversational energy shifts from guarded to open and willing. Your best referral sources are those who already have relationships with your perfect prospects. Find them. Be a Snort!

Who do you know that already has a trusted relationship with your perfect prospects?


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Giving from the Heart

5/20/2014

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A Story of Hope from Nicaragua

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The following story is written by Matt Payne.
 
My wife and I recently led a team of high school students to Nicaragua from March 19-27. The focus was to work with kids, helping through several organizations or local groups in Managua, capital city of Nicaragua. Nicaragua is the 2nd poorest country in the Western hemisphere and there is substantial need everywhere in the city.

During one day our team visited the community of Villa Guadalupe, located next to the largest open air landfill in the world. Our goal was simple that day; help serve food to about 200 children. Every week on Monday and Tuesday, a group of three women from Nicaragua cook and deliver food faithfully and we simply participated. To describe the state of living people within this community experienced, many scavenged from the dump just 4-5 years ago. They now live in government housing but lack good employment opportunities.

While driving to our serving location we all saw the huge group of kids lining one side of the street. As we turned around to park I noticed a young boy across the street drawing or writing on a pad of paper. The high school student team immediately piled out of the van as we stopped and the food service began after a few minutes.

While the food was being served, I walked across the street with our interpreter and began talking to this young boy. We exchanged names and dialogued in our basic introduction. After brief conversation I asked what he was drawing or writing. To my surprise he turned his book and showed me this beautiful picture of a bear floating on its back in a serene pond.

Being intrigued, I inquired more and found that he is a talented young artist, and he showed me more of his incredible drawings. ‘Philip’ proceeded to walk back to his house, drop off his art book, and then re-joined us. Through the help of the interpreter, I asked Philip after more conversation if I could purchase one of his drawings. He looked at me with no expression and simply stated "no" and paused. The statement that came next caught me completely off guard. He said "pero, voy a darle a usted." I'll give it to you. He then walked to his home.

For perspective, this young boy is 12 years old and personally scavenged with his family in the dumps. Every day in Nicaragua people of all ages were constantly asking for something. Buy this, give me something, window wash?, fruit?, 'Gringo' aqui,

'Chele' atencion, and so on. I was considered a rich American in the eyes of the people and they desired something from me. Yet, in spite of all the need, there was one young boy of the many needy people I encountered that understood generosity without the expectation of something in return. What an incredible lesson he taught me.

Philip walked back with the sheet of paper in hand and gave it to me. The picture on the back was even more beautiful than the picture of the bear. The gratitude I had for that young man because of his selfless display was tremendous. I desperately wanted to give him something in return. After 5-10 more minutes of dialogue we visited his home next to where we had been standing. I explained that I must give him something in return and asked if he would like some art supplies. He politely told me what he needed and it was delivered to him a couple weeks ago through the local Nicaraguan team.

I share because it is an amazing example of selfless generosity from a young boy who has so little, but knows how to give much.

How do you give to the people around you?

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    Authors

    Berry Zimmerman 
    Matt Payne
    Robert Nitschke 

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