So...What's Next?!?

Positioning Statement Dilema

Social Media is hot right now. Everyone is talking about it and everyone is trying to figure out what to do about it.

My company helps individuals get a strong grasp of social media and all the areas where it is disrupting business. We identify opportunities and threats and we manage online communities and help develop creative content.

Today I was challenged about my positioning statement again, and again I failed the challenge.

The last time my positioning statement was challenged was by a friend. I was meeting her for lunch right after a stressful business strategy meeting. I immediately told her I was not in the mood to talk about business. Yet somehow the conversation turned to my positioning statement. I do not have one...yet. This led to a tense situation where I felt my credibility was being challenged and after all, I already told her I did not want to talk about business. At one point when she was trying to get me to tell her why she should blog, I told her she shouldn't. She asked if that would be my attitude when I was in a CMO's office. I said yes if it was true.

Today's challenge was more helpful than stressful. After all I am trying to change my presentations to match the evolving marketplace. At one time I spent a lot of time educating prospects about what social media was. I no longer have to do that. Now I need to focus on the value propositions of my offerings and tailor them to the client's needs.

The key is that I am able to tailor my proposal to the needs of the client. That is how I have always sold. However when I am telling someone what I do, and I am not trying to sell them anything, I do not have a quick and easy positioning statement that highlights the value of what I do.

It was pointed out to me that I would sell a lot more if I worked on developing a strong positioning statement. I agree - and I am going to work on that. In the meantime the fact that I do not have one helps me to qualify my prospects.

For the past couple of years I have had the opportunity to work with clients who were already aware of the need for social media and were already walking down a similar thought process as me. Working with such clients is what helped me define and solidify our offerings. I have lost at least one deal i know of because the competing agency had a better pitch and positioning statement. But at the same time, the client they won was not really ready for social media. They would have possibly been someone I would have told not to blog.

Hmmm....so did I really lose when I lost that deal? Was that client even a qualified prospect if they were not really ready to jump into this new world?

As a small company I need to be selective of who I work with. Otherwise I could get caught up with a client that overwhelms my time and does not take the necessary steps to be successful. Social media is a partnership game. I need to consider the idea that I chose my clients just as they chose me.

That is some advice that Judy Knight gave me long ago. It makes more sense to me today than it did then. But of course now I wonder if not having a position statement is what has saved me from having the wrong clients.

Something to consider.

How Can You Compete With Cookies?

For anyone wondering, the training class went really this morning. I ended up using Webex instead of GoToMeeting because GoToMeeting does not support Mac users (losers) and WebEx was better overall anyway. I was very happy with it.

After the training class I took my youngest son to his best friend's house and went to a 2 hour lunch meeting. Then I picked my son up and came home. It has been a long day already.

I was welcomed by a Fedex box on my doorstep, which I assumed were the books I ordered from Amazon.com.

To my very pleasant surprise, what I found in the box was a bouquet of cookies from Vocus.

Hmmm....why would they be sending me cookies?

Vocus has been doing some very aggressive advertising with Google Ads. I see their ads to download a free white paper EVERYWHERE! Josh Hallet, who was one of the first people I started following in the social media world now works for Vocus, so I decided to download the paper and check it out.

Because the white paper is being used as a good lead generation tool it was required that  I fill out my information to receive the white paper, which resulted in a sales call, and then another one, and then another one and now cookies!?!

Alright, perhaps I should have returned one of those sales calls. I mean I do believe in Karma. When I waited on tables I used to tip well even when I received bad service just because I did not want the Karma of bad tips. As someone who makes sales calls I guess I should return sales calls. ...sigh

But I have a long list of things I need to do that take priority. So I thought by ignoring the sales call it would go away. Yes - for those clients who can identify with my alternate title of "professional nag" - you may be seeing the Karma here.

The thing is...I am a very small company - I know social media very well...I was interested in what Vocus had to say, but I am not a prospect.

Now I have cookies! Very good cookies! In fact, they are my favorite, Peanut Butter....how did Vocus know that Peanut Butter Cookies were my favorite?

Anyway, the reason I decided to blog this experience is because I started to think of the cost of the lead generation that Vocus has incurred from the ads, to the phone calls, to the cookies. On me alone that is a bit of money, for an unqualified prospect.

I have to give them credit though, because if they were my competitors, I have to admit that my next  thought was....how do you compete with cookies?

Sales

I had a great lunch meeting last week and bits and pieces of the conversation continue to run through my head.

The lunch was "all about me" and about the different paths I have taken the past few years, the roles I have had to play and what I have learned.

This lunch was more friendly than business and the business we do share would not have turned this lunch meeting into a "sales call." However at one point my lunch partner pointed out a sales faux pas. While talking about the trends in social media I got caught up in explaining the technology. He pointed out that I would be more compelling if I told stories about how people have used social media successfully.

This is a mistake I have done for the past three years and I truly do recognize it. I explained that since I am not just selling these services, but creating and delivering them too, my mind gets wrapped around the details too often. I start to think more like an engineer instead of a sales person.

Several months ago there was a plan to get me out of sales. I was told I was not a good sales person and I needed to be more in the world of strategy. This was an interesting perspective for me for a couple of reasons.

One, when I was in college I had to take a sales course because I needed the credit and it was the only course offered that semester. I was very reluctant to take it and swore I would never be a sales person. I was the only person in the class to make an A...

My first job, as you all know by now, was recruiting. I refused to see that job as a sales job. I was providing a service. I was recruiting candidates, getting to know their hopes and dreams, interviewing companies and getting to know their culture and plans for world domination and then matching the two together. I was a business match-maker, not a sales person.

By the time I was  promoted to manage a team and give sales training meetings I was still insisting that I was not a sales person. It was not until a friend pulled out my commission check and showed it to me that I finally agreed to admit I was in sales.

The next job was flat out sales, nothing more. It was not what I wanted to be doing and I simply went through the motions. Even by simply going through the motions, I was accused of having talent in sales - blah.

So a few months ago, when it seemed I would have the opportunity to get out of sales and focus on doing what I loved most, strategy, I thought the world had finally delivered my dream job to me.

That path did not work out and I am back on the path of wearing many hats - including  the sales hat.

But this time I will finally admit, I like sales! In fact I do not think I would be willing to ever not be in sales! In fact I think it is time I owned up to that and become a better sales person.

And so I will.

The Price of Intangibles

What am I worth? What are you worth? What is the value of everything I have learned throughout my life? What value do I bring to a company?

On the flip side, what do I cost? Where am I a liability? What actions, emotions, or areas where I lack discipline become a cost line item?

Why am I asking these questions? Two reasons...one I am trying to quantify the offerings of What a Concept! better. Since we do sell research and strategy and not technology it is often a challenge for our clients to understand the value of the final deliverable. Of course I also need to understand the value of the final deliverable to justify why we are even in business.

So I pulled some numbers from a couple of books.

According to Mobilizing Minds, Interaction Costs, which includes searching for information and knowledge, coordinating activities and exchanges, and monitoring and controlling the performance of others account for over half of all labor costs in the US.

Mobilizing Minds is a great book that goes deep into the economics of labor and the need to shift away from the Industrial mindset.

However the book I recently started reading is called Egonomics...turns out I have an Ego, and it may have cost me a bit of money in the past...

Egonomics shows that Ego is not always a bad thing, but when it runs a muck it cost in bad decisions made for the wrongs reasons, negative work environments and high turnover.

So it really comes down to people, which we hear all the time. It is about the people, their talent, skills, and enthusiasm that makes a company go from Good to Great right?

So what are you worth and how much will you cost yourself today?

If you want to feel rich, just count the things you have that money can't buy

Bridging the Marketing and Sales Gap

As someone with a degree and passion for marketing but who has spent 10+ years in sales, this was a topic that got me downtown for a networking meeting at 7:30 AM.

I also need to start networking more...

First, networking was fun. I walked in and saw a few people I knew and spent some time catching up with them. Then I knew that I needed to shake hands with a few people I have not met before. There are times when this is easy for me and there are times it takes everything I have to walk up and say "Hi! who are you and should we care about each other?" Not exactly in those words...

Today was the day I took a deep breath and turned to the person next to me, put my hand out and said "Hi I'm Sherry" - The response was - I know I was at SoCon! and the conversation went from there.

As I left another person came up to me and informed me that I have them hooked on Web 2.0 - I assumed they were at SoCon...nope...they saw me speak at the TAG Consulting society last month. I like being recognized...This is fun...(alright that was a total newbie enthusiasm moment...but I have not gotten used to being 'known' yet - and it is still 'fun')

Now to the meeting.

The presenters were Keith Eades and Robert Kear of SPI.

Some of the notes I took include;

70% of the leads generated by marketing do not get followed up on or tracked.

70-80% of marketing materials are not being used.

Only 20% of the corporations have a plan to close the gap between sales and marketing.

Less than 50% of sales people make quota.

Then there were the complaints - Marketing people "build great messages" and sales people just don't get it.

Keep that in mind as I share these next two notes...

A "solution" is a mutually agreed upon answer to a recognized problem that provides measurable improvement (value).

People are not buying from you because they either do not agree with the value or they are not aware of it.

Now Keith and Robert did a great job expressing how each department is responsible for the mindset of how customers and sales processes are perceived (products v solutions). But there was a vital concept missing from their presentation. One that is personal to me.

Where is the feedback loop FROM the sales team?

There was a lot of talk about creating the message and training the sales team, but the sales team are the people on the front line. Ideally smart and talented people. They know what is working and what is not - perhaps that is why they are ignoring what is coming down the pipeline from Marketing, because they do not feel it works for them when they are out in the field.

I asked the question about the feedback loop - the best answer that came out was the concept of the sales wiki where sales people can provide feedback to marketing. Yea!

Now will that feedback be taken seriously? There is a mindset out there of "just a sales person."

I had a number of people approach me after the meeting to tell me that I made a very valid point. We talked about the old school of thought that a product is so good any monkey in a suite could sell it. Sales is not that way anymore - and thank goodness. We do not want to be approached by monkeys with a script. We want people who know what they are doing and why they are doing it.

2+ years of running What a Concept! and I am still learning what I do from my clients by listening to what they need. All my offerings have come from requests from my clients, now I have experience and knowledge of what other clients need, which gives me more to offer. But the more I listen to my clients, the better I become. That is because I am a sales person.

The knowledge I gain from my clients and when I am on a sales call goes to my marketing personality that then tries to package and price the offering. Apparently my marketing side is in need of help - thankfully I have David Cohen on my side who understands Sales and Marketing. Yes - I still am working on my price and packaging - continuous work in progress.

So what happens when an organization does not listen to their sales people and ultimately their clients? As put so well by a gentleman I met before the meeting -  they become one of many organizations that have a "solution in search of a problem."

“It's not what you've got, it's what you use that makes a difference.”

- Zig Ziglar

 

We should be the cool kids!

Is your city social media friendly? Do businesses in your area have a reputation for embracing blogs, podcasts, and social networks?

This is the question that Dan Greenfield asked of several participants of SoCon08.

The overall answer (re: Atlanta)  was no - not really.

The question I had to ask myself today was;  Is that hurting me more than helping me as a social media consultant?

I have not traveled to the west coast...this past weekend I brought the west coast to Atlanta - that should count for something. But this weekend Chris Heuer and Josh Hallett and Dave Coustan pointed out that I need to get out to more conferences...something Timothy Moenk has been telling me for two years.

But today was the clincher. I was presenting to a new company here in Atlanta, my adopted hometown, where I have been evangelizing social media relentlessly for 2 + years - and the person I was presenting to said she had never heard of me. OK - that just sounds egotistical - but stay with me.

This person was also a social media enthusiast. However she had been going to conferences in NY and in CA and not even looking for good opportunities in Atlanta, because, she said, Atlanta had no market.

Because I have stayed in this city, it was almost as though my credibility was in question. Overall we worked it out and had a great meeting - but Atlanta... I am embarrassed!

I am not technical - so I can not go into details of all the activities that Jeff Haynie and Mike Schinkel and many others have been putting together such as start-up weekend or barcamp, but I do know that we have tried a variety of end user social media efforts that I have been involved with such as Atlanta Media Bloggers Group, Social Media Club, Social Media for PR Professionals, CRMA Summit, SoCon07, SoCon08, the new Enterprise 2.0 Society of TAG - plus PRSA events and there have been many other events.

So what is the disconnect?

Well - today I was sent another idea to start another group.

    Social Networking Experience Council

Initially I explained that I just do not have the bandwidth to start another effort. However, then I started thinking more about it. How can I get others to start "experience councils" regarding their industry? Someone who really is in PR (which I am not) should have a Social Networking PR Council. Many Interactive Marketing Agencies are claiming to be involved in social media. They should get together and start trading notes, because the one thing I have noticed is they are all over the place when it comes to how to create a social media site and what being a "consultant" means. We need more round tables and discussions.

But as much as I have tried to get those together, they do not happen in the business communities here like they should. The way they do things on "the West Coast." Everyone who claims to be an expert here seems to  treat social media as their secret sauce. It seems it is only a secret to people in Atlanta. Everyone else knows the doors are "open."

Come on Atlanta peeps - let's stand up and shine and not remain the outcast, introverted, stuff shirt city in the connected world. Let's start being one of the cool kids again!

Every generation needs a new revolution.

- Thomas Jefferson

In the Spirit of Leonardo Da Vinci

This was one of my early posts - thankfully I had emailed it to someone, so I did not lose this one...Tim is going to see how many posts we can find - sort of an experiment of if someone could really delete their "digital footprint."

I was once asked if I could have dinner with anyone in history, who would it be. I did not even have to consider the question for a moment, Leonardo Da Vinci.

He understood that possibilities were limitless and was driven to make others realize, through his personal example, the incredible possibilities that existed. He knew these things because he had the ability to look at things from a different perspective, of being able to make unusual connections and see things holistically.

Who was Leonardo Da Vinci? I am not concerned with his biography, but his approach to looking at situations and finding solutions to problems that others did not know existed. I want to tap into his zealous love of the quest and determination to interact with life and its events.

I want to apply the spirit of Leonardo Da Vinci to the enormous amount of possibilities that exist today, if we choose to look at things from a different perspective, make unusual connections and see things holistically.

Technology has made tapping into the spirit of Leonardo Da Vinci possible for anyone who has the desire to do so. Leonardo said that "the desire to know is natural to good men," and "the knowledge of all things is possible."

Assuming these comments are true, what made Leonardo different was the application of that knowledge. He was not a "specialist," he did not have a job title, he did not sit in a cubicle with a job description - he was an explorer, an inventor, an artist.

I am amazed how companies segment their business into sales, marketing, PR, customer service, executives and so forth.

If the marketing department is not aware of the information that the salespeople are receiving, how do they know how to target their campaign? If salespeople do not get to experience the issues coming through customer service, how do they know what problems to solve? How can PR respond to the public without being in the trenches with the public? How do executives keep fresh and innovative ideas without a constant interaction with the the new hires that are coming in, full of hope, enthusiasm and innovative ideas?

The knowledge of all things is possible if you find how and why each part is connected. With that knowledge you can create masterpieces and uncover the boundlessness of what is possible.

I was once asked if I could have dinner with anyone in history, who would it be. I did not even have to consider the question for a moment, Leonardo Da Vinci.

He understood that possibilities were limitless and was driven to make others realize, through his personal example, the incredible possibilities that existed. He knew these things because he had the ability to look at things from a different perspective, of being able to make unusual connections and see things holistically.

Who was Leonardo Da Vinci? I am not concerned with his biography, but his approach to looking at situations and finding solutions to problems that others did not know existed. I want to tap into his zealous love of the quest and determination to interact with life and its events.

I want to apply the spirit of Leonardo Da Vinci to the enormous amount of possibilities that exist today, if we choose to look at things from a different perspective, make unusual connections and see things holistically.

Technology has made tapping into the spirit of Leonardo Da Vinci possible for anyone who has the desire to do so. Leonardo said that "the desire to know is natural to good men," and "the knowledge of all things is possible."

Assuming these comments are true, what made Leonardo different was the application of that knowledge. He was not a "specialist," he did not have a job title, he did not sit in a cubicle with a job description - he was an explorer, an inventor, an artist.

I am amazed how companies segment their business into sales, marketing, PR, customer service, executives and so forth.

If the marketing department is not aware of the information that the salespeople are receiving, how do they know how to target their campaign? If salespeople do not get to experience the issues coming through customer service, how do they know what problems to solve? How can PR respond to the public without being in the trenches with the public? How do executives keep fresh and innovative ideas without a constant interaction with the the new hires that are coming in, full of hope, enthusiasm and innovative ideas?

The knowledge of all things is possible if you find how and why each part is connected. With that knowledge you can create masterpieces and uncover the boundlessness of what is possible.