G21PostCardWeb

G21PostCardWeb, a photo by g21photography on Flickr.

I created this postcard to be a mailer and a handout for G21. Shows some of the recent work.

WinePassport

WinePassport, a photo by g21photography on Flickr.

Product photo shot for a customers website.

Public Relations Nightmare for Google Search

The following is from the FKM Agency blog but is of interest to anyone doing SEO.

Hello fellow search geeks,

This is TOTALLY worth the read. (warning: it’s a long article): A Bully Finds a Pulpit on the Web

For those of you that don’t want to read the entire article, here’s a quick summary:

The article features a website, it’s owner and more then a few irate (understandably so) customers. Essentially, the owner of the site is making a point to capitalize on negative online feedback in order to increase his search rankings (thus traffic and sales).

From an SEO perspective, the guy is playing the system well. He has recognized that his customer service and product are below par and customers are leaving negative feedback online. However, when a customer does this, they often link to the site and mention a product or products that they purchased. This provides a link back to the website, which enhances the websites natural search presence.

Google is just a small part of the colossal fail that lets a guy like this thrive. All those other companies that are listed in the article are also somewhat responsible (his hosting company, the credit card companies, eBay, etc.)

The biggest issue here is that consumers are not doing the research before buying from a company. Just looking at the website for 2 minutes, I know that I would not buy from them. Why?

• Designer goods for low, low prices. That’s the first clue
• Second, the “reviews” are canned - and there are not reviews on a product by product basis. That’s now a basic for any e-commerce website.
• The About Us page content - that’s basically canned content
• They don’t link to FB or any other social networking sites - which would allow for real consumers to provide feedback
• Product images - this one is a little harder - but when you can see the reflection of someone in a product image for a ($300+ item), unless it’s on eBay, run away.

Consumers really need to do their own due diligence before buying from a new vendor. I rarely buy from sites that I’ve never heard of and I ALWAYS Google the site’s name before I make the purchase, particularly if it’s for a big ticket item. And bottom line, if it’s a designer product being sold for half the price, do the research unless you want to tangle with guys like this.

Asset Management

Everyone is a manager. That is a fact. We each manage the assets that we have or that are available to us. As salespeople what are our assets? You should keep a list of yours and review it from time to time to see what you have that you are not using or under-using. They could include;

• Time - How much each day do you devote to your goal.
• Territory - How much ground is yours (so to speak).
• Company - How much back up do you have. Includes customer service, receptionist, credit manager, service, etc.
• Reputation - Yours and your company.
• Physical sales assets - literature, samples, website, YouTube, etc.

There are many other things we manage, but this is a start. Now look at each item; make an honest assessment of how well you manage that asset. Be honest or the drill won't benefit you.

For instance.....your company; Have you talked to everyone in your company that has impact on your customer. Do they like you; are they inclined to help you. Have you discussed your strategy with them so they know how they can help. Think about it...you are just part of the customer experience.

Now on to your list....

Continue Touching

There is an old saying in the editorial world about story writing.

First...You tell them what you are going to tell them.
Next...You tell them.
Last....You tell them what you told them.

Stay on message.

Good selling

Allow Your Customer to Buy

One of the members of the MHEDA group on LinkedIn, Barry Lauterwasser puts it this way;
"Forklifts & forklift services are not sold, they're purchased. If you are not near the top of the mind when the time comes for a purchase, well....the prospect just isn't going to call."

I absolutely agree and would broaden the product mentioned to any material handling product.

The next step in our action plan is to touch the customer. Touch the customer regularly. But we must take care how we touch or it can work against us. There are many studies about how many times a day that we are assaulted by TV ads, billboards, taxi-backs, direct mail and now "tweets"...all attempting to be "sticky" (something we remember). But the only messages that get thru are the ones that resonate with us for some reason. I start my morning with an email bringing me the daily Calvin & Hobbs cartoon. It makes me smile and gives the right start to my day. Now there are 13 other emails that are in the inbox, most are deleted. I read the ones from my grandchildren, airplane manufacturers and photography sites....because that is what I value.

I have always taught salespeople to touch their customers. Touch = personal visit, telephone call, written letter or postcard, email or any other one-on-one action initiated by them. But the addendum to that training is to make the touch in the area of interest for the customer. I am not talking about sending a birthday card...but you could. Remember, our customers job is important to them. Anything that we know that will help them or their company is of interest to them.

Our job is to make what we know fit what they need.

Good selling,

85% of All Stastics Are Just Made Up

He said with his tongue planted firmly in his cheek. But really statistics are a two edge sword. You may have a 99.5% chance of living throughout the day. You have a 100% chance of dying ultimately.

This is a departure from our "action plan" but I suffer from "shiny object syndrome", and something sparked this line of thought. Now is a time in history when many displaced workers will relocate into a sales position. It is just fact that many other jobs have evaporated and some will decide to give sales a try. Thru hard work and luck or some help by others they may even reach some level of success. But does that make them a sales person.

I read a study that said that eight of ten people making their living from direct sales were mismatched to their job. They derived little or no satisfaction from the career and would never excel because they were struggling to just survive. It also said that of the two "true" sales people; one was selling the wrong product (tangible vs intangible; big ticket vs retail; etc). My own experience tells me this is close to accurate. I don't know the exact percentages but I have sat across from many a person who was as frustrated as I was. I could not understand why they could not seem to value their own efforts and they could not get anything to work.

So, if you find yourself as one of the 8, that's OK. But admit it, and when things change find a career that you value. Life is too short to be mediocre. Be great or be terrible but never mediocre. If you are the one who is selling the wrong product....change when you can. A step backwards at some point will be more than made up for with a lifetime of production and satisfaction.

If you are the one left....next post we will get back to the "action plan".