Bob Poole's Water Cooler Hangout

A Sure Bet

If your gut says your business idea is sound, what's stopping you from moving forward? You put together a  plan to create something unique and remarkable. Things won't work out exactly as you've planned - no matter how much attention you've given to your idea. But, there comes a time to stop analyzing and start moving.

Your success will depend on your reaction to the curve ball you're going to see when all you thought the pitcher had was a fast ball. That's where your instincts and heart will come into play. Following them will allow you to react correctly more often than not.

From where I stand, that's the only thing in business or life that's a sure bet.

Fast Talking Salesperson

I got a voice mail late yesterday from a salesperson. I think she was a salesperson but I'm not sure. I'm going to have to listen several times to determine her name and phone number. Or, I might just delete the message and wait for her to call me back - if she does. Or, meantime, I may find what I want from someone else.

This happens much too often. Salespeople leave a lot of voice mails and many of them develop a terrible habit of leaving a message like they were in a speed talking contest.

Please, do everyone a favor. Get a digital tape recorder and practice your phone messages. Seriously! Speak at a reasonable, conversational, speed and enunciate. Tell us your name and company first. Then leave a short message. And, finish up by repeating your name (spell it if it could be misunderstood) and then leave your phone number and repeat it slowly so we can write it down.

There's more than one reason why you don't want to be thought of as a fast talker.

How Do You Dog Ear Kindle Pages?

I read a lot of books and magazines. Most of them pertain to things like niche marketing, the sales process, consulting, creativity, and leadership. It's what I like to read and write about.

I don’t know about you but when I see something of interest in a magazine, I rip it out and refer to it later. Sometimes though I file it and then I never refer to it later. Instead about every other year, I go through the files and end up scratching my head and wondering why I decided to save 80% of the stuff.

I treat books differently - well, sort of. The nuns that taught me for the first 8 years of my education would take a ruler to my knuckles if they could see what I do to my books. I dog ear the corners of the pages, highlight all over them and write notes in the margins. And, often if the book really gets my attention, I’ll do all of the above plus I’ll type up my notes for further reference.

But, then the books go back on the shelf because I always have several going at once and I feel the need to keep on reading. Once in a while I will open the book and look for something I’ve highlighted or one of my notes. But, not nearly as often as I think I should.

My memory isn’t quite the same as it was 40 years ago. So, I do all the dog earring, highlighting, note-taking, and page-tearing because I’ve read something of significant value to me and I want to remember it. All that stuff helps me to remember – most of the time.

I’ve resisted the Kindle because for once in my life I didn’t want to be an early adopter. I’ve always bought the first, biggest, baddest piece of new technology that marketing firms could sell me and too often I’ve heard myself say, “Man, I should have waited for the (fill in the blank).”

I’ve held the Kindle and I was amazed by its slimness. And, people who like it have fallen in love with it and, in some cases, given up tree books entirely. I almost felt like it was a question of customer loyalty. However, I decided to make my book "Listen First - Sell Later" available on the Kindle. It seemed foolish not to put it there too.

I was thinking of waiting on a couple of new technologies but then I’d be doing what I said I didn’t want to do by being an early adopter. Nope it’s time to get a Kindle. I hear you can highlight and even take notes on it.

Now, if they can just figure out a way to let me dog-ear those pages.

It Takes Guts

You know the old adage, "You can't teach an old dog new tricks." Well, I don't know if that is necessarily true because I've come to know quite a few "old dogs" who have a different take on that adage.

They live by the rule that says, "You're never too good to stop learning." I love that attitude and I don't understand why everyone doesn't adopt it. Instead of wasting this summer away watching reruns of Dancing With the Starts, or Big Brother why don't you sign up for a foreign language course. Or, you could volunteer at a local farm and learn about farming -from the ground up. Ahem.

Or, why don't you take some classes with someone who is considered a master in your field of work. How cool would it be to spend a month with the folks at Ideo if you're a designer. Or, six months with Seth Godin working on an alternative MBA.

Want to take an almost cost free method of expanding your abilities and being much better at your job by September? Let's say you are in sales or marketing. It doesn't matter what you do but for our discussion, I'm picking what I know best.

Here's how I learned a lot about sales. Almost 30 years ago I heard a gentleman by the name of Joe Charbonneau, who was a master salesperson and speaker from Texas, say something I've never forgotten. You might want to write this down and look at it from time-to-time.

Joe said, "If you want to be a master, study what the masters have done before you. Learn to do what they have done -- and have had the guts to do -- and you will be a master too."

And, so I started my search for the best salespeople. I read their books. I read books about them. And, I searched them out in every company I ever came into contact with over the years. I went to their seminars and workshops. I listened to what they had to do to get to the pinnacle of their profession and I made a choice to follow them.

Too many people get their degree and think they've learned it all. Or, they take the company sales training course and that's the last book on selling they ever read.

And, too many more forget the most important part of Joe's formula for mastery of anything.

"and have had the guts to do..."

It takes guts to do what the best are willing to do. And, that is what separates the masters from everyone else.

My Absolutely Last Post About Twitter - maybe

Last week I wrote about "Why You Must be on Twitter." Subsequently, some readers jumped into the fray and now they have sent me emails or called to ask, "What the heck do I do now?" And, "How do I make any sense of this?"

Both are good questions and deserve some guidance. Assuming there are more of you out there that didn't call, I'm going to try to give you a few ideas and tools. First, reread my post of a while back, "Not Another Twitter Post." I wrote it back in early March, which is a lifetime in Twitter time. But, it will give you some ideas of how I used Twitter back then and how I approach other people in order not to make them run screaming and clicking the dreaded "Un-Follow Button."

I have found Twitter to be useful and it has actually driven business for many people including myself. First, before I get into some tools, you might want to pick up a copy of "Twitter for Dummies" from Amazon. I know one of the authors, Laura Fitton (@Pistachio on Twitter) and she is one of the people who let me follow her and learn. I haven't read the book but I'm going to because she was an early adopter who took Twitter and ran with it to create her own Twitter business. Buy the book. You can buy it together with mine and get free shipping.

Now, on to the tools. I use TweetDeck to follow all the people that I want to follow and see them in one place. It allows me to split the screen into subgroups. I have my Triiibes people, direct responses, competitors, searches for my name and company name, and one column of everyone else. And, I can change them on the fly. It gives me instant feedback on what companies and people I care about are tweeting. You'd be surprised what you'll learn here.

There is a new service called CoTweet that is free and still in Beta. It will allow multiple people to tweet from one (the same) user name. So, within a company you could have a dozen of your employees tweeting. Each one could have a different area to tweet or time or whatever. I haven't used it yet but I have clients I'm recommending give it a try. It levels the field of play between small and large businesses.

There are a number of services and applications and most all are free. Go to Twitter Applications to see some. Then visit the Twitter Fan Wiki to find applications you can use right now. You might be interested in the photos apps. There are hundreds of different applications. Don't be overwhelmed. I'd suggest starting with TweetDeck and learning a little at a time.

Good luck and don't forget I'm always willing to take questions. I might now answer them but I'll take them.

Just kidding! Have a great Memorial Day weekend for my US readers. The rest of the world should definitely have one too!

Turning a Marketing Drip Into a Sales Flood

Ever have a leaky faucet? You know, the kind that drips once a second. It's an annoyance but it seems like a little thing and there is always something else that is a priority. So, it drips.

Until you notice your water bill has really gone up. One faucet dripping once per second equates to 86,400 drips per day. That's approximately 2,082 gallons per year. It doesn't take long to see that you are creating a flood.

But, this isn't an article on plumbing. Social media marketing is like the dripping faucet. I'm pretty sure Seth Godin first termed the phrase, "Drip, Drip, Drip" relative to how you need to market today.

That drip, drip, drip will eventually wear a hole through the hardest rock. Not right away but over time. And, that's how you need to think about marketing. That part isn't new. Over night successes are seldom created. Success happens over time.

You need to engage in talking to your potential customers. You need to give them information they value. That means you have to create information content for them and you need to use social media channels to distribute it. It also means you have to be patient. You're dripping. You're not using a laser cutter. If I knew of a marketing laser cutter, I'd be the first to tell you about it.

There are still marketing tactics and strategy. They've just changed. But, by dripping consistently with good information and being patient you will eventually see the flood.

If you would like to learn more about social media marketing and how you can apply it to your business, click here and we'll send you "The New Marketing Guide." Just Click Here.

Free PDF of Listen First - Sell Later

If you would like for me to send you a free copy of my new book, Listen First - Sell Later, you can sign up to have it delivered in 4 sections - one per week for the next month.

Just go here and fill out the form to get the entire book for free - my compliments.

The Most Overlooked Sales Quality

Following up on my column of the other day and the importance of empathy in sales and marketing, I want to identify and discuss what I believe is the most overlooked quality or ability in the exceptional sales person.

Most sales managers will tell you they look for high drive, self-starting ability and achievement - and those are all important qualities. I've touched on the very high importance of personal integrity here before.

But, the one quality that isn't that hard to identify is the one that keeps people from becoming extraordinary. It is the ability to consistently follow-up - to do what you say you'll do. Some sales people never do it. I've bought 4 homes in my lifetime. Only once did the sales agent follow up with a housewarming gift. Why didn't the other four do it? Simple. It was a sellers' market and they didn't think they needed to invest in the relationship when they had all the buyers they needed.

Can you imagine how many referrals and additional sales they have lost over the years by not following up and saying thanks?

Last night I heard a story of a professional who is leaving the commercial world to take a PhD teaching position. He'll be teaching new students who want to join him in his profession. In his last job, he needed to follow-up with paperwork and reports for the clients he was serving. Instead, he cashed his last check and left town for the new job.

Would you want this so-called professional teaching your children? What kind of ethics does the man have? Not only can't he keep his word, he can't follow-up, and he basically stole his last check from his employer. Too bad he's already hired. Obviously the university that hired him didn't do a very good job checking references.

You'll get an idea about what kind of follow-up your prospective sales reps when they follow-up with you. I always try to get them telling me about something they recently read and then I tell them I'd love a copy of the article, etc. Their actions will tell you a lot after that conversation.

I know a young couple who are both in sales. They got married a year ago and I never got a thank you note for the nice gift I sent. I finally asked someone else who attended since maybe my note got lost. It turns out these two professional marketers never sent any out.

Would you hire either one of them?

Free Book for a Friend

I'd love if you'd help me spread the story about my book, Listen First - Sell Later.

If you purchase a copy for yourself I will send a FREE copy of the book to a friend of your choice with a personal note letting them know it is a gift from you. Thank you very much.

Click Here To Send a Friend a Free Copy

The Water Cooler Hangout Has Changed!

What's life without change? The same goes for my blog. It was time to update a few things as you can probably see by looking at it.

I have added a very stylish banner to the top to better illustrate the Water Cooler. Any similarity to persons living or dead is only a coincidence. The banner was done by Martin Whitmore from Austin, TX and the land of zombies.

I also decided to go with a 3 column layout so you could see things more easily and not have to scroll quite as much. I decided to add a recommend books section. It won't be large but there are a number of great books that I read every month and I'll be posting them here. You can actually purchase them by clicking on the book cover.

What do you think? Do you like the new look? Hate it? Don't care?

Lastly, I am going to be inviting guests to post once in a while. And, I'll be adding videos in the very near future.

Thanks for being part of The Water Cooler Hangout! The best is yet to come.
Bob