This morning I read an article by Clate Mask about Hunting vs. Harvesting. In the article, Mask talks about businesses often going hunting for new business rather than harvesting what they have grown. Â The idea is you choose what you want to grow, where you should grow it, and then you tend it until it bears fruit. Â A long term strategy for sure but at some point it pays off more consistently than hunting. Â That isn’t to say hunting isn’t a good idea as well, but you get the metaphor. When I began my business, I embraced this philosophy whole-heartedly. Â I am not a good hunter. Â I don’t like the uncertainty, the failure/misses, or the need to put myself out there like that. Â Coincidentally, my clients aren’t either. Â They don’t like the hunt. Â So we build programs that are more about the harvest. Â Being a […] Continue reading
Fun With Bad Sales People
I received a call this AM from a sales person. I always love getting calls like this because I like seeing their tactics, how they handle themselves and if they do a good job, I will listen to their pitch. Today, not so much. The individual who called had researched my company. Good job! But he never asked a question. He started with, “I see you are a small business consultant specializing in marketing and social media.” So now instead of being impressed he did his research, I applauded his ability to read. Next, he said, “I’m calling from XYZ Company” and paused. I would actually use the name of the company but 12 seconds after he said it I had forgotten what he said. What was the pause for? Is the company impressive and I’m suppose to pay attention? Whatever. Finally, he said, “I was thinking that our telemarketing services would be a great way to bring you new clients.” Congratulations! I’m happy for you! I certainly wouldn’t agree since it would send the wrong message to get a telemarketing call from someone who is recommending other methods for client development, but you are entitled to your opinion. He FINALLY said – “Don’t you agree?” and I said, “no”. He suddenly became a human being – not a script reader. He was shocked that I so quickly said no and when he asked why and I explained he realized he was targeting the wrong clients. I have no idea if he will learn from that, but at least I had his attention for a minute.
Another sales person is one I’ve used as an example in training classes for years. I received a voice mail from a sales training specialist who focuses on getting calls back on voice mails. Sweet! Since I was training people on sales techniques, I figured I’d give him a try and see what happened. His first voice mail was engaging, he came across well, left his phone number at a reasonable speed, and seemed like he might know what he was talking about. And then I got the second voice mail. Guess what? SAME VOICE MAIL. No kidding – not a word or inflection was different. I gave him four shots before I returned his call and all were the exact same email. The voice mail I left him said I appreciated his efforts, but persistence in the same message wasn’t the technique we felt was the most effective so we wouldn’t be hiring him. He did call back and we had a nice chat about using one’s own training techniques as demonstrations.
So what’s the point? These people were good at the mechanics. Both did exactly what their formula said to do. They weren’t thinking about it – to the point that I think the first guy would have been thrown off if I had said I was interested. So stay engaged, be human, and don’t just follow the script. When you research someone, know why your product will help THEM. Make sure it is a good fit so you will both be happier. And my biggest pet peeve, ASK QUESTIONS. Be interested in getting the other person talking! Confirming what they know puts up barriers. Getting them to talk puts them on your team. Learn about your prospects through research and their answers – it is those conversations that result in new business.
No Sub-Folders? What next?
David Johnson at BNet wrote today about his use of “metadata” and Windows Vista search to find his documents. They are all stored in ONE folder. I knew this was coming but I didn’t realize it was already here. And I’m just not ready to do it.
In the past, computer users were taught to file things in folders and sub-folders to keep everything organized, much like you would in a file cabinet. Organizational specialists told you to file things based on your first reaction to where it should go so you could easily find them again. Many people embrace this organizational structure but just as many file everything on their desktop (scary – I know).
Several years ago I implemented a content management system that used metadata to store and retrieve records. We struggled for a long time as to what would be assigned to each record until the vendor asked the magic question – what is the minimum information you would accept to find a document? Suddenly we had a context. If someone came to the counter and wanted a document, what was the bare minimum information they had to have to get what they wanted. Example – they couldn’t ask for “some student who was female and graduated in 1992” (this was a student records program on a campus) but they could ask for “Kathy Breitenbucher, graduated in 1992”. If the peson requesting had the student’s social security number that was enough, etc. And so began my discussions of metadata.
Shortly thereafter operating systems started talking about metadata. The idea is you create a document and then assign the metadata to it. Then, when you need the file, you just run a search and there’s your document. We’re all used to searching the Internet for stuff so what’s the difference? Well for me, it is changing everything about the way I work. I considered using the “find file” feature a failing of my organizational structure. I mean, if I put it somewhere, I should know where, right? So now I’m suppose to do away with all of that and always search. Hard to get used too.
I know David is right and this is the smart way to manage data. It is more efficient, leaves less room for error or misfiling and in the long run should save time. But giving up my folders? I’m just not there yet.