You're Never Invisible
24 September 2007
We recently did some cold-calling on the small businesses in our area (we live in a historic district, and just across the little curved bridge and past the Carnegie Museum is the center of the historic business district.)
One business I'd never noticed before offers a service I'm very interested in (I'm trying not to make them identifiable here for reasons which will become obvious.) When I mentioned our web services I was told that the person I was speaking to handled their website. We collected a business card, intending to investigate their services to see how they'd fit into what we're doing.
Their website is a test page; not the kind hosting companies post when you've just bought a domain name, but the kind web geeks create when they're learning a new programming language.
So, here's today's tip: never, ever, use your primary website as a sandbox.
Someone is always watching.
Lack of Loyalty in the Workplace: The Good News & the Bad News
16 September 2007
When my father was young, it was common for a man to find a job right out of school and keep it the rest of his life. He changed careers more than once, but once he'd settled into production and quality control for electronics, he stayed with the same company until they laid him off around the time he turned 50. He worked as a consultant after that, but I don't think he ever understood how a company could show such a lack of loyalty.
I've changed careers more than once, but even within the computer industry, I've managed to changed jobs about every three years. That's not an uncommon statistic these days. And the fact that the last two 'changes' were caused by the company I worked for going out of business isn't uncommon, either.
Some companies still do business the old way: they're the mother hen/big brother, and you'll do what they say, partly because it's in your best interest, and partly because they said it. They're still operating as if the brief period of one-way loyalty that caught my father off guard still existed: employees will do as they're told because the company is boss.
Businesses no longer have power over employees and clients. It doesn't work to tell the customer to take it or leave it; that's all we're offering; look right here in the contract, we don't owe you a thing. You're no longer just competing against the one other business in town. You're competing against the prospect's perception that they can get anything they want from anywhere in the world on the internet. You're competing with the employee's perception that anyone can start a web business, selling on eBay or building websites. Whether those perceptions are true or not (they're not) isn't up to you.
This 'free agent' mentality leaves the door wide open for you to amaze and surprise your employees, and your suspects, prospects, and clients with loyalty. Treat them all as if you'll always be there for them; that they're a partner, not just a source of income.
Of course, you really have to mean it, but you're a new world entrepreneur—sincerity is an intrinsic part of your makeup, right?
Communication Mirroring
15 September 2007
A friend asked why the information in the videos is essentially the same as what's written here, raising the issue of learning styles. Learning being simply a specialized type of communication, let's broaden the scope and discuss communication mirroring.
A few years ago I was trying to complete a search tool for a client. It seemed that no matter how many emails I sent to the hosting contact, things moved like molasses, and often in the wrong direction. I'd send an email, they'd leave a voicemail on my phone, I'd email to correct their confusion, and so on.
Have I mentioned how much I hate talking on the phone?
Finally, in frustration, I actually picked up the phone, and things were resolved, correctly, in less than five minutes.
I don't know how much evidence I'd been given before this, but in a camel/straw moment I realized that I'd been using my style of communication instead of his. As soon as I mirrored what he'd been trying to do all along, the dam burst.
We all have our favorite method of communication. Mine is email; a close friend rarely emails more than three words, but will stay on the phone as long as I'm willing to. But, just like we don't get to choose how we're perceived by others (see "There is no Reality; Only Perception" below) we can't successfully shove people into our communication method.
A prospect who emails should get an email, not a phone call, in return. While the email should be sent off just as quickly as you'd answer the phone (email-oriented types tend to expect email to be almost real-time) a phone call response to an email can feel pressuring and invasive. On the other hand, if someone leaves you a voicemail, or you're following up on a phone call, use the phone; email will seem impersonal to phone-oriented communicators. Email always sounds a bit less friendly than you write it; write a friendly message and it sounds flat and direct; write something that's flat and direct, and it sounds angry and rude—especially to someone accustomed to the warmth and instantaneous reaction of a human voice.
And, yes, if someone writes you a letter, you write a letter. Even further, if they hand wrote their letter, do the same.
Be what people expect, not what you're used to being.
13 September 2007
Sincerity
Yesterday's note combined with today's review of Dale Carnegie's epic "How to Win Friends and Influence People" reminded me of the complete failure of many people to fake sincerity.
Oddly enough, the person who introduced me to Carnegie's book missed a fundamental point from the introduction. Carnegie points out that his principles are not some mind control process, or a sure-fire way to sell snake oil. The very first requirement was a sincere interest in other people. After that, Carnegie points out, the principles are just the best method of displaying what you really think and feel.
When your client, business partner, or family member can feel you pretending to care by quoting the correct Carnegie-ism, it's sure to have exactly the opposite effect from the desired.
Your business practices will reflect your personal ethics. If you're offering a product or service because you believe in it, and you're talking to a prospect because you genuinely believe they'll benefit and that the benefit will outweigh the financial investment, your only challenge in selling is finding the right people to talk to.
If you're only about the money, you may make sales, but in the long run, sincerity and ethics will win out over fast talk and selfishness. You've experienced this in your life; you know the people who only call when they need something, who always frame everything as if they're just trying to help when you know full well they're only interested in what they can get from you. You avoid them when you can.
Sincere interest in others is vital to the survival of your business. If you can't sell what you've got with sincerity, you're selling the wrong thing.
Transparency
12 September 2007
When I was young, I was always late. I've spent half a lifetime working to develop punctuality; more on that another time.
My biggest problem was how I handled being late. The lesson I learned when I made this change has led to a major reduction in my business stress.
When I was late, all I did was hurry more to try to be less late. Of course, people were always waiting, and once you're late, being less late than you might have been really doesn't help much. You know what does help?
A phone call.
If you're late, make a phone call. "Sorry, I'm going to be three/five/fifteen minutes late. Your time is valuable, and I'm very sorry I didn't plan better." To date (15 years since I started the habit) the only reaction I ever remember is, "No problem; thanks for letting me know." In fact, I get "No worries; I'm late as well" as often as not.
If you make a mistake (and lateness is a mistake), admit it as soon as you're aware of it and do what you can to fix it. Clients, prospects, even suspects don't expect perfection (if they do, you can't work with them anyway.) They expect mistakes now and then. What they care about is how you deal with the mistake. Of course, they won't excuse incompetence, but you might be surprised how much good will you get by being forthright.
Amazon.com Can't Live Without Me
7 September 2007
Amazon lost my book.
Okay, I'm pretty sure it was really the U.S. Postal Service. Their tracking software admits they picked it up from the warehouse a hundred miles from my house, but a month later it's still 'in transit' and USPS says they have no further information. They weren't unpleasant, they just didn't know.
Of course, the reason USPS has no real tracking information is because I cheaped out and accepted Amazon's free shipping instead of paying five bucks to have my $40 programming book delivered. It's a business expense, fer cryin' out loud; pay for the shipping already.
I finally got tired of waiting and emailed Amazon to ask how I submitted a claim for a lost book, or whether they'd even accept it since the postal service admitted they'd had the book.
The email I received less than 24 hours later, from a company so huge they certainly won't die without my few shekels, said this, in part:
" . . . one of the benefits we'd like to offer our customers is convenience, and I realize that we have not met that standard in this case. I hope that you will give us another opportunity to prove the quality of our service to you in the future."
They're shipping a new copy of the book, upgrading the shipping so it's traceable.
Sure, they don't need my money. And it's highly unlikely most people would refuse to do business with Amazon just because you had to hit up the USPS for lost mail. (I might, whatever it cost me, because I'm fairly curmudgeonly.) But this isn't about a few dollars for one book. Amazon went so far beyond what I expected that even if I have another unpleasant experience, I'll still be a raving fan.
A raving fan who tells others about the surprisingly great customer service I got today.
When your customer needs service, don't make them worry about whose fault it was, or how this is going to get fixed. Just fix it. Surprise them with excellence, and the few bucks it'll cost you will be one of the best marketing investments you make this year.
My replacement arrived today, 11 September. Thanks again, Amazon.
Aw, Seth links to a much better story ('I Heart Zappos') which reinforces the point.
But wait—there's more! John Moore's Brand Autopsy tells another great Amazon story.
Talking to Friends is Better Than Talking to Strangers
7 September 2007
A friend, embarking on her first entrepreneurial voyage, asked about direct marketing letters. It drove home the point that every single dollar my company has earned has come from word of mouth. While it's unusual to hit 100%, I suspect that most of your qualified customers knew who you were before they ever spoke to you.
Talking to friends is easier and more productive than talking to strangers. Share your story, your passion, your hopes and dreams with people who know you—and to whatever degree, care about you—and they'll pass it on to others.
That way, everyone who hears about you, hears it from someone they know. And that makes you a better risk than a complete stranger, by some groovy exponential amount.
Before you spend time talking to strangers about your business, make real sure everyone you already know is aware. When you do start talking to strangers, get an introduction; find some way to be a friend of a friend, rather than a stranger. People don't like giving money to strangers, but they'll do business with their good ol' boy network 'til the cows come home.
There is no Reality; Only Perception
6 September 2007
As I mentioned previously, while making money isn't the purpose of business, it's a requirement of business. That means you'll want to have some kind of relationship with people who can afford your products or services. Even today, all these years after we escaped the establishment in the 60s, people with money to spend tend to live in certain socioeconomic classes, and tend to have certain socioeconomic perceptions.
Here's why that affects many entrepreneurs: you don't get to choose how others perceive you.
You may see yourself as a free spirit, an artiste, an outside-the-box-thinking non-establishment entrepreneur unfettered by the clock and calendar. But if the people with money see you as a punk, a hippy, or a beatnik (depending on their own age and the radical youth movement in vogue at the time) who doesn't firmly respect the prospect's schedule, or doesn't see the value of punctuality, you don't get to adjust their perception using your intelligence, business sense, or artistry. Because you won't get to talk to them at all.
Be what your prospects and suspects expect, or they'll choose not to do business with you.