I sat down with one of these experts and we were talking about all the training that BNI members receive as well as the wealth of knowledge business people receive to through the internet, books, and speakers.  During this conversation he posed a question that he asks his members and it struck me as a blinding flash of the obvious.  He asked “Do you actually put the information you hear in action?”

How often do we hear some great ideas from people who are successful and we have the full intention to implement these ideas but we get back to our office and fall back into our daily routine and no changes occur?  It happens all the time.

Here are three things you can do to help put these great ideas into action.

1. Prioritize!

Many times we end up with a list of great ideas that we want to implement immediately so we can revolutionize our life or business but when we try to do it all at once we become overwhelmed and frustrated and end up making no changes.

After you read a great book or when you get home from a fantastic conference, go through your notes and make a list of the ideas that you believe will have the biggest impact.  Once you have the list, prioritize the list based on the impact each item will have and the ease to implement.  Sometime an item that is easier to implement but has a smaller impact is better to do first than an idea that has a huge impact but will be difficult to implement in a timely manner.

2. Get An Accountability Partner

If you are going to make a change, having an accountability partner can help keep you on the right path. Let someone you trust and who’s opinion you value know what you are doing and ask them to follow-up with you on occasion to make sure you are continuing to work on achieving your goal. Knowing that other people are expecting you to follow though can be a powerful motivator.

3. Don’t Give Up

Change doesn’t happen overnight.  It takes 21 days of doing something (in a row please not throughout the year) to create a habit that you maintain.  Results may not show right away but if you continue to apply the idea you will see the changes happen. Add the idea you are implementing to your to-do list so you get reminded regularly put into action the great idea you want to use, this well help you form the positive habit you are looking to create.

We are bombarded with ideas on a daily basis but few are ever put into action.  Choose wisely and focus on making one change at a time and you will start seeing your business change for the better.

Our business networking should work in the same manner.  Quality networking should provide quality business.  That business then should provide new quality networking.  Unfortunately, that is now how it works for many business people.

As business people we put in countless hours attending networking groups, chamber events, professional organization meetings and conferences, church events, and a myriad of other social events where we network to build relationships in the hopes of being introduced to our next biggest client.  And when we get that client we are really excited that all our hard work paid off.  So what do we do?  We do what worked before keep attending all the meetings to find another new client.

But what about the new client we just got?  Many times that new customer stays in the realm of customer instead of being integrated into our already successful referral network.   Many times we assume that if we provide high quality service to our new client they will naturally send referrals to us.  But we forget that we trained our referral partners how to refer to us, so we really need to train our clients to refer to us as well.

Here are three things you can do to get your clients referring to you.

1. Take Them to Lunch

Now when you do this you need to make sure that you don’t use this opportunity for face time to try to up sell them or talk about their account.  This meeting should be all about them and learning about their business and building a referral relationship, not a client vendor relationship.  Here are a couple great questions that you can ask.

“What is your Unique Selling Point? Sum up for me why people would come back to you for more. Savings? Service? Skills???”

“How can I help you find referrals?  What type of companies would be good for you to get an introduction to so you can share clients?”

Your new budding referral partner may not be sure how to answer these questions, specifically the one about who is a good introduction for them. The normal answer we hear is “Anyone is a great introduction!”  Coach them through the thought process so they understand what you are looking for.

2. Give Them Referrals

Remember, developing quality referral partners (in most cases) is all about helping them so that they will want to help to help you.  When you give referrals make sure they are quality referrals, people who have interest in your clients product or service and most importantly is expecting a call from them and looking forward to it.

3.  Invite Them

If you attend networking events or are a member of a networking group like BNI,  invite them to attend with you. Introduce them to your referral partners.  When you invite them don’t focus on trying to get them to join, focus instead on introducing them to potential referral partners for them and making it a profitable use of their time.

Building a referral relationship with your clients is a great way to build your business but is also a fantastic way to impact your client retention.  Clients are willing to pay for a product or service if it is providing value.  Client vendor relationships should not be all about taking it should be about giving and then benefiting from what that giving creates.

Successful networking is a never-ending cycle, are you helping that cycle continue?  Or are you stopping the cycle prematurely?

“When you’re curious, you find lots of interesting things to do.”

“All our dreams can come true, if we have the courage to pursue them.”

These are all quotes from Walt Disney, a man who presented a very public image that all things are possible if you can dream them and built a company around that idea.

The following link is a scan of a letter that sent by Walt Disney (the company) on June 7, 1938 to a young girl who wanted to be an animator.

http://halucine.soup.io/post/77328149/Rejection-letter-to-a-female-artist-from

The gist of the letter is “Women do not do any of the creative work in connection with preparing the cartoons for the screen, as that work is performed entirely by young men. For this reason girls are not considered for the training school.“

This is a bit of a mixed message…all of our dreams can come true, unless you are a girl.  Now granted, it was 1938 and the social dynamics of the United States were a bit, ok a lot, different then they are today and fortunately for Walt Disney, the world was without Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter or any number of celebrity news channels that this letter would have shown up on and been forwarded through.

But how many times have you seen something on someone’s Facebook page or their Twitter feed that made you look at the person differently?  It happens to all of us.  We all have a public life/persona and a private life/persona and mixing them can sometimes be detrimental to our professional lives.  And on social networking sites it is so very easy to forget that what you are about to post, which will be funny and completely appropriate for your close friends, will not be appropriate for your business relationships.

Here are three things that you should refrain from posting on your social networking profiles to help you keep your positive professional image.

1. Inappropriate pictures

While I’m sure you had fun tubing and drinking obscene amounts of alcohol last weekend, the picture of you in the tube giving the thumbs up sign with another tube next to you carrying a cooler filled with empty bear cans does not have the same impact on your clients as it does on your friends.  While your friends will look at it and have fond memories of you falling off your tube into the river, your clients will use that picture to begin forming an impression about your ability to competently support their account on a regular basis and that impression won’t be positive. Remember, on Facebook anyone can view your photos, even people you haven’t friended if you failed to set your access rights correctly.

2. Language Language Language

If some words can’t be said on radio or TV you really shouldn’t  use those words on your status posts.  Yes I agree that it is amazing the one particular word in that list can be used as every class of word in the English language but that doesn’t mean that everyone else wants to see it.  Remember that everyone has different sensibilities about what is appropriate language, the person you offend with your choice of words may be the person that can also refer you to your next largest client.

3. Personal Attacks

Social media is a tool used to build relationships not destroy relationships.  Posting that status about your opinion of  a particular candidate or group of people is your right under the constitution but it may have an adverse impact on your image to other people who look at your profile.  If you are going to voice an opinion, word it in a way that is not attacking the other person or group and when someone replies to your post (and they will) don’t get defensive and reply in kind.  Intelligent discussion will help build your credibility with those that disagree with you, insults will not.

Keeping a professional image professional is more challenging in today’s world of instant information flow.  But if you pay attention to what you are saying on your social networks and just as importantly you pay attention to what other people are saying about you on their social networks, anyone can keep their image intact…even a girl.

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So great…you got someone to your website but what are you going to do now?  Are they going to be window shoppers that look around your site without buying anything and never come back? Or are they going to continue to visit your site multiple times and eventually buy from you? Personally I want the ones that keep coming back and buy from me.

But what can you do to make sure they come back to your site ?  Here are three things to remember that will help people come back and start building an online relationship with you.

1. Content is King

If you have a static website and nothing ever changes, why would anyone ever want to come back? Content needs to be changing regularly and provide information that helps you build credibility with your potential clients. Previously, updating a website was a project in and of itself because it required a web designer to manipulate the code to add or move features.  Current content management systems, however,  allow website owners to make changes to their websites whenever they want without worrying about breaking the site or knowing how to write web code.

The type of  information on your site is also important.  Don’t just try to sell your product or service.  Don’t get me wrong, having quality marketing information on your website is very important, however internet users are much more savvy now and they can recognize if you are only looking for the sale. Include related information that your prospective clients will find interesting.  If you were custom drapery company for example you could have information on the newest and coolest fabrics and colors instead of just information on your design skills.

2. I know there is info here…some where

You may have the best information available on your site, but if the people that need it can’t find it easily they will go to a site where they can find it.  I visited a website the other day where I had to click on multiple links to find the information that I was looking for.  If it hadn’t been for the fact that it was the actual website I wanted to look at, I would have searched for an easier site to use.  It takes visitors to your website less than 30 seconds to decide if they want to continue looking around or go somewhere else.  Place links to the information they will be looking for on your home page and make those links easy to see so visitors to your website venture deeper into your site.

3. Ask

Even if you do all the above perfectly, it is still a lot to ask for them to come back on their own so you need to invite them back and give them a reason to revisit your site.  In the internet marketing world this is called permissive marketing.  The way it works is to provide something free to prospective clients, eg a guide to choosing the right web designer or a subscription to a free newsletter, in return for their name and contact info, specifically an email address.  You then have a new marketing list being developed that you can send information to on a regular basis (but not too regular) to help them get to know you and your company better. It is in these ongoing contacts that you invite them back to your site to read your newest blog or check out your newest product.

Websites can be effective marketing tools for your business but they need to be managed just like any marketing tool.  The saying “If you build it, they will come” doesn’t apply to the internet anymore.  Keeping your audience engaged will help you move your website from a cost center to a revenue center.

P.T. Barnum said, “All publicity is good publicity.”  While this may work well for a movie star or rock star, unfortunately it is not so good for the rest of us.   Tiger Woods had spent his career cultivating a public image of a spit polished, clean cut athlete.  With one story of indiscretion, that image was gone and so were most of his corporate sponsors.

Visibility + Credibility = Profitability.

Just being visible doesn’t mean you will be profitable.  You can be on all the social networking sites, spending thousands of dollars on site optimization for your website and showing up to all the best networking events,  but if you are not focusing on your credibility, you will never achieve profitability.

In the business world we need trust to build relationships that earn us new business and there are many things we can do to build that trust or ruin that trust.  So here is my Top 5 list of easy things you can do to build trust for your business.

1. Be on time!

Showing up late and calling ahead is unacceptable.  Showing up and late and NOT calling ahead is inexcusable.  Your customers and vendors are as busy as you are, showing up late lets people know that their time isn’t as important as yours is. Plan your day accordingly, don’t try to be a STAR sales rep, scheduling appointments in every corner of the city in one day so that you have to cross the city multiple times to get to them.  Give yourself plenty of time to get to the next meeting.

2. Be prepared and organized

As a business owner nothing is more annoying to me than when I meet with a sales person and it is apparent that they did not do their homework for the meeting.  Going to a meeting and not having an agenda of what you need to cover during the meeting sets you up for failure. You will miss the opportunity to get the key information to your client and delay moving to the next step of your sales process.

Do your homework on the company. Arrive at the meeting with background information on the company so that you don’t have to spend your initial meeting doing fact finding. With the internet there is so much information available about companies, even from their own websites, that it is easy to get some background information on a prospective client.  If you do this you can ask more direct questions and acquire more useful information form the person you are meeting. You will also leave a favorable impression on the person you were meeting with when you don’t ask all the same basic question that they normally hear.

3. Use testimonials

There are many places that you can use testimonials that will help you build trust and credibility with your clients and prospective clients.  If you have an office, put together a brag book showcasing these testimonials for people that come to your office.  If you utilize social media, eg. LinkedIn or Plaxo, have people post their testimonials to your profile so other people can see them.  I was told by Sue Henry, a good friend and expert on social media, that you need to have at least a dozen good testimonials on your profile that highlight how you helped the poster for you to start getting business from social media.  If you don’t have testimonials from satisfied customers, ask them to provide you one.

4. Say “Thank You”

Saying thank you is one of the easiest things we can do as sales professionals and/or business owners to build our businesses, but it is one of the most overlooked.  When I started in the sales profession I was told that if I wanted to increase my sales by 14% all I had to do was tell my customers thank you when they placed an order with me.  People want to feel that they are appreciated and by telling our customers and referral partners thank you, we show them that we appreciate them for their business and that they are not just another commission check.  I like to use Send Out Cards to do my thank yous.  It is an easy and inexpensive way to send hand written cards to people that have helped me.

5. Follow Up

Follow up is key. Failure to do what you say you are going to do is the fastest way to ruin your credibility with the people that you are working with.  Not doing what you say you will by the time you say it will be done paints a picture of your ability to effectively support your clients.  Develop a system that works for you to keep track of your to do list so that you don’t damage your reputation.

Our reputation is the most important thing any of us will ever own.  It has an impact in all aspects of our life and will affect the quality of life we live and the quality of people we get to associate with. Don’t let yourself slip into the habit of being visible but not providing visible examples of your credibility.

Are you building a great reputation or are you just being visible?

When people look at the military, they see a very hierarchical structure with orders flowing from the top down.  But the interaction occurs more than just in one’s chain of command and it  happens in both directions.

On multiple occasions I watched as company commanders worked together to coordinate the use of a weapons range or the order for chow in the morning so that each company could get to their range on time.  I also watched as our Operations Officer or Ops Sergeant Major coordinated for more ammo with another unit.  This cross unit coordination was all possible because they had established relationships with their counterparts at different units.

I walked away from my two weeks with not only some great military training, but also being reminded of three simple things that will help anyone network more effectively.

1. Ask Questions.

I know that doesn’t sound very military like, but in reality when orders are issued it is always good to ask questions to make sure your understanding of the order matches the understanding of the order that the person giving it to you has.   The same holds true in networking.  If your contacts tells you something, ask a question to verify what you think you heard or to clarify what they said.

2. Be nice to the help.

Currently the defense department utilizes a large number of contractors to help provide services to the uniformed personnel.  Additionally unless you are a private there will be a large number of people who you out rank.  The same is true in the business world.  Companies outsource some services that they require to operate and there are multiple people at different levels of the corporate ladder in your company.

You never know what doors these individuals may hold the keys to.  That brand new Second Lieutenant may be in charge of a range or be the person that will get your need in front of the person that can help you.  The mail clerk at your office may end up your boss one day after he graduates with his MBA that the mail clerk job is helping pay for.  Sabotaging your relationships by being rude or disrespectful to someone who is perceived to be of a lower stature than yourself may come back to haunt you in the future.

3. Follow Up.

Following up is key to building trust with your network.  Hopefully we all understand the importance of following through on items that you said you would do, but follow-up actually works both ways and many times we forget that.  In the Army we use a phrase, “Trust but verify”, to describe that type of follow-up. If someone says they will do something, or if we ask them to do something for us, trust that they will do it but verify down the road that it was actually done.  If we think about it, how many of us have ever forgot to do something that we said we would do or that our boss told us to do? Probably most of us.  Help that person out by making a polite call to follow-up.

Networking happens everywhere not just at designated networking events.  Don’t miss an opportunity to build a quality relationship with someone just because you think it is not time to network.

What great relationships did you form because you networked when it might not have been expected?  Post your stories below.

As business people, we can fall prey to this behavior as well.  In the current state of business, we are required to wear many hats in our daily work life. Everything from sales to customer service to admin to human resources and in some cases counselor. We float from project to email to phone call to email and back to project and at the end of the day we look at what we have done and reflect on how busy we were. But how much did we accomplish? Probably not as much as we think we did.

Here are three easy things you can do to not yell “Squirrel!” during the day and be more productive.

1. Use a to do list.

To do lists take many forms.  One of my close friends, Tara Schmakel, author The Once Timid Networker blog, has taken lists to a level of mastery few have obtained.  By developing a list system that works for you, you can prioritize the activities you have to get done and focus on those that are most crucial. It is easy to do the things that we really enjoy and procrastinate on those items that need to be done but we do not especially enjoy.

2. You’ve got mail! Yaaay!

Email is easily the number one cause of “Squirrel! syndrome”. Every time we see the pop up message saying “You’ve got Mail!” we feel we need to take care of that mail immediately.  Stop! Put the mouse Down!  The bulk of the email you receive is not urgent.  Set an appointment with yourself everyday at the same time to check your email.  This allows you to focus the rest of your day on other tasks that you need to complete.

3.  The Watercooler

It is very easy to get pulled in to the chit chat around the water cooler (or coffee maker in my office) or get sidelined by the overly friendly and talkative office mate that feels the need to always come chat with you at your desk. Building relationships at the office is important, but not more important than key tasks that you are working on. If one of your coworkers comes to you for some friendly banter don’t let yourself feel like you need to talk to them right at that moment.  Politely let them know that you are in the middle of a project that you need to finish and that you would be happy to grab a cup of coffee at the coffee maker with them when you are finished. And then actually have that coffee with them.

Our everyday work environment is filled with multiple distractions that are competing for our attention.  Until you recognize what is taking away from your productivity you won’t be able to make changes to your daily routine to minimize their impact.

Small changes can make big differences.

As business people and networkers, it seems that we focus on what we need to say, how we say it and when we say it, but we don’t always think about the other skill that communication involves and that is listening.

Dr. Rachel Naomi Remen, a physician and best-selling author, said that no matter what your specialty or expertise, the people you work with may come to you with the same problems, but their stories are all different.   And that only by listening to those stories can you really help them.

I think that is a very profound statement and completely true. It is those differences, if we hear and understand them, that will allow us as professionals, no matter what our profession, to help our clients effectively.  One cure or one approach doesn’t work for everyone even if they are having the same problem.

But how do we effectively listen?  What can we do as people who truly want to help the people we work with to ensure that we are listening and that they know we are actively listening?

Frank DeRaffele talked about 5 techniques for effective listening in his Entrepreneurial Excellence Business Forum last week and I think these are very easy things that can be used in all our conversations to always get the most from them.

1. Talk Less Listen More

If you are doing all the talking, how will you be able to learn how you can help your conversation partner?

Ask them questions to get them talking about their job, where they live, their family, work and their recreational activities.  My favorite question is to pick a current world topic and ask them, “How does <insert current topic> affect your business?” You never know what topic will lead to information that will help you build a stronger relationship.

2. What Is Said, Not How It Is Said

Focus on the message not the emotion behind what they are saying. You need to have empathy for the person and their situation but you don’t want to get pulled into the emotional side of it.  Focus on the what they are saying and how you can help them

3. Keep the Speaker Interested

If the speaker feels that you are still actively listening to him, he will keep talking and continue to tell you what may end up being that one piece of information that you needed to hear.

One technique that can be used to accomplish this is to repeat the last word the speaker says.

“So the kids want to go on vacation to Disneyworld.”

“Disneyworld?”

“Yeah but it is a 10 hour drive.”

“10 hours.”

“Yeah but it is will be less expensive than flying.“

This will encourage the speaker to keep talking while you are listening and thinking about the next question you want to ask to dig deeper into his needs.

4. Ask For Clarification

If you are told something that you don’t understand, stop the conversation immediately and ask for more information.  This may sound rude but it isn’t.  It is more rude to let the person continue talking when you have no idea what he is talking about.  Not only are you wasting your time but you are wasting his.

5. Rephrase What the Speaker Has Said

Rephrasing allows you to make sure that you understood what you were being told but also lets the other person know that you were listening and that what he was saying was important to you.  Now you don’t want to do this after every statement the speaker makes, but definitely after key points.

Listening is a skill just like any other part of the communication process and if we don’t practice active listening, we will be missing out on all the important things people have to say.

If you meet someone and let them tell you about themselves and actually listen, the only risk you face is that they leave the conversation not remembering your name but thinking you are the nicest person they met.

The universe is calling again…time to go listen.

In normal conversation being called simple tends to be an insult. On the other hand, I have had conversations with many people who I swear are trying to make their life more complicated than it needs to be.  Personally, I think that  in business being simple can be a really good thing.

Last week I was working with a group of highly motivated business people who are trying to start a new BNI chapter in my area. They were frustrated about the number of visitors they were having in relationship to the effort they were exerting.  So I taught them a two-line script for inviting visitors to their meeting.

“I meet with a group of local business people and we are looking for a [Insert Profession] to give our business to. Would you like to meet my friends?”

Nothing fancy in that invitation at all. No references to the millions of dollars of closed business BNI members have done through referrals in the last year in MN. No mention of any of the features or benefits of membership in BNI. But after I told them what to say their mouths just dropped and their eyes lit up. All because it was a simple way to invite that got the job done.

How many times as business people and sales/marketing professionals do we try to tell our clients or referral partners EVERYTHING we know instead of focusing on the key information that they need to make a decision to do business with us? It’s really easy to just keep talking and talking and then completely talk yourself out of the sale.

Instead of trying to dazzle our clients with everything we know, we need to dazzle them with our ability to listen to them, express their pain and then relate what we do to their specific need.

When talking to clients, there are two things that should be shared:

1. How you can help.

All the coolest features and products in the world won’t get you a new client if those products can’t help them or more importantly, if the client doesn’t understand how they can help them.  Listen to what the client says and present your product in terms of what your customer tells you.

2. How this help will benefit them.

How you can help is great but if your client doesn’t understand what this help can mean to their success, you are still left looking for a new client.  Show them what impact this help will have on their business of quality of life.

Focusing on your clients needs and desired results instead of the features or services you provide will set you apart from the rest of your competition and set the stage for you to develop a profitable relationship with your new client.

No one wants to get a call from a salesperson that is always trying to sell, but no one minds getting a call from someone who is trying to help.

I am a member of multiple groups on multiple social media sites and on a great majority of them I find it very hard to find posts that aren’t trying to sell me something.  For example I am a member of a professional public speaking group and there was a post today by a real estate professional with a link that shows why you should buy a house now.   That post would have been great in a group that was focused on people buying homes or investing in homes. I joined the group to get info about how to build my public speaking business not to buy a house.

Social media is a very key part of business marketing and it is going to continue to grow as the world population shits from Baby Boomer to Gen X to Gen Y and then to Millenials.  If you think it is just a fad, you need to watch the Social Media Revolution 2 Video from Erik Qualman. Social media is here to stay, but how do you do it effectively so that it actually helps you build your brand instead of damaging your brand? Here are a 3 tips that you can use to build more credibility online.

1. Mix business with pleasure.

It is SOCIAL media after all.  You are integrating your social networks and your business networks when you use online social networking and your friends and family may want to hear more about your day to day activities, ie kids, vacations etc, and less about your work.  While your business network may want more work and less play.  So don’t do all business statuses or all personal statuses.  Sharing both types of information is key to building your online relationships. Finding out that your best client has the same hobby as you do opens new avenues for strengthening the relationship, whereas your friends learning what you do for work will open opportunities for referrals.

2. Contribute to key groups.

Join groups that give you access to referral sources or potential clients and then contribute to the success of the group.  Now when I say contribute I don’t mean post links to your products and services with reasons why people should buy from you.  Start threads that actually add value to group discussion.  For example if you a landscaper and you join a REALTOR group on a social media site and you find this great link that shows the ROI of different home improvement activities. That would be a great thing to post for the group members to look at as it provides benefit to them. If someone has a topic going and you find it interesting or have an opinion, share that thought but always do it in a way that will make people want to talk with you more.

3.  You are always doing a commercial.

Your contacts are always forming an impression of you based on what YOU do on your profile. Present yourself that way.  Use an appropriate avatar for your profiles, post appropriate pictures and videos, and my favorite, refrain from swearing in your status updates.  I actually unfriended two of my relatives on Facebook because of their colorful choices in language.  I don’t really want my clients reading that on my profile.

Networking through social media sites can be a fun and profitable activity if it is done right. But if it is done incorrectly it will create a lot of visibility for you but no credibility as a professional and it is that credibility that actually gernerates business for you from social media sites.

What is the most blatant sales post you have seen in the groups you are a member of? And how do those posts influence your view of the people posting them?