Maverick and Company

A few weeks ago I received an email invitation to a launch party for a BNI group.  BNI, Business Networking International, is a great organization with lots of chapters all over the world, and oodles of dedicated members who pass millions of referrals.  In general they do a great job of providing businesses and sales people with good training and a good set-up to build relationships with new referral sources.  In general, I am a fan. Specifically, the series of interactions I had with the person inviting me were a case study in how NOT to invite people to events you’d actually like them to attend.  Which brings us back to that first email. 

1. It was a generic email…which is NOT a problem.  It contained NO personal reference at ALL which IS a problem.  Primarily this is a problem because I had no idea who the person sending the email was.  I meet lots of people and maybe everyone else on her list knew her name immediately but I did not.
2. I received a second email about a week later. Good on the follow up, again bad because I didn’t want the email to begin with, had no idea who was sending it or how I might have met them and therefor the series of communications is now, technically, SPAM.
3. I write a very polite, very nice response letting the sending know I had been a member of a BNI chapter a few years ago and was not currently interested.  I also said I couldn’t remember how we had met and asked her to please remove me from her mailing list.  I added that I wished her great success with her new group. SHE NEVER RESPONDED. This was her big chance to actually communicate with me, build a relationship with me.  She could have apologized, asked questions, asked if there was anyone else I’d like to send, never explained how we knew each other…nothing.
4. Today, the coup de grace. I receive a phone call from a person who sounds like they’re two minutes away from falling asleep or comitting suicide who tells me she’s with a company that sent me an invitation to a BNI meeting.  She could not be LESS enthusiastic about talking to me or her group.  Worse than going thru the motions, she actually sounds like she’s so bored she’s in pain.  I politely inform her that I had received a couple of emails, one of which I’d responded to saying I was formerly a member and not interested in joining at this time.  She then says, “O.k. thanks,” AND HANGS UP. I know we’re all guilty of skipping a couple of steps in the interest of saving time but a couple of hints: 1. As email has become more and more widely USED, it has become more and more widely ABUSED which leads to less use.  A mass email used to have some pull, not anymore.  Any communication will go a LOT further if you can be specific, talk directly to me and at least fill in any missing information about how we know each other.  Adding a detail or two to a generic email means that yes, you sent a generic email but you also gave enough of a damn to tweak it for ME.  The least I can do is read it for you. I once watched an insurance salesman send out 500 personally signed Christmas cards, not a single one of which contained a personal message.  Better strategy, send out 50 with a personal note.  They’ll actually get read, you’ll actually forward those relationships and you’ll save at least one tree and and a bunch of stamps. 2. Respond to any response communication. It’s an opening you worked hard to create, make sure you USE it. 3. FOR THE LOVE OF GOD, at least be interested in your own invitation!  If you don’t care, why should I?  You don’t have to jump up and down like a cheerleader on speed, but you could at least be interested in talking to me, somewhat happy, excited about your own event, your life, your phone, the possibility of caffeine in your future.  Sound alive…please.

Invitations are powerful tools for building relationships.  Even if people don’t accept them, it’s a real reason to be in touch, to communicate their value to you, to be on the lookout for what might benefit them…all things that help solidify their connection to you. As with all powerful things however, you must use your power for good and not evil.  Used carelessly, a badly made invitation can do a lot of damage to your relationships and reputation. Invite well and prosper.

Remember, even though people may be spending more carefully, plenty of them are still SPENDING.  One of the best ways to make sure the people who SHOULD become your clients actually BECOME your clients is to get smarter about referrals. Most people think that if they do a good job and know enough people, they’ll get referrals.  But you know lots of great people that you may have NEVER given a referral to.  While I can’t teach you every secret about getting more referrals right here, I can let you in on one of the simplest, MOST EFFECTIVE secrets for REFERRAL RESULTS.

STORIES For a very long time human beings communicated and remembered information primarily through stories.  And even now with our books and directories and our Google, the number one way people transmit and REMEMBER information is through STORIES. This is important because if you want referrals, people will have to remember you and what you do.  STORIES can quickly and easily make you memorable, likable, and trustworthy.  Perhaps even more importantly, a good story can make it SUPER EASY to refer you.

A Quick Case Study: THE MORTGAGE GUY A mortgage guy I know once asked me to take a quick peak at his marketing materials.  I started by asking him to tell me what 3 things he’d want people to know and remember him for in the referral process.  He, like many of you, was trying to let customers know he had integrity.  Unfortunately, that word, by itself, doesn’t work very well.  When pushed, he gave me the perfect example of how he has integrity.  He told me the following story: “This couple came to me for a second mortgage.  I spent a couple of hours with them, looking at their entire financial picture.  In the end, it didn’t really make sense for them to take out a second mortgage and I told them so.” This STORY is brilliant.  He can tell his referral sources to talk about his integrity but in one simple, fast story he can make sure they know it.  More importantly, it’s an easy story for them to tell to potential referrals.  When you make it EASY for people to refer to you, you DRAMATICALLY increase the odds of them doing so.

BONUS ROUND: For those of you who want to go past being a rock star and become a referral ninja, look at some simple edits I taught him. “A few months ago one of my clients referred her sister to me. They were a really nice couple who wanted to take out a second mortgage.  I sat down with them and talked to them about their overall financial picture–that’s important to do because a house is most people’s single biggest financial investment.  I spent a couple of hours with them and ultimately recommended they NOT take out the second mortgage.  I showed them some other options that made more sense for them.  So I actually didn’t make any money working with them but I believe in looking out for people.  That’s the way my dad did it and I think it’s one of the reasons people do refer me.  They know I’ll do the right thing with their people.”

The reality is that both of these examples work just fine.  Remember, your goal here is to train people to refer you AND make it easy for them to do that.  So I added some specific elements.

1. Be specific where you can.  If Mary referred you, talk about Mary.  It humanizes you and adds credibility.  Obviously a mortgage broker has to protect confidentiality but he can talk about a sister.
2. If your story includes a referral, make sure you say so.  It helps train people to think of you as someone people REFER frequently.
3. Add an extra nugget.  The focus of this story is that this particular mortgage guy will give up a deal for himself if it’s the right thing to do for the client.  We added a couple of extra nuggets.  You don’t want to tell a 20 minute story.  Simple is important.  But a couple extra QUICK nuggets put some very important ideas into the story.  Our first one is that he spent time looking at their entire financial picture.  Lots of mortgage guys might not do that.  It’s something that is different about him.  Second, we added the piece about his dad.  It’s TRUE, it humanizes him and helps people know that he’s from the old school, a highly desirable quality, especially in this industry.
4. Reinforce why people refer you.  At the end, we wrap it all up and bottom line it for people.  He’s a good person to refer because he not only says he’ll take care of people, he does it–EVEN WHEN it means he’ll lose a deal. Odds are YOU will remember this story. You might even tell it to someone else.  You might even want to refer someone you know to this broker (Jeff Aronheim)

What stories are you giving your fan club about you?

The MAVERICK GUIDE to GETTING MORE REFERRALS is being pre-sold at a HUGE DISCOUNT right now.  It’ll be out on April 15th.  Order your copy today and start working  A LOT smarter.  Your network likes you and knows people who should work with you.  Do you know how to connect the dots so their REFERRALS become YOUR CLIENTS?  For more information and to pre-order visit www.maverickandcompany.com and go to the CLASSES & BOOKS tab–get ‘em while they’re hot.

O.k. kids, lets have some fun.  You’re great.  People love you.  You do good work.  So how come you’re not getting referrals?

The 3rd Party Problem:  Let’s say you have a client or contact who WANTS to send you referrals.  You’re the 1st Party, your client is the 2nd party and their connections represent the 3rd Party.  Between you and their connections is a giant wall that I call the 3rd Party Problem.  It’s a barrier made up of two basic problems that keep them from connecting you to that 3rd Party.

Problem #1: EVERYBODY = NOBODY  Unless you tell people SPECIFICALLY who your clients are, they have no way to differentiate between the people they should be talking to about you and EVERYBODY.  Therefore, they see a big pack but do NOT see your potential clients.

Problem #2: WHAT TO SAY  Provided your people, by luck or your brilliant referral cultivation strategy, have figured out WHO to talk to about you…they next have to figure out WHAT TO SAY.  They’ve got to come up with something clear and simple and compelling to make the connection between you and that 3rd party.  Considering that most people can’t do this for themselves, what are the odds your 2nd party people will figure out how to do it for YOU?

More specific solutions to come, for now, consider: How can I make it easier for my contacts to recognize WHO they should refer me to? What would I want them to say if they happened to know the perfect client for me? ULTIMATELY you getting referrals is your responsibility.  The more work you make them do, the less likely you are to get results and referrals.  They’ve got other stuff to take care of.  Make it easy for people to send you new business and you’ll be a lot more likely to get it.

Need some help developing your own REFERRAL STRATEGY?  This month’s (March 2009) SCREAMIN’ DEAL is a $50 First Hour.  Get your FIRST hour of help for ONLY $50!  Contact me at info@maverickandcompany.com regarding scheduling.

Many of you may be landing here because you saw my recent post to one of the more interesting conversations in the world of real estate online.  (To read the entire conversation, visit http://www.webinknow.com/2008/10/top-10-ideas-fo.html )

You’ll find some additional information on CLIENT ENGLISH, and other ideas in past blogs here.  Let me just add a few things… For years we’ve all been focused on SALES (directly reaching out to clients) and MARKETING (sending out “stuff” so that clients will reach out to us.)  A lot of the old paradigms are based on persuasion and manipluation…MAKING people buy thru elaborate techniques and sophisticated methodologies.  I am more and more convinced that the death of this old model of generating business is fast approaching.

While SALES and MARKETING won’t ever go away, it is DEFINITELY time to make them the servants of a new philosophy. After working with several hundred individual business owners and service providers, I am convinced that the smartest among us have stumbled upon a new model that we should all be working hard to understand and take advantage of.  While the language I’m about to present isn’t perfect, essentially I think the next 100 years will be less about SALES and MARKETING and more about STRATEGY and MESSAGING.

The world we sell our services in is profoundly different than when the techniques of SALES and MARKETING were developed.  Our clients are more savvy.  They have an unprecedented level of access to information.  It’s time to adapt to the world we now live in–and doing so will require more than a facebook page and a blog.

STRATEGY is about intelligently and creatively selecting from the myriad of ways we COULD connect with new business and picking the smartest methods for US and our CLIENTS.  It’s about giving up techniques to persuade and manipulate and focusing on making it easier for clients to buy, accelerating the natural processes that occur before they hire us.

MESSAGING is about learning to speak the language of our clients:  CLIENT ENGLISH.  Learning to think as they do, to understand and articulate back their problems and our solution in the language THEY are familiar with.  Learning to send out signals that they understand and are LOOKING FOR to tell them who to buy from, work with, etc. Social Media these days is seen as a magic formula for EVERYONE to get new clients, which is massively stupid.  As a tool, inside the context of a STRATEGIC plan, and one that helps you deliver smart MESSAGES, social medial is BRILLIANT.  As a magic formula, it’s a waste of webpages.

Look for more posts with more details in coming days.  You’re also welcome to agree or fight with me.  It’ll be a combination of conversations and ideas that eventually produces the best strategies for us all.  (We’re in the process of updating the site so please forgive the parts that aren’t pretty.)  Cheers to David Scott (www.WebInkNow.com) for his initial writing, Matt Gentire (Director of PR and Brand Communications at Century 21 Real Estate LLC) for inquiring in the first place and of course, Matt Dollinger (www.TheYouFactor.com) for his original thoughts to me and for not being smarter than the army of people who think a twitter account and a youtube video are magic formulas for generating clients.  (While this may be true for some, it’s mostly an impossibility for most people.)

I met with a new client today and had a chance to pull out this oldie but goodie. It’s a magic phrase that makes talking about yourself easier and makes you easier to remember.

Reason #1: People’s brains are busy trying to remember and organize billions of bits of information. Giving them 3 things means they’ll at least have a fighting chance at remembering one or two of them.  Don’t try to tell them EVERYTHING about yourself.  Just give them 3 points that actually matter.

Reason #2:  Saying “I’m so great blah blah blah” is generally frowned upon in polite society.  Saying “This is what people seem to like/appreciate/love about me” is different.  It’s giving the person you’re talking to insight into the opinion and approval of others.  It’s still about you being awesome, but the delivery isn’t snooty (Snooty, oh yeah, it’s a word.)

Reason #3:  When done correctly, this phrase will seem like magic because it’s a STRATEGIC MESSAGE, designed to highlight qualities MOST DESIRED by the type of people MOST LIKELY TO BECOME YOUR CLIENTS. That means it’s not a general, vague bunch of crap designed to appeal to everyone.  It’s a specific, strategic combination of information highlighting stuff about you that YOUR ideal clients care about. 

REAL LIFE EXAMPLE:  The real estate agent I met with today wanted to make her listing presentation more effective.  Her new presentation includes the following (shortened for convenience.) “There are 3 basic reasons people love having me list their house. 1.  I’ve SOLD 100% of the homes I’ve listed since 2005.  I will get your home SOLD. 2.  I get it and I’m easy to work with.  Most of the people I’ve worked with in your neighborhood weren’t necessarily selling because they WANTED to.  A lot of them had a death, divorce or new marriage.  I return calls right away and generally just make it as easy as it can be.  I know you’ve got other stuff going on. 3.  I may seem pretty laid back, but I’m a very strong negotiator.  Nobody messes with my kids or my clients.  Period.” In each of the examples, she is SHOWING her potential clients an important piece of her brand.  She doesn’t TELL them she’s compassionate, she SHOWS it by talking about having more important things going on and using examples of people in unfortunate situations.  When she talks about being a negotiator, she needs to SHOW that she’s strong, let herself get AND LOOK a little fierce. If you’re in a sales conversation, talking about yourself can sometimes feel a bit awkward.  Use this method to make it more natural, more memorable and more effective.

Need some extra help getting more clients?  One of the things people LOVE ABOUT ME is the SCREAMIN’ DEAL I run each month.  This month (March 2009), you can get your FIRST HOUR for $50 (a $200 savings).  (We don’t call it the SCREAMIN’ DEAL for no reason.)  So if you need some help with your strategies, figuring out what to say to YOUR potential clients or where to find them, get in touch.  alecia@maverickandcompany.com (Supplies are limited and restrictions apply–mainly, we don’t work with people who suck.)

When the economy gets tight (whether in your household or the world’s) people start getting nervous.  When they get nervous, they tend to rush the sales process. Remember, selling is a lot like baseball.  You can’t stand on home plate and score.  YOU HAVE TO RUN THE BASES.

Ever meet someone at a networking function who handed you their card and practically demanded not only your business but also your referrals?  They’re rushing it.  And you feel rushed. I know you feel pressure to make the sale, make money and make the mortgage payment.  But rushing it is a good way to loose it in sales.  Instead of trying to instantly convert people, focus on moving people around the bases (yes, it’s kind of like a pipeline but a more fun analogy.)

First base is meeting someone and recognizing a mutual interest in knowing more. FIRST BASE TIP:  Share stories when people ask what you do.  Tell them your title and then tell a quickie story about a great client you just helped.  This helps them understand what you do and puts a specific idea in their head about how you might be able to help without being pushy.

Second base is a specific conversation about needs and services. SECOND BASE TIP:  This doesn’t mean you’re actually talking about a sale.  It means you have some resources or knowledge they may find useful.  It could also mean they begin sharing a specific problem with you.  Details are swapped.  Again, DON’T RUSH IT.  Focus on moving to 3rd base.

Third base is a conversation about the possibility of doing business together. THIRD BASE TIP:  Not everyone who makes it to third will become a sale, NOR SHOULD THEY.  At third base, you’re thinking through the details and what it might look like to work together.  You’re talking about a real possibility.  Success at third base is about BOTH OF YOU doing the work to see if you’re a good professional fit.

HOME!!! is when the sale is made, but the “selling” work isn’t over. HOME BASE TIP:  Make sure your invoice process prepares your new client for how it will look to work with you.  Give them the guidelines for how to make the most of their investment.  This is the NATURAL selling process.  It’s what happens when it works.  it can happen very quickly but you can’t really score without running the bases.

NEED SOME HELP???  Remember, this month’s SCREAMIN’ DEAL is a $50 First Hour OR $90 for 90 ($90 for 90 minutes.)  If you’d like some coaching to get new clients, call or email me today alecia@maverickandcompany.com (offer expires April 1, 2009, restrictions apply)

You probably think you speak the same language as your clients.  You may have spent hundreds or thousands on pretty brochures or a snazzy website or on ads in the paper.  Yet you find yourself frustrated with lukewarm referrals and less than snazzy sales.  One possible culprit…YOU.

Don’t be too hard on yourself.  Many people make the mistake you may currently be making.  As we become experts in our profession, as we read more and learn more and study more, we become afflicted with THE CURSE OF KNOWLEDGE (muah ah ah ah.)

The Curse of Knowledge is explained brilliantly in the book “Made to Stick” by Chip & Dan Heath.  Essentially, it is the problem that occurs when you know a bit too much.  You view things with an expert’s eyes.  You’re able to see subtleties and distinctions that most people can’t.  You’re the interior designer who sees burnt ochre while the rest of us see a red wall.Worse, when you write emails, brochures and websites, when you talk at meetings, you probably make a second deadly mistake…you try to sound smart.  We all do it.  It’s the main reason I always try to get verbal testimonials that I can write out and send to clients for their approval.

Whenever people write things, whenever they speak in front of a group they want to impress, they tend to try to sound smart.  (This affliction is known as the Impulse to Impress.) Unfortunately, marketing is not about sounding smart.When you combine the Curse of Knowledge with the Impulse to Impress you get a particularly deadly combination.  You get blank looks and missed opportunities. You get good clients who walk away from the burnt ochre because they really just wanted a red wall.It can be very challenging to set aside the Curse of Knowledge and the Impulse to Impress but effective marketing requires it.  Think about your customers and the way they talk about their problems, your solution and you.  Then talk to them in the language they speak.  It’s not about dumbing down your message.  It’s about communicating effectively in the language THEY speak and understand best.  I call it Client English.  And providers who speak it are always more successful than people who sound smart but don’t really say anything.What’s your version of the “burnt ochre” mistake?  How can you translate your expertise into “red” for the people trying to hire you?