Instantaneous: occurring with no delay; “relief was instantaneous”; “instant gratification”

It is sooo tempting to want instant. Instant success, instant love, instant cash flow, instant sales, instant weight loss…basically, instant results. It’s human I suppose. We feel pain and then want something – anything – to give us instant relief.

Instant is a myth, except perhaps in just one thing. We can instantly decide to change ourselves, our thinking, or our approach if things are not working the way we want them too.

But instant sells.

The problem with wanting – and naively expecting instant – is that it can only lead to more frustration. I don’t know about you, but I have never found that anything actually worth achieving just sort of happened…uh, instantaneously. Though using the word might make for an enticing marketing promotion or book title, the truth is that anyone trying to sell you instant anything is only perpetuating a lie.

Using social media and social networking to boost your sales efforts is no different. You can absolutely “speed up” your success, but it does not happen in an instant. You must determine your purpose, shape your brand, help others, participate often, be persistent, cultivate a following, invest in delivering value to others and be patient. There are no over night successes here. But it will happen IF you decide to…

• Stop going for cheap. Your success requires an investment in time & money to learn from people with proven experience.
• Make time every day - YES, every day! – to participate in the online space…this is part of your sales process NOT an add on!
• Forget the notion of “instant”. Sweat equity is required if you want to create a strong brand presence on AND offline that leads to sales.
• Reset your expectations. I’ve been in sales 30 years and using technology for almost as many…do you really think sitting through a 1/2 day social media class gets you to my level in an instant? It takes time!
• Do your darn homework. If someone says, “I can teach you to get 200 Twitter followers daily.” – you must make sure they are doing it for themselves. It might be important to know if they use the system and tweet themselves. Duh.
• Slow down. Stop being desperate. Be in it for the long term. Think about the message you want to communicate to potential buyers (or employers) who have not met you yet. Craft compelling profiles. Share valuable information. Get help if you need it!

Finally, give up on instant! Decide what you want, believe you can have it, take the massive action required to get there, and you will achieve results! But sorry…it will not happen in an instant.

Twitter as a twool (as cool tech dude, Guy Kawasaki called it) has so much potential. So much more than the average – I’m just getting started with social media types or social media naysayers – realize. More than just a never ending stream of “hey, I’m headed to Starbucks for my daily dose of caffeine” type messages, Twitter gives its community of users the ability to network, share information, recommend others and search out content that is relevant to them.

I had the opportunity to demonstrate Twitter’s power in an “off the cuff” sort of way during a business meeting yesterday…at Brio in Buckhead. Yes, I know it’s crazy, but I do eat lunch. So we were talking about Twitter and I simply asked…what executive level are you trying to reach in corporations to talk with about your services? Sales VP was the answer. Without any real thought or tweaking, I whipped open Twitteriffic on my iPhone and simply typed Sales VP Atlanta. And wouldn’t you know that a major corporation in Atlanta had just placed a hiring notice for that exact position within their company. You’re saying to yourself, Barb is that really so interesting? You bet. It just so happened that this particular company is EXACTLY who my lunch guest had been trying to penetrate to not only discuss services, but because she works for a major placement firm, she knew that several of her clients fit the bill for the position. She was stunned! It didn’t occur to her to use Twitter as an alternative mechanism to traditional job boards.

The story I just shared is why I love Twitter. It is more than dribble about where people are eating breakfast. There is power and potential beyond what many people realize.

Now for the story of why I don’t like Twitter! Or maybe I should say that it is the users without a clue who leave a bad taste in my mouth.

I wasn’t with Twitter from the beginning, but I’m told by those in the know that it used to be totally about building relationships. There was a genuineness about wanting to get to know the people who wanted to follow you.

By the time I came on the scene, there was definitely a divide between the camp of people (like me) who think you use the tool to build visibility, credibility and relationships without spamming the network and those people who think there is nothing wrong with spitting out one tweet after another that is merely a sleazy sales pitch.

And now we have the abusive use of the direct message feature aka DM. It is used to SPAM people who have decided to follow what you have to say. It works like this…I decide to follow Johnny, because he seems sort of cool and his tweets are interesting. Minutes after I click the “follow” button, I receive in my Twitter inbox a direct message that is “automated” and says something like…”hey, thanks for the follow…check out or buy or sign up for my whatever…” It is all about what they have to sell without any thought as to whether I’m their buyer or not. Slinging hash on the wall basically.

Look at the picture I’ve included with my post…these are some of the messages sitting in my inbox right now. First it is…”now follow me on Facebook”. Then it’s “cool affiliate program”. Next comes “wanna make some moola?” And my personal favorite, “I just added you to my Mafia family, you should join.” Sure, I’ll get right on that.

Do you really think any of these people care about getting to know Barb? No way. I cannot stand this practice so much that the 35 people who’ve done it to me recently are now being booted from my network.

Sales people (and anyone who sells a product or service) take note. This is NOT what buyers want. In fact, they are tired of being inundated with this sort of garbage. It is what gives social media sites like Twitter a bad name. Some of us truly do want to create value and develop relationships that ultimately lead to sales. In my opinion, these DM tactics are used by people either ignorant about the impression they are creating about themselves, or they are so desperate to make a sale that they don’t care.

I’m curious, what do you think?

www.youtube.com/watch?v=zqgvcwvgXLs

I have the pleasure of being a guest blogger over at the Consultative Sales and Sales Management Professionals of Canada site. What a classically great example of the power of social networking through communities like LinkedIn. Marshall Northcott (editor) and I connected over LinkedIn. He liked my comments in groups and my blog posts and he invited me to join his team of guest bloggers. It may have taken me all of 5-seconds to say yes:). As a long time sales professional, Marshall has great insights about selling, but today he posted something just a little bit different. This one is all about what you are probably doing wrong if that job is still eluding you! The principles apply to closing deals by the way, so READ THE POST and leave a comment if you are so inclined. If you like…please pass on the love by ReTweeting!

Me too. Haven’t you noticed how many so-called social media experts have come on the scene? People figured out quickly that social media is the buzz, so they figured they could jump on the gravy train and make a quick fortune. It’s easy to spot the wannabes though. Here are few clues:

1. They don’t blog or if they have a blog there isn’t much on it.

2. They have like 25 connections on LinkedIn and think that’s a big network.

3. They started using social media about 6 months ago, if that.

4. They think that email marketing is the same as social networking.

5. They are not getting business using social networking approaches now matter how much they trash talk about their expertise.

6. They can’t tell you the core differences between Twitter, Plaxo, Facebook, LinkedIn or StumbleUpon.

7. Their website has no social media presence at all.

What does this all have to do with sales?

I’ve noticed during the last two years how many coaches and consultants are now claiming to be sales experts with this or that program to help you achieve success. Talk is cheap so the saying goes. I’m about results. You can’t fake experience and a demonstrable history of success. People often get into sales training or sales coaching, because they smell easy money when they have little or no experience as a professional sales person themselves.

Case in point…

A few years ago, I met a woman at a networking event who said she was a sales coach. I said, wow – that’s interesting. Tell me about your sales background. You know the punch line, right? She had no experience. Zip, none, nada! But she thought that she could coach sales people anyway. There is no hard and fast rule that says you MUST have business experience in the area where you intend to offer your coaching service, but it certainly does help. And if you are going to coach or train sales people then you darn well better know what it’s like to walk in their shoes.

Sales (I believe) is a little different from other organizational functions. If you’ve never sold professionally, you will have a hard time truly understanding the challenges that sales people face. You won’t be able to fully know the motivation that is required to sell day in and day out. There is no way that you can feel the stress of being pressured by leaders on high to get the deal…now.

Oh boy, here it comes. I can hear all those wonderfully trained coaches out there just itching to challenge me on this point…please don’t bother! I’ve sold close to a billion dollars in products and services through the years, so I have a little bit of background in this area. And, no, I’m not an expert. I just have actual experience selling. If your paycheck has never depended on achieving a sales quota every month – you don’t know what it is like, and I don’t care how many powerful questions you ask…you don’t know! Moreover, sales professionals will not take you seriously anyway.

What’s my point? If you plan to call yourself an expert or offer sales coaching as a service, you darn sure better have the goods to back it up!

So much of sales is about how you present yourself. I suppose you could say that’s true of most anything we do in life. Having sold professionally my entire career and managed large sales teams to boot, I can tell you that nothing will blow the sale more quickly than the inability to present yourself well. A strong presentation presence counts whether the audience is a few people sitting around the meeting table or a room filled with 1000.

Today’s post is from guest blogger, Joan C. Curtis, EdD. A popular author, Joan’s recent book Managing Sticky Situations at Work was just released. And…I have the pleasure of co-authoring an upcoming book with Joan called The New Handshake: Sales 2.0. Working with such an experienced writer is great fun for this newbie. I know you will enjoy what she shares as much as I did!

Please…stop UMing me to death!

Want to know what ruins a presentation quicker than spilling wine on the host’s shirt? As soon as you say, um. . . or ah. . . or one too many basically’s, your credibility goes down the drain.

I recently noted an entire book on the misuse of fillers in public speaking. Can you imagine that? Someone actually filled up 320 pages talking about um’s and ah’s and other verbal stumbles. Check it out: Ums: Slips, Stumbles and Verbal Blunders and What They Mean by Michael Erard.

Yes, even the most famous among us have struggled at one time or another with those pesky filler words. At first we may not have noticed them. At first we thought we were as good a speaker as the next guy. Suddenly, however, someone pointed out our frequent, um or ah or basically. It doesn’t matter what the filler is, it’s still a word that fills up an empty space in our communication. For some reason our conscious minds do not hear those fillers. It takes someone pointing them out for the fillers to become loud, annoying interruptions.

Once a politician attended one of my public speaking classes. She was a city commissioner in a moderately-sized community. Her error was not just an um but a rather long sounding ummmmm. The um filled up the entire silent spot. Being completely unaware of this annoying habit, she spoke openly and frequently. Others cringed each time she approached the podium. During my class under the eye of a video camera, this woman finally heard herself. The expression of shock on her face told it all. Who is that speaking, she wondered? Clearly she’d never utter another um as long as she lived. The good news is she went on to a very successful political career as mayor of that city. I heard her deliver powerful presentations. Never again did she um us to death.

What are these fillers? The answer is simple. Fillers fill the silence between our thoughts. If you have to think a lot, the fillers increase. In other words, if you did not prepare for your presentation or if you are speaking extemporaneously, you will utter more than your usual quota of um’s. The more you prepare, the less your chances for um’s. Professional speakers and actors study their lines and practice them. That study and practice enable them to eliminate and eradicate the fillers. Have you ever heard an actor use a filler word, even in conversation, while acting? I bet you won’t hear a single one. The people writing the lines know that most of us prefer not to hear um’s and ah’s and like’s and you know’s. If, however, you listen to any actor interviewed by Letterman or Jay Leno or Oprah, you’ll hear plenty of um’s and ah’s. Without the writers and left to their own devices, even the most skillful actors falter and stumble. It’s amazing!

Here are some tips to rid yourself of the fillers once and for all.

• Hear them. This may sound simple. But, if you don’t believe you speak with um’s and ah’s and other such fillers, you will never correct yourself. Just like my mayor, she had to hear it first.

• Tape your end of telephone conversations or your end of teleclass presentations. Listen to yourself. Count the number of fillers you use. Next time concentrate on using fewer. Before long, they will disappear.

• Practice out loud your formal presentations. If you speak for a living or it’s part of your job (You are a CEO or a president or director of some organization), practice what you are going to say. If you can, audio tape your presentation and listen to it. Practice will make perfect.

• Plan and prepare. The better prepared you are, the less chance you have for filling in your thoughts with fillers. In fact, overuse of fillers tip off your listeners that you have not prepared.

• Relish and enjoy silence. If you use silence effectively, you will not fill up those golden silent moments with fillers. For some reason as speakers we hate those silent moments. Actors know the value of a strategic pause– That moment when everything seems to stand still. You can destroy that moment instantly with the simple utterance of, ah. Remember, as you speak, you make important points. People think about those points. While thinking, their minds are busy. You interrupt that precious thought when you toss in a filler. Relish and enjoy the silence.

Want to learn more???

To learn more about how to make powerful presentations, go to Joan’s website. She created a group of short MP3′s that you can download. Learn what it takes to become a powerful speaker! It may be the best $29 investment you’ll ever make in your career. Don’t let the um’s have it. Get rid of those pesky fillers!

The effective use of social media to increase sales has tremendous potential for companies of all sizes, but notice that I started by saying “effective use”. Many executives fear letting their sales people use social media, because they have concerns that nothing will get done. And they will be right, if the approach isn’t well thought out, there aren’t guidelines in place for what’s OK and what isn’t, training isn’t provided, use isn’t monitored and there is no tracking mechanism to measure results. Venturing down the social media sales path requires these 5 things: purpose, plan, participation, persistence and patience.

Purpose - if you don’t know what you want to accomplish using online tools, you might as well stop right now. You will only flounder around. One of Covey’s 7 Habits of Highly Effective People is “begin with the end in mind”. That’s what you need to do when you start thinking about how to best integrate the use of social media/social networking into your sales activities. What do you want to achieve? What is the message you want to communicate? How will you represent your brand? Questions like these and more must be answered.

Plan - this is a topic covered in books and articles by writers more skilled than me, but bottom line – no plan is like deciding to drive from Atlanta to California with no map. You may eventually get there, but you are certain to waste time and get lost along the way. You need to chart a well thought out course and then follow it.

Participation - I hate to break the bad news to anyone naive enough to think that popping up a LinkedIn profile today results in an immediate sale. It doesn’t! The art of the sale has always been about building a relationship with someone who gets to know you and trust you..over time. When you actively participate in social communities by contributing to the conversation, you gain visibility and help people get to know you. For me, it’s a daily practice of weighing in on questions posed in LinkedIn groups, sharing information on Twitter, commenting on blogs or writing my own articles. The more active you are – the more you begin to stand out.

Persistance - in short, it is all about follow up, follow up, follow up. Over on the Hubspot Marketing Blog, Pete Caputa talked about the phenomenon of people attending networking events, collecting a lot of business cards and then doing nothing with them. The same is true of the online world. When you make connections on LinkedIn, as an example, stay in touch with people. Drop them notes, tell them about a question they may want to weigh in on because it fits their experience, make a connection for them, recommend their services to someone else. David Mason, author of Marketing Your Small Business for Big Profits, told me during a radio interview that it is all about persistence and consistency.

Patience - just because you have something to sell it doesn’t mean that your potential buyer is “ready” to buy. That’s what far too many people totally miss. You must be patient, but not invisible. That is why it is so important to participate often in appropriate online forums. I’ve also had people tell me that they thought sending a newsletter twice a month was too much of an intrusion on people. It isn’t if you provide information that is of value to your readers. Buyers are not buying on your sales cycle, so you have to be top of mind when they are ready to purchase what you offer. Everyone these days has a short attention span, so if you are not front and center in their minds – you lose. I have picked up speaking engagements, consulting opportunities, referrals and more, simply because I’m active online, I give to receive, and I am patient!

Lately, I feel like the Pied Piper of social media tooting my little netiquette horn as a reminder to offenders of what not to do online. Granted, it’s just my opinion, but heck, that’s why it’s my blog:). Given the discussions I’ve had with other colleagues, I am pretty sure I’m not the only one who asks “if you always plug yourself, what value are you really adding to the community discussion?”

I was prompted to ask the question after watching several people over the last few days add one LinkedIn status update after another that talked about how great they are. And lately, not a day goes by that I don’t receive some sort of network invitation that is a thinly disguised sales pitch that isn’t all that great anyway. What’s up with that?

Stop Pitching – Create Value!

If all you do is talk about you, you, you…no one will care and they will just tune you out. Frankly, that’s what gives sales a bad rap. It isn’t the profession though, it’s the people who can’t comprehend that it is the sharing of “relevant” information, making connections for others, touting the horns of your colleagues and adding value to the conversation is what ultimately benefits you.

Listen, I’m a business owner with products and services to sell, and I consult with companies about how to use social media effectively to augment their sales efforts. Obviously, I believe that social media tools like LinkedIn are a great way to increase visibility for what you have to offer. My point is that it is OK to mention your services, but that should not be the ONLY thing you talk about.

What about your brand?

This is all about perception – your brand. What message do you really think you are sending to prospective buyers when every post, group comment or newsletter you send out is all about you? I can’t think of a quicker way to turn people off. When it comes to sending LinkedIn invitations, please stop trying to sell me before you know a thing about me. Here is an example of an invitation I received over the weekend that illustrates what I’m saying. I’ve removed the names to protect the hapless.

On June 19, 2009 2:27 PM, XYZ Salespersonwrote:
——————–
I’d like to add you to my professional network on LinkedIn. I have worked with XYZ Colleague in the past & she recommended you to me as far as someone who would probably benefit from XYZ company’s industry intelligence. Please call me as soon as possible at …, so I can help you grow & be THE most consultative person you know!!

- Sales person

So let me get this right? You don’t know me from Eve, but you are sure that you can help me be THE most consultative person you know? Now I don’t know about you, but this is both rude and presumptuous. What does this person know about my consultative sales skills? I’m kinda wondering if she might want to get some training in this area herself, but that’s just me. This is exactly why people are annoyed by vendors and their arrogant, untrained sales people who assume that what they have to offer is just what everyone on the planet needs. Not to mention that this individual was lazy. What if she had done her homework and then crafted a message that told Barb what was in it for her? Then I would have been paying attention. The problem with these types of emails is that the opportunity to sell what you offer is probably blown. Forever.

I was feeling charitable, because it pains me to see sales people do such dumb things, so I responded with…

XYZ Salesperson,

I am not including you in my network and have already passed along my feedback to XYZ Colleague. Your email is offensive in that you know nothing about me, yet assume you can make me a better consultant. Why would I call you? You have provided no value to me as a business owner at all. You may have a great product, but your sales approach and netiquette may lose you more sales than you gain.

To this person’s credit, they got the message loud and clear and responded with an email that apologized for their thoughtless words and asked for another chance. I haven’t decided if another chance is warranted or not, because at this point the product better be awfully damn compelling and something that I cannot purchase elsewhere.

As for the guy in one of my LinkedIn groups who complained about the arrogance of someone who wasn’t interested in his product and then kept justifying to everyone why he and his company were so great, I have two words for you…dumb ass.

Funny the commentary I’ve seen recently in various places ridiculing Twitter, because there is no obvious revenue model, or people think it’s silly that anyone would care what “we’re doing right now”. Whatever.

Twitter isn’t necessarily a “flash in the pan” that will fade into obscurity. Will it be here next year used in the same way it is used today? I don’t know, but I also know that’s true of any technology. Technology will continue to evolve and change. What existed 5 years ago is not what we use today. I think people like to use the rationale that Twitter doesn’t make money; hence the “they won’t be around much longer” comments, because the truth is that they do not understand the true potential of Twitter yet.

As with any business tool – that includes social media – you must have a clearly defined purpose and plan for achieving your objectives. Though I first scratched my head and said “why would I care where someone is grabbing their next cup of coffee”, I now realize just how powerful the appropriate use of Twitter can be.

I use Twitter for 3 reasons:

1) Build my business knowledge.

I follow some very top notch people who I learn from, because they are willing to share relevant, interesting and valuable business information. Using TweetDeck, I can organize the information into groups, which lets me easily track the information that is most important to me. It’s less overwhelming, and I can find things more quickly.

2) Watch for trends in my particular field.

Let’s say that I want to check out a new product idea that I’m thinking about creating. I’ve learned through the years that just because I think it’s a great idea doesn’t necessarily mean that others will think so too. How do I know if people think it’s a great idea? They buy. Using search.twitter.com I can easily search out conversations and information based on keywords applicable to the product or service I’m thinking about creating. The results give me a snapshot of what topics are trending and who’s saying and doing what. That includes the competition.

3) Demonstrate my business capabilities.

To build my brand and credibility with potential buyers, I freely share information that I believe will be valuable to others. Not selling though. It is about using Twitter as a way to extend my business brand, create relationships with others and build a reputation for helping people solve their business problems.

The inevitable question is – am I securing clients and making money?

There is no doubt that we need to be thinking about the time ROI using social tools like Twitter. Tweeting aimlessly with no plan gets you nowhere. At the same time, it is still difficult to accurately asses exactly where the sales revenue comes from as a result of my social media usage. I’m reminded of Albert Einstein, who said, “Not everything that can be counted counts, and not everything that counts can be counted.”

For me, using tools like Twitter are as much a part of my sales and marketing plan, as attending local networking events. Do you really know exactly what networking activity will lead to that next sale? Of course not. You never know if the people you meet in person will actually buy from you, or if they will pass along your name to others. That’s not to say I don’t measure my efforts as much as I can. I absolutely do!

People buy from people that they know, like and trust. Using social media is a way to build relationships with people, engage in conversations with them that over time lead to sales. I know that invitations to speak at events, calls from journalists for interviews about social media, having others recommend me to their clients, all comes from my ability to use social media to support my business goals. How do I know? I constantly ask people how they found me, and I capture the answers to those questions.

Continued success with your sales efforts is always about having a repeatable process that when used consistently, gets you consistent results. I blend the use of technology with tried and true sales success strategies to achieve my sales goals.Twitter definitely has value, so I say that you don’t dismiss it just because you might not understand it yet:)

I’m still a newbie tweeter really. Though in the minds of some, I’m light years ahead of the pack. Is a few months in Twitterland the same as dog years? Might be.

Truth is, I only joined the Twitter fray a few months ago, and I’m the first to admit that I wasn’t hooked right away. In the beginning, like many I suppose, I wondered what all the hub bub was about. Quite frankly, I sort of scratched my head and said huh? I don’t get it. Why do I want to know what people are doing today. I suspect I’m like a lot of people who are being exposed to Twitter for the first time.

Technology – while cool – is really an enabler in that it helps you achieve some specific result. I think that’s exactly why some people scratch their head and wonder how in the world can Twitter be used as a business tool. Technology is only beneficial if it can help you accomplish a business purpose and plan. Don’t have either of those? Don’t bother with the technology then, because well…you’ll just waste a lot of precious time.

I want to build my network, share information, make connections for colleagues who have expertise that I don’t, and who are people that I admire a lot. Ultimately, I believe that value added approach will lead to growth in my own business. Soooo… in the beginning, I just didn’t see the business value of tweetin’ away aimlessly with short little messages about what I was doing right now. After taking some time to observe those people who clearly got it – like Gary Vaynerchuk – the benefits and the implications of using Twitter technology began to dawn on me.

I definitely get it!

But if you are still one of those people who thinks that Twitter doesn’t mean business then you need to read the story of Gary Vaynerchuck aka @garyvee on Twitter who just signed a seven-figure, 10-book deal with Harper Studio.

It’s a great story of someone who built a huge following (more than 145,000 people, including me!) tweeting information of value to others. Publishers have finally begun to “get it” – to understand – that having an internet platform and an army of built-in followers is a critical element to the publishing success of any new book endeavor.

While you might think that Gary’s win is the result of pure luck, perfect timing or some “get rich quick” scheme…the truth is that he’s worked darn hard to get where he’s at. He deserves this achievement, and I say, good for you, Gary!