Credibility

A large part of Gratitude Marketing is the credibility of the business people involved in the partnerships that we form.

It does not matter if we send emails to our networking partners by doing it ourselves or if we use a service that sends them for us, there are some guidelines that we should keep in mind. It doesn’t matter if it is a newsletter that is emailed or a short message; it doesn’t matter if we are using our own list of recipients or a list that we purchased. We should use some common sense in our endeavors.

Understand that emails, while often free to send, can have expense attached to them. Did we buy a list of target recipients? Do we have a service which charges for emailing for us? If we do the work ourselves, how much is our time and effort worth to us. We could be using that time to personally contact new prospects or reconnect with former clients. There is always a cost of some type involved.

No matter the type of correspondence that we use, we should make sure that the results are worth more than we spend. We should also make sure that we gain good will and do not soil our reputation by the correspondence that we send. Do we present ourselves in the best light, or do we make others believe that we are not someone with whom they would like to do business or even trust? Do we just look stupid?

We should make sure all of our target market wants to receive our correspondence and that they have not opted out of our emails previously. We must check the spelling and grammar more than once before we send the information. We should have someone not involved with the content review the text for spelling, typo, and grammar errors. We also must have someone who understands the content review the details included.

Our correspondence helps us establish ourselves in our field of business. Our credibility will be damaged when we make basic mistakes in our correspondence. Even worse of an error is when we attempt to send information to someone who knows the subject better than we do. Don’t attempt to tell an expert in any field that you know more than they do when your field of expertise is something very different.

Of course these tips are pertinent for all types of correspondence and information sharing. It does not matter what the method, sharing is one of the best means of serving others. We can share on Facebook, LinkedIn, by email or newsletter, by books or other published means, by webinars or other seminar type offerings, or just personal contact. Whatever the method, we must make it professional and informative, but we must make sure of our target market and how we are perceived by them.

Whenever we provide information to others through any type of interface, we must be credible as well as informative. Without credibility, our message will not have the impact or impact that we wish, and we will have missed the opportunity to make a difference in someone’s life or to help someone else to succeed.

Make your correspondence informative, supportive, and helpful, but also make it credible in the eye of the recipient. Then, and only then, will it be received in the anticipated manner, and will be appreciated. Our Gratitude Marketing will be meaningful to all concerned if we follow a few guidelines and principles. Please leave me your comments here, or email me at Jim@SOC4Now.com, or call, or text, me at 360-314-8691.

The 5 Laws of Success

With thanks to Bob Burg and John David Mann, from their great book, The Go Giver.

1.    The Law of Value

a.    Your true worth is determined by how much more you give than you take in payment.

b.    All things being equal, people do business with, and refer business to, those people whom they know, like, and trust.

c.    Exceed people’s expectations, and they’ll pay you even more.

d.    All the great fortunes in the world have been created by men and women who have a greater passion for what they were giving – their product, service, or idea – than for what they were getting.

e.    Many of the great fortunes have been squandered by those who had a greater passion for what they were getting than what they were giving.

2.    The Law of Compensation

a.    Your income is determined by how many people you serve and how well you serve them; it is directly proportional to how many lives you touch and how you touch them.

b.    If you want more success, find a way to serve more people.

c.    There are no limitations on what you can earn, because you can always find more people to serve.

d.    Everyone can be great because anybody can serve (Martin Luther King), and everybody can give.

e.    Being broke and being rich are both decisions; everything else is just how it plays out.

f.      You can’t always get what you want; you get what you expect.

g.    What you focus on is what you get.

h.    Look for the best in people, and you’ll be amazed at how much you’ll find.

i.      Sometimes you may feel foolish, even look foolish, but do whatever you do for others anyway.

3.    The Law of Influence

a.    Your networking partners are people who are personally invested in seeing you succeed and are your army of personal walking ambassadors.

b.    Networking partnerships happen when you stop keeping score.

c.    If you place the other person’s interests first, your interests will always be taken care of; this is enlightened self-interest.

d.    Your influence is determined by how abundantly you place other people’s interests first.

e.    Find out what other people need, and you will get what you need.

f.      Givers are magnetized and therefore attract success.

4.    The Law of Authenticity

a.    A genuinely sound business principle applies anywhere in life; it does not just improve your financial balance sheet, but improves your life’s balance sheet.

b.    Whatever it is that you have to offer, you can excel by adding value.

c.    The most valuable gift you have to offer is yourself.

d.    No matter what you think you’re selling, what you’re really offering is you.

e.    If you want to develop people skills, be a person, an authentic person.

f.      People will do business with companies they don’t like, if they like the person with whom they are doing business.

5.    The Law of Receptivity

a.    The key to effective giving is to stay open to receiving.

b.    When someone gives you a gift, who gives you the right to refuse it, to deny them the right to give?

c.    Every giving can happen only because it is also a receiving.

d.    Having dreams and believing in those dreams is the same as being receptive; being open to receive completes the act of giving.

e.    Give, receive, repeat.

As always, I welcome your comments and questions. If you would like to meet and chat about any concept of Gratitude Marketing, please call, or text, me at 360-314-8691, or send me an email at Jim@SOC4Now.com with your thoughts. I always appreciate your support and interest.

Random Acts of Kindness & Referrals

I regularly attend networking events where there are anywhere from 10 – 100 attendees. I have met most of the regular attendees at these events and several of them for coffee chats outside the event. I have been privileged to receive several compliments from people with whom I have met as to my professionalism, my passion for networking and helping others, as well as my personable attitude, superb customer service, and Gratitude Marketing.

More than once recently, I was pleased to hear someone, in public, praise my drive for networking with others and for my business specifically. Do you have any idea how much these types of compliments make me feel? Some of these people are my customers, and some are not. Some of them are people of whom I am a customer, and some are not. It does not matter who compliments you, the fact that they do, and specifically publicly, is what matters.

Not only do you hear the compliment, and feel good as a result, but when others hear the public compliment, they will want to know more. The compliment establishes you as a person who is well known, maybe as an expert on a subject, or perhaps as someone with whom others want to identify.

Maybe compliments will bring you more business, or maybe they will only bring you more publicity. Either way, you will benefit. Either way, thank that person and try to return the compliment with another act of kindness, either for them or someone else. After all, karma is what we all practice, isn’t it?

As a believer in Gratitude Marketing, you should actively look for opportunities to pass compliments to others, especially so that other event attendees can hear them. If you believe that someone else has helped you, don’t wait for the facilitator of the event to ask for testimonials. Give them freely without prompting.

If you are not in a position to pass on a testimonial, but you appreciate someone else’s support, advice, or kindness, pass on a compliment. Give it directly to the person at the time you receive the assistance. In addition, pass on a testimonial, or compliment, in public, where others can hear your words and realize that the recipient of your words may be someone with whom they should be acquainted.

There is another result of passing compliments or testimonials in public. You, as the person who compliments others, will be come well known, and also known as someone who appreciates the efforts of others. Better yet, you become someone with whom others may want to be associated. Isn’t that one of the results of networking that we desire?

As always, I welcome your comments and questions. If you would like to meet and chat about any concept of Gratitude Marketing, please call, or text, me at 360-314-8691, or send me an email at Jim@SOC4Now.com with your thoughts. I always appreciate your support and interest.

Retention VS Acquisition

I once had a discussion with a business owner who told me that his main marketing objective was acquisition of new customers. He said that he had read every book, watched every DVD, listened to every CD, and participated in every webinar or seminar that he could find regarding selling his services to someone new.

This person prospected for new customers every way he could; he made hundreds of cold calls each day, sent out hundreds of emails, even sent mass mailings on a regular basis. He was a selling machine everywhere he went, and demanded that his employees do the same as he did. He tried to sell to new customers 24 hours per day.

I asked him how successful his business was, and he told me that he was struggling and was considering firing all the employees he still had (several had quit) and closing the business. When asked how he liked selling, he admitted that he hated everything about it. As to his personal life, he said that his wife was leaving him.

When I asked him how much he spent in time, effort, and money to acquire new customers, he said that he had no real idea, but that it was a lot. I also asked him how his new customers learned of his business, and he said that he didn’t track that information. Just like every expense, all businesses should know their marketing costs, including time, effort, and money. (Do not forget the time required.)

It costs roughly 10 times as much to acquire a new customer as it does to retain an existing client. This business owner admitted to me that he never contacted a customer after their initial order. He didn’t bother to thank them for their purchase, never thanked his customers for remaining customers over time (most didn’t), or never thanked any that referred any new customers to him because none did.

Everyone loves to be noticed, and everyone loves to be thanked. Happy, well noticed clients will refer new business and will remain loyal clients over time. While acquiring new customers is important, retaining existing ones is the life blood of all businesses. We business people must learn that retention of existing customers is better for our success in business than the acquisition of new customers.

Gratitude Marketing is a philosophy that will bring success to a business and allow those who practice that philosophy to lead more pleasant, enjoyable business and personal lives. Are you proud of your business and what you do in it? Maybe the time has come for you to try something new in how it operates. Reach out and thank a client today and see how it works. You might also try something similar with your employees.

While customer acquisition is a vital part of business growth, client retention is essential for it to persist and survive. In addition to the tangible results that allow a business to continue to succeed, it provides a means for us to grow and prosper personally. Please leave me your comments here, or call, or text, me at 360-314-8691, or email me at Jim@JimTeasley.com. Maybe we should have a chat about this soon.