How to Avoid a Knife in the Back

Acquiring, building, and maintaining solid relationships with clients and customers is arguably the first priority of a sales professional’s job. After all, without those relationships, there is no job. So we go into the office and set our minds to the task of keeping those relationships in tip-top shape. We might hear a coworker who always seems so pleasant and agreeable say something that sounds a bit strange, but don’t think twice about it.
We witness little things with our other coworkers too—like a look, a roll of the eyes, a gesture behind someone’s back, or one coworker whispering to another coworker—but don’t think much about it until we find ourselves smack-dab in the middle of a workplace drama we did not see coming.
Building relationships with coworkers is not like building a relationship with a client or customer. To varying degrees, we have a choice about who we want our sales clients to be. We rarely have a choice about our coworkers. And while it might not be fair to say that we should always be aware of what our coworkers are up to, it would be naive to believe that their actions in the workplace are designed to build anyone’s career other than their own.
If you don’t want to inadvertently get caught up in office drama—or worse, be the source of it—use some of the same strategies you’d use when you’re getting to know a client better. In the workplace, that means paying attention to the clues your coworkers are giving you.

For example:

Gossip - A coworker might ask you a question about yourself, or someone else in the office, that seems innocent enough to answer. BUT, what will they do with your answer? Will it come back to bite you on the #%&? Stick to the facts, and take care with the jokes or information you might be tempted to share about others.

Superficial Sincerity - People in the workplace can become very good at hiding their insecurities behind a facade of sincerity. It would be nice if all of our coworkers felt confident, comfortable and secure in their jobs. BUT they don’t. Don’t expect a coworker to jump on the sword perched in the middle of the room even if it does have their name on it.

Trust – This is one of the most important aspects of any relationship, BUT it’s hard to build trust in an environment of casual “work” relationships. This doesn’t mean you shouldn’t trust the people you work with. It just means that if you witness a coworker doing or saying something behind someone else’s back, chances are extremely good they’ll do the same behind your back too.

None of this is a suggestion to look for trouble where there isn’t any. It’s just a reminder that the same ability you use to build relationships with your clients can be used to help you safely navigate through office politics with your coworkers. All either situation requires is your attention.

Alan Luoma: I am a Sales Coach with extensive experience in industrial sales, sales management, new

product development, sales and product training. I work part time with a great national sustainable packaging company and their exceptional distributors to increase sales. My success has been and is in utilizing the Pareto 80/20 principal in business and life. I have become an expert in seeking out and eliminating behaviors that prevent business people from being successful. I am a member of The National Speakers Association and New England Speakers Association. You can view my profile on LinkedIn, or contact me at Luoma@snet.net 

Top 4 Reasons Why You Don’t Need a Website (part 2 of 3)

Last month I shared with you how one can lose valuable time and money when they believe they need a website; and what they can do, along with questions to ask themselves, to help them along their decision making process.

This month I’d like to share with you four reasons why you don’t need a website.

1.   There are other ways to be visible online
Please don’t fret over not having a website. There are plenty of other ways to get your message out to the public, and for prospective clients to reach you, learn about you, and ultimately use, and pay for your services.

It can be as simple as what we are all doing here on the HSSN blog! Being a contributor in already established blogs or online communities is huge in terms of being able to reach the specific audience you want to work with, connecting with them on a human, relationship building level, and still have the opportunity to offer snippets of the wisdom (or promotions!) you have to share…and all you need is an email address, or phone number for them to reach you.

The same approach can be used with podcasting, video-casting, or with creative inter-twined social media campaigns. No website needed.

2.   You want repeat clients, and lots of them!
People buy primarily due to an emotion (to get rid of or obtain one) or because they truly feel you “get them” and they relate / connect with you. Notice I said connect with you…not connect with your website. A website does not replace you; it simply cannot; repeat clients know this. Why? Because repeat clients relate / connect with humans not websites and therefore they do not care if you have a website, or not; if they like what you are offering and a relationship is there, they will continue utilizing your services. No website needed.

3.   Hard to believe, but not everyone is online…
I know; I know this is a challenging one to take in without complete disbelief and lots of head shaking. I talk to lots and lots of people; by looking at many of them one could “expect” that they are familiar and comfortable with being online (and will easily find your website). When in reality it is the most challenging and frustrating activity one could ask them to do. Not to single out any one group of people, but I’m not talking about 80+ year olds. These people are much younger and are a big population of buyers. They would rather be introduced, by a trusted friend or family member (i.e. a referral) to a service, or are more comfortable with receiving an old-fashion printed piece via mail or to be picked-up at an event they are attending. If by chance ones target audience even partially includes this group of people, and a website is the primary marketing focus, and if the lack of online comfort-ability is not taken into consideration; the business owner could be scratching their head wondering what is not working.

This is when inter-connecting other non-website online tactics with off-line ones will assist in reaching potential clients. For example: the topic for a blog article or podcast or video you created for an online community is sure to have key points and solutions that your non-online prospective clients would want to learn about. Produce a rack card, postcard or other creative piece with the key points and solutions stated in the article and leave them with other businesses, that are not in the same industry as you, but that touch the same type of client you wish to serve. Your message will reach these non-techy people in a manner that feels safe for them and in an environment where they are open to hearing and receiving your message. Without realizing it these prospective clients will thank you (mentally) for thinking of them in this way; which is the start of the human, relationship building connection that guides the purchasing decision. No website needed.

4.   Create more human connections
Instead of having your own website to create, maintain, promote and wait for visitors to find and (hopefully) inquire and purchase…why not determine a few diversified key places / topics your ideal clients are interested in. Reach out to established businesses in those places (of course it is best if you believe in their practices and mission), create relationships with them (again with the human, relationship building!) and design an arrangement where your product or service is delivered as an added benefit for them to showcase on their website for their clients. This approach allows you to reach your target audience on many levels, from angles they never expected (such as; where they like to eat, favorite leisure activity, personal or business goals), and most likely on an already trusted website. This really can be done off-line too (like in my example in number 3 above), and you can tailor your message specifically to each website you are a guest on – which is super helpful when trying to reaching your ideal client and getting the “Yes!” you are after. The website-guest-vertising has, you, the business owner, reaching ideal clients where they already are, not waiting and hoping they find you were you are. Best of all – you guessed it – No website needed.

Each of the above points can be expanded on in a few different ways; maybe another day in another article. For now, my message is that a website is not the all of marketing, it is not even a piece of marketing a website is more like a small sliver of the marketing pie. One can and will do just fine in business without a website, as long as other approaches are being taken in its place; but also note that having a website does not mean business success either. Either way you look at it one does not mean the other is true… a website does not mean a successful business just as not having a website does not means a failing business.

A business is built on value – giving value to others. Humans give value. No website needed.

In the next article, of this three part series, I will share with you the: The Only 4 pages Your Website Needs (if you choose to have a website, that is).

Until then, happy marketing!

Chana Monahan

Greenhouse Graphics, llc. Where Ideas Grow

860-379-2974

grow@greenhousegraphicsllc.com

www.greenhousegraphicsllc.com