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| About Keith Ferrazzi |
| Widely hailed as one of the world’s most “connected” people, Keith Ferrazzi is the author of Never Eat Alone, the international bestselling book about building relationships for success. Ferrazzi is also an acclaimed speaker and CEO of Ferrazzi Greenlight, a consulting and professional development firm that helps organizations drive growth through relationships. Earlier in his career, he was chief marketing officer at Deloitte Consulting and the youngest to be tapped for partner in the firm's history. Then, upon joining Starwood Hotels and Resorts, Ferrazzi was the youngest CMO in the Fortune 500. He also served as CEO of YaYa Media before founding Ferrazzi Greenlight. |
Recent Article:
Making Customers More Than Your Top "Priority"
- For more on Keith Ferrazzi visit www.ferrazzigreenlight.com
Recently, my firm was conducting training at a regional sales meeting of a big conglomerate. Our goal was to establish cross-divisional lead-sharing as a part of the company culture and to get everyone to understand how big of a win-win that practice can be.
We devoted a big chunk of the day to active and quite fruitful lead-sharing. First, we got everyone in the mood, thinking about the importance of generosity to their success so they would be primed to share their leads with each other. This was pretty easy, frankly. The group really got it.
Then we asked them to look into their own backyards, the people they already knew through personal or business connections. It's always best to start with your closest relationships, because after all, a referral is only as good as the strength of relationship you have with the referrer. When everyone began naming the groups of people they already knew who might be able to provide sales leads, all sorts of constituencies popped up: family, friends, classmates and faculty from back in business school or college, professional service providers, suppliers, and the list goes on.
Ten or 15 minutes passed before someone realized that in the group's blind spot still sat one vital constituency, perhaps the most important and also, sadly, perhaps the most often overlooked. Customers!
When we're trying to generate great sales leads, why don't we think of our current customers? We hear everyone say, "Our existing customers are our top priority." I think we should make our customers our top generators of sales leads, too!
Who is the most knowledgeable about the value of your products or services because they actually use your products and services? Your customers.
Who is the most aware of other organizations who have similar needs as your customers? That's right. Your customers.
Who is the most concerned for your business success? Your investors, of course, then your customers, because their lives are easier if you, one of their suppliers, stay in business.
So when you sell and deliver products or services -- in my company's case, it might be marketing consulting, corporate training or big conference seminars or facilitation -- you should be sure to do the following two things.
1. Ask for testimonials. (This is an easy win, and if you're already doing it, good job.) You will be amazed how many people will say, "Of course I'll provide a testimonial."
2. Ask for referrals. "Who do you know who might benefit from the work we do?" Furthermore, ask right when your customers buy from you. I think the point of sale is a really great time to ask because it's often one of the high points of the relationship (hopefully not the peak, but certainly a high point). At the point of sale, our customers are feeling confident, smart, happy, and excited about their buying decision and their investment and trust in us. If they weren't feeling that, they wouldn't have signed the dotted line.
Since the inception of my firm's program with the conglomerate's sales teams I mentioned above, our client has found more than $55 million of new closed work and has generated nearly $500 million of leads for its pipeline -- all resulting from the systematizing of internal referrals between the company's sales divisions. The client's sales teams' new collaboration has produced great success so far, but I think the success will be even greater if they start making their customers more than their top "priority."
We should make our customers our top referrers, too. All it takes is checking that silly blind spot every month or so and having the guts to ask.
Making Customers More Than Your Top Priority - To learn more about this author, visit Keith Ferrazzi's Website.
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Leanne Hoagland-SmithAre your sales where you want them to be? Will you be one of the few who achieves sales or business success or one of the many who have failed to change? Are you tired of being told you are like everyone else? Then you may find my first book on sales of interest. Be the Red Jacket in the Sea of Gray Suits, The Keys to Unlocking Sales available at Amazon or at http://www.processspecialist.com/red-jacket.htm. This book is a reflection of my no-nonsense approach to improving sales to overall business results. If you are truly committed to making sustainable changes, then I can help you secure a positive return on your investment because I focus on executable solutions not telling you the problems you already know you have. From training to corporate (group) coaching to executive one on one coaching, my approach is to assess, create awareness, build a goal driven action plan and then execute. The bottom line question is "Not do you or your employees know it, but do you or they want to do it?" Please call for a free strategy session at 219.759.5601. - Visit Leanne Hoagland-Smith's Website |
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Cheryl MatthynssensCheryl is a life skills coach, licensed Chemical Dependency Counselor and a 20 year entrepreneur. Cheryl's dedication to achieving a life of balance led to her expanding her teaching from the simple managing of life's daily challenges to adding financial well being as well. A direct marketer with DrinkACT, she is gaining ground in the online community with her concepts of making sure business owners, entreprenuers and employees have well rounded life styles. She opened up a small affiliate site - The Balance Guide- to help others find resources for mental and emotional well being. Visit Cheryl's blog to see more of the diversity beyond business she has began offering online at www.thebalanceguide.blogspot.com - Visit Cheryl Matthynssens's Website |
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David AchesonDavid Acheson is the founder of DCJA Consultancy. DCJA Consultancy is a management consultancy business specialising in B2B sales consultancy. They offer bespoke and packaged sales consultancy including Sales Optimisation Review, Interim Sales Management, Sales & Marketing Review, 1:1 Sales & Management Staff Analysis, Management Training, Solution Sales Training, Creation of New Pay Plan, KPI's, run Customer Feedback Campaigns, assist with Recruitment, Coaching, Appraisals and set up Strategic Marketing Campaigns. David spent his early career in accountancy and then moved into sales in 1982, working in Office Equipment, IT, Advertising, Training, Outsourcing and Consultancy. He has held many Senior Positions in SMBs and Global Organisations including Head of Sales Operations & Head of Business Development. His knowledge, skills and great experience of the Sales Industry has led to David making keynote speeches and running educational sessions to key businesses through organisations including The Chamber of Commerce and Business Link. - Visit David Acheson's Website |
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Linda RichardsonLinda Richardson is the Founder and Executive Chairwoman of Richardson, a global sales training and performance improvement company. As a recognized leader in the industry, she has won the coveted Stevie Award for Lifetime Achievement in Sales Excellence and she was identified by Training Industry, Inc. as one of the “Top 20 Most Influential Training Professionals.” Ms. Richardson is credited with the movement to Consultative Selling and is the author of ten books on selling and sales management, including Sales Coaching — Making the Great Leap from Sales Manager to Sales Coach, and Stop Telling, Start Selling. She teaches sales and management at the Wharton Graduate School of the University of Pennsylvania and the Wharton Executive Development Center. Linda is a frequent speaker at industry and client conferences, has been published extensively in industry and training journals, and has been featured in numerous publications, including The Wall Street Journal, Forbes, Nation’s Business, Selling Power, Success, and The Conference Board Magazine. Learn more about Richardson's sales training and performance improvement solutions at http://www.richardson.com web - Visit Linda Richardson's Website |
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Jay Kubassek(Jay's Full Bio: EvanCarmichael.com/jaykubassek) In five years, Canadian-born entrepreneur Jay Kubassek went from selling mufflers at a Midas franchise to revolutionizing Internet marketing with the 2004 launch of CarbonCopyPRO, a online marketing education company, now worth over $20 million with customers in over 160 countries.
As an independent film producer, his upstart film fund Aliquot Films is currently producing a films with Spike Lee and Abel Fererra (starring Ethan Hawke and Dennis Hopper.)
Jay's entrepreneurial spirit is irrepressible. He’s the owner of five companies, a professional speaker and trainer, international real estate developer/investor, extreme sport enthusiast and emerging philanthropist. Jay resides in NYC with his wife Jamie, son Milo and dog Cooper. Visit Jay's official website: www.JayKubassek.com - Visit Jay Kubassek's Website |
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