LinkedIn is great for business – er, I mean SMART business.

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I am NOT a LinkedIn expert, but I do have more than 15,000 LinkedIn connections. Do you?

I may have more visibility and notoriety than you do, but we are equal in exposure and linking possibilities. And 98.5% of my LinkedIn connections are the result of people wanting to connect with me.

I do not accept everyone. I click on everyone’s profile before connection. Many are impressive. Most are average or less. Some are pathetic.

How’s yours? How many connections do you have? How are you communicating with your connections? How are your connections helping your sales or your career?

Your LinkedIn profile is one more social media image. And you choose exactly what it is. When others search for you on Google, LinkedIn is one of the first links they click on. You have a chance to make a positive business and social impression.

THE GOOD: When I realized the business significance of LinkedIn, I immediately sought professional help. I hired Joe Soto at One Social Media to help me with the keywords, layout, and what to include on my profile page. He also recommended what and how to post.

It must be working. In the two years since I hired him, I have added more than 9,000 organic connections. Or should I say, more than 9,000 potential customers. Huge opportunity. At an acquisition cost of ZERO.

REALITY OF LINKEDIN: I receive requests to link and I also get messages. Some are very nice, some are self-serving, some are insincere, and some are stupid (very stupid). And ALL messages are a reflection of the person sending them. That would be you.

Here are some THINGS about LinkedIn to make you think, re-think, and act:

  • Your picture is NOT an option. Show a professional, but approachable, image. Be proud of who you are.
  • Have a LinkedIn profile that gives me insight, not just history. Not just what you’ve done, but also who you are. Your profile is your pathway to connection.
  • DANGER: DO NOT USE stock LinkedIn messages. It shows your laziness, lack of creativity, and overall lack of professionalism. Standard LinkedIn messages need to be replaced with your own. EVERY TIME.
  • If you’re looking for a job, or working a lead, tell me WHY I should connect. (Where’s the value?)
  • If you’re looking for leads, use the keyword feature (rather than the job title option) in the ‘advanced search’ link to the right of the search box. It’s free, and you’ll find hundreds of people in your industry or in your backyard that you never knew existed.
  • • Why are sending me an e-card on Easter? I’m Jewish, not a good move. Three words to ask yourself with any message you send or post: WHERE’S THE VALUE? E-cards are a total waste, unless it’s family.
  • If you’re asking me (or people) to join your group, TELL ME WHY I SHOULD.
  • If you’re asking me to connect you with a 2nd level connection, DON’T. The only way to ask is from 1st to 1st. And tell me in a sentence or two WHY you want to connect.
  • Asking for a recommendation or endorsement is BAD. If you’re asking your connections for a recommendation: DON’T. It is perhaps the dumbest, rudest thing on LinkedIn. Think about it, you’re asking people to “please stop what you’re doing and tell me about ME.” Two words: GO AWAY. If you have to ask, it’s probably because you don’t deserve. Think about that.
  • Don’t tell me you “found something interesting” in your group message, especially if the link is to join your MLM down-line or attend your ‘free’ webinar.
  • Allocate 30-60 minutes a day to utilize this vital business social media asset.

THE BAD and THE UGLY: Here are some examples of MESSAGES and INVITES I have received on LinkedIn. Hopefully they’ll make you think, re-think, and act…

BAD: Hi Jeffrey, My name is — with —, a leading — provider that helps organizations connect with their customers through email, mobile, and social networks. I would like to connect about a potential partnership to help Buy Gitomer, Inc. increase their interactive marketing ROI.
This is a typical self-serving (and deleted) message. Why not give me a tip, and ask if I’d like more like it? And stop using dead sales words like ‘ROI,’ and ‘helps organizations.’ Help me, don’t sell me.

DUMB: Hi All, As I continue to work on building my network, can I ask that you do me a huge favor and endorse me here on LinkedIn? I would be more than happy to return the favor and endorse you as well. Thank you for your support! (name withheld to avoid public embarrassment)
Scratch my back and I’ll scratch yours. Give me a break. Spare me. Beg someone else.

BAD AND DUMB: I got this in my message box (I get a few like this every week)
(subject line) Your Opinion please. (name withheld) Supplier Business Executive
If you’re hoping for an endorsement or a recommendation on LinkedIn, or anywhere, here’s the two-word mantra: EARN IT!

LinkedIn is the business social media site of today AND tomorrow. Harness its power, do notabuse its options, and you will reap its rewards.

Reprinted with permission from Jeffrey H. Gitomer and Buy Gitomer.

About the Author

Jeffrey Gitomer is the author of The Sales Bible, Customer Satisfaction is Worthless Customer Loyalty is Priceless, The Little Red Book of Selling, The Little Red Book of Sales Answers, The Little Black Book of Connections, The Little Gold Book of YES! Attitude, The Little Green Book of Getting Your Way, The Little Platinum Book of Cha-Ching, The Little Teal Book of Trust, The Little Book of Leadership, and Social BOOM! His website, www.gitomer.com, will lead you to more information about training and seminars, or email him personally at [email protected].

The Twitter you may not know. But should.

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What’s in a tweet? For most people it’s a post and a prayer.

For me, it’s value, information others can use, followers, reputation, image, re-tweets, customers, referrals, sales, and money. Is that enough?

Twitter has the power to generate awareness, create value attraction, keep you or your brand at top-of-mind status, and build relationships. Is that enough to get you to participate?

I want to share some advice about twitter: I am NOT passing myself off as an “expert,” and there is nothing to buy, and no free webinar to attend. These are just my observations and successes based on the past four years of my participation.

Here are my stats as of this writing:

  • My twitter handle is my name: @gitomer
  • Followers – 60,580
  • Following – 17,109
  • Tweets – 3,127
  • Average tweets per day – 4
  • Average links to view a video or an offer – 1 per day
  • Average number of re-tweets/favorites per day – 25-75 per tweet
  • New followers per day – 30-50

Here are 3.5 things I recommend you do in order to really benefit from Twitter:
1. Have an objective and a strategy. Twitter is intended for you to inform with value, influence, brand, and (on occasion) to converse or respond, not chit-chat. The value of your tweets will determine who stays with you and re-tweets you. When I see someone with 14,500 tweets and 285 followers, two words come to mind: NO VALUE. I often use the direct message feature to respond, rather than an open tweet – that’s meaningless to everyone else.
2. Create a list of value-based tweets and subjects you intend to tweet about. Be prepared at least a week in advance. Keep a Twitter file that documents ideas and possible tweets. Itweet quotes from my books, and thoughts that come to me during the day (ornight). You can also re-tweet others if you believe it helps your followers.
NOTE: I try to leave at least 10 characters open, so that others can easily re-tweet me.
NOTE: If you re-tweet me or favor me, I’ll follow you as a courtesy.
3. Approach followers of strategic value. You have an email list. INVITE each person to follow you PERSONALLY. In an email, tell each person about your twitter participation, LIST A FEW OF YOUR TWEETS, and ask them to follow you by clicking a link and the follow button. If you have 1,000 people on your list, and 250 follow you, it’s a GREAT start. Continue to send your tweets out weekly to the rest of the list, and re-ask them to follow you. This will take time, but the earning potential exceeds the stupid TV show you’re watching.
3.5 Be consistent. Tweet every day, at least once a day.

Don’t DM (direct message) me saying “Thanks for the follow.” It’s an annoying waste of my time and yours. Instead, how about sending me the same kind of message I sent you – ONE OF VALUE. A message to make me think, make me smile, or make me money. Insincere politeness and phony thanks makes you sound like a bad flight attendant, reading from a script, into a bad microphone, behind a wall.

Don’t re-tweet the news. You are not the source. Originality counts – especially if it’s valuable or thought provoking to your customers.

Your twitter outreach is not going anywhere if:

  • You talk with other people in superficial chatter more than 10% of your tweets.
  • You re-tweet others more than 50% of the time.
  • You fail to tweet your own thoughts.
  • You have nothing but sales messages with a link to buy something.
  • You’re only trying to get people to ‘go here’ to ‘read this’ and ‘see my blog post’ or ‘watch this video.’
  • Your tweet to follower ratio is out of proportion. You should have a MAXIMUM of one tweet for every 10 followers. 100 tweets = 1,000 followers. The lower the ratio, the better.

Here are the MAJORS:
MAJOR CLUE: Being re-tweeted is the key. My goal is 100 re-tweets a day
MAJOR OPPORTUNITY: Photo and video is becoming commonplace. Do not abuse it. Show value, not your backyard BBQ.
MAJOR FAUX PAS: Your links better work – especially if they’re to your website, your blog, or other social media like LinkedIn.
MAJOR IDIOCY: Please don’t offer advice for sale, or call yourself an expert, if you don’t have AT LEAST 50,000 followers.

I am amazed at how few sales professionals and sales leaders are not taking advantage of Twitter. It’s a resource, it’s a broadcast medium, it’s a vital recognition tool, it’s a reputation builder, and it’s free.

Tweet that. I just did. At 7:30am. In less than two hours I had 9 new followers, and 43 re-tweets or favorites that reached (influenced) MORE than 75,000 people. For free.

How’s your morning going?

What a list of my most powerful tweets? Go to www.gitomer.com, register if you’re a first-time visitor and enter the word TWITTER in the GitBit box.

Reprinted with permission from Jeffrey H. Gitomer and Buy Gitomer.

About the Author

Jeffrey Gitomer is the author of The Sales Bible, Customer Satisfaction is Worthless Customer Loyalty is Priceless, The Little Red Book of Selling, The Little Red Book of Sales Answers, The Little Black Book of Connections, The Little Gold Book of YES! Attitude, The Little Green Book of Getting Your Way, The Little Platinum Book of Cha-Ching, The Little Teal Book of Trust, The Little Book of Leadership, and Social BOOM! His website, www.gitomer.com, will lead you to more information about training and seminars, or email him personally at [email protected].

Smart Marketing for Small Businesses

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What keeps small business owners up at night? How to grow revenues? How to profitably service existing customers? When to hire additional employees? You probably didn’t answer, “How to implement effective marketing.” Marketing can sometimes slip through the cracks given the constant and pressing demands of sales, client service, and internal operations. However, under-investing in marketing is short-sighted, and this article will explain how “smart marketing” can be a key driver of business growth.

Why is marketing important for your business? Here are five key benefits of a coherent marketing message and strategy:

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About the Author

Richard Schroder, President, Anova Consulting GroupRichard Schroder is president of Anova Consulting Group, a leading market research and consulting firm focused on Win Loss Analysis and Client Satisfaction Research. He is a sought-after speaker and a recognized thought leader in Win Loss Analysis. He is the author of a new book, From a Good Sales Call to a Great Sales Call (McGraw-Hill, 2011). To read Richard’s complete biography, click here.

Learn more about the Anova Consulting Group at www.TheAnovaGroup.com.

The biggest thing sales leaders overlook: SALES!

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Letter from a fan:

Dear Jeffrey, I’m a big fan of your weekly column, especially the one about making sales vs. measuring sales activity. Brilliant! It describes my situation to a tee. I’m an outside salesman who spends countless hours filling in itineraries, CRM notes, and reports. I had the biggest ever increase in sales last year by far, yet I have been told at times I didn’t make enough calls that week. Very frustrating. Thanks for any advice you can give me.

My first piece of advice is: Get your boss fired as soon as possible. Get a real boss, leader, coach and helper, and your sales will double.

You seem to be doing the right thing – INCREASING SALES, and having the best year of your career. What else could a manager want? Sounds like it’s your manager that needs to make more calls and increase his activity.

Let me address sales leaders…

REALITY QUESTION FOR SALES MANAGERS: Why would you, as a leader, take an improving salesperson who is having the best year of their career, and tell him or her they’re “not making enough calls”? Why not do something to actually help?
REALITY ANSWERS: (Pick any or all that apply.) You’re an idiot who knows nothing about leadership, coaching, or creating winners. You’re a micro manager with little or no current sales talent yourself. (You may have sold before, but that was before the internet – and you’ve probably never tweeted). You’re an unschooled leader, following the old way rather than learning what’s new. You’re using CRM as an accountability tool, rather than a sales tool. You’re totally clueless about your customer base and what will grow more and profitable sales. OUCH!

Successful sales leaders…

  • Manage the sales cycle, not call activity.
  • Measure the sales cycle, not sales activity.
  • Help make follow-up calls with their salespeople to learn more about the sales cycle.
  • Study the last ten sales to help understand what will make the 11th.
  • Discover their most profitable customers – and then go on to uncover WHY they’re the most profitable.
  • Find where the profit comes from in every sale.
  • Discover their most loyal customer – and WHY they stay loyal.
  • Make a few sales calls together with their people.
  • Teach salespeople to ask better questions that emotionally engage.

REALITY: Maybe by spending more VALUE time with each existing customer it will increase their wallet share and your market share, and referrals will go UP.
REALITY: Maybe making too many calls is actually hampering growth. Someone measuring activity and numbers would never know that. Pity.

‘Measuring activity’ gives you a false read on the reality of sales. And as a leader, a manager, a coach, a teacher, you have a far greater responsibility to help increase sales than to just bellow out ‘more calls’ as your cure-all answer.

And maybe more calls IS the answer, but until you uncover the other ninety nine possibilities, you have no right to destroy or discourage your best salespeople from becoming better.

Or worse, they quit because they’re sick of you and your style.

Sales management and sales leadership is one of the hardest jobs in the world. First you have to know each of your people, why they’re working, why they’re working for you, and what will make them better. Second you have to know your customers, why your customers buy (beyond price), andwhat keeps them loyal. Third you have to be a better salesperson than they are. And fourth, you have to be a great teacher – able to convey your knowledge in a way that others WANT To hear you.

You know these things so that when your salespeople come to you with issues, you can actually help them make the sale – not make more calls.

Make more cold calls? Huh? In 2013? Really?

  • If you’re looking to become a hated sales leader, with lots of turnover, make your people make lots of cold calls.
  • If you’re wanting to drive your best people to the competition, make your people make lots of cold calls.
  • And if you’re looking to have low morale and poor performance on your team, make your people make lots of cold calls.

NOTE WELL:

  • The new cold call is a social media connection. Start with LinkedIn.
  • The better cold call is an expanded relationship with an existing customer.
  • The best cold call is a referral. One that you earn, not ask for.

BIG REALITY: The object of sales leadership is to IMPROVE INDIVIDUAL SALES, not improve “team” sales.
BIGGER REALITY: Your encouragement and enthusiasm – to them, and with them – will help build both their confidence AND their sales.
BIGGEST REALITY: Managers somehow believe their salespeople want to be on their team and win for the team and the company. To hit some big goal arbitrarily set by management. Nothing could be further from the truth. Salespeople wanna win for themselves and their families – and they wanna win for their customers. Not for you, your other employees, or the company.

Get a grip on ‘why’ salespeople want to win. Give them real-world help. Coach them, and it will have a major impact on their sales, and your leadership success.

Reprinted with permission from Jeffrey H. Gitomer and Buy Gitomer.

About the Author

Jeffrey Gitomer is the author of The Sales Bible, Customer Satisfaction is Worthless Customer Loyalty is Priceless, The Little Red Book of Selling, The Little Red Book of Sales Answers, The Little Black Book of Connections, The Little Gold Book of YES! Attitude, The Little Green Book of Getting Your Way, The Little Platinum Book of Cha-Ching, The Little Teal Book of Trust, The Little Book of Leadership, and Social BOOM! His website, www.gitomer.com, will lead you to more information about training and seminars, or email him personally at [email protected].

Four words: Winner. Whiner. Smart. Dumb. Pick two!

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QUESTIONS: Who’s going to win the next Super Bowl? Who’s going to win the next World Series? Who’s going to win the next Masters Tournament?

ANSWER: The team or the player that’s best prepared. The team or the player that makes the fewest mistakes. The team or the player that stays steady and keeps its cool. The team or the player that creates breaks and takes advantage of them. The team or the player that prepares one razzle-dazzle play, takes the risk at the opportune time, and pulls it off. The team with the most dedicated players. The team or the player with the best coach.

Same in sales.

In this year’s Super Bowl, both teams were capable of winning. But victory does not always go to who’s the best. It more often goes to who’s the SMARTEST. Smartest coach. Smartest players. And, of course, whomever got the breaks, and took advantage of them.

Same in sales. The smartest will win, especially if they get the breaks. (Or do smart people create breaks?)

BIG QUESTION: What does smart selling mean to you?

MY ANSWER: It doesn’t take as much brains as it does take understanding. So, I have created the perfect acronym to help you:
S – SMILE.
M – MAKE FRIENDS.
A – Have the ATTITUDE of a WINNER.
R – Take RELATIONSHIP ACTIONS.
T – TAKE RESPONSIBILITY.

Pretty simple. No memorization required. No “find the pain” manipulation. Just an easy to understand formula that will guide you to more business.

Let me deepen the SMART SELLING definitions:
S – SMILE. This defines your warmth, approachability, and overall feeling. It’s a greeting beyond a handshake that sends a welcome, open message. It’s both peaceful and reassuring.
M – MAKE FRIENDS. This is not as easy as it seems. Some prospects want to keep it ‘all business.’ Your responsibility is to create friendly dialog that might result in finding some common ground. Look for their smile. That’s a sign you’re breaking the ice. And note my mantra: All things being equal, people want to do business with their friends. All things being NOT QUITE so equal, people STILL want to do business with their friends.
A – Have the ATTITUDE of a WINNER. This is not just a positive or a YES! Attitude. This is a winning attitude that combines your will to win, your preparation, and yourself-belief. It’s a positive, internal confidence based on previous wins. Not cocky, more like self-assured in a way that passes your confidence on to the customer.
R – Take RELATIONSHIP ACTIONS. This means you take long-term oriented actions. Actions that will stand the test of time. Actions that give your customer the feeling you represent their best interest, not just your own. You speak the truth, have high ethical standards, and are known for service. You’re taking service actions, and value actions beyond the sale. Not sell and run (the 1970’s definition of ‘hunter’), rather stay and help. Earn the relationship to a point where it becomes referral based, and testimonial possible.
T – TAKE RESPONSIBILITY. Taking responsibility starts with who you are as a person, and transcends to who you are as a salesperson. As a smart salesperson, youhave to know the responsibility is yours if you lose a sale – the same as if you win a sale. The good news is when you become responsible for both success and failure, you also become a student of sales and life. Blaming others (the opposite of responsibility) allows you a hall pass form self-education. It’s forgotten or passed-on rather than studied.

MAJOR AHA! I just tweeted: “When it’s raining outside, and you blame the rain, keep in mind it’s raining on everybody. Take responsibility. #gitomer” – RESULT: 42 re-tweets and 14 favorites within 1 hour – on a Sunday morning!

Here are a few more critical elements of Smart Selling: Product smart. Customer smart. Value smart. Preparation smart. Follow-up smart. Service smart.

BIGGER QUESTION: How smart of a salesperson are you? Now that you have my definition, the reality is you may think you’re smarter than you actually are.

SMART SELLING REALITY:

  • Smart salespeople don’t sell on price.
  • Smart salespeople don’t reduce price.
  • Smart salespeople don’t match price.

BIGGEST QUESTION: Now that you have read this, are you still as smart as you thought you were a few minutes ago? Probably not, but that’s a good thing. Now that you’re aware of what ‘smart-selling’ consists of, you can begin to take advantage of it.

There’s one more element of smart selling – it’s the two word essence of a successful salesperson. To find out what it is, go to www.gitomer.com, register if you’re a first-time visitor and enter the words SMART SELLING in the GitBit box.

Reprinted with permission from Jeffrey H. Gitomer and Buy Gitomer.

About the Author

Jeffrey Gitomer is the author of The Sales Bible, Customer Satisfaction is Worthless Customer Loyalty is Priceless, The Little Red Book of Selling, The Little Red Book of Sales Answers, The Little Black Book of Connections, The Little Gold Book of YES! Attitude, The Little Green Book of Getting Your Way, The Little Platinum Book of Cha-Ching, The Little Teal Book of Trust, The Little Book of Leadership, and Social BOOM! His website, www.gitomer.com, will lead you to more information about training and seminars, or email him personally at [email protected].