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• SalesDogs Diagnostics: What type of salesdog breed are you? What kind of team do you have?
• Stationery Movie Quiz: Guess the movie from office supplies.
• Good Keywords: Free software for finding the right keywords. Also has a keyword primer for beginners.
• Get kid gift ideas by checking out Dr. Toy’s Best Products of 2007.
• We keep our lawn (front and back) as simple as possible. That way we don’t use up much water or resources to keep it in good shape. LessLawn provides tips on building a low-maintenance lawn.
• The 100 Tools Freelancers Can’t Live Without

The Pitchers: Sales

Let’s say you have a new baseball team in town and it’s almost time for the first game of the season. Your sales force is ready to sell a variety of package deals for the season. However, there’s a major stumbling block as they prepare to approach potential buyers. No one knows about the package deals or even the date of the first game.

No one tipped the local sports writer or the local TV news of the upcoming grand opening game. What happened to the marketing department? There’s no marketing research, no publicity, and no idea where to begin targeting sales. Sales will flop and will make the sales department look bad, but it’s marketing’s fault since they didn’t do their job.

The Batters: Marketing

Let’s switch and see things from the marketing team’s view. They do a grand job of posting banners of the first game in town. Marketing has pulled together piles of reports with data on the audience, their baseball attending habits, and game spending habits. Many people arrive for the game opener, buy a ticket for the game, and it’s successful.

Or is it really? The sales team is invisible. There is no one to build a relationship with the fans. No one has sold them packages for attending more than just the opener. Sales could go far beyond than one game. They could even help build relationships that go beyond the season. Marketing did a great job, but with poor sales the team may not make it and everyone loses. Where was sales when marketing promoted the event?

Who gets the credit? Who gets the blame? In the war for profitable bottom line, turf issues should be put aside.

Who’s on First?

Marketing and sales play for the same team in different positions. Marketing leads to sales by creating programs focused on direct marketing principles that are tied to the sales team’s success. Marketing puts together a multi-step game plan to ensure each interaction with prospective fans lead to more and deeper interactions. Using shared business goals as a driver, the two work to meet those goals.

Marketing and sales should constantly communicate with each other to ensure effective timing, clear understanding of the company’s message, and smoother handoffs. Sales can determine the target market by evaluating current and past sales. The results help marketing professionals sharpen their pitch so they can hook the right people.

I love the Metaphor Minute newsletter from Anne Miller, author of Metaphorically Selling. Each issue comes with a short example of how to use metaphors in business and presentations. The latest issue shows how someone finally got her point across using fishing as the metaphor:

Corporate executives who cling to the old “dialing for dollars paradigm drive me crazy – especially if they want their reps to crack into corporate accounts. In today’s business environment, it doesn’t work. But for some strange reason, my repeated attempts to correct their errors in judgment falls on deaf ears. It’s like they have a total blind spot in their brain about this matter.

How can I make these idiots understand? I’d ask myself. Clearly logic wasn’t working. It took some serious thinking, but I finally figured out how to get it through their thick heads that new sales strategies were needed.

But first, a bit of background: I live in Minnesota – “Land of 10,000 Lakes.” Fishing is a hugely popular sport here, even in the dead of winter. Our hardy outdoorsmen drill holes in the ice and sit in little shacks in the middle of the lake for hours on end. If you’ve seen the Grumpy Old Men movies, you know what I mean.

The decision makers I was talking to understood fishing. So I created a metaphor that helped them understand why their salespeople were struggling. Here’s essentially what I said:

Bob, you’re telling me that you want your sales reps to reel in the big ones, right? But you also said you’re extremely frustrated by their lack of success. In fact, you’ve been unable to hire people who are capable of doing this.

(Bob nods his head, agreeing with me.)

Selling today is a lot like fishing. Every lake has its trophy fish and all the anglers are out to catch it. But my chances of catching this lunker are pretty slim if I’m not a savvy fisherman. As you know, here are so many things you need to take into account if you want to be successful:

For example, what kind of fish do you want to catch? Is it a catfish, walleye, muskie or sturgeon? Or perhaps you want to go dolphin fishing – in which case you should be on the ocean.

What about the bait? Should you be using minnows, worms, frogs or artificial lures? And what size should your bait be?

Then what about the appropriate equipment? Will you have access to a boat or not? If so, is it a canoe, yacht, bass boat or rowboat? How about your rod & reel? How thick should your line be? Will you be casting, trolling or sitting still? Do you have a depth finder?

What type of environment are you fishing in? Does your trophy fish prefer deep pools, shallow waters and lily pads or hiding under rock piles. Since we know that fish behave differently if its 80 degrees and sunny versus a frigid -10, what are the weather conditions?

Am I not right that you go through all this thinking just to try to catch a trophy fish? (He nods in agreement.)

Bob, like I said earlier, selling is a lot like fishing. You can’t expect your people to be successful reeling in the big ones if you just send them out to the lake and tell them to keep casting. It doesn’t work that way.

Bob finally got it! Why? Because I related selling to something he loved and understood.

c.2007, Anne Miller, author, “Metaphorically Selling,” amiller@annemiller.com

How have you used metaphors or creativity to get a point across or in a presentation?

Yesterday, I received an email from a company looking to do work for me. Items in quotes are directly from the email. Non-quoted items are my comments.

I apologize for intruding into your busy schedule. Please allow me to introduce ourselves.

Polite, but already off to a negative start. Says he is intruding. It might be better to say something along these lines: “I’m sure you’re very busy, so I’ll keep this short and to the point.”

We feel that your website can be improved substantially in terms of design, and shall be happy to undertake this for you.

Insult followed by the company’s delight in taking on my lousy site so it can get business for itself. “Substantially” makes my site sound like something leftover from the ’90s. Why would I want to hire a company I never heard of that’s already insulting my site without ever seeing it? This line is generic and the email is obviously a template. Oh, it doesn’t even address me — just says, “Hi”.

If it’s the truth — I appreciate the honesty as I’m always grateful when someone catches an error or typo here and lets me know. Perhaps, it would help to point out specifics to show why my site needs help. “The red doesn’t work because it comes across as such-n-such. The navigation needs a lift because of this.”

The next few paragraphs goes into the technologies covered, how smart and talented the employees are, and where the company is located — to clearly point out its ability to do cheap labor.

I love this, which appeared in the disclaimer after the person’s name:

Please note that we have not purchased your e-mail address from any commercial source. We have accessed it through primary research on the internet.

Yeah, and yet there is not one iota of information in the email showing the company did its research except find out my email address, which isn’t hard.

I looked at the web site and check out the portfolio. Half of the web sites look like leftovers from the ’90s. The other half resembles my site — basic, clean design. I wonder how the company would “improve” my site. If I had money to burn, I’d hire the company for kicks and see how it plays out.

The site claims it validates W3C HTML 4.01 Transitional and CSS. HTML, yes. CSS, no. Tables everywhere. This site uses XHTML and CSS for layout. I give the company credit for one thing — there’s no mention of content work. Just reading the site’s contents, you know this isn’t a company you want to hire for writing content.

Networking experts suggest doing research to find the right companies and the right person to contact. But when you do make contact, what do you say? You don’t want to start a relationship with a total stranger asking to take on work. Think of how you would build a relationship. Offer an email newsletter or offer to send a free report — something you can give them for free.

I still can’t picture cold calling (specific people) and trying to start a relationship. Maybe it has to do with my not being a natural telephone user. That’s why I appreciate online networking.

Making Online and Offline Connections looks at how the virtual world changed how we connect to others. In it, I state that the online world made it possible for me to become a full-time freelancer. It got me thinking how I met people in this virtual world.

I met a few through blogs, especially in earlier days. We bloggers left comments or sent emails to each other. Over time, we learned about each other and became friends. Another is a client who became a friend. I found the client because I interviewed (by email, of course) a co-worker of his who connected us.

Two other clients come from referrals from someone I met on the Internet; one through his own blog and the other from working on a Web site together. IVWCC, an online networking group, also brought in more clients and friends.

I completed an online certification program at New York University. One of the professors asked me to be his TA (teacher assistant). Eventually, I lost the job because there were not enough students enrolled in the program to warrant a TA as a result of the dot com crash. Over a year later, NYU contacted me again (a different program) because someone from the previous program recommended me.

A recent gig came from the editor’s using the search engine to find me. He did a great job because my experience fit well with what he needed. I’ve also gotten gigs by replying to online ads.

Obviously, the Internet offers many routes for meeting people and finding gigs (emphasis on gigs as the chance of finding a full-time job is only about 8% as reported in a career-related column). Possible ways to meet others online:

* Blogs: Leave a comment and link to another person’s entry from yours.

* Forums and email mailing groups: Join discussions.

* Email newsletters: I respond to all emails and survey responses. I’ve also connected with people with their own newsletters.

* Online groups: Like IVWCC. Or you might be one of many bloggers like Blogcritics. The site also has a mailing list for its writers and editors.

* Web site: One that’s content-rich and frequently updated (this is where a blog or blogging-tool can help). Even having a profile in Amazon can lead to meeting people. People have contacted me that way even though I haven’t quite made it into the top 1000 reviewers list.

* Emails: Contacting people. Email a writer to pay a compliment on an article. Email a business to congratulate on a recent success. Many business people write articles and include their bylines.

* Articles: This is the flip side of emails. One of my first freelance gigs came from a guy who contacted me based on an article I wrote. There, I met another editor and we recently connected and helped each other (she submitted an article for one of the newsletters I managed and I answered interview questions for her blog). I’ve got a huge list of article banks. Need to post them here.

* Chats: You might attend a chat where there’s a guest. Usually chats are secondary — meaning you meet the person some other way before you talk in instant messenger.

You never know who you’ll meet through the Internet. Just interact with the virtual world and enjoy the surprises that come your way.

Who knew selling could be fun? Learn how to use metaphors in making the sale. The book isn’t just for people who do sales, but anyone who has to do any kind of persuasion even for marketing a one-person business. It’s a surprise this book isn’t better known as it’s a superb, fun, and educational read.

Why not just buy a book on language or read up on metaphors? Miller uses examples of applying metaphors in business situations, something you won’t find in metaphor-related books.

The book starts off with the “Sorry Seven,” seven kinds of people who tend to put listeners to sleep. The book is divided into four sections. The first shows why you should use metaphors in making your case. They help appeal to both sides of the brain. Miller uses Robin Williams and Joe Friday to represent the right and left brains respectively. This is a clever way to remember which side of the brain is which in terms of telling (Joe Friday) and showing (Robin Williams).

Section two shows how to create effective metaphors with a four-step workout (no running involved). Section three is about applying the power of metaphors in the selling process. You’ve heard “Practice makes perfect” and section four is about practicing with the metaphors. In this section, Miller encourages becoming a clipper for clipping quotes and other gems. She also shares her valuable collection of quotes to get you started.

This book not only serves as an educational read that’s as fluid as reading a work of fiction, but also as a reference and a workbook as the end of each chapter has worksheets to practice using metaphors.

Title: Metaphorically Selling
Author: Anne Miller
Publisher: Chiron Associates
ISBN: 0976279401
Date: December 2004
Format: Paperback
Pages: 168
Cover Price: USD: $14.95 Amazon: $10.17

I’ve had three different experiences as a customer who had a problem with an order. I accept mistakes happen. As a perfectionist, I’ve made mistakes anyway and have learned to let go. If we keep reviewing our work, we’d miss deadlines and have unhappy clients. I think what’s important is how you handle the mistakes.

Personalization

I ordered a personalized Rubik’s Cube for Paul’s 40th birthday as a representative of the ’80s. This wasn’t an ordinary cube, but one that had pictures of the family on all the sides. Notice the picture shows hardly any black? Now look at what I got. Atrocious. The pictures should’ve taken up the full space like in the wedding photo that appears on the right square.

(click images to see larger image in a pop up window)

The site says, “1/4″ of the image will be trimmed on all sides – allow for that when uploading your image.” It didn’t say anything about what size the images should be to ensure they take up the full amount of available space. So I assumed the pictures would be cropped and fitted. Nope.

I emailed them twice in two to three weeks. No response. Finally, we called and got a response. The company is making and sending another one. If I don’t like it, I can send both back for a refund.

Ironically, Paul also ordered my birthday gift from the same company and it arrived with my name spelled “Merryill.” The order form had my name spelled correctly. The person doing the personalization must’ve been having a bad day. As a result, the gift that would’ve been on time had it been done right the first time… was late (no biggie — but for some people it’s a biggie).

Furthermore, there was a second part to the gift: a career sign. It’s a wooden wall hanging that looks weathered. As you can see, the form says to “specify any career.” There is no list of careers. The company called Paul (after they had already screwed up my name, which was ordered at the same time as the career sign) and said they can’t do “writer” or “journalist.” Specify any career, eh?

Book review of Seth Godin’s newest book, Free Prize Inside, is posted. Man, he is good. The book has not even reached shelves and look how well it ranks in Amazon from pre-orders.