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Why We Need More Experts, Not Fewer

Posted by

Ian Brodie on June 12th, 2012.

More Experts Expert.

It's an overused term for sure.

Over on Danny Brown's blog, Ryan Hanley recently railed against The Commoditization of Expertise.

His argument was twofold. Partly that so many people now call themselves a “guru”, “expert” or “thought leader” that the term's become meaningless.

And partly that most of these folks were just regurgitating what others have already said. They weren't creating new insights themselves.

Well, I'd certainly agree with the first sentiment. If you have to call yourself a guru, or “the king of so-and-so” or “the queen of wotsit” you probably aren't. And you're being embarassing. Stop it.

But I'm going to disagree with the second point.

There's a great need for people who are “local experts”. Only Rosser Reeves invented the USP – but the world needs plenty of experts in it to help businesses create one (if they do it right, of course – most don't).

There was only one Peter Drucker – but millons of organisations needed help in management by objectives, customer focus, decentralisation and all the other stuff he pioneered.

There's only one Michael Porter, but…well, you get the picture.

Ironically, Ryan illustrated his point by saying “..in his book Outliers, Malcom Gladwell theorizes that it takes a person 10,000 hours of practice to master a task”.

Of course, the 10,000 hour principle doesn't come from Gladwell. It comes from Professor Anders Ericsson via Geoff Colvin and a bunch of others. Thus perfectly illustrating the point: Gladwell's not an ideas guy. He's a populariser. He's a type of expert in his own right – he finds out the new and interesting stuff that scientists and other “deep experts” are coming up with and makes it accessible to a broad public.

And similarly, a small business in Norwich doesn't need (and can't afford) Seth Godin to come over to show them how to make their business remarkable. But they can hire a local guy who's expert enough in Godin's ideas (and others) to put them into practice.

Now the local expert isn't going to earn quite as much as Seth Godin. But the world needs him too. And he'll be much better rewarded than the local guy who's not so expert.

So whether they're completely original or they're popularisers, or their local implementors – the world needs plenty of experts.

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More Clients Memorandum

What’s your “trigger”?

Posted by

Ian Brodie on June 10th, 2012.

I talk a lot about the need to nurture client relationships: to build credibility and trust over time – you may well have noticed ;)

But if you're anything like me, every now and then you've probably found yourself thinking “great, but isn't there a shortcut? I need clients now”.

Well, there is – sometimes.

Normally, so-called shortcuts don't work. They usually involve you getting more aggressive with your marketing and pushing your stuff at people when they're not ready.

Exactly the opposite of what I advocate. And frankly, it rarely works.

But there is an approach to getting clients fast that can work for some people.

It's dependent on the sort of business you're in. But if it works for you it can help you bypass a ton of time and effort and get straight through to clients open to talking to you and open to hiring you.

The approach is to look for “trigger events”.

A trigger event is something that happens to a business or individual that precedes them needing your help.

So, for example, after two businesses have merged, they often need support from HR consultants, change management consultants and IT specialists to make the merger work.

In this case the news of the merger is a trigger event for the people who supply those sorts of services. Businesses undergoing a merger are far more likely to need their support than typical businesses.

By focusing their marketing on businesses undergoing a merger, they're far more likely to hit people who are interested than if they try to market to everyone.

And those people are going to be closer to a buying decision (and with a real motivation to buy) than people who are just interested generally.

Now the strategy doesn't work for everyone. In the merger case, by the time the merger is announced it's too late for consultants, lawyers and financiers who work on the deal itself to get involved – that'll already be sorted out.

But for people like HR, change and IT consultants who get involved downstream it's a great time to approach a business.

So what are the trigger events for clients getting interested in hiring someone like you?

It could be news about the business (overseas expansion, rapid growth, a profit warning, a new facility being built). Or it could be news about individuals (a promotion, a new senior hire, a new project being taken on).

Make sure you're watching for the relevant news. Set up google alerts for your target clients. Watch Linkedin profile changes and status updates. Keep up to date with the trade news in your sector and stay in touch with the grapevine.

And have something useful to share for when the event happens. Don't just contact a merging business to say “hey, we can help you with your IT”. Have an executive briefing on the “5 big pitfalls of IT systems that can derail mergers – and how to avoid them”.

Offer them the briefing as a way of building your credibility and starting a relationship quickly.

Trigger events can be a real shortcut to finding high potential clients – make sure you're watching out for them.

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More Clients Memorandum

Overcoming marketing paralysis

Posted by

Ian Brodie on June 3rd, 2012.

In my last couple of Sunday emails I've been looking at the barriers that hold us back from taking effective action with our marketing.

The final one I'd like to cover is being overwhelmed.

A number of my clients, when we first meet, talk about feeling paralysed. Not able to do anything with their marketing because they're just not sure what will work.

There just seems to be so many different options.

And the more advice they hear from different sources, the more confused they get and the less able they feel to confidently take action.

Often what I find when I dig beneath the surface is that the reason they can't decide what to do is that they don't really understand their clients at a deep enough level.

That might sound a bit harsh – but it's true.

When I say “deep understanding” I don't mean knowing your potential client's favourite football team or whether they're a wine afficionado.

There's nothing wrong with the sort of trivia most professionals gather about their potential clients. But it doesn't really help you sell.

What's important to know are their real challenges: their problems and issues, goals and aspirations. And what's going to motivate them to hire someone (like you) to help them.

When you have a picture of this – way beyond the superficial level – then your marketing becomes clear.

You know what messages will resonate, what services to offer. What channels to use to reach your ideal clients.

But it requires a bit of thought. Client's don't tell you these things. Often they're not consciously aware of them.

Over the last few years I've refined a technique for taking your knowledge of your clients and potential clients and mapping it out in a way that gives you Actionable Insights into their needs.

Stuff you can do something with in your marketing.

If you'd like to try out the process, the video is completely free to watch. Just head over to:

Customer Insight Mapping Video >>

And press play.

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Marketing

Authority Marketing: Martin Lewis Builds Authority, Sells Website For £87m

Posted by

Ian Brodie on June 2nd, 2012.

If you're in the UK you probably heard that in June 2012, Martin Lewis, the “Money Saving Expert” pocketed the tidy sum of £87 million by selling moneysavingexpert.com to Money Supermarket.

Well, actually, he's already promised £10m to charity, so he won't be pocketing all of it. But not a bad day's work really.

Without doubt, the value of the site is based on Lewis's position as the leading authority on saving money in the UK.

He was the UK's number one person searched for on google in 2009, and number 2 after Cheryl Cole in 2010. In a recent poll of mothers in the UK on who was the biggest champion of consumer rights, he took a massive 49% of the votes.

So how did he rise to the top of the herd? He started off his life as a reporter no differently to hundreds of other consumer journalists. And there are dozens and dozens of consumer advice websites, price comparison sites, money saving forums and columnists.

Why did Lewis rise to the top?

Well, there are some prerequisites:

Firstly, he really is an expert. In his own words “I'm a nerd, but a very proud nerd. Staying up to three in the morning doing spreadsheets on credit cards is not cool”.

I'm sure you've seen lots of courses and gurus on the web telling you you can become an “instant expert” (if you buy their course, of course). Bullshit.

To become an authority you need genuine expertise. Lewis shows this. Challenge him on the latest credit card rates or the best deal on your energy bills and he'll rattle off an unerringly accurate list of your options.

And while there are shortcuts to building expertise, it doesn't happen overnight. And it takes hard work.

Secondly, he recognised early on that to achieve what he wanted, just being an expert wasn't enough. He would have to have influence.

In the nicest sense of the word, he's a great self publicist. He writes multiple newspaper columns and appears on TV and radio shows almost every day of the week.

But the publicity isn't all about him. he doesn't go on TV to promote himself. He goes on TV to give useful advice to people. Everything he does gives Value in Advance. He gives freely of his expertise.

But for me, the most important factor in how he became an authority is that he doesn't just give advice to consumers – he champions their cause.

He's an outpoken critic of hidden charges and bad deals. He's not afraid to call out big companies or government when they let the consumer down.

He's led the charge on reclaiming bank charges, missold pensions and overpaid council tax.

And he's lobbied government tirelessly for improved financial education in schools.

Martin Lewis isn't just an expert. He's the guy we trust, because we know he's fighting our corner. He's looking out for us.

We don't second guess his motives. We don't wonder what's in it for him. We know we can trust him. He's one of us. On our side.

He's THE authority because of that combination: expertise, influence and trust.

So in your field – how do you rate on those dimensions?

Would your potential clients see you as a deep expert?

Are you influential? Are your ideas seen and shared widely?

And are you trusted? Are you seen as the champion of your clients? Do you put yourself on the line for them?

If you want to be seen as an authorty you need all three.

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Selling

Using the "Point of View" Meeting to Win Clients

Posted by

Ian Brodie on May 31st, 2012.

Einstein In this month's Momentum Club Marketing Masterclass webinar we worked on strategies for effective face to face sales meetings.

One strategy we covered was on how to use a “Point of View” meeting to win clients.

A Point of View meeting is a meeting with a potential client where the primary purpose isn't for you to talk about your services, or to discuss a client's problems – it's for you to share valuable information with them.

It might be the results of a benchmarking study you've done. Or some case studies. Or the summary of a report you've written.

Essentially it's you sharing your point of view on a useful topic for your potential client.

Point of View meetings are important for two reasons.

Firstly because they're a great way of building your credibility with potential clients.

Secondly because it's an awful lot easier to get a client to agree to have a meeting with you where you share useful information with them than it is to have a meeting where you explain your services to them or “find out what they need”.

So they're ideally placed to help you sell.

The trouble is, they're handled incredibly badly most times.

The first mistake people make is to just go in, share the information and leave without any exploration with the client that might lead to working with them.

It's a huge opportunity missed.

But worse is the second mistake: “sugging”. Selling under the guise of sharing information. Promising you'll share useful information but actually just treating the session like a sales meeting.

Not only do you get no sale, you lose your relationship.

So how should you handle Point of View meetings?

The secret's in the structure. And in what I call “the flip”.

You need to structure the meeting so that rather than you just talking for an hour, you interact with them.

And you do this by asking about their priorities.

Do a summary of your point of view (or research or benchmarking or case studies) first.

Then ask them “so I can go into more details on the areas that will be the most valuable for you – out of all those topics, which are the most relevant for you based on where you are now? Which ones would be your priorities?”.

When they tell you, you need to “flip” the discussion. You need to move from you talking to them talking.

Ask them to expand – why are those the priorities? What exactly is happening right now in those areas that they want to change? What's the impact?

Then expand on your Point of View in those areas. Give them the meat.

What's happened now is that instead of you just rabbiting on for the duration of the meeting about what you think is important, you've found out from them what's important to them.

And you've turned the meeting from “show and tell” into an interactive, advisory discussion. You're giving them valuable information on areas that are priorities for them.

And you now know what those priorities are, what the issues are in those areas, what their impact is, etc.

Pretty much all the information you need to build an effective case for them hiring you.

But you've done it while building your credibility and giving value to the client.

Next, you close by summarising the main points.

“We discussed the importance of X, Y and Z (the main points in your point of view)…and the big priorities for you were A, B and C”.

(In real life, of course, your summary would be rather more detailed).

And then you need to ask for the follow up. This is critical.

“Would it be useful for you for me to come back and talk in a bit more detail about A, B and C…share some thoughts on some of the things you could do to address them?”

Here you're basically asking permission to come back and have a traditional sales meeting where you discuss their specific problems and propose how you could work with them.

Why a separate meeting? Why not have that discussion at the end of the Point of View meeting?

Well partly because you probably don't have the time to fully discuss the issues.

But mainly because your potential client will be in the wrong psychological state.

They've come to the meeting to hear and discuss your point of view (or case studies or whatever).

Even though they'll be happy to answer questions to help with that discussion – they didn't come in “buying mode”. They didn't come expecting to end up with you proposing something to them.

And I've found that's a big switch. For many clients, it just doesn't feel comfortable to find themselves in a sales meeting when they weren't expecting it. So the chances of them buying are slim.

Sure, if things go brilliantly and the client starts asking you questions that naturally lead on to talking about how you might help them, then go with the flow.

But more often than not, you'll get better results by coming back another day for an explicit sales meeting.

But in that follow up meeting, you'll be talking to someone you've already established your credibility with, and who you already know really needs what you'll be discussing.

So your chances of ending up with a new client are pretty darn good.

By the way, if you join Momentum Club, not only do you get to participate in upcoming Marketing Masterclass webinars and get your specific questions answered in depth – you'll also get access to all the webinar archives, including this recent one on effective sales meetings.

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Marketing

How A Long Dead Genius From The 60s Can Make Your Marketing More Effective And Less Painful

Posted by

Ian Brodie on May 30th, 2012.

As the TV show Mad Men demonstrates, the world of advertising in the 60s was a pretty interesting place to be. And one of the most interesting guys in the field was Eugene Schwartz.

He was one of the highest paid copywriters in the business, and billed himself as the hardest working.

Decades before anyone else was getting into it, Schwartz was using techniques learned from Zen Masters to enhance his output. He used a method uncannily similar to the recently published Pomodoro Technique for productivity. And his method for fueling his creativity matches up to techniques taught today.

He used those techniques to get very rich working only 3 hours a day, 5 days a week, and spending the rest of his time collecting art (and giving much of it away to museums).

And in his book Breakthrough Advertising, published in 1967 (and which sold for up to $900 until it was recently republished) he wrote some deeply profound words about marketing.

Here's one quote I keep coming back to:

Let’s get to the heart of the matter. The power, the force, the overwhelming urge to own that makes advertising work, comes from the market itself, and not from the copy.
Copy cannot create desire for a product. It can only take the hopes, dreams, fears and desires that already exists in the hearts of millions of people, and focus those already existing desires onto a particular product.

Schwartz was talking about advertising, but what he says applies to all marketing.

And it explains why most of us find marketing and selling so painful.

Most of us imagine that our job in marketing is to persuade. To convince a potential client that they want what we've got. To create a desire for our services.

And we feel bad about that because it feels manipulative. We're trying to push them from where they are to where we are.

But Schwartz says that doesn't work. We can't create desire. Instead we need to channel the desires they already have.

Instead of pushing them from where they are to where we are, we go to where they already are. We show them how what we've got satisfies that desire.

We don't push. We uncover.

And, of course, if what we've got doesn't satisfy their desire, we move on. Because there's no point trying to persuade them that actually they should want what we've got. We can only channel what they aready want.

So in a nutshell, Schwartz has given us the clue not only to marketing that isn't painful and salesy. But to marketing that actually works.

And it turns out they're one and the same.

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More Clients Memorandum

How to turn marketing you hate into something you love

Posted by

Ian Brodie on May 27th, 2012.

Many years ago when I got my first account management role in the big consulting firm I was working for it became my job to call potential clients up to try to set up sales meetings for me and others within our organisation.

As you can imagine, I hated it.

I went from being a consultant whose opinion was valued by clients and whose calls were anticipated to someone who called trying to sell them stuff.

And after a while, my calls started getting answered an awful lot less than before.

And because I found it so painful, I didn't call as often as I should have.

So I didn't get many meetings. And I didn't get many sales.

I was well on my way to being shown the door when I noticed something a bit weird.

Whenever my firm published some research that I thought my clients might find interesting – I had no hesitation then to call them to offer them a copy.

Of if we were organising an executive dinner with a good speaker, I'd be happy to call them up with an invite.

And even more importantly – my clients liked it too.

The research was useful to them. The dinners and talks were fun and valuable.

They started taking my calls again.

I discovered that by (pretty much) only calling when I had something useful to offer, I re-established myself as a valuable resource for them.

They started talking to me about the research. We chatted at the dinners. I began to find out what was important to them and where they were struggling. I earned “permission” to suggest some of our services to them.

And every now and then they would call me to discuss something we might be able to help with.

The secret was that all the marketing I was doing wasn't seen by them as marketing. It was seen as “useful stuff” and I was seen as a valuable resource they could trust.

All of a sudden the calls I hated became calls I enjoyed – or at the very least, didn't mind making.

And so I made more and more of them. Even to people I didn't know, because I had something valuable to offer them.

And, of course, that led to more sales (and me keeping my job!).

So here's the lesson:

If you don't enjoy the marketing you're doing, there's probably a decent reason.

And you may well find, like me, that by finding a way to make your marketing more useful to your clients in and of itself, you'll enjoy it a lot more.

And they'll pay a lot more attention to it.

And they'll buy a lot more.

That can't be bad.

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More Clients Memorandum

Your very best source of new business…

Posted by

Ian Brodie on May 20th, 2012.

…is of course, your current and previous clients.

The people who already know and trust you. Who know what a great job you do.

But you're not quite sure how to broach the subject with them. You don't want to seem all salesy.

And you've probably dropped out of contact with many of your ex-clients. It happens to all of us – other priorities take over.

So it's embarassing to get back in touch. Tricky to figure out what to say. Again, you don't want to seem salesy or needy.

Here's the trick: invest a little time in creating something of value for them. Some useful information that they'll find helpful and that'll demonstrate your credibility in an area they might be able to hire you in.

It doesn't have to be a giant “war and peace” tome. A couple of pages summarising some insights from the last 5 clients you've worked with. Or a short presentation on “what's working now” or “5 critical trends” in your field. Or even something you've learnt personally.

Anything that will be genuinely valuable to your contacts.

Because then you can get back in touch with confidence and say:

“Hey, we haven't spoken for a while but I've just written this short executive summary on XYZ and thought you might be interested in a copy. Would you like me to email a copy over?”

You can feel good about getting back in touch rather than feeling like you're being salesy or needy.

It'll remind them of how good you are at what you do. It'll trigger conversations. And it'll give you a good reason to follow up to see what they thought, find out what's going on with them, and start a business conversation.

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Marketing

Google’s "Zero Moment Of Truth": Why They’re Right And Why They’re Wrong

Posted by

Ian Brodie on May 10th, 2012.

A few weeks ago Google launched their first business book, ZMOT: Zero Moment Of Truth. You can download a pdf for free at the ZMOT site.

The concept of the book is simple. Google have taken the model of shopping popularised by P&G and added a step to reflect the way we actually buy today.

The traditional model starts with a stimulus – an advert on TV for an iPad perhaps. Then we have our First Moment Of Truth – our first experience of the product on the store shelf. Then our Second Moment Of Truth is our actual experience of the product when we've bought it.

In essence, consumer marketing has been build around this model for years. Stimulate an interest, impress at the store, deliver a great post-purchase experience.

Google's ZMOT model adds a fourth step. The Zero Moment Of Truth.

Zero Moment Of Truth Model

In this model, after the stimulus, the Zero Moment Of Truth step comes next where the potential buyer researches their options – usually online. They google the product. Check out reviews. Ask for opinions on facebook and twitter. Look up more details and alternatives.

Only after that do they take a look “on the shelf” for the product in the real world.

Makes sense?

Absolutely. It's not really a new model – more a neat way of summarising what's become a commonly accepted picture of how buying now works.

And you could argue that consulting, coaching and other professional services have always had the Zero Moment Of Truth step – long before online was an option.

When you're buying a complex, costly and intangible service there is no “shelf” to inspect the product on. So you have to rely on previous experience, referrals, testimonials, what other people say about their service and its provider. Or on the value the service provider gives you in advance of the purchase that “proves” his capabilities.

And these days that process is now much richer with the huge increase in information available online and easy access to people willing to give their opinion.

If fact, Google's book has some very illuminating “heat maps” showing, for example that the biggest wave of research activity when buying groceries happens a few hours before the purchase – but for a car it's 4-6 months in advance.

So yes, Google are right. There are some hugely important things going on before the first contact with the product or service. And the web has increased the importance of that phase.

But here's where Google is wrong. It's not a “moment” of truth. It's a series of moments. It's a relationship.

People don't research their car 5 months in advance and then do nothing until the day of the purchase. They continue to build their knowledge of their potential purchase and the people they might be buying it from. Over time, their confidence grows until they feel ready to make that big outlay.

And it's the same with professional services. Even more so in fact.

That Zero Moment Of Truth is really an extended courtship between the potential client and the service provider. With much of it happening without any direct involvement from the service provider themselves. The client is finding out more about them, checking if they really know their stuff and can deliver results. Getting a feel for what it would be like to work with them.

They're using the web. They're talking to others they know.

And by the time you first talk to them, their mind is almost made up.

So what are you doing to make sure that weird kind of courtship that's happening with your website and all your other marketing channels before a client contacts you is working effectively? How are you managing your Zero Moment Of Truth?

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Marketing

The "Potting On" Strategy For Winning Clients

Posted by

Ian Brodie on April 29th, 2012.

Winning Clients With The Potting On Strategy I spent a few hours in our main greenhouse today “potting on” some tomato, cucumber, and pepper seedlings.

For non-gardeners, potting on is a critical activity where you transplant a young seedling from a seed tray or small pot to a larger pot. It gives the roots of the plant more room to grow and more compost to grow in.

If you don't pot your seedlings on they can become weak and “leggy” with not enough space to expand and not able to pull enough nutrients from the compost.

Business relationships often need “potting on” too. Whether you're trying to nurture face to face relationships with people you meet at events or online relationships with newsletter subscribers.

Everyone talks about “keeping in touch”, but it takes rather more than that if your goal is winning clients.

It takes more than just a quick chat at networking events. Or occasional emails to tell people what you're doing.

Winning Clients is about Nurturing Relationships

Just as plants need more nutrients and more space to grow and bear fruit, you've got to build more depth into your relationships if you want them to bear fruit too.

Before potential clients are going to be ready to hire you they have to have deep confidence in your capabilities and trust that your relationship with them will work out. That won't just come from casual conversations at events. But it might come if you invite them to see you present. Or you send them an article you've written. Or they talk to some of your previous clients.

The key to winning clients is to take a planned approach to your nurturing. Just as an expert gardener knows what a plant needs to flourish, so an expert business developer knows what a client needs before they'd be ready to hire them. And as they grow, that's exactly what they give them. In just the right amount, at just the right time.

When the relationship needs “potting on”, that's what they do.

So, how are your gardening skills? Do you know what your client relationships need to flourish and bear fruit? Do you have plans in place to give them that nourishment?

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Image by “Katemonkey”

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