Connecting with your audience

Last Saturday night my wife and I attended a concert by Jimmy Buffett, which was opened by Jackson Browne, a headliner in his in own right.  We had a great time, just as my friend Kyle said we would.  Alpine Valley Music Theater, southwest of Milwaukee, is a great open air venue

Regular readers will know that customer service, reasons for success, and numbers are all hot buttons for me.  I rarely am anywhere for very long without thinking about at least one of the three and Saturday was no exception.

On the way back to our motel we talked about several things, including the fact that Jimmy seemed to be having fun all the time. He was interacting with the audience in a way that they (we) felt and shared in his fun.  He was connected with his audience (and his band)!  Jackson Browne was similarly connected.

Think about it.  If you want to succeed in most things you are doing that involve an "audience" you HAVE to connect with your audience.  This is true whether you are teaching, preaching, parenting, selling widgets, healing, serving food, or many other things.  

Read doctor reviews by patients sometime.  Are the ratings based on medicine or customer service and connection to patients?  Most ratings seem based on such things as "did I have to wait long?   was the staff "nice"    was the doctor "nice"  etc.       "medicine" is rarely mentioned.  I want both -----  good medicine and "nice"  (nice = connected).

Take a look at the top pro athletes.  Usually the ones with the most endorsement money work hard to connect with the fans.  I have read that NASCAR management insists that drivers work at connecting with fans because they know this is an important part of creating a large customer base.

We had some of the best seats in the house! (8 rows back, 2 seats off center).  My wife was the top bidder for a Jimmy Buffett package at a Skin Cancer charity auction held as part of a surfing tournament in Cocoa Beach last November.  Kelly Slater is an 11 time world surfing champion, a native of Cocoa Beach, and the sponsor (with his two brothers ) of a big invitational surf tournament in Cocoa Beach.  And he is a friend of Jimmy Buffett's.  BTW-----  the Slater family does not just put their names out there!  They connect!   As an example, Kelly's sister in law, April really directly runs the charity auction.  We went to her house to pick up the Buffet Package and couple of other items my wife "won".

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What is -30- ????

Back in the day  -30-  was used by a reporter typing a story to indicate the end of a news story.  It is generally considered that the use of  -30-  largely ended with the advent of the computer or at least the end of the typewriter.  I was never a reporter and never really used -30-.  I was the editor of The Iowa Transit, the student engineering magazine for two years.  I don't recall that I ever received an article or story with -30- at the end. 

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Delta IV rocket launch Augsut 7, 2013

Below are two photos of a Delta IV rocket launch from Cape Canaveral (Kennedy Space Center).  These were taken by my niece, Emi Larson, Weds evening August 7.  The package was a WGS-6 communications satellite for the US Air Force.  You can see how it lit up the water near shore. 

 

Click here to read story about launch from NASAspaceflight.com 

Thanks Emi!

 My wife was present for the final night-time shuttle launch a few years ago.  She reported at the time that it lit up the whole beach and sent tingles up her spine.

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Are we fulfilling your expectations???

In my post of last Friday (August 2), I noted that I would often (usually) ask newer employees "Are we fulfilling your expectations here at Richway?"  To me, that was a perfectly normal question, but, apparently it is sort of radical to some.  After all, according to "the radical bunch" isn't the new employee's job to meet our expectations, not our job to meet his expectations.

Everybody starts a new job with a set of expectations, which almost certainly include an expectation that it will be "better" than their previous job.  The better job we do in meeting those expectations, including our demonstration of awareness and concern, the more likely we will have a satisfied and productive staff member for a long term.

BTW    I would usually ask at least a couple of times a few weeks apart and would sometimes get feedback I could act upon.

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MBWA or MBAQ???

In 1982 Tom Peters and Robert Waterman wrote of "management by walking around" [MBWA] in their book In Search of Excellence.  This was how HP founders Bill Hewlett and David Packard ran their company, long before it was a computer company.  This was a management style which I used a lot even before reading of it.  I tried to get out most days and circulate through the plant to talk to people.  I also tried to spend a least a couple minutes in everybody's office.  Sometimes it was just a simple "Good morning"  but often I would ask a question.   One of our staff members, who had read about "management by walking around" told me one day that my style might better be called "management by asking questions"   MBAQ was born!

One question I often asked during the first few weeks or months of somebody joining Richway was "are we fulfilling your expectations here at Richway?"  As I noted in the post of a while ago   ----"Thanks for asking"  ------    people appreciate your concern.  It must be genuine and you must act on their answer when appropriate.


Of course you find out useful information.  Importantly, you build an atmosphere where even without you asking questions, people volunteer or raise issues.

Not all my questions were work related.  I asked some about them and their families, their hobbies, and their children because I wanted to know them.  Sometimes I even heard about health problems for them or family.  You have to be prepared to take time to listen if the answer is long or it starts a dialog.

Whether it is MBWA or MBAQ or whatever term you wish to call it, you are interacting with all your staff members, getting to know them (and letting them get to know you)  establishing a dialog and communication and learning about what is going on in your organization.  "Priceless" to quote the tagline of a TV commercial.


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Secrets from another master salesman.

Here is a secret from another Master Salesman whom I have known for a number of years.  When I first asked him what his secret to success was, he emailed me something he had prepared for a presentation at a sales meeting of his current employer a couple of years ago.  He has consistently been  their top sales person.   (He had been our Director of Sales and Marketing for a number of years before leaving to take another position).

A few weeks later I asked Dana for the most important "secret" and he responded by saying that the most important was to "SHOW UP"

He told me  he makes from 9 to 12 meaningful sales calls (in person) a day two days a week, usually on Monday and Tuesday.  The rest of week is devoted to follow-up paperwork, emails, phone calls, etc from the two days of sales calls.

Of course there is a lot more to being a Master Salesman than just one or two "secrets".   I have one more Master Salesman who's secret(s) I will be sharing in the coming weeks.  Then I will try to summarize what I have learned from them in a later post.

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Here is what Dana originally sent me.

I was asked to share on this very topic two years ago for a sales conference call.  In summary, the following is an overview of my presentation:

I always present myself as being in a support role in any transaction.  It is not about me.  It is about satisfying the needs of the client.  It is also about satisfying the needs of co-workers who I rely on to help get the deal completed.  My reward comes in the form of compensation and internal satisfaction that I am getting things done.  I have yet to find anyone willing to buy my awards and accolades.  They are nice when received, but do nothing for me afterwards.  Awards are for living in the past.  The next deal is in the future.

I also embrace the idea of "showing up".  I work with over 100 major clients.  Showing up itself can be quite a task.  I have a system that has worked well for the four years that I have been with my company.  Though it is impossible to map exactly what your schedule can be, I have a good idea of where I need to be two weeks before I travel.  I visit clients that both bring in a lot of volume, but still take the time to see those that bring in little to nothing.  There is no greater reward for me than to get a deal from a client that has not used us much in the past.  It gives us that opportunity to exceed their expectations and secure more deals in the future.
 

My clients have more sources for their business needs than ever.  My clients can be either supporters or detractors of my companies message.  We need to continue to take care of them.  My job is to spread my message message within these locations.   With the competition as fierce as it is, I need to know what the competition provides and what they do not provide the clients that I work with.  We all pretty much provide the same type of product.  I find that it is most important to do the things that our competition doesn’t do.  They do not show up like we do.  They do not model themselves with the personal touch that my company is known for.  The clients that I work with value the fact that we are available. They value the fact that I care.  You cannot act that part.  If you don't care about the clients that you serve, then you will not be successful.  NEVER.  NEVER.  NEVER.  They are smart.  Do not insult their intelligence by acting like you care about their needs when in reality all you care about is your own.  If you are a selfish salesperson, you may make sales, but you will NEVER be world class.

I work with a fantastic team.  Our team has been able to exceed the goals set for our group.  Any one of us could be talking today and the message would be the same.  We could not do it without the great team support.  Many times, the clients call them direct because they have the confidence in their knowledge and dedication to their needs.  They do not disappoint.  Our team is strong because of them.  We keep in constant communication within our team and share in our success and failures.  Circus jugglers work alone.  Don't make your career a circus act!!!  Work together in sharing knowledge and that is beneficial to us all in surpassing volume goals.  Win as a team.

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Washington DC revisited

I had the opportunity to be in Washington DC last week for the first time in more than twenty years.  I was there four or five times in the 1980's for business and one time we took our five children on a two week eastern trip to a number of "important" locations.

I was interested to see how things have changed since "9/11".  (It seems almost unbelievable that it was almost TWELVE years ago)

For the most part, security was not oppressive, though clearly more present.  As one might expect, the more "sensitive" the building, the higher the level of visible security.   Airline travel is quite another thing!!!!

The White House was the most "isolated" of any place my wife and I went during our day of "touring" before we set up for and "worked" the "Rapid Excavation and Tunneling Show".  Of course, "because of the sequester" the White House is closed.  We had a great time, with some good cab drivers snd tour bus guides.

The show is directed by a lady named Dianna Gury. It is very well run and Dianna does a better job than 
any show in recent memory. First and foremost Dianna remembers that the exhibitors are her customers. She 
thanks them, both in person and over the PA system. Of course the attendees are also customers for 
both Dianna and the exhibitors, so we all have an interest in giving them a reason to attend.


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