Propulsion

Propulsion, Sales, Tony Bilby

Space Shuttle

Propulsion. Seth Godin recently published the blog post, “Hot: A Theory of Propulsion.” A bit abstract, it seems to largely concern the fact that, in this day and age, stationary things fall by the wayside. We need action to acknowledge something as significant. We spend our lives guided by interactive screens that present breaking news, interactive games, and moving GIF’s. While I do not necessarily desire to speak to the current state of contemporary society, I do think the application of “propulsion” to sales is to say the least, significant.

As a salesperson, you need to take initiative. Very rarely, if ever, will you make an effortless sale. You need to propel yourself, to show action in closing a deal. By establishing authority in conversation by way of talking, you are affecting change. One way to do this is skillfully mentioned in Diane Lamont’s blog, “The ‘How’ of Asking Sales Questions”.

While yes, as the sales associate, you must be the one to provoke and prolong conversation, there is a delicate line to toe. You want to involve your prospective customer in a dialogue that does not feel forced but rather fluid. There should be a light atmosphere and casual air surrounding the conversation as statements and replies seamlessly complement each other, building to the foregone conclusion of a closed sale.

One way to facilitate this is through asking questions. Questions illustrate curiosity and care so long as they are asked with deft ability. Inquire about customers’ interests if you know them, and allow them to speak on their passion. Ideally, this will warm the waters and reduce any awkward tension arising from potential social insecurity. Conversation is similar to exercising, and a warm-up lets you ease your muscles into the work-out before lifting heavier weight. The same goes for talking. Warm up a bit and present a friendly image rather than that of the pushy salesman.

Of course, implementing personal questions is easier said than done, like everything else. One must properly balance questions throughout the dialogue and illustrate a sort of active listening. Display that you are listening to what is being said while it is being said rather than just mentally queuing up your next question. One way to do this is by repeating the information back at your customer, like “If I’m hearing you correctly…” or “it is my understanding then, that…”. By displaying comprehension, you are displaying that you care about the customer, because you clearly care enough to listen to what the customer is saying.

Propel yourself forward. Take action. Be active even in seemingly passive activities like listening.  Propel your presence and make the sale!

Why Mentors Matter

tony bilby, Tutor, Mentor, Business Coach

Mentorship

As time progresses the concept of a mentor becomes more and more of a dated concept, whether due to increased social insecurity or due to an ignorance of the benefits a more experienced individual can offer, I do not know. What I do know is that having a mentor has been a tremendously influential aspect of my life. Thus, I have decided to write down some of my thoughts explaining just how and why a mentor’s insight is truly invaluable.

Experience

A mentor has had experience you have yet to have, or may never have. If you can tap into the lessons they have already learned and apply them to your own professional career, you will attain an unquantifiable advantage over your professional peers. With a mentor, you don’t have to learn things the hard way. The hard way becomes a thing of the past as a business coach can guide you to and through astounding opportunities that will breed the career you desire.

Connections

A mentor has spent years and years building a social network you have yet to develop. From being exposed to opportunities that would otherwise fly over your head to receiving glowing letters of recommendation, these experienced and insightful individuals have your back. Mentors want to see their students succeed, and it is for this reason that a mentor is a nearly necessary cog in the wheel of professional networks. Tap into their connections to meet the man or woman who will offer you the career you have always dreamed of. To be scared to reach out to a mentor is essentially ignoring a vast network of professional superiors who are looking to give you a job that is better than the one you already have. Use the trust your mentor has already built to build your own network, to build your own career, to build yourself for the better.

Staying on track

For those moments when we as individuals question where we are in life, a mentor is actually there to answer. There is no need to become bogged down in social and professional anxiety when you have someone to ask for guidance. A mentor is there for you to answer the tough questions and to help you in your professional (or social in some cases) quest for success. Although tough to exonerate numbers behind this particular point, the fact remains that a mentor will offer you truly immeasurable solace.

Anyway, this is just what I have noticed in my own professional career. While I would never say having a mentor will make or break your career, I can certainly say it will help to a phenomenal degree. The choice is yours, but one moment of awkwardness asking for someone to be a mentor can equate to a lifetime of insight. As Newton said, “If I have seen further than other men, it is because I have stood on the shoulders of giants.”

For further reading on the value of a mentor, you should check out this New York op-ed.

The Resolve of Resilience

Perhaps nothing is as effective in your professional career as the ability to bounce back and overcome adversity. It is a tremendous skill that goes hand in hand with developing absolutely vital tools in the toolkit for success, those tools being dedication and confidence. What’s more is that while resiliency is certainly rooted in basic genetics to a certain extent, it is also strongly associated with taught habits.

Take this Time article for example. It specifically states that very often resiliency is found most commonly in individuals who retain a positive belief for what lies ahead. Our ability to overcome seemingly insurmountable obstacles comes at the hands of believing that what lies beyond the mountain is worth climbing the mountain for. While the article cites religion as a specific instance where resiliency is commonly found, it also specifically mentions the basic belief that just having a future can be an enormous catalyst for projecting someone past the obstacles that currently hold them back. It makes sense. Why would we put ourselves through hardship if the hardship isn’t worth working through? However, while the article mainly focuses on children coming up in difficult circumstances, I feel the same basic concept can be applied to your professional career as well.

To attain and retain resiliency is to teach yourself dedication. To implement a basic belief that helps you overcome whatever is dragging you down at the current moment is tremendous motivation and a phenomenal tool for achieving eventual success. Without dedication, we could never move past difficult situations, difficult times, or even difficult conversations. Dedication is instrumental in pushing us to the be the best we can be in life, to be the best version of ourselves, be it professional or not. To be the best, you have to be dedicated to being the best.

It is from here that we can see resiliency translating directly into confidence. I don’t think I have to mention the necessity of keeping confident in sales, but regardless anyone who has ever cold called knows no one is buying from someone they don’t trust. Without confidence, there is no trust. Without trust, there is no sale. By applying dedication through resiliency, and then by extension overcoming whatever difficulty we encounter, we develop an enormous sense of confidence. We believe we can push through the hard times, which then in turn further motivates our internal dedication when we reach hardships that lie further down the road. Through attaining, developing, and retaining resiliency, we are creating an absolutely vital asset for success.

It is important to remember what lies ahead. If we only live in the moment, then when the moment becomes overbearing, we will succumb because we have no reason to push past it. Remain resilient. Remain dedicated. Remain confident.

tony bilby, Obstacle, Resilience, Keep Going, Motivation, Inspiration

Mirror

 

 

The Business of Business

A business is more than just a money machine. Like a living organism, it takes more than just sales to breathe life into your business, and in fact, profits are the least of your concerns when building a thriving business. What are some tips and tricks you can use to make the success of your business, your business?

The first and most major realization you should be open to is that if you got into this business solely to get rich, you will fail. No plan that has ever begun with the end solely in mind has ever gotten far. You need a goal. A mission to aspire to and constantly push yourself toward achieving. Without something for you to drive toward, your business will seem hollow and insubstantial.

You need to have passion for what you do. While your individual desires may vary, it’s important to communicate those desires at every opportunity. If your employees and investors get the sense that you’re not putting all of your heart behind your product, they’ll take their time and effort elsewhere. Don’t be afraid of showing how much you care about your business.

The freedom of owning your own business is a double-edged sword. Without knowledge in its correct use, you’ll end up hurting yourself and your company. Freedom means that all of your time now belongs to you and your business. Many small business owners either underestimate the work needed to grow, and fail, or they start operations and fall victim to their own laziness.

Tony Bilby closing

Closing

Lastly, you’ll want to focus on your impact and where you’d like to make it. A business that aims low will surely hit their mark, but if you set out to make a difference for the world and fall short, you’ll make an impact with those you were able to reach. While not all small businesses are geared toward making the world a better place, you can make the world your business inhabits a better place. Redefine the way homes are constructed, serve ice cream with the widest smile imaginable, whatever you choose to do, do so without compromise or fear.

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Branding Like The Big Boys

When launching your business, it’s of the utmost importance to advertise. As the little guy is a field of tall grass, you need to shout loudly if you want your customers to see you over their competition. It’s precisely this mistake that costs most their dreams right out of the gate. Assuming that your company can’t use the same marketing strategies as names like Coke and Apple, then you’ve given up before you even started. Below are some quick tips to keep you ahead of your competition and branding like the Big Boys.

Coca-Cola is a name synonymous with branding. In fact, when drawing a comparison between a product and its potential success, when haven’t marketing managers compared their product to the worldwide brand recognition of that red and white label? Each year, Coke spends over $4 billion on marketing and advertising, but why should you need to do the same? Emblematic marketing is key. A symbol that’s both easy to replicate and catch enough to remember, Coke’s key to success has been never altering their logo in any major way. Ingrained into our cultural zeitgeist, I don’t doubt for a second that any major change to Coca-Cola’s logo would illicit a drop in their earnings.

Cultivate a community around your brand. Products like Apple, Sony, and Microsoft have held sway over their loyal tribes for years. Imagine the marketing potential of a group of people willing to fight for your product. The best marketing campaign, complete with lavish commercials and celebrity appearances, can’t come close to the power of personal recommendations. People will shirk their responsibilities, families, and even hygiene to stand outside a store in hopes of being the first to grab that new release. Though your company may not have that killer app just yet, you can still build an experience. Start small with outreach and establish a back-and-forth between your customers. Soon, you’ll have a your very own tribe of supporters.

building the brand

Building The Brand

Don’t neglect the social media arm of your marketing campaign, either. Starbucks, the coffee giant, can be found almost anywhere. However, when was the last time you saw a Starbucks commercial on Television? Throwing almost their entire might into social media, Starbucks has revolutionized the way companies talk to their customers. Whether creating custom infographics for their Tumblr or responding to tweets about their product with uncanny speed, Starbucks has clearly demonstrated that they are paying attention. So, when engaging your clientele over social media, don’t be afraid to connect. A moment of authentic connection could add a new member to your tribe.

 

Selling – The Early Days

Selling for a living is a tough game.  Well, it depends really.  Small sales or the average salesperson working for the big firm, all right, not so tough. Big sales where you make big commissions, now that’s entirely different. I’ve met a ton of salespeople in my career. Many are average. Some, the best ones, the multi-millionaires, now those are some of the most persuasive people I’ve ever met. As you get into multi-million dollar sales the stakes go up and the game gets tougher. If you want to close big deals, make big money, you’ve got to be better than the best. You’ve got to study, know your product and industry better than everyone else, you’ve got to learn the angles and work every strength you have. Know your stuff. Learn your trade. Prepare, be disciplined, call high, and never “wing” a sales call. My favorite sales movie: Glengarry Glen Ross. ABC: Always Be Closing.

I landed my first sales job when I was seventeen and from then on I was hooked. Sales is in my blood. It’s what I do and I’ve been doing it for a long time. That first sales job I sold vinyl windows, roofing, and siding door-to-door. We went to rich neighborhoods, middle class, and poor. The poor ones were the toughest and dangerous. I was young, foolish, and I should have been scared. I thought I was invincible, maybe because I was mostly a loaner. At thirteen, I’d spent much time away from home. I’d experienced hours in bars and pubs in Europe, unfortunately, at too young of an age. By seventeen I’d already had the great fortune and opportunity to have lived and traveled around Europe, Turkey, Greece, and other parts of the world mostly with just one other friend. So, I guess I felt, whether naïve or not, old enough to handle an American city.

Those early days selling on the streets were my first encounters with capitalism and business. It was an unbelievable experience. I witnessed people making money and those without money. I witnessed the inequalities that exist in America, the stark division between rich and poor that is the inevitable result of our capitalist system. In Germany, when I was a boy, they had three schools that students were required to test into at a young age. If you tested well, you were put on the University bound professional track. If you scored mediocre you were placed into schooling for craftsman and specialized labor. If you scored low, you were placed in the remedial schooling. Their paths were chosen at a grade school age and once in the track it was very hard to get out of. Another example, and even more extreme, is the Caste system in India.

Not in America. In America you have the chance, regardless of your background, to rise above and achieve. I was fortunate enough to be an American citizen at the American schools in Germany so I didn’t have to conform to those rigid European standards. In fact, much of grade school was very difficult for me and I was riddled with learning disabilities. I was fortunate, again, to have a German born mother who wouldn’t stop home schooling and tutoring until I got it right. I remember many summers stuck in the kitchen reciting grammar and math exercises with my mother while the other kids were outside playing. I hated it at the time, but I realize how blessed I was now to have someone teach me and instill discipline when I was young.

At seventeen, though, I was selling on the means streets. I was the young tin man. “Hello sir or maam,” I said, “have you ever considered an estimate for home improvements regarding your windows, roofing, or siding?” I got the door slammed in my face. That was a common objection. I got all kinds of objections selling. My favorite objection was the very polite “do you have some literature you can drop off? If I’m interested I’ll get back to you.” I should have carried For Whom the Bell Tolls, The Sound and The Fury, or The Great Gatsby in my back pocket and handed it over to them: “here’s some literature.”

One day I was really upset. I’d been hit with a million objections and I’d probably been threatened once or twice as well. When I went back to the office I mustered up enough courage to ask my boss why the hell he’d sent us, yet again, into the ghetto. “That’s my old neighborhood and where I grew up……fool,” he told me irritated. “I used to live there and you want to complain to me about visiting? Maybe you aren’t tough enough to handle this job and I got a million kids to replace you if you can’t.” That about summed it up. What was I going to say? In reality, if my mother had known about the visits to dangerous neighborhoods she would never have allowed me to continue the job, but I was up for the challenge. I was independent, strong, and I had to prove myself!

Dave was a young successful business owner that had worked a number of years in home improvements, learned the business, and then started up on his own. He was a shining example of a young black man succeeding in America despite his background of adversity and severe challenges. Dave was a few years older and a great role model for me. I was impressionable and I didn’t want to let him down. Not only was he managing his own business and putting himself through school, but he was also providing assistance for his parents as well. Unfortunately his brother was shot and killed in a drug related incident years prior and that, he shared with me, was his motivation to get out. Dave was the ultimate salesman. He could talk the talk. He could convince anyone to do anything and he was smooth as silk. It seemed like a different beautiful woman was walking in and out of our office every week. Always asking for Dave. Dave would smile and off they would go. Dave was the boss, he knew it, everyone knew it. He was the ultimate player, the big time baller, the boss.

Dave hired a pit bull as his lead salesperson. Tim was a huge guy, a body builder, and most likely used steroids or various drugs to boost his physique. He was aggressive, in his early twenties, and when he charged into the office barking orders at the rookies that set meetings for him I wanted to hide under my desk. You didn’t want to set a non-legit appointment for Tim. Our job was to generate enough interest and set an appointment so the senior salespeople could meet with the homeowners and discuss the home improvement offerings we provided. Once, a rookie set a bogus meeting for Tim. Tim came back, with his fresh crew cut, bright red face, and veins bulging. “Your lead was crap, rookie,” he screamed as he confronted one of my co-workers. I thought for sure he was going to grab him by the neck, but Dave caught him right before it got out of hand. Dave and Tim would often go at it in the office. Egos were big and our office was diverse, to say the least, and the yelling, ribbing, and verbal assaults were part of the norm. It was a relatively young start up company so it wasn’t the most professional environment.

Those were my first experiences with sales. A bunch of men stuck in a small office filled with bravado and testosterone and an aggressive commission only environment. If you weren’t closing you were out. If you didn’t sell you were out. I learned the ropes quickly and it didn’t take long for me to set quality meetings and close deals. Soon I was making more money in high school than I knew what to do with. Like I said, I was hooked.

Glengarry Glen Ross – Not for the faint of heart!

 

The Music of Marketing

The power of music is palatable. Reaching where no hands can touch, music lifts us up and demands that we move our feet. However, the power of music’s ability to be as far-reaching and all-encompassing as it can be is due to the genius marketers behind every tune. Without the proper channels, the best tune in the world is little more than a bar song. What are some of the secrets behind the greatest musical successes of 2015?

Few can touch the hem of Adele’s fur coat, especially after her dominance of the music scene in 2015. Adele’s album, “25,” was a smash success. Selling nearly 4 million copies in its first week, Adele broke the record for most albums sold opening week by a cool million. Her single “Hello” broke records of its own, quickly becoming the most watched video online. In only 24 hours, her hit song grabbed the attention of 27.7 million fans. But what is her secret? What simple tools were implemented by her and her marketing team to send his album into the stratosphere?

Adele

Adele

Well, first there is the element of quality. Adele has made it known, through tireless live shows and practice, that she has the skill to back up her record. Far too often, unskilled performers are exposed to the public as little more than the result of clever sound design, and that peak behind the curtain is enough to turn diehard fans away. Aside from her considerable talent, Adele’s choice to withhold her album from the many popular streaming sites added an element of exclusivity to her music.

Additionally, two days before the album was released, Adele held a free concert in NYC. Separately, the raw talent of her voice and a free concert make for enjoyable experiences. Together, Adele created an exclusive moment that would be remembered by all the fans who took the time to attend. Directly emailing her fans with news of the concert and passes to get in, Adele’s marketing team ingeniously strengthened a bond made manifest through the power of her music. It’s not the job of a competent marketeer to force people into enjoying something, but to press the perfect keystone and let gravity do the rest.

Customer Crisis Communication

Crisis is a broad term that means many things to many different people. Whether building a business or managing a mega-corporation, a crisis in the world of business can mean the difference between success and failure. Part of managing a crisis when it occurs (yes, that’s “when” not “if”) is being prepared. By showing customers that you are ready for the worst, and their best interest is still at the center of your thoughts then you have a customer for life. Below are some simple tips for being sure that your next crisis remains under control.

Plan: Whether it means building an FAQ so customers can look to a pre-established list of answers, or briefing your employees on what they should say in light of your issue, putting a plan in place can never hurt when facing a crisis. Like practicing your Fire Drills in school, having a set path to take when there’s trouble lessens the possibility of panic when you need cooler heads to prevail.

Tony Bilby winning

Winning

Observe: This step does not mean for you to set-up intricate security systems and listening stations, but rather to observe your customers and their behaviors. Though this does little to help you respond in the event of a business issue, it does make for excellent PR with your customers. By illustrating that you care, a business can get ahead of the curve when planning for customer issues, and react for it snowballs into a full-blown crisis.

Act: Few trust a brand that hides behind their corporate logo. In a time of unprecedented connection, we are closer to our favorite companies than ever, and people have shown that they need to see a human element present in their companies. After observing what your customers need, respond. Showing transparency in your actions will only serve to bring your customers closer to you.