Market Madness To Thousands

By Don Morgan

I didn’t appreciate professional sellers until, as a novice salesperson, I experienced the rejections, objections, nastiness and even outright lies told during the sales process, and wondered why a sane person would pursue this dehumanizing career. But soon I tasted the thrill of a successful sale and realized that selling is an exhilarating performance sport with addictive highs and demoralizing lows.

In all sports, amateurs work the activity as they have time and inclination. By contrast, the professional lives in a disciplined régime that includes aggressive goals, planned achievement methodologies and practice sessions until the goal is achieved. Once a goal is achieved, the professional resets new goals and starts the process over. Achievement of a sales goal brings a transitory thrill that dissipates when you set sight on a higher level goal. This is the life process for all high achievers.

Marketing goals are designed to find clients prepared to exchange something they have (usually money) for what you have – a product or service. Sales goals are aimed at creating the actual exchange of money for product. To create a successful sales transaction, the seller must get their product in front of a prospective customer and then cause an exchange of money for product. Dr. Ivan Misner, outlines four SIMPLE strategies to get sellers in front of prospective customers.
a. Cold calling
b. Advertising
c. Public relations (PR) campaigns
d. Word-of-mouth campaigns.

It may be SIMPLE but it’s not EASY

Okay. We all know SIMPLE does not mean EASY. To master any of the four client-getting strategies is not an easy task.
Cold calling is chilly and fraught with rejection and wasted time. But clients are found this way. To be effective, advertisements must craft your campaign slogans to communicate the right message to the right target audience. Advertising is expensive, but not to advertise is bad business. A good public relations campaign says a lot about your character and states how you fit into your community. PR makes a statement about your business integrity and contributes to your brand recognition. PR drives people toward the seller over a longer-term process. Don’t expect immediate results.
A word-of-mouth campaign may not bring about immediate results, but offers power benefits that go way beyond getting many new loyal clients.

Trilogy of Trust

One friend A, who is trusted by another friend, B, offers advice about finding a product/service that B is looking for. This takes care of the target marketing because the referred friend B made it clear that they are looking for a specific product. The first friend, A, knows where to get the product because they either have the product already, or know a third reputable friend, C, who sells that same product. A offers a few complimentary comments about their friend C, the vendor, and achieves the same result as a good PR campaign, wherein the goal is to drive business toward the seller, C. Finally, the first friend, A, helps the second friend, B, meet up with C, and most of the selling is already done. Vendor C merely has to make sure their presentation addresses Buyer B ’s specific requirements for a successful sales transaction (money for product) to occur.

The referral process boils down to a “Trilogy of Trust.”Word-of-mouth marketing campaigns rely on one person trusting another person to send them to a respected and trusted third party for the purpose of transacting a deal. Following are three simple and-not-so-easy initiatives to get a seller in front of many willing buyers through word-of-mouth selling.

1. Join networking groups. Network members increase their potential exposure to others who might join them as referring partners. Look for ways, acceptable to the group, of adding value to other members. “Business and life depend on giving. Those who give the most quality – get the most quality.” –Trusted friends, who share good rapport, enjoy helping each other. Create new friends and help each other through word-of-mouth referral generation.

2. Learn more about each other. Discover what others do and let them discover what you do. Learn how to refer successfully to your new partners. Teach others about you through brief business statements. Use these statements appropriately when you hear the phrase, “…and what do you do?” Create and “practise until perfect” four commercial messages: A) Seven-second sound-byte commercial, B) 15-second, C) 30-second and D) 60-second commercials that tell your story. You need a memorable commercial that is ideally suited for the surrounding people and circumstances.

3. Deliver your message repetitively. Repetition is the mother of memory. Keep your messages simple and within all your written and verbal communications. Repetition helps your message become memorable and easy to use by your referral partners. Adding value to your new referral friends will inspire them to spread your words to members of their own networks. This is called Givers Gain®. Those who give value to referral partners tend to get value in return. While it’s nice to work with trusted people, word-of-mouth referral campaigns also offer unlimited access to a buying target group.

Getting thousands of buyers in front of you

On average, a businessperson knows 500-1,000 contacts within their extended networks. Each of those contacts shop for goods and service every day. Your new referral partners can reach out and touch someone with your message if you give them cause to do so. Make sure you give your referral partners cause to send your message to the right targets.

It is through a simple relationship with another person that we find our best business. The not-so-easy part is that the most complex machinery on the earth is the human being. Humans, in inter-related relationships, are exceedingly complex, but also have extraordinary potential. A strong group of 20 referral friends is connected to more than 10,000 buyers. Individuals in this buying group, each of whom knows another 500 people, is shopping every day and could buy from you. (The math is getting too large, but you get the point.) Getting in front of this group of buyers, through word-of-mouth, creates marketing madness.

Word-of-mouth madness starts by spreading your marketing wings in networking groups with the purpose of adding value to individuals within the group. Here’s the simple, but not-so-easy, part of the word-of-mouth selling. Diligent and assertive patience is required to develop relationships that lead to solid network contacts who will help you with your business, your interests and your life. To be successful today as a seller means being a team player who supports a network of people.