Monthly Archives: September 2014

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Customer Data: Collecting and Utilizing

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Big data and data mining are buzzwords that have echoed frequently in the business press during the past three or four  years.   The noise level has caused business leaders to feel obligated to collect data from as many customer interactions as possible.   OK,  that’s very ambitious of them,  but now what? There is a lot of talk about big data and data mining and increasingly there is some action,  but the dust has not yet settled.  Many organizations are struggling with how to interpret,  utilize and store the copious amounts of customer data now in their possession.

Customer information is always useful,  but does data collection have meaning for small businesses and Freelance solopreneurs?  What information should a Freelancer collect and what do we do with it once we have it?  Do big data and data mining have any use for the little people?  The answer is yes,  but no.  Big data and data mining are of most use to the bigger players,  who use the costly to acquire information to fine-tune product offers to millions of current and potential customers.

Freelancers and small business owners can start with their client list.  Who has done business with you over the past five years? Who are your repeat customers?  What do they buy from you and when do they buy it?  If you have not done business with a B2B or B2G client in the past two years,  is your contact still at the organization and is s/he still in the same position? Are B2C physical and email addresses current?  Visit company websites and view the staff lists to confirm email addresses,  telephone numbers and job titles.

Customer data might give you ideas on how to improve customer service,  cause you to re-think your pricing strategy,  or help you to discover unexpected talking points for your next email marketing campaign or monthly newsletter.  Your customer data might prompt you to reconsider good customers of years past and get you thinking about how to win them back.  Updated customer information will make it easy for you to send out holiday cards in December to your B2B and B2G clients and do some relationship-building,  an important element of customer retention.

Online customer surveys that are accessible on your website and also emailed to your customer list have the potential to bring in still more useful customer data.  Learn how to devise a survey that makes it easy for customers to share the information that you want.  Keep the questions simple and don’t ask more than 10 to achieve the highest rate of participation.  Freelancers may also want to send out post-project surveys with the final invoice.

Social media outlets are another excellent source of customer data.  Social media have a way of bringing out uncensored thoughts and you might be surprised by what you learn.  Are your customers willing to engage with you on Facebook,  Instagram,  LinkedIn or Twitter?  Will any join in a Google + Hangout and join in a voice and video live chat?

Collecting data from many touch points is potentially very useful for every business entity,  but what you make of it and do with it are what matters.  Freelancers and small business owners can use customer info to improve revenue by way of expanding billable hours or sales of current customers;  re-establishing business with lapsed customers;  new customer acquisition and relationship-building.  Small data can yield big results when properly interpreted and utilized.

Thanks for reading,

Kim

 

 

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The Risks and Rewards of Time Management Triage

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As of September 22 at 10:30 PM,  Summer 2014 ended and Autumn officially began.  September is a hectic month for many,  as projects that have been in limbo since June,  because completion would require more time and energy than the principals could muster during July and August,  are resumed.  September is when you pick up the thread and work toward a pre-Christmas victory.  It is time for you to evaluate both work responsibilities and social invitations and decide who and what are worth your scarce time and energy.

One must learn to triage,  as emergency room physicians and nurses do,  and give ourselves permission to prioritize and move forward with what has either value or consequences and ignore what and whom are a waste of time or a low-risk write-off.  Following this strategy is not without its own set of consequences and depending on who is tugging at your sleeve,  things can get uncomfortable.  Please,  allow me to rant for a minute.

At various times in my life,  I’ve had the misfortune of interacting with one or more disrespectful,  manipulative,  boundary-crashing and supremely entitled time-sucking vampires who shamelessly and relentlessly took every opportunity to control my time and hence,  my life.  These were personal relationships and thankfully not work relationships,  but the scenario was no less stressful just because a paycheck and professional advancement were not at stake.  I am inclined to believe that women encounter this problem more often than do men.  Sadly,  both women and men will disrespect women on a regular basis.

Be advised that failing to triage one’s time also entails consequences.  The only way to have the time to fulfill important responsibilities and also participate in activities that you enjoy is to neutralize the time-suckers.  It will not be easy.  These folks are determined to get their way and they do not give up without a fight.  Expect wheedling and pestering and be prepared for possible escalation to accusations,  emotional blackmail,  harassment,  lies and guilting.  Whatever you do,  never give in to a campaign for attention and control.

But I am getting melodramatic here.  The situation is not always so heavy.  It’s just that you must recognize that you are not obligated to do everything that you’ve been asked to do,  because it’s impossible.  Your first qualifier is doing what will bring consequences if you ignore it.  Taxes come to mind,  along with deadlines for important work projects.  Activities and special occasions that involve your children and spouse will closely follow in priority and and events that involve your parents,  siblings and close friends will occupy the next tier.

Less pressing work projects,  volunteer commitments,  acquaintances and relatives whom you like are the next level down and anyone after that can take a number.   You may decide to decline or ignore their requests because quite honestly,  they are not sufficiently important to you.  If Uncle Stanley is a mean-spirited idiot who enjoys undermining people,   why would you waste time going to his birthday party?  Do not let your mother guilt you into it.

According to Ed Battista,  executive coach and instructor at Stanford University in Palo Alto, CA,  the key to making time management triage work is acknowledging the emotional aspects involved in saying no or ignoring people.  Attempting to assume an intellectual approach may not be useful,  for reasons that I’ve mentioned above.  The time-suckers are masters of arm-twisting and no one wants to be portrayed as cold and callous.

Battista recommends that we must aim to expand our comfort with discomfort.  Difficult emotions and awkward  “scenes”  will no doubt have to be managed in the triage process and that is a by-product of our need to control and allot our time and energy as we see fit.  Among the skills that may be helpful is acquiring the vocabulary to communicate how overwhelmed our current responsibilities make us feel and how the prospect of additional obligations will make us feel.  The line of people demanding attention may be long,  but we must learn to say a kind,  but firm “no” when it makes sense to do so.

Thanks for reading,

Kim

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Know the Stakeholders, Close the Deal

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Freelance consultants,  business owners and sales professionals rise,  fall and are measured on our ability to make sales and form strategic alliances that supply vital revenue to the businesses we represent.  To get those deals done,  we rely on stakeholders within the prospective client’s organization to advocate for us.  While there is but one signature on the proposal contract,  there are always powerful influencers whom the decision-maker is inclined to consult.  To successfully close an important deal,  you must identify the three types of stakeholders who powerfully influence important buying decisions: champions,  decision-makers and blockers.  Learn the motivations of these stakeholders and figure out what is on the line for them if the deal goes through,  or is allowed to fade away.

Step 1 is getting your foot in the door,  the first hurdle of the deal.  Step 1 requires that you enlist a project champion,  for it is s/he who invites you to pursue the deal and helps you achieve Step 2,  learning the identities of whom you must convince or outwit.  Your champion knows the decision-maker for the deal and will facilitate your access.  The champion influences the decision,  but s/he is not the decision-maker.  Some champions have relatively little power within the organization.  What they do have is the respect and the ear of the decision-maker.

Paul Weinstein,  an investor and adviser to technology,  media and entertainment companies,  notes that   “Champions understand the personalities and processes on a granular level and can navigate the culture in an organization.”  Weinstein also points out that the primary motivation of the champion is often status.  Champions want their colleagues and superiors to know that they not only can recognize an innovative opportunity when it appears,  they also have the ingenuity and power to build support and get approval.

The champion is typically at a point in his/her career where risks can be taken.  S/he is deeply invested in getting the deal signed.  The key to working effectively with the champion is to collaborate on a strategy and convince the decision-maker to green-light the proposal.

While champions are comfortable with risk,  decision-makers are invariably risk-averse.  They are C-suite executives who have the power to say yes or no to big deals and they will be held accountable for the final outcome.  Their name would be on the contract and if the deal goes sour,  it would be their reputation  (or possibly their job)  on the line. Because this individual has a lot to lose,  the anxiety level associated with the decision to give thumbs up or down will be in exact proportion to the level of expected scrutiny  (and embarrassment)  should they pass on a deal that subsequently brings big profits to a competitor,   or sign off on a deal that proves to be unfortunate.

Be aware that the decision-maker is unlikely to actually use whatever it is you’re selling,  or even know much about it.  Decision-makers focus on macro issues.  They rely on others to help them reach decisions,  because they don’t have time to immerse themselves in the details of anything other than big picture issues.  They will understand a strategic alliance,  however.

Win over your decision-maker by working with your champion to supply credible evidence that portrays the deal as a winner that will make him/her look good.   Help your champion to help the decision-maker perform due diligence by providing third-party validation,  analyses and other data that refutes all naysayers,  meaning the blockers.

We perceive blockers as haters and sometimes that is true.  Blockers seldom have the power to say yes,  but they do have the power to persuade decision-makers to say no.  Like champions,  blockers are also motivated by status.  They use the power of their relationship with and access to the decision-maker in a negative way and pour on the doubt to undermine and discredit you and your proposal.  Be advised that your blocker may be a sworn enemy of your champion and that s/he may be most willing to play dirty.  Your blocker may have a competing proposal for which s/he is champion,  his/her own bid to impress the higher-ups.

Paul Weinstein urges that you take blockers very seriously and strive to either win them over to your way of thinking or devise with your champion a method to neutralize their complaints.  If there is no personal enmity between your champion and the blocker,  then relevant and credible third-party support should rectify the problem.

In summary,  Weinstein says  “the secret to closing deals lies in mastering this balance.  If you can support your champion,  coax your blocker and  convince your decision-maker,  you’re golden.  Each of the three stakeholders brings a unique set of motivations to the table.  Your job is to understand them in order to align their interests and get the deal done.”

Thanks for reading,

Kim

 

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The Buying Process Is In Effect

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In 2012,  the global research and advisory firm Forrester Research reported that clients are as totally in the driver’s seat as we all knew anecdotally and that product and service providers have much less influence over purchasing behaviors than we enjoyed a decade or two ago.  We have left the era of the sales process and entered the realm of the buying process.  It is time to readjust your approach to marketing and sales in response to the new reality,  because what was will never be again.  Our clients are making decisions largely without our input.  Many sales professionals and consulting specialists aim to present ourselves as  “trusted advisers”  who guide the sales process and influence customer choices,  ideally for the good.  Say goodbye to all that.

According to the Forrester report,  clients now discuss product and service needs and options with their own team of trusted advisers,  which may include unknown third-party  “experts”  they find on websites like Yelp and Angie’s List.  How far along in the buying process that clients proceed without us varies by industry,  but the report indicates that 65% -90%  of the research process is often completed without assistance from sales professionals or consulting service providers.  By the time the client is ready to make a purchase,  much up-front research has usually been done and only vendor price quotes are needed.

Clients like the control of being in the driver’s seat.  A mistrust of sales practices perceived as unsavory,  combined with access to technologies that allow clients to rather easily research product and service needs once they’ve been identified,  are the driving forces behind the client independence.  Many are leery of being manipulated into paying for upgrades and add-ons that do nothing for their objectives.

In the flip from sales process to buying process,  your marketing strategy will become more prominent and your approach to sales will change.  Your marketing must first create visibility and awareness,  so that prospective clients will find your firm’s offerings and second,  create and sustain demand through exquisitely targeted messages and narratives dispensed through channels that clients trust and follow.  Content marketing will continue to grow in influence as it is distributed through your website and all social media outlets that clients trust.

Develop your content marketing to explore and discuss motivating factors that compel prospective clients to research your products and services,  solutions that you provide and benefits that clients receive,  frequently asked questions and how to buy from you.  As has long been said in academic circles,  publish or perish.  When not generating content,  do what you can to get in front of an audience and teach a workshop,  moderate a panel,  or give a presentation and further your brand as a source of expertise.  Remember also that traditional media outlets may still be important to your clients,  so the art of the press release should not be forgotten.

Whither the role of sales?  Rather than being reduced to mere order takers,  consulting service providers and sales professionals will apply their well-honed communications expertise to identifying networking opportunities and building relationships.  Content is king and having lots of good things that demonstrate your expertise come up in a search is a wonderful thing,  but in my town,  no one hires anyone that they don’t know.  If a prospect does not already know you,  then an introduction made by someone whom the prospective client trusts is the next best thing.  No amount of artfully written content will convince anyone to hire an unknown.

Networking will be the queen,  as you meet potential clients and referral sources and take the time to build relationships,  taking an interest in others’ concerns and offering to give before you receive.  The B2B buying process is a tall order for a Freelance consultant,  but we are determined to succeed and we will rise to the challenge.

Thanks for reading,

Kim

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Working Hard to Work Smart

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Yoo-hoo,  wake up!  Labor Day is behind us and it’s time to get serious about business.  Our Summer reverie is over until next year.  As inspiration,  I will speak with you about  “working smart”  vs. “working hard”.  That dichotomy has roamed through the popular press for quite some time,  but experience tells me that it is a straw man argument.  In reality,  if you want to be successful and realize your dreams and ambitions,  you are going to work both hard and  smart.  It has never been either or.  It’s both.

Working smart means prioritizing and devoting scarce time and resources to people and projects that deliver results.  Some ideas and activities are very appealing at first glance,  but either they do not have the potential to pan out in the way you would like or you lack the resources to bring about the desired outcome.  Research and analysis shows that time and money would be wasted there,  so you move on.

Effective hard work requires one to work smart.  There are 24 hours in a day and we do need time to sleep and eat,  as well as attend to responsibilities other than work.  Not everything can be outsourced.  The willingness and discipline to roll out of bed at 5:00 AM and work productively until 10:00 PM or even later may be the sweat equity one needs to invest to make the concept viable and sustainable.

Founder of the hardware and software integration company MicroSolutions and owner of the Dallas Mavericks basketball team Mark Cuban knows all about working hard and making sacrifices.  Those behaviors supported him as he built MicroSolutions into a $30 million business.  In his role on the ABC-TV reality show Shark Tank,  the billionaire angel investor has found that aspiring entrepreneurs who have the discipline to learn more about their product,  their business model,  prospective customers,  the marketplace and the competition have the greatest chance for creating a successful enterprise.  He claims that money and connections are not as important as one might think  (I beg to differ on that point).   Cuban goes on to say that if you fail,  decipher what went wrong,  re-group and re-launch.

Cuban also cautions against constantly designing your products and services to give the customer what they say they want.  He advises business owners to solicit customer opinions about what could be made to function better and make doing business with you easier,  but to avoid relying on customer opinions to create future offerings.  Cuban points out that creating the road map to the future is the business owner’s job.  One stays in business by offering products and services to the customer that they don’t know they want until you give it to them.

But understand that hard work,  smart work and study won’t guarantee that you’ll create a successful business,  either.   Contrary to Cuban’s assertions,  connections count  (especially in the  intangible services arena,  where word-of-mouth is powerful);  money counts  (especially when funding the development of a product);  and good luck and timing count  (he may agree with these last factors).  Vision,  ingenuity and risk calculation also matter and these will impact your luck and timing.   Also,  let us not underestimate the momentum-building power of your absolute belief in your product or service and your ability to communicate that passion and enthusiasm to prospective customers and investors.

I leave you with a quote about working hard from Alexis Ohanian,  co-founder of the social news website reddit  and author of Without Their Permission  (2013) “I was willing to burn the candle at both ends.”

Thanks for reading,
Kim