Author Archives: freelancetheconsultantsdiary

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Give Me A Break!

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Ambitious people work hard. Their to-do list is too long—and they wouldn’t have it any other way. They are achievers and they have mountains to climb. They are always flat-out crazy busy and cannot afford to waste a single moment. Working hard, working smart (hopefully) and working nonstop defines being productive, as they see it. Productivity is the engine of ambition. To the hard-working ambitious, this is a no-brainer, right?

It seems that many, if not most, ambitious people buy into this mind-set. To show the world (and themselves) that they are not slackers, they may brag about sleeping just four or five hours at night, because they have so much work to do. Others brag about waking up at 5:00 AM, so that they can wring as much productivity as possible from the day. Working 10 or 12-hour days and maybe skipping lunch, too, is standard behavior for members of the Hard Working Club; even vacations can include a Dropbox file filled with documents to review and a list of emails destined to populate their send file.

If the above scenario describes you, please know that I admire your ambition, work ethic and determination to succeed. To keep you on your path, I respectfully offer an observation—in order to sustain your ability to work hard and smart and maximize your productivity so that you can take aim at the ambitious goals you want to achieve, you must effectively manage your energy, concentration (i.e., focus) and endurance, mental and physical. Proper management of energy has nearly as much impact on productivity as the time spent working on your task.

Recall an instance when you finally had time to work on a task that was hanging over your head, but you put it off because you were too unmotivated or exhausted to do it. What your brain and body were telling you was that every once in a while, it is beneficial to stop working and rest. Rest periods—breaks—during your working day are more powerful than you might realize. In fact, rest breaks can improve productivity because they allow you to replenish your physical and mental energy.

A period of at least 10 minutes, during which you stop working and engage in a restorative activity (or inactivity) helps your body and mind to relax and refresh. Fatigue undermines concentration, creativity and endurance. Ignore that reality and you can find yourself unable to focus or perform well. Habitually pushing yourself to work through fatigue is not a sign of discipline or determination. Ignoring your human needs is counterproductive and can lead to burnout, a condition associated with unfortunate physical and psychological consequences.

By contrast, taking short breaks throughout the workday will restore your energy and help you maintain the physical and mental endurance needed to maximize your productivity. Taking breaks also supports the healthy self-regulation of your emotional state and behavior—that is, your mood—to promote positive interactions with others. When over-tired, we are vulnerable to responding to others in ways that are reactive—brusque or irritable—and we’re prone to taking frustrations out on others.

So, to stay at the top of your game, take a few micro-breaks throughout the day. Those respites can be as brief as 10 minutes in duration, but they matter. Just as micro-stresses might accumulate at work, micro-breaks can help you counter the negative effects. Below are examples of how and when you can incorporate restorative, productivity-enhancing breaks into your crazy busy workday.

1. Give yourself permission to take breaks.

Challenge the assumption that you’re too busy to take a break—you can’t afford to not take a break! Instead of leaving it to chance that you’ll find a few random minutes to squeeze in the rest you need, be as intentional about restoring your energy as you are about working hard and being productive. When you get into your car to begin a journey, you must have fuel in the tank. Taking a break during your workday is like going to a filling station to get the fuel needed to reach your destination.

2. Schedule breaks and set reminders.

Schedule blocks of time during the day when you’ll step away from work-related activity and do something that allows your mind and body to relax, so that you can replenish your physical and cognitive energy. You can let your biorhythms guide your break time and schedule a rest period when science predicts that your energy is at its lowest — in mid-to-late afternoon.  Research shows that our energy is typically lowest at around 3:00 P.M. You might try giving yourself 15-minute breaks at mid-morning and mid-afternoon, plus a 30-60 minute lunch break. Adjust the timing as you see fit.

If you’re inclined to get lost in your work and ignore the physical or cognitive hints that signal it’s time to rest a few minutes, install a pop-up alert on your desktop or phone to encourage you to stop working for a few minutes. Having a visual cue on your workspace screen, maybe a coffee mug, or an image of someone walking a dog or in a yoga pose, is a practical and entertaining reminder that break time has arrived. There are several apps designed to do this and some are free.

3. Build on bio breaks.

The breaks we must all take are the bathroom breaks. You can build an add-on to one or more of your bio breaks by “stacking,” that is, developing a new habit by attaching it to an existing habit or behavior. So, after your bio break, add your preferred relaxation or exercise activity. In this way, you pair something you want to do (or should do), with something you must do, such as visiting the bathroom. After your bio break, it will feel easier to transition to a 10–15-minute break that you devote to practicing deep breathing, meditating, climbing a stairwell or, for a longer break, taking a walk or run.

4. Batch email and other communications.

It can be tempting to use a few spare minutes when you have them to quickly respond to email or Slack messages, to make what could be an avalanche of mail more manageable. Yet, blocking out specific times in your workday for responding to emails is not only an efficient use of time, the practice also makes it easier to develop the habit of scheduling time exclusively devoted to breaks that do not include some form of work. It is in your interest to enable yourself to periodically relax and refresh, to sustain your energy and work at peak productivity.

5. Maintain meeting boundaries.

If possible, do not allow yourself to be trapped in meetings that exceed their allotted time frame (admittedly, this is easier to enforce when you preside at the meeting). If you are not the convener or meeting leader, be proactive about defending your boundaries by communicating in advance that you have another commitment that follows the meeting and therefore, you must observe the adjournment time indicated on the agenda and make your exit. Setting the expectation from the start that you will leave a meeting on time subtly encourages other attendees to be sensitive to the need to adjourn promptly.

It’s imperative to exert control over your time. When meetings exceed their projected adjournment time it can cause you to join your next meeting late, which is disrespectful and possibly disruptive to those attendees. Moreover, being late adds stress to your day. Most people will appreciate your stated intention to leave the meeting when the expected conclusion time arrives because respecting time often benefits them as well. In the event that you arrive late to your next meeting, spending just 15 seconds to take three deep breaths can help you focus, feel more prepared and be fully present.

6. Your go-to routine for unexpected breaks.

When possible, take advantage of unexpected breaks that occur when a meeting adjourns early or, conversely, starts late. Whether you listen to music, stretch your neck and roll your shoulders, or engage in a breathing exercise, creating in advance an easy to do and remember relaxation routine will allow you to use unanticipated breaks to your advantage. When it happens, embrace the serendipitous gift of time and use it to reduce stress and replenish your energy.

Thanks for reading,

Kim

Image: © Bettmann Archive, Lunch Atop a Skyscraper photographer unknown, September 1932. Iron workers take a lunch break 800 feet above West 49th Street during the construction of NBC Studios at 30 Rockefeller Plaza.

Marketing , , , Leave a comment

Make Sure the Price is Right

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If your goal is to build a thriving and sustainable business entity (and I know that it is), it’s imperative that you determine the right price point for the goods and services you sell. Establishing the most advantageous price range is an element of your marketing strategy. That means your pricing strategy must align with both the brand identity and market position occupied by your products and services and also be acceptable to target customers. Understand where your company is—and where you want it to be—in terms of perceived brand value. Do you consider your company to be a discount option, middle-road, or a luxury option?

Pricing is integral to business profitability and a cornerstone of business success. Experienced business owners and leaders agree that a pricing strategy can make or break a company—set prices higher than what customers care to spend and sales are lost; set prices too low and revenue potential is not achieved.

Surely, you’ve noticed that pricing has been a sensitive topic over the past few years, as inflation that (allegedly) topped out in 2022 caused the prices of numerous goods and services to rise as business owners sought to protect their profit margins from increases their organizations faced for the raw materials, acquisition costs, transportation and other expenses associated with bringing goods and services to market.

Unfortunately, readers of this post—mostly, Freelance consultants and SMB owners—often lack the financial cushion to withstand all but the briefest periods of economic adversity. Enterprise companies and other well-capitalized entities are better equipped to absorb both the rising costs of product production or acquisition and customer push-back associated with higher retail prices. Instead, the “little fish” are squeezed between inflated business costs and customer reluctance to accept price increases. Their reluctance may stem from budget cuts that inhibit B2B sales and in the B2C sector, the problem can stem from wages that may not have kept pace with inflation. Both scenarios can lead to prospects who second guess their need to spend and result in shrinking sales revenue.

As was discussed in last week’s post, being in business is all about solving problems, is it not? In order to survive, companies large and small must at least generate enough revenue to cover operating costs. Increasing the price of your goods and services might make you nervous; it may appear that you’ll lose a customer or two and that is worrisome. Keep in mind that customers are aware of inflation. They also understand that you are in business to make a profit. Optimizing your pricing strategy is the best defense. Offering a simplified version of your products or services can perhaps be an attractive option that may allow you to retain price-sensitive customers.

Calculate production/ acquisition costs

Let’s start with the math: (Price – cost) x quantity = profit. Before pricing your products or services, you must calculate the time and money you spend to obtain or create them. Tally the costs of each item purchased and each hour spent to produce, acquire, or create each product or service that you sell. So, if you purchase at wholesale products that you resell, calculate the costs of buying and shipping those items. If you manufacture the products yourself, or outsource the production/manufacturing, calculate the costs of the materials, manufacturing expenses, employee wages and the time you devote to production tasks.

Likewise, if your business is based in the knowledge economy—maybe you customize business strategies, or you create sales training workshops that you present in video classes—to the best of your ability, calculate the number of hours spent designing your intellectual property and assign an hourly rate to yourself so that you can determine the wholesale cost of your work (keep in mind that you’ll bill your clients at retail).

Once you’ve confirmed the amount spent on obtaining or creating your products or services, you will have discovered a vital piece of financial info—the break-even point, which represents the minimum selling price required to cover the costs you’ve invested to obtain your products and services. For info on pricing tools that might be useful for your business entity, click: https://www.symson.com/blog/best-competitive-pricing-tools

Benchmark against key competitors

Both industry statistics and the pricing habits of key competitors can provide guidance when evaluating potential pricing strategies. Within each industry, there are typical standard mark-ups and profit margins that are recognized as normal ranges. This info can help Freelancers and SMB owners to first, understand if their product/ service acquisition or development costs are too high or low relative to the typical selling price range and also where, or if, their selling prices fall within the typical price range for that product or service.

Further confirmation can be gained by investigating the pricing of two or three direct competitors, to discover an upper and lower price tolerance for your customers and identify a pricing sweet spot. In other words, for products similar to what you offer, if you discover that the most expensive competitive price in your market is $300 and the lowest is $100, that’s a convincing indication of the price range your customers accept and you can therefore confidently price your offerings somewhere between those values, guided by your production or acquisition costs and your company’s brand identity.

Emphasize value, not price

Benchmarking the pricing of certain competitors can be instructive but you should avoid copying what your competitors do. Competitive pricing intel is best utilized as guardrails that help you discover a price range that your customers can be expected to accept. Believe that your products and services can stand on their own merits—that is, the value your brand delivers. Your company and its products and/or services are more than just a price tag, more than a commodity.

Too many Freelancers and SMB owners attempt to win customers by being the cheapest game in town. This mindset nearly always leads to underpricing—undervaluing— your products and services and your company as well. When you choose to primarily compete on price, it is unlikely you’ll ever preside over a thriving entity. It’s much more likely that you’ll be trapped in a race to the bottom as you compete with those who are willing to undercut your price whenever necessary. According to spellbrand.com, “by being the cheapest or lower priced, you attract the wrong customers. You attract customers who make decisions based on price and not value.” Leave the price wars to Walmart and focus instead on how much customers might be willing to pay once they understand the value associated with your organization.

When you compete on value, you will attract and interact with prospects who respect you, your professionalism and abilities, and your company. The moment you decide to emphasize the value, you will attract those ready to invest at the level of service or product you can deliver. 

On that note, along with a thrifty vision of your product or service to attract price-sensitive prospects, develop also a VIP up-sell category in each product or service that you provide because there are always customers willing to invest in the very best you offer. Including a premium option of your products and services is a quick way to add even more revenue to your business income streams. When you are playing the long-term game as an entrepreneur, you want the best.

Thanks for reading,

Kim

Image: LazingBee

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On Considering a Business Partnership

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It’s often said that two heads are better than one. If you’d like to achieve an important goal or solve a problem that’s disturbing your life, help may materialize as a friend who suggests a solution that overcomes the obstacle. Now if the advice you need concerns a business venture, your answer could be found in the person of a business partner who’s willing to join you in the venture and bring resources that help jumpstart the success you envision.

Freelance professionals and other business owners may reap significant benefits from a partnership; a wisely chosen business partner will bring resources to your company that, depending on the products and/or services sold, can position the entity to take on big budget, high profile projects, introduce more clients, expand the products or services the company provides and/or improve access to capital that enables the business to scale and expand.

Partnership planning

Forrester, a global market research company with headquarters in London, UK and Cambridge, MA, in 2019 conducted a study that revealed companies worldwide use business partnerships to “drive competitive advantage.” Results indicated that 77% of companies view partnerships as “central to their business strategies and initiatives.” Those encouraging results could apply to your company, too, if you set things up right.

Because a partnership is a long-term, game-changing strategy, it’s essential that you discuss the idea with your accountant and business attorney before making any moves. There are different types of partnerships you can create, any of which might benefit your company. If the possibility of a partnership comes to mind, consider your vision for the business. Where is it now, in terms of profitability, number of clients and shrewd competitors? What do you want the business to look like in five years and what are you willing to do and spend to make it happen?

The insights and recommendations of your advisers, who are familiar with company finances and other important factors, will help you decide the type of partnership that has the greatest potential to fulfill your business goals. Involve whoever appears to be a strong candidate to join you in meetings with your advisers to talk specifics. It will make sense to ask your business attorney to draft a written partnership agreement for the new entity, whether or not your state requires that such a document must be filed with your Secretary of State or Attorney General.

Below are two standard partnership formats; the specifics of your choice will be included in the agreement, as will the ownership percentage of each partner. Keep in mind that partner contributions to the business may take various forms. Capital contributions can be made as cash, property, equipment, or intellectual property. The value of each partner’s contribution will impact the percentage of his/her ownership stake.

  • General partnership: where two or more individuals own and manage the business. GPs share equal responsibility and decision-making rights for the business, will receive the agreed-upon share of profits generated and will incur the agreed-upon liability for losses and debts. The liabilities, contributions and responsibilities of partners are typically equal unless stated otherwise. Profits and losses are shared equally, unless stated otherwise.
  • Limited partnership: limits the amount of financial liability for partners who join the entity as an investment opportunity. While there must be at least one general partner, there may be several limited partners, whose function is to bring additional operating capital to the entity. LPs receive profits and are also responsible for debts or losses, in accordance with the size of their contribution. They are not involved in the day-to-day management of the business, nor do they have decision-making power. LPs, often called “silent partners,” serve solely as investors in the business, with the funds they contribute being the extent of their liability.

The partner dance: who zigs, who zags

The person(s) you invite into your business is/are determined by the role the partnership will play in the company. Do you want a co-worker to help you operate the business and also add money and/or other resources? Or do you want more money to invest in the entity while you remain at the helm, developing and executing goals and strategies designed to advance business goals? As noted, you’ll begin by discussing your vision with advisers.

Once it’s decided whether a GP or LP arrangement is applicable, you’ll consider appropriate candidates to approach. In their 2015 book Rocket Fuel, authors Gino Wickman and Mark Winters stress the importance of having both a visionary and integrator — two different people — in order to successfully scale companies. The authors say, “When these two people share their natural talents and innate skill sets, they have the power to reach new heights for virtually any company or organization.”

Restaurants, in particular, typically follow an alternative partnership model, known as “front of the house” and “back of the house.” The front of the house partner is the extrovert who takes on customer-facing responsibilities—greeting customers, acting as the public face of the operation and talking to restaurant viewers and media representatives and, based on those functions, oversees marketing and brand management, for example. The back of the house partner oversees kitchen prep and clean-up, inventory management, accounting/finance and operations functions. Note that the format recommended by Wickman and Winters, as well as the restaurant model, are actually operating agreements and are used by GPs and not LPs.

Your partnership operating agreement should be committed to writing, so that the responsibilities of each partner, accompanied by job descriptions that clearly assign the related tasks, are spelled out. Below are questions that will help aspiring partners get to know one another better and perhaps anticipate how the new team will function, for example, when developing goals, implementing strategies and making decisions.

  • What motivates an aspiring partner?
    It’s only natural to begin the conversation by explaining your reasons for seeking a partner. However, you may learn more by listening to the candidate discuss his/her preferences, expectations, perceived strengths and weaknesses and needs—you want to avoid making assumptions about others’ goals and intentions. Furthermore, make sure you’re on the same page about issues like work ethic, business growth or expansion, willingness to take on risk (see below) and spending money.
  • How will you handle risk?
    Risk is present in all business ventures and we all have our way of approaching risk in its various guises. Partnerships will have a greater chance to succeed if those involved share a similar attitude toward risk. It may be possible to limit the possibility of taking on excessive risk in the partnership agreement, but it’s best to know if one partner is primarily risk-averse or a gambler and consider those characteristics when choosing the partner(s).
  • Agree on performance evaluations (KPIs)
    Unfortunately, many entrepreneurs create or join partnerships that don’t deliver. Quantifying expectations that will define success upfront gives partners the ability to objectively assess and track business performance. If the needle isn’t moving, partners can then decide on a course correction. It may be useful to include in the partnership agreement required performance assessments that make renewal of the partnership contingent upon achieving certain KPI milestones.

Characteristics of the right partner

Partnerships, like all relationships, are primarily built on trust. With that in mind, below are practical considerations to help you recognize a potential partner. Obviously, you want to partner with someone who is honest, committed, works hard and smart and is easy to get along with. Characteristics and conditions that you may want to look for as you consider a potential partner include:

  1. Trustworthy

As noted, trust is the foundation of the partnership. If you can’t trust your partner, nothing else will matter. The challenge lies in trying to assess trustworthiness when you don’t have a pre-existing relationship. Evaluating trustworthiness often comes down to the feeling you get when interviewing a prospective partner and examining his/her business track record. You’ll need to have several conversations with any potential partner — discussing experiences, beliefs, vision, background and other situational factors.

You may as well want to have conversations with people who know the candidate personally and professionally. Be sensitive to the way other people talk about your prospective partner—do they seem to feel positive and enthusiastic, or do they seem guarded or even indifferent?

A candidate’s business track record will also tell a story. Scrutinize candidate resumes and evaluate the financial performance of businesses they’ve owned or worked for in the previously. Were these companies and/or departments better off when the candidate left? Were there any questionable decisions that act as red flags?

2. Compatible

You’ll spend a lot of time with your business partner. You don’t have to be best friends, but you’ll need to forge a good working relationship, enabled to identify and prioritize goals and get things done. There must be a healthy dynamic that allows you to function as a team for the betterment of the business. Evaluating potential compatibility often comes down to a gut feeling.

3. Complementary skills

While compatibility is important, you don’t want to bring on a business partner who has an identical skill set. This won’t move the needle much for your business. Ideally, you find someone who has complementary skills. For example, if you’re good at innovation and product development, you might want a founder who has more experience with sales and marketing. Think back of the house, front of the house and also visionary and integrator.

4. The right network

Networking is a huge part of launching and growing a business. A venture in its early stages especially is highly dependent on a robust network of relationships to get the word out about the new venture. Even as the business grows, a healthy network will open doors for new opportunities.

Many will say that the network should be large, but I recommend quality over quantity. Having relationships with a select number of influential professional and/or personal contacts who will advocate for you and recommend or refer you to potentially good opportunities, as I see it, is much more effective than an extensive network that’s filled with people who cannot or will not make a phone call on your behalf or anything else to further your cause.

Apply this principle to your search for a partner. On your qualifications list should be the quality, or if you prefer the quantity, of his/her network. A partnership should give you/the business instant access to new, beneficial relationships . Between your network and theirs, you should notice an instant increase in revenue potential.

5. Problem-solving skills

As you know, running a business is all about recognizing, solving and, ideally, avoiding problems. That points to the need to find a resourceful and responsible person who has enough business operating experience to have become a skilled problem-solver. As you interview candidates, ask each one to describe a couple of business problems that s/he has faced and how (or if!) the issue was resolved.

It is very instructive to grasp how a partner is likely to respond when there’s a problem to confront. Did your candidate ignore the problem, hoping that over time the issue would resolve on its own, or did s/he quickly jump in to fix things, perhaps before understanding the root cause and whether an effective response could be made by your team, or if it would be wiser to rally the support of fellow business owners?

Depending on the situation, either response could be appropriate. Getting a sense of the Emotional Intelligence, judgment and strategic thinking style of a prospective partner will give you a strong indication of that person’s suitability to become a good partner for you.

Thanks for reading,

Kim

Image: Diane Arbus, ©The Estate of Diane Arbus LLC. Cathleen and Colleen Wade at age seven (Roselle, NJ 1967)

Sales , , , , Leave a comment

Lemons into Lemonade: When the Prospect Says No

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Unless you’re selling iPhones and iPads or another hot product, you know that sales is a tough business (I speak from lived experience). It’s a fact that prospects usually decline to buy. According to 2024 data compiled by researchers at Hubspot, the inbound marketing company based in Cambridge, MA, the average B2B sale has a success rate of 29%. https://blog.hubspot.com/sales/sales-statistics

Selling is a complex and intimate form of communication, a skill that’s impacted by luck (good or bad), timing, money, relationships, serendipitous trends and the needs or wants of prospective customers. Is it possible to crack the 29% close rate? Maybe if you’re an especially gifted talker and luck is on your side. For the rest of us, though, a lost sale means trying to get past disappointment as you pick up the pieces and move on.

When you think about it, you may agree that the best outcome of a sales presentation is to get an honest answer from your prospect. The worse possible outcome is when the prospect ghosts you, gives you the silent treatment. According to research by Matt Dixon and Ted McKenna, co-founders of DCM Insights, a B2B sales training company, and co-authors of The Jolt Effect: How High Performers Overcome Customer Indecision (2022), 40% – 60% of B2B sales are lost to no decision—ghosting by another name. Yes is always the favorite answer but even no feels better than being ghosted.

If selling is integral to your business, you’ll do well to focus on just getting an answer from your prospect, even if it’s not the one you hope for. In the competitive terrain of B2B sales, the pressure to extract yes from prospects can lead to frustration and stress. But those whose livelihood depends on successful sales—Freelancers, business owners and sales reps working for a company they don’t own—cannot continually chase down prospects, especially when it’s obvious they’ve slipped away. That’s a losing strategy, both time-wasting and corrosive to self-esteem.

There is a sliver of bright side, however, because when the prospect says no, it doesn’t always mean that you leave the scene empty-handed. The less experienced or confident salesperson will automatically assume that no means never. That could be true, but those who’ve been around the block a couple of times know that a prospect who declines to buy today might mean, “let’s talk at another time.” Those who sell should be aware that a third option can exist beyond the yes/ no paradigm.

The often neglected third option can lead prospects to revisit, reassess and sometimes redo a rejected sales decision. If you enable the process, you and your prospect together can access the third option and expand the meaning of a successful sale. It’s good sales strategy and respects the power you’ve earned as a professional who creates value.

So, when preparing for the next sales meeting, why not adjust expectations of potential outcomes and re-frame your definition of a “lost” sale? Like describing whether your glass is half-empty or half-full, allow yourself to reclassify no and redefine it as another type of opportunity—kind of like turning lemons into lemonade. Many prospective customers are not completely forthcoming when discussing a potential sale. As noted by Dixon and McKenna (above), roughly half of B2B sales are lost because no decision is made.

That all-too-common lapse should be the biggest motivation for those who sell for a living to ask probing questions when meeting with prospects. You need to tease out any unspoken agenda items and get the cards on the table. You set the stage for a candid discussion during sales meetings by showing that you care: listen well, take notes and repeat key phrases to confirm what needs to be resolved, achieved and/or avoided. Do that and you’ll earn trust and make it comfortable for the prospect to tell you what’s up, instead of ghosting you because s/he can’t figure out how to talk about things.

Yes, no, next steps

To encourage yes (and discourage a future no), make sure you and the prospect establish and agree on whatever next steps will continue the positive momentum of your conversation and facilitate ongoing engagement. In other words, do what you can to keep the prospect talking and keep alive the possibility of a sale, even if the timing will be later rather than sooner. Make the lemonade.

For best results, propose a specific time-frame for follow-up actions that lead to the next conversation. The follow-up will be an action plan that functions to promote the chances of converting the prospect into a yes in the future. Still, remember that your reassessment of a win should mean that you focus on getting a well-considered answer. If the answer is based on a thorough evaluation of your proposal by the prospect’s decision team, then call it a win, whether s/he says yes or no. Ghosting is what you want to avoid. Here are rewards you’ll get when you re-frame the meaning of successful selling:

  • Yes: Always the favorite answer. Your talking points and proposal convinced the prospect.
  • No: An unequivocal no does not always represent failure, as it tells you to move forward and pursue potentially more promising leads. The earlier in the sales process that no arrives the better it is for you. Then, you can redirect your time and energy on opportunities that may get you to yes.
  • Next steps: This option is based on specific follow-up actions and a scheduled time to meet with your prospect. Next steps is a win because it confirms potential interest and outlines a roadmap to a possible “yes.” The key to next steps is a specific follow-up time-frame.

Thanks for reading,

Kim

Image: © Getty images. Children Selling Lemonade, 1945

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Your Business Needs Referrals

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Whether your business is B2B or B2C, getting referrals is hands-down the best way to bring in new customers. When someone you’ve done business with recommends your company to their colleagues, friends, or family, your chance of getting the project or sale is greatly improved. Referrals demonstrate trust—they’re a big vote of confidence and one of the the greatest compliments your company can receive.

Most businesses receive referrals at least occasionally and for some, nearly all customers are referred, but the importance of referrals should not be underestimated. Savvy Freelancers and business owners are proactive and develop strategies to encourage a steady intake of referrals. The objective is to identify and motivate high-quality referrers and persuade them to recommend your products or services to those in their network who are in search of a solution your company provides.

Leverage your network

Keep in mind, BTW, that a degree of finesse is necessary when looking to stimulate referrals; you must be sensitive to the fact that referrals are earned and not an entitlement. That said, Freelancers and business owners who’ve been operating for maybe just a year or two will probably not be seen as pushy when reaching out to friends, family, or even former co-workers to let them know that referrals of prospective customers would be appreciated.

Those in your network surely know business owners, decision-makers and other professionals; some will be happy to make introductions that allow you to expand your network and, if possible, will also make a referral for you. Make it easy for those who know you best and are motivated to help you succeed by sharing basic facts about your business:

  • Explain what you do using terms they will understand
  • Create a professional looking website and LinkedIn profile
  • Concisely and clearly describe projects you’re qualified for and interested in
  • Give examples of the industries you typically work with, if that is a relevant factor (e.g., hospitality, defense industry, higher education, publishing) and the job titles of those who typically hire or interview you (e.g., CEO, Executive Director, Marketing Director, VP Human Resources)

Invite new relationships

Good referrals can also be made by people you’re not especially close with; meeting new colleagues at conferences and other professional settings can present opportunities to grow your network. When networking, do yourself (and everyone!) a favor and squelch the temptation to push your business card onto all you encounter as you “work the room.” Instead, show a genuine interest in those you meet, as demonstrated by asking questions and listening to those you chat with. Adopt a mind-set that includes generosity along with self-interest. Be willing to help others as you would like to be helped. Try these relationship-building tactics to expand your network and potentially generate referrals:

  • Invite certain of your LinkedIn connections to in-person or virtual coffee dates to learn more about them and discuss how the two of you might help each other’s business.
  • Explore local organizations related to your industry and/or the business community. Chambers of commerce are a good starting point. Attend business education programs, meet & greets, and/or virtual events and introduce yourself.
  • If you listen to podcasts or webinars, start building a relationship with the host(s) by commenting or asking questions. If you especially enjoyed the program, invite the host(s) into your LinkedIn network. If a program attendee or guest stands out to you, get his/her name and introduce yourself in a private chat and propose follow-up.

Social media promotes referrals

Social media sites like Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn and X (Twitter) enable you to nurture relationships with both your new and long-lasting contacts and make it easy to occasionally say hello and also remind them that you’re on the lookout for referrals. Periodically revisit and update your social media profiles, to ensure that your online presence will inspire confidence when new connections check out your organization as they consider referring you to one of their contacts.

As noted above, pave the way for contacts to refer you by clarifying the work you do and the job titles of those with the authority to green light your projects. You might also provide samples of your work, when appropriate. Create profile-enhancing posts that have the potential to cultivate your standing as an expert and encourage referrals:

  • Share industry news and thought leadership articles to establish yourself as an authority in your space
  • Participate in discussions that relate to your work and industry
  • Add customer testimonials or recommendations to your sites (and offer to make recommendations for others in return)

Exceed expectations

Referrals are 100 percent dependent on your ability to fulfill (or exceed) the expectations of customers. Whether your business occupies the B2B or B2C sector, you must ensure that the buyer’s journey, the quality and delivery of the products or services purchased and all touchpoints please the customers. Taken together, these elements comprise the customer experience; the customer’s perception of that experience determines whether referrals on your behalf will be made.

It is in the interest of business owners and Freelance consultants to both provide an exceptional end-to-end customer experience and also cultivate good relationships with customers. At stake are the potential for repeat business and referrals—important sources of revenue. You have ample motivation to keep lapsed customers on your mailing list, to give business updates when appropriate and to send December holiday cards to customers you’ve worked with (maybe within the past five years).

Remind customers that you welcome referrals

Once you have customers who are happy with your services or products, they may be willing to become a referral source when opportunities arise. Because they have direct experience working with you, they can speak with authority about the quality of work you produce and customer experience that you provide. Do you have a customer who’s told you they’re thrilled with the outcomes of a recent project? That’s the perfect time to ask for a referral!

  • Ask customers to write a LinkedIn recommendation for you (and offer to return the favor).
  • Ask customers to give you a written or verbal testimonial or participate in a case study that will appear on your website. Offer to include their company logo and website link, as a way to increase awareness of their company brand and provide a quality backlink for their company website
  • Tell happy customers that you’re thrilled they’re pleased with your products or services. Let them know that you’re open to performing similar work and that you’d appreciate their referrals if they know of anyone with a need for the products or services you provide.

Make referrals for others

If you are aware of an upcoming project for which you are not a fit, or that current commitments prevent you from accepting, there may be someone in your network for whom that project would be ideal. That’s why forming relationships with other Freelancers and business owners and leaders is essential. When you refer a project or customer to a colleague, it reflects well on you—enhances your professional reputation and portrays you as a true professional. Furthermore, When you refer work to others, you’ll be at top of mind the next time a project comes along that you’d be a good fit for.

Avoid a mindset that’s based in scarcity, envy, or other negative feelings toward business colleagues, including direct competitors. It’s draining and does not insulate your entity from competition. Instead, be cordial and cooperative with business colleagues. Get to know what they specialize in and the types of customers they work with. Become the business owner who colleagues and contacts enjoy referring.

Thanks for reading,

Kim

Image: ©Natee Meepian

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AI 2024: Freelancers and SMB Think Marketing

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So much of operating a successful business centers on marketing. Generating revenue is about customers: bringing them in and keeping who you have, all the while doing what you can to outmaneuver competitors and work around business climate challenges. To slip through the obstacle course and achieve those objectives, you must think and execute strategically and that includes making use of resources available to you. Among the most powerful and most discussed resources can be found in the many groundbreaking technological developments that have so radically reshaped our lives over the past hundred years.

Some of these useful and exciting tools are capable of delivering significant advantages to your organization—quick access to relevant data, the analysis and interpretation of that data and automation of routine functions such as email marketing and social media posting among them—all can be yours with just a few taps on your keypad. Your task is to stay abreast of the fast pace of emerging technologies and recognize the tools that will give you operational efficiencies you need most at a price you can afford.

The tool that’s got everybody talking is, tah dah, Artificial Intelligence. Open AI/Microsoft (Chat GPT), Google AI, Nvidia AI and Amazon (AWS machine learning) are among the leaders in the race to dominate AI technology. It’s imperative to start your learning curve and figure out the right way to use AI in your business. Maybe you’ve already started and have a chat bot on your website? That’s a great tool to enhance customer service and there are more marketing functions that AI can successfully support.

More than a trend

AI’s gift to marketing rests on its data-driven insights that help you personalize the customer experiences your company provides. Freelancers and small business owners are able to affordably access AI generated data that is actionable, meaning you can convert whatever insights you’ve gleaned into marketing strategies that can be expected to move the needle and set your organization apart in a highly competitive marketplace.

Personalization builds relationships

Marketing thought leaders have already pointed out that the future of effective marketing is personalization. Creating a memorably satisfying customer experience has replaced the hard sell. Now, the task is to lead customers to develop a connection with your business and give them reasons to continue doing business with you. Promoting connection through the inclusion of personalized marketing tactics is how to build relationships now, as you discourage churn and encourage repeat business.

New technologies, AI and otherwise, enable you to precisely personalize your company’s marketing strategies and tactics. The data that AI et al. delivers enables you to deepen your understanding of the customer persona by amassing demographic info that, among other insights, gives you actionable data about their buying habits and preferred experiences that you can use to make them feel valued. You can use recently developed technological tools, including AI, to create a more trusting and mutually beneficial relationship between your company and customers that ultimately leads them to give your marketing content more responses and followers that result in more sales, donations and growth for your organization.

Personalize and optimize AI prompts to personalize and optimize marketing content

The good news about AI technology is that it enables users to create both text and visual content. The downside, if you want to call it that, is you must “tell” your AI tool the result you want; to make it happen, you must learn to write instructions known as prompts. AI prompts can be divided into two categories: text prompting and image prompting. The prompt is how users communicate with the chosen AI tool—think key words and long-tail phrases. With prompts, you “tell” the AI what you want and how you want it to be done. You must describe what you want to see as a result.  

In text prompting, you’re “talking” to a natural language processor like ChatGPT. If your prompt is a general query, e.g., “how do you bake bread?”, you’ll be given a generic answer. But if your prompt is a more specific query or statement, e.g., “explain in simple terms how to bake whole wheat bread”, then you’ll likely end up with an acceptable recipe. When your goal is to create an image, you’ll use image prompting words to describe that image. The AI image generator is a text-to-image tool that was designed to make it easier for digital marketers and content creators to create images online. The text-to-image models you’ll use will include DALL-E2, Google’s Deep Dream Generator, Jasper.ai, or Stable Diffusion.

Incidentally, know that while AI tools are designed to process language, they have a different way of understanding than your average human. When using a natural language text prompting tool, you may receive outcomes that are incorrect or downright nonsensical, so it may take several tries, using different phrases to develop the prompt, to arrive at the outcome that you want. 

A cheat sheet of prompts written by someone else most likely will not produce optimal results. Your own words, perfected through a process of trial and error, in the end will breed success. Before you get started with AI prompts, here are a few things to keep in mind:

  1. There’s no magic prompt. The Internet is flooded with AI prompts, but it might take some trial and error before you figure out which type is most effective for your particular use case. 
  2. Clarify your desired outcome. A good rule of thumb: the response will generally be as broad or specific as its prompt. In some cases, it might actually be preferable to skimp on the details—like if you’re brainstorming blog post topics and want more varied and diverse answers. Something more complex, like a sales playbook or chatbot script, will almost always require more details.
  3. Garbage in, garbage out. The quality of the output depends entirely on the input. AI enables teams to move a lot faster, but it’s still important to take the time to flesh out your prompts. Otherwise, you could find yourself drowning in responses that are unclear, inaccurate, irrelevant or just wildly off-base.  

Marketing copy text prompts

Ramp up your creativity with prompts like “craft a brief, captivating story of a summer trip” or “compose a social post introducing a new skincare product for winters.” The suggestions that you get for these prompts can inspire imaginative content. Another strategy is to tailor your content based on audience preferences — from short-form copy to artwork, music and videos. This can help generate more tailored, engaging content for social media posts or emails. 

Informational text prompts

Hone in on the most relevant metrics and other info that’s buried in big data by using prompts like “provide a brief overview of Adidas’ top-performing footwear collection.” This is perfect for informed decision-making and finding out what’s still trending. 

Reasoning text prompts  

These prompts go beyond facts. They help AI provide thoughtful conclusions about a subject, adding depth and insight to your content. This includes prompts like “what is the impact of sustainable practices on corporate profitability?” Such lines of questioning can go a long way in helping you with industry knowledge and competitive analysis questions. 

List text prompts

Compile lists effortlessly by using prompts like “create a list of engaging podcast topics in the realm of artificial intelligence.” They’re ideal for generating concise, bulleted options, be it for email subject lines or blog titles. These prompts help structure your thoughts in a more systematic way. 

Instructional text prompts  

Guide your content creation with prompts like “detail the process of setting up a home automation system from scratch.” Utilize them to provide step-by-step guidance, which is incredibly useful for creating how-to guides or informative content. 

Interactive text prompts  

Interactive prompts initiate conversations. This includes prompts like “imagine you’re a travel guide giving recommendations for a solo trip to an exotic destination.” They create engaging scenarios, which are ideal for training sessions or interactive content. 

Keyword text prompts  

Keyword prompts pinpoint words or phrases. They are used for tasks like drawing insights from data or aiding in image and video creation. Take the example of this prompt: “Generate creative ideas for nutritious meal options that are easy to prepare at home. Focus on incorporating fresh ingredients and simple cooking techniques.” This keyword prompt guides the AI by specifying terms like “nutritious,” “easy-to-make,” “fresh ingredients” and “simple cooking techniques,” providing a clear direction for content generation related to healthy and easy-to-make meals. 

Image prompts

Use a phrase to describe what you’re looking for. A few specific details about the object or character, including a description of the character or object that will be in the foreground or background and the setting you’d like to see in your preferred image design.

Thanks for reading,

Kim

 

 

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Trending: Traditional Media Outlets

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Freelancers and all business owners and leaders are well aware that promoting and enhancing their entity’s products, services and the company brand is a prime and ongoing responsibility. To accomplish that important objective, you’re always on the lookout for marketing opportunities and channels that are a good fit for your brand and also allow you to effectively broadcast your marketing message and/or brand story. As you consider which marketing channels are most appropriate, it would be no surprise that in addition to your company’s website social media, whose active users number in the billions, likely take precedence in your hierarchy of preferred marketing options.

But think for a minute. Facebook et al. do not completely dominate all influential marketing channels; your hometown newspapers and magazines still wield influence in the communities where you operate. Although their number and reach have probably diminished over the years and have never attained audience numbers that rival social media, you may nevertheless find it beneficial to periodically reach out to certain local media to share a newsworthy update about you and your business. Local media outlets and the stories they feature continue to get noticed and command respect. Their readers and listeners could easily include your customers and prospects. Getting yourself and your company featured (positively!) in traditional media outlets, however modest the audience reach, is a marketing win. Consider outreach to local media as part of your personalized marketing strategy.

Getting started

The various social media platforms, as you know, have made it possible for nearly anyone to build an audience if the topic is attractive to readers or viewers and they’re willing to create and post content. There’s no need for today’s aspiring Influencers to work toward a degree in journalism or media communications as a steppingstone to earning credibility and acceptance as a thought leader or style setter.

In stark contrast, traditional media outlets—print, radio, television—have gatekeepers, that is, publishers, editors, or reporters, who control all content that is featured. So, just because you call yourself an expert in your professional field, it will take some convincing to persuade the gatekeepers to quote or feature you in their publication, especially if you lack examples of previous media coverage to validate the expert status you claim. However, if you create an effective pitch in your press release https://freelancetheconsultantsdiary.wordpress.com/2020/02/25/press-release-to-send-or-not-to-send/ that concisely and enticingly explains how your topic (story) is relevant to the outlet’s audience and describe your professional experience and educational background in language that supports your position as an expert on the subject, you could receive a positive response to your media outreach and be on your way to being quoted as an expert source, if not a spotlighted subject of a feature article.

Build your media list

Before you can send a press release, you’ll need a current list of media contacts. Sending a well-crafted pitch that’s tailored to a small but select group of gatekeepers who may be interested in your story and have the power to green light it will always yield better results than sending a pitch to every email address you can find.

Begin building your media list with a visit to the mastheads or websites of media outlets you feel will be appropriate for your story; in many cases, the name and contact info of the editor who manages your story’s category, and/or reporters who cover your topic, will be listed there. You might also search back issues of your preferred publications to find and skim articles by reporters who cover topics relevant to your story and/or your business.

If there is insufficient info listed on the outlet’s website or masthead, search for reporters on X (Twitter), Facebook, or LinkedIn. You can direct message on those platforms, but it may be better to make your media pitch via email; it can be more effective to first telephone the reporter or editor and verify potential interest in your story before blindly sending a press release. Initiating a conversation with an editor or reporter is a better way to build a relationship. Be sure to mention that you’ve read one or two of that reporter’s articles if you get him/her on the phone.

Eye-catching subject line

Regardless of how you make initial contact, if you receive an invitation to provide some details in writing, the quality of your email subject line is the starting point of your media pitch. Whether you DM or chat on the phone, the email subject line will be the first (official) info the reporter or editor sees and even if interest in your story was expressed while on the phone, a riveting subject line will remind the journalist of your story’s relevance. Your subject line may determine whether or not your email gets opened. The viability of your story is at stake.

Devise an eye-catching subject line that contains maximum seven to nine words, if possible. Incorporating relevant current events, using an unexpected statistic or statement, or promising a unique solution to a common problem have been known to capture a journalist’s attention.

Surprisingly, it may be easier to create a good subject line after you’ve written the body of your pitch email. Reversing the usual custom will allow you to see your entire message and the big picture perspective may lead you to create a more powerful subject line. Finally, create a draft version of your pitch and open it on your mobile devices, to confirm that your subject line will always display fully.

An intriguing intro

Because you more than likely have had no previous contact with the journalist, there is no need for friendly overtures. Politely get down to business. If your subject line has held your journalist’s attention, you have just a second or two to keep that attention and a compelling intro is how you do it. You might repeat your subject line and add two or three additional sentences or bullet points to strengthen your case. The examples below may be helpful:

  • The Chief Information Officer at workwear manufacturer Carhartt reported that the company currently utilizes 121 software-as-a-service subscriptions, up from 59 subscriptions five years ago. The number of SaaS subscriptions now exceeds the number of IT employees at the company. “We don’t have enough resources to manage the administrative aspects of the platforms,” says company Chief Information Officer Katrina Agusti.
  • In response to a suit brought by the National Small Business Association against the Treasury Department, the U.S. Federal District Court for the District of Alabama ruled on March 1, 2024 that the Corporate Transparency Act is unconstitutional. More than 32 million U.S. business entities are estimated to be affected by CTA and were required to comply and submit company documentation. While it is likely that litigation will continue to play out in the federal court system, the initial victory has gone to small business and that means compliance with this now unconstitutional regulatory regime can be set aside for the time being.

Identify the problem and its impact on their audience

If the journalist is still reading at this point, congratulations, you’ve captured his/her interest in what you have to say, so it’s up to you to keep them interested with the pitch itself. Most stories in the media are based on some type of conflict—a problem that affects their audience in some significant way.

Succinctly describe the event or challenge and concisely explain how it impacts the media outlet’s audience. Avoid using technical jargon unless you’re pitching to an industry publication and you’re in the field. Your pitch will resonate with the journalist only if s/he feels it will resonate with the audience, so keep readers and/or viewers in mind as you craft your pitch. Keep it simple and clear, expressed in a few brief sentences or better yet, a few bullet points. Statistics and quantifiable data are especially powerful.

What makes you an expert

Compose a simple one or two sentence statement that establishes your expertise and authority to understand and address the topic, for example CPA, CFA, MD, or PhD. Trust and credibility are important to your clients and prospects and also important to journalists and editors. Even if the media outlets you approach are small and local, they must be confident that anyone interviewed is reputable and knowledgeable.

  • (you) are a serial entrepreneur turned investor in start-ups launched by retired professionals
  • (you) own the largest bridal shop in your state and have operated the business for 30 years
  • (you) are a Freelance cybersecurity expert who’s received extensive training in private industry and at government agencies including the U.S. Air Force

What makes you and your story of special interest?

Arbiters of the media are perpetually in search of what will stand out and grab the attention of their audience. Audiences are sometimes interested in what they feel is “better”, but they more often give their attention to what is different. Keep that truism in mind as you create your media pitch because you must possess one or more attributes that make you stand out and capture the interest of a media gatekeeper. Otherwise, journalists will just cite the already well-recognized experts instead of you. You may have a unique perspective on, or solution for, a particular challenge but what is it about you that gives you a special authority to present yourself as a thought leader or expert?

Sell you story by highlighting how you do things differently and why your approach is better for their audience. If you and your 11-year-old daughter have figured out how to sell 5,000 boxes a week of Girl Scout cookies, by all means send a press release to your local newspaper!

Close with a call-to-action

A well-worded call-to-action will serve as a bridge or a well-lit path that encourages the recipient of your media pitch to take action and contact you to learn more about you and your story. For that reason, it is in your interest to conclude your media pitch email by telling its recipient what you’d like him/her to do next—contact you by phone or email as soon as possible to discuss how your quote or story might be featured in his/her media outlet.

A polite, yet unambiguous call-to-action works best. A statement as simple as, “If this sounds like a story you may be interested in covering, please email or contact me directly at (your preferred phone number and email address). It’s been said that failing to request follow-up action on a press release decreases the likelihood of the story being featured.

Thanks for reading,

Kim

Image: Photo by Marion S. Trikosko (public domain). White House correspondent Helen Thomas (R) with President Gerald Ford and White House Chief of Staff Dick Cheney (far left) during a 1976 White House press conference.

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Differentiate and Dominate

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Here’s a question—what’s the recipe for a secret sauce that will persuade a prospect to become your next client? How wonderful it would be if you could walk into your pantry and pull those ingredients off the shelf. Lived experience tells me that the X-factor of the secret sauce is the client’s gut feeling of your ability to do the job. The interview questions, info in your resume and bio, the references submitted on your behalf by colleagues you’ve worked with have but one purpose and that is, to convince decision-makers you are uniquely qualified to seamlessly produce the project deliverables needed.

That may not seem like a steep hill to climb but in our increasingly competitive marketplace, search committees regularly meet with candidates who appear to be highly capable and able to produce the deliverables. Some may even seem as if they’d also be a joy to work with. The good fortune of being presented with a group of extraordinary candidates ought to make a search committee’s job easier but oftentimes, the abundance of talent only complicates matters. When everyone looks like a winner, how does the committee recognize who deserves the blue-ribbon?

That this is a problem may not be immediately obvious because risk is always inherent in independent employment. Still, the Freelancers and other business owners among you may have become uncomfortably aware of the need to be more resourceful, resilient and agile than seemed necessary just a few years ago. Could it be that while many candidates are impressive, they are for some reason seen by prospects as a commodity and more or less interchangeable?

The topic has captured the attention of researchers at top consulting companies, including Accenture https://www.accenture.com/us-en/insights/song/accenture-life-trends . Differentiation emerged as a viable strategy to distinguish you and your company from competitors and help increasingly jaded search committees to see you as an expert who, if nothing else, can be trusted to make them look good by hiring you. So your task is to find a niche expertise that fits your brand, is adjacent to your current offerings and that prospects value enough to pay for.

The right niche expertise can make you stand out from competitors and sidestep the dreaded commodity label. If you choose well, your niche expertise will generate enough billable hours to enable you to become a big fish in a small yet lucrative pond. So, the next question is, how can you differentiate your skill set to become more valuable and positioned to dominate a money-making niche market and simultaneously remain true to your brand identity?

Know the customer, know the brand


As always, comprehensive knowledge of your target customers and deep understanding of your brand and its impact on customers will make you feel confident enough to:

  • Recognize a market-worthy expertise that both fits your brand and will persuade prospects to pay you to provide
  • Create and carry out the strategies that entering the niche market entails

Whatever you choose, you’ll be most successful by making a data-driven decision that is based on relevant metrics. Most of all, you must verify that the niche you’d like to enter is capable of grabbing the attention of prospects, making you seem like a more worthy and exceptional candidate and also has the ability to let you generate sufficient revenue to make it worth the work it takes to enter that market.

Also, be sure to research the need for professional experience and/or educational credentials that will allow you to be seen as a credible and trustworthy expert in your new field. Make a plan to acquire whatever certification is needed. Moreover, if there are upcoming conferences or other programs that pertain to your niche expertise, plan to attend and network with colleagues and prospects (if in attendance).

Finally, update your website, social media platforms, business card, inbound and outbound marketing strategies and tactics to announce and support the introduction of your niche expertise to current and prospective buyers and other stakeholders and begin to build trust in what may be perceived as a new competency for you. Competitive intel as regards key words and messaging should be helpful.

Thanks for reading,

Kim

Image: Living Color Garden Center Fort Lauderdale FL

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The Case for Face2Face

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Whether the topic is business or personal, most studies show that between 60 % – 90 % of communication is nonverbal and furthermore, nonverbal communication techniques, for example, tone of voice and physical distance between yourself and the person with whom you are speaking, are intuitively used by all humans. Moreover, within the first few minutes of meeting and speaking with someone, we begin to make decisions about what the other person’s intentions are and figure out if that person is trustworthy and safe to do business or socialize with.

Those study findings throw cold water on the 318.66 million U.S. citizens who in 2023, according to the German data research firm Statista, used the internet to send email and SMS (text) messages, follow social media and join videoconferences to communicate with colleagues, family and friends. Electronic communication platforms are quite convenient but numerous reliable studies show that nonverbal communication signals are challenged to cross the digital divide, causing unspoken but nevertheless relevant nuance to slip through the cracks.

Can any of us know how much of a story may have been lost when told through a digital method? If that’s not enough of a lapse, is a digitally transmitted story more vulnerable to misinterpretation? Nonverbal communication—facial expressions, posture, physical gestures and tone of voice, for example—is a vital component of human communication that can signal how you really feel, despite what you put into words. An awareness and ability to recognize and read the nonverbal communication signals transmitted to you and by you will greatly enhance your communication skills and relationships. In conversations both casual and critical, you want to understand the impact of verbal and nonverbal messages, what you send and what you receive. In their 1972 book Effective Business Communication, Herta A. Murphy, Herbert W. Hildebrandt and Jane P. Thomas noted, “Sometimes nonverbal messages contradict the verbal; often they express true feelings more accurately than the spoken or written language”.

There are three principal elements of nonverbal communication: facial expressions, body language and overall appearance. When speaking with someone it’s important that you are alert to his/her nonverbal gestures, because the story is being told on more than just the verbal channel. In fact, people are more likely to engage you in future conversations and consider having a social or business relationship with you when you recognize and act upon their nonverbal cues. Below are 12 nonverbal communication signals that you may observe, decode and respond to in your next conversation.

Cheerful face and voice

1. With appropriately displayed smiles and nods, you’ll communicate to your conversation counterpart that you are listening to his/her opinions and that you understand and agree with his/her story. Communication experts unanimously agree that listening is the most important communication skill; everyone wants to be heard.

2. Pulitzer Prize winning journalist Charles Duhigg, author of Supercommunicators: The Power of Conversation and the Hidden Language of Connection (February 2024), notes that talking and laughing together is a bonding experience that contributes to relationship-building. Laughing with (but not at) someone promotes a happy mood and is another way to signal that you’re listening to the story.

3. Maintain good eye contact by looking your conversation counterpart(s) in the eye as the two of you talk to, again, display your interest in their story. However, you must periodically pull back the eye contact by taking brief breaks, perhaps to contemplate your next answer, for example. You don’t want your eye contact to be perceived as staring (that is, aggressive).

4. Regulate your voice so that you speak in a pleasant and confident tone that is authoritative yet not intimidating and matches the purpose and topic of the conversation. Speak clearly, enunciate well and pace your speech so that it’s neither too fast nor too slow for the occasion. Avoid raising the pitch of your voice as you end a sentence, as if you are asking a question rather than making a statement.

5. Mirror the other person’s facial expressions to demonstrate that you agree with and like the other person. Mirroring validates the opinions, wants and needs of the person you’re speaking with.

Body talk

6. Align your posture by gently lifting your chest, lifting up from your lower back and straightening your spine. Then, pull your shoulders back but keep them relaxed, so that you don’t look (and feel) tense. Activate your core muscles to support your midsection and comfortably maintain posture. In other words, don’t slouch; instead, communicate that you are cognitively present and ready to communicate and connect.

7. Place your legs hip distance apart when sitting or standing. When sitting, cross your ankles, rather than your legs, to demonstrate that you are relaxed and listening.

8. Leaning in gently is yet another body language gesture that indicates you are listening. As noted above, listening is the most powerful confirmation that signals to the other person that you hear and respect him/her.

9. Mirror the body language that you observe in your counterpart, to signal that you relate to him/her and that you agree with his/her point of view. Smile when s/he smiles; become serious when his/her facial expressions and vocal tone reflects that emotion. You want to communicate that you are on the same wavelength and understand his/her opinion or purpose.

Arms and hands

10. When, for example, the conversation takes place with participants standing—maybe you’re attending an industry expo or maybe you’re at a party—keep arms relaxed at your sides as the other person speaks, to show that you are listening and open to hearing what s/he has to say. It’s often best to keep your arms uncrossed, so that you don’t appear confrontational or intimidating.

Whether sitting or standing, use your hands to gesture while you speak, to enhance your credibility and confirm your engagement with the listener and topic. There is also evidence that using hand gestures while speaking improves your thinking processes. However, take care that hand and arm movements are not overly expansive and distracting.

11. Greet others with a firm handshake–but not too firm. A firm handshake is one of the most important body language moves, because it sets the tone for the entire conversation. Who wants to shake hands and have a conversation with a wet noodle?

12. Be aware and respectful of different cultural greeting and departure practices prior to your meeting. For example, when you greet the person with whom you’ll speak, will you shake hands, bow, or air kiss both cheeks? End the meeting with a firm handshake (or bow, or air kiss on alternate cheeks) and eye contact, to signal that you enjoyed your time and hope to meet again.

Thanks for reading,

Kim

Image: © Erik Arazas. Meeting and greeting with a traditional handshake and nose kiss at the Zayed Grand Mosque in Abu Dhabi during Eid Al Fitr 2012, the festival that celebrates the conclusion of the month-long observance of Ramadan (Ramadan 2024 begins March 10, Eid Al Fitr 2024 is April 9).

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Brand Building: Deliver the Promise

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Can we agree that data driven decisions produce the most favorable outcomes? The mega database of customer info compiled by the World Advertising Research Centre of New York City, USA and London, UK has since 1985 provided powerful information to business leaders and enabled them to develop marketing strategies and campaigns that attract the attention prospective customers and persuade them to try a product or service or persuade existing customers to become frequent users, meaning repeat customers, of a product or service. WARC data points to a product’s brand promise as the definitive ingredient of successful marketing and brand-building campaigns. The right brand promise, one that target customers perceive as memorable, valuable and deliverable, has the power to influence the purchasing behavior of your target customers and convert them to buyers. WARC data also indicates that a well-crafted brand promise not only translates into purchases and sales revenue, but also provides a blueprint that can be used to devise successful marketing strategies and campaigns.

In other words, the key to successful brand-building is a clear and specific brand promise that target customers feel can be fulfilled. Such a brand promise has been shown to result in marketing campaigns that positively impact sales revenue and also help to shape effective marketing strategies and campaigns.

Commit to the brand promise

WARC research shows that brand promises that target customers trust and believe will be delivered result in sales of the product or service. Roger L. Martin, a former dean of the Rotman School of Management at the University of Toronto (Canada) and author of A New Way to Think (2022); Jann Martin Schwartz, founder and Senior Global Director at the LinkedIn B2B Institute and Mimi Turner, head of Europe, Middle East, Africa and Latin America operations at the LinkedIn B2B Institute teamed up to more closely examine the question of effective marketing—how can business owners and leaders make it happen?

Martin, Turner and Schwartz sought to understand the active ingredients, if you will, of a marketing campaign—what makes it successful? The team recognized the potential appeal of the brand promise and they began by classifying WARC marketing campaign data according to whether or not a verifiable brand promise was made to customers. They found that of 2,021 campaigns analyzed, 40% (808) included an obvious brand promise and 60% (1,213) did not.

The first noteworthy finding of their research was campaigns that included a verified brand promise were more persuasive than campaigns with no brand promise in nearly every instance. In measures of brand perception, brand preference and purchase intent, 56% of campaigns offering a brand promise reported improvement. Market penetration increased in 45% of brand promise campaigns and market share increased in 27% of brand promise campaigns. The only metric in which a brand promise did not triumph was in generating social media buzz, where 55% of successful marketing campaigns omitted a brand promise.

Anatomy of a brand promise

As noted above, Turner, Schwartz and Martin started out by confirming the presence of a brand promise the the marketing campaigns; next, they categorized the type of brand promise made in campaigns where one was present. Most (89%) brand promises fit their definition of one or more of the following categories:

  • Emotional.

The researchers were surprised that a feel-good brand promise was the most popular category, with 35% assigned to this type. An emotional brand promise communicates the good feelings that will be experienced by customers who buy and use the product or service. A highly successful example of an emotional brand promise is the famous De Beers “A diamond is forever” marketing campaign brand promise that since 1947 has promised that the endurance of a diamond confirms the permanency and satisfaction of the marriage.

  • Functional

In 32% of the research sample, the brand promise stressed the reliability and functionality of the product or service. The FedEx “When it absolutely, positively has to be there overnight” campaign brand promise of 1978 was so powerful that it resulted in the creation of a new verb—to FedEx. The campaign’s brand promise can also be said to convey an emotional brand promise as well: customers don’t have to worry, because it’s FedEx.

  • Enjoyable to buy

Some companies (22%) took the unusual stance of portraying the enjoyment customers will experience as they shop for and buy a product or service. A good example an enjoyment-based brand promise is provided by the paint maker Sherwin-Williams; the company won the 2022 B2B Grand Prix at the prestigious Cannes Film Festival for its campaign based on an artificial intelligence tool that allows customers to create and choose a paint color by using voice to describe it (“a turquoise like the sea in the Maldives,” for example). Designers and architects swooned and prospective customers were convinced.

After the research team categorized the types of brand promises companies tend to make, they examined factors that make a brand promise strongly appealing to customers. Again, three features dominated successful campaigns:

  • Memorable

Surprisingly, making it known that a company is not the top seller in the marketplace can be highly persuasive. “We’re Avis and we try harder” was the slogan of the second-largest car rental company (after Hertz).  Within a year of its launch, Avis went from losing $3.2 million a year to earning $1.2 million a year. Advertising executives called the campaign the most brilliant of the 20th century.

  • Valuable

Customers must want what the brand promise offers, especially when the promise is communicated and perceived as an upgrade from circumstances that are perceived as unsatisfactory or lackluster. Prospective customers must feel that the value is relevant.

Deliverable

A defining characteristic of a brand promise is that it represents a guarantee; the customer must be able to recognize that the brand promise can be fulfilled and the benefits from its fulfillment will meet expectations. For that reason, making a brand promise is a risk. The research team’s assumption was that brand promises made campaigns were generally fulfilled, based on the success of the marketing campaigns studied.

Brand promise becomes strategy

The insight that effective brand building is anchored in a promise to the customer can do more for a company than just help it invest wisely in marketing. The promise can serve as the guiding principle of the marketing strategy, able to inform all promotional activities. A well-crafted and communicated brand promise is your North Star; creating and executing a brand promise is, the foundation of a strategy. From that brand promise/ strategy, you can understand how the company will beat its competitors, the value that customers see in your products and services, understand how the company position itself in the marketplace.

Below, Martin, Schwartz and Turner leave you with a five-step template that your company can use—a go-to-market brand promise development guide that also functions as the foundation of your marketing strategy. Furthermore, the study provides guidance about resources the company should dedicate to the various aspects of brand building, including which information sheds the most light on customer preferences, how to ensure that the most highly preferred aspects of the brand promise are delivered and how to effectively and efficiently communicating your brand promise.

  1. Step One is to understand customers well enough to know what constitutes memorability and value for them.

2. That understanding leads to Step Two, the development of a brand promise, expressed in a simple but compelling and memorable statement.

 3. In Step Three, your company publicly commits to the brand promise by launching the marketing campaign.

4. In Step Four, your company must communicate the brand promise to the target audience: If it isn’t received by way of the right channels, it can’t be effective.

5. Finally, in Step Five your company must fulfill the brand promise, or the promise will be largely worthless.

This cycle provides guidance about the resources the company must dedicate to the various aspects of brand building. How much should it dedicate to understanding customers? How much to designing and issuing a brand promise? How much to broadcasting and communicating it? And how much to ensuring that the key aspects of the brand promise are delivered? As the company repeats the cycle, it learns more about its strategic challenges and how to account for customer and competitor shifts.

The ultimate goal of a marketing campaign should be to go through the brand promise cycle often enough that your customers stop wondering whether you’ll make good on your promises. Once they assume that you will, they purchase out of habit rather than choice.

Thanks for reading,

Kim

Image: Photographed by James D. Love April 2021. William Hunn’s proposal to Brittney Miller included a helicopter ride over their home city of Atlanta, GA and Ms. Miller choosing one of the five engagement rings presented to her when she accepted his offer of marriage.