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5 Smart Sales Questions

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“To get the right answers, you have to ask the right questions,” said business strategy and management expert Peter F. Drucker (1909-2005), author of pioneering management insights and founder of the Drucker Graduate School of Management at Claremont College in California. When your goal is to sell a product or service to a prospective client, knowing which questions to ask and when to ask them can make a big difference in your ability to make sales and generate revenue that keeps your company alive. Actionable information is worth money, even when you learn that who you hoped would be a prospect is not. Knowing when to cut bait and pursue other avenues is a good thing.

Ask a handful of questions that first, confirm that your prospect is ready to do business and next, guides the prospect through the sales (buying) journey is a pillar of the thriving company you want to build.

“How long have you been in business? Who are/ what kind of customers do you serve? What big plans are in the works now?”

Set the stage for your sales conversation by obtaining background info that gives context to why there is a need for your product or service and the role it would play in achieving company objectives, or solving/ avoiding a problem.

“You appear to have steered your company successfully through the pandemic troubles. Was there a big change, or two, that you decided had to be made to adjust to the new business reality?”

The coronavirus pandemic left no business unscathed, not even those that saw a big increase in profits, like liquor stores and delivery services. That you’ve thought to ask this question and the preceding demonstrates to the prospect that you’re interested in the business and that it’s success means something to you. Successful sales professionals, including business owners and Freelance consultants, usually aim to become a collaborative partner, a reliable and trusted resource, for the client.

“Did anything fall through the cracks as you shifted gears during the pandemic? Is there anything that was not previously a worry now emerging as a challenge?”

Here is the question where the pain is revealed. Now you’ll learn what’s keeping your prospect awake at night and what your solution must address. You continue to earn your prospect’s trust, which is invaluable. You are closing in on the sale because you’ve shown that you care enough to want to understand company leaders are grappling with and are trying to do.

“So, what will success look like?”

This question helps the prospect to define the desired outcomes and deliverables of the project, something that, surprisingly, the prospective client and his/ her team may be a little fuzzy on, Maybe the decision to ask for a meeting with you was to find out what you, and perhaps a competitor or two, can offer in terms of helping the company achieve necessary outcomes?

“What’s new? What’s next? What help might you need to make it happen?”

A question designed to do more business with clients you’ve worked before, that is, repeat business. It really is easier in terms of time and money spent to do more business with clients who know you than to bring in new clients (but a business needs both types of clients).

“What’s new?” lets the client update you on what’s been happening with the business since the last time you’ve worked together. “What’s next?” opens the door to the future—- what initiatives are on the drawing board? “What help might you need to make it happen?” is, you guessed it, a way to help the client envision a role for you as plans for a sustainably profitable future are made.

Whether you’ll speak with your prospect on line or face2face, the questions presented here will politely and unambiguously get the sales process flowing in the right direction. Your prospect will be called upon to reveal his/ her intentions about doing business. In an always-appreciated show of empathy, your questions will invite the prospect to acknowledge the impact of the pandemic on his/ her organization.

Describing the pain point that (could be) a factor driving the necessity of the project you’re there to discuss and clarifying the expected outcomes (success) and the deliverables of the project will be confirmed. If you’re trying to get back in the door and get repeat business, the final 3-part question will help you and the client to segue into that possibility. You can continue on with question two and address the impact of the pandemic or question three and get an understanding of pain points that may be driving factors. You’ll have a good chance of making a sale!

Thanks for reading,

Kim

Image: Spices and rice bring women to the market.

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Make Doing Business Easy

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Do you know what business you’re really in? I have asked this question of readers before. It remains a question that every Freelance professional or business owner should periodically explore and confirm the answer. The unspoken motives that bring clients to your door (or website) are powerful. They will evolve and adapt to the times. In order to maximize the success of your venture, those motives must be understood in the present. The drivers that brought in clients five years ago may not be persuasive today.

Add to the mix that attention spans are short and seem to be getting shorter. We are used to 140 character tweets, sent by everyone from middle school teens to captains of industry. On August 25, 2020, it was announced that there were 100 million active TikTok users each month in the U.S, uploading and viewing 60 second cell phone videos.

Everyone wants what they want now, bring it to me fast and make the way to get it easy. Instant gratification. Folks have been working from home for more than a year and they’ve come to enjoy sitting at home in their jammies, only reaching for a professional-grade shirt when a video meeting demands their presence.

Online ordering and home delivery of everything imaginable rules the day. Despite the gradual lifting of pandemic restrictions across the states, it appears that many pandemic-driven customs will remain. Whatever is fast and easy-peasy —-convenient—-is now an expectation and that’s what it takes to win the hearts and wallets of customers. Anazon CEO Jeff Bezos is well on the way toward reaching his stated goal of becoming a trillionaire.

In other words, no matter what business you determine that you’re in, the operational aspects of the buying process must be easy, seamless and convenient as customers perceive it. Let’s look at how you and your team can set that into motion.

Technology to the rescue

The right tech solutions are your ticket to making it easy and convenient for prospects and current customers to do business with your organization. The right tech solutions can also make it easy and convenient for you, Freelancer or business owner, to more efficiently manage your company by utilizing targeted software, if you will, for certain routine tasks. You and your team can then apply the time saved to working on the business—-analyzing Key Performance Index data and using the findings to develop strategies and action plans that will most likely be effective, for example.

Bring convenience to your website visitors by installing a chat bot, programmed with a half-dozen concise answers to common questions that prospects ask, that make it easy and convenient to find what’s important while in the initial stage of their decision-making process. Add links written in a bold font and brightly colored lettering that call attention to links for company contact info, the blog or newsletter, case studies or white papers and your upcoming podcast or webinar appearances. Devise an appealing Call to Action and you’ll persuade visitors to learn more about your products, your services and you.

Check website tabs to make sure that visitors can intuitively find company press releases, articles published by you or about the company, customer testimonials and any business awards, nominations, or recognition your company has received. Get site visitors to decision-influencing information quickly and easily.

Enable the sale by installing e-commerce software that you’ve determined is a good fit to make ordering, shipping and paying easy to navigate and secure with encryption.

Thanks for reading,

Kim

Image: Hugh Laurie (l) as Bertie Wooster, British gentleman and member of the Idle Rich, with Stephen Fry as Jeeves, his sardonic but loyal butler, in the BBC-TV adaptation of the P.G. Wodehouse Jeeves stories.

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Go Agile

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Life brings change and it seems as if change occurs at a much faster pace these days. Then again, the same observation was probably made in the Middle Ages or even when the pharaohs ruled. The world continues to turn and every day is new and brings a unique set of circumstances. How we respond to fluctuating conditions has a big impact on our fortunes in life.

The ability to move quickly, whether to take advantage of goodies that unexpectedly appear or dodge something unpleasant, is a skill known as agility and it is worth cultivating. In business, the ability to incorporate agility into strategy, management and culture enables company leaders and team members to facilitate smart decisions that enable beneficial changes that can be instituted quickly and efficiently. This capability delivers a number of advantages, often making a business more competitive, sustainable and ultimately, more profitable. During periods of generally adverse business conditions, agility often makes the difference between keeping a business viable or presiding over its failure.

Benefits of an agile business 

  • Responding to new market conditions or competitors. Every business will at some point encounter a wily competitor or challenging market conditions. When agile practices are baked into your organization, the leadership team will be better prepared to adjust to evolving conditions. You expect change—you monitor the Key Performance Indicators, you pay attention to the competitive scene, you follow industry developments that help you anticipate what might impact your organization, for good or ill. You are accustomed to making decisions and changes to accommodate new realities. The agile business is resilient.
  • Solving and responding to problems. The pandemic shutdown has been Problem #1 for most of us. Hollowed out industries, disappearing clients, supply chain delays and difficulties in finding help thanks to the stimulus payments that have made staying home more profitable than working for some. These and other disruptions can prevent you from efficiently serving your customers. But leaders of agile businesses have been training like a prize fighter, giving the entity quick reflexes, effective offense and defense strategies and stamina to weather the storm. You’re able to recognize what may become a problem and proactively institute alternatives that will soften the blows and limit damage. The agile organization is prepared to defend itself and prevail. 

Tools of an agile business

  • A Robust data streams. Agility won’t help you unless your decisions and actions are based on 1.) objective data and 2.) you measure what it makes sense to measure. Accordingly, your first goal should be establishing credible and relevant streams of data for key aspects of your business. You should consistently measure your performance in every department, and across the entire business. Analyzing and interpreting the data will help you figure out which actions to take next.
  • Fast decision-making. Agile businesses are capable of making important decisions quickly. That capability requires both preparation and courage. If a problem arises, a quick decision can mitigate its impact. If a competitor emerges, your agile business may be able to pivot in a matter of weeks, instead of months. This usually means avoiding the development of slow, bureaucratic systems in favor of those that support decisiveness and action. Good data, especially in the form of well-chosen KPIs, is essential, as is the willingness to act on it.
  • Flexible systems. Flexibility is crucial for agility. If your technology infrastructure and operational workflows can’t accommodate rapid-fire changes or expansion, they’re not going to support agility.
  • Innovation. Your organization also needs a mechanism and encouragement for innovation. For agility to be effective, it needs to foster and support novel ideas, including ideas for new products and services.

Practices of an agile business

  • Encourage entrepreneurial thinking. If you’ve built a good team, you’ll be able to extend to them a degree of autonomy. Empower your employee in to develop a sense of ownership and behave as if a steward, a stakeholder, of the enterprise. Encourage them to solve their own problems and allow them to make their own decisions whenever possible. The more autonomy your employees have, the faster they’ll make decisions (and the more agile your business will become).
  • Foster clusters of small teams. Big, hierarchical organizations have some advantages, but they’re inherently unagile. Instead, it’s better to work closely together in small teams. Try to avoid becoming overly bureaucratized.
  • Avoid becoming too accustomed to anything. Don’t get too attached to anything in your business, including people, software, workflows and even the company culture. You need to remain flexible and willing to incorporate new ideas.
  • Cut whatever isn’t working. Whether it’s a new tactic or a strategy with a long history of producing results that at one time pushed the company forward, you need to be willing to cancel whatever isn’t working. If it doesn’t provide an objective benefit to your organization, get rid of the dead weight.
  • Check in regularly. You should have reliable metrics to inform you of your progress and check in with them regularly. While you’re at it, ask for feedback from your employees and ask how they think the organization could be made even more agile in the future.

Thanks for reading,

Kim

Image: Olga Korbut, superstar gymnast from Minsk, Belarus (formerly USSR) at the 1972 Summer Olympics in Munich, (West) Germany. Korbut won four gold and two silver medals at the Games.

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Self-Promotion that’s Savvy, Not Shameless

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If you do not put the word out about your talents, achievements and (perhaps discreetly) your ambitions, or if you do so ineptly, you are leaving money (and also a satisfying life, I think) on the table. Despite what some people would have you believe, no one finds success on their own. The self-made man is a myth. You are going to need some help along the way and to rally influential people to your side, you must let them know what you can do.

Bill Gates’ mother held a job at IBM that gave her access to a powerful person in the company, who agreed to meet with her son and his friend Paul Allen so that the two could explain the special project they were working on. As we know, their project eventually became Microsoft.

How to deliver your self-promotion

Effective self-promotion is a subtle and powerful communication skill. I consider it an art. It can be learned. Maybe we should start with what to avoid?

It’s frightfully easy to come off as obnoxious when telling others about how fabulous you are and the riveting details of your long list of magnificent, truly enviable, accomplishments. Most of us know that outright bragging is not cool, but we have also heard more than enough hyper-ambitious people pretending to be modest as they trot out a humble brag act at every opportunity.

Witnessing either spectacle usually induces an eye roll, if not a headache. But how can you show finesse and talk yourself up in a way that doesn’t turn off friends and colleagues?

A good Karma method is to be generous and share credit for your successes with those who helped you achieve them. There is a huge benefit associated with this generous act—- you gain allies. Your allies, because you’ve made it clear that you value them and their work, will be inclined to do you the enormous favor of promoting your magnificent achievements for you, which gives you much more credibility and influence than if you say it all yourself. So as you climb the ladder, not only will your allies help you, they’ll recruit more allies for the cause.

When to self-promote

Choose the politically correct time to self-promote. There are situations when one is expected to do so, but be aware that there are only so many opportunities available. Employees are invited to discuss their accomplishments at their annual performance review, when campaigning for a raise, or when seeking to interview for a promotion. Freelance consultants, when speaking with prospective clients or writing proposals with the aim of winning projects, are expected to spell out and sell their competencies, relevant experience and achievements.

What to promote

Make it known that you’ve earned a new educational degree or professional certification, the date, time and place of an important presentation you’ll deliver, or should you be invited to join a prestigious board.

Other self-promoting without penalty opps include announcing your appearance on a podcast, webinar, or panel. Announcing that you’ve written and published, or edited, a book is also a self-promoting bow you’re expected to take. Launching a workshop (that you must sell!) is another self-promotion gateway.

Where to self-promote

Especially since face2face events remain limited, savvy people know that social media is an acceptable self-promotion tool. Update your profiles as you upgrade your skills and announce your showcase events as appropriate.

Again, bring in some good Karma and acknowledge the achievements of your connections and contacts as they appear in your feed, so that your communication is not all outbound. Self-promotion, no matter how skillfully delivered, still requires good relationships in order to capitalize on your good work.

Thanks for reading,

Kim

Image: Steve Martin in The Jerk (1979) directed by Carl Reiner and written by Steve Martin

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The 7 Best Words in Sales

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Because when we log into our email accounts to check inboxes, or go online to find out what’s happening in the world, we are not so much reading as scanning. We scan for what catches the eye and captures attention. What words might make us stop and click?

Determined marketers have gone to work on this question and come up with a list of words that open rate and click-through statistics verify have the power to grab the most blasé of us.

Keep these words in mind as you attempt to dream up catchy subject lines or titles for content you post—-marketing/ sales emails, titles for videos you’ll upload to your website and social media, article headlines for white papers, blog, or newsletter articles, calls to action.

Free

Who can resist something that’s free? Even if it refers to a product you’ll never use, the word free has the power to stop the scanning and make you read an email, article, or advertisement, if only a few words. When an email subject line or a CTA contains this word, particularly when written in bold or brightly colored script, the open rate will increase significantly.

Easy

The great philosophers and observers of human behavior centuries ago recognized that humans will nearly always gravitate to what we perceive as easy and avoid what appears to be difficult. More recently, behavioral scientists reconfirmed those observations.

As a Christmas gift when I was maybe five years old, Santa gave me an Easy Bake Oven, an irresistible product that was sold to me by way of numerous television commercials featured during programs known to be popular with my demographic cohort. It was an easy sell.

I was thrilled to pieces to find it under our tree on Christmas morning. I had the greatest time as I poured the cake flour that came with my oven into a bowl, added a small amount of liquid (milk? water?) and then stirred it up and poured the batter into the tiny cake pan that also came with the oven. My little cake was baked with heat supplied by two 100 watt light bulbs.

I remember whipping up little cakes on Saturday afternoons to serve to girlfriends at our tea parties, or to Mom and Dad. Kenner brought out the Easy Bake Oven in 1963 and in the first year sold 500,000 units. By 1997, more than 16 million ovens had been sold.

Best

Quality counts for many of us. When hunting for a product or service, you may as well check out the item that’s better than the rest. Best is a filter. It cuts through the clutter of what could be a waste of time.

Magazines and newspapers often publish a “Best of” list annually—schools, restaurants, dry cleaners, hardware stores, you name it. Invariably, “Best of” issues sell considerably more than others (with the possible exception of a Christmas issue, if that is published).

Limited

Fear of Missing Out is real, as documented by behavioral scientists and marketers. Making a sale is often assisted by creating both exclusivity and a sense of urgency. This item is special and its ownership confers a coveted status. Buy it now.

You

When creating written content meant to persuade, whether it’s a political speech, a marketing/ sales email, or a television commercial, using the second-person pronoun when communicating with readers shifts the tone to one that is conversational, relatable, friendly and quite effective. You understand, don’t you?

Because

The thing to remember is that the human brain appreciates an explanation. We like to know why something is the way it is, the backstory of a certain condition or set of circumstances.

When selling, addressing the question of why the prospect needs the product, service, or feature being sold is most effectively addressed with the associated benefits and benefits are where the word because comes in.

This product or service is the best available to fit your needs because it will help you to fulfill your need, achieve your objective. Tie your product, features and the actions you want people to take in with a rationale or explanation and prospects will be more inclined to take action.

Numbers

From the Three Musketeers to the 12 Days of Christmas, people like to see a lust that suggests or ranks something that they find valuable—-100 easy dessert recipes, 10 free golf courses in Michigan, the 7 best words in sales. Curiosity is aroused and the click is made.

Thanks for reading,

Kim

Image: Scrabble tiles

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Crash-Proof Your Business

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If there’s anything Freelancers and other business owners and leaders have learned over the past year is that positioning your company to survive adversity is high priority. Baking in stewardship policies that include risk management strategies designed to shield the company from the effects of marketplace instability (or maybe just a tough competitor) is a must-do.

Maintain the business in the way you maintain your home—painting the deck, caulking bathroom tiles, checking the foundation for cracks, putting a sealant on the driveway. When the inevitable blizzards and hurricanes arrive, you’ll weather the storms (earthquakes and tornadoes are something else again, of course).

There is no precise formula for the process. I recommend that business owners and leaders focus on the reliable benefits derived from this short list of basic resources: human capital, operational capabilities, a healthy culture and cash reserves.

Whether a solopreneur Freelancer or leader of a team of 100 or more, know that good leadership yields the best business results, in good times and bad. Those at the top of the organizational pyramid are the responsible party and have great influence on whether the venture finds success or failure. Creating a sustainable business model and obtaining sufficient start-up and working capital are how a good business is born. But there is more.

Company culture

Creating a healthy company culture is a business-sustaining strategy. Business owners and leaders should understand that when top-down and bottom- up communication is the norm, when leaders model a strong work ethic, when transparency and best practices are followed both internally and externally in customer relationships and when respect, coupled with a degree of autonomy, is given to employees at every level, a winning strategy, expressed through a healthy company culture, takes hold. Good company culture results in employees who are happy, productive and loyal to the organization.

Human capital

Providing skills-building training and coaching is an investment that also encourages employee loyalty and enables company leaders to maximize their productivity. Such policies and practices nurture company loyalty and come as close as possible to ensuring that when the going gets rough, the company will have a team dedicated to the organization and willing to work hard and smart to support a turnaround. This strategy also gives companies a reputation as a good place to work and acts as a magnet for top talent.

Strategy

The most effective business strategies are uncomplicated. Learn to distill yours down to one page. When speaking to your banker or potential investors, potential strategic partners, or high-level talent you’d like to hire, the ability to articulate a readily understandable and relatable business strategy will build confidence in you and the company you lead. Start clarifying and simplifying the strategy that guides your venture:

Vision for the future

Big picture goals (short-term, mid-range and long-term)

Key Performance Indicators and the department responsible for each

Top line revenue and market share, two metrics that indicate the quality of the business strategy.

Execution

Strategy is nothing without execution. An effective leader gets the plane into the air and flying at cruising altitude. To achieve that aim, properly trained staff, effective and intuitive workflow protocols, IT hardware and software that create operational efficiencies, quality control and an end-to-end positive customer experience are required. Errors, confusion and duplication of work undermine productivity, erode employee morale and result in weakened revenue and profit.

Defining the intended outcomes, practicing good communication, establishing efficient workflow organization, the required technology and the appropriate staffing level and expertise will likely repair obstacles to proper execution. Action plans, complete with departmental responsibility and due dates that the team consents to, ensure accountability and optimal results.

Cash

Small to mid-size companies would be wise to hold in reserve three to six months of projected operating expenses. That sum is meant to carry your company through a difficult time or allow you to take advantage of a business opportunity.

Bear in mind that every business is different. The amount of your company’s cash reserve will depend on where the company is. Start-up, new product launch, capital improvements campaign, or growth-expansion-scaling periods are not the time to build the reserve because available cash must be used to support those important initiatives. Discuss with your accountant about when it will make sense to start a capital reserve fund and how much it should hold.

It is also possible to use financing to build your company’s cash reserve and now may be the time to act. The SBA’s Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) Loan on March 30 was extended until May 31, 2021. The PPP Loan can be forgiven and essentially become a grant, but not every loan recipient is able to fulfill the qualifiers. Worse case scenario, the PPP must be repaid within two years at a 1% interest rate.

Thanks for reading,

Kim

Image: The Indy 500

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Touch Point Touché

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Listen, even before the coronavirus shutdown crashed our Income Statements, Freelancers were always on the lookout for opportunities that look promising. Few among us could afford to leave money on the table. We’ve always understood hustle.

Savvy Freelancers are able to spot not only external, but also internal, opportunities. I’m talking about the most basic level of Inbound Marketing and the Customer Experience. Meaning, successful Freelancers will pose the question—once I have the prospect’s attention, or I’ve converted the prospect into a customer, then what? Every interaction that a prospect has with your company—-website, social media, newsletter, email, phone call, employee—represents a marketing or sales opportunity.

Those interactions are known as touch points. Individually and collectively, touch points are powerful. They impact the ROI of marketing campaigns and they shape the customer experience. They guide prospects through the marketing/ sales funnel, i.e., the buyer’s journey, or disable it.

Touch points must first be identified and then managed carefully and assessed periodically, to monitor their resonance. Touch points nourish, or undermine, your company brand in many ways, including perceived trust, dependability and competence. They have the power to encourage, or discourage, repeat business, referrals and good word of mouth, ingredients that add to the bottom line. Let’s discuss some common touch points.

Website

Lead generation is fed by numerous streams but let’s consider the most basic leadgen tool—-your website. Regardless of how many pages yours contains, most visitors start with the home page. Your home page feeds the top of your marketing funnel, the TOFU, the widest part that gets the most visits of every website. Most visitors will go no further and ghost the site.

Make your home page a leadgen magnet by making it useful and relevant and maybe even exciting with links to meaningful content and visible at eye-level Calls to Action. Depending on your business, consider inviting visitors to click and schedule a free 30 minute consultation, click to read your blog or newsletter, click to RSVP for your upcoming webinar, or click to hear the YouTube replay of your recent podcast. Add a chat bot programmed to quickly answer common questions and save visitors time. Engage and inform your website visitors and make them want more. Maximize the potential of your home page touch points.

Follow-up

If half of life is showing up, the other half is follow-up. It seems obvious, but many business owners and Freelancers fail to respond to inquiries about doing business. Many neglect to reply to phone or email messages. They lose business cards they should keep. They don’t send that private chat message to ask for the best time and follow-up method when they’ve met a potential prospect.

Unless you’ve been hospitalized and the anesthesia is still in effect, give a prospect or current customer a timely reply, ideally on the same day or within 24 hours. If you’ve been unwell, or if there’s been a family emergency, respond as soon as possible and offer profuse apologies. Use follow-up touch points to demonstrate your professionalism.

Invoicing and payment

Three years ago, I (finally) made time to search for a B2B services invoice that could serve as the starting point for a design I would customize and lucky for me, I found something. I’m pleased with my new invoice and feel that it communicates my business name and brand well. I consider my invoice to be a great send-off touch point at the close of a project.

How payments are made is another consideration. Going paperless is an option that certain of your customers may find preferable to writing and mailing a check. Some will pay faster. If payments can be made on your website or Facebook, WhatsApp, or Instagram account, make it known that the process offers impeccable security protocols. Again, make the touch point that is the payment process secure and easy.

Customer service

Identify the kind of support that customers need and/ or appreciate after they’ve purchased your product or service. It is imperative that you enable the results and experience that your customer expects.

Invite the always useful feedback derived from a short, well-written customer survey, which is an element of customer service. Show customers that you appreciate that they’ve done business with your company and that you care about their post-purchase experience.

Employees and helpers

Train customer-facing staff. Clearly describe your expectations regarding the level of service that will be provided (white glove) and your interpretation of a positive attitude. Devise (and refine along the way) problem resolution protocols and empower employees to approve small, relatively inexpensive fixes without your involvement, to resolve uncomplicated issues quickly and enhance customer satisfaction.

While it is unacceptable to expect anyone to tolerate disrespect, encourage those who represent the company on your behalf to go the extra mile and give the benefit of the doubt to customers. Model the behavior you expect in how you treat them.

Thanks for reading,

Kim

Image: Detail of The Creation of Adam (Michelangelo c. 1508-1512) ceiling fresco in the Sistine Chapel Vatican City (Rome) Italy

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Interns Go Virtual

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As a result of the COVID-19 shutdown, organizations around the world quickly made changes to how business was done and in many companies, a support system for the usual summer internship program was part of the updates. Perhaps company leaders realized that virtual internships present a unique opportunity for their program to operate across geographical boundaries and greatly expand the pool of desirable candidates?

Academic institutions likewise pivoted to remote during the 2020 shutdown and readied to enable internship programs in the new normal work and education environment. In May 2020, the University of Wisconsin at Madison released a white paper that discussed virtual format internships, their benefits for both the student intern and the hiring company and how to make the experience successful and rewarding for both parties. http://ccwt.wceruw.org/documents/CCWT_Report%20%2310_Online_Internships_Lit_Review_May2020.pdf

Freelancers and small business owners and leaders will occasionally bring in an intern or two, typically as a way to gain a reasonably capable assistant who can be trained to handle uncomplicated professional level tasks for just a few hours per week, at a modest pay scale. Introducing to your business a young person who will bring fresh perspectives and a familiarity with recent technologies that you and your team may not possess stands to improve productivity, profitability and the customer experience at your organization. The internship experience that you initiate may become a way to move your company more decisively into the 21st century.

While the virtual format does have drawbacks—like the increased difficulty (or impossibility) of providing your intern with sufficient networking and relationship-building opportunities with colleagues, interns can still attain a variety of benefits in the remote workplace.

Finding interns

College career centers and academic departments are your source for obtaining information and resources about either hiring an intern or establishing a formal internship program at your organization. Share your business needs and expectations with school officials to determine whether undergraduate seniors or graduate students will be most appropriate. Because schools have a vested interest in workforce preparation and employment outcomes for their students, they can be trusted to help you make the right choice.

Choose the right projects

Social media is often a natural fit for interns because they grew up with social media and probably understands the subtle differences between SnapChat and TikTok, Instagram and Pinterest. Discuss the customer demographics and presumed social media strategy with your intern, who will be tasked with helping you realize objectives.

Your intern might also be asked to create a stock image library for posts, shoot videos on a cell phone and create text content as well, in accordance with the company brand story and target customers. You can also ask a social media intern to conduct a competitive audit to let you know what your 3-4 closest competitors are posting, specifically the platforms used and how they communicate with customers.

Bookkeeping interns could be asked to prepare quarterly taxes for customers. Web design interns can be asked to write code and assist with website updates. Graphic design interns can work on logos and draft marketing collaterals. IT interns can take help desk calls and set up the controls for videoconferences. Although it will be done virtually, always review your intern’s work and give praise where it is due and corrections with diplomacy.

Intern support system

Consider how you can create online support for your intern that will include your company needs, the school’s reporting and course credit requirements, plus intern guidance and mentoring. Your goal is to promote a successful and rewarding experience for the intern and yourself/ the business. 

Schedule daily videoconference 1:1s to discuss the intern’s projects and your expectations for performance milestones and completion dates. If you haven’t been using online communication tools beyond email and Skype, for example, encourage your intern to suggest his/her preferred messaging and workflow systems, such as Slack or Asana and give your intern professional validation when s/he gets to teach you something. Institute systems also to allow the intern to interact with other team members, if there are any and encourage relationship-building and networking.

On balance

So what does the Freelancer win when working with an intern? Useful work and good karma. You get some low level, but nevertheless professional grade, work done for not a lot of money. Plus, mentoring in the form of professional development that introduces a young person to the adult work environment, its expectations and responsibilities, is so nurturing and generous (although not everyone has the patience for it).

The downside is that interns need more supervision than working adults and they can be unavailable during final exams or spring break. But then again, who among us does not need occasional time off? Anyway, you never know— in a few years, your intern might flip the script and hire you for an assignment when s/he has gone on to a good corporate job.

Thanks for reading,

Kim

Image: © DanceParent101

Marketing , , , Leave a comment

8 P’s of Marketing for the 21st Century

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It was at The University of Notre Dame that Professor of Marketing E. Jerome McCarthy laid out the principles of the original four P’s of marketing, also known as the Marketing Mix, in his 1960 book Basic Marketing: A Managerial Approach. McCarthy and co-authors Joseph Cannon and William Perreault chose a hands-on, problem- solving approach to the challenges that marketing professionals face.

The boots-on- the-ground approach championed by the 4 P’s Marketing Mix was quickly recognized as foundational to the craft, the gold standard. The genius of the P’s is evidenced by their ability to address both the primary objectives of the marketing team and critical requirements of customers. The P’s relevance has continued into the 21st century and even inspired marketing researchers and thought leaders to expand the list.

As you build a marketing strategy for your products and services—-content and social media marketing, branding, advertising and PR, for starters—-you’ll find that the 4 P’s (+ more) Marketing Mix will guide you and your team to the most effective strategies and action plans every time. Here are the original four and four more that you may find useful.

Product: The solutions that a company sells—products or services, tangible or intangible, B2B or B2C.

Price: The value, in monetary terms, of what customers are willing to pay to obtain a company’s product or service. Company leaders are advised to fully account for the many factors involved in developing, manufacturing, or acquiring a product or service, in addition to the associated marketing, selling, distribution and overhead expenses when determining an appropriate Price. The prices of competitors will also influence your pricing.

Place: Where customers come into contact with and are able to buy the product or service—-in a bricks & mortar storefront, online, at a flea market, in a meeting after contract terms have been negotiated.

This component also refers to both which stores stock a product and the product’s location within a store. For example, certain breakfast cereals and other items targeted to children are found on shelves that are at a child’s eye level or in the children’s department.

Promotion: Strategies and tactics used by the company to persuade potential customers to buy its products or services.

Process: Where and how the customer receives the solution provided by the product or service and all that is entailed. Intangible services delivered by skilled practitioners are more obviously influenced by this component.

Will the solution be delivered in a classroom (education courses), a salon (hair styling or massage therapy), a health care facility (dentistry), or leak- proof cardboard containers (ice cream shop)? How the methods employed in the delivery or application of the solution significantly impacts both outcomes and the customer experience.

Position: The ranking or assessment that customers, prospects and sometimes even the public assigns to your product or service, as compared to similar offerings. To achieve the preferred Position for the product or service, a marketing team will through branding utilize distinctive messaging, packaging, advertising and product placement, sometimes through celebrity endorsement, to create and reinforce the desired image.

Packaging: Tangible products are more obviously influenced by this component. A product’s Price, Place, Promotion and Position are telegraphed in how a company “dresses” the product and presents it to target customers. Even the shopping bags and tissue wrapping paper (or their absence) support the story.

Intangibles are given a “verbal package” that will emphasize its most tangible advantages and benefits, which may include exclusivity (social media site Clubhouse) or rarity or other significant benefits.

People: One component of this factor refers to those who work in the business, in particular the customer-facing staff. Those who interact with customers usually have a profound impact on the all-important customer experience.

The second component in this category refers to the customers themselves, who have many opportunities to communicate to others both the perceived quality of the product or service that was purchased and the perceived quality of the customer experience. Online ranking and social media sites such as Trip Advisor, Yelp and Facebook empower people to either reward or punish a company.

Thanks for reading,

Kim

Image: © Harris Farm Markets Sydney, Australia

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A Call to Action

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Content creators—-producers of marketing, sales, or advertising content and sometimes speeches, too, must remember that at the conclusion of the artfully told story that’s been delivered in words and/or pictures, it is imperative that you tell the viewer what to do next. Content creators must remember to include an irresistible, inevitable, Call to Action. Fail to do so and the content creator hasn’t done the job.

A Call to Action beckons a potential prospect to do something—-learn more, get this, click here—-that will bring him/her into deeper engagement with the product, service, or idea that’s being promoted. Once the content has made the case, demonstrated the desirable characteristics and therefore the value of what is being promoted, the Call to Action functions to reel in the convinced and the curious.

Step this way, sir! Websites, content marketing posts, videos, television commercials, movie trailers and those postcards that fall out of magazines are but a few examples of where viewers and listeners will encounter a Call to Action designed to entice.

A political action group may write an article on the importance of voting in the next election. The article will likely close with an inspiring CTA message about the privilege of voting and include a link to a voter registration site. A company website may contain two or more CTAs, perhaps appeals to opt-in and receive a weekly blog, RSVP for a webinar, or request a free 30-minute consultation.

Getting started

Before writing your CTA, decide what action you’d like potential prospects to take and what they’ll gain by doing so. Once you know what you want them to do, you can think about how to say it. The best CTAs are short, encouraging and use active verbs that speak directly to the viewer. Remember that the CTA is your closer, the culmination, the purpose, of the pitch you’ve made.

Write your CTA in a font that’s somewhat larger than the other text and use a bold color to make it eye-catching. Lead in with a brief but tempting phrase that persuades viewers to click and subscribe, browse products, opt-in to receive information, attend an event, or take any number of actions.

The next step

CTA buttons are available on Google My Business and the Facebook business page. Most, if not all, email marketing, i. e. blog and newsletter hosting platforms, have always contained opt- in capability to follow or subscribe and an opt-out to unsubscribe. Content creators can easily embed CTA buttons or hyperlinks into a website, blog post, social media site, newsletter, or marketing email. Visibility will be key, so along with bigger and brighter text, place the CTA at eye-level and in most cases, on the landing page. Viewers should not need to scroll to find it.

The CTA should feel like a natural progression of what the prospect has just seen, heard, or read. Whether s/he will be able to obtain more information about using a product or service, listen to a webinar, or attend an event, ensure that your CTA is consistent with the message in your content. A benefit that conveys value, the appearance of low-risk and a sense of urgency are standard ingredients of the well-crafted CTA.

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Thanks for reading,

Kim

Image: Before he became the 43rd President of the United States (2001-2009), George W. Bush was head cheerleader at the exclusive prep school Phillips Academy in Andover, MA (senior year 1963-64).