Nov

1

How To Become A Natural Networker

November 1, 2008 | Leave a Comment

Networking does not just mean attending business breakfast
meetings and handing out business cards, although those
meetings are effective too.

Networking is a powerful way of marketing your business because
it’s based on building relationships with people. When people
know, like and trust you, they’ll be more likely to use your
products and services. Plus they’ll happily refer their friends
and relatives to you (of course it helps if you offer high
quality service).

This word of mouth aspect of networking makes it very
cost-effective as a marketing strategy.

So how can you become a natural networker?
Here are a few suggestions.

a)Attend as many social events as you can.
They don’t have to be strictly business events either.
Even your child’s Parent Teachers Association meeting is
an event that you can use to your advantage (be creative
but not obnoxious).

b)Have a definite aim for attending each one. Your aim
could be to meet 3 new people and exchange details, or
it could just be to make some new friends. Either way,
don’t just go there aimlessly. Go with a purpose, and
spend your time there achieving that purpose.

c)Be genuinely interested in other people and their
businesses or occupations. People love talking about
themselves, so get at least 3 people to tell you about
themselves.

In most instances, this approach makes the other person
ask *you* to then tell him about yourself (what you’ve
been itching to do all evening!). Since they’ve talked
about themselves, they’ll be more receptive to what
you have to say.

d)Ask people how you can help them promote their business or
otherwise make their life better. Even if you can’t help
them directly, you may know someone who can.
If you’re talking to a business owner, ask them to tell
you exactly the sort of customer/client they’re looking
for. Let them know you’ll be looking out for clients for
them.

Again, this usually triggers a reciprocal offer.

e)Ask for their contact details. Get business cards from
business owners, and promise to keep in touch (which
promise you’d better keep or you’ll look bad:))
Offer your card/details also.

f)When talking about your business, don’t talk much
about yourself. Talk more about the benefits of your
products/services to others. That tends to get people
interested in what you’re saying, as they’ll be
thinking of anyone they know who might benefit from
your offer.

The trick about being comfortable in a social (read
‘networking’) event is to be genuinely interested in the other
person. Ask them about themselves. Focus on others and how you
can help them.

That way you’re not self-conscious, but you come across as
comfortable, confident and caring. People will want to know
more about you and do business with you, all because you
showed interest in them first.

Next time you’re in a social gathering, try the above tips and
see how easy it is to become a natural networker.

Dr Kem Thompson is a Success Coach, Speaker, Author.
She can help you achieve better results at work, business,
play, spiritual or in your social life.

For resources you can use today to create a better life,
sign up for her FREE ezine (and get a thank-you gift)-
‘Days of Success’ by submitting the form at http://www.successeminars.com/

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Oct

25

A Natural Phenomenon Really

October 25, 2008 | Leave a Comment

Sure. What else do you call a human discipline whose very
nature is firmly rooted in the principle that people act on their
own perception of the facts. Then goes on to create, change or
reinforce that opinion by reaching, persuading and
moving-to-desired-action the very people whose behaviors
affect the organization?

I call it public relations, and one heck of a natural
phenomenon!

In fact, I believe it’s the fundamental premise of public
relations. Especially when it deals with the survival of
just about any organization by successfully altering the perceptions
and, hence, the behaviors of certain groups of people important
to the success of that organization.

Because public relations problems are usually defined by
what people THINK about a set of facts, versus the truth of
the matter, we are well-advised to focus on that fundamental
premise.

Does it become any less of a phenomenon as it works its
magic in the real world?

No. Instead, it’s the degree of human behavioral change it
produces - through quality planning and execution - that
defines the success or failure of a public relations program.

In my experience, most agree that people really do act on
THEIR perception of the facts, and that how they
react to those facts actually does affect their behaviors.
So, to me, it follows that individual understanding of those
facts must be continually informed if the follow-on behaviors
are to help achieve the business’ goal and objectives.

When all is said and done, a sound public relations strategy
combined with effective communications tactics leads
directly to success - perceptions altered, behaviors modified, client/employer satisfied.

In other words, when those changes in perceptions and
behaviors clearly meet the original behavior modification
goal set at the beginning of the program, the public relations
effort is successful.

So, what comes first? I believe acceptance that
individual perception of the facts is the guiding light
leading to behavioral change, and that something can be
done about those perceptions. While not everyone buys
that, I must say that it actually helped shape my career in
public relations.

I asked myself some time ago, why am I working in public
relations anyway? The answers only strengthened my
conviction. Was it simply to create major publicity for my
employer or client? Often yes, but I realized that the tactic
called publicity - like all tactics — is designed primarily as
a message carrier to a target audience in order to alter its
perceptions and behaviors.

Tactics are not the endgame of public relations because,
fact is, NO organization - business, non-profit, association
or public sector - can succeed today unless the behaviors
of its most important audiences are in-sync with the
organization’s objectives. And that means public relations
professionals must modify somebody’s behavior if they are
to help hit the employer/client’s objective and earn a
paycheck. Everything else leads to that end.

Once public relations’ “phenomenonal” characteristics
are understood, an action pathway begins to appear:

– identify the problem
— identify target audiences
— set the public relations goal
— set the public relations strategy
— prepare persuasive messages
— select and implement key communications tactics
— monitor progress
— and the end-game? Meet the behavior modification goal

And we get a bonus because we’re using a near-perfect
public relations performance standard. I mean, how can
you measure the results of an activity more accurately
than when you clearly achieve the goal you set at the
beginning of that activity? You can’t. It’s pure success.

So, as we apply our tactics, we’ll nurture the relationships
between our target audiences and our employer/client’s
business by burnishing the reputation of the organization,
its services and products. We’ll do our best to persuade
those key audiences to do what our employer/client wants
them to do. And while seeking public understanding and
acceptance of that employer/client, we’ll insure that our
joint activities not only comply with the law, but clearly
serve the public interest.

Then, we pull out all tactical stops to actually move
those individuals to action. And our employer/client will
be pleased that we have brought matters along to this point.

But when will s/he be fully satisfied with the public
relations results we have produced? Only when our
“reach, persuade and move-to-desired-action” efforts have
produced visible change in the behaviors of those target
audiences they wish to influence.

Big words but, in my view, the fundamental premise of a
natural phenomenon called public relations, and the
strategic context in which we must operate.

Please feel free to publish this article and resource box in your
ezine, newsletter, offline publication or website. A copy would
be appreciated at bobkelly@TNI.net.

Robert A. Kelly © 2003.

Bob Kelly counsels, writes and speaks to business, non-profit and
association managers about using the fundamental premise of public
relations to achieve their operating objectives. He has been DPR,
Pepsi-Cola Co.; AGM-PR, Texaco Inc.; VP-PR, Olin Corp.; VP-PR,
Newport News Shipbuilding & Drydock Co.; director of communications, U.S. Department of the Interior, and deputy assistant press secretary, The White House. He holds a bachelor of science degree from Columbia University, major in public relations.

Visit: http://www.prcommentary.com; bobkelly@TNI.net

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Oct

19

Throw Out Your “Selling” Language - Unlock Your Natural Voice

October 19, 2008 | Leave a Comment

I was sitting at my desk last week when my phone rang. I picked it up and said, “This is Ari with Unlock The Game.” The woman on the other end of the phone said, “Hi, my name is Julie Jackson, I’m with XYZ company and we are a…and we offer…”. As she continued to speak, I stopped her in mid-sentence and said, “Hi, Julie.”

There was dead silence on the phone.

I could sense her struggling to react to my spontaneous overture at making personal, genuine contact. She was so locked into her presentation or script that she had no idea how to respond to me.

The idea of just conversing with me in her most natural way was a completely foreign concept.

(She eventually took a deep breath and we transitioned into a very pleasant conversation about the possibility of us being a “fit”.)

What has happened to us?

Can’t we just strike up a conversation with people we don’t know and build a relationship that way?

It’s ironic that most of us take it for granted that spontaneous, natural communication is the right way to relate to our friends, spouses, relatives, and others in our personal lives — but, when it comes to selling, our language becomes, almost robotic.

Why the breakdown?

Because when we make a sales call, we want something. The people we’re talking with sense this immediately. They put up their guard. Our hidden agenda and their reaction immediately destroy the trust-building process of communication.

We go into our personal relationships wanting to simply know the other person. But we go into sales situations with agendas and assumptions.

And because we’ve been conditioned that a sale can happen only if we control the process, we never even consider the possibility that there can be total flexibility in how we communicate and build trust.

Quick self-assessment: When you pick up the phone to make a sales call, what are you hoping will be the outcome?

Let me guess:

* Get information

* Find the decision maker

* Schedule an appointment

* Make a sale

In other words, you want something even before the person you call says “Hello.”

It’s time to throw out your “selling” language and unlock your natural language.

Here’s how:

Be willing to challenge everything you have learned about selling up to this point. If you aren’t open to questioning conventional sales thinking, you’ll never have a chance to experience selling in a completely different way.

* Replace your goal-oriented agendas with trust-building agendas.

* Learn to enjoy the processing of building a new relationship.

* Build a dialogue.

* Avoid centering the conversation on you and your offerings.

* Enter the conversation without assumptions.

* Trade overconfidence for humility.

Any signs of overconfidence when you first make contact with a potential client will only set off “sales alarms.” Humility (not weakness) starts the trust-building process.

Visualize the person you are speaking with as a potential friend rather than a potential client. This will help you to converse rather than “sell.”

When you tap into your natural language abilities, it triggers the person you’re speaking with to tap into their own natural language as well.

Like you, they will abandon their “business language” and begin communicating with you in their most natural way.

Natural language is the crucial secret to transforming the outdated, ineffective “buyer-seller” role into a trust-based relationship based on open, natural communication.

—————————————————————

With a Masters Degree in Instructional Design and over a decade of experience creating breakthrough sales strategies for global companies such as UPS and QUALCOMM, Ari Galper discovered the missing link that people who sell have been seeking for years.

His profound discovery of shifting one’s mindset to a place of complete integrity, based on new words and phrases grounded in
sincerity, has earned him distinction as the world’s leading authority on how to build trust in the world of selling.

Leading companies such as Gateway, Clear Channel Communications, Brother International and Fidelity National Mortgage have called on Ari to keep them on the leading edge of sales performance. Visit http://www.unlockthegame.com to get his free sales training lessons.

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