Oh, man. I’m hot for this topic today. Thanks to Marcus Sheridan who deserves ALL the credit for what’s just below. Combing my reader to find some inspiration, I landed on The Sales Lion just this moment. And. Read. The. Whole. Post. With. Relish.
Marcus shares that he is the subject of a documentary and whilst filming he turned down a major inbound query that could’ve been a sale for his swimming pool company. The cameraman was befuddled, and Marcus shares that he was less than interested because he is not all things to all people. That caller needed a concrete company and not The Sales Lion (I don’t know if his pool company is called that or not).
Then Marcus takes it one notch further and asks his community to “promote yourself…come on…tell me about you as a blogger; do you know yourself; can you turn down a sale that’s not right for you?”
Marcus’s insight for the cameraman is that “you don’t know yourself or what you represent to be able to turn away business.”
Do you know yourself as a blogger?
Marcus is asking all of us to fess up to this question — if we can’t define who we are and what service we offer and to whom, then we will fail in business and in blogging. I love this hard knock question. Let me try, Marcus, to answer it here instead of in your comments section as you’ve invited. I encourage everyone to visit your house and try to do the same:
My business is public relations at its core. As I review the sphere, I see that I’m not traditional or typical. I cross boundaries squarely into marketing; in fact, I’m a chief marketing officer for one client and a marketing brand manager for another. That blend also includes new media which I’m challenged by every day to keep abreast of what’s new.
As a service business, I need to know my capabilities and expertise. There are few if any products I offer and when I do attempt to sell message mapping to clients for added value (and this is so critical), clients don’t understand the need or the worth.
That’s the other thing — knowing that what I offer is a specialty business and showing clients that value. New media has altered the perception of public relations, and many clients think they know how to DIY PR. Not so, and it’s a fine line to prove to clients they need my services.
Have I ever turned down business? Not really, but what I did do was turn down money.
Recently, I took on a client who wanted to pay me $20,000 monthly on retainer. They had no idea. I suggested something more palatable like $7,500 a month, and then I looked more closely at the business and knew I would reduce that retainer even further to a manageable and not over- promised, high-expectation budget. So, I knocked off another $4,000 and am proving that my team is worth more money at the end of the initial three-month engagement.
That example is as much a lesson as what Marcus shares in his blog post — are you confident enough in your talents to either turn away a valid sales lead or suggest a reduction in retainer until everyone is in sync?
Thank you, Marcus Sheridan of The Sales Lion, for this automatic inspiration!
Hit. It. Out. Of. The. Park!!!
Thank you. I have to say…when it feels right, it writes right. Oh, man. I just made something there; is that a headline? @3hatscomm you better not swipe that before me…I have proof points!
I am a fan of promising less and over delivering- very effective tool for securing business relationships.
Agree. That does work, The Jack!
It’s a fine line because you want to be able to charge what you are worth. In my world we have two ways of getting paid; one is by commission, which is a derivative of the insurance premium (typically 10% to the agency) and the other is a ‘fee for services’ contract that is stand alone outside the insurance contract.
The fee for services works well for the really big accounts; typically policies in excess of $1 mil. You just need to match up your service plan with their expectations, see who will be involved and how many hours involved and go from there. This keeps your remuneration outside of the whims of the cyclical nature of the pricing in the insurance market. Basically you are always paid what you are worth and not some arbitrary number derived from whatever the premium is.
When you can quantify it; it usually works out very well.
Am I confident I’m the right guy; absolutely, because if it is not a good fit I will discover that very quickly and not waste each other’s time. However, if we do work together I fully expect you to be able to quantify our results at the end of the day. Otherwise, what in the heck are you paying me for.
Jack said it very well; under promise and over perform and you will WOW them every time.
That’s my story and I’m sticking to it………
What? You actually are a professional when you’re not adding dots to words. This sounds pretty darn impressive, King Bill! Sorry I can’t say I’m a prospect for you; call me in a few years and I’ll be sure to amass $1 million easy.
I often have the opposite problem as a solo copywriter–convincing people I’m worth more than they think before we begin (often people want to pay me pennies because “you don’t need all that, you’re not a firm.” But when they see what I can do, ah, then! What Jack said.
We all know writers have the hardest time — everyone’s a writer, and there are so many of them!
Yowza but I need to do this. Between you and Marcus, I’ve gotten a big kick in the butt.. you have no idea. Like you I’ve been the Director of Marketing, the PR manager, the Creative Director for clients and I don’t do a good enough job selling the value of those services to others. It’s me .. I attract a certain kind of client and need to fix that. (Mission which I must accept: fix my bleeping website already!) As to turning down money, yes. Wish I was in a better position to say “No” more often, but I’ve walked away from business, not pursued leads when I knew it wasn’t the right fit. If something isn’t in my wheelhouse, I’ll send them on their way. If you try to do what you can’t, it hurts everyone in the end. FWIW.
Serious? A kick in the buttocks? I am not sure that’s good, but I think it could be?
No it’s a good kick, reminding me I need to really think about how to brand and market myself, starting w/ my website, then networking and lead generation. Right waters, right hook and bait.. all that stuff.
‘Yowza’ it is then Davina, now go make it happen girl!! 😉
So honored for the mention Jayme, I really had no idea when I wrote that post it would get such a positive response. Just love it when that happens. And after all , that’s what all these relationships we build are all about– each and every one of us getting better because of the other person.
You rock lady, enjoyed the post greatly!
Marcus
Do you know yourself?
Yep! after all these years you get to know yourself, if your honest enough to face yourself, and I’ve said not many times to people when selling.
The did not need the product or service.
Jayme this kind of fast and upfront expression of feeling about another post is refreshing and gets the thoughts rolling. I did just the same sort of response to Jim Connollys blog recently.
Nice, Billy
My plezh, Mr. Billy. Thank you for indulging me with your oh so fine comments. Appreciate the visit.