The last week of August we rocked with Cyndi Lauper and 2800 others in Boston at Hubspot‘s annual user conference, Inbound 2012. As Hubspotters and other inbound marketing enthusiasts know, it’s much easier to start a conversation with someone who’s interested in what you have to say. And the conversations we had with folks who stopped by Postwire’s sponsor table flowed! Postwire naturally picks up where Hubspot leaves off by making it easy to pass the content baton to salespeople and other client-facing employees to continue client conversations.

In speaking with the #Inbound12 crowd, we learned that some folks plan to use Postwire to educate buyers by anticipating and answering the questions buyers must ask to make purchase decisions. There were others who made a beeline to our sponsor table from Laura Fitton’s breakout session on “Inbound PR”. Laura plugged Postwire as a way to build relationships and share your ideas to attract media attention “without being a self-promotional jerk”. Several small business owners saw ways to differentiate their services using Postwire. I especially enjoyed meeting a woman who owns a doggie daycare and training business. She was excited about creating a Postwire Page for each client to provide educational materials & short videos capturing the away-from-home antics of her clients’ beloved pets!

Yes, Inbound 2012 was awesome! A hearty welcome to all of our new Inbound 2012 friends!

Who’s this “Someone”?

Knowing when a prospect or client engages with the information you share is one of the features many Postwire users love. Postwire’s tracking reporting gives you feedback you might not otherwise get, helping you to respond faster with greater insight. But who is this “Someone from Asia Pacific Network Information Centre near San Jose, CA – US has viewed your Page Inbound12 Highlights“? Want to learn more? Read the full blog post: How Does Postwire Tracking Work?

4 Reasons Your Client Wants Their Own
(FREE) Postwire Account

1. To comment on your Postwire Page.
2. To avoid hunting through the Inbox for the Page link.
3. To invite colleagues to view and discuss your cool content.
4. To keep connected with their own clients, too!

We hope you enjoy this guest blog post written by Michael Boyette, the executive editor of the Rapid Learning Institute Selling Essentials e-learning site and editor of the Top Sales Dog Blog. 

Contact Michael Boyette via email at topsalesdog@rapidlearninginstitute.com or connect via Twitter.

Growing your business is hard enough as it is. So of course the last thing you need is to worry about steady, reliable customers leaving you for no reason.

Here’s the thing; your customer could be sending you a message that could be a precursor to jumping ship. It’s up to you to notice that message and act on it before they’re gone. The good news is there is a way to spot these opportunities before they lead to trouble.

Think of your customers like an iceberg.

At best, about five percent of what they are actually thinking is on display at any given time.

Even the most loyal customers have reasons for keeping you in the dark. Perhaps they’re worried you will take advantage of their business. Maybe they’re also in talks with another salesperson and trying to keep it quiet. So they closely cling to their cards and say what you want to hear. Right until it’s too late for you to do anything about it.

But customers often drop hints that something’s wrong. These seemingly throwaway remarks are similar to icebergs: On the surface, they don’t seem like much to worry about. But, in reality, trouble lies just below the surface.

In business, there is no such thing as an offhand remark. Any comment that relates to the existing relationship, the customer’s operations, or your products and services requires your immediate, undivided attention.

Even more troubling, “conversational icebergs” often are buried in seemingly positive comments. Maybe your buyer is trying to avoid confrontation or soften the insult, so they bury the criticism alongside some good words. For sales professionals, it can be easy to listen to the flattering remark and miss the actual meaning.

Conversational icebergs generally come in the form of statements like these:

• “Your software is really powerful. I wish the user interface was a little easier to understand, but overall it was good.”

• “The new equipment works fine. It’s just that some of my people are really low-tech. We’ll have to spend a lot of time training them.”

• “Though your prices are a little high, I told my supervisor we appreciate your great service.”

• “I’m going to get your invoice paid as soon as possible. Accounting just needs to see an itemized list of your charges.”

Each of these statements has concerns embedded within them, which could easily be overlooked. But when you do spot them, it’s time to drop everything and mend the underlying difficulty. Some examples:

• “You said the user interface could be easier. What kinds of problems are you encountering?”

• “You said some of your people will need training? Is that something we need to address?

• “Help me understand why your boss thought our prices are too high.”

• “I’ll be happy to provide Accounting with that itemized backup. But they never asked for it before. What’s up?”

Of course, sometimes you’ll need to go looking for conversational icebergs. How can you do that? By sending out signals, or pings, and listening to the response.

Pings are proactive: They come from you – not your customer.

You send them out and listen for a response. Here are some examples:

• “We just sent you our first invoice – I just want to confirm it included all the information your accounting department needed.”

• “In the past, we have allowed three business days to ensure prompt delivery times. Is this still sufficient to meet your demands?”

• “I understand YOU recognize our value proposition, but is your boss on the same page with this? Should we explain it to him in further detail?”

Of course, you should not dwell on the downfalls or ping your buyers too often. You also don’t want to solicit vague questions such as “Are we doing well?” But asking specific questions designed to ensure customers are receiving what they want or anticipate can help you avoid disaster.

The explosive growth and success of Pinterest puts the spotlight on the various applications and benefits of less-text-more-image-based content sharing like Postwire provides for client communications. This week we share a few tips on how to make the most of Postwire’s visual sharing format. Check ‘em out below and then sign into Postwire to put the tips into action.

Tell a story

Capitalize on Postwire’s visually apealing grid layout and let each story you tell unfold frame by frame, much like a comic strip. Perhaps you’ve learned that a particular white paper, tip sheet, and educational webinar help raise awareness of pain points your product or service addresses. When you share that bundle of info, think about the story you are telling your client and present the info accordingly. Sequence the content items, carefully select thumbnail images and include descriptive text to help you tell your story.

Act as narrator…

This tip comes from Andrew Sealy, Software Sales Specialist at MINDBODY, Inc. Andrew makes a Postwire Page after his first contact with a prospect. Next, he invites the prospect to a shared screen session (i.e., using a product like Webex or GoToMeeting) to introduce the info. THEN–and here’s the kicker–rather than sharing his screen demo-style, Andrew passes control of the screen sharing to the prospect. The prospect clicks on the content items and explores the assets as Andrew narrates, guiding her through the story told by the information he selected to share. Andrew firmly believes that people want the ability to investigate on their own schedules. This way of educating gives each person the resources to review when ready, as well as to share with others. In other words, Andrew teaches each person to fish, not fish for them.

Often our success as salespeople depends on how well we’ve prepared a key contact to advocate on our behalf inside their organization. Our contact turns around and takes what we’ve “taught” them to influence others. It’s our job to properly prepare our champion. IDC calls this “customer enablement” and defines it as:

“The delivery of the right intelligence to the right customers (prospects) at the right time in the right format and in the right place to assist them in moving a specific buying opportunity forward.”

The Ultimate Test

Think back to your favorite teacher. She was passionate about her subject matter. She challenged your thinking and provided you resources to learn more on your own. She often tested your understanding of what she taught you with collaborative group projects which gave you the opportunity to share your perspectives with classmates. After all, the ultimate test of what you’ve learned is your ability to teach it to someone else.

In his blog post, Customer Enablement for Sales Reps: Helping Your Champion to Succeed, Michael Girard, VP for IDC’s Sales Advisory Practice, shares ways–like a good teacher–you can enable your champion to ace the test of convincing others to choose your solution.

How well have you prepared your Prospect to pass the test?

Last week…

Last week we had an opportunity to join Carole Mahoney, founder of Mahoney Internet Marketing, at her Hubspot User Group Meeting in Scarborough, Maine. Carole wrote a guest blog post for Rick Roberge’s blog The Rainmaker Maker entitled Finally, a content management tool for sales – not marketing! (?), In it, Carole reviews Postwire as a tool to help salespeople create a great customer experience amd offers this tidbit:

“One piece of advice, and this applies to any new technology that you might expose prospects to—give [your clients] a heads up first. Never assume they will know what to do, otherwise you are leaving their customer experience in the hands of someone else. Ask them, do you prefer the standard text email, or a personalized web page for you and your co-workers? Let them know they will need to sign in, but the info is secure, their comments are protected, and it will take less than 30 seconds.”

We wholeheartedly agree! Read below how one Postwire user manages his client’s experience.

Managing Your Client’s Experience

This tip comes straight from Douglas Dick, Executive Director of VIP International in Australia. Doug helps companies run their businesses remotely using wireless devices and applications. He uses Postwire to send a personal follow-up to each prospect after his first meeting. Doug cleverly repurposes the Postwire bio field to explain the “why” behind his choice to communicate differently. Here’s the message Doug provides on every Postwire Page–perhaps it will inspire you:

Hi – After 20 years of being in the business, we seem to have less time each day to share ideas. I thought this was a good way to share what we are currently providing for companies in your area of expertise.

Postwire Bookmarklet:

Next time you’re surfing the Web as you sip your morning coffee, use the Postwire Bookmarklet to save that great blog post you just read so that you can share it later with a client.

Did you know that using the Postwire Bookmarklet you have more control over the thumbnail image associated with the web link? You can select and crop the image you want to use from a screen shot of the web page.

Read more about using the Postwire Bookmarklet here.

We’ve been cranking out new features and improvements that we hope you love. Here are a few favorites:

• Add your company logo - You can now add your logo to the Postwire pages you share. We also brand the emails sent by you as well.
• Shared libraries - Are you the content maven in your company? Use shared libraries in Postwire to make sure your colleagues get the latest and greatest content from you (with virtually no more work from you).

Postwire is used by all kinds of people who want to create a remarkable experience for their clients, including sales & marketing teams, small businesses, sports trainers, agencies and many more. If you use content to educate your clients–and care about how you organize and present information to help each client succeed–then Postwire is the communicaton tool for you. It saves you time, notifies you when the information is viewed and makes you look great too.

Click here to log in and check it out!

Postwire to the Rescue!

What would you do if your champion from your most valued account unexpectantly left the company? David Marinac from StandupPouches.net recently experienced just this. In a matter of minutes, David invited his other client contacts to a Postwire page, reassuring them he had their backs. They were impressed with his responsiveness and deep knowledge. Presenting information so that it was easy to get everyone up to speed quickly went a long way towards establishing trust.

Got a Postwire story? We’d love to hear it.

Postwire Tip:

Did you know Postwire sends email notifications whenever anyone comments on a page? Touch your client by adding new content to her page along with your perspectives in a comment.

Keep her engaged and informed!

We’ve been giving a lot of thought recently to what it takes to create a remarkable client experience. There’s certainly no shortage of research and expertise on this topic. Sometimes, though, it’s the simplest of all concepts that strike you the hardest. Like this one I stumbled upon this week surfing the Web:

Delighting your customers doesn’t build loyalty. Reducing effort does.

The body of research behind this statement comes from the Corporate Executive Board and popped onto my radar screen this week from reading this post. What’s my takeaway from my cursory reading about the Customer Effort Score? Using its four dimensions—reducing thinking effort, emotional effort, physical effort and time—is a helpful framework for improving how you work with clients…and, if you’re a salesperson, how you sell. After all, according to other research by the Customer Executive Board, client loyalty is more a function of how you sell than what you sell.

I remember when you pulled into a station to fill up your car. You would wait for an attendant to come from running from inside or finish with another car. Almost all stations are self service now. Why? Because while it required a bit more physical effort from me, it reduced time as I could jump out, fill up my car and dash off.  Also, now the credit card reader is right at the pump—you no longer have to wait for the attendant to run inside. What a concept! Oh, and have you seen some of the new restaurant check out systems where the server can take payment right at the table?

What are you doing to reduce your client’s efforts?

This image gas_station_2 is courtesy of Atle Brunvoll on Flickr and made available under an Attribution-Noncommercial-Share Alike 2.0 license.

For my 30+ years of selling, everyone that I sold was either a prospective client or a client. They were not customers. So many people use customer and client as interchangeable words. They are not.

All salespeople should stop thinking customer and think client. Not just think client, but ACT client.

Is spending time thinking about how you label the people who purchase your products and services simply a frivolous exercise in semantics? I don’t think so. Labels have the potential to motivate behavioral changes leading to more remarkable client experiences and thereby your success.

Traditionally, people who were paid for their advice – lawyers, accountants, advisors, agents, coaches and other professional experts use the label “client’. Quite simply they were paid to share their expertise.

Let’s look at the definition of a customer (dictionary.com):
Customer – A person who purchases goods or services from another.

Your contact is looking for someone who can spot their opportunity or issue and help them succeed. They are looking for you to be an expert. You must think of yourself as an expert, not as someone who people by from (remember the definition of a customer). In today’s world, your contact’s time is too valuable to think he needs someone to buy from. Be an expert and start by thinking what you would need to do to have your clients pay you for your advice.

Successful salespeople offer real value through the way they educate and even challenge clients’ thinking.

What do you do to help your client as an expert?

P.S. I highly recommend reading this four-part series of articles in Harvard Business Review: 1: Selling Is Not About Relationships; 2: The Worst Question a Salesperson Can Ask; 3: Why Your Salespeople are Pushovers; 4: How the Rift Between Sales & Marketing Undermines Reps.)

With that statement, “The Sales Lion”, Marcus Sheridan, roared his way into my life for the first time this week.

Anyone who superimposes his photo alongside a magnificent lion on his web site is already someone I want to meet. Marcus is a pool sales guy turned hands-on content marketing guru who obviously has mastered the art of attracting revenue by sharing his expertise.

At last look, the blog post that initially caught my eye had 55 comments! I encourage you to take the time to read Marcus’ entire post: The Incredible Relationship Between Content Marketing and Sales. The thought-provoking question posed by Marcus:

“Why do so many companies fail to integrate content marketing into their sales processes?”

My response:

1. Why do so many companies fail to integrate content marketing into their sales process? I think that the word “content marketing” has left many people feeling that content is for marketing – getting people to the website and “top of funnel” and it is not as important when the sales person gets involved. The sales person sells on building trust and does not need content to create that bond. What a missed opportunity.This is compounded by the fact that marketing and sales management is not driving how to get the content that marketing is using into the hands of sales people. I am amazed at how many companies have rich content libraries but when you ask the sales people do they use the content they say not much and they do not know how to get at it. They just grab a couple of pieces, often out of date and continue to use it over and over again. Not strategically, just so they have something to send.
2. Who is doing it well? I admire:

• Owen Blevins at Mid-Atlantic Concrete – http://maconcrete.com
• David Marinac at Standuppouches – http://standuppouches.net
• Andrew Sealy at MINDBODY – http://mindbodyonline.com

The stars are aligning right now such that content can serve as a bridge to bring sales and marketing together. In the world of content marketing, getting content into the hands of salespeople and helping them effectively use it is an easy, powerful win that will drive more sales. In our work with clients using Postwire, we see firsthand that sharing good content to educate prospects saves precious time for both buyers and sellers by shortening sales cycles–whether selling pools, concrete production equipment, food packaging pouches or expertise like “The Sale Lion”.

Expert salespeople have figured out that great content is the secret sauce for making sales. Share your expertise using Postwire. Sign up for free account at www.postwire.com.

Photo Credit: Tambako the Jaguar on Flickr

By sharing access to great thinking, we all get smarter. That’s what prompts me to share this graphical summary of how to write the perfect blog post created by Derek Halpern of Social Triggers. Thank you, Derek!

More great blog posts written = more great content items you can share with your clients using Postwire!

Like this? Get more marketing tips from Social Triggers.