John Bradley Jackson

There may no more powerful communication tool than a story well told. A story is not a PowerPoint presentation or a canned pitch or a memorized speech. It is as it sounds: a plain English parable with a beginning, middle, and end.

Stories help people understand and make sense of what you are selling. A compelling story can make the abstract understandable. Ditch the product specifications and data sheets. Instead, share your favorite experience with the new product.

Top salespeople can build trust and credibility while overcoming skepticism by talking about how another customer solved a problem by using a product or service. A good story can address an objection or concern before it is ever brought up by the customer. Done right, the story well told makes the story teller appear sincere and trustworthy.

Sales presentations are the quickest way to lose a sale since there may be nothing more obvious or obnoxious than a canned pitch, better known as death by PowerPoint. Shut down the laptop and build the relationship with your customer by sharing your stories.

Connect with a customer’s emotions by talking about past experiences with other customers. Stories can be a great way to break the ice with a new customer and ease the natural tension in a sales call. For the existing client, the well-told tale can enrich the relationship and reaffirm the business.

Generally, customers can identify with story and can picture themselves as a part of the story. This emotional connection helps them remember the story while they may never remember the fact or figures, let alone the features and benefits of your product. Stories should have a simple theme or value; if the tale is too complicated the message could get lost.

The mechanics are simple. A good story’s opening is clear and engaging. The sequence of events must be easy to follow. Don’t be too clever or you might lose your audience. The story must have a clear ending and must have had purpose.

If done right, the story lives on in the memory of your customer. Story telling can achieve things that marketing brochures can’t.

John Bradley Jackson
© Copyright 2008 All rights reserved.

As a follow up to my last blog about driving web traffic with off-line activities, here are some ideas about how you might drive traffic to your website using the web.

1. Pay-Per-Click Advertising. This can be done with Google, Yahoo, MSN, and many others. If done right, this is cheap and effective.

2. Article Marketing. Write short articles for article directory sites such as EzineArticles.com. This improves search rank and creates frequency in a search. This is one of my secrets to success in web marketing.

3. Free Classified Ads. Post ads on free classified ads sites, such as Craigslist and Kijiji. These sites get incredible traffic and you will be found.

4. Blogging. My web business strategy is based on this method. It really works. Write with key words.

5. YouTube. YouTube is coming of age. A clever video can drive monster traffic to your site. If you have not been to YouTube recently, you will be blown away with the volume of content. It is no longer just a novelty site—you can do serious research there.

6. Forums and Social Networks: Pick forums related to your industry and site, and put links in your signature line so it appears in all your posts. These can be stand-alone sites, or “groups” on sites like MySpace, Facebook, LinkedIn, etc. Both forums and social networks are great web tools that have come of age, but you have to be a player to get the benefits. Get involved.

7. Blog Comments. Visit blogs that cover your industry or space and leave comments with your URL. Position yourself as a thought leader by commenting back to other bloggers.

8. Email Newsletters. While you may forward these to existing customers, they will get forwarded to buddy lists. This is viral marketing as its best.

9. Content Aggregators. Submit your content to aggregators. The easiest way to do this is to burn your feed to FeedBurner and enable the feature to distribute your feed to blog aggregators. There are many others. Do a search for content aggregators.

10. Blog Sites. Subscribe and post to blog sites like Digg and Delicious.

This is just a small list of the on-line activities that will that drive traffic to your site.

John Bradley Jackson
© Copyright 2008 All rights reserved.

When you think about methods to drive visitor traffic to your website, I bet you mostly think of web related activities. These on-line activities are great, but don’t overlook the offline methods which can be surprisingly effective.

Here are few ideas:

Signage- If you have a bricks and mortar business, include your URL on the outdoor sign.

Invoices- Always include your website address on your printed bills. Make it easy for your customer to find you.

Promotional Items- T-shirts, coffee mugs and pens are frequent choices for logos but be sure to include your URL.

Bumper Stickers- I hate these, but they work too.

Post Flyers- For a small business, the bulletin board at the community center, church, or school is a great way to remind people about your site.

Business Cards- This is a no brainer, but frequently small business owners forget to put their URLs on their cards.

Tattoos- For those of you who are really committed to driving traffic to your website, consider getting a conspicuous URL on your forearm? Count me out on this one.

Leave Fliers - Leave fliers for website at your local university library, restaurants, or stores.

Letterheads and Stationery - Create a letterhead to use for all your off-line communication. List your website address on all forms of company correspondence.

Outdoor Advertising- Advertise on bus benches and billboards.

Newspaper Ads- They’re often pretty cheap and local papers can have a circulation of thousands.
Wear Your URL- Make a custom hat or shirt with your URL on it.

Stickers – Stickers can be very useful especially if you sell to a young demographic.

Direct Mail- You can print up some postcards (with your web address very visible on them) and send them to specially selected customers.

Press Releases- Send a press release to all of the media outlets in your area, including newspapers, radio stations, and television stations.

Printed Newsletters- With a newsletter, companies can communicate with existing and potential customers on a regular basis.

Wrap Your Car- Some people sell advertising space on their car to make some money but you can advertise your own website on your car and it really works and drives traffic to your website. You can find car wrapping services in your city and pay them to wrap up your car. The rear windshield is the most important part.

Give Lectures- Target city community centers, schools, colleges and universities.

Letters- Write letters to the editor. Just have a very small byline at the bottom of your article and introduce your website. If you are a good writer, it will be a great way to drive free traffic to your website.

As you can see, there many off-line ways to drive traffic to your website. I think you get the picture.

John Bradley Jackson
© Copyright 2008 All rights reserved.

(This is an reprint by special request of my blog from July 6th, 2007)

For most of us, knowing the difference between right and wrong is pretty clear, but sometimes doing the right thing is hard to do. Or, let’s say we are challenged to make the right choices.

Our government helps us out with our decision making process about right and wrong by making laws that specifically tell us what is right and what is wrong. It is illegal to shoplift. It is a legal requirement to properly label the ingredients on food products. While there is an occasional debate about the meaning of laws, we generally understand what is acceptable and what is not. Conveniently, these laws are enforced.

Ethical behavior is a slightly different matter, since ethics are established and maintained by the culture and they are not always written down or specifically communicated. If you find a wallet at a gas station that has $100 cash in it, the ethical thing to do is to contact the owner and return the wallet with the cash. If you go through the checkout line at a department store and the “new” cashier gives you back too much change, the ethical choice is to tell the cashier about the error. The challenge with ethics is that you are in charge of managing your own code of ethics.

Sales people deal with ethical challenges all the time. Maybe you have faced issues like these:

- Should I tell the customer about my product’s quality problems?
- My customer’s purchase order had the wrong price on the order (it was higher than what you quoted). Should I tell them?
- My expense account is to be used for selling expenses only, but how would my company know the difference between a personal expense and a customer expense?
- Your product was not made to the customer’s specification, but was shipped anyway. Do you tell them or do hope that they don’t notice?

Your own code of ethics helps make the little decisions easier along with the big ones. When you always tell the truth you don’t have to remember anything; it is easier this way. When you do the ethical thing, you have little regret or remorse about your choices.

So, what does a sales person’s code of ethics look like? Here are a few ideas:

- Always tell the truth.
- Don’t lie through omission; tell the whole story including the bad parts.
- Always do what you promise; if you can, deliver more than what you promise.
- When you fail to deliver on a commitment, tell the customer immediately. Don’t wait for them to find out.
- When in doubt about a choice, seek advice from a mentor (I.E. someone you admire and is ethical).
- Put your promises in writing to hold yourself accountable; this will also document your good behavior when you deliver what you promised.
- Treat your customer like you would like to be treated.

Do the right thing.

John Bradley Jackson
© Copyright 2008 All rights reserved.

Corporate America is accountable for what it does and does not do —businesses must be socially responsible (or, at least they should be). Social responsibility is a company’s duty to make the right choices that will contribute to the welfare and interests of society, as well as those of the organization itself. Recent headlines suggest that many companies don’t always meet this goal.

Of course, the firm is accountable to its stakeholders who are people within or outside the organization that have a stake in the organization’s performance. This includes customers, community, creditors, government, owners, managers, employees and suppliers.

Generally we think of an organization’s main responsibilities as economic and legal. Economic responsibility includes producing goods and services that society wants and to maximize profits for its owners and shareholders. Legal responsibility is what society deems important with respect to appropriate corporate behavior—it is the law. Making money and obeying the law is the minimum expectation as far as I am concerned.

A good company must also be ethical which means managing the behaviors that are not necessarily written as law and may not serve the corporation’s direct economic interests. Companies can demonstrate social responsibility by taking corrective action before they have to, by being bold enough to publicly admit mistakes, by embracing social programs which help the environment, by establishing and enforcing a corporate code of conduct for all employees including management, or by taking needed public stands on social issues even when it is controversial.

Business Ethics (http://www.business-ethics.com/BE100_all), a magazine dedicated to social responsibility, has developed a list of the 100 Best Corporate Citizens in 2007. The 100 Best Corporate Citizens list ranks firms based on how well they perform in eight categories: shareholders, community, governance, diversity, employees, environment, human rights, and product.

Green Mountain Coffee Roasters’ first place finish marks the first time in the history of the “100 Best” that a company has ranked first in two consecutive years. Green Mountain has been among the top 10 companies on the list for five years running.

The list is drawn from more than 1,100 of the largest U.S. publicly traded companies and is largely based on the environmental, social, and governance research of KLD Research & Analytics. Rounding out this year’s top ten are Advanced Micro Devices, Nike, Motorola, Intel, International Business Machines, Agilent Technologies, The Timberland Company, Starbucks Coffee Company and General Mills.

This list suggests that being socially responsible is a good thing and has its rewards.

John Bradley Jackson
© Copyright 2008 All rights reserved.

P. S. Check out the full list of the 100 most socially responsible U.S Companies at http://www.thecro.com/files/100BestGatefold.pdf

The “Golden Rule”, also known as the ethics of reciprocity, is often expressed as, “Do onto others as you would wish them to do onto you.” The golden rule message is a simple one: do the right thing. Doing the right thing is best for others and ultimately is best for you.

The world’s religions teach us about the power of reciprocity:

Hinduism - “Do naught unto others what you would not have them do to you.”
Confucianism - “Do not do to others what you would not like yourself.”
Buddhism- “Hurt not others in ways that you yourself would find hurtful.”
Judaism - “That which is hateful to you do not do unto your neighbor.”
Christianity- “Do to others as you would have them do to you.”
Taoism- “Regard your neighbor’s gain as your own gain, and your neighbor’s loss as your own loss.”

Every day sales people have to make ethical decisions regarding the use of company assets, whether or not to moonlight, how to price a product for different customers, and how to manage company information. For the individual sales person, the difference between right and wrong is governed by their own personal code of ethics. This code is learned over time and reinforced by the culture in which he/she lives and works.

When it comes to business ethics, sales management must lead by example. This includes the level of sales pressure put upon a rep, decisions affecting territories and compensation plans, and speaking truthfully at all times. To insure this behavior, leader selection is important; managers must practice what they preach. Ethics must start at the top with the key sales executives creating an ethical sales climate.

Companies need to communicate the desired behavior. One of the best ways is to publish a code of ethics or a values statement. Google lists the firm’s company values on their website for all stakeholders to read (customers, vendors, employees, etc). Firms like Google must encourage whistle-blowing so they do not tolerate unethical behavior by any employee.

Ethics are “maintained” by the culture and the company, but they are mostly managed by you. This is the hard part for many. Ethics is about doing what is right when no one is looking.

The right thing is best.

John Bradley Jackson
© Copyright 2008 All rights reserved.

Much is being said and written about how the increased price of oil to over $140 per barrel is injuring our economy. Moreover, the prediction of $200 per barrel by the year end is being heralded as the “Tripping Pont” by many pundits—an unthinkable change in the landscape of western civilization.

My response to these pundits is they may be overlooking the many new opportunities that high priced oil products will bring. Let’s examine some of the marketing opportunities that might be created by $200 per Barrel Oil:

1. Real estate prices will favor the urban areas. A tremendous buying opportunity may be at our feet with prices currently at record lows in metropolitan areas. The up-coming real estate rally will be fueled by high oil prices. Bye-bye suburbs and the rural lifestyles,

2. Telecommuting will finally deliver the promises of value. This includes video conferencing, webinars, and work at home situations.

3. A rush to create “4-day work weeks” will help commuters save money. This will create more recreation time for consumers. Note the State of Utah is trying a one-year 4-day work pilot program to save energy and money; this pilot will affect the majority of Utah state employees.

4. Local tourism should increase . Families will opt to stay at home for vacations and take advantage of local recreation such beaches, museums, and theme parks. Road trips and plane flights will be just too expensive. I have heard these referred to as “Staycations”.

5. Regional oil exploration and drilling will boom. The Feds will create new incentives for exploration for local sources of oil.

6. Oil extraction economics will change. Older oil wells once considered “tapped” when the bottom of the wells turned from liquid to sludge, may now be reopened.

7. Fuel efficient cars seem an obvious solution. The SUV may be dead, but the economy car may have just been named homecoming queen.

8. Alternatives to fossil fuel may get additional tax preferences. Solar, wind energy, and gasoline alternatives will get a boost from the Feds and from the consumer.

$200 per barrel oil will create many new entrepreneurial opportunities—-let’s look at the bright side.

John Bradley Jackson
© Copyright 2008 All rights reserved.

Yes, there are still things to be invented. How about square watermelons and glass floor mats?

Japanese urban dwellers live in notoriously small houses and apartments which in turn have tiny refrigerators. Watermelons are considered a delicacy in large part because of their size and storage issues. Because of this storage issue, watermelon is a favorite at Japanese restaurants, but they are seldom served on the kitchen table.

A farmer from Zentsuji in the Kagawa prefecture has solved the problem by growing the round fruit while still on the vine in a square “Plexiglas” box. When full grown, the square melon is removed the box and harvested. Note that all the melons are the same uniform size.

These easily stored watermelons are sold in upscale markets for three times the price of conventional round melons. By North American standards, the watermelons are small (10inches square). But for many, the price premium is worth it since otherwise they probably would not buy the larger round variety.

What I love about this story is the new twist on an old idea. Here is another new look at an old idea.

I have a friend named Ken who has created a start up company, which makes chair mats out of tempered glass. Similar to the round watermelons, conventional chair mats are pervasive but problematic for many people (see KBJ Enterprises LLC at http://cihop.com/)

The traditional plastic chair mat ages quickly, develops ruts, and becomes difficult for the chair to move. Because of this wear and tear they need to be replaced every few years. Frankly, as a person who sits at his desk all day long, I hate plastic chair mats.

Ken’s floor mats are made of tempered glass providing an ageless surface which allows your chair to move easily. No ruts. And no replacement needed. I suppose you could say that they are beautiful when compared to plastic floor mats after a couple of years of use. Like the square melon, the glass floor mats sell at a premium but from my perspective they are well worth it.

Both the square watermelon and glass floor mats are perfect examples of niche marketing—they both target a customer who was overlooked or underserved by the bigger players. The happy customer gladly pays the price premium to get what they want.

John Bradley Jackson
© Copyright 2008 All rights reserved.

Sometimes in sales, you have to give bad news to customers. While this is never easy, a little preparation goes a long way to helping you get the job done. Start by gathering all the facts and preparing yourself emotionally. Put yourself in the customer’s shoes—how would you feel when delivered this bad news?

Here is a basic process to follow when delivering bad news:

1. Define the situation: What must you communicate? How does this situation impact the customer? Do you need to provide all the background information? Where a strong emotional reaction is expected from the customer, providing reasons may only serve to fuel that reaction.
2. Emphasize the positive points: Once you have presented the situation, are there positive points that you can emphasize to the customer? What will not change? Be honest with the customer to remind him/her what will not change in this situation.
3. Be prepared to accept the customer’s initial reaction: Try to predict the customer’s reaction. How would you feel in this situation?
4. Responding to the reaction: Prepare a possible conversation on what He/She will probably say. Prepare your response. Restate positive points, if there are any.
5. Express your expectations: How do you expect this situation to be resolved? Are your requirements negotiable? If “yes,” what is negotiable? What action, including deadlines, must be performed by this person and what is the deadline?
6. Restate the basic agreement with timeline: confirm in writing and be specific.
7. Follow-up action; negotiate the best time for a follow-up meeting or phone call.

Delivering bad news is never easy, but a little preparation might help ease the pain (yours AND theirs).

John Bradley Jackson
© Copyright 2008 All rights reserved.

Getting found on the Internet is what really matters in web marketing. No matter how great your offering is, you are nowhere if they cannot find you. To be found you need “rank” and “frequency”.

According to marketing writer Seth Godin, when there are 2 million Google matches for a search, the number one match gets 10,000 times more traffic as the number 40. With an average of 10 search results per page, this means you literally must be found on the first page of the search results. This is called “rank”.

“Frequency” is the number of times you are found in a search. For instance, do a Google search for “Pepsi” which is a unique brand name; be sure to filter it by putting quotation marks (i.e. “”) outside the word Pepsi. On the first page of the search results you will see that Pepsi gets multiple matches or hits. Thus, the searcher sees the brand name multiple times which increases brand awareness.

Getting both rank and frequency is done by doing web marketing basics well. They include:

1. Article Marketing- Submitting articles for distribution by article directories which published on e-zines.
2. Blogging- Frequency of blog submissions will please the search engine spiders.
3. Pay-per-click advertising- This costs real money, but it works.
4. Keywords- Writing with words that searchers will use to found you.
5. Meta Tags- “Under the hood” web code which is used by the spiders to remember where you are.
6. Fresh Website Content- Maybe the number one criteria in the search engine algorithms.
7. Linking- Sharing links with other sites that list your site.
8. Relevance- Offering something that people want. Duh.
9. Web directories- Getting registered on all pertinent directories, paid or not.

While there may be many other web marketing best practices, if you do these I can nearly guarantee that your website will get both rank and frequency.

And, you will be found.

John Bradley Jackson
© Copyright 2008 All rights reserved.