Is my timing good or what? NYC got hit with a major snow storm today. I left 24 hours ago.

Have you ever wondered why a business opens up in the center of lots of direct competition. Are they crazy or smart? I think they are smart if they play their cards right. Brick and mortar ventures understand that physically locating your business surrounded by like businesses has many advantages – it makes it easy for customers to find your category (restaurants, art galleries etc.) and they can easily stumble upon you, you can jointly promote the area with a common theme of offerings and you can network and refer business to each other.

That’s what I experienced in NYC last week. I was in the market for a new coat. I had two old ones that I enjoyed for years, but was ready to trade up. I headed to 29th and Broadway, the fur district in the city. I started with the place I purchased the older coats, since I had done business with them in the past. They suggested I go to Madison Avenue Furs, sell my old coats and then come back and shop. Apparently, this shop they were referring was known for paying a fair price for coats. I headed to the cash opportunity store, stopped in four other stores to do a little more research and see if they would give me any thing for my old coats. Two of them also suggested selling my old ones and coming back.
It was really cold and windy in New York and I was ready to get a warmer, new coat and couldn’t find the place that everyone was speaking about. Yikes, so I popped back in one of the stores and asked for more directions. They were so nice and walked me down to the store; knowing that they could potentially lose a sale to this store they were taking me to.

I entered the store and was greeted by a friendly sales associate. I explained what I was looking to do. She said no problem. I needed to see the owner and in the mean time, was I interest their collection? I said “sure”. She showed me all kinds, price points and different styles. I never felt pressure to select one or did I feel intimidated, which I have felt when I was making a purchase of this magnitude in the past.

Larry the owner of the store came over and introduced himself. He toured me through the store explaining that he was a third generation furrier. Most of the merchants in this cluster of retailers were all family businesses that have been around for decades. Again, no pressure from Larry, he was knowledgeable and helpful. After finding a coat that I really loved, Larry gave me the options, the amount of straight cash I could get and go, and what the trade in amount was that he would take off the coat that I liked. I thought about it, consulted with my shopping buddy, Jill and decided to take the money off and buy the coat from Larry’s store.

After a morning of shopping, Larry had a new customer. Why? I really loved the coat, I trusted him, we had chemistry, I related to him as he was my age, not my grandfather’s, I believed the price was fair for the purchase and I was buying what I wanted and was not being hard sold.

So how can this swarm of competition theory work for your business?

1) Be confident in your business and embrace an attitude that there is plenty of business for all.

2) Develop relationship with your competitors, let them know of any special services or products that you offer that can help them look good in the eyes of their customers.

3) When you can’t help a customer, send them the referral to your network of competitors.

This concept is not limited to retail or brick and mortar businesses. If you have an online business and write a blog, compliment your competition, share links and even consider bundling an offer with some of your competition. And if you have a strong feeling of trust with one of your competitors explore a joint venture opportunity. I realize this will not work for every business model, but it will for many.

So this past week in our weekly training session, we were discussing the topic of “mindset” as it relates to conversational selling with prospects.  To illustrate this concept, I placed one of our new client’s sales representative, who considers himself a very good sales person, into a role-play at the start of class.  The set up was this…pretend you’ve just sat down with a new prospect that is really interested in your services and just run the first 10 minutes of your sales call.  Simple huh?  As the rep began to work his way through the role play, it was evident that he was uncomfortable and really was not sure what he was trying to accomplish on the call.  Before too long, he was committing P.P.S. symptoms, Premature Presentation Syndrome!

After about 10 minutes, I stopped the role play and we debriefed the good, and not so good.  Then, I instructed him to perform the exact same role play only this time, act like you are the prospects “friend and trusted advisor” and that he has millions of dollars in the bank and does not need this sale.  Almost instantly his tone and body language immediately changed and he started to be more genuine and authentic in both his questions and his answers.  Before long, he had the prospect selling him on why he needed to use his company and services.  The light bulb went off from everyone in the class about how much pressure we place on ourselves and our prospects during a sale call.  We spent the next 15 minutes talking about personal presence and what you are exuding during our first 10 minutes of meeting someone, especially a prospect for the first time.

Clint Babcock, Partner with the Sandler Training, is an interactive and engaging trainer that has trained thousands of sales people and sales managers.  Clint works with Business Owners and companies that are struggling in the areas of sales Strategy, Structure, Staff, and Skills.  Through ongoing reinforcement coaching and training, Clint has been able to help companies grow revenues and greatly increase their closing percentages.  Clint often is called on to speak at national sales meetings and various associations. Clint can be reached at cbabcock@sandler.com.

According to a recent survey by Pew Research, the commercial use of the Internet among Americans continues to grow: 58% of US adults say they conduct research online about products and services, up from the 49% who said so in 2004, while roughly one-quarter (24%) have posted comments or reviews online about products they buy. (thanks to MarketingProfs for posting)

I am one of the 58%. I am a research nut who conducts online searches for both personal and professional products and services several times a day. I came across two companies yesterday while conducting online research. One of them is now a contender for my business. The other, sadly, lost terribly.

Here is some background. I am looking for a new washing machine since mine has decided that it no longer wants to clean my clothes. At this point, I don’t want to search by features, colors or price. I need to know which ones will fit into the predetermined and unalterable spot for the washing machine. All the major and local appliance stores’ websites offered the same search parameters: color, price, most popular, highest rated.

I went to Google and typed in “appliance by size.” The results listed, among others, a site that “aims to make it as easy as possible to find the products that fit your space – be it furniture, home electronics or even large appliances. You can find all the products you need for your new apartment in a size-friendly search environment.”

Great! I thought, that’s exactly what I’m looking for, so I went to the site and entered “washing machine” in the search box. The auto-fill suggested the following: combination microwave & wall ovens, convertible dishwashers, countertop microwave ovens, double wall ovens, waffle irons (aside: how big do they get?), and wall air conditioners.

When I typed in “washing machine,” I received the reply “no entries found.” What I did find was that I was annoyed that the site didn’t work. I would have been happy to spend lots of time on the site looking for what I needed. This might have provided them some ad revenue and perhaps some affiliate income if I purchased on line. I likely would have highly recommended the site if it worked. Instead, I went back to the google search results and found www.ajmadison.com. Kudos to them on a website well done! Not only is the site super easy to navigate and search, (they allowed me to search by appliance size!) but they have also embraced social media. The highly informative and engaging social medial channels are FREE and cost them only their time to assemble and post content. Under the AJ Madison Community umbrella, they have the following channels and descriptions listed. From the AJ Madison site:

Facebook: The AJ Madison Facebook Fan Page is updated every day with the latest deals and product specials. The AJ Madison Experience (found under the “Boxes” tab) presents a simple, ever-changing interface with deals and links to the site, while Shop AJ Madison allows you to browse and buy from our entire site, all while logged into Facebook. Become a fan today!

Twitter: For information about promotions, as well as general appliance news (and some surprises), follow us on the official AJ Madison Twitter page (@AJMadison). On average, we tweet several times a day, and deals are normally announced in the morning.

YouTube: We periodically update our YouTube channel with new informative product videos. In the near future, we’ll have a steady stream of content and new videos to keep you apprised of the latest appliances and how to use and maintain them.

Tumblr: Every weekday, we update our Tumblr page with information on a new “just-in” product. This is a supplement to the New Products RSS Feed, with our own views on the featured appliance thrown in for good measure.

Flickr: Each week, we showcase a new product from the AJ Madison showroom on our Flickr page, giving you original images and in-depth looks at our newest appliances. Subscribe to our Flickr stream or follow us on Twitter for the latest updates.

Appliance Authority (blog): You’re on AJ Madison’s Appliance Authority blog right now! We update our blog several times a week with how-to guides, top rated product spotlights, buying tips and more. Check back here every weekday for a new post, or you can also follow it via this RSS Feed.

Google Buzz: We’re proud to be one of the first companies on Google’s new Buzz network. Though we’re currently experimenting with this brand-new platform, Buzz integrates all of our other profiles (Twitter, Flickr, YouTube and more), and we add daily deals, news and information right from our Brooklyn office. If you’re a Buzz or GMail user, or just generally curious, visit our Buzz profile and follow us today!

And, it gets better! I tweeted, “@AJMadison I love your website! So well done and informative. If I still lived in NYC, I’d be purchasing my new washing machine from y’all.”

In less than an hour, they responded, “Thank you, friend! We still deliver to your neck of the woods.”

By being on top of their social media channels, they created a direct, personal, immediate dialogue with a potential customer that lives 800 miles away. That kind of responsiveness makes them a top contender for my business.

Key takeaway points:

1. If you sell a product or service that people are likely to research, write rich content and reviews and create lots of search parameters that will attract researchers to your site.

2. Leverage social media channels. Distribute all that great content through Facebook, Twitter, Flickr, YouTube, etc.

3. Monitor those channels. Read and respond to potential buyers. Read and contribute to discussion boards and forums in which your products and or services are the subject. Become a trusted authority.

4. Provide solutions. I tweeted that I would buy from them if I lived closer. They responded, “no problem, we can do that.” I went back to the site and saw that FREE DELIVERY was offered to my zip code on the item I was considering.

5. Read the bad stuff, too. You might find that unsatisfied customers posted their complaints online. If possible, try to reach out to them and resolve the problem. Research shows that customers who complain and are satisfied with how the complaint was resolved are up to 8% more loyal than if they had no complaint at all.

All annoying,  all unnecessary, even if you work on commission.

My good buddy, international sales guru Jeffrey Gitomer said it best, “People don’t likes to be sold, but, they like to buy.”

You know who I’m talking about, it’s likely one of your relatives, I know it’s one of mine. They are always pushing food on me, try this, eat this, have some of this. The more I say “no thank you”, the more they push, the less I want it.

Does it make me want to try the food? Heck no. It aggravates me, same goes for pushy sales people.

I understand in tough times, we all want the sale, but instead of pushing, try pleasing, providing value and supplying pure helpfulness.

4 pleasurable ways to get customers to want your stuff instead of running from it.

1. Share a tip or secret about your product or someone else’s.
2. Send an unexpected handwritten note with a special offer, personalized and just for them.
3. Randomly offer a free trial or sample of a service or product with no strings attached.
4. Add a bonus gift to a small purchase.

Where do you draw the line and decide what is honest to goodness marketing and networking, and what is invasive, obnoxious and sleazy SPAM?

It’s a hard call.

I get lots of email from people I know damn well  I’ve never opted in to their email list. Plus they even use a respected email service that claims to be spam free and still my in box is stuffed full with unrequested messaging and junk. I’m starting to question how spam free they are. I’ve used company for several years called Feedblitz. In fact, I just became an affiliate last week. This means if you sign up for their service, Oddpodz will make a commission. However, my recommendations are always based on my experience with the company, the small are a bonus ;) Whatever service you use, do your homework, because switching providers often requires having your community re-opt in and you can loose some long time followers.

Back to Feedblitz, I was attracted to their service because your blog is the feed/content for your email. I’ve learned many people still prefer mail over RSS feed. They do a good job, and don’t tolerate list dumping or spamming. And if you have an issue you get to speak to real person.

I often wonder, did this happen because of  some business group I joined and they sold their list, or did this company get my biz card and randomly add me to their email pool or did they buy my name from a list broker,  in any case, 99% of the time I’m annoyed because fundamentally I hate spam and any relative or form of it makes me cranky.

The other side of the coin. As a business owner who is trying to build a market of followers and customers, I’ve considered buying lists. I understand the math behind if you reach out to 10,000 people and offer something of value, 5% may join in your party. Is that a bad thing?

Can you say direct mail? Since I’ve been on this planet, I’ve been introduced to many a worthy businesses and products via an ice cold piece of direct mail.  I know my name was purchased some where down the line in the marketing and capitalism world of business promotion. And I’m cool with that. I know I can also choose to chunk the uninvited mail into the trash at any moment.

Here’s my take on the subject of uninvited, no permission email marketing.

Buying an email or snail mail list is OK if you reach out with a valuable offer, one or two times.  And as  long as you provide an easy, clear way to opt-out at any point.

If you don’t provide the opt-out option and you Ignore the recipients request to stop receiving your stuff, then you deserve to get the worst computer virus ever and get struck by lightening too.

Be honest with the people you reach out to. Don’t tell them they signed up, if they didn’t. That just adds to making the world feel crazy, when they may not have lost their mind yet.

Love to hear your thoughts on this subject.

1. Have you purchased lists? Where?
2. Did you get a good return?
3. What email service to you use?
4. Where is the best place to report spammers?
5. Are you still using snail mail?