Advice: Finding your virtual salesman

January 21, 2010
Finding your virtual salesman.
This month is a weird topic, but stick with me: the challenge to you as a business owner is to find yourself a virtual salesperson. Let me explain.
A salesperson in *your own* business would be someone who goes out actively seeking customers and new sales opportunities – either in person, over the phone, or via the internet.
A *virtual* salesman is a person who is not employed by your business whatsoever, but has a vested interest in actively telling others about your business, your products, and the wonderful service you provide.
The trick is in finding them. They’re most likely a small percentage of your customers – your most loyal regular customers, who conversely, you probably have the least interaction with. They’re the 20 to the 80 that take up your time on small tasks. They’re the ones who are regulars who you know by name or by ‘nod’, but have probably never had to market to in any way.
They’re the ones who simply ‘get’ your business, appreciate what you do, and would most likely be very happy to tell others about your business. If only they knew what you wanted them to say…
—–
“Stand back, she’s gonna blow!”
Famously, Seth Godin (internet marketing mega-guru) calls these sorts of people ’sneezers’ in his book ‘Unleashing the ideavirus’. He rides the metaphor that while ideas are valuable in themselves, only decent, simple ideas are worth spreading. You just have to tell the ’sneezers’.
Seth Godin nominates the perfect ’sneezer’ as someone who likes to be completely up to date with new info – someone who other people who are happy looking to for advice and recommendations. If ‘keeping up with the Joneses’ is important to many, then Seth Godin’s perfect sneezer is Mr & Mrs Jones.
That’s probably taking it a little too far: while having a virtual salesperson telling lots of others will get the word out, it’s generally quality you’re looking for, not necessarily quantity.
—–
Where do I find/how can I make some virtual salespeople?
It depends on two things: 1) your ability to spot the 20% of your best customers, and 2) your ability to make it easy for them to spread your message.
Your ability to find the top 20%, 10% or the absolute best 5% of your customer base *should* be an easy task – you *do* measure key metrics against your customer base, don’t you? OK. There’s a good chance you don’t measure such things. There’ll be another column on measuring key data next time, but for now, look beyond WAGs (now there’s an acronym for you!) and begin documenting sales against customers. And if you don’t record your customers, begin a customer loyalty program. (Another column in and of itself right there…)
Once you have your top x%, make it super-easy for these customers to pass along your message.
—–
My top 10 ways to make it easy for your message get passed on:
1) Make your message strong and simple. Use the tag line of your business, that’s displayed everywhere, as your marketing message. “The best X this side of Texas”. Imagine it being passed on… “Well, they say they’re the best X this side of Texas, and I’d say they’re just about right”. If what you do isn’t clear, or your message is too long, you’ll simply be asking too much.
2) Within your top 20% of your customers, hand-pick the enthusiasts or groups of enthusiasts. They’re the ones who would talk about you in the sleep or underwater. Every business has fanatics who love the industry you’re in. Sponsor some classes in your industry. Hand out free info on your web site to inspire budding… whatevers… Connect!
3) If you normally include a flyer/brochure/menu with every purchase, include 2 or 3 – to be handed out to others when the conversation arises. Very cheap and easy – you’re already printing them, and the price becomes more economical with quantity.
4) Two for the price of one special offers. Depending on if your customer can actually *use* both products/services or not (hopefully not!) it might be a way to initiate one-for-me, one-for-someone-else.
5) Customer clubs with membership benefits. Offer your best customers added benefits which they can either use themselves, or offer to new customers as (above board!) incentives. The CostCo ‘members only’ model comes to mind.
6) Fridge magnets. Big ones. Everyone has kids/grandkids/neighbour’s kids/overdue bills to keep somewhere prominent. Don’t skimp – big ones!
7) Invite 10 key customers to be ‘ambassadors’ of your business. You give them insider knowledge of new products and new direction, and they give you direct feedback on your business fro ma customer point of view. A bit of backscratching can help everyone, and allow your ambassadors to really feel like they ‘know’ your business – making firm friends, not just customers.
8) Promotional products: keyrings, pens, gimmicky things or practical things. They only cost a few dollars each, which does add up, but if you consider it a conversation starter between an established customer and a potential customer – all happening freely without your knowledge – what price is that worth to your business?
9) Loyalty cards: offer a good deal, not just an average deal. Make it worth talking about. Buy 3 and get your 4th free. Or let your customers stamp a new card for someone else. You don’t have to run the deal forever, but even so, you need to measure what a new customer would be worth to you.
10) Above all else, make sure that the message is being passed on for free – offering commissions sways people’s perceptions in a subtle but definite way. In just the same way as an article in a magazine versus an ad gives more (??) credence to the article, offering paid referrals instantly casts doubt on the reality of the offer and the genuineness of the business itself. If it’s genuinely worth talking about, it must genuinely be that good. Don’t muddy that with offers of money.
AB out
——
Andrew Ballard is the owner of ReBusiness, a one-man marketing/IT/design consultancy that helps businesses work smarter and look better. This article comes from his blog for small business owners at rebusiness.com.au

This month is a weird topic, but stick with me: the challenge to you as a business owner is to find yourself a virtual salesperson. Let me explain.

A salesperson in *your own* business would be someone who goes out actively seeking customers and new sales opportunities – either in person, over the phone, or via the internet.

A *virtual* salesman is a person who is not employed by your business whatsoever, but has a vested interest in actively telling others about your business, your products, and the wonderful service you provide.

The trick is in finding them. They’re most likely a small percentage of your customers – your most loyal regular customers, who conversely, you probably have the least interaction with. They’re the 20 to the 80 that take up your time on small tasks. They’re the ones who are regulars who you know by name or by ‘nod’, but have probably never had to market to in any way.

They’re the ones who simply ‘get’ your business, appreciate what you do, and would most likely be very happy to tell others about your business. If only they knew what you wanted them to say…

“Stand back, she’s gonna blow!”

Famously, Seth Godin (internet marketing mega-guru) calls these sorts of people ’sneezers’ in his book ‘Unleashing the ideavirus’. He rides the metaphor that while ideas are valuable in themselves, only decent, simple ideas are worth spreading. You just have to tell the ’sneezers’.

Seth Godin nominates the perfect ’sneezer’ as someone who likes to be completely up to date with new info – someone who other people who are happy looking to for advice and recommendations. If ‘keeping up with the Joneses’ is important to many, then Seth Godin’s perfect sneezer is Mr & Mrs Jones.

That’s probably taking it a little too far: while having a virtual salesperson telling lots of others will get the word out, it’s generally quality you’re looking for, not necessarily quantity.

Where do I find/how can I make some virtual salespeople?

It depends on two things: 1) your ability to spot the 20% of your best customers, and 2) your ability to make it easy for them to spread your message.

Your ability to find the top 20%, 10% or the absolute best 5% of your customer base *should* be an easy task – you *do* measure key metrics against your customer base, don’t you? OK. There’s a good chance you don’t measure such things. There’ll be another column on measuring key data next time, but for now, look beyond WAGs (now there’s an acronym for you!) and begin documenting sales against customers. And if you don’t record your customers, begin a customer loyalty program. (Another column in and of itself right there…)

Once you have your top x%, make it super-easy for these customers to pass along your message.

My top 10 ways to make it easy for your message get passed on:

1) Make your message strong and simple. Use the tag line of your business, that’s displayed everywhere, as your marketing message. “The best X this side of Texas”. Imagine it being passed on… “Well, they say they’re the best X this side of Texas, and I’d say they’re just about right”. If what you do isn’t clear, or your message is too long, you’ll simply be asking too much.

2) Within your top 20% of your customers, hand-pick the enthusiasts or groups of enthusiasts. They’re the ones who would talk about you in the sleep or underwater. Every business has fanatics who love the industry you’re in. Sponsor some classes in your industry. Hand out free info on your web site to inspire budding… whatevers… Connect!

3) If you normally include a flyer/brochure/menu with every purchase, include 2 or 3 – to be handed out to others when the conversation arises. Very cheap and easy – you’re already printing them, and the price becomes more economical with quantity.

4) Two for the price of one special offers. Depending on if your customer can actually *use* both products/services or not (hopefully not!) it might be a way to initiate one-for-me, one-for-someone-else.

5) Customer clubs with membership benefits. Offer your best customers added benefits which they can either use themselves, or offer to new customers as (above board!) incentives. The CostCo ‘members only’ model comes to mind.

6) Fridge magnets. Big ones. Everyone has kids/grandkids/neighbour’s kids/overdue bills to keep somewhere prominent. Don’t skimp – big ones!

7) Invite 10 key customers to be ‘ambassadors’ of your business. You give them insider knowledge of new products and new direction, and they give you direct feedback on your business fro ma customer point of view. A bit of backscratching can help everyone, and allow your ambassadors to really feel like they ‘know’ your business – making firm friends, not just customers.

8) Promotional products: keyrings, pens, gimmicky things or practical things. They only cost a few dollars each, which does add up, but if you consider it a conversation starter between an established customer and a potential customer – all happening freely without your knowledge – what price is that worth to your business?

9) Loyalty cards: offer a good deal, not just an average deal. Make it worth talking about. Buy 3 and get your 4th free. Or let your customers stamp a new card for someone else. You don’t have to run the deal forever, but even so, you need to measure what a new customer would be worth to you.

10) Above all else, make sure that the message is being passed on for free – offering commissions sways people’s perceptions in a subtle but definite way. In just the same way as an article in a magazine versus an ad gives more (??) credence to the article, offering paid referrals instantly casts doubt on the reality of the offer and the genuineness of the business itself. If it’s genuinely worth talking about, it must genuinely be that good. Don’t muddy that with offers of money.

AB out

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