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Should you remove a LinkedIn connection?
Posted on August 17, 2017 at 3:17 PM |
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The most effective networking
relationships are reciprocal. Both individuals gain substantial benefits from
the relationship. Unfortunately, some professionals view networking from one of
two extremes, either they cynically ignore the effort, or they pursue their
goal with Machiavellian tactics. But what of the majority of us that fall
between the extremes? We show up for the dance, but spend a fair amount of time
observing from the sidelines. Of course there is nothing wrong with some
observation. After all, we don’t feel compelled to be on the floor for every
single song. You may even discover that some of your connections do not
actually care for the same music as you do. What then? In most cases I let
those connections linger. Who knows, perhaps circumstances will change and we’ll
find a common beat in the future. But have you ever taken the step to remove a
connection? I know, in today’s politically charged world it feels like unfriending,
unfollowing or unlinking would be a dangerous move. It doesn’t happen often,
but on occasion I have removed connections. I remove connections based on the
following formula: In short, I just don’t feel a high
enough degree of trust to keep moving forward with the relationship. So, how could
a person grow my trust? I know it looks like some type of Pythagorean
Theorem, but it’s not. For me, the key to creating a large trust number is to build
rapport, build credibility, and reduce risk. If all three factors can be
shifted in the right direction my trust is bound to grow. Let’s take a
high-level look at each. Rapport: A relation of
harmony, conformity, accord, or affinity.
We have a sense of shared understanding. · Being contacted appropriately by the method that best
suits the nature of our relationship. · Being treated with respect. · I actually like you. Credibility: You are worthy
of belief or confidence. Your actions
and words are in congruence. · Being offered services or products that are truly relevant
to my desires. · You are transparent in how you deal with me. · You clearly answer my “What’s in it for me” question. Risk: Exposure to
the chance of injury or loss; a hazard or dangerous chance. My safety, security and social capital (reputation)
should not ever be at risk. · What are you
going to do with my personal information? · How do you want
to use my social capital? How does that
benefit me? · How does our relationship
impact my personal brand? I’m guessing each of us approaches our
networking connections from a different perspective, and that’s fine. But if you
are taking time to increase rapport and credibility while decreasing risk I’m
sure the strength of your network is growing like crazy. |
Resistance to change is an old problem
Posted on August 3, 2017 at 1:02 PM |
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Without rapport your content will not get attention.
Posted on May 15, 2017 at 12:57 PM |
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Free white papers and eBook’s, free seminars and webinars, free
assessments, free consultations, free demonstrations, free software download, free,
free, free. It sounds great, after all,
why pay for business advice and knowledge when you can get it for free? But it’s not really free because every choice has cost. What we don’t spend in dollars, we spend it time,
attention, and effort. There is also “opportunity
cost” to consider. When you pick one
path you are losing the opportunity to explore another. That means economically speaking, nothing is
truly free. Does
that mean lead generation campaigns should be using the phrase “with our
compliments” instead? That phrase does more closely imply that
something is being given as a courtesy, but that there still may be time,
attention, an email address, or some other information required to get it. While
that phrase is a bit more transparent, it doesn’t have the catchy ring of “free”
and isn’t favored by marketers. I’m sure
you don’t see it used very often.
This topic really is
important for content producers to consider.
It takes both time and money to produce quality content for lead generation
campaigns. While most organizations
insist on tracking the ROI of every marketing campaign I’m not confident they
always include all the costs associated with the development of quality content. In some ways the production of content is now
a “sunk cost” because in today’s social media environment if you’re not
investing in a steady stream of engaging content you’ll soon be forgotten by
the influencers and targeted personas you’re trying to attract and nurture. And let’s not forget; for every individual on
this planet “attention” is a limited resource.
In fact, in most situations you’ll be lucky to snag “partial attention,”
let alone your target audience’s full-attention. If content producers charged would that change your perceived
value of the exchange? Can you really
see yourself paying? Yes, there is some
content we all pay for. But in relation to most of the thought-leadership
material produced for sales lead generation purposes that is not the case. So content has a real cost, but is difficult to charge for
it. And attention is a limited resource
meaning it’s technically not free either.
In order for some type of communication to begin you’re going to need to
start building rapport. Without rapport, you will not get what
you want.
In Genie Z. Laborde’s book “Influencing with
Integrity” she points out that when rapport is not present, it becomes top
priority in communication. In fact,
rapport is like money: it increases in importance when you do not have it, and
when you do have it, a lot of opportunities appear. You’ll know you have it when you have a sense
of shared understanding. We have more
attempts at communication today, that is, more attempts to talk to others than
is imaginable. Yet true communication
often remains elusive because the data explosion and noise levels have gone up
so fast that it feels like no one really takes time to listen any more. Does your brand really listen to the voice of
the customer? Or just broadcasting? If
you’re not listening, how do you know if you have a shared sense of
understanding? Coercion
is about getting people to do what you want them to; persuasion is about
getting them to want to do what you want them to do. Persuasion takes time. It requires rapport and understanding your
target markets needs and desires. You
need to develop trust by building rapport and credibility, and minimizing their
risk. If you’re not getting what you want
from your content it’s time to change your strategy. |
Why your lead generation program is damaging your brand
Posted on May 3, 2017 at 6:37 PM |
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“Thanks for following! Let me
know if I can help!” It appears to be a friendly welcoming, offering help to the receiver of
the message, but it’s not. In fact, if
you are using those ten words at the front end of your lead generation campaign then you are actually damaging your brand.
Here is why: 1. You delivered it through a direct message
automation application didn’t you? I
thought that was the case. Sorry, but
most people delete those messages without ever reading them. Many will even unfollow you based on your
action. Those types of messages are
viewed much like email marketing spam.
So, unless you want your personal or corporate brand associated with
that kind of activity you should turn it off. 2. Gratitude is a good thing. It’s always polite to thank people when the
situation calls for it. But this is not
one of those situations. Perhaps ten
years ago, when Twitter was new and the rules of engagement weren’t understood. But thanking someone through an automated
message (btw, that’s very impersonal) for following you, or in many cases they
were actually following you back, now comes across as a rookie move. Are you currently calling yourself a “social
media guru?” Too bad, because now they
know you really aren’t. 3. “Let me know if I can help.” We really appreciate that you are willing to
jump in and solve our problems. It’s
very generous of you. But you might as
well as said the following; “Now, please take the time to go to my website and
figure out exactly what I sell. Then,
think about your daily needs and problems and try to determine if you think my
services or products can help you. If
they can, let me know.” If you have
spent any time at all carrying a quota then you know this is another rookie
sales mistake. Do you really think your audience is going to explore your website when
you probably have less than eight seconds to make an impression and gain their
attention? I didn’t have to ask that question
because you already know the answer. Of
course your audience is not going to take time to try to figure you or your
company out. Their attention is limited and they want you to figure
them out. So, turn off your direct
message automation program and start over before it’s too late. |
Is your company brave enough to hire overqualified job applicants?
Posted on May 3, 2017 at 5:52 AM |
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No, probably not. In fact,
I’m guessing your company doesn’t even interview them for fear of the following: 1. When more
experience and skills are obvious from their LinkedIn profile or job
application it naturally brings the perception of added value. And added value brings the perception of
higher pay, even if the salary range hasn’t been disclosed. If that perceived higher salary is higher
than your budget for the position the application goes into the “overqualified”
file. 2. Recruitment is expensive and takes time, so of course every employer wants
the most return on their HR investment.
If the applicant brings additional value it’s natural to conclude that
they have lots of “options.” Therefore the
applicant probably wouldn’t stay very long.
Let’s file that one with the overqualified too. 3. Additional experience must mean they’ll get bored with a lower tasked
job. And who wants employees who are not
motivated or refuse to be “engaged?” 4. Additional experience implies that they are older and set in their ways. And the young manager the applicant would
report to really views them as a potential internal competitor, not a potential
mentor. 5. Their additional skills and experience means the applicant has obviously
applied for the wrong job. That means
there must be something wrong with them, or they have something to hide. There could be several other
reasons, but you’ll never know because your organization doesn’t take the time,
or see the need to have a conversation. No
doubt your management has metrics, case studies or white papers that explain
why it’s always done this way. And yet,
the overqualified candidate expressed interest.
They initiated first contact with your company. If nothing else, don’t you wonder why? For example, what if: · They
want to shift industries. · Move to
a new location. · Travel
less, or more. · Achieve
greater work-life balance. · They are just ready for a change. It’s time to rethink
this situation because on the positive side overqualified can also mean: 1. Well known
and connected to your market. 2. Influential 3. Knowledgeable 4. Self-sufficient
and easy to manage. 5. Motivated,
enthusiastic, even passionate about their work. 6. Able to
provide fast results. 7. All of
the above. Look, regardless of how long an overqualified
candidate stays, he or she is bound to add value to your employees and company. You could do worse things than hire an
amazing performer, even if he or she stays only six months. So, make the time to find out what really motivated them to apply in order
to validate additional process considerations.
Examine and evaluate their social capital and personal brand carefully. The last thing you want to do is dismiss a relationship
that could be useful to your sales, marketing or executive team. Consider creating a networking process to
introduce the candidate to key employees within your organization. That action will help your current employees
grow their social capital, and at the same time soften the rejection and keep
doors open if hiring them is not an option at this time. |
Is your brand self-absorbed?
Posted on April 7, 2017 at 3:45 PM |
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It’s easy to spot self-absorbed brands on social media. What do they look like? It’s not what they look like; it has to do
with how they communicate. · Learn more about us at blah blah blah. · Be sure to “Like” our Facebook page! · Did you catch our latest post? · Hope you enjoy our tweets and posts! · Please RT! · Don’t miss our latest blah blah blah. In addition, they rarely follow-back their audience. Which means it’s impossible to start a direct
message conversation with them. It’s
obvious that they’re only interested in using their social channels for
broadcasting purposes. In defense of the self-absorbed brand we know you are spending a lot of
time and money developing “thought-leadership” content because your strategy is
to be our “go-to” source for everything related to what you do. And that’s great, but your implementation of
that strategy comes across like, well, I think you know. We don’t
care how smart you think you are. If we
don’t like you, and trust you, we’re not going to do business with you. In order to gain our trust and affection you need to shift your focus. · Say “We’d love you learn more about you!” Not, “learn
more about us…” · Say “We are looking forward to reading your
tweets and posts!” Not, “Did you catch our latest post?” · Stop begging for RT’s … if its good content and
we think our audience would benefit from it we’ll pass it on. · Don’t send automated direct messages or tweets
asking us to “Like” your Facebook page. · And for heaven sakes, follow-back your target
market. Did you know that social
rejection activates the same part of the brain as physical pain does? |
Your prime prospect is not showing interest – now what?
Posted on February 14, 2017 at 9:11 AM |
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My prime prospect is showing me their child pose. That’s code speak for “I’m not paying
attention now, so don’t bother me.” The
silence is deafening. What are my
options? 1. Get busy with some loud broadcasting activity? You
know, blast them with all the channels including the phone, email, texting and social
media. Sure, I can wake them up and
force them to engage with me! 2. Hoover
over them and watch to see if their current position shifts in the slightest. At that point I could quickly swoop in and
hijack their attention before they nod off again. 3. Monitor and listen; wait for them to wake and
regain their focus. Use the downtime to reevaluate
the environment and determine what type of content would be more relevant. That
last option is really hard for a sales and marketing person like me to consider. It’s hard to wait, listen and reflect when
you are action-oriented. And what’s with
the short attention span? Prospects seem
to enter the child pose so quickly! Of
course the idea of creating more content to build interest and keep the
prospect engaged always feels childish and is exhausting. So, under the banner of satisfying unmet needs, education and
thought-leadership let the “do not call,” “unsubscribe” and “unfollow” risks be
dammed. After all, I need to pitch my
solution by getting the word out because I have a sales funnel to fill. And so the unsolicited pitches start to crank
up the noise. Except I’m not the only one pitching out there. Everyone seems to think they are unique, but all the approaches follow the same old templates. What is your Unique Selling Proposition? Contact Alan See CMO Temps, LLC at [email protected] When Ted Turner was asked for the secret to success, he said; “Early to
bed, early to rise, work like hell and advertise.” That’s not something that marketing people
can bet their careers on anymore. We
live in a relationship-based economy.
Your prospect is looking for transparency, trust, relevance and
engagement. It’s time to step-back and
listen. |
“If you were going to start your business over again, what’s the one process, you’d put into place from day one?”
Posted on February 7, 2017 at 6:12 PM |
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The process, or more
fitting, the mindset I recommend to individuals who want to start a business
should actually be implemented long before they hang out their shingle. Before starting a consulting firm or business
that depends on your personal reputation it’s to your advantage to make sure
your personal brand is already known, carries influence, and inspires trust. That means building and nurturing your
personal brand and network must be top-of-mind from the very beginning of your
career, even while you are still working for someone else. I know that may feel like a conflict of
interest, but it’s really not. At
the end of the day “entrepreneur” is a term that really does describe all of
us. We are all basically lifelong freelancers
with our own unique brand. Our careers
aren’t based on paths or ladders but are more like landscapes that have to be
navigated because there are no lifetime employment guarantees. Our financial security and social standing is
determined by our ability to influence people.
And if you want to influence people you need to understand empathically
the power of their point-of-view and feel the emotional force with which they
believe it.
As you can imagine, building credibility, trust and a social
audience that respects you takes time and knowledge. So, in
order to thrive in that type of mission you will need to adopt the mindset of a
lifelong learner. Lifelong learning is
more than adult education or training; it is a habit for you to acquire. Here are 3 important points to keep in mind
that will help convince you to make lifelong learning habit forming: 1. Professional
activity has become so knowledge-intensive and fluid in content that learning
has become an integral and irremovable part of most work activities. More and
more knowledge, especially advanced knowledge, is acquired well past the age of
formal schooling, and in many situations through educational processes that do
not center on traditional type schools. 2. Self-directed
learning, learning on demand, informal learning, and collaborative and organizational
learning are all fundamentally different from the traditional classroom
learning dominated by curricula and tests.
Your current employer may invest in making one of those forms of
learning available to you. But don’t
count on it. Be prepared to invest both time
and money in your ongoing education. 3. Lifelong learning can influence the creativity
and innovation potential of individuals, groups, and organizations. And creativity and innovation are considered
essential capabilities for working smarter in knowledge societies [Drucker,
1994]. Don’t
stop learning and growing your personal brand, ever. |
Why the phrase “mutual benefit” never works with an influencer
Posted on January 17, 2017 at 3:35 PM |
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“I’d like to connect and collaborate for mutual benefit.” Like
many of you, I’m often approached with that line on many social platforms. In truth, when that phrase is used within a
LinkedIn connection request from someone I don’t know it makes me cringe
because past experience has proven that they really mean one of two things: 1.
I’d like you to accept my connection request so
I can immediately pitch you on the solution I’m peddling because I’m sure you
are a qualified persona. 2.
I’d liked to be able to leverage you and pick
your mind but not actually pay for your services, knowledge or social capital. The second example of course refers to asking “who, what, when, where,
why and how” strategy type questions that represents a consultants or other knowledge
workers primary source of value. I know,
I know, I know, I sound very jaded. But
we all know that in today’s social media world I’m not off-base. In the beginning LinkedIn was about
connecting to people you actually knew.
Today, too many so-called “social networking experts” are merely trying
to pile up connections and then making attempts to microwave the relationship with
no intention of exploring the possibility of mutual benefits. The challenge for those of you who are “reaching out” with a sincere
heart is that the only way to know if there is going to be mutual benefit is
when the connection and collaboration is actually accomplished. And that process generally doesn’t start unless
each party first “trusts” the other. Look, I’m not saying that you shouldn’t make a cold call or approach a
stranger on LinkedIn, but why aren’t you working on building awareness and trust
first? So, how do you build trust if you’re not connected and already engaging? Be Found 1.
To be found during the “search” process
usually refers to when a customer or prospect has a need or desire for a
product or service that your organization is capable of delivering. But in this
case that is not what I’m talking about. Initially you need to take
steps to get on their radar screen. You
want them to notice you in a good way. To
be found, read their blogs and respond with thoughtful comments. Read their updates on LinkedIn and hit the “Like”
button. Retweet and Like their Twitter
posts. Now, don’t go over-the-top with
this strategy. You don’t want to come
across as some type of stalking crazy groupie.
But if you perform this task consistently over a medium-long period of
time I can assure you that your targeted influencer will notice you. Influencers take special note of their
audience engagement and they live for it. Find 2.
To be able to find
and approach prospects with characteristic’s that line up well with your
organizations target markets. For
the record, sending a cold connection request using the LinkedIn standard
template and expecting your target to instantly understand your background and trust
you are not what you should be doing. Of
course, if you are already some well-known personality perhaps that will work
for you. I’m not well-known so I never
send the standard template connection request.
Your potential new connection is only going to take a few seconds to
scan your profile. That means your
profile and related content needs to be top quality. Engage 3.
To engage
generally means to be able to approach customers and prospects with
relevant content that creates awareness and builds trust. Also, to be able to communicate in a way that
positively impacts the customer experience across sales, marketing, and
customer service. But here again that is
not what I’m talking about. You originally
took the step to try and customize your request; you said “I’d
like to connect and collaborate for mutual benefit.” But if you want to develop
“trust” you need to already be thinking of ways to do something for your new
potential influencer connection. Now, I
know what you are thinking: A)
If they would
just listen to my pitch they’d get it. I’ll
use my standard “our customers tell us that they are struggling with blah,
blah, blah” and they’ll say “so am!! Please come to my rescue!” Or you’ll send them your Nascar logo slide with
your current customers implying that they would be stupid not to listen. Look, you still need that type of content but
you are breaking it out too early. You
haven’t touched me “emotionally” by letting me know “what’s in it for me?” B)
So, “what’s in it
for them?” This is the most difficult
part of the assignment because you are really going to need to think through
your personal value-prop. And you need to
do it before you have the initial conversations. Your potential influencer connection wants to
know that you have given this a great deal of thought. You cannot wimp out by saying “I’ll just ask
them a question, like - what can I do for you?”
Remember, the customer often doesn’t know what they want until you tell
them. At this point they don’t really
know you, or trust you, and they have no idea how you might be able to help
them personally. That means you are
going to be dead-in-the-water because they will not be able to truthfully
answer your question or understand you value-proposition. Unless you’ve carefully considered the ramifications, use “I’d like to
connect and collaborate for mutual benefit” with great caution. |
Real-Time Talent Mismanagement in Action
Posted on November 17, 2016 at 8:56 AM |
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“We’re looking for a lighter version of you.” In a business recruiting situation, they
probably don’t mean that you’re overweight.
Odds are they’re telling you that they think you’re “overqualified.” And overqualified is usually code speak for
the following: 1. You are too old. 2. You are too expensive. 3. The hiring manager would be uncomfortable
with your credentials. Perhaps even
intimidated. 4. They don’t have the forward thinking vision
to consider expanding the position, or to anticipate their future talent needs. 5. All of the above. Overqualified candidates are rarely invited to interview with the
hiring manager. Their resume or social
profile is screened and the
assumption made that the person would be bored and not motivated, so they would
underperform or leave. As a
result, the standard template rejection email is sent letting them know they
should feel free to apply for other jobs you have posted. Of course you’ll feel they’re overqualified
for those jobs too inviting the process to start over. This is completely ludicrous when you think
about it. No doubt HR has metrics, case
studies or white papers that explain why it’s always done that way. And yet, the overqualified candidate
expressed interest. They initiated first
contact with your company. If nothing
else, don’t you wonder why? For example: · They
want to shift industries. · Move to
a new location. · Travel
less or more. · Achieve
greater work/life balance. · They
just want to make a change. There could be several other
reasons, but you’ll never know because your organization doesn’t have the time or
see the need to have a conversation. And
yet, your sales and marketing organizations may very well be spending large
portions of their time and promotion budgets trying to meet those same personas. Take note; overqualified is also code speak
for: 1. Well known
and connected. 2. Influential
decision maker. 3. Knowledgeable 4. Motivated 5. All of
the above. Why
you should be networking with the Overqualified Are there unique factors you should
consider in this situation? Indeed and here
are just a couple to start: · Before you reject the candidate find
out if there is room to expand the job role in order to take advantage of
his/her background. Also, think carefully
about future needs. This situation may
present an opportunity to bring in
areas of expertise that are not currently represented at your company but will
eventually be needed. Take time to find
out what is really motivating them to make a change in order to validate
additional consideration. · If hiring is definitely not an option
make sure you examine and evaluate their social capital carefully. The last thing you want to do is to set fire
to a bridge that your sales and/or marketing team has been trying to
build. Consider creating a networking
process to introduce the candidate to key employees within your organization. That action will help your employees grow
their social capital, and at the same time soften the rejection and help keep
doors open with the candidate should your needs change. Are you still thinking about sending that overqualified candidate
your standard rejection letter? |
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