“You can’t have a better tomorrow if you’re thinking about yesterday.” — Charles Kettering
Quote of the Week – Great quote that should strike a chord in any sales rep, manager or business owner bemoaning their poor 2009 sales attainment. Sales people are usually very good at moving on whether the last month was a win or a dud but for anyone needing a reminder, read and internalize this quote. Now go get them!
Since many Inquisix members are also entrepreneurs and business owners (like us), perhaps you’ll find these articles as interesting as we do. The first article caused a big commotion and discussion amongst the Boston startup crowd. Isn’t that what good articles do?
I had an amazing Blog Talk Radio with Jon Hansen of PI Window on Business last week. We spoke over our allotted time, almost an hour, on the emergence of reputation networks such as Inquisix. With it being so easy to make connections on the web and trade recommendations, how can people who don’t know you really trust what they read about you?
Topics we discussed included:
If BTR podcast doesn’t show above, please go to Jon’s site to listen to it.
On a side note, talking with Jon was one of the easiest and most enjoyable online discussions I’ve had. Jon prepared me for the call by sending me some topics to think about prior to our interview. He was calm when we had a few technical difficulties to iron out before we went on the air. And his engaging demeanor and conversation made the conversation lively, interesting and valuable. I was certainly surprised to learn later that Jon’s only been a BTR host for a short time. Jon has written a book, “Your Show Will Go Live in 5 Seconds” about his experiences as a Blog Talk Radio Host. If you’re thinking of becoming a BTR host or are thinking of your personal branding via Social Media, you owe it to yourself to read this book. An excerpt is available at no charge at Jon’s site. Not surprising, his book reads as breezy and well as listening to him online.
Nigel Edelshain of Sales 2.0 was interviewed on yourBusinessChannel recently and he discussed what salespeople need to do today to win more business. Nigel’s call to action is to “…get together and share their rolodexes….to win business and keep their jobs.” He suggests starting online with LinkedIn, AllyForce, SalesConx or Inquisix.
http://www.youtube.com/v/5kEN_73ftZw&hl=en&fs=1&rel=0&border=1
Maybe this is my personal pet peeve about social networking sites and thus this WSJ article resonated with me.
How Facebook Ruins Friendships
The author’s rant is that too many people have moved their relationship online at the expense of face-to-face time. And that too many people share the dreaded TMI (Too Much Information) on Facebook – information they’d never share in public but feel compelled to share on-line.
I had a FB friend pondering online if they should have another child. TMI!
Another about their trip to the dentist. Another TMI!
Still, given the explosive growth of Facebook, Twitter and (to a lesser extent!) Inquisix, I think that people have just started learning how to communicate properly online. However, if we’re still struggling with in-person conversations and understanding email messages, then Miss Manners and her colleagues have a lot of work to do!
As many of you know, I’m a big fan of Joanne Black and her book, “No More Cold Calling™” because so much of what she writes is the foundation on what Inquisix is built upon. When Dave and I were first sharing the referral exchange idea that became Inquisix, we were introduced to Joanne by Philippe Lavie, sales trainer from Chicago. Joanne and I talked a few times and then agreed to meet at the first Sales 2.0 conference in San Francisco. I had a chance to pick up Joanne’s book and read it before meeting her in Chicago. I felt like I was in college again because when I was done reading her book, it was filled with my yellow highlighting. I’ve now met Joanne a few times while I’m in San Francisco and her advice on building a better Inquisix has proven invaluable.
Joanne has now extended her website’s offerings to include a blog, Facebook page and Twitter account. It’s now even easier to get her good advice.
As a salesperson, are you selling to your prospects or helping them solve problems?
Zig Ziglar says, “You can get everything in life you want if you help other people get what they want.” As quoted in Selling Power maagazine, June 2009 issue, page 28.
Zig’s message at first glance seems a bit naive especially since it seems contrary to messages you receive at school, on the playing fields and at work about being number 1.
But in this new Sales 2.0 “empowering the customer” environment, is there any other way to be successful in your career?
Jon Hansen hosts a Talk Radio Show, “PI Window on Business” that reaches an estimated 300,000 syndicated subscribers worldwide every month. The PI Social Media Network is internationally recognized for its ability to identify, structure and disseminate the ideas and visions that are reshaping the emerging global enterprise.
He’s talking with Michael Kreppein, Chief Sales Officer of Inquisix, to examine more closely the emergence of “reputation networks” and their effects on personal branding in the Web 2.0 world. Reputation networks, like Inquisix, are gaining ground to combat the growing problem within the realms of social networking, where references or testimonials are bartered by an ever-expanding network of interloping relationships between name collectors versus relationship builders.
Wednesday September 23, 2009 at 12.30pm ET
There were two articles I read recently that really resonated with me although they’re about separate topics. Hence the long and unwieldy title. I think the first issue about saying, “No” to friend requests is a new phenomena that the rise in social networking has created. And technology has also come in between you and your customer when you want to get your message across to one or two people. Hmm, technology – you can use it to increase quantity at the cost of quality. Maybe these two topics have a common link after all.
All About Referral Selling 