Bill Gluth's Creative Business Strategy Blog

How to Become a Sales and Marketing Superstar

There is a quick and simple way to become a sales and marketing superstar. It takes just 3-things. Trust, passion and belief.

Trust in the value you are selling.

Passion for spreading the word about your offer.

Belief in the value you’ve created on a deep and personal level.

When it comes to sales, the passionate value creator has no equal.

When you believe in the value you create for others with all of your heart, sales becomes a non-issue. You are no longer there to qualify, present and close. Sales stops being uncomfortable.

In fact, you don’t waste time trying to sell anything. You simply understand and recommend in the best interest of your prospect. You are authentically using your knowledge to help another person get what he or she wants and that feels great.

Is it Painful to Do Business With You

Imagine you sent out an mailing. A client who never heard of you before responded wanting more information. Is it painful for that client to find out what he or she wants to know?

No one does this intentionally, but please make sure that your process for client call ins from marketing responses uncovers and addresses the questions the prospect actually has.

I just called a marketing vendor. Asked about their services and pricing. The vendor was so busy trying to "sell me" she didn't hear any of the questions I had for her.

She spoke WAY too fast, which set my BS meter on super high sensitive.

She kept pounding for an order on this inquiry call (I never heard of the company before)

She completely lost my interest in about the first 2-minutes.

It was a painful experience.

Realizations, AHA Moments and Breakthroughs

From childhood, a lot of people are conditioned to believe that they are less than someone else. Phrases heard in younger years such as “You’ll never be as good as ___” or “You can’t do that,” all lead to feelings of inadequacy.

As an adult, you carry these thought patterns deep inside. In fact, they are so deep they have become the fabric of who you are today. When you have an idea, it is often first viewed from the standpoint of being inadequate.

You cannot trust your greatest asset (creative thinking) because you have been conditioned to “believe” you are not good enough to be brilliant.

There are times when you are inspired. It can come from many sources but often just “hits” you. We’ll call those AHA Moments. They happen to everyone frequently but few take action on them.

The result of acting on those AHA Moments will often create a tremendous event called a “Breakthrough.”

Breakthroughs are where Realizations and AHA Moments meet.

All it takes is realizing you can have great ideas. Trust that those ideas are worth pursuing.

When you have AHA Moments act on them in spite of fear and doubt.

Enjoy the breakthrough and validate yourself for having them. Then simply be inspired to learn from your AHA Moment or enjoy the fruits that specific breakthrough provided.

Then move on to you next inspired thought. It’s not a onetime event, it’s a process that repeats continuously throughout the course of your life.

New Mark Joyner Book – I Love it – You Can Have a Copy for Free

I am reading a book on information and publishings role in life, business and marketing. I’m loving it.

It’s from Mark Joyner, of Simple.ology fame. This time, he’s showing us all the power of technology to spread your ideas near and far.

I’m about half way through and highly recommend it. It’s not for authors, so don’t let the title fool you. It’s for anyone who wants to gain a competitive edge in 2008 and beyond.

Get your copy now while the link is active at http://www.simpleology.com/p/riseoftheauthor/billgluth

Are You Training People to Ignore You

Whenever you try to communicate to a group of people who has no interest in your message, you are teaching that group to ignore you.

As Seth Godin so aptly points out, marketing must be personal, anticipated and relevant to be effective.

The other fact is your offer must be exceptional. In today’s crowded world, good enough is no longer good enough.

To gain acceptance understand the value you offer other people. Then ask the people who have the most reason to care about your value if you can talk to them.

The people who say yes are your prospects. The people who say no are going to tune you out, so don’t waste your time trying to push a communication on them.

Being exceptional starts with the value you create. How does your business utilize your talents and passions?

Once you answer that question, you’re on the way to seeing higher profits in your small business and greater acceptance of your message.

The Generosity of Thought Leader David Meerman Scott

I had the good fortune of finding out about a great book called The New Rules of Marketing and PR: How to use news releases, blogs, viral marketing and online media to reach buyers directly.

It was excellent, so I contacted the Author, David Meerman Scott to ask if I could share his great ideas with my readers.

He agreed, and I posted an article that David provided on my Creative Business Strategy EZine. It's called Shorten the Complex Sales Cycle with Web Content.

Check it out online. I know you’ll enjoy David’s ideas on “New Marketing.”

Be sure to check out David’s Web site at http://www.davidmeermanscott.com and his blog at http://www.webinknow.com

This is a "Sad but True" Story

As hard as this may be to believe this is a true story.

My wife, Michelle, got a notice that her insurance was not in force for a couple of tests she had done during her annual routine examination. The premiums were paid and the policy was in fact in force.

She called her insurance agent and asked him to look into it.

He emailed his reply. You read that correctly, he sent an email to deal with a client problem. No phone call at all.

The gist of the email was: "You'll have to just call the company. It takes me too much time to look into it and they might ask me questions I don't have the answer to. I used to go out of my way to help clients, but I don't now. It just too much of my time.

"Anyway, I have to call the same number you do, so it's just one of those things that's time consuming to do. I have to do it for my policies, so you'll have to do it for yours."

AAHH - if you're an insurance agent reading this, will you please tell me if you have a direct "agent" line to the company you represent to help clients with problems quickly. The comment line is open.

If a client calls and asks for your help, please give it to them.

That's the deal we make. I'll give you a percentage of my premiums for as long as I keep the policy in force. If I have a problem, I'll call you so that you can help me resolve the problem.

My State Farm Insurance agent always seems to have  answers in a few clicks of the mouse when I call with questions about my home or auto coverage. I've never been on the phone with him for more than 15-minutes and the problem was always resolved to my satisfaction.

I've been with State Farm since I was 16 years old. That's certainly one reason why.

Client care is the most important service you can offer. In my opinion, it's the only reason you're in business. Exceptional customer service leads to repeat business, referrals, and word of mouth marketing.

This agent will be getting word of mouth marketing as well. Unfortunately, it will probably cost him another client or two.

Super Tuesday, The Elections and Brands

Today is the day that 24-States hold primary elections. But how do people decide who to vote for?

It appears that Brand image helps Americans decide who should lead the country.

Politicians advertise, interrupt and cajole the masses like crazy. What ever States are important to them get blitzed on TV.

Hilary Clinton sent me a direct mail postcard pushing her brand. I tossed it.

Barak Obama put out Arizona specific TV ads pushing his brand. I ignored his spots completely too.

John McCain didn’t do much in Arizona. He’s a known commodity here. On to bigger markets where he’s not so well known.

But my story on Senator McCain is, I don’t have one.

I know he was a POW for several years during the Viet Nam conflict. I know a lot of people don’t like his stand on immigration. Honestly, I have no idea what his stand is really.

Liberals, conservatives, Democrats, Republicans, Coke, Pepsi, Go Daddy, Nike; they are all just flashes in front of my face. Interrupting me. Hoping to get my attention long enough to get my vote.

How about this idea.

What if ALL of the people who want to be President start a blog. Make it noteworthy and interesting to read like Seth Godin’s Blog (one of the most popular blogs on the Internet).

What if John McCain, Mitt Romney, Hilary Clinton and Barak Obama’s blogs were are interesting to read as Seth Godin’s.

Or as informative as David Meerman Scott Blog called Web Ink Now. Or full of neat ideas like Boing Boing

We would know a whole lot more about the people who wanted to lead the free world, wouldn’t we?

Dear New England Patriots, I’m Sadden by Your Loss

Sometimes I am a fan of the underdog in sports. But this year, my admiration for what Tom Brady and the New England Patriots did this football season was extremely high.

Great is fun but perfect is phenomenal and you only get one shot per lifetime, generally.

I watched some of the New England Nationally televised games to see if they could do it. They could and they did. 18-0.

I tuned in, like many, on Super Bowl Sunday to see history happen. Instead we all watched perfection turn into defeat. To me it was a sad moment that seems to linger even into today.

In business I’m  a BIG fan of those who are focused. People who achieve something so spectacular that it goes down in history are rare indeed in this life.

The chance was there for New England in the fourth quarter, but so was time. Eli Manning was in the grasp, but escaped and threw the Hail Mary pass of a lifetime.

He connected and went on to make football history himself. Eli Manning and this upset will likely go down in the records as perhaps the greatest win ever for the New York Giants.

The take away for small business is success is something that is intoxicating and exhilarating.

But I’m sad to say that I was like many out there who really tuned in to see the records shattered. It was and it was nowhere near perfection.

How did the Super Bowl make you feel? The comments are open.

Does Sales Frighten You

Let’s face it, direct sales can be intimidating, even frightening. The best way to break a sales fear stranglehold is to realize or revitalize passion for your business.

Passion is the key that breaks down fear-based barriers.

The best way to reignite passion for your business is to go on a mission. No matter what you do, you can be on a mission to improve other people’s lives in some way.

Look deep inside to uncover the value you created that helps other people.

From there, all you have to do is simply reach out with your passion. Offer the value you've created to people who need it the most.

You are then on the road to turning sales fear into sales mastery by caring enough to change the life of someone else.