Revenue Tip

Karen and Susan cover where the typos are and how it can affect your credibility and make it more difficult for your sales team to build confidence with prospects. Listen to the full episode to get examples, details and an action list.
Susan's List of task reminders to keep it current.
Karen's secret tool to help you find the typos fast.
Check your own site for links to internal PDF files, videos on a YouTube channel, too - those change over time, especially since people are converting personal channels to business channels.

This lively visit with real estate agent, Kristina Smallhorn applies to all businesses who need and receive reviews. The video version linked in the bottom will have some how to tips, too. 
Business reviews are not just for B2C and brick and mortar. ALL businesses need reviews in the right places where their potential clients go when considering them as as solution. This, along with what their colleagues and friends recommend play the biggest role in decision making before they even contact you.

 
Take a breath. Really, take a deep breath before you pick up the phone. While you're at it raise your arms, lower your shoulders, sit up straight, smile then make that call, walk into the meeting, take the stage. Speech patterns and bad habits can tune your audience out, even an audience of one, before you get further than your introduction. This will cost you revenue and waste everyone's time.
Take tips from voice and dialect coach, Susan E. Finch. This show should have been a video - it was so much fun and packed with applicable tips to keep you from being annoying. The biggest culprits?  Women! Women 17 - 35 and this voice fry issue where they sound like they are swallowing their words. Next, the gutteral hiccup - that punch that only belongs in the Cockney community in London.

 
Teresa Huber and Susan Finch talk about the importance of an ADA compliant website. When most marketing departments think of disabilities and ADA compliance, they think about blind people, those in wheelchairs and more obvious issues. Don't forget about those with dyslexia, those who are color blind, hearing disabled. You may not realize how much of your buyer personas include people with a variety of disabilities. Why would you want to exclude them from viewing your site, doing research on your site and ultimately paying for your product or service? Join us for some interesting facts and example, as well as tools to do a quick assessment of your existing sites.
Visit her website - you will learn VERY interesting facts immediately on the home page. 
Tools for quick assessments so you can initially know, "... just how bad is it?"
webaim.orgachecker.ca

There are a couple of free, simple tools you can use to stand out to your local market and potential clients. If you are a business that relies heavily on local traffic and customers, you need to take advantage of some free tools to build good will, establish yourself as a trusted resource provider and get points for being a good business neighbor.
1. Custom Google Maps:
Create a general map with your own custom pin icon, make it public. Add a great description, mention your own company name and URL. Then, add layers by topics: favorite restaurants, nightlife, best vendors and the ADD the businesses you want to support.
I will caution you, if you want to add a business that is perhaps not very active online or you are a rare customer who had a good experience with them, don't list them. Make sure they have good reviews because your recommendations of these businesses directly reflects on your business.
Be sure to be logged into Google AS YOUR BUSINESS persona. You want your business to stand out when you create this map. Create a custom pin with your mark. If you need help, email me. Shouldn't take me more than 15 minutes of billable time to get this done for you - just need your logo. 
When you add a business, be sure to describe WHY you are adding them. Something only locals would know or your favorite dish, service they offer, a stand out employee.
SHARE your map out everywhere, add it embedded on a webpage - not your home page, but an inside page and share out that page to drive people to your site.
2. Google Reviews:
Find these same favorite businesses, places, events and create reviews for them on Google. Do not post anything negative. This is to be an UPBEAT, local business supporting thing that you do. 4 star and 5 star only as your business. As you personally, you can get a bit more gritty, but even then, be careful about negative reviews. People can retalliate and it can become a review war.
Tell people WHY you like the business - specifics. Add a photo. When you go to your favorite places, take a photo and use it for reviews, maps and posts later. Try to post 2 reviews a week AS YOUR BUSINESS persona on Google. This builds authority and the businesses will start to notice you and may return the favor or at least recommend you.
3. Top 10 Lists:
I know I search in a city and then for: Best live music, best desserts, etc. Make your own lists. Have it related to your industry so that you are recommending possible strategic partners that could do the same for you. Think about a stylist -- having them make a list of top pampering places - massage, nails, boutiques, personal trainers, etc. could start to build a nice network of businesses cross promoting each other. Be sure you have added these same businesses to your list and your reviews AS THE BUSINESS. When you post as the business, you can still add your name if you want to add warmth to it and so that business would know who to recommend.
Need help with these strategies? Contact me - [email protected] so we can come up with a plan for you or your business. I can teach you how to do all of this and more.

 
Your past podcast content can do a lot more work for you to drive traffic, build credibility, open doors to prospects. I'm counting on the fact that you have a site for your podcast episodes and that you are connected in all the usual spots: iTunes, Stitcher, Libsyn, Blubrry, GooglePlay, etc. But you've had your show a long time. Why not put a new spin on past great episodes - new title, graphics and cover different points in the post, possibly edit the file a smidge or add commentary to the file? This can give you more content, easier and breath new life into your feed. 
Most of the time, after 20 episodes, your past doesn't show on your iTunes channel. If you bring back a show going back further, you not only can revisit a topic, but you can reach out again to that guest and let them know you still find their episode valuable and want to give it more exposure. Send them the embed code, new graphics, new link and see what happens. 
For more tips, or if your team is stretched already, come up with a monthly budget to schedule out 2-4 of these "best of" episodes each month and let me help you. [email protected]
 

Today's guest is John Golden, CSO at Pipeliner CRM. Susan asked him about his top revenue tip. He lit up and was very happy to share it. Take head you companies that offer trial subscriptions. Listen up - many logical ideas in this episode. The key to Pipeliner CRM's success has been establishing long term relationship with customers, not just win, but maintain them - especially with a subscription product. They do this through a number of methods. The strongest are:
Free trainings
Understand what are the business drivers that brought them to us in the first place.
Periodically re-evaluate their goals to see if they need to adjust how they use our product to best meet those goals.
What fails and has become typical throughout the software industries is to get them to take a trial and then try to sell it to them.
Why would you not start at the first encounter with a prospect? Treat prospects like they are already customers; ESPECIALLY in trial process.Engage them with the people they are going to work with, so it's not just about their experience with the product, but the customer experience.
John Golden talks about what they need to have the answers to: How do we make the customer experience a consistently positive one from the moment they engage with the brand whether, even from the trial; and how can we guide you to trial the CRM to fit their needs, rather than just hoping they'll figure it out during the trial period.
Some of the other points covered included:
You can have a host of inconsistent experiences with a company. That's common, we always default to our worst experience.Think of an airline trip - Great onboarding, great flight, customer service but then at the end, your bags are delayed and no one communicates why, or how long they will be. Now when someone asks you about your flight, that's the top of mind experience you mention. The 10 positive touch points were wiped out with the one negative.
There is a massive economic value to a positive consistent customer service experience.
Results?
They are likely to be open to giving you a review, testimonial, and ultimately, may become an advocate for your brand and customer service.
People remember how you made them feel.
Clear communication will continue to build that trust - even when you mess up.
Clear communication is critically important. Don't make promises that you are apt to keep kicking the can down the road.
John's AHA moment:In this world of disconnected connectedness, where everyhone is trying to leverage techonlogy, treating people as people.
Check out Pipeliner CRM - it's visual because pictures speak clearer to most.Easy to use, easy for management. Pipelinersales.com - take a trial.  Take a trial the software AND trial the company as people.
 
More tips and guides on Susan's website https://susanfinch.com/rootedtips/

One of the takeaways from this episode is that many of us take courses, attend seminars and more, but it's up to us to implement the take aways. Even if we only get one tip we can apply, WE need to apply it ourselves. 
Nancy talked about creating her companies’ future - their revenue generator - is their new virtual course option. This is an 11 week course to immerse into and then develop the habits for collaborative selling.
Now to our topic and Nancy’s tip: People need to ask for decisions - ask for commitment, in every buyer interaction. People put so much work into getting in front of the right prospect. Then they know they need to explore the possibilities and solutions, but they leave that time together with nothing specific, or worse, the unknown, "OK, I'll send you something and follow up with you later..." WHAT!? ASK the question. Give a close to the "episode" with that prospect. Are you ready for?... Is it the next meeting? Is it bringing someone else into the conversation? Are they agreeing to review a recommendation? Don't agree to put in time if they are not giving you a specific commitment to meet again. There is no commitment on their end if you just send something without a specific next step on their end.It might take you hours for each to put together something to send. Nancy tells this story at about the 4:45 mark in this episode.
ASK FOR SPECIFIC COMMITTMENTS OR DECISIONS BEFORE YOU LEAVE THE MEETING!
Without it, you've let them off the hook with a stall. You have lost control of the meeting or conversation. You have to guide them. They are looking to you to be the expert. They want you to be the expert. Act like one who has confidence. There is more, but you'll just have to listen to this episode.
And at the 15 minute mark, Susan Finch gives a challenge to anyone who has gained success and REVENUE by attending a workshop, signing up for a training series - pay it forward. If you increased revenue by a few thousand dollars last year as a direct result, or closed a big deal after learning from a $1250 seminar series, why not pay it forward and create a scholarship of sorts with that event or series host - 10% to go to help someone else attend and gain insights? YOU can be part of their success. It also shows your appreciation for the knowledge beyond the event tuition. There would be no greater compliment. 
About Nancy Bleeke (pronounced Blay-key), CSO and President of Sales Pro Insider:
Sales is definitely part of Nancy’s genetic make-up. She has spent years in the trenches as a sales professional, sales manager, a sales coach, and wrote the gold medal winning book Conversations That Sell which has been declared a “must-read” for sales teams around the world.
About Nancy Bleeke (pronounced Blay-key), CSO and President of Sales Pro Insider:
Sales is definitely part of Nancy’s genetic make-up. She has spent years in the trenches as a sales professional, sales manager, a sales coach, and wrote the gold medal winning book Conversations That Sell which has been declared a “must-read” for sales teams around the world.
Connect with her on LinkedIn  Twitter and her website.
Get more tips on Susan's site: https://susanfinch.com/rootedtips

Susan's guest, Laura Patterson, President, VisionEdge Marketing dove right in with her core belief: It's always about customers, or members, or your community.Without those relationships you don't bring in the money.
When asked the most valuable services she and VisionEdge Marketing brings to their clients, Laura responded, "Data analytics, data insights, measurements and an action plan." When she started in 1999, those terms were foreign to most. 
Data analytics, measurement and process are their basic elements for their customer success. Data that you cannot derive insights from, is just data. You need to convert it into actionable insights to make strategic plans after analysis. BUT people are now using data as an excuse for inacction - we too much data,we do not have enough data, we areanalyzing the data - none of this is action.
You can make big insights from little data. You don't have to have volumes of data to get valuable insights. It gets back to action. Two groups: More medium or smaller size and very large enterprise companies.
BEST REVENUE TIP: It's always about customers. She asks of her team every day, "What are you going to do today that is going to help our customers be or become more sucessful?"
Think about the tasks on your list: C next to the ones that have direct impact for the customers, and then everything else. The priorities need to be on those with the C.
BONUS TIP: For small to medium size entities: Have a really solid network that you can pull in as needed, like a spigot on and off. This resource network can help you serve your customers better. It's one of the benefits of a boutique marketing company or supplier. One company can't specialize in every need, but they can be a source of valuable resources that can work together toward your goal.
Get the rest of the tips by listening to this episode. Subscribe to all episodes here and on iTunes and visit: https://susanfinch.com/rootedtips for more from these shows.
About Laura Patterson
Laura takes a practical, no-nonsense approach to proving and improving the value of Marketing. Laura began her 25+ year career in sales and had the great fortune of working across functions spanning customer relationship management and Marketing with a capital “M”.  Today she is at the helm of VisionEdge Marketing, founded in 1999, and is recognized as one of the pioneers and authorities in the Marketing Performance Management (MPM) discipline. The company specializes in helping companies apply data, metrics and proven best-in-class practices to improve Marketing effectiveness, deliver business impact, and enable better business decision-making.  Laura and VisionEdge Marketing are all about making Marketing an engine of growth for organizations. Martechexec selected Laura as one of the top 50 women in marketing technology. Laura serves on the University of Texas McCombs School of Business Masters of Marketing Science Advisory Board.
About VisionEdge Marketing
Since 1999 VisionEdge Marketing (visionedgemarketing.com), a data-driven metrics- based strategic and product marketing company has specialized in improving marketing performance and helping organizations make better fact-based decisions when it comes to markets, products, customers and competitors. Our passion is to help companies of all sizes solve four critical business problems:  How to acquire and keep profitable customers, how to successfully define and launch market-leading products and services, how to create performance-driven marketing organizations, and how to accurately measure and improve marketing’s contribution to the business.

Join us for a valuable revenue tip from Deb Calvert. We are also talking about her new book, Stop Selling and Start Leading. Her tip revolves around the fact she's been in sales her entire professional career. She has inbound and outbound strategies for generating revenue. Tune in to take notes! Be ready, she's a firm believer in good old-fashioned cold calling. Outsourcing is not HER solution. Keep your skills honed.
Revenue Expert: Deb Calvert
Deb Calvert has been named by Treeline as one of “The 65 Most Influential Women in Business” and consistently appears on lists of Top Sales Influencers and Thought Leaders. She is UC-Berkeley Instructor, field researcher, trainer, instructional designer, speaker, and author, and has worked as a leadership program architect, sales productivity specialist and researcher since 2000.
Deb’s newest book is Stop Selling & Start Leading, co-authored with leadership gurus Jim Kouzes and Barry Posner. Her bestseller, DISCOVER Questions® Get You Connected, has been named one of “The 20 Most Highly-Rated Sales Books of All Time” by HubSpot. Deb is the founder of The Sales Experts Channel and of the movement to Stop Selling & Start Leading®.

In this interview, Susan asked Lori Richardson these questions:
How does generating revenue look for your business?
What are the key services/products you offer that generate the most revenue?
What is a tip you'd like to share to generate revenue?
Listen to this short episode with a HUGE aha moment in it.
About Lori Richardson:
Lori RichardsonCEO, Speaker & Founder
Lori founded Score More Sales in 2002 to help companies grow revenues through strategic sales efforts, using lessons learned from 20 years in B2B sales and leadership roles.
Extrovert/Super Connector   Lifelong Learner/Teacher