Let’s assume that the product or the service that you are selling is of a high quality and that it is desired in the marketplace. Let’s also assume that there are many other people in the marketplace selling similar products or services.

Who is going to get the sale? Will it be the person with the most product knowledge? Will it be the person with the best communication skills? Will it be the person with the magnetic personality? Will it be the person who is most trustworthy in the eyes of the purchaser but may be lacking in complete product knowledge? Will it be the person who may only be an average communicator, is timid and lacking in confidence, but oozes integrity? The answer is obvious, isn’t it? From childhood we are taught to always tell the truth. When it comes to selling . . . not so much. There are many salespersons who walk the straight and narrow and many still who find it necessary to be dishonest.

In the past few decades we have experienced in the United States a selling process that has gone from simple to slick, from face-to-face to in-your-face, from trustworthy to thievery. Look at the credit system of selling and buying. In the 1950s and 1960s a person could enter his neighborhood grocery store to purchase a few items and ask to have the cost of the goods purchased placed on his tab, which would be paid off on payday. The proprietor of the store would make the judgment of whether to extend credit or not based on his interpretation of the silent communicators he was receiving from the customer and whether or not he recognized the family. It was an honor system. Today the honor system is rarely used. Instead, credit is extended by a behemoth corporation located in a far away state or possibly in a foreign country. Substantial fees can be charged for the use of the credit privilege, and the rules of usage are often so confusing as to land the violator of the rules in embarrassing situations at the point of purchase, or later when the bill comes due. Credit is a valuable privilege but one that is increasingly more difficult to access. If access to credit is granted, reading the fine print on packaging and on contract documents is a must today before signing anything. The trust factor is gone, the victim of too many scams.

So, who is going to get the sale these days? I believe it will go to the salesperson deemed by the customer to be honest. This series on Outfluence in a Sales Environment will focus on building trust. We will suggest what a salesperson must do to earn the trust of today’s suspecting customers and how to build that trust through silent communication and showing your clients/customers they are more than just a sale, that you truly care about what is best for them and their company, and why the products or services you are selling them will be of benefit to their businesses.

We know the job market is tough.  Job seekers need an edge.  That’s why we wrote Outfluence for Job Seekers.  For $9.95 you can download and have immediately available the silent communicators that can make the difference between you getting the job you want and someone else getting it.  Visit the store and buy it right now.  Let silent communication be your ally in the job-seekers marketplace.

A 50-something lady was tasked by her employer to come to my home to clean up a mess caused by someone else.  We enjoyed a nice conversation as I got to know her a little bit, and when she completed the job, we talked about the failed job done by her predecessor.  I was interested to know why she was able to do what he could not do.  Her reply was priceless.  “I’m old school,” she said.  “I got down on my hands and knees and he only used a broom.”  In two short sentences she described the difference – watch this, please Outfluence_Book - between doing a job and inspiring a performance.

UPCOMING PRESENTATIONS AND HISTORY OF PRIOR PRESENTATIONS:

October, 2011, MediX commencement exercises, Baltimore, MD, inspirational presentation by Eric Byrd, Entrepreneur and world class pianist;

July 16, 2011, 3 to 5 p.m., book signing and chat, Constellation Books, 303 Main Street, Reisterstown, MD, Al Betz

May 23, 2011, 5 to 7 p.m., Entrepreneur’s Exchange, Host and Presenter, Connections & Conversation, Kava Restaurant, Annapolis, MD, Al and Kay Betz

May 10, 2011, Encore Selling, New Windsor, MD, presentation by Kay Betz, MBA, and Eric Byrd, Entrepreneur and world class pianist;

April 30, 2011, Pennsylvania Court Reporters Association, Lancaster, Pennsylvania, presentation by Ryan Black;

2011, Ohio Court Reporters Association, Columbus, Ohio, presentation on Power Writers and Outfluence Basics;

2011, Maryland Association of Paralegals, Stevensville, MD, presentation on Elevating Paralegals to POWERlegals;

2011, National Court Reporters Association Midyear Meeting, Baltimore, MD, presentation on Elevating Court Reporters to Power Writers

2011, Carroll Marketing Group, Eldersburg, MD, presentation on Using Outfluence to Elevate a Good Customer to a Business Advocate;

2011, Entrepreneurs Exchange, Annapolis, MD, presentation on Outfluence Basics;

2010, South Carroll Business Association, Eldersburg, MD, luncheon speaker on Outfluence Basics;

2010, Carroll Community College, Westminster, MD, featured speaker for Carroll County Small Business Summit;

2010, National Court Reporters Association teleseminar on Outfluence;

2010, Red Lion High School, Red Lion, PA, presentation to teenagers on Outfluence Basics;

2010, Wisconsin Court Reporters Association, Milwaukee, WI, presentation on Outfluence and Inspired Performance;

2010, Washington Court Reporters Association, Seattle, WA, presentation on Outfluence;

2010, Maryland Court Reporters Association, Deep Creek Lake, MD, presentation on Outfluence;

2010, National Court Reporters Association, Annual Convention, Chicago, IL, presentation on Outfluence and Inspired Performance;

2010, Pennsylvania Court Reporters Association, Harrisburg, PA, presentation on Planning your Career and Communication Basics;

2010, Pennsylvania Court Reporters Association, Harrisburg, PA, presentation on Inspired Performance and Outfluence Basics;

2009, Baltimore Washington Chamber of Commerce, Laurel, MD, presentation on Outfluence and Inspired Performance;

2009, BNI, Columbia, MD, presentation on Basics of Outfluence;

2009, Web Talk with Bob, radio interview live in studio, Kansas City, MO;

2009, The Bonded Family, radio interview live in studio, Kansas City, MO;

2009, Trial Technologies, Inc., Philadelphia, PA, presentation on Inspired Performance and Outfluence Basics;

2008, BNI, Westminster, MD, presentation on Inspired Performance;

2008, Hernwood Elementary School, Baltimore, MD, presentation to middle school children on Basics of Outfluence;

2008, Society for the Technological Advancement of Reporting (S.T.A.R.) Chicago, IL, presentation on Polishing the Pearl;

2007, Panhandle Home Health Care, Inc., Charlestown, WVA, presentation on Inspired Performance;

2007, North Carolina Court Reporters Association, Charlotte, NC, presentation on Polishing the Pearl;

2007, New York State Judicial Employees, presentations in New York City and Syracuse, NY, on Polishing the Pearl and Inspired Performance;

2007, Mississippi Court Reporters Association, presentation on Polishing the Pearl and Inspired Performance;

2007, Howard Community College, Columbia, MD, presentation of Outfluence Basics to summer program for teenagers;

2006, New Jersey Court Reporters Association, Essex, NJ, presentation on Polishing the Pearl;

2006, National Verbatim Reporters Association, Nashville, TN, presentation on Polishing the Pearl;

The Job Seeker, Part VI, Branding Yourself

Congratulations!  You have been hired as a permanent staff member in the job of your choice in the company of your choice.  Nice going.  Now what?  How are you going to make certain that your position is secure and that you can earn advancement opportunities?

            In this series we have not yet focused on personal branding.  Now is the time to establish your brand.  What is it that you want everyone with whom you come into contact, both within the company and external to the company, to remember about you?

            In my business what was most important to my clients was my responsiveness.  That’s what I wanted them to know about me every time they saw me.  I wanted all of my clients, and everyone in my company, to know that whatever my clients wanted, I would deliver.  And I would deliver it because I had prepared myself to deliver it.  I knew what my clients wanted, needed, and expected, and I prepared myself to meet their wants, needs, and expectations.

            The great artist, actor, performer, and author Steve Martin said, upon being asked how to succeed in Hollywood, “Be so good that they can’t ignore you.”  That is his brand – he is too good to be ignored.  You just have to pay attention to him.  He always delivers what his audience wants.

            Two things will differentiate you in the marketplace, your reputation and your brand. Reputation emanates from your performance, but someone else attaches the reputation label

to you. Your brand is established and promoted by you and you alone. These are important concepts to understand. When you differentiate yourself, you have added a value to your

service that your clients won’t find anywhere else. You may be very good at what you do, but many others in your marketplace are also good at what they do. While your skills may get you through a prospective client’s door, they may not get you a whole lot further. A prospective client wants a special reason to notice you, use your services, or purchase your products.

            The key here is to decide if differentiating yourself is important to you. If it is, then you must decide how you will do it. What will you do that you know your customers need and

that you know your competition is not providing or not providing very well? When you decide what that differentiator is going to be, you must sleep, eat, and breathe it. You must promote yourself based on that differentiator so that you will stand apart.

            Let’s see what your branding acumen is by taking this quiz developed by my friend George Fulton, a marketing and advertising consultant.

            Branding is:

□     Nice to have, but it is really just a cost center, and now is not the time for more costs

□     Really only applies to companies that sell consumer products

□     Something you resort to doing if sales start to fall

□     Necessary folklore that spawned hundreds of 1950’s TV westerns.

□     The most important part of your vision, your strategy planning, and your future.

Only the last two statements above are true. 

            If you are going to take the knowledge you have gained in this Job Seeker series and apply it in a business of your own, here are six headlines about branding that you may want to explore further with George Fulton and the bright people at Outfluence, LLC:

1. Branding is about values.  Ensure that the values that drive your company are clearly discussed, decided upon, and communicated.
2. Branding is a strategic asset.  In 2002 the market value of Coca Cola was $136BB, yet its book value was only $10.5BB, which meant that there was $125BB of shareholder confidence in the company, of which $70BB was attributed to just the Coca Cola brand name!  (Coke is the number one brand in the world.)  You want to sell that company of yours one day?  Brand it!
3. Branding is a mirror image of everything you, the company and every employee does.  What drives your company also drives your brand and how it is perceived by your employees, customers, and suppliers. 
4. Branding takes a lifetime.  It begins with the foundation of the company values and must continually be watered and fertilized, adjusting to changes in the attitudes, behaviors, and needs of the market.
5. Branding requires customer intimacy.  If you don’t know how you are perceived today and if you don’t know what customers really want and are willing to pay for, then you can’t design programs to gain add-on sales, to acquire new customers, to keep old customers happy and to develop reference accounts.  These, when done properly, build strong companies and strong brands.
6. Branding is a promise kept.  There is no faster way to cheapen a brand than not keeping your promises. 

Acquiring a job, starting a business, or establishing a career, are serious undertakings.  I hope this Job Seeker series proves to be a valuable asset to your planning process.  Best of luck!