Congratulations Marketing Grad! Whats Next?

This is one of my favorite times of year.  Spring is in the air, my birthday is almost here, and new graduates are getting ready to enter the workforce.

Yesterday I had the pleasure to email meet the first of many I know I will speak to this season.  Her story is like so many I have spoken to over the years.  She is about to graduate with high honors, and is trying to find a job to kick-start her career. 

So what can this grad do to make sure after graduation a job is waiting of her?  Here are 5 pieces of advice I would offer:

1. Start a blog yesterday! 

One of my largest frustrations with grads is the lack of sample material they have to share with me.  This is why I always stress the importance of a personal blog.  I don't care about the topic they are writing about (as long as it is not overly controversial) I just want to see consistent content from them.  My suggestion is always to pick a subject you are passionate about.  It will make it much easier to come up with content that way.

They need to write at least 2 - 3 posts per week, and share them with other blogs, news sources, etc...  This will not only help get them known in the market, but also get them used to how to get news into the world quickly and efficiently.

2. Make Twitter Your Life!  

I love when I see @Twitter listed as a technology skill, but yet the person has no presence on it.  If you are going to list something like Twitter, you better be all over it.  

My suggestion is to start an account and use a free app called Bufferapp.com.  This program allows you to load up links that interest you and it will automatically post them at scheduled times.  This way you appear to always be posting, even when you are not.  Check out my blog post to learn more about this: http://creativebusinessmind.blogspot.com/2013/01/how-to-work-weekends-while-not-really.html

Twitter is still one of the most important communications channels ever invented.  If you want a long career in communications and marketing, Twitter must be a part of your daily life.

3. Web Video! 

You do not need to create the next Philip DeFranco Show, but you need to be on YouTube.  I will admit I have not been as good as I should be about web video, but that is part of my 2013 plan for myself.  

Here is a link to my channel. http://www.youtube.com/user/SalesKing101?feature=mhee  

Web video is still one of the most popular forms of communication online.  New grads need to be all over YouTube.com and should have a personal channel up and running to show off their skills.  This will be a huge plus for your future employer as companies all over struggle with video.

4. Prepare A Portfolio! 

The main thing here is you need to get a portfolio together of materials you have created and a company has used.  Like in #1, I would suggest you look to organizations and subjects you are personally passionate about.  This way if you end up having to do work for free, it will be for a cause you are passionate about.

What I did early on in my career was donate a ton of my personal time to the American Diabetes Association, for the Tour de Cure event they had in Chicago. All of my work was 100% free, but I was able to generate a ton of material for my portfolio and get connections that still help me today.

5. Do You Know Your Klout Score? www.klout.com

Companies want people who are influential, and can prove it.  What a better way than having a score that you can show to potential employers.  Your Klout score is free to access and track, and supplies you with some great information about how well you are doing online.  

Currently my score hoovers between 62 and 63 (out of 100).  Anytime my score drops to 62 I get alerted on my phone, and know it dropped because I have not been as active online as I should be.  This tool has become my way to measure my success.  

Do not be surprised if you are asked in an interview what your current Klout score is.  I know I am asking!

Just remember grads, though the business world needs young eager people, there are a lot already here.  You need to show why you are better and worth investing in.  By following the five steps above you will be placing yourself head and shoulders above the next man/woman being interviewed.

To Your Success & Prosperity!

Social Media Is Not From A Galaxy Far, Far Away!

Right now here on Earth....

No matter where you turn, you will hear some one talking about the importance of your company being on social media.  It has so much attention that companies are even going to the extreme of hiring VP's of Social Media, to head dedicated team to take care of all their social needs.  

WHY?!

Now do not get me wrong, I stress the importance of social media just as much as the next person.  But, my view on the support of this new communication channel is what differentiates me from most.  Personally I look at social communication as just another channel, like the phone, email, web chat, etc...  When you move your view of social into this context the way to support social becomes a much easier nut to crack.

But, social is so different from phone or email because all of it is public and online forever!

So many companies want to white glove social media because they believe social is the only channel that is out there forever.  My response to this is that, if they have a bad call you are almost 100% guaranteed that interaction is documented and also shared online forever, so how is it different.  The only thing that is really different is the time you have to respond, and the way in which you respond.  Beyond those two basic items Social is no different than me calling your company, just easier to do it.

So why are companies still struggling with social so much?

The answer to this really stems from how old the company is, and how much the structure of the business has kept up with the times.  What I mean by this is that social and really all online interaction has forced companies marketing, public relations and customer experience teams to really work together for the first time.  The problem in many organizations is that these departments tend to be extremely territorial, especially if it is a large old multi-national. 

The marriage of these departments is critical to a company’s success, but many organizations still keep these teams in silos, focused on specific goals that may or may not be in line with the other department’s goals.  To have success with social, you must get your marketing, public relations, advertising and customer experience teams working together.

Another interesting aspect of why companies still have issues with social is because they still have not embraced using standard contact center metrics to measure success.  For some reason beyond my comprehension companies insist that the old way of measuring success does not work on social.  To this I insist they are incorrect.  Your measurements may need some tweaking to compensate for responsiveness, response effectiveness, and social impact, but the foundational numbers like average speed to answer, average handle time and first interaction resolution rates still apply.  

Does this mean my call center team should just handle my social interactions then?

NO!  If your team has not already separated out verbal and non-verbal communications channels, that is the first step.  The skill set required to handle non-verbal communication channels like email, web-chat or social are 100% different than phone.  Much of this is because the skills required to communicate effectively verbally, are very different than those to communicate in writing.  

Time and time again I have seen companies try to put both verbal and non-verbal support together and end up getting mediocre support across the board.  Then when we work on separating out these teams, we quickly see huge quality jumps on both sides, and many times have a drastic increase in employee satisfaction.  Both, items a huge benefit to your customer!

Outsource or Insource?

--> I should mention that I do have a bias toward outsourcing as I grew up in the BPO world, and currently work for an outsourcer.  Please keep this in mind as your read this part of the article.

This is a very tricky question, because the answer is so dependent on what your company does, and how your customers look to interact with you.  My typical answer to this is build a team internally to get all your processes flushed out first, then bring in an outsourcer for scalability of your proven solution, but always keep an escalation team internally.  This way your outsourcer always has an expert they can go to for support, and your company can still have day-to-day interaction with your customers.

So what is next?

The next step is to layout your teams plan of attack and get going.  I still hear some many companies who believe doing nothing is the best solution.  The HUGE issue with this view is because it would be like saying we are not going to answer any more calls and hope people still buy from us.  Your customers are on Social talking about your business, and looking for your help if you like it or not.  The next steps for your team are to start interacting with them, after you created a plan.  

These are my steps to in-acting any new venture or project.  I call it... 

The Family Trip Project Plan:

1. Painted Picture - Write out what I would love for my social support environment to look like 5 - 10 years from today.

2. Road Map - What steps do I need to take in the next week, month, quarter, and year+ to reach my painted picture?

3. Navigators - Take your painted picture and road map and share it with 4 - 5 trusted advisors.  Take their input seriously and document everything they say.

4. A Better Route - After your Navigators have sliced and diced your plan look for the better route and write it out.

5. Fill The Tank - Now that you have the best route and your painted picture of where you want to go it is time to fill the tank of your team and get them on board.  This step is sharing everything you have so far and making sure you have their 100% buy in on everything.

6. Hit The Road - Now that your team is ready to go it is time to hit the road and start driving down the route you have laid out.

7. Mind the Potholes - No plan is perfect and you need to be ready to avoid the potholes along the way.  Don't be afraid to make adjustments to your route as you go, it is all part of the adventure.

8. Listen to The Kids - Make sure to listen to what your team is saying along the way.  Their input will be raw, and you must filter it, but their input will help you avoid future potholes.  This is because your team is on the front lines, and has better input than any report can provide you.

9. Take A Ton of Pictures - The most critical part of the whole adventure is documentation.  You need to document everything you do.  This way when it is time to scale the solution you have everything documented so you don't drive back through potholes you already went through or avoided. 

10. Send Some Post Cards Home - Make sure to keep your executive team in the loop all along the way.  You need their support and understanding of where things are going.  This way if you break down along they way they can be there to send extra money or make some calls for you.

To Your Success & Prosperity!

Follow Up To - Social Media Success Video

On Wednesday, January 23rd, 2013 I posted a short video about how to be more successful on social media (Social Media Success Video).  After the post I received a few emails asking for examples of things I have done that have impacted my network, and show that my theory of helping others is all you need to do to be successful online.

Well as luck would have it, I received the message below through my Linkedin account from a gentlemen in my network who just changed jobs, and that I sent a little note of congratulations to.  This small gesture I made, had a huge impact on him and his day, which I know also impacted his want and need to help others.  

As I said in my video, it is not the big things that matter to people.  It is the small things that have the greatest impact on your network.  It is saying congratulations on a job promotion, the annual birthday wish or pointing a person toward a possible opportunity.  These are things that people remember, and then make them want to pay it forward and help others, including you.

LinkedIn Shosei  has sent you a message. Date: 1/23/2013 Subject: RE: Congratulations on your new position! Michael, What a surprise, that's very generous of you. I could not resist myself a smile on my face with your message. My sincere gratitude. You've inspired me today with your praise, the importance of a simple message, has so much positive energy to it, I'm re-examining the substance of my email communication with clients and prospects. I hope you had a great start for 13, please forward my luck for you and your surroundings. Boy, that was some influence. There's good air in the room now. Thanks a million! Best, Shosei On 01/22/13 12:25 PM, Michael McMillan wrote: -------------------- Hi Shosei, I saw you're now Creative Director at Cardinal & Sevenfold and wanted to say congratulations!

Keeping helping others, and remember to treat others like you want to be treated, and the world will make sure to take care of you!

To Your Success & Prosperity!!

Social Media Success Video

A short film I created to help people view social media correctly, so they can make the most out of the time they spend online.

To Your Success & Prosperity!!

Sales is from Venus...Marketing is from Mars!

Image Courtesy of Channel Marketer Report

The rarest thing to find is a great sales person who is also a great marketing person, or vice-versa.  This is because the skill sets for each position are polar opposites in most cases.

The best Marketing minds I have ever met in my life are also some of the most boring, analytical people you could ever imagine meeting.  They are in love with numbers, and obsessed with figuring out the mathematics behind everything.  Where sales on the other hand, though sometimes analytical, are more often your emotional creative types who also love problem solving, but rarely by the numbers.  Their focus is on making people happy and winning.

These differences in behavior is why I have emphasized to organizations to not group Sales and Marketing together under one flag, but to run them as separate teams that have leaders who work well together.  This way they can both be held to quotas and goals they both have the ability and resources to obtain:

Marketing - Generating "x" number of leads with "y" percent of those leads being qualified at an average cost per lead of "a" and a average cost per qualified lead of "b".

Sales - Convert "x" percent of the qualified leads with an average cost per acquisition of "y" and average revenue of "z".

The reason so many companies group these very different, but complimentary departments together is because the success of one can and most often is a direct result of the others success or failure.  But, by combining the two together what you typically see is a sales and marketing effort that is mediocre or that is more focused more on the sales end or marketing end, while the other, less focused on aspect suffers.

I believe all of you will agree that Marketing and Sales will always be tied at the hip.  But, it is important to also remember that for both to be successful, there must be a level of separation between the teams so both can focus on what they are the best at, Sales or Marketing, NOT BOTH!  This way the teams can both be successful, which in turn will make the overall organization that much more successful.

Because as any sales person will tell you, "Nothing happens till a sale is made!"


To Your Success & Prosperity!!!

How Far Do You Go For Business?

So this week was an exciting week at the AGA/EEI Customer Service Expo in Fort Worth, Texas.  Had the opportunity to meet a lot of great people, and get the full Texas experience...LOL!!!

The one thing I took away from this trip is that to be in sales requires you to be willing to always live outside your standard comfort zone.  For instance on this trip to Texas at the big networking social event on Wednesday evening I found myself faced with doing something I NEVER thought I would ever do, ride a mechanical bull...

LOL!!  I still am laughing at the fact I was brave enough to get my butt up there to do this...

Why, did I decide to do this you ask?  Simple, because as I sat there watching almost the entire group go up and do it one by one and get their photo taken doing it, I knew if I had any shot in connecting with these people after the show I had to get up there and do it.  And here was the result:

I lasted a whole 15 seconds on that bull before getting bucked off.  And you know what, I had the time of my life doing it.  Now granted it was a little embarrassing to say the least, but the photo and experience was well worth it.

So this leads me to the question I ask in the title, what are you willing to do for business?  Could you have put your pride aside and got up on the bull to ride it?  If not, why not?  Sales is all about building a bond between your company and another, and common experiences is the sure fire way to make sure that happens.  So next time you are at a social affair and you see something you would NEVER do, take a minute and ask your self, could this help me drive business and build a closer relationship with my prospects?  If the answer is even maybe, get up on that bull and have a good time!

I am Famous!!! LOL

Okay maybe not famous but at least I got myself on a web video. Check it out.

To Succeed or Not Succeed

Today I had a sales guy calling me asking me my opinion on how I felt my sales force would do during this depression. I quickly responded, "unlike other industries our team saw this coming for a long time and has positioned our self to not only succeed but clean up." Of course the next question was how do I plan on doing so well in this horrible economy. My response possibly less than what he wanted was, "EXTREMELY HARD WORK!"

I started this entry out with this quick review of this interview because I wanted to comment to the world want it is going to take to get through this depression and come out on top.

To succeed in this bad economy takes a level of work that is so foreign to people in my age group they see it as fiction. The problem with this is that this is the time we need to get back to basics and understand an 8 hour work day is not possible any more. To not only survive but be a winner we need to do everything that is possible to do what is necessary for our businesses success.

If you want to really see the level of dedication it will take, go see you Grandparents, or even better your Great Grandparents if they are still around and ask them what their work ethic was. What you will hear is the same like when you were a child. It will more than likely sound something like my Grandfather told me:

"Boy, my work ethic was simple, I went to work, I never called off 1 day, I worked till the work was done, and I will never stop working till my heart gives out or my boss kicks me out."

That is Dedication! 

That is a Statement of a Winner! 

Are you willing to have that same dedication to your business? If not I can guarantee you with almost no uncertainty you will more than likely fail in this economy and be one of the many losers out there. So starting now stops playing around on the internet and gets your nose into your work and do whatever is necessary to not only fit the status quo, but to be a winner!


Bio: Michael McMillan is the director of Sales & Marketing for Answer Center America, Inc. “To Succeed or Not Succeed” gives a peak into what an employee will need to do in 2009 to not only survive but be a winner. For more information on ACA's services please visit http://www.goacanow.com

From Sales Life Style

What are Your Goals

I commonly tell my sales people that a promise is only as good as the paper it is written on. So to are the goals that you set for your self. Many people, especially sales people, set goals for them self all the time. The issue is that many times they forget to do the most important piece, write them down for everyone to see. To give everyone a real life example to help everyone get started I am going to post my real 2009 professional goals here to share with all of you. (I would share my personal goals, but they are not as fun) LOL!! I look forward to your comments on them.

1. Close 1 account that has a base package over $100,000.00 per month, a.k.a. $1,200,000.00 per year account!

2. Personally Close over 2 million dollars in total sales in 2009

3. Lead my team to 3.5 million dollars or more in total sales in 2009

4. Increase my monthly outbound revenue to over $50,000 per month

Now please understand in world these numbers are very realistic and reachable with a lot of hard work. Next to writing your goals down, the next most important part is making your goals realistic. You want to set them to a level you know you can achieve. If you set them to high you will not achieve them and then not want to do it again next year. So now sit down, write everything out, and get ready for an amazing sales year!!!

From Sales Life Style

Bio: Michael McMillan is the director of Sales & Marketing for Answer Center America, Inc. “What are Your Goals” talks about how setting goals can make you much more successful personally and professionally. For more information on ACA's services please visit http://www.goacanow.com.

Not Service Industry! Supply Chain Management, What?

A few months ago I had the pleasure of going through a training by Tim Searcy, with http://www.whalehunters.com. Tim is by far one of the most passionate and energetic sales people I have had the pleasure to meet in a long time.

During this training Tim had said something to me that really blew me away. Tim first asked, "what industry are you in?" Of course the crowd all from call centers said, "Call Center." Tim abruptly said, "Wrong!" As all of us looked at one another thinking this guy must have had a few to many cocktails, he started to explain. "None of our company's are in the call center industry, we are in the supply chain management industry." "All customers are looking for us to do is make the flow of goods or services become easier to get to their customers."

When I heard this I quickly wrote it down as it really rang true to me. I thought to my self how all my customers come to me with an issue and that issue is almost 99.9% about issues in their supply chain to customers. When I heard this I began work on a different way of selling our services. I began to build an atmosphere that was informative and helped client's streamline their supply chain all the way from manufacturing to their customer as much as I can.

This strategy was not as easy as typing a few thing down, it took a crazy amount of work to accomplish. Below I have listed what I did to learn more about how I can help consult my client's on their supply chain. These were only a few of the steps. If you are interested in more please feel free to comment and I will add more.

1. Joined & began attending events with 2 different business networking organizations here in Chicago.

2. Networked with other outsourcing companies that I know from past experience would offer a benefit to my client's.

3. Did background checks on all the businesses I met and spoke to their clients to categorized their service quality.

4. Created strategic partnerships with those businesses I felt were the best and began negotiating costs and services for my client's if I were to refer them.

5. Developed presentational materials for the most common issues client's inform me they are having. This way I can provide them a complete solution in a nice bundle.

This is what I did first. By doing this I learned a ton about who I was as a sales person and what I really can offer a client. Knowing this information I have been able to increase my sales drastically and not be just another sales person to my client's, but a trusted advisor to them. Being a trusted advisor, a.k.a. FRIEND, I get to reap the rewards of frequent referrals and great testimonials. That alone has paid for all my hard work in spades!!!

So what are you doing still reading this??!! Email me for what else I did after my first step and start increasing your sales...

My Favorite Movie Quote:
" I know you're not standing on your front porch with a bag of money waiting for me to call you. But I'm not some 18-year-old selling a cure for AIDS. I'm 46 years old, I have 22 years market experience, I know this business. So pick up your skirt, grab your balls, and lets go make some money"

- Boiler Room, 2000

From Sales Life Style

Bio: Michael McMillan is the director of Sales & Marketing for Answer Center America, Inc. “Not Service Industry! Supply Chain Management, What?” offers a new look at an industry that commonly just sees it self as an outsourcing solution. For more information on ACA's services please visit http://www.goacanow.com.

Social Networking

When I first was told about social networking I was so confused on where to start. Then I built a MySpace & Facebook page. This got me started and I was able to meet a ton of people, but was not seeing any business from it. Then I discovered the world of blogging and reviewing. This opened my eyes to a part of the social networking scene I was able to get into. Now almost 3 months later I have already seen 3 new client's from it and close to 100 business contacts who look to me for business advise. This reach would not have been possible if not for my social network. If you are struggling with getting your social network started let me give you 5 steps to success. I am not saying these steps will lead you to riches, but they will expand your network.

1. Build a MySpace & Facebook Page (Add Photos, Videos, & Posts often)
http://www.myspace.com/ & http://www.facebook.com/

2. Start a Blogger Account (Promise Yourself to write at least 1 entry per week)
http://www.blogger.com/

3. Open a Yelp Account (Begin Reviewing Local Places ASAP, 5 a week atleast)
http://www.yelp.com/

4. Open a Plaxo Account (Make sure to tie in your MySpace, Facebook, Blogger, & Yelp Account) This way all of your network can see what you are saying
http://www.plaxo.com/

5. Track all your success with Google Analytics (Doing all this work with out a way to track it is just foolish! Make Sure your Hard Work is Paying Off)
http://www.google.com/analytics/

If you don't know anyone online add me. Below are all my user names and links. I would be more than happy to be your first friend and help you expand your network.

Facebook:


MySpace:
http://www.myspace.com/mikiesplace

Blogger:
You are here http://thesalesking.blogspot.com/

Yelp:

Recent reviews by Michael M.

What's this?

Plaxo:
http://salesking.myplaxo.com/

From Misc. . .

Bio: Michael McMillan is the director of Sales & Marketing for Answer Center America, Inc. “Social Networking” gives sales people 1 more tool to use to build their professional network. For more information on ACA's services please visit http://www.goacanow.com.

Help A Friend

Today I was out with, in my opinion, the most talented sushi chef I have ever had the pleasure of meeting. We had a very long discussion about business, in particular advertising & marketing. After about an hour of general talking I started to quickly see both the differences and similarities of my business and his restaurant. Once I saw this I knew what I wanted to do next. I offered my assistance to him completely free of charge to help take is already very profitable restaurant.

My first step was research to find out what people are currently saying about his place online. Luckily this is so much easier now that their are sites like Yelp! and Citysearch.com. After reviewing these sites I was able to find his strength and weaknesses. I have composed this into a power point along with a marketing strategy I am building for him. I am doing a 3 tier plan that will roll out over the next 7 months. My hope is to increase his business by more than 55% over the next year.

Why do I do all this work for free you ask? Well when I first started I asked my self the very same question. When I initially started I planned to create a marketing plan to sell to him. But, then after spending time with him I quickly saw a great passion I had in working with a restauranture. For this reason I took on his project as a test case so to create a marketable plan to other restaurants. My hope is to get something I can recreate and then mass duplicate to all restauranture's.

I share this with all of you so you can see that sometimes you have to work very hard for very little to get a lot in return. So next time you see something you can exploit for money ask your self is it worth exploiting it now, or work to make it better then sell it for huge profit.

From Misc. . .

Bio: Michael McMillan is the director of Sales & Marketing for Answer Center America, Inc. “Help A Friend” shows why offering your help with no want of payment can commonly lead to the largest sales of your life. For more information on ACA's services please visit http://www.goacanow.com.

You Must Give To Get!

This week I learned possibly one of the most important pieces of my sales life thus far.

"It is better to take an order from a motivated referral, than it is to sell to a defensive buyer!"

What this saying means is that to become a great sales person, instead of just a good sales person you have to earn it.

So how do you earn it you ask!

It is simple! You earn it by making your value to your potential client so great that they start to see you as a friend, or better yet a trusted advisor, rather than some annoying sales person. To do this you must provide them with exactly what you are looking for, MORE BUSINESS!! Now I am not saying this is easy, trust me I grew up in sales and just figuring out now how to do this effectively, and it still is not easy!! But, I have already started to see just how much it pays off by working hard for your clients. Let me tell you what I have done so you can see how this can work for you.

This week I dedicated myself to taking the new people I have met at the YEC event I attended and finding them either new business from my current contacts or solutions to express issues they were having. I did this quickly and efficiently without them asking. I did it so that it was not seen as a burden rather a kind gesture on my part. Now, let me just tell you this was not by any shape or form easy. For 2 of them I spent almost 6 - 8 hours researching the best possibly client's for them and then calling upon my client's that fit in that category. But, the reward from all this hard work has just paid off is ACES!! One of the client's I did this for just referred me a multimillion dollar potential client that just started looking for call center services. Because of my hard work my client referred them to me and told the client there is no other call center they would ever trust more than ACA!

I wanted to tell you this whole story so you can see that this is not just smoke I am blowing up your back side to get you to read my blogs. This is real life, and real dollars and cents. If you are eager to make money, and when I say money I mean LOTS & LOTS of MONEY!!! Then you must be willing to put in the time and effort to make it worth your potential client's time to work with you and buy your product/services. You do this by research, backward referrals to your client, and always fulfilling on the promised you make to your clientele. Done properly the days of cold calls, cold lead selling, & begging clients for referrals will be over. The days of order taking for referrals sent over to you will begin. Then you can tell everyone how proud you are to FISH IN A BARRELL!!!


Bio: Michael McMillan is the director of Sales & Marketing for Answer Center America, Inc. “You Must Give To Get!” talks about how giving value first really makes sales so much easier. For more information on ACA's services please visit http://www.goacanow.com.