Getting Others to tell Your Story
7 Top Tips from the session with John Niland last week.
Getting Others to tell Your Story
Last week we had a special visit from my coach and mentor, John Niland of VCO Global, who gave a thrilling and insightful presentation on the power of networking, with tips to make more of networking sessions, leveraging your network to make more money while saving time and the power of insight driven business development.
If you missed the session as here are 7 of the top tips shared by John Niland.
#Make it about the who not what
When introducing yourself at a networking event, let people know who you work with and how you can add value. Most people spend their time when introducing themselves focusing on themselves. While this is important, it is not the most important thing you should showcase. What is more valuable is who you work with, for example by letting people know you are an IT professional how will that benefit the people in the networking session, or how will they remember you from any other IT professionals in the room. But by stating who you work with within the IT field, you not only stand out but they will know who to refer to you. I am an IT professional who works with start-ups to make sure they have the best security in place to avoid hackers. The more detail you go into the “Who” the more you get out of your network.
#How the client journey has changed
The way we meet, interact and acquire our clients has changed irrevocably over the past 10 years, due to technology, amount of information, increase in marketing budgets, bad previous experiences, value hunting, and many many other reasons. This has inevitably also had a major impact on the “client journey” experience. We can no longer go from a “suspect -> prospect -> customer, with the hope the customer eventually becomes an ambassador”.
The new client journey has become beset with complications and is no longer a smooth journey.
#Customers have become smarter
Customers have become smarter and more savvy, and often times less trusting. They have access to more information than before, have less time and less money to spend, are more value driven, often there is more than one person involved in the final decision, and wants to be completely involved in the whole process.
#Key Changes to the Professional Marketplace
The biggest change to the professional marketplace is information overload. This is driven by marketing and technology. With the rise of social media and the money being poured into marketing, and everyone wanting to share information or communicate or tell a story, all that noise leads to no communication, and a lack of trust. People become more hesitant and wary, and put off-decision making, form shorter relationships, and are put off by jargon or cliched statements.
Insights are framing an issue in a new way, with a new perspective which is not an opinion or solution, does not depend methodology or the latest handbook or industry solution. Insights are both unique and specific, and offer a new way of approaching an issue.
For example, an insight into why salespeople don’t change their behaviour. By looking at selling from a different way, sales could be seen as overcoming the No’s. Everyone knows you will not get a yes from every pitch you make. And you will come across more No’s than Yes’s, and if you look at sales as process of overcoming No’s rather than trying to sell and re-think your whole approach to how can I overcome No’s you will get less No’s and make more revenue.
#Benefit Statement vs Insight Introduction
The benefits of using insights rather than using a benefit statement is that you boost your credibility, you come across as more professional and less salesy, you stand out from the crowd, you add value both to the client as well as to yourself.
#Getting Others to Tell Your Story
Getting others to tell your story is more powerful and provides many long term benefits for you and your business. Other than the obvious, people trust others more than you and by getting others to tell your story your credibility and value is enhanced. The major benefit of getting others to tell your story is that your story reaches further and goes to places you can’t reach on your own. You also save money and time, marketing budget and this time can be put to better use as well as helping you deliver more value for your current clients.