Greg's Right FIT #549–This week: Prospecting, Details, Cicadas

Quick notes to help you find new business in less time with less effort. . . sometime next week.

In this issue: 

• Thoughts about Prospecting
• Being Human
• Random Stuff
• Back In The Day

Thoughts about Prospecting

• Prospecting is simple. Talk to someone about what you have to offer. The hard part is finding someone who can buy it.
• When we pick up the phone and call a stranger, one of two things will happen. They'll be there. They won't be there. Plan for both outcomes.
• When a stranger does pick up the phone, assume you're interrupting them on some level. Before picking up the phone they were thinking about something or someone that isn't you. Don't assume anything. Start at the beginning.
• Begin with the end in mind when prospecting, or with any business communication. It helps keep you and the listener on track.

Being Human – Details

"The most serious mistakes are not being made as a result of wrong answers. The truly dangerous thing is asking the wrong questions." — Peter Drucker

Sometimes I get called to troubleshoot online marketing problems. Other times I hear an executive say something about online marketing and think, "that's a problem." This week it was someone saying they are shifting their online ad spend to a new SEO product so they won't have to pay so much for ads anymore. That's a problem because those are not the same things.

I'm of the opinion marketing spend is one of those areas that makes CFOs crazy because of how it gets explained in department meetings. The story is all wrong. It's a bunch of "leading indicator" metrics attached to spend. In this case, it was just spend he was commenting on. No one seems to have explained what is happening with the spend or where it's impacting sales. CFOs seem to like to talk sales, they don't seem as fond of marketing spend.

In this case, I ignored the comment. My role is sales support for a tool that helps with SEO, so his thinking benefits my client. For now. If he cuts ad spend recklessly it will create a new problem, so my advice to the client is to ask more questions about the ad spend. We don't want the prospect to cut off his nose to spite his face just because he doesn't like his marketing agency. The real answer is in the middle somewhere.

Random Stuff

“Do you know the legend about cicadas? They say they are the souls of poets who cannot keep quiet because, when they were alive, they never wrote the poems they wanted to.” ― John Berger

It's a hot week the cicadas have emerged. They are out looking for a good time with their beady red eyes after shedding their husks. They're noisy. They're memorable.

One summer evening, many years ago, a cicada flew into our house. The house had a few floor lamps that used halogen bulbs and shined on the ceiling. The bulbs would get incredibly hot. They used to come with a warning, do not handle with bare hands because some of the oil from your hands could ignite or something. Everyone had them, but that sounds dangerous, right? Well, that night the cicada flew around the living room, clumsily terrorizing everyone until coming to rest in the lamp. A fire started and we no longer use that lamp.

Speaking of terrorizing, my lovely bride tells a story of a boy she remembers from her youth that took the cicada husks and pinned them to his tshirt, running around and terrorizing the young girls. I think about him sometimes. I imagine him to be a serious man doing serious things. Each summer he sees a cicada husk and thinks, "man, the ladies loved me."

Back in the Day

What I was thinking about last year, five years ago, and ten years ago.

• Last Year: Right FIT #498 – This one had storytelling advice I've picked up over the years and a long article on the power of Liking. In it I posted a story about VCs giving more money to similar looking people. The best part of scientific articles are the criticisms. This is a good reminder to see who agreed, who didn't, or if it was ignored!
• Five Years Ago: Right FIT #289 – I quote Jim Rohn midway through this one. I read "Little Bosses Everywhere" and it placed some of my old sales heroes in a new light. I mean, he's still quotable, but now I'll skip his quotes and look for another before automatically inserting it.
• Ten Years Ago: Right FIT #27 – A story about the time Wilson met a neighbor dog and almost shook it to death. I had shoved that way back in the recesses of my brain because when people ask if he's friendly I'm like, "he sure is!"