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You know those scenes in Hollywood films where a gas leak is slowly creeping towards a lighted cigarette, or something equally flammable? (I think Batman Begins was the latest blockbuster to use this fool proof suspense tactic when a hapless taxi driver happens to throw a cigarette butt into the main gas tunnel - might want to get onto town planning there...)
It's become quite easy to make excuses these days. 'Times are tough', 'no one's buying' and 'everyone's waiting to see what happens' have been mixed with the old classics like 'it's summer, summer's always dead.' This cocktail of negativity makes it far too easy to slump at your desk feeling rather sorry for yourself and not really put 100% into a sale. And don't get me wrong, times ARE tough, and you'd be perfectly within your rights to throw in the towel, turn off the lights, and do all those other stereotypical things related to giving up (how about growing one of those famous Hollywood beards that say 'I'm down and out'?)But what people should remember is just because the market is tough doesn't mean your service is no longer required. In fact, it's almost completely the opposite, especially if you're a cost cutting service. Yes, people are less willing to throw money at solutions but I can guarantee that everyday a company is suffering a pain that needs fixing by your product or service. The problem is finding the ones in this pessimistic market willing to make that change. That's where sales triggers come in. Identifying potential customers that are crying out for help, or locating new managers that are looking to make big changes in their department, even potential customers falling over hurdles because they've yet to discover what a company like yours can offer. They are out there, I see it everyday. So don't take the easy route. Don't fall back on excuses. Do something different today. Of course, I recommend automating the search for triggers because I've seen the power it can have. But I'm not just talking about that. Instead of slumping back in your chair and letting things get you down, do something positive. Chase a sale. They are still out there...Find a lead today
In a world where 'interacting with the customer' has supposedly never been so easy it's amazing how many companies still have absolutely no idea how to handle feedback and discussion on the mass scale of the social media filled web. It's all too easy for someone to say go track Facebook, or Twitter, or the blog network but just because these things are there and available doesn't necessarily make them easy to navigate. 8 million people walk around London everyday. You wouldn't ask someone to go out and gather insight from all of them would you?The social networks are platforms for people to communicate opinion, but ultimately you're only interested if it's opinion on your product. Joe Bloggs might only ever make one comment on your product, but it might be a very valuable one. Problem is, you can't manually track Joe Bloggs forever, waiting for that moment of user feedback.The sheer scale of content like this is giving organisations a big incentive to use automated media monitoring software. In an ever increasing space finding your customer will become a pivotal tool for companies looking to respond to user feedback. Yes, you can set up places for people to share their views but that means they have to come to you first. By simply using automated spiders able to detect key content at key times you're going directly to your customer's insight. That is very, very powerful indeed.
