Sunday, January 22, 2017
Innovation in Australia: Collaborate and Flourish
Innovation in Australia: Collaborate and Flourish: Great article posted by Eric Tjoeng of BGES - founder of the BBG/BGES Paramatta Forum Great collaboration between BBG & BGES at th...
Sparkmag: Collaboration and Connecting Links to Success
Sparkmag: Collaboration and Connecting Links to Success: Great article by Chantal Cleminson English Author John Donne said : “No man is an island” , meaning no one is self-sufficient; ...
Monday, January 16, 2017
Niched Content events are the go
Karolin Geike
Point 9 Capital's Karolin Geike
2017 prediction
Bigger is not better!
Start-up & Tech events will shift to be way smaller (exclusive), niched and content driven.
While the conferences outgrowing cities with tens of thousands of attendees, dozens of stages, evolving to festival like happenings with trillions of side events will leave attendees looking for insightful and actionable take aways overwhelmed and disappointed we will see an increasing number of specialized meetups.
Attendees will strongly focus on value add, interactive knowledge sharing, qualified networking and an awesome experience before, while and after attending instead of business card bazaars, confusing and overloaded programs with shallow and repetitive content, nonspecific crowds in overrun and hence expensive locations.
Event organisers know their audience and will tie together tailored experiences to meet the growing expectations of an authentic and engaged community.
I also firmly believe in the rise of live streaming and AR/VR as this emphasizes the conscious spending of time and money and will be picture changing in the long run!
Sunday, January 15, 2017
4 ways to look after your referral partners
Be sure to join a BBG Forum - www.bbg.business/events
Four ways to look after your referral partners
If you're like most mortgage brokers, you’ll already know how important it is to establish great referral partnerships with professionals such as accountants, financial advisors and property managers.
Making contact with these allied professionals is the first step; keeping them ticking away generating new leads requires more time and effort.
To help you, here’s four ways you can build better relationships that go beyond just sending referrals.
- Keep partners in the loop
When you’re expanding your services or product offering beyond what you’re known for, be sure your referral partners are among the first to know. Keep them up to date on both your business and the bigger picture in the industry, including best practice approaches and new legislation that may affect their clients. When communicating with partners, be sure to remind them of the type of client you’re targeting and where your services are a good match.
Letting your referral partners know of changes to your business and the broader industry establishes you as an expert in their eyes, and keeps you front of mind.
- Educate your partners
Your referral partner must understand your business offerings so they can promote you more effectively. The good news is, there are many ways to convey information. For example:
- Videos and landing pages – Educational videos and special-purpose landing pages can help you educate referral partners and get them up to speed on your business quickly and easily.
- Information evenings – Hosting an evening packed with useful information for your partners and interested clients is a great way to establish credibility and trust in your business.
- Brochures – Brochures are a convenient way for your referral partner to talk about your business with prospective clients and give them something to take home.
- Make an introduction
Introducing your referral partners to other relevant professionals is a great way to promote organic growth without asking anything for yourself. This can be done by sending a friendly email explaining how establishing a relationship might benefit your partners and suggesting they get in touch, or by hosting a lunch or casual after-work catch up. Later on, you can follow up and find out if there has been any benefit to either partner.
- Show your appreciation
While often overlooked, saying “thanks” is one of the simplest ways to stay connected to your referral partners and let them know you care about them. While this can often take the form of a referral commission, there are other ways to show your appreciation, such as a handwritten card, gift certificate or a coupon for a service.
With a Nielsen report showing that 84% of consumers trust referrals from people they know, looking after your referral partners can help increase the number of valuable leads that come your way, boosting your bottom line in the process. For more information on how PLAN Australia can help you with growing your business, contact us today.
The 3 requirements to make a Sale
Great insight by Chris Brogan on the core fundamentals of business
- You know stuff or you got stuff
- People need it
- People will pay for it
The Triangle
I’ve talked about it this way for years. Imagine a triangle. Here, let me draw it for you:
If you’re doing some kind of consulting or services business. You know something. You can help others with it. Will people pay for it.
That’s the real basic core of how someone chooses to buy something. It’s how YOU should think about your business. I have a lot of people ask me things like, “Hey, I have this podcast and I want to make a lot of money with it. How do I do that?”
The answer is often that you don’t. People don’t pay for radio now. Why would they pay for you? “Oh, but my stuff is premium.” Media companies love to boast about “premium” but you can look at many examples of a lot of “good enough” free content flooding the market until there’s no reason to ever buy premium.
How You Talk About It Matters
Do you have a great product or service but don’t do a great job of selling it. Do you make it clear what the BUYER gets from the experience?
The BUYER is not interested in the service - he/she is interested in solving their problem. They want to buy - they want to feel that they are getting great value and that they trust you. .
Question Yourself
If you’re working to sell something and it’s not all there for you yet, you might go through a quick quiz:
- Do I produce something that people might be able to use to improve their life or business?
- Do I know and have access to the people who need this?
- Will they pay for it?
If you can’t answer yes to all three questions, you’re going to have a lot of trouble in business.
HOWEVER
If you have 2 pieces of the puzzle - you can find the 3rd!
- If you have the product but no audience, you can market to acquire the audience.
- If you have the audience but no product, you can partner with someone selling something and provide their product to the people you serve.
- If someone won’t pay for something directly, do you know anyone who’d pay to fund/sponsor/subsidize that product for the people who’d benefit from it?
Never count yourself out just because you’re missing part of the triangle.
But you must ultimately satisfy all three points.
Sunday, January 8, 2017
How to Create your Personal Profile and Create your online Business Card
2. 2. Update your profile
3. 3. Go to “build your network”
4. 4. Go to “website buttons” – and there it is.
5. 5. Copy code to websites and blogs
6. 6. Add referron to your email signature
7.
You will have your own personalised website
for a video instruction - click here
How addressing a thank you card differently changed a person's life - a real life story
Hi everyone
I thought it worthwhile sharing with you the story below, which is a great way of saying thank you and doing something good for someone else "in the spirit of generosity."
Regards
Richard Dubb
When you receive a thank you card in the mail, whether expected or not, it makes you feel good.
What if the thank you card was not sent directly to you, but instead was sent to your boss? Would that make any difference?
Last year I thought I would give it a go and see what happened. This was the scenario: Each year I work through all our personal and business expenses and review them to see if we are still getting the best deal that we possibly can.
As part of that process, it came time to review our car insurance. Since Youi is so big at advertising that they have a better price I thought I would give them a go and rang to get a quote and compare our current insurance with theirs. The consultant I spoke with was very helpful and worked with me over the next week to ensure that what they were offering was the best one on the market. But after three phone calls, I realised that NRMA, who we were already with, still provided us with the best option.
I had a dilemma, though, as the consultant had worked really hard and I felt very bad they I hadn't gone with them, but hey as an Accountant, every dollar counts! What to do? I thought I would send her a thank you card. But then I had a thought, hang on, why don't I send her boss a thank you card saying what a great effort she put in, even though she didn't get the sale. I knew she would have sales targets to reach. She had put so much effort in on me, surely that meant she missed out somewhere else.
So I did. I tracked down the head of Customer Service and wrote a card to him and let him know all about the great service I got.
Imagine my surprise when this was the response that I received via email:
Hi Wesley
Hope you are doing well.
I am speechless, but yet again a smile from ear to ear.
Thank you so so so much for the wonderful card and compliment. It really means a lot to me (you have no idea what it means to me) I'm the legend in the work place today. Reason they have forward it to every person in the building ha ha ha.
So just popping in to say THANK YOU.
Hope you have a wonderful day and an awesome weekend.
Wow! What a response. It taught me a huge lesson and reminded me of the saying "praise in public, rebuke in private." When you praise someone in public, the world get's to know. It makes their day and changes their life.
So, the next time you are sending out a thank you note, why not send it to the person's boss!
Thursday, January 5, 2017
The #1 Marketing thing to do in 2017
When a prospect is
referred to us, we get a “trust transference” – I klt bob, bob says jane is
good…. I will then likely klt jane. And give her a go.
When there is a
referral from a trusted source…. There is a type of magic that makes your
business boom and will take you to another level. WE are looking forward TO THIS
HAPPENNING FOR BBG.
An example… I have known SARAH for 8 years and have
helped her with her business. One of the areas we have assisted is in accessing
export grants for Australian Businesses…. Whereby a business can potentially
get 50c in the $ for every marketing $ that is spent. SO if an Australian
business spends $50,000 on an eligible marketing activity – they can get back
$25k … if they spend $300k they can potentially get back $150k
Her business is to
take Australian designers to the USA and find agents and customers for them. As
part of her service, she refers the designers to us, so we can maximise their
grants, and therefore minimise their risks.
A win for SARAH a win
for her client and a win for BSI
Sonya knows likes and trusts us, and the
designer knows likes and trustsSarah – Sarah refers designer to us… Designer KLTs us….
One of the key non –
negotiables… is that we provide a professional service with a WOW factor, and
do what it takes to maximise the grant for the client and make the process as
painless as possible.
The #1 thing that I
recommend you do in 2017, s to develop your referral relationships…
Proactively plan to identify, communicate with and seek to uncover business opportunities with people who can provide you with referral business.
- identify your referral partners – and get them to join your BBG Chapter
- communicate monthly – by coming to the BBG Forum (meeting and identifying opportunities for 3 hours per month) .
- BE sure to call them and correspond with them , so that you are top of mind
- ACTIVELY THINK ABOUT REFERRAL OPPORTUNITIES … who can you refer them to Track, Measure and reward your referrals
Steps
- Download Referron and update your profile
- Make the time to refer and ask for referrals
- Follow up the referrals made
- Provide an awesome service
If there is one
activity that you will do to help your business grow…
Focus on referrals.
The ingredient of influence "RLS sauce"
- Reciprocity
- Likability
- Scarcity
- Social proof
- Authority
- Unity
- Consistency
- Excellence