Check it out.

https://hbr.org/video/3117517462001/why-kindness-is-good-business

1. A product that my customer MUST buy
2. A product that my customer wants to buy but needs to find budget for it
3. A product that my customer wants to buy and has budgeted

So often I hear – this a product that the customer has to have.  But is it something they MUST have?  that is so different.  Knowing this difference is key to figuring out a strategy for selling.  If you are selling a product they MUST have, then differentiation and feature selling and pricing become important.  If you are selling a product they want and have budgeted, then selling on feature and value become critical.  If you are selling a product they want and are trying to budget for, that requires the most work and effort.  There you are selling the feature, value, ROI, and strategy for funding.

And – most of all – don’t get caught selling the product that everyone wants to buy  and no one wants to pay for.  So often people try that – saying – “I don’t understand – everyone tells me how much they want this” – remember – wanting something and being willing to pay for it are very different.

I need to keep reminding myself just how important getting out there can be.  I recommend to anyone – force yourself to remember the value of getting out there and make the time to do it.

No question – it helps in ways you would not even think of.

But, for me, every time I get out there I am reminded how important it is.  To network.  To meet people.  To tell your story.  If you are always on and always working, you will be surprised – pleasantly – where opportunities come from.  Where you have the opportunity to meet new people and to engage in new conversations.  Not that every time will it prove to be fruitful – but I would venture to say that without a doubt if you did the math you would find it worthwhile and important.

sometimes, I event catch myself doing the same thing.  I go back to an old story I used to tell about the sales person who would meet with his / her sales manager and would get a pep talk about engaging the prospect, beginning a dialogue, and building trust.  The sales person would run back to their desk all pumped up and excited to build relationships, sit there, and do nothing.  Why?  Because the direction, while great and inspiring, lacked clear direction.

As leaders, it is incumbent on us to give clear direction and then to make sure that the direction is understood, implementable, and implemented.  So often I hear “I should not have to micro-manage”.  While that is true, there is a slight but DRAMATIC difference between micro-management and reinforcement and oversight.  If anything, err on the side of micromanagement.  At least then you will know that you have given clear direction and that direction is both actionable and understood.

Some people have great products, but their products lack the packaging to sell.  Because of this, the customer is not clear on what to buy, why to buy.  Often I hear from companies – “we do that better” or “we do that too” followed by “and I cannot understand why they did not know”.  The reason- more often than not – is packaging.

We just went through this on a video project for a health and fitness company.  Simply by changing the inset videos that run 1-2 seconds long several times throughout this video, the overall message of the video and therefore impression of the organization changed completely.

Think about that when you are presenting your company and packaging your product.

In reality – we are discussing several issues in one – and we will explore that more over the next little bit.

• How to present and package the story of the company
• How to package product offerings to make them clear and concise
• How to show that packaging – what is the outward face of it and how will that impact the “impression” of the product
• Pricing / business model – how do we make that fit.

1. email management – I  am not one who ascribes to the theory of only checking email at certain times.  I don’t think that works and in fact I think it is a detractor because when you are not checking email you are typically concerned with what is in your email.  Instead, organize your email.  Address the quick hit items right away and then FILE THE EMAIL right off.  Ones that will take longer, create a task for yourself for that email and FILE THAT EMAIL.  Always try to keep your inbox under 20 items.  If you let your inbox get out of control, inevitably you will get out of control.
2. task management – early on I found people saying – it is on my list but I never get to it.  What I have taught myself and profess to my team is – rewrite your list daily.  It will cause you to review all items, re-prioritize, and schedule appropriately.  If you are not constantly scanning all tasks, you will have some that are there – but are never looked at.
3. schedule – Keep your schedule up to date and handy.  Over-allocate your time for meetings and travel and etc.  If you over-budget, you will eliminate stress and will remain focused and be more efficient.

There are more for sure – but just doing these three things routinely will help immensely in keeping you focused, on task, and most effective.

Recruitment ADvisor is the go-to source for stand-alone job boards & digital publishers to find industry news, insights, and tips for new revenue. Brought to you by RealMatch, recruitment advertising powered by performance, Recruitment ADvisor has a focus on leveraging recruitment advertising as a new revenue stream. You’ll find information on competing more effectively and earning more from recruitment advertising, while generating more site traffic at the same time.

the theme of the interview was that increasing the traffic to your website doesn’t necessarily mean you have to create exorbitant amounts of unique but instead focusing on maximizing the content you have.

The full interview can be found here -

http://blog.realmatch.com/audience-engagement/expert-interview-with-stephen-saber-for-realmatchcom/

Watch the video below to learn more!

Click here to watch the full interview with Stephen Sheinbaum and The Pulse Network’s CEO, Stephen Saber.

http://thestockradio.com/tpni-the-pulse-network-inc-ceo-stephen-saber

So often, I am asked – What do you guys do these days?  What is your platform all about?  It has become clear to me that the critical thing is messaging the company in shorter context – making it simpler to understand and easier to follow.  When it was all about social media, it was easy.  When it was all about events, it was easy.  I am excited to say that with the release of our new platform I believe that the explanation is easy once again.  As we progress in 2014, we will be telling that story, sharing the message, and spreading the word.