“Turn Customers into Your Best Salespeople: 4 Tips”

By: Minda Zetlin

If you’re not using your best clients to pitch your brand, you’re missing out on one of the most powerful resources you have

If you’re not engaging your customers to make them ambassadors for your company, you’re missing out on one of the most potent marketing strategies there is. So says Bill Lee, author of The Hidden Wealth of Customers.

“In today’s world, traditional marketing is increasingly irrelevant,” Lee says. “Buyers ignore it or don’t trust it. They’re using their own resources to check you out–their colleagues, friends, neighbors, professional associates, etc.–their peers. You have one resource that is peer to the buyer, and it’s not your sales people or copywriters or ad agencies. It’s your customers. You’ve got to get them marketing and selling for you.”

Sounds great, but how do you go about it? Lee advises these four steps:

1. Create an excellent product or service that customers truly appreciate.

If you skip this step, the rest of the steps won’t work.

2. Select one or more potential rock star customers.

They may not be who you think they are. Company leaders often assume that their rock stars are their most loyal customers, or their biggest customers, or the best known brand names. But loyal customers may or may not be willing to promote you. The biggest spender may not be a profitable customer for you, and the big brand names often have corporate policies against endorsing other companies.

Instead, look for loyal customers who have a good story to tell about how your product or service helped them, and who are eager to tell it. “They should have access to influential networks that contain more buyers like them. And they should want to build their reputation and influence in such networks.”

3. Turn your customers into stars by giving them what they want.

Create rock stars by helping them build their own social capital. One way to do this–and something every company should do–is to create a formal or informal advisory board and invite your potential rock stars to join. That will give them a chance to network with your team and also with their own peers.

Look for ways to give them visibility within your industry, for instance by having them write guest posts for your blog or creating case studies with them. Not only will that highlight the benefits of your product or service, but it also highlights your customer as an expert voice.

4. Whatever you do, don’t give them financial incentives.

“The biggest mistake companies make with customers is thinking they should rely on rewards, discounts, or other incentives to encourage them to become advocates,” Lee says. “This is a vestige of applying traditional marketing techniques to customer advocacy.”

It’s likely to backfire, leaving both customers and prospects feeling uneasy about what seem like bribes, he warns. “Tactics like these wind up undermining the whole advocacy dynamic.”

“5 Lessons From an Overnight Success”

By: Marla Tabaka

These two entrepreneurs obsessed about failure. But they never stopped to think about what would happen if they succeeded.

When Brittany Hodak and Kim Kaupe launched ‘ZinePak, a New York-based entertainment company two-and-a-half years ago, they knew they had a lot to learn. Apparently, they’re pretty fast learners because this year they were named to Advertising Age’s 40 Under 40 list and ‘ZinePak is currently vying for the title of the Wall Street Journal’s Start-up of the Year in an online documentary series. But this is the shortlist. In addition to a multitude of honors and awards, these young entrepreneurs have already established partnerships with celebrities like Taylor Swift, KISS, Justin Bieber, and the Beach Boys to sell nearly two million ‘ZinePaks, which are custom publications, in 18 countries.

One of the smartest things an entrepreneur can do is to learn from others who have an established record of success. So I asked Hodak about the most important lessons she and Kaupe have learned along their impressive journey. Here’s what she had to say.

Lesson #1: Always stay two steps ahead.

Being a business owner means always embracing new challenges and looking for new opportunities, even when you’re on a successful path already. Don’t wait for failure or obstacles to arise to begin looking for alternate opportunities.

Example: Kim and I founded ‘ZinePak in 2011 with a focus on enhancing the physical CD experience. We partnered with Walmart, believing that music fans would be drawn to owning more CDs if they were packaged in collectible fan magazines with exclusive merchandise, and we were right. Although we grew 350 percent in 2012 and are approaching $15 million in consumer spending on ‘ZinePaks, we know that fans also access their favorite tunes via streaming services. We have to stay ahead of the changing landscape in the marketplace.

Lesson #2: Never be the smartest person in the room.

Focus on being a great leader instead of a great doer. Surround yourself with the best experts and employees you can find so that you’re never the most knowledgeable person about anything other than the future of your company.

Example: In the beginning I thought the key to success was knowing as much as possible about everything. I spent months trying to master details about print production, retail marketing, PR, sales, and about a dozen other disciplines. But this quickly lead to burn out and poor productivity. Even if you’re great at a lot of things, you should only focus on a few. A company can’t grow if one person is doing the majority of the work. ‘ZinePak’s team now includes six fantastic employees all with their own specialities: an amazing accountant, a great attorney, dozens of incredible freelancers, and one of the best business coaches in the industry.

Lesson #3: It’s easier to ask for forgiveness than permission.

Whether it’s looking for a more creative solution to a problem or going outside of ordinary communication channels to make something happen, the cliche is true: It is easier to ask for forgiveness later than get permission upfront.

Example: Sometimes ordinary business channels just aren’t conducive to getting things done. In the past year, Kim and I have employed the “get it done now, ask for permission later” strategy to help green-light projects, get meetings with high-level executives, and score publicity for ‘ZinePak. Whether it’s booking an interview without running it by our publicist or taking a guerrilla-style meeting with an artist backstage without having an official time slot on the tour manager’s agenda, a whatever-it-takes attitude is important for growing a business.

Lesson #4: “No” doesn’t always mean “no.”

Don’t take “no” to mean that you shouldn’t continue to have a dialogue with someone you want to work with. Also, don’t ever take “no” for an answer from someone without the authority to tell you “yes.”

Example: Selling an idea to a junior person just means that he or she will have to spend time pitching your idea up the ladder until it gets to the ultimate decision maker. This isn’t an effective use of time or resources. Go directly to the decision makers whenever possible, even if it’s difficult to get time on their schedules. The extra effort will be worth the work. And if he/she doesn’t say “yes” immediately, keep pursuing the relationship.

Lesson #5: Don’t be afraid of the unknown.

Don’t feel like you need to have all the answers or predict the future. Surround yourself with smart people and commit to making the best decisions you can with the information available to you at any given time.

Example: When Kim and I decided to quit our corporate jobs and start a company, we spent a lot of time talking about what we would do if the business failed. We never even considered what we would do if the business was successful. We certainly did not think that within two years we’d be leading a multi-million-dollar entertainment company with distribution across the globe! Every day, we are faced with new challenges and new decisions to make. We’ve learned that very few decisions are permanent, and even fewer are impossible to recover from. Lead your team from a place of confidence instead of fear to set the tone for success, even in the face of the unknown.

“Create Something From Nothing: 6 Core Principles of Business-Building”

By: Karl Stark and Bill Stewart

How do you build something small into something bigger and more sustainable? Keep these core ideas in mind.

Many businesses start with an idea and create something lasting. More often, they start with a spark of some sort–a strategic asset, a reputation, a track record with customers, or even an advantaged piece of real estate. The goal–and the core challenge–is to build the spark into something bigger.

We’re all familiar with the challenges of growing a small company: limited resources, limited capital, limited profits, and limited time. Your competitors are often better equipped and able to move faster. Even if you have an advantaged product or service, your customers might not have the awareness to make the right choice.

So how do you create something from nothing, or parlay your initial successes into continued growth?

Here are six principles around building a business that we’ve learned from working with companies of all sizes.

•-Building businesses takes a unique combination of strategy, execution and competitive advantages in attractive markets.
•-Ideas are not worth much if not supported by effective execution that creates customer value.

•-The best strategic insights come from a test-and-learn approach: receiving real-time customer feedback and response and measuring the return on incremental investment.

•-Larger companies generally have the best building blocks to create and grow advantaged businesses, but they often lack the management talent, incentives, and organizational skills to create entrepreneurial growth. Coupling strategic advantages with an entrepreneurial team and culture can create more lasting economic value.

•-The best strategies come from a deep understanding of the facts around customers and markets. Most leadership teams can align on a clear strategy if they can align on the facts.

•-Advantage is created by investing in areas that create customer value. Identifying these high-value areas is core to any growth strategy.

“Lebron James gives back in a big way to his High School”

AKRON, Ohio >> NBA star LeBron James has kicked off another school year in his hometown of Akron with his foundation’s second annual “I Promise Family Reunion.”

The LeBron James Family Foundation event has evolved from a bike giveaway to an education initiative that includes nearly 700 students.

At his alma mater St. Vincent-St. Mary High School on Saturday, James welcomed a new class of third graders to the program. The students are required to complete a two-week camp over their summer vacation and then they become eligible to for new bike, helmet, a school uniform and backpack tags.

James told the crowd that it’s important for children to know how important they are to the future and that their dreams can become a reality.

James also outfitted the high school’s fall sports teams with new Nike uniforms and is building a new gymnasium that’s scheduled to be completed in the fall.