People Buy People

People 'buy' People.

What are they 'buying' from you?

Seriously. Think about this. What is it that people get and can expect when they interact and work with you? Is it worth the price?  If what you have to offer is not uniquely different than the person standing next to you, then why would someone choose you?

It starts to feel a little like picking sports teams in grade-school, no one wants to be the last one 'picked' for the team, but this is what happens every day in business.  When you go for an interview, when project teams are being put together, when promotions are being made, when consultants are hired.  Skills, abilities, attitudes and experiences are being bought, which means we are all in the business of selling ourselves.

How good is your sales process?

As with any product, you can't sell what you don't know.  How clear are you about your strengths?  You can't articulate and highlight what you don't know.  Ideally you want to build your brand around the key strengths you possess that are both marketable AND that you enjoy using.  An exercise that I use with clients to help them uncover these strengths is the following...

Take out a piece of paper and draw a quick chart. Down the left-hand column, create a list of your accomplishments and achievements that still instill you with pride. Pride is a key component because if you still feel good about what you achieved you likely used some talents and skills you enjoy.  

Across the top row you are going to list your abilities.  Start with the first accomplishment you listed and consider the various skills and abilities that you called upon to help you complete that task.  List them in the top row, checking each off in the row across from its associated accomplishment.  

Look at the next accomplishment you listed and check off any of the abilities you added that apply to this accomplishment.  Some may have been used while others hadn't.  Add any additional skills that you haven't yet indicated.

Continue to review each accomplishment, checking off any of the abilities you've listed that were used to complete each, while also adding any additional skills/abilities that were also used.

When completed, take a look at the abilities with the most check marks. These likely represent those skills/abilities that you call upon the most and represent your key strengths. Given that these accomplishments are pride-filled moments for you, these strengths are also likely to be things you enjoy doing and are talents that others recognise in you and turn to you for help with. These are the elements that people 'buy' from you.

Knowing what you have to sell to others is one thing, selling it is another.  People can't buy what they don't know is for sale.  What are your marketing strategies?  Doing great work, and letting it speak for you, is one strategy... but it is only one. On its own it is insufficient to ensure that your product - 'you' - stands out on the shelves.  What other strategies could you implement that help you to stand out and be seen?  Here are a couple of quick tips borrowed from our Bragging Rights program to help get you started...

• When you have helped someone out and they thank you, don't ever respond with... 'No problem'.  Ever.  Saying 'no problem' implies that, in fact, it was no problem.  Which is rarely ever true.  Don't diminish the work you did by saying that it was no problem.  Simply saying 'you're welcome' is better, but consider letting them know you went out of your way for them by saying something along the lines of... 'I know how important it was to your project so I juggled a few things to make some room to help you out'.  It never hurts to let someone know you are willing to give a little something extra, which helps differentiate you from the rest of the crowd.
• When you enjoy doing something, let people know... so you can get more of it!  We may be good at many things, but we really only want to work on those that we are both good at AND love doing. Others aren't likely to distinguish between the two if you don't highlight the difference for them.  
• When you meet people that you haven't seen in a while and they ask you what you've been up to, do not... I repeat ... DO NOT simply say 'nothing much', or 'keeping busy'.  Give them some insight. This is a great opportunity to insert a little brag-bite, a short update on something, just one thing, that you have been doing that highlights a strength.  Make it short, snappy, interesting... but start getting the word out about what it is that you can do if you want people to remember it, and you, when great new projects are coming down the pipe.  

People are constantly in the market for people.  People to help bridge the gap between their personal talents and their needs.  Help them to see you as the right fit for that gap by selling yourself appropriately.  People are buying people all the time.  If they are not buying 'you' then it may be time for you to revamp your marketing strategies.
 

 

 

The Problem with... No Problem

You've all likely said this at some point...  in response to someone thanking you for helping them out or doing them a favour... you've responded to their Thank-You with the phrase... 'No Problem'.

It sounds innocent enough, a couple of words offered often as a way of remaining humble in the face of someone's thanks.  However, sometimes our words can work against us, in ways we don't realize, and this is one of those times.  In fact, I want to categorically state, up front, that my hope is that, after reading this blog, you forever and always strike the phrase 'No Problem' from your vocabulary. Forever!  Truly!

Here's what happens.  Someone asks us to do something.  Typically, it is something that they want and need immediately because they failed to plan properly and are under the gun.  This is their issue, not yours, and yet their request of you now shifts it into being - your problem.  Although you are busy yourself, you succumb to their pleas, tears and Bambi-like eyes and somehow manage to squeeze it into your already overloaded schedule.  That bathroom break you had planned?  Gone!  That quick pop out to actually get some lunch? Not going to happen.  Their work though?  Done!

In the face of their thanks then, why would we ever want to leave them with the impression that fulfilling their request was, in fact, no problem?  It was a big problem!  We didn't eat.  We put our work on hold, some of which we will likely take home with us to get done.  We didn't have time to pee for heaven's sake and yet, we politely inform the other party that fitting their work into our day was... No Problem for us.

Think for a moment of the impact of those seemingly harmless two little words.

• The other party believes that this was no problem for us and therefore won't hesitate to dump things our way in the future.  We obviously aren't all that busy.
• The other party is wounded and feels diminished because work that they struggled with caused you no angst.  Hmmm... are they that 'slow' around everything?
• Your time and efforts have now been de-valued.  The other person needn't be indebted to you because what you did for them was not a big deal.  No favours owed here!
• When it comes time to recognise those that go over and above in helping others, your name is curiously missing from the list because, after all, everything you had done was no problem and is therefore not remembered.

There are so many other ways to respond to someone else's thanks that don't diminish you, your value or worth... start using them!

• You're welcome.  (Plain, basic, to the point, but sometimes simple works best!)
• My pleasure.  (Great to use when it is true!)
• It was a challenge but I know how important this was for you.  (Good one to use when you know you're going to need to ask a favour of them soon!)
• I'm pleased that I managed to make it happen!  (Good for highlighting that you weren't sure you could but were willing to go out on a limb for them anyway!)
• I can't always manage to squeeze more into my days but I'm glad I was able to accommodate you today (great if you want them to think twice about asking in future!)

The above are good starting points and likely are highlighting for you many other, more creative, and more positively impactful ways to respond to someone else's thanks.  And... before you thank me for offering you this lesson today, let me respond upfront with a very heart felt...  It was my pleasure!

Are you working Big or Small?

Let's face it... there is no shortage of work to be done.  Our schedules are jammed. We race from one meeting to the next, one task to the next, one conversation to the next. We get stuff done.

But... and this is the definitive but... we mostly play it small. Every day we are caught up in pushing through the clerical and bureaucratic work. Yes, I do realize that it's your 'job', but when you are in the mode of 'getting stuff done', of just 'pushing things through' to get them checked off the list, you are doing the Small work.  The day to day grind of those things that need to get done but that don't distinguish you. We can get so caught up in the 'busyness' of work that we overlook the fact that we are simply being busy, but not getting busy on the things that matter.

If you want to stand out from the crowd, then you have to be prepared to do the Big work.  These are your key differentiators. This is what your competition is likely not doing.  Like you, they too get caught up in the bustle of the everyday.  To stand out you have to be prepared to take on the Big work.  These are those elements that might be risky, that might prove scary, but that help you to stand out and move up.

The Big work can take place in small moments of decision.  Moments in which there is no time for major planning or design, just the need to step up to the plate.  These are the moments that you could quite easily pass on.  No one would fault you for not doing them because they likely are not fully within your job description.  They are risky because, if you fail, you will be faulted.  However, if you succeed, it is a certainty that you will be remembered, appreciated and noticed.  Ultimately, this is the formula for getting promoted.

You can play it safe and build your career safely straddling the 'Meets Expectations' line but know that your greatest achievements and successes in life occurred when you stepped away from that line and took a chance. The moments that likely still infect you with a feeling of pride and accomplishment were those when you thought and acted Big, when you stepped away from the safety and comfort of small thoughts and small deeds.

Look at how you fill your days, the activities you engage in, the thoughts you have, the risks you take and ask yourself... Am I working Big or Small?   Your actions drive your rewards.  Are your actions in line with what you want for and from your life?

If you work Small, even in huge volumes, expect small rewards.  Working Big is what it takes for those big rewards.  You don't need a lot of them, but you do need them if Success is your goal.



(for other ideas on getting noticed and standing out, check out our Online Bragging Rights training program at...  http://tinyurl.com/8xxl3fd)

Focus on the 'Flipping' Point

In his book The Tipping Point, Malcolm Gladwell shared with us the concepts behind how a particular idea, trend or behaviour somehow 'catches' and goes viral.  It's the magical moment when the momentum behind something tips the scales and the idea takes off, spreading with epidemic-like speed.  This is a fascinating concept for businesses to explore and apply to their marketing efforts certainly, but what about its applicability to each of us and our individual self-promotion and bragging campaigns?

To help us see 'how' we can personally create leverage from this Tipping Point concept, Seth Godin coined the phrase The Flipping Point in a recent blog post. As Seth explains, the Flipping Point is all about getting one person buzzing about your message.  Start your Bragging Campaign with one person, give one person one thing to get excited about, and then get one more.

The reality is that there is no Tipping Point, without a prior Flipping Point.  If you can't get one person to flip over the idea of you, then how are you looking to flip an entire group?  Start small.  Keep your focus targeted.  Sell a few select people fully and watch the magic happen.

In essence, you look to strategically identify the 'few' folks within your organization that are likely to have the greatest influence on your campaign.  First of all, Malcolm Gladwell points out, we should focus on the Connectors.  These are the people you know who seemingly 'know' everyone.  Don't focus on their position... that's not the important component.  If you want to get the word out about 'You' and your accomplishments, then you need to get your message in the hands of these people.  The people in your life that almost effortlessly accumulate acquaintances can be especially helpful to you in generating more 'buzz' quickly.

When you get one person to 'flip' they are likely to join your personal cheerleading squad and help you to flip others.  The more people you flip, the bigger the buzz until you hit that magical Tipping Point moment where everyone is buzzing.

The key of course... give them something to 'Flip' over!


(for insights into how you can develop your self-marketing and promotional campaign, check out our new, online Bragging Rights program! It's ready whenever you are to help you learn the Strategies and Tactics that will help you hit that Flipping Point with others.)

Branding, Bragging and your Brain

I speak with my clients often about the need for a strong, clear Personal Brand.  The stronger your brand, the more memorable you are and likely the more recognition and rewards you will receive.  A new study has shown that there is an additional benefit to the creation of a strong branded message...your Brain likes Brands.

In a new study, presented at the Radiological society of North America by Christine Born, M.D., it was shown that when people are presented with a known branded image, their brains processed these images in the same part of the brain associated with positive emotions.  Unfamiliar brands, however, not only activated areas of the brain associated with negative emotions, they also took more effort for the brain to process. The MRI scans of the brains in both male and female subjects reacted similarly.

In short...  the MRI scans show that brains respond better to name brands.  The results of the study are interesting, certainly from the perspective of why we might prefer one product over another.  I think though, that it also has some interesting implications for the need to not only develop a clear Personal Brand but to learn to Brag about it too!

At a Corporate level, this study definitely seems to support the perceived value of marketing and advertising efforts.  The more often you can be 'seen', the more familiar your audience becomes with your branded message.  This familiarity in turn creates positive associations at the brain level that work to your advantage. Why would this prove any different for the perceptions and branded images we have of those around us?

If Corporations benefit from targeted marketing messages about their products, then you too can benefit from the delivery of clear and consistent messages about your product - You!  All too often we make the mistake of wanting our work to speak for us.  In the 'busy' world of business though, our work can go largely unnoticed.  We must therefore learn to find our voice and speak up on behalf of our efforts; we need to learn to Brag Better!

Start with a clear idea of who you are and what you stand for - Your Branded Message.  You want to be delivering clear and consistent messages.  Then look for ongoing ways in which to demonstrate, support and speak about yourself within these terms.  The more consistent and clear your message, the stronger the brand.  The stronger the brand, the more comfortable your audience will be with the messaging and the more positive the associations within the brains of your audience. This... is powerful.

Given that few people do this well, do it consistently or do it strategically, it needn't be Big Brags to be effective.  Small but pointed reminders about what you bring to the table, or that highlight your key skills, are often all that it takes.  Don't dilute your branded message by trying to be all things to all people.  Get to the heart of 'you' and sell that... over and over.


(think you still might need some extra help and direction with creating your Bragging Campaign? Check out our new online program - Bragging Rights - for strategies and tactics to help you not just get seen and heard... but get ahead!)