I’ve seen groups try to split a seat too finely. Like multiple residential real estate agents who serve different jurisdictions. Can it work? Yes, sort of. But the problem comes when a referral isn’t certain of where they want to live. What then? Who gets the referral?

The classic situation is the financial planner/insurance seat. I’ve seen groups try to split this four or more ways. Again, it can work if all the members are true specialists, but that’s not common.

Most financial planners also sell life insurance, disability insurance, annuities and sometimes even group health. Many property and casualty agents also sell life insurance and do financial planning.

So on the surface, it might look like a good ides to split the seat. But the guy who gets the life insurance referral isn’t likely to refer the financial plan to the planner. Resentment ensues, and the group is caught up in nasty politics.

Think carefully before splitting a seat. Interview all prospective members and ask if they can and will refer each other. Dig deep and don’t accept a quick, “Sure. Of course I will.” Ask how and when. Create some scenarios.

Like I said, it can work. But it can also be a disaster. No group wants to deal with ugly internal politics. I’ve been there. It usually doesn’t end well.

A good example is a situation I faced recently. There’s a real estate agent in one of my networking groups. He’s primarily a residential agent, but he occasionally talks about commercial services since we don’t have a commercial agent in the group. I invited someone who offers a very specific set of property management services. I received an email from the agent telling me there was a conflict and I should have notified him before inviting my guest.

Huh?

Okay, leaving aside that person, let’s break this down, looking at both the good of the group, and the good of the individual member.

Real estate agents often specialize in either residential or commercial, although they occasionally cross and do the other type of business. Commercial agents, by the way, are sometimes dismissive of residential agents who dabble in commercial, and for good reason. I once sat in on a commercial agent sales meeting, and oh boy! They have their own language and rules.

Residential agents tend to work with consumers, and they are a fabulous source of referrals for B2C businesses, especially contractors, home stagers and personal organizers. Commercial agents, on the other hand, tend to work with business clients, like doctors, dentists, attorneys and restaurants. Great for the B2B businesses.

So splitting this seat benefits many in a group, and being territorial really doesn’t benefit anyone, including the agent. Often, a residential agent refers the business to a commercial agent in the office. That’s not a bad thing, but if I’m referring you and talking you up to my referral, I might be just a bit peeved if my referral gets handed off to a total stranger. Then I might not refer said agent again, which can be a bad thing.

It can take some time to tease this sort of thing out of a potential member, but it’s worth the time up front to take the measure of a person and carefully craft the core services. You’re much better accepting someone who isn’t territorial.

In my next post, I’ll look at the flip side. Defining a seat so narrowly that no one wins.

I admitted to her that I have a bias. I look at cards from the perspective of “Can I read it?” and “Will it scan well?” I’ve seen gorgeous cards that failed spectacularly on both those counts. But readability and, these days, scanability are important considerations.

Think about it. If someone can’t read your card easily, they’ll likely toss it. Same with being able to scan it. Many people are using card scanners and odd sizes, fancy fonts and lots of background colors just don’t scan well. Anything that makes it difficult for someone to use your card makes it less likely they’ll keep it and refer you.

So think about these things the next time you design your business card. It can look good, be easy to read and scan. Aim for all of those and you’ll have cards people will keep and hand on to others.

Actually it is. When you’re too busy to follow up, you’re not on people’s radar screens and today’s busy turns into tomorrow’s slow down. I was meeting with a client recently who had fallen into that situation. She needed an easy way to stay “top of mind” with her referral partners, and she wasn’t interested in using social media or creating a newsletter. That was kind of too bad because both of those are good ways to “drip” on her contacts.

So we had to get more creative. I suggested SendOutCards, but not sending out just any cards. She’s a voracious reader, so I suggested she send out quarterly cards with books she’d read. Each card could have the book cover on the front, and the message would be a short review of the book. She loved the idea, and immediately started creating her card calendar for the rest of the week.

It’s different, fun and useful. (I told her I’d be delighted to get a card like that.) And the best part? She can automate it. Each quarter, she can sit down, create the card and schedule them to go out. She can stagger them throughout the quarter, if she’d like. And once they are scheduled, she can go back about her business, confident that she’s top of mind in her network.

The best follow up systems are the ones that don’t take too much time and effort and don’t rely on us remembering stuff when we’re busy. I think this system will work really well for her.

So get creative and have fun with your follow up!

Anyone else have a good follow up tip?

Oh, and feel free to steal the book review card idea. Just make sure you put me on your list!

1. You can profile your target

I’ve written more completely about this in a previous post, but I’ll quickly recap here. Basically, you develop a list of the characteristics of your target, and then convert those characteristics into triggers that you seed through all your communications.

Note that your targets can be either people or organizations. Job seekers will often start by profiling their ideal organization and then refine their search to target key people in their target companies. B2B sales people will use a similar process, while B2C people will usually use this method of targeting for clients but will use the next process for strategic partners.

2. Target specific people

Using this method, you know exactly who are the individuals you want to meet. You can ask for them in your elevator speech, research them through LinkedIn and ask for introductions or use your existing contacts to gradually step your way closer.

See how job seekers will often start with the first method and then move to the second? It’s a very good way to find your ideal job. I’m coaching a client through this process now. She’s in Virginia, searching for a job in Taiwan. She has finished with targeting her ideal companies, and now she’s moved to finding people and reaching out to them to set up informational interviews using Google+ Hangouts. Good use of social media in her job search.

So that’s how targeting works. Anyone have a good targeting story to share? Or maybe we can help you network your way to your target?

Networking isn’t selling. Yes, you can make sales from networking, but that isn’t your focus at an event. You’re there to make contacts which can turn into future referrals or sales. But you’re not there to sell.

How did this come up? One of my networking contacts was talking about an event she no longer attends. Why? Because most of the people at the event were small business owners (mostly selling jewelry, handbags and clothing), and she said all they wanted from the event was to sell her their wares. She wasn’t there to buy stuff. She was there to network, make connections and to find and give referrals to others.

The other person called to tell me about a one to one meeting he’d had. When he set up the meeting, he thought he’d been clear that he wanted to learn about her business so he could refer her. When he got to the one to one meeting, it quickly became obvious that she thought he’d wanted to become her client. He was unable to redirect the meeting, and he left with the strong impression that she didn’t want to talk to him unless he wanted to work with her.

These are two reasons many people don’t want to network, which is a shame. Networking is a great activity that I think everyone should engage in, so I’m particularly disappointed when I hear stories like these.

What’s to be done about it? If you encounter it while networking, just move on. You’re unlikely to convince them they’re doing something wrong, so I don’t suggest even trying.

If you catch yourself going into sales mode while networking, take a step back. Let people come to you to express interest in your products or services. If we want to explore buying from you, we will, but let us do it when we are ready. Remember the “Who do you know who” philosophy. Who do you know who needs your products or services? If it’s me, I’ll say so. If I know someone I can refer you to, I’ll say so. But if I think my contacts are going to get a hard-sell, I won’t refer you.

What about one to one meetings that you think might be a sales call? Don’t think of them that way. Ask questions first. Discover needs. If you find that the person needs you, direct the conversation in that direction. To keep myself on track, when I schedule something that I think might be a meeting with a potential client, I note it in my calendar as a “Consultation.” That’s my reminder to ask questions and provide value from the meeting. Most of those meetings naturally turn into clients, but even if they don’t, I make certain to provide value so when they go talk about me, they say “Meet with Juli. She’s great.” Much better than “Stay away. She’s only going to try to sell you something.”

Obviously, the biggest change is the iPad. I see them all the time. I don’t think I can go into a Panera today and not see one. Often users have them hooked up to keyboards, and at a quick glance, you think it’s a netbook. Then you look again and realize it’s not.

The demise of the netbook is the other big change. In 2009, I saw them all the time. In fact, I bought one around that time. Unfortunately, they aren’t worth it. I’ve almost completely abandoned mine because it’s so slow. Most of the time, I take my Nook Color instead.

Speaking of Nooks, I do see lots of e-readers, mostly Kindles. They seem to be a very popular companion to a coffee and a bagel. Kindle readers tend to hang around for a while too. Many stay an hour or longer, reading and sipping.

What about cell phones? At the end of ’09, I said I saw fewer Blackberry’s than a year earlier. That’s still true, and then some. I see a few more iPhones than Android phones, but they are running pretty close together. One noteworthy gentleman had an Android phone, and iPhone and an iPad! Talk about lots of technology on one person.

I see very few Android tablets, which supports the stats I’ve seen elsewhere. I do see the occasional Kindle Fire, but not nearly as often as iPads.

So that’s what I’m seeing in the DC area. What about you? Similar trends?

How often have you said this to a colleague, employee or spouse?

Language is very flexible, and often that’s a good thing. Except when it isn’t. I’ve been training my dog to get her ready for competitive agility, and I’ve learned a lot about clear communication. Think about it. When you tell your dog to “sit,” do you both agree what that means? To you, it probably refers to the action of planting butt on the ground. But the dog might think it means “position myself in front of owner, looking up and plant butt.” It might not matter that you don’t have exactly the same idea. But if you need to handle your dog at a distance, that misunderstanding might cause a lot of frustration.

Obviously the same thing happens with person to person communication. You tell your kid to “pick up his room.” You have an image of what that means and a time frame in which you want it done. I guarantee your child has a very different image.

What I’m learning with my dog is to be very clear in my own mind what a command means before I give it. You can do the same in your communications. Oh, I’m not talking about casual conversation. There’s lots of room for misunderstanding there, and generally it’s easily fixed. But for the important messages, try thinking them through first.

What do you really want?
What are the exact conditions that will satisfy you?
How can you clearly (and concisely) communicate them?

Then try it out on yourself. Think about it for a moment. If you heard someone else say it, how would you take it? Does that match your expectation? If so, great. Off to it! If not, rework it.

Then when you actually say it, check for understanding. Perhaps have the other person repeat it back to you. Then make sure your expectations are met. If not, don’t automatically assume the other person “got it wrong.” Maybe you didn’t say it clearly enough.

It’s making a difference with my dog. She’ll sit in front of me, to my side or even across the room (most of the time). I’m less frustrated and so is she.

Imagine how much better your relationships will be if everyone understands.

Anyone have any communication stories to share? Or dog training tips?

I’m old enough to remember when the only options for visual media were (broadcast) TV and the movie theater. The first commercial DVD I ever wanted to buy was Dances With Wolves, and for some reason, my parents refused to drop $100 for it. Because this was pre-Internet, mostly we didn’t know what we were missing. When I first discovered Doctor Who, I thought Tom Baker was the only Doctor. Then I went to college and discovered there were four more! My first exposure to piracy was watching video-taped Doctor Who episodes that had been recorded by setting a video camera in front of a TV. Someone went to England a couple of times a year to video stuff for some friends in the U.S. I was lucky enough to be part of a club that received one of the 10 or so copies she made each year. Imagine my surprise when I finally saw a broadcast episode of a John Pertwee Doctor and saw the real color of his coat!

Anyway, my point is that mostly we didn’t pirate because we didn’t know what was available. Fast forward to today. There are two BBC series I’d love to watch. I discovered them by reading about them on the ‘Net (and seeing a few clips on YouTube.) I’d happily buy them, but I can’t. Oh, I can buy the DVDs on Amazon, but they are Region 2, and I can’t play them on my DVD player. It’s almost enough to drive me to the Torrent sites…

Take a moment to check out this cartoon from the Onion.

See my point? Now, I’ve read many author rants about “the entitlement of readers.” Well, why shouldn’t we want to read or watch stuff we’ve heard about? What’s wrong with that? Why are we bad for wanting to read a book we’ve heard about but can’t buy in our country or in our e-version of choice? Why are we bad people for wanting to pay money to get stuff legally?

If your business sells physical goods, you might not have to worry about this. But if you offer a digital product or any type of intellectual property, think long and hard before you put barriers in front of your customers. Don’t assume we won’t use other means to get what we want. Some of your customers are too honest to pirate, but they’ll be left with a bad taste in their mouth, and believe me, you don’t want that.

This post is simple. The publishers are in this boat in large part because they refused to acknowledge that readers are their customers and that companies fail when they don’t give their customers what they want.

What do e-book readers want? It’s pretty simple. They want:

* decent prices
* availability
* easy purchasing
* portability

Let me break those down for a moment.

Decent prices is pretty easy. Remember that you don’t “own” an e-book, like you do a paper book. In effect, you are purchasing a license to read it. That means no selling or lending the book. Also, e-books cost less to produce and distribute than e-books, so readers feel (justifiably) that they shouldn’t cost as much as paper books.

Availability is pretty simple too. If a book is available in printed format, e-book readers would like to see it available in e-format. If it’s a new book, they’d like to see it available at the same time as the printed version.

Easy purchasing? Well, simple. Easy to purchase and download to an e-reader or e-reading app.

Portability? Now, this is where things get tricky. Maybe you own a Kindle today and you’ve bought a lot of books for it. Next year, Barnes and Noble comes out with a really neat Nook device, and you want to buy it. But, wait! All those Kindle books you bought? You can’t read them on your Nook unless you strip DRM (copy protection) and convert them to Nook format. Since DRM-stripping is illegal, maybe you don’t want to do that. So what do you do? Buy all the books again, knowing you might have to do it yet again in the future? Kind of awkward, right?

The Big 6 publishers (Random House is the 6th and isn’t included in the law suit) have consistently failed to give readers all four of those things. They wanted to protect the status quo (paper book sales and distribution), and to attempt that protection, they put all sorts of hurdles in place to slow e-book adoption. Amazon, however, recognized what their customers wanted and attempted to give them at least three of the four (minus portability). So what did the publishers do? According to the DOJ, conspired with Apple to keep Amazon in its place by requiring prices to stay artificially high.

And now they are in trouble. Big surprise. The sad thing is that all of it could have been easily avoided. There’s nothing stopping the publishers from giving readers what they want. They can set reasonable prices and release e-books in a timely fashion. They can convert back-lists so new readers can discover older books. They can release books DRM-free, which would go a long way to keeping Amazon from getting too big. (If people can buy books for their Kindles anywhere, competition will be fostered and encouraged.) And there’s nothing stopping them from selling books on their own sites and making it easy to purchase. The last time I tried to buy a book from a publisher’s site, it was a HORRIBLE experience. Never again!

Don’t let your own business make these same mistakes. Listen to your customers. Give them what they want. You’ll stay out of jail and be successful. What’s not to like about that?

Feel free to comment below on either the lawsuit or listening to your customers.