A Life Dedicated to Nurturing

Nurture Marketing is so much about the seeds

Mon, 23 Apr 2012 06:55:36 -0700

It is so special to encounter another natural nurturer.
Robert Whipple, CEO of Leadergrow Inc. recent post on
‘Trust Seeds’ explains the emotional as well as educational
impact on communications.

Good Nurturing

Jim

Trust Seeds

Robert Whipple is CEO of Leadergrow Incorporated, an organization dedicated to development of leaders.
He has spoken on leadership topics and the development of trust in numerous venues across the country.
He also teaches leadership and business classes at several universities.

We are all aware that interpersonal trust is precious. Trust is fragile; it is difficult to build, and easy to destroy. Most people believe it takes a very long time to build up trust with another person. There is an alternate view; if certain conditions are present when people first meet, a “seed” of trust is created upon which further trust will grow if both people continue to nurture it.

In his book “Blink,” Malcolm Gladwell describes the “Thin Slices” we humans use to size up other people within seconds of meeting them. We absorb an enormous amount of data instantly in the body language and the first words uttered by a new acquaintance.

I can recall meeting two influential men last year within seconds of each other. The first one gave me a solid handshake and a smile. He made great eye contact and asked me a question about my family. The second individual gave me a half-limp handshake while his eyes were scanning the room to see who else was there. He did smile, but it was forced and phony. Since that time, I have effortlessly developed a relationship of high trust with the first individual, and I have felt uncomfortable to be in the same room as the second one. The relationship with the first man took several months to develop, but the seed was planted in the first 5 seconds. With the second man, there was nothing for trust to grow on, so a relationship never kindled.

There are numerous things people instantly assess about us. Here are five conditions that allow you to plant a seed on which trust can grow.

Competence – People must be convinced that you know what you are doing to view you as being trustworthy. If they sense that you have the ability from a knowledge and skill set to deliver on your statements, then you pass the competence test. If they have doubts that you can deliver, then they will remain skeptical until there is enough time to test you.

Integrity – Do you have the character to do what is right? People need to feel that you are not duplicitous and that you will stand up for what you believe is right. It does not mean that you always need to agree with others on every point, but people need to see you as a person of high moral and ethical fiber before they are going to trust you.

Reliability – People need to be convinced that you will do what you say. This characteristic normally takes people a long time to test, but it actually can happen quickly. People can discern your reliability through the way you phrase intentions and even the body language you use to chat with them. The ability to follow through with intended actions or at least get back to the other person if conditions change is easy to spot, just as it is easy to observe a blowhard who says nice things but has no intention to actually do them.

Attitude – To gain trust, you need to project a positive attitude when another person is meeting you and ensure that it comes from the heart. Depending on the contextual background of the meeting, a smile is the usual way to show a positive attitude toward another person. Caveat: putting on a false smile is the kiss of death, because it pegs you as someone who cannot be trusted at all. In a different context, a look of concern or sympathy might be a more appropriate way to show a positive attitude toward the other person. Your attitude and demeanor must be heartfelt and congruent with the situation.

Care – It is vital to project that you really do care about the other person. People might say it takes years to know if someone else really does care about you. In reality, care can be displayed in hundreds of small gestures, just as selfishness can be easily spotted. Giving deference to the feelings of others is an important component of Emotional Intelligence. The interesting observation about this is that the people who have low Emotional Intelligence have the biggest blind spots, according to Daniel Goleman. Translated, if you come across as a phony in terms of really caring about other people, you will not have the ability to detect this in yourself, but others will see it instantly.

On the back of my business card, I have a picture of a pile of various seeds. The words say:

Seeds for Growing Leaders
Plant in an environment of trust,
Sprinkle daily with humility,
Weed out negativity,
Place in the light of truth,
Be patient,
Enjoy the fruits of great leadership.

It does take a long time of consistent performance for a very strong bond of trust to build, but the first seeds of trust can be established quickly upon meeting someone. Make sure when you meet a new person that you genuinely project the five conditions above, and you will be well on your way to a trusting relationship.

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Today's MS Nurture Marketing Round Table Session - Blog Entry

Fri, 20 Apr 2012 14:41:07 -0700

After nearly 24 years of studying the growing phenomenon of the heart in business relationship management and the ultimate discovery of the brand ‘Nurture Marketing’,
I am still thrilled to watch the lights go on with attendees when I present the philosophy, logic and ultimate power of nurturing customer relationships.
This week I was invited to speak to a monthly marketing roundtable combined with a global video conference in NYC to discuss “Gaining access to and becoming of influence with the CEO level executive”. I had both a live group attending in Microsoft’s Manhattan NY HQTRS as well as a global video feed to partners.
The attached comments are the nutrients that keep my personal motivation at full focus.
Good nurturing
Jim
From: Karl Joseph Ufert [mailto:karlufert@mitracreative.com]
Sent: Wednesday, April 18, 2012 8:06 PM
To: Eric S. Rabinowitz
Subject: Today's MS Marketing Round Table Session - Blog Entry

Hi Eric,

What an honor to meet Jim today.

A brief Blog entry in honor of the session: http://goo.gl/uKzRx.

Cheers! Karl

Karl Joseph Ufert
President
Mitra Creative, Inc.
(212) 243-5291 Landline
(917) 921-4552 Mobile Phone and SMS
karlufert@mitracreative.com

http://www.mitracreative.com

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Nurture Marketing is like a serious courtship

Sat, 03 Mar 2012 03:46:48 -0800

What an appropriate metaphor. A recent post by Kelly Lucas, Social Media and Marketing Manager was just too good to archive without sharing.

Thank you Kelly for your gentle insights.

Good Nurturing

Jim

Marketing is a courtship: drip marketing, trigger marketing and lead nurturing

by Kelly Lucas, Social Media and Marketing Manager

When it comes to courting and sustaining a successful relationship with our significant other, we all know the basic rules: remember important dates like birthdays and anniversaries, notice if something is different like a new haircut and make sure to routinely remind the other person how much they mean to you. In marketing, you can carry these same methods and ideas over to use with potential clients in the form of drip marketing, trigger marketing and lead nurturing. These terms are sometimes used interchangeably, though they actually have very slight differences. When all three are used in conjunction, they make a very powerful marketing tool. But what does any of this have to do with relationships?

Lead nurturing (sometimes referred to as nurture marketing) is the term used to describe when a business pursues a targeted, warm lead in the hopes of converting them to a paying client. This lead has at one point expressed an interest in your business via something like subscribing to a newsletter or requesting an online quote. There is an interest, even if slight, and you want to nurture it into something more without bombarding them with too much all at once and thereby turning them off.

This process is very similar to meeting someone new: you both share a smile and then you proceed to create a further spark. But when you’re trying to woo someone, you don’t go up to them and give them your entire life’s history, gifts for all upcoming holidays and ask them to marry you right away. (Well, maybe you do, and if so, my guess is you’re still single.) No, you start slowly, with basic introductions and an invitation for another date.

This is where drip marketing and trigger marketing now come into play. In your personal relationship, as things progressed, you made a point of creating a routine, whether it was calling on certain days of the week, meeting up for dinner on the weekends, etc. You kept in touch and kept yourself visible and continued to show interest. Drip marketing is much the same. You create a series of routine emails and/or mailers to keep you in front of your potential client. These can be anything from newsletters, holiday cards or just a basic email to keep in touch. It’s sometimes hard to know when someone will be receptive to a relationship with you, so it’s important to let them know you’re still there and interested.

Another very important aspect of any healthy relationship is paying attention to the details and remembering important dates. I’m sure many of you have had the painful experience of realizing too late that you forgot a birthday. And how many of you hate to hear the cringe-inducing question, “Notice anything different?” Trigger marketing is all about creating an interaction around a specific “trigger,” like important dates and items (tax deadlines, changes in laws, etc.) These are not routine and can pop up at any moment, so it’s important to learn and know as much as you can about your leads so that you can anticipate their needs and be able to proactively address them.

And like any relationship, it’s important to know when too much is, well, too much. Don’t fall into the trap of thinking you need to send a ton of emails, because this can be a turnoff. And if you call too much and try too hard, you could end up receiving a business version of a restraining order.

Drip marketing, trigger marketing and lead nurturing are great ways to introduce yourself and stay top of mind with potential clients. Use the many automated methods available with today’s technologies to create routine touches with leads and generate positive and potentially lucrative relationships.

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Nurturing like a Grandma

Wed, 14 Dec 2011 10:31:00 -0800

Speaking of natural nurturers, this story makes such a great metaphor

for the very nature of the generous nurturing of relationships.

I received this posting from an old friend this morning and wanted
to share it with you.

Merry Christmas and Good Nurturing

Jim

Dear family and friends,

Enjoy this Christmas story & BTW, it’s great Grandparent strategy…

Merry Christmas

A KRIS KRINGLE MOMENT...

I remember my first Christmas adventure with Grandma. I was just a kid. I remember
tearing across town on my bike to visit her on the day my big sister dropped the bomb:

"There is no Santa Claus," she jeered. "Even dummies know that!"

My Grandma was not the gushy kind, never had been. I fled to her that day because
I knew she would be straight with me. I knew Grandma always told the truth,
and I knew that the truth always went down a whole lot easier when swallowed with
one of her "world-famous" cinnamon buns.
I knew they were world-famous, because Grandma said so. It had to be true.

Grandma was home, and the buns were still warm. Between bites, I told her everything.
She was ready for me. "No Santa Claus?" she snorted...."Ridiculous! Don't believe it.
That rumour has been going around for years, and it makes me mad, plain mad!!
Now, put on your coat, and let's go."

"Go? Go where, Grandma?" I asked. I hadn't even finished my second world-famous
cinnamon bun. "Where" turned out to be Kerby's General Store, the one store in town
that had a little bit of just about everything. As we walked through its doors,
Grandma handed me ten dollars.

Now, that was a bundle in those days. "Take this money," she said, "and buy something for
someone who needs it. I'll wait for you in the car." Then she turned and walked out of Kerby's.

I was only eight years old. I'd often gone shopping with my mother, but never had I shopped for
anything all by myself. The store seemed big and crowded, full of people scrambling to
finish their Christmas shopping.

For a few moments I just stood there, confused, clutching that ten-dollar bill, wondering what
to buy, and who on earth to buy it for.

I thought of everybody I knew: my family, my friends, my neighbors, the kids at school,
and the people who went to my church.

I was just about thought out, when I suddenly thought of Bobby Decker.
He was a kid with bad breath and messy hair, and he sat right behind me in Mrs. Pollock's
grade-two class. Bobby Decker didn't have a coat. I knew that because he never went
out to recess during the winter. His mother always wrote a note, telling the teacher that
he had a cough, but all we kids knew that Bobby Decker didn't have a cough;
he didn't have a good coat. I fingered the ten-dollar bill with growing excitement.
I would buy Bobby Decker a coat!

I settled on a red corduroy one that had a hood to it. It looked real warm,
and he would like that.

"Is this a Christmas present for someone?" the lady behind the counter asked kindly,
as I laid my ten dollars down. "Yes, ma'am," I replied shyly. "It's for Bobby."

The nice lady smiled at me, as I told her about how Bobby really needed a good
winter coat. I didn't get any change, but she put the coat in a bag, smiled again,
and wished me a Merry Christmas.

That evening, Grandma helped me wrap the coat (a little tag fell out of the coat, and
Grandma tucked it in her Bible) in Christmas paper and ribbons and wrote,
"To Bobby, From Santa Claus" on it. Grandma said that Santa always insisted on secrecy.
Then she drove me over to Bobby Decker's house, explaining as we went that I was now
and forever officially, one of Santa's helpers.

Grandma parked down the street from Bobby's house, and she and I crept noiselessly
and hid in the bushes by his front walk. Then Grandma gave me a nudge.

"All right, Santa Claus," she whispered, "get going."

I took a deep breath, dashed for his front door, threw the present down on his step,
pounded his door and flew back to the safety of the bushes and Grandma.
Together we waited breathlessly in the darkness for the front door to open.
Finally it did, and there stood Bobby.

Fifty years haven't dimmed the thrill of those moments spent shivering, beside my
Grandma, in Bobby Decker's bushes. That night, I realized that those awful rumours
about Santa Claus were just what Grandma said they were -- ridiculous.
Santa was alive and well and we were on his team.

I still have the Bible, with the coat tag tucked inside: it reads "$19.95."

May you always have LOVE to share,

HEALTH to spare and FRIENDS that care...

And may you always believe in the magic of Santa Claus!

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Nurture Marketing - Turn a necessary evil into self nurturing

Sun, 11 Dec 2011 05:16:42 -0800

Today. Andréa Coutu, founder of ConsultantJournal.com posted a refreshing treatise on the hidden benefits in nurturing customer relationships.
In the development of and the execution and sustaining of a workable nurturing
strategy requires those of us so charged, to learn the skills of the consultant to support
the internal team that drives the initiative.

Good Nurturing
Jim

Marketing – Turn a necessary evil into self nurture
Andréa Coutu

7 Dec, 2011 1:01 am

Marketing – Do you look at marketing as a necessary evil? If so, stop thinking of marketing as a necessary evil. Instead, start thinking of marketing as an exercise in self nurture.

Marketing doesn’t have to feel like a necessary evil

When you think about "marketing," do you think of expensive advertisements, pushing your business on others or awkward business card exchanges? Do the words "cold call" send shivers down your spine? If so, you need to flip marketing on its head.

As a consultant, marketing doesn’t have to be a hard sell; it can be subtle. Marketing can be as simple as intentionally expanding your network of friends and contacts. As I wrote in a recent article, becoming a consultant is as much about knowing stuff as it is about knowing people.

Think about it. When was the last time you hired someone to provide a service for you? Odds are that you hired someone based on who you know–for example, someone in your social circle–or from a referral made by a friend or colleague.

Turn marketing into self-nurture

Expanding your social circle can be very self-nurturing. We are social animals, even those of you who consider yourselves shy. Needing to expand your network for marketing purposes can be an excellent reason to connect with inspirational, like-minded entrepreneurs and colleagues. And there are few things as pleasurable or self-nurturing as meeting new friends who share similar experiences, such as running their own consulting businesses.

Don’t get me wrong. There is nothing wrong with cold calling and sometimes it’s necessary. But there is no need to think of marketing as a hard sell where you push your services on absolute strangers. Instead, approach marketing as a reason to expand your network and enjoy some much needed social interaction during the process.

Andréa Coutu, founder of ConsultantJournal.com

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Nurture Marketing meand Alignment With Their Buying Cycle

Thu, 01 Dec 2011 09:02:25 -0800

Last week, our Nurture Marketing Guild meeting had the pleasure of hearing a critical dissection of the timing
required and the content used to gain access to and the attention of a C-Level executive. Our guest presenter,

Dr. Steven Bistritz pinpointed the process of earning the right to influence decisions with the attached graphic.

Copyright: Steven Bistritz

The challenge with many sales organizations is that reps are so intently focused on the selling cycle
they lose sight of the buying process they are trapped in for reasons beyond their control.
In the high value or complex sale, in order to effectively sell, reps need first to understand exactly
how your customers go about buying.

How long ago did you buy your last vehicle? Are you a compulsive buyer who drove by an
automobile dealer one day, saw a nice looking 50,000 $ SUV in the lot, and went in and just bought it?
I am sure that some do, but I don’t. When risk or investment is high, most buyers first do a fair
amount of research. For businesses making capital investments, the first step is to recognize that
they have a problem and to articulate it.

As a study done a few years ago revealed, executives work to first understand their underlying needs,
set objectives, and then set a strategy for identifying, evaluating and integrating a solution.
It is at this early time in their process when senior management is most involved.
It is at this time that they eagerly read articles in trade journals, search for information on the Internet,
attend trade shows, talk with consultants, and ask other companies in their industry what they have
done to solve a similar problem. It is during this stage that these companies are seeking answers,
even from helpful vendors.

Unfortunately, when a sales rep hears from a customer “…we have no budget yet.…”,
“…we are just looking around….”, or “….we don’t expect to do anything for another 12 months….”
her/his patience or compensation quickly turns off any immediate interest in that customer.
Sales reps are still, after all, rewarded for sales they make today, this quarter, not a year from now.

Now, look what happens when this same customer finally gets a budget and actually, seriously,
starts to evaluate different options and sources. The sales rep gets excited but as Mark Twain said,
“When you need a friend, it’s already way too late to have made one”

At this stage senior management is now dropping out of the process. Your sales rep now will find
even the best “consultative” or solution selling methodology difficult to use. The vision has
already been set. The strategy is solidly in place. The rep at this stage is working with analysts
or staff members, often responding to a RFQ for RFP well beyond any chance to interact and
influence the real decision authorities.

Clearly, the best time to do your most effective selling is long before the customer is ready to
consider different vendors. In fact, the more complex the product you sell, the more critical the
need to help them very earlier in their buying cycle.

But how can you do this effectively? After all, it is at this very stage of their buying process that
the customer does not want to be “sold to”. And few would even accept regular phone calls from
your sales reps at this late phase of the process, even if sales reps did have the time, persistence
and motivation to make them.

If the early planning stages is the most fertile, then gentle, intelligent,
appropriate nurturing is the most appropriate and vital selling activities to be engaged.

Dr. Steven Bistritz

Steve Bistritz brings more than four decades of high-technology sales, sales management

and training management experience dealing with companies ranging from start-ups to

global leaders. Steve is a published author and lecturer in the field of sales, sales

management and selling at the executive level. He is currently president of his own sales

training and consulting firm, based in Atlanta.

His website address is www.sellxl.com

Good Nurturing

Jim

Jim Cecil

Nurture Marketing Inc.

Direct 425 698 7601
www.nurturemarketing.com

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4 Strategies for Nurturing "Thanks" in Your Business this Thanksgiving

Wed, 23 Nov 2011 05:43:06 -0800

There are a few rare opportunities like this annual celebration of gratitude surrounding Thanksgiving..
Jeffrey Meyers posted a wonderful reminder of not only the logic but added a host of relevant ways to express your genuine appreciation for services and friendships rendered.

Good Nurturing

Jim

4 Strategies for Nurturing "Thanks" in Your Business this Thanksgiving

Posted by Jeffrey Meyers on Wed, Nov 23, 2011

What does Thanksgiving mean to businesses? Besides the obvious – like turkey and trimmings for feasts
and the start of the holiday shopping season on Black Friday – there’s an opportunity for all organizations
to harness the spirit of Thanksgiving year-round as a way to engage your constituents and improve your
business. Show that you not only appreciate your organization’s accomplishments,
but the people who make it possible.

Just as the “annual” performance review should be a formality amidst a year-long culture of coaching and dialogue, saying thanks shouldn’t happen only around Thanksgiving. Instead, make it a part of your routine to show that you appreciate and value those with whom you work.

“2-4-6-8! Who do you appreciate?!”

Here’s a list of 8 groups of constituents to whom you should express your thanks and appreciation.

Customers. This should be a no-brainer. Without customers, you’d be out of business. Let them know that you appreciate their patronage and look forward to serving them long into the future. By showing your appreciation, you help to build a stronger connection with them, which can prevent your competitors from luring them away.
Employees. No one is irreplaceable, but you should still thank your employees for their work, dedication, and commitment to your organization. Recognize when people go above-and-beyond the norm, but don’t just wait for those occasions to say thanks. Those few words can help to energize and motivate your workforce.
Bosses, management, and executive leaders. We can all conjure an image of a bad boss, but there’s no equivalent stereotype of a good, nurturing, effective manager. We expect it because that’s their job and ultimately take them for granted. Tell your leaders and supervisors that you appreciate them (but avoid sucking up in the process!).
Vendors and suppliers. At this time of year it’s customary to receive cards or small gifts from your vendors. Most companies, especially ones with sales and customer service reps, make this common practice as a way to keep their clients happy and keep your business in the new year. But how often do you thank them for what they do? Give them feedback, especially when it’s positive and deserved – they may work even harder for you.
Partners. Partners are a unique category – similar to vendor relationships, but likely without a financial arrangement. Many professional services firms will partner with business schools or associations to conduct research as a means to keep their finger on the pulse of their field and maintain a position of expertise in what they do. These relationships are usually a win-win for both parties, but realize that your partners could seek different partners if they don’t feel appreciated.
Neighbors and community. You might have a highly visible operation or be virtually invisible in a nondescript office park. Nevertheless, use this occasion to show your appreciation for the city, town, or neighborhood where you work. Businesses and their surrounding community coexist in a symbiotic relationship that you could strengthen by showing support for their needs, charities and events. Food and clothing drives are popular this time of year.
Alumni. Your former employees helped to get you where you are today. Surprise them by reaching out to them to thank them and let them know what you’re up to. Stay connected with this important group, who can not only serve as brand ambassadors but also customers.
Your employees’ families. In mid-April a neighbor shared a story about how impressed she was with her husband’s company: He’s an accountant and had just finished another grueling tax season. Rather than just thank the employees for the sacrifices they make that time of year, they also thanked their families for their perseverance and presented them with gift certificates for dining out. Are there opportunities for you to connect with your workforce’s families now or throughout the year?

4 Strategies for Using “Thanks” to Improve Your Business

Many companies have programs for customer loyalty, employee recognition, years of service, and for performance. Each of these are examples of ways to say thanks. While these are important, they are typically annual events. Considering each of the above groups of your constituents, here’s a strategy you can employ to adapt a culture of Thanksgiving in your organization throughout the year:

1. Get in the habit of saying thanks throughout the year. Don’t take any of your constituents for granted, nor the work they do and good fortunes they provide or help to create. Let them know they’re appreciated, and they’ll respond accordingly. A sign of appreciation doesn’t have to be grandiose, elaborate, or expensive. Companies will host parties, give gifts, or send cards expressing their thanks.

All of these are fine if you can do it. But don’t let that be your single action for the year so you can “check that box” until the following November. Instead, challenge yourself and your team to adopt a culture of giving thanks throughout the year.

2. Be sincere. Don’t be too over-the-top in delivering your thanks or do so in a flat, unfeeling monotone. People will detect when you’re going through the motions, which can be worse than saying nothing at all. But they will also take notice when your thanks is heartfelt and genuine, and possibly work harder to earn it again.

3. Use Thanksgiving as a time to take inventory of what you’re truly thankful for. What’s gotten you through the last year, month, or week? Who has been indispensible, inventive, and reliable to your business? In addition to giving thanks where it’s deserved, perhaps you should find ways to invest in the people or processes on this list to ensure that you continue to get the most from them, and that they’re rewarded for their efforts and results.

4. Examine what you’re not thankful for. This list is a good reflection of things that aren’t going well and might point you towards areas in need of short- or long-term change. (Hint: You can then tie this list to your New Year’s Resolutions as something to work on in the following year.) Hopefully by next Thanksgiving any items on this list can be included on your “thankful” list.

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Nurture Marketing means Saying Thank You

Tue, 22 Nov 2011 09:47:16 -0800

A revered sales master, Tom Hopkins understood nurturing better than any professional salesperson I have ever met.

Thanksgiving is a perfect time, even better than Christmas or New Years greetings.

Good Nurturing

Jim

Nov 21, 2011
by Tom Hopkins

Thanks for "Checking-In"…

It's Not What You Say...It's…

Developing The Thank You…

Creators of SPIN® Selling…

Salary or Salary + Commission

I learned the value and power of thank you notes early in life. When I was a young child,
my parents occasionally went out with friends for dinner. Invariably, when my parents
returned from an evening out, I saw my mother sit down at her little desk in the hallway
as soon as she got home and begin to write. One night I asked her what she was doing.
Her answer came straight out of Emily Post: “We had such a wonderful time with our
dear friends this evening that I want to jot them a note to thank them for their friendship
and the wonderful dinner.” My mother’s simple act of gratitude, expressed to people
who already knew that she and my father appreciated and enjoyed their friendship,
helped to keep my parents’ friendships strong for their entire lifetimes.

Because I understood that building relationships is what selling is all about,
I began early in my career to send thank you notes to people. I set a goal to send ten
thank you notes every day. That goal meant that I had to meet and get the names of
at least ten people every day. I sent thank you notes to people I met briefly, people I
showed properties to, people I talked with on the telephone, and people I actually
helped to own new homes. I became a thank you note fool. And guess what happened?

By the end of my third year in sales, my business was 100% referrals!
The people I had expressed gratitude to were happy to send me new clients as a reward
for making them feel appreciated and important.

I understand that you may not be comfortable at first with starting the
Thank You note habit so I took the time to write out ten situations in which
sending a Thank You note is appropriate. Then, to help you even more,
I’ve drafted the notes for you to personalize and edit.

1. Telephone contact Thank you for talking with me on the telephone.

In today’s business world, time is precious. You can rest assured that I will
always be respectful of the time you invest as we discuss the possibility of a
mutually beneficial business relationship.

2. In Person Contact Thank you.

It was a pleasure meeting you, and my thank you is for the time we shared.
We have been fortunate to serve many happy clients, and it is my wish to
someday be able to serve you. If you have any questions, please don’t hesitate to call.

3. After Demonstration or Presentation Thank you for giving me the opportunity to discuss
with you our association for the mutual benefit of our firms. We believe that quality,
blended with excellent service, is the foundation for a successful business.

4. After Purchase Thank you for giving me the opportunity to offer you our finest service.

We are confident that you will be happy with this investment towards future growth.
My goal is now to offer excellent follow-up service so you will have no reservations
about referring others to me who have similar needs as yours.

5. For a Referral Thank you for your kind referral.

You may rest assured that anyone you refer to me will receive the highest degree of
professional service possible.

6. After Final Refusal Thank you for taking your time to consider letting me serve you.

It is with sincere regrets that your immediate plans do not include making the
investment at this time. However, if you need further information or have any questions,
please feel free to call. I will keep you posted on new developments and changes that
may benefit you.

7. After They Buy From Someone Else Thank you for taking your time to analyze my services.

I regret being unable, at this time, to prove to you the benefits we have to offer.
We keep constantly informed of new developments and changes, so I will keep in touch
with the hope that in the years ahead we will be able to do business.

8. After They Buy From Someone Else, But Offer to Give You Referrals
Thank you for your gracious offer of giving me referrals. As we discussed,
I am enclosing three of my business cards. I thank you in advance for placing
them in the hands of three of your friends, acquaintances, or relatives that I might serve.
I will keep in touch and be willing to render my services as needed.

9. To Anyone Who Gives You Service Thank you.

It is gratifying to meet someone dedicated to doing a good job.
Your efforts are sincerely appreciated. If my company or I can serve you in any way,
please don’t hesitate to call.

10. Anniversary Thank You Thank you.

It is with warm regards that I send this note to say hello and again, thanks for your past patronage. We are continually changing and improving our products and services. If you would like an update on our latest advancements, please give me a call.

The power of expressed gratitude is immense. Put this tool to work for you today!

Tags:
relationships

About Tom Hopkins

Tom Hopkins carries the standard as a master sales trainer and is recognized as the world’s leading authority on selling techniques and salesmanship.Over 3,000,000 people on five continents have attended Tom’s high-energy live seminars. Tom personally conducts 75 seminars each year traveling throughout… more

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Happy Birthday WWW

Mon, 21 Nov 2011 06:44:15 -0800

This Google posting was just too good not to share. How far we have come.
Happy Thanksgiving and Good Nurturing

Jim

20 years ago today, the World Wide Web opened to the public

Today is a significant day in the history of the Internet. On 6 August 1991, exactly twenty years ago, the World Wide Web became publicly available. Its creator, the now internationally known Tim Berners-Lee, posted a short summary of the project on the alt.hypertext newsgroup and gave birth to a new technology which would fundamentally change the world as we knew it.

The World Wide Web has its foundation in work that Berners-Lee did in the 1980s at CERN, the European Organization for Nuclear Research. He had been looking for a way for physicists to share information around the world without all using the same types of hardware and software. This culminated in his 1989 paper proposing ‘A large hypertext database with typed links’.

While the initial proposal failed to gain much momentum within CERN, it was later expanded into a more concrete document proposing a World Wide Web of documents, connected via hypertext links. World Wide Web was adopted as the project’s name following rejected possibilities such as ‘The Mine of Information’ and ‘The Information Mesh‘. The May 1990 proposal described the concept of the Web as thus:

HyperText is a way to link and access information of various kinds as a web of nodes in which the user can browse at will. Potentially, HyperText provides a single user-interface to many large classes of stored information such as reports, notes, data-bases, computer documentation and on-line systems help. We propose the implementation of a simple scheme to incorporate several different servers of machine-stored information already available at CERN, including an analysis of the requirements for information access needs by experiments.

The document envisaged the Web as being used for a variety of purposes, such as “document registration, on-line help, project documentation, news schemes and so on.” However, British Berners-Lee and his collaborator Robert Cailliau, a Belgian engineer and computer scientist, had the foresight to avoid being too specific about its potential uses.

In 1990, working on a computer built by NeXT, the firm Steve Jobs launched after being pushed out of Apple in the mid-80s, Berners-Lee developed the first Web browser software called, fittingly, WorldWideWeb. By the end of that year he had a working prototype of the Web running on a server at CERN.

Here’s what that very first browser looked like running on the NeXTStep operating system:

On 6 August 1991, the World Wide Web went live to the world. There was no fanfare in the global press. In fact, most people around the world didn’t even know what the Internet was. Even if they did, the revolution the Web ushered in was still but a twinkle in Tim Berners-Lee’s eye. Instead, the launch was marked by way of a short post from Berners-Lee on the alt.hypertext newsgroup, which is archived to this day on Google Groups.

The WWW project merges the techniques of information retrieval and hypertext to make an easy but powerful global information system.

The project started with the philosophy that much academic information should be freely available to anyone. It aims to allow information sharing within internationally dispersed teams, and the dissemination of information by support groups.

The post explained how to download the browser and suggested users begin by trying Berners-Lee’s first public Web page, at http://info.cern.ch/hypertext/WWW/TheProject.html.

Although that page is no longer available, a later version from the following year is archived here. It acted as a beginner’s guide to this new technology.

The evolution of the Web

From here on, things began developing rapidly for the Web. The first image was uploaded in 1992, with Berners-Lee choosing a picture of French parodic rock group Les Horribles Cernettes.

In 1993, it was announced by CERN that the World Wide Web was free for everyone to use and develop, with no fees payable – a key factor in the transformational impact it would soon have on the world.

While a number of browser applications were developed during the first two years of the Web, it was Mosaic which arguably had the most impact. It was launched in 1993 and by the end of that year was available for Unix, the Commodore Amiga, Windows and Mac OS. The first browser to be freely available and accessible to the public, it inspired the birth of the first commercial browser, Netscape Navigator, while Mosaic’s technology went on to form the basis of Microsoft’s Internet Explorer.

The growth of easy-to-use Web browsers coincided with the growth of the commercial ISP business, with companies like Compuserve bringing increasing numbers of people from outside the scientific community on to the Web – and that was the start of the Web we know today.

What was initially a network of static HTML documents has become a constantly changing and evolving information organism, powered by a wide range of technologies, from database systems like PHP and ASP that can display data dynamically, to streaming media and pages that can be updated in real-time. Plugins like Flash have expanded our expectations of what the Web can offer, while HTML itself has evolved to the point where its latest version can handle video natively.

The Web has become a part of our everyday lives – something we access at home, on the move, on our phones and on TV. It’s changed the way we communicate and has been a key factor in the way the Internet has transformed the global economy and societies around the world. Sir Tim Berners-Lee has earned his knighthood a thousand times over, and the decision of CERN to make the Web completely open has been perhaps its greatest gift to the world.

The future of the Web

So, where does the Web go from here? Where will it be in twenty more years? The Semantic Web will see metadata, designed to be read by machines rather than humans, become a more important part of the online experience. Tim Berners-Lee coined this term, describing it as “A web of data that can be processed directly and indirectly by machines,” – a ‘giant global graph’ of linked data which will allow apps to automatically create new meaning from all the information out there.

This 14-minute video by Kate Ray is a great introduction to the concept of the Semantic Web.

Meanwhile, while not strictly ‘the Web’, the Internet of Things will allow physical objects to transmit data about themselves and their surroundings, bringing more information about the real world into the online realm. Imagine getting precise, live traffic data from all the local roads; trains that tell your smartphone that they’re full before they arrive; flowers that email you when they need watering; maybe even implants in your body that give you real-time updates about your health that feed into a secure online ‘locker’ of your personal data. All this and more is possible with the Internet of Things, helping to transform what we expect from the Web and the Internet.

We can’t predict accurately everything that the future will hold for the Web, but whatever happens, it won’t stand still. Here’s to the next twenty years.

Happy twentieth birthday, World Wide Web!

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Nurture Marketing, like Sales Means Perserverence

Fri, 11 Nov 2011 04:40:24 -0800

“It ain’t what happens to a person that matters.
It’s about what one does about it that ultimately matters.”

Face it. Stuff happens!

To everybody, all the time. Some are permanently crippled by the event,
others have a lingering recovery from the shock, but surprisingly

the majority just take it in stride.

Acknowledging and accepting the very nature of unexpected events and
begin a strategy to learn from the experience, adjust and move on.

My friend James Obermayer posted this article on selling.
As usual, he nailed it.

Good Nurturing and Good Selling

Jim

Andy Rooney on Sales Leads

Posted by Guest Blogger on Thu, Nov 10, 2011

James Obermayer, Executive Director and CEO of the Sales Lead Management Association and President of Sales Leakage Consulting is a regular guest blogger with ViewPoint.

Andy Rooney, probably the best known commentator of his time, who at 92 years passed too soon on November 4^th, said, “I've learned ... that opportunities are never lost; someone will take the ones you miss.” How did Andy know so much about sales, marketing and sales leads?

I think what Andy meant for us is that if your salespeople don’t follow-up on a sales inquiry (not to mention qualified leads), the opportunity will default to your competitor who does follow-up. You lose a prospect, a customer and the sale and your competitor wins. Fortunately, follow-up activities can begin (and even sometimes end) with marketing automation programs. But the majority of the opportunities, especially in B2B still need a salesperson to show up to get the business.

Marketing spends intellectual capital and the company’s treasure to find prospects. Yet research says that 75-90% of the opportunities for the majority of companies are lost and we all know why. Marketing departments complain about no follow-up or feedback. They whine about salespeople and their habits and nevertheless marketing often fails to provide the leadership which requires a marketing automation program and a good relationship with sales and sales management.

Now I’ve done it. I’m giving away the secret.

The best marketers count on their competitive counterparts to install a CRM system without rules or discipline, skip a marketing automation process and have no relationship with their sales counterparts. It is these failures which allow those with a CRM that has rules and discipline, a marketing automation system to create an on-going conversation and sales and marketing working as a team that beats the crap out of their competitors.

The formula for winning is easy. Just don’t pass up an opportunity when it presents itself.

It’s amazing how Andy hit the mark for us and so many others. We’ll miss you Andy, but your writing, questions and grumblings brightened our days. And for those who make the effort his many books read as fresh as when he wrote them. He was a master of universal truths. And all he wanted to be known as is a Writer. Maybe with a capital W in his case.

Comments

James,

You post put a smile on my face. You and Mr. Rooney summed it up very well. When I used to teach sales my favorite lesson was around the fact that X amount of people are going to buy X amount of stuff. I would laugh and say that it is a fact; you can look it up on the Internet.

I am in agreement, opportunities are not lost they simply migrate somewhere else. I am still “old school” and even though I sell sales force automation I am firmly rooted in the belief that people buy from people and a solid sales person will out think, out wit and outperform the very best algorithms built into marketing automation. Boy – I hope I am right.

Thanks for the post,

Ken

Posted @ Thursday, November 10, 2011 9:26 AM by Ken Murray

I've learned so much about sales leads and sales lead management listening to your weekly radio show on our network. Now if only I'd implement some of it, I might get somewhere!

Posted @ Thursday, November 10, 2011 2:54 PM by Paul Roberts

A great post- entertaining and meaningful. James (and Andy) always seem to hit the nail on the head. Thanks!

Posted @ Thursday, November 10, 2011 4:44 PM by Maria Pergolino

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Cold Calling Works - and it's fun! And it still needs Nurture Marketing for the cultivation phase

Mon, 07 Nov 2011 09:27:14 -0800

The radical shifts in lead generation demands radical rethinking of the ways we gain access to and ultimately become of authentic influence and value to the slow-adopting but otherwise viable prospect opportunity.

As a long time fan and student of Sharon Drew Morgen’s ‘Buying Facilitation Process’. Her blog post today reminded me of just how spot-on she has been for the decades I have followed her with her philosophy and methodology.

What better evidence of your value than that of actually Helping Customers Succeed and not just helping them buy.

Good Nurturing

Jim

Cold Calling Works – and it’s fun!

Order Your Copy

I’m here to tell you that cold calling can be one of the most effective ways to meet new prospects and close sales. And it’s a whole lotta fun.

I know, I know. Most sellers eschew cold calling, preferring instead to network, get referrals, golf, meet face-to-face or make friends through facebook and twitter.

Did you ever ask yourself why you don’t like cold calling?

Think historically: Dale Carnegie, in How to win friends and influence people published in 1937, told us to meet prospects in person (and his choices then were….. were what?). You can think about trying to ‘get through’ the gatekeeper. You can think about trying to gather information or pitch product with no ability to understand or share personal expressions on a phone.

So let’s say you do your networking, getting referrals, golfing, face-to-face meets and tweeting. What does it give you? Well, it gives you a connection, but it doesn’t necessarily help you close more deals: buyers still need to do their part to manage their behind-the-scenes systems (change management) issues and get buy-in at all levels, or nothing will happen whether they need you or like you.

The bigger problem than meeting someone who might buy is how to help buyers manage those off-line issues, because until they do, your sterling personalities are immaterial: If you start your conversations by shifting from making a sale to helping manage the internal buy-in issues, you can use the phone effectively AND make a sale in at least half the time.

WHY ARE WE CONNECTING?

Let’s begin with the question: Why are we attempting to make contact?

If you begin by trying to understand need, push product, or influence with your personal charm, then I agree; cold calling sucks.

But when you begin as a true consultant to help buyers manage the change of a buying journey, cold calling is wonderful. Buying Facilitation® is a change management/decision facilitation model I”ve been teaching globally for decades that employs a totally different skill set than sales, and helps buyers understand and manage the off-line portion of the buying decision. And then your sales skills are necessary. First manage change, then place the solution. Different way to think, right?

Given the space we’ve got on a blog post, I’ll give you a simple example.

I read about California Closets in the late 1990s and wanted to have them deliver Buying Facilitation® throughout their franchises. I did some research, and found what I later discovered to be a ‘bad’ number – but at the moment I called, it turned out to be a lucky error. A man answered:

SDM: Hi. My name is Sharon Drew Morgen, and I’m an author and developer of a new selling model. This is a sales call. Is this a good time to speak?

EL: No. It’s terrible. But I’ll give you 5 minutes.

SDM: I can call back. It’s only a sales call and I don’t want to disturb you. We didn’t have an appointment.

EL: Let’s start now and we can finish later. I already like your style. How can I help you?

SDM: Thanks. And at any point you want to end, we can stop and pick it up at another time. I was wondering how you are currently adding new sales skills to the ones you’re currently training your sales people and designers.

EL: Are you using the model you’re teaching? Because if you are, I’m buying. I’ve been looking for a new model for 2 years, and from what I’m hearing, I’m happy. How ‘bout if I get the heads of Sales and Training on a call next week, and think about doing training, or training our trainers at the end of January. Call me in a week at this number: XXXXX. Nice job.

And he hung up. We’ve been working together since then. And this was a cold call. Of course, I did get a bit lucky. But if I had used conventional sales techniques, or twitter or facebook, these folks would not have been my clients – even if I had managed to get in front of them.

DON’T USE YOUR BODY AS A PROSPECTING TOOL

When I understand that my job is to be in a ‘We Space’ (the conversation was all about him) and truly serve by helping prospects discover how to move toward excellence, it doesn’t matter if I’m in person or on the phone, because there is no manipulation or personal persuasion tactics. Also, the focus of the entire call at this early stage is about the internal issues they need to manage (that a seller can never be a part of) within their system. It’s not about their need, or our solution. Sales does that way too early.

In the Buying Facilitation® model, every interaction, every comment, is based on helping buyers traverse their off-line buy-in issues. I understand that my solution can only be purchased AFTER buyers have managed the needed buy-in. And the telephone is a very handy tool. Of course, once the buyer manages their off-line decision issues internally, and their decision team discovers it’s ready to change and add a new solution, it will need to know more about our solution. THEN we can go visit them, and the entire Buying Decision Team will be there, with us on it. Try it. You might like it :)

So focusing on each cold call as if it were a puzzle, and you are the puzzle master who is not in front of the puzzle, but whispering in the ear of the person doing the puzzle, you can have fun. You won’t have to try to get an appointment, you’ll save travel time and funds, you’ll find a whole lot more prospects, and when you do go to the client site, it will be to sign the contract.

Learn Buying Facilitation® on your own with our Guided Study program, or with a training program from us.

Learn Buying Facilitation® | Implement Buying Facilitation® | License Buying Facilitation ®

Sharon Drew Morgen is the visionary and thought leader behind Buying Facilitation®, the new sales paradigm that focuses on helping buyers manage their buying decision. She is the author of the NYTimes Business Bestseller Selling with Integrity and the recent Dirty Little Secrets. She is a keynote speaker, trainer and consultant focusing on buy-in and decision making.

Follow me: Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, YouTube

If you would like to receive my blog posts sent to you every Monday, please visit my site sharondrewmorgen.com and fill out the email form or subscribe via the RSS feed.

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Nurturing Customer Relationships means, "What We Say Matters."

Wed, 02 Nov 2011 13:28:51 -0700

According to Geoffrey James' Sales Machine blog, it's one of the ten best sales books of all time—it's Tom Sant's Persuasive Business Proposals and you can order it by clicking here. For Dr. Tom's fascinating study of the origins of the most important ideas in professional sales and the individuals who first came up with them, The Giants of Sales, please click here. To improve your writing, take a look at Tom’s book, The Language of Success, which you can order here.

My old friend and mentor, Dr Tom Sant posted a most revealing article this morning and I wanted to share it with you.

If you are not already an avid fan of Dr Tom Sant’s book as I am, this posting is an excellent example of his philosophy,
his marvelous way with words and his keen insights into what really works with customers.

Enjoy!

Jim

The November 2011 issue of the Harvard Business Review contains an interesting article about how Office Depot's new CEO in the United States has retrained the staff to drive sales. A text box headlined "What We Say Matters…" shows how employees have been taught to ask customers a different kind of question. Specifically:

*Instead of asking…*	*Employees are supposed to ask…*
Hi, how are you?	What brings you to Office Depot today?
Are you finding everything okay?	What can I help you find today?
Is this all you need today?	What else are you looking for?
Are you doing okay?	What other items are on your list today?

These are smart changes. You can hear the difference immediately. The questions in the right-hand column are purposeful and open-ended. They have the potential to lead to conversations about the customer's needs.

What I found most intriguing was how similar they are to recommendations Elmer Wheeler made 75 years ago. Wheeler studied the interactions of sales associates at the May Company department stores with customers and found that most of them failed to ask meaningful questions. (I wrote about Wheeler as one of the four people who invented modern sales methods in
The Giants of Sales. )

In Wheeler's book, Tested Sentences That Sell, he provides numerous concrete examples of how to engage with customers more effectively. He was focused more on retail environments like the May Company stores and Office Depot, but the logic behind his advice applies to any sales situation, including selling business-to-business and business-to-government. His book became one of the all-time best selling sales training books and was followed by several more.

Wheeler was engaged by a chain of five-and-dime stores called Schulte-United to increase sales of ice cream at their lunch counters. Wheeler figured that there were thirty-six possible methods of asking a customer if he or she would care for some ice cream on his pie.

"Finally," he wrote, "we had the waitresses ask, 'would you care for an order of vanilla or chocolate ice cream on your pie?'' The mind of the customer would fluctuate between vanilla and chocolate, not between ice cream and no ice cream. Whichever he decided upon meant a happier customer—and a richer restaurant proprietor."

This is Wheeler's principle, Ask Which—Not If. By forcing the customer to make a choice between one thing and another, the salesperson is less likely to hear, "None for me, thanks." It's a bit crude, but it's not too different from the Office Depot associate asking, "What else is on your shopping list today?"

Elmer Wheeler is long gone, but if you would like to rethink your sales and marketing messages, give us a call. To paraphrase Elmer, we can help you put the sizzle back in your sales pitch.

This message comes to you at your request from Hyde Park Partners. We keep your contact information confidential at all times. To unsubscribe from Dr. Tom’s Tips, simply reply to this message and type “Unsubscribe” in the subject line.

Hyde Park Partners

1670 Woodland Court

San Luis Obispo, CA 93401

805-782-9290

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Meet a true Natural Nurturer

Sat, 29 Oct 2011 08:00:55 -0700

It is rare indeed to meet a natural nurturer like Vinay Kumar.
Even more scarce are those who really gets Nurturing Customer Relationships
and generously shares 57 of the best and most authentic nurturing tips yet recorded.
Readers often write and ask for such specific tips and I offer them to you what I have
learned but Vinay’s book has become a top resource referral for those wishing to add
real nutrients to your customer garden soil.

Customers ‘Love 'Em or Lose 'Em’ [Kindle Edition]

Vinay Kumar (Author)

Be the first to review this item | Like(0)

Digital List Price:

$3.99 What's this?

Kindle Price:

$3.99 includes free wireless delivery via Amazon Whispernet

I personally endorse few books but this one I heartily promote to you.

Here is the note I sent Vinay this morning.

I hope we hear more of his great ideas for touching customers hearts and minds.

Good morning Vinay

Your incredible book, CUSTOMERS arrived from Amazon this morning
and I devoured every chapter in growing delight as I read your brilliant

treatise on specific and effective ways of nurturing customer relationships.

It is so good to meet a fellow traveler sharing a common philosophy with the world.

You may check me out further at www.nurturemarketing.com, post@nurturemarketingblog.posterous.com
and view some of my videos on UTube at Jim Cecil, Nurture.

Looking forward.

With my humble thanks for your book.

Jim

Jim Cecil

Nurture Marketing Inc.

Direct 425 698 7601
www.nurturemarketing.com

NEW: e-Mail Assistant Demo

www.emailassistant.com

Good Nurturing

Jim

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Infographic: 7 Ways Social Media Is Changing the Nature of Nurture Marketing.

Tue, 13 Sep 2011 02:23:58 -0700

It is a rare event in my life to meet, much less collaborate on the major shifts that are occurring in our lives and businesses with someone who not only ‘get’s’ Nurturing Customer Relationships but has shared a vision of ways of truly integrating and leveraging your nurture marketing efforts with the emerging influence of business social media. As you will read, Doug Tangwall has created a new manifesto and a clear explanation of his vision in the attached article. Thank you Doug for sharing and nurturing so well.
Good Nurturing, Jim

Infographic: 7 Ways Social Media Is Changing the Nature of Nurture Marketing

by Doug Tangwall on September 13, 2011

It’s been an honor to collaborate on this piece with marketing great Jim Cecil and social media strategist Wendy Soucie. Soucie is a certified social media strategist and dean of the Social Media Academy. She runs a consulting practice where she helps businesses to gain a competitive advantage by using social media throughout the organization. Cecil is considered the father of nurture marketing, and his numerous accomplishments include groundbreaking research, in conjunction with Microsoft and the University of Washington, co-founding a successful marketing business, Nurture Marketing, LLC, and co-authoring the books, Nurturing Customer Relationships and 101 Business Love Letters.

The following infographic, analysis and advice integrates the viewpoints expressed in our discussions.
Click on the image to enlarge.

Nature Versus Nurture Marketing: The Effects of Social Media on Cecil’s Four “I’s”

Cecil is a delightful individual who communicates through alliteration, farming metaphors and a vast personal library of case studies and success stories. In keeping with his farming metaphors, I built the infographic around the End Result Marketing logo, which is symbolic of a fruit tree.

Cecil uses four “I’s” to describe his philosophy for engaging prospects, drawing them into the sales funnel and converting them into customers:

1. Identify—Select prospects for your product or service.

2. Individualize—Prepare relevant content targeted to your prospect’s needs.

3. Interact—Stay in communication with prospects and customers.

4. Influence—Alter attitudes and behaviors.

In each of these areas, social media is changing the nature of nurture marketing initiatives:

Identification

Change #1:
Social media enables self-identification of prospects as they discover and interact with your nurture marketing content.

Most of us educate ourselves about products now. And because nurture marketing content focuses on the needs of customers, it is inherently shareable. By enabling new prospects to find and self-select content, social media enables the start of a business relationship without ever having known, or even targeted, your prospect.

Cecil, who has spent much of his life marketing to C-level executives in the B2B space, says, “Your ‘A’ prospects are not likely to give your proposals serious attention until they have business needs.” Social searches and sharing often come into play at the exact moment when there is a need for information. And, in the process of discovering valuable content, the individual identifies himself as a new prospect for your product or service.

Nature vs. nurture tip: In social spaces, self-selection involves super-fast decisions. Titles, tags and keywords are crucial to the success of your search engine results—and, by extension, to your nurture marketing success.

Inside out: Looking at social media’s impact from within your business, marketing and sales leaders seeking to identify new prospects can employ social introductions to improve targeting and social monitoring to gain insights into desired nurture marketing content.

Individualization

Change #2:
Social media increases marketing sign-ups by providing a relevant context and a forum to follow the examples set by others.

The closer nurture marketing content matches the needs of an individual, the more likely she will be to sign up for future communications. Cecil advises, “These touches should be deposits, not withdrawals.”

The structure of social media groups, circles and filtering places your nurture marketing content within a specific context; when executed properly, this relevance increases permission-based marketing opportunities. The impact of social media can also be felt through social proof, the theory that we are more likely to do something when we see others doing it.

Nature vs. nurture tip: Permission can be gained more readily when social media is used to build a sense of increased status, such as exclusive access or membership.

Inside out: For business leaders wishing to connect one on one, Cecil comments, “Technology has given marketing great power.” He recommends paying close attention to preferences for frequency of contact and using social CRM systems to enable what he terms “ultra-hyper-segmentation.” For example, if your prospect’s hobby is golf, even if your business has nothing to do with golf, you can automate social alerts and share an article about the most difficult golf holes to gain a quick and less-intrusive touch.

Interaction

Change #3:
Social media increases a sense of relatedness by providing insider access and nurturing an ongoing dialogue between customer and business.

Cecil’s third “I,” interaction, is a natural strength of social media. The immediacy that social media delivers coupled with a sense of insider access pulls customers deeper into the inner circle of your business. What better way to strengthen relationships than to keep customers aware of what you’re doing and encourage feedback on how to better meet their needs? Social media provides a timely and interactive format to accomplish this.

Nature vs. nurture tip: Feature employees and customers in your efforts to nurture customer relationships, and take advantage of multimedia to give a “human face” to your organization.

Inside out: Cecil is fond of a quote by the late advertising executive David Ogilvy, “The only antidote for defection is affection.” Customers who feel ignored are more likely to go elsewhere. Social media messages from top executives and other employees within your organization give a sense of insider access that deepens relationships and reminds customers that you care about them.

Influence

Change #4:
Social media cross-pollinates the ideas contained in nurture marketing content via the passion of individuals and the trust inherent within homogeneous communities.

Just as bees cross-pollinating flowers can increase the quality and quantity of a harvest, influencers share nurture marketing content across their social ecosystems. Perhaps the greatest change social media is delivering is in the role of influence; however, its effects are more varied and complex.

The reasons why evangelists have an affinity for your business vary. And Soucie points out that, “Motivations to share nurture marketing content in social spaces arise from numerous perspectives, including passion for the products, service or values of a business; mutual interest; personal relevance; a desire to increase social status, participate in conversations, build relationships or connect with others; generosity; altruism; reciprocity; entertainment and humor.”

Whatever their motivations, the passion and trust evangelists bring within their related communities means people pay more attention to your nurture marketing content and find it more believable. Soucie adds, “Within their circles of closely related connections, a powerful exponential transfer of nurturing content can take place: I call this a shift from one-to-one to one-to-many-like-me.”

Nature vs. nurture tip: Although this post doesn’t directly address social negativism, by nurturing evangelists, your business has a source of built-in, believable, counter-arguments to negative comments that may appear on social platforms.

Inside out: Be conscious of your motives: “Nurture marketing is not about changing people,” Cecil says. “It is about influence and how you gain it by touching hearts and minds.”

A few words about influence : At this stage, I’ll introduce two additional groups of influencers: Employees and Other Influencers. Employees have access to content and are often in a position to nurture prospects. Other influencers may never purchase from your business but interact with and share your nurture marketing content. Like evangelists, other influencers have different motivations for sharing; but in the age of social media, they play a larger role in the success of your nurture marketing efforts.

“Employees and other influencers vary in their evangelism for your organization, and this affects both their message and its tone,” says Soucie. “Social media enables us to help others by investing just a few seconds of our time. Business and marketing leaders need to recognize this significant shift in mindset and think differently about how they educate, engage and participate in shared experiences.”

How Social Media Is Changing the Two “A’s” of Nurture Marketing

Clearly, social media is bringing significant changes to the nature of nurture marketing in the context of Cecil’s four “I’s.” Next, I’ll explore two more areas of change. I label these with the letter “A”: Amplification and Affinity.

Amplification

Change #5:
Social media increases the flow and effectiveness of traditional marketing channels by adding touch points and enabling adjustment based on real-time feedback.

Just as a tree with plenty of water and soil rich in nutrients grows faster and stronger, social media increases the flow rate and provides a better growing environment for your nurture marketing efforts. Cecil says, “The nurturing seed produces the abundant harvest.”

I speak with many marketers, and a fair number of them have not heard of nurture marketing. But Cecil coined another term which may sound more familiar in the lexicon of today’s marketing: drip irrigation marketing. He also refers to drip marketing as touch campaigns. Social media provides additional pathways to discover content and real-time insights into elements that will resonate in traditional marketing efforts.

Nature vs. nurture tip: Some companies, like Ford begin with loosely structured ideas and use communities of socially vibrant individuals to generate and fine-tune content, develop more formal campaigns, and leverage social media marketing integration so various communication channels can “play off of each other.”

Inside out: Tracking social input aids sales. In Understanding the Difference Between Drip Irrigation and Drip Irritation, Cecil says “[Many marketers] don’t understand the customer very well. The difference…is the sensitivity factor. Since most leads are slow adopters, marketing now makes it possible for sales to have critical information at their fingertips at exactly the right time.”

Affinity

Change #6:
Social media strengthens and grows the roots of long-term relationships by reinforcing a message of commitment in your nurture marketing efforts.

A tree draws water and nutrients upward, but it also produces sugars that sustain its roots underground. With an expanded root system, the tree is firmly positioned, receives more nourishment and grows rapidly. Likewise, nurture marketing is a virtuous circle where, over time, an investment in the success of your customers is rewarded with top-of-mind presence and loyalty. Social media reinforces this cycle.

Nature vs. nurture tip: Think of ways to combine social media and nurture marketing to show thought leadership, while focusing on the top questions and concerns of your prospects. Hint: It doesn’t always have to be about your business.

Inside out: Have patience with your investments in social nurturing: Cecil says, “All living things respond to nurturing. Clients, like crops, must be fed, nourished, protected, cultivated, pruned and pampered to ensure maximum results.”

The Nurturing Organization

Social media changes the nature of nurture marketing, but its impact may extend further to effect change within an organization.

Change #7:
The combination of social media and nurture marketing improves customer focus, communication, service and innovation by breaking down organizational silos.

Last year in his Nurture Marketing Blog, Cecil described a question he received while speaking to an audience of CEOs, “How does one go about becoming a nurturing company?”

Cecil challenged his readers to come up with a list of ten or more steps one must take to realize this goal. This question is an important one and has stayed with me. The answer to the question is certainly multifaceted, and I don’t have the complete answer—(yet!), but I believe the combination of nurture marketing and social media provides fertile soil for a business to develop into a more integrated, customer-focused, and purposeful organization.

Nature vs. nurture tip: Focus on the success of your customers. Work across functional areas by sharing social feedback, forming strategies and developing nurture marketing content together.

Inside out: Find a higher purpose. Cecil says, “Nurture marketing has as much to do with caring for our internal staff as it does with caring for our clients. It is about motivating every person in the organization so that they, in turn, will nurture customers and show them that your company is one that will be there for them.”

Make Marketing Meaningful

The landscape of marketing has been reshaped by many factors—splintered channels, scattered attention and increased transparency to name just a few. Yet Cecil’s theories remain as relevant today, perhaps even more relevant, as when he began to conceive of them nearly 20 years ago.

While nurture may be timeless, another of human nature’s most basic elements—social conversation—is adding a few twists to the efforts of marketers seeking to educate and engage prospects. The result: the balance of power has shifted from push to pull and from marketers to consumers.

For many companies, nurture marketing represents a substantial opportunity to gain attention, change attitudes, and increase sales and loyalty. And the impact of social media on nurture marketing initiatives is significant. Externally, it can be used to improve reach and effectiveness, and internally—within a business—it holds potential to improve the overall quality of a company.

Bottom line: This transformation is about more than marketing; it’s a shift in worldview that will redefine the future of business. Successful organizations will work in concert with customers, prospects, employees and other influencers—amplifying interaction and sharing to better understand and meet their needs. Social context will become increasingly important. And smart marketers will employ nurture strategically…by considering the seven ways that social media is changing its nature.

So. What impact is social media having on your nurture marketing efforts?

Doug Tangwall is president of End Result Marketing, a nurture marketing and social media company based in Madison, Wisconsin that enables businesses to educate and engage customers to gain a competitive advantage. You can reach him at 608-358-0623 or dougtangwall@endresultmarketing.com.

You might also like:
Nurture Marketing: a Strategically Superior Alternative to Drip Marketing

The 10 Golden Rules of Marketing White Papers

10 Fatal Landing Page Mistakes: How to Avoid Interactive Marketing Crashes

10-part Brain Research Series: Implications for Marketers

14 Ideas for Generating Nurture Marketing Content That Gets Results

Pizza and Social Media Can Change the World: a Social Media Success Story

Tagged as: Content marketing, Doug Tangwall, End Result Marketing, influence, Infographic, Jim Cecil, Nurture Marketing, nurturing organization, Social media, Social Media Academy, Social media infographic, Social media marketing integration, Wendy Soucie

Jim Cecil

Nurture Marketing Inc.

Direct 425 698 7601
www.nurturemarketing.com

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Nuture Marketing: Science and Analytics

Thu, 11 Aug 2011 13:21:31 -0700

“The most noteworthy thing about gardeners is that they are always optimistic, always enterprising and never fully satisfied.
They are forever planting, and forever digging up. They always look forward to doing better than they have ever done before.
“Next year…….”, they say and even as they pronounce the words you become infected by their enthusiasm and allow yourself

to be persuaded that the garden will indeed look different, quite different, next year. Experience tells you that it never does, but

how poor and disheartening is experience compared with hope.” Vita Sackville-West, Country Notes 1939

The attached link, “SALES Forecasting, Leverage the past, visualize the present and improve future revenue, Aberdeen Group”, 7,2011’

Sales organizations are under growing pressure, often both from internal and external stakeholders to provide more accurate sales forecasts of top line revenue in order to better predict and improve the long term fiscal health of their company. To sustain a competitive position in the market, companies are turning to sales analytics solutions that provide an enterprise-wide data flow into the forecasting process, thus creating a more refined snapshot of future revenue and empowering more efficient, market-driven sales activity as well as more pure selling time by the
sales team itself.

As we adopt nurturing strategies it is wise to remember the deeper value hidden in common sales opportunity statistics. It becomes a tool to measure each facet.

Good Nurturing

Jim

Jim Cecil

Nurture Marketing Inc.

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Nurturing Customer Relationships Takes Processes and Technology

Sat, 30 Jul 2011 11:07:24 -0700

“You cannot take the mild approach to the weeds in your mental garden.
You have got to hate weeds enough to kill them.
Weeds are not something you handle;
weeds are something you devastate”. Jim Rohn

When presenting the nurture concept to CEO’s, they often get the point and the logic of nurturing customer relationships quickly. An almost invariable question I get at closing. “What specific technology tools will I
need to implement and sustain nurturing campaigns? An intriguing approach to the question came this morning.

Sales And Marketing Alignment In Terms Of Lead Generation In A 2.0 World

Posted: 29 Jul 2011 01:27 AM PDT
The Pipeline Guest Post – Shannon Bryant

In the words of Lee Iacocca,

“Even a master craftsperson would be hard pressed to produce outstanding results using only rusted or non-existent tools”.

Good Nurturing

Jim

Jim Cecil

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Nurture Marketing is mostly about scientifically nourishing relationships.

Fri, 29 Jul 2011 05:59:42 -0700

Following a recent VISTAGE CEO Group presentation, where I had compared the design of an effective nurture marketing process to the planning of a new farm and their similarities and I spent some time describing the steps a successful farmer takes to ensure precision results.

It was a brief way to introduce the topic and I gave little thought to it until much later when I received a
call asking to meet with five executives from one of the firms attending and to explore ways they might
create, implement, leverage and sustain a serious, Nurturing Customer Relationships, process.

By the day of the meeting they were already well ahead of me. As a high-end, technology solutions provider, the group were, not surprisingly, all highly analytical in their approach to marketing.

Thinking like a farmer, they had begun by first Identifying the specific seeds they wanted to cultivate in their garden;
their top 3 Market-Niches, with their top 20 Customers, top 20 Prospects, and top 10 Endorsers in each niche.

Logically, the next step was to select the actual Technology and Talent needed to launch.
In their case, CRM was first on the list; which to chose? Resident Software or cloud based?, Go all the way,
Microsoft Dynamics + Marketing Automation + full Metrics, + totally outsourced development, implementation, fulfillment and measurement or, perhaps simply rely on ‘Constant Contact’ for newsletter repetition?
What are the trends in adopting analytics in managing talent pre- and post-hire?

Explore some key capabilities that Best-in-Class organizations have in place to support talent management analytics?

· Ways these tools impact key talent metrics such as engagement, retention, performance, and achievement of overall goals?

Seeking advice, I always deferred to my personal guru, on all things CRM, Rich Bohn, of www.sellmorenow.com,

for the exact size and scope of the actual source selections. June 21, 2011 /PRNewswire/ --Not surprisingly, small to mid-sized businesses are embracing CRM solutions and the percentage of CRM functionality they use is higher than one might have anticipated, according to the results of a May survey conducted by research firm ITIC who polled over 200 SMBs. A full 74% of survey respondents indicated they have a CRM platform, and 52% of participants said their companies use at least 50% of the CRM's functionality.
For the talent side; what are the trends in adopting analytics in managing talent pre-and post-hire?
What are some key capabilities that Best-in-Class organizations have in place to support talent management analytics?

How do these tools impact key talent metrics such as engagement, retention, performance, and achievement of overall goals?

Drilling ever deeper by exploring the tools and tactics to truly Individualize each person selected for nurturing by exploring and capturing relevant data using Google Alerts, LinkedIn and social media tool such as www.nimble.com to search and build a solid dossier on each key individual.

Now they were ready to tackle the Interact phase of the nurture process. Gaining explicit permission to proceed before attempting further contact ensures receptivity, accurate assessment of your efforts and results. This is where the relationship actually begins. It is here that you expose who and what you are and to articulate your own unique selling differentiation. Your style, your personality and your business values can be illustrated as you weave a message and touch strategy that reinforces with appropriate frequency.

It is here where your story of actually ‘helping customer’s succeed’ rather than just helping them buy becomes clear.

Good Nurturing

Jim

Jim Cecil

Nurture Marketing Inc.

Direct 425 698 7601
www.nurturemarketing.com

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People buy from Nurturing People

Tue, 12 Jul 2011 06:46:54 -0700

As usual, Seth Godin hits the nail on the head with this articulate and to the point posting.

"No organization cares about you. REALLY, organizations just aren't capable of this. Your bank, certainly, doesn't care. Neither does your HMO or even your car dealer. It's amazing to me that people are still surprised to discover this fact.
Only authentic, personal Nurturing builds trust and desire.

OUR TAKE - Uncaring Organizations

It's time to put on your thinking cap. Consider these words from a recent blog written by Seth Godin:

"No organization cares about you. REALLY, organizations just aren't capable of this. Your bank, certainly, doesn't care.
Neither does your HMO or even your car dealer. It's amazing to me that people are still surprised to discover this fact.

People, on the other hand, are perfectly capable of caring. It's part of being a human. It's only when organizational demands and
regulations get in the way that the caring fades. If you want to build a caring organization, you need to fill it with caring people
and then get out of their way. When your organization punishes people for caring, don't be surprised when people stop caring.
When you free your employees to act like people (as opposed to cogs in a profit-maximizing efficient machine) then the caring
can't help but happen."

For the moment, let's shelve the idea about hiring caring people and getting out of the way. Instead, tell me if you agree that
organizations are not capable of caring.

Do you think your organization really cares? Do you know of an organization that cares? How do you know? What's your take?

. . . . . Gary Lemke, Chief Customer Advocate

Lasting Impressions:
Equality is the soul of liberty; there is, in fact, no liberty without it. - Frances Wright

That’s Gary’s take on caring companies, what’s yours?

Good Nurturing

Jim

Jim Cecil

Nurture Marketing Inc.

Direct 425 698 7601
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Nurture Marketing to Introverts, a linguistic Challenge

Mon, 11 Jul 2011 10:14:14 -0700

“I'm basically an introvert at heart... And show business -
even though I've loved it so very much - has always been hard for me.”
Roy Rogers

With the surge of technology and analytical-professional buyers, being aware of individual personality types can smooth what is commonly a style-conflict that spoils many marketing or selling approaches. A recent posting by Marcia Yudkin reports that there are new scientific tools that assist in the communications shifts.

Marketing to Introverts - Seven Marketing Pitches That Leave Introverts Cold

By Marcia Yudkin

According to Dr. Marti Olsen Laney, introverts make up roughly 25% of the population. Yet when you look at high-IQ people and high earners, the percentage is far higher. So if you hope to capture the attention and patronage of introverts, it's vital to downplay or avoid marketing tactics that don't influence them to buy - or send them running in the opposite direction.

Unlike extroverts, who thrive on social interaction, introverts recharge their batteries by being alone. They tend to be more private, quiet and to-the-point than extroverts.

Here are seven types of marketing pitches that are common in Internet marketing - and elsewhere - that leave introverts cold.

1. Earnings brags. Screen shots of earnings as they appear in a shopping cart program or merchant account report are pervasive in Internet marketing promotions. Some proponents of this tactic claim that this is the only way to prove that the seller is as successful as he says. Introverts aren't swayed by such "proof," however, because someone who shows exactly how much money they made is utterly unlike them. To the introvert, what such a person made doesn't indicate how much they themselves might make. The introvert is far more likely to take an interest in customer testimonials from people who sound like themselves.

2. Name dropping. Introverts make decisions on substance, not on who knows who, so referring constantly to big-name people as your friends doesn't influence them at all. Likewise, some speakers boast that they "shared the stage with so-and-so," but to an introvert that is no credential - not even a weak one. Trotting out the names of famous clients and sharing things they said is considerably worse, because it gets introverts thinking that you do not respect confidences.

3. Numbers served or sold. A bio in a direct mail piece I received yesterday starts off: "Dr. XXX currently owns and operates a clinic in YYY with over 20,000 patients." To an introvert, this fails to impress at all. Who wants to be one of 20,000? Introverts dislike being part of a herd, following the crowd or being treated as a number. If this bio said instead that Dr. XXX deliberately keeps his practice small, so he can give each patient personal attention, and that there's a waiting list of several months to see him, that would make him far more interesting to the introvert.

4. Saying large is small. "We're limiting this seminar to just 150 people, so act fast," said one promotion I heard recently, but to an introvert that statement is totally absurd. A room containing 150 people is a crowd, not by any stretch of the introvert's imagination an intimate event. To the introvert, any group larger than about 12 is no longer small. It's fine to run large events. Just don't call them small!

5. Pressure to decide fast. Introverts have definitely been known to make impulse buys, but since they pride themselves on thinking things through, they resent and reject pressure to make up their mind before they're ready. Introverts generally want a lot of information before pressing the "buy" button, and if you use a countdown clock saying there's only XX minutes or hours until the offer goes away forever, they're gone instantly, never to return.

6. Talking head videos. Since introverts usually love to read and can read quickly, they feel tortured when a web site conveys crucial information in a video that could have been conveyed in text. They don't hate the video medium in itself, only when it seems to be used out of laziness or self-aggrandizement rather than to show something that couldn't be as easily communicated any other way.

7. Too much personal information. Introverts prefer you to get to the point. Therefore, when you go on and on and on about your spouse, kids, pets, vacation or new yacht they tune out. If you want introverts as clients, beware of revealing facts that may reflect badly on you, even if you believe you've cast them in a positive light. For example, you may think discussing having gone bankrupt makes your current success more impressive. The introvert may not be able to get past your confessing this failure so blithely, since this is something they'd never abide others knowing about themselves. For introverts, either minimize the personal revelations or segregate them in a section of a newsletter or web site they can skip.

My own clients tend to be about 75 percent introverts, and this probably has to do with how easily introverts can identify that I'm someone like them whose success they can model. Take a look at the personality profile of your own customer base and how you market, and you may well find some eye-opening patterns.

You may certainly decide to continue to turn off introverts, but do make that a conscious choice rather than a side effect of simply following popular marketing tactics.

A bookworm as a child, Marcia Yudkin grew up to discover she had a surprising talent for creative marketing. She's the author of 11 books, including 6 Steps to Free Publicity, now in its third edition. To learn more about the strengths and preferences of introverts, download her free Marketing for Introverts audio manifesto: http://www.yudkin.com/introverts.htm

Good Nurturing

Jim

Jim Cecil

Nurture Marketing Inc.

Direct 425 698 7601
www.nurturemarketing.com

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Nurturing Social Relationship Management Processes

Thu, 30 Jun 2011 05:15:26 -0700

Nimble Launches Company-Wide Social Relationship Manager:
The Next Evolution in Social Business

Santa Monica, CA – June 20, 2011 – Nimble , the award-winning social CRM platform, today announced the launch of its team version, laying the foundation for its Social Business vision. The new functionality enables entire groups, departments and companies to listen and engage with their social community, to collaborate and work more effectively together, and to jointly grow their business.

Nimble is a revolutionary Social Relationship Manager. It is the first solution that links contacts, calendars and communication to social listening and engagement. Nimble enables all Facebook, Twitter, Linkedin, Gmail, Outlook contacts, calendars, and social conversations to be unified into one simple web application. Now individuals and companies don’t have to manage relationships in six different browser tabs and three desktop apps.

“The old way of doing business is broken,” says Jon Ferrara, CEO of Nimble. “Companies today cannot succeed if they behave like a castle, blocking out their customers and erecting walls between employees. The new business model is about customer-driven relationships, and small business owners know this. The collaborative functionality provides small businesses with the tools to participate in transparent, customer-centric dialogues that channel social conversations into the company, allowing all employees to engage in relationships that lead to business growth.”

Nimble is establishing itself as a leading Social Relationship Manager by:

· Bringing Social Relationship Management and Collaboration to an Entire Company

· Delivering on a Social Business strategy with true competitive business advantages

Nimble Brings Social Relationship Management and Collaboration to an Entire Company Today Nimble is launching capabilities that will allow groups, departments and entire companies to practice Social Business. It adds collaboration to Nimble’s Social Relationship power, which enables every team member to build and nurture trusting relationships. They can easily check any contact and see what is pending, who is going to do it, what has been done, who has done it, and see all of the conversations that have occurred. From there, they can schedule, delegate and comment on activities, enabling a whole company to work more effectively together.

David Meerman Scott, marketing strategist and bestselling author of Real-Time Marketing & PR, recently had this to say: "Nimble is absolutely revolutionary! Nimble is what I've dreamed of for a long time but never thought possible. With Nimble, I can combine my Twitter followers, Facebook friends, LinkedIn relationships, and customer database with my calendar and to-do list into one complete Social Relationship Manager to run my business."

Nimble’s Vision – Bringing Social Back to Business

Nimble’s newly launched team functionality forms the foundation of Nimble’s larger Social Business vision: that everyone in the company should be able to listen and engage, communicate and collaborate, and have all those conversations tie back to their contacts, their community and their customers. Nimble will roll out sales, marketing and customer service capabilities in the next few months to complete its Social Business offering. The entire Social Business platform will be extensible via an open API and those extensions will be available via the Nimble Marketplace.

As Jon Ferrara, Nimble CEO says, “We are creating a Social Business platform for our community to live in, build upon and grow their business. We want to be the ‘WordPress’ of Social Business by delivering the key needs of our core users without the associated costs and complexities of legacy CRM systems. Tomorrow, our users will be able to extend Nimble to meet their unique needs through the use of our API, and to share and sell those extensions in our marketplace.”

Availability

The free, single user version of Nimble is available now at www.nimble.com. Users of Nimble can invite their colleagues to try Nimble’s collaborative features for free directly from within the Nimble platform.

About Jon Ferrara

A relationship entrepreneur at heart, Jon founded GoldMine, one of the all time best selling CRM products and helped pioneer the entire Sales Force Automation (SFA) and Customer Relationship Management (CRM) market. After seeing the immense power of Social Media and the lack of any products that effectively combined Relationship Management, Social Listening and Engagement, Collaboration with Sales and Marketing, Jon founded Nimble to create an extensible Social Business platform.

About Nimble

Since its initial launch, Nimble has quickly established itself as a leading Social Relationship Manager. Publications around the world have recognized Nimble as a revolutionary Social Business solution. The platform was awarded PC Magazine “Editors' Choice” as well as the coveted “DEMO God” award from a field of hundreds of start-up contenders. It has also been recognized by leading analyst firm, Gartner, as a “Cool Vendor” for Social Software and Collaboration and placed on “The CRM Watchlist 2011” by Social CRM expert and best-selling author, Paul Greenberg.

Nimble was founded in 2009 to help small businesses transform their communities into business opportunities. Nimble opens a whole new channel for businesses to nurture and engage customers in two-way dialogue, leveraging the power of traditional CRM and social media with its web-based social CRM platform. Located in Santa Monica, Nimble is in the heart of the Southern California tech community. Please join the conversation on Nimble’s Facebook page at www.facebook.com/nimble, LinkedIn and on Twitter @nimble.

Good Nurturing

Jim

Jim Cecil

Nurture Marketing Inc.

Direct 425 698 7601
www.nurturemarketing.com

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A Life Dedicated to Nurturing

Nurture Marketing is so much about the seeds

Today's MS Nurture Marketing Round Table Session - Blog Entry

Nurture Marketing is like a serious courtship

Nurturing like a Grandma

Nurture Marketing - Turn a necessary evil into self nurturing

Good NurturingJim

Andréa Coutu, founder of ConsultantJournal.com

Nurture Marketing meand Alignment With Their Buying Cycle

4 Strategies for Nurturing "Thanks" in Your Business this Thanksgiving

There are a few rare opportunities like this annual celebration of gratitude surrounding Thanksgiving.. Jeffrey Meyers posted a wonderful reminder of not only the logic but added a host of relevant ways to express your genuine appreciation for services and friendships rendered.

Good Nurturing

Jim

4 Strategies for Nurturing "Thanks" in Your Business this Thanksgiving

“2-4-6-8! Who do you appreciate?!”

4 Strategies for Using “Thanks” to Improve Your Business

Nurture Marketing means Saying Thank You

Related Stories

Thanks for "Checking-In"…

It's Not What You Say...It's…

Developing The Thank You…

Creators of SPIN® Selling…

Salary or Salary + Commission

About Tom Hopkins

Happy Birthday WWW

This Google posting was just too good not to share. How far we have come.Happy Thanksgiving and Good Nurturing

Jim

20 years ago today, the World Wide Web opened to the public

The evolution of the Web

The future of the Web

Nurture Marketing, like Sales Means Perserverence

Andy Rooney on Sales Leads

Comments

Cold Calling Works - and it's fun! And it still needs Nurture Marketing for the cultivation phase

The radical shifts in lead generation demands radical rethinking of the ways we gain access to and ultimately become of authentic influence and value to the slow-adopting but otherwise viable prospect opportunity.

As a long time fan and student of Sharon Drew Morgen’s ‘Buying Facilitation Process’. Her blog post today reminded me of just how spot-on she has been for the decades I have followed her with her philosophy and methodology.

What better evidence of your value than that of actually Helping Customers Succeed and not just helping them buy.

Good Nurturing

Jim

Cold Calling Works – and it’s fun!

WHY ARE WE CONNECTING?

DON’T USE YOUR BODY AS A PROSPECTING TOOL

Nurturing Customer Relationships means, "What We Say Matters."

Meet a true Natural Nurturer

Customers ‘Love 'Em or Lose 'Em’ [Kindle Edition]

Infographic: 7 Ways Social Media Is Changing the Nature of Nurture Marketing.

Infographic: 7 Ways Social Media Is Changing the Nature of Nurture Marketing

Nature Versus Nurture Marketing: The Effects of Social Media on Cecil’s Four “I’s”

Identification

Individualization

Interaction

Influence

How Social Media Is Changing the Two “A’s” of Nurture Marketing

Amplification

Affinity

The Nurturing Organization

Make Marketing Meaningful

Nuture Marketing: Science and Analytics

Nurturing Customer Relationships Takes Processes and Technology

Nurture Marketing is mostly about scientifically nourishing relationships.

People buy from Nurturing People

Nurture Marketing to Introverts, a linguistic Challenge

Nurturing Social Relationship Management Processes

Good Nurturing
Jim

There are a few rare opportunities like this annual celebration of gratitude surrounding Thanksgiving..
Jeffrey Meyers posted a wonderful reminder of not only the logic but added a host of relevant ways to express your genuine appreciation for services and friendships rendered.

This Google posting was just too good not to share. How far we have come.
Happy Thanksgiving and Good Nurturing