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Auburn Player Gets Ejected, Which Contributes to 1st Round Loss in NCAA Tournament

Administrator — Wed, 24 Apr 2024 09:21:24 +0000

In the first round of the NCAA Men’s Basketball Tournament, Chad Baker-Mazara, an Auburn player, deliberately elbowed a player from Yale. Chad lost his cool. For his actions, the official assessed a Flagrant 2 Technical Foul and ejected Chad from the game. Auburn, the heavy favorite, lost that game to Yale. Here is the play.

Now, the part that caught my eye, was a subsequent interview with a coach from a team that was not playing. A reporter asked the head coach of Alabama what he and his players could learn from this incident. In essence, Coach Oats said, “We’re trying to win on the scoreboard. We are not trying to win a backyard brawl or a trash-talking contest. Anything that gives the opposing team an advantage, we don’t want it.” This is a great message for his team and it is a great message for you. So, take a minute to listen to the words of wisdom from Coach Oats below:

Achieve Digital Marketing Success with Amazing Customer Reviews

Administrator — Wed, 24 Apr 2024 09:17:22 +0000

Did you know that 96% of consumers read reviews before choosing which business to make purchases from? The word of other consumers is gospel while what brands say about themselves doesn’t mean much in comparison. So, if your client wants to achieve true digital marketing success, they need to inspire lots of positive reviews.

Don’t Expect Customers to Leave Reviews on Their Own

Brands may assume that if customers like their products and have no issues getting them that positive reviews are assured. Unfortunately, that’s rarely the case. According to a study by XM institute, only an average of 33.5% of consumers share feedback directly with companies.

The good news is that it’s not because they don’t have anything to say. On average:

47.5% of consumers tell their friends and family about their experiences with brands

30% will put a comment on a third-party rating site

22.5% will post something about their experience on social media

Overall, only an average of 19% of consumers won’t say anything about their experiences to anyone. So, they have the review/feedback at the ready. Your client just needs to draw it out of them to achieve digital marketing success.

How to Get Reviews

According to XM institute there are two good ways to influence customers to leave reviews.

The first is to make a survey available on your client’s website. That way, customers are aware of the option to leave reviews and can do so whenever they’re on the site.

The second option is to email customers after they receive their order to ask them to leave a review. If your client wants to entice them into leaving a review, they can promise a coupon/discount code upon completion.

How Positive Reviews are Earned

There’s more to inspiring positive reviews than meeting customer expectations. According to a previous SalesFuel blog based on data from BrightLocal, positive reviews are earned by:

Overperforming to provide exceptional experiences: 81% of consumers agree they’re more likely to leave positive reviews when this happens

Turning negative experiences into positive ones: 79%

Making your client’s business eco-friendly/sustainable: 60%

Having employees ask customers to leave reviews: 57%

Highlighting your client’s business’ diversity (for example, LGBTQ+-, women‑, black- or family-owned): 53%

Positive reviews are the backbone of digital marketing success and this is how to earn them. For more inspiration of how to influence positive reviews, check out your client’s target audience’s profile on AdMall by SalesFuel.

Bad Reviews are Still Opportunities

When your client asks their customers for reviews, they open themselves up to the possibility of negative reviews. In fact, customers are more likely to be motivated to make reviews after they’ve had a negative experience. But don’t let that scare your client.

Another key to digital marketing success is turning bad experiences into opportunities. Read your client’s bad reviews to figure out what went wrong. Then, comment back and fix the problem however you can.

Why It Matters

Consumers don’t always trust what brands say about how great their products are. After all, their content’s purpose is to influence sales. So, user-generated content (UGC) (i.e., customer reviews) is the perfect way to inspire trust in your client’s brand and products.

According to a previous SalesFuel blog based on data from Bazaarvoice, UGC:

Gives consumers more confidence in a product, service or brand: 78% agree

Is something consumers rely on, especially during economic difficulties: 43%

Plus, “All consumer age groups rely on UGC in come capacity, especially those under the age of 45.”

So, not only will inspiring online reviews help your client achieve digital marketing success, they also attract new loyal customers.

Photo by: Windows

Weighing the Benefits and Negatives of NIL

Administrator — Wed, 24 Apr 2024 09:17:09 +0000

Nick Saban is regarded as the best college football coach of all time. He had an amazing career, winning 7 national championships. This career came to an end a few months ago when he retired. He recently testified in front of the US Congress on the impacts of NIL (athletes being able to be paid for their name, image and likeness) at the collegiate level. The summary of Coach Saban’s testimony is that he retired from coaching because of NIL. He believes that NIL directly clashes with his intention to develop players over their collegiate career. He testified that incoming recruits and their parents are “only” interested in the money or package that the university can provide. Coach Saban no longer wanted to be a part of a system that prioritized the wrong things, so he retired.

Joe’s Perspective: The advantage of NIL is that players can receive a piece of the huge revenues that college athletics creates. In many ways this seems fair. However, at this point, it’s open season. There are basically no limitations. Does this hurt the competitive landscape of college sports? Does NIL interfere with the development of college athletes? Do the schools with huge financial resources get richer and the schools with less resources get poorer? Does NIL create inequities/jealousy on the team between a player who receives a million dollars and a player who receives nothing?

Your Turn: These are all great questions, all of which are above my pay grade. I’ll be interested to see how NIL progresses and is refined. I am also interested in how you, the younger generation thinks of this new NIL revolution. What do you think?

The post Weighing the Benefits and Negatives of NIL appeared first on Character and Leadership.

Aim Higher: Scott McKain on the ultimate customer experience

Administrator — Wed, 24 Apr 2024 09:10:06 +0000

Become Iconic

Scott McKain and I have had countless discussions on the nuances of customer service—a subject where he is an undisputed expert. His insights are always invaluable, so whenever Scott writes a new book, it captures my attention.

In his books and speeches, he challenges businesses not just to excel, but to “create distinction” in their fields. But what happens after a business achieves that pinnacle of becoming best-in-class? According to Scott, the next step is to attain an iconic status that sets a company apart so profoundly that it becomes a benchmark within its industry. It’s like being named “the Nike” or “the Cadillac”. As both Scott and I believe in the power of continuous improvement, our conversation naturally evolved to explore what comes next after reaching iconic heights.

“Tools change, and times change. Values shouldn’t.”

Scott McKain

Scott takes us there in his latest book, The Ultimate Customer Service Experience. While many of his other books are for business leadership, this one is for everybody. Why? Because everyone at your organization is responsible for creating the ultimate customer experience.

Have you ever:

tried to shop in a store and had multiple employees tell you, “That’s not my job?”
waited at a restaurant for your server while multiple staff walked by your empty table?
been passed from one person to another on the phone only to end up where you started?

Those all point to an organization’s failure to give every employee a sense of ownership over the customer experience. And while many companies have very “vertical” organizations where different departments are in charge of different aspects of customer service… Scott reminds us that the experience is always “horizontal” from the customer’s point of view. I know that I don’t care what department someone is in. Do you?

“Company’s may be organized vertically. But the customer experience is always horizontal.”

Scott McKain

This must be modeled from the top down, of course. We all know companies where the leader’s attitude is more “throw anyone under the bus” instead of “the buck stops here.” And we know that creating the ultimate customer experience requires leadership. But if you can’t count on everyone to be part of that team? Then no one person—not even the CEO—can save the day.

As always, Scott isn’t just smart, he’s fun to listen to. His books and presentations are always filled with interesting and inspiring stories because he understands that, in his case, that’s part of creating the experience for us, his audience.

I hope you’ll listen in. It’s a fast-paced conversation with some great takeaways for everyone.

“Leadership can’t just be from the top. It must come from everywhere.

Skip Prichard

“We need to share a vision not just about who we are, but where we want to go.”

Scott McKain

For more information, see The Ultimate Customer Service Experience

Image Credit: Bence Boros

Choose Your Friends Carefully

Administrator — Wed, 24 Apr 2024 09:06:01 +0000

I always remember my mother telling me to choose my friends wisely. If you befriend the wrong person who does the wrong thing at the wrong time, and you are with them, you too might get into trouble, even if it isn’t your fault. That’s life. Many a person is in prison because of just such a situation. It was always an important lesson to remember.

The lesson below is similar. It says that you need to pick your friends wisely, but for a different reason. He says that, “you are the average of the five people you spend the most amount of time with.” So, if you want to be goal-oriented and successful, hang out with people who are goal-oriented and successful. If you find yourself hanging out with a bunch of knuckleheads or class clowns or trouble-makers, you might eventually fall into those categories. Furthermore, he says that there are four types of friends:

Addition: people that will add to your life and make your life better.Subtraction: when you are with these people, you are not the best version of you.Multiplication: They make you the best version of yourself.Division: People who are always dividing and making things hard.

In conclusion, you need to pick your friends wisely. How do you do that? You select the people in your life who bring out the best version of yourself and get rid of the people who bring drama and trouble to your life. If someone makes you feel bad about yourself, they are probably not the best person for you. If someone is distracting you from the life that you want for yourself, they are probably not good for you. Begin paying attention to this and choose the friends that bring out the best version of you. End of lesson.

What To Do With A Stalled Sale

Administrator — Wed, 24 Apr 2024 09:03:25 +0000

Have you hit a wall with a stalled sale? Don’t give up hope. These situations can be very frustrating but as a seller, they are likely to happen every now and then. With some thoughtful effort, you can still make the sale happen.

It’s important that you can tell when a sale has stalled out. Sales Acceleration Group notes that reps often think a stalled sale is simply at a slow stage in the funnel.

But being stalled is not a stage. It’s a situation that needs addressed or else the deal may get too far out of reach.

The Sales Acceleration Group points out a few ways to identify a truly stalled deal:

The prospect has ghosted you for weeks.

There is no firm next action on the calendar.

Their budget didn’t get approved.

This deal requires a buyer group’s approval, and they won’t meet any time in the near future.

The lead has left the position, and you haven’t been contacted by their replacement.

If any of these situations are familiar, it may be time to acknowledge you’ve got a stalled deal. But don’t give up; there are actions to take to get it moving again.

Jump-start The Stalled Sale By Confirming Qualification

The first step, when assessing a stalled deal, is making sure you’ve qualified correctly. Your prospect may simply not be the right fit for your solution.

It’s important that you revisit the qualification process. Anita Greenland, Brooks Group, suggests a few questions to ask yourself about the prospect. Do they have:

a clear need, and they are aware of that need?

the legitimate authority and ability to buy or commit?

a sense of urgency about making a buying decision?

trust in you and your organization?

a willingness to listen to you?

These, along with other qualifying questions, can clue you in if you should be pursuing their business.

Are You Addressing The Real Issues?

A stalled sale may be a sign of misdiagnosis. You need to make sure that you are selling to an actual pain point instead of a pain-related problem.

HubSpot’s Ben Kassiff points out that misaligned problem-solving can be a culprit of stalls.

And, as he writes, “not getting to the why behind a prospect’s problems is often where misalignment starts.”

Revisit the pain points you identified. To make sure you’re focusing on the true issues, take a look at these tips for uncovering them.

SalesFuel shares several effective methods, including the different types of questioning to use. This advice helps ensure you’re addressing and selling to the real problems the buyer faces.

Be Direct

Another effective tactic to deal with a stalled sale is to ask the prospect directly. This, Kassiff notes, should happen only if you’re being ghosted.

“Call out the fact that you feel that this deal is no longer a priority,” he suggests.

Ask for their honesty and be respectful. Share your concerns of the process stalling, and ask if there is a possibility to keep it going.

Show empathy, and lean into the trust that you’ve developed so far in the relationship. There’s a good chance that this can inspire re-engagement.

The Prospect Is The Key To Moving Forward

A stalled sale is a common experience. As these tips show, it’s vital to not only act but also focus on the prospect. Ensuring that you are “solving for the prospect” can be key to jump-starting a stalled deal and see it through.

And for even more tips for addressing this issue, consider these insights shared by SalesFuel. They address other potential causes, from metrics to delivery.

Photo by JESHOOTS.com

AdMall's Digital Audit Assists AE Close $62,000 Automotive OTT Package

Administrator — Wed, 24 Apr 2024 09:02:40 +0000

Leah Harrelson, an account executive from Spectrum Reach, has won multiple Sell Smarter awards over the years. So, when she submitted a story about reaching out to a local automotive dealer, it was no surprise she was able to use AdMall to close another big sale.

“The business owner has been very traditional with his methodology,” said Harrelson. “It has taken me time to build trust, and it seems like he is finally taking some of my insights and putting them to use. The dealership was wanting to make sure that he was placed best for growth going into 2024.”

“I knew I had to get into AdMall to see what I could find to build my plan. Their goal is to keep their market sales volume as is and try to garner more share from a direct competitor down the road, as [my area in North Carolina] is an incredibly saturated market for automotive.”

“Using Admall’s digital audit, we were able to uncover their target customers, [and] where they are currently running display ads. I then went into their audience profile to take the data from there to show the interaction. We looked into the market intelligence for top spending [ZIP codes] to identify placements.”

“Admall had [the ability] to show all of this. How his spending aligns geographically, as well as how his customers react to the advertising areas he is currently buying.”

Harrelson sold the automotive dealer on a campaign centered around audience-targeted traditional TV, along with a Streaming/OTT package. Altogether, Harrelson improved the company’s year-over-year revenue growth by 37.5% and closed the annual campaign for $62,000.

For people not using AdMall to its fullest capabilities, Harrelson had a fairly blunt response.

“If you aren’t using AdMall, you are choosing to do business the hard way,” said Harrelson. “Tap into this team and their resources if you want to maximize your bandwidth and earnings.”