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Add You - Everything I Need to Know About Business I Learned From My Nametag
How effective is your follow up? Do you follow up? So many businesspeople and salespeople fail to follow up with prospects, clients, and associates. However, follow up is a critical part of business existence and growth.Many people tell me they just don’t have time to follow up. I submit they don’t have time not to follow up! The key to successful follow up is developing a tracking system. Decide what methods you want to use for touching the contact. This depends on results and desired outcomes.The Sales Process:When you are selling, your follow up can be the difference between getting the sale or not. Think about it – what is the point of making the initial contact (cold call or introductory letter) if you aren’t going to follow up with a phone call? Why bother? Do you really think the prospect is going to call you? Sometimes they do. More often than not, they don’t. You’re the salesperson. It’s up to you to show the prospect that their business is important to you. There are several ways you can stay in contact with prospects: calling, emailing, sending snippets of information you think might be of interest to them. Establish a program and stick to it. Like any habit, it gets easier once fully adopted.New acquaintances:When you meet someone at a network
1) Repetition
2) Repetition
3) Repetition
I know it sounds incredibly obvious. But with every single day that I wore that little nametag, people were more and more likely to think “He’s still wearing that nametag!” “Hey look, there’s Scott again…” “Why in the hell does that guy always wear a nametag?”
It was catching on. People not only noticed me, but they remembered me. And now they were starting to tell other people too.
LET ME ASK YA THIS…
What new action could you repeat on a dai
"Well Dave, here's how it is. Thanks to Oracle, we have most of the parts we need for all of the products. However, we don’t have all of the parts we need for any of the products."That quote came from the Director of Purchasing regarding the new Oracle system the company had just implemented. Honesty was long overdue. We were working in a $500 million dollar tech outfit at the time, when the VP of Op's flew into town to stop the riot. He was going to set everyone straight and tell us straight up ‘how it was’.He started the meeting with this gem."I've heard all the noise in the system. I've checked it out. And I want you to know it stops today! Oracle is our system, it works fine and this is the end of it."We all wished he was right. But he was about as right as Bush and his WMD’s in Baghdad.But the truth never stopped this guy, so he rambled on with authority."Just why are we not making the new products that are on order? Why are our shipments always late? We cannot have this anymore. It stops today!"He was pretty exercised and excited and they seemed like fair questions. I mean the company had invested around $30 million or so to get this Oracle thing on the street. It had been two years since this guy kicked off the Oracle project. So ques
And that gave me an idea. A crazy idea. Maybe I should keep my nametag on all night!
I wondered what would happen if I “threw myself out there.” And I wondered how that would affect my approachability.
Sure enough, I walked out of that seminar with “Scott” stuck on my chest. About 10 minutes later I met up with a friend of mine at a local ice cream shop. And that’s when it all started. That’s when the silence was broken.
People began to say hello. Random students walked up to me and started conversations. Even complete strangers yelled “Hey Scott!” from across the room! I noticed an astonishing increase in both my own and other people’s willingness to communicate – all because of a nametag!
Later that night I returned home. I looked in the mirror at that little red and white nametag. And then, I made the most important decision of my entire life:
I vow to wear this nametag all day, every day – for the rest of my life.
That fateful day was November 2nd, 2000. And since then, my entire life has changed. On January 1st, 2003, my first book entitled HELLO, my name is Scott: Wearing Nametags for a Friendlier Society, was released. At the same time, my company, Front Porch Productions was created.
But with every passing day of wearing a nametag – I was forced to look deeper. I knew there was something bigger at work. And now after three years of business and five years of wearing a nametag all day, every day – it’s time to go from experimental to experiential. The following are seven valuable business lessons I learned from wearing a nametag.
Repetition
Like a large percentage of the world, I didn’t learn much in college. Or maybe I just don’t remember much from college. Either way, I did take away a few key concepts from my marketing studies. The main one was called “The Three R’s of Marketing,” which are:
1) Repetition
2) Repetition
3) Repetition
I know it sounds incredibly obvious. But with every single day that I wore that little nametag, people were more and more likely to think “He’s still wearing that nametag!” “Hey look, there’s Scott again…” “Why in the hell does that guy always wear a nametag?”
It was catching on. People not only noticed me, but they remembered me. And now they were starting to tell other people too.
LET ME ASK YA THIS…
What new action could you repeat on a dail
Never underestimate the power of perception! Perception plays a major part in what is actually said -vs- how it is heard. And to patients...perception is reality!For example, lets look at broken appointments, one of the biggest problems in your practice. Last minute changes and no show appointments account for thousands of dollars a month in lost revenue for the practice!Are you sending signals to your patients that it's all right to break appointments?When the patient calls and says they "Forgot" or "Have a meeting." or "Just want to reschedule." Is your response "That's OK.", "Sure, that's no problem." or simply..."How soon do you want to come back?" And then schedule them right back at the 1st available opening?A well established practice with a scheduling coordinator who knows the patients well has a sense of "offending" the patient if they remind them of the dilemma this last minute change will make.Nothing could be further from the truth or more harmful to the practice!An unusually high number of broken appointments generally translates into a lack of respect concerning your practice and appointments time and "time is money."Generally patients simply are not aware of the problems associated with last minute changes because they have be
Sure enough, I walked out of that seminar with “Scott” stuck on my chest. About 10 minutes later I met up with a friend of mine at a local ice cream shop. And that’s when it all started. That’s when the silence was broken.
People began to say hello. Random students walked up to me and started conversations. Even complete strangers yelled “Hey Scott!” from across the room! I noticed an astonishing increase in both my own and other people’s willingness to communicate – all because of a nametag!
Later that night I returned home. I looked in the mirror at that little red and white nametag. And then, I made the most important decision of my entire life:
I vow to wear this nametag all day, every day – for the rest of my life.
That fateful day was November 2nd, 2000. And since then, my entire life has changed. On January 1st, 2003, my first book entitled HELLO, my name is Scott: Wearing Nametags for a Friendlier Society, was released. At the same time, my company, Front Porch Productions was created.
But with every passing day of wearing a nametag – I was forced to look deeper. I knew there was something bigger at work. And now after three years of business and five years of wearing a nametag all day, every day – it’s time to go from experimental to experiential. The following are seven valuable business lessons I learned from wearing a nametag.
Repetition
Like a large percentage of the world, I didn’t learn much in college. Or maybe I just don’t remember much from college. Either way, I did take away a few key concepts from my marketing studies. The main one was called “The Three R’s of Marketing,” which are:
1) Repetition
2) Repetition
3) Repetition
I know it sounds incredibly obvious. But with every single day that I wore that little nametag, people were more and more likely to think “He’s still wearing that nametag!” “Hey look, there’s Scott again…” “Why in the hell does that guy always wear a nametag?”
It was catching on. People not only noticed me, but they remembered me. And now they were starting to tell other people too.
LET ME ASK YA THIS…
What new action could you repeat on a dai
A company that has no logo is dead…at least in marketing and branding terms. The company design logo is the visual representation of its entrepreneurial identity that will make it recognizable for the entire world out there. A good logo design must have such power of attraction that can even entice investors to make a deal with your company. However, with the logo creation, the identity of your company can not be taken for granted yet; it actually takes many years to consolidate the brand name of the company, as well as following a strategic marketing plan according to the objectives of the enterprise.Even consolidated large companies require refueling their marketing strategies and re-branding their image by redesigning the logo design; for instance, in case of merging –when two similar companies get together- the new formed company has to make a custom logo design that can be based on the former logos of the original companies.The re-branding or re-inventing of the company also takes place when the current logo of the company or product is not doing (“selling”) well; therefore it is necessary to redesign, usually done by professional in corporate image and design. It has been proven that some companies have reached success after a logo makeover.When a company is maki
I vow to wear this nametag all day, every day – for the rest of my life.
That fateful day was November 2nd, 2000. And since then, my entire life has changed. On January 1st, 2003, my first book entitled HELLO, my name is Scott: Wearing Nametags for a Friendlier Society, was released. At the same time, my company, Front Porch Productions was created.
But with every passing day of wearing a nametag – I was forced to look deeper. I knew there was something bigger at work. And now after three years of business and five years of wearing a nametag all day, every day – it’s time to go from experimental to experiential. The following are seven valuable business lessons I learned from wearing a nametag.
Repetition
Like a large percentage of the world, I didn’t learn much in college. Or maybe I just don’t remember much from college. Either way, I did take away a few key concepts from my marketing studies. The main one was called “The Three R’s of Marketing,” which are:
1) Repetition
2) Repetition
3) Repetition
I know it sounds incredibly obvious. But with every single day that I wore that little nametag, people were more and more likely to think “He’s still wearing that nametag!” “Hey look, there’s Scott again…” “Why in the hell does that guy always wear a nametag?”
It was catching on. People not only noticed me, but they remembered me. And now they were starting to tell other people too.
LET ME ASK YA THIS…
What new action could you repeat on a dai
Customers. Clients. Patrons. These people are important to all kinds of businesses, but particularly businesses that are small. Without the investors or securities of some of the larger corporations, small businesses often rely solely on those whom they serve. This causes competition, as many small businesses find themselves fighting on separate sides in the crusade for the customer. With so many businesses offering similar services, there is little to distinguish one from the other.However, one thing that does offer distinction is the level of customer service and, more notably, the level of customer disservice.When I first started this article, I asked several people what kind of experiences they had had with poor customer service. Some of their experiences were extreme – with one instance where a photographer punched an unsatisfied customer – but most relayed occurrences consistent with my own. I narrowed it down to three behaviors of customer disservice. When these behaviors are continually maintained, the ability to drive people away will surely be in the bag.Businesses that Act as if their Customer’s are Invisible: In a store or a restaurant, ignoring a customer can range from not asking them if they need help to forgetting to refill their coffee cup. In
Repetition
Like a large percentage of the world, I didn’t learn much in college. Or maybe I just don’t remember much from college. Either way, I did take away a few key concepts from my marketing studies. The main one was called “The Three R’s of Marketing,” which are:
1) Repetition
2) Repetition
3) Repetition
I know it sounds incredibly obvious. But with every single day that I wore that little nametag, people were more and more likely to think “He’s still wearing that nametag!” “Hey look, there’s Scott again…” “Why in the hell does that guy always wear a nametag?”
It was catching on. People not only noticed me, but they remembered me. And now they were starting to tell other people too.
LET ME ASK YA THIS…
What new action could you repeat on a dai
In larger cities with many outlets they are competing for more news that other outlets cannot get as fast. “THE SCOOP” and also the spin, this spin thing is so that articles can cater to the readership or so they say. I have found that many reporters including at the Wall Street Journal, Business Week, Christian Science Monitor, etc completely spin articles. How would I know this? Well I have my sources and I will not tell you!!! Just kidding, thought you might want to hear that excuse one more time.http://www.carwashguys.com/innews.htmlPlaces where you would think that they are very impartial, will spin a story to fit their topic. For a company PR department they say most all news is good news and not to worry. Yet the other point is that if the story is too slanted it is not real. The reason I mention this is because after giving hundreds and hundreds of interviews in my life, I can say not one grasped the topic of conversation and all took quotes out of context, inadvertently misrepresented an event or spun a story to fit their needs of personal opinion or even worse were on their little time line deadline and left out pertinent information. I realize this has been going on for decades;http://www.carwashguys.com/history/museum1.shtmlIn my personal ex
1) Repetition
2) Repetition
3) Repetition
I know it sounds incredibly obvious. But with every single day that I wore that little nametag, people were more and more likely to think “He’s still wearing that nametag!” “Hey look, there’s Scott again…” “Why in the hell does that guy always wear a nametag?”
It was catching on. People not only noticed me, but they remembered me. And now they were starting to tell other people too.
LET ME ASK YA THIS…
What new action could you repeat on a daily basis?
Combine Vocation with Values
I often remind people that what I do as a person and businessperson is not about nametags. The nametag is merely a symbol that represents several core values I hold close to my heart. The truth is; my nametag and my values are one in the same. You see, my nametag represents friendliness, approachability, fun, creativity, uniqueness and casualness. And I, as a person, believe in friendliness, approachability, fun, creativity, uniqueness and casualness.
This reminds me of my friend Ed. He’s a financial planner, and a damn good one at that. But the reason he’s so successful is because his values (planning ahead, setting goals, organization) are manifested through his job. And I think the greatest businesspeople in the world are those who do just that: combine vocation with values.
LET ME ASK YA THIS…
Which values are manifested through your work?
You Can’t Make Everybody Happy
You’d be amazed how much hate mail I’ve received over the years. (Yeah, I know – hate mail addressed to a guy trying to make the world friendlier? Go figure.) But I actually value it tremendously. After all, as customer service experts say, “A complaint is a blessing!” First of all, it’s hilarious. And as you read in the last section, I’m a fun guy. Secondly, there were a few emails that gave me a much needed kick in the butt, making me aware of certain inconsistencies I didn’t see.
Lastly, as much as I don’t want to admit it, not everybody agrees with me on this whole nametag thing. And hey, that’s cool. I’ve come to terms with it over the past 1,635 days. But I’ve still stood my ground, even in the face of embarrassment, staring, humiliation or physically harm (yes, I’ve been beat up for wearing a nametag.) Why? Because I believe in what I do and it makes a difference in others’ lives. Ultimately, it makes me realize that Peter Montoya, author of The Brand Called You, was right when he said, “If everyone agrees with you, you’re doing something wrong.”
LET ME ASK YA THIS…
What values or practices do you apply that receive criticism from others?
It’s Not Who You Know, It's Who Knows You
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