One effective way to boost your image online is to tap into popular social networking websites such as Facebook and Twitter. The dynamics behind how these sites operate can help promote your brand and company by catching the eye of thousands of potential customers and clients.

There are many ways to use social networking sites, and one of the most effective is to tap into your existing customer base. You can put small banners or streamers on your website for customers to “Follow” you on Twitter and “Become a Fan” on Facebook. It’s a relatively inexpensive online marketing campaign that makes use of existing customers to help spread the word about your products or services to people they are connected with. And the more fans and followers you have, the more presence your company will have - creating an image of respectability and popularity among a large number of people. This is true with a Pronto Marketing website or one based on the Technology Marketing Toolkit of Robin Robins or a Kutenda site. No mater what you use, this can help you.

If you’d like to explore this and other online marketing options, give us a call and we’ll be happy to develop a strategy that fits your particular needs

The other day there was question asked about what makes salespeople effective, mostly relating to systems and CRM but it got me thinking…

I think there’s a more subtle and deeper issue at play in terms of what we expect from a salesperson these days. Anyone who’s involved in marketing and communications knows that there’s a seismic shift in how buyers go about the purchase process and form opinions. They are no longer passively waiting for someone to broadcast information to them and they have tools such as Google, Twitter and review sites that make it easy to verify what they hear. Today the customer is in control.

Peter Drucker once said “Suppliers and especially manufacturers have market power because they have information about a product or a service that the customer does not and cannot have, and does not need if he can trust the brand. This explains the profitability of brands. ”

Today I think he’s wrong - yes I know calling out Mr. Drucker is a bold move! Because the consumer does have access to information about the product or service, independent of the company providing it. Reviews, tweets, comparisons, blogs -the list is huge and the information almost endless. This, along with the explosion of social media and networks, has created a different set of expectations for the type of information we want from companies and the relationships we expect.

I think many salespeople, old school, don’t understand this change. They, in their sales engagements, are broadcasting a company message. It’s problem from the first day a caveman left his cave to sell something that salespeople have always had issue with listening rather than talking but it’s becoming even tougher because they have to listen in a way to add value to the relationship that might not even be directly related to closing a sale. Now more than ever we feel we’ve been sold on so many levels a pile of rubbish and we’re tired of it. Companies; their marketing and salespeople, are going to have to modulate their communications to resonate with this new reality. The salespeople who what my business need to bring a value to the relationship over and above the company they represent; if not I’d rather just deal with a web-based order form.

Our customers and clients have more choice than ever before. They have more awareness of these choices and can see through a sales pitch like never before. Be it marketing or sales they are looking for a sort of transparency and relationship that’s something different. I suspect many will struggle with this. But it’s also fertile ground for Trusted Business Advisers.