A Private Citizen and Business Face-off?

Since the rise of the industrial age, the world of public policy has been split into two distinct camps. It started as a fight between man and machine. How do we protect the rights of men in the face of rising automation and sterile standardization? The machine was gradually replaced by the Corporate machine, provided a starched gray facade to the world of business.

In the late 1990's, best-selling author Daniel H. Pink wrote in his book Free Agent Nation about the flattening of the top-down hierarchy in business organizations. He forecast the now entrenched work style in which business is conducted based on horizontal collaborations with other businesses. Last week on the History Channel, they ran a program about the changing face of cities, where the high rise office building will seem like a joke to a generation of workers who think it's not necessary for all of a company's workers to be in the same place at the same time.

As more and more people start small businesses in their homes, public policy can no longer be about business versus private citizen. These two components are no longer mutually exclusive. Even full-time factory workers can own a rental property or run an online hat resale business in their off hours. As a result, the same policies and laws that affect corporate giants like Microsoft and Bank of America also affect the stay at home mom who develops databases and the private investor. S-corporations are IRS-backed proof that private citizens can be businesses, too.

I urge all of you to be aware of what's happening with laws and policies that are in place in your community. With any local or national news item that catches your eye, ask yourself:

1. How does this affect me as a parent/student/spouse/employee/homeowner/renter/private citizen?
2. How does this affect me as a person with business interests such as rental property, business ventures, investments, or 401k contributions?
3. How does this affect the businesses around me and their ability to provide goods, services, and jobs to our community?

By putting yourself into someone else's shoes, you'll see that the image of business is no longer the starched gray facade of the 1950's. The woman picking strawberries in her yard at 11am on a Wednesday morning could be moving $5 million worth of apparel products from Tucson to Newark while she's taking a break to tend her garden.

How are your public policies affecting you?

Why either/or? Lower taxes versus infrastructure development to help small businesses

The week of December 12th, the folks on one of the national news channels was asking the audience: should the Barak Obama and his new administration focus on lowering taxes to help small businesses or emphasize infrastructure development. The discussion was polarizing. I think it would be helpful to clarify that BOTH efforts would help our economy. Here's how:

1. Favorable tax structures are needed to retain businesses both large and small. If taxes are too high the businesses can't afford them. If the tax structures require an army of accountants to decipher, the businesses can't afford them, either.
2. Roads and public transport are needed to get people and goods to and from your business location. Nothing is worse than an 2 hour commute each day for employees and products that miss shipping containers because they were stuck in traffic. This causes people to find new jobs closer to home and buy competing products that actually make it to the shelves.
3. Utilities have to be affordable and actually work. This includes affordable electricity, water, sewer, and recycling services. If the water system doesn't have the capacity available to help a manufacturer produce its product or if the electrical grid of an area cannot handle in influx of power-sapping computer-driven businesses, then a community's ability to attract new businesses is limited.
4. The technology should be forward-thinking and affordable. Even the smallest bookkeeper in rural Tennessee could find herself working for a company with offices in London and Bangalore. If her community only offers dial-up Internet service, either she will be limited in her ability to work remotely with other companies or she'll have to move to a more populated area. Our rural and underdeveloped communities are already suffering from limited job opportunities and shouldn't have to deal with technology limitations.

Some areas of the United States have lost some key corporate businesses because of a combination of the issues above, if not all of them. Many areas of the country have a high failure rate for small businesses because of any combination of the four above. And I haven't even touched on employment law. So, president-elect Obama, don't let the media wrangle you in playing the polarization game. It takes both financial policies and infrastructure development to make a country's business community thrive. I hope that this balance in policy will bring about prosperity.

Seattle Chamber Testimonial

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Filling the Funnel: Negotiating the Close

Part Six of Seven on the Complex Sales Process
by Tracy A. Corley

Over the past year, we've been exploring the seven phases of the sales funnel. In this issue, we focus on the close. Salespeople often focus on getting buyer to say Yes to the proposal that is put in front of them. And much too often, they hear "no" instead. Asking for the close isn't like "making a kill" -- It is much more than an unconditional acceptance of terms. For both you and the buyer, everything is negotiable. If you're getting hesitation or hearing "no", asking for the close will most often require some level of negotiation. How can you ensure a mutual win-win for both you and your client the next time you ask for the close?

The Four S's of Marketing in a Web 2.0 World

What does Web 2.0 mean for marketing small businesses today? This was my topic in a recent panel discussion at the Partnering Works Business Conference on September 26th. I summarized the following points to help companies look at the big picture, which I call the 4 S's:

1. Strategy. Strategy is the lifeblood of a strong business. With Web 2.0, the marketing opportunities seem endless. A solid strategy will allow you to focus on what's most important to fulfilling your mission, vision, and values. By focusing on your marketing strategy, you can choose tools and tactics that go beyond the trends and bring real value for your business.
2. Segmentation. In traditional marketing, many small companies focused on two to three market segments. With Web 1.0, personalization became important when reaching out to those segments. Web 2.0 is more robust, which means a bit more work for small business owners. Now, we have at lest dozens of market segments to track, requiring detailed audience profiles. On the upside, the work pays off when your audience feels connected to your online presence.
3. Substance. Your web site can no longer be a repeat of printed brochure. Now that you have dozens of audiences to reach, there should be segments of content on your site that speaks to all of them. Break the micro-segments into major audience categories, then craft your site content to focus on real solutions, reflect how those customers buy, and reflect your voice and principles.
4. Social Outreach. Online marketing is no longer a one-way dialogue where the company controls the message. Marketing is now a conversation controlled by the customer. Being transparent and "wearing your heart on your sleeve" helps you connect with your customers. As a result, the former "trend" of social responsibility is an expected norm. Companies are expected to be active in their local and/or global communities. Sustainability is expected to be a baseline standard for operating your business. Outreach and open communication is much easier thanks to Web 2.0.

Underlying the Four S's is the relationship. Marketing is all about the relationship. If you focus on the relationship, you can leverage the Web 2.0 tools that make the most sense for your customers and your business. Don't get caught up in the flash and glam of all the options of Web 2.0. Keep true to your strategy, (micro-)segment your audience, provide real substance, and commit to social outreach. When Web 3.0 rolls around (some say it's already here), you'll be ready to make a smooth transition to deeper marketing relationships.

Small Business Concerns in a Web 2.0 World

Today I participated in a panel discussion at the Partnering Works Business Conference on how Web 2.0 is changing how small businesses operate and market. The conversation was rich and included Eric Weaver (Vice President of Edelman Digital), Rachel Derlatka (Partner at Alliance Network Services), and moderator Greg Lins (President & Founder of TLG Innovation). We discussed what Web 2.0 really means, how it impacts marketing, and what the future looks like for global enterprise. I think that the discussion can be best summarized as:

• Web 2.0 changed the Internet from a one-way push of information to site visitors to an interconnected two-way push/pull of communication between companies and site visitors.
• Businesses should stop thinking about a web site and start thinking about their social web. The social web includes a web site, social networking sites, blogs, and other digital communications tools. It's not enough to have a spot on the web. The strength of your online presence depends upon the size of your personal and professional networks.
• Privacy is almost dead. Don't post anything on the web -- personal or professional -- that you wouldn't say or do sober at a cocktail party. With privacy so highly at risk, online communicators must be diligent about protecting their personal information, but be completely open with all communications. If you lie or attempt to be deceitful or restrained, it's almost certain that someone will find out. Deception and half-truths can quickly discredit you and your business.
• The boundaries between personal and professional are blurring, thanks to upcoming Millennials and Gen X'ers. Though it might not seem relevant now, including personal bits about yourself in your online presences will help people connect with you.
• It's difficult to determine the intent of someone sitting behind a computer. Revelation and transparency can help you build your networks much faster and create open communication with your online community members.
• The consumer is in complete control. Remember that anyone can build a blog or connect via their social network and spread information about your company more quickly than you can put out a press release. Top it off, marketing is the least-trusted channel of information according to Edelman's consumer trust report (contact Eric for more about this). People won't trust your press releases, but they will trust the opinions of their peers.
• Web 2.0 reinforces the importance of relationships. The web should be a communications tool, not a veil of canned statements to hide behind. The conversation you have online should match the tone and substance of the conversations you have face-to-face.
• Social networks will not replace in-person communications. It just makes person-to-person engagements more effective and more personal, particularly if you have an established online relationship.
• The speed at which new technology and tools roll out will only accelerate over the years. Keep an eye out for Web 3.0 in the near future.

I will post either a video or a podcast as soon as the digital content is ready. I will also publish a written version of my presentation, The Four S's of Marketing in a Web 2.0 World, in the next few weeks.

Filling the Funnel: Writing Proposals that Tell AND Sell

Part Five of Seven on the Complex Sales Process by Tracy A. Corley We've been taking a look at how to build awareness, turn suspects into prospects, qualify leads, and assess needs. If you're making a good impression on your prospect, at some point the client is going to say, "Great! What can you do for me, and what will it cost?" That's the time to start writing the proposal. Some of you already have formulas for writing a proposal. It may consist of elements as simple as providing line items with quantities and costs. If you have a complex sale (i.e. a sale that requires building a relationship and typically takes more than three months to close), writing a good proposal can be time consuming. How can you quickly develop a proposal that stands out and the sale closes faster?

Filling the Funnel: Assessing Needs

This is part four of a seven-part series. In this article, we discuss how to make the most of your appointment.

Hopefully, by the time you set the in-person appointment, you already have a great idea about what your client is looking for. With the complex sale, however, just connecting with one contact doesn't mean you're ready to present your proposal. An in-depth needs assessment is the purpose of this stage of the sales cycle. If you read the previous article about Qualifying Prospects, you know that you're talking to a qualified company. You have asked about their key concerns, have identified how your company can address those concerns, created a system for managing the relationship with the company, and are crystal clear about which concerns you cannot address. Now that the prospect is qualified, how do you make the most of the appointment?

What is Strategy?

In a recent presentation entitled Dollars and Sense: Business Strategies for Marketing that Sells, a participant asked what the difference was between a Vision and a Strategy. At the time, I have to admit, I didn't have a clear answer. I used my curiosity to look up what others had to say.

Some expert sources, like the Harvard Business Review and the Ivey Business Journal, have slightly different definitions of what a corporate strategy is. However, after reviewing a number of business strategy sites, I realize that strategy is the "umbrella" that captures all the pieces of why a business exists and the direction in which it is heading.

Filling the Funnel: Qualifying Prospects

In the last two issues of our newsletter, TsuluNews, we explored the first two stages of the sales cycle: Building Awareness and Turning Suspects into Prospects. If you've been practicing these two steps diligently, your phone should be ringing with prospects looking for solutions. But how do you know if your prospect is qualified?

Welcome to the launch of TsuluViews!

TsuluWerks is excited to launch its blog, TsuluViews. We will be posting our articles and tips to this blog to make it easier for more people to access this exciting information. Since we mean business, I would like to start of with a sales and marketing integration starter, the three essentials for high-performing sales teams: