The Advisor’s Corner

Inbound Sales or Content Marketing

May 17, 2021/0 Comments/in Nuggets and Encouragement Regarding Strategy and Focus /by Tom Doescher

Tom Doescher

If you’re under 30, you probably know what these terms mean. After reading They Ask, You Answer by Marcus Sheridan, I learned them, too. Sheridan, the owner of a swimming pool company, utilized this technique and his business exploded — and then he decided to teach the rest of us “how to.” I actually have two clients right now who are in the beginning stages of adding Content Marketing to their businesses.

For those of you who are new to this concept, you may ask, “What is it?” My explanation of Content Marketing would be that it means you establish yourself and your business as experts in your product or service niche. You can accomplish this by writing articles/blogs that you post on your website. For example, Sheridan has written extensively about the advantages and disadvantages of fiberglass (he sells only fiberglass pools) versus cement pools. Yes, that’s correct — he spells out the disadvantages of fiberglass and the advantages of cement pools. By doing so, he strives to provide an objective analysis to help guide future buyers.

This may sound very foreign to you, but Sheridan would say that prospective buyers are going to find out all the facts anyway, so why not establish yourself as the expert? As I reflect upon his advice, I would highly recommend the book as a good primer for Hunters. It offers lots of great suggestions.

We’ve all read about SEO (Search Engine Optimization) and maybe have hired an outside consultant to help us increase our website traffic. Today, the Google search algorithms are really sophisticated, so by posting content-rich articles/blogs on your website, you’ll pull in (Inbound Sales) traffic.

All that being said, I think my mentors, without the benefit of the internet and a website, practiced Content Marketing. They really listened to their clients, they taught their clients what was important related to their business, and they were amazing at solving difficult problems.

As I was reading the book, I remembered an idea my partner came up with in our governmental practice. Now, especially if you’re a younger reader, please bear with me, since the idea predated personal computers, spreadsheets, email, smartphones, etc. This was his very successful Content Marketing strategy:

All local governments in Michigan receive revenues from the State. The State uses a well-published formula to distribute these monies. Periodically, the State publishes updated, estimated actual dollar units that will be paid to each local government. So my partner prepared a form (on a typewriter) that local finance directors could use to estimate their State-shared revenues for budget purposes. This form became a famous and sought-after document. I know it sounds crazy, because all the information he provided was available to the local governments, but over the years, many of them used my partner’s form for their budgets. This “Old School” Content Marketing concept established my partner as a local government expert who reeled in prospective clients who came to him by foot — not by the internet.

If you’re looking for ways to increase your lead generation, I would highly recommend They Ask, You Answer.

Are the Best “Client Servers” the Best “Hunters”?

May 3, 2021/in Extraordinary Customer/Client Service /by Tom Doescher

Tom Doescher

I was with a client the other day and he was telling me about the tools he’s creating to help his professionals engage with their clients. These tools identify industry-type issues and knowledge that will help the client avoid increased costs and/or be more profitable. Don’t tell him, but while he was talking, I started thinking of what I had written in my book Hunter Extraordinaire: Sage Advice from the Lucky Guy Series — specifically on pages 2 and 3, as follows:

Here’s what the clients/customers say about the types of sales reps labeled “The Challenger”:

They offer unique and valuable perspectives on our market.
They help navigate alternatives.
They provide ongoing advice or consultation.
They help me avoid potential land mines.
They educate me on new issues and outcomes.

Suffice it to say that at Doescher Advisors, we believe the most successful new business developers “help” their clients/customers; they do not “sell” them.

So when I think about this blog’s title question and my experiences over the years, my answer is yes.

In my opinion, Hunters are very difficult to find. That being said, I would let the Hunters do their thing, but also figure out a way to have them occasionally interact with your major clients to achieve the benefits discussed in the book The Challenger Sale, by Matthew Dixson and Brent Adamson.

Is the Lack of Water Cooler Discussions Hurting Learning?

March 8, 2021/0 Comments/in Nuggets and Encouragement Regarding Strategy and Focus /by Tom Doescher

Tom Doescher

We’ve all had to deal with lots of change during the global pandemic. Actually, some of the changes are good. I may post a blog in the future sharing the positive changes in my life/routine. Anyway, I do have a concern about the loss of informal conversations that used to happen in the workplace — commonly referred to as “Water Cooler Talk.” Having devoted decades in a professional/knowledge-based environment, I’ve been reflecting upon how I learned. Formal classroom training played a small role, while on-the-job training played a much bigger role. As I’ve thought it over for the past few months, I would say some of the most impactful lessons took place at the water cooler. They were unscheduled, impromptu discussions with colleagues about a client and/or business issue.

For years, my office was at the end of a long hallway. When I was working on a sticky client issue, I’d often look down the hallway to see whose office lights were on. Determining who was around was the first step in helping me identify someone who could help me solve my problem. I would stroll or race down the hallway and barge in on them unannounced, then ask the famous question: Do you have a minute? Usually, they’d respond yes, because they knew that at some time in the future, they would be standing in my doorway. This past year, as I’ve engaged in Zoom, GoToMeeting, and other video tools from my home office, I’ve wondered, Would I call/contact others while working remotely? Unfortunately for me, the answer is probably no.

To make matters worse, I think going forward post-Covid, many businesses are going to have large portions of their workforce continuing to work remotely.

So do we have a systemic problem brewing in professions that depend on knowledge workers?

I’d love to hear from you.

First of all, do you agree there’s a potential problem where professionals working remotely will not ask — and therefore will not receive — important knowledge?

Secondly, have you adopted practices to mitigate the loss of Water Cooler Talk?

I can’t wait to get your feedback.

Inbound Sales or Content Marketing

Tom Doescher

Are the Best “Client Servers” the Best “Hunters”?

Tom Doescher

Is the Lack of Water Cooler Discussions Hurting Learning?

Tom Doescher

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