It’s an important distinction to make—sales isn’t marketing.

When drilling down to the basics:

• Marketing focuses on the long-term brand and sales focuses on the short-term sales.
• Marketing plans facilitate the brand, experience, and relationship; sales finds opportunities to create, follow up, and build on relationships.
• Marketing’s ultimate goal is to develop and define the product, while sales’ ultimate goal is to close a transaction or deal.

Both sales and marketing are valuable to an organization, with relationships acting as the common thread between them. Sales and marketing need to work closely together so that their efforts complement each other.

Too often, however, the functions get jumbled. The sales goals drive the marketing, and in turn, the marketing efforts become more about simply selling the product and less about selling the brand.

I used to work for a gym where the sales goals drove the marketing efforts. Each month we came up with a sales promotion or incentive.

• If membership sales were down, we increased the frequency of our ads.
• If sales were really down, we gave existing members an incentive to refer a friend.

We were training the market to evaluate us based on our incentive, or price, and not on the experience we offered.

At monthly meetings, we didn’t focus on the number of cancellations, how we could prevent people from cancelling, or, more importantly, how we could make the gym an experience the member valued beyond burning calories. We thought about the product—the membership contract—and never about the experience and relationship the member had with the gym. Once members signed our contract, they were left to fend for themselves in a sea of weights and pulley contraptions.

Our marketing efforts should have been focused on creating tools and programs that would influence the experience and relationship—in other words, the brand. And, on the sales side, we should have been selling the brand, not the contract terms.

We failed to use the powerful connection between sales and marketing. Marketing should support sales. Marketing should help develop the brand and the tools that make the sales job easier. In a recent branding discussion, Kurian Tharakan of Acton Consulting explained this connection with the following analogy:

“Marketing sets the volleyball so that sales can spike.”

Both sales and marketing are important, and when the two work together, the client experience becomes infinitely better and the sales become stronger too.

Summer has arrived! And, with its arrival comes what is often a heart-stopping, bring-you-to-your-knees, please-don’t-make-me experience for many women—swimsuit shopping. (cue dreading music)

Despite my best efforts to schedule a root canal without anaesthesia (as a more appealing option to bikini shopping), I finally bit the bullet and ventured into a cute boutique in downtown Edmonton called Offshores. With hands sweating, heart pounding, and as many skinny thoughts as I could muster, I went in expecting the worst. Instead, I was pleasantly surprised.

Now, guys—you are probably tuning out right about now—pay attention. There are some important lessons here for any business that deals with people.

Here is Offshores’ approach:

Know Your Client’s Fears

Offshores recognizes that many women are self-critical, so they take extra steps to make customers feel more comfortable and attractive by dimming the lights.

This made a big difference in my comfort level and my perception of their products; If a certain product doesn’t work for me (i.e., I don’t think it looks good on me), I won’t buy it.

Be Honest, But Supportive

Upon arrival, the staff told me “Don’t worry, we will be honest.” This can be a double-edged sword for many service providers. Yes, be honest, but don’t be critical!

Offshores zoned in on my assets and helped me enhance them. They did not pick at my flaws; this made me feel like they were on my side.

The wonderful experience I had at Offshores (which I had heard of through word-of-mouth) has spurred me to tell others about the store. The effort Offshores makes to ensure that customers are supported—and that they leave not only with a swimsuit, but with a smile on their face—is invaluable advertising.

Anyone can sell a bikini. Helping someone feel better about herself in the process? Holy Cow!

“Good is the enemy of great.” This is the first line in Jim Collins must read book “Good to Great.” He suggests that when we become satisfied with good, we don’t push for great and in so doing set the stage for our own demise.

Good is easy. Good is comfortable. Good typically means doing it the same as we did last time. This is especially true when it comes to service. The problem is that we as customers have become more demanding. Good service is simply expected. We are no longer satisfied with good.

So, what makes service great? A recent family dinner to a local restaurant to celebrate my parents’ 40th wedding anniversary highlighted three key elements to truly great service.

1. Authentic. It needs to be genuine and delivered with a personal touch that can’t be taught. In fact, if you try and train everyone to do the same thing you become less authentic. We brought our 15-month old son to the restaurant with us. Good service would have offered us a high chair, a kid’s menu and maybe some crayons. Great service saw the server on her hands and knees playing peek-a-boo and the hostess making a tin foil hat for my son to wear.
2. Unexpected. To stand out, you have to catch people by surprise. If we see it coming, the impact is less profound. Good service would have had brought out a cake for dessert to help us celebrate the special occasion. Great service had the chef come out from the kitchen to ask my parents for their favorite ingredients. He then proceeded to make a custom dessert just for them!
3. Remarkable. When you break the word down it means something to remark about. Halfway through dinner my sister went to the washroom. When she returned, she proceeded to tell us about the glass tile, the fountain, the twelve types of hand lotion, and the candles. Everyone else suddenly had to go too. When they returned they also raved about the unbelievable bathroom experience. In fact, we are still telling everyone we know.

Don’t settle for good. Seek out ways to make your company’s service more authentic, unexpected and remarkable. Great service is what brings customers back…and really great makes them bring their friends!

I recently shared my ideas on the concept of confidence accumulation and its importance to cultivating referrals to some of my peers at a TEN luncheon.

We know that referrals are one of the most powerful drivers of business development (marketing giant Nike says that the vast majority of its business is from referrals). We also know that the science behind promoting good referrals involves creating a good experience, and to create a good experience you need to manage your touch points—not all your touch points though, only those that are important to your target market.

But how exactly do positive experiences at relevant touch points translate into referrals? Why is it that 100 good touch points can be ruined by 1 mediocre one?

One way to think about referrals is through the concept of accumulation.

In order for potential clients to decide to do business with you, to actually reach into their pockets and pull out their wallets, they need to feel confident that what they’re going to receive in exchange for their money is of equal value. There needs to be a certain level of confidence on their part, in your product or service. What’s more, that level of required confidence varies depending on the product or service. Common commodities like toothpaste or shampoo have a lower threshold of confidence that must be reached than, say, consulting services or a more significant product like a car or home.

For someone to refer your company, an accumulation of confidence also needs to occur—and perhaps even more so, because a referral reflects back on the person who gave it.

Here’s the connection: each touch point either adds to or detracts from that confidence.

This is why managing each touch point is so crucial, and also why some touch points should be weighted heavier than others. (How do you know which touch points to focus on? Survey your customers.)

For instance, a web-savvy consumer checks out a company’s website (one of his highly valued touch points) before going to the store to purchase something. If the website is terrible, he may not even go into the store because the amount of confidence lost in his interaction with this crucial touch point could be too much to recover.

On the other hand, another consumer might place more value in the appearance and manner of the company’s staff, and not care at all about the website.

The point is, think of your company’s touch points, think about the ones that matter most to your target, and then figure out how to make them confidence builders, not confidence detractors. It’s also important to make sure there aren’t any inconsistencies between your touch points, because inconsistency is one of the most detrimental factors to the accumulation of confidence.

People always think that good customer service is enough to generate referrals. But what does that mean exactly? Responsiveness? Expertise? Look and feel? In fact, someone’s willingness to refer your business is based on an accumulation of confidence over multiple touch points.

My recommendation: be selective.

Relationships are valuable, and good ones take time. Given that time is in limited supply, we need to be selective when it comes to choosing who to focus our energy on.

In my experience, those who take more energy from you than they bring aren’t worth your time—or your energy.

Those who bring energy are worth the effort it takes to build and maintain a lasting relationship with. They’re the people I’ve decided to focus my efforts on. In my experience, the individuals who energize me are:

1. Honest
2. Reliable
3. Interesting

Honest

Anyone can be honest. Being honest well is something of an art form. In my mind, this means giving a well thought-out answer while softening the blow.

I’m learning this from someone who brings energy to the table every single time I meet with her. This person makes the brass knuckles under a velvet glove concept work in her favour.

When she says you communicate clearly and you’re so good at letting people know how you feel, what she’s really saying is you’re direct, bordering on aggressive. Constructive criticism can often be tough to receive, but she was honest so well that she gave me the energy to work on improving this aspect of my personality.

Reliable

You know that person who cancels two out of every three meetings you’ve scheduled?

This was another learning curve for me. The first step to being reliable is to know how to say NO. If you don’t know whether you can make it—to a wedding dress fitting for your lovely sister-in-law-to-be, to a board meeting, or to family games night—don’t commit.

It’s like dating: most people would prefer to have no plans at all than to be ready to go in fabulous black pants, a black silk top, killer stilettos, hair curled, and mascara perfected, only to receive a last minute cancellation from the dinner date.

If you aren’t sure if you can fulfill your commitment, don’t make one. Your excuses will be transparent, and will zap energy faster than you can get out of your killer stilettos and into your Lulus.

Interesting

Think of the most interesting person you know. This is the person who, when you plan a cocktail party, you look into their availability before selecting a date.

This is the person who shows up with a bottle of pink champagne sporting a massive ribbon around the neck, who’s telling a story before her coat’s off, and who causes everyone sitting at the kitchen island to breathe a sigh of relief because they know with absolute certainty that this individual’s arrival signals the end of strained conversation and water refills.

These are the people who bring energy—life—to a party, and to your life.

Those who give more energy than they take—people who are honest, reliable, and interesting—those people are worth every ounce of energy you devote to fostering a strong relationship with.

Not only are these ideal qualities to look out for in other people, but they’re also worth cultivating in yourself. Develop these qualities and you’ll find that people will put more effort into fostering their relationships with you—business and otherwise.

The Olympic Winter Games of 2010 in Vancouver are mere weeks away. While the rush to get snow on Cypress Mountain, finalize transportation plans, and train volunteers is on, across Canada a large scale relationship building festival is taking place - the torch relay.

The torch relay has become a staple of the modern Olympics and is the first event people experience prior to the start of competition. Though the flame is the one connection back to the games of Ancient Greece, it wasn’t introduced to the modern games until 1928 in Amsterdam with the first relay taking place through Hungary, Czechoslovakia and Austria prior to Berlin’s 1936 games. Now it is a regular part of the lead up to an Olympic games and is the ultimate relationship builder for both organizers and the International Olympic Committee (IOC).

In essence all that’s happening is the flame is literally being carried from Olympia, Greece to the Olympic host. However, what’s really taking place is the creation of millions of connections and Olympic followers along the whole path to the host city, thus generating a buildup of excitement prior to the games. For the Vancouver relay:

• 1,000 communities will have the flame visit them
• 45,000 km will be covered throughout Canada
• 12,000 torch bearers will be part of the relay
• 200 total torch celebrations will be organized

When you look at these numbers, it’s easy to see just how many people will have an up close and personal Olympic experience, even if they won’t be in Vancouver cheering on the athletes. Organizers, in fact, estimate that 90% of Canada’s population will be within a one hour drive of the route. Thousands upon thousands will create not only a patriotic furor, but will also be connected to a greater sense of belief in the essence of the Olympic movement - unity, friendliness, and sport. People remember these experiences. People share these experiences. From a marketing perspective you can’t ask for more because having people carry your story to others through unbiased referrals is invaluable. They do the talking for you.

The Olympic Games generates numerous opinions and views, but it can’t be refuted that with this relay across Canada, a simple marketing truth holds true. If you can create or enhance a relationship through a unique and positive experience, people will naturally gravitate to you. Counting the people on the road to Vancouver will tell you that.

Entrepreneurs’ Organization Edmonton (EO) celebrated entrepreneurship last month with keynote speaker Cameron Herald—former COO and co-founder of 1-800-GOT-JUNK. I’m always skeptical about whether or not I’ll get value from speakers in a seminar format, but I’ve developed this habit where I try to take one thing from every speaker I listen to and, so far, I’ve had good success. To my delight, I got a whole pile of “things” from Herald.

Herald’s talk wasn’t about how to build an empire (it certainly could have been). Instead, he focused his discussion around a rollercoaster analogy. The idea is that every entrepreneurial-minded individual is “on the track” and, like it or not, there will be significant highs and lows and the journey will be tough. Herald shared some strategies around how to get through the highs (what he called uninformed optimism) and the lows. It was simple—and profound. I identified with every stage.

After his talk, I had an opportunity to chat with him. I asked him about success, and he immediately pointed to the strategies he used to build relationships.

Cameron: “We had over 5,000 (yup, 3 zeros!) media hits in the first 5 years of our company’s life.”

Me: “What was the secret?”

Cameron: “Well, I can tell you that it wasn’t really due to our successes, it was more about how we built relationships.”

Me: “Tell me more.”

Cameron: “I’ve always bypassed the reporters and gone straight to the writers, the camera operators, and the field staff. I’m still friends with a writer who I called up once. We ended up meeting and sharing a Manhattan—I gave him some perspective, and helped him with our story angle—the guy was thrilled to be talking to the source! Ever since, he’s become a huge ambassador for us. It’s pretty simple, treat people with respect and find a way to help them out—and big things come your way.”

Cameron: “We had an employee once who was struggling with his work so I asked him what his dreams were. He indicated that he had always wanted to sit in the box with the Vancouver Canucks during a hockey game. Turns out the writer I mentioned had some connections so I called in a favour and next thing I knew, my employee was at the game in the box with the coaching staff and players of the Canucks! The players liked him and took him out for beers afterwards…he doesn’t work for me anymore but, to this day, he’d break down walls for me.”

“How can I help?” versus “What can I get?” Five thousand media articles (and a globally recognized business) later and Cameron Herald’s riding the wave.

Over the course of my year in Nanjing, China, I learned about the word guanxi, which means "relationships." People seemed to think very highly of this somewhat puzzling word. The phrase, "he has good guanxi," would inevitably receive significant admiration displayed through a great deal of head nodding and grunts of approval. Despite my initial puzzlement about the meaning of the word, I would be profoundly influenced by the real culture of guanxi in China.

It happened while eating dinner with a famous business leader in Nanjing. During the course of an eight-hour twelve course meal together, and despite great communication difficulties, the two of us became friends for life. I have yet to meet an individual who was as genuinely and unconditionally interested in me, my country, my thoughts, my family, my business, and my beliefs.

This experience taught me a great deal about guanxi and the Ancient Chinese Art of Relationships. By the end of my trip, I realized that my accomplishments in China would not have been achieved without the wonderful relationships that I had developed. Here’s what I learnt through guanxi:

1. Slow down. Be patient. Great relationships take time.
2. Be polite. Say thank you. Show respect. Tell people how much you appreciate their investment in you. Write hand written notes. Learn how to do a proper handshake.
3. Listen. Look people in the eyes. Show genuine interest. Ask tons of questions. Repeat their answers. Limit how much you talk.
4. Don’t judge. Give people a chance. The people you meet will teach you, inspire you and make you grow. Develop relationships with people from all walks of life.
5. Forgive. If people have upset you, deal with the issue for the sake of the relationship. Holding a grudge gets you nowhere.
6. Apologize. If mistakes have been made, don’t be afraid to offer a sincere apology. Admitting mistakes is a sign of strength, not weakness.
7. Stay in touch. Follow up with the relationships you have made. Keep a database of your contacts with a calendar of activities to maintain contact with them.
8. Ask for help. People love to help – show some vulnerability and let people in.
9. Lose your ego. People don’t want to be around people who make them feel small. Learn to talk the same language and use the same expressions as the people you meet with.
10. Have fun. Everyone likes to laugh. Humour is perhaps the most underrated networking technique.

Follow these basic principles and incorporate them into your daily behaviours. As your network of solid relationships expands, so too will your success in business and in life.

For my grandfather, sitting on the deck at his Pigeon Lake cottage was not just a pastime, it was a way of life. There was one particular morning on the deck that truly changed my life. Grandpa was worried about our dog, Laker. Laker had been logging 12- to 14-hour days for the past month hunting a squirrel. She would crane her neck to look into trees hoping to catch a glimpse of her prey. Grandpa was worried that Laker was going to get a permanent neck kink and, as a result, decided that we should shoot the squirrel.

With a pellet gun in one hand and a rum and coke in the other, Grandpa and I spent hours that day pulling the trigger. I think we used over six packets of pellets. After each miss, Grandpa would yell “egad!” or “oh crow!” or “dag nabbit!” Mom spent most of the day trying to ignore us. Then, in a sudden fateful moment, one pellet ricocheted off the flag pole and struck the squirrel with a killing blow! We gasped and hurried over to the squirrel. Looking down on it, Grandpa turned to me, and I noticed a small tear trickling down his cheek.

After the burial ceremony, Grandpa looked me in the eyes and said; “Jared, we Smith men were never good hunters. It’s a lonely sport, just not a fit with our personality. We’re people people. And you know what? If I look back at all the success I have had in business, I can’t really take any of the credit. It’s because of the people I have surrounded myself with. If you want to be incredible, surround yourself with incredible people.”

I didn’t know it at the time, but that was it — my life-changing moment. In the midst of the emotion and chaos of squirrel hunting, Grandpa had found a way to impart a wisdom that would eventually impact on every aspect of my life.

Look around you: your family, your friends, your staff, and especially your clients. Are they incredible? If not, it could be time to make some changes.

Thinking about connecting to your target audience is a lot like getting ready to meet that dream girl (or guy) for that first date. What do you say? What should you say?

One of most important processes in creating a marketing plan is clearly defining your target audience. Deciding what to say to a target audience is where most organizations get stuck and spin their wheels. There’s a limited window of time for marketing to make an impact, and unfortunately, this pressure causes companies to default to what they know: they end up talking about product line, service offerings, company history, and experience. But talking about these things is neither compelling nor effective. If time is scarce, why not respect your audience’s time and really connect with them? Back to our dream girl; she doesn’t want to hear all about you. And remember, she’s popular–she can date anyone she wants! There are three easy ways to make a meaningful connection with your target audience:

1. Develop messages that are relevant, specific, and valuable to the audience

The best way to do this is to determine what it is about the product or service that frustrates your audience. Determine your customers’ pains by simply asking them–and ask prospects too. It’s important to do this well – navigate past typical “good price, good quality, or good service” type responses and really dig in. Having third-party expertise to facilitate this process will help you garner more honest feedback that will inevitably be more useful.

Once you have a list of frustrations from the customer, match what makes you unique to counter those frustrations. Maybe a certain way that you conduct your business alleviates that frustration. If not, then what do your competitors do that alleviate that frustration? Can you do the same or better? Or, maybe no one in the market is working to alleviate that frustration. That’s even better because figuring out how you can do it gives you a competitive edge.

2. Develop a target audience profile and an individual as its primary representative

Developing an audience profile is a good way to capture basic demographics (age, income, etc.), but it fails to really nail down an audience’s personality. To get at this, develop an individual persona that represents the group. Be specific! Give that person a name; outline their motivations, hobbies, and feelings. This might sound superfluous, but it isn’t because it’s much easier to write messages for a marketing piece if you’re thinking of writing to one person vs. to a group. To be really successful at this, consider developing a physical representation of this person–a cardboard cut-out, a custom action figure, a poster, etc. This way the person is at the front of your mind at all times.

3. Develop a Theme or Story

The book Made to Stick by Dan and Chip Heath gives us a formula to help make ideas or messages stick. They need to be simple, unexpected, concrete, credible, emotional, and story-like. Stories are a great way to tie in your brand and your messages in a way that resonates with your audience. When done properly, a brand theme or story should diffuse through every part of your business (your office design, your signage, your print material)–think about every single audience touch-point. To be really successful at this, try to apply those elements to your story. The great thing about stories is that it cuts through the clutter too. It’s easy for competitors to say that they do the same thing that you do, but rarely will they have the audacity to copy your brand theme or story.

Be sure to connect on that first date! Find out what your customer’s frustrations are then match them specifically to what makes you unique. Develop a very specific target audience persona and keep a physical representation of him or her nearby as a constant reminder. Lastly, work on a creative story or theme that helps you stand out, hits messages home, and is difficult to duplicate.