Social Value…

Two thought leaders led a session for our sales organization a while back - they described how to establish an image of high social value in the eye of a prospect even if a sales rep is inexperienced.  As it turns out, several of their stated "do's", I don't - LOL! 

We have many thought leaders these days.   Wikipedia (a thought leader aggregator) offers: 

Thought Leader can be recognized as an authority in a specific field and whose expertise is sought and often rewarded,… that can be an expert, a historical figure, or a 'wise person' with worldly impact. 

Truly, we’ve had thought leaders; trendsetters; pathfinders; profits; oracles; voodoo-doctors; sages; and soothsayers throughout the ages.  I wonder if we followers in the 21^st century have that same feeling about those thought leaders as the Romans did: 

It seems to me that no soothsayer should be able to look at another soothsayer without laughing. 

Cicero 

Lest you think I am trying to position myself as a thought leader, please don’t.  Some have referred to me as an expert but I would reluctantly agree to that moniker solely based on Niels Bohn’s definition: 

An expert is a man who has made all the mistakes which can be made in a very narrow field. 

Mostly, I like to poke fun at thought leaders such as the two that offered their views on how to gain high social value in the eyes of our clients and prospects.  Let the fun-poking continue! 

One of their tips was to not respond quickly to an incoming email or text.  They said making the client or prospect wait helps create the impression you are very busy which increases your social value.  (No, I couldn’t tell if they were laughing.)  As it turns out, this was not a new idea either. 

In 1976 I took a job with Dean Witter as an “Investment Banker” (aka a stockbroker; aka a securities peddler).  When our phone rang we were trained to let it ring 3 times before answering.  Then, we were trained to use this greeting, “Are you calling to place an order?”  If the caller was not calling to place an order we were instructed to say, “Please hold” and then wait 60 seconds before picking the call back up and engaging the caller with whatever the reason was they were calling us for in the first place. 

In 1976, it wasn’t referred to as “social value”.  It simply was designed as a disguise for a new broker who was mostly sitting around; prospecting all day long; trying to avoid starvation; when someone called in. 

I made that mistake and countless other mistakes over the years to earn Niels Bohn’s “expert” definition in my sales field.  For those of you more interested in “business value” vs. “social value”, permit me to offer a few more fruits from my many mistakes: 

• Never keep a client or prospect waiting.
• Always be prompt and prepared.
• Always follow through and follow-up, even if it is merely, “I’m still working on it.”
• Pay attention even if they are multi-tasking.
• Always speak clearly and avoid the use of jargon, acronyms, or techno-speak.
• Most importantly, always keep Lao-Tsu’s thought leadership foremost; 

To know that you do not know is the best 

I know the two presenters are successful consultants that my company paid to teach our salespeople social value techniques.  Maybe they’ve helped by steering our people in Niels Bohn’s direction. 

GAP 

When life gets tough we could get a helmet… or… we could leverage the peace and share the power of a positive perspective.