John Bradley Jackson

You are going to end up somewhere, so why not end up where you want to be? Organizations (and people) all have a purpose or a reason for being. Many call it a mission. That mission helps the firm to make good decisions that are consistent with its purpose. With a well written “mission statement” to guide you, the little decisions for your firm become easier, and I think you have a better chance of getting to your desired destination.

A mission statement is a proclamation about why the firm exists and what really matters. It should speak about the firm’s values and describe what the business hopes to achieve while describing the nature of the business. A mission statement can provide a compass during times of uncertainty or strife by reminding the employees at the firm about what really matters.

The mission statement should be a few sentences up to a brief paragraph that is simple, clear, and jargon free. No Shakespeare needed here. Thirty words or less should do the trick. It should be memorable, while motivating to the firm’s employees. If properly written, the mission statement can be displayed proudly on the company website, brochures, and business cards.

Your mission statement should include some or most of these elements:

• Who is your customer?
• What business are you in?
• What are your products or services?
• What is your geographic domain?
• What is your commitment to ownership?
• How is your firm different from the competition?
• What are the opportunities available for the firm?
• What is your company philosophy?
• What are the firm’s core beliefs and values?
• What is the essence of your brand?
• What do things look like when things go well?

A vision statement, while similar to a mission statement, is more of a proclamation of what the firm should be; it is an image of the desired future, almost Utopian in its grandeur. Typically, the vision statement is no more than a short sentence. Some say that a vision statement is a description of an ideal and, thus, it will never be achieved. Most vision statements are imaginative and hope to inspire others.

So, what is your purpose?

John Bradley Jackson
© Copyright 2008 All rights reserved.

At the end of every e-mail is the signature line which tells the reader how to contact you. It also tells them a lot about you and your brand. Surprisingly, many people don’t take advantage of this last step in the communication process in an e-mail letter.

The minimum contact information that you should include in the signature line is your full name, title, company name, mail address, office phone, fax, and website. I suggest that you also restate your e-mail address.

Cell phone numbers are a personal preference. What I don’t like about including them is the perceived notion that you are available 24/7. Do you really want your customers calling you after hours or on weekends? If you do include your cell phone, it would make checking your cell phone voice mail a critical task. This is up to you.

Some people include their address for social networks such as LinkedIn, MySpace, and Facebook. Once again this is personal preference.

Your e-mail signature says a lot about your brand as a professional. One way to make your e-mail signature unique and memorable is to include a personal tagline. A tagline should be no more than three to five words and it should tell your customers why you are special. My tagline is “Be First, Best, or Different” and it appears at the top of my e-mail signature.

Sometimes a short biography is appropriate. If a bio is used make sure that it is no more than 50 words. The bio is good selling tool for an independent professional such as a consultant, attorney, or CPA.

Pulling it all together, here is a sample of what I use on my e-mails:

“Be First, Best, or Different”

John Bradley Jackson has over twenty-five years of sales and marketing experience from Silicon Valley and Wall Street. He is the author of the new book “First, Best, or Different: What Every Entrepreneur Needs to Know About Niche Marketing” and has written 100s of Internet articles on sales, marketing, and negotiation.

Mail address: XXXX Sunset Lane, Yorba Linda, California 92886
Phone: 714 777 XXXX
Fax: 714 777 XXXX
E-mail: johnbradleyjackson@gmail.com
Blog: http://www.firstbestordifferent.com/blog
Website: http://www.firstbestordifferent.com

John Bradley Jackson
© Copyright 2008 All rights reserved.

This is a reprint of a past blog on Business Concepts.

A “business concept” is the first step in the process of starting a new venture. It typically describes a vision of what might be. It generally precedes the business plan and it begs feedback on the merit of the idea.

A business concept speaks about the customer, the product or service, the value proposition, and the distribution channel:

• Who is your customer?
• What is the product or service you are offering?
• What is the value proposition? The value proposition is the benefit that is being provided to the customer. In other words, why will the customer buy from you — what’s in it for them?
• How will the benefit be delivered to the customer? That’s how you reach the customer and deliver the benefit. Entrepreneurs often confuse benefits with features. But the decision to buy is usually based on the benefits provided by the service or product.
• How do they want to buy this offering?
• When will they want to buy it?
• Where will they want to buy it?

The Business Concept defines strategies for successfully implementing the product within the marketplace. This includes pricing, revenue, and distribution models. A business concept is a way to define an opportunity so that it can be tested through a process known as feasibility analysis.

A feasibility analysis is a process whereby you can test your business concept and arrive at the conditions under which you are willing to go forward with this business. No matter what type of business you have (or intend to start), you will go through the same feasibility process. This is also called a concept test.

Money is important but comes later. For now you need to find out whether you have a business that has customers.

Next you need to determine what makes your company unique or different. Customers buy for your offering’s differences not because it is the same as others. These unique competencies become the core of your competitive advantage.

A feasibility test acts as a reality check for your idea. A feasibility test weighs the validity of your business concept by examining four points:
1. The product your firm will offer
2. The customer you will target
3. Your value proposition
4. How you will get the product to its intended users

With your idea tested, the next step is to begin the business planning process.

John Bradley Jackson
© Copyright 2008 All rights reserved.

Text messaging has created a new “language” of sorts that is destroying the written word and has infected all aspects of our society. Driven by young cell phone users who would rather text than talk, these abbreviations are appearing in advertising, new media, and college term papers.

SMS (Short Message Service) technology is a communications protocol allowing for short text messages to be sent between mobile telephone devices. Text messaging has become the most widely used data application in the world with 2.4 billion users—-74% of all mobile phones send or receive text messages.

What SMS has done is to create a new language based on the use of fewer key strokes. For example, consider the following:

• “how r u?” means “How are you?”
• “lol” means “Laugh out loud”.
• “brb” means “Be right back”.
• “ttyl” means “Talk to you later”.
• “pcb” means “Please Call Back”.

My concern is that I don’t think this destruction of the English language is going away; in fact, I think it will only become more common. While at first it may seem no big deal, when you dig deeper into text-speak, you will see that many discrepancies or exceptions exist. For example:

• “because” can be written as “cuz”, “bcuz”, “bcz”, “bcos”, “bc”, “coz”, and “bcoz”.
• “lol” may mean “Laugh out loud” or “Lots of love” or “Lots Of Laughter” .
• “Got to go” can be written as “g2g” or “gtg”.
• “Tomorrow” can be written as “tom”, “2moz”, “2moro”, “2mrw”, or “2mara”.

Honestly, English is hard enough without all this new slang. Yet, this phenomenon is real. The Associated Press is reporting that New Zealand is going to let high school students use text-speaking or texting acronyms in national exams. The move has been extremely controversial. New Zealand’s high school students will be able to use text-speak in national scholastic examinations.

Advertisers seem to be greeting this trend. AT&T /Cingular recently ran a highly successful commercial which featured a mother and daughter having a conversation talking in cell phone text-speak. You actually had to understand text-speak to be able to understand the advertisement’s message.

IMHO (in my humble opinion), text-speak does not belong in business communications, but I may be drowned out by the thundering herd of text message users. So, to you who are text speak illiterate, I recommend that you “rtfm” (read the flippin’ manual) and get on board.

The reason for my flip-flop on this issue is cuz (because) hcb! (Holy Cow Batman!), this text-speak is real.

Hand (have a nice day),

JBJ (John Bradley Jackson)
© Copyright 2008 All rights reserved.

My recent blogs about using questions as a selling tool got many comments from readers who sell to senior executives. I was reminded about how busy C-level execs are these days and how intolerant they are of “discovery” sales calls.

C-level executives (i.e., CEO, CMO, CIO, etc.) need a different sales approach. Gone are the days when the sales rep could have “question and answer time” with the C-level executive to better understand “pains” and key initiatives. Today, this senior-level buyer has no time for such idle banter. The phone is ringing, the Blackberry is vibrating, and the in-box is bulging with unanswered e-mails. Instead, these senior buyers expect you to come in with answers rather than questions.

Therefore, you have to adjust your sales approach. Sometimes you only get one shot with this character, so you have to be prepared. This necessitates that you thoroughly research the customer prior to discussing business. This means scouring the website, the SEC documents (if the firm is public), and calling others in the firm to learn about the real issues at play.

Anyone at the firm can be a source of useful information. The best people to talk with may be the C-level executive’s direct reports. Call them and confide in them that you are meeting the “big guy” in two weeks and that you are trying to figure things out. What are his hot points? What do they recommend that you do to prepare? Who else should you talk to before the meeting? Some of these people actually will actually coach you on how to proceed. It can be that easy.

When you actually get together with the C-level executive, the meeting becomes a forum for you to demonstrate your knowledge of the firm and of the executive’s key issues; you need to provide value to have any chance of continuing the conversation. This will pave the way for a constructive conversation and help move the sale along. This approach is time-consuming, but worth it when selling products or services that require you to call on top executives.

C-level executives are tough to get in front of, but once they get convinced to do business with you, they like to take over the sales process. This is called “transferring ownership” and it is a wonderful thing. It is a magic moment in selling when your customer joins you in the sales process while taking responsibility for the sales itself.

For whatever reason, the customer now owns the sale along with you; the value has been demonstrated to such an extent that the customer takes over and makes it happen. Objections are resolved and the questions have been answered. When the C-level executive has accepted the ownership of the sales process, let him take control; victory is at hand.

The good news: C-level executives want to be sold solutions with value that will help their firm win.

John Bradley Jackson
© Copyright 2008 All rights reserved.

P. S. Thanks to my brother Ross who reminded me what it is like to sell to C-Level execs.

Too many press releases beat the drum about new product releases, product features, and the daring follies of egomaniac CEOs. Most this crap is just plain vanity and worthless to their audience. Can you hear the delete key tapping away?

Good PR informs that reader about matters to them, not the authoring company. To this end, here are few best practices for good PR:

• Create the positioning message; what is the one thing that you want your target market to know about you or your firm?
• Write a two- to three-word mantra which describes the message. These will be the words used in your workplace and externally. They must be memorable and believable.
• Your message should be short and memorable for external consumption. Make sure that all employees can echo this message. They need to understand it and believe it along with you and the customer.
• Test your message with your staff, your vendors, and your customers. How does the target audience receive it?
• Adjust your message based on the feedback. Test it again.
• Create press releases so that you present your pitch in the form of news. More than a commercial, tie the launch of your press releases to a significant event to create timeliness. The press is always interested in what is timely, informative, and they like it to be a bit controversial.
• Introduce yourself to analysts, industry mavens, and people of influence. This may seem daunting on your own, but if you start asking around and watching for names in the industry periodicals, you will find them. This is also when a PR agency helps a lot. Your goal is to build a relationship with these movers and shakers; it is up to you to stay in touch since they won’t call you.
• Track your success by monitoring new leads, number of press quotes, and other indicators of awareness. This will help evaluate the effectiveness of your current PR efforts and help with future PR choices.
• Create a constituency with the readership by seeking feedback and involving them in the critique of your PR effort. Heed their advice and modify what your plan. This will also help facilitate the creation of relationships with the press.

Build awareness, create a constituency, and solve problems; be more than noise. Be a source of knowledge on the problem that your product or solution solves.

John Bradley Jackson
© Copyright 2008 All rights reserved.

Ever notice that when you go to the doctor, you get asked a lot of open ended questions while the physician says little? Much like a doctor, sales people help buyers with problems by asking questions and saying little. Rather, that is what the good sales people do.

The patient replies with answers which are like objections. The doctor, ever inquisitive and wise, helps the patient make the best choices for a healthier life. At the end of the visit, the patient is given a prescription for medicine. The doctor’s opinion is seldom challenged since we are taught to believe what the “good” doctor says.

When a buyer and a salesperson meet there are also probing questions. The buyer talks the most while the “good” sales person listens and takes notes. With the questions answered, the skilled salesperson normally offers a “prescription” to solve the customer’s problem. Hopefully, the customer buys, but that is not always the case.

If the buyer is not buying the sales person’s medicine it generally means one of two things:

- The customer doesn’t think that he/she is sick.
- The customer doesn’t think that seller is really a doctor.

If the buyer does not feel sick it means that the sales person has not identified the buyer’s needs nor matched them with the benefits of the solution. Sometimes it means that the seller might not be selling to a qualified buyer.

If the buyer does not think the seller is a doctor, it means that they don’t trust you or that they don’t like you. This distrust of the sales person is common since buyers have learned to distrust and even dislike sales people. This is because of repeated negative encounters with other bad sales people who don’t listen and who talk too much.

Try acting like a doctor and not like a sales person. Now cough.

John Bradley Jackson
© Copyright 2008 All rights reserved.

“In order to make an apple pie from scratch, you must first create the universe.”

- Carl Sagan, astronomer

Many “wannabe” entrepreneurs struggle with the idea of coming up with the perfect product or solution. This obsession with being the best keeps them from launching the product. Instead, they stay sequestered in the pre-launch stage trying to perfect the concept by tweaking the product feature set.

Contrast this behavior to successful entrepreneurs who choose to launch their products and fail openly and often in front of God and country. For example, Thomas Edison pushed the envelope when it came to failure. He literally created thousands of filaments for his light bulb before he found one that had a sustainable life. He was undaunted by his repeated failures. He did not fear failure—he relished it since he knew that each time he failed he was one step closer to success.

This fearlessness is a key component of innovation. You can also argue that these reckless innovators are just plain uninformed about the prospect of failure or they don’t really care what people think. It is my contention that this “just do it” mind set works given the alternative of doing nothing.

My advice to entrepreneurs is to welcome failure by launching your products early. Failure is a catalyst for success.

John Bradley Jackson
© Copyright 2008 All rights reserved.

“Different isn’t always better, but better is always different.”

- Marshall Thurber, entrepreneur

I like this quote because it sums up my thinking about how customers will buy an offering because of its differences not because it is like another offering. This is true even if the offering is a commodity or is nearly the same as the competition. Invariably, the customer buys because of the product’s differences not because of its similarities.

Think about it. When a buyer is deciding between two seemingly identical products, the buyer instinctively looks for differences in price, quality, or delivery. With some perception of a difference, the buyer chooses one offering over another. The operative word in that sentence is perception.

It is my contention that buyers buy for the following underlying reasons:

• “Needs” are things that you must have to survive and to function; this includes shelter, food, clothing, and medicine. These purchases are easily justified and are basic motivations for a buyer.
• “Wants” are things that are desired, but not necessary such as wanting an iPod. Wants are tougher for the buyer to justify, but people will buy them because of an innate ability to rationalize most any purchase. If I buy an iPod I will be happier and more popular.
• “Desires” are wishes or dreams, which can be powerful motivators. You can desire to be famous and this can motivate you take to action or not to take action. Desires can motivate people to change or modify their behavior. If you lose weight, you will be more attractive and this can help make you famous.
• “Fear” can motivate the buyer to take action or not to take action. Fear can create barriers to success by holding people back from taking a promotion. Or, fear can also keep people safe by keeping them from taking unnecessary risks; if you don’t buy this book, you will not be successful, so you buy it out of fear.

With these underlying reasons driving them, customers then seek to justify their decisions with their perception the difference’s in the offerings available.

The essence of niche marketing is presenting your product as different while fulfilling the buyer’s underlying reason for buying the offering in the first place.

John Bradley Jackson
© Copyright 2008 All rights reserved.

“If everyone is thinking alike, then somebody isn’t thinking.”

- George Patton, US General during WW II

Please extend my apologies in advance to James Surowiecki, the author of “The Wisdom of Crowds”. His best selling book suggests that groups make better decisions than any made by a single member of the group. To this notion I say “bull hockey” (note that I am expressing this opinion as an individual and I belong to no partisan group).

“Group-think” is flawed for a number of reasons. The chief flaw is the raw emotion of the crowd or “mob”. Call it herd instinct, but the weak and intellectually inferior will follow the strong and manipulative. Think of the failure of the crowd to second guess the lunacy of Nazi Germany during World War II. Of course, fear was a factor for many who blindly followed the crazed leadership in Germany.

By examining current events in business, we can find the same blind subservience to the wisdom of the crowd. Consider that General Motors has been given market feedback for two decades that the US auto consumer prefers small, fuel efficient vehicles such as those offered by Honda, Toyota and Nissan. Despite this consumer demand, GM decided to build large SUVs and full sized trucks. When the price of oil jumps, GM has no choice but bleed red ink.

(Note to self: consider selling the ¾ ton Chevy Suburban in the front driveway before it is too late.)

Entrepreneurs are often rejects from large corporate culture—they cannot follow the crowd, so they choose to do it on their own. Abandoned or fired by the crowd, entrepreneurs take it upon themselves to create better products or services. They may deserve the reputation of “control freaks” for their compulsion to do it their way, but at least they won’t be lead by the crowd, goose stepping off into oblivion.

Other examples of dumb crowds: Enron, the New York Knicks, AOL merges with Time Warner, IBM rebuffs startup Microsoft, Ford and the Edsel, Napoleon and the Louisiana Purchase, etc, etc.

My message? Think differently. Reject the crowd.

John Bradley Jackson
© Copyright 2008 All rights reserved.