Today I got a call from a colleague asking me to speak in a few weeks about lead generation and the tools available to help facilitate a successful lead gen program. I told him there certainly is a lot to talk about around these tools.
This led me to think about how in a world of automation, it’s easy for marketing and sales teams to get caught up in the tools, the decision trees, the triggers, the drips, the posts, the videos, and the list goes on … And soon we start to forget the basics.
Attributed to Bob Burg, a leading authority on influence and referral marketing, it’s otherwise known as The Golden Rule of Sales: “All things being equal, people will do business with, and refer business to, those people they know, like, and trust.” Zig Ziglar takes it a step further stating, “If people like you, they’ll listen to you, but if they trust you, they’ll do business with you.”
KNOW.
Make sure customers know you and how to find you. Define your mission and purpose in business, and explore brand personas to help prospects really get to know who your brand is at a deeper level. Find a niche and educate prospects on what you do and how to connect with you and your brand. Make sure you can be found — online and offline. I bet each and every one of you can tell me where your closest Apple store is located! And if you’re clueless about it, just ask Siri or Google it.
LIKE.
Again, “if people like you, they’ll listen to you.” Be authentic in your space. Customer care, loyalty programs, and brand rituals all impact this. I talked in my last article about moments of value, moments of JOY. If you are creating moments of value for your prospects and customers, no doubt they like you. Another Apple example to tie this together — think about the ritual of opening a clean white Apple box to explore every individually wrapped component inside. I like it, I like it alot!
TRUST.
So here’s where the sale happens. Let’s call it a sampling strategy. The best way to gain trust is to share your product or expertise (aka thought leadership) FREELY! Yes, give it away like all those free Apple trials that got you hooked. When you do this and gain trust, your prospects will only ask for more and be willing to pay for it!
So in the sea of all the tools and digital expectations we all are inundated with, as well as the pressure to create successful lead generation programs, I urge each of you as marketers to take a step back to this basic tenant as part of your 2022 brand strategy. In fact, “Know. Like. Trust.” might even translate into 3 winning moves in your strategic plan.
Please let me know how Hummingbird can help you develop strategies that bring you back to these basics. We want to help you win in 2022 to drive your lead generation initiatives and build your business value!
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At Hummingbird Creative Group, we build business value through better branding. Contact us to find out how we can build your business’s value:
919 854 9100 | info@hummingbird-creative.com