Voting Is A Buying Process - Every Buying Decision Has Five Steps

Voting Is A Buying Process

Every Buying Decision Has Five Steps


This is not about politics; it is about the way we all buy anything.

Every four years the people of America participate in a very important buying decision; the election of the next President. The candidates have been participating in what is called an election campaign. It should properly be called a sales campaign because they have been selling the product they know best; themselves, their ideas for the future of America. They are competing sales people; we are the buying committee, in the corporation called America. This is a big ticket sale, and a big ticket buying decision.

Selling is an educational process and during the primary selling effort, you and I were prospects listening to a variety of sales pitches. Each of us on the buying committee has the power to say no or yes and we gradually did that with our attitude, answers to pollster's questions and election results. We, the members of the buying committee have essentially narrowed the decision to two salespeople and their product.

From now until the election, the sales people are going to be asking for appointments with us for the purpose of further educating us about the benefits their product will give us. Between appointments we will be telling them what our needs and hopes are. We'll do this by writing letters to the editor, attending meetings, answering poll questions and even sending them emails. During the appointments we will be listening to their answers. At the end of each appointment i.e. speech, published interview, etc., they are going to ask us for the order. This is the way all, big ticket, selling efforts have been done since selling and buying came into being.

I have watched the whole election process with this analogy in mind and have enjoyed it. I know that each of us has performed the first four of the five steps in the buying decision, for each of the primary candidates. Every buying decision is a five step process. For some purchases we complete all five in ten seconds, for others we need as long as four years.

I have recognized my own progress in this national buying process. I completed the key step about three months ago, a majority of the other folks in the buying committee have also completed this step; many completed it much earlier. My experience in selling tells me that almost everyone has completed it. The great majority of us are now in the last step.

It is interesting to me that none of the candidates that entered the primary election, indicated they'd had selling experience. Experience selling might have taught them the five steps in the buying process and saved them a ton of money. What a shame. They should have read my book - The Perception of a Difference.

Wes

Wesley W. Zimmerman
wes@perceptionofdifference.com

In Transition Part Four You're selling

In Transition Part Four You're selling

The Product Is What You Will Do For Them

Remember this from the part one of this, In Transition series?

Know what you want to do

• Choose the company you want to work for


• The income you want from it


• Sell the employer


• On buying what you will do for them.

If you don't remember this, go back and read that blog again and do what it discusses, because to find the work and place of work that will be fun and satisfying, you must know what you want to do, what you will do it with and what will make you happy. Having done those two important tasks, we asked you in part two of this series, to pick several, at least three, companies/businesses that could, have, or create the position you really want.


In Transition, is both buying and selling

In part three of this series, we had you go through the buying steps in finding the work you really want to do. We stopped you at the point where selling would begin if you really liked what you saw about the company you were looking at. Whether you liked that company or not, you must now go through the same steps for the other companies on your target list. In each case stop at the point where selling will begin and give your self time to read the notes you made on each possible target and think about your gut reactions. You need time right now, no matter how much you need income and a job.

Do not be hesitant about putting these targets in a different order of preference at this time. You are going to spend three to seven years in your new position, you better like them from the beginning, or it will not work.

In The Perception Of A Difference The Power In Buying, Marketing, Selling, Customer Care, There are two quotes that are important to you at this point in your transition process.

"I cannot buy from you until I know you exist."

"I will not buy your product until I know how it will help me reach my goals."

These are the thoughts of a buyer of anything; they apply to any and all products and services are products. At this time in your transition, you are the seller of a product. The product is what you will do that will help them reach their goals.

Read the last two sentences again, and again, and again. Now think about your presentation of how you will make a positive difference to them, the one you created and practiced in step three, and think about how this will help them reach their goals. Put this into words you can say confidently and you have what you need to cause them to think of, or create a position where you can help them reach their goals.

Ah, you say you don't know their goals, than you need to learn what they are. The steps to learn their goals are these.

You've looked at their web site, now read it again, read between the lines of every page and finally at the contact us, or join us, page. Write what you perceive their goals to be.

Next, talk again to anyone who suggested you consider this company as a place to apply. You want to know why they told you this and what ever they know about the management's goals. You also want to know, who they know, in the company, that might give them an insight into their goals, or talk to you about those goals. If this is the person that is actually looking for someone with what you can bring in, wonderful; we'll talk about this a bit later. For now just ask this person, who else should I talk to?

Now repeat this process with as many people as you are directed to and when you are finished, you will know more about this target company than most of the other people applying for work with them. This is called research, it gives you a powerful positive edge when you do finally ask for and go into an interview. The edge will come from the fact that the research process has put the target company's products, terminology, language and culture into your mind in a way that it will be heard and sensed by the interviewer, with out you consciously thinking about it.

I have told you this just in case you did not do all of it when you were building your target company list. Even if you did it then, a review and even repeat conversations with some of these people will help you zero in and be confident as you move forward. You see, this is what professional salespeople do when they prepare to sell a product to someone that is not already a customer of theirs.

You are selling a product, do it professionally.

This creates a powerful perception of your difference.

In a few days, we will talk about the next step in your transition.


Wes (Wesley) Zimmerman
480.628.2450
wes@perceptionofdifference.com

In Transition, Step Three; Pick Your Target

In Transition, Step Three; Pick Your Target

The Job Or Work You Want!


When picking your target, remember that you are selecting a place, a team. you will enjoy and take pride in being a member of. If you can't be proud of the company and the team you work with, you will fail to make a positive difference there. You will be unhappy when you leave for work in the morning, unhappy when you come home, and your family, friends, will feel the unhappiness.

What you should target is places where you will make a positive difference, do something different, and grow your list of proud accomplishments. Now answer this question.

How will I make a positive difference to this company?
In which department or function?

Write down your answer: Tomorrow key it into your computer and print it. Do you like what you see? Change it so you do, then give to five people, who know you and make the changes they suggest, or that you think of while answering their questions and listening to their comments. Give this changed version to a person, who employees people, not one of your target companies, and get her/his comments.

Now write a final version.

Tomorrow speak it out loud, with conviction. The words do not have to be exactly the same when you speak it, but you must say it with the tone and force that tells someone else you really believe it. If you do not really believe what you have written, start over.

The next step.

This is the fun part: Call the company that is lowest on your target company list. Listen to the person that answers the phone; ask a question that will allow you to hang up gracefully, e.g. I'm sorry, I dialed the wrong number. Listen to what follows, say Thank You, and hang up.

Write down your feelings, your perception of the company, and the person answering the phone.

Was it a live person, or recorded?
If live, did the person sound happy?
Interested in you?
Would you like to be a customer of this company? Why? Why not?

Next, visit this company; look at the building, the lobby, note the way you are greeted, when, by whom; are the people happy?
Do you want to work with them? Why? Why not?
Remember; at this point in your transition to a new season in your life, you are the buyer. When you go to work in a company, you are making a commitment to become a part of the company's success or failure; you are buying the company.

= = = = =

My appointment with the Vice President, who was hiring, was at five in the afternoon. I arrived in the dimly lit, underground visitor parking lot at 4:30. I dodged water dripping from the ceiling as I found my way to the lobby. There I signed in with the security guard, took a seat with the executive recruiter, who had arranged the appointment, and waited. At two minutes after five, people came streaming down the stairs and out of the elevator. They were employees leaving work. Three things I noted were,

• The first people reached the lobby two minutes after five.


• The building, all six floors, was empty within 20 minutes.


• No one smiled, laughed, said see you tomorrow, or some other pleasantry. They all left in silence, not a word was spoken; no comments to the security guard or by him; just silence, sober faced silence.

Then we were told the VP was ready to see us. We walked past rows of empty desks and cubicles on the way to his office. We shook hands, sat down; his first question was

"Why do you want this position with us?"

"I've decided I don't want it."

"What?"

I stood up, thanked him for his time, shook hands, left the recruiter with him and went home.

It was a very good decision. No one in the organization was happy. My perception was that he wasn't happy either. Why would I want to be unhappy with them? The six-digit salary would not have been worth it. I was buying; the sale was lost in the parking garage and the lobby.

= = = = =

Next time we'll talk about the next steps, when you are selling, and I'll tell you the strange twist to the end of this story. It will convince you that when things don't feel right, it is time to get out, as I did.


Wes (Wesley) Zimmerman
480.628.2450
wes@perceptionofdifference.com

We shouldn't have waited - Communicate For The Sake Of Your Marriage

We shouldn't have waited - Communicate For The Sake Of Your Marriage

This has been one of those two-week periods when so much happens it sort of piles up like snowdrifts. The SubZero refrigerator in the kitchen developed a simple problem that escalated: The spring on the garage door broke and it added to other annoyances since the car is outside and Betsy III, the Harley, is inside with great riding weather upon us, but the door can't be easily opened, and Amy's pain suddenly became unbearable. These happenings in combination caused me to miss posting my weekly Blog, but they also provided true stories for four blogs and two Zingers. Reminds me of the old saying; The Lord giveth and the Lord taketh away.

Amy's left hip became painful about seven years ago, four years ago the pain began to change our life, together. My sweetheart is as independent as I, so she gritted her teeth and hid the pain from everyone except me. The reasons were several; she had endured five serious surgeries previously, and didn't want to do it again; she did not want to spend the usual eight weeks to fully regain mobility and, I think, she did not want to admit she could not ignore the pain. The result was less happiness for both of us.

On this Friday she will under go a complete hip joint replacement, followed by two, possibly more, weeks of physical therapy to build up and rebalance her muscles. This is needed because the body makes adjustments to reduce the pain; in the way we walk, sit down, and even lay in bed. We are not aware of these adjustments, until they lead to pain in areas that normally would have nothing to do with the hip joint or leg. I know; I went through it before my hip joint was replaced, twenty years ago.

I failed to sell, cajole, and push her into getting her hip replaced four years ago. I failed to communicate with her and she failed to tell me just how much it was hurting. I share this with you in the hope that you will communicate clearly with your significant other; do it with out shame for both your sakes. Remember that when we stop communicating about one thing we gradually stop communicating other things, or we blow up about something that isn't important, just because of the pain. Then everything starts going to hell in a hand basket.

The same thing happens in business. That is what has made the other happenings I spoke of above, so very aggravating and why I will share the lack of communication and its business results, with you, in the weeks to come.

Thanks for letting me share with you.

Wesley (Wes) Zimmerman
The Perception of a Difference

My Client Is Going To Fail

"My Client Is Going To Fail"

Monday and Tuesday evenings are networking nights for me. I meet some wonderful people doing this, and occasionally find myself in the right place at the right time to help someone. Last week I spent sometime getting acquainted with a man. It was early in the evening and sorta felt like hard work, cause he seemed reluctant to build a relationship with me.

I did learn that he is an independent consultant specializing in helping clients to envision a "brand" that will make their business easy to remember. He said he was excited to be working with a client that is just starting a business and he could help them do it right, from the beginning. I told him we were in the same business, helping others to succeed. We did not exchange business cards, but I gave him the bookmark describing The Perception Of A Difference, The Power In Buying, Marketing, Selling, Customer Care.

Last evening, he appeared beside me as I approached the same meeting place. We stopped to chat; he was carrying the book;

"I ordered it on the Web and brought it hoping you’d be here and sign it for me. "

I reached for my pen.

"Your 27 questions in Chapter Three are amazingly useful. I now know that my client will fail and why. I know enough about my clients planned products to answer those questions and when I did, I discovered his planned product and business will fail. The answers come out wrong too early in the list of questions. My task is to help the client come to the same conclusion before going forward to failure."

He commented that he thought he should just ask the client the questions and let them answer them. I hope he does this because it will be even more powerful if the client provides the answers to the questions, rather than he, the consultant.

Later that evening, another reader commented about the value of the five questions in the story, Opening The Door, on page 207. I wrote the book at the urging of consulting clients I had the joy of helping to greater success. I am slowly becoming aware that the book has more power to help others than I could have dreamed. It is a humbling and wonderful thing, to me.

I write these blogs to share with you, experiences that move and bring satisfaction to me, so please excuse me if I occasionally sound like I’m just trying to sell. My hope is that you are learning a different way to network, or sell your ideas/products, while reading my blogs. Thanks for taking the time to read this.

Wes Zimmerman

Zingers

The latest copy of the Zingers Newsletter will be out next week.

Read about the latest Zinger here:

A Tree Grows From The Bottom Up

The Perception of a Difference

The Power in Buying, Marketing, Selling, Customer Care

Wes Zimmerman

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Sunday, February 24, 2008

What Has Made You Successful?

As you know from reading my blog articles, I do a lot of networking. I do it for several reasons.

To sell my book, The Perception Of A Difference, The Power In Buying, Marketing, Selling, Customer Care.

To interest people in purchasing a subscription to my monthly Zimmerman's Zingers Newsletter as a way to help them reach their goals,

To learn about life, get new ideas to pass on to you, and savor interesting people.

One of my favorite questions when I meet a person is, what has made you successful? It provides me with interesting insights into the person and tells me more than she/he realizes. On a recent evening, the answer was "Honesty." This was the first time I'd heard that, in at least a year. It was said in a confident, firm tone, manner that conveyed conviction. I was immediately drawn to this man, because typically those, who do include honesty in their answer to my question, put it at the end of their list, almost as an after thought. This thirty to thirty five year old, put it at the front: That alone created a powerful perception of a difference in my mind, a positive difference.

The very next evening another stranger's answer to, what has made you successful, was "Honesty and integrity, without these you can not be a success in any thing." My immediate thought was, wow, two nights in a row. Again, the perception in my mind was positive; both had created the basis for the development of a relationship, personal or business by giving me an avenue for trust.

In my book I list The Four Eternal Laws Of Sales Success. The first is:

People buy from people they like and trust.

What will your answer be when we meet for the first time and I ask you what has made you successful?


Wes Zimmerman

"He has unusual integrity for a politician."

I was in a small city for the first time recently, listening to but not watching the local TV news and commentary. I had tuned my mind to alert me if something important was said while I did something else. Then I heard, "he has unusual integrity for a politician" and instantly went to view the screen. This being an election year, I wanted to know which candidate, for President, they were talking about. Turned out they were talking about a local person, who's name I did not learn. They noted that this person was consistent in action and demonstrated belief, which had earned him strong support in the community; the inference being that integrity made him desirably different.

Traffic was very light on the long drive home, so I was able to think about that comment with safety. I wondered if politicians as a whole realize what that comment means? Do they realize that many of us assume they are either dishonest all the time, or will become dishonest and unethical after they are in office?

The comment again came strongly to mind a week later, when one of the presidential candidates said in a campaign speech "I will put a three month moratorium on mortgage payments". (I am not certain if the words were three month or ninety day, but my mind interpreted it as three months.) Amy instantly said what I was thinking, "It is twelve months before a new person can take office and by then it won't matter. Are people really going to base their vote on such an irrelevant statement?"

My answer was, "Yes, many people do not question what a popular person says, they do not ask themselves if it is possible, and relevancy is very often not considered. They believe what sounds good and desirable to them in their immediate situation. This is why scammers successfully rip off people: It is also the reason manipulative selling techniques produce sales and buyers remorse."

Amy thanked me for "Sermon No. Three."

It has been my experience that people possessing high integrity are honest in little things and big ones. They are honest with themselves. They tend to think about what they are going to say before they say it. Above all, they do these things consistently. Their consistency earns my trust.

My experience also shows that people, who shave the truth, parse words, quote research results and conversations out of context, louse themselves up because they cannot tell the same story twice with the same ending. Their answer to a question varies with the situation and what they think the questioner wants to hear. That is dishonesty in my view. When I form the perception that they are consistently inconsistent, I tune them out, stop doing business with them and tell my friends to do the same. I cannot trust them: They have no integrity.

Do you have integrity?

Does the way you run your business create sales and friends or sales and buyer's remorse?

I ask you again: Do you have integrity?


Wes Zimmerman


Adolph Hitler believed that if you told a big enough lie, often enough, it would be accepted as truth. That is how he gained power and how he eventually created, at least tacit, support for the Holocaust, among the German population.

Wes Zimmerman is the author of the book "The Perception of a Difference" and of a monthly paid subscription newsletter called "Zingers."

Zingers

Zingers - January 2008 Zinger - "Renewal? Which Policy? On What?"

There is a new Zinger teaser posted for January.

If you subscribe to the Zimmerman's Zingers Newsletter, you will get this issue.

If you are not currently a paid subscriber, you can order just this edition or you can subscribe and get the next two Zingers free.

Subscribe today and see what you have been missing.

Zingers - "Renewal? Which Policy? On What?"

Selling Where Ever You Are - A Book Sale In My Girl Friend's Kitchen

Selling Where Ever You Are

A Book Sale In My Girl Friend's Kitchen

Saturday afternoon Amy and I decided to cash in a gift certificate we had received from a friend and associate. It was for a meal at a place where you choose an entrée, assemble the ingredients in Ziploc bags, take them home and cook them following the directions furnished. Luckily, Amy called the place to make certain they would be open on a Saturday afternoon; they were just about to close but said I should come on over and they would have everything we wanted, prepared and waiting. It was an interesting experience.

I was greeted by a lady with a wonderful smile and personality; a positive POD (Perception Of A Difference). She greeted me by name because she had talked with Amy on the phone; nice touch. I handed her the gift certificate and she began to make up an invoice at her computer; she was also getting information from me for future follow up.

"Have you purchased from us before?"

"No, this is our first time."

She looked at the Gift Certificate.

"Oh, Steve gave you this, we like him, how did you come to know him?"

"He is a friend and sells our book and seminars for small business owners.

I handed her my card and when she had read the back of it, told me,

"Since we started this franchise, I have been reading a lot of books, trying to learn how to market what we do. I need to learn what it is that causes a person to want come in and buy or keeps them from doing it. Will your book help me with this."

"To market successfully, you need, first, to know how we buy. We all perform the same five steps in every buying decision, we may do this in ten seconds, or over three years, but the crucial step will be completed early in the process. The key is what happens in the first five seconds. We look at your store, we enter, and glance around, then either turn and leave or stay to talk with you or your associate. In those five seconds a perception has formed in our mind with out any conscious effort or control. For the person, who turned around and walked out, it was negative, for the one that stays to talk, it was positive. What you and or your associate do next strengthens that positive perception or destroys it. This is a fact.

"The book is written in true stories from which you learn what you can do to make that perception positive far more often."

"How do I buy your book?"

"From the Web, from a coffee shop or the Duck & Decanter on Sixteenth St. and Camelback where Steve first introduced himself to me, or let me get one from the car."

Another customer came in; I got a book and some bookmarks from the car and waited while she took care of the customer. Then I gave her the bookmark, our major marketing tool. It is very effective, because it says just enough, but not too much, about the book, with reader comments extolling the results they have experienced after reading it. She read both sides, I handed her the book; she spent 4-5 minutes looking through it while I waited in silence.

"I'll take the book, now let's finish with getting your dinner paid for, I'll pay for the Book with cash."

"Wonderful, I'll sign it for you."

I usually carry a bookmark in my pocket, but this worked out well.

You can sell anywhere and everywhere you are. I once landed a Perception Of A Difference Workshop sale in a hotel restroom, but that is another story.


Wes Zimmerman

wes at perceptionofdifference.com

Kiwanis

Kiwanis - Changing Communities One Child At A Time

I and over 220 other people, of both genders and many colors, attended a Kiwanis convention this past weekend. We came from Arizona, California, New Mexico, and Arizona, to Sierra Vista, on the Arizona border with Mexico. For most of us it was a long drive and took three days of our time. We did it so we could share our experiences helping poor and less fortunate children in our respective communities. We also built new relationships and strengthened existing ones. Even though I have been a member of Kiwanis a total of sixteen years in three states and have attended classes like this many times, I learned new things and enjoyed it.

I live in a "high rent" community in the Phoenix valley where kids in need are not readily visible. Our clubs members have had to look carefully before finding children that really need our help. Kids with hard working parents, that do not do drugs and alcohol and still cannot put much food on the table. Their children depend on school lunch programs for one good meal a day, and not much during a weekend. The wonderful thing about these children is that they enjoy life, work hard on their schooling and are fully supported in that by their parents.

Our club provides, backpacks, warm jackets, pencils, paper, and other school supplies that parents provide to their kids if money is available. We do it from our own pockets and through various fund raising activities. We have fun doing it. We laugh together, sweat together and sometimes wipe tears together. We are one club of hundreds in the world. Each of us has found or taken the time to stoop down and help others.

I write this to ask you to take up the challenge of helping others, even though you are busy. Join a Kiwanis club in your area and share the fun experience of helping kids all the way up through their teen years. Clothes and pencils when they are kids and leadership mentoring as they go into high school.

Thank you,


Wes Zimmerman

President
Scottsdale Airpark Professionals Kiwanis Club
480.628.2450

Don't Believe Everything You Read

Don't Believe Everything You Read


Of late I have been reading a collection of Blogs that come to my email address every morning.

They are basically political in the sense that the person putting the collection together is picking them for political reasons. He/she is "grinding a personal axe" of course, but interestingly is including both sides of some parts of it. There frequently are copies or excerpts of newspaper articles with opposing viewpoints or Perceptions of what happened in a public situation; often supported with a different set of "facts."

There is nothing new about this; after all, people have been gathering actual "facts" to support different positions, since the dawn of communication. What bothers me is the perception I have formed, that a larger segment of our population is accepting these "facts" than I thought was the case years ago. The perception has formed in the process of perusing reader comments posted with this blog collection. Is it possible that we have been given so many incorrect or unchecked "facts" by the media over the years, that we now believe anything we read, or hear?

Our children do not accept everything they read or hear. The do not because Amy and I taught them not to; we did it by telling them that anyone can write anything they wish, true or not, and by their seeing us question things in publications, and school textbooks. They saw us check the purported facts by looking things up in encyclopedias, our five-inch thick family dictionary, and in competing publications. Why did Amy and I do this? Because we had been taught to do it, in our homes and schools.

Mother and Dad repeatedly admonished my sister and I, not to believe everything we read.

"Just because it is in the paper or a book, does not mean it is true."

That was repeated at home and, believe it or not, in school, over and over again. My teachers all taught us that, beginning as I remember it, in about the first year of high school. My history teacher would quote from different history texts to show us that History is subject to being rewritten, because "professors of history must write books in order keep their jobs." She had her own set of books, old and worn, that had what she believed were the facts, the true ones. In almost every one of my high school classes, you would earn the wrath of the teacher if you quoted something from the paper and had not checked it out in other sources. The library was where you would be sent to check out the facts and write a report of what you found there.

In my selling career I have found it very helpful, to check out the "Facts" in my own and my competitor's sales brochures, even their company annual reports. Knowing which "facts" were valid and being able to show how I had determined that, was instrumental in my success in selling. It made me a Professional, in my customers and competitors minds.

"Don't believe everything you read" may be the deep down reason I use true stories in my Zingers and in The Perception Of A Difference, books. None of them "tell you anything." You decide what makes sense as you read and apply them to your own daily situations.

Thanks for letting me share thoughts with you.

Wes Zimmerman

Consistent & Honest - These two are all that matter

Consistent & Honest

These two are all that matter


Our house was on a hill, easily seen as you drove in to the development's main entrance. We'd chosen the lot because being on a hill would give us the ability to see the horizon. Every one of the 1,000 plus houses in the development would look the same, but each would be home to a different set of people and people make a difference.

A homeowners association was formed and initially financed by the developer. I was one of about 30 attending the first meeting. We introduced our selves one by one and got acquainted. When I got home Amy asked,

"How did it go?"

"Okay, I guess; I was elected president."

"How did that happen."

"I don't know."

Today, I cannot remember how it happened. I served in that position for 18 months with a dedicated team of officers and Directors, who strove to help new residents feel at home and appreciated. This was our goal, it wasn't always easy as board meeting attendance grew to 130 plus and the community grew by 20 homes a month. We knew a change in structure was needed and guided the community to vote for incorporation as a city. In the evening a few days after that vote, our six year old son looked out the front window and said

"Daddy, there are lot of people at the door."

There were 27 and they asked me to run for Mayor.

They told me they wanted me to run because I had been consistent in striving to do what was best for the community as a whole. That evening, in our very crowded living room, a lot was said to educate me on why I should be the first Mayor, but two words I never forgot were consistent and honest. The message I never forgot was that I had always worked for the community good, not my own. Dad had said, "Always think about what is best for the other fellow and do not give him less."

I accepted the challenge after Amy and I talked it over with Him. I campaigned by meeting every soul that could vote, in many different living rooms in the evening and weekend coffee klatches. It was fun, hard work, and thankfully, I lost by three votes: Always wondered who the three were.

The winner made a lot of promises and told a lot of half-truths during the campaign, I said nothing to refute them. He had never served as a community director, but claimed he knew the facts. Eight months after he took office, a recall election kicked him out. I had been promoted and moved to another city, by that time.


I was reminded of this life experience while watching the nominating process in Iowa this week. The people that participated in that process seemed to think those two words and what my Dad said were very important. I know they have served me well in business and personal relationships. Dads complete saying was " When you are selling do not think about your wallet; always think about what is best for the other fellow and do not give him less. Then your wallet will always be full."

Based on my life experience, He should have said, then your wallet, and your life, will always be full.


Wesley (Wes) Zimmerman

Zingers

Zingers # 1207

December 2007 Zinger

Zingers - December 2007 Zinger

"You'd have thought he was buying the company."

"He is."

Part two of "The Perfect Job. . . Ended Too Soon"

Last month's Zinger did not address my friend's question, what did I do wrong? Instead it addressed what the employer, the CEO, did not realize about himself, which ultimately caused him to fire my friend.

In this Zinger we learn what my friend did not realize he was actually doing when he accepted the job, and what he could have done if he had.

Wes Zimmerman

Zingers is a monthly newsletter subscription that includes the first two issues free. You may purchase this month's newsletter individually for $5.47 without subscribing to the monthly newsletter subscription.

Employees 1st, Customers 2nd, Shareholders Last

Employees 1st, Customers 2nd, Shareholders Last


Last evening I had a wonderful experience. I met a man who is filled with enthusiasm for life, learning and helping others. We talked for about thirty minutes and he never mentioned money, either as a commodity, goal or measure of success. This is unusual in today's culture where money is the yardstick for measuring everything from happiness to the ability to be elected president. I have no doubt that he has been successful in most of his endeavors. His dress and intimate knowledge of cities and countries I have visited, attest to monetary success. As we talked and shared experiences it was clear that his values are the foundation of his success in life as a whole.

Raised on a farm in the Middle West like me, he is proud of his ability to analyze a problem or set back, devise more that one way to solve or overcome it and use the one that makes the most sense in terms of the people affected and business results. "That's what comes with growing up on a farm."

In business and management his guiding principle has been employees first, customers second, shareholders last. When questioned about this order of priority he explains that the people working in the business are its only true asset because they create customer and supplier goodwill, which, he says is the sustaining asset of the business; investing shareholders always realize a high return with this approach. In every business he has started, owned, or managed his practice has been to carefully hire the best people, give them responsibility, pay them accordingly and well, and constantly communicate his respect for them as individuals.

He is a happy man.

Reminds me of my Dad and other truly happy, successful people I've known.

How do you measure success?

Wesley (Wes) Zimmerman

Famous Quotes - Perception Quotes

Famous Quotes - Attitude Quotes

All our knowledge has its origins in our perceptions
- Leonardo da Vinci

A Four And Five Star Day

A Four And Five Star Day


On Friday morning Amy informed me that the horoscope writer in the Arizona Republic said she would have a four star day and I would have a five star day. Yeh!

It was a day when her arthritis became abominably painful. This has the effect of making her more than a tad impatient with everything, everybody and above all, me. I support my sweetheart as best I can under these conditions, usually by simply holding her in my arms at intervals, but today she would not take time for that. She had a big schedule of unavoidable activities requiring physical movement

I had some work to do in the house, some to do in my home office and then driving to ten different locations to do shopping, and set up book signings at several retail locations. Getting out of the house was a relief. A short time after I started my errands she called to say she had decided we should have Chicken and Dumplings for dinner. I happen to love this dish and quickly agreed to stop at the Safeway for a can of condensed Cream of Chicken soup and drop it off at home before completing my errands. This proved to be the first of a series of unhappy incidents; sort of like the first step in a crash ladder described in the Zinger Success Ladder Or Crash Ladder

We like and use Safeway brand products. In the case of soups they are stocked at random among the Campbell soup varieties in a fancy space saving, dispenser rack, furnished by the makers of Campbell soups. I knew from experience where the Cream of Chicken was located in that five foot high by six-foot long apparatus. I grabbed two cans and checked out quickly.

Arriving home I placed them on the kitchen counter in the grocery bag. I then went quickly to freezer to extract two packages of chicken thighs to defrost. I did this quickly, I was running late.

Arriving at my first coffee shop book retailer I found I had left my invoice forms at the office. These are usually in the car but had been removed. They had one book remaining and the rule there is no invoice, no book, and no payment. I said I would come back on Monday. At the next retail stop, I found I had not made enough flyers announcing next Friday's book reading and signing. A customer took one of the flyers and announced he was taking it home to remind him to come back next week. Great, but that underscored the need for more flyers. This made a long trip necessary on Monday. Disappointing but not another step in the crash ladder.

I finished my errands and asked Amy if she would like to sit and relax by the fire, with a bit of Port Wine. We did that and fell asleep. We got to the kitchen to start the Chicken and Dumplings at the time we usually sit down to eat. I proceeded to take the thawed chicken thighs out of their freezer bags and discovered one bag contained previously barbecued chicken. Amy was far less than pleased. I rushed to get two uncooked ones from the freezer and began a microwave defrost operation. Then,

"These cans are Cream Of Mushroom, not Cream Of Chicken soup. You have to read the labels on the cans!"

"I'll go to the store at once and get the correct soup."

Amy was close to tears. At the store I read the can labels and found that Cream Of Mushroom was in all but one of the dispensers marked Cream Of Chicken. That was why I had the wrong stuff at home. I informed the store assistant manager of the problem while checking out.

"That explains all the people coming back to get the right soup."

At home things went well until the Dumplings did not rise. They were flat, semi impervious to that great gravy, totally unleavened. Turns out Amy had found a full unopened box of Bisquick in the back of the pantry and had not checked the sell by date. It was more than a year overdue. I ate them out of stubbornness.

So much for horoscopes and four and five star days.

Don't bet on Astrology, think before you leave the office and always read labels.

We laughed about it next day and I thought you would, too.

Wes Zimmerman

Blogging, Web Selling, What I've Learned.

Blogging, Web Selling,

What I've Learned.

The first person to respond to last weeks blog, Surprising Search Terms, was Bill Austin, our Web Master and designer. He asked, "What have you learned?"

I have learned several things.

o The idea that a percentage of visitors will buy and therefore increasing traffic will build sales is a myth. We do not wander around the Internet shopping just for the fun of it. We do it to fill a need for information, to find a specific product or service, to gain help in solving a problem, or to satisfy our curiosity about something we have heard about from others.

I say this because diligent tracking of web site, book orders shows that only two percent have resulted from accidentally landing on our web site. This research reveals that at least 50% of sales have come from folks that used the exact web address to get there, then looked at the information and either ordered before leaving the site, or came back one or two times before ordering. Direct contact with buyers tells us they went to the site as a result of seeing a display in an independent coffee house counter display, hearing people talking about the book, or because someone they respected told them to buy it.

o Content is key; a thirteen copy book order resulted when a buyer's wife heard two people talking about the book and suggested he look it up to use in his planned sales meeting, He searched on "perception:" "As I read about it on the site, I knew it was perfect for my sales people."

o The carefully chosen words we thought would bring people to our site were used no more than 15% of the time. My name has drawn many visitors to the site. Individual words in the title and content of the site have been the key to about 40% of the visits that resulted in sales.

o People visit a site more than once before deciding a product meets their needs.

o Price is not an issue. 99% of those who click on the buy button and see the price do buy. The price does not deter them.

o People buy from a person; we've always known and taught this and it is no different on the Internet. Reading my Blogs gives a person a chance to know me and leads to sales over time.

These are specifics; the underlying lesson to me is that our Web site is a sales presentation. "I cannot buy from you, until I know you exist." is the first sentence you see in my book. "I will not buy your product until I know how it will help me reach my goals." is the second sentence.

Your site must educate; does yours?

The Perfect Job

This month, Wes Zimmerman's Zingers Newsletter is about losing a dream job and is called:

The Perfect Job

Surprising Search Terms

Surprising Search Terms - How Do I Find Thee?

(... Let me count the ways ...)

I began writing blogs because it was a way to share thoughts that do not fit the Zingers format or a book. Writing is fun for me and it is another tool to use in helping people. I believe that is calling; what I am supposed to do with my life. If it isn't, it certainly gives me daily satisfaction. I do not do it to gain fame, which I don't have, or wealth, which I also do not have: I do it a very selfish reason: It gives me joy and pleasure and helps me over the rough spots.

Every month, my web master friend, Bill Austin, sends me the statistics on this blog and our web site readership. The internet is a magic world populated with gremlins, spiders and other search engines that pick up words, phrases and maybe even full sentences and stuff them into hidden directories you and I never see. These are then picked up when a person puts some of the words into the search box of Yahoo, Google or some other search engine.

You have to scroll down the statistics to see them and they can be surprising. In October, for instance, one visitor arrived at the site when the search engine thought he said, "my mind is fried." Others included; "Oldsmobile," "hair zingers .com," "en-my," "ferarri," and "examples of perjury." My mind is fried and examples of perjury came from a blog article, but none of the others did.

Of course there were many words that I used in blogs and Zingers and even the book excerpts on the site. There were several variations of my name, also. The one that really makes me laugh is "who is wes zimmeman." The first five search results on Google were about me, even when the name was spelt wrong.

That one intrigues me....

Wes Zimmerman