Maverick Mastery®

Consultants and small business owners are being given the opportunity to learn the secrets of a successful networking strategy thanks to a new teleclass seminar from reputation specialist Judith Germain.

During the one hour teleclass which takes place on 22^nd July at 10.30am, Judith Germain, managing director of Dynamic Transitions, will be revealing how to leverage your personal brand and understand, define and design a networking strategy which gains more advocates and referrals.

Germain, who has over 15000 members in her network which spans Twitter, Ecademy, LinkedIn and as well as various offline networks, is also the Vice President of Blackstar Life Members Community of popular business social networking site Ecademy and has delivered networking strategy training to hundreds of businesses across the globe.

Recruitment Consultant David Shirley has taken one of Germain’s networking courses and says, “Jude covered a fair amount of ground in a short time and I have picked up several pointers around defining your circles of contacts (outer, middle, inner) and who populates those circles, linking together sites such as LinkedIn, Ecademy, Twitter etc, uses for Tweet Later and on, and on. This session was so useful to me as a newcomer to online networking.”

Germain believes that, many consultants and SME business owners forget that people increasingly buy from those that they know, like and trust and being credible and having a good reputational (personal) brand is essential in enabling the buyer’s decision making process to choose them over a competitor time and time again.

“Conducting business in the 21^st Century is substantially different than in the last century and brand perception and delivery is becoming all important. Many consultants and SME business owners dismiss this as a trend that affects big business only but to do so can mean the difference between winning and losing a sale. Brand reputation is becoming the ultimate decision maker and to ignore this trend will put your business and earning capacity in peril,” says Germain.

The Networking Essentials teleclass takes placed on 22^nd July 2009 from 10.30am to 11.30am. There are just 20 places on the course, which costs from just £20. For more details or to book your place visit www.networking-strategy.eventbrite.com/ or call 0208 208 288 0512.

Judith Germain is managing director Dynamic Transitions a leadership company specialising in working with Troublesome Talent ® and improving leadership performance within organisations. Judith provides strategic and network strategy mentoring for senior executives and business leaders and delivers innovative leadership programmes, leadership consultancy, training, coaching and mentoring to corporate clients. For more information visit www.developing-leadership.com or email jude@dynamic-transitions.co.uk

In this day and age it is becoming increasingly important to be able to distinguish yourself from your competition so that you become the ‘no brainer’ choice in your chosen market. Whilst there are many factors that can distinguish you from everyone else, the deciding factor seems to be the strength of your reputation and credibility in relation to your competition. This is especially true for smaller businesses and ‘one man bands’ in over populated niches.

Brand reputation is becoming the ultimate decision maker and to ignore this trend will put your business and earning capacity in peril.

If we agree with the premise that potential clients will only buy high ticket value services from those that they trust, it becomes imperative that businesses consider how to develop, nurture and maintain that trust. The next consideration is to decide how to do this in the most cost effective way for their business.

This may mean foregoing expensive marketing activity that only increases the business’ visibility but does nothing to lessen the risk of hiring the company. This ‘risk’ perceived or otherwise, is continuously assessed by potential clients prior to them making the decision to hire you. The oft quoted maxim of ‘the client needs to be ‘touched’ by you 7 times before they buy’ is derived from this premise.

Lessening the risk of a client hiring you is especially important if the business has decided to use ‘pull’ rather than ‘push’ marketing as a strategy for their business. For example, ‘push’ marketing is where the business advertises its services to its target audience, unsure of whether they are looking for their expertise. ‘Pull’ marketing is where the potential client ‘pulls’ your services when he needs it – without specific advertisement. He might decide to use your service based on a referral from an advocate of yours. This means advertising spend has not been made to secure this client.

Those that rely on referrals or social networking to secure work will realise that the most cost effective way to gain new clients is to use ‘pull’ marketing techniques to gain business.

First things first

Before building your reputation in your chosen niche you need to first understand your current position. An audit of your situation should reveal (amongst other things) your standing in relation to your competitors, whether your reputation is earning you enough referrals and whether your business message is coherent across all your markets. It’s important to ensure that your current business strategy (including networking strategy) is consistent with the reputation that you have and are building.

Reputation is personal in its nature, concerning itself with the character of the business (or person) and the intention of its (their) actions. It is essential that you are consistent with what you say and do, especially on the internet where everything that is recorded there is of a permanent nature. Inconsistency can be the biggest killer of reputation because it undermines the trust that is being established between the two parties.

Credibility needs to be demonstrated and is based on your track record and competency. One of the ways to establish credibility is to ensure that your expertise and integrity is demonstrated regularly and effectively. This can be done by providing expert opinion, a positive and strong personal brand, social proofing and having a strong trust account. This allows potential clients to sample your expertise enabling them to advocate your services or hire your business.

If your business (and/or yourself) has a good reputation and credibility it is more likely to be trusted by your potential clients, therefore increasing your revenue and sustainability. A trust account balance reflects the amount of trust in the relationship at any given time. In any one relationship there are two accounts. How we perceive a trusted relationship – say one with a client, may not be the same as they see it. It would be wise to try and understand the balance that is held in each account.

Can social networking help you build reputation and credibility in your business?

It’s important that businesses establish their networking/marketing strategy so that they can decide which social networking sites they should use or maintain a presence on. Social networking sites like Ecademy (www.ecademy.com) can enable businesses to build reputation and credibility for their business quickly. This is particularly true of Ecademy’s Life Membership Community, where building advocacy is made easier due to the nature of its composition. Ecademy encourages its members to network on and offline. Sites like LinkedIn (www.linkedin.com) can enable businesses to build visibility and connections quickly. There are hundreds of sites to choose from, so finding a cost and time effective way to utilise them is imperative. Your networking strategy needs to be defined to ensure consistency of your message.

The use of sites such as Ecademy can help businesses establish themselves as an expert in their area of expertise. To establish yourself (or your business) as an expert using social networking sites requires you to be visible to the membership. It is recommended that you blog and write articles frequently, in your area of expertise, run and join clubs structured around your expertise or around your personal interests (thus developing personal reputation). How you communicate and articulate your thoughts on the public and private areas of the networking sites – will guide potential clients and advocates well. Inconsistencies or extreme views contrary to your ‘public persona’ will do you ill and could even prohibit your ability to gain business.

Freely providing advice to others without expectation of a return helps to build your reputation as an expert and provides an informative view on your character. (This is not the same as providing free consultancy!) Participating in one-to-ones to learn how you can help those in your network can be a positive enhancement to both your reputation and credibility. The return on this activity can be immense.

With the credit crunch still impacting most industries, you need to ensure that you focus your energies on delivering a consistent and compelling reason for clients to work with you and a well defined networking strategy will help you to achieve this for very little cash outlay. It is a solid, credible reputation (not just increased visibility) that will carry you and business out of the crunch and beyond. So, look at the way your brand is seen by others and ask yourself…based on the information available about me, would I hire me?

Conducting business in the 21^st Century is substantially different than in the last century. Increasingly there is a move towards buying from ethical companies and those that demonstrate good social responsibility policies. Brand perception and delivery is becoming all important.

Many consultants dismiss this as a trend that affects big business only but to do so can mean the difference between one consultant being hired over another. Brand reputation is becoming the ultimate decision maker and to ignore this trend will put your business and earning capacity in peril.

Reputation and Credibility

People increasingly buy from those that they know, like and trust, especially where the purchase has a high ticket value. Being credible and having a good reputational (personal) brand is essential, enabling the buyer’s decision making process to choose you over another consultant each and every time.

Whilst reputation and credibility are separate concepts and can be established and maintained separately they are integral to each other. To be credible as a consultant often means that you need to be an expert in your field. People and businesses prefer experts over generalists; this is after all, the decade of specialism.

To be credible therefore requires clarity on your business proposition (what your business does). Questions that you should be able to answer include the following:

• What makes you different from other consultants?
• How do you articulate what you do in a way that is easily understood by others?
• What are you known for?
• Are you easily remembered?

Credibility needs to be demonstrated and is based on your track record and competency. One of the ways to demonstrate credibility to those that have not seen your work is by articulating effectively how you achieve success for your clients in story form, free from jargon. Good stories are enjoyable to listen to and can enable subtle messaging about your expertise and ability to potential buyers or advocates. Another way is to provide support and advice to others; thus enabling snippets of your expertise to be demonstrated making it easier for others to advocate you.

I believe that reputation is based on the character of the person (or business) and the intent of the individual (or business). Reputation is therefore personal; it is how you are perceived by others. If others perceive your intention as good this can enhance your standing with others.

Reputation is built on what you say and what you demonstrate and it is important to build awareness and visibility amongst your target audience and potential advocates. It is essential that you are consistent with what you say and do, especially on the internet where everything that is recorded there is of a permanent nature. It is easy to forget that social networking sites are places where reputation and credibility is established, maintained and developed, not just places to ‘hang out with friends’. Many consultants take a relaxed and whimsical approach to how they network on places like Facebook, which can be quite detrimental to them. Others join business networks and then remain ‘invisible’ to the membership, ignoring the opportunity to enhance their reputation and find advocates for their service.

Both reputation and credibility can be established and enhanced by writing on subjects which demonstrate your expertise. Where you publish your thoughts will be dependent on your objectives.

The benefits of having the right reputation

One of the most essential benefits, especially in times of economic downturns, is that having a good reputation reduces operating costs. When you are trusted, speed in decision making is increased and cost decreases as you need less risk protection. For example, long legalistic contracts become less necessary and collaboration on projects become easier – often without the need for Non Disclosure Agreements.

An expensive but necessary component in business is having the resources to be able to market yourself effectively. Most traditional marketing techniques are ‘push’ marketing ones. For example, the consultant advertises his services to his target audience, unsure of whether they are looking for his expertise. Having a good reputation can mean that ‘pull’ marketing techniques are used. An example is where the potential client ‘pulls’ your services when he needs it – without specific advertisement. He might decide to use your service based on a referral from an advocate of yours. This means advertising spend has not been made to secure this client.

You are more likely to find that the sales cycle is reduced because you have a good reputation. It also enables others to believe that there is less of a risk working with you. This is equally true if you are an interim consultant working for short periods within large companies. A good reputation and a credible persona will help ensure that you are chosen for the role over a more obscure consultant.

Distinguishing yourself from others by being a credible expert with the right reputation makes it easier to be advocated. Advocacy is when an individual is almost evangelical about someone or their services. Advocates understand your business proposition inside out and can sell your services to potential clients with very little intervention from yourself. This reduces your marketing costs as well as your sales cycle.

The current economic climate shows now signs of improving in the short term, and the increased competition for reduced customer spend has meant that establishing and promoting your competitive advantage has never been so crucial. A good, strong and credible reputation is the one thing which can provide you with the superior and sustainable leverage you need to survive the credit crunch, whilst others around you fall by the wayside, and it wont cost you a penny!

Many small businesses are putting their business and earning capacity at risk by investing in expensive marketing activity that increases visibility but does nothing for brand reputation, the ultimate decision making factor used by businesses during turbulent times, according to networking strategy specialists at leadership consultancy Dynamic Transitions.

In a recent whitepaper by Dynamic Transitions MD Judith Germain entitled ‘building reputation and credibility for your business’, Germain suggests that potential clients will only buy ‘high ticket value’ services from those they trust and that SME’s need to focus on how they can develop, nuture and maintain that trust, particularly during the credit crunch when spend is often limited.

Germain suggests that businesses should consider forgoing expensive marketing activity that only increases the business’ visibility but does nothing to lessen the ‘risk’ of hiring the company, arguing that those who rely on referrals or social networking to secure work instead will realise that the most cost effective way to gain new clients is to use ‘pull’ rather than ‘push’ marketing techniques.

“Reputation is personal in its nature, concerning itself with the character of the business (or person) and the intention of its (their) actions. It is essential that you are consistent with what you say and do, especially on the internet where everything that is recorded there is of a permanent nature. Inconsistency can be the biggest killer of reputation because it undermines the trust that is being established between the two parties”, explains Germain.

Germain strongly believes that freely providing advice to others without expectation of a return helps to build your reputation as an expert and provides an informative view on your character, and ironically the return on this activity can be immense.

Germain adds, “with the credit crunch still impacting most industries, you need to ensure that you focus your energies on delivering a consistent and compelling reason for clients to work with you and a well defined networking strategy will help you to achieve this for very little cash outlay. It is a solid, credible reputation (not just increased visibility) that will carry you and business out of the crunch and beyond. So, look at the way your brand is seen by others and ask yourself this…based on the information available about me, would I hire me?”

You can download the free whitepaper ‘building reputation and credibility for your business’ from www.developing-leadership.com/leadership-whitepapers.html. For further information or to find out more about Dynamic Transitions visit www.developing-leadership.com or telephone +44 (0) 208 288 0512.