Three marketing lessons for a more successful 2012! PLUS: Using Everything DiSC to build the leadership culture of your organization.

Julian Consulting

Promoting healthy teams: The right people with the right fit, enjoying right relationships.

January 2012

Greetings!

I'm begging you to read below the fold this month to learn about the featured resource - Everything DiSC®. This supercharged assessment will provide the common language needed to build the leadership culture of your organization! (Make sure to click on the links to see samples of each report I mention.)

Marketing is about identifying, satisfying, and keeping your customers. This month's newsletter focuses on three marketing lessons. As always, I trust you find at least one idea of value!

Marketing that works

How to connect with those who need what you have to offer

Lesson #1: Not everyone is a prospect

Effective marketing opens and shuts doors strategically.

Perhaps you've seen the Fidelity commercials featuring the Green Line - "Just follow your green line." I hate the concept of someone showing me my line and telling me to follow it. So, I've self-selected out of Fidelity's target audience. They're seeking people who want to be directed, to take their advice without asking a lot of questions; not skeptical, question-asking people like me.

Your marketing should open doors by making people aware of you and what you offer, but it should also close doors by turning away those who are not your targeted customers. Saying "We want to reach everyone" may sound good, but it can't be true. No one's audience is everyone. Not even evangelistic preachers think that they are to reach everyone - they are intended to reach some small segment of humanity in light of their background, language, education, theology, etc.

Lesson #2: Market yourself with a phrase that is behavioral

This behavior may be what you will do or what you have done, but it is more than a statement about character. Character is assumed if I'm going to deal with you.

If you're a financial advisor, saying you are a person of integrity is great, but that's a given. I'm not even talking to you if I have serious questions about your integrity. Tell me what you're going to do for me and how it benefits me. There's a financial advising strategy called "Supernova" that offers prospects the benefits of "12/4/2" - 12 contacts per year, including 4 financial reviews, with 2 reviews in person. That tells the prospect more than that you are a person of integrity. Even schools can do this. Here in Centerville, OH, our school district's home page trumpets that we have been rated as "Excellent" for 12 years in a row. We offer your child an excellent education. In this instance, your child's safety is assumed.

Lesson #3: Rely on your "connectors" to grow your business

The term "connector" is borrowed from Malcolm Gladwell's Tipping Point.

I define a connector somewhat differently than Gladwell. I'm talking about people who love you, are committed to your success, are comfortable with networking, and who are willing and able to connect you with people having the characteristics of your ideal clients.

Rather than large-scale events or even mass marketing, many of us would benefit more from smaller events where our connectors put us in front of those prospects we want to meet. Again, this concept goes beyond traditional sales and applies to all of us who are trying to grow networks of people committed to our organization's (for-profit or not-for-profit) success.

If you're interested in how this applies to you, let's talk.

Market effectively in 2012 and have your best year ever.

1) Focus on your target audience, 2) Speak to them about the behavioral advantages you provide, and 3) Rely on your connectors to put you in touch with those you need to get to know.

At Julian Consulting, implementing these three lessons is how we help you succeed. Call us TODAY to find out more.

Everything DiSC® - a supercharged tool!

The key is the reports!

I am a believer in personality assessments. Self-awareness is critical to effective communication, influence of others, and maximum productivity. Furthermore, organizations need a common language when discussing how people are wired, their preferences, and how they interrelate. Everything DiSC® provides this self-awareness and common language across a wide range of customized reports.

Everything DiSC® is the new king of assessments - and it's all about the reports. Everything DiSC® from Inscape Publishing relies on a revised DiSC assessment that is more accurate and produces better suggestions for real-world situations.

[Click on the links in each of the subsequent paragraphs to view a PDF of a sample report which you can print or download to your computer.]

The Management Profile looks at your management style, how you direct & delegate, motivate, and develop those you oversee, while providing insights into how to "manage up" to your leader more effectively.

The Sales Profile is an incredible tool that should be called the "Influence Profile." I'm using this with a wide range of clients, including people who don't traditionally think of themselves as being in sales (we're all selling - even if our product is ideas). The report allows you to create unlimited (yes, that's right, unlimited) Customer Interaction Maps for FREE. By answering just two questions about anyone with whom you interact, you receive a customized report with suggestions about how to influence that person more effectively. (You could even create Customer Interaction Maps for family members before Thanksgiving dinner to make sure you respond to each person appropriately.)

The Work of Leaders looks at Vision, Alignment, and Execution as the central foci of leaders. It helps you to understand how you handle each of these areas and provides behavioral suggestions for improvement.

The 363 for Leaders builds on a traditional 360° review (so named because you receive feedback from those who report to you, your peers, and those to whom you report. It organizes the feedback from your reviewers into eight sections and provides specific suggestions for each area. It concludes with 3 Strategies for Development (these strategies are why it is called a 363 - a 360° review plus 3 specific strategies for development).

The Workplace Profile provides the typical employee with insights about his/her own style and how best to respond to the styles of others.

Each of these reports builds on the same 79-item DiSC assessment and pulls all the information from the various reports into a single, coherent picture.

One more freebie: Any two people who complete one of these Everything DiSC assessments can invite each other to a view a Comparison Report that focuses specifically on how their two styles interrelate. This is an amazing tool that extends the value of the Everything DiSC line by letting team members talk directly with one another about their styles, preferences, and areas of overlap and challenge.

Contact me TODAY for more information - to find out how you and your organization can benefit from this amazing tool. Everything DiSC® - it's all in the reports!

Thanks for reading.

Please share this with a friend or colleague using the "Forward this email" link below.

Remember, I'm committed to your professional and personal success!