When Bill Caskey speaks, you should listen, even if your name is E.F. Hutton.

I recently had the chance to talk to Bill about sales and marketing during an economic downturn.

He and his team are doing a teleseminar about this same topic on March 27th.

If you choose to invest in yourself and your future by attending this teleseminar, here’s some of what you’ll discover:

• The phases of a slowdown so you can determine where your clients are in it. (You can’t know where you’re going until you know where you are).
• The five economic trends that a well-known economist, who will be on the call, says will influence people into a slowdown.
• The “Fundamental Shift” you need to make in order to get your head right in your dealings with prospects and clients.
• The five elements of the “Buyer Psyche” that will help you understand his/her motive better.
• A selling strategy that will help you detach emotionally and think clearly so you always know what to do next. (And you stop getting in the way of the sale).

Over the next few days I’ll give you more advice on what to do and what to not do to prosper during an economic downturn.

I highly recommend that you take 15-20 minutes and listen to my interview with Bill.

You can listen thru the web audio player.

Back on Tuesday, March 4th, I was fortunate to be the host of a teleseminar about The New Rules of Viral Marketing with thought leader David Meerman Scott.

During the 60+ minutes we were on the phone, David answered a multitude of questions about viral marketing.

You can download the entire mp3 or you can listen in, thru your computer, on a webcast player, your choice.

By listening in, as I grill David about viral marketing is:

• Professional versus amateur productions
• Viral marketing for services versus products
• Finding time to blog, visit other blogs and leaving comments
• How corporations should approach viral marketing
• Whether or not to bother with audio and video content
• How to allocate funds for viral marketing
• How to organize content on your website
• Social networking and viral marketing - How they can coexist
• What’s next in the field of viral marketing
• How to avoid the major mistakes in viral marketing
• How technology works for and against viral marketing campaigns
• What viral marketing is and isn’t

Download the mp3and listen on your iPod or listen thru the webcast palyer, but don’t miss this opportunity to listen in and learn from the guy who wrote the book.

EDIT: Yes, I was getting over the flu and my voice was low and scratchy. Thanks for asking.

A while back I was able to get Steve Marx, author of Close Like The Pros, on the phone for a few minutes.

We talked about the fact that neither of us truly believe in sales contests, as they’re used in today’s sales climate.

I had also previously reprinted an article by Dan Kennedy that basically agreed with us.

So take the time to listen thru the player below or download the mp3 and listen on your iPod or other mp3 player.

Humans need to connect to one other human to feel comfortable enough to spend money.

The flu is a terrible thang. Today, after 14 days in the house, I got out and visited the world.

I went to see my doctor, because I have a cough that won’t go away and a few other lingering symptoms.

The receptionist had me fill out the usual 3-4 sheets of paper, but as I handed them back to her, she mentioned that I owed $77.12. I told her that I always pay my bill as soon as the insurance company does their part and they, at the doctors office, send me the final bill.

She mentioned that they had gone thru a period where “their billing wasn’t done properly” and I may have never received a bill. Yet, they may have referred my account to a medical collection agency, even though I have years of visual proof in their files of paying as soon as the invoice is received.

Where was the one person who could call and ask if I knew I owed them for a visit ?

Where was the one person who could have called me, before they send my account out to a medical collection agency for a measly $77.12 ?

Where was the one person who could say, we had a problem, let’s not cause any for the people who pay our salaries ?

For that office, that one person didn’t exist, so now I have ill feelings in more ways than one.

After seeing the doctor, I head out to get my prescriptions filled. They informed me that they had faxed my prescriptions to one of our local Wal-Mart Pharmacies, because they’re the cheapest in town.

If they’d asked, I’d had told them I abhor cheap drugs.

I drove the 10 minutes to the Wal-Mart Pharmacy and the young lady told me she had personally just taken my prescriptions out of the fax machine and they’d get right on them.

I was the only human on my side of the counter.

65 minutes later, I finally got my prescriptions.

What took so long ?

There wasn’t that one person around who could put my prescription in front of all the ones that were called in, faxed in or electronically transmitted to them.

Sure, all of those needed to be filled, but 95% to 99%, according to the technician, wouldn’t be picked up for several days. “But we have to fill them in the order we receive them“, even though I’m standing there and the other people may not come in for several days.

If they had that one person, I would not have taken a sworn oath to never let a prescription of mine ever be filled at a Wal-Mart Pharmacy ever again.

I left, feeling bad and now starting to get angry at the world for not having that one person I needed. There’s a strip-mall across the street with a Quizno’s that I’d been wanting to try. Soup and salad or 1/2 a sandwich sounded so good, especially after a frustrating morning.

It was 10:56 on the clock in the dashboard of my Camry and I was the only car parked in front of Quizno’s. I could envision the personal service I was gonna get, since I’m the first one there.

I walked up and got slapped again, because they didn’t have that one person who could unlock the door, even though their OPEN sign was lit.

I walked back across the parking lot and as I started my car, a young woman unlocked the door and waved. I waved back, but I was waving goodbye and so were my dollars.

Not having that one person who can unlock the door cost them an untold number of lunches, because I’ll never give them another chance.

I drove 10 whole minutes to the only place in town that could give me one person to fill my order and my soul.

Panera Bread had someone waiting for me. He took my order, offered me a cookie and/or a USA Today, which I took and then he personally filled my drink order, iced green tea, before he took another order.

I love the fact that they filled my order before they took another 1,2 or 5 orders, like some of the fast food places do.

That $10.21 was the best part of my day, until I made it home.

Thanks, Panera Bread, for taking my money, giving me what I paid for and doing it all with that one person I was looking for all day.

Take this with you when you leave:

Walk into your business, call yourself on the phone and answer this question - Do we have that one person who can make the day of whoever comes into our life ?

Do we have that one person who will do whatever it takes to start and finish the job ?

If not, I can tell you where you won’t find them, but I’ll struggle telling you where to find ‘em.

If you know how to convert employees into that one person, use the Contact page and let’s talk about it.

This book is a must read.

There I said it and I don’t say it often.

I liked it so much I emailed and emailed and worked like a blogging dog to get you guys a teleseminar with Dr. Joe later this month.

I’m going to hold off on my review, for the most part, except to say I want you to go to Amazon and buy this book.

His Success Triangle is worth 100 times the cost of the book.

Learning to use a mentor like he used Charlie is worth 100 times the cost of the book.

If you want to go from average to excellent, you need this book.

If you use this link, you’ll also get access to over $2500 worth of additional products to help you sustain the success that Dr. Joe Capista will get started in your life.

Stay tuned for the date and time of the teleseminar and I’ll also do my best to get you access to an ASK methodology campaign, so you’ll want to order Dr. Joe’s book to be fully prepared.

While I spend some quality time relaxing on the tile floor in my master bathroom, curled in a fetal position, being visited by this years demon spawn of a flu virus, my friend Debbi Bressler has graciously volunteered a nice customer service story. Thanks Debbi !

Not unlike the police officer who is frustrated by the judge who lets criminals run free, is the salesperson who sees their effort thwarted by incompetent customer service personnel and policies.

With the cost of acquiring a new customer in the $200-500 range, it is incumbent on all of us to be sure that the new customer has as flawless and positive an experience as possible. To do otherwise cuts income from the sales staff and company’s bottom line.

Alas…some companies have a harder time realizing this than others. And some…well… they never “get” it!

Case in point is my experience yesterday with Bright House Networks, a local cable and broadband provider in Orlando, Florida. Over the past few days, I’d received a number of calls on my Grand Central account from Bright House to Joshua. Seems that he was a new customer who didn’t know his phone number and used mine instead.

First Bright House called to thank him for his business. Then they called to confirm an installation appointment. Then they called to inform him that the technician was at his door – but he wasn’t.

For those of you unfamiliar with Grand Central, it’s a one number service. This means that when someone calls my number, it calls all the contact numbers I have listed, as well as leaving a voice mail which I can access online. If I’m in my office when Grand Central beckons, a veritable symphony erupts.

I’d finally had enough and decided to call Bright House to let them know that Joshua was unlikely to ever get their messages and to please quit calling me.

Me: Someone named Joshua keeps getting phone calls on my business number. Can you please make a note and take my number off because I don’t know this guy and he will never get the message ?

CS: What is the number ?

Me: 407-000-0000

CS: You are correct. This account does not belong to you. Well, since this is not your account there is nothing we can do. Our system will have to keep calling this number until the person whose name is on the account calls in and changes it.

Me: Excuse me ?

CS: Yea, sorry, there is nothing we can do ’cause you have no authority even though it’s your phone number.

Me: So whom should I send the bill to for my time and cell phone minutes ?

CS: Umm … can I put you on hold for UP TO FIVE MINUTES while I talk to a supervisor ?

And off he goes…..only to return five minutes later to say:

CS: Umm … I am still talking to my supervisor. Can I put you on hold again for up to five minutes ?

The rep finally came back – after I was on hold a total of about 12 minutes – to say “ I’ve put a notation on his account and when he calls in we will ask him for a correct phone number. ”

To which I replied: “ Five years ago when I moved to Orlando, I used your broadband service. At that time your customer service was the worst I’d ever experienced. In fact, a supervisor offered me free service for a few months and I turned it down. Thanks for reminding me that I made a really good decision back then. ”

Imagine how much money Bright House Networks spends to acquire new customers. And think how much money they have lost because incompetent personnel and policies have allowed those customers to slip through their fingers – never to return.

Remember…the sales process doesn’t end with the handshake.

” On the road again ….”

Driving down the road today, doing my thang - selling - I was thinking about, uh … selling.

Naturally.

I was thinking that a large percentage of sales people don’t study sales or marketing. I know the one’s I run across sure as hell don’t study or they wouldn’t be as awful as they are at selling.

They don’t even come close, for the most part, to anything that faintly resembles a sales person.

They mostly are lazy order takers or maulers.

Lazy Order Takers just wander around and hope that enough customers call them and do all the work for them.

Maulers show up, mostly unannounced and ask you what you want to buy.

If you don’t want to be like either of these groups, all you have to do is learn The S.A.L.E. Method.

Stop. Ask. Listen. Elevate.

Stop - You absolutely must find a quiet place and think about the ways your product or service can alleviate some type of pain that your customer has.

If they have no pain, you have no shot. Literally.

Your product or service must be more tolerable than the pain they’re experiencing.

People email me every week and ask about how to fight the issue of pricing.

It’s pretty simple. When you figure out how much their pain is costing them, price your solution accordingly.

If you can’t find out how much their pain costs them …

Ask - Simply sit down with them and say something like this:

” I’m not sure our product/service is a good fit for you, so I’m just going to ask you to tell me what causes you the most pain. If my product can alleviate that pain, we can proceed, if not, I’ll move on down the line. “

If the company you work for or are thinking of going to work for won’t allow you to work like this, find one that will.

You’ll enjoy life a helluva lot more and you’ll make more money.

Don’t try to sell your product, just try to cure pain.

Think about it this way:

You go see your physician. Does he come out with a prescription before he finds out what your symptoms are or does he sit down and ask you a few questions first ?

Does he start pricing you right away or does he run a few tests and get back to you ?

Simple.

Listen - Just like a great physician does, you need to really listen to your customer.

How many times have you heard someone say their doctor is the best ever because he sits down, looks them eye to eye and listens to them.

There are doctors out there who make six-figures for listening. Just listening.

Don’t listen and try to think of an answer, just listen.

Don’t listen and look for a place to try and interject a great feature of your product or service, just listen.

Listen.

Because when you actually listen your sales will …

Elevate - You’ll complete ( I refuse to use the word close ) more opportunities than you ever have. You’ll elevate your standing with your customers. You’ll elevate your standing within your organization.

Nothing makes your confidence grow like success. Nothing.

Try the S.A.L.E. Method for 30, 60 or 90 days and if it doesn’t work for you, I refund every penny you paid for this post.

What have you got to lose ?

Do you have a questions about viral marketing ?

Have you read The New Rules of Viral Marketing ?

If either of these apply to you, run, don’t walk, run over and Ask David Meerman Scott your question.

He’ll do his best to answer our questions about viral marketing on February 26th at 5 PM EST, during his virtual book tour.

I’m the host for the virtual book tour and I’ll be compiling the questions that are submitted, but the answers are all David’s, so you don’t want to miss it.

His last ebook has been downloaded over 250,000 times over the last two years and I expect this one will beat those numbers.

It’s already been downloaded over 40,000 times in the first couple of weeks, so if you haven’t read it yet, head over to David’s blog and get your copy.

And if you’re interested in doing a virtual book tour or ASK methodology campaign for your book or topic, use the Contact page and simply ask me if about it.

” Remember that the right word - the one instantly recognized and understood by your listener - is most often a simple word. ” ~ Larry King

The final installment of this three-part series is finally ready and I’m proud that The Headmaster of Headlines himself saw fit to call on me to write this post.

It’s been so good for me and I’ve gotten so many emails about it, that I just may go back to Brian for more homework assignments !

As my favorite boxing referee, Mills Lane, always said, ” Let’s get it on ! “

19 - Solicit opinions - don’t just state yours. Without a doubt I have an opinion about almost everything. Without a doubt, if all I do is give ‘em away, they won’t be worth much.

In an interview, it’s all about the guest, so keep your opinions to yourself, unless the guest calls on you to give yours.

The only time you might need to interject your opinion is if the one the guest gives is far and away too controversial for you to not point out just how different you feel about the topic.

20 - The perfect volume of your words is hard to quantify. You don’t want to use too many words, but you don’t want to use so few that people think you’re not too bright, nor too interested.

I wish I could tell you how much to talk and how much to listen, but you’ll have to gauge it for yourself and change it every single time you interview someone.

21 - Be curious about everything. The best conversationalists are curious.

” That’s why they’re so good at listening and why they have broad horizons - they’re always learning something new. “ ~ Larry King

If you’re gonna excel at this skill, you’re gonna have to want to learn just for the sake of learning, which is why I love it.

22 - Show empathy. You absolutely must relate to what the other person is saying to get optimum results.

Even if you’re not genuinely interested, you need to be … if only for that short period of time.

Without empathy, the other person will never turn loose of all the nuggets of gold that they have hidden in their heart and mind.

23 - Show your sense of humor. ” When I’m giving a speech, one of my own cardinal rules is ‘ Never stay too serious too long. ” ~ Larry King

People don’t come to be lectured to, they come for entertainment. If you want to try to ramp it up to edutainmen, that’s fine, but stop short of lectures … unless you’re teaching at Columbia Law School.

The easier you smile and laugh, the easier it will be for the other person to smil and laugh. Simple, but entirely necessary.

24 - Don’t blow the show. Nothing’s worse than using tired old phrases, catch phrases, trendy talk and ill-fitting cliches.

Metaphors, which are like cliches, only better, add visual proof to the phrase your using. Cliches just add weight to the basket and make it harder to carry.

Avoid nothing words like ” Basically… “, ” Hopefully… “, ” Whatever… ” and their ilk. ” Umm… ” and ” Uhhhh… ” and starting an answer with ” I mean… ” are for athletes, not interviewers, so avoid those at all costs.

” Sprinkle enough of those around your converation and people will think you’re incapable of talking like the rest of us. “ ~ Larry King

25 - Break bad speech habits. First of all, you must, absolutely must, liten to yourself as the words come out of your mouth. Listen to replays of your interviews.

Even better is to have someone else review your talks and give you ideas of what to do to improve.

Get rid of the mistakes, little by little, and over time, you can break every bad habit of speech that you have at the start.

Remember, you’re at your worst when you begin and you can only get better over time.

Don’t let not being perfect stop your starting. Sloppy success is much better than perfect inaction.

26 - Time is money. Don’t waste the other person’s time talking about unimportant things.

If you do, they won’t come back, they won’t refer people to you and they’ll call your Mother and tell her you stink.

Well, maybe not, but you’re stature will be stunted and you’ll need a growth serum to get rid of the bad mojo they put on you.

Be professional in your approach and treat the other person with respect and dignity.

27 - If you aren’t at ease with the subject, your demeanor will suffer.

Regardless of your ability, remember this:

A) If you feel you’re not good at it, you can be.

B) If you feel you’re good at it, you can be better.

~ Larry King.

‘Nuff said.

I sat, I blogged, I loved it … after it was done.

Kind of a take-off of my tag line, but true to life. The first post in this series may have been the toughest post I’ve ever done, but this one feels like it’s going to be easier, because the work’s already started, so I may as well finish.

That’s what kills more good ideas, and people, than any other variable - Getting started or taking action.

So let’s get more meat on the table and see if we can find any more nuggets of gold in my coal mine mind.

10 - Practice ! Talk out loud to yourself around the house or when you’re driving.

I drive 200-350 miles a day, 3-5 days a week, so I get a lot of time to listen to mp3’s of teleseminars, interviews and the like, but nothing works as well for me as having time to conduct the interview, out loud, answering my own questions, while zippin’ around the highways and byways of Kentucky.

Think about it. If you know in advance the questions you’re going to ask, you can practice the delivery and even practice what the interviewee will say and try out some follow up questions.

Try it tomorrow and then come back here and let me know what you think or how it worked for you.

11 - Be open about yourself. Nobody likes a perfect person. Nobody.

And you ain’t perfect anyway, you just like to think you are.

Let go of some of your personal likes and dislikes, some of your quirks and maybe even a little TMI, every now and then and those who follow you will bond a little deeper and spend a little more, time and money, with you.

12 - Overcome your shyness to keep from making a shy mess.

Larry says, ” The best way I’ve found to overcome shyness is to remind yourself of the old saying that the person you’re talking to puts his pants ( or skirt ) on one leg at a time. “

There’s really no reason to put anybody on a pedestal so high that you can’t tap ‘em on the shoulder and whisper in their ear, as far as I’m concerned.

Even the Emperor needed to be told he had no clothes and you can’t tell ‘em if you can’t reach ‘em.

13 - Enjoy the conversation. That’s all an interview really is - a conversation.

Pretend it’s an old friend, a favorite teacher, a trusted advisor, whatever you need to imagine, but find some way to talk with a faint smile on your face, because that’s a sign of comfort, confidence and closeness.

Those three C’s will make your guest feel like a friend and friends always enjoy talking with friends.

14 - Avoid Questions that can be answered Yes or No - they’re a conversation killer. It’s not that hard to rephrase a question to enable an answer that’s worth hearing.

Hearing a yes or no, most of the time, means you were lazy in assembling the question.

Practicing the questions, like in Secret #10, will help you avoid this situation.

You listenership will drop you like a hot rock in a heatwave if you ask questions like this often enough.

15 - Be prepared. Have your notes ready, but listen to the answers, like in Secret #7 and jump on any opening like a duck on a junebug.

Sure, it’s your job as the professional to be ready and stay on track, but there are times when you hear something that has to be followed up on, even if the next question might get lost in that shuffle.

If I’m interviewing, let’s say Donald Trump, and he intimates that he could give me a tip that would enable me to retire with $5 million in 3 years, if I was interested, I’m going after that secret and the next question in line be damned !

16 - Realize that, especially with someone you don’t know well, there are some topics that are taboo. For example, salary, how much they have in the bank, if they have tattoo’s or piercings, if they’re pregnant, etc.

Like my friend Clint says, ” A man’s gotta know his limitations. ”

And you, as the interviewer du jour, must know the limitations to your interview … or have a good lawyer !

17 - Stay informed. Know what’s going on in the day’s news and what’s going on in the world. To be a really good interviewer, you have to be able to converse about what’s on the other person’s mind, not be willing to tell them about what’s on yours.

All day long I deal with people who don’t know about anything outside of what’s on TV that night and what’s happening in their little, bitty lives.

You, as the Interview King in waiting ( did you catch that ? ), must be well read and widely engaged.

You should read a local newspaper, the USA Today and another nationally circulated daily each and every day. Several magazines, books off the Best Seller lists and some trade magazines should also be part of your monthly regimen of reading.

How can you do that ? Turn off the TV sitcoms and keep the weekly series, like my beloved Survivor, to a minimum of one or two hours per week … not per day.

18 - Remember that ” Why ? “ is the greatest question ever asked. Bar none. My man Larry say’s it’s the simplest and surest way to keep a conversation lively and interesting.

Don’t believe it ? Try this:

Mike: I love watching Survivor ?

Larry: Really ? Why is that ?

Mike: Because I think if I played, I’d win.

Larry: Really ? Why ?

Mike: Well, because of my Army training, my survival skills and my having been a salesman for two decades. I think I could manipulate the whole tribe like paper dolls.

Larry: You’re delusional !

So there’s Secrets 10 thru 18, with numbers 19 thru 27 to follow. I fully intend to prove to Mr. Copyblogger himself that I can finish what I start, have the skills to play like the big boys and am an all-around good guy.

Brian Clark: You’re delusional !

Mike: Sigh.