We used to have a hard time building things material or virtual.  Thus, engineers, software developers, webmasters and IT people held the keys to the kingdom, and rightly so.  Building things is not as hard today.  What is difficult is clean, relevant and results-driven design.  The key question is not whether you have a website.  It is, “Does it makes you money or not?” Websites are boring.  Making money is fun.  Boring websites are simply digital brochures. Money-making sites create a buying process that help a prospective customer make a decision for your service and products.

The old school mentality revolved around projecting an image of grandeur and success. Unfortunately, such flare merely enhanced skepticism among buyers, including yourself. You want substance not salesmanship. For the seller, this takes a thought-out methodology where they must connect their selling approach to a buyer’s process. A seller must understand why people buy rather than tell people how great their company, product or brand is. We don’t care about such showmanship. We are inundated with choice, and it all feels complex.

In the training, systems and speaking we deliver via www.winningfans.com , we hone in on a moving target – your customer. They are buying very differently today, and they want leadership, not sales. Tools will not solve this problem.  Having the latest social networking site, user forum, blog or website will only be a gimmick that does not connect.  Leadership is extremely vital to make it all work.  Here is how leadership with the right tools looks:

• Timing Is Everything:  If you are selling before a person is ready to buy, you lose.  You must deliver the right messaging at the right time.  A day late does not work.  A day too soon does not either.  As a buyer of many services, you move through awareness, assessment and decision making.  Leaders move with you.  Pure salespeople and sales companies are thinking about themselves and their need – making money – and often miss the customer.  Make your message, whether verbal or digital, on time and where the buyer is at.
• Credibility:  Show proof through success.  We hear too many claims and not enough warrants from politicians and marketers.  Help your buyer see your solution – make a difference in someone else’s life and business concretely.  Help them see it in their own life and business.
• Be Easy:  Every click I take on your site, every message I get to direct me, and every meeting I have should point to one concrete next step and thereafter.  Make it easy.  Our attention is short and our expectations are high.  We are an A.D.D. nation.  We move from task to task and conversation to conversation.  Get me to one focused next step and make it intuitive and easy.  Anything complex jeopardizes the buying chain link.  Make it hard, and I quit.  Make it easy, and think through every step, and I will meet you at the end goal – the sale.
• Care:  It’s not hard to find businesses and workers that don’t care.  They think about how hard their day is or what they have to do and forget the customer.  It’s not about you. It’s about them.  It always has been; however, there was not a large cost.  Today, we have enough choice to move to a competitor and not do business with lousy services.  That is, unless the service is a monopoly like the government.  Outside of this, bureaucracy is coming under assault.  Leadership pushes the culture of a team to continually create a world class experience for the customer.  Ignore this and become increasingly irrelevant.

Everything is available to be successful today in building a fan base.  Put the right person in as the designer and leader and you will see a different results.  It’s not a matter if you have better tools than me.  It is whether you have clearer vision, more talent, and passion.  When I have these, I win.  Keep focused on the leadership.  That is the fuel for making any tools work.