We’re all looking for the competitive edge. That little nugget of information that could help you secure an appointment with the decision maker or possibly even win the prospects trust, and then their business.  The issue is not the lack of information available today; in fact the opposite is true. There is so much available at our fingertips at an instant that it can sometimes be overwhelming and can make it difficult to swim through the sea of web sites, newsletters, books and magazines.  At the same time our daily to-do lists and schedules have only increased which makes it difficult to squeeze in this additional task which we know is vitally important to our success, but often gets placed on the back burner due to other pressing needs.

Here are some web sites I have found to be very valuable in gaining the business intelligence or competitive edge that we are all looking for:

http://www.zibb.com/   The Global business search engine- you can search by industry or specific company and includes the latest business to business news.

http://seekingalpha.com/  Although this is an investor site, it allows you to read companies earnings transcripts which often contain very valuable information as to their corporate objectives and new initiatives.

http://multichannelmerchant.com/  Provides targeted compelling content for multichannel merchants. Provides valuable information on latest happening is the catalog, ecommerce, BTB, Retail and Social Media channels.

http://socialmention.com/  A great search engine for social media content.  Give you the ability to find out if the person or company you are interested in is active in the social media environment.

http://www.google.com/alerts?hl=en  You can set up emails alerts where you will receive emails anytime the company or person you are following is mentioned in the media or has a press release.

http://www.linkedin.com  This is much more than just a business connecting site.  This site gives you the ability to follow a company which will give you company updates as well as tell you when there are changes with personnel.  Linkedin is also a very valuable tool in obtaining information about the person you are trying to get a meeting with. It will not only tell who they are connected to but where they use to work which can be just the edge you are looking for.

Obviously this is not an exhaustive list but hopefully you will find one or more of these useful in gaining the competitive edge you are looking for.

People don’t buy what you do; they buy why you do it.  The goal is not to do business with everybody who needs what you have; the goal is to do business with people who believe what you believe. A company like Apple and even people like the Wright Brothers and Martin Luther King are great examples of this. Check out this great video that challenges you to ask yourself “What’s your why?”

As a parent it seems I am constantly saying to my kids something to the extent that “it’s not the words that you are using but rather how you are saying them that’s wrong.”  It would be wrong to assume this only pertains to personal relationships with family and friends.  Unfortunately, the business world is not immune to this issue. We often mistakenly believe that it is our words that really influence others, whether positively or negatively.  In the business world so much time is spent focusing on making sure we use the right words to our customers, employees or co-workers that we end up focusing on only 7% of our total influence.  Think about how much time the average person puts into crafting the right speech or sales pitch. This 7% is part of what is known as “The 7%-38% -55% Rule of Influence.”  In other words the influence we have on others can be broken in the following manner:
·  7% of our influence comes from the words we share
·  38% from our tonal quality while saying it
·  55% by what our body is doing while were saying it
As you can see we are missing the mark by spending so much time and energy crafting what we want to say which only makes up a small amount of the overall influence we have on others.  By focusing on the 7% or the words we say, we are truly missing out on the opportunity to really influence others. 

Influence is about getting others to either do something we want them to do or not do something they want to do. Obviously, influence plays a large role in the sales arena and is quite visible in the normal interaction between a seller and a buyer. However, it’s not something that should only be left up to those who interact with customers on a regular basis.  It is also evident in daily interactions that managers have with their employees and in interactions that employees have with one another.   By looking further at “The 7%-38%-55% Rule of Influence” we also see that perception is a large part of influence.  How do others perceive you?  You may be surprised not only with how the tone of what you say is perceived but the perception that your body language gives off.    It is very naïve to think that others can’t tell from our actions and mannerisms how we really feel. Your words might be saying one thing but your tone and body language might be very well telling a very different story.

The next time you are in the position to influence someone, try focusing on the 93% and you might be surprised at the difference in how you are perceived!

For those of you who wondered whether you clicked on the right web site or if I have lost my mind; no, this is not a post on cooking.  Rather, this is part of a marketing theory that author Francis Cole Jones refers to as “The Duncan Hines Cake Mike Marketing Theory.”  You see when Duncan Hines was first putting their café mix together, the decision was made by their marketing department to have the egg put in at home by the customer, rather than putting a powdered egg in the box.  At first glance, you might think this decision had more to do with how the cake might taste or for convenience sake but if you take a closer look, you will see the true reason they made this decision.  Duncan Hines realized that by having the customer put the egg in at home, their customers are taking ownership of making a cake by simply being able to say they baked the cake.  This lead their customers to truly connect to their cake mix instead of simply saying they bought the mix. Having your customers take ownership of your product or service makes them feel better about your idea or solution.  

You can bet that if your product or service makes your customers feel better, they will buy from you rather than your competition more often.  Having customer connect to your brand is an important marketing strategy but having your customers feel better about your products is the true icing on the cake. (Sorry, I couldn’t resist the cake reference)  The next time you are marketing a new product or working on how you can better position your products or services in the market ask yourself this, “what’s their egg?”