Popularity by association

In a post about the stars of "Gilligan’s Island", David Dalka  aptly derives the power of associative branding from an amusing news item involving the prohibited pot smoking habits of now-aging hottie, actress Dawn Wells, who played one of America’s favorite girls next door, Marianne.  The original source, Yahoo Buzz Log cites:

The story stirred a tremendous amount of interest in Search—but not about Dawn Wells. Instead, lookups skyrocketed for Tina Louise, the va-va-voom redhead who played Ginger on the show. We registered an astonishing 13,076% rise in demand for her name (compare that to Wells’ 5,860%). Just the thought of Mary Ann triggered all these luscious old memories of Ginger, Ginger’s photos, and Ginger’s legs. Searchers also boosted "tina louise news" and "tina louise now." What would the Professor say?

It appears that chatter about Marianne brought on more than twice as much pubescent re-collection of Ginger. 

Isn’t there a similar effect on sales or interest in a product when it’s worn or used by a celebrity?  Doesn’t trade news or the popularity or notoriety of a well known competitor increase interest and demand throughout the industry?  If this is true, wouldn’t a salesperson’s memorability be increased if he were recommended by a popular and trusted advisor? 

• Imagine the magnifying effect if more than one reputable advisor introduced you to their client or prospect
• What’s the affect on your relationship with the referred prospect when these advocates revisit with them?
• How much more successful will you be in completing business with recommended prospects from trusted advocates?

What can you do to be 3 times more popular? 

Brian Carroll, author and CEO of Intouch, Inc., gets it.  In his post, "Lead Nurturing as trusted advisors with the Human Touch," dittos 4 vital points which are essential to team selling and effective alliance partner promotion. 

• Start, nurture and consumate the relationship with your prospect even before the opportunity for a sale is identified
• Create value by being of service and providing free resources
• Engage in consistent, information exchanges and thought provoking communication
• Derive credibility as a trusted advisor and expert

In his follow-up post, Brian referrences, Mike Volpe, VP of Marketing for Hubspot, and a recent post about lead nurturing and developing the relationship first to support the sales process.  Again, key points were identified as to how important it is, in this age of social media and automation, to develop a interpersonal relationship.

• Relationships are strengthened by helping people solve problems, if only with information. 
• Bonds are created through sharing and trust
• Personal conversations strengthen associations.

There is no substitute for personal contact to facilitate the relationship and sales process.  Even if a sale doesn’t happen now, the foundation has been laid for fulfilling a future needs.  Referrals and introductions can blossom.  It starts happening by personally helping as an advisor. 

Imagine if, 8 to 12 times a week, you were the "help" other people were offering to strengthen their relationships with their clients and prospects? 

• How easy would it be to quickly develop your new friend’s trust? 
• What would that do for your prospecting and lead generation? 
• How would you support such activity?

Sure, It can all start with social media such as blogging or email exchange.  But it best ends up the old fashioned way, personal conversation whether it be over the phone or in person.

We’ll find out if Brian Carroll really gets it when I ask him to be my guest as a thought leader for an upcoming teleseminar.  Stay tuned.