[mp3]http://wordandmouth.com/audio/talksell_230909.mp3[/mp3]

Every time you open your mouth, you’re selling a service.

You live, you sell.

Someone with sense on his or her side said to me a while ago that it doesn’t matter whether you’re the interviewer or the interviewee, you’re on a sales pitch.

Makes sense really. You’re either selling your company or selling yourself.

And so it applies to every moment you’re doing business.

To make the most of every second you have to be able to read your audience or opposite number. It’s mission critical. Because if you don’t empathise and identify, you’re missing an opportunity to sell or cross-market.

On my top 10 books of all time is a fantastic read called How To Win Friends and Influence People. It’s an absolute bestseller, as it deserves to be. And has been, for 90 years. The fundamentals are the same today as they were when Dale Carnegie was inspired to write it in 1912.

Aware there was no training for folk to develop their relationship-building abilities, he established his own. And from short lectures grew this affable behemoth that is in my mind the definitive guide to treating people right. Tales abound of the angry proprietor whose staff despise him; after reading the book and applying its sound principles, he can call them his friends. The demonstrable change in how you perceive people when they understand their personal impact and how to benefit others with it, is acute.

So if you can combine the pursuits of smart discourse with empathy, you have a winning hand.

Imagine if you could maximise your personal impact and sell convincingly to hundreds if not thousands of prospects at a time?

That’s the power of podcasting.

A professional writer and broadcaster can:

1. Get up close and personal. A podcast delivers a sales message wrapped up in an intriguing and fun show. There’s a reason why radio endures to this day: it’s entertaining. Time’s right for you to have your own company DJ to enrich and excite your customers with sales and marketing in mind.

2. Make your messages multi-functional. Podcasts can tie all manner of different marketing and communications pieces together. They’ll amplify your brand. They’ll emphasise your successes, your progress. You can shout about your clients successes. Use interviews to add gravitas. The only limit, as they say, is your imagination (and how far your microphone can stretch).

3. Excite your customers. How hard is it to delight a customer on a Monday morning? You can only offer to wash so many dishes, walk so many dogs, cook so many breakfasts. But if you can be there on their MP3 player they take on the train or in the car every week, you’ll score ahead of the competition. Research shows that those messages that are received at the start of the working week, last beyond the end and carry monumental benefits to the broadcasting source as a result.

4. Overdeliver. There’s still a nationful of people who don’t expect you to go the extra mile and give them added value through a radio show. Yet in reality you’re lightening their lives with some fairly direct sales messages. If you can’t see the win-win in this situation, you’re in the wrong business.

5. Surprise. Sanctify the relationship with some elegant and community-focused discourse. Making the conversation personal is the way to winning business. Podcasts are your personal podium. With them you can reach out and tend to the needs of your customers with feedback based on their enquiries. Chances are many of your clients will have the same issues. And once your customers realise you’re going out of your way to help and abet, you’ve got a loyal brand advocate who will go out of their way for you.

Once your podcast is out inspiring and delighting your clients, with sophisticated tools available, ridiculously, free – you can…

6. Track and measure the outcome. Simple-to-integrate plugins can help you analyse the impact of your company’s voice on the netwaves. Whatever your goal, wherever you are.

So why waste the opportunity?

Put your thoughts down on paper. Buy a voice recorder. Hire a servant to deliver the gospel in an entertaining and direct fashion, with clarity, conviction and care.

Whatever your method or raison d’etre, you can be sure that by following this strategy, you can achieve results beyond your wildest expectations.

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