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THIS WEEK: The Familiarity Threshold; 5 Levers of Familiarity; School Program Starts NOW; Ethical Reasoning; Choosing Wrong
Providing ongoing, mobile sustainment training to stimulate success and promote professionalism.
Welcome to Tuesday Training Podcast…a conversation and collaboration between Army National Guard Recruiters. This week, because of your efforts, lives will be changed, legacies will be started and generations will be impacted as you serve our citizens, by bringing the best and brightest into our organizations. What you do matters…..you make a difference..
PERPETUALLY PROSPECTING: (At our core we must be Prospectors)
FANATICAL PROSPECTING, by Jeb Blount, Chapter 12 “THE LAW OF FAMILIARITY”
“The more familiar a prospect is with you, your brand, and/or your company, the more likely they will be to accept and return your calls, open your e-mails, accept a social media connection request, respond to a text message, accept an invite to an event or webinar, download information from a link you sent them, engage in sales conversations, and ultimately do business with you.
This is why it’s in your best interest to invest time and effort to build familiarity with your prospects. Familiarity lubricates prospecting because it makes the prospect’s decision to give you their time feel less risky.
When you earn enough trust to cross the familiarity threshold, you also gain the ability to communicate more freely—including through social media inboxes and text messaging—without being considered intrusive.
The Five Levers of Familiarity
The familiarity threshold is also why the senior reps in your organization—the ones who’ve been in the same territories for years—make it look so easy.
Persistent and Consistent Prospecting
Referrals and Introductions
There are three basic types of referrals:
Customer referrals come from happy clients that trust you. The key to generating these referrals is developing a disciplined, systematic process for asking for referrals.
Personal referrals come from friends, family, and acquaintances. These are people who know you and are willing to send prospects your way. Take time to educate your personal connections on what you do and your ideal prospects so they know what to look for. Then (this is critical), keep reminding them so they don’t forget about you.
Professional referrals
The real secret to generating referrals is: Give a legendary customer experience. Ask. That’s it.
What’s most important, though, is the discipline to ask.
Networking Events
…nothing builds familiarity better than face-to-face contact.
You don’t go to networking events to sell. You are not there to set appointments, get leads, or close business. You are there to create connections with other people.
You create connections when you ask questions, listen, and become genuinely interested in other people.
Use handwritten notes to remind the other person of your conversation by referencing something you spoke about.
Company and Brand Familiarity
Personal Branding
The secret: Speak in public, regularly.
When you speak in public, at least for a moment, you are considered a minor celebrity who people want to meet.
It also gives you tremendous visibility and credibility. And because so few of your competitors do it, it will set you apart, enhance your personal brand, and create a greater sense of familiarity with your prospects.
Warning
79T TUNE UP (MOS Sustainment)
NG Pam 601-1 Appendix F Recommended Calendar of School Activities (Month-by-Month) Overview
July
July is the month that your school program officially begins. Initiate your HS folders on 1 July. As a best business practice, contact a minimum of 15 percent of the upcoming seniors and 20 percent of graduates by 31 July in each assigned school. Contact school officials for appointments to discuss new or changed ARNG programs, confirm this year’s school policies, and schedule or confirm the ASVAB. Schedule a career day, job fair, and as many presentations (SEVs) as possible early in the school year. Restock RPI racks, request activities schedule, sporting event schedules, and any other schedule that would assist in your scheduling of attendance at these events.
Deliver all staff support items produced by State or national marketing/advertising initiatives. Request the number of SEV program materials needed to support your entire school year. Make an appointment to discuss the upcoming school year with the JROTC department and to schedule time in front of those students. Offer your services as a Soldier, SME to assist the JROTC instructors in the classroom.
LEADERSHIP LESSON: (Professional Development)
ADRP 6-22 Chapter 3 CHARACTER
ETHICAL REASONING
3-37. To be an ethical leader requires more than knowing the Army Values. Leaders must be able to apply them to find moral solutions to diverse problems. Ethical reasoning must occur during the operations process. Leaders consider ethics in planning, preparing, executing, and assessing operations.
3-38. Ethical choices may be between right and wrong, shades of gray, or two rights. Some problems center on an issue requiring special consideration of what is most ethical. Leaders use multiple perspectives to think about ethical concerns, applying the following perspectives to determine the most ethical choice. One perspective comes from the view that desirable virtues such as courage, justice, and benevolence define ethical outcomes. A second perspective comes from the set of agreed-upon values or rules, such as the Army Values or Constitutional rights. A third perspective bases the consequences of the decision on whatever produces the greatest good for the greatest number as most favorable.
3-39. Army leaders are expected to do the right things for the right reasons. It is why followers count on their leaders to be more than just technically and tactically proficient. They rely on them to make ethical decisions. Determining what is right and ethical can be difficult.
3-40. Ethical concerns are not new for leaders. Leaders should not intentionally issue vague or ambiguous orders or instructions to avoid responsibility in the event a subordinate commits misconduct. Vague orders may foster a climate of indiscipline, permitting subordinates to act outside the framework of the Army Values in pursuit of mission accomplishment. Nothing is more dangerous from an ethical perspective and could do more harm to the reputation of the Army and its mission. Leaders have a responsibility to research relevant orders, rules, and regulations and to demand clarification of orders that could lead to criminal misinterpretation or abuse. Ultimately, Army leaders must accept responsibility for the consequences of their actions.
3-41. Ethical reasoning is complex in practice. If time allows in particularly ill-defined situations, using concepts from the Army Design Methodology (see ADRP 5-0) can help to frame the right problem and consider ethical implications in detail. Resolving ethical problems requires critical thinking based on the Army Values. No formula will work every time. By embracing the Army Values to govern personal actions, developing an understanding of regulations and orders, learning from experiences, and applying ethical reasoning, leaders will be better prepared to face tough decisions.
EXPERT BADGE TRAINING (those committed to their craft)
This American Life: Choosing Wrong
“Wilt Chamberlain – easily one of the best basketball players of all time – was a terrible free throw shooter. Except for one season when he changed technique and scored more free throws in one game than anyone ever has. Then, crazily, he gave up the technique. Malcolm Gladwell explains why we often make the wrong decisions, in full awareness that they’re wrong. This story was adapted from Gladwell’s new podcast Revisionist History, which is produced by Panoply. (28 minutes)”
CALL TO ACTION
- Review the 5 Levers of Familiarity from Fanatical Prospecting. Which one is currently your strength. Which one needs developing. What is one action you can take to strengthen this familiarity lever?
- Incorporate Familiarity Levers into your September school plan. Creatively consider a speaking venue you know exists but you have never tapped into and schedule 2 new speaking opportunities. Also investigate Networking opportunities and schedule on new activity for the purpose of networking in August.
- Start your school program today. Commit to effectively tracking your market coverage and ensure you are doing the NG Pam School Program minimum contacts.
- Using the information regarding “Threshold” as it relates to choosing wrong, do you have a high threshold or a low threshold? How can you use the information regarding “Threshold” to prepare applicants for peer and family discussions related to their decision to join the ARNG?
TRAINING TUESDAY PODCAST:
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