Latest / Networking Unleashed: Building Profitable Connections / Networking Unleashed: An Interview with Alison Silbert and Michael A Forman, Professional Speaker

Transcript

Networking Unleashed: An Interview with Alison Silbert and Michael A Forman, Professional Speaker · Networking Unleashed: Building Profitable Connections

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  Welcome back to Networking Unleashed, Building
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  Profitable Connections, the show where we talk
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  about the conversations, relationships, and follow
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  -up that actually move business forward. Today's
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  episode is going to hit home for every business
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  owner, coach, consultant, and professional who
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  has ever said, I just need more clients. Because
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  the truth is, sometimes the problem is not that
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  you need more people. Sometimes the problem is
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  that you're not clear enough about the right
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  people. My guest today helps business owners
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  understand their ideal clients at a much deeper
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  level, not just age, income, title, or location,
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  but what they value, what they worry about, what
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  they want, what they believe, and why they choose
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  one business over another. We're also going to
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  talk about the revenue lessons the big companies
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  already understand, the kind of practical moves
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  the Fortune 500 companies use every day, but
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  smaller businesses often miss. This conversation
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  goes way beyond marketing. It's about clarity,
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  character, leadership, and service. Because when
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  you truly understand who you serve, you stop
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  chasing everyone and start speaking directly
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  to the people you're built to help. So get ready.
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  This episode may change the way you think about
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  your audience, your message, your relationships,
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  and your revenue. I'd like to welcome to the
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  podcast today, Allison. Allison is an expert
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  in everything that I had just discussed. Why
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  don't you give us, Alison, why don't you give
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  us the cliff notes of how you got where you are
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  today? I started training in computer programming,
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  believe it or not. And then I worked for the
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  University of Toronto for a couple of years,
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  programming their database. And then I started
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  my own business, which I ended up closing down
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  when I had children. But during that time of
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  having my business, I trained in marketing psychology.
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  And that's where this comes from. Okay. That
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  sounds like a good start. But here, let me, I've
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  gotten a few questions for you. And let's just
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  see how you do when I bounce them off of you.
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  Okay. When someone says, I serve everybody. What
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  does that usually reveal about their clarity,
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  confidence, and willingness to truly understand
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  people? People who think they want to serve everybody
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  are insecure. They think that they can be everything
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  to everybody, and the truth is they can't. They
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  can't solve everybody's problems all the time.
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  The experts know the niche market that they serve.
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  And they cater just to those people again and
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  again and again and again. That's very true.
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  I learned a long time ago that, listen, you have
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  a lot to offer people, but pick a lane. As soon
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  as you become an expert in that lane, then maybe
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  you can wander off to another. But you can't
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  just start off. trying to service everybody,
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  because if you try to service everybody, you're
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  servicing nobody. Exactly. Okay. So you end up
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  spreading yourself too thin and you're helping
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  nobody and you're burning yourself out. Absolutely.
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  Absolutely. And that goes beside Jack, Jack of
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  all trades, a master of none, but falls right
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  along the same lines as that in business. So
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  you really have to get. focused in on what you
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  do well and expand that. Yes. Okay, so how does
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  knowing your ideal client on a deeper level change
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  the way you build relationships, not just the
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  way you market it? It changes the way you build
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  relationships because it changes the way you
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  introduce yourself. It's more refined. It's more
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  clear how you introduce yourself. Rather than
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  saying I do marketing for everybody, I would
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  say I teach people how to refine their ideal
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  client so they know exactly who they can help.
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  So now I'm asking you this because I'm a coach
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  as well. I teach people. So that sounds very
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  canned, like very rehearsed. If somebody asked
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  you. What do you do for a living? How do you
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  answer that? I teach people how to take everyday
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  marketing tactics that the small and the big
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  guys use and teach them how to apply it to their
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  business. Okay. I feel that you should really
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  work on that just a little bit, but let me move
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  on to the next question. What do psychographics
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  tell us about a person that demographics never
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  will? Psychographics are the emotions behind
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  why a person buys. It's the emotional driving
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  force that makes you decide, yes, I want to buy
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  this product. Okay. All right. Let's go back
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  to the 30 -second elevator pitch. And in a world
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  that's flooded with pitches, how can business
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  owners use better client understanding to make
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  people feel seen instead of sold to? They can
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  ask them clarification questions and ask rather
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  than just saying, hi, I sell phones. You can
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  say, hi, I'm from Bell Canada. We're across Canada.
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  sell internet and phones and cell phones. And
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  you can be really specific in what you do. A
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  saying comes to mind. People love to buy. They
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  hate to be sold to. So you have to make the person
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  feel as if you're not there to sell them, but
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  you're there to explain the services that you
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  may have. Or better yet, Find out what their
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  problem is. Exactly. And tell them how you are
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  going to solve it. Exactly. The easier you find
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  out what their problem is, the easier it is for
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  you to solve it. Or know that, no, you don't
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  solve it, but such a body does. Here's a referral.
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  But that's true. And it goes back to what you
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  said originally, by asking those questions. And
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  the more in depth, the more inside the person's
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  head you can get, and you get a deeper understanding
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  of what their problem is, the easier it is for
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  you to say, I can solve that. Or I know somebody
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  who can solve it. Yeah. But either way, you're
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  giving them the answer. Yeah. Okay. What does
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  the way we define our ideal client say about
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  our values, our boundaries, and the kind of business
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  we want to build? Defining your ideal client
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  has little to do with values and a lot more to
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  do with basically who you can help. For example,
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  an ideal client for a cell phone would be somebody
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  who wants to be on the phone all day. moving
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  around in the car or on transit or walking around
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  versus somebody who wants a landline, just wants
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  to stand still while they talk. Okay, so you're
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  saying that the person with the cell phone has
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  the mobility to go wherever they want to and
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  the landline, you're more tethered to a wall,
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  to a floor, to something else. Okay, so... Fortune
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  500 companies spend heavily to understand buyer
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  behavior. What are they doing that small businesses
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  can apply without a massive budget? One of the
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  biggest things that Fortune 500 companies leverage
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  on a regular basis is the media. Things like
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  podcasts or newspapers or magazines or journals.
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  They get articles written about them and they
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  get interviews for television as well as their
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  advertising. They know the secrets behind writing
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  a good press release and getting picked up. If
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  you write that good press release, so the whole
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  goal is to have them ask you. about writing the
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  article doing a podcast or something else you
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  don't want to go out to them right because you
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  don't want to seem like you need them so you
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  want to assume or you want to go out and say
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  i don't need them but listen if you want to interview
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  me okay and that you want to offer your services
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  and show them why you're an expert yes precisely
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  precisely what is one revenue strategy Big companies
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  understand that small business owners often overlook
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  and they're too close to their own work. Basically,
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  I think if they're too close to their own work,
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  they're doing too much of their own thing and
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  they're not getting out and seeing enough people
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  to build the business. And that translates into
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  poor revenue. It does. It does. When somebody
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  just starts out. on their own, they have to do
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  everything. They're a man of many hats. But they
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  don't realize what I didn't realize until 30
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  years later, that you do the things you love.
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  The things you don't, you outsource. And it may
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  cost you a little bit of money, but it's going
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  to save you a ton in the future. Exactly. For
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  example, in my business, I developed websites.
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  When I started out, I did the graphic design,
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  I did the templating, I did the programming,
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  I did the testing, I did the accounting, I did
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  everything. Then little by little, I outsourced
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  the accounting and the graphic design, and that
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  gave me a lot more value to focus on the programming
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  that I loved. Absolutely. Absolutely. And that's
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  good that you focused in on what you were all
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  about. And Tim Cook, the CEO of Apple, no, it
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  wasn't Cook, it was Jobs, Steve Jobs. And when
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  he was building his board, the people around
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  him, he didn't pick yes men. He picked people
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  that did well in the areas that he did not. And
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  he really did lousy. He picked the people because
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  They went ahead and they went ahead with their
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  vision, but together they all made one big, huge
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  vision. Exactly. He didn't have to do it all.
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  So it's really good. All right. At the company
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  I'm at now, the CEO regularly converses with
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  the financial manager of the company. to get
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  this advice and that advice and how to solve
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  this and how to solve that. And he comes to me
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  for marketing advice and it's all that teamwork
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  vibe. Teamwork makes the world go round. You
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  can't do it all by yourself, right? Okay. So
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  how can small business owners build trust faster
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  by speaking to the real emotions, fears, goals,
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  and beliefs of their audience? If you speak to
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  the emotions of a person, then the emotional
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  centers take over and say, yeah, I need this
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  need solved now. And they're more likely to buy
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  from you. Absolutely. Absolutely. As long as
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  you can get to that emotion, that something that
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  compels your customer, not only to buy, but to
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  buy from you. That's a niche you have to figure
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  out. But once you do, then you've got it made.
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  Okay, so where do you see business owners confusing
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  attention with connection? And how does that
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  hurt their revenue? When you have somebody's
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  attention, they're listening or half listening,
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  if you like. When you connect with them, you've
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  got their heart and soul. capturing their emotions
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  and tapping into that emotional potential that
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  drives them to buy. Okay. All right. So let's
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  bring this podcast full circle. When a leader
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  truly understands their audience, how does that
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  change the way they show up in conversations,
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  sales, networking, and follow -up? When an expert
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  knows what they're doing, It's really easy to
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  answer questions and solve problems. Or they
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  also know, no, that's out of my wheelbox. I can't
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  help you. Try this person. Okay. You know what,
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  Allison? That was, it's great. This was a wonderful
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  podcast. If somebody wanted to get hold of you,
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  either to be mentored by you, trained by you,
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  buy something, whatever, or just call you to
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  say hi, what's the best way for them to get hold
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  of you? They can get ahold of me by email, alisonsilbert
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  .gmail .com. A -L -I -S -O -N -S -I -L -B -E
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  -R -T. All right. This was a powerful conversation.
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  Today we talked about why knowing your ideal
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  client is not just a marketing exercise. It's
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  a leadership decision. When you understand who
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  you serve, what they care about, and what keeps
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  them up at night. And what usually they are really
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  looking for, your conversations become clearer,
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  your message becomes stronger, and your relationships
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  become much more meaningful. Exactly. We also
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  pulled back the curtain on what larger companies
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  already know about revenue. They do not guess
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  at their audience. They study people. They listen.
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  They pay attention to behavior, emotion. timing,
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  trust, and decision -making. And the great news
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  is small businesses can use many of these same
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  ideas without a giant budget. Here's the big
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  takeaway. Stop trying to be the fit for everyone.
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  The better path is to become easier to recognize
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  by the people who truly need what you offer.
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  If this episode made you think differently about
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  your business, your message, or the people you're
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  trying to reach, Do not let it sit there. Take
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  one idea and use it in your next conversation,
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  your next follow -up, or your next piece of content.
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  And before you go, make sure you subscribe or
• 16:13
  follow Networking Unleashed so you can keep getting
• 16:16
  the best information on networking, communication,
• 16:19
  and building profitable relationships. I'm Michael
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  Foreman, and remember, the right conversation
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  with the right person can open the right door.
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  I'll see you on the next episode of Networking
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  Unleashed, Building Profitable Connections. Allison,
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  I want to tell you again, you're a great guest
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  and I hope to speak with you soon. Okay. Thank
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  you very much. Keep in touch. All right, folks.
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  A huge thank you to our guests for sharing such
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  incredible insights today. And of course, a big
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  shout out to you. our amazing listeners for tuning
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  in and spending your time with us. If you're
• 17:00
  interested in my digital courses, being coached
• 17:03
  or having me come and talk to your company, just
• 17:06
  go to Michael and fill out the request form.
• 17:09
  Remember, networking isn't about being perfect.
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  It's about being present. So take what you've
• 17:16
  learned today, get out there and make some meaningful
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  connections. If you've enjoyed this episode,
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  please don't forget to subscribe. Leave us a
• 17:25
  review and share it with someone who could use
• 17:27
  a little networking inspiration. Let's keep the
• 17:30
  conversation going. You can find me on Apple,
• 17:34
  Spotify, Pandora, YouTube, or my website, foreman
• 17:38
  .com slash podcasts.