Jeffrey Gitomer and Karen Friedman posts that got me going this am

Of All Your Responsibilities, "Social" Is Now In The Top Five.

Jeffrey Gitomer

What is your social responsibility?

With the advent (or should I say onslaught) of social media and business social media, people are finally coming to their senses of what constitutes of social responsibility.

But few are willing to do the work - the hard work - that it takes to make an impact.

Social responsibility includes and transcends what you might know as "social media."

But business social media is just the beginning of your social responsibility.

Business social media has brought you awareness:

• That you are being viewed and judged by your associations and affiliations.
• That you are being viewed and judged by your customers and prospective customers.
• That you are being viewed and judged by your superiors and/or your peers.
• That you are being judged by more than a billion people.

Yes, it's important to have an active and pristine business social media presence...

• A business Facebook page with more than 1,000 people who 'like' you.
• A Twitter account with more than 500 followers - based of your consistent, value-based tweets on a daily basis that impact the thinking and success of your customers and prospects.
• A LinkedIn account with more than 500 connections - based on the fact that your connections know you'll be providing them with some sort of valuable information.
• And, of course, a YouTube channel where you post short informational videos, training videos, and testimonial videos validating your authenticity as a value provider.

But what else are you doing to meet your social responsibility?

Are you offering any of your services to the community? Are you helping Habitat for Humanity build a house? Are you a Big Brothers Big Sisters volunteer? Or are you a big TV watcher and overeater?

Many people are members of some civic organization - Kiwanis, Rotary, Optimist, pessimist - but very few take on the responsibility of going to other clubs to deliver a free speech to spread their value message, thereby exhibiting their social responsibility.

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Lessons From The Coffee Shop To Boost Sales And Seal Deals

Karen Friedman, author of Shut Up and Say Something: Business Communication Strategies to Overcome Challenges and Influence Listeners

His name is Steve. He's retired now, but before spending mornings at the local coffee shop, he spent forty years in sales, owned his own company and boasted a resume of successes.

For a good ten years now, I've enjoyed a morning cup of joe with Steve and a small group of loyal Manhattan Bagel regulars in my neighborhood. Sometimes it's a quick buy and bye. Other times we sit and chat. We've sipped through elections, wars, simmered over political differences and added extra sweetener to sugarcoat a disappointing Philadelphia Eagles loss. We've come to value each other's opinions even if like a steaming cup of coffee, our differences sometimes boil over.

So on this fall morning, I asked Steve to share his secret of sales success. Without hesitation, he answered "ask for the order" and then added "let me tell you a story". Without realizing the full impact of those six words - let me tell you a story - Steve shared the secret ingredient of his years of sales success. He's a natural engaging story teller. From heroic saves on the tennis court to his grandchildren's antics at holiday dinners, he has a knack for using quick stories to create an emotional connection that makes 'the ask' personal and relevant to the listener's life.

As a television news reporter for two decades, I helped thousands of people condense complicated information into engaging memorable stories that impacted and influenced customers, communities, legislators and decision makers. Today, clients at Karen Friedman Enterprises rely on us to help them communicate clearly, concisely and more persuasively to articulate vision, advance careers, exude presence and communicate more convincingly in critical situations to achieve their goals.

Consider this. At a recent communications training program for pharmaceutical sales representatives, repeated role-playing revealed that these seasoned pros knew everything there was to know about their product and disease state. However, because their real-life face time with healthcare providers is so limited, they said they felt pressured to quickly rattle off information in monologue style rather than engage in a two-way dialogue to identify the listener's specific challenges and concerns. As a result they were missing huge opportunities to educate physicians about a frequently misdiagnosed condition and sharing examples that might help them address patient problems differently. Several weeks after the program, I received an email from one of the reps who attended. She said after seeing the difference in how her peers perceived her during role playing; she decided to practice her new found skills at a sales call. Not only did a heartfelt story about a patient move her client, but she senses a greater level of trust which is positioning her and her company as a resource, not just a provider.

Read the rest of Karen's article »