2 Essential Elements for Building Client Relationships It’s not rocket science. There is no app. No magic tricks are needed. When it comes to building client relationships, the most fundamental aspect is who you are. Too many sales professionals confuse client relationships with Customer Relationship Management. The first is a human endeavor — person to person — while the second, known as CRM, is basically a software system that automates the collection of data related to customers and sales opportunities. Think of the two as cause and effect; you have to build a relationship with your clients in order to have data about it to organize and analyze. Before you can add insights and value to the process of working together — and before you can even win the deal — you have to win over your client. Here are two essential elements that are foundational for making that connection and building client relationships. 1) Be authentic When I began my career in selling, for Xerox, many years ago, I approached working with my clients as authentically as possible. What I mean by authenticity is being reliable, dependable, and genuine. If you are not "real" with your customers, and you don’t sincerely care about them, they get that message right away. You just can’t fake being authentic. You relay your authenticity by talking with clients naturally, looking for common bonds and interests, and being friendly. Conversations should be, well, conversational — not full of consultant speak, training speak, acronyms, or jargon. Clients are people, too, and when people like one another, they often look forward to working together. While this certainly isn’t a popularity contest, clients like working with people who provide value and people they enjoy. 2) Trust A strong relationship is built on trust. What that means to me is that, even for the little things you promise, you have to deliver to the client what and when you say you’re going to deliver. Meeting these deadlines can become challenging if you first need to get answers from other people, so set realistic time frames and continue to follow-up until you get the desired information. Communication is key with all parties, so you can advise clients about delays and convey urgency to those on your team working on answers. Establishing yourself as a trustworthy person with the client is an important step toward being able to differentiate yourself and add value through insights and forward-thinking ideas. When you are trusted — and, even better, if you can achieve trusted advisor status — you can begin acting as a true partner. Maybe the client is overwhelmed with some aspect of his/her job. You might be able to take something off of his/her plate and either handle it or provide your best thinking and resources to make the client’s life easier. Often, the client may be thinking too narrowly about what he/she wants to develop and how he/she wants to do it. Then, you can step up to expand that thinking, giving the client the benefit of your expertise, to broaden his/her perception of what will make a certain initiative most effective and working within the client’s budget and time constraints. Every interaction with a client is an opportunity to build on the relationship, whether you’re executing on work he/she already agreed to implement, prospecting and making outbound calls, or following up on requests for information. Take every occasion to demonstrate your authenticity and trust by listening well, offering relevant solutions, and continuing to bring value and insights throughout the relationship. Learn more about Richardson’s Consultative Selling Sales Training Solutions. The post 2 Essential Elements for Building Client Relationships appeared first on Richardson Sales Enablement Blog.

We Asked and You Answered! What is your biggest training challenge? What better place to take the pulse of learning and development professionals than the ATD 2015 International Conference. We did just that, in Orlando in May, discovering some hot issues in that hot climate. Richardson randomly stopped conference participants to ask a single question: "What is the biggest training challenge you are currently facing?" Among the leading training challenges uncovered were: 1) Training Reinforcement 2) Measurement/ROI of Training. In my recap of the full survey which was published on the ATD Blog site, we identify 24 issues that are top of mind, along with insights into ways of dealing with the top five. Read the full article on the ATD website. Please feel free to contact me directly at James.brodo@richardson.com if you have any questions. Learn more about Richardson’s Consultative Selling Sales Training Solutions. The post What is your Biggest Training Challenge? appeared first on Richardson Sales Enablement Blog.

Way back in 2002, Richardson’s founder, Linda Richardson, published a Cyber Sales Tip called "Make a Thank You Call to Help Build Relationships." I found this email newsletter while cleaning up some of our archives and in honor of #tbt (Throw Back Thursday) and the pending holiday weekend, I thought I would post it to our blog site as these points are sometimes lost in today’s digital world and are still quite relevant even 13 years later.  Hope you in enjoy this post and "thank you" for your readership and support of our blog. Make a Thank You Call to Help Build Relationships If you like feeling appreciated by your clients, if you want to strengthen and build relationships, and if you want to win more business, start making thank-you calls today. Certainly the thank-you call after a meeting or when you win a deal is expected, but the ones after the sale at any time or triggered by a milestone (such as one month or one year after the project, pilot, or implementation…) to say thank you has tremendous relationship and selling power. For example, you could say, "It has been a month (a quarter, even a year, we just completed X and since…I wanted to call…) and I wanted to say thank you…" Whether you get voice mail or actually reach your client, the power of the thank-you call is the same. Here are some guidelines: Tickle in your calendar making thank-you calls as a reminder (since there’s no deal at hand). Be sure you are fully up-to-date on the status of the relationship and initiative. When you make the call be positive. During the conversation jot down all key ideas and perspectives — not just facts. Jot things down you want to refer to later so you don’t forget, but also don’t interrupt the flow of the call. Prepare and keep it concise! State the purpose to position the call. Thank the client for confidence in choosing you or for his or her introduction to the head of IT or the support of your proposal that helped you win the business. Be enthusiastic. Show energy and conviction. Be upbeat. Give a five to ten-second summary of what’s been accomplished (of course, before the call check that things are going well and be aware of any snags or issues). Compliment the client’s team and be specific. State that you welcome feedback to serve him/her even better. Say the words "thank you" at the start and the finish. The salesperson was so elated by the call that he went further. He called the former liaison who had been reassigned to another area to thank her (and identified a future opportunity) and called one of his own teammates on the account to say thank you. Goodwill leads to more goodwill and more good sales. One salesperson called a very senior decision maker at a Fortune 100 company and left a thank-you message to mark one year into the ongoing relationship. The salesperson’s reward - so far, a gracious complimentary call back from the senior who, in the course of a one minute voice mail, said thank you to the salesperson six times!!! The salesperson was so elated by the call that he went further. He called the former liaison who had been reassigned to another area to thank her (and identified a future opportunity) and called one of his own teammates on the account to say thank you. Goodwill leads to more goodwill and more good sale Another important thank you, from a senior, is also often overlooked. Ask your senior to make a thank-you call on your behalf and to express the organization’s commitment. Be sure to concisely prepare your senior. Enlisting the support of seniors in key situations will not only strengthen the client relationship but will also strengthen your internal relationship. And, of course, be sure to call and thank your senior. The holidays are a perfect time to make relationship calls, say thank you, and extend your best wishes for the holiday. Learn more about Richardson’s Consultative Selling Sales Training Solutions. The post Make a Thank You Call to Help Build Relationships appeared first on Richardson Sales Enablement Blog.

The Real Moneyball: The Importance of Analytics to Improve Sales Forecast Accuracy The term "moneyball" is best known for applying an analytical approach to evaluating players on the baseball field, as written about by Michael Lewis in his book of the same name. The concept of moneyball can also apply to the field of sales, where analytics are used to improve sales forecast accuracy. In my role as Director of Sales Operations at Richardson, I manage support functions that are essential to sales force productivity. When I took on this role in 2012, my primary goal was to improve sales forecast accuracy by providing insights into performance trends, identifying gaps, and recommending ways to fill those gaps. To do this, I had to develop meaningful reports that would highlight trends and key deals, while assisting the sales team in managing the pipeline. These reports also had to give senior management the detail and visibility needed for decision making on additional strategies and whether to become personally involved in specific opportunities. To me, there are two key aspects of sales forecasting. One is the analytics of deals in the pipeline. I use these metrics as a pressure test to qualify the risk of the forecast. This is important because, at the end of the day, if senior leadership is making decisions about investments, incentives, or promotional programs on the basis of information that I’m providing, I need to make sure I’m not being too conservative nor too optimistic. The risk in going too far in one direction or another has a direct impact on the business. The leadership team could decide to cut spending when they actually have the ability to spend more, or they could promote the wrong products and solutions. If I’m too optimistic in my forecast, they might interpret that as the go-ahead to spend more or not promote when they should. The other aspect is that analytics can give sales leadership better insight into their team. Metrics that are measured consistently and thoughtfully allow leaders to 1) see how effectively their sales reps are performing and 2) more effectively coach sales reps and see how they are managing their work. When evaluating sales reps, it’s easy to get stuck in the trap of thinking that those who hit their goals are performing well, and those who do not hit their goals are not performing well. This isn’t necessarily true because a sales rep could hit his/her goal with one or two major deals; this doesn’t mean he/she is doing the right things to continue being successful or truly effective at the job. Those who aren’t making goal may still have won many deals and be doing well in terms of things that are important to the company, such as account management or building relationships or prospecting. In this case, analytics can provide insight into areas where sales coaching would be helpful. What is needed to be successful in sales operations is a balance of qualitative and quantitative skills. If you are overly strong on just the quantitative side, you risk throwing metrics at people without thought behind why you’re doing the analysis, what other things might be impacting the analysis, and not telling a proper story to help them understand what’s going on. This approach can easily lead to analysis paralysis, where you overwhelm people with data, and they don’t know what to look at or what any of it means. What sales forecasting requires is thoughtful analysis so that you can tell the right story and have the data to back it up. If you’re looking at the wrong things, or not thinking from a holistic or comprehensive standpoint, you could be telling the wrong story - and that’s a story never worth telling. Learn more about Richardson Sales Coaching Training Solutions! The post The Real Moneyball: The Importance of Analytics to Improve Sales Forecast Accuracy appeared first on Richardson Sales Enablement Blog.

Can micro-moment sales and marketing help restore balance in the playing field? Mobile devices and 24/7 access to information have certainly changed the way business is conducted. Case in point: More than half of all searches on www.Richardson.com are done on mobile devices, the numbers rising to 52% from 19% in less than a year. In a B2C world, such a dramatic and rapid shift would make more sense, driven by on-the-go searches by consumers looking for restaurants or best product prices. But for a B2B company like Richardson? It’s hard to imagine someone waiting in line for a latte to suddenly tap her iPhone and say, "Siri, I need to implement a sales training transformation for my 5,000 global sales reps — which providers should I call?" Google has a brilliant name for what’s happening in B2B and B2C marketing: micro-moments. Basically, buyers are having instantaneous impulses when they want information, when they want to watch something, when they want a demo, or when they want to learn more about something. Wherever they are, whatever they are doing, and whatever devices they have access to, they can satisfy these sudden needs and desires in real time. Buyers waiting until they get home or to the office to use a stationary computer for searches is so yesterday. Where does that leave marketing? The digital environment has shifted the playing field in favor of buyers, and now, marketing and sales are forced to catch up to their demands. Savvy marketing organizations are starting to transition to the micro-moment approach. They realize the importance of including in their overall strategy such elements as content-based marketing, social marketing, search engine optimization (SEO), and search engine marketing (SEM). Only through these elements can marketers ever hope to satisfy a buyer’s micro-moment, making sure that their brand, value, and products show up when there’s an instantaneous search. Additionally, marketing groups need to continue with outbound, push campaigns, while also thinking about and identifying any gaps in content to capture these micro-moment searches. This means leveraging analytics and spending a significant amount of time looking at both short-tail and long-tail key words, reviewing competitive digital strategies, and monitoring website bounce and visitor trails — just to name a few key aspects. Marketing today has to be able to understand the buyer’s complete journey and anticipate potential moves, along with the devices that will be used. Beyond readiness to meet the buyer’s reactive mode, marketing also needs to develop strategies to create what I call a supplier-induced micro-moment. These strategies leverage such digital tools as re-marketing and both persona and content-based data capture tools that push customized content and recommendations to website visitors based on searches and visited web pages. BrightInfo is one such tool that does an excellent job in helping to improve conversion rates and leads. It works by tracking a website visitor’s movement, and then, based on that movement, serves up appropriate content. In effect, it creates a flipped micro-moment. In this brave new digital world, there’s little time to waste. Messaging, positioning, and differentiation are becoming ever more critical for marketers as every competitor is trying to make sense of this trend, which also adds more noise to the marketplace and, to an extent, commoditizes each digital tool and technique. What does this mean for sales? Do micro-moments mean the end of sales professionals? Quite the contrary. They are more important than ever before, although their role continues to evolve, change, and grow. During the micro-moment process, buyers may be researching products and company information. They will download content, articles, and brochures. Sales professionals need to be able to follow up, nurture, challenge, and provide insights to buyers to help influence and differentiate themselves and their companies. Selling with insights and possessing the skills to have extra-ordinary dialogues with well-informed buyers will become ever more critical to sales professionals’ successes. They also will need to prepare for and execute on buyers’ micro-moments, joining the conversation by participating in social media activities, such as tweeting or posting updates on LinkedIn. They need to focus on building a personal brand by blogging and sharing marketing content. I recommend a tool like PeopleLinx for an automated system that enables social selling. Finally, sales professionals need to be contributing consistent value in group discussions and when talking directly to prospects — not just pitching products or delivering data points. By deploying social-selling and value-added tactics, they are better able to gain quick access to buyers when a micro-moment occurs. Much work and potential ahead For organizations to be successful in this new reality, marketing and sales groups must be completely aligned and working in the same direction. Marketing needs to map out the buyers’ journeys and leverage analytics, while sales professionals need the skills to have deep dialogues that provide value. The successful sales professionals will be those who become stronger experts in their fields and products so that they can provide insights and value to clients and prospects. While the digital environment has initially shifted in favor of buyers, micro-moment sales and marketing tools are helping to restore balance in the playing field. Contact Us to Learn More! Learn more about Richardson Selling with Insights Sales Training program The post Micro-moment Sales and Marketing appeared first on Richardson Sales Enablement Blog.

A Global Sales Training Program Can Be Challenging, but it’s Worth It! Global companies often have global customers, which creates certain global expectations. While customers desire customization on the local level, they require consistency across countries. Often, customers negotiate a global agreement so that they can have similar terms around the world, regardless of their volume in different countries — and they expect supplier representatives in all countries to understand the agreement and to know how to support local differences in applying the agreement. The challenge is that the people who develop the sales relationship and service the account in one country are not the same people who do the same job in other countries. As a result, unless they’ve all been trained the same way, the sales experience for customers of a global supplier will be all over the map. The need for a consistent sales process across domestic and foreign subsidiaries is clear. To achieve this, global companies need to implement a global sales training program that brings the same skills, methodology, and process to those who work with or support customers around the world. Equally true is the need for consistency in companies that are expanding their geographic reach to find new business. Often, these growth-oriented companies want their customer experience in new countries to be based on the same best practices developed where the headquarters is located. This means replicating these practices across global subsidiaries through consistent training. One challenge in delivering global sales training programs is that there may not be enough people in each country to justify holding a workshop exclusively for those in, say, Japan or Israel or France. The alternative is to bring these groups together in a common training environment, using English — the language of business around the world — as the language of delivery. An added benefit is the ability for people from different countries to learn from one another, share success stories, and strengthen their network of internal contacts. And, if they all happen to serve the same global customer, they can trade information and experiences related to that account. One difference from a typical US training environment is having a workshop full of people for whom English is not their first language. For the facilitator, this means slowing down the pace of speech and taking somewhat longer to deliver some of the content. The slower pace is needed so that participants, who are usually translating English to their native language as it’s delivered, can fully absorb the content. When course content involves complex concepts, it can take speakers of basic English even longer to translate and understand the nuances. In one workshop I conducted, one participant spoke English and Italian well, and someone else spoke Italian and Polish well. One Polish participant spoke very little English. After I would present a concept, the person who spoke English and Italian would translate it in Italian for the person who spoke Italian and Polish, and then he would translate it for the Polish speaker. Not every word needed translation, but the complexities were conveyed in their native language. It sounds problematic, but it actually worked quite well, and the translators increased retention through the retelling, as well. Much is made about cultural differences in selling, and they do exist, but our research in building sales processes at Richardson has found that most of the time, the selling process remains constant in all locations. We have interviewed people from China, Dubai, England, and Canada — all over the world — about what they do successfully in sales. What we discovered is that most of the actual sales process is the same, although the length of time spent in each stage may differ. While some activities may be added or not needed, the overall path and process to create a successful sale is usually the same. Take building rapport, for example. In the Middle East, nobody does business until after they have socialized and gotten to know each other. There may be four or five social meetings before sales is ever discussed. Conversely, in Germany, people prefer to get down to business faster. They do build rapport, but they’re more comfortable doing it in a business setting. They don’t feel comfortable socializing until business relationships have developed more fully. But, nobody skips the rapport-building stage, although the way they do it and the amount of time they spend on it can differ. One of the biggest challenges for global companies, especially with the speed and influence of social media around the world, is the ability to manage the behemoth of a global presence and brand. The difficulty of consistency and alignment among 50,000 or 150,000 people working for the same company around the world is enormous. With the growth of international business, this may be one of the biggest challenges of the next ten years. The role of the sales team, which is usually the most externally focused part of a company, has a huge impact on that international presence and brand, so getting this right in different countries is critical. Companies that can get it right can provide the best customer experience and demonstrate consistent control of quality around the world, and they will differentiate themselves and create a significant competitive advantage. This is why global sales training programs are such a challenge and a necessity. Learn More! Richardson has been delivering global sales training solutions for more than 20 years in key theatres, including the Americas, EMEA, and Asia Pacific. Learn more about just one of our global solution, Richardson’s Consultative Selling Skills Solutions or contact Jim Brodo at jim.brodo@Richardson.com to learn more. The post The Challenge (and Necessity) of Implementing a Global Sales Training Program appeared first on Richardson Sales Enablement Blog.

Sales Training Preference Survey We are gathering input from our blog subscribers to help us identify and prioritize some important strategic initiatives. We value your opinion and would really appreciate your participation in this brief, four-question survey on sales training preferences. The survey should take you less than three minutes to complete. All participants who complete the survey will be entered into a drawing to win a Nike Fitbit and will receive a copy of our final, compiled business brief. Please click here to complete the survey. Thank you in advance for your participation. We look forward to sharing this information with you in the near future. All my best,   Jim Brodo     The post Sales Training Preference Survey appeared first on Richardson Sales Enablement Blog.

5 Key Elements for Rolling out a Global Sales Training Initiative I am an American who has lived outside the US for 27 years. I’ve worked in 42 countries, lived in the Far East for eight years, in Europe for the last 19 years, and am now based in the UK. At Richardson, Europe Limited, I am a consultant, facilitator, trainer, and coach. I work with European firms, FTSE 100 global companies, and many, many foreign subsidiaries of US companies around world. It is from this vantage point that I see how parent companies often approach the rollout of global sales training initiatives. Some get it right, but too often, problems arise. Here are five key elements that are essential to rolling out a successful global sales training initiative. There has to be a consistent sales process — a benchmark, standard, or consistent norm that clearly and succinctly describes the steps required for successful sales within the company. This sales process must be widely communicated, accessible to all involved, translated into the appropriate languages, and championed by the management team. Promoting the sales process is essential so that everyone will know what "good" and "success" look like. Without this consistency, sales teams have to recreate the wheel everywhere, and sales training will teach a different approach everywhere. Companies can’t afford the false steps, inefficiency, and mistakes as each salesperson around the world creates their own way of doing business. Identify skills and activities — The next step is to break the sales process into the specific skills and activities that people need in order to be trained around the world. Diagnostic tools — such as SkillGauge™, to benchmark existing skills, and TalentGauge™, to assess whether the right people are in the right jobs — can help in determining the current capabilities and need for specific training. These tools, or company assessments, help provide a platform for individuals to identify their strengths and areas to improve. With so many successful people in sales divisions, it’s important that training isn’t perceived as "fixing poor performers," but improving skills for everyone. There is no such thing as "good enough," and even gold medal winners in sports keep practicing and improving. Develop training for skills and activities — Build a global sales training program to support the skills and activities required to implement the sales process. For international training, it’s important to include time or a module to discuss how these will vary based on the culture of different countries. The conclusion will likely be that they do apply, although in slightly different ways. But to not address cultural differences directly will undercut the credibility of the training. And, it’s important for participants to understand the flexibility of the sales process and the expectations of their companies so that they make the necessary modifications. Create a realistically timed agenda — International training should take into account the need for additional discussion coming from the difference in language and cultures, along with delivering training that addresses the gaps in desired skills and behaviors in each country. This might mean spending more time on needs dialogue in one part of the world than another, or developing listening skills so that participants fully understand both the content and emotional message conveyed by prospects and customers. In some cultures, participants may need more practice in the skill of "presence" — learning to project confidence, conviction, and interest in body language and voice. Sales managers are the most important group to train — Rolling out a global sales training initiative is an expensive proposition, and without the full commitment and reinforcement from sales managers, the training has little chance of succeeding and changing behavior. This is true in domestic programs, too. In fact, the training of sales managers is so important that if there’s only a budget big enough for one audience, sales managers should be it. But, they have to be trained in the skills and the ability to transfer them to their sales teams. By focusing on sales managers around the world and improving their skills and behaviors in managing and coaching, they can be the champions who make sure the desired sales process is implemented around the world. By developing a consistent sales process for use across global operations and training local sales teams and sales managers around the world, companies have a greater chance of achieving their targets and getting better results quicker. Learn more about Richardson’s Consultative Selling Sales Training Solutions. The post 5 Key Elements for Rolling out a Global Sales Training Initiative appeared first on Richardson Sales Enablement Blog.

For the Third Consecutive Year, Richardson has been Named to Selling Power’s 2015 Top Sales Training Companies List Philadelphia, PA—July 20, 2015 — Richardson, a leading global sales training and effectiveness company, announced that it has been included on Selling Power’s 2015 list of the Top Sales Training Companies for the third consecutive year. The Selling Power Top 20 Sales Training Companies list identifies leading companies that excel in helping sales leaders improve the performance of their sales teams. Selling Power editors say that the firms included on the 2015 Top Sales Training Companies list have "demonstrated an excellent awareness of the skills and tools required to succeed and remain competitive in today’s selling environment." According to Selling Power magazine publisher and founder Gerhard Gschwandtner, sales training is a vital component of a high-performance sales organization. "Great salespeople require the right toolset, the right skillset, and the right mindset to win," he said. "A great, consultative sales training initiative can address all three areas. Sales leaders should use this list of the Top 20 Sales Training Companies to find the solution that best suits their needs." "We are very thankful and honored to be recognized once again as one of the top sales training companies in the industry," says Jim Brodo, SVP of Marketing at Richardson. "Richardson’s success is a direct outcome of working with some of today’s most innovative clients and by the excellence and dedication of the entire Richardson team. We look forward to our continued growth and achieving superior results for our clients." Each sales training company featured on this year’s list offers sales organizations the following benefits: Provides a consultative experience. Quantifies results with metrics. Offers customization and post-training support. Has a documented track record of ROI and customer satisfaction Here are the four main criteria that Selling Power considered when selecting the top sales-training companies: Depth and breadth of training offered Innovative and new offerings (specific training courses or methodology) or delivery methods Ability to customize offerings Strength of client satisfaction The list appears in the August issue of Selling Power magazine, which will be available to subscribers the first week of August. For more information, visit sellingpower.com. To learn more about Richardson, please contact Jim Brodo at jim.brodo@richardson.com or visit www.richardson.com. About Richardson Richardson is a global sales performance company that helps leading organizations improve sales results. We do this in three ways. We analyze the structure and talent of your sales force, we train and develop your sales team, and we continue that development through coaching and reinforcement. We equip your sales leaders and sales force with the skills and strategies they need to win in today’s complex selling environment. What is unique about Richardson is how we create truly customized solutions that change behavior and provide measurable results. About Selling Power  In addition to Selling Power magazine, the leading periodical for sales managers and sales VPs since 1981, Selling Power Inc. produces the Sales Management Digest and Daily Boost of Positivity online newsletters, as well as a five-minute video series featuring interviews with top executives. Selling Power is a regular media sponsor of the Sales 2.0 Conference. About Gerhard Gschwandtner Gerhard Gschwandtner is the founder and CEO of Selling Power and the publisher of Selling Power magazine. He conducts a popular Daily Report video series featuring interviews with top sales and marketing executives and CEOs, and he regularly hosts the Sales 2.0 Conference. He is a recipient of the Sales & Marketing Executives International, Inc. 2010 Ambassador of Free Enterprise Award. Read his blog at blog.sellingpower.com. The post Richardson Named to Selling Power’s 2015 Top Sales Training Companies List appeared first on Richardson Sales Enablement Blog.

Today’s blog post was exclusively submitted and written by The Online Expert Three Easy Steps in Building your Mobile User Persona The digital boom has helped marketing and sales reach new heights. From conventional print, radio, and television, to the viral, social selling activities, online marketing, and now mobile, the pattern of business development strongly suggests that it will follow the type of medium most used by people. Smart Insight reported that mobile marketing will be vital in the success of marketing and demand generation campaigns for businesses this year. However, there are a lot of factors to consider if you want your mobile demand generation campaigns to be more effective. Start by building mobile user personas necessary for your campaigns. But first, what is Mobile User Persona? Mobile user personas are essentially your ideal target market classified in different personalities depending on how they use their mobile devices, the type of mobile devices, how they consume content via their gadgets and a slew of other factors. It basically provides sales and marketing with ways to identify customer motivations, habits, personalities, expectations, and goals. Building such personas will allow you to create strategies based on the mobile habits of your ideal customers, which can lead you closer to reaching your goal/s. How to create mobile user personas quickly? Building personas for your mobile demand generation and prospecting isn’t really different from defining your target market. The only difference is that you are categorizing them based on how they consume content and use their smartphones and tablets as well as how you can use this set of information to better introduce your brand. It only requires three simple steps to build personas for mobile users. Here’s how: 1. Interview and research Similar to building a buyer persona for your products and/or services, you will have to be able to get information on your own by interviewing possible clients/customers and researching about what they like and dislike. Interviews and surveys can provide you with insightful feedback about your target market with more in-depth information. Consider including the following questions in your survey form to help you out: What do you like and dislike about using mobile to find information regarding potential vendors? What features do you expect to see on a mobile application or website? How often do you visit websites or use search engines to find information? 2. Identify all the necessary information you need Mobile users are highly diverse. There are some that use their phones for gaming and music, others for work and study, and then there are those who just use the device’s most basic functions. These factors will have to be listed clearly for you to create an effective persona. Additional factors, such as the type of Internet connection they are using is also needed for this campaign. Not all mobile users are able to use faster 4G data connections such as the iPhone 6 Plus as some smartphone are only able to use 3G. Content viewed on these mobiles has to be light, fast, and interactive. Take note as well that other features of smartphones and tablets can be used for your campaigns such as the camera, processing power, battery, screen size, and built-in ePayment systems (if applicable). This article on how to create detailed buyer personas may help you in this process. 3. Develop the personas By this time, you’ve already gathered enough data that will help you in creating personas for your mobile targets. There will be some patterns and certain characteristics that will help you categorize them. It’s easy to start with around 3-5 personas first. If it helps, you can make use of persona templates available online. These three easy steps that will get you started in building your mobile user persona. As you go along with your demand generation campaign, it will help you to have a read of our previous post on micro-moment sales and marketing to help you restore the balance in the market. Learn more about Richardson’s Consultative Selling Sales Training Solutions.           Photo Credit: MarcelaPalma via Compfight cc   The post Three Easy Steps in Building your Mobile User Persona appeared first on Richardson Sales Enablement Blog.