Categories
- 1.0 LinkedIn Innovators & Groups
- 1.1 Tools, Techniques & Tips
- 1.2 Workshops & Webinars
- 1.3 KnowBrainer Innovation Tools
- 1.4 Thinkubator Lab Experiences
- 1.5 VIPs - Very Innovative People
- 1.6 VIPs - Very Innovative Places
- 1.7 Solutionman’s Experiences
- 1.9 favorATE Word-of-the-Week
- 2.0 Marketing-PR-Buzz Innovation
- 2.1 Green-Sustainability Innovation
- 2.2 Meeting Planning Innovation
- 2.3 Sales & Selling Innovation
- 2.4 Product & Service Innovation
- 2.5 Brand & Branding Innovation
- 2.6 Leadership-Change Innovation
- 2.7 Learning-Education Innovation
- 3.0 Experience Economy
- 4.0 Accelerate-to-Innovate
- 4.1 Investigate-to-Innovate
- 4.2 Create-to-Innovate
- 4.3 Evaluate-to-Innovate
- 4.4 Activate-to-Innovate
- 4.5 Celebrate-to-Innovate
- 4.6 Replicate-to-Innovate
- 5.0 Formulate-to-Innovate
- 5.1 Collaborate-to-Innovate
- 5.2 Communicate-to-Innovate
- 5.3 Educate-to-Innovate
- 5.4 Decorate-to-Innovate
- 5.6 Affiliate-to-Innovate
- 5.8 Anticipate-to-Innovate
- 6.0 Rejuvenate-to-Innovate
- 6.1 Relate-to-Innovate
- 7.0 Stimulate-to-Innovate
- 7.1 Questionate-to-Innovate
- 7.3 Visualate-to-Innovate
- 7.6 Ideate-to-Innovate
- 8.0 Innovation Idols
- 8.1 Innovation Software & eTools
- 8.2 Innovation Tool Clubs
- 8.3 Environment & Space Design
- Books
- Question-able Meetings
- Web/Tech
Create Innovation Evangelists: Authors Reveal Word-of-Mouth Marketing Secrets
In Creating Customer Evangelists: How Loyal Customers Become a Volunteer Sales Force, authors Ben McConnell & Jackie Huba explain how to convert customers into influential and enthusiastic evangelists. The book outlines the framework for developing evangelism marketing strategies and programs. The ultimate goal is to create communities of influencers who drive sales or membership for your company or organization. Many companies have been effective at applying the book's "six basic tenets" to create evangelists for innovation and sales growth.
The book explains how IBM, Southwest Airlines, The Dallas Mavericks, and SolutionPeople have successfully built their customer base and created targeted marketing programs to involve their biggest fans. These programs have produced legions of unofficial salespeople and a cost-effective and powerful marketing force. McConnell & Huba interviewed SolutionPeople's Gerald Haman, clients, and spent several days at the Thinkubator, and wrote a book chapter entitled The High-Flying Solutionman that chronicles Haman's 20 years of growing his business through customer evangelism.
6 Tenets to Create Customer Evangelists
1. Customer plus-delta: Continuously gather customer feedback.
2. Napsterize knowledge: Share knowledge freely.
3. Build the buzz: Build word-of-mouth networks.
4. Create community: Encourage communities of customers to meet and share.
5. Make bite-size chunks: Devise specialized, smaller offerings to get customers to bite.
6. Create a cause: Focus on making the world, or your industry, better.
Download a PDF of the entire chapter from the book on SolutionPeople’s applications of the Six Tenets by clicking HERE.
Order the book from Amazon.com by clicking HERE.
Amazon.com Offers KnowBrainer Innovation Tool on Sale for 15% Discount for Holiday Gift Savings!
Over 100,000 people around the globe have the award-winning KnowBrainer and innovation tools created by Gerald "Solutionman" Haman. Amazon.com is now offering a significant discount on the latest version 4.0 of the KnowBrainer innovation tool.
Save 15% and order your KnowBrainer tools for only $83 (Save $15) by clicking HERE on Amazon.com. All purchasers can attend a free 60-minute Tool Training Webinar ($100 value) led by Solutionman or his certified KnowBrainer trainers. After placing your order, send an email to webinars@solutionpeople.com for your KnowBrainer Training Webinar invitation. Click HERE to read detailed background information on the KnowBrainer.
The Top 10 Most Common Objections to Creative Ideas (Download FREE Worksheet)
"Objections are expressions of interest," said Zig Ziglar. If people do NOT object to your creative idea, they may NOT be engaged enough to think about your ideas. Successful innovators appreciate objections because they demonstrate that people are engaged in thinking about proposed ideas.
If you get no objections, you may not have much engagement. Successful innovators also "anticipate" potential objections and prepare responses to those objections in advance. According to the original Pocket Persuader tool, created by Gerald "Solutionman" Haman, the 10 Most Common Objections are easy to anticipate. You've heard them before and here is Haman's list:
Objection #1-PRICE
"We don't have a budget for this"
"Your competition is cheaper"
Objection #2-TIME
"The timing isn't very good"
"Let's discuss this later"
Objection #3-INTEREST
"I'll get back to you if I'm interested"
"You'll need to talk to somebody else"
Objection #4-NEED
"I don't need it"
"My situation is different"
Objection #5-RISK
"It's too risky"
"My reputation is on the line"
Objection #6-CHANGE
"I don't need to change"
"The change may not be an improvement"
Objection #7-QUALITY
"It won't work"
"The quality is poor"
Objection #8-IMAGE
"It doesn't fit our image"
"We do things differently around here"
Objection #9-TRUST
"I need to think it over"
"I want to do some more research"
Objection #10-APPROVAL
"I want to talk to some other people"
"I need some more information"
Preview the New Innovation Training Workshops.com Website
Innovators are invited a preview a new website dedicated to offering world-class innovation training workshops, seminars and certifications.
Click HERE to explore the website:
www.InnovationTrainingWorkshops.com
Check out the calendar of new dates for the popular Accelerated Innovation Workshops and Innovation Trainer Certifications. New training workshops and tools will be added every week!
The Social Media Revolution: A YouTube Video That Every Innovator Should Watch
Discover fascinating statistics about the growth of Social Media by watching this provocative YouTube video from author Erik Qualman.
Learn more from Erik Qualman's provocative book, Socialnomics: How social media transforms the way we live and do business
New "88 Great Meeting Planning Questions" Book Helps Innovators Plan Successful Events
Now You Can Ask More & Better Questions to Plan Better Meetings & Events.
Get the new 88 Great Meeting Planning Questions by Gerald "Solutionman" Haman. It contains 88 Great Questions you need to get started in planning great meetings, events, conferences, conventions, tradeshows, workshops, seminars facilitations, retreats and experiences!
People spend a lot of time attending meetings, but they seldom have enough time and help to effectively plan the meetings. During the past 20 years, the author, Gerald "Solutionman" Haman, attended, planned and facilitated meetings for hundreds of small groups and large audiences of several thousand people. As a result of those experiences, he developed these 88 Great Questions in this 10-page booklet to help people plan better meetings and events.
Here is a preview of the book's Table of Contents that reveals the 12 question topics:
Order from Amazon.com or directly from Haman's company, SolutionPeople Innovation.
Save 50% by ordering downloadable eBook for only $8.88 (only 10 cents per question)from SolutionPeople by clicking HERE.
Order a printed booklet from Amazon.com for $18.88 (only 21 cents per question) by clicking HERE.
The Best Question to Be Asked by An Innovator
For over a decade, I've been asking people, "What's your favorite question to be asked by innovative people?" I've studied hundreds of responses and the trend is undeniable. The 3 most frequently used words in most of the questions are NEED, WANT and WISH. As a result, I've developed a simple, yet powerful question that I frequently ask people when I first meet them. I think this is the ultimate question to ask people in order to discover how you might help them. Six simple words can provoke and inspire some deep thoughts.
"What is NEEDED, WANTED or WISHED?"
Needs Are Different from Wants.
Three words (Needs, Wants, Wishes) may seem synonymous but they can provoke very different responses. What people think they need may not be what they want, and conversely, what some people want may not be what they need. Therefore, it is important to ask people what they need and want.
The WISH Word Inspires Dreaming.
When I attended a Synectics workshop I discovered the importance of phrasing problem headlines that began with the "I wish…" phrase that connects with desired experiences.
The Question is a KnowBrainer.
For graduates of my innovation training workshops and owners of the KnowBrainer innovation tool, you now know how I've incorporated the "Needs, Wants, Wish" question into the Stage 1 of the Accelerated Innovation Process and card #10 of the KnowBrainer.
Investigate-to-Innovate Exercise:
- Identify 3-5 people you want to help
- Ask them, "What do you need, want or wish?"
- Take notes and distinguish the differences between needs, wants, and wishes
- Create ideas to help them address their needs or wants, or make their wishes become reality
Idea-lly, Gerald "Solutionman" Haman
Founder, InnovationTrainingWorkshops.com
