By Jack Hubbard
In the last several months, the goal of my articles has been to help you and your bank get ready for an awesome 2016.
That won’t happen because of better products, better pricing, better service and more Facebook “likes” than your competition. (They are across the street struggling with the same issues you and your bankers are.)
The key is value and that, my friends, is always in the eye of the receiver. Value comes in lots of packages big and some. This month I want to introduce you to significance that comes to you for free in the form of blogs and newsletters.
For those that have seen me at a banking school or a conference, you know I receive lots of emails—upwards of 500 or more a day. Some complain about the number of items that pop into their box. I revel in them. The more I get the more knowledge is there for the taking and the more I can help clients and the banking industry. Here are a few golden nuggets that flow to my Outlook regularly.
Convince and Convert: www.convinceandconvert.com/blog/
Jay Baer is someone you should be following. He has advised more than 700 companies in the marketing space worldwide since the mid-1990s. Convince and Convert was voted the No. 1 content marketing blog by Content Marketing Institute. There’s a reason. This weekly newsletter is short on theory and long on practical, actionable ideas.
Peppers and Rogers Group: www.peppersandrogersgroup.com
Whatever Don Peppers writes, I read. I follow him on LinkedIn and on Twitter @donpeppers. Peppers and Rogers is famous for its approach to one-to-one marketing. Don and his partner Martha Rogers were one of the early consultants in the CRM movement. Eight books (some bestsellers) have come from their creative minds. They offer both a regular blog and a free publication called “Customer Strategist.” This publication provides readers with insights into innovative strategies around the customer experience. Great stuff here on a regular basis. I especially like the practical case studies from outside banking (we need to look at those more).
RAIN Today: www.raintoday.com
Over 100,000 sales and marketing professionals receive this publication. Focused on sales, there are always several great articles with ideas on prospecting, onboarding, insight selling and much more.
Written by bestselling authors such as Mike Schultz, Charles Green and others, I open this and read it as soon as I see it pop into my inbox.
Selling Power: www.sellingpower.com
I like Selling Power for several reasons. The articles are from outside banking. The authors are actual sales people who don’t wax eloquently about what could be or a slog through university study that has no applicability to reality. The newsletter, “Sales Management Digest,” is tightly written featuring diverse topics ranging from sales production to sales coaching, CRM adoption to the CEO and the sales process and much more.
One additional cool thing is SPTV. Every day there is a short video with a sales professional discussing an important subject. I rarely miss an opportunity to see one.
Email services
There are many more sales and marketing professionals that drop by to see me via email. I look forward to reading sales and marketing ideas from Tony Hughes, Jill Konrath, Daniel Pink and Mike Kunkle.
Articles and ideas from CEB, Trusted Advisor and Anthony Innarino make the cut too. No one can read them all. The challenge is to find several you like and that work for you. The key is to do some clicking of your own and register for some of these extraordinary publications. I am in no way suggesting that you should strive to receive 500 or more emails.
Getting the right emails is the key to value—yours and your customers in 2016.
Jack Hubbard is chairman and chief sales officer of St. Meyer & Hubbard, a sales performance consulting and training firm located in Elgin, Ill. He serves also as an instructor for the ABA Bank Marketing School. Email: [email protected].
