THE A-TEAM: Amazing Women Professionals & Friends

I hold great admiration for General Colin Powell, his accomplishments and his style as a statesman. In fact, for years I’ve had a saying posted at my office on his thoughts regarding leadership. I’ve also always enjoyed his thoughts on the issue of striving for excellence. He said: “If you are going to achieve excellence in big things, you develop the habit in little matters. Excellence is not an exception, it is a prevailing attitude.” Excellence is precisely the word I am using to introduce my dear friend and colleague, Lisa Chao.

I have yet to meet another professional who completely devotes herself to the success, happiness and positive growth of her business and family. Although most working women/moms/wives/community volunteers/do-it-all-gals provide 100% of themselves already to their daily endeavors (although it often feels like 150%) – Lisa gives more than that. The only reason I know this is possible? I’ve seen her in action.

Lisa is my own daily reminder that human kindness still exists, that there are “partners” in life and in business who have a heart and want to see you, not solely themselves, succeed. This quality, this commitment to personal excellence every waking minute of the day (she proves it is possible) is precisely why Lisa is on my A-team.

P.S. Yes, she’s also a blast to spend time with. (Bonus) For the record, specialty photos, like the one pictured bottom right, come at a cost of $10 per piece as they are in high demand nowadays.

LISA CHAO
Owner/Founder
Me Promos

Q: How did you “arrive” where you are in life today?
A: Hard work followed closely by a little risk and a whole lot of consideration for my family and how my decisions impact them. I am where I am in life because of the support of my husband, Paul. He’s a good man.

Q: Tell me about your business? Where does your passion for marketing originate from?
A: I truly do thrive on my clients and their success. I love nothing more than when a client runs a great promotion and is the rock star they know they are and can be. Recently I had a client tell me that her competition thinks she’s a genius based off of a product solution that I gave to her. I have been in this business for 13 years yet still very much find the joy in what success my clients derive from my efforts in helping them. Helping people never gets old.

Q: As a business person, what are you most challenged with day-to-day?
A: Always working toward being the best “me” I can be is challenging – whether it’s to be the “best” creative consultant to clients, mother, wife, boss, volunteer, fan of my kids sports, etc. Living a balanced life takes considerable work. I strive daily to be more and more focused and purposeful so that I can be as productive as possible at work and at home with my family.

Q: What is more important, talent or drive?
A: Drive. Even if you don’t have all the talent in the world, you will still figure out how to achieve what you want provided you have the drive to accomplish it. Drive will prove where there is a will, there is a way.

Q: What one trait has helped you most in business?
A: My ability to find the “good” in everyone and every situation. I’ve always found that most people have good intentions, but from time-to-time they have bad days (like we all do). Empathy for others is key to success as well as personal happiness. I always ask myself: What am I supposed to learn from this situation?

Q: What is the hardest lesson you've learned and how did you learn it?
A: To trust people, but not to a fault. Just like most entrepreneurs I’ve been in those situations where personal contacts had good intentions, I provided the service yet never was paid for the services I provided. It happens. You just learn to moderate yourself a bit better after being burned a time or two.

Q: What is the one piece of advice you would offer other women in business?
A: When it comes to work-life balance, most women struggle. We all need to understand the life happens in waves – some days (or weeks) are more focused on work, others more on family – you just need to ensure that the tide continues to shift and everyone stands to gain equal time from you.

Don’t overlook easy-to-use relationship marketing tactics

The market has been hard on most of us. However, luckily for me, and my firm, now that the market has started to loosen-up so have sales/marketing service inquiries.

We’re the experts when it comes to integrating marketing and sales strategies, but what frequently surprises me is the lack of general knowledge many business professionals have when it comes to employing basic relationship marketing.

Granted, some marketing programs produce lackluster results, especially if they’re not properly planned for and implemented and don't have the sales support they need, but there are still tried-and-true essentials any professional can use, starting today, to enhance current client relationships as well as relationships with prospects and leads.

Simple tactics which I often see overlooked:

No in-house list – It can be a painstaking task to develop up-front, but kept up-to-date, your in-house list can be your greatest marketing and sales asset. I suggest collecting addresses and emails for your clients, contacts/referral sources/“champions,” vendors, leads/prospects. Your list can be used for just about anything you need to promote your business – from notifying people of new services/products, inviting them to open houses or free workshops, to wishing them a great holiday. It is the easiest, most cost-efficient way to connect with your contacts regularly, thereby helping you remain top-of-mind with clients.

Lack of follow-up – If someone is interested in using your services, follow-up with them within 24 hours of your discussion. If you do not hear back from your lead, follow-up with them again within the next 2-3 days. I recommend picking up an old-fashioned piece of hardware on our desk (telephone) to make the connection. I recommend that phone because too many people are resistant to using it these days, but that’s for another blog. Speaking by phone will build your relationship more quickly and will better relay to your new contact what type of personality you have, which allows them to build a more positive mental picture of you and how you can help their business. (i.e. the "I like you and trust you, so I'll do business with you" feeling.)

Not asking for referrals – This is a very small, yet effective way to remain in the forefront of your happy clientele’s mind when they're out and about. If your business relies on referrals, ask for them. It can be something as simple as speaking or writing to a client after they’ve told you how happy they are with your service, saying something such as: “You’re welcome. We’re happy you’ve been more than satisfied with our services. Please feel free to keep us in mind if you know other folks who could use a firm like ours. Have a great afternoon.”

Regularly contact your clients – This is especially important if you live in the B2B world, where you need to maintain long-standing relationships in order to sustain regular business from a set group of clients. Find small ways to regularly be infront of your clients. Send articles that relate to their business (“I found this and thought you’d appreciate reading it as well.”). Invite them to networking events you plan to attend and help them develop new relationships. Send them personally written notes about how you appreciate their business. Don’t be an annoyance, be a value-added bonus of their relationship with you and a virtual part of their team.

Don’t take a backseat attitude when it comes to building and maintaining business relationships. Sit-and-wait strategies don’t work and these tactics can help push you in a positive direction.