If you have followed this blog for a while, you know that I like featuring interesting people and ideas. That’s why I’m excited to introduce you to Roy “Will” Wilhite.
Roy has several decades of experience in sales and management/business development, and a background in Psychology and Communications. He is also the founder of TQM Business Training and Consulting Services Inc.
Roy is here to tell us about his book series and how it can help small businesses increase their exposure and sales using social media.
Hello Roy, thank you for answering my questions. Is there a specific event that triggered your desire to write your books?
I have traveled the world to amazing places and struggling regions, and I have seen the differences between people and their cultures firsthand. Throughout my life, I have come to understand that the fundamental difference between all people is that their perception is driven by a lack of understanding and poor or nonexistent communication.
All of this wisdom and experience culminated in a personal epiphany in 2010: Everything is connected! Business relationships, interpersonal relationships, global relationships, and every other type of relationship is dependent upon the success of three distinct factors: Human Psychology, Communications, and Sales.
Every time you speak, you are selling something. Sometimes it is a product or service, but most of the time you are selling an idea or a belief. If your idea or belief is contrary to another person’s ideas or beliefs, you are selling them on the idea.
If you understand their psychology and yours, you can learn to swing more discussions your way. If you are skilled with psychological and communications techniques, you will swing even more discussions your way. The Quarter Method was designed to teach those techniques.
The Quarter Method, Book 1: The Psychology of Sales teaches the how and the why of human behavior. Could you tell us a little more about that?
The Quarter Method is my system to successfully and consciously weave psychology, communications, and sales together into one consistent process that anyone can learn to use both effectively and affectively. Book 1 is the Psychology aspect of the process; Book 2 (Available December 2015) is the communications aspect of the process; and Book 3 (March 2016) is the closing and after aspects of the process.
In the first book we discuss how humans think, and some of the psychology that can be affected during the interaction or the sales process. The psychology aspect had to be the first book because that is where you learn to first affect your personal psychology, and second to affect the subconscious psychological programming of the person with whom you are speaking.
Once you realize the psychological “why” behind a given response, you may be able to subconsciously affect emotions in your favor.
What’s the story behind the name The Quarter Method?
We use the US Quarter as constant reminder that success is a programmed response, and so is failure. President Washington on the “head” side of the coin represents the thinking person: This is the planner and the professional. The head side of the coin symbolizes the success associated with being professional and prepared.
On the tail side we use the Wyoming Quarter, represented by a Rodeo Bronco. The Bronco symbolizes the ill-prepared and expected fall of the people who are just “winging it” every day.
Finally, we use the US Quarter to remind us that, contrary to popular opinion, life is a go or no-go reality. Put simply, life is a pass/fail test, and there are no gray areas. You won or you lost, succeeded or failed, closed the deal or lost the deal, you were right or wrong, or your business was growing or dying.
The coin won’t stop on its edge, and neither does life. Stop making excuses for failure. Learn from your mistakes, and become successful.
There is a sign on my desk that reads, “Success or failure, it’s MY fault!” The sign is there as a constant reminder that I am responsible for everyone in my company, including their families.
Social media has changed the way we sell ourselves and our products. How can your method apply to the online world?
In The Quarter Method, Book 1, we explain two extremely important psychological concepts: Effective Frequency and Normative Influence. When you are marketing in any medium, it is important to know and understand these two amazingly affective psychological concepts.
In summary, Effective Frequency says that if you consistently and obsessively brand the same message, people will be psychologically driven to buy your product. Normative Influence is the psychological process you would use to make your brand a household name. Put simply, if you want people to buy your brand, they will need to see your brand marketed everywhere. Once enough people are buying your brand, others will be compelled to buy your brand so they can fit in with the group psychology.
Social media is an incredible resource because it allows you to create a marketing plan with massive reach for very little financial cost. The biggest cost associated with social media is time: If you are not committing the time to build your social media marketing campaign, you are probably struggling to build or grow your company.
According to you, what is the number 1 mistake business owners make when it comes to promoting themselves online? And what would you advise them to do instead?
I will give you the #1 and #2 mistakes I find with a majority of my clients. First, they don’t have a social media marketing program. Second, they aren’t utilizing the unimaginable strength of social media effectively.
If you don’t use social media in today’s business world, you are going out of business. Once you accept that reality, you realize that you must design and implement a full-spectrum social media campaign, and you must nurture your social media campaign daily. Facebook is not enough. In fact, there are no social media services that are effective on their own.
The thing that makes Social Media revolutionary is the simple fact that I, as a business owner, can reach millions of people for a relatively low or possibly no cost. The reach that we take for granted today would have cost millions of marketing dollars just a couple of decades ago.
Anything you would like to add?
It is important for you to see social media for the leviathan that it has already become. Just because there are people out there who post pictures of their lunch doesn’t mean that is what social media is designed to do.
The fact that those people are using this advanced marketing tool for free is an indicator of the utilitarian functionality of social media.
If you are serious about growing your business and being successful, then you should identify your brand and own every single social media service or tool that you can get. There is a website called namechk.com that will show you if your brand is available, and what it is available on. You can search for domains and social site availability at the same time. Then, if your brand is available, go sign up for all of the sites you can—before someone else does.
For more information on The Quarter Method series, visit http://thequartermethod.com/books/.
