Recently, I had the interesting opportunity to attend the Ontario Universities Fair in Toronto, representing the University at which I am a professor. The fair is something relatively new. It certainly wasn't around when I was a high school student. It's an opportunity for senior high school students to hear the pitches of various Universities and colleges in their vicinity and thus, in theory, make a more informed choice about their career paths.

In Ontario's somewhat socialized system of publicly funded education, I'm not completely comfortable with the idea of being called upon to "sell" my institution to potential "clients". I don't view education as a product, but more as an opportunity of which every citizen should avail himself. But that's a topic for another day. Suffice it to say that I was more than willing to discuss career options with young people, and to offer the unique qualities of our institution where appropriate.

What was interesting, and not particularly surprising, was the extent to which mass media had overly influenced students' expectations of their careers.

When I was their age, the big TV shows were things like "L.A. Law", and the big movies were the various John Grisham adaptations. This continued for some years. Indeed, I recall having several despondent discussions with my fellow science grad student’s years later about how our society had become "law obsessed". The rush to law schools was fairly evident, as was the resultant glut of underemployed law grads.

In more recent years, TV has brought us the return of the sexy medical drama. Shows like "E.R.", "Gray's Anatomy" and "House" top the ratings. So most of my current students --and pretty much all of the high school students I met at the fair-- are convinced that they are destined for medical school. My interviews with the latter suggest, however, that few have any idea what life as a doctor really involves. It's informed in large part by what they see on television.

Moreover, their inability to separate medical life in the USA --which is what is portrayed on their favourite TV shows-- and the realities of life in Canada's socialized system is quite telling. It suggests a dramatic overwhelming of Canadian identity, at least with respect to expectations of lifestyles pertaining to the professional class, by foreign media.

This is most evident when you consider the recent annoying trend of the medical crime drama. "CSI", "Cold Case", "Bones", "Crossing Jordan" and a score of other shows have come, gone, lingered or transcended in recent years. Not surprisingly, a very large number of senior high school students approached me at the fair with the very saddening question, "How do I become a CSI?"

Where to begin? As far as I can tell, "CSI" is an American term that is only relevant in certain cities. The educational backgrounds and certification requirements of crime scene investigators vary from jurisdiction to jurisdiction. Some are police officers. Some are medical examiners with MDs. Some are specially trained by law enforcement institutions, like the FBI. And some are recruited directly by municipalities.

Indeed, fresh out of graduate school, I actually once had a job interview to become a "forensic pathologist" in Toronto, a position that would have involved collecting biological samples at crime scenes and performing laboratory tests to assist in police investigations. The interview took place in a court room and involved a simulated cross-examination.

It was sort of fun. But I was wise to the reality of the job. Despite what the TV shows might suggest, crime scene investigators aren't 20-something hard bodies dressed in Gucci, working in softly lit high-rise offices and engaged in mob hits and terrorist plots when they're not off having whirlwind romances with casino bosses and deputy mayors. In truth, they're average-looking, very hard-working middle-aged dudes and dudettes in stained lab coats, working in a dank basement with a single 60 watt light bulb dangling from the ceiling. They're barely paid enough to afford their one-bedroom downtown apartments, let alone to buy Gucci. And the samples they collect aren't always bullet fragments and blood drops; they're often pools of diarrhea, vomit and bile.

With student after student interrogating me about the appropriate crime scene investigation education path, one question kept occurring to me: what exactly are high school guidance counselors doing these days? Are they simply showing kids DVDs of "CSI Miami" and leaving the room? Hmm, maybe I should teach my classes the same way.

Some of our best business conversations happen in the most unlikely places, including our daily walk to the local coffee shop we fuel up in, and the dog park where Liz takes her border collie, Mike.

One of our dog park buddies is a woman we’ll call Mary. She’s a self-employed consultant who knows we’re always open to providing what insight we can while we throw tennis balls for Mike and his doggy pals.

We like what Mary does, so we took her along to meet a client of ours who needed the kind of services she provides. Now, when a colleague accompanies you to meet a client with a stated need, you can be pretty sure there is real business to be had and that you have a better-than-even chance of getting it.

Here’s how the meeting went. Client to Mary: “Here’s what I need (gives detail). What would you charge me for that?” Mary to Client: “That would be X dollars. But I could give you a discount if that’s too much.”

So Mary got the job, but gave away about 20% of what the client was willing to pay her because she didn’t know the Three Magic Questions she should have asked.

Magic Question Number One:

What is the biggest frustration, or the most powerful opportunity you have been facing in the last twelve months?

Magic Question Number Two:

If you had solved that problem, or been successful with that opportunity, what would that have meant to your company (In dollars? In market share? In profit? In store traffic? In lead generation?)

Magic Question Number Three:

On a scale of one to ten, how committed are you to solving that problem, or succeeding with that opportunity, in the next twelve months?

Can you see why these questions are pure magic? Because the client has the opportunity to talk about his favourite subject (himself) and is actually telling you exactly what he wants to buy and how much it is worth to him.

If the prospect had said his commitment level was eight out of ten or more, Mary could have said, “I specialize in providing solutions that (solve the biggest frustration the prospect has) so that my clients can achieve their goal of (what the client said he wanted to achieve).” She could have quoted a fee that was reasonable in relation to the answers to Magic Question Number Two.

If the prospect had said his commitment level was under eight out of ten, Mary would have suspected that the client was not willing to pay her usual fee. She might also suspect that the project might be terminated early, or even that she would have trouble getting paid on time.

In this case, she could have said, “You’ve said your problem is (restate the problem or opportunity) and that resolving it would result in (restate the results he mentioned). But it doesn’t sound like it’s your number one priority in the next year. I specialize in this type of work, and I feel that you should invest X (a reasonable fee). How does that sound?”

Based on the response she got, she would then be able to make a decision to accept the job, decline it, or negotiate a short-term contract she and the client would be happy with.

Increasing the value of your sales? All it takes is a little magic!

When looking for a product or service they’ve never used before, what do people most often do? Ask someone who has had experience with the product or service of course.

This would include taking the advice of an unbiased product review. By “unbiased” we mean reviews that are not paid for, or supported in some way, by the entity being reviewed, so the information is impartial-the reviewer has nothing to gain or lose by giving an honest opinion.

When taking the advice of others, you’re getting what’s called in the marketing industry a “third party endorsement” (TPE) and it’s one of the most powerful forces in the universe for anyone marketing a product.

It works because as humans, we typically are more inclined to believe what an uninvolved “third party”; a friend, neighbour, or unbiased reviewer; has to say than an advertisement or paid communication of any kind. This is not to say that advertisements don’t have credibility, all we're saying is TPE's have more.

So how do you put this tremendous force to work for your company? First of all, we’re assuming that your product is a good one so recommendations are a possibility-no one’s going to recommend you if you’re offering something of inferior quality or outright junk!

The starting point might be on your web site-do you have a list of client testimonials? People want to know what others have said, so start asking your happy customers if they’ll supply a testimonial you can use. Don’t use anything without their permission and don’t change what they’ve said to suit your purpose!

Make it a policy to always ask for these testimonials, not only will they be useful in your marketing, they will tell you what you’re doing right-so you can do more of that.

You can also slip a testimonial into your advertising. Now you’ve got that TPE right in the ads!

In many publications, there are columnists that write reviews for entertainment, automobiles, and housing developments and increasingly for consumer items and services. Make sure these people are aware of what you offer. Send them a letter asking to be reviewed and then stand back. Be prepared to accept what they write, after all, you asked!

Now, since the media is such a good vehicle for TPE there must be other ways to use it than just placing ads. Quite right, because people tend to believe what they read in quality publications. So harness the power of “media relations”-become an expert that the media will love to quote when writing on your field of expertise. Target the reporters that cover your market and keep them up to date on what’s happening in your industry. Don’t try to sell them your product or service, just stay available to answer questions they may have-guess who they’ll call and quote when they need answers.

Send out regular press releases on new developments and product improvements in your company. Make them factual and be sure they have an interesting story angle that will command attention-they should be newsworthy not fluff or sell.

Maybe your firm has a great story on how it was founded, or how the business evolved to its present state. Write it up and send it to a publication that may be interested in including it as editorial-be sure it’s a publication that’s sure to be read by your ideal kind of customer. People love stories so keep it interesting and be truthful!

These are just a few of the ways you can get the word out, you can probably think of many more, but keep one thing uppermost in your mind-a bad reputation gets around much faster than a good one. Always take care to do the best you can do and when others are pleased with you, tell the world!