Customers/Clients Archives - Page 30 of 35

Let go

June 17, 2007

It seems appropriate to share this with you on Father’s Day. It’s something that’s come to me as I’ve blundered through being a dad. It’s one of the hardest lessons I’ve ever had to learn. Fortunately, the difficulty has been commensurate with the value.

When my daughter was a little less than a year old, she, like all babies, was struggling to stand and take those first steps. I would walk behind her, her hands wrapped tightly around my forefingers to provide some stability, and together we would walk.

Of course, I was handling most of the balancing. She was just putting one foot in front of the other and sort of lunging. If I had removed my hands, she would have fallen. So I didn’t.

My mistake. Once I let her fall a couple times, she figured it out. And took her first steps.

Flash forward a few years. My daughter loved riding her bike and was ready to go sans training wheels. So we took them off. We started out slowly. I’d walk (then run) behind her, holding onto the seat so she wouldn’t fall. Every time the bike would start to tip to the side, I righted it and we kept going.

My mistake. Once I let her fall a couple times, she figured it out. And rode down the street, triumphant and training wheel free.

I’ve observed this pattern in our lives together many times. When I hang on too tight out of fear or protectiveness, she doesn’t grow. She doesn’t master something new. She doesn’t get to be all that she can be.

I know, as we approach the dating years, I am going to be painfully reminded of this lesson. And I know I won’t always heed the little voice in my head that’s whispering, "let go." But I’m going to try.

Beyond parenting, I believe the "let go" lesson is incredibly relevant in marketing.

We can craft our marketing messages and our brand promises until we think they’re perfect. But sooner or later, we have to let go. We have to recognize that it’s a conversation, not a monologue.

When we hang on too tight out of fear or protectiveness, nothing grows. We can’t master something new. And the relationship we’re trying to forge with our community of customers doesn’t get to be all that it can be.

What’s something that you held onto for too long? Or, tell us a success story of what happened when you let go.

Hint at exceptional service

June 13, 2007

I had dinner the other night with a business associate/friend. We were seated and the hostess turned to my friend and asked, "would you prefer a black napkin?’

Being a dumb boy, I was surprised and a little confused when my friend said that yes, she would prefer a black napkin. The hostess must have noticed my puzzled expression. She nodded at my friend and said, "she’s wearing a dark dress. A white linen napkin might leave a bit of lint on her dress."

Wow. We were in for an exceptional dinner.

Any restaurant that would pay attention and make accommodations for that level of detail was going to go out of their way to deliver a remarkable experience.

And they did. If there’s a Fleming’s Prime Steakhouse & Wine Bar in your area — get there. And ask for a black napkin.

More important — what’s your black napkin?

Marketing Tips from a Marketing Agency: Be disruptive

June 6, 2007

It would only stand to reason that a marketing & branding agency would be pretty good at branding and marketing itself.

So I thought it might be fun to explore some branding & marketing concepts using our own agency, McLellan Marketing Group, as the guinea pig.

Be disruptive

Marketing isn’t always about the big campaign. Sometimes it is taking something simple or expected and turning it on its ear. Earlier in this series, we talked about how we approach business cards. Being disruptive seems to be an MMG given. It’s certainly what we do with our voice mail. If you call our office, while we’re transferring your call — you’re going to be asked a question.

So, let’s say you hit my extension (17 by the way) and you expect elevator music, silence or a sales pitch. Instead you’re going to hear me asking…"while we transfer your call, ponder this. What tagline best describes your personal brand? Be ready to tell us why…"

Not only do we learn quite a bit about our callers, but the Q&A helps define our brand. We ask a lot of questions, so we might as well set the expectation now.

But the biggest value in our voicemail tactic — it’s disruptive. It surprises people and it’s something they talk about. It says, "these people do things differently."

Now maybe you can’t mess with your company’s voice mail system but come on, you can be disruptive some place, some how.

How can you cause a buzzworthy disruption?

Is being long-winded hurting your communications

June 1, 2007

We seem to live in what I call a USA Today society. "Give it to me short, sweet and if possible, in a colorful graph. Otherwise, I’m going to ignore you."

Do you get that same sense? Dr. Taly Weiss did some research on her blog TrendsSpotting that shows that of the top 100 blogs — most of them routinely have posts of less than 500 words.

As communicators, we often have complex issues to discuss or complicated products/services to explain. How do we accurately and adequately get the message across in this short and sweet world?

Here are a few ideas I had but I’d love to hear yours.

Chunk it. Break up your content into bite-sized pieces. If the reader is willing to invest in the first paragraph…and it’s relevant, they’ll keep reading.

Visually trick the reader’s eye. Use lots of white space and color to break up copy and to create the illusion that the copy is shorter than it is.

Divert them. Use your initial pieces (direct mail, blog post etc.) to give your potential customer the highlights and then provide them with repositories of information. Point them to your website, blog archives, more detailed collateral, etc.

So….how do you combat the USA Today mentality?

Good, Fast, Cheap. Pick 2.

May 31, 2007

Here’s the reality of working with clients, no matter what your business does.

Your client wants it good, fast and cheap.

Guess what — long term, there is no such thing. Can you pull an all-nighter or scramble your entire team into overtime? Sure. Once in awhile. But in general, our clients get to pick two of the three.

Michael Libbie, an Iowa advertising guy, tells a similar story over at his blog. And sadly, the option clients most often want to scrimp on — good.

Fortunately, in the end, most good clients get it. A microwaved dinner now and then is okay. But after awhile, you realize you’re not really being nourished. You want real food. Food with substance. And you’re willing to let it cook in the oven for 30 minutes and pay a little extra for the good cut of meat.

But how do you as a business person combat this challenge?

Respect your value. This is the toughest one of all. Your work , product and service is worth what you charge. Don’t apologize for it. Don’t be bashful about asking for it. And don’t be guilted into compromising it.

Have options for your clients. Be reasonable. Maybe they don’t need to Lexus version. Suggest ways they can still accomplish their goals but perhaps in a different way.

Be okay with walking away. I know it’s hard to walk away from business. And scruples don’t feed the kids. But, if you and a client (or prospect) can’t come to an agreement on the money, I assure you — it is not going to be the only thing you disagree on. You are not the right fit for every client. Say it with me….you are not the right fit for every client.

This isn’t about gouging your clients or over-charging. Try that a few times and watch it bite you in the rear end! This is about being fairly compensated for your work. This is about doing good work that yields results for the client and this is also about being nimble enough to turn things around quickly when your client is really in a jam.

Ultimately, it is about balance. For you and the client.

Do you inspire joy?

May 28, 2007

We spent the weekend in New York City. While we were there, we saw the new play, Curtains. It’s a whodunit musical and well worth the ticket price. The performances, singing, dancing and choreography were really something to behold.

As I stood watching people spill out of the theatre, a young girl about five years old literally came dancing up the aisle. Her face was one of pure joy. At that moment, she *was* on that stage, dancing to the roaring crowd. You could see it all in her eyes.

My first thought was, "I wish the cast could see her. They’d be reminded why they chose this profession. Because they inspire joy."

My second thought was for you. (And me.) Do we inspire joy in our work? Does our product or service make our customers want to dance?

It’s really easy to dismiss that question with a "We don’t sing or dance, we build websites. Or we sell checking accounts …or we insure their families." But that’s a cop-out.

Every one of us has the capacity to create a joyful experience. Haven’t you ever hung up the phone with a big smile on your face because someone exceeded your expectations? Haven’t you ever finished a meeting with a business partner and felt so good about the work you’re doing together that you wanted to do a little jig? How about that little song of relief that wants to burst out when you realize that someone really and truly "gets" you and your work?

If not…you need to find new business partners. And if we’re not inspiring our clients, so do they.

What could you do that would inspire joy in your clients this week?

And now, for your viewing pleasure…some shots (off their official website) of Curtains. The lead in the play is David Hyde Pierce (Frasier’s brother Niles).

Seeing the other side

May 26, 2007

Think about it for a minute. There’s the work you. The family you. The buddies at the pub you. The girls at poker night you. The I’m so tired I could cry you. The blogger you. The marketer you. The consumer you. The son you. The trying not to laugh during church you.

So many faces. All of them you. Each honest, real and unique. But each one slightly different because of the circumstances, surroundings, or people involved.

That’s a very important thing to remember as marketing professionals. No one is just a 35 year old Caucasian man, with a wife and 2.3 children. Many faces. Many passions. Your marketing needs to push beyond assuming you know what the aggregate whole wants. You need to let your audience help you define why they need you. Because each 35 year old Caucasian man may want something slightly different.

See their many faces.

That’s what intrigued me about David Airey’s Face Behind the Blog post. Basically, he is reminding all of us that we’re more than the face we hold out as we author our blogs. He’s suggesting it would be interesting and insightful to share a photo of ourselves that puts us in a different light. That shows another face.

So far, several others have jumped on board.

Gayla at Mom Gadget
Char at Essential Keystrokes
Paul at Reflections
Rob at 2Dolphins
Zep at The In-Sect
Ingo at Stixster
Stevie at Lost In Cyberspace
The Paper Bull at (oddly enough) The Paper Bull
Lisa Sabin-Wilson at Just A Girl In The World
Dawud Miracle at dmiracle.com
Wendy Piersall at eMoms at Home
Dennis Bjørn Petersen at Petersen Inc.
Randa Clay at Randa Clay Design

I first read about it at Dawud Miracle’s blog and decided to join in.

So….step aside Blogger/Brander/Marketer Drew and make room for…

Table for One Drew?

I love this picture of my daughter and me. We’re at (wait for it….) Disney World and we’re waiting for a show to begin in front of Cinderella’s castle. This is us at our most comfortable, compatible best. And apparently my head is indeed flat enough to rest a popcorn bucket on!

So what do you say? Will you show us one of your other sides?

Update: Here’s who has jumped in since my initial. Is your name there?

Drew McLellan at The Marketing Minute
Becky McCray at Small Biz Survival
Phil Gerbyshak at Make it Great!
Steve Woodruff at StickyFigure
Dave Olson at Live the GREAT life that you desire
Greg at Become a Remote Control SEO
Ariane Benefit at Neat Living Blog

How to use a survey effectively

May 23, 2007

I responded to a survey called "Media Relations in Practice" generated by PR News and recently received a "preview" of the results.

Let me share a couple of the graphs (screen shots from their website) and then make a couple points and get your feedback.

Some interesting results. Apparently they will be covering the findings in more detail in an upcoming issue of PR News. One of the charts I did not include was tied to the question "how do you track your PR efforts?" The overwhelming majority answered either Google or Yahoo.

But what interested me even more than the results was the way the survey results handled. As a respondent, I was sent a note of thanks and a web link. Oh yeah…and an "additional bonus for responding" a $50 off coupon for one of their products. Good for 90 days.

Here’s what I might have done differently.

I would have sent a web link but also offered each individual chart as a jpg (or some other format) for easier sharing. After all, their own respondents told them how important blogs and other social media are.
I would have solicited comments/examples to make the results come to life and used them in the upcoming article.
I would have attached a free white paper on a related topic, based on the results received, rather than the coupon.

How about you? Any a ha moments from the results? How would you have handled distributing the results or thanking the participants?

Silence kills a relationship

May 22, 2007

You know what drives me nuts? When I am ignored, like I’m barely visible. The silence is deafening.

We have a vendor/partner who does very good work. But they have a cultural habit that is resulting in my agency deciding to look for new vendors. They go silent.

When we run into a snag, we call or e-mail. They say they’ll check into it. I have no doubt that they’re doing something and trying to figure out the solution. But we don’t hear a word. We are left waiting. Our client is asking for updates and we have nothing to offer. We e-mail and e-mail or call and call, and finally we will get an update. I’m pretty sure (and yes, I have asked) that their culture says — focus on fixing the problem and then report the solution.

I want more than that. I want over communication. It’s not that I don’t want them to expend most of their energy on solving the snafu, but also I need them to recognize that I’m in the dark and how uncomfortable that is.

I want a daily update that gives me something to offer our client. I want to know what is working and what still has them stumped. I want anything but silence.

I think one of the most damaging things we can do is ignore a client. Because in essence, that’s what silence is.

When your clients are in crisis (or their own perceived crisis) how do you handle it? What do they want? How do you know it’s what they want? Are you guilty of keeping them in the dark?

Your future customers are behaving very oddly

May 21, 2007

Many in the B2B world are dismissing social media as something "kids" are doing. Or are nodding at their B2C brethren and saying it’s their problem.

Maybe today that’s sort of true. But guess what your future customers are doing. Yup — building a new habit of using social media. Do you suppose that’s going to just go away?

Social networks have changed the way that people interact with each other and with media, according to an April research report released by Fox Interactive Media. The research found that the 70% of Americans aged 15-34 who engage in social networking activity are doing so during the primetime hours. According to the research data, these social networkers aren’t just dabbling; they tend to use social networks more than they use other forms of communication and entertainment. According to the report, a majority of social networkers choose interacting on sites such as MySpace as their favorite activity online or offline ahead of television viewing.

Other findings:

40% of social networkers say they use social networking sites to learn more about brands or products, and 28% say a friend has recommended a brand or product to them.
69% of users say they use social networking sites to connect with existing friends and 41% say they use the sites to connect with family members.
More than 31% of social networkers say they spend more time online in general after starting to use a social network.

Here is the question for marketers. If the 17-34 year olds are already engaged in social media, do you suppose they’re going to unplug when they hit 35,40 or 50?

Imagine how differently we will talk to the next generation as they approach retirement. Are you already seeing this in your work? If your product or service targets the mature market — how does or will this affect you?

Source: Word of Mouth Marketing Association

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