Employees Archives - Page 11 of 11 - McLellan Marketing Group

Stop, drop and cone?

November 2, 2006

Starbucker over at Ramblings from a Glass Half Full (who always makes me think!) just posted an "I have too many things rattling around in my head" lament that I have no doubt most people can relate to. I know, as an agency owner and active community volunteer (not to mention dad et al) there are some days when I literally run from meeting to meeting, trying to squeeze in phone calls in between meetings. And then I wonder…when will I get all the work done that these meetings generated? Those are frustrating days. But, to be fair, I do it to myself.

Sometimes I have to give myself a reprieve. So I cone myself.

Coning is something we invented at McLellan Marketing Group because all of us need some "quiet time" now and then. Every employee at MMG has a traffic cone in their office. When that cone is placed in their doorway, it means, "unless the building is on fire, do not disturb me."

I coned myself for about 90 minutes yesterday. The week had been frantic and I was riding very close to several deadlines. I got more done in those 90 minutes than I had all week. And best of all….I felt great. I felt calm, I felt successful. I felt like I was back in control. Here are some of my secrets to successful coning.

Have a commonly understood signal (like the cone) that everyone in your office will honor.
Set the example by NEVER interrupting a coned person.
Turn your cell phone, regular phone et al ringers off.
Do not check e-mail, blog feeds or any other distraction during your coned time.
Do not do it for more than 90 minutes (its very frustrating to be on the other side of the cone and need to talk to someone who’s been coned for 3 hours.)
Make it a habit. Do it at least 3 times a week.

Of course, it does not have to be a cone. Get creative. As you can see, I have added a skull to my own cone…just to reinforce the gravity of circumstance that one would experience if they broke the code of the cone.

It’s hard to keep those marketing juices flowing if you are feeling bogged down. Find a way to get yourself some quiet time. You’ll be surprised at how quickly you get re-fueled. BTW– The Chicago Tribune liked this idea so much, they shared it with their readers a while back.

(And yes, I have a carpet with a little road on it for match box cars in my office. Another post for another time!)

All I want for Christmas…

October 30, 2006

…is another popcorn tin?

Less than 60 days to the culmination of the holiday gift giving season, whether you celebrate Christmas, Hanukkah, or Kwanzaa. (Or any combination!)

Most businesses try to acknowledge their best clients over the holidays. A smart plan. But it often loses a great deal in the execution. What do you give your clients? Popcorn tin? Fruitcake (eww) or fruit basket?

I know, how about a paperweight or nut assortment?

All fine ideas. (insert yawn here).

Sorry — but could you be any more like everyone else? Why bother? Do you have any idea how many of those items stack up at the average business? What does your gift say about you and your organization? Here’s what I think those gifts say:

We didn’t want to put a lot of thought into this.

We wanted to do something easy.

All of our clients are getting the same thing, so you’re really not that special after all.

We’re generic — nothing special about our gift, nothing special about us.

I know, that’s a little harsh. But come on…admit it. When you receive your 4th popcorn tin of the season, are you all giddy inside? Can you even remember who gave you what?

I have searched the blogosphere to find others having this conversation and guess what. Most of them say "Be generic. Give the same stuff everyone else does, it’s safe."

Sure is. And it is completely forgettable too. Why waste your money?

You have two choices, in my opinion. If you have a handful of clients, then buy them something that shows you understand what matters to them. If they love theatre, tickets to a show. Into their kids — a game night package, complete with popcorn. Demonstrate that they matter to you by knowing who they are.

If you have a larger number of clients to remember, think about your company’s brand. What are you all about? What’s your brand promise? What gift seems to be fitting with that? What feels like you? What gift, when they look at the booty for the season, will stand out and be unmistakably from you and only you?

So…what will you be wrapping up for clients this holiday season?

Do you sound stupid?

October 28, 2006

Okay, right off the bat I need to admit I am annoyed. So if there’s a sharpness to the tone, you know why. It’s not you. But out of my annoyance comes a great marketing tip.

I have decided I need (not want) a smart phone. I’m tired of not having my calendar and contact lists with me at all times. I’m content to pay for the upgrade, knowing it will make me more productive.

I am an ideal customer. I am ready to buy. I have money to spend.

So…with that mindset, I enter the Verizon store. Before I can buy, I need some help. You see, like the rest of the world will someday be…I am a Mac guy. (more on this later) I ask them which smart phone is most compatible with Macs. Here’s what tech support guy and sales woman both say.

"Oh, you can’t use a Mac with them. It’s Windows technology."

I say…."are you sure? Seems to me that with all the Macs out there, someone would have figured that out."

"Yeah, well, when they were designing the phones, Mac didn’t have a computer so they didn’t take that into account."

What?

To which the other adds, "actually, with Mac declining, Verizon is really not going to be worrying about that platform."

What?

Here’s the marketing tip. If you are ignorant, for the Love of Pete, admit it. Clearly both of these professionals are under educated about their product. And technology in general. Which is a shame. But, if you find yourself in that same boat, just admit you don’t know. Consumers are much more forgiving of ignorance than they are of stupidity. Be authentic. Just say you don’t know.

The other downside of sounding stupid as opposed to admitting ignorance is that you are not inclined to go find out. Admitting you don’t know is often the first step in finding the answer. Aral Balkan actually proposed an "I don’t know day" which is an interesting concept.

By the way, for the rest of your forward thinking technology users, here’s the information from ZDNet on which smart phone works best with the Mac.

Not a hand check…a brand check!

October 27, 2006

Remember those junior high and high school parties? When some parent, thinking they’re funny, would shout "hand check!" Well, think of me as a marketer who thinks he’s funny and I am shouting…

"Brand check!"

Think your brand is rock solid? Let’s check. For the next week, we’re going to conduct some poor man’s research. You’ll need a pad of paper and a pen or pencil.

Ask every customer, vendor, consumer of your goods/services, and employee to describe your organization in a single word. You’ll be amazed at the insights from this little exercise.

Anyone brave enough to share the results on my blog? Why not share the learning?

How will you join in on Make a Difference Day?

October 17, 2006

Image via Wikipedia

USA Weekend magazine declared that October 28th is Make a Difference Day. Cool idea. Sure…every day should be (and can be) make a difference day, but there’s something powerful about the idea of an entire nation working together on that goal, all in one fell swoop.

So on a personal level, I challenge you. How are you going to make a difference on that day? But wait, I’m not done. On a business level — how could your team/organization make a difference? There’s great team building and a sense of greater good that comes from working together to help someone else.

At McLellan Marketing Group, we’ve adopted families during the holidays, bought items for a womens shelter, volunteered for a fundraiser for Make-A-Wish and many other community building activities.

I’m sure the recipients of our good works benefited from them, but really we were the ones who got the most out of it. We felt good, did good and had fun doing it. Best of all, our team was strengthened by the common experience.

How are you going to make a difference?

Want to be the Supreme Bean?

September 27, 2006

A couple posts from the always insightful Phil Gerbyshak and the beautiful and passionate Kammie Kobyleski (sorry Phil, you just don’t quite make it to beautiful!) have me thinking about how critical it is to bring our passion and positive attitude to work every day. How you celebrate doing that says a great deal about your organization’s culture…and your brand.

At McLellan Marketing Group, we embrace our sense of teamwork with a bit of proverbial tongue in cheek. Everyone is assigned a different kind of bean. Because of my habitual kidney stones, yes…you guessed it, I got kidney beans. There are lima, coffee, pinto and a variety of others.

We also printed up index sized cards that say "You’ve been beaned" and have some room to write a note. The premise is simple. When one of your teammates goes out of their way to be helpful or supportive — you bean them. You write a little note, thanking them for what they did and leave the note and one of your beans on their desk.

At the end of every month, we tally the beans. Whoever received the most beans is declared the "Supreme Bean" and heralded by everyone. They also receive a $10 gift card.

Over the years, many of the employees have created quite a collection of beans that they proudly display on their desks in a variety of creative containers.

Easy. Cheap. Fun. And a great way to declare our absolute intent to be passionate about the work we do, our clients and perhaps most of all, each other. Do you suppose when we add a team member and explain the whole bean thing, they get a sense that team focused is one of our core values?

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