Aligned Marketing Blog

Steve
800-707-9150

My tiny slice of the world is sending me buy-signals and they're exciting to hear. What is your world telling you or, more importantly, are you even listening?

Steve
800-707-9150

On Monday we talked about golf and related it to your business: You have to play the ball where it lies in the same way you have to make business decisions based on today’s realities. Wishing for a better lie is silly.

Our economy is in the rough and, while most are slashing expenses, people and marketing budgets, some leaders are using this pre-recovery time to increase investments in marketing. In a recent BtoB Magazine survey, “2010 Outlook: Marketing Priorities and Plans Survey results, 11-16-09, 71% of those surveyed are investing more in their website in 2010 than they did in 2009.

In a separate study from Bain covering over 2500 companies, about 24 percent more firms were shown to “move from the back of the pack to the front of the pack,” with regards to sales and profits, during recessions than do during non-recessionary times. Do significant marketing investments during a recession make sense?

It did for Southwest Airlines and Wal-Mart (see Monday’s post). Both were noted in the Bain study for their vision and results but other companies have made smart pre-recovery investments as well. For example, the “Intel Inside” campaign was launched during a recession in the 1990’s. Before that, Proctor & Gamble invested heavily in Ivory Soap during the Great Depression and achieved spectacular results that lasted for decades. What is it that Southwest, Wal-Mart, Intel, Proctor & Gamble, great companies all, knows that other companies seem to miss?

It’s this, marketing investments that are consistent and aligned with your customers’ needs and aspirations are always wise investments. Now is the time to assess your customers’ needs, as well as your own strengths and goals, and invest.

Slashing marketing to survive in 2008-2009 may have been necessary but now you have to play the ball were it lies. What’s your plan for 2010 and 2011? Do you know what your competitors are doing? Who was weakened by the recession and who became stronger is important marketing intelligence. As the dust settles, where do you stand or do you even know?

A return to the pre-recession competitive landscape in 2010 is unlikely. The mammoth adjustments necessary for survival changed the playing field. You and your competitors were not affected equally and new options, most likely driven by technology and the web, are available to your customers and prospects. In every segment of the economy customers are beginning to look at products and services through a new, post-recession lens. How visible are you?

John Donahoe is CEO of eBay and to summarize what he said,

“It’s not about battening down the hatches and waiting for the storm to pass anymore than it is about betting big in the vague hope your hunches will pay off. Instead, it’s about executing what you do well better than ever before, making improvements, seeing the potential in new opportunities and, most importantly, having the vision to see beyond the immediate situation and taking action…“There is more market-share shift in turbulent times than there is in good times — more of an opportunity for a strong company to gain ground.”

Donahoe is right. You can’t stand over the ball forever. At some point you have to pick a club, commit to the shot and make an aggressive best swing. Are you going to play another round defensively, trying not to shoot over 100? Or are you going to play aggressively in hopes of breaking 90? It’s your choice. Take the shot.

A lot has been written about making written requests, such as for a meeting. Based on my inbox, a lot of good advice is being ignored. So, here's my two-cents on the subject:

Good work often starts with research. I recommend that you save the meeting requests and general sales letters you like in a dedicated folder and, before writing your next request letter, review them for tips and inspiration. Pay particular attention to what you like about the wording, layout, flow and tone of your favorite letters.

Staying with research, investigate the companies and people your soliciting. There's an amazing amount of information available today. Google and LinkedIn are two of my primary sources of client research. In 15 minutes you can typically learn a person's professional history, job title, interests, status in their industry  and many even identify some mutual friends. This will help with the style, tone and personalization of your letter.

Create an outline for your letter as follows:

1. Grab your reader's attention. Begin with an interesting fact, important question, comment on a current event or something personal, such as congratulations for being named Person of the Year.
2. Then transition your reader into the purpose of your letter - introduce your company, request an appointment, or a free offer, for example. Be sure to connect your request with your grabber from (what will be) paragraph one. Your transition is key, it must be both smooth and brief, people are busy. See next bullet.
3. In today's hurry-up, get-to-the-point world, many people switch the first two bullets of their outline. they begin letters by coming right out and stating, "The purpose of this letter is to request a 30-minute appointment to..." and then write their grabber. I prefer a subtler approach but will use the direct approach if I know the reader well.
4. Insert numbers or testimonials that back up your claims next. A list of indented bullets works well for either. People like reading lists of tightly written facts - summaries.
5. Your fourth section/paragraph is your call-to-action. Tie your attention grabber or your reader's self-interest into the benefits of responding to your solicitation. I don't sell actual products so I often use mutual gain as my call-to-action: "I propose a 30-minute meeting to better understand your business objectives, review our capabilities and determine if we can help one another achieve our  goals..."
6. Your final outline point let's your reader know that your letter is one of a series of contacts, that there are more to come. Explain that you will be following up by voicemail, email or both. Basically, you're telling them "you're not going away, so let's have our conversation and see where it leads."

Now it's time to fill in the blanks and edit. Go back to each section of your outline and write 2-4 complete sentences. Often this is as easy as writing a topic sentence, inserting your outline copy and, then, writing a closing sentence that introduces your next point (paragraph) and compels the reader to keep reading.

With my writing completed I move onto the editing process. I complete three rounds of edits. My first edit is for grammar, my second is for flow and my third is for appeal. The final edit, for appeal, answers the question, "Would I respond to this letter?" If I would, then I'm done. If, however, there are awkward transitions, facts that don't seem to fit, or anything else that makes my letter weak, then I keep writing and editing until they are corrected.

The person receiving your letter is busy. They are looking for reasons to throw your letter away. It's your job to give them reasons to keep it and respond.

Mail your letter and begin following up within a week.

Final thought:
Some may argue that Bullet #6 above is aggressive. I'll concede that point. However, if you've done your homework and are only contacting people you honestly believe you can help, then why be shy? You're trying to earn a living and help others along the way; what's wrong with that? I'm not looking to waste my time or anyone else's on silly meetings nor am I looking to sell anyone something they don't need or want. I have pride in what I do and so should you.

In summary, this comes down to professionalism and character, use a strong doze of both in everything you do and trust that positive results will follow.

Steve

A number of people I've talked to recently don't understand all the fuss around social media. What is it? Why is it growing so fast? Do I/we need to be engaged?

Briefly, here's my take:

People use social media for three primary reasons:

1. To acquire knowledge, which is why content is so critical and key to both your personal and your professional brand. This is also the driver behind the proliferation of blogs.
2. To see what other people are doing and buying, which is the basis of sites such as Digg, which is really a recommendation service.
3. To connect with other people, which is a basic human need and the foundation of Facebook’s (and other's) success.

The proliferation and success of social media is driven by three factors:

1. Trust: Many surveys have documented that people trust “someone like me” more than any other source. Moms trust Moms and car nuts trust car nuts, it's how we humans are wired. For the first time our peer’s opinions are more accessible to us than the wisdom of experts and propaganda of sellers.
2. Online access: No matter how unusual or obscure the topic, we know we can find a lot of information - details, perspectives, and context - online. At any given time, there are probably thousands of people online discussing the merits of various screw drivers, for example.
3. Confidence: It’s all about how we enter the decision-making process. We are less willing to make decisions without a great deal of information. Since the information and recommendations are relatively free, it would be nonsensical for us to do otherwise.

You and your company should be a part of social media for many reasons but here are my top three:

1. We all know the power of the network, of networking. It is the best way to gain employment and, as mentioned, the primary way we now learn about products, services and what other people, people just like us, are doing. Social media allows you and your company to expand your network exponentially for little cost.
2. Your customers, peers, neighbors, superiors, and relatives (etc.) are already part of social networks so it's a good idea for you to join the conversation, express yourself and, frankly, monitor what's being said about you, your company, your products and services, as well as those of your competition. Why would you not want to listen to the most important people in your life, which on a personal level is family and on a professional level is your customers.
3. If growing your business, circle of friends and contacts, and expanding your influence are important to you then you need to be part of the social media revolution, because it's where all the people are.

Steve

Bob Parsons is CEO and Founder of GoDaddy.com. He’s famous for his over-the-top advertising, which include commercials featuring a porn star or race driver Danika Patrick in a bikini. To me he’s the Howard Stern of entrepreneurs, sophomoric but highly successful.

His business success and therefore, acumen, is what gets overlooked. Like Stern, this mega-millionaire knows what his target audience wants and he gives it to them. While his actions seem cavalier, my guess is there are few casual events in Bob’s business life.

In his September he shared his 16 Tips for business success, which you can view here: Bob Parsons' videoblog. Once you get past the girlies in their tank-tops, I think his advice is both unconventional and excellent. If you want to avoid the girls, here are Bob’s tips in text format:

1. Get and stay out of your comfort zone. I believe that not much happens of any significance when we're in our comfort zone.  I hear people say, "But I'm concerned about security."  My response to that is simple: "Security is for cadavers."
2. Never give up. Almost nothing works the first time it's attempted.  Just because what you're doing does not seem to be working, doesn't mean it won't work.  It just means that it might not work the way you're doing it.  If it was easy, everyone would be doing it, and you wouldn't have an opportunity.
3. When you're ready to quit, you're closer than you think. There's an old Chinese saying that I just love, and I believe it is so true.  It goes like this: "The temptation to quit will be greatest just before you are about to succeed."
4. With regard to whatever worries you, not only accept the worst thing that could happen, but make it a point to quantify what the worst thing could be. Very seldom will the worst consequence be anywhere near as bad as a cloud of "undefined consequences."  My father would tell me early on, when I was struggling and losing my shirt trying to get Parsons Technology going, "Well, Robert, if it doesn't work, they can't eat you."
5. Focus on what you want to have happen. Remember that old saying, "As you think, so shall you be."
6. Take things a day at a time. No matter how difficult your situation is, you can get through it if you don't look too far into the future, and focus on the present moment.  You can get through anything one day at a time.
7. Always be moving forward. Never stop investing.  Never stop improving.  Never stop doing something new.  The moment you stop improving your organization, it starts to die.  Make it your goal to be better each and every day, in some small way.  Remember the Japanese concept of Kaizen.  Small daily improvements eventually result in huge advantages.
8. Be quick to decide. Remember what General George S. Patton said: "A good plan violently executed today is far and away better than a perfect plan tomorrow."
9. Measure everything of significance. I swear this is true.  Anything that is measured and watched, improves.
10. Anything that is not managed will deteriorate. If you want to uncover problems you don't know about, take a few moments and look closely at the areas you haven't examined for a while.  I guarantee you problems will be there.
11. Pay attention to your competitors, but pay more attention to what you're doing. When you look at your competitors, remember that everything looks perfect at a distance. Even the planet Earth, if you get far enough into space, looks like a peaceful place.
12. Never let anybody push you around. In our society, with our laws and even playing field, you have just as much right to what you're doing as anyone else, provided that what you're doing is legal.
13. Never expect life to be fair. Life isn't fair.  You make your own breaks.  You'll be doing good if the only meaning fair has to you, is something that you pay when you get on a bus (i.e., fare).
14. Solve your own problems. You'll find that by coming up with your own solutions, you'll develop a competitive edge.  Masura Ibuka, the co-founder of SONY, said it best: "You never succeed in technology, business, or anything by following the others."  There's also an old Asian saying that I remind myself of frequently.  It goes like this: "A wise man keeps his own counsel."
15. Don't take yourself too seriously. Lighten up.  Often, at least half of what we accomplish is due to luck.
None of us are in control as much as we like to think we are.
16. There's always a reason to smile. Find it.  After all, you're really lucky just to be alive.  Life is short.  More and more, I agree with my little brother. He always reminds me: "We're not here for a long time, we're here for a good time!"

Steve

Steve

Source: 1to1weekly (online marketing newsletter)
Issue: May 4, 2009
Byline: Elizabeth Giagowski

Sears, an iconic American brand that has adapted successfully to changing customer needs many times in its 106-year history, is now transforming the contact center experience, for its contact agents as well as its customers, according to Brian Carey, deputy vice president of the Customer Care Network at Sears Holding Company.

Sears' Customer Care Network is made up of 14 call centers and 6,000 contact agents that serve nearly all of Sears' sales, support, and customer service functions. It handles 1.75 million contacts per year across eight lines of business including parts, appliance repair, and customer service. Each line of business used to be its own silo with its own database and systems. Customers were required to call specific numbers for specific purposes and couldn't be transferred to other departments. Carey's new objective is to resolve any customer's issue at any touchpoint.

"Our goal as a company is to be a trusted advisor in the home," Carey says. "We've got to give them 'Sears' wherever they touch us. We want to enable agents to break out of their silos to perform functions defined by the customer. We want to do business on their terms. The customer isn't making the product or service distinction that we are."

Sears is working with Sword Ciboodle [Marketing must not have been consulted when they named the company.] to create a single system that gives agents access to customer data, including purchase and contact history, in a single customer view. Also, the system can route calls based on skills and capabilities and suggest relevant cross-sell and upsell opportunities based on predictive models. Customer expectations are changing, Carey says. As a result, the new measures of success in the contact center are engagement, interaction, and retention. "The beauty of the contact center is that we see the whole customer experience," he says.

The implementation is rolling out in three phases. During the first phase, service levels at Sears' Texas-based Teleservice Outbound operation has seen efficiency gains that include a 14 percent reduction in idle time, 10 percent increase in agent connects per hour, 9 percent reduction in overall agent call handle time, and 13 percent reduction in talk time. "We look at efficiency for trends and target opportunities," he says. "But we're really after customer satisfaction, repeat calls, and first-call resolution." The cross-sell and upsell tools may drive revenue, but it's important to consider the "relationship and dialog, and see what else we can do for that customer," Carey says.

Employee empowerment fuels success: Carey knows that no technology implementation will work without internal support. "Part of the change is making sure everyone is receptive and enthusiastic about it," he says. To that end, he is leading a culture change among contact center employees.

Eight months ago he launched the Commitment to Care program, a cultural program that includes training, communication, active commitment, rewards and recognition for associates. It teaches agents to build empathy with customers by listening and expressing genuine care and concern. Agents are incentivized [sic] based on first-call resolution and customer satisfaction. "Nothing is more important than thinking, 'What's in it for the customer?'" he says. "The program is entirely centered around our passion to effectively serve our customers, and treat them as a valued friend."

Carey also created a Blue Ribbon customer care group -- agents who are empowered to do anything to satisfy a customer or fix a customer issue, including refunds and item replacement. "Agent ownership of the issue goes a long way," he says. "There is pride moving through the organization and agent satisfaction increases as they realize their main purpose is to help the customer."

He notes that usually the angriest customers reach the Blue Ribbon Group, and 88 percent of their issues are resolved positively, which builds customer loyalty. In addition, call volume in the repair call center is down 15 percent, but sales are up. "It's all related to putting the customer first," Carey says.

Steve

In my May 5 blog I summarized the Chief Marketing Officer Council’s 2009 Outlook Report on marketing investments for the coming year.

In the table below, the shift from offline to online investments was quantified from an agency perspective. Here are the highlights from my perspective:

• 87.5% of traditional ad agencies expect to increase digital investments, 10.4% by more than 30%. We are witnessing a huge shift in marketing investments and action is required.
• Similarly, about 15% of digital agencies and digital vendor/service providers are increasing their digital marketing investment by more than 30%. That’s not unexpected since they’re in the digital business.
• Corporate Brands are making the least significant shifts in investment. That probably reflects more on their (conservative) decision-making processes than on their lack of awareness. The reason for the lag doesn’t really matter; this is a red flag.
• Lumping investment increases into one “1%-29%” category is a mistake. The category is just too broad. It undermines the survey’s credibility. Dividing those numbers into two categories (1%-14% and 15%-29%, respectively) would have provided more insight and made the findings more useful as both a benchmarking and a forecasting tool.

No baseline data was provided but they did publish a visual representation illustrating the respondent’s strong belief, which averaged about 60%, that due to current economic conditions digital marketing investments will continue to grow as a percent of overall marketing investments.
 

As documented here on several occasions, the shift to digital is accelerating. 70% of product and service searches begin online and that shift is not only justified, it’s required.

Companies that are shifting their marketing investments online get it. Those that are not shifting investments are flawed. They are flawed because they are (1) not listening to their customers, to reality, and, (2) are incapable of change, of adjusting to that reality. Both flaws are fatal and immediate action is required.

Specifically, if you are incapable of listening and incapable of changing, please resign immediately because you are no longer serving the needs of the marketplace or the needs of your employees, most whom rely on their jobs to feed their families.

Steve