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How do you listen to your customers?

April 15, 2008

Ask any executive or business owner if it’s important to them to listen to their customers and you will get an enthusiastic "of course!" Then, ask them what programs or tools they have in place to listen. Suddenly, for most companies, the silence is deafening.

You might hear suggestion box or a customer service toll free number or even an e-mail address. On a rare occasion, you might hear customer satisfaction survey or personalized follow up phone calls.

But, I suspect it will be a rare company that says "RV."

Yes, RV.

The folks at Freshbooks (a web-based time tracking and invoicing tool) decided to hit the road. For two weeks, they lived and traveled on an RV as they toured 11 cities in the southern U.S. Along the way, they stopped to host BBQs, met customers, and hung hangover kits on the hotel doorknobs during SXSW.

This is a company that gets customer engagement. They didn’t sit back and passively wait for a customer to shoot them an e-mail or take an online survey. They got up and went to their customers. Literally. They didn’t do a hard sell, they let their brand’s personality dictate how they interacted.

No wonder 99% of their customers said they’d recommend them to a peer.

This worked because:

It was fresh and different
The company was making the effort — not asking the customers to do the work
It had talk value — people told this story over and over
It was true to Freshbook’s brand personality

The RV/road tour isn’t the right answer for everyone. But aggressively listening is. So…what’s your best, most talkable listening tactic? If you don’t have one…get any ideas from the Freshbooks gang?

What I learned from sweeping up hair

April 13, 2008

I’ve worked many an odd job during my illustrious career but the one that gets the most raised eyebrows was my job as the Jack of All Trades at a beauty salon. Mostly, I did clean up, hauled heavy boxes, stocked the hair dye shelves and swept up a whole lot of hair.

I was about 14 and couldn’t get a "real job" yet so I took this one for cash under the table. The salon was a throwback to the 50s, where ladies came to get their hair done weekly and gossip. While the job itself left a lot to be desired, there were some real life lessons (and marketing truths) among the tendrils.

Being noticed matters: While some patrons took notice of the teen-aged boy in the all woman territory, most didn’t. In fact, for the most part, I was invisible. They might absentmindedly lift up their feet as I swept around them or hand me something to throw away, but I was just the clean up kid. They didn’t really take notice of if I was tall or short, blond or dark-haired, or what my name was.

For those few ladies who actually took a moment to greet me or ask me about my work, I was immensely grateful. Being invisible stinks.

Marketing truth: Our clients/customers feel the same way. Being ignored or invisible is actually worse than getting bad news or bad service.

If you listen to a group of people with something in common, you’ll be stunned what you learn: Okay, so the one advantage of being mostly invisible is that I could listen in on the patrons conversations without them paying any attention. It was quite an education for a 14 year old guy!

Like all hair salons, the chairs were close. So pretty soon, 5-6 women between the stylists and the customers, would be knee deep in a no-holds barred conversation. They quickly drove the conversation to those things that were top on their mind. When given the opportunity, they talked about what mattered to them.

Marketing truth: You can gain incredible insights if you create an environment that allows people to be themselves and share their thoughts.

In the end, people are hungry for approval: Many of the women who came to this salon were very wealthy, had everything they could want and yet, they still stood a lot taller once a clerk or stylist complimented them. People, no matter how successful, all together or intelligent still crave being noticed and appreciated.

it didn’t just change their posture — it changed their entire demeanor. You could see it in their eyes and how they interacted with everyone around them. There was a bounce in their walk as they left the salon.

Marketing truth: It is a brand’s ultimate success if being associated with it says something complimentary about the consumer. If owning a Harley says I am cool, bravo to Harley. If being an Apple fanatic says I am creative, high five to Apple.

Why am I sharing this, you wonder? It’s part of an on-going writing project started by Robert Hruzek. Ironically Marcus Goodyear had started a very similar project. (hat tip to Robyn for finding this project.) And I believe that in every experience, we can learn a little something about marketing. If I can learn some marketing truths while sweeping up hair…I know you’ve learned a thing or two along the way.

Okay, I shared my weird odd job and what I learned…your turn!

How do you bend time?

April 12, 2008

Things have been a little busy lately. We just launched a huge campaign for a client (had to go from creative concept to on the air in 34 days), I’ve had this little thing called Blogger Social going on and then there’s Age of Conversation ’08.

Many of you have e-mailed or tweeted, wondering how I’ve been juggling it all. Truth is…like all of you, sometimes I think I can’t possibly shoehorn one more thought into the day. But somehow, we all do.

Time is the scarce commodity today. I think it goes beyond the new, leaner organizational structure. Much of the blame should be aimed at our pagers, phones, PDAs, and people "buzzing" into our day and not only taking up time but also continually breaking our ability to concentrate on the task at hand.

Even when things aren’t so crazy (when is that again?), sometimes we need to carve out some time to think, write, be creative or power through a project. Here are some thoughts for shutting down the buzz so you can concentrate:

Plane ride for one. One of the best things about flying is that no one can reach you. Peace and quiet. So turn off all electronic devices and close the "cabin" door and just work in solitude. If you explain what you’re doing in advance, no one will begrudge you a little alone time.

Play hide n’ seek. Why is it that when you are feeling absolutely under the gun, your co-worker has a weekend she just has to tell you about? If you have a colleague who’s out or a vacant conference room, these make for great hiding places. When you’re not where you belong, people assume you’re just not around.

Get out. It’s difficult to be strategic or creative when you are sitting in the same place, looking at the same wall, day after day. When you have big picture planning to do, grab your team and get out of the office. Find a coffee shop, park, or other haunt that you can just escape the daily grind and let your mind run free.

As marketers, we’re forced to be creative on demand. Sometimes you have to give yourself a little edge to get the job done.

How do you give yourself an edge? What’s your favorite time bending trick?

Alltop names Marketing Minute an “all the top” resource

April 12, 2008

In mid-March, Guy Kawasaki launched Alltop, a news aggregation site that provides “all the top” stories for forty of the most popular topics on the Web.

The headlines and first paragraph of the five most recent stories from forty to eighty sources for each topic are displayed. Alltop stories are refreshed approximately every ten minutes.

A good metaphor is that Alltop is an "online magazine rack" that displays the news from the top publications and blogs. Their goal is to satisfy the information needs of the 99% of Internet users who will never use an RSS feed reader or create a custom page. Think of it as "aggregation without the aggravation.”

Drew’s Marketing Minute is considered one of the top resources in the social media category. You can find the entire list of topics on their home page. You’ll be amazed at the diversity — everything from dads to venture capital and just about everything in between.

It’s a slick tool and gives you access to many resources at a glance.

What comes after success?

April 11, 2008

Michael Port, author of Book Yourself Solid, contacted me a few months ago and offered me an advanced copy of his new book, Beyond Booked Solid to read and review. (Okay, technically it was his engaging and helpful boss Katherine who initially contacted me but eventually Michael jumped into the conversation as well!)

Normally, if I get an advanced copy — I try to review the book in advance. I figure that’s why the author asked. But after reading BBS for the first time, I decided to hold off until this week.

You see, BBS is not a "read it and set it aside" kind of book. It is a read it, then read it again with a notebook at your side and get to work sort of book. And I didn’t want to frustrate you by writing about the book before you could get it for yourself.

Well, our mutual wait is over, because as of earlier this week, the book is available.

In some ways, BBS is really more of an action book than a reading book. There’s plenty of good information, stories and case studies but the meat of the book is that Michael, chapter by chapter, helps you develop a vision for your business and then putting some meat on that bone in terms of how you are going to create the vision.

On the Beyond Booked Solid site, you can download a free workbook that lets you think along side Michael as he explores the many business models that would allow you to expand your business (from franchising to the better mousetrap) without killing yourself. In light of the recent New York Times article about bloggers working themselves literally to death, the book’s timing is perfect.

Seth Godin reminded us that small is the new big. Michael’s point runs parallel with that. You don’t have to grow a bigger business to be more successful. It’s certainly an option but it’s not the only option. His message — doing it the way everyone else has done it isn’t necessarily the way you should do it.

From the author himself:

"Set aside any preconceived notions of what it means to build a bigger, better business—the way you’ve seen it done, or think it should be done, may not actually be the best path for you. Inside is an opportunity to create a new and inspired way of working. You will find creative and profit-producing advice for eliminating the feeling of being overwhelmed, frustrated and isolated."

Want to make some changes? Frustrated that you can’t get to the next level? Tired of working 7 days a week? Buy the book, download the workbook and begin to explore what’s possible.

You have nothing to lose. Except for that weight on your shoulders.

Around the horn: 04/10/08

April 10, 2008

"Around the horn" is a baseball warm up drill that has the infield players simulating the path a ball would take during a double play. In my case, I’m using the term to share some of the best posts I’ve seen recently.

"You’re not all that." A great line from Andrew Clark’s post on 15.5 ways to be more creative over at Brand Chef. Check out his very helpful list of creativity triggers. I especially recommend #10 and #15.

Lewis Green offers up some insights on how to increase sales and marketing’s effectiveness in your organization. As you would expect if you are a regular reader of Lewis’ work — the post is very thought provoking and insightful.

Can seeing the Apple logo actually make you behave more creatively? Robyn McMaster explores this question, in relation to an article from the Journal of Consumer Research. Together, they conclude that even the briefest exposure to well-known brand logos can cause people to behave in ways that mirror those brands’ traits.

Want to squeeze even more out of your Google searches? John Jantsch over at Duct Tape Marketing offers up 10 of his favorite web site and SEO shortcuts. By adding what Google calls an operator followed by a colon you can get some pretty interesting research done very quickly, according to John.

Nuisance or Friend – it’s up to you

April 9, 2008

Every day, I get a call from someone saying, "Hi, I’m just calling you back to see if you want to do business with me." Okay, they don’t quite say it in those words, but that’s what they mean.

I’ve already spoken to them. I know what they do. And if I had needed it, I would have called them. They’re offering no new information. But, I got put on their calendar for a call back or follow up e-mail.

Now they’re just being a pest. I understand they’re just doing their job, trying to make a sale. Here’s the problem. We live in a "what’s in it for me" world and I am as jaded as any other consumer. When they call with "are you doing any printing that we could bid on" they aren’t thinking about me. They are thinking about their own sales goals and needs.

Imagine how I’d welcome their call if they opened with "one of my clients is looking for an agency. I’d like to introduce you to them," or "I saw an article on branding that I think you’d enjoy. Can I e-mail it to you?" Rather than me being frustrated that they keep calling, now I’d welcome their call because I know there’s something in it for me, along with their sales pitch.

We shouldn’t be cold calling. We should be relationship building. And when we care about the relationship, we aren’t in it just for ourselves. Don’t pick up the phone without first thinking about the person you’re calling.

Demonstrate that you know their business and care about it by giving before you get. There’s no quicker way to shift from nuisance to welcome caller.

So come on, let’s create a list together. I’ll add responses/suggestions to the end of this post. What can you offer to strengthen the relationship? Industry news? A new business lead? An article of interest?

Words just don’t cut it

April 8, 2008

I believe words are incredibly powerful. They can push past someone’s fear. They can inspire someone to act. They can humble the proudest of men. They can bring someone to their knees. They can also touch a heart and change it forever.

But for the past two days I have been trying to get them to do the impossible.

Describe Blogger Social weekend.

I simply cannot do it justice. Maybe that’s because the weekend wasn’t about words. It wasn’t cerebral or of the mind.

It was all about the soul.

It was hearing a laugh you’d imagined many times. It was about sipping sour only to discover that in the UK it’s called bitters.

It was scooting close to pose for yet another photo. It was cramming into cabs in search of an open diner at 3 am, simply because you weren’t ready to say good-bye.

It was watching two old friends hug for the first time. It was the sizzle of bacon as you share breakfast with buddies who are like brothers to you, even though they live half way across the world.

It was about goofy corsages, a shared cookie, and being friends 4ever.

It was about laughter. And tears.

It was about soaking each other in, knowing it would be a while before we’d be together again.

It was the discovery that everyone was just as you expected them to be. And reveling in how wonderful that is.

It was about everything that truly matters. And I simply don’t have the words to describe it.

Are you saying too much?

April 7, 2008

One of the constant discussions we have with clients is that usually they try to say too much. It’s human nature I suppose. We want to tell a prospect everything and anything. it’s almost a reaction of panic. "What if I can’t get their attention again?"

Well guess what. If your initial communication is so jammed with information and facts that they can’t make their way through it, you won’t get their attention again. And frankly, you don’t deserve it.

Remember, that all buying decisions are emotion-based decisions. People have to like and trust you before they can need you.

We create emotional connections with people, places, companies, products and brands. We do that, little by little, over time. Getting to know someone isn’t an instantaneous process. It takes some time and patience. We learn new information with each meeting. The information beings to build up and tell a story.

If you are trying to drive one-time sales, then sure…cut to the chase. But if you want to create loyal, repeat customers — you need to let them get to know your product/service by telling them a little at a time. Not sticking a fire hose in their mouth and hoping they can drink it all in at one sitting.

We can take a page from the current political landscape and learn a little. There was an interesting article from Minnesota’s public radio that explored how part of what is working for Obama may be the fact that he isn’t saying much.

What do you think? Take a minute and look at your sales fliers, website, or print ads. Are you saying too much?

In great company!

April 5, 2008

Marketing Profs Get to the Point newsletter recently named the four blogs you should be reading.

I’m humbled to tell you that Drew’s Marketing Minute is on that list with some truly brilliant blogs. They are all definitely on my personal Must Read list! Along with this blog, Marketing Profs recommended:

Seth Godin’s blog: The granddaddy of marketing bloggers, Seth’s posts are usually pithy and to the point. He always delivers food for thought with a twist. And as further proof of his stature, his last name is unnecessary — he’s achieved Cher-like status!

Church of the Customer: It was reading Jackie Huba and Ben McConnell’s book Citizen Marketers that opened up many eyes to the power and the potential of social media. They tell great stories and are always worth the read. They are also very accessible and engaged with their fellow marketers.

Marketing Profs Daily Fix*: In a spirit of full disclosure, I am one of the Fix’s bloggers. But that not withstanding, editor Ann Handley has assembled an amazing and wide-sweeping group of marketing experts who explore every topic under the sun. There are often more than one post per day and you will be hard pressed not to find something of value.

As I said….this is a lofty group to be a part of and I’m grateful for the mention among these remarkable resources.

Note: The Get to the Point newsletters are a fantastic way to let them do the filtering and finding of exceptional information and resources. You can sign up for newsletters focused on: Small Business, Marketing Inspiration, Customer Behavior or E-mail Marketing.

You can sign up for the free newsletters on the Profs site. They’re going to be adding some additional topics (B2B Marketing, Marketing Optimization and New Media) but you can sign up for them now.

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