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What’s your halftime speech?

June 22, 2016

We’re a few days away from July and that means the first half of the game is over. It’s halftime.  Are you heading into the locker room to slap everyone on the back and tell them to protect your lead or are you about to give a hell and brimstone speech about digging deep and finding more?

We don’t usually think of business in these terms but just like halftime is a critical element in a football game, we can choose to make this halfway point equally important to our 2016 business outcomes.

One of the reasons why the halftime speech works is because they only have 12 minutes. That’s how long a regulation halftime lasts. There’s no wiggle room or opportunity for a bullet pointed list of topics. Twelve minutes means you need to get to the point and you only get one point.

I think that’s where we get into trouble, don’t you?

By now, your marketing plan (if you ever wrote one) has been blown out of the water by distractions, delays, or determined opponents. Or more likely – all three.

If you aren’t thrilled with the score at this halfway point in the year – I’d be willing to bet that you’ve allowed the distractions, delays and determined opponents get in the way. You stopped playing your own game.

It’s time to get back to that singular focus on the 12-minute halftime speech. Here are some questions to ask yourself as you prep.

How far behind are you? What are the tangible costs/losses?

You have to start by re-assessing your situation and being realistic about what you’ve sacrificed. It also can be very motivating. You can’t make up sales any better than you can make up sleep. You can do better – but it doesn’t go back and replace what was lost.

Are your original goals still viable or do you need to set a new goal?

You can’t win every game. But that doesn’t mean you can’t gain something from it and still call it a win. It’s like the football team that is losing by 30 or 40 points so they start rotating in their second string to give them playing time. That means the game can still provide value. You’ll waste the whole year if you keep chasing a goal that’s no longer viable.

What have you learned about the field of play and do you need to change your game plan?

You may have spent months putting together your game plan but it was based on assumptions. Now, six months into the game, you have plenty of real data and experiences to draw from. Now is the time to adjust based on your game day observations and the pace and tenor of the game so far.

What do you need to neutralize to win?

It might be a consumer perception, it could be that you are trying to do too many things so none of them are being done as well as you need, it might be your pricing structure or your financing model. But something has prevented you from being as successful as you wanted to be at this point in the year. If you don’t neutralize it – the second half will play out pretty much how this first half did. Now it’s time to sum all of that up into a single message. If you can’t describe it and get everyone fired up in 12 minutes or less – you’ve made it too complicated. What’s the new win? What’s in the way? How will you change the playing field to your advantage? What’s in it for the organization if you win? How will you keep score?

It’s time to get out there and make the rest of 2016 an exciting game!

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Branding – The Inside Out Rule

June 15, 2016

Branding is one of those marketing terms that everyone uses but very few actually embrace. When companies try to brand themselves, they often suffer from the “can’t accurately describe the bottle from inside the bottle” reality. One of the other huge threats to a branding effort is when a company does not follow the inside out rule.

Disregarding the inside out rule in branding is such a common mistake and the risk it poses to your efforts is significant.

When a company identifies their brand position, the typical normal roll out process is to change their tagline, maybe update the logo and introduce the new positioning through their marketing efforts. They might tout the new brand promise in communications with existing customers as part of their announcement. Some companies might even hold an internal unveiling to share the new assets with the employees as well.

That’s all cart before the horse thinking. The truth is – if you want your branding efforts to be more than a new coat of marketing paint, then you’re going to be stepping out into the marketplace and making a bold promise. That promise isn’t going to just impact your marketing department or your sales team. It is going to change the way that each and every employee approaches their work. It should change policy. It should change your decision-making process.

For your brand to have real meaning to your audiences – it’s going to have to make a promise that most of your competitors would not have the courage to make. You can’t pull that off on your own and neither can just your marketing department or your C-suite. It’s going to take all of you to keep a promise that big.

Real branding needs to be built and nurtured from the inside out. It can’t be displayed on the outside of your building if it’s not on the inside of how the company is actually run. If your brand rings hollow in the accounting department, it’s not going to survive. If the HR department doesn’t see their role in honoring the brand, it can’t possibly become a part of your culture. If your newest and your oldest employees both don’t understand how they either do or don’t keep the promise, then you’re sunk.

The most important step of building an authentic brand that truly will differentiate you from your competitors is the step that is almost always skipped. Why?

Impatience and short-term budget thinking.

Businesses and their leadership are under a lot of pressure. Things need to happen fast. I get that. But branding can’t be forced and it can’t be rushed. If you want it to work, you have to be willing to commit the resources.

The toughest to commit? The time. In the branding process that my agency developed, we allow for a year of internal work, identifying the policies, processes, products and internal workings that get in the way of someone keeping the brand promise and one-by-one, remove them.

The value of this effort is two-fold. It removes the things that prevent you from keeping your brand promise and it communicates to your entire staff that this is not a passing fad. When they are a part of the process – you will get both their ideas and buy-in.

That doesn’t mean you can’t externally launch the brand at the same time. But without the work on the inside, the brand’s candy coating shell can only last so long.

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Are you ready to hug your haters?

June 8, 2016

Hug your haters? Who wants to embrace those who serve up bad reviews, slam you in social or pepper your website with complaints?

If you’re smart — you do.

Back in the good old days, if you were disappointed in product or a company’s service, you wrote them a terse letter or if you were really steamed — you’d call their 800 number.

And then you’d wait. And wait.

Today, if something goes awry — odds are you’re going to grab your smart phone. You might snap a picture and post it on Facebook with a scathing commentary. Or you might go to Yelp, Expedia, or some other review site and share your experience.

You might take to Twitter to ask for some help from whoever is manning their Twitter feed, if anyone is.

But odds are, what you won’t do is stay silent.

According to Jay Baer’s new (and brilliant book) Hug Your Haters, there are two kinds of haters out there.

If we want action on a problem, we’re offstage haters. We prefer to talk privately one-to-one to resolve an issue. We pick up the phone. We send an email. We meet in person.

If we want an audience, we’re onstage haters who are quick to publicly shame on social media.

“In the same way that bumper stickers are the most shallow form of political expression, social media grousing is the thinnest form of customer complaints,” says Baer. “Though onstage haters may not expect a reply, they definitely desire an audience,” says Baer. “That’s why they raise the stakes and take grievances to a public forum.”

Dealing with these public and private complaints is the next frontier of marketing. The truth is that most companies do very little, if anything. Which costs them customers, dollars and their reputation. Customer service has become a spectator sport and we can’t afford not to get into the game.

Baer, the book and the research that the book is base don all say the same thing:

Answer every complaint, in every channel, every time. Admittedly, it’s not easy to hug your haters. It takes cultural alignment, resource allocation, speed, a thick skin and an unwavering belief that complaints are an opportunity.

Answer your onstage haters publicly because the opinions of onlookers are the real prize.

Don’t make it your goal to have the final word at all costs. Respond no more than twice to an onstage hater and then move on. “Violating the Rule of Reply Only Twice can drag you down into a vortex of negativity and hostility, and it’s also a waste of your time,” says Baer.

And offer to resolve the issue offline with your onstage hater. It’s tough to solve a complex problem with 140 characters on Twitter.  You also don’t want anyone sharing personal information in full view of your digital onlookers.
So if you’re a business owner who’s not on social media, start paying attention to what’s being said about you and be ready to respond.  Hug, and never mug, your onstage haters. They’re playing to the crowd and so should you.

How you respond will differentiate your company from all the businesses that stay silent or have no clue what’s being said online, says Baer. “In today’s world, meaningful differences between businesses are rarely rooted in price or product, but instead in customer experience. Hugging your haters gives you the chance to turn lemons into lemonade, morph bad news into good and keep the customers you already have. So few companies hug their haters that those that make the commitment are almost automatically differentiated and noteworthy when compared to their competitors.”

The book is packed with real life examples from companies of all sizes and a ton of data based on research Jay did with partners Edison Research. Jay also reached out to many other thought leaders to get their take.

The truth is — this is a daunting time for us as business leaders and marketers. Evolving your culture to respond to every comment, complaint and review is a whole new landscape for all of us. But the consequences of not doing are even more daunting.

Luckily for you — I have five copies of Jay’s book Hug Your Haters to give away. AND for one lucky winner — I have a pair of Hug Your Hater socks. To be eligible to win the book/socks — leave a comment.

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What kind of branding sticks?

May 17, 2016

What kind of branding sticks?

There have been some shifts in how brands are perceived as of late. The change has been triggered by the availability of so much data in the forms of ratings, reviews and Internet searches and the lasting impact of viral storms that can be triggered by a single angry customer or prospect.

While I don’t discount the new variables and their influence on our perceptions of brands, I also don’t think building a strong brand is a lost cause. In fact, I think all of this bright light of scrutiny being shone on brands is a good thing. Many examples are outlined in the book that triggered all of this (Absolute Value by Itamar Simonson and Emanuel Rosen).  It shows how companies were exposed for claiming a brand that they didn’t truly live or own. I think many companies play that game – they come up with a clever tagline and put it on their website, business cards or ads but that’s about it. It’s a marketing gimmick.

Fortunately, it’s not every organization’s intention to whitewash the public with the public facing façade of a brand. A company that understands that a brand isn’t a marketing slight of hand, but instead is the expression of a deeply held belief and business absolute, can still benefit from a successful branding effort.

So how, as a consumer do you determine the difference? And how, as a marketer do you make sure that your brand isn’t an inch deep and a mile wide?

A brand is genuine and in place to benefit both the consumer and the company when you see it woven into every aspect of the organization. Here are some good signs:

Every employee can tell you how their department and their position impacts the brand: A brand is a organization’s ultimate promise to everyone who comes into contact with that company. It’s easy for the marketing department to understand how they might deliver on the brand but you know a brand is more than skin deep when the accounting department, HR and the guys on the dock also understand and can articulate how they help bring the brand to life.

The brand promise is infused into every aspect of HR from hiring, reviews, employee awards and even in the exit interviews: One of the best ways to help employees understand that the brand is not just the CEO’s passion of the month is to create policies and programs that include it. When the brand is reflected in your interview questions, in how employees are reviewed and rewarded and even in how you separate from team members – that speaks volumes.

The brand isn’t a cliché that anyone could claim: You know the ones I mean. We see them every day. “The difference is our people” or “Your satisfaction is our guarantee” types of brands sound great but they don’t really say anything. Or they don’t say anything unique or specific to that company. No one purposefully hires incompetent, uncaring people or doesn’t want their customers to be satisfied. A real brand of depth is a bold promise that uses strong language to make an audacious promise. Don’t let pretty words fool you and don’t try to use pretty words to fool your customers.

You know a brand is built on a wobbly foundation when 3-5 people sit in a room and decide what it should be. That begs for a superficial brand that’s mostly fluff and little substance. You need to discover and seed a brand that will truly benefit your organization and the people you serve.

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Referrals don’t happen by accident

April 26, 2016

Referrals don’t happen by accident. When I talk to some small business owners they proudly tell me that most of their new customers come to them via referrals. And I congratulate them – there’s no better marketing than having a customer rave about your work.

But relying on your customers to decide that they’re going to actively recruit new clients for you is probably not a brilliant marketing plan.

Think of a product or service that you really like and use regularly. Okay – now, how many people did you talk to today about that product or service? How about yesterday?

For our example, let’s pretend this product/service that you love is your barber. It’s not that you don’t love him. But you have other things going on in your world. So unless someone mentions they’re looking for a new barber or compliments your hair, odds are, you aren’t going to mention your barber. Even though you are a raving fan.

Your clients are the same way. They may love what you do but most days, they’re not thinking about you or telling other people about you. So does that mean growing your business by referrals is a bad thing? No – it just means you can’t leave it to fate or your customer’s undying love. You have to give referrals a helping hand.

Want to figure out how to boost referrals, try one (or more) of these ideas:

Throw an exclusive party: Create an event that your best customers would love to attend. Not like – but love. I’m talking take a day off work to go if they had to kind of love. Send them an invitation and explain that it’s an exclusive event – that only your best customers are being invited. But, as a special thank you for their business – they can invite one guest. The only caveat is the guest cannot be a current customer.

Promise them that they’ll be no sales pitch or selling. You just want to meet more people like them and you want them to be able to share this cool event with someone. Now, you’ve got a buzz worthy event which will generate its own word of mouth marketing and your best customers are walking prospects right to your door.

Love them: At MMG, many years ago we created our own holiday called Who Loves Ya Baby Day. (A hat tip to Telly Savalas in his Kojak days). On that day, which happens to be Valentine’s Day – we shower our clients with love. We let them know how much we value them and their trust in us. We create a special card to thank them and literally to say that we love them. Because we do.

In your own way – you need to let your customers know that they’re more than a buck in the cash register to you. Create something that overtly expresses your affection for them in a way that they can’t help but talk about.

Be shareable smart: Everyone wants to be helpful and be perceived as being on top of their game. Become a reliable resource of useful insights and information for your customers. Send them tools (e-newsletter, infographics, tip sheets, etc.) that they can and will pass along to their peers because of their value. Then, without even meaning to, they’re referring people to you with each share.

Which, of course, means what you send them has to be truly valuable, not self-serving. No one is going to pass along your sales flier or promotional materials. The added advantage of this tactic is not only do you get the referral but your content also reinforces the message that you really know your stuff.

Referrals are an incredibly valuable way to grow your business. But even your biggest fans need a little nudge.

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How are you sharpening your saw?

April 20, 2016

Are you consciously sharpening your saw every day? Maybe it’s just because I’m living through it, but I truly believe that there’s never been an era that has experienced the rate of change that we’re enjoying/enduring now.  It presents us with some remarkable opportunities to explore new tactics and tools but it also presents us with what sometimes feels like an insurmountable challenge of trying to keep current.  With all of this change, how are you sharpening your saw?

A question from a reader (which I love, so keep them coming) got me thinking about all the ways we can and should be sharpening our saw so that we don’t get caught behind the times.

Read: It seems like a good book is published every single day. Even if you only consume a book a month, you’ll be ahead of most. If you can’t get through an entire book, try the audio version. Still too daunting? Then at the very least make a habit of reading a few good magazines. Be sure you stretch your boundaries. Sure, read Fast Company but also grab The Economist for some variety.

Listen: Podcasts have come a long way. Many authors and experts offer their insights in 10-60 minute sound bytes that you can enjoy on your daily commute, while you walk the dog or as a team. One of my favorites is one that’s done by Iowa’s Nick Westergaard and DJ Waldow called The Work Talk Show. Although they’ve put it on hiatus — the existing 100 episodes are definitely worth a listen. Each episode digs into how successful people work – their habits, their tools and how they accomplish so much in a day.

Surf: Of course, you can always go to school by going online. Between all the blogs, free content, online courses, and other sites – you can fall into a rabbit hole that you’d never escape. Find a few reliable sites that focus on marketing and not just digital marketing. But don’t forget to also follow some trending sites and some that focus on your industry.

Watch: YouTube isn’t just for funny videos and previewing the Super Bowl spots. There are some incredible resources that will keep you inspired (Ted.com), on the cutting edge (Trend Hunter’s channel) and informed. Again, be sure to subscribe to a few so you don’t miss an episode.

Meet: Don’t be so overwhelmed by all of the content contained in our technology that you forget that your greatest teachers are probably other people. Seek them out. And don’t be fooled into thinking they have to be heralded experts. Your own peers are a great source for exploration and conversations. Whether you are better about attending conferences, being active in a professional association or just grabbing coffee with a colleague – don’t forget the most interactive teacher of all.

I can hear you now – that’s all fine and good but how in the heck does anyone find the time to consume all of this? I think it’s easier to consume all of this in bite-sized pieces. Find ways to weave the consumption into some new habits. Listening to a book or podcast while you’re on the treadmill means that for as long as you honor your New Year’s resolution, you’ll be learning something new.

One of the best ways to make sure you keep learning is to make it a team activity. It’s the combination of accountability and the camaraderie of learning together that will keep you more dedicated to the task. You can do a book club type of thing or you can create a culture that encourages everyone to not only learn, but also to share what they learned. But however you structure it, there’s value in doing it together.

Honestly, the key to actually doing this is deciding that it’s not optional. Because unless you want to quickly be obsolete, it’s not.

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Bookend Your Customer’s Trust

April 13, 2016

Every business says that they are focused on their customer and earning their customer’s trust. What many of them really mean is that they’re focused on the customer’s wallet. Their strategies are about selling more, not helping more.

Want to stand out from your competitors? Then, commit (or recommit) to genuinely building your business around how to best serve your customers and prospects, knowing that in the end, they will reward you with their business.

Research indicates that in most cases, if an organization’s customers are surveyed about 80% of them will indicate that they’re satisfied. Many business leaders will embrace that number, a little afraid to dig in deeper. But satisfaction isn’t what it is all about. The real metrics are based on these two questions:

• Will you re-purchase this business’ products and services?
• Would you recommend this business to your family, friends and colleagues?

To create a business that earns a resounding yes to those two questions, you should consider implementing a comprehensive program that encourages you to think about the customer at every stage, but especially at the very beginning and right after the actual sale.

Front End: From the first sentence on your website to your direct mail and TV spots – your marketing should be helpful. Think about what your prospects need to know to make an informed decision and help them get there.

Avoid hype and what we call weasel words. Just give them the scoop. Be straightforward and warn them about any pitfalls they might encounter. Even if that means they decide not to buy what you sell.

Create tools (YouTube videos, PDFs they can download, questions they can ask their team etc.) that help your prospects evaluate your offerings and match them to their needs. Give them a number where they can ask an actual human a question or two.

The more honest you are at this stage – the more they’ll be reassured that they can trust you throughout the process. This honesty includes being transparent when someone has something negative to say – be it on your Facebook page, Yelp profile or anywhere else online. Address the complaint right there, in front of everyone so they can see that you’re open to concerns.

Back End: Believe it or not, very few companies make the effort to really follow up after the sale. I’m not talking about the “thanks for your business” form letters. I’m talking about actually asking for feedback via a detailed survey or phone call. I honestly think a lot of organizations are afraid to ask for fear that the customer will actually tell them.

If you have the courage to ask – be sure you follow up on the follow up. Let your customers know what you learned (either directly back to that specific customer or to all your customers) and tell them what you’re going to do to correct the issue, if there was a problem.

People are much more likely to tell you the truth (good and bad) if they know you’re actually going to do something with the information.

Demonstrating that you care about someone else has a lot to do with earning their trust. Imagine how a customer would feel about your company if you had earned their trust from the get go, with honest marketing that genuinely helped them figure out if they should buy your product. Then, you sealed the deal by asking for their candid take on how you did and made course corrections if there’s room for improvement.

That’s a customer who will keep coming back for more and bring their friends along with them. That’s a satisfaction score you can take to the bank.

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Are you ready to podcast?

April 7, 2016

According to wikipedia a podcast is a collection of digital media files distributed over the internet using syndication feeds for playback on portable media players and personal computers.

Here’s my definition. A podcast is an incredible marketing tool and a great way to generate new leads for your business. It can enhance your marketing in many ways. People consume podcasts in a big way.

Apple reports over a billion subscriptions to podcasts via iTunes and they’re hardly the only access point. It’s estimated that over 31 million Americans are regular podcast listeners.

Branding: An effective podcast series is an excellent way to reach our generation’s tech-savvy consumers. Podcasts can be used to position your company as an industry leader, assuming your content is relevant and timely for your target audience.

Lead Generation & Lead Nurturing: These seem to be buzzwords for the coming year. People are thinking more and more about their sales cycle and how to keep moving prospects closer to the sale. Podcasts are a smart way to keep prospects engaged with your brand while you earn their trust by demonstrating your expertise.

External Communications: No matter who you need to stay in touch with — investors, board members, the media, industry pundits, or your current customers, a podcast is a simple and interesting way to do that.

Website Content Improvements: Want your website to be seen as an important resource? Adding content like podcasts will not only add stickiness to your site, but Google and the other search engines will love that you’ve got a mix of media on your site.

If those benefits have you thinking that it might not be a bad plan to think about adding a podcast series to your marketing efforts, then stay with me. I want to give you some tips on attracting and keeping an audience. But even if you follow all of these suggestions, you’re going to have to be a little patient. This isn’t a marketing tactic that you try once or twice and then figure it didn’t work.

Don’t even start this if you aren’t going to give it a good year to take seed and grow. Here are a few ways to help make that happen.

Keep it Short: Most people will have an attention span of 15-30 minutes at the most for any given topic. Don’t be afraid to be brief. Even a 5-10 minute podcast can be very effective. One way to do that is to remember – one podcast, one key message.

Use MP3 for your file format: Most rich media players can play an MP3 formatted file. You can offer other options as well, as long as MP3 is there.

Let Them Subscribe: Don’t count on your audiences continually coming back to your site. Give them subscription options so every time you produce new content, they receive it automatically.

Teach, Don’t Sell: I know this is tough, but if your podcast is a sales speech, no one will stick with you. If you think about what you could teach your prospects and give them that education freely, they’ll gladly endure a little information about your product or service.

Putting together a podcast series does take some effort. But it can yield incredible results too. You can use the same podcast with many different audiences and you can even slice and dice some of the content into blog posts, sales material and other marketing tools. Why not give it a try?

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