Blog

Are we living lives of quiet desperation?

September 4, 2011

… who out there is truly feeling alone?

I’m not a big believer in coincidences. I am however, a big believer in clues.

I think our lives are littered with clues… and usually we either dismiss them or are completely oblivious to them. Who you think doles out those clues depends on your spiritual beliefs. For me, I’ve often joked that God starts with pebbles and it’s about the time He’s placed a boulder in my path that I finally notice.

Who leaves the clues isn’t my point. It’s the fact that they are there that matters. This is a post about clues and how often we miss them. And maybe something we can do about it.

For me, clue one is that Henry David Thoreau‘s quote “Most men live lives of quiet desperation and go to the grave with the song still in them” has been weighing heavy on my heart for the past month or so. It keeps appearing in odd places like Google searches and I find my mind drifting to it and lingering on it, both in my head and in my deepest soul.

I think Thoreau was right. And I think his statement is actually more true today than ever before. What makes his words so haunting is how horribly isolated they sound. A heart filled with a loneliness and hopelessness that is cloaked in silence.

In a world where we are constantly reminded of how many friends, followers and fans we have — how can that be? We’re busier than ever before. We check our email 37 times a day and update our statuses around the clock. The chatter is constant. The sharing never ending. And we like it that way. We like getting to know each other. But are we really?

For many of us, our financial/professional success is tied to all of these interactions and to the persona/brand we create. I’m not suggesting for a minute that it’s fake. But it is selective. Just like there’s an inside and an outside voice when you’re a kid — we understand the social norms and most of us stay inside them.

But what if on the inside, surrounded by 2,000 friends, 10,000 followers and a bevy of fans — you feel all alone? Maybe that constant buzz and busyness allows you to keep people at bay. What if that quiet desperation is slowly enveloping you to the point that you might suffocate — but you don’t dare let anyone see it.

It’s so much easier to hide today in the flurry of quips, 140 character chatter and the constant activity. Which is also what makes it all the more lonely. It’s like being at a huge party and needing to cry. There’s no way you can pull that off — so you stuff those feelings down deeper and you become the life of the party to distract yourself and everyone else from how you’re really feeling.

Clue two came today with word of the tragic suicide of Trey Pennington, a very talented writer, speaker and a well known social media personality. Trey was everyone’s friend. One of the good guys. He was always helping someone achieve a goal or try something new. I “knew” him but I didn’t know him. We’d never met in person. We shared some brief exchanges on Twitter and Facebook — but like many others who mourn his loss — I only saw the parts of his heart that he felt safe to expose in public.

I think there are a lot of Trey Pennington’s walking around out there — lifting up and supporting other people, partially because it’s who they are but also because it’s more comfortable than letting the attention turn their way. And yet inside, they’re barely making it through the day. They are drowning in their own quiet desperation.

Clue three came in the form of an incredibly brave blog post called The Difference Between Trey Pennington and Me by Bridget Pilloud. She tells of a time in her life when she had decided to commit suicide and the one thing that stopped her is that someone noticed her depression despite the mask and called her on it. I believe that blog post will save a life. Maybe many. It made me cry.

Why in God’s name am I telling you all of this on a marketing blog? Honestly, I have no idea why and maybe I never will. I tried to talk myself out of it. I’ve almost deleted it several times. But somehow, the boulders are so big that I can’t. So I’ve stopped fighting it. If I lose some subscribers, so be it.

For some reason, I think you need to hear this. Or maybe I need to say it.

Trey’s friends, both casual and very close, are writing about him tonight as you can imagine. They’re telling wonderful stories, talking about how he touched their lives and they are loving him well. It’s a fitting tribute to a man who has earned the love and respect he’s being offered. The more casual of his friends are of course, saying that they wished they’d known.

Maybe that’s what’s driving this post for me.

I think we have this stereotypical idea of what a depressed person looks and behaves like. The prescription drug commercials tell us that they can’t get out of bed or shower. They sit on their couch in their robe, staring blankly into space. They certainly aren’t successful. They aren’t the life of the party. They aren’t charismatic and busy serving others.

But they are. And I think they are all around us. But we’ve been fooled because they’re afraid for us to know.

Despite the suffocation of the desperation — they don’t want us to know. It’s a shame-filled secret. But they also desperately need our help. They need us to ask because they have no idea how to tell us. Or if they should.

If you’re a little worried about someone or you see hints of something going on underneath — ask. And ask again. If you know someone is going through a tough patch, don’t accept the quick “I’m fine” as they turn the conversation back to you.

Please pay attention and watch for the clues. I’m hoping you’ll be more alert to them and brave enough to act on them.

Thanks for being patient while I moved the boulders off the path. Some clues are too big to ignore.

With all due respect, what are you waiting for?

September 4, 2011

…what are you waiting for?

I’m all for having a plan when it comes to marketing. To just start flailing around is usually a waste of money and opportunity. But for many businesses, the need for a plan and the “right” time is just an excuse to do absolutely nothing.

I’m also absolutely positive that there is one marketing tactic that you KNOW you should be doing but for some reason you haven’t started it yet.

Maybe you don’t have the perfect name for your newsletter. Perhaps you aren’t sure if you have the stamina to blog. Or something might happen in the 4th quarter that would negate the momentum of the initiative (translation = you’re scared).

Just start. Don’t put it off for another minute.

You are letting your head get in the way of your marketing gut. Maybe you can’t explain why you know it’s the right choice or you have never done it before so you’re worried you’ll do it wrong — whatever is stopping you — get out of your own way.

Call it a pilot program or a test run. In your own head, make it sound like it’s no big deal. However you have to psych yourself out/up — do it.

Marketing is an every day thing. Not a special day thing. It’s not the Thanksgiving china — it’s the Corelle dishes you use on Mondays (and Tuesdays…). So get over yourself and just make this happen.

How can you actually get this done?

Starting right now — create a list of what you need to have/do to launch.
Set a date. A firm date that you’re not going to miss.
Tell someone (your team, your boss, your customers) that you’re going to do it and when (i.e. We’re launching our company Facebook fan page on Oct 1!)
Create a reward for yourself/team to celebrate the launch (it can be as simple as ice cream cones to as big as a day off)
Start chipping away at the list. Now. Today.

You have 4 months left in 2011. There’s always going to be a reason not to start. Isn’t it time that you just did it anyway?

THE best customer service tip ever

August 31, 2011

… stellar customer service = pinky swearing

I’m going to tell you THE secret to incredible customer service, customer retention and word of mouth referrals.

It’s quite complicated so you’ll want to print off this post and hang it somewhere where you can refer to it every day.

If you’ve got music playing or some other distraction around you — turn it off/put it away so you can fully concentrate on the concept I am about to unveil before your very eyes.

Ready?

Pinky Swear.

When we were kids, if you pinky swore — that was a blood oath, a die or do it sort of thing. There were no asterisks, exceptions, small type or exclusions. It was a pinky swear. Enough said.

If you want your customers to rave about you and to come back time and time again — pinky swear.

If you are so old that you don’t remember pinky swearing — let me translate it for you.

Do what you say you’re going to do. Every time. No exceptions.

Go forth….and pinky swear. Your customers will love you for it.

Where does your brand live?

August 30, 2011

…How does your brand come alive?

When we talk about a company’s brand, in most cases people’s minds jump immediately to their logo. No argument – a logo is a vital element of how you communicate it. It is the visual representation of who and what you are. But your logo is just the beginning of it.

Others might point to your tagline and suggest that’s where your brand lives. Again, it’s an important communication tool for telling people what your company is all about. But where both your logo and your tagline fall short is that they’re one-way communications. You are showing or telling, but your audience is not actually experiencing your brand.

Brands really come to life when an experience confirms or amplifies the promise that your logo and/or tagline might offer. Here are some key spots that you might not think about from a brand point of view. But, they’re places where you can truly bring it to life for your employees, customers and vendors.

Your office/work space: You know what they say about first impressions. One spot where many first impressions are created is when someone comes to see you for the first time. Whether you have a retail space, office space or work virtually through an extranet — how it first appears to your audience will stick for a long time.

Does it feel very corporate and official?
Is it welcoming and kind of funky?
Could it be called cluttered or filled with interesting items?
How about neat, with everything in its place?

All of that speaks to your brand and what matters to you.

Your “first day at work” experience: Never forget, your most active and important advocates are your employees. And for them, there are few days more memorable than their first day at work. What is that day like for them?

Are they assigned a buddy who helps them get oriented to your workplace, the people and the procedures?
Is there a small gift (maybe a hat with your company logo on it) waiting for them at their new desk?
Do some of their teammates take them out to lunch?
Are they given training or is it a baptism by fire?
Is everything ready for their arrival or are you scrambling to get paperwork and supplies to them?

Think how many people are going to ask them “how was your first day?” From a brand perspective, what do you want their answer to be?

Your “return” policy: Even if you are a corporate lawyer, you have your own version of a return policy. How do you handle an unhappy client? What do you have in place to avoid making them unhappy in the first place?

Do you have a guarantee tied to your pricing or billing?
Do you have a confidential way for them to register a complaint?
Do you offer refunds without restrictions, boundaries or tiny type?
Do you have an apology gift or letter that is ready to go in the case of a hiccup?

Remember that an unhappy customer is likely to tell more than twenty people why they’re unhappy. Do you have policies and procedures in place so that your brand comes out smelling like a rose when those stories get told?

Just like everything in else in life – we can talk all we want, but it is our actions that really tell the story. How you wrap your brand around key experiences like those first impressions, the first day of work and when things go wrong will go much further in terms of creating a lasting brand.

So where do you think your brand is most alive and vibrant?

Marketing tip #83: You really can’t make the horse drink

August 26, 2011

You can’t make a customer buy!

Here’s an uncomfortable marketing truth: With few exceptions, you cannot control potential buyers.

No matter how great your product, how spectacular your price or how unparalleled your customer service reputation — if they aren’t ready to buy, they just are not ready to buy.

Yes, as the old adage says — you can lead them to the water. But once you get them there, you only have two choices. Try to force their head into the water or entice them to hang out by the water trough until they’re actually thirsty.

And trust me, if you’ve spent any time around horses or a stubborn prospect, you know that you cannot force their head into the water. No matter how badly you’d like to!

Sadly, to stay with the analogy — most companies don’t have any carrots or sugar cubes at the ready. Which means their “horse” wanders away. And by the time they’re ready to buy — probably has wandered to someone else’s watering trough.

I see so many companies that can get a prospect in the door but if they don’t buy that instant, have no way of staying in touch, creating a relationship or keeping under the prospect’s nose until it’s the right time for them to buy.

Imagine this scenario: Someone who would be the perfect sweet spot customer called today and chatted with you on the phone for 15 minutes but wasn’t ready to buy — what would you do/say to keep them connected to you until they were ready to buy?

Could you hold their interest for a month? 6 months? 3 years?

If you didn’t have an answer or don’t think you could keep them around the water trough for as long as you need — you are letting sales walk out your door.

So…now what?

Your customers are afraid to spend

August 23, 2011

…Customers are afraid of the coming tides

Building a sandcastle (with our without the pre-form buckets) is a childhood ritual that brings with it a sobering life lesson.

Unless you are uber cautious about location — the tide is going to come in and wipe out that sandcastle sooner or later. And if the tide doesn’t get it, beach walkers, dogs or 4 wheelers will do the job.

Young or old, there’s something haunting about watching the waves creep up on your masterpiece, knowing you can’t alter its fate.

I think that’s exactly how our customers are feeling today. They’re leery of investing too deeply or buying into new long-term programs because they have this nagging fear that the waves are heading back in.

The world economy’s continuing struggle, the US debt ceiling debacle and credit rating slap on the wrist and in general, a sense that it’s tougher to make a buck these days does not bode well for us as marketers.

How do we function in an environment of nervous trepidation?

Acknowledge it: Don’t hide from it. Don’t pretend it isn’t there. Be up front about it. Recognize that your sales cycles are going to be longer. Build your projections accordingly. The only way to weather the storm is to be well prepared for it.

Make the most of it: If your customers are less likely to sign long term agreements or are going to want to stretch out their payments — price accordingly. Create a new, shorter term choice but price it at a premium. That’s not taking advantage — that’s upselling.

Don’t cut your prices: This is one of the biggest mistakes business people make during tough economic times. It may make short term sense but it’s a killer long term. If you reduce your prices — you will never be able to raise them back to where they belong again.

Manage your costs by managing your customers: Not all customers are created equal. Customers who are not a good fit, demand too much of your time and don’t reward you with their dollars in equal measure are actually draining your company’s resources. Perhaps it’s time to fire some of them?

Re-think your business model: It may be that how/what you’ve sold in the past simply isn’t going to work in 2011 and beyond. Just because you want to sell it doesn’t mean there’s still a market for it. Or maybe it needs to be re-packaged or re-tooled. If you were starting a new business from scratch in your industry — what would it look like? Should you move in that direction?

You can’t work in marketing or own a business for very long without running into shifts in the economy. And we’re not going to love every shift. So you have to be willing and ready to adapt.

How are you/have you accommodated this current economic climate?

Content marketing playbook

August 22, 2011

...get a playbook to help you create content that matters

The idea of creating content to establish your expertise, influence the search engines and create a community has been an evolution of one of the oldest marketing tactics out there — sampling.

If I share with you what I know and you learn from it, value it, want more — then in theory, you’ll eventually move from the sample table to the real deal and hire me to give you the full benefit of my expertise.

In the good old days, we might have done that through demonstrations, speaking at conferences or printed newsletters. (All still viable methods, by the way).

But today — we have lots of new avenues, thanks to digital media and our ability to produce and publish content in a much wider variety of ways.

Every year or so, the Content Marketing Institute (brainchild of Joe Pulizzi) puts out a very informative ebook that outlines some of the best and most effective ways to create content that will connect you with customers.

The best thing about this ebook is that it’s loaded with examples that you can study, learn from and of course, adapt to work in your marketplace.

The 2011 version is out and you can download it absolutely free by clicking right here.

Are Smart Phone cameras your new marketing partner?

August 18, 2011

Are you leveraging your clients’ technology?

The smart phone is literally changing our world, bit by bit. It’s changing how we accomplish everyday tasks, how we get our work done and how we communicate with/to the world.

Let me give you an example.

Fact: Mobile devices have replaced cameras for 44% of consumers

How does that impact your business? Every day, the majority of your customers are walking around with a camera in their pocket. How have you adjusted your marketing/thinking to take advantage of that?

Odds are, your answer is… I haven’t. Begin by asking yourself these questions:

Can I integrate photography/photos into my core offerings?

Example: EBay has now added the functionality of being able to scan a bar code and click a photo (all with a smart phone) and with two quick uploads, your sales listing is complete.

Is there something you could add (customers text you photos of their car accident from the scene, clients inventory stock for their quarterly financials with some photos, etc.) to how you support clients that their phones could make easier, faster, cheaper?

Do my policies need to be updated?

Example: It used to be that bridal shops wouldn’t let you bring a camera into their store, for fear you’d steal the design and run home and make it yourself. Now… anyone can snap photos in the dressing room without lugging in a camera.

Maybe the bridal shops should have you text them photos (from magazines or wherever) of dresses you like so they can pull similar dresses for you to try on, when you arrive at their store?

Do you have policies and procedures that smart phones make obsolete or worse — silly?

How can I get my best customers to share photos that tie to my work?

Example: There’s a production studio here in my community that in the good old days, used to snap poloroids of the people in studio and then display them all over their walls. Today’s modern version of that should be — they grab a quick digital shot on their phone… and upload it to their Facebook fan page, tagging the people in the photo.

Now… not only will their fans see the pictures, but so will the Facebook network of each person in the photo. How can you leverage your customers’ love for sharing, their smart phone and their network?

What other questions, in terms of the smart phone’s ability to capture photos, should we be asking ourselves?

You need a smaller net

August 15, 2011

…are you fishing with too big a net?

Fear can make us take our eye off the ball and lose focus on what really matters. In marketing, that often translates to these sorts of mistakes:

I’m afraid this is the only ad/website/sales letter they’ll ever see so I need to cram everything I can into it.
I’m afraid they’ll choose someone else so I’ll lower our price, even though my price is fair.
I’m afraid we won’t have enough customers, so I’ll chase everyone that breathes.

I must admit, I get on my soapbox about this one. One of the best things about smart branding is that it repels the wrong customers. People who are not a good fit.

Every business has a “right fit” customer and those are the only people you should be actively pursuing. Why would you want to win a new customer only to deliver at a so so level.

You can rock the socks off the “right fit” customers. They’ll brag about you to their friends. And you’ll love working with them. Stop being content with anything you can catch in that big net of yours. Go get a smaller net and chase after just the right fits.

Need more convincing? I got this note on Facebook the other day from Sherry Borzo, a business woman I know here in Des Moines.

“Must tell you, because I’m pretty sure you were the one who said it so often in my presence a few years ago, but I truly GET the idea of working only with your ideal customer. It makes for a much happier environment for both business person and customer. It is like you’re building your own little community. So important. Always think of you saying that when I’m working with a customer that fits well with what I do.”

Amen to that! Toss that big old net in the garbage and begin catching your right fit customers.

Are you sure it’s what they want?

August 11, 2011

…Give your customer choices they actually care about

One of the buzzwords that continues to bounce around the marketing world is “value add.” I have no issue with providing more value to your customers. In fact, I think it’s a dandy idea. But I think you can also stub your toe when you do it in a vacuum.

As you know, I fly a lot (visiting clients, speaking at conferences, etc) and I always fly United. Like most of you who travel a fair amount, I have traded choice of airline for airline perks.

For the most part, I love United and the benefits I get as one of their frequent fliers. But it also gives me an opportunity to see many a marketing attempt go awry.

What your customers want, in terms of value add, is real value, not value for show. Let me show you a few examples (at United’s expense):

Real value: The Red Carpet Clubs — very cool spaces with plenty of free wifi, soda, snacks, really comfy chairs and best of all, customer service reps who will take as much time as you need to help sort out a messed up ticket or change in plans. (Value added — comfort and great service)

Value just for show: Unlimited upgrades for their upper tier customers. Except…. in many cases, they don’t upgrade your companion if you’re flying with someone else. So really — it’s just mean teasing. “Oh, we wanted to upgrade you but your kid/spouse/buddy will have to fly coach.” Who wants to be that jerk? Which means I only get to use the upgrades I’m offered if I am flying alone. (You’re pretending to give me a value and then taking it away)

Real value: Letting frequent fliers board the plane first, meaning there’s always overhead storage space available. (Value added — convenience and comfort)

Value just for show: The ridiculous red carpet line (complete with a scrap of red carpet that you have to cross) that only makes the casual traveler feel like they don’t matter and the frequent flier feel conspicuous. (You’re using me to advertise your perks)

Notice how the real value happens when a company selflessly worries about what matters to their customers. But the value just for show is when the company decides, without asking their customers or walking a mile in their shoes. Then the “value add” looks self serving and may actually diminish the experience for your best customers.

So as you contemplate how you can appreciate your customers and reward them for their business — be sure the value add is genuine AND actually valued.

« Previous 1 … 56 57 58 59 60 … 181 Next »