Employees Archives - Page 6 of 11 - McLellan Marketing Group

Why do you exist?

August 27, 2008

As you walk through the hallways of your company today…stop people at random. Everyone from the CEO to the part-time mail room clerk and everyone in between.

Ask them this:

Why does this company exist?

Note two things:

How many different answers you get
How many times you hear…to make money

A company that exists primarily to make money cannot hope to build loyalty among customers, employees or even vendors. Of course, you should be profitable — but that shouldn’t be why you exist.

You make money so you can keep fulfilling the reason you exist. Unless of course….everyone in your company thinks it’s something different.

Then, sadly…the only mission/vision you all agree on is…that you should make money. Can you say "uh oh."

If you can’t say something nice…

July 16, 2008

I had dinner with some friends the other night and I arrived first. After about 15 minutes of alone time, the waitress finally came over proceeded to tell me that they had over-filled her section and she was swamped. I assume that she told me this to explain why she had not stopped by until now.

We didn’t get great service as you might expect. But we did get an extra helping of TMI!

Do you do this? Do you share information with your customers or clients that they really don’t care to hear? If you don’t, my guess is that your employees do. They don’t mean to undermine your company – they’re just being friendly or trying to over-explain. But the damage is done, none-the-less.

Here are some classic "over sharing" remarks that can really tarnish the way a client thinks of your organization:

"Yeah, he’s so forgetful. (Or disorganized) But somehow, he always pulls the project through."

"We are so buried with work, I don’t know how we’ll get it all done."

"We’re always worried about machine #1. It’s constantly breaking down."

"You’d never know it, but they really can’t stand each other. It’s a wonder they can work on the same team."

You know the expression "ignorance is bliss?" Your customers do not want to hear about your problems. All is does is cause them to doubt your capabilities and wonder if perhaps your competitor has their act together more than you do.

I’m not advocating lying or even spinning the truth. If there’s a problem on their project or product, by all means, tell them. Full disclosure.

But do not air your internal dirty laundry. Make sure you and your employees understand the difference.

The ingredients of WOW!

June 2, 2008

When was the last time you raved about a business? Was it because their product was so notably superior? Or was it because something they did WOWed you?

Think of the companies that we hear about every day. Disney, Nordstroms, and Whole Foods comes to mind. We don’t hear about their rides, shirts or olive selection. We hear about something memorable they did or created. We hear about the atmosphere, the attitudes and the energy level.

We hear about the WOW.

Think about the last time you were WOWed. What elements were present? How did they create that moment that you couldn’t help but talk about?

Or….how do you create WOW for your clients? What do you do that absolutely delights them?

For me, one of the absolutes is surprise. it doesn’t have to be a big surprise. In fact, the more minute the detail, the better.

Once you’ve thought about it (and hopefully shared here) for a bit, check out this post by Michael Hyatt. He talks about his own experiment in trying to identify WOW. What do you think of his concoction of WOW ingredients?

Are your actions drowning out your words?

May 19, 2008

We’ve all been pretty impressed with LifeLock’s marketing. The CEO publicly shares his social security number to prove his confidence in LifeLock’s ability to guarantee protection from identity theft.

It’s very bold and attention-getting. So I decided I wanted some more information. After all, I don’t want anyone stealing my identity. (Although a teen-aged daughter makes you wonder if some bad guy could really do more damage than a trip to the local DSW store!)

I went to their website and found the member services e-mail address (easily accessible under Contact Us) and fired off my relatively simple questions.

No reply.

So, I repeated the steps and re-sent my questions.

No reply.

Because I am a stubborn cuss — I actually did it for a third time. Guess what happened.

No reply. No automated — "thanks for your e-mail, we’ll get right back to you." No canned "have you tried our FAQ section." Nothing.

Hmm. These are the people who promise me diligence in watching over my identity? These are the people who I am going to try to contact if there’s a problem?

I had bought the promise — hook, line and sinker. I was ready to buy. I practically had my credit card out of my wallet. But now, I’m not so sure. Now, their actions have contradicted their words. And the actions are much louder.

How about your business? You’re making a bold brand promise, right? Are you sure that your actions match that promise? Is there a weak spot?

Could your actions, reactions or lack of action be drowning out your words?

UPDATE: Several of you have shared the breaking news story that Lifelock’s CEO has just had his identity stolen. No wonder they’re behind in answering their e-mail!

Do your employees think like owners?

May 13, 2008

It was Mother’s Day last week, so I, like millions of others, ordered flowers. So I wasn’t all that surprised to get the phone call saying "The flowers are beautiful, thank you."

I was surprised however at the next sentence. "Did you mean to order two identical bouquets?"

Uh no.

Two identical bouquets were delivered. Identical cards. Actually delivered by the same person at the same time. And apparently no one along the way stopped to ask why.

When I called the florist to see what was up — the customer service rep checked. Their records showed only the one order. She couldn’t explain the duplication. Her response — "I have no idea how that happened. Tell her to enjoy both bouquets."

Think of all the people who touched the order. The person who created the bouquets. The person who wrote out the cards (I ordered online). The person who scheduled the deliveries. The person who packed the truck. The delivery person.

Not one of those employees stopped to think how odd it was that the same person would get two of the exact same bouquets, with identical cards, from the same person.

So the florist is out a $75 bouquet. They look like their systems and delivery process needs some work and this story will be told and re-told.

All because an employee didn’t stop to wonder why. Or pick up a phone to double check.

The most important audience your business will ever have are your own employees. If they don’t get it — no one will. They deliver the brand every day. Or not.

Do a spot check today. Create a "what if" customer problem scenario and ask around. How would your employees handle it? Is it true to the way you want your customers to experience your brand?

How often, without you even knowing, are you creating a talkable moment by delivering two bouquets?

What are you overlooking?

April 28, 2008

Everyone is scrambling to find the next new thing in marketing. How do we break through the clutter? What high tech wonder can we harness to get our customer’s attention? How can I be one step ahead of the competition?

Recently, I was reminded that sometimes we just have to look at things a little differently to find the answer. No new medium, no new gadget — just seeing something that was in front of us all along.

I know it won’t surprise you to learn that I was getting on a plane recently. I had changed my flight so I was in the last group of people to be called to board the plane. The line was moving right along and for some reason I noticed that people were actually looking at the gate agent. They were having a brief exchange of some kind. People were smiling. "How weird is that," I thought.

As I got closer, I could hear the gate agent. As he scanned each person’s boarding pass, he was greeting them by name. He varied the greeting…"welcome aboard, how are you doing, good to see you, thanks for flying with us"….but he ended them all with the person’s name.

Here’s a guy who was creating instant customer impressions. No marketing budget. No memo. No meetings. He just realized that everyone’s name was printed on the boarding pass and he could use that fact to create a "talk about" moment.

Sure, he called me Andrew instead of Drew (I just assumed I was in trouble!) so it wasn’t a perfect execution. And I’m sure he knew that every once in awhile he was going to mispronounce a name. But he forged ahead anyway. And it was absolutely noteworthy.

Our names have been on boarding passes for years. This is the first time I have ever had a gate agent call me by name as I passed by. It doesn’t have to be a big thing to be a remarkable thing. Think of the thousands of gate agents who could have done the same thing, but it never occurred to them.

What have you overlooked?

When an internal corporate video goes terribly wrong

April 26, 2008

This just goes to prove that a big budget does not guarantee you can make a purse from a sow’s ear. Check out this internal (no doubt sales team motivating) video from Microsoft. Brace yourself — it really is that bad.

Of course, that might not be the whole story. One version of the story is that Microsoft made this (according to an unidentified employee) as a joke.

Here’s the real lesson — in today’s world, you can’t really afford to be this lame, even if it is a joke.

I’ll bet that 9/10ths of the almost a million people who have viewed this on YouTube took it as a true Microsoft team video. The other 1/10th who believe it’s a joke are still shaking their head.

Whether you are a powerhouse brand like Microsoft or the local bait shack — everything you do is shareable and accessible. What do you really want your customers and peers seeing?

What do you think? Does all this sharing and accessibility put an unfair choke hold on companies that want to just let loose a little?

Build your brand: Letting someone go

April 4, 2008

No one likes to let an employee go. Whether it is firing someone for cause or being forced to let a good employee go because of downsizing — it stinks. It’s a "keep you up all night worrying" sort of event. Because it is so awkward and difficult — most people do it badly. They rush it or talk for too long or just don’t manage the situation well.

Every single thing your organization does or doesn’t do impacts your brand. But, the more emotionally charged the moment/event — the greater potential it has to color the brand. The more "talkable" the moment — the great potential it has to color your brand.

So letting someone go is ripe for brand building or brand break down. If you think that your employees will not dissect every word, you’re crazy.

When is the time to plan (yes….plan) how you want an employee dismissal or layoff to go is when you don’t have one pending. Do a little creativity exercise. If you think about your brand’s attributes and promise — how, staying within that space, would the event happen?

If you were absolutely true to your brand:

When (day of the week, time of day) would you let someone go?
Where (does it have to happen in the office?)
What would you give the leaving employee? (Documents, phone numbers they’ll need, etc)
How will you end the conversation? (hug, high five, solemn look, handshake, nothing?)
What part of the conversation will the employee repeat?
How will you handle the news with the employees who are staying?

This just scratches the surface. My point to you is this: How you handle this situation WILL reflect on your brand. Far better to be purposeful about it, don’t you thin

Guy Kawasaki wrote a great post a couple years ago about how to handle a layoff. Well worth the read.

So let’s talk about this. Share a story of how you either managed this uncomfortable situation or what it felt like to be on the receiving end. I’ll bet we can find some branding wisdom among the stories.

How well do you listen to your marketplace?

October 3, 2007

We’ve all heard the quote from the Greek philosopher Epictetus, "we were born with two ears and one mouth, so we can listen twice as much as we speak."

I doubt Epictetus was a marketing consultant, but it is not a stretch to apply his wisdom to our efforts. Marketers have a tendency to "talk" a lot. After all, we have a lot to say. We have features to point out. Benefits to reference. Special pricing to announce. Nothing wrong with any of that.

But we also need to listen.

How do we listen to our marketplace? Try some of these on for size:

Client satisfaction survey
Client needs assessments
Attend industry trade shows
Monitor blogs for mentions of your company and your competitors
Read trade publications
The old-fashioned suggestion box
Google yourself/company

Along with those effective methods, there are also more direct and immediate ways to actively listen. After you’ve completed a project or delivered your product, why not just pick up the phone and call? Ask for their impressions. Find out if you surprised them in any way (good or bad) and what they expected the experience or product usage to be like. Imagine how you would feel if you received that kind of call. Appreciated? Special? Is that the kind of call you’re likely to talk about? You bet.

A word of caution. Do not try to sell anything during this call. This is about listening, remember?

If you commit to listening more, you will glean insights that change the way you do business and you’ll see a spike in sales as a result. Guaranteed.

How are you going to improve your listening this month?

Recent posts:

~ Are you really listening?
~ Listen and respond (Marketing Lesson from Walt)
~ Listen up

Who will your customers mimic?

September 21, 2007

I flew to San Francisco yesterday on United. (Only one mechanical delay, so they are improving.)

One of my pet peeves is when the flight attendant is doing her safety spiel….no one listens. They keep talking, reading or whatever, but they are not listening.

Do I think most of us need to hear the speech again? No. I just think it's incredibly rude. (props to Mom and Dad for the manners lesson).

So…I always make a show of putting away whatever I am reading and pay rapt attention. I always hope I am setting an example and others around me will follow suit.

Well, the guy I was sitting next to on this flight did not. He calmly kept reading his magazine, completely ignoring the flight attendant.

Oh, did I mention he was a United employee in full uniform?

If your employees don't get it and don't care about setting a good example, your customers never will. What rule/expectation do you need to reinforce with your employees next week?

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