Business

Your logo is a business tool

March 28, 2011

Your logo is a tool, not art

We were sitting in the conference room the other day with a new client.  He’s been in business for many years and is very successful.  He’s ready to reallyramp up his marketing and tackle some lofty goals.

And we’re ready to help. (After all, that’s what we do)

He went on to tell us that he really doesn’t like his logo.  It doesn’t tell his company’s story very well, it’s a little expected and in his opinion, it isn’t very attractive.  So the first project he’d like us to launch is a logo re-design.

I took a deep breath and told him no.

Now… granted I said it with more words…and nicer.  But basically I said this:

• No logo is going to tell the whole story of your business
• You have over a decade of equity in your current logo
• Your current logo isn’t costing you any customers or any money (no one’s not choosing you because of your logo)
• Your current logo is fine.  It’s not perfect and we’d be able to come up with something better.  But not so much better that it will line your pockets.
• Remember a logo cost is far beyond just the cost of designing a new logo.  There are legal costs to register it, you have to re-print all of your business cards, letterhead, etc., your staff’s uniforms would need to be changed and your trucks would need to be re-vinyled.  Then, there’s building signage etc, etc. etc.

I summed it up with… if the only reason you want to change your logo is because you don’t like it, it’s not a good enough reason.  It’s not a piece of art you choose to put in your home, it is a business tool and your current logo is doing the job adequately.

I also told him, it was his company.  And if he hated the logo that much and he gritted his teeth every day when he saw it and it haunted him in his dreams — we’d design him a new logo.  But that if it was my money — I wouldn’t spend it there.

Do not get me wrong.  A logo is a very important part of your marketing effort.  Most logos suck and should be changed.  But his didn’t.  And it shouldn’t be changed for the subjective reason of his personal taste.

Your logo is a business tool.  If it’s doing a good job — leave it be.

 

More

There’s actually a person on the other side

March 24, 2011

You can’t do it all from the box

It’s incredible that you can now do business with anyone on the globe.  It opens up amazing possibilities for all of us.

It also creates some new challenges.

We launched a very complex and challenging project with a new vendor recently.  It was complicated by the fact that it’s outside our area of expertise — but we still needed to drive it from a project management and brand perspective.

What we needed was very specialized and there aren’t too many proven choices out there.  So we selected a vendor who clearly had the skills we needed.  We contracted with them and the work began.  Then, this sequence of events happened.

1. They sent us an e-mail, outlining what they needed from us.
2. I sent an e-mail back, admitting that I was nervous about the project due to our lack of knowledge — and could we please talk it through on the phone.
3. They wrote back and said they preferred to do everything via e-mail so there was a record and no details would be missed.
4. I said… I was all for capturing the details but I have some overarching questions and want to give them a better sense of what we’re trying to do, big picture.
5. They wrote back — great, e-mail us your questions and tell us about the big picture.
6. I did this to the best of my ability — which I believe wasn’t all that hot.  I just didn’t know enough.
7. They asked us how we wanted to handle a technical issue.  I said…I have no idea.  We need your recommendation.
8. They gave us a recommendation and we took it.
9. 2 weeks later — it turns out their recommendation was wrong.  Had we talked on the phone and explored the project together — they would have made a different recommendation.
10. We have to make a change, based on a new recommendation.
11. Oops…turns out their 2nd recommendation was also not quite right, because they didn’t know enough about what we were trying to do — and I didn’t know enough to tell them what they really needed to know.
12. 3rd recommendation is fine.  Project is complete.  But…they had to do a lot of extra work and take a lot of extra time that they could have saved — if we’d had that initial phone call.

Every project should begin with a phone conversation.  I don’t care how tech savvy you are.  I don’t care how simple the project.

Do not hide behind your computer with the excuse of capturing details or efficiency.  I don’t care how much you prefer e-mail — when a client asks to talk to you on the phone — talk to them.  They are no more interested in chatting than you are.  You will learn so much more in a phone conversation — because you can ask questions, and based on those answers — ask more questions.

Even if it’s just because the client is worried — talk to them.

It sounds pretty basic doesn’t it?  But it’s happening more and more.   I can hear you in the comments section now — “duh, Drew.  When they wouldn’t talk to you on the phone — big red flag.”

I know it.  I knew it then.  But, I kept trusting their process rather than that nagging voice in my head.

My mistake is your marketing lesson.  Don’t do this to your clients and don’t do business with anyone who does it to you.

More

Why would you want to enchant someone?

March 11, 2011

Guy Kawasaki’s enchanting new book

As you know, I talk about creating love affairs with your customers a lot here on the blog.  Why do I think it’s so critical?  Let’s look at how people behave when they’re in the bloom of a new love.

• They find the other person intoxicating — they crave more.
• They can’t help themselves.  They talk about their new love all the time.  To everyone and anyone who will listen.
• They are very forgiving of missteps or mistakes.
• They want to be good and helpful to their new love — what matters to that person suddenly matters to them as well.

Now translate that back to a customer, donor, employee, volunteer, boss or vendor.  What organization wouldn’t want those very important people to feel that way towards them?

And keep in mind…this isn’t a one way street.  You have to genuinely treat them the same way.  Or the love is very short lived. At McLellan Marketing Group, we call it creating a love affair.  Guy Kawasaki calls it being Enchanting* in his new book of the same title.  Potato, potato. (You did read those two words differently, right?)

The book’s basic premise is this:  “enchantment is not about manipulating people.  It transforms situations and relationships. It converts hostility into civility and civility into affinity.  It changes skeptics and cynics into believers and the undecided into the loyal.”

Again I ask the same question — what organization wouldn’t want to be able to inspire and instill that spirit?

But as you know, I’m not into books that get us fired up to do/be something without telling us how.  (The former is just mean teasing)  Guy’s books pushes past the why and gets to the how before page 10.  In fact, chapters 2-12 all start with the word “how.”  That’s the sign of a book I can use.

You really need to read this book. (You can buy it by clicking here*) With a note pad and pen at hand, because you’re going to get a lot of fresh ideas that you want to capture.

You can also test your own “realistic enchantment aptitude” and if you want an awesome sneak preview…check out this infographic that Guy prepared.

*This is an Amazon affiliate link.  While I am confessing, I should also tell you that Guy sent me a copy of the book for free and I swore twice yesterday.  And I just lied.  I really swore three times.

More

Congrats to my book winners!

February 27, 2011

I won?  I really won?

Over the past couple weeks, I had 2 copies of Harry Beckwith’s Unthinking* and 3 copies of The Now Revolution* by Amber Naslund and Jay Baer to give away, based on participating in the comments section of the blog.

I’m happy to announce our winners:

Harry Beckwith’s Unthinking:

Steve S. and Jeanne Dininni

Amber & Jay’s The Now Revolution:

Scott Townsend, Kristina Carson and Andy N

If you’ll please e-mail me your mailing address (send it to drew@mclellanmarketing.com) I’ll be sure the book is on it’s way to you!

Thanks for taking the time to add to the conversation!

*These are Amazon affiliate links.

More

The Swahili take on branding

February 21, 2011

Swahili proverb:  A boat does not go forward if each is rowing their own way.

Any good crew team will tell you that they rely on the coxswain to keep them in synch.  During a race, the coxswain shouts commands, keeping the crew on course.  No matter how polished or experienced the crew, they would not be successful without hearing the same commands over and over.

Branding works pretty much the same way.  No matter how talented your team is or how many years of experience — they need a brand champion who will serve as coxswain.  Someone who runs a long side them and keeps them on course, shouting directions and encouragement.

What does it take to be the brand’s coxswain?

Discipline: Sooner or later, your brand is going to put you in a spot where you have to make a tough decision.  For example, do you honor the brand or just hire any breathing body because your understaffed?  Branding is fun when you’re creating the logo.  It’s not as much fun when you’re making difficult business decisions.

Perseverance: Branding really is for the brave.  It’s a long-haul sort of proposition.  So your brand champion needs to be willing to go the distance.

A learner’s heart: Leading a brand effort is often uncharted waters.  So you have to enter into it accepting that you don’t know it all and will learn along the way.  You need to be curious, ask a lot of questions and listen to every perspective.

A welcoming spirit: You can’t build a company’s brand all by yourself.  You need to inspire others to join the cause.  You need to help them understand why it matters and how they can be a part of something meaningful.

What else do you think it takes to be a brand champion?

More

The NOW Revolution is here

February 21, 2011

Here’s the mistake I made.

I picked up The Now Revolution by Amber Naslund and Jay Baer around midnight, thinking I would just flip through it to get a feel for the book and then read it this weekend.

So much for a good night’s sleep.

The book is built on the premise that the world has changed and we’d all better make some shifts in how we do business to be faster, smarter and more social.

I’m guessing most of the shifts won’t shock you.  What makes this book so valuable is that this isn’t so much an idea book as it is a DO book.  Amber and Jay offer up good case studies (fresh ones you haven’t seen 100 times), lots of extra resources and at the end of every chapter some tangible steps to take to make it happen.

Here’s how they outlined the shifts we need to make:

Make a new bedrock: Your company’s culture is more critical than ever, more exposed to the public than ever and can be a game changer if you build a good one.

Find talent you can trust: Building a team who gets it and shares your vision used to be a luxury.  Today, thanks to social media — it’s a necessity.

Organize your armies: Social media is something that will touch every aspect of your business.  You need to make sure everyone is on board, knows their role — even your agency, who may be leading your efforts or just participating.

Answer the new telephone: Remember the good old days when you weren’t on call 24/7? How do you possibly monitor all of the potential places people could be talking about you?  And how can you use this new expectation of instant access as a customer service bonus?

Emphasize response-ability: Who will respond?  How will they respond?  How can you make sure they respond in your brand’s voice? How do you arm your team with the resources so they can respond?  How quickly do you have to respond?  Lots of questions and this chapter has some answers.

Build a fire extinguisher: Okay, now you’re listening but what do you do get ready to respond if someone says something negative? This is crisis communication planning (on both the macro and micro level) for the 21st century.

Make a calculator: It doesn’t make sense to do something if you have no idea whether or not it’s working.  So measure.  And monitor.  The trick is — give it time to work.  This isn’t magic.  It’s marketing.

My one disappointment is that they took a very cool idea — added QR codes throughout the book to give readers even more resources and made it annoying.  Rather than using generic QR codes so that everyone could just use whatever scanner they already had on their smart phone — they opted to use a specific tag made by Microsoft which required me to add another app to my phone.

Bottom line for me — this is a very good read.  Pick up a copy today (Amazon affiliate link).

Or…. tell me which of the 7 shifts you think would be the most difficult (and why) and you could win a copy of the book!  I have 3 copies to give away.  (I’ll draw commenters names at random.)

More

Marketing tip #56: Walk a mile in their moccasins

February 8, 2011

I believe this is one of those marketing tips that we all nod our heads at and think, “gosh, I should do that one of these days” but really rarely get around to doing.

We get so caught up in our processes and getting the job done that we forget that we’re doing it “to” and “with” a human being.  And those pesky human beings sometimes need a little hand holding or explanation — especially if they’re new to the task.

It’s so easy to get frustrated with yet another question or request that takes you off “the path of the plan.”  But honestly — if you find yourself reacting that way — then shame on you.  Yes…shame on you.

If a customer is pushing back, or asking more questions or seems unable to pull the trigger it’s because you left something unexplained.  The more firmly you dig in your heels and hold them to the process, the more unsure they feel.  Which just leads to…yup, more questions and concern.  It’s an ugly cycle.

I’m reminded of this truth as we work with a new vendor to McLellan Marketing Group.  While they’re quite good at what they do, they have the customer service skills of a grumpy drunk.  I have often found myself wondering if they have any concept of what it’s like to work with them.  My guess is… no.

Our experience with them has me very mindful of how we’re treating our own clients.  Are we taking the time to really walk out the next steps with them?  Are we in tune with their hesitations or worries?  Do we dismiss their concerns or ideas because “we know” what’s right?  And do we even bother to explain the why?

I find myself wanting to be able to experience us… as a new client.  What do they see and hear?  Do they feel welcome and important?  Or do they feel rushed and confused?  Are our procedures confusing?  Our bills clear?  Our gratitude evident?

We can’t step into their shoes, but we can ask for their feedback.  We can be more mindful of how it must feel from their position.  In our quest to create love affairs with our customers — this would seem to me to be pivotal.

How about you?  How do you balance conducting business in a way that is efficient and effective with customer care?  How do you stay in touch with what it’s like to do business with you?

More

How much should I spend on marketing?

October 11, 2007

This is probably one of the most asked questions of marketing agencies and consultants.  If you google the phrase, there are almost 17 million results.  Guess it’s on peoples’ minds, eh?

I think one of the reasons why it’s on everyone’s mind is because there is no magic answer.  Before we get into the methods of determining a right answer, let’s be very clear about these two points:

The exact amount matters less than having an amount.  In other words, having and tracking a marketing budget, even if your initial number is off, is much more important than getting the number exactly right.

You can have the right budget and spend it on the wrong things.  A marketing plan should always be tied to a strategic marketing budget.

Now, let’s tackle the question.  Here are some of the more effective ways to set a marketing budget:

Percentage of gross sales/revenue:

This is probably the simplest method.  Most experts recommend somewhere in the range of 2-8% of gross sales.  McKinsey & Company is often quoted at 5%.

Most small businesses (less than $5 million gross revenue) should shoot for at least 7-8%.

Industry-specific:

Many industries have their own standard.  For example:

• Consumer package goods:  Up to 50% of projected net sales to launch a new product
• Industrial B-to-B:  1% of gross sales
• Retail:  4-10% of net revenues
• Banks/Credit Unions:  2-5% of assets
• Law firms:  1-4% of gross revenues
• Pharmaceuticals:  Up to 20% of net sales
• Hospitals:  1% of net revenues

Lifetime value of customer:

The idea is simple.  You identify how much profit (on average) you make during the lifetime of that customer relationship and determine how much you are willing to invest per customer acquisition.  If you choose this method be very careful that your numbers are accurate.

Goals/Plan driven:

The thinking behind this method is really a blend of some of the others.  Identify measurable goals (# of new clients, % of revenue increase, etc) and then determine your sales equation.

For example:  For every 100 prospects approached, you get 25 initial meetings.  From those 25 meetings, you can expect to get 12 invitations to present a proposal.  From 12 proposals, you will score 4 new clients.  If your goal is 20 new clients, you now know that you need to approach 500 qualified prospects.  You build your marketing plan to accomplish that and assign the costs accordingly.

Again, this method requires very accurate numbers to make the equations viable.

So what do you think?  Which method do you currently use?  If you don’t have a marketing budget, which method do you think would serve you best?

More