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In a post at his Marketing Minute blog, Drew McLellan talks about the frustration he felt every time he made deposits at his bank. “Like most bank drive-throughs,” he says, “they have a commercial lane on the far left and then several ‘everybody and anybody’ lanes to the right of that.” The commercial lane at this branch, however, has a few impediments; it curves to the right and is hemmed in by large poles that keep cars from running into the building.
“I [could] never get quite close enough to the drawer (even when … fully extended) to comfortably put something in it or take out my receipt,” he explains. “More than once on a windy day, the receipt … fluttered off and I [had] had to chase it through their parking lot.” As a result, he dreaded the banking experience.
Then McLellan had an epiphany. “[I]t occurred to me that I didn’t need to use the commercial lane,” he says. “I could use any of the drive-through lanes [that] are straight and utilize the tube/chute thing rather than a drawer with a paperweight in it.”
Banking from the regular lane couldn’t have been more pleasant, and he realized why he hadn’t thought to try it before: He was a commercial customer and went where the sign told commercial customers to go. “Human beings, even incorrigible ones, typically do as they’re told,” he explains. “We are all, even me, rule followers by nature. We want to get it right.”
If you tell customers what you want them to do, they will probably follow your instructions—just make sure it leads to an experience they’ll enjoy!
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“The recession has caused lots of companies to panic,” writes Laura Ries at Ries’ Pieces. “And when companies panic, they print coupons and throw up sale signs. Look in your mailbox, your email inbox or your newspaper and you will see what I mean. Everybody is having a sale.”
There’s only one problem, she argues: Though deep discounting works in the short term, it causes long-term damage to your brand. This is why:
For some companies, the culture of discounting has spiraled out of control. “Try checking out of one of these stores without using a coupon and even the sales clerk looks at you like [you’re] a pathetic loser,” she says. “Nobody pays full price here, what’s the matter with you! She may even reach down to pull out a coupon of her own to give you.”
Resisting the urge to offer coupons isn’t easy—especially when everyone seems to be doing it. But protecting your brand now will provide better overall results in the long run.
As Ries sees it, discounting creates a lose-lose situation by lowering both your customer’s opinion of your brand and your profits.
Source: Ries’ Pieces.
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I had a truly wonderful experience on Saturday…
A week or so ago, I was contacted by a new client who wanted me to produce a dvd slideshow for him. Okay, no problem there. Then I found out the slideshow was to be played at the memorial service for his recently deceased father. Well, having lost my father just a couple of years ago it occurred to me that I had an opportunity to produce something really special.
I contacted Will Hawkins at Wilco Films who is my “all-things-video-and-film” superhero and got started on the project. The client sent over the images and music that was to be used and WIll (once again!) went above and beyond anyone’s expectations with regard to the quality of the work and the design/layout concept. The project was completed ahead of schedule and the client was absolutely satisfied with the preview of the finished piece.
Not wanted to leave anything to chance, I suggested (since this was all local) that I meet the client at the restaurant where the gathering was to take place. I was told that they had all of the equipment that would be needed and I just wanted to set things up, put the dvd in place, run the presentation and make sure everything went smoothly. Then I would hand over the finished DVD to the client so he could bring it to the Saturday event and play it in the DVD player…. simple right?
You know the answer already don’t you…
We arrived at the restaurant only to find that they had a PA system but absolutely nothing in the way of TV/DVD/Projector equipment other than a portable screen. This was Tuesday… the gathering was on Saturday.
Think fast wabbit…
Okay… I new I had my laptop with a digital copy of the presentation, and I knew someone who had a projector. I had (only a few weeks earlier) helped a client setup his new Epson projector and configure it to his laptop for presentations at his local Rotary Club. I rang Dr. Bob Turcios of Advanced Eyecare Optometry and he was gracious enough to let me borrow his projector for the event. Now with only a day or so to get this all together, and since I would have to used my own laptop for this, a decision was made that I would actually attend the event and run the presentation myself so I took everything back to my office, set everything up, configured it and made sure the presentation ran smoothly.
Saturday came and I arrived at the event to find a double sized meeting room filled with people. The setup went smoothly and went it came time for the presentation, the announcer called for a champagne toast and then I hit the play button… I must admit I held my breath for a second or two, but then the presentation started and the gathered friends and family fell quiet.
The presentation itself was less than 10 minutes long although it seemed much longer. As the music and slides played I watched and listened as certain groups connected with the music and specific images. It was incredibly gratifying to know that Will and I were responsible for producing this piece that touched people in a very special way. As I stood in the back of the room I could see people react to the images and hear the comments about… “oh I remember that” and “oh that’s so-and-so”. There were some tears and some laughter, and at the end there was some applause and smiles on almost all the faces.
I packed up my equipment quietly as the speakers and presenters continued and just before I left my client came up and let me know how grateful he was that I was able to make this happen for him. I told him I was very happy to have helped make this event special for him.
Sure Will and I got paid for this project, but on occasion, there are other things that make the work that I do so much more satisfying than just getting paid. This was one of those very very special projects that I will always remember working on.
It makes me smile thinking about it even now as I write this.
Take care,
Skip
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Choosing a good domain name for your blog or website is vital. Why?
Because the domain name is the corner stone of your online brand.
People will link to your site using your domain, your search
engine results will contain your domain and so on.
One common mistake people make when choosing a domain, however, is
to only consider the short term. That is, they figure what their
website will look like for the next three or four months, and they
buy a domain name around that idea.
Let’s suppose that a guy loves the Corvette cars, and he decides
to start a blog on that topic. After researching for a while he
purchases the domain CorvetteCentral.com. It is a good domain,
because it is short, descriptive, it has the main keywords in it and
so on.
The blog grows healthily, but after one year it reaches a plateau.
The guy realizes that in order to make the blog grow further he
would need to start covering other sport cars, and not only the
Corvette. Guess what… too late! He is already trapped with his
domain. At this point his choices are either to keep writing about
Corvettes and accept the fact that his audience will be limited to
fans of that car, or buy a new domain and start from scratch.
I have been in that position myself, and it is not cool.
If you don’t want to get trapped by your domain, you must plan
ahead.
Ask yourself how far you can take a website with the domain you own
or are planning to purchase. What limitations does it have?
Creating niche websites is not a bad idea per se, but you must be
aware that they have limited potential. If you want to create a
business out of your website or blog, then the domain name must
not limit you to a small niche or market segment.
Going back to the example above, a better domain would be
SportsCarsCentral.com or MySportCar.com. This would allow the
person to write about Corvettes the same way, but the moment the
wanted to expand beyond that, the domain would allow it.
source: DailyBlogTips january 11th, 2011
Crumbs from the Scone
If you want to step up your networking activities, but you’re not quite sure how, Rohit Bhargava has some advice. “The challenge isn’t how you can find more opportunities to network,” he writes at Influential Marketing, “but how to talk about business in an unobtrusive way.” To accomplish that goal, he offers tips like these:
Hone your conversational skills. Your networking strategy will fail before it begins if no one enjoys talking with you. According to Bhargava, great conversationalists ask leading questions, listen intently to answers and add their own personal stories to the mix.
Create a distinctive nametag. Bhargava decorates his nametags with a sticker of his book’s chicken icon. “People want to know why I have that sticker there,” he says, “and it gives me a chance not just to share the story of my book, but also to talk about my philosophy of business—which is that personality matters.”
Make friends with introducers. “These are the people,” he says, “who always come to a moment in their conversations where they say something like ‘oh, you do _______? You should talk to _____.'” Introducers are more likely to provide introductions, he notes, when you’ve made a favorable impression with your conversational ability.
Respect the nature of the event. Unless you’re at a networking event—when you can dive right in—always evaluate the situation before you start talking business.
“You should feel comfortable [networking] in every situation, as long you can avoid becoming that blowhard at an event who won’t stop trying to sell his or her company at every moment,” says Bhargava.
Source: Influential Marketing.
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Heads up: The age-old “sales funnel” metaphor—consumers begin their decision-making with a large number of options in mind and narrow their choices to an eventual sale—fails to capture the shifting nature of consumer engagement in the digital age, warns David C. Edelman in a recent article at the Harvard Business Review.
As a result, many companies could be wasting precious branding dollars, Edelman contends. “What has changed is when—at what touch points—[consumers] are most open to influence, and how you can interact with them at those points,” he explains.
He cites an article in the McKinsey Quarterly that redefines the sales process in terms of the “consumer decision journey” (CDJ). Briefly, these are the steps in that journey:
Unlike in the days of the sales funnel, today’s consumers often limit their considerations at this first stage, Edelman notes.
Evaluate. At this stage, consumers seek input from peers, reviewers, retailers—and the brand and its competitors. Be there to answer questions, he advises.
Buy. Increasingly, consumers put off a purchase decision until they’re actually in a store, Edelman says. “Thus, point of purchase … is an ever more powerful touch point.”
Enjoy, advocate, bond. This is perhaps the biggest change from the sales-funnel model, Edelman contends. Post-sale behavior has taken on vastly new importance as the consumer interacts with the product and with new online touch points after a purchase.
The shift to a CDJ-driven strategy takes three steps, according to Edelman:
- Understand your consumers’ decision journey.
- Determine which touch points are priorities and how to leverage them.
- Allocate resources accordingly.
Put your money on interaction. To best serve today’s consumers, companies need to spruce up their Internet presence and encourage more consumer feedback (chats, testimonials, brand pages)—before and after a purchase.
Source: Harvard Business Review.
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You know online content should have a more conversational tone than other marketing materials. But remember that “informality” isn’t a one-size-fits-all proposition. “Conversational style has room for plenty of variation,” says Rick Sloboda of Webcopyplus. “For example, a conversation with your banker will differ from a conversation with your spouse.”
To find the right tone for your customers, Sloboda has tips like these:
Keep your voice active—not passive. A simple change from “You will be contacted by the next business day” to “We will contact you by the next business day” makes the statement appear less stiff and more trustworthy. “Web copy in passive voice sounds more formal,” he explains, “but it can also sound vague, unreliable and possibly deceptive.”
Recognize the importance of contractions. While you don’t want to overuse contractions, consider how they transform “Do not hesitate to give us a call. We would be happy to help you” into the far more inviting “Don’t hesitate to call us. We’d be happy to help.”
Keep paragraphs short. Big blocks of text look daunting when someone’s browsing online. So stick to brief paragraphs. And even include the occasional one-liner: “These are great for emphasis,” says Sloboda, “and invoke a casual tone.”
Mix formal and informal vocabulary. Real-world conversations tend to draw words from across the formal-informal spectrum. So make your content “sound” more realistic by balancing highbrow (substantial/myriad/numerous) with lowbrow (plenty/lots/tons).
Reach out to your customers with a more relaxed online tone, but don’t get sloppy about grammar and spelling. It’s one thing to let your hair down—another entirely to look unkempt.
Source: Webcopyplus.
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“I love to do business with small businesses—in-store, online, for myself, for others, for pleasure, for work—it doesn’t matter to me,” writes Guy Kawasaki at his eponymous blog. Based on his experiences, he has 10 tips for making the customer experience enchanting. Here are four:
Staff your frontline with personable, passionate employees. Customers want to interact with friendly people who care about your product or service and know what they’re talking about. “Ask yourself this question,” he says. “Is the first impression of my business a good one? Because if it’s a bad one, it may also be the last one.”
Build a customer’s trust by trusting your customer. If you need inspiration, Kawasaki cites Nordstrom’s famously liberal return policy, which clearly indicates that the retailer thinks highly of its customers. “If you trust me, I’ll trust you, and we can build a relationship.”
Avoid placing unnecessary barriers in the path to a sale. When someone wants to do business with you, make it as easy and painless as possible. “Don’t ask people to fill out 10 fields of personal information to open an account,” he cautions. “Don’t throw up a CAPTCHA system that requires fluency in Sanskrit.”
Deliver bad news sooner rather than later. Even the best-run companies encounter the occasional problem, and withholding information from customers is a mistake—especially if they figure out what’s wrong before you get around to telling them. “[L]et them know how you’ll solve the problem at the same time that you’re letting them know it exists,” he suggests.
The single most powerful way to enchant me is a ‘yes’ attitude,” says Kawasaki. We’ll bet most of your customers—and potential customers—would agree.
Source: Guy Kawasaki.
Crumbs from the Scone
In a recent post at Bazaarblog, Tara DeMarco reports on author Erik Qualman’s concept of the “social media escalator.” It’s his design for the graceful entry of businesses into the social realm. According to Qualman, no one would walk up to a group of people at a party and say, “Excuse me … Can we talk about why I’m great for the next five minutes?” But that’s what far too many businesses are doing at social sites, he argues: They jump in and immediately begin selling.
Instead, Qualman suggests, businesses need to take these four steps to enter social media the right way:
Step 1: Listen. See what people are saying about your brand, your products and your industry before jumping in.
Step 2: Interact. Join the conversation in a way that adds value. “You have to contribute to conversations people are already having to gain an audience,” DeMarco notes.
Step 3: React. “If 70 percent of people are saying they like something about your product, how quickly [are you] changing your product to deliver more of what they like?” DeMarco asks. Conversely, if people are talking about what they don’t like about your product or brand, how quickly are you working to fix it? This stage is where many companies drop the ball, she notes.
Step 4: Sell. Now is the perfect time to seamlessly add in a little self-promotion. “If you’re reacting to customer feedback to constantly improve your offering, selling will come naturally,” DeMarco says.
You, too, can master the social graces. Businesses can best enter social sites by listening, adding value to the conversation and responding to customer preferences. The final, selling stage then becomes a natural part of the process.
Source: Bazaarblog.
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Every email list is going to have subscribers who sign up and then apparently vanish. “They may have opted in to a specific offer, then disengaged once they obtained the coupon, free content or other benefit you promised,” writes Karen Talavera at MarketingProfs. “Or they joined your list while in the market for your product or service but soon afterward their needs were met and they never bothered to unsubscribe.”
Inactive subscribers frustrate marketers because we don’t know what went wrong. Reasons they ignore us include realizing our product or service isn’t a good fit, waiting patiently for more relevant content, or fuming over bad customer service. In other words, it could be just about anything.
So, how can you deal effectively with inactives? Talavera offers this four-step strategy:
Conduct a reactivation campaign. Create an agreed-upon definition for “inactive” and reach out to that segment with special incentives for opting into your list once again, confirming permission or providing expanded information.
Make contact via social networks. “If you can get an active connection going in a social-media environment,” she says, “chances are the next time your email message arrives, that list member will pay more attention to it.”
Attempt offline communication. If you have an inactive’s telephone number or physical mailing address, go ahead and touch base. Those who “might be ignoring their inboxes or those who simply might have changed email addresses and need to provide you with the newest, most-relevant one, might well appreciate the contact,” she notes.
Reduce frequency, or cease contact. “You don’t need to wipe them off your list,” she says. “Simply don’t email them as much, unless and until they show an increase in responsiveness.”
Connect or disconnect. Inactives on your list aren’t harmless; their presence can damage your metrics and deliverability. Get them to re-engage, or let them go.
Source: MarketingProfs.
In a post at his Marketing Minute blog, Drew McLellan talks about the frustration he felt every time he made deposits at his bank. “Like most bank drive-throughs,” he says, “they have a commercial lane on the far left and then several ‘everybody and anybody’ lanes to the right of that.” The commercial lane at this branch, however, has a few impediments; it curves to the right and is hemmed in by large poles that keep cars from running into the building.
