Strategy

A recent post You Probably Mistreat Your Best Clients, by Tim Berry on his Planning Startup Stories got me thinking about a corollary … Do businesses treat their new hires better than their existing long-term employees?

Berry asks: Do your long-term loyal clients get the worst treatment? Do they pay the highest rates? Do you take them for granted? Do you give new customers better rates than existing customers?

Many pundits, organizations, governments, universities, authors, bloggers, and companies are proud to announce to one and all that “Their employees are their most valuable assets.” But is it really true? Do they really treat those employees as most valuable? Ask yourself the same questions, but substitute employees for clients and customers.

Do your long-term loyal employees get the worst treatment?

Do you take your long-term employees for granted? Do your long-term employees become invisible, competently doing those behind-the-scenes support roles so well that management just sort of assumes they will always be there? Do they perform their jobs so well that they are never considered for promotion or new opportunities? So necessary, yet so overlooked.

Do they get paid the highest salaries or the lowest? Have your people’s salaries kept pace with inflation and the cost of living?  Do your most senior employees have less spendable income now than when they were hired? In some companies, especially those teetering on the edge of the cash flow abyss, it is entirely possible that they are now in violation of Wage and Hour laws because Federal and State Minimum wage amounts jumped ahead of what some people make, especially as many companies chose to forgo employee raises in 2009.  That’s easy to test, for yourself: take the suspect salaries and compare them to the minimums.

Do you give new employees better salaries than existing employees? This one is prevalent in many businesses. It’s not that companies intentionally set out to short-change their long-term employees. It’s just that COL raises never keep pace with inflation, but new employees seek jobs with starting salaries commensurate with the current job market. The loyal, stable, current employee suddenly finds that the new hire, often in a lower tier in the organizational structure, is being paid more than they are, after putting in years of service building a successful company. And here’s a good test of that one: if you had to hire a new person to replace your existing one, would you have to pay more than their salary, or less?

Does it cost more to get a new employee or keep an existing one? Most companies know that the cost of losing an employee, and recruiting and training a new one, is very high. That’s in the business literature everywhere. Still, as a reminder, this is a paraphrase of a marketing axiom that it costs more to get a new customer than to keep an existing one. This can apply to employees as well. Remember, in this context, that there is the productivity lost when the employee is no longer present. Next come the costs for advertising, screening, interviewing and filling the position. Then there are the losses during training periods, where you have two people (trainee and trainer) working at less than peak performance. In some cases the company loses skills and knowledge that can never be reacquired.

Those loyal long-term employees can save you from Santayana’s Law of Repetitive Consequences, i.e., “Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it.” A “new” hot marketing program idea, for example, may turn out to be a complete waste of time and money … just like the last time it was tried … reinventing the flat tire, as it were … if there is no one left in the company who remembered when it flopped before.

Your long-term employees are the folks that helped you start up and grow your company to where it is today. They were key to the foundation of your venture, and now provide continuity between where you have been and where and what you plan to become.

Steve Lange

Senior Editor
Palo Alto Software

————————————–
A message from Palo Alto Software’s CEO  Sabrina Parsons: Steve is right! And the good thing is, as a long term employee who retires today,  Steve was a very welcome part of the team who will be missed. A message from Steve about retiring:

“What a long strange trip it’s been…” Ok, so I’m not part of the Grateful Dead –”I’m not dead yet. Too old to rock ‘n’ roll; too young to die.” — but I can certainly be one of the Grateful Retired.

Twelve years! That’s the longest I worked at any one job, and the longest I worked in any one industry. Whodathunkit.
Lots happened at Palo Alto during that time, and I traveled and learned as I participated in that journey.

Thanks to all of you for your friendship, your encouragement, and for laughing at my awful puns.

“Adventure’s out there!” — UP!

Steve

Tags: employees, human resources, long-term employees, news, personnel
Posted on January 29th, 2010 | 1 Comment »

Fascinating story in the New York Times about a New York based H & M clothing store destroying unsold merchandise and then dumping it into the trash. The article points out that in NYC, a third of the city is considered “poor” and in need of warm clothes, coats, hats and shoes. Finding bags and bags worth of unsold clothing destroyed and abandoned was pointed out as being unnecessarily wasteful on the part of the store management.

The other side of this coin, however, is the cost of business.

Where a consumer sees un-necessary waste, a business sees a program to safeguard their interest and business health.

Let’s say it becomes general knowledge that H&M will throw away racks and racks of perfectly good clothing at the end of every season. Would a consumer still be willing to go into the store and purchase that adorable green coat for $129 dollars if they could dumpster dive for it three months later for free?

After this article in the NYTimes ran, H&M released a statement saying they would no longer use this practice of disposing unsold product. Instead they would donate it to a local charity for dispersal to people who truly need it. [Kudos to them for seeing the need to react swiftly and decisively to a growing negative public discussion]

Interestingly enough, H&M Corporate has an entire section on their website dedicated to “Corporate Responsibility” which shows a real commitment to sustainability.  This incident could have been a case of a single store not wanting to take the trouble to follow policy.

For the sake of business, I would love to know what this is going to do to this particular store’s bottom line. I am assuming they were destroying in field for a reason, not just for the fun of slashing hundreds and hundreds of items. There’s a cost to everything a business does. From shipping to restocking to disposing of the fabric in a “proper” manner. At what point in this decision process did the end game tip from “this is what we should do” to “this is what we will do”.

So, if you are H&M, what do you do? Continue to destroy clothing to avoid loss of sales and market saturation…. or switch to a more sustainable method and go through a charitable agency to donate that unused clothing?

‘Chelle Parmele

Tags: going green, H & M, sustainability
Posted on January 8th, 2010 | No Comments »

In a new article on Mplans.com, Fiona Friesen, president and founder of Glue, outlines why your business needs a Marketing Kit as part of your strategy to convert potential customers to loyal ideal clients.

1) It keeps your marketing efforts consistent
2) It tells customers why they need you
3) It keeps you on track
4) It keeps you flexible
5) It saves you time

Fiona Friesen is a certified Duct Tape Marketing Coach located in Calgary, AB, Canada.

Click here to read Fiona’s entire article.

Tags: Duct Tape Marketing Coach, Fiona Friesen, Marketing, marketing kit, marketing strategy
Posted on December 7th, 2009 | No Comments »

The world of testimonials is changing and with it are some incredible opportunities to strengthen your credibility in the marketplace.  But the very first question I need to ask you is,

“Are you even collecting testimonials?”

Don’t panic if the answer is NO. Most of us aren’t as diligent as we can be in the collection process.  The main reason I hear is that people feel they need to ask for them.  While this certainly is one way, there are some other ways I find work extremely well.

1) RECAP – My favorite way to capture a strong testimonial is when someone has shared a success with me verbally.  When this happens to you, ask them right then and there if you could quote them for a testimonial.  When the answer is yes, take 2 minutes to type out the testimonial as you heard it.  Put it into an email to the source along with any other info you require (like a result or the link to their site, etc).  Ask them to confirm that this is correct and “ta da” you have your testimonial.

2) FEEDBACK FORMS – Once you have finished working with a customer, send them out a feedback form regarding the experience.  Add questions, like “how would you describe this experience to a friend” or “what is the biggest result/benefit you received?”  When you get some great responses, go back and ask if you can use this as a testimonial.

3) TESTIMONIAL PARTIES – I love connecting people so the idea of a testimonial party really appeals to me.  I got this idea from John Jantsch with Duct Tape Marketing and can’t wait to try it out.  Consider renting a videographer and asking individuals to record a structured testimonial or asking the videographer to approach attendees and capture testimonials.

4) PHONE IN TESTIMONIAL – Do you have an extra extension you can set up on your phone system, or perhaps just have individuals leave a voice mail message on your phone.  Either way your message or instructions can direct them as to what type of information they need to include and then you can either transcribe or use as audio samples on your site!

Capturing Killer Testimonials
Okay, so now you know how to collect them.  My next question to you is how strong are your testimonials?  Those that simply say you’re great or your product is great are what I call  “VANILLA”  or washed out testimonials.  Avoid run of the mill and aim for RESULTS and testimonials that point out what makes you different or better than others in your industry.  In order to garner stronger testimonials, you need to ASK for this type of information.  Consider encouraging your sources to share the following:

Why they chose you
What they were expecting
What they ended up getting
How that helped them and/or exceeded their expectations.
Why would they recommend others should work with you?

Answers to questions like this will get you some KILLER TESTIMONIALS!

Types of  Testimonials

While text emails are great, these days it’s becoming a no-brainer to add audio and video testimonials as well.  The technology has made this super easy.  Digital Recorders and VOIP phone systems will conveniently record in MP3 or WAV formats.  Inexpensive Digital Video Cameras are on the market to record your own video testimonials and services from companies like BizBoxTV have made it cost effective to get nicely produced videos as well.  When your product or service is emotion based or complex, I highly encourage you to use audio and video!

WHERE

Of course your testimonials should go on your website.  But I hope you don’t hide them under some lame tab called testimonials!  Be creative.  Pepper them throughout your website, or rotate them in your header or along one side.  At the very least, change the name of the tab, to “What OTHERS have to say”

Remember to also use your testimonials in promotional pieces and sales presentations.  Why not add them to your email signature or even to your business card?  The opportunities are endless and remember: we always gain more credibility when OTHERS say we’re great!

Cidnee Stephen is the owner of Strategies for Success – a marketing company that focuses on the needs of budget-minded small businesses and professional services. She has helped hundreds of small businesses get out of their peak and valley ruts to finally achieve that next vital level of success. Cidnee is also a sought-after speaker, writer and blogger on marketing topics that affect small businesses and B2B service based operations.

If you would like to build a system to reach those goals quicker, check out Cindee’s Speak for Leads & Expertise Program.

Tags: Cidnee Stephen, Duct Tape Marketing Coach, news, testimonials
Posted on November 11th, 2009 | No Comments »

“I don’t get no respect!” That was Rodney Dangerfield’s catchphrase.

I say this is terribly true today in the universe of electronic communications where, I point out, it is we that don’t give any respect. In our typing and our composition we are lazy, slovenly, careless, thoughtless, nonchalant — in short, downright disrespectful — and we don’t seem give a whatever about it…until we get no respect ourselves. Then we’re upset.

• We misspell names of people and businesses.
• We incorrectly name businesses and organizations.
• We ignore capitalization of proper names and trademark names.
• We misquote people, using incorrect words.
• We type famous quotes, but attribute them to the wrong people.
• We don’t check our sources to see if they are real or a hoax.
• We post and publish incorrect links.

Yeah, yeah, so what? Who cares? You know, you know what I mean.

Businesses can’t be so cavalier. Their success depends on enforceable copyrights, brand name identification, proper use of product names, tag lines, quotes, successful SEO, correct URLs, etc.

To start with, misspelling someone’s name is just plain rude. Our names, our choice of spelling, our inclusion of middle names, initials, nicknames are an integral part of how we present ourselves to the world, and how we see, hold, and validate ourselves. When you misspell or incorrectly capitalize someone’s name you are directly insulting them. In my opinion they have every right to be angry.

A misspelling could mean a reader couldn’t find a volume, and an author doesn’t sell a book. A misspelling could mean an innocent person can be harassed for the financial dealings of some ne’er-do-well.

For bloggers and online authors, misspelling other peoples’ names can alienate those folks, and the important trackbacks, reciprocal links and mutual admiration referrals and recommendations may never materialize for you.

When someone reviews our Business Plan Pro product but calls it, say BizinessPro Writer, we lose customers. It can, and will happen to your product as well. When you refer to a product or company or website, check to be sure you are using the correct name.

Ignoring capitalization of letters in names can cause confusion, and possibly a loss of copyright protection. For instance, we all know that Twitter is the proper name of a social communication network, and twitter is a bird song. The soft drink is spelled Coke, but coke is a narcotic and a coal derivative used in making steel.

As another example, take jello. Jell-O [note the capitalization now, if you haven't before] is the protected trade-name, but it has become a generic word for any type of gelatin-based dessert. Go to the store and you’ll see Knox, Royal, a local private label maybe, but to the customer they are all jello and they don’t care which one they buy. You can be sure that Jell-O cares.

Adobe’s Photoshop is well on its way to becoming an eponymous term. Now anytime someone makes a casual remark about manipulating pictures, they say they photoshoped it, regardless of which digital image editing software program they actually used.

It costs businesses billions annually in marketing branding efforts to keep their brand names visible, unique, known and purchased. But lazy, thoughtless, careless typing works everyday to negate the value of your marketing efforts.

No end of trouble, misinterpretation, bad feelings, feuds, lawsuits, destroyed public images and reputations have come about because of misquoting. Something as small as a single letter or two (could, would, should) can change the entire meaning of your business’ publicly made statement of concern to one of callous indifference, and the survival of your company.

Many quotes from literature and famous people from years past have slipped into our vernacular. They are often misquoted and misattributed. Brush up your Shakespeare by Michael Macrone has an entire chapter on popular phrases which people think came from the Bard, but did not. “The long and the short of it” “Nor Hell a fury, like a woman scorn’d” “Fool’s Paradise” are just few.

This problem is certainly not limited to age-old authors. “Play it again, Sam” – was a line never spoken by Ingrid Bergman or Humphrey Bogart in Casablanca. “Houston, we have a problem.” This is a misstatement of the actual communication between the Apollo 13 astronauts and Mission Control in Houston. Your credibility suffers when you incorrectly quote, or assign the words to the wrong person.

Recently, the U.K. mainstream media was caught not checking their sources adequately. They printed quotes from an elegy for Michael Jackson, from a Twitter post ostensibly by Foreign Secretary, David Miliband. The tweet was actually by a Twitter impostor, a case of identity theft. A significant lapse in due diligence. It damaged the public position of the Foreign Secretary, and discredited the reputation and trustworthiness of those media.

Posting bad links is sloppy and unnecessary. At best, it irritates readers who get the 404 Errors, or end up on a page that has nothing to do with the original publishing. Worse, a bad link loses customers/visitors/business at the intended link. If the author gets affiliate or click-through revenue, publishing a link without checking its accuracy is like throwing money away.

It is time we electronic digital communicators put some polite respect back into our writings. Use spell checkers, proof read, double check and spell correctly the names of people, businesses and products. Don’t assume you’ve got it right. The power of the Internet is just a click away.

After all, if you expect to be respected, you have to show the same respect to others.

Steve Lange
Palo Alto Software

Tags: branding, business writing, capitalization, copyright, names, news, polite, proof read, quotes, respect, spelling
Posted on October 22nd, 2009 | No Comments »

How much is your data worth? If you are a customer of T-Mobile using their Sidekick mobile device, all your personal data, pictures, contacts, emails, calendars, etc., which you had stored with them is worth one month’s service plan fees.

So, do you agree? Well, that’s what T-Mobile is offering users who lost all their data when the Microsoft/Danger network crashed earlier this month, without an adequate backup in place. Unrecoverable is the word they are using.

Now, here is the question every single one of you have to ask yourselves: “In case of a disaster/crash/hack, is my business’ data backed up and recoverable?”

Really now, think hard. If this can happen to mobile phone data, it can happen to your business’ vital records. If all your data…your accounting, your payroll, your invoicing, AR/AP, customer records, serial numbers, inventory, development plans, R&D reports, whatever, was lost, unrecoverable, would your business survive? And if it could survive, what would it cost you in money, time, cash, personnel resources, capital resources, lost customers, investment, fulfillment delays, dividends, tax inquiries, profits, and money to recreate those records, or blindly grope ahead without them? More or less than one month’s service fee do you suppose?

Those of us who started in computers with punch cards (”what are those?” some of you ask) and aged along with mainframes and Apple IIs, floppy disks and LANS have always been conscious of the need for data backup. Always, that is, since our first hard drive got reformatted at the repair shop who promised us we didn’t need to do a tape-drive backup.

The worlds of speculative fiction have, for years, been full of stories imagining and describing the dire consequences of data loss. It could be political opponents, war, criminals, business competitors, presonal enemies, preteen hackers, spies, hurricanes, earthquakes, solar flares, nuclear-powered satellites exploding, or even aliens that cause the data-loss crisis. Unlike books, TV and movies, though, the heroes (you and your business) won’t suddenly be saved by the deus ex machina in the last 3 minutes … unless, that is, you’ve already invested the resources of time and money into data backup.

Cloud computing, wireless access anywhere, online applications and remote-server-hosted data can certainly be a boon to business, but this foul-up clearly displays the hazards inherent in having your data stored elsewhere.

Understand this! Once you hand over your data to someone else, it is no longer exclusively yours.

There is no possible guarantee that your vital records won’t be, with evil intent, hacked, perused, copied and sold, simply stolen, corrupted or, by accident, just plain lost, deleted, or unrecoverable. Each technological generation becomes enamored of the possibilities and capabilities of the gizmos we invent. We can’t help it. It is, then, up to we geezers, ancients, oldsters and curmudgeons to holler:

“HEY! Pay attention! It is going to break! There are going to be screwups! Someone is going to mess with it! Watch out! Protect yourself now!” “We know this because it happened to us!”

So, if you’ve embraced the-sky-is-the-limit cloud computing, you owe it to your business and its survival to buy some information insurance, as it were, and back up all your data locally, and frequently. This doesn’t have to be on-site necessarily, but out of the clouds and firmly on the ground. Because, really, seriously, once your data is gone, the likelihood of successful disaster recovery is mighty slim. You are S-O-L.

Steve Lange
Senior Editor, and Oldster who’s lost data before
Palo Alto Software

Tags: cloud computing, data backup, data loss, disaster, news, recovery, unrecoverable
Posted on October 14th, 2009 | 3 Comments »

Since start-up funding and growth financing for small- and medium-sized businesses has been in such short supply these past couple years, I thought posting about this CNNMoney.com / Fortune Small Business article on finding novel local investment would be a welcome change.

The article, originally published earlier in September, is about owners of several types of small businesses which opened, recovered, or expanded during the current economic crunch because local patrons were willing to invest in their favorite local businesses. Several types of money raising programs are discussed, including VIP cards/treatment for shareholders, $600 store and restaurant certificates sold for $500 (20% is a pretty good ROI), as well as “shares”.

Businesses showcased include restaurants, bookstores, pub/bar, and a fair-trade retail gift store. The focus of these financing efforts is on encouraging customers to become patrons or shareholders. And shareholders are a loyal customer base. Local shareholders feel vested in the company and want you to succeed.

Look to your customer base and your community. Including them as participants in your business and fostering a buy-local awareness could bring you that shot-in-the-arm financial boost to success.

Read the entire Love a local business? Buy a share article.

Steve Lange
Palo Alto Software

Tags: community, existing business, financing, funding, investment, new business, news, patronage, shareholders
Posted on September 29th, 2009 | No Comments »

We need to start using some new improved superlatives in our marketing copy. “Great!” you say. Yes, that’s the one. Great really grates on me. Great is so overused that it may as well be blank space. Great carries all the impact of a cotton puff.

Now, there was a time when great really meant something. Take Alexander the Great, king of Macedonia, conqueror of lands, founder of cities for example. Now, he is great. Somehow I just can’t see Product XX’s great online resources changing the political and demographic history of three continents.

Or maybe Ramesses II, Egyptian pharaoh of the Nineteenth dynasty, known as the Great. Can you imagine the great new flavor of Processed Food XXX ruling unchallenged for 66 years, causing the building of cities and monumental sculptures that survive for 3,500 years? Or inspiring poetry such as P.B. Shelley’s Ozymandias “My name is Ozymandias, king of kings: Look on my works, ye Mighty, and despair!”?

OK. Actually, I CAN look on Processed Food XXX and despair. But Processed Food XXX great?!?! Not a chance.

The Great Barrier Reef off Australia’s east coast is truly Great. The reef system is thousands of kilometers long, and hosts a diversity of corals and sea life unmatched on the globe. Somehow it just seems insulting to compare it to the great customer (dis)service system of Company XXXX.

So let’s stop claiming every new and old product or service is great. After all, when every thing is great, nothing is great.

There are plenty of under-utilized superlatives available. Pick up a thesaurus or a dictionary and take a look. Click over to Thesaurus.reference.com, Merriam-Webster.com’s Thesaurus or any of the other online thesauri and peruse some of the

august, capital, chief, commanding, dignified, distinguished, eminent, exalted, excellent, famed, famous, fine, glorious, grand, heroic, high-minded, highly regarded, honorable, idealistic, illustrious, impressive, leading, lofty, magnanimous, main, major, noble, notable, noted, noteworthy, outstanding, paramount, primary, principal, prominent, puissant, regal, remarkable, renowned, royal, stately, sublime, superior, superlative, talented, able, absolute, aces, adept, admirable, adroit, awesome, bad*, best, brutal, cold*, complete, consummate, crack*, downright, dynamite, egregious, exceptional, expert, fab, fantastic, fine, first-class*, first-rate, good, heavy*, hellacious, marvelous, masterly, number one, out of sight, out of this world, out-and-out, perfect, positive, proficient, super-duper, surpassing, terrific, total, tough, transcendent, tremendous, unmitigated, unqualified, utter, wonderful, abundant, ample, big, big league, bulky, bull, colossal, considerable, decided, enormous, excessive, extended, extensive, extravagant, extreme, fat, gigantic, grievous, high, huge, humongous, husky, immense, inordinate, jumbo, lengthy, long, major league, mammoth, mondo, numerous, oversize, prodigious, prolonged, pronounced, protracted, strong, stupendous, terrible, titanic, towering, tremendous, vast, voluminous,

alternatives to great. It is time to spice up and enliven our marketing language.

Steve Lange
Palo Alto Software

Tags: adjectives, advertising, creative marketing, descriptors, great, marketing copy, news, spelling, super, superlatives, tips
Posted on September 3rd, 2009 | 1 Comment »

Both Business Plan Pro and Marketing Plan Pro powered by Duct Tape Marketing stress the importance of understanding your target market. Who needs your products or services, and values them? What can you do for them that nobody else can? What factors drive their purchasing decisions, and how do you build and retain their loyalty? And just as important; who do you NOT want as a customer?

Assuming you’ve done your homework, or are already in business and know your customers very, very well, you then have the tricky job of re-working your product or service or brand or customer service approach (or all of the above) to most appeal to the people you really want to get and keep as customers.

You want these people to see themselves and their needs, or maybe their ideal selves, in every interaction they have with you, your company, your products, etc.

If you are selling high-tech gadgets to new entrepreneurs, you do not package it in plain brown wrapping paper tied with string, sent book-rate.

I was struck recently by the weird design choices that can result from a process (or perhaps a decision-maker) who was not clear on their target market. Back in July, Chris Ryan of The Apple Blog reviewed the history of some key apple icons.

He noted in passing that some applications “have also seen different icons with new versions.” He’s not kidding. The visual example he offers is for Apple Keynote, a presentation application.

Let’s take a closer look at what the icon history is showing about how Apple understood and tried to engage their target market.

The icon for Keynote 2003 shows a polished wood lectern with classic ionic columns, symbolic of neoclassical architecture and, more broadly, established, secure institutions. It also boasts a built-in electronic microphone. The podium evokes a crowded lecture hall at an elite college, where learning bridges tradition and innovation.

In 2005, Keynote 2 has a radically different iconography. Our translucent glass lectern now sits atop a polished metal base, the electronic component is more pronounced, and the contents of the presentation, rather than the structural features of the podium, are the focus. This is an icon aimed at the high-tech business person, presenting financial or marketing data in a corporate environment.

What happened between 2003 and 2005 to cause this change?

Well, Apple’s iPod had created a major buzz, even among PC users, a factor Apple took advantage of with the release of the Mac mini, aimed at getting PC owners to switch to Mac at little cost.

The ongoing Microsoft/Apple feud saw Apple winning out in design during this same year. As John Markoff of the New York Times noted in May, 2003, “Apple executives took obvious glee last week in noting that the software centerpiece of the Microsoft conference, new graphics software that is scheduled to appear in “Longhorn,” Microsoft’s 2005 version of its Windows operating system, apes features that have been in Apple’s OS X operating system since 2001.” (Longhorn was the working codename for Windows Vista, finally released in 2008.)

Since 2001, the general wisdom has been that PCs running Windows Office are the overwhelming default in corporate America, where IT departments want to standardize the proprietary software on their entire structure’s collection of computers. Apple, on the other hand, was for “cool,” leading-edge, personal use. The rogue employee with the Powerbook was invariably on the cutting edge of technology, compared to his desktop tower, PC cubicle-farm colleagues.

Apple’s Keynote 2 icon brings that leading edge, high-tech vision of the Mac user to the corporate boardroom. It presents a direct challenge to the notion that Microsoft Windows, and specifically PowerPoint, are the hallmark of a successful business presenter.

So far, so good.

So what happened?

Keynote 4, released in 2007, is an unnatural muddle of the two target markets that were so beautifully, and so clearly, addressed by the earlier icons. They have retained the metal base, but it’s now topped by a plain wood platform. The microphone has shrunk again, and the presentation, now centered and squared, is in plain black and white.

Their new target market appears to be an aesthetically challenged accountant, sent at the last minute to present the quarterly report to a tech-savvy audience with whom he is not entirely comfortable. I can almost see him, nervously brushing his comb-over across his sweating pate in the glare of the stage lights…

So, was there new market research that told them this was, in fact, the high-growth market niche they wanted? Or did some desperate marketing executive tell the product development team they were losing their appeal to the academic market, and try to bridge both worlds without enough thought?

Lesson for your business – if you have two (or more) distinct market segments you are trying to serve, don’t confuse them. Don’t try to talk to one with the language or iconography of the other. Either come up with a single, coherent design and approach that speaks to both, or split your offerings and marketing materials so that your desired customers know for sure that you’re addressing them, and their needs.

Tags: branding, news
Posted on August 11th, 2009 | No Comments »

As part of your Customer Service, your team must pay attention to the voice mail messages of your customers. Almost all of us have answering machines or voice mail capabilities on our home phones, office phones, and cellular phones. And we all leave some kind of outgoing message on those systems, sometimes humorous, sometimes dull and stilted, most often direct and giving the basic facts: you have reached *name*, leave a message after the tone and we’ll call you back.

Now here’s the question. When you place the call and are connected to voice mail, how often do you tune out the message while waiting for the tone? There’s the point. For many of us, the voice mail’s greeting message is so routine we ignore it completely. And there we show our disrespect for our customers. And in doing so, harm our own businesses.

As an example, not too long ago we received a message on our home voice mail. It was from a lawyer, we’ll call him Mr. A. Turney. Mr. A. Turney was leaving a message for Mr. Cheung about a current legal issue, and needed Mr. Cheung to return his call right away. To me this was an obvious miskeying of the phone number. I figured Mr. A. Turney would call Mr. Cheung the next day when he hadn’t heard from him.

The next day we had another message from Mr. A. Turney, telling Mr. Cheung, in a slightly irritated voice, to return his call right away. Now, this was kind of funny, since at that time, I was in the habit of telling jokes on our outgoing message, and my voice has a rather slight Pacific Northwest accent, with minor hints of my Upper Midwest Scandinavian background. And to tell the truth, I doubt very much that Mr. Cheung would be telling jokes on his business phone voice mail.

The third day came, and to my surprise Mr. A. Turney left us another message. He was getting quite exasperated. I can just see him, sitting at his desk, pressing redial on his phone, and busily multi-tasking, writing his torts and retorts, while cluelessly ignoring my joke for the third time. Now, I was getting a little irritated myself. So that evening I called Mr. A. Turney’s office and told HIS voice mail that he’d been leaving messages for Mr. Cheung at the wrong phone number all week. Then I changed our outgoing message to tell a somewhat unflattering lawyer joke. Unfortunately, I didn’t have Mr. Cheung’s number, or I would have called him to let him know that his lawyer was severely lacking in attention to detail.

Thursday night we returned home, and sure enough Mr. A. Turney had left yet another message for Mr. Cheung. Obviously he didn’t listen to our message with the ribald lawyer joke, or at least he didn’t deign to mention it, nor had he listened to his OWN voice mail messages, telling him he was barking up the wrong telephone pole. But wouldn’t you have thought he’d have figured out that something was wrong after almost a week of unreturned calls about a pending legal issue?

Here are a few things to consider in your Customer Service contacts with VoiceMail:

• If you are a business, use a business-like outgoing greeting on your voice mail, including your business name.
• When you, a Customer Care Team member, call someone and you get sent to voice mail, listen to the message. Don’t dismiss the message content out of hand. There is good information there. You might find that the person you want is out of the office for a week. Or that they have moved or left the company. You might find a different number to call. Or you might discover you are calling the wrong number.
• If you promised you would return a call to a customer, follow through on that promise. Your customer is waiting for your call. Leave the pertinent information on their voice mail, and if possible, call them back, later, to confirm that they got your message.
• If the voice mail greeting you encounter is a non sequitur, it should be a clear hint that perhaps you have miskeyed the number, or perhaps been given an incorrect number by your customer. In that case you should put in a little extra effort to contact them by email, or look them up in the phone book.
• If you persist in leaving messages on an incorrect voice mail you disserve your current customer, and you’re almost certain to alienate a potential new customer. I know that I won’t be going to Mr. A. Turney for my legal work. He didn’t listen to me before when he thought I was his client…why would I believe he’d listen to me if I truly was?

Show your customers that you respect them, and value your communications with them. Listen to what they have to say.

p.s. I’ve not received a voice mail from Mr. A. Turney recently. Probably Mr. Cheung hired a new lawyer since Mr. A. Turney was obviously ignoring his legal needs because Mr. A. Turney never called him back.

Tags: communication, customer service, news, telephone messages, voice mail
Posted on July 27th, 2009 | 1 Comment »