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Category: Personal Development

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Leadership Marketing Personal Development

Do Your Employees and Consumers Share the Values of Your Company?

These days, it seems like every company has their values plastered on a wall plaque for all employees, vendors, and consumers to see. Within these values, companies typically proclaim their morals and principals by way of truthful, positive terminology—words such as “integrity”, “morality”, and “honesty” can commonly be found. While some companies talk about equality, operating for the greater good, or even improving the world around them through these values, people reading that plaque will not be satisfied by such broad terms and goals. Employees and customers need to know that a relationship with your company is simply the right move.

It can be tough—many companies try to avoid political issues to maintain their core values. It’s in their best interest to stay “safe” as to not appear one-sided. Once any issue, no matter how basic, becomes politicized, it is then considered a “political issue”. If a company has some employees whose loved ones would be affected by deportation, for example, they still may stay silent since it is such a sensitive issue.

Can a company really claim they are environmentally friendly if their products are packaged in non-recyclable plastics? Do they exhibit good character if they have a large carbon footprint? Actions speak louder than words. If your company’s actions do not exhibit the same values as your company’s words, it will be tough to justify. You don’t want to be forced to take a stand on an issue where you seem two-faced.

Taking sides is risky, no matter how ethically “good” or “bad” the issue may seem. We made a decision to publicly support such groups whose intentions were considered to hurt the economy. These non-profit conservation groups included The League to Save Lake Tahoe, an anti-water pollution group, The Surfrider Foundation, who cleaned debris from oceanic waterfronts, and the Mono Lake Committee, who supported Mono Lake and Mono Basin’s restoration. Their mission meant a decrease in the greater LA Metro area’s water consumption.

The above issues were “political issues”, and we were told not to take a stance one way or another, no matter how unethical we thought either side was. During the AIDS epidemic of the early 90s, we publicly supported the LGBT community. This time, too, we were warned not to choose sides.

Our risk paid off. History wound up being on our side, but these groups also became promoters of our brand, not to mention devoted customers. Of course, with such a risk, we suffered some backlash. However, over time, the “opponents” on these issues eventually changed their views as they became more knowledgeable. Even if there were some people who didn’t share our views on these marginalized issues, any new product needs customers. Those who stood by our “political views” formed the foundation of our consumer base. They saw us as early supporters.

At the end of the day, as a new business, we couldn’t afford to play it safe. If your company doesn’t speak up about issues concerning race, sexuality, or anything that makes someone marginalized, are you sticking to your core values? Could you confidently say that this is good business? Think about your company’s values. Do your actions reflect them? Etching them on a plaque will not help potential vendors, employees, and consumers understand your true mission, but your actions will. They will want to know whether or not they share your values.

Now is a better time than ever to take a stand on issues that are important, not only to your consumer base, but also to your employees. Why risk losing them, and why risk losing business? Keeping silent will not give you an edge in competition. Taking a risk and taking a stand by addressing “political issues” will show customers and employees that your company truly exhibits its values. What are you waiting for?

For more, read on: http://csnetworkadvis.staging.wpengine.com/advisor/michael-houlihan-and-bonnie-harvey/

 

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Best Practices Growth Management Skills Technology

The Importance of a High Performance Cybersecurity Team

In this six-part series I am going to address five pillars for creating a high performance security team. we are starting at a high level in this article and then each week I will go into more detail on another pillar.

Because cybersecurity professionals face a lot of adversity and burnout it is incredibly important for their leadership to understand what it takes to create a high performance security team.

If you are the type of leader who is striving to make big things happen for your organization, protect your organization’s data, and possibly create a competitive advantage through security, a high performance security team is the answer. If you are reading this and you don’t have a security team at all, then forming one or bringing in security consultants is the place to start. As you build that team you can incorporate the lessons from this series in order to build a high performance team from the ground up.

High performance teams in general get more done with less effort and with better results. They have less drama and more creative ideas. A High performance security team is one of the cornerstones of your competitive advantage because when you have rock star security talent that isn’t going to leave, you have something your competition probably does not, which puts you in a leading position.

You are probably intimately familiar with teams that are not high performing from your own experiences throughout your career and so am I, that is why I wrote The Corporate Detox. Therefore let’s dive right into the signs of a high performance team because so you can start focusing on what you want vs. focusing on what you don’t want.

The signs you have a high performance team:

  • Team members genuinely like spending time together and trust each other
  • Everyone is working towards a shared goal and vision
  • Projects are completed on time and on (or under) budget
  • Assigned roles are based on individuals strengths and interests
  • Team members communicate with each other and with you (their leader)
  • Everyone talks about what is working and what isn’t working
  • During brainstorming sessions no idea is ridiculed
  • Everyone is encouraged to participate in discussions
  • Feedback is provided in real time and in a constructive way
  • There is no finger pointing or blame when things don’t go as planned
  • Roles and accountability are openly discussed
  • No one is “just hanging in there” and counting down the days until Friday

If your security team is missing some of these signs, it’s okay, you can turn it around, and I’m going to provide you a roadmap to do this. In this series, each article will discuss one of the five pillars of not just high-performance teams, but EPICC high performance teams:

EPICC Teams are Engaged, Productive, Have Integrity, Collaborate and Communicate.

Now between reading this and next week’s article, I encourage you to conduct a review of your current security team. How many of the signs that I described in the above checklist can you say your team embodies? How many need a little work? How many are non-existent? Don’t pad your answers; be honest because this will help you focus on what you want. When you see areas that you are not happy with you will better know what changes you need to make.

Sometimes it’s easier to identify what you don’t want in order to more clearly identify and define what you do want. In looking ahead to next week’s article in which we will discuss the first pillar, Engagement, start to think about the times you have been most engaged and the times you have been least engaged at work.

In the meantime you can always reach out to me at sharon@c-suiteresults.com to discuss this topic, security teams, or security strategy. If you enjoy podcasts you can listen to C-Suite Results Radio to tap into the wisdom of other successful business people who know the path you’re traveling.

 

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Best Practices Entrepreneurship Human Resources Management Marketing Personal Development Women In Business

Expert Advice on How to Negotiate With a Bully

 

“To be fearless against a bully display what he fears.” -Greg Williams, The Master Negotiator & Body Language Expert

 

“Expert Advice On How To Negotiate With A Bully”

Follow this expert advice to negotiate with a bully.

  1. Differentiate between a bully that may be controlling versus bullying. Some people don’t see themselves as bullies. They may be the type that likes to be in control of situations and display overly aggressive means to maintain that control. The two perspectives possess different mindsets.
  2. Identify the personality type of the bully you’re negotiating with (you’re always negotiating). Thus, even in your first encounter with a person (and after that time), you should assess that person’s traits, demeanor, and characteristics. Doing so will give you the insight needed to formulate a negotiation strategy.
  3. Determine the best environment to negotiate with a bully. He may be stronger in one environment as the result of resources surrounding him or those he has to ‘save face’ for; this may also tend to make him cockier than he’d normally be. If that’s the case, get him out of his environment; this should be done physically and/or psychologically. In doing so you’ll dilute his psychological powers and weaken him mentally in the process (i.e. power is perceptional).
  4. If addressing a bully on a one-on-one basis doesn’t achieve your objective(s), marshal forces to use as leverage against him. Depending on the situation, let those that he has more respect for take the lead on your behalf; never let a bully know how strong your forces are. You must be prepared to send in a second, third, fourth, etc., wave that’s stronger than what preceded it. For maximum effect, the timing of your next foray should occur just when the bully thinks he’s squashed your best efforts. In normal situations, over time you’ll wear the bully down and he’ll acquiesce to your wishes. Be mindful of the bully that won’t acquiesce over a period of exhaustive negotiations when forces have been marshaled against him. You might be dealing with a bully that’s willing to destroy himself for the sake of denying you any kind of victory. To prevent from making too many concessions, establish exit points that indicate when you should depart the negotiation. Always be mindful that, the longer you stay engaged in a negotiation, the likelier you are to make concessions to your disadvantage. This is due to the psychological need to see the negotiation to its end. This could be to your severe detriment.
  5. Once you’ve achieved your objective(s), over a period of time reengage the bully from a polite perspective and observe how he interacts with you. To the degree the relationship is important to you, be prepared to let him win an encounter, but never let him bully you again. Your prior actions should be engrained in his mind to the point that he’d not want to experience the prior encounter that you two engaged in.
  6. As further insight into the affects your engagement has had with a bully, note how those closes to the bully engage with you after an encounter. Their actions will allow you to assess the degree of sting that still resides in the bully.

Bullies only pick on those that they perceive to be weaker than themselves. Don’t let a bully perceive weakness in you and he’ll have no target to attack … and everything will be right with the world.

What are your takeaways? I’d really like to know. Reach me at Greg@TheMasterNegotiator.com

Remember, you’re always negotiating.

#HowToNegotiateBetter #HowToNegotiateWithBully #PreventBullying

Categories
Growth Human Resources Management Personal Development

5 Signs Your Customer Service Might Be Lacking

Take a look at your business. Do you suspect your customer service needs improvement? If so, there’s no need to panic. If you can recognize where your organization is falling down, you can implement the necessary changes to fix things. To get you started, here are five signs that suggest your customer service might be lacking:

1. Consistent Customer Complaints (even if there are just a few)

Statistics indicate that just 4% of dissatisfied customers actually complain about a poor customer service experience.  Just because you’re not receiving many complaints doesn’t necessarily mean you are providing good service. The question is one of consistency. If you receive a consistent stream of complaints, even if the volume is relatively small, take it as a warning sign.

Also consider that complaints presented to the front-line staff may never make it to you or your management team! A complaint is a gift from a customer who doesn’t want to just leave and never come back. Treat it as such by establishing guidelines that guarantee all complaints make it to the top.  Be open to complaints and then learn from them.

2. Loss of Long-Term Customers

Long-term customers leaving on a regular basis could be an indication that you have a real problem.  Once a relationship has been developed between a company and a customer, the likelihood of retaining that customer increases. Yet when customers who would normally give you the benefit of the doubt take their business elsewhere, it’s probably due to your service or the lack thereof. Statistics show that 68% of customers stop doing business with a company because of the attitude of an employee. What kind of attitude do your employees have?

3. Few Repeat Customers

One and out is not a good business strategy.  Loyal customers do your advertising for you; they represent your largest profit potential. When customers routinely go elsewhere after their first experience with your company, you have to look for the reasons. What are they experiencing with your company? How are they being treated?  Make them feel like they are your only customer. They will come back – and tell others about you too.

4. Poor Employee Morale

If your employees are dissatisfied, your customers will be too. Unhappy employees make no effort to make customers happy. That’s just the way it is. For the record, poor employee morale is not a result of poor customer service. It is the other way around. The solution is to model the behavior you want your employees to demonstrate. Treat your employees well and you will be teaching them how to treat your customers well.

5. Employees Not Empowered to Handle Problems

Everyday customer concerns should be handled by the person serving the customer. The customer doesn’t want to wait to get issues resolved. If your employee is not empowered to make a $5.00 decision without consulting with a manager, you have a problem. Do you want to save $5.00 or save a customer? Hire employees with the right attitude who have confidence in the decisions they make. When they keep the customer in mind, they will make the right decision.

If your customer service is lacking due to any of these five issues, what are you doing about it? Ignoring the symptoms and pretending nothing is wrong isn’t going to make the problems disappear. Remember this: if you suspect your customer service is lacking, you can almost guarantee that your FORMER customers agree!

Categories
Best Practices Growth Human Resources Investing Management Personal Development Women In Business

Accountability – I Want to Count on You!

Accountability is defined as an obligation or willingness to accept responsibility for one’s actions. Without it, you would live and work in a world without confidence. It would be almost impossible to plan a day if you had no reasonable confidence that, at the very least, people would show up and complete their tasks. Envision a workplace where no one did what they said they would do. A place where no one felt responsible for themselves or their team. Is that where you want to work?

If you want people around you to be accountable, then you must do what you say, too. You don’t live in a vacuum; you work with a team. Following through on your own obligations creates a better work environment for all the stakeholders.  Take 10% of the time that you worry about others doing their job and concentrate on yourself. Take being judgmental attitudes and take a good look at your own behavior.  How are you contributing to a more successful workplace? If you say you will get it done, do you?  If not, do you take responsibility or find blame?  Replace blame with understanding how you may have created a situation that went awry. Make sure you are setting an example that you want to be followed.

What do you need to do to ensure that your culture breeds accountability and removes the fear of admitting when errors are made?

“It is not only what we do, but also what we do not do for which we are accountable.”

—John Baptiste Moliere

Excerpt from Blueprint for Employee Engagement – 37 Essential Elements to Influence, Innovate & Inspire. (Coming December 2017)

Julie Ann Sullivan’s focus is on employee engagement and creating workplace cultures where people want to come to work.  Julie Ann works with companies to develop people who are engaged, productive and appreciated. She hosts the Mere Mortals Unite and Businesses that Care podcasts on C-Suite Radio .  For more information go to http://julieannsullivan.com/

 

Categories
Growth Leadership Personal Development

Trust Is Essential for the Health of an Organization – Part 1

The health of an organization is directly dependent upon the level of trust between employees, management and customers.  Results cannot be predicted when the health of an organization is threatened. Therefore, results depend on the level of trust.  Exceptional leaders recognize all this and will work hard to build and maintain trust.  In my experience however, they are often frustrated with their efforts to build trust.  This is often because their theory of trust is incomplete, and therefore their methods of building and maintaining trust are often ineffective or prove to be short lived.

More and more CEO’s are becoming convinced that the soft skills of building and maintain trust is at least as important as technical skills for individual and organizational success.  According to Stephen M. R. Covey, a 2003 study by Watson and Wyatt showed how a high trust organization can return 286% higher total return than low trust organizations. (Covey, June 2007)

Furthermore, high trust organizations require less bureaucracy, enjoy lower turnover, are better able to manage change, are more collaborative, and can manage growth more effectively and quickly. (Covey, June 2007)

What should be our strategy to build trust? Of course, one can just trust others and hope they reciprocate.  Ernest Hemingway once said, “The best way to find out if you can trust somebody is to trust them.”  This may be true, but a leader must have a predictable plan to build and maintain trust or risk wasting time and increasing costs.  We cannot afford increased costs, nor can we live with wasted time.  We cannot afford to just trust others and hope. As Rudy Giuliani once said, “…change is not a destination, just as hope is not a strategy.”

If one of the most important responsibilities of a leader is to manage the variation in trust, then a he/she must have a theory and method.  The purpose of this 4-part series of blogs is to clarify why trust is so important, define and appreciate a definition for trust, to clarify the most effective way to think about trust, and to provide a framework for a predictable method for building and maintaining trust.  It needs to be predictable. We cannot depend on hope.

Part 1:

Our bodies self-regulate.  Water is essential for good health and performance of bodily functions.  When our bodies need water, we become thirsty.  Our thirst motivates us to drink and therefore satisfy the need of our bodies.  Without water our bodies have trouble performing basic functions such as digestion.  We can become lethargic, develop headaches, lack concentration and can even stop performing our responsibilities.

Just as our bodies send signals for water, our organizations and employees can send signals for the need for trust.  With low levels of trust people can become disengaged, unproductive and even cynical.  Successful leaders will not only trust people to do the right things, they will know how and when to provide the “water” necessary for healthy organizational function.

Some leaders still create environments of distrust.  Often there are a few untrustworthy employees who continue to perform poorly.  Their presence, and the leader’s inability to know how to act cause the perceived need for rules and policies which damage trust for all.  Even though there may be a few bad ‘apples”, why not create a system that sends a message of trust instead of distrust?  What we need is a system that allows us to provide the ‘water’ when needed while eliminating the opportunity for the few ‘bad apples’ to influence policy.  This four-part blog series will help us do just that.

To accomplish this requires an appreciation of the right definition of trust. I suggest we adopt The International Association of Business Communicators definition of trust:  “a willingness to be vulnerable because of the presence of integrity, concern, competence and shared objectives.”  Knowing that trust can be defined with four key elements, managing each of these four elements can provide us with a framework to become more vulnerable while concurrently creating a trusting environment.   A trust environment will help us to bring out the genius in every employee.

We also need an effective leadership model and theory.  The leadership model best positioned to create a trusting environment is called THINK – BEHAVE – IMPROVE (TBI).  TBI clarifies how an optimum leader thinks in order to create a trusting environment, how he/she must behave to create trust, and how he/she takes action to improve the organizational trust.  Because trust is not a destination and because of the speed and frequency of change, trust must be managed constantly.  Just as one can’t just have one glass of water a day and expect to maintain personal health, a leader must be able and willing to provide ongoing trust when needed.  It never ends.

Soft skills are needed more than ever today and the ability to build and maintain trust is one of those critical skills.  “…the types of skills increasingly in favor are strong communication, empathy, collaboration, and trust building.” (Boris Groysberg, March 2011)

The following three blogs will describe the detailed method of how to think, behave, and improve trust in an organization.  Stay tuned.

Boris Groysberg, L. K. (March 2011). The New Path To the C-Suite. Harvard Busienss Review.

Covey, S. M. (June 2007). The Business Case for Trust. CEO Magazine.

Wally Hauck, PhD has a cure for the “deadly disease” known as the typical performance appraisal.  Wally holds a doctorate in organizational leadership from Warren National University, a Master of Business Administration in finance from Iona College, and a bachelor’s degree in philosophy from the University of Pennsylvania.   Wally is a Certified Speaking Professional or CSP.  Wally has a passion for helping leaders let go of the old and embrace new thinking to improve leadership skills, employee engagement, and performance.

 

Categories
Growth Human Resources Management Personal Development

Thanking Your Customers: How To Do It Correctly

Do you thank your customers for doing business with you? If not, you’re in good company. Most businesses don’t make an effort to thank the people who keep them in business. Yours doesn’t have to be one of them.

Don’t you want to stand out from the rest?  Of course you do!  I’m here to tell you how to do it for the ridiculously low price of just forty-nine cents!

Step back and think about the last time you received a hand-written card from someone you did business with.  Can’t remember?  It’s probably because you never received such a note. Still, think how good you would feel if you did. Your customers would feel just as good to receive a note of thanks from you. Making customers feel good equals stronger relationships with them, which translates into more referrals.  More referrals mean more business.  Get it?

How to Do It

The most effective way to thank your customers is to handwrite notes. So invest in a package of cards. Not standard ‘thank you’ cards, but a box of cards that resonate with you. I personally have several boxes. One has flowers while the other has beautiful landscapes.

With cards in hand, start sending them ASAP.  Every time you get a new customer, send a card thanking them for choosing to do business with your company. They could have gotten the product or service you provided from another company, but they chose to get it from you. You are obviously pleased by that decision – let the customer know.

I don’t know about you, but when I see a personal, handwritten card in my mail, I make sure to open it first. Handwritten cards sure beat bills any day of the week. They make me feel valued and special. Isn’t that a feeling you want your customers to experience after doing business with you? I think so.

Follow these quick tips to show some love to your customers or clients.  I promise they’ll love you back.

  1. Be timely. Send a personal thank you note in the mail within a few days of receiving business from a customer or client.
  2. Don’t send a cheesy corporate card. Instead, find something that represents you or your customer.
  3. If all you’re going to write is “thanks for your business” and sign the card, don’t bother. You will be wasting a stamp. Instead, write a short note thanking them specifically for the product or service they bought or the referral they made.
  4. Don’t skimp and send an e-mail. While it’s free and easy to do, it won’t stand out like a handwritten card Remember, the point is to stand out from the competition.

Notes for Potential Customers

Let’s close by going one step further to thank potential customers. It can be very productive to thank someone for contacting you about your products or services, even if it doesn’t result in an immediate sale. In some cases, the process of making a sale is a long one.  Let’s say a potential customer is thinking about making a purchase. How do you suppose he or she will respond to a personal note card from you? I’m willing to bet that your note could tip the scale in your favor.

 

Categories
Growth Human Resources Management Personal Development

14 Power Facebook Tips to Build Your Brand and Business

If you are not using your personal Facebook as a tool to build awareness for yourself or your company’s brand, you are missing out on arguably the world’s most powerful, free marketing tool.

Yes, I did say “free.”

Facebook is used by more than half of the world’s online population, and by the end of 2015 it had more than 1.5 billion monthly users. In addition, the average smartphone user spends one out of every five minutes on Facebook. AOL had a dream to monopolize the Internet in 1985. Facebook has realized that dream today.

“I have a business page and my personal page is for friends and family.” Well, it’s time to start using your personal Facebook to build your brand, business and awareness. There’s Snapchat, Whatsapp, and a host of other fun platforms to interact with friends and family.

Your business page can sometimes be effective but since these pages are a major source of revenue for Facebook, it’s difficult to get a lot interaction on them without paying a lot. Spending $100 in Facebook advertising to get 2000 views (what value that has is unclear), 27 likes, and 6 clicks is not worth it. Facebook decreases the organic reach of posts on these pages – they are like playing the slots at a casino: you always hear about someone who walks out ahead, but the house wins 97 percent of the time.

The good news is that your personal page can get a lot of attention if you use it right – and it is free. Here are 14 Facebook tips, that will maximize your reach, likes, and interactions, which will drive awareness to you and your business.

1. Be Professional

Your Facebook page should look serious and be representative of your brand, business, or whatever it is you want to promote. Do not post things you wouldn’t want co-workers, customers, or suppliers to see. You don’t want to alienate or turn off potential followers. As a rule, don’t ever make a post about partying, drinking, or anything vulgar. One off-putting post and you will lose a friend or follower — and you won’t even know it.

2. Smart Security

Allow your posts to be publicly visible. Nothing your posting should really be private and you want as many people to view your posts as possible. At the same time, go to the setting: “Who can add things to my timeline?” and set to “only me.” Turn on approval of all tags before they appear on your timeline. You don’t want other people’s thoughts on your wall and you don’t want to be tagged at the strip club — as someone’s joke.

3. Be Friendly

Friend people often and approve all friend requests from real people. Like any social-media platform, the goal is to have as many followers as possible, but be wary of fake accounts and decline those invitations.

4. No Politics

No one should be able to easily determine your political views. I always take into account what a potential customer, who is opposite of my political views, would think of my posts. If you need to vent, there are many closed groups on Facebook where you can.

5. No Whining and Complaining

No one wants to hear about bad service at the DMV, the traffic, the boil on your toe that burst, or how bad your life is. If I wouldn’t say it to a first date, I won’t post it on Facebook. Face your problems, don’t Facebook them.

6. Play Tag Fairly

It is appropriate and good technique to tag people who are in pictures or are with you at an event because it increases viewership and makes your post available to their followers too. However, do not tag people in posts that have nothing to do with them for the sake of getting their attention.

7. Rock Your Profile Picture

If your profile picture has you shirtless or is of you taking a selfie in a mirror, immediately stop reading this article and go change it. You look ridiculous. This is not LinkedIn, so you don’t necessarily have to have a professional headshot, but you do have to have an interesting picture. You want to have a picture that represents you or your brand and creates a conversation. The goal is to get people to interact with you anyway you can. Sometimes when I have little to post about, a change in my profile picture can generate a lot of interest. Here’s an example of how I worked a post with my profile picture.

8. Like a Lot

The more you like someone’s posts the more of their posts you will see — and they will see more of your posts. When you pass by a post and don’t click “like,” Facebook thinks you really don’t like that person’s posts and will stop showing them to you. I like hundreds of posts everyday (unless I really don’t like it). I also don’t stand on ceremony — even if someone doesn’t like my stuff, I’ll like his/her posts anyway. It’s good for me.

9. Like Comments

Like every comment on your posts. If a person took the time to comment, you should acknowledge it because it builds interaction and rewards him/her for doing so. He/she will be more likely to interact again and Facebook will be more likely to show them your posts. The goal is to get as many likes and comments on a post as possible.

10. It’s a Happy Birthday

Wish every friend “happy birthday.” I do it as my morning ritual. It’s a chance to increase interaction with friends and see what they are up to. Sometimes it even reminds me that I need to contact them for some business or personal reason.

11. Always Post with a Picture

Never make a text-only post. Picture posts get much more attention from the viewer and Facebook promotes those posts more. Even if it’s just a holiday wish to your Facebook friends, make sure to use a picture. As an example, here is my Thanksgiving post, which is just a simple statement, but the picture sends it big.

12. Instagram Is a Post Booster

When possible, post a picture on Instagram and click the “share to Facebook” button. Not only does it give your picture two chances to get noticed, Facebook promotes Instagram pictures more than pictures posted directly.  And you have the ability to edit the post on Facebook later, adding comments and picture tags. A recent picture I took in Seattle, is a great example of this technique.

13. Timing Is Everything

The timing of posts is crucial because Facebook promotes your post to more of your followers  if and only if it gets likes and comments quickly. This sometimes requires trial and error to see when your followers react best. Posting business related posts late at night is a sure fail. Similarly, making a post that is more personal during the middle of the work day is not going to be effective either. I have had a lot of success with posting late afternoon and early evening on weekdays and mid-afternoon on weekends. Avoid posting anything business related in the hours before a holiday begins.

14. Be Interesting and Informative

Content is king. A post that says, “It’s hot out” is not going to get the same viewership and interactions as one with a cool picture of an egg frying on the hood of your car. Similarly, a post that tries to sell a product is a no-no. You can tell about the features of a product or service without obviously selling it. Every post you make should be thought out carefully on how it will build your brand and increase interactions — and keep your friends wanting to see more from you. Use humor when appropriate because making people laugh always draws them to you. Finally, don’t be overly narcissistic. My rule is for every self-promoting post, I also try to have a few posts that make fun of myself. You want people to like you.

These 14 tips will get your posts more likes, comments, and shares on the largest social platform on earth. You will be creating an image of yourself, your brand, and your company that people are attracted to. That is what any good marketing campaign should do.

Facebook is free and now you know how to use it. So what are you waiting for?

 

Categories
Management Marketing Operations Personal Development

A Marketing Idea: Deliver Amazing Customer Service

Customer service and marketing have traditionally been viewed as two separate departments, but more and more, their interdependence is coming into focus. It’s even been said that customer service is the new marketing.

Traditional marketing is typically an expensive proposition involving advertising and other ways to reach potential customers and make an impression. The goal is to get them “in the door” – be it in person, on the phone or to your website. However, studies are proving that typical marketing messages are becoming less and less effective, and in some cases, customers are flat-out skeptical.

However, one form of marketing that has proven very effective is word of mouth. Potential customers trust the opinions of their colleagues and friends far more than traditional marketing messages, and that is where customer service comes in. The concept is that if you want more business, and new customers, deliver amazing customer service to your existing customers. Not only will your customers come back, they’ll also tell their friends, colleagues and family members about you.

So, customer service, while maybe not the new marketing, as many are referring to it, has become an important part of any business’ marketing strategy.

My friend Tom Baldwin, former CEO and President of Morton’s The Steakhouse restaurants, believed in this concept completely. When he was at the helm of the restaurant chain, they didn’t advertise on TV or radio or in print publications. He would proudly claim that the restaurant’s employees were the best marketing department. The guests were simply presented with great food and an amazing customer service experience, and they would walk out happy, return for another fabulous meal and tell others about it too.

Another company that builds its marketing efforts around customer service was featured in my book, Amaze Every Customer Every Time. Ace Hardware is a chain of independently owned local hardware stores, many of which compete against much larger “big box” stores such as Lowe’s and Home Depot. The bigger stores, with bigger marketing budgets, spend up to 30 times more on advertising. Yet somehow, Ace is successful, and its secret is simple. Ace amazes customers with its special brand of helpful customer service. Even the traditional advertising that Ace puts out is not focused on the product or the price – it’s all centered around the amazing service that Ace offers.

Zappos.com is another company that promotes customer service as its value proposition. They don’t view customer service as a cost, but instead as an opportunity to amaze customers to the point that they evangelize the company. There are many other places where customers can buy the shoes and other items that Zappos offers, but again, it’s not just about the product. It’s about the promises that Zappos makes and keeps. And that consistency builds trust, and happy customers who tell others about their experience.

Customer service has come to the forefront as companies, large and small, make promises of a higher level of service. There are even awards given to companies that excel at customer service, increasing the awareness of its importance. Customers are more aware and better educated. Now more than ever, customers know what good customer service looks like, and they demand it from all of the places they do business.

Traditional advertising may play a role in getting customers in the door, but it’s not what makes them come back. The customer service that you offer, and how you make them feel, is what brings them back – and their family and friends, too.

And keep in mind that customers who receive bad service will also tell others about it. Or, in today’s social media world, it’s more accurate to say that they will broadcast it. They will share their experience with their friends and colleagues – and the world – via Twitter, Facebook, Yelp and other social channels.

So, as part of your marketing efforts, make the promise of an exceptional customer service experience, and then deliver on that promise so well that your customers not only want to come back, but also talk to others about you. Customer service is not just a department. It’s a smart marketing strategy.

 

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Best Practices Entrepreneurship Leadership Skills

Need to Make Connections? Get on the Phone!

The key to breaking the ice with someone new is meeting them face-to-face. You can immediately judge the impact of your words by their facial expressions. Their face has 43 muscles that are able to produce more than twenty expressions. Some of these are negative. If you see a negative one, you know right away how to direct the conversation. But you can’t see those facial expressions through email. If someone doesn’t like what you have to say in an email, you’ll never know until they’ve already digested and reacted to it. And, even then, you still may not know for sure.

When you meet them face-to-face, they know that you are giving them your undivided attention. You now have the chance to demonstrate who you are. This can be the beginning of a fruitful long-term business relationship.

If you can’t meet face-to-face, choose video conferencing. For at least the first meeting and any important conversations thereafter, you will notice physical feedback better through a video conference. Then, both of you will be on the same page.

The next best choice is the telephone. But why not email? You can’t hear the other person’s intonation through email. There are no moments of silence through email. The intonation in someone’s voice can say a lot—are they interested? Pleased? Confused? On the phone, you have countless chances to win someone over just by adjusting to their intonation.

Jeff Stevenson, our client at VinoPRO, says a phone number is worth more than 100 times as much as an email address. According to him, he’s in “the relationship-selling business”. He has the top telephone sales company in the wine industry, and he’s done this by mastering “an ancient form of communication: the telephone!”

More and more companies today prefer email marketing. The first challenge is to get people to open your email. Then, they have to want to read it. And finally, they have to make the decision to invest in your product. Sure, you can reach tens of thousands of people at once, but there may be only 50 buyers. Most email recipients see these types of emails as intrusive and impersonal, so why would they buy?

Jeff uses the “ancient form of communication” to his advantage. He made the Inc. 500 list (with three years running) and is currently developing his third call center. Why? People want to talk to a real person, especially when it comes to luxury items like wine. People want a real relationship. They want to talk to someone who has their best interests at heart. What makes real-time conversation so effective is personalized attention—it just isn’t possible through email!

Being in business through the “ancient” age of fax machines, snail mail, and the telephone has taught us that those technologies work! This isn’t to say we’ve abandoned email or text-based communication, but there is a time and place for them. Our experience with face-to-face interaction has shown us when we must be more personal. For example, when it comes to settling a mix-up, email is completely unreliable. For us, the place for email is recording correspondence, conversation history, and keeping track of documents. Again, it has its place. But you can’t un-send an email!

As convenient as email may be, sometimes you really have to just pick up the phone!

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