Help Your Employees be Successful

Provide your employees with the training and resources needed to be successful. If you neglect to provide them with the necessary tools, you may be doing your company a disservice.

Last year, a friend of mine took a part-time, temporary brand ambassador job during the holidays. The company sent her boxes of materials to use during her sales calls and provided several hours of online training. She was excited about the job and motivated to learn as much as possible. Unfortunately, most of the materials that were sent to her were not applicable to her role. The materials she really needed weren't sent to her.

To make matters worse, the company hired mystery shoppers to visit the temporary, part-time brand ambassadors to make sure they were representing the brand properly. When the mystery shopper came, she asked my friend technical questions about things she never was trained on. Not wanting to speak poorly about the company she was representing, she apologized for not knowing the answers. The result: my friend who is a competent, conscientious professional felt like a failure. She had taken this job seriously and wanted to do a great job. It would have helped if the materials she needed to support her role had been provided.

1. Help your employees (full-time, part-time, or temporary) be successful. Provide them with the necessary training and materials to be able to make a difference in your sales. Train them on the products that are available in the stores in which they will be working.
   
2. Look at more than just a spreadsheet with product sales listed by stores when making decisions on whether to place additional help in those stores. There are probably many reasons why a retail store is underperforming when it comes to sales of your products. It could be location, demographics, etc.
   
3. Don't waste your resources on mystery shoppers for temporary, part-time employees. A better approach may be to have the regional manager (or whoever is responsible for their training) visit the stores and check up on the employees. That way they are taking some responsibility of making sure the employees are up-to-speed on the offerings.

It's an interesting marketing experiment to allocate marketing dollars to putting a face on the brand rather than just advertising. I have no doubt that this strategy can work. My friend had several situations where the customer ended up buying the product she was representing versus the competitors. Had she not been there and interacted with the customer, the product she was representing wouldn't have been purchased. Just give the employees what they need to be successful!

Katie Wacek is the President of Sandia Mountain Marketing, a marketing consultancy that provides strategic and tactical marketing expertise to small- and medium -sized companies, professional service firms, and thought leaders throughout the United States. Learn more.

Perception is Reality

Years ago a friend of mine was asked to participate in a market research study. The company was going to send her product to use and provide feedback on. She was excited to participate because she loved their products. A few weeks later when the product arrived, her excitement diminished. The product was packaged in a ziploc bag! At that moment her perception of the product changed. It was no longer "special" in her mind. As a result, she declined to participate in the research study.

There are a number of things that the company could have done to minimize the negative perception created by the lack of packaging. For instance, they could have:

1. better managed customer expectations. The company could have explained what the customer was going to get and how it was going to be packaged.
2. included a note with the package. The note could have addressed the lack of packaging and reiterated the value of her feedback.
3. invested in some temporary packaging that reinforced their brand image.
4. created a better customer experience.
   

As it was, the company's attempt to gain customer feedback backfired with my friend. They lost out on her feedback and she no longer thinks of the product as "special".

Remember, perception is reality!

Katie Wacek is the President of Sandia Mountain Marketing, a marketing consultancy that provides strategic and tactical marketing expertise to small- and medium -sized companies, professional service firms, and thought leaders throughout the United States. Learn more.

What's Your Plan?

Whether you are a launching a new business or have an existing business, you need a marketing plan. A well thought out marketing plan will help you reach your goals and get you the results you are striving for. Think of it as a road map. Without a plan (or map) you'll probably end up somewhere else.

Sometimes businesses underestimate the value of a marketing plan. They choose not to create one or the owners might have a vague plan in their heads but nothing written down. There is something about writing it down that makes it more real. Marketing plans don't have to be long and elaborate to be effective. They just need to be well thought out.

There are many outlines available to construct a marketing plan. Here's a fairly basic marketing plan. The most important thing is to understand your target market and think of marketing tactics that will help you reach your audience. A calendar of activities is critical to help keep you on task.

With a marketing plan you'll dramatically increase the possibility of reaching your goals and ending up where you want to be!

Katie Wacek is the President of Sandia Mountain Marketing, a marketing consultancy that provides strategic and tactical marketing expertise to small- and medium -sized companies, professional service firms, and thought leaders throughout the United States. Learn more.

Gardening and Marketing - The Connection

This year I planted my first garden. I’m talking a “real” garden, not just a tomato plant on the patio. As I was watering my garden the other day, I started thinking about the similarities between gardening and marketing.

First off, there’s the research and planning element. Because we live at 7,000 feet above sea level in an arid, dry climate with a short growing season, I needed to research what kinds of vegetables would grow in this environment. I started with grandiose plans. I wanted to build raised beds with a drip irrigation system. The water would primarily come from harvested rain. This was going to be a big garden! Then I took a realistic look at myself and my gardening abilities. Since I have never gardened before, let alone in a challenging environment, I decided the prudent thing would be to start small. Instead of the raised beds with a drip system, I purchased Garden Patch Grow Boxes™. Then I needed to determine the best location that would protect them from strong winds and wildlife.

In marketing, you go through a similar process. You conduct market research (formally or informally) to gain a better understanding of the market, target audience, competitors, etc. You analyze your strengths and weaknesses as a company or product offering. You consider the external factors (opportunities and threats) that could hinder your success. And then you plan how you’re going to strategically approach your audience to leverage your strengths, minimize your weaknesses, take advantage of opportunities, and mitigate your threats.

Once the planning is done, you execute your plan. In the case of my garden, I planted seeds, nurtured and watered them. I adapted to “market” conditions and replanted some of the vegetables two or three times. (Early on some of my plants were being eaten by something when they were about one inch tall. Not knowing what was eating them, I kept trying different approaches until I found one that worked.) Now, I’m reaping the rewards of my efforts and enjoying home grown vegetables.

Executing your strategic marketing plan is one of the keys to a successful business. Just like I did with my garden, you’ll “plant lots of seeds, nurture and develop them, be responsive to changing market conditions, and eventually reap the rewards.” Some of the things you try won’t work. Rather than be discouraged, figure out why they didn’t work and try something different. In the end, understanding your market and target audience, developing relationships with prospective buyers, and paying attention to their needs will be fruitful. Happy marketing!

Katie Wacek is the President of Sandia Mountain Marketing, a marketing consultancy that provides strategic and tactical marketing expertise to small- and medium -sized companies, professional service firms, and thought leaders throughout the United States. Learn more.

Customer Service - A Differentiator

During these uncertain economic times, one thing that continues to amaze me is how some businesses seem to have forgotten basic customer service skills. You would think that now more than ever, they would be concerned about keeping their customers happy. After all, satisfied customers are returning customers and a referral source for the business.

This past weekend while visiting some elderly relatives who are still living at home, I saw two examples of customer service. One woman stopped by to deliver some supplies. It was clear from her body language and verbal language that all she wanted to do was have the delivery signed for and she was out the door. She had no desire to talk, even for a few minutes. We were in the kitchen when she came and she had left the supplies in the living room. After she left, we realized she had brought the wrong supplies! So, another phone call and another delivery had to be made. This was a frustrating experience.

The other example was a nurse's aide that stopped by to check on the relatives. She clearly loved her job and formed a relationship with her clients. She not only conducted the business that she needed to do, but she took the time to talk. Her work load that day was double what she normally had because meetings the prior day prevented her from seeing her clients. But, that didn't prevent her from taking the time to make these elderly relatives feel important. Her comment was "I take as much time as needed with each of my clients. If I have to work until 8 pm tonight, to get the job done, then so be it."

I was so impressed with this woman. I complimented and thanked her for caring. I told her that it was rare to run across someone who cared so much and let her know how much I appreciated it. She's the kind of employee I want on my team!

What kind of employees do you have? Are your employees projecting the brand image that you want? With unemployment so high, employers can be choosier. No need to hang on to employees who have a bad attitude or don't really care. There are probably lots of people who would gladly do the job!

Katie Wacek is the President of Sandia Mountain Marketing, a marketing consultancy that provides strategic and tactical marketing expertise to small- and medium -sized companies, professional service firms, and thought leaders throughout the United States. Learn more.

Everything is Nothing

I recently asked a client of mine "How do you respond when someone asks you what your company does? What is your elevator speech?" Two executives had completely different responses. If I didn't know better, I would have thought they were talking about two different companies! They went on to tell me that they were reluctant to focus because they thought they would lose revenue opportunities, so they tried to "be all things to all people".

This is one of the biggest mistakes a company can make. They think they'll be better off by casting the net wide. Unfortunately, this failure to focus efforts often results in generating fewer opportunities, and those that they do generate, come at a higher acquisition cost. If a company describes themselves too vaguely or too broadly (we can do anything), potential customers are likely to move on. Additionally, it's hard to brand a company that tries to be all things to all people.

What is your company's elevator speech? Is it clear and succinct? Does it articulate "who you are and what you focus on"? In other words, if you recite your elevator speech will people have a good idea about what the company does? If so, congratulations. If not, consider working on your elevator speech.

Otherwise, everything is nothing!

Katie Wacek is the President of Sandia Mountain Marketing, a marketing consultancy that provides strategic and tactical marketing expertise to small- and medium -sized companies, professional service firms, and thought leaders throughout the United States. Learn more.

It's What the Market Wants

America voted and the winner of American Idol for Season 8 is Kris Allen. Going into the finale, Adam Lambert was clearly the judges favorite. In fact, if the decision was up to the judges, I think Adam would have been the winner. But, after 100 million votes, Kris came out the victor.

What happened? Did America get it wrong? I don’t think so. If you think about Kris and Adam as two different products, with different features that appeal to different audiences, and you can only market one of them, how are you going to decide which one to market? You’ll probably do some market research to find out which product will generate the most revenue. That’s exactly what American Idol did on a weekly basis. It conducted market research to determine the market appeal for each of the singers. Kris appeals to mainstream America and Adam appeals to a niche market. Both are extremely talented

At the end of the day, it's less about what we as business owners, product managers, and marketers want or think should sell and more about what our customers and prospects want. We have to remember that we might not be the target market. We need to understand and listen to the market and be open to changing directions based on market research, if necessary.

Market research is a powerful tool to gain insight into your market needs, wants, and desires. How well do you know your market?

Katie Wacek is the President of Sandia Mountain Marketing, a marketing consultancy that provides strategic and tactical marketing expertise to small- and medium -sized companies, professional service firms, and thought leaders throughout the United States. Learn more.

10 Tips for Tradeshow Success

Whether you're considering exhibiting at a local, regional, or national tradeshow, do your homework beforehand to make sure it's a worthwhile investment. Tradeshows can be a great way to have face-to-face contact with prospects and clients, but they can also be a resource drain.

1) Select the right conferences. Make a list of possible conferences to attend and then evaluate them based on a set of criteria. Include things like: demographics of attendees, percentage of your target audience attending, strategic fit with your business, and the financial and time investment required to exhibit.

2) Submit speaker proposals for targeted conferences. If you can get on the program, you will have added exposure for your company. As you build your conference plan, make note of speaker proposal deadlines. Some conferences have proposal deadlines a year in advance.

3) Create a strategic conference/tradeshow plan. Be specific about your objectives for the show. Think through all aspects of your booth space, signage, products or services you want to showcase, booth activities, etc. This will be your roadmap for the show.

4) Determine how you will be capturing and qualifying leads. Drawings often generate lots of leads but they are unqualified leads. Think about your objectives and what you hope to accomplish. Consider developing a lead qualification form.

5) Create menu cards. These are simple cards listing offerings you're highlighting in the booth. It's a great way to direct the conversation of booth visitors, especially when they ask "What's new?" Typically they are printed on card stock and include your logo, phone number, and web address.

6) Visualize the booth traffic flow. Are there barriers that obstruct the flow of traffic? If you place a table across part of the entrance to the booth, a lot of people won't walk in your booth for fear of being trapped. Make necessary changes.

7) Train your booth staff. Make sure all booth workers know what is expected of them. They need to be on board with the goals and objectives for the show, products and services being highlighted, booth etiquette, conversation starters, booth schedule and more.

8) Follow-up on the requests for more information or a sales call immediately. This is where many companies fall short. It might take them weeks to follow-up versus days. You need to respond quickly while you're still top-of-mind for them.

9) Debrief after the tradeshow. What worked well, what didn't work as well as planned? What would you do differently next year? Capture this information and make notes on things to change for the next tradeshow.

10) Track sales that resulted from the tradeshow. Depending on your sales cycle, you might not be able to track the success of the tradeshow until several months or a year later.

Katie Wacek is the President of Sandia Mountain Marketing, a marketing consultancy that provides strategic and tactical marketing expertise to small- and medium -sized companies, professional service firms, and thought leaders throughout the United States. Learn more.

Winning Culture

I completely agree with Rosabeth Moss Kanter's closing statement in her blog posting In a Recession, Put Everyone in Marketing. In it she says,

"Challenging times divide winners from losers. Winners survive because they never forget the important enduring truth: High quality products and services are created by engaged employees who know and care about customers."

The winners also know how to create a culture of getting the best out of their people. In this kind of culture, employees feel valued and respected. They feel empowered to make decisions. They will go out of their way to "do whatever it takes to delight the customer". There's a mutual respect between the employer and employee.

Everyone wins in this type of culture...customers, employees, and the employer.

Deliver on Commitments

Companies can increase their credibility if they simply deliver on their commitments. More often, it seems that people will make commitments and then not deliver. This erodes trust and can damage the relationship. Credibility goes down the tube. It's better to set a realistic delivery date and meet it than to tell the customer what you think they want to hear and miss that date.

This is on my mind because twice this past week, I have been promised a particular delivery date on a service, only to be disappointed when that date isn't met. The worst part is that there hasn't been any communication from the company. In both situations, these were sole proprietors who have already been paid for their services. Their credibility is shot in my mind and they won't be getting a recommendation or referrals from me.

So, my recommendations are to:

1) Make commitments you can keep.
2) Set realistic delivery dates.
3) Communicate with your customer if you are unable to deliver on schedule.
4) Under promise, over deliver.
5) Delight the customer!

Creating a Customer Experience

Recently I went into an Apple store and bought a MacBook. In my opinion, Apple does it right. They have created a customer experience that is positive, engaging, fun, and painless. The sales staff was knowledgeable and patient. I've been a PC user and was concerned about the learning curve transitioning to a Mac and the compatibility of sending files to PC users. They answered all of my questions and mentioned one on one training that I could take to shorten the learning curve. After completing the sales transaction, the rep helped me complete the rebate online! Within a week I had a $100 rebate check in hand. Incredible! I have never 1) gotten a rebate check that quickly and 2) had a major purchase handled so quickly and efficiently.

When I got home I took the MacBook out of the box and within minutes I was connected to our wireless network and was up and running. I was pleasantly surprised at how easy it was. The packaging of the MacBook was very impressive, as well. Apple seems to have thought through all the details of the customer experience.

It’s no wonder that Apple posted a 15% increase during Q1 2009, in spite of the recession. Yes, I realize the growth was primarily in IPhones and IPods and that the computer sold dropped slightly year over year, but, the fact remains that Apple seems to "get it" when it comes to creating a customer experience.

Marketing When Times Are Tough

During these economically challenging times, some companies are drastically cutting their marketing budgets. Is this wise? I don't think so. Instead, I suggest you trim as little as possible from marketing. You need to maintain your market presence and position your company for a turnaround in the economy.

Be prudent about how you spend your marketing dollars. Prioritize your marketing activities. Try to quantify not only the cost of those activities, but the people and time resources needed. Put the activities that generate the greatest return in terms of expense, people, and time at the top of the list. Review the list and make sure you have both short-term and long-term revenue generating activities on the list.