You're probably stronger than you think. You're probably better suited to compete for customers than you think you are.

Humility doesn't exactly abound in our culture, but I think many business owners sell themselves short. They see themselves as outmanned, outgunned and underqualified versus bigger competitors. But they're not.

Local banks and credit unions can often make a better case to customers than big regional or national players. Independent jewelers can differentiate themselves very believably against "the mall stores."

There are opportunities like this in almost every industry.

Owner-led businesses can respond quicker -- like now. As soon as an idea is ready, they can implement it immediately. No corporate approval needed. No passing it up the ladder to the franchise marketing department. This autonomy is the ultimate business version of "just do it."

Some built-in advantages follow the simple fact that you're local and in charge. What moves can you make that your larger rivals aren't flexible enough or fast enough to match?

Labels: management, marketing, planning, strategy

In the book HumanSigma -- a very good read for marketers and managers, by the way -- Gallup data is presented revealing that only 14% of front-line employees can state their company's mission or vision. These are the employees that actually interact with customers, and they have no idea what their company stands for.

Do you think that's the case with Disney employees? In my observation, the Disney mission and culture and aesthetic is infused into every last cast member before they ever leave training. They know exactly what their company is about, and how they fit into it.

What's the percentage at your company? Do your people know what the business is all about?

If not, it could be that something has been lost in translation. Or just as likely, it could be that you need to take a step back and decide if you have ever established what your business is about.

Do that today. But while you're at it, go ahead and step back just a little further -- into the eyes and minds of your customers. That's where your mission and vision need to come from. Then you communicate it forward until every employee, customer-facing or not, catches the vision and radiates it.

Labels: branding, customer centered, employees, management, marketing, planning

Back to work, fresh off a 4-day Disney Cruise, I'm reminded yet again what excellence looks like.

(Some people are Disney people, and some people are anti-Disney people. We tend to be Disney people. It's possible to get too much of the Mouse, I suppose, but we're not there yet.)

There are many books on "The Disney Way," including one by that very name. How would Disney run a hospital? How would Disney run a school? And on and on. I haven't read any of them.

I have only gathered my observations and opinions by spending my own hard-earned money to do so. And having done so four times in the eleven years I've been a parent, I always come back impressed. Very impressed.

Disney does it right. If more businesses devoted themselves to making the customer's dreams come true or making the customers feel like princesses or making the customers believe in magic, Disney would be the patriarch of the movement.

Here are just a few Disney-esque principles I've observed in action:
1. Do nothing half-way. Every ride is a movie set and every employee is a cast member, and every theme is carried out to an almost ridiculous degree. I don't believe there is an organization anywhere that executes their vision more thoroughly than Disney.
2. Exceptional is the expectation. "Average" is not on their radar screen. The "minimum requirements" are not even a consideration. Maybe this point is the same as the one above. That's how well they execute.
3. Build in cross-selling. Every Disney property is littered (poor choice of words) with profit centers, all feeding one another. There are no "operational silos," at least as far as I can tell. Every piece of the business model is cooperative and synergistic.
4. Take pride. This is not a repeat of points 1 & 2, this is about profit. Disney is not cheap. Disney will never be cheap. We've all been to cheap amusement parks. By taking great pride and making points 1 & 2 a way of life, there really is no peer to drive their prices down. Pride is a profit strategy.

It's becoming clear to me that this post could get really long, so I'm just going to cut it off right here. How can you "Disney-fy" your business? Open your mind really, really wide for this one, because dreams really can come true.

Labels: branding, creativity, customer centered, differentiation, management, marketing, planning, strategy

If marketing is an expense, it's something that should be minimized. If it is an investment, well, that makes you look at it differently.

From a friend and client in the financial planning business, here are some fundamentals of investing. See if your marketing activities sync with this.

1. Accurately assess where you are today.
2. Clearly define where you would like to be (goals, objectives, etc.).
3. Identify the course that most effectively and efficiently get you there (remaining flexible in the process).
4. Align yourself with a professional familiar with that course to serve as your guide.
5. Allocate resources to areas or items that have historically helped others reach goals similar to yours.
6. Understand risks and rewards.
7. Maintain a proper time horizon in the realization of your goals.
8. Patiently stick to the plan and make slight adjustments as the industry or marketplace changes.

The only thing he left out was the principle of diversification. I will be speaking to him about this omission.

Of course, I am biased towards #4. #5 is also a favorite, but only once #1 & #2 have been established. All these things must mesh together.

The way financial investing works is very similar to the way your marketing investments work. If your money simply goes away, it's an expense; if it returns to you, it's an investment.

Make sure you're making an investment, not just paying an expense.

Labels: management, marketing, planning, strategy

Crayola means crayons. Crayola is the crayon king more than Google is the king of search or Coke is the king of pop. Crayola means crayons like Kleenex means facial tissue.

Over the past few years, Crayola has taken over more and more shelf space in the art and craft aisles. And from my vantage point, secondarily as a marketer but primarily as a parent of creative kids, they've done an excellent job of it.

The hot item for Christmas this year -- this year's Cabbage Patch Kid, as it were -- turned out to be the Crayola Crayon Maker. When the full line of 100+ Crayola crayons isn't quite enough, the new Crayon Maker allows you (or your child) to take the scraps and broken pieces to mix and match and make your very own new creations.

My poor kids still don't have one. They were sold out everywhere!*

In a smooth way, without sacrificing their landmark product line, Crayola now means more to the same set of customers than it did just ten years ago.

When you think of crayons, you think of Crayola. But now you can also find the Crayola brand on a much wider variety of creative product lines. A crayon maker by any other name may not trigger interest or a purchase, but because it says Crayola on the package, you sense that you know what you'll be getting.

I think that's what separates a typical product line extension from a "blue ocean strategy." Is it just a new product or service, or does it expand what your name means to customers?

What does your name mean? What else could your name mean to the very same customers? If it's something that solidifies and expands your relationship with those customers, make it happen!

* Christmas is over, and their birthdays are in June, August and September. I may have to simply splurge on this and just buy it as soon as I find one.

Labels: branding, creativity, differentiation, management, marketing, planning, strategy

Any chance you can name the current tagline for Wendy's? If I asked this just a month ago, you would have correctly said, "It's waaaay better than fast food, it's Wendy's." But what was correct a month ago is not correct now.

Wendy's, like most large corporations, no doubt reviewed several campaign themes before settling on the "waaaay better" idea. And like most large corporations, Wendy's probably did some follow-up research after launching and executing that campaign for a few months. Apparently, the results were less than spectacular, because the tagline abruptly changed.

Now, in the same media and same frequency of advertising as before, we hear a jingle saying, "You know when it's real."

What to learn? If something's not working, pull the plug! But don't leave a vaccuum, fill the void with something better!

Wendy's no doubt had the "real" theme waiting in the wings, a second choice in case of emergency. And based on audience response to their previous theme, they decided they had to change course.

I'm not going to do an autopsy on their "waaaay better than fast food" theme, other than to say Subway has pretty well established that same positioning ("Eat Fresh"), and a burger joint was going to have trouble inhabiting the same property.

The lesson for us is to be aware when our efforts are falling flat, and have a backup plan so one stumble doesn't lose you too much ground. I have a vibe that Wendy's latest campaign will work a little better for them. Is your backup plan ready too?

Labels: advertising, management, marketing, messaging, strategy

I heard the grumblings after the Colts-Dolphins game on Monday Night Football -- and they weren't all about the Colts victory despite a 3:1 time-of-possession disadvantage during the game. Some of the complaints were that Tiger Woods, a Florida resident, was on the Colts sideline supporting Peyton Manning.

For one thing, Tiger Woods lives in Florida due to (a) the golf climate and (b) no income tax. He's not a native Floridian, so cut him some slack for not automatically being a Dolphins fan.

But the thing I see over and over among the greats is that they surround themselves with other greats. Tiger has been spotted cheering for Roger Federer (versus an American opponent) and Kobe Bryant (versus the Orlando Magic), to name a couple more.

The guy is attracted to greatness. That's not a bad thing!

What do you surround yourself with? People who challenge you? People who impress you? Or sycophants and lemmings?

If you're the smartest or sharpest person you know, you need to branch out a little. It will make you better.

Labels: management

During lean times in competitive industries, a positive side effect is the necessary return to customer service basics. And boy, has Lowe's been sending out that message.

I can't go into Lowe's without being asked five times if I'm finding everything okay, or if I need help finding anything, or if there's anything they can help me with. And somehow, perhaps because I'm in my "man mall," I don't mind it.

It's very clear to me that there has been a distinct emphasis placed on this behavior by management throughout the Lowe's organization. And the message has definitely gotten through. I've noticed the same thing at Staples.

While we can argue over what to do with your marketing budget during these times (i.e. don't cut it), there's little argument that each customer is more valuable than ever and when they're on your property, they need to feel it.

Labels: customer service, management, marketing

I'm really, really proud of the Fox Marketing Group business model. I love what it is and what it is not. Yet ultimately I didn't really design it -- you did.

We handle advertising, but we're not an ad agency. We do graphic design, but we're not a design shop. We direct internet marketing, but we're not a web firm. We work with media companies, but we're not media salesmen. We handle printing and signage projects, but we're not a print shop or a sign shop. The list goes on.

What the business is not frees us up to do things in a dramatically different way. A way that suits our customer, the business owner, in ways they've never seen.

All those other things are selling something to the business owner. No matter how good or consultative or thoughtful they are, they still answer to someone else besides the business owner. They answer to their own boss, and try to beat their own quota.

I get the privilege of being at the owner's side. I get to think like an owner, yet bring to the table some skills and ideas the owner doesn't have. If someone has to sell to win, they can't really align themselves with the owner. I do, and I love it!

Take some solid research, for example, like the fact that the number one factor in a customer's judgment of a business is the restrooms (especially among female customers.) If I sold advertising or printing, I wouldn't know that information and wouldn't care! In fact, the truth might actually get in my way -- the owner might decide (correctly) that the investment in their shopping environment is more important right now than the investment in whatever I happen to be selling.

But since I'm on the owner's side, we can make facilities part of the overall marketing plan.

I'm free to act like I own the business myself, instead of figuring out ways to merely sell to it. And that makes all the difference.

Labels: customer centered, customer service, design, differentiation, management, marketing, planning, research, signage, strategy

Ally Bank is not a new enterprise. It looks new, it sounds new, but it's the relaunch of GMAC in the aftermath of GM's bailout/bankruptcy.

It's an online-only bank (think ING Direct) with a very clean website and a very human tone in the language. Why didn't GMAC do this?

I guess that's the benefit of starting over. You get to think fresh and start from scratch -- hopefully starting with the customer in mind, not convention.

A large, multi-center medical group is breaking up here in Indiana due to some financial mistakes. (Intentional or unintentional is a subject of great debate.) If I get the opportunity to relaunch one of the smaller groups, we will not be simply recreating the business model of the previous organization.

We will rethink every aspect of the way this group practices medicine and service -- from naming that's not quite so dry and predictable, to customer interactions that are human and personal.

In times of economic tumult, there will be plenty of failures and break-ups. Which means plenty of people and enterprises starting over.

If this applies to you, here's your chance to not just start over, but start fresh.

Labels: branding, customer centered, customer service, differentiation, management, marketing

I heard a fantastic statement this morning -- fantastic in its simplicity.

My wife, fifth-grader and I were attending an education policy roundtable in Indianapolis, hosted by Governor Daniels and featuring as a guest speaker former Governor of Florida, Jeb Bush.

When discussing the education reforms in Florida, accountability was a central principle.

Gov. Bush said during his presentation, "Data matters. Measurement matters. If you don't measure, you don't care." [Emphasis mine.]

Isn't that so true in business? Marketing utilizes elements of art, but it is also a science. Measurement matters. If you don't measure, you're just going through the motions. You're just calling it marketing and doing it because you think you're supposed to.

Demand results, and measure for them.

Labels: management, marketing, research

[A client recently asked me to speak to his employees at their annual training and certification meeting. The company I work for is a lotion manufacturer, but these employees work at his popular chain of tanning salons. The following is a longer post than normal, as it is a summary of what I thought was most important to get across to these mostly college-aged employees...]

The primary thing we need to keep in mind in this type of business is: "Alright" is not alright.

There are conversations on campus every single day where one person asks another what they think. Picture two girls walking to class, talking about tanning. One asks the other, "Where do you tan?"

She says, "A Place To Tan."

"Oh, I've seen that. What's it like?"

"It's alright."

Did you hear that? She said it's alright. "Alright" is not a compliment here. "Alright" really means it's not good enough to refer her friend to. If it were, she would have said so. If it were, she wouldn't mind being identified with it.

"Alright" means if some other salon offers a better deal, she'll take it without hesitation. If there is no difference between salons, find the cheapest and closest one because there's no reason to do business with A Place To Tan.

The customer's experience is mostly in your hands. That makes you a more important marketing team than I could ever be for this business.

What we would like that girl to say is, "It's great -- it's way better than what I have back home."

Think about that. We're not just competing against other local tanning salons here, we're competing against whatever they're used to. We're competing against expectations. If they have a great salon where they come from, and we don't measure up, they'll keep looking for another place. If we make their salon back home look like a dump, they'll love us.

Let the other salons aim for mediocre and say, "Well, this is just Muncie." Let's aim higher and treat customers like they are from the fancy suburbs of Indianapolis or Chicago. If they shop around at all, they'll see the difference.

My job often involves driving traffic into a business. But what they experience will end up weighing a lot more. Let me illustrate...

Do you remember Pepsi One? I don't even think they make it anymore. Know why? Because it tasted like crap! It didn't just have the "diet aftertaste," it was instant nastiness. Am I right?

The ads got people to try it, but the customer experience made them want to spit it out. Effective marketing requires both -- promotional messages that generate interest, and a buying experience that fulfills the promises.

Do you remember Storm? It was an attempt by Pepsi to imitate 7-Up and Sprite. They don't make this one anymore either. Why? Not because it tasted like crap, but because it was bland. You might even say it was "alright."

Once again, the ads were good enough to make you aware and make you want to try it. But once you did, you had no good reason to try it again.

Now, how about Sierra Mist? I can't even remember a single ad for it, but it has stayed on the market and does pretty well. Why? Because it's good. It tastes like 7-Up or Sprite, which is what people want and expect. Proof that the experience means more than what you say the experience is going to be.

So take pride in what you're doing here, because you own the customer experience. You are the marketing team in ways you might not even realize.

A very interesting finding from multiple consumer studies is this: Customers, especially women, will judge a place more on the cleanliness of the bathrooms than any other factor. Yep, even including how you treat them to their face.

The bathrooms are prime marketing territory. This is not just a service business, not just a skincare business, it is a hygeine business.

The product shelves are important too. Keep them organized and attractive. If they're a jumble, customers won't take time to look them over. They'll go elsewhere. It's a basic truth that if it looks like work to find a product they want, they just won't do it.

Make it easy for people to give you their money. This is a good code to live by.

Customer complaints or problems are a marketing opportunity too. Let's say someone says something is wrong with their tanning bed. You wouldn't say it out loud, but your body language might say, "Gee, I'd really like to care, but I'm not going to get my butt off this stool."

Make them feel important and listened to. Maybe you can't fix the bed, but at least get up and take a look at it with them. Then tell them you'll get someone on it. And if you have their email address in your files, let them know when the problem has been fixed! No one else is going to do that kind of thing, so it's a great way to stand out as an employee, as a company, and as a problem-solver.

Now, you might not like this one, but I have to tell you it's probably best if you don't come to work in your pajamas. I know your customers do, but take it up just a notch and be a little more professional. People will say they don't notice or don't care, but they do. It will make the other salons look like cut-rate, back-alley operations if you show pride and they don't.

So do we all agree that "alright" is not alright? Do every part of your job just a little better, take just a little better care of your customers, and this place will keep growing with or without a good economy.

Just think of the kind of reference you want when you graduate and try to land a job. Do you want a really good review, or just "alright?"

Labels: customer centered, customer service, employees, management, marketing

My last post was about how getting too comfortable will hold you back. This is a spinoff point, namely, your customers' discomfort is your opportunity.

If your prospects are comfortable, they don't need you. If they're comfortable with the status quo or their current suppliers or their current results, there's not much room for you.

But that's where the current climate can be your friend. Lots of folks are uncomfortable right now, which gives you the chance to ride in on the white horse and solve their problems, allay their fears, give them peace, reduce their risk.

Here's a great chance to make them comfortable again -- with you.

Labels: customer centered, customers, management, marketing, strategy

"You are exactly where you want to be. If you really wanted to be somewhere else, you would do the things it takes to get you there."

Those are the words of Michael Crisci, sales and management expert (and one of the most influential people in my career to date). In those two sentences, he nails the one thing that holds back so many people across all types of businesses: comfort.

People may say they want something different, but in the end they are too comfortable where they are to pursue any type of meaningful change.

Comfort is the enemy of innovation. Comfort is the enemy of problem-solving. Comfort is the enemy of the next great thing. Comfort steals more profit from you than any thief or corporate espionage. I hate comfort.

This recession is going to spawn some really great things in the near future, because it's making a lot of people uncomfortable for the first time. It's my personal mission in the next 18 months to help business owners translate their discomfort into entirely new prosperity.

Uncomfortable yet? Good. Call me.

Labels: creativity, differentiation, management, marketing, planning, strategy

One summer during my college years, I worked for a camp in northern Wisconsin. I learned a lot that summer, including a little management philosophy.

During the first couple days, as a kid would be filling his or her cup at the cafeteria soda fountain, ice cubes would go flying as they bounced off the rim of the cup. Multiply this by a few hundred campers, and you had a mess on the floor (and a liability issue, too, I suppose).

The camp director told the cafeteria crew to find a solution quick, and added, "Think like a kid. Be creative!" He was a master delegator because he didn't just pawn off jobs, he encouraged creative solutions from the minds he had right there on the scene.

The next day, a sign was posted on the pop machine: "Glass up high, ice won't fly!" It was perfect!

It was quick, so kids would see it and read it. And it was witty, which won their compliance. They held their cups up high, closer to the ice dispenser, and the problem was solved.

When business owners call me, they expect creativity. But for many of the little day-to-day problems and issues within a business, there are perfectly creative minds right there on-site. Give employees the chance to create and "own" a solution, and they'll treat your business with an owner's pride.

Labels: creativity, employees, management