Evaluating your marketing firm

As a marketing professional, I’m always under close scrutiny. Operating in a subjective and, many times, seemingly intangible industry, how can I not be? As someone who is on the “frontline” of working together with our firm’s clientele, I’m also the one who needs to showcase our team’s talent, ability and, more importantly, results. For marketing firms that are not as confident and results-driven as ours is, this can be difficult to do.

Most professionals know and value the power of marketing. However, valuing it alone is not enough. As a business person, you make an investment in your marketing firm partners in order to produce results. So what should you be asking yourself when it comes to your marketing firm?

Consider the following when evaluating the effectiveness of your marketing firm:

Did you and your marketing firm establish expectations and/or a baseline of desired results at the start of your working relationship?
• Have those goals been met?
• If not, what can be attributed to not reaching those goals?
• Was it the lack of support from your marketing firm?
• Did you change the focus of your business and, thereby, your marketing efforts to another area?

Has your marketing firm taken the time to really understand your business, your market, your products/services as well as your short-term and long-term business goals?
• Do they ask you the tough questions and provide you with feedback on areas your business may need to develop?
• Do you have access to more than one person at your firm to ensure you receive the highest quality of workmanship and responsiveness to your needs?
• Trust your gut. Does your marketing firm feel like a business partner to you or an outside vendor?

You have short-term and long-term business goals in sight. Has your marketing firm provided you with a short-term and long-term marketing plan to correspond with your vision?

Marketing can help transform your company. But, beware of consultants and firms who misrepresent themselves as the experts. In an industry that has no barrier to entry, our world is littered with marketing pros who promise services but cannot deliver the goods.

Take caution in your selection and review process and take the time to align yourself, and your business, with the right marketing partner.

*This blog originally posted at Imagine Marketing: Creative Solutions for the New Economy

2011: The year to "bring the pain"

There are different types of music lovers in the world. There are those who give it a passing glance, those who are devoted to a particular genre and those who live to embrace it and fit it into their "soundtrack of life." I'm a soundtrack kind of person. I live my life, years, weeks and moods by soundtracks I create. For those interested, ask to see my iPod and you too will discover the wonder of my 13,239-song, uniquely labeled playlists.

That being said, I've recently decided to dedicate a specific song to 2011 -- a soundtrack for the year if you will -- Method Man's "Bring the Pain."

This is the year we should all "bring the pain" to whatever it is we do in business. To break through ceilings, step on the gas (while the highways are still relatively clear of the competing businesses), eradicate the norm and push through to the new and unknown. This is the song I have playing as my daily motivation while downing my first cup of coffee of the morning. Or, as Method Man may likely refer to it: gettin' my mind right for the day.

Despite the foul language and somewhat derogatory words (for those, I do apologize. I didn't write the song), the song still conveys a message we can all relate to: that is takes the skilled, the resilient and the fighter in you to get where you need to go.

It's time to take everything you are and have achieved and "bring the pain" to 2011.

*This blog originally published with a February issue of the Imagine Marketing e-newsletter.

Brand investment and protection from distractions (Squirrel!)

The month of October is especially exciting for me. There are a couple of reasons: 1) As a Las Vegan I love fall. It allows me to resurface from my rock, which shades me from our scorching hot summer weather, and 2) this month is an annual reminder of why people with my personality type (ENTJ – a Myers-Briggs type) and career go hand-in-hand.

I was reminded of these reasons over the last three weeks while volunteering my time to help induct a new class into Leadership Henderson, a program near and dear to my heart, and by my 2011 planning efforts for our firm’s clientele as they’re preparing to take one giant leap forward come this January, just as we all hope to do.

More specifically, all of this is a strong reminder of just how powerful repetitive marketing is to any organization. We preach repetition daily here at Imagine Marketing, but it always seems to be one of the most difficult marketing lessons for our clients to understand and take hold of.

The reason? It’s easy to get distracted. (Squirrel!)

While it’s necessary large and small organizations have the ability to be nimble and responsive to customer needs, it’s often difficult for those same organizations to identify what areas of their marketing and sales program must be nimble while maintaining and building a consistent brand. That’s where I come in. (Did I mention my personality type?)

Over the last 10 years, more times than I can possibly count, I’ve heard business people say they attended an event once and nothing came from it (distraction) or seen them change the name of their company after investing in their brand for two years because their 12-year-old daughter didn’t like it (distraction). The funny thing? I typically only hear from these people once because they’re not around long enough to develop their business.

The successful folks are the people who believe in implementing a repetitive marketing program because they understand that marketing is a process, not an event. Despite the distractions that will (and they always do) arise, they remain committed and invested in their brand and do their best to implement a sound marketing plan ahead of time to help them remain repetitive in their efforts while providing them a reason NOT to be distracted from items that pop up.

Rarely do people enjoy planning for their business, but it’s necessary. (I head up planning efforts at our place. Teamers say I’m great at it. I think I was voted “off the island” while I was out at a meeting one day.) Regardless of your like or dislike of developing a marketing plan, it serves as a vital component to your business operations and, just as in others facets of your company, repetition is a key element to success.

Repetition in marketing, which often comes from having a master marketing plan in place, will allow your organization to gain greater brand momentum, helping you to move from “it didn’t work the one time I attended” to having multiple people tell you, “I’ve seen your company everywhere.”

So, I encourage you to evaluate your current marketing program for inconsistencies to see where improvements can be made. If you are attending events, are you ensuring you are connecting with your leads or attending events in a repetitive fashion? If you are distributing e-newsletters, are they uniform in brand appearance and caliber of messaging? If you are seeking media opportunities, are you sending newsworthy information their way and consistently reaching out to your contacts?

The opportunities are there so long as you are willing to make the investment in a consistent (repetitive) brand and follow your overall vision, which is easier to stick to when you have a plan in place.

*Blog originally posted at: Imagine Marketing: Creative Solutions for the New Economy.

Five easy-to-use tips to help you keep clients

I know a thing or two about marketing and sales, despite how entertainment media may portray marketing professionals, especially females. My career is a bit more complex than an event planner screaming at subordinates, as E!’s “The Spin Crowd” and the character Shauna Roberts from “Entourage” love to do. It’s scripted for television and the more tension the more it sells.

In the real world, I approach marketing in a holistic way, with attention to detail. My clients expect it as do I. In fact, I consider it my duty to ensure I constantly provide them with big picture marketing insight and action while never forgetting about the details that matter.

Speaking of details, below are a handful of tactics business owners/executives can easily use to enhance their current client relationships while staying sensitive to our current economic budget crunch. And, as we all know, it takes less energy and money to keep and grow a client than it does to find new ones.

Thank your clients for their business – Mail a simple letter to your clients to thank them for their continued business at least once per year. Meanwhile, make certain you periodically thank them via email if you correspond regularly. For instance, write your email as you normally would and simply add: “Thank you for your business.” It’s easy. It’s simple. It makes an impact on your clients. Every time I send letters to clients, they make it a point to tell me how nice it was to receive it and that they’re happy with my services.

Introduce your clients to your contacts – If you’re in the professional services sector, this can be especially helpful to you. One great big happy family is the idea on this one. Clients appreciate feeling valuable, want to meet other people who are valuable and will see you (and your ability to serve as the “go to” connection guy/gal) in an entirely new light. Clients can seek the services you offer elsewhere, but they cannot replace the relationships you help them build with others.

Deliver your clients a treat – A fruit bouquet, a dozen doughnuts, two movie tickets …all are affordable options that will help remind your clients that you are thinking about them and appreciate their business. (I’ve even gifted boxes of Cheez-Its crackers, cupcakes to flower adorned children’s hair clips to clients – whom I consider more as friends over the years.) It doesn’t matter the price tag associated with the gift. Instead, think of it like a typical dating ritual… it’s the thought that counts.

Instead of an expensive client gala, organize small meet-and-greets – Don’t get me wrong. High-end galas have their place with some folks in the B2B industry, but for most, small meet-and-greets can accomplish just as much with less money and time. I have a small group I organize every other month and a 20-person private wine making group I’m a part of that meets six times per year as well. Six months ago my “A-team” coffee group were all strangers, now we invite one another to birthday parties, holiday BBQs and more. Did I mention they all do business together now too?

Share a cause with your clients – Invite your clients to participate in a walk-a-thon or another cause you believe in. I have a coworker that shaves his head every year to raise money in the name of childhood cancer research. (Clients LOVE it.) People naturally want to help and want to be involved – so long as it does not cut into their family and “down” time. Involving them in this way allows them to see a personal side of you, your business and gives them an easy way to participate and build a relationship with you.

No matter your business, we’re all in the business of sales

I don’t know about you, but I have a love-hate relationship with professionals whose sole purpose is to sell me something – television, print and radio advertising representatives, online digital video sales people, photographers telling me I need to use their services, trade organizations saying I need to “belong.”

No matter the source, we’re all selling one another something. I spend a great deal of my time wading through sales opportunities as the “gatekeeper” for my clients. It’s an undertaking all its own, but it’s a responsibility I don’t take lightly and the due diligence my clients expect of me and our firm.

Have you ever noticed that good sales people often aren’t thought of as sales people at all? Instead, they’re “friends.” Being a trusted “friend” can be key in successful sales. And, in today’s tough environment, more sales people should become “friends” with prospective clients.

More often than not, I come into contact with some of the most unlikeable sales characters. What makes them un-“friendly” sales people? I’ll let you be the judge.

(All actual incidents took place just this last month.)

Placing an initial sales call on any given Friday afternoon. Unless it’s necessary, I do my best NOT to contact clients on Fridays. No matter how nice of a person I think I may be, I’m likely the last person (i.e. their vendor) my clients want to speak with as they’re wrapping up their week and business at hand.

Placing a sales call to their cell phone, when they’re not immediately available on their office line. I realize our world is more mobile than ever before. However, there is still a professional code of conduct that exists; you must respect the privacy of someone’s cell phone number until you get the “okay” to regularly call it.

Not doing ANY homework. I always try to do homework so I can better recommend to my clients why they should do “this” or “that.” Just like my clients, I’m not receptive to people who call and ask me for money without telling me, specifically, how I (or my clients) may stand to benefit from the investment.

Tardiness. I don’t mind waiting an extra 10-15 minutes for a phone call or for a sales person to arrive at my office – if I know you. It’s an entirely different situation if you called me and are soliciting me for thousands of dollars, and then either no call, no show or stop by 30 minutes later than our scheduled meeting time.

Randomly showing up at the office – and staying for 30 minutes. I get it. Face time is good. I periodically stop by our clients’ offices as well, but a good sales person knows how to strike that delicate balance between quality “face time” and interfering with day-to-day business operations.

Responding to specific questions with rhetoric. All businesses have a specific, strategic message – key phrases and statistics – they want to communicate with clients, vendors and the community. As a marketing professional, I understand that. But if I ask you a specific question about your product or service, please answer it directly. My day-to-day business endeavors are based largely on trust, and if I don’t feel you’re going to give it to me straight, I’ll look for someone who will.

Regardless of my rant, there are still a number of sales “rock stars” out there. People I have thoroughly enjoyed doing business with for more than a decade, although I don’t think of them as sales people at all. Instead, they’re my “friends.” They’re there to lend a helping hand, provide insight when sought after, and keep me in the loop when it concerns their business and industry.

They’re resources I use time and again, and as a result, do business with. They’re “friends” – the best kind of business people who also happen to be great sales people.

*Blog originally posted at: Imagine Marketing: Creative Solutions for the New Economy.

Eliciting response

My entire profession revolves around one goal: eliciting a response from people. If I do it correctly, and that’s what I’m paid to do, the response I receive is the one I wanted – whether it’s the public responding to an advertising message or a news article, or two of my contacts responding well to meeting one another and discovering how they can create a new and fruitful professional relationship together.

Any way you have it, my job requires me to be an expert in ensuring people, many times perfect strangers, answer my calls or make time to meet with me so I can get my message across on behalf of my clients. And you know, after 10 years, I do pretty well at it. Or, at least other people think I do, which is why I’m writing this blog. (Really, someone asked me to write this blog.)

There’s no “trade secret” to how I get things done, but there are a few rules I employ each and every day when it comes to doing business. Perhaps these tips will help you as well.

First, answer the “what’s in it for them” question before you contact a person you plan to ask a favor or make a request from. Nearly everyone you know, or don’t know, will respond more favorably to your requests if you start by telling them why they should care about your needs. It doesn’t need to be a hard sell – just a note to start your conversation.

Second, be clear and brief when making your request. This one’s important to me. Let’s talk e-mail first. Whatever the matter is, make it a self imposed rule that you do not make others dig through 5-6 “pages” of e-mails to figure out what it is you’re asking them for. Why? Recipients don’t enjoy reading them and, to be perfectly blunt, they often figure that if you, the sender, are too “lazy” to craft a brief message that gets right to the point that it’s also highly likely you won’t respect their time responding to your request. Essentially, don’t be a pain in the you-know-what if you’re asking someone else to give you a helping hand.

My No. 1 pet peeve is professionals who send “see below” e-mails asking me to sift through 20 back-and-forth e-mail conversations just to learn a simple fact that could have been stated quickly to get things moving ahead.

Now, imagine the recipient’s reaction when he/she is faced with having to sort through loads of e-mails to respond to a simple request … or a favor? (Not good.) This is a small (yet very large) issue many professionals can improve upon in order to elicit more favorable and quicker responses and, as a result, improve their results. Additionally, many professionals read e-mails from their smart phones, which often do not easily display long e-mails. This means an even longer wait time on your end if you’re seeking a response from a contact.

Part two: phone calls. No matter how passionate you are about your own needs and how much of a priority they are to you, do not leave convoluted voice messages that last more than 30 seconds or earmark them as a “high priority” or an “emergency” unless they are. (Same goes for e-mails.) Be concise, state your case, always leave your name, the time and date you called and repeat your phone number – slowly – two times at the end of the message. Respect their time by leaving a short message and don’t give your contacts an excuse for not responding to your call.

Third, say “please,” “thank you” and while you do it, briefly remind people again why they are responding to your need. These little words work like magic. Also, reminding people about how and why they’re responding to you maintains focus on your specific needs and shows them that action and results are being accomplished, thereby eliciting a stronger response and helping you to develop a better working relationship with new contacts.

These are a few basic, easy-to-use tactics that have aided me in moving efforts along in a quick and straightforward manner over the years. I hope you find these few tips to be as helpful as I have.

I invite you to share your own tips with us.

*Blog originally posted at: Imagine Marketing: Creative Solutions for the New Economy

Selling yourself through other people’s products

I recently purchased a swimsuit from a Florida-based retailer. I realize we’re nearly halfway through summer already, but it’s Vegas. I figure I still have a good three to four months of use I can get out of my new suit this year.

To my delight, I received my swimsuit by mail earlier this week. Better yet, as a marketer, I was even more delighted to see promotional flyers included in my package all of which were from outside companies who sold moisturizers, jewelry and ceramic figurines. I tried to resist browsing through the flyers, but to no avail. All flyers were read thoroughly – except for the figurine piece. (Ceramics aren’t my thing.)

The swimwear company, and its partner advertisers, snagged me. They successfully targeted their demographic of 30-something women who somewhat take an interest in their appearance. Therefore, I browsed.

There’s a good lesson to reiterate from my experience, one that is often overlooked by businesses, and that is the importance of knowing your audience and finding partnership opportunities that provide you access to your audience. The opportunities are always there if you look hard enough.

In my case, they got me and got me good. (I expect to receive my moisturizers via mail next week.)