Monthly Archives: July 2009

Marketing, Branding, described simply

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Kathleen Bostick sent this to me a couple of weeks ago and I keep referring back to it. Apart from being witty, it’s just a lovely, no-nonsense approach to explaining concepts that most of us struggle to wrap our heads around.

From Alltop
From Alltop

I wish sub-atomic physicists could take a lesson.

“You see a gorgeous girl at a party. You go up to her and say, ‘I’m fantastic in bed.’ That’s direct marketing. You’re at a party with a bunch of friends and see a gorgeous girl. One of your friends goes up to her and pointing at you says, ‘He’s fantastic in bed.’ That’s advertising. You see a gorgeous girl at a party. You go up to her and get her telephone number. The next day you call and say, ‘Hi, I’m fantastic in bed.’ That’s telemarketing. You’re at a party and see a gorgeous girl. You get up and straighten your tie, walk up to her, and pour her a drink. You open the door for her, pick up her bag after she drops it, offer her a ride, and then say, ‘By the way, I’m fantastic in bed.’ That’s public relations. You’re at a party and see a gorgeous girl. She walks up to you and says, ‘I hear you’re fantastic in bed.’ That’s brand recognition.” (from Geoffrey Kidd)

–Lewis Howes
www.Twitter.com/LewisHowes

Business is a bore

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I had the pleasure of meeting a group of phenomenally talented women last month, each brilliant in their own, wildly diverse ways. I serve on the board of a few organizations dedicated to supporting women in business, so meeting extraordinary people isn’t necessarily a new thing in my life, thankfully.

What was particularly unique about this experience was that this group came from such radically disparate fields. Among them was an attorney, a historical novelist, a neuroscientist as well as a few truly amazing professional artists and performers thrown into the mix…just to give you a taste! I found it striking that one common thread with a number of them was a reticence for all things “business”. It was so interesting to think that among these gurus in their respective fields, each with their own stories of success amid seemingly insurmountable odds, so many seemed to find this one area daunting and in some cases, even intimidating.

From Alltop

From Alltop

Who doesn’t love great stories?

For me business is about story telling, and good businesses tell great stories.  So…

In honor of my new friends, I hope to attempt to debunk some of the myths that exist about business in the coming weeks. My aim is to attack the especially dry and unpleasant, like business financials and customer service, and also the chronically misunderstood, like marketing and branding. I know, I know, you’re thinking, “oh joy!” but I promise, there is excitement, dare I say intrigue and more importantly, joy, in finding the underlying stories behind even the most seemingly mundane of human constructs.

Cross my heart!!!

Ask for what you want!

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A hot new startup in Seattle is actively hiring. Trouble is the job description they are advertising is getting them, well, exactly what the job description outlines. hmm.

Why is that a problem, you ask?

Well, this week, in a marathon session with an extraordinary developer (full disclosure: this is a friend), the startup’s team of very bright techie’s (bright at coding of course, not at interviewing) spent most of a 3 hour interview, asking questions that neither reflected their own job description, nor that of the resume in front of them. Here is the total tally of people whose time was wasted here:

  • CTO: drafting a useless job description, hiring a recruiter (on retainer $), interviewing candidates
  • Techies: contributing to a useless job description, interviewing candidates
  • Candidates: reviewing the useless job description, tailoring their resumes to better align to said useless job description, preparing for and attending interviews, giving eager friends the play-by-play of each interview
  • Friends: hearing the play-by-play and offering up great advice based on said useless job description

In addition, at a time when everyone needs the goodwill of the markets to have some modicum of success in business, the recruiter just blacklisted himself (and his firm) from the candidate’s job search (and probably anyone the candidate comes in contact with), and the hot new startup just earned itself a disgruntled fan, and a well deserved impression that it is disorganized and ill-equipped to manage the most basic of business tasks…hiring people. My guess is the recruiter also lost credibility with his client, as well as generating a bit of ill-will from them for having allowed so many hours of their time to be wasted.

Lesson here: ask for what you want! Whether you’re the customer or your consulting on behalf of your customer. Figure out what you want. For your customers: do your homework, ask tough questions, dig deep and understand thoroughly what it is people really want. Don’t be the schmuck that wastes people’s time because you didn’t get that fundamental piece right.

Another lesson: No one gets it right the first time. You try it! Figuring out what you really want is not easy. You might think you want a new computer, but perhaps what’s driving that initial thought is something more fundamental. If it turns out you’re really just unhappy with the size of the big clunky thing you’re lugging around, and you end up with a brand spanking new one that weighs the same…where’s the breakdown? The breakdown is with you for not getting it right the first time. Don’t feel bad, no one does. Assessing a fundamental need is about as challenging as figuring out the root cause of an arson case. It takes detective work, it takes self awareness, scrutiny and time. Take the time, don’t waste everyone else’s because you didn’t get around to it.

Take the time up front, figure out where you want to go before you start. Don’t get me wrong, doesn’t mean that’s where you’ll end up, but at least you’ll be happy you thought about it first, as will those along for the ride with you.

Peace.

Don’t promise. Do.

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A mistake we often make, albeit with the best intentions, is to make grand plans about how we’re going to solve problems and…”it’ll all be taken care of in a few weeks time”. I see this in business as much as outside of it.

I could write a small novel on this one. But really it would boil down to this: don’t promise. Just do.

Do whatever fabulous thing you’re doing, improve, change, cook up a model that will save money, improve reporting, revolutionize quality. Do it. Then once it’s done, show up and tell people (your customer, your boss?) about it. Your customers will love you for this (apply it to life, your friends and family will love it too).

Tell me your story…

Putting on The Ritz – Not

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Ok, so times are tough and a suite at the Ritz is easier to afford these days. Good, right? I thought so, or I wanted to. As I rode by the W (a little more my style) on  the way to the Ritz-Carlton in New Orleans, I caught myself staring longingly at the hotel where I had my very first NOLA experience back in 2001. But alas, my team decided to go with the Ritz and delegators can’t be choosers! ;-)

Rather than making this a rant about a poor hotel experience, I’d like to spend some energy on recovery. I think you’ll all agree with me, mistakes happen. However in my experience the difference between a business you tolerate (or even avoid) and one you are loyal to, usually has something to you with their ability to recover gracefully.

A number of things went wrong while I was at the New Orleans Ritz-Carlton, and a number of things went right. The two most egregious things that went poorly however, were so spectacularly broken that I am compelled to think about what a terrible loss of a golden opportunity those mistakes were. More importantly, I wonder if I’m taking all the opportunities that my failures give me? Are you?

  1. $15/day for wireless access: Huh? Apart from the conference organizers claiming that wireless was included, there is just the larger question about who on earth charges for this anymore?
  2. Break in! A couple of hours after checking in, my bags safely delivered to my freshly cleaned (and absolutely freezing) room, I was taking a shower and someone walked into my room. Hearing me, he apologized and quickly scurried away.

Hm, where to begin. Well let’s start with the follow up:

  1. I emailed the address provided by the Ritz for wireless internet customer service and they responded a day later telling me billing wasn’t their problem and I should take it up with the front desk :-|
  2. I called the front desk about the break in and they said they’d investigate. A while later as I took a breather before the week of madness ahead of me, I was startled by someone trying to open my door again. This time I opened the door and caught the guy, who promptly apologized and said he was investigating (and yes, he had a little contraption in hand) what card-key had been used to gain entry. He kindly acknowledged that he probably should have knocked and told me what he was doing before fiddling with my door. I never heard anything more from the hotel on the subject.

Hm, woman, traveling alone, premium hotel…are you kidding me!? This is a recipe for disaster, yes, but not altogether hopeless.

Here’s what I think would happen in a parallel universe that I like to call “Good Customer Service land.”

Wireless madness:

  • Wireless customer support people have the contact info for the billing people and figure out how to press forward and ensure that the issue actually gets resolved.
  • Billing people (whether the charge is valid or not) acknowledge the error is not worth annoying a paying customer and credit the account.
  • Furthermore, some fabulous upstart also mentions this to their manager and gets her the memo that “um, all your competitors are giving free wireless these days.”
  • She then makes changes (or petitions the franchise to do so), sends an apology to the guest and attends the next “welcome to 2009: for hoteliers” conference to get back in tune with the now and bring her hotel into the 21st century.

Break out after the break-in:

  • From the onset, this incident is treated at a minimum, like a break-in in a home. Ideally more like a break-in in a Bel-Air mansion, this is not Motel 6, after all. Meaning, operator immediately tells the guest that someone is on their way up, and a report is filed.
  • Within 2 hours a status call is made (provided the guest accepted to receive one, if they didn’t, then one is provided in writing under the door), and a free something is sent (flowers, food, massage?), along with assurances that this will not happen again and that safety is something that’s taken VERY SERIOUSLY.
  • Within 24 hours a formal apology letter is delivered by the ranking manager of the hotel and a discount towards another stay is provided, along with sentiments something along the line of “we hope you’ll give us another chance to recover your trust.”

Would I have come back? Yes. Would I have felt safe? Yes. Would I be doing something other than telling everyone I know that the Ritz just isn’t Ritzy any more…yes.

Make no mistake, recoveries are a beautiful thing.  Like ALL relationships, if you’re conscientious and caring, they can get stronger through trials and tribulations. Business is no different, and most of mine comes from repeat customers (some of them have been coming back for over a decade).

My thought? Be a good steward to your relationships, and no one will ever break up with you (in business, anyway). :-)

Beautifully adaptable

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Last night I saw a truly inspiring show at the ACT Theatre in downtown Seattle, called the Breaks. Bamuthi was awe-inspiring. His work was a combination of movement, poetry, music, film, photography…and interaction with a very eager audience. Goodness all around.

This clip in particular (a funny piece about what Scorpio’s are feeling now that their ruling planet has been deemed NOT a planet after all!) resonated with me because like Bamuthi’s depiction of the Scorpio dilemma, we’re all dealing with increasingly ephemeral contexts. What do you do when all the old assumptions don’t work? Or when what worked like clockwork before now fails with equal consistency. Or when what succeeded fabulously in the US fails you spectacularly abroad? Paradigms are in shift, whether we welcome that with open arms or fight it with intensity.

I guess the main thing Bamuthi inspired in me last night was the understanding that there is beauty, creativity and yes, humanity in the fight. We are, after all, only human. But once we’re done mocking the changes, or even better, laughing at our own often comical resistance to change…there is inspiration in looking beyond our well laid strategies and taking in the moment. The dynamic, ever-changing moment!

We are, after all, human, and therefore beautifully adaptable.

Peace.