AMiable Solution #195: Oops…

Some mistakes can’t be avoided.  Others, however, are entirely avoidable, and odds are, you’ve found yourself looking at a distributed flyer, brochure, letter, catalog, or postcard at one point or another and thought, “Oh, nuts.  This didn’t have to happen.”

A previous mentor of mine once told me, after I confessed to discovering a stupid mistake I’d made in a brochure after it was printed, “In the big scheme of things, this isn’t a big deal.” 

That was a pretty kind response.  Your superiors may not be so accepting of mistakes: make too many, and you’re out.  

More importantly, your market may not respond so forgivingly.  Your mistakes may discredit your reputation.  Create financial ramifications for your company.  Make you look like bumbling fools.

We can avoid making embarrassing and detrimental mistakes if we understand three of the most common reasons we make them:

1.      Rushing.  Whether we hurry through each campaign because we just don’t have much notice or because we’re too busy trying to juggle too many projects at once, we often find ourselves rushing through a campaign.  And it often creates mistakes.  We overlook or fail to confirm details, we miscommunicate key information, we make errors, and we shorten the review process or skip it altogether.  When this happens, we make or miss mistakes that could be caught and corrected

2.      Poor planning.  Each and every one of your campaigns has a purpose, a goal.  If you’re not sure what it is, you can’t write and design your campaign clearly, and it won’t generate the response or results you’re looking for.  Dan McDade, in his November 20, 2012, DM News article, “The Top 10 Mistakes Marketers Make,” says that most marketers start with faulty assumptions and waste a lot of money.  You need to know if your goal is to generate leads, build your brand, etc., before you craft your campaign

3.      Asking for too much.  This one ties back to “poor planning.”  You need to know your goal for each campaign, and then you need to clearly communicate that goal to your audience.  If you want members to renew, focus on the benefits of membership.  If you want to invite clients to register for a course, focus on the course.  Don't overwhelm your audience with unrelated information and ask your prospects to do too much.  They may get confused, lost in the sea of offers you’re floating by them, and not do anything at all

Are mistakes 100% avoidable?  Unfortunately not.  We are humans, after all.  But if we take our time, focus on one goal at a time, and make it clear to our markets what we’re offering them, we can improve our marketing products and our results.

AMiable Solution #194: Will Your Clients Sink or Swim?

A friend of mine with young kids wanted her children to learn how to swim.  She found a swim school that operates indoors year-round and offers a very flexible schedule.  Liking the convenience, she signed her kids up.  After four sessions of lessons, her kids still hadn’t been taught anything that resembled swimming or any lifesaving skills. 

My friend wasn’t looking to train an Olympic athlete: she simply wanted to know that her kids could hold their own in the water and had the skills to protect themselves, if they ever got in over their heads.  She came to the conclusion that the swim school was more interested in making money than in teaching kids to swim, and she left.

Are you equipping your customers with the services, knowledge, or community support that they’re looking for when they need it, or are you drawing out the process in the name of customer retention and profit?   Your short-term benefits may draw clients, customers, donors, and members in, but if you don’t meet your market’s long-term needs or expectations, you’ll be looking for new customers--instead of helping loyal or repeat ones--in no time.

How can you be sure you’re providing your customers with the right amount of help in the right amount of time?  That can be tricky.  We live in a demanding time.  People have or see problems and they want solutions immediately.  Sometimes we can solve their problems instantly.  Other times, a fast fix isn’t feasible or reasonable.  You wouldn’t want to be operated on by a surgeon who finished an express version of college, would you? 

Your customers can feel confident in you and the help you’re providing as long as you do three things:

·        Be realistic.  How many days should it really take to complete a job, train employees, execute a process, etc.?  Consider how much time it actually takes to quickly and efficiently assist your customer without sacrificing quality and without dragging out the process unnecessarily.

·        Be clear.  Manage expectations from the beginning.  Let clients and customers know how long it typically takes to achieve a desired result.  If possible, offer alternative options for faster, yet modified, results.  My friend would have been happy to stay with the swim school if they had offered a “summer survival” course.

·        Be honest.  Is your program designed to help customers or your company?  We’re all looking for ways to retain customers, but deceiving them or knowingly exasperating a process will only hurt you in the long run.

Have you properly equipped your clients with the information or services they need?  When put to the test, will they sink, or will they swim?   Will you?

AMiable Solution #193: Revolutionary Delivery

When the British government created the Internal Colonial Postal Union, our nation’s first mail-delivery system, in 1693, few residents used it.  At the time, colonists were more worried about communicating with relatives in Europe than with each other.  Most of the mail at that time was used for official and commercial business. 

That started to change, however, in the 1740s.  By then, the idea of inter-colonial communication started to become more important to residents, who had started to resent British domination.  It also became a little easier thanks to Benjamin Franklin, who was put in charge of the colonial post in 1737 by the British Crown.  By organizing weekly wagon deliveries between Philadelphia and Boston and daily horseback relays, he cut delivery time between the cities in half.

Still, few “common” colonists mailed letters.  According to the Smithsonian National Postal Museum (postalmuseum.si.edu, the source of all this information), most American colonists received an average of one letter a year.  Despite the system being more efficient, postage was still expensive--a luxury experienced primarily by the wealthy, upper-class.    What’s more, not everyone could read or write.  In the late 1700s, only about 55% of women could read and write, and that number was high for one reason: mothers were expected to raise their children based on Biblical teachings.

As we celebrate the anniversary of our country’s independence, we can also celebrate how far our postal system has come.  And we can be thankful that sending your grandma a birthday card or your grandson a graduation card is both reliable and affordable for all.