AMiable Solution #97: Get Moving. Literally

Believe it or not, spring is here.  That means you’re probably itching to get outside.  Work in the garden.  Ride your bike around the neighborhood or on the towpath.  Take the kids to the playground.  To reactivate your personal life outside of the house.

Spring is a great time to reactivate your work life outside of the office, too.  Just as getting outside can reinvigorate your mood and energy, getting outside of the office can get your pro-mojo going, too.  Schedule a meeting outside.  Meet a client at a park.  Take a prospect client to lunch at a restaurant.  Ask a new or long-standing customer for a tour of THEIR facility to see if the two of you can brainstorm new ways for your customer to market or communicate to clients.

Better yet, just get outside and take a walk around the block.  Even a quick, ten-minute walk during the work day can improve your productivity.  Exercise makes you more alert and gives you more energy, which means you’ll be more likely to tackle that next project or brainstorm that next marketing campaign with more clarity and insight.

The more you move, the better your bottom line will look, and who doesn’t want that?

AMiable Solution #96: Growing More than Green

Community involvement is—and should be—about more than getting good publicity.  It should be about your organization’s core values: how management presents them and how others adopt them.

Yes, you have a responsibility to your employer and your co-workers to provide a quality service or product and to generate the most revenue, donations, or memberships possible, but it’s also important to remember that there are other people and other organizations struggling to do the same thing.

Just about everyone can use a little support these days. 

Is one of your organization’s own suffering from an unexpected personal situation or medical condition?  Rally your organization around that person and his/her family.  Sponsor or participate in a local fundraising event or organize your organization’s own special event (we love the story about the Massachusetts company, Granite Telecommunications, that raised more than $2 million dollars for a Boston cancer hospital when 400 employees shaved their heads or beards).  Announce your support on your website and encourage customers to join you.

Does another business or organization in your neighborhood need a little extra boost?  How about giving them a shout out on your website or brainstorming a joint project or sales opportunity?  If your businesses are very different, get creative!  You never know what may result.

Has a vendor suffered a devastating loss or particularly bad time recently?  Show your support and appreciation for all of the quick turnarounds, special prices, and personal service you’ve received by being an even bigger endorser of the company’s work.  Chances are, your vendors have seen you through trying times, too.

However you define your “community,” plant something good this spring.    

AMiable Solution #95: Get Social

When was the last time you socialized with your customers or members?  Really socialized with them.  In person.  Without your iPhone or desktop.

Although online networking enable marketers to reach audiences in more personal ways than traditional marketing methods previously allowed, they still have their shortcomings. With online communications, you have the advantage of preparing and editing your words ahead of time.  However, you can’t make eye contact, give a firm hand shake, or offer a genuine smile through email or a social communication.

What’s more, the feedback you receive in person is even more instant than any “likes” or clicks you tally online.  And you can answer any questions and clear up any confusion instantly and in a more consumer-friendly, face-to-face manner than simply sending an attachment full of data.

So, go ahead.  Reconnect with your market without all the high-tech gadgets.  Invite them to your office for coffee and doughnuts and a tour of your facility.   Offer a special in-house test-run of a new product.  Or host a free, one-hour, in-house Q&A session with a company expert.  Whatever you do, do it in person.

AMiable Solution #94: The Most Powerful Words in Marketing

Okay, we admit it: “free” is a powerful word in marketing.  Who isn’t intrigued by the notion of getting something for nothing?  In our opinion, however, it’s not one of the most powerful words you can use with your customers, clients, donors, or members.  We think four other words have far more influence on your relationships than “free.”

“I’m sorry.”  When something goes wrong, it’s easy to blame others.  Your delivery was late because our supplier was late in getting us the materials.  Your check wasn’t cut on time because we received your paperwork late.  But reflecting responsibility doesn’t solve any problems, correct future issues from occurring, or win any points with the person or organization who was wronged.  In fact, in many cases, it causes permanent damage.

According to Customer Service Manager, a U.K.-based source of news, tools, articles, and resources for customer service managers and professionals around the world, 91% of unhappy customers will not willingly do business again with a company that has “wronged” them in one way or another.  However, 56%-70% of the customers who complain will do business with the offending organization again if the organization resolves their problem, and up to 96% of them will not only do business with that organization again but will also refer other people to that organization if the organization acted quickly and to the customers’ satisfaction.   What’s more, customers who have had their problems satisfactorily resolved will tell 4-6 other people about their positive experience.

“Thank you.”  They’re among the first words we learn to use when interacting with others.  Why?  It’s more than just good manners.  It’s an act of appreciation and respect.  It’s acknowledging that someone else did something for your benefit.  And it’s a principle that should be applied to all of our relationships, personal and professional.

Offering a genuine “thank you” to those who keep us in business is a start.  But we should also thank our vendors, neighbors, suppliers, volunteers, etc., particularly when one of them does something special or exceeds “normal” expectations: gets you a great price on paper, turns an order around quicker than usual, stores your overs longer than planned, meets a short deadline.  When you say “thank you,” don’t just send an email.  Print it out—or even better, handwrite it—on letterhead and mail it.

While none of our four words will result in an immediate response, they do have another budget-friendly benefit: the sentiment required to produce them is free.

AMiable Solution #93: Provide Content that Matters

"GOOD COPY CLOSES THE DEAL"

One of the best ways to show customers, clients, members, donors, prospects, etc., that their response matters to you is to acknowledge that their time matters to them.  How do you do that?  Give them content that matters.

What makes content meaningful?  It’s succinct but informative.  You tell your readers what they need to know to make an informed decision, and you don’t drag it on longer than necessary. 

It’s also detailed but not cumbersome.  If you’re selling a new car, basic specs on the motor will suffice for most audiences, unless you’re appealing to a particular segment of audience or highlighting a unique selling feature of the engine itself.  Tout key benefits and features.

It’s written in an audience-specific, reader-friendly way.  If your audience is a technical or scientific bunch, jargon is acceptable.  For more general or lay audiences, however, jargon-free, colloquial language is best.  Keep sentences on the shorter side, but also vary length to keep readers engaged, not bored. 

Finally, make it obvious what you want your readers to do, and make it equally obvious how you want your audience to contact you.

Graphics grab attention but copy closes the deal.  Make sure your text does its job.