AMiable Solution #154: Big Pictures, New Doors

When you’re feeling unmotivated to give your job your all or to even show up, remember the big picture: you are employed. 

And it can’t all be that bad, right?  Think about your accomplishments.  Think about the skills you’re learning or the accolades you or your company has achieved.  About your co-workers and the positive relationships you’ve developed.  Think about your benefits:  your flexible work schedule, easy commute, opportunities for professional growth or promotion, challenge and range of job duties, etc.

Still not enough to get your butt in gear and your mind in motion?  You may need to consider another position within your organization or one somewhere else entirely.  How do you know when it’s time to go? 

Inc. magazine author Peter Economy offers some insight in his article, “10 Warning Signs That It’s Time to Look for a New Job.”  While we agree with all of his choices, which include hating your job, witnessing illegal activity, and not working well with the new boss or new co-workers, we think it’s safe to say that anything that negatively affects your health, mental and/or physical, is worth re-evaluating.

Having a job almost always outranks having no job, but if your motivational problems extend beyond the end of summer, it may be time to move on.

AMiable Solution #153: Aiming Just Above Center

We like to achieve.  We like to succeed.  And we live in a country where competition not only creates new and better businesses, but it also creates more stressed individuals. 

Truth is, sometimes we set the bar too high and suffer because of it.

How can we continue to improve ourselves and our organizations without shaving years off our lives?  Simply put: be realistic. 

We all have to-do lists a mile long.  Expecting to complete every task quickly just isn’t realistic.  Whether it’s something seemingly as simple as writing a product description or decidedly more involved like planning next year’s budget, everything always takes longer than you anticipate it will.  Making your plans and setting your goals more realistically will increase your job satisfaction and morale now, and it will make you a more accurate and efficient planner in the future. 

Try this: keep track of your time.  Literally.  Starting tomorrow, record the time when you start and when you stop working on a project.  At the end of the day, tally your results and identify how far into the project you got and how much more work you have to go.  Do this every day for one week and then evaluate your results. 

See any surprises?  You may find out where all your time goes, or you may discover just how much more time some tasks take than you realized.  In any case, you should have a better handle on your time management strengths and weaknesses, and you should be able to use the findings to set more realistic schedules and timelines. 

Just be sure to add a few days to all of your estimates: new tasks and new priorities constantly interrupt your day and wreak havoc on your plans.  Anticipating the inevitable and planning ahead for delays will help take some of the stress out of your week, and that’s the whole point.

AMiable Solution #152: Take the Day Off

Summer isn’t quite over yet, and although you (hopefully) took a great vacation and spent some extra time with your friends and family, you’re already looking ahead to your next vacation, right?  Kind of like the first day of school, when you started counting the days until Thanksgiving break.

The problem is, you’re not a kid.  You’re an adult.  With a job.  And responsibilities.  You can’t just take a vacation any time you want, right?  Well, according to clinical psychologist Francine Lederer, you should. 

In an August 12, 2011, “Inside Science” article written by Patricia Quigley, Lederer emphasized the importance of taking the time to take a vacation.  According to Lederer, "Most people have better life perspective and are more motivated to achieve their goals after a vacation, even if it is a 24-hour time-out."

Just one day off a month could be enough to keep you going.

And although the vacation itself provides its own benefits, the anticipation alone can help you perform better.  Popular website WebMD offers this: “People who take vacations have lower stress, less risk of heart disease, a better outlook on life, and more motivation to achieve goals…Even better, the biggest boost in happiness comes from planning the vacation. You can feel the effects up to 8 weeks before your trip.”

So what are you waiting for?  Get planning!

AMiable Solution #151: The “Big” Reward

Who said reward systems are for children only?  If you’re having trouble staying focused and preparing for the end of summer and the resumption of “normal” life, try treating yourself for staying on track.

We’re not suggesting whipping out a sheet of poster board and laying out a work chore grid (unless you think it would help!).  We are suggesting writing down your top weekly goals on Monday morning and evaluating your progress on Friday afternoon. 

Be realistic.  We know your list is long, but pick only the top, most pressing projects.  Then, get to work.

The payoff for achieving your goals?  Make it little, but make it satisfying.  Maybe you allow yourself one treat out of the forbidden snack machine.  Or an extra cup of your favorite, foamy beverage.  Maybe you allow yourself to start your weekend on time, for a change, or avoid checking work email all weekend long.  Whatever it is, make sure it’s something you wouldn’t normally do without at least a little guilt.

Giving yourself a little something to look forward to, no matter how big or small, will not only give you feel good, but accomplishing those goals and measuring your results will help you look good, too.

AMiable Solution #150: In Mail We Trust

Last week, I stood in line behind a teenager at the post office.  He had no idea how to mail a letter.  Despite the clerk repeatedly telling him he needed only one stamp to mail his envelope to College Park, he questioned her again and again.  When he finally bought his solitary stamp, he didn’t know which corner to put it in.

Did this young man really not know how to mail a letter, or was he just nervous because the contents of the envelope--a college application, perhaps--were of upmost importance?  Should we panic?  After all, Millennials have a reputation for being technically savvy, not traditionally minded.

Although the Millennial generation seems to be glued to cell phones and addicted to social media, when it comes to marketing, research shows that these young folks actually respond better to good old direct mail than marketing’s electronic counterparts.

In 2011, marketingcharts.com revealed in its December 13 article, “Most Millennials’ Store Choices Influenced by Print Media,” that 92% of Millennials make purchasing decisions because of direct mail compared to the 78% who are influenced by email.

And it’s not just Millennials who appreciate direct mail.  MarketingCharts further reports that 59% of American consumers (almost 3 in 5 people) enjoy learning about new products through direct mail compared to 43% who enjoy getting similar information from emails.

The best news for all of us?  Anyone can receive direct mail.  No stamps required.

AMiable Solution #149: Freedom of Speech

We Americans take pride in our right to free speech and exercise that right without hesitation.  We praise people and causes we believe in and support.  We bad mouth companies that wrong us.  We share information that probably shouldn’t be shared.  We do these things, without a doubt, because we can.

How freely do your clients, customers, members, or donors speak with you?  Do you make it easy for them to communicate with you, regardless of if the subject is good, bad, or ugly?

Encouraging communication from your market doesn’t take a legally-binding national document.  It just takes effort.  Here are three ways to encourage your customers to speak freely:

1.      Initiate a conversation.  Whether you send an email, mail a direct mail package, or make a call, ask a specific question (did your last purchase meet your needs, would you recommend our service, which areas of our service need improvement, etc.) to prompt a response.  Some customers, particularly angry ones, will contact you on their own.  Others need a little nudge.

2.      Offer incentives to those who provide feedback.  If you’re looking to improve customer service and customer relations at the same time, provide an answer to the question, “what’s in it for me?”  Hold a contest and offer prizes or do monthly raffle drawings for anyone who contributes to your virtual or physical suggestion box.  Whatever you do, offer a reward for responding.

3.      Reply promptly--and publically, if appropriate--to all letters, calls, emails, etc., good or bad.  Being a good communicator yourself will let your customers know their voices are being heard and will encourage them, and others, to speak up often.

Freedom of speech is not just a right: it’s also a gift.  For that we say, “Thanks.”                 

AMiable Solution #148: Check Your Bill

These days, there’s much legal debate about the contents of the first 10 amendments of the U.S. Constitution, known as the Bill of Rights.  As adults, we take these rights, and what happens to them, very personally and passionately.

But there’s another bill of rights that also deserves our attention as marketers: the Consumer Bill of Rights. 

President John F. Kennedy started the conversation about consumers’ rights on March 15, 1962, when he spoke to Congress about his vision to protect the consumer interest.  It was the first time any politician had done so. 

At the time, President Kennedy said, “Marketing is increasingly impersonal. Consumer choice is influenced by mass advertising utilizing highly developed arts of persuasion. The consumer typically cannot know whether drug preparations meet minimum standards of safety, quality, and efficacy. He usually does not know how much he pays for consumer credit; whether one prepared food has more nutritional value than another; whether the performance of a product will in fact meet his needs; or whether the ‘large economy size’ is really a bargain.”

He envisioned a set of standards that addressed the way all Americans wanted and deserved to be treated:

“(1) The right to safety--to be protected against the marketing of goods which are hazardous to health or life.

(2) The right to be informed--to be protected against fraudulent, deceitful, or grossly misleading information, advertising, labeling, or other practices, and to be given the facts he needs to make an informed choice.

(3) The right to choose--to be assured, wherever possible, access to a variety of products and services at competitive prices; and in those industries in which competition is not workable and Government regulation is substituted, an assurance of satisfactory quality and service at fair prices.

(4) The right to be heard--to be assured that consumer interests will receive full and sympathetic consideration in the formulation of Government policy, and fair and expeditious treatment in its administrative tribunals.”

President Kennedy’s speech made its intended impact: today there are eight generally-accepted consumer rights recognized by organizations around the world.

Although these rights are now, more than 50 years later, almost taken for granted, the overall perception of marketing, although significantly more “personal,” hasn’t changed much.  People are still skeptical of “too good to be true” claims, privacy-threatening information gathering, and invasive communication strategies.  It’s up to all of us to make sure we approach our consumers with not only the highest regard for their rights, but also for their respect.