Blog from Maribeth Kuzmeski of Red Zone Marketing

When I was growing up, we wanted to avoid being someone with a “reputation.” Today, we want a reputation, but we need it to be positive. However, maintaining one’s reputation is getting harder and harder. As social media and social networking sites continue to flourish, the power of the individual voice is growing greatly. We have to protect our reputations, and have someone (it’s probably you) that is fully in charge of managing our online reputation. It may seem insignificant now, but new things on the horizon will make this a part of any businessperson’s life.

According to an article in The New York Times Magazine, “The End of Forgetting,” by Jeffrey Rosen (Sunday, July 25, 2010), in the near future, people will be rated on reputation (trustworthy, good parent, good insurance risk, etc), similar to the credit report rating services of today.

There are services now that can aggregate information about people from the Internet and social networks. Not your private information like social security or credit card information, but information that is readily available: the movies you like, books you read, search terms you use, blog posts you write, videos you post/watch on YouTube, and people you follow.  These reputation and trustworthy ratings could eventually be used to determine employability and other factors. And it can be incredibly positive or incredibly detrimental to your career.

There are services that can help. Check out Reputation Defender or other similar consulting services that, for a fee, will monitor your online reputation and help you remove inaccuracies, etc.
Although no one (absolutely no one!) is perfect, it may be best to keep the imperfections away from the web. Is what’s out there about you having an impact on your business?

Blog from Maribeth Kuzmeski of Red Zone Marketing

I have several friends who recently found themselves in the market for a new job – and, fortunately, have successfully landed another job. Watching them through the process, I’ve concluded that finding a job in today’s job market can be like conquering a new frontier – and not just because the job market is flooded with stiff competition. The days of mailing in your resume and receiving a phone call to set up an interview are over. It’s actually very similar to the changes that have been happening in marketing your business. If you want someone to notice you, your business, or your product or service, you can’t do things the same old way. Today, searching for most everything from a new job to a new refrigerator begins – and sometimes ends – online.

Now you need much more than just an experience-filled resume, a cover letter and crossed fingers to land a great job. In order to get noticed, you need to think like a marketer. It requires looking at yourself as a brand that needs to literally grab attention.

Here are 3 quick tips I learned from my friends who went from under-employed to gainfully employed.

1. Networking and connecting is clearly the number one way to get the best job. People hire people they know. So, get to know more people. And, great networkers are capable of leaving something behind with everyone they encounter—a thought, a memory, or a connection. The key is to get face to face with a potential employer before, during and after the interview. They have to see for themselves why they NEED to hire you. Attend everything!

2. Forget the Traditional Resume. Try bucking the traditional resume format to include eye catching (but informative) headlines. This is one headline I saw used: “Responsible for a 20% Increase in Sales Over Past 5 Years.” Also make sure you speak in benefits and results. Put your picture on your resume. Turn your resume into your personal brochure filled with interesting reading for your prospective employer. Give them what they want to see, but stand out from the rest. What’s the downside?

3.    Use video. If you really want to capture the attention of a potential employer, record a quick video. Use it to get an interview or as a follow-up after an interview. Instead of just emailing a resume or a post-interview thank-you note, include a link to a video of you. Carefully script your response and record the quick message using a Flip video camera or even a web cam. Post it on YouTube or some other service and send a link for the video to your potential employer.

Standing out is the way to be heard above the competition – in marketing and in your job search. Good luck!

Blog from Maribeth Kuzmeski of Red Zone Marketing

I have spent many years speaking about the concept of creating an exceptional client experience. I even have the term, “Client Delight” trademarked because of the educational materials I have created around this topic. But recently, I read something in Harvard Business Review (July-Aug 2010) that made me change my thinking on this topic, quite drastically actually. The article, “Stop Trying To Delight Your Customers,” makes a case that to really win a client’s loyalty, you need to forget the bells and whistles and just solve their problems. In essence, solving their problems efficiently IS the experience. And it is where loyalty comes from. Doing an excellent job of delivering on a promise of standard, expected, and basic service, according to the article, is much better than trying to over-deliver.

The reason: firms rarely can pull off the over the top, unbelievable and unexpected client service that delights. And, most companies lose clients by underperforming on the basic service tenants. So where should we concentrate our efforts?

Here are some shocking statistics from the research:

The Customer Contact Council, a division of the Corporate Executive Board, conducted a study of more than 75,000 people who had interacted with service departments at companies. Here are some key findings:

25% of customers are likely to say something positive about their service experience while 65% are likely to speak negatively. 23% of customers who had a positive service interaction told 10 or more people about it while 48% of customers who had negative experiences told 10 or more people.

80% of the success of service at organizations is based on customer satisfaction scores. However, the finding is that there is little relationship between satisfaction and loyalty. 20% of satisfied customers will leave anyway while 28% of dissatisfied customers will STAY. And customers are 4 times more likely to leave a service interaction feeling DISLOYAL.

The main finding: Delighting customers doesn’t build loyalty. Reducing the work a customer must do to get their problem solved does. It’s the basic service, not the over-the-top, that makes the biggest difference.

To read this HBR article, go to: www.hbr.org/2010/07/stop-trying-to-delight-your-customers/ar/1

Blog from Maribeth Kuzmeski of Red Zone Marketing

If you find yourself constantly resorting to generic answers when people ask you questions about yourself – it’s time to rethink your approach. We can so often drift through our day, not even seeing the opportunities in the conversations with others.  From the simplest Hey, how are you? to the more complex questions you are asked throughout your work day – how often do you take time to answer the questions fully?

Many try to get by answering in as few words as possible, but in a world where relationships are a key to success, I’m not sure this approach is really helping.

A critical question we so often shy away from giving a powerful answer to, one that can open doors to a world of opportunity, is: What do you do?

I have heard even the most seasoned professionals use the old standard, black and white description of their business. As an example: “I am a financial advisor.” Although you are concisely stating exactly what you do for the person that asked, you are also opening the door for all of the stereotypes and preconceived notions they associate with that title or profession. For many, you would be tossed into the broad category of salesmen and forgotten in their minds. Simply said – the real benefits are being left open to hope (I sure hope they know what a financial advisor does). But in order for action, they must WANT what you have (and it’s your job to make them want it).

However, talking about yourself and your products often come across as sales-y or boastful. For example, if a financial advisor says, “I have a special expertise in building portfolios through my CFA designation.” Ok, so what does that really mean to the person you are talking to? Instead, try using a phrase that I have heard some of the top advisors we work with use. Follow the black and white feature statement with an absolute home run sentence that gives you the right to talk about your expertise or other benefits of your services: Follow: “I have a CFA designation” with “And let me tell you why I think that’s important.”

The statement gives you the right to share why something may be important to them. It will still be a factual description of what you do – but this time with meaning directly for the person you’re talking with. And it may be just the opportunity you have given yourself to put preconceived notions to rest and build your value – without coming across “sales-y.”

Blog from Maribeth Kuzmeski of Red Zone Marketing

From years of experience, I’ve learned that if I leave a voicemail message for my husband, I have to get to the compelling and important information at the beginning of the message. If I leave it for the end, he never really makes it there. He begins doing something I call “light listening” (i.e. He’s bored with his own wife’s rambling message and can barely pay attention).

How are your voicemail messages? How about your email communications? Are you communicating something compelling that is short and concise? Does it give anything of value? Or are you becoming a victim of “light listening” as you fail to get to any point in a timely manner?

A serial entrepreneur I’ve worked with, who seems to turn most everything he touches into gold, told me his secret to communicating well on the phone. He told me he writes out the voicemail message before he makes a phone call. And he does it before just about every call he makes. Then, if he has to leave a voicemail, he is ready. And, if he speaks live to the person that he’s calling, he is much more prepared. It is especially important when talking with a prospect, a strategic alliance connection, or a networking contact. Because if you don’t give them your best, you have left them with a lasting message that may have them questioning you and your abilities (it happens)!

These days I text my husband and get right to the point with information like… “Can you please pick up Shane at 6pm or he will be stranded at hockey practice?” Best to get the important messages delivered without the fluff. And, it’s hard to be that boring in 160 characters.

Vince Lombardi famously said “winning isn’t everything, it’s the only thing” or some variation on that theme.  Do you think it’s true? Is it really all or nothing? Well, what is true, typically, is that the runner up will not be remembered.

Sometimes, our instincts are to minimize the value of winning. We tell ourselves, “It’s ok if we don’t win” or “We’ll get ‘em next time” – but really that’s a justification.  Carrying that mentality makes room for failure before we have even tried to win. It is OK to lose. BUT…

It just really isn’t OK to convince ourselves that it is ok. It is mediocre, and from what I’ve seen, often has the effect of undermining the ability to give 100%. NOTE: For those of you that are, right now as you read this, minimizing losing, I ask you to put aside the various exceptions just for now. For instance, the person who wins American Idol isn’t often the best or the one that accomplishes the most fame. OR, the business that wins the big deal with Walmart has such low margins that they cannot afford to fulfill the orders. But, more often, big wins create superstars, superpowers, new leaders and most importantly, momentum.

The fact is that although we WILL ‘get ‘em next time,’ and yes our businesses will survive, and yes life goes on – capitalizing on the opportunities of winning is much better than spending time convincing ourselves that losing is ok.

Blog from Maribeth Kuzmeski of Red Zone Marketing

Rocky Wirtz, the owner of the Blackhawks for less than 2 years, declared that the team would be a winning franchise again. Then he took action to do something about it. He almost immediately moved to change everything about the team from the players, to home office staff, to media contracts. And just as important as winning the Stanley Cup (Congratulations Blackhawks!), is how he did it. He had a plan that had likely been formulating for years prior to his assumption of the team from his late father, Bill Wirtz.

I believe that the plan you lay out to achieve the win should be as strong as your winning idea. It should be tactical, multi-faceted, well thought out, and reviewed with others. Knowing HOW to reach your goals is critical if you realistically expect to reach them.

A financial advisor recently told me that he was going to write a book that was going to become a million-copy bestseller. Now that would be a big win! I was interested. “Wow, that’s awesome!” I said. “How are you going to sell that many books?” He then pointed to a poster board leaning up against the wall in his office…

It was what he referred to as his “Vision Board” that he had his assistant spend hours preparing for him. In the center of his “Vision Board” was a picture of Oprah Winfrey.  “Oprah. That’s how I’m going to get there,” he said.  Surrounding Oprah on the board was Larry King and other media personalities.

So to clarify, I asked him how he was going to get in touch with all of the media tycoons to get his book on their shows. He pointed to his assistant. “We’re going to call them. “

I walked out of his office thinking that I had just witnessed a real-life episode of “The Office.” Now it may be true that his book will get great media coverage and he will sell 1 million copies. The problem in my eyes is that if his book idea is so great, why doesn’t he spend more time on his plan? Getting on Oprah is not a new idea or anything close to a sure thing. Yet, that’s essentially his plan. To me, it seems his grand plan is nothing more than a grand dream that his assistant put on poster board. A truly great idea deserves a great plan – not a shot in the dark. Believing it’s achievable is a powerful first step, but without a powerful plan, it very well may remain a dream. Rocky Wirtz and the members of the Blackhawks have worked for years with the vision of the Stanley Cup. Rocky took the big steps to get it done. Does the quality of your plans to win match the quality of your winning idea?

Blog from Maribeth Kuzmeski of Red Zone Marketing

Whether you’re a hockey fan, cheering on the Flyers or the Blackhawks – what the Chicago Blackhawks have done to turn around their franchise in 18 short months is nothing short of staggering. Just think if your business had faltering success… since 1961. Your clients no longer show up, having lost all enthusiasm for you and your brand. It sounds like the perfect opportunity to throw in the towel, call it a day, and cut your losses.

But what if you decided that instead of giving up, it was time to reignite the passion that your clients and supporters once had for your business, and reclaim the success you once had? Could you take the lessons taken from the Chicago Blackhawks franchise and rally a revolution around your business?

The owner of the Blackhawks is Rocky Wirtz. Rocky took over the team after his father, Bill Wirtz passed away after battling cancer. Bill Wirtz, known for being a frugal owner (Dollar Bill was the nickname many Chicago sports fans called him) didn’t spend industry-standard money on players or the franchise.

When Rocky assumed the team the Blackhawks had only 3,500 season-ticket holders (the second lowest in the league). Their home games were not televised (a decision made by his father), and the team itself was no better than 5th in their division.

What Rocky Wirtz did in a matter of a few weeks was to literally change everything. One of his first decisions after his father passed away was to put the team on TV. He then negotiated a new radio contract and hired former Chicago Cubs president John McDonough. He made lots of big decisions in rapid succession to improve the team, improve the franchise, and bring the fans back. They even held a baseball-inspired offseason fan fest.

Throughout this season, an average of nearly 22,000 fans attended each game – a figure that lead the entire NHL. The team is currently in the Stanley Cup Final and chances are, may win tonight – the first time since 1961. The city of Chicago and surrounding area is now wild about their hockey team in a way not ever seen.

There are many businesses, just like teams in professional sports that just can’t bring winning to (or back to) their franchises (Detroit Lions, Los Angeles Clippers, Pittsburgh Pirates, Buffalo Bills, etc). But the Blackhawks did it in 18 months. The difference: not being afraid to make big decisions, hire new people, and change from old school to new school overnight. In 2008 the Blackhawks had to borrow 34 million dollars to make payroll. Today they are on the road to winning the Stanley Cup. It gives hope to the hopeless and energy to those with a dream. But risks, and big ones, are required.

Blog from Maribeth Kuzmeski of Red Zone Marketing

I have observed many firms attempt to create loyalty and an inspiration for hard work amongst their staff. One financial planning firm has actually gone to the extreme in attempting to create a staff of loyal, committed staff people. But what has transpired, instead, is more of an episode of The Office than a truly inspired workforce. The reason: loyalty is not something you can force upon people or manufacture; it is earned through the relationships you establish with your employees.

In an attempt to motivate and inspire the staff of 15, this firm holds a weekly, 1½ hour Monday morning rally/staff meeting. Each person is required to speak into a microphone and tell the rest of the staff what they did the week before and what the current week holds for them (sounds good so far, right). There is also often a 15-30 minute assigned book report delivered by an employee. Once a month a PowerPoint on the state of the company is presented by all the staff who stand and face the group to talk about what’s working and what isn’t in their department or area. Each person also must take a minute to speak about something positive that happened to them the past week and  they are required to state why it is positive to them. They close every Monday staff meeting, in the spirit of Sam Walton and Wal-Mart, with a company “cheer” that the employees must stand up and yell. The problem is, the employees aren’t willing participants. This has been mandated to do – with a smile. Now, the intentions on the part of management are good, but the result, unfortunately, is a staff that dreads the meeting, finds excuses to miss the meeting, takes vacation days on Monday’s, and moreover is fearful to admit this to company leaders for fear of having to lead the cheer the next week.

So how do you create loyal, motivated employees if you can’t make them stand and cheer…

Leadership 101, the Hawthorne Effect (study by Harvard)*, and almost all research conducted on workforce development have suggested that the way you create a loyal and inspired workforce is through changing the way employees feel about the organization, not by requiring them do things that already loyal people would be inclined to do (manufacturing loyalty). Studies done over nearly the past 100 years have shown that it is the time and attention individually paid to employees and a valuation of their work through compensation and acknowledged appreciation that causes them to value the work they are doing, like their place of employment and who they are working for, and inspires them to give of themselves in a way that isn’t required.

In the case of Wal-Mart, the morning cheer was started as part of a culture of a store founded by enthusiastic “hog-calling” Arkansas Razorback fans that already liked going to work and had a passion for what they were doing. The key word is: already.

*For more on Harvard’s Hawthorne Studies and creating employee loyalty, see The Connectors: How the World’s Most Successful Businesspeople Build Relationships and Win Clients for Life (p. 139-146)

Blog from Maribeth Kuzmeski of Red Zone Marketing

What is worth the effort in your business? Where does your productivity and focus pay off the most? Of course, the activities that produce the greatest results are not the easiest. The biggest successes often come when we are in the difficult, magnified, and critical “red zone.”

The red zone is a common football term. In football, it is the final 20 yards on the field before the end zone. It is the area on the field where the team either scores or does not. Frankly, all of the other activities on the rest of the entire field are insignificant in comparison. It is the same in business.

The red zone in business is where the sale ultimately closes. Getting almost there does not count. Yet, we spend most of our time everywhere BUT in the sales-producing red zone. We are answering emails, researching, preparing, networking, finding interested buyers, etc.

Are you ready when you have a red zone opportunity? And why is it that we often spend the least amount of our time in a day doing red zone activities, when they are the only measurable actions that matters?

Here is a critical list of red zone activities (by the way, you already know them).

•    Improving your call to action

•    Scheduling appointments and meeting each week with your best clients

•    Scheduling appointments with referrals

•    Meeting with your best prospects

•    Meeting with your best advocates/strategic alliances

Now add your red zone activities…