Tag: management

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Marketing

CPR for Marketing? Part 1

I don’t think Harry Potter has to worry for a while … apparently Lord Voldemort & his death eaters have turned their attention to marketing.

I recently heard from two colleagues in different industries that their marketing function is at risk — primarily due to organizational changes.  In one case, the marketing staff has been placed under the control of Finance & Administration (yikes!)

In the other situation, the powers-that-be have proclaimed that brand-building and relationship marketing are no longer needed.  Their rallying cry is sales, sales, and more sales!  (Get out there & bring in new customers … Relationship & retention marketing?  We don’t need no stinkin’ marketing!)

Uh oh …

Granted there are organizational and internal cultural shifts happening here.  And while the situations are vastly different, the undercurrent is the same — why is marketing’s value in question?

I keep telling myself that it’s just a coincidence that I heard from these colleagues on the same day, just minutes apart.  Has “he-who-must-not-be-named” discovered marketing?

More to follow … (and you don’t have to wait as long as you do for the next H. Potter book!)

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Customer service Marketing

Customer Care – Why Sweating the Small Stuff is Good

I loved Sean D’Souza’s article about creating “accidental evangelists” in a recent issue of Marketing Profs.com.  And it got me thinking how it’s the little things that truly make a difference in connecting with customers.

This reality was also reinforced by a client’s Customer Experience Team who met recently to report on what they’re doing to improve communications & relationships with their customers; for example:

  • Sending a small welcome gift to new customers and acknowledging a current customer’s order with a thank you card
  • Referring a customer to another supplier for a product line that the client doesn’t yet offer
    (shades of “Miracle on 34th St.” … customer response was just as positive as in the film!)
  • Checking on product ship dates to ensure there’s no disconnect between a promised ship date and delivery
  • Letting customers know where to access their account numbers when they need to call in for something
  • Identifying the source of a problem with frequent repairs & letting Customer Service know so they can help customers avoid future problems.

In today’s hectic world we’re told “don’t sweat the small stuff.”  But often times it’s the little things we do that matter the most.

In what small, but impactful ways, do you show your customers that you care?

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Customer service Engagement Marketing

Organizational Culture: Internal Customers (Part 3)

As mentioned in my last post, overall job satisfaction is affected by an employee’s relationships with managers & co-workers. And the quality of these relationships trickles down to the bottom line – you can’t build strong external (customer) relationships without strong internal (customer) relationships.

That’s why internal marketing considers employees “internal customers.” When employees take care of each others’ business service needs, they tend to do even better for customers.  In other words, internal customer service drives external customer services.

Who’s your customer?

Too often, customer relations training is focused only on staff with direct customer contact. But it applies to everyone – Purchasing has its internal customers; so does Human Resources, Information Systems, Operations, etc.

Think of it this way: if you’re not serving the ultimate customer (those who purchase your firm’s offerings), you’re serving someone who is … for example, the sales staff, customer service rep, call center staff, delivery person, store manager, etc.

To what extent does your organization acknowledge and serve its “internal customers?”

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Engagement Marketing

Organizational Culture: Assessment (Part 2)

My last post dealt with workplace courtesy and respect as part of organizational culture.

It reminds me of the time when I was fairly new to the working world. I remember hearing whispered references about certain managers and the sympathy given to new staff assigned to them:  “Too bad you have to work for that caustic s-o-b.”

This was the guy who would walk into the department without acknowledging anyone – no smile, no greeting – sharing only a scowl. Didn’t matter whether he passed one of his staff members, or a co-worker, or higher-up in the hallway (at least he was an equal opportunity s-o-b).

Maybe you’ve had the unfortunate experience to work with such a person, or know someone who has. So it should come as no surprise that research shows relationships with managers & co-workers impact overall job satisfaction.

The magic question

To assess the quality of your organization’s culture, all you need to do is ask one simple question: Would you refer a friend to work here?  It’s a loaded question, to be sure, but one whose answer will give you incredible insight into your firm’s culture.

More coming up in my next post …

Categories
Engagement Marketing Training & Development

Internal Marketing’s Ultimate Question

I had the privilege again this summer of serving as an Executive Visitor at the Iacocca Institute’s Global Village for Future Leaders of Business & Industry at Lehigh University.  And my topic was (drum roll … ): internal marketing – the importance of taking care of employees so they can take care of customers. Specifically:

  • Why organizations need to be employee-focused and customer-focused
  • What managers need to do to gain employee commitment to organizational goals
  • How managers can strengthen employee-customer relationships.

It’s a delight to share internal marketing with such an energetic & enthusiastic group.  Regardless of where the Global Village interns were from (including Sweden, Austria, Singapore, Canada, South Africa, Puerto Rico, Israel, Korea, Mexico, Russia, Hong Kong, and the U.S., to name a few of their home countries), they quickly grasped the concept of internal marketing.  In each session, someone asked the ultimate question: “If internal marketing is so basic, why don’t more companies do it?”

A simple question with no easy answer

The best explanation I could come up with, given our limited time together, was to remind them that internal marketing is really an issue of leadership & values … evident in organizations who truly care about both their customers AND the employees who take care of them.

Yes, unfortunately, there are companies out there who only give “lip service” to valuing their employees (as mentioned in numerous posts throughout my blog).  And there are managers who feel they don’t need internal marketing – the ones who presume “I wouldn’t be where I am today if I wasn’t doing something right!”  (Hmm, I wonder what their staff and customer turnover is like?)

What I learned the hard way

So I shared what I learned a long time ago in my business.  The companies who need me the most are not the ones who hire me because they’re clueless when it comes to internal marketing.  While the challenge they present might entice some consultants, I no longer waste the time & energy to sell them on the concept when they just don’t get it.

I’d rather focus my time on helping my clients – those who recognize internal marketing’s value and are committed to doing something about it, as well as those already doing internal marketing who want to do it even better.  In other words, I don’t have to sell them on internal marketing because they already get it.  It’s why I love working with them.

Categories
Customer service Engagement Marketing

Happy Employees, Happy Customers

“Happiness in the workplace is a strategic advantage.”

So says Hal Rosenbluth in his book, The Customer Comes Second (2nd edition).  He explains: “Service comes from the heart, and people who feel cared for will care more. Unhappiness results in error, turnover, and other evils.”

I agree with him 1000% … it’s what internal marketing is all about.

Beyond the inherent logic linking employee and customer satisfaction, there’s a lot of research that supports a positive, mutually reinforcing relationship between employees and customers.  (Check out The Service Profit Chain in addition to Rosenbluth’s book.)

But do happy employees = happy customers? (It’s a question I’m often asked in my internal marketing seminars.)

It’s an oversimplification to be sure … but you can’t have one without the other.  Remember, if your employees don’t feel valued, neither will your customers!

Categories
Engagement

Down with Fast Track Management!

Outdoor professional track cycling starts soon at the Lehigh Valley Velodrome, and I can’t wait!

I love watching bike racing … it’s a great sport but a lousy metaphor for management. Let me explain.

I once worked for a boss who had a bike racing poster in his office.  Over time I realized this represented his management style: wheel spinning.  He would give direction for a project, and once everything was put into place he would shift gears and change his mind.

So while the staff never seemed to have sufficient time or budget to do things right, we always had to find the time and money to do things over.  What a frustrating waste of energy and resources!

When it comes to wheel spinning, I prefer mine at the Velodrome, thank you very much.

Categories
Engagement Marketing

Low Tech Communications (Or “Everything Old is New Again”)

In today’s world of high-tech, constantly “on” communications, I find it fascinating and somewhat amusing to know that some executives are creatively reverting to low-tech forms of communication to reach their employees.

A great example is the “desk drop” cited in Herb Baum’s book, The Transparent Leader.  When he wants to share important information or a new company product with employees, the information is dropped on each person’s desk … a more personal and effective approach than using e-mail.

And in The Cornucopia Group’s e-newsletter, The Loop, I read about a company that implemented a “no e-mail day” once a month to encourage people within the firm to actually talk to each other.  What a concept!

Categories
Customer service Engagement Marketing

Internal Marketing’s Critical Connections (Part 3 – continued)

When connecting employees with customers, it’s important to focus on ALL employees, not just those with customer contact who are usually the recipients of most customer-focused training.

So, how do you make this connection with non-contact employees?

A great example is Celestial Seasonings, the herbal tea company.  They created a composite of their typical consumer and personified her  —  she’s known as “Tracy Jones.”  When staff consider product or packaging changes, they ask” What would Tracy Jones think?  How will this affect her?”

Here are some other ways to link non-contact staff and customers:

  • Visit customers — send non-contact employees to accompany sales reps or business development staff when they call on customers.  Let them see and hear “the voice of the customer” up close & personal.
  • Ambassador program — at one of the former Bell telecomm companies, non-sales employees volunteered to serve as “ambassadors.”  They visited customers on a quarterly basis to check in on how the customers were doing … to let them know the company cared about them.
  • Adopt-a-Customer — a professional association with chapters across the country used a variation of this in their “adopt-a-member” program.  Association headquarters staff (e.g., in accounting, membership, information services, the mail room, etc.) adopted chapters and were placed on their contact lists.  Staff then received information on their adopted chapter’s programs, membership changes, publicity, etc. … to learn first-hand how the chapters served their association members.  And the chapters benefited by having a direct contact at the headquarters office.

The key is to find ways to make a tangible connection to customers, so your employees (regardless of their level of contact) will see them as real people, not just faceless names or account numbers.

Your customers will also benefit by being able to put a face or voice on their contact with your organization.

Categories
Customer service Engagement Marketing

Internal Marketing’s Critical Connections (Part 3)

So far this posting series has focused on connecting employees to their organizations as well as within their organizations.  This week I’ll address the last of Internal Marketing’s Critical Connections — connecting employees with customers.

Customer-Focus is Key

It’s no secret that customers judge an organization and its brand by how well they’re treated by everyone in the organization they come in contact with.  When asked why consumers switched companies, one study found that nearly 70% left because they felt the attention they got from the company was poor or they hardly got any attention at all!

Connecting employees with customers — ensuring employees are customer-focused — is a key component of internal marketing.

What does being customer-focused really mean?

It’s understanding your customers (including knowing who they are and what they want from your company), and it’s being attentive and responsive to their needs.  To achieve even a basic level of customer-focus, employees need to be educated about your customers.  They need to know:

  • Who your customers are
  • Why they come to your organization in the first place
  • How they feel about your organization — from customer complaints, feedback, and satisfaction surveys.  (See Pop Quiz: Customers 101.)

The more your employees know about your customers, they better they can serve them.  So don’t forget to get employee input on how to improve customer satisfaction.

Here’s a thought-provoking starter question you can use in staff meetings.  Ask employees: If you were head of this organization, what are the three things you would do to improve customer service or satisfaction?

Some other ways to connect employees with customers:

  • Host an “Open House” where you invite customers to your place of business to meet & mingle with staff.  I remember hearing about a small company that would host small groups of clients on Friday afternoons (tied-in with the firm’s casual day) for a social hour.
  • On a much larger scale, General Motors Saturn car division hosts an annual get together of Saturn car owners.
  • One of my favorite examples is QuadGraphics, a Wisconsin-based printing firm that hosts a three-day “camp” where customers attend educational seminars and fun events to learn about printing processes… they also learn more about the company and connect with its staff.
  • At some catalog companies, employees will “mystery shop” the competition.  They actually shop their competitors to learn what it’s like to call & place an order (either by phone or online), check out merchandise quality, or see what’s involved in handling a return.  The value of this exercise (where appropriate & applicable) is that employees develop empathy for the customer experience + gain insight on how to improve their company’s own operations.

These internal marketing tools can be used with all employees, not just those with customer contact.  But non-contact staff pose a unique challenge — in what additional ways can you connect them to customers?

I’ll cover that in the last post of this series.