Categories
Engagement Marketing

Internal Marketing – New Definition

Internal marketing is a critical management concept that is difficult to explain, let alone define. Throughout my work in the field, I’ve defined internal marketing simply as “the application of marketing inside an organization to instill customer-focused values.”

But now there’s a new, more comprehensive definition – thanks to the Fall 2005 graduate class in internal marketing, part of Northwestern University’s Integrated Marketing Communications program.

“Internal Marketing is the ongoing process whereby an organization aligns, motivates and empowers employees at all functions and levels to consistently deliver a positive customer experience that helps achieve business objectives.”

What I love about this expanded definition is that it captures aspects of both internal marketing and internal branding. The new definition is a result of an Internal Marketing Best Practice Study funded by the Forum for People Performance Management & Measurement.

I’ll have more on this study in my next post.

Categories
Engagement Marketing

Internal Marketing – Not for Stepford Wives

Every once in a while I find myself getting defensive about internal marketing.

Some business folks, who begrudgingly acknowledge internal marketing’s premise (“take care of employees so they’ll take care of customers'”) chide me as they envision creating a cadre of plastic, smiling automatons going about their business happily serving customers.

But I am not advocating internal marketing as a “Stepford wives” approach.

I am advocating that employees be considered upfront, not an after-thought in business strategy and operations.  The best organizations proactively consider employee needs and concerns when developing new programs or improving existing ones.  Those who get it:

  • communicate the rationale behind management initiatives
  • get employee input on anticipated customer response to operational changes
  • provide whatever new or remedial staff training might be needed, etc.

What I’m talking about is effectively communicating with your employees: involve them, listen to them, and gain their buy-in in the process.  In other words, respect your employees by considering how they’ll be impacted by your business decisions.

This will get you genuine smiles, not plastic ones.

Categories
Customer service Marketing

Customer Recovery: A Tale of Two Companies (Part 2)

My last post covered my experience with two different consumer companies and how they handled me as a consumer with a complaint.  The deciding factor in keeping my brand loyalty involved recovery – going the extra step to maintain a customer relationship.

It’s not the same, or is it?

One situation involved my no longer being able to obtain a product (which I learned was discontinued), and the other involved a temporary product quality issue.  Discussing this with my son, Jason, he pointed out that I was comparing apples to oranges in that recovery didn’t necessarily apply in both cases.

Jason’s point was that when Maybelline discontinued making my favorite eyeliner, they took a calculated risk to lose customers.  So there was no need to retain my relationship as a customer via recovery.

I’ll admit that as a marketer I’ve never been involved in a decision to discontinue or retire a product … but I still believe recovery has a role.  Perhaps it’s a result of the professional customer service & sales training I’ve taken (as well as taught) throughout my career: Don’t just tell customers what you can’t do for them, tell them what you can do for them.

I’m open to hearing from others with more experience in discontinuing a product or service – what role (if any) does recovery play?  Please comment on this post or e-mail me your thoughts on this.  Thanks!

Categories
Customer service Marketing

Customer Recovery: A Tale of Two Companies

As a marketer, I know the importance of effective complaint handling and recovery on consumer satisfaction and loyalty.  So I was curious to see how two different companies with well known brands would handle me as a consumer with a problem.

This wasn’t a test for its own sake – I actually had problems with two products of which I’ve been a long-time, loyal consumer.  And surprisingly (or not), my experience was different in each case.

Situation #1

I needed to replace my Maybelline eyeliner pen and couldn’t find it anywhere after trying several different stores.  So I e-mailed Maybelline’s Consumer Affairs and here’s their reply:

“Thank you for your interest in Eye Express Easy Lining Pen.  This product is no longer available, and we have no way of obtaining it for you to purchase.  We suggest you try Line Stylist, which is available at stores that carry Maybelline New York products.

We understand the frustration you must feel concerning the disappearance of a product that you had been using faithfully.  It is never easy for us to make the decision to discontinue any of our products or shades.  We truly regret any inconvenience this may have caused you.”

At least they were empathetic and apologetic.  But that’s all.  There was no link to tell me where to find the suggested alternate product and no special offer or coupon to encourage me to try it.

Marketing Note: OK, as consumers we may be unrealistic in expecting a little extra for the inconvenience.  In marketing, the concept is known as “recovery” – an added incentive to maintain the customer’s relationship.  But the bottom line here is there is no reason for me to continue my brand loyalty.  My favorite product is no longer available, and there’s no motivation for me to try another product within the brand.  So goodbye, Maybelline.

Situation #2

I opened a box of Post Grape-Nuts cereal and it tasted stale.  (Hard to believe, I know … but I eat Grape-Nuts in yogurt nearly everyday, and this time it didn’t taste quite right.)  I opened another box that I had in my pantry, and it was same.  The “best when used by” date was more than six months away.  Maybe I just had a bad batch?

So I called Kraft (who owns the Post brand).  The Customer Service Rep was also apologetic.  I don’t quite remember how she said it, but she managed to genuinely acknowledge my complaint while at the same time reassure me of their quality standards.  And then she offered recovery – Post would send me coupons so I could replace the product.  (A letter of apology, with the coupons, arrived within a week.)

Based on this experience, will I stay loyal to Post Grape-Nuts?  You betcha!

Categories
Marketing

“The Golden Thread” & Storytelling Magic

Lots of nonprofit and for-profit marketers are extolling the virtues of storytelling.

 

As Trish Lambert writes in her blog:

 

“Stories work.  They always have and they always will.  Whether you are trying to teach someone something better or sell someone something, stories will get the point made better than any other form of communication at your disposal.”

I’m privileged to know a professional storyteller, Susan Danoff, founder & Executive Director of Storytelling Arts, Inc.  And with all the interest in storytelling these days, I wanted to tell you about her latest book, The Golden Thread: Storytelling in Teaching and Learning.

In full disclosure, Susan and I are childhood friends who’ve stayed in touch.  I became familiar with her work with Storytelling Arts about a year ago when I wrote a nonprofit marketing case study on her organization.

Not for teachers only

While the book is targeted to traditional educators, it’s also a great resource for business professionals.  I don’t work in a K-12 classroom; my “teaching” occurs in professional development workshops & seminars for corporate and nonprofit managers.  Yet I found Susan’s book engaging and relevant, particularly the section “On Becoming a Storyteller” and the sources cited.

The Golden Thread explores the experience and profound impact that storytellers have on children, including those with special needs – strengthening their literacy skills and increasing their motivation for learning.  The magic and power of storytelling is enhanced with traditional and original folktales woven throughout the book.  And I highly recommend it for both educational and business professionals.

Categories
Engagement Training & Development

Ooops! Learning from Our Mistakes

“I’m never wrong. I thought I was once, but I was mistaken.”  -Lucy Van Pelt, Peanuts

Lucy’s perfectionism aside (heaven help those who work for people like Lucy!), here are some non-threatening and productive ways to institutionalize learning from our mistakes.

  • Mistake of the Month – Have people share their mistakes & corresponding “lessons learned” at staff meetings.  Then staff vote on which one taught them the most.
  • Favorite Lessons Learned– This is a variation of the above.  Allow time at staff meetings for people to share one or both of the following:
    • “Favorite Mistake Not to be Repeated”
    • “Favorite Catch of Stuff Done Right that We Hope to Do Again”
  • I don’t have a name for this, but I found it on Christopher Hannigan’s blog and loved it.  CarMax CEO Austin Ligon uses this as a meeting opener: “What are we doing that is stupid, unnecessary or doesn’t make sense?”  What a great way to break the ice on an uncomfortable topic.

Let’s face it, no one is perfect (not even Lucy).  So we need to find ways to collectively share in the learning from our mistakes to avoid making them again.

Categories
Musings

Great Reading for Summer & Year Round

When I get the chance to play around in the blogosphere, I love to check out what’s on other people’s reading lists.

So I was somewhat surprised to find one on my all-time favorite books – Gordon McKenzie’s Orbiting the Giant Hairball: A Corporate Fool’s Guide to Surviving with Grace – on several lists including From the Marketing Trenches and You Already Know This Stuff.

While it’s not unusual to see the same current popular business books on people’s reading lists, it’s interesting to find a book that was first published ten years ago. (Gordon self-published his book in 1996 before it was picked up by Viking Press two years later.  I initially learned about the book from Gordon whom I had the privilege to meet when he spoke at several AMA conferences in the early-mid ’90s.)

Favorite Cult Classic

I’ve always thought of Gordon’s book as somewhat of a cult classic since not too many people have heard of it.  But it’s one of the first I mention when people ask “what’s your favorite book?”  or “If you were on a deserted island what book(s) would you want with you?”

Orbiting the Giant Hairball is not a book you read just once … it’s one to read & enjoy over and over and over again.

Categories
Musings

A Celebration of Giving Back

Happy July 4th!

In honor of the entrepreneurial legacy of this country’s founders and pioneers, I’m celebrating the incredible impact of successful entrepreneurs Warren Buffett and Bill Gates.

Buffett recently announced he is donating most of his wealth to the Gates Foundation as well as his own family’s numerous foundations.  These philanthropic organizations focus on improving global health, education, reproductive health, the environment and other humanitarian issues.

The amount of Buffett’s gift – estimated to be over $30 billion – is the largest in philanthropic history.

I hope his generosity will inspire others to “give back” to the world community in whatever amounts they can best afford.

The spirit of giving is one we can celebrate today … and every day.

Categories
Customer service

Clueless in Customer Commitment

I watched sadly as my husband & his brothers recently endured a lot of undeserved & unnecessary stress from a bank’s brokerage division’s poor service & staff incompetence.

In trying to close out an account from my father-in-law’s estate, they kept getting the run-around and poor excuses about the paperwork involved … most of it BS.  Attempts to resolve their frustration by trying to appeal higher up were ignored.  So it became customer service’s responsibility for damage control.

And while the situation was handled gingerly by a customer service rep (kudos to her for her personal empathy & professional manner), the brand damage was done.

Unfortunately, this also reinforced the decline in business’s commitment to customers as reported in the Strativity Group’s annual Customer Experience Management Survey.  Results from last year’s study found “companies remained self-centric, transaction-based, and product-focused.”

Based on my family’s experience, you can count SunTrust Investments among the clueless.

Categories
Engagement Marketing

The Sweet Sound of Brand Love

I just attended my first brand “love-in” experience thanks to my husband, a member of the Martin Owners Club – a special group of Martin Guitar aficionados.

The first official gathering of the Martin Owners Club was held recently in Nazareth, PA, site of the company’s home base, factory, and new Martin Guitar Museum & Visitors Center. The day’s events included factory tours guided by employees, museum tours, re-stringing of club members’ guitars by Martin technicians, a special address by C.F. Martin IV (company CEO), music performances, and lots of food and brand mementos.

Brand Passion Inside & Out

More than 500 members & their guests, from 40 U.S. states and six countries, came to the one-day event.  According to Steve Carletti, VP of Sales & Marketing, the Martin Owners Club started just three years ago and has grown to approx. 3200 members. Members pay an annual fee to belong to the club – reflecting their devotion to this incredible brand.

Equally impressive is the employee passion & pride for the brand that I witnessed during the factory tour and throughout the event. Martin & Co. has a dedicated workforce with low turnover. And those employees who don’t play guitar are proud to say that they own one or two (or more) Martin Guitars.

I highly recommend a visit to Martin & Co. The exquisite craftsmanship that goes into the making of these guitars in incredible. Yes, some of the process is automated, but the actual assembly of the guitars is done by hand. (Upon first entering the factory for your guided tour, you’re greeted by the scent of fresh cut wood.)

In full disclosure, my husband is involved with Discover Lehigh Valley (of which Martin & Co. is a member), and he’s the proud owner of several Martin guitars. But that’s not the only reason I encourage you to check out the place.

The Martin Guitar Museum & Visitors Center is a great place to visit, and admission is free. It’s also a great place where you can feel and understand the depth of brand loyalty and love.

What an incredibly sweet sound.