Cut to the Chase

Cut to the Chase 

Have you noticed how some co-workers just can't be succinct when responding to an email request for information? Here are 5 reasons for keeping answers clear and concise when communicating .

1. You're busy.

2. They're busy.

3. There is a deadline.

4. No one wants to hear about everything else you're working on (and writing at length about it only makes you look like you're wasting time).

5. Making others decipher long convoluted responses is bound to lead to confusion and mistakes.

Practice being straightforward and specific when answering emails or giving verbal responses about work projects. Take the time to read and understand the question, then craft your response in a clear way.

Feel free to share this post with someone who needs a little help. Everyone will be grateful.

Kerry Cobb

K. Cobb Marketing

kcobb@kcobbmarketing.com

Unproductive Meeting Syndrome

 

I've been consulting with a variety of companies for years now, and there’s a pattern I’ve noticed in the pasts 2-3 years that seems to have taken hold in businesses both large and small. I call it Unproductive Meeting Syndrome (UMS), because it’s like a sickness within companies that keeps them from being productive.

Part of the cause seems to be heavier workloads, downsizing, and sometimes the lack of management training. (People are expected to do the work of three employees, or they become supervisors too soon, or there isn’t enough clear and direct communication between workers.) You would think with such heavy workloads that companies and managers would insist meetings be highly efficient and effective—but the opposite seems to be true. I can’t tell you how many meetings I’ve attended lately where there is no agenda, no facilitator, too many people attending the meeting, and no indicated outcome is ever stated. We often seem to meet for meeting’s sake.

And I think maybe I know why.

With so much work, no breaks for coffee or lunch, and little or no time to collaborate with co-workers, employees see meetings as a venue for socializing and taking a mental break from their personal workload. So often the meetings I attend end up being a free-for-all, with employees trying to figure out what the hell everyone else is working on and how their work fits into the bigger picture. Or during the meeting they are jockeying for face time with owners and managers they don’t have enough contact with. And sometimes everyone just needs to yak.

 But after these poorly run meetings, employees leave more confused than when the meeting started—I know I do. Then at the next meeting the same topics are reviewed with the same issues—with nothing having been resolved or acted upon. I look around at these meetings where I see people spending 2+ hours hashing and rehashing the same issues with no leader, no progress, and no direction, and I think that if I owned the company I would be wondering why I was paying 10-15 people to waste their (and the company’s) time in such an unproductive manner.

Fortunately there’s a simple cure for UMS. During the 90s, the dot.coms had a big influence on business structure; some good and some maybe not so good. But one standout practice I appreciated when working with the likes of Hewlett-Packard and Intel was the well-run meeting. These companies had strict rules about how meetings were to be conducted (with those rules actually posted on the wall in the meeting room). They understood that meetings are about solving problems, interdepartmental communication, planning, and moving projects (and the organization) forward.

 Here are the rules they followed:

·        Prepare and Share an Agenda—either created by one person if they have a specific problem to solve/goal to achieve, or attendees submit agenda items ahead of time.

·       State the Desired Outcome—e.g., to solve a problem, determine next steps for moving a project forward, hold a post mortem to review results of a project or program, draft a plan.

·       Always Have a Meeting Facilitator—someone to run the meeting, stick to the agenda and the time allotted, keep people on task and on topic (and tell people when their discussion needs to be handled outside the meeting), and remind people of the desired outcome to make sure it is achieved.

·       Set a Timeframe—40 minutes is a good meeting length. If you can’t do it in under an hour there’s a problem.

·       Recap the Meeting—designate someone to make a note of all actions agreed upon, noting the person(s) responsible and corresponding deadlines—then make sure everyone gets a copy after the meeting. (Intel calls these “Action Required,” and to this day I still write AR next to any action item when I take notes.)

·       Follow-up & Achievements—People like to make a difference, to feel they’ve accomplished something and moved forward. The person in charge needs to follow up on all Actions Required to make sure they are completed—and they need to say “thanks” and “good job” when tasks are accomplished effectively and on time.

You can help your business avoid Unproductive Meeting Syndrome by following this prescription list at your next meeting. You’ll be amazed at how much more effective your meetings can be—whether it’s a meeting between 2 people or 20 people. And employees, co-workers, and consultants like me will be happier knowing exactly what is expected of them and also that their time is valued.

It’s Okay to be Funny When You Market

I grew up in a funny family. We thrived on puns, jokes, shaggy dog stories, and word play of all kinds. We had pun contests on road trips, filled out mad lib books by the score, and had running gags that we still use to this day.

I find that customers everywhere love to see businesses, brands, products, and people that don’t take themselves too seriously, and the right kind of humor can go a long way to build a brand and a business. If your business and your personality lend themselves to using humor to communicate your message, then by all means don’t be afraid to be funny.

Take for example CEO Mike Dubin’s approach to marketing his online phenomenon The Dollar Shave Club. Here’s a guy who took a boring product—razors—and turned it into a goofy subject he communicated through a low-cost looking video; a video that went viral with over 10 million views, and that garnered him over 200,000 club members in about a year.  Dubin followed that up with his Dollar Shave Club member exclusive product, One Wipe Charlie. He titled the video “Let’s Talk Number #2,” so you can guess what the product does.

When an advertiser with an established reputation takes the right risk with humor, it can pay off in big ways. K-Mart did just that with their “I Shipped My Pants” advertising campaign, which not only played well to their existing market segment, but became a viral hit that brought them new millennial customers.

One of my favorite examples of using humor to sell is Woot.com. It’s like the National Lampoon of featured deals sites. (Think of it as E-bay and Amazon, but with copy written by someone from The Onion.) Woot uses bad customer reviews to tout their legitimacy, crowd sources parts of their website by inviting followers to complete fill-in-the-blank pages they call Woot-libs, and can keep you engaged long past your bedtime with their funny product descriptions, deals of the day, and even their return and legal policies. (Check out their “How to Serve a Subpoena to Woot” section.) If you sign up for their newsletter, you’ll find yourself anticipating its arrival each week. Woot has turned this humorous approach into a multi-million dollar business that keeps customers buying their products and spreading the word about their site.

The biggest factor when considering using humor to market your business is to KNOW YOUR AUDIENCE.  Humor can be used to keep your current customers loyal (making them feel like they’re in on the joke like Woot), to open your business to a new audience (K-Mart), and to launch a new product or business (DollarShaveClub.com). If you’re going after a market you feel will respond well to humor, don’t be afraid to add it into your marketing mix. It can be fun for your customers, and can make marketing a lot more fun for you too.

By Kerry Cobb, K. Cobb Marketing

kcobb@kcobbmarketing.com

Who Are You?

When I have an initial meeting with a client, one of my first questions is, “As a business, who are you?” You might be surprised how often people struggle to answer that question. Even businesses that have been around for a while are sometimes unsure how to quickly and clearly describe what their business does. And if a business doesn’t have a well-defined, concise message about what services or products they offer, you can pretty much bet that their potential customers are confused too.

You’ve probably heard about the marketing “elevator speech” and the idea of being able to describe your business in the time it takes to ride a few floors in an elevator. But I think even that gives you too much time to yak about what you do. One (short) sentence should be all it takes to describe who you are.

And it’s not just for your customers that you want to have this handy missive.  Knowing your message also allows you to focus in on your marketing efforts, and reel yourself or your staff or your ad agency back in when you start to stray too far from the point.

There are a few ways to approach developing your statement, depending on what kind of business or service you provide. You can ask one or all of these questions to help you hone in on just what you really do:

·         What is the “one thing” that defines your business?
Sometimes starting with a few adjectives can help. (For example, Volvo = Safety; Fed Ex = On time; Disney = Magic)

·         What does your business accomplish for your customers

·         What need do you fill for your customers?

·         How would you describe your business in its ideal state?

For my business, my message is this: “I help my clients market effectively and successfully.” That’s what I do, and it’s pretty straightforward.

From a client’s perspective, the statement explains what I do and makes a promise at the same time. From my perspective, it reminds me to work with people I know I can help (people open to new ideas, people who understand the need to follow through, people who aren’t afraid to open themselves to success, etc.). It also informs every decision and recommendation I make to my clients—is what I’m about to suggest or do going to help my client market successfully?

Try coming up with your own business message. You might have to play around with it for a while until it fits for you and feels right, but once you hit on it you’ll know. Then let it help guide you to better serve your customers, make informed and focused business decisions, and move you towards more clarity and ultimately, more business.

By Kerry Cobb

K. Cobb Marketing  kcobb@kcobbmarketing.com

Everything You Do Is PR—Behave Accordingly

You are always representing your business, and people have lots of ways to spread the word about you. Peer-to-peer marketing is the norm now, and in a world of commenting, rating, and reviewing, your reputation and your brand have become one and the same. Public relations isn't all about press releases and media, it’s about how you manage your interactions. Old-school bad behavior can still result in a poor business reputation--both offline and online.

Here are some recent examples and their PR consequences.

Bad PR Experience #1

Recently, a friend was having breakfast with his family at a restaurant in town. He’s a member of a local non-profit board, and that organization is currently involved in changing their policies. The restaurant owner chose this moment to tell my friend that she disapproved of the upcoming changes—all while my friend was attempting to enjoy his scrambled eggs.

PR Consequences: My friend told me (and others) about the experience—souring our opinion of the restaurant. He also told me he will not eat there again. Then he went on a friend’s YELP account and gave the restaurant a low rating because he found the owner “meddlesome.”

Bad PR Experience #2

A woman from a neighboring store came into a dress store I was visiting, to talk with the store’s owner. Their conversation involved a third store owner that apparently wasn’t living up to their expectations. It was a loud encounter that ended up driving me (and two other patrons) from the store. PR

PR Consequences: I told my friends about this encounter. I will not shop there (or at the other store) again. Three viable customers were driven from the store due to carelessness. Shortly after this experience, I saw a comment on Google Places about one of these stores that simply said, “Stay away, store owner is a gossip.” (I heard one of the store owners three days later lamenting about poor sales—gee, I wonder what could be wrong?)

Good PR Experience #3

I’m at Nordstrom in downtown Portland to buy shoes. I hate buying shoes. I tell the hostess, I want comfortable shoes and I don’t want to spend $500. I want a sales clerk who doesn’t try to upsell me or force me to try on things I don’t want. And I’m in a hurry.” Unfazed, she walked me directly to Melinda and repeated what I had said. Melinda proceeded to find exactly what I wanted, at a price I could afford. I was in and out of the store in 20 minutes with two pair of $60 shoes.

PR Consequences: I’m telling you the real name of the store and salesperson, because I want them to know how much I appreciate the service—and I want you to shop there too. I have told this to many friends. I went on Yelp and Google Places and bragged about this experience. Thanks Melinda!

You are your business—behave accordingly. 

Kerry Cobb

K. Cobb Marketing

kcobb@kcobbmarketing.com

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The Reluctant Creative

Two of the people in my life I love the most are creatives. My husband David is a world-class photographer with a genius for producing spectacular images. This man will think through all the logistics for putting together the perfect landscape image--calculating everything from the right day of the year to get the slant of the sun just so, to the date when the tree at the left of the frame will be in bloom. On the flip side, he can have a photo assignment set for a particular day and time that is out of his control, and with only one stab at getting it right he'll come back with a superb photo. He gives sold-out workshops, has won awards of worldwide recognition, and just published a spectacular book that is getting rave reviews.

My sister Jill Kelly is both a writer and a painter. She has published a memoir (for which she was nominated for an Oregon Book Award), a self-help book on creativity, and two novels. She has sold her art as well--art which graces the covers of her books and the walls of the homes of collectors. And she gets asked to give presentations all over the country about creativity.

Both of these amazing people are what I call reluctant creatives. By that I mean they don't quite believe they are creative talents. They pursue their artistic endeavors (and have for some time) and make money doing so, but they don't seem to believe deep down that they are the artists the rest of us know them to be. This in turn makes them reluctant marketers. Getting these people who can so clearly see their artistic strategy to think about a marketing strategy is like pulling teeth. 

Marketing is best when done with conviction--when you believe in what you market, your success rate soars. (Sure, marketing can be a pain and it can be time-consuming, and most creatives would rather be doing their art than marketing their art. But this is different.) I'm talking about the avoidance of promoting yourself and your art because you don't quite believe in receiving that kind of attention--not in a real-world, adult job, pull-up-your-big-boy pants kind of way. 

This, of course, is ridiculous. People who want to make money from their art have a legitimate need to market--just like all businesses do. If you don't market, how will you make a living from your art? And marketing is creative, so it can be a natural for artists--especially now that we have social media platforms which are highly visual, creative, engaging, and even fun. (Oh, and they are free too.)

So for all you reluctant creatives, I hereby give you permission to market yourselves. Use that right brain to find creative ways to tell the world about what you do, and to express your creativity through promotion. 

If you need a left-brain person to help get you started, email me at kcobb@kcobbmarketing.com or call me at 503-863-8282. 

Kerry Cobb

K. Cobb Marketing

Quit Whining About Social Media

For over 30 years, I've been working in marketing and advertising. Just like the old stories about walking 10 miles to school, I can remember the days when producing an ad meant writing the copy on a typewriter, sending someone to the typesetter to pick up the copy, someone else pasting that copy on a board, sending it out again to get a "velox" (anyone remember those?), and then mailing (yes, good old-fashion post office snail mail) to the publisher TWO WEEKS before the ad was to run.

Not only was it time-consuming and expensive to produce the ad, running print ads or any other kind of media advertising was expensive in general--and mostly reserved for businesses with real money. Small businesses scraped together a few dollars to run an ad or two, without getting any reach or frequency--and often no results. There was barely a playing field for small business, let alone a level one.

So now, when I hear my small business clients say social media is too confusing, or that they don't have time to post on Facebook or put together 140 characters for a tweet, or they can't be bothered to learn how to pin on Pinterest, I think back to the grueling process that used to be involved in advertising and laugh.

Really? You don't have time to market your business on free platforms that reach millions? You can't take take two minutes to snap a photo with your phone and upload it to Facebook to engage with your customers or make a sale? There's no time in your day to answer a question from a potential customer who wants to buy your products?

Social media is a miraculous blessing for all businesses, and especially for small ones; offering a myriad of FREE platforms to cultivate customers, spread the word about your business, manage and care for your current customers, and make your voice heard. Stop whining and embrace it.

by Kerry Cobb
K. Cobb Marketing helps businesses of all sizes get more business.