Posts categorised as Networking
By Dr. Burt Smith October 12th, 2008
60 Minutes had a good segment on what’s happening in the financial markets. Frankly, one of the things I appreciate about this piece is how Steve Kroft doesn’t reign in his angry dismay as he delivers the story. You can click here for their October 6th, 2008 broadcast and see for yourself.
I sure don’t understand what’s going on or know what’s going to happen, and it seems like none of the experts interviewed on this video or on CNBC, or anywhere else know either! What I am reminded of is a quote one of my old real estate instructors used to say: “Every generation has to make its own mistakes!” The majority of people don’t seem to learn from history and are thus doomed to repeat it. This one may turn out to be so big that it can’t be repeated!
Every indicator is that it’s gonna be a rough one, and it could be that way for some time. That is NOT to say, though, that well-run organizations can’t survive or even gain significant ground in the coming months and years. If yours is an organization that has practiced healthy growth rather than hyper-growth like we discuss in ECHO Marketing, there may in fact be some opportunities on the horizon for you.
By Dr. Burt Smith October 6th, 2008
If we had to pick a category and “label” this campaign, indeed, there is an overwhelming amount of evidence to support the conclusion that the Ford Edsel was a failure. But I am not that crazy about putting things into boxes or assigning definite labels. I think there’s more profit to be derived from looking at everything as a learning opportunity.
The Edsel was a bust from the start as far as how the public turned up its nose at it, so yes, from a marketing standpoint it was a complete and utter flop. The customer IS the answer, and if the customer says “No,” then you can’t get much more straightforward than that.
On the other hand, the Edsel featured several innovations in terms of driver safety, which would be used to improve the designs of later models. From that standpoint, Ford was able to derive significant value from the investment in the Edsel and reinvest that value in future offerings for the marketplace.
Marketers call this “relative product failure.” Relative to the original goal of starting a profitable new product line, it fell short. However, It was not an absolute failure because the investment in its development paid dividends later on for the company. It’s not a bad idea for us to constantly inventory all of our “failures” and see how we can, in, fact, cash in on them. My bet is that you and I could swap quite a few stories about things that we’ve been through either in business or in our personal lives that at first seemed like disasters, and in retrospect became things that we’re grateful for today because they’ve paid off in the long run. And we’re all in it for the long run!
Success is a journey, not a
destination. The doing is often more important than the outcome. –
Arthur Ashe
By Dr. Burt Smith September 3rd, 2008
A colleague of mine relayed a story of a luncheon she was attending a while back. She and her group wound up seated at a table near the kitchen door, which usually wouldn’t have been significant, except that the door had a horrible squeak to it. Actually, she said it squeaked when it was opened, and squealed when it was closed. Someone at the table commented how distracting that was going to be once the meeting started!
To the great credit of the hosting facility, without having to be asked by an audience member, they immediately dispatched a staff member with a can of WD-40 to lubricate the hinges. No more squeak, no more squeal. Problem solved, and a table full of customers wound up being more than a little impressed with the prompt handling of the whole episode.
No wonder there’s a WD-40 fan club!
Things can, and do, go wrong in the process of serving our customers. Whether the problem is large or small, exactly how, and how promptly, we solve the problem, can make all the difference in customer satisfaction. In fact, what looks like a problem may be a great brand-building opportunity!
By Dr. Burt Smith August 27th, 2008
By letting someone else do the heavy lifting!
One of the things I admire about the Rolling Stones is how they have managed to keep on rockin’ after all these years! They’re a worthy study for that reason and for how they have managed to maintain a brand over 4 decades. A strategy they employ is to delegate all the promotional activities to the promoters. The promoters get a whopping 60% of the gross in some cases. This at first probably sounds HUGE, and it is, but it’s actually of great benefit to the Stones because essentially, all they have to do is show up. The promoter works hard because his or her success is tied directly to the success of the show.
As Mick Jagger might ask, “How cool is that, baby?”
As I discuss in my book, these kinds of relationships can be a little tricky, so you have to be careful, but the benefits far outweigh the downsides in most cases. I encourage you to give serious thought to not only how can you get business from your network, but how to turn those in your network into brand evangelists for you.
By Dr. Burt Smith August 26th, 2008
Ted Turner’s media empire started with his acquisition of a run-down cable station in the days before cable was cool. He put on programming that was older (and cheaper!) like Gilligan’s Island and The Andy Griffith Show. He sold advertising based on the simple fact that since most of the programming was in black-and-white, advertisers’ color commercials would leap off the screen. And it worked!
Great entrepreneurs often share a trait that makes all the difference: The ability to see an opportunity disguised as a threat.
Next time you’re faced with what looks like “bad news,” say to yourself, “That’s good!” Then get busy looking for what exactly is good about it and how you can profit.
By Dr. Burt Smith August 19th, 2008
Simple Answer: Efficiency!
By improving your operations, you get more efficient, which means you better utilize your existing investments and assets. Because there is no additional investment, and because you’re getting higher performance out of what you’ve already got, you automatically widen your profit margins. You can do this without raising prices.
How do you get started? Simply start by looking at anything and everything that deals with how you deliver what you deliver to your customer. Then, look for any and every way to make it better, little by little. Or as we say in ECHO Marketingtm, Optimize, Optimize, Optimize!
You’ll find this little approach is applicable whether you are in manufacturing or service, selling a tangible or intangible, whether you’re a for-profit or not-for-profit, whether you are a large organization or a small business, and whether you own the business or manage a territory, a department, or a single project.
Make little improvements and the big picture results will surprise you.
By Dr. Burt Smith August 5th, 2008
Constantly.
I said earlier that you should CHANGE a strategy or campaign only when it STOPS performing. That is, when it stops performing at an optimal level on a consistent basis.
Exactly how you measure “optimal” is up to you. You may find that even if the strategy isn’t working at as high a level as it once was, it’s still generating revenue and since you’re not having to throw additional capital at it, the returns you’re getting are really, really good. Like maybe several hundred percent good, because the strategy paid for itself some time ago and now you’re experiencing what our accounting friends call ROA or Return on Assets. I strongly advocate NOT getting sucked into changing strategies unless you have a very compelling reason just so you can maximize the returns on your assets.
On the other hand, because the world is, quite literally, changing right out from under us, we need to be THINKING about new strategies all the time. We need to constantly be asking “What if?”
What if a new market opens up that we could capitalize on? What if we want to add a product line, division, or acquire another business? What if some new legislation gets passed and drains the profit right out of our current business? What if new technology makes what we’re currently doing obsolete or will require a ton of new investment so we can stay in the business? What if a lower-priced competitor enters the market? What if an unethical competitor does something that taints the brand of our whole industry?
What if? What would we do?
By training ourselves to think in terms of the next threat or opportunity, we’ll be more proactive and won’t be caught scrambling. We can then create the future rather than try to cope with it.
So milk the cash cow that is your current strategy as long as you can, but be thinking about how to replenish the herd, too!
When you’re green you grow…when you’re ripe, you rot!
- Ray Kroc, McDonald’s
By Dr. Burt Smith July 31st, 2008
When it stops working.
Not when YOU get tired of it, not when you think the market wants something new, not when some expert tells you it’s time for a change, and not just because you’ve had it a long time.
You change a campaign or strategy when the results you sought stop appearing on a regular basis.
You change it when it stops working. Period.
By Dr. Burt Smith July 14th, 2008
I published my first book in 2007, the same year as the birth of our son. That was all done very much by design. I wanted him to be able to say that his dad was an author who wrote his first book the year he was born! He’s 17 months old now, and though I’ve told him every day that his dad is an author, and have even attempted to read him the book that is dedicated to him, he remains unimpressed from all I can tell.
The thing that really captivates him is when the garbage man comes in his big white truck with the hydraulic claw and the rythmic “beep…beep…beep” sound it makes when it backs up. My wife and I must admit, when you watch it as intently as he does, it is rather impressive. Whether or not I should try to get my money back on all the education I’ve invested in over the years and try to get a job as the guy who drives the trash truck so I can be my son’s hero is still something I’m debating.
What is NOT in debate, however, is that what is important is determined by, defined by, and described by THE CUSTOMER! Rather than just assume we know what our customer wants, and certainly before we take any action, we should study them to a point just short of obsession in an effort to find out exactly what is most important to them. Our strategic plan then simply becomes finding a profitable way to give them what they want.
By Dr. Burt Smith April 22nd, 2008
I once heard a story about William McKinley, the 25th president of the United States. He was trying to fill a position on his staff and was struggling to decide between two candidates whose qualifications were pretty much equal. That was, however, until something happened that changed his perception of one of them.
One dreary, rainy night McKinley boarded a crowded streetcar. Also aboard the streetcar was one of the candidates under McKinley’s consideration, but the candidate didn’t know McKinley was there. At one of the stops an elderly woman laboriously made her way onto the car, wrestling with a large basket full of laundry, and obviously cold and tired. The candidate kept his seat and pretended not to notice the woman. McKinley noticed, however! He gave his seat to the woman and gave the job to the other candidate!
We never know who is watching, and we may never know how what we do for others will help us, or how what we don’t do could permanently damage our brand in the eyes of others. As mentioned in our ECHO Marketing workshops and in The Great Game of Networking, EVERYTHING IS BRANDING! Let’s make our brands the kind people tell GOOD stories about!
EMI Research Solutions, LLC.