I heard the grumblings after the Colts-Dolphins game on Monday Night Football -- and they weren't all about the Colts victory despite a 3:1 time-of-possession disadvantage during the game. Some of the complaints were that Tiger Woods, a Florida resident, was on the Colts sideline supporting Peyton Manning.

For one thing, Tiger Woods lives in Florida due to (a) the golf climate and (b) no income tax. He's not a native Floridian, so cut him some slack for not automatically being a Dolphins fan.

But the thing I see over and over among the greats is that they surround themselves with other greats. Tiger has been spotted cheering for Roger Federer (versus an American opponent) and Kobe Bryant (versus the Orlando Magic), to name a couple more.

The guy is attracted to greatness. That's not a bad thing!

What do you surround yourself with? People who challenge you? People who impress you? Or sycophants and lemmings?

If you're the smartest or sharpest person you know, you need to branch out a little. It will make you better.

Labels: management

During lean times in competitive industries, a positive side effect is the necessary return to customer service basics. And boy, has Lowe's been sending out that message.

I can't go into Lowe's without being asked five times if I'm finding everything okay, or if I need help finding anything, or if there's anything they can help me with. And somehow, perhaps because I'm in my "man mall," I don't mind it.

It's very clear to me that there has been a distinct emphasis placed on this behavior by management throughout the Lowe's organization. And the message has definitely gotten through. I've noticed the same thing at Staples.

While we can argue over what to do with your marketing budget during these times (i.e. don't cut it), there's little argument that each customer is more valuable than ever and when they're on your property, they need to feel it.

Labels: customer service, management, marketing

I'll be helping honor one of the best salesmen of a particular industry today. What better way to pay tribute than to play golf with him and his former managers and colleagues?

Dan was a legend. From a sales territory in humble east-central Indiana, he set company sales records for 30 years in his industry. He won national sales awards almost annually, and international sales awards more than once. And you'd never know it.

Dan was (and is) a good, humble man. His effectiveness was due to a few factors we would all be wise to adopt.

Said one long-time customer, "Dan had instant credibility." Instant credibility. He wasn't a showman or a smooth talker. He was sincerely friendly, and patently honest. He made the claims without exaggeration, but also without apology. He welcomed questions because that's how answers are communicated and problems are solved and applications discovered.

Said another long-time customer, "A competitor had a new product they wanted me to buy. It was the first of its kind on the market. I never used it. Then Dan's company introduced a similar product, and I used it -- because Dan explained it in the clearest possible way and I finally understood the benefits."

And I've heard over and over how Dan would be repetitive on the things that were important. This is where many businesses and salespeople struggle. They get tired of their own message long before the market does, so they flit from campaign to campaign and idea to idea without giving their messages time to sink in. Dan drove the points home on the subjects that really mattered to his customers.

You can win awards, and you can earn respect. A lot of people have trouble combining the two. My friend Dan, who did me a great favor ten years ago, did both.

Labels: customers, marketing, salesmanship

I'm really, really proud of the Fox Marketing Group business model. I love what it is and what it is not. Yet ultimately I didn't really design it -- you did.

We handle advertising, but we're not an ad agency. We do graphic design, but we're not a design shop. We direct internet marketing, but we're not a web firm. We work with media companies, but we're not media salesmen. We handle printing and signage projects, but we're not a print shop or a sign shop. The list goes on.

What the business is not frees us up to do things in a dramatically different way. A way that suits our customer, the business owner, in ways they've never seen.

All those other things are selling something to the business owner. No matter how good or consultative or thoughtful they are, they still answer to someone else besides the business owner. They answer to their own boss, and try to beat their own quota.

I get the privilege of being at the owner's side. I get to think like an owner, yet bring to the table some skills and ideas the owner doesn't have. If someone has to sell to win, they can't really align themselves with the owner. I do, and I love it!

Take some solid research, for example, like the fact that the number one factor in a customer's judgment of a business is the restrooms (especially among female customers.) If I sold advertising or printing, I wouldn't know that information and wouldn't care! In fact, the truth might actually get in my way -- the owner might decide (correctly) that the investment in their shopping environment is more important right now than the investment in whatever I happen to be selling.

But since I'm on the owner's side, we can make facilities part of the overall marketing plan.

I'm free to act like I own the business myself, instead of figuring out ways to merely sell to it. And that makes all the difference.

Labels: customer centered, customer service, design, differentiation, management, marketing, planning, research, signage, strategy

I ran into a sales rep acquaintance recently that I hadn't seen for several months. Very early in our conversation, he asked what I was working on at the house. This is notable not only because it's been a while since we've spoken, but also because he doesn't sell anything to me. He has no business reason to remember that we're thoroughly remodeling our late-1970's home.

Good salespeople make note of both personal and business "touchpoints" with their customers and prospects (and even acquaintances). It's a way of bonding instantly with those people and getting them to talk.

In the spirit of full disclosure, I have to tell you I'm glad this guy doesn't sell anything I'm interested in. He strikes me as a little slimy. But at least in this one area, he plays the selling game very well.

You can't bond with your customers unless you know them. If you can't bond, you can't build loyalty that drives further business and insulates you from competitors.

So, as I say daily, get to know those you sell to. But don't just sit on that knowledge -- use it to reach them, use it to make the sale, and use it to keep the sales coming.

Labels: customer centered, marketing, research

Ally Bank is not a new enterprise. It looks new, it sounds new, but it's the relaunch of GMAC in the aftermath of GM's bailout/bankruptcy.

It's an online-only bank (think ING Direct) with a very clean website and a very human tone in the language. Why didn't GMAC do this?

I guess that's the benefit of starting over. You get to think fresh and start from scratch -- hopefully starting with the customer in mind, not convention.

A large, multi-center medical group is breaking up here in Indiana due to some financial mistakes. (Intentional or unintentional is a subject of great debate.) If I get the opportunity to relaunch one of the smaller groups, we will not be simply recreating the business model of the previous organization.

We will rethink every aspect of the way this group practices medicine and service -- from naming that's not quite so dry and predictable, to customer interactions that are human and personal.

In times of economic tumult, there will be plenty of failures and break-ups. Which means plenty of people and enterprises starting over.

If this applies to you, here's your chance to not just start over, but start fresh.

Labels: branding, customer centered, customer service, differentiation, management, marketing

It's 1:32pm. I've just changed from polo and khakis into a nice suit. Why? Because I want to.

This is an abnormal behavior from me. Usually when I'm putting on a suit, it's because I have to. Right this moment, about to present to a very formal and distinctive new company, it's because I want to.

And somehow, that makes all the difference.

When you really know your customers and enjoy serving them well, even things that are outside your comfort zone can be a pleasure.

Labels: customer centered, customer service, differentiation, marketing

I heard a fantastic statement this morning -- fantastic in its simplicity.

My wife, fifth-grader and I were attending an education policy roundtable in Indianapolis, hosted by Governor Daniels and featuring as a guest speaker former Governor of Florida, Jeb Bush.

When discussing the education reforms in Florida, accountability was a central principle.

Gov. Bush said during his presentation, "Data matters. Measurement matters. If you don't measure, you don't care." [Emphasis mine.]

Isn't that so true in business? Marketing utilizes elements of art, but it is also a science. Measurement matters. If you don't measure, you're just going through the motions. You're just calling it marketing and doing it because you think you're supposed to.

Demand results, and measure for them.

Labels: management, marketing, research

I've been hearing all summer about the prime seating at the new Yankee Stadium, where entire sections behind home plate are virtually empty. At $2500 per seat per game (!!), perhaps the Yankees misjudged the market a bit.

Part of the textbook definition of a "market" is the ability to pay. Even in the Big Apple, where there is surely a lot of ability to buy a few hundred seats at these astronomical prices, there is clearly not the willingness.

Now we understand that post-season tickets for those same seats will be selling for a more reasonable (and relatively paltry) $250-400 per game. They're not exactly giving away the store, but it would have been hard to get home field advantage with several hundred prime seats sitting vacant.

All of this calls to mind a tip I heard several years ago from an automotive executive: "Charging what the market will bear is fundamentally a good idea. Just don't make it obvious."

Labels: customer centered, marketing, pricing