Category Archive leadership skills

Planning “Super” Growth for 2019?

6 Simple “Screen Test” Steps for Business Growth

The super organised and resourced amongst you will no doubt have neatly prepared and signed off plans for the new year and beyond. Even the smug amongst you will still have nagging doubts over what the next year may bring. A.I., blockchain, global trade & nationalist tendencies, cybercrime, economy and yes, we cannot forget Brexit.

Whilst there’s no shortage of negative news there are also positive aspects to living in the latter 2010’s heading into the 2020’s, but what of the planning process and where to start?

Here below is my film quote themed list, of 6 steps, that will hopefully help in your planning process.

Everyone who names the films these quotes were taken from will be entered into a prize draw to win a £25 Amazon voucher and each entry, no matter if correct or just funny, will be matched by a £2 donation to Children in Need.
So, either add your entry to the comments below or e-mail me direct via david.laud@i2isolutions.co.uk – and good luck!

Now on with the planning…

1. “You can’t handle the truth” – The most important factor in creating a successful plan is to truly understand the current position. Seeing the present situation either through rose tinted glasses or negative pessimism will not help establish an accurate platform to work from. Why not gain an external perspective from a trusted third party? Also, whilst you’re at it, permit yourselves time to step back from the day to day stresses of running the company. This can prove invaluable in setting a realistic starting point from which to plan ahead. Tried and tested tools you’ll be familiar with include PEST (Political, Economic, Socio-Cultural & Technology) and SWOT (Strength, Weakness, Opportunities & Threats) to help with your situational analysis.

2. “To Infinity & Beyond” – We don’t quite need the Buzz Lightyear warp drive, but a vision of where the business would ideally be in three years rather than the end of 2019 will lift sights beyond the immediate horizon. This is helpful as it can permit broader thinking as to the business model, its market and essentially the “bigger picture”.

3. “Show Me the Money” – We’re not in business simply for the hell of it, so consider both the revenue, profit and thereby costs that this growth is going to create and map the money projections from year three back to year two and then the next 12 months.

4. “You’re gonna need a bigger boat” – Once the thinking has started around where the business is heading consideration as to the resources needed to deliver is essential. There is little point setting plans that are going to be unrealistic unless the people, plant and systems are there to support its objectives.

5. “May the Force be with you” – Having set out ambitious plans for growth it’s now time to use your “laser” focus and powers of collective creativity to articulate a series of defined projects that will deliver your first 12 months goals. Each project should be accompanied by clear objectives.

6. “These go to eleven” – Keep your eyes, ears and hands on the controls. The best plans can all too frequently be delayed or derailed through the day to day pull of a busy business. This is the reason why ongoing measurement of project and planning progress is essential to your overall success. Make sure everyone knows who is responsible for each key action and what is expected of them by when.

If the above works for your business you can always produce a sequel for 2020.

Don’t forget to submit your film titles and remember every entry no matter if correct or just humorous will guarantee a donation to Children in Need.

If the above has sparked thoughts of growth planning, feel free to share your thoughts via David.laud@i2isolutions.co.uk

NB. There are currently significant funding opportunities for SME’s to support business growth, leadership and management development activities.

Byadmin

best practice, david laud, relationships, thought leadership, time management

Give Your Time an MOT

Do you run your day or does the day run you?

Scan through this simple list of symptoms and see which apply to you;

Do you find yourself easily distracted?
Do you take longer to complete relatively simple tasks?
At the end of the working day do you feel deflated as its mostly been unproductive?
Is your sleep pattern disturbed?
Are you tired more often than energised?
Do you get irritated by little things?
Are you checking your e-mails several times an hour?
Is your smartphone always on and close to you at all times?

Thought Leader

If you answered yes to any of the above the chances are you’re suffering with a level of stress that is having a negative impact on your quality of life. We actually need a certain level of stress in our lives otherwise we’d not get much done. Positive stress, also called eustress, gets the deadline met, the presentation delivered and you on board the right train at the right time. It delivers adrenalin, excitement tends to be short term but can improve our performance.

Negative stress is where the mind starts to introduce anxious irrational thoughts that appear to be beyond our ability to manage. It makes us feel bad, it can be both short and long term, has a direct impact on performance and if left unchecked can lead to unwanted mental and physical symptoms.

There are very many causes of negative stress. It can be a relationship breakdown, new boss, new neighbourhood, too much work, not enough work, starting a family, financial worries, illness or losing someone close to you.

The fact is we ALL face these bumps and hurdles in our lives and for most of us, most of the time we can deal with them without any difficulty. Unfortunately, the statistics seem to suggest that an increasing number of us are not coping so well. As many as 12 million adults in the UK will consult their GP about mental health issues each year. Diagnosed with anxiety or depression typically caused by stress this results in 13.3 million working days lost each year. It’s a sizeable and growing problem.

Here’s the disclaimer…I’m no GP, psychologist, counsellor or psychotherapist but I, like many others have had my moments with this increasingly common problem. First and foremost, I would suggest that if you are worried about stress and its effect on you make an appointment to see your GP. If you can sense that there are one or two warning signs and you want to find a way to improve the way you feel I would strongly suggest taking back control of your life.

Of course “taking back control” can be easier said than done but often we fall into patterns of behaviour which help propagate feelings of negative stress. The result is that we lose control of our time, others fill it all too quickly and with that loss of control comes added anxiety. The answer is to evaluate those things we are doing that are causing angst and

My “self-help” route was helped enormously by an old friend who I’d overlooked for too many years. The “friend” is in the shape of a number of tried and tested time management principles that I had learnt as a young manager at Thomas Cook and carried with me or so I thought through my career. What happens over time and new challenges is that we adapt and grow and learn but often let key nuggets of working practice slip through our minds.

I have a theory. Actually I have lots of theories but this one is relevant to our 21^st Century dilemma. Once upon a time, long ago in the 90’s, talk of computers, online business and e-mail suggested we would have more leisure time. Thanks to the advent of this fabulous technological era we would all be “chilled to the max” reclining on Ikea furniture and enjoying our newly won down time supping on Sunny D or Sprite.

Fast forward to today and that pipe dream of a technological Nirvana is about as far away as anyone could possibly have imagined. Smartphones, social media, the Internet of Things and now robotics, VR, AR and AI…are you keeping up? All these new wonderful innovations are not going to create time for us they’re going to squeeze into whatever time we have, competing with the multitude of tasks expected of us. As life moved faster so did expectations. News used to arrive via a broadsheet paper stuffed through the letterbox by a schoolboy on a Raleigh 5 speed. Now it’s instantly delivered in our hands via Twitter and we know about a Japanese tsunami before the BBC news team can brief Hugh Edwards.

So with steely determination I attacked the bookshelf in my office, being self-aware enough to know “Googling” the subject would result in momentary success followed by a likely hour of distraction. I found notes in an old Filofax, yes do you remember those? I also found a previous blog on the subject and arrived at the following list.

Limit screen time – deliberately my first rule. Just see how productive you can be if you step away from the screen, PC, MAC or Smartphone. Browsing Twitter, Instagram, Facebook or even your e-mail inbox can drain your productivity, step away and see the benefit. One final point – turn the smartphone/ tablet off at night several hours before you go to bed, you’ll sleep better.
Allow yourself to do fewer tasks. Give yourself a break, the trick is to focus on the things that are important so work out what they are and stick to dealing with them.
Let prioritising and self-analysis of productivity become a habit
Exercise and have a healthy diet. When we’re time starved we cut corners and often that can result in too many fast food meals which can leave us feeling sluggish and demotivated. Drink can also be used as a self-medication for stress but conversely it can add to feelings of depression and hinder a restful night’s sleep.
Get organised. Being tidy with a system for filing important information can help enormously with your efficiency and taking control of your environment. It’s true that a cluttered office can lead to cluttered thinking.
When something just has to be done allow yourself scope to lock yourself away to concentrate on the job in hand.
Don’t be phased by a long “to do” list break the tasks down into absolutely must do’s down to non-priorities. Take them out one at a time.
Don’t always start with the biggest task or greatest priority. We all perform better at different times of the day. If you’re an early bird and sharp first thing but fade after 4pm make sure you keep those taking tasks to the morning. If you’re otherwise inclined reverse it.
Set time limits for certain tasks. You may have a job that’s going to take days possibly weeks. Set aside a proportion of time to take it on and work though it systematically. Break it down into sub tasks and monitor your progress.
Reacquaint yourself with the word “No” be polite but assertive if you don’t have the time to take on a particular project don’t be afraid to say so – often things that seem urgent to others are not as pressing as they seem.

If you’ve experienced problems with stress and/or or time management drop us a line today.

David Laud

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Byadmin

david laud, facebook, law firms, lawyers, legal, linkedin, social media best practice, twitter

Social Media Management for Professional Firms – Part 2

Here is the 2nd part of my review of social media management for professional service businesses, derived from typical questions posed over the past few months.

Q. How do you inject personality into a firm’s twitter account to encourage engagement?

A. Many large corporate organisations adopt a mechanism of allowing their social media team to leave their initials or first name after tweets. This works well for customer service related posts and responses to queries, concerns or complaints. I recently had a very lively exchange with Aviva’s twitter team proving they were confident in their personas and on top of my particular issue. If you don’t have the scale of resource that makes that possible you could nominate a member or members of the marketing/ PR team and let them be the face of the firm. The only danger with that in professional firms is that there can be an expectation that the person posting has direct experience of the law, surveying or accounting practice and is not a marketer. It can therefore be too easy to come across as somewhat “fluffy” lacking in substance and rather more preoccupied with cake and lighthearted matters than the business to which they are charged with promoting.

If you think you need to create a professional persona for your twitter account you may wish to consider the following.

Ask yourself…”What is the culture of the business?” If it were a person how would it behave in a meeting, socially and when presenting generally?

If you find that too tough a concept or you’re heading toward a rather schizophrenic answer try asking a few trusted clients. Humour can be an excellent mechanism for injecting both personality and creating interest but beware the fine line between laughter and tears. Avoid contentious points and consider the maxim of steering clear of core topics of sex, religion and politics.

If there’s no obvious personality traits to hang your online identity to try the following more direct approach;

a) Identify a personality in the firm that clients warm to and has proven successful.

b) If not familiar with social media introduce them to the basics and the essential do’s and don’ts

c) share posts with the “personality” and ask them for their view on how they would present it to an audience, keeping to their own style and not adopting a corporate persona.

d) Test, refine and seek feedback from networks it’s an ongoing process but over time those promoting the firm via social media will start to adopt the personality and it will become established as a clear identity. It may help to give it a name.

Q. Do professional firms properly understand their audience?

A. Honestly the answer to this question is too often no. Many firms, be they big city affairs or regional niche practices, measure their success by their number of followers/ connections. Of course you’ll make no headway at all without a network of a certain size but it’s not just numbers it’s proper connections with those who will add value.

Your target audience is client (decision makers), client (staff influencers), 3rd party influencers/ opinion formers, potential staff for your firm, potential suppliers/ supporters, sources of sector specific news and information.

There are a number of techniques that can help identify the above but the advice should be to grow your network steadily over time and continually monitor the membership profile.

Q. Do firms drive enough conversation on social media or are they guilty of transmitting rather than communicating?

A. Too many broadcast because of a lack of quality home grown content and ignore the opportunities to listen to their networks. We can all be guilty of it but at heart know ourselves when someone is truly listening or just waiting for their next opportunity to speak.

Social is as much listening as sharing, it’s a vital element of effective social engagement. Social selling is not traditional selling its consultative, relationship based and takes time. Trust is key and that’s built over time. Broadcasting puts your brand out there listening and responding intelligently elevates the brand perception of your network.

Q. Which channels should firms focus on? How should they adapt to different channels?

A. LinkedIn is the classic professional networking portal but is awash with samey articles as the platform has morphed into a publisher of original posted content. As a result you need to work hard to retain a profile and audience interest. Consider taking your LinkedIn connections to another space….e-mail. There is a much underused tool on LinkedIn which provides the ability to download connections and their contact information to a spreadsheet.

Twitter has merit in keeping your profile raised and there is an expectation now that every business should have at least one main account. Twitter can provide a client service measure notably one to watch for both positive and negative feedback. As mentioned in previous points time needs to be given to thinking about the audience and how you might properly increase traffic to the website.

Facebook – If only to own the space and name the firm should have a page. Staff are far more likely to engage than clients but no harm in that. Often used effectively by law firms to show their community engagement, work with charities and staff achievements such as fund raising or extra curricula activities.

Google+ worth retaining a presence and keeping a watching eye on developments – has not realised its goals, unfinished business. The vast majority of firms in the UK use Google+ primarily to enhance their main Google ranking.

YouTube – Video is becoming an increasingly important medium for communicating to online audiences but thought needs to be given to its execution. No hour long death by PowerPoint presentations but 5 minute nuggets of information.

Persicope / Blab – interesting developments in video streaming and great for events but always a potential risk when “live” streaming so needs to be carefully managed.

Byadmin

building social media, david laud, facebook, leadership, social media, tweet, twitter

Is Twitter in Trouble?

It’s amazing how quickly bad news or rumours travel. Something in the human psyche gives a turbo boost to negative stories. We have a strange compulsion to share and be the harbinger of doom, aided by the multiple social media platforms at our fingertips.

#FlapJack – Is Jack Dorsey in a Flap?

Ironically it’s one of the most prominent of these platforms, Twitter, which appears to be at the heart of a current storm raining stories of corporate unravelling and demise.

The truth is Twitter is like any business and if you trade for long enough you will go through a variety of cycles and fortunes. The first flush of launching the enterprise on the world, investment, growth, recruitment, competition, compliance, governance, profit concerns, executive fall out, re-organisation, innovation and resurgence.

Of course businesses do fail and in our socially connected world the “crash and burn” can be accelerated but I get frustrated when unqualified comment feeds a frenzy of ill-informed negativity.

Twitter is certainly going through challenging times, highlighted by last year’s return of Jack Dorsey as Dick Costolo stepped down as CEO having held the role for 5 years. The company has been criticised for having lost its direction, connection with users and allowing other platforms such as Facebook from stealing a march in innovation and monetising methods.

There have been other high profile departures and since Dorsey’s arrival, hundreds of redundancies. Now an emerging controversy over technical changes to the site. The latest furore is due to the announcement of a change to the algorithm which will affect how posts will appear. Rather than seeing a list of tweets of those you follow in clear timeline order they will appear in order of relevance rather than simply strict time order. This is something Facebook has already introduced and has had its own critics.

The reality is one of the biggest strengths of Twitter is its immediacy. Fans of the medium point to the fact they can always find out what’s going on with regard to pretty much any topic by searching its content by keyword or hashtag. The downside and an often repeated criticism of twitter is clutter, the abundance of randomness and Jack and the team are clearly looking to tackle this issue with the changes.

My view is that Twitter will very likely offer options to users to improve the experience. Rumours are also circulating about removal of the 140 character limit, which for me would be a mistake. It’s the character count that makes Twitter unique and has created a communication form and style that hundreds of millions have embraced. If you want to use Twitter to write chapter and verse you can via Direct Message, that works for me as it is often a one to one exchange that requires added content.

So Twitter is not resembling a *Norwegian Blue or demised duck and it’s too dramatic to say it’s more of a Phoenix. Its flight path may have faltered recently but it’s growing some bright new feathers and I suspect will soon be flying high again. The key to success will be in retaining the engagement of users by staying relevant and straightforward.

*Norwegian Blue – for those who are not Monty Python fans, it is the alleged variety of Parrot purchased by John Cleese from the dodgy pet shop in The Dead Parrot Sketch.

Byadmin

best practice, building social media, Communication, david laud, leadership, offline marketing, relationships, social media analysis, social media best practice, time management

Friends, Randoms, Connected-men, The Truth Behind Online Relationships

A couple of years ago I wrote an article highlighting the fascinating work of anthropologist and psychologist Professor Robin Dunbar, supporting my view on hype surrounding the importance of the numbers of social media connections. Dunbar’s research into the social interaction of apes combined with known historical factors of human behaviour led to a pretty definitive view of our capacity to make and maintain friendships.

Social Networking

His original research was undertaken in the 1990’s well before the explosion of social media activity and as a result many had started to question its validity in the all new socially connected world.

The original research determined that the average human would have 150 friends (stated as between 100 and 200), those who they would know by name, meet with individually or in a group reasonably frequently and have knowledge of their personal circumstances.

The argument by social media advocates followed the line that Facebook, LinkedIn and Twitter amongst others provided an opportunity to reach and interact with far more people and therefore Dunbar’s number needed recalculating.

As ever the whacky world we live in threw up such an opportunity to test this when Dorset bakers and biscuit specialists Thomas J. Fudge’s initiated a rather interesting PR campaign. The idea was to see the sharing of biscuits with tea or coffee as an ideal opportunity to meet face to face, with more people and actually grow the number of “friends”. Of course the idea being to promote the quality of the Thomas J. Fudge’s product as well as the quality of relationship building and offer a ready supply of PR opportunities.

The start of the process quite correctly involved research to establish a current benchmark figure of average “friend” numbers on Facebook. Step up Professor Dunbar who worked with the University of Oxford research team and surveyed a mixed group of over 3,300 Facebook users.

The results highlighted that there were wide differences, as expected, in the number of “friends” linked to a user’s account however when the definition of friend as being someone genuine and close rather than simply known to them was applied, commonality in numbers emerged. The average for women fell slightly higher than men 166 to 146 in group one and 196 to 157 in the second group analysed. This delivered an average of 183 well within Dunbar’s original range.

When it comes to our very nearest and dearest friends, those we would call upon in an emergency, emotional or financial crisis the number shrinks dramatically down to just an average of 5.

So it would appear that these results support Professor Dunbar’s work in the 90’s and clearly indicates that we are ultimately limited in our ability to cognitively engage with others despite the advent of the social media age. The orbital prefrontal cortex is the part of the brain developed for such social interaction and it comes into play when we are online but more strongly when we meet face to face. So crumbs, the guys at Thomas J. Fudge may well be on to something.

It’s not all bad news for social media though as its effective use can help to prevent decay of relationships. Facebook in particular can be a very effective tool to mark birthdays, weddings and other notable events that otherwise may well have gone unnoticed and offer support as and when required. The truth however is that to have genuine effective relationships we need to invest time and effort and not simply be reactive. That effort can in part be online but if we can we should ideally schedule in a bit of biscuit banter to prevent losing the connection. I’m game if you are…just wonder if Thomas J. Fudge do gluten free biccies?

Paper – Do online social media cut through the constraints that limit the size of offline social networks?

Published in Royal Society Open Science http://rsos.royalsocietypublishing.org/content/3/1/150292

Byadmin

best practice, Communication, creativity, digital agency, google, offline marketing, Pr, seo, SERP, smartphone, social media best practice, success, thought leadership, website

Time For a New Website?

There seems to be a flush of businesses updating websites driven by the ever increasing reality of digital dominance in marketing matters and fear that competitors are stealing a march.

Before pressing the panic button and engaging that “oh so charming” design company to makeover your online face, pause for a moment, breathe and think about what is really required.

Here is a short, not comprehensive but hopefully useful list of considerations if you are currently looking at refreshing or completely overhauling your website.

What are the key drivers that will deliver a return for your business over the next 12 months?
What are the key areas of future growth? (not necessarily the same as above)
Why have you determined your site is no longer fit for purpose? Is it:-
Feedback from customers/ staff/ business owner
Drop in profit/ revenue
Drop in traffic to the current site
Content out of date
Branding changed
Search engine rank lower than you want
You don’t currently have control of content
It’s not looking its best on mobile devices
Competitor envy
Pitch from an agency persuaded you it was time

Let’s face it the reasons could be any or all of the above and a few more besides. Whatever the compelling rationale for such an investment it is worth applying cool focussed dispassionate logic. All too often we get over excited at the prospect of a new website and in the process lose sight of any key advantage such an investment should bring.

Treat this as any other business project requiring capital investment. Look at the expected returns over time and undertake a cost benefit analysis, focus on hard facts and measures to determine its success
Based on the above prepare an agency brief outlining the business objectives, key features, functions, focus and timescales for a new site – build in a budget as agreed and payment schedule to avoid future disputes
Talk to several web/digital design agencies but be clear as to their strengths (you may need separate support with SEO, Photography, Video, Copywriting etc.)
Be prepared to take time to get the right partner but hold them to realistic deadlines
Avoid design by committee – you run the risk of ending up with an eclectic, cluttered nonsensical layout
Ensure that any migration doesn’t lose historical currency or create confusion with search engines
Allow time for testing and refining before launch
Don’t let the new site leak out by being searchable before you’ve officially launched
Constantly review the performance through analytics and visitor feedback, amend and improve as necessary

As stated this is not a comprehensive outline of considerations but an indication of the thought process you might consider adopting when talk of a new website turns to serious budgetary consideration.

For further advice and assistance with projects such as this please drop me a line.

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David Laud

Byadmin

The Power of Influence – Knowing Your Social Media Score

Prior to all things going digital and smartphones embedding themselves in our lives, we had a simpler more straightforward life. In the past your number of friends could be counted in birthday or Christmas cards or the entries in the address book you kept in the draw of the table in the hall, the one your phone sat on, plugged in to the wall.

The number of business relationships were similarly measured in cards that you bothered to retain, small enough to fit in a wallet or a specially designed holder that you could flick through.

As we all know the number of true friends or meaningful commercial contacts you have does not equate to how effective you are in business. Similarly with social media our effectiveness in this medium is not due to how friendly we are but how much value we offer those we’re connected to.

Due to terms such as “friends” on Facebook many are still confused as to the type of relationships they are developing online but there is a very clear distinction. To prove the point there’s a physical limit to how many people we, as humans, can maintain valuable inter-personal relationships with. At the risk of getting all anthropological with you, there’s real sound research supporting this view.

The science behind this is a calculation known as Dunbar’s number. It’s the limit to the number of people who we can keep regular social relationships with and the range has been static for thousands of years. Professor Robin Dunbar has determined that the number of inter-personal relationships we can maintain falls between 100 and 230. It’s therefore a fallacy to think you can realistically build a network of close contacts that count much more than 200 in total.

For those of us looking to social media for a return on business investment we need to look beyond simply acquiring followers. The true power of the medium is not how many individuals are following, connecting or friending us but the influence of those in our network relative to our own interests. It is the members reach and collective power applied across multiple networks that offer the greatest opportunity.

Malcolm Gladwell’s “Tipping Point” makes frequent references to how ideas and products catch on by this use of social group dynamics and the manner in which information transmits throughout a group driven by those who have influence such as connectors and mavens.

As a simple example look at the way in which profile pictures quickly adapt to respond to a topical cause, or event. 26 million Facebook profiles used a rainbow filter in honour of Pride and support of the LGBT community. But be careful when you see a bandwagon approaching, such profile changes can backfire as David Cameron can testify with his recent photo-shopped poppy.

The challenge is to create receptive networks built on mutual understanding and respect in which you can establish a position as a thought leader, originator, sharer and supporter of fellow members.

Great! You may say, but how do I know if I’m moving in the right direction if I can’t count the number of contacts as a measure?

The answer is to use a measurement tool. One of the leaders in this influence measurement field is Klout, launched in 2008 it delivers its services via a website and app that use social media analytics to rank users according to online social influence. They analyse activity across multiple sites that include Twitter, LinkedIn, Facebook, Instagram and Google+. The “Klout Score”, is represented by a numerical value between 1 and 100.

In preparing this article I spoke to Eddie McGraw Director of Communications at Lithium Technologies, owners of Klout, this is what he had to say on the topic of influence.

Influence can be a somewhat hazy term, but how we define it is the ability to drive action. That’s something we can actually quantify – how much your social activity is able to drive subsequent activity. It’s very important for both people and brands to have some gauge of who is and is not influential, so they can determine who the right people are that they should be engaging with.

Also, just as important as overarching influence would be subject matter influence – or what we call Topic Expertise. Kim Kardashian has 31 million followers, but that doesn’t mean people should look to her for advice on whether to invest in Apple or Google. One of the things we’ve just introduced is a way of looking not just at someone’s overall Klout Score, but at their level of expertise on a specific topic. This way you can find subject matter experts on the topics you most care about.

As Eddie states it’s not all about the numbers of followers or connections, the key is in establishing your clear area of expertise and thereby your range of influence. Understanding where you are with regard to influence can help you better understand the effectiveness of your time posting content, improving the return for your efforts. To put a number on it, the average Klout score is around 40. To establish where you or your firm sits versus competitors you can search twitter accounts via the Klout website.

Increasingly brands and industry experts are becoming aware of the importance of social influence. Leaving social media content creation to inexperienced, untrained or poorly managed individuals is now seen as far too risky for firms wishing to establish a consistent and respected brand. In professional services, networks will look for and respond more favourably to a tone of voice combining intellect, empathy and personality with a dash of appropriate humour. The trend is for owners of the business to start engaging more directly as they have the knowledge and gravitas to attract greater numbers of key target followers for their network. By way of contrast, posting grammatically poor tweets about minutiae or blatant and repeated promotions, will have your network unfollowing in numbers.

Outsourcing the responsibility of social media posting to an agency, no matter how attractive, is also not advisable, as the risks far outweigh the benefits. In professional service marketing above many other sectors, your credibility can be very quickly undermined if the voice of your chosen channels lacks authenticity. Better to invest in qualified support and training for your own team and remain in control.

As a marketer one of my regular requests is to help clients build strong networks and then assist them to deliver fresh, interesting content in a manner that helps improve engagement. By taking structured consistent steps and increasing the profile and social influence of partners, managing partners and specialists, the firm is better placed to demonstrate their capabilities and attract greater levels of interest.

Whilst I would stress that these tools are not 100% perfect, they do offer an essential insight to establish where your profile stands by way of influence and by regular monitoring keep track of your progress.

Suggested social influence measuring tools – Klout, Kred/ Sprout Social, Peerindex (Brandwatch)

David Laud

Partner i2i Marketing Management

Byadmin

android, apps, david laud, iphone, leadership, Management, smartphone, time management

Working Smart – 6 Top App Suggestions

One of the oft touted benefits of technology; new and shiny gadgets, software or apps, is their ability to make our lives easier, save time and be more efficient.

Not all make the grade, in fact many can create quite the opposite effect and leave you staring at a screen for far longer than you’d want. The app that promises to make your life so much easier and then fails to act at the all too critical moment

There are however some gems that do indeed work their magic and serve as excellent tools to help keep us organised and in control. I have 6 such examples here that I would recommend you looking at if you don’t already use.

Issue #1 – Managing multiple accounts or a single brand across many social media platforms

Hootsuite – there are other platforms such as Tweetdeck that continue to deliver a good PC experience for visibility of activity but for me Hootsuite offers just that little bit more. The dashboard can take some getting used to but it’s worth persevering

Issue #2 – Keeping abreast of news on specific topics

Google Alerts – this little nugget has been around for a few years now but still many are not using it. I don’t know why. By searching for Google Alerts you’ll identify a keyword tool that can provide search results for specific keywords on a daily or weekly basis. You set the time and frequency and provide an e-mail for this digest to be forwarded to. A great way to monitor yours and your competitors brand along with sector specific items that may be of interest to you, your staff or your customers.

Issue #3 – Smartphone Memory Management

CM Security is one tool I make good use of as I have an iPhone and without this very effective app I’d be all out of memory. There are other similar apps available but CM is one of the best offering a simple click solution to removing excess, unnecessary items.

Issue #4 – Keeping on top of followers/ unfollowers on twitter and Instagram

I’ve been aware for some time of the rather short sighted method of attempting to grow a network. Someone follows you, on for example Twitter and then a week later after you’ve returned the compliment and followed back they “unfollow” you. Nice! Surprising how many accounts employ this strategy – if you are please don’t and if you’re subjected to it don’t let them have the benefit.

One of the best apps I’ve found for regularly reviewing those who unfollow and keeping your network to those who you can trust will engage is Unfollow for Twitter. The same issues arise on platforms such as Instagram, again there is an unfollow Instagram app. Given the difficulty of identifying these unfollowers, especially if you have a large network, I would recommend uploading these apps and once a week clearing out any accounts that are not following you back.

Issue #5 – Sleep patterns affected by late night browsing

Increasingly smartphone users are complaining of tiredness and attention deficit. This is often a side effect of staying on a smartphone, ipad or laptop late into the evening. The screen glare of these devices replicates sunlight telling the brain its wakey-wakey time rather than time for bed. At the point of retiring to the duvet the brain is unable to switch off.

The Opera browser which you can download to your devices offers a “bedtime” mode which reduces glare and keeps your brain in line with the actual time.

I’ve used it and it certainly works.

Issue #6 – too many passwords to remember

Do you get frustrated with the number of usernames and passwords your forced to remember or record to access your bank, facebook, twitter, LinkedIn, e-mail accounts, Starbucks app, iTunes, Amazon, ebay, MailChimp….I could go on.

If you’ve a brain that can cope with keeping and retrieving multiple passwords you’re ok but if like most people you can only remember if prompted the 1Password App may well be for you.

Some people keep spreadsheets of their log-ins which is great, until someone unauthorised accesses it or it’s deleted. The 1Password option gives you a secure vault in which you can then introduce the accounts you want to quickly access.

I’m sure in time the finger print or eyeball scanning will be the way we access our all-important data but until that becomes the norm I’d suggest looking at 1Password.

Most of these apps can be found by searching on your device by the name or if that doesn’t work a quick Google will do it. If you’ve got a hot tip for a great time saving or efficiency promoting app please drop me a line and we’ll feature it.

Byadmin

building social media, Communication, customer communication, david laud, facebook, fun with social media, i2i, Management, marketing, social media marketing, thought leadership, twitter

Is Marketing Dead?

Headlines of a similar nature have been peppering business news feeds for a couple of years now. It’s a dramatic supposition. A management function that has breathed its last, passed on, is no more, has ceased to be, expired and gone to meet its maker, stiff and bereft of life, it rests in peace. Apologies I slipped into a Monty Python moment there. Just holding with that “Dead Parrot” thought, it does at times feel as though traditional marketing methods and traditional practitioners have been nailed to their perch to give an impression of life where actually none exists.

What do I mean when I suggest Marketing may have “shuffled off its mortal coil”?

Of course as a discipline it’s somewhat absurd to think that it no longer exists or matters but in my view and that of many marketers its traditional construct is no longer relevant in today’s world.

Lecturers and consultants have been surviving on a diet of “P’s” for a very long time to provide a Platform and Purpose to their approach to marketing. In its day Product, Price, Place and Promotion were a big hit and can still be seen as the core thrust for setting a marketing strategy. The trouble with a diet of “P’s” is that it can cause wind, and there’s lots of it around. The classic 4 P’s are just not going to work.

Why?

In today’s socially enabled World building a marketing strategy almost exclusively on a “Push” approach of promoting your product or service, is not going to cut it.

Today when customers wish to engage with a supplier to purchase goods or services they have a variety of sources to choose from before they make a decision:-

Personal social networks, peers and opinion formers or as Malcolm Gladwell refers to them, connectors or mavens in his book Tipping Point. These are the new, trusted salesforce that businesses need to engage with as their reach and influence can prove invaluable to building brand profile and loyalty. These individuals are actively responding to questions raised within LinkedIn Groups, Facebook forums, Twitter or a picture of the proposed purchase on Snapchat, Pinterest or Instagram seeking feedback from followers.

Search – yes of course internet search remains a key element of the process. Customers will “Google” a term appropriate to their need but typically, for more complex or high value items they will in the first instance consult with their own networks.

Consumers are becoming increasingly tired of TV advertising hence the introduction of “red button” Shazam and interactive ads that seek to offer a greater experience and hopefully generate a community conversation that increases brand profile.

Case Example – Socially Grown Brands

The emergence of Aldi and Lidl as major supermarkets in the UK is largely down to good old “word of mouth”. Whilst the ads are clever, they are but a supporting act to the real promotional drivers who are converted shoppers demonstrating their prowess in managing the family budget. The previous snobbery surrounding a visit to a budget supermarket has been superseded by a need to save in recessionary times, an issue that still faces very many households. Once the stigma is removed newbie shoppers who were prepared to “try it out” became evangelical in their praise for the shop that cut their weekly spend without a loss of quality.

Aldi have neatly tapped into this growing number of customers by introducing social media campaigns encouraging them to share their stories such as #AldiChallenge. Lidl launched a TV campaign in 2014 that also played on the kudos of knowing something your neighbour doesn’t with #LidlSurprises .

Whatever spend these two supermarkets put into their advertising it is clear that the biggest single factor in their success has been the conversations between friends, families and trusted members of social networks.

The Envero Brand Trust Index 2014 – extract from www.envero.co.uk

Envero’s 2014 Brand Trust Index surveyed over 30,000 consumers covering over 2,500 brands in 20+ countries.

The Index measures people’s willingness to positively recommend brands (advocate) but also to recommend against them (detract), and the underlying drivers of this recommendation behaviour.

Richard Evans, Envero managing partner says: “Aldi has seen by far the biggest increase in net recommendation, which measures advocates minus detractors, of any brand in the survey since 2010, when it didn’t even make the top 100. Now it’s number 21 and if it continues to increase its advocates at this rate it will soon be in the UK top 10 ahead of any other UK supermarket.”

The Future

Whatever we call it and let’s face it marketers love to give things a name, we won’t entirely lose the “Marketing” moniker but we should certainly look at what is being done in its name.

Traditional thinking is dead and any marketer who is not fully conversant with social technologies and considering community engagement strategies might want to think about an alternative career. The World has changed and it’s not going back, we are living in an exciting and scary time of global connectivity. You can equally grow or destroy a brand in hours with the right or wrong communication. This is why it’s important to understand the new media channels and essentially those who use them.

New marketing is a conversation, connection and an interest in communities linked virtually via distinct networks. CEO’s and business owners should be challenging their marketing departments to show how they are proposing to take the company forward in light of these seismic changes.

As far as I know there isn’t a definitive guide to navigate these new waters – most likely this is due to the pace of change, which has been such it would be out of date by the time it was published. At such times, like the Wild West, snake oil salesman proliferate with their cure all solutions. Be it SEO, Social or straightforward customer acquisition there are no simple answers. When looking to grow your business you should back your instincts and look to trusted resources to achieve the objectives. Look for recommendations, testimonials, talk to others who have similar issues and don’t make hasty decisions.

Traditional thinking is now akin to driving whilst only ever looking in the rear view mirror. This “brave new World” is throwing up quite a few twists and turns requiring innovative, entrepreneurial thinking and eyes that are firmly on the road ahead.

Suggested To Do List :-

Challenge the status quo – review current activities, plans their impact/return
Review resources/in-house and outsourced
Conduct thorough evaluation of proposed resources/seek out trusted recommendations
Create a plan to deliver social engagement in target areas
Factor in a mechanism to continually update the plan based upon emerging technologies/ trends
Set realistic parameters for success ie increase profit, Klout score, brand awareness, network size and relevance
Share the plan internally
Measure results regularly and hold resources to account

Byadmin

building social media, Content Marketing, creativity, customer communication, david laud, direct marketing, fun with social media, i2i, leadership, Management, offline marketing, Pr, social media marketing, social networking, tweet, twitter

Marketing – Is it really all about the 3 C’s – Content, Content, Content?

Pick up a copy of a business magazine, webinar, SEO whitepaper, workshop agenda or open one of those hundreds of marketing tip e-mails [not all such e-mails are the same of course 🙂 ] and the chances are you’ll not go far before the word “content” is mentioned.

Content Marketing Plan

If you want your website to be a successful shop window for your company you need it to be well furnished with content, lots of it, all shapes and sizes, colours, creations and categories……or do you?

Call me an old cynic…but when I start to sense a trend forming and a bandwagon being jumped on I have a natural inclination to run in the opposite direction. Sure SEO is important but what if you produce masses of poor content? All that will prove is that you’ve created a big website full of “stuff” that nobody is going to read let alone share. Surely the idea with this facet of marketing is to produce quality, focused material that appeals to those who you have identified as your target audience. Badly written and presented content will have the adverse effect. I would argue that even if you did rank higher as a result of your prolific production once anyone clicked on it they would be more inclined to bounce straight out again. This would only create a negative impression.

Ok back to basics, what is “content”? Does anyone really know or is it just another “buzzword” that sounds good but has little thought behind it.

Content varies from the obvious written word, blog, news update, article to more visual and increasingly popular sources such as infographics, webinars and other video based productions such as YouTube, Vimeo, Vine, Snapchat, Instagram, Meerkat and Periscope.

Just for starters WordPress report that there are 42.6 million blog posts per month. Now imagine how that number is going to escalate with the buzzword of the year “content” driving marketing activities. Add to the written word the growing trend of video posts and you’ve a very busy and somewhat cluttered space in which you’re trying to make a name for yourself.

Typical Examples

A) You can just see the common scenario developing where a young marketing manager, having read all the latest guides, asks the MD to produce a blog for the company. The MD is very busy but she knows this buzz of blogging and “thought leadership” is the thing she really should be doing…so she writes one. It’s not great but it is her first effort. The marketer doesn’t feel that they can correct the boss so is left with no option but to post it. No one comments on it, it’s only read by staff internally who universally agree the MD should stick to running the business.

B) Or what about a situation where no one in the business has the time to write an article or blog so they look around for help. Now for the purpose of balance I must advise that yes, there are excellent copywriters, journalists, wordsmiths who have both the intelligence and skill to produce high quality “home grown looking” material that is both informative and easy to digest. Unfortunately given the “content” Goldrush we have no shortage of prospectors panning for nuggets but finding fool’s gold, those who look the real deal, talk a good game but simply don’t understand enough about the business and the best way to communicate with their target audience. In this example the business spends a large chunk of their annual marketing budget on an agency who simply fails to connect with the client and produces low grade results albeit in large quantities. The company sacks the agency when the MD asks a few pertinent questions at a board meeting such as “Do they own a dictionary” “Have they met our production team” “Why are the web visits up but the engagement down?” The result, the agency blames the client and the resultant lack of business demonstrates the importance of having a well thought through strategy that involves communications that connect with the target audience.

So what should you be doing?

Know your audience and understand what they want, how they consume information and if indeed an MD blog is the way to grow your business profile.
Google does seek fresh and relevant content so it is an idea to have your website populated with dynamic regularly updated and appropriate material.
Don’t overlook the use of video or slides as content alternatives but ensure they are well scripted, planned and executed and not “handmade”.
Don’t follow the competition, find your own voice and methods of communicating that speak of your business, its culture and strong sales points.
Whilst it’s important it’s not all about digital. Consider the offline use of content such as print, face to face and traditional broadcast mediums.
If you can make use of the writing talent within your business. It doesn’t need to be perfect but be prepared to offer constructive criticism to ensure that the finished article is as professional as possible.
Provide training – consider bringing in a professional writer/ journalist to deliver a session on writing for a specific audience.
Don’t make it a one hit wonder. Take responsibility for driving the content creation within the business.
If you do outsource vet the suppliers with terrific care. I would strongly counsel against allowing an agency to run social media sites for your company however more complex written material may need external expertise to deliver. Seek out those who are prepared to understand your business and offer true bespoke material rather than a factory production line.
Last but by all means not least, be clear as to your objectives and strategy. Ask the question IS CONTENT CREATION THE CORRECT SOLUTION FOR MY BUSINESS? If so what will work and where are you best employed to deliver optimum returns. If not don’t be badgered by the bandwagon promoters, trust your instincts.

If you would like to discuss any of the issues raised in this blog please contact David Laud via twitter @davidlaud or call 08456 446624

Byadmin

best practice, building social media, Communication, david laud, leadership, linkedin, marketing, offline marketing, social media best practice, thought leadership

Business Development – Why You Need to be Thinking LinkedIn

There are no shortage of “top tip” type posts extolling the virtues of marketing you or your business on social media platforms. Many offer useful practical advice and are indeed helpful whilst others appear to offer nothing other than the basic, obvious and on occasion not all together accurate nuggets.

In this latest post I’m sharing my advice for busy professionals who are already on LinkedIn but have yet to enjoy positive engagement or would like to improve on the current level of activity.

Before I begin there is the all-important question, why bother with LinkedIn? I’m not going to assume that you’re already a fan of the platform and just raring to go. You might be rather cynical and need to be convinced of LinkedIn’s worth or have adopted a more passive relationship with the site. Alternatively you might be super keen but as yet just not “cracked the code” and finding a lack of solid engagement frustrating.

In the current connected world we live in it is becoming increasingly difficult to find time and space to develop new business opportunities, make new contacts and re-introduce yourself to old acquaintances. We need to make use of tools that help organise our lives and for me there are few better than LinkedIn. It provides a five star Rolodex, virtual environment connecting you to a world of opportunity. The beauty of LinkedIn is that it is very likely those companies and decision makers you want to stay in touch with are already using the site.

OK, you get it, everyone’s gathered in this global networking thing and you should get more involved…but how? You’ve connected with people you work with, clients, university chums and a few professional contacts you picked out of your e-mail address book. You’ve liked a couple of posts and updated your profile, even changed the picture. What you’re struggling with is the “next step”. You see a number of regular contributors and they seem to spend a great deal of time pushing theirs and others content, but you don’t know if it’s generating anything for them other than the obvious recognition they get.

The truth is there is no set rule or winning formula to create a stream of new business opportunities. If anyone suggests this they’re over promising and very likely you’ll quickly become frustrated at the results…or lack of them.

For me the key is in identifying the business development methods that work for your organisation offline and adopting a similar approach online. For example if you work in professional services it’s unlikely that bombarding prospective clients with sales messages will do it for you. Delivering useful information via seminars and following up on enquiries generated as a result would be one example more suited to the sector. In this example you can use LinkedIn to post content reflecting your particular expertise and encourage engagement through comments to start a conversation.

I would also strongly encourage you to have a plan for your online activities and set a target for creating new business opportunities. This will help to retain a focus on why you would invest time online and avoid time stealing distractions that don’t move you toward your goals.

Before posting any content it’s worth reviewing your profile and making sure that it accurately reflects how you wish to be seen. Often we focus on job titles and our internal corporate terminology to describe a role but it might not be clear to others exactly what you do. Create your own elevator pitch that clearly explains who you are and what makes you somebody that others would want to connect with. There’s no harm in checking out other profiles and adapting elements you like into your own if it’s an aspect that you’ve previously struggled with.

When you started on LinkedIn you probably, like me, got terribly excited and started joining dozens of groups. The fact is we don’t always have the time to give to all the groups and over time you’ve realised they’re also not very active. Give your groups a refresh, be ruthless and stick to those where you feel you’ll have the best possibility of engaging with potential new clients/ customers or those who’ll refer you to others.

Groups offer an opportunity to join a conversation on topical issues that affect a sector or service you have an interest in. Try and avoid joining groups that you feel comfortable in because they’re populated by others who are in a very similar line to you. Ask the question “What will this group bring to my business?” If there isn’t a clear answer don’t join.

We all have connections in our network who are prolific bloggers, some offering very useful and reliable quality content, but it is hard to keep to this standard if you set out to post every day. You should consider posting your own content but keep it to topics that are relevant to your area of expertise and provide helpful insights for your network. It could be once a week, twice a month or once a quarter but if frequency is low, step up the conversations you participate in with your target groups.

Posting from LinkedIn, rather than placing a link to external content offers your best opportunity for engagement. It is easy to draft your copy in an external document, proof read it and then copy and paste into LinkedIn. To access this function you need to be in the “Home” section of LinkedIn and click on the “Publish a Post” option. There are also options here to “upload a picture” and “share an update” the latter typically involves content from other sources such as your own website or news channels.

The biggest obstacle that many busy professionals face is time or rather a lack of it. To make LinkedIn work for you it’s a good idea to set yourself a plan of checking in with the site twice a day and having e-mail notifications set to let you know of your group or post activity. Set yourself a target of post frequency and keep an eye out for inspiration from news items, articles and events. Overall it’s better if you can get into a routine of using social media sites to support rather than interfere with your working day. By being organised and structured in your approach you will be more discriminating in the content that you consume and create.

Key Points – Quick recap

Review your profile and view it as if you are a potential client/ customer. Take time to look at a variety of profiles and adopt ideas that would work for you.
Consider the précis “elevator pitch” for your profile.
How do you generate new business offline? Consider how you would adapt this approach on-line and set a plan and target in generating interactions and new business opportunities. Include in this plan the time that you will invest and frequency of posting your own original content.
Review your groups and concentrate on those that offer opportunities to engage with prospective customers.
Keep a journal of interesting news, articles and items that will provide the inspiration for your posts.
“Publish a Post” of your own original content on LinkedIn rather than uploading hyper-links from external websites. Remember this is distinct from the “share an update” option which will often involve posting external links and is a great way to bring your connections to your website or share the content of others in your network.
Remember to carefully proof read your post before publishing, a second pair of eyes can be invaluable.

The above is obviously not a definitive guide to using LinkedIn but provides guidance that should help improve your engagement and ideally grow your confidence in using the world’s largest professional networking site.

If you have any questions or comments please feel free to comment below or e-mail me david.laud@i2isolutions.co.uk

Byadmin

david laud, i2i, leadership, Management, mentor, success, thought leadership, time management

9 Tips to Help Manage Your Biggest Assets

It’s surprising how many times we can make assumptions of others in the workplace and often underestimate the workload and stresses those in senior roles deal with. As a junior and middle manager I too fell into the trap of thinking the “boss” was not always engaged with the important stuff and didn’t understand what it was like at the coalface. Of course the chances were that not only was the boss aware of the issues they too were under enormous pressure and keeping many plates spinning on may poles, your universe of interest being just one.

It's getting harder to keep things from falling down - Multi Channel Marketing Challenge

“The life of a typical business owner is becoming ever more stressful – keeping many plates spinning on many poles”

The need is as great now as it’s ever been for business owners, directors and senior managers to understand how they can best inspire, motivate and manage the human resources around them.
The “boss” today has to look at markets that are increasingly competitive. There are very real pressures on expenditure and real need to maximise returns whilst customers are expecting “more for less” and the opportunities for growth harder to define and find.

Having recently worked with a number of clients with similar issues I thought it timely to look at some ideas to help better manage the essential asset of most businesses, their people.

• Time Management
How many times do you find your blood pressure rising when a member of staff saunters in at 9.15 a.m.? The fact is, strict times for starting and finishing a job may apply to specific jobs that require production schedules or the presence of those offering direct customer engagement. For many others, especially those in technical or creative roles, a 9 to 5 doesn’t really apply. What we should look at is not the hours spent sat at a desk but what was produced in the time they were at work. You could have the most punctual person in the world working for you but that doesn’t automatically make them better than someone who might arrive a little later. To overcome stresses and possible squabbles amongst staff offer a flexible working schedule and consider working from home as a genuine option. Remember to measure and manage what’s produced in that flexi time.

• Match roles and tasks to those best suited
Square pegs and round holes, yes it’s a very real problem for many businesses. Here’s a “for instance” – Derek’s worked in sales administration for years but is actually far better suited to working in IT and training others on how to get the most out of the software used in the company. How do you work this out? Talk to staff, make an appraisal a proper appraisal and assess real strengths and weaknesses and personal aspirations and likes. Quite often a secret interest or passion can become incredibly useful to a business. It helps to know what those special interests and skills are and to keep an ongoing dialogue with staff as things rarely remain static.

• Bright stars should work on the biggest opportunities
The high flyers in a business need sufficient air space to demonstrate their skills and offer the greatest return for your organisation. Too often talent is held back or restricted through traditional hierarchical structures and/or short sighted managers. The outcome? The talent leaves for a job where they can truly realise their ambitions. If you want to keep the best and get the most from them allow a little latitude, remove the shackles and allow them to take responsibility for their own projects. Building experience in such a way is invaluable and often rewarded by increased loyalty and performance.
• Set stretching but achievable goals

No one should suggest that we avoid measuring performance, quite the contrary but at the same time we shouldn’t become overzealous with our expectation and demands. Realistic, stretching but manageable objectives shared and understood by the team will provide the motivation to reach for the target. Too tough and it quickly becomes a disincentive to try and too soft and staff may believe they’re on easy street and get distracted with other non-essential matters.

• Put your trust in the team and let them know you trust them
Without a fundamental level of trust between business owners and staff, conflict, stress and aggravation often follows. People like to know that they are valued. Demonstrating trust through allowing self-control of their tasks, time management, resources required and engagement with goal setting can prove immensely motivational.

• When things go wrong don’t seek out someone to hang it on

Things will and often do go wrong. The way in which you handle the failures marks out the culture of the business. By way of comparison our own true character is often shown in adversity. It’s all too easy to find and single out the cause if it’s an individual, they may well admit to their part in the process. Remember Alan Sugar is playing a role in a TV show on the Apprentice and it bears very little relevance to the day to day running of a company. Be positive in the analysis and just ensure that the team understands where things went wrong to avoid the same mistakes happening again. In the same regard don’t desperately hang on to a failing project, be brave, assess the prospects and if the expected outcome looks unlikely to materialise, provide a positive review and close it down. It’s pretty de-motivating working on a project that just isn’t delivering, better to re-focus efforts on more positive opportunities.

• You’re the boss but you don’t have to have all the answers
All too often I meet with business owners who shoulder an enormous level of responsibility and in their minds the expectations of the workforce. Often they themselves apply the added pressure assuming staff are looking to the owners for the answers to every strategic and operational issue. This again reflects the culture of an organisation and if a “control freak” management style permeates the business, employees will sit back and expect that controller to manage them and make any major or even minor decision. That weight of expectation can be lifted by getting staff to think for themselves, make their own decisions and participate in planning.
• Give staff credit for successes
Don’t forget we all like to receive positive feedback and know we’re good at our jobs. Recognition and rewards are a very important factor in building and maintaining positive team spirit and momentum.

• Managing Change
In my experience the vast majority of employees can cope with and manage changes in their working patterns very well. A lack of communication however can seriously jeopardise the chances of capitalising on a change in business direction or move to new markets/ products. The more you involve staff at the earliest juncture and keep them updated the better the chances of success. Change can be worrying for some, so avoid big surprises by communicating as outlined above and cut off any negative rumours or grapevine that left unchecked may undermine your best efforts.

It’s true to say that managing people is one of the toughest aspects of running a business. Get it right and it not only has the prospect of providing a turbo boost to hit targets but also make the owners lives far less lonely and stressful.

David Laud – follow me on twitter @davidlaud

Byadmin

best practice, creativity, customer communication, customer experience, Customer service, david laud, direct marketing, innovation, leadership, Management, relationships, reputation management, success, thought leadership

We all want to be Norm – 10 Tips to Build Stronger Customer Relationships

Back in the early 1980’s a US sit com hit our screens and almost immediately became a hit. Centred on a small bar in Boston the show introduced us to a series of characters who were the regulars and staff of “Cheers”. The theme song was catchy and used the phrase “Where everyone knows your name”. One character personified this tagline more than any other. A large chap with ill-fitting suits, tie almost always askew and mop of curly hair, his name was Norm Peterson an *accountant played by the wonderful actor George Wendt. *In later episodes Norm becomes a house painter.

Each time Wendt’s burly frame stepped down the stairs and came into view he was met with a chorus of welcoming voices “Norm!”

That friendly welcome became one of the most popular aspects of this hugely successful show which ran continuously from 1982 to 1993 and produced a number of spin offs including Kelsey Grammer’s “Frasier”.

But rather than offer up a history of popular US sit coms I’m highlighting this specific element as an example of how we should be looking after customers.

We all want to be Norm (pic by Jordan Wilson)

Business owners and managers in the hospitality sector appreciate all too well the importance of knowing the customer and making a personal connection. Restaurants, bars, hotels, clubs they all rely very heavily on the power of personal recommendation and with the advent and growth of TripAdvisor they know they cannot afford to let standards slip.

Just for a moment put yourself in the role of a customer looking to use your business to buy or enquire about a product or service. If you’re a first time customer it’s highly unlikely that the communication is going to be as warm and familiar as that enjoyed by Norm but the objective should be to get to that level. Who wouldn’t want to feel that they’re recognised, remembered and ultimately valued by the establishments they frequent?

At a time when business is becoming ever more competitive and the winning of new customers more complex and costly, it’s logical to invest time to understand their experience, their needs and without being too intrusive more about them as individuals.

Starbucks are a great example of a business that invests in exactly that element of their marketing. You can buy a decent coffee in any one of a number of nationally branded and local establishments in most towns and cities. Why would you choose one shop over another? Some may genuinely prefer the taste of Costa coffee but the vast majority of us weigh up the overall experience.

The simple task of taking your name for the cup makes you feel as though the staff are taking a personal interest in you, yes it has a functional purpose but I suspect it was introduced for more reasons than you may think. Trying to remember hundreds of regular daily customers by face for the average person is quite a task but if you take their names you are adding a neat memory aiding process to the task and chances are they’ll not need to ask after one or two visits. Then how good do you feel when your name is remembered? Would you want to return to such a store? Of course you would.

Keeping with Starbucks their attention to customer’s behaviours extends to the queues waiting to place their orders. Ever noticed what most of us do when we’re waiting to be served? We reach for our smartphones, check our social media accounts, e-mail and then when we’re ready to place that order we scrabble for a wallet or purse. Noting this behaviour Starbucks developed a function of their smartphone App which enables customers to not only earn rewards and get free food and drinks but essentially pay using those phones they already have in their hand. Just look around at your average Starbucks and count the Apple Macs and smartphone usage, they understand their market and how best to engage with them. What I like about the Starbucks example is that they took the time to consider the customer experience and find a way to improve it. I also like the fact that it’s a great combination of offline and online but at the heart is the desire to make that trip to buy your coffee and snack that much easier. Of course it doesn’t hurt Starbucks to have an app that requires your personal details to register and use it but by now you’ve built a level of trust having been a “regular” and happy to share a little personal data.

For those of you now complaining that you don’t have “Star-bucks” to throw at such projects (see what I did there) don’t worry it doesn’t need to be expensive.

The best marketing and customer service solutions are often simple, common sense and can be implemented without breaking the bank. The essential part of this process is to initiate direct action and start taking a greater interest in that over used phrase the “customer experience”.

Here are 10 suggested steps to get things underway
1. Take time to stand back and become a customer of your own company, be honest and objective.
2. Look at what you’re delivering, break down the elements into stages.
3. How are customers responding?
4. Become more familiar with competitor approaches but avoid following their lead.
5. Build on the positives of the current offering.
6. Address the negatives.
7. Adapt to take advantage of the intelligence gained from the exercise.
8. Train staff to become more aware and develop empathy with the customer.
9. Introduce communication channels to keep feedback flowing.
10. Review and refresh regularly.

If this is an area that interests you or you would like more information please feel free to drop me a line.
David Laud

Byadmin

Communication, david laud, direct marketing, innovation, leadership, Management, marketing, mentor, mentoring, thought leadership, time management

Growth Accelerator – A Practical Approach to Improved Performance

We all need a virtual or actual boost in our businesses now and again. It’s too easy to become complacent, comfortable or afraid of making any changes that might make things “different”.

What many successful businesses do is harness a culture of continual evolution never settling for the status quo. This can be massively helped by recruiting staff who don’t fear change and have their own streak of entrepreneurism. If this is harnessed to a leadership team with clear goals and a strategy to enable attainment of the objectives the future will look bright.

Unfortunately certain sectors contain more than their fair share of risk averse personalities and they can in turn keep a business locked into a mode that ensures it fails to capitalise on new trends and seek out opportunities.

Smaller organisations can rely on the owners far too much and expect them to feed the company through their efforts to win new customers. For a large number of proprietors the challenge of running a business alone is enough to fully occupy them and the additional responsibility of bringing in revenue gets consigned to a “to do” list that rarely gets actioned.

So what can be done for these many ambitious but largely stagnant businesses? How can they rekindle the pioneering, energetic and challenging spirit that formed them?

There are any number of resources available to the average business – but this in itself can prove to be an inhibitor as too many options can prove confusing and ultimately fail to deliver the desired result.

The same may be said of certain third party agencies who approach business owners direct and feed their anxieties. They make promises to provide the solutions sought but end up costing the company an expensive fee and wasted time in pursuing false hopes.

On a more positive note I’ve recently had the opportunity to work with the Growth Accelerator programme. The phrase “Growth Accelerator” for some seems to conjure up rather dubious pills that might be promoted via spam e-mail but I can assure you it is no quack solution. This is a well organised and effective initiative for commercial enterprises covering three core areas:

Business Development
Innovation
Leadership and Management Development

Growth Accelerator provides access to finance to assist the companies in achieving their agreed goals.

What is reassuring about this programme is the assessment and selection of coaches and clear focus on quality service and the ultimate delivery for the businesses taking part.

Growth Accelerator is available to businesses registered in the UK who have fewer than 250 staff and a turnover less than £40m. Essentially they must be looking to grow their business by 20% – turnover or profit.

The Growth Accelerator process uses template guides that are introduced by experienced coaches offering a highly visible and effective tool to help the business see their future growth over a 3 year period.

It’s certainly not the only option but it is currently one of the most popular initiatives sought out by businesses wishing to grow but to do so in a manner that is both practical and sustainable.

If this is something you would like to explore further please feel free to drop me a line and we will put you in touch with your regional Growth Manager.

David Laud

Byadmin

cafe los feliz, Communication, customer, customer communication, Customer service, david laud, excellence, i2i, innovation, relationships, thought leadership

Excellent Customer Service – Have You Got it Covered?

Having just returned from a trip to California I’m inspired to write about customer service. Not that we encountered the very best at every turn, yes it was mostly very good but my TripAdvisor reviews did include the odd horror.

Cafe Los Feliz – Good Food Great Service

Yes, even the great land of “awesomeness” and “super excitement” didn’t get it right all the time. Anyone who’s visited the USA will know that the policy of tipping can be delivered in a variety of ways depending on who, where and sometimes when you’re visiting. What you quickly realise is that “service” is very often included and if not added automatically you’re strongly encouraged by guideline % figures.

But if you don’t feel the service matches the promise it can get very interesting, almost as if the business refuses to accept they could get anything wrong.

On the downside we found attitudes were at times curt and clippy in certain establishments. The approach to customers tired and cynical. Service in a couple of restaurants started well but quickly fell away as other patrons arrived and their well of goodwill and friendliness quickly dried up as visible stress levels increased. One hotel in particular responded so poorly to my observations of their hotel on Trip Advisor that it will only serve to generate poor review number two. If a customer is not happy don’t poke them with a sharp stick. I was rather astonished at the arrogant dismissive response. If you’re running a business you need to take all feedback on board and respond in a balanced sensible way, even if you do think their experience somewhat far away from reality. The fact is it was their reality and their shoes you need to stand in.

On the upside we encountered many excellent examples of good service. The Café Los Feliz lived up to their Instagram presentation with the delivery of an outstanding breakfast. The Arch Rock restaurant in Santa Barbara who’s superb food was only matched by the excellent chat we had with the waiter and the Italian Seafood restaurant in San Francisco – Cioppinos so good we went back for more on another day. Their promise of finding a table for us in 20 minutes evaporated to 5 when the maitre d came to us whilst we were ordering drinks at their bar to say she’d loved the way we’d been so happy and polite and offered to jump us forward to the next available table.

So the US are not, in my view, the custodians of all that is “excellent” in customer service. Of course they’re still very good in so many areas but to my surprise there are a number who are clearly not as good as they should be. Not a perfect piece of research, we were on holiday after all and not handing out questionnaires or interrogating staff and fellow customers. Our perception however is real and nevertheless valid. Perhaps the recession has had its impact and service levels have as a result been adversely affected as profits became harder to find.

We did all love our Californian excursion a truly memorable experience but it’s clear you don’t have to travel so far to see excellence in customer service. This weekend we took our dog to the nearby beach at Saltburn. We stopped off for a cuppa and a bite to eat at a small café near the beach and noticed the many purple blankets at each table. The owners had considered the experience of their clientele, the UK climate and possibility of children and adults who’d taken a recent dip shivering as others decide to have a pit stop before heading home.

The blankets were a small but very important touch, showing that the Café understood its customers and cared enough to keep them comfortable whilst sipping tea and eating scones or ice cream. When it comes to customer service Camfields Espresso Bar in Saltburn have got it well and truly covered.

Camfields in Saltburn – They’ve Got it Covered

It’s the little touches that can make such a big difference and that’s true of any business. The result you want is a happy customer and for them to spread the word like warm butter on those Yorkshire scones.

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Excellent Customer Service – Have You Got it Covered?

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