BeConnected

Resources for PowerPoint Users

Huge list of PowerPoint resources over at Working Smart. If you are in the business of giving presentations you need to increase the quality of your PowerPoint presentations. I beg you.

Tips for Jumpstarting Your Corporate Blog

Beupre & Co., a division of Omnicom Group Inc., publishes tips for corporate blogs in their newsletter. The tips apply to PR uses of blogs but also some of the tips also apply to email marketing newsletters.

The tips include:
1) News release “color commentary”
2) New product review venues
3) Turbocharge your analyst relations programs
4) Expand PR measurement
5) Syndicate your corporate communications

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Tips for Developping Customer Evangelists

Ben Silverman over at PR Fuel offers some good stories of customer evangelism and some good tips.

Tips for evangelizing:

1. Offer an incentive program to existing customers that gives them free product or service in exchange for signing-up new customers.

2. Let people in the press try your product and get feedback from them - even if they're not writing about it. A few years ago, I beta tested a new online service and wrote a scathing review for the PR people. When the product launched, some of my suggestions were put into practice and I received a note of thanks from the CEO (I wasn't a member of the media at the time).

3. Reach out to your best customers. If you offer a service or product to businesses and you have key customers who express happiness with your product/service, keep in contact with these people and see how the product/service can be improved. Offer them perks in exchange for testimonials (or simply ask). When I worked for a dot-com I saved our company more than $10,000 by simply referring customers to one of our vendors. The salesman for the vendor was more than happy to give my company a discount after I helped him generate a few hundred thousand dollars in sales.

4. Create an outreach program in conjunction with your marketing department. T-shirts, hats, stickers, coupons, etc. sent to your company's biggest fans is a great way to garner some cheap attention.

5. Internally, foster a feeling of good will in the company and evangelize your own workforce. The PR department needs to act as internal barometer and help keep spirits high and the company improving. If you're outside the company, much sure your firm believes in your client. If your workers have concerns about a client, address those concerns. There's nothing worse than talking to a PR person who obviously doesn't like their client.

Of course these are exactly the kinds of things that can be communicated with e-mail newsletters and company blogs.

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Work Different - Observing Millenial Work Habits

In keeping with the theme of the last post about my nephew I came across this post about characteristics of "millenials"(those born between 1980 and 2000) from Fred Dust's Neocon Keynote.

Wheras 'Gen-X' grew up with computers; the Millenials are growing up with pervasive mobile computing, which has drastically redefined their social norms. New kinds of etiquette have formed, such as 'dynamic scheduling'-- it's no longer rude to be late, as long as you are in constant communication via mobile phone or text messaging. Even when in the actual presence of others, it is not uncommon for the mobile phone to be of equal (or greater) importance. Fred saw this as a sign that this generation may be the first to see successful distance collaboration in a work context. Another observation is the 'total blur' the Millenials form between work & life. This generation is very good at multitasking and prefer to blur fun and work, and are able to tune out distractions when necessary. An example was given of an arcade that is concurrently used for doing homework-- and the students are able to segue from Trigonometry to Dance Dance Revolution (and back) seamlessly. A final trend to note is the emergence of 'evolved abilities'-- millenials have highly developed abilities in information management. Their abilities in non-linear thinking allow them to process multiple tasks at once and their comfort with technology allows them to expand their skill sets with ease.

Those who understand these new work habits and build their B2B communications with these in mind will find acceptance among young tech savvy knowledge workers.

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18 Year Old Lessons in Communications

Last night I went to my nephew's 18th birthday party. He's excited about heading off to college this fall. What I am continually struck by is how different his world is from my own experience at his age. The primary difference between us is communications technology. While I wrote letters with ink on paper to my family from college and waited in my room for my weekly phone call from my parents he goes off to college cell phone in pocket with a family plan that enables him to call and be called at any time day or night. On top of that he has email, instant messaging and blogging. His world is all about communicating. His first question when he opened his new Play Station 2 video game system was could he network it for multiplayer gaming.

His story is paralleled in marketing communications these days. New tools are making B2B communications easier and easier. Companies are busy starting B2B email newsletters and blogs to communicate with customers and prospects. Everyone talks about the value of relationship building and increased communication. Here my nephew's experience holds another lesson. All of his communication tools increase the amount of communication he has with friends and family but not necessarily the quality of his communication. Having overheard many of his cell phone conversations they seem only to verify that everyone is simply hanging out, nothing is being done and not much is actually up.

New communication tools lead to increased communications but not necessarily increased value in that communication. Unless you can consistently provide high quality valuable relevant content your communication will be disregarded by customers and prospects.

So how do you provide the highest quality of content that will cut through the info clutter and become a value added must read for your customers and prospects? Consider outsourcing your B2B email newsletters. There are several advantages but the greatest is the ability to tap into excellent freelance writers who bring expertise in your industry.

Why not spend three minutes on a simple questionnaire and get a price quote on your own fully outsourced B2B email newsletter .

Lead Me

Yesterday I had occasion to drive past the dealership where I purchased my current car. The dealership is owned by a friend of a friend so I feel good about the deal I got all these years later. What I remember most was this friend of a friend having me work with one of his new sales people. A month after the sale I received a phone call from the sales person and then a Christmas card a few months later. Then...nothing. I haven't heard from the sales person or the dealership again despite having the same address and phone number. What's missing? A lead nurturing program. In this case one that lasts years. Sooner or later I am going to buy another car.

What techniques do you find helpful or not helpful in nurturing sales leads?

Eight Things

One of the roadblocks to building excellent relationships with customers and prospects is a lack of time. So much time is taken up with meetings and follow-up work that there is little prime time left for focusing on relationship building. Sometimes a smart application of technology can add a whole new level of efficiancy and productivity. Michael Hyatt over at Working Smart posts a list of eight things you can do in a meeting with a TabletPC. A lot of these could be just as easily done on a conventional laptop. In any event his list is a good one although he neglects Blogging during a meeting.

One Way to Get Your Customers Talking

Put a few of these seesaws in the lobby or waiting room. A customer on either end can't help but talk to each other.

There might be other ways too.

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Farming vs. Hunting

I recently met with my financial manager who has an excellent understanding of building customer relationships. The purpose of our meeting was to discuss a realignment of financial instruments that would result in the elimination of his ongoing management fees. Was he laying me off as a client? Certainly not! He is smart enough to act in the best interest of his clients even when it results in lower fees from those clients. This is the best practice since his business is built on trust and referrals. I trust him and feel even better now that I've seen yet another example of how he supports my best interests. Will I refer him? Absolutely! That's the payoff for him. He realizes that his desire to be a "farmer" gently nurturing and tending client portfolios is evolving into more and more "hunting" finding new clients and setting up investments that will serve their needs. Of course the path to new clients is through existing clients.

Have you demonstrated your care for your clients best interests lately?

Building Referrals

John Jantsch at Duct Tape Marketing has found that the key to building referrals from your existing customers is to overcome the fear of asking for them. Build the expectation of referrals right into the working relationship. Tell clients that you intend to satisfy them so well that they will want to refer three new clients after working with you for 90 days.

This is strong advice but it's important to build it in as part of an overall business relationship. The goal is not to make customers feel obligated to refer you but delighted to do so.

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