WILDERVIEWS HAS MOVED TO WORDPRESS

WilderViews has moved to Wordpress. Please note the blog address in case you want to bookmark it: http://blog.gps4management.com/

If you have already subscribed to receive e-mail updates when new content is posted to WilderViews, you will continue to receive the updates.

If you haven't yet subscribed to WilderViews e-mail updates and would like to, or if you "follow" WilderViews via Google Friend Connect (which doesn't work on Wordpress), please subscribe by clicking here: http://feedburner.google.com/fb/a/mailverify?uri=Wilderviews&loc=en_US

Thanks for your interest in WilderViews.

LIFE GETS IN THE WAY!

I guess everyone experiences the intrusion of outside events on normal work habits from time to time. I have been unusually lucky as only rarely has life interrupted my ability to devote time to my business. But, having sold our home earlier this year and moving onto the third floor of our daughter's home, I am now officially a victim. With a rented desk in a real estate office full of friendly and chatty realtors, and an unusual number of demands on my personal time, my blogging is in arrears.

Come October, I will be re-ensconced in our new home and back on my feed so my blogging will renew. They will be posted on Word Press instead of Blogger but will still appear on my website, www.gps4management.com.

I look forward to renewing our acquaintance then and I hope business is becoming better for all of you in the meantime!

TO UNDERSTAND, ONE MUST KNOW HOW TO LISTEN!

When I am at a business networking event, I hear a lot of emphasis on the importance of listening well. Yet I often get the sense that many people are not doing it as well as they need to. Sometimes this is due to the listener not being "present" during the conversation (as I too-often hear from my lovely wife) but it is often a result of not knowing how to listen carefully to extract the full meaning of what is being said. This has real risks.

For example, a salesperson may all too quickly accept what is being asked for by a customer and immediately offer a solution which may turn out not to be relevant to the customer's real need. Kate Reilly, a highly successful corporate sales trainer now in executive sales herself, recommends "re-framing" what the speaker is saying or asking for by repeating the comment or question in his or her own words and asking if (s)he has accurately heard and understood what is needed.

Kate exemplifies this with a simple story about a homemaker whose basement is being flooded with water and calls the local hardware store for help. Almost before she can finish her cry for assistance, the store owner says he has a bucket and a mop on hand for only $9.99. However, this is a solution that wont help much because there are six inches of water on the floor and a mop and bucket wont do the trick. Instead of originally offering up his solution, the store owner should have probed first by re-framing the question: "So you have water in your basement?" and listened to her response to understand fully the customer's situation, i.e. she has 6 inches of water on the floor. At that point he would have been able to offer a more relevant and useful suggestion, such as a sump pump. wet-vac, etc.

The moral of the story for sales people? Be sure to listen carefully to hear and understand real needs before suggesting solutions.

IS PAID ADVERTISING BECOMING IRRELEVANT OR IS THERE A DIFFERENT BENEFIT FROM ONLINE CHATTER?

In a recent, well-written blog, Kristen Zhivago - whose commentaries I read and respect - raised the interesting hypothesis that shoppers write so many reviews and articles on the Internet about products and services they have purchased, that the paid advertising aimed at influencing them is becoming irrelevant. She observes that, in effect, the experience of an unbiased purchaser is often more effective than a paid ad or commercial and by sharing experiences online, these stories obviate the value of advertising which is paid for.

Her argument has value but fails to recognize that the message being delivered by the advertiser is largely (albeit not exclusively) designed to promote first-time sales and is likely to be premised on research which enables an advance understanding of the attitudes and emotions of the prospective purchaser about the proposed purchase. While the buyer's experience may have been unsatisfactory and preclude a second purchase, the initial experience being discussed online may actually have been stimulated by the paid advertising in the first place.

So, while a bad experience may prevent a repeat purchase, what it may also contribute to -if there is enough consumer dissatisfaction -is forcing the manufacturer to make product improvements which he can then advertise to stimulate a second or new purchase. The conclusion? Paid advertising based on deep understanding of the consumer through research and experience will be hard to cast aside even in this Internet economy!

THREE WAYS TO FAIL FROM JUST ONE FAILING!

Many blogs address how to succeed in business but many small business owners -and others as well - are as motivated by the fear of failure as by the drive for success. In this year's Leadercast sponsored by Chick-a-Filet, Jim Collins, author of "Good to Great...Why Some Companies Make the Leap and Others Don't", pointed out several ways to ensure failing in business. His observations are perceptive and are of value to all, but especially so to leaders who are already succeeding:

1) Success can frequently lead to hubris. Since leadership is most sustainable when it includes a good deal of humility on the leader's part, the reverse is equally true and in every sense must be avoided. Hubris can lead to emotional decision making of a disastrous nature!

2)Once successful, many executives seek to accomplish and attain MORE. What specifically MORE is is almost less important to them than its attainment: more sales, more products, more recognition, more whatever, just MORE! This pursuit can drive a company to abandon the very disciplines and thoughtful analyses that led to its success.....all in order just to salve the owner's or CEO's ego. BEWARE OF EGO!

3)A leader can be carried away by his or her success and deny or fail to act upon new risks and dangers which may emerge. Sometimes facts are discomfiting and do not want to be faced or even acknowledged. If one's ego is too inflated, the risk of not confronting new, disturbing facts which must be faced honestly and confidently can lead to crises. BEWARE OF HUBRIS AND EGO!

These two closely related factors, hubris and over-inflated egos, can clearly be dangerous which is why Collins emphasizes the importance of leaders retaining a large sense of humility in the way they run their companies.

WANT TO RAISE PRICES? ANTICIPATE WHAT YOUR COMPETITORS MAY DO!

There has been a spate of articles recently providing advice to businesses able - or, at least wanting - to raise prices as the general business climate has seemed to be improving. However, none of those I have read have addressed the competitive issues one must think about when comntemplating an upward move. It is worth doing.

For example, let's assume that you and your prime competitors are priced equally at the point of sale. What will your prime competitor do if you raise your price by 10% at retail? Will he follow suit? Perhaps he will only come up half-way, thus end up underpricing you. Are you happy? Will the added profits you anticipated fail to accrue as your revenue falls in light of his undercut? Can you then cut back to his level.... should you?

The point I want to make is not to provide solutions to competitive responses a la the example above, but to advocate doing some simple planning in advance to project what your increase would yield under differing reactions by your prime competitors: if he matches you; if he holds his current price; if he only goes half way and your volume is affected; and so forth. Assume and assess what you would do if the situation were reversed.

Today, there are simple models available to assess all such variations in advance and, while they will cost you a bit of money to employ one or two, the long run benefit is worth the upfront price.

HOW TO MAKE YOUR POSITIONING WORK HARDER FOR YOU!

For a long time and particularly for non-consumer marketers, "positioning" was an obscure word which did not clearly and instantly convey its meaning, i.e. to identify the benefits of what your product or company offers viz a viz its competition. Today, the word is simply part of the marketing lexicon and is generally understood, either as defined above or similarly. However, how many businesses really capitalize on it? How can one mine all its value?

One answer is to "tangibilize" it and to market the tangible. For example, when I was running an independent advertising agency in Boston, we struggled with differentiating ourselves from our competition which included the local branches of big NY agencies: BBDO, McCann Erickson and others. Almost all of the agencies were proclaiming their outstanding creative product, or their full service capabilities or some other largely generic benefit of any agency. We finally decided to market our attitude, which we captured in the phrase: WHY NOT. This set of words emanated from my frequently responding to seemingly offbeat suggestions by saying, "Why Not? Let's explore it and see if we can make it work."

Once we had this way of positioning ourselves, we tangibilized it by painting the words on bricks in the form of a statement instead of a question: WHY NOT. using a period, not a question mark. Then we put a brick on each staffer's desk, held an agency meeting to explain its meaning and our plans to market it and to get general buy in. It resonated and took hold in a very positive way. Then we took it to each of our clients and discussed the positive attitude it reflected and the challenge we gave ourselves on their behalf to come up with new solutions to their issues. They loved the idea and responded enthusiastically; it helped cement relationships in a meaningful way. Finally, I had my picture taken for the papers giving a brick to Boston's Mayor. This helped spread the word to the area's business leaders, especially when followed up by agency mailings. All in all it was a home run which worked at several levels for each of our audiences.

The key to the success of this positioning in the marketplace was our communications of it to each of our audiences. The use of a brick was unique: a strong building block to carry our message. And, using an attitude to distinguish us was also different. But a consistent communications program to all concerned was what made it ours.

I hope this example will encourage you to seek a unique positioning and make it work harder for you!

IT'S THE MESSAGE, STUPID!

How many of you remember this phrase? It was a frequently repeated yell in the advertising business "back in the day"and is even more critical to understand and pay attention to now.

The marketing world has truly been transformed in the past decade by the growth of internet marketing and its e-commerce business model. These days, the hot topic is social media and when, where and how it can be used to build a business. Such considerations as how direct to be with a selling message on Face Book versus using a soft, friendly communication to strike up a relationship first, occupy much of the business internet conversation. And, appropriately so, as one must learn how to use the new media effectively.

But selecting the right medium to use is a message issue not just a media one. It needs to reflect one's understanding of the audience being appealed to and their view and feelings about the product or service being offered. In many businesses, a clear, direct selling message is totally appropriate and the potential buyers are open about wanting to know more about the products available to them and their relative benefits. In a new category or one where the prospective user has no experience, a less direct appeal may woo the prospect to your site and be a more effective way for you to communicate successfully. So, the message is that, when considering alternative media to use, one needs to assess the audience being targeted before selecting the medium and to make sure the right type of message will be designed for the medium selected.

In other words, it is still the message first!

ARE YOU A "SERVANT BOSS"? SHOULD YOU BE?

Some years back, the CEO of Jewel Tea Company referred to himself in a Harvard Business Review article as The First Assistant to his direct reports. By that, he meant that he saw himself as the person to whom his department heads could turn for support in accomplishing difficult or unusual projects and that he could stand in for them when they were ill or on vacation. Do you operate in this manner? Should you? While sounding supportive this approach also contains inherent risks.

When running my advertising agencies, I initially thought this was a good approach. It would allow me to keep a good eye on the business and to develop close relationships with my colleagues; they would feel supported and appreciated. However, as I look back on that style now, I also see the risk of becoming more operational than a CEO should; it can distract from his responsibility as the visionary and strategic leader. It can also risk undercutting company department heads in the eyes of their staffs or, in our case, clients. And, it forgoes the opportunity of providing leadership responsibility and experience to their own number ones when they are ill or on holiday.

Philosophically and on the surface, the idea of the "Servant Boss" has much appeal. But the risks also need cosideration before adoption of the style!

Want to comment? Visit www.blog.gps4management.com. Would love your thoughts!

CAN MAKING "FOOTPRINTS IN THE SAND" HELP YOUR BUSINESS?

Recently, I have been following the thread of an interesting article posted on BizNik by Miles Austin. He calls the process of commenting on group discussions,web articles, blogs and the like as leaving "Footprints in the Sand". The reason for his title lies in the continuous washing away of such comments and blog postings by the sheer volume of internet commentary and the difficulty of making a footprint which will be visible for more than a few hours. Yet, we are all urged by the social media gurus to participate in this dialogue in order to build awareness and respect for our businesses. Does it work? Is all the time it requires worth it? Does it pay off?

I don't know if there is a definitive answer to this issue. I have certainly heard of successful examples where participating in social media has paid off but, in a seemingly greater number of cases, I have heard of failure.......either because the commentator got tired of continuing to write with little apparent return or simply because there there really weren't any leads or sales or even inquiries after months of diligent postings.

My suspicion is that the answer largely depends on the nature of one's business. If one is engaging in e-commerce with fairly low priced products or services for sale, I can see it succeeding. Conversely, for the businessman with but a few clients at a time who is not seeking multi-transactions, it may be too time consuming or even irrelevant to continue the effort.

Your thoughts? Post your comment at http://www.blog.gps4management.com/

PRE-MORTEM.....HUH? WHAT'S THAT?

Someone recently used this term, Pre-Mortem, on a Linked In discussion I was following. It was meant to describe a way of looking at one's business in order to identify potential weaknesses which could lead to trouble unless fixed. It is an interesting term and an interesting approach to trying to fool proof one's business by stepping back from it and viewing it as an outsider might.

Another approach to fool-proofing your business is to set up a panel of a few marketers to act as competitors. Ask them to probe your operation for gaps which they could capitalize upon if they were running a competing brand. We did this a few times in my advertising agency when one of our clients was about to launch a new product. Our task was to find weaknesses in the product as conceived which competitors could take advantage of and, also, to identify opportunities which we had not yet thought of for exploding the growth of our brand.

These are interesting and valuable exercises to undertake particularly for a new company about to launch its products or services into the marketplace. Do you have any similar methods you would like to recommend for bullet proofing your business?

How To Get Your Foot In The Door On That First Sales Call?

Even if you are experienced, making the initial sales call on a company on which you have never called before requires nerve, at the very least, and perhaps some other attributes as well, like confidence and a positive attitude. But what else? How should one prepare?


A group of us belonging to the Greater New Haven (CT) Chamber of Commerce are planning a seminar on this topic and are soliciting good ideas and fresh input. Here are some initial thoughts to stimulate your own suggestions:

Prepare your mental attitude and emotions beforehand: confidence, optimism, calmness and the determination to succeed eventually, even if not on this first attempt

• Remember the purpose of the first call is to confirm who you should be talking to and to handle the call so as to start a relationship with the company, i.e. to develop a welcoming attitude towards your future contacts


• Also, use this initial call learn something helpful about how (s)he likes to be approached ...or how not!


• Plan your conversation so as learn more about the company and the needs of the person you really want to speak to. Do not give the listener a canned presentation.
  
• Remember that you are doing the customer a favor by offering your product or service ....he or she will benefit from doing business with you. Stay confident.
  
• Keep focused on the long term opportunity for success, not on the possibility of an immediate turn down.

That is a start; what other thoughts and suggestions do you have? I am looking forward to "hearing" from you. Thanks!

Don't Stunt Your Growth; Keep Learning!

Inundated with offerings of free, online , web-exes, seminars, networking presentations? Feeling overwhelmed by the plethora of offerings designed to lure you into still another class or to sell you something? Think you can't afford the time so you don't respond to any of them and don't partake at all? That is an easy point to come to, but it would be a mistake. With so many of us still trying to become truly proficient on line or awakening to the the fact that our business model may need to change to stay relevant in the changing world, it is incumbent upon us to take advantage of those offerings which seem to make sense, even as frequently as one or two every week. The key is to probe what the content will be and whether it will be of value. Send an email back to the sponsor; look the organization up on the web and try to contact it before you make the commitment in your calendar. But, when you realize that it could be worth your time, take the time. Be sure to accommodate a few every month: keep abreast of changes, become adept with social media, or become informed enough to decide they are not for you. Whatever your field, the world is changing and you need to know how to change your own business with it!

Can "Down & Dirty" Research Be Trusted?

The issue of spending money on research is a difficult one for entrepreneurs and small companies on tight budgets but an important one. Some new entrepreneurs and small business owners intuitively believe that market research is not needed before launching their new product or service; others believe it will be cost prohibitive and not worth the expense; and still others hope they can get away without either making the effort or spending the funds despite its potential value. However, sounding out prospects'needs in advance can be critical even if funds are truly limited, especially on pricing and positioning issues. Can insight be gained through what is often referred to as cheap "Down and Dirty Research" or is the process so risky as to make the findings suspect?
Most marketing experts will probably take exception to "casual" or informal exploratory work and advise against it but maybe they haven't faced the reality of being an underfunded entrepreneur. And, in my experience, while I don't advocate it as the best way to proceed, an informal exploration can often help ferret out a promising way of talking about a new service or product, or, at worst, eliminate approaches which are truly flawed. Such "research" can be done inexpensively by developing a few alternate positioning statements (different ways of wording and rationalizing the benefits) and trying them out on 15-20 people who judgementally appear to be logical prospects. Friends and acquaintances who meet this criterion will have to suffice if money is not available to gather a random sample of likely purchasers for formal focus groups or a 1-on-1 study or to hire a trained group facilitator. Once this phase of the exploratory is completed, the favorite two or three statements can then be put into a web survey of 300 to 400 prospects, whose demographics seem to fit your likely target profile. Names and emails of "likely interesteds" can be obtained by visiting relevant trade shows, talking to retailers in the types of stores which might carry your product, chatting up ad sales people for the type of media where you might run an ad or through relevant Linked In industry groups to which one belongs. Costs can be kept down by using a Survey Monkey or Zoomerang type of online study to confirm the findings of your informal conversations. And while this isn't the best way to do research, it strikes me as a step worth taking: it could prevent one from going off in a totally wrong direction...... a way to lower the odds of being on the wrong track before spending real money.

The Value of Networking,...Online and Off!

If you're like me, you spend a lot of time networking online through Linked In, Plaxo, Face Book and other social media. While it hasn't paid off for me in terms of new clients yet, I bet it has for some of you and the difference may lie in the nature of the business we are in. Mine is not a transactional business; I only seek to work with 3-4 clients at a time a la a selective coach. Over the years all of my assignments have come from in-person referrals...from people who have come to know me through personal networking at Chamber of Commerce meetings and the like. But,if one is in a transactional enterprise involving the purchase and sale of commodity-type products or others which can be bought via e-commerce, the seller's integrity is probably less of an issue.... the key is more in the reputation of the brand being offered. Here, online networking can perform wonders provided one is committed to it and has the discipline to participate every day. When you do,it will work, even without a face to face get together. However, for those of us in personal service businesses, while the ability to meet initially through online intros is important, we still need to establish mutual trust and confidence. Therefore we must augment the online intro with a "face to face" over a cup of coffee. But, whether as the source of an initial lead or an opportunity to complete a sale, the online world is here to stay as an all-important business development tool.

Finding Leaders - Earning Leadership

My initial blogs have dealt largely with matters of greater concern to individual entrepreneurs than to small companies. Today, I am revising that a bit as I will address executive leadership within small but growing companies. Every such company no matter how small must have people on staff in whom it has confidence and who will be able to move up in responsibility as growth continues: new and future leaders need to be identified and recognized.

The characteristics that mark a truly good leader: integrity, vision, energy, commitment and many more, are widely agreed upon. But the one which has to come first is trustworthiness. It sometimes requires a long exposure to a colleague or subordinate in order to confirm that he or she is truly trustworthy. But, if a young executive wants to be considered for senior advancement, the C-Suite members must be convinced that he or she possesses this attribute to the nth degree and must also be sure that the candidate for promotion is trusted by his and her colleagues.

Well, how can one tell for sure? How does one earn this trust? Obviously, it requires maintaining confidentiality as appropriate and treating colleagues with respect and confidence. Further, one has to display the attributes referred to above: integrity et al. But it also requires being open with fellow staffers and to risk being vulnerable and willing to admit one doesn't know the answers when that is the case. The upcoming leader must also be willing to answer questions fully and to share examples from his or her own past which fit the circumstances, thereby revealing the candidate's humanity. This ability - to show one's humanity and be open to a colleague's concerns by revealing something of one's self in his or her responses - will resonate and earn the trust needed to move ahead and be given further leadership responsibilities.

Create A Niche If You Can!

Last month I heard Susan Friedman, a coach, author and speaker, make a really convincing case for creating, through unique positioning, a protective niche to fit your business into. Her well-taken point is that business is so competitive today with so many entrepreneurs and small companies active in virtually every category, that it is much easier to prosper if one can create a niche where there are only a few organizations in the same space. This not only reduces competition but means that your business will be more singular and more readily recalled than one in a category overrun with entries. And, if you can create a name or postioning line for your business which reinforces the benefits it provides, so much the better. Susan refers to people who are able to do this as "Nichepreneurs". By adopting this kind of an approach, they often come to be thought of as experts in their field and thus are able to charge a premium for what they do. Sounds pretty smart to me! And, you can learn more on how to do all this by snapping up her book, "Riches In Niches - How to Make it BIG in a Small Market".

-- What Do Eels Have to Do with Marketing?

Did you know that eels are disappearing as a cult food in the Netherlands? Don't like eels? Don't care? Well, even so, we can learn a lot from the North Atlantic eeling industry. You see, the eel market there is disappearing due to this desired delicacy having been overfished in that country. In fact,the NY Times reports that only 17 eel fishermen are still actively eeling today instead of 200 a generation ago. As a result, one Dutch company has developed a new product which crosses two types of catfish into a hybrid which the company is branding as Claresse, a substitute for both smoked and fresh eel. "Claresse is positioned as eel though not in presentation or flavor; the reaction from retailers has beeen very favorable", says the company's marketing director. Now I haven't seen how this is being executed in advertising but the very approach is a huge endorsement of the opportunity imaginative positioning of a new product can provide and therefore an important lesson to all of us in marketing. For the Dutch, without doing so, they may not have "eel" to eat or a business from which to make a living!

What is Tickling Your Business Bone?

I am taking a blogging break for a few days as I  do some research on which topics are of the most continuing interest  to entrpreneurs and owners/leaders of small companies in the current business envitonment. For example,  the value of pursuing the social media world as a business tool is one major consideration which I know is bothering a lot of you but there are other basic matters which deserve to be thought about even before that, e.g. some blocking and tackling of basic initiatives which all small organizations need to keep in mind and practice if they are to build their business. For me, one such item is  market research which my experience tells me is undervalued and underspennt......it is too often regarded as an unnecessary expense rather than an invaluable investment. I will comment on this further in future columns but what issue or problems are you facing these days which I might be able to help with? Understaffed and underfinanced to bring on board that second or fifth individual you desparately need? Finding you need to reach your audience more frequently but are not sure advertising will work? Something else? Comment here and I will try to help. Excelsior!

Does Using Social Media Cause You to be Too Frenetic?

As I develop my blogging approach, I have been reading other blogs of established writers, marketing gurus and the like. I notice that many of their blogs ( I like to think of them as columns one might find in an old-fashioned newspaper) contain link after link either to orther blogs  and materials or back to their own web site pages. While I understand the optimization value of the backlinking,  I also find it distracting to be frequently interrupted by all these links. It is like a book I just finished where almost half of every page consists of foot notes which the author thinks would add to my understanding but, gee whiz Mr/Ms Author, I need to finish reading your sentence first so I know your complete thought.  Also, this process of constant linking adds to my daily freneticism when, in order to feel really productive, I need to understand the main gist of the blog and have the time to digest it, comment on it or forward it to a colleague for whom it will be of interest. I guess my concern is that we are all moving so fast we do not have - or take - enough time to think about what we have just learned.......instead, we Just Do It, and, maybe that is sometimes at our own expense.

Does anyone else feel that way?

Making The New Year Exciting and Rewarding

I decided at the end of 2009  to make 2010 a more exciting and rewarding year. Accordingly, I am challenging myself to learn two new skills - one for my business and one for my personal life - and am suggesting this might be a good way to help many of us move ahead. For  my company, I want to master the use of social media for  my clients' benefit and, for me as well. My personal goal is to become a respectable golfer (low 90s and threatening). I am not sure which will prove more challenging but since winter has a fast hold on us, I am starting with the social media resolution.

You are now reading  my first  blog. It will be oriented towards entrepreneurial and small company marketing and marketing communications  issues but will address lots of other areas along the way based on my 40 years in business. I will try to post 2-3x per week and  I am really hoping to  make some new friends along the way. You are full-heartedly invited to participate with me, post comments, suggest subjects of interest and value and see if we can be of help to each other and enjoy our daily journey even more than we did last year. By way of context, you can take a look at my profile and you can find me on Linked In and Face Book. I look forward to conversing with you and hope you will let me know who you are  and what you are up to. Thanks for listening.

Wilder