The Tale of 2 Coffee Shops

from the Not-So-Secret Writings of ScLoHo:

You are in the People Business

Posted: 19 Jul 2011 04:00 AM PDT

I started writing this in March:

No matter what you produce, provide, sell....

No matter how automated and sleek your systems are...

No matter if you wear jeans or a three piece suit...

You are in the people business.

There's a couple of coffee shops on the same street in my town that have very different personalities.

My favorite has been in business for over 10 years and has switched coffee providers once or twice, changed some of the details and each year they seem to do a little remodeling.

They used to have live music on Friday and Saturday nights. They don't anymore. They used to be open late on weekends. Now they close at 8pm every night. They have a couple of the original staff, and the others that work there fit in to the culture.

Most of the furniture is old, some is getting a little threadbare, but it is a comfortable place to go and get a bite to eat, a white mocha, a smile and a little conversation.

Down the street is another coffee shop that roasts their own beans and is also family owned. They moved from across the street to the same side as the first shop and expanded their offerings.

Along with having coffee, they also have a full service bar and on Friday and Saturday evenings they would have a special theme menu that would include ingredients from their garden and recipes crafted from their own chef. Coffee shop #2 really had it going for them as a place that my wife and I would often visit for dinner on Saturdays.

Not anymore.

Recently on a Saturday night at 6pm we walk in the door and notice the weekend menu's were not out. They were on the door, but not on the tables or at the bar. The owner and his wife are usually there when we show up, but not this time.

Instead of feeling comfortable, it felt like sort of weird. The guy at the register was busy counting change, the young woman who took my wife's drink order not only had to pull out the recipe card but had to ask what kind of liquor to use and she seemed very unsure of herself.

When I asked for a menu, they said they aren't doing the weekend dinner menu on Saturdays, only Fridays. Which was very disappointing since the read the menu as we walked in and was trying to decide which delicious items we would enjoy. Instead we had a drink and left.

It's now 4 months later. Neither one of us have been back. As a matter of fact, a couple of days ago, she asked me if coffee shop #2 was still in business, as we drove by on Saturday afternoon. That's not the lasting impression you want to leave with your customers is it?

And yes, they are still in business.

Update: my wife and I visited them Friday night. Dinner was both unique and delicious. Service was a little better as one of the owners was tending the bar.

Saturday I told some friends about our Friday night experience and apparently they have done a lot of damage in their reputation beyond what I was aware of personally. These friends will never go back.

Which leads me to share once again: Where Did They Go?

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Stop & Focus

I know, I know... it's one of the busiest times of the year, right between Thanksgiving and Christmas.

But you and I need to do this.

From Marketing Profs:

Protect Profitability: Start Each Day With a Mission Statement

"Many business owners have dutifully written their vision and mission statements, working hard to craft statements with impact and importance," writes Marla Tabaka at Inc. "But what happens to those statements?"

All too often, they're shuffled out of sight—and out of mind. In Tabaka's experience, many clients can't articulate a mission statement; often, they've simply forgotten what they wrote in the first place.

So how can you regain—and maintain—a laser-sharp focus on your company's raison d'être? Tabaka recommends this three-step process:

Define your true and full vision. Almost everyone starts a business with the purpose of turning a profit, but you might have additional humanitarian or environmental goals. "Certainly this isn't true for everyone," she notes, "but don't negate the importance of your higher purpose if you have one."

Use imagery to communicate the big picture. Sometimes a written statement isn't enough. Tabaka suggests the creation of a poster board that keeps your mission front-and-center with drawings, photos or collages. "Too often the rewards connected to our goals get lost in the passion and dream of carrying out our mission," she notes. "Give yourself permission to include meaningful symbols of the rewards you seek; money, travel, fame, respect, or whatever is important to you."

Make your vision a daily reality. Take a few minutes each morning to ponder your visual mission statement. "Still your mind and gaze at your images, allowing your body and mind to feel and live your success," she advises.

The Po!nt: Focus. To achieve your goals—especially in tumultuous economic times—stay true to your purpose by keeping it at the front of your mind.

Source: Inc.

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The Brand called You

Drew has advice to share:

Have you built a rock solid foundation for your personal brand?

Posted: 05 Feb 2010 03:10 AM PST

Whether you work for someone else, are a serial entrepreneur or anything in between -- in today's world, you can't afford to ignore the idea of personal branding.

A generation ago, employees often stayed with one employer for the lion's share of their career. Today, most professionals will not work for several companies -- but they will most likely change their entire profession.

And even in the unlikely case that you do find the employer of your dreams right off the bat -- you still want to distinguish yourself by standing out from the crowd.

Enter personal branding.

By the way, I don't think personal branding came about thanks to the internet. It's been around for generations. Abe Lincoln certainly created a personal brand. So did Hitler. But, the internet certainly makes it easier for an average joe or jane to create a credible, spreadable personal brand.

But to do it right, I believe it takes intention.

When I speak to college classes, I warn them. What you put out into the world via Facebook, blogs, Twitter, MySpace, FourSquare and whatever comes next -- stays out there. And it's incredibly findable.

Two relevant facts:

1. No matter what we want to know, we Google it. (So imagine what the next generation of managers, business owners and reporters will do).
2. Google never forgets anything.

So given those facts...how do you intentionally build your personal brand?

Decide what you're all about.

Note I did not say...create your brand. Just like with a company -- a brand comes from your heart and soul. So dig deep and figure out who you are -- that is relevant to the world. (We're many things, some private and some for public consumption -- your brand is the world's view).

There are lots of ways to figure it out. Write your own obit, do Strength Finders, Myers Briggs or put together your own little brand task force who knows you well and loves you enough to be honest.

Determine what your personal brand looks like -- off-line:

No matter who you are or what you do, odds are that you spend more time off the computer than on. So be sure that you can live the brand in your daily life, 24/7. How does it come to life (remember, this is from other's perspective).

If your brand is that you're a developer of others -- how would a developer behave? Think of all the touchpoints you have with other people -- meetings, networking, on the phone, in an employee review, etc. How does the developer brand come to life?

Evaluate your existing on-line presence:

Google yourself. Does your brand show up? Is it the most prevalent message? Scan through your old Facebook updates. Is your brand there? Are the other themes complimentary to your brand or do they feel off? What types of things are you retweeting? What do your recommendations say on LinkedIn?

Don't just look at the subject matter. Look at language, tone, replies to others, what you do and don't talk about, play, share with others and the online/social media tools you do and don't frequent.

Step back and be as objective as you can. If a stranger Googled you -- what would they think and know about you? Does it align with your brand?

And don't forget your traditional old website. It may be the most content rich place for your brand to live. Do you own your own domain (like www.drewmclellan.com). If not -- grab it quick if it's still available.

Decide where you need to be online:

Depending on your brand, your presence might be expected on a certain social media tool. Should you be writing guest blog posts for a specific site? Is tweeting resources a part of who you are/want to be perceived to be? If you're the developer of others...how does LinkedIn figure into your plans?

Don't overdo this. Most people do not have the time or patience to establish a deep presence on every social media site, so don't try. Be active where you want to invest the time and where it makes sense.

Live it:

Off line, on line. Be your brand. Think about your choices. If your brand is about being the consummate, buttoned-up professional, should you be playing mafia wars or farming on a Facebook account that links you to your customers?

If your brand is about being very intellectual and deliberate -- should you be firing off emotional responses to negative comments on your blog?

If your brand is about being gregarious and generous, should you be the wallflower at the networking event?

Like most things, if you did the prep work -- it shouldn't be difficult to live your brand, once you've gotten in the habit of keeping it top of mind. If you find that you can't live your brand consistently or it feels fake -- you probably have to go back to the drawing board and dig deeper.

Be consistent and be patient:

This isn't going to happen overnight. The more consistent you are, the quicker your brand will not only rise to the surface but stick. But it takes time to influence opinion and influence Google. Remember...we're living in the age of cynics. Don't try to be something you're not. Don't try to force it.

Your genuine brand will come from within. All we're trying to do is make sure that brand stays in the spotlight so you can do and be all that you're capable of.

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Planning for 2010

From the Church of the Customer Blog:

Objectives, goals, strategies and tactics

Posted: 11 Dec 2009 02:25 PM PST

It's that time: time to create strategic plans for next year.

Most people use some form of objectives, goals, strategies and tactics for their plans, but get a group of 10 people into a room and you might have 10 different definitions of what those terms mean? That's why agreeing on their meaning is vital to your plan. Term agreement is a lubricant to productivity.

With that in mind, here's how we define the intention, purpose and usage of "objectives, goals, strategies and tactics" when assembling a strategic plan.

Objectives

An objective is a high-level achievement. The simpler the better, like "Improve customer loyalty" or "Grow our market share." They can also be mountain-tops of company success: "Make our brand a word of mouth success story." They could be trying to solve a nagging, systemic problem or doing something big, like entering a new market. Objectives are a rally point for leaders who manage day-to-day efforts: "Will the idea being pitched to me help us reduce our churn?" or "Will this project help us develop a new market?" For us, objectives sit at the top of the strategic plan, and an ideal plan has no more than a handful of them. Anything more can be overload -- for leaders and the people who work for them.

Goals

In our framework, a goal is anything that's measured. Goals can be revenue, profit margin, members in a community, certifications delivered, a Net Promoter Score number, etc. Goals determine how you fulfill an objective. Multiple goals can, and should, support a single objective. A goal of "Net Promoter Score (NPS) of 59" can support multiple objectives like "become a word of mouth success story" and "deliver best-in-class service." Just like in sports, a goal is based on numbers.

Strategies

A strategy is a way to describe a series of tactics, or very specific actions. In sports or war, strategy is often described as an action: Increase troop levels in a region. Do man-to-man coverage. The commonality is action performed by a team or group of people. Each strategy description begins with a verb to signify that something is being done. Example verbs include: create, hire, develop, launch, etc. Each strategy is supported, typically, by a series of specific tactics that may or may not be linear in execution or time. Every item in our strategic planning framework begins with a verb.

Tactics

A tactic is a very specific action, like creating a new program or improving an existing one. In our framework, a tactic might be "Launch a online listening program" or "Form a customer advisory board for the manufacturing group." Each tactic has an owner who may rely on the work of multiple people in direct or dotted-line reporting relationships to make the tactic work. Each tactic typically has its own plan, too, whether laid out in a spreadsheet or a Gantt chart. Tactics are best, too, when they are preceded with a verb. Specificity is the driver to improvement.

Later: Afterward, Beth Harte raised this point: Who should own the definition of terms like objectives, goals, strategies and tactics? If you believe language is a reflection of culture, and that culture is largely driven from the top, then I would suggest definitions come from office of the CEO and/or COO. It's from there that planning terminology, and even the planning process, should be taught clearly, succinctly and repeatedly. Beth thinks definitions could be owned by an outside association. If you have an opinion, hop into the comments.

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You Can't Reach Everyone

And the good news, is you don't need to. Chuck McKay writes:

Reticular Activation - How the Human Anatomy Prevents Ads from Reaching "Everyone."

One of the things guaranteed to make copywriters (and to a lesser extent media salespeople) groan is an advertiser who claims he needs to reach "everybody."

No ad can possibly reach everybody. The human anatomy prevents it. If you have a minute, I shall happily explain why.

The Shoppers Mindset

Amazingly, most people are not poised in front of their television sets breathlessly waiting to hear of an opportunity to dump the cash from their purses into Mr. Advertiser's cash register.

Nope. Most people are instead attempting to ignore thousands of radio ads, e-mails, product placements, signs, newspaper and television ads, billboards, matchbook covers, calendars, and the odd Rubic's Cube with some company's logo on it.

Out of self defense human brains are physiologically prevented from paying attention to things that don't directly apply to them. And truthfully, most of what they see doesn't apply.

What does apply to most people? Their kids, plans for the weekend, the empty box of corn flakes, remembering to program the TIVO, getting to the game on time, the in-laws coming to dinner, filing for an extension on the tax return, running late for work, or getting home before “Are You Smarter Than A Fifth Grader?”

They're eager to find information which will solve their problems, and yet, they're not paying attention. They see and hear advertising with their eyes and ears, but they don't consciously notice those ads.

That's because the human brain won't let them. Again, let me explain.


Four Sets of Brain Waves

The synapses of the human brain fire at different rates during four different mental states. They are:

1) Delta – 0.5Hz to 4 Hz – Deep Sleep.
Delta waves trigger release of growth hormone, which helps the body to heal. This is one reason sleep is critical to the healing process.

2) Theta – 4 Hz to 7 Hz – Drowsiness.
Theta states most frequently occur fleetingly as people pass from higher consciousness to deep sleep, or return from it. Theta waves occur during meditation, and have been linked to visual and emotional creativity.

3) Alpha – 8 Hz to 13 Hz – Relaxed.
The alpha state is a highly creative condition of relaxed consciousness. People in alpha state tend to recognize non-obvious relationships. Interestingly, it's also the resonant frequency of the earth's electromagnetic field.

4) Beta – 14 Hz to 30 Hz – Alert and focused.
The beta state is associated with peak concentration, heightened alertness, improved hand/eye coordination, and better visual acuity. During beta state new ideas and solutions to problems literally flash through the mind.

Degrees of Consciousness

The higher frequencies represent more brain activity, and require greater energy consumption. Like every other part of the body, brain activity kicks into higher performance only as necessary. The more familiar the activity a person is engaged in, the less conscious activity is necessary.

Most of us have driven to work only to note upon arrival that we have no conscious memory of the trip. Individuals who drive a lot of highway miles frequently find themselves coming up with good ideas as they drive. Daydreaming while driving is an example of the brain in theta state. It's easily induced by the hypnotic sameness of road markings and sounds.

As long as there are no surprises on the trip, driving to work can also easily produce an alpha state. The driver is relaxed, and the familiarity of the surroundings allow the driver to sing along with the radio, or listen to conversation without planning to respond.

But imagine the car in front of our driver slamming on the brakes. Our driver immediately transitions into a state of heightened awareness, faster reflexes, and instantaneous decision making. This is clearly a beta state of peak concentration.


The Reticular Activator.

At the top of the brain stem, between the medulla oblongata and the midbrain is a collection of nerve fibers known as the ascending reticular formation. Activation of this reticular system is necessary for higher states of brain activity. Think of the reticular activating system as a sentry constantly looking out for conditions which require a conscious response. Anything important or relevant snaps the brain into higher states of consciousness, even from deep sleep.

Anyone who's moved to a home near the railroad tracks has been awakened by a train passing late at night... for the first few nights. While the loud noise is unusual and potentially threatening, the reticular system jerks the brain from deep delta sleep to beta wide awake consciousness. After a few days, when the experience becomes commonplace, the reticular system doesn't even bother to activate, and the resident sleeps through the night.

Mothers recognize their child's cry even in a room full of children. The reticular system catches the familiar tones of the child's voice, activating a beta state in the mother.

And most of us have heard someone call our name in a crowd, only to discover that the caller was trying to catch the attention of someone else with the same name. The reticular system activates a beta state at recognition of the name, and de-activates for the brain to return to alpha mode once the mistake is obvious.

Newspaper readership increases with the addition of a photo, especially when it's a picture of people. Why? Because the reticular activating system zeros in on other people, to see if they're familiar.

Familiar is only one of the conditions the reticular system watches for. It is also ready to draw our attention to unusual, problematic, or threatening conditions. Any of these which appear to be important or relevant activate a beta state. If the conscious mind dismisses this “false beta” as not relevant, the brain returns to a lowered state of consciousness.

Can we plant a reticular activator to trigger a beta mode state at a later time? Yes, we can.

Embed a specific sound and get your listener to recall a whole series of emotions. Law and Order's “Doink Doink” sound when the next scene starts. The sound of Pac Man wilting at the end of play. Duracell's three tone logo. “You've got mail.”

Or embed a visual cue. Since 1997 Liberty Tax Service has done no advertising other than to place people in Statue of Liberty costumes on the street in front of the franchise. From roughly the first of the year until April 15th the Statue of Liberty costume serves as an activator, reinforcing Liberty's function, as well as this location.


Propinquity.

Here's an interesting fact: the effect of advertising is greatest closest to the purchase. And if you think about it, that makes sense. Remember, a purchaser only buys when she feels the gap between what she has and what she wants. If she has an empty box of cornflakes, she'll want more corn flakes. Once she's become aware of her need for more flakes (by pouring the last of the old flakes from the box) she will also become more aware of corn flake advertising.

What a great time to present your message. Advertise your brand on television, or send her a letter, or show her a point of purchase display. Give her a compelling reason to choose your brand while her reticular system is most likely to bring your message to her conscious attention.

But how can you predict when that metaphorical box of flakes will go empty? Unless your business is seasonal, you can't. And that pretty much means you need a constant presence in the marketplace.


How Shoppers Use Media.

We read from left to right, from top to bottom. The eye is drawn first to photographs and headlines, seeking, finding, and sorting through the information on the page. The reader scans in alpha state for anything familiar, unusual, problematic, or threatening. When one of those conditions is noted, the reticular activator pulls the readers attention to the words or pictures, and in beta state the conscious mind weighs the evidence.

It makes no difference whether the reader is considering news stories or advertising. If further examination reinforces the condition, the reader is engaged and stays in beta state. When the content has been read, the scan through the paper continues with the reader back in alpha mode, ignoring most of what he sees.

And though the consumption pattern may differ from left to right, top to bottom, this is how we use all media. People watching TV, listening to radio, or driving past outdoor ads will switch from alpha to beta modes and back as the content triggers the reticular activating system, and is accepted or rejected by the conscious mind.

Your corn flake ad will scream for the attention of someone who's out of corn flakes. The rest of the readers / listeners / viewers (those who don't have an empty box, as well as those who just do not like corn flakes) will either note the ad and quickly return to alpha state, or ignore it all together.

Got it? You'll never reach everyone with any ad. We don't all run out of cornflakes at the same time.

__________

Chuck McKay is a marketing consultant who helps customers discover you, and choose your business. Questions about embedding reticular activators in your advertising may be directed to ChuckMcKay@ChuckMcKayOnLine.com.

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Ad Age Names Barack Obama....

Marketer of the Year, 2008. Or Perhaps it should for 2007 & 2008, since this has been one of the longest campaigns ever:

Barack Obama

Adaptable Team Stays on Message While Using Social Networking to Build Voter Roles

By Ken Wheaton

Published: October 17, 2008

Detractors may mock Barack Obama these days as a celebrity, a candidate who promises little more than vague abstractions such as "hope" and "change." But no one should forget that he usurped the inevitable Clinton machine and has been considered the man to beat in this election.

Not too shabby for an African-American, first-term Democratic senator from Illinois (with the funny-sounding name) who was considered a long shot when Election 2008 got off to an early start back in 2006.

Photo: Jason Reed

EYES ON THE PRIZE: Barack Obama and chief strategist David Axelrod never lose sight of a consistent message.

How did he do it? The first step was taking the lessons learned from the Howard Dean campaign four years ago and turning them into internet-based fundraising that stunned Democrats and Republicans alike. In the most obvious example of what happened, Sen. Hillary Clinton, who thought that by sewing up the party's biggest fundraisers she had closed out rivals, found not only that it didn't matter but that the old way of raising money couldn't compete with the new way.

That new way didn't simply use e-mail to complement direct mail and other old-fashioned methods. The Obama campaign tapped into the latest developments of social networking. It hired Chris Hughes, one of the founders of Facebook. What the team ended up creating wasn't simply a way to earn more money from small donors than previously thought possible; it created an Obama-specific network that took advantage of and built upon the movement-like quality of the Obama campaign. By the time other candidates on either side of the aisle got around to copying my.barackobama.com, they were too late to the party.

The website itself was a rarity for political campaigns, says Brian Collins, founder of experiential-branding firm Collins. "On one hand, it's intimate. The language is informal. Personal. It has an inviting, matter-of-fact appeal," he says. "On the other hand, it looks like it has scale -- and momentum. It's instantly appealing. ... By contrast, [John] McCain's site looks like a 1988 Sears circular."

14% of Barack Obama's online traffic in August came from paid search $2.8M Amount the Obama campaign spends daily on ads, almost double what McCain spends

How did all of that pay off? In July alone, the Obama campaign raised $51 million. More than 65,000 new donors contributed. His fund-raising prowess has allowed him to forgo public funding for the general election and will likely allow him to easily outspend Mr. McCain.

Mr. Obama didn't raise all that money and vault to the top just because he's a decent public speaker or because of a snazzy web application. He's had some help from his opponents and help from his team.

His campaign team has had a firm grasp of branding, messaging and old-fashioned political ground organization. It's also been able to balance mass marketing with social media and niche marketing. Mr. Obama's team is led by chief strategist David Axelrod and campaign manager David Plouffe, both from agency AKP&D Message and Media. Mr. Axelrod, along with veteran GMMB strategist Jim Margolis, have headed the ad team. After locking up the primary campaign, Team Obama also enlisted a stable of agencies including Murphy Putnam Media, Squier Knapp Dunn Communications, Shorr Johnson Mag-nus, Dixon Davis Media and SS&K.

Message across many platforms
The campaign's "remarkable consistency is the real accomplishment," Mr. Collins says. "Across towns, counties, states -- and with thousands of volunteers, no less -- across multiple media platforms, they've managed to drive a potent, single-minded design and messaging coherence that should shame many national brands. I mean, this is close to a level of design strategy from a great brand like Nike or Target." (Perhaps not so coincidentally, one of the first applications available for the new iPhone this past summer was an Obama-themed "Countdown for Change" calendar.)

The team has also gotten a boost from the kind of consumer-generated media that mainstream marketers would die for. In fact, much of this consumer-generated material has been produced by professionals. When entertainer Will.i.am put together a music video featuring celebrities reading an Obama speech, it climbed to the top of YouTube and sat there.

None of that is to discredit the candidate himself and the cool factor that's built up about him. Those celebrities may seem like a liability at times, but you can bet that the Republicans wouldn't be making such a big issue of "celebrity" if their party had a few hundred A-listers (as opposed to a handful of B-, C- and D-listers) eager to get the word out. And the Obama campaign hasn't been shy about appropriating outside work when it fits in with the overall branding. Case in point: After artist Shepard Fairey did a few pro-Obama pieces, the Obama team reached out to the artist.

Much of that celebrity isn't so much old-school Hollywood liberalism as much as it is youthful enthusiasm. And there, too, Mr. Obama has been able to do something Mr. Dean couldn't quite do in 2004 -- get the youth vote (as well as new voters) to actually turn up at the polls. According to Mr. Plouffe, two-thirds of those caucusing for Mr. Obama in Iowa had never caucused before.

And while the design and the cool factor and celebrity get a lot of the credit, ground organization -- the political world's version of word-of-mouth marketing -- has played a key role. Consider the use of Invesco Field in Denver for the Democratic National Convention. Many focused on the visual trappings of the event. Even some Democrats worried that the venue made the candidate seem egotistical and could reinforce the image of Mr. Obama's supporters as fanatics. But one of Mr. Plouffe's key concerns was the 20,000-25,000 Colorado voters who attended the event -- people who'd agreed to organize in the state for Mr. Obama's presidential campaign.

And the Invesco Field event was seen as a good way to make strong inroads in Colorado. (It was also a good way to break TV viewing records, which, of course, were broken again one week later by Mr. McCain.)

Steady hand
Ultimately, like many a No. 1 brand, the Obama campaign simply acts like it's the category leader. One of the hallmarks of the Obama campaign is that it just doesn't panic. Faced with PR nightmares such as Jeremiah Wright and Mr. Obama's own remarks about bitter rural voters who cling to guns and religion, the candidate didn't stumble over himself to rush out an apology. He set the pace and stuck to it.

At times, it's led to the candidate seeming stubborn -- as with his reluctance to say anything positive about the surge in Iraq and the camp's insistence on sticking to a "More of the same" tagline painting John McCain as a George W. Bush clone despite focus groups and polling numbers indicating that swing voters weren't buying the claim.

But in the past few weeks, the slow, methodical approach has seemed to pay off. While Team McCain threw up ad after ad and tried to carve out a position during the financial crisis, Team Obama seemed to move at a slower pace, content to let Mr. McCain flail and then use his own words against him. Indeed, as the economy melted down and Mr. McCain's ad messaging went 100% negative, the Obama campaign's decision to hang onto the "More of the same" trope was starting to look like yet another piece of smart marketing.

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Ad Agency Employment

Through my work with our local Advertising Federation, (of which I am currently on the Board and serve as V.P. of Communications), along with my radio station employment and a few personal friendships I have cultivated over the years, I have had the opportunity to see some of the inner workings of the advertising agency world.

Times are changing as outlined in this from AdAge.com:

Ad Shops Shift Hiring Tactics

The Souring Economy Has Changed Many Aspects of Recruiting, Right Down to the Personalities Big Agencies Strive For

By Claire Atkinson

Published: September, 2008

As the economy further wilts and the demand for digital experience burgeons, Madison Avenue's talent scouts are shifting gears to fulfill agency demands. Sharon Spielman is managing director at recruitment firm Jerry Fields Associates, a division of the Howard Sloan Koller Group, and specializes in hiring senior-level account-management and account-planning executives. The souring economy has changed many aspects of the recruiting equation, right down to the very personality types that big agencies strive for, she says.

Suzanne Daley, recruiting manager at Mullen

"People are looking for mature, aggressive, in-command personalities," she said, whereas in brighter times agencies were content to hire those who simply had experience in a client's sector. "I think when the economy suffers, they're more concerned about stability and experienced management people who can command a presence automatically. It's their safety net."

And it's not just at the top where the most aggressive candidates are winning out. Even gaining an internship at a midsize agency requires, well, first having done an internship somewhere else. Suzanne Daley, recruiting manager at Wenham, Mass.-based Mullen, part of Interpublic Group, said 450 people applied for 18 internship slots last year. In past years, Mullen may have taken graduates from good schools who had no direct work experience. They also rarely looked further than New England for recruits. Now, entry-level candidates must have prior experience and are as likely to hail from California as Cape Cod.

"We are taking a hard look at the next generation and how to capture and involve them," Ms. Daley said. "We restructured the internship to get the best from across the country." Part of the initiative to recruit better-qualified candidates involves shifting the office to the center of Boston. The move will happen next year. The agency, which has just hired two of its interns, has become much more rigorous about evaluating open positions. "We really make sure it is needed, and the chief financial officer will take a look to see if the client work justifies it," Ms. Daley said.

Finding the right folks is an evolving process too. In prior years, agencies might have turned simply to university ad programs and ad schools or liberal arts colleges. Now they're employing the real-life social networks of their staff in the hunt for an edge. Lisa Donahue, CEO of MediaVest planning unit Truth and Design, said the media agency's searches involve a combination of efforts, from posting jobs to reaching out to prospective employees, to creating roles for individuals who happen to have compelling skill sets, a strategy the agency is employing more frequently. "If you meet someone and you are struck by a great perspective, start talking to them and see how we can create a role for them. ... Bring them on in," Ms. Donahue instructs her staff.

Non-traditional hires
A case in point is Whitney Fishman, the agency's consumer-insights connector. Brought in 18 months ago, this young entrepreneur has her own independent record label and is an ardent blogger on all manner of trend-setting topics. "If we broaden our horizons, there are a lot of good people out there. We don't put them in an old traditional role; we put them in roles that play to their strengths," Ms. Donahue said.

Another out-of-the box hire was Exec VP-Managing Director Greg Warren, who joined the media shop from Leo Burnett, where his experience was in creative and package design. While media pitches are generally all about numbers and charts, he helped the team think more visually about how to present the agency's product.

Digital experience is something many candidates are seeking out as a way to make themselves more alluring to prospective employees, but Ms. Spielman says creative shops have done a poor job of helping train their staff. "Agencies haven't gone far with training or moving people back and forth, so training has suffered, and when you come down to a poor economy, that's when it comes to the front."

At Taxi, New York, an office of the Toronto-headquartered agency, digital skills are in high demand. A spokeswoman said the agency is looking for people who can, for instance, design and build banner ads or microsites, but added, "It's not just about being able to execute. It's about being able to envision how the digital element of a campaign interacts with creative in all other mediums," and it's much harder to find those people. "Ideally everyone is media-agnostic," said Mullen's Ms. Daley. "We like to find folks who can execute brilliantly in any medium."

Lisa Donahue, CEO of MediaVest's Truth and Design unit

While all these trends point to a still-healthy recruitment market -- pay, for instance, isn't yet under pressure at management levels -- and executives appear upbeat about the level of talent on the market, there is another major shift going on that may not benefit the major metropolitan agencies.

Beyond the metropolis
The most significant change Ms. Spielman has seen in the past six months is the willingness of talent to forgo the major cities and relocate to second-tier markets, a consequence of the credit crunch and the poor housing market. Ad executives are forgoing the New York-Chicago axis, she said, and turning instead to Austin, Atlanta and Boston. "People don't feel like they have to live between the city limits."

The poor economy may be creating turbulence for some, but at still-red-hot agency Crispin Porter & Bogusky, the biggest problem is keeping up with the growth, said Marlene Root, VP-director, Quality of Life, the human-resources division at the agency.

She said the company is more amenable than ever to international recruiting and is creating nontraditional positions that might involve partnership building with, say, production companies or video-game designers.

With offices in Miami and Boulder, Colo., the agency has just under 900 employees and counts Microsoft as one of its clients. "The biggest challenge is just our growth, frankly," Ms. Root said. "There's only so much volume you can fit through the door at a given time. It's a good situation to be in -- our growth just creates more opportunities for the agency -- but we're working against that, having to find equally talented folks," she said.

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Business Know How Links

Each week I get an email from the folks at Business Know How. They recently sent me this list of some of their best articles from the summer of 2008.

• Choice Words On Word Choice
• 10 Ways to Get Your Prospects to Hang Up Immediately
• Before You Start That Blog
• We Don't Need No Stinking Permits
• 7 Guidelines for Gesturing When You Speak
• Guard Your Laptop While Traveling
• 5 Tips to Attract, Keep and Motivate Your Employees
• Superlative Speakers Tell Spellbinding Stories
• Best and Worst Cities for Jobs
• 5 Tips for Marketing to Millennials
• Become the Ideal Radio and TV Talk Show Guest
• 5 Characteristics that Great Companies Share
• Selling Is All About The Whys
• Make Gossip Work for You
• 8 Annoying Email Blunders
• Understanding Your Conversion Rates
• Jewelry Stores Do It, Do You?
• 7 Qualities of Powerful Persuaders

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Purpose..What's yours?

I often get comments from businesses that I am selling to that I am not your typical media salesperson. To me that is good, because typical is generic, bland, and forgettable.

Due to my background in and out of media, sitting in several different chairs and roles over the years, my perspective is different from anyone else that I work with. 6 years ago, I returned to this business with a purpose:

"To help business owners and managers make smart, wise and profitable decisions regarding their advertising and marketing."

Now, granted I earn my living when people buy from me, so there has to be a financial factor in there too. However Drew over at the Marketing Minute put it into perspective:

Why do you exist?

As you walk through the hallways of your company today...stop people at random. Everyone from the CEO to the part-time mail room clerk and everyone in between.

Ask them this:

Why does this company exist?

Note two things:

1. How many different answers you get
2. How many times you hear...to make money

A company that exists primarily to make money cannot hope to build loyalty among customers, employees or even vendors. Of course, you should be profitable -- but that shouldn't be why you exist.

You make money so you can keep fulfilling the reason you exist. Unless of course....everyone in your company thinks it's something different.

Then, sadly...the only mission/vision you all agree on is...that you should make money. Can you say "uh oh."

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Seth Says....

A simple truth on how capitalism is supposed to work:

You get what you pay for

If you don't want spam in your inbox, never respond, never buy anything. Not even if it's a good deal.

If you don't like TV commercials featuring loud aggressive announcers, don't buy what they're selling. Ever.

If you don't want people ringing your door asking for donations, don't give, no matter what.

If you think politics is too nasty and not focused enough on creating value, then don't donate to a candidate that's nasty, even if you agree (and even better, call or write and tell them why).

If you don't like bait and switch marketing, where promises don't match the product, don't buy it.

If you don't like snarky, angry blogs, don't read them.

If you deplore the lousy service at big chains or certain airlines, don't shop there, even if it's cheaper.

There's a new asymmetry, with loud consumers able to connect and actually have an impact.

We're all hypocrites, and we get what we pay for. The market is astonishingly quick at responding to what consumers do (and incredibly slow at reacting to what we say).

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Tips for Starting Your Own On-Line Store

This came from Kim Komando's regular weekly (free) newsletter that she sends out on Saturday mornings.

On my personal blog, I will feature some of her articles on occasion. But this one includes tips for the budding entrepreneur:

STARTING YOUR OWN ONLINE STORE
Brad in South Whitley, IN, is going to start his own online store. He is looking for a professional Web designer and a search engine optimization (SEO) company. He'd like advice on picking the right companies to develop his site.

Good for you, Brad! There's nothing quite like owning your own business. There is a lot of hard work involved. But, ultimately, the rewards make it worthwhile.

I wrote a column on starting your own e-store not long ago. I've also written about optimizing your site for SEO. You should read these tips for some background information. The tip on SEO will be particularly helpful.

Read my tip on building a commercial site. It will help you develop a request for proposal. You'll also find help on selecting a developer.

The tip wasn't written with retail in mind. So, there are a few more considerations in your case. You should examine retail sites that you like. See what works and what doesn't. You'll also want to think about payment processing. And securing customers' data should also be a high priority. Make sure the developer you hire has what it takes to handle these things.

Now here's all the legal stuff and a link to sign up for your own Kim Komando newsletters:

Copyright © 2008, The Kim Komando Show. All rights reserved. Reproduction in whole or in part in any form or medium without express written permission of The Kim Komando Show is prohibited and strictly enforced. Newsletters may contain links to sites on the Internet owned and operated by third parties. The Kim Komando Show is not responsible for the availability of, or the content located on or through, any such third-party site. Information in this document is provided "as is" without warranty of any kind, either expressed or implied, including but not limited to the implied warranties of merchantability, fitness for a particular purpose and freedom from infringement. The user assumes the entire risk as to the accuracy and the use of this document. We will not be liable for any damages of any kind arising from the use of this information, including, but not limited to direct, indirect, incidental, punitive, and consequential damages.

GET MORE TIPS FROM ME TO YOU
You get this newsletter. Now, sign up for my other three free e-mail newsletters. Try 'em! You'll like 'em!

• Free computer tip Mon-Fri
• Free cool site daily
• Free news links Mon-Fri

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Back to Basics Free Book

It's lonely at the top. But that is the way business is designed. Someone has to be in charge, to say yes, to say no, to take the responsibility of the big decisions and face the consequences.

Recently Seth Godin provided a link to a resource to help you and me stay focused on what matters on his blog.

I read it a few days ago and am sharing it with friends and business owners. It's a book called Your Business Brickyard written by Howard Mann is available as a free e-book. Click here to download it, or go here and get more info.

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Sales Training Building Blocks-4

Time for some sales training from the website RainToday.com:

3 Steps Business Developers Can Take When Prospects 'Need to Think About' Buying

By Jeff Thull

On a list of the "Top 10 Things Business Developers Don't Want to Hear from Prospects," few rank as high as, "We'll need some time to think about it." For the business developer, this phrase signals a host of potential barriers to winning a deal: additional meetings, more people getting involved, requests for further detail and information, which prompt further questions, and more.

These frustrating and costly delays lengthen the sales cycle, put the sale at risk, permit competitors to gain a foothold, increase direct sales expenses, and deprive other opportunities of needed attention.

Given these costs, why does this continue to happen? Why do prospects seem to deliberately drag out their decisions? After all, it appears more logical for a buyer to quickly solve their problem as soon as a good solution is found.

The answer, in truth, is that prospects are rarely to blame for delayed decisions. Instead, it is the business developers themselves who contribute the most to the delays they find so frustrating.

Paradoxically, their eagerness to move the sale along puts them into the trap of prematurely presenting solutions. Too often prospects don't clearly recognize they have a problem. And, when they do, they may not fully realize its financial impact.

While clients give a lot of reasons for delaying a decision or not buying – price, feasibility issues, lack of internal alignment and so on – in reality there are only two:

1. They don't believe they have a problem compelling enough to take action.
   
   
2. They understand the problem exists, but don't believe the proposed solution will solve it.

These reasons both indicate a prospect's uncertainty and lack of clarity. To take this on and shorten the sales cycle, sales professionals need to:

• Guide their prospects to clearly understand their problem or realize it actually exists.
  
  
• Help them grasp the financial impact on their business if they don't invest in solving it.
  
  
• Quickly move on to a quality candidate, one with a relevant and costly business problem to resolve, if the current prospect understands their situation yet believes the cost of their problem is not severe enough to address.

To do those things, the sales professional must tackle three key challenges.

Challenge #1: A Poor Decision Process

Clients often lack a decision process for complex purchases. A business developer's presentation thus often feeds good information into a bad decision process, resulting in confusion and random and unpredictable decisions. Likewise, a doctor could present the details and benefits of angioplasty to a patient who isn't aware he suffers from any symptoms or health issues that would require such a procedure.

In contrast, the business developer could lead a prospect through a logical process of identifying symptoms – indicators of a problem in their business – and reach an agreed upon conclusion based on solid diagnosis of that problem.

A particular solution will then more clearly demonstrate why the investment is worth it. Again, this is analogous to a doctor leading the patient through a high-quality diagnostic process that reveals symptoms the patient is experiencing and measures those symptoms to see if they're serious enough to warrant the surgical solution.

Challenge #2: The Pain of Change

Sales professionals often overlook the fact that a decision to buy is a decision to change, and change can be painful. All the potential disruption, risk, and direct switching costs frequently cause prospects to delay or put off buying a service, and avoid change. Sales professionals need to remember this barrier and address the change process in a straightforward way.

If the solution requires significant changes, business developers must discuss and address them. Some changes will have positive effects and support the decision to buy. Other may have negative implications and offer a reason to hesitate. Regardless, clarifying these effects helps both parties understand the full context and what issues need to be managed.

Challenge #3: Measuring Value

Value, left undefined, can be a fuzzy concept. Prospects want to confirm they are receiving value, but may not have good methods for defining it, or quantifying it. Business developers can clarify and add credibility to their service's value by offering ways for prospects to measure its impact.

Until that happens, prospects can't easily predict what value they will receive for their purchase. And, post-sale, prospects won't be able to recognize the value once it is delivered.

Many business developers acknowledge the upside to metrics, but point to the difficulty of putting a dollar amount on a solution's impact. Hard or not, if something happens in a business, it can be measured. If the business developer has difficulty measuring an impact, the prospect will have an even harder time doing it.

* * *

Sales professionals can dramatically cut the length of a sales cycle and win more business by:

1. Creating a quality decision process prospects to evaluate the seller's service
   
   
2. Addressing the challenges posed by change
   
   
3. Offering ways to measure the service's value

Do that, and seldom will you hear, "I'll have to think about it." Instead, you'll hear, "How soon can we get started?"

---

Jeff Thull, President and CEO of Prime Resource Group, is a leading-edge strategist and valued advisor for executive teams of major companies worldwide. Thull is also author of best selling books, Mastering the Complex Sale and The Prime Solution. You can email Jeff at support@primeresource.com.

---

Inspired to agree, disagree, or otherwise comment? We hope you will! Write a letter to RainToday.com here. Selected letters may be posted on the site.

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Wizard Wisdom

Advertising Wisdom from the Wizard of Ads folks.

Roy Williams is one of the authors I recommend to others. On the right side of this page is the Collective Wisdom Bookstore. Click on the book and you can buy your own copy from Amazon.com.

Craig Arthur from Australia sends this out each week. Here's his latest email. Read and click on the links!

Dear Scott, Even in tough economic times we must remember... "Growth is a function of growth, not of reduction. You cannot cut your way to success. The most important factor is to increase top line - revenues. The second most important factor is to maximize the bottom line - profits - by keeping as much of the top line as you possibly can." - Alan Weiss In this issue: 1. Business Growth Strategy #11... Remove the Risk 2. Where Does America Spend Its Ad Dollars? Your goals are your own business. Helping you reach them is ours. Craig Arthur - Wizard Partners Australia PS. Have you booked your seat to Boom Your Business, Nashville? (Aug 1st & 2nd) 1. Business Growth Strategy #11... Remove the Risk By Mark Fox, Wizard Academy adjunct professor From the Editor: The below story is from Mark's new book... DaVinci and the 40 Answers. A Playbook for Creativity and Fresh Ideas. You can download more sample chapters here. I used “Peel the Onion” a couple of years ago with one of my clients. She sells pigs for a living – not exactly rocket science. “So what issues do you want to work on today in our creative thinking workshop?” “We need more sales!” (Never heard that one before) “Why do you think sales are not growing like you want them to?” “I don’t know. It doesn’t make sense.” “Does your competition provide a better product or service?” “No, in fact even our competition will admit we have the best bloodline and breed of pigs on the market. All of the review magazines rate us number one; in fact, we have the highest customer retention rate in the business: 98%. The 2% of customers that actually leave us leave because they got out of the pig business all together or the owner died!” (FYI – yes, there are pig review magazines out there.) “Well let’s peel this onion back a little. If you have the best product on the market what is stopping you from getting more market share?” “Customers just don’t want to switch providers even when they know we can offer them something better.” “Why?” (keep peeling) “Well it is the risk of switching to us. The average herd is about a $250,000 investment and they feel the risk in switching is too great. If they switched to us and our herd acquired a disease or something the loss could financially ruin them. They can’t afford that kind of loss.” “Does this ever happen with your pigs?” “No never. We have the best breed on the market.” “Never? Really? Never?” “No. Never.” “Then why don’t you eliminate the risk for them? Put your money where your mouth is. If you are so confident that your product is superior and that there is literally no, or at least a very remote risk of illness, why don’t you guarantee potential customers that you will pay the $250,000 if anything happens. Promise to replace their herd with the herd of their choice if they get sick.” “No one in the industry offers anything that radical.” “Why not be the first and dramatically differentiate yourself then?” To their credit, and my joy, they implemented this policy. They are quickly gaining market share. I don’t mention the company name at their request; they want to turn the industry on its head before the competition knows what hit them. From the Editor: Guarantee $250,000! Courage and commitment, are just 2 of the ingredients required if you wish to boom your business. Do you have them? About: Mark L. Fox is a leading authority on teaching practical creative thinking techniques for business. Mark has an undergraduate degree in Chemical Engineering with an MBA. Having held top management positions in Rocket Science, Aircraft Hydraulics, Engineering Services, Customer Service, Software, and e-Business, Mark has an extremely diversified background. He has held positions ranging from Management and Operations to Sales and Marketing and Research and Development. Some of Mark’s unique accomplishments include increasing e-business sales 600 percent in one year, receiving NASA’s highest recognition of “Launch Honoree” at the age of 23, and being the youngest person promoted to the position of Chief Engineer on the Space Shuttle program at the age of 31. Mark was also the Chairman of the “orbital debris” committee and an eight-time collegiate “All American” in Marksmanship. Mark also designed and built a 10,000-pound rocket, built his own airplane, and flies hot air balloons. Q. Customer Experience... What's Your Policy When Things Go Wrong? "The customer doesn't expect everything will go right all the time; the big test is what you do when things go wrong." - Sir Colin Marshall 2. Where Does America Spend Its Ad Dollars? By Roy H. Williams (Uh-oh, am I about to light an email fire I can't put out?) Hear the memo, read by the Wizard himself. Here is where the ad money goes in Australia. Traditional wisdom says, “Advertise in the newspaper. Everyone reads the newspaper. There are lots of radio stations but only one newspaper.” The problem with traditional wisdom is that it’s usually more tradition than wisdom. Take a look at the chart at the top of this page and you’ll see that the total, combined ad revenues for (1.) the internet with all its banners, pop-ups, co-registration schemes and Google Adwords accounts, plus (2.) the ad revenues from all the billboards sprinkled across the 3.54 million square miles of these United States, plus (3.) the combined revenues of all of America’s radio stations is less than the combined ad revenues of America’s few hundred newspapers. Did you read my article from last week, Radio / Newspaper Smackdown? Let me summarize for you what it said: If you (1.) make exactly the same offer on radio as in the newspaper, and (2.) spend exactly the same amount of money with each media, (3.) across precisely the same span of time, radio outperforms newspaper nearly 14 to 1. As I explained in the detailed report, we fell into our discovery by accident. Our original plan was to buy newspaper ads since we assumed the newspaper would reach a larger percentage of our target than any other media. Our assumptions were based on a faulty perception. That’s traditional wisdom for you. When our test indicated that radio was outperforming newspaper nearly 14 to 1, I began to wonder, “With all the billions of dollars spent in media each year, why has no one ever comparison-tested the media in a series of controlled experiments?” There I go, assuming again. A bit of research led me to uncover a study conducted 37 years ago (1971) by the Research Committee of the National Advisory Council on Radio in Education. On page 155 I found, “For the test, the manufacturer of a shampoo selected territories in which his sales had been equal and satisfactory over a period of years. An advertising campaign with increased appropriations was prepared, and at the end of the test period, sales increases were used as the gauge of the merit of the medium. In territory No. 1, where newspaper advertising was used, the sales were increased by 3 percent; in territory No. 2, where radio only was used, they were increased 40 percent.” Gosh. 40 percent versus 3 percent is nearly 14 to 1, right? Why has there never been a scientifically controlled, nationwide test funded by the radio stations of America? Frankly, I was comforted to learn that my organization was the second, rather than the first entity to discover that radio outproduces newspaper nearly 14 to 1. If we had been the only people ever to discover that little nugget of information, I would have been plagued by doubt. I'm big enough to admit that my confidence was bolstered by the fact that another organization arrived at virtually the identical conclusion when I was just 13 years old. But the greater question remains, “Why has there been no scientifically controlled test?” I ask the advertising agencies spending all those billions, “Why has there been no scientifically controlled test?” I ask the major advertisers of America, “Why has there been no scientifically controlled test?” And I ask you the same question in this week’s e-Poll. We’re anxious to hear your theory. PS. Today's rabbit hole is too weird for words. I definitely wouldn't go down it if I were you. (If you are game, click the image at the top of this article.) Closing Thought... When is it Time for Change? "Whenever you find yourself on the side of the majority, it is time to pause and reflect." - Mark Twain See you next week. Craig Arthur - Wizard Partners Australia Your goals are your own business. Helping you reach them is ours. Call or email to book a FREE alignment meeting. No obligation. No pressure. It is at this meeting we both decide if there is a fit between our 2 companies. It is only then can we explore your options. We will never try to sell you. Call (07) 4728 4866.

Wizard of Ads Australia. Call Us: (07) 4728 4866

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