by Jeff Shomay

This article was originally printed in The Productivity Institute (PI) newsletter

“Can you tell an intriguing story in just six words?” This challenge was once given to Ernest Hemingway. According to legend, he did, and considered it his best work. Is it possible? Here is his story, judge for yourself: “For sale: baby shoes. Never worn.”What do you think? Here are some more:

• Honey, have you seen the baby?
• Patrick had never eaten worms before…
• Thought I was right. I wasn’t.
• Once upon a time… the end.
• I came, I saw, I conquered.
• Three went to Iraq. One came back.
• Both sisters - breast cancer - I’m scared.

Each six-word line has a totally different impact, doesn’t it? How do they make you feel? What do they make you think? Six words can be powerful. But what does this have to do with marketing?

 

Read on…

 

Besides being short and to the point, which is always good, this exercise scratches the surface of something much larger - the art of planting small seeds that grow into powerful thoughts. Isn’t that the purpose of marketing - to plant short messages in your consumers’ minds that become thoughts like “That’s just what I need, I’ll take it!” Looking back at the above lines, let’s uncover some of the principles at work, making their sums more than just six words.

 

1. The power is in the unexpected. These lines use words or phrases that don’t usually go together to get a bigger effect. “For sale: baby shoes, five dollars” is not as interesting, in fact we likely would skim right over it. But those two unexpected last words get our attention and our invoke feelings. When you want to make an impact, try connecting unexpected words or ideas together.

2. The right words = the right response. When you only have six words, each one counts. “Three went to Iraq, and two died” just doesn’t have the same impact. Never say in three words what you can say in two, and always ask if you can say something in a stronger way.

3. In the end, less is more. To make an idea grow, it has to leave your ad and enter their mind. The best way to do this is to give them only what they need to fill in the rest of the story on their own. Maybe they need more than “Once upon a time… the end,” but if Hemingway wrote a six-sentence paragraph about why the baby’s shoes were never worn and how sad it was, it may be more melodramatic, but it sure wouldn’t get the same impact or be remembered. Lay guidelines, but leave it up to your audience. When your customer is filling in their own story, they’re selling themselves, and you can’t do better than that.

4. If you move them, you’ve won. We react strongly to things we can identify with. I don’t know about you, but the breast cancer line really hits me. I don’t even know who the woman is, but I can feel her fear and want to help her. Find an emotional aspect of your product or service or sell the benefit in emotional terms, and people will listen and take action.

 

This is a quick intro into some powerful principles that you can employ when you want your message to make an impact. Do companies really use this in real life? Have you ever heard these lines?

• Melts in your mouth, not in your hands. (Not exactly six words, but the principles are the same, and that’s what’s important)
• No one can eat just one.
• Where do you want to go today?
• Read my lips: no more taxes.
• What happens in Vegas stays in Vegas.
• Friends don’t let friends drive drunk.
• The few, the proud, the Marines.

These lines all have specific built-in meanings and feelings to influence their audience. They work. Can you identify their power principles? Start putting these principles to use for yourself and see what happens!

Credit: some of the above lines came from online posters - britta02, Graeme Gibson, Kevin Smith, and Julius Caesar.

    

Jeff Schomay is CEO of “Inspire Your Buyer“. Marketing and Branding that stands out and gets results. “Turning potential buyers into inspired buyers”. www.Inspire-Your-Buyer.com

“Inspire Your Buyer” creates powerful branding and marketing for you, using the same principles that Hollywood Filmmakers, Top Entertainers, and Marketing Gurus use to capture and captivate an audience and shape its response. We’ll get you a stronger reaction, check us out!

Challenge: Send your own six-word marketing lines to jeff@inspire-your-buyer.com. The top selected 5 will get special free and discounted services. Must receive by New Years!

by Harry Lund

     This article was originally published in The Productivity Institute newsletter

We all know by now that a website is a basic requirement of doing business. But as 2009 approaches, it becomes increasingly less sufficient to simply have a place on the Web to call your own. More and more companies are venturing out onto the Internet and interacting with their customers in places like MySpace, Facebook, and other social sites. If your business hasn’t done so already, perhaps your New Year’s Resolution should be to step out of the walls of your corporate site and start to build your presence on the Web—your Web Footprint.

It can be scary to leave the safety of your own site, where you have complete control of your product messaging and you can make the rules as you go. Out on the Web, you’ll have to play by others’ rules—but more and more big-name companies are deciding the risk is worth the reward. Dell is using the popular micro-blogging site Twitter to post corporate press and discount offers, while Comcast is using their Twitter feed to provide customer support and troubleshooting. Aquafina uses their MySpace page to promote new products and offer fun videos and games to their visitors. Companies like Warner Bros. Records and CBS have taken an “if you can’t beat ’em, join ’em” attitude with the creation of YouTube channels filled with their content. And companies like Ben & Jerry’s and Red Bull have built interactive Facebook pages where visitors can play games, download free items and share their thoughts about the companies’ products.

            One of the reasons many companies are hesitant to become players on the new, social Web is because they are afraid of encountering negative opinions towards their products. The fact is, negative reviews are practically inevitable. Hopefully they are in the minority, but how will you know if you don’t insert yourself in the conversation? Tapping into these formal and informal reviews, both negative and positive, not only serves as free market research, but also alerts you to individual customer issues that might otherwise go unresolved. As one analyst observes, “It could be that, at some point, the companies that aren’t on Twitter will begin falling behind in customer satisfaction without even knowing why…and losing customers in the process”¹.

            So how do you grow your Web Footprint? Start establishing a presence in the places your customers frequent. Create a MySpace and Facebook page. If you think you could put it to good use, create a Twitter feed and update it regularly. Start contributing worthwhile content to industry forums and message boards. I stress “worthwhile” because the last thing you want is for your content to sound like nothing more than an advertisement. A big part of participating on the Web today is contributing valuable content that people want and are interested in. While doing so, you should try for a human voice. Create a persona that will engage your customers. What you shouldn’t do is simply copy and paste your corporate messaging onto the most popular social networking sites. Many companies worry about losing their professional image, but it is possible to be fun and engaging while still being professional. Trust me.

            If you’re limiting your online participation to your corporate site, you’re missing the opportunity to engage your customers, get free advertising, encourage word-of-mouth and access unfiltered reactions to your products. If you’re not sold yet, here’s another benefit of getting your name out there: improved search engine rankings. Generally speaking, the more pages on the Web that link to your site, the more important and relevant Google and other search engines will think your site is. The result: appearing more often and higher in search engine results. With so much to gain, how long can you remain a wallflower on the Web? It’s time to get out there and build your Web Footprint.

 

 

Harry Lund is a Web Content Developer at CommonPlaces e-Solutions, LLC. CommonPlaces delivers successful Web solutions to businesses both small and large, enabling our clients to survive and thrive alongside industry leaders. CommonPlaces was recently selected as one of the Most Dependable Web Designers in the Northeast by Entrepreneur Magazine. Our smart and talented team possesses both professional training and a wealth of industry experience, allowing them to provide a unique approach to Web development that combines business strategy, creative designs and innovative technological solutions into one successful Web solution. Harry can be reached at harry@commonplaces.com.

 

 

Notes

¹ “How to Get Customer Service via Twitter” http://www.readwriteweb.com/archives/how_to_get_customer_service_via_twitter.php

   by Greg Chartier, Ph.D., SPHR

 

This article was published in The Productivity Institute newsletter

 

Management cares about results.  Historically, however, human resources has not understood nor attempted to understand what results were important.   Two measures are most common, effectiveness and efficiency.  I think we begin with efficiency. 

 

Efficiency is a ratio of inputs and outputs; you put resources in and get results out.  If you can decrease the inputs and increase the outputs, you are more efficient.  Efficiency also allows you to spend more resources, assuming that the outputs will increase in a greater ratio than those inputs.

 

One of the difficulties in using the term “efficiency” is that we have multiple definitions for it.  I will use efficiency to mean, “How much does a given expenditure on human resources produce in programs or practices?”

 

For HR people that means, what level of human resource programs (training, compensation, staffing, communications ,etc.) is generated for a given investment of

resources (such as time and money)?

 

Every business uses some sort of metrics or management index to determine “how we are doing.”  When business people talk about a company or the health of the economy or an industry, they almost always use some sort of measures to refer to.  What is valuable about indexes is they serve as a barometer for the overall health of the system we are measuring.

 

If the other departments have indexes, then Human Resources should have them, as well.  I have always felt that the principal measure of the HR department has been staffing.  It is the most obvious of our functions and the one that affects every manager.  So , a staffing index is a good place to start.  A staffing index will tell us how the staffing function is doing and, more importantly, give us some conversation points for our Senior Management.

 

Most of us already use some measures, particularly in the staffing area.  We talk about “time to fill” or recruiting costs per placement or turnover ratio.  These are good but they create a mindset that focuses only on lowest cost or fastest delivery.  This is not efficiency.

 

I have several different types of measures that I would like to introduce, all of which can add value to your organization.  Let’s start with Revenue per Employee.  Rather than focus on headcount, we should look at how much revenue each employee brings into the firm.  Headcount doesn’t mean much if they are contributing to the success of the organization by either bringing in money or reducing outlay of money.

 

Now, we need to look at the staffing function, just to collect some data we will need later.

 

Cost Per Hire.  This is not only the direct cost of advertising and agency fees.  I would include several other items:

 

Source Costs = Advertising and agency fees as well as referral bonuses.  There are four

costs:  advertisements, agency fees, employee referrals and no cost walk

 ins.

 

Staff Time = salary, benefits and overhead for the recruiting staff. 

 

Manager Time = Salary, benefits and overhead for the hiring manager

 

Processing Cost = Employee references, physicals, drug tests, payroll set up, other

      employment costs

 

Miscellaneous = New Employee Orientation, and any unplanned expenses.

 

 

            CPH =  SC + ST + MT + 10%

                                    N

 

            SC = Source Cost (Advertising expense + Agency fees + Employee Referrals)

            ST =  Recruiting staff time

           MT =  Manager time

          10% = Miscellaneous

 

New Hire Performance.  While it’s great to fill our positions, the true measure of our effectiveness as recruiters is the quality of the people we hire.  In this case, the new employee is the product of our recruitment efforts and we must be held accountable for at least a portion of the success of the new employee.

 

Quality is a difficult concept to apply to human resources but I think we can admit two things: 

 

The new employee must perform, on the job, over a period of time, in order to be considered “successful.”  I would suggest a six month review of new hire performance, compared to the performance averages for the company as a whole.  There must be some return on the investment we made on the new employee.  This means, to me, that they need to stay with the organization (voluntarily) in order to demonstrate success.

 

With these two items in mind, we can measure New Hire Performance:

 

 

            NHP = PR + HP + HS

                                    N

 

            NHP = New Hire Performance

             PR   = Average job performance rating of the new employee

             HP   = Percentage of new hires promoted within one year

             HS   = Percentage of new hires retained after one year

              N    = Number of new employees hired during the evaluation period

 

                                    NHP = 60 + 20+ 90       = 1.7%

                                                        100

 

This is a relative value and it means what you want it to mean.  The evaluation only becomes valuable over time as you compare period to period.  It can be valuable to compare different departments, over time, as well.

 

 

            Greg Chartier is Principal of The Office of Gregory J Chartier, a Human Resources Consulting firm and is a well-known management consultant, educator and speaker.  His practice consists of two broad areas:  Human Resources management and outsourcing for firms of less than 100 employees and Management Training. His business experience includes management positions with Pfizer, The Chase Manhattan Bank, The Bank of New York and Johnson and Johnson.  Greg is a Board Member of the Business Council of Westchester and the Chair of the Human Resources Council.  He is also a Board Member of the Job Service Employers Council (JSEC) of the New York State Department of Labor.  Greg can be reached at greg.chartier@att.net and by phone at 914-548-1689.

By Gregory Coats

 

This article was published in The Productivity Institute newsletter

 

As companies grow, they should regularly evaluate their software and assess how well it can meet their needs.  In some cases, the software limitations, if severe, can constrict a company’s growth and efficiency.  In this article, I will identify key areas to focus – in detail - on some key areas.

 

The first area most companies focus on is cost.  Cost is important and you should have a budget when you do your evaluation.  However, if you do not know what products are available and what your needs are, how can you accurately determine cost?  There will be some obvious limiting factors, but be reasonable.  I have seen many businesses budget $10,000 to $30,000 for computer and network upgrades, but very little for software.  For less than $1,000, you can buy any number of accounting software packages.  But, if they don’t meet your needs and you end up doing a lot of extra work because of software limitations, how worthwhile was that investment?  Buying inexpensive software now and then having to buy an entirely new product several years later is often very costly.  These additional costs can include: learning/training to use two software packages, data conversion (which can be very expensive), required software and process customizations, and lost productivity because of initial software limitations and compromises. 

 

So, when evaluating accounting software, what factors should you look at?  Here are several factors to consider. (I will provide more factors in part 2 of this article.)

 

• Number of users – how many users will access the system? Will this total number of users be simultaneous users?  Does the software use named seats? This is an important question because you may have some users who will only need to run reports and sporadically access (limited) information. Also, software licensing costs usually vary greatly between concurrent and named users.

 

• Number of locations – this may be critical in deciding which software to select. Furthermore, if you have multiple locations, can the database be split up?

 

• Should you buy or rent the accounting software? (Note: usually, rented software is hosted.)  The advantage of using hosted accounting software is that you don’t have to worry about updates, backups and network incidents. Furthermore, the upfront cost of hosted software is significantly less than purchased software. Disadvantages of hosted software include: lack of direct access to the database (usually), some companies are leery of security issues, limited customization and integration with other software products and add-ons.  Sometimes, it is also difficult to download properly formatted data from a hosted environment. Conversely, the advantage of purchasing accounting software is the ability to customize it your specific needs, to enable add-ons and to have all aspects on-hand.  Several studies have also shown that the price crossover point between purchased and hosted software is about four years. (For the first four years, it is cheaper to use the hosted version. After that, the overall cost of purchased accounting software is lower.)  Downsides of purchased accounting software includes: initial cost, hardware and software cost, impact on your server(s), maintaining of updates and tech support costs. Using outstanding consultants – in either case – can help ensure that your system is properly configured to meet your needs.

 

In part two of this article, I will continue to list important factors when evaluating accounting software and system configuration. What is important, regardless of whatever software you select is that you have a clear understanding and list of your specific needs that you can use during your search.

 

 

Gregory Coats is president of D & G Accounting Solutions, and has been involved in implementing and customizing multiple accounting software systems for over 20 years.  Mr. Coats can be emailed at gregory.coats@comcast.net .

 

  by Bill Hoffman

 

This article was published in The Productivity Institute newsletter

 

The concept of CRM has been around since the beginning of human interaction. Where do you think the phrase, “the customer is always right,” came from? So, why all of the attention now? What is it that makes CRM so important? So much so, that companies invest large amounts of money and time to implement it?

 

The answer lies in a shift in the 1980s away from true customer service, to what I like to call, our new “Self-Service World.” Today’s popular belief is, “since I can’t get the service I deserve, I will do it myself and pay less.” I was raised in a time when you were not allowed to pump your own gas. It was considered to be too dangerous. I can recall a time when three attendants would service my family’s car while they pumped our gas. They would wash the windows, check the tires and oil, and even check the battery if they knew us well. I remember the attendants would always take the time to speak with us and really tried to get to know my family as people.

 

Was the attitude and attentiveness of this business designed to create customer loyalty to bring us back to that particular gas station, even in times when you would pay a couple of pennies more for gas at that station? You bet it was! Just yesterday I pumped my own gas, bought some gum and a soda, and went to pay the clerk—only to be made to feel that my transactions were an inconvenience! His only interest was in taking my money as quickly as possible, so as to not interrupt the game he was watching on a TV behind the counter. Sure, the example from my childhood is more costly in the short term, but can you really afford not to provide the best service possible to your customers? When acquiring new customers is seven times more expensive than retaining and reselling to existing customers—no you can’t.

 

Customer Service

 

The result of this “Self-Service World” is that fewer companies provide “excellent customer service.” In the past, you gained the understanding of the importance of high level customer service by observing employees at restaurants, gas stations, and retail stores.

 

Today, most people are comfortable using a computer, and will pick up the technical aspect of your training in an hour, although it may take them weeks to learn how to interact with potential and existing customers. Human interaction training, focused on skills such as consistency, competence, confidence, and kindness, can help your employees successfully deliver desired company results.

 

For example, by requiring that employees consistently answer the phone with the same greeting throughout the company, you, as a business, provide your customers with the confidence and knowledge that they will receive the same level of customer service each time they contact you. The same result is achieved by providing your employees with a central respository of information—including customer communications—to access for answers to their questions. When industries compete at any level, the difference maker is always customer service. Consistency, competence, confidence, and kindness are reasons why customers will remain “your” customers.

 

How Does CRM Help Me Achieve My Customer Service Goals?

 

CRM software provides the technology to ensure that all your resources are centralized and accessible. CRM software opens interdepartmental communications by combining the resources of your customer-facing departments—Marketing, Sales, A/R, Customer Care and Support—whatever they may be. By having this information available at their fingertips, employees are empowered to step out of their realm, if need be, to help customers.

 

CRM allows support and service departments, for example, to intertwine communications with the same customers on a daily basis by providing them access to the interaction between all employees and customers so that issues can be resolved immediately. Let’s not forget the line of communication between your inside and outside sales groups.

 

The interaction information maintained in the CRM system keeps everyone in the loop so prospects and customers alike feel that the entire enterprise has been made aware of their issue, not just the person they spoke with on the phone. A CRM solution partnered with human interaction training is a recipe for success!

 

CRM Simplified: You Can’t Automate Human Interaction

 

CRM has taken its hold in the business application world, and you should understand that it is not software alone that makes the CRM initiative successful. Many companies sell customer service automation, such as auto e-mail response and “personalized” marketing campaigns, but they may not understand the CRM culture.

 

For example, my father recently purchased a fifth-wheel trailer camper. One night, while watching a TV advertisement for “how to” videos for his type of camper, he decided to call and order the videos. The customer service representative he spoke with was friendly, polite, and helpful, and even thanked him for his order—the standard behavior expected of an inside sales representative. When my father received his order in the mail, he noticed a message hand-written at the bottom of the invoice. It read, “Thanks for your order Jerry. I hope you have a great time with your new fifth wheel. It was nice talking to you. —Maureen.”

 

Receiving a personalized response from a company goes a long way to create value in your customer relationship, and will help to ensure they become a repeat customer. If your company understands that a “10 second gesture” is what CRM is about, then your company is ready to embark on a CRM software solution to help enhance the “CRM culture” you practice.

 

Has your organization taken the time to start your CRM initiative? Maybe it is time…

 

 

With a background spanning more than 17 years of experience in business process management and CRM culture, Bill Hoffman is currently responsible for the design, application and execution of CRM partner delivery programs and Enterprise Sales at Sage Software.  Previously, as Director of Hosted Services and Partner Development at Sage Software, Bill was responsible for direct and partner sales success. He designed strong process and focus for SageCRM and SageCRM.com products. His clients included Stanford Medical Center, American Golf, Standard Insurance, Metrohm-Peak, New England Patriots, Acme Truck Lines, Buffalo Sabres, and Broadsoft, amongst others.  Bill can be reached at: (480) 699-5563 and bill.hoffman@sage.com.