customer engagement Archives

Who Are You Trying to Influence? Their Personality Types May Impact Your Effectiveness!

There’s a certain feeling one gets when having a light bulb moment – a great idea that is so brilliant it absolutely must be acted upon. Similarly, a polished business strategy or project plan that is the result of hours and hours of consideration and mental exertion can be like a child one has groomed for success. But when that idea or plan gets shot down because it’s too risky or too expensive, or because your managers, customers or business partners simply don’t get it, it’s certainly a bubble-bursting moment.

Just as a great product or service is useless if it can’t be sold to the marketplace, a great idea is useless if it can’t be sold to the right stakeholders. What works for one executive won’t necessarily work for another; different leaders have different motivations, fears and triggers. Identifying those cues really requires knowing what type of executive you’re dealing with. Continue reading “Who Are You Trying to Influence? Their Personality Types May Impact Your Effectiveness!”

Social Media Best Practices for SOHOs: You Don’t Have to be Big to be Successful Online!

One of the benefits—and potential downfalls—of the online environment is that it is a great equalizer. The smallest company, including solo operations, can present a “big company” feel, effectively competing against the big players in their industries. This can also present a downside, of course, for those seeking goods and services from online providers; all that glitters is not, necessarily, gold, so caveat emptor certainly applies.

Still, for small companies, and even individual practitioners in service industries like consulting, law, accounting, engineering, etc., it can be relatively easy to establish a strong presence online.

We’ve done that for our own marketing needs, and we work with a variety of other small businesses and independent consultants to help them establish a “big brand” online. In doing this, we have found some very important best practices that really must be adopted to generate results: Continue reading “Social Media Best Practices for SOHOs: You Don’t Have to be Big to be Successful Online!”

The Critically Important Audience You May Be Overlooking

It’s probably no surprise that poor customer service can have an enormous amount of negative impact on your business. But what about poor service to employees? Does the internal satisfaction of your employees weigh on that metric? A recent article by Christine Porath in Harvard Business Review would suggest that it does. Continue reading “The Critically Important Audience You May Be Overlooking”

Content Curation – Getting it Right

There has, perhaps, never been a time when the old saying “content is king” was more true than it is today. Why? Because the concept of “content marketing” is taking the world by storm. Marketers have embraced the opportunity to share content with their audiences through a variety of channels including websites, blog posts, social media whitepapers and more.

The big challenge: Continuing to create content that will connect with an audience and connect them to some action–even if that action is simply feeling favorably about an organization and its products or services or considering someone a “thought leader.” Continue reading “Content Curation – Getting it Right”

Connecting, Via Email, With Powerful People

In a recent blog post by Peter Sims in the Harvard Business Review titled “Tips for Cold Emailing Intimidatingly Powerful People,” Sims discusses tips and strategies for “cold-emailing” the big shots and captains of industry we all want to know. When it comes to marketing efforts, defining a list of individuals you want to get your message to and shooting them a personal email is about as targeted as it gets, so knowing how to effectively reach out to leaders, influencers and big spenders in your industry is a great arrow to have in your quiver. Continue reading “Connecting, Via Email, With Powerful People”

Are You Giving Your All To Your Current Customers?

A number of years ago I was on a weekend outing with my husband and a group of his friends, including one guy who had recently gotten engaged to a “knockout.” She was gorgeous–long, really long, blonde hair; perfect make-up; great nails, dressed exceptionally.

The rest of the women (well, maybe I’m projecting my own thoughts on the others, but…) thought: “Wow! How do we compare to that!!?!” Fortunately, she was one of the many beautiful women (and men) that I’ve met over the years who wasn’t really that “full of themselves.” Over the course of the weekend after many conversations, and a few cocktails from time to time, we got to talking. I admitted my awe about how well put together she was and my wish that I could be as well put together.

She laughed and said: “You should have seen me last week!” “What do you mean?,” I asked.

Continue reading “Are You Giving Your All To Your Current Customers?”