How do you make people feel?
Maya Angelou says “people will forget what you said, people will forget what you did, but people will never forget how you made them feel.”
The meaning of her quote goes far beyond the relationships we enjoy with family and close friends. The emotions we engender in others is as important in business because of a simple truth: People buy from who they know, like and trust.
We go to networking events so that targeted prospects can get to know us. We have websites that help potential clients learn about our businesses. But it is ultimately perceptions (what people believe) and emotions (how they feel) that takes people through the spectrum of knowing us to also liking and trusting us. And if they don’t like or trust us or the product or service we sell, they won’t buy from us. Period.
I believe that moving potential customers through the spectrum of know, like and trust is the role of the company brand. While some think a brand is the logo on a business card, website or brochure, a brand is actually the perceptions and emotions your customers have about their relationship of doing business with you or using your products and services. Your customers own their perceptions and emotions; your company doesn’t.
Related to the brand, the role of the company is to create, communicate and deliver a relevant, differentiated value in the minds of customers. Apple and Southwest Airlines are big brand examples that do a great job of this. It is easier said then done for sure. But when done successfully, this positively influences the perceptions and emotions that engender “like” and “trust” and it makes it much easier for your prospects to become customers and your customers to become advocates. And who wouldn’t want the kind of customer advocates that both Apple and Southwest Airlines enjoy?
Ask yourself this. What perceptions do your customers and prospects have about your company and its products and services? And, how do your prospects go from knowing about you to “liking” and “trusting” you? Or, do they? Some companies have great awareness (lots of people know about them) but have a difficult time getting their prospects to “like” and “trust” them. How does your company create trust?
We all know better
I was reading Seth Godin’s post recently titled “The hierarchy of success” about how most of us bypass setting strategy to jump right into executing tactics.
Godin’s “Hierarchy of Success”
- Attitude
- Approach
- Goals
- Strategy
- Tactics
- Execution
He reminds us about the importance of setting strategy, our plan to achieve a goal, before deciding on tactics, our activities to achieve the goal, and making sure that strategy ties back to goals and objectives.
This post of Godin’s really made me think about why there is the tendency to jump to tactics at the expense of strategy. Most of us know better than to take the “spray and pray” approach Then why don’t we just buckle down and plan our strategy before jumping into tactical decisions that drive website traffic, calls into call centers and customers to our retail stores?
Maybe because taking action feels like we’re getting there faster? The entrepreneurs I’ve met and worked for do have an action orientation and an admirable willingness to fail forward. Yet how much farther could they go if they had spent a little time at the top of Godin’s hierarchy instead of starting at the bottom?
Or maybe it is our well-publicized need for immediate gratification? We start with good intentions but short term goals, like quarterly earnings at larger companies, supersede the benefit of a strategy change that will better position the company in the longer term.
I think it could be because choosing a strategy, a direction or plan in which to take action, requires discipline.
It is easy to line up your resources, financial, human and time, aim (pick activities) and fire (execute). It requires discipline however to put the time and thought into weighing the strategic options for achieving your objective, to step back and see the big picture. Strategy can be easy if you have only one option. The hard part in setting strategy comes in weighing and choosing one option over viable alternatives requiring a discipline to pick one while leaving others on the table.
Here is an example of what happens when you don’t exercise the discipline to choose a strategy. A company has two viable targets for their product but only resources to effectively market to one. If they don’t exercise the discipline to choose a strategy to target only one of the two, they end up watering down their message to try and be relevant to both which means they won’t be relevant to either. And, their marketing dollars that could effectively reach one target are spread over two targets meaning their message has a less effective reach to either of their targets.
Strategy, in this example, requires that we pick who is the target of our marketing efforts while acknowledging that we can’t be all things to all people.
We all struggle with discipline to some degree but when we exercise our discipline muscle, we get closer to realistically achieving our objectives.
I’ll end by making a case for strategy. The beauty of it, marketing or otherwise, is that once you decide on a strategy, the tactical decisions fall into place. If you know where you are going, there is always a way to get there.
A long time in coming
This is the first post for The Brand at WORK blog. Having studied social media the past year and consulted with clients on how to use it, I appreciate the benefits of a blog and know it is time for me to walk my talk.
The goal for this blog is to share practical, real-world insight and ideas on how a brand and marketing can work. During my career, I’ve seen how a solid brand and effective marketing can achieve the market share, revenue and profitability targets of a company. I’ve also seen from the same vantage point, how the failure to exercise discipline in the marketing function, from strategy through execution, can have the exact opposite effect: reduced market share, declining sales, customer turn-over and lower profitability.
I’ll also share my experiences in the journey to small business from Corporate America. Besides the business lessons, there are also personal lessons. Many in Corporate America contemplating a move out might not yet appreciate the shift in mindset necessary to succeed in small business. At the same time, some in small business believe those in Corporate America are out of touch with the customers they serve. I’ll provide some insight from the lessons I’ve learned to hopefully bridge this gap.
This blog has been a long time in coming. I’ve put off beginning this blog for two reasons worth sharing. First, it has never been second nature for me to draw attention to myself. So the idea of putting my thoughts and ideas out on the world wide web honestly took time to get my head around. Second, I wondered how I was going to fit a blog into my already very busy life. I was going to say “work week” instead but right now there is no such thing as a Monday to Friday work week. My work and my life run seven days a week, sometimes 24X7.
Yes, having a blog is a commitment in time if it is done well. And, my thoughts are out there for all to see. The benefits however of adding my voice to the conversation on the subjects of brand and marketing far outweigh the extra discipline and courage I will muster to make this work. I’ll no doubt make mistakes along the way in addition to the success I find. My hope is that you will learn from my process of contributing to and managing a blog.
In reading and following blogs the last year, I’ve learned that a blog is not a one-way communication vehicle for a blogger to espouse their thoughts. Done right, a blog sparks a thought-provoking dialogue and is the reason why it is considered social media. My objective is to create a dialogue. So please come back to keep me honest in this process and contribute to the conversation.
Thoughts, articles and more
Find Alicia online
