Is customer service in decline, or have I just been un lucky lately?

For more than 37 years, our Arizona-based marketing agency has preached the gospel of excellent customer service, yet recently I have experienced three separate incidents in which the customer service I received was, to put it mildly, deficient. Two of these times involved auto repair situations (when it rains, it pours!), one at a highline dealership that speaks with a decidedly Teutonic accent and one that involved my (heretofore) trusty Oriental machine. One encounter was characterized by seeming indifference seasoned with a pinch of arrogance and the other featured a frustrating blend of incompetence and undependability.

One case involved a repair bill just north of $1200.00 and the other – though it has yet to be estimated six days later! – will (just a guess) probably come in closer to $3,000.00. The latter will be entirely covered by a warranty, but, silly me, it seems expenditures on this scale (and the fact my P______ died in the middle of an intersection merit just a little bit of TLC.

Yet another incident involved a purported “help desk” attendant at a well known, maybe “not-so-super” market chain, who for several minutes ignored me, then snapped at me when I asked politely if anyone was on duty there.

The lesson

The point to all of this, as I’m confident any advertising or public relations professional would agree, is: If major (or, even, minor) marketing budgets are not complemented by good and caring customer service does marketing serve its purpose? Or, to put it more succinctly, if a company makes a brand promise to attract customers, shouldn’t that promise be kept?

One of these cases has caused me to strongly consider taking my future business – which may even involve a new car purchase – to a dealer 12 miles away, rather than this one, conveniently located only two miles away. And, rest assured, I am doing this neither out of spite nor as a demonstration of masochistic tendencies. It’s just that I need to be able to count on a vendor, and trust their word. 

Granted, these may be isolated incidents, but when three crop up in a matter of three consecutive days, it feels more like a trend. Well, now that I’ve vented, please heed the lesson imbedded within these stories. It is this: Treat customers like precious possessions, ones that once lost may never return.

Not only will this leverage your marketing expenditures, it likely will convert them to lasting relationships and — that most valuable of all results – good word-of-mouth advertising.

Marketing Partners of Arizona (MPA) was founded in 1976 by Allan Starr, and serves a local, regional and national clientele with diverse services including strategic marketing, advertising, public relations, sponsorship procurement, e-mail marketing and online initiatives. Starr is former governor of the Southwest District of the American Advertising Federation (AAF), two-term president of The Arizona Small Business Assn. and is serving a sixth term on the board of directors of The Greater Phoenix Chamber of Commerce.

 

 

 

 

.  .  . We guess not, so long as it remains an attitude rather than basis for planning the future. Even JFK described himself as an optimist without illusion.

 Flense Hawkins, my uncle who had a horse named Sally, and once plowed the soil on his mini-spread up in Heber, AZ (when he wasn’t playing poker and “chasin’ cabaret girlies”) may have been the black sheep of the family, but he was blessed with considerable wisdom.  He told me something when I was a barefoot boy with cheek of tan, something that I never have forgotten. With a prominent wad of chew in mouth, he proclaimed, “Ya know, it costs no more to be an optimist, Allie.”

 On many occasions that conviction has been proven correct, especially after wrong turns we might have taken in our life were it not for The Power of Positive Thinking (and, didn’t Norman Vincent Peale cash in handsomely on that line?)

  Old Flense never seemed to be stressed, and his favorite time was “Bud Time” (which could be any time of day). But even at that, he did die . . . at 101 years of age.

 Be that as it may, the important thing to consider is that, much like the pilots, we seem to get better mileage in business with a tail wind rather than a head wind. And, as heads of our companies, leading by example is a proven technique that trumps most others we may practice.

 Here comes the commercial:

 That said, instead of letting conditions chew us up and spit us out, I subscribe to the principle that being a victor is better than being a victim. This process starts with acting like a winner by being proactive. And what better place to start than through the adoption of a well-conceived marketing plan; one that is conducive to success rather than drift?

 Someone has said failing to plan is closely akin to planning to fail. Go forward with a smile on your face; one that everybody, not the least of which are your close associates, can see and emulate.

 

 

Tips for working with a marketing firm  

Over the past three-plus decades our Phoenix marketing firm has had numerous opportunities to work with firms, usually younger companies or startups,  that have not previously worked with a marketing agency, advertising agency or public relations agency in Phoenix or anywhere else.

Sometimes their approach to our initial meetings takes on the tone, “be gentle, it’s our first time,” or at least it feels a little like that.

Certainly, a cautious approach makes sense at the outset of any kind of new relationship, business or otherwise, and the fact that there are lots of stories of some rather aggressive marketing, advertising and public relations firms out there makes such a wary attitude somewhat understandable.

 That said, though there have been abuses, even cases of runaway budgeting, some even without taking the client’s circumstances or comprehension into account, a client/agency relationship has the best chance for success if it is built upon trust, openness from both sides and mutual respect. And, if the client has done their homework properly and thoroughly when going through the agency selection process, a feeling of comfort, satisfaction, even with a generous dash of optimistic anticipation would be more appropriate than anything even remotely approaching trepidation.

 Frankly, sometimes this overly cautious attitude has been borne out of a unwillingness on the part of the new client to have sought the kind of professional marketing help it needed until the step was finally taken more out of desperation than anything else. But, fortunately, such cases are not the norm.

 Here, then, are some guideposts for such relationships that we hope will be helpful in fostering healthy relationships between clients and their marketing agencies. Let’s call them .  .  .

 A dozen tips for working with a marketing firm:

 

 

1.     Treat them as insiders; share pertinent information liberally.

 

2.     Always keep them “in the loop” on seemingly trivial as well as important decisions that may have an effect on sales and your marketing success.

 

3.     Acquaint them with your corporate culture and key management staff.

 

4.     When practical, introduce them to other key outsource vendors, such as their HR or CFO counterparts.

 

5.     Have your staff members and other outsource vendors submit to them for review all internal and external communications that could have a possible impact on your corporate image and sales.

 

6.     Meet or communicate with them regularly, not merely in last minute or emergency situations.

 

7.     Neither discard, nor accept their advice, suggestions, copy-writing points or strategic advice without first understanding the rationale involved.

 

8.     Respect their marketing expertise and heed the advice that results from it when doing so seems inherently warranted.

 

9.     Read every communication they create carefully before approving it.

 

10. Never approve suggestions with which you are not comfortable.

 

11. Maintain what amounts to a “partner relationship” conducive to the development of mutual trust, constructive dialog, creative and strategic two-way input, and a level of synergy that promotes effectiveness. 

 

12. Have an overall strategic plan, and amend it as may be required.

 

 Allan Starr founded Marketing Partners in 1976. The Phoenix-based marketing, advertising and public relations firm that serves an extensive and diverse clientele comprised of Arizona, regional and national companies has won many awards for its innovative campaigns.

 

 

Over the past three-plus decades our Phoenix marketing firm has had numerous opportunities to work with firms, usually younger companies or startups,  that have not previously worked with a marketing agency, advertising agency or public relations agency in Phoenix or anywhere else.

Sometimes their approach to our initial meetings takes on the tone, “be gentle, it’s our first time,” or at least it feels a little like that.

Certainly, a cautious approach makes sense at the outset of any kind of new relationship, business or otherwise, and the fact that there are lots of stories of some rather aggressive marketing, advertising and public relations firms out there makes such

a wary attitude somewhat understandable.

That said, though there have been abuses, even cases of runaway budgeting, some even without taking the client’s circumstances or comprehension into account, a client/agency relationship has the best chance for success if it is built upon trust, openness from both sides and mutual respect. And, if the client has done their homework properly and thoroughly when going through the agency selection process, a feeling of comfort, satisfaction, even with a generous dash of optimistic anticipation would be more appropriate than anything even remotely approaching trepidation.

Frankly, sometimes this overly cautious attitude has been borne out of a unwillingness on the part of the new client to have sought the kind of professional marketing help it needed until the step was finally taken more out of desperation than anything else. But, fortunately, such cases are not the norm.

Here, then, are some guideposts for such relationships that we hope will be helpful in fostering healthy relationships between clients and their marketing agencies. Let’s call them .  .  .

A dozen tips for working with a marketing firm:

•  Treat them as insiders; share pertinent information liberally.
• Always keep them “in the loop” on seemingly trivial as well as important decisions that may have an effect on sales and your marketing success.
• Acquaint them with your corporate culture and key management staff.
• When practical, introduce them to other key outsource vendors, such as their HR or CFO counterparts.
• Have your staff members and other outsource vendors submit to them for review all internal and external communications that could have a possible impact on your corporate image and sales.
• Meet or communicate with them regularly, not merely in last minute or emergency situations.
• Neither discard, nor accept their advice, suggestions, copy-writing points or strategic advice without first understanding the rationale involved.
• Respect their marketing expertise and heed the advice that results from it when doing so seems inherently warranted.
• Read every communication they create carefully before approving it.
• Never approve suggestions with which you are not comfortable.
• Maintain what amounts to a “partner relationship” conducive to the development of mutual trust, constructive dialog, creative and strategic two-way input, and a level of synergy that promotes effectiveness.
•  Have an overall strategic plan, and amend it as may be required.

 

 Allan Starr founded Marketing Partners in 1976. The Phoenix-based marketing, advertising and public relations firm that serves an extensive and diverse clientele comprised of Arizona, regional and national companies has won many awards for its innovative campaigns.

 

 

99% of the time, words are ultimately what generates leads, motivates people to action and makes you money. The right words can produce an astonishingly better response. We all have the same words available for our use. It is how they are arranged that makes the critical difference. Make sure the words you choose “fit the picture you’re trying to paint,”  e.g. the point you’re seeking to make. Get it done right – hire a qualified wordsmith.

 

Life is a timed event. We have only a certain amount of time each day, week, month and year in which to accomplish our objectives. As my favorite college professor used to say, coming up with the right answer solves only half of the problem. The other half is to do so in a timely manner.

That familiar say, “Timing is everything,” while not totally correct is at least partially correct, and good timing is a very important item, at that. Timing can be pressure induced, but its more comfortable, and perhaps more effective, counterpart is good timing that results from good planning.

There simply is no substitute for a little self-analysis that results in timing things for maximum impact. So, while it is also the result of good instincts (thank God for those), it might be better to rely on good planning to produce the good timing from which your marketing will most profit.

Have you ever noticed how the NBA teams seem to kick it up a notch when the voice on the PA system announces, “Two minutes”? As small business owners and managers, we don’t have that luxury. We have to come out of the staring blocks each day and run hard right from the starting gun in order to make our way through our weekly to-do list.

I advise our clients to set up a self-imposed marketing deadline system in order to produce and disseminate their marketing materials and make those vital selling contacts in a timely manner. This just makes good sense and, like the airport control tower, keeps the ”work-to-be-done” traffic moving. Otherwise, as I have found in my own case, it is easy to become so involved in your clients/customers’ needs that you forget the needs of your own business – needs like those key marketing projects and other self-promotion activities.

 

 You probably have an appropriate and effective response to the hypothetical, yet critical question, “Why should we give you our business?”  One of our clients who is skilled at delivering those daunting “elevator speeches,” was nonetheless stumped when one of his was met with the challenging question shown above.

 If this should happen to you, you “post-elevator-speech” response may be the last opportunity you will ever have to sell yourself, so it had better be to the point, and laced with relevant – and supportable – claims. Here’s a clue: Build your answer entirely around things unique to you and your business. The only things your prospect is interested are those things through which you can be distinguished from your competitors.

Vague generalities and empty or meaningless claims are verboten. Be clear, specific and benefits-oriented, rather than features-oriented in your response. And never rely on emotion rather than facts.  If you can’t dazzle your questioner on the spot, at least try to entice them with something of substance in order to “buy” enough time to give more thought to their needs and concerns before giving a more comprehensive response at a future date.

The keys are brevity, clarity, pertinence, and, if more time is needed to develop a truly appropriate response, enough “enticement power” to facilitate a follow-up opportunity.

 

 

 

Since 1976, we’ve developed marketing plans for hundreds of businesses, from one-person startups to elite members of the Fortune 500. All have one thing in common: The fundamentals must be in place before developing strategies and tactics designed to accomplish a specific set of objectives.

We emphasize to our clients that a marketing plan should be “written in pencil,” in other words, subject to sensible change in response to changing conditions or if “Plan A” is not working quite the way we had intended.

Here are some basics of a good plan:

 

1. 1.     Know your position.

 

Determine the specific niche your business intends to fill (what you will be in the minds of your prospects and customers/clients).

 

In establishing your position, think in terms of –

 

a) Objectives

b) Strengths and weaknesses of what you offer

c) Perceived competition,

d) Target market, i.e. its needs

f)  Marketplace trends

 

Ask yourself these basic questions:

 

¨     What business am I in?

¨     What is my goal?

¨     What benefits do I offer?

¨     What are the competitive advantages?

¨     What do I fear?

 

1. 2.     Identify your target market.

 

Then, measure your position against four criteria:

 

¨     Does it offer a benefit that your target market really wants?

¨     Is it a valid benefit?

¨     Does it truly separate you from your competition?

¨     Is it unique and/or difficult to copy?

 

1. 3.     Create your strategy.

 

This can be accomplished with seven sentences:

 

• Know your purpose. (to maximize profits, etc.)
• Describe how you will accomplish  it

¨     Describe your target market(s).

¨     Outline the tactics you’ll employ.

¨     Describe your niche.

¨     Reveal the identity of your business 9what you want it to be known for)

¨     State your budget (if estimable).

 

1. 4.     Set your positioning statement.

 

The positioning statement reveals the identity of your offering; it explains what the product/service stands for ¾ why the offering has value and why it should be purchased. Unlike image, which is the impression you choose to make for your business, identity defines what your business is really about.

 

1. 5.     Develop your working marketing plan.

 

It will:

 

a) Identify the market

b) List goals

c) Address long-term and near-future vision

d) Consider (realistic) market share

e) Schedule timing

f) Makes projections

g) Provides promotional framework

h) Specify media and other avenues to use

i) Consider personnel issues and outsourcing

j) Reflects on potential obstacles/pitfalls,

k) Considers remedies

l) Estimate campaign costs

 

6. Consider the use of a situational analysis.

 

This should include information about your –

 

a) Key prospects and audience

b) Current and expected competition

c) The possibilities, probabilities and reality of the marketplace at (this) time

 

 

 

#  #  #

Our Phoenix-based marketing agency commissioned a sampling survey of the 8,000-plus subscribers to our newsletter. We did it in order to get a handle on a profile of our readership across many categories. We found that the majority   are 29-54 years of age and are either an entrepreneur, a general manager or sales and marketing executive for a (on average) 24-employee firm.

Something else of interest was our discovery that out of the 282 individual communities represented by our readership, a full 68% were in marketing areas of well over one million residents. And because, as they say, “all business is local,” it got us thinking about the importance of the visibility within a community of a marketing agency, or any other kind of business.  

Regardless of what percentage of your business is national in scope, even placed by decision makers in far away places in some instances, you must have a broad-based local contact network for things like supply chain support and referrals. In order to “reduce” your community to a manageable size, it is desirable to have as strong a presence as possible where you are based.

Rising like a Phoenix 

Like that mythological, rising Phoenix Bird that rises from the ashes, the Phoenix, AZ of my birth, to this day, our headquarters, has risen from a community of some 100,000 to become the nation’s 5^th-largest city, fast approaching five million persons. Obviously, the local marketplace of today bears little resemblance to that of 34 years ago when our company was founded.  

As a boy in the ‘40s, walking down Central Avenue with my dad became a seemingly endless succession of him greeting friends and the exchange of pleasantries. Today in Phoenix, one can spend the better part of a day in the midst of a crowd and see nary a familiar face.  Alas, what is one to do in order to gain even a glint of recognition, let alone become a household word?

 We’ll leave the proposition of becoming a household word to those dealing with Verizon- or McDonald’s-sized marketing budgets and, for our purposes, relate this message to those among us who have smaller-niche prospect groups, yet feel a need for visibility within them. What it comes down to is that old marketing line that goes,” If you want to hunt elephants, you’ve got to go where the elephants are.”

Advertising, and publicity releases aside, to me what this axiom speaks of is the concept of “rubbing elbows” with the decision makers you seek to attract. To network with them through memberships in organizations is the obvious answer. But because your time is your most precious commodity, the emphasis must be on selectivity.

And — take it from a wizened old “networker,” surface superficiality does not  “cut it” on the networking art’s best practices chart. Rather, the magic word is involvement. You must, over a protracted period of time, become immersed in the organizations you choose, up to and including leadership roles. In short, the key is to become a “household word” within smaller but carefully selected community segment`s.”

Making an investment

 

There is one more key word to consider in any discussion of networking. That word is investment. And, I refer not just to your time and money, which are givens with any meaningful affiliation, but an investment of your abilities, input and effort. The success and recognition gained from any group involvement will be in direct proportion to what it is you have contributed to the advancement of the mission of that particular group.

 

 

 The fundamental premise on which all marketing is based is: If the consumer isn’t aware that you exist, you can’t sell your product.

When encountering a prospect on the showroom floor or at a trade show, in every case, he or she was “delivered” to that critical point by an awareness of you; whether through an advertisement, a referral or, in the trade show circumstance, merely because you were there.

What takes place at that point is two-way communication (you standing face to face with the prospect, closing the sale). Though your degree of success will be determined by your persuasiveness, product, knowledge, price, etc., something that happened before that gave you the opportunity: a prospect had to be delivered.

The associates who are working closely with clients at our Phoenix advertising agency have come to realize that in today’s highly competitive marketplace, real success is largely a numbers game. To survive, let alone be a leader in your category, you have to close many sales. In order to do so, you have to have ample numbers of prospects with which to work.

A friend at another Phoenix public agency recently agreed that the key point is this: Developing adequate numbers of prospects cannot be accomplished through two-way communication, either face to face, by phone, the mail or, even, the Internet. Neither you nor your sales staff has anywhere near the time necessary for this crucial function. Prominent publisher McGraw Hill & Co. has estimated that the average sales call requires approximately 45 minutes, and that an average of three calls is required to close a sale. Surely, it’s no way to prospect.

Prospecting is what marketing ¾ the one-way communication element of sales ¾ is ideally suited for. Expensive, time-consuming two-way communication simply isn’t efficient, nor is it effective in developing prospects in the numbers sufficient for business success. Marketing communication, in one form or another, is the answer.

Most anti-marketing hard-liners got that way because they, at some point, were turned off by poor marketing efforts that failed to produce results. This is understandable, because much marketing is misguided or misplaced ¾ but it is not justifiable, and more than likely will be hazardous to bottom-line business health.  

Is marketing foolproof? Will it always produce infallible, guaranteed results? No it won’t, nor is it fair to expect it to (after all, what does?). But it is more science than art, and, as such, has something very important on its side: LOGIC.  Marketing is measurable, quite often yielding predictable results, and as practiced by good professionals, should ¾ and most often does ¾ more than pay for itself.