On Our Bookshelf: The Huffington Post Complete Guide to Blogging

Book: The Huffington Post Complete Guide to Blogging

Author: The Editors of The Huffington Post with an Introduction by Arianna Huffington

Summary: The Huffington Post Complete Guide to Blogging is exactly what it says. In addition to insights and and posts from famous bloggers, the guide provides helpful basics such as a listing and short description of the most popular blogging services and optimizing your blog for search engines. Although the book has a decidedly political and journalistic orientation, it is an excellent place to start for blogging of any kind, and even contains a “Glossary of Blogging Terms” for total newbies.

You’ll love this book if: You are ready to jump in and start writing.

You’ll hate this book if: You allow the guide’s political frame of reference get in the way of its educational content.

Words of Wisdom:

The blogosphere thrives on authenticity. No one really sounds like a law paper, an academic paper, or a PowerPoint presentation. So your blog shouldn’t sound like that either. You want your posts to sound like you at your most witty, entertaining, and relevant. Tape yourself as you critique something you read in the newspaper. If you take out the “ums” and clean up the grammar, a transcription of this tape could be the start of a good blog post. Or don’t clean up the grammar.

Why we think this book is important: Blogging is a touchpoint opportunity that cannot be overlooked. Your organization’s blog is the ideal medium for your organization to have an ongoing authentic conversation with your customers.

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On Our Bookshelf: Karaoke Capitalism

Book: Karaoke Capitalism: Daring to Be Different in a Copycat World

Author: Jonas Ridderstrale and Kjell A. Nordstrom

Summary: Karaoke Capitalism: Daring to Be Different in a Copycat World offers a compelling argument against traditional business metrics such as “benchmarking” and “best practice.” In a thoughtful and well-supported (there are 510 footnotes) case, we learn just how dangerous it is to sustain sameness – that it leads merely to mediocrity.

You’ll love this book if: You understand (or want to understand) that corporations cannot survive following the “me-too” rules of the business world.

You’ll hate this book if: You are not comfortable cultivating change, creativity or diversity in your organization.

Words of Wisdom:

Companies must, therefore, also learn to forget. They must delete to develop, destroy to build … Quite often doing so is easier said than done… In an organizational setting, getting rid of the past is particularly difficult since many senior executives are at the top because the are experts at what was important yesterday.

Why we think this book is important: This book provides detailed insight on why you must – and how you can – design an exceptional customer experience by transforming your organization from the inside out.

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On Our Bookshelf: The Knowing-Doing Gap

Book: The Knowing-Doing Gap: How Smart Companies Turn Knowledge into Action

Author: Jeffrey Pfeffer and Robert I. Sutton

Summary: The Knowing-Doing Gap: How Smart Companies Turn Knowledge into Action is not just another strategy book about “what to do.” Pfeffer and Sutton convincingly argue that management already knows what to do. The gap that exists between “knowing” and “doing” actually resides within the unique culture of an organization. Yes, we are talking about execution.

You’ll love this book if: You are willing to take an honest appraisal of your organization’s culture, and the roles that fear vs. collaboration play in execution.

You’ll hate this book if: You are comfortable with building your business using a hierarchical management structure laced with fear.

Words of Wisdom:

Fear starts, or stops, at the top. It is unfortunate, but true, that a formal hierarchy give people at the top power to fire or harm the careers of people at lower levels … Organizations that are successful in turning knowledge into action are frequently characterized by leaders who inspire respect, affection, or admiration, but not fear.

Why we think this book is important: An environment of action, which values employee collaboration and cooperation, is far more likely to result in satisfied, motivated employees. People who feel good about their jobs - the impact of their work-related activities – create positive customer touchpoints along the way.

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Do your touchpoints need to be … cool?

Book: Chasing Cool: Standing Out in Today’s Cluttered Marketplace

Author: Noah Kerner, Gene Pressman, Andrew Essex

Summary: Chasing Cool: Standing Out in Today’s Cluttered Marketplace is a book about authenticity. While the book’s examples are from design and culture-related industries, the message is clear for any organization, be it a bank or an automobile manufacturer: Cool is the ultimate point of difference.

You’ll love this book if: You believe you can learn a business lesson from looking outside the traditional boundaries of your current industry.

You’ll hate this book if: You think the word “cool” is only for kids.

Words of Wisdom:

The only way to build a true communion with an audience – to a point where they might deem you or your work “cool” – is to follow a personal vision and stay true to that vision no matter what. And if your completely off-the-wall idea gets old, come up with another one.

Why we think this book is important: Cool = authentic. Customers cannot be fooled: Ensure that your touchpoints are authentic.

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I was skeptical at first of a book called Chasing Cool co-authored by a guy who used to be a DJ.

But it was the subhead of the book that made me buy it: Standing Out in Today’s Cluttered Marketplace.

I mean, who doesn’t want to stand out in today’s cluttered marketplace, right?

It turns out that Chasing Cool is a book about authenticity. And you won’t find – or become – cool by chasing it.

The authors (Noah Kerner, Gene Pressman, Andrew Essex) describe interviewing innovators from “influential industries”:

Music, architecture, design, film, Internet, consumer brands, art, fashion, advertising, and nightlife … All that time yielded one common thread: none of these people chased anything. They trusted their guts, put their names on the line, and followed their personal passions … They pursued a vision and, then, somewhere down the road, cool found them.

The world’s best …

One of my favorite examples in the book is about a famous ultra-premium vodka.

Grey Goose’s tagline: “The World’s Best Tasting Vodka” is simply … a “positioning statement.” Yet Goose is synonymous with “ultra-premium” vodka.

Is Goose really the world’s best-tasting vodka? Well, according to the now-infamous Times vodka taste test in 2005, Smirnoff was actually the best-tasting: “Pure, clean, and ultra smooth, with pleasing texture and classic vodka aroma.”

The idea behind Goose? Genius. And definitely cool.

Rock stars who … aren’t

As mentioned above, the music industry played a part in this book. (Makes sense; most of us think rock stars are cool.) What was interesting, however, was that apparently (some) record companies use software to help decide what artists to sign.

It becomes less about a gut decision to sign someone who seems genuinely talented than it is about the arc on a spreadsheet.

(Doesn’t sound very cool, does it?)

There’s even a program … which helps record companies determine the chart potential of a song before deciding whether to invest in promoting it. The company claims that they can find mathematical patterns in music and that hit songs are concentrated into a tiny number of trait clusters.

Perhaps that helps explain why the list of  Billboard’s Top 10 grossing tours of 2008 was dominated by classic rock acts.

Cool – is it like Justice Potter Stewart’s “I know it when I see it?”

Bottom line: Your customers will know it when they see it

You can’t fool your customers. And why would you want to try? Strive to ensure all touchpoints are authentic. Your customers will know (and appreciate) you for it.

And that’s pretty cool.

PS – that guy who used to be a DJ? He’s the CEO of noise, based in NYC.

Of Tribes and Touchpoints

Book: Tribes: We Need You To Lead Us

Author: Seth Godin

Summary: Tribes: We Need You to Lead Us explores the idea that humans have always joined tribes, and the Internet now makes tribe assembly easier than ever. The business application here is that by providing opportunities for your customers to engage with your product or service, while giving employees the freedom to accomplish amazing things, you potentially set up a platform for a conversation – even a tribe – to form around your organization.

You’ll love this book if: You are open to encouraging employees and customers to openly and passionately dialogue about your organization – and learning from this experience.

You’ll hate this book if: You are not interested in creating a customer experience worth talking about, and you think it’s OK for your employees to be bored with their jobs.

Words of Wisdom:

The business world has a long history of conservatives tribes, of groups of people who relish the status quo. The big news is that this has changes. People yearn for change, they relish being part of a movement, and they talk about things that are remarkable, not boring.

Why we think this book is important: Engaged employees translate into engaged (and profitable) customers.

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Tribes: We Need You to Lead Us is another scrumptious Seth Godin nugget, easily consumed in one sitting (or curl-up). In tribe-driven world, anyone can be a leader and thanks to the Internet, it is easier than ever for tribes to assemble.

So what is a “tribe”?

A clear definition of tribe is right there on the inside flap of the book jacket. So clear, so compelling – you are practically dared not to open the book and learn more.

A tribe is any group of people, large or small, who are connected to one another, a leader, and an idea. For millions of years, humans have joined tribes, be they religious, ethnic, political, or even musical (think of the Deadheads).

What does this idea of a tribe have to do with business?

Um, everything.

You see, your customers are bored. They’re not listening to you. Why should they? If you’re like most organizations, you’re more interested in maintaining the same old, same old than creating something exceptional – something your customers will want to talk about.

Something that will compel your customers to form a tribe around your product or service.

The business world has a long history of conservative tribes, of groups of people who relish the status quo. The big news is that this has changed. People yearn for change, they relish being part of a movement, and they talk about things that remarkable, not boring.

And guess what – if your employees are bored, your customers are bored, too.

How sheepwalking damages the customer relationship lifecycle

Godin defines sheepwalking as

The outcome of hiring people who have been raised to be obedient and giving them brain-dead jobs and enough fear to keep them in line.

If it is common knowledge these days that engaged employees translate into engaged (and profitable) customers, why do organizations continue the practice of sheepwalking?

And many organizations go out of their way to hire people who color inside the lines, who demonstrate consistency and compliance. And then these organizations give these people jobs where they are managed via fear. Which leads to sheepwalking (“I might get fired!”).

Here is what it’s like for your customers when sheepwalking and touchpoints collide:

• That’s not my job
• I’m off work in 5 minutes; you’ll have to call back tomorrow
• I can’t go out of my way to help you without my boss’s permission

OK, you get it. But what are you going to do about it?

When you hire amazing people and give them freedom, they do amazing stuff. And the sheepwalkers and their bosses watch and shake their heads, certain that this is an exception and that it is way too risky for their industry or their customer base.

Which tribe are you leading?

As you consider the relationship of your employees, your customers and the touchpoints along the customer relationship lifecycle, stop and ask yourself: “Do I want to continue as a leader of sheepwalking or do I want to lead the way for my company to do something remarkable?”

Leading a tribe? Share your experience with us – we’d love to hear from you!

Let’s talk about … books: Discover Your Sales Strengths

Book: Discover Your Sales Strengths: How the World’s Greatest Salespeople Develop Winning Careers

Author: Benson Smith & Tony Rutigliano

Summary: Discover Your Sales Strengths: How the World’s Greatest Salespeople Develop Winning Careers is a wonderfully counterintuitive exploration of developing star salespeople. The book’s premise is the idea that focusing on a person’s strengths will allow them to perform at an exceptional level, while focusing on weaknesses merely produces average results.

You’ll love this book if: You want to try a new strategy for improving your sales results, and the results of your sales team.

You’ll hate this book if: You are steeped in “old school” sales training, such as “working to improve” people’s weaknesses.

Words of Wisdom:

Focusing energy on weaknesses might improve performance somewhat, but – contrary to conventional wisdom – great performance comes from strengths. Knowing your talents, understanding them thoroughly, building them into strengths, and seeing how you can put your strengths to work every day isa key to greatness and, our research would attest, the surer path to success.

Why we think this book is important: Your salespeople are quite possibly your organization’s most important customer touchpoint.

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The book Discover Your Sales Strengths: How the World’s Greatest Salespeople Develop Winning Careers is a wonderfully counterintuitive exploration of developing star salespeople. The book’s premise is the idea that focusing on a person’s strengths will allow them to perform at an exceptional level, while focusing on weaknesses merely produces average results.

What is a strength?

A strength, as defined here, is a capacity for near-perfect performance on a consistent basis. To fully grasp the significance of this, you are well-advised take the companion online assessment, StrengthsFinder. A unique ID number is located on the inside cover of the book and you will use it to complete your own StrengthsFinder assessment.

StrengthFinder measures the presence of talent within the thirty-four themes we have discovered are most indicative of success.

Discover your Sales Strengths does a beautiful job of debunking the prevailing sales training and sales management techniques:

The myth that we grow fastest by paying attention to our weaknesses is incredibly damaging. Sadly, some company development programs are build around this destructive myth, which usually comes disguised as career help.

Ouch! But wait, there’s more:

“What did I do wrong?” This is the curse of the average performer, always trying to improve a weakness. It is a never-ending task. Great performers follow a different tack. They figure out what they do right – and do more of it!

In the section entitled The Manager Effect, the Q12 concept is presented. The Q12 is a list of twelve key questions that affect on important business outcomes, including customer loyalty.

I will divulge only one of the Q12 items:

At work, I have the opportunity to do what I do best every day.

If you haven’t figured it out by now, your sales force is a crucial touchpoint.

Your assignment

• Read Discover your Sales Strengths .
• Give a copy to each of your sales people so they can take the StrengthsFinder assessment.
• Put the findings into action.
• Prepare for the exciting change ahead.

Can you see the real me?

Recently, MCorp’s Harley-riding, blues-drumming Controller, Carl, and I were having a conversation about “personas outside the workplace.” The next day, Carl introduced me to a blog he likes called The Personal Branding Blog.

I don’t know about you, but I have always found it uncomfortable to “leave my personality at the door” just because I’m “at work.” I love the idea of the “personal brand” and I find it to be quite liberating.

The transparency of the “digital ID” makes it easier for real people to do business with real people. And I like doing business with real people, don’t you?

Meet the new boss

Remember when you had an interview and you Googled the CEO (or whoever your new boss might be) and all you could come up with was the corporate headshot and a boring paragraph of nothing but work-related stuff? Weren’t you really looking for something interesting, like hobbies or a glimpse into his/her life outside of work?

What if you Googled your prospective new boss and you got to see a video of her first snowboarding experience (and it was hilarious)? Or the CEO who works weekends at the local animal shelter and has posted a photo album full of pictures of himself bottle-feeding tiny foster kittens?

Wouldn’t you rather work for a person than a corporate headshot? And if you are the CEO, wouldn’t you rather have your organization filled with diverse, interesting personalities? You don’t really want your people to leave their uniqueness “at the door” – do you?

Tom Peters has been telling us to look differently at hiring criteria for quite some time now. Here he is in Re-imagine! Business Excellence in a Disruptive Age:

I champion the idea of weird for only one reason: These are … Weird Times. Therefor (simple logic): We desperately need an Eclectic/Weird/Peculiar Talent Pool. (Not a bunch of clones.)

I think we can extrapolate from the above that someone who is “weird” (in corporate-speak) is someone who indeed brings their personal brand to work.

Are you ready to see your COO’s monster truck rally videos on YouTube?

A couple of the ideas that I found especially intriguing in Personal Branding Predictions: The Top 9 for 2009

1. Video as primary personal branding tool.

It’s a great medium because it allows you clearly communicate your message while showcasing your personality and creativity. Look at the popularity of YouTube and you can see how video will become an even more important element in your personal media plan.

and

8. More widespread adoption of the term personal brand.

‘Personal brand’ will be standard term inside companies to describe colleagues – as in “He’s always late, that’s part of his personal brand” and on an annual review “your personal brand attributes of creative and clever make you an exceptionally valuable part of the team.” Now that personal branding has become a part of the talent development curriculum at many companies, the term has taken on a life of its own.

What do you think?

Do you think that encouraging the development of your employees’ personal brands (in and out of the workplace) will have a positive effect on your company’s brand? Tell us about it!

Will Dunder Mifflin win?

In the most recent episode of NBC’s The Office, Michael offers to gather intelligence on a neighboring competitor by posing as a potential client.

Michael happily schemes to annihilate Prince Family Paper, but then finds himself in a moral dilemma when the rival turns out to be a family-owned Mom and Pop business. And they couldn’t have been nicer to Michael, who is posing as an interested prospect.

The owner of the business even gives Michael their client list.

After the “meeting”, Michael ends up having a problem with his car, and “Pop” fixes his car. While he waits, “Mom” brings him a cup of coffee.

Getting Personal

Now that there is a very human face on the competition, Michael doesn’t want to hurt these people by turning the client list over to his boss. Unfortunately, Dwight manages to take the list away from Michael after an amusing foot chase around the office and parking lot, which forces Michael to turn the list over to his boss.

Armed with the Prince Family Paper’s client list, the conventional thinking is that Dunder Mifflin can now put Prince Family Paper out of business.

Or could they?

It’s pretty easy to take a closer “look” at this situation for the customer experience perspective. It is highly likely that the companies on the Prince Family Paper client list are already aware of the larger company, Dunder Mifflin. Let’s say it’s common knowledge that the larger company’s prices are lower than the Mom and Pop operation.

So why would these companies authorize paying more to work with Prince Family Paper?

“People who need people”

Based on what we saw in the episode, my guess is that Prince Family Paper has a loyal following that values customer service over lowest prices. Like many small businesses that have a loyal following, highly personalized service is the cornerstone of their brand. Prince Family Paper understands that people do business with people. And as long as they adhere to this principle, their clients are unlikely to stray merely in pursuit of lower prices.

As we go about our sales activities, let’s keep this classic quote from American Business woman Mary Kay Ash in mind:

Pretend that every single person you meet has a sign around his or her neck that says, ”Make me feel important.” Not only will you succeed in sales, you will succeed in life.

What do you think – can a “Dunder Mifflin” win? Could your customers be lured away by lower prices? What are you doing to make sure your customers want to stay with you?

And, if you were armed with your competitor’s client list, what would you do?

Suggestion: Be this guy instead

You may recall that in our first post in the “Don’t be that guy” category, I called out Citrix for the overly aggressive sales experience I had with them when I signed up for a webinar.

I think it’s only fair that I follow up with a suggestion on how these first interactions might have been done differently.

Step 1: Align the first email with the first step in the sales cycle.

The fact that I was required to used the GoToWebinar product in order to attend the webinar should not have translated into the broad assumption that I have an interest in the product. The email, as you recall, began with

Thank you for your recent interest in …

and thus was geared towards a lead.

A more appropriate introduction might have been:

Thank you for signing up for (the webinar). Citrix is pleased to partner with (webinar company) to bring you this informative presentation.

Step 2: Segment responses for follow up.

The second part of the email might have contained a link:

Would you like to learn more about collaboration technology? Please take a moment to view this presentation. You are welcome to contact me directly at …

As you can see, the link to the presentation provides a data-gathering opportunity.

The recipients who click through to the presentation might indeed be interested in the product. They might receive a second email thanking them for their interest and asking them to expect a call.

A different email might be sent to those who did not click through to view the presentation:

We hope you enjoyed (the webinar). We are proud to make it possible for you to experience the best web collaboration experience ever. Should you wish to learn more about (our product), please feel free to contact me or check out this presentation.

Step 3: Don’t hand it off to sales until it’s actually a lead.

Making the effort to nurture recipients into prospects and prospects into leads increases your chances of connecting with those who are interested in your product at the right time.

This makes it possible for salespeople to manage their time more efficiently. Even though it requires significant involvement on marketing’s part to nurture those leads through the process, by the time the leads are handed to sales, the chances of leads actually closing will increase.

(In our particular example, however, the issue was compounded by the fact that the salesperson lied. My suggestion? Just don’t do it.)

Don’t be that guy

I love to learn for the sake of learning. (Unless it has something to do with math.)

My favorite mode of learning is what they used to call in public schools “self-paced.” I am a frequent consumer of webinars and online courses. I’m a constant consumer of books. (Sitting in a classroom – or conference room – doesn’t work for me. I think my mom calls this “ants in the pants.”)

A couple of my favorite topics include marketing and sales. Which part? All of it. Lead generation, lead nurturing, lead conversion. Cold-calling, warm-calling, call scripts.

The funny thing is, I don’t study this stuff because of my job (although, as a marketer, it is tremendously useful).  I study this stuff because it’s interesting. It’s really about human behavior. Mine and everyone else’s.

So it was in this spirit of learning that I signed up for a webinar … about webinars. Which, by the way, I thought was terrific! (In fact, I plan to use the invitation/landing page concept right away.)

When I signed up, I received an email from Citrix. What struck me immediately was the first line of the email:

Thank you for your recent interest in GoToMeeting now with GoToWebinar, the 3rd generation of web conferencing and collaboration technology.

Hmm. I’m not at all interested in GoToMeeting. I simply signed up for a webinar. I hope they leave me alone.

Email marketing is, of course, part of what we do. You probably do it, too. In fact, our email campaigns are a key part of my job. So I consider each marketing email that I receive to be a learning tool. In this case, the lesson is “Don’t assume.”

I will be calling you in the next day or two to review your needs or interest and help determine if our service is the right solution for your online meeting & collaboration needs. If you would prefer to schedule our call, please let me know when you have availability.

Oh no. They’re going to call me.

I found this email to be so pushy and assumptive that I shared it with one of my colleagues. It turned out she had received the same emails – and already received The Phone Call:”I told them we were not interested at this time,” and added, “(they) were ‘pushy’; I didn’t like it.”

Whew. I was relieved that The Phone Call was over.

Or was it?

A couple of days later, I finally received The Phone Call. I was surprised because this was the same person that spoke to my colleague – what kind of sales manager would allow salespeople to call in to the company just a couple of days after already getting a “no, thank you”?

And wait till you hear how they started the pitch:

Hi, Rhishja. I’ve been talking to other people in your company and they have expressed interest in our product.

As soon as there was a pause I said, “You spoke to Denise a couple of days ago, and she told you we’re not interested at this time. All we cared about was accessing the webinar.”

Silence.

I broke the silence by thanking them for checking in with me.

I understand that prospects need to be contacted. I understand the concept of sending marketing emails to prospects. And follow-up calls. I get that. I live that.

But there’s no excuse for lying.

Have your own “don’t be that guy” story? Share it with us!