Archive for January, 2008
HOW TO CREATE YOUR POSITION STATEMENT
Do you know how to create your position statement? Do you even know what a “position statement” is?
Your “position” is a cold-hearted, no-nonsense statement of how you’re perceived in the eyes of your prospect. Your “position statement” is a statement of how you’d wish to be perceived. It is the core message you wish to communicate in every medium, to influence the perceptions of your service.
Utilize the following questionnaire to establish your positioning statement.
1. WHO: Who are you? What’s your style… your drive… your personality… your priorities?
2. WHAT: What business are you in?
3. FOR WHOM: What people to you serve?
4. WHAT NEED: What are the special needs of the people you serve?
5. AGAINST WHOM: With whom are you competing?
6. WHAT’S DIFFERENT: What makes you different from those competitors?
7. WHAT’S THE BENEFIT: What’s the unique benefit that a client derives from your service?
Have seven good, clear… and accurate answers. Make sure these answers are consistently embedded into the fabric of your website, print marketing collateral, email marketing & broadcast advertising.
WHAT DO YOUR CLIENTS VALUE MOST?
An association recently commissioned a study of 300 clients by asking… “What do you value the most from your service provider?” You might assume that fees to be at the top of the list… but you’d be wrong. Fees ranked only 9th on the list. Technical skills and high-level certifications ranked only 8th. The 2nd highest priority for choosing a service provider was a sincere demonstration to establish and maintain a long-term relationship with the client.
What was 1st on the list? “The speed at which they return my phone calls.” That’s right! When questioned in greater detail… these 300 surveyed clients indicated that they weren’t expecting immediate answers… but simply a prompt response. These clients wanted to be treated as though they were important.
Making your clients feel important is a key ingredient to the success of your company and your brand. In spite of your busy schedule… make this your first priority.
OMRON OILFIELD & MARINE PARTNERS WITH LOUD!
Tags: LOUD! Creative, Oil & Gas, Omron Oilfield & Marine
I am thrilled to announce that LOUD! Creative is now partnering with Omron Oilfield & Marine… a leading provider of AC and DC drive systems and custom control systems for the oil & gas industry.
David Noethlich; Director of Marketing for Omron, recruited LOUD! to develop an online [extranet] web solution… that will allow their sales teams to more quickly and efficiently collect and process pertinent information from their prospects while out in the field. This new online tool will simplify this process for prospects, expedite the delivery of information back to Omron headquarters, and mainstream this collected sales data for internal processing and manufacturing.
Dave Noethlich is the visionary that crafted this new and improved approach. Our team is happy to provide the necessary technology to support Dave’s vision.
Dave is a true gentleman… and it’s already been a real delight getting to know him. We’re looking forward to many years of working together.
VALUE IS NOT A POSITION
If your primary selling and branding position is “good value” — then you have no position. Value is what every service promises. The price of your service must fairly reflect its value to your prospective client or customer, or your business will fail.
In services, value is a given, and givens are not viable competitive positions. If good value is the first thing you communicate, you won’t be effective. If good value is your best position… IMPROVE YOUR SERVICE.
9 SUCCESS SECRETS TO BE A BUSINESS CHAMPION
Tags: Business, Inspiration, Leadership, Tiger Woods, winning
I am currently going through the book, “Tiger Traits” by Nate Booth. This book highlights 9 of Tiger’s traits that are essential to his personal, professional and business success.
As you may already know, Tiger Woods has already won over 54 PGA events. He’s the youngest player to win all 4 major pro tournaments, and the only golfer to be reigning champion in all four major tournaments at the same time. In 2006, Tiger earned nearly $100 million in prize money, appearance fees and endorsements.
Tiger’s success is no accident. While Tiger is certainly talented, he possesses at least 9 traits that have allowed him to express that talent in record-setting ways.
While Dr. Nate Booth’s book comprehensively expounds on these traits, I thought I’d share the basics with you, as you aspire to new heights in the success of your own business or organization. Enjoy.
TIGER TRAIT #1: Identify and develop natural talents
TIGER TRAIT #2: Create a clear and compelling dream
TIGER TRAIT #3: Select teachers, heroes and teammates who guide, inspire and support
TIGER TRAIT #4: Be confident
TIGER TRAIT #5: Manufacture magnificent mental models
TIGER TRAIT #6: Let actions do the talking
TIGER TRAIT #7: Constantly improve in good times and bad
TIGER TRAIT #8: Be likeable
TIGER TRAIT #9: Be grateful. Give back.
10 COMMITMENTS FOR 2008
Tags: LOUD! Creative
2007 was a great year, and 2008 promises to be even better for LOUD! Creative Group. I’ve personally reminisced over the relationships we’ve cultivated, the goals we’ve accomplished, the challenges we’ve overcome, and the lessons we’ve learned.
But at LOUD! Creative… we’re passionate about personal growth and corporate development. I feel compelled to be extraordinarily transparent with you. Instead of just posting another tip on branding, business or marketing… I thought I’d share with you the areas in which we’re committed to improving upon in 2008. We don’t have it all figured out, and we learn so much each and every day. So, here we go.
COMMITMENT 1: TO BE MORE EFFECTIVE AT SERVING OUR CLIENTS, AND MAKING THEM FEEL SPECIAL
Simply put… this is our heartbeat, but we can certainly improve. Relationships are at the core of who we are… but sometimes the chaos of a busy schedule and a host of screaming distractions dilute our effectiveness in this area. I am committed, truly and sincerely committed… to serving our clients better in 2008 than ever before. I want to be more in touch. I want LOUD! to become even more of a right-hand partner for our clients, eager to solve problems and add value wherever and whenever we can.
COMMITMENT 2: TO IMPROVE COMMUNICATION BETWEEN OUR TEAM AND OUR CLIENTS
We’ve actually made some progress towards this goal already, but we’ll continue to make progress in 2008. We’ve implemented a Project Hub that bridges the gap between LOUD! Creative and our clients. This Project Hub allows us to manage all facets of large projects like tasks, milestones, files and messaging… all in one centralized location, making project communication more streamlined, convenient and accessible.
COMMITMENT 3: TO ADD VALUE TO MORE BUSINESSES
While LOUD! has partnered with numerous small and large business clients in 2007, it’s simply not enough. In stride with the costs associated with providing high-quality creative, technology and marketing services, our price-points have also been high, prohibiting many smaller business owners and leaders from partnering with us. Well, no more!
In an effort to break down this barrier, we’ve already lowered the pricing structure for our email marketing services by 25%. We’ve also created a Media Portal product, that allows businesses to post their video, audio and image content onto the web for an affordable low monthly fee. Last but certainly not least… we’ve created 2 significantly lower price point packages for website design & development, that start at $299 and $2,999. We want to add value to as many as we can. This is a great step, and we’ll continue to pursue even more innovative strategies to make our services more and more accessible to the small and mid-size business owners.
COMMITMENT 4: TO IMPROVE THE QUALITY OF OUR BLOG
Our blog is primarily for the purpose of providing free tips on business, marketing, technology & design. Well, it’s time to take it up a notch. Be on the lookout for better tips that can help you market and grow your business. This post excluded… I want to say more by saying less. I want to abbreviate the word-count of our posts to save you time. You’ll be seeing more posts that feature relevant and inspirational stories about celebrities, athletes, politicians and business leaders. And last, I will be making a concerted effort to be more personable… and to share more intentionally through the filter of my own personal experiences, and those of LOUD! Creative Group.
COMMITMENT 5: TO MORE EFFECTIVELY FOCUS ON SYSTEMS DEVELOPMENT
If you frequent this blog, then you already know that I advocate the development of business systems. Systems are necessary to become more efficient, to cultivate employee loyalty, to provide predictable results for clients, and to unshackle you from the tyranny of business slavery. Systems are imperative to your ultimate business success. Well… we fall as victim as many of you do to the challenges in mastering this absolutely necessary discipline as we scurry onto the urgent, while neglecting the important. I am committed to focusing more prolifically “and” proficiently on the operational, financial, sales, human resources, information technology and marketing systems of LOUD! Creative Group.
COMMITMENT 6: TO BE MORE IN TOUCH WITH OUR CLIENT FAMILY
This one may sound simple, but we frequently fall short in this department. Whether it’s the fear of being a pest, or the trappings of an arduous schedule… we’re often not as effective as we should be in staying in touch with our existing client family. That’s how we see our clients… as an extension of our family. Whether it’s followup call, an email to touch base, or a hand-written note to check in from time to time… we want to be more in touch. We want our clients to know that they’re special and important to us… and that we’re ready and accessible whenever they need us.
CCOMMITMENT 7: TO BE MORE PHILANTHROPIC
While we’ve served our community through organizations like the Greater Houston Partnership and the Fort Bend Chamber of Commerce, we want to raise the bar. We believe there’s no greater synergy than that which comes from serving others and adding value. We’ll be burrowing ourselves even deeper in these, and other organizations that focus on business development and the overall well-being of our community. We’ll be serving more, leading more, and contributing more.
COMMITMENT 8: TO SHARPEN OUR OWN BLADES
We only recruit the most talented creatives, technicians and leaders in the marketplace. But we’re still committed to improving in our prospective disciplines. Evolving technology and emerging trends require us to remain aggressive in our pursuit of personal growth. We’re committed to understanding and using the newest, stat-of-the-art software, tools and creative resources available to us. We’re committed to honing our individual creative skills in order to remain sharp, agile and relevant, and in order to provide the highest possible quality of design, applications and creative marketing services for our clients.
COMMITMENT 9: TO GROW OUR TEAM AND AVAILABLE RESOURCES
Each time we add a new person to our team, we grow exponentially. We’re not just adding another set of hands. Every new team member introduces a fresh perspective and creativity, leadership, new talents, unique experiences, business acumen, marketing savvy, and additional skill-sets that symbiotically compliment those of our existing staff, allowing us to offer even more horse-power to better serve our clients, and exceed their expectations. 2008 will be a year of growth, and we’ll certainly be adding some dynamic new talent into our mix. We’ll keep you posted.
COMMITMENT 10: TO ASK MORE QUESTIONS
Last but not least… we want to do a better job of asking more questions in 2008. We really can’t demonstrate a true commitment to growth and development without asking the tough, but necessary question… “How can we be better?” While this process can sometimes be painful, we recognize that our brand is founded upon the perceptions of our clients, prospects and community. We desperately want to get better and better and better at what we do, and we need to implement gauges to effectively accomplish this goal. We’ll be implementing a post-project polls and surveys that will allow our clients to candidly review the quality of our work and services… honestly, and openly. This might be difficult from time to time for us… but we recognize its necessity in our relentless pursuit of being the best we can possibly be.
DON’T TOUT YOUR CREDENTIALS
You work hard for your achievements. You have reason to be proud, and to assume others will be too. They will… but far less than you’d suspect.
Consider the research that studied the effect of expert credentials on jurors. Do jurors place “more” faith in experts with the better credentials… higher degrees, or a longer list of articles in respected publications? They don’t. They place faith in the experts that communicate the most clearly.
I would encourage you to refrain from sounding immodest in your marketing efforts, which tends to repel people anyway. More importantly… always be answering the question your clients are thinking and asking… “What have you done for me lately?”
Your credentials are important, but they’re accomplishments of the past, and reveal little about your ability to satisfy the needs of your clients and prospects.
THE BEST SALES & MARKETING PHRASE EVER
The best sales and marketing phrase of the 20th and 21st century is without a doubt… “Would you like fries with that?”
Your best prospects are your existing clients. These are the people that already trust and appreciate you, and what you have to offer.
Create opportunities to sell additional services and products that will add value to your existing network, and you’re considerably farther down the road of closing your sale and earning additional revenue than if you were to send out a thousand brochures or emails to total strangers.