Tanveer's blog

Six Keys to Being Excellent at Anything

2010-12-05T13:54:00.001-08:00

I've been playing tennis for nearly five decades. I love the game and I hit the ball well, but I'm far from the player I wish I were.

I've been thinking about this a lot the past couple of weeks, because I've taken the opportunity, for the first time in many years, to play tennis nearly every day. My game has gotten progressively stronger. I've had a number of rapturous moments during which I've played like the player I long to be.

And almost certainly could be, even though I'm 58 years old. Until recently, I never believed that was possible. For most of my adult life, I've accepted the incredibly durable myth that some people are born with special talents and gifts, and that the potential to truly excel in any given pursuit is largely determined by our genetic inheritance.

During the past year, I've read no fewer than five books — and a raft of scientific research — which powerfully challenge that assumption (see below for a list). I've also written one, The Way We're Working Isn't Working, which lays out a guide, grounded in the science of high performance, to systematically building your capacity physically, emotionally, mentally, and spiritually.

We've found, in our work with executives at dozens of organizations, that it's possible to build any given skill or capacity in the same systematic way we do a muscle: push past your comfort zone, and then rest. Aristotle Will Durant*, commenting on Aristotle, pointed out that the philosopher had it exactly right 2000 years ago: "We are what we repeatedly do." By relying on highly specific practices, we've seen our clients dramatically improve skills ranging from empathy, to focus, to creativity, to summoning positive emotions, to deeply relaxing.

Like everyone who studies performance, I'm indebted to the extraordinary Anders Ericsson, arguably the world's leading researcher into high performance. For more than two decades, Ericsson has been making the case that it's not inherited talent which determines how good we become at something, but rather how hard we're willing to work — something he calls "deliberate practice." Numerous researchers now agree that 10,000 hours of such practice as the minimum necessary to achieve expertise in any complex domain.

There is something wonderfully empowering about this. It suggests we have remarkable capacity to influence our own outcomes. But that's also daunting. One of Ericsson's central findings is that practice is not only the most important ingredient in achieving excellence, but also the most difficult and the least intrinsically enjoyable.

If you want to be really good at something, it's going to involve relentlessly pushing past your comfort zone, along with frustration, struggle, setbacks and failures. That's true as long as you want to continue to improve, or even maintain a high level of excellence. The reward is that being really good at something you've earned through your own hard work can be immensely satisfying.

Here, then, are the six keys to achieving excellence we've found are most effective for our clients:

1. Pursue what you love. Passion is an incredible motivator. It fuels focus, resilience, and perseverance.
2. Do the hardest work first. We all move instinctively toward pleasure and away from pain. Most great performers, Ericsson and others have found, delay gratification and take on the difficult work of practice in the mornings, before they do anything else. That's when most of us have the most energy and the fewest distractions.
3. Practice intensely, without interruption for short periods of no longer than 90 minutes and then take a break. Ninety minutes appears to be the maximum amount of time that we can bring the highest level of focus to any given activity. The evidence is equally strong that great performers practice no more than 4 Â½ hours a day.
4. Seek expert feedback, in intermittent doses. The simpler and more precise the feedback, the more equipped you are to make adjustments. Too much feedback, too continuously, however, can create cognitive overload, increase anxiety, and interfere with learning.
5. Take regular renewal breaks. Relaxing after intense effort not only provides an opportunity to rejuvenate, but also to metabolize and embed learning. It's also during rest that the right hemisphere becomes more dominant, which can lead to creative breakthroughs.
6. Ritualize practice. Will and discipline are wildly overrated. As the researcher Roy Baumeister has found, none of us have very much of it. The best way to insure you'll take on difficult tasks is to ritualize them — build specific, inviolable times at which you do them, so that over time you do them without having to squander energy thinking about them.

I have practiced tennis deliberately over the years, but never for the several hours a day required to achieve a truly high level of excellence. What's changed is that I don't berate myself any longer for falling short. I know exactly what it would take to get to that level.

I've got too many other higher priorities to give tennis that attention right now. But I find it incredibly exciting to know that I'm still capable of getting far better at tennis — or at anything else — and so are you.

How Ford Profits from its '24 Hour Rule'

2010-12-05T13:51:00.000-08:00

At Ford Motor Company, we've spent the last few years engineering a well-recognized turnaround. One of the key tools we've used to accomplish it is something we call the 24-Hour Rule. It's a management practice based on a favorite saying of Ford's CEO, Alan Mulally. As Alan puts it: "You can't manage a secret."

Enormously complex undertakings—such as planning, designing, developing, manufacturing, marketing and selling a full line of high-quality vehicles—inevitably come down to tactics and execution, to the day-to-day management decisions that can keep the system running smoothly or stop it in its tracks.

At Ford, the vehicle launch process, when product development is completed and we begin to manufacture a new vehicle and send it to the dealers, is a very tight, synchronized period. Everything has to work together smoothly. It's a critical, months-long phase with a rigorous cadence, and the closer you get to what we call "job one"—the first vehicle that will actually be sold to the public—the more crucial the timing becomes. To finally assemble a car, from 1,500 to 3,000 parts have to come together from various sites and locations around the world. There's a lot that can go wrong.

We spend a lot of time hunting for problems. During launch, people are driving cars, they're running tests, and they're doing things that can lead to the discovery of a new complication that could delay a launch. Say I'm an engineer who suddenly finds such a problem. I probably want to solve it on my own if I can--that's human nature. But it's not the right impulse. If I sit on a problem for too long, working on it in isolation, the whole team—and the launch timeline—may suffer.

So we put a rule in place. It says: 'You have 24 hours to take a new and emerging issue, try to understand it and see if you can resolve it yourself. After that, you have to go public with it.' It's an escalation process. Because with a lot of these issues, we can solve them pretty quickly by applying the intellect we have in this company.

Other times, instead of keeping problems to themselves or their team, people will say 'Okay, this issue is coming up,' and ask us to bring it to the table at our regular senior leadership meetings. We only bring the best data we have into those sessions, but in a situation like this, the team may not have enough information for senior leadership to act on. So rather than presenting it to senior management without knowing the full magnitude of the problem, we'll tell the team: 'You have 24 hours to vet the issue and then bring it into the meeting for help.'

The 24-hour time period is something of a theme at Ford. It's a useful tool, an iconic yet practical measure of performance. For example, we have another rule that every warranty claim or other complaint that comes into a Ford plant from dealers or customers is addressed within 24 hours, guaranteed.

The 24 hour rule is one simple step in a broader process that's begun to show results. Ford has significantly improved the quality of our vehicles over the last five years, and the car-buying public has responded. We just announced our sixth straight profitable quarter—one that made Ford "the world's most profitable automaker," according to Bloomberg. Our U.S. sales are up 21 percent this year through September, twice the industry average, while our market share reached 15.9 percent in the third quarter, up from 14.6 percent a year earlier. Earlier this year Ford achieved its highest ever finish in the J.D. Power and Associates Initial Quality Survey.

There are lots of reasons—thousands of them, really, if you consider the number of individual Ford employees who helped make it a reality—why this "Ford turnaround," as it's been called in the media, has been successful. We have strong leadership, a dedicated workforce, a unified strategy and a very fluid communication process from the shop floor to the top of the house.

Rome wasn't built in a day, and Ford's quality tu

Why It's Better to Be Smart and Wrong than Just Silent

2010-12-05T13:48:00.001-08:00

I'm always amazed when I hear about smart, talented people going to their supervisors to ask for guidance using phrases like, "What do you think I should do?" Or, "How should I...?"

Let's assume that you've gotten to where you are in life precisely because you're smart, well-educated and have considerable experience in your field. Or, you're young, ambitious and a good problem-solver. Either way, the question, "How should I ____?" should never leave your lips.

As a young professional or junior executive, it's not crazy to think you won't know what to do all of the time. Having limited or bad information is a reality many of us face on a regular basis. What we do in that situation, however, is up to us.

When you're not sure what to do or how to proceed, don't start with a blank slate and ask for help. Instead, start with what you do know, state your intended direction (and rationale behind it) and then get the buy-in or feedback of your manager. I've suggested this before, but here's an example of how it could work:

Meet Jonathan, a young analyst at an accounting firm. Jonathan was working on building out financial projections for a start-up business and he was stumped. Jonathan didn't have good information for making revenue growth or profit margin assumptions. It would be easy for Jonathan to get frustrated and just call up his boss and ask him what to do.

But if I'm Jonathan's boss, I don't want to do the legwork for him to figure out what he should do. I want him to come to me with an opinion. I want him to put a stake in the ground and give me an idea of what he thinks he should do. I want him to lay out his argument for or against going in a certain direction or using a certain set of assumptions, and then get my feedback or opinion on whether that's the right course of action.

Let's say Jonathan comes to me and says:

I want to talk to you about the financial projections for the Zeller project. There isn't much information available from Zeller to help us build out revenue growth rates and profit margins. However, I've looked at some comparable companies, and I think a revenue growth rate of 4% a year is reasonable and a profit margin of 25% is a good ballpark number, and I think we should go with that. How does that sound to you?

If Jonathan is right and I agree with him, he's just showed me how smart he is.

If I disagree with him, he's still done himself a favor by demonstrating his thought process and making his opinion heard.

Here's what I might say:

Actually, Jonathan, I think 4% is probably low. Based on the company's product development efforts, I think you should assume a more aggressive growth rate of about 7% and hold margins constant at 22%.

How does Jonathan sound now? Does he sound dumb because I disagreed with him? He doesn't. Jonathan's analysis turned out to be wrong, but at least it had merit — it was well thought-out and based on research.

Even though I didn't agree with Jonathan, at least I knew he put some thought into the problem. His suggestion also likely made it easier for me to respond and give advice. I didn't have to run the initial numbers myself; I could simply integrate the additional information I had at my disposal to come up with a better answer. In effect, he helped me get part way towards the right answer.

Contrast this conversation with the one is which Jonathan comes to me and says:

I need some help with the Zeller financial projections. There's limited information available and I don't know what assumptions to use for revenue growth rates and profit margins.

What can I possibly think of Jonathan in this conversation? Is he smart? I have no idea. Is he lazy? Maybe. Is he a good problem solver? Your guess is as good as mine.

I'd take the guy whose wrong any day over the one who comes to me with nothing at all and asks me to do his work for him. So don't keep quiet. Put yourself out there. Think through your issue, come up with some thoughts or ideas around what to do and then put a stake in the ground. Being wrong isn't terrible. Being passive is.

Create a Nelson Mandela Brand

2010-12-05T13:46:00.001-08:00

Recently, I sat in a meeting with some of our best clients and pondered the constant chase of brand attributes that we as marketers often find ourselves engaged in — the endless measuring of attributes and their attribution to the brand, the ceaseless tweaking of messaging and money spent to get these attributes tracking in the right direction. I sat and realized once again how easy it is to chase the wrong thing.

No matter the brand, company, category, product, or service, the most common list of attributes everyone wants to be associated with goes something like this: candor, accessibility, innovation, invention, forward thinking, collaborative, friendly, easy to work with, trustworthy, leader, fun. A list that my longtime mentor Steve Hayden calls the "horoscope" of brand attributes; meaning "who wouldn't want to be all those things?" And "who wants the opposite?"

Which of course means there is nothing unique in the list to pursue — not a helpful observation when you're trying to create market value out of brand distinction.

On a whim that day, I jumped up and tested an exercise I've repeated many times since, always with the same result. I went to the whiteboard, grabbed a marker, and asked the group to shout out the attributes of Nelson Mandela.

"Brave," came the first response. "Courageous!" quickly followed. As did a whole list of attributes like "altruistic, heroic, peaceful, wise, thoughtful, giving, caring, loving, fearless" and more. About 30 different adjectives (roughly the number of people in the room) quickly found their way onto the board.

"What is the problem with this list?" I asked. Then I pointed to a colleague in the room, let's call him Frank, and mused, "the problem with the list is that it describes Nelson Mandela, and it describes Frank, a caring, wise, thoughtful, loving, giving and peaceful father and husband. But Frank is not Nelson Mandela. Sorry, Frank."

Then I asked the group to tell me what Nelson Mandela stood for. At once, as one, in unison, the room erupted with one word: freedom. Which I wrote on the board.

"That," I said, is not just the difference between Frank and Mr. Mandela, that is the difference between a true brand stance and an easy list of attributes." Understand your stance in the world, understand your true values, what you're actually up to and the why, your reason to get up in the morning — get that right, pursue that mission with full force and fury — and all the attributes you desire will surely follow.

Thirty people created a list of attributes that describe any good parent anywhere in the world. Those same people also recognized instantly that Nelson Mandela is not a collection of attributes but a man of purpose, stance, value and pure mission in the world: He stands for one thing, freedom, and all else has followed.

What this means for our brands, our companies:

1. Know that you will never be remembered (or rewarded in the marketplace) for attributes; rather you will be remembered for what you do with them.

2. Nail your market and world stance, and all else will follow. It's not so much what you make, what you sell; it's why you do it that matters, and how. The graveyard is littered with great gadgets and ideas that had no reason to be.

3. Always stay on mission. Always execute against your stance, not against attributes. Measure the market's understanding of your reason to be — who you are and why you do what you do.

4. When lured by the ease of chasing and measuring attributes (as we all are at times), test them by their opposites. For example, you want to be known as honest? Great. Know any company that wants to be known as dishonest? Therein lies the problem. Honesty is the price of entry for all. If you have to chase honesty as an attribute, take note, you've got much bigger problems than any list of brand attributes and research tools will solve.

5. Finally, this applies to you, the human, as much as it does to your company or institution. You have your own set of adjectives and attributes associated with you as a person: the question is, what will you do with them?

Story of Appreciation

2010-11-29T23:57:00.001-08:00

One young academically excellent person went to apply for a managerial position in a big company.

He passed the first interview, the director did the last interview, made the last decision.

The director discovered from the CV that the youth's academic achievements were excellent all the way,
from the secondary school until the postgraduate research, never had a year when he did not score good grades.

The director asked, "Did you obtain any scholarships in school?" the youth answered "None."

The director asked, " Was it your father who paid for your school fees?"
The youth answered, "My father passed away when I was one year old, it was my mother who paid for my school fees."
The director asked, "Where did your mother work?"
The youth answered, "My mother worked as clothes cleaner."
The director requested the youth to show his hands. The youth showed a pair of hands that were smooth and perfect.

The director asked, " Have you ever helped your mother wash the clothes before?"

The youth answered, "Never, my mother always wanted me to study and read more books. Furthermore, my mother can wash clothes faster than me."

The director said, "I have a request. When you go back today, go and clean your mother's hands, and then see me tomorrow morning."

The youth felt that his chance of landing the job was high. When he went back, he happily requested his mother to let him clean her hands. His mother felt strange, happy but with mixed feelings, she showed her hands to the kid.

The youth cleaned his mother's hands slowly.
His tear fell as he did that.
It was the first time he noticed that his mother's hands were so wrinkled, and there were so many bruises in her hands. Some bruises were so painful that his mother shivered when they were cleaned with water.

This was the first time the youth realized that it was this pair of hands that washed the clothes everyday to enable him to pay the school fee. The bruises in the mother's hands were the price that the mother had to pay for his graduation, academic excellence and his future.

After finishing the cleaning of his mother hands, the youth quietly washed all the remaining clothes for his mother.

That night, mother and son talked for a very long time.

Next morning, the youth went to the director's office.

The Director noticed the tears in the youth's eyes, asked: "Can you tell me what have you done and learned yesterday in your house?"

The youth answered, "I cleaned my mother's hand, and also finished cleaning all the remaining clothes."

The Director asked, "Please tell me your feelings."

The youth said,
Number 1, I know now what is appreciation. Without my mother, there would not be the successful me today.
Number 2, by working together and helping my mother, only I now realize how difficult and tough it is to get something done.
Number 3, I have come to appreciate the importance and value of family relationship.

The director said, "This is what I am looking for to be my manager."

I want to recruit a person who can appreciate the help of others, a person who knows the sufferings of
others to get things done, and a person who would not put money as his only goal in life. You are hired.

Later on, this young person worked very hard, and received the respect of his subordinates. Every employee worked diligently and as a team. The company's performance improved tremendously.

A child, who has been protected and habitually given whatever he wanted, would develop "entitlement mentality" and would always put himself first. He would be ignorant of his parent's efforts. When he starts work, he assumes that every person must listen to him, and when he becomes a manager, he would never know the sufferings of his employees and would always blame others. For this kind of people, who may be good academically, may be successful for a while, but eventually would not feel sense of achievement. He will grumble and be full of hatred and fight for more. If we are this kind of protective parents, are we really showing love or are we destroying the kid instead?

You can let your kid live in a big house, eat a good meal, learn piano, watch a big screen TV. But when you are cutting grass, please let them experience it. After a meal, let them wash their plates and bowls together with their brothers and sisters. It is not because you do not have money to hire a maid, but it is because you want to love them in a right way. You want them to understand, no matter how rich their parents are, one day their hair will grow gray, same as the mother of that young person. The most important thing is your kid learns how to appreciate the effort and experience the difficulty and learns the ability to work with others to get things done.

Leadership

2010-09-25T07:23:00.005-07:00

Leadership

View more presentations from Hardeep Kumar.

Winning with Leadership

2010-09-25T07:23:00.001-07:00

Winning With Leadership

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Philip Kotler's Marketing

2010-09-25T07:22:00.003-07:00

Marketing Management By Philip Kotler (719 Slides)

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Social Media

2010-09-25T07:09:00.001-07:00

Persona Management - 8Ps of Personal Branding

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Do you know better definition of LEADER acronym?

2010-09-10T10:06:00.001-07:00

Here is a definition of LEADER acronym. What else would you add to it?

L - Learn and Lead by example
E - show Energy & Enthusiasm
A - Analytical, Appreciative & an Assistant
D - Discreet, Dedicated, Delivers
E - Expert, Experience & Exceptional
R - Robust, Rigorous, & Respected

"Mission" Impossible? Define Your Performance in Actionable Terms

2010-09-03T00:05:00.000-07:00

Some mission statements are deliberately designed to be so broad, vague and socially desirable that it is impossible to be against them. Their purpose is not to drive action and, in fact, one of their principal virtues is that no one can figure out what actions are being planned, what alternative goals will be ignored or where the money will come from. Their aim is to elicit warm, unfocused feelings of goodwill toward the statement or its author.

These statements are the typical stock-in-trade for the politician who hopes to gain your support while committing himself to nothing that restricts his future flexibility. For these mission statements to do their job, however, they must be actionable. Consider the following two statements: "We intend to triple our revenue by the year 2012," and "We want to be the best business in the whole wide world." Although these two statements may seem to exemplify very different approaches to articulating a mission, they suffer from the same defects.

First, since there is no way to be opposed to statements of this kind, no one will oppose them, making it impossible to know whether your people really embrace what you are trying to accomplish. Second, it's impossible to determine from these statements what anyone is supposed to do to support the objective. Third, the vagueness of both statements makes it hard to measure the organization's progress toward the objective and to assess the performance of individual employees. Finally, setting forth visions and mission statements in such a manner affords you no competitive advantage, because nobody can distinguish your vacuous statements from everyone else's.

To illustrate this last point, when I taught in the University of Michigan's executive programs, I would ask participants to place their value and mission statements in a shoe box at the front of the room. I would then say, "I'm going to randomly select a statement and read a few sentences from the middle of the page. If it's yours, raise your hand." In a typical session, when I started reading three hands would go up—belonging to an exporter, someone from the U.S. Coast Guard and a urinal manufacturer. All three thought I was reading their mission statement!

Sometimes I would ask each participant to write on her statement the approximate number of hours that had gone into its preparation. The numbers were often depressingly large—175 hours, 220 hours, 400 hours—yet these executives couldn't tell their own mission statements from the urinal manufacturer's.

To make this point when I speak to executives who all work for the same firm, I sometimes show them this code of ethics statement and ask them whose it is:

"We are responsible for conducting [our] business affairs in accordance with all applicable laws and in a moral and honest manner…We want to be proud of [our company] and to know that it enjoys a reputation for fairness and honesty and that it is respected."

Some people invariably think it's their own. Others imagine it to be from Johnson & Johnson, GE or one of the other organizations known to take such things seriously—but it's actually from Enron. Enron's motto, by the way, was "respect, integrity, communication and excellence." Enron's words were as inspirational as everyone else's; its actions, however, were not.

Such exercises show how hard it is to differentiate your own organization by virtue of your description of it. All the good words have already been taken; the key to distinctiveness lies in how people in your organization behave. Nordstrom built its reputation for customer service, for example, not via mission statements and slogans but through its hassle-free response to customer returns and noncustomer returns—by being willing to take back merchandise that didn’t come from one of its stores. Similarly, there
is nothing original about the lofty promises of the U.S. Army to transform enlistees into leaders; however, the organization's behavior in this area, notably its mentoring practices and after-action reviews, have earned it a great reputation for leadership development.

The Bull's-Eye Exercise

One very effective tool to make visions, missions, goals and priorities actionable is the bull's-eye exercise, so named because it is depicted as a three-ringed target. In the outer ring go the goals and initiatives you are trying to make actionable—for example, diversity, empowerment, teamwork, globalization or customer satisfaction. In the innermost ring goes the output of the exercise—that is, descriptions of specific employee behaviors that are deemed necessary to achieve the desired outcomes.

Participants in the exercise (who can be anyone from your management committee to middle- and low-level employees) are asked to imagine themselves at a party a year from now, held to celebrate the remarkable progress your organization has made toward the stated goal. At this imaginary party, your people are asked to identify the behavior changes—in themselves and other employees—that have made your organization so much more global, team-oriented, client-centered or whatever than it was a year ago. Specifically, you ask, "What are people doing more of than they were a year ago, and what are they doing less of?"

The middle ring between the outer circle and the bull's-eye itself reflects the fact that as people begin to identify behaviors, they usually go through an intermediate stage in which they find themselves describing thoughts and emotions instead of actual behaviors. For example, when asked what would change to improve a firm's branding initiative, one team replied, "More respect for our products and services." This is probably accurate, but respect is a "thought" word, not a behavior.

Another team, asked what would have to change to better its empowerment program, said that there would be "less employee fear." This is also accurate, but fear is an emotion, not a behavior. When responses describe thoughts or emotions, ask this follow-up question: "If the workforce had more respect (or less fear), what would people do that they’re not doing now?" Primed in this manner, most people have no trouble hitting the bull's-eye, and after a few experiences with the technique, most groups find it to be an easy and enjoyable exercise.

One interesting pattern I've observed as a result of putting numerous teams through the bull's-eye exercise is that employees almost always identify a greater number of "more of" than "less of" items. Usually, however, the "less of" entries generate the most emotion. Sometimes your employees can't fully articulate what new behaviors are required for your change effort to be successful, but they can sure tell you what behaviors have to stop!

Developing the CEO Within You

2010-09-02T23:40:00.000-07:00

Use Failure to Grow Your Business

2010-09-02T23:39:00.000-07:00

The Biggest Mistake a Leader Can Make

2010-09-02T23:24:00.000-07:00

Introduction to Hospitality Sales & Marketing

2010-05-09T00:42:00.001-07:00

INTRODUCTION TO HOSPITALITY MARKETING AND SALES

Google Buzz

2010-05-08T04:12:00.001-07:00

Growing Traffic in Pakistan

2010-05-05T04:15:00.001-07:00

2010 Most Influential People

2010-04-30T04:30:00.001-07:00

Full List Leaders

•Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva

•J.T. Wang

•Admiral Mike Mullen

•Barack Obama

•Ron Bloom

•Yukio Hatoyama

•Dominique Strauss-Kahn

•Nancy Pelosi

•Sarah Palin

•Salam Fayyad

•Jon Kyl

•Glenn Beck

•Annise Parker

•Tidjane Thiam

•Jenny Beth Martin

•Christine Lagarde

•Recep Tayyip Erdogan

•General Stanley McChrystal

•Manmohan Singh

•Bo Xilai

•Mark Carney

•Sister Carol Keehan

•Sheik Khalifa bin Zayed al-Nahyan

•Robin Li

•Scott Brown

Heroes

•Bill Clinton

•Kim Yu-Na

•Mir-Hossein Mousavi

•Ben Stiller

•Temple Grandin

•P. Namperumalsamy

•Nay Phone Latt

•Chen Shu-chu

•Phil Mickelson

•Didier Drogba

•Graça Machel

•Reem Al Numery

•Sachin Tendulkar

•Tristan Lecomte

•Liya Kebede

•Kiran Mazumdar-Shaw

•Zahra Rahnavard

•Jet Li

•Serena Williams

•Chief Master Sergeant Tony Travis

•Karls Paul-Noel

•Rahul Singh

•Valentin Abe

•Malalai Joya

•Will Allen

Artists

•Lady Gaga

•Conan O'Brien

•Kathryn Bigelow

•Oprah Winfrey

•Valery Gergiev

•Robert Pattinson

•Ashton Kutcher

•Suzanne Collins

•Taylor Swift

•Neil Patrick Harris

•Carlton Cuse and Damon Lindelof

•Prince

•Lea Michele

•Jerry Holkins and Mike Krahulik

•Simon Cowell

•Neill Blomkamp

•Elton John

•Marc Jacobs

•David Chang

•Banksy

•Chetan Bhagat

•Sandra Bullock

•Ricky Gervais

•Han Han

•James Cameron

Thinkers

•Zaha Hadid

•Elizabeth Warren

•Douglas Schwartzentruber and Larry Kwak

•Michael Pollan

•Atul Gawande

•Jaron Lanier

•Victor Pinchuk

•Lee Kuan Yew

•Deborah Gist

•Kathleen Merrigan

•Steve Jobs

•Tim White

•Lisa Jackson

•Elon Musk

•Edna Foa

•Jaime Lerner

•Paul Volcker

•Amy Smith

•Matt Berg

•Amartya Sen

•Michael Sherraden

•Sanjit 'Bunker' Roy

•Tim Westergren

•David Boies and Theodore Olson

•Sonia Sotomayor

Social Networking

•The Influence Index

TIME 100 Alumnae

•Aishwarya Rai-Bachchan

•Condoleezza Rice

•Barbara Walters

•Wendy Kopp

•Sherri Shepherd

•Martha Stewart

•Amy Smith

•Suze Orman

•Anna Netrebko

•Alice Munro

•Joy Behar

•Nora Roberts

•Suzanne Collins

•Edna Foa

•Lauren Zalaznick

•Elizabeth Warren

•Meg Whitman

•Elisabeth Hasselbeck

•Stella McCartney

•Sister Mary Scullion

•Ann Coulter

•Katie Couric

•Nancy Pelosi

•Whoopi Goldberg

•Kiki Smith

•Serena Williams

•Alicia Keys

•Elizabeth Gilbert

•Deborah Gist

•Arianna Huffington

•Sarah Palin

The Influence Index

2010-04-30T03:40:00.001-07:00

The Influence Index

2010-04-30T03:40:00.000-07:00

The Influence Index

12 Characteristics of an Entrepreneur

2010-04-05T05:56:00.001-07:00

Characteristics of an Entrepreneur

2010-04-03T06:20:00.001-07:00

Interview

2010-03-31T07:05:00.001-07:00

Communication

2010-03-31T06:43:00.001-07:00

Communication

Nivea

2010-03-31T06:42:00.001-07:00

S W O T

Facebook for Business

2010-03-31T06:35:00.001-07:00

Facebook for Business Marketing

7 Habits of Highly Effective People

2010-03-31T06:34:00.001-07:00

Seven Habits of Highly Effective People

Teamwork – The Essence Of Workplace Productivity

2010-03-26T22:31:00.001-07:00

Can you imagine yourself working on a project all alone in the office and no one to support and assist you? The first reaction would always be, definitely not! This is because we are all bound to be a part of a cooperative group to accomplish our daily tasks at the workplace, and this is what we call ‘teamwork’. Teamwork is defined as an activity or a set of inter-related activities undertaken by a number of people, in order to achieve a common objective. Whether it is a cricket ground, a movie production or the corporate world, working in teams is inevitable because the productivity ratio of multiple people, working on the same task, is always greater than one person, and the ROI is always higher.
A widely understood and interesting concept in the management jargon, extended form of the word TEAM, is:

T – Together
E – Everyone
A – Achieves
M – More

The concept of Together Everyone Achieves More itself conveys the importance of teamwork at the workplace and other places. For years now, organizational leaders have recognized the added value that comes from having employees work in formal or informal teams. However, over the last two decades, even greater emphasis has been placed on working together in a team. Team-building and team-work skills are essential in the workplace and highly desirable skills to possess when seeking a new job or promotion. Teams working at their potential generate more productivity and offer better solutions than if all of them work independently.

Significance Of Teamwork At The Workplace

Teamwork in a company or organization has great importance for more than one reasons. Companies, who have adopted this concept, have reported increased performance in work production. This group project approach has improved employee morale and increased input when managed correctly. The benefits of teamwork can make a positive effect on the company that incorporates this type of teamwork approach. Let us discuss the significance of teamwork in the workplace, which can benefit the employees in a number of different ways:

Sharing Workload

Working in a team has the biggest advantage of the workload getting shared amongst all the team members involved in a certain project. With work properly distributed among the employees, all dealing with their own particular task, no member of the team can feel over-burdened or extra pressurized in the overall project. A fair work distribution ensures that every person or every working unit executes the task at hand, with the best possible efficiency. The division of work, also, ensures that the work is done on time and deadlines are not extended.

Building Mutual Associations

Continuous interaction among the team members, and working in a group for the whole day, helps in building a mutual association or bond of friendship and unity among the employees. In some employees, this bond of friendship lasts for a life time. The effects of mutual associations make the work easier and goals more attainable.

Increased Work Pace

It is a fact that when people or professionals work in teams with mutual cooperation, the tasks get accomplished at a faster pace. Teamwork is one of the best ways to ensure the timely completion of any work, with the maximum possible efficiency. With many people handling a single project and doing the assigned work properly, the overall work speed increases, and the team is able to complete the project well, within the given time frame.

Learning Opportunities

While working in a team, the employees tend to learn things at a faster pace. The exposure to a team of diverse members and the knowledge of the older team members help you to grasp the new concepts quickly. At the same time, being working in a team enables the team-members to avoid mistakes and proves to be a bonus for the overall image of the team.

Lessening Risks

One of the best advantages of team-work at workplace is that the burden of responsibility is borne by all the members of the team, and it does not fall on the shoulders of just one person.
When a certain project is executed with the maximum possible efficiency of a number of professionals working together, there is a reduction in risk or committing a mistake.

First-rate Output

Most of the time, team-work ensures high quality output of an assignment or a project. The tasks carried out by a group of employees produce far greater and high quality results as opposed to the efforts of a single professional. No matter how efficient and competent an employee is, the results of his efforts are no match for the performance given out by a variety of professionals, working with similar efficiency.

A Healthy Competition

While working in teams, professionals compete with each other and try to excel in every way. At the same time, they help and assist each other in work-related as well as personal difficulties and problems. The signs of great productivity and maximum efficiency are achieved only through team-work and mutual work practices.

Mutual Creativity

While working in a team, you will never be alone while coming up with an idea; you will always have some other professionals thinking on the same lines, who might suggest a better idea. Suggestions, advices and mutual brainstorming can help employees in generating novel ideas and bringing out the creativity in their projects.

Job Satisfaction

Team-work can be an important source of job satisfaction and professional fulfillment for employees. The reason behind it is that working in a team improves employee performance as well as makes the work enjoyable for them. This is also favorable for employee motivation and workplace enthusiasm.

Mutual Organizational Interests

When employees work in team, they automatically work for mutual organizational interests; their personal interest is subordinate to the organizational interests. This ensures that all the team members put in the maximum possible efforts, focusing on the same goal, thereby ensuring a high quality and timely output.

Overall Reputation Of The Organization

Teamwork also increases the goodwill and reputation of a company or an organization. The goodwill created by mutual cooperation of professionals in an organization, in fact, plays a highly instrumental role in bringing in more business and public trust.

Concluding Ideas

You must have noticed that the list of advantages points out to two basic facts that work, when distributed, reduces workload, and a reduced amount of work ensures optimization and efficiency. Effective teamwork in the workplace benefits the organization by increasing the individual productivity, which is important in order to achieve the targets and fulfill commitments. Also, teamwork decreases the non-productive hours, which therefore increases productivity and ensures maximum utilization of manpower. This is the reason why companies are promoting teamwork at workplaces.

For some professionals, it might be a bit difficult to adjust to a group environment, but I am sure, they will gradually start loving to work as a team as they will see themselves developing as productive employees as well as better human beings!

Getting The Promotion You Deserve

2010-03-26T22:30:00.001-07:00

Tired of being stuck at the same post? Didn’t get the promotion you deserved? You are not alone. A lot of people have faced the situation once or twice, down the road. There is no doubt that getting rewarded is the biggest motivation for a person to excel at his job, but not everyone can get the promotions they hope for. No one can determine for sure whether or not an employee will get promoted or not, regardless of his performance at work. There are often situations when a less deserving or hardworking employee gets promoted over a better colleague, with no obvious explanation or rationale behind the action. What you must keep in mind is that sometimes just getting the job done right is not enough to bag a promotion and you have to go the extra mile to show your potential. Before you start aiming for a promotion, you have to make sure that you are eligible for the job you are aiming for and have the capabilities to handle the job. This can be one of the prime reasons why you have been overlooked for a promotion in the past. However, if you feel like you are both qualified and capable of doing your job properly, and can handle more responsibility, there are quite a few things you can do to get the much desired promotion.

Useful Tips For Getting Promoted

The following are tested and tried methods that work wonders when you are gearing towards a promotion. However, the trick is to not push too hard or test your luck too far.

Do Your Homework

Keep in mind that when you go ask your boss for the promotion, you need to know what to say. Make a note of your skills, the effort you have put into the company over the given time period and your significant achievements. Moreover, do a little research on what the next level of job holds for you. Be prepared to explain to your superior how your experience and knowledge base will be beneficial for that specific position.

Ask For Promotion

The first and most important thing that you need to realize is that you cannot sit and wait for the superiors to automatically promote you to the higher level, because that will probably never happen. In order to get a promotion, you have to make yourself visible and ask for the promotion. Make sure that you interact with the superiors from time to time.

Time It Perfectly

Find out if there is a position open because it can drastically increase the chances of your getting the promotion, if there is an opening within the organization. Timing can be of essence in securing the promotion that you always wanted. If there are no openings in the organization, then the best time to ask for a promotion would be right after you have accomplished a significant task assigned to you that benefitted the company.

Keep Learning

Constantly learning new skills and polishing your old ones is a key factor in getting promoted. If you just keep on repeating your everyday duties without aiming for improvement, there is a very good chance that you will be ignored or bypassed when the time for promotions comes near.

Send The Message

The most important thing is to let your superior know that you are ready to move up the ladder and are willing to undergo further training for the post, if required. Moreover, show the superiors that you are more than capable of effectively handling the responsibilities that come with the next level.

Show Initiative

In order to get promoted, you must be proactive at your job by taking initiatives and recommending new projects and coming up with innovative ideas. This will send a clear message to your manager that you can be even more valuable to the company in the long run.

Get Involved

The biggest mistake you can do is to become too focused on your work, so much so that you fail to grasp the working of your company in a broader perspective. While performing your daily tasks, you should put in the extra time in observing how various departments function. This can prove to be of immense help when you ask for a promotion as not many employees go beyond what’s happening in their own department.

Work Hard

While all the other factors play a very vital role in securing your promotion, you have to keep in mind that the one thing that you cannot be successful without is ‘hard work.’ At no point should you forget that when an employer considers an employee for a promotion, the first thing he will evaluate is the quality and quantity of work. You have to take your work seriously and put in your best effort while working on assignments. Your employer should be aware that you are more than capable of performing your duties and need not to be supervised.

Quantify Your Success

Almost as important as working hard is letting the superiors know about your hard work. Make sure that you tactfully appraise the manager of your efforts and achievements, from time to time.

Show Professional Etiquettes

Developing a good relationship with your boss and colleagues is the key to success in a work place. An employee who is disruptive and shows now regard for his co-worker can hardly expect a promotion. Work place ethics go a long way, not only with the managers but also with the colleagues who might put in a good word for you, even if unknowingly.

Bottom Line

Promotions and appraisals are a tricky business and the managers or supervisors might not always be fair in the process. However, you have to be sure that the problem does not lie at your end, if you are being constantly overlooked for promotion by your superiors. Try to give your maximum output and follow all the tips provided above. If you are still not promoted, then you should look into the structure of the company you are working at. There are some organizations where there are limited or no growth opportunities. In such a scenario, the best option would be to find another company and a job where there is room for growth. Keep in mind; you should apply for a job that is in accordance with your work experience and expertise.

How To Deal With Office Politics?

2010-03-26T22:29:00.001-07:00

Like it or not, office politics exists almost everywhere and there is no way you can run from it. Office politics can be found at all ranks, from the entry level positions to the managerial posts and it is better to deal with it rather than trying to avoid it. In some organizations, office politics is just harmless gossiping, while in others it is a blood sport often leading to biased promotions and unfair job terminations. While your performance in the work place is essential for success, there is no doubt that office politics have a significant effect on your career success. Some employees enjoy office politics and actively participate to gain advantages and often hinder other employees’ success, but most of the people prefer to avoid it altogether. No doubt, office politics is a messy quagmire which better be avoided at all costs, however this is easier said than done.

Reasons behind office politics

While there is no specific reason why people engage in nasty office politics, the basic motivation is the advantages that most people get to reap by playing well at office politics. These motives are to:
•Gain power or leverage over others
•Get promotion that you do not quite deserve
•Gain competitive edge over your coworkers
•Avail other unethical benefits such as gifts, bonuses, and reducing workload by dumping it on others
Surviving office politics

It is almost impossible to avoid office politics and most of the time people get involved without ever knowing what they are getting into. Since getting involved is not a viable option, you have to learn a few tricks so that you can survive office politics without getting too involved. Here are some fool proof tricks that can not only help you in surviving office politics, but also be effective in advancing your career the right way.

Stay positive

Try to remain positive and calm under all situations. This way your boss will identify you as a dependable person and it will reduce the chance of your falling into the gossiping category. While dealing with office politics is to do best to help others. If you sincerely help someone, you neutralize the feelings of animosity that anyone might have towards you and establishes your position as a team player.

Build relationships

It is very important to have healthy relationship with your coworkers as it takes both time and effort. If you have good relationship with your colleagues, they will be aware that you are honest and sincere with them so they will be comfortable when you mingle with them. This will make you more likeable at the workplace and reduce the chances of you being the target of office politics.

Avoid gossip

It is very easy to get caught up in gossip at workplace, which can be fatal for your career. Gossiping is not only a hue waste of time, it can also lead to problems in the workplace. Every word you say can spread through the office like a jungle fire, often with creative additions from every person who narrates what you said. Sooner or later you comments are bound to reach the person whom you were originally talking about. This will result in alienating a coworker and often creating an enemy at work.

Work hard

You should keep in mind that your work will speak for itself, so while the others are busy bragging about them and showing off their work, make sure that you are putting in actual effort in your work. However, keep in mind that being invisible is also not an option. So, work hard and make your efforts known, but refrain from blowing your own horn too much.

Communicate well

The way you speak and talk to your coworkers goes a long way as far as office politics is concerned. You have to learn to compliment rather than criticize bluntly. If you have a constructive comment you need to give, make sure that you start the conversation with a compliment. Start by saying what you considered was outstanding about it, then state what in your opinion can be improved. There is hardly any room to be offended when the conversation starts with a compliment and it improves your relationship with the coworkers.

Remain neutral

If you want to steer clear of office politics, the most effective is to stay clear of the do not align yourself with any group. Often when a newcomer with exceptional skills joins the company, he is the target of discrimination and office politics. He is excluded from social circles, rumors related to him are spread and gossiping becomes the most common tool to be used against him. You should never join hands to persecute a co-worker or a newcomer. One of the most destructive, uncivilized and unethical behaviors on the job is the refusal to accept a new employee. This kind of behavior never goes unnoticed by the managers and if they start investigating, it is quite possible that the very initiator of such actions might point a finger at you. If you are unable to defend yourself in such a situation, you might end up losing your job, so it is always better to remain neutral and steer clear of such politics.

Give credit

The worst thing you can ever do to a colleague is to take credit for a job that he made possible. You should always give credit where it is due by acknowledging any work done by them in public. This creates a bridge of trust between you and your colleagues and sends the message that you are not interested in office politics loud and clear.

Speak wisely

Never join your colleagues in berating or badmouthing your superior or the organization you work for as your opinion might be presented to the boss as the only voice of opposition, as is often the case in office politics. Your vicious colleagues might be waiting for a chance to ruin your impression in front of your boss and by speaking ill or by only assenting with a person who is criticizing the boss; you might give him the ultimate chance to ruin your career. No matter how badly you want to speak against a superior, never do it in your office. If you have to vent your feelings, find a friend or a family member to share what you have to say. This will help you in keeping your peace while at work.

Keep your eyes and ears open:

Never believe what you hear without verification. In a workplace every kind of gossip is circulated and most of it is untrue. Basing your professional decision purely on hearsay can be fatal for your career.

Stay in your boss’s good books:

You should always try to maintain a good relationship with your boss, regardless of what kind of a person he is. Getting in arguments and opposing the boss can do you a lot of harm. If you have a cordial relationship with your boss, then there is a high chance that if you are ever in a hot spot owing to vicious office politics, you boss will definitely look out for you.

The Customer is always right - WRONG !!

2010-03-05T00:37:00.000-08:00

One of the biggest ongoing myths in business today is that the customer is always right. This belief is built on a very bad assumption: that we are willing to do whatever it takes to make any and every customer happy because all customers are of equal value. If you’re operating your business like that today, then you’re just counting the days until you go broke. That’s because you are likely spending so much of your time and effort making unhappy customers happy that you can’t focus on making and keeping the happy customers happy. In this scenario, your happy customers won’t stay happy for long!

Of course, many customers strongly believe in this concept and feel entitled to always get their way, which doesn’t make life or business fun and easy. How far out of your way you ultimately go to please the customer depends on how valuable the customer is. In the past, we’ve talked about rating your customers/clients and if you’ve done that, then doing a cost-benefit analysis of the situation is easy. However, if you haven’t done that, or your front line staff doesn’t have immediate access to that kind of information and has to deal with a situation on the spot, then what are they going to do?

Here are some factors that should be quickly considered and taken into account:

•Is it a repeat customer or a first time customer?
•Relative to other customers, are they spending more or less than average?
•How influential are they in your community and industry?
•How likely are they to continue complaining and creating problems in the future?

Essentially, the answers to those questions will provide an idea of how big of a financial hit you’ll take by losing the customer and how big of an impact their negative experience will have on the business.

Here are a couple of examples:

An older gentleman visits your restaurant alone every Saturday. He spends 2 hours reading the newspaper while having coffee and a pastry. He is known throughout the community as a complainer. If he places unreasonable demands on your business and you choose not to meet them, then you’re not losing much money and he’ll have little credibility when telling others about his bad experience.

Same restaurant, but this time it’s an executive from a local branch of a major corporation who is planning a dinner party for long term clients. He believes that your staff promised a free bottle of champagne at the end of the meal, which is incorrect. It’s a high end dinner party, the cost of the champagne is low compared to the amount of repeat business that he could generate with a positive recommendation.

It requires looking at all of those criteria as a whole. Just because the older gentleman was a long time, repeat customer, that doesn’t mean that he is more valuable than a new customer.

Practice examples like this with your staff so that they get a good understanding of how to weigh the different variables in making decisions on how to deal with a difficult customer.

Where And When To Begin Marketing

2010-02-17T22:14:00.001-08:00

Guerrillas are never stopped by analysis paralysis. Don’t let it stop you.

Many business owners realize the simplicity of marketing, but just don’t know where they should begin. Analysis paralysis stops them in their tracks. So many tasks. Where to start? So they don’t start. They know what they must do, but don’t really have a plan, so they make disconnected efforts to achieve a hazy goal. When they don’t see encouraging results right off the bat, they lose confidence, if any existed in the first place.

If there’s any correct time to start, it’s right now. If there’s any proper place, it’s right where you are. You’ll never feel you are completely ready, so you may as well begin immediately.

If there’s any secret to be learned, it’s the secret of taking action and never stopping. You’ve heard Diana Ross sing when she was a member of The Supremes. Hear now what she says about taking action: "You can’t just sit there and wait for people to give you that golden dream; you’ve got to get out there and make it happen for yourself."

Guerrillas have learned that the best time to market is when they don’t need any more business. They know that the best source of new clients is old clients and that the best marketing is characterized by quality and not quantity. They realize that their best marketing vehicle, and least expensive, is a satisfied customer. And they know that the two best ways to measure their marketing are by customer retention and by profits, both a part of each other.

It’s wise to think of your marketing the same as you think about your rent. You pay it and never think twice. It’s also wise to think of your marketing as breathing. You couldn’t exist with only one breath, or even two or three. Don’t think you’re going to attract a new customer with only one effort, or even two or three. You keep breathing and stay alive. You keep marketing and stay profitable.

Every part of your success is dependent upon one individual. You are that individual. You’re in charge. You say when to begin. You’ve got the insight to make the right decisions now. To succeed, you’re going to need that insight, along with courage and conscientiousness. If you’re frightened of making mistakes, you’re sunk. Accept that you’ll make mistakes. Each one has a lesson to be learned.

Michael Eisner, chairman and CEO of Disney, and the man who propelled it to undreamt of success, says, "At a certain level, what we do at Disney is very simple. We set our goals, aim for perfection, inevitably fall short, try to learn from our mistakes, and hope that our successes will continue to outnumber our failures." There’s nothing Mickey Mouse about that kind of philosophy -- because it embraces mistakes as part of the process.

There is no need to hit a home run the first time you’re at bat. A single will do, then another single, then another, one following each other, none grandiose, but all bringing you closer to your goal.

As small business grows, so does the need for mastering guerrilla marketing. And small business is growing faster than ever. As entrepreneurs arise all over the globe, so does the need for mastering guerrilla marketing. Just a new kid on the block as the 20th century headed towards its completion, guerrilla marketing is now a powerful and proven force worldwide. It must be reckoned with and best yet, utilized. Some would say it's mandatory for small business survival.

Ask any small business owner: It's far easier to employ guerrilla marketing than hope to defend yourself against it.

A whale of a lot has changed since I wrote the first guerrilla marketing book in l984. And almost all of it favors small business. Marketing itself has changed dramatically and interactively, not to mention electronically. So has the array of weapons available to guerrillas -- more powerful than ever, yet half of them completely free. That's why so many guerrillas are smiling so broadly. They also know that many things have not changed and that those things are as important as the things that have.

I'm referring to the soul and essence of guerrilla marketing which remain as always -- achieving conventional goals, such as profits and joy, with unconventional methods, such as investing energy instead of money. I'm also referring to humanity which is relatively unchanged since the first book, indeed, since the first human.

It's not possible to ignore the fact that we're in a new century, even though if you look out the window, you can't see much that has changed. If you look into the hearts and minds of your prospects, you'll see that very little has changed there, too. Certainly, there's a growing awareness of the precious and elusive nature of time, perhaps even a bit more humanity, made possible by, of all things, technology.

The marketing world has changed because it has shrunk rather than expanded. Again, credit technology for the shrink job, accomplished not as much by the jet as the net. Marketing has also become a lot more technical. But that doesn't mean you have to be technical -- because technology has met you more than halfway by becoming much easier to use and even easier to pay for.

Guerrillas welcome the changes as much as they welcome the status quos. They are fully alert to what has changed and what must never change. They know well the difference between change and improvement. Analysis paralysis is a condition that has been eliminated in their world.

The Process of Marketing

2010-02-17T22:13:00.001-08:00

Marketing is not an event, but a process. How long does the process last?

An insight for you to embrace is that a guerrilla marketing attack is neverending. It has a beginning, a middle but never an end, for it is a process. You improve it, perfect it, change it, even pause in it. But you never stop it completely.

Of all the steps in succeeding with a guerrilla marketing attack, maintaining it takes the most time. You spend a relatively brief time developing the attack and inaugurating it, but you spend the life of your business maintaining, monitoring and improving your attack. At no point should you ever take anything for granted. At no point should you fall into the pit of self-satisfaction because your attack is working. Never forget that others, very smart and motivated competitors, are studying you and doing their utmost to surpass you in the marketing arena.

Guerrillas thrive and prosper because they understand the deeper meanings of the phrases "customer base" and "long term commitment." This enables them to reinvent their marketing -- just as long as they are firm in their commitment to their existing customers and prospects. An attack without flexibility is in danger of failing. But that flexibility does not allow you to take your eyes off the needs of your customers.

Keep alert for new niches at which you can aim your attack. Large companies don’t have the luxury of profiting from a narrow niche. No matter how successful your attack, never lose contact with your customers. If you do, you lose your competitive advantage over huge companies that have too many layers of bureaucracy for personal contact. Guerrilla marketing is always authentic marketing and never acts or feels to be impersonal, by-the-number marketing. It never feels like selling.

"Marketing Management" author Philip Kotler, says "Authentic marketing
is not the art of selling what you make but knowing what to make. It is the art of identifying and understanding customer needs and creating solutions that deliver satisfaction to the customers, profits to the producers and benefits for the stakeholders. Market innovation is gained by creating customer satisfaction through product innovation, product quality and customer service. It these are absent, no amount of advertising, sales promotion or salesmanship can compensate."

Your attack must be characterized by a very strong tie with your own target audience. You know them. You serve them. They know it. Guerrilla attacks do not suffer from your lack of resources, but instead prosper because lack of capital makes them more willing to try new and innovative ideas, concepts ripe for guerrillas but not for huge companies.

Your attack will succeed in direct relationship to how narrow-minded you can be. Guerrillas have the insight that precision strengthens an attack. They know the enormous difference between their prospects and their prime prospects. They are aware of the gigantic chasm separating their customers from their best customers. This perspective enables them to narrow their aim only to the best prospects that marketing money can buy and the finest customers ever to grace their customer list.

They are fully cognizant that it doesn’t take much more work to sell a subscription to a magazine than to sell a single issue. That’s why their marketing attack is devoted to motivating people to subscribe to their businesses mentally.

Once they have a customer, they do all they can to intensify the relationship, and they do not treat all customers and prospects equally. Consider the menswear chain with a database of 47,000 names. Mailings are never more than 3,000 at a time. Who receives the mail? Says the owner, "Only the people appropriate to mail to." When he received trousers of a specific style, he mailed only to those customers to whom he was certain they’d appeal -- and enjoyed a 30% response rate.

The cost of his mailing was a tiny fraction of the size of his profits. There’s not a chance of reveling in a healthy response like that unless you’re targeting your mailing with absolute precision. It’s something you’re going to have to do in a world where postal charges and paper prices are both slated to increase. Unless you’re hitting the bullseye, you’re wasting your marketing investment. And unless you’re treating your marketing as a continuing process, you’re wasting everybody’s time, including your own.

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The 11 Corporate Lessons from Movie "Rocket Singh" by Ashraf Chaudhry

2010-02-07T11:26:00.001-08:00

Lesson # 1
Money doesn’t motivate everybody equally.

• You cannot always convince people with money only.
• You need to persuade, converse, negotiate and engage.
• Money is one of the several variables of motivation. Someone needs just sweet words and someone needs a little persuasion.
• Tailor the approach of motivation. Use money where it is required only.

Lesson # 2
To thrive in sales, you need right aptitude (not just marks on your degrees).

You can be a topper in the university and the greatest number cruncher on planet earth but may not be a great salesperson (an influencer, a persuader and negotiator.) To be a great salesperson, you need to have right aptitude……an aptitude of empathy, an aptitude to see beyond the obvious.

Lesson # 3
“Disturbing” others is pre-requisite to be salesperson.

Asking (or disturbing people) is pre-requisite to become a great salesperson. If you are hesitant to break the ice, start conversations and ask for help and guidance and engage people in discussions, you then need to cultivate people skills. Great salespeople come one step forward, after saying hello, they confidently say, “Can you please help me”?

Lesson # 4
What is good for the goose cannot be bad for the gander!

Don’t expect honesty from salespeople in the organization if you encourage them to become kick-backers and bribers with the clients. If organization encourages its sales and marketing teams to bribe the clients’ organization to take orders, it is, in fact, plowing the seeds of dishonesty in the organizational culture. Organization has no right to expect internal integrity and honesty if it is promoting malpractices in the clients’ organizations.

Lesson # 5
The greatest secret of success in business: Satisfied Clients

Customer Service (24/7) makes the organizations outsmart the competition. In order to thrive and excel in the business, organizations need to cultivate a service culture across the board. You cannot afford to forget the customer once you take the check.

Delighted and satisfied customers are your ambassadors and their referral can generate more business than you can handle.

Lesson # 6
Make people Partners in business; they will be no more Pain!

If associates are treated like partners, they will own the organization. Allow them to grow as the company grows. If humans are treated as Resources and Capital meant to be consumed and used, they will act like leaches sucking away the vital veins of the organization and reaching out to the bone marrows. Sales & Marketing people employed on fixed salary work from 9 to 5. If they are partners in the profitability, they will sell even in dreams and will become killer sales machines……timeless and spaceless. Mediocres become Masterminds when they are involved.

Lesson # 7
Even zero has the value.

Zero is magical in character. It can multiply the value of any number if placed rightly. The lowest person in the organizational hierarchy can do wonders if he/she is put at the right place. And genius can ruin the whole game if placed wrongly. Matching of inherent talent with job description is critical for success of the organization.

Lesson # 8
Every one is born with potential of ‘vice & virtue’.

Every employee has both the qualities……the qualities of Rising & Falling in career. Which quality is dominant, determines your destiny. Certain attitudes will put a gravitational pull on you while others will make you ‘sky’s the beginning’ type.

Lesson # 9
Spiderman also takes the risk.

Jumping out of comfort zones, taking initiatives and playing with risks is what makes the difference. If you are stuck in the grooves of ‘safety’, you end up nowhere. The road from Good to Great is paved with taking initiatives. The biggest risk in life is to avoid the risk. Even Spiderman has to take the risk.

Lesson # 10
You need a loyal team to build Rocket Sales Corporation.

Great organizations are built by great teams and not by accident. Teams are built by reinforced trust, mutual respect, sharing and caring. The trust deficit among the team members erodes the team spirit. Build a great team; build a great organization.

Lesson # 11
If salesperson cannot read the paper in reverse, he/she is blind.

Every Sales & Marketing person has to keep his/her eyes and ears open to scan the information regarding prospects, competition and the market influencers. In the game of business, right information at the right time gives you ‘unfair’ advantage. Be the corporate Sherlock Holmes.

Why Anthony Robbins Divorced His Former Wife Becky?

2010-02-07T09:52:00.001-08:00

I am great fan of Anthony Robbins. In his Awaken the Giant Within, he is all-praise for his former wife Becky. In 2002, while browsing net, I came to know that Anthony divorced Becky and married his girl friend Sage. I was shocked to hear it. How a person who teaches the world to forge relations can divorce his dream wife? In a fit of rage, I emailed one-liner question to Tony on October 11, 2002. The one-liner was:

"What became of your first wife...Becky? You divorced her?"

Anthony Robbins, on October 21, 2002, replied me in detail. Here's what he said:

"Dear Muhammad,

Thank you so much for your e-mail. First, I want to apologize for this belated reply. My intense seminar and travel schedule, along with my business and family responsibilities, have taken a big bite out of my time. However, I wanted to respond personally and acknowledge the time you took to think of me.

I've worked for years to create and present the most innovative, entertaining, and empowering materials possible. However, I know my technology is worthwhile when I receive notes from people like you who are not only emotionally touched by my work, but more importantly, are taking action on what they've learned. To know that in some small way I've made a difference for at least one person and that I have helped them to begin to create the quality of life they truly deserve is what drives me most.

I appreciate your interest in my former marriage. The strategies I share with my audience to guide them on the path to more fulfilling relationships are based on my own personal experience and the knowledge I have gained from working with people from 80 different countries for more than a quarter of a century. Relationships are one of the single most important areas of our lives and one of the greatest opportunities for fulfillment or pain. The secret is making certain the person you select shares your values and vision. Some relationships cannot continue to be fulfilling because the two people have different visions for their lives or have learned to value different things.

While I offer many tools for enhancing relationships, I have never led my audience to believe that the path to a successful relationship would be to stay in a relationship where after deep, honest communication and soul searching both people discover that they do not share the same life vision. Any relationship can be made to work, but when people's values and life directions are extremely different they must compromise. Continuous compromise means a compromised life for both parties. That is when difficult decisions need to be made.

Deciding to end my relationship with my former wife Becky was one of the hardest decisions I have ever made. I am extremely proud of our 14-year relationship. When I entered the marriage at the age of 24 I immediately embraced the responsibilities of being a father to a 17-year-old son, an 11-year-old daughter, and a 5-year-old son. I remained in that marriage until my children were grown and I realized that I did not share a life vision with my former wife. At that time I chose to take the necessary actions to pursue a life in which I could be more fulfilled. Sometime later I met Sage, my lovely wife, whom I met coincidentally through a business relationship, and married a year later. We have been together for a blissful two and a half years.

Again, thank you for taking the time to write, and your patience in receiving a reply. My desire and invitation to you now is that you continue to expand the quality of your life by committing to the philosophy of CANI-Constant and Never-ending Improvement. By doing so, I believe that you will create a life of lasting fulfillment for yourself and for those you care about.

I look forward to our paths crossing again soon. Live With Passion!

Warmest Regards,

Anthony J. Robbins
Chairman of the Board"

Hotel Public Relations

2010-02-06T11:11:00.001-08:00

Hotel Public Relations – Five Tips to get more visibility for your hotel

Posted using ShareThis

Use Facebook for Business

2010-01-22T10:33:00.001-08:00

Facebook’s not just for keeping tabs on friends and filling out quizzes — it can also be used as a highly effective business tool. It’s great for marketing your products, landing gigs and connecting with your customers.

Here are 32 ways to use Facebook in your business.

Manage Your Profile

Fill out your profile completely to earn trust.
Establish a business account if you don’t already have one.
Stay out of trouble by reading the Facebook rules regarding business accounts.
Install appropriate applications to integrate feeds from your blog and other social media accounts into your Facebook profile. (Although you should be careful before integrating your Twitter feed into your Faceboook profile, as a stream of tweets can seem overwhelming to your contacts.)
Keep any personal parts of your profile private through Settings.
Create friends lists such as “Work,” “Family” and “Limited Profile” for finer-grained control over your profile privacy.
Post a professional or business casual photos of yourself to reinforce your brand.
Limit business contacts’ access to personal photos.
Post your newsletter subscription information and archives somewhere in your profile.
Connect and share with others
Obtain a Facebook vanity URL so that people can find you easily.
Add your Facebok URL to your email signature and any marketing collateral (business cards, etc.) so prospects can learn more about you.
Post business updates on your wall. Focus on business activities, such as “Working with ABC Company on web site redesign.”
Share useful articles and links to presentation and valuable resources that interest customers and prospects on your wall, to establish credibility.
Combine Facebook with other social media tools like Twitter. For example, when someone asks question on Twitter, you can respond in detail in a blog post and link to it from Facebook.
Before traveling, check contacts locations so you can meet with those in the city where you’re heading.
Research prospects before meeting or contacting them.
Upload your contacts from your email client to find more connections.
Use Find Friends for suggestions of other people you may know to expand your network even further.
Look for mutual contacts on your contacts’ friends lists.
Find experts in your field and invite them as a guest blogger on your blog or speaker at your event.
Market your products by posting discounts and package deals.
Share survey or research data to gain credibility.
Use Facebook Connect to add social networking features to your web site.
Suggest Friends to clients and colleagues — by helping them, you establish trust.
Buy Facebook ads to target your exact audience.
Read up on Facebook Beacon to see if it might be useful for you.
Use Network, Group and Fan Pages
Start a group or fan page for product, brand or business. Unless you or your business is already a household name, a group is usually the better choice.
Add basic information to the group or fan page such as links to company site, newsletter subscription information and newsletter archives.
Post upcoming events including webinars, conferences and other programs where you or someone from your company will be present.
Update your group or fan page on a regular basis with helpful information and answers to questions.
Join network, industry and alumni groups related to your business.
Use search to find groups and fan pages related to your business by industry, location and career.

World's top hotels at 2010 Travelers' Choice Awards

2010-01-22T10:23:00.001-08:00

Eighth annual awards recognize 700+ properties based on opinions of millions of travelers.
TripAdvisor announced the winners of its 2010 Travelers' Choice?awards. With 719 properties winning awards this year, the eighth annual competition is the largest ever, including new categories such as trendiest hotels, best relaxation/spas and world's top hotels by region.
Properties received awards in the following categories: Best Bargains, Best Luxury, Best for Families, Best for Romance, Best B&Bs and Inns, Best Relaxation and Spa, Trendiest, Best Service, Best All-Inclusive, and Best Hotels by Region.
Unlike any other hotel honors in the world, TripAdvisor?Travelers' Choice?winners are based on the millions of real and unbiased reviews and opinions from travelers on TripAdvisor.com?
The average nightly rate for the entire list of Travelers' Choice award winners is $265 and one-third of the hotels have an average nightly rate less than $150 per night. Average nightly rate for Best Bargains is $104; Best B&Bs and Inns $103; Best for Families $211; Best for Romance $271; Trendiest $223; and Best Relaxation and Spa $382.
"Inspired by millions of trusted traveler reviews and opinions on TripAdvisor.com, the Travelers' Choice awards once again highlight the finest hotels in the world," said Christine Petersen, chief marketing officer for TripAdvisor. "Travelers worldwide are recognizing more than 700 hotels for their outstanding service, value and quality."
Select 2010 Winners:

Best Bargain in the World - Arcadia Residence, Prague, Czech Republic
Best Bargain in the U.S. - SeaCoast Inn, Hyannis, Massachusetts
Best Luxury (4&5 star hotels) in the World - Golden Well (U Zlate Studne), Prague, Czech Republic
Best Luxury in the U.S. - French Quarter Inn, Charleston, South Carolina
Best for Families in the World - Sirkeci Konak Hotel, Istanbul, Turkey
Best for Families in the U.S. - Desert Pearl Inn, Springdale, Utah
Best for Service in the World - Golden Well (U Zlate Studne), Prague, Czech Republic
Best B&B and Inn in the World - Casa Portagioia, Castiglion Fiorentino, Italy
Best B&B and Inn in the U.S. - Bayberry House Bed & Breakfast, Boothbay Harbor, Maine
Best for Romance in the World - Hilton Moorea Lagoon Resort & Spa, Moorea, French Polynesia
Best for Romance in the U.S. - Spindrift Inn, Monterey, California
Best All-Inclusive in the World - Drowsy Water Ranch, Granby, Colorado
Best Relaxation and Spa in the World - La Amada Hotel, Playa Mujeres, Mexico
Best Relaxation and Spa in the U.S. - Andreas Hotel & Spa, Palm Springs, California
Trendiest Hotel in the World - citizenM Amsterdam City, Amsterdam, The Netherlands
Trendiest Hotel in the U.S. - theWit Hotel, Chicago, Illinois

For the top hotels by region and the complete 2010 Travelers' Choice list, go to: www.tripadvisor.com/travelerschoice

Aerial view of Newyork

2010-01-22T10:14:00.001-08:00

New York Aerial Photography - HD from David Q on Vimeo.

New York

2010-01-22T10:13:00.001-08:00

Flashback - Visit to New York City (Summer 2006) from Subhajit Roy on Vimeo.

Sweden

2010-01-22T09:55:00.001-08:00

Hamnen Lerberget from Håkan Dahlström on Vimeo.

Wings

2010-01-22T04:06:00.001-08:00

There was once a lonely girl who longed desperately for love. One day while she was walking in the woods she found two starving song birds. She took them home and put them in a small gilded cage. She nurtured them with love and the birds grew strong. Every morning they greeted her with a marvelous song.. The girl felt great love for the birds. She wanted their singing to last forever.

One day the girl left the door to the cage open. The larger and stronger of the two birds flew from the cage. The girl watched anxiously as he circled high above her. She was so frightened that he would fly away and she would never see him again that as he flew close, she grasped at him wildly. She caught him in her fist. She clutched him tightly within her hand. Her heart gladdened at her success in capturing him. Suddenly she felt the bird go limp. She opened her hand stared in horror at the dead bird. Her desperate clutching love had killed him.

She noticed the other bird teetering on the edge of the cage. She could feel his great need for freedom.. His need to soar into the clear, blue sky. She lifted him from the cage and tossed him softly into the air. The bird circled once, twice, three times. The girl watched delighted at the bird's enjoyment. Her heart was no longer concerned with her loss.

She wanted the bird to be happy. Suddenly the bird flew closer and landed softly on her shoulder. It sang the sweetest melody, she had ever heard.

The fastest way to lose love is to hold on too tight, the best way to keep love is to give it -- WINGS

10 Most Profitable Hotel Marketing Tasks to Outsource

2010-01-20T08:44:00.001-08:00

Some hotel marketing functions are best kept in-house. For others, it’s more profitable to outsource them to an outside partner. Here are ten of the most profitable hotel internet marketing tasks to outsource and why.

1. Web Design
Why: Designing an effective hotel website requires time to create pages that are attractive, informative and visitor friendly. This requires a knowledge of the hotel industry in addition to technical knowledge and an understanding of usability guidelines.

2. Website Maintenance
Why: Building and managing a website are two different tasks. Website design gets a lot of attention, but upkeep is equally important. It’s important to constantly update your sites with the latest information. Unless you have the technical expertise and time to do this in-house, it’s common to outsource this function.

3. Pay-Per-Click Advertising
Why: Sure, anyone can throw together a PPC campaign in a few hours, but it requires a lot of research and testing over the long term to do this well. A good agency will take time to understand your business needs, and build a campaign around them.

4. SEO Optimization
Why: Effective SEO can include website re-design, optimization and a strategic linking strategy – so it can be nice to have someone else manage this whole process for you.

5. Content Creation or Copywriting
Why: Many managers understand the benefits of content marketing, but struggle with writing it. Fortunately, there are many talented writers that would be happy do this for you. These people can be hired to help you write articles, website content, blog posts, email newsletters, and more.

6. Twitter
Why: Twitter can take a lot of time to use effectively. Some of my colleagues have achieved excellent results – both in positive buzz and in generating revenue – but they invest a lot of time. If you don’t have the time to participate, you may want to hire someone else to do it for you.

7. Online Reputation Management
Why: Again, this is a task that just takes a lot of time to do thoroughly. Hiring someone to monitor the web and reply as needed can be a worthwhile investment.

8. Video Production
Why: Hiring people with expertise in producing quality videos will help your company gain higher visibility in YouTube, Google Video Search, Blip.tv, and so on. A good video marketing team will understand your branding objectives, and produce video to accomplish them.

9. Mobile Phone Promotions
Why: This is one of the hottest new distribution channels, and hiring specialists in this area can help you gain a first-mover advantage. Hire someone else to begin your mobile promotions strategy, then learn and experiment as you go.

10. Website Optimization
Why: Website optimization is different from search optimization – it’s the process of adjusting your website so operates at peak sales performance. Hiring someone for this can have a big impact on your overall internet marketing success. A good website optimization specialist will have a good understanding of your hotel, how people buy online, and website conversion improvement.

The bottom line? Outsourcing individual components of your internet marketing campaign can reduce the burden of employing staff to perform those tasks in-house. It can allow you to focus core business initiatives, spend more time on strategic planning, and less time on implementation.

—

Why Blogs Are Your #1 Search Marketing Tool

2010-01-20T08:33:00.001-08:00

Blogging is the fastest growing corporate communications tool today, It’s moved beyond a cool fad into a genuinely useful publishing platform.

You may not have guessed that, but starting a blog can help your hotel accomplish two important things at once: engaging fans and increasing search rankings. It’s one of the first things I recommend to people who are serious about succeeding online.

I consider blogs as the foundation of any good internet marketing campaign. It acts as a “hub” for distributing content to other networks. It’s especially powerful at the center of a social media program.

Ultimately, we have to remember no one really cares about the blog author. They care about the content they receive. If you want to succeed, have your blog focus on solutions.

Smart organizations are involving a wide range of employees in the blogging process. This helps share knowledge and perspectives from different points in your hotel. More content and more pages means it will be more likely for browsers to land on your blog.

The majority of blog traffic is usually from first-time visitors. First-time readers are a gift from heaven: you have the chance to establish a long-term relationship with them.

With this in mind, treat every page on your blog like a landing page. Offer ways to begin and nurture that relationship.

And if you’re ever doubting the value of blogging, calculate what the number of organic clicks would have cost you from PPC or advertising. You’ll probably be pleasantly surprised.

For more hotel blogging tips, visit BlogForGuests.com. My guide – Blogging for Guests – is still available for free download:

www.blogforguests.com/ebook

What Will Drive Hotel Sales & Revenue Management in 2010

2010-01-20T08:32:00.001-08:00

Did you catch the revised forecast from PKF's PKF-HR is now forecasting lodging demand to post a quarterly year-over-year increase during the first quarter of 2010, thus ending eight consecutive quarters of declines.

On an annual basis, PKF-HR is now forecasting lodging demand to rise 1.9 percent in 2010, up from the 1.6 percent increase forecast back in September. (HotelNewsNow, 12/14/09)

The increase in demand of almost 2% may not seem like much but it is an increase and will likely be felt by most hotels where the entry of new supply into the market is negligible. What lessons have we learned from this recession that will make us better equipped to maximize the opportunities that will present themselves in 2010.

In the last great downtown when I was new DOS, I was often brought in to reposition and ‘turn around’ hotels so the banks and receivers could sell them. Yes, if I was successful I worked myself out of a job but the lessons that I learned from that experience have served me well. While the difficulties of the past year have been extreme, DOSs and Revenue Managers have learned things that will serve them well going forward although it may not be apparent now.

December is a time to reflect on what this recession has taught us and identify those lessons learned that have brought us through this brutal past year. The recession has changed the game in many respects – how we play that game in 2010 will be critical.

Revenue Management:

Rate Slashing.

If there is one thing to be learned it is that rate slashing alone leads to a vicious cycle of decreased revenue. Putting a ‘floor’ under rates can be part of a well thought out plan to use that strategy to increase market share so you are better positioned to push rates. Value propositions are still the most important thing that we bring our guests. It is to whom and how we market that value proposition that counts.

Witness the recovery in the luxury and upper upscale sectors of the industry. Value is not a price point but, as Peter Yesawich said so well, it is the perception being able to afford something that a customer may not otherwise be able to afford.

Rate Parity.

Rate parity across all channels is a matter not only of the trust of our guests, it is vital to protecting the revenue from all market segments. Those who haven’t been in parity complain about the RFPs booking outside of their agreements by going to the OTAs and opaque channels where someone thought they could get away with posting lower rates.

Those that haven’t posted rates consistently across channels have watched group blocks at a higher rate dribble away and left money on the table for the sake of a few more rooms for a given period.

Social Networks.

Social networks have gained a prominence in this recession that could not have been foreseen eighteen months ago. Working through these channels has provided smart marketers a platform to present their value proposition with immediacy and targeted reach like never before. Twitter has given revenue managers the ability to push out packages and ‘deals’ that become viral and drive short lead business.

Unfortunately, Twitter deals are part of the issue of the consumer booking short lead. As Tweets will now appear on search engines when a hotel search is done, this is a lesson that needs to be learned quickly if it hasn’t already been mastered.

Sales:

Groups.

The traditional corporate group with its high end F&B component is on life support for the foreseeable future. The verticals have changed dramatically in the past eighteen months. Government per diem is now more attractive and while they may not be the ‘glamour’ groups, they are a ‘hot’ market. Alternative energy will become mainstream in 2010 and those verticals that have arisen as a result of the changing economic dynamic prompted by stimulus funding are the new ‘hot’ sectors.

RFPs and LNRs.

The large RFPs have been brutal in their negotiations this year and in many cases failed to deliver the volume that was their ‘ace’. Locally Negotiated Rates have fared slightly better in that there is a personal relationship with the hotel and the sales person. The corporate travel sector is the second to stage a ‘come back’ after the leisure sector.

Small to medium companies with ‘unmanaged’ travel and smaller volume drive rate in this sector as they know they don’t have the clout to demand mega low rates. Small is good!

Social Networks.

Hotel and personal branding are critical on social networks and provide a space that is immediate to potential clients. A robust hotel profile page on the majors is becoming as important if not more important than the web site itself. Personal branding on social networks is vital to the sales effort.

Customers want to buy when they are ready and are becoming immune to the constant barrage of product pushing messages and emails from hotel sales people. Social networks provide a platform that the customer can use to get to ‘know’ both the hotel and the sales person. Social networks are also a dynamic sales tool for the sales department providing much more robust and current info than traditional sources like Hoovers.

In this traditional slow period for hotels, take a moment to reflect on what positive things have been learned in the recession and how you can use these lessons for a more profitable New Year in 2010.

Hotelier’s 2010 Top Ten Internet Marketing Resolutions.

2010-01-20T08:31:00.001-08:00

Looking back, HeBS believes that 2009 was a year not only of challenges, but also successes for the industry -

While no hotelier is sad to see the end of 2009, HeBS believes that every hotelier has learned extremely important and insightful lessons that have benefitted their Internet marketing and distribution efforts.

Undoubtedly the most important and relevant initiatives in 2009 included holding every spent dollar fully accountable with analytics, not experimenting with unproven advertising formats, enhancing and optimizing the hotel website, and very carefully targeting the right customer segments.

These tactics were integral parts of HeBS article “Getting Back to the Basics: The Hotelier’s Action Plan for a Difficult Economy” and hoteliers who made these recommendations priorities in 2009 were the winners in this economic downturn.

Now, it’s time to look at the year ahead.

Industry reports show that in 2010, hotels will continue to experience declines in revenue and profits, and the recovery is expected to be slow and painful. According to PKF Hospitality Research, in 2010 hotel occupancy will increase by only 0.4%, while ADR and RevPAR will decline further by 1.5% and 1.1% respectively.

The Online Channel is the only growth channel in 2010. This was true last year and it is still the case this year. In Q3 2009, Internet CRS bookings for the top 30 hotel brands grew by 6.6% compared to the previous year, while both GDS bookings and voice bookings declined by 3.6%, and 3% respectively (eTRAK). Smart hoteliers will continue to shift marketing dollars to the online channel at the expense of traditional and declining channels, and implement ROI-centric Internet marketing and distribution strategies with new efforts such as social media and mobile marketing, which are quickly becoming the mainstream in the hospitality industry.

What should hoteliers do to improve bookings in this slowly recovering economy? How seriously should they take their social media strategy? Which Internet marketing initiatives should hoteliers budget for? What online initiatives will bring the highest ROIs? Most importantly, how can hoteliers keep up with emerging trends and provide the immediate, real time service that guests demand?

The 2010 Top Ten New Year’s Internet Marketing Strategy Resolutions, presented by Hospitality eBusiness Strategies (HeBS) for the tenth year in a row, provide some of these answers and action steps.

Here are the Top Ten Internet Marketing Resolutions your hotel company should consider adopting in 2010:

1. I know that “Less is More” in a difficult year like 2010 and I will focus my budget on the Internet marketing initiatives that bring the highest ROIs and generate the most bookings. I know it is essential that I use analytics to drill down my results and find the right marketing mix that converts for my hotel, and that I make use of every marketing dollar I have.

Situation: The Internet marketing basics—website re-design, SEO, paid search, and email to the hotel’s opt-in list—consistently bring in the most bookings and the highest ROIs in the industry. HeBS estimates that 75%-80% of hotel website bookings originate directly from these 4 initiatives alone.

Action Steps: Focus 90% of your budget and efforts on the 4 ROI-producing marketing initiatives as mentioned above—website re-design, SEO, paid search, and email to the hotel’s opt-in list. Then carefully study your analytics so that you can allocate more of your budget to those specific elements in each initiative that works (specific keywords over others, shorter newsletters, two newsletters every two weeks vs. four, etc.).

What about social media and mobile marketing? Where do you start and what do you focus on? To complement the 4 initiatives above, spend up to 10% of your Internet marketing budget on social media and mobile marketing initiatives this year. By enhancing your social media presence on Facebook and Twitter you can create buzz around the property and contribute to increased awareness and booking considerations.

Also, make it a priority to build a mobile-ready website this year—67% of leisure travelers and 77% of business travelers have already used their mobile devices to find local services such as lodging. However, social media and mobile marketing should remain a small part of the budget in 2010. And remember that less is more. Use the basics more intelligently this year by carefully looking at your website analytics, which will enable you to do more with limited budgets and resources.

2. I will take advantage of the fact that multi-channel marketing is here and that I can reach my future and current guests through a variety of ways that complement each other.

Situation: The research process is now longer than it has ever been—people are searching an average of 22 travel websites before making a booking (Google), communicating with friends and family via Facebook, conducting mobile search, etc. This means that they are seeing your marketing messages across a variety of different channels. Now more than ever, there is a convergence of interactive and offline marketing channels—social media and print; hotel websites and social media initiatives, mobile and email, etc.

Action Steps: Multi-channel marketing campaigns should be the norm in 2010. Reach your future and current guests at multiple touch-points. For instance, if you launch an email campaign to the hotel’s own opt-in list, combine it with a tweet on Twitter, a posting on Facebook, a promotion on your website (this is a must), and paid search campaigns. Remember, no matter which channels you use make sure you are tracking results and conversions (e.g. Omniture, DART, etc). Phone tracking is now easier than ever (e.g. a unique 1-800 number to be used for calls resulting from your Google AdWords, another from Yahoo, etc.), and even with print you can send people to private landing pages or use promo codes.

3. I will remember that the Direct Online Channel must always be at the centerpiece of my Internet strategy. I know that travel consumers booking via my hotel website i.e. direct customers are more loyal, bring more revenue and tend to travel more often.

Situation: Across the industry, in 2010, Direct Online Channel sales will exceed 62% of total online hotel bookings. In 2009, even the top 30 major hotel brands t increased their dependence on the Online Travel Agencies (OTAs)—from 25.4% a year ago to 30% of CRS bookings in Q3 2009 (eTRAK). Emboldened by hoteliers’ desperation, some OTAs engaged in controversial and unhealthy practices, as described in HeBS’ recent article “The Prisoner’s Dilemma, the Stockholm Syndrome, or a Case of Both?”

Action Steps: What should hoteliers do to improve their direct vs. indirect online channel ratio? Firmly establish the direct online channel as the centerpiece of your marketing strategy. This provides your hotel with immediate results in a very difficult economic environment as well as long-term competitive advantages. Maintain strict rate parity across all marketing channels and maintain a best rate guarantee. At the same time, create unique product offerings and providing unique value proposition via the hotel website. Engage your customers directly via social media and mobile initiatives, and Web 2.0 features and functionality on the hotel website.

4. I will plan my budget around ROI-Centric Internet marketing initiatives and furthermore, I will track every dollar spent using sophisticated website analytical and campaign tracking technology. In this economy, I will not spend even a single precious marketing dollar without tracking the results, bookings generated and Return-on-Investment (ROI). I know that my Internet marketing budget is never final – it is a “work-in-progress” which continuously needs to be reevaluated dependant on results and Return-on-Ad-Spend (ROAS).

Situation: Smart hotel marketers—from the major hotel brands and OTAs to independent hotels and resorts—use sophisticated website analytical and campaign tracking tools like Omniture, DART, etc. For example, Omniture’a SearchCenter (used by many major hotel brands and all of HeBS clients) allows automated bid management of paid search campaigns resulting in significant cost savings of 30%-40%, in addition to detailed ROI-analysis on the campaign and keyword level and keyword stacking reports. This process reveals which keywords actually lead to a booking. Here at HeBS we often see bookings that resulted from three or more keyword searches.

Action Steps: In 2010, hoteliers must track post-impression and post-click activity and track conversions (bookings, room nights, revenues) and ROAS from each campaign. Do not accept excuses from your interactive vendors on how difficult it is to track conversions and ROAS. Work only with an Internet marketing vendor that provides the hotel with 24/7 access to state-of-the-art website analytical and campaign tracking tools, utilizes industry’s best practices, and focuses on marketing spend that can be tracked. Go even more granular with analytics, and don’t just look at direct revenues from campaigns but look at the path website visitors took to make a booking.

For instance, make sure that you review campaign stacking reports with your vendor and website user pathing behavior to get the full picture as to which marketing initiative led or contributed to each booking. Do not disregard an initiative because you aren’t drilling deep enough into your analysis. If your current vendor cannot accommodate your hotel with the above reporting and analysis, replace them in a heartbeat.

5. I will make sure my hotel website is Web 2.0-friendly to increase interaction with visitors. I understand that launching Web 2.0 features and functionality on the hotel website engages website visitors, generates interest and site stickiness, and ultimately increases bookings.

Situation: Most hotel websites read like a static online brochure. There is minimal interaction with the user; all he/she can do is sit back and read what is on the website as if in a county library. This is contrary to the mere nature of today’s hyperactive Internet user, who is tweeting, texting, emailing, communicating with friends via Facebook, and commenting, often in real-time, on restaurants and hotels via review sites.

Action Steps: Create opportunities for your website visitors to communicate with your hotel. Start a blog so that you can speak to them and allow them to leave their feedback (this will benefit the hotel’s SEO as well). Launch a sweepstakes that allows your visitors to enter to win a free night’s stay (and refer the contest to their friends, spreading it virally), and let them show off their vacation photos by creating a photo sharing contest (always have an approval process before photos go live). Post a fun scavenger hunt on the site and generate buzz, add new users to the opt-in email and text lists, and generate incremental bookings in the process. Everyone wants to be a celebrity – let them share their experiences!

Many of these Web 2.0 features such as interactive sweepstakes and contests, blogs, event/activity calendars, photo sharing contests, sharing the site with friends, following the hotel via Twitter and Facebook, customer surveys and testimonials, etc. can be implemented even now, in this economy, without re-designing the whole website.

6. I will take full advantage of Social Marketing and enhance the social media strategy for my hotel in 2010. I understand that social marketing and targeted social media initiatives, if done according to best practices, generate buzz around the hotel, engage customers, provide a receptive audience, and ultimately stimulate hotel website visits, interactions and bookings.

Situation: Internet users now spend 17% of their surfing time on social network and blogging sites, nearly triple the percentage of time spent on such sites a year ago, according to Nielsen. Over 44% of Internet users are active in social media. In addition, over one-third of social network users and 44% of Twitter users have engaged with a brand through discount promotions (Mashable).

No wonder that according to the recent Business.com’s 2009 Business Social Media Benchmarking Study, 83% of U.S. companies use Facebook and 45% Twitter. All major hotel brands, airlines and other travel suppliers, as well as all OTAs are now present on the social networks like Facebook, Twitter, etc. At the same time, the social networks are cluttered with “dead” Facebook Fan Pages and Twitter accounts, abandoned by hoteliers and travel marketers who did not realize the amount of time, expertise and resources maintaining social media presence requires.

Action Steps: Do not get tempted to create a Facebook Fan Page or a Twitter account if you are not ready to devote a significant amount of time and resources to managing your hotel’s social network presence and if you do not have access to best practices and expert advice on the subject. If you do not have the internal bandwidth or resources to manage social marketing, outsource to a hospitality social media expert company.

Launch interactive contests & promotions using social media and find unique ways for people to interact with your hotel outside of the hotel website. An example could be an interactive scavenger hunt using Facebook and Twitter, or a Twitter-only contest asking your followers what their dream hotel package would be (the prize would be the most imaginative-yet doable-package). Here at HeBS, we have found that these types of promotions drive significant traffic to the hotel website, are beneficial for SEO, are often referred to friends, and consistently result in multiple hotel bookings. And always measure ROI from your social marketing—number of engagements, referrals, leads, initiated bookings, conversions.

7. I will invest in Mobile Marketing this year, as I know that mobile users expect instant access to information as well as an Internet experience that rivals the one via traditional PCs and laptops. Mobile users have even shorter attention spans. They have less time to browse and are often on the go. I know the mobile Internet is not wireless access to the conventional Internet and adheres to different rules.

Situation: The number of mobile devices has already surpassed the number of personal computers worldwide. Seventy-eight percent of the U.S. population has a mobile device of some sort. Sixty-seven percent of travelers and 77% of frequent business travelers with Web-enabled mobile devices have already used their devices to find local services (e.g. lodging) and attractions (PhoCusWright). In other words, hotel guests—past, current and potential—are increasingly becoming mobile-ready and hoteliers have to respond adequately to this growing demand for mobile services. This is the reason why all major hotel brands, travel suppliers and OTAs have mobile Internet initiatives in place, including mobile brand websites, mobile applications (including iPhone apps), m-CRM and mobile marketing.

Action Steps: The first step any hotelier should take is to build a mobile-ready website, designed specially to provide an excellent user experience in a mobile environment. The economy or budget constraints are no excuse—a 10-page mobile hotel website starts at $1250 and is definitely worth the investment. Also, launch Google mobile ads and start soliciting sign-ups to the text opt-in list (m-list) on the hotel website and via email marketing campaigns, etc. Include a mobile marketing component in your social media initiatives, interactive sweepstakes and contests.

8. I will invest in online videos for my hotel’s website and other online channels such as YouTube, Facebook, etc. I know that because of advances in bandwidth and technology, online videos are becoming an integral part of the Internet and Mobile Web users’ experience. I also know that an online video describes my hotel and its location better than any textual content on my site, and is an attractive conduit by which I will be able to showcase the hotel and the destination via the social networks.

Situation: According to Nielsen's VideoCensus, YouTube serviced over 6.6 billion streams in October 2009 alone, followed by Hulu (632 million) and Facebook with over 217 million streams. YouTube is the second largest search engine–second only to Google. People watch an average of two hours a month online and referrals from YouTube to the online travel channel are up 84% this year (Google). Most importantly, 72% of US Internet users view video online on the same scale as network television and 89% of users surveyed said video influenced their booking decision (PhoCusWright). No wonder almost all major hotel brands, OTA's, luxury hotel and resort brands have invested heavily in the creation of online videos about their product and services and created YouTube and Facebook video channels.

Action Steps: If you do not have an online video of your hotel in 2010, make this a priority. Video is a great way to bring your property to life and there is a huge audience out there. Upload your video on your website, create a YouTube user channel for your hotel and make your videos part of the hotel’s Facebook Fan Page. If you are not able to budget for a video, consider the much cheaper Flash Video (flash animation of images along with a voice-over recording), or ask your guests to upload and share their own videos.

9. I will take full advantage of today’s real-time marketing world we live in. I will focus on real-time communications with my past, current and future guests because I know that they expect me to be there for them via multiple channels and at all touch points. At the same time I know that with the advent of social media and mobile Web, real-time information is being generated, disseminated, and acted upon with lightning speed across the Web, and I will make sure not to miss this opportunity to showcase my property.

Situation: Today’s hyperactive travel consumer expects to have access to real-time information in a 24/7 fashion. “Consumer expectations are at a level never seen before. Immediacy is compelling, engaging, and highly addictive” (CNN Dec 09). At the same time consumers, for the first time in history, can create content in real time via social networks, mobile texts, email, etc., which automatically gets distributed across the traditional and mobile Web. Google already serves content in real time from across the blogosphere, Twitter, Facebook and other social networks in its search results. Via RSS, this content gets distributed to thousands of sites. This presents hospitality eMarketers with enormous new challenges, as well as opportunities.

Action Steps: Hoteliers need to be there right away for their customers and these customers won’t necessarily come to you directly with their questions and feedback. They may post a comment on Facebook, or tweet about your hotel. Many companies have been very successful at responding to these communications, resulting in higher customer satisfaction and ultimately in new incremental bookings. Make sure you are monitoring for comments about your hotel not only on the hotel review sites, but across the social networks, and responding as quickly as possible. Take advantage of this new staggering immediacy in information dissemination—new postings on the hotel’s website blog, Facebook Fan Page, Twitter profile, YouTube channel, Flickr account, etc. and get picked by the search engines almost immediately to appear in the search engine results.

10. I will always keep in mind that experience matters when it comes to hotel Internet marketing. I know there are a lot of vendors out there that want my business, and I do not want to be a victim to self proclaimed Internet marketing experts or those that want to “learn the business on my dime.”

Situation: Now, 15 years after the first hotel online booking, best practices have been established in practically every aspect of hotel Internet marketing. There are many vendors, an increasing number not hospitality-focused, who proclaim themselves as internet marketing experts. At the same time there are proven hotel Internet marketing professionals who can help you and your hotel stay competitive, increase market share, and generate high website revenues and ROIs. It is becoming increasingly difficult for hoteliers to distinguish and choose the true experts in the field.

Action Steps: Consider partnering with a hotel internet marketing firm with a proven track record in the industry. Partner with hospitality experts in Internet marketing and direct online channel strategies who can help you acquire new core competencies and adopt best industry practices. Partner with those who can help you and your hotel stay competitive in these difficult times, preserve and increase market share, beat the industry averages and generate the highest website revenues and ROIs. Hire experts who will work with you in complete transparency and that are ROI-centric, yet innovative and will keep you in the know of the latest trends, including social media and mobile marketing.

Most importantly, this partner should make your website your hotel’s most productive and efficient revenue generating channel in 2010 and beyond.

How to Achieve Your Sales in 2010.

2010-01-20T08:30:00.001-08:00

I'm sure by now that you have established your sales targets for the new year and if you haven't I suggest that you get cracking and do it now.

Time is slipping past! If you have set your targets, congratulations!

Here are 10 things you can do to achieve those goals.

1. Invest time prospecting for NEW business every week.

Most salespeople rely on existing clients to generate their sales. Allot a specific amount of time to look for new business opportunities whether it's within a current account or a completely new company. How much time are you prepared to commit to prospecting for new business?

2. Expand your reach.

I know a VP of Sales who regularly gets his team together to brainstorm new industries they can target for their products. This helps his company consistently exceed their sales goals. What new industries or vertical markets can you target?

3. Improve your value proposition.

Forget the tired approach of "Here's what we do and here's the awards we've won." What RESULTS do you help companies achieve? Focus on developing a 30 second pitch on this and make sure it is focused on your prospect, not your company. How can you improve your value proposition?

4. Improve your questioning skills.

Most sales people think they ask good questions but in fact, they don't. Learn how to ask high-value, high-impact questions that make your prospects think and that differentiate you from your competitors. It may sound easy but it isn't. It requires forethought and courage to ask. What new questions can you start asking?

5. Ask for referrals.

I know, I know. You've heard this before. So have I. But I'll be the first to admit that I don't execute consistently even though I know better. And the fact of the matter is referrals have a shorter sales cycle not to mention a higher closing ratio. What will you do to ensure that you ask for referrals more consistently?

6. Perfect your presentations.

I'm not talking about memorizing your sales pitch. Instead, this is about adapting each sales presentation so that it addresses the specific needs of each prospect or customer. It also means investing time to rehearse every sales presentation before you meet with your prospect. What do you need to do to improve your sales presentations?

7. Gain agreement.

This may sound obvious buy many sales people fail to ask for some type of commitment when they meet with, or talk to, prospects and customers. Asking for some form of commitment at each stage of the process increases your opportunity to close the deal. This can be as simple as asking, "What are the best next steps?" or "Are you prepared to move forward?"

8. Keep your name in your prospect's mind.

A call or two is not enough. You need to find creative ways to keep your name in your prospect's mind. This can include snail mail, email, networking, drop-by calls, etc. and make sure that every contact offers some type of value to your customer and prospect. What can you do to keep your name in your prospect's mind?

9. Improve your selling skills.

The business world has changed in the last 12-24 months. If you have not adapted your adapted your approach you run the risk of being ousted by the competition. This means you need to read a book, listen to a podcast, take a training program, get some coaching, or join a Mastermind group. And don't just listen to what being said; work at applying the concepts into your business. How can you improve your sales skills?

10. Show customers why they should keep doing business with you.

Just because someone has bought from you in the past does not mean they will continue to do so in the future. In today's business climate you need to constantly prove to your existing customers why it makes sense to continue buying your product/service. What can you do to reinforce this to your customers?

Although the recession is officially over, it will take time for businesses to recover. Modify your approach now and apply the concepts in this article to make 2010 your best year ever!

120 Marketing Ideas for Hotels in 2009

2010-01-20T08:29:00.001-08:00

Everyone loves a good list. To help you plan for the upcoming year, I’ve put together some of the best new marketing ideas for 2009. Enjoy!

Note: This list has been updated as 130 Hotel Marketing Ideas for 2010

Website
Buy some great domain names (market is less competitive right now)
Remove your intro “splash” page
Have a clean & simple web design
Use Website.Grader.com to ensure technical quality
Build easy navigation
Ensure instant brand identification
Make contact forms short & simple
Use Google Optimizer for best results
Add live chat support
Add a virtual host
Use video instead of text (where possible)
Post directions to your hotel in pictures
Syndicate content as RSS
Offer in-depth destination information
Show pictures of attractions near your hotel with Panoramio
Use Google maps to provide step-by-step directions to your hotel
Let visitors write and send eCards (email postcards)
Publish visitor comments
Publish videos of satisfied guests
Include positive social media rankings (ex: #1 in San Francisco on TripAdvisor)
Add social bookmarking services Digg and del.icio.us to important pages
Use Mofuse.com to make your site mobile-friendly
Use Diigo to track & share changes to competitors’ websites
Create a public Google Calendar to show upcoming events
Organic Search Marketing (SEO)
Focus on dominating local search
Create local keyword lists by pairing geocentric keywords (Seattle) with industry keywords (boutique hotel)
Optimize for questions people ask
Make your blog search friendly
Appear in Google Maps‘ local business listings
Make sure your hotel website has the right keywords in the right place
Establish a web presence, not just a web site
Use Quarkbase to understand your web presence
Use Google Trends for websites
Paid Search Marketing (PPC)
Determine your objective first (ROI, growth, market research, etc)
Use professional keyword research tools
Use property features as keywords
Include industry & long tail keywords
Do keyword competitive analysis to find opportunities
Experiment with different match types (broad, phrase, exact)
Use negative keywords
Grab attention with your ad copy
Use Dynamic Keyword Insertion (DKI) to include search phrases
Highlight special seasonal offers & update regularly
Disqualify unlikely guests
Create many ad variations for each ad group
Split test ad copy variations
Use unique reservation landing pages
Adjust keyword bidding strategies
Use seasonality data
Try geo-targeting
Experiment with ad placements (on travel websites)
Target specific demographics
Set up weekly statistics reporting
Ask your PPC agency hard questions
Social Media

Listen to what people are already saying about you
Monitor your brand name with Google Alerts
Use Google Trends to find what’s hot
Start a destination blog
Start a hotel blog
Have your staff start blogs
Understand the 7 types of blog posts
Use Feedburner for RSS syndication
Offer an email alternative to RSS
Make blog posts richer with Zemanta
Encourage distribution with ShareThis
Build your blog community with MyBlogLog
Realize that effective PR takes place in social media
Pitch travel bloggers
Focus your social media outreach on best groups
Start tweeting
Create a Facebook page
Get listed in WikiTravel (amazing how many smaller hotels are absent)
Get listed in TripAdvisor
Get listed in Yelp
Get listed in VirtualTourist
Encourage guests to register with Yelp & Tripadvisor at check in
Ask for TripAdvisor hotel reviews when your guests check out
Ask for Yelp reviews at the end of all in-house satisfaction surveys
When a guest compliments your hotel, ask them to give you a social media review
Print a social media review request on the back of your business cards
Start a Flickr photostream
Start a Flickr group
Start a YouTube channel
Shoot a video of your hotel, and post it to Google Video
Measurement & Analytics
Install (free) Google Analytics (if you haven’t already)
Understand how Analytics can help with search optimization
Use Compete.com to understand your site traffic (& competitors)
Track referral source types
Know which websites refer the highest quality traffic
Develop meaningful metrics for digital marketing
Track number of social media mentions
Track social media satisfaction percentage
Create new toll-free numbers to track different web promotions
Try HowSociable?
Customer Service
Listen to your guests using the web
Respond to feedback (positive and negative) in social media websites
Develop a more intelligent guest relationship system
Build an (opt-in) email list of your guests
Offer exclusive rates to your list
Reward your best guests: Send special birthday & anniversary packages
Reward your best guests: Create seasonal specials packages
Hire multilingual staff
Hire multicultural staff
Offer air conditioning
Print and give out (free) postcards
Reimburse checked baggage fees
Provide a SMART shopping car (like Le Bristol in Paris)
Borrow ideas from customer service leaders like Nordstrom and Lexus
Technology
Embrace new technology that improves your guest experience
Provide free internet access through WiFi and guest computers
Offer technology that complements your hotel’s heritage
Add new entertainment hubs (with iPod docking, etc)
Try interactive activity planner centers
Experiment with permission-based mobile marketing
Get your hotel video posted on TVtrip
Miscellaneous
Look for big advertising discounts (corporation budget cuts mean remnant sales)
Try unconventional room pricing
Never reduce prices as a quick-fix remedy
Partner with local businesses for destination marketing
Sell the experience, not the room

130 Hotel Marketing Ideas for 2010

2010-01-20T08:28:00.001-08:00

To help you prepare for the upcoming year, I’ve assembled my annual list of hotel marketing ideas.

They say 80% of results come from 20% of work. It’s more like 95% from 5%. I spend several hours blogging each day, yet my “120 Marketing Ideas for 2009″ was many times more popular than any other post I published this year. Thousands of people found this blog each month through this list of marketing strategies.

Well, today I’m going to create an all-new version for 2010…with even more ideas. I’m proud to present:

130 Hotel Marketing Ideas for 2010
Strategy

90% of purchasing decisions begin online (Forrester)
Educated buyers now solve problems through Google searches
Marketing goals in the past: create brand awareness, target mass media, interrupt and repeat. Marketing now: create behavior change, create conversation, communicate directly
New goal: 100% engagement (not 2% conversion)
What should you publish online? Anything that saves people time and gives info that positions you as a good source. Understand what your customers need to know, and deliver it in a compelling way
What online channels does your demographic spend time in? Find out, then develop a strong presence there. Don’t make people come to you – put content where they already are online.
Think like a “content DJ”: use and reuse your content in many different formats: blog posts, email, newsletters, articles, PDFs, press releases, case studies, video, and social media updates
Spend the large majority of your time trying to reach the most likely buyers instead of the entire market. “The smaller the target, the bigger the bulls eye.”
If you’re small, you can be quick & nimble. Capitalize on that.
We have 3 jobs as marketers: obtain profitable customers, keep them, and expand their lifetime value
People admire complexity, but reward simplicity
Don’t do something unless you’re the best in the world at it. If someone else does something better, use their services. Focus only on what you do best, and outsource everything else.
Planning

The #1 failure in marketing plans: no clear measures of success
You must differentiate to avoid becoming a price-driven commodity
Not a lot of hotels know where their market position is. Define and position yourself.
On metasearch sites, hotels should move away from price commoditization by providing product-level custom messages to differentiate their offers
To find differentiating factors, thoroughly study the service you offer and interview the people that provide it
If you spend your resources like everyone else, you’ll get results like everyone else. Breakthrough campaigns often require unusual approaches.
Selling to your best guests is the best way to maximize profits. Setup systems for recognizing and rewarding these people.
Identify and test the key strategies your marketing plan hinges upon. The more facts and research you can include in your plans, the better. Hard data is far more valuable than guesswork.
Decide what success means to you. It’s different for everyone.
Website

Give visual priority to the most important elements of your site
Put your offer front and center – make it extremely clear (”What do you want me to do?”)
Booking modules should be prominent and above the fold
Create guest personas to help you develop content for each target audience
People scan web pages, and probably won’t take a long time to read all the text.
Include stunning visuals. People buy travel on emotion.
Write page content from the mindset of the customer. Use their language.
Publish guest comments, reviews, and feedback directly on your website
Leverage social proof. Everyone likes what everyone likes.
First impressions make or break landing page conversion rates
Provide “next steps” for all web content
Organic traffic provides you with a low level of control, so make sure these pages appeal to everyone. With paid search & advertising campaign traffic you have a higher level of control. Create landing pages that match the ad creative for higher conversions.
Use video to convey emotion or compelling visuals that are hard to show through written words
View your main website not as the final destination, but a hub to refer people elsewhere in your online network
Search Marketing

The top 3 results on a search results page gets 79% of the clicks
Result #10 only gets 3%…and appearing on page #2 and onwards means you are practically invisible
Travel queries have increased 40% in 2009 (over 2008)
SEO (organic search) can give much better returns than SEM (paid inclusion). According to Yen Lee of Uptake, 86% of travel sales leads are generated by organic search listings.
Don’t worry about how search engines work as much as how customers use web search
When someone types in a search query, they’re giving you the opportunity to solve their problem
The search funnel typically follows this pattern: Awareness, Interest, Consideration, Purchase
Identify keywords that are relevant to your hotel, and popular with searchers. Use research tools so you don’t get mislead.
Consider targeting 2-3 word phrases that are more targeted and obtainable
Blogs can be your #1 tool for building search visibility
Organizations that blog get 97% more inbound links to their website, and 55% more website visitors according to Hubspot research
Reciprocal links less valuable than one-way, because it tells Google that you’ve arranged it, rather than earned the link through creating great content
The best incoming links are earned by merit. Create content people can’t help linking to.
“See SEO as a profit center, not a cost center” – Yen Lee, Uptake
“You cannot have a ’set it and forget it’ approach to SEO. Constantly create fresh content.” – Microsoft
Be diligent – search marketing is an ongoing process
Reputation Management

Your online reputation plays a huge role in the level of success you achieve
The majority of travelers today use the internet to make travel plans, and say the reviews they read from other guests influence their buying decision
Reputation management begins by listening to what people are saying about you online
Use tools like Google Alerts, Technorati, and Radian 6 to track praise and criticism
Monitor all important terms: your hotel name, any old hotel names, your restaurants, the names of your manager and concierge
Review sites such as TripAdvisor, Yelp, and Qype allow management responses, and this is a good chance to participate in the conversation.
A recent survey by TripAdvisor/Market Metrix found that 85% of hotels have no guidelines on how to handle negative guest reviews published online
Develop your response policy ahead of time, and make an effort to followup with all feedback
Complaints can be an excellent opportunity to improve your hotel
If you get legitimate negative feedback, thank the reviewer for pointing it out…and explain the steps you’re taking to ensure it never happens again
TripAdvisor: The most important thing a hotel can do to improve rankings is provide a great experience for their guests
Effective online reputation management is more than just playing defense – it’s all about proactively building a positive buzz. Social media is a great way to begin doing this.
Social Media

The conversation about you will go on with or without you. It’s better to be involved.
Serve as a concierge of the organization – “how may I help?”
Start by figuring out your social media goals. Is it education? sharing? community?
Present your blog and social media presence as a way for people to connect with their peers, not just receive your marketing messages
Embrace a light branding approach – let your customers tell the story and build the brand.
“Guestsourcing” is the technique savvy hotels are using to involve their guests in the content production process. It’s the combination of user-generated content and crowdsourcing.
Guestsourcing can build loyalty and raise your online visibility. Active participation in content production creates a sense of brand ownership.
If you’re small, people may not be talking about your business by name….but they’re probably talking about your region and issues you care about.
Monitor who writes about the topics you care about. Build relationships with them.
If your online content sucks, you’re wasting your money and my time. Make something remarkable.
People love to look at pictures…are you giving people lots of pictures online? Encourage your fans to take & upload their own photos.
Add photos of your hotel’s design to the Hotel Design Blog
Hosting your hotel photos on Flickr increases your web presence, building awareness among potential guests
Use Creative Commons licensing on all Flickr photos to increase distribution
Introduce your staff with video interviews, and post to YouTube
Viral video is for generating buzz and awareness…but it’s not the best way to generate sales
Hyatt Hotels launched @HyattConcierge to provide 24/7 global concierge services via Twitter. Could you do the same?
Use Twitter search to locate people searching for solutions
Facebook marketing is all about “transitive trust” – reaching people through people. Helping your fans tell their friends.
Facebook isn’t about answers. It’s friends sharing with friends.
This makes Facebook a poor platform for direct marketing.
Facebook adds new features fairly rapidly, so take the time to educate your readers about how they can use the new tools.
Encourage people to like and comment on your Facebook content as much as possible to raise visibility.
Get a “vanity” personalized Facebook URL as soon as you can for search optimization purposes (you need 25 fans first)
Employee blogging is more powerful than executive blogging. According to Edelman research, readers find them five times more credible. Get your team involved.
Consider using multiple sites/blogs for each of the niche audiences you’re trying to reach
Use destination blogs to attract corporate and leisure travel planners. Especially in rural or remote areas, your biggest competition is not the hotel down the street but another location.
Get your social media fans to meet up offline as much as possible. “Tweetups” are a popular way to do this.
Create a social media management routine to ensure consistent participation
“You can make more friends in two months by becoming interested in other people than you can in two years by trying to get other people interested in you.” – Dale Carnegie
Advertising

Present a realistic picture of what people can expect at your hotel. (There is nothing worse than a disappointed guest)
Test advertising messages in low-cost online channels before investing in big-budget media
Monmouth Plantation shifted focus from low rates to selling their lavish experiences using “sensory overload” and enjoyed a 30-40% increase in response rate.
Test using feedback from your guests in your advertising. It’s more credible, and makes your ad stand out. Stories sell.
Educational-based advertising works best in today’s environment of empowered buyers
Audit your advertising performance frequently. Ineffective advertising must be stopped immediately.
OTAs offer international distribution and significant marketing budgets that can supplement hotels’ budgets when times are lean. Small & independent hotels should ride the backs of OTAs for these benefits.
OTAs get first-time consumers in the door for new brands. They may book later directly & become brand loyalists. According to Expedia research, for every booking made on their site, they send the supplier two extra direct bookings.
Email

Email may have taken a backseat role to social media hype, but it’s still a very powerful tool when used correctly. It is the cornerstone of permission-based relationship marketing.
Email usually has higher psychological value than other types of online communication.
Email is an effective branding tool for creating top-of-mind awareness
Email drives action and profits
Messages don’t always have to be sent to your guests and customers. Build systems to nurture partner relationships. Fairmont Hotels sends nearly half of their newsletters for other business partners.
You must create your lists organically with the explicit permission of your prospects.
Always provide a strong benefit for the person signing up for your list. Receiving updates (marketing messages) alone isn’t usually a very strong offer. Exclusive discounts and preferred service are more compelling.
Choose a publishing frequency that works for you. Too often, and people will unsubscribe; not enough, and they will forget. If possible, ask your subscribers how often they want to hear from you.
Test, test, test. Email marketing success comes through continual testing…and making changes based on what you learn.
Ideas for testing email campaigns include: sending day and time, frequency, personalization, subject and contents, prices, and call to action.
Segment your list as much as possible to deliver relevant messages.
Kimpton Hotels built lists around affinity groups for subjects like wine, pets, and dining – and increased average revenue generated by a customer email campaign from $70,000-80,000 to $350,000-750,000.
Press & Media

Traditional PR assumes media editors & journalists are gatekeepers
New PR understands consumers will decide for themselves what to view
Savvy “PR 2.0″ organizations are using social media to communicate with journalists and increase their media coverage.
Help A Reporter Out (HARO) is a 3 times daily email newsletter with dozens of ‘expert source’ requests from journalists
Involve your fans and customers in your PR distribution – get them to pass information along
Social Media Press Release Builder can help you create stories to share via the social web
LinkedIn and Jigsaw can be used to find reporter contact info and start conversations
Media on Twitter is a more focused directory of journalists on Twitter
Web analytics more important in consumer-directed PR than traditional PR measures of success
Customer Service

Getting a new customer costs approximately five times what it costs to keep an existing one
Make collecting guest feedback a top priority. Make sure employees understand the value of this.
Biggest operational challenge for hotels today is showing staff how company values look in action [Christoph Schmidt]
Never ask a guest “Have you stayed with us before?” Build a great recognition system so you know that answer already.
Collect as much information as you can about your guests. The more details you know, the higher level of service you can provide.
Offer free WiFi. As Rajul points out, it makes for happier guests, and just might help you rank higher in TripAdvisor.
Understand the power of consistency. This is crucial for building loyalty, and there is nothing worse than letting a customer down after they have a good experience. Use operating procedures and training to provide consistent excellence.
Build loyalty through offering unique amenities, not just slashing prices [New York Times]
Get inspiration from Ritz Carlton, which permits each employee to spend up to $2,000 to “move heaven and earth” to satisfy a guest – without obtaining prior permission
Going Global

60% of online searches are conducted in a language other than English (Forrester)
Potential guests from abroad prefer information about your hotel in their own language… even if they speak English
The best translator translates into his/her native language (watch for dialects)
On your website, don’t use flags to link to alternate language versions. Use text links in the top right corner.
Alternatively, present a one-time landing page when someone first visits the site that says “Welcome” in different languages. Use coding to remember the guest’s preference.
SEO optimize each page on your local sites for the local language.
Make sure to promote local content online (social media, etc) as well as the English version.
Measurement & Metrics

What is measured gets improved
Metrics can (and should) determine the direction you take your internet marketing campaign
New technology requires new metrics. Create new, insightful measures of success.
Metrics need to be put in context to make any sense. Raw data is useless unless it’s viewed in relation to something else.
Top email marketing metrics: open rate, clickthrough rate, and conversion rate (people taking the next step)
Top website metrics: average page views per visit, average time on site, booking engine abandonment rate
Use Analytics to show which keywords are most important to your website (by time on site, bounce rate, etc)
Determine which keywords produce the most conversions (sales), and build your search marketing plan around that
Always ask guests, “How did you hear about us?”
Build a statistics dashboard that shows the money. You must know which tactics are actually providing revenue.

Please read and Forward to others

2010-01-19T01:11:00.001-08:00

Every Friday afternoon, after the Jumma prayers, the Imam and his
eleven year old son would go out into their town and hand out "PATH TO PARADISE"and other Islamic literature.

This particular and fortunate Friday afternoon, as the time came for the
Imam and his son to go to the streets with their booklets, it was very
cold outside, as well as pouring rain.

The boy bundled up in his warmest and driest clothes and said, 'OK, dad, I'm ready!'

His dad asked, 'Ready for what' 'Dad, it's time we go out and distribute
these Islamic books.'

Dad responds, 'Son, it's very cold outside and it's pouring rain.'

The boy gives his dad a surprised look, asking, 'But Dad, aren't people
still going to hell, even though it's raining?'

Dad answers, 'Son, I am not going out in this weather.'

Despondently, the boy asks, 'Dad, can I go Please'

His father hesitated for a moment then said, 'Son, you can go. Here are the booklets. Be careful son.'

'Thanks, Dad!'

And with that, he was off and out into the rain. This eleven year old
boy walked the streets of the town going door to door and handing everybody
he met in the street a pamphlet or a booklet.

After two hours of walking in the rain, he was soaking, bone-chilled wet and down to his VERY LAST BOOKLET. He stopped on a corner and looked for someone to hand a booklet to, but the streets were totally deserted.

Then he turned toward the first home he saw and started up the sidewalk to the front door and rang the door bell. He rang the bell, but nobody answered..

He rang it again and again, but still no one answered. He waited but
still no answer.

Finally, he turned to leave, but something stopped him.

Again, he turned to the door and rang the bell and knocked loudly on
the door with his fist. He waited, something holding him there on the front porch!

He rang again and this time the door slowly opened.

Standing in the doorway was a very sad-looking elderly lady. She softly
asked, 'What can I do for you, son?' With radiant eyes and a smile that lit up her world, this little boy said, 'Ma'am, I'm sorry if I disturbed
you, but I just want to tell you that ALLAH REALLY LOVES AND CARES FOR YOU and I came to give you my very last booklet which will tell you all about God, the real purpose of creation, and how to achieve His pleasure.'

With that, he handed her his last booklet and turned to leave.

She called to him as he departed. 'Thank you, son! And God Bless You!'

Next week on Friday afternoon after Jumma prayers, the Imam was giving some lectures.. As he concludes the lectures, he asked, 'Does anybody have questions or want to say anything?'

Slowly, in the back row among the ladies, an elderly lady's voice was
heard over the speaker.

'No one in this gathering knows me. I've never been here before. You see, before last Friday I was not a Muslim, and thought I could be. My husband died few years ago, leaving me totally alone in this world.. Last Friday, being a particularly cold and rainy day, i was contemplating suicide as i had no hope left.

So I took a rope and a chair and ascended the stairway into the attic of my home.. I fastened the rope securely to a rafter in the roof then stood on the chair and fastened the other end of the rope around my neck. Standing on that chair, so lonely and broken-hearted I was about to leap off, when suddenly the loud ringing of my doorbell downstairs startled me. I thought, I'll wait a minute, and whoever it is will go away.

I waited and waited, but the ringing doorbell seemed to get louder and more insistent, and then the person ringing also started knocking loudly....

I thought to myself again, 'Who on earth could this be? Nobody ever
rings my bell or comes to see me.' I loosened the rope from my neck and started for the front door, all the while the bell rang louder and louder.

When I opened the door and looked I could hardly believe my eyes, for
there on my front porch was the most radiant and angelic little boy I had ever seen in my life. His SMILE, oh, I could never describe it to you! The words that came from his mouth caused my heart that had long been dead TO LEAP TO LIFE as he exclaimed with a cherub-like voice, 'Ma'am, I just came to tell you that ALLAH REALLY LOVES AND CARES FOR YOU!'

Then he gave me this booklet, Path To Paradise that I now hold in my
hand.

As the little angel disappeared back out into the cold and rain, I
closed my door and read slowly every word of this book. Then I went up to my attic to get my rope and chair. I wouldn't be needing them any more.

You see? I am now a Happy Vicegerent of the One True God. Since the address of your congregation was stamped on the back of this booklet, I have come here to personally say THANK YOU to God's little angel who came just in the nick of time and by so doing, spared my soul from an eternity in hell.'

There was not a dry eye in the mosque. The shouts of TAKBIR..ALLAH
AKBAR.. rented the air.

Imam-Dad descended from the pulpit to the front row where the little
angel was seated....

He took his son in his arms and sobbed uncontrollably.

Probably no jama'at has had a more glorious moment, and probably this
universe has never seen a father that was more filled with love and
honor for his son... Except for One. This very one...

Blessed are your eyes for reading this message.

Don't let this message die, read it again and pass it to others. Heaven
is for His people! Remember, God's message CAN make the difference in the life of someone close to you.

Please share this wonderful message

You can't have every

2010-01-14T12:39:00.001-08:00

You can't have everything...where would you put it?

If you can't speak well of someone, rather don't say anything

2010-01-11T07:25:00.001-08:00

Once upon a time an old man spread rumors that his neighbor was a thief. As a result, the young man was arrested. Days later the young man was proven innocent. After been released he sued the old man for wrongly accusing him.

In court the old man told the Judge: 'They were just comments, didn't harm anyone..'

The judge, before passing sentence on the case, told the old man: 'Write all the things you said about him on a piece of paper. Cut them up and on the way home, throw the pieces of paper out. Tomorrow, come back to hear the sentence.'

The next day, the judge told the old man: 'Before receiving the sentence, you will have to go out and gather all the pieces of paper that you threw out yesterday.'

The old man said: 'I can't do that! The wind spread them and I won't know where to find them.'

The judge then replied: 'The same way, simple comments may destroy the honor of a man to such an extent that one is not able to fix it. If you can't speak well of someone, rather don't say anything.

'Let's all be masters of our mouths,
so that we won't be slaves of our words.'

The 10 Customer Service Trends for 2010

2010-01-07T10:22:00.001-08:00

In 2010, customer service makes a big comeback. It becomes the new marketing. Forget about paying lip service to offering “great customer service”. Let go all of those “the customer is always right” myths. It’s time to offer outstanding customer service only because it makes economic sense for your small business. It is the only truly sustainable competitive advantage.

What to watch in 2010:

1.We Try Harder: With the economy still struggling to recover and unemployment at record highs, all “customer facing employees” actually will try harder this year to attract, satisfy and keep their customers. Job prospects remain slim in 2010 and every employee wants to keep any job they have. This year, effort from everyone will be in plain site.
2.It’s Not Your Product: Zappos’ tag line is “Powered by Customer Service”. With the company being sold to Amazon for almost a billion dollars, there is no denying that customer service can build companies. Zappos proved that it can make money selling shoes over the internet by offering free shipping both ways. Amazon and Zappos are companies that really just don’t sell products, but a customer service channel to sell any product. All things being equal, I buy from Zappos and Amazon because I know I can count on them. This is the year that all companies will see service as the only way to keep customers buying from them.
3.It’s All About You. Technology has allowed companies to personalize my visit when I go to buy from their web site. When I visit Amazon’s site, they welcome me back by name and suggest things I might want to buy based on what I bought in the past. This is the type of personalization I come to expect when I go to any face to face retail establishment. When I check into a hotel, I want them to greet me by name if I have been there before or I am a member of their frequent buyer program. This always happens when I visit the Portland Paramount but at The Nines hotel in the same city, they never remember who I am. With the immediacy and personalization of this fast paced internet world, great customer service is only what the customer says it is at a particular point in time. The difficulty is raised because this standard varies from person to person. This year, more companies will customize your shopping or service experience either online or in person because that is what you want.
4.Tell the World. Tools like Facebook, Twitter, and YouTube allow me to tell not seven people but 10,000 my pleasure or dissatisfaction with a company immediately after I interact with them. No more secrets here! Every satisfied customer is now a booster for your company and every dissatisfied customer potentially can hurt your business. Now, there is more of an incentive for every company to get it right for their customer. This year, no bad deed will go unpublished by a dissatisfied customer.
5.The Brands are Listening. You as the customer are talking on Facebook and Twitter, but companies are also beginning to listen. Chances are that if you post a complaint using one of these tools, the company will respond directly to you. I have had this happen with Sears and Lands End. This year, all the major companies will not let any negative comment go by without responding to your concern.
6.Online Service Gets a Face Lift. Forget the lag time of email or waiting for a call back. This year, more and more web sites will allow you to chat directly to customer service people either through chat or video. Want to chat from your phone directly to the company? No problem. Skype them? No problem. Scott Jordan at Scottevest, allows the customer to watch what is going on in his company live on the web every day!
7.Insourcing is In. More and more American companies who outsourced their customer service will bring that function back home either by hiring a domestic company or bringing it in house. The “we can outsource this customer service thing” has hurt companies like Dell and Capital One. This year, look for more of the technology assisted customer service jobs to be transferred back to the US. Companies realize how important it is to their business. Just ask any car dealer the profitability of new car sales to their car maintenance business.
8.That’s Tight. Companies you do business with will want to know everything about you. Tighter relationship with customers will continue as economy remains poor. Companies can’t afford to lose profitable current customers. This goes way beyond frequent flyer programs. Accenture working with Proctor and Gamble has a new technology that tries to predict consumer preferences using optimization engines. This year, companies will continue to track everything about you to make that your relationship as personal as it gets.
9.Fire Them. In 2007, Sprint famously fired 1,000 customers that were clogging up their customer service lines and costing the company loads of money. Not every customer you have is profitable. Look for more companies this year to fire you if you cost them money and recommend you take your business elsewhere.
10.Get Small. All startups used to want to appear big. We bought typewriters and later computers and web sites to make ourselves look the part. Now, everyone company, as Chris Brogan says, wants to be human. I call it getting small. Every company wants to seem like the corner store, but have the global pricing power and distribution of Walmart. Furthermore, big business is now consistently targeting your small business since it is the a sector of the economy that is growing. President Obama will continue to emphasis that small business is the core of American business. You have arrived!

Social Media For Hotels – What Helps, What Doesn't.

2010-01-07T09:57:00.001-08:00

The unique quality of Web 2 social media is that it consists of user-generated content; social media users post comments directly on the Internet and all they need is access to a computer.

At the same time, users have the ability to read and absorb comments made by other users…sounds like a marketer's dream. But, how well does social media serve individual hotels?

Twitter and Facebook are heavily promoted to hoteliers as opportunities to market their hotels to millions of social media users. I get a real kick when I hear the phrase "Find out what people think of your hotel". Ironically, the vast majority of comments, made about hotels on Twitter and Facebook, are posted by the hotels themselves and many fewer by hotel consumers.

I guess social media could be considered as a form of advertising, but just how effective is it for hotels? Advertising is only effective if consumers have an interest and take notice. Since I am a hotelier at heart, I am always concerned about the amount of time hoteliers spend "working" social media instead of concentrating on more productive sales areas.

Hoteliers should take note that the 80/20 rule still applies; it is always better to concentrate on the 20% of marketing tasks which produce 80% of the business. Marketing hotels today is much more complex than just a few years ago; it is easy be distracted by seemingly "miracle" solutions.

This is a time to strengthen and solidify relationships with current business sources and that usually means lots of face-to-face contact. The Internet is wonderful, but let's not forget that it's hard to develop relationships through Internet postings and email, alone.

It's a Matter of Relativity and Interest

My contention is that the vast majority of consumers have little interest in hotels unless they are planning travel; and then only those hotels in the location of their interest. I see no evidence in the marketplace for general consumer interest in or curiosity for hotels, especially in this economy. In the vast Twitter and Facebook communities, it seems inconceivable to me that any one hotel could draw enough curiosity to make the effort worthwhile.

I do see some opportunity for hotel franchises to build brand awareness through general social media. With the explosion of new franchise products during the past fifteen years, there is a lot of confusion in the marketplace, even among hoteliers themselves. Multi-brand franchises have an opportunity to use general social media to clarify the differences for each product in their inventory.

Most Twitter and Facebook users would have to admit that social media is fun to use, but it is a real chore to sift through hundreds of posts to find a message of interest. As an active Twitter user, I follow many hotel members because I have a strong interest in what they have to say; after all, I am a hotelier too. The question is how much interest does the average user have in any individual hotel, unless they are planning a trip to that area? The answer is very little.

Now, let me be clear, I think that social media has been a virtual boon for retail products and services. Products and services, of general interest to the public at large, which can be purchased by anyone at any time, have really benefitted from general social media. Hotels, on the other hand, are limited in their appeal to the general public because hotel use is highly destination and location focused.

Travel Social Media is Relevant

One area of social media is quite different; travel-oriented social media sites like TripAdvisor. TripAdvisor and other travel oriented social media are beneficial to hotels due to their very nature. If you really want to know what people think of your hotel, it is best to turn to TripAdvisor or other sites like it.

It is vitally important for hotels to monitor and react to consumer comments posted to TripAdvisor. Most consumers use TripAdvisor in one of two ways; to read comments from past guests of the hotel, either before or after making their own reservation, and to post comments about a hotel, in which they have stayed. In either event, all the information on the site is relevant to travel.

Many traveling consumers have learned to rely on travel social media to validate their choice of hotel; just like they used to rely on their favorite travel agent to provide advice on travel. It just doesn't make sense to ignore your hotel's postings on these sites.

I first wrote about this almost two years ago. If one reads many of the reviews on TripAdvisor, it quickly becomes evident that many hoteliers are not reacting to comments made about their hotel. TripAdvisor provides hotels with the opportunity to respond to postings made by former guests; yet it seems like too few hotels actually do that.

Who is the Voice of Social Media in Your Hotel?

2010-01-07T09:56:00.001-08:00

When asked about social media strategy, I often hear hotel executives say they are 'carefully monitoring' or 'moving at a measured pace'; 'Our strategy is pretty much to listen and monitor,' said another one.

That’s not strategy. That’s hoping social media will go away. It won’t.

On the other side of the spectrum are hotels that have leapt into social networking on all fours. They’re issuing Twitter updates every thirteen seconds and recruiting Facebook fans by the busload. But their messages carry the meaning and life expectancy of an air bubble, and their “fans” are not brand advocates but deal-seekers who signed up hoping for something for free.

Social networking is not a contest to recruit the most followers. It is not a race to send out the most messages. It is less about talking than about listening. It’s about engaging consumers in meaningful dialogue and recruiting brand advocates who will do the talking for you. These simple truths apply to every social media platform, from Twitter to Facebook to blogs to user review sites like TripAdvisor, Yelp and Expedia.

By now, most hotels have allocated funds for social networking. How best to spend this money? Given that participation in most platforms is free, the greatest expense is the time required to develop and maintain an effective program.

The first step is to establish your hotel’s social media strategy. For most hotels, it should be simple: to utilize online networking tools to build a positive reputation and generate revenue. You need to determine the resources to dedicate, the distribution of responsibilities, the timeline, the tools to employ, and the standards regarding vocabulary, tone, imagery and responsiveness.

The next step is execution. Who will manage day-to-day activities? Your hotel’s internet marketing company/search engine optimizer may seem like a natural fit given its expertise, but if it’s located off-property, especially in a different city, it’s a drawback.

Effective social networking requires the hotel to have an authentic, compelling voice that evokes its personality and brand. To engage in meaningful, real-time dialogue, the owner of this voice must have a finger on the pulse of the hotel’s operations. Moreover, a system that requires hotel staff to feed information to an offsite company that in turn re-crafts and distributes it is inherently inefficient.

The same goes for the hotel’s ad agency, PR company, social media strategist and corporate office. These entities have a role in strategy and implementation and should have an ongoing involvement, but the ultimate goal should be to bring social networking activities in-house.

It’s a big job. A comprehensive social media program involves monitoring and conversing with entire online communities on a variety of platforms, disseminating and responding to feedback and using it to enhance the guest experience, blogging, and sourcing and distributing text, photo, video and mobile content. This role requires outstanding communication skills, technical proficiency, resourcefulness, strategic thinking, some serious multitasking, and a solid understanding of marketing and guest service.

Can your hotel justify a dedicated social media position? Consider how dramatically consumer decision-making has changed. Increasingly, travelers—independent and group, corporate and leisure—are consulting the opinions of others through social media platforms. Many are bypassing reservations and sales departments to book online. Have the resources of your hotel adequately shifted to reflect this new reality? It may be time to retire a reservations or sales position and replace it with a social media manager.

Yes, “moving at a measured pace” is prudent, but social media is moving at a breakneck speed and too much dawdling will leave your hotel in the dust. It’s time to take advantage of the enormous potential of social media.

Your hotel’s online reputation is at stake

Some People Welcome It, Some dread it

2010-01-07T09:44:00.005-08:00

With great respect for Stephen Covey, his best selling book “Seven Habits of Highly Effective People” has been my mantra for many years. It’s truly an amazing book. Respectfully, I submit “Welcome Change” as another habit which I believe effective people share. Truly effective people continually seek opportunities to improve their lot in business, and in life, through change.

Being a long-time advocate of change, I have always encouraged people to question successful and some not-so-successful programs and procedures; then make changes to improve results for the future.

Without the willingness, more so, the eagerness to change, nothing improves. “If you always do what you’ve always done, you will always get what you always got”. Improvement can only come through change. The status quo should never be good enough; no matter how good it is.

Great organizations like Google, EBay, and many others, are constantly “reinventing themselves”; making new and exciting changes to improve their products. The great forward-thinking minds with these organizations have dedicated themselves to improving their services by never resting on their current successes.

There have been many Dramatic Changes in the Hotel Industry

Because of many talented people, the hotel industry has changed considerably over the past thirty or so years; woe-be-it to those who didn’t change with it.

Today, our industry is far more complicated and sophisticated than it was just a few years ago. Many bright young people are questioning the way things are done and contributing fresh new ideas to improve stale old procedures; the job of management is to embrace these new ideas and move forward. If we pay attention, we can learn a lot from them.

Through the years, many positive changes came in the form of sales and marketing techniques, but the face of the industry has changed as well.

In my early years, the industry was very much like a big “boy’s club”. It was truly rare to see a woman in any kind of management or sales position. That changed considerably during the ‘70’s and 80’s. Thankfully, our industry discovered that someone’s sex has nothing to do with their talent or abilities and women discovered the many opportunities available in an industry with such explosive growth.

During the 80’s, the industry introduced the concept of “branding” with the development of hotels labeled and designed to serve specific market segments. This change helped to revitalize an overbuilt, under utilized, industry of the early 80’s. It literally opened many secondary and tertiary markets throughout this country and abroad. The many talented people, who visualized this movement, changed the face of our industry. This was revolutionary change.

Some of the most exciting changes came in the area of hotel sales and marketing. We’ve come a long way since the time when the largest part of the sales job was to make as many cold sales calls as possible every day. In those days, we didn’t know any other way to solicit business. It seemed like a good way to keep people busy and it did force sales people to make new contacts, but we always felt that there had to be a better way to get business; we just had no idea how.

It may be difficult for many of you to believe this, but a mere thirty years ago, many prospects had no idea why we were even calling on them. Of course, many of us sales people didn’t either. We finally learned that cold sales calls were a waste of valuable time; we learned to research prospective clients; account map client companies to find additional business contacts; and that our existing files were a huge resource for future business.

Before the day of the office computer, (no, dinosaurs weren’t walking the earth) most of us worked on the highly technical IBM Selectric typewriter (many of you have probably never seen one). Before the computer, we had no acceptable way to maintain data bases of current and possible clients, but we had paper files galore. Computers, fax machines, cell phones, and the Internet changed our lives and the way we conduct business.

There have obviously been many changes in the way we prospect and solicit business. Many of these changes belong to progress; people who were not satisfied with the status quo; people seeking to improve the way we do business; people who welcomed change.

Communicate with your hotel team

Communicating with your team stimulates an exchange of ideas and ideas create change. I love training new people because they question everything. Discard your natural human tendency to etch procedures in stone. Eliminate comments like “That’s the way we’ve always done it”. Help people to embrace change in their work lives by encouraging new ideas and experimentation. Create a change-friendly atmosphere and reap the benefits.

Creating a change-friendly atmosphere requires that leaders need to occasionally put aside their personal preferences in favor of new ideas and techniques emanating from the team. For some old-timers, this is very difficult.

Is It Time For A Sales Tune-up?

2010-01-07T09:44:00.003-08:00

When a professional golfer hits a slump in his game, he usually consults another professional to help determine the problem. When someone is unfortunately diagnosed with a serious illness, it’s always sound advice to seek another opinion. The common ingredient in these scenarios is that they both recognize the benefit of seeking “fresh eyes” to view the situation.

Fresh eyes provide a viewpoint, which is not clouded by assumptions or past circumstances. Often, the view from outside the immediate problem or situation tends to be the clearest view of all.

Good sales leaders and sales teams are prone to hit a slump, from time to time. We are, sometimes, victims of our own routines, good and bad. It is certainly comfortable falling into routines. Changing routines is made more difficult because of their sheer comfort. Exploration and thinking-outside-the-box is difficult to achieve when we are immersed in our daily activities.

It’s May and a great time to schedule a sales tune-up. World events are changing the marketplace at an unprecedented pace. A small tune-up investment now could prevent a costly lack of production later. Find some fresh eyes to review or audit your sales operation. Large companies accomplish this with regional or corporate sales specialists. If this option is not available or has not been effective, consider a consultant or someone from outside your immediate market.

If you cannot hire someone from the consulting arena, consider a sales & marketing friend or acquaintance, from another hotel, to perform the sales audit. Do one or the other, but get a “fresh” new and honest viewpoint.

Create a list of the information you would like to collect to determine the basic health of your sales effort. Don’t forget to include your electronic sales program on the Internet. Many consultants already have a checklist with step-by-step procedures for conventional and electronic sales reviews.

Start your tune-up with how people are spending their time. How much time is actually being spent in the pursuit and booking of business? Are your sales people performing daily tasks, which actually take-up time, which would be better-spent soliciting business? Automated sales systems are the best thing to ever happen to sales offices in our industry, but they tend to place formerly administrative support tasks into the hands of the sales person. Can a support person take on some of this burden? If you want higher sales levels, give your sales team more time to sell.

True, we are in the age of minimum payroll levels. In the immediate aftermath of 9/11, many hotels scrambled to combine and reassigned many tasks to reduce payroll. Revisit those non-sales tasks, which were assigned to or even taken on by each sales person over the past two years. Reassign any tasks, which do not involve direct contact with potential clients.

Many experts believe that adding just a half hour a day to a sales person’s solicitation effort will dramatically improve production. Improved production makes for a happier and more fulfilled sales team and a better bottom-line.

Your tune-up should include a thorough review of market segments responsibilities. Is the time, devoted to each market segment, proportionate to the potential business from that segment? Are your sales targets being adjusted to changes in the marketplace? Is your view of the job the same as the person who is actually doing the job? You would be amazed how often there is a major difference.

Are individual sales goals clear, achievable, and well understood by each member of the sales team? Does each member of the team have a clear overall vision of the global goals of the hotel?

Many sales teams contain various levels of experience and training. Do you have a good consistent coaching program in place to provide guidance to each individual on the team, on all levels? Coaching is the ingredient, which makes training more effective because it provides continuous reinforcement of the training principles.

A sales tune-up should become a periodic ritual to maintain a healthy and productive sales effort. We all learned that a maintenance auto oil change and tune-up every 3,000 miles could save huge repair costs. Preventative maintenance to tune-up your sales effort will prevent breakdowns and produce big rewards.

Hotel Budgets and Marketing Plans;

2010-01-07T09:44:00.001-08:00

I’ll go out on a limb and say that few, if any, managers look forward to the budgeting process. Amidst the tension and hand wringing, most general managers have been through the drill many times before, but feeling some stress is common. Today’s general managers are smarter and more resourceful than ever before, but they will face many challenges in coming months. Will your hotel be among those to lead the market in 2004?

The common question is which comes first, the financial budget or the marketing plan. It makes sense to draft the budget first, since the marketing plan should show how those numbers would be reached. In addition, you will at least know how many dollars you have to invest. No matter which you tackle first, 2004 will present opportunities to climb out of the pack and capture a greater share of business in your competition set. .

The biggest myth is that an exceptionally well-done marketing plan will make the hotel perform at higher levels. Somehow, there is comfort in having the ability to thumb through a beautifully composed document but, caution, it isn’t the plan; it’s the people working the plan that improve business.

The best-written, best-formatted, and most comprehensive marketing plan will do or change nothing, if you don’t challenge and coach your sales and reservations teams to perform at a higher level. Some hoteliers are concerned about the details in their marketing plan; yet devote few resources to the sales and reservations teams to initiate change and creativity in their daily activities.

If you have done little to improve the level of sales performance in your reservations and/or sales teams in recent months, you would do well to consider doing it now during the market planning process.

If your mission is to develop an impressive plan for your hotel’s financial responsibilities, great; just don’t believe that this plan alone will define your results for 2004. It will take creativity and out-of-the-box thinking to get a greater share of business in this tight market.

There appears to be some optimism that travel is on the increase in most parts of the Country and maybe, with luck, we are on our way out of the woods. The degree of recovery for your hotel will be based upon the efforts of you and your team. You all know the drill. Base business is the key. Group booking backlog and historic booking pace will determine a large portion of anticipated results for next year. Improving these elements is your challenge for 2004. Windfalls happen, but it’s difficult to be too optimistic after our experience during the last two or three years.

Overall, 2000 was a very good year for most hotels, but we’ve been through a lot since then. From a potential profit standpoint, most hotels are well positioned to have an excellent year in 2004. Since 2001, hotel managers have concentrated on reducing expenses and payroll to compensate for falling revenues; and they are making better spending choices. Higher revenues could result in historic profits if these new spending habits are sustained.

Winning managers make winning choices. There are investments, which can give you the edge you need to challenge your competition. You’ve heard it before, but training and coaching, on a regular basis, can be an excellent resource for new ideas and new ways to perform old ones. There are many excellent training programs from which to choose. Select a program that provides for continued support after training. People learn best by doing, not just listening.

Any investment in your Internet positioning will drive you ahead of the competition in this ever-growing marketplace. Having a Web Site brings you part way there; but marketing your site through search engine placement and better functional design will set your hotel apart from the competition. It’s easy to get complacent about the Internet. It’s confusing, rapidly changing, and there are many varying paradigms on how to maximize sales conversions. As with training, there are many resources available; several with good hands-on hotel marketing experience. Choose wisely and open your mind to new ideas.

Consider out-sourcing to help your program for 2004 without adding to your payroll expense and to avoid long-term commitments in a fluctuating marketplace. The largest drain on sales resources is to pile-on non-sales or administrative functions to members of your sales team due to job compression. It’s best to avoid the pitfall of choosing the first person available; part-time or outsourced people best perform some of these necessary tasks.

Last, but certainly not least, make an investment in the time to stay current with changes and happenings in our industry. Thanks to the Internet, there is an abundant amount of current information available. Best decisions are informed decisions. Many general managers tell me that the last fifteen or twenty minutes of their day is devoted to reading newsletters, like Hotel-Online.com and others. This has become a good habit in their daily work life. This investment in time always produces a good ROI.

The Best Hotel Sales Director I Ever Met .

2010-01-07T09:42:00.003-08:00

I was overwhelmed by the many emails I received from my article describing “The Best General Manager I Ever Met”. Thank you all; it appears that many people recognized the same traits. It seems natural to follow-up with the supremely important position of sales director. Everything begins with a sale, as they say; what can be more important than that?

Hotels delegate a wide variety of duties and responsibilities to the position of sales director. Most hotels include catering, if they offer it; some include marketing responsibilities such as advertising and public relations; many include revenue management, and still others include reservations, etc. The basic talent and experience of the sales director generally determines the scope of responsibilities, which are entrusted to them. For purposes of this article, we will address sales responsibilities; most important and common to all.

For those smaller hotels, without a budget for a sales person, the general manager assumes the sales responsibility. No matter who is wearing the sales hat, the goal is the same; drive new business.

The Best Sales Director I ever met, first and foremost, has an insatiable curiosity.

At first blush, this may seem like a rather insignificant trait; but people, blessed with curiosity, will excel in their job through the process of satisfying their need to learn. Curious people crave new information; consistently seeking answers to solve sales challenges.

In recent years sales challenges have taken many twists and turns; without an innate curiosity for this business, one can quickly become obsolete in techniques and efficiency.

Curious people go through life and their careers seeking new techniques, refining those techniques, to solve the constant challenges of their job. Others plateau too early; doing just enough to get through their daily tasks with ever diminishing success.

The best sales director I ever met is constantly evolving, learning, and improving.

The Best Sales Director I ever met stays current with new technology.

The best sales director has already discovered the many ways the Internet can benefit the sales effort. From researching the competition’s rates and sales data to finding new prospects, the Internet has changed the way we sell hotel rooms.

The best sales director knows that no hotel operates in a vacuum and that we can learn to dominate our competition by collecting data and acting upon it.

The best sales director I’ve ever met uses third-party web sites to promote the hotel, knowing that these partner tools are a short-cut to producing needed room business. The best sales director has learned to expand the hotel’s sales reach by creating a good link strategy on the hotel’s web site and consistently checks its effectiveness.

The Best Sales Director I ever met seeks to involve the general manager and others in the sales process.

The process of selling is definitely not a one person show. Recently, while talking to a client, he revealed to me that he is an engineer by education and training. For many years, he provided technical support to his company’s sales division. It wasn’t long before I realized how great his company’s sales director must have been.

The pride he expressed in the sales successes of the company demonstrated that he and his department were personally involved in the sales process. We talked about how his engineering division interacted with sales to produce the best marketable products. This kind of teamwork only comes from invitation and cooperation.

It amazes me how many hotel companies actually promote a separation of operations and sales. It usually happens in subtle ways; meetings with the sales team, excluding the general manager; the common references to sales without any mention of the fact that sales is everyone’s job.

The best sales director invites involvement in the sales process. How often have we all heard general managers and others pleaded that they could have made more profit if only the sales people could produce more sales; a distinct separation of responsibilities.

The front desk can be the sales director’s best sales team or its worse detractor. The best sales director cultivates a positive relationship with all hotel departments.

The best sales director I ever met shares sales successes with the entire hotel team and understand that they need everyone to contribute to the sales process.

The Best Sales Director I ever met knows that hotel sales is a numbers game.

Making contact with as many people as possible is an important part of being successful in hotel sales. I have heard so much rubbish about “quality versus quantity” in sales contacts; it’s difficult not to explode when I hear arguments from “quality” proponents.

When it comes to contacts, anyone can become a quality prospect, but that takes probing. As the old saying goes, ‘you got to kiss a lot of frogs to find a prince”. People who short-cut the process by only seeking a prince who looks and acts like a prince, are going to waste a lot of potential selling time.

Quality selling techniques enter the picture only after a potential client is identified; until then the best sales director I ever met talks to and probe everyone possible. This sales director gets a lot of phone calls and emails; it takes activity to produce activity.

I enjoy taking a seat in the sales office to see how often the telephone rings. When the phone rings off the hook, it’s usually a result of having made aggressive sales contacts.

The Best Sales Director I ever met knows that clients, not policy, determine our services.

I don’t know how many times I’ve heard sales people say “we can’t do that” or worse, “our policy is” because they don’t want to take the time to find a way to fulfill a client’s request. As long as one can make the task profitable for the hotel, anything can be done.

Careful probing, planning, and execution could make almost any request beneficial to the hotel. Clients don’t care about our “policies” and procedures; they want answers. If a sales director has involved the hotel team in the sales process, it’s amazing what can be accomplished.

It may be a radical example, but years ago a client asked to have a beach party in our lounge. Close the bar for a private beach party? The client was informed about the major additional cost involved. The general manager offered that the company was planning to renovate the lounge. After everyone’s agreement, we actually filled the lounge with two tons of sand to enhance the party. In addition to paying all the costs involved, we also benefited from over 1200 room nights from the group, at a time we needed it most.

The Best Sales Director I ever met cares.

We all enjoy success; meeting or surpassing budgeted sales is what we are paid to do, but everyone experiences set-backs. The best sales director I ever met cares enough to learn from set-backs and develops tactics and strategies to offset them.

The best sales director feels the pain of minor failures but doesn’t cave-in nor ignore them. Some people measure effectiveness from activity, but the best measure effectiveness comes from accomplishments. This takes caring and pride.

The best sales director channels the pain of failure into positive action and great successes into examples for the future. Caring is sometimes an elusive trait; it can’t be learned. If someone on your team has it, you are fortunate indeed.

The Best Hotel General Manager I Ever Met

2010-01-07T09:42:00.001-08:00

One of the nice things about being in the twilight of a thirty-year career in the hotel industry is that it gives one the ability to reflect back on the many great people who have shaped and influenced that career. After many years in hotel operations as well as sales and marketing, both on-property and as a corporate V.P., I was exposed to many different managers and their management styles.

Management styles, experience, and talent are as varied as their numbers, but they all had something to offer if one paid attention. Observing people and their habits has always been sort of a hobby for me. I believe that everyone has something to offer if you are looking to learn from them.

I would like to think that I learned something from each and every one of them; even if it was only to decide which traits I did or did not want to emulate. I could probably write an entire book detailing the actions and styles of the worst of these managers, but most people don’t recognize their own bad traits, even if outlined in an article, so that would be fruitless.

Recently, a client asked me what I thought the most successful general managers have in common; what makes the best managers stand head and shoulders above the others. Circumstances certainly have great influence on ultimate success; outstanding hotels can produce successful managers. But what traits make a good manager rise above given circumstances; creating success where there was none and creating even greater success where it already existed.

The Best Hotel General Manager I ever met accepts responsibility for top-line revenue.

All too often, I have heard managers lament how they would have made more profit if only they had more top-line revenue; as if hinting that increased revenue was out of their direct control. The fact is that many general managers feel a detachment from their hotel’s revenue lines. Ironically, this most often occurs when revenues are failing. Accepting ownership of poor revenues as well as healthy revenues is a telltale sign of a good general manager.

The best general manager I ever met takes responsibility for revenue production, whether or not he/she has a separate sales team. The best general manager is the true sales leader at the hotel; involved in every aspect of generating business. The best general manager leads morning sales meetings; displaying his/her personal involvement. The best managers know their top producing clients and contribute to servicing them.

For hotels lucky enough to have a sales team, the best general manager takes on specific hotel sales accounts; both, to be involved in larger accounts, and to be an example to the sales team. Sales leadership is the most important general management role.

Many articles have been written extolling the necessary skills and work habits of hotel sales people, but little is said about the role of general managers in the sales process. We have all seen how easily a poor general manager can negatively influence even the best people on their staff. By contrast, there are many mediocre people that have been guided to lofty success by great general managers.

As a corporate vice president, I always found it interesting to see whether or not a general manager got involved in sales training programs. Anyone who has done property sales training can tell you how seldom general managers participate in these programs. I don’t know who decided to separate sales from operations, but the best general managers have the ability to merge these functions into powerful programs.

Sadly, many companies set themselves up for failure by directing sales activities with the sales team without the participation of the one who is truly responsible…the general manager. The best general manager I ever met would never let this happen.

During my coaching programs with various owners and general managers, I have heard many managers pound their chests with pride because they sometimes make sales calls with their sales people. This is great, but do they remain involved in the progress of those accounts? Do they demonstrate to the sales team that follow-up is the key to booking business, by their own follow-up practices? For some, it’s merely a good way to get out of the building for a little while.

The best general manager I ever met reviews and signs off on all sales activity for his/her team; and directs new activity through the hotel director of sales or directly if no sales director exists. The best general manager I ever met functions as the true director of sales. Now some directors of sales might take exception to this statement, but experienced sales directors know how much easier their job can be when the G.M. is involved in the process.

The best general manager takes on the sales role, where there is no sales team, through intense community involvement, reading to find new ideas, and constantly seeking ways to improve business.

The best general manager leads the hotel’s eMarketing effort for web site, GDS, and third-party aggregators. These areas demand G.M. involvement; even if the hotel is lucky enough to have a dedicated revenue manager.

The Best Hotel General Manager I ever met is focused on success.

This trait may sound quite basic to many of you, but focus can be elusive. Focus, in this sense, is what prompts a manager to analyze each hotel profit center to target improvements in successful programs as well as failing ones. Managers who concentrate only on failing areas have a tendency to play the catch-up game, constantly putting out fires to save failing programs, while successful programs go bad from neglect. Some failing programs need to be allowed to disappear.

Focus is what directs a manager towards those activities which matter most. The best general manager realizes that just being busy is not as important as being busy doing the right things. The 80/20 rule is amazing in its myriad of applications; 20 percent of everything you do will result in 80 percent of your successes. Finding the right 20 percent takes focus.

The Best Hotel General Manager I ever met looks for small successes.

I could not count the number of times I have heard hotel team members lament about being criticized for doing wrong, yet being ignored when things go right. I can’t imagine how frustrating this can be. The best general managers look for his/her team’s small successes and reward them, even if it is only a public “well done”. This may sound simple and basic to some of you, but it’s less common than you might think.

For those of you who think you do these well, think again. Often an insincere facial expression or casual insincere comment belies the true intent a manager seeks. Praise in public, criticize in private; the best general manager I ever met looks for opportunities to provide sincere rewards. A sincere comment can be the biggest job motivator.

The Best Hotel General Manager I ever met is a great communicator.

Communicating is a two-way process; talking and listening. As I teach new sales people, having two ears and only one mouth should indicate that one should listen twice as much as talking. The best general manager I ever met demonstrates this daily.

Managers who listen to their teammates find new opportunities to help them perform their jobs better. Good leadership comes from understanding the needs of the team. Understanding comes from listening, not from smooth talk.

For those of you who expected me to actually name the best general manager I ever met, I assure you that I have met a few managers who deserve this title. But, more importantly…how do you measure up?

Managing A Gap In Your Professional Career (Part 2)

2010-01-06T07:46:00.002-08:00

As we all realize that regardless of the stability of the professional field in which a person is, and no matter how efficiently an employee performs, it is quite possible that anyone can face a layoff at any part of one’s career road. Other than a layoff, it is quite common for job seekers to leave the workforce because of a disability, illness, maternity, education, or even a challenging job search. Previously, we discussed several ways as to how to carry yourself through an employment gap in the most beneficial ways possible. Continuing to the subject, we will now discuss that, as a job seeker, how can you help employers feel confident about hiring you even after an employment gap.
Some employers fear that a gap in your work history signals your unreliability or you are likely to quit your new job soon. You might ask yourself as to what is so bad about a few gaps in my employment history? Does not everybody deserve a break? Of course, many responsible professionals take time off in their careers to travel, recover from an injury or illness, take care of aging or ill relatives, and numerous other completely legitimate projects. Still, employers just do not like to see any gaps in your work history.

Handling A Career Gap In The Resume

Despite of the fact that your resume contains employment gap, the important thing is to let the employer know that you are excited and ready to return to work. They would prefer to have the unemployed time explained. A gap in your work history may cause the reader to think that either this candidate is hiding something or he looks like someone who could have had a problem (such as psychological instability, laziness, substance abuse, or even imprisonment). In order to gain the employer’s trust, it is very important to justify any gaps in your employment history.
Following are some ways to manage a period of unemployment in your professional history:

A Functional Resume

When your resume shows a large gap in the employment history, you may want to consider a ‘functional resume’ rather than a chronological resume. However, a functional resume is a potential red flag to employers because it suggests that the job-seeker may have something to hide. Recruiters and human resource managers prefer a chronological resumes because they are easier to read and enlist skills and job functions while a functional resume is not. So, it is advised to use caution before using a functional resume.

Cover Letter Explanation

If you have an extensive gap in employment, it is wise to address it in your cover letter to the prospective employer. Include a brief explanation, but do not go into detail about a long illness or a frustrating job search. State that you were out of the workforce for whatever reason, and make clear that you are eager to return to work. That way, the employer will know that you are not hiding anything from him and that there is a proper explanation for you being out of the workforce.

Include Other Experiences As Well

If you have spent your employment gap doing freelance work, consulting, learning new skills or mentoring, do list that experience in your resume with the name of the organization, job functions and dates. Also, present them in a way that is relevant to your job objective. All these activates can be considered as professional experiences and can even give an impact that you never been through an employment gap at all.

Suitable Resume Format

You can format your resume in a way that minimizes the impact of career gaps in your employment history. For example, do not bold the dates and/or use a smaller font than the one you use for the company name or job title. Start your resume with a Career Highlights section and highlight your skills and accomplishments in it. Also, you can write down the years, instead of months, while listing your work history. This not only makes it easier for the reader to quickly understand the length of time you held each position, but also eliminates any gaps that may have occurred within a span of two calendar years.

Exclude Unnecessary Job Experiences

A gap early in your career can sometimes be camouflaged as leaving out the jobs that came before it. You do not need to include all your experience on your resume, especially if you have been in the workforce for many years. If the gap in your employment happened a long time ago, do not bother mentioning it at all. Employers are not interested in what happened in 1984!

Mention Some References

You should try to line up two or three references, even if they are from years ago. E-mail or call your old bosses, tell them that you are seeking to return to the workforce, and ask them if they are willing to serve as a reference. Assure them that you will only give their name and phone number to those who are seriously interested in hiring you. Although you have not spoken in years, however, if you did a good work, they should be willing to vouch for you. In case you get their permission, do not forget to thank them profusely. One of the three could be from your recent volunteer work or project which you did during the employment gap.

Handling A Career Gap During The Interview

If the subject of your employment gap comes up during the job interview, give a simple and brief explanation for it. Use the exact same concise and simple explanation you used in your cover letter. Stay motivated and do not lose your confidence in front of the interviewer. If you have been called upon for an interview, it is quite obvious that they were impressed enough with your resume, despite of the gap in your work history. You will be in a better position to handle the employers’ questions if you kept yourself in-touch with the professional world during the gap and/ or gained any relevant skill and accomplishments during that period. Always remember that the employers are less concerned about the gap, and more concerned about whether you are physically and psychologically ready to work and whether you have the skills, despite your absence, to perform on the job.

Many of us take time off from employment for one reason or another. Often, it takes a long time to find another job. The best way to explain an employment gap on your resume depends on the situation and what you did while you were not employed. However, what is most important is to tell the truth. If you lie on your resume, it will probably come back to haunt you. Employers verify work history, and if you put incorrect information on your resume, there is a good chance that they will find out. So, avoid bluffing or stretching the truth because employers often verify the employment information. More importantly, experienced recruiters and human recourse managers know the tricks job seekers use. However, remember that if you have actually made it to an interview, it means that your skills and experiences must have triggered the prospective employers’ interest. Hence, always be positive and optimistic and try your best to convince the employer that you are enthusiastic and ready to take the reins of employment.

Managing A Gap In Your Professional Career

2010-01-06T07:46:00.000-08:00

No matter how hardworking and responsible an employee you are, it is quite possible that you might find yourself out of job for a significant period of time at some point in your life, especially in the era of this global economic recession, which is wiping out jobs at an alarming pace, with tens of thousands of new layoffs by some of the biggest names in business. However, the trick is to keep this period from hurting your long-term professional career. A gap in job history is one of the things that causes the most stress and fear in the hearts and minds of the job seeker. This tactic is called managing the gap in your professional career in case of a layoff.

People are much concerned about getting back in the workforce after a gap in their employment. Especially when one considers the bad experiences some employers have had when they take a chance on people with a gap in their employment history. Additionally, the job market appears to have well-qualified candidates for most positions, a majority of which have a smooth career history. So the question that arises is that how will your resume, with a six months, a year, or even a couple of years employment gap, stand up against those who have been scoring career achievements and accomplishments for the same time period?

Staying Employable During an Employment Gap

It is wrong, rather absurd to say that returning to employment, with your resume showing gap in your career, is hopeless. ROZEE Team suggests some useful tips and activities which will help you stay employable and ready for a job while you are unemployed.

A Contract Or Assignment As A Job Substitute

Find a contract, a project or consulting assignment, related to your professional field, as a supplement for your job. Most of the time, employees who are in the state of unemployment, supplement their knowledge and income by taking a contracts and projects. You can also start consultation services within your area of expertise. This is a wise strategy to keep yourself professionally involved in your career. Freelancing is also a good source of keeping in-touch with your profession. If you work in marketing, for example, perhaps you can do freelance work on brochures, the website or press releases. If you work in Human Resources, you may contract to update the employee handbook annually or teach a class periodically. This is the easiest way to stay grounded in the workplace during an extended leave.

Build And Maintain Career Networking

The importance of career networking should never be underestimated. Career experts have long stressed the significance of professional networking for career growth. It often happens that when employers are hiring new staff, their first inclination is typically towards employee referrals. Through networking, we can learn about job opportunities particularly those we would not have had access to, otherwise. It is up to you to maintain relationships with people who will remember your talents, when you decide to return to a full-time employment.

Keep Your Skills Up-To-Date

It is important to keep your technical and professional skills updated. Professional fields such as banking, information technology, securities and financial planning keep changing trends rapidly. Take technical training classes, attend conferences and seminars, participate in online learning and read to stay current in your field. Even refresher class will help you out in most fields when you decide to return to work after a gap. Keeping abreast of your field every year is the best way to stay employable.

Active Participation in Professional Associations

Most career fields have professional associations that sponsor meetings, conferences, committees, training sessions and more for its members. Maintain an active participation in your related association by attending meetings, writing for the newsletter and attending national conferences. This is also an effective way of communicating and interacting with other members of the association to expand your network at the same time.

Indulge Yourself In Volunteer Work

Volunteer for the activities that most closely match your career field and interests. Challenging volunteer work can help to fill the gaps in your resume whether you return to your original career or create a career change in the future. Decide which kind of volunteer work will be the most strategic for your long-term goals. Do think about how the volunteer work will appear on your resume and give much emphasis on contributing in volunteer work related to your future employment plans.

Explore New Talents

If you are unemployed and unable to find a good job in your previous career, maybe it is time to try something new. A time away from work is perfect for pursuing career options and learning more about yourself and your interests. You can invest your free time exploring a new talent and preparing yourself for a new career path.

Although, a gap on a resume glares out at the recruiter or hiring manager, however, the key point to remember is not to let this gap in employment hurt you during your job search. There is great number of people who have walked back into a job (even an executive job), developed their dream career or created a career change, following unemployment. Employment gap makes all these things a bit harder, but certainly not impossible. It’s much better to spend that time preparing to be employable than to hit the job market absolutely blank after years at home. You will be better prepared if you heed these tips.

If you have spent your employment gap doing freelance work, consulting, learning new skills or mentoring, do list that experience in your resume with the name of the organization, job functions and dates. In other words, treat it as a regular job in your resume. It is also imperative that you maintain your reputation, among your friends and associates, as an educated professional who has chosen to take time away from his/her career. Regardless of the fact that your resume contains employment gap, always maintain a positive and optimistic attitude, and be sure to let the hiring manager know that you are excited and ready to return to work.

Please read this and hug your mother today

2010-01-06T07:44:00.001-08:00

Once upon a time there was a child ready to be born.So one day it asks God,
"They tell me you are sending me to earth tomorrow but how am I going
to live there being so small and helpless?"

God replied, "Among the many angels, I chose one just for you.

She will be waiting for you and will take good care of you"
But tell me, here in heaven, I don't do anything else but smile and sing,
that's enough for me to be happy.

God said, "Your angel will sing for you and will also smile every day.
And you will feel your angel's love and be happy.

And how am I going to be able to understand when people talk to me,
if I don't know the language that men talk?"

God said, "Your angel will tell you the most beautiful and sweet words
you will ever hear and with much patience and care, your angel will
teach you how to speak.

And what am I going to do when I want to talk to you?"

God said, "Your angel will place your hands together and will teach you
how to pray I've heard that on earth there are bad men,
who will protect me?"

God said, "Your angel will defend you even if it means risking it's life.

But I will always be sad because I will not see you anymore.

God said, "Your angel will always talk to you about me and
will teach you the way for you to come back to me, even though
I will always be next to you.

At that moment there was much peace in Heaven, but voices from earth
could already be heard, and the child in a hurry asked softly,
"Oh God, if I am about to leave now, please tell me my angel's name.

God silenced all fear when He said, "your angel's name is of no importance

You will simply call her 'Mummy'

Any place where there are no challenges?

2010-01-06T07:43:00.001-08:00

Once a there lived a busy Doctor called Dr. Sam. He was busy not because of his skill as a Doctor but due to his talent in handling his patience. It was about 10:30 pm when Dr. Sam was about to leave his clinic. Suddenly a patient came running to the doctor’s room. Dr. Sam asked him what was his problem? The patient said - “Dr. Sam, I have a great regard for you. Now all I require is a straight forward answer for my question”. “What is you question?” asked Dr. Sam. He replied - “I wanted to know whether there is any place on earth where there are no challenges?” Dr. Sam asked him why he was asking it. The patient replied that he wanted to be in that place.
Dr. Sam said that it was too late and asked him to come to his house early in the morning by 7:00 am and he promised him that he would take him to the place.

The patient went home and was wondering where the doctor would be taking him, the next day. He never slept for the night and was waiting for the sunrise. Then he visited the doctor’s residence by 7:00 am, where the doctor was waiting for him. Then both of them walked down to the nearest taxi stand and took a taxi.

It took about one hour of drive from the place and they reached the place. It was a big area with a high-raised walls and the entrance had a big gate. The patient was wondering and started thinking whether the Dr. Sam had gone mad or what? Yes, Dr. Sam had brought the patient to the cemetery. And Dr.Sam got down from the taxi and said - “from my experience, this is the only place without any challenges”.

Rocket Singh

2010-01-05T09:08:00.000-08:00

How many times in your life people have told you “you are a loser!”, “buhat bara zero ho tum”..yeah ZERO! How a zero fights with every single obstacle with a single weapon of “passion to serve” is what Rocket Singh is all about! You might see what is evident like “entrepreneurship”, “leadership”, “salesman” in this movie but these all are just the ways of achieving that ultimate goal: to serve, people! Each one of you is a Rocket Singh. Not because you are a salesman, not-liked guy, “zero” but first you are a human and then anything else. In our fast moving and rapidly changing lives, we often forget that we live and deal with “people” who want and expect to deal with people not logos, ranks and 111-111-000s.

Why THE BIG COMPANY needs Rocket Singh?
As written in the blog’s vision, big company is about big people. Big people who have the attitude to be BIG: Rocket Attitude.

Do you have the ROCKET ATTITUDE?
Rocket engines have enough energy to pass through the enormous pulling power of mighty earth. But it’s not about the energy only. It’s about what guides that energy: attitude!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oyda34YM_rU

1) Take RISK! “Even SPIEDER MAN needs to take risk, I am just a salesman”

2) “ To be ENTREPRENEUR, you DON’T need to invent anything new, just do things differently.”

3) Focus on 3S: “ Sales, Services and Supports are three pillars of a SUCCESSFUL Business.”

4) Partner’s VS Employees: This is the key to “management mindset”. Treat your employees as partners: empower them, trust them, let them take ownership!

5) Don’t sell. Just serve. Don’t start from what you “make”. Start from what they “need”.

Don’t forget to watch Rocket Singh! keep inspiring

Lessons From 3-Idiots

2010-01-05T09:00:00.000-08:00

why they were “idiots” and what they taught us:

1.They wanted to do what they loved doing.
2.They knew people are people and they want to be treated as people not machines.
3.Grades might get you a good job but your knowledge will keep you there…as rocket singh goes “Company marksheet say nahin balance sheet say chalti hai”
4.To them creativity was not for advertising agencies only an engineer can be creative too!
5.There is no TOMORROW. If you love doing something, start doing it today!
6.Chase excellence >>> Success will follow!
7.Talks will remain talks. Act ! you don’t like the education system? what you are DOING to enhance it ?
8.Via words you can only contact. Feelings let you Connect!
9.Your passion can help you make 8 packs for ghajini and undo 8 packs for 3-idiots. Because when you love doing something, that something becomes the only thing you live for. That something removes the line between professional and personal life. its just one life.
10.Aaaallll iss welll

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Market says….

2010-01-05T08:56:00.003-08:00

brands of the years 2009

1. Coca-Cola 68,734 ($m) (when “market” wanted a sweeter taste)

2. IBM 60,211 ($m) (when market said WHY anybody wud want a personal computer?

3. Microsoft 56,647 ($m)

4. GE 47,777 ($m)

5. Nokia 34,864 ($m)

6. McDonald’s 32,275 ($m)

7. Google 31,980 ($m) (when market said why ANOTHER search engine)

8. Toyota 31,330 ($m) (when market said AMERICA is a different world when it comes to car driving)

9. Intel 30,636 ($m)

10. Disney 28,447 ($m) (when market said its not human. people like people. not animations)

SO what your market is telling you today about your brand?

welcome to branding world.

Brand Queries

2010-01-05T08:56:00.001-08:00

Positioning of ABC? Comments on price, packaging, strengths and weaknesses?

It is a tea “whitener” and emotionally positioned on “relationships and love bonds” because it is not just about having “tea” but it is more about having tea “together”. This “together” thing gives you more time to spend with each other and may be just a reason to sit together and know “kya kiya sara din?”. This is also about spending quality time with your soulmate everyday and here comes the benefit of using a tea whitener. All you need is hot water, tea bag n sugar so that you spend more time “enjoying the togetherness” rather than making tea.

Strengths:

1.Premium image and a tag of “XYZ” that gives the halo effect to ABC
2.A very strong premium positioning that revolves around soft romance.
3.First in the category.
4.Inherited the distribution network of XYZ.

Weakness:

1.Inconsistent advertising.
2.Tea whitener goes with tea bags usually due to convenience.
3.Lack of co-branding: whitener n tea goes together! Market is familiar with TEA but not tea whitener. You have to get to their kitchens via something that is already there!
4.never highlighted the “economical” nature of a tea whitener. By now ABC should have replaced “milk” when it comes to tea!

ABC in next 5 years?

1.Market is going to expand for tea whiteners and milk will be only there for drinking and baking stuff.
2.To own this position of “love and relationships” and “soul mates”, ABC would have to hammer this thing to the consumers through intelligent marketing: 360 degrees. It’s not just about communication! Premium price should be justified by highlighting convenience, economical nature, and usability of the product. Always Remember: Once you are the market leader, you talk about the category!

Reposition Naurus?

Emotions: Nature is God’s Gift. So stay close to nature. Rely on Nature Only.

Communicate this position of “Natural ability” thing through endorsement:

1.singer’s with extraordinary god gifted talent
2.sportsmen with god gifted abilities
“kuch cheezain God gifted hoti hain..jinka ka koi “kya kyun or kaisay” nahin hota!…………sirf Naurus pay hai mukammal bharosa!

ABC is not doing well against Waves and Orient. How we can up-grade ABC’s position??

1) ABC….har pal. Complete range of Caring products. PEL cares…har pal! A care that you need when you are newly married…a care that you expect from somebody so close…Associate it with: Newly married or Successful Female celebrity. Add “class” and intellect to the brand.

2) ABC…har pal. Positioning on the mystery of “What Women Want?” via what I call “sensual” advertising. Positioning on the benefit and not features: When her juicy lips touch the chilled glass of orange juice, When she comes from work and take off her jacket, when she is sleeping on the luxurious bed and her hairs are caressing her cheeks…PEL is with her…har pal! (Giving the message that only ABC knows what women want and when!) advertising should be seductive and initially on English and premium outlets like HBO, DAWN NEWS, SHE, VISAGE. Focus should be on non-verbal. As I always say: Sex Sells…but don’t sell sex!

Coffee, Lipsticks, and the Economy!

2010-01-05T08:55:00.001-08:00

Starbucks’ decision to close six hundred coffee outlets appears to be driven at least in part by a “triple whammy:” Increasing competition, a weak economy, and the drain on consumers’ wallets resulting from the current all time high gasoline prices.

The first factor—increased competition—is actually a fairly common one for “evolving” product categories. When Starbucks’ spurred on the mass market for high quality brewed coffee in the U.S. some fifteen years ago, the chain faced only modest competition. Fast food chains and donut shops featured “regular” coffee at lower prices and a few small chains and local establishments served the higher end clientele. In such an early phase of the Product Life Cycle (PLC), the growth in demand is often greater than the increase in supply that results from the entry of new firms into the market. Thus, price pressure—and the risk that your customers will defect to lower cost alternatives—tend to be lower than they are in more “mature” product markets. Now, however, a number of other outlets offer premium coffee—it not always quite in Starbucks’ league—at significantly lower prices. The entry of McDonald’s and other national chains into the premium coffee market category is no real surprise. In most industries, there is a limit to how long one firm can continue to dominate the market.

With a weaker economy, many individuals are worried about losing their jobs. Others do not get the over-time and bonuses they have come to expect during better economic days. That three dollar plus cup of coffee is, realistically speaking, one of the easier things to eliminate from one’s budget. A three dollars-a-day habit, after all, translates into some $1,000 over the course of a year. It is much more difficult to cut from the family grocery budget.

Problems are now compounded by all time high gasoline prices. In the short run, there is very little that most consumers can do about their gasoline consumption. They can cut back on driving vacations and other unnecessary driving, but there are often not attractive public transportation options for getting to work or picking up children from school. Many consumers are now stuck with big, low-gas mileage cars they picked up when oil prices were lower. Ironically, because many still owe a great deal on these cars whose resale value has now declined, switching to more gas-efficient cars can be difficult. This compounds the budget problems that many families are experiencing. There is clear evidence that high gas costs have cut in significantly to consumer retail purchases, especially at the end of the month.

Does this mean that vendors of high cost luxury products like Starbucks will go out of business? Hopefully not. We are not talking about gourmet coffee aficionados cutting out Starbucks entirely. Many will continue to go, albeit not as regularly. However, businesses that have high fixed expenses (the cost of real estate and labor) and much lower variable costs (the cost of the actual coffee and cups) are highly sensitive to volume. Thus, a ten percent decline in sales, for example, results in much more than a ten percent decline in profits. If customers opt for lower priced items when they actually do go, this problem is compounded.

Ironically, another “luxury” product actually seems to thrive during recessions (see http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m3374/is_5_25/ai_99984765). The so-called “Lipstick Index,” based on time series analysis of the economy and sales of lipsticks, actually suggests that lipstick sales go up during bad economic times. The hypothesis is that a lipstick—even a rather heftily priced one—is an affordable indulgence.

Daily Mantra of a Salesperson

2010-01-02T09:57:00.001-08:00

I believe that I am the most valuable person on planet earth. I am nature’s greatest miracle. Among all living human beings, and those who have passed away, and those who have yet to come, nobody was, nobody is and nobody will be like me. I am unique. I am proud of my being unique. And I am thankful to God that He created me unique.

I am thankful to my Almighty that He chose for me the profession of Selling. He chose me to add value to life of people, to alleviate pains of the people and to create pleasures for them. I promise that I will perform my role without compromising on ethics and values.

Where ever I go, I promise, I will carry a message of optimism, a message of positive values. I will shun negative people. I will shun the gossip groups. I am most valuable person. I will not waste my major time on minor things. I again promise that I will be the harbinger of hope and the messenger of positive thinking.

I promise to be proud of the organization I represent. I am proud of the products and services that I offer to solve the problems of the people. Every moment, every hour, every day, I will consciously make effort to increase and update my knowledge about my products, about my organization and about my industry. Knowledge is power and I will increase my knowledge every day. I will multiply my worth and value by reading books and by getting associated with people of substance.

To help more and more people take the benefits of my products, I promise, I will keep my eyes and ears open. From now onward, I promise, I will knock at more doors; I will call on more people, to help them benefit from my offerings. In this process, I may get rejected, but I will not take rejections personally. I promise that I will keep my hopes and morale very high even in the wake of disappointments and frustrations.

I believe, God provides ‘livelihood’ to me and my family through my customers. I will make every possible effort to give them value for money. I will go extra mile and extra smile with them to give them delightful experience of my products and services.

I promise that from now onward I will plan my sales calls immaculately. I will leave no room for carelessness. I promise to share my knowledge and experiences with my colleagues without any conditions.

I promise that from now onward I am different person. Feeling low, feeling mediocre, feeling inadequate is now alien to me. Optimism, hope, helping others, ethics and values, winning, and keep on winning is my new identity. Today, it is not ME, it is NEW ME.

"Speak English Like It Tastes Good"

2010-01-02T09:45:00.001-08:00

Dusk settled coolly over the vineyards in Napa Valley, California, one fall evening. Through the window, I gazed wistfully at a thin stream of bittersweet chocolate sauce a waiter was ladling high over a raspberry-colored cake at the table of a hand-holding couple, inside the big stone restaurant operated by the Culinary Institute of America. I knew it was bittersweet chocolate because the rich smell was drifting through the French doors out onto the patio, where we were drinking a fine Cakebread cabernet next to two giggling toddlers, just as happily chewing red licorice twists from the local 7-11 store.

"See" the picture? Here's the pity. As adults, we tend to lose our "picture-making" way of speaking. We forget to tell the story that tells the story. We've gradually forgotten how to speak English like it tastes good, even when we desperately want people to remember what we are saying. Our conversations often begin with sweeping generalizations. To further numb people, we talk about "work" by using longer sentences, full of jargon that even colleagues won't remember the way they'd remember everyday language wrapped around an example.

Unlike most children under the age of 12 or so, we adults offer qualifiers and chronology before we finally get to the delicious details that are most involving, credible, and evocative. By then, even well-intentioned listeners have taken several mental vacations. Think of the speeches, advertisements, and conversations you most remember. Didn't the words evokesome visual experience?

Let ideas roll around in your mouth like a good merlot. The specific detail proves the general conclusion. It's also more credible and memorable. The generality fades quickly. For several years, many ad campaigns featured a group photo of "diverse" people, with some variation of this headline: "We Are the People Who Care." Banks, insurance companies, hospitals, and other large institutions thus offered a generality that perpetuated their impersonal image instead of promising some specific service, guarantee, or customer story that proved how they were better than the competition.

Avoid gray generalities. Speak in Technicolor. Say less, better. Make your most important truths well-told -- how you describe those who matter most to you, or your job, product, program, cause, or idea. Ironically, because you are so close to these topics, and care and know so much about them, you are most likely to speak generally about them than you do about a recent, negative incident you've experienced. And, as Adlai Stevenson once said, "When you throw mud, you get dirty."

Whoever most vividly characterizes a situation or person usually determines how others see it, discuss it, and decide on it. If your description is more interesting than another's, even if that person has more money, smarts, or power to push his message, others are more likely to recall and repeat yours. Even those who disagree are likely to use your description as they talk about their disagreement. Think how influential you are when you thus speak English like it tastes good.

Become more memorable by saying it better next time in one or more of these specific ways:

* Before you speak, reverse the sequence of what you instinctively say, putting the example before the conclusion. Give the specific story, detail, vivid contrast, or client's situation and how you solved it or an unexpected twist of detail that pulls listeners in.

* Speak or write to evoke a smile, or at least a pause. Evocative words deepen the listener's memory and feeling for what you say. Such words can be heartwarming, quirky, poignant, humorous, inspiring, startling, and more.

Heart-warming: Isn't "Doggie Care" a more emotional name for a dog-washing and kennel service than, say, "Canine Care"?

Quirky: My second book dedication was "To Thelton, without whose companionship this book would have been completed much earlier, but life wouldn't have been nearly as sweet."

Poignant: The first words of an inexpensive but highly successful radio public service announcement began with a man saying: "One in three women who are murdered in this state (pause) are murdered by their husbands." He ended the two-sentence PSA with, "If you even think there's a slight possibility that someone you know's life is in danger, do what I didn't do for my sister. Call this number . . ."

Humorous: My friend Paul Geffner's chicken take-out restaurant in San Francisco was called "Poultry in Motion." Montana cowboy friend Hank D. modestly accepted an award for heroism by saying simply, "The sun don't shine on the same dog all the time. Thanks for this sunshine."

* Use words from the real world. Which was easier to remember the first time you heard these company names: "Intel" or "Apple"?

* Use a metaphor from the common cultural experience of the people with whom you are talking. For example, columnist Albert Hunt wrote recently, when describing the winners and losers in Congress's impeachment debate: "A man who touches more bases than the New York Yankees, Tom Daschle now has the solid support and confidence of the other forty-four Senate Democrats."

Use these four techniques to get people to remember what you say, even when they did not try to:

1. Imagine that the brain is like a wall with clothes hooks on it. For the brain to catch and retain a detail, that detail must hang on one of the memory-inducing hooks that is already in the brain. The biggest hooks are the three universal and core life experiences: 1) family, 2) hometown or town where you have lived or are living, and 3) past or current kind of work. For family, relate what you're saying to a family situation: yours, theirs, someone else's, or even a metaphorical family of services. Or relate your topic to the listener's work situation or work with which she is familiar. People also remember landmark places where they live, have lived, or have visited or well-known places. For example, our business is in Sausalito, which evokes pleasant by-the-bay memories for most who've visited here.

2. Motion makes memories. Whenever people are moving or see movement, they remember more and are more emotional about what they remember. Get customers in motion with you in a positive experience and they will be more fervent, vivid, and believing fans, more likely to evoke their bragging rights and likely to share their experience with others. That's why we literally move to offer samples, getting people to reach out, so they feel the experience more deeply.

An experience is most memorable when you and the other person are both in motion, such as when you shake hands, walk together, or reach to exchange something. Pick those ripe moments to say the most vivid, specific detail you want the listener to remember and repeat to others. Times are next most memorable for the listener who is in motion even if you are not. Ask the person to reach or turn for something while you're saying your tasty tidbit to remember. The next most memorable movement is when you are in motion, even if your listener is not. A final valuable way to evoke a memory is for you both to watch motion from something or someone else.

Warning: Movement is a two-edged sword -- it is never neutral. The listener who experiences something negative where motion is involved will also remember the experience longer, and more intensely. As to a vibrating pole, we hold on sooner, longer, and more strongly to the negative incidents of life than to the positive, because the primitive triune part of our brain -- wired to help us survive -- causes us to respond to appearances of danger more strongly than to those of delight.

3. Speak first of the other person's most current, pressing interest. Just as those in the market for new cars are most likely to hear car ads on the radio, all people listen sooner when you first speak about what is most on their mind at that moment. Sadly, in fewer than 5% of interactions when we want something from someone else do we first speak about what matters most to them. We are more likely to speak about our own interests first.

4. Speak in vivid, specific details that have a high emotional value for the listener.

The good news? If you practice speaking first about the other person's interests, then about what you share in common, and only then about how that commonality relates to your interests, four amazingly powerful changes occur in how that other person relates to you. The person listens sooner, listens longer, remembers more, and assumes you have a higher IQ than if you first speak about your own interests. -.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.- ~ Learn how to reduce or avoid arguments for just $10.95. Kare's new book, Resolving Conflict Sooner, offers a powerfully simple four-step method, plus 100 specific persuasion techniques. Reserve a copy now at your bookstore. Or order one by sending a $12 check to "Kare Anderson" at our address below and we'll include the "Clarity Cards" pack of 40 tips + inspirational sayings for free.

See what others are already saying about Resolving Conflict Sooner. Go to http://www.sayitbetter.com and click on the cover of the book. And please sign the guestbook to let us know you were there.

~ Get a complete persuasion and conflict resolution course: Learn over 600 communication techniques in Kare's most comprehensive educational product, the 6-tape and book program called "The Resolution Response" -- an engrossing, easy-to-follow, idea-packed program for you and your organization for just $89.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ (companion) article

"Be a Co- Author of Your Life Story"

by Kare Anderson

~~~~~~~~~~~~

On the very morning I am writing this column a radio commentator intoned,

"Presidential candidate George Bush will be active in making pronouncements in the coming weeks. . . He wants to define himself before his opponents do it for him." (Don't we all.)

Last month, when I turned on the radio in my rental car, a low, almost neutral-sounding male voice came on: "One in three women in Louisiana who are murdered . . (long pause) . . . are murdered by their husbands. If you or someone you know's life is in danger, or you even suspect it might be, here's the number to call right now for help. . . I wish I had. It might have saved my sister's life." Then he gave the number.

I passed a billboard on Lombard Street in San Francisco yesterday with this message, "Someone is going to win the lottery this week. And it is not going to be you. When will you finally turn to E-Trade?"

~~~~~~~~~~~~

Become the best-selling author of your life. Be at least one of the more
frequently cited among sources of the words most likely to be repeated
about you, your work, your loved ones, and your most passionate interests, starting now. In these time-starved, relationship-diminished time, use the impending turn of the century as your positive, mega-deadline to turn the rest of your life into your kind of blockbuster story.

How? Get more specific about your stories. Like peeling away the layers of an onion, consider pulling back the inevitable generalizations you make about your most familiar topics -- because you know too much -- until you get to the core of your most important life themes and recognize their essence for yourself. Consider, as Steve Covey has said, "First things first" to understand your essential life story. Then, and only then, can you begin to consider how to translate your story into the incidents and examples most meaningful for each person with whom you talk. Only then can you begin considering the comment or question most pertinent to the person with whom you are communicating, and then the detail most worth telling.

Who defines your life for others? The most interesting storytellers around you. Whoever most vividly characterizes what a person or situation is about usually determines what others see in their mind's eye, how they feel about it, and how they discuss it. You don't need to be running for office, or even for a new job or romantic relationship, to choose how you want to describe what matters most to you. How do you describe your most important work, closest friends, critics, and causes?

These words are the verbal "clothes" you wear throughout your life. Who chooses your clothes most often - you or others? If someone else's description is more vividly colorful than yours, people will remember and repeat their words, not yours, about you and your life. From a hated childhood nickname to an often-repeated embarrassing incident from your past, you've learned the hard way that our brains are hard-wired to notice and remember the embarrassing or tragic accident more than the blandly characterized accomplishment, the funny blooper more than the vaguely worded compliment.

After all, what do you most remember from yesterday, last week, last year, ten years ago, your childhood? Those vivid incidents you experienced first-hand and the stories you saw or heard second-hand are creating the enduring thread of the story of your life, from how you see your world to how you react to it. If that is true for you, it is true for everyone around you. Change yourself and you change your world. If you become a more vivid storyteller, you not only affect the picture others have of you, you also help them literally see, in their mind's eye, what is possible for them. What could be a more priceless, living legacy for you?

Why leave it to Stephen Speilberg and Bill Gates to write the most familiar blockbuster stories of our collective lives? You, or the person near you, can also tap people's collective unconscious yearnings and desires by telling the story that resonates with others everywhere and even helps us see another picture of what is possible. With nary a penny spent in marketing, your "call for action" story might be re-told around the world and come back to you through a stranger's action or comment on the street or an e-mail message from a colleague.

You are, after all, your living legacy, because you are living your legacy
(to paraphrase a popular old song) "in every move you make and every breath you take." It is only human to look for what is most interesting around us.

We are all inevitable voyeurs, overhearing and seeing each other from many directions. Even and especially in a world that can be abrupt, anonymous, and over-advertised, we look for the words and scenes that are "ahhhh" endearingly sweet-as-an-infant-smiling-up-from-us-across-the-back-of-a-parent, or nearby tail-wagging puppy scenes, or startling, humorous, romantic, poignant, inspiring, shocking comments. And we all seek the innately human stories that bring us closer.

That's why we so often pass along the e-mail messages with such sentiments in their stories, jokes, or sayings. That's why we so often tell each other such incidents when we get together. Like a successful billboard campaign in a community, the most vivid stories are the ones most frequently "seen" because they are the most often repeated.

Want to write some of these stories? Start with what you know best: you.

What do you want people to tell each other about you? How do you want to be best remembered when you leave the meeting, dinner party, family gathering, your life? Be the author of the next chapters of your life. It is never too late to at least co-create an engrossing living legacy, beginning with an interesting next chapter and starting now. How?

Consider conversations. Forget the qualifiers, historical background,
jargon words, and "how-to" before the "why listen" has been answered.
Recall the "one in three women" radio spot I described at the beginning of this article? Radio listeners have no choice. More than the multimillion-dollar auto advertisement that preceded it on the air, this
modestly produced public service announcement leaves an indelible
impression on the minds of most listeners. Just as with the billboard
message about the lottery, this radio spot pulls you in with a sentence
that makes you want to learn more. What's the question or statement you know that will pull people into learning more of your story?

Isn't it wonderfully democratizing to know that now, more than ever, it
takes more than money to get a message noticed? What it takes is a
memorable message. Say it better next time and your message may be the one most "broadcast" around the world. Get to the juicy center of the topic upfront so others are pulled into wanting to hear more. When someone says "Tell me more about that," you know you have started your story by respecting their strongest interests rather than our usual habits of packing in extraneous "preface" details at the front of our conversation and numbing would-be listeners into a "mental vacation."

Peel away the boring, up-front qualifiers and wandering background words. Drop the secondary detail until you have hooked the listener into wanting to know more. You are not acting like a robot but rather choosing to have a few seconds of forethought in respect to the listener's innate interests, world view, or current situation. Not only do you tell the truth, you tell the best detail of that truth upfront to engage the person you most want to have hear you. Look for the heartwarming happening, contrasting facts or statistics, best/worst case scenario, extraordinary incident, flattering and genuine compliment, glittering opportunity or looming threat, cherished colleague's choice, or respected opinion leader's actions to introduce your topic into conversation.

You can tattoo your word pictures into others - even beyond their conscious willing - when you begin with the lead-in sentence to the story that most interests them. Why? Because your words are unforgettable. Remember that famous example where you can't help picturing what you are admonished not to? "Whatever you do now, don't think of big pink elephants." Peeling away the less immediately understandable or interesting parts of your topic to begin with the most interesting (to the listener) detail means others are more likely to want to learn or share more later. As Roger Ailes says, "See it and say it. If you can see a picture in your mind and describe it, others will stay tuned."

All of your stories don't have to be life-changing, but they can be
engaging. Use memory hooks that relate to your name, work, remarkable quality or skill, or appearance, or perhaps a rhyme or word play. Ivan Misner, author of Seven Second Marketing, offers many examples, including three that I've paraphrased here:

"Let me take the world off your shoulders," offers Sharon Howard, massage therapist.

Lance Mead of Lunar Travel Agency stands out from other agents when he says "Ninety percent of all accidents happen in the home. So travel."

Photographer, Robert Stewart writes, "My pictures say a thousand words so you don't have to."

One of the many bright sides of our world now is that the most vivid
messages move with lightning speed to the most places, phones, and screens around the world. Here are some of the ways we are seeing this phenomenon:

People become more well known and quoted by coining a phrase that sticks in our minds, characterizing a situation, sentiment, or trend: Clint Eastwood ("make my day"), Don Peppers and Martha Rogers ("mass customization"), Faith Popcorn ("cocooning"), Harvey Mackay ("dig your well before you get thirsty"), John Gray ("men are from Mars . . ."), Sam Horn ("Tongue Fu"), John Naisbett ("high tech/high touch").

"Intel Inside." More and more business leaders (from Steve Jobs to Jack Welch) speak so vividly that they become the "face" of their companies, extending their personal "brand" value as well as their company value. Be your brand. In a fast-changing world, you are your most important brand. How do you burnish it by how you characterize your work and that of others you admire?

Putting their lives on the line, Amnesty International volunteers personally witness atrocities so the rest of the world might stop them. Want to help a cause? Perhaps the most valuable contribution you can make to your favorite program is creating the most specifically compelling
reason for others to support it.

My friend Jacob Toschi spent last weekend revamping computers for six blind people to jumpstart their Business for the Blind enterprise. Perhaps the best gift you can present to someone you respect or love is to tell
many others about one of that person's most wonderful actions. Bonus: The "halo effect" of such third-party endorsements" can't help but rub off on you

I feel this with all my heart, even if I am only intermittently good at it
myself. If you want a more interesting, options-loaded, meaningful life,
make the chapters more enticing, beginning with what you say-your comments and your questions. When you raise the more interesting details to the top of the conversation, the most intriguing parts of others emerge. They will like the experience and be drawn to you. Whether you seek a more lively experience with loved ones during your play times, the immediate attention of colleagues or strangers, more support for your project, or the birth of new friendships, begin with the specific detail that pulls people to your most interesting "story."

Actress Glenn Close just said (on the TV playing in the background here as I write this) "We all belong to the same tribe," and others have said that before her. What is the detail you can offer that will enable others to recognize you as part of their "tribe" and draw closer to you?

Tell me a vivid story of your life in 100 words or less and possibly be
included in a future column or book. Want to learn more suggestions about how to tell your story? Get my "Make Yourself Memorable" tape of 100 more tips, with a check to "Kare Anderson" for $11 (mailed to The CCG, 15 Sausalito Blvd., Sausalito, CA 94965-2464). Sign up for my free online Say It Better newsletter at http://www.sayitbetter.com.

Consider reading what some great storytellers say about story-telling:

Dianna Daniels Booher's "Communicate With Confidence:
How to Say It Right the First Time and Every Time";

Rosalie Maggio's "How to Say It : Choice Words, Phrases, Sentences, and Paragraphs for Every Situation"

Rachel Remen's "Kitchen Table Wisdom: Stories that Heal"

Peggy Noonan's "Simply Speaking : How to Communicate
Your Ideas with Style, Substance, and Clarity" and " On Speaking Well: How to Give a Speech with Style, Substance, and Clarity"

Molly Ivins' "Molly Ivins Can't Say That, Can She?";

Roger Ailes's "You Are the Message: Getting What You Want by Being Who You Are."

To hear a remarkable storyteller, listen to Garrison Keilor on your national public radio station.

And finally, here are some great resources available on the Internet where you can find the right words:

Webster's Hypertext Dictionary
http://m-w.com/netdict.htm

Bartlett's Familiar Quotations,
http://www.columbiaedu/acis/bartleby/bartlett/

Roget's Online Thesaurus
http://www.thesaurus.com

Dictionary.com
http://www2.dictionary.com/dictionary/

Online Rhyming Dictionary (enter a word, click a button to receive words
that rhyme),
http://www.WriteExpress.com/online.html

The Quotations Page
http://www.starlingtech.com/quotes

Basic Terms to Know
http://www.epcc.edu/faculty/joeo/terms.only

Acronym and Abbreviation Server,
http://www.ucc.ie/info/net/acronyms/index.html

Acronym Finder (96,400 acronyms and abbreviations and their meanings),
http://www.AcronymFinder.com

Bias-Free Language,
http://www.visiontec.com/copyedit/substute.htm

Time-Proven Methods To Balance The Marketing Mix

2010-01-02T09:43:00.002-08:00

Although some speakers and consultants make a living by word of mouth, most of us mere mortals (beginners as well as seasoned pros) require marketing to be successful. Personally, I use a marketing mix to enhance my visibility, thus expanding my business.

The 10 methods I have found to be most effective are:

1) Have something to say -- and be good on the platform

You can do all the marketing in the world, but if you haven't selected your USP -- unique selling point -- then it's money down the drain.

What are your areas of expertise? You need to select a topic or topics that you can talk about confidently and expertly, then get out there and give presentations until your name is synonymous with the subject.

2) Have good materials

How do you let people know that you are the expert to call for keynotes? Use high quality materials.

All speakers need to have two sets of materials ready to send at a moment's notice; both need to include a demo videotape. One set should have your complete contact information -- name, address, toll-free number, fax number, e-mail address and web page. The other set should be "bureau friendly" -- with no contact information listed; allowing the bureau to put their seal or stamp on it.

Whatever you decide to put your name on should be high quality merchandise. If you decide to buy cheaper paper stock or use a discount printer, just remember -- you'll always get what you pay for.

3) Develop lasting business relationships with clients

Clients are more than just a source of income. Establish yourself as an extension of their efforts - help them solve problems and satisfy their needs. Go the extra step -- if you can't help, refer them to someone who possibly can.

If you can create a lasting relationship with your clients, it becomes easier to go deep within an organization. Some companies have offices across the country. If you become established with one region and meet their needs, you will have an easier time approaching others.

4) Ask for referrals

Many speakers are reluctant to ask for referrals from their satisfied clients. Bill Cates, author of Unlimited Referrals, says that not asking happy clients for referrals is like discovering a gold mine, but never going in to mine its treasures.

Cates says you can get referrals without coming right out and asking by "planting seeds." He explains, "The seeds go into their unconscious, take root, and blossom into referrals later. Put 'Don't keep me a secret' as your P.S. in letters. Tell them you want to earn the right to be connected to who they know by doing a great job for them."

When you ask for a referral, Cates says that you should not come from a ME place, but rather, a WE place. It might sound something like, "Mary, I'm glad your members were happy with my program. I have an important question to ask you. Do you mind if we took a moment to explore who else might benefit from my message?" If they say yes, and almost all of them will, then you can suggest names, companies, other associations, etc., whom they are likely to know.

Cates usually begins looking for internal referrals. For instance, if
it's a national association meeting planner, he'll ask for referrals to state and regional associations and to high profile members of the association. If it's a corporate executive, he'll first probe for other divisions within that company. "Make sure you also get a testimonial letter from your happy client, and have it ready to send to your new prospects," says Cates.

5) Keep in front of buyers' eyes

How do you stay on the top of clients and prospects' collective minds? By keeping your name out there - consider publishing a newsletter, for example.

Even a one-page newsletter can be an effective means to market yourself and services. You can print this in house or with a local printer, depending on your budget. A newsletter can also be e-mailed to clients and prospects on a regular basis. Similarly, you can send e-mail tips to clients and prospects.

A good way to make sure your name is known is to advertise - whether through traditional means like radio, TV and print advertising, or in certain industry specific directories. I have found media guides to be highly successful -- they see my name, areas of expertise, then call to interview me. The result? An impressive list of appearances in articles in papers ranging from The Washington Post and USA Today to stories in Business Marketing and Men's Health magazines - and you never know who sees these articles.

Another way to keep in front of buyers' eyes is to determine who you need as advocates, then target them on a regular basis. Who are advocates? Decision makers who can book you or refer you to others who can. They are avid supporters, those who know what you can do. You should touch base with these advocates monthly -- send them small gifts (a book you wrote, for example), articles relevant to their industries, a holiday greeting card, etc.

6) Write/write/write!

One of the best ways for you to market yourself is to be perceived as an expert. A sure way of doing this is to write. When you write, you also create product, passive income.

Author Tim Connor, CSP, says, "There are advantages to a product that either reinforces your message for the audience or helps you close (for you non-sales types, that means getting booked) the sale." Tim's first book, Soft Sell, was the basis for his workbook for a two-day public sales seminar. This seminar became the foundation for his two six-cassette albums. Those six-cassette albums became the foundation for his 12-cassette audio series Soft Sell Sales Course. As Tim explains, "I am sure you get my point. Everything you do should feed something else or preferably everything else you do. In this business, we are all too busy to recreate new stuff each time we sit down at our computer."

What advice does Art Sobczak, a specialist in telesales training, and editor and publisher of Telephone Selling Report, offer speakers about writing? "Read like a maniac. Especially from the perspective of your targeted audience. Keep a clip file for ideas you want to expand on� Make a commitment to write something regularly, whether it be daily, weekly or monthly. Then package it in a newsletter, articles to publications your audience reads, and also into products."

"Speakers who don't write are one dimensional," Sobczak believes. "They're contractors selling their time and that's it. Writing leverages that time and creates revenue-generating products which are sold over and over, promotes all aspects of your business, plus forces you to be on the cutting edge of your topic."

7) Develop a web site (have lots of link and search engine listings)

To effectively compete in today's marketplace, speakers need to be on line. Since they are on the road a lot, e-mail is already a must-have for speakers. But having a Web page is also important. By having an address in cyberspace, you are doing passive marketing.

Sure, there's an initial outflow of cash to design and set up a Web page, and you may also need to pay someone for hosting the site if you do not have the necessary computer hardware. But once the site is established, what a great way to market yourself and services!

But remember: People can't visit your site unless they are aware of it. Contact non competing colleagues. See if they would like to cross link their pages to yours. You should also contact speakers bureaus and other speaking-related sites to investigate link possibilities.

Once your page is ready for mass viewing, e-mail all the search engines with the key words related to your site. For those who don't know, search engines (Yahoo, Lycos and Excite are three examples) are mechanisms people who "surf" the Web use to find sites of interest. So, if your area of expertise is business etiquette and you do speaking and training, you want your site to be listed when a search is done for the words "business etiquette," "etiquette," "speaker" and "trainer."

8) Network everywhere

I find that business travel is one of my easiest ways to drum up new business. Here are seven tips that I use to network:

Join airline clubs. Many business executives like to relax in these members-only lounges before and after flights.
Travel first class -- use your upgrades!
Talk to people on airport courtesy vans to pick up rental cars or get to hotels.
Strike up a conversation on planes. One good opening line is: "Is take off home base or landing? If neither, then you say, "Oh, where are you from? Are you traveling for business or pleasure? What type of business are you in?"
If they don't pick up on the conversation, let it go. Try one more time when food is served.
Be sure to get their business card - and write notes about the meeting on the back.
Remember, it's all in the follow-up. Keep in touch!

9) Be easy to work with

People don't want to do business with those who treat them poorly. It is imperative that as a professional you (and your staff) demonstrate good customer service. Ask clients for feedback. Find out if there are problem areas, and address them quickly. Make dealing with you a burden-free experience.

Tips to remember:

Be responsive. When asked for information, provide it promptly.
If asked for something that seems unreasonable, maintain a pleasant and conciliatory attitude, even if you must say no.
Regularly check voice mail and answering machines. Return phone calls promptly.
Regularly check e-mails and respond promptly. Just because these are electronic messages, does not in any way diminish their importance.
Call in to hear how your phones are answered. Change any poor phone mannerisms.

10) Become a "mini celebrity"

How do you become a mini celebrity and successful? Excellent public relations. Develop your own PR kit, which needs to include a color picture (but have black and white for media requests), personal biography, company profile, client list, articles about you and the firm, references and recommendation letters.

Make sure you send out news releases to all media - radio, TV and print -- whenever you produce a new book or receive an award/honor.

By applying a combination of my 10 methods for an effective marketing mix you, too, can be well on your way to success

Ten Fatal Flaws Frequently Found From The Podium

2010-01-02T09:43:00.000-08:00

1. No clear purpose for the presentation. What is the point and focus
of the speech?

2. Not starting and stopping on time. Be flexible and be able to cut
the talk short if asked. Be in control.

3. Not dressing appropriately. Always be a step above the
audience. If it's business casual, be a little dressier than casual.

4. Not knowing the audience. Make sure you know what the audience
expects.

5. Not checking out your room. A/V equipment and seating for any
potential problems. Give yourself enough time to make the room right for you.

6. Not having good platform skills. Knowing your subject is not
enough. You must have the ability to excite the audience and keep their interest.

7. Not having rapport with the audience. Not doing your research to
find out what really interests them. You will know that magic moment when the audience is nodding with approval.

8. Not knowing when to stop. Too much information can not be absorbed by the audience.

9. Not having enough information. The talk should have substance and knowledge of the client's business.

10. Not being sensitive to the audience. Do not use ethnic stories or
off color remarks. Politics and religion should be avoided unless you are a member of the clergy.

POINT: The effectiveness of a talk is whether the audience enjoyed it and found it useful. Did the talk influence their behavior positively and
productively once they returned to their jobs?

How to Create a Great First Impression

2010-01-02T09:42:00.001-08:00

They say you can't judge a book by its cover. But how many of us judge people by the way they talk, the way they walk or even by the way they answer the telephone?

We form opinions about people the first time we see or hear them. We even form opinions about people we have never met! Conversations with people we know and do not know can bias our opinion before we meet them.

People's perceptions about us DO matter. As a professional speaker who provides workshops, keynotes and consultations on presentation skills and public speaking, I know that we are all judged by people through "What we say", and "How we say it". We are also judged by "How we Dress", "How we walk" and even "How we eat our food". In the work environment, we judge people by the size of their office, the location of their office or by the number of people working for us. As a business owner YOUR company is judged by the way your receptionist answers the telephone or greets people at the door.

Think about it!

You CANNOT, NOT make a first impression. People always form an initial impression about us the first time they come in contact with us whether it is in person or whether it is over the telephone or even by the way we leave a message on THEIR answering machine. Every other contact with after that first time either supports or conflicts with that first impression. Create a good first impression and the relationship grows from there. Create a bad first impression and your relationship with that person can be an uphill battle.

Whether we are communicating "one-to-one" over the telephone, "one-to-a-group" such as a small business meeting or "one-to-a-hundred" such as during a presentation other people's impression of us is very important and we should work hard to make sure that FIRST impression is a great one. Below I have provided some tips to help you make a great first impression in two telephone situations:

1. Receiving a telephone call
2. Initiating a telephone call

Receiving a Telephone Call
1. Answer the telephone by the 3rd ring (Or your answering machine) - I usually answer my phone by the second ring and rarely do I answer it on the very first ring. My answering machine will automatically answer my phone after the third ring.

2. Make sure your greeting is professional. - It is important that your greeting is friendly and professional. Don't answer the telephone and try and speak with food in your mouth! How many of us can tell when the person we are speaking to on the other end is EATING?

Playback your answering machine's personal greeting. Does it sound professional? Do your greet people politely? Do you leave them with instructions on "What to do?" I am amazed how often I call someone and their answering machine greets me with a greeting which I can't understand. Or worse, the person has used the words, "Uh", or "Uhm" over 3 times during the 15 second greeting. Remember, I am a speech coach and I especially notice these things.

3. Be prepared before you answer the telephone. Have a pencil or pen along with a pad of paper near your telephone so you can write down important information such as their NAME. When speaking to them, use their NAME during the conversation, but don't overdo it.

4. Be an active listener. By using step 3 above, you can be an active listener by writing down important information. Ask them to spell their name if you are not sure. Ask them when it is the best time to call them back.

5. If you answer the telephone and someone wants to ask you some specific questions, but you ARE NOT prepared because their file is in the other room or at the bottom of the pile, just say, "I am in the middle of something at the moment, can I call your right back?" This will give you a chance to collect the materials you need and when returning their phone call you are now prepared to speak. This is a more controlled situation. If they insist on "holding on" just say, "Please give me a moment to get your file".

NOTE: If you put someone on hold DO NOT make them wait more than 30 seconds. I have had people put me on hold for so long I was able to read that article I was dying to read while waiting for them.

6. If you are out of town, check your messages frequently. I usually check my messages twice in the morning and twice in the afternoon, unless I am not able to interrupt what I am doing. If I am in the middle of a seminar or coaching session with a client, THEY are the most important priority. I will call at a break or when I get home.

7. Return telephone calls promptly. - One of most unprofessional things a business can do is NOT RETURN PHONE CALLS. How many of us have attempted to contact some over a period of days or even weeks and you find that YOU are the only one initiating the telephone call? One of the comments I have heard from my clients or potential clients is, "Thank you for returning my call so promptly!" or "Thanks for getting back to me." I have actually been hired for speaking engagements over other speaker because I not only returned their call, but I returned it that same morning, not 3 days later.

I have been contacted by newspaper reporters who are working on an article and have contacted me for my expert opinion. I have even had calls from magazines who would like to publish one of my website articles and are calling for permission and need to know TODAY!

Remember, these people are often working on a deadline to complete their article and cannot wait days for you to return their call.

3. If you have a staff which works for you, call in once in a while on the road and see for yourself how they greet people when they call. Pretend you are a potential client. How were you treated over the telephone? If it was less than favorable, it's time to make some changes.

Remember that first impression WILL be initiated by that incoming telephone call and the impression you make. Either you, your staff or even your answering machine's greeting or voice mail will determine if they call you back. Think about the eight points I have discussed and make changes or adjustments where you need to.

Initiating the Telephone Call
1. Organize your thoughts before you place your call. It is important that you are concise, but thorough with your call. I like to make a short list of important items I want to discuss during the telephone call. In the event I do not actually "connect" with the person I need to, I can quickly summarize a short message based on these notes. Have a pad of paper and a pen or pencil handy to take notes.

2. When speaking on the telephone, try to SMILE. When we smile and change our facial expressions, it effects the sound of our voice. Our vocal tone can be greatly effected by the manner when use our facial muscles. One of the oldest telephone sales tricks is to have a mirror near the telephone so you can monitor your facial expressions and to be sure you are smiling. Several studies have indicated that as much as 87% of the opinions people form about us, when speaking to us on the telephone are based on the tone of our voice. Only 13% is based on the actual words we use. We all do this. People can "hear" our personality and mannerisms through the tone of our voice.

3. Should the person you are trying to contact ACTUALLY answer the telephone (I know this can throw some of you off when they do), after shortly introducing who you are, begin by asking them, "Is this a good time to talk?" You may have called while they were in the middle of something and will appreciate your consideration. If they are, ask them when the best time would be to call them back. Remember to be sure to call them back at the correct time.

4. If you are trying to reach a senior level officer (CEO, President or V.P.) call after the usual working hours. You are more likely to get the CEO answer the telephone after normal business hours since their clerical staff has gone home. Should their secretary or receptionist also be working late and answer the telephone, be kind and courteous as you always should be with them. They may be working late and would appreciate a kind voice at the end of the day.

5. Do not speak too fast! Slow down when you are leaving a message, especially if you have an accent. I receive many messages where I cannot even understand what the person is saying. Even worse, I cannot write fast enough and I find myself replaying the message several times to record the entire message.

6. Pronounce your name clearly. Announce your name slowly and clearly, especially if your name is not a common name. Spell your name slowly if necessary. Allow people to get the correct spelling of your name.

7. Slow down when saying your telephone number. This is the biggest complaint I have when people leave their telephone number. People state their telephone numbers TOO FAST! Say the numbers slowly and place a "pause" somewhere in the sequence of providing your number. People will appreciate this, especially me! Repeat the telephone at the end of your message so they will not have to play back the message.

8. Give your company name, your title & why you are calling. Describe to the person, in a few short sentences who you are, which company you are with and why you are calling. If you are requesting information, leave a detailed but brief message.

9. Let them know when to call you back. Leave a date, time, and preferred telephone number for people. They can't return your telephone call if you don't leave your telephone number. Providing them with the preferred time to call back makes it much easier for them.

10. Always sound professiona. Remember what I indicated in the beginning of this article. People DO judge you by the tone of your voice and what you say. If you come across sounding unprofessional in your message, they may not return your telephone call. Also, do not leave very long winded messages or they will stop listening.

The Process of Marketing

2010-01-02T09:40:00.001-08:00

Reflection

2010-01-02T09:29:00.003-08:00

A farmer had some puppies he needed to sell.

He painted a sign advertising the 4 pups and set about nailing it to a post on the edge of his yard. As he was driving the last nail into the post, he felt a tug on his overalls. He looked down into the eyes of little boy.

"Mister," he said, "I want to buy one of your puppies."

"Well," said the farmer, as he rubbed the sweat off the back of his neck, "These puppies come from fine parents and cost a good deal of money."

The boy dropped his head for a moment. Then reaching deep into his pocket, he pulled out a handful of change and held it up to the farmer.

"I've got thirty-nine cents. Is that enough to take a look?"

"Sure," said the farmer. And with that he let out a whistle. "Here, Dolly!" he called.

Out from the doghouse and down the ramp ran Dolly followed by four little balls of fur.

The little boy pressed his face against the chain link fence. His eyes danced with delight. As the dogs made their way to the fence, the little boy noticed something else stirring inside the dog house.

Slowly another little ball appeared this one noticeably smaller.

Down the ramp it slid. Then in a somewhat awkward manner, the little pup began hobbling toward the others, doing its best to catch up...

"I want that one," the little boy said, pointing to the runt.

The farmer knelt down at the boy's side and said, "Son, you don’t want that puppy. He will never be able to run and play with you like these other dogs would."

With that the little boy stepped back from the fence, reached down, and began rolling up one leg of his trousers. In doing so he revealed a steel brace running down both sides of his leg attaching itself to a specially made shoe. Looking back up at the farmer, he said, "You see sir, I don't run too well myself, and he will need someone who understands."

With tears in his eyes, the farmer reached down and picked up the little pup. Holding it carefully he handed it to the little boy.

"How much?" asked the little boy.

"No charge," answered the farmer, "There’s no charge for love."
The world is full of people who need someone who understands.

Use your mind

2010-01-02T09:29:00.001-08:00

Moishe the Carpenter, returning home with his week’s wages, was accosted by an armed robber on a deserted street.

“Take my money,” said Moishe, “but do me a favor: shoot a bullet through my hat otherwise my wife won’t believe I was robbed.”
The robber obliged. He threw Moishe’s hat into the air and put a bullet through it.
“Let’s make it look as if I ran into a gang of robbers,” said Moishe, “otherwise my wife will call me a coward! Please shoot a number of holes through my coat.”
So the robber shot a number of holes through the carpenter’s coat.
“And now…”
“Sorry,” interrupted the robber. “No more holes. I’m out of bullets.”
“That’s all I wanted to know!” said Moishe. “Now hand me back my money and some more for the hat and coat that you’ve ruined or I’ll beat you black and blue!”
The robber threw down the money and ran.

A Home Of One's Own( DO READ PLEASE )

2010-01-02T09:28:00.001-08:00

An elderly carpenter was ready to retire. He told his employer, a building contractor, of his plans to leave the house building business and live a more leisurely life with his wife enjoying his extended family. He would miss the paycheck, but he needed to retire. They could get by.
His employer was sorry to see his good worker go and asked if he could build just one more house as a personal favor. The carpenter said yes, but it was easy to see that his heart was no longer in his work. He had lost his enthusiasm and had resorted to shoddy workmanship and used inferior materials. It was an unfortunate way to end his career.
When the carpenter finished his work and his boss came to inspect the new house, the contractor handed the front-door key to the carpenter. "This is your house," he said, "my gift to you."
What a shock! What a shame! If he had only known he was building his own house, he would have done it all so differently. Now he had to live in the home he had built none too well.
So it is with us. We build our lives in a distracted way, reacting rather than acting, willing to put up less than the best. At important points we do not give the job our best effort. Then with a shock we look at the situation we have created and find that we are now living in the house we have built for ourselves. If we had realized, we would have done it differently.
The plaque on the wall says, "Life is a do-it-yourself project." Who could say it more clearly? Your life today is the result of your attitudes and choices in the past. Your life tomorrow will be the result of your present attitudes and choices.
That’s how it really is.

7 Steps For Melting Anger On The Spot

2010-01-02T09:27:00.001-08:00

Anger is a lethal force that undermines our lives in all kinds of ways. Sometimes it erupts openly and other times anger camouflages it and covertly undermines your life. Some experience anger as strength and power. They feel it is necessary in order to maintain control. Others assume they have the right to express anger towards those in their lives. These are some of the lies anger tells us. In fact, when we are angry we are out of control and our ability to respond wisely is diminished.

Here are 7 steps for handling anger on the spot.

Step 1: Realize that anger is a choice you make

Anger is not a form of power, strength, or control. It is a toxin. Sometimes it provides a temporary high. After this high subsides, we are left weaker and more uncertain than before. Not only that, there are often negative consequences that have to be handled.
Basically anger narrows your focus, creates confusion and limits your ability to find constructive solutions. When anger arises, stop, breathe deeply, and immediately look at the larger perspective. Put the incident in context. For a moment, allow the other person to be "right". Tell yourself you have plenty of time to be right later. Your main goal is to have the anger subside so you can see the whole picture clearly.

Step 2: Become aware of the 24 forms of anger

Anger camouflages itself and finds many covert ways of manifesting. Unrecognized anger turns into all kinds of unwanted behavior. When these behaviors are not understood it is very difficult to correct them. Awareness is important in making necessary changes.
Some of the 24 forms of anger are: depression, passive aggressive behavior, compulsions, perfectionism, gossiping and certain kinds of competition at the workplace. When you realize that these are being fueled by anger, you can take appropriate steps to handle them.

Step 3: Start Relationship Balancing

Relationship Balancing is the natural flow of energy, support and inspiration between individuals. When this flow is balanced individuals operate at their maximum level. When the flow is blocked or out of balance, individuals become depressed, apathetic, sick and resentful. When one feels needed and acknowledged, there is no end to their ability to tap their full potential. Envision balanced relationships. Write down what this means to you and notice how it compares to the reality of your particular situation. This initial step provides a map and new focus. It provides a direction to move in.

Step 4: Discover Your Relationship Balancing Quotient

List each individual you interact with. Score each person on the following questions from 1-10. See for yourself what is going on.

a) I I feel at ease with this person.
b) I trust this person.
c) I communicate naturally with this person.
d) I understand what they're communicating to me.
e) I am able to ask this person for what I want from them.
f) I am able to give this person what they want from me.
Assess exactly what is going on in your important relationships. Take a look at what you want from each relationship. Separate your needs and wants. Start communicating your feelings in a responsible manner and asking for what you really need and want. Start truly listening to the other, to who they actually are, not your images or agendas for them.
We can often be in a relationship with a person for a long time and not even begin to know who they truly are. As you begin taking the steps above, you will make natural adjustments in getting this relationship back on track.

Step 5: Stop Casting Blame

Blaming others is one of the largest factors in causing imbalance in your relationships and keeping the anger going. Stop casting blame. By blaming others you are dis empowering yourself. By taking responsibility you are taking back control. Stop a moment and see the situation through your opponent's eyes. When you do this blame dissolves on the spot. Also, remember, the best defense against being hurt is to feel good about yourself and the way a person responds to you says more about them, than about you.
As you stop casting blame you will be letting go of all kinds of resentments. Resentment inevitably affects our well-being and always bounces back on us. Look for and find what is positive in each individual. Focus on that.

Step 6 - Create Realistic Expectations

There is nothing that makes us more angry and hurt than expectations we've been holding onto that have not been met. It is important that you become aware of what your expectations are for your relationships. Are they realistic? Does the other person hold expectations that are similar? Let go of unrealistic fantasies. Once this is done, much opportunity for anger diminishes on the spot.

Step 7 – Develop A Grateful Mind

See what different people in your lives are truly giving to you. We often take many things for granted and are even unaware of all that we are receiving day by day. Take time to write down each day what you are receiving. Be grateful for that. Make a point of giving thanks. The more we thank others, the happier we become. Also, take time to write down all that you have given others that day. It may be a surprise. We often think we are giving so much and receiving so little. This is a great cause of anger, deprivation and emptiness within. However, when we take time daily to write it down and look at it carefully, we are often surprised and how much we have received and how little given in return. As we look at it carefully, and balance these two activities, we learn to take pleasure both in what we have given and what has been received.

Believe it or not - 25 forms of Anger

2010-01-02T09:26:00.002-08:00

1. Direct Attack
2. Hypocrisy
3. Stealing
4. Lying & Deception
5. Depression
6. Withdrawal
7. Passive Aggressive Behavior
8. Hopelessness
9. Suicide and Suicidal Thoughts
10. Burnout
11. Self-Sabotage
12. Low Self Esteem
13. Compulsions
14. Obsessions
15. Revenge
16. Addictions
17. Psychosomatic Disorders
18. Catastrophic Expectations
19. Masochism
20. Sadism
21. Martyrdom
22. Judgmental-ness
23. Blaming
24. Gossiping

10 Thoughts about Leadership

2010-01-02T09:26:00.000-08:00

At a time when the world is thinking a lot about leadership I believe it's a great opportunity for each one of us to think about what leadership means to us.
1. People follow the leader first and the leader's vision second - It doesn't matter if the leader shares a powerful vision, if the leader is not someone who people will follow the vision will never be realized. As a leader, who you are makes a difference. The most important message you can share is yourself.
2. Trust is the force that connects people to the leader and his/her vision - Without trust there is a huge gap between the leader and the vision. Without trust people will stay off the bus. However if people trust the leader they will hop on the bus with the leader and help move the bus forward towards the vision.
3. Leadership is not just about what you do but what you can inspire, encourage and empower others to do.
4. A leader brings out the best within others by sharing the best within themselves.
5. Just because you're driving the bus doesn't mean you have the right to run people over - Abraham Lincoln said "Most anyone can stand adversity, but to test a man's character give him power." The more power you are granted the more it is your responsibility to serve, develop and empower others. When you help them grow they'll help you grow.
6. “Rules without Relationship Leads to Rebellion” - Andy Stanley said this and it's one of my favorite quotes. As a leader you can have all the rules you want but if you don’t invest in your people and develop a relationship with them they will rebel. This applies amazingly to children as well. It's all about relationships.
7. Lead with optimism, enthusiasm and positive energy, guard against pessimism and weed out negativity.
8. Great Leaders know they don't have all the answers - Rather they build a team of people who either know the answers or will find them.
9. Leaders inspire and teach their people to focus on solutions, not complaints
10. Great leaders know that success is a process not a destination - One of my heroes John Wooden, the legendary UCLA basketball coach, never focused on winning. He knew that winning was the byproduct of great leadership, teamwork, focus, commitment and execution of the fundamentals. As a leader focus on your people and process, not the outcome.

WHEN A LIZARD CAN, WHY CAN'T WE?

2010-01-02T09:25:00.001-08:00

This is a story that happened in Japan.
In order to renovate the house, someone in Japan breaks open the wall. Japanese houses normally have a hollow space between the wooden walls. When tearing down the walls, he found that there was a lizard stuck there because a nail from outside hammered into one of its feet.

He sees this, feels pity, and at the same time curious, as when he checked the nail, it was nailed 5 years ago when the house was first built!!!
What happened? The lizard has survived in such position for 5 years .In a dark wall partition for 5 years without moving, it is impossible and mind-boggling.Then he wondered how this lizard survived for 5 years! without moving a single step--since its foot was nailed!So he stopped his work and observed the lizard, what it has been doing, and what and how it has been eating. Later, not knowing from where it came, appears another lizard,with food in its mouth.Ah! He was stunned and touched deeply.

For the lizard that was stuck by nail, another lizard has been feeding it for the past 5 years...
Imagine? It has been doing that untiringly for 5 long years, without giving up hope on its partner.
Imagine what a small creature can do that a creature blessed with a brilliant mind can't.
Please never abandon your loved ones

Never Say you are Busy When They Really Need You ...You May Have The Entire World At Your Feet.But You Might Be The Only World To Them.. A Moment of negligence might break the very heart which loves you through all odds.. Before you say something just remember..it takes a moment to break but an entire lifetime to make...

How to Deal with the Know-It-All

2010-01-02T09:24:00.003-08:00

An old tale has it that a man went to have a lion tattooed onto his back. "Ouch!" he screamed to the tattooist. "What are you doing?"

"I'm drawing the lion's mane," replied the tattooist.

"We don't need a name on this lion!"

A little later the man shouted again and on being told that now the tail was being drawn onto his back, ordered that "a lion doesn't need a tail!" This continued until, of course, the frustrated tattooist ordered the opinionated man out of his shop.

You may not have the option of ordering the know-it-all in your life 'out of the shop'. Maybe you work or even live with them. But there are things you can do to better deal with the 'expert' on everything; if there's a subject, they have an opinion on it -- and it's better than yours. Or that's what they like to think. So what can you do?

Tip 1 -- Don't take it personally

Know-it-alls can put others down by implication. After all, if they are constantly 'putting you right' and they know 'everything' then, by implication, you know nothing. Being around people like this can flatten your self-esteem.

But know-it-alls can't help themselves and chances are they like to put everyone straight. They feel they are doing you a favor (and sometimes they might be) by telling you how 'it is'. So keep calm and, like water off a duck's back, don't take it as a personal affront. It's not that they think you are stupid; it's just that they don't think much about you at all. They haven't yet learned the difference between opinion and fact.

Tip 2 -- Flatter the know-it-all as a 'way in'

Know-it-alls thrive on a sense of self-importance. So to get them to listen (which tends not to come naturally), you can use their need for status as sugar coating to get them to swallow something new (your take on things). For example you might say: "I have an idea I'd value your opinion on..." This sets them up to listen because you've appealed to a primary motivation -- the importance of their opinion.

Tip 3 -- Use their contrariness judo-style

A know-it-all will often feel compelled to say the opposite of whatever you say. You say "black", they say "white". Their need to hold an opposing point of view is more compelling for them than the need to find the truth of a situation. So you could say: "I'm sure you are going to think this is a bad idea; in fact I'm certain you will think it's silly...but..." Now the know-it-all is in the position of having to agree with your idea by first disagreeing with your opener that they are bound to think it silly.

Reverse psychology. I have used this and it works wonders.

Tip 4 -- Use truisms to pre-empt their know-it-all-ism

You can drop into conversation statements like: "Only a narrow-minded fool thinks they know everything but I was wondering if anyone knows..." This kind of statement can have an effect almost below the level of consciousness. And if they do proffer their opinion after you've seeded such a statement, then it's likely to be more moderate; less dictatorial. Other statements you could use include:

• "Well if we are open-minded about it, we could look at it this way..."
• "None of us knows everything but together we can work this out..."
• "I'm surprised to hear you say that; I'd have thought you'd think differently." This can apply a mild shock and get them to actually question their own opinion (and temporarily halt their transmission) without contradicting them directly. A statement like this focuses their attention because it's about them.

Continually peppering your language with statements like this conditions the know-it-all's behavior, all below conscious awareness. They all convey the pattern of open-minded discourse without directly challenging the know-it-all's self-proclaimed authority.

Tip 5 -- Use the 'broken record technique'

Sometimes the only way to get through to the know-it-all is to repeat your own position over and over. This tactic requires resilience on your part. The secret is to avoid getting dragged into the content of their arguments.

For example, if you have planned to play golf this weekend on a particular course and they are telling you that you should play on another one because "it's better," your 'broken record' conversation may go something like this:

Know-it-all: "No, you should play at the Hollingbury golf course; it's miles better, you know!"

You: "Maybe, but I want to play on this course!"

Know-it-all: "The Hollingbury course is much nearer, you know!"

You: "I don't care. I want to play on this course!"

Know-it-all: "The Hollingbury course is cheaper, you know!"

You: "I don't care. I just want to play on this other course!"

Know-it-all: "The Hollingbury course is much more scenic!"

You: "I don't care. I just want to play on this other course!"

Know-it-all: "The Hollingbury course has a better clubhouse!"

You: (laughs) "Have you got shares in the Hollingbury golf club? The fact is I just want to play on this other course!"

It can be impossible to out-argue the know-it-all logically, but just stating your opinion and sticking to it no matter what they say can: A) make them do all the work and B) eventually exhaust them so they can let you be right for a change.

And I can think of no better way to end this (but I may be wrong) than to quote an anonymous wise person:

"No man knows less than the man who knows it all."

Friendship. Read and Reflect

2010-01-02T09:24:00.001-08:00

A story tells that two friends were walking through the desert. During some point of the journey they had an argument, and one friend slapped the other one in the face.The one who got slapped was hurt, but without saying anything, wrote in the sand:TODAY MY BEST FRIEND SLAPPED ME IN THE FACE.They kept on walking until they found an oasis, where they decided to take a bath. The one who had been slapped got stuck in the mire and started drowning, but the friend saved him.After he recovered from the near drowning, he wrote on a stone:TODAY MY BEST FRIEND SAVED MY LIFE.The friend who had slapped and saved his best friend asked him, “After I hurt you, you wrote in the sand and now, you write on a stone, why?”The other friend replied “When someone hurts us we should write it down in sand where winds of forgiveness can erase it away. But, when someone does something good for us, we must engrave it in stone where no wind can ever erase it.”LEARN TO WRITE YOUR HURTS IN THE SAND AND TO CARVE YOUR BENEFITS IN STONE.

The 10 Characteristics Of A Sales Guerrilla

2010-01-02T09:22:00.001-08:00

It's a jungle out there. You are not paranoid; they really are out to get you. Doing business in the highly competitive environment of the 90's requires the boldness and ingenuity of a veteran commercial mercenary.

Today's winners in business are the renegades, the rebels who break all the rules, who use information and surprise to gain a tactical advantage. There are ten characteristics that set these guerrillas apart. Study them. Sell by them.

1. Investment
The average business in America invests only 3% of gross sales in marketing. The guerrilla averages 10%. Guerrillas believe that the difference between winning and losing, more often than not, is a very slim margin. So they invest heavily in technology, in people, and in themselves. They are constantly expanding their horizons, constantly training, and constantly on the lookout for anything that will give them a slight advantage.

2. Consistent
Poor selling done consistently will be more effective than great selling done sporadically. In the mind of your customers, consistency is interpreted as credibility, longevity and success. Guerrillas earn this confidence by communicating their identity, not their image. They are very resistant to changing their name, their logo, their color scheme. Be consistent and you will outsell the better armed, better equipped, better organized corporate regulars.

3. Confident
Guerrillas believe in their products, their services, and their people. They count on others in the organization to deliver on every promise, every time, and then some. If you can't feel that kind of confidence, you're working for the wrong outfit. When something goes wrong, take personal responsibility for making it right, right away.

4. Patient
A guerrilla will set in the trees for days waiting for a clear shot. Less than 4% of sales are made on the first call, over 80% are made after the eighth call. Guerrillas are always on the lookout for the next need cycle, and strive to be there when the need arises. So stick with it. Keep mailing out your brochure.

5. Assortment
The old days of Henry Ford, when "you can have it any color you want, as long as it's black" are long gone. Guerrillas offer a wide variety of goods and services, and adapt their offerings, their terms, even their delivery schedules to meet the customers' needs. Look for the new, the unusual, the unique, and add it to your offering. Ask customers what they'd like to see. The more flexible you can be, the better. The more options you offer, the more people you can serve, and the more successful your company will be.

6. Subsequent
Guerrillas are in this for the long haul, and getting the order is only the first step. Guerrillas spend 10% of their resources educating the universe, promoting the business to the community at large. They spend 30% of their time marketing to prospective customers. But they spend a whopping 60% of their time, energy and money marketing to people who have already bought. Why? It costs five times as much to sell a new customer as it does to make the same sale to an existing customer. Guerrillas sell and re-sell and re-sell the benefits of their offering.

7. Measurement
Any behavior that is rewarded will tend to be repeated, so guerrillas reward every customer and client for the opportunity to serve them. It's the thirteenth doughnut in the baker's dozen; it's doing everything you promised, everything the customer expected, and more. And because expectations are constantly changing, guerrillas are always asking "how are we doing?" and "how can we improve." Survey your customers. Get out in the field and talk to them. If you do exactly what they tell you, you cannot fail.

8. Convenient
Guerrillas are both receptive and responsive. They know that they have to be "user friendly." That means easy to reach, easy to talk to, and easy to do business with. They return their calls. They give out their numbers at home, at the office, in the car. They keep phones staffed at night and on weekends, even if only by an answering service. They are in touch. Be available. Lend an ear to your customers when they have a suggestion, a question, or a problem. And do everything immediately.

9. Excitement
Guerrillas are enthusiastic, and militantly optimistic. They have a good word for everyone, and never complain about the weather, the economy, or the people they work for. Their passion spreads like a wildfire. People love to do business with people who love their business. Spread good news and cheer about your people and your industry to everyone you meet. Start a one-guerrilla revolution to turn your corner of the economy around. Launch a success conspiracy. Enthusiasm is contagious.

10. Commitment
The guerrilla is enlisted in a larger mission than just closing the deal and getting the order. They are deadly serious about adding value and serving the community. When a customer complains, the guerrilla tracks down the cause and corrects it, whatever it takes. They have no time for excuses and apologies, and they never argue with results. They treat every customer as if the survival of their business depended on it, because it does.

Get committed to your marketing effort, and if you're more comfortable hosting receptions or maintaining membership rolls, assign someone to be your full-time designated guerrilla. It's time we launched a revolution in American business. You have no choice. To survive in today's brutal economic environment, you must become a guerrilla.