The Platinum Rule in Action

Three recent exchanges helped me pinpoint how I prefer to be treated as a customer.

The first was in a casual restaurant. The waiter greeted us, served us, returned several times to ask if we needed anything else, smiled often, and at the end—thanked us for our business. He gave us proper attention, but he didn’t linger or frequently interrupt our private dinner conversation. Because of this, our meal was a pleasant experience.

The second situation was at a drug store. Because it wasn’t busy, the checker carried on a light conversation with me about current events. He was proficient, speedy, and accurate. But he also was friendly, and provided a unique personal experience for me. He, too, thanked me for my business at the end of our encounter. I left the store with my purchases and a bit of trivia—I actually learned something new!

My third example was at my doctor’s office. I’ve been blessed throughout my life to have doctors who listen, inform, and care in equal measure. In this recent encounter, my current doctor listened to my thoughts and questions, asked me about personal life events, and shared her knowledge about my unique health profile. She was genuine, professional, and encouraging. I left her office feeling optimistic about my health.

These three examples illustrate my customer service preferences: I want to be respected, served, and assisted as a customer—no matter the setting. I don’t like being dismissed (who does?), but I also dislike “fakeness.” I don’t want a person to fawn over me or to be overly enthusiastic to get a sale or a positive review. I want to feel I’ve made a genuine connection with the person serving me.

I’m guessing many people feel this way, however, that’s not always the case. Some probably prefer quick “in and out” encounters as customers—just the facts and the exchange of payment. Others prefer servers who work hard for the sale—who, for example, linger at the dinner table inserting themselves into customers’ private conversations, unsolicited.

One quality most of us appreciate in a server is the ability to “read” our preferences—to be flexible and able to meet the needs of various customers’ styles.

I remember reading long ago that, in customer service, one should flip the old adage, “Do unto others as you would have them do unto you,” to the alternative, “Do unto others as they would have you do unto them.”

It’s called “The Platinum Rule,” it’s more empathic, and it’s truly powerful when you see it in action.

Beyond Demographics

How well can you know your customers based purely on factors like age, gender, and marital status? Many recent reports discuss the limitations of focusing exclusively on traditional demographics.

As the world becomes smaller (and society becomes more diverse), generational, ethnic, and even geographical demographics increasingly have limitations. At the same time, psychographics and "usage" profiling have greater applicability—partly because technology now allows us to analyze individual consumer activities and likely future behaviors.

One recent article in American Banker, titled "Beyond Demographics: Tracking Buying Trends," puts it into perspective, including a few noteworthy nuggets:

• Disappearing are customer segments like Boomers and Gen Xers; entering the scene are groups such as New Mediacs or Rennaissancers;

• Demographic segments still work, but aren't as efficient or as effective as behavioral measures;

• Only a small fraction of consumers do just one thing at a time anymore—many are simultaneously watching TV, reading a magazine, surfing the Internet, and listening to music; and

• Demographics are far away from discerning why a person makes a purchase; by analyzing behavior, you come closer to the answer.

In other words, marketing strategy and product design are more successful when they take into account consumers' actions and likely future actions—no matter what their demographic profiles. As described by Fred Senn, a founding partner in Fallon Worldwide, in the American Banker article:

"Any way you can look at how your customer behaves or thinks will give you an advantage."

The Bottom-Line Benefits of Giving Back

Do you encourage your co-workers and employees to volunteer?

That has been the case with several of my employers in the past, and it made a difference in staff morale, sense of purpose, and motivation. Not only did the top leaders encourage it, the co-workers encouraged each other to get involved. And we actually had fun and made memories while we were helping others.

But volunteerism goes beyond all that. It benefits a company's bottom line.

CECP, a coalition of CEOs and corporate leaders with the mission of giving back and societal improvement, conducts annual research on "Giving in Numbers." The 2014 edition, the most recent, found that:

• Corporate community engagement is widely considered a sound business strategy;
• Employee volunteerism is crucial to helping leading companies engage staff, boost morale, and improve overall job satisfaction; and
• Among companies offering a company-wide day of service, 80% identified this program as among its most successful.

More recent CECP research reveals "companies that increased giving by 10% or more saw a 14% median growth rate in pre-tax profits; companies with the strongest business performance grew giving by the greatest rates. Together, these findings show a relationship that's mutually reinforcing.

"Companies developing sophisticated corporate giving programs that utilize the full breadth of resources to expand their social impact are positioning themselves to deliver long-term value to both their shareholders and society."

Your community notices when you support it. And if monetary gifts are difficult for your business to make, why not encourage staff to take some paid time to "give back"? Consider it an investment in the community, your employees, and the business, itself.

When 'Vacation Time' Affects Productivity

It's been more than a month since I've posted here. I've been an unproductive blogger (on this blog, at least).

Here's my excuse: I'm a gardener, and the outdoor chores (and pleasures) have taken over my life for the past several weeks. I've been on "vacation" from this blog.

When do you generally take vacation time? If you have co-workers and employees, do they tend to take off more time during the spring and summer?

This morning, I read a recent Inc. article, titled, "Is It OK to Take Summer Vacation?" The major points: While it's important for workers to have time off, and while it boosts individual productivity to make time for rest and relaxation, the work must still be done. Business doesn't stop. If everyone takes vacation within a short time period, it can affect an organization's overall productivity.

Obviously, my productivity here, on my website's blog has taken a hit. So I'm sheepishly wiggling myself back into a regular posting routine. My goal at the start was to post weekly. I hope to continue that schedule, although it might be a little more sporadic during the summer.

Then again, how will you even know if you're on vacation?

Oh and, by the way, enjoy your time off! (Really!)

Know Your Goals, Then Grow or Sustain

Is your organization large or small? Is it growing or sustaining? Are you OK with that?

Whether you work for, or run, a large or a small business, nonprofit, or other organization, at some point, someone must make a choice—to either pursue growth, let it happen organically, or consciously attempt to stay small.

Many might say an organization must grow to stay in existence. And there’s certainly nothing wrong with growing and making more money. But there also are very real benefits to staying small, as noted by Founders Grid, including:

• Lower overhead: Staying small, in both team size and scope of work, allows you to put more money back into the organization, with fewer expenses, space, and resources required.

• Strategic flexibility: If something doesn’t work, you can fix it, change it, or cut it quickly—no long, drawn-out process required.

• Less risk: While there’s always risk, staying smaller often helps you to recover faster from setbacks.

• Faster profits: For a profit-making organization, a smaller firm makes less profit, but money made is divided among fewer expenses and salaries.

• Quicker results: Faster decision-making, streamlined processes, and less bureaucracy can yield speedier action and results.

• Personal service: Each individual in a smaller organization has a larger stake in it. They’re likely to build stronger ties with clients, customers, and partners. And they often take great pride in the organization’s accomplishments.

• Location flexibility: If you have a small team, you can set up shop just about anywhere, which means you have more control over where you live.

• Freedom: Stakeholders in a small organization each have more responsibility. But they also have more lifestyle flexibility and scheduling freedom. Work/life balance can be a little easier to attain.

• Consistency: While all jobs change over time, people in smaller organizations start out with great variety on their plates. But while their jobs change multiple times each day, they’re also likely to have more control over that change, and can continue to pursue activities that encouraged them to start a particular career path in the first place.

Making huge profits, growing fast, and making a mark also have their benefits. But whatever an organization’s size or ultimate goal—for all of us—realistically looking at the pros and cons of going for growth versus staying small is a wise self-awareness exercise.

No Shortcuts on the Way to Relevance

Every project starts big. By that, I mean it’s a large and colorful palette—the information, details, descriptions, and scope of almost every endeavor are overwhelming and plentiful. For example:

• A brochure about a new product: The potential copy could include the product’s color, size, functionality, benefits, and price, to name just a few elements;

• An announcement about a special event: You can convey who’s sponsoring the event, where it will be held, planned activities, and the time and date; or

• A workshop imparting knowledge: On most topics, the research, data, information, and visuals are nearly unlimited for presenting an educational event.

So how do you boil it down?

You can approach it like a fill-in-the-blank exercise. The five “W’s and an H”—who, what, when, where, why, and how—provide a good start. But that method can fall flat without a little more heart.

It’s really the mystery of the “why” that helps us expose the purpose of any project at its core, its essence, the reason anyone should care about the message and, ultimately, the product, event, or project, itself.

Why would Joe Consumer want to buy your new product? Why should Mrs. Community Member choose to attend your event over staying home to watch her favorite TV show? And why is your workshop a more effective way to learn about “topic X” than simply learning about it independently online or by reading a book?

Exposing the “why” sounds simple, but it’s not. It takes major sleuthing and big-picture thinking about all the minute details to reveal the true reason for the relevance. Fortunately, that effort can yield impressive results.

For more thoughts on the importance of “why,” check out this article from MIT Sloan Management Review.

Your Job, 10 Years From Now

I've always been facinated with trends in jobs and careers. I'll save the "why" for a future post, but the gist of the topic is an interest in how work and jobs change over time.

In a 2009 Time magazine article, the authors projected what the future of work will look like.

Ten years before the article was published, "Facebook didn't exist," they described. "Ten years before that, we didn't have the Web. So who knows what jobs will be born a decade from now?

"We will see a more flexible, more freelance, more collaborative and far less secure work world," predicted Time. "It will be run by a generation with new values."

That article is now six years old. Unemployment is lower and the economy has improved. But it seems the authors predictions of greater flexibility, less security, and constant change have proved true--trends that are likely to continue.

Other trends predicted included:

• Continued growth in information technology jobs, along with health-care, education, and high-touch professions;
• More accountability in management positions;
• Shifting perks and benefits packages;
• Flatter, more collaborative organizational structures;
• Increased leadership roles for women;
• More "green" jobs;
• Less focus on seniority and more on creativity and flexibility;
• Highly skilled manufacturing jobs; and
• Fewer cubicles and more outsourcing.

Six years later, some of these predictions are coming true, while others are trending and evolving. One thing that is, and likely always will be, true: Change will happen, and each person's early career will look very different from his/her later work life.

Critical Mass for Mobile Devices?

Several things have me thinking lately about mobile devices. Among them:

• A recent episode of the television sitcom, "Modern Family," which was presented entirely through electronic devices; and
• An infographic/short article from The Economist showing how the earth is rapidly becoming a planet of smartphone users.

I was watching "Modern Family" with two seniors. They didn't particularly like the format, they thought it was frenetic, and they didn't think it was effective. I was curious, distracted at first, and found myself thinking, "This is life now, isn't it?" I ended up enjoying the show, after adjusting to the new presentation format.

We didn't have any young people with us at the time, but I imagine they might have fallen into the "Love it!" and/or "This is inventive and wonderful!" camps. These reactions would roughly tie into the data shown in The Economist article.

The article details how smartphone users ages 16-34 spend a solid four hours of each day on their electronic devices, those 55+ only half as much, and people in the middle fall roughly in the middle with their smartphone use.

Also, according to The Economist, today two billion smartphones are in use worldwide--a number expected to double by the end of the decade. By then, nearly 80% of adults, worldwide, will have a device in their pocket.

Mobile devices, it seems, are approaching status quo--they're objects we can't be caught without. It has me questioning: Where does it stop? What is the critical mass for smartphones and other mobile devices?

Net Migration Rates and Why They Matter

The other day I watched a news report about the net migration rates of the county I live in: Dane, in Southern Wisconsin. The report discussed how Dane County tends to attract large numbers of young people during their late teens (largely due to the University of Wisconsin-Madison) only to lose a large percentage of them after they graduate.

Students interviewed for the report as to why they leave expressed interest in moving to larger urban centers after graduation. The good news, for Madison and Dane County at least, is that many of those same graduates return to settle and raise families during their 30s and 40s.

Do you know the age demographics, including the net migration rate, for your county? Why does it matter?

To answer that second question, here are a few ways the age of customers and residents of your county can make a difference, as described in a small business report for Demand Media:

• Demographics can help you avoid costly mistakes in your marketing plan;
• They can help you identify the ideal consumer for your product or service; and
• Age demographics, in particular, can help you gauge the likely age groups of your future workforce.

Fortunately, there are many tools available to help you study and analyze demographic trends. One is the Net Migration Patterns for U.S. Counties*, which allows you to obtain and graph migration data for up to three U.S. counties at a time.

For example, note in the graph above the widely disparate data for three Southern Wisconsin counties in close proximity:

• Dane County, as mentioned earlier, experiences a large population influx of young adults and a dramatic loss of people in their mid- to late 20s.

• Milwaukee County, nearby, sees similar though less dramatic swings.

• Rock County, also nearby and also a large population center, loses college-age residents, but experiences a dramatic influx of people in their early 30s.

These are just three examples. Pick any three counties at a time for some fascinating comparisons. Knowing this information can help you plan for your next marketing campaign, your HR benefits package, or the best product offering for your customers. Just another tool, among many, for effective planning.

*Winkler, Richelle, Kenneth M. Johnson, Cheng Cheng, Jim Beaudoin, Paul R. Voss, and Katherine J. Curtis. Age-Specific Net Migration Estimates for US Counties, 1950-2010. Applied Population Laboratory, University of Wisconsin- Madison, 2013. Web. February 2015. <http://www.netmigration.wisc.edu>.

The Importance of Mood and Atmosphere in Storytelling

We all have memories of sitting around a campfire, with the darkness outside the ring and the glow of the fire lighting our faces. Someone volunteered to tell the first story. We waited with anticipation.

And then the magic started.

We were pinned to our seats. Our attention was fully focused on the storyteller, just waiting to hear what would happen next!

Often the stories were amazing; other times they were tales we’d heard many times before. Sometimes they were delivered with great drama and enthusiasm; other times with a hushed breath barely louder than a whisper.

Why did we listen? Do we remember the actual stories? Or are the experiences and the campfire companions front and center in our memories?

The effectiveness of campfire stories clearly illustrates the importance of mood and atmosphere when conveying a message. Whether we’re describing a product, a service, an experience, or an event, mood and atmosphere are critical to fully communicating the story.

Setting the mood for a live audience can be a little easier than doing so on a paper brochure or an email message, but it’s still important in any format. Whether it’s through a stunning image, an effective graphic design, or a humorous greeting, setting the mood opens the way for your story to be told to a receptive audience.

It’s a critical factor to keep in mind when communicating any message. Enjoy those campfires (and tailgate parties and marketing planning meetings)!

Wise and Wily Passwords

Are you as frustrated with security passwords as I am?

I was feeling temporarily confident after reading a recent article about the worst passwords of 2014. None of mine are anywhere near that obvious!

But my confidence crashed when I realized I'd forgotten one of my own silly passwords--a lapse that could present difficult consequences.

You see, I have an "undisclosed location" where I store password hints to toggle my memory. After several rounds of recent security breaches, I changed most of my key passwords several times around. But what I neglected to do was record a hint for a password that controls access to one of my personal electronic devices. This particular device stores documents I use frequently when I travel. Not critical, but definitely an inconvenience if I couldn't gain access.

Fortunately, I remembered the password...and promptly added a hint for future use.

I know what you're thinking: Why don't I subscribe to a password manager service? The reason: I don't trust third-party or cloud services for this particular purpose.

In the past, I was excited about the prospect of biometrics for security access, until reading recent updates on their limitations. If people can hack fingerprints, how long until they can hack retinal scans or facial recognition images?

One security access method that seems promising to me is two-factor authentication codes. After I sign in to a service or a site, the vendor sends me (via email, phone, or text) a one-time code that I have to enter to gain full access. I like this method because it means hackers can't access my accounts unless they have my phone or device in their possession.

But it still doesn't solve the problem of remembering my passwords...

Unless I use biometrics instead...

But then there's the problem of having very personal information in the cloud...

This all seems like a cycle of continuous puzzles that keep building layers, one on top of another. My head is spinning.

Oh, they found another big hack? Time to change all my passwords again?

Try to Sleep on It

You're probably aware of recent research on the critical importance of a good night's sleep.

If so, you know that most adults need about seven hours of sleep each night (while more than one-third of American adults get less), and that chronic sleep loss may lead to irreversible physical damage and loss of brain cells.

If you're still with me, and you haven't seen the research, check the links for the data.

Do you get enough sleep on a regular basis?

Personally, I'm one of those people who truly needs seven hours of quality sleep each night. I can get by for a night or two with less, but it catches up with me...fast.

If worry, travel, work, or special events repeatedly edge into my sleep time, I feel it! Walking through molasses is a good description for how my brain functions with sleep deprivation.

It's tempting to keep plugging away--believing that I'll get more done if I just keep going like that battery-company bunny.

But it doesn't work like that. I know it, and the research supports it. The American Time Use Survey showed that compared with normal sleepers, "short sleepers"--those who get six or fewer hours on weekdays--worked 1.5 more hours on weekdays and nearly two hours more on weekends and holidays.

These and many other studies show that lack of sleep affects health, productivity, creativity, safety, and interpersonal relationships.

Enough data? If we know we need more sleep, and the research supports it, can't we at least try to fit seven hours of sweet dreams into our daily schedules?

I'd share more on this topic, but it's time for my nap.

Have You Tried Pinterest?

Is Pinterest a worthwhile social media outlet for your business or organization? If you sell or produce a tangible product, or if photos and graphics are important to your message, the answer might be "yes." 

Virtually all (98%) Pinterest users have tried something new that they saw on the platform, according to the Ahalogy 2014 Pinterest Media Consumption Study.

But is Pinterest the best social media platform for your message? Is it worth the time commitment, even if it does elicit action by your customers/audience? What if you're a sole proprietor or you have a very small staff and limited time to dedicate to social media?

All these questions and more are important in deciding which platforms to pursue. As described by Visual.ly: "So many social media platforms. And so little time. (And manpower. And ideas.) There are costs involved to maintaining a social presence. It's vital for brands/companies/organizations to market on the right platform(s) in order to optimize their resource allocation."

How do you decide on the best platforms for you? Business Insider's research found that, among others:

• Facebook still skews young, but older and higher-income demographics are growing. A huge share of Facebook's audience is international.

• Instagram and Pinterest users are predominantly women, although men are increasingly joining.

• Google+ and LinkedIn are the most male-oriented of the major platforms.

• Twitter has a comparatively younger population, and is fairly equally represented across income brackets.

• Tumblr is popular with younger audiences but not as popular with those in higher-income brackets.

And this is not a static thing. Social media platforms' functionality and user demographics are constantly changing. For example, Facebook recently changed its algorithms to favor more informational posts, which will affect small businesses with Facebook pages.

Changing strategies and periodic functional adjustments on each platform suggest a best practice of conducting at least an annual review of marketing plans, as the social media world evolves.

Let's Do This!

Welcome to our updated website! Our focus has always been on meeting the varied communication needs of our clients. And with the launch of this blog, we're adding a new touchpoint.

The goal: to open up renewed discussion on a wide range of topics. We want to get to know you, and we want to share a little more about our expertise, our passions, and how we can apply them to meet your needs.

Thanks to all we've worked with in the past, and welcome to those we're meeting now and those yet to come.

Questions? Contact us today! We look forward to helping you communicate your true story in a compelling way.