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THE T3C BLOG
Tips and Tricks, Thought Leadership on Marketing Communications, Sales, Content, Writing and the Occasional Random Post!

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    Wednesday - January, 03, 2018

    Don’t Let a Communication Blunder Hurt Your Career

    Barbara Reed - - No Comments.

    Don’t Let a Communication Blunder Hurt Your Career

    Have you ever had to recall an email, issue corrections to a previous document or made a communication blunder that left you feeling a little embarrassed for not having caught the error? It happens and can even hurt your career.

    Communication Fail

    Not all communication errors can be undone

    Many people get so close to their work they no longer see the details. Often something seemingly obvious is overlooked because although your eyes see the words, your mind skips over them because it already knows what the words say or mean. Here’s a real-world case in point.

    When I worked for a technology provider one of the executives included me on an email asking recipients to review the announcement of a customer program for a new service initiative. I finally had time to look at it over lunch at my desk. I opened the email and read the first sentence. I couldn’t believe my eyes and concluded I must have read it wrong. I looked again. Then again. Nope, I read it correctly. I ran up the stairs to the exec’s office, stopping on the way to tell his admin to NOT launch the announcement under any circumstances. I interrupted the meeting in his office only to receive a barrage of angry words and reasons why my review was too late and couldn’t rival the 12 people who already had reviewed and approved it.

    I couldn’t get a word in with all of his blustering. Desperately, I wrote the name of the new service program vertically on his blank whiteboard – one word on each line – then I circled the letters that began every line. I turned to the executive and asked him if he really wanted to launch the program today. He stared at the white board slack-jawed remembering that 12 people – very smart business and technology experts – had been working with this program title for three months and never saw what I saw in seconds.

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    Monday - November, 13, 2017

    The Secret to Better Email Response

    Barbara Reed - - 01 Comment.

    Of the many reasons to write more briefly, email may be the most important.

    Did you know, an average employee now sends or receives 121 emails per day, according to a recent report by the Radicati Group. If you are an executive or lead a large team, you probably receive a far greater amount. With so many emails flooding our inboxes, it’s no wonder response to emails can be slow.

    Is there a way to get better response to your emails? The answer is yes.

    The email app Boomerang conducted a data study and found that emails between seventy-five and one hundred words in length had the best response rates. Although the response rate diminished slowly after that, talk to any busy person and they’ll tell you they prefer emails that are brief and get straight to the point.

    Keep your emails BRIEF, number or list key points, use a subject line that clearly describes the email content, and directly tell recipients what you need them to do and by when.

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    Monday - September, 25, 2017

    How Your Salesforce Can Speak in One Voice to Deliver Value

    Barbara Reed - - 4 Comments.

    Is your company speaking in one brand voice? Here’s why it’s important.

    Surveys find that the majority of marketing and sales executives recognize the importance of messaging in building brand equity, customer preference and competitive differentiation.  Yet few are satisfied with their sales and frontline employees’ ability to deliver targeted messages in the key areas of value and solution selling.

    The growing awareness of the need for developing consistent, targeted messages provides a unique opportunity for marketers to develop a unified sales and marketing communication platform that articulates a compelling value proposition that directly impacts customer acquisition and retention.  It encompasses every customer touch point from the Web site, social media, sales collateral, print and online communication to customer service applications and sales presentations.

    The following steps provide a systematic methodology to develop a unified messaging platform that is directly tied to increasing business value and meeting organizational objectives:

    1. Understand what’s at stake.

    When companies fail to speak in one brand voice, company credibility is compromised and the brand message is not delivered. Moreover, thousands of cross-selling opportunities are lost, customer satisfaction is diminished and brand equity is diluted.  When an organization fully understands how unified messaging impacts the bottom line, commitment to the concept increases dramatically.

    1. Evaluate objectives.

    Before sales and marketing efforts can be aligned, overall objectives must also be aligned and agreed upon.

    1. Create your value proposition.

    Articulating features and benefits is no longer enough. Customers want to understand what you do in clear and simple terms that speak to their needs.

    1. Define competitive differentiation.

    This is often the most difficult step, particularly in a saturated market. The goal is to identify what truly sets a company apart in real terms.

    1. Craft your messages.

                Organize, prioritize and articulate key messages that tell a compelling story.

    1. Get key stakeholders to buy-in before going to market.

    Create internal buy-in to the messaging to help develop internal evangelists.

    1. Train executives, sales force and customer-facing employees.

    Introduce the messaging in interactive role-playing scenarios that allow employees to internalize and practice the messages.

    1. Develop an aligned go-to-market strategy.

    With unified, consistent messaging in place that supports business objectives, the foundation is in place to create a go-to-market strategy that achieves tangible results.

    1. Measure effectiveness.

    The approach outlined above builds a platform for marketers to gauge effectiveness based upon business objectives and demonstrate return on investment to the business.

     

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    Sunday - August, 06, 2017

    My Top Definitions of Marketing Communications Terms

    Barbara Reed - - No Comments.

    Every industry uses its own particular jargon. You have no doubt heard or read some of these marketing communications terms:  value proposition, positioning and buyer persona, to name just a few. The question is, do you really know what they mean?

    The goal of all communication is to be understood, so let’s define some of the concepts that often mean different things to different people. (Note:  this is a handy post to bookmark or share with your team.) (more…)

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  • Thursday - July, 06, 2017

    10 Steps to NOT Sabotage Your Own Marketing Communications

    Barbara Reed - - 2 Comments.
    If you can’t bother to get the details right, what does that say about your company, product or service? Overlooked details —  no matter how small — can add up to create the wrong impression about you and your company. Worse yet, they can create confusion that leads to lost opportunities and sales.

    Suppose you sent out a direct mail piece, handed out a brochure or launched a website that misspelled the words “accuracy” or “quality”? The error just might overshadow the message. Perhaps the product specifications on your website don’t match the specifications in your product catalog. Not only can that impact your credibility, but the confusion could cost you a sale. I once worked for an educational company who put the wrong phone number in their school and library mailer. The phone number looked correct, but no one actually called the number to verify its accuracy. Imagine the surprise of the recipients who reached a phone sex line when they called to inquire about an encyclopedia. Are you starting to get the picture? (more…)

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