By now, you’ve completed all the steps in part 1 (previous post) and have a mountain of data…. random bits of impersonal knowledge. Next, we need to add some human insight to the data, season with some business sense and a dash of intuition and we’ll develop actionable information.

Talk to your customers. Especially your best ones. I don’t like lengthy, impersonal surveys for this. Customers are valuable and you should treat them (and their time) as such. Call up, go see, take out to lunch (depending on your business) your best customers and just ask them why they do business with you. Tell them you’re in the middle of trying to quantify who you are as a brand and that you value their opinion. In fact, you’d love to find more customers just like them. Ask them how they’d describe your company to someone looking for the service you offer (if they were selling your company to a connection, what would they say or do?) Encourage honesty… and look for telling information. Do you have a web site, but your customers don’t think of that as a way to tell people about you? If not… then perhaps how they think of your business isn’t reflected well on the web site. This happens when you THINK your market position and brand image are all about (A), and (A) is splashed all over your site (or brochures) but the perception in the marketplace is really (B).

Talk to your employees. Ask them how they describe who they work for… how they characterize your company. Ask them why they think customers buy from you. Don’t just ask your sales or marketing people. At one company, one of the guys out on the shop floor showed us a nondescript (to me) metal part. “These,” he said. “We use these. No one else does. At least, not in their regular line product.” I asked for some clarification… and found out that the company routinely uses a metal part two grades better than specs require in this particular product. It fails less often than comparably priced products. And this part shows in the product exterior. I talked further with sales, service, dealers…

The company was (attempting) selling itself on service… how they took care of customers and any problems that happened. Their service WAS good. But the real selling point, the reason customers recommended their products to other people, was that part. It meant (to the marketplace of people who actually USED the product daily) something to see that quality… though every part and bolt isn’t an upgraded version and the customers knew it. The product was a quality piece through and through, even so.

In their marketplace, long-lived equipment mounted to your truck was a badge of honor. Toughness and all that. Their peers could see the quality of their equipment and their investment… and that meant something to this market. Owning this brand meant you cared about how you did your job.

Service is great and all, but it’s even better to not need to call because the thing doesn’t break.

So the company’s web site, stuffed with service messages, and brochures with maps of authorized service locations, etc., weren’t helping their front line sales force (their current customers) sell. They needed to step back, go through the brand audit process and align their public messaging and touchpoints with what the marketplace told them was true… And arm their sales force, their employees and their customers with the right tools and information to share the message that toughness mattered.

So… now you are ready to sit down with the data from part 1 and the human insights from part 2. Really think about what all that stuff can tell you. Even if at this point you decide you want professional help or insight (let me know), you’ve already done a great deal of work and saved that time, effort and dollars. If you’re game to tackle it yourself, just remember that sometimes the biggest insight comes from the smallest details. Be not afraid.

Some days are better than others. It’s true for me, true for you and true for your customers. Some days really, really make you wish you’d stayed in bed. I had one of those yesterday. Won’t share all the details, but it culminated in a whole meatloaf I accidentally threw away (don’t ask) and an appointment at the Genius bar in the Apple store…. Except my appointment was made for the Woodland store (in Grand Rapids, MI) not the Woodland Hills store here in Tulsa, OK.
Nothing that happened qualified as a disaster or life-altering tragedy… Been through those and I *do* understand the difference.
What do you do on those days? When nothing is really wrong, but nothing is right, either? I think those days are the true test of our resolve to go forward, to be nice, to choose good. Even the selfish can respond unselfishly to a tragedy, but how we respond to the minor annoyances, set backs and irritations on a daily basis is indicitive of our true character. And, fundamental to the character of our business.
Would you want your clients to watch you deal with rude people in line at the movies? Or with the drycleaner counter staff who mixed up your clothes? Guess what… Potential ones ARE watching. Act accordingly.

It’s Sunday, but my weekend is suffering from a case of project convergence. It’s what happens when all your project planning goes awry (sometimes through no fault of your own) and multiple project deadlines converge. I work well under pressure; in fact, some of my very best work & ideas happen under the threat of imminent deadline. However, I can still only get through X amount of work in Y time. When a serious case of convergence happens, it can be paralyzing… Where to start? I can’t get it all done in time!! The planning for failure starts: who to e-mail or voicemail asking for an extension? Are there any shortcuts out there? And so begins the “research” into working & planning to work instead of actually working. Rather than spend time planning how to come up short & disappoint, I’ve learned that
my only way forward is to quickly prioritze based on what I think I can accomplish and start tackling that list.
Usually, I complete far more work than my panicked, convergence-resisting self thought possible.
Don’t paralyze yourself with a complete project list of all the things you can’t accomplish (in the time you have, anyway). Just start… Creativity has a momentum all its own and you’ll likely amaze yourself.

Feeling dry? Try some quality professional development for inspiration.

I attended the half-day Tulsa Print Show today, put on by CPSolutions in Tulsa. I almost didn’t go… so many deadlines and projects that need attention right now! But I did… and I had a great time. I learned many tips and tricks to put to use in the Adobe CS4 environment (when I get it… but that’s another story). I also brought back new paper sample books (always a great source of inspiration) and other useful stuff like envelope templates, letter openers, and a way cool combo pen/highlighter.
The most important thing I brought back, though, was a renewed excitement about my chosen career and appreciation for the talent and innovation out there. I love what I do, and today helped me reconnect with why I love it… and that was definitely worth the half-day I devoted to the cause.
The bottom line? If you have the opportunity for quality professional development, take it… yes, you’ll get up that morning feeling pressured about looming deadlines that you have less time to meet, but you’ll go to bed that night inspired to take them on in new and exciting ways.