Tom Peters [is] the Red Bull of management thinkers. If the economy has got you down and you’re feeling out of sorts, a shot of Peters is guaranteed to pick you up and put you back on the road to excellence.”— Bo Burlingham, Inc.

Tom Peters on: Story is more powerful than your brand

Described as the father of the post modern corporation, Tom Peters has been providing management wisdom for more than thirty years.  He has written more than a dozen international bestsellers including co-authoring the seminal In Search of Excellence.  His passion for Excellence is unrivalled.

Every two weeks throughout 2012, Tom Peters is releasing one part of a 23 part mega presentation entitled Excellence Now.  The presentation draws together material from more than 2,500 presentations he has given over the last thirty years.

This week the focus is Execution and how ‘Execution is Strategy’.   Visit the Excellence Now website to download.

Excellence now in  iBooks

Tom Peters has also released  a book series on Excellence  which is available for download on the iPhone, iPad or iPod touch with iBooks, or on your computer with iTunes.  The books in the series are rich in inspiring content and beautifully presented. Here is a link to  purchase

How are you implementing Excellence in your business?

Do you have a marketing issue or question you’d like to discuss? Please contact us. We’d love to assist.

More on Tom Peters:

Tom Peters website

Business Communication: It’s a Little Big Thing

Food for thought: My three top takeaways from a day with Tom Peters

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Chance favors only the prepared mind’ – Louis Pasteur

How better to ‘prepare the mind’ than reading. Here are a few recommendations from some of the great reading lists we’ve seen recently:

• 5 years of reading in 140 characters:  Co-author of New York Times bestseller, Trust Agents,  Julien Smith, has been reading a book a week for more than five years. He started wondering what he’d learned, so noted the lessons from 200 of them – in 140 characters.  A terrific list:  Lessons I learned reading over 200 books

• Seth Godin’s first reading list for 2012 : A few more here for the ‘to read’ list.

• And our recommendations:  Most of the following are available on the Kindle and all are quick, inspirational reads. (Amazon links provided):

• How to Win Friends and Influence People  - Dale Carnegie 

Originally published in 1936, this book and has sold more than 15 million copies.  

Tom Peters , co-author of the seminal In Search of Excellence  (and multiple other best sellers)  tweeted last week:

“Am re-reading “How to Win Friends and Influence People” cover to cover. Might well deserve:   “Only management book you need to read.”

 If time is short a summary is now conveniently available on Amazon as an appetizer.

And for this new era – an  updated version was released late last year:  How to Win Friends and Influence People in the Digital Age  

• Newsjacking – David Meerman Scott

Timing is everything.  In this book, marketing and leadership strategist, and best selling author, David Meerman Scott, shows how being alert and responding to breaking news in real-time can  generate media coverage for yourself or your business. Always ahead of the game, David is one of my favourite marketing authors.  Subscribe to his blog: WebInkNow

• The War of Art: Winning the Inner Creative Battle  – Steven Pressfield

Described by the author as: “Tough love .. for yourself;” and by Esquire as: “A vital gem … a kick in the ass.”

By the same author:  Do The Work – a manifesto, which shows it’s not about better ideas but actually about doing the work.

• The Flinch –   Julien Smith   

In The Flinch Julien  shows how mastering this instinctive reaction will help you and your organisation achieve your goals.

• Evil Plans – Hugh Macleod  

I really enjoyed this one. It’s about unifying work and love.   Hugh Macleod is a popular artist, cartoonist, blogger and speaker. His new book will be out in April.  See more of Hugh’s work at his website:  Gaping Void.

Happy reading!  What are you reading?

Related posts

From David Meerman Scott’s WebInkNow blog: Transformation of books

From The Marketing Is Us Blog:  What are you reading?,   You are what you read

Do you have a marketing issue or question you’d like to discuss?
Please contact us. We’d love to hear from you.

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Since 2001, the Acumen Fund has invested more than $65 million in enterprises that provide access to water, health, alternative energy, housing and agricultural services for low-income customers in South Asia and Africa.

In this TED talk Jacqueline talks of people she’s met in her work who have immersed themselves in a cause, a community and a passion for justice. We each want to live a life of purpose, but where to start?  Here, Jacqueline presents some human stories and several powerful moments.

Wishing you immersion in 2012.  Happy New Year!

Do you have a marketing issue or question you’d like to discuss?
Please contact us. We’d love to hear from you.
 

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“It’s 11 a.m.  Have you called a customer today?”- Tom Peters, The Little BIG Things

Your customers – both internal and external – are at the heart of your marketing efforts.

A  number of research studies have shown that it costs significantly more to find a new customer than to retain an existing one.

So when developing marketing strategies to grow your business,  look to your existing customers first.

For business growth you can entice them:

• to purchase a greater quantity of your products/service
• purchase more frequently or
• both

Like looking after your staff (your internal customers), taking care of your external customers requires communication, care and visible appreciation.

Here are three questions to consider:

Are you keeping in touch? Tools such as e-newsletter programs (we use Mad Mimi) make it easy to keep in regular contact with customers and build relationships.

Have you made it easy for your customers to provide feedback? Relationships are strongest with dialogue; and the understanding gleaned from the conversation paves the way for improvements to product and service and can also reveal new opportunities.  Make sure your customers know how to contact you. Asking for comments and feedback at point of sale, in follow up communication and on your website – are just a few ways to encourage this. Ensure your contacts are visible and well communicated.

How do you reward your customers? Demonstrate your appreciation. A simple thank you is powerful. In addition to providing a great product and fantastic service, making your customers feel special will build loyalty and ultimately convert your customers to ‘raving fans’ . Your customers become your brand advocates and your best marketers.

Check if you are cultivating your customers.  It’s sound, cost effective marketing strategy.

How do you cultivate your customers?

Related Posts

Tom Peters

The Seven Step Path to Sustaining Success

Brand You: Thank You Notes

Seth Godin

How Should You Treat Your Best Customers?

Other

The Secret of Engagement for Business Growth

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Support of a cause that fits well with your brand, that aligns to the interests of your target customers,  and is close to your heart, has several benefits.

It helps you better engage with your customers, is motivational for your employees and differentiates your brand from competitors.

It’s not only  good for your brand but adds to your community too. However, like all marketing strategies, commitment is required to realise objectives.    So, if you’re seeking to integrate  a cause in your marketing activities – here are some which you might find inspirational:

• LOVE 146

PR Warrior, Trevor Young highlighted LOVE 146 – a cause focused on ending child sex slavery and exploitation. It’s a powerful example of communicating the story behind your brand – and how,  as Trevor says – linking to a cause adds humanity.  Here is Trevor’s post:  How LOVE 146 Uses Stories to Rally A Movement behind its cause

• 12for12K

In December 2008, Danny Brown and several friends started the 12for12K project. They’ve since raised more than $100K for thirteen different projects and used social media as the key communications tool.  A new phase of activity for 12for12K is about to commence. Read more here:  Caring Across Continents – 12for12K, and our previous posts about Danny and the project: Social Media for Good – Businesses Making a Difference and More on Non Profits Use of Social Media

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Image: Salvatore Vuono, FreeDigitalPhotos.net

For businesses, blogs engage  customers, share information, feedback and most importantly, build relationships.  The following provide more information:

The Beautiful Business Benefits of Blogging and The Best Damn Marketing Tool

Blogs are  also a great source of information  to your business.

I recently asked several esteemed colleagues to name their favourite blogs. Their responses with my own favourites are listed below.

Valeria Maltoni, Brand Strategist – Conversation Agent

Valeria Maltoni built one of the first online communities associated with Fast Company magazine.  A brand strategist with 20 years of real world corporate experience, 10 of which online, she’s worked with Fortune 500 and small start up companies in 5 industries. She specializes in taking companies to what’s next in their business cycle through marketing communciations, customer dialogue and brand advocacy.

Valeria’s blog Conversation Agent is ranked among the top 25 marketing blogs in the world on AdAgePower 150 (and is one of our favourites!).  Read more about Valeria Maltoni here.

Valeria Maltoni’s favourite blogs (for SME’s):

Jennifer Frahm, Jennifer Frahm Collaborations

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Deloitte Australia. More Grateful Dead than Barry Manilow.

In a connected world, power shifts to those best able to connect.”

Dov Seidman, Ethicist

If likened to musical styles,  some may think of accounting firms more as Barry Manilow than the Grateful Dead!

However I recently heard about the social media activity of Deloitte Australia, a member of the global Deloitte Touche Tohmatsu network and one of the big four accounting firms.  Their activity includes Facebook, Yammer (a type of in-house Twitter), Twitter and YouTube. They’ve achieved  significant results. It’s a remarkable story – and if you’re a larger organisation, it may just get you rockin’ toward social media!

Recognising Opportunity

After a decade of particular turbulence with fairly rapid, consecutive changes in leadership (CEO’s), Deloitte Australia was seeking new strategies.

The firm had identified the consumer shift towards accessing information when, where and how they want, and consumers’  increased use of social media.

Deloitte regard social media as :

… about socialising in communities online – sometimes leading, sometimes connecting and sometimes following … to be where people are and to participate in a way that speaks to them directly.”

Cognisant that many of their stakeholders use social media, they recognised the opportunity:

Companies are ignoring a valuable media communication outlet that targets a generation that has time and money to spend on technology”.

As innovation, relevance and connection are hallmarks of the Deloitte brand, it was a good fit to embrace social media.

Objectives

Increasing brand awareness and engaging their staff to present “an authentic, user generated impression of Deloitte for prospective candidates and clients” are key for the firm.

The Strategy: An Inside Out Approach

To achieve this, Deloitte’s social media strategy implementation was aligned to their ‘inside out ‘ approach to new ideas and innovation.

At the end of 2008, they launched Yammer ( ‘the best inhouse sandpit available’) to shape value and develop a way of being relevant to the firm as a whole.

Initially an in-house social chat room, it soon became the platform upon which problems are posed and solved.  Deloitte has found Yammer a great way to seek input, test ideas and gather feedback quickly. They also state it has been powerful in disseminating information, collaborating on a large scale globally and connecting with undiscovered communities.

More than 50% of Deloitte Australia’s 5000 people have now  signed up and recent statistics show a correlation between retention of staff and the Yammer leader board.

Deloitte says that the tipping point though for Yammer was when their Digital CEO, Peter Williams, called for videos and tag lines for a new advertising campaign, known as the “Green Dot Campaign”.  His call triggered 1000+ new members of Deloitte Australia to join Yammer, the formation of 38 groups and  creation of  1184 original concepts.

Other Initiatives

• Recruitment : “JoinMe@Deloitte”

Deloitte has established a JoinMe@Deloitte Facebook application, which links  the firm’s employee referral program to their employees’ Facebook network.

The idea came through their innovation (ideas) program.

To date more than 25% of Deloitte’s 4,000 employees have added the application to their Facebook profile and almost 3,000 (2,793) potential referees have viewed the application, generating 150 requests to be referred for hire.

Leveraging employees’ existing networks and mobilising them to act as recruiters makes financial sense for the firm and necessitates a committed, trusting and respectful environment.

• You Tube

At the end of 2008, Deloitte established a dedicated  YouTube channel ,  which to date has generated more than 40,000 video views. (Click on the link to go directly to the channel).

The Results – Harnessing Collective Wisdom

The results have been impressive.  As a firm focussed on innovation, David Redhill, Chief Marketing Officer of Deloitte cites several positive outcomes of their social media activity including:

• Revenue driving new products developed from using the media
• Tangible business improvements resulting from harnessing the collective of wisdom of their people
• Engaging 4500 people in the process of building a marketing strategy;
• They’re now the largest Yammer network in the world
• The blitzing of the competition and grabbing share of media and government mind with their innovative use of Twitter during the last Federal Budget.

Managing Risk

Many businesses contemplating social media activity are nervous about potential risks to their business.  Deloitte has addressed this.

Like  marketing strategist and best selling author David Meerman Scott, who  talks of the need for organisations to ‘lose control’ when spreading ideas and creating world raves,   Deloitte believes in   ‘unleashing energy and not trying to control it’.

The firm has  developed a framework around how it manages social media risk. They’ve defined acceptable and unacceptable behaviour, monitor use and deal with any inappropriate use. Their focus is upon education:

‘The central idea is for people to understand how social media works. Their national social media council has developed guidelines that put focus on education.”

Deloitte’s social media activity internally is supported by two of the firm’s key values – empower and trust.  Employees are counselled about personal and professional responsiblity for both their own and the company’s reputation.

Social Media Rock Stars

Social media as a communications channel is relevant for business if their  stakeholders are online and participating. With 400 million active users on Facebook,  24 hours of video uploaded to YouTube every minute and an estimated 5-10 thousand Twitter accounts opened per day, it is likely that for  businesses,  many stakeholders are active in this realm.

In addition to being described as ‘rock stars’, Deloitte has established themselves as Web 2.0 thought leaders and as a top employment brand in technology and business.  As they say “not bad for a firm of accountants!”

Rock on Deloitte!

This content is drawn from a presentation by David Redhill, Chief Marketing Officer of Deloitte Australia, provided in May 2010  and their publication: Social Media at Deloitte. Participation, communication, transformation

Update:

Just posted: Read David Meerman Scott‘s post from the WebInkNow blog here.

(Thanks David!)

Follow Deloitte on Twitter: @green_dot

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Courtesies of a small and trivial character are the ones which strike deepest in the grateful and appreciating heart. Henry Clay  in Tom Peters’ – The Little Big Things

I received a nice surprise the other day. A lovely thank-you letter and Certificate of Appreciation arrived  from  The Australian Businesswomen’s Network (ABN). It was unexpected. I’d recently provided  a marketing presentation for the Network and  was grateful for the opportunity to talk with  my ABN colleagues. Appreciative of  the significant support the ABN provides women business owners, I really felt no thank-you’s were necessary. However I was touched by the gesture; and reminded how powerful is this simple action in customer relationship management..

In strategy marketing terms, a  ’thank-you’ not only expresses an organisation’s gratitude to  customers for their business, it  is also helpful  in managing customers’ post purchase behaviour .  Thanking customers and  inviting feedback creates a dialogue  and an opportunity for the organization to  learn of and fix any problems that might have arisen after purchase.

Saying ‘thank-you’ can also help  allay  ’cognitive dissonance’ : a customer’s state of wondering about the correctness of their purchase decision.  Typically, dissonance increases with purchase price and risk, and can be minimised by reassuring customers post purchase,  that they have made a good choice. This can be done via a personal call or in writing and begins by thanking the customer.

Managing customer post purchase behaviour is a significant opportunity for marketers seeking satisfied customers and ultimately customer retention.  Commitment to customer satisfaction and value creation by implementing processes such as post purchase behaviour management, will result in customer retention, repeat business and referrals to new business.

It is also prudent, cost effective marketing strategy, with studies showing that it costs five times more to find a new customer than to retain an existing one.

Such is the power of  ’thank you’.

Here are five quick tips to harness the power of ‘thank-you’:

1.  Audit your processes to identify if, when and how often you say ‘thank you’ to your customers.

2.  If in a retail environment, and purchase is associated with minimal risk and low price – build in thank you’s to the transaction – and take the opportunity to say thank you to customers in your regular newsletter to your database.

3. If purchase involves higher risk and price, schedule post purchase contact after completion of every purchase.

4. Ensure all contact facilitates an opportunity for the customer to provide feedback about the product/service.

5. Act to resolve any issues arising from  feedback promptly.

A last word on ‘thank-you’.

In his latest book,  Tom Peters, management author, consultant and also  ’unrepentant engineer’ with a great love of  mathematical and/or algebraic representations, provides a series of equations to boost odds of success of implementation of ‘damn near anything’. Here is the equation relating to ‘thank-you’.

Success at GTD/Getting Things Done is a Function of:

S=f (#TY,  #TNT)

number of ‘thank-yous’  today, number of thank-you notes sent today

The Little Big Things by Tom Peters is available for purchase here.

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From a business perspective – it is opportune to identify what worked last year and what didn’t.  We’ve blogged previously about the value of auditing (Spring Clean Your Marketing – Let’s Audit and I Love A Good Audit ) and this is a perfect time to undertake one.

Revisiting your business and/or marketing plan – checking progress against goals,  confirming targets for 2010 and the strategies to make these happen -   provides a  clear direction and ensures all resources of the business are being applied effectively to the ‘right’ activities – the ultimate cost effective business activity.  As Tim Berry mentions in the the post 15 Predictions and Trends for 2010 – in a planning context – ‘form follows function’.

It is also a great time to reflect upon your customers, staff and colleagues and how to strengthen relationships with them.  Anything is possible when relationships are strong.

In 2010 Marketing Is Us will continue to provide information and services to assist you to cost effectively maximise your marketing and achieve your business objectives.

As colleague Richard Marti says: ‘Let’s make ’10 a 10′.   From Us to You – Happy New Year!

Best wishes,

Image: luigi diamanti / FreeDigitalPhotos.net

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It is difficult to nominate but amongst my favourites are:

‘Make compassion a core value’ Mitch Joel, p33

‘The future belongs to people who can spread ideas’ Guy Kawasaki, p32

‘Or you can earn attention by creating something interesting and valuable and then publishing it online for free’  David Meerman Scott p48

‘Stop waiting around for bosses and companies to get better and and complaining about how you are treated. Build the skills – and use them – that will permit you to create the environment in which you want to live’ Jeffrey Pfeffer, p29

‘Business is a game.  (In) Strategy. Learn to adapt. Adjust your style of play  as the dynamics of the game change.’ Tony Hsieh, p26

‘Sing in your own voice’ Hugh Macleod, p10

‘If not Excellence, what?’  Tom Peters, p20

‘…its usually a small percentage of the tribe within the larger tribe who spread the word. …They are the One Percenters. The One Percenters are often hidden in the crevices of niches but they are the roots of word of mouth. …find them and attract them.’ Jackie Huba & Ben McConnell,  p17

‘Forget about working on your weaknesses -> Focus on supporting your strengths. ‘ Marti Baletta, p22

As Seth says: ‘Things to think about’ .. ‘small things do make a difference’.  You can view the E-Book and download here. (Just click on the link).  Enjoy!  And thanks Seth!

What Matters Now

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Source: Herald Sun

As  one of the 1.3 million people who tuned into the final episode of Australian Celebrity Masterchef last week, it occurred to me that the activities in the Masterchef kitchen provided some useful lessons for business and management.

 Here are my top five findings:

1. Grace under pressure: The contestants for the most part kept their cool and good humour despite things going wrong for them at different times.  I love the quote: Great works are performed not by strength but by perserverance (Samuel Johnson).  In business (and in kitchens) things can and do go wrong. Keeping calm conserves energy and helps maintain clear thinking. Not giving up – persistence –  is vital for success.
2. Attention to Detail: Eamon’s awesome dessert resulted from a multifaceted process with every detail through to presentation addressed. In cooking – as in business – particularly when looking after customers and presenting your product/service – there are no small details.
3. Positive Feedback – The judges provided constructive criticism couched in much positive feedback. They acknowledged  effort and their feedback provided the base for subsequent improvement. In their book, The One Minute Manager, authors Blanchard &  Hutson called this The One Minute Reprimand. It is a positive way of managing your team and all relationships.
4. Benefits of a Plan –  To obtain the  desired culinary result  a good plan was needed. Some prior thought was given to the forthcoming process (strategy) after assessment of existing resources and potential influences (in this case – the judges’ preferences and competitors’ activities).  In business, when resources such as time and money are finite – it is even more vital to plan. 
5. Benefits of a Plan B – Rachel’s dessert malfunction in the second last round highlighted the need for agility,  to be able to respond quickly and have a contingency. Businesses operate in a dynamic environment and unplanned events  of  significant potential impact to a business will occur. The ability to recognize these events and be able to respond can provide competitive advantage.

 The Marketing Phenomenon

The show tapped into the population’s need for feel good programs and has been a marketing phenomenon. The Celebrity program extension reflected the producer’s consciousness of audience likes and dislikes.  They listened and responded to their customers -  important for all business marketing.

Merchandising has commenced with the first of the Masterchef recipe books now available. This provides another example.  How can your business take your product/service and extend the promotion in new and innovative ways?

Congratulations to Eamon Sullivan, our world champion swimmer,  who showed he has considerable other talents in addition to being very speedy in the pool. It is a shame he and Stephanie are no longer together. Imagine the marketing possibilities (and word plays) of Rice and Eamon’s now recognized cheffing skills!

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Respected management thinker and writer, Peter Drucker,  would have celebrated his 100^th birthday on November 19.

Born in Austria, he started out his career as newspaper correspondent, continued as an economist, management consultant and teacher.  He wrote 39 books – not only on  management but also politics, economics and society and was an iconic contributor to the Harvard Business Review for more than 50 years.

I first encountered  his thoughts during my studies, and although imminently ‘paraphrasable’ it is considered that it is not just  the ‘content of his ideas’ but rather the ‘discipline of his mind’ from which we can learn.  He was a holistic, integrative and far sighted thinker.  RBMKanter states: ‘he preached steadinesss and lifetime vision’  (HBR, November 2009)

The following are some of my favourite  Drucker quotes/ideas, the substance of which is of great value for businesses of all sizes in their management and marketing strategy development. They also provide  a glimpse into the workings of this great mind.

-oo-

We live and operate in dynamic environment:

Managers believe that industry structures are ordained by the Good Lord, but they can and often do – change overnight

Customers – at the heart of every business – and every marketing strategy

The purpose of a company is to create a customer

A business.. is defined by the want the customer satisfies when he or she buys a product of service

To satisfy the customers is the mission and purpose of every business

Employees Purpose & Motivation:

The number of people who are really motivated by money is very mall. Most people need to feel that are here for a purpose, and unless an organization can connect to this, need to leave something behind that makes this a better world, or at least a different one, it won’t be successful over time.

Customers, Business & The Internet

In the mental geography of ecommerce, distance has been eliminated

Management & Non Profits:

Non profits are of course still dedicated to ‘doing good’. But they also realize that good intentions are no substitute   for organisation and leadership, for accountability, performance, and results.  Those require management and that .. begins with the organisation’s mission.

Mission:

A clearly defined mission will foster innovative ideas and help others understand why they need to be implemented

A mission …focuses the organisation on action.

Innovation:

Means looking on change as an opportunity… abandoning the old

Innovation matters because ours is a knowledge based society

Do you have a favourite Drucker insight? Please tell us!

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