How many of us have signed up for customer loyalty programs only to find out they really did not provide as much value as we had expected? Recently I was able to put my travel related customer loyalty programs to the test and I was extremely impressed.
When I was a sales and marketing manager for Dell, I traveled extensively from 2005 to 2008. Since Dallas was my outgoing destination and my territory was primarily around the southwest and southeast, I decided to focus on using American Airlines, Hertz, and Hilton properties as target service providers.
Why American Airlines?
Many folks asked why I didn’t use Southwest Airlines. First, I knew I would be flying enough to earn status which would make me eligible for First Class upgrades. When you travel for a living, having the opportunity for an upgrade makes all the difference, especially on those late Friday afternoon or evening flights. In fact, once I made Executive Platinum, I was flying First Class almost every flight. What also surprises folks is that the Love Field Airport, where Southwest flies out of, is actually closer and easier to get to. Don’t get me wrong, I love Southwest and recently had the pleasure of listening to Paula Berg describe the great things they are doing in social media to connect with customers. However, I also know the director of social media at American Airlines. Both of these companies are making great investments in customer engagement. I also chose these three loyalty programs based on experience, word of mouth from peers, and knowledge of how their programs worked.
Why Hertz?
First and foremost, I love with Hertz that I can hop off the bus at the rental car terminal and just head to my car and go. In smaller airports, such as Oklahoma City, I just walked into the parking garage and drove away. No paperwork, no car inspection, and no one to talk to other than the gate attendant to get to my first meeting. Second, once I figured out to use the “#1″ in my reservations, the points started racking up. When I earned President’s Circle status, I was often times getting great upgrades. In fact, once in Tuscon, I was upgraded to a Mercedes. What made it even better is I was there for a few days so actually had time to enjoy it. All these little things made it more pleasurable to travel.
Why Hilton?
Although my preference would be to stay at a full-service Hilton, as companies started watching expenses, it made the Hampton Inn a very attractive choice. In fact, many of their locations were actually new, so they had modern ammenities, clean rooms, and quick access to the internet. The Hilton Honors program was easy to use and often had preferred check-in lines at their larger hotels, reducing any wait time. As a traveler, we hate wasting any time that we can’t be focused on selling. As far as upgrades at the full-service Hiltons, I often was upgraded to a suite at the Hilton downtown Austin with a great view.
Great Customer Service Desks
More importantly, the preferred status customer service departments have always been top notch. Not only do they receive outstanding customer service training, but all three are staffed in the US with native english speakers making it easier to comprehend conversations. In fact, when I booked my Hawai’i trip, I had a wonderful conversation with the Hilton Honors rep who actually worked somewhere virtually in Dallas. We started talking about how she earned her way to become a virtual customer service rep and she talked with such enthusiasm about the wonderful work experience she has had at Hilton revealing strong employee loyalty as well. I do get a bit frustrated with the phone trees and poor voice recognition programs at times, but thanks to mobile web apps, they have enabled more self-service inquiries to take place. I do believe all three of these companies should develop their own iPhone application.
Back to the Trip
A year ago, I scheduled a trip to the Hilton Waikoloa Village on the big island of Hawai’i using points. Luckily I had that type of time window as it it helped dramatically in the first class availability. I spent seven days there with my wife and used points to fly first class, stay in an ocean front room, and was able to secure a convertible mustang for the entire week. To top it off, Hilton Honors gave me fourteen $10 meal vouchers and fourteen water vouchers which reduced the overall food costs. In this economy, everything counts. This definitely made all that past work-related travel worthwhile, even though I was getting paid as an Account Executive to do this.
So why do I share this story? First, to offer hope for all my traveling peers. Second, to provide examples of loyalty programs that actually came through and met and exceeded my expectations. Lastly, to provide an example to other companies. Not only will I be loyal to all three of these companies for a long time as a result of this experience, but I will also share this story with others who are considering which service providers to leverage.
What stories do you have about great loyalty programs? I would love to hear from you.
It’s not every day your close personal friend launches her book on Amazon. Michelle Prince is celebrating the official launch of “Winning in Life Now – How to Break Through to a Happier You”.
Do you have a feeling that your life could be happier and more prosperous but your current circumstances are holding you back? Are you stuck in a rut?
Michelle is the best-selling author of an incredible book titled, “Winning in Life Now…How to Break Through to a Happier You”. She continues to change peoples lives all over the world with her insight, inspiration and dedication to helping others.
If that sounds like you, you need to buy her book!
STOP! Don’t go over to Amazon to buy just yet. As part of the official launch she is providing over $5,000 in additional value if you purchase from her website. Keep reading…
Book Excerpt – Define Your Goals
Most people don’t have purpose, direction or even motivation to move toward what they want, because they haven’t defined what “that” is. They don’t have goals.
How many times have you heard someone say, “I don’t know,” when asked, “What do you want to do in life?” or, “Where do you see yourself five years from now?”
Ask that same question to preschoolers and they’ll rattle off a whole list of things they want to be or do when they grow up. They know exactly what they want. No one has shattered their dreams or stomped on their hopes.
“Wise adults” will shake their heads and smile knowingly. “Wait until you grow up and meet the real world,” they’re thinking. It’s sad but true that many adults give up on their dreams because they let them get crushed by the realities of bills, mortgages, raising a family, and all the other pressures of being an adult.
Do Our Dreams Ever Really Go Away?
If you reach into your deepest memory pockets, I bet you’ll still find those same dreams tucked away, just waiting for you to pluck them out and dust them off.
Start dreaming again!
Book Review – Zig Ziglar
Significant Difference in your Life
- Zig Ziglar, Author & Motivational Speaker
I believe the philosophy Michelle Prince shares in Winning in Life Now can make a significant difference in your life.
Winning In Life Now is a great resource for anyone looking for more in their life. Order you own copy of Winning In Life Now within the next 24 hours and receive over $5500 in bonus gifts from experts around the globe. Go to http://www.winninginlifenow.com/bookpromotion
With the whirlwind of stories this week surrounding Facebook Usernames, I figured I would add my 2 cents to the discussions taking place. Of course, I will still login tonight at 11pm Central to reserve my username, if it’s still available. If anything so that I have it. However, after reading @anildash’s post chronicling the the future of Facebook Usernames, I thought I would offer some insight.
First, I’m not a web programmer. I just shared this with a few folks and some thought it was helpful. If not, no need to retweet this. Note Retweet button up to your right if you would like to share though.
8 Steps to Create Your Own Facebook Username on Your Own Domain
Login in to your favorite FTP client where you would normally upload files to the root directory of your domain. I use FileZilla which is free.
Create a new directory in the root directory named “facebook”.
Open Notepad on your desktop
Paste the following code into notepad:
<?php header(”HTTP/1.1 301 Moved Permanently”); header(”Location: http://www.facebook.com/home.php?#/profile.php?id=2251800&ref=profile“); exit(); ?>
Change the highlighted url to the long facebook URL from your own profile.
* Note you could also do the same for your Facebook Fan Page here.
Save the file as index.php.
Upload saved index.php file to the “facebook” directory via filezilla of your root directory.
Again, this worked in WordPress. Sure there are 8 different ways to do this.
Hopefully you found this helpful. I also figure using your own domain would help with Google juice as well, but I’m also not an SEO god either. Just a man sharing his thoughts on a Friday afternoon.
The measure of a man is measured by the impact he has had on the people around him. This past Sunday I attended a memorial to celebrate the life of T. Scott Schroeder who lost his battle to cancer 5/22/09. I was profoundly impacted by Scott and how he led others. This event deeply moved me and I started thinking about what was it that made him so impactful, valuable, and remarkable. If you have read my blog before, you know I am a big believer in personal branding and how each one of us can do our part to impact the lives of others. They say you know a man had an impact by the number of folks at his memorial or funeral. Let’s just say, there were hundreds of people there.
Now for some background on how I came to know Scott. I attended undergrad at New Mexico State University and quickly joined Sigma Alpha Epsilon as a means to meet more people that came from different backgrounds. Scott was my first roommate in the fraternity house. From the moment I met Scott, I knew something was different about him. His smile and presence took up the whole room. It was his demeanor and attitude just attracted people to him.
As I took the microphone at the memorial to recollect fond memories, I lost complete control and had to pause for nearly a minute. This wasn’t just a few tears; this was the buckling over type that can embarrass a grown man. If that wasn’t enough, seeing and hearing his young nieces and nephews as young as 3 or 4 comment on how he impacted them just brought more tears.
Here are 6 key traits that made Scott such a great man:
Positive Attitude: We have heard time and time how powerful a smile is. Scott exemplified this every day. Even his nephew commented on how excited he made them feel just by showing up with a smile from ear to ear. In college he was the same way. Scott was always encouraging folks to do better and was always willing to help out any way he could. This positive attitude is also what made him such a joy to hang around with in social situations. You know you would have a few laughs.
Leadership: Scott had a natural leadership style and because he was so respected, folks valued his opinion. He served as President (Eminent Archon) of the fraternity as well as held many other roles. I have fond memories as he prepared us for Greek Sing to compete in Greek Week. His ability to rally over 70 fraternity brothers to participate and practice was unparalled. He often would engage with individuals directly to garner their support. What we call a bit of attitude adjustment.
Giving: Scott was a giver. He volunteered his time, his knowledge, his heart, and his overall compassion.If you want to be valuable in society give to others. Whether you are sharing information, teaching them a new skill, or just lending an ear for someone to talk to you can set yourself apart. Many in our society are takers and wonder why they get no response when they ask for help.
Hard Working: Scott was dependable and could be counted on to do his part. His strive for excellence set him apart and motivated folks around him to want to work with him. What are you doing to demonstrate to others that you are dependable and can meet deadlines?
Compassionate: Not only was Scott a giver, but his compassion for others was remarkable. His ability to be in the moment with others and listen to their issues or volunteer to help just brought you that much closer. He had a huge heart and was wonderful with children as well.
Authentic: Scott was always honest and upfront. His candor and authenticity only made him that much more impactful. Stop trying to make an impression.
In August I rode in honor of Scott as a survivor in the Austin Lance Armstrong ride not knowing his cancer would come back in January. I have always been a fan of Lance Armstrong and what he is doing to raise money. As we walked into the memorial, Livestrong wristbands were handed out. Scott, his sister and brother-in-law had been cycling quite a bit and there were some great pictures of him and the team featured at the memorial. As I cycle going forward, I will always be thinking of Scott. I wish I could have ridden with him at least once. I know it would have been fun.
As I close, I encourage all of you to reflect on how you are making an impact.
I posted the deck on Slideshare and they have selected it as the Spotlight under “Business & Mgmt” today.
My goal in this discussion is to suggest you 1) own developing and influencing their own brand, 2) understand that social media is just a tool, and 3) recognize you still need brand tenets to drive results in a community. Hope you find helpful.
I had planned to post the video, but the sound didn’t turnout as I had hoped.
I came across a neat tip on searching for specific folks to follow on Twitter. Now there are applications such as Nearby Tweets and GeoTweet but this seemed much more effective to me. It basically leverages the Google search engine to search Twitter profiles. This tip leverages the google site search.
Here’s how it works:
1. Example: Say I want to search for marketers in the NYC area. This is what I would copy into Google.com
From these examples, you can just play with the words behind bio and location to get different results. For example you could search for “PR” within “dallas”.
Hopefully you found this helpful enough to share with others.
I meet folks everyday that wonder what Twitter is, how to get started and why it is valuable. Additionally, we are reading and hearing mentions of Twitter on a daily basis through traditional media. I want to share a few tips and tricks to get started for those interested in Twitter.
What Is Twitter?
First it’s important to understand what Twitter is. Who else but CommonCraft to provide the insight in plain English.
Note: Twitter has evolved beyond the “What are you doing?” as described here. This is now a tool to promote your expertise, authenticity, business, brand, and overall value. Don’t get me wrong, this is a social networking site, but not in the same vein as Facebook or MySpace.
How to get started on Twitter:
Visit www.twitter.com and create an account. Use your full name or company name as your username. I see so many people who try to come up with funny names, not taking advantage of an opportunity to brand their own name.
Upload a good head shot if you are an individual. If you are a business, upload a legible and clean logo. If you do not have a good head shot, then have a passport picture made at Kinko’s or hire a professional photographer. I personally need to invest in these as well. I recommend you also use this photo on all of your social media sites for familiarity.
Settings: Take some time on this step. The most critical piece is the Bio. You can think of this almost as an elevator pitch about who you are. Many will list their title or hobbies. If you don’t have a personal website or blog to link back to, use the URL in your LinkedIn profile to provide more insight about yourself. Please put your location. This helps dramatically with authenticity and feeds many of the location based applications that I will refer to below. I turn off all emails and handheld updates and use different applications to interact with Twitter as I also describe below. As for the design, just Google “twitter backgrounds” to learn how to build a good twitter background. What I find though is very few people use the Twitter online interface.
Start Following: Search for and start following your friends, company and coworkers who are already on Twitter so you can follow their conversations. This will give you a feel for the conversations that are taking place. You can find some of the most popular Tweeple on Twitterholic.com
Spread the word you are on Twitter: Post your Twitter URL on LinkedIn, Facebook, YouTube, your blog and anywhere else such as your email signature to let folks know you are on Twitter. This goes the same for your LinkedIn URL as well.
Start tweeting: Start by sharing articles, events or ideas with folks following you. Anyone who is following you will see your tweets if they are on at the same time or decide to scroll back through tweets in the day.
ReTweet (RT): If you see a post that you want to share with others, place the letters RT then the @username of the person’s tweet you are sharing in front of the text. This is much like forwarding a message. TweetDeck and Tweetie automate this for you.
Tip: If you want your messages to be ReTweeted easily then limit to 120 characters.
Direct Message (DM): To send a direct message type the letter D and @username and only they will receive the message. They must be following you though to send them a message. Often times you will see tweets like “@username, please follow so I can send you a DM”
These are just the basic steps to getting started.
Key Applications To Maximize Productivity:
Desktop: The online Twitter interface for tweeting may be ok when you are starting out, but there are a plethora of applications available for updating and engaging Twitter. I personally use TweetDeck. Most available on your desktop are developed in Adobe Air, which is a software plug-in. This will require an additional download but I think it is worthwhile. While the Twitter website is ok to use on occasion, there is great power to be seen in TweetDeck, Hootsuite and various other applications.
Mobile: Many of you may have started thinking you would just use the text messaging feature and send Twitter updates to you phone. I learned within about 2 minutes that model didn’t work. A tremendous value twitter provides is the ability to comment on Twitter when you are away from your desk. This has been very popular at events as folks post comments about speakers and new ideas and share with the Twitterverse. It is as if we were there in person. I experienced this first hand with SXSW. I was able to follow the conversation via Twitter. More importantly, the mobile applications allow you to add pictures and location to your tweets.
iPhone – Download Tweetie, Twitterfon or
Blackberry - Download Twitterberry
Web Apps: Because Twitter has opened up the API, there is an abundance of Twitter applications out there to provide more insight into what is taking place. Here are a few.
Advanced Search: This is one of the main reasons Google is interested in Twitter. It is a powerful real-time search engine of news and happenings. Unlike Newspapers, news sites, and blogs that have to go through an editorial process, Twitter happens as life happens.
I have given you some very basic information to get started. If you are like me, you will not only want to connect with and follow leaders in a specific industry, but may also want to connect with local individuals.
Tweetup: If you want to connect with others on Twitter face to face look for Tweetups in your hometown. Visit http://www.twtvite.com and search within your city. I did this early on. It’s a great way to meet folks who are Twitter celebrities as well as folks new to Twitter. More importantly, you may want to just organize your own. If you are in town, please join us by RSVPing to my Tweetup here.
NearbyTweets: Search for local tweeple in your area using this website. If you do business locally or are just looking to network, this is a key tactic to create relationships online with the plan to connect at an upcoming event.
TwitterGrader: This is a great tool to not only measure your Twitter grade, if interested, but to also find out who are the elite in your local area. This website is run by HubSpot and they offer a wealth of tools and tips for social media.
Checkout this post by Microgeist for other insight and tips to help boost your identity.
Well we all know everyone loves Bacon. Stop what you are doing right now and visit http://search.twitter.com and enter the word “bacon”. It is astounding how many mentions of bacon there are. However, research has shown here that it’s not about the bacon but about the sizzle. The smell of sizzling bacon evokes an emotional response from us carnivores that makes us salivate. When is the last time a full plate of bacon actually made it from the stove to the kitchen table without the “I better check this for thermal viscosity” sampling? Or the old school favorite “I better check this for poison”. My kids are pretty tired of hearing that one.
This brings me to the question. How are you creating sizzle in your marketing campaigns? What are you doing to make your customers crave just a sample of what you have to offer and come clamoring back for more? Ken Blanchard would call this Raving Fans. Tom Peters dubbed it the Pursuit of Wow. Seth Godin has published at least 1,000 books on this exact subject. This may be an exaggeration, but he knows what he is talking about. While many folks are still dumping millions into traditional marketing programs such as direct mail, brochures on websites and email marketing that drive a measly .1% to 1% response, many of us have seen the promise of social media to drive our brand, improve customer care, drive interest as well as excitement and most importantly REVENUE.
As I talk with nonprofits, small businesses and others, many are looking for that secret recipe that will allow them to develop a closer relationship with their customers. Imagine if you had fewer customers that were more loyal or better yet were raving fans. We all know the cost to acquire a customer is outrageous. Here are 5 cost-effective ways to start Sizzling.
5 Ways to Put the Sizzle Into Your Marketing!
Invest into social media - Don’t just dabble, dive straight in. There is a learning curve to harnessing all of these social media platforms to your advantage. If you don’t figure it out now, your competitors will. Now is the time to ramp up and become an expert in your industry. There is plenty of free content out there via blogs, webinars, and YouTube. More importantly, there are great experts offering outstanding content for a small fee. However, if you don’t want to wait until you learn the ins and outs of each platform, the tools and tips that work for each, and how to best follow the guidelines within each, hire a firm to do it for you. Insert Subliminal message here.
Make it Easy To Engage - Create clear calls to action on your website for folks to follow you on Facebook, Twitter, and Linkedin related groups. These are just the top 3. Prioritize and measure traffic to your website from these activities. The explosion of social media has made it far easier for companies and individuals to engage with their target audience.
Start Shooting Video - Notice I didn’t say producing. Authenticity in video comes from taking advantage of real-time events to create a memorable video. It’s ok to create a formal intro and subtitles but don’t over produce the day to day videos. Use these as a platform to demonstrate your unique value proposition. Capture testimonials from your Raving Fans. For Nonprofits, use these to capture video of volunteers in action or images of those receiving need. Donors want to connect emotionally with those they are helping.
Share Simplicity – Make it easy for folks to share content on your website with others via social book marking sites such as Digg and Del.icio.us as well as Twitter, Facebook and LinkedIn. There are plenty of free plugins such as Sociable and others or have your web developer embed his own unique look and feel. Let people choose to spread the word about your content. Citizen Journalism at its finest.
Create Compelling Events – Get creative about the events you host. Instead of the one way presentation to many, look for ways to interact with your audience. Invest in the interactive polling devices to engage your audience real-time. Plan launch parties for new products and services or for your customers. That goodwill goes a long way.
Be Authentic, Be Transparent, and Be Consistent to develop relationships with your followers. Maintain communication with your customers. Share tips and tricks to make ownership for existing customers even more beneficial. Demand honesty from your staff in dealing with questions and complaints. Resolve customer service issues as they arise. You’d be surprised how those raving fans will blast their gratitude into the TwitterSphere.
You will be hearing more about bacon from me as well as I am in stealth mode on a company named “Bacon Marketing”. As Chief Bacon Maker, I take responsibility for putting the sizzle into your marketing strategy. Who else but a guy who grew up on a commercial pig farm in southern New Mexico. The name is in honor of my father who gave me my first exposure to an entrepreneur. My dad built a farm from scratch with 10,000 pigs and taught me the value of hard work. More importantly, how to create something of value that produces wealth.
Also, if you are ever in Ann Arbor, MI, check out the Fleetwood Diner. Had many a 3 meat breakfasts there as a grad student at The Ross School of Business at University of Michigan.
I recently had the pleasure of seeing Dr. Rick Rigsby speak and I was very moved by his message. I also thought about how this applies to personal branding and how we represent ourselves on social media. Many of us are consumed by the need to impress others as compared to making an impact in people’s lives. As you grow your network both online and offline, take a deep look at how you interact with others, the thoughts that concern you as you are engaging, and where you are aiming in your actions and thoughts. When you finish reading this post, you will realize how you need to personally assess your day to day actions to make an impact.
As I have matured, the need to impress has become less important. Living in a society that worships celebrities, fitness, and wealth how do you find balance? I still value the finer things in life and will always struggle to balance need vs. want and the motivation behind those actions. I have decided that I want to be someone of significance in the lives of others and share whatever strengths I have to offer. How can YOU make an impact with your coworkers, your customers, your family and friends, and your Meetup attendees?
5 Tips on Making an Impact:
As you are contemplating this, you recognize all of this has to do with your personal brand. Here are my tips on making an impact:
1) Teach and Coach: Speak to groups and individuals. You have seen me state this before, but it is my belief we should always be looking to teach others anyway possible. Educate your families, co-workers, customers and the people you meet. Teach customers how to leverage self-service websites. The time you invest now, will save you so many calls and emails later. Teach others how to blog, leverage social media, use a Mac or PC, etc. Teach someone how to set goals and create daily to do lists to create small victories. Teach someone how to have a positive attitude by sharing MP3 files that will help them change their attitude. Give them a book that will change their life. As Charlie ”Tremendous” Jones says “You will be the same person in five years as you are today except for the people you meet and the books you read.” Most importantly, praise and encourage them along the way.
2) Write: Share your thoughts in written form. Everyone has something of value to share. Maybe you have mastered how to cut transition times during Triathlons. Share that with folks you meet and on blogs, forums and race events, as time allows. If you are excellent at cold calling, write your thoughts down and share with your co-workers and others who could benefit from your unique techniques and skills. Blogging is the easiest and best way to do that. It also helps you develop your voice. Visit www.wordpress.com to get a free blog. A side benefit is your Google rankings will go up as well. See my earlier post here on this subject.
3) Volunteer: Help others outside your comfort zone. Those less fortunate or unable to get access to the same tools we take for granted, need your help the most. How are you sharing your skills with the ones in most need. Get your hands dirty and volunteer your time, energy and enthusiasm where it counts. I participate in a Meals on Wheels route where I live and also help run a ministry at my church. My hope is to do a mission trip this year as well to help those with the greatest need in other countries. My mother-in-law spends 10 days a year with Habitat for Humanity in Guatemala. My Uncle-in-law runs a charity in Colorado helping those with the greatest need in Africa. These are just people I know in my immediate family. What are you doing?
4) Be Authentic: When helping others be yourself. Many folks struggle with how to manifest this. Authenticity is defined as the quality of being genuine or not corrupted from the original. Another definition: Truthfulness of origins, attributions, commitments, sincerity, and intentions. Don’t worry about trying to impress. Self-deprication while not a form of positivity, can be funny. Recognize when you need to listen and empathize with others in their struggles. We are all in this together and we just need a helping hand, a big heart, and the willingness to care.
5) Lead: Lead others to make an Impact. We all want to have strong spheres of influence in our lives to be heard, but also to make a living. The key is to leverage that to motivate others to make an impact. If you are a manager, support those who are volunteering in the community with the time they need off. As a company, sponsor United Way campaigns to foster an example of giving back to one’s community. As an individual, lead groups of common interest or lead discussions to foster a better way of doing something in your office, church, or networking group. Sometimes leadership is just having an opinion about something and sharing it with others. Don’t be afraid to share ideas and better ways of doing a task or process. More importantly, don’t complain unless you are also offering a suggestion to improve.
I will leave you with one more thought that from Dr. Rick Rigsby that has made an Impact!
Go from being a “Mover and a Shaker to a Molder and a Shaper!”
If you like what you have read, I encourage you to subscribe in the upper right corner of my page.
I invite your comments as well and please share with others.
Build a reputation of serving, trust, and excellence.
With droves of people jumping into social media, many are looking for ways to leverage this medium to actually improve their sales, marketing impact, and overall internet awareness. While these tools will help people find you online and discover your products and services, it’s important to realize there are some fundamental behaviors that drive long-term value in your network and for people you interact with on a daily basis.
First, build a reputation for helping and serving others. My primary goal is to serve others. I firmly believe that by serving others, personal and professional growth will follow. Of course, you have to manage this into your schedule, but think of all the people you interact with on a daily basis who ask for insight, advice or outright technical help. In my case, I have always been known for my knowledge of applications, technology, etc. I am often sought out for expertise and gladly provide it when I can. At the end of our lives God will ask us what we have done with his gifts and I plan to say that I shared this area of strength. It also helps that I enjoy teaching too.
Second, be someone people can trust. Trustworthiness has many different meanings. In professional relationships this means keeping your word, following through on a commitment, and meeting expectations. In order to be successful you must manage expectations with those you work with and be honest when you won’t be able to deliver. It’s always better to be upfront and honest than to completely under deliver or under perform. The same can be said for personal relationships, but communication skills become that much more important. Here are some great books on relationship building by Gary Chapman.
Lastly, strive for excellence. If you are able to prioritize and pick those few actions that deliver the most value, then you can aim for stellar performance. When you recognize that you can make a significant impact to a program or project, you will find it will keep you up at night. This is when you must take action. I think back to when I was working on the Dell’s Campus ArchitectureTMprogram as the higher education marketing manager. One night I couldn’t sleep as I was trying to wrap my head around building a go to market message for Higher Education that encapsulated our complete capabilities. I hopped out of bed and started working on a manifesto. This was very similar to what Jerry McGuire experienced when writing ”the memo”. What started as an idea turned into an eighteen page positioning document that we handed over to Hill Holiday to craft a set of collateral and deliverables. This messaging became very critical in how we described Dell’s value proposition in higher education.
It is in these moments that you build confidence and truly feel you have delivered. Think back to those moments and how you felt receiving that recognition or award. Now if you are saying to yourself, well I can’t really think of those, then you may be too hard on yourself. If you are just starting out a new career look for projects that nobody else wants to take. I do not recall the author but I always think about this phrase “Successful people do what unsuccessful people don’t want to”. There are all sorts of challenges in business today or unmet needs in the market. Seize your opportunity to build your personal brand and do something about it.
Do all three of these things in stride and demand for your talent, services, products and relationship will grow. After all is said and done, people do business with people. If they have a good experience they will mention you to others they know. For example, I just had a great experience at a new local frozen yogurt shop called Spoonfull. So much so that I shared that experience with others in hopes they would visit this new entrepreneur’s establishment. The same goes for individuals. If people value the results you drive, they will tell others.
Here’s your call to action: If you know someone who is doing an outstanding job, first tell them so. Moreover, recommend them or their services to three people you know. Put your money where your mouth is and recommend them on LinkedIn.com so it can become part of their personal brand online as well.
How many of us have signed up for customer loyalty programs only to find out they really did not provide as much value as we had expected? Recently I was able to put my travel related customer loyalty programs to the test and I was extremely impressed.
I recently had the pleasure of seeing 
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