RIM Provides 9 Lessons in Best Turnaround Strategies

 

Jan. 23, 2012

RIM, Research in Motion, needs more than just advertising and marketing strategies. Companies – from big to small – can learn business turnaround lessons from RIM’s predicament. RIM has failed to respond to marketplace changes. Despite installing a new CEO, Thorsten Heins, and hiring a vaunted crisis management firm, Sitrick and Company, RIM’s comeback attempt is already off to a poor start.

Analysts, investors and customers are troubled by the headline: “New RIM CEO says drastic change not needed.”

Numerous published reports quoted Mr. Heins: “I don’t think that there is some drastic change needed. We are evolving … but this is not a seismic change.”

To the contrary, my sense is that drastic changes are needed – externally and internally. Unless the company can upgrade its products, solve its product delays, and fix its reputation, the company will go under unless it’s sold. (Note: To be clear, I’m a long-time Blackberry user.)

Yes, RIM has marketing challenges. But as any savvy salesperson knows, it’s difficult to sell a product that’s considered inferior to competitors. Apple’s iPhone and iPad, and Google’s Android operating system have taken market share from RIM, which is why the once-proud company has also lost market value.

So, RIM needs to develop a strategic plan and wisely invest its $1.5 billion in cash. It only has until May 2012 to win applause from Wall Street analysts who sway investor opinions. And telling the world that drastic change isn’t needed is the wrong approach.

RIM’s demise provides these turnaround lessons:

1. Understand first things first. It’s important to move current product inventory, but simultaneously make long-term product development a priority. The company needs effective decisions. There are nine dos and don’ts for best decision-making. RIM will earn praise if it can unveil a strategic plan to publicize successful development of software for its Blackberry 10. So strategically plan and implement management strategies for a successful turnaround.
2. Develop a strategic marketing plan and align it with sales. Notably, RIM is looking for a new marketing director. Hopefully, innovation will result. Consider tips to get strong marketing plan results, and the 14 reasons why major marketing campaigns fail. And for profits, don’t forget to align marketing with sales.
3. Attract visionary product-creation relationships. It’s important to stay atop marketplace volatility. Hire or partner with visionary innovators. RIM lost ground because it didn’t have enough developer support, which opened the door for competitors. Think about nine key questions before you form a partnership and here the nine steps for strategic alliance success.
4. Create an iconic product. Innovation is key to be a Ninja innovator. In RIM’s case, the company should create excitement by intensifying its research and development for a blockbuster smartphone – bigger screen, 4G, and better camera.
5. In view of the economy, remember Henry Ford’s success. A salient reason Mr. Ford was successful: He manufactured an everyday car – the Model A – a car the average American could afford. Think 1930s for business success. Consumer attitudes are changing. RIM used to own the corporate market and didn’t create a consumer niche. It needs regain corporate market share and its own version of the Model A for the digital phone age.
6. Restructure the team. If Mr. Heins really believes drastic change isn’t necessary, he better wake up quickly and reverse course. He should make certain he employs a lot of thought leaders who serve as devils’ advocates. RIM needs to earn marketplace confidence by exploring and communicating all its strategic options. Unfortunately, it appears RIM needs to take the six steps to implement a cultural change for profits.
7. Operate profitably. Develop a laser focus on profitability. Understand in any economy, what drives your profit. Here are 10 basic tips — leadership for business profit.
8. Continue to focus and promote security. Daily, the media is filled with headlines about identity theft and security. Blackberry is known for its security, but the message has been diluted. Android is successful despite its security weaknesses. After all, who profits from Android’s security issues? Not users.
9. Manage your reputation. The key is to create positive images. But RIM is suffering in reputation management.  Here are the best practices to optimize your brand and manage your Web reputation. It’s also vital to know how to leverage the news media for publicity, and to implement PR  crisis management tips.

From the Coach’s Corner, here are developing trends and solutions for manufacturing success.

“The entrepreneur always searches for change, responds to it, and exploits it as an opportunity.”

– Peter F. Drucker

 

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Columnist Terry Corbell is also a business-performance consultant and profit professional. Click here to see his management services (many are available online). For a complimentary chat about your business situation or to schedule Terry Corbell as a speaker, why don’t you contact him today?

Understanding the Marriage of Technology and Human Behavior

 

Jan. 12, 2012

Whether you’re selling products, services or both – your marketing/sales future depends on whether you’re up-to-date on technology. That’s because it’s so intertwined with human behavior.

An interesting article in Ad Age is a timely reminder.

It’s entitled, “CMOs Explain Why They’re Flocking to Vegas for CES.” The article explains why thousands of advertising and marketing professionals consider the annual Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas a must-attend event.

The obvious conclusion: CES is vital for their job security. On a macro level, marketers attend CES to stay abreast of technology and the resulting human behavior – how people connect with brands.

They understand the importance of profiting from emerging human behaviors.

Not to criticize, but that’s why it’s so puzzling that Microsoft ended its 15-year association with CES as the anchor sponsor. Yes, I understand the reasons given by Microsoft. But when you own a franchise, you don’t give it away. You’ll never recoup it. And CES is the go-to tech event at the start of every year. Like soft drinks and Coke, Microsoft needs to be synonymous with new technology.

Further, it’s a chance to meet face-to-face with thousands of influential people and to stay abreast of technology. And as each year passes with new evolving technology, CES becomes more important.

From the Coach’s Corner, here are marketing resource links to keep up with your competitors –

How Small Businesses Can Capitalize on Cyber Strategies for Profit

Why B2B Marketers Like Content Marketing – Study

Best Practices to Optimize Your Brand, Manage Your Web Reputation

“Many of life’s failures are people who did not realize how close they were to success when they gave up.”

-Thomas A. Edison

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Terry Corbell is a business-performance consultant and profit professional. Click here to see his management services (many are available online). For a complimentary chat about your business situation or to schedule Terry Corbell as a speaker, why don’t you contact him today?

Tips To Get Strong Results From Your Marketing Plan

 

Why do seemingly great marketing plans fail to yield the desired results?

Well, one reason: Such plans don’t turn the ideas into reality because they’re not action-oriented. What counts is the scheduled specific footwork, and then tracking the results.

There’s a second reason, quality of execution, but more on that later.

Four action-oriented keys to success

Action key No. 1: Develop specific action items for each key piece of your plan with specific target dates to take action. In other words, if 12 big customers will largely solve your revenue issues, set a goal for each monthly interval. For example, write: “We will get one major client each month.”

Action key No. 2: List specific footwork to achieve your monthly goal of one new client. For example, write: “To get a major new client each month, we’ll have to look for new opportunities to network with our existing Centers of Influence and to create new Centers of Influence.”

If you belong to your local chamber of commerce or Rotary Club, ask your friendly chamber peers or Rotarians for two referrals: “What are the names of two people with your qualities who might need our product?” Then, while dropping the name of your friend, make the contact.

Consider other ways to enlarge your prospect list, and write something like this: “We will also get a list of business leads via…”

Action key No. 3: Benchmark your action items that can lead to the desired results. For example, write: “From our list of prospects, we will meet with three new prospects each week.”

It’s a numbers game, but rest assured referrals are usually the strongest leads – especially, if you use the right networking strategies.

So don’t worry about the results. Focus on taking steps. The results will take care of themselves.

Action key No. 4: Define your list of specific actions to meet your targets. For example, write: “I will telephone or visit 15 prospects a day asking for an appointment.”

Focus on making the contacts, but again, don’t worry about which doors will open. It might be a lost art, but here’s how and why to use cold-calling for higher sales. Here are eight tips for cold calling by e-mail and telephone.

Quality of execution

Despite all the hype about the benefits of social media, face time works best. If you have good branding, elevator pitch, and use the right sales steps, you will be successful.

Here’s more:

Branding: Here’s a checklist to build your brand on a budget.

Elevator pitch: Here are the top 11 tips for a great elevator pitch.

Sales Steps: Here are the seven steps to higher sales.

You might also want to review the eight best practices in small business marketing.

From the Coach’s Corner, here are two advertising resource links:

What are the Secrets for Success from Advertising?

Checklist for Branding, Selling Your Biz as Green

“A clear vision, backed by definite plans, gives you a tremendous feeling of confidence and personal power.”

-Brian Tracy

 

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Columnist Terry Corbell is also a business-performance consultant and profit professional. Click here to see his management services (many are available online). For a complimentary chat about your business situation or to schedule Terry Corbell as a speaker, why don’t you contact him today?

Overview: Marketing Plan Essentials For Best Results

 

If you haven’t completed a strong marketing plan to complement your business plan, you’re missing some salient benefits.

An effective marketing plan generates revenue and alleviates uncertainty for your business.

In addition, a marketing plan provides you with tangible values:

• When employees are apprised of your marketing vision, you’ll benefit from more teamwork and employee loyalty. Provide them with an abridged copy of your marketing vision for growth.
• Development of a marketing plan means you are up-to-date on your company’s situation. You thoroughly know your company. You’re more aware of your dynamic marketplace.
• A malleable marketing plan is an action to-do list. At the minimum, it’s a roadmap to success in the coming year.
• When you get really good, you’ll think two to four years from now. Details won’t be forgotten. It keeps the focus on the long-term objectives.

So you need to begin with an executive summary. Keep in mind your preferred end results from the specific actions you’ll take. Include your resourceful ideas and voluminous research, but specificity in measurable plans is vital.

Your marketing plan needs four specifics:

1. Situation analysis – a market analysis with customer data, segmentation, market needs analysis and market forecast; a SWOT analysis of your strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats; your brand’s personality; and competitive analysis.
2. Strategy – including a mission statement, goals, branding, product positioning and pricing. In other words, remember the 4 Ps of marketing – product, price, place and promotion.
3. Sales forecast – by product and market segment, sales channels, responsible departments and managers – all designed to be tracked.
4. Investment budget – enough details about sales programs, management and strategies to track expenses each month.

You’ll need input from virtually everywhere in your firm – consider finance, human resources, manufacturing, and marketing. You’ll learn unforeseen insights on problems and opportunities.

It may be a bit hackneyed, but as part of your checklist in setting goals, consider the acronym, SMART:

• Specific  – who, what, when, where, and how
• Measurable – determine how you’ll attain your goals
• Agreed upon – make sure there’s a consensus or agreement
• Realistic – Make certain you’re being pragmatic
• Target date – a feasible timeline is best

Marketing plans are also helpful for better time management — once you have determined the annual big picture for your goals — then determine the intermediate steps for each month.

Oh, and in this age, consider whether your business would benefit from branding and selling your business as green or how cause-related marketing can increase sales by double digits.

Again, even after you’ve written your marketing plan, remember you’re not done. You must be relentless in continuously monitoring your progress. Fine-tune your plan as needed. Figure out what’s wrong and what needs to be done to remedy any undesirable situation.

From the Coach’s Corner, for Internet resource links, consider: Why B2B marketers like content marketing; the 14 strategies to rock on Google; and the best practices to optimize your brand and manage your Web reputation.

“Marketing is the distinguishing, unique function of the business.”

-Dr. Peter Drucker

 

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Terry Corbell is also a business-performance consultant and profit professional. Click here to see his management services (many are available online). For a complimentary chat about your business situation or to schedule Terry Corbell as a speaker, why don’t you contact him today?

11 Sales Strategies to Outsell Your Big Competitors

 

Big companies have obvious advantages over small businesses. Their brands are well-known. They can afford sales training, sales-support staff and customer-relationship management software.

On the other hand, there are good reasons why Cyber Monday has become big. Yes, many online customers do it to save money on sales taxes. The other salient reason – poor customer service by many companies. Yes, their Achilles heel – poor customer service.

So don’t let such advantages dissuade you from doing the necessary footwork for success. Remember size doesn’t matter but image, professionalism count.

Here are basics you need to put into practice:

1. Know your strengths and capitalize on them. Differentiate your business in quality, convenience, and service. Don’t forget to highlight the quality of your people. Practice the eight best practices in small business marketing.
2. Know your weaknesses and capitalize on them. Smallness is a quality. It means you’re more mobile, and it takes less time for you to provide solutions – there are no out-of-town committees making decisions. You provide more value. You don’t waste money – your customers won’t have to pay for expensive facilities for your business-lunch entertainment.
3. Make cold calls. Here’s more on the lost art – how and why to use cold-calling for higher sales.
4. To grow, remember two concepts – “Act as if…” and “fake it till you make it.” Even if you are apprehensive but if you do your best to speak to prospects with conviction, they will feel your passion.
5. Know when to cut your losses. That’s an adage from economics 101. If you’re making sales calls but sense you’re getting nowhere, focus on your other prospects. On the other hand, there’s another adage – “The longer they keep you waiting, the more they want you.” Some prospects might be interested but they’re too busy to act, or they might be waiting to see if you’re stable and going to be around for a long time. I’ve had many likeable vendors call on me, but they give up too soon before I’m ready to buy.
6. Understand that you are the company. First impressions are critical. Be mindful – of your appearance, enthusiasm, empathy, talent and commitment– to provide solutions.
7. Remember your time, service and products are valuable. Providing added value can be helpful. But don’t let customers take advantage of you. When you’re asked to do something for free, look for opportunities to capitalize on the request. Get something in return. Make certain such customers reciprocate. Use the 22 do’s and don’ts for successful negotiations.
8. Make certain you cater to appreciative clientele. Make certain you get a thank you. If they don’t show gratitude, ask for it in a subtle way (“So you like our product?” Or, “You like the way we handled the problem?”)
9. Know which customers are profitable. Be congenial. But don’t break your back for a customer who expects you to repeatedly bend over backwards. In any economy, know what drives your profit.
10. Make certain each employee understand sales and customer service. See profit drivers – how and why to partner with your employees.
11. Make the right investments for selling and serving your customers. That means cost-effective technology, and customer service and sales training for your employees. Learn how small businesses can capitalize on cyber strategies for profit. Here are 8 tips for cold calling by e-mail and telephone.

From the Coach’s Corner, for consulting and service firms, here are three resource links:

Consultants / Service Firms: Why Hourly Billing Isn’t Best

60 Ground Rules for Effective Client Service

Your Dream is to be a Consultant? Here’s How to Develop Your Vision Plan.

“Remember, you only have to succeed the last time.”

-Brian Tracy

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Columnist Terry Corbell is also a business-performance consultant and profit professional. Click here to see his management services (many are available online). For a complimentary chat about your business situation or to schedule Terry Corbell as a speaker, why don’t you contact him today?

How Small Businesses Can Capitalize on Cyber Strategies for Profit

 

Yes, it’s become important for small businesses to capitalize on cyber strategies for profit.

Small and even regional retailers should be cognizant of three realities. Potential customers probably think that national chains have easier-to-shop Web sites with lower prices. This also means that until a national Internet sales tax is passed, many consumers will prefer to shop online.

So, with all retailers depending so heavily on Q4 sales to stay in the black and record numbers of shoppers continuing to buy online each Cyber Monday, cyber strategies are increasingly important.

Nonetheless, a cursory search on the Internet in every sector shows many small retailers and professional service firms, especially law firms, don’t have a strong Web presence.

Many suffer from the following:

• Many have only simple landing pages
• Most don’t have social media acumen
• Even those with Web sites are difficult to navigate
• Poor SEO – search engine optimization

By comparison, large companies have terrific e-commerce sites and display good judgment in social media.

It’s important to understand how marketing has developed in the digital age.

True, traditional media is important. But it’s vital to do something about online consumer trends. A McKinsey study indicates more than four out of five Americans use the Internet to search for information or to buy products.

The Internet has given them more control over their spending with reviews, enhanced abilities for comparison shopping and for moving from an advertiser’s monologue to a dialogue with prospective customers.

Small businesses must create a marketing strategy for a strong presence on Google, which has a 66 percent market share in the U.S. and 90 percent worldwide.

So understand Google’s reasoning for best Web site rankings. Here’s a checklist with 14 Strategies to Rock on Google.

However, in my experience, strategies for optimizing your Web site’s presence on Google also work on Bing and Yahoo.

Expertise in mobile marketing is becoming increasingly valuable for small businesses. Use of smartphones by shoppers is becoming widespread. So make sure your site is compatible for mobile marketing.

Facebook pros and cons

Not to mention the impact of social media playing a role. There are 11 ways to make money on Facebook. However, beware that Facebook can cannibalize and make losers out of small business Web sites.

Further, there are 8 tools to optimize sales with social media, but beware of a red flag.

So, small businesspeople should remember that the key to internet dominance is to think integration.

That often doesn’t include advertising with daily deal sites. They don’t work for substantial numbers of small businesses. Beware of daily deal sites and pricing principles – what’s sustainable and what isn’t.

Meanwhile, the evolving Internet also means it’s important to take safeguards to protect your brand’s image. Poor customer reviews and public relations can kill a company. So understand the best practices to optimize your brand and manage your Web reputation.

Success in sales depends on trust.

To build trust with Internet users, here are three key reminders:

1.       Be transparent. List a description of your business including contact information, products, services, location and the names of company principals. That includes your telephone ID numbers for when you make outgoing calls, and disclosing your customer-service policies.

2.       Privacy policies are necessary. If you sell online, take every security precaution, respect customer contact preferences, and don’t share customer information.

3.       Develop an online media kit. An online media kit is helpful to dialogue with advertisers, clients, customers, journalists and prospects. To make it easy for Internet users to learn about your business, explain your company using the five Ws – who, what, where, when, why and how.

Depending on your sector, there are probably other principles to heed and utilize, but these are the basics for on how small businesses can capitalize on cyber strategies for profit.

From the Coach’s Corner, here’s another resource link:

Why B2B Marketers Like Content Marketing – Study

“The aim of marketing is to know and understand the customer so well the product or service fits him and sells itself.”

-Peter F. Drucker

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Columnist Terry Corbell is also a business-performance consultant and profit professional. Click here to see his management services (many are available online). For a complimentary chat about your business situation or to schedule Terry Corbell as a speaker, why don’t you contact him today?

 

Frustrated in Looking for Clients or Job? Soften Your Approach

 

Nov. 26, 2011

Is the holiday season a misnomer for you? It probably is if you’re overwhelmed looking hard for income — either for clients or in  job hunting. Take heart, there are options for a new approach. 

These days if you have desperation in searching for clients or a job, it doesn’t feel like a holiday season. So turn it into one. 

Yes, this can be an unnerving time. So don’t try so hard. 

Aside from family and close friends, this is a season for reconnecting with longtime business associates and pals. Use the holidays to your advantage. 

Sure, continue your quest, but spend the majority of your time building your network. Meet for coffee. Take someone to lunch. Connect with past associates or people with whom you’ve done some profitable business. 

Out of sight, out of mind – too often , that’s true. So rekindle your relationships. Your acquaintances will remember your commitment to excellence and skills. 

Don’t forget to get your exercise. 

Oh, now’s a good time to brush up on the 22 Do’s and Don’ts for successful negotiations or to get a head start on New Year’s resolutions to recover from the Great Recession. 

And if all else fails, look around for someone less fortunate to help. Believe me, these folks are out there. Volunteerism will put a smile on your face. You’re more apt to get some deserved attention. 

You don’t have to feel frustrated in looking for clients or job. Soften your approach.

From the Coach’s Corner, whether you’re searching for new clients or job hunting, here are more resource links: 

Business Got You Down? Tips for a Morale Boost 

Discouraged in Job Hunting? Powerful Tips for the Best Job 

Job Hunting? Tips to Land Your Dream Job with Style, Substance 

“Celebrate the happiness that friends are always giving, make every day a holiday and celebrate just living!”

-Amanda Bradley

 

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Columnist Terry Corbell is also a business-performance consultant and profit professional. Click here to see his management services (many are available online). For a complimentary chat about your business situation or to schedule Terry Corbell as a speaker, why don’t you contact him today?

 

5 Free Tools to Operate, Market Your Business

 

Are you on a really tight budget, but need to run and market your business? 

Ordinarily, I’m big on appearances – creating professional first impressions. But some free tools can suffice well. 

Whether you’re a startup or established company needing services that work well but your budget is tight, you might wish to consider five free services: 

• Organization of tasks
• Email newsletters
• Manage your social media
• Spy on your competitors
• Distribute Internet press releases 

Yes, the services also offer paid plans with bells and whistles without the companies’ logos, but the free services are easy-to-use and work well. 

Here are five unsolicited suggestions: 

1. Wunderlist, www.wunderlist.com, can help you get organized in every phase. You can create separate lists, and within your lists you can prioritize your responsibilities. You can use it just about anywhere on your Android, iPad, iPhone, Mac and PC. What’s more, you can share your lists with anyone. This also means you can see how your employees are prioritizing their work, and get valuable input from your mentor.
2. Mailchimp, www.mailchimp.com, is an e-mail sender. Moreover, you can customize your approach with Mailchimp’s designs, and get a simple analysis of your customers. You can leverage your social media, too. “With MailChimp’s Forever Free plan, you can send 12,000 emails a month to a list of up to 2,000 subscribers, but there are a few features that are only available to users with paid accounts,” according to Mailchimp’s Web site.
3. Hootsuite, www.hootsuite.com, will help you with your social networking. Hootsuite will build, monitor, engage and analyze your social activities.
4. KeywordSpy, www.keywordspy.com, will check out your competitors on their use of key words in marketing their Web sites. This will give you ideas on search engine marketing and optimization. It helps to eliminate the guessing on keywords.
5. PRlog, www.prlog.org, is a search engine press release service that will distribute your messages online and will provide an authoritative link to your site. You can choose three categories and 10 key words. You can insert your logo and picture. In your press release, you can insert as many as three links to your site. PRlog.org will display your contact information and business profile, and provides an online pressroom of your releases. Almost immediately, your press releases are published on Bing News. It’s also respected by Google. (Note: This portal has benefitted from seemingly countless releases on PRlog.org.) 

From the Coach’s Corner, here are more resource links: 

Checklist: 14 Strategies to Rock on Google 

Why B2B Marketers Like Content Marketing – Study 

Best Practices to Optimize Your Brand, Manage Your Web Reputation 

Need PR, But No Budget? Here’s How to Leverage News Media 

“In marketing I’ve seen only one strategy that can’t miss – and that is to market to your best customers first, your best prospects second and the rest of the world last.” 

-John Romero

 

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Columnist Terry Corbell is also a business-performance consultant and profit professional. Click here to see his management services (many are available online). For a complimentary chat about your business situation or to schedule Terry Corbell as a speaker, why don’t you contact him today?

 

12 Tips for Profits to Keep Your Business Dreams Alive

 

Most businesspeople agree the economy continues to be challenging. Signs of a lingering downturn are everywhere. Business activity is slow. Governments at all levels report low tax revenue and are restructuring, and not spending. Customers want you to cut prices.

With a high level of oversupply in many industries, high unemployment and reduced customer spending, many businesspeople face a highly competitive environment.

To keep your dream alive in this downturn, you must find ways to adapt and do it quickly. That means re-examining business plans, strengthening risk management initiatives, retaining top talent, and making internal changes and restructuring to increase efficiency and profitability – all while looking for new opportunities for growth.

How to improve your business position:

1. Be defensive. Protect your turf by taking the best possible care of your best customers. You can invigorate sales with customer retention strategies. Find out what they think of your company, and make necessary improvements. You might consider jettisoning high-maintenance customers. Upon careful review, you might find they’re not profitable for you. You don’t want to be in a position where you’re just moving money around.
2. Expand your customer base. By surveying your best customers, you’ll probably get some compliments. That’s a perfect opportunity to ask for referrals. Find low-cost ways of rewarding them for referring their associates, relatives and friends to you. Here are sales and networking strategies to build strong relationships.
3. Invest in your future. Keep your productive marketing going. Train your workers. Take advantage of innovations in technology. Consider the 11 strategies to keep your business floating above water.
4. Develop an employee-loyalty program. Make it a fun working environment. Even if you can’t give raises, learn how other businesses are successful in retaining their best employees.  Learn which employees are most-likely to quit. Be transparent with them. Explain your challenges and how they can help, especially in processes and with customers. Note the strategies if a valued employee wants a raise, and money’s tight.
5. Fine-tune your branding. The Eight Best Practices in Small Business Marketing. The key to remember – customers want value. Think 1930s for business success. Consumer attitudes are changing.
6. Give back to the community. Did you know that cause-related marketing can increase sales by double digits?
7. Review your pricing strategy. Determine how to get more return on your sales. There are eight simple strategies to give you pricing power.
8. Use best practices in managing your financials. If you’re struggling, here are the step-by-step solutions for a company turnaround.
9. Be creative in your receivables. If collections are a challenge, here’s how to ease debt-collection headaches.
10. If you’re small, make it work for you. Remember  size doesn’t matter but image, professionalism count.
11. Do your best for the environment. Eco strategies work with customers. Here’s a checklist for branding, selling your biz as green.
12. Become an innovator. You must constantly evolve. Here’s how successful companies innovate. Once you are running on all cylinders, consider buying your competitors – providing, of course, you can manage them.

From the Coach’s Corner, if you’re really in a survival mode, here’s a six-part series with tips on “Surviving Economic & Industry Downturns” for your Downturn Survival.

“Nobody talks of entrepreneurship as survival, but that’s exactly what it is and what nurtures creative thinking.”

-Anita Roddick

 

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Columnist Terry Corbell is also a business-performance consultant and profit professional. Click here to see his management services (many are available online). For a complimentary chat about your business situation or to schedule Terry Corbell as a speaker, why don’t you contact him today?

Checklist for Branding, Selling Your Biz as Green

 

Consumers love environmentally sensitive businesses. You might think it’s a slam dunk for businesses to market themselves as green. Well, yes and no. There are precautions to take. They include educating your audience on your eco practices.

Before you embark on a green marketing campaign, here’s a checklist of basic questions to ask:

Are you really green? Merely supporting an employee carpool program doesn’t constitute green a green business. There’s certainly more to it. Think accuracy and transparency.

If your green-conscious customers find out you’re giving lip service to being environmentally sensitive, you will be faced with a PR nightmare.

You will be accused of greenwashing – or lying in your marketing messages, such as using too-narrow criteria to define your environmental practices, failure to provide proof, and providing misleading information. For more information, see The Sins of Greenwashing.

Do you know what your customers really want? While it would seem to be an automatic assumption, not all customers care whether you’re a green business. Some are more concerned about luxury or size.

Personally, I believe it’s good business to be green. But in your branding, be sure to touch all the concerns of your target audience instead of focusing on just your green value propositions.

Do you use benefit statements to explain your feature statements? Sometimes you have to super diligent in making your points; not all consumers will readily understand your messaging.

See to it they get it – your products and services are beneficial to their pocketbooks, families and the earth.

Are you a 100 percent green practitioner? Don’t miss any opportunity to use green practices.

Oh, and don’t be mundane, trite or patronizing in your messages. Don’t give it lip service. Be careful how you portray your environmental messaging.

Do you spread the message? Green practitioners who profit from being green should carry the environmental message to others. That means being vocal as a green advocate or engaging in environmental cause-related marketing.

Practice these principles and you’ll be on your way.

From the Coach’s Corner, here’s How to Win Your Major Marketing Campaign  and Why B2B Marketers Like Content Marketing – Study.

“I think the environment should be put in the category of our national security. Defense of our resources is just as important as defense abroad. Otherwise what is there to defend?”

-Robert Redford

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Columnist Terry Corbell is also a business-performance consultant and profit professional. Click here to see his management services (many are available online). For a complimentary chat about your business situation or to schedule Terry Corbell as a speaker, why don’t you contact him today?

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