Part four of our Four Step Marketing System is Marketing Automation.  Marketing automation may sound impersonal but in reality, having systems in place that automate the whole customer experience process leads to better response time and an improved customer experience.

For example this past week my wife and I experienced poor responses from 3 different companies.  If they had systems in place that automated the process we would have had a much more positive experience and I’d be writing about a different subject matter today.

I’m thankful that these local Charlotte companies do a poor job marketing.  When they realize they are not getting sales or their process is broken, they will look for local marketing help here in Charlotte and I’ll be available to assist.  However, I digress, back to our experiences this past week and how marketing automation can help you.

3 Companies, Same Poor Response to a Customer’s Inquiry

I am on well water and somehow dirt and sediment made its way into our system.  For the past two weeks we had a putrid, rust color water coming out our faucets.  Not only was it disgusting, but was causing problems with our faucets, toilets, washing machine, dishwasher, hot water heater, etc.

My attempt to Continue Reading…

How often do we compare ourselves to others and become discouraged because we perceive others as being more polished, accomplished, knowledgeable or skilled.  Is it discouraging or are you using it to benchmark and self-scout yourself to determine where you can improve and what your strengths are.  We all do it, sometimes it’s an ongoing conversation…our negative self-talk.

I Suck at Sports

When I was a child, and as most of us did, I compared myself to others.  I suffered from low self-esteem and a continuous cycle of negative self-talk, tearing myself down at every opportunity.  I suck at sports…I was the kid that sat on the bench until the last couple of innings and played because it was required to play each kid an inning or two.

I’m Stupid

I’m stupid…In grade school I was a C student and had trouble focusing on anything the teacher said.  I did not know it at the time, but I had ADD.  I don’t even know if that was an existing diagnosis.  I engaged in a perpetual cycle of negative self-talk reinforced by my grades. I dreaded bringing home my report card, because I knew my parents would be upset and disappointed.

I viewed everyone else around me as being smarter and better.  After all, I wasn’t good at sports and wasn’t very smart.  I hated school and would Continue Reading…

Create a Compelling USP

Innovation is critical to the success of any business.  Simply being a “me too” service or product company does not differentiate your products or services from all of your competitors.  Even worse, if you have a great niche and have some success but fail to find ways to innovate and improve the product or service and customer experience you will go be cured to the curb by your customers.  Another competitor will come along and determine how to improve and innovate the service or product and customer experience…while charging a premium.  You have to constantly innovate and create a compelling USP.

Starbucks did not invent coffee, but figured out how to innovate and enhance the customer experience.  While every neighborhood coffee shop was competing on price they changed the game and created a niche that delivered a whole customer experience that allowed them to charge a premium price for a cup of coffee.

Blockbuster verses Netflix: Which company placed more value on the customers experience? 

Blockbuster got its butt kicked and went the way of the dinosaur because they failed to embrace and improve on their business model.

Do you remember when, you’d want to watch a video? It required hopping into your car, fighting traffic and driving down to the local video store. Arrive late on a Friday or Saturday or if the weather was lousy, the store would be packed and the videos picked over. You’d try and grab a video and someone else would snatch it up just before you. Even if you weren’t sure you wanted to watch a movie you’d grab and carry it around the store until you found better ones. It was like playing musical chairs with videos.

If you returned a video late you were hit with astronomical late fees. Pricing was based on a per video rental fee.  Rent 3-4 videos and it cost a small fortune.

Netflix came along Continue Reading…

A few weeks ago, I completed a 75 mile ride to support and raise money for MS.  It is a cause that is very close to my family.  My brother Mark, suffered from Primary Progressive Multiple Sclerosis.  A form of MS that progressively gets worse with no cure.  On September 16, 2001 he passed away.  It was devastating week for our family between loosing a loved family member and seeing thousands of other people perish in the September 11 terrorist attack.

Since his passing our family, over the years, has raised money on an individual basis for MS.  This past year we decided to ride together as a family to support a cure for MS. All six of my siblings, a sister-in-law, two nieces and a nephew rode in  honor of my brother and to raise money for others that suffer from MS.

It was great experience.  Not only being able to spend time with family but also the training and support I received leading up to the ride.  Here are 6 Marketing lessons from training and participating in the MS ride that can be applied to your business.

1. Become Committed

Nothing in life is achieved without a commitment.  When I first considered riding in the MS ride I did not have a bike and was not in riding shape.  I had not ridden in over 25 years and while I had been exercising over the previous few months, I was not in the best of shape.

I had to become committed to achieving my objective.  This meant setting aside time each week to ride and train.  For 3 months before the ride Continue Reading…

Are you getting enough engagement with your tweets? Have you customized them to maximize their attention earning potential?

5 steps to increase engagement on Twitter

Competing a platform where there are nearly 6,000 tweets posted every second can be seriously challenging, but fortunately there are several simple ways that you can help make your tweets stand out and increase engagement on Twitter. Below we’ll look at five ways you can make your tweets shine.

1. Retweets Done Right

Thanks to sharing buttons, blog posts and articles are two of the most common types of content that get retweeted. As a result, it’s very common to simply click a share button and use the template copy provided by the accompanying sharing widget. One of the reasons that sharing widgets have become so popular is because they make sharing on Twitter as simple as clicking one button, but for anyone trying to maximize engagement on their tweets, using that default text can be very counterproductive.

You can start to stand out from the crowd by not Continue Reading…