Four Strategies To Keep Your Clients From Firing You. Since I joined the agency world in 1994, I’ve had the opportunity to pitch digital marketing services literally thousands of companies. In that time, I’ve even been fortunate enough to have won a reasonable percentage of those businesses as clients. One critical pattern I recognized relatively early in the game, was how and why my former account teams were losing clients. Here’s a hint: it wasn’t due to a lack of performance. Agencies and clients typically agree on the most common reasons they part ways, and they’re deluding themselves. Popular justification for firing agencies include: budget constraints, lack of return-on-investment (ROI), incongruous personalities and poor customer service.
As an agency, if you’re able to create a meaningful connection with your client contact(s), the following will occur: When you connect with a client, they like, trust and respect you. Talk Time One day over coffee, Jay Sigler, CEO of IT Assurance, recently told me about the concept of “Talk Time.” Are You in Control of Business Strategy Drivers and Effective Decision Making? | The Wiglaf Journal. Over the past few years, I discover more and more senior level executives who do not have a full grasp of primary business strategy drivers that drive revenue and profits.
I’ve met with Chief Executive Officers (CEO) who just dismissed their Chief Marketing Officer (CMO) and asked “Why did you remove this person and what change in business activities do you seek in your next CMO?” Amazingly most can’t answer this basic question with a well thought out and rational answer. Part of the problem starts here.
Chief Financial Officers (CFO) also need to understand the details of their marketing budgets and how they can potentially affect the top line so that they can lead growth. As I’ve written here previously, the skill set of the Chief Marketing Officer has recently changed dramatically. This type of environment leads to delayed decisions or completely missing decisions about right business activities altogether. Executives certainly have more data than ever before. Is our revenue growing? Law firm fires 14 employees for wearing orange shirts | The Sideshow. Janice Doble, in the orange shirt that got her fired (Michael Laughlin/Sun Sentinel) They weren't wearing sagging pants or revealing clothing.
But dressing in an orange shirt is apparently enough to get fired at one Florida law firm, where 14 workers were unceremoniously let go last Friday. In an interview with the Ft. Lauderdale Sun-Sentinel, several of the fired workers say they wore the matching colors so they would be identified as a group when heading out for a happy hour event after work. They say the executive who fired them initially accused them of wearing the matching color as a form of protest against management. Orange is widely considered to be one of the most visible colors to the human eye. The color orange is arguably Florida's defining color. The law offices of Elizabeth R. "There is no office policy against wearing orange shirts. Ironically, had the employees been wearing orange as a form of protest, it would have been illegal to fire them, ABC News reports.
The 6 Lifelong Laws of Content Marketing for Agencies | Blogging and Content Creation. Marketers Who Share Content Drive Traffic, Gain Customers [INFOGRAPHIC] Content marketing was a top priority for businesses in 2011, and it is going to remain so in 2012. That's according to a study conducted by the Content Marketing Institute, a marketing education and research company. In the past year, marketers distributed more business-to-business content on YouTube, LinkedIn, Facebook and Twitter than ever, according to CMI. Content marketing encompasses new techniques and methods of sharing information.
Spreading unique, helpful bits within the industry or with consumers creates brand awareness, new customers and client loyalty. Businesses should be sharing information from company research and client data. Data can be displayed in web infographics, articles outlining business tips, videos and slideshows. SEE ALSO: Going Viral Visualized [INFOGRAPHIC] This BlueGlass Interactive infographic suggests businesses look at Coca-Cola, Mint.com and American Express as examples of companies that are sharing great content. How to Work with Someone You Hate - Amy Gallo - Best Practices. Working with someone you hate can be distracting and draining. Pompous jerk, annoying nudge, or incessant complainer, an insufferable colleague can negatively affect your attitude and performance.
Instead of focusing on the work you have to do together, you may end up wasting time and energy trying to keep your emotions in check and attempting to manage the person’s behavior. Fortunately, with the right tactics, you can still have a productive working relationship with someone you can’t stand. What the Experts Say If you work with someone you don’t like, you’re not alone. The detested co-worker is a familiar archetype. Manage your reaction Your response to your dreaded co-worker may range from slight discomfort to outright hostility. Keep your distaste to yourself While working through your displeasure, avoid the temptation to gripe with other coworkers.
Consider whether it’s you, not them Once you have your reactions in check, think about what it is you don’t like about the person. 7 Ways That Retailers Can Combat 'Scan and Scram' InShare36 Brick-and-mortar retailers feel under siege by mobile price-checking tools. They shouldn't panic. For retailers, especially those who just can't compete with big discounters on price, the concern is growing about new mobile shopping behaviors. The core phenomenon, often called pejoratively "scan and scram" or "showrooming" is now widespread: customers shopping at brick-and-mortar retailers examine physical merchandise at the shelf but use smartphone price-checking tools such as barcode scanners to buy the product at a better price online or at another store.
The implicit accusation of these new catchphrases is that shoppers are doing their research furtively, and that they are violating a quid pro quo with retailers by reducing venues to "showrooms" for business they intend to transact elsewhere. That's hard for local or regional store owners to remember sometimes, especially amid the flames that online competitors are stoking. Businesses need a plan. 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. Encounters With a Shoe Nazi. Anna Maria Virzi | August 5, 2011 | 9 Comments inShare8 How can a business stay open despite bad service, inflated list prices, and bad reviews?
While strolling down Boylston Street, Boston, this spring, this visitor couldn't resist the impulse to stop at a shoe store that possessed an impressive collection of boots from Frye, Ecco, and other well-known brands. What happened next was surreal even for an experienced shopper like me. And I have a few theories why some businesses remain in operation despite bad service, inflated list prices, and bad reviews - even when social networks and mobile devices are making it easier for people to swap information about businesses and organizations they love and hate. First, the back story. Once inside the store, a pair of tall Ecco boots caught my attention. A sales associate volunteered to bring out a coffee-colored pair, size 38, and I gave them a test drive.
So, what about the price? His mood turned even darker. Why Best Buy is Going out of Business...Gradually. How To Be More Interesting (In 10 Simple Steps) New When you don’t tell the truth to customers . . . I was thinking about three events lately that bothered me. There’s a library related question here at the end. Why do employers ask their employees to tell known untruths to their customers? Story No. 1 I am sitting in my seat on a plane and listening to the pre-flight announcements and safety training. Our flight attendant gets very aggressive on this point.
She states that all phones must be off. It’s also total B.S. And, yet, we listen on EVERY flight how our phones, if left on, endanger our flight safety. Story No. 2 I am attempting to pay for something in a store with a credit card. The store has negotiated with the credit card company that they will get an additional discount on their store credit card fees (credit card companies make (big) money both ways).
Now the interesting decision is that the store’s management has trained all staff to tell customers that it is for their own protection. Story No. 3 I am paying my fines at the library. 1. Stephen. How to Create a Cell Phone Policy. Despite their overwhelming presence in today's society, cell phones perpetually straddle the line between modern convenience and disruptive nuisance. The phone calls, text messages, pictures and other data relayed to family members, friends, doctors, or even co-workers while on the job are the source of many interrupted business meetings or disgruntled employees, which is why creating a cell phone policy is key to preserving the (literal) peace of your workplace environment. 'I definitely think that employers need to be sensitive to the fact that cell phone use is now the primary way we communicate,' says Nancy Flynn, director of the Columbus, Ohio-based ePolicy Institute and author of The e-Policy Handbook: Rules and Best Practices to Safely Manage Your Company's E-Mail, Blogs, Social Networking, and Other Electronic Communication Tools (2009). 'But you want to have a policy in place to protect your organization's assets and reputation.' Dig Deeper: Enabling the Mobile Workforce.
Epic Retail Fails 2011 [Infographic] Thoroughly Modern Marketing | TMMPDX | Portland's Internet Marketing Resource. S Coolest Coffeehouses. Blame Seattle. A certain coffee shop chain started there four decades ago and changed the way Americans thought about coffee. Dried-out coffee flakes sold in tin cans were out. Highly polished European contraptions that hissed noisily and sent forth geysers of steam were in.
Despite, or perhaps because of, the rapid expansion of Starbucks and other standardized chains, small coffeehouses are flourishing. Coffeehouses that meet the criteria for cool each stand out from the crowd and attract us for diverse reasons. Some coffeehouses draw us primarily for their own scene, like Busboys and Poets in Washington, D.C., which hosts impassioned speakers or (surprise!) Others are virtually small universes built around state-of-the art machines, like the Lamill Coffee Boutique in Los Angeles, which approaches coffee as a university laboratory might approach quarks and is always tweaking something.
Coffee: it’s the best legal drug. Zombie Preparedness Center | Westlake Ace Hardware. Westlake knows undeath comes with its own special set of needs. Don't let decay and rot slow you down. Westlake's Delay Decay Experts are here to help, with all you need to keep yourself in one piece. Bodily Repairs Keep it together with Westlakes's extensive supply of maintenance tools. Caulk Duct Tape Sealants Bolts & Fasteners Home & Lifestyle Just because you're rotting doesn't mean your home has to smell like it. Air Fresheners Carpet Cleaners Cleaning Supplies Wagons & Other Mobility Devices The rise of the undead doesn't have to be your imminent demise. Zombie attacks can create a big mess inside and outside your home, and Westlake has all the supplies you need to handle zombie destruction of any kind.
Carpet stain removal Patching Walls Rewiring your electricity Removing smells of rot Window and screen repairs Regrowing trampled plants, flowers and lawns Zombie Defense Westlake has a wide selection of multipurpose tools. Zombie Proofing. NRLB Accuses Target Of Intimidating Workers Before Valley Stream Union Vote. More evidence has come to light indicating that Target might have threatened to close one its New York stores if workers decided to unionize, according to the National Labor Relations Board.
The change may convince a judge to invalidate the results of a June election in which workers at a Valley Stream, New York Target voted not to join the United Food and Commercial Workers Union, according to Crain's New York Business. The NLRB's claim comes after an earlier complaint alleging that Target implemented surveillance of its employees and threatened to close the store amongst other charges. The case is likely to head to an administrative law judge early next year and the NLRB will decide whether to overturn the June vote based in part on the judge's decision.
The Target dispute is indicative of the larger debate in the U.S. over unionization. But the Valley Stream store is likely not the only Target where union activity is viewed negatively. Funny Products For Women: Items We'd Be Better Off Without. BofA Threatens Foreclosure Over Missing $1 From Already-Sold Home.