Blog
How Did You Make Your Customers Feel?
August 17th, 2009 by Todd Schnick
Cartoon by @gapingvoid
- What are you doing – with every decision and action – to make your customers have a wow experience?
- What was it about their experience with you that was and is memorable? Do you know what you want to your customers to feel?
- Will they tell people in their circle about you?
- And if so, what will be the story they talk about?
- Are your employees EMPOWERED to make the customer experience one to remember?
Xtreme Marketing: August Workshop
August 12th, 2009 by Todd Schnick
Photo by gnsk on Flickr
“Business is a combination of war and sport.” [Andre Maurois]
On August 29th, Taryn Pisaneschi and I will conduct our second Xtreme Marketing Workshop: The Fusion of Networking, Social Media, and Personal Branding.
Marketing is as critical as ever. But the marketplace is as crowded – and as cluttered – as ever. And most people are scrambling to be remarkable in a tough environment. And they certainly aren’t having fun doing it.
I suppose you could attend any one of the many run-of-the-mill workshops that exist, or read one of millions of sales and marketing books available…
…or you could go XTREME! Add some fun, a little edge to your marketing. Attend this workshop and learn to think about your marketing a little differently.
Workshop Details:
- Saturday, August 29th
- REGISTER HERE!
- 1000AM to 300PM
- $75
- Lunch included
- Midtown Athletic Club at Windy Hill – 135 Interstate North Parkway SE, Marietta GA 30339
- Bring your laptop – Free WiFi
Todd’s Program:
- Understanding the the Xtreme Marketing Paradigm Shift.
- The Assumptions – the playbook for hand-to-hand marketing combat.
- Creating your game plan, your strategy. Yeah, dude, you need one!
- Setting up a blog. Easier than you think…
- Choose your weapons – how to determine which social media applications are right for you.
- Integrating social media into your overall marketing strategy.
- Learn the secret to creating your ideal personal brand…
Taryn’s Program
- How networking can power your personal brand.
- The fundamentals of connecting with people.
- Taryn’s Secret Dos and Dont’s
- …and how social media plays a part.
- The ONE thing you must do before you begin…
- How to MAXIMIZE your time investment – FOLLOW-UP!
- How to tell your Xtreme story in a way people will remember!
Group Program:
- Discussion of REAL WORLD case studies
- Your successes and failures. Our successes and failures!
- Design Your Own Xtreme Daily Regimen
Here is some feedback from the July ‘09 Workshop:
@positivepam Ready to explode my marketing efforts as a result of the Xtreme Marketing Seminar I’m attending right now with @toddschnick and @tarynp !!!
@cherylmettler Reviewing social media networking tips learned in my Xtreme Marketing class today presented by Todd Schnick and Taryn Pisaneschi.
@elainebylos At the Xtreme Marketing workshop. Learning invaluable information from @toddschnick and @tarynp
25 Steps To Fortify Your Customer’s Brand Relationship With You…
August 11th, 2009 by Todd Schnick
I am asked every day whether a person should build a brand around themselves personally, or around their business. That question, without knowing the bigger picture, is difficult to answer.
But, to be honest, I generally lean towards building a desired brand identity and positioning around YOU. People like to buy from someone they know, trust, and have a good relationship with. Obviously, this is more difficult if you are part of a larger organization…
What you MUST understand is this: you can’t simply create a “brand” out of thin air. You have to earn it. And the market determines what your brand is, because of the reputation you have earned in achieving it. You can say you are the “customer service” company, but if your customer service is poor, the market place will determine otherwise.
That said, here are a few ideas on things you can do to help strengthen the relationship your market, your customers, and your prospects – have with your brand:
- Be honest. Always.
- Do what you promise. Always.
- Think about your customers first. With every decision. I mean every decision.
- Have all stakeholders in your organization bought into the same, consistent organizational message.
- And then deliver that message consistently.
- Think service first, selling second.
- Live your positioning. If you say you are a green company, be green.
- Give back to the community.
- Be yourself.
- Admit fault. And seek to fix it.
- Focus on the little things. They matter…
- Strive to be perfect in every way. From big picture stuff to the mundane…
- Be intrepid. Don’t be afraid to try new things. Don’t play it safe.
- Don’t embrace the status quo. You will die a slow death…
- Seek to stand out. Make it easy for people to distinguish you.
- But make it easy for people to know you.
- Be accessible. Communicate well.
- When using social media, truly engage with people.
- Listen.
- Live up to expectations.
- Be sure your marketing tells a story…
- …And pushes emotional buttons.
- Provide a strong pre-purchase customer experience…
- …but don’t forget the post-purchase experience.
- Does your product or service deliver on what you promise?
You can make a choice to do nothing, and let the branding chips fall where they may. Or you can choose to earn your brand, and make the choice to strengthen your customer’s brand relationship.
What will you choose? And what other ideas can you share?
Todd Schnick Now Co-Host of High Velocity Radio!
July 31st, 2009 by Todd Schnick
Readers of this blog have been hearing me say for a long, long time to do something exciting and different with their marketing.
Well, I have taken my own advice. I have accepted the invitation of original host Stone Payton to join him on the mic for The High Velocity Radio Show!
Stone and I have big plans for the show. We will have guests that will talk about bringing fast, innovative change to their business, who get better business results in less time, and who practice the art of CircleNomics – bringing quality relationships and profitable business into their circle.
But stay tuned as we grow and evolve this show!
So, not only do we get to interact with a wide collection of fascinating, innovative, and successful business leaders, we get to share their valuable insights with our own community. And that is the best part about it!
But what a great way to meet people and interact with them in a serious way. One could continue to cold call and/or spam people with interruption marketing tactics in hopes of getting them to respond… Or you could invite them to share their knowledge on the radio. Hmmm…
I’ve chosen my new approach. But as I’ve said, it isn’t about Stone or myself. It isn’t even about the guests on our show. It’s really about our listeners – and providing them with helpful and valuable content that helps them learn, grow and become better business leaders.
Comment below if you are interested in being on the show, or want to suggest a future guest for the show. Or use the “Ask A Question” form to the immediate right. We would love to hear from you!
Thanks Stone, for the opportunity to join you on this adventure. It’s gonna be a wild ride!
Tune in to The High Velocity Radio Show Monday mornings at 1000AM Eastern time! As Stone says, see you in the fast lane!
The Discipline of Serving
July 26th, 2009 by Todd Schnick
Photo by ocean.flynn on Flickr
Be An Intrepid Marketer – Recommendation No. 29
I was jointly conducting a workshop this weekend, where the topic of networking was front and center. A main theme throughout the workshop, when talking about both face-to-face networking and social media – is giving value first.
By this I mean thinking about others first. Putting yourself in the servant’s heart mindset first. The last thing you should really focus on? Selling.
[I promise, serving first will result in new business...]
The main point of this post is to tell you that you have to change your thinking, change your discipline, and force yourself into a mindset where you are always looking for ways to help and serve people.
You have to LISTEN to people, and identify opportunities to help people, whether that is sending them a referral, sending them an article or blog post on something they will find useful, or whether you can connect them with someone who will be important for them to know.
But…
If you are in a selling mindset, you just don’t see these opportunities. And trust me, we all fall into this. You have to discipline yourself to change your mindset into that of a servant, and once you do, you will see countless ways to help people.
Discipline yourself to do this, and you will see good karma come back to you, big time!
