Do you know the very first place to begin earning customer loyalty?

The first place leadership and management can begin to earn customer loyalty is from within their own organizations – with their own people, or their “internal customers”.  You must be healthy inside, if you are to look exceptional on the outside.

Part 4 of this article series serves to provide an enhanced appreciation for the internal components that help drive and sustain customer loyalty externally: Being a visionary, Leading with personal power, and Praising your employees.

Be a Visionary

Have you ever worked for a company and asked yourself, “Doesn’t anybody know what in the he** is going on around here?”  Me too.

I have experience with an organization in which the president of the company (a holier than thou sort) changed the direction and focus of the company literally every 2 weeks!

If you could’ve witnessed the impact of that sort of leadership on the workforce, you would’ve seen some very talented employees feeling and behaving confused, frustrated, and fearful.  Confused because they didn’t know which way was up (at work), frustrated because they often felt like they were stupid, and fearful because they were consistently yelled at for the decisions of their inadequate leader.

Now let me ask you, what impact does such a lack of vision and focus have on an organization’s effectiveness for achieving company growth?  Customer Loyalty?

Executives, managers and leaders: If you haven’t yet provided your workforce/direct reports with a vision for success (where the company wants to go, be, etc.), you may want to consider taking some time and reflect on what that vision is, and then share it, many, many times!

If you provide your people with a vision, you’ve provided them with an inspirational purpose that will guide their daily activities for achieving company goals.

If you choose not to be a visionary, I guarantee a majority of your workforce/reports are confused and they don’t know what you want.  How does this look from the outside?  What will be your external customers’ experience?

Lead with Personal Power

Sometimes executives and managers believe if they yell or speak aggressively their employees will know what they want.  A few weeks ago I had the unexpected “pleasure” of overhearing a business owner yelling at one of his employees. It sounded like he was yelling at a misbehaving child or pet.  The employee stiffened up, zipped his lips, and took orders just as he was treated – an obedient child or scared puppy with his tail between his legs.

Why? – Probably because he was afraid of the consequences if he chose to behave otherwise.  Imagine, on a daily basis this employee performs out of fear, not inspiration, to achieve company goals (although this sort of leadership isn’t quite exemplary for goal setting).

What is your method of leading?  Do you lead others with personal power (others perform for you based on your personal leadership and the value you provide others), or, do you choose instead to lead with fear-based authority (you are insecure and misguided about how to get results)?

Sometime today, take a few moments to reflect on how you’ve been getting results from others at work.  On a scale of 1-5, 5 being high for personal power, note your score so you can either keep up the good work, or strive for improvement.

If you lead with personal power, people will do what you ask them to do because you’ve consistently shown them that you are a resource, you listen, empathize, inspire and understand them, and you take the time to help them with their problems.  People will respect you, and take pride in using the best of their abilities to meet your expectations.

If you lead with fear, your commands are a drone, and your results will reflect accordingly.  Again, how does this look from the outside?  What will be the customer’s experience upon interacting with your fearful employees?

Praise your employees (often!)

Your employees are internal “customers”!  Just as your external customers possess wants/needs/desires that they seek to have fulfilled (hopefully via your product/service), so to do your employees have wants/needs/desires they seek to have fulfilled by their employers. If your internal and external customers’ wants/needs aren’t being met, they will not be satisfied, and they will not be loyal to you or your organization.

What is it that you do to help keep your internal customers satisfied and loyal?

The almighty thing you can do better this week (and the many that follow) to boost employee satisfaction is to seek out opportunities to praise them often. Something to the degree of, “Hey…awesome job on that analysis yesterday.  You really have a keen ability for sifting through details.  Thank you so much!”

When you praise your employees, notice the emotion in their face, their sense of pride for pleasing you, and the increase in positive behaviors and performance.

How does THAT look from the outside?  What will be the customer’s experience?

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Wouldn’t it be nice to have investors signing-up to receive updates on your progress and achievements, as well as contacting you for a meeting?  Establishing a powerful online presence and/or “hub” where you serve as a resource and educator in your industry will attract investors.

I’m about to give you ten steps to show you how, but first there are five “laws” to consider for successfully implementing these steps:

1) You need to know who you are and where you are going

Executive leaders have strategic business, marketing and sales plans to guide their organizations toward achieving critical milestones.  It will be impossible to create an online hub that attracts investors if you don’t know who you are or where you are going – guaranteed!  Your web strategy must be in alignment with a clear direction provided by your leadership.

2) You need to understand that traditional websites are dead

An internet-brochure (aka website) will not work for you.  At best, it will provide investors and other visitors information (like a brochure).  At worst, it will cost you time, money and opportunity (due to its ineffective ability to help grow your business).

Highly effective websites of today serve as a sales and marketing machine.  They are a hub of empowering information, inspirational ideas, personal connection, and motivational conversion.  Your hub is a one-stop-shop for investors and customers to build trust and loyalty with you and your company!

3) You need to implement education-based marketing strategies

Your online hub should be a distribution center of empowering information to help investors learn all they don’t know they didn’t know about your industry and scope of solutions.  Outside of proprietary information, you can never give away too much helpful insight how your innovations can solve specific problems or make something better, easier, or faster.  If you’re really good at this, you will help readers make important decisions about THEIR business.

Of course you should provide your latest studies for download.  But as interesting and informative as your studies are, are they empowering?  Do they hook your reader emotionally?  Do they move people to action?  It would be nice if they did; however, studies serve as proof only.

You’ll need more to pull funding in your direction!  Whitepapers, Case Studies, and Articles are great pieces for edu-marketing.

4) You need to target specific investors and investor groups

This is where sales strategy comes in.  Just like any other market segment, you have to identify your “targets” and keep track of your investor relationships. You don’t want to attract ALL investors, but only those who fit your predetermined criteria. Your online hub will effectively generate warm leads for you to consider adding to your CRM system/software.

5) You need to always be driving investor traffic to your site

By nature, the activities outlined below will help drive traffic to your site (for example, blogging provides fresh content for Google spiders.) But in addition, you should always direct investors to your site because this is your HUB.  You position and brand yourself on your hub.  You move investors to sign up for your updates on your hub.  All things important to attracting and getting funding happen on your hub, if done right.

CAUTION: If you can’t embrace these concepts it’s highly unlikely you will be able to attract and connect with investors online.  And I will tell you this, either becasue they’re skeptical or because they’re not interested in putting forth the effort to exercise new skills, I meet business owners every week who struggle to accept one or more of the above concepts.  This is good news for YOU!  Take the actions I’m about to present below and you’ll win!  You will stand out from the market, and increase your attractiveness in it!

10 Steps For Attracting Investors To Your Online Hub

Step 1: Define the sort of investors you want to attract.

You want to be able to speak directly to your ideal investor types.  Create a profile for your investors that include things like location, criteria, attitudes, and beliefs. You don’t need to be concerned with ALL investors being interested in your technology and company! Concern yourself with speaking only to those genuinely interested in your scope of innovations – you’ll ultimately earn faster results!

Step 2: Create a free whitepaper (or some other educational piece).

You’ll want to have empowering information ready for download when investors sign up to receive updates on your hubsite.  A whitepaper is a highly effective tool to educate investors on all solutions, history, and milestones in your industry, and then wrap up with your specific technology.  A whitepaper serves to tactfully educate and help people make decisions, while soft-selling your own solutions toward the END.

If you’d like to learn more about writing effective whitepapers that educate and earn thought leadership, pick up Michael A. Stelzner’s book, “Writing White Papers: How to capture readers and keep them engaged.”

Step 3: Determine your web platform and auto-responder

Here you must decide if you’re going to pay an expensive web developer/designer to do everything for you (which is fine if it’s worth it to you personally), or if you will go with less expensive options such as Wordpress, Weebly or Quansite, which don’t require you know code.

Quansite (formerly Blog i360) is what I use because it provides advanced features no other platform can accommodate, such as auto-updating all your social bookmarks for you. For this reason and many more, I highly recommend it.  You can learn more about Quansite by visiting www.quansite.com.

You will also need an auto responder to capture investor contact information and regularly communicate.  You’ve likely seen many examples of these by now, such as Constant Contact and iContact.  My favorite is Aweber because you can automatically broadcast your blog posts to your email list.  Whichever auto responder you choose, you will use it to save time and effectively edu-market your contact list of investors and provide them company updates.

Step 4: Design your site map for investor navigation

If you already have a company website, I recommend adding a tab called “Investors” which will take them to an “investor universe”. This universe is a blog platform of your choosing, as mentioned above.  Ask yourself, “What do investors want to know?” And create pages tailored to their needs.  The following tabs will make a great start:

• Welcome: The most important page, as explained below in Step 5
• About: Interesting info about your company; don’t be dry!
• Management Team: Picture/video and bio of each member highlighting relevant background that makes them an excellent choice for a management position in your   company
• Board of Directors: Picture and brief bio highlighting the value they bring to the company’s achievements and milestones
• Scientific Advisory Board (if applicable): Pictures and brief bio highlighting specifically why they were chosen to serve on this important board
• Blog: Include case studies, updates, opinions, etc…this is your space to differentiate your company, innovations, and most importantly, demonstrate your thought leadership!

Step 5: Shout your “cause” from your Welcome page!

Your welcome page should NOT say, “Welcome to XYZ company!  We bla bla bla…”  This is typical as well as boring!  Instead use your Welcome page to your advantage!

Your Welcome page is your opportunity to communicate – loud and clear – what you stand for and represent!  Have a conversation that hooks your readers emotionally regarding the problems your technology can and will help alleviate.  Avoid brochure talk.  Get investors inspired to sign up for your company updates regarding your milestones and technology.

Step 6: Capture investor name and email

Remember that whitepaper you wrote in Step 2?  Aren’t you glad you did!  It took time and preparation, but it was worth it because now investors get it as an added bonus once you’ve moved them to sign up for your company updates on your inspirational welcome page.

If your title on your guide/whitepaper is well crafted, they will begin to read it.  If the first few paragraphs are extremely helpful, they will keep reading and get to the page where you talk about your solutions (the last page, sorry!).  If they read through the whole whitepaper, you’ll have made a footprint on their minds.

Your updates and other educational material you provide via your auto responder will have greater impact and quickly grow your thought leadership in your industry.

Step 7: Nurture-market your list with your updates

Once you have your investor list, use it wisely!  Don’t email useless nonsense.  Only send things of high value as seen through the eyes of the investor.  They will want to know milestones.  They will want an announcement of your blog post that provides a video of useful or interesting information about your technology.  They will want to know of your latest research publications with a summary in lay terms.  Think before email marketing!

Step 8: Blog your case studies and other helpful information often

Blogging is Marketing 101.  I know it’s extra work, but those who do it effectively attract the market and grow their business.  If you are trying to decide whether or not to blog, a good question to ask yourself is, “Do I want to grow my business?”

Realistically decide how frequently you can blog on a consistent basis. The more frequently you blog, the more you attract your market/investors.

Step 9: Implement multi-media on your site

An important lesson I learned from one of the most amazing marketing courses I’ve ever taken, Tribal Seduction, is that people (no matter who) want to be entertained.   I realize this isn’t exactly new information, but it’s often easily forgotten when we’re getting down to business.  People are drawn to pictures, video, sound, “a cause”, controversy, drama, and other emotion-laden content.  Implementing multi-media will attract the market, even investors (Investors are people too, yes?!)

Step 10: Tap into 1-3 social networks

I’m easily annoyed every time I hear things like, “You have to get on Facebook”, or,  “You must be on Twitter”.  “Why”, you might ask?  “Because it helps you with your business”, people will tell you.

The only people who maximally benefit from social networks are those who have done something very similar to steps 1-9 above, plus understand that strategy comes before tactics.  Facebook and Twitter are tactics, and not quick fixes to lack of direction and/or a strategic marketing plan.  But, with a strategy and a plan, they can be powerful tools indeed!  Proceed with knowing who you are and where you are going!

Furthermore, don’t stress yourself out trying to learn all of the social networking tools at once, especially without a strategy.  Take one at a time!  If you have an effective online hub, Facebook, twitter and LinkedIn will be ancillary (yet powerful) tools for driving traffic to your site, where your thoughts and company reign supreme.

The science and technology you work on everyday are more “rocket-science” (for some of you quite literally!) than social media tactics will ever be!  Keep these thoughts in mind, and you will implement these tools with ease and effectiveness!

A note on SEO: Of course SEO is a consideration for attracting investors to your online hub.  You can pay all kinds of money for search engine optimization services (and potentially discover disappointing results), or you can visit www.wordtracker.com…they will show you the inexpensive and effective way to apply SEO with keywords.

I hope you’ll find these concepts and steps implemented into your strategic marketing plans.  They will improve your marketing effectiveness and thus increase your attractiveness in the market!

When can you and your team complete Step 1?

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What is your favorite story of exceptional customer service where you find yourself looking forward to interacting with the company again and spending your time and money?

Here’s my favorite story that may have some things in common with yours:

My daughter and I were going to one of our preferred restaurants for lunch where we helped ourselves to a seat and waited for a server to bring us our menus (the usual protocol for eating in the more casual saloon area).  We were so engrossed in our conversation we didn’t notice we’d been waiting for a server for about 30 minutes or more.

One of the staff eventually realized we weren’t being helped, and sent a server over who graciously apologized for the wait, and thus offered us a complimentary appetizer.  That was nice, we thought.  But upon deeper consideration, my daughter and I weren’t all that hungry, and didn’t want to spoil our lunch with an app.  When the waiter returned we said thanks, but no thanks, and no problem!  We were impressed with their effort to make it up to us!

Our kind refusal of the appetizer, however, did not satisfy the manager.  The server returned at the end of our meal and offered us complimentary dessert instead!  Oddly enough, my daughter and I didn’t want a dessert either and kindly turned the offer down (we were nice customers, weren’t we?!).  Still, the manager was not satisfied because the server finally came back with our bill paid, on the house…Nice!

On the drive home I kept thinking how awesome it was that the manager went out of his way to make up for having us wait longer than usual for a server.  He wasn’t satisfied unless we were compensated in some way!

What’s more, his objective to create a positive experience between the restaurant and us resulted in two highly loyal customers (although my daughter is too young to buy lunch, she sure has influence!). I tell this story to many people who ask about the quality of the restaurant, and it remains one of my favorite places to eat with fresh, healthy food options and exceptional customer service.

And like a good, loyal customer does, I naturally provide free advertising for:  Mitchell’s Fish Market in Brookfield, WI (Props!)

What is your favorite story?

How do you and your organization (regardless of industry) create exceptional customer experiences?

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This past weekend I was visiting with my friend and former colleague who now works as a sales consultant for a large, specialty medical device company promoting capital equipment.  She shared some of the templates and tools she’s created in order to make hers and her clients’ jobs easier.  They were extremely impressive in usefulness and professionalism, and I could see immediately that she put many hours of her valuable time into creating them.

So I begged the question, “Doesn’t your company provide you with any of these things?” “No – nothing”, was her reply. In fact, the only sales tools she’s provided are clinical studies. Furthermore, the sales tools she created are being spread around the company like wild fire. Clearly the company’s internal and external customers (the sales force and the clients, respectively) desperately need them. 

The tools she made include process and procedure documents (with vital team information so customers can contact all the different people they need in order to effectively market, utilize and troubleshoot the device), Installation and Quick Start checklists, Calibration Log forms, directions on how to utilize a database for tracking outcomes, equipment and environmental parameters, and FDA approval ranges.

Wow!  Excuse me but what is marketing doing about this?

This is a classic example of organizational ineffectiveness.  This is not what you want your best sales talent to be doing – making their own vital resources for themselves and your customers instead of selling.  By not providing your sales force with effective tools you’ll leave them no choice but to create their own.  And who knows, maybe your best people will become so frustrated with your service they will jump ship along with your clients –ineffective!

So what are your marketing department’s tools for sales effectiveness?  Provide key sales tools, and you can directly improve effectiveness, customer loyalty and your company’s attractiveness in the market.

Provide your sales force with a comprehensive set of tools for selling

Using the example above, a clinical study serves one purpose: to provide evidence for the product/service.  A key tool, it will not get the job done all on its own.  In addition to data, create “rapport tools” that provide customers with extremely helpful information around their issues – such as a non-promotional and industry-relevant report or guide, for example.  This will warm prospects to your sales & marketing message more quickly. 

Improve sales conversions by providing “emotional tools” in the form of various case studies for your sales force to share and leave behind with customers.  Case studies help prospects relate to your message personally by helping them picture themselves benefiting from your product/service.

Tools that generate rapport, evidence and emotions improve sales effectiveness (online or offline).  Don’t just provide one of these tools!  Conversion rates will be weak if at all and your sales force will be depleted of motivation and performance.

Provide your sales force with tools for customer loyalty

The need for effective sales tools doesn’t stop at conversion!  Once your sales force has been successful at converting prospects to customers, you need to give them tools for customer loyalty.  To be clear, customer loyalty is earned as a result of providing positive customer experiences during every possible interaction with your company.

Because your sales people will be directly communicating with your customers, you will want to provide customer management protocols and interpersonal skills training.  You will also want to give your sales force the ability to pass along useful templates, ongoing education, lists, checklists, and procedures for how your customers can best work with your product, service and company (like my friend is forced to do nearly every day on her own!). 

Identify what these positive customer experiences and tools are as they specifically apply to your company (ask the sales team, I guarantee they will tell you!) and put them in the hands of your sales force.

Improve effectiveness; increase attractiveness!

Your sales force will be as successful as the tools you give them. If you improve sales effectiveness for conversion and retention, you will contribute to the overall effectiveness of the organization: the marketplace will see your company as an attractive place to work, do business, and emulate  performance!

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Over the course of my career in biopharmaceutical sales, I’ve learned much about people, leadership, success, failure, sales, management, problem solving, teams, and growth!

To kick off my first post on the Roxx Consulting blog, I’d like to share a few of the many lessons I’ve learned about my passion, organizational effectiveness, during my tenure in the biotechnology industry. 

Business lessons I will not forget:

1.  Customer Loyalty: Customer loyalty is to your business what vitamin D is to your body: you have to go out of your way to get it, and without it you cannot survive.

The pivotal words here are “go out of your way”.  Maybe it’s just me, but I’m easily dazzled when a business goes out of their way for my convenience.  I tell everyone in my circle about the fantastic experience I had as I complement the management there. 

Many business owners will nod their heads in agreement regarding “focusing on the customer” and, “improving the customer experience”; yet, they take minimal to no action! This is a far cry from going out of their way. Think of the missed opportunity for free advertising and gaining an edge on your competition!

Sadly, I know too many companies right now that are slowly dying because of their inability to implement effective customer management
systems. They are aware of the problem (poor customer service), they say they must do something (how about a new marketing campaign?), and then they do nothing to address the real issue. Big mistake. Eventually, their organizational ineffectiveness will consume them from the inside out (although it appears to be from the outside in).

2.  Time Strategies: Time strategies are the ultimate litmus test for top talent.

Time management is always a hot topic for discussion, as well as popular measure for performance. For as much attention as it gets, why is it not the star interview question or the first category on a performance appraisal?  It really should be. 

Effective time management reflects one’s ability for hardcore problem solving.  Because, as enjoyable as life is, each day presents it’s fair share of creative problem solving for our enhanced enjoyment. By now, we’ve all had the opportunity to “show our stuff” in this key area.           

So take a close look (and I mean a really close look; spend some time on this one) at that interviewee’s time strategies, or your
employees’ level of performance as it relates to navigating through daily problems.  I bet you’ll find that your top talent (you know, those who always seem to get results come hell or high-water) is a master time strategist aka problem solver.

If a position requires lifting heavy problems, hire a master time strategist!

3.  Sales and Marketing: It’s an entirely new ecosystem.  Adapt!

I come from the land of Sales Force Oz where big marketing budgets reign supreme and the sales force is treated like bronze (platinum in the earlier days) and handed expensive, yet typically ineffective, tools for sales conversion (although every now and then we would get a “winner” tool my teammates and I would jokingly ask, “Where’s the magic wand?  Can we expect that in our next quarterly shipment?)

It’s very different now. An expansive (and expensive!) sales force with elaborate brochures and a fancy pitch is no longer as effective as it once was more than a decade ago. Marketing and sales have officially converged online where information marketing – on the customer’s terms – is a basic requirement.

Here’s the good news: you can save sales and marketing dollars AND successfully grow your business!

4.  Team Leadership: Create many specialized “organelles” within your organization.

I think of teams much like the specialized organelles within a cell. Their job is to carry out advanced functions for the optimized performance of the whole (the organization and the cell, respectively).

What’s important to your organization?  Innovation?  Customer management? Fresh marketing content?  Put together a specialized team for each goal category verses suffering through organization-wide communication problems due to a lack of accountability. 

Create each team to function as an independent whole with a qualified leader, manager, and roles and responsibilities for each member as it pertains to that unit.  Measure performance and reap targeted results!

5.  Management:  Practice superior quality control by obliterating ineffective management early!

I’ve witnessed in awe how bad management slows results.  Awe because little-to-nothing is often done about it – bad managers are allowed to run rampant!  This is way too costly for an organization to tolerate.  Only the best people shouldbe managers.  “Best” meaning healthy-minded individuals with superior leadership ability.

If you know someone has an obnoxious ego or presents with a personality disorder, don’t promote him/her into management!  It will only get worse. You’ll reduce organizational effectiveness for achieving goals. 

Bad management is an insidious disease.  Cynicism is the side effect to look for in your people.  Identify and obliterate. The growth of your company depends on it!

6.  Leadership:  If leadership is results, then by all means…culture it!

Highly effective organizations ooze leadership.  It is developed from the top-down on an ongoing basis so that no matter what a person’s position or function, they can be depended upon as a leader in their unique role for producing results.

Some organizations take leadership development lightly or not at all.  Another mistake.  The truth is, leadership begins with the founding culture of the organization. That culture needs to be infused throughout the company through strategic development and used as a filter for hiring and retaining the right talent.

Continuously develop your people’s potential for leadership and you will optimize results and organizational growth!

7.  Executive Leadership: The marketplace has an affinity for effective organizations.

The more effective your company is at all the various business management functions, the more attractive you will be to the market. 

A top scientist seeking employment will experience an aversion to organizations known for high employee turnover.  Investors will be leery to invest in an organization with no real vision and true purpose to guide its people toward achieving critical milestones.  And no one will want to partner with a company that has bad managers chronically debilitating performance and results.

A word to the wise: your best marketing will not attract the market if your management is less than stellar.  Bad management will show up in you measure of customer loyalty and your slow demise will begin.

Improve effectiveness; increase attractiveness!

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