small business gurus - the blog of Cat & Keith Matson

by Cat Matson

I just watched this great interview from the Martin Lindstrom Brand Blog.... really interesting discussion with a guy who has completely changed the paradigm of re-useable bottles.

I was reminded of our definition of lateral thinking - "looking at what everyone else is looking at and seeing something different".

There is an opportunity for everyone in business to change the paradigm in their industry.... a make-up company that actually educates women how to really use makeup- there's a new idea.... a personal concierge for every-day women (someone who's willing to look after all the odds and ends in your life that you don't have time to do) - wow, what a concept... a business consulting firm that provides all your advice, coaching and accounting needs in one integrated package - wow, there's an idea!!! (OK, OK, that last one is a blatant self-promotion)

My point is, you don't have to invent a new bottle to revolutionise your industry... you just need to see things differently.  Don't accept status quo, ask yourself, what is really needed here, what are people really looking for...? 

People will settle for what currently exists.... so there's no point asking what they want - they will generally answer from a frame of current reality.  You need to read between the lines...

Watch the video again and ask yourself what can you see in your space that could be done differently?

Cat

Igniting your business performance

Alito - Business Mentors

by Cat Matson

(this post is adapted from my regular column Better Business in 'The Westerner', a newspaper servicing the Pine Rivers Region in Brisbane).

I’m taking a different approach this week... I want to tell you a story.

It’s a story of a tech-savvy business owner, who, after much research decided that an iPhone would be a fun new tech-toy AND it would help her improve her personal effectiveness.  Her name was Cat.

Like any time-poor person, Cat had utilised the research of her colleagues and friends, not only on the utility of the phone, but also the best network, plan and place to buy.  And so she did. 

Unfortunately, what Cat had not anticipated was the ‘coverage-hole’ (that’s what the Telco called it) directly over her home-office.

So, facing the disappointment of not having a working iPhone, Cat set about activating the Telco’s ‘coverage guarantee return policy’.

What followed is a typical ‘Telco story’ of being shunted from department to department, ‘Customer Service Operator’ to Operator, trying to action what should have been a very straight-forward process.  Needless to say, being such a typical Telco story, there is not enough space in this entire paper, let alone my little column to give you the details.

The refreshing twist in this story is the service Cat received from the reseller.  Despite now receiving absolutely no commission, no account revenue and losing an ongoing customer they did what few are willing to do – whatever it took to make the customer happy (in this case, returning the customer to her previous network).  It worth noting to do so, they also faced the exhausting game of ‘hot potato’ and the mind-boggling (or was it mind-numbing) experience of countless ‘Customer Service Operators’ not knowing what to do.

My ‘Better Business Tip’ from this sorry tale:

The cost of looking after a customer beyond the call of duty – some time and $$

The price of forever losing a customer because your service systems suck - $ 000’s

The customer loyalty gained from sorting out a mistake (even if it’s not yours) – PRICELESS.

(Thank you to Joel & Luke at AllPhones Brookside for exceeding my service expectations.)

----------

All it takes is to care about your customers....

Cat

Igniting your business performance

Alito - Business Mentors

by Cat Matson

There are really only 4 things you need to 'handle' in business;

1. Marketing
2. Sales
3. Everything else (that is, the systems that support 1 & 2)
4. You

Why?  Because if you are not selling something, you are not making money.... and you can't sell anything until you have marketed it.  Therefore anything you do that does not support your marketing or sales efforts are a waste of time.... your administrative, financial and HR systems should all support your marketing and sales functions.

So, from that position.... I then read this blog post from one of my favourite bloggers - Seth Godin - Which Comes First, the product or the marketing?

Marketing really is the number 1 priority in your business - it's the platform on which everything else is based.

Cat

Igniting your business performance

Alito - Business Mentors

by Cat Matson

I love the schweppes balloon burst TV ad - I love the creativity, the super-slow-mo bubbles... but most of all I love the emotion it evokes.

It has so etched what 'refreshing' is to me in my mind, that I actually described a refreshing customer service experience as schweppervencent... it was so refreshing.

Now, because I needed to check the spelling of schweppervencent I went to the schweppes website... and the brand message, the emotion, the 'refreshment' was all reinforced... the music was there, the bubbles were there, the smiling faces were there.

And then... when I got past the welcome screen, their core brand messages were consistent with the ad - none of this "who we are" and "what we do" - rather "discover", "enjoy", "experience".  Oohh... now I was not only tingling with the emotion of the brand but I was also excited at the execution of the campaign - so congruent!!

As small business owners we can still convey this congruency and consistency... sure, the big budget ad helps... but it isn't necessary if you're not trying to reach the mass market.  The keys are to evoke strong emotion and then consistenly remind people of that emotion everytime they interact with your brand.  To do this, you need to know what you stand for, what your business stands for and therefore what your brand stands for.  Then, when you 'speak', you speak from that stand.... the emotion will be evident.

(as an aside, as an avid fan of The Gruen Transfer, I saw the creator of the ad, Russell Howcroft, talk about this particular campaign.  He said it was one of those fortiuitous moments in advertising where the client was willing to go all the way with a really creative idea... and everything came together - the imagery, the music... what is really impressive to me is that Scweppes have taken it way beyond the campaign and incorporated it into their entire communications strategy)

Cat

Igniting your business performance

Alito - Business Mentors