An Email Style Guide; Should Your Company Have One?

Since over 90% of most business communication and relationships are managed via email, now might be the right time for you to have an email Style Guide. In other words… create a policy guide that will do many positive things like:

• Establish e-guidelines and expectations that help employees provide consistent professional service
• Empower everyone to demonstrate your company’s unique style, products / services, brand
• Unite your employees in a Team Building exercise
• Support all levels of your company and your customers

And to add even more benefit, an email Style Guide is also a powerful orientation tool to introduce new staff as well as suppliers / contract employees.

As you consider this path, your first few questions will likely be, “What is the process?” and ”What will we end up with?” Well the answer to both questions is quite simple. You can focus on policies that outline:

• “What People Can Do”  Or
• “What People Can Not Do”

Because we live in a judicial society (more stick than carrot), the more common approach is unfortunately the later. My advice as a Toronto based consultant who provides email writing training, is that you choose the flexible approach and create a Style Guide that will be a positive influence and act as a guideline – not a rulebook. By focusing on “What People Can Do” you benefit by empowering your employees to make the right choices in many different situations.

Should Your Company’s Email Style Guide Be Custom?

Another question you might have is “Can I buy an off-the-shelf solution?“

To answer that question you need to look internally. Your products / services are unique. Your customer service is unique. Your mission, vision and values are unique. The way you do business and your unique value proposition is different from your competitors. Your customer mix and their needs are unique. So, should your email Style Guide be unique?

The way I am positioning this you already know I believe your email Style Guide should be unique to your company. Here is more detail why.

Your brand reputation is one of your most valuable assets – and because you and your employees communicate 90% of the time via email, it’s one of the most visible ways to live your brand… every minute of every day.

Using another company’s Style Guide is like moving into a neighbours home. Even in Toronto that just isn’t done. In a business environment, if you use policies that are not your own you force a disconnect between your core competencies, your customer service and your customer expectations. That disconnect will be felt every minute of every day by your employees and your customers… and that will result in you losing both employees and customer from frustration (both of which negatively impact ROI).

With virtually no more work this is also your opportunity to define your companies unique style for all electronic based communication be it email, email marketing, presentations, websites etc. Because they are all in the electronic world – they all pretty much follow the same guidelines.

By building your own email Style Guide you will also get maximum team-building benefit by seeing this process as a unique organization-wide opportunity. The benefit is to let all employees have impact – to allow everyone to join together and build a document that represents all that is best about your company / employees / product / service. That said, most companies will want to establish a design team, (a body of people who will collect and evaluate employee feedback with the corporate culture and corporate mission and vision for the future).

What Should Your Email Style Guide Include?

There is no definitive email style guide rulebook that must be followed to the letter. Every company is unique and as I suggested I believe your email Style Guide should be designed to match the unique corporate culture.

But, it’s nice to have a starting place, so the following offers a sample of email etiquette categories to be addressed.

1. Support The Visual / Readability:

• Agreed upon email signature structure
• Social Media references and graphics
• Agreed upon fonts, colours and layouts

2. How to Support Your Brand:

• Tag line
• Demonstrate corporate values and customer service promise
• How to treat ethnicity, gender, religious or racial references

3. Structure /  Composition:

• When to use To, Cc… and Bcc…
• How to quickly address the essential information (get to the point)
• How to manage multiple topics and / or multiple audiences

Conclusion

As you plan your email Style Guide and who will help you with this important project I offer you this one last tip.

In most cases when someone reads your email they are making a choice to invest their valuable time and talent. In almost every case the decision to read or not read your email is based on your email etiquette and the following:

• Your past email reputation (for being relevant, to the point, well written and polite)
• Your subject line
• What they see within the preview screen  (which is usually only the first few lines of your message). In fact – many people even answer based on those first few lines only

Make sure you create a helpful guide that everyone at your company uses to demonstrate they respect their audiences time as much as they respect their own time. If they do, your employees – and your company will be rewarded with respect, loyalty, better work relationships and greater ROI.

Imagine work being easier. Imagine work being more productive.

Happy communicating.

Click here to join our priority list of people who receive our latest Business Communication blog posts.

If you enjoyed this post we think you’ll like: Email Writing Training, Measure Training Effectiveness and Good Email Bad Email.

Bruce Mayhew Consulting facilitates business writing, email writing and email etiquette courses.

Give us a call at 416 617 0462. We’ll listen.

www.brucemayhewconsulting.com

On The Job Training – Like Getting Back To The Gym.

This blog post is about inspiration. It’s about developing a training plan that is equally beneficial to you and your company. Because I believe that if on the job training is good for you – it will be good for your company.

Now is the perfect time for you to plan on the job training that will make the ‘You Brand’ even better. For example:

• Attend a skill building workshop
• Organize a team building event
• Study for a professional certificate
• Get back to the gym

Whatever staff development you choose – as soon as you start planning it you and the people around you will start to benefit from the excitement. Even a few small changes can have a noticeable result on your personal and corporate brand value and competitive advantage. But any on the job training is just like getting back to the gym – the full benefit will take a bit of time to realize. Most great things need practice to experience amazing results.

Example 1

Because I know email writing training and email etiquette really well, let me use that as my first example. In this world of electronic communication as much as 90% of our communication is by email or instant message (IM). Our writing habits often are the first impression we make and reinforce our ongoing relationships. That wasn’t always the case – as little as 10 years ago most of our communication was face-to-face or over the phone.

The numbing reality is that most business people receive and respond to between 100 and 200 email each day; this staggering number has taken its toll on relationship building and customer care. We’ve transitioned away from managing people’s expectations – not because we don’t care… we’re just so busy, and were never taught easy methods to effectively manage this volume while protecting our reputation and our relationships.

But there is still a universal truth that business success depends on being able to:

• Demonstrate your personal uniqueness
• Demonstrate your corporate advantages
• Take care of your customers
• Differentiate you and your company in your market

How does communication training work?

Good communications skills are as much a competitive advantage as a five-star sales representative and a product like the latest iPhone©. Good communication skills turn every employee into a brand advocate and a customer service expert. Even people in departments without direct customer contact (like Accounts Payables and Purchasing), have direct impact. Consider: they do:

• Make an impression on outside influencers
• Have an influence on the moral and productivity of employees from other departments (like Sales and Customer Service)

But as I said earlier, I believe any investment in self-improvement and on the job training benefits the ‘You Brand’ and your company success.

Example 2

I’m currently experiencing my own learning curve – I’m moving from PC to Mac©. Thankfully, I am receiving professional training and support from employees at the Apple© store – but in the end… I have to practice. It takes a bit of time – and sometimes I just want to go back to the old way because I can ‘get it done quickly’. But in the long run I know my time investment and practice will pay off.

I must say I’m amazed at the quality of service I receive. The employees are thoughtful – polite – curious – energetic – present (not looking like they want to be somewhere else). Why is that? Is it because they are paying these kids 6-figure salaries? No.

As a corporate trainer I’m sure these kids (mostly Millenials – who have a reputation for being ‘hard to motivate’), are engaged because Apple invests in staff development – so these happy employees treat their clients with respect. Every employee knows how to represent the corporate values.

The same thing happens at Starbucks™ where it’s easy to see ongoing on the job training. Positive energy and corporate investment helps create proud, talented employees who in turn believe in their employer, product and customer… and it shows.

Evey employee and every company is worth the time and commitment that comes from a solid training plan. And, your clients will reward you with purchases and loyalty.

As soon as you upgrade your skills the people around you will notice something is different. They may not know what it is… but they will ‘feel’ something good has happened – and this will help your reputation… as well as productivity. The same thing happens when my clients start writing better email. Their clients get better customer service as their expectations are consistently met.

Conclusion

Take a class – invest in you – develop a training plan – look for on the job training opportunities. Over time things will start to change. You’ll be managing your expectations, your client expectations and even co-worker expectations better.

But remember it’s important to be patient and to practice. It takes time to manage and experience full benefit… like learning a new routine at the gym makes a great difference in your health and how you feel.

Another opportunity to take full advantage of staff development is to consider is team training. Team training also provides motivation and support from your co-workers. And, giving everyone the same resources and knowledge promotes:

• Peer support (seeing how your co-workers are using new techniques)
• Knowledge sharing and best practices
• Learning by example (seeing how your co-workers are using the new skills)

Happy communicating… Happy training.

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If you enjoyed this post we think you’ll like: Bruce on Canada AM, Unique Value Proposition Definition, Measure Training Effectiveness, Build Client Trust and Effective Business Email Writing Training.

Bruce Mayhew Consulting facilitates business writing, email writing and email etiquette courses.

Give us a call at 416 617 0462. We’ll listen.

Bruce Mayhew Consulting is Strategic Branded Relevant

www.brucemayhewconsulting.com

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Customer Service: What Does It Mean?

I think it’s ironic I’m most satisfied with the customer service at Starbucks™ – a place I spend very little money. It’s not at my telecom where I spend considerably more. Not my gym, my grocery store or a handful of other service providers.

The good news is that the National American Customer Satisfaction Index reports that since 2001 customer satisfaction has been on a slow incline (after many years of decline).

I’d like to think businesses are once again realizing long-term profitability (and Return On Investment / ROI), is driven from investing wisely in customer relationships – and that investment means a renewed focus on their customers, their employees and the company.

The pay-off for those companies is that customers are noticing. And no wonder. Customers love to know someone is looking out for their best interests.

How Does A Company Improve Customer Satisfaction?

I believe customer satisfaction is a combination of Managing Customer Expectations and Exceptional Customer Service. What do these trendy catch phrases mean?

The definition I work with and follow in my communication training is that they have to meet the following:

First – Managing Expectations and Exceptional Customer Service have to be outwardly focused. It’s about exceeding Your Audiences expectations – not yours – and your audience can be your clients, your co-workers or your boss.

Second – Managing Expectations and Exceptional Customer Service have to be recognized, appreciated and valued by your audience every time you communicate.

Third – Managing Expectations and Exceptional Customer Service have to be flexible and meaningful. The right solution for ‘client A’ may not be the right solution for ‘client B’. As Starbucks says on their website ”It happens millions of times each week – a customer receives a drink from a Starbucks barista – but each interaction is unique.”

Fourth – Managing Expectations and Exceptional Customer Service have to be real. You can’t fake it… they have to represent the personal values of your employees and the values of the company… and support your customers values.

Fifth – Employees need to know what Managing Expectations and Exceptional Customer Service mean and that they are empowered to make a difference. Employees are motivated when they are encouraged and their successes celebrated.

Sixth – Managing Expectations and Exceptional Customer Service have to be cost-effective and sustainable – they can’t bankrupt the company. We all have to find place where ’demonstrating our best’ and ‘making it right’ also supports ROI, productivity and brand reputation.

We Have To Communicate Clearly And With Respect

It doesn’t matter if you are a lawyer, an account manager or a sales executive; your customers need to make decisions and they look to you for your professional advice. So, be clear when you communicate with them.

Help them understand what’s possible and what’s impossible.

One of the most common communication challenges I help clients overcome when I deliver Effective Email Writing training is Managing Expectations and Exceptional Customer Service. The following is an example of an email I received while writing this blog post – and where this is NOT happening.

Example 1: Manage Expectations

It’s clear the writer is not managing my expectations – or even their own. A simple solution would be to offer two or three alternate meeting times.

There is a very real cost / loss when employees write bad email like this. As I mention in my blog post called Increase Productivity By 15% Or More! you’re wasting 12 days of your time each year if you have to write one additional email to 15% of the people who write to you (because your co-worker didn’t write a clear message for example).

Example 2: Manage Expectations

Consider the differences in people’s expectations around hotels. Customers may want one or more of the following:

• A place to be transported into luxury
• Peace and quiet
• A kids water park
• Adult only

If you represent a hotel known for its kids water park you shouldn’t fake it and book someone calling and requesting a quiet, luxury weekend option. A good move here would be to recommend them to another hotel (preferably a sister hotel).

That’s the difference between completing a transaction vs. building a relationship. Customers will remember if you manage their expectations and provide exceptional customer service. Even if you send business away today, they’ll likely recommend you to others.

Involve Employees

I believe we are all good at Managing Expectations and Exceptional Customer Service – but we don’t all do it the same way.

Some people are great in front of customers so may be good in sales or customer service. Other people like being behind the scene and may prefer a product development position. The key is to know where your strengths are… or what the strengths of the members of your team are.

There are simple evaluations you can employ to help you determine the strengths of your employees. The results will help your employees choose better career choices – and help the company effectively reward, place and train employees.

Example 3: Know Your Strengths

A few weeks ago I was walking into a building. The large doors were closed. A man who I happen to know is a lawyer was entering about 5 paces ahead of me. He pulled a heavy door open, stepped in and without looking to see if there was someone behind him, he “leffer go” as my dad would say. The door slammed shut.

I opened it again under my own power (and was kind to the people behind me). Ironically we were entering a church… which proves you’ll find all types of people in similar places (or companies).

The man is successful in a profession that’s very fact based. Empathy is not likely one of this persons strengths… and I bet he knows it… and for him that’s OK. Not all lawyers need to be empathic – and for some that works in their favour.

Involve The Organization

Managing Expectations and Exceptional Customer Service for a company begin with defining company objectives (what do we want the companies reputation to be)? The next step is to define how to demonstrate those objectives.

Industry best practices have proven the best results happen when employees help define your objectives and the associated behaviour. Why? Happy employees create happy customers. Also, you’ll likely not to miss anything and you’ll have their buy-in when it comes to implementation.

Here are a few suggested objectives to consider and to get your teams creative juices flowing.

When defining objectives, keep them in-line with mission, vision, values and core competencies. The easiest way to exceed expectations is to use the strengths that come natural (individual strengths and company strengths).

Conclusion

Customers have more choices and a greater voice in what they want than ever. And, every interaction is a customer experience.

Exceptional customer satisfaction isn’t about being out there on your own. It’s about aligning what’s best about you with what’s best about your company, your co-workers and your customers.

As Aristotle said, “The whole is greater than the sum of its parts.” It’s about aligning your organization’s mission, vision, values and purpose and for a company objective to align and take advantage of these important assets.

So, what can you do that is different from your competitors and great for your customers?

Happy communicating.

Other Interesting BMC Locations: Measure Training Effectiveness, Email Writing Training, Increase Productivity By 15% Or More! and Good Email Bad Email.

Give us a call at 416.617.0462. We’ll listen.

Bruce Mayhew Consulting is based in Toronto and facilitates business writing, email writing and email etiquette courses.

We are… Strategic   Branded   Relevant

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Words Matter: Two Easy Writing Tips For 2012

Do words matter?

Even though most of us are not great authors we’ll still spend most of our day writing. Why? On average 90% of business communication is done using email or instant message (IM). Not to mention the time we spend writing proposals and reports.

So, do words matter? Sure they do. Two of the most common areas we can improve are:

1. The number of words we use (we use too few or too many)
2. The actual words we use (we often don’t fully describe what we are trying to say)

Let’s discuss these opportunities!

I believe all we need to do to start writing better is to learn to control the ‘Busy Beast.’

What is the ‘Busy Beast‘? It’s what I call the feeling of being so ‘busy’ that our email writing stops informing. We stop managing people’s expectations. We write so briefly our writing loses focus, and when this happens we actually:

• Get less accomplished
• Create more work for ourselves and the people around us
• Become less efficient; costing us time, money and potentially opportunity
• Sound pushy, rude and / or bossy
• Lower our customer service ratings

I believe another reason for our brevity is that we’re becoming so used to 140 characters (Twitters limit), that our meaning – our intent is so “high level” so “50,000 feet”, that the words we do write are virtually meaningless.

Email Example 1: Being Too Brief

If your boss sends the following email to you, what’s your next step?

Are you going to ask your boss:

• What are the priority areas is she most concerned with?
• What behaviour she wants to see from your team?

If you do ask your boss might question your competency even though the real meaning of her request is lost. If you’re like most people you’ll ‘interpret‘ what you think your boss is asking for and what your team needs. You’ll use your experience but be cautious.

Unfortunately, if you don’t ask you risk wasting your time, effort and budget.

This is why words matter. The problem isn’t your competency, it’s the email message. Too few words were used resulting in too little information being shared.

People at all levels of the company write email like this. Not because we hope our readers will fail. In most cases it’s because we’re all so ’busy’ we don’t take 20 extra seconds to ask ourselves “Have I given my readers enough information for them to understand what I am saying or asking for?“

What if we did take an extra 20 seconds to include the information our audience needs to understand our request. In this example, what if the email the boss wrote was this:

We see that words matter because they can help our audience understand what we are thinking, feeling, wanting.

As I mention in my blog post called Increase Productivity By 15% Or More!, if you have to write one more email to 15% of the requests that come to you (because your co-worker didn’t write a clear message for example), you’re wasting 12 days of your valuable time each year (and they’re also wasting their time). There is a very real cost / loss when employees write bad email.

Email Example 2: Being Too Vague

Here’s another of my favourite examples. “I will contact you later.“ What does that mean?

Here are some of the possibilities for:  “I will contact you later.“

What is contact?	What is later?
Phone your office Phone your mobile phone Email Instant Message BlackBerry PIN MAC FaceTime or Skype Come by your office Facebook message	Within the hour When I’m out of my meeting This afternoon On my drive home Today Within the week When I have an answer When ‘X’ gets back to me

We need to give the people we communicate with some help. They don’t live inside our head.

Much of this seems to be commonsense; natural even because it’s what many of us learned when we were young. However, in the hustle and bustle of our daily lives many of these truths have been set aside and we’ve become unaware of our abrupt, abbreviated 140 characters or less impact as we move through our day.

It’s time to slow down – to control the ‘Busy Beast‘. It’s time to become more efficient by no longer wasting our efforts and time and the efforts and time of the people around us.

Most of the time an extra 20 seconds will may go a long way to communicating effectively (the first time), and to building meaningful relationships.

Kind thoughtful words do matter.

Imagine work being easier. Imagine work being more productive.

Happy communicating.

Click here to join our priority list of people who receive our latest Business Communication blog posts.

If you enjoyed this post we think you’ll like: Email Writing Training, Core Values, Measure Training Effectiveness and Good Email Bad Email.

Bruce Mayhew Consulting facilitates business writing, email writing and email etiquette courses.

Give us a call at 416 617 0462. We’ll listen.

www.brucemayhewconsulting.com

Out Of Office Reply = Customer Service

Your out-of-office reply is often the last thing on your mind and the last thing you do (if you do it at all), when you go on vacation or attend a conference.

That’s unfortunate since your out-of-office message is an important part of customer service and client management while you’re away. It’s also likely going to impact how relaxing your vacation or how rewarding your conference will be.

Manage Expectations: Client Respect and Co-worker Respect

Other people are relying on you. A simple, clear out-of-office reply demonstrates client management and co-worker respect. Keeping clients informed is also great customer service and business etiquette. And, it means it’s less likely something will go ‘critical’ because you are out-of-office.

The bonus is that if your respect your clients and co-workers you’ll also protect your brand and reputation. Here are three steps you can take.

Step 1. Four Suggestions To Prepare Early

• Make your pending departure part of your email signature and voice mail ahead of time. Why wait to the last-minute? All of your clients and co-workers are busy; this also serves as a gentle reminder
• Write your best out-of-office reply ahead of time. Follow the voice and email  guideline I’ve provided below
• Identify your back-up person and prepare them for your departure. Follow the work with your back-up guideline I’ve provided below
• Update your ‘at work’ calendar so it shows you are out-of-office

One approach I often use when I’m going to be away for a week or more is to block my calendar as out-of-office one day earlier – and in the office one day later. This helps me prepare and manage critical / last-minute things at the back-end and sort through email and phone messages and get caught-up on the front end in a controlled – focused way.

Risks of a bad out-of-office reply (or no message at all), is that your mind and energy will keep focusing on work-related ‘stuff’. This isn’t fair to you or the people you are with. Especially on vacation, everyone needs to get some time-off.

Step 2. How To Create An Out-Of-Office Reply

What should you include when creating an expert out-of-office reply? The following provides some business etiquette guidelines – but also consider your audiences specific needs.

Make your message relevant for your audience – and useful. Example: It should include:

• Your name, position and company
• Day leaving / returning
• Your back-up’s name and position
• Your back-up’s email address and phone number
• Still invite them to leave a message
• Invite them to press 0 for the operator (if appropriate)
• Will you be checking messages?
• Will someone else pick-up and respond to your messages?

Give the people calling all the information they need to act or to find your back-up. Don’t make them hunt for an email or phone number – they have already spent time trying to call you. Hunting down your back-up will only frustrate them… and your back-up is going to be the one getting an earful.

The following message is not helpful: “Hi, I’m on vacation and will have limited access to email and voice mail.”

Example Email / Voice Mail Structure Variation (to one line):

I’ll be out of the office on Friday December 12 and will return Monday January 2. While I’m away I will have limited access to my email. I’ll be checking email (once a week, every morning, etc).

Step 3. Work With Your Back-up

If you have a back-up (like Ben), make sure Ben knows he is your back-up and also that Ben will be in the office (and not on his vacation).

Then, spend time with your backup to review your accounts / projects. Set them up for success – not failure. Review critical clients and expectations with them. This will help prevent emergency phone calls and email to your while you’re away. Make sure your backup is managing tasks – not putting out fires.

Oh – and when you are away I recommend you turn roaming off your smartphone. Often your App’s (Blackberry, iPhone, Android or other), will keep ‘pinging’ the service server and updating. Turning your phone off will save you from a large bill.

If you’re looking for how to set up an out-of-office vacation auto-reply check with your email or voice mail service provider. Each program has variations both within the program application as well as each version.

Bonus Tip

If you’re planning to be reachable while you are out-of-office so that you stay up-to-date, be sure to set parameters around your contact. I personally try to avoid staying in touch when on vacation – everyone needs a rest.

Imagine work being easier. Imagine work being more productive.

Happy communicating.

Click here to join our priority list of people who receive our latest Business Communication blog posts.

If you enjoyed this post we think you’ll like: What Is Communication?, Measure Training Effectiveness and Effective Business Email Writing Training.

Bruce Mayhew Consulting facilitates business writing, email writing and email etiquette courses.

Give us a call at 416 617 0462. We’ll listen.

www.brucemayhewconsulting.com

Generations: Diversity and Workforce Development

For the first time in history it’s easy to find a business where four generations are working side by side as some Traditionalists (born between 1927 – 1945), are working beyond retirement. Three generations is surely the norm.

What that means for our hyper-competitive world is that owners and managers are struggling with workplace diversity and cultural diversity. Communication problems and conflict are rising from the different work / life goals, experiences and communication styles of their employees.

But can workplace diversity be turned into a business asset?

The Questions / The Benefits:

1. How can we use generational differences as a unique opportunity to drive profitability vs. let it rip us apart at the seams?
2. What does ‘generational differences’ mean to product development, productivity, customer service, employee satisfaction, ROI and profits?

Understanding the differences and similarities of the generations is the first step in helping us understand the needs, motivations and expectations of our age-diverse workforce… and customer. Our diverse employees should be seen as opportunities to help each other see generational differences as chances to differentiate our business and make our company more profitable – not inconvenient limitations.

The Traditionalists – Born between 1927 and 1945 The Baby Boomers – Born between 1946 and 1964 Generation X – Born between 1965 and 1980 Generation Y (Millennial) – Born in 1981 or later

The key is to effectively address the diversity, values and expectations of each generation and to integrate these within company mission, vision, values and product / service.

Strategies For Success: Every Employee Has Something Great To Offer.

Start by helping Millennials recognize the experience of Gen Xers, Boomers and Traditionalists; and help Gen Xers, Boomers and Traditionalists recognize the team. The knowledge, skills, and workplace attitudes possessed by today’s multigenerational workforce presents significant communication opportunities.

Teamwork is an opportunity. Judging each other needs or motivations alienates us. This is the worst approach for an individual or a company as alienation promotes conflict with the person, the situation and the company… often conflict starting small but slowly builds into a large challenge.

Conflict often arises when we consider only our needs.

Questions are an opportunity. Finding and keeping valuable employees from all generations is every bit as important as finding and retaining customers. So treat your employees as customers.

Ask what they want and deliver on their needs – don’t treat everyone the same. Also, if they’re working on a project don’t expect them to read your mind or read between the lines. If you need a summary report you need to ask for it – give them a sample – and don’t blame them for what you haven’t clearly asked for.

Mentors are another opportunity. Promote mentoring between employees from different generations. Younger employees can learn from the experience of Gen Xers, Boomers and Traditionalists while they teach senior employees how to use new technology, problem solving ability, explorative nature and new point of view  (like company motivation and recognition), Millennials can offer.

Motivation is an opportunity. Employees from different generations require different motivations. Not everyone wants more responsibility. Appropriately motivating employees is cost-effective for the company, helps employees stay involved and will help keep all generations engaged and committed.

Reward is another opportunity when supporting employees from multiple generations. What works for some generations (or individuals), may not work for others.  For example: After working long hours to complete a challenging project a Boomer may appreciate a cash bonus and a plaque to hang in their office. A Millennial may be happier with a four-day weekend and a communication training workshop (because they are young, focused on work-life balance and professional development).

Balance (as suggested), is another opportunity. This relates to work-life balance as well as at-work balance. While fairness is critical the solution for one person may be different than another. Workplace diversity requires balance include a variable mix which includes (but is not limited to):

• Technology
• Flexible work arrangements
• The opportunity to contribute
• Training / the opportunity to learn
• The opportunity to get constructive feedback

Focus on employee engagement and contribution not where or when they work (unless structured time is required like a hospital nurse). Where consistency is important don’t demand it – let the employee be part of the decision as to why, where and how consistency will look.

No matter what generations you work with, maintaining a competitive, multigenerational workforce requires you to openly explore the ideas and needs of workers. Eliminate the us vs. them perspective. If they win then I must lose is defeating and ‘old school’. Instead explore how each of you can win.

Embrace that concept that the sum is greater than its parts.

Conclusion:

See workplace diversity, individual differences and professional development as a strength that is critical to business success.

To do this we need to learn that overall my ideas and needs are no more important than yours – yours are no more important than mine. It may be that your needs take priority at this moment of time… but my needs (which may be as simple as recognition or the opportunity to learn), must be respected and addressed.

For example: Most Millennials enjoy working on teams and are active learners. Keep them motivated and engaged by giving them special projects that will take advantage of their talents while also give them a sense of contribution and learning.

Don’t keep your talent locked up or in the dark. Ask for their input and ingenuity, ideas and concerns into your marketing strategy. Set aside time to provide honest feedback and time to work on department issues like problem solving, value setting, and options around operations. Motivate them and give them all the support and training they need to succeed.

Happy communicating.

Help each generation benefit from the wisdom and experience of the others.

Other Interesting BMC Articles: Email Writing Training, Measure Training Effectiveness and Good Email Bad Email.

Give us a call at 416.617.0462. We’ll listen.

Bruce Mayhew Consulting delivers business writing, email writing and email etiquette courses.

Imagine work being easier. Imagine work being more productive. Imagine work being more profitable.

bruce@brucemayhewconsulting.com

Don’t forget to Subscribe to this blog (upper right side). Your email address will be confidential and well-respected.

Email Marketing: Reaching the Inbox

guest blog post

Your customers have given you their email address so that they can receive information from you about your product or service. You want the email to go through. They want to read it. So what’s the problem?

Spam filters.

The vast number of unwanted and unsolicited emails that get sent on a daily basis have resulted in all of the large email providers developing increasingly sophisticated filters to prevent these emails from getting to you.

The Issue

The issue is that spam filters can catch emails your customers want to receive. Some are caught because they contain a suspicious attachment, a link that seems fishy or words that are commonly found in emails advertising Viagra, penny stocks or something more salacious.

Whether you’re sending a single email from one person to another or copying a number of recipients on it, the email has to pass through a number of filters before it gets from one place to another.

When you’re sending an email to one person, you’re using a system meant to send personal email, like Outlook, Gmail or another web-based program. So when you need to send an email to a large database (even an opt-in email list), your first thought may be to use this same system, but there are risks.

Your internet provider has mechanisms in place to prevent you from sending a large number of emails at one time. This protects them from clients using their system to send spam, but it also prevents you from sending mass emails to people who may want them (as you might if you’re running a drip marketing program).

The system doesn’t differentiate between an opt-in email list and one that’s been purchased. Sending a large number of emails from your desktop can result in your email address being blocked from hitting in-boxes and get your URL flagged and possibly blocked.

The Solution

The best solution is to use a system that’s designed to send bulk email.

There are a number of different companies that offer this service, including Constant Contact, MailChimp, iContact and AWeber.

What they offer that Outlook does not:

• Relationships with Major ISPs. These companies have policies regarding the email addresses people are allowed to send to. Clients cannot use lists that have been purchased. The ISPs recognize this and therefore allow emails coming from one of their servers through.
• An HTML-based email looks more professional. It can match your branding so that people immediately recognize who it’s from.
• You can track the email effectiveness through reports. With each email you can find out how many people opened it, who opened it and what links they clicked on. Invaluable information to help you revise future campaigns to make them more effective.

Personal email programs work well for personal emails, but when you’re sending email out in bulk, trust the professionals.

MB Digital Communications

MB Digital Communications has been helping businesses stay in contact with their customers using email and social media since 2008. The clients include a wide range of service professionals including financial planners, insurance brokers, real estate agents and mortgage brokers as well as restaurants, an iPhone app developer, a family lawyer and a millner.

Mark Brodsky speaks to groups of all sizes about email marketing and is a regular contributor to Real Estate Magazine.

You can visit his website at or email him

What Is Communication?

We’ve been communicating all of our lives – so with that much practice we should be pretty good at it. But the reality is we all struggle with our communication skills – especially at work.

For example, what do the following situations have in common?

• Having an implementation team arrive for an installation at the wrong address.
• Sales not ensuring Product Development know your most profitable client has an emerging ‘must have’ need.
• Sending your sales & product specialists out to a prospect – to find they’re not in their office.
• Building a wall in the wrong place when the architect changed the plans two weeks ago.

The common element is that these examples are all very expensive – but easy-to-make oversights, and given the right tools and training support they are also easily avoidable.

Business communication is critical to being succesful. It’s important everywhere; in Customer Service, Product Development, Graphic Design in large international corporations and small entrepreneurial enterprises.

But we struggle with everyday communication as well as conflict and conflict resolution.

Who’s Responsible?

Most of the time we struggle because we don’t see communication skills as a two-way street that involve many goals and needs.

It’s not our fault we’ve learned bad habits over the years. We’ve become so good at addressing our needs that many of us don’t consider the perspective, needs, goals, timelines or contribution of others.

What would happen if we treated effective communication like a baton that had to be carefully passed? What if I was just as responsible for passing the baton as you were to receive it?

That’s the answer when we ask ‘What is communication?’ In a nutshell, effective communication includes learning how to:

• Provide relevant information:
  • You need /want people to know
  • Your listener needs / wants to know
• Listen without judging the information you ‘think’ you are hearing
• Ask questions
• See questions as empowerment – not weakness

Consider the power of seeing a situation through someone else’s eyes. Even the act of trying will bring you clarity and a perspective you likely would not have otherwise experienced.

First Step

Communication success depends on your personal and your environments’ definition of communication.

Personal Definition of Communication

One of the first things that’s required for successful communication is to understand what definitions you are working with. Is it:

• Getting our own way?
• Avoiding conflict?
• Looking professional and in control?
• Being open and listening to others?
• Not daydreaming – or worse… falling asleep?
• Something else?

Your Environments’ Definition of Communication

Your environment may be a person or a place. Therefore, it may be your co-worker, your team or your company. It may also be a store clerk or each member of your family.

Your personal and environmental definitions will be rooted in your values – and the values you’ve learned to use (workplace values for example). Therefore they may support each other (harmony), or they may be in conflict (opposite) to each other.

Second Step

Communication success depends on your personal and environmental filters

Filters may be a bit more challenging because it’s likely we aren’t even be aware of them. For example:

Personal Filters:

• Life experiences & Education
• Vocabulary (general, sophisticated, ghetto)
• Fears / Defensiveness / Insecurities
• Work / family pressures

Environmental Filters:

• What if you didn’t recognize a client at a conference?
• What if your Smartphone is turned off and you miss an important call?
• What if your SPAM filter blocked an email message?
• What if someone didn’t include you in a distribution list – on purpose or by mistake?

In addition, your audience is going to have the same types of Personal and Environmental filters as you do – and let’s face it – if you can’t define all of your filters you won’t be able to define theirs. In almost every case you’re going to have to guess – at least at some of them unless you incorporate some communication practices like mindfulness communication.

WOW! No wonder we struggle.

Communication is like pouring water into a small glass – some isn’t going to make it in. And in this case – you can’t always blame the pourer or the glass.

Are There Other Concerns?

I’d like to point out two other concerns of effective communication.

• The first is the process we all go through to encode our message and decode what we hear back.
• The second is when you are communicating across generations and / or cultures.

I’ve also discussed this in my blog post called Effective Communication. To understand the severity on each of these all we have to do is consider the game of broken telephone you may have played as children. I can pretty much guarantee – in any communication some of your meaning will be lost AND changed by the listener.

There is a way through this and the benefits of your investment are substantial.

There are many easy techniques you and your team (or family), can adopt to enhance your communication.

Mindfulness communication has at its core the practice of helping people identify what they are needing and to explore and listen in an active, non-judging way of what your audience needs.

The secret is to have a safe space and an agreement with one or more persons that will allow you all to listen and be open to putting yourself in the other person’s shoes – without risk or prejudice.

Happy communicating.

Other Interesting BMC Articles: Unique Value Proposition Definition, Measure Training Effectiveness and Effective Email Writing Training.

Give us a call at 416.617.0462. We’ll listen.

Bruce Mayhew Consulting is based in Toronto and facilitates business writing, email writing and email etiquette courses.

We are… Strategic   Branded   Relevant

www.brucemayhewconsulting.com

Don’t forget to share this blog.

Email Marketing: Direct Marketing In Action

Email is part of an evolution that started in the 1960’s as an inexpensive solution to instantly send messages between networked computers. While email wasn’t designed as a direct marketing tool, email marketing is certainly a natural evolution considering how quickly our lives and communication styles have changed since the 1990’s when email became popular.

It’s no surprise email marketing also has some unique challenges.

Get To The Point

With the widespread adoption of email many of us lost our ability to get to the point. Back when we had to invest in hand writing or phone communication, getting to the point was more natural. Who had the time to hand write a page or two of background or meandering thoughts?

But email helped make typing lots of copy quick and easy. Soon abundance became a common error of email writing as well as web writing, brochure writing and proposal writing. We started to write down everything and hope the reader found a reference to something they liked, related to and/or needed.

Not much changed when businesses started to use email as a marketing tool. Lots of email marketing did… and still does look like a child’s cereal box. The problems were too much detail, too many photos and as much attention grabbing hoopla as possible.

And for a while people paid attention… because email marketing was new. It’s not new anymore.

Email Marketing Is Often An Interruption

Today email marketing is more competitive and our target audiences are jaded from being over stimulated and/or taken advantage of. There’s been so much bad email (even regular business email), that when you get a good message it really stands out. Customers notice.

Remember the Mini Car ad’s when the car re-launched? They stood out – they were fun. They were never seen as an interruption because they were relevant and to-the-point. Even if we didn’t want one we wanted to learn about them.  They were so to-the-point we would read them and instantly know why it would be great for us.

So in the end the Mini Car ads were good for the customer… and good BMW who own the Mini brand.

Strategic   Branded   Relevant

Return To Basics: It’s About Need And Offer

To improve the overall quality of email campaigns, marketers need to return to basic. Businesses need to focus on the ‘What’s In It For Me’ (WIIFM) message for their client. What’s the client need? By creating messages and content that solve their clients’ needs (not pushing only an offer) businesses will also build trusting respected relationships.

Even back in the 1960’s ads showed housewives and husbands ‘What’s In It For Me’.

Being successful in email marketing isn’t about creating a grammatically correct copy with pictures and flashy layouts. It’s also not sending your campaign to everyone you can get access to or by renting your ‘ideal client wish-list’.

A successful in email marketing campaign is about sending a short, clear, relevant message and offer of value to your segmented, targeted audience.

This is especially true when connecting with existing relationships. If you keep sending them mindless irrelevant junk they are very likely going to click the unsubscribe button, or even worse, mark your message as spam… which causes you big problems in the future.

Delivery / Execution

You have a great message and great creative – you’re almost finished.

Now you need a trusted system to deliver your messages. This often means hiring a eMarketing / Digital Communication supplier to help you make sure your campaign gets to the people on your list (and not in a junk folder or identified as SPAM). Professional eMarketing / Digital Communication companies also have easy access to proven tactics they can use which mean further success for your campaign… and ways to measure your success.

Do it yourself is risky to you, your business and your brand reputation. For example, one important step is to notify your email host that you are about to send mass email (which is likely out of character for you). If you don’t do this your host may perceive your sudden spike as SPAM and shut your whole email system down… and I mean all of your email.

Conclusion

Email marketing works because it can drive direct sales to a targeted audience in a controlled manner that builds relationships, loyalty and trust. It’s also a natural fit in a Drip Marketing Program.

So, start thinking how you can get out there and create an awesome package and offer as part of your overall marketing strategy. Go ahead – it can be a great opportunity for you to try something new. Whether you hire a professional or try doing it yourself, you’ll need:

• A relevant offer
• Creative… creative
• A clean organization list (opt in preferably)
• Clear execution that doesn’t look (or act), like SPAM
• To measure your results

Happy communicating.

Other Interesting BMC Articles: Unique Value Proposition Definition, Measure Training Effectiveness and Effective Business Email Writing Training.

Give us a call. We’ll listen.

Are you looking for a training professional to be your training partner? Click Here

Bruce Mayhew Consulting is Strategic Branded Relevant

www.brucemayhewconsulting.com

Don’t forget to share this blog.

Organizational Behaviour; Impact On Customer Retention

If you are worried about customer retention & acquisition, evaluate how you can take better care of your customers - don’t reduce price. Happy, loyal customers will stick around and also recommend your product / service.

The Harvard Business Review suggests the average business loses 50% of their customers every five years. As a strategic marketer I’ve measured client retention and Lifetime Value (LTV), that shows the best clients usually stay only for four years… rarely longer than six. With most leaving within the first two years.

Why Do Customers Leave?

According to the U.S. Small Business Administration and the U.S. Chamber of Commerce (sorry to all my Canadian friends):

• 68% leave because they are upset with the treatment they’ve received (Customer Service)
• 14% are dissatisfied with the product or service
• 9% begin doing business with the competition
• 5% seek alternatives or develop other business relationships
• 3% move away
• 1% will pass away

So 82% (68% + 14%), of clients leave because their complaints or misunderstandings were not solved and / or they were made to feel dumb, ignored, disrespected, angry or unimportant. In other words, poor organizational behaviour is pushing clients out the door. They’re not leaving because of the product / service, price or marketing / advertising. How’s that for a reality check?

There are many studies that demonstrate it’s cheaper to satisfy and keep an existing (good), customer than to add a new customer. Customer acquisition can easily cost four to five times more, so what would happen if you put that expense into your training budget? Customer retention?

Adding new customers is important for company growth because there’ll always be attrition. Consumer habits and income do change, and people move or people pass away (as examples). But it’s important to spend time and money wisely by investing in organizational behaviour and organizational development that supports your clients and your brand.

How To Retain Customers Longer

What should you do if you want to help customers refer new business to you? I suggest you start by finding out what your clients love and don’t love about you. Most businesses never ask – I bet your competition doesn’t… which is an advantage for you.

When I start working with a client I recommend we survey their existing clients to find out what they like and don’t like. If possible I also want to survey past clients to find out why they left. If 82% of your customers are leaving because they are upset or dissatisfied with service…. wouldn’t you want to know what to fix? Today a combination of online email surveys and one-on-one phone surveys are:

• Efficient
• VERY informative
• Not expensive

I recommend employees also be included in the research – they often have great ideas. Surveys and brainstorming are great ways to engage employees. But be certain to keep their findings and language separate from your clients.

Surveying clients lets you hear the good and the bad from their point of view and in their language (very important). If you are going to design a marketing or training program you want to use the perspective and language that’s relevant to your clients, not your corporate perspective.

Once you have the perspective and language of your clients you can:

• Measure the gap (to your goals)
• Design programs that fix what’s wrong
• Overlay your goals and organizational values

With this information we’re able to design programs that are strategic for your business, relevant to customers / prospects and branded to your core values. We’ll also be able to support positive organizational behaviour by aligning your customer service training strategies into:

• Sales
• Implementation
• Product Development
• Office Management
• IT
• Finance / Invoicing

Share The Responsibility Of Customer Retention

Make sure everyone at your company knows they are part of the solution.

Show staff how to demonstrate the desired behaviour. Why do you need to show them? Well, we’re all individuals with our own personalities, history, education and life experiences. As an example, it’s not surprising that your idea of “Managing Expectations” is different from mine. Without training to get everyone on the same page, is likely their approach will be quite different. So, work with your employees to discuss how to demonstrate your corporate values and to develop customer service expectations.

Your customers are people, and people are social animals. Yet many of us hide behind our email and website… even sales and customer service people. As customers, we are starved for personal contact and want a chance to feel important.

Customer service is personal – it impacts the individual - it builds relationships that last beyond the transaction, beyond the billing cycle. Personal customer service is what builds customer retention. For the same reason, if you’re treated poorly you’ll not forget it. Never make the customer feel dumb, ignored, disrespected, angry or unimportant. If you do they’ll likely become part of your lost customer statistics.

Personal Case Study 1:

I know I cannot forget the consistently bad attitude I’ve experianced from my doctors receptionist. She is terrible but he is great.

Her latest faux-pas was that she called me to move my appointment. When we found a time and day that fit she just hung up. I was literally left holding the phone. While my first instinct was to call her back, I knew it would do no good to address it directly with her – and likely she could use her power to call and reschedule again.

If they were retail or a business to business relationship I would be long gone… but it’s not easy to find a doctor you trust! But I’m also not referring business.

Personal Case Study 2:

There is a gourmet burger shop at the top of my street. I was enjoying going there and even began to follow them on Twitter.  But, after a particularly rude experience that an employee initiated I have actively boycotted them… and told all my neighbours. Rudeness is not how you reward loyalty.

There are lots of fast food places to eat at.

Conclusion

Every business makes mistakes, and most these things are forgivable if you own up to them and fix them. But good customers will not forgive you for consistently bad customer service. They’ll leave as soon as they can and they won’t forget it.

Happy communicating.

Other Interesting BMC Articles: Increase Productivity by 15% or More, Measure Training Effectiveness and Good Email Bad Email.

Give us a call at 416.617.0462. We’ll listen.

Bruce Mayhew Consulting is based in Toronto and facilitates business writing, email writing and email etiquette courses.

We are… Strategic   Branded   Relevant

bruce@brucemayhewconsulting.com

Don’t forget to Subscribe to this blog (upper right side). Your email address will be confidential and well-respected.