An article in the Harvard Business Review stated the following: Surveys have shown that 80% of Americans don’t trust corporate executives and–worse–that roughly half of all managers don’t trust their own leaders. Mergers, downsizing, and globalization have accelerated the pace of change in organizations, creating a crisis of trust that didn’t exist a generation ago.

Given all this uncertainty, trust has been at an all-time low.

When it comes to analyzing and facilitating trust, Brain Science is fascinating. In order to make Brain science interesting and easy to understand, we have to make the following statements:

1) The brain controls our actions,
2) We all have a brain,
3) As a leader you are not only managing people but you are also managing their brain. I know it’s an unorthodox way of looking at this but it’s extremely relevant and logical.

So far, so good. Problems start when you factor in how trust has broken down in your organization. Trust is broken down by fear (ex. losing one’s job, making mistakes, damaging or losing assets). Fear is that always-on emotion that is controlled by your amygdala. Your amygdala (a pair of small organs in the brain) is the fear and emotion center in your brain. It’s the area that prepares you eventually for ‘fight or flight’.

In its most simple terms if the amygdala is activated or overheating because of fear, this will also affect other parts of your brain such as the reward system, your gut feeling and another area called the ‘Accountant’ which essentially tells the ‘action brain’ either Go or No Go or in other words, to carry on a particular task.

According to a Brain Science leading authority Dr. Srini Pillay:
“Trust and fear are inversely related and affect the brain in opposite ways. Fear increases amygdala activation while trust decreases it. Developing a trusting work environment is important in similar ways to creating a non-fear based motivational space. It frees up the thinking brain to focus on relevant issues rather than using up thinking resources to resolve trust conflicts. Trust is also rewarding since it affects several components of the reward system. These components feed back to the action centers in the brain, preparing the brain to act. Without trust, action is inhibited or infused with fear; this compromises actions.”

So now we know that Trust frees up thinking resources in the brain by decreasing amygdala activation.

Armed with this scientific yet logical insight through your leadership style, you can address trust. By instilling trust in your organization you will notice a difference in staff performance and morale. It won’t happen overnight but it can become contagious if you follow some basic steps:

1) Be honest and sincere. Why? It only makes sense. People will feel that you are hiding things and will respect you as leader if you communicate without hesitation. By being direct, employees will stop the rumor mill and concentrate on the task at hand. Remember that for any news – good or bad, You need to communicate it! One of my CEO clients delegated the delivery of bad news to the HR Director. It bombed and created more fear! Staff needs to hear it from you.

2) Be appreciative. If you have fallen in the trap of not thanking people then you better change your approach. I don’t care what cultural background you are from. In the ten countries I have worked in, saying Thank You goes a long way. I challenge you: If you speak to one of your line staff and remember to say thank you, that person will go home that evening and tell his spouse or loved one that the boss thanked him/her…Imagine that!

3) Be open to feedback. Encourage feedback. Listen but remembering the most fundamental rule of encouraging feedback: You have 2 ears and one mouth…use them accordingly. Listen, acknowledge and don’t defend the idea/feedback since this is counterproductive.

4) Remain focused on the task at hand. You still need to sell, serve or create something. Employees need to be reminded of the obvious – the job has to get done. Remind them that their individual contributions matter to the organization.

5) Trial and error. It’s OK for employees to fail while trying. Implement an attitude of ‘trying without asking’. Then tell your staff member ‘if you mess up, that’s OK as long as you learn in the process’.

If you cannot empower your team members to make decisions without you, how will they ever succeed? Sometimes you need to let them try, fall flat on their faces and learn in the process. In my experience this is by far the strongest message of trust instilment you can deliver.

Trust is intangible. It can be a dark cloud or a motivator. By tapping into the brain of your team members you may discover that removing fear by instilling trust will give you an exponential effect on team morale and performance.

The post Trust in your organization appeared first on .

I heard the benefits a long time ago and decided last year to test it again and to see what works and what did not work. I tried different nap times, durations. In my case the best time was at 1930 or so for about 20 minutes max! Anything longer made me feel groggy for almost 45 minutes to an hour after the nap and I had difficulty to wake up or worse, decided to turn my power nap into deep slumber for the whole night – there goes the productivity I was looking to gain!

Less than 20 minutes for me was not enough since I was not completely sure that I dozed off. I also realized that if I had dreamt about something, it was sure way to know that I had in fact slept for a 20 minute period. Research tells us the ideal time is between 10-25 minutes but varies person to person.

Napoleon used to do it and so did many leaders through history including many of today’s athletes so why is that we don’t find the time if they are supposed to make us more productive?

First of all, maybe you need proof? I would encourage you to discover it on your own. First, set a time when you come home after work despite all the personal and family demands you may have – dedicate just 20 minutes. Set your alarm, shut the door and after 20 minutes you will see a difference, if of course you slept…just lying in bed for 20 minutes won’t do it.

Secondly, sleeping on the job is not exactly a great way to promote one’s career. Only a few employers encourage it which is a pity. Many studies have found that naps render employees more productive than conventional coffee breaks and that power naps are best taken in the afternoon. Even if your employer can’t help, you should test a power nap and enjoy the benefits in early evening.

If for the first time you did not feel or see the results, try taking a power nap 3 times that week. At first you may feel guilty or in denial to actually take a nap. Don’t get hung up on this since the time you gain by having a power nap will more than compensate at the other end in terms of added productivity that evening.

When you wake up, you will notice about 30 minutes later if you go back to fine tune some outstanding issues from your day, you will feel reenergized, you’ll wonder where this new found energy came from.

Rest is repair.

According to Brain Science leading authority, Dr. Srini Pillay, ‘Power naps are brief periods of sleep (15-30 minutes) that give the brain a chance to rest. It has been found that these brief naps may be rejuvenating and therefore help register and consolidate memories’

It’s also been proven that adequate sleep and daytime power naps are critical to faster, more efficient new learning.

A power-nap captures the benefits of the first two of the five stages in the sleep cycle. These first two stages take place in the first twenty minutes. In addition to making you feel more rested and alert, the electrical signals in your nervous system strengthen the connection between neurons involved in muscle memory, making your brain work faster and more accurately.

So there you have it. Historical leaders, today’s athletes and a leading Brain Science authority telling us that power naps make you more productive which has positive effects on your brain, learning and memory.

Want to get more work done in your day or get that extra little edge? You may find that giving your brain anywhere between 10-25 minutes of rest and by shutting down your system for a nap this may be the best investment in You.

The post Power naps. appeared first on .

There is one stretch of my cycle routine I now call the gauntlet. It’s a long narrow space where I can’t fully see what’s coming up and this is where the street dogs greet me. My first experience was eventful. As these street dogs caught me by complete surprise, I felt this cold flash starting from the back of my spine all the way to the back of my head sort of the fear that can dogs smell. Pretty ironic for a dog lover but I can tell you that the fear although automatic, was real even though I did not want to show it.

As they surprised me I then got into survival mode and I did what comes natural: I pedal faster.

I’m thinking, ‘I can do this’ so I start to pedal even faster as they start catching up to me. Two of the 6 dogs gave up, then 2 more and even with the last two on my tail (pardon the pun) I am pedaling even faster. By this time I am feeling like Lance Armstrong trying to win another Tour de France or dodging the anti-doping officials, depending on when you read about Armstrong.

Then I think Uh-oh. I need to come back through this gauntlet to get home. Turns out they were too busy looking for breakfast and did not want to wait for me. The next trip I gave the dogs some food while moving like a ‘bat out of hell’ and that did not work either.

The last time I was pursued something unusual happened. As I saw them running after me (showing teeth and not being too friendly) I slowed down to offer them some food. What happens? They run away! It seems that as I stopped pedaling and became a pedestrian, it was their turn to be scared.

I had done the complete opposite of what I thought was the solution and it worked!

Business is like that too.

How many times does this happen to you when you are trying to finish a project, or you are dealing with a difficult peer or boss or you are trying to close a deal before a deadline? What do you do in these circumstances ? You pedal faster. You do what comes natural to you thinking this is the solution.
Try doing the complete opposite.

Ask yourself; are the project and its direction really the best for you or your organization?

Instead of fighting or avoiding a peer…listen, process and then reply, as opposed to mixing up this order.

Is this deal good for all parties? Sometimes ‘No deal is better than a bad deal’.

We all get caught up so much in what we do or what is keeping us busy that we miss the obvious. We never really pause, process and say to ourselves… what if I did a complete 180 degrees on this product, project or sales call? It may very well be what the business needs. Sometimes obvious is not obvious enough.

Sometimes, it’s worth stopping, stepping back, slowing down and re-assess if you are following the best route and ponder…what if I did this differently? In fact ask your boss: What if we could do this differently?

How will you know if you don’t try? It takes courage to stop and re-assess.

Like in my case, you may be surprised to find out that to pedal faster is not always the solution.

The post Pedal faster! appeared first on .

Paul Renaud moderating an Evernote Meetup with Phil Libin, CEO of Evernote on November 7th, 2012

I get the chance to meet and moderate interesting people. Phil Libin, CEO or Evernote (www.evernote.com) was in town and I was asked to moderate an Evernote meetup. I like to get to meet/know my guests since I need to know a bit about their leadership style and values. This makes it more interesting for the audience which in this case, ‘is my customer.’
Evernote is a $1billon (USD) company based in Silicon Valley and currently have 40 million customers. Evernote is a solution that helps you remember and act upon ideas, projects and experiences across all the computers, phones and tablets you use.

I had asked Phil what were the reasons of Evernote’ s success and after a few push backs indicating to me a touch of modesty, he admitted one of his guiding principles.
‘Paul, I hire smarter people than me’. I smiled and I let him finish. He went on to say, ‘I need to hire smarter people so we can progress. If I don’t hire someone that is smarter than me, then I end up doing the job myself which is counter-productive’.

I later told Phil that I smiled because I agreed with him and I adopted this principle in the emerging countries I had worked. I also smiled since I remembered the look of shock on some of my managers’ faces when I told them they too, had to hire smarter people. Then the question came…Well, if I hire someone smarter than me he/she will take over my job!’ which is a normal reaction to the unknown. At this moment, I would explain the difference between Leadership and Management.
The difference between Leadership and Management is that ‘Management is doing things right; Leadership is doing the right things’. A Leader will do what is right for the organization by having the best possible talent and will hire smarter people. Leaders such as CEOs cannot manage every aspect and have the same deep level of knowledge of every facet of the organization.

Therefore the CEO must lead the experts in IT, technology, audit and product management in order for the organization to adapt, progress and win in the most efficient manner.

The Leader does exactly that…he leads. The Manager on the other hand, gets the job done.

Think about this distinction in your case. Are you a Leader or a Manager?
Are you doing what is right for your organization or are you managing the finite details?
Chances are your employer hired you to lead. Like Phil Libin, when you hire subject matter experts, this person understands that he/she was hired for their specialized skills and that you are the Leader, a fact that will remain.

Leaders don’t need to establish that they are in charge; ‘doing the right things ‘establishes them as Leaders!

http://evernote.com/

The post Hire smarter people than you are! appeared first on .

The Coach was my friend’s father when I played Baseball and Hockey when I was 9 years old.
When I was 16, my Basketball Coach was closer to my age yet I still respected him since he was helping us work together and win.

Later it was my turn to Coach my sons at Hockey (it was better than sitting in a cold arena and waiting for an hour to pass). As it turns out those Coaching moments for me were some the most exhilarating and the most cherished for 2 reasons:

First, I was helping a bunch of 8-9 year olds play, have fun and work as a team.
Second, for that one hour I was focused on the game or practice, showing them their positions and how to score goals. I noticed that I was able to forget about my problems, issues and life for a while. What a cool experience that was -I highly recommend it!

As an Executive I needed to coach my staff and mentor since this is part and parcel of the job when you lead people.

Given my passion to help people and seek peak performance, I always considered myself a Coach. Recently however I got a much clearer view of what Coaching really means. In other words, I ‘got it ‘.
Change… Coaching implies a change. A Coach facilitates change.

You use a Coach to change something about your leadership style because:

1) You realize that you need to change,
2) You realize that you want to change,
3) You need help to make that change.

Changing is not easy. In fact a lot of us resist change. Changing makes you uncomfortable, uneasy and it’s a bit disorienting.

So why do people change or better still recognize that they have to change? Why is this a big deal?

A great book on Coaching and the need to change was written by Marshall Goldsmith and it’s called ‘What got you here won’t get you there’. The title is straightforward. If you are where you are today in your current position, you most probably got there because of your skills, hard work, the right environment, a nice break or even luck.

However as you strive to get to the next level you may have noticed that you are not reaching that new promotion or you are being bypassed. Why is this?
Perhaps the very reason that you got you there in the first place is preventing you from getting where you want to be.

This is where change comes in. The Coach can highlight your weaknesses and less than optimal behavior since it is virtually impossible to assess one’s behavior or style objectively and identify the reasons our career is on ‘stand by’. The Coach will identify areas that you need to change.

The good news is as adults, we can change. Our brains have enough neuroplasticity; in other words we can change the way we interact with people even if we’ve been leading in a certain way for many years. The brain can change, therefore we can change.

Goldsmith talks about 20 behaviors that are holding you back and perhaps alienating your peers, staff and clients. A few examples are ‘Playing favorites’, ‘Interrupting staff by not letting them speak and ‘Punishing the messenger’. These are all examples of where the Coach can help recognize these behaviors, re-wire your thinking and help you change.
Caution: Change requires commitment and time.

Given that we are all aware of the pace in which events and conditions are moving (markets, products, clients, competitors) and that ‘change’ is really the only constant that we can predict, isn’t it time that you give yourself a reality check to see what you need to change in order to adapt ?

The post Coach: Change Catalyst appeared first on .

I asked him – why the interest? He said ‘because Paul at your last speech you showed us the importance of setting objectives and your objective for 2012 was to read one book per month. I liked that idea and ever since hearing you I too, want to read more!’

What a nice compliment that my messages to reach out and help people had some traction and was actually working!

Another colleague suggested that I post my favorite book list. The benefit here is that I can emphasize the books that have helped me and perhaps help others learn, address change or improve their leadership skills.

What a great idea!
Here is my top 15 list with a short summary/reason as to why you should consider them:
1) What color is your parachute? Richard Nelson Bolles. This is a classic in identifying your skills. If you think you know what are your skills are, think again. Do the exercise that Richard suggests. It’s an investment in YOU and you won’t be sorry.

2) Influence, The psychology of persuasion by Robert B. Cialdini PhD. This is a great book for Sales and Marketing teams.

3) The power of Now, Eckart Tolle. This is a great book on spirituality without any religious overtones. Tolle gives you tips on how to get control of your life, outcomes and stress – I use his tips dally! If you like this book you will enjoy even more…

4) A new Earth, Eckart Tolle. Again spirituality with really cool hints on how to master your life. I strongly recommend both books; they are bit dry at the beginning but get useful once you get used to his style.

5) Rich dad, poor dad, Robert T. Kiyosaki. I like Robert’s modest style. This is not a ‘Get rich quick’ book or scheme. He fundamentally believes in raising the level of education when in comes to personal finance. Read this one first then…

6) Cashflow quadrant by Robert T. Kiyosaki, and Guide to Investing by Robert T. Kiyosaki.

7) Perfect pitch by Jon Steel, this is great for the Adverting agency crowd but not only – great book on how to make great client-winning presentations.

8) Super Freakonomics by Stephen D. Levitt and Stephen J.Dubner. Great book on trends and unusual statistics. It makes you go…Huh!? Fun read and certainly gives Marketing specialists some creative ways to get customer insights.

9) Your Brain and Business: The Neuroscience of Great Leaders, Srini Pillay M.D. Srini was my teacher and is a master and authority on Brain Science. Finally someone unlocks the code as why we behave in such ways in business (because of brain patterns) and he describes how to address change and to improve team performance.

10) Life Unlocked: 7 Revolutionary Lessons to Overcome Fear, Srini Pillay M.D. We all have self-doubt and fear. Srini’s second book unravels how to deal with fear, stress and anxiety, an area where Srini is recognized worldwide.

11) How to win Friends and Influence People, Dale Carnegie. If you don’t know Carnegie, this will be a wonderful introduction to an icon. The book was written in 1936 and the concepts that he describes then are still ‘alive and well’ today. If you like this one you will certainly treasure another classic from the same author…

12) How to stop worrying and start living, Dale Carnegie

13) Smarter Pricing, Tony Cram. Good interesting tips on a somewhat dry topic – Pricing. He kept my interest and I have used his insights for the MBA classes I teach in Marketing.

14) Exponential Marketing by Paul Garrison. This is THE book in segmentation. Paul is CEO Garrison Group, novel writer and Ivy League Professor at Dartmouth University. Learn from this former exec at Coca Cola and P&G. 

15) 7 habits of highly effective people, Stephen R. Covey. No nonsense, no hype, plain common sense to effectiveness. I instructed my marketing team to read this book and to apply/follow his suggestions. I quote his book every time I present to audiences.

Finally. Here are some books on my radar:

1) Emotional Intelligence, Daniel Goleman
2) Drive by Daniel Pink
3) The art of the start: Guy Kawasaki (former Apple soft evangelist)
4) The present, Spencer Johnson

I hope that these books help you find happiness, they help you improve your relationships and they guide you in finding meaning to your life.

It is what we think we know already that often prevents us from learning.
Claude Bernard (1813-1878)
Physiologist

The post Reading…food for the soul appeared first on .

Common integrated campaign pitfalls.
Pitfall #1: Media that don’t reinforce each other
Pitfall #2: Create a budget first, metrics second.
Pitfall #3: Awareness vs. sales
Pitfall #4: Delegate and forget
To close off this topic and as a continuation of my last post on the topic of campaign integration here’s pitfall number 4.

Pitfall #4: Delegate and forget
Another pitfall is when the Chief Marketing Officer decides to get involved, rolls up his/her sleeves with the team and assists them in launching his first campaign with the team then retreats to his/her management meetings leaving his deputy in full control of the subsequent campaigns.
Till then he or she sets the direction and tone of the Marketing plan (example)
“I want us to be positioned as the company whose real estate project owns the concept of European living standards such as providing large green space, offices, large employer complexes, schools, retail, professionals, fitness centers, public transport.”
He/She made sure the message was communicated efficiently by signing off on all ads, and held the Marketing department responsible for the success of their campaigns (“If we don’t generate revenues that are at least twice what this new Marketing program costs, I want it stopped”).
The campaign was a huge success, improving sales and raising the company’s presence to the point where it could demonstrate a correlation between sales and the advertising campaign.
Then he/she takes his eye ‘off the ball’, starts trusting the agency and then makes the decision that he/she would change from being an inspiration to becoming more involved in day-to-day management. He begins focusing exclusively on the dynamics of reporting systems and internal controls. Although he was a sale-and-Marketing pro who had built the Marketing department from the ground up, he/she now feels that time should be spent building an internal organization.
Soon enough Marketing was delegated to inexperienced staff that could go through the motions of creating Facebook pages, web-site banners, and the like, but who were lost without the leadership it takes to turn these elements into a powerful sales-building machine. No wonder revenues and earnings slowed down.
The team needs inspiration all the time. This means getting involved in all aspects if the Marketing leader wishes to see results while at the same time maintain the consistency of the message.
He/she is supposed to be diligent enough to have created a succession plan but rushing into management duties too fast is not going to help anyone especially when it comes to generating Top Line revenues with Marketing.

The post Of course the campaign is integrated… 4th and last pitfall appeared first on .

Marketers need to understand sales effectiveness. This seems terribly simple but ultimately the most direct effect of sales (as a result of marketing) is that sales generates revenues.
Plus as a Marketer how you can’t expect to drive top line revenues from market initiatives unless you have a thorough understanding of your company’s sales department and how effective they are.

Fact:

There is a strong link between sales and marketing and dynamic marketing leaders are always seeking feedback from the sales team when it comes to reading the market, understanding competition and fine tuning products and services.
In fact you should always welcome it.

Ask yourself when was the last time a sales peer gave you feedback on prices, the promotion or the new products launched last week?
If you can’t remember – that’s a problem; either:
1) As a marketer you are not getting feedback from sales since they don’t have your phone number or email or a method/channel to give to feedback,
2) You are not welcoming feedback,
3) You have not created an environment where sales can openly give feedback.

In all cases, something has to be done immediately.

Any customer centric organization has to provide an environment where sales can for example, get on the phone or email you to say ‘hey…this client is telling us that our prices are too high’ (common sales reply)…or this client has decided to leave for x/y/z reason because of the product.
Another reason could be that customers expect a higher group discount or are asking if we can modify the product/package or distribution somehow. These are all legitimate questions and market feedback and it implies that there is a dialog between marketing and sales.

As a Product Manager, I would get the distribution sales team to call me on a daily basis to complain (read, suggest) about one aspect or another about the products. This is healthy. As a Marketer, you have to welcome this kind of feedback and you have to toughen your skin since you may get a lot of criticism.

In Romania we initiated this environment of informal feedback since the sales team simply did not know that they could or should give feedback to Marketing.
We also had a product development board (formal feedback) where new products and enhancements were presented because existing products lacked a better price/package or feature.

Informal since you want to hear it ’live’ or before someone has to write an email and formally since it’s important that if you are getting similar feedback from many sales teams about the same problem, this implies that the problem must be addressed immediately or it has to be elevated to your boss or the next product development board.

Experience:
I am assuming that all good marketers have some form of sales experience. If you don’t I would try to deflect this aspect about your career as long as you can. In my opinion you need to have sold something to be effective in marketing. Sales may seem easy but it’s not. There is a lot of work to even get a customer interested in your pitch and even then, that does not guarantee that you will close. Marketers must understand this pain of trying to ‘make the sale’.

If you wish to stay in marketing and you cannot leave your marketing job tomorrow to start a new sales career, then I strongly suggest that you engage in a MLM (Multi-level marketing) or network marketing organizations like Amway, Tupperware, HerbaLife, NU Skin, and Avon in your spare time. Even if you try it and don’t like it, the fundamental part of this exercise is to understand what is required to sell. You’ll get free training and initial products to sell to your friends and family. After a while say in 2-3 months you will either love it or hate it. That’s the pain I am talking about.
Bottom line- Selling isn’t easy.

Sales discipline: Basics
The success of any organization resides in the Sales department’s ability to reach sales targets that were established in the Business plan – this is imperative.
Each Sales representative – let’s call them Account Managers (AM, for short), must go through a consistent prospecting process till a sale is made. I’ve described for illustrative purposes the most basic sales process below. I will assume for sake of example that the Account Manager is new and was not given any particular segment focus – a ‘shot gun’ approach in other words.

Day to Day Plan:
Daily Activities

0930 – 1030
Account Managers starting their day early, on time to do Telephone calls
Returning phone calls of previous day
Leads generated internally
Cold calls to prospects
Confirm presentations booked by other team members
Call on new contact developed within existing clients
Follow up on Direct mail program

Goal: Book a meeting even if it short in nature. The AM does not try to sell products/services over the phone.

1030 – 1230
Customer meetings either booked or “in the neighborhood” calls to existing clients.

1230 – 1300
Lunch

1300 – 1600
Customer meetings

1600 – 1900
Returning phone call messages on same day
Leads generated internally.
Follow up on Direct mail program.
Cold calls to prospects
Confirm presentations
Call on new contacts provided by Marketing leads or Customer Service.

This has to be done religiously – every day!

Adding to the rigor of cold calling, prospecting and meeting customers, the AM needs to initiate the following:

1) Direct mail to selected targets such as Romanian publicly traded companies, banks, manufacturing, trading firms, NGOs, insurance companies, government institutions or other relevant vertical markets.

2) Telemarketing to customers. Purpose of call is to introduce your company. Other reasons are to explain offerings, getting feedback on existing suppliers, product/service guarantees – but not on the phone. Remember the objective is to get an appointment!

3) Chamber of commerce/trade association events.

4) Accompanying the Sales Manager for customer visits, both to introduce company and prospect for more business.

5) Customer ownership focus:
Develop/add/ complement the customer profile and account review in your CRM for new contacts that you have developed.

7) Thank you letter after each call and place lead information in CRM that can be recalled for future prospecting purposes.

You get the idea.

The trick in sales is that if you repeat all these steps in a consistent manner, you will develop a small yet growing database of good customers.

It takes time.

I have sold water filters (yes…MLM), mobile phones, computer equipment, consulting contracts, sponsorships and coaching services. In my experience the AM starts to become effective and on ‘top of his/her game’ after approximately 1 ½ years of selling. It takes that amount of time to get to know your customers, learn the tricks of the trade; you avoid mistakes and become focused on customer needs and an expert at ‘closing’.

Rome was not built in a day, nor will you become an effective Account Manager overnight.

The post Marketing…Sales…what’s the difference? appeared first on .

A moment of truth is that one magic moment where a company is evaluated – fairly or unfairly for the way its products perform, the way it interacts with the customer, the way it delivers its service or any instant that consumers come across a product/service.

I will always remember a speech given by Tom Peters (Passion for Excellence) where he was emphasizing a moment of truth by using a quote from an airline executive. The executive said ‘Tom, when passengers see a coffee stain on the tray table in front of them, they automatically assume that we have engine troubles.’
A bit extreme but if you follow the logic from the passenger’s point of view, the passenger is thinking ’ Well if they can’t at least take the time to clean the coffee stain, I hope that they are taking the time to service the engines…?’

Another example of moment of truth is when a fellow Romanian steps out his car to help you push your car out of the snow during our last snow storms. You certainly did not expect it but it gave you a renewed reminder on how hospitable Romanians can be when things are not going well.

Here’s my example. Someone very dear to me received this sms for an outstanding balance on her bank card:

Cod IDclient XX8644YY: La 06/02/2012 suma datorata este 67.41 RON. Restantele se raporteaza Biroului de Credit.

In English the translation is: Client code: XX8644YY, as of 06/02/2012 you have an outstanding amount on your bank card (owed to the bank). Unpaid sums will be reported to the credit bureau.

Context: Yearly fees were accumulating on the card which had not been used for quite some time principally because my friend has other cards and her main banking was done with other banks.
I assume that banks know that clients have multiple cards and accounts.

Assessment: First of all, total lack of politeness. No ‘Dear Mrs’…or ‘we would like to raise to you attention’…
Second no explanation – we go straight to the credit bureau.
Third: No warnings; this came ‘out of the blue’. No emails, no attempt to call and perhaps enquire as to why this was left unpaid or inactive. Perhaps there was some confusion; who knows what can happen when we call customers to get information or feedback!

I sound cynical (my Canadian heritage) but I am mostly disappointed as a marketer!
This bank which will remain nameless spends a tremendous amount of money on Above the line (ATL) advertising in TV, Print and outdoor with 3 Romanian sport figures.

I mean the visuals are nice, creative, welcoming, and frequent and judging by how long these 3 celebrities have agreed to promote the bank, I assume that the campaigns are working. In fact my friend held on to the card (albeit inactive) for that very reason…it had a celebrity on the card. Now that is powerful Marketing.

Result: My friend was upset with the message and she was not aware that the card had become inactive (I mean the last time I checked, we were all too busy to check to see how ‘active‘ we have been with some of our bank cards right!?). This whole matter was unbeknownst to her. She proceeded to call the bank and cancel the cards, rather…all cards, if this is how they treat customers. Ouch!

The solution:
All touch points and customer facing departments have to be in unison, like a classical music symphony. They need to follow the same music, the same beat and the same song book. Product Managers and Marketing communications folks busy trying to get new customers need to be attentive what the customer care staff or retention/loyalty or collections teams are sending to the customer via SMS. This is inexcusable.

Don’t spend money by swaying customers with nice ads with powerful icons unless you as marketer have complete control of all touch point messages. We don’t expect Marketing to actually make collection calls however any message, let me repeat ANY message to customers has to be consistent with the brand and what you are conveying to the market.

All customers bring value even if their revenue seemed insignificant. The value they bring is how well they will refer you or speak about how they were treated by your company even if the relationship between your company and the customer had to end. Do it gently.

Your homework
As the marketing leader emphasize upon your peers that interact in some way or another with customers such as Sales, customer care, retention/loyalty, collection, PR and operations that all messages to customers, have to be consistent. Get your team to collect all messages (‘canned’ or pre preprogrammed) that were sent to customers in the past and insist that all need to be reviewed by Marketing.

This may be a long laborious task but well worthwhile the time – you may uncover other ‘shockers’.

As the lead Marketer, make it a point to continuously communicate to all your peers that Marketing owns the messages to customers. By rallying your organization with this precious yet effective direction you will be on your way to ensuring that those moments of truth are fair ones.

The post Customer Experience – are we ‘In Synch’? appeared first on .

Successful global brand requirements:

1)     Talent/Quality

Any product or service (let’s call it ‘product’ for brevity) needs to be top quality or at least needs to be perceived as having unwavering quality. Think of Mercedes or American Express. These companies like others have demonstrated time and time again that quality makes the customer come back.

2)     Energy/Sustainability

Your product has to be number one in the ‘hearts and minds’ of your customers that means you need to constantly push away the competition regardless what they throw at you. Nokia which was the best mobile phone company in the early 2000’s slowly ‘got their lunch eaten’ by Blackberry. Now BlackBerry is getting kicked by Iphone. ‘You snooze…you lose’.

3)      People; Let me be more specific: Management, team members, partners and suppliers.

It’s all about people.  You get the best leader in charge of an organization and magic   happens. If you have a tyrant at the head of an organization – you have chaos.

Suppliers can become your most important ally. John F. Love in ‘Behind the arches’ paints a dramatic look on how McDonald’s transformed ‘Mom and Pop’ suppliers into multi-million dollar firms.

4) Marcomms (Marketing Communications), Managing media/Social media initiatives.

This is where the marketing purists do their mixing: the classic and the new; conventional and social media. Be careful however. Social media is not the panacea for all Marcomms. Classical media (TV, print, radio and outdoor) still carry a lot of weight.

5)     New Product Development (NPD)  and Determination

Take a look at how many times Samsung is launching new products and that will indicate the type of momentum and dizzying pace it takes to stay alive in a market where customers want more speed/features/ time savers and benefits.

6)     Luck

In a recent interview Johnny Depp told Larry king that industry experts referred to Depp’s first 20 years of his acting career as ‘ Box office poison’. Then he was offered the role in Pirates of the Caribbean. Depp said ‘Yes I was lucky at that moment but I also knew that if someone gave me the ball… I had to run with it ‘. Luck plays a vital role in business. Question is: Are you ready when luck comes your way?

7) Pride. More on that later.

So how does Inna stack up?

1)     Talent/Quality

In an age of music artists that can fake their way to the top, I can assure you this lady can sing. She sings live every moment that she can including live radio interviews (not to mention in 4 languages: Romanian, English French and Spanish). She’s been singing since she was eight years old and still continues to improve herself.

2)     Energy/Sustainability

Remember the last time you had a cold/flu? You felt miserable, calling in sick at work and you just wanted to sleep. When you have on average 12 concerts in 12 different countries per month – you can’t ‘call in sick’. In fact you have to sing even with a sore throat. With jet lag, meeting fans, TV/radio interviews, red carpet appearances, meeting fans before the show, sound checks, hair, make-up, performing the show and still meeting fans backstage after the show…’this life isn’t easy’. Inna has more energy than her whole team combined. She cherishes meeting fans after the show, signing autographs and genuinely takes an interest in all of them. She sustains this energy by continuously pushing herself. Here lies the secret of keeping the competition at bay.

3)     People

Inna’s Manager is Lucian Stefan. In his twenties, this fellow has the abilities and competencies of a multinational CEO twice his age in my opinion. Lucian has created the right environment and hired a small team to support him including Marian Dorobantu, Creative Director.  By team I also mean stakeholders/partners such as Play and Win who are extremely talented: They do the composing, lyrics,  production, mixing and the mastering (quite rare) since in the US only one company/entity will do one of these activities – not all four.

Roton is the music label and the core team also includes 4 main suppliers; Edward Aninaru (Photographer),  Maria Andrei (Stylist), Camelia Negrea ( Hair) and  Andra Manea ( Makeup)…4 vital components to make a singer  look/feel her best.

4)     Marcomms (Marketing Communications), Managing media/Social media initiatives.

I can’t possibly list all the things they have done in this area however Social media played an important role:

Facebook: 4,005,257 fans or more fans that Gwen Stefani, Nicole Scherzinger and Nelly Furtado. Lucian through his PC skills has mastered the FB Page.

Twitter: Inna does her own Twitter message – clear enough!

As a result fans have created a multitude of FB pages and Twitter address with the name INNA.

Youtube: As you would expect this has been a critical element for a music artist. Lucian would upload all kinds of Inna video moments as well as teasers of songs, albums as well as really cool moments arriving in new countries. Her first song  ‘Hot’  has in excess of 110 Million views on YouTube.

Now I’ll be the first one to say to ‘don’t bet all your horses ‘on social media (SM). Classic media like print is also responsible for Inna’s popularity. In her case getting two covers in FHM magazines led her to other significant covers such as Elle, Viva and Forbes magazines.

SM + Classic Marcomms led to endorsements with Microsoft and Pepsi. My suggestion is to really look at this artist as a possible endorser for your products/services.

I will skip New Product Development (NPD) and go straight to pride…my favorite topic.

When Inna lands in a new country she says 2 things:

1)     My name is Inna and,

2)     I’m Romanian

Not to make this a political tangent but I want to reach out to my fellow Romanians. It is clear to me that Romanians have this ‘thing’ about being assertive (or lack) about their nationality.

Ok Romania has had bad press in the past in other countries as well as its nomadic people. I am the first to say: So what?

As a proud Canadian we also have issues as a nation.

When I speak to investors I tell them about the abundant IT talent in Romania, English skills, tireless and diligent Romanian employees not to mention EU status and funding opportunities Having lived in 9 countries, I see Romania’s huge talent.

Back to Inna and my message. Like Inna,  ‘Be a proud Romanian’ and that enthusiasm and pride will become contagious. Inna has diligently used this in her favor.

Pride is the key word here.

Still not convinced? Check out this Youtube video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hUMLYdPQpgc and help me understand this question:

How can a Romanian have so much influence and reverence in a country like Mexico – a country that still had not commercially sold her songs until the time she landed for the first time?

I have had the pleasure of working with Inna’s management recently and what I discovered was truly amazing.

When you combine talent, energy, the right people, the right Marcomms, NPD, a bit of luck and lot of pride any Romanian brand can compete globally…just ask Inna!

The post Can Romanian brands compete globally? Just ask Inna! appeared first on .