Is it Politics or is it Marketing?

Recently, in order to pass Health Care Reform Legislation, President Obama met with doctors at the White House.  Are these doctors wearing white because they are at the “white” house or because it is about politics or…really about marketing?   It is a powerful visual image of these doctors meeting with President Obama at the White House with their “doctor smocks” on as opposed to business attire i.e. dark blue suits, dress, etc.   He is “pulling out all the stops” (including marketing his legislative initiatives) as he seeks passage of such legislation.

Which has more “emotional pull” on you?  A doctor in their “practice smock” or a doctor in a business suit or dress?

Well…it’s clear by this picture which one President Obama believes is most effective!   He certainly knows a lot about politics, but he, also, knows a lot about marketing!

Think about the power of visuals in your business as well!  It’s the “little things” that really do count!

MARKETING = EDUCATION

What is so important about educating your prospective clients and existing clients? Listen to this 15 minute podcast as we discuss this on “Livin’ the Dream” Radio Show…Click Here!

Join me on “Livin’ the Dream” Radio Show Tuesday August 25 2009 12Noon CST

I am excited to be a guest host on “Livin’ the Dream” Radio Show on TUESDAY, AUGUST 25 2009 @ 12NOON CST!  Please join me…here’s the link! www.MyDreamBiz.net “See you then and there!”  Hosts are pictured below from left to right: Leo Wisniewski, John Navin, and Lauren Milligan.

Listen to Livin’ The Dream every week - live every Tuesday at noon CST on the Internet at Contact Talk Radio! Learn how to become a business owner, manage money, or advance your career. Each week, the Livin’ The Dream team brings you valuable information on topics that will resonate with you, challenge you, educate you, and even amuse you If you miss the live show, be sure to check out our Program Archives.

Business Ownership with Leo Wisniewski Financial Management from John Navin Career Advancement by Lauren Milligan

Why Ask Why? Great article by MIKE SCHULTZ…

Here is a great article by MIKE SCHULTZ, President of Wellesley Hills Group…

Q. Why did the chicken cross the road?
A. Jack Bauer: Give me ten minutes with the chicken and I’ll find out.

The first time I heard the five questions I’m about to put forth as the five most important for services marketing, they annoyed me. Actually, the person who introduced them to me tended to annoy me in general. By proxy, I threw the important-question baby out with the annoying-lady bathwater. (I shouldn’t have done that, but I didn’t realize it at the time.)

The concept is the Five Whys. Popularized by Taiichi Ohno, the architect of the Toyota Production System, the Five Whys is a root-cause analysis technique, helping business leaders get past amelioration of the symptoms of a problem and instead address the underlying causes.

Essentially, the Five Whys is to problem solving and critical thinking as removing weeds by the root is to gardening. Fix a symptom in business but not the underlying cause, and the symptom is bound to recur. Fix the underlying cause (i.e., address the problem by the root), and you can gain lasting improvement.

In a manufacturing environment, the Five Whys might work like this:

Manufacturing Example Problem: The Production Line Stopped Again

1. Why did the production line stop? Answer: We blew a fuse.
2. Why did we blow a fuse? Answer: Because the bearings overheated.
3. Why did the bearings overheat? Answer: Because there is insufficient lubrication on them.
4. Why is there insufficient lubrication on the bearings? Answer: Because nobody oiled them.
5. Why did nobody oil them? Answer: Because we don’t have a preventative maintenance schedule.
6. Why don’t we have a preventative maintenance schedule? Answer: Silence.

(True, this example has six Whys. Number five is directional, not absolute.)

The idea is that once you’ve gotten to silence, you should be near your root cause. The temptation by many managers pressed for time (who isn’t) is to solve a problem at the first chance they see something they can tackle. Perhaps in our scenario above, the folks might have pointed a fan at the bearings, keeping them at a cooler temperature and lessening the overheating problem. Or, perhaps, someone might just switch the fuse, and then be ready to switch it again (and again and again). But they won’t get the deeper, more permanent fix.

In services marketing, too many activities are engaged, and too many decisions are made, without asking enough Whys.

Services Example Problem: We Don’t Have Enough Leads

1. Why don’t we have enough leads? Answer: Because the partners aren’t getting enough referrals to build their practices.
2. Why aren’t the partners getting enough referrals? Answer: Because the partners and the marketing group aren’t taking the actions needed on a regular basis to generate referrals and new business leads.
3. Why aren’t they doing what they’re supposed to do to generate leads and referrals? Answer: Because work expectations focus on keeping them billable, and lead generation isn’t a top priority in the marketing department.
4. Why are the partner jobs aligned so narrowly to billing, and why doesn’t marketing focus on lead generation? Answer: Because the managing partner hasn’t historically perceived revenue generation as an issue, and so across the board—from marketing to billable staff—there isn’t much concerted lead generation effort, and, in marketing, there’s no budget.
5. Why? Answer: Now that it’s an important business problem to solve, why hasn’t he addressed this?
6. Why? Answer: Silence.

I’ve seen firms stop after Why #1 and conclude that the partners need training. One year later…no discernable change in referrals generated. (Why? Skills may or may not be an issue, but even if the partners have all the skills, other factors, as we know, prevent them from generating leads.) Some firms stop after Why #2 and conclude that partners need personal action plans to generate leads and that marketing must make lead generation a priority. Twelve months later, even if action plans are built by the partners and the marketers, the actions aren’t taken. (Why? Compensation drivers, expectations of billing, and lack of budget win out over good intentions to get it done.)

No matter what might change to support referral and lead-generation efforts, if the managing partner doesn’t have his heart and actions in full support over the long term (see answer to Why #4), the initiative will head (without passing go, and without collecting $200) to the “flavor of the month” graveyard. Without leadership support, success of any kind of corporate initiative is in serious jeopardy from the get go.

Of course, there could be other Why factors that affect referral and lead generation. Perhaps the firm’s delivery of service isn’t as strong as they think it is and thus their reputation is suffering. Perhaps a major rainmaker retired and the rest of the team simply never took up the slack. Perhaps over the past five years the other firms have established themselves as thought and market leaders, and the firm is still the “best kept secret” with partners who rarely publish and speak? Perhaps the economy is down and every firm is suffering. All of those are possible root causes that would lead to different solutions.

Indeed, don’t ask the Whys, don’t get the problem solved.

In part two, Mike will explain how to use the Five Whys in a professional services environment.

---

Mike Schultz, author of Professional Services Marketing, is the Publisher ofRainToday.com, the premier online source for insight, advice, and tools for service business rainmakers, marketers, and leaders. He is also the President of the Wellesley Hills Group, a management consulting, marketing, and lead generation firm focused on helping professional services firms grow. Mike can be reached at mschultz@raintoday.com or on Twitter@Mike_Schultz. Check out Mike’s Services Marketing Blog for more tips and insights.

A Real Estate Guy Giving Me A Fresh Bag of Roasted Coffee?

I recently presented the “Seven Steps to Small Business Marketing Success” to the Business Executives Association in Chicago!  Great group! We had a very lively, interesting, and relevant conversation!

Before I presented each member had to tell what they do…one gentleman, got up, and personally carried to each of the other members a fresh bag of roasted coffee!  NICE!  (I love coffee! :-))…Ironically, I did not even “catch” what he did…all I can remember is his energy, enthusiasm, and love for coffee!  Is that important given that his real business is in real estate?  YES…

I will never forget him and…because of what he did, I sought him out after the meeting because I wanted to get to know him…I already liked him and had already begun to trust him…He was not just another real estate guy, but a guy I wanted to know and a guy whom I will remember!!! GREAT DIFFERENTIATION!

Next Page »