TNG Blog

As the owner of a small marketing agency, a professional who is very often executing a one-man show as an outside consultant, I don’t often get to observe other companies’ sales pitches. I guess that one part of me has remained curious and puzzled about what is presented and how others perform at that opportunistic ‘show off your capabilities, leave an impression, and land the project’ meeting. The concern that others always execute better and that they are superior public speakers (yes, a complex of not being a native English speaker) has served as both motivation and stage fright, forces that have cancelled out one another on each occasion.

Although this has primarily fueled my curiosity and allowed me to engage in healthy discussions, I recently heard about a situation in which an agency, following an unsuccessful pitch, repeatedly asked the potential client for direct advice, ideas for improving the proposal for future purposes, and wrapping up with “what exactly did the other company propose?”. Yeah, what’s the secret formula for Coca Cola? Don’t people understand the concept of having a competitive advantage, where the whole point is that someone offers something that others don’t?

This post won’t be about competitive advantage, but about the challenges that growing businesses face even when they start with a well-defined competitive advantage. My fascination with the topic of business growth, as well as challenges that growing businesses face, started with a series of conversations and observations about the topic. Of particular interest are the central figures in the story, the founders, who just like their business started a journey of growth and adjustment, and ended up as considerably different versions of themselves.

The typical story starts with a couple of outstanding professionals who decide to start their own company. Tired of seeing injustice or inconsistency in execution, they believe that they have the right know-how and relationships to break out and do something differently. Each contributes a different set of skills and expertise, and the ultimate product(s) / service(s) has the potential for a very bright future. Not surprisingly, the business takes off:

• they are enthusiastic about what they do
• they roll up the their sleeves and actually do the work
• they know all about the company’s product(s), service(s), and processes
• they pride themselves on delivering customized solutions and knowing their customers
• they clearly define the company’s expertise

Some years later, the founders / senior management acknowledge that they have succeeded, but could exceed even their own initial expectations and grow the business even faster if they would:

• become more efficient, reprioritizing certain activities and trying to get into a routine
• outsource their work to become more productive and cost-effective
• implement new standards and consistencies (i.e., templates and frameworks)
• branch out into related areas that have high demand

So they implement a series of changes and get their business moving in the fast lane – their baby grows…a lot, like Alice in Wonderland with the ‘eat me’ cookie. Business booms, with multiple offices in emerging markets, a growing list of Fortune 500 clients, and several additional practice areas helping fuel unparalleled growth of the business. Along the way, various challenges are successfully overcome and valuable lessons learned. But, something is lost in the process – growth came with a price.

Some years later, the founders become absorbed in delivering sales pitches and proposals full-time. They realize how far they have come from more humble beginnings and, now and then, become too overconfident and even arrogant. No longer the same energetic entrepreneurs they once were, they now focus too much on efficiency and business development:

• they have lost the enthusiasm that was obvious when facing clients
• they have lost their expertise as they no longer work in the field
• they no longer know the details of their products / services, which are instead being developed, tested, and improved by others
• their business has become a mass producer of ‘customized’ products thanks to the standards and templates they have implemented
• their business has branched out into too many areas and they no longer develop proposals simply for what they do best, but offer solutions for whatever the client needs, providing at moment’s notice slides and frameworks

The most overlooked and perhaps trickiest detail when growing a business is actually growing yourself accordingly and staying true to who you are and what you do. Don’t forget the core values with which you started your venture. Don’t forget the competitive advantage that helped your business grow, and don’t forget yourself in the process, because there is some truth in growing your business, yet staying young and foolish at heart.

Remember when we needed to write a 500, a 1,000, or a 3,000-word essay for school? Don’t those times seem sooo last century, when the quantity of the content was equally important to the quality of the content? Am I starting to sound like my parents, who always talked about long-gone times? Would I now be able to make it to 3,000 words in an essay, after training myself to convey 140, 256, or 700 character communications all over the social media world?  The ongoing trend of shortening and compressing communication in business is becoming so common that we are becoming pre-programmed to think and communicate in a short, direct, and effective way. The handicap might only become obvious for a moment, on rare occasions when you realize that you have a great piece of communication in front of yourself,  but you just can’t fit it in your usual ‘le petit’ mold.

The trigger

As a Chicagoan, I maintain contact with the community through many subscribe lists for the area … I’m currently not residing in Chicago, so the other day thanks to one of those subscriptions, I had a nostalgic moment when I was linked to an inspiring video from Northwestern Memorial Hospital.

The experience of watching the video was like this:

• It started with excitement!
• Then, emotions overwhelmed me!
• Then, I approached a moment of pride!
• Then, a moment of acknowledging a job well-done from the marketing/communications side!
• Then, moment of coolness - connecting all of their statistic with dog years and Kim Kardashian!
• Then, they got the ‘Wow” out of me for all that they do or stand for!
• Then, hmmmmm…

I couldn’t say anything bad about the video, since it really was well made…but something was missing. Something that kept bothering me for a couple of minutes….and I just couldn’t figure it out.

The revelation

4min and 21 seconds!!!  The fact was that the video was too long for me! I became nervous halfway through…even if the content, their statistics, their success were all impressive and informative, I became jittery as the video pushed my limits. I became afraid. Am I really so handicapped that I’m incapable of handling more than 2 minutes of video content/communication? What happened to that person that knew how to appreciate and enjoy quality videos, articles, and speeches no matter how long they were, if they were good?

That person micronized – as most things in business: “Your email is too long”, “Your presentation is too long”, “Your excerpt is too long”, “Your status is too long”, “Your article is too long”… “Nobody is going to read/watch that…people don’t have time”.

Micronize. Shorten the URL. Forget the introduction. Get straight to the point.

The entire concept of ‘le petit’ measures communication not in words but in characters - exaggerating to the point that even empty spaces count. How far can we push this concept of micronization if we  micro-blog, micro-write, micro-talk, micro-listen?! and then as a result of the process, even micro-communicate?

Don’t business schools still teach that the optimal balance of  effectiveness and efficiency are key to business success…so how are we supposed to transmit powerful messages, influence stakeholders and customers, and make a difference if we continue to micro-communicate – an efficient, but not necessarily effective form of communication?

Great job Northwestern Memorial Hospital! Excuse the new generation of  ’micronizers’ that can’t get through 4.21 minutes of high quality content!

Have 4.21 minutes?

So, since recently moving to Europe, I’ve been working on business development and doing a lot of networking…and I’ve come across quite a few characters. This month, I wanted to point out a couple of ‘leader’ personas to watch out for! Yes they’re successful and to some extent capable, but there’s a reason they got to where they are, and it’s not always ability or intellect.

The Charmer

He’s there because he has that ‘something’. Let me be clear: not the leader ‘something’, but that general ‘something’. The something that you noticed in that realtor who somehow made it to Sotheby’s, the something that waiter had in that fancy new restaurant that only serves an obscenely expensive 5-course $300 feast , the something that your best friend would say George Clooney has. What I am describing helps push certain people in a miraculous way to certain branches on the tree of success…why are people with this ‘something’ never truck drivers, construction workers, regular Joes?

Well, amazingly this ‘something’ also works its magic in the business world. The Charmer is easily spotted as he is usually an ugly duckling among white swans, just vice-versa. He is a highly influential ‘leader’ at a senior position, albeit with mediocre abilities. He lacks obvious professional and leadership skills, but the charm closes gaps left by his missing knowledge and experience. His ego clearly drives his interaction with people; however, people are willing to look through his ‘minor’ faults just because the overall experience of being around this persona – the karma around this guy (let me for the first time say: or girl) is like opium.

He is a good representative for the company, says upper management.

Nevertheless, occasionally some people will be able to register his mediocre capabilities and wonder how he got there where he is…usually those who work for the Charmer. He typically succeeds and moves forward not because of his outstanding work, or a team that follows him and his great leadership, but because he just appears to be great choice for that top-floor corner office.

“He just looks like a leader”…yeah…right.

The Safe Haven

He seems like a good (think: safe) choice for a leader. After the last guy who put the company on the cover of a gossip magazine because he was caught in striptease bar, you finally want a Safe Haven to lead your business and people. You know that a Safe Haven will never cause scandals or misbehave. He also looks smart with those glasses (it’s good that he’s not too sexy or comes across as distractingly attractive), is articulate (I mean, he never delivered an outstanding speech, but he always has well-structured presentations), has a normal family life (yeah, he won’t do anything stupid, since he needs to support his stay-at-home wife and young children) . So what if his track record is not outstanding – leaders are made, not born – at least the board sometimes buys that.

And while upper management is happy with the Safe Haven, the consequences are felt among the people who should follow him. He is just not the type to inspire and motivate his team. He doesn’t have the passion to push for that extra mile. He is ok, an outstanding average. His team doesn’t love him nor hate him. He’s just simply ‘blah’. A leader appointed by the guys from the top floor because he’s a risk-free leader – both for the company and for success.

I’m sure there are other prototypes out there…other types of leaders that you and I have come across over time, and somewhere among them are true leaders…guys like Steve Jobs (anything against Steve Jobs, keep it to yourself please! ) who have a little bit of charm, a little bit of common sense, and a lot of drive, intellect, and vision.

Have you recently run across some ‘interesting’ leader?

Living in the United States, we take many things for granted. We, customers, are used to handouts of a mature and competitive market where businesses have learned lessons that help them survive and remain profitable:

1. how to grab a customer’s attention,
2. how to transform a customer’s interest into action,
3. how to keep a customer happy after a purchase,
4. how to create a repeat customer.

We, customers, are  s.p.o.i.l.e.d; nevertheless, we develop this awareness only when we leave our US ‘safe ground’ and find ourselves in awe of things that are so customary for us, yet neither standard nor even possible elsewhere in the world. To make this ‘spoiled customer’ assumption even more fascinating, I look upon people like me who grew up somewhere else, moved to the United States, and then quite quickly adapted to the perks of living in the Promised Land. People can get used to better things quite easily, can’t they? Maybe I would never have noticed this had I not traveled outside of the US nor, more interestingly, had I not recently moved back to Europe (even if only temporarily). The Old Continent definitely still does it the old way.

Let me say it out loud: Customer Service!

Step back. There is always a difference in how things are done: big guys (corporations) do it in a big way ($$$), small guys (small business) do it similarly but in a small way ($). Big guys hire big agencies to develop and manage their campaigns, small guys hire freelance graphic designers to make their marketing materials. Big guys have 24/7 outsourced customer service, small guys try to act as friendly neighbors who solve issues when needed. Both groups run their businesses in their respective way for the same reason: to attract customers and to retain customers.

Prologue. Since June, I’ve been living in a mid-sized city in Europe (more than 250,000 residents) that is also a tripoint (I highlight tripoint since it offers an amazing strategic location for any business that should be maximally utilized – and in my experience it’s not). In less than three months, I have somehow already managed to have a list of places (shops, restaurants, real estate agencies, etc) where I will not return. Yes, you’ve heard me well! Call me spoiled, but my hard earned money will not end up supporting those businesses that have made it to that list. The culprit: very bad or rather no customer service. On the other hand, I find myself willing to drive to two nearby countries (even though only 15 minutes away) to support businesses where I’ve received excellent, or sometimes even average, customer service.

Situation. For example, restaurants… their customer service – throughout most of Europe – is something that we Americans complain about quite a bit. Since being here, I’ve learned that waiters and waitresses are not tipped at all like they are in the US (e.g., 10-20%), rather receive a reasonable wage. As a result, customer service is not their greatest focus…by far. That patrons come to restaurants primarily for the food and that they pay for their food, and not service, is often felt in the air.

Experiment. I decided to test a restaurant that offered amazing food however no customer service. As I was enjoying my meal and suffering from the lack of service, I thought of an interesting experiment. At the end of my initial visit, I tipped the waiter an unheard of 15%, even if undeserved. I had to wait an unreasonable amount of time for everything and I was the one smiling and being friendly; he remained cold and disinterested. I wanted to check whether he would improve his service the next time I returned to the restaurant (thinking that he would recall someone who tipped so much, spoke the local language with an accent, and indicated that she was now residing in the area). During my second visit, the food was great (still), the waiter was the same (still), and the customer service was the same (unfortunately, still)…and I tipped him 15% (still). I mean, he had to remember me the third time. The third time…unfortunately…was not the charm.

Result. Restaurant added to my no-go list.

Lesson Learned. The look in his eyes told me that I was just a crazy American giving him free money. For me, this waste of money showed that you can’t pay for something that is not offered, valued, nor expected to be compensated. The bottom line is that the market here, although as mature as in the US, has simply matured a different way. Customer service is not really offered, it is not really valued by customers, and neither party really expects compensation for it. So, the same game – ‘Business’ – has been played with two different rulebooks, amazingly successfully in both parts of the world.

Review. Although Europe is also starting to move towards a customer service culture, the US is already deeply dependent on it. The big guys are often multinational and have the luxury of implementing various levels of customer service based on local needs. In some cases, they are even close to monopolizing the market regardless of their level of service. Small business owners, however, are in many cases local and quite often dependent on local customers. Although in Europe small businesses may not need to focus as much attention on customer service, it is quite clear that their American counterparts need to devote sufficient attention to maintain and grow their businesses.

Business Strategy. In the past, I’ve provided a lot of advice for investing in the right marketing tools and tactics to increase customer awareness and drive interest in your product or service. However, any such expense can be a complete waste if customers are not retained once they are captured. Even though you may be doing a great job driving customers into that sales funnel, keep an eye on your customer service and ensure that there are no leaks out the other end. Some people even go as far as saying that customer service is the new marketing; I as a marketer wouldn’t go quite that far…I say that customer service is extremely important (in some geographies) and that it should be implemented as one of the many tools and tactics that any business leverages to attract and retain customers.

What about you? Have you had an interesting experience with customer service outside the US?