December 16, 2016 by

Use It Or Lose It!

check-wenkroyThe month of December brings along much joy, warmth and pleasure to many people. It signifies the end of the calendar year and for a great many organizations the end of their fiscal year.  Corporations, not for profit charities and a variety of associations and other businesses have allocated funds for development, training and materials which if the funds are not utilized by the end of the year they are lost.  

Potentially even more impactful to their budget is the allocation in the budget for the upcoming year or two may be reset to the lower number of dollars actually spent in this previous year for this category.  

When this topic is discussed by me certain people say, “This is not true! Why would this  apply to a Non- Profit Organization?”  

It definitely does apply and here is one small example. From a variety of my contacts on the Board of Directors of certain Non-Profit Organizations, they tell me the business and the people in a Non-Profit may need development and training in leadership, communications, and presentation skills more than some of their corporate sponsors. In fact, they would find the money as long as the Non-Profit would agree to spend the money specifically on it and not something else.

If you are in this type of situation or know of an organization which is please stop right now and contact me with your information or an introduction.

This is an investment in the future of your organization. There are many reports which state that organizations are spending quite a bit on leadership development and training within their organization and they still are not seeing the return on their investment.  

Now this is not to knock the Human Resources folks – and let’s be careful here not to feel offended as this is not the purpose here –  often a training and development workshop or course is brought in with the mindset that it is a one time event.  For the most part this is due to the larger organizations who are hired are set up to deliver their workshops and courses in this manner.  Once the workshop or the course ends everyone goes back to conducting themselves exactly as they did prior to the workshop or course.

The more effective method of delivery to have an impact and to create a change in behavior is through spaced repetition. For example – If you consider marketing and the use of media it is through the repetition of the brand, the message, the reason through a  number of different sources which translates into the attainment of a customer.

By incorporating spaced repetition into the delivery, this continued contact and engagement in a variety of methods keep people onboard and accountable. They are able to grow and their behavior changes along with this process.

The ultimate goal and deliverable must be supported from the top of the organization as well. When a shift in culture or behavioral change is the deliverable the fastest way to undo everything is to have a leader in the organization or a manager continue to present themselves the same exact way they always have while expecting everyone else to change.

There are numerous ways to take advantage of this end of year opportunity. Here are a few examples where either a deposit or a full payment in December 2016 will secure top notch development, training and resources for individuals and/or groups:

  • High Performance Coaching
  • Effective Personal Productivity
  • Effective Personal Leadership

These ALL INCLUDE areas where goal setting and the accountability to carry these through are part of the program. Each of these are from start to finish designed for an initial 90 day effort.

Secure the program now! 

Mitch Tublin runs a boutique consulting firm with a main focus on leadership development, strategic initiatives and executive coaching. Based in Stamford, CT. he has clients all over the world.

Filed Under: Business Planning, Business Strategy, Marketing, Small Business Tagged With: , , , , , , ,
March 20, 2015 by

What Are Your Favorite Taglines?

What are your favorite taglinesPlease take a moment to think about it and then ten seconds to post one or more in the comments area. Taglines are a funny thing. There are companies and people who get really possessive about each word and go to great lengths to trademark their unique tagline. Other people pretty much change their tagline like we change our underwear.

Then there are some companies and people who do not give it one thought and don’t care at all about the need or the use of a tagline.

The best way to describe a tagline is to say it is a memorable phrase utilized to create the image of – choose from a variety such as – visual, audio, book, brand, product, athlete, musician, movie star, and more.

Here is one example – “Have you tried re-installing?” This is a registered trademark of Microsoft Corp.

Here are a few website taglines –

YouTube – “Broadcast Yourself”

Auto blog – “We obsessively cover the auto industry.”

Lifehacker – “Don’t live to geek, geek to live!”

Taglines we all remember. See if you can guess the company that goes with each tagline. They will be posted at the end – no peeking!

  1.  “The Happiest Place On Earth”
  2. “The uncola”
  3. “Don’t Leave Home Without It”
  4. “We Try Harder”
  5. “What’s In Your Wallet”
  6. “Just Do It”
  7. “The Ultimate Driving Machine”

The point is how about your tagline? Have you considered a memorable string of words which would translate instantly to the reader or listener what you or your business is all about?

Here is my tagline – “America’s Navigator For Leaders In Business And Life.”

Hope you like it! You have no idea how long we worked on these eight words!

We use the tagline on social media (Check out the cover image on my Facebook page as one example), websites, print media, publications, products, and more.

After all the point of having the tagline is to use it! A lot!

If the other ideas we were considering were available to me it would be perfect to list them here for you to see the process we went through. Persistence is what brought us through to the creation of the tagline we have been utilizing.

Here is a tip. A TIP!

The tagline you use does not have to remain the one you use forever. Have some fun with it. Try one out and if it does not get good feedback get rid of it and try another one. We tested out a number of them and conducted various surveys of friends and followers in our tribe before deciding which words worked and which words did not work.

This is one marketing tool every business should take advantage of – create your tagline.

Mitch Tublin is an advanced certified executive and personal coach who resides in Stamford, CT.

Answers:

  1. Disney
  2. 7 UP
  3. American Express
  4. Avis
  5. Capital One<
  6. Nike
  7. BMW

How many did you get right?

 

Filed Under: Business Strategy, Marketing Tagged With: , , , , ,
February 13, 2015 by

Do You Need to Shake It Up?

shake-it-upThere are issues which present themselves all the time in all business types and sizes. It does not make one bit of difference if you are a large publicly traded company, a medium sized company, a small retailer or a solo-preneur in a service based business.

Here are a few examples of issues that arise:

  • Complacency and doing either the same thing over and over again and expecting different results
  • Taking your customers and clients for granted
  • Trying to do too much and then not providing excellence in any one single thing

What is the action taken when these issues arise makes the difference, like what happened between Best Buy and Radio Shack. Another example is McDonald’s.

McDonald’s, The Golden Arches, an Internationally recognized brand in the fast food category. When McDonald’s opened a store on the Champes Elyses in Paris, France you would have thought the French felt Americans were going to poison their entire country’s food chain! In the last few years McDonald’s reported this one store to be one of the top stores in their International System!

McDonald’s used to be known for good burgers, served fast and top customer service. (Let’s not get caught up in our view of the fast food industry.)

Here is what is happening today.

McDonald’s has a bloated menu. Some items off of the long and confusing menu take up to seven minutes to deliver to the counter. This is a death sentence in the fast food industry. Jim Cramer on CNBC stated he thinks the menu at McDonald’s now is so complex he is fairly certain you need to be a Rhodes Scholar to work the register.  Compare that to Chipotle Mexican Grill where food ordered is typically on the counter in under 90 seconds.

McDonald’s has lost their way. They have moved off track from their roots.

Is there any similarity in this example to a business you know?

What does McDonald’s need to do?

Culture – Food Sourcing – Service

McDonald’s must focus on only three things. Be excellent at these three things every day.

Culture – cut through the bloated layers of management and slice out any layers and silos which are protecting their turf and not producing positively to these three areas. Visit every single location with this message – the food must taste great, be delivered quickly to the counter and with a smile. Create a McDonald’s culture within the company and stores where Culture – Food Sourcing – Service are top of mind and behavior.

Food Sourcing – no one wants to eat a cardboard burger slathered with special sauce on a cotton ball bun. Really look at where the food is being sourced from and the make up of every single menu item. Where is it possible to source food locally? Taste test in the market place extensively. Cut the menu down drastically. This should not take years to do.

Service – dancing with random customers is not the type of service fast food customers want, need or expect at a fast food location. This is not an Arthur Murray Dance Studio. Go back to basics. Welcome each person with a smile. Mom or Dad might be paying right now. Don’t ignore Junior as he may be one of your best customers in the future. Smile as you take the order and repeat everything for confirmation. When the food is delivered ask if they want or need anything else for the third time. Smile and say “Enjoy your meal!”

A huge business like McDonald’s reels back in to focus using three specific actions. They do this and their brand and their business will turnaround.

Where in your business are there three specific actions to focus on and be excellent in?

Mitch Tublin is a business consultant, executive coach and professional speaker on leadership and communications based in Stamford, CT.

Filed Under: Business Strategy, Marketing Tagged With: , , , , , , ,
November 28, 2014 by

What is Unique About Your Product or Service Based Business?

What is Unique About Your Product or Service Based BusinessAre you another – INSERT YOUR BUSINESS TYPE HERE – like all of the others who are in – INSERT YOUR PRODUCT OR SERVICE HERE?

No?

Of course not!

Your product is special because of the reasons you know, the originality and unique aspects of it. Or it is an organic item from specially grown – whatever it is.

Or the service you provide gets amazing results for your clients. The people you work with rave about working with you.

In fact, anyone who speaks with you in person finds out this information fairly quickly as you are each learning about each other’s businesses.

You know the special attributes of your business. You have fans and customers or clients who gladly offer testimonials for you. Here is my question. Why do you market, advertise, write copy, conduct your social media – like everyone else does!

Okay even more to the point – why don’t you explain in a unique way what makes you and your business unique?

Here are a few reasons why you follow the crowd in these areas.

  1. Experts are saying these are the methods that work so everyone is following along. This is interesting, however, there was a time when everyone said the earth is flat. One thing to remember about these experts is they are experts at selling the solutions that everyone buys into, not necessarily running a business and actually putting anything into practice other than selling these ‘works every time’ solutions.
  2. You read the social media posts and realize you must be missing something so you either do it yourself or hire someone to replicate what you see everyone else doing so you don’t miss out. If you are a follower of the stock market, when you start to see everyone buying into the position of a company, or the market and new highs are being made everyday, the saying goes ‘you are chasing the market’.Please do not take this to heart without doing your own research or seeking the advice of a properly licensed investment advisor. The statistics show that when people buy into the market when the market hits new highs, are often the same people who sell when the market is near, or has hit new lows.  Think about it for a moment. This is not investing, it is gambling.
  3. You find it easier to copy what others are doing than to create your own strategy for your business. If it was this easy everyone would be rich!

Here is one single tip for you to standout and let people know how great your product or service based business is – work with a business coach! More specific tips in the next article. Come on back!

Mitch Tublin is an advanced certified executive and personal coach who resides in Stamford.

Filed Under: Coach Mentor, Marketing Tagged With: , , , ,
March 26, 2014 by

Would You Dress Up As The Gorilla To Be Memorable?

gorillaIf we assume the majority of people we meet will not remember our name, or much at all about us after meeting us, what may we do to help ourselves to be memorable? In fact, when people attend an event where there are speakers and breakout sessions, for one, two or even three days in a row, the majority of people do not recall the names or even the topics of the speakers and their sessions.  It has been shown, for the majority, even the note takers at these events do not look back at their notes. They do not act on new information and even when their own notes reflect they want to change something or do something new – they don’t.

This article is about how do we create a favorable and memorable image in the mind of our ideal clients. This last part is the key – in the mind of our ideal clients. It is really our ideal clients who we want to have remember us and our message.  If you are trying to reach everyone and stick into the minds of everyone, this is a huge mountain to climb. Why make things so difficult for yourself?

Would you dress up as The Gorilla, the NBA Phoenix Suns mascot, to be memorable?

If you did, would this be effective for the work that you do? The service you provide? Meaning – would your ideal clients remember you as The Gorilla and then immediately think, “why yes of course that is exactly who I need to represent me at the closing for the sale of my home?” Probably not.

When we think of memorable it is an image, a tag-line, a quote, a book or something to be utilized often and everywhere. A word of caution is necessary here. Similar to other areas of branding testing and testing and testing should be done before shouting from the mountain tops.

What words or images are utilized have to fit in with who you are and what you do.

Think about the word ‘organic’.  One would assume anyone shopping and seeking ‘organic’ items is someone who is serious about what they eat and eating a healthy diet.  Not so fast.  The word ‘organic’ is showing up all over the place. There are some new regulations to contain the use of the what, where, when and how the word ‘organic’ may be utilized on food and other eatable products. There are a good number of people who shop and purchase items if they have the word ‘organic’ on the label, and order items from the menu if it has the word ‘organic’ next to the item on the menu. They do this because they think purchasing items in the store which say ‘organic’ or off the menu which are stated to be ‘organic’ will magically make them healthier.  A perfect example is the woman with the cart full of groceries and the husband behind her with the stroller and two children, she was frantically asking the store clerk at the Whole Foods Market, “Where is the Organic Soda, what aisle?”  Seriously, ‘organic soda’?

In summary, make yourself memorable in a smart and strategic way so your ideal clients will remember who you are and what you do for them.

Mitch Tublin is an advanced certified executive and personal coach who resides in Stamford, CT.

Filed Under: Business Strategy, Marketing Tagged With: , , , , ,
December 12, 2013 by

Built to Fail is for Sale Everywhere

BusinessWhen did it become a regular recipe, when manufacturing a product, to design and build it to fail? If you are looking for me to provide you with statistics and numbers to support this theory, you will not find them in this article. You may find them in the comments or possibly someone will become stirred up and locate or create a study to prove or disprove my thesis.

Here are a few items for us to consider. Is it a coincidence that the majority of cell phone and smart phone plans lock you in for a two year period and the actual device begins to become unreliable and have problems in the hard device itself or the battery just prior to the two year mark from actual purchase date?

Is it a coincidence when you purchase a new car, especially in the higher end luxury category, when you have your service plan included in the purchase price for a period of time such as 60, 000 miles or five years whichever comes first, that the vehicle has signs of issues soon after the whichever comes first passes ( usually the miles ).

Would it be possible or probable for manufacturers to design in obsolescence into their product in order to insure future demand for their products? Their thinking, “Well if we build this to last forever how will we stay in business?”

The process of designing and manufacturing includes the lifetime and types of use of the product. This will drive the materials purchasing and the actual construction materials to be utilized in the product. This is where the elements, the security, the ability to be dropped from a height of ten feet onto a cement floor all come into play. There is no lack of ability, technology and low cost methods to build and manufacture products which would outlast the bones of a dinosaur. Seriously what is the real answer? It is my belief that manufacturers ( the actual company behind the capital, the strategy and the plan) have had this conversation for example in the cell phone and smart phone world.

“Look twenty years ago, Joe and Jane consumer did not have a four hundred dollar device in their hand 24/7. Who knew they would have a plan where they were spending fifty to a hundred bucks a month each month to keep in touch.”

“Now a family might own four or more of these devices and spend who knows what a month. They are addicted! It is like we are selling them crack cocaine. Here is the thing, we need the device to begin to fail either the battery or the screen or something or as much as possible after twelve to sixteen months. There will be new technology and bells and whistles added in the marketplace anyway so the consumer, Joe and Jane, will be just as happy to purchase a new device or a few of them anyway.”

What do you think? Is built to fail the new way to build products? Is this here to stay and going to spread into other businesses and industries?

Mitch Tublin is an advanced certified executive and personal coach who resides in Stamford, CT.

Filed Under: Marketing Tagged With: , , , ,
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