We suffered one heck of a roundhouse kick with COVID-19. Health concerns aside, business owners and employees were bracing for impact from day to day, and many times hour by hour as news developed, mandates went into place, and lockdowns took effect. Even though some things seemed to have settled, many businesses still face uncertainties about the future as cases begin to rise and some states go back to imposing restrictions.   After speaking with several CEOs and senior executives who have led their companies not only through COVID but through other times of chaos, I’ll share five things I’ve learned from them that I think you’ll find valuable to keep everyone at your company in a healthy frame of mind.Communicate with people every day, even if there was nothing significant to report. Whether it was through Zoom or a simple email, they let everyone know how things were going at the company. To maintain a sense of comfort and normalcy, some shared sales updates, projections, bits of good news, and reinforced the importance of an all-hands-on-deck approach to survive. Most importantly, all said daily messages were closed on notes of optimism. Don't dwell on this crisis. After relevant facts are shared, move on to business as usual. The more a crisis is talked about, the more it preys on everyone’s mind. Busyness in times of chaos is a welcome distraction, and it serves to keep everyone focused. Also, (and this is huge) it is important to maintain a sense of humor.It's essential to be as flexible as possible with your employees. With so many schools switching to virtual learning, parents need to juggle their work responsibilities while making sure their kids are successfully adapting to a different way of learning. When a crisis like this extends into people’s personal lives, employers need to understand that something needs to give, and often it will be work-related engagement and performance. It’s also important to maintain a “business as usual” culture even though your people may be working from home. Communicate expectations, hold people accountable, don’t cancel meetings, and do the same things you’ve always done. In times of stress, people find comfort in what feels normal and familiar.One business owner stated the COVID crisis has brought him closer to his people because his way of keeping morale as healthy as possible was to have one-on-one conversations with each of his employees. He wanted to understand their worries and concerns and what he could do to help. He understood that just being a good listener was all many people wanted even though so much of what was going on was out of his control. As he said, “These conversations and moments of bonding would never have happened if we didn’t have to deal with COVID. The positive outcome of all this is that I have a better relationship with my people.”Many CEOs believe that the most effective thing they can do as a leader, whether in good times or bad, is to meet with their employees regularly. In fact, some spend upwards of 70 percent of their time doing this to build relationships and maintain a healthy culture and stay in the know of what is happening at the front lines. If you typically hang out in your office, now is the time to get out of your chair to walk your floor and chat with anyone still coming in each day. Also, start to schedule phone calls and video chats with those still working from home. Ask people if there is anything you can do for them. They will appreciate these gestures more than you can imagine.A good friend of mine said he got a call from the owner of the company he works for and said he made it clear he’s not calling about business. He was simply calling to ask how he was doing. He said it was the nicest thing he’s ever seen the owner do.

Brandcology

5 Ways to Mange Culture in Times of Chaos

When you hear manufacturers complain about how hard it is to find good people, do you share the same frustration?Your answer to this question will give you insight into the appeal your brand has among the “good people” (or top producers) in your industry – in other words, those employees you need to help you achieve your goals, grow your business, care about your company and win.When you post a job on LinkedIn, hire a recruiter, or place an ad on monster.com and receive an abundance of resumes or applications from highly qualified candidates, you should rightfully consider it to be a testimony to your brand’s good reputation and character. And nobody knows better than you that you aren’t sought after by great people because of luck.The brand you built is one that people believe in and want to be a part of. Your company is the place to be.However, if you find yourself shuffling through a very short stack of resumes or applications submitted by candidates who don’t possess the skills, strengths and experience you need to help your company be a force to reckon within your industry, your brand; your employer brand is to blame.Building a brand to attract the caliber of employees necessary to help you deliver on your brand’s unique claims of distinction, win new business and keep customers loyal and happy is just as important as building a brand to win new business.  You know that average employees produce average results, do average work and provide average customer experiences. And you know that average is the biggest barrier to excellence. If you want to fill your company with top producers, you’ll need to compete for them with the same focus and vigor you have when competing for new customer relationships. It starts with your employer brand. To attract these hard-to-find top producers to your company, you must first understand what they are looking for – what they are expecting. So I’ve created a list of what top producers look for in an employer, which is also available in the script of this podcast for you to download and review. So here it is…1.    People want to work for a company with a great reputation supported by a brand and vision they understand and can believe in. In other words, shared beliefs, values and attitudes2.    They want to be part of something bigger than who they are and to know how their individual contributions make a positive difference in the lives of your customers. 3.    Opportunities for personal and professional growth.4.    To be paid more than an “average” salary. 5.    Opportunities to do what they love to do in an environment where they can learn from their mistakes6.    To be asked their opinion, to be heard and respected7.    Autonomy - to be trusted once it is earned and not to be micromanaged8.    Strong, consistent leadership. Crappy leaders push good people out the door.9.    To know what they are working for and why they are doing it10. A sense of purpose and pride in what they do11. To be challenged. Your people want to learn and to grow.12. To know what it means to win – not just new business and growth, but to know how winning is defined in their specific role13. To be recognized when a job is well done14. And finally, to know you care about them as people – not just hired help.Print this list out circle those things you currently provide. Next, distribute this list to your employees and ask them to circle those items they believe you provide to them. When you get your feedback, you’ll know what to do to create the culture you need to attract the top producers in your industry. 

How Manufacturers Attract and Retain Top Producers

Often times in the manufacturing industry, companies end up “settling” for a weak brand.A weak brand is one that fails to adequately distinguish or differentiate itself from competing brands. If you can’t explain to customers and channel partners what’s so special about your brand, there isn’t anything special about your brand. Hence, you’re losing sales opportunities. And I think you would agree that’s a problem. The purpose of this blog is to be the bulldozer by getting six common roadblocks out of your way so that you have an easier time defining a brand that does distinguish and differentiate you from your competitors.Some of these roadblocks may surprise you.Let’s go through them, one by one:1. Confusion over what a brand is. I’ll break this down into two parts. A brand is what people think about when they hear your name or see your logo. Brand development, which is what you want to focus on, is identifying the distinctions your company owns that make a positive and noteworthy difference in the lives of your customers and channel partners. 2. Not knowing where to start. Begin by placing yourself in the shoes of your customers and ask yourself why specifically they should buy from you instead of your competition. This second part of the question is important because you do have competitors and you are losing business to them. You can’t improve your brand unless you ask yourself and your team this burning, painful question. 3. Ego. Let me tell you what I mean. Before embarking on any brand initiative, it’s crucial to gains insights into how your brand is perceived by employees, customers, and channel partners through a brand assessment. After all, you need to know where your brand stands in their hearts and minds so that you know how it could be better and stronger. But, some CEOs don’t want to do an assessment because they’re afraid of what people might say about them, personally or their company. Those who have this fear claim they already know what their employees and customers think and doing any sort of assessment would be a waste of time and money. 4. The presence of a dysfunctional culture at the top. If you have a crappy culture of petty politics, conflicts of values, and poor leadership, what kind of culture do you think the rest of the organization has? Think of it this way – culture is defined as the social construct of an organization, and if that social construct is dysfunctional, your brand’s going to be in trouble. Typically, the only remedy is a new president or CEO who will come in and clean house. 5. Internal resistance. Remember the last time you pushed an idea on a group of people, and they all agreed to it with a big smile? Exactly. Part of the reason an internal culture and brand assessment is so necessary to the success of the brand is because you are inviting your employees to provide their insights, views, and opinions about the brand.   Even if some don’t completely agree with the brand you create, they will have appreciated the opportunity to contribute to the purpose and cause for creating a new brand. 6. Fear of change. The process of identifying your competitive distinctions is much easier than making the necessary internal changes to bring the new brand to life. Whether it is abandoning a part of your business, restructuring your company, re-writing your business plan, making new investments, or requiring people to change their habits and ways of thinking, large-scale change will be necessary. So there you have it! If you can overcome these mindsets and challenges, you’ll be much more successful at building a brand that will help you grow your business. 

6 Common Roadblocks to Building a Meaningful Brand

If you've ever thought about it, your brand must jump through one helluva lot of hoops to make a sale.If the buyer's journey experience doesn't feel quite right, you risk losing a prospect to a competitor. I'm going to walk you through the buyer's journey and shine some light on the brand touchpoints that influence a purchase or partnership decision. As I do, I want you to think through each of them and ask yourself if there could be any improvements made to your brand’s touchpoints.  It all begins when someone has a need or desire for what you sell. My first question for you is, how confident are you that your brand will be one of the first to come to mind? If you're not sure, you'll need to work on building brand awareness.Let's assume that your brand does come to mind. And hopefully, it does so in a positive light. If it doesn't, you have some steep hills to climb. Consider doing a customer and channel partner brand audit to find out how your brand is perceived.  At this point, research begins, typically through an online search of your company name. Type your name into Google. What appears in the results? A BBB rating? If so, what is it? Does a Glassdoor.com review appear at the top? Or is there an article about your company? If Glassdoor appears, what's your score? If you have at least a three-and-a-half out of an average five-star review, you're in good shape. However, if it's lower than three stars, it's a sign of an unhealthy culture and possible high employee turnover, and that could spook a potential customer. You can also count on the fact that your prospective customer will probably search the names of companies you compete with to make some baseline comparisons.Your brand will be compared to competing brands. If you place yourself in the shoes of a potential buyer, what kind of first impression do you believe your website gives? Think about the quality of your website in terms of content, ease of navigation, value propositions, and calls to action. How impressed are you with your brand compared to others?Does your site clearly define and differentiate your brand and product's competitive strengths? It is also likely that your prospective customer will seek recommendations from others.  So, here's another question ─ does your brand come up in those conversations? What is being said?At this point, your prospective customer will have a strong feeling about whether or not they want to take the next step by emailing or calling to speak with one of your people.How quickly are emails and calls returned? How professional is the person who responds? Does he or she have excellent communication skills? Are your salespeople trained to listen well, understand needs, offer solutions, overcome objections, and make the potential buyer or partner confident? Assuming there is good chemistry between you and your potential buyer or partner, price, terms, conditions, and negotiations will begin. Hopefully, for you, your brand is selected. However, as you know, the sale not yet complete. Every move your company makes will be analyzed and scrutinized from this point forward to make sure you deliver upon the expectations you set during the pre-purchase stage of the sales cycle.My own experience has taught me that many companies can convert prospects to clients, but not all of them can deliver a great brand experience. I'm sure you've experienced the same. If your brand performs well, you will likely earn referrals and recommendations from your clients. The burning question for you is this: Would you do business with your own company? Why, or why not?Take some time to think this through, and also ask others in your company the same question. I promise it will be worth it. 

Everything Your Brand Must Endure to Make a Sale

Some taglines are really confusing.I'll admit that whenever I see Addidas' tagline, Impossible is nothing, I can't figure out what that means. I also wondered what McDonald's was thinking when they promoted their new menu item with the tagline, Open your snack hole. And my favorite, most confusing tagline of all time was Blockbusters' which was, No more late fees. The start of more.In the manufacturing industry, there's a company that, for a brief time, used the tagline, The true leader. And, a metal fabrication shop that simply says, Customization happens here.This is what happens when the desire to be cute, witty, or even profound gets in the way of what a tagline is meant to do: provide a memorable and concise statement that sums up the essence of a brand. If people you are targeting don't understand your tagline, or if they need to think about what in the heck it means, or if it's just meaningless, it's not doing your brand any favors. Let's talk about your company. If you're in the process of developing a tagline for your company, avoid the other mistake of focusing on the mechanics of your business – in other words, what your company does in terms of your business model as well as your product and service offerings. The reason is that it is probably nearly identical to what your competitors do. Instead, focus on the value you bring to customers, channel partners, and other stakeholders that is better or different from what your competition brings. Let's go through a few examples:Let's start with the AVIS rental car company. What Avis does is rent vehicles, just like Budget, Hertz, Enterprise, and many others, hoping to get your business. However, the essence of the Avis brand – the value they provide, is going above and beyond, which was intelligently communicated through their tagline, We try harder. Another example is Apple. What Apple does is design and manufacture cool computers and digital devices. However, the essence of Apple's brand is challenging the status quo. They communicated in their prior tagline, Think different. The bonus to this tagline was that it was also a call to action for consumers. Brilliant.One of the taglines we created was for Waukesha Bearings. After a full brand analysis, we discovered that the two primary values they brought to the table were expertise in engineering and results. As these were brand attributes they could back up with evidence ─ things they can consistently deliver on ─ their tagline of Expert Engineering. Proven Results. was both natural and perfect for them. No confusion there! So, back to you. What is the essence of your brand?If you manufacture gear drives, that's what your company does. And, so does every other company that makes gear drives. This is precisely why defining your brand and adopting a compelling tagline is so essential to the success of your company. It helps customers and channel partners understand precisely why they should be doing business with you. Without a proper tagline, they will have a harder time distinguishing between your company and others, and that could cost a sale. I think you would agree that's a problem!This is the reason I firmly believe that decisions to buy and not buy are tied to a company's brand.Your value propositions should focus on those intangible traits or characteristics that you bring to the client relationship and experience, such as trade secrets, expertise, specializations, patents, accreditation's, processes, business practices, awards, and other things that would interest potential customers. So now it's your turn.What is a short, memorable, and concise statement that sums up the essence of your brand? 

Avoid These Mistakes When Creating Your Tagline

Do you really need a unique value proposition? According to dictionary.com, unique means "having no like or equal; unparalleled; incomparable. Based on this definition, it won't always be possible to own a "unique" value proposition. And, the good news is that it's as essential as many marketers think it is.You can confront the competition head-on and win new business without a unique value proposition! Many growing, thriving, successful companies do not own or even claim to own a "unique" value proposition .The urgency and anxiety over defining one's unique value proposition has been declining for quite a few years as many CEOs are discovering that the process of unearthing a truly unique value proposition is not always achievable. And even when it is, many unique value propositions are susceptible to one or more of the following issues:·      If it fails to align with what customers or channel partners value the most, it'll be meaningless. ·      Some unique value propositions, no matter how compelling, risk losing their appeal as soon as a competitor launches a superior product or service. ·      The pressure to own a unique value proposition forces some brands to create one that orbits around what their formidable competitors are saying, which is nothing more than "me too" marketing. Take the case of a manufacturer boasting the unique value proposition that its gear drive is the most reliable in the industry. Although a seemingly strong unique value proposition, its relevance, and significance in the eyes of customers are based on four variables1.    The company must provide proof of its claim by citing a legitimate source. If it doesn't, customers will be skeptical. 2.    Assuming the claim is valid, the value of the proposition will be directly proportionate to how much more reliable their gear drive is compared to competing gear drives. And this must also be backed up with evidence. 3.    If the gear drive is, in fact, the most reliable, it must also closely match the performance and capabilities of competitive systems, such as technology, power, and ease of maintenance. If not, the value proposition is again meaningless.4.    Most importantly, the unique value proposition will only be relevant if the company has a respectable reputation in the industry.So, are unique value propositions overrated? Absolutely not. Owning one or more plays an integral role in attracting new customers and retaining existing ones. However, if you struggle, you have several options to help build a compelling brand that attracts customers:First, group your top three or four value propositions and focus on how you can enhance each to the point where they far exceed customer expectations.The second thing you can do is think of positive experiences you've had with companies in your personal or business life, and how you may apply similar experiences to customers in your business. Also, you can and should build a culture where people love to come to work every day inspired to perform at their best. Delivering exceptional service and manufacturing great products require it. Next is to know what your customers want and value the most, and give it to them. And finally, focus on developing and nurturing your personal brand and those of everyone at your company who touches customers to add value to the overall customer experience.If you devote yourself to focusing on these areas for the next 6-12 months, you'll be surprised at how much stronger of a competitor you can become, and how many more customer relationships you will win. Owning a "unique" value proposition is only one component of the equation. 

Why Unique Value Propositions are Overrated

A lot of companies refer to their work groups as teams. Let’s talk about that for a moment.Imagine you’re at the World Series, and you saw the outfielders staring at their iPhones while the opposing team was at-bat. Or, what if the quarterback of your favorite football team wandered onto the field while yawning at the beginning of a game? Or, if you’re a basketball fan, what if, during a playoff game, half the team stood around with their hands on their hips talking to each other while their other teammates were hustling on the court?I’m quite serious. Statistically, there is greater than a sixty percent chance you have people like this on YOUR team – coming in every day doing less than the bare minimum to get a paycheck.So, how about a real-life example. Several years ago, in one of my roundtable groups, there was a business owner who often talked about the struggles she had with her business partner. They had opposite personalities, which should have benefitted the growth of the business, but unfortunately, it was a detriment. Her partner was brilliant in terms of industry knowledge and the ability to bring in new business, but his alter ego was that of a bully for his style of leadership. Morale at her company was low and the turnover was high. She had reasons to believe some of the key players and top producers would resign if things didn’t change.I was hired to do an internal culture assessment, and after numerous interviews with her people, her fears were confirmed. The culture was very unstable.When the two partners were presented with the evidence, they agreed to restructure their relationship so that she would be in charge of managing, leading, and nurturing all employees. He was going to play to his strengths in growing the business by focusing more on sales, managing vendor partners, corporate strategy, and being the visionary for the company.Once the employees were aware of the change, I provided a strategy and framework for building a culture of high-performance, accountability, and continuous improvement. Here are the components:1.     Replace the dreaded annual review with ongoing face-to-face, in-person, real-time feedback. 2.     Keep employees in the know about what is going on at the company through newsletters, summits, an intranet, and town hall meetings. 3.     Invest in training. A few thousand dollars and a couple of days out of the office for sales, service, leadership, technical, industry or human resources training generates a very nice ROI. 4.     Invest in modern tools and systems to improve efficiency. 5.     Implement a culture of learning from failures.6.     Organize semi-annual appreciation days. The only way people can understand and respect the role of their counterparts is to spend a day in their shoes. Once every six months, production spends a day with salespeople, and salespeople spend a day in production to understand each other’s challenges and struggles. 7.     Clean house. Going through the office to declutter is both healthy and invigorating. 8.     Subscribe to a process for solving problems efficiently and effectively. One of my favorites comes from Jake Knapp, the author of “SPRINT” – a book that provides a method for solving big problems and testing new ideas in as little as five days.  

8 Tactics For Building a High Performance Culture

What’s the name of your favorite hotel? Okay, now let’s assume you’re booking a trip, and that hotel has no rooms available. What’s your second favorite? So, now you have your “shortlist” of your preferred hotels. Now think about all the hotel brands that didn’t come to your mind. They won’t get your business, and for them, that’s a problem.Now suppose you need to rent a car. What’s your favorite rental car company? Let’s assume they have no cars available. What’s the name of the next company you would call?Again, think of all those other companies that didn’t come to mind. They won’t get your business, and for them, that’s a problem.You can play out these scenarios with any product or service – whether it’s a hotel, toothpaste, an attorney, or where you do your business banking. In nearly every case, a very short list of brands will come to mind that you prefer over others. Conversely, you could easily think of quite a few brands you would avoid or never consider.My point is that the very people you want as customers also have a shortlist of companies they prefer over others when they need the products and services you offer. Are you on that list?The cold and brutal fact is that making a sale, winning a customer, or forming a relationship comes down to how people perceive your brand!I’m going to share the eight steps you can take to elevate your brand and make that shortlist so that when people do need what you sell, your brand has a better chance of being one of the first to come to mind.1.     Start by measuring the health of your culture through an internal culture assessment. 2.     Do a brand assessment among your employees, customers, and channel partners to gain insights into your brand’s strengths, weaknesses, and opportunities from their perspectives. 3.     Start spying on your competitors. Here’s a tough question: If you were on the other side of your desk, would you do business with your company?4.     Answer this challenging question: If you were going to build a company that competes against you, how would you do it? How would it look? 5.     Invest heavily in your people through training. Not just technical, but training on leadership, communication, problem-solving, conflict-resolution, sales, marketing, branding, crisis communication, and any other training that better prepares them. When you do this, your company to be a force to reckon with. 6.     Become a visionary. Keep your fingers on the pulse on the trends in your business and industry and think in terms of your next big idea, even if you’re working on something right now that you believe will disrupt your industry or change the game. It’s a fact that you are only as good as your last idea, so think several steps ahead. 7.     Start courting top-tier people to be a part of your team and vision. It’s tough finding great people who will share your passion and determination to succeed. Network, have your people network, and be visible at trades shows and industry events. Focus on building awareness and build your company to be a natural habitat for top performers. 8.     Formalize and perfect your exit interview process. When done correctly, it is the best way to get candid feedback on the health of your culture. The healthier it is, the greater the chances of your success.That’s enough for now. If you do these eight things, elevating your brand into greatness is guaranteed. Of course, if you’d like some help getting started, let’s talk. Building great brands is what we do!

8 Steps to Building a Stronger Brand

Measuring and monitoring the health and performance of your culture, which drives productivity and operational performance, cannot be achieved simply by getting feedback from your people during annual reviews or optimistically counting on them to bring urgent matters to your attention. One of the most popular strategies to measure the health and performance of your culture is to seek insights and feedback from employees through annual or semi-annual internal culture assessments. These are done through a combination of questionnaires and one-on-one interviews.However, as effective as these assessments are, they may not always paint the full picture of issues that may be contributing to possible dysfunctions in the workplace. Some people may be afraid to say what they really think needs to be said in fear of possible retribution or being labeled as a company snitch. To compensate for this, consider formalizing and perfecting your exit interview process as part of your retention and continuous improvement strategies. Let’s go over the critical elements of an effective exit interview strategy:1.     When to schedule the exit interview. Exit interviews should never happen within that two-week timeframe between the submission of the employee’s resignation and the farewell lunch on his or her last day. The reason is that most people are very anxious when submitting their resignation, and they want to get the process over with as quickly as possible. According to an article in the Harvard Business Review, Making Exit Interviews Count, the ideal time to facilitate an exit interview is one month after the employee’s departure.  The conversation will be more relaxed, and like I referenced earlier, potentially strong emotions harbored while still on the company’s payroll will have dissipated. 2.     Ideally, the CEO or president of the company or division head should be the person doing the exit interview. However, the likelihood of the former employee agreeing to meet will largely depend on how the invitation to the meeting is presented. If human resources reaches out on behalf of the CEO to schedule a time to meet, the request may fall on deaf ears and blind eyes as he or she will feel they aren’t important enough to be contacted directly by the CEO. More appropriately, the CEO himself should reach out with the message of wanting to learn more about why the employee left. In this scenario, the former employee will be more inclined to accept the meeting. Now if you, as the CEO, have unflattering feelings toward the employee, keep in mind that he or she seemed to be a good hire and fit in the beginning, and you need to know what went wrong that led to his or her departure.3.     Think about retaining an outside consultant experienced in conducting exit interviews. Consider the following benefits:·      The expertise of knowing what questions to ask to determine what went wrong in the employer/employee relationship·      The ability to ascertain whether or not the employee may have been a bad hire·      If the employee was indeed a good hire and internal factors pushed him or her out the door, such as dysfunctional leadership, uncompetitive compensation or culture, the consultant can advise the employer of what was learned so that the CEO can take steps to prevent further attrition.Exit interviews are being employed (no pun intended) at more and more organizations as a strategy for living a continuous improvement culture. The good news is that ex-employees are typically more than willing to engage in productive exit interview conversations. All you need to do is ask.

The Best Way to Get Candid Feedback on Your Culture

How can you make the best out of having your people work remotely? I have seven thoughts:First, encourage people to enable their cameras during video conferencing. Communicate the importance and benefits of people being able to see one another during meetings and discussions. Let people know that you don’t care if Fluffy is on their lap during an internal meeting, but maybe not for a client meeting. In other words, be the understanding and empathetic boss during these times of stress. You could actually have a lot of fun with video conferencing to lighten the mood.  What if you started each meeting with a humorous ten-minute show-and tell before getting down to business?Second, schedule teams to video conference one-another to prevent involuntary isolation therapy. It’s one thing to incorporate what many refer to as jam time where people work uninterrupted to get stuff done. But, remember that in many ways, your company is a family. It’s healthy to see one-another. And, as you always should, start on time, end on time and send an agenda before each meeting. What’s an agenda? An agenda is a document that identifies a list of items for discussion, complete with objectives, timelines and actionable steps.Third, do your best to maintain team-building activities, assuming you’ve done team-building activities before some of, or maybe even all of your people were sent home. One of my favorite and most effective ways to keep teams alive and intact is through the implementation of an All Ideas Matter program. Encourage and incentivize your people to contribute ideas of how to improve metrics such as communication, efficiency, morale, retaining good people, sales and generally becoming even a better partner for your clients. Fourth, don’t discuss coronavirus. Your people need a break. Even though we’re told the worst may be behind us, the preponderance of the news is still focused on the awful stuff, and much like being subjected to Christmas music at retailers in the month of September, negative news is almost impossible to avoid. Don’t waste your time or energy adding to it.Fifth, if business is slow, take advantage of this time to think about how you will need to reinvent your business as we emerge from this pandemic. We already know that being successful requires reinvention to stay current and relevant, so start thinking of how you can do so. Better yet, ask your people to contribute their ideas and offer rewards for the best ideas submitted. Perfect for that All Ideas Matter program I talked about a minute ago.Sixth, again, if business is indeed slow, think about stalking your competitors – those companies doing whatever it takes to survive, which includes courting your customers. Learn about them. Find out what they are up to. Look through their websites and google them. And yes, compare your brand to theirs because your customers are doing the same. If you think this is the time for hitting the brakes on your marketing, think again. Cash may be tight, and you may have needed to lay off or furlough, but when we emerge from this, the brands that pulled over to the side of the road and stopped their marketing will be challenged to regain customer relationships. I digress.Okay, seven. Much like people are questioning whether the government was properly prepared for this pandemic, you can ask the same of your company and your brand. As of this very moment, does your company and brand have the ability to adapt not only to this pandemic, but to what the new, undefined normal will be? Have you figured out a way to make your brand relevant during a crisis?  This whole crisis we are going through reminds me of a scene in Crimson Tide which happens to be one of my favorite movies. For those of you who are unfamiliar, in the movie, Gene Hackman was the commanding officer of a nuclear submarine, and Denzel Washington was brought in as the submarine’s executive

7 Ways to Make the Best Out of Working Remotely

There are five things you can do TODAY to ease the stressful culture in your organization…First, communicate with your people every day, even if there is nothing significant to report. Whether it’s through a GoToMeeting video or simple email, let everyone know how things are going at your company. Tell them how sales are going, your projections, good things that are happening and how important it will be for an all-hands-on-deck approach to muscle through this pandemic. Make sure to close your daily messages on an optimistic note. Remember – one of the primary reasons you are a business owner is because you have an optimistic disposition. If you didn’t, you would never have rolled the dice to start your own business. Share that optimism with your team.Don’t dwell on this crisis, or any crisis for that matter. State the facts and move on. The more it is talked about, the more it preys on everyone’s mind. Busyness is a welcome distraction and will serve to optimize everyone’s focus. Also, and this is huge, maintain a sense of humor.This is the time to become as flexible as possible. With so many schools shut down, parents need to juggle their work responsibilities with making sure their kids are successfully and effectively adapting to online learning ─ something that is new to nearly everyone. Major disruptions like these will impact engagement and performance. Also understand that something needs to give ─ meaning your employees also need time to breathe, sleep and reboot before the next day. Don’t go into orbit if you don’t get immediate replies to your emails.Try your best to maintain a business as usual culture even though your people may be working from home. Communicate expectations, hold people accountable, don’t cancel meetings and do the same things you’ve always done. In times of stress, people need to be able to grab onto things that are normal, comfortable and familiar.Lastly, check in with your people every few days to gauge their stress levels, hear their worries and empathize with their concerns by being the best possible listener you can be. Your people are smart enough to know that you cannot fix this uncertainty and chaos. But if you serve as a good sounding board, they will feel better and your time will be most appreciated.Many CEOs believe the most effective thing they can do as a leader is to regularly meet with their employees. Some spend upwards of 70 percent of their time doing this to build relationships and maintain a healthy culture. If you typically hang out in your office, now is the time to get out of your chair to walk your floor and chat with anyone still coming in each day. Also, start to schedule phone calls and video chats with those quarantining at home. Ask people if there is anything you can do for them. They will appreciate these gestures more than you can imagine.A good friend of mine said he got a call from the owner of the company he works for and said he made it clear he’s not calling about business. He was simply calling to ask how he was doing. He said it was the nicest thing he’s ever seen the owner do.If you would like to discuss culture strategies for your particular business and your particular situation, simply email me at scott@seroka.comYou got this.

5 Ways to Ease a Stressful Work Culture During COVID-19

Quick – no hesitation, what is the name of your favorite hotel. Okay, now let’s assume you’re booking a trip and that particular hotel is sold out. What are two other hotel brands you would you consider? Next, suppose you need to rent a car. What is your preferred rental car agency? Now assume they don’t have any cars available. What is the name of the next car rental agency you would call? You can play out these scenarios with virtually every product and service – whether it’s a hotel, toothpaste, a hardware store or where you do your business banking.In nearly every case, a short list of brands will likely come to mind that you prefer over others. Conversely, with a little thought, you could probably think of a fair amount of brands you would never buy from, or do business with.My point is, the very people you want as customers are doing the same thing when they have a need for the products and services you offer. It doesn’t matter if you’re a financial institution, manufacturer, a law firm, or any other business for that matter. Either your brand is on a short list, a “no way in hell” list, or no list at all. Good brands don’t make the short list – Great brands do. In this podcast, I’m going to share with you seven steps you can take to elevate your brand into a higher category so that when people do have a need for what you sell, your brand has a greater chance of being one of the first to come to mind.First, look into the soul of your company, and what I mean by that is your culture. Could it be better? Is it running at peak performance? Is poor communication, internal politics, lack of brand clarity or pride preventing you from being everything you can be?Second, become very aware of your competition. If you are intimidated by them, this is something you need to overcome and face head-on.  Think of it this way - if you were on the other side of your desk, ask yourself if you would do business with your company. Third, if you were going to build a company that competes against you, how would you do it? What would it look like?Take those top three to five thoughts of what you would do better, or different and put some energy behind them. Fourth, understand and appreciate why brand development and strategy is so important. People’s decisions are based on brand experiences and perceptions. Fifth, Invest heavily into your people through training. Not just technical, but training on leadership, communication, problem-solving, conflict-resolution, sales, marketing, branding, crisis communication, and any other training that prepares them, and your company to be a force to reckon with and to be unstoppable. Some people say, “Well, what if I train them and they leave?” I say, “What if you don’t train then and they stay?” Sixth, adopt a visionary mindset. Keep a pulse on the trends of your business and industry and think in terms of your next two big ideas.And seventh, start courting top-tier people to be a part of your team and vision. It’s tough finding great people who will share your passion and determination to succeed. Network, have your people network and be visible at trades shows and industry events. Focus on building awareness and build your company to be a natural habitat for top-performers.  

7 Steps to Move From a Good to a Great Brand

There are quite a few companies out there that just seem to have everything figured out. Just look to Quicken, Amazon, Coca-Cola and Toyota, or even some smaller companies you’re personally aware of that are so successful that they can’t keep up with customer orders or are maybe even forced to turn business away.When companies achieve such high levels of success, some are able to maintain it by constantly reinventing themselves by always staying relevant and providing ongoing value to customers. But then there are others that are either afraid to change and adapt to maintain their success, or even worse, become either complacent or arrogant while riding the wake of their success. These are the companies that get repositioned into second place by a formidable competitor, and then third place by another, and so on and so on... I’ll give you some examples of some high-profile brands that were once leaders in their categories have either lost their lead or have perished. Countrywide At one time, Countrywide was the US's largest subprime mortgage company. And although many believe it was the financial crisis of 2007 and 2008 that led to its demise, the fact that it was found guilty of defrauding federal mortgage giants Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac at the height of the housing crisis cannot be ignored and hence, sealed its fate. Unfortunately, other financial companies also failed due to deception and unethical business practices. But in the end, everyone remembers Countrywide.Next up: Harley Davidson.It was about eighteen years ago when I was at an after-hour business event where Harley Davidson’s CMO shared the company’s strategy for making the Harley brand more appealing to younger riders.The company had legitimate reasons to be concerned. At the time, the average age of a Harley rider was approximately 43, and many other motorcycle manufacturers entering the market were taking giant bites into Harley’s younger-demographic market share by offering higher-performing, better-built, higher-tech, and more reliable motorcycles at much lower price points. And to attract those who liked the looks and lines of a Harley Davidson, some manufacturers built bikes strikingly similar in looks and design, competing on price, technology, build quality, service and warranty. It was no secret these were direct and unapologizing hits to the Harley brand.And despite numerous, aggressive branding and marketing strategies to counter these competitive attacks over the years, the average age of a Harley rider continues to rise. And although Harley is making electric bikes to try to appeal to the younger generations, The Harley Davidson brand may need to do more to retool its brand.What about Sears?There are many theories about why Sears went from one of the top, most beloved retailers of all time to a company that is dying a slow death. From a brand perspective, while it tried to be all things to all people by offering tools, lingerie, a driving school, a photo studio, an optical department and many other things, it simply couldn’t compete against more specialty retailers and of course, amazon.com.And remember Blackberry? I can’t remember the last time I’ve seen one other than in a print advertisement more than a couple years ago. The final straw occurred when customers painfully suffered through a three-day interruption in service. Competitors gladly came to the rescue by offering disgruntled Blackberry owners deep discounts on trade-in programs.What about Garmin? Do you have one mounted on your windshield? Why would you when newer cars come with built-in GPS units and smartphones that have as-good-as, or even better navigation technology that is free? These failing brands have taught us what I refer to as the ways five ways leading brands lose their lead. Aside from poor financial management which o

7 Reasons Leading Brands Lose Their Lead

I’ve known someone for quite some time now who runs a very successful company, and she attributes her success to the culture she has deliberately created. I would define her as an emotionally intelligent servant leader who treats everyone in her company as good as, if not better than her company’s customers. When business owners complain that they can’t find good people, she enjoys a bit of a laugh because she’s figured out how to build a company where people love to come to work every day and her company has consequently earned a reputation for being a great place to work. I’m also acquainted with business owner who has created a completely different culture. On day one of a new hire, he makes it abundantly clear that the sole purpose of his company is to crush his competitors. Although he comes across as a friendly guy, he tells new hires that he is not there to be anyone’s friend, he doesn’t think of everyone at his company as a family and people don’t get together to party – not even for the holidays. However, he does tell everyone that he is the greatest advocate of any employee who does his or her job well. He also tells people they will financially do well if they work hard and that if anyone is looking for a work/life balance job, they are encouraged to leave because, as he states, “work/life balance doesn’t grow a company.”His company also did very well for quite some time because he hired people who shared a similar mindset. The reason I share these stories with you is because if you mention the word “culture” to most people, it may spark a conversation around employer branding, hiring emotionally intelligent managers, teamwork, and strategies behind building a place where people love to come to work every day. You know – all that “touchy-feely” stuff.However, when you think of the world’s most valuable brands, they all share one thing in common – each one builds and maintains cultures of high-expectations, continuous improvement, operational excellence and of course, service/product leadership. For these ultra-successful, elite brands, culture is very much a strategy – one that is tactical, and as deliberate as it is calculating. Now let’s talk about what culture is notCulture is NOT the nap room, the ping-pong table in the lobby, or the half-day Fridays offered during the summer so employees can live their work/life balance. Culture is not the paid time off employers give to employees so they may contribute to a cause they believe in,Culture is the combination of beliefs, behaviors and attitudes that make up the social construct of an organization. For the poorly managed company, culture is something that just happens all on its own as positions are filled with skilled employees, and in the process, little, if any consideration is given to how they should be managed.Under these conditions, employees are expected to “figure things out,” do what they were hired to do, and behave like a team. I say, good luck with that. Companies that make their competitors sweat have cultures that are well-defined and designed for aggressive growth and market leadership. Much like the components that make up a well-running machine, these employers hire to exacting specifications for every single role within their companies. Technical aptitude aside, these employers screen for traits such as: attitude, leadership traits, life experiences, personal beliefs and philosophies, emotional intelligence, self-awareness, enthusiasm, empathy and critical thinking. They know and understand that the right mixture of high-quality people is exactly what’s needed to achieve lofty, corporate objectives and win. And for one company to win, another must lose. And there’s nothing soft or touchy-feely about that!

Culture Has Nothing To Do With Touchy Feely Stuff!

Well, the cat’s been out of the bag now for more than ten or fifteen years. There is, indeed, a proven and direct correlation between the health of a company’s culture and its overall success.I’ve been on my rant for quite a long time that if employees don’t love to come to work every day, the company they work for will never be able to reach its full potential. Unmotivated employees give, on average only 60-70 percent effort and disengaged employees, even less.That’s like an airline pilot giving only 60 percent power to get off the runway. Not going to happen. So, in that vein, I’ll share an experience I had not too long ago with one of our clients to help communicate my point.I met a business owner who often talked about struggles she had with her business partner. Her partner was brilliant in terms of industry knowledge and his ability to bring aboard new business, but his alter ego was that of a bully with respect to his style of management and leadership. Morale at her company was low, and the turnover was high. He was a micro-manager with a near zero-tolerance policy for mistakes, and he truly believed that the occasional dose of intimidation coupled with fear was the best way to keep everyone on their toes.Because of this, she was worried that the company’s key players and top producers would jump ship if things didn’t change.I was hired to do an employee insight assessment, and after conducting numerous interviews with her employees, her fears were confirmed.When she and her partner were presented with the employee feedback (evidence), they restructured their relationship so that she would be in charge of   all employees, and he was going to play to his strengths in growing the business through focusing more on sales, managing vendor partners, corporate strategy and being the visionary for the company.One the employees were aware of the change, I provided a strategy for building a fanatical culture of high-performance, accountability and continuous improvement. Here are the components:1. Replacing the dreaded annual review with ongoing face-to-face, in-person, authentic real-time feedback. 2. Keeping employees in the know about what is going on at the company through newsletters, summits, an intranet and town hall meetings. One of the biggest gripes employees have is not knowing what is going on at their company. 3. Investments in training. A few thousand dollars and a couple days out of the office for sales, service, leadership, technical, industry or human resources training will generate a very nice ROI. Employees warm up more to employers who care enough to invest in them.4. Investments into better tools to improve efficiency. We worked with a client several years ago with a database of customers well into the thousands, and their customer management system was housed on a Microsoft Excel spreadsheet because the adoption of a system like salesforce would require a large investment and the training would be too much of an interruption to their day-to-day operations. Yet when they needed to email groups of their customers, it took more than six days to assemble an emailing list. I’ll let you think about that one.Okay, moving on…  5. Celebrating failure. Not willy nilly failure from negligence and sloppiness. Rather, intelligent failure where new hypothesis are tested based on a culmination of knowledge and research, and emerging with new knowledge based on trial and error experimentation. 6. Organizing a day of respect. This is day when, for example, salespeople spend a full day in the life of production, and production spends a day and the life of sales. Doing this is the only way each group will understand and have an appreciation for each other’s challenges, struggles. 7. Cleaning house. Going through the office to declutt

10 Tactics For Creating a High-Performance Culture

The Brandcology podcast was created by Scott Seroka, Principal and Chief Brand Strategist of Seroka Brand Development. In my podcasts, I will provide valuable information to CEOs, business owners and entrepreneurs on how to strengthen their brands to help win new business as well as insights on how to build high-performance cultures.

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Brandcology

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