your 2009 “Tenacity Challenge”
hold your head high, dig in and display the poster

The government of the United States of America has taken on a new and unprecedented role: picking economic winners and losers. Most think Uncle Sam has a hell of a nerve choosing the ultra large companies and ignoring smaller businesses and community banks that generate more jobs.

Citigroup, J.P. Morgan Chase & Co., Bank of America, AIG, several Boston banks and at least one bank in the Merrimack Valley and one in New Hampshire are in the government’s “win” column.  Lehman Brothers is decidedly in the “lose” column. Where will your business be listed?

“COCO+CO. challenges its client partners and others to demonstrate tenacity in 2009,” said President and Chief Executive Officer Tim Coco. “Chances are your business won’t be receiving a bailout, low/no interest loan or a stock purchase from the government. There’s a certain pride, however, in knowing you succeeded by yourself. Hold your head high and dig in. You’re going to thrive on your terms and be stronger for your efforts.”

Bring your employees, customers and vendors into the mix. Tell them what you are doing to survive and grow. In fact, download the “Tenacity Challenge” poster by clicking here and display it proudly.

“When the going gets tough, the tough get going” is an apt phrase to describe the attitude you should take in 2009. The axiom is attributed to both Joseph P. Kennedy and to Norwegian-born American football player and coach Knute Rockne, two men who demonstrated strength when it was needed.

Put yourself in the “win” column since the government probably won’t do it.

Are you displaying the poster? Submit your comments or photographs to creative@cocoboston.com.

the marketing/operations disconnect
customers who’d rather be ‘outta here’

Part 4 of 5

about this series Part 1: Overview of the marketing/operations disconnect Part 2: Prospect, we hardly knew ye Part 3: Customer service: “warm and fuzzy” or “take a number?” Part 4: Customers who’d rather be “outta here” Part 5: Reassembling the broken pieces

Editor’s Note: Earlier this year, COCO+CO. sought to discover why a marketing program at one company generated $100 million in new business, while a similar program at a substantially comparable firm was an abject failure. COCO+CO.’s “Beneficial Benchmarks” revealed startling disconnects between what certain businesses believe they offer and what end-users actually experience.

There is always much emphasis on securing new customers, but positive steps must be taken continually to keep existing ones. Many dissatisfied customers will suffer in silence for a long time, but the risk is great they will head toward the exit sign as soon as they receive a compelling offer – almost anything from your competitors.

Marketing promises that once encouraged them to do business with you may seem misleading or downright false once they start working with the rest of the organization. For all of the reasons mentioned in earlier articles in this series, your customers may become disillusioned and ready to pack up and leave.

Here are some steps you can take to retain customers and possibly build referrals.

• Develop a customer grievance policy.

• Name a “red tape cutter” to handle difficult or complex requests.

• Educate employees about the rationale for certain policies and rules and when or if exceptions can/should be made.

• Review your systems and determine if they are consistent and fair when applied to different types of customers.

• Develop formal systems to gauge customer satisfaction.

• Use the “secret shopper” approach to determine if telephones are being answered cheerfully and service being delivered expertly.

• Dial your own office after hours and see if you can easily navigate through your phone system menus.

• Test your office e-mail from home and see if there are limits on e-mail attachment types or sizes and/or whether your e-mail is returned by overly aggressive spam filters.

• Create programs/incentives to reward customer loyalty.

• Make programs flexible to meet changing client needs.

• Give customers plenty of notice before enacting policy or rate changes. Warn new customers about these changes so they don’t accuse you later of a “bait and switch” scam.

• Treat all customers with dignity and respect – especially those enduring “rough patches” or poor economic times. If they were good customers once, they may well be again.

• Surprise clients by occasionally waiving fees or offering unexpected discounts.

Finally, make your organization look and sound as good as you want customers to feel. Do not openly bad mouth your competitors and make sure “Casual Fridays” do not become “We Don’t Care What You Think of Us” Fridays.

Next time, Part 5: Reassembling the broken pieces 

To learn more about COCO+CO.’s “Beneficial Benchmarks,” call (800) 374-4103 or (978) 374-1900. Submit your comments to creative@cocoboston.com.

scams offer Web site ‘optimization’

Today’s snake oil salesperson is more likely to be pushing “Web site optimization” than the patent medicines sold by his or her 19th century predecessors.

If you are like most people, you have received numerous e-mails with message subjects such as “Sitemap file missing” or “Improve your Google ranking.” The message goes on to say your Web site could not be found on certain search engines or that you are not receiving enough hits. Don’t fall for this scam which can end up costing thousands of dollars each month.

One company claiming to improve the number of “hits” you receive has only been in business four months and, itself, ranks poorly in search engine searches! It suggests your site use keywords for obtaining more Web page visits from Russia and China. If you sell in these countries and can accept inquiries and orders in native languages, this may be a good idea. You will still save money if you work with your corporate communications firm and write these words yourself.

Others will charge you to add hidden text, erroneous keywords, transfer visitors to your page from phony sites without permission or use other dubious or unethical tactics – all of which are likely to get your site banned from search engine listings. You may actually achieve a higher number of hits until your site is delisted, but probably no new business.

Also, keep in mind there is a distinction between the number of hits and the numbers of unique visitors your Web site receives. You should be counting unique visitors since a single visitor may actually result in multiple hits as he or she clicks through your pages.

There are some legitimate ways to boost your Web presence. Call COCO+CO. if you would like to learn more about available options.