On Facebook I’ll report, every so often, a sighting of either legendary B.J. Armstrong or equally legendary David Axelrod in my building’s gym.  It’s become a running joke with some goading me to speak to either or both of them depending on political or basketball leanings.  Until yesterday, I stayed silent.

Featured David Axelrod image courtesy of Newshour, a news program on PBS

My habit, and so too with Mr. Axelrod it seems, is to work out mid morning.  Yesterday, he arrived after me and wanted to watch cable news.  No surprise – his selection always includes at least two of the “left”, the “center” and the “right” of the news channels.  Lucky for him, the gym has 4 TVs and at least 1 of them is tuned to 1 of his channels.  Also, lucky for him, people are flexible as long as you ask to change the channel first.

You can tell from my detail that not only have I seen this play out quite a bit and that I am also somewhat in awe of him.  For the record, I’m also in awe of B.J. Armstrong.  I shared an elevator with him once and I couldn’t breathe.

Change your perception channel.

Yesterday, TV #4 was giving Ol’ Dave a hassle and the remote couldn’t change the channel.  TV #4 is a weird bird and a challenge to many.  Some have taken #3 remote to change #4 channel which has been successful.  I wasn’t going to say anything out of shyness but then I changed my perception channel and realized, “This is just a dude who wants to watch TV.”  and in that spirit, I shared the tip about #3 remote.  He warmly smiled and welcomed the tip as it wasn’t something he had heard or seen before.

What does changing your perception channel mean?  It means that too often we let our assumptions about others our customers or would be customers run away with themselves to arrive at conclusions that hold no water.  Too often, we take the veneer of a customer profile and take that to be the truth without a) challenging our assumptions and/or even worse b) not taking a closer look at the subject.  With Axelrod, I wrongly assumed he wouldn’t welcome help because of his title but I saw him more completely as a person and changed my view.

It’s more than just basic cable…

I sat with a group of startup founders recently and I admired their smarts, focus and energy.  What I found interesting was an unwillingness to explore “pivots” as they were developing their customers and business plans further.  The resistance wasn’t so much based on business discipline and focus – those are good things.  The resistance was based on assumptions which they clung to — almost too firmly.

Seeing what’s on another TV channel doesn’t commit you for the full 30 minutes, it just tells you what program is playing.  So too in business, seeing a more textured view of the customer playing field gives you an informed view such that you can more exquisitely strategize and execute.

Opportunity presents itself when we allow for it to do so.  

We borrow trouble when we don’t challenge assumptions and welcome changes in our perception channel.  Sure, it’s not always easy but I’d argue it makes for a better customer experience overall.  What say you?

Parissa Behnia
Idea Chef

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P.S. Unlucky for me, the tip I shared with Axelrod didn’t work!  We tried a couple of different ways but to no avail.  I apologized and explained I had seen it before and he was gracious about it.  We both expressed confusion about #4 and then I said, as a joke, that perhaps it was a Republican.  It was the closest my ego could get to acknowledging him without looking like I was pandering.  And with that, I left the gym.

Recently, I took time off to recharge a bit as running 678 Partners, a strategic business development consultancy can run you ragged.  We jetted off to Cancun and stayed at this beautiful and peaceful resort.  We used sunscreen liberally, wore hats, took long walks on the beach, sipped some margaritas, swung on hammocks and took plenty of naps – ideal vacation activities.

Oh yeah, I also booked a 80 minute massage which was completely relaxing and fulfilling – as you’d imagine.  It was a complete multi-sensory experience: neutral colored walls, soothing music, lemon flavored water, tight muscles turned to lovely mush and bright, refreshing aromatherapy to boot.  All five senses were engaged so I was alive and completely relaxed from the beginning, middle to end of the experience… and when it was all done, I had the following thought:

EXACTLY LIKE #unGEEKED!

Some of you may know that I happily attended my first #unGeeked conference last year in Chicago.  It was so nice to meet wonderful people in 3D and learn from them over the course of a few days.  The fact that it was a deliberately small, more intimate setting made it that much more meaningful.  How often do you get a chance to make small talk with Jason Falls, for example?  And, how often do you get the chance to meet and become acquainted with the strong, inspired and inspiring Cd Vann?  It’s not like that happens every day, folks!

What defines the #unGeeked experience is a generosity of spirit.  The intent when you walk in the room either as attendee or discussion leader is to share with each other what you know and what you’d like to know.  It is also based on trust.  When you’re in that room, what you’re sharing or what you’re learning is a reflection of the trust.  Either that you’ve placed in the discussion leader or the trust the discussion leader has placed in you to listen without judgement but with a desire to share ideas (differing or otherwise).

And, most importantly, everyone recognizes that some things don’t come easily – either because you have to get rid of fears, assumptions or what have you.  It’s that environment that makes this experience so powerful.

#unGeeked actually is like a mental spa experience.  

Think about it: when you walk into a spa, you’re seeking to feel better in some form or factor.  How successful that treatment is is 100% dependent upon your intent to feel better and the therapist’s intent to help you feel better.  It’s a two way street of therapeutic goodness with the power absolutely in your hands to determine how effective and lasting that goodness is.

Voila: #unGeeked!  Won’t you join me and a bunch of other awesome discussion leaders March 28 – 31?  We’re going to spend the first day at Zappo’s – our awesome sponsor.  If you’d like to register, please visit Eventbrite.

Between us friends, I do have a discount code I can share so if you’d like to learn more, please don’t hesitate to contact me.  And, please do share this post with others.

Parissa Behnia
Idea Chef

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Since we finally had our first real snow last week, I’d like to share with you a Chicago tradition: dibs.  After any snowfall, Chicago residents will grab their shovels to clear up whatever snow the city plows can’t or won’t clear away.  Because of the time and effort involved, these same people will take it upon themselves to reserve the spot that they have just cleaned with whatever household items they have.  Here’s a typical representation:

Featured image courtesy of Meryddian licensed via Creative Commons.

Some think it’s crazy to reserve a spot that one technically doesn’t own and others think it’s perfectly fair to reap the benefit of the literal heavy lifting and removal of snow.  Depending on where you fall, you’re either tossing aside the chairs and parking or you respect the dibs and move on.  Regardless, it’s tradition much like the annual disappointment by our Cubs.

Companies think they have dibs on customers…

Anyone who sets out the lawn chairs has a sense of entitlement to the spot and also a sense of faith that no one will disrupt order.  Frankly, it often feels like companies call dibs on us out of those same feelings.  From their point of view, they took some sort of sales or marketing effort and resources to get us as customers so of course we’ll always be there at their beck and call without anyone stealing us away. All they have to do is put forth the equivalent of the flimsy folding lawn chairs to keep us…  which is rather like buying Valentine’s candy for your sweetheart on February 15.

We’ve seen loads of examples of companies believing it can serve less yet demand more and they’re the usual industry suspects like cell phone service, airline, banking, insurance and, yes, medicine.  The most egregious examples of late have been Bank of America and Verizon raising fees on basic services believing that consumers would just roll with the punches.  It’s great customers fought back and the fees didn’t stick…  but the acts themselves are examples of companies thinking they have dibs on us.

You’ve got to shovel the snow every day…

because we can’t assume our customers will allow us to call dibs on them.  If we’re in the business of serving others – and, we all are – we’ve got to treat each day as if we’re committed to serving others just like Chicagoans commit to cleaning up the snow from that coveted parking space.  Sometimes, it’s fun with a series of snowball fight breaks.  And other times, it’s not.  Regardless, if you want the satisfaction of a job well done, you’ve got to commit to it and engage in it regardless of the enjoyment level.

We have to overcome the urge to treat our customers as if they will always be there.  Every day should begin with a refreshed commitment to serve them the best way possible.  So, I ask you, are you shoveling snow daily?  Please share how you commit to your customers and, if you’ve enjoyed reading this post, please share with others.

Parissa Behnia
Idea Chef

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Happy New Year!  I hope 2012 is joyous and prosperous for you!  I have high hopes for everyone this year.  Like many of you, I took some days off last month to regroup and recharge.  For me, that meant after Christmas shopping and multiple trips to the movies to take my mind off of brands, marketing and such.  It’s one trip to the movies, to see Young Adult, that I’d like to talk to you about today because it brought brands and marketing very much to mind.

In that trailer alone, there were shots of the Mini and Macy’s brands as well as mention of the Hampton Inn brand.  What other brands from that movie do I remember that aren’t featured in that trailer?  Here is a list of some:

• Makers Mark
• KFC
• Taco Bell
• Blackberry
• Ben and Jerry’s

A series of commercials strung together.

Truthfully, for me, there was so much product placement that it distracted me from paying attention to the story – and I actually liked the movie.  It’s no secret that Hollywood likes product placement and it’s prevalent in some movies/TV shows more than others.  It’s big business and the studios and advertisers alike believe it works.

The bombardment of brands and product is what compelled me to write the post because of what I see to be a dissonance between the story and the brand images of each featured product.  This movie is about a depressed and delusional woman with a probable issue with alcohol who is trying to recapture her beauty queen glory of her high school years…  Gee, that sounds like a great fit for Macy’s!

Let’s talk about fit for a spell.

Since I’ve Macy’s on the mind, I’ve got to ask: do you deliberately buy yourself shoes or clothing three sizes too big?  Other than for Halloween costumes, I’m pretty certain your answer is no.  In this post about your brand’s natural limits, I said we’d never go to Sears for Herve Leger and we’d never go to Neiman Marcus for drill bits.  So, as tempting as product placement is, why would we subject our brands to a topic or fictional character that may not be the image we’d want to positively portray?  Yes, the movie stars Charlize Theron – a great actress – but the movie isn’t about her.  It’s about a very flawed character she convincingly portrays.

Be a jealous lover.

I’ve said this in some form or fashion before but we can’t be too protective of where and how are brands are marketed directly or indirectly be it by ourselves or by those with whom we choose to do business.  The burden is on us — not others — to make sure that the brand persona is never placed in jeopardy.  I’m not suggesting rigidity in the slightest…  just a call for questioning ourselves about fit and educating others to consider fit when it comes to our brands and products.

What say you?  Please share your two cents below…  Your opinions and comments matter!

Parissa Behnia
Idea Chef

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In my last post about brand marketing, I argued that the customer has power but within the natural limits set by the brand and I used Christmas parties as an example.  Then, this YouTube video was played ad nauseum on network TV yesterday morning that gave FedEx the type of Christmas gift it probably didn’t want…

I’m sure you’ve seen the video but have you seen the colorful (ehem) comments section?  I recommend reading a few of them to get a feel for the feedback, observations and conversation.  .

Retain control of your brand’s natural limits or suffer the consequences.

My last post was about brand natural limits and today’s post is about challenges to natural limits.  What happens when individual created content challenges the brand image you want to convey to the public?  What happens when you have a viral video with some very scathing commentary about your brand and your company?  How do you have conversations on your brand’s territory as opposed to your customer’s territory?

You may have heard that Lowe’s pulled advertising from TLC’s All American Muslim based on customer complaints.  They shared their announcement on their Facebook page and a slew of very colorful and arguably racist language followed.  Russell Simmons has taken Lowe’s on with an aggressive social media campaign.  The result: Lowe’s brand is now operating outside its natural limits – they have given so much up that they don’t own what the brand may or may not mean anymore.  Other people may have painted Lowe’s as a brand and as a retailer other than what it may intend.

Bring the brand conversation back to you.

Sometimes, stuff happens to your brand that you don’t consider in your wildest of (bad) dreams.  Unlike Lowe’s, FedEx went a completely activist route in addressing the issue.  Very quickly, FedEx posted a press release as well as this video on their company blog from their SVP of US Operations:

What is so awesome about this is that they went toe to video toe in wresting brand control back from the customer and those who commented on the YouTube video.  They could have just left it at the press release and the letter on the company blog but adding its response in video form makes brings brand intent and impact to its actions.  And, judging by the tweets I’m seeing this morning, I’m not the only one who thinks they’ve brought the brand conversation back to them.

What’s your angle?  Please share your comments below and, if you’ve enjoyed this post, please share with others.

Parissa Behnia
Idea Chef

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So, just like many (if not all) of you, Amir and I have been going to quite a few holiday parties lately and this past weekend was no exception.  We went to three different places (hi MM, KH and AM!) and the festivities started at 4pm and we didn’t get home until past 1am in the morning.

What’s more, there was a kid’s craft table, a horse drawn carriage and house music in this 9 hour span.  I also had a costume change at my sister’s house between parties #1 and #2.  Yes.

A lovely sweet table to end a great holiday party!

These three parties had a lot in common: holiday theme, good company, friends whom you don’t see all that often, tasty nibbles and quenching libations.  And yet, they were all STRIKINGLY different from one another.  And that’s what we are going to talk about today.

It’s all about honesty.

Each of these lovely and generous hosts threw the type of get together that matched their styles and personalities.  And I wouldn’t have it any other way.  Neither of the hosts would go to all three parties if they were invited to them but I’d wager they’d attend at least two of the three.

As much as sales consultants may tell you otherwise, you can’t sell to everybody.  You shouldn’t even try to please everybody as it would be a complete waste of time, effort and energy…  And a huge opportunity cost in terms of not focusing on the people that you can sell to and satisfy all the time.  In point of fact, we tell our marketing and business development consulting clients to disqualify themselves as soon as they possibly can instead of spreading themselves thin.

The lesson here is that each party’s talk matched its walk.  Neither of them promised any more than what was part of the host’s core essence and that was beautiful.  As guests, we knew what to expect even before stepping inside.  And by stepping inside, we agreed to the host’s terms of entertainment.

Yes, the customer does have power these days…

And we still retain control of our brand marketing and our brand messaging.  These days, I see more and more customers wresting control of brand marketing because these brands give them permission to do so.  It’s my view that self actualized customer power can be a beautiful thing but we don’t sacrifice the brand core while ceding the control.

A holiday party is a perfect example of customer power but in a brand controlled environment.  When I went to each party, I agreed to the terms of how I would be entertained by my host (aka the brand).  The conversations I had at each party, the food I ate, the drinks I had (shout out to the Santa’s Helper cocktail), if I sat, if I stood, if I boogied, or if I wandered around were ALL my choices.  How much I enjoyed myself was absolutely within my control.

But everything has a natural limit at a party.  Unless I were lacking manners, I’d never go to the CD player at party #1 to switch the carols to the house music of party #3 because that was not the “vibe” of the party.  It would have been disruptive.

So too with a brand, there is a natural limit.  A customer would never go looking for Herve Leger at Sears nor would a customer look for drill bits at Neiman Marcus…  and that customer may very well be the same person operating within a brand’s natural limits of product type, assortment, price point, customer experience, etc.  How the customer engages with the brand is within his or her control within the context of the natural limits.

What say you?

What’s your take on the natural limits of a brand?  I’d love to hear your thoughts and, if you’ve enjoyed this post, please do share it with others.

Parissa Behnia
Idea Chef

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Do you remember this musical gem from the last decade?  It takes me back to my NYC days (Hey A.G.)!  Please watch at least some of the video to get a feel for the lyrics and the point of the song…  Of course, if you want to watch all 4 minutes, I won’t stop you.

Say my name.

This song is a dare to a woman’s (allegedly) cheating boyfriend to say her name out loud, to affirm and to confirm that she is his girlfriend (or “boo” as ol’ Beyonce says).  As customers, this is no different for us.  All we really want is to be acknowledged by those to whom we give our hard earned money.  We want appreciation, we want them to know our preferences, we want them to give us what we want before we articulate it.  Yes, we want them to be omniscient.

We want them to treat us like we are their sweetheart.  Melodramatic?  Maybe.  But it is accurate.  And as a marketer, I always want to treat my customers like they are my one and only (sorry Amir!) whether engaging with them directly or devising marketing strategies that may appeal to them.  I want to recognize them and I want them to feel as if I recognize them.

Can we have them at hello?

I had the pleasure of evaluating the elevator pitches of student teams participating in the Concept2Venture business plan competition.  The terms of the judging was that we were not to be privy to their plans – we were to evaluate them on their ability to connect with us in 90 seconds.  It occurred to me as we were judging that, really, all we have ever with any prospect is roughly 90 seconds (metaphorically speaking).  How good are we at quickly establishing rapport and demonstrating their need is satisfied by what we offer?  That is, without making it sound like a door to door encyclopedia salesman?

It’s not that easy and, to riff on the song’s theme, if we can’t identify them, call them by name or establish some sort of connection with them in our first meeting, it will be difficult to do so in the second meeting let alone be difficult in obtaining the second meeting.

Data mean nothing…

Unless you’re willing to use the information to connect with customers in a meaningful way.  I join a lot of tweetchats and many wax rhapsodic on the power of data, how data can mean a lot of beautiful things for customers and so forth.  Those people are right.  When used effectively, data can be a theoretically lovely thing.  But often, no matter how many points of data collection and opportunities to apply the data points, it can still go horribly wrong.  Many of us can sympathize with:

• Receiving offers from companies that do NOT appeal to us or fit our lifestyles; or
• Differing level of service between in person, online and phone channels within a bank; or
• Doctors’ offices and hospitals billing incorrectly (old insurance policy, former addresses, etc.) though current information is in their systems; or
• Insert your favorite example here.

Essentially, unless you fully accept the responsibility of data, don’t go through the herculean effort of building a data amassing system of any kind.  If you can’t recognize them effectively, they will know it.  And they will be disappointed.

Don’t say any name.

If there’s a chance that we can’t help someone or that we can’t use our data effectively, we’ve got to resist the urge to offer a solution because the chances are great that what we provide will miss the mark.  Making the right connections with your customer are what determine success. Recognizing their needs and offering a solution that fits is art and science.

It’s better not to engage in any sort of flirtation with a prospect (or even current customer) than to risk great disappointment and a yucky breakup.  What say you?  Have you had any “say my name” horror stories that you’d like to share?  Please do so below and, if you’ve enjoyed this post, please consider sharing with others.

Parissa Behnia
Idea Chef

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As you know, I’m not always a fan of working out.  I spend the time transporting my mind elsewhere while I put my body through the motions.  It’s during these times that watching TV helps me.  If I’m really lucky, I see David Axelrod in the gym, too.  When the marketing and business heavens smile while working out, I’m struck with an idea for a blog post.

Courtesy of the folks at Windy City Live (the local ABC show that replaced Oprah), I saw this gospel choir perform last week.  As you’re watching this video, please take note of the leader’s energy level as the song progresses and how it influences the choir.  This is what we’ll be talking about today.

What about this performance is so magical to me?  It’s a holiday choir much like many others you’ll likely see this season.  The thing is, though, that there is a bond, a common connection to a common goal, an understanding and a host of things.  It’s not that the choir was mimicking the leader in an elaborate game of musical Simon Says.  They were in sync for a reason.  They identified with each other and their group — and the performance materially improved as they progressed in the song.

It’s about Organizational Identification.

You all know by know that I enjoy mashups of all sorts when I write and today’s post is no different.  Right around the time I saw the choir performance, I had just finished reading about company identification and financial performance thanks to the nice people at HBR.  What is identification in this context?  Briefly, it’s the overlap of personal values with those of the company.  The perception of one’s own values overlaps with the perception one has of the organization.  The stronger the overlap, the better the performance.

In other words, this is a story about the relationship between employee and customer experience and its connection to employee and customer engagement.  The article goes on to suggest that one doesn’t magically arrive on OI alone.  Research data based on a retail organization show the importance of managerial OI on the path to employee OI with the payoff ultimately being customer OI and spend.  More specifically:

• Increasing managerial OI by one point increases employee OI by .29 point;
• Raising employee OI by one point increases customer OI by .25 point;
• Raising customer OI by one point is tied to spending $71 more per year per person.

Identification means revenues.

So let’s go back to that choir and, if you’ve a moment, look at that clip one more time.  Now that we know a little about OI, we can see pieces of OI in the performance.  The singers obviously knew their parts and were well practiced.  BUT, the net effect of the overall performance is tied to the net effect of the exuberance and charisma their choir leader has as they sing.  The more animated he became, the more animated they became.  It’s because they identified with each other, with him and the choir.  If they were an indifferent sort of choir with members that didn’t identify with it, they’d never be on local TV let alone release CDs nor be Grammy nominated.

What’s the lesson for us?  It pays to expend more time, effort and energy to make sure organizational values are in alignment with employees – and vice versa.  It’s not only the right thing to do but it’s also economically the wisest thing to do to stay afloat in the long term.  What are ways in which we can do better at aligning our values with the organization?  What are ways in which we can do better to align organization values with that of our employees?  Is it the chicken or the egg that comes first in this scenario?

I’d love to hear your thoughts.  Please comment and, if you enjoyed this post, please share with others.

Parissa Behnia
Idea Chef

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678 Partners is a consultancy firm. Our solutions create and improve business development strategies via sales channel and marketing plan development We help identify new sales channels, create better approaches to existing channels, strengthen the value proposition and the brand among other services. Typically our clients hire us when they want more market share, more revenue from current customers, more prospects and a more compelling brand or value proposition.