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Hard Hats off to You
Last week, I had
the pleasure and honor of helping out on my third Habitat
for Humanity project. Each time, for a brief moment, I
have the opportunity to share in the utter satisfaction I
imagine you, in the business of creating homes for people,
must feel everyday.
Whether you design, build,
improve, outfit or maintain homes, you have my admiration.
It's hard work, but creating a home that the owners will be
proud to call theirs is a wonderful profession.
The
fine folks at Habitat are always looking for a few good men
and women to help more people realize the dream of home
ownership. If you or members of your staff might like to find
out about upcoming projects in your area, please visit Habitat's
website for more information.
"I
can accept failure, but I can't accept not trying."
-
Michael Jordan
Copyright
2007
Chris Joy Marketing Communications.
All
rights reserved. You may reproduce content included in the
Brand Guardian e-newsletter by including this copyright and,
if reproducing it electronically, by including a link to www.chrisjoycomm.com.
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Hello,
Today's
newsletter is about asking the toughest question of all --
What is it you really want?
I hope it's
helpful!
All the best,
Chris Joy
Principal
Chris Joy
Marketing Communications
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To Be a Fly
on the Wall
Over the summer, I interviewed more
than a dozen potential high school-aged babysitters for my
son, Nicholas.
Any parent knows just how sacred a
great sitter is, so I by no mean took this quest lightly. We
went through the interview process, and I have to say, these
young women were sharp. They told me everything I hoped to
hear. But I expect that, I guess. After all, they were
trying to make a good impression in hopes of being hired.
After each of them left, I would download my findings
to my husband, Jim. This one has a pediatrics CPR certificate,
that one volunteers in her church playroom during weekly
services, the other has 5 younger cousins she's been taking
care of every summer since she was 9. Valid qualifications,
all.
But the thing I really wanted to know was this
- what did they say about my son and my expectations to their
parents when they went home? If I were a fly on the wall
during their dinnertime conversation, would I hear, "God, does
the kid ever take a nap?! He'd run me ragged!" Or might I
hear, "I can't believe I would actually get paid to take care
of him-he's a riot!"
There was one sitter in
particular, who Nicholas took an instant shine to and she was
obviously very comfortable with him. I liked Katelyn right
from the start, so we gave her the job. Within a couple days,
Nicholas and Katelyn appeared to be thick as thieves. It
looked like hiring her was a good move.
But I knew for
sure that my intuition bore true when one day Katelyn's dad
came to pick her up, after she had been sitting for Nicholas a
few afternoons a week for about a month. "This must be
Nicholas," he said with enthusiasm. "He's the topic of
conversation every night around our dinner table - I feel like
I have a grandson!" He went on to reiterate the little
stories of the funny things he does - obviously stories
Katelyn had shared in a positive light.
Had I been
a fly on the wall in Katelyn's house, I believe I would have
heard exactly what I had hoped for, which makes me very
happy about our relationship with her.
As I see it,
here's how this applies to your company.
How often do
you find yourself on the way back from a sales meeting, trying
to mentally assess how well it went? Wondering what lasting
impression you made? Wondering how close they are to making a
decision, and what part of the conversation resonated with
them most? Saying to yourself, "Boy, would I love to be a fly
on the wall to hear what they're saying right now."
So
here's the million dollar question. If you were said fly,
have you ever asked yourself what, precisely, you would
want to hear?
I ask a lot of questions of my
clients to help them uncover the right marketing messages for
them, but one of the most obvious we try to get at is,
"What response do you hope your prospects will have after
interacting with you?" And by interacting with YOU, I mean
in the broadest sense -- your ad, your website, your
receptionist.
Any of it. All of it.
It's
surprising that most business owners have never really
considered that question. So maybe it's not so obvious, and
it's not as easy as it might seem to answer. But as my very
wise mother used to say, good questions trump easy answers.
After all, if you don't know what kind of response
you are looking for, how do you know how to work toward it?
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Quick Tip
It's Not Easy Defining
Green
It's hard to believe it was less than two
years ago when two of my clients were interviewed by the
Boston Business Journal for an article on the business of
green building. The surprising thing was that the bottom line
of the article was that even in the very high end, for those
who could afford building more expensive, more environmentally
friendly products and systems, homeowners had not yet warmed
to green building.
Fast forward two years, and anything
green is gold. Thankfully, it is on everyone's radar screen,
but there is still a lot of confusion around what green means,
and how to sell it to clients. If these questions are on your
mind, there's a good article in Professional Remodeler this
month - check
it out. |
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Does This Message Pop or Flop?
The new
ad series for Moen's Velocity showerhead is running in
lifestyle and shelter magazines across the country. Moen's
Velocity showerhead has an adjustable volume flow that
delivers everything from a "gentle rainfall" to
"wipe-the-freckles-off-your-skin" shiatsu massage.
It's
based on extensive research conducted by Moen that discovered
that people shower for different reasons at different times of
the day - to wake in the morning, relieve stress in the
evening (interestingly enough, "to get clean" was not a lofty
enough goal for those in the study).
The ads reads
-"It's my caffeine in the morning, my fountain of youth in
the evening. My rain forest in a concrete jungle, My shower
was designed for my world."
This ad is a great
reminder to all companies of a couple of things. #1. Before
you spend the big bucks it takes to place ads, do your
research. Find out what your best clients care most about. #2.
If you're working in the high end, your services are
expensive. If you're not tapping into these higher-order
needs, it will be hard to inspire prospects to understand the
complete value your services will bring to their lives.
So, is Moen to be showered with praise for their
strategy here, or are they just all wet? What do you think? Does Moen's message pop
or flop? |
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