Category Archives: Game Strategies

Why Does Water Taste Different?

A perspective on where our water comes from.

Okay, you’re wondering what the heck how water tastes has to do with marketing your business, and it’s a good question. The answer will be revealed.

Water should taste the same, right? It’s a clear liquid without additives, so it should have a uniform texture, consistency, and refreshing appeal to the palate.

Every business is the same, right? There’s a reason for existence, a leadership team, incorporation, sales team, products and/or services, and marketing to reach the audience.

The answer to the question about every business is obviously false. Now, some non-business people may believe every business is greedy and therefore evil, but what they fail to realize is that a business would be unable to provide them with a product or service if it was unable to make a reasonable profit. Even non-profit organizations need to have money to operate. Even franchise operations are different.

As a marketing professional, I prefer to avoid reference to particular franchises (unless it’s a client and we’ve been given permission), but let’s consider one whose logo features certain-colored arches. There is a level of consistency one expects from this franchise, wherever one of the company’s stores may be located. That premise implies that each of the fast food stores under that umbrella is the same. Wrong!

The variables range from location (inner city vs. highway exit) to management, staff, volume of traffic, and the make-up of the surrounding neighborhood. Patrons frequent one store over another for quality of food, speed of service, cleanliness, friendliness, price, and convenience, among other factors.

Let’s flip back to the variables that have an impact on water. Think where the water comes from in the first place. It’s absorbed into clouds and comes back to earth as rain, which then filters through the ground into an aquifer or runs off into a stream, river, lake or other body of water. As the natural rinsing agent it is, water brings along minerals, dirt, pesticides, and other “stuff” into whatever container it flows. Unless we extract it ourselves from a lake or stream, water is usually processed through a filtration system and pumped into a water tower or other pressure tank to flow into our homes so it’s there when we turn on the tap. Some municipalities treat the water with fluoride or other chemicals and some leave elements such as certain levels of iron in the water.

So, the bottom line is water can taste different depending on where it comes from, especially in terms of what container holds it. Water in plastic bottles all seems to taste the same, but it depends on if it was bottled at a spring or through a municipal or business processing system. Some of us can drink tap water and love the taste, where others may find the iron content too high or dislike the city water’s flavor.

Personally, I have grown accustomed to drinking water from a stainless steel bottle, which reminds me of drinking cold water from a stainless scoop dipped into a milk can from my days working on a farm. I try to avoid filling the landfill with plastic bottles, even if they are recyclable, but if it’s my only choice, plastic fits the bill.

The point of this is that your hamburger, product, or service is going to taste different to every consumer. In the case of the burger, it could be the quality of meat, percentage of fat, how it’s cooked, or the accompaniments such as the bun, condiments, vegetables, and whatever else someone likes on their concoction. You need to know, as much as you can, what your customers want and deliver it in such a way that differentiates you and your business from the competition … and build loyalty to your brand!

That means you need to know what your brand is.

Is it tap water? Well water? River water? Spring water? Or run-off?

When you need help finding the source of your water, contact Brand Irons for guidance.

Are You Really Who You Say You Are?

There are business owners out there who believe they, and their business, are one thing when they really are something else. The problem creeps in when they start telling people who they are and the customers (and the public in general) discover the business is entirely different than how it’s portrayed.

This, on the surface, appears to be a public relations disaster waiting to happen. It is more commonly known as marketing myopia, and can be corrected. That’s the good news!

A common example is the owner of a business that sells insurance. The type of insurance has little significance, primarily because whatever the type of insurance is offered to potential customers, roughly half of the population will have an adverse reaction to the term “insurance.” The same percentage, give or take a few percentage points, applies to car sales, real estate agents, consultants, plumbers, and virtually every other occupation. Why? More on that later.

Think about insurance in its most basic form for a minute. Insurance is protection for the purchaser from some accident, death, or the negligence of some other party. Except in the case of dying, the owner can rest assured that his or her property is covered against a loss. When the policy holder dies, the insurance is intended to take care of loved ones, although it can never replace the companionship that is lost.

What is the end result of having a policy? Peace of mind. The ability to sleep well at night. Reduced risk in case of loss. Protection. What is that insurance agent selling, from the customer’s point-of-view? Pick one of the above, such as peace of mind.

Before we move on to other examples, let’s go back to the reason why so many people have an adverse reaction to various professional occupations. If you had a painful experience in the dentist’s chair when you were a child, how positive are you likely to feel about dentists in general? Over the years since, you’ve probably shared your uncomfortable experience and fear with countless other people. You probably wait to go see a dentist until you have cavities or need a root canal, which creates another less-than-pleasant experience … and the cycle continues.

Any person who’s had a bad experience with an insurance agent or policy claim has done the same thing, so the more types of insurance and agents that are in business, the greater the chances of bad experiences. We tend to forget the good experiences, so it becomes natural to have apprehension about various occupations, especially those involving sales. People don’t like to be sold; they like to make their own decisions.

Consultants are another good example. Business owners shy away from consultants because they have the single perception that a consultant is going to cost them money. The truth is a consultant should help a business make money!

Let’s look at some more examples.

If you operate a tavern and someone asks what you do, do you tell them you run a bar or serve alcohol to get people drunk? Maybe. Would it sound better if you explained that you’re in the business of providing entertainment in a fun, relaxed environment? People can drink alcohol anywhere. What you provide is an experience.

As a restaurant owner, do you tell people you run a restaurant? Yes, it’s true that’s what you do, but what they’re really looking for is the answer to why you do what you do. Try telling people you provide delicious food and exceptional service in a family friendly or cozy, candle-lit environment … whatever’s appropriate for your establishment. The right answer is far more likely to pique a person’s curiosity and be interested in giving you business than the fact you run a restaurant.

A carpet cleaning business helps people keep their living spaces clean and healthy.

A website company creates a global presence and market place.

A gas station enables car owners to keep driving their vehicles.

A plumber reduces the risk of water damage or ensures a clean supply of drinking water.

It’s our hope this has opened your eyes, and minds, to taking the time to think about what it is provide as a product or service to customers. A manufacturer of baseball bats turns pieces of wood into sporting equipment but, from the consumer’s perspective, offers a quality product to play a game at a professional level.

Contact Brand Irons if you’d like some help sifting through the jumble of what you offer so you can concentrate on telling people what it is you provide to them

Are You Connected The Right Way?

How well your business is networked or connected can mean the difference between success and even greater … profitability. A major element in this formula involves your company’s word-of-mouth status. We all know, or assume correctly, that word-of-mouth is the most effective and least costly method of marketing your business and yourself. What we tend to forget, though, is that word-of-mouth can also work against us as easily as it can work for the benefit of a business.

When we write about networking, there are many effective techniques that can be used to grow your business. One of the most prolific authors on the subject is Ivan Misner, Ph.D., the founder of BNI (Business Network International), and his most influential book on networking – in my opinion – is Networking Like A Pro – Turning Contacts Into Connections, co-written with David Alexander and Brian Hilliard.

What this blog is about, though, is how to know which connections you want to make and bring into your business network. Word-of-mouth is difficult to use for marketing unless people get to know you, your company, and your products and/or services. Once they know more about you and determine they can trust you and what you offer, your chances for successful word-of-mouth networking are vastly increased.

It starts with self-evaluation. Who are you? What is your company or business all about? Why are you in business? Who do you want to be in business with? Do they want to, or should they, be in business with you? Are they going to be good connections for you, or are you more a better connection for them? Do you share or compete for customers? Do you understand what each of you is selling and how you can best cooperate?

Armed with answers to these questions, you are better prepared to consider and determine which businesses and/or individual business or non-business individuals you want to be connected with to grow your business. You must consider the value, or potential value, each connection has for your business to succeed. Let’s look at some examples.

A chiropractor has a natural connection with a massage therapist. The chiropractor’s work is easier if the client has seen a massage therapist before the adjustment, and the therapist has an easier time if the client has already been adjusted. The connection appears obvious, and the success of the relationship depends on how comfortable the two parties involved are with referring clients to each other. The twist in the relationship comes from the person in the middle, the client. If the client already has a chiropractor, the message therapist finds it hard to refer them to their connection. Their continued success relies on being able to market their services in conjunction with each other while still being able to accept and work with clients referred to them from other massage therapists or chiropractors.

Real estate agents and mortgage brokers/bankers are another logical pair for being connected in business. The strength of their relationship determines how well each does and how long they work together. When you think about being connected in the real estate profession, you must also consider the other natural alliances. A title company, remodeling service, landscaper, plumber, electrician, appraisal service, and other business entities with a stake in the success of a real estate transaction are all potential members of a coalition to benefit the consumer. The challenge is to find the services who can refer work to you comfortably, and to be able to reciprocate on a frequent enough basis to make the relationship profitable in both directions.

The key to the success of your business networking is to have a clear understanding of which companies, and which individuals, you want to and must be connected with to grow your business. You could be the world’s foremost brain surgeon, but unless you have physicians referring patients to you, you will be out on the street asking everyone you meet whether or not they need brain surgery … and being connected with a mechanic or a restaurant owner will probably have little impact on your bottom line.

How many sales “professionals” do you know who, when asked, will tell you they have a huge network of more than 500 connections? When you probe a little deeper, you learn they have a customer base of 10 clients and the other 490+ are friends, family members, and casual acquaintances from hanging out in restaurants. That’s “thinking” you are connected when you’re really a far cry from having the network you desire.

Take the time to think through how well you’re connected and which connections you lack that you would like to add to your business network. Your professional business and/or marketing consultant can help you see the trees in the forest.

Is It An Interruption?

When I teach one of my Time Block Management classes, I ask participants what they view as the biggest time wasters in their lives. Phone calls invariably tops the list of things they see as wasting their time at work. They are in a productive frame of mind, working on an assignment, and their phone rings. They have to stop what they’re doing and respond to the phone call without any knowledge of who’s calling and why or how long the interruption is going to keep them from their task. The call is a source of irritation.

Until we take the time to determine who is calling and why. When I ask participants about the calls and we dig deeper, more often than ever it is a customer calling to discuss some aspect of the company’s products or services that they’re concerned about. Think about this in terms of your own business, however large it might be and however many employees you might have. Who’s calling? Usually, it’s a customer who believes in you and your company and wants to re-order, expand services, or get questions answered.

So, is it an interruption? Or is it what most business owners consider customer service to take care of your customer’s needs?

When participants realize the true nature of the “interruption,” the call is less of a distraction than a function of their responsibilities in business.

Far too often, we have seen this problem crop up in customer service situations across the board … beyond the annoying phone call. Your business is about your customers, and customers should be the primary focus of what everyone (including you if you’re the owner) in the company does. What do you have without customers?

Wait staff should be focused on the customer and avoid any time spent chatting with friends (via text, phone call, or face-to-face) when customers are expecting to be served. Customers are more patient with servers if they realize they’re taking care of other customers than standing around waiting for orders. Customer service representatives should be calling clients if there’s a lull and they are waiting for clients to call them. Sales representatives should be taking care of customers, offering suggestions on how to improve their business and get a greater return on their investment instead of bitching about the economy or poor business conditions. How many sales people have you seen griping about a customer’s phone call when they’re trying to generate their weekly sales report? Interruption?

Can you count how many times you’ve been at a retail cashier’s station waiting to pay for your purchase while they’re talking to someone on the phone? Management needs to help those cashiers understand that cash in the register is more important than trying to offer directions to an impatient caller … or consoling a friend who’s had a bad date. And how often have you gotten the evil eye or a disgruntled look from the cashier who believes your request to be taken care of is interrupting their life? How could you be so rude?

Etiquette is still important in business!

What about when you’re meeting with a prospective client, or existing customer, and you receive a text message or a phone call? Do you glance at the text to decide if you need to respond? Do you take the phone call and interrupt your meeting, at the possible expense of losing the client or prospect you’re meeting with for being rude? Those are choices you have to make with the understanding of the potential impact on the relationship.

An easy solution is to leave your smart phone in your vehicle or office when you’re in a meeting, even if you use it to schedule appointments. Your memory should be good enough to enter the information after the meeting. Think, too, about the perception people have of you when you take a phone call or text during a meeting or conference. You may believe it’s an important call, but it’s an interruption to those around you and they will think you must feel important because you took the call when, in reality, they wonder why you even came to the meeting or conference if the phone call or text was that important to you.

What interruptions also do is tell the third party observer tons about your business and the brand you exhibit. Ignoring your phone and concentrating on your customer or your prospect’s needs instead of interrupting the moment speaks volumes about your concern for your customers. Having someone who can answer phones in person instead of shifting a caller into an automated system where they may become even more disgruntled or, even worse, look elsewhere for products and/or services makes a lot of sense. Think about how you and your employees manage your time and take care of your customers.

If you’re interested in a brief introduction to Time Block Management or how Brand Irons can help resolve these potential problems, contact us for an initial consultation.

Does Your Message Get Through?

The ability to communicate your message clearly and to have it understood by those who receive it comprise the foundation of your marketing efforts. What value is there in your message if it fails to get through to the people you want to “get it”?

Companies that advertise on TV or radio or any other medium and that claim it doesn’t work have, invariably, failed to communicate their message properly. What do we mean?

First, it is critical to know what your message is, or should be. If you’re in the insurance business, for instance, you may believe you’re selling policies to protect people and their assets. In reality, you’re offering those clients peace of mind or the ability to sleep well at night, knowing their assets are protected and their family is safe.

Quick, what’s the name of the insurance company that insists “You’re in good hands”? The tag line communicates the message that the company is going to take good care of its customers.

What we see, far too often, is a commercial touting the company and how long it’s been in business rather than the value it offers to the consumers who work with its products and/or services. What message are you sending?

Let’s step back a minute. If your message is unclear, go back to your business or strategic plan and revisit what it is you are selling. Clearly define your products or services, and then try to see them from the viewpoint of the consumer. What is the potential purchaser of your product or service looking for? What is their motivation for buying what you offer? Change your perspective and you will be astonished how the appearance of even the simplest item can be changed.

On a recent drive following a passing thunderstorm, the sunset to the west was a beautiful golden globe offset by white clouds against an azure sky with sunbeams radiating through the breaking cloud cover. It was a gorgeous, captivating scene. When you looked to the east, the perspective was markedly different, yet strikingly beautiful with a full-bodied, bright rainbow bursting through the darkened storm clouds over the lake.

Let’s take a minute or two for a brief exercise in the power of clear communication. After you read the following description, close your eyes and imagine the scene if you haven’t created it as you read. Then visit the real description at the end of this blog.

Imagine a kitchen table with a vase of flowers on it. A cat jumps up on the table and knocks over the vase of flowers.

Read about the real description later on.

When you have a clear picture of what you offer to the consumer, think of it in terms of how you can convey the message of your offering in the most favorable way. What is your call to action? What do you want the consumer to do? Usually, it’s that you want them to call and schedule an appointment, stop by your place of business, or go online to order.

How you communicate the message is critical to driving business. This, however, is where we also need to take the time to determine who it is we most want to receive our message. Your target audience. Diapers are for babies, but it’s their parents who make the purchase. Who are the best prospects for consuming your product or purchasing your services?

Mostly men or primarily female? Under age 18 or older than 65? Do they fit any of the in-between adult age demographics – 19-24, 25-34, 35-44, 45-54, or 55 and older? Are they physically active? Do they drive a car? Where do they live? What level of education do they have? Do they read newspapers? Watch TV? Text? Feel free to add categories to your demographic profile, because the more distinctly you can define your audience, the more targeted your message can be communicated to that specific group of people.

Now you’ve done all this and put your message out there. Does it get through? Monitor your results. Ask people how they found out about you. Ask what intrigued them about your message. Talk to your customers and get their feedback. Those are steps that will help you verify your message did, indeed, get through to the right people.

Remember, too, that there are independent, third party professionals such as those of us here at Brand Irons who can assist you in evaluating if your message is getting through. We can also help you derive strategies for making sure it does.

Back to the cat on the table scenario. What shape was the table? What kind of flowers were in the vase? Was there a table cloth on the table? What color was the cat?

Virtually every one of you reading the original sketch came up with different answers for each of these questions. While it seemed the scene was clear, the communication left room for you to enhance it with your personal experience.

Try this version for clarity: Imagine a rectangular kitchen table with a butcher block top and white legs. There are four white ladder back chairs positioned on each side of the table with seats that match the table top but have blue-and-white checked cushions tied on. There’s a clear glass vase on the table with three red roses that are just starting to open up on it. A white, domestic short-hair cat named Snow White jumps up on the table. She goes over to the vase and, instead of knocking it over, reaches into the vase with her right front paw, dips it in the water, pulls it out and licks the water off her paw and jumps down.

While this may seem extreme, communication is important to make sure your customers get your message the way you want them to receive it.

Making Choices & Getting Business Advice

New to owning a business?

You may find the following information valuable, and certainly of interest, even if you’ve already been in business for a number of years.

Every business owner needs advice on occasion. The key is knowing when to ask for it.

It is said you are never alone if you have a deck of cards. Start playing solitaire and someone is bound to tell you what to play where.

If you believe you can make your own decisions without counsel, go right ahead. Even if you do receive a professional’s expert opinion, you can always choose to ignore it and make your own choices. You own the business, so every decision you have to make is ultimately your responsibility. You reap the rewards or bear the blame.

One of our clients was looking to raise more capital. The company was solvent and generating close to $1 million in annual sales. More funds were needed to complete some upgrades, so the owner was curious about options. We discussed the ins and outs of venture capital, issuing stock, private equity investors, and traditional financing options for the investment the company was seeking. We had experience as licensed investment representatives, so we had a grasp of the basics. We continued the discussions as time moved forward and, eventually, the client was able to get some of his better clients to invest in the company and accomplish their shared objectives.

Was it our professional counsel that turned the tide? All the client needed was information to make an intelligent decision, and the right choice for the company’s survival. The client got advice from other sources as well, and used the accumulation of information to choose wisely.

In many cases, the advice is free because of the relationships business owners have with the resources available to them, whether vendors, friends, or business associates. In other cases, the counsel is part of the overall service the business owner is contracted to receive. Is one better than the other? Only the person receiving it and using it to make their business decision can determine that. There are occasions where the more expensive advice is better than that offered without cost, and the reverse can be true, too.

Back to the issue of knowing when to ask for advice. Your accountant should be consulted before you ask your banker to extend you a line of credit, so you know what your cash flow looks like for repaying the loan and other reasons. Your legal counsel should be asked to review legal documents before you sign them, just to protect your assets, if nothing else. There are other professionals and business associates out there that you can ask for opinions about a variety of topics, from buying company vehicles to advertising campaign strategies and from charitable contributions to lobbying legislators.

If you take the time to get the information you need, you are far more likely to make a better, wiser, and more profitable decision for your business. The secret: Knowing where to get the information and being able to interpret that knowledge to gain wisdom.

The Mantra of 7 T’s

How often have you made a decision and later realized you made a mistake? It happens more often than you think, especially in this era of Instant Gratification (IG). While the term is used less often, the desire for speedy results remains a staple in the lifestyle of younger generations, many of whom are successful business owners.

Decisions are made with incomplete information. Choices are made without thought of consequences. Stress is elevated with the likelihood of errors being made. Speed is the driver, and the end result is … often … a waste of time.

Enter the mantra of the 7 T’s: Take The Time To Think Things Through!

There was a familiar saying when I was doing production work that is appropriate: “If you don’t have time to do it right, when will you have time to do it over?” Quality is often the casualty when speed is preferred. Bob Guest, a good friend and co-worker at the U.S. Junior Chamber of Commerce, ran the organization’s printing operations. He was often quoted as telling staff members you could have your choice of three options: Quality, Speed, or Cost … but not all three.

To explain further, if you wanted something printed quickly, you either paid more to have a high quality piece produced fast or got a piece of inferior quality because the price was your main consideration for getting it done quickly. If quality was most important, you paid more to have it produced quickly or had to be patient if the cost needed to be controlled. And if the cost was your primary concern, you sacrificed quality to get your piece done quickly or got superior quality with a longer lead time from start to finish of your printing project.

Now, you could have all three if you took the time to think things through and planned to get the highest quality within your budget provided you gave the printer enough time to get it done in time to meet your deadline.

Weigh the variables. How essential is it that you make a decision now? Can you take an extra five minutes, or an hour or two to get more input or gather more information and make a better decision? Have you taken the time to think that choice all the way through? Is there a better alternative?

Something else to think about: How much time (and money) will it cost you to overcome the wrong decision?

If you’ve narrowed your choices for a new vice president of finance to three candidates but you believe there may be a better person to fill the slot, do you choose one of the three or put off the decision and look for other options?

Keep in mind that at some point you need to make the decision. Taking time without deciding can, on occasion, result in a decision being made on its own, and that’s okay. Procrastination is a choice. You need to realize, however, that if the ultimate choice falls in your lap, you must decide at some point. The time you allocate to making the choice depends on the importance of the decision.

Deciding where to go for lunch can be made in seconds, depending on the factors of speed, quality, and price as well as what your taste buds are craving. Choosing a new member for the corporate board of directors requires time to interview, check backgrounds and references, and other vetting procedures such as potential contributions to the corporate culture before the selection is weighed.

The mantra of the 7 T’s also involves seeking outside professional counsel or market research when appropriate. The Brand Irons team is a good resource to help you and your business think things through because we can play devil’s advocate and we always look at your scenario from the perspective of the consumer.

Take some time and think about it.

Work On Your Business

A friend recently reminded me of a four-quadrant diagram that, I believe, traces back to Steven Covey and emphasizes where most business owners spend their time … versus where they should spend it. It ties in to the concept that you – as a business owner – need to spend more time working on your business than in your business.

Easier said than done.

Urgent Important Chart The words in one of the quadrants (non-colored) identify tasks that are Not Urgent and Not Important. These are busy work tasks; work you do to make yourself look busy or that are simple and easy to accomplish. They can give you a false sense that you’ve accomplished something that day, but when you look back you realize it was wasted time.

Another quadrant (bottom left in grey) identifies tasks that are Urgent and Not Important. These, in general, involve the priorities of others. They have come up against a deadline, for instance, and are scrambling to find solutions. It’s important to them, and urgent because they want your input to handle the urgency of the situation. When you delegate authority, you must also delegate responsibility for making decisions, meeting deadlines, and accepting the consequences of actions.

The third quadrant lists tasks that are Urgent and Important (top left in brown in my diagram). In my book, these tasks are symptoms of crises. It’s a publishing deadline or a situation requiring an executive decision or things will begin to fall apart, such as a public relations crisis. This is probably the most stressful aspect or area of operating your business, and it’s the area where proper prior planning can reduce the stress and the impact of crisis situations. It can be minimized with a plan you should develop in the Important but Not Urgent quadrant (top right in green).

The beautiful “Work On Your Business” quadrant outlines tasks that are Important and Not Urgent. This is where you need to spend the majority of your time, working on tasks that are important to growing your business and moving in the right direction toward long-term profitability … including your eventual retirement or sale of the business. The sense of these items not being urgent enables you to relax and focus on the important nature of your work without that sense of urgency. You can slide into other quadrants as needed, but the most value to your company comes from working in the Important but Not Urgent area.

Try to spend as much time in that quadrant as you can.

Minimize Your Mistakes

We all make mistakes. It’s in our human nature to be fallible. My line is that if I were perfect there’d be no reason for me to be here. In business, however, mistakes can be costly and may even be fatal for the company.

If you are familiar with the Tylenol case, there are some who believe the problem was perpetrated by an outside influence and the company made no mistake. There had to be a failure somewhere, however, that enabled the perpetrator to infiltrate the system and contaminate product. In either case, the incident could have proved fatal for Tylenol had they chosen a different way to respond or not responded at all. Yes, it was costly to pull all of their potentially-contaminated products from the shelves and re-tool production to include protective seals, but those costs were made back up with the brand regaining its market share because of making the right decision. The right choices were made … and steps were taken to correct the failure in the system.

You will make mistakes in business. You can minimize those mistakes, though, with some preventative measures such as this limited list:

1. Internal Communication. Your corporate mission and the vision you have for your company must be consistently conveyed to your management and employees frequently. Supervisors should be talking to production people and dealing with issues the line identifies. Sustaining a positive, supportive attitude within your team is far more productive than standing by and waiting for something to break. I’ve always believed a pat on the back goes further than a kick in the pants.

2. Quality Control. The image your company portrays – through employees and your product’s packaging – creates the perception of your business to consumers. By controlling that image you can minimize negative perceptions about your products and/or services. It can be something as innocent as printing direct mail pieces when your printer is running out of ink that conveys the wrong impression. Keep an eye on your image and encourage your entire team to do the same.

3. Strategic Plan. Your corporate mission and the other aspects of having a plan for where you want your business to go serves as the guidebook to avoid mistakes. Take time to think things through. Evaluate where you are in accomplishing your strategies on a frequent basis. Spend time on the tasks that are important to the business for the long term and less time responding to urgent tasks. It’s the proverbial but true statement about spending more time on the business than in it.

4. Crisis Management. An often overlooked element in your business and marketing strategy is a response mechanism for when crises occur. Thinking through what might happen and devising methods for dealing with each of them can minimize risks, alleviate headaches, and keep your company in business when mistakes happen. Keep in mind that in certain situations, your best crisis response may be to let the crisis pass without a direct response. You must still be ready to act, however.

5. Learn. To keep from repeating errors that can prove costly, a great piece of advice is to learn from those mistakes you do make. You are doomed to failure if your company continues to make the same mistakes. Make sure your legal counsel knows the risks you face and does what he/she can to help you minimize them. Trust your non-staff team to help you gain from the lessons mistakes teach us. Stay positive and keep moving forward. Understand that this, too, will pass.

Detach yourself from the desire to make a rush (and often rash) decision. Distinguish the true from the false, the facts from the assumptions. Then choose the right path.

Game Plan

A good friend left one professional football team and ended up playing for a different one for a couple of years before he retired. The one he left had a consistent record of making the playoffs, winning championships, and having a waiting list for season tickets.

When he signed on with his new team, he found a locker room full of players more concerned about their paychecks than winning. The team rarely made the playoffs, usually had a losing record, and had a hard time filling the stands on game days. He had come from a totally different environment; a positive, winning environment he wanted to create with his new team, so he needed a game plan.

His approach involved helping his teammates understand that if they put forth the effort to be the best players they could be and concentrate on winning football games, they would fill the stands and generate the revenue necessary to more than compensate them for their efforts. He worked hard on conditioning, talked about the right fuel for the machine, and studied the playbook to perfection. His teammates started to understand, especially that with the right attitude they might even make the playoffs and win a championship, like he had done with his former team. He showed them his championship ring.

While his impact on the team was a small part of their success, they now contend for the division title every year and have made the playoffs consistently for four or five years. He had helped the players think things through, adjust their attitude, and play with a different winning mindset.

What’s the game plan for your business?

You can easily do the least possible and get by. That’s simple. You will own a business and take an occasional paycheck. Your company may be remembered one day for providing a product or service that people enjoyed while it lasted. You may even have an impact on some people’s lives. Is that your legacy and game strategy? Is that why you are in business? Is it enough for you to accomplish?

Or …

Do you want to create, develop, and sustain a comprehensive strategy that builds your brand to have top-of-mind awareness among consumers and own the market for your product or service? You can work your brand to the point where it has phenomenal impact on whatever plane you wish to dominate, including net profit, market share, employee relations, customer service, and public perception. It can be done.

Your strategy starts with your attitude. Answer the question: Why are you in business? Then build on that response by surrounding yourself with the right coaches (consultants such as Brand Irons) and players (employees and vendors). Understand what you’re selling and who your target audience is so they’re willing to buy tickets (purchase your products or services) and come to the games (become repeat customers).

You choose whether your business is mediocre or exceptional.

I go to a certain grocery store for a reason; it’s my favorite. I could buy food at a store where the prices are cheaper, but I go where I do because the owner/manager will stop and talk to me whenever and wherever I am in the store. He and his staff understand the relationship with the customer is more important than stocking the shelves. It makes a difference.

A game plan is a fun way to look at your company’s business plan and market strategy. Contact Brand Irons to get help putting yours together.