C Notes Newsletter Issue 9

How To Wiggle Out Of The Horseradish

Surprisingly, that same dedication just might be part of the problem. We’re so close to the subject of running our businesses, that our view is shaped from the inside out. In order to reach and please our customers and prospects, we must have a clearer vision of what our business looks like from the outside in.

Everyone I know who owns or operates a business is completely immersed in staying ahead of the game, especially during recent economic downturns. It’s challenging indeed, for all of us, to make the space we need to see ourselves from a distance.

The key to improving your products and processes - in a way that increases sales - is to wiggle out of the horseradish, and see your business as your customers and prospects do.

Your reputation with them – by design or by neglect – combined with the image projected (again, by design or neglect) – is your brand image.

Working so intimately on the day-to-day necessities of your business may leave you with little time to wiggle out of the horseradish to see your business in a big picture.

1. Physical properties: Signs, Vehicles, Packaging Literature, Proposals, Uniforms. Your business is judged before you even meet your potential customers. It is judged on the professionalism of the signs on your building, office or vehicles; the helpfulness of information in your brochures; the care and pride projected in the uniform or attire of your staff; and a host of other aspects.

2. Customer service: Meeting, Greeting, Routing & Being Much Better than Adequate. No matter what you make and sell, part of your product is the relationship between your people and your customers. A world-class widget is reduced in quality by a staff that is not adhering to a code of courtesy. Moreover, a routing system that keeps ordering processes doubling back (instead of moving forward) is a source of great frustration for customers and staff alike. Finally, when troubles arise – and they always do – is your staff prepared to deal gracefully with complaints and problems? Train them to do so and you will retain customers.

It is difficult to examine oneself from a distant perspective when, day in and day out, you are immersed in the business, clawing to get ahead and thrive. It takes a fresh approach…and very often it may require the fresh eyes and uninhibited perspective of an outside consultant. As John Culkin* so aptly puts it: “We don’t know who discovered water, but we’re certain it wasn’t a fish.”

We have never operated a yoga studio, paint factory, law firm, engineering company, dental lab, real estate company or employment consultancy – but we delighted the owners of such businesses because our team was able to offer incisive, fresh appeal through our business solution and brand building consulting.

The Art Of Business

In Woody Allen’s “Hannah and Her Sisters,” Daniel Stern plays a filthy rich rock star that wants to buy a painting from a renowned artist portrayed by Max Von Sydow. Stern’s character is uninterested in the content of the paintings. Instead, he says he needs a “big” painting. He’s got a certain amount of space on the wall, and he wants to fill it. The painter is livid.

Design is everywhere: Logos appear on stationery, business cards, vehicles, signs, bottles, packaging – almost anything you can think of and in every direction you look. They are the symbols that help customers recognize who businesses are, what they do…and they reinforce the customer’s experience and interaction.

Design is the careful interplay of words and images. Foremost, Caler & Company’s “Marketing by Design” aims to propel your marketing message – through words and images that match the promise you make to your customers. We could just as easily call it relevant design.

We show our clients how design reinforces a sales pitch, company mission, and future goals. At its best design will use clients’ identities as tools to inspire their own staff and customers.

Good design is for more than just cool spirals, energetic swooshes and hip fonts. Good design is equal parts art and precision marketing. It is inspired by and embedded with your company’s story.

Our design work contains the selling narrative that motivates your staff, reassures your existing customers and brims with promise to prospects that need persuading.

A Little Planning Makes The Most Of A Little Budget

Remember the 1960s sitcom, Family Affair? British actor Sebastian Cabot played the butler/chef, Mr. French. Remember the classic episode where Mr. French and the children were in an isolated cabin with nothing but a chocolate bar and an apple? Mr. French excused himself and – just minutes later – emerged with a dish that looked like it might have been prepared at the Sorbonne.

In our business of consulting and marketing communications, I have yet to meet a client who complained of a budget that was just too big.

Traditionally (and in my opinion, unimaginatively), such budgets were often cast to the winds of broadcast and print advertising, with little left over for pinpoint tools that build the brand.

What’s important in brand-building (which is how long-term client relationships are sustained) is that products and services live up to the advertised promise.

Some of our most gratifying (and successful!) clients are those who have dedicated a limited marketing budget to streamlining and improving internal communications. This has included improving network, tracking or routing systems; examining and improving problem-solving techniques in customer service; and creating an identity system that defines or breathes new life into the company mission. Clients like these make it a priority to remind everyone – top to bottom – that brand-building goals are making their company stronger.