C Notes Newsletter Issue 17

Who's Telling Your Story?

There’s a familiar scenario, one that’s simultaneously ancient and current: An individual addressing a crowd, attempting to connect with them. Has he come to share valuable information or perhaps to spread word of someone else’s heroics? Just as likely, he’s there to sell something.

He tells them a story.

Since time immemorial teachers, prophets and sages alike believe storytelling is the most convincing way to capture the heart and mind. It unveils life and generates visibility. Stories define who we are.

Heralds will vie for audience attention, but only the stories that spark their imagination become a part of them. That audience exists everywhere. Whether huddled around a campfire or gathered in the boardroom, their need to be engaged is identical. They are customers, suppliers, vendors and investors. They have fundamental desires to connect and communicate. They want to know what you can offer them, who you are, how you’ve arrived here. They want to know your story. Your story – you’ve spent your life writing it. You’ve lived this story and it’s become so familiar that it’s nearly invisible. Maybe the thought of sharing it has never occurred to you. Perhaps you think your customer interaction must be as dry and direct as a balance sheet: Here are my products. This is the cost. Here is your delivery date.

Parish that thought.

We accept that business is often just that direct. We intend no offense to the elegant logic of balance sheets, but we assert that commerce begins with conversation, that trust is a prerequisite for sales.

Present your story with a sharp focus on your organization’s personalities, philosophies and culture. Connect with the audience’s intellect and emotions. Emotionally invested, they seek a relationship; intellectually satisfied, they know that a relationship is good business. And at last: sentimentality opens negotiations, reason closes the deal. It takes courage to tell your story, to open yourself up completely. We will take this journey together. We’re storytellers. We’ll pick up those threads that surround you and help you weave a tapestry to tell a story that’s authentic and accurate.

We promise to commit our every resource, to exercise all of the art and science we’ve learned and earned, to minimize your pain and speed your rewards. Just call us. Let Caler&Company tell your story.

Time to Focus

You’ve created an ad with which you’re delighted. It’s wry, it’s pithy and it hammers home your primary, secondary and tertiary selling points. Even your mother-in-law likes it. You’re ready to give your media buyer the nod to arrange broadcast saturation.

Not so fast. Advertising isn’t entertainment, and it shouldn’t be intended to please company insiders. Advertising is selling. More specifically, advertising is about creating a cognitive connection between your product or service, and your target audience’s needs.

The first step is identifying the audience. Next is defining how your offerings solve problems that are specific to that audience. After that comes the crafting of a message that describes the problem-solving, in a memorable and resonating way.

Finally, and perhaps most importantly, you must test your ad with a focus group that represents your target demographic (or psychographic, or ethnographic, as the case may be). This test offers the final verdict as to whether the ad resonates as designed.

Focus-group testing is one of the most underappreciated phases of marketing communications, even though the concept is simplicity itself. Gather together a randomly chosen assembly of potential customers, and show them your ad. Then ask them what they think.

Experienced pros should be retained to enlist qualified volunteers, to ask the right questions, to initiate conversation and to interpret results. The result is that good ads become better, and poor ads die in the crib.

Some have called this practice "group therapy for ads." The true beneficiaries, though, are your company and your bottom line. Focus-group testing stretches your advertising dollars by ensuring that the right message is reaching the right people. So let your audience be heard! For effective advertising, test well and often.

The Prose of CONs

Looking Up in a Down Economy

In a slow economy, be a CON-Man. You ask yourself, "a scam artist?" Contrary to public opinion, the true concept of our CON-man is one who is with something else. The prefix CON- is used with certain words to intensify their meaning and convey a sense of with or togetherness. Leaders must work with those inside and outside their organization and contribute resources to succeed during such challenging times.>/p>

Caler&Company’s 10 Steps to Get in the CONfidence Game:

1. CONquer fear. Those who haven’t fled will come out ahead. F.E.A.R. is simply False Evidence Appearing Real. Confront fear and conquer it with your ability to be a leader.
2. CONfirm your confidence. Confident folks get what they want by gaining the trust of others. In a slow economy, customers will go with a more trusted source. Be that source.
3. CONstruct a positive atmosphere. Ignore economic banter from negative folks. Focus on the good. Optimism is contagious. It breeds activity.
4. CONsider your options. Business slow? Use this time to make financial plans and think creatively to promote your organization while consistently seeking new business.
5. CONsolidate your internal and external resources. Keep an open mind. View your organization from new perspectives. Seek ideas and resources from those inside and out.
6. CONstantly seek opportunity. The market is cyclic. View this as an opportunity. Are your competitors bailing out? Who is taking their market share? Act early and discover new methods to position your product or service and connect with your customers.
7. CONtrol what you can. In a slow economy, invest time in improving your internal systems. Stay organized. Plan ahead. Set goals. Take stock of where your money is spent.
8. CONcentrate on those who spend their time and money on you. How do you keep in contact with customers? Your customers are your most valuable resource. Keep it that way.
9. CONgratulate your team. Reward those in your organization that work hard, conserve resources and make sacrifices. It’s a team effort. Be their coach, fans and teammate.
10. CONverse with Caler&Company.

You already have the resources to grow in a dry economy. Contact us and let us help you tap into them.Becoming an honest CON-man is not a get-rich-quick scheme. Surviving, even thriving during tough times requires the ability to change and seek opportunity. Winston Churchill once stated, "If you don’t take change by the hand, it will grab you by the throat."