How to Make Voice Mail Your Friend

February 2, 2010 - One Response

This blog entry is taken liberally from one of my favorite printing industry consultants, Bill Farquharson who claims to love voice mail more than warm, freshly baked chocolate chip cookies.

Personally, I think that’s a little crazy, mostly because I am a cookie fan, but I understand where Bill is coming from. Although many people dislike voice mail because it keeps them from speaking immediately to the person they want to speak with, the prevalence of voice mail is large and growing, and most likely will not abate over time.

This may fall under the category of “If you can’t beat ‘em, join ‘em.”

So, if you accept the fact that voice mail is part of your life, how can you use it to your advantage?

Bill has a few ideas.

  1. If you can’t get through to your “live” person, at least by leaving voice mail messages, you can demonstrate that you are persistent, diligent, and have a strong desire to speak to the person.
  2. If you leave a voice mail message, at least you can refer to that in a future message.
  3. Voice mail is a discrete way to clue your person in on why you are calling.
  4. Voice mail gives you the opportunity to be a little unorthodox or creative, leaving interesting messages that may get returned quicker.
  5. When you listen to a person’s outgoing message, you can pick up clues that may help you make a better impression, such as how they liked to be addressed.
  6. You can show how reliable you are by leaving a message indicating when you will call back, and then call back at that day/time.

Personally, I don’t care for voice mail. I am always in such a hurry that I would much prefer to get a live person to help me. That is why we don’t use voice mail here at Curry Printing. Although I see its value, I don’t think it fits in here with our personalized service and attention.

However, I try to use the above 6 points when I am leaving voice mail messages, as well as always trying to   S    L    O    W     D   O   W   N    when I am leaving my phone number.

Hopefully, these few pointers will make you a more effective user of voice mail in the future!

Paula Smith / Paula@curryprint.com / Office: 410.685.2679

You can also … connect with me on LinkedIn, Facebook, Twitter!

Categorized in How to Make Voice Mail Your Friend

How Best to Impact the Success of your Brand?

January 27, 2010 - Leave a Response

Is it advertising?

Spending thousands, tens, even hundreds of thousands on radio, television, billboards, and magazines? All that money for art directors, media buyers, and lots of time spent on decisions about commercials, photography, and graphics. Lots and lots of lead time from concept to completion. And then, you are paying for thousands of eyeballs that probably don’t even buy what you are selling!

Maybe it is social media?

Learning all kinds of new terminology and software applications, Twitter, Facebook, Linked In, My Space, Google Adwords, etc. Trying to figure out how to get your message out, how to measure your results, how to know how much to spend and where, and if you’re making any mistakes. Not knowing how long such a new type of campaign will take to get results.

How about public relations?

Trying to determine the best firm for your needs, trying to come up with a budget, trying to figure out what is press-release-worthy, figuring out how long to continue with a campaign, again, hard to measure results, and lag time between doing your first search for a PR firm and seeing an increase in your sales.

Is it Direct Mail?

Yes, it is, according to a survey conducted by PRWeek of US Marketing Directors, VPs of Marketing and CMOs. A whopping 48% said that direct marketing is the method that provides the most bang for the buck, with advertising at 18%, public relations at 17% and social media at 10%.

Direct Mail is so FAST! You can take your idea from concept to tallying up your additional sales in days or a couple of weeks, rather than months, years, or NEVER!

Direct Mail is TARGETED! No use renting eyeballs that are not interested in your product when you can gear your piece to a confirmed and bona fide buyer.

Direct Mail results are MEASURABLE! It is easy enough to track where orders are coming in with codes on your pieces.

Direct Mail is COST-EFFECTIVE! Often only costing pennies per impression, direct mail gets the job done every time.

This is not to say there is no place for the other types of marketing. Indeed, cross media seems to be the most comprehensive, logical way to conduct up-to-date marketing campaigns. All four can be used in conjunction with one another leading to the most effective marketing campaign you can create.

Call us at Curry and we can help.

Paula Smith / Paula@curryprint.com / Office: 410.685.2679

You can also … connect with me on LinkedIn, Facebook, Twitter!

Categorized in 1

“Well Done Is Better Than Well Said”

January 19, 2010 - Leave a Response

Here’s a quote from everyone’s favorite printer, Ben Franklin. And, so many things that he said almost 300 years ago are still applicable today. If we can’t heed this remarkable patriot and printer’s words, well, who should we listen to?

So, what is the big idea behind this important quote?

Maybe it means that it better to do something than just contemplate it? Maybe it implies that, no matter how good something sounds, until something is actually DONE, it may be meaningless? Maybe old Ben is trying to spur us on to useful, proactive and productive activities?

Often, the idea of starting a task may seem daunting, but Nike has the right idea…

JUST DO IT! (I really LOVE that tagline!)

You might have a great business idea. Or want to begin a journal. Or design a new website. Or have a talk with an old friend. Or begin a new health or workout regimen. Or or or or!

The list can go on and on forever!

But, until you actually DO something about it, it is only an unfulfilled wish, plan or desire. It is up to YOU to make it happen.

So, what are you waiting for, take the bull by the horns and go accomplish something meaningful to you…TODAY!

Paula Smith / Paula@curryprint.com / Office: 410.685.2679

You can also … connect with me on LinkedIn, Facebook, Twitter!

Categorized in 1

What To Do When Things Go Wrong (part 2)

January 12, 2010 - Leave a Response

Remember last week when things were going wrong and it was ALL YOUR FAULT?

I’m not sure if this is any better, but this week, things are going wrong, but they are happening TO YOU!

Well, that’s not so good either, is it? It is a fact of life, things will go wrong periodically. 

So, you’ve had a bad experience, maybe had an unsatisfying meal, maybe you were overcharged for something, maybe the merchandise you bought didn’t perform as promised, maybe you stayed in a dirty hotel room, maybe your flight was late, maybe you were treated rudely at a shop. As we all know, this list could be endless, especially during recessionary times when companies are cutting back and things might not be running as they should.

So, you’ve experienced a problem, how do you handle it?

Well, I’m no expert, but I’m guessing that trying to be polite, respectful and informative will get you farther than if you are bombastic, rude and irate.

The same advice for what to do when you cause the problem applies here…take some time, consider your options, think about what to do. Ask yourself the following questions:

  • Did I contribute in any way to the problem?
  • Did I have unrealistic expectations?
  • Who should I complain to?
  • What result or outcome would I like to see?

If you have these answers in mind when you lodge your complaint, you might be happily surprised at the results you get. Try to remember that everyone (including you!) makes mistakes, and giving someone a chance to correct the problem is the right thing to do.

As my mother always says (although I don’t think she made it up), you catch more bees with honey than vinegar!

Try the power of nice and see if you don’t get your problem resolved amicably and to your satisfaction.

Paula Smith / Paula@curryprint.com / Office: 410.685.2679

You can also … connect with me on LinkedIn, Facebook, Twitter!

Categorized in When Things Go Wrong - part 2

What To Do When Things Go Wrong

January 5, 2010 - Leave a Response

Let’s face facts, life is not a fairy tale, and occasionally things might not go according to plan.

Things ever go wrong for you?

Yeah, I thought so! Murphy’s Law wasn’t created for no reason, after all! The key seems to be how you react when things do go awry.

For simplicity’s sake, let’s just assume there are two ways things go wrong…

A. YOU cause the problem or error

B. The error or problem happens TO you

When the problem rests on YOU or your staff or team or associates, and YOU are responsible, what should you do?

First, it is always a good rule of thumb to mentally count to ten and not react immediately. Although first instincts are often right on the money, in cases like this, one might become defensive and that isn’t going to help resolve the problem.

Problems happen for a variety of reasons, and perhaps the problem wasn’t necessarily your FAULT per se, but you are being blamed.

It is best to take some time and evaluate the situation. If the person is right in front of you complaining, try just listening to them, REALLY listening. If you are not forced to take any action at the immediate moment, then, after getting all of the information you require take some time to process and come up with a good resolution.

Think about the following:

  • What will happen if I do nothing?
  • What will happen if I correct the problem?
  • What, if anything, will it cost me to correct the problem?
  • What, if anything, will it cost me if I don’t correct the problem?
  • How can this problem be avoided in the future?

Even if you are “right” or the problem wasn’t technically your “fault,” that doesn’t necessarily mean you have no responsibility in trying to correct things.

Try to do the above evaluation, and with some time and creative thinking, it might be possible to turn a bad situation into a great opportunity. Research shows that a person is more likely to continue doing business with someone who has positively fixed a problem for them than someone with whom there were never any problems to begin with!

I know that sounds counter-intuitive, but give it a try and see if you don’t just gain an even more loyal client, associate, friend, or family member just by creatively solving a problem that you might or might not have caused in the first place!

Next week, we’ll tackle B.

Paula Smith / Paula@curryprint.com / Office: 410.685.2679

You can also … connect with me on LinkedIn, Facebook, Twitter!

Categorized in When Things Go Wrong

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