Linda's Marketing Leverage Blog

Top of Mind Thursday May 28, 2015: Penalty Kicks Abound

FIFA, the international governing body for professional soccer, was just hit hard with multiple indictments for corruption by the U.S. government, and it looks like the scandal will extend way into overtime. 

 

What's worse is that the response of the organization's president to the scandal is "I can't monitor everyone all the time."

As a leader, you're responsible for what happens on your watch. And a good leader sets strategy and develops culture that ensures the right actions are taken by employees within the organization.

A good leader develops a purpose that is reflected in the organization's brand and amplified by the actions of employees. And a good leader takes responsibility for mistakes made as well as goals scored.

It's time the soccer world called a foul on FIFA.

 

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Just a Moment for Marketing: Dynamic Market Leverage Factor: Customers

Linda advises: Make customers a key part of your marketing strategy.

Top of Mind Thursday May 21, 2015: Getting Back on Track

Last week's Amtrak derailment in Philadelphia was a horrible tragedy, killing 8 people and injuring hundreds more. Amtrak CEO Joe Boardman's communications to the public, however, have been stellar examples of how to effectively respond to a crisis. 

 

Boardman reached out to Amtrak riders with an email that discussed the tragedy. He took full responsibility for what happened, expressed sympathy for the families of those affected, thanked the local first responders, and discussed how committed his team was to understanding what happened so that improvements could be made to prevent similar incidents in the future.

 

His emails went out to everyone for whom Amtrak has an email address--even people like me who haven't taken the train in years. He reiterated that even though service was resuming, his organization still had work to do, both to mourn and to learn from the tragedy.

 

The message made it clear that unlike many companies that have not faced tough challenges head on (think Malaysian Airlines or Takata air bags), Amtrak is on track to recover the trust of its customer base.

 

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My new book, Marketing Above the Noise: Achieve Strategic Advantage with Marketing that Matters, is now available.

 

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Let us help your business rise to the top.

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In Plain Sight: The Important Leaders We Often Don't See

Scott Edinger
Founder, Edinger Consulting Group
www.edingergroup.com


Scott Edinger is recognized as an expert in helping organizations achieve top and bottom line growth. He has worked with leaders in nearly every industry sector, helping the formulate and implement growth strategies, increase revenue and profit, develop leadership capacity, drive employee engagement, and attract and retain talent. He is the co-author of The Hidden Leader and The Inspiring Leader, as well as a contributing author to the American Society for Training and Development Leadership Handbook.

In this podcast, Scott discusses the hidden leaders that are often not given credit within an organization. He also talks about the 4 characteristics of leadership behavior that all employees can exhibit and why it’s so important that employees understand what it means to really act as a business owner.

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Just a Moment for Marketing: Dynamic Market Leverage Factor: Brand

Linda observes: It takes time and effort to build and maintain a brand.

Top of Mind Thursday May 14, 2015: Gone to the Dogs

Mocha, my Siberian Husky, wound up wearing "the cone of shame" this week because he scratched at a spot on his back until it was raw. The problem was the cone didn't stop him from scratching the same spot with his back paw. 

While I'm sure there's an expensive solution available at pet stores and veterinarians to address it, our vet had a simple suggestion: put a t-shirt on him to cover the spot so he can't reach it and itch.

Voila! Problem solved, and we now have the best dressed dog in the neighborhood, too.

How often do we look for complicated technological solutions when there's a perfectly good answer right at our fingertips?  Sometimes we just need to look at what we already have in front of us, doggoneit.

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My new book, Marketing Above the Noise: Achieve Strategic Advantage with Marketing that Matters, is now available.

 

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What people are saying.

 

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Let us help your business rise to the top.

[email protected]
(650) 281-4854
www.leverage2market.com

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Just a Moment for Marketing: Dynamic Market Leverage Factor: Products

Linda asks: Do you have an effective and scalable product strategy?

Top of Mind Thursday May 7 2015: Don't Confuse Selling With Installing

Sales reps sometimes have a tendency to sell a customer the solution they think the customer wants--regardless of whether that's exactly what can be delivered and installed. 

The disconnect between expectations and reality can get businesses into trouble. It's easy to sell the promise of what can be. It's not as easy to implement something that fulfills that promise in the light of day and on an ongoing basis.

Be careful not to set expectations you can't deliver. Instead of being happy with something that isn't exactly what they had been dreaming about, your customers are likely to be quite disappointed.

The sales process moves quickly, but you'll live with what's really installed for a long, long time.

To subscribe, please click here.

 

My new book, Marketing Above the Noise: Achieve Strategic Advantage with Marketing that Matters, is now available.

 

Download a FREE chapter now.

 

What people are saying.

 

Buy now.

 

 
Let us help your business rise to the top.

[email protected]
(650) 281-4854
www.leverage2market.com

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Bringing Home the Bacon: Differentiating a Brand in Today’s Generic World

Justin Foster
Sales & Marketing Consultant and Author
www.fosterthinking.com
@fosterthinking

Justin Foster has over two decades experience in sales and marketing for small businesses and large corporations. He's cofounded two marketing/branding firms and a successful start-up, and he's worked with the leadership teams of hundreds of organizations to help make their culture the number one differentiator in the modern economy. He's the author of two books on branding: Oatmeal v. Bacon: How to Differentiate in a Generic World and Human Bacon: A Man's Guide to Creating an Awesome Personal Brand.

In this podcast, Justin discusses how to find our internal "bacon" that makes us naturally interesting. He also talks about the five natural forces that shape a brand and explains why a successful brand needs to start with leaders articulating their core values.

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Just a Moment for Marketing: Feedback Utilization Model

Linda asks: Do you effectively handle feedback?