McDonalds: The next great third place. Really?
30 million white-color knowledge workers are conducting business from a third place (an environment separate from home and the workplace), and that number is expected to grow 10% annually (USA Today). In a 2010 study conducted by IDC, the IT research firm projected that by 2013 the total number of office-based, non-office-based and home-based mobile workers will grow to nearly 1.2 billion people representing more than a third of the world’s workforce. Look around at the people who are sitting in your offices. Are these folks really going to use McDonalds as a place to work? Can anyone really ...
38%+ of OBC clients have a need for additional products and services
It’s true; on average 38% of OBC clients have a need for additional workspace and services. This need can be uncovered via a simple semi-annual client satisfaction questionnaire. I like to use Survey Monkey to administer the questionnaire – but other tools are available as well. When I create questionnaires I build them with two objectives. The first is to underscore the operators’ commitment to the client and the second is to uncover additional revenue opportunities. Historically, when I capture results from the questionnaires, the satisfaction level is typically quite high. I also include a question to determine whether the operator is ...
Pride
We had a busy day last week and needed to grab a super quick lunch in-between meetings. Knowing we had about 25 minutes to eat, we chose a good-looking diner on a side road that we had never been to before. It was a standalone building, 50s “DINER” style, shiny and inviting. We were greeted at the door and as we were guided to our table we noticed a glass cabinet of "Miracle Grow" cakes, pies and cookies. These are the kind of desserts you see only at Diners and the kind only a giant or someone planning to go on ...
Believe.
Sue and I had two separate client meetings on Tuesday. Our clients were different from an “industry” and "size" standpoint, but at their essence, the same. Throughout the day both of our clients weaved in the concept of “believe” into our discussion. I don’t typically take notes during meetings, but my pen hit the paper several times and in all CAPs I wrote BELIEVE. BELIEVE. BELIEVE. At the same time I noticed that my ears perked up and a little smile emerged. I remained engaged in the discussion (this doesn’t always happen) really wanting to hear more. There is a ...
Price. Stop the FIRE SALE!
I spoke at a small conference a few weeks ago and was asked to address the role of “price” in a down market. There was much debate, of course, as to the state of the market (recovering or not) but for me, the state of the market and the semantics of whether it’s down or recovering, did not impact my position. Very simplistically - you’re either built to compete on price – or you are not. I was thumbing through some articles in preparation for the presentation and came across an interesting quote from Reed Holden, a leading pricing strategist who ...
Marketing: Basic Check Points to review… Now.
We talk with business owners each week about their overall business and the marketplace. Times are challenging and many companies are seeking advice from us as to how to drive revenue. Really, basic "good business practice" holds true time and time again. We just apply it to our marketing outreach. Here are 4 points off the top of my head. (1) STOP THE BLEEDING OF FUNDS: SLASH all activities that you cannot quantitatively validate are driving revenue. That means, review every single touchpoint of your lead generation and conversion process to ensure optimal execution at each point. Review media, creative, ...
Marketing in a new economy. The power of planning.
We've presented Marketing in a New Economy - 7 "Must Do" Tactics in webinars and throughout a number of speaking engagements and thought it's be helpful to summarize some key points for all. The first topic we addressed is the importance of creating and executing against a thoughtful strategy. I shared with attendees the PMG Marketing Quadrants (seen below) that I developed over the years and use as a guide in creating my "acquisition" strategies. [caption id="attachment_408" align="alignleft" width="300" caption="Pirrotti Acquisition Quadrants - Click to View Larger"][/caption] Marketing in our current economy requires that you drive extreme efficiencies into your process. A gun ...
Budget & Cost Containment
2010 Marketing Plan
How to create and optimize your 2010 Marketing Plan? In past Webinars sponsored by OBCAI, we walked you through the...
Marketing: Basic Check Points to review… Now.
We talk with business owners each week about their overall business and the marketplace. Times are challenging and many...
5 SMART Ways to Trim Marketing Costs
More Results - Less $ Streamlining costs is a critical component of an overall plan to beat this recession. We have a few...
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Social Media
Social Media: the power of “the story”
Social Media to drive Office Leads? You Bet.
I gave a presentation last week on “Harnessing the power of Social Media to build brand, foster community and drive revenue”. While there was definitely a sense of intrigue in the room and while the majority of attendees recognized the importance of this communication tool, just about everyone was trying to figure out how or whether embarking on a Social Media initiative would work for his/her business.
Let me start by bringing this topic down to its very basic form. Now, I’m betting that there will be a few critics out there who will feel I’m over simplifying a complex communication structure – but this overview will provide you with an effective way to wrap your brain around whether or not to put your toe in the water.
The net, net is… Social Media is simply a distribution channel. Like direct mail, print advertising, email, billboards, radio, TV and press releases this forum simply allows you to share your message. The difference, and reason why this media is so powerful is that it allows for true interaction / engagement / two-way communication with your audience.
So, how do you get the most from this medium? There are three core legs to this stool: (1) the Story, (2) Packing the story (3) Distributing the story. In this entry I’ll discuss the first leg and then follow up this week with the other two.