In last week’s blog I discussed why prioritization is so important for progress and why it’s so much more than just picking your battles. There is a method to the madness.
Unfortunately, gaining a clear understanding as to why one action ranks over another is oftentimes tricky. Anyone who has felt inundated with work, life, relationships knows this firsthand. It takes a little work to determine an order of prioritization, but it can be done.
I’m forced to prioritize daily—and many times throughout the day. My daily routine actually starts the night before when I put my workout clothes next to my bed (wishful thinking!). If I make the girls shower at night, that’s 10 or 15 extra minutes the next morning… so, let’s do that.
Once they’re on the bus to school, there’s no more hiding from the beastly inbox of things waiting to be addressed. Sometimes that’s not so simple to determine what comes first. The same applies to business and marketing. You know certain pieces of strategy are more pressing than others, but how do you select, definitively, the order in which they rank?
When you hit a plateau—in business or life—it can mess with your motivation. Oftentimes, it’s even more frustrating than hitting a “wall,” because that would mean there is a clear obstacle in your way and there are defined ways to get around it. With a plateau, there may not be a clear hurdle to get over or anything glaringly negative in terms of performance results. It may just be… boring.
Of course, this happens all the time in business, and many times marketing is leaned on to shoulder the burden and get out of the rut. A campaign levels off, then starts to become ineffective. Budget cuts can create a challenge and often require creativity. Senior leadership isn’t interested in what you have to say, making it easier to stay placated and say, “I guess this is fine…”
It’s anything but fine.
In my blog last week, I referenced that I believe I’m becoming a “real, human marketer.” What I meant by that is that I’ve started to look at everything from a marketing, branding, customer journey, and customer experience perspective. I would not go so far as to say “the student has become the master” (I still have a lot to learn), but it’s actually quite fascinating to observe the world in this new(ish) light.
One thing I’ve observed is that brands who “do it right” share this defining characteristic: They really take care of their customers.
I subscribe to a daily inspirational email newsletter, which doesn’t always spark me as so much “inspirational” but rather a bit preachy. However, from time-to-time, the creator (Jerry Del Colliano) gets me into a light-bulb state of mind. One recent topic was, “People Want to Buy, Not Be Sold.” The writer prefaced his quick snippet of wisdom with the following:
That’s true not only of merchandise and services, but ideas and concepts.
If you have a great idea for your team, spend much of your effort into getting them to buy it from you rather than have you sell it to them. If you have a daughter or son who could benefit from your wisdom, don’t push it, get them to buy it from you.
When I was visiting my sister and her family over the Thanksgiving holiday, we got into a conversation about customer service based on an instance where my two nephews were attempting to order at Panda Express. The key word here is “attempting.”
Last week I wrote about the little “aha” moments I’ve been experiencing lately, sparked by a few eye-opening webinars I’d attended. I love that these continuing education opportunities are so accessible and so affordable (aka, free).
And, they’ve been extremely inspirational—not just for contributions to the White Space blog, but in my everyday work and working relationships.
Sunday, September 30 marked the last day of the 2018 Major League Baseball (MLB) regular season. I grew up a Minnesota Twins fan and have many fond memories associated with the team; most notably seeing the team go from “worst to first” when they won the 1991 World Series.
I hate to admit this, but I’m a sucker for seasonal decor. To give you an idea just how much I enjoy seasonal transitions, I started planning for fall decorating at the beginning of September—as soon as summer’s shadow had barely passed. I bought a few more pumpkins, a couple throw pillows, and (surprise!) yet another faux fur throw to add to my collection.
I have a secret.
Well, it’s not really a secret, at least not after sharing this blog with you. Let’s start with some backstory…
