Drilling for Diamonds

“If you have an important point to make, don’t try to be subtle or clever. Use a pile driver. Hit the point once. Then come back and hit it again. Then hit a third time - a tremendous whack.”

- Winston Churchill

In her book, POP!, Stand Out in Any Crowd, author Sam Horn tells us that one of the most dramatic examples of a crafted soundbite was one used by the late Johnny Cochran, one of the defense lawyers for O.J. Simpson.

Can you remember the trial?

It went on for months. The jury heard testimony from dozens of experts and witnesses. But the dramatic moment came when O.J. Simpson was asked to try on a glove arguably worn by Nicole Simpson’s murderer.

Many people believe O.J. Simpson exaggerated the difficulty of putting on the glove, but Johnny Cochran amplified the doubt over O.J. Simpson’s guilt with this pile driving soundbite.

“If it doesn’t fit, you must acquit.”

Many legal analysts believe that this - Cochran’s summation encapsulated by this one soundbite - won the case. The phrase was doubly impactful because it recalled a visual demonstration.

The best PowerPoint presenters conclude with a pithy statement that recalls an earlier slide that had high visual impact.

Popularity: 6% [?]

Are we really persuaded when retailers price something at $19.95, rather than $20?

Yes we are!

University of Florida marketing professors Chris Janisewky and Dan Uly investigated the way the human brain thinks about value and shapes bidding.

Their research is reported in Scientific American Mind (April/May 2008). When people judge an opening price they create mental measuring sticks. If they see a $20 Kettle they wonder why it is worth $19 or $18. That is rounded numbers.

But why the starting point is $19.95 our mental measuring sticks change. When we think about what it is worth, we start thinking about nickels and dimes instead of dollars, so a fair price for a toaster might be envisioned as $19.75 or $19.50.

The psychologists also looked at five years of real estate sales in Alachua County, Florida comparing list prices and actual sales prices of homes. They discovered that sellers who listed their homes more precisely at say $495,000 as opposed to $500,000 - consistently got closer to their asking price.

In other words, buyers are less likely to negotiate a price when they encounter a precise opening price.

So, the lesson is, if you are in a buyers’ market you should start with an exact list price.

Popularity: 43% [?]

John Robert’s Spa owned by service guru John R. Dijuluis III, an American chain of high-end salons and spas whose is policy is that a ‘smile is part of the uniform’.

When you train your staff to greet your customers, ask them to notice the colour of the customer’s eyes.

Scientists using MRI scan machines show the names associated with smiling faces activate the orbitofrontal cortex – an area of the brain involved in reward processing.

People remember smiling faces. It’s simple - we want to remember people who were kind to us, especially when we are likely to come across them again in the future.

Even mega retailer Wal-Mart understands this. Staff follow a “10 feet greet” rule. Every time a staff member comes within 10 feet of any other customer or coworker, you must smile. If you run a service firm, make smiling a ‘non-negotiable’ behaviour.

The Chinese proverb ‘Don’t open a show unless you like to smile’, has more than a ring of truth to it.

Popularity: 38% [?]

When you discover a compelling difference that sets you apart from your competitors leverage it for all you are worth.

Commerce Bank, from New Jersey, offers its customers extended opening hours - which typically run from 7:30am to 8pm, 7 days a week. These operating hours mean Commerce Bank is open for more hours than any other bank.

To drive its difference home, the branches follow the ten-minute rule. Branches open 10 minutes early in the morning and stat open ten minutes later than the official closing time. Can you remember the times when you ran towards your bank to see the staff close the doors at 4:59pm?

The 10 minutes dramatizes Commerce Bank’s key differentiator by adding an additional burst of creative magic.

Popularity: 100% [?]

When you calculate the downside costs of not achieving customer engagement, its worth reminding yourself of what the benefits of achieving customer engagement are.

The Economist Intelligence Unit’s report Beyond Loyalty found 80% of its respondents said achieving customer engagement would improve customer loyalty. 76% said engagement would increase revenues. 75% said engagement would improve profits. And 56% beleived engagement would increase bigger market share.

When marketers being to seriously address the issue of engagement they might improve their credibility with their CEOs and board. The average tenure for a Chief Marketing Officer might also increase to above its current 21 month average.

Popularity: 32% [?]

Most of us are appalling listeners. We may have 2 ears and 1 mouth - but we rarely use them in the proportions nature allocated us.

The famous editor, Maxwell Perkins (1884-1947) who is credited with popularizing Ernest Hemingway, believed no one really listens at most social events. To test his theory, he turned up late to a cocktail party where he grasped his hostess’s hand and said, “I’m sorry I’m late but it took me longer to strangle my aunt than I had expected.” “Oh, I completely understand,” replied the hostess, smiling sweetly, “I’m so happy you could come.”

Listening takes place on different levels. At level 1, the person simply hears us, but makes no attempt to emotionally engage. think of the bartender who doesn’t smile or affirm your order but turns to the fridge and gets the bottle of Stella Artois you ordered.

At level 2 the barman would make good eye contact and smile.

Level 3 listening involves engaging a person so they feel that they are the only person. They attentively listen to ever word you say and engage you emotionally.

All staff engaged in customer contact need to be able to listen at level 3. Can you?

Popularity: 18% [?]

BIRGing - Basking In Reflected Glory is a delightful acronym coined by Arizona State University professor Robert Cialdini and his colleagues. Cialdini and his colleagues found more students donned the logo apparel of their college football team on Monday, following the big game, if their team had won over the weekend. The pride associated with winning encouraged them to wear their school colors.

Brand advocated similarly like to be associated with the hot brands which they perceive to be “winners”.

By way of contrast, Cialdini & Co. found there was a downside to BIRGing. When their team lost they actively tried to distance themselves from their school team. Cialdini & Co. termed the mirror side of BIRGing, CORFing - Cutting Off Reflected Glory

Popularity: 21% [?]

“People duck as a natural reflex when something is hurled at them.

Similarly, the excellence reflex is a natural reaction to fix something that isn’t right, or to improve something that could be better. The excellence reflex is rooted in instinct and upbringing, and then constantly honed through awareness, caring, and practice.

The overarching concern to do the right thing well is something we can’t train for.

Either it’s there or it isn’t. So we need to train how to hire for it.”

This brilliant piece of insightful advice comes from a compelling read — Setting the Table, written by award winning New York restaurateur Danny Meyer.

Popularity: 13% [?]

Most of us are familiar with the power of goal setting. Setting SMART goals must be one of the most common acronyms used by trainers and coaches.

SMART stands for:

Specific
Measurable
Achievable
Realistic
Time-driven

Graham Jones and Adrian Moorehouse in their book Developing Mental Toughness, have coined a new acronym INSPIRED which I think works even better. Why? Because it adds the emotional element to goal setting which is lacking in the SMART formula.

The INSPIRED Formula is:

Internalized
Nurturing
Specific
Planned
In your control
Reviewed regularly
Energizing
Documented

Popularity: 16% [?]

Assumptions are the mother of all stuff ups.

All companies continue to pay for making the wrong assumptions about customers.

Proctor and Gamble (P&G), one of the world’s largest and most profitable consumer companies, recently launched its highly successful Swiffer Wet Mop in Italy.

P&G researched the Italian market. Italians spend an average of 21 hours a week on household chores. Americans spend just four hours on similar chores. Italians wash their kitchen floors and bathroom four times a week or more, compared to American’s who wash their floor just once a week.

So how come the Swiffer flopped? P&G sold Swiffer as a labor saving convenience which turned out to be a big turnoff for Italians.

Italian women prefer products that are tough cleaners, not timesavers.

Italian women didn’t believe the Swiffer was tough enough for mopping, so they used the Swiffer for polishing, rather than mopping.

P&G learned from their mistake. They launched the Swiffer Duster which did a light job well with timesaving convenience. Sales took off. Italy is now the biggest European market for Swiffer.

This story taken from Robert H. Bloom’s book The Inside Advantage underscores two vitally important lessons about customers.

“First and most obvious, what works in one market or with one customer does not work with others. One size does not fit all…Second and even more important, it’s not enough to define your customer as a market statistic.”

Popularity: 17% [?]