For a number of reasons, the term ‘trust’ is mostly void of value in today’s B2B environments.
There are new ‘P’s’ that influence highly skeptical B2B buyers. Politics, price sensitivity and pundits (everyone’s an ‘expert’) have made the idea of true partnership an insurmountable task. The best way to foster trust is by making it a mutual exchange:
Ask customers and prospects what information they value when making a buying decision. Inquire about how they prefer to receive information.
Develop a message that delivers information honestly. State why your products and services are different and communicate it in a credible way. Make sure your company is organized and equipped to follow through on any claims you make.
Be sincere when accepting feedback. Move quickly when responding to issues. Take the time to recognize and be grateful for good fortune that comes your way.
Trust helps cement relationships that lead to long-term customers. At Canyon, our sole focus is to help our clients connect and build trust with their customers through marketing communications. It’s a goal we embrace, rally around and tackle on a daily basis.
How do you foster trust with customers and prospects? Interested in a partner you can trust?
Let’s talk about planning ahead again. This time let’s take on the headline. I’ve coined a term here at Canyon and we see it come up from time to time. It’s the dreaded “paragraph headline”—a headline that was born a paragraph and destined for a really small font size.
A headline is successful if it grabs the reader’s attention and gets them to read the copy. It’s especially successful if it prompts a follow-through response on your call to action.
Designers can deal with headlines of any length. But, we like to have them nailed down before we start designing. That gives us time to figure out how to express the headline visually.
To quote a post from Ted Nicholas, “you should go to copywriting jail if your headline is longer than 17 words.” I tend to agree with Ted. If you’re guilty of this, don’t worry, I’ve heard that copywriting jail isn’t that bad, days are spent sharpening government pencils and weekends at home writing mandatory public service blog posts.
But this post is really about “What to do BEFORE you design.” Designers can make headlines work no matter what length. Just figure it out before you send it to a designer so we can aim for that ever-awesome marriage of visual elements and words. For examples of this, see Renata’s previous post, B2B Advertising Can Be Sexy. Great ads!
Everyday, marketers must come up with creative ways to target a certain market/customer, but how sure can you be that someone will even look at your information with all the junk mail out there?
Canyon Communications recently implemented a creative way for prospects to access information. Have you heard of USB laser pens? They are a great way to get people to access information. Rather than skimming a sell sheet or folder with materials, a USB laser pen forces people to insert a thumb drive to access your files. And, it’s easily accessible. No more searching through paperwork and folders to find information.
A USB laser pen can be used as:
A pen
A thumb drive
A laser pointer for presentations
Interestingly enough, after we used these USB pens for a client, I received information from a company marketing its services. I expected to receive a folder with a sell sheet, brochure or a CD, but instead, I received a USB laser pointer pen! The accompanying note instructed me to look at the ‘media pen’ for more information. On the pen, the company incorporated a flash presentation on its service offerings. They forced me to insert the thumb drive to access the information.
Did their strategy work? Yes, it did and I will remember this company because they got my attention.
Since this is a business-to-business marketing communications blog, I’m going to rant briefly about arguably the most important communication piece you’ll ever send to a business—your resume. It never ceases to amaze me the kind of tripe that drops into my inbox when we post a new job opportunity. Here are four ways to assure that your resume doesn’t get zapped by the delete button faster than you can say ninja assassin.
1) Hold down the hyperbole: Believe me, your fabrications and exaggerations will not hold water when you’re questioned about them in the interview. If you’ve only been out of school for two years, please don’t elaborate about your ‘extensive experience.’
2) Ditch the duties: I’m looking for achievements, not the tasks you performed. Show me how you moved the needle. Quantify please!
3) Omit the objective: If you have a boring, clichéd, tired, overused career objective, it’s best to just leave it off. If it pertains specifically to how you are going to help my business grow and succeed, that’s another story. Just put it in a well-written cover letter.
4) Hippity hoppity: Now, I know Easter is on its way, but that doesn’t excuse all that job hopping. If you’ve spent the last four years at five different jobs, I can assume that you’re either not loyal or not good (I realize this is not really a resume issue, but still highly annoying).
Did I miss any? Am I being too harsh? What are your resume pet peeves?
The subject of “cloud” computing has come up several times in Canyon Communications’ meetings with our B2B clients. Occasionally we get quizzical looks when we mention “cloud” customer relationship management (CRM), human resources (HR) and accounting apps.
So where is this “cloud” and how does all of this work? I recently received a link from SalesForce.com, a cloud-based CRM application. I think this video does a good job of explaining cloud computing, showing how it works and detailing its advantages.
And, by the way, the tagline for SalesForce is, “Success. Not software®.” You’ll find out why it’s a good one when you watch the short video.
Canyon Communications and our sister company, Loop Demand Gen, both use cloud applications. Has your company used these types of programs? What is your experience with them?
