Tight Belts & Closed Pockets

So I just learned that one of my favorite conferences has been canceled due to lack of registrations. This makes me sad, but at the same time I am wondering if we will see more of that happening this year.

It seems that every institution is tightening the belt (or closing the pockets altogether) on "frivolous" expenses because of media scrutiny, a tough economy and leery customers. I know that it is important for you to have continuing education to stay on top of new ideas and shifting trends, but at what cost?

Does the location of the event have anything to do with you decision? For example, if your registration is $500 plus travel expenses, would you be more or less likely to go if the conference was in Omaha versus Orlando? Or would you rather pay $500 for a series of webinars that are offered weekly or monthly and you can pick and choose which you attend.

Last year, we saw the writing on the wall. As a company, we made the conscious decision to be more mindful and deliberate in our conference spending...because we knew you would be faced with the same decision. That's when we came up with our Brown Bag Lunch series.

We thought that if we could bring you a series of hot topics for free, and provide you with continuing education credits, maybe it could free up a portion of your budget to do other marketing things that could directly generate revenue for your institution!

We have made the sessions available to on our website to download it for free (although, this month we are having a little trouble with our FTP, but it will be there by the end of the week!)

Go to MarketMatch.com for details about our Brown Bag Lunch Series and sign up for any or all of the sessions that interest you or to download one you may have missed.

Here's to new and creative ways to be extraordinary!
Jenna

The Future Isn't What It Used To Be

Children are the world's greatest dreamers, exploring the outermost reaches of imagination.  Remember back when we were all young, dreaming perhaps of being an astronaut, a fireman, a doctor or, dare I say, President of the United States.

And as we got older we turned to more tangible dreams of getting married, having children and getting that dream house in the tranquil suburbs with the vegetable garden and the white picket fence.

And later we dared to dream of the day when we could safely retire--maybe even early--and do all the things we never had time for until we ran out of road.

We now know that some of those dreams need a reality check.

Being President of the United States isn't all that it's cranked up to be.  Who would want the job of dealing with the worst financial crisis since the Great Depression or festering tensions in the Middle East.

And all those foreclosure signs on all those pretty houses with the white picket fences in tranquil neighborhoods all over this country has turned that dream into a nightmare.

And forget about that early retirement!  People have seen their retirement nest eggs get decimated and are now planning to work well beyond their expected retirement date--if they can keep their jobs.

Five million people unemployed and millions of homes in foreclosure.  The numbers are staggering, yet impersonal, until you start putting faces and names to the numbers.  It's family and friends, business acquaintances and former college roommates, and people you see in the supermarket.  Its all those former children who dared to dream and the present ones who wonder what a dream really is.

If financial institutions truly want to regain the trust that they lost in this financial crisis, it's time that they begin to treat people as more than account numbers in their databases.  Because, if the community erodes around you then the long-term prospects for any community bank will cease to exist.  Being the last man standing in this reality play is not the place to be.

Many banks have instituted outreach programs to better serve their communities.  Consider the following programs:

• Coordinating food and clothing drives to assist families going through hard times
• Opening the branches after hours to provide financial advice and counseling to customers and non-customers
• Allowing community volunteer groups to use bank meeting rooms for outreach programs
• Helping to create a vehicle that enables people to make donations that can go to purchasing home heating fuel or other necessities for families in need

This list can go on and on.  The point is that the government bailout program may work in the long term, but this battle will ultimately be won by assisting people on a one-one-one basis in the communities in which we live and work.

They say that time heals all wounds.  And perhaps there will be a time when we can finally begin to forget these tumultuous times in which we live.  But one thing is for certain--people will never forget those who have helped them in their time of need.  Trust is a definite offshoot of character.  And true character can only be demonstrated through actions, not words.

Let's all do something to make a difference.

Cheers,

Nick Vaglio, CFMP 

No Time for Silence

A colleague was researching an article about advertising expenditure levels during a recession. I was struck by some advice referenced in the article insisting that now more than ever, financial services companies should not even consider dropping to the ground and going silent.

Customers are facing tough financial decisions and feeling unsure about their ability to navigate the suddenly choppy financial waters. Many are facing financial challenges they have not seen in their lifetime and desperately looking for help, but feeling unsure where to turn or whom to trust.

Will you be there when they need you most, or is this the time you will choose to duck and cover and wait for the storm to blow over?

Much of the current financial problems were created because many consumers did not fully understand the financial information being shared with them. Confused by financial jargon and misled by some unethical representatives, some customers saw everything they had worked for disappear along with their trust in the bank as their partner.

To regain that trust we need to be proactively reaching out to consumers to help them better understand their finances now and in the future.

Here are some simple things you can be doing to position yourself as a trusted financial partner to your customers:

• Train your staff to discuss underlying financial issues with customers when they see problems, and empower them to take the time to help customers learn how to better manage their finances in the future.
  
• In all of your communication, both in person and in writing, leave out the jargon and speak to customers in language they can understand.
  
• Promote products showcasing real life benefits to customers, show how bank products can help them improve cash flow, make paying their bills easier or help them set aside money for an emergency fund.
  
• Reach out to your customers and community to provide financial expertise in a non-threatening setting by hosting small group seminars or open coffee sessions to discuss financial topics in your branches.
  
• Partner with a local community newspaper to provide a column of down to earth financial advice for today’s tough economy.
  

The most important thing is not to stop reaching out to customers at a time when they need your help the most.

Thanks for pondering with me!

Deanna

What should I cut?

I have read a couple of reports in the past few weeks that reported that most arts organizations are planning to reduce their expenses in the next year in response to the economic crisis. If you find yourself in this situation, you might be wondering what to cut. Just my two cents...

1. Printed Programs. Do you really need a four color, glossy, forty page program for each performance? Programs are created to provide vital information for audiences. If you take a serious look at your programs, I bet you can find numerous ways to reduce costs. The easiest -- reduce the number of pages in your programs, use lighter stock paper and avoid doing anything in four color.

2. Advertising. This is a tricky one. I wouldn't normally advocate for cutting advertising expenses, however as previously reported, I am finding that you can get 15-20% more for your dollar these days then you could even six months ago. If you can keep your same level of exposure for less, then count the savings. If you can't, then either get more aggressive with your negotiations or look somewhere else for cuts.

3. Audience Communications. How many of us spend thousands of dollars on printing audience handbooks, complete with performance calendars, box office policies, subscriber services, etc. More than 90% of the audience at Arena Stage regularly uses the internet. Save the money on printing these types of materials, and make the information easily accessible on your website.

4. Travel/Professional Development. Even though I am a huge believer in professional development, this might be an area in which you can cut back. Instead of flying cross country to attend a conference, is there one closer to home? can you stay with a friend? can you take a bus instead of a plane (for those traveling between DC and NYC, take the $20 Bolt Bus)? If you do need to travel, then Priceline your trip. If you name your own price on Priceline for your flight and hotel, you can save hundreds of dollars. You might not find yourself staying in the conference hotel, or you might miss a session or two because of flight times, but the savings are definitely worth it.

5. Invest in areas where your ROI is higher. Washington DC is perhaps has the most competitive theater environment outside of New York City. With that being said, I am always looking for ways to get a higher return on investment. At Arena Stage, I normally get a 6:1 ROI on traditional advertising expenditures. However, my ROI for the investment I make in group sales is 20:1. Next year I am slightly reducing our advertising budget and redirecting those funds into group sales.

6. Telemarketing. In October, Arena Stage ended its telemarketing campaign at our normally scheduled time. However, I found that telemarketing was a very effective tool for driving more sales, but I had maxed out my expense line for telemarketing services. At the same time, I noticed that our box office would experience lulls in their work, mostly between shows. We have always considered our box office to be a sales office, meaning they are not just responsible for taking orders, but also for selling. I proposed adding telemarketing to their responsibilities during the lulls. As you can imagine, at first this wasn't received enthusiastically. However, we offered sales associates incentives for making sales, and soon they started performing at the same level that our telemarketing firm was. We have some great sales people! Maybe that is why we are the best sales office in the world.

7. Make sure you RFP all your major projects. The communications department has an internal rule that we live by: if we anticipate that a project will cost more than $10,000, then we send out a request for proposal (RFP) and get competitive bids by at least three separate companies. I instituted this last year when I learned that we hadn't competitively bid our major printing projects in years; we kept going to the same company year after year. The first project that we sent out for a competitive bid was our season brochure. We got three bids, including one from the company we had consistently used for years. The company that we had used for years provided us with a bid that was $20,000 more expensive then the next expensive bid. We enjoyed working with them, but made it clear that if they couldn't match the second most expensive bid, we would go elsewhere. Guess what -- we saved $20,000 because the company matched the other competitive bids.

8. Press Materials. Are you still mailing out press releases, faxing PSAs and putting together heavy media wrap packets to ship to actors, designers and directors? Stop it all. Most editors and writers want press releases e-mailed to them these days. It has to do with timing. Imaging telling Editor A that Editor B scooped him on a story because Editor A's press release was still in the mail while Editor B received his electronically. Unless specifically asked by a major media personality, don't waste your money or time on purchasing expensive letter head, printing media releases, and then spending the money to mail them out. You can also send out PSAs and media wrap packets via e-mail (with links to photos, reviews, etc). I would also experiment with sending press invitations via e-mail. I bet the media doesn't cover your productions because they are enticed by your beautiful, four color invitations.

9. Posters. Be honest, how many of us print hundreds of posters for each show with the honest intention of placing them everywhere a couple of weeks before a show opens. Then as we get closer, we run out of time as well as places to stick the posters, and only use maybe 100 of them, throwing the rest away. Either find a more efficient system of distributing posters, or don't print them. They don't help you if you have to throw them away.

Spring Training

Pitchers and catchers report TODAY!  Soon there will be the smell of fresh-cut grass, the sound of wood cracking against leather and the aroma of hot dogs in the air.

Over the next few weeks, even last year’s All-Stars will be going back to basics:  How do you position your body to turn a double play?  What are the mechanics for a slider?  What is the sign for “steal second”?

What are you doing to get your team ready for Game Day (you know, that day a customer or prospect walks in your front door or calls your office)?

 

Here are some ideas to get Back to Basics:

 

Look in the mirror

Have someone from outside the company shop your offices.  Simply have them ask for information on a new checking account and see how your staff handle it.

 

Scout the competition

Have that same person do the exact same thing at your major competition

• How did your offices stack up?
  
• Was there an emotional difference in how they felt at each office?
  
• Most importantly … would they buy from YOU or THEM?
  

The Golden Rule

Treat EVERYONE who walks into your office as you would treat a guest in your home

• Look them in the eye
  
• Shake hands
  
• Walk them from place to place (NEVER just point)
  
• If a teller is referring to New Accounts staff, make formal introductions
  
• Offer a bottle of water to ANYONE who sits anywhere in your office
  
• Before you talk about yourself, ask about them (learn a customer's needs first and focus on the relevant products – don’t information dump)
  
• Ask if you can open an account for them today.  They took time out of their day to drive to your office – reward them with a new account.
  
• When the conversation is complete, walk them to the door, shake their hand and thank them for coming.
  

Sounds simple doesn’t it?  What is your staff doing right now?

Make sure your team knows the playbook

If your frontline staff doesn’t have a checking account, online banking, bill pay and debit card with your institution – how can they speak knowledgably about it? 

“I use our online banking and it’s super easy,” is a much more powerful sentence than, “Our online baking is supposed to be pretty easy.”

Getting Back to Basics means that you don’t necessarily need scripts or new procedures.  Simply use common sense, make an effort and have fun.

Enjoy your Spring Training!

 

Happy Trails,

Eric

It's Raining Opportunity!

Chicken Little….. is alive!

You know the old story…. “the sky is falling, the sky is falling!” Chicken Little said. Warning everyone, everywhere he went. In reality, the sky wasn’t falling but it didn’t really matter. He was certainly creating havoc wherever he went and making everyone question the truth.

Our current financial industry crisis is playing out in similar ways, don’t you think? The reality for most banks is that there is no crisis. In fact, most community banks and credit unions didn’t get involved in subprime lending practices. They are experiencing challenges only as the fallout from the major banks is wreaking havoc upon them from the recessionary economy and housing crisis. Community banking has never had a greater opportunity!

Right now, people on the street are questioning their financial partners and their financial decisions now like never before. The “Chicken Little effect" is taking its toll on us all in this noble industry. There is “money in motion”. Many people are wanting to know where they should take their money and their relationships. The "money in motion" could be in motion toward your bank...but you need to be known, be heard, and be proactive!

And I think the many financial institutions who are solid performers and are well-positioned to take advantage of the “fallout” of the “money in motion” in markets everywhere, need to be carefully crafting messages and positioning themselves as leaders -- IE be proactive and lead the market! Local leaders who make sound lending decisions, who care enough about their customers and clients and their financial success, to not “lead them into temptation” – by offering loans they shouldn’t take, credit card limits they can’t afford, or car deals that can leave their valued customers “upside down” and penniless.

This is a very tricky message however. As an industry, we are all guilty of not giving the kind of financial counseling to our customers that we could. So we must be very careful in how we try to put ourselves on any pedestals. Placing an ad that says “we’re the good guys” may appear shallow and empty to the now cynical financial customer. How can they believe “us” anymore?
I believe that a well-crafted public relations program, designed to build each piece of the pedestal we want to stand on, can be a good way to highlight the strengths of your institution… to gain a position in your existing and prospective customers’ minds about who you are, what you stand for, and why you are different than the “problem” children in our industry.

A word of caution. The local president, who writes an article for the newspaper, may think he is an “expert” in this field. But in today’s ever-changing society, can quickly find out he had no credibility in what he said, simply because he said it. PR experts are built of years of experience of what works and what can bite you in the butt and cause greater issues than you had before. Collaborate with an experienced PR communicator on this one and you can find avenues to build your pedestal that will have true credibility and meaningful impact on customers looking for a new financial partner. Need help? Call us...

Get your fair share of the “money in motion” in 2009. In fact, get more.

Cheers...

Sharon Lovejoy
The newest member of the MarketMatch team!

Mission: Alignment

So. I have been asked to give a Generational Marketing presentation next week to a group on the east coast. It's exciting! I LOVE giving presentations! I get all giddy about it! But I digress...

I have been informed that the average age of the group's customers (OK, well, actually members) is over 55 so that's where I should focus my presentation.

Now I am thinking to myself, "Well, that's a pretty typical problem and why focus attention on a segment you already have...shouldn't we be working on the segment we WANT to have?"

To that end, as I put the finishing touches on this presentation that will span ALL generations, I am incorporating some family pictures from the wedding we all attended in August. And it I think this was the smartest thing I have done all week...See, my cousin Bob is 42 and is technically part of Generation X (although he calls himself a "tweener"). My brother was born in 1980 and is the youngest of the same generation. There is no way that you can market to all Gen X'ers the same way. My brother is thinking about paying off student loans and starting a family while Bob is putting his daughter through college and thinking about paying for her wedding (the picture is Bob and his daughter).

So, here's my point. Generational marketing is not just looking at the age ranges and calling it a day. We need to look at not just demographic values and understand what they need and when, but also how they need it and how to communicate that you have it. Confused yet?

What I am saying is that not all 42 year old people have the same needs. Nor do all Gen X'ers have the same needs. I think generational marketing is the process of understanding the historical events that have shaped the perceptions of the various generations, evaluating the lifestyles of your customer base (and potential customers), examining the uniqueness of your marketplace and aligning your institution, staff and efforts with these attributes.

I could talk about this all day... but instead, I want to hear from you. Are you leveraging any generational or life cycle marketing techniques? Where have you had success? Or have you not tried and have no idea where to start? And to reference Nick's blog from Monday, "Inquiring minds want to know!"

A new approach could be extraordinary for you.

Jenna

Brand Essence In Just Six Words

“Stop interrupting what people are interested in, and be what people are interested in.”                                                                                    - J. Walter Thompson

It's hard to write a story in six words.  But Ernest Hemingway did.                                                       “For sale, baby shoes, never worn.”

It’s a powerful statement.  It instantly creates a myriad of images and emotions in our mind.  If I say, “Maiden voyage…Iceberg…Not enough lifeboats,” the Titanic comes right to mind.  The six-word story has become a bit of a phenomenon with Smith and Wired magazines, encouraging people to write their six-word life story and share it.

Why don't we apply the same principles to brands?  Can you write your brand story in six words or less?  It's a good test of how clear and unique the positioning really is against the background noise.

Can you name this brand from just six words:  Mint With A Hole. Fresh Breath.

Here are some examples in six words or less:

-       “We bring good things to life.” (General Electric

-       “You’re in good hands with Allstate.” (Allstate Insurance)

-       “The World’s Local Bank.”(HSBC)

-       “Bank of Opportunity” (Bank of America)

-       “The Power to Sell” (Richardson)

-       “The Ultimate Driving Machine” (BMW)

-   "Focus. Momemtum. Results" (MarketMatch)

Try writing the essence of your brand in six words or less.  See if the results surprise you.  Might your competitor say the same?  Would customers recognize you, and you alone?

Every brand has a six-word story?  What's yours?  

Please feel free to respond to this blog with your six-word brand story.

Remember to have a great day (six words),

Nick Vaglio, CFMP

Renegotiate Your Advertising Contracts

Everyone is tightening their belts these days, and as much as I would like to moan and groan about doing more with less, I worry more about those companies that aren't challenging their staff to come up with inventive ways to maximize revenue while minimizing cost.

At Arena Stage, I am currently in the process of renegotiating all of our major advertising contracts. Most of our major advertising contracts are for the entire fiscal year, and I leverage the entire amount I plan to spend to get better rates and more promotional opportunities. So in essence, we have signed contracts until the end of the fiscal year, and although most people would think that would limit your ability to renegotiate, major media sources understand that if they aren't willing to renegotiate, then you will spend less when the contract renewal comes up.

Don't be shy! Trust me, vendors won't make a deal with you unless they are going to make a profit, so get the best deal that you can. It is the wild west out there. Companies are losing advertising dollars right and left, and that has made them hungrier for business. Throw your contracts and their rate cards out the window, and start from scratch. If they aren't willing to renegotiate, don't use their product.

Most arts organizations are planning for a 10-20% reduction in revenue during 2009. To remain healthy, you need to negotiate advertising contracts that get you as much as you had in 2008 for 10-20% less than what you spent.

There are very few advertising outlets that are so powerful and large that they will refuse to negotiate with you. In days past, newspapers could claim this status, but falling revenues and declining readership has changed all the rules. Tell your advertising reps that you view them as a partner--if they help you become more successful, you will spend more money with them. Your fates are tied together. Make them work for you. And if they aren't willing to renegotiate a better deal in this horrible economic climate, go to one of their competitors. If they take care of you, remember the gesture and take care of them when it is time to renew your advertising contract.