Bringing the Zappos Culture to Your Branches

If you're going to learn, learn from the best!  

Zappos went from a struggling start-up in 2000 to being acquired by Amazon for $1.2 billion in 2009.  And the driver to their success?  An unmatched dedication to customer service fueled by a relentless focus on a positive corporate culture.

"If we get the culture right, then everything else, including 

the customer service, will fall into place."

Tony Hsieh, 

CEO, Zappos

Hsieh is a genius.  It works for Disney, it works for Ritz-Carlton and it will work for you!  Focus on the culture.  Your competition can copy products and beat your price.  They can build more branches or out-tech you.  But if your culture rocks, they cannot take that.

We need more retail strategy in banking and the bank or credit union in your market that differentiates on culture will win the market share.  Here's how the best in the biz has done it:

ZAPPOS FAMILY CORE VALUES
1. Deliver WOW through service: To WOW, you must differentiate yourself, which means doing something a little unconventional and innovative. You must do something that's above and beyond what's expected. And whatever you do must have an emotional impact on the receiver.
2. Embrace and drive change: If you are not prepared to deal with constant change, then you probably are not a good fit for the company.
3. Create fun and a little weirdness: We don't want to become one of those big companies that feels corporate and boring. We want to be able to laugh at ourselves. We look for both fun and humor in our daily work.
4. Be adventurous, creative and open-minded: Over time, we want everyone to develop his/her gut about business decisions. We want people to develop and improve their decision-making skills. We encourage people to make mistakes as long as they learn from them.
5. Pursue growth and learning: We believe that inside every employee is more potential than even the employee himself/herself realizes. Our goal is to help employees unlock that potential. 
6. Build open and honest relationships with communication: Strong, positive relationships that are open and honest are a big part of what differentiates Zappos from most other companies. Strong relationships allow us to accomplish much more than we would be able to otherwise.
7. Build a positive team and family spirit: The best leaders are those who lead by example and are both team followers as well as team leaders. We believe that, in general, the best ideas and decisions are made from the bottom up.
8. Do more with less: While we may be casual in our interactions with each other, we are focused and serious about the operations of our business. We believe in working hard and putting in the extra effort to get things done.
9. Be passionate and determined: We value passion, determination, perseverance, and the sense of urgency.
10. Be humble: We believe that no matter what happens we should always be respectful of everyone.

Think of the power and freedom of these values.  Every single employee understands what is expected of them, every day - in customer and internal interactions.  In recruiting and hiring, candidates and employers know if Zappos is the right fit.  If you want to wear a suit and tie, fill out TPS reports all day and disappear into the woodwork to pick up a weekly check ... Zappos is not for you.  


So it's easy, right?  Just add these 10 values to your employee manual and voilà, your world will change overnight.

No so much.  What makes the Zappos brand and culture so powerful is that you CAN NOT simply slap anyone's logo on it and make it work.  Are you prepared to shave the heads of your employees?  Are you ready to have a record-long 10 hour service phone call to get it right for the customer?  Will you hire a corporate life coach?  Will your culture support a daily photo game where staff match employee photos to names so they get to better know each other?  Zappos did!  The Family Core Values are not just words on paper, but demonstrated every single day.

When you sit down to define who you are, make sure that it is unique to you.  Something that defines who you are and aspirationaly what you want to be.  And above all, it needs to be centered around the people who walk into your doors, click your website and call you every day.


Folks, this stuff works!

Zappos list of awards:

• J.D. Powers Customer Service Champion, 2011
• WGSN Global Fashion Awards - Outstanding Customer Service, 2010
• CMG Vision Award, 2010
• Innovation All-Star, Fast Company, 2010
• NRF Innovator of the Year, 2009 & 2010

We bring these marketing philosophies to credit unions and community banks nationwide, and would love to bring them to your institution too. Contact us to see how.

With more than 265,000 visits worldwide, we hope that you enjoy this blog.  If you find it helpful, please share it with your colleagues. Also, check out our YouTube Channel for short video blogs about financial marketing.  

MarketMatch is also a nationally and internationally requested speaker. Contact us to bring our marketing ideas to your next conference.

Here are the conferences where you can find MarketMatch.

See our story here. (click)

Chat with me LIVE! (click)

Or email me directly (click)

937-426-9848

Follow me on Twitter @egagliano

The Race to Define Yourself

I roll to the red light as my engine settles to a low rumble. Glancing to my right, a perfect stranger ... now a 2-wheeled, mortal enemy ... who gives me an ever-so-slight nod of the head and rev of an engine. I return my own rev of approval. My pulse quickens. A bead of sweet sweat forms on my temple.

Our focus turns to our electronic taskmaster while we await its permission to unleash hell. When the cross light clickers from green to yellow I can sense our combined muscles tense, like TNT anticipating a lit fuse. I shift into first and back off the clutch as much as possible to shed precious milliseconds. 

The cross light flickers from yellow to red ... it's time. My hand tightens on the gear shift. My feet, light on the pedals. 

At green, our tandem of engines scream with excitement, like thoroughbreds released from their gate. My smaller, lighter foe pulls ahead with ease and I imagine his cocky, confident smirk just feet in front of me. My car, Sunny, and I are one as I listen and wait for just the right tone. When the engine hits that perfect note, I tap the clutch - scarcely long enough to slide into second gear. I pull even and sense my prey's smirk turn to scowl as he torques his throttle beyond its limits.

Our dance continues from second to third to fourth gear. Though Sunny and I are smooth through to shifts and united in our desire, we simply can't keep up. The Vespa scooter pulls away, not even looking in his rearview as he offers a triumphant wave.

With a sigh, I pat Sunny's dash in our own sense of victory. We putt down the road with the satisfaction that we've helped yet another person smile with this bright yellow classic convertible VW bug.

Sunny will never win any races with her 78 horsepower, 35 year old engine. She'll never take the prize in a car show with her dented trim and ripped rag top. But I've found in the year that I've owned her that she has a gift. When I pull her alongside the faster, flashier, more expensive machines at the local Friday night car show - she draws the crowd. More importantly, she demands smiles. Every single time I take her out, people point and flash a grin.

To be honest, Sunny fits me. She reflects my personal brand. Don't get me wrong, I'd much rather see myself as a drop-top '67 Camaro SS or a '63 split-window Corvette. From a running perspective, I can make a case for being a Jeep Wrangler - at home in the solitude of nature, ducking under fallen trees and splashing through rocky creek beds (heck, I wrote this blog on last night's trail run). But that's just me for a few hours a week. Every minute of every day, I'm quirky. More interested in having fun than being flashy or high-performance. Looking to make people smile. That's my '78 bug. We know who we are and we own it. Voluntarily trading trophies and ribbons for smiles and waves.

So, that's the branding challenge, isn't it? To set aside a Corvette dream that may not really fit you or a cooler Jeep persona that doesn't truly define you. There are hideous cars that win countless races and show-stoppers that spend more time on tow trucks than pavement. For yourself and your organization, know who you are, what you do naturally well, how it separates you, where that fits in the grand plan and work it like there's no tomorrow. 

Your brand isn't built in your imagination or in your Board room. It erupts from your soul.

We bring these marketing philosophies to credit unions and community banks nationwide, and would love to bring them to your institution too. Contact us to see how.

With more than 250,000 visits worldwide, we hope that you enjoy this blog.  If you find it helpful, please share it with your colleagues. Also, check out our YouTube Channel for short video blogs about financial marketing.  

MarketMatch is also a nationally and internationally requested speaker. Contact us to bring our marketing ideas to your next conference.

Here are the conferences where you can find MarketMatch.

See our story here. (click)

Chat with me LIVE! (click)

Or email me directly (click)

937-426-9848

Follow me on Twitter @egagliano

You'll Never Get Everyone to Love You!

This blog is going to go against your every human instinct. Though it will logically make sense, many of you will disagree. That's good, I'd love some good ol' fashioned argument here -- change my mind!

We all have an innate need for the approval of others. We want people to like us. Many of us take it personally if even one person doesn't find us groovy.

"It's not personal, Sonny ... It's strictly business."

~ Michael Corleone

But as marketers, it isn't personal ... it's strictly business. Yet, we focus so much of our attention and energies on trying to make sure that every single person in our communities love us. Seriously, how many times have you discussed changing a policy because 3 or 4 people complained?

“Criticism is something you can easily avoid by 

saying nothing, doing nothing, being nothing.” 

~Aristotle

Aristotle ... if nothing else, THAT cat knew branding!

From a branding perspective, we are trying too hard to be all things to all people and trying so hard to avoid criticism that we become branding's brown paper bags.

So, here's the beautiful truth ... as a public service to help you sleep better at night.

In most larger markets, if you have only 30% market share, you will be the largest institution in town.  With only 15% market share, you'll typically be #2.

Whew! Think about the weight that just lifted! If 1 in every 3 people like you enough to do business with you ... You win! If 1 in 10 like you, you're doing GREAT!

To have an impactful brand, stop trying to appease everyone and be something meaningful to a focused group of people.

So now that we know that not everyone will ever love us, who do we focus on?

Check out these blogs on segmentation:

• 8 Life Stage You Should Market To
• Mirror Modeling and Birds of a Feather

Identify who your desired target is, learn what they want from you, determine if you can provide it, then make darn sure that you are THAT thing down to your very soul. With every interaction, every new hire, every policy and every message.

We bring these marketing philosophies to credit unions and community banks nationwide, and would love to bring them to your institution too. Contact us to see how.

Nearing 240,000 visits worldwide, we hope that you enjoy this blog.  If you find it helpful, please share it with your colleagues. Also, check out our YouTube Channel for short video blogs about financial marketing.  

MarketMatch is also a nationally and internationally requested speaker. Contact us to bring our marketing ideas to your next conference.

Here are the conferences where you can find MarketMatch.

See our story here. (click)

Chat with me LIVE! (click)

Or email me directly (click)

937-426-9848

Follow me on Twitter @egagliano

A Cheat Sheet to Perfect Creative

Give your creative the FREEDOM of a tight strategy.

What I love about what we do is that there are infinite ways to address the same problem.  There are few rules and usually, the crazier the idea, the better.

You want your creative to stand up and take notice.  You need it to be clear and concise.  To get there, you have to be focused!  

That's the job of the creative brief.  In one to two pages, describe exactly what needs to happen.  A great creative brief can lead to killer creative.  It's also your sanity check to know whether the creative is simply entertaining or on strategy too.

Here are the 5 areas to focus on when you're focused on creative:

1. What do you want to do?

Why are you spending this money?  What do you want the effort to accomplish?  How will you quantitatively know if it worked or not.

• What does the advertising do for the brand?
• How will the objective be measured?

2. Who are you talking to?
It's easier to write to a person than to a nameless group.  Who do you want to talk to?  Give them a name, a face, a personality and needs:

• What do they look like? What do they like to do? What is their economic standing?  What makes them tick? (be as specific as possible)
• What motivates them?  Why are they making this purchase decision? What's going on in their life?
• When they buy, why do they choose you?
• When they don't buy with you, why not?
• How do they FEEL when they make the decision?  How do you WANT them to feel (tone)?

3. The ONE Big Thing

Let's face it, we're lucky if anyone ever sees our work ... we're blessed if they care ... and if they take away ONE message, we've done our job.  What is the ONE big thing that you want them to know?

• How does it make you different from the competition?
• So what? (Benefit) What problem are we solving?  Why should anyone care?
• Prove it (3-5 supports - Prioritize) Why should they believe you?
• Who's voice is telling them?  Are you the trusted old uncle or the hip young friend or the crazy granny?

4. What do you want them to do?
How will the audience help you achieve your objective?  Do you want them to feel something?  Pick up the phone?  Go to a URL?  Run to your location?

• Is it easy for the target to do what you want?
• Who answers the Call to Action?  Are they prepared?

5. Thou Shalts and Thou Shalt Nots
What are the rules? The must and must nots.

• Budget
• Schedule and duration
• Media options: Print? Broadcast? Web? Direct Mail? SEO? Point of Sale? Outdoor?
• What does the staff need to know or do?
• Mandatories (logos, icons, legals, etc)

Now go back and start crossing words out.  Keep the brief ... well, BRIEF!  The more focused you are, the less sidetracked the creative ideas will be (You know creatives ... show 'em something shiny and you lose them for hours!).

From the brief, try to come up with at least 3 good ideas:

• The safe idea
• One that scares the hell out of you
• Something in between

Finally, when the work is complete, go back to the brief and start checking off each item.  If the work addresses each element of the brief, then it should be on strategy ... focused ... and ready to generate business.

We bring these marketing philosophies to credit unions and community banks nationwide, and would love to bring them to your institution too.  Contact us to see how.

Nearing 230,000 visits worldwide, we hope that you enjoy this blog.  If you find it helpful, please share it with your colleagues.  Also, check out our YouTube Channel for short video blogs about financial marketing.  

MarketMatch is also a nationally and internationally requested speaker.  Contact us to bring our marketing ideas to your next conference.

Here are the conferences where you can find MarketMatch.

See our story here. (click)

Chat with me LIVE! (click)

Or email me directly (click)

937-426-9848

Follow me on Twitter @egagliano

If you were a... (A fun branding exercise)

When we work at molding a bank or credit union's brand, we ask a lot of questions.  The whole goal is to find that magic intersection between an institution's personality and strengths; the market needs; and a positive point of competitive differentiation.

We ask obvious questions about perceptions, and processes and capabilities, but SOME of our questions are always greeted with funny looks.

If your institution were a person, what would it be like?
   ~ Man or woman?
   ~ Introvert or extrovert?
   ~ Physically fit?
   ~ Liberal or conservative?
   ~ Are you Oprah, Woody Allen, John Wayne or Forrest Gump?
   ~ What socio-economical background?
   ~ What do they regularly wear?
   ~ What kind of movies do they like?
   ~ How do they act at a party?  Do they even go to parties?

We all have a personal brand.  This question helps to humanize the bank or credit union and get at the institution's true personality.  It's funny how often a bank's "personality" matches those specific characteristics of their CEO.  If you want to know your institution's real personality, throw this question around the office this afternoon.  

If your institution were a car, tell me about it?
   ~ New or old?
   ~ Clean or rusty?
   ~ How does it run?
   ~ A lot of upgrades or basic?
   ~ Escalade, Corvette, Lexus or VW?
   ~ Does it have GPS or hand-crank windows?
   ~ How many miles are on it?
   ~ Is it well cared for and oiled every 3,000 miles or can it use some TLC?

Our vehicles are an extension of ourselves.  We name them and we talk to them.  Of all of our functional tools, they probably have the most personality.  When you compare a financial institution to car, you get a feel for how it's built.  You will quickly get a handle on it's efficiency, it's primary target audience demo and it's self-perseption.

If we put a music score to the security tapes of your branch lobby, what would it sound like?
   ~ Indiana Jones adventure?
   ~ A love song from Casablanca?
   ~ Boring - simply "white noise?"
   ~ Is it more Kenny Logins or Randy Newman?
   ~ Something from Friday the 13th
   ~ Yakety Sax?

Nothing sets the mood in a movie like the music.  Think about it ... where would Rocky be without his iconic training montage tunes?

When you think about the mood, culture or environment that you provide to your customers or your staff, what does it sound like?

Here's a fun homework assignment.  Ask these questions around the office this afternoon.  It'll generate some interesting conversation and answer a lot of important questions about your brand in a unique way.  Then come back to this blog and share some of your most interesting responses in the comments section below or on the LinkedIn link to this article.

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With more than 170,000 visits worldwide, we hope that you enjoy this blog.  If you find it helpful, please share it with your colleagues.  Also, check out our YouTube Channel for short video blogs about financial marketing.  

We bring these marketing philosophies to community banks and credit unions nationwide, and would love to bring them to your institution too.  Contact us to see how.

MarketMatch is also a nationally and internationally requested speaker.  Contact us to bring our marketing ideas to your next conference.

Here are the conferences where you can find MarketMatch.

See our story here. (click)

Chat with me LIVE! (click)

Or email me directly (click)

937-426-9848

Focus ... MOMENTUM ... Results (Part 2)

Focus … Momentum … Results 

It’s not just our tag line … it’s our business model.

This week, we take the ultimate look behind the MarketMatch curtain.  A glimpse into our innermost workings.  The drivers behind everything that we do for your credit union or community bank.

This is part 2 of a 3 part series this week that will outline the simplest of strategic processes and the true value to how we partner with financial institutions to drive bottom line success.

Focus ... Momentum ... Results

MOMENTUM

A quick physics lesson:

Momentum = Mass X Velocity

A heavy object moving fast has a large momentum—it takes a large and prolonged force to get the object up to speed, and it takes a large and prolonged force to bring it to a stop. If the object were lighter, or moving slower, then it would have less momentum.

It takes momentum to push ahead. That’s why everything we do is to help drive momentum for your bank or credit union.

So, what does all this physics mumbo jumbo have to do with marketing?

MASS: From a marketing perspective, mass is a relevant and differentiated message.  It is consistent communication.  And consistent experience.  It is your brand.

VELOCITY: Velocity is awareness, understanding and word-of-mouth.  It is sales success at the front line.  A success that generates a contagious enthusiasm - for your team and your customers.

It's that simple: The more people who understand and experience your relevant, differentiated brand, the more momentum you have.

External Communication: From sound strategic planning to impactful implementation … every aspect of your marketing should be designed to generate a desired action. You create mass by defining your brand message and value proposition.  You create velocity by getting and demonstrating that message to as many targeted customers and prospects as possible.

Internal Processes: We will push further when we all push together. That is the power of training and internal communication.  Each team member must be able to understand and communicate your brand.  More importantly, they must be able to demonstrate it with every single interaction. 

You can't generate momentum overnight.  It takes a prolonged force to get the momentum up to speed.  But, once rolling, it will also take a prolonged force to stop it.  

Are you looking for justification for your marketing budget?  There it is!

To get the momentum rolling fastest, you need FOCUS.

To know the power of your momentum you have to measure RESULTS. 

If you can benefit from some Focus ... Momentum ... Results, click here.

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With nearly than 160,000 visits worldwide, we hope that you enjoy this blog. If you find it helpful, please share it with your colleagues. Also, check out our YouTube Channel for short video blogs about financial marketing.  

We bring these marketing philosophies to community banks and credit unions nationwide, and would love to bring them to your institution too. Contact us to see how.

MarketMatch is also a nationally and internationally requested speaker. Contact us to bring our marketing ideas to your next conference.

Here are the conferences where you can find MarketMatch.

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MarketMatch is a marketing firm, dedicated to the credit union and community banking community.  We utilize knowledge-based strategies to help you FOCUS on the right story that will generate the greatest  MOMENTUM and prove the best RESULTS with our written ROI Guarantee.

See our story here. (click)

Chat with me LIVE! (click)

Or email me directly (click)

937-426-9848