Quality Service Marketing

Zappos Culture Book: Best Ever Business Reading

Zappos.com’s 2009 Culture Book is here (!) and I’m thrilled to add it to my business library - next to the previous edition that I got on my visit to Zappos last year.

The book is written by Zappos employees who share what the company culture means to them. It’s a beautifully designed and produced book, supplemented with color photos and captions that capture the true spirit of Zappos. The book includes Zappos core values, a brief time line of the company’s 10 year history, and, most important, what the people who live the Zappos culture have to say about it.

Regardless of where they work in the company (customer loyalty center, merchandising, finance, technology & project management, Kentucky warehouse, marketing, etc.), Zappos employees share how valued they feel as members of the Zappos family … how they engage in “serious fun” … how they’re empowered to do and be their best … how they live the company’s values … and how truly happy they are to work at Zappos everyday. (Would your employees say the same? Honestly, I don’t know that many companies whose employees love their workplace.)

Zappos Culture Book should be mandatory reading in every undergraduate business class, MBA, and leadership program.

Read this book to your kids at night, and I swear they’ll tell people “When I grow up, I want to work at Zappos!” This is no fairy tale – Zappos is for real.

New Workshop on Internal Branding and Internal Marketing

I’m really excited to be developing a new program with my colleague and internal branding expert, Debra Semans. We’re presenting Internal Branding and Internal Marketing: Strategic Integration for Market Leadership as part of AMA’s Spotlight Forum series (an “intense day focused on topics confronting marketers today”) in Houston on November 13, 2009.

Note: An earlier post comparing & contrasting internal marketing with internal branding is one of my most frequently visited posts in the five years I’ve been blogging.

In this new workshop, Debra and I will share insights and tips on how to make internal branding and internal marketing work respectively. We’ll also cover how elements of each can be integrated to better engage employees - the “face” of your brand and organization - to meet marketing and organizational goals.

The more I work on the program’s content, the more I realize how timely this topic is for marketing, HR, and business leaders dealing with these challenging times. It’s also an untimely topic in the sense that both internal marketing and internal branding should not be treated as the “strategy du jour.” Successful companies have been applying these approaches all along as an integral part of their organization culture and operations, not just an interim campaign.

Hope you’ll be able to join Debra and me in Houston in a few weeks for this exciting new learning event!

Back-to-Work and Back-to-School for Service Leaders

Ever notice how workplace rhythms change with the seasons? Corporate offices seem to slow down in Summer when the majority of folks take vacation. It’s the same in those organizations that adjust work schedules to offer “summer hours” – extended hours Monday-Thursday to allow for half-days on Friday. It even sounds quieter with less phone calls and e-mail (especially on Fridays).

Nonetheless, work gets done (perhaps because it is quieter?) … and then the pace picks up again in Fall.

This back-to-work mindset goes hand-in-hand with back-to-school time. So it’s a good time to consider your professional development plans for the fall.

If you’re looking for quality professional development, here are two programs I strongly recommend:

• The 20th Annual Compete Through Service Symposium, Nov. 4-6, 2009, Phoenix AZ. This is the leading program for managers and executives who want to improve service strategy and delivery.
• Internal Branding & Internal Marketing: Strategic Integration for Market Leadership, Nov. 13, 2009, Houston TX. This is a new AMA program that I’m excited to develop and present with my colleague & internal branding, Debra Semans.

Summer Blog Schedule

Since my blog traffic is typically lower during the summer, I’m taking some time off from posting.

I’d love to tell you it’s due to vacation, but the reality is I’m busy prepping for numerous client retreats and speaking engagements scheduled through the summer and into the fall. I’m delighted that my business has picked up after a rather slow start this year.

I’ll return to posting sometime in August with new content. In the meantime, enjoy the summer!

Free Seminar: "Recovering from the Recession Hangover"

Bon Mot Communications is offering a free audio seminar with a great title: Recovering from the Recession Hangover: 5 Strategies to Get Your Team Back on Track with Solution Focused Leadership. It’s scheduled for Thursday, July 30, 2009 at 2 PM EST, and registration is limited, so I wanted to let you know about it now.

I’m a big fan of the Solution Focused approach since I learned about it a number of years ago from my colleague, Alan Kay. That’s why I’m excited about attending this seminar.

I know business tends to slow down in the summer, so it’s a great time to invest an hour and learn about solution focused leadership.

Nonprofits Still Investing in Learning

I’m not sure what the actual stats are, all I know is that training budgets are way down. Ironically, in light of a chaotic economy and marketplace, professional development is more critical than ever. So I find it fascinating that most of my training work these days is with nonprofits, rather than for-profit organizations.

Later this week (May 14-15th) I’ll be conducting a Nonprofit Marketing Boot Camp for the Boston AMA Chapter. If you need a better understanding of marketing and how to differentiate your organization mission in a competitive environment, this is the place to be. Registration is still open if you can make it. It’s a great way to step back from the daily grind to focus (or re-focus) on marketing fundamentals and share knowledge and ideas with other nonprofit professionals.

And this summer (July 15-17th), I’m going to present a pre-conference tutorial on internal marketing as part of the AMA’s 2009 Nonprofit Marketing Conference in Chicago. This year’s Thriving in Times of Change theme is designed to help you deal with the changing economy, changing market segments, and changing marketing channels. I’ve attended this conference in the past to network with and learn from top marketers in the field, so I highly recommend it.

It may be that nonprofits have better survival skills than for-profits because they’re used to working with limited resources. Yet in this economy when resources are tight for everyone, nonprofits are still investing in professional development – providing an important lesson for their for-profit colleagues.

Management Tools of Engagement for Engineers

One of the reasons I enjoy my work as a marketing trainer/facilitator is that I get to present to a lot of different audiences, ranging from nonprofit managers to engineers-in-training.

It was this latter group that I met with recently when I spoke about “Management Tools of Engagement” (based on internal marketing) at SUNY’s College of Environmental Science & Forestry (ESF). My presentation there was sponsored by the Syracuse Pulp & Paper Foundation (SPPF) as part of a program to share management principles with students in Paper & Bioprocess Engineering. (Graduates of this challenging and prestigious curriculum are frequently on a fast track to management in paper mills and plants.)

With my background in service industries (mostly non-union), I was somewhat apprehensive about my presentation to these students. But after doing my homework – talking with a number of colleagues who worked in manufacturing – I learned that the challenges of effectively managing people are the same regardless of industry.  The reality is how these future managers will apply their tools of engagement will depend more on the company’s culture than the industry itself.

In the Q&A portion of my presentation, we talked about working with unions. My suggestion of treating the unions as internal customers was met with considerable interest. After further discussion among the students, faculty, and staff, who shared their work-related experiences with unions (from both membership and management perspectives), we agreed on the need to build trust and mutual respect through effective internal communications and good working relationships.

Sounds simplistic in theory, although not in practice. At least these engineers/future managers have a clue as to what they’ll need to do.

Good People and Good Works at Goodwill

I had the privilege of conducting an internal marketing workshop for the good folks of Goodwill Industries in South Central California and it was a delightful experience.

From the warm and welcoming reception by workshop host, David Hessberger, Director of Retail Services, to the active participation of Goodwill staff and guests, it was one of the most rewarding programs I’ve ever presented. I love sharing internal marketing with people who “get it” and are eager to learn more. I also love learning about their work: their daily challenges and what motivates them to do their best.

I’m familiar with Goodwill as a consumer (I’m both a donor and shopper at my local Goodwill stores) and as a marketer (I’ve presented marketing sessions at a Goodwill Industries International Learning Event). Yet I continued to be amazed by what I learn about them. Goodwill is a nonprofit organization that relies on donated items (clothing, household goods, etc.) more so than financial contributions (although they’re happy to accept them as well). They support the Goodwill mission by managing and running stores with professional retail operations that include logistics, merchandising, and customer service. As such, they compete with for-profit retailers as well as other nonprofits. When it comes to their role in workforce development, however, they’re engaged in collaborative community partnerships to provide vocational skills training and employment opportunities.

Goodwill is an organization that’s truly committed to developing people (including its own) in advancing its mission to help others. From my experience with the good people of Goodwill of South Central California and Goodwill Industries International, I’ve seen their commitment to the organization’s core values of respect, stewardship, ethics, learning, and innovation. I’m proud to work with them and support them.

Speaking of support, it’s time to clean out my closets and see what more I can donate to my local Goodwill. I encourage you to join me in this “Goodwill hunting.”

Great Marketing Resources

To follow up my recent list of great business resources, here are additional links specifically for marketers and those interested in learning more about the profession.

Marketing Newsletters
Check out the Marketing Savant with its emphasis on thought leadership marketing by Dana VanDen Heuvel. Here’s the subscription link. (Note: Dana helped talk me into starting this blog four years ago.)

Marketing Profs Today, brought to you by those great folks at Marketing Profs, offers content for free and paid subscribers.

Marketing Training
AMA Spring Marketing Workshop, March 16-19, 2009. With its customizable format, you can choose to attend tutorial sessions in the areas of Customer Loyalty-Customer Commitment, Branding, Strategic Marketing, Relationship Marketing, and Sales Effectiveness.

This is the event where I present my internal marketing tutorial: Marketing from the Inside Out: Engaging Employees for Strategic Advantage.

AMA Marketing Boot Camp, March 24-25, 2009. I’m doubly excited about teaching this marketing fundamentals program hosted by the Rochester Chapter because I love sharing what marketing is all about plus I get to connect with my Rochester-based friends Yvonne DiVita, Sandra Beckwith, and Karin Choi.

For those who have completed the basic boot camp and want more specialized marketing training, check out the Marketing Planning Boot Camp and Branding Boot Camp.

Great Business Resources

It's back to business now that the holidays are over. Here's a list of some great resources that I compiled over the past month to share with you.

Professional Development
The 23rd Annual Services Leadership Institute, March 9-11, 2009, presented by the Center for Services Leadership.

HR and Communications e-letters
Keeping the People - with insight on how "best" employers are leading in tough times.

The Corporate Communicator - Bon Mot Communications'free e-zine "helping corporate communicators do more with less." Subscribers are invited to attend a free teleseminar/webinar, "Communicating Confidence in an Era of Low Trust," on February 17, 2009. Learn more about this topic from Bon Mot's white paper, The Low Trust Epidemic: Why It Matters and What Communicators Can Do About It.

Nonprofit Management
Realistic and refreshing advice about surviving these challenging times from nonprofit leader Jan Masaoka.

New blogs that are worth reading
Marketing Mindset by Frank Haas, a long time colleague and friend of mine.

The Business of Service by Scott Miller.

Customer Management
Check out Becky Carroll's blog post series from Nov. 17th, 18th, and 19th, covering the recent Customers First Conference.