—The toughest job you'll ever...

Being a manager can be really tough, whether it's for a huge department—or a small group of people. David C. Baker has just published a book called Managing Right for the First Time that has excellent food for thought and self-examination. Though it's written with ad agencies as a backdrop, It's smart reading for anyone who wants to be a better manager. Here are a few points from the book I think are important to share:

You need a marketing plan. Baker says you must have a marketing plan for promoting your business to prospective employees even before you need them. (I loved reading this, and he's right!) If we're thinking our customers are solely the people who buy our product or service—and forget our internal customers—we're missing something Big. We all know we're only as good as our people. Let's act like we know it.

Being a great manager starts even before someone is reporting to you. This book offers advice on smarter ways to interview and hire new staff. An exploration of better interview questions is terrific. How many times have we resorted to the unimaginative and unenlightening "tell me about your strengths and weaknesses" questions? Come on! There's also proper protocol for putting people at ease so you see the real person through the initial jitters—and how to project your corporate culture to interviewees so they see the real "you." It only makes sense that if you get a true match in the beginning, things go better.

Orientation is not a 30 minute meeting! How many of us are guilty of having thrown people into the deep end expecting them to start swimming like an Olympic medalist? Sink or swim is not good policy. At MB Piland, we've developed some pretty good orientation tools over the course of our business. But Baker gave me ideas on how we could make our system even better. He provides a detailed description of an orientation plan that begins before the employee's first day and continues on for some time afterward. There are also some ways to help both manager and employee develop realistic expectations about how soon they can get beyond dog paddling and find the right rhythm.

This is a good read. I finished my copy off in about two sittings. Now it's full of hot pink sticky notes with ideas and self-imposed homework. I think it's time well spent. —Martha

—Listening between the lines

At MB Piland, we know that listening is a critical ingredient in great account leadership. We also know it's a skill that's intentionally developed. We ask lots of questions, listen between the lines, then ask again to be sure we've asked the right questions.

We also find that asking questions of all the right people is important. Clients, of course—but customers, referral sources, distributors, bloggers—and others will also tell us a lot if we just pay attention and listen. This gives us a much more accurate view of what's really going on "out there."

It's the highest praise when a client says "How did you know that's exactly what I wanted? I didn't even know." That means we're doing our job. Today's Harvard Business Review features an article by John Baldoni on asking better questions. It's a worthwhile read. —Martha

—Account management is critical

At a recent Advertising Age Digital Conference, the Chief Creative Officer for Microsoft said, "The single most important piece for success for agencies we work with is actually orchestration. Account management is the most important function in our agencies, not creative."

We agree. At MB Piland, strategy and account leadership come first. You might ask yourself if your agency is focusing on all aspects of your marketing communications. Do you have work fragmented between multiple agencies and departments in order to save money? You may be also be fragmenting your messaging and missing out on opportunities to maximize your budget. Strong and smart orchestration means your message is more powerful, stretching your marketing dollars. Now that's music to anyone's ears!

Read more about this in Advertising Age. —Alex

—A book I pick up again and again is the dip, by Seth Godin

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–5 Ways to put strategy in your social media efforts

We’re getting more questions every day from clients and business colleagues about social media. Frankly, there are still a lot of people scratching their heads trying to figure out how to get into the social media waters. Some are diving head first into shallow water. Others are creeping in so gingerly they’ll probably never make it all the way—they’ll just torture themselves for a while, then give up. Most don't stop to think about the need for strategy as a foundation for their efforts. You can download our white paper with five ways to make your presence more strategic and effective.

–Social Media with HR in Mind

I gave a talk at the Topeka SHRM meeting today about social media and some potential uses for human resource professionals. Of partiular note: LinkedIn offers some excellent tools for recruiting, retention and information sharing and more. A copy of our presentation deck can be downloaded here. –Martha

–Some words of wisdom

"A man who stops advertising to save money is like a man who stops a clock to save time."  – Henry Ford

–E-Jargon Primer

Do you confuse SEO with an '80s band? Is it possible Augmented Reality is something related to that movie with the blue people? There are enough acronyms and jargon out there it's easy to get confused. Kat Keyes has put together a handy cheat sheet to help. Get it here.

–Customer service and customer experience: the differences and why they matter

I'll admit that as a consumer, I'm probably more picky than many. With experience in retail and foodservice, as well as marketing, I just can't help it. Surely I'm not the only one who gets annoyed when a store clerk acts like I'm interrupting his Very Very Important conversation with a co-worker. At a grocery store last week (to be unnamed) I'm pretty certain the only hiring criterion was that the applicant could fog a dental mirror. The person who waited on me mumbled, wouldn't look me in the eye and practically threw my change at me. Now don't get me wrong, we all have bad days, and who knows...maybe this clerk is normally quite charming, but just had a migraine that day. I'll never find out because I won't be back.

Customer service is as important as any marketing strategy. But service alone is really just a basic that many struggle to master. In fact, it really should be part of a broader approach to Customer Experience. And it should be an integral part of many marketing plans because it influences consumer choice, loyalty and buzz, which are critical to business success in a very tough marketplace.

An excellent example of doing it right is Boutique Ten47. I love shopping there! Of course, they have great merchandise. But it takes more than that. The staff is always helpful. They don't try to "sell" me—they have fun shopping along with me. Fitting rooms are large and comfortable. The mirrors make me look slimmer. Sometimes there's a complimentary glass of wine. If I buy a gift, it's stylishly wrapped. Even if I just pick up something for myself, it's always impeccably packaged. So when I get it home, it's like opening a present just for me.

So, how do you do it right? How do you know if you're on track or terrible? Start by asking yourself about the last time you stepped outside your place of business and viewed it from the perspective of a customer or prospect? If it's been a while, (or never) you need to do it. Do it today. Here are some things to examine:

• Physical appearance: is it clean? Are windows free of smudges, carpet vacuumed? Is signage faded or snazzy? Does anything look worn or dog-eared? Are public areas neat? And you'd better go look at the restrooms customers use. If they're clean and fresh, it sends a message that you have it together and you pay attention to details.

• Environment: Does it smell good? Or even better, is there a signature scent? (Think of the smells of an Abercrombie & Fitch store, or Daddy Cakes cupcakes.) How's the lighting? What about the music or sounds? Does it make you feel good?

• What does someone hear when they call? Does the person who answers the phone smile and make you feel important? Are you on hold forever? Is there pleasant on-hold music?

• How about your packaging? Staff appearance? The time it takes to be acknowledged when you walk in? What else?

And then there "extras." We all love a gift or surprise. At MB Piland, we always send fat free treats in packages to clients and vendors, and we always take treats to meetings. A client once mentioned how much she and her colleagues love the "surprise candy," and how it always tastes better than anything they could just go pick out on their own. Fat free treats are part of the experience we offer.

"I don't have any customers," you say? I think you do. They may be internal customers in other departments. They could be prospective employees. They might be vendors who can give you better terms or referrals. We all have customers.

If you've done the self-examination and think everything is perfect, you might ask some trusted friends to be "secret shoppers" and report back. An objective opinion is probably in order. If you noticed some rough spots, you're making progress already. You have an opportunity to improve. Does your staff need training? Do you just need to upgrade or update a few things? If you're not sure, give us a call. We've helped clients with evaluation and action plans to help fill in the gaps.

Let's face it: no one is perfect. There will be times that we make a misstep or drop the ball somewhere. If we've been doing things right all along, it makes it easier to apologize and fix the mistake. And if we really go above and beyond when we're doing the fixing, we have the chance to deepen relationships and customer loyalty—and that ever important Word of Mouth—even further.

There are some customer service conversation starters on our Facebook page. Check it out, and share one of your experiences—good or bad—and what it's taught you. We'd love to hear from you!

—Martha

–Manage paper so you can avoid an "intervention"

Here are five handy ways to manage your time more effectively. Save money and your sanity!

1. Remember the following acronym so you know what to do with incoming paper as soon as you receive it.

RFTA

R ead—place documents for reading in a pile to grab them as you need them.
F ile—place documents in a filing pile that can be done once a month.
T oss—clip the information you want from papers, then throw out the rest.
A ct—these require action and should be put on your 'to do' list for the day.

2. Maintain only ONE 'to do' list.

3. Use a computer to store information that doesn't change (birthdays, anniversaries, etc.)

4. Remain focused on what you're doing because jumping from project can cause frustration and is inefficient.

5. Set up regular and identified dates on your calendar to clean out obsolete files and make room for the papers that are part of your action items.

These ideas submitted by super-organized Mandi Walter, taken from Cynthia Kyriazis, Organizing & Time Management Consultant & Coach, article 50 Tips for Managing Paper Chaos

So many times people say to us something like "You're so creative, I wish I could be like that," or "I wish I could be a fly on the wall when you're brainstorming." There's certainly some magic that happens when we're Thinking Wild Thoughts for our clients, but there are also some ground rules that help a lot. Here are some things you might try the next time you're trying to come up with an idea that's great, instead of good.

Dare to be stupid: No idea should be "shot down" by others in the group. Instead of killing an idea, teammates try to build on it and make it better. Sometimes the outlandish idea is the one that gets us to the ah-HA!

Change your point of view: We might move to a new location like a coffee shop or the bowling alley, or just put on funny glasses, masks or silly hats. A new perspective creates new grooves in our brains (we're not scientists, but I'm pretty sure this is true) and moves us away from the routine.

Idea swap: Everyone gets a piece of paper and has 5 minutes to write down as many ideas as they can. When the time is up, teammates trade papers, then build on someone else's ideas. This works great via instant messaging too. Try it!

Let your hair down: Remember the bowling alley tip above? Don't think of brainstorming as "work," but instead incorporate it into a fun activity. Have a hula hoop contest or bring out some Play-Doh. Give your brain permission to wander, circle back and wander some more.

What are some ways you find to be creative? Go to our Facebook page and share!

–Low cost/no cost marketing

I was a guest speaker at Dr. Stoica's business management class at Washburn University on Thursday. These students have all been assigned real small business clients in the Topeka community. Each business client has a team of students working on a marketing plan, tactics and budget. Most of the clients are nonprofits or startups who have very limited marketing budget. It's always fun to talk to the students—hear their questions and ideas—and know that the Topeka business community will be better because of the students' contributions.

At MB Piland, we're always looking beyond the usual to help our clients succeed. Our Fat Free philosphy is founded on innovative "color ouside the lines" thinking. It doesn't mean we abandon proven tactics. It does mean that we find room for doing something new if it's strategic. So here are a few high points from the class:

Read more: tip of the week