8 Tips for Remembering People’s Names

You’re meeting someone for the first time. She extends her hand, tells you her name, and then you do the same. Caught up in thinking about what to say next, you don’t register what she said her name is. Was it Allie? Or Ellie? Or something totally different? You leave the conversation with absolutely no idea of what your new acquaintance’s name is. But what’s in a name? In business, a lot. Names are deeply personal and inextricably linked to a person’s identity. If you can’t remember someone’s, it conveys that you don’t care about your relationship with him or her. That being said, forgetting names is an incredibly common problem. Keep these things in mind the next time you’re introduced to someone: - Repeat, repeat, repeat. When someone first tells you their name, try to repeat it to yourself silently while they speak. Then find natural ways to repeat it aloud throughout the conversation. For example: “So what role do you have at your company, Allie?” But don’t go overboard. If you’re constantly repeating their name, things can get very creepy very quickly. - Make associations. Always find something else to connect their name to. If they have a distinctive feature of some kind, try to remember them as “Trevor with the wide smile” or “Lauren with the pixie cut.” If you’re really feeling creative, try to come up with ridiculous and vivid mental impressions that incorporate other details. For example, if you meet Bob Green, picturing him bobbing for green apples. If Lana Potter lived in France for a few years, picture her making pottery at the top of the Eiffel Tower. - Ask for tricky pronunciations and spellings. If someone’s name is particularly difficult to pronounce or sounds like it might be challenging to spell, don’t be afraid to ask them to repeat the pronunciation or write it down for you. This shows that you care enough to get their name right, and it also gives you a chance to see/hear the name again if you’ve forgotten it already. - Don’t shorten names without being told to. If someone tells you his name is William, his name is William, not Will or Bill. If someone tells you her name is Catherine, her name is Catherine, not Cat or Cate. And NEVER come up with a nickname for someone you’ve just met. Your new acquaintance probably doesn’t want to be called L-Dawg or Chubs by a virtual stranger. - Never misspell a name. In a world with Google, Facebook and LinkedIn, there’s no excuse for misspelling someone’s name. - When in doubt, don’t guess. It’s better to be generic than to call Jessica “Jennifer.” - Learn additional names of important people. Once you’ve become a name-memorizing expert, take the time to learn the names of people who are close to your new friend or coworker. “How are Dylan and Gabe?” shows a lot more thoughtfulness than “How are your kids?” - Go in focused. The key to remembering someone’s name is staying focused on getting it correct right away and caring enough to memorize it. Instead of worrying what you’ll say during your introduction, make getting to know the other person the primary goal of the conversation. And once you’re done speaking with them, make a note or new contact in your phone with their name and whatever details you gathered and associations you developed.

What’s In Your Mailing List?

A mailing list is much more than a simple collection of names and addresses. It’s a goldmine of valuable information about your contacts. You can use that information to better understand your customers and market to increase response rates, sell more, receive more donations, acquiring new customers…whatever the goal of your communication may be. What kind of information can you find? Following are some of the types of information you can extract from your mailing list(s). As you read these, consider how you might use this the information to provide more value to customers, donors, etc. Geographical demographics - Addresses can tell you with certainty details such as school, voting, fire and tax districts, cable, water, sewer and utility companies, etc. Addresses can also give you a reasonable idea about minimum annual income, minimum education level, home value, lifestyle, etc. Use this information to refine your messages to different audiences. Residence type – In general, people living in apartments tend to be different from those living in single-family homes. Apartment dwellers are more likely to be unmarried, to be younger, to have no pets and to not own a lawn mower. If you sell lawn mowers you might eliminate those addresses that include likely apartment addresses such as “Apt.”, “Bldg.”, “Unit”, etc. Prefixes - These can tell you a lot about marital status, gender and occupation. “Mr.”, “Mrs.”, “Miss” and “Ms.” are dead giveaways for gender. Some other informative prefixes include “Rev”, “Fr” (Father), “Dr”, “Atty”, “Prof”, Hon (Honorable) and the whole gamut of military ranks. Suffixes – These are sometimes called post nominal letters meaning “letters after the name”. They can look like alphabet soup, but they can also tell you a lot about the recipient. Some common suffixes include “J.D.” and “Esq. (lawyers), “MD”, “OD”, “DO” and “DMD” (doctors), “CPA”, “CMA” and “ABA” (accountants)…oh, this seems endless! You get the idea. A single, female lawyer living in an apartment in an upscale area often has many differing interests and needs compared to a married woman living in a rural single-family home. If you have different products or a different messages for these two types of women, then you should be taking a closer look at your mailing list. We can help do this. More importantly, we can show you how to use this information to make your communications more efficient and effective.

What Twitter’s New Mute Feature Means For Marketers

We all have that one friend. They’re opinionated, often uninformed and have no filter whatsoever. And for some reason, we follow them on Twitter. If you’ve ever wished that you could find a switch to turn off their half-baked tweets for a few days (or months, or years…), now you can. Twitter recently unveiled a new “mute” feature that allows you to remove a user’s tweets and retweets from your timeline and block their push or SMS notifications. The silenced user will not be notified of their “muted” status, as they can still send you direct messages and favorite, reply to and retweet your tweets. This means that you’re only one click away from silencing someone you follow in a way that leaves them blissfully unaware. While this might be great news for personal users, this is somewhat terrifying for marketers. Though someone who is truly annoyed with a company’s Twitter activity is more likely to unfollow than mute, they still have the option to shut off your tweets during particularly tweet-heavy days, like when you’re conducting a Twitter-based live interview or real-time tweeting a major event. For the first time since Twitter’s launch, there’s no guarantee that all of your followers are seeing your tweets in their timeline. What you tweet has always been important, but now it could be what keeps you from (or causes you to be) muted. Here are some crucial things to keep in mind: Give the people what they want. 94% of Twitter users want discounts and promotions from the brands they follow, and 87% are hoping to be entertained. Deliver on these desires and keep your tweets both fun and valuable. Always ask yourself what your tweet is offering to your followers. Whether it’s an interesting image or a chance for a giveaway, give something that separates your tweets from the unnecessary noise. Tread lightly. This should go without saying, but unfortunately several major brands have broken this rule: NEVER appropriate a well known tragedy, disaster, or conflict for your branding. The only way to comment on such events is with seriousness, respect and absolutely no mention of your company. The attention you might receive for incorporating a catastrophic happening into your marketing is not worth the inevitability of offending your followers. It’s a dialogue, not a monologue. Twitter should be used as a tool that facilitates conversations between businesses and consumers. Reply to mentions, both positive and negative, and remember to keep a conversational tone. You’ll increase your company’s approachability and appeal by making sure your tweets don’t sound too formal.

Customer Touch Points

By Roger Buck Marketing for return on investment (ROI) means companies should utilize every opportunity to promote their products, service and brand. Direct mail, TV, radio, email and many other forms of marketing exist and may already be in your budget. However these can be expensive, so as part of your marketing plan development, it’s a good idea to look at your opportunities in customer touch points. A touch point is any communication opportunity that normally takes place with between your company and your current customers on a day to day or month to month basis. Here are a few key benefits of utilizing the marketing tactic. • Lower cost factor to implement • Works as a customer retention program • Drives account penetration • Provides opportunity for new customer acquisition • Many can be tracked to gauge response rate So how do you uncover these hidden marketing opportunities? First consider bringing together members of your company for a brain storming session. Involve accounting, sales, customer service and delivery staff. Even if you are a very small company you may have many touch points to consider. Let’s briefly look at two examples: a small retail store and a large manufacturer. Retail store If you have a “brick and mortar” location your customers and prospect may see many messages before getting to your door. Consider your store front. Does it have curb appeal? Is there ample parking? Is the parking area painted and free of trash? Do you utilize window graphics and, if so, do you change those often using high impact color graphics to pull the attention of clients and prospects? You will see quickly that your customers may receive several messages from you before even getting in the door. What message they are receiving is very important. When a client or prospect comes in how are they greeted? Here’s a very critical point. Remember, you only have one time to make a first impression. A pet peeve of mine is to walk in a store and have a sales clerk or service person ask “How are you?” I’m pretty sure they are not really interested in my health. I’d like to hope they are interested in why I’m at their store, so why not ask me “How can we help you today?” A great marketing plan can only provide an environment for a sale to occur, i.e., marketing can get the buyer in the door; however, a sales process still normally has to take place. The buying experience has many touch points that brand and sell your company. How your associates dress, speak and handle the interaction can send valuable messages to your customers that you appreciate and value their business. Likewise, prompt and accurate check out sends a message of professionalism and the common courtesy of a thank you presented in a sincere manner can have lasting impact. As you consider staff also consider you delivery team and vehicles. Company vans or trucks are rolling billboards of not just of your company name but also you image. Dented, faded paint and rust send a message to clients and drivers who may see it on the road. Do your drivers dress in company labeled apparel? Have you explained to them the sales value they can have on a delivery to a customer? From a drive by view of your store to a client leaving the parking lot there are multiple opportunity to send messages that should be explored, graded and exploited. Manufacturer If you produce goods then ship, transport or otherwise deliver goods you also have multiple customer touch points. These may start with you customer service team or website. Before your client ever see’s your product they interact with some segment of your company. If they are put on hold do they listen to loud rock and roll or a static filled talk show? Why not use that hold time to present a pre-recorded message? When they receive your goods how are they labeled and packed? Could you utilize the shipping box for additional marketing? Could you include a flyer on a new product or a personally written “thank you” from the shipping department? After the sale you have more opportunities for additional marketing in the statement or invoices sent to your customers. Could you include advertising on the statement form? Could you utilize statement stuffers to promote new products? Have you consider including referral cards to drive new business? It’s been reported that the average person receives approximately 5000 marketing messages each day! Utilizing your customer touch points in a creative and impactful manner can help your brand stand out from all the others. In most cases, customer touch points are your most economical means of promoting, branding and marketing your company. Roger Buck is the Direct of Marketing at The Flesh Company, a large printing firm, based in St. Louis, MO and a 40 year veteran of the print industry who is a frequent contributor to various publications.

3 Marketing Lessons We Learned From Our Moms

Sunday was Mother’s Day, and it got us thinking about all of the amazing things that our moms do for us. They’re also very skilled in the art of persuasion (you still eat your broccoli, don’t you?) Check out these great marketing lessons that we learned from our moms, and give your mom a hug while you’re at it: 1. Always make your message clear. Moms know to never leave anything open to interpretation. You should communicate with your customers in direct, easy to understand ways, telling them exactly what you want them to do and how to do it. And of course, just like Mom, do it with love. 2. Sometimes a whisper is more effective than a shout. You know those moments when your mom suddenly got very quiet and very intense? That was a sure sign that it was time to listen. You can capture your audience’s attention the same way. Instead of always trying to be the loudest and flashiest company, learn to convey powerful messages in simpler ways. 3. Don’t be afraid to have fun. Some of the best memories with our moms are the ones where we played hookie, built blanket forts, or ate large quantities of ice cream. It’s good to get down to business with your marketing, but always remember to have some fun with it. Your customers will appreciate and remember you for it.

The ABC's of VDP

The availability of digital technology for gathering, analyzing and storing information, combined with the efficiency of digital printing, has greatly expanded the ability of businesses and organizations of any size to reach out to customers and prospects with a customized message. This ability, called one-to-one marketing, is very different from the one-to-many marketing messages of traditional media. In one-to-many marketing, the same content is sent to the entire audience, who are assumed to share an interest in the content being sent. In contrast, one-to-one marketing sends a custom message to each individual in the audience, often producing a response of “How did they know I was interested in that?!” The process for conducting one-to-one marketing is called variable data printing (VDP). VDP can range from a simple mail merge (such as including a person’s name in the inside address of a letter) to a highly sophisticated change of text, photographs and graphic images (such as preparation of a booklet defining insurance benefits, deductibles and premium payments for a single individual). VDP is enabled by linking a static page layout with a database of information and a file of photographs and graphic images, then applying a set of rules that tells how to select elements from the database and image files and where to place them in the page layout. Since digital print creates each copy on-the-fly from a raster image file, it is easy to make every copy unique. VDP pairs offset quality with digital customization The early forms of VDP had several tell-tale limitations: the custom information almost always appeared in black ink, and sometimes the font didn’t match the rest of the type or the margins weren’t even. When overprint, versioning and mail merge came into wider use, these limitations became recognizable and compromised the effectiveness of the customization. Today’s VDP is markedly different. Using color digital technology, the entire piece can be printed in full color, the custom information can be placed almost anywhere, and custom graphic images like charts and graphs can be created on-the-fly as the document is printing. (Utility bills and credit card statements – known as transactional printing – are two examples this type of VDP.) When VDP is used for marketing material, each copy is unique, customized and printed for the individual recipient. Even without extensive customization, VDP is an ideal choice for direct mail, promotional flyers and event promotion: • Print only as many as you need. Limit the number of copies to the number in your database. • Test market a direct mail piece. Adjust the content of a direct mail piece for A/B testing, then use the version with the best response rate for the main mailing. • Print addresses directly on the mail piece as the piece is being printed. Eliminate labels and hand-addressing. VDP use is growing The Who’s Mailing What! Archive is the world’s largest library of direct mail information. Sponsored by the North American Publishing Company, the archive has been collecting information for 20 years in the form of 4000 to 5000 pieces of direct mail received monthly. Analyzed and stored as an online database, the archive is based on information from more than 240,000 direct mail packages. An analysis of 40 months of data from the archive (January 2009 to October 2011) shows the growth of VDP for direct marketing pieces: • In 2009, 28% of direct mail pieces were personalized. • In 2010, the number of personalized mail pieces increased to 34% (a 21% increase). • In the first ten months of 2011, the use of personalized mail pieces increased 21% of 2010, which is a 46% increase from 2009. The increased use of VDP for marketing is due to improving cost-benefit ratios (though a personalized direct mail piece costs more than a static piece, companies print only the number they need) and better response rates. MindFire, Inc., a company that provides VDP software, has studied 1856 cross-media marketing campaigns in 30 vertical industries. MindFire reports that in 2010, the response rate across all industries averaged 4.5%. Compare this with an average response rate from static direct mail of between 0.5% and 2%. Use VDP for your customers first Earlier we mentioned that VDP combines a static page layout with a database of information. The more information in the database, the more custom and personalized the VDP mail becomes. Because you know more about your customers than your prospects, and because it is easier to sell to existing customers than prospects, it makes sense to use VDP on customers first. We recommend that you start with a relatively simple project, one that takes advantage of the information you already have collected about your customers. That could include a reminder about the last item they purchased or the last donation they made, coupled with an offer specifically related to that transaction. If desired, make it a cross media campaign by including a personalized URL (uniform resource locator – a web address) on the mail piece. We’ll help you design the mail piece and check your database to be sure it has all the needed information for customization. Contact Kimberly or Dan at 303.320.4855 for more information and assistance in putting VDP to work for your company or organization.

How to Be a (Professional) People Person

Being approachable is key for a manager, but unfortunately not everyone is naturally warm and friendly. Having a slightly cold demeanor can sometimes lead to misunderstandings and even create unnecessary tension. The good news is that with a few simple tips, you can seem far more approachable and open. Here are some things to keep in mind: Nonverbal cues. Some people’s resting faces are naturally unhappy-looking. This combined with bad body language habits like crossing your arms can make you seem incredibly intimidating. By paying attention to what you’re doing with your face and body, you can convey how friendly you truly are. This doesn’t mean that you need to be grinning widely and ready to embrace someone at any moment, but having a pleasant expression and posture that isn’t closed off will go a long way. Empathy. It can be difficult to put yourself in someone else’s shoes, particularly when you adamantly disagree with what they have to say. But if you can manage to understand where they’re coming from, and show that you do, they will appreciate your empathy. The simple phrases “I understand” and “that must be difficult” demonstrate that you have given thought to a different perspective. Genuine interest. While it’s important to have a distinction between professional and personal lives (though that line is different for every person and employer), it’s also important to cultivate a genuine interest in your employees. Ask them how their kid’s piano recital was, or if they found a contractor to fix the hole in their roof. Also be willing to reciprocate and share details about yourself and your life. This helps to build relationships and establishes trust. Recognition. It’s easy to get caught up in goals and everything you and your team need to do to accomplish them. However, it’s important to take a step back and recognize the people who are going above and beyond. This too shows that you pay attention and care about the great things that they’re doing.