Responding to Customers During a Crisis

Southwest Airlines is my favorite airline and I'm a fairly outspoken about it. When a technology malfunction grounded around a thousand flights this past week and delayed hundreds more, it affected thousands of people flying across the country. When something this catastrophic happens, a crisis management plan is implemented. They have to get things back up and running first; not only the planes, but their website was down during a particularly good sale. As they are working on the technology side, their communications groups go to work. 

Southwest took to social media with videos explaining what was going on. One particularly informative Q&A posed questions that a lot of customers had on their minds, not just lobbed softballs for the COO. There are multiple posts giving customers information and although the comments are mixed, you can tell the loyal customers; the customers that have made Southwest Airlines the 7th most admired company in the world according to Forbes Magazine.

Let's face it, unforeseen things happen. They happen to good people and good companies, but if you communicate how things will be rectified for customers and how things will be fixed, the reputation that you've built with your company will continue to stand through thick and thin.

Work-Life Balance

Back in college, all-nighters were a regular occurrence. One time in particular, there was a party Saturday night. It was Friday night and the only thing standing between me and that party was a 20-page paper and one night do it. Of course the professor had given me more than one night to do it, and of course there was Sunday, but I made a deadline and decided I was going to do it within the 10 hours overnight at the library. With half an hour to spare, I completed the paper (and ended up with an A- on the paper).

When I joined the workforce full-time, there were a few of those overnights to meet a proposal deadline. They were a badge of honor, a physical act to show the company how dedicated I was. If I were to do that today, I'd be looked at as crazy. Pushing yourself to be better, achieving aggressive goals, competing with your co-workers to be the best.... all can be positive things if you're working towards them with an appropriate work-life balance.

Gone are the days for me where I can even function after less than 5 hours of sleep, let alone an all-nighter. Here are some things I do to maintain a decent work-life balance:
1. I have at least one vacation planned out. By the time I get back into town from vacation, I already have the next locale chosen. This allows me to always have the ability to bring happy thoughts to the forefront of my brain when I need some positivity.
2. I have dramatically cut back on when I check work email. If I'm hanging out with friends and family, the work email doesn't get checked. France is passing a law that makes checking email after hours illegal.

3. By realizing a job is just a job - it's not your entire life - is very important for me to keep in the back of my head. No one company will shut its doors because you took that two-week European vacation or took off work early to see your daughter's dance recital. Work will be there the next day and the next.
4. Find a good stress reliever. After a particularly stressful day at the office, some people use exercise or laughing with friends as a de-stresser. Me? An hour-long session of Grand Theft Auto trying to get four stars as quickly as possible.

Details Matter, Especially For Nursing Mothers

As an event planner, you try to anticipate the needs of your guests, especially when you're planning an internal meeting with people that you work with regularly. Food allergies, 1 or 2 bed preference, specific drinks... those types of things. Guests will remember the meetings if everything goes right, but the meeting will be positively memorable because of the details.

One of the guests at a meeting I produced in January was a nursing mother. (Side bar here: I am a mother myself, but I did not have the ability to nurse my son and consequently don't really know anything that a nursing mother may need.) She had to check out of her room and come to the meeting, but needed a way to keep her breast milk cold for the remainder of the day, which included the plane ride home. Gary Bruckner, Event Guru at Walt Disney World Swan Resort in Florida, came up with a solution stat: instant ice packs that become cold when you want them too. Gary's very quick thinking gave the guest an immediate viable solution and removed that worry for her.

Although you can't anticipate everything, after reading this anecdote, you'll think of this solution when a nursing guest comes to you for help in the future. Kudos to Gary for the great idea!

Cool Product Alert: Stylish Purses With Chargers

How many times have you had a co-worker or a guest at an event ask if you have an extra phone charger? It seems to be happening to me more and more, especially with males. And I understand. They can't really carry a charger in their pocket. It's much more likely that a female would be carrying around a charger.

Now anyone who carries a purse, can carry around a charger in style. But not one that you have to plug in the wall, one that acts as a charger on its own. These weren't really designed with other people's phones dying though; they were designed for on-the-go nomophobics who are draining their batteries from sun up to sun down.

Being fully charged and stylish comes at a price though. The Kate Spade model is high at $698, where the Ivanka Trump model seems more reasonable at $325. Although a bit too pricey for me, I love the aspect of combining technology and style. We need our phones to last throughout the day, especially if we're away from the convenience of a wall plug. Until phone makers can extend the battery life of a phone 100 times (without making it a brick), consumers are going to look for products that combine technology with wearables and accessories.

Team Building in Kansas City

Let's be honest, team building in a Corporate setting can be a little awkward, especially if you've never seen your co-worker out of a suit. But there are a lot of options that can keep you in your normal clothes, but still interact in a different way with your co-workers. In Lee's Summit (Southeast of Kansas City), there is a new entertainment venue that recently opened called The Exit Room.

In The Exit Room, up to eight people are "locked" in a room and have to work together to get out. It's timed too, which creates an additional layer of excitement to work together. As an event organizer and planner, I like the idea of The Exit Room for team building because all I have to do is reserve a room (they're starting out with four) and determine which people I want to pair together. There is a built-in time limit of one hour, which could also allow me a mechanism to award a prize for the team to exit their room first. There are plenty of places nearby to reserve for a happy hour for your co-workers, so everyone can rehash their time working together to get out of The Exit Room.

Airbnb Could be a Good Option for Conference Travel

What do you do when you're going to a conference and can't find a hotel nearby? Try Airbnb or Airbnb for Business if you and your co-workers travel frequently. I recently took over coordinating a hotel room block for a conference a few months prior to the event. Confirmations of when people were actually arriving and departing were all over the place and because of the proximity to the conference, I had to schedule some people at two different hotels during the conference. Not the ideal situation.

Airbnb had some options in the same proximity as the convention center, at a fraction of the price. Now it may not be ideal for your colleagues to share a house, but take a look at different options, even if it's just for one person. There are a variety of options: anything from a shared room, to a private room, to an entire house.

Here are some things to consider if you're out of traditional hotel options and want to try Airbnb:

• Read the reviews on Airbnb and check the response rate and time of the host. 
• Look at all of the costs that you'll incur with your stay. Cleaning, deposit and extra people are a few of the charges that could be added. When you go into a specific listing, it will add up all the fees for you on the right.
• Read the cancellation policy carefully. If you don't have a definitive schedule, Airbnb may not be the right fit. Hosts will need to give you access to their home or shared space. 

It's always good to have options when you're limited because everyone seems to be descending on a city at the same time as you. Keep Airbnb in your back pocket.

Book Review: The Sell: The Secrets of Selling Anything to Anyone by Fredrik Eklund

Let me first admit that I am a fan of Fredrik Eklund of Bravo tv's Million Dollar Listing: New York fame. Knowing his adorable Swedish accent made reading The Sell even more entertaining.

The history of Fredrik's life helps illustrate how his foundation helped set him up for his future successes. He does discuss his tactics for negotiating and keeping the upper hand; something extremely important in your professional and personal life.

The discussion of personal brand and how to maximize your time for PR items (social media mainly) was a great reinforcement of other business books I've read. It's hard to implement advice sometimes, no matter how much sense it makes, but it was great to see the effect with a personal example. This example is also seen in Million Dollar Listing: New York.

Read this book for a different perspective on negotiating and selling yourself. If you buy it for your Kindle, get the "deluxe" version so you can watch videos of the endearing Fredrik.

The Evolution of Integrating Work Travel With Home Life

In the February/March issue of Collaborate magazine, there was an interesting brief about a conference that provided onsite child care for participants. It can be tough to be away from your family, especially if you're also the primary caregiver for your children. In a 2014 study conducted by The Council of Economic Advisors, 49% of parents said they passed up a job they felt would conflict with family obligations. Traveling for work, including attending a conference, would count towards that conflict.

Providing assistance for childcare onsite is a great way to give flexibility to the parents to still do their jobs well, but also know that they can travel with their child as well. Child care isn't just popping up at conferences, golf courses like Province Lake Golf Club in Maine are beginning to provide this service too!

By understanding the needs of your demographic and their psychographics, you can offer additional services to either draw more people, or enhance their experience. Providing child care is just one example of how you can help remove barriers from people partaking in events or using your product or service.

Shoes That Repair Your Feet

All road warriors know what to expect on the road: long hours standing or walking. This is especially true when you're a trade show road warrior. At the PGA Show in Orlando, I stopped by the Telic footwear booth.

They promised comfort and recovery for any trade show goer's aching feet. After being on the floor for 10 hours that day, I went back to my hotel room completely exhausted. I popped on my bright pink Telic flip flops and it felt like a massage on my feet.

The next day, I didn't have any issues with my feet - they weren't sore, they weren't achy. Believe me, that has never happened before. It helped with a blister I had developed after wearing high heels one day, and even just standing on my feet all day. Road warriors - check these shoes out!

Book Review: The 4-Hour Workweek

This book has been sitting on the Etap Communications library shelf for a long time. The title has

always been very intriguing to me, but for some reason I hadn't read it. I wish I had read this book first when I was ready to start my professional career. Author Timothy Ferriss doesn't just focus on the professional aspect of how to work more efficiently, but really encourages you to re-evaluate your lifestyle, your wants, needs and desires and how to focus your energy on achieving the things you want to do in life.

I share my love of traveling with the author, which is why I could instantly relate to the ideas in this book. Your dream may be to do something that does not include travel, but the fact of the matter is, nearly everyone has to work. We need money in order to live, however, Timothy argues you don't need as much money as you may think. He also gives examples about how these ideas can apply to couples and families, not just a single guy or gal wanting to "live the dream."

Here are some highlights of what you'll take away from this book:

• Focus on being productive instead of being busy
• Ask yourself if you're inventing things to do to avoid doing the important
• Maintain a low information diet
• Split your dreams into Having, Being and Doing - the Having category should have the least amount of things

Even if you don't own your own business, or enjoying working 40+ hours a week, reading this book will give you a good perspective on your dreams.

Adapt to Your Customers

In a recent trip back to my alma mater, I realized a lot has changed in seven years. As businesses, we have to be open to that change. I went back to the University of Kansas during homecoming week for the Journalism School's activities. I had the opportunity to walk around campus and see what's new and what has changed. I'm sure you can say the same when you go somewhere you haven't been in many years.

Let's take one of the libraries on campus, for example. They've removed the individual chairs in the lobby which reduces the noise and distractions. They're now encouraging food by having a coffee shop and packaged food available for purchase. They've also reorganized the furniture on the main floor, giving more seating options for groups and individuals. 

They listened to their customers. How do you do this? How do you implement change?

By asking or observing. Surveys are great to get feedback on specific things and to be able to quantify things. The better way is to observe. People may tell you they want one thing, but their actions speak louder than words. 

Changes can be anything from ordering new furniture, updating a process, upgrading software for end users, improving customer service calls, etc. I always look for things to implement that can be more efficient, but improving the quality or functionality of something can be just as important.

Stop Calling Yourself a Social Media Expert!!!

When clients ask me about something related to social media, its functionality or how it can be used as part of a marketing communications mix, I usually have the answer off the top of my head. Why? Because I use social media sites for business and personal reasons everyday. Does that make me an expert? No - it just means I have more knowledge than you do because of how often I use it.

Why am I not an expert? Because there are more than 200 social media sites currently available, connecting people online right now. I don't know if there's anyone in the world who could keep up on the functionalities, updates, and changes of more than 200 social media sites! 

It infuriates me when social media managers try to tell people they are experts - they aren't. If you are looking for someone with an expertise in social media for your business, consider these things:

• The branding and sales goals of what you want social media to help achieve.
• What social media sites are you competitors, or your industry colleagues, using?
• Who will be responsible for social media content, posting and scheduling?
• Does your crisis management plan include provisions for social media communication?
• Does your business have social media profiles because "everybody else does?"

A true social media manager with a marketing background can help guide you through those questions to decide whether your business needs to be on social media or not, and which profiles make most sense for your business.

September Means Christmas is Almost Here!

You've sent the kids back to school, you’re enjoying those last warm summer days, and Starbucks is finally serving Pumpkin Spiced Lattes again: it’s almost Christmas time! Well not really, but close. If you haven’t begun already, now’s the time to kick it into gear and begin planning those holiday cards and events for your clients and employees.

Start with the holiday party. It can be very difficult to find a venue to accommodate all of your needs this late in the game (some companies have already signed contracts with a venue a year in advance!) Don’t fret, just think outside the box, or call in some help. Etap Communications has event planners with experience in planning Corporate holiday parties to meet the goals of your event.

Next, look at your holiday card list, review and update it based off updated relationships or companies. Looking at the number of people on your list may help you decide if you want to do physical cards or an ecard, based on cost. Some companies do both and some companies do neither.

No matter what’s on your “to do” list for the holidays this year, don’t let time slip away further, and get to planning your holiday activities right now.

Unique Sponsorship Ideas

When you have the opportunity to sponsor an event, trade show or conference, it can mean great
exposure for your company. There can be a lot of different traditional sponsorship opportunities like signage, food, or level sponsors, but there may be some other opportunities to get your company noticed.

Just because a sponsorship isn't listed out doesn't mean you can't contact the event organizers to discuss other non-published options. Event organizers are typically ecstatic to accept additional sponsorship money, especially if they know they can help reach your sponsorship goals.

It doesn't have to be costly either. At the Collaborate Marketplace held in Portland, Oregon earlier this year, the ladies' restrooms were outfitted with mouthwash sponsored by Visit Syracuse. This mouthwash was labeled by a sponsor and included little cups to use too. What a brilliant idea for the target audience of this event: business women networking with others in face-to-face and crowd situations three straight days.

Think of ideas where your company could sponsor something useful that all of the event participants would either see or use. Brainstorm a list prior to calling and discussing non-publicized sponsorship options with the event organizers. Your ideas could be expensive to produce or brand, or they could be inexpensive like the mouthwash idea.

Book Review: Blue Ocean Strategy

If you feel like your business is stuck in a rut or things are stagnant, you need to make time to read this book. Blue Ocean Strategy's tagline is "how to create uncontested market space and make the competition irrelevant" - and it goes through just that and more.

Thinking about things from a different perspective can be a good thing, but this concept (embodied by the likes of Southwest Airlines, Callaway Golf and the NYPD) really brings people out of their comfort zone. To this effect the book also outlines a process to get employee buy-in. Let's face it, people can be afraid of change sometimes, especially if they think their job is at stake. 

Even if you don't own or manage a business, read the last part about getting employees on board. It can really help you with tactics in situations where you are leading people or trying to implement a new idea or process. 

The authors are currently updating this book, which will be published in 2015. You can pre-order this expanded edition on Amazon.com. 

Billboard Rules of Thumb

I was driving to the airport Saturday morning enjoying the traffic-less ride and I couldn't help but look at the billboards. I have a Journalism degree with an emphasis in Strategic Communications (advertising). I had to learn how to design print and radio ads, create a comprehensive campaign and include a call to action with nearly everything.

The billboards I was seeing on the side of the road were terrible. Not only did they not follow convention,

Billboard: bad example

you couldn't read them. It wasn't just one billboard, it was on one particular stretch of I-435 outside of Kansas City. Sometimes designers and ad agencies can get creative and throw all caution to the wind, but no matter whether you're going to follow proper convention or not, you must have these things in ANY billboard ad you design:

• Make sure text is readable - I use the "eight words or less" rule, but if you're not going to follow the rules, people have to be able to read your text at a quick glance.
• Brand or call to action - if your goal is to brand, make sure your logo is prominent and viewers would have no trouble identifying it was from you. If your goal is to call people to action, make sure they could act within the confines of their car going at 65+ MPH.

Billboards can help achieve multiple goals in your marketing mix, but if people can see something at a quick glance, it won't help achieve anything. 

Napa Earthquake: Event Planning Emergency Preparedness

What do you do when an earthquake happens and you're hosting an event? Your problem solving will likely kick-

Furniture moved from quake.

in as you try to keep your guests calm and decide what the next steps are. I had 27 people at the Napa Andaz when the earthquake hit at 3:20 am Sunday morning. 

Here are some tips to keep in mind while planning any event.

• When you contract with a venue, ask them what their emergency procedure plan entails for a likely disaster in that area of the country (California: earthquakes; Midwest: tornadoes; East Coast: hurricanes; etc.)

• Once you sign the contract, identify your contact in case of emergency and have their phone number programmed into your phone.

• Have a list of the attendees’ names in multiple places. If you can’t go anywhere without your phone, make sure you have access there.

• Have the attendees’ phone numbers programmed into your phone.

  

  Bathroom mirror shattered.

• If disaster strikes, direct people to the appropriate place (based on the emergency procedure plan) and take roll, using the list you have.

• Assess and address any injuries immediately.

• Make contact with your emergency contact and wait for further instruction.

• Stay calm. If people haven’t been in that type of situation before, it can be extremely frightening and they may take cue from your demeanor.

The Napa Andaz did a fantastic job of helping to get our guests accommodated at a different hotel in the area because of the damage. Their employees came straight to the hotel without being called in to help serve the guests. Because they had to evacuate the hotel, I wasn't able to get my silent auction items packaged up and shipped out. The hotel offered to do that for me; even though I'm sure it's the last thing on their minds after this disaster.

Book Review: E-Myth Revisited by Michael Gerber

I haven't read an E-Myth series book since 2004, but thought it was time to re-read the classic small business book. Owning Etap Communications and a start-up (PlanMyTournament.com) means I'm constantly running in different directions. This book outlines processes and steps to take in order to create quality processes that are repeatable by writing things down in a step-by-step list.

Creating a process for everything helps when I take vacation or am sick. It's time to really expand on the number of processes we have in place so as we market Etap Communications and bring in new business, we have an established program to easily integrate new staff members.

Michael Gerber's The E-Myth Revisited goes through the story of Sarah, a pie shop owner. Even though he describes the process and business principles through a B2C format - you can easily see a connection for B2B. This is a great read, and re-read, and a Top 10 business book for business owners in my opinion.

What Will Our Marketing Teams Look Like in the Future?

Hardly anyone knew in 2003 that social media would be a main channel in our marketing mix today. How do you go about predicting the future of marketing then? By realizing that adaptability and flexibility are keys to staying on top of marketing.

With an internal marketing team, you'll work together with other departments to collaborate on ideas about how to reach your target consumer. It won't be limited by just members of the marketing team or by a marketing team title. By ignoring traditional boundaries, you'll be able to receive feedback from people who deal with different aspects of the business and varied interactions with customers. Keeping the group open and accepting all ideas (no matter how silly) can really help bring forth a solid marketing idea. Hey, you don't know if 20 years down the road everyone will be receiving their information on Google Glass or if we'll regress to beepers as our preferred communication method.

As far as learning that information, we'll keep doing the same thing we've been doing. Understanding our demographics and psychographics; listening to our customers and watching their behaviors; and making our products and services better and more valuable for our customers.

Make a List to Accomplish More

I'm one of those Type A people. I like making lists and checking them off. Even if there's something I accomplished and realized I left off the list, I will add it to the list just so I can check it off. I'm not sure if I feel so accomplished at the end of the day because I actually completed things or because I have a list that reflects something more tangible. Here are some ways I use lists to help me accomplish more things each day:

• Create a running list in a notebook - this will help with the "feeling" of accomplishing more when you can see all of the things you've actually done
• Create a day-by-day to do list - segmenting the items that are top priority each day can help ensure you get more important tasks completed
• Create an hour-by-hour to do list - this is the most effective type of list for me because I can segment out how I'm going to accomplish the things I want to each day

No matter what type of list you create, physically writing things down will help increase your chances of actually getting it complete. Don't forget to keep the list handy and accessible as well. If you don't have the list available, you likely won't know what you're working to achieve.

You can also read the book "Getting Things Done" by David Allen. He points out ways to actually get things done by incorporating efficiencies into each day.