Yesterday I posted an article from the WSJ that talked about some of the significant data advances taking place in product marketing. Don’t get me wrong, I too, am impressed by the level of sophistication that is taking place in marketing, but it also makes me wonder about the “softer side” of marketing and selling. We have all seen that you can not run a business on data alone. People skills (communication, interaction, innovation, etc…) still play the most critical role in any business’ success. What good is the best packaging in the world, if the local representative can’t get good shelf placement for the product? And how does good shelf placement take place? Either through “buying” a location, or by talking to the store manager about the value proposition of the product. That’s right, by communicating about the value proposition of the product or service. So, while I will remain impressed by the technology advances in marketing, communication, etc… I will be even more impressed as individuals and organizations refine and perfect their “in person” communication skills. Organizations seem insatiable when it comes to buying more and more data, while canceling funding for team-building programs and personal development.

This leads me to a discussion that took place earlier this week. During an interview for March’s upcoming Podcast, Mary-Ellen Drummond, President of Polished Presentations International, pointed out that you can gauge the future success of an individual by his/her answer to one question. And the question? “Would you be willing to stand-up right now and give a presentation?” If the individual answered yes, the data suggests that they will typically be much more successful in their chosen profession. If this is such a strong predictor of future success, don’t ever sell yourself short by relying on only “data” to drive your point home. Your comfort level in front of real people, every day, communicating your solution or value proposition has never been more important.

The below article appeared in yesterday’s WSJ. Unbelievable how sophisticated marketing is getting. Enough said….for now!

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The Wall Street Journal (The Wall Street Journal)
Wed, February 17, 2010

The Emotional Quotient of Soup Shopping Campbell Soup is introducing some new soup labeling based on “neuromarketing” research that aimed to pinpoint By Ilan Brat | 842 words The bowls are getting bigger and steamier, but the soup spoons are going away. Those are among the biggest changes Campbell Soup Co. is making in decades to the iconic labels and shelf displays of its condensed soups—the company’s biggest single business, with more than $1 billion in sales. The changes—to be announced Wednesday—will culminate a two-year effort by Campbell to figure out how to get consumers to buy more soup. Condensed soup has been a slow-growing category in which consumers have little tolerance for price increases. The problem: It’s not easy to know what prompts people to buy soup, except it’s warm to eat on a frosty day. When asked why they eat more soup or not, people tend to “say they don’t think of it,” says Doug Conant, Campbell chief executive. The company hopes the label and display changes will help shoppers connect on a deeper level to the products and boost its condensed soup sales by 2% over the next two years. For two years, Campbell researchers studied microscopic changes in skin moisture, heart rate and other biometrics to see how consumers react to everything from pictures of bowls of soup to logo design. This “neuromarketing” approach is a fresh attempt among companies to better understand how consumers respond to marketing and advertising. Technological advances have made the research cheaper and faster, making it accessible to more companies. Scientists also better understand how near-instant brain and body responses relate to how people generate meaning from new information, says Robert Barocci, president of the Advertising Research Foundation. For years, Campbell’s researchers asked consumers whether they remembered an ad and whether it made them more likely to buy a product. But a 2005 Campbell analysis revealed that, overall, ads deemed more effective in surveys had little relation to changes in sales. Robert Woodard, Campbell’s vice president of global consumer and customer insights, says the traditional interview had limited usefulness because people’s words didn’t fully capture their unconscious responses. He says Campbell needed approaches that would help it understand the neurological and bodily responses to an ad rather than how people thought they’d reacted. By 2008 Mr. Woodard settled on the biometric tools combined with a different type of deep interview to more accurately gauge which consumer communications worked better. Campbell then hired Innerscope Research Inc., a Boston company that measures bodily responses, and other firms to help conduct research. To be sure, neuromarketing techniques have their doubters. And biometrics tell only if a person reacted to something, not whether they liked or disliked something, and sample sizes tend to be small. Carl Marci, an Innerscope founder, says his tools can’ t pinpoint what emotions a person feels. But if all the biological metrics move simultaneously in the same direction, the subject is likely to be emotionally engaging with something. Campbell began dissecting its condensed-soup marketing that summer, around when executives had started considering how to refresh the product line. Researchers interviewed about 40 people at their homes and later in grocery stores. The team also clipped small video cameras to the testers at eye level and had them later watch tape of themselves shopping for soup. Special vests captured skin-moisture levels, heart rate, depth and pace of breathing, and posture. Sensors tracked eye movements and pupil width. Researchers found warmth and other positive attributes people associated with Campbell’s soup at home evaporated when they faced store shelves. Typically, consumers show simultaneous blips in most of their biological metrics when they decide to buy something. These indicate the emotional reward they feel for making a choice and may help drive future purchases, Mr. Marci says. But the array of condensed soups so overwhelmed many participants that they would quickly scan the category and select soups while evidencing little biometric response. The people who spent more time exploring varieties showed more and bigger simultaneous spikes in biometrics—and tended to put more soup cans in their baskets. The Campbell team figured it could boost sales by triggering more emotional responses in stores and prompting more people to focus on more soups. Another round of research showed Campbell’s large logo at the top of shelf displays draws more attention than necessary. At first glance, the logo’s bright red background makes its many varieties of soups seem to blend together, the company learned. In interviews, participants said the soup pictured on the can and shelf labels didn’t look warm. And the big spoon holding a sample on each label provoked little emotional response. Shoppers will begin seeing changes in supermarkets this fall. Among them: Condensed-soup varieties will be sectioned into four, color-coded categories such as “taste sensations” in orange and “classic favorites” in light brown. The company’s logo will be smaller and moved lower so it’s not as prominent. Campbell’s three biggest sellers—chicken noodle, tomato and cream of mushroom, the soup can labels immortalized by Andy Warhol—will remain the same. But on other labels, steam will rise from larger, more vibrant pictures of soup in more modern, white bowls. And those unemotional spoons will disappear.

Yesterday, I wrote a comment on how misrepresentation could not only hurt you, but possibly an entire market. Today, I have witnessed some unbelievable information sharing on a few of the social networks about an organization and an individual that have a less-than-spectacular performance and reputation. In general, they have promised a lot and delivered virtually nothing to most of the individuals who have commented upon their service. Many of the individuals contributing to the discussion have been duped out of a great deal of money. What is even more interesting is that while the “company” has changed its’ name a few times, the “web-sleuths” have tracked down their business and have spread the word about the new moniker, and the sleuths continue to keep us informed, so the rest of us don’t fall into the same trap. Now, let’s think about this for a minute, and I’m jazzed about it!

Why am I jazzed! Because, our customers are holding us accountable! Never has performance been more critical than now, when everyone can search you on Google, find out what you are about, what you’ve done, etc…. Social media is the fastest growing area on the web. Oh yeah, the second largest search engine behind Google? YouTube! Are you there?

So, you’ve done some so-so work that you are not trying to highlight. You don’t include the company on your references page, and you “think” that no one will know about the work. Au contraire! It is quickly becoming a world where our customers really do hold the cards and they can, and do, share their experiences, both good and bad. The up side of all of this transparency? If you are doing good work, word about your quality can spread just as quickly. Now, we must also accept that not everyone we work with will be delighted by our efforts. Try as you might, not everyone will love you and your work. If someone chooses to share their disappointment in your work, what you can do is ensure that there is a fair balance of information available, for potential customers to review. Somewhat like the Amazon rating system, not everyone may not love the book, but everyone gets a chance to offer their opinion for everyone to consider. And your (new) customers will have access to fair-balanced information about your performance and reputation.

Oh, by the way, I was just contacted by one of your distant relatives, who informed me that you have over $12M waiting for you in a secret bank account. You are lucky, for only $780, I can help you get access….

In the past several days, we received an incredible letter from the President of High Point University. I could summarize the letter then talk about all of the good examples that it sets, but I believe it speaks most strongly in its’ original form. I contacted Nido Qubein directly to get his permission to share this document on my blog, and he agreed to the request. Below is the letter, and I believe you can easily see how extraordinary leadership and teamwork are coming together to create a success story that is awe inspiring. If you like what you read, you can learn more about High Point University on their web site (www.highpoint.edu) and the great things that are happening in this incredible success story.

New Year’s Greeting from President Nido R. Qubein

January 2010

Dear HPU Parent:

While this new year opens the corridors to new dreams and possibilities, my colleagues and I at High Point University wish for you and your wonderful family the ultimate gifts of joy, peace, and good health. Thank you for entrusting your student to us.

As you already know, amazing things are happening on this campus. In bigger and better ways than any one of us ever imagined. And we’ve only just begun!

Consider that HPU is now #1 among Best Schools To Watch, #1 Comprehensive School in North Carolina, #5 Comprehensive School in the South (U.S. News & World Report), and among the top 6% of all schools in the nation (Forbes.com). Wow! How grateful we are!

How did we get here – so fast?

The answer is as obvious to me as anything I’ve ever known in more than 30 years of a blessed and successful career: We put the student first.

That’s right. We put your student’s best interests first and foremost in all we do. Every day. We are student-centered. We take your faith in us seriously. We know why you want your student to attend college – and we aim to satisfy that need, professionally and purposefully.

We shout it from the mountain top: At High Point University, every student receives an extraordinary education in an inspiring environment with caring people. Holistic education. Values-driven philosophy. Committed faculty and staff.

My mother used to say it this way: Who you spend time with is who you become. What you choose is what you get. If you want to be successful, you must first walk hand-in-hand and side-by-side with successful people. Great advice for me forty years ago. Great advice for my children and for yours today. Principle-centered living never goes out of style. At HPU, we strive to be models and mentors for our students. We are not perfect and we don’t succeed every time, but we give it all we have every day.

I am proud of our stellar faculty who focus more on “learning” than “teaching.” They don’t want your student to merely “learn” but to “learn how to learn” instead. The latter lasts a lifetime and sustains rewarding results in all venues of work and service.

I am grateful to our loyal staff members who ensure the safety and security of our campus community. Who create healthy student life activities. Who manage scores of necessary services like transportation, medical health, restaurants, sports, residential needs, classroom innovation, technology, and counseling.

I am inspired by our students who invest 30,000+ service hours a year tending to the poor and hungry, to children and senior citizens, to those in need and those who protect them. Students who raise tens of thousands of dollars annually, through a hundred or so campus groups, and engage thoughtfully in acts of stewardship and philanthropy. Unfortunately, young people are just like airplanes: You only hear about the ones that crash. The media often overlooks the great majority that moves heaven and earth to make our world a better place. Those students are aplenty at HPU. We thank God for them. You raised them. You deserve a lot of credit.

Forgive me for being so passionately invested as we welcome a new year. It’s a great time to be alive. High Point University is a great place to be. Your student can choose to be extraordinary – in every way – and we’re here to guide them.

Thank you for your support. Thank you for your encouragement. Thank you for cutting us a little slack when we disappoint you. Just remember that together we can truly make good things happen. At HPU, that’s not a wish. That’s a fact.

Consider that half-a-billion-dollars have been invested in the last four years constructing and transforming an outstanding educational campus (one million square feet of state-of-the-art learning and living spaces). That enrollment is growing at a rapid pace (41,000 high school seniors inquired about HPU this year!) with students who have better GPAs, higher SAT scores, and amazing leadership accomplishments. We’ll have 1200 freshmen this fall, well ahead of the 370 we had just four years ago!

Our Board of Trustees is studying phase two of our transformation. It will include a new library, athletic arena, Science & Math Center, School of Education, School of Health Sciences, School of Design, Greek Village (14 fraternity & sorority houses), two residential communities, and the acquisition of more land. We will expand our growth plan in responsible and productive ways over the next seven years. You’ll be impressed.

We’re serious about our brand, our reputation, and about your student’s future. You can always depend on us to listen, to understand, and to act in ways that create congenial “family” relations.

For now, I’m depending on you to keep spreading the good news about your student’s alma mater. To support us in every way you can. To give us feedback. To come visit often.

May the months ahead shower you with both success and significance. Both the gift of patience and the sense of urgency. Both an innovative mind and a calm heart. Life is what we make it. Often, we discover that out of what appears to be adversity can emerge enormous abundance.

And back here on the “wow” campus of High Point University: This will undoubtedly be a year of growth and maturation for your student. A year of determination in the classroom and responsible civic engagement in the community. A year of study abroad, internship, leadership position or one of a host of other opportunities. College ought to prepare our children for life. At HPU, we focus daily not on the product (the diploma) but the product of the product (what will students be able to achieve when they graduate).

Serendipities lie ahead. Rejoice and be glad. Happy New Year.

Sincerely,

Nido R. Qubein
President
nqubein@highpoint.edu

As 2010 kicks into high-gear, I’ve already got a number of “topics” that I’ll be blogging about in the coming weeks. Topics like remote workplace efficiency, cross-generational communication, areas for differentiation and motivating for accomplishment, are just a few of the areas that will be explored in the coming weeks.

In advance of these discussions, I believe it is time for all of us to sit-back and put the finishing touches on our plans for 2010. And by this, I mean both personal AND professional plans. I’m not interested in the business plan that you have been forced to put together and have little interest in, or accountability for….nope, I’m talking about REAL plans. You know, the meaty ones that fire your passion. These are the plans that some could even call foolhardy, because they are stretching so much. Go ahead, stretch, you have my permission. Plan like you mean it. I’ll wait.

I know, you hear me speaking about planning fairly frequently, so you probably are getting the feeling that I believe it is an important step to success. If this is your guess, then you win the gift behind door number 1. And your gift? Organization AND accomplishment.

Back in 2000, I decided that I wanted to play the bagpipes. This epiphany occurred after watching Riverdance on broadway. Now, most people got out of their seats, probably went home and bought the CD, and called it a day. Not me. Not even close! I WANTED to make that music. Forget about the fact that I didn’t play a single instrument played at the performance, or that you could put my entire Celtic knowledge into a thimble with room to spare. Those were incidentals. I set my mind to choosing an instrument that would enable me to play Celtic music, and I started learning the instrument that week! And yes, it would have been that day if I could have gotten the shipping (from eBay) to happen even faster!

More importantly, I also set goals for learning the instrument. I not only wanted to learn, I wanted to be good, even great. I started playing in a street band, and quickly progressed into the competitive arena, where bagpiping is most difficult and challenging. In the competitive world of piping (you didn’t even know there was one, did you?) it is you against a whole bunch of other folks, playing in front of a judge. No place to run and hide here…it is all on the table for all to see/hear. And, with a bagpipe, the hearing ranges almost ½ mile, so EVERYONE is hearing your playing.

To get to the level of playing in competition, I set a practice schedule, tracked my time and effort against that schedule. I sourced one of the finest bagpipe teachers on the East Coast (Jim Stack) and started taking lessons every Saturday, at 8:00am. Oh yeah, and Jim lived more than 90 minutes away, so I was leaving my house on a Saturday by 6:30am. I told you, I wanted to be great.

Now, looking back over 9+ years of piping, I have come close to achieving most of what I set-out to achieve. I may not be great, although some would say I’m quite good, but I definitely can hold my own on the instrument. And the cool part? The journey has been fantastic! It was 10x more difficult than I had ever imagined. I’ve seen some data that suggests the Great Highland bagpipe is the most difficult woodwind in the world. But, I set my sights high, I put plans together, adjusted as necessary, and kept charging forward, towards my goal. And, more goals are still being set. Matter of fact, one of my New Year’s resolutions (goals) was around practice time on the pipes. See, I really DO believe goal-setting is important. Now, get out of here and set your own! You’ll be glad you did.

We hear this phrase often, (although some would argue not often enough!) but have you really put this into practice in your daily activities? What reminded me of this phrase was a comment I read last night that businesses tend to take three major steps. “Every great cause begins as a movement, becomes a business, and turns into a racket.” Two questions, why does this happen? And is it the necessary evolution of all work?

To answer the first question, we don’t have to look very far to see how greed and a lack of principles have devastated entire industries. In pursuit of the “all-mighty dollar” organizations and individuals have put principle on the back burner in pursuit of ever increasing profits and income. The end result? The current state of Wall Street. Now, I’m not trying to say that everyone on Wall Street has behaved without principle, but there certainly appears to be a strong current of non-principled behavior that is crashing companies and individuals every day.

As for the second question, no, this evolution is not a necessary evolution for a company or individual. I continue to work with many companies and individuals that have rooted their corporate and personal behavior in principles we all appreciate. Honesty, courage, candid communication, trust, and the list goes on. What I also observe in these organizations is that they tend to have longer-term success, and customer loyalty. They are not in it for the quick dollar, they are in it to serve their customers and the community.

Now, sit back and ask yourself a few questions about your principles. What are they? And, more importantly, are you true to them, every day? If the answer is not a resounding “Yes”, then you have some work ahead, but don’t despair, you can change this today, right now! And the really good thing? Those that deal with you, (whether they are customers, employees or colleagues) will also notice these principles, and they will appreciate and stand by you now and tomorrow. Principled behavior, make it a core of how you behave.

Where does creativity come from?

Back in September, there was an article in the WSJ about Netflix running an algorithm contest. The gist was that Netflix was asking their members to create algorithms that would more accurately project movies of interest to their membership. While I am certainly not an expert in this area, I loved the idea that Netflix was using their member base to create better services for their company and their organization. Their ability to both listen AND harness the power of the members was just one reason this company has done so well over the years.

Now, ask yourself, how are you harnessing good ideas for your business? When was the last time you asked your customers what was most important to them? When did you last ask your own employees to get involved in solving current issues? If you haven’t, you better get on it! One only has to sit in the seat of the user or those that work closely with your users to get an eye-full of product improvement ideas and solutions.

Several years back, I was put through an exercise where everyone changed roles for one day in the company. Coordinators became executives, sales people became production folks, and executives took lower level positions throughout the organization. Once your role was established, the “company” was forced to make several key decisions. What quickly emerged was that if any of the groups isolated themselves, they did not understand the full picture, and they would most likely make uninformed decisions. Those at the lower levels saw the train-wreck in progress, while those at the top moved blissfully along without involving everyone that could help make good decisions. It was an eye-opening experience for everyone, and it was an exercise that helped our entire organization grow in our decision-making ability.

Have you done something similar? If so, I’d like to hear about it!

I spoke last week about some basic communication fundamentals, focusing mostly on preparation and practice. I’d like to take that a step further today and talk about “um”. Yep, you heard me correctly, “um”. Now, “um”, I’m not certain you, “um” realize how often you, “um” may be saying “um”, but I bet it is, “um” a lot more frequently than you realize. Kind of irritating to read, isn’t it? Well, it is just as frustrating to listen to!

There are a number of great ways you can work on removing the “um” from your presentations, and I’d like to share a few. You can join an organization that helps with communication skills, like Toastmasters, or other local organizations. You can also keep it personal and work on it yourself. Let’s be clear, eliminating the “um” isn’t rocket science, it just requires disciplined effort.

I think we can solve this little faux-pax on our own, so let’s take it on. This exercise requires several things. 1) A pencil. 2) Something to write on. 3) A willing person to count/help or a video camera. I’ll leave the choice to you.

Now, put together a 5 minute presentation on your favorite topic. Make it something easy, something that you feel comfortable speaking about. Now, stand-up and present to your camera/helper and count the number of times you say “um”. Ok, I’ll wait.

Oooh, I counted 12. How many did you notice? And the scary part, you knew we were going to be counting! So now, think about how many “ums’ you throw out there when you are focused on all of the other issues of a solid presentation. With everything else going on during a presentation, you have to make the elimination of “um” a natural habit, or it will get you every time.

I’ll suggest you do several things: Slow your presentation down. You can think a lot faster than you can talk, and if you begin delivering too quickly, your brain will get way ahead of your voice and you will start putting “fillers” in, like…”um”. Slowing your presentation down will give the audience more time to absorb what you are saying AND makes your delivery more focused. You will develop a cadence that is comfortable for the audience and keeps you focused on delivery, versus having your brain running ahead at mach 5. Also, study your topic more. Nothing makes a presentation go more smoothly than delivering content that you are fluent and confident about. You will know how you intend to develop the “story”, the way the entire speech ties together, and how you intend to end this masterpiece of verbal entertainment! So, before you are up in front of important customers or colleagues the next time, let’s get that “um” out of the way.

We have all heard this saying before, but how have you been applying this information to your professional life? Let me provide a few things to think about.

If, like me, you are a fan of the symphony, you realize that a significant amount of practice goes into every instrument in the orchestra. Some data suggests that you need to practice for 10,000 hours to achieve professional proficiency on an instrument. All of this practice and effort demonstrates itself each week at the local symphony performance. Now, just think for a moment what it would be like if they chose to use the concert as practice? Kind of scary, huh?

While the World Series was just clenched a week ago, it will not be long before the teams will again be showing-up for their spring training camps, to practice their trade. Again, how would you feel if they used the first game of the season, and possibly the first half of the season as their practice? I dare say it wouldn’t be very impressive.

Now, how often have you practiced your trade in advance of your performance? Your performance could be a call on a very important customer, or a presentation to a venture capital board. The sad reality is many times professionals don’t practice their trade. How often have you heard a sales representative say they have a “natural” gift, so they don’t need to practice? Or, I’m so familiar with the financials, that we don’t need to run through them before the board presentation. Each time I observe this type of behavior, I just shake my head. If the presenter, whoever they are, would have run through the content, practiced the delivery, and followed lines of anticipated questions down every available path, we would not witness so many “crash and burn” scenarios across a variety of businesses.

So, do me a favor. Take your next presentation, meeting or similar event, and practice right now. That’s right, in front of a mirror, using the materials you will use, and ask your self the difficult questions. Track every one of them down until you can no longer think of additional questions, then think of three more. The really tough ones! Now, just maybe you are ready, but, if you have more time, do it again…just like the pros do!

Now if you’ll excuse me, I have to go practice my next presentation…and oh yes, I’m also taping it.

We’ve heard it all before, that we have two ears and one mouth, and we would all be a lot better off if we listened twice as much as we talk. Pretty good advice, I must say. But, just as important, if you get the listening down, you now need to learn to listen with objectivity. Now this is a great deal more difficult.

Many times we will enter into a discussion with a perception of the answer, and we try to steer the discussion to the end-point we had envisioned. Stop!! Big, big mistake! If you approach discussions like this, you have already turned-off most of your listening, and you are just waiting for another opportunity to talk. Go back and read the first sentence of this blog again.

No one exemplifies pure listening better than kids. I’ve got a nephew that was once asked for his middle name when he was in grade school. His straight-faced response? Zander. All he knew was that his parents called him Alex, every day. Only when his Mom was upset would she call him “Alexander Hurd”. So to him, just listening in a pure sense, his middle name was Zander. Makes sense, doesn’t it? Only a kid!

Now, if we could all adopt the ability to really listen…without thinking about the expected answer, or what time the meeting will be over, or who did the person’s Power Point slides, we could all learn a lot more. One way to listen better (yep, better get your pad out for this one!) is to take notes, if you can. Now, I’m not advocating grabbing a pen and paper every time the neighbor comes to the fence to discuss last night’s ballgame, but there are many situations where you can take notes. Nothing makes people feel more important and appreciated than having people write down what they are saying. Yep, pretty simple, isn’t it? You are both learning more (focusing, writing/reading and listening) and you are complimenting the person you are talking with. Wow, just by taking notes! Oh yeah, and I mentioned writing/reading…yep, you’ve guessed it, you are involving so many more senses that you don’t have time, or the capacity to be drifting off thinking about something else. You are now really listening, and isn’t that what we were here to talk about anyway?