Is your Out-Of-Office message losing you business while you're out of the office?

Why even bother with an automated out-of-office e-mail message?

As you think of reasons, let's roll into the blog post.

I received this message recently:

I am out of the ffice on business and have limited access to emails.  I will return on MArch 12.

That was the entirety of the message.

First, let's discuss the typos...

Is this an example of your attention to detail?  If so, then perhaps I'm glad I am not currently using or referring your services.  Or, if I am, you just lost some credibility in my eyes. 

Even without the typos, there is plenty more to dislike.

1) It's all about you.  If you know me, you've heard the following rule: Never start any communication with the word 'I.' Not saying you need to add the insipid "Your e-mail is important to me..." beginning, but perhaps there is another way to start this auto-reply?

2) I received this on May 4th.  Did he mean "May 12" or did he not revise the auto-reply before re-enabling it? I'll never know. However, May 12th is a Saturday, so I have a good guess.

3) Sucks to be me. OK, I now know you are away.  What should I do if I need something from you or your company during this period? I guess I can call the main line (painful … and not part of your auto-reply, so I have to hunt even for that) or hope you find time to reply during your limited access. In either case the e-mail only serves to solve #1 below.  Not very useful.  And not at all customer-centric.

Amazingly, many out-of-office messages have typos.  And some really bad ones.   I've seen the word 'business' misspelled by a business advisor. I've seen the company name misspelled. (This is more common than you might think.) And, more often, I've seen out-of-office messages that were clearly written for a previous absence, since the dates are old or apply to a prior year.

Tip #1: Proofread your messages!
Tip #2: Check the dates on your calendar.

Now back to the original question:  Why even bother with an automated out-of-office message? 

Here are the top two things your message should communicate to the recipients:

1) Do not expect a fast reply, and 

2) Here's what you can do in the interim.

If your out-of-office message fails to deliver both of these, then you should strongly consider revising it.

And here's a third:

3) Even though I am out-of-the-office, you are smart for using/hiring us. 

Some people add a 'why' or 'where' to the message, such as "...presenting at..." or "...helping a client with..." This shows they are active and/or attentive.

Some others add the heart-warming "...family vacation..." mention.  A recent one I received let recipients know he was taking his daughter on a tour of colleges, which made me think very highly of him. Others might be annoyed, but I thought better of him and it gave me something to talk to him about when we communicated next.

On the plus side, I've read some strong out-of-office messages that either made me laugh or were written in a way that made me hear the sender's voice.  That being said, some read like small novels and, well, that can be hit or miss.  Especially if the banter buries the "Here is who you can contact in the meantime" portion.

Perhaps there is a chance to show some creativity, as you might do with your voice mail message?

To end: Your out-of-office message is your representative while you are away.  Think of what you want it to communicate while you sip that Mai Tai or slide your rollercase into the overhead bin.

At least, fix your typos and let me, your potentially important client or prospect, know what I can do in your absence.  

  

Ain't Talkin', Just Walkin' – Inspiration Comes From Odd Places

Question: Where do you find inspiration for your business development efforts?  

Some people find their motivation from YouTube Videos with soaring music, spacious images and cliches.  And that's fine.

Others find motivation from inspirational case stories such as people who climb mountains with only one leg, recover from tragedy/beat illness, and succeed despite odds that make you embarrassed to complain when the barista puts skim and not soy milk in your latte. And that's fine, too.

Me, many years ago in NYC: "I hate shaving."My roommate: "If you had no hands, you'd be happy to be able to complain about hating shaving." (Even so, I grew a beard.)

For business development, for me, it's a combination of three things:

1) Curiosity.  I meet a new person and I really want to know what they do, how they help others, what sets them and/or their offerings apart, and how they go about letting others know about this stuff.

2) Data.  I kind of get off on listening to folks say "Great work sells itself" and then checking to see the growth of their client base and the number of people they've networked with in the past 90 days, as well as their other business development efforts.  (Hint: doing a good job/having quality products are table stakes, not your business development plan. I have tons of data to prove this.)


Also, I like seeing how opportunities arise - using spreadsheets and forms.  Often, business developers are so sure they know who refers them business and how opportunities appear.  Often their beliefs are anecdotal and the actual metrics do not fully support them, or identify unnoticed veins of opportunity.  This takes effort, but the strategy is about as simple as it gets: Things that work once tend to work again. Things that work twice tend to work over and over again.

When you walk in the gym and suddenly feel tired, how do you steel your heart for the work-out, and even push yourself to do one more rep, one more mile, 100 more calories, ten more pounds?

3) The music in my iPod.  Today, while on the treadmill (since it was too cold for rollerblading), Bob Dylan's "Ain't Talkin', Just Walkin'" came on.  I found this motivational.  Four simple words.  I also like the lines: "Heart burnin', still yearnin'" and "My mule is sick, my horse is blind."  Now the rest of the song isn't very inspiring from a BD perspective, but I do like the idea that Bob Dylan (or the fictional singer of this song) is simply moving forward and not spending time telling people about what he "plans" to do. 

So... from where do you find inspiration for your business development efforts? (Post below if you are so inclined.)  If you don't know, perhaps finding this source would help motivate you to put one foot in front of the other and move forward. 

/talkin'.

Being Smarter is not a Selling Proposition.

John Tuld: There are three ways to make a living in this business: be first, be smarter, or cheat.

ˆˆ This comes from the movie "Margin Call" which is well worth watching.

SPOILER ALERT!

John, the firm's leader, continues to explain that cheating is off the table (you can decide if this is true in their case) and that the other firms' people are just as smart as they are (he says this even knowing they have a literal rocket scientist in the room.) So the only option left to them is to be first.

Whether or not you believe this is a false choice, that is, that there are 4th and 5th options, those of us in marketing (especially for professional services firms) are often presented with "we are smarter" as part of the firm's value statement.

First of all, no, you are not smarter.

You might know more about a specific area or have more experience in a specific circumstance, but you are not smarter than your competition. Bristle all you want and, to be fair, you might be right to do so. I've met some people who are, quite simply, smarter than the rest of us. I think of myself as pretty smart, but I often run into people who quickly leave me in their dust. (Likely even more than I believe there to be.) You might be one of them.

I've also met a few people who are able to more adeptly apply their intelligence (and/or experience) to specific needs. And you might be one of those.

In fact, you might be the rarest of all rarities and in both categories. But I'd bet against it. Odds, are you only believe this to be the case. Many people I meet feel they are in this rare air and, well, not so many of them are in either category. But that's fine. Nothing wrong with thinking you are smart, so long as you don't put off people by lording your intelligence over them (regardless of it being true.) Believing you are smart and can apply this intelligence is a good thing.

Secondly, who said being smarter was good for business development?

My experience shows that intelligence does not equate to rainmaking skills. Some smart folks are good at bringing in new business. Some aren't. Some truly dull wits (a few who make you wonder how they manage to tie their own shoes) are phenomenal at getting clients and customers in the door.

You find me the best rainmaker at a company and I very much doubt you will have found me the firm's smartest professional. Some of the best rainmakers I know are very bright people. Some are below average by comparison to others in their field. And they know it. And they shrug it off. In fact, a good number of them have told me (sotto voce) that they know the race does not often go to the mentally swiftest. "The trick is to make the client think he's the smartest person in the room and you just happen to be good at the one thing they need you do to."

The real trick, I believe, is to have a great idea and present it in a way that makes the client thinks it was his idea.Often this is the best (or only) way to get anything approved. But I digress...

You are not smarter. And, even if you are, this is not a value proposition.

Putting a finer point on it, telling people you are smart is the opposite of marketing. Showing them that they are smart to hire you or buy your stuff is what we strive for in marketing. The more we can do this, the more customers we will get and the longer we will keep them.

Never miss an opportunity to let your customers know they were smart to hire you and to keep paying you. A great way to do this is to get a referral from them and have that referral thank them for the introduction; or have them thank their friend for turning them onto your service or product. This makes your customer feel smart and helps you get new business. But again, I digress.

Also, being smart does not equate to providing value.

It's how you apply the combination of your experience and intelligence that matters. And it depends on what you are building. Google has made a business of hiring the smartest people around. We've all heard about their interview tests. But the fact they are smarter has no value to me. What's valuable to me is that Google's tools help me find and promote things more efficiently. Which helps me sell stuff for my clients, even if they might be less intelligent than their competitors. And helps me out maneuver marketers who might be far smarter than me.

The next time someone asks what sets you and your company apart and you think "we are smarter" or "I am smarter," rethink. You are not smarter and, even if you are, it makes no difference.

So... using the choices above, you can either be first or cheat. I think Mr. Tuld chose wisely. But what do I know? I'm not a rocket scientist.

Branding Strategy of the Day: Everyone Else Lies

This blog post is in two pieces, since the discussion that prompted it was also in two pieces. First of all, I want to thank the folks at Hinge Marketing for not only providing a thoughtful presentation with (gasp!) empirical (vs. anecdotal) data, but also for having a business card that's hinged. See Why Do We Still Have Business Cards?

Piece One: Everyone Else Lies

Thinking back, I can recall more than five client engagements where we had reasonable facsimiles of the following branding strategy discussion:

Them: What we provide is innovative in our space.

Me: But a quick web search shows many competitors that say they do exactly the same thing in the same way.

Them: They're all liars.

Me: We can't create a brand based on being the one company in this space that doesn't lie.

Them: Why not?

There is no doubt that many companies over-promise or dress for the business they want instead of the one they have. This creates a great deal of noise for the company that actually does what everyone else only says they do.

But first... a little due diligence should show if the other companies are really "overstating" or if your company is actually only hoping the others are liars. And a little more due diligence (read: customer surveys - both present and past) will show if your company is also overstating or, perhaps more importantly, if anyone actually cares that they receive this additional "value."

Let's assume that both due dillies reveal that a) your company is unique and b) the clients do care. Now you have the challenge of marketing the "other companies are liars" messaging. Good luck with that.

In all the cases where I found myself in this position, we took another tact. We marketed the end point of the value, not the innovation or ability*. The client interviews were instrumental here, since the clients told us what it felt like at this end point and we used that for messaging. The competitors did not know what the end point looked like, let alone get their clients to articulate this for them, since they were unable to deliver it.

Then we could follow up with case studies and client testimonials supporting this messaging. And we named names and gave out customer phone numbers. In one case, the customer called me and said he felt like he was our new salesperson since he spent all day on the phone telling callers that, yes, this really happened. The market now knew the competitors for what they were (cough cough liars) and did not need to take our word for it.

In other words, as the travel company adage goes: Sell the destination.

*We also created branding that looked very different from what was prevalent in the space. Most industries (like soup cans) have common color templates. We picked away from this list. This does not mean we needed to be garish, just not soup can red.

Piece 2: You Shouldn't Have a Position Where There is No Viable Opposite.

Look at professional service firm positioning: Excellent customer service. We care. We're responsive to your needs. Experience where you need it most.

Not only are these positions bland, but if you cannot be positioned opposite, then you cannot be positioned positive.

Let me write that again: If you cannot be positioned opposite, then you cannot be positioned positive.

Pick one: Excellent customer service. -or- Shoddy customer service.

Pick one: We care. -or- We don't care.

Pick one: We're responsive to your needs. -or- We focus on what's best for us. (Which is true most of the time, but no one wants to say this out loud.)

Pick one: Experience where you need it most. -or- Experience in places that don't matter.

As you create your positioning, think of what the other side of the mirror looks like. And if any of your competitors would ever want to be on the other side of the mirror, let alone a significant subset. If not, then you aren't positioning or differentiating, you're pontificating.

Another option is to get specific. If you are going to say you are responsive, for example, say how responsive. And provide a guarantee. Examples: 30 minutes or it's free. Less expensive or we'll provide a competitor's name. However, you had better be able to deliver most of the time or you will quickly go broke and/or lose all of your customers.

Or get creative. Example: Not just fast, but freaky fast. However, you had better back this one up. And if you ever order from Jimmy Johns, you will hear yourself say, "Wow. That was freaky fast."

While no one would say they have slow delivery, they might not say they have "freaky fast" delivery. And not everyone would guarantee 30 minutes, since they might prefer to trade some speed for more quality.

Clearly not all hooks have viable opposites. So, if you do pick a hook without a viable opposite, sharpen the hook until fewer companies would (or could) hang their hat on it.

Piece out.