Category Archives: Marketing

Deja-vu Testing for On-line Success

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The Marketing lunch bunch“It’s not a new idea” Kate said, “So don’t try to take credit.”

Rick groaned, took another sip of wine and nodded. Then he rose to the bait saying, “I know I didn’t invent the idea but at least give me credit for figuring out how to apply it to the funnel hacking e-marketing world we live in.”

“So what brilliance did you come up with?” I asked.

“Daily déjà-vu of simultaneous synchronized multi-variant testing of multiple elements is my claim to fame,” he said.

Gail guffawed looked him in the eye and said, “What a mouthful! Rick, my boy you are brilliant at times but this is not one of them. You know as well as I do that direct marketing copy controls have been tested every which way you can imagine over the years and that something as simple as an A-B split test is so easy online that anyone that can afford the software or the service can get it done. So what are you claiming?”

Kate piled on noting, “And don’t try to pull that tale of having to dumb down your ideas of how to test that the programmers couldn’t figure out 10 or 15 years ago because Fletch was sitting beside you in that meeting you’ve told me and as I recall he’s the one that had to explain what an A-B split test was.”

Rick swished his wine in the glass, carefully set it down and replied, “You all would agree that we need to find out the relative importance of the offer, the list of people you are addressing and the approach. That principle is true of direct marketing, e-mail marketing, e-commerce stores/catalogs on-line or even a web site developed to begin a relationship for a professional service.

My approach takes the ability of the internet to produce quantifiable data quickly and the need to look a multiple components of the message to new levels. There are entrepreneurs out there right now that are pushing the envelope. They test everything. They find a control that works and then start testing to improve it. Sometimes as simple shift can increase ROI by hundreds of points.

What are you doing to make your web-based marketing activities more successful? Why not try tests of formatting, subject lines, subheads, arrangement of paragraphs, captions, descriptions, addition or deletion of photos and a host of other variables. There is hard data that shows that at least half of these have increased response levels.

The time to test what works for your business is right now. And tomorrow. And the day after.

Testing ought to be Deja-vu, over and over again.”

Jerry Fletcher weaves the tales of the Lunch Bunch based on his experiences in advertising, direct marketing, consulting and helping build entrepreneur businesses.

Jerry Fletcher KeynoteJerry Fletcher is a beBee ambassador, founder and Grand Poobah of www.BrandBrainTrust.com

His consulting practice, founded in 1990, is known for Trust-based Brand development, Positioning and business development on and off-line. He is also a sought-after International Speaker.
Consulting: www.JerryFletcher.com
Speaking: www.NetworkingNinja.com

Get all the Brand Success Stories. Sign up at http://www.brandbraintrust.com/home.html

How to Build a Killer Brand

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How to Build a Killer Brand

Heart in sightsIt has been one of those months this week.

Planning. Candid conversations. Decisions to hire and fire. Web site assumptions and dialogues. Quality constraints and requirements. Analytics that spiral positive and those that went down in flames.

Brands suffer the impact because brand building is really not for innocents. Either you really understand marketing or you don’t.

Taking careful aim is at the heart of killer brand development.

What not to do.
Here are some mistakes I witnessed this week:

  1. Put a group of strangers in a room, brief them and expect them to walk out as a functioning collaborative team.
  2. Drop the ball on a project because of bad digital filing habits.
  3. Give a web developer 6 chances to respond to basic direction before deciding to fire him.
  4. Consider video approaches without looking at cost as part of the equation.
  5. Become ecstatic over an increased click through rate that didn’t generate sales.

The Killer Solution

Experience over the last 50 years tells me that to build a brand that captures hearts and minds successfully you have to understand how marketing professionals work in teams and their expectations of management. Clarity is what will make you successful.

Be perfectly clear that :

  • The owner/founder/CEO/President—the leader of any small firm owns the brand. Her or his understanding of the Vision, Mission, Position and Value Proposition is what will be applied to all organization communications.
  • Direction on any major project should be in writing and agreed to in advance. The directional document should be the reference point for approvals. Staff can provide additional information but is encouraged to do it before any work is done. If there is concern over the materials delivered the reference point is the direction.
  • A digital “paper trail” needs to be kept and used as the reference when anything goes sideways (as well as a way to assure continuing process improvement). With small clients I had eliminated my Action Reports on all meetings. I’m reversing that decision.
  • Budget, Quality and Outcome are interrelated. There are significant differences in delivery of digital capabilities, video production, and all communication vehicles based on what a firm is willing to pay, the level of excellence of the work and what the expectations of the item are. Too often, even though we have much better visibility of analytics the end results are not the key factor in evaluating marketing efforts.
  • Business Development objectives are the real measurements. Everything done in marketing needs to acknowledge contribution to the target numbers. Be as concrete as possible. For instance:
  • Optimize web site to make it as easy as possible for visitors to self-select the action which will give you a way to connect with them over the time to build a relationship leading to a “sale.” Track all actions. Track actual “sales” to determine the apparent customer journey.
  • Direct Social Media activities to continually tested landing pages that capture data to build relationships over time. Track actions by landing page. Track “sales” as with web site. Review results and test all contact activities to find the ones that lead to “Sales.”
  • Build better ongoing relationships with customers by monitoring opens, comments and direct contacts due to blog and newsletter postings. Modify content to take advantage of proven highest interest. Keep tracking.
  • Test automated sequences in support of direct sales staff. Monitor results.

Trial to buy ScorecardPost status versus your corporate goals on a scoreboard visible to all members of the firm.

Weekly results usually work best. Keep it simple: New info sign ups, New trials, New customers/clients.

Those few items will keep everyone in the game.

 

Jerry FletcherJerry Fletcher is a beBee ambassador, founder and Grand Poobah of www.BrandBrainTrust.com

His consulting practice, founded in 1990, is known for Trust-based Brand development, Positioning and business development on and off-line. He is also a sought-after International Speaker.

Consulting: www.JerryFletcher.com
Speaking: www.NetworkingNinja.com

Get all the Brand Success Stories. Sign up at http://www.brandbraintrust.com/home.html

The Journey From Mad Man to Brand Poobah

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Two MartinisKen asked me over lunch, “Was it really like Mad Men back then?”

Let’s just say I have a little more mileage than he does. He wasn’t born when I went to New York. He was fascinated by my experiences in the era popularized by the TV Series Mad Men.

Yes, I was there. I climbed the stairs from the IRT stop and walked a short distance to the entrance to 420 Lexington and the Offices of J. Walter Thompson when it was the largest advertising agency in the world. I still have the brass medal every employee was awarded on the 100th anniversary of the company.

That job, for a boy reared in southwestern Ohio, was a real eye opener. Everybody smoked. Men. Women. Youngsters like me. I’d worked construction to pay for college and picked up the habit, Phillip Morris Commanders—strong like Camels but longer. The scent of tobacco was everywhere.

Working in the mail room I was too young and too low on the totem pole to participate in the sexual hijinks but then I had a sweetheart back in Ohio.

Naïve? Yes. Stupid? No. I figured if I couldn’t get in on the physical side of things I could learn the lingo so I became the confidante of secretaries and traffic girls. I wound up having those lovely creatures buy me drinks since they made more than me.

I lucked out after a while and wound up becoming a TV paste-up guy who put the storyboards together for presentation and that put me into contact with some heavy hitter art directors.

That lead to my first (and last) two martini lunch. Ted took pity on me and asked me to join him for lunch on him. We went to an Argentine place he frequented. The waiter never asked. A martini for each of us showed up and so I clinked glasses and tried not to react. I thought I was going to be okay and then a refill magically appeared.

Ever see one of those cartoon rabbits that seems to have no bones and slide out of a chair to the floor? That was me. I believe the correct term is Blotto.

Working there was a great way to learn that even though I was getting a degree in Advertising Design the art side of the business was not where the power was. I quickly decided that being an Account Man with heavy knowledge of the art side of the business was what I wanted to do. I was lucky. That was the time when boutiques were giving the old line agencies fits. Powerful creative was being done by the upstarts that are now considered to be icons of the industry. That paid off when I made the switch.

Back then they had open training for all employees over lunch and you could learn about all and any parts of the business. I took advantage of the opportunity and made some friends at the VP level who gave me great advice on how to cross the divide from the creative to the management side of the business.

Ken really stirred up the memories including the summer of New York World’s Fair. The Ford exhibit became a Disney ride. The IBM exhibit synced up a battery of 35mm projectors and a couple of movie projectors. I think that was my first experience with that whole idea of multi-media. Years later I would use the same techniques with original scores for multiple clients.

The mileage check version of how I got here is straightforward:

  • Get job interviews for account work at 42 ad agencies at their expense based on a direct mail letter. Take the position offered by Campbell Mithun Minneapolis.
  • Become the fireman (one of the guys that pulls troubled accounts back into the fold).
  • Work in multiple offices and win your spurs as a new business guy.
  • Decide to leave CM when the agency is purchased by a British Conglomerate.
  • Move to Portland and in time become CEO of the largest B2B agency.
  • Hang out a shingle as a solo when you and your board agree to disagree.

I seldom ever look back even though those were great times. It takes a trigger like hurtling down the mountainside from the Medellin airport in a cab with Don Pepper and learning how often we just barely missed crossing paths. But that’s another story…

Jerry FletcherJerry Fletcher is a beBee ambassador, founder and Grand Poobah of www.BrandBrainTrust.com

His consulting practice, founded in 1990, is known for Trust-based Brand development, Positioning and business development on and off-line. He is also a sought-after International Speaker.

Consulting: www.JerryFletcher.com
Speaking: www.NetworkingNinja.com

Get all the Brand Success Stories. Sign up at http://www.brandbraintrust.com/home.html

3 Tricks to Take Face Time From Awkward to Zoftique

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3 Face Time TricksAbout mid afternoon, my brother in law pulled out his cell phone and then his pad computer and announced, “It’s time for some face time.”

I thought, “Do I have to?”

Today there are a myriad of ways to use technology to see who we’re having a conversation with. The results run the gamut from awkward to zoftique.

You can use:
An app on your Smart Phone
An app on your Pad Computer
Your Laptop or Desktop computer via Skype or meeting software.

Is there a device that doesn’t have a camera and microphone on it anymore?

Here are some things to consider before you opt to call or receive a call using “Face Time”

No matter what device you are reading this on, I want you to turn around and look at what is behind you. Go ahead, I’ll wait.

  • Would you be comfortable with an unannounced visitor seeing that?
  • Does the view of you and your surroundings convince people of your expertise?
  • Will the prospect have a better impression of you?
  • Will they remember you or your background images?
  • Most importantly, does the background meet their expectations about you?

Face Time used to mean an in-person meeting. You knew it was going to happen. You dressed for it. You got ready for it, reviewing information and honing your observations and questions.

Today, you could be face to face in a heartbeat. Here’s how to be ready:

  1. Plan for these calls. If you know it is going to happen you can be ready. If you plan for it you can better control what is going on around you. You won’t wind up talking from the back of cab on our way to a costume party which is where we connected with my nephew.
  2. Be aware of the background. In your office take the look suggested above. In the field, try to find a quiet place with a neutral background and a low probability of people wandering through it.
  3. Look at yourself before you answer and make sure to disconnect. Too often people that work from home simply forget where they are and the fact they are in their pajamas (or less). Then, too you can stay online with some technologies and not know it. Just disconnect if someone forgets to do so. You probably don’t want to know what you might see or overhear.

As Humphrey Bogart would say, “Here’s lookin’ at you kid.”

Jerry FletcherJerry Fletcher is a beBee ambassador, founder and Grand Poobah of www.BrandBrainTrust.com

His consulting practice, founded in 1990, is known for Trust-based Brand development, Positioning and business development on and off-line. He is also a sought-after International Speaker.

Consulting: www.JerryFletcher.com
Speaking: www.NetworkingNinja.com

 

Lazy Man’s Day

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man being lazy

This would be me today.

At least this afternoon.

Seriously. There comes a time in entrepreneur’s life when he or she is allowed to take off part of the day.

Those days are few and far between but you have to make time for them.

Birthdays are such a time. As my mother put it so eloquently in her card which I received today:

“It’s your birthday and it’s all about you today! So enjoy it…

Because tomorrow it goes back to being all about me.”

So this afternoon it is all about me.

I’m knocking off early. I’m going out to dinner in a sit down white table cloth, “is everything to your satisfaction, sir” kind of place. I am not going to count calories or avoid the beef and I might even eat some bread.

There is one thing I will not overlook: a piece of chocolate cake served ala mode.
Slice of cakeI intend to enjoy it.

All of it.

Not wading through the Friday afternoon pile of e-mails.

Not writing the proposal for the new business contact I met with this morning.

Not writing my usual new entry for Brand Brain Trust.

Just not doing anything work related.

I intend to enjoy it.

Today.

Jerry Fletcher is a beBee ambassador, founder and Grand Poobah of www.BrandBrainTrust.com

His consulting practice, founded in 1990, is known for Trust-based Brand development, Positioning and business development on and off-line. He is also a sought-after International Speaker.

Consulting: www.JerryFletcher.com
Speaking: www.NetworkingNinja.com

Brand Building in Bad Times

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Get real!

You know you’re going to have a Brand whether you like it or not.

You know that a certain number of people are not going to like your product or service no matter what you do.

You know that there is a large number of folks that quite frankly don’t give a damn.

Evaluate!

Put your efforts where they will do the most.

Do a customer analysis. Determine their geography, demography and psychography.

In other words:

Geography—Figure out where they come from. This applies whether it is within a few miles of your location, via the internet from anywhere on the globe to specific parts of the city or the country in question. Knowing where your customer lives, works, shops and plays will give you insight into marketing, product development and Brand building opportunities.

Get out of your office and immerse yourself where your customers are. Go there and find out what their lives are like. Get firsthand knowledge of all the factors that make up their brand experience.

Demography—Understand the basic information about your customers specifically: age, gender, sexual orientation, race, income, education, marital status, religion. All of those factors can, in part, control their interaction with your product or service.

For instance, is your gender specific product most frequently purchased by a spouse as a gift? Can your packaging or promotion be changed to make it easier for older folks to read and understand? What if College is not the objective they have in mind for the kids? The more you know the easier it will be to build your brand.

Psychography—That’s just a fancy word for understanding what they think, feel and believe and not only about your product or service. In the USA there are only two major political parties but within them there are divisions which, if they gain ground, could make the country similar to most other democracies where the rule seems to be multiple parties.

The point is not the possibility of multiple parties but rather the clusters of opinions that set factions apart. Can you tell the folks that build your brand exactly what your best customers think, feel and believe? The better picture you can paint of their desires, dreams and desperate cravings, the better you can build your brand. Better still, have your marketing staff or consultants join you when you go visit customers.

Concentrate!

Marketing is best defined in my view as

“Go where the money is. Sell what they want to buy. Do it again.”  
           Jerry Fletcher

Put your marketing and sales efforts where your customers are geographically, demographically and psychographically.

Do you want to sell the farrier or the horse owner? Are you oriented to the soccer mom or the city socialite? Do you want to sell the technology phobic 60 plus business owner or the offspring that will be taking over the business?

You decide. The better you understand your customers the better you’ll be able to build your brand.

Jerry Fletcher, Speaking in olombiaJerry Fletcher is a beBee ambassador, founder and Grand Poobah of www.BrandBrainTrust.com

His consulting practice, founded in 1990, is known for Trust-based Brand development, Positioning and business development on and off-line. He is also a sought-after International Speaker.

Consulting: www.JerryFletcher.com
Speaking: www.NetworkingNinja.com

Get all the Brand Success Stories.
Sign up at http://www.brandbraintrust.com/home.html

Positioning Versus Branding

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The return of:

The Marketing lunch bunch

“So I did a search and all these ads for hotshot designers came up, I said. They equate a logotype with a brand. Has the world gone mad?”

Bubba took a sip of his draft and just chortled. “Ol son,” he said with a tiny southern twang, “Hope springs eternal. The good lord set the task of namin’ things to them as was in the garden and we been tryin’ to do right by him ever since. Those youngins just don’t understand that a brand is about reputation as much as anythin’ else.”

Kate looked over her glasses at him, harrumphed and said, “Reputation is only part of it. It starts with a name, one people can remember and with products or services they want to buy…maybe. But if you treat them badly, if your sales people don’t listen and help them you won’t get a chance to have a reputation.”

Chris added, “And it doesn’t make a bit of difference if it is on line or brick and mortar. Every time we run a test the biggest jump in conversions comes from making it easy to get the information they want in the way they want to get it depending on where they are in the sales cycle. In some cases we know they want to talk to somebody that is knowledgeable right then and there. Even if you don’t get the sale, you need to be helpful because they don’t forget.”

Gail kicked me under the table and said, “Fletch, aren’t you going to say anything about positioning?”

“Okay,’” In my view it all starts with knowing everything you can about possible customers and deciding what your mission is going to be with regard to those customers. Your mission is a touchstone for you and the people that work with you to deliver the product or service. The unique way you present that product or service to prospects, and the world for that matter is your position. If you adhere to those two things, especially if they are in sync, you will build trust. See video here

Trust is at the core of what you offer a potential customer. It is wrapped round by the product, the price, the passage or distribution methods you choose and then wrapped in a name. Yes, people remember the name and the logotype for it. They can remember a personality and associate a lifestyle with that name.

But Brand is not something you decide. It is the sum total of what customers, prospects and others come to believe about you. Your brand is what they think not what you would like it to be.”

Bubba, began clapping and said, “You’re mamma raised no dumb children ol’ son. My job for most of my days has been trying to get clients to understand what their brand really is. You just said a mouthful and the most important part is that Trust is at the core. Everything I do in the way of promotion is to build and maintain that trust.

_____________________________________________________________________

Jerry FletcherWhy a dialog blog?

  • Because I can
  • Because I want to share
  • Because I like to entertain as I convey knowledge
  • Because the characters are conflations of real experts
  • Because it forces me to look at business development through multiple lenses
  • Because many of my former readers are hectoring me about bringing them back…especially Bubba
  • Because it is fun.
  • Because I prefer conversations to commercials. (Yes it is written in American English and one sort of regional dialect. If you don’t understand, ask me. That is the beauty of being on www.beBee.com Let’s connect there.

_____________________________________________________________________

Jerry FletcherJerry Fletcher is a beBee ambassador, founder and Grand Poobah of www.BrandBrainTrust.com

His consulting practice, founded in 1990, is known for Trust-based Brand development, Positioning and business development on and off-line. He is also a sought-after International Speaker.

Consulting: www.JerryFletcher.com
Speaking: www.NetworkingNinja.com

Get all the Brand Success Stories. Sign up at http://www.brandbraintrust.com/home.html

Brand Clarity. Say What?

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Business card Brand Clarity

Pull one out

Reach into your pocket or your purse or that fancy carrying case and pull one out. That’s right, get one of your business cards in hand.

If you don’t have one, that is your first mistake.

I’ve heard every argument you can imagine from the adherents of the digital world about why those little bits of pasteboard are obsolete. But when confronted with the need for their people to network to build the business even one of the largest companies in that sphere relented and allowed two divisions to have business cards.

Your business card is the most basic item in your brand development toolbox.   

It must answer the contact questions, sure, but look at what else you can glean from one:

  • The company name may be well known, memorable or ho hum
  • The logotype may tell you if the company or individual is inspired or insipid
  • The title will tell you whether the person or organization is imaginative or ordinary
  • The weight of the paper can influence your perception of how strong the business is.
  • The colors will indicate how approachable they are
  • The address, if you know the area, may tell you how solvent they are
  • The positioning/tag line should tell you what they do, how they are unique, and who their product or service is for

A business card can touch three senses:

Sight is the most obvious

Touch is not considered as often but

  • The weight of the paper can make a significant difference in how the person or organization is perceived.
  • The slickness of the card can be interpreted as a level of sophistication
  • Raised ink, once considered high quality is now seldom felt

Smell is used very infrequently. Women in fashion have been the primary users in my experience.

Look at your card. How clearly is your brand represented?

  1. How would you describe the name? If you are the entrepreneur/founder/owner of the business? Does it have your name in the company name? Does it include a generic descriptor? (Dot’s Bookkeeping, Feingold Financial Planning, Maxfield Marketing Counsel).
  2. Look at the design. Is the logo professionally designed? Is it an original based on your company’s information? Too often people go for the low-cost on-line option and wind up with a design that has been sold over and over printed on low-cost stock that is used for high print runs. Does it reflect your company? Does the perception provided the prospect meet their expectations?
  3. Study the positioning/tagline. Is it the same one used in other marketing materials? Are you comfortable with it? Does it naturally lead to conversations about you, the company and the products/services you offer? If you were a prospect would it separate you from your competitors?

How clear is your business card about your brand? What say you?

Jerry Fletcher Keynote in ColombiaJerry Fletcher is a beBee ambassador, founder and Grand Poobah of www.BrandBrainTrust.com

His consulting practice, founded in 1990, is known for Trust-based Brand development, Positioning and business development on and off-line. He is also a sought-after International Speaker.

Consulting: www.JerryFletcher.com
Speaking: www.NetworkingNinja.com

Get all the Brand Success Stories. Sign up at http://www.brandbraintrust.com/home.html

 

Three Scary Brand Questions

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I told them I was going to make them uncomfortable.

# Scary Brand QuestionsA client asked me to speak to the students in the college level class he is teaching. He asked that I give them some basics about brand which they will be able to apply to change viewpoints about themselves and the departments they lead. These are guys and gals that want to become CIOs.

My advice came from these three questions:

  1. Who are you?
  2. What do you do?
  3. Why should I care?

I’ll bet answers don’t flow swiftly off your tongue.

That’s because we don’t think this way. Take the first question. Most of us begin with our name. Some go on to tell you their title and the organization they work in. Others tell you where they were born or grew up. Ex-military usually say so. Each of us answers differently and in doing so reveal a great deal about our personalities. Often, if people just wait you’ll reveal occurrences in your child hood that changed you for life.

You can’t hear what you are saying.

Yes, you may be able to repeat the words. But what is the meaning hidden within? Why was that event in your childhood so important for the person you are now? What do the decisions you discussed have to do with how you are seen now?  Why did you reveal these things? How are you hoping the information will be used?

The trick is to have someone tell you what you told them.

Suddenly, you will see yourself as others see you. That is what Personal Brand is all about.

You are not an “elevator speech.”

What you do is not who you are.  In North America, “What do you do?” is the most asked question. Unlike other parts of the world we tend to equate the two. www.beBee.com may help you cure yourself of this.

Conversation or Commercial?

Major corporations hire me to teach their executives how to Network. All of them assume I’m going to teach some form of Elevator pitch. I don’t. Wouldn’t you rather have a conversation than have someone blurt a commercial at you? 30-Second Marketing makes you more memorable, builds trust in you and lets you know when you should ask, “What do you do?”

I used to answer: “I build websites that make rain.”

So what?

That is the question my sales mentor asked me. You’d do your pitch and he’d say” So What? Why is that important to the customer?”

I responded, “You know how since your niece or nephew went off to college you can’t change your web site? What we do is build you a site that you can change words and pictures on as much as you like. And we’ll be sure you can’t screw up the navigation.”

Good Question.

“Why should I care?” makes it easy to picture a prospect thinking that. Usually manners keep them from actually saying it.  But they think it…just like you do when someone obviously doesn’t understand your interest (or lack of it). Next time you begin to list features and benefits, Stop. Ask, as if you were them, “Why should I care?”

When it comes to Brand you’ve got to speak in their terms, not yours.

Get Scary.

Partner up with a friend. Answer the three questions. Give each other honest feedback. Notice how your brand becomes easier to understand for you as well as your friend, not to mention prospects, clients/customers and colleagues.

Jerry Fletcher is a beBee Ambassador and founder/Grand Poobah of www.BrandBrainTrust.com

His consulting practice, founded in 1990, is known for Brand development, Positioning and business development on and off-line. He is also a sought-after International Speaker.

Consulting: www.JerryFletcher.com
Speaking: www.NetworkingNinja.com

Get all the Brand Success Stories. Sign up at http://www.brandbraintrust.com/home.html

 

 

The Word for Trust is Confianza

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Jerry Fletcher Keynote in ColombiaPlunging down the mountain side in a cab from the airport in Medellin, Colombia, Don Pepper and I were comparing notes on our careers in advertising.

He didn’t mention the fact that I had excused myself early from the luncheon attended by the sponsors and their key prospects.

Neither of us commented on the fact that the same translator that was working the lunch was also the translator for my after-lunch keynote.

I found out the hard way.

About half a minute into my opening comments a gentleman about 6 rows back started waving both arms in the air.

I asked him in my best high school Spanish, “Que pasa?”

He said in heavily accented English, “No translator!”

I said without thinking, “I will speak v e r y   s l o w l y.”

The audience, some 600 strong, joined me in laughter. About a half minute later the translator was ready to go.

Tener Confianza

The key thought in that speech was Trust (Confianza) plus time = success. I talked about what it takes to be successful in business today, on and offline:

  • Trust in yourself
  • Trust in your staff
  • Trust in your company
  • Trust in your customer

That trip, I was to learn, was all about Confianza.

Because I was scheduled to speak at a convention in Reno, Nevada the following day, the meeting planner and I had tried every trick we knew to get me back there on time. It came down to having to leave for the Medellin airport as soon as I came off the stage.

The cab was ready, I wasn’t. 

There had not been time to change to traveling clothes before heading for the airport. I figured I could change before boarding.

Nope. I was hustled onto the plane as the doors were closing by airline staff that had been alerted.

Tener Confianza

I had to change planes in Bogota so I figured I could slip into a bathroom, pull my jeans and sweatshirt out of my carry on and be comfortable for the remainder of my 16-hour commute.

The Bogota Airport was being remodeled.

The only bathroom available near my gate was a standard stall. The rest of it was under construction and open to the waiting room.

Contortionists have it much too easy. I’m not that supple. But I managed to change and make my flight.

Now I know why superman wears his costume under his suit.

Tener Confianza

When I changed planes in Houston I called the meeting planner at the conference in Reno and let her know I was back in the USA and my arrival information.

There was a limo driver holding up a sign with my name on it when I arrived.

The meeting planner wanted to make it easy for me. She knew how arduous it can be just getting there. That gift of not having to rush to find a cab, check in and don my suit to make it to the platform on time is one I will never forget.

Tener Confianza

  • En ti mismo
  • En su personal
  • En tu compañía
  • En su cliente

­­­­­­

Jerry at Cafe in VeniceWebsites:
Speaking: www.NetworkingNinja.com
Consulting: www.JerryFletcher.com
Brand: www.BrandBrainTrust.com
(Personal Brand Network beBee Featured this week)