Reading Blogs

For me, reading blogs is where my education in social media began in earnest. (And where it continues today). Though I was interested in the idea of writing a blog, I considered that similar to writing a book, I should probably read a few first before I attempt to author one. So I did.

I spent several weeks reading blogs from colleagues at Collective Conversation, and then I ventured into other blogs about PR as well as those about politics, entertainment, journalism, etc. In most cases I found the writing to be refreshing. Informal, but direct. And more often than not, quite intelligent.

The lessons for "traditional PR" were hard to miss - most especially the bad habit of PR people to drift into corporate speak. That's a no-no off line and online. That alone, made my foray into blogging worthwhile.

Tomorrow, I'll talk about diving in to write my first blog.

Why They're The Right Questions

In yesterday's post, I suggested 10 starter questions we should ask ourselves when attempting to enhance creativity as a means to improve client service. Why are these at least some of the right questions? Because...

(1) If creativity is not a core value for your agency, then just put a fork in it. You don't stand a chance competing against firms where it is a core value.

(2) If you're not recruiting people who are either creative by nature or passionate about the creative process, then your job just got 10 times harder.

(3) Being creative is no different from running, listening, etc. We can all do it to some level of proficiency (some having more natural talent than others), but we can always learn skills that can make us better both as individuals and as teams.

(4) You will not realize the creative potential of your team if you don't give them the tools and the training. For those of you concerned about turnover and the expense of such an investment, your choice is easy: Train your people and risk they'll leave, or don't train them and have them stay! (I heard this many years ago and never forgot it.)

(5) You can't say you value creativity and then not place any value on it. It's that simple. If you're going to talk the talk, then walk the walk. See to it that creativity weighs heavily in evaluating overall job performance and compensation.

(6) It's clearly not just about compensation. Everyone also loves recognition. But don't just rely upon independent awards shows. Start your own recognition program or if you already have one, raise its level of prestige within the agency.

(7) If you want to move from creativity being simply "what you do", to being "who you are", then a measure of creativity should touch every aspect of your agency life - not just your client work. How fun!

(8) Putting the same level of creative energy towards existing client work versus new business is a huge challenge, involving relationship dynamics that stretch far beyond the agency/client world. We just have to keep working at it.

(9) Don't blame the client for lackluster creative - it's embarrassing. Regarding budget, I'd argue that small budgets should not be viewed as obstacles, but creative weapons. When we were little kids and wanted to give our mom or dad a birthday card, we lacked the money (or at least I did) to buy a card at the local store. Forced to seek other means, we found crayons, paper, old magazines, glue, etc. and we concocted something more special and more personal than Hallmark could ever create.

(10) We have to bring new, creative ideas to our clients - all the time! (If you balk at this because you believe your client thinks you're just trying to sell them something, then you don't have a creative problem, you have a relationship problem.) But we have to be willing to hear 'no" and hear it often. We cannot be worn down. Because the day you stop bringing new ideas to your client, will be the day someone else will. If you find a client's resistance to be so problematic, then you should consider addressing the issue with the client directly. Work with clients who let you do the work you want to do! It will serve as a morale boost to your team and demonstrate that you mean what you're saying.

Hmmm......... Creativity may be an agency core value after all.

Creative Self-Assessment

While clients may believe (generally speaking) we should all raise our creativity game, they may or may not be talking about your firm. If they are, you have some work to do. If they're not, now may be the time to widen the gap between you and your "less creative" competitors. To know for sure, you should consider a self-assessment of your creative abilities. Here are 10 suggested questions to get you started:

(1) Do we believe creativity is a core value in our agency culture?

(2) Is passion and a track record for creativity something we seek in all our prospective employees?

(3) Do we believe that people can improve their creativity skills with the proper training?

(4) Do we have professional development offerings to nurture our talent and our creative development processes?

(5) Is creativity an important component of our performance/compensation reviews?

(6) Do we have internal recognition programs focused on creativity?

(7) Is our work as "creative" as it can be? (Don't just look at your award winning stuff, look at everything.)

(8) Do we demonstrate as much creativity with our current clients as we do to win new business?

(9) Can we honestly say we never blame our clients or their budgets for lackluster creativity?

(10) Do we bring unsolicited new ideas to our clients and continue to do so even if they repeatedly reject the initiatives?

Now, I'm not going to state that if you answered yes to at least 8 out of 10 questions, then you must be a brilliantly creative firm. I will say that you may not be one of the firms clients are complaining about, and it's likely you're well positioned to take it to the next level. Give it a try and add your own questions to the list.

The New Economics of Service

In the July-August 2008 issue of Harvard Business Review, Putting the Service-Profit Chain to Work not only provides great advice for any professional services firm, but also offers a window into client service priorities and expectations for the future.

The "new economics of service" is a line from the article, originally published in 1994. Its substance is as relevant today as ever. Maybe more so. Probably why it was selected among the Best of HBR! It's time to read this article again for the first time!

Also, in the piece The Uncompromising Leader, Campbell Soup CEO, Doug Conant delivers this truism, "You can't talk your way out of something you behaved your way into. You have to behave your way out of it."

"Be Yourself" May Not Be For Everyone

Editor and author Thomas Masson once said, "Be yourself is the worst advice to give to some people."

He has a point. But the anonymous quote makes sense too. So now what?

Well, Masson did say just "some" people.

While I remain a strong advocate of being true to yourself when it comes to pitching business and serving clients, Masson notes clearly that being yourself may not be the best course of action for everyone. The question is: Are you one of those "some," or are you one of the rest of us? ; - )

Who Chooses Our Clients?

We do. Or at least we should. While this may belie what we have come to know all too well as the process of clients choosing us among a cadre of agencies, we are the ones who choose. And if you're not choosing; if you believe you're just playing defense, then it's a recipe for an unhealthy agency and lots of client turnover.

The motivation for today's post, and likely more posts throughout the week, is poet and author David Whyte's quote which I found last week. To restate it:

"Other people's words may raise from our throats at the drop of a hat...excellence...total quality management...number one...but we struggle to remember the simple character of our own voice. It takes only a modicum of psychological savvy to admit that a corporate culture that constantly repeats the word excellence to itself must still have endless reservoirs of mediocrity on which to draw, and is deathly afraid of facing up to this fact. We open our mouths and too often utter the same phrases and opinions that might be said by a thousand other toilers in a thousand other companies."

It made me think about why we can't find the "simple character of our own voice" and if we do find it, why we're afraid to share it unabashedly with clients and prospects. Why are we afraid to be ourselves? Especially when you consider the consequences. When we're not ourselves, think about what happens. We either lose a pitch because we were obviously trying to be something we're not. Or...we lose a client because the charade is simply unsustainable over time. What's more, the prospects are relegated to choose among those swimming in a sea of sameness. No wonder client/agency turnover is what it is.

My rather simple, arguably pedestrian, theory here is that if we were to truly find our voice and be ourselves, we would attract clients that are a better fit with our firms, and, because of it, the relationships would be more productive, more enjoyable, and last longer.

Let's explore it further and let me know what you think.

Client Service Insights...(CSI/Season 2) Just Getting Started

When I stepped back in to the blogosphere after I concluded Season 1, I promised myself that if I were going to get started again, I'd be in it to stay and have even more fun than I did the last time. The former will serve as an ongoing commitment, and I am enjoying my blog more than ever. I hope you are as well.

While my posting pace may pale in comparison to some of the uber-bloggers out there, I'm pleased to have reached 100 posts in just inside of four months - March 21, 2008 to date. I tell people all the time that a blog is a bit like a plant, you have to water it regularly for it to remain healthy and grow. What's more, you have to use good water. I try to provide quality content with each and every post. It's the least I can do when I consider the quality of the blogs I most enjoy reading. I do my best to return the favor, and I take that commitment very seriously.

During Season 1, I celebrated 100 posts as a milestone. Today, I know enough to simply note it as a foundation for offering new, fresh content for the future. That said, if you like what you see here at CSI/Season 2, I humbly ask you to spread the word. Invite your friends, link to your favorite posts, engage in the conversation with your comments, subscribe to the RSS feed, and most importantly, tell me what you'd like to talk about in this forum.

I look forward to inviting more special guests, celebrating International Talk Like A Pirate Day (a valuable client service skill BTW), and bringing back CSI's Halloween contest, where you recount your scariest client service story for a chance to win your favorite scary movie DVD to watch on Halloween! Will Lauren Vargas win again? Or will your scary story prevail?

Thank you all for everything. Your generosity is what makes this fun!

Client Service Group at PROpenMic Up to 40 Members!

Kelli Matthews was kind enough to introduce me to PROpenMic, and I've truly enjoyed participating ever since. Among the many opportunities to get involved, I started the Client Service Insights group in an effort to offer a forum for practitioners, students, and faculty to engage in a conversation about client service - a conversation that transcends the limits of this blog and offers the opportunity for others to lead the discussion. The group now numbers 40 and is growing strong.

That said, PROpenMic is a robust, global community. If you haven't visited, please do. Join the community, join a group, and join us at CSI!

Wise Beyond Their Years

I've been reading Richard Edelman's blog for quite some time now, but I have to agree with Todd Defren that this may be Richard's best post ever. In The Old Lions Roar, Richard offers highlights from a luncheon organized by PR Week that brought together the founding fathers of the public relations profession: Harold Burson, Dan Edelman, David Finn, and Al Golin. He notes that all of them are octogenarians, with the exception of Al Golin who's a spry 78. I ask that you read Richard's post regarding the luncheon, but I have two stories I'd like to share.

First, back in the late 1990's I had the pleasure of meeting Al Golin. It was at a private party organized by Paul Holmes at what was then the CIPRA Awards (now SABRES). I owned a small PR agency at the time in Jacksonville, Florida. Among our clients was a McDonald's franchise group. That's all Mr. Golin needed to hear. We must have spent 30 minutes talking about PR, McDonald's and a host of other topics. He could have spent that time with much more important people, but seemed rather content just to chat with me. I was impressed by his intellectual generosity and his kindness of heart.

Second, and although not an octogenarian either, there's my experience with Dick Hyde. Now Dick has been with Hill & Knowlton for 45 years and counting. He's among the world's foremost crisis communications experts and one of the finest people I've ever met. I had the distinct pleasure of working with Dick on a project during my time at H&K. I shared several dinners with Dick on the west coast (though we were both based on the east coast), where it was just the two of us talking about business and about life. I consider it among the highlights of my career.

All these men share at least three common traits; First, they are passionate about their work; they love what they do. Second, they're extraordinary listeners; it's among the reasons they're so brilliant. Finally, you'll find that they are forward thinking; these men aren't stuck in the past, they are our window to the future.

It would appear Richard Edelman also shares these traits. I've never met the man, but his commitment to weekly (substantive) blog postings and responses to comments should offer us evidence enough that the apple didn't fall far from the tree.

Client Service And The Marathon

Yesterday, I began training for what I hope will be the completion of my 14th marathon in late October. The twist here is that this year's Marine Corps Marathon will be my first in five years. I've run Boston (2), New York (2), Chicago (3), Disney (2), Pittsburgh (2), Grandma's Marathon in Duluth, and the Rock 'n Roll Marathon in San Diego. But that's all in the past. I've been through the rigor of the 18 weeks of training enough times to know that at 48, I'll be less worried about speed and more focused on simply staying injury free.

So what does long distance running have to do with client service? Plenty. Over the next 18 weeks, I look forward to providing some updates on my training and pointing out some key parallels with client service excellence.

The first of which is most of us have known how to run for as long as we can remember. We all think we know how to service clients. But through practice and education, we can become more efficient runners and deliver even better client service. Let the training continue!

What's Love Got To Do With It?

Well, everything actually. Seems Jim Mullen's book has inspired a theme this week. It's a theme that also stood tall during my strategic communication and leadership graduate studies at Seton Hall. The best leaders, the best followers, best employees and best people for that matter are those who really care about what they do and who they serve.

My graduate program introduced me to dozens of scholars and executives who espoused their theories and practices on leadership. But in the end, the themes of caring, passion, and yes, even love were consistent among them. The more we care about what we do and about the people around us (colleagues, clients, friends, family, etc.), the better we lead and serve.

Years ago, one of my employees at the agency I owned in the mid to late 90's came to me and said that she was having difficulty securing a particular vendor to handle part of an important client event. I suspected it was more about the effort than the difficulty, so I simply suggested she imagine for a moment that she was planning this event for her parents and their friends and to give it one more try. Within the hour, problem solved. If you think about it, I simply asked her to care more. To imagine she was trying to achieve something for people she loved rather than a client with whom she did not have such emotional attachment.

When it comes to serving everyone in our lives, love can have everything to do with it.

Love Is All You Need

James X. Mullen wrote a book published in 1995 called The Simple Art of Greatness. I read the book on Friday and truly enjoyed the stories and philosophies he shared - stories that reflect his Jesuit education and life experiences beyond the world of advertising, including competitive sailing and race car driving.

Our founder tells the story (an anecdote arguably less exciting than some of the others I could have selected) of when he was in college and how indifferent most of the other students were to the cafeteria staff. He wrote, "I treated them like queens knowing that the size of their serving was usually proportional to the generosity of my smile...The moral of the story is that the world is underloved. Make people feel special and they will do special things for you."

Mullen not only extended that philosophy to his employees in building the agency, but also offered this advice to clients: "I tell every client two secrets to getting the best out of our company: form personal relationships with the people who have hands-on responsibility for your ads; and when these people do something very well, thank them publicly, preferably in a note with copies to all the top agency executives and senior management."

Jim Mullen reminds us that client service excellence and achieving great results is a two-way street. As clients define expectations for their PR agencies, as discussed in the post How's Your Current PR Agency Doing?, it's also important that they formulate expectations for themselves to maximize the relationship. As a client, when was the last time you publicly praised your PR firm's good work or asked, "Is their anything more I could be doing for you?"

You may not need a new PR agency, the relationship could just use a little more love.

Are You A Client Service Super Hero?

Dude...What's with the cape? Have a great weekend!

How's Your Current PR Agency Doing?

Scott Baradell, president of the Dallas PR firm The Idea Grove, asks that very question on the homepage of the agency's web site. I'm not sure why I hadn't noticed this a long time ago, but I spent some time reviewing his PR Agency Questionnaire, and I like the idea of it quite a bit.

What struck me about it was that based on the way the questions were worded, I'm not sure even a top score of 19 or 20 says very much. I told Scott that his questionnaire sends the message that the bar for PR firms isn't set very high. Here's what Scott said when I asked him about it:

"The questionnaire is aimed primarily at clients who are already wondering if they are getting the level of service they should expect. The questions touch on the warning signs I saw over the years when I knew it was time to cut ties with an agency. Just about any agency you start out with will score in the high range on this questionnaire at the outset of the engagement. The time to take this questionnaire is when you are beginning to have doubts. That's why in the setup I say the questionnaire is designed to help you determine if your PR firm is "adequately" meeting your needs. (I have a separate agency review spreadsheet on the site for clients that are in the initial agency selection process.)

"From a marketing perspective, I know that people are coming to my site either when they are looking for a new agency or having doubts about their current agency. The agency review spreadsheet is designed to address the first group of visitors. The questionnaire is designed to address the second group, to help them determine if their doubts are justified. In that sense, it would be fair to say the bar is low."

I actually think clients should use Scott's questionnaire as a foundation for creating their own template based on the specific expectations THEY have for their PR firms. The point is not to employ the questionnaire as a "gotcha" device, but as a tool to communicate and clarify expectations. If the PR firm continues to fall short, then it's time to look elsewhere.

Notes: A big thanks to Scott Baradell for offering his perspective. Also, as ToddAnd's first of five guest bloggers for this week, I posted a video I hope you'll enjoy. Let me mention that the four bloggers to follow in the series will be Kami Huyse, Gavin Heaton, Drew McLellan, and Darryl Ohrt. Don't miss their posts!

Guest Blogger Week at ToddAnd

Well, starting tomorrow it's Guest Blogger Week at ToddAnd - one of my favorite marketing blogs. And...since I've been invited to be among the guests, I'm really looking forward to it. I plan to share a wonderfully entertaining, very creative video. When you see it, you'll probably say to yourself, "I've thought of doing that." The only difference between you and the person who produced this creative spot is that he did it, and you or I didn't.

The video is tailor-made for the ToddAnd audience, but touches on a recurring theme here at CSI/Season 2. Whether it's client service, creativity etc., often times it's not about doing what no one else can do, it's about doing what anyone can do but just doesn't.

So after watching the video, come back here and read about Scott Baradell's Online PR Agency Assessment Tool. (Scott's another one of my favorite bloggers by the way). It should be an action-packed Thursday. Have a great day!

Client Service Heaven?

Timothy Parcell at relentlessPR ran a terrific graphic in his post The Brand Experience from David Armano that could just as easily have been titled The Client Service Experience. Of course in many respects, it's difficult to separate the two. Let me know what you think!

Introducing The PowerPoint Patch

Before unveiling the Stamp Out Bad PowerPoint Toolkit, I thought it would be timely to introduce CSI's new invention to combat the most severe cases of PowerPoint addiction - The PPT Patch. Employing similar technology as the well known Nicotine Patch, The PPT Patch can be affixed anywhere on the body, but its effectiveness is directly proportional to how publicly it's displayed. Therefore, for maximum impact, which means you can be completely weaned off your PPT addiction in 21 days, we recommend taping the patch to your forehead! Try to hide the patch in any way, and your recovery may take months.

The PPT Patch is reserved for those people who can't help themselves but rely on Powerpoint for every type of communication. You know who you are. For those of you with sensitive skin, PPT Gum will hit the market soon; although I have to tell you, it doesn't taste very good! Still working on that.

The Kitchen Table Approach To Presenting

As part of one man's effort to stamp out bad PowerPoint, I've obtained some terrific input from the community at Linkedin, who have graciously offer their thoughtful suggestions that include alternatives to using PowerPoint and ways of employing it more effectively.

I look forward to sharing many of those insights later in the week. In the meantime, let me offer what I typically call the kitchen table approach to presenting. Consider all the conversations you've ever had with family and friends sitting across the kitchen table. I would guess that 99% of the time you're neither nervous, nor do you have difficulty succinctly making your point. You don't memorize what you're going to say, your just know what you want to say and you say it, free from worry about whether you forgot a small detail that most often matters more to you than to the effective delivery of the content.

Rehearse your next presentation at the kitchen table over coffee or your favorite beverage. Look the person in the eye, make your case, and do it from your heart. No slides, no memorized bullet points, no laptop on the table. This rehearsal technique works even if you plan to use PowerPoint in the actual presentation. The key is to create slides that bring your kitchen table speak to life, not to make your case in a manner that fits the slides.

Give it a try! My guess is that you'll be less nervous, your audience will be more engaged, and in the future, you may still use PowerPoint; you just won't have to rely on it.

Choose Visuals Over Bullet Points

As I continue to gather insights from a number of different forums about how to stamp out bad Powerpoint, I discovered a terrific video at Presentation Zen that talks about Dan Roam's book, The Back Of The Napkin. Next time you try PowerPoint, consider how you can use simple visuals to enhance your presentation rather than post bullet points that simply serve to repeat what you're saying. It's more fun for the presenter and will be greatly appreciated by your audience.

Stamping Out Bad PowerPoint!

After my post PowerPoint Don'ts, where I showcased Don McMillan's funny, but too close to home video portrayal of what NOT to do when using PowerPoint, I've received a number of e-mails, tweets, phone calls, notes, telegrams, carrier pigeon cannisters, and thoughtful responses on Linkedin, offering some terrific insights for how we, together, can stamp out Bad PowerPoint.

Since the content is already too voluminous to share in a blog, or an embedded PowerPoint slide show, next week I'll offer a synthesized post of the best of the best solutions, cures if you will, for how to stamp out Bad Powerpoint in your work environment once and for all.

Until then remember: Powerpoint, like spontaneity, has its time and its place.