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Archive for the ‘Communication’ Category« Previous EntriesB2B In 2011Tuesday, January 25th, 2011  With a new year upon us, we’re all wondering what surprises 2011 has in store. BtoB magazine makes its own predictions for the top trends this year. For more of their predictions, visit BtoB’s 2011 Outlook: Marketing Priorities and Plans survey. • BUDGETS SHIFT MORE HEAVILY TO ONLINE This has been happening gradually over the last several years but the pace is increasing as marketers have been seeking lower-cost, more measurable ways to reach their audiences during the recession. This shift is aided by improvements in technology. According to BtoB’s 2011 Outlook: Marketing Priorities and Plans survey, 78.5% of B2B marketers plan to increase their online budgets this year. • MORE EMOTIONAL, PERSONAL COMMUNICATIONS As marketers strive to connect with business execs at work and at home, they are getting much more personal and emotional. In other words, the line between B2B and B2C is becoming less distinct, reflected by TV, print and online ads that have much more of a consumer feel. • DATABASE-DRIVEN MARKETING AND NEW CUSTOMER INTELLIGENCE METRICS B2B marketers will get much more sophisticated at mining customer data and making that information the focal point of their communications. As marketing techniques and data-mining programmes get more sophisticated and personal, so do the metrics used to evaluate these efforts. • OPTIMISING SOCIAL MEDIA Despite arguments to the contrary, social media is becoming an integral part of marketing for b2b companies: 62.6% of marketers plan to increase their spending on such channels this year, according to the Outlook survey. • FEEDING THE CONTENT MACHINE B2B marketers must continuously create and maintain content used for marketing purposes – from social media networks to landing pages, blogs to thought leadership events. Are You Speaking Gobbledygook?Friday, January 21st, 2011
In this week’s Thursday Night Insight, Nick Hague questions how clearly people are communicating in the business world today. The year is now 2011 but things are no different than 2010 and I profess they are getting worse. I was sat in a meeting a couple of weeks ago (just after New Year) listening to the same old twaddle:
“It is mission critical that we focus on our core competencies in order to maintain our edge in the marketplace. If we don’t think outside the box, become more customer centric and focus on the low hanging fruit we will get push back and won’t be able to deliver the win win to deliver a seamless solution. Come on, let’s give 110%”. Of course I exaggerate, but only slightly! How did things ever come to this – and when could you get more than 100%? If I went home and started talking to my family in this kind of talk they would think I was speaking another language and they would be right. I have also started to hear similar talk out of work with people in the pub using such awful phrases as ‘blue-sky thinking’ and ‘singing from the same hymn sheet’. Why do we talk in this weird business speak? Well, it may be due to the invasion of business reality TV shows like The Apprentice but I think the time has come to start speaking like humans again (even at work!). Think of the last time you sat on a plane or train that was delayed and the way the guard or pilot phrases their apology. Just before Christmas, I was sat with a colleague on a plane (after an hour and a half delay already) and as we were sat on the tarmac, over the tannoy came the pilot “We would like to thank all passengers for their patience and apologise for any inconvenience caused”. The pilot then went on to add that “due to unforeseen circumstances that are out of our control our slot has been put back a further hour. We will update you when we have more information but if you do wish to get off this flight please make yourself known to one of the cabin crew”. It may as well have been delivered by a robot with the inhuman way it was put across. On the occasions when I am home late from work or having to work late to meet deadlines would I ever say ‘sorry for the inconvenience’ to my wife who has put the children to bed and dealt with another evening of solitary confinement; of course I wouldn’t and if I did I know what the comeback would be! Suffice to say, we got off the plane and ended up delivering the presentation via a video conference. What was enlightening was that after the 3 hour video conference, one of the PA’s came in and profusely apologised “I am so sorry for not offering you coffee or tea during the meeting”. It was heartfelt and of course it was no problem but immediately I warmed to her genuine nature. I therefore postulate; is the way we communicate hurting our businesses and individual reputation more than we know? If the airline in question had dealt with the situation in a slightly more humane way, would I have felt differently about the soured experience? Research carried out in the UK with over 2,000 adults by YouGov confirmed these worrying trends that nearly half of the respondents admitted to using ‘business jargon’ outside of work with family and friends but an enlightening 70% of people (especially in the North West of England) found such talk to be irritating. Of course, there is always a balance between being professional and being personable but in this world saturated in information and alternatives, being clear not only in the proposition you take to market but in the language you use will make you stand out from the crowd and deliver you a competitive advantage that customers will warm to. So in wrap up to this week’s Thursday Night Insight and with the whole year ahead of us I ask you to try and make this year’s resolution to talk with clarity and without mumbo jumbo jargon and I promise you; as long as you give it 200%, it will definitely feel fresh to the other claptrap that is being spouted! The Importance of VoiceFriday, August 20th, 2010  In this week’s Thursday Night Insight, Paul Hague considers the importance of “voice” and how it can be your most important asset… “Good morning from the flight deck. This is your captain speaking.” I can’t help looking up from my John Grisham novel and admiring the dulcet tones of Capt. Bill Jones. I am on a Continental flight from Newark to Manchester although it could be from anywhere to anywhere. All captains sound different but they all sound the same. They seem to exude the same confidence and assurance that we passengers are looking for on a flight and yet the only thing they manage to tell us is what time we will arrive and that it will be raining in Manchester when we get there. It got me thinking. Is it genuine confidence that is being communicated by Bill Jones’ voice or am I being influenced by his seniority and his position? He sounds more authoritative than the chief steward but maybe that’s because I know that he is the captain and have conferred status and authority to him. Now the point of my introduction is not to be obsequious to airline captains but to get us thinking about something that is crucially important in shaping our view of people. In fact, a search on the Internet suggests that the voice, its intonation and its delivery accounts for 40% of the impression that we make on someone we meet for the first time. If this is true, it is massively important. Forget worrying about your height, the size of your nose, your sticking-out ears and your hairdo. What matters is what you say and how you say it. When you think about it, there must be some truth in this. Obama has a wonderful speaking voice. So had Churchill and, God forbid, so did Mister Hitler. And what does a wonderful voice mean? It means (I think) that it communicates your strength of personality, your enthusiasm and your authority. It gives a clue as to your upbringing through your accent, to your confidence as a person, and to your intelligence. Forget being six feet tall with dark wavy hair and a dimple in your chin (and that’s only the females) – you could be let down immediately you open your mouth if you sound like Kenneth Williams. All very interesting you might think but what has this got to do with a business blog? I was reading in the Financial Times today about one of Italy’s richest entrepreneurs – Enrico Preziosi. My interest was aroused when I read the story of his transformation from a street hawker of toys bought from China to a €1 billion turnover, fully integrated business, which is now the fifth largest toy company in the world. Apparently his success is all down to his voice. To be more precise it is down to his company’s voice. A few years ago, when he ran a fledgling company, he learned that Mattel and Hasbro, the two leading toy companies, spent all their advertising money in October and November, just prior to the Christmas buying season. Preziosi used his relatively small advertising budget to run a television campaign in every month outside this period. In other words, he bought “share of voice” and achieved it by choosing months when he would be heard and not swamped by those who could shout louder. Of course, voice is not just about being loud and being heard; it is also about communicating the right message. Preziosi knows a thing or two about this. “About every five years toys change completely,” he says. “If you want to stay stable in the market you have to be trendy. In 1978, girls still played with dolls when they were aged 14. Now if I gave my daughter, aged 11, a doll, she would throw it out of the window.” You have to be right on message to resonate with your fickle and ever demanding audience. Working out the importance of voice to a customer or potential customer is not easy. I said earlier that 40% of the impression we make on people when we first meet them is due to our voice rather than our appearance. Let us assume that this figure is roughly right for business introductions. What if the impression we make for our companies is achieved in a similar way, as with Preziosi’s company, by our voice – as measured by the impression left by our sales people, our signage, our logos, our adverts, websites and the like. I leave you with a very important question – are you getting your share? Let Your Customers Talk To YouThursday, October 22nd, 2009 
As technology – particularly advances in the capabilities of, and access to, the internet – improves so many of our lives in countless ways, we should not forget that ‘traditional’ means of seeking information and making purchases may still very much have a place. According to recent research findings from UK-based telecommunications company Invomo, companies which fail to provide telephone interaction risk alienating their customers. The study of 3,000 adult consumers suggested that nearly 40% of customers insist on making purchases by telephone rather than online, stating that more than a quarter felt more confident when ordering through a call centre and one in five found it more convenient to call than use the internet. Nick Wiley, CEO of Invomo, said: “Companies that only have a web strategy for servicing orders could be missing out on a significant proportion of business. Making sure customers don’t have to hunt the length and breadth of a web site for a contact number and offering a ‘call me back’ option could be a good start to reduce lost orders. Looking beyond short-term fixes, how many companies’ web and call centre operations are gearing up to customers who want their suppliers to really earn their loyalty and have faith in their own ability to deal with these street wise callers?” Find out what your customers really think of your company. Do they find it easy to reach you? Can they easily access all the information they need to enable them to make a purchase decision? What makes them choose you over your competitors? Our customer satisfaction research can help you to ensure you continue to meet their changing needs and increase the likelihood of them buying more from you in the future. Swines for distorting factsFriday, September 25th, 2009
In her Thursday Night Insight this week, Emma Flood warns us what market researchers can learn from the ongoing handling of the swine flu epidemic. Have you heard of swine flu? No doubt, like the rest of us, you have been poring over the alarmist messages in the newspapers about how deadly the virus is and how we’re all going to contract it. The alarm caused by the reportage of this strain of flu no doubt caused a rise in hypochondriasis and a serious peak in sick days. So how did the government and the media help the general public on this, and try to avoid the panic which exacerbated these circumstances? Did they carefully communicate a number of select messages to those most in danger? And did they ensure that their messages were consistent? No. We were faced with a series of conflicting advice and information – some of us were told to stay indoors, others to avoid public transport. Some commuters took to extreme measures of wearing face masks, whilst others (like myself!) stocked up on antibacterial hand foam to ward off any potential infection. Suffice to say, thankfully neither I nor any of my family have been struck down with this illness. This caused me to think, however, about our choices when presented with new information and data – what does it mean? What do we do with it? Who is it relevant to? How do we interpret it? In this instance, journalists were provided with a series of often conflicting and misleading “facts and figures” from the government and associated bodies, and of course this was reported in an alarmist fashion – to generate interest and sell more column inches. What I find interesting is the selective reporting of facts. We were provided with a daily update on the number of deaths which had tragically occurred, and this was often reported in true scaremongering fashion with the headlines “swine flu death toll rises again” and “fears of pandemic”. Very little emphasis was placed on the prior underlying health concerns of these victims, and we were all herded into the same risk group, thus further heightening our concern and attempts to avoid contracting the virus. Had the media helped in communicating that those most at risk were those with existing health concerns, we might have avoided such a swine flu frenzy. As researchers, it is our duty to effectively interrogate and deconstruct data, in order to communicate the real findings back to our client. We have to be skilled in drawing out the real facts, and confident that the picture we are portraying is a true reflection and communicates the right messages. We know that our recommendations can lead to strategic change for an organisation, and behind that is often a significant budget. To put your business in the hands of experienced research professionals, get in touch with B2B International’s Research Team, or read on to find out more click here. « Previous Entries |
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