It’s what we do.

One of our very first advertising clients was a privately owned company that developed and manufactured electromagnetic components. At their factory, I saw with my own eyes a perfect example of why it’s important to consider your employees as your # 1 audience. I also decided that having named my agency Inside Out Communications wasn’t so crazy after all.

Walking around the plant, you’d see a frequently updated collection of very large, beautifully framed prints. They showed a wide range of products meant for mission-critical power applications; they all featured one or many of their electromagnetic components.

Employees who had worked in the team that designed, developed, manufactured or shipped those miniature components could see exactly where and how they ended up being used, and feel the pride of being part of something bigger than an assembly line.

Seattle University School of Law

Sharing a video from Seattle University School of Law

Sharing a video from Seattle University School of Law

Maybe it’s respect?

Receiving a message from a long-time-ago customer, congratulating me on a work anniversary, reminded me of the main reason I truly enjoyed working with that company. Their salespeople didn’t resent us. They considered us part of their team. They liked us, and they still do. Actually, their sales VP, a wild, wise and witty guy from Wales, UK, was also marketing VP, and believed sales and marketing worked better together, not at opposite sides of the table. Who knew.

So what happens when salespeople, focused on achieving their sales goals, realize that their advertising agency actually knows a thing or two and can be trusted to help, and when advertising agencies understand the unique knowledge that salespeople have, and recognize their need of salespeople’s experience in order to develop solid marketing communication efforts? The synergy is amazing. And so are the results.

MAKE IT PERSONAL

My husband and I were walking by the river, and we saw from far away the son of the young couple who sold us our house; he’s a pretty wild 5-year-old whom my husband adores because, having been a wild kid himself,  he identifies with him. As a “Hello,” my husband started jumping and yelling, to my great embarrassment and to the utter amazement of another 5-year old, who was sedately walking with his mother near us. When the dance was over, the second kid looked at my husband and asked him, “Now, can you do it again, for me?” What a lesson! It was the same dance and shouting, but it was “For him.” Isn’t that what we all yearn for?

…and it still happens.

When I named the agency “Inside Out Communications,” I did it based on a real-life episode that was symbolic of what I thought was typical poor internal communications. I needed to wire funds overseas and decided to use what was called then Bank of Boston; they had launched a huge campaign advertising their commitment to the small customer and promising royal treatment to those who’d open an account with them.  I stopped at three Bank of Boston locations. None of them would send the wire for me. The amount, $10,000, was deemed not large enough. None of the managers had any idea of the campaign that was going on. That was then.

This is now:
A couple of days ago I received an email from one of the industry magazines where we often buy space for our clients. They were offering video advertising, and it sounded pretty cool. Our vp of Client Services called our rep, whose contact information was listed at the bottom of the email… he had NO IDEA of what she was talking about. Classic.

When conventional wisdom misses the mark.

You have probably lived through it or at least, been told it – small accounts are not good business. You spent the same amount of time you’d spend on a big account, because your reputation is on the line, and/or because you like them and want to help them. But you make very little money. So what happens when YOU are the “small account”? Hmmm…

That’s the case with our cold storage vendor, Wilmington Cold Storage, where the beef from Del Terruño, our client in Uruguay, gets inspected and stored. Their place is enormous, services top-notch accounts, and is the number one choice for importers of overseas food products. When we park our green “beefmobile” next to the enormous tractor trailers picking up their products from cold storage, we don’t just feel small; we feel tiny.

And yet… anytime we go there, we’re given the royal treatment. You can tell they genuinely care; they ask smart questions, show interest, have great comments and offer new ideas. They are smart and successful, and they are flying on the face of conventional business wisdom. And we sure appreciate it.

We’re a paperless society.

Right. And nobody uses business cards any longer. (So why do I have a collection that keeps growing bigger and bigger?) To keep myself on track, I scribble some cryptic details in the back of the card, for example, “Said he needed blogs,” “Self-describes as a tough customer,” “Wants articles,” “Is unhappy with their website but not sure about what to do…” And my own assessment – “Worth it,” “Inspiring, don’t lose touch,” “Boring but smart,” “Seems to get it.” If I’m being extra good, I also write a date and even a place where we met.

The “Inside-Out” point of my story – if you’re delving into your pile of business cards to get names for your NBD, it makes a big difference to be able to start your message with a personal reference to something they told you, or reminding them where, when and why you met them. Cheers!

You’re quoting WHO?

Yes, I’m quoting Chief Justice Roberts.  A couple of people forwarded me the link to his speech at his son’s commencement, and I’ve got to say I’d jump party lines to congratulate him on it – and I will share a thought that I found very astute.

As cool and as enticing as “Just do it” sounds, maybe instead we should remember what Socrates said, “The unexamined life is not worth living.”

Here’s a link to the speech:

https://www.boston.com/news/local-news/2017/07/08/watch-chief-justice-john-robertss-commencement-speech-at-his-sons-new-hampshire-school

When the student is ready, the teacher will appear.

And this student was oh so ready – but certainly never thought the “teacher” would be a young heavy equipment salesperson, or the classroom, an outdoor table at a golf club restaurant in the Berkshires. Putting down his fork for a couple of seconds, the new and eager salesguy added his own comment to his customer’s musings regarding plans for growing his company. And I took my notebook and pen to write it down, because I found what he said both astute and ever so timely:

“Growing your business is not adding more people and equipment; it’s being more efficient.”

Not A Business Blog – An Old Superstition And A Wise Saying.

I spent most of my childhood in a ranch, in Uruguay; proverbs, sayings and superstitions were part of the daily diet. How about this one?

If by mistake you wore any garment inside out, your shirt or your sweater maybe, somebody would quickly tell you that for sure, you were going to receive a surprise gift.

I had totally forgotten that old superstition until today, when I sat down to draft a new blog and it suddenly came back to me. And immediately I thought of another saying, this one in English:

“Success is failure turned inside out.”

So between the two of them I got my dose of inspiration and mystery for the weekend, and I am passing it along. And no, you are not supposed to cheat and wear something inside out to force a surprise; it has to happen on its own, by mistake.