The Six R’s and other wisdom from Deloitte’s Luis Gallardo

I recently attended BrandSmart 2011, the flagship event of the year for the Chicago Chapter of the American Marketing Association. BrandSmart consistently draws impressive speakers and over 200 marketers for the day-long conference, which this year was held at the Spertus Institute. While many of the presenters represented consumer-focused products and services (this has been my frustration with the Chicago AMA for some time), I was especially excited to hear from Luis Gallardo, Managing Director, Global Brand & Marketing for Deloitte. I wanted to share a few take-aways from his presentation.

Luis took his current position in 2005, at which time Deloitte had 750 separate legal entities and more than 900 physical offices. He was charged with taking a decentralized organization and creating a single brand – quite a challenge. So, how is he doing it?

First, Luis reinforced something that I believe strongly as well – much traditional marketing wisdom doesn’t work in consulting and other professional services organizations. He used The 4 Ps – Product, Price, Place, Promotion – as an example of where traditional theory falls short. Our Product is our people and their skills, our Price is an hourly rate that changes with skill level, our Place is wherever our relationships take us and our Promotion is often positive results from an engagement. And with a workforce empowered to make decisions at the client level, maintaining consistency can be extremely difficult. Luis offered the following to replace The 4 P’s (or The 4 C’s – Consumer, Cost, Convenience, Communication):

The 6 R’s

1. Reason – what is your organization’s internal compass? Why are you in business? He encouraged everyone to be a “brand driven by purpose.”
2. Revenue – Luis encouraged all of us to link what we do to revenue, even if it’s intangible. We must show our CEOs that we know what drives revenue into the business.
3. Reputation – who are your key stakeholders? What do they think of you? If you don’t know, ask them.
4. Relationships – in a consulting organization, relationships are critical to winning work. If I had to pick the most important ‘R’ in this list, it would be this one.
5. Rousers – this means leadership. Who is a catalyst in your organization? Who drives your Reason?
6. Resilience – everyone falls down, but we must get back up, every time. This is essential in a highly competitive, crowded marketplace like consulting.

In addition to the above, Luis shared that 80% of his budget is spent on training and development for the Deloitte team. This is a break from traditional marketing wisdom yet again. We are trained to think of the customer first, but what we (professional services marketers) often forget is that our consultants or client facing service teams are our best marketing tools, and therefore they should be the customers we serve.

As the Senior Marketing Manager for a consulting organization, I was inspired by Gallardo’s presentation. This is a frustrating job sometimes, but if he can serve 10,000 partners, I think I can manage seven!

Congrats to the Chicago AMA on another successful BrandSmart conference.

Any work is good work, right?

One of my Partners told me that we lost a few engagements based on price recently. In one instance, we were competing with a two-man shop and in another instance, the chosen consultant agreed to do the work for one-third of our quoted rate – yikes! I asked him this, “Doesn’t that imply that those were the “wrong” jobs?” He agreed, but there are folks in my firm that probably wouldn’t… let’s break this down a bit.

What’s (not) in it for us?
In my organization there are a couple of things that make a job desirable; profitability and complexity. (There are others, like industry expertise, location, etc. but let’s concentrate on these two.)

• If we had dropped our price to beat our less expensive competitors, the job ceases to be profitable. And, unless we’ve changed our business model, I think we’re still in this to make money, right?
• Neither one of the jobs was overly complex, so the opportunity to train our staff and expand their skills sets was nonexistent.

Unprofitable and no learning opportunity… I’m glad we didn’t win! This is a great example of how we chose not to adhere to the features and characteristics we’ve defined for attractive engagements.

What is it about winning any work that drives us to pitch the “wrong” jobs?

1. Let’s be honest – compensation. We are a billable resource industry and our consultants are compensated on billing hours – not the “right” hours, just hours.
2. Let’s be honest again – ego. Who doesn’t feel great when they land a job? And we should! We earn respect in our organizations if we can make it rain – not the “right” rain, just rain.
3. Human nature and impatience – I think we can all agree that being patient and waiting for the “right” opportunity is extremely difficult and often contrary to our desire to be busy. Many of us feel much more productive if we’re chasing work – not the “right” work, just work.

So how do we get it “right?”

Ask yourself and the leaders in your organization the following questions:

1. What types of jobs/clients do you want? What makes them desirable?
2. What is your firm’s greatest skill set(s)? What do you do really well? (FYI – you don’t do EVERYTHING really well.)
3. Do your answers to the above two questions match? Do your most desirable clients need your greatest skills? Do your skills meet the needs of your most desirable clients? If you answered no, you may have a bigger problem, but one more question…
4. Have you communicated to your staff/sales force the criteria for a desirable client/job? When you encourage your team to go out into the marketplace and source work, are they clear on the types of prospects they should target?

Ask the above questions and communicate the answers throughout your organization so everyone is on the same page. Be disciplined and encourage your team to adhere to the attributes of the “right” clients and jobs, as you’ve defined them. It’s difficult and as outlined above, slightly counter-intuitive, but it will maximize the utility of your business development resources and create much more rewarding experiences for your staff and clients.

Was the MBA worth it?

I had lunch with a former colleague the other day and she asked if I thought my MBA was worth it. Easy answer – yes – but probably not for the reasons she anticipated, or you’re thinking. I use very little of my “classroom” MBA experience on a daily basis, but I use the “soft skills” I developed every day, and that’s what makes me valuable in my organization.

An MBA is a huge investment, both in time and money, and you shouldn’t pursue a graduate degree in any field without first assessing the future and viability of the career path as well as having a very honest conversation with yourself about your motivation. For me, it was a necessary step in order to advance my career. I readily admit that without the skills and maturity I gained in my MBA program, I couldn’t have landed my current job.

So, what did the MBA program give me that makes it “worth it?”

1. A holistic view of the business. As a result of my MBA experience, I have the ability to look at my company as a whole and see the interaction points between functions. I believe that marketing touches every aspect of the organization, from hiring to operations, and will not be successful without information, support and collaboration from those in other departments.
2. Confidence. I am a much more confident business person now than I was three years ago. I had never worked for a large company or premium brand, and was insecure about my ability to build a career in marketing. But the MBA program helped me realize that my past experience gave me unique skills and knowledge, and I’ve been able to leverage those things to create results for my organization – that’s a real confidence builder.
3. Perspective. As with other positions, marketers have to balance short-term projects and deadlines with longer-term objectives aimed at achieving the company’s vision. Going through the MBA program helped me realize that without clear strategic goals, and an agreed upon direction to achieve them, the tactical steps I take to get there are wasted time and money. Many non-marketers believe that successful marketing is action-oriented, and sometimes it is, but action without clear direction is ill-advised when trying to present a cohesive message to the marketplace. I’m much more comfortable prioritizing the “important stuff” at the expense of tactical execution.

So, those are three areas where I feel the MBA added value for me. I would be interested to hear how others feel their graduate experience helped them, or didn’t?

On a side note, my former colleague has decided that an MBA program isn’t for her, but feels she needs a challenge. She’s a talented account manager at a small agency and likes her job – any suggestions for her? Thank you!

Now that’s Karma

I was in the security line at LaGuardia behind an older woman with a walker yesterday. (I can hear the groans already.) It was a fairly busy evening, many business travelers looking to get on earlier flights or perhaps late for the flights they’re on. Did I entertain the idea of changing lines? Sure, but she didn’t seem overly dependent on the walker and was moving through the line faster than I would have expected. As she starts loading her belongings onto the security belt, it becomes clear that it’s going to take her a while – a carry-on bag, shoulder bag, the walker, removing her jacket, bending down to remove her shoes – we all know the drill, but for someone who is older, and maybe doesn’t travel often, these aren’t easy things to do quickly and simultaneously.

Long story short, a “gentleman” asks if he can cut in front of her because he has a 5pm flight he’s trying to catch. There’s a lot of sighing from the line, and “well, I’m trying to go stand-by in 10 minutes,” blah, blah, blah. So, this guy goes in front of her and is off to the races. A few minutes later as I’m gathering my belongings, the woman behind me tells me I left my phone in one of the plastic bins – my heart jumps! I did? I thought it was in my purse? So I walk over to retrieve my phone while internally chastising myself for being so careless and it turns out it’s not mine – thank goodness! (It was one of those giant Android things that looks like a throw-back to the mobile phones of the early ‘90’s. No thanks.) As more and more people leave the security area, it becomes apparent that the owner of this phone is no longer around. Hmmm, I wonder who’s it is?

At this point, I’m sure you’ve deduced that the lovely gentleman, who couldn’t wait for an older lady using a walker to clear security, was in such a hurry that he left his phone. Ha! I wish I could have seen his face when he realized it.

Now that’s Karma.

Branding 101

I posted the below in my company’s marketing group on LinkedIn in hopes of helping my colleagues better understand what in the world I’m up to…

“Brand” can be a hard thing to get your mind around. Most of us have never thought about brand outside of what consumer brands we buy at the store. But the idea of brand extends to B2B service businesses too, and must be lived, supported and protected by each employee.

I wanted to share some definitions and attributes of branding in hopes of helping you to better understand what I’m trying to build, why it’s time consuming and must be pursued in an orderly fashion. Each step of creating (re-creating) a brand builds on itself and requires a foundation built from marketplace insights coupled with fact-based claims about our ability to deliver what the marketplace wants.

When I say “brand,” what do I mean?
I’m referring to the image or perception of our company – what do our customers and referral sources think/feel about us? One of the key points being made about brands today is that companies don’t own their brand – the marketplace does. This distinction was made more concrete and obvious by the rise of social media – which gave customers power and a voice to quickly impact a brand’s image or perception in the (online) marketplace.

Is our logo our brand?
No, it’s not. A logo is a graphical representation of a brand, but a brand is a promise, an intangible. How do you communicate a promise? With images that evoke emotions, with relevant words and messages that resonate with a group of people who all value the same thing – that group of people is a market segment. You also communicate and reinforce a brand promise by consistently doing what you say you’re going to do.

What is a Brand Platform and why is it important?
A train platform – the support structure you stand on while you wait for a train.
A party platform – a set of principles a political party rests upon.

Both of these definitions play a role in the idea of a Brand Platform – a set of messages that together, create a support structure for how the business is presented in the marketplace. Marketers and sales people must stand firmly on this platform in order to present a cohesive, consistent promise to their customers. Operations people and those that deliver services must believe in this promise and consistently deliver on it.

Positioning – what is it?
Our position resides in the minds of our clients and referral sources – where they place us, relative to our competitors, across of set of criteria. (What are these criteria? What is most important to our customers? This may change from segment to segment.)

Dan (our CEO) has a great analogy for this – a chest of drawers. Each drawer has a label – Quality, Price, Speed, Value – and there’s only room for one (or maybe two) companies in each drawer. Where do we want to be? Ideally, we would like to be in every drawer, right? But there’s a limited amount of space, and many other companies clamoring to get in the drawers as well. So, what should we do? Concentrate resources on one (or two) drawers and “own” that drawer.

What is a positioning statement and why do we need one?
From Advanced Brand Management by Paul Temporal: A positioning statement states specifically and briefly what you want people to think about you. It not only spells out the desired image you wish to have, but is also a good test for strategy, as it quickly tells you whether the perceptions you wish people to hold are believable, credible and achievable.

Before writing a positioning statement it is vital that there is complete understanding of the following:

• Your brand
• Target audience
• Competitive set
• Why you are different/better than the competition
• The desired perception you want people to have

Long lesson, but in my opinion, an important one. I’m happy to answer any questions that you have.

Be Resolute.

I hate New Year Resolutions – they’re often lofty, diet and exercise related or self-improvement goals that stem from the opportunity to join a gym you’ll never visit without paying the initiation fee. Let’s ditch ’em! Instead, let’s concentrate on only a few activities that are already contributing positively in our lives and pursue them resolutely.

Resolute: having or characterized by determination and purposefulness (Encarta Dictionary, English, North America.)

How many of our behaviors are governed by inertia? You continue to do something (or not do something) because that’s just the way it’s always been. Imagine the changes in 2011 that would result if instead of adding new initiatives to your life, you backed those you’re already involved in with purpose and determination?

Let’s face it, we’re all fired up at the beginning of a process – whether it’s an exercise regime, a new relationship or changing jobs – we’re very committed at the beginning, but as time goes on and results are slow to materialize, we become less motivated. So, in order to stay interested we begin new projects and set new goals and the slide into indifference begins again. Set yourself up for success this year by NOT adding new goals or projects but by truly committing to those you’re already engaged in.

Resolve this year to be resolute.

Happy New Year!

Action is great! But without focus?

I wanted to expand upon and provide a spin on Seth Godin’s blog post today, Just Looking. In a nut-shell, he’s encouraging action – “quit looking and buy something already.” Amen brother! But he touches on something else too – focus. He uses the example of someone entering a clothing store and asking for a suit in a specific size and predicts (probably accurately) that this person is more likely to buy than someone who is “just looking.”

“Stop looking and buy” is a great directive, but the suit buyer had to get to that point right? How did he do it? He focused.

I see refusal or inability to focus in marketing and selling professional services all the time – our client base and skill sets tend to be broad and because of increased competition we’re concerned about missing an opportunity due to too narrow a focus. I find myself asking my consultants to “focus” or “target” so often I wonder how they stand me? And the funny thing is, they KNOW a lack of focus won’t bring them business, but they still cast a wide net just in case they catch something instead of investing resources behind a targeted, proven revenue source. Pretty illogical if you ask me.

So, what does this have to do with the suit guy? Well, he needed a suit, he knew where to get one, went there, asked for what he needed, and (probably) bought it. Successful transaction. Well, if you’re a consultant and know there is a group of buyers that need your services, shouldn’t you focus on those buyers? Shouldn’t you try to become their suit store – the place they go when they need something specific?

But Amanda, you just said that our skill set tends to be broad; how can we become the go-to provider of something specific?

By consistently providing and communicating good work. When you’ve proven that you can meet the need of a client consistently over time, they will come to you again. And what’s more, they will also come to you when they’re not sure you do what they need because they trust you. And if they can use the same provider for a number of services who has consistently done good work, why would they go anywhere else? The “something specific” I’m referring to is good work and trust, because those are the things you’re actually selling as a professional service provider.

Focus on those who have purchased from you before and those who fit tightly into your target market, because without focus, action can be very ineffective.

I am your client. Do your job. That is all.

Did I miss the class in business school where they taught abdication of responsibility? How about placing blame? What were the finals like in those classes – never-ending excuses? Late deliverables? Mediocre service at a high price? Awesome, sign me up.

Here is a list of things I would never say/do to my client…

1. Waste their time – I feel like my time is valuable, therefore, I think it’s safe to assume that my client(s) feels the same way about their time. Do not waste my time. That is all.
2. Over-promise and under-deliver – if you can’t meet a deadline, tell me, rest assured I will understand. If you tell me you’re going to meet that deadline, then meet it. If something else is going on, pick up the phone. That is all.
3. Blame another vendor – I recently found myself in a situation where success could only be achieved if two vendors worked together, or at least provided their “part” of the deliverable as promised and on time. Blame does not move us any closer to a successful outcome – remove it from your vocabulary, take the initiative and play nice. That is all.
4. Make excuses – we all make mistakes, we’re human, heck, I make them all the time (well, not all the time…) The best way to “fix” a mistake: take responsibility and suggest a solution. That is all.

Admittedly, this is a rant, but in my defense, “Write a rant” is #14 on this list of 100 Sources of Blog Inspiration. I must have been inspired…

The ABCs of Thankfulness

I’m thankful for…

Access – to education, mentors and a community of thought leaders.

Brands – the ones I’m loyal to and those that teach important lessons in the marketplace.

Change – for teaching me flexibility.

Dogs – they put a smile on my face first thing in the morning, especially the ones in coats!

Employment – simple but important.

Family – goes without saying but sometimes I don’t say it enough.

Grace – no greater gift.

Health – without it, nothing else matters.

iTunes – for helping me ease into the work-day.

Jeans – especially at work on Fridays.

Karaoke – because inside, I’m an undiscovered rock star.

Love – the new, exciting, butterfly kind.

Music – because we all need a soundtrack!

Niece and nephew – Corinne and Caleb.

Online – shopping and communicating.

Peace – the worldly kind.

Quiet – because it’s rare.

Reassurance – for all those times we doubt ourselves.

Second chances – I’ve needed a couple and we all deserve them.

Time – because there’s never enough.

University of Wisconsin – for college memories and Badger football.

Validation – don’t we all need this?

Wellies – for rainy days and dry feet.

X – come on, this is a tough one.

Youthfulness – to remind us to play sometimes.  

Zinfandel – and all its relatives.

What are you thankful for?

Can marketing save the world?

I recently attended the BMA Chicago’s Marketing Innovator’s Luncheon on Thurs. Nov. 4^th at the Standard Club, featuring Dr. Phillip Kotler, author of the new book Marketing 3.0 and distinguished marketing professor from Northwestern Kellogg School of Management. Kotler warned attendees that it is no longer sufficient to make great products efficiently and profitably; they must adopt the ideas behind Marketing 3.0 in order to survive – be a brand driven company that makes decisions based on values, and aligns those values with their customers.

To begin the fireside chat, (there was a digital fire, I loved it!) Kotler defined the following:

Marketing 1.0 – make a good product efficiently and profitably to address a need in the marketplace. He used the example of toothpaste – everyone needs toothpaste!

Marketing 2.0 – companies that appeal to the heart and mind of the buyer; those that recognize the power of emotions in the buying decision.

Marketing 3.0 – be values driven, not value driven; care about the state of the world and attempt to address problems like poverty and environmental challenges. He used GE and IBM’s Smarter Planet campaign as examples.

A Marketing 3.0 company serves it’s constituencies in the following order:

1. Customers
2. Employees
3. Community
4. Investors

Kotler went on to say that corporate America is in denial of the problems our society faces (melting of the polar ice caps for example) and to date, has not stepped up to take their rightful position of responsibility. Are businesses responsible for creating a better life for people? Kotler says definitively, yes.

Dr. Kotler takes a very macro view of marketing and its impact on the world – he said that Marketing’s role is to increase spending, thus creating jobs, thus increasing purchasing power. Wow, when you look at it that way, us marketers are pretty darn important! How would your CEO react if your response to his budget cut was, “Okay, but you’re negatively impacting the entire economy here!”

Speaking of CEOs, Kotler warned that implementing Marketing 3.0 in an organization will be a huge challenge because most CEOs don’t understand marketing and lose patience when they can’t see tangible results in a short amount of time. Marketing 3.0 isn’t about next quarter, or even next year, it’s about looking farther into the future to determine how the company can positively impact the four groups listed above in a profitable way. Can you say “long-term strategic planning team?” Kotler recommends a Marketing 3.0 company have two marketing departments, a traditional one that focuses on quarterly sales and a second to ask questions like “What will a kitchen look like in five years?” This second department is the growth engine for the organization and must be led and staffed by big picture thinkers.

As we moved to the Q&A portion of the afternoon, Kotler shared with us his definition of marketing: CCDVTP – Create, Communicate and Deliver Value to your Target market at a Profit. (A joke was made that Twitter probably exploded at this point!) I’ve always told people who ask me what I do that I Communicate for a living – but I’m now realizing that that’s an incredibly narrow view of my role in light of Kotler’s remarks.

He ended the session by asking, “Can marketing save the world?” What do you think?

Thanks to the Chicago BMA for a great event.