Avoid Regret – Invest in the Relationships that Matter Most!

Thomas Krol — Mon, 20 Sep 2021 14:54:11 +0000

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Have you ever had something or someone get under your skin – stuck in your head and you can’t think of anything else? That’s been me since I shared a Smashing Pumpkins song last week – I started listening to their album Siamese Dream again – such an influential album for me as I was trying to build an indie music career waaaay back in the ’90s!

The song Hummer blew my mind – cool intro, huge guitars, cool riffs, great dynamics, and an awesome outro section that still gets me choked up when I hear it. So many emotions, memories – I just love this song, and love sharing it! Songs like this have special meaning, and I associate them with people and places that mean a lot to me.

Give it a listen with me as we see what the experts are saying this week… I hope you enjoy it!

Avoiding Regret in Relationships

My friend and colleague Dave Inglis posted something the other day that really got me thinking… how do we invest in the relationships that matter most to us? And more importantly, how can we create urgency to invest in those relationships?

Thinking through those relationships and identifying how much time you have left with those specific people is important. It could be how many more birthdays you’ll have to celebrate with that person. How many more chances to get a burrito at that favorite lunch spot. How many more times to listen to music and talk about life!

And of course, when you frame it that way, you create that sense of urgency to ensure that relationship gets the appropriate attention!

Now, what if we do the same with our customers? How do we invest in those customer relationships that matter most to us?

We talk a lot about Ideal Customer Profiles (ICPs), customer retention and customer success. But when we look at those client relationships and REALLY think about their value to us – perhaps we would start to treat them differently? Maybe we’d change how we treat our clients if we realized there was a definite end date to the relationship!

Sometimes you need to decide that your customer is a prize… time to renew and revive!

Investing in the (Music) Relationships that Matter Most

Speaking of investing in the relationships that matter most, this article from Hypebot shows how being a fan today can be expensive, complicated… and you’re being manipulated!

China’s recent crackdown on fandom has shone a light on the dark underbelly of the global fandom machine. Corporations have industrialized, leveraged – and even exploited – fan psychology to extract every possible penny from fanbases. This has manipulated fans to become dedicated to the extreme, leading to the crackdown. And this could very well lead to similar movements the world over in the same direction.

But what is the silver lining in all this? As Alan Cross explains, the Chinese music apps illustrate how much more can be achieved with experiences that are built around the music, rather than relying on only the music itself to be the experience.

As B2B marketers, maybe that should be our takeaway from this. You can build a fanbase with a great product or service. But if you can build an experience around your offering – something that engages and excites your customers – then your fans will become more loyal, more passionate, and more numerous!

So ask yourself a question… How can we transform our customers’ experience to ensure that they’re happier than they’ve ever been?

As always, don’t hesitate to call me to brainstorm or just say hello.

Looking forward,
Rick

Rick Endrulat, President | ricke@v-causeway.com | www.linkedin.com/in/rickendrulat

The post Avoid Regret – Invest in the Relationships that Matter Most! appeared first on Virtual Causeway.

Undo the Summer Slump

Thomas Krol — Mon, 02 Aug 2021 14:18:28 +0000

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Slumps suck. We can get into them in any aspect of our lives – career, family, relationships, sports… I know I’ve had my fair share. These slumps can really make it tough to get back on track. Sometimes we need to do something bold – like doing a ‘cannonball’ off the diving board – to kick-start our efforts and make a big splash!

Give this song by The Breeders a listen with me as we see what the experts are saying and how we can make our own splashes this week…

Summer Slumps

Is your demand generation taking a summer vacation? I’ve been preaching to my clients (and to anyone who will listen) for many years that summer is a GREAT time for sales and marketing! I shared some insights about this in a blog post last year (almost to the day!), and it’s still just as relevant.

However, there are some companies that DO face slumps in the summer. HubSpot’s data shows that this year, business leaders are expecting sharper dips as more consumers travel or unplug. Not to mention the volume of HR requests for vacation, as employees have waited months to take them.

Here are some of the trends:

Web traffic is seeing a summer slump – global traffic is dipping across most industries and segments
Deals are going up – despite decreased traffic, deals closing are climbing!

If your team’s seeing more deals closing, but fewer qualified leads, signups, or deals created this summer, it might not be cause for panic. However, when your business sees a slowdown or shift of any kind, there are plenty of steps you can take to ensure future success, including:

Prepare when you can for business shifts
Launch demand plays
Use data to guide your strategy
Don’t forget about your current customers
Strengthen team communication
Balance results with employee well-being

Depending on your industry, you may always experience a dip in the summer – but there are lots of things to help mitigate the impact. Perhaps we all need to spend a little more time listening – to employees, current customers, teams and the market.

And Speaking of Hearing Problems…

You’ve heard about many high-profile rock musicians losing their hearing over the years. Heck, there was even an award-winning movie (Sound of Metal) released recently about it. But what type of musician suffers most from hearing damage? Is it metal? Rock? You might be surprised – it’s classical musicians!

That’s right. Rock has long been demonized as the music that makes people deaf. But according to Alan Cross, it’s the symphony orchestra wherein lies the greatest danger of hearing loss!

Studies have shown that anywhere from 5-30% of rock musicians experience hearing problems, but this figure jumps up to 52% for classical musicians. Sitting near the brass section for 10 hours, you’ll experience the maximum weekly noise allowance for industrial noise for a full week! So if you’re spending that much time DAILY surrounded by loud instruments… well, the sound begins to take its toll on your ears.

We may not be able to fix our orchestra friends’ hearing, but maybe we can take this as a reminder to fix our own listening. Maybe your summer slump is a self-fulfilling prophecy. If you listen closely to your customers, you may find opportunities you’ve been missing to be their whatever-you-want.