Capstone Marketing Blog, Marketing

7 Key Steps to Turning Your Big Idea Into a Big Success

In an article for MarketingProfs Mike Sprouse, chief marketing officer of Epic Advertising, provides seven key steps to turn your big idea into a big success. As you create your firm’s marketing programs consider these seven steps:

  1. Figure out what makes you tick, what makes you passionate about your career, or what you see in your industry that you really enjoy and think you can add value to.
  2. Create a business plan. It should go beyond the necessary dollars-and-cents analysis and include a how your idea will benefit your company, your job, and your target audiences.
  3. Figure out the “who”—who else in your company or industry might share your passions and ideas. Develop a “who’s on board” list of people who might be willing to help bring your idea to market.
  4. Once you have people on board, figure out—with them—the “how,” or the process via which you’ll make your idea a success.
  5. Establish key goals or benchmarks—two or three short-term targets and one long-term target.
  6. Finally, when you’re ready, figure out how you will tell your story to people who may be interested. If your idea is a good one, then it is your responsibility to share it with them.
  7. Have fun. When ideas or projects cease being fun, the passion dries up and, typically, the end product suffers.
Capstone Marketing Blog, Client Satisfaction

Unmade Beds and Dryer Sheets

1 Comment

I do my share of traveling to clients, speaking engagements, and conferences. Since I’m always looking for stories that I can incorporate into my consulting I pay particular attention to the level of client service that I receive from the airlines, rental car companies, and hotels. Let me share with you the spectrum of service I received on a couple of recent trips.

I checked into a newly opened hotel. The doorman and the personnel at check-in were friendly and welcoming. However, when I got to my room I found that the bed wasn’t made – the room hadn’t been cleaned! I went back to the check-in desk, explained what happened, and the gentleman said, “That’s the second time that’s happened tonight.” Not the response I was looking for but I got a new room (that had been cleaned) and a free bottle of water.

I checked into an established hotel for a friend’s wedding. All personnel were extremely professional and polite. Every employee looked for ways to be helpful. A client service culture was evident. As I got ready for the wedding I noticed that my wool dress was full of static, not good to have your dress clinging to you especially with the dancing I was planning to do. I called housekeeping to see if they had Static Guard. No Static Guard. I tried water. No luck. Then, a knock on the door. Housekeeping brought me several dryer sheets, the sheets used in the dryer to prevent static cling. I rubbed the dryer sheets on my dress and slip, and presto! No static cling! Problem solved by a very creative, caring member of the housekeeping staff.

What I’ve learned so far is that in these competitive times all of us need to pay attention to the level of service we provide our clients, whether we’re operating a hotel, a rental car company, a consulting business, or a CPA firm.

Here are a few tips for my CPA firm colleagues to keep in mind during your busiest time of the year:

– Work as a team and communicate, communicate, communicate!
– Proofread and check your work in order to catch mistakes. Be sure clients’ names are spelled correctly and tax returns are sent to the correct address.
– Pay attention to the presentation of client financial statements and tax returns. It is part of your brand.
– Pay attention to your personal image and how clients perceive you. This includes how you are dressed, arriving on time, how you shake hands, the types of questions you ask and how you respond to client questions.
– Resolve problems quickly. Problems won’t go away by ignoring them.
– Remember to say “thank you” to clients.