Not long ago, my website ranking – for what it’s worth – was mired in the 25, 216,250th spot. Now, it’s ranked 11,040,648: a 57% rise. If only that were profits.

Regardless, due to writing increasingly frequent blog posts and attracting unexpected responses, the SEO gods and goddesses have rewarded me. Plus, I admit, it’s gratifying to have people from around the Internet offer their compliments and insights.

According to Paul Coughlin of Blog for Profit, the top factor for a successful blog is content. Initially, I wasn’t sure if writing about (content) writing was going to generate enough ideas. However, I soon realized that my sales and marketing background enabled me to offer insightful analysis of both companies and their practices to readers.

The 2nd factor is Interaction or the degree to which a blogger writes replies and or exchanges information or comments with care enough to write comments on certain posts. I admit I’m sometimes tardy on this point but there is quite a bit of spam as well.

More Changes Ahead
The website designer with whom I had arranged the transformation of my website is tied up so I’ve made other inquiries. My motivation? I want to play up or showcase my thinking, insight, and writing abilities for both prospective clients and employers. A now-outdated static website forces interested parties to click through pages instead of just reading the last several posts.

I got a lesson in counter-intuitive sales thinking this past Saturday at “The Bay: Canada’s Department Store” (company’s slogan). The only problem is, that’s the opposite to how sales psychology works.

A sales presentation, regardless of its form (brochure, in-person, billboard, commercial) or medium of delivery (TV, radio, Internet, in-person shopping experience) should be:

• Readily understood
• Accessible to all
• Consistent, and
• Motivate the buyer to take whatever action is desired, providing they have an identified need or unidentified want-desire for the product or service.

As Canada’s oldest company – 343 years and counting – I would have thought that they’d mastered these basic tenets of sales. In a high-touch retail environment, other factors are also important: among them: store layout, product displays, staff training, and a close proximity of check-out stations to area of purchase so as to capitalize on the impulse purchase drive.

I stress the last point because once I’d decided what to buy, I looked around for a check out station and found none – which frustrated me to no end. First thought: “I’ve been coming here since I was a kid, worked here when I was 17, gone Christmas shopping multiple times and never, at no time, was a check-out station not in line-of-sight.”

It was the same with Sears, Eaton’s (when they were around), and any large department store except Wal-Mart. However, with them, you knew from the start what their check-out plan was because it was consistent.

2nd thought: “Ok, one’s probably over there near Woman’s Wear because they buy way more than the average guy.”

No deal. ‘Couldn’t spot one anywhere. Determined now – and increasingly frustrated – I did a walk-round but came up empty. And there were no signs anywhere as to where I should pay for my purchase. My remaining option? The Customer Service desk which was situated right in the middle of the store. “Strange,” I thought, “there must be a lot of complaints because there’s a line-up of people.”

I got in line because I, too, now had a complaint. My turn comes up, I walked up to the counter and pointed out that I was not there for an exchange or refund; “I just want to buy something.” There was a “I don’t get it” expression in the woman’s face, whereupon I explained my problem and bade her to inform her manager that this place was confusing. Her expression changed into a smirking incredulous one – like I was the new guy. “This is where you pay for things.” I would have addressed a manager right there had my back not been hurting so.

Conclusion? The Bay had altered their customer’s purchase process – which had been the same for decades – by centralizing it. Instead of check-out stations being distributed throughout the store, adjacent to major buying areas, now there was 1 big check-out area: a factory approach. The thinking? Maybe, to reduce headcount, encourage on-the-way-to-the-checkout-station impulse buying (although i saw no buggies and no one with buggies), or to increase product capacity with the saved floor space.

Problems:

• Re-Definition of Customer Service area Perplexes – For decades, ‘Customer Service’ has been where customer issues (exchanges, refunds, billing issues) were dealt with: a practice duplicated across the continent. Re-defining it – without any signage assistance – alienates customers, especially infrequent ones like me.
• Alteration not in Accordance with Confirmed Male Characteristic – Couldn’t I have asked someone? I could have but I am a man and as such I do not ask: I find, I hunt, I discover, I stake out new territory. (Actually, I always ask but my back was killing me and pain tends to focus one). But really! Why would a 343 year old company hide its cash registers? I didn’t think to ask as I was on a quest and growing increasingly dissatisfied with each non-find.
• Under-trained Counter Personnel – Had the woman who served me been properly instructed, she would have voiced empathy for my plight and apologized for her company’s lack of orientation. In direct sales, from whence I came and will soon again be immersed, we call this type of action “stepping up” and/or “being accountable.” Would I have requested some type of compensation for my wasted time? No, because I could have asked for help. What I wanted, more than anything else, was an apology, and an explanation which would require management to have thought ahead and built that eventuality – the infrequent shopper – into staff training. My shopping experience would then have turned into a positive one.

Lack of job-related training and poor service habits has long been a pet peeve of mine. I’ve always a noticed a big decline in both, retail-wise, when I cross the border from the U.S. back into my native country. It’s also been a failing in professional services, particularly sales. This is a future post so I will end this tangent here. The only thing I will add is that Canadian business is (finally) waking up as these Canadian government statistics indicate. (Source: Human Resources and Skills Development Canada)

Ultimately, the crux of this issue is poor Usability, also called:

• Ease-of-Use
• User-friendliness
• Smart industrial design
• Providing a nice shopping experience, and/or
• Thinking ahead and addressing blind spots before customer consternation sets in.

All of these, in their respective environments, are often the difference between a one-time customer and a returned, enthusiastic one who passes on favorable – and profit-aiding – compliments to their friends.

For The Bay, ‘making it easy to do business’ would have meant posting signs with an explanation as to how the changes would benefit me – the buyer – and the listing of a person’s name to call or an email address to write to with my ideas or opinions.

That’s “Service in the 21st Century.”

There’s a new tool available for advertisers in that they can pay twitter users – called tweeters – to post their commercial messages as tweets.

Is this a good idea?

M-m-m-m, no. People are increasingly savvy and sophisticated and I think they’d sniff out the lack of authenticity in a New York minute. This whole idea smacks of old-time marketing funneled through new-time media. The model will break the first or second time it’s tried because the underlying philosophies are the antithesis of each other and therefore incompatible.

And then….what happens to the valuable Twitter reputations of those involved? They become tarnished, mistrusted, void, or are viewed as insincere which is a death knell in social media.

More than ever, when someone tweets or publishes something, the recipients want to know the sender’s motives? Who are they? Are they thinking of me – or those with needs or interests like mine? Or, are the more focused on their ends and purposes? If it’s the latter, the gimme-gimme types, they will be told in subtle form….to move along.

To view my response in Linked in and the responses of others, you may go here

‘Met with Cheryl Scoffield, principal of Executive Sales Support (E.S.S.) yesterday to talk about her new venture. I’ve known Cheryl for about 2 years and was successful in creating the brand for her initial website and business.

Our discussion covered a lot of ground, including her recent decision to “open up” to those she was meeting at networking sessions. Translation: allowing her buoyant personality and natural enthusiasm to shine through her business persona.

The results have been breathtaking: 1) She’s landed a 6-month contract job organizing the back office (sales receipts and orders) for a thriving recycling company, 2) Made a connection with an software company who wants to make her their agent, and 3) Landed a position at a business center where her combined skill sets will assist new businesses in getting off the ground.

For years previous, Cheryl had worked for pharmaceutical, industrial, and bio-engineering companies and engaged in meticulous and logistical work. Due to the level of concentration required and the technical nature of the positions, she didn’t feel her “real” personality would be welcomed. Habitual repression led to a focused, logical approach towards her business affairs.

A New Perspective
However, after attending one of mutual friend’s Faith Seekings’ networking and learning sessions on social media and connecting, Cheryl decided to play to her strengths. She listens more now and sees if she can connect anyone she runs across to another who may need that person’s skill sets or contacts. It’s working like a charm and that’s nice to hear – plus it allows me some repeat business.

Corporate Influences Eroding
Cheryl was suffering from what many of us endured while working in corporate settings: having to bury our personalities in favor of a desired corporate persona, dictated either formally or informally. I remember being questioned of my commitment to my job by the new VP of Operations at Call-Net Telecommunications because he heard me laughing and carrying on. The man didn’t trust me despite my good sales “numbers” because I wasn’t acting the way he thought I should.

Trust-based Relationships and Referrals
In general, acts of kindness, helpful referrals, passing on cool articles via Twitter or LinkedIn (or even boring ole’ email) are the types of behavior that encourages others to help you if they think they can. This new network-based economy takes a positive view of human nature.

If you are intent on referring someone to a friend or associate, you will probably already have exchanged ideas with this person, discussed their background, company, business applications and target market(s). In doing so, a measure of trust has been established and the referral is pre-qualified and screened. If your judgment and memory are good, the referrals will be prudent ones which increases people’s trust in you. All this isn’t accomplished using a stiff demeanor; it is usually done in a matter-of-fact manner with a few anecdotes and jokes mixed in: people being their real, authentic selves.

Trust has always been the fundamental driving agent of any transaction. With current marketing intelligence indicating that people place more trust in another’s opinion over a company, our personal and professional networks will become – if they are not already – a valuable source of most of what we need: job leads, referrals, a source of quality professionals or partners, and so on: Invaluable!

And this is precisely what was foreseen back by Kevin Kelly’s in his now legendary article New Rules for the New Economy in WIRED Magazine’s Sept. 1997 edition.

Specifically, the 5th law, The Law of Increasing Returns was based on “Making Virtuous Circles:

Here’s the first 2 paragraphs:
“The prime law of networking is known as the law of increasing returns. Value explodes with membership, and the value explosion sucks in more members, compounding the result. An old saying puts it more succinctly: Them that’s got shall get.

We see this effect in the way areas such as Silicon Valley grow; each new successful start-up attracts other start-ups, which in turn attract more capital and skills and yet more start-ups. (Silicon Valley and other high tech industrial regions are themselves tightly coupled networks of talent, resources, and opportunities.) Return to the beginning of this article.

I found this article in the library in paper form 1998 and knew it was important. What I didn’t bargain for was that Kelly’s thinking was so far ahead of most people’s thinking that I couldn’t find a single person to discuss it with for years. What began as a trend for companies soon trickled down to the entrepreneurial marketplace where it is underrated and under-practiced.

It’s true; my StrategiContent website appears inert, static, and unchanged over the past 7 months. Why? I’ve been flexing the muscles of my many skill sets with the EntreBahn project.

This includes creating the site architecture (how it’s going to work), navigation (where the user-client will go and why), its content, figuring out how to market the site and the service, recruiting the site’s reviewers and now setting up of alliances with influential associations and entrepreneurial groups. And there is much more to do…

But What About StrategiContent?
My company and corporate writing practice remains in business. Several clients called me this past month to address their emerging needs and I have a meeting with one of them this evening. I enjoy writing sites and will expand my blog/site’s coverage to include other services when I have proven results to base their introduction on.

New Directions
I’ve enrolled in a comprehensive social media course from Social Media Magic University and learning video editing. My new blog-website will feature more frequent articles or blog entries so that prospective clients can immediately discern my thinking and creative skills; that’s called pre-qualifying in sales land.

When Will this Transition Happen
I anticipate January but it could be early February too. I met a talented website designer – Stephen Siu of StudioLight – and hatched a deal with him back in October. However, I also introduced him to my client, EntreBahn, whose CEO Reg Charney, took an instant liking to for his business acumen and and logical mind.

Meanwhile, I will contribute more frequently to this blog.

Thanks for reading, whoever you are.

Brian

There’s word abuse going on out there and it’s gettin’ ugly.

Besides being flagrant and redundant, overuse of the word ‘passionate’ is driving me crazy. Everyone’s ‘following their passion, expressing their passion, stating their passion, talking about their passion,’ and so on and so on and so on.

What ever happened to words and phrases like ‘zeal, ambition, following one’s star, applying one’s gifts, wanting to apply one’s accumulated skill sets, testing oneself in the marketplace, doing something they’ve always enjoyed doing and so on. While I admit ‘passion’ seems to encapsulate these intentions in one neat little package – tied with a bow – it’s tiresome to hear it so often.

Up until a few years ago, use of the word was limited to romance novels and a scattering of Human Resources types. But now, everyone’s in on the act. Even men, older men(!), one of which you will read about a few paragraphs from now, feel comfortable tossing the word about like so much confetti.

Everyone’s friend, Dictionary.com, defines passionate as: having, compelled by, or ruled by intense emotion or strong feeling; fervid.

Well, that’s simple enough isn’t it? But what’s missing is a mention of competence, experience, knowledge, trustworthiness, ability to dispense wise counsel and proof thereof. Steven Covey stated in his book, The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People, that whereas people were defined by their character up to the late 60s, by the 70s, one’s personality defined them. It’s been that way since.

The appeal to emotion is represented in this decade by the overuse of the ‘p’ word. Earlier today, while idly glossing over some 2nd degree links (contacts of people that I am officially connected to) on LinkedIn, I came across a financial services fellow who described himself as “passionate about working with people making over $100,000 a year.”

Well, Mr. So-and-so, who wouldn’t be passionate about that! Think of the commissions! (Ah, a moment of cynicism on my part). But would this guy be as passionate about working with someone making $60,000? And/or more passionate about a client pulling in $160,000? How much more?

The key question that isn’t addressed is the why part. Why is this man passionate about working with people making this amount of money?

If I was in his target market, (and who knows, I could be soon), I’d expect his pitch or tag line to reflect what he’s going to do for me, not how emotional he feels about his profession. Emotion isn’t going to provide for me during my retirement or put my kids through college – if I had any – competence and expertise will.

Yesterday, the CIBC and an insurance company proved – over the phone – they were still engaging in “push” marketing, instead of modern web-driven “pull” style.

A representative from the bank called to ask whether I was interested in life insurance. Before being able to respond, the fellow plunged into a rapid-fire ‘pitch’ which required me to agree to have the ’service’ placed on my Dividend credit card. Over the next 30 days, I could cancel “at any time.”

As I was in the middle of something and there was far too much to digest, I asked him to kindly mail something to me – email or an actual letter with the info. Instead, the fellow ignored my request and imposed his script on me:

“I’m authorized to give you the policy for 30 days, during which you can cancel at any time.”

My response: “Why don’t you go back to your sales trainers and ask them why addressing customer questions wasn’t covered – or have them change your script.” Then I hung up.

Insurance Day Continues
30 minutes later, the World Insurance Company(?) thoughtfully reminded me that “it was important to have enough money for my retirement and they had agents in the area today.”

Could the lady ask a favour? Before I could respond, could she know how old I was? I replied that I hadn’t given the ok for that question and that our time together had come to an end. Then I hung up.

“Push” Marketing is so Over
Also called Interruption Marketing, due to its “stop what you’re doing and listen to this (radio ads) or watch this (TV ads)” nature, this traditional sales method has been rendered obsolete by the Web which specializes in a “Pull” method.

The difference? Due to an overwhelming supply of information online (in websites, articles, landing pages, search engines, etc.) the reader’s needs are given priority because alternatives are a mouse click away.

Therefore, the marketing company must offer site visitors interesting content that ‘pulls’ you into reading more, learning more, and spending more of your precious time on their site or page.

The transition from push to pull is turning marketing departments upside down because it represents a fundamental philosophical re-thinking. The old command-control marketing model has broken down and has been replaced by a new transparency and emphasis on sharing and honesty.

Social media, for example, is all ‘pull’ and has other qualities which are confusing to traditional marketers.

However, from this time forward – actually, ‘pull’ came into vogue about 18 months ago – if companies don’t find a more engaging way to engage customers, especially potential ones, their little add-on services will be subtracted from their product mix – along with revenue.

Advice for CIBC et al
Send me an email regarding my Dividend card, direct me to a website or page, compare what you offer to other companies, list options and applications and make it relevant and interesting. And then give me several ways to contact you for more information or a confidential phone call.

That sounds pretty easy, doesn’t it?

Mainstream media, such print-based newspapers, are feeling the pain of the growing influence of the Internet. Plummeting subscriptions and falling ad revenue are two symptoms. Another is the Toronto Star announcement of last week that a third of their editorial work would be outsourced to (cheaper) foreign interests.

And so was my phone call from the Toronto Sun newspaper chain last week where a new, unexpected angle that ‘wowed me’ was articulated.

A youngish sounding fellow inquired as to my interest in the Sunday paper. I gave the predictable “no” response. Undaunted, he countered with “the Sunday Sun gave a much deeper read with a lot more detail than the Net – and for just 50 cents.”

I’ve never really liked the Sunday Sun ever since its began. Too many ads, too much fluff. And there was always way too much of it. I remained unmoved.

And then the true representation of how much pain this newspaper is in made its appearance: “Sir, that 50 cents you pay actually goes to the carrier so if you don’t take the paper, you are denying that person a job.”

Oh, so it’s on me, the customer. I’m the bad guy for taking a job away from a hard working paper carrier. I should feel, I guess but I don’t; in fact, I am divided between pity, wonder, and fury at his management’s transparent and manipulative training practices and company philosophy.

Now, I hate the Toronto Sun even more.

…. in disappointing me.

Canadian Tire delivers the most frustrating shopping experience – and does so consistently. I go only when I need something badly and because they are close and seem to have a large inventory. But where this stuff is located is another matter entirely.

Quest for the (safety) Vest
‘Cycled down to a nearby store with the intention of becoming more noticeable to Toronto motorists. Upon entering, an earnest red-faced fellow asked what I was looking for and directed me to aisle #50. I conducted a thorough investigation and failed to locate any vests.

After spending more time looking for assistance, I find a kid standing up at a desk in Sports who said with authority, “Hardware, aisle #66.” On the way there, I met Guy #1 who fairly flagged me down. I told him what I didn’t find. After depositing a woman in an aisle, he marched me back to #50 in determined fashion. On the way, he uttered a famous Canadian Tire line I’ve heard before, “It should be there….unless they’ve moved it.”

It’s not there and I can see he’s a little flustered.

Lost in (Lots of) Space
We move back now to aisle #66 and it’s not there either; nothing even resembling safety vests was present. What was there? Leather tool pouches – rows and rows of them. Another kid meets up with us and he walked us both over to aisle #71 but there were no vests there either, although it appeared that this area was where they were kept.

Famous Canadian Tire comment #2
“Sorry, maybe better check back next week.” Sure kid, I’d love to come back here where my satisfaction level with you clowns is about 2 / 100 plus ‘wouldn’t you think a safety vest is kinda’ important? Like next week might be too long a time to wait? These were rhetorical questions, of course. It wasn’t their fault; it was the store’s, it was the corporation’s fault.

Guy #1 suggests (overpriced) reflective safety tap and I bought it just because I was bound for Danforth Ave (Toronto) which was a northward climb up a considerable hill.

And so my latest adventure in a Canadian Tire store drew to a close on another discordant note.

What Needs to Be Done?
Blasting away the rot that translates into continuous customer-level stock disorganization would take considerable time. However, what Canadian Tire needs to do straight away is:

1) Spend some money and get some inventory software that provides product information and situate it on kiosks which will placed all over their stores. This will allow your store personnel to keep the shelves stocked and to answer any questions customer may have.

2) Stock duplicate items in different places throughout the store in alignment with how people think. Some people associate safety vests with hunting (Guy #1); others with construction. What I was looking for was one for cycling. Same item, different uses and therefore it should be in different areas and found in the kiosks.

3) Make sure the kiosk software has been amply tested for User-friendliness so that its use doesn’t add to people’s frustration.

4) Stop trumpeting the fact that your company is 100-something years old. No one cares. What I care about and what most people care about is finding and buying something they want – quickly.

5) Wake up to the fact that it’s a buyer’s market now – and it always will be. Therefore, stop with your push selling over the airwaves and start with boosting your service methodologies because that’s what will definitely lead to cross selling opportunities. There’s a subtle psychological shift going on and you Canadian Tire executives need to be wise to it.

Specifically, you need to stop smashing people over the head with your traditional advertising approach. If you focus on increasing customer satisfaction inside your stores, people will be in a great mood and then you can use the kiosk or sales personnel to suggest additions. A happy customer buys more gear and pay the store people some commission – a team-based one – for additional sales.

Now get to it!

‘Looks like my sleep patterns are going to change.

My first “lay,” so to speak, on my new Sealy sleep set was one of soft yet supportive comfort. The “pillow top” (extra 6 layers of cushioning woven to the top of the mattress) filled in the gap created in my lower back area when I lay outstretched: a nice contrast to my old one where I could fit my wrist in that space. This contributed to the feeling of support.

Very timely as I’d irritated my faulty back last Saturday, treating an archaic movie seat at the Bloor Cinema in Toronto like a chaise lounge. At 6′9″ in height, nothing fits me and in trying to get comfortable, I assumed a position that moved my lower back out of alignment. Eventually, like today, I had to visit my chiropractor to have him adjust it out because I could not concentrate on the task at hand: the writing of the EntreBahn.com website.