Greetings!
Every company makes mistakes. It's human nature. But it's how the company handles fixing the mistake that will determine whether it
will keep a customer or lose one.
Recently, my friend told me a story. She and her husband had a wedding to go to in Annapolis. In the afternoon, they went to Nordstrom's and bought a pair of shoes for him to wear that night. They went home, packed and drove to the hotel in Annapolis.
When her husband was getting dressed for the wedding, he noticed that there were two different size shoes in the bag! So, he called Nordstrom's, explained the situation, and they did the absolute right thing! They had someone drive a new pair of shoes to the hotel in time for the wedding!
Customers for life! My friend and her husband will tell this story to everyone.
Contrast this with the following:
I was home one day recently, sick with a cold. But I dragged myself to the Giant Supermarket, picked up a few items I needed, and got in line to pay.
When I got to the register, the cashier started to scan my items. Midway through, he walked away and someone else came over to pick up the task. Then the first cashier returned and relieved the relief cashier. Mind you, I only had about 10 items! And through all this coming and going, he was talking to someone and not paying any attention to me!
Well, I got home and-- you might have guessed-- not all of the items came home with me. So, I called Giant, and was shuffled from one person to another who told me only that I should come back and retrieve what they
left out of my bag. Not until I reached the manager and insisted that they needed to make things right-not me-did they relent and deliver the missing items to my home.
What a difference in the two experiences.
How you treat your mistakes is as important as how you deliver your promises. Nordstrom's did it the right way from the very start. With Giant, unfortunately, it took a lot of kicking and arguing before they did what was right.
Do the right thing! And keep reading this newsletter!
Jill
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Identify Your Project Leader In our experience, the most successful projects and campaigns on which we have worked, are those where the client assigned a project leader.
An individual in this role must have enough clout in the
organization to gain access to key people and resources, to help the decision-makers understand the concept and prospective execution, and to keep the project on
schedule and on budget. The project leader should be qualified to:
· Ensure that we have access to the information needed to prevent bottlenecks that could affect the project timeline
· Get answers to questions in a timely manner
· Have some level of discretion on project components
· Be knowledgeable about the company, its services, benefits and targeted audiences
· Manage outside vendors/consultants
· Manage expectations within the company
There
are few things that are more detrimental to a project than having too
many decision-makers. Introducing a new decision-maker mid-way through
a project who has had no involvement in its evolution is a time
consuming, costly and frustrating experience for both sides.
Make
sure that either you, as the business owner, or someone within your
organization is ready and able to take on this responsibility. It is
the difference between a successful end result and one that will likely be disappointing.
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What does success look like? 
Many people will say that success is making lots of money. And that is one aspect of success. The dictionary defines success as the achievement of something desired, planned, or attempted.
That can mean so many things to so many people. For some, running a successful company is a success. For others, learning to play the piano, or paint, or swim would be considered success.
My idea of success is to balance my life. Work hard, work well. Play hard. Travel. Be a great parent, wife, friend, daughter, sister, aunt. Exercise. Go to the theatre. Eat out with friends. Read. Listen to music.
You get the idea. Make sure your idea of success gets you out of the office now and then. Some of the best ideas come to us then. In the shower. Driving in the car. Taking a walk along the river.
Just a thought.
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Complimentary
Coffee with Jill-she's buying!There are many helpful downloads on our website
for you for free!
They include: Marketing Tools
Branding Powerpoint Presentation
Branding Questionnaire
Website Questionnaire
Logo Design Questionnaire
Focus Group Planning
10 Networking Tips
The Art of Networking
FREE PDF DOWNLOADS
Call 301 229-1135 X 301 or email jill@jtdesign.com TODAY!
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Using Alternative Advertising
The most important thing for companies to do right now is to think of new and original ways to reach their target market, especially keeping in mind new technologies. In a world where many people find themselves burdened with multiple jobs and to-do lists, it's hard to find time to read the billboards and flip through the ads in a newspaper. To effectively get your message out, you need to be creative in your marketing and advertising. Eye-catching designs, striking pictures and texts, and humor will often grab the attention of people. But even more arresting is a well-placed ad and the use of unusual marketing media.
Some non-traditional advertising techniques include:
Airline tray tables - lowering the tray table on a recent flight revealed a colorful, imprinted surface with a commercial message. This may not be for every company, but for those trying to reach the business traveler, you can't find a more targeted audience. People on airplanes will read anything, including the tray they lower for their food, or (more often nowadays) their computers.
Public restrooms - advertisements placed on stall doors. This is a unique way to capture the attention of certain demographics. What else can you read in a public restroom, but the door you are staring at (especially women!)
Green marketing meets clothes hangers - Green marketing is changing clothes closets into a new advertising venue. Replacing the old wire hanger with eco friendly recycled paper-hangers is a new marketing idea. These eco friendly hangers have customized hanger advertising printed on them. The Eco Hanger Company distributed ten million of these hangers free to 35,000 New York City cleaners. These hangers can advertise local business within a certain vicinity of the dry cleaners, and can include discount coupons. Hotels can use them to promote their brand. They offer a new way for advertisers to reach targets demographically and geographically.
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Glass Work
for Sale
Please visit www.creativeglassdesign.com to view Jill's creative glass designs. They make great gifts! Or
call 301-229-1135 ext. 301 for a private appointment to see her work.
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301-229-1135 x 301
Click below for our website:
Jill Tanenbaum Graphic Design & Advertising
Our services include branding, graphic design, marketing, public relations, multi media and website design, advertising, direct mail, signage and trade show booth design, publication and collateral design.
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