Paul Woods

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A few weeks ago the June edition of the Australian Marketing Institute’s Marketing Update newsletter was released - and in it is the second book review I have done for the AMI - Getting to Big the Small Way by Frank Prestipino.

For those who are not members of the AMI… here is the review

 BOOK REVIEW

Getting to Big the Small Way

By Frank Prestipino. Published by McGraw-Hill, New York, 2008. 322 pages. RRP AUD$39.95. ISBN 13: 9780071484404.

While taking on a BHAG (Big Hairy Audacious Goal) can get you out of bed in the morning, chances are getting your project off the ground is fraught with challenges. Budget. Risk management. Board approval. Hmmm, all sounds too hard!

But what if you could fly under the radar and drive significant change in your organisation? In ‘Getting to Big the Small Way’, Frank Prestipino illustrates how taking baby steps to drive change is a sound business strategy.

The book’s argument focuses on the Pareto Principle — that 80% of the benefit is derived from 20% of the effort. Prestipino says that as a business you need to focus on the 20% (or even less) to drive incremental yet significant change in your organisation. All without the red tape and risk associated with big transformation projects.
Although the idea is similar to that of Tim Ferris in ‘The 4 Hour Work Week‘, ‘Getting to Big the Small Way’ targets what a business or marketing team (not an individual) should be focusing on to drive significant returns.

For example, moving into adjacent markets and exploiting the products, skills and resources that are already at your fingertips, or closing the perception gap between how you and your customers see your organisation. Prestipino supports each idea with plenty of real-world examples and draws significantly on his experience at Oracle and other organisations.

The book itself generally reads well, with practical tools that complement Prestipino’s arguments. Near the end of the book I felt the tools became very prescriptive and took too much of the focus — great if the tools fit your organisation perfectly, a little disappointing if you need to adapt them to meet the challenges of your business.

That being said, there are plenty of great ideas I have taken from this book and am implementing within the business I live and breathe every day. I would recommend this as worthwhile reading for anyone with a strategic marketing or communications bent.

37:  If it is going to more than 10 people - send it to someone else to check before you unleash the message on the masses… two, three, four pairs of eyes are better than one.

and how about…

38:  If you want me to respond, put me on the To: line.  If you don’t want a response, CC: me please (actually you should just reconsider if need to read it at all!)

… you can read #1 - #36 of the Email Checklist over at Seth’s blog.

There is nothing like a good article on typography to get all the MarComms nuts out there like me excited.

Here is a great one “Ten typographic mistakes everyone makes“

Note… becoming a typography nazi is just as bad if not worse than being a grammar nazi.  Handle with care, or you will lose friends!

As a marketer servicing a dozen or so internal customers… all with their ideas of what marketing is and what it should be… I am inspired to pull this one out of the bag every now and then.  Whether it is a campaign or a piece of copy… I think this would get my point across!

(From the Pacifica Group blog)

This is a true story.

Steve Cosmopulos is an old art director in Boston.
(Hill Holiday Connors & Cosmopulos was his for awhile.
It got too big and he left, but he left his name on the door.)
He’s a tough little fireplug of a high-school-educated Greek guy.
Always wears a tailored suit and tie.
Always.

He walks into a presentation.
Late.
Big conference table at client offices.
Everyone sitting expectantly.
Silence.
He has a duffel bag.
Sets the bag on his chair.
He doesn’t sit.
From out of the bag he pulls a board.
With a bed of 100 nails sticking up out of this board.
Sets it carefully on table.
Pulls out an aluminum frying pan.
One of those nonstick Silverstone jobs.
Silence.
Holds up frying pan.
Silence.
Slams it down as hard as he can on bed of nails.
Repeatedly.
Holds up frying pan.
Shows dings in bottom.
Silence.
Puts board back in bag.
Pulls out another identical board.
But this one with just one nail.
Puts it on table.
Silence.
Slams down the frying pan on the single nail.
Pries frying pan off nail.
Holds up frying pan.
Hole in bottom.
Shows it slowly to everyone.
Asks:
"Now how many copy points do you want to put in this ad?"

Proof that an art director named Stavros Cosmopulos is
THE PATRON SAINT OF MARTYRED COPYWRITERS.
This is not only a Boston legend, it’s a true story.
I asked him.

I am off to buy some nails now!

… said the sign at the McDonalds at the Sunshine Plaza Shopping Centre (on the Sunshine Coast in Australia - where I have been holidaying the last few days).  Pity about the four staff on the front counter (including the manager) who didn’t believe that they needed to show off their most valuable asset.

Same thing goes for your vision or mission statement… it is all good having it up on the wall in reception..  but are ALL your staff living and breathing that statement, or the core values it represents?

Just because you have a sign up doesn’t mean it is real… especially for your customers.

Your challenge this week - make it real.

At the moment I am participating in a little experiment called "Use New Marketing to Prove New Marketing" (UNM2PNM) being run by Joseph Jaffe.

What is Joseph trying to achieve?  Apart from spreading his ideas and selling a few more copies of his book, ultimately it is about proving if this whole social media thing actually works, if it is measurable etc.  Pretty interesting stuff for a marketer like me.

Here is the deal - Joseph asks for people to participate (I put my hand up).  His publisher sends a copy of the book (free book for me!), I read it, write a review and post it online.  He gets link love, I get link love.  He gets free PR, I get a free book and a good read.  He gets rich, I get smarter (hopefully!).  Now that is new/social media at work.

My copy of Joseph Jaffe’s book "Join the Conversation" arrived at work yesterday (the one thing holding back society as we know it is the fact that it takes 4 weeks for stuff to ship from the US by snail mail!)… so it is time to hold up my end of the bargain.  Stay tuned for my review of the book, coming soon.

And if you are interested in reading the book - buy it here - proceeds are going to charity

Being the first week or so back after the Christmas/New Years, many folk at work have been taking the opportunity to take a fresh look at the way they do things… looking for improvements to drive towards their end of financial year targets.

We sat in a workshop yesterday, with one of the most profitable sections of our business.  You would think that if they were one of the most profitable teams they would have their sales pitch perfect.  As a matter of fact it was one of the worst I have ever seen!

It is a problem that I would say (gut feel) 80% of all sales pitches I have seen suffer from.  Going straight for the features and benefits, the speeds and feeds.  Sure, you will snag a few people that fall for the hype (or just the big numbers), but you can be so much more successful by doing one small thing.  In fact, if you get this bit right, you probably wont even need to worry about the speeds and feeds…

Sell the problem first.

Here is something to live buy - if you are in sales (especially B2B)… unless the prospect has budget they have to burn on that day… if the customer is not convinced that there is a problem, a risk, or a significant opportunity cost… then you have next to no chance of selling them something that solves it.

Simple.

The best part of our workshop yesterday is that the team we were talking with… they are actually solving a problem which if it occurred would cause significant business interruption.

That 2 hour workshop simply to refine a sales pitch (at next to no cost to our business) I expect will improve their hit rate quite substantially.  Conservatively by 40-50%.  Now that is Marketing making a difference!

2008 is still young… take the time to talk to your sales folk… ask them to pitch to you… and then play devils advocate… I mean the customer

Your sales people will thank you for it (maybe!)