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Feb 26
Jan 13
I have traveled to many parts of the world and our fine country. Like most people, I love being hypnotized by a fantastic sunset. On January 13, 2012 in the Puget Sound region of Washington State, we were splashed with one of the most spectacular sunsets I can recall. Now, I’m not a pushover on a grand sunset. I’m from Colorado and living on the coast here in Seattle we see some amazing light displays.
Here’s what made this sunset even more enjoyable than usual. I really enjoyed how my friends throughout the region shared their photos on Facebook! The perspectives, angles, quality of phone-cams, comments – they were all awesome. A sunset is a simple event but I really enjoyed how we all shared our experience on Facebook. Here are the shots and comments.
Probably my favorite shot by @MJTwit from SoDo near the waterfront.
My shot from our house in Redmond
A great shot by@lamiki from one of the Seattle skyscrapers overlooking Elliot Bay, Puget Sound.
Nice shot from Everett from my friend Jim Greene.
A great shot from Thinkspace in Redmond by Mieka! Check out the purple!
Another great SoDo waterfront shot by Mike! The sky was on fire!
A shot provided by the UW Crew as they practice on Lake Washington near the 520 bridge.
OK, yes I get it that everyone sees an awesome sunset pretty much everyday someplace on the world. For me what was fun about today was how so many of my friends shared their experiences and we posted comments on the experience. Brilliant.
Cheers,
BH
Dec 07
I have been absolutely fascinated by Tim Tebow’s season with the Denver Broncos. Marketing leaders can learn incredible lessons from Tebow’s efforts that can help build a run a powerful operations and marketing automation team.
Tim Tebow is perfect for Denver Broncos because his focus is on helping the team WIN. (Fellow Denver Broncos fans know what I’m talking about.) Do you have a Tim Tebow on your marketing operations team? You should.
Here are 6 Tim Tebow Characteristics to look for in building your marketing operations team.
1. Focus on the overall mission
Doubters who sling fear and uncertainty exist everywhere. Analysts, editors, toxic co-workers and competitors will do everything to tear down an organization. You’ll see childish tweets and hear ridiculous competitive hearsay stories during conversations with customers. Washed out “experts” will complain about ugly passes and announcements. The winner on your marketing operations team will stay focused on winning business and engaging customers.
2. Compete ferociously - Every team should have core players who play with full effort until the clock reaches 00:00.00.
3. Share the glory - Coaches and executives alike make tough decisions about personnel and they make mistakes. The number 1 draft pick may not be ready to start. However, they right player with the right attitude will compete and support the team and share in the success whether a starter or on the sidelines. Was Tebow frustrated he wasn’t named the starting QB at the beginning of the season? Sure he was. But he focused and maximized opportunities to help the team win. When Kyle Orton was named the starter, Tim Tebow wasn’t focused on Tim Tebow. Tim Tebow was focused on helping his team win.
4. Tenacity – NFL players and coaches give up all the time in the 4th quarter. A marketing operations team should have players who continually look to improve and win. There are always opportunities to rally and win.
5. Passion – Do you have a team with people who are passionate about their roles? Passion is incredible fuel that can influence an organization in powerful ways. The passionate ones will outperform and lead a team through continual improvement and the pursuit of success.
6. Brains – Passion combined with brain power is critical. Build your marketing operations team with people who can learn sophisticated marketing automation tools, revenue marketing processes, and conduct analysis.
These are powerful qualities for any person on any team. As marketing roles continue to evolve in ways that directly drive revenue, marketing operations teams can use players like Tim Tebow to help win.
Sep 12
Too often organizations dive into marketing automation because of the hype and the promise. At Zephyr 47 we work with clients who often fall into two categories: Those who are subscribed to an MA solution but don’t have a plan and those who are beginning their journey and want a well developed strategy.
Both categories can benefit from a series of 10 steps we believe can help organizations maximize their investment in marketing automation. It’s not an easy process. But these ideas can provide guidance on how to best proceed, regardless of whether a system is in use or planned on.
This eGuide is free and available from Zephyr 47 here: Download Now
Mar 06
Son and I after his big brother's baseball game. Copyright Brian Hansford
I have coached little league baseball in Redmond, Washington since 2002 and the experiences have given me memories I will treasure the rest of my life. I’ve had the joy (and pain) of coaching both of my sons on teams. (Anyone who has coached their own kids know what I mean.) I have coached amazingly talented players who went on to play with all-star and travel club teams. I have coached kids who can barely catch, throw, or swing a bat but still have a great time and learn to love the game. I love coaching kids of all abilities. I also really enjoy umpiring games behind home plate. One of the most rewarding aspects of my volunteer coaching experience is having kids call me coach years after I had them on a team.
Even though little league coaching is a volunteer effort, I learn something new every season that helps me in life and business. Here are some of the lessons anyone can bring to their workplace.
1. Firm, Fair, Fun
I can be a very intense guy. The expression on my face can be very serious or worse. But, I can also be a huge sarcastic joking smartass. I take pride in being the biggest cheerleader on the team. I celebrate any victory no matter how big or small. If one kid makes a simple play or gets his first hit, I will cheer just as loud as the all-star who gets the home run. I am very firm on ensuring safety. I try to coach and challenge every kid to grow in their ability. If someone makes a mistake, depending on how it happened, I can make light of it, praise the effort, or firmly encourage a better effort. These are all principles I believe can be used in daily business management.
2. Logistics
Coaching baseball is a huge logistical endeavor. Hauling gear. Scheduling practices. Planning practices and drills. Setting line ups and batting orders for games. Pre-game warm up. Coordinating with assistant coaches. Constant communications with parents. Scorekeeping. It’s a ton of work. Just like with a business, one person can’t do it all. Be organized. Recruit help with clear assignments. Communicate clearly on expectations. Develop the plan and work the plan.
3. Attitude
Last season was the most challenging and honestly the least fun I ever had in coaching. Our team struggled all season. I had three players who broke their arms in separate school recess playground accidents. Out of 16 games we tied four times and lost a ton of games. My son and I were at each other’s throats every game. Many kids were incredibly fragile on many different levels. I lost sight of why I coached.
After the season I reflected a lot on why I struggled. Honestly it came down to the attitude I had before each practice and game. I hoped for the best, which was fine, but ultimately I expected we would fall apart. That is an incredibly poor leadership attitude.
Leading up to this season my son and I have talked a lot on how we can both get along better and get back to having the fun we remembered in previous seasons. So far our practices have been really fun. I have learned new things about baseball in coaching. I can feel a new attitude coming up and last year’s bad attitude going away to hide in a box. I am committed to ensuring a great attitude so the kids can have an amazing and fun season.
4. Celebrate Victory, Even in Defeat
Victory and success comes in all shapes and sizes. In baseball a huge win can be from a kid who gets his first hit of the season after a string of strike outs. Or maybe another kid tries pitching for the first time and walked 4 kids in a row but had a blast with a huge smile. The point is all success should be praised and celebrated so the next time the player can grow and try harder. Coaches, and business managers who constantly berate their team will get no where. In the 21st century Machiavellian dictatorship styles of coaching and management ultimately will fail. Cheer the improvements, success, efforts, and victories no matter what shape they come in.
I have learned valuable business lessons from umpiring as well.
Coaching is a privilege and honor for me. It’s not my job. It’s something I do so I can spend time with my sons and be a part of a sport I love. The benefits are priceless. The memories are amazing. And each year I learn more about myself and how to run an organization which helps me in business.
Feb 16
Sales Symposium- Friday, February 25th 2-4pm
Join us for an afternoon of peer learning and discussion designed to support your company’s sales goals.
thinkspace members, Matt Heinz and Brian Hansford will be sharing their sales expertise with the group. They will take us through four categories pertaining to the sales process:
- Prospecting
- Closing the sale
- Building retention and renewal rates
- Operational tricks of the trade
Matt Heinz brings more than 12 years of marketing, business development and sales experience from a variety of organizations, vertical industries and company sizes. His career has focused on delivering measurable results for his employers and clients in the way of greater sales, revenue growth, product success and customer loyalty. Matt has held various positions at companies such as Microsoft, Weber Shandwick, Boeing, The Seattle Mariners, Market Leader and Verdiem. In 2007, Matt began Heinz Marketing to help clients focus their business on market and customer opportunities, then execute a plan to scale revenue and customer growth. He launched Heinz Marketing formally in late 2008.
Brian Hansford is the Founder and Marketing Secret Weapon with Zephyr 47. Brian brings passion and focus to strategic marketing by following a comprehensive planning approach and ensuring brilliant execution and measuring the results. Zephyr 47 is headquartered in the 47th latitude of Redmond, Washington. Brian has developed marketing strategies and delivered successful programs for companies such as Cambridge Technology Partners, Citrix Systems, Captaris, and Open Text. His range of accomplishments include numerous global product launch programs, global alliance marketing strategies and programs working with Microsoft, integrated Web and social media marketing programs, and customer marketing through marketing automation.
Come prepared to share your ideas, success stories, and even those grimaced failures!
Your ticket to the event is your willingness to participate in the discussion. Seating is limited, so please RSVP on LinkedIn or send an email to events@thinkspace.com.
Jan 10
Over the last two years of the Great Recession many companies have invested heavily in product development. 2011 will be the year these companies launch these innovations. I have published the second edition of my popular eBook “Guide to Product Launch Programs” which is available for free download from Zephyr 47. This high value content provides ideas to effectively bring products to market.
I outline 8 Steps for a Successful Product Launch:
- Objectives and Strategy
- Beta and Product Readiness
- Forming the Launch Marketing Team
- Positioning Framework
- Budgeting
- Tactical Marketing Plans
- Pre-release Training
- Metrics and ROI
DOWNLOAD the free eBook now: Guide to Product Launch Programs
Zephyr 47 offers comprehensive product launch planning services. Let us know how we can help your organization plan and execute a brilliantly successful product launch!
Nov 28
I have no problem poking someone in the eye if they screwed up. I fully expect to receive the same kind of feedback if I make an error and don’t make a correction. Of course I’m thicker skinned and more direct than the average bear.
Today’s story begins this way: I am addicted to Starbucks coffee and every morning I get a simple venti drip coffee for myself and a simple venti tea order for my spouse. It is really quite simple. (We aren’t those knuckleheads that order 37 characteristics of a weird mocha.) In the tea only ONE teabag is requested. 1. One. Uno. So, even though the tea is in a venti cup, we are charged for a tall version because of the single bag. Put that bit of background information in a parking lot for a minute. It’ll come in handy shortly…
Recently the crack marketing analytics squad at Starbucks deployed some changes to the Point of Sale (POS) system. In classic marketing analytics fashion the apparent goal is to gather tons of information on buyer behavior. I am sure literally millions of dollars have been spent on IT solutions for data warehouses and datamarts to crunch numbers and find interesting new trends in customer behavior at hundreds of stores everywhere.
Here’s the rub. The system SUCKS for point of sale operation and CUSTOMER SERVICE. It’s confusing to the staff and the new extra keystrokes are ridiculous and clearly NOT intuitive. This is a classic example of an eager marketing analyst wanting to find new formulas in the analytical alchemy. Because the system is confusing to the Starbucks employees and staff and extra keystrokes are required, mistakes are made and SERVICE SUFFERS.
OK, let’s pull my order details at the beginning of this blog. In Washington State a whole new series of sales taxes were rolled out almost in perfect sequence with the new POS system keystroke requirements. My daily coffee/tea order went from $4.35 to $4.73. Fine, not much can be done about taxes. Since my daily order is the same, I quickly memorized the new total of $4.73. (Washington State/King County)
So today the poor Starbucks associate I placed my order with couldn’t figure out the bloody new keystrokes for the venti tea with one teabag. When she gave me the total due, it was around $6.00. I politely asked her to correct the issue becasue the total should have been $4.73. (Yes, I was polite. No I was not flippant.)
She became flustered and tried punching in all kinds of keystrokes and still couldn’t get it right. Then she gave me a refund slip with the change from the original incorrect order. I had to sign the refund slip and she attempted again to hit the proper keystrokes for a venti tea with one teabag. She THEN asked for another $2.15. At that point my $4.73 order turned into about $7.50.
More keystrokes.
A line growing behind me.
I gave up and paid the bloody $7 and told her she was still overcharging. I got a blank stare.
Now, I am a loyal customer at this particular store. But as a result of some MBA’s in a backoffice at Starbucks HQ, my experience today was completely destroyed because someone has to collect tons of extra data to analyze. Not only that I would imagine the confidence of the Starbucks associate was shaken and a level of frustration germinated.
So, to those MBA’s and Data Warehouse Analysts and Alchemists: You may want to consider how your quest to plug data points in PowerPoint slides will impact a customer experience.
Should be interesting to see how much my order costs tomorrow.
Cheers,
BH
Nov 16
I had a very interesting meeting with a new Zephyr 47 customer this week in the Puget Sound area. They are a successful B2B business with admirable and profitable 15 year track record. Late last year this company engaged with a pure social media consulting firm which revamped the company’s web presence and implemented a social media marketing strategy. I do believe the company’s web presence is nice and the social media tactics are manageable. As much as possible they build their blog and Twitter account which should ultimately help a bit with SEO.
Here’s the rub and our customer said it best.
“I’m not seeing the needle move.”
The agency who consulted and led the social media marketing engagement with this company didn’t set expectations properly and focused exclusively on inbound marketing. Additionally they didn’t implement a demand generation program. Also, the agency created more work for the customer through the use of peripheral tools which took away from sales and operational details. The social media marketing effort appears to have been sold as a silver bullet solution to replace sound practices in demand generation and sales.
Social media emotions and swirl are redlined now. However business still operates on the principles of “creating customers.” Social media marketing is NOT a silver bullet and does NOT replace focused sales efforts and demand generation marketing. For the right business in the right scenarios they are potentially complementary.
Now before the fanatics and activists get twisted panties, think about our new customer’s statement. THE NEEDLE HAS NOT MOVED. The web presence looks good but it has NOT made any difference in sales over the last 12 months. This is where the social media “guru’s” and “ninja’s” have fallen off the rails. And being the crank pragmatic guy I am, this is all too similar to the Dot-Not-Bubble-Bomb.
Yes, I am a (pragmatic) user of social media and engage in several channels including three blogs, Twitter, YouTube, etc. I enjoy it. ( I have however deleted my personal Facebook account. I may consider using Path because of the tight focus and limited number of people allowed per network.) I have found social media an interesting way to learn, engage with old friends and make new ones and exchange ideas with industry experts. I am a longtime proponent for LinkedIn and I’m growing in my appreciation for Gist.
Yes, I have developed many strong and special personal relationships through social media.
No, I am not saying social media will die.
No, I do not care how many followers I get on Twitter. Sorry.
No, I do not believe all social media activity should be directly tied to or measured in revenue. (unless it’s sold that way.)
Social media marketing does NOT matter to a business if customers aren’t there. Remember, a business exists to create customers. It’s a simple as that.
Go to Where Your Customers Are
The bottom line is social media provides a “channel” for some businesses to engage with customers or potential customers. For some businesses social media may work well at moving customers through a buying cycle or bringing customers to the site or in the door. For others, it’s a waste of time, money and resources.
Where social media can help is providing high value content to customers at the right time and place. But outbound and targeted marketing efforts along with strong sales will ALWAYS be required to drive and build a business.
To execs, business owners and social media activist alike, keep your wits about you. Find the balance and avoid the snake oil.
Nov 07
I learned many powerful lessons on community involvement and support from my dad. I grew up in a close knit college town in Colorado where my father was an executive for a massive utility company. On top of working hard and having a successful career he invested a significant amount of time volunteering with projects and programs such as United Way, the Boy Scouts of America, and Rotary International. Anytime I went out around town with my dad to run errands or go to school programs and such, it seemed he always saw someone he knew and always received a warm ‘howdy’ as we Coloradans like to say. (I still say ‘howdy’ here in Seattle and enjoy the peculiar looks I get. I digress.)
Over the years I have taken that influence to heart and volunteered tons of hours to community programs. My wife has done even more volunteer work than I can claim which is much more notable because she pulled that off while working at Microsoft for 12 years. I have coached and umpired little league baseball for over 8 years as well as helped with the Boy Scouts and spent many hours volunteering for school programs and projects. It’s how we roll.
I’m not writing this blog to boast or congratulate myself. I don’t volunteer or help friends and neighbors with any expectations. I like to help simply because it feels good and it’s the right thing to do.
Last summer my marketing company Zephyr 47 donated time and resources to help the McCormick Foundation execute a fantastic program to raise funds and awareness for the Pancreatic Cancer Action Network. The program was a 5k run/walk called the Redmond Derby Days Dash using a course in Redmond, Washington that my wife had previously had certified and sanctioned as an official race course for a previous event along the beautiful Sammamish Trail. Since I’m a marketing guy and like to blab and present to folks, I was the MC for the event. We also helped run logistics and marketing for the event.
From that event the Seattle Affiliate of the Pancreatic Cancer Action Network invited me to MC their big local fundraiser as a part of Pancreatic Cancer Awareness Month. The event was today and called PurpleStride. Affiliate chapters all over the nation run their own versions throughout November. It’s a phenomenal effort and one I was truly honored to be a part of.
At the PurpleStride Puget Sound 2010 event there were over 1,200 participants that raised over $110,000. The volunteers with PanCAN ran an amazing program. It was very moving to be amongst survivors and families who lost loved ones to the plague of cancer. My job was simple. As The Mouth all I did was stand on stage in front of tons of people in an old flight hangar in Seattle’s Magnuson Park. I had my speaking notes and program with the announcements I had to make. They wound me up and pointed me in the right direction and it was a blast. I love speaking and presenting. The larger the group, the better. I know, I’m weird.
Even though I got up at 4:30 am and spent all morning with these fine folks, I loved every single second of it. The smiles, the energy, the hugs, a few tears, lots of laughter…all of it was an honor for me to help this program. And it all started way back when I was a little fella and saw the investments my dad made in the community and the rewards.
As I left that old airplane hangar I bid farewell to the new friends I made at PanCAN. I shook hands with the program director and she then gave me a big hug. Good stuff.
FYI – PurpleStride Puget Sound 2011 is November 6, 2011 !!!!
