atkinson advisor

Business decisions can have significant consequences. IBM capitalized on this fear for years with “Nobody gets fired for hiring IBM” or some derivative of that phrase.

But buying has become more complicated. Most of us don’t want to start with the sales team because there’s nothing less fun than being put on the prospect list. We need a way to test drive companies before we buy.

Good content marketing allows prospects to take your company for a spin and see if they think there’s a possible fit. About a year ago, our firm revamped its website. I’ve had at least two people a month give us positive feedback on our embrace of social media, blogging, and Web. 2.0 stuff in general. That’s exactly what we wanted to happen. The previous website received few compliments that I can remember.

Test driving is more than products and service. Can visitors understand your style? Can they see your inspiration in action? Do you learn from the successes and failures equally? Are you operating in the present or living off the past?

Companies often ask us what’s the best policy for responding to negative blog posts and comments in social media.

The Air Force’s blog assessment and response strategy has been around for a while, yet it’s still one of the best. Here’s a link to the one-page Air Force chart.

What is most helpful is the categorization of negative posts. The Air Force identified four of them:

The Air Force only responds to posts falling in the last two categories. They recognize that nothing the Air Force says will influence the first two and choose to monitor rather than respond.

The final piece is crafting an effective response. The strategy focuses on transparency, sourcing, timeliness, tone, and influence.

Written originally for blogs, the policy could certainly be adapted for other social media.

If you’re interested, the Air Force has also prepared a guide about social media and Air Force policies.

Next time you have an upset customer, remember they are looking for three things from the resolution:

Address all three well, and you’re likely to resolve the issue amicably.

Leadership development is a differentiator for most companies.

After reviewing more than 11,000 manager performance appraisals, Marshall Goldsmith and Howard Morgan found that one element separates leadership improvement from the status quo: regular, ongoing follow-up with co-workers.

Their research was conclusive whether or not the company provided some initial training through an external coach or internal coach. In fact, they found that regular follow-up with co-workers had a dramatic effect on leadership development even without a formal training program.

Goldsmith and Morgan summed up the impact of routine follow-up this way:

“For most leaders, the great challenge is not understanding the practice of leadership. It is practicing their understanding of leadership.”

Interestingly, the research showed that follow-up works just as well via a phone call as it does person to person.

Read entire report entitled “Leadership Is a Contact Sport.”

Online profile tools always pique our interest. We found a gem at the Authentic Happiness website. Based at the University of Pennsylvania, the website is dedicated to the study of positive psychology through such things as positive emotions, strength-based character, and healthy institutions. Users can take more than 15 different tests that require about 10-15 minutes each. For example, the “Brief Strengths Test” asks about 30 questions and then presents your strengths in the categories of always, usually, half the time, and occasionally.

An ebook is a marketing idea accessible to almost any company. Jonathan Kranz has written one of the better ebook tutorials that we’ve found.

Kranz tackles the important issues, including:

Kranz provides tons of examples from his own work and useful tips for crafting the right tone and approach.