Most of the marketing people I encounter are primarily meeting planners and coordinators. While these tasks are necessary and should not be minimized, there is a missing element in the marketing department – that of messaging and branding. What comes to mind when you hear the names of companies that have succeeded? Their logos, their colors, perhaps a song you’ve kept in your head for 20 years or more? Even a smell may remind you of a particular product or service. The ultimate goal, of course, is to develop a product so compelling, that it becomes the generic name. For instance, Coke and Advil are all good examples, or when referring to your top recommendation as the Cadillac or the Mercedes option. Messaging is the missing element in many businesses. Look at the high tech companies and you will see who gained the most market share. There are many lessons to learn if you take time to reflect on the technology graveyards that have been built over the past 20 years. What happened to Control Data Systems, DEC, and Wellfleet, as well as nationwide integrators such as Businessland? These are just a few examples of companies that had great technology, but were ruined because of poor marketing and messaging. Their competitors may disagree, but most of the technical people I ask, believe that these companies had excellent technology that might have been widely used today, if they had known how to get their message out. Other popular technologies, including the Unix code behind Apple’s OS as well as foundational protocols and languages such as Java, were given away for free; simply because their inventors didn’t understand how to take them to market.

Everything you write, say, or “friend” online about a product, contributes to your brand – good or bad. The companies with the best messaging will likely pull ahead as time goes on. The best brand will win over the smartest person, and the smart person with a great brand pulls ahead faster. The person without a message, smart or not, will be lost in obscurity. So what are you doing to get your message out and in front of the right people?

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Increasing Productivity – Everyone is being asked to do more with less. Here are some things that may help you increase productivity:

• Paper planners are faster when it comes to strategizing and long range planning. The ability to reflect and see the big picture is invaluable, but unavailable in a small electronic box.

• Getting up early provides for a more focused time of planning and solitude. Running from your bed to the office, or meeting, means you are not prepared.

• Building on the previous thought, a well-planned week makes for better days. Spend time building your call list with specific objectives before going to work on it. Random prospecting often results in wasted time and energy – it can also be quite stressful.

• PC air cards are great productivity enhancers. The ability to access the Internet, while waiting or riding, is priceless when you depend on electronic communication and “in the cloud” applications such as Salesforce.com.

• Headsets are a must when making numerous calls or spending time on longer calls. Just putting the set on is a reminder that you are supposed to be making calls. Taking it off signals a time to be working on something else unrelated to phone work. Resist going back and forth every few minutes, as that is another time waster.

• Planning notebooks are still favored, among executives and business leaders, over electronic documents for personal note taking and planning. Use a notebook to record ideas, create lists of things you have to do, and to reflect on where you are headed. This relieves your mind from the constant churn and stress of unfinished tasks.

• Using two monitors can be a great productivity enhancer if you spend a good deal of time in the office. Going back and forth between applications squanders time and energy.

• Start throwing more things in the trash! Just about every “informational” document, including user guides, warranty information, registration, and new articles, are available online: so don’t pile them on your desk.

• If your office is too distracting, try working at the coffee shop or hotel lobby. I find, for certain tasks such as writing, this is a stimulating environment with few interruptions. Personally, I like the USAirways club – if you travel this is a great investment.

• If you are serious about making progress, throw your television set in the trash. There’s nothing on worth watching, despite hundreds of available channels. Important events, such as elections, can always be viewed online.

I just got off the phone with Windstream (my current phone and DSL provider)…what an amazing customer service experience. I was calling to see if there were ways to reduce my bill without cutting services. We all know that VOIP is available for anywhere from free, to just under thirty dollars a month. I was trying to explain to the representative on the phone that I wanted all my current services; I just wanted to explore ways to bundle or change my plan to lower its cost. But the agent just would not listen. He kept asking about services we might remove. The average VOIP company offers twenty-five additional services at a third of the cost – but the person on the other end of the phone just didn't care. Obviously, he is not on a commission plan. So why am I still using this ridiculous phone service? It's only a matter of time now…the point here is, when the customer is angry; you need to change your approach. I am on a mission now to get rid of this service. What about your customers? Do they love you, or are they trying to find another option? People will pay more if they really love the provider, and will leave you regardless of price, if the service is bad. I stopped eating my favorite ice cream when Breyers decided to cut the carton size. Why should I have to pay more for less?

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Please pass this on to anyone you know who is working to build a profitable solutions business today. Consider having David Stelzl speak at your next quarterly meeting or customer event. Create a value proposition that positions you as the expert and attracts new clients. Consider hiring a professional coach to accelerate the process.