Marketing for Marketing

We have a blog that we have almost forgotten about. Like many other things, our enthusiasm wavers almost as soon as something loses its novelty. This character is so true to me and also, I guess, to the people who make up QC. We forget we have a blog that must be updated. We also forget that the blog (someone told us) is a great way to reach the customers and create a “brand recall”.

“Brand recall” reminds me of the so called “marketing” discussions we have been having internally. We realize that the “word of mouth” process of marketing is slow and works only when we actively ask clients to give us a reference (which we find as difficult as making cold calls). The process of marketing (from the numerous discussions we have had with magazines, peers, clients and our “not so happy” PR experience) seems a little awkward because the marketing is all paid. If everything can be “purchased”, what relevance does marketing hold? I don’t have the knowledge to comment on how marketing should be done, but as a “new user” of marketing, the process seems mechanical- “you can get what you can buy”. Today, most things can be bought – from advertising space, to article space, to speaker space and even invitations to conferences. There seem to be power centres everywhere (people or money) that dictate what will be marketed or who will be given opportunity. In this whole space of “marketing”, so far, I have not experienced any platform that evaluates us or gives us an opportunity for our credibility (against the quality and richness of our work or experience). I have also not found a platform that allows me to network with potential clients. The usual networking forums seem dominated by the “regulars” who have close personal associations with each other. In the sea of the “regulars” and the hordes of “consultants”, I am just a visiting card. There is no space to have a conversation (unless you know a “regular” or “powerful” someone) or to hear an interesting conversation. There is no fun in the process, unless, of course, I am happy being a “visiting card”.

Where does a small, niche consulting company like us get opportunities from? Meeting requests from emails don’t work (99.99% no response is received); neither does phone calls (no one picks up extensions, no secretaries/receptionists help to connect). I don’t believe adverts work- I need meetings- an opportunity to personally meet and share our insights/service range.

It sounds unreal, but getting a meeting, through a cold call is a 1: 50 chance and the conversion time (from request to meeting) could be 6-12 months (this is true if we want to meet a key decision maker – like the Head of HR or a sub-function leader). How will we get an opportunity to be evaluated, if we are not even met with? Why does a meeting request take forever to generate a positive response? Are people so busy? Or do they need a “powerful other reference” or “dire need” to give emerging players an opportunity? I don’t have the answer but I know this frustration will be shared by several other peers.

I don’t know why it is considered acceptable to have unresponded emails/meeting requests or why a receptionist or secretary is not allowed to help schedule a meeting. I am wondering if it is “we” or “our email formats” that don’t work? I would be happy to have someone teach us the trick.

Today I have 100% repeat business and we have added real value to our client’s assignments, maybe the answer is to seek references. From a personal meeting to conversion (depending on how clear the customer need is), the conversion is 1:2 and the time frame is 1:3 or 1:6.

The challenge is to generate meetings. Does anyone have ideas?

Ten Tips for Engaging Employees

Managers get overworked, sidetracked, and ridiculed to boot, but there are some simple ways they can keep in touch and in sync with their teams

by Liz Ryan Middle managers get so much flak, from their treatment in the daily Dilbert cartoons to their perennial stereotyping on TV and in the movies, but it's not easy managing people. In these days of seeming 24/7 work schedules, shrinking annual-raise budgets, and corporate consolidation, it may be harder than ever to lead a team. One of the easiest leadership lessons to lose sight of is this: As critical as it is to get production out of our teams and keep them on schedule and under budget, it's even more important to listen to, coach, and thank them. There are plenty of days in a typical manager's schedule when, despite the best intentions, none of that happens. Too many days like that, and the atmosphere at work starts to resemble that of a Roman galley ship. Here are 10 painless, cost-free ways to keep your team in the loop and feeling appreciated that even the most time-starved manager can deploy.

1. Ask for Help

We hire people for their brains, but when fires are burning in the office, it's easy to forget to ask people for their good ideas. Once a week or whenever your team gets together, pose a question to the group—the best layout for the new office space, suggestions for next year's bonus plan, or a format for your annual sales conference. You've got serious brainpower on your squad, so you may as well use it…and remind your team members that they're part of the decision-making process.

2. Notice What Gets Done

It is easy, and at times inevitable, for managers to keep their focus on what's not finished and what's broken. But if you want people to care about their work, it's critical to notice and to call attention to what's going well. At every opportunity, and at least once a day, comment on a job well done or a crisis averted. We can't expect people to aim for high goals if we don't give them credit for the small ones.

3. Solicit Ideas for Improvement

If you do one-on-one meetings with your team, or in informal "stop-by" talks, ask your employees individually for their thoughts on the department's operations. Ask "What should we be focusing on? What could run better in our group?" If the solutions offered seem impractical, don't shoot them down—talk through the obstacles so your colleagues will understand the challenges of implementing what they've suggested. Above all, don't send the message that you're the only one who is qualified to make improvements. We don't keep smart people unless we make them part of our brain trust.

4. Act Swiftly When You Need To

My friend Susan, an entrepreneur, called me last week in the midst of an employee crisis. A new employee on her team had blown off an important assignment and had left his colleagues in the lurch. The whole office was angry and in turmoil. Susan didn't wait—she got her ducks in a row and terminated the fellow the next day. If you want buy-in from your team, you've got to show them that their concerns are worth evaluating and that their priorities are congruent with yours. In this case, Susan showed that she'd act as quickly to resolve a team concern as she would to placate an angry boss or customer.

5. Make Time to Listen

One young friend of mine has a weekly face-to-face meeting with her manager, but that meeting seems to be her boss's lowest priority. My young friend tracks the meeting's progress, and out of the last 12 weeks, the meeting has taken place four times. Whatever communication mechanisms you set up with your team, stick to 'em. Nothing says "lip service" louder than employee meetings that don't happen.

6. Say Thanks, Often

"Thanks for the effort" is an easy phrase to utter, but it gets lost when managers have a few dozen other items on their plates. Some managers are afraid of excessive praise (BusinessWeek.com, 12/27/07) or think that employees should automatically know when they've done a good job. Get used to giving thanks daily and watch your team's results improve as people realize that it does make a difference to you whether they excel or merely go through the motions.

7. Admit to Being Imperfect

When you give two employees the same assignment, forget an employee feedback session, or otherwise slip up on the job, 'fess up. And ask your employees which decisions of yours they would have made differently, and why. Nobody wants to work for a perfect robot. Perfection is a great thing to aim for, but your employees need to know that you don't always attain it either.

8. Get Moving

High on the list of employee boss-beefs is the plaint "My boss won't make a decision." What seems like a week's delay to you, after an employee has submitted a proposal for review or asked for a raise for her intern, often is actually six weeks or six months long. Every time you meet with a subordinate, ask "What are you waiting on, from me?" The results may surprise you. Don't be the boss who sits on an issue until people are tearing their hair out (or cursing you behind your back). Move as quickly on your employees' requests as you do on your boss's requests…well, nearly as quickly.

9. Don't Talk About Employees Behind Their Backs

If you want the team on board, don't belittle or critique them out of earshot. It's tempting at times to discuss your team's shortcomings at a management meeting, or to talk with one teammate about another. This stuff won't be kept in confidence, and you will lose your team's. Save your feedback and deliver it to the person whom it concerns.

10. Tell Them What You Want

You know what you want. Don't expect your employees to be mind readers. Explain exactly what you want, and ask an employee to reiterate it for you. You can eliminate enormous, frustrating problems by laying out your expectations clearly. Need a reminder? Ask your employees at every staff meeting to tell you what's on their plates that's not clear. You'll be surprised how many people speak up when given the chance.

Found my answer!

Whenever I read any HR related magazine, my eyes fall upon write-ups by leading HR consulting firms on employee engagement. While most of the HR consultants advise their client upon ways in understanding motivation drivers and driving high employee engagement levels, they are unable to assuage “push factors” that encourage their own employees to leave. Such a disillusionary state of affairs, makes their internal employees feel a wide gap between “advised” reality and “experienced” reality. The stalwarts of the HR consulting firms often disregard this state in cover of lack of time (caused due to stringent client deadlines and expectations).

I wonder - Does it really incapacitates the ability of the management in HR consulting firms to pay employees with their time and attention?

As demanding it is, the ability to keep the employees connected and listened to is not a herculean task. The answer resides in simple day-to day initiatives. At QC, I observe three key basic capsules of motivation that keeps me engaged:

Capsule I: Unified and well-bonded team

It may sound cliché; the truth is that we all work as a family. QC family do has its share of disagreements and squabbles, but at times of turbulence, we all support and stand-by each other.

Capsule II: Friday Luncheons

Every Friday, lunch is “on-the-house”. The entire team eats together, talk of trivial matters including some related to work and enjoy the time together. It is the best time to pull each other’s leg and gossip.

Capsule III: Micro- Management is the last resort

In QC, micromanagement does have a place, but it is the last resort. Most often than not, I have the autonomy to test and implement new ideas related at project in hand.

I have found my answer -Hope you have found yours!

Being QC

They say it is good to begin a blog with something positive to share with readers. Since the very intent of a blog is to share honest views/thoughts with a larger audience, I would rather write what my mind dictates than be preoccupied with churning out “positive or motivational” gyan in the hope to catching some readers!

Today has been a day of reflection. For the millionth time in the 10 years that QC (Our favorite “short form” for Quadrangle Consulting) has been in existence, our identity was questioned. Our identity comes from the services we provide our clients. It comes from the long term client engagements we have been able to successfully drive and also from the fact that we are a set of very bright and passionate consultants. We love what we do and have great pride in our work.

But in today’s corporate world there is little value for passionate and dedicated consultants. Today’s world values a brand. The brand covers up for everything – from the attitude of the consultant, the limp service that is sometimes provided, the high price for something that is a day’s work and also for mistakes made during the assignment. This is not to say that great brands don’t do great work. Great brands became great because they do (or did) great work. But the great brand does not mean all its consultants are as great as the brand. And the great brand’s follies are accepted while our strengths are questioned. That’s the most painful part of being a “so called” small consulting firm.

Just because the world does not consider us a “brand” or just because we operate with a small team in a residential office, it is assumed we are not worthy of respect. It is assumed that we will be happy to send a proposal, even if it is a mere formality of purchase rules. It is assumed we can be called on a Saturday and asked to go to office, it is also assumed that we are so “desperate” for business, that we can be spoken to rudely, made to wait at the reception endlessly and also be questioned on our man-day rate in a tone that reeks of sarcasm. Strangely it is also assumed our time is for FREE and that we would do stuff FREE just to gain “entry” into a company. Yes, we would do stuff FREE, but not to get entry…. But to work on a challenging task that pushes our intellectual boundaries!

It is a feeling of pride to pitch for business and get it basis the strengths and passion you bring to the table. We are usually kept deprived of this feeling, because we are remembered only when budgets are low and a “cheaper” vendor is needed. I would rather lose the bid than get it because it was the lowest quote. Yes, our quotes are lower but not because we give shoddy work, not because our consultants lack intelligence or expertise, but because we have lesser overheads!

In these 10 years, through these severely “humiliating “experience, we have learned to value our pride more. We have met the good side of the corporate world, in the shape of excellent clients. Clients who choose us because they had faith in our capabilities, client with whom we have 100% repeat business, clients who forever try and give us suggestions to enhance our marketing and after having given up on us…just refer us to others. These clients are a part of the same corporate world but they stand apart. They stand apart because their corporate values teach them to treat consultants as partners, not vendors. Because they believe in fair evaluations and in dignity in interactions. These clients have nourished our identities, pushed us to challenger ourselves, and in return we have delivered value to their processes and people. It’s been a relationship of mutual respect and admiration.

We would rather invest in these client and work for them than invest in new relationships that signals a journey of humiliation right from the 1st meeting.

Being a “small consultant” gives us the power to say “no” to assignments and clients that question our identity. We don’t have a south eastern office to report to and neither do we have high overheads! We need business to keep our small salaries going, to fund our annual historical international trips and to (most importantly) nourish our minds. We have our regular clients who love our work (and we love working with them!) and once in a while we stumble upon a nice client who hires us for expertise. That works for us. And hey! We are small, because we choose to be small, choose to create our own identity and face the corporate world armed with our expertise. We are small because we felt we did not need the cover of a “brand” to create our sense of accomplishment. We are a brand for the clients we work for and we are a brand for ourselves.

Enhancing HR Skills With Psychometrics Training Program

Three Day Corporate HR Training Program

ABOUT THE PROGRAM

INTRODUCTION

The program objective is to equip our clients with knowledge & skills needed to select and apply commercially available personality inventories.

PROGRAM DESIGN

The program is aimed to provide in-depth understanding about various personality tools, theoretical background & application in the industry. The Workshop shall include interactive discussion on 15 commercially available tools.

WORKSHOP FEATURES

· Administration and feedback of MBTI, Belbin Team Roles, 16 PF & PAPI.

· Comprehensive reading material containing detailed tool information along with sample reports, purchase information etc.

· Workshops priced at INR 20000/- Per Participant**

** Excluding taxes. Avail special discounts for more than 10 registrations.

ABOUT US

We are a team of Organizational Psychologists, certified in MBTI, PAPI, Hogan Assessments, DISC, 16PF, Belbin Team Roles, NEO PI & several other personality inventories. Our workshops are customized according to the client’s need and are highly interactive. Targeted to cover a small group of 10-12 participants, the workshop allows for freedom to address unique concerns and interests of each participant.

FACILITATOR PROFILE: RADHIKA BHALLA

Radhika has a Masters Degree in Psychology (Delhi University) with a specialization in Organizational Behavior. She is a certified PAPI trainer for India and holds certifications for MBTI & Hogan Assessments. Over the last 11 years, Radhika has worked with several clients in the area of behavioral assessment. Her interest and specialization lies in psychometric testing, assessment center design & execution, hiring process design & competency mapping. Clients engagements include – Crowne Plaza, Godrej Industries & associate companies, Cognizant technologies, Agilent technologies, Reckitt Benckiser, HCL, World Wide Media, ITC Hotels, General Mills, Pidilite Industries, HDFC Standard Life Insurance, Eli Lilly, Metlife, Honeywell, Britania, Aditya Birla Group etc.

For further details contact:

Quadrangle Consulting Services Pvt. Ltd

P-81, South City, Phase 1, Gurgaon

Haryana-122001 (India)

Phone: 0124-4082028, 0124-4286360, 61

Tele Fax: 0124-2380756

E-mail: Sakshi@quadrangleconsulting.org;

Aakriti@quadrangleconsulting.org

Visit us on: www.quadrangleconsulting.org