This morning I read this one from Professor Henry Mintzberg, author of The Rise and Fall of Strategic Planning, Managers Not MBAs, and a dozen others on management and organization:

“A leader has to be one of two things: he either has to be a brilliant visionary himself, a truly creative strategist, in which case he can do what he likes and get away with it; or else he has to be a  true empowerer who can bring out the best in others.”

A few names come to mind:

• Ronald Reagan – visionary
• Steve Jobs – visionary
• Bill Gates – visionary
• Steve Ballmer – empowerer
• Tony Robbins – empowerer

Is it that black and white?  Can you be a visionary AND an empowerer?  How will you lead your teams today?

Is this really the best use of our scarce law enforcement resources?

Allegedly, Gibson imported exotic woods that were logged either illegally or improperly.  Similar allegations from 2009 remain unresolved.  You can read the whole story here from the AJC.com.

In a time of economic softness, high unemployment, uncertainty about the future, I think it would be helpful for the government to help businesses to grow and give them assistance in complying with laws instead of shutting down their operations.

Gibson could easily have the guitars made in Indonesia, and this issue would go away.  Who does that help?

On a personal note, I have been to the Gibson Guitar Factory in Nashville twice as part of their annual dealer conference and the Fortune Magazine Battle of the Corporate Bands.  It is a fantastic place and they set up tents with every imaginable guitar, and free access to play them all. We were fortunate enough to play on their stage twice and open for both Gretchen Wilson and Cheap Trick.  See photos below.

Hopefully Gibson will continue to make beautiful guitars, made in the USA.

I really don’t understand how this is possible, but I see it all the time.  And there is a new “secret shopper” study to confirm it.

As a sales and marketing guy for mmmmmm years now, this really goes against the grain for me.  Leads are gold.  Leads are oxygen.  Leads are blood.  As a sales guy, it’s how you make your living and advance your career.  As a marketer, it’s one of the most critical touch points in determining your return on marketing and advertising investments.  As a CEO you really care, as it’s the first interaction a prospect will have with your company and your brand.

So that first contact has to be great.

And yet, that first contact is only being made 21% of the time.

The new study, conducted by lead management software provider Leads360, said that only 21 percent of mortgage lenders made an attempt to call back borrowers after an initial inquiry.

And this is in one of the most aggressive, competitive, and cut-throat industries out there. Imagine how low the contact rates are in other industries – are you kidding me?

Not surprisingly, my old Alma Mater Quicken Loans was cited as the best in class for all the key metrics including speed to contact, contact attempts, types of contact etc.  It’s part of the culture there, and how business is done. Marketing people generate leads, sales people call them – simple.

But these techniques and tools are not proprietary, and are available to anyone with the desire to really make the most out of the leads they get every day.

So why don’t more companies do a better job of contacting and converting their leads?

Probably for the same reasons people don’t do a lot of things they should do – eat right, exercise, be kind to other people, change their oil regularly, etc…  you have to have the vision, desire, belief, and discipline to do it right every day, consistently.

Here is a link to the study.  I’ll be at LeadsCon in NYC next week – if you’re there let me know and we can shake our heads in disbelief together.

Here we pit two landing pages with nearly identical content, identical format, and a few variations against each other.

In this corner: Leading with Price

In this corner: Leading with Emotion

Which one do you think will perform best, generating the most calls and leads?  Why?

You can click on the images to see the actual pages.  I’ll post the actual results as soon as they reach statistical significance.

If you’ve read Al Ries’ famous book The 22 Immutable Laws of Branding,  you’ll remember the fifth law.   This law simply states that the goal of any brand is to own one word in the consumers mind.

The classic example of this is how Volvo owns the word “safety” in the consumers mind.

So among all the noise related to his career trouble, excessive partying, insult hurling at broadcast executives etc, Charlie Sheen has found a word to own.   With a singular focus on the word “winning”, and with some disruptive publicity to back it up, Charlie now owns this word.

What word do you own?

Often when I talk to clients about their messaging, creative, advertising copy and such, I have to ask if they are talking to themselves – meaning they using too much jargon or industry-speak in their copy.

One of the hardest things to do as a marketer is to get outside of yourself, the company’s four walls, and the industry so that you can talk/think like a customer.  Especially a customer who has a limited attention span and is not interested in becoming an expert in what ever it is that you do, but is interested in themselves and solving their own problems.

I’ll save that for another blog post.  Today, I wonder if you are talking to yourself in a way to build yourself up and get you focused for the day ahead of you.

Self-talk, the conversations you have with yourself in your mind, is one of the primary ways you direct your focus.  Self -talk falls into two categories: positive self talk, and negative self talk.

Negative Self Talk:

• Why am I so stupid?
• I am fat.
• Why does this always happen to me?
• I can’t do this.

Positive Self Talk:

• I am healthy.
• I am on top of my game.
• I am loved.
• I want to make a positive impact on my family.
• I am great at what I do every day, and getting better.

Focus on what you “Want” – not what you “Donâ€t Want”.  Your subconscious mind does not know the difference between what you want and donâ€t want – it will focus on the “thing” you are thinking about.

• “I want to keep my job”, NOT “I donâ€t want to get fired.”
• “I want to be healthy”, NOT “I donâ€t want to get sick”
• “I want to spend my money wisely”, not “I donâ€t want to waste money.”

Do you see the difference?  If not, read it again and again until you do – this is the key point.

Your positive self talk should be expressed in terms of the things you WANT, and the things you ARE which are consistent with your IDENTITY.  You have to work hard at this to keep the negative thoughts out of your mind, and to get rid of the internal “critic” who cuts you down, or reminds you of something somebody said to you a long time ago.

Your positive self talk should be consistent with your “big rocks” and your definite major purposes/goals in life.

Using positive self talk and visualization, you should create a picture of yourself already in possession of the goal you want.  For example:

• My team members respect me.
• I have total financial security.
• I am loved.
• I am going to do great today.

If you are unable to fully see yourself fully in possession of these goals, then ask yourself “How Can I?” questions so that your subconscious mind will go to work on obtaining the answer:

• How can I get people to respect me?
• How can I get my team to work together better?
• How can I become financially secure?
• How can I WOW people today?

The way you talk to yourself, and condition your mind, will determine your outcome for the day.  Try it for a week and see what happens – I guarantee you’ll carry yourself differently, see things in a more positive light, and become a better marketer because you have DECIDED you are one.

Here are four ways to out-prepare your competition:

1. Study: While others are filling their time with entertainment and escapism, superachievers are studying and improving their craft. Having more knowledge, data, background and intelligence will always give you the upper hand in any situation.

2. Develop: Develop the skills necessary to achieve excellence in your game. Brian Tracy explains that every skill you need to succeed is learnable. There is nothing you cannot learn and master to achieve anything you want in business and in life.

3. Practice: Sporting teams practice for games. Musicians practice for concerts. Busy professionals and entrepreneurs should practice the skills they need for success—public speaking, impactful writing and interpersonal communication. After all, practice makes perfect.

4. Play the Game in Your Head First: Before making a presentation, an important phone call or having an important meeting, play the event out in your head exactly as you want it to happen first. It is amazing how your posture, energy and expectation will change, and your performance will rise to meet it. Try it.

— Courtesy of “SEEDS for Success”

Drake University is attempting to lure students and parents with their “D+” Campaign.

According to AdWeek:

Drake University officials are feverishly scrambling to explain why they thought “D+” would be a great theme for a recruitment ad campaign. The D+ is meant to be shorthand for the magic that occurs when Drake plus a student get together. To many, though, it seems to position Drake as a school whose standards barely exceed total failure. However, in a note to faculty and staff this week, Drake defends the campaign as “intentionally edgy,” and just right for the target market. “The D+ was not designed to stand alone or represent a grade. Instead, it was designed to be paired with prose and draw attention to the distinctive advantages of the Drake experience,” reads the note. “Our experience in the survey and in the field suggests that the kind of students whom we want to attract to Drake easily understand and appreciate the irony of the D+, and that it is having the intended effect of encouraging students to find out more about what makes Drake so special.”

Certainly edgy enough to create a viral spread of comments about how the wisdom of this campaign.  Time will tell.   I think someone in marketing should have stood up and asked the ad agency “Guys, do you know what we DO here?”.

But this check had my whole family shaking their heads with laughter and dis-belief.

Here is the letter and check I received from Lord & Taylor:

Now, I appreciate the honesty in making sure my account is set at a zero balance and proactively issuing me a check for the credit amount, but for a penny?  Really?  Are you serious?

The postage alone was worth $0.35!  Printing, IT, envelope, processing, etc surely takes the total cost up to $1-2, if not more.  Not to mention the environmental impact of paper, ink, fuel, etc to deliver my one red cent back to me.

But the biggest crime of all (from a marketing standpoint) is the lost opportunity here.

Sending me a check is a good thing – I will be in a good mood and highly receptive and responsive to any message, suggestion or request they might have.  What else could they have done with this letter?  Well, here are a few thoughts:

• They could have sent me a coupon to encourage me to come back and spend more next time.
• They could have sent me a post card instead, telling me I have a credit balance on my card and that I should come in an buy something and use it up.
• They certainly could have printed their logo on the letter.
• They could remind me where the nearest Lord & Taylor stores are located.
• They could have invited me to sign up for email alerts for specials and exclusive sales.
• They could have asked me why I haven’t been back lately.  Maybe there was a customer service or merchandise problem they could address by just asking me, or giving me a toll free number to call.
• Online survey?
• Enter an online sweepstakes for a shopping spree?
• Ask if I would like to donate the credit balance to a charity of my choice?

At least they did thank me for my business.  The point is, every interaction with a customer is an opportunity to do something…..you’ve already spent the money, now spend a little brain power and take it to the next level.

In it, he describes how he is going to save me money.

The way I will save money, is by joining his $9 Club for $45. As soon as I become a member, I will be entitled to bring a second carry-on bag on board for just $20 instead of $45 like all the other schmucks! Fantastic! Thats a round trip savings of $50, and a net savings of $5!

Of course, I could stick with Delta…the airline that does not charge me anything to bring two bags on board, and who also today announced a new speedy boarding perk for Medallion members.

But what a great email!  Personalized and everything to me… a “Valued Customer”!

To our valued customers,

We have all seen how carry-on baggage has gotten out of control.  Longer security lines and boarding process, injuries due to overcrowded overhead bins, delayed flights and passenger frustration has become commonplace.

At Spirit, we are always looking for new ways to save you money and improve the customer experience.  We recently announced our latest innovation, which is designed to relieve the carry-on crisis, saving you time and money.

Our solution to the carry-on crisis:

1. Lowered fares
2. Lower checked bag fees
3. Give everyone a free personal item allowance
4. Allow customers to carry on an additional bag for a fee and give them
   priority boarding so they have time and space to stow their extra bag

Everyone Wins!

1. We expect total prices to be lower
2. Security lines will move faster
3. The boarding process will be smoother
4. Deplaning will be faster
5. Passenger and employee safety is improved with less over-stuffed bins

What to expect for travel after August 1st:

1. We have introduced PENNY PLUS™ fares available to our $9 Fare Club members** that are 1¢ each way plus fuel, taxes and fees*.  If you are not already a member, click here to join.
2. We have lowered checked bag fees for $9 Fare Club members.  A family of four checking four bags round-trip will save $80.  Double the cost of being a $9 Fare Club member.  Another reason to join now.  Click here to join.
3. You can bring a FREE personal item onboard, such as a purse, briefcase, backpack or laptop computer.  Other exceptions are:  assistive devices, medicine, umbrella, outer garments (coats, hats, wraps), camera, car seat/stroller, infant diaper bag, reading material for the flight, or food for immediate consumption.
4. If you choose to bring an extra carry-on bag, you may do so for $20 if purchased online as a $9 Fare Club member or $30 online, at the airport ticket counter or kiosk for non-members.  If you choose to wait until the gate to pay, the fee will be $45 which is not preferred since it will slow the boarding process.
5. Shorter, faster security and boarding lines.  Less frustration while boarding and deplaning.  Fewer delays.
6. Happier customers that pay less!

See you onboard soon!  Weâ€ll keep working to improve your experience and lower your fare.

Ben Baldanza
President and Chief Executive Officer
Spirit Airlines