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Hi,
 We are delighted to welcome the 37 new subscribers to the Marketing Edge who have joined us in the last week. Almost five and a half new subscribers are signing up EVERY DAY for the marketing advice, resources, and support that we are honoured to provide. (Given that we’ve yet to meet a ‘half person’ please would you lot introduce yourselves… :-) ).
We also especially welcome new subscribers from Ali Brown’s Marketing and Motivation Mastermind, as well as the ladies from The Women’s Networking Club in Maidenhead. Thank you ladies for the warm welcome extended to us at your meeting on Monday. What a lively roundtable discussion after our presentation!
Most of the schools here in Hampshire are closing today or are already on holiday, as are schools all around the UK. Taking into account that many of our readers will be going away too, the next two Marketing Edge issues will be lighter.
If you are heading away on leave we hope you have a lovely time and a good rest, and get back to work recharged and re-energised to take you business onward and upward.
PS: Please feel free to forward this newsletter to your friends and colleagues but first please erase the Unsubscribe link at the bottom of the page. This will protect you from being inadvertently unsubscribed from The Marketing Edge by one of your recipients!
 Have you booked a place at our Performance-Tuned Networking seminar yet? It’s happening in Basingstoke on the 5th of August.
CLICK HERE to secure one of the remaining six seats!
Can’t attend? Don’t worry, the audio recording and bonus materials will be available to purchase shortly after the event.
Ready to Explode?
Top Tips to Avoid Communication Overload
I frequently hear clients and prospects lamenting that they don’t have enough hours in the day to do everything, never mind marketing too! (Of course, that’s before we start working together), and that their work-life balance is out of whack. On closer analysis, we often get to some root causes and the two I’m going to discuss in this article are common culprits.
Recently I came across some interesting research where 1,000 UK business people were surveyed about their office efficiency. One of the revelations was that the average time we spend on constructive work each day only adds up to three hours and 50 minutes. Apparently office workers are wasting in excess of 20 working hours a week, 960 hours a year, costing UK businesses £140billion in lost labour costs. Phew!
The survey also revealed that 51% of office time is spent answering unnecessary phone calls and checking emails. Almost three quarters of those surveyed admit to sending an email rather than having a phone or face-to-face conversation. Apparently close to 40% of office emails travel less than 100 metres between sender and recipient. Does that resonate with you?
If so, please take note of the following top tips to avoid communication overload:
Phone Call Phooey
When did this trend to make ourselves (and demand everyone else be) available 24/7 start? That’s phooey as far as I’m concerned. There are perfectly justifiable times during even the work day when we should not take phone calls. For example: when in a client meeting (that’s just rude); when driving (dangerous and illegal); or on public transport (inconsiderate to everyone around you).
But what about when we are actually in the office? Let’s face it, at times we may be working to a tight deadline and really need to avoid interruptions. Perhaps we’re working on something technical that requires 100% concentration.
- There is nothing wrong with turning off the phone and letting voicemail pick up your calls. Just make sure that you have a decent outbound message, that you don’t leave the phone off for hours on end, and that you return any calls promptly.
- If you prefer not to divert calls to voicemail then let your PA or VA take your calls.
- Ban personal calls during work time.
And before you make a call, think twice. Do you really need to make that call? Are you asking for help on something that could be resolved by yourself rather than disturb someone else? Why not ‘google’ the subject, look in the client folders, or open the reference manual? This is a particularly common problem in offices where one person is perceived as the ‘go–to know-it-all’. Its often easier to 'just ask Jim' than figure it out ourselves.
Email Inefficiency
It is so easy to be sidetracked by incoming emails every time that little popup arrives at the bottom of the screen, or the envelope appears in the toolbar. Here are some suggestions that work well for me:
- Don’t leave your inbox open all day. Rather schedule specific times that you will check emails and then close the programme again.
- Disable the pop-up that alerts you of new messages even when your inbox is closed.
- Create folders and set up rules so that email is pre-sorted and you can prioritise what to read without needing to scroll through hundreds of messages in your inbox. A simple start is having a folder and rules for ‘friends and family’ so that jokes, forwards, and Auntie May’s holiday pictures are available to view when you have time, but not distracting you from business communications.
- Create a separate folder for key clients, another for suppliers, etc.
- Hundreds of old, read messages in your inbox is untidy and probably adding to your perception of overload. Be ruthless: Delete them! If you think you might need to refer to them again down the line move them into another folder, but get them out of your inbox.
- Every month eliminate old emails from folders that you honestly know you will never refer to again.
- Don’t CC messages to people to whom the email is irrelevant. I have colleagues who are brave enough to delete emails (without reading them) if they are only in the CC line. They believe that if it was important to them, it would have been directly addressed to them.
- Don’t send emails to colleagues in the same office if the same message could be relayed in person. Plus we all need extra exercise!
Now that you’ve reclaimed all those lost hours be sure to put them to productive use. Ensure that you only do what leads you down the ‘quickest route to the money’, as my mentor is always reminding me. Your work day should be split between working with existing clients, and marketing to get new clients. Everything else should be delegated or outsourced.
©Vanessa Deakin and Zee2A Limited 2008. Would you like to reprint this article? You may do so as long as you include the copyright notice and the following paragraph: Vanessa Deakin works with Professional Service Executives frustrated and disappointed with their current growth rates, marketing efforts, and business profitability. Through one-on-one and group mentoring programmes she helps them to skyrocket their results and break their own best records. To learn more, sign up for her e-zine, or make an enquiry please visit our website at www.zee2a.com.
Don’t let your marketing go on holiday this summer - get your strategies in shape instead! Get in touch with David or Vanessa NOW for a free Marketing Fitness Assessment!
They Said What?
"David's effort and knowledge are reflected by the benefits that continue to accrue from work that he completed more than two years ago. He is one of the best communicators and trainers that I have come across."
- John Cronin, HPA
"The information from Vanessa’s mentoring has proved invaluable. I have certainly been put on the right track and I am delighted to recommend her and the Zee2A team for a great job done."
- Bruce Fisher, Fisher Tech
(If you're unfamiliar with the concept behind Front2Back 2Front please go here to read the explanation in our launch issue.)
The article we ran in our previous issue, The Seven Deadly Sins of Networking was by FAR the one that has generated the most feedback from readers.
We especially had a good laugh at Pamela’s story:
‘I can empathize with originally going to networking events, being scared and shy. I use to be in sales, however the idea of selling myself at B2B networking events was completely different. One of my first events I had gone to alone. I was standing with my back to the bar, just watching and wondering why I had even shown up - when I caught a whiff of something burning. About that time, the lady near me informed me my hair was burning! I have long hair, which brushed up against the tea lights sitting on the bar.
Thankfully it was easily extinguished, with no lasting harm. Boy, what a forced ice-breaker though! Among all the cards I received that night was one from a local hair stylist that offered to trim my hair to even up the damage - free. That was when I learned the value of relationship networking. Not only was I grateful, it also developed into a regular appointment, along with my hearty endorsement to everyone I met.’ – Pamela Sheirer
Would you like to share your story or experience with fellow Marketing Edge Readers? Please submit them HERE. (We reserve the right to publish or to refuse publication of any content provided.)
You’re invited to submit your top marketing questions to us for an upcoming special issue of The Marketing Edge when we will endeavour to answer as many as possible. Please submit your question or marketing challenge here.
- 5th August: Book one of the six remain places here!
- 21st August: FREE 90 Minute introductory teleclass for all those considering joining Vanessa’s Marketing Mastermind Programme. 3pm (UK); 4pm (South Africa); 9am (Central). If you aren't local, call in via Skype to save money. Click here for full details and to register for the call.
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