No doubt the current economy is forcing some companies to rethink their travel policies. To make matters worse the cost of travel is increasing faster than inflation. According to the American Express Global Business Travel Forecast, the average cost of a domestic business trip — including airfare, lodging and car rental costs — will rise 6% in 2008 to $1,110. The average cost of an international business trip will rise nearly 7% to $3,171. The projected increases in travel costs are likely to far outpace general inflation, which the National Association for Business Economics forecasts will be about 2.3% next year.

However,businesses still need to maintain relationships with their customers, suppliers and remote employees and audio and web conferencing services are filling this gap. Compare the average cost of a domestic business trip (as stated above)with a web conference.

10 Person 60 Minute Web & Audio Conference

Quite the difference. The technology for web and audio conferencing has matured to such a point now that if your company is not using some combination of conferencing and travel, they are missing out on significant cost savings. Granted, there are some times when nothing beats a face to face meeting, but you should certainly be using web and audio conferencing for everything else.

ReadyTalk is located just a quarter mile from the Democratic National Convention (DNC) which has been an interesting experience. From a marketing point-of-view, it has supplied some great web conferencing campaign opportunities. We offered Denver businesses free web conferencing and audio conferencing so they could telecommute while the DNC kept them out of their offices. There were also over 15,000 journalists in town that covered the event. We joked about running through downtown holding a large ReadyTalk Web Conferencing banner to get on television. Our joke was actually another company’s plan.

While out on the 16^th Street Mall, I saw some of the following:

• People carrying signs directing and leading crowds to a restaurant
• Companies handing out free t-shirts with political campaigns on the front and their logo on the back
• A donkey and elephant riding around on Segways advertising a news station

These are not the tactics that they taught when I went to marketing school. Word-of-mouth buzz and grassroots campaigning are the latest craze and we saw that out in full force during the DNC. Combine it with technology (blogs, social media sites, email blasts) and you have campaigns that maximize return on investment because of the relatively low cost of these mediums.

It was exciting to see social media tactics on display all over our city this week. It further solidifies the relevancy and efficacy of these tactics.

Last week I went into a department store with my three kids in tow. All I needed was a watch battery, so I assumed that it would be a quick trip.

I went to the watch counter and nobody was there so I pressed the help button. An automated recording informed me that someone would be there in 60 seconds or less. I thought this was a great way to set expectations of when a customer would be assisted and improve the customer experience. Until it didn’t work.

After 4 minutes, I pushed the button again. Same automated voice stated someone would be there in 60 seconds or less. Not so much. Waited another 5 minutes and pushed the button. By this time, my 3 kids are getting almost more restless then me.

Setting customer expectations from the start is crucial in any business. While I’m sure the department store installed the recorded message with good intentions, it setup an opportunity for failure, rather then an opportunity for success. Too often, we forget how customers will respond and react to processes that are put in place.
Ways to ensure customers have a positive experience:

• Engage current customers when creating new processes
• Determine if there is a need for a change
• Make it simple

To get a watch battery, I had to hunt down someone to assist me, but it wasn’t “their area.” So they had to find someone else.

Don’t make it difficult for your customers to give you their money.

Ardath Albee has a great post today about the power of storytelling. Ardath’s post and e-book (which can be obtained from the link) is quite similar to a seminar we hosted by Andy Goodman entitled “Storytelling: Your Most Powerful Communications Tool”.

Ardath, like Andy, suggests that in order to capture and retain your prospects and customers attention you must tell a story that relates to them. As Ardath states in her e-book “when you enable people to step into your story and envision their future with you, their problem solved, you develop empathy. Empathy leads to trust….and [trust is] the prerequisite for engagement.”

The key is to tell the right story to the right person and this is where segmentation comes into play. At ReadyTalk, we track job function and title for all of our customers and prospects. This allows us to tell an accurate story to which the reader can relate.

I particularly like her suggestion that each piece of content you choose to develop should be based upon urgency. Specifically, each story you develop must play to the readers sense of urgency t ogain attention. As Ardath succinctly puts “Urgency means aligning the story’s plot with a priority of the buyer.”

I would love to hear some of the ways your marketing department creates compelling stories for your customers.

Technorati Tags: Ardath Albee, storytelling, segmentation

I think it is appropriate that I write about white papers as we are currently in the process of reviewing all of our documentation. White papers being that ubiquitous source of B2B information that magically inspires the reader to pick up the phone and order your product or service.

But I digress, what I really want to talk about is how you research your white papers. Two particular topics come to my mind when I think of research:

1. How do you decide upon a topic for your whitepaper and,
2. How do you research your topic once it is decided upon.

This brings me to my main point: interviews, interviews and more interviews. For the first point, talk to current customers about the content they find valuable. Talk to prospects about the content that worked and did not work.

For the second point, interviews are much more fun and interactive than doing all your research on Google. As a general rule, primary research is always more effective than secondary research. Quotes from experts in the field can really drive the point of a white paper home to the reader.

How do you decide upon your topics? And, once decided, how do you research those topics?

Technorati Tags: white papers, research, B2B