Last week I spent some time with Recreation and Parks professionals at their annual national conference. The topic: Fun and Affordable Marketing. Or as I liked to call it Slap in the Face 101.
The reality is the majority of this group of people do not market their products and services. They do very little to engage with the customer to keep them buying. Now this piece is not a bashing of Parks & Recreation; because many industries and businesses are guilty of this.
- Raise your hand if you’re guilty of putting out an electronic brochure (i.e. your website) and hoping people find you
- Raise your hand if you’re guilty of not staying in touch with customers who have already bought from you
- Raise your hand if you’re guilty of not encouraging each and every employee to make it their job to market your business
The Meeting PLAYce Mat will make your next meeting a heck of a lot less boring and keep people engaged!
So recently I redesigned the Meeting PLAYce Mat. I wanted to do something with the old ones. I gave all 250 people in the room a sample. Guess what? Orders are already coming in. In this techno-crazy world we live in I still believe in putting things in people’s hands (and helping the United States Postal Service survive). I passed out sample postcards that I have created for my new book, Diary of the Happiest Employee on Earth, and for marketing my speaking services to their industry. Guess what? Orders are coming in and I am in conversations with 3 different state associations about speaking at their annual conference.
I gave away a free Recess At Work Implementation System. You had to give me your business card for a drawing. Guess what? I now have 250 business cards with information from people who might buy from me. I just grew my database by 250 people. I even told them what I just did….and that they would be hearing from me.
But the kicker to the whole thing was I was having fun doing this. Giving away free stuff. Giving people ideas on how they can stay in touch with their community. Getting people excited about their jobs again and how they can have fun too!
The definition of Recess is a break from the norm. In their case, the norm was not marketing their products and services.
So I told them LET’S TAKE A RECESS FROM NOT MARKETING.
Of the ten ideas I gave them the one that seemed to have gotten the most interest was what I like to call “Your Office Could Be An Episode of Hoarders.” If you want to know what I shared with them send me a note.
But in the meantime, what do you need to take a Recess from not doing?
Give that some thought if you really want to grow your business or create a better experience for your employees or customers?
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RICH DIGIROLAMO, founder Recess At Work, works with organizations to create happier work environments, strengthen work teams, design new programs, and create better relationships with customers and peers. In his new book Diary of the Happiest Employee on Earth: 52 Provoking Thoughts for Creating a Great Workplace he talks about why it is important for every employee to understand their impact on customers.
Are you ready to take a Recess with Rich, inject some new energy into your organization and create an even better employee and customer experience?
