Earn kudos in the workplace (and maybe a promotion)

No-one gets promoted for turning up each day, working nine to five and doing what they are told. True, you might be seen as the model employee, and certainly a reliable staff member, but it’s unlikely to deliver you extra dollars in your pay packet.

As marketers we’re ideas people, we use our talents every day to deliver projects and add value to our customers and stakeholders. So, why is it many of us don’t apply this talent to our careers?

If you're wondering how to make an impression on your boss, here are a few tips on getting noticed and rewarded. And, if you play your cards right, a promotion to the next step of your career.

Phase: 1 Planning

Have a good look around your company. Is there anything that could be done better from a marketing perspective? These are the types of things to think about:

·         A niche market that’s being ignored

·         A cross selling opportunity

·         Improvements to scripting or sales collateral

·         A way to improve customer loyalty

·         A more efficient way of doing things

Whatever it is, work out a plan of how you would tackle the opportunity. Try to make sure it’s not too large a project, it has to be something you’re capable of handling on top of your normal workload.

Work out budgets, time frames and an expected return on investment. Then draft a project plan.

Phase 2: Selling it to your Boss

Once you’ve thought through your proposal, arrange a time with your manager to present your ideas.

You will need to be positive and enthusiastic, and prepared to take ownership of the project. Remember it’s a sales pitch, you need to demonstrate all the benefits to be gained from your idea.

Be prepared for any objections, such as how you will find the time, or how you might get the extra funds.

Phase 3: Delivery

Great! Your boss loved it and asked you to implement your plan.

Make sure you stay on top of your normal day job while rolling out your project (unless, of course, your boss thought your idea was so important that they’ve re-assigned your duties so you can concentrate on it). Be prepared to put in some extra hours.

Anything that’s worth achieving is not without effort.

Phase 4: Celebrating Success

Once your project is successfully delivered, make sure you record the results and write up a review so you’ve got some concrete facts to present to your manager in a meeting. This is the ideal time to ask for the pay rise you’ve been angling for or to highlight the career path you would like to follow.

There are no guarantees to pay rises or promotions, of course. But at the very least you will have earned yourself some brownie points for your next review, and you’ll have given yourself some great job satisfaction in the process.

Here’s to your successful career in marketing!

Looking for more tips on being a better marketer? Follow me on Twitter: @CraftWrite

Keeping your stakeholders on-side

“No man is an island”…. and no marketer works in a vacuum.

If you’re managing a marketing campaign you know how busy it is. You’ve got to make sure all the elements of the campaign come together. Is your messaging right? Have you got the media mix correct? And there’s a heap of deadlines to meet. But did you think beyond the marketing elements, to all the people within your organisation who will be impacted by your campaign? It’s important to work closely with your internal stakeholders to get them on-side. It will improve the success of your campaign and provide a positive and seamless experience for your customers.

My advice is to understand the workings of the different departments within you organisation. Get to know key people and take an interest in their jobs so you know and understand the impact of a sudden increase of sales or enquiries.  Campaign management can be a lesson in diplomacy, with many people to please.

Here are a few departments and internal functions you need to consider when rolling out a campaign, particularly a high profile one:

Call Centres: consider the time of day for your campaign. If your call centre isn’t open on a Sunday, don’t run a TV commercial on Sunday unless you can negotiate with your call centre to put on staff that day. Provide scripts for handling calls and Q&A for any tricky questions.

Complaints Handling: if this is a separate function to your call centre, make sure the people handling your customer complaints are aware of your campaign. No-one likes to think anything going wrong – but it’s best to be prepared, just in case

Mail Room: if you’re running a direct mail campaign, think about return mail. Ask your mail room what they can handle. If your volumes are going to be large – arrange for your mail house to handle return-to-sender mail.

Order Processing : Check that your order processing team can handle an influx of new orders, give them plenty of time to arrange extra staff if necessary. If you’re using a new form or there’s something out-of-the-ordinary for your campaign, be sure to make sure it will work with existing processes.

Warehouse/Dispatch: Check you have adequate stock and/or people to pick, pack and ship orders.

In-Store: if you have retail stores, make sure your floor staff are aware of your campaign. You can be sure customers will come in to stores and ask questions. If there are any last minute changes to the campaign, you’ll need to keep store staff informed.

Web Enquiries: whether you’re running an on-line campaign or not, you need to be prepared for the fact that customers will visit your website. Besides ensuring the details of your campaign appear online, you need to make sure that whoever handles your website enquiries is aware of your campaign and is equipped to handle an increase in activity.

Reception: even if you’re not using your main reception phone number for your campaign, inform your reception staff that they may receive calls and where they should be directed.

Sales teams: your sales staff will be impacted the most by your marketing campaign. It’s important to work closely with the sales people to ensure they are fully informed of the campaign offer and any special order processing arrangements if necessary.

Senior Management: although their daily work is not usually directly impacted by a marketing campaign, you should give your senior management team a briefing about any high profile campaigns. This will ensure they are across it for general conversation both in business and socially.

Have I missed anything?

Have you ever forgotten to include an important person or group of people in your campaign planning? What was the impact?