Effectively Handling E-Mail Bullies

I recently received a rather rude e-mail. It made me wonder what makes certain supposedly professional business people turn into contemptuous, mean-spirited bullies when they get on their e-mail account?

Part of the problem may stem from the ease of writing and sending an e-mail. It’s simple to react quickly, especially when emotions or a challenging or complicated situation come into play. If you’ve ever been scatter-bombed with hostile, demeaning, or demanding e-mails from a boss, a client, or a business associate, you know what it’s like, but what you probably don’t know is how to respond.

Here are some ways to handle rude, accusatory and mean-spirited e-mail:

• Report threats or vulgar language to the ISP. These violate the Terms of Service of ISPs. Send the e-mail to abuse@ the ISP.

• If you receive a rude, over-the-top e-mail or one that makes personal attacks on you, wait before responding. Wait until the next day or two. Think hard about whether you really need to respond.

• If the e-mailer is misinformed, you can try to correct the misinformation. Don’t reply in kind. Do your best to take the high road and be courteous.

• Reach for the phone. In many cases, the best option may simply be a phone call. This is especially true when dealing with clients or colleagues, since it will probably eliminate misinterpretations and help you get to the heart of any issue.

And finally, when writing your own e-mails a good common sense rule to follow is the Golden Rule: treat others as you would like to be treated.

Is Funville the Right Place for Disaster Info?

The January 13 accident of the 4200-passenger Costa Concordia cruise ship is worldwide news and a public relations black eye for the ship’s owner, Carnival Corporation.

As this is being written a few days after the incident, the grounding and capsizing of the giant vessel seems to be a case of severe human error. According to many news reports, Captain Francesco Schettino deliberately steered off course so that he could show off the ship to residents on the island of Giglio, Italy, home of the giant ship’s headwaiter. After ripping a hole in hull of the $450-million vessel, the captain fled the ship before many of the passengers.

While it’s hard to anticipate a ship’s captain going rogue, it seems that an appropriate crisis communications plan should be in place, regardless of the cause of the crisis.
Of course, Carnival has a communications plan in place, using time-tested crisis communications procedures for getting out as much info as quickly as possible. However, there seems to be a significant disconnect between the messages and the way many of them are delivered.

Despite having numerous promotional messages, banner flashes and other catchy elements on the homepage of their website, there is nothing directing readers to more information about the Costa Concordia.

If you search, you can finally find the information on the blog page, called Funville. I’m sure the irony is apparent to many website users.

Facebook, Twitter and a company’s website are all valuable means of quickly communicating with customers. However, cruise lines are in the business of selling fun. The bright colors and promotional messages that dominate the Carnival Cruise website certainly send mixed signals when dealing with a serious topic such as passenger safety.

A more appropriate crisis communications response might be to set up a temporary landing page for information about the incident. That would be a service to travelers, families and other interested parties. It would make the information easier for them to find while separating the promotional content for customers who weren’t concerned about the Costa Concordia.

That would be a better plan, because I think we’d all agree this doesn’t look like Funville.

Penn State Teaches Painful PR Lessons

Universities are supposed to be bastions of knowledge, research and education. Unfortunately, the allegations about child abuse by former Penn State coach Jerry Sandusky are providing a different kind of learning experience. The tragic situation has been steadily morphing into a case history for mishandling a crisis.

State College, Pa., home to Penn State, has long been known as Happy Valley. The name clearly seemed to fit, especially when it came to the football program. In an era of constant coaching turnover, Joe Paterno had coached there since 1949. He was head coach for 49 of his 61 years on staff, winning 409 games and graduating 89% of his players.

The image of Happy Valley, built over many years, came crashing down quickly in early November. A grand jury report accused Sandusky – the former defensive coordinator – of sexually abusing eight boys in incidents dating back to 1998. The charges themselves were horrific. But the response of the university, both to the initial allegations in 1998 and 2002 as well as the grand jury report, was even more puzzling.

As the story has evolved, it appears the university’s response to the reported incident was slow and not very aggressive. Despite his stature on campus, Paterno seemed content to let the matter drop and not conduct any proactive follow up. Many theories have been offered for why more was not done. Human nature, internal politics or profit motives may have prevented asking the tough questions.

Asking the right questions at the right time could have set Penn State on a different course. Yes, the university likely would still have suffered a black eye if the allegations were true. But the pain might have been limited to a few news cycles, rather than stretching for weeks. Instead, the university seemed surprised by the grand jury report and struggled to deal with the situation.

One of the cardinal rules of crisis communications is to provide fast and accurate information. If you are unsure of the facts, then limit your statements to what you can confirm. In this case, no one at Penn State was following the same playbook. Graham Spanier, former university president, strongly defended two of his staff in his initial comments, and then he had to backtrack. Soon, all three were gone.

The trustees were slow to react, leading to the spectacle of Paterno announcing his resignation in the afternoon before he was fired later that same night. Even in trying to do the right thing, the various parties seemed to be tripping over each other.

After trustee Ken Frazier, CEO of Merck, was named to lead the school’s internal investigation, questions arose about conduct at Merck. Louis Freeh, former FBI director, was quickly named as his replacement in the investigation. No one could question Freeh’s independence, but it kept the story alive for a few more days.

Of course, the final chapter in this situation is still being written as investigations and legal inquiries proceed. But regardless of the final outcome, it’s clear that the stature of the university and the legacy of its long-time football coach have suffered immeasurable harm.

Raising Expectations For Cubs and B2B Marketers

Now that Theo Epstein has finally been named Cubs’ president of baseball operations, I was struck by the similarity between expectations for the new Cubs’ leader and business-to-business marketers.
As a lifelong Cubs’ fan, like many others in Chicago I’m hoping that Epstein will finally lift the curse that‘s followed the team and produce a World Series champion. Expectations are high because the Cubs paid a high price to bring him into the fold, and the team already has a big payroll.
A Forrester Research study, “Bigger B2B Marketing Budgets Come With Great Expectations” raises similar issues for marketers. The report noted that after several years of making cuts, B2B marketing leaders have larger budgets in 2011. However, with these increases in spending comes more scrutiny and greater expectations for results.

Another parallel between the Cubs and B2B marketers is that the raised expectations are coming during a time when the landscape for both baseball and marketing is dramatically changing. Baseball is now making greater use of computer analytics.
Likewise, marketers are facing new challenges to effectively understand how to track, manage and apply many of the new social media tools, online marketing channels and changing customer expectations.

The bottom line, though, is that both Epstein and marketers must effectively use their budgets to achieve results. For many marketers, that means integrating conventional techniques with new online tactics. Marketers need to better understand the impact marketing and technology integration can have in making customer experiences more gratifying and satisfying, thereby improving loyalty, retention and repeat purchases.

Staying Adaptable Critical for Marketing Success

What will B2B marketing communications look like in the future? There’s no consensus, but the warp speed pace of technological change is affecting the way customers receive information. However, a couple of broad trends stand out.

The use of digital communications is clearly accelerating. By 2015, paper use by the magazine, newspaper, book and other publishing sectors is expected to fall by up to 21% compared with 2010 levels, according to a report released by RISI, which provides information to the paper industry.

And within the digital sphere, more people will depend on smaller handheld devices to get information. According to DisplaySearch, tablet computer sales this year are growing at the phenomenal rate of 400 percent over last year. In the second quarter alone, Apple shipped 10 million iPads.

Of course, many pundits argue that these changes do not spell the death of traditional computers, especially in the corporate world. Investments in existing hardware and networks, as well as handheld security and performance issues, will keep them as a fixture for quite some time.

But as mobile usage grows, marketing communications and email messages – with all of their graphics and attachments – will need to be tailored for these mobile platforms. Otherwise, customers and prospects will simply ignore your messages if the information is in an inconvenient form.

Adapting your messages to new media is critical, but you still need to rely on proven communications principles. For most B2B marketing, there will always be a problem to solve, a solution to offer and a benefit to prove to your customers. Successful marketers will adapt to new media to deliver those messages.

Turning the Tables on Global Competition

We often bemoan the rise of offshore competition, particularly from China. However, the typical mindset is to think of products that are manufactured in China but produced to the specifications and market needs of U. S. companies.

I never really thought about how few goods sold here are branded as Chinese products until I read the recent Wall Street Journal article, “Chinese Firm Meets Global Branding.” Among the handful of Chinese firms that have penetrated the U. S. market with their own products are computer maker Lenovo Group Ltd. and household-appliance giant Haier Group.

The article then goes on to describe the struggles of Chinese entrepreneur Jack Yang to sell a dashboard mount for GPS units under its Züuma brand in the U.S. Yang’s quest started in 2005 when he developed a GPS mounting device at the request of a Chinese GPS company. He continues to produce the mounting devices for companies that sell them under their own brands. In the meantime, he is working with two American partners who provide branding and distribution services, a strategy many Chinese businessmen reject. The payoff for selling his own brand is a far larger profit than the 40 cents he makes on each unit he produces for others.
"It's not that small- and medium-sized Chinese companies don't want to develop global brands," Yang explained in the WSJ article. "We don't know how. We don't understand the U.S. market, culture or business model."
While the early groundwork to establish the Züuma brand is promising, and some distributors have reacted positively, sales are not as robust as Yang would like. "Things haven't moved very quickly." But, he notes, "It's like digging a well. If you make superior preparations, you will have big returns."

Yang’s experience is a good lesson to anyone trying to build a successful brand. You need to understand your market and commit to an extended effort. And finally, you should seek out partnerships with professionals that have expertise you are lacking.

Turning to Technology for Marketing Success

United Stationers, a major distributor of paper and traditional office supplies, has been placing a heavy emphasis on online marketing for the past several years. This may seem like an odd way for a company specializing in paper to go to market, but an article we developed for the company’s bimonthly publication, OfficeLine, explains why.

“The Technology Imperative," shows how effectively using technology and online marketing benefits both United Stationers and its vast network of independent office supply dealers. Technology now enables the buy/sell exchange to happen in real time. Procurement professionals are driven to purchase faster, easier and smarter – all the while pushing suppliers to keep pace.

Dealers can reduce order processing staffs, says, Jim Dodson, president, Save It Now, Indianapolis, IN. “In our case, orders come into our system and are automatically submitted to our supplier, United Stationers. This is all done electronically without having to repeat the process,” he says.

Another dealer, Steve Unruh, president, Bertelson Office Supply, Minneapolis, MN, notes, “In addition, eCommerce lets us track where customers are going on our website, where they are landing and how long they are staying there – or the stickiness factor. This is a powerful tool.”

If you’d like help harnessing the power of the eCommerce and online marketing, give me a call. NM Marketing Communications is offering a FREE web analysis and evaluation.

Our free online analysis includes:

Paid Campaigns -- Provide you with an independent evaluation of your ThomasNet, GlobalSpec, and other marketing programs.

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To learn more, call me at 847.657.6011 or email: info@nmmarketingbiz.com