Light Their Fire : Using Internal Marketing to Ignite Employee Performance and Wow Your Customers

by Susan Drake; Michelle Gulman; Sara Roberts

• ISBN13: 9781419502521
• ISBN10: 1419502522
• Edition: 1st
• Format: Hardcover
• Copyright: 2005-06-01
• Publisher: Kaplan Publishing

Summary

Many organizations have the gift of taking committed, enthusiastic people and turning them into cynics over time. This statement rings true for too many companies, despite the good intentions of their leadership.For more information visit www.lighttheirfire.net.While today's bottom-line-oriented business environment demands that business owners and managers keep a close eye on costs, many miss the opportunity to strengthen their profit potential through strong internal marketing to employees.In their new book,Light Their Fire: Using Internal Marketing to Ignite Employee Performance and Wow Your Customers,, internal marketing experts Susan Drake, Michelle Gulman, and Sara Roberts demonstrate how employee communications is the key to delivering on brand expectations and solidifying customer relationships. Step-by-step, learn how to engage employees in the vision of your business and motivate them to think like business owners, thus empowering them to make decisions that build brand and customer loyalty.You will... Identify the varying perspectives of different audiences. Tailor your messages for maximum effectiveness. Understand and use a combination of communications tools. Get more mileage from your orientation and training programs. Measure the effectiveness of your messages.Light Their Fireincludes practical tools and case studies that address the role of internal marketing in a variety of situations, from mergers to department branding to project implementation. This is the ideal primer for company executives, business owners, human resource professionals, and department managers on how successful companies create, implement, and measure the effectiveness of their own internal marketing plans.

Table of Contents

PREFACE	xi
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS	xv
ABOUT THE AUTHORS	xvii
1. THE HOT TOPIC OF INTERNAL MARKETING	1	(30)
What Is Internal Marketing?	3	(2)
Promises, Promises	4	(1)
True Love or Lip Service?	5	(6)
Two Ways to Sell the Promise	6	(1)
From Train Wreck to Triple Crown	6	(4)
The Flip Side	10	(1)
It Starts with Culture	11	(3)
It's Still about Walking the Talk	12	(1)
A Tale of Two Organizations	12	(2)
The E" Factor	14	(2)
How Do You Create an "E" Environment?	16	(9)
How to Engage	17	(2)
How to Enable	19	(3)
How to Empower	22	(1)
How to Ensure	23	(2)
How Do Employees Contribute to Accomplishing Business Goals?	25	(2)
Do You Need Internal Marketing?	27	(4)
What If Yours Is Not a Big Corporation?	27	(4)
2. WHY LIGHT THEIR FIRE? The Benefits of Internal Marketing	31	(20)
Fire That Gives Life: Why Internal Marketing Is Crucial to Business Performance	33	(1)
Internal Marketing Creates "E" Employees	34	(2)
Can't Buy Me Love: It Takes More than Pay to Make People Stay	36	(1)
Burnout: The Expensive Cost of Not Marketing to Employees	37	(2)
Fired Up: The Enormous Value of High Performance	39	(5)
"E" Employees Earn Their Keep	39	(1)
"E" Employees Go Beyond the Call of Duty	40	(1)
Fewer People Can Do More	40	(1)
"E" Employees Raise the Performance of an Entire Group	41	(1)
A Miserable Success	42	(1)
When Those Who Are Led Lead	43	(1)
"E" Employees Wow Customers	44	(4)
"E" Employees Wow Your Customers	44	(2)
And When They're Not, They're Horrid	46	(2)
The Sum of the Parts Is Extraordinary	48	(3)
3. BRAND POWER Creating an Internal Brand	51	(20)
Being a Beautiful Brand	52	(2)
Playing with Matches: How Internal Branding Lights Their Fire	54	(5)
Create Awareness and Consistency	54	(2)
Sustain a Positive Culture	56	(1)
Drive Change	57	(2)
Attract and Retain the Best Talent	59	(1)
Creating an Internal Brand	59	(5)
Be Persistent and Consistent	61	(1)
What Should Your Brand Look Like?	62	(1)
How to Create a Powerful Internal Marketing Campaign for Your Initiative	63	(1)
Brand Fanatics	64	(2)
Quiz: Are You "Selling" Your Company to Employees?	66	(5)
4. DOING YOUR HOMEWORK	71	(24)
Digging for Treasure	72	(1)
Step 1: Set a Course from A to B	72	(7)
Analyze the Situation	72	(1)
Strengths	73	(1)
Weaknesses	74	(1)
Opportunities	75	(1)
Threats	76	(3)
Goal for It! Setting Your Goals and Objectives	79	(3)
Creating Goals	80	(1)
Creating Objectives	80	(2)
Step 2: Know Your Audiences	82	(5)
Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs	83	(1)
Vary Your Audience by Message and Vary Your Message by Audience	84	(1)
Positioning Is Not Little White Lies	85	(2)
Target Practice	87	(4)
Direct Effect	87	(1)
The Poor Second or Third Shift	88	(1)
Off-site Workers	88	(1)
People Who Work for You but Don't Work for You	89	(2)
Contract Workers	91	(1)
Step 3: Assess the Climate	91	(4)
The Fun Begins	93	(2)
5. WHAT TO SAY TO WHOM AND HOW	95	(32)
Step 4: Define Your Key Messages	96	(3)
Perspective: Seeing Things from Your Audience's Point of View	96	(2)
The Subject Is "You"	98	(1)
Dealing with Good News and Bad News	99	(3)
A Few Suggestions for Communicating Bad News	101	(1)
Step 5: Match Vehicles to the Message	102	(3)
Appeal to the Right "Learning Channel"	103	(2)
Which Vehicles for Which Information?	105	(7)
Mission, Vision, and Values	105	(2)
Motivational Information	107	(1)
Strategic Information	108	(1)
Recognition of Team Members' Accomplishments	108	(1)
Company News	109	(2)
Financial Information	111	(1)
Detailed Factual Information	111	(1)
Detailed Training	111	(1)
Management Directives	112	(1)
How to Make the Most of Your Communication Vehicles	112	(11)
Company Meeting	112	(1)
Videoconference/Web Conference	113	(1)
Business TV	114	(1)
Conference Calls	115	(1)
Print Piece/Letter	116	(1)
Newsletters	117	(1)
E-mail	118	(1)
Intranet	119	(2)
One on One	121	(1)
Bulletin Boards	122	(1)
Unusual Means of Sharing	122	(1)
And Now a Word about PowerPoint	123	(2)
Ready, Set, No Not Yet	125	(2)
6. A MATCH, A ZIPPO, OR A BLOWTORCH	127	(20)
Step 6: Choose Your Champions	127	(5)
Where to Find a Champion	128	(1)
Getting Champions on Board	128	(4)
Step 7: Now, Execute the Plan	132	(3)
Do I Have to Eat All My Carrots?	133	(1)
So What's First?	134	(1)
Step 8: Measure and Adapt	135	(5)
What Are the Ways to Measure?	136	(1)
Planning Tools for Measurement	137	(3)
Principles of Good Marketing	140	(7)
The Need for Alignment	140	(1)
Be Persistent and Consistent	141	(1)
Simple Sells	142	(2)
Is There Such a Thing as Too Much Communication?	144	(1)
Just One Thing	145	(1)
Is Everyone Pulling in the Same Direction?	146	(1)
7. TRAINING AS A MARKETING TOOL	147	(24)
How Can Companies Use Training as a Marketing Tool?	148	(1)
Grow, Develop, and Satisfy Employees	148	(7)
What's In It for Me?	149	(2)
Cross-Training and Test-Driving New Roles	151	(1)
Missed Opportunities	151	(2)
Coaching	153	(1)
Mentoring	154	(1)
Getting Everyone on the Same Page	155	(6)
Orientation: The Message Starts Here	155	(3)
Skills Training and Company Philosophy Equal a Happy Union	158	(2)
Train as Though Every Employee Is a Corporate Representative	160	(1)
The Change Experience: Gaining Their Buy-In	161	(1)
Some Other Things to Keep in Mind	162	(9)
Evaluate Your Training for Effectiveness	163	(3)
Use Experiential Learning	166	(1)
Market Your Training Internally and Externally	166	(1)
Build a Social Network for Your Employees through Training	167	(1)
Use Employees as Trainers	168	(1)
Make Training Fun!	169	(2)
8. D2D The Sum Is Greater than the Parts	171	(10)
Cinderella Finds Her Glass Slipper	172	(2)
Branding Before Branding Was Cool	174	(3)
Benefits of Marketing Your Department	177	(1)
And Now the Dark Side	178	(3)
9. TORCHBEARERS Rewards and Recognition	181	(22)
The Rules of Rewards and Recognition	182	(1)
Reinforcement: The Framework	183	(3)
Whom Are You Recognizing?	184	(1)
Will You Focus on Measurable Criteria and/or Subjective Factors?	184	(1)
How Will You Communicate Your Selection Criteria?	185	(1)
How Will You Accept Employee Submissions?	185	(1)
Who Will Decide the Winner?	185	(1)
How Often Will You Recognize/Reward?	186	(1)
A Different Kind of Recognition	186	(2)
Other Factors to Consider	188	(2)
Recognize Specific Behaviors to Reinforce Your Company's Vision	189	(1)
The Big Question: What's the Reward?	190	(1)
PDAs: Public Displays of Appreciation Are Essential	190	(1)
Beyond the Trophy	191	(13)
Brand Smart: Take Advantage of Your Industry	193	(3)
Sharing Ownership	196	(1)
Overcoming Obstacles	197	(2)
Recognizing the Greater Good	199	(4)
10. TRUE LIFE SITUATIONS	203	(14)
A Midsize Merger	204	(3)
Hook, Line, and Sinker	207	(3)
You Have to Crack Some Eggs	210	(2)
Two Organizations Save a Penny, Spend a Million	212	(2)
Don't Be a Fireless Leader	214	(3)
APPENDIX	217	(28)
BIBLIOGRAPHY	245	(2)
INDEX	247