How To Achieve Good PR When You're a Startup

By David Ronald

In an era when anyone can broadcast their opinions about your startup to the world, good PR remains as vital to the success of a business as it always has been. 

Indeed, it’s arguably more important than ever.

Even so, good PR requires a new level of engagement on the part of startups.

In this blog post I ’m going to examine what that involves. So, let's get started:

• Less what, more why—although innovators are right to be proud of their latest development, it’s important to avoid falling into the trap of focusing on the “what” it is and “how” it works. Focus, instead, on the “why” it is going to have an impact and enrich people’s lives.
• Search for a “hook”—endeavour to pitch your product or service by relating it to current hot button issues as much as you can, as this increases the probability of successfully “hooking” your audience.
• Tone down jargon—yes, it’s true that our lives are full of technical buzzwords but don’t automatically expect that everyone understands all of the ones you use. Describe your innovation in everyday language as much as possible.
• Map your messages—it’s generally true that the technical press is the best place to seek coverage if you have an exciting product announcement and the business press is more suitable if you have company news.
• Avoid irrelevant news—the quickest way to excite an editor’s “delete button reflex” is to get your company associated with non-news. Overcome your natural urge to be “in the news” regularly and, instead, put out press releases only when you something truly interesting to announce.
• Connect on social media—journalists, even at mainstream publications, use social media as a key way of staying abreast of breaking news. Posting your news on properties such as Twitter and Reddit can help you gain coverage.
• Seek bloggers' coverage—the blogosphere is the perfect link between social media and PR as bloggers are active on social media and many of them are closely monitored by journalists.
• Identify your keywords—determine the keywords that will give you an edge over your competitors and use them your press releases, social media posts, and so on. Spyfu (http://www.spyfu.com/), for example, is a good tool for helping determine which keywords to use.
• Publish social media-friendly content—since your goal is to prompt engagement, and potential sharing, post content on social media that elicit an emotional response. Case studies, for example, are an ideal way ay to get your message across.
• Leverage Google Analytics—you can determine which online publications are helping drive traffic to your website using Google Analytics. Put more of your advertising dollars there.
• Focus on media where you advertise—the walls between advertising and editorial are sometimes rock solid and sometimes non-existent. A good rule of thumb, however, is that you’ll get the best coverage in the publications where you’re spending the majority of your ad dollars, and vice versa.

Thanks for reading. 

Do you agree with this list?

Get in touch at david@alphabetworks.com if you'd like to learn more about achieving good PR at your startup.

Avoid Building "Me Too" Products

By David Ronald

It’s tempting, in today’s fast-paced tech landscape, to create a product that mirrors an already successful solution.

After all, if there’s already market demand for a product your competitors have built, why not mimic what they have achieved.

It’s a good idea, right?

Wrong. Building an undifferentiated product is a strategic mistake, especially if you are a startup.

Steve Jobs famously said, "I would rather gamble on our vision that make a "me too" product".

A study by a product management association revealed that products that are differentiated enjoy five times the success rate, over four times the market share, and four times the profitability compared to products lacking this ingredient.

Not just that. Building a “me too” product is a sign of laziness. 

No One Wants a War

Now, I’ll be the first to admit that companies have had success with a “me too” product. Pepsi, for example, has made billions of dollars from its cola, even though it was launched 12 years after Coke.

This, however, is largely due to Pepsi spending tens of millions of dollars every year to carefully craft a brand identity that has made these two products, that serve the same basic needs, seem like polar opposites!

The competition between Coca Cola and Pepsi Cola has been so fierce, it’s been called the “Cola War”—do you really want to get into that type of struggle?

Doomed to Disappear

Let’s reflect on the fortunes of Plaxo, another inadequately differentiated product.

Founded in 2001, Plaxo was a social networking service that targeted business people interested in professional relationships. In many ways the company was a competitor to LinkedIn.

Today, Plaxo is only a memory. Why? Although there are a few reasons, the most significant one was because it failed to differentiate itself from its competition. 

There was a time when Plaxo and LinkedIn were equally popular but Reed Hoffman, founder of LinkedIn, implemented his famous “blitz scaling” strategy and LinkedIn became the dominant business social network service.

Avoid building a product doomed to disappear.

Reasons to be Undifferentiated

Now, many people advise in favor of building “me too” products these days—during my many years of mentoring entrepreneurs, I’ve heard many reasons for this. Here are some of the more popular ones: 

• Proven Market Demand—by creating a "me too" product, you're tapping into an already proven market. If there’s existing demand for a product, you’re less likely to face the uphill battle of convincing customers to adopt something completely new. This reduces the risk involved, especially for startups or businesses looking to enter established markets with an existing customer base.
• Lower Barrier to Entry—for newcomers or smaller companies, entering a market with an existing product type can be easier and faster. You don’t have to educate the market on what the product is or why it’s needed – you can focus on refining it and differentiating in other ways. This lowers the barrier to entry compared to creating an entirely new product category that requires more time and investment to build awareness.
• Opportunity for Improvements—a "me too" product doesn’t have to be a carbon copy. It can be an opportunity to improve upon existing solutions. If you identify areas where the competition is lacking – whether it’s user experience, performance, customer support, or pricing – you can build a similar product while addressing those pain points, making your version more appealing.
• Learn from Competitor Mistakes—by creating a "me too" product, you have the advantage of learning from your competitors' mistakes. You can analyze what they’ve done wrong – whether it’s product flaws, marketing missteps, or customer dissatisfaction – and avoid making the same mistakes, improving your chances of success by offering a more polished product.
• Lower Development Costs—developing a product in an already existing category means the foundational work (such as market research, customer needs assessment, and technology trends) has already been done by your competitors. This can save you time and money in product development, as you can leverage existing solutions, frameworks, and technologies, speeding up your time-to-market.

Although it’s beguiling to embrace one or more of these viewpoints, entrepreneurs need to take a long hard look in the mirror and identify what is motivating them to do so.

In my opinion, too many people find the allure of being a startup founder too attractive – and can be too willing to forego more honest analysis of a competitive landscape, along with long-term customer needs and market trends.

Reasons to Avoid Building ‘Me Too” Products

Here are six reasons why you should avoid falling into the trap of building an undifferentiated product:

1. Customer Loyalty Is Built on Value, Not Imitation

In today’s competitive landscape, customer loyalty is built on value, not imitation. Customers are attracted to companies that genuinely understand their pain points and provide unique solutions.

An undifferentiated product, no matter how well executed, cannot build that type of trust. If your product doesn't resonate with customers on a deeper level, they’ll eventually move on to a solution that offers more value, better customer service, or a more engaging experience.

2. Lack of Differentiation Makes It Hard to Stand Out

The most obvious issue with a “me too” product is that it lacks differentiation. In saturated markets, customers are overwhelmed with choices. They aren’t looking for the same thing, they’re looking for something better, faster, or more tailored to their needs.

If your product doesn’t offer something unique, then you’re just one of many. Without a unique value proposition, it’s challenging to grab attention and generate customer loyalty.

3. Competing on Price Is a Race to the Bottom

When you create a copy of an existing product, you’re left trying to compete primarily on price. This often leads to a race to the bottom, where margins shrink, and businesses become unsustainable.

Competing solely on price doesn't build long-term value or loyalty; it just attracts customers who are quick to leave once something cheaper comes along.

By focusing only on mimicking competitors, you miss the opportunity to innovate and add unique value that would allow you to justify a premium price.

4. Long-Term Brand Impact

“Me too” products can damage your brand in the long run. A reputation for innovation and originality attracts customers, investors, and top talent.

By simply copying what others have done, you send a message that your company is unoriginal or lacks the capability to lead in your industry. Your brand’s identity becomes tied to imitation, not to creating the next big thing. That’s a difficult reputation to shake off.

5. The Risk of Being Overshadowed

Building an undifferentiated product doesn’t only lack innovation, it also places you in direct competition with a company that likely has more resources, a larger customer base, and a stronger brand presence.

This creates a disadvantage, especially when you’re trying to compete against a well-established competitor. Unless you can find a niche or an underserved market, you’ll always be living in the shadow of the bigger players, unable to break free.

6. Missed Opportunities Growth

The most successful products are often those that challenge the status quo and offer new solutions to existing problems. A “me too” product, by definition, fails to capitalize on this opportunity.

When you’re only looking at what others have done, you limit your creativity and your potential for innovation. Instead of merely copying what’s out there, you should be asking: How can we improve the experience? What can we do differently to serve customers better?

Embracing innovation not only sets your product apart but also drives growth by meeting unaddressed customer needs.

Conclusion

While building a “me too” product may seem like a safe bet, it’s a strategy that rarely pays off in the long term. Customers crave innovation, uniqueness, and meaningful solutions to their problems.

By focusing on what’s already been done, you miss the opportunity to create something truly transformative that can set your business apart. Instead of mimicking your competitors, focus on creating value, solving real problems, and positioning your product as a category leader.

In the end, that’s how you build a successful, sustainable business.

Thanks for reading.

Did I leave something out? If so, get in touch at david@alphabetworks.com and let me know what it is.

The Relationship Between Price and Good Branding

By Sharon Lee

Good branding enables you to charge more for your product. 

The fundamental rule of pricing tells us that the price charged for a product must match the value consumers perceive they are getting from that product. 

Great branding enables businesses to sell their products at premium prices. Why? Because buyers will pay a high price tag when they perceive the product to be worth it.

If all products were new and they all launched on the same day, all of those products would have the same value perception in buyers’ minds—there hasn’t been time to build brand value perceptions.

Although a product may have its own unique tangible differentiators, its sometimes the intangible ones that lead consumers to become emotionally connected to the brand. This process, obviously, must be carefully developed over time.

With that said, it’s easy for brands to price products according to tangible differentiators. For example, an 8K television will have a higher price tag than a television with lesser UHD capabilities.

These types of tangible differentiators can cause price differences across different brands in the same category as well as across different products under the same brand umbrella if that brand has launched extensions within the same category. For example, an iPad with 5G connectivity can sell at a higher price than an iPad with narrower bandwidth connectivity. 

Think of pricing strategy as it pertains to brand value in terms of buyer “reference prices”—each consumer views a brand and its associated price tag in comparison to other brands and products available to them.

Those other brands and products create a frame of reference for the buyer, and the buyer tries to fit each brand into a comfortable position in their mind, based on that frame of reference.  

Brands and products with pricing that doesn’t fit well into that frame of reference are typically not even considered when it comes time for the consumer to make a purchase because they don’t make sense. 

When creating a frame of reference for brands in a specific category, buyers consider a variety of factors to fit each brand into a position such as competitor prices, past experiences with brands in the category, past pricing experiences in the category, tangible differentiators (such as features), and perception—it’s the perceptions part of reference prices that gives brands the opportunities to set prices based on intangible differentiators. In other words, buyer perceptions enable brands to compete on more than price alone. 

Let’s face it, if price were the only factor that mattered in purchase decisions, everything we buy would be a lot cheaper and everyone would buy the same brands and products. 

Price is just one part of brand value and purchase decisions. The challenge for marketers is finding the right price point to achieve maximum sales without damaging buyers’ perceptions of the brand’s overall value. 

Any brand can compete on price. Successful brands don’t rely on pricing alone, but that doesn’t mean pricing strategy isn’t important. On the contrary, striking the right balance between profits, brand value, and consumer perceptions of the brand is an ongoing process. 

Thanks for reading—I hope you enjoyed this post.

If so, please get in touch at shamikodesign@gmail.com and let me know what it is.

Experimentation is Essential in Marketing

By David Ronald

It’s essential for marketers to experiment.

Why? We live in an ever-changing world and the marketplace we work in isn’t standing still. In an arena where customer expectations and technologies evolve rapidly, experimentation is the key to staying relevant, agile, and impactful.

Without experimentation we risk stagnation.

By testing new strategies, channels, and messaging, marketers can identify innovative ways to engage customers and drive results, often revealing insights that traditional approaches might have missed.

Best of all, experimentation fosters a culture of learning, empowering teams to embrace data-driven decision-making and adapt quickly to shifts in consumer behavior or competitive dynamics.

In this blog post I will explore ways to embed experimentation as a core pillar of any marketing culture.

Crafting A Culture of Experimentation

A marketing team can fully embrace experimentation by cultivating a culture rooted in curiosity, collaboration, and data-driven decision-making. 

This begins with setting clear objectives and identifying opportunities for innovation, whether it’s testing new channels, refining messaging, or exploring emerging technologies.

A curious mindset is key and teams should leverage small-scale pilots or A/B testing to validate ideas, enabling them to iterate and scale successful strategies effectively.

Providing team members with the right tools and resources to track, measure, and analyze results is essential, along with fostering a safe environment where failures are treated as valuable learning opportunities rather than setbacks.

Consistently sharing insights and celebrating both wins and lessons learned reinforces the importance of experimentation, enabling the team to adapt quickly to changing market dynamics and continually enhance their approaches.

Establish A Framework for Experimentation

Experimentation is an iterative process that typically follows these key steps:

1. Recognize a problem or question—identify the specific issue or opportunity to address, such as low engagement rates, declining sales, or the need to test a new strategy.
2. Formulate a hypothesis—create a clear, testable statement predicting the outcome of a proposed change, such as "A simplified email layout will result in a higher click-through rate."
3. Design and conduct an experiment—develop a structured test plan to evaluate the hypothesis, including defining the target audience, variables, and success metrics.
4. Gather data—execute the experiment and systematically collect relevant data, ensuring accuracy and consistency.
5. Analyze data—review and interpret the results to identify patterns, trends, and insights.
6. Draw conclusions—compare the outcomes to the original hypothesis, determining whether it was supported or disproven.
7. Make business decisions based on the results—use the findings to inform future actions, such as refining strategies, scaling successful initiatives, or pivoting approaches.

For example, an ecommerce store looking to optimize its email marketing conversion rates might run an A/B test. They design two distinct email layouts (A and B) and split their email list equally, sending version A to one group and version B to another. 

After collecting and analyzing the data, they discover version B outperforms version A with a higher click-through rate. Based on this insight, they adopt version B for future campaigns, resulting in improved engagement and increased conversions.

This structured approach ensures experimentation is not only systematic but also directly tied to actionable business outcomes, making it a vital tool for continuous improvement.

Learn from Your Data

We all want to hide poor results or sugarcoat outcomes to avoid uncomfortable conversations. It’s human nature.

It is, however, important to resist these urges.

One of my boyhood heroes, Formula One legend Niki Lauda, famously said, “From success, you learn absolutely nothing. From failure and setbacks, conclusions can be drawn.”

Sweeping unpleasant data under the proverbial rug not only stifles learning but also risks repeating the same mistakes, ultimately hindering progress. Acknowledging failures is never easy, but it’s a critical part of fostering a growth-oriented culture.

Teams should strive to discuss setbacks openly, dissecting what went wrong, why it happened, and what lessons can be gleaned. These discussions should focus on solutions and forward momentum, outlining specific corrective actions or even leveraging the “failure” as the foundation for a new experiment.

For example, if a marketing campaign underperformed, consider testing alternative messaging, channels, or targeting strategies to uncover a more effective approach.

By embracing transparency and treating failures as learning opportunities, marketing teams can cultivate resilience, creativity, and continuous improvement, and turning missteps into insights that empower future success.

Summary

By fostering a culture of curiosity, collaboration, and learning, marketers can uncover innovative ways to engage customers, adapt to market shifts, and drive impactful results.

Structured experimentation allows teams to tackle challenges systematically, make informed decisions, and refine their strategies based on real-world data.

Equally important is the willingness to embrace failure – acknowledging and analyzing missteps can lead to valuable insights and open doors to new opportunities that may have otherwise gone unnoticed.

In a world where change is constant, experimentation isn’t just essential – it’s the foundation for staying ahead of the curve and building lasting success. 

So, take risks, learn from your data, and let experimentation be the catalyst for growth in your marketing efforts.

Thanks for reading.

Did I leave something out that you would have included? If so, email me at david@alphabetworks.com and let me know what it is.

5 Reasons Why Good Customer Relationship Are Priceless

By David Ronald

Customer satisfaction is one of the most important factors in building a successful business success, influencing everything from retention rates to brand reputation.

In today’s competitive landscape, organizations must go beyond delivering quality products or services – they must foster meaningful, long-term relationships with their customers.

These relationships can help companies, especially startups, to be successful in a variety of ways.

In this blog post, I’ll provide five reasons why good customer relationships are priceless.

1. Minimizing Customer Churn

Acquiring new customers often demands significantly more time, effort, and resources than retaining existing ones.

Customer retention ensures not only a steady revenue stream but also the potential for upselling and cross-selling opportunities. When customers stay loyal, they often serve as advocates for the brand, contributing to organic growth through positive word-of-mouth.

A key strategy to minimize churn involves proactively addressing customer concerns and fostering strong relationships that prioritize their satisfaction and long-term engagement.

One very effective method for measuring customer loyalty is using Net Promoter Scores (NPS) – by analyzing trends in NPS data, companies can address dissatisfaction early, reduce the risk of churn, and create an environment that motivates customers to remain loyal.

2. Getting Customer Referrals

Word-of-mouth referrals are among the most powerful sales mechanisms, as everyone knows.

Happy customers, satisfied with their experience, naturally become brand advocates who share their positive impressions with peers, family, or colleagues.

These personal endorsements carry significant weight, as people are more likely to trust recommendations from those they know and respect. By cultivating exceptional customer experiences, businesses can tap into this organic form of marketing, turning loyal customers into influential ambassadors.

Encouraging customer referrals not only amplifies brand awareness but also enhances conversion rates. Prospects referred by satisfied customers often begin their journey with a level of confidence and trust that reduces the need for extensive persuasion.

By fostering a culture of customer satisfaction and incentivizing advocacy, businesses can build a self-sustaining cycle of growth fueled by trust and positive word-of-mouth.

3. Creating Marketing Assets

When customers share their positive experiences in formats like case studies, webinars, or press releases, their stories resonate more authentically with potential buyers than traditional marketing messages. 

These forms of evangelism create a powerful cycle of influence, where existing customers inspire confidence in new ones, ultimately driving growth and solidifying the brand’s reputation as a trusted solution.

Customer participation in these initiatives not only builds trust but also fosters a deeper connection with the brand.

By featuring customers as champions of the product, businesses amplify the message that their offerings deliver real impact.

4. Building Product Roadmaps

Existing customers are an invaluable source of feedback that can illuminate which features of a product resonate most with users.

By understanding what customers find compelling or essential, businesses can refine their offerings to better meet user needs and expectations. Engaging with customers through surveys, interviews, and usage data analysis can reveal not only which features are popular but also which ones may require improvement.

These insights can help companies prioritize development efforts, ensuring that resources are allocated to high-impact areas that drive satisfaction and engagement.

For instance, one of my previous companies, BigBand Networks, seldom built a new product, or added a significant set of features to a product, without creating a mockup and reviewing it with customers first.

By aligning their development priorities with actual user preferences, businesses increase the likelihood of building features that will be widely adopted and valued.

5. Proactively Identifying Issues

Last, but not least, your existing customer can assist you in anticipating customer needs and addressing potential issues before they arise, businesses can create a seamless and positive experience that builds trust and loyalty.

Beyond solving problems, proactive engagement fosters a stronger relationship with customers by showing genuine care and attentiveness.

Proactive engagement shifts the dynamic from reactive problem-solving to creating a collaborative and supportive partnership, increasing satisfaction, retention, and the likelihood of customer advocacy.

Regular check-ins, personalized recommendations, and offering educational resources, such as tutorials or webinars, empower customers to get the most value from the product or service.

Summary

This blog post explored five reasons why good customer relationships can be priceless.

Together, these strategies help businesses create stronger customer relationships, drive growth, and maintain a competitive edge.

Thanks for reading.

What would you have added to my list? Get in touch at david@alphabetworks.com and let me know what it is.

How to Reverse an 18-Month Decline in Marketing Performance

By David Ronald

One of my proudest achievements occurred as head of marketing at a leading provider of PDF software solutions. 

When I took the reins of the marketing team, the company had faced an 18-month decline in lead volumes. We reversed this trend within just two months, and, over the next nine months, achieved an average growth of 25% growth in leads.

So, how did we turn things around?

Surprisingly, it wasn't through sweeping changes or bold, disruptive initiatives – instead, we focused on incremental, strategic adjustments that made a significant impact collectively.

In this blog post, I'll share the key strategies that we applied to transform a challenging situation into a growth inflection point.

1. Nurture a Positive Environment

One of my first priorities was to create a collaborative atmosphere within the team. It was clear that change was inevitable, and I wanted to ensure that everyone not only felt prepared for it, but also motivated to embrace it. 

As a new addition to the team, it was important for me to establish trust quickly – I wanted everyone to feel confident that I would serve as a constructive influence and always prioritize the best interests of the team. (I had learned the hard way in a previous role that being the proverbial “bull in a china shop” wasn't an effective leadership approach.)

By fostering positive, but honest, dialogue, I was able to establish the foundation for building a shared sense of purpose. (Fortunately, the team already had a strong sense of camaraderie, which made it easier to build momentum and create a collaborative atmosphere.)

My role was to amplify this dynamic, encouraging cross-functional input, celebrating both large and small wins, and ensuring that each team member felt that their contributions mattered and made an impact. I am confident that this collaborative mindset played a significant role in our success.

2. Analyze Past Performance

Next, I implemented a series of reviews to optimize our marketing efforts—our objective was to determine what was working, what wasn’t, and where we could better allocate our resources.

We focused on three key factors to understand the efficacy of prior programs:

• We examined which activities generated the most leads in absolute terms, allowing us to pinpoint the highest-impact channels and tactics.
• We assessed the Cost per Lead (CPL) to determine which activities provided the best return on investment, helping us prioritize initiatives that delivered high-quality leads at a sustainable cost.
• We evaluated the effort required for each activity. By identifying initiatives that consumed excessive time or resources with limited results, we could streamline processes and focus on the highest-impact, most efficient efforts.

Through this process, we began to establish a culture of data-driven decision-making, something that appeared to have been missing before my arrival.

3. Define Roles Collaboratively

As a result of the review described in #2, it became evident that the marketing mix needed to be adjusted. Some programs needed to be scaled up, others introduced, and some scaled back or phased out.

I defined nine core programs for the team to run and assigned a team member to manage each. This wasn't a rushed decision or a top-down mandate – instead, I wanted to foster a sense of ownership and enthusiasm among the team.

For these programs to succeed, each person needed to fully embrace their role and bring their unique strengths to it.

For example, I identified someone to establish and lead our email marketing program, a critical initiative requiring both strategic thinking and executional excellence. Initially, this individual hesitated, feeling the role was "too big" for them.

I had full confidence in their abilities, and after a series of informal, supportive conversations, I was able to help them see the potential I saw. They agreed to take on the role, and their performance not only validated my belief in them but exceeded expectations (as well as the expectations of the VP of Sales).

Once program owners were in place, I worked closely with each person to create detailed plans, defining activities and KPIs specific to their program. This process was collaborative, not top-down.

Nothing was imposed – by respecting each person’s preferences and ideas, we created a culture of empowerment and accountability.

4. Prep for Clarity

From time to time, we identified specific campaigns that could complement our ongoing activities and capitalize on unique opportunities.

For instance, after winning a deal by successfully outmaneuvering a major competitor, we wanted to launch a campaign that could replicate our success in other markets. These targeted campaigns played a critical role in driving further growth and capturing new opportunities. 

One key practice I implemented was requiring the campaign owner to define each initiative clearly and thoroughly.

Every campaign had to include:

• A well-defined goal.
• A list of activities designed to achieve that goal.
• KPIs to measure the success of those activities.

Additionally, I asked for an end date for each campaign. Upon completion, the campaign owner was required to write a summary, detailing what worked, what didn’t, and what they would do differently in the future. This process helped us create a feedback loop for continuous improvement.

As former President Dwight Eisenhower famously said, "A plan is useless, but planning is priceless." By establishing this disciplined approach, we not only created a shared understanding of what was working but also consistently identified opportunities to refine our strategy.

I believe that more marketing teams could benefit from adopting this practice – it’s simple, but effective – and fosters accountability, learning, and iterative improvement.

5. Strive for Honesty

One of my boyhood heroes, Formula One racing driver Niki Lauda, famously said, “From success, you learn absolutely nothing. From failure and setbacks, conclusions can be drawn.”

Marketing teams can sometimes feel inclined to hide bad results – this was a trap that I was determined to avoid falling into.

Acknowledging areas for improvement is never easy, but it was essential for our growth. We didn’t shy away from underperforming metrics – instead, we discussed them openly, outlining corrective actions and the steps we were taking to address the gaps.

By fostering transparency, we built a culture of integrity.

This not only strengthened our relationships within the team but also laid a solid foundation for our future success, as people felt comfortable opening up and asking peers for advice.

6. Celebrate Successes

One of the practices that I was happy to implement was recognizing and rewarding team members for their achievements.

We implemented a few recognition programs, such as the Employee of the Month award, to publicly acknowledge standout performances. We also introduced spot bonuses to reward contributions that directly impacted the success of a project or campaign.

To make recognition even more personal, team members who achieved significant milestones received handwritten thank-you notes from the CEO, expressing genuine appreciation for their efforts.

Looking back, I feel that these recognition practices were instrumental in boosting morale and contributing to higher levels of motivation, engagement, and creativity, which had an outsized impact on our success.

7. Encourage Innovation

Last, but not least, I made it a priority to foster an environment where innovation was actively encouraged. Without creative exploration, daily activities can become mundane and uninspiring, ultimately leading to stagnation.

To keep the team motivated and forward-thinking, I made sure we were always looking for new ways to challenge the status quo and explore new territory.

Of course, I understood that not every experiment would be successful. Failure is an inherent part of the process when pushing boundaries. However, I encouraged the team to take risks and experiment, knowing that mistakes were not the end but an opportunity to learn and apply those insights to future efforts.

I believe that adoption of this mindset improved the performance of the team.

Summary

In conclusion, the strategies I implemented at a provider of PDF software solutions helped reverse a prolonged decline and set the stage for sustained growth.

By fostering a collaborative, data-driven, and innovative culture, we turned challenges into opportunities and created a path forward that led to consistent success.

Thanks for reading.

Get in touch at david@alphabetworks.com and let me know what you would have done differently, if you'd been in my place.

One of the Most Overlooked Concepts in Marketing

By David Ronald

Ask any sales professional how they get their best customers and nearly all will tell you “word of mouth”.

Referrals are the best way to get a new client because referral prospects have likely already had a conversation about you with an impartial third party and have mostly made up their mind to buy from you, regardless of your price.

Many entrepreneurs think that good customer service is the most influential way to cultivate referrals. But it's not.

 

Although being attentive to customers is good policy and vital to the health of your business, it's not at the core of building a referral-based business. And that, ironically, is because people have come to expect good customer service—the impact of customer service unfortunately works much more effectively in reverse as people are more likely to talk about your business when they're unhappy with you.

If you want to build your referrals, therefore, you must actively cultivate your advocates. Word of mouth marketing helps create and sustain demand for what you are selling by nurturing a passionate community that speaks positively about you. 

This community should consist of three categories of advocates:

• Customers—although not all of your customers will want to be vocal, some will be willing to serve as references, participate in webinars and co-present with you at conferences. When is the best time to ask for a referral? The best time is after the product is delivered, not when the deal is closed. Also, consider inviting your customers to be active on social media sites such as X, LinkedIn and Facebook, if those tools are components of your outbound marketing strategy.
• Media and analysts—this category of advocate can supply vital “air cover” for your sales reps by providing favorable coverage of your company and what you are selling. Consequently, a prospect may already have a positive impression of your product even before a rep begins their sales pitch. You don’t need an expensive PR agency to get favorable coverage; nor is there a guarantee that you will be positive coverage even if you have an expensive agency. The key to fruitful media and analyst relationships is a clear understanding of your audience and their drivers, followed by content tailored to engage them.
• Influencers—industry luminaries, bloggers can also positively influence sales opportunities. At a minimum you should identify who these people are and nurture relationships with them. And you may be able to “seed” a message in this network, with a goal of getting coverage. You can even consider encouraging word-of-mouth coverage by rewarding the top influencers in your industry.

A steady stream of customer referrals can transform a struggling business into a profitable one. Adopting a strategic approach to word-of-mouth marketing is your best method of crafting a passionate community that positively impacts your revenues.

Thanks for reading! 

Feel free to email me at david@alphabetworks.com if you'd like to use word of mouth marketing to boost the revenues of your business.