Put TOM To Work For You—Top of Mind And How To Get There

TOM, or Top of Mind, is a marketing term used to identify whether or not your business is the first one people think of when they need the services you offer. Marketing, like the military, loves acronyms. We have a bundle. But all TOM means is that, when your customers need you, you'd better be there.

Top of Mind Recognition isn't complicated to achieve. The ingredients are straightforward. And the whole package is easy to assemble. Unfortunately, it can also be very expensive. Being TOM is much easier in a small market, and very, very expensive in a large market.

Top of Mind really has everything to do with your brand identity. You definitely want a good one. Without a great brand identity, you can't achieve TOM. You need a clear, concise and identifiable logo. A catchy tagline doesn't hurt. Be consistent with your advertising, because repetition is the key to unlocking TOM. It's also the key to creating a brand identity, which is one of the key ingredients that goes into this.

A brand identity can best be defined as your company's visual personality. It encompasses your logo, your company colors, your tagline, different advertising campaigns, your website design, your building's signage, vehicle wraps, etc. All of these elements need to be consistent. That way, when someone sees your ad in a magazine, and then sees your commercial on TV, and then sees your truck down the street at their neighbor's house, your company name and brand will be reinforced in this potential customer's mind. You see where we're going with this. Consistent message. Repeated again and again, in different ways with different media, at different times and at different locations. Pretty soon, your potential customers will be humming your tune.

Getting your business to achieve TOM can be a long-term and costly endeavor. But the payoff is that your business is the first one your potential customers think of when they need the services you offer.

Think of the local businesses with the catchiest jingles. Sure, they annoy you, but you remember them. Having a professional jingle written is an additional and often expensive cost, but putting an advertising message to music is a proven technique to help people remember. When you were learning the alphabet, you sang the "ABC" song. Same thing with a jingle. That jingle you've got stuck in your head right now? The one you heard on the radio on the way home from work, the one you're going to see on the commercial when you sit down to watch the local news? When you need the service they offer, whether it's a plumbing emergency or buying a new car or anything else, that jingle will stick in your head and that will be the first place you think of. Most jingles include the company's phone number or website address. And, unfortunately, the more annoying, the better. As long as it's catchy.

Whether you commission a jingle or not, your message needs to be everywhere. Here's where it gets a little bit more complex. You need to think like your potential customer, not like you. The overwhelming majority of ad campaigns fail because the campaigns end up advertising to the advertiser, not the customer. It doesn't matter what you like. It matters what your customer likes. And you need to discover what that is. And when you know who your customer is, you can get inside their heads and discover what else they like to do. Because human beings are complex. That complexity gives you lots of opportunity to surprise them. For instance, let's say you run a theater that shows live plays. You know that your audience likes some culture. You also know that, if they're coming downtown, they'll likely be going out to eat beforehand, and probably grabbing a drink afterwards. That's an example of what else they like to do. So go meet with the owners or managers of the surrounding restaurants and bars and talk to them about co-op advertising—you put posters or coasters or other types of items in their locations, they put ads in your programs. You just run the theater, but you've also created an event night for your patrons. You've gotten into their heads and discovered what else they like to do. And when all these businesses work together, everyone wins.

All marketing is local, no matter whether you're a national chain or the small Mom-and-Pop down the street. You're part of a community. Get involved. Sponsor teams, which allows you to get your logo on uniforms. Have your business join the local adopt-a-road program. You'll get a sign with your business name on it. Be a member of local business groups. Have booths at local festivals. Does your community have a farmer's market? Have a booth there. If you're a car dealer and want to sell more hybrids, a booth at the farmer's market is ideal. Have a few models in the parking lot to test drive. The point is, be where people aren't expecting you to be. Marketing wears people down. Being advertised to is offensive and is easily tuned out. Find something unique to do that gets your name in front of people. Don't copy your competition. Make your own statement. That's the whole idea, isn't it?

Being Top of Mind isn't difficult. It just takes time and investment. But the return on that investment is that you are the first business everyone thinks of. Being Top of Mind is not a bad place to be.

It's Not Me, It's You — How To Break Up With A Client

We've all had them—relationships that start out great, the sky's the limit, love is in the air and there's nothing but rainbows and happiness. Just so we're on the same page, I'm talking about a relationship with a client. I mean, the same thing can apply romantically, but that's a different blog.

You start your relationship casually, maybe a meeting over coffee or a casual hour chat at their place, a conference room, and then it moves into the head decision maker's office and you know things are getting serious. You're selling yourself harder than a hooker when the eunuch convention's in town and you make the deal. Whatever it is you're selling, whatever service you offer, they are chomping at the bit to make the deal with you. Life is amazing. You are winning in a Charlie Sheen way.

And then time passes. Something goes wrong. The original spark just isn't there anymore. They call you constantly, all hours of the day and night, and they want changes, lots of changes. They've decided they don't like the concept they just spent the past week gushing over. Eventually, they end up taking advantage of your goodwill and they aren't holding up their end of the bargain. You don't get paid, or there's a new condition for you to get paid. And then you now it's time. It's time for the "it's not me, it's you" conversation. Because it is them, isn't it? It's not you. You tried your hardest and worked your sorry little heart out and did everything you could to make the relationship work. But they took advantage of you.

So how do you break up with a client? I've had to do it several times. I've had to do with and without lawyers. It's a lot easier without lawyers.

1. HAVE A PRENUP
No matter how much in love you and the client are at the beginning of the relationship, something will eventually go wrong. The longer the relationship goes on, the more likely it is that something will break down. Create an agreement that clearly states your obligations, the client's obligations, any compensation involved, the length of the relationship, any specific payment terms... essentially, every single detail involved in your relationship. This is a great time to find a lawyer. If the type of work you do has similarities across the board, a standard contract or a standard set of terms and conditions that are part of a contract will ensure that all parties involved, no matter how much in love they are now, will clearly understand the repercussions of the inevitable breakup.

2. COMMUNICATE EARLY AND OFTEN
All relationship specialists say the same thing. If you don't communicate, your relationship is doomed. On a side note, aren't most relationship specialists on the tail end of bad relationships themselves? I digress. The key to successful business relationships comes from identifying potential issues before they become issues and solve them in an expeditious way. The goal with your business relationship is to not have it end. It's a helluva lot harder to build a new relationship than it is to nurture an existing one. That said, sometimes communication fails. Sometimes people are just nuts. Communication breaks down for a multitude of reasons. Do your best to make sure it doesn't. But recognize that sometimes it does.

3. BE VERY, VERY CLEAR IN YOUR BREAKUP CORRESPONDENCE
The best way to avoid any misunderstanding or lack of clarity in breaking up with a client is to be absolutely clear with the client that you are breaking up with them. You will be shocked at the level of simplicity you need to explain that the relationship has ended. Sometimes it will come as a surprise to the client that you're ending the relationship. Many clients (hell, many people) don't see their own behavior as problematic or confrontational or difficult. You are there to serve them, after all. If you're a good and decent person, with a solid work ethic and a genuine trust of human behavior, well, first of all, I have great pity for you and some sad news for you—you're one of the few who does. Okay, I'm the same way, and it takes a lot of problematic behavior for me to get to the point of firing a client. I bend over backwards to accommodate nearly every request. But I've also come to the point several times where I simply can't accommodate anymore. My correspondence to the client is always in writing, usually via email (as that is the main form of communication by which I engage my clients), but from time to time it will be via written letter, and sometimes, if I believe there's trouble or there's potential legal action, certified mail. I explain why I am ending the relationship, I explain clearly what time period is involved in the breakup, what physical or digital files (if any) will be provided, and what compensation is expected. I generally will sacrifice compensation if it means the relationship will end and I will be able to move on cleanly. That may not be your way, but it's my way. I always figure that if money isn't involved, there are a lot fewer lawyers involved. Every situation is different. Every client is different. I've had multiple types of situations and each has been unique.

4. BE VERY WARY OF TAKING THE CLIENT BACK
I don't know if it's just me or if it's every marketing professional, but I have never had a client I fired NOT come back to me. Every single one. Seriously. Most will simply contact me as if nothing has ever transpired between us. Some will acknowledge the past difficulties. For the most part, the initial peace offering is "just a little job" that needs to get done quickly. "You know what I like, I know you can do a good job." As a self-employed marketing professional who's just survived the worst recession we'll hopefully ever see, I've been hungry. Very hungry. I'm not proud of it, but I've taken those clients back. When you're looking at a stack of bills and can no longer answer your phone because all you'll be doing is talking to bill collectors, your pride suddenly doesn't have quite so much value. There's not much that can be said when you have, as Seinfeld put it, no hand. When you do eventually regain hand, it's important to re-examine that relationship as quickly as possible, and get rid of it again as quickly as possible.

Breaking up is hard to do, that much is true. But breaking up with a bad client, like a bad romantic relationship, leaves you feeling a sense freedom and empowerment that will hopefully translate into intelligent forethought and well-vetted clients in the future.

Oh, who are we kidding? We love getting hurt. Bad clients give us good stories.