A Day In The Creative Life…

A colleague recently told me he wasn’t expected to be creative, since that wasn’t his department. I told him he was wrong. He replied, “Oh please, give me one example over the course of a typical day how little ole me can be creative…”

1. When a customer calls with a problem.
2. When a sales call is stalled.
3. When a prospect asks “what makes you different?”
4. When you think you need to cut prices to be more competitive.
5. When you find yourself wanting to blame the economy for things being slow.
6. When you train new employees.
7. When a prospect says “Hmmm, I’m just not sure, let me think about this a bit more…”
8. When your store has a changeable marquee.
9. When an employee says “I just don’t have enough time to get all that done.”
10. When you think you have competition.
11. When your “competition” offers a new product or service.
12. When you don’t have much money in your marketing budget.
13. When your latest innovation is still popular and bringing in massive sales.
14. When you copy other people’s business ideas too often.
15. Whenever you have a chance to deliver a thirty second elevator speech.
16. When you design your next business card.
17. When you answer your business phone.
18. When you grow tired of networking with the same people at every networking event.
19. When someone asks you “So, what do you do?”
20. How you ask for referrals.
21. How you greet customers when they come into your shop.
22. When you record the message for the company voice mail.
23. When you have the chance to record some audio and/or video for your web site.
24. When you need to update your pricing.
25. When you decide to support a local charity.
26. When you need to upgrade the signage outside your shop.
27. When you can’t understand why blasting spam email just doesn’t seem to be working.
28. When it’s time to determine a new niche market to target.
29. When you have to create a mailing list for your next direct response program.
30. When it’s your turn to treat for lunch, where should you take your client/prospect for a memorable experience.
31. When it’s time to expand your service or product offering.
32. When you need to write the next post for the company blog.
33. What to talk about if you offer a seminar to the local market.
34. When you add a new tactical option to your marketing program.
35. Who you invite into your community with your company’s social media program.
36. What local event you choose to sponsor for your next PR outreach idea.
37. What to write about if you are invited to share thought leadership in a local newsletter.
38. What to give away at the next trade show.
39. What music to play when folks are on hold on your phone system.
40. When it’s time to rearrange your store floor plan.
41. How to acknowledge new customers. Old customers. New prospects. Referral partners.
42. What you can give away for free.
43. What to do when things are slow in the shop for an hour or two.
44. What to do/where to go on the next company retreat.
45. How to reward employees for remarkable work.
46. When you are working to improve internal communications.
47. How to make your web site ridiculously easy for customers to use.
48. When you are coming up with a process for customers to provide feedback.
49. How to organize and communicate to company prospects.
50. Oh yeah, how to be creative when designing new fancy schmancy print collateral…

Get the idea? Please share more ideas! Be Intrepid.

Tagged as: Customer Loyalty, Customer Service, Differentiation, Direct Response Marketing, Innovation, Marketing Collateral, Motivation, Planning, Promotions, Sales, Sales Training, Social Media