Seven New Year's Resolutions to Become Indispensable to Your Customers

In today’s challenging economic landscape, certainties are few and far between. However, one aspect of business growth that will never change is the importance of maintaining strong relationships with your customers and clients. Even as technology evolves at lightning speed, there’s no device or platform that can take the place of the human element. When you invest time and hard work into demonstrating your trustworthiness and providing value beyond compare, your clients will realize that you’re not just another vendor but an integral element of their success. Here are seven new year’s resolutions you should make today to ensure that you’ll be indispensable to your customers in 2012.

1. Be early.

Being on time is good and well. But being early – whether it’s arriving at a meeting a few minutes before it’s scheduled to begin or finishing a project ahead of the deadline – speaks volumes to your customers about where they stand in the order of your priorities.

2. Be prepared.

An impromptu phone conference with your client, an unanticipated sales opportunity, an unforeseen emergency or technical glitch…the rule of business is to expect the unexpected. By staying well organized and on top of your game, you can approach any situation with a sense of self-assuredness that inspires confidence and builds trust.

3. Be agile.

The ability to adapt and evolve is a critical element to maintaining your competitive edge. For example, let’s say your client asks for your help with a project that falls outside your core capabilities. Do you turn them away, or do you draw upon your team’s creativity and technical expertise to provide an innovative solution? No matter your background or past experience, if you can readily adapt to new challenges and respond to new opportunities, you’ll become the go-to resource for your customers whenever a need arises.

4. Be curious.

Being curious goes hand-in-hand with being agile. You should be a perpetual student of your field. By staying on top of the news, trends and ideas that are shaping your industry, you’ll always be ready with an answer or solution when a client needs your help. Developing your own knowledge and skills translates directly to increasing your perceived value to your customers.

5. Be responsible.

How hard is it to simply admit that you’re wrong? Based on the number of celebrities and politicians who issue vehement denial after denial only to get caught red-handed, apparently it’s really tough. But if you can willingly admit your mistakes and take ownership for making them right, you will gain respect as someone who is always dependable and accountable, even when the chips are down.

6. Be creative.

Some say, “If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it,” but in reality, there’s always room for improvement. Don’t let your business get stuck in a rut. Every now and then, allow yourself time to step out of the daily grind and examine the big picture with fresh eyes. Sometimes a break in routine is all that’s needed to discover solutions that will help you and your team serve your customers better, faster and more efficiently.

7. Be humble.

Above all, be humble. All the talent and skills in the world don’t mean jack if you’re a jerk. Be confident in your abilities but realistic in your promises. Work hard without stopping at every milepost along the way to blow your own horn. Deliver consistently and let your record speak for itself. Remember: you’re nothing without your customers. If you put their success first, your own success will be multiplied exponentially by their lasting loyalty.

Here’s to your best year yet.

Certainly, in the world of business there are no guarantees, and sometimes you’ll lose a customer for reasons that are beyond your control. However, there’s no better way to stack the deck in your favor than by honing the skills and traits that make you and your company an invaluable asset to your clients. Commit to these resolutions now, and no matter where you stand today, you’ll be ringing in 2013 with happier customers and a brighter outlook.

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All Hail the Antihero!

As rogues and misfits gain an increasing share of the entertainment pie, TV shows like “Person of Interest” and “Dexter,” along with movies like the “Dark Knight” trilogy and “The Hunger Games,” are riding a wave of popularity that lands antiheroes at the top of the pop culture heap. Dark humor and complicated moral motives rule the day as these offerings push the boundaries of what audiences are willing to buy into – and who they are willing to root for. Now entering its final run of eight episodes, “Breaking Bad” stands as perhaps the purest portrayal of an antihero we’ve ever seen in mainstream media. The show follows protagonist Walter White (played by Bryan Cranston) as he turns from an unfulfilling career as a high school chemistry teacher to a life of crime, peril and big money, evolving into a ruthless drug lord over the course of the series. Everyone watching has a stake in what happens to White, whether they’re rooting for him to come to his senses and put his family first, to emerge as an invincible American meth kingpin or simply to reap what he has sown. So what is it about these unconventional protagonists that makes them so compelling? And how can we as marketers tap into the power of characters that we love-to-hate and hate-to-love to create campaigns with that can’t-look-away quality? Here are six great examples of antiheroes that have been the face of some of our culture’s most unforgettable advertising campaigns:

Allstate: Mayhem Guy

Allstate is getting a lot of viral mileage out of this character. For a guy who we’re supposed to avoid at all costs, Mr. Mayhem seems like he’d be a pretty good hang. It would almost be worth a costly disaster if we could just tell as cool a story about it as this guy does.

Dunkin Donuts: “Time to make the donuts”

What was it about this man that was supposed to sell donuts? His bland enthusiasm? His lack of clarity and alertness on the job? His doughy physique as testimony to the tastiness of his output? And, yet, you can’t get him out of your mind, can you?

Burger King: “Wake up with the king”

AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA. Antihero, anti-appetite and anti-breakfast, if you ask most people after the first time they saw this spot. Yet, oddly compelling…must…eat…egg biscuit…

Reebok: Terry Tate, Office Linebacker

Undeniably funny – even for the Joe Cube-Dweller among us for whom Terry Tate recalls his most traumatic memories from junior high gym class.

Bud Light: “Mr. Way-Too-Much-Cologne-Wearer

With this series, Budweiser may have succeeded in making fun of every single person to ever hoist one of its beverages. Yet so many of us keep coming back for more, in denial that we could ever be too zealous in our touch football play or that we might ever bring too ponderous a cooler to the backyard barbecue.

Isuzu: Joe Isuzu

This long-running series kept the untrustworthy pitchman in front of TV audiences for more than 20 spots. Nobody would buy a car from this guy. But they might laugh and then go buy a car from the company that hired this guy. It just might be crazy enough to be crazy.

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