Fasten your seatbelt for a job shadowing day like no other.
We're looking for 6 smart, super groovy students to join us on March 22, 2018.
Consider it your pre-graduation real world test drive.
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Martha Bartlett Piland was inducted into the Kansas Business Hall of Fame March 2. The honor recognizes those who have exhibited unparalleled leadership qualities, had proven business success and played an instrumental role in shaping the vision for a stronger community.
We've, expanded our strategic team with the addition of an award-winning local entrepreneur, Kristen Kogl, as Account Coordinator.
Welcome, Kristen!
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We're thrilled to share our news about creative honors at the 2017 ADDY Awards for client work as well as some self promotion. The competition was fierce, with terrific creative all around.
Three cheers to everyone who entered.
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Credit Donkey has named our blog one of the "Best Small Business Marketing Blogs for 2016: Top Experts to Follow."
We're thrilled!
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It can be easy to lose sight of the good happening in the world. So MB Piland created "See the Good," a photo exhibit to shine a little light. Comprised of hundreds of submissions from clients and friends, it captures moments of good found all around us.
University of Kansas student Moriyah Ramberg has been selected for the 2016 MB Piland summer marketing internship. MB Piland designed the program to provide hands-on experience for young people preparing for a career in business and marketing.
Seveneightfive Magzine has named Martha Bartlett Piland one of its 2016 Women Who Rock.
"I'm thrilled to be included on this list... and in ithe company of such an impressive circle of other women," said Martha.
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Martha Bartlett Piland has written Culturing Creative, a guidebook for fostering the curiosity and creativity that solve everyday problems.
Creativity solves problems, engineers spaceships and builds brands. It makes everything go.
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Keeping your brand aligned means regularly auditing everything that tells your story. When you evaluate advertising and PR messages, you should never overlook the many other things that speak loud and clear.
Here’s a starting checklist of additional things to monitor for your public-facing brand:
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Watch any company’s recruitment video these days and you’re likely to see a foosball table, an espresso bar and a workout room. You may be wondering if you need those to attract great employees, too.
While games and fancy coffee are nice “extras,” they’re not the foundation of your culture. There are better ways to cultivate a winning internal brand.
You may think that because your website is updated and your new video takes your customers’ breath away that your brand refresh is spotless.
Employee behavior contrary to your brand promise will soil your brand overnight.
Many organizations have spent a significant amount of time thinking—and talking—about what they will do.
“We will deliver excellent service every time,” or “we will always be at the forefront of innovation.”
But what won’t you do?
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Old school sales guys will tell you sales is just a numbers game. Get enough prospects into the funnel and they’ll dump out X% of customers at the bottom. Easy.
News flash, Herb Tarlek: your lack of a system is as outdated as your plaid polyester coat.
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“Not a problem,” the customer service person said to me on the phone as we were wrapping up my transaction. What!? Not a problem? For who—you!? Wait a minute. Who is the customer here?
Last week, a hot, tired delivery man came into our office with some much-needed supplies. He delivered more than just packages. He delivered angry, ugly opinions about someone else’s brand.
Marketers are spending a lot of time talking about the customer journey. We’re not hearing the same talk about the employee journey, and that’s a shame. Because the customer journey with your brand will be bumpy at best if the employee journey isn’t thoughtfully mapped out and put into action first.
It’s an all-too-common malady: sales are flabby or fundraising goals are lagging, so leadership determines that a fresh new ad campaign is just the thing to make everything right.
When we start asking questions to diagnose the situation, we often discover something else: an internal problem.
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Many community bankers struggle with getting all of their staffers to feel confident with business development. That’s because staffers are afraid of the *S* word.
Don’t tell them to SELL, teach them to LISTEN.
Use our “Business and Baby” rule as your internal rallying cry.
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A bank president recently told me he lets safe deposit box rent renewal notices slide because he hates to bug people over something so small, and he wants to be nice.
It made me wonder whether he’s nice or just afraid to risk irritating a customer over a relatively small fee.
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My 92-year-old father-in-law Ralph is a WWII veteran and serial entrepreneur. Over the years, he’s owned a night club, a dry cleaning shop, a demolition business—and more. He’s an excellent negotiator and he knows how to lead and inspire a team.
And he knows first-hand the value of a strong banking relationship.
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Almost every community bank will boast that they know their customers by their names. But do you really?
And do you teach your bankers to go further than just recognizing familiar faces and say customers' names out loud? It might be a little old school - but it will be music to their ears.
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I talk about banking with a lot of people. So last month, someone told me about accidentally hitting “submit” on an ACH twice. Fortunately, a banker called right away to inquire about whether it was a duplicate and got it reversed. There was a $30+ charge for that fix, but it saved some money and hassle in the long run.
Now, compare that to an accident the bank made on this same company’s credit card accounts.
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When a business development team gets charged up and ready to call on prospects, they’re often so eager to talk, they forget to find out about what’s keeping the prospect up at night.
Leading with what you have to offer is wasting that precious appointment you finally booked. Start with your prospect's pain and you'll have a much more productive conversation.
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Many financial institutions struggle with differentiating themselves in this commodity-mindset industry. “We need a new slogan,” they say. And, “let’s talk about our great service.”
Service is not a position and you’ve got to pay more than lip service to your brand.
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It’s been a while, but I’m still fuming about the dry cleaner who wrote my name inside my clothes. With a Sharpie. Really!? This isn’t summer camp and I’m not 8 years old.
While this happened months ago, I’m still dismayed.
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Everyone is busy. Like many high-performing employees, your people may be running as fast as they can. The problem: somewhere along the line, they’ve been taught to mind their own book of business, not the business of the entire bank. They're in the dark.
Introducing TRANSFORMOTION™ in a Box, our subscription-based program designed to take your brain off its leash and let it expand in new ways.
WE CAN’T THANK YOU ENOUGH.