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I mentioned in a recent post that I had the pleasure of participating in a marketing panel at Life Services Network’s Annual Conference. I was joined on the panel by Mary McMullin of New Life Management and Development, Maia Bonner of Seniority, Inc., and Bonnie Blair of Retirement Dynamics. I was the final speaker and by the time my turn rolled around, I’d written down half a dozen thoughts that my fellow panelists had shared with our audience. These were practical, common-sense, easy-to-implement ideas that struck me as so good I thought I would share a few of them with you. 

Here’s one from each of my co-panelists:

Bonnie encouraged the audience to take a self-marketing audit. Step back and evaluate everything you’re doing right now. We’re all susceptible to putting on the blinders because we’re doing everything we can just to keep up. But it’s hard sometimes to really evaluate the effectiveness of our efforts from that vantage point. It might be as simple as setting aside time to ask the question – what’s really working?

Speaking of wearing blinders, are there negative aspects of your community that stand out to visitors, but are so commonplace to staff that they go unnoticed? Maia walked the audience through a Tacky Tour to highlight all the nicks, dings, dents, cluttered spaces and more that give the wrong impression. Is it time to slow down and take inventory on what you’ve been overlooking?

Mary challenged the audience to think customer rather than shopper. When we develop customers, we dig deeper in discovery, connect on a personal level and resist the temptation to jump right to the show and tell. Shoppers like to say, “just looking” customers say, “I have a need, can you help me?” Which one are you cultivating?

Those are just a few of the ideas they offered. What a treat to share time with such smart individuals.

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