You and Your Business, Ready for Anything

You and Your Business,

Ready for Anything

DID YOU EVER HEAR THE FABLE—most recently popularized in the bestseller Have a Little Faith by Mitch Albom—about the farmer who desperately needed a hired hand? A man came to him with this written reference from a former employer: “He sleeps through a storm.” The farmer had no idea what that meant, but he needed somebody, so he hired the man. Sure enough, some time later, a terrible storm swept through the countryside. The farmer got up in a panic, only to fi nd his hired hand sleeping peacefully.

However, the farmer also saw that the bales of hay had already been battened down, the animals given plenty of food, and the barn locked tight. Then the farmer understood the value of being able to “sleep through a storm.” As we start a new year, every business leader knows he or she will be faced with some kind of storm, be it weather-related or market-related. With SOLVE magazine, we give you strategies for riding the whirlwind that is business today.

In this issue, check out need-to-know news about mobile marketing (p. 6), the latest in data security (p. 24), and more. We also offer thought-provoking ideas on how to simplify it all—strategy, operations, and message—in a special section starting on page 16.

We at TWCBC want to be your partner in the success of your business. Will you sleep through a storm? Well, as a leader, you’ll likely be awake and watchful. But with TWCBC in your corner, your company’s communications will never keep you up at night.

Marketing Goes Mobile pg 6 Find Your Competitive Edge in the Cloud pg 12 Cybersecurity Decoded pg 24

WINTER 2015 Jeff Greenberg

Group Vice President –Mid-Market, Channels and Alliances

TELL US WHAT YOU THINK

HOW TO SIMPLIFY

YOUR STRATEGY YOUR BUSINESS

YOUR MESSAGE

12/17/14 12:50 PM Talk to us! How did you like this issue, and what should we cover next? Write to SolveMagazine@twcable.com. See previous issues at www.solvemagazine.com. And if you've worked with TWCBC to SOLVE your technology challenges, we'd like to hear about it for future issues. Visit business.twc.com/nomination to share your story.

WINTER 2015 | VOLUME 2 | NO.1

RSL MEDIA

EDITOR-IN-CHIEF Robert Levin

SPECIAL PROJECTS EDITOR Lee Lusardi Connor

ART DIRECTION Jim Nissen

DESIGNER Jaclyn Threadgill

TIME WARNER CABLE BUSINESS CLASS

CHIEF MARKETING OFFICER Stephanie Anderson

GROUP VICE PRESIDENT – MID-MARKET, CHANNELS AND ALLIANCES Jeff Greenberg

SENIOR DIRECTOR – CUSTOMER LIFECYCLE MARKETING Orlando Betancourt

MARKETING MANAGER Nafeisa Shukair

© 2015 Time Warner Cable Enterprises, LLC. All rights reserved. Time Warner Cable and the Time Warner Cable logo are trademarks of Time Warner Inc. Used under license. All trademarks remain the property of their respective owners. Material in this publication must not be stored or reproduced in any form without permission. This magazine includes content created by third parties not affi liated with Time Warner Cable Inc. Time Warner Cable does not control or guarantee the accuracy or completeness of third party information nor does it endorse the views expressed or products/services offered by third parties. All users accessing third party websites are subject to the policies of those websites.

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877.857.0727

To learn more, visit: BUSINESS.TWC.COM/VOICESOLUTIONS

HOW TO

Where does a winning team get its mojo? When we think of sports, we often attribute success to wildly inspirational leaders. These are the coaches whose legendary speeches inspire teams to break down doors and win championships. However, while we can all appreciate INSPIRE YOUR these high-octane, “this is our moment” messages, inspirational leadership need EMPLOYEES not be so over-the-top. In your company, fist pumping and a roaring voice aren’t necessary to engage your team and inspire it to reach new heights. What is necessary? Authentic, honest communication from leadership. The secret to leading a Employee engagement means winning workplace team that workers are enthusiastic about and dedicated to a company’s goals. BY FRAN ZEULI It means there’s an emotional commitment that leads an employee to go the extra mile, whether the boss is watching or not. When companies rank high in employee engagement, a 2012 Gallup study found, they also rank higher on nine performance outcomes, including customer rating, productivity, and profitability. Yet only 13 percent of employees worldwide are engaged at work, according to the Gallup study. Here are five tips for engaging employees in a meaningful and inspirational way (no pads or helmets required).

SHOW THEM

THE PLAN. Your company’s or department’s short- and long-term goals shouldn’t be information reserved for senior management. All your employees should be aware of them, and of exactly how their particular job fits in.

A call center we worked with started pulling reps off the phone once a

month for 15-minute huddles. In these meetings, management reinforced company goals—a major one was increasing customer satisfaction scores by 10 percent—and explained how individual employee roles played a part in meeting these goals.

At first, it felt counter-intuitive to take performance-based employees away from their tasks. Over time, however, individual performance stats relating to customer satisfaction increased, company-wide.

SHARE

THE “WHY.” One of my favorite authors, Simon Sinek, says, “People don’t buy what you do; they buy why you do it.”

One regional bank, understanding this, defined its why as “helping people regain their financial footing to afford their dreams.” This concept was shared by leaders at employee meetings and posted throughout their offices. Yes, loan officers still evaluated and processed loan applications, but feedback indicated that they looked at their job more positively and better appreciated how much they were helping their customers.

Getting to the why can be difficult. (I highly recommend reading Sinek’s book Start with Why or watching his YouTube TED Talk of the same name.) But if you can define your why and share the story with your employees, you will see the significant employee engagement that is enjoyed by Apple, Patagonia, Harley-Davidson and many others who evangelize their purpose, their meaning, and their worth.

PAY ATTENTION

TO EMOTION. According to Tom Hanks’s character in the movie A League of Their Own, “There’s no crying in baseball!” That rule won’t fly in the workplace. People are not only full of emotion; they are guided and motivated (or demotivated) by those emotions.

You can use a survey to gauge emotional issues, but be sure the data you collect is relevant. Asking an employee to rate how likely he or she is to recommend the company to a friend gives us little direction. But ask employees if and how their supervisor inspires them—well, then we have a wealth of information to mine and act on.

A manufacturing company dedicated a portion of its quarterly employee reviews to simply asking how employees felt about their jobs and what would make them emotionally more satisfied. More than 70 percent of the employees said they liked their jobs and felt appreciated, and then answered the question about emotional satisfaction by saying they wanted to see more clearly the value they brought to the company.

Leadership built and executed a department-by-department communications plan that connected the dots, so all could see how their efforts led to achieving company-wide goals. Over time, department managers reported higher employee satisfaction scores across the board.

TELL STORIES. From the

beginning of human history, we’ve been telling stories to help us understand the world around us, to build history, and to provide perspective. Companies are no exception.

Ask one of your front-line managers if she remembers the specific performance metrics from last year or the ROI from 2011. The answer is likely to be no. But she will probably recall a story about the company—for example, that the company started with five employees and now has grown to a profitable organization that donates money to local schools for new library books.

Companies like Microsoft have even employed a Chief Story Teller to share the company’s goals and expectations in story form. (You can see some of these at www.microsoft.com/stories.) Another excellent resource is Whoever Tells the Best Story Wins by Annette Simmons.

BE AVAILABLE, BE PRESENT, AND

BE YOURSELF. Leaders don’t inspire others by simply saying the right words. It’s obvious to everyone when we’re being inauthentic or not true to ourselves, and we know it, too.

So while it might not be natural or comfortable for you to deliver a rousing half-time speech to your entire team, I’m certain you have authentic strengths and skills that will produce the same results. Inspiration can be delivered to an employee with a smile and a heartfelt “Good morning!,” or a spontaneous call for an all-employee chili cook-off competition on Friday afternoon, or even a 30-minute walk around the office to ask employees how they’re doing.

As leaders, we have to find our voice and our areas of strength and confidence, and then put the above steps into practice. That’s when we’ll find our “inner Vince Lombardi”—and our championship team.

Fran Zeuli is a partner in Fun Is Good, a consultancy that specializes in teaching corporations how to improve employee morale, engagement, and productivity.

MMS/SMS APPS

PROXIMITY

LOCATIONBASED PAYMENTS

SEARCH

MARKETING GOES MOBILE

SOCIAL

WHERE YOUR CUSTOMERS (AND THEIR DEVICES) GO, YOUR STRATEGY MUST FOLLOW.

BY WOJCIECH GRYC

Mid-sized enterprises face a challenge when it comes to adopting mobile technologies. Consumers are clearly embracing mobile: this past year, for the first time ever, mobile devices accounted for more than half of Internet usage in the United States. Yet consumers are also fickle: 40 percent of them will leave a website that takes too long to load. Imagine how they’re reacting to the suboptimal apps and mobile experiences that all too many companies have.

While mobile strategy can’t be neglected, the fact is that constantly keeping up with new technologies can be expensive and time-consuming. Before you dive into new mobile marketing ventures, make a plan with these strategies:

Make sure your current strategy is

not a liability. If your business has been experiencing a steady decline in e-mail or website engagement rates over the past three to four years, it could be a result of poor mobile experience. Use site analytics to collect data on the devices your customers use to interact with your business and ensure that the most common devices are supported properly. Make sure your site and your e-mail are responsive—designed to be easy to engage with (and to function properly) on any screen size.

Plan for the next one to two

years. Survey your customers to explore whether they are using mobile technologies to make purchases or evaluate vendors. Understand exactly how this usage plays out—how your

potential customers are shopping, how they interact with your business, and so on. When you make an investment, do so with the goal of repaying the investment in 12 to 24 months. Mobile technologies evolve so quickly that it’s unsafe to assume they’ll be applicable further out.

Focus on one or two technology

trends. There are numerous mobile technologies that can be used to better engage with customers or leads. Do not “boil the ocean”—instead, pick a couple of tactics that work well with your brand and style of business, and are consistent with the market research you did earlier. If you focus your efforts on effectively executing select tactics, you are more likely to get the ROI you are hoping for.

WHERE TO SPEND?

The following trends in mobile technology could yield a significant return on your investment:

SMS Marketing

If you have been limiting your outbound communications to phone calls and e-mails, consider using SMS (which stands for short messaging service, aka texting) as well. These messages often have six to eight times better engagement than e-mail. SMS marketing comes with the added benefit that, because so few businesses use it at this point, you have less risk of being caught in the clutter. Caveat: customers have to opt in to this approach by providing you with their phone numbers for this purpose.

Social Media, Particularly Twitter

Because most social media users now access their accounts on mobile devices throughout the day, social media is an excellent way to send messages to and engage with customers. You can also use these platforms to make announcements and special offers. A great “super-local” example is the Los Angeles–based Jogasaki Sushi Burrito food truck. The owner uses Twitter to announce where the truck is going to be next and has built a cult following in Los Angeles.

Mobile Payments and Wallets

With the launch of Apple Pay, more businesses are preparing to support payments that are coming directly through mobile phones. This is a nascent technology, but one that is likely to be adopted quickly, because mobile technologies can offer a significantly quicker and more convenient customer experience. Such wallets are often tied to loyalty programs, as well.

Wi-Fi and Cell Phone Tracking

Wi-Fi tracking technologies are enabling companies to generate metrics around how many smartphone-carrying people enter their physical locations and where they go once inside. Companies like Euclid Analytics and Level One Analytics can then provide reports that make your 30-year-old door counter feel like, well, 30-year-old technology.

iBeacon and Other Location-based Offer Engines (ie, Geofencing)

The future of cell phone tracking is in iBeacon and related technologies. When consumers download an app, these technologies enable a company to dynamically send special offers and discounts to them as they walk by.

Mobile CRM

If you have a sales force, particularly one that travels for work, consider a mobile-focused CRM system. Products like Resco Mobile CRM map your customers and allow your sales people to find prospects or accounts that are close to their current location.

Think Local

If you have a business with multiple locations, whether B2C or B2B, it is important to make them easy to find. Make sure your site prominently displays business hours, links to directions, and click-to-call phone numbers.

Most mobile searches are local, so it’s in your interest to appear in Google Maps when potential customers are searching for stores or services. (Google provides a service to help companies build such a presence.) At the same time, building web pages that target people in your region is an effective SEO strategy. For example, it might be difficult to get your business on the front page of a search for electrical contractors, but “electrical contractors Portland” might have significantly less competition—and thus, be more likely to get you on the coveted first page of search results.

These technology advances will help your business stay current, and should also help generate new sources of revenue and higher customer engagement. If you are new to mobile, focus on one or two strategies first, and scale as you see your successes roll in.

Wojciech Gryc is the CEO of Canopy Labs, a predictive analytics company that specializes in targeted marketing and personalization.