If you want your community to recognize your extraordinary level of service, work on exceeding your clients’ expectations every day. In today’s competitive environment, you know what that means: going above and beyond the standard level of quality and service to truly differentiate yourself. People choose to do business with those they know, like and trust. Businesses that create trust through delivering even more than promised will be the winners in the competition for consumer choice.

My family recently traveled to Monterey, staying at the Hotel Abrego, accommodations I’d found online. The website looked inviting, and I found positive reviews at Travelocity – but I always experience a bit of stress as the family travel agent when booking a new hotel.

The front desk staff member eased by trepidations with a warm welcome once we arrived, and then she proceeded to exceed my expectations by saying the magical words, “We’re upgrading you – to fireplace rooms.” Now for all I know, the vast majority of their rooms may have fireplaces, but I didn’t expect the upgrade. Our family group all were thrilled with our fireplaces during several days of cold and intermittently rainy weather in Monterey.

The front desk representative even went further win our undying devotion by giving us a card for a complimentary glass of wine with our appetizer order in the hotel’s restaurant-bar. We were famished after our long drive, so we hungrily made a beeline back to the restaurant after we checked in to enjoy a free glass of wine and some hors d’oeuvres.

Whatever your business, your statement of value and purpose should support your exceptional service. Make your statement specific to your service and the customer group you serve or want to serve. My new favorite Monterey hotel states on its homepage that it is “Monterey’s newest, uniquely designed 93-room, full-service boutique hotel providing an exceptional value and a refreshing Monterey experience in a playful, relaxing, inviting environment” – all true, and, even better, exceeded in reality.

An accounting firm might develop a statement such as “Northern Nevada’s most trusted business advisory and accounting firm, focusing on solving the most complex business challenges for small to mid-sized enterprises.” Make the statement part of your website banner on every page, your business cards, letterhead, brochures and other collaterals.

Amplify your value by providing content around your expertise. Use social media for cost-effective communication of your value: website-based blogging, LinkedIn, Twitter, podcasts and videos. Send out monthly enewsletters to your contact list. Give away white papers if you speak or offer seminars. Your tactic choices are endless and should be suited to your priority current and future clients. As a trusted business, you are perfectly positioned to provide content that is by definition of high value, reliable and, if consistently communicated, will launch your brand to new heights in 2011.

1. Everyone likes gifts and cards – especially if they’re personalized. Check out Send Out Cards for options to personalize your cards with photos and customized messages. Make this holiday the season to reconnect with customers, tap into your database and show them appreciation. This is especially important for you as you are the face of your business. Do something that will make you and your company stand out; feature a photo of a community landmark or local beauty spot. Take the time to hand-sign your cards and add a personal note. The extra thought goes a long way! Consider a mix of online and paper cards; the online message saves trees and money, and the hand-signed cards sent to a limited number of people will differentiate you and your business with your top clients and prospects.
2. When it comes to client gifts, buy items that are have lasting value. Food items are consumed, and the box with your logo quickly goes away – plus holiday snacks are largely unhealthy. Choose something enduring, and better yet, large enough to show your logo from a distance. Some examples are executive portfolios, umbrellas, backpacks, picnic baskets or briefcases. These items are durable and go out into the community with the owner, acting as a mini-billboard for your company. If you have a more limited budget, consider giving away your value in the form of a calendar that has one piece of savvy business advice for each month of the year. It’s not too late to order a calendar online to which you can add your logo, photos and wisdom (www.calendarworld.com).
3. Consider holding a drawing for a gift certificates for an hour of your consulting services either at your own holiday event or a chamber of commerce event, as they often feature raffle prizes. This allows you to collect business cards from the attendees; post one of your staff at a table in the front of your office to greet people and request their cards.
4. Make it a contest. Give away an hour of your consulting services to the person who donates the most cans of food at your holiday event food drive, or make a random selection from those who comment on your blog if you have one (and this is another reason to have one!)
5. Be a holiday charity drive collection point. If your business has a visible location, offer it as a collection location for a holiday fund, food or clothing drive. The value is enormous for your company as you’ll be mentioned in all of the event promotions, and your reputation and value will be enhanced as a strong corporate citizen through your support of a worthy cause.
6. Partner with a local nonprofit for your event. Ask guests to bring a nonperishable food item for the community food bank or a used coat in good condition for the community coat drive. Invite the local high school honor chorus to sing if you have the space; give a donation to the school music program for this service. Feature a nonprofit such as Susan G. Komen for the Cure® at your open house with a “Sip and Shop” opportunity to sell stocking stuffers. Raffle off donated gift baskets and give the proceeds to a nonprofit.
7. Leverage your social media connections for holiday public relations: post photos taken at your holiday gathering on your business Facebook page, and tag the guests. Send the photos to your local newspaper, as well, if it has a weekly business networking section. People love seeing their names and faces in the media, whether social or traditional outlets. Be sure to include the name of attendees’ businesses if you’re sending to the newspaper.
8. Start a discussion regarding holiday-related business suggestions on your LinkedIn group pages – If you’re an accountant, discuss whether client holiday gifts are tax-deductible. What’s the best small business advice to consider while planning for 2011? If you have a blog or page on your website for posting articles, do this as a Q&A and post the link to the blog/article on LinkedIn.
9. Approach holiday networking events with purpose. If you’re hosting the event provide two timed opportunities within the event for people to divide into small groups of 2-4 people, exchange cards and give 30-second elevator speeches, telling who they are, what they do and what makes them unique – and their major goal for 2011. This is the eWomenNetwork way to get to know people and their businesses, and it works. People enjoy this more organized opportunity to make new connections. If you go to holiday mixers, wear a conversation-starting accessory such as a festive piece of jewelry or scarf, or for men, a splashy holiday tie. Ask people what their biggest business or personal dream for 2011 is – you’ll get some surprising answers and attendees generally enjoy this as a way to break the ice. You may find ways to help others as well as discover new resources for your own business in the process.
10. These last few months of the year are the best time to plan your public relations initiatives for the coming year. Brainstorm all of the ways you can amplify your business brand, value and purpose through your website, blogging, social media, traditional media, special events, speaking engagements, newsletters, e-newsletters, contests, community partnerships, sponsorships, seminars, webinars and more. The opportunities are limited only by your imagination, time and budget – although many public relations initiatives are free or extremely low-cost. Build your public relations plans into your 2011 calendar now, and you’ll generate results and growth in the coming year!

RAN ONE leadership and staff from top left, clockwise: Mike Celada, director of member services; Dennis Sinnott, director of business development; Rick Solomon, CPA, CEO, RAN ONE Americas; Lonni Gainer, member services advisor; Karen Reyburn, managing director, RAN ONE Europe; Karen Maggio, office administrator; and Mary Ellen Rosenblatt, controller

These firm leaders are in the trenches during a distressed economy, offering information and guidance to their business clients every day. RAN ONE helps accountants and business advisors become more successful and increase quality of life for themselves and their clients by providing advanced online and training resources, research, analytics and business connections.

These accountants and advisors are working on the leading edge of the entrepreneurial economy, where businesses succeed or fail on the basis of the decisions made and advice taken. These CPAs and CAs (Chartered Accountants, as they’re known in Canada) are leaders in learning all they can to keep their skills at the level needed to be their clients’ most trusted advisors.

They are more aware than ever of the importance of business development. Several of the attendees said they had recently hired business development or marketing specialists in the past year. They realize that professional services are no different from any other high-end product or service. They know they must develop their brands and communicate their values clearly and consistently to differentiate themselves in the marketplace.

It’s about the relationships. These advisors said personal connections are the most important factor in creating referrals and that relationships take time to cultivate and nurture. One advisor said, “I went through my client list and discovered that the best referral sources were those who also were dependent on referrals: lawyers, bankers and insurance brokers.” Another advisor created a “wall of referrals” in his office on which he displayed in a visible location the business cards and brochures of his referral partners.

Promote by giving away your value – but not necessarily all for free. In the marketing roundtable I facilitated on the last day of the conference, several of the members discussed their success with offering seminars for clients and potential clients. One of the firms partnered with banks in offering financial planning seminars, for which they charged a small fee. They found that these seminars had higher attendance than those offered for free. It seems people are more likely to attend an event for which they’ve RSVPd if they’ve made even a nominal financial commitment. This firm always gave attendees a valuable takeaway, such as a white paper on the topic.

Social media is important for professional services – but the skeptics are out there. One of the younger attendees said in response to a few skeptics regarding the value of social media to the accounting and business advising profession, “It’s not about your current clients. It’s about your future clients.” The current 30- to-40-somethings will be buying and running businesses in the next few years. That client is searching for resources online (average age of Facebook users = 38.4; LinkedIn = 44.3). Professional service providers may be a bit late in joining the social media conversation, but the ones who are contributing on blogs and social communities are finding new ways to communicate their unique value to their current and future clients.

1. Smiling faces: Before you start talking, take a deep breath, smile and think of something funny to give yourself an internal laugh and help you relax. While you speak, your face should match your topic. Using a variety of expressions as you make your points will engage your viewers.

2. Your new best friend: If you’re speaking directly to the camera (rather than being interviewed by someone), make the camera the face of your best friend (or spouse or mom – someone who loves you unconditionally) in your imagination. This will help to make you more conversational and natural.

3. Power of three: Be prepared with three key points that you want to make. Make some notes in writing before you begin, but put them away before you start. Writing will help establish your points and a natural flow in your mind. A good construction is:
o Open with a problem or question
o Describe the solution
o Finish with a story to illustrate the point

4. Timing is everything: Keep your primary three points or segments to about 30 seconds to a minute each; online videos generally are more successful and frequently viewed when they are less than three minutes in length. Don’t memorize material, but keep your important facts and brief anecdotes in mind. Stories and examples bring more life to your points. Ideally, an interview should be an educated, engaging conversation.

5. Slow down. You’ve heard this before, but the idea of slowing down and enunciating your words applies particularly well in video, a medium which magnifies slushy speech. If you take a breath and slow down, you can think about what you’re going to say clearly and distinctly, and you’ll be less likely to use the dreaded filler words: uh, umm, so, like, you know, right? Right!

6. Eye signals: Eye contact is a sign of confidence and social engagement. Regardless of whether you’re being interviewed or looking at the camera, keep a natural eye contact, avoiding glancing down or to the side.

7. Body language: Watch people who are interviewed on national news programs, morning and evening. Notice what makes people look and sound credible and convincing. Watch body language. You’ll observe that engaging interviewees often lean forward a bit and have an open body position, arms not crossed defensively but relaxed at their sides or, if seated, on their legs, overlapping a bit. Crossing legs at the ankle if seated will help improve posture. If standing, keep knees a bit flexed and one leg slightly ahead of the other to help prevent swaying from side to side – or fainting.

8. What not to wear: The boundaries of dress considered business-presentable have expanded in recent years. If you’re unsure, it’s better to err on the side of formality. For women, that means a tailored blazer or shirt; save tight knits or party looks for another occasion. You want your clothes to say, “I’m a competent professional,” not to distract. For men, a suit or blazer and shirt with tie are almost always the right choice, but if you don’t wear a tie, go with a tailored shirt or shirt and blazer. Solid colors are best for everyone. Avoid prints and stripes (except for ties). Avoid black and white, as well, which don’t look as good on camera as color.

9. Finishing touches: Women should always wear makeup; outdoor light and bright indoor lights can have a bleaching effect. Men should consider powder to eliminate shine – including top of the head! Women should avoid shiny earrings or those that move and bracelets that jangle, which can be a distraction.

10. Keep smiling: When you’re finished, keep smiling for a few seconds. This will allow for a good concluding edit.

Remember, you are the expert! You know your material. Treat the video interview as a valuable opportunity to bring important information to potential customers that you may not even be able to imagine now. Relax, smile and share your knowledge!

Give away your expertise
Offer a free monthly e-newsletter or tip sheet with your top business tips of the month. Promote this on your website, your business cards, whenever you’re out meeting people. Offer real value in your newsletter, and make it available to everyone, not just clients. This is not a sales gimmick, although it will lead to sales.

Blog your expertise
Few tactics will be more powerful in enhancing your visibility and driving your firm’s website higher in online search results. Blog as regularly as you can; in the online world, content is king. RAN ONE makes posting new content simple through a multitude of online resources. Your blog provides a free platform for communication of your know-how and background. Yes, the operative word is FREE. WordPress at www.wordpress.com allows you to construct a quick and elegant blog foundation that easily can be linked to your website. Building and maintaining a blog requires knowledge and time, but it’s a brilliant investment for any business on a budget.

Add testimonials about your expertise
Ask your best clients to tell their stories about how you helped their businesses. Take them to lunch and interview them; you’ll be thanking them for their business at the same time. Add a photo and company logo to each client’s testimonial, and it becomes a win-win promotion of their own success along with yours.

Promote your expertise in your local media
Position your business skills in your hometown media. This includes your daily newspaper as well as local business publications, free suburban weeklies found in many markets and local radio and television outlets. Send brief news releases and photos announcing your firm members’ promotions and recognitions, firm innovations and new services. Write guest columns on business topics; the current economic tumult provides opportunities for anyone with credible advice for small businesses. If a current event comes up for which you have background and information, send a brief news release with your perspective and offer to be available for interviews.

Remember that you have valuable intelligence, skills and background that are highly prized commodities in business, especially in a challenging economic environment. Communicate your value, make a consistent public relations plan part of your business growth strategy and your business will garner results.

By the 1980s, the concept of publics had evolved to the recognition that no one “prevailing frame of mind” could explain public opinion, or, more relevantly to business, be used to create  campaigns to influence public opinion.  Seitel and Fraser in their widely-used textbook, The Practice of Public Relations,  listed four categories of public opinion:

1. The general public or “nonpublic” – having “little interest in the facts surrounding public issues or the issues themselves.”
2. The attentive public – “knows that certain issues are prominent in the public arena.”
3. The informed public – “not only knows the issues but participates in the dialogue concerning them.”
4. The elite public – “initiates and defines the issues and manages the public discussion about them.”

What has changed since the new millennium and the development of social media?  One could argue: everything.  While we still have the nonpublic, those with little or no interest in public issues, as well as attentive, informed and elite publics, the ability of the latter three to influence policy and issues formation has been merged and blurred by the power of social media. 

At one time, before the breakdown of traditional gate-keeping institutions, the elite public – corporate giants, politicians, philosophers, editors, reporters, writers and religious leaders, among others, were the initiators and definers of the issues that arrived on the radar screens of most consumers.  Concepts of consumer tastes, fads, reforms, revolution, war and peace and movements such as labor, civil and women’s rights and became mainstream through the noted thinkers and leaders of the time. 

Businesses have had a long tradition of working through these gatekeepers to promote products and services.  Now, look what’s happened!  Major corporations have been snapped to attention through social media campaigns and YouTube videos such as “United Breaks Guitars.”  Facebook would be the fourth-largest national in the world if its more than 350 million users were a country, and those users have launched millions more groups and fan pages.

Each and every one of those users, whether merely attentive, informed or elite, has the potential to create a movement, cause change and transform public opinion.  Do you know where the people you and your business care about are showing up online?  Are you listening to your publics?

Online communities are succeeding by communicating authenticity and real value in those connections, defined by University of Nevada business professor and prolific blogger Dr. Bret Simmons in his personal branding blog as “what you do uniquely to help others address an opportunity or solve a problem that matters to them.”

Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn aren’t alone in this endeavor; more websites are interactively fostering communities around diverse interests. A few examples:

In a recent public social media forum organized by Dr. Simmons at the University of Nevada, panelist Carmel Papworth-Barnum discussed her women’s running website’s focus on offering information important to women runners, whether just beginning or serious competitors. Her site resonates with women because it is about women, she said, not just about champions. She said, “I want to be inclusive.” Papworth-Barnum views her community as a way to encourage and promote women running and women runners. She’s authentically addressing the opportunity to encourage more women to have confidence in their ability to become fit and find joy through running.

A community doesn’t necessarily need to save the world – some just make it tastier. Kristy Crabtree, Reno web designer, strategist and passionate outdoorswoman, recently launched a unique Nevada Foodies site. Subtitled “A collection of big game recipes,” the site uses attractive blog formating for intriguing recipes and enticing food photos that Crabtree takes using her Canon Eos or iPhone. She also includes interesting shots from Nevada wilderness hunts. Her elk sausage and carmelized root vegetables recipe begins, “Food is like a song to me… it’s always a memory of a time or a place. And in most cases, it’s a good memory.” Hunters and their families who are looking for new game recipes – as well as some inspiration – are sure to find value in this community.

Sites with commercial aspects also can be authentically supportive of community. An educator, author, speaker and coach, Meggin McIntosh, PhD, is a former college professor whose trademark as The Ph.D. of Productivity™ is well earned. Her Emphasis on Excellence website brims with free downloadable posters and postings such as “8 Signs to Remind you How to Say No,” and “15 ideas to implement immediately to overcome reading overwhelm.” Visitors may order products and services such software, timers and webinars, but the site provides plenty of no-cost solutions to the productivity barriers that can stop all of us in our tracks – as well as opportunity to join a like-minded community of people who are “seeking ways to become peacefully (and predictably) productive.”

As we blog or simply go about our business in the world, we could all be guided by purposefully communicating what we do to “uniquely help others address an opportunity or solve a problem that matters to them.” What’s your purpose — and how are you communicating it today?