Listening Hard

Forgotten genius Ring Lardner was a popular satirist of the 1920s, famous for the practice of "listening hard."

He delighted fans by cloning the speech of ball players, barbers, cops and musicians in his newspaper columns, short stories, songs and plays.

Lardner influenced other, better known writers who followed, including Virginia Woolf, Ernest Hemingway and John O'Hara.

"Listening hard" is the secret sauce not only of good writers, but good salespeople, customer service reps, therapists, judges, spouses and parents.

Sadly, most of the time we default to "easy listening," where others' speech functions merely as elevator music during our ride to the top.

We're eager only to listen with the intent to reply, rather than understand, as Stephen Covey noted.

“When people talk, listen completely," Hemingway said. "Most people never listen.”

Marketers Using More Agencies Less

Today's marketer farms out projects, not accounts, according to a survey by RSW/US.

RSW/US found that 74% use more than two agencies; and 17%, more than five.

They're also keeping project-work in house, hiring specialists galore.

And 40% of marketers expect project-work to increase this year.

While agencies may cringe, RSW/US sees an upside.

Marketers can no longer brush them off with "We already have an agency."

"With more marketers potentially using multiple agencies in the coming year, that objection becomes less of a hurdle, even potentially advantageous," says Lee McKnight, vice president of sales.

Marketers say they're wearied by agencies that claim they're full-service, but aren't, the survey reveals.

Marketers also say they're troubled by agencies "defaulting to digital." Too many have abandoned creativity, customer insight, and expertise in traditional media.

With more opportunities before them, agencies can win business by pitching novel projects, deep category knowledge, or know-how in a particular channel.

Bad-fit Buyers

Caveat venditor: Bad-fit buyers are everywhere.

"Every new customer you bring on who isn’t the right fit presents a churn risk," says Dan Tyre on Hubspot.

Churn is a risk, because it opens new doors to bad reviews.

What are the signs to watch for? The bad-fit buyer:

• Is considerably larger or smaller than your typical customer

• Operates in an industry outside your target market or time zone

• Is discourteous and responds to questions with emotions, rather than facts

• Doesn’t want to answer questions or makes contradictory statements

• Is unwilling to take direction and seems competitive

• Doesn’t have resources (money, time, staff)

• Seeks a "silver bullet"

• Goes from excited to apathetic and back again

• Is disorganized and can’t spend time with you

• Cancels meetings with short or no notice

• Doesn’t follow simple directions (like please read the one-page outline)

• Seems to be going through the motions

• Has to hear you say the same thing at least four times before he gets it

"Almost all prospects will show some of these indicators," Tyre says. "The key is to be 100% transparent, have open conversations with your prospects, and set expectations at every step of the process."

Hot Spots

B2B events are hot.

Freeman (my employer) has just released a compilation of statistics that proves it. Among the findings:

• 225 million customers attend 1.8 million events annually

• $565 billion is spent on events annually

• 20% of a marketer's budget is devoted to events (the single largest spend)

• 48% of brands see an ROI on events from 3:1 to 5:1; 41% see even better

• 93% of executives say events increase their chance to close deals

• 98% of customers say events increase their purchase intent

• 79% of brands will boost their involvement in events this year

Brevity: Key to B2B Content Tilt

Stephen King's advice to writers who crave an audience:Leave out the boring parts.

"If you can't write your idea on the back of my calling card, you don't have a clear idea," impresarios say.

B2B marketers would do themselves a favor scribbling more (or less) on the backs of calling cards.

In Chief Content Officer, "content tilt" champion Joe Pulizzi praises PricewaterhouseCoopers' newsletter series 10 Minutes ("content tilt" equates to a brand's point of difference).

As its name implies, the series promises readers 10-minute mastery. 

And, as you'd expect, the topics are thorny: audits, cyber-security, data privacy, derivatives and eco-efficiency.

Pulizzi calls the newsletter series an example of content tilt "genius."

"PwC understands its audience members need intelligent, mission-critical information on complex business topics, but they don't have time for long-form content. The newsletter is designed to aid skimming, and is alway short and to the point."

PwC gets B2B content tilt.

Leave out the boring parts.