Putting a Positive Spin on a Negative Event

 Two days ago I went out to start my car and the car did not cooperate and engaged in inappropriate behavior. It would not start and flashed a big sign on the dashboard, "check brakes." Oops there must be a major problem here. I then proceeded to engage in what  I call "catastrophizing." I thought the worst. This is going to cost a lot of money, the car has to be towed, and on and on. Then I caught myself--wait a minute, what if the brakes would have gone out when I was on the road? I should be very grateful that the car warned me before I ever left the parking garage. I then proceeded to think about a positive spin on a negative event--I was safe and my car could  be fixed. Yes, it may be a chunk of change but I did not get hurt and no one else did. I can also use this as an opportunity to walk more since I won't have a car for awhile. 

How does this apply to communications and marketing? We sometimes engage in negative thinking and communicate it in our writing to our members. Think about it. We may have had a meeting and we wanted more people to come so we say, "We only had 12 people attend." That statement conveys our disappointment and also can be construed as negative to the members who did attend. Wouldn't a better approach be to say, "We were delighted that 12 ladies joined us today for a great workshop."

Imagine that you have a speaker cancel and you share the bad news like this, "We are sorry that our speaker just cancelled on us and we won't have a program today." A positive spin would be to say, "Our originally planned speaker won't be with us, but you are in for a real treat today,  Linda is going to give a legislative update including information you need to know that impacts you."

Here is another example.  We are looking for new officers and are discouraged and send out our newsletter stating: "We can't get any officers for the next biennium. We need new blood. No one is stepping up to the plate." An alternative might be to say, "We are looking for members to join our chapter leadership team and we respect and welcome everyone. Join the team and share your ideas to move forward."

It is very difficult to change our way of thinking and avoid a negative bias but we feel better when we look for a positive spin and our readers want to hear good news. We have to intentionally take a happening that might be negative and think about how we present it to focus on the positive. 

Keep spinning the positive.

Is It Time for aTune Up in Your Communication?

IS IT TIME FOR A TUNE UP IN YOUR COMMUNICATION?

By Bev Johns

 "We know you are all busy, but we are required to have four business meetings so come to our meeting on Thursday night."

"We have noticed that some of you have missed the last three meetings. We are very disappointed with the lack of attendance."

Would you be motivated to attend the next meeting? Probably not, it didn't convey an air of excitement and enthusiasm. Both statements were negative and didn't motivate someone to attend. The second one was scolding and ,for some people may cause them to leave the chapter.

Have you ever written a message in a newsletter or in an email, and had someone react negatively to it? Perhaps you went back and read the message you sent and realized it sounded negative. It was not designed to inspire your readers to join an activity or to excite your members about the wonderful activities your chapter has planned. Our goal is to build up our members and our activities, so people are interested in what we have to offer. 

Remember when we communicate, we need to entice, excite, and convey enthusiasm. When we say come to our business meting, that is not enticing, but when we say we want you to have a voice in our upcoming program, we can motivate our members to attend.

Think about why people may want to attend an event. We want to entice them to come. Statements like--you don't want to miss our workshop on November 20, we have a great event planned for you--entice someone to come, rather than saying--our next meeting is November 20. 

You also want to convey excitement about all the activities you have planned so catchy titles get attention and excite people about an event. People are always looking for practical tips so when you make such statements as--come to learn 25 ways to overcome procrastination, or everything you ever wanted to know about de-stressing, or take a virtual trip o Egypt with Maria. These excite people so they want to be at an event.

Finally, when we are sending a message, we want to convey enthusiasm for what we are doing. We want to be positive, provide  a sense of welcome, and make people feel our passion for DKG. 

On the Road Again--Promoting Delta Kappa Gamma Wherever We Go

 On The Road Again--Promoting Delta Kappa Gamma Wherever We Go

Delta Kappa Gamma Illinois is reaching out to educators throughout Illinois to spread the word about the many opportunities that we have to offer. We will be going on Road Trips to Springfield, Mount Vernon, Naperville, Schaumburg and more. Yes, DKG will be exhibiting in several locations in Illinois. Our purpose is to reach out to as many educators as we can. DKG has a lot of offer and we want to provide support wherever we go--think of all we provide and all the educators we can reach if we are willing to hit the road. 

Last week we were in Springfield and got to share about our Zoom workshops, our scholarships, our stipends, and the support we can provide to educators. It was invigorating to be in a room full of educators ready to return to school.

While we are concentrating on statewide conferences, all of you have the wonderful opportunity to promote DKG at the local level. How you might ask?

1.  Look for Teacher Institutes in your area and ask if you can have a table to promote DKG. Make the table attractive with a tablecloth, a vase of artificial roses or ink pens that are roses, DKG Illinois bookmarks, your local chapter brochure, candy, and have participants stop by and register for a raffle prize by putting their name and email and location down and putting it in a basket.

2.  Health Fairs are another possibility where you can ask to have a table, after all DKG Illinois offers terrific mindfulness activities on Zoom.

3. Farmers' Markets provide the opportunity to meet many people from your geographic region.

4. How about putting a few DKG bookmarks in the teachers' lounge?

5. How about putting your chapter brochure or bookmark up on the public bulletin board in the grocery or your local coffee shop?

6. Consider asking your local librarian if you can put a few bookmarks or chapter brochures on the bulletin board or at the desk. 

The sky's the limit on where the road to promoting DKG can take us. Don't delay. Take that DKG road trip.

Is it Chicken Divan or Turkey Divan? Customizing Your Marketing Plan

     I recently read an article about the importance of customizing and tweaking and it encouraged readers to think about marketing like following a recipe. We follow a recipe but we also have to customize it to meet our members' needs. Let's look at a recipe for Chicken Divan which I have used for many years and  is my husband's favorite. Someone told me about the recipe and how wonderful it was. I was told I could follow the recipe exactly the way it was. But that was a false hope. I read the recipe and wanted to use turkey instead and the recipe called for broccoli but my husband hates broccoli but loves asparagus, so I customized the recipe to use asparagus. It also called for cheese but not enough cheese to our likening. I added more cheese. I cared for my husband and wanted to meet his needs.

    So how does this apply to marketing? Has someone told you they have the answer to all of your marketing needs and you follow their advice and it doesn't work? Why? Because you also have to look at the needs of your members and have to change according to their needs. If you recommend broccoli for everyone, they won't buy in, because they hate broccoli. In marketing if someone recommends Facebook only and some of your members don't use Facebook, they won't buy in. If someone tells you to find all the answers on a chapter website but you have members who don't use websites, that is not going to be successful.

    We have to first know our member's needs and we have to assess them to learn more about their preferences. We care about them and want to meet their needs. We listen to their likes and dislikes. How do they like to get information? Do they like to read online? Do they check out Facebook or a website every day? Do they prefer to read email. Do they prefer text? The key is that we have to care enough about our members and listen to their needs.  Our customization may be that we provide diverse ways of marketing. One original recipe doesn't fit all. 

What's A Missing Spoon Have to do with Marketing?

             WHAT'S A MISSING SPOON HAVE TO DO WITH MARKETING

BY BEV JOHNS 

    Every morning my husband gets up and  makes my coffee and makes us breakfast. He does this even when he is not feeling well and yes, I am spoiled. Some days it is bacon and eggs, sausage and eggs, and some days it's cereal. The other day it was time for bowls of cereal so we got to the table and Lonnie couldn't figure out what had happened to his spoon because he always puts the spoons in the bowls of cereal. We were perplexed but the spoon didn't appear. He got up and got another spoon. As we are enjoying our cereal and are almost finished with it, alas the spoon appeared at the bottom of the bowl. It had gotten lost in the cereal. 

    So what is my point in telling you this story? Sometimes we bury our important message at the bottom of the news. The spoon was critical to eating the cereal but we couldn't find it. That is what happens to us sometimes when we are trying to convey an important message. It gets lost at the bottom of the pile of news.

    Let's look at an example, we might be planning an important meeting and we are including the information in our newsletter bu we bury the particulars of the meeting several pages into the newsletter. People don't read that far and we wonder why they don't show up. Whatever information you want to stress, put it at the beginning. Don't assume people will read several pages to get to the information they need. Everyone is busy and may only skim the information and may miss the critical points. If you want to remind people of dues, put it in the beginning or send a separate notice. If you want people to come to a meeting, put that at the beginning of your news along with all the key information about where and when the meeting is. if you are sending an email, put the critical information first.

    If you have a great deal of information to share, that is fine but think about including and highlighting key takeaways at the beginning of your information. Always think about what is the most important information you want to convey and highlight it so it is easy to find and read.

    Don't allow your critical information, your spoon, to sink to the bottom of the bowl.  

 

Seize The Moment

     A few weeks ago I participated in one of my favorite activities, walking through an arts and craft fair. I admit there were a few things I couldn't do without and purchased.Why, because it was easy. I could pull out my cash or credit card and buy the item I wanted. it was instant gratification. I just couldn't resist a beautiful necklace and some note cards. 

    I then went by the booth that had souvenirs of this wonderful art fair and they had a stainless steel water bottle with an art design. I needed a new bottle because mine was not in good shape so I decided to buy it. Well, it didn't work that way. The lady in charge of the booth informed me that if I wanted to buy it, I would have to go home, enter a QR code, and go on their website, and then pick my design. I said, "But why can't I get it right here? I like this design."

    "Oh no," she said, "when you get home you can order it."  

    The lady counted on me to go home, use the QR code, and order online. 

    She did make an assumption first of all that I knew how to use a QR code, which I do since we have offered lessons on the topic, but what about the person who doesn't know how to use a QR code.

    She also made an assumption that I was going to go home and immediately jump online and buy the water bottle. That was not a good assumption because when I got home, I had ten other tasks to do and the water bottle was at the bottom of the list. Did I ever buy the water bottle?  No. Would I have bought it on the spot if it would have been available for purchase there. You bet.  She missed a sale and I am without the water bottle because as the days passed, it was not a priority.

    You might ask what is the point of this story that deals with marketing. Here it is. We have to make it as simple as possible to make a purchase or make a reservation for an event.  When we are communicating with our members about an event, we need to give them the opportunity tp purchase or reserve right away.  Let's say we are having a fund raiser and we tell people that if they are interested to let us know and we will send them a link. Instead we need to give them the link so they can click then and there.  If we want them to make a reservation for an event, make the process as easy as we can. Otherwise people get busy and the event gets put on the back burner and they don't attend.

    This can apply for us when we are busy collecting dues from our members. Make it as easy as possible. Collect dues right at a meeting or give them the Zelle or Venmo number they need. Some chapters send a self addressed stamped envelope.  When we want to invite a person to membership, how do we make it  easy and efficient for them to join?

    We live in a rushed society and we need to consider that people are in a hurry. Next time you send out a notice or are having a fund-raiser, check to make sure you have made the process as easy as possible. Seize the moment. 

Marketing and Customer Service--Hand In Hand

 "That's too bad, they'll have to figure it out."  "I really don't have time to answer their questions."

Have you ever heard someone say that or something similar about a member request?  If we're honest we may have heard those statements or something like them. We are in the business of customer service and those statements reflect attitudes that are not in the spirit of meeting our members' needs. In today's world, if we go into a store and we don't get good service, we are reluctant to go back. In a membership organization, if a member does not good service, they don't renew their membership. 

We can do all the promotion and marketing we want, but if we don't treat our members--our customers well--they probably won't rejoin.  We all have to be intentional and think of how we can meet our members' needs. When they can't do something or fill out a form that we want them to, we need to ask: "How can I help you?"  When they complain about an issue, we need to listen to their concerns and investigate whether there is anything we can do. When a member sends us an email, we need to answer the email within a reasonable time, usually within 24 hours. When we see a member at a meeting, we need to make them feel welcome. When we see someone we know on Zoom, we need to acknowledge them.  Those little actions that treat people with respect and  show that we value them make a big difference in retaining members. Let's all monitor our behaviors to make sure we are treating our members with the respect they deserve. When we take actions, let's ask ourselves, "What does that mean to our members?" 

Putting the needs of our members first must be our priority.