So I’m making phone calls today, following up with folks who indicated an interest in my medical device conference happening in two weeks.

It inspired this post to remind you: Your First Brand Impression May Be The Way You Treat Your Callers.

Read a sample of what I encountered and ask, “Do I treat my callers the way I would like to be treated?”

In telephone etiquette you probably want (a) a human who (b) knows how to help you. Avoid these impressions:

The “Are You A Real Business” Impression

My experience with [RidiculousCorp] was so bad I wrote their EVP. I said,

[Name withheld], you may like to know your phone service gives the impression you do not have a running operation.

I called these numbers:
• xxx-369-x531 first time, no connection at all
• xxx-369-x531 second time, rang and rang and rang
• Your Phone xxx.536.xx71 fast busy signal
• Your Cell xxx.596.xx11 fast busy signal

Thought you should know.

Then I dismissed the company as one with which I would never do business, adding the note, “Ridiculous phone service.”

The “Nine Person Operation” Impression

I called another company who advised me I should:
“Push 1 for Marty Martinson”
“Push 2 for Carl Carlson”
“Push 3 for Bill Billson,” you get the idea.

So I patiently waited. Maybe by “Push 9″ I might actually get who I was calling for, all the while thinking, “I thought the company was bigger than nine people.”

Todd, the guy who emailed me in the first place, wasn’t one of the nine!

Does Todd work there anymore? Does he work in a satellite office?

I still don’t know. At that point, I could “Push Zero for the Operator” but she wasn’t available to take my call right now. I could leave a message.

Instead I disconnected, never to phone again.

The “We May Not Help You” Impression

I wanted to speak with Laura (who emailed me) but I didn’t know what department she was in.

Then came my choices: 1 for Finance, 2 for Operations, or 3 for the “General Mailbox.”

What does General Mailbox mean to you?

To me it means, “I don’t know who will get this or when. I don’t know if my message will get to the right person. And I don’t know if or when someone will call me back.”

I left a message. But don’t know what happened.

Not how I wanted to be treated.

The “Nobody’s Home” Impression

I was trying to reach their head of marketing. I failed, and wrote her:

One marketer to another, I thought I’d let you know about your phone system.

It is maddening. If I were a prospect, I would give up.

I dialed 212.xxx.4400 to give you more information about the 10x Conference you asked about. I dialed by last name to locate you and was immediately sent back to the main recording. I chose Operator and got the same recording. I chose “Sales.” No one answered. I chose “Marketing.” No one answered.

I gave up. Surely, not the impression you wanted to give.

I hope you find this note constructive, as intended.

The “Do You Know How Frustrating This Is” Impression

Me: Hi, is Eva there?
He: Um, I can’t find her. Oh! She works in our Boston office.
Me: Thanks, can you transfer me to her?
He: No, I’m sorry I can’t.
Me: OK, no problem, what’s her number?
He: Sorry, I don’t have her number.
Me: Oh, ok. What is the main number for the Boston office, please?
He: They don’t have a receptionist there so I don’t have a number to give you.
Me: Um, so, how can you help me?
He: You could send her an email, I guess.

[Insert your own expletive.]

The “WTF” Impression

If you have a website and you post a phone number, make sure it works reliably.

And yet I got the “Your call cannot be completed as dialed” message. Really?!

Go Ahead. Call Yourself.

Call your office and ask for you. (Disguise your voice or have a friend call.) Is finding you a good experience? Does your company deliver the first impression you intend?

While you’re at it, check your outbound voice message. Ask a friend to phone and report the first impression your message gives.

Another idea: Add your phone number to your email signature. Make it easy for us.

Folks, this stuff matters.

This is your brand we’re talking about.

“Hey Joe, I have a job interview at a company that produces medical devices. I applied for a marketing job, I have worked in the automotive sector so far. What are the dominant marketing tool in the medical equipment industry? I would really appreciate a reply!”

Here’s my reply.

I wrote, “I would say inbound marketing just as it is with every other industry these days.”

Visitor 1: For real?

Joe Hage: for real

Joe Hage: what alternative do you suggest?

Visitor 1: I thought that you would have to do more seminars and show doctors how your machine works and what differentiates your machine form others…

Visitor 1: so basically educate them about your product

Joe Hage: in-person demos are absolutely important

Visitor 1: I thought blogging and the like would be too superficial…

Joe Hage: no, think of it this way

Joe Hage: when the doctor wants information

Joe Hage: where will s/he go?

Visitor 1: I guess he would talk to colleagues

Visitor 1: find out what is “hot” on the market

Joe Hage: word of mouth, yes

Joe Hage: excellent

Joe Hage: but as a medical device manufacturer

Joe Hage: how would you affect that influencer?

Joe Hage: where would the colleague go?

Visitor 1: Most likely the Internet…

Joe Hage: yes

Joe Hage: and probably start with a search, yes?

Visitor 1: true that

Visitor 1: Or contact a sales representative he trusts

Joe Hage: also good

Joe Hage: ok, so, when they type in the term of interest

Joe Hage: what will they find?

Joe Hage: that’s where inbound marketing comes into play. Watch this 2.5-minute video.

Joe Hage: http://MedicalMarcom.com/Services

Visitor 1: [Visitor page reloaded. New URL:  http://www.medicalmarcom.com/services/ ]

Visitor 1: ok

Visitor 1: Hmmm, interesting

Joe Hage: so, for real?

Visitor 1: Yep. I got your point. Well, on top of inbound marketing what are other often used marketing tools?

At this point, my new friend downloaded my ebook, thereby joining my subscriber base.

Visitor 1: [Visitor page reloaded. New URL: http://www.medicalmarcom.com/medical-device-marketing-ideas/ ]

Visitor 1: [Visitor page reloaded. New URL: /?awt_m=1bv97zSUC8c&]

Joe Hage: There’s still a role for traditional media: Print, trade shows, editorials, brochures, telemarketing, etc.

Joe Hage: You can complement these with webinars and other electronically delivered media; videos, social media to amplify your message, etc.

Visitor 1: Cool! Thanks for the ideas! My last job was pricing and product positioning so marketing was not my field… Thanks for the help!

Joe Hage: My pleasure. Write back to tell me you got the job!

Visitor 1: I will!

Visitor 1: [Visitor disconnected from chat (18 min)]

Postscript: Seriously, get SnapEngage. I can’t recommend it more fervently.

Click to enlarge

As of this writing, George Takei, Star Trek’s Mr. Sulu, has a 3.7-million-fan Facebook following. A gay, married man, George is a strong and visible proponent for the LGBTQ community who recently shared the image I’ve posted to the right.

Why am I sharing it with you?

What could it possibly have to do with medical device marketing?

Three Relevant Parallels

1. A Solid Value Proposition. We talked about this in “The First Three Questions,” still among the “most important things” I’ve written.

The message is clear:

(The target) To those opposed to same-sex marriage,

(what) the momentum behind

(frame of reference) this initiative has breached the tipping point and

(benefit) to avoid your future embarrassment, you should jump on board

(supporting claim) because as with the women’s suffrage, civil rights, and other inequality movements throughout our nation’s history, this, too, will be overturned.

2. The punchline. After you read the list of products you enjoy that, in order to be consistent (see “Six Ways“) with your position, you’d have to boycott those products including Facebook, the platform upon which you received the message in the first place.

Also, the zinger “Don’t be on the wrong side of history” is campaign-worthy by itself.

It reminds me of my friend Arundhati Parmar’s MDDI article yesterday: “Sensing the Winds Shifting, Medtronic Applauds Efforts to Repeal the Device Tax.”

Now that it seems medical device tax repeal is possible, Medtronic is hedging its position on the matter. It’s safer now to do so. They don’t want to be on the wrong side of history.

3. For many, medical device marketing is on the “wrong side of history.”

I share the image to the right at conferences. Not only does our protagonist look a lot like my brother-in-law but I ask the audience to fast-forward 50 years.

How will your prospect get information at that time? How will she learn which products to buy; how to allocate her budget?

What will her expectations be in terms of reaching you … you, the person in sales, the person in marketing, the person in customer or tech support?

When your prospect contacts you, will you know who it is? His history with your company? Maybe even history of all products he stocks today, what he’s done with your competitors?

So …

Are YOU on the wrong side of history?

Are you allocating more of your medical device marketing online?

Are you proud of your web presence?

Are you using contemporary online lead generation techniques?

We really should talk one of these days.

Coda

For your entertainment and perspective, watch AT&T’s 20-year-old “You Will” campaign and think, “These concepts were completely foreign to us 20 years ago.” Wow.

My April 10x Medical Device Conference in Minneapolis will cost me tens of thousands. So mistakes could be very costly, indeed!

Luckily, I met Scott Frangos of Webdirexion.

Scott showed me an easy and inexpensive way to test the medical device conference website design before we launched. Consider doing the same when next you refresh your medical device website.

Of course, many decisions precede web design, such as:

1. What Is Your Point of Difference? In this illustration, does the world need another medical device conference?

The inspiration for 10x came from the Medical Devices Group I lead. I get hundreds of messages weekly and “we need funding and innovation” is a common refrain.

While there are plenty of conferences for startups, I found none addressing revenue-generating medical device companies in the small to mid-sized range which recognize the strategies that got them this far may not be the ones to propel them forward. So a conference was born. See “Who Should Attend.”

2. Do you need a new site or can you use an existing one? Since the conference is closely associated with the 160,000+ member Medical Devices Group, I considered using the companion site we built to support the Group.

Then I decided promoting the medical device conference was “too important” to just have a page on a website. So I built a new website to support it.

3. What domain name should you choose? I was careful to choose a title we could re-use after the conference. I knew we would invest to search engine optimize the site: I don’t want it obsolete in May!

To capture searches for “medical device conferences,” I wanted to get Medical Device Conferences dot com. It was taken. So I settled for MedicalDeviceEvents.com.

Webdirexion helped get us on Google’s first page. As of this writing, the site ranks second for “medical device events,” and eighth for “medical device conferences” after three months.

Kudos to Scott for that!

4. Will You Test Your Web Design Assumptions? Scott helped us make important decisions (before we wrote an ounce of code) by creating a graphic of the homepage, then having a few dozen testers answer some questions.

How wrong we were about our assumptions!

Scott made this video recap detailing what we learned. It’s definitely worth your time so bookmark this post if you need to come back to it.

Testers Told Us The Answers!

• I wanted a white banner with black text. They said no. Make it black with white text.

• I originally called the event “The Two-Day Accelerator.” They said no. Call it a conference.

• We showed four images. They picked one. We overruled them and went for number two.

• We asked, “Where would you click for more information?” They surprised us with a key insight we otherwise would have missed!

5. How Will You Promote Your Product Or Service? For me, this is still a work-in-progress.

Congressman Erik Paulsen opens the conference. (Senator Amy Klobuchar may also attend.) We’ll write a press release with his office about it.

We have media partners promoting the event with banners and editorial content.

A client had great success using the telephone to promote her conference. So we are now considering the same.

We are also considering a direct mailing. (A successful producer has sent me four large, glossy brochures about his conference so far. That seems excessive to me, but a smaller effort may be worthwhile.)

And I need to get a video together. That will help with SEO as well.

Coda

Did you find this article helpful? Then share it and leave a comment.

What best practices have you seen? What am I missing?

Related: Promoting Your Conference

This one was simply too good not to share.

Need a new medical device website? Not so fast.

• Who do you want to visit your site?
• What is the one thing you want your prospect to know about you?
• Which one action would you like your prospect to take?

When you know the answers, put them in your creative brief. Then let’s talk.

One of my fondest early jobs was “Ice Cream Clerk” at Frusen Gladje in Bay Ridge, Brooklyn circa 1983. They had a Ms. Pac-Man game there. I used to play with the “nice” boss after work.

Then there was another boss. Let’s call him Bill. (His name was Bill.)

Bill was a bit of a jerk. Way into body building. Physically intimidating.

Anyhow, it was Bill who taught me a lesson I never forgot.

He said, “Whenever anybody asks for a flavor we don’t have, never say ‘we don’t have that.’”

He said, “If somebody asks for Mint Chocolate Chip, you say, ‘we have Rum Raisin.’”

I thought that was kind of ridiculous. If I want Mint Chocolate Chip, what makes you think I would eat Rum Raisin?

I don’t even like Rum Raisin.

But I did what he said. Was it effective? I don’t remember. But I do remember feeling good about keeping the conversation positive.

Why am I telling you this?

1. I’ve always liked that story.

2. I got an email today from a major company who might have sponsored my 10x Conference. She wrote:

At this time, we are considering sending our Minneapolis based Account Executive to the event. We would like to evaluate the event first and will consider sponsorship for future events.

I replied, “Makes perfect sense to me. Have him/her register soon because the price goes up each Wednesday.”

She replied,

Is there any possibility of getting a free registration pass or discounted one so we can evaluate the show for future sponsorships?

As I considered my reply, “Rum Raisin” came to mind.

“I can assure you the event will be worthwhile. Read this.

I lead the world’s largest medical device community and am making a point to know every single guest personally. I will broker introductions as well.

You have much to teach our members. I look forward to your participation!”

Coda
Will they register and pay? I don’t know yet.

But it inspired this post. I hope you enjoyed it.

And perhaps the next time someone asks you for the Mint Chocolate Chip of your business, you’ll know what to do.

I was giving a presentation about medical device lead generation when an audience member challenged me.

“I don’t like when I visit a site and they try to sell me.”

I had a strong and immediate reaction to her statement. Hear me out.

I said,

I don’t have to marry you right away.
But I can let you know that I’m available.

Let’s take your site, for example. Do you give me a REASON to give you my email address? I’m not talking about your contact form. I’d fill that out if I wanted your sales guy to call me.

I do not want your sales guy to call me. But I may be interested in learning more about you on my own time.

I might even give you my email address for the promise of your video and white paper.

Let’s Talk About SnapEngage

I’ve written about SnapEngage before, calling it the “Best Conversion Tool I Know.” I absolutely love SnapEngage and have it installed on six sites I manage. I have a “proactive chat” box open on these sites:

• http://MedicalMarcom.com – my medical device marketing consultancy
• http://MedicalDeviceEvents.com – the site which features upcoming medical device conferences
• http://NorthwestSound.org – my barbershop chorus (give a listen!)

Now, some people HATE THIS.

“I hate pop-ups,” they say.
“Ew, this is creepy!” I was scolded this week.
“What makes you think I want to talk to you?” excoriated visitor “Larry.”
“It’s a bad brand experience,” insists my audience member.

And chances are 50/50 you’re sitting there now saying, “Yup. I hate that shit. Never doing that on my site.”

Suit yourself.

But I’ll tell you this:

I have personally made TENS OF THOUSANDS OF DOLLARS because of the relationships I started with this simple chat box.

So, I’m sorry Larry didn’t care for the user experience. But the chances Larry would have bought anything from me are so small that, hey, we all have trade-offs to make.

This goes back to the Return on Relationship conversation we had two weeks ago. I built a relationship with a visitor, which led to a conversation, which led to a proposal, income, and a mortgage payment.

Another example: I had a visitor on this page when my pop-up popped up. He was considering a purchase.

As I engaged him, I realized I knew this guy. We were Linked and he’s a member of my Linked:Seattle group. I invited him to phone me and now, instead of a potential one-time purchase, I made a new customer for life. (Take that, Larry.)

Now, if you really, really, really hate pop ups and there ain’t nothin’ I’m gonna say to change your mind, I still recommend SnapEngage. I have the application on the following three sites and there is no pop up, just this harmless tab on the side of the site. If someone wants me, there I’ll be, just in time to help convert a visitor.

• http://MedicalDevicesGroup.net – the companion site to LinkedIn’s Medical Devices Group
• http://no2point3.com – the online petition for the medical device tax
• http://joehageonline.com – my personal site (stop by!)

So, what are you doing later? I’m around. Let’s talk.

Postscript: I’m getting more active on the international speaking stage. If your employees or conference audience needs to build businesses using contemporary online marketing strategies, I’m available.

I’ve written before about Ted Rubin, the most followed CMO on Twitter. (See video.) Ted coined the phrase “Return on Relationship” because (in his words), ‘Everything comes down to relationships.’

I more than recommend his new book, “Return on Relationship.” I live it.

If only one person in your organization reads it, I hope it’s your Chief Executive Officer.

While the Chief Marketing Officer shapes the brand and the customer experience, the Chief Executive Officer shapes the company’s culture. The spirit of #RonR embraces the value of everyone with whom the company interacts: fellow employees, customers, suppliers, media partners, investors … the list goes on and on.

Top “Return on Relationship” Takeaways

1. “To many businesses, social media is still a campaign-based tactic, viewed and managed separately from business operations. This is flawed thinking.”

I met Robert Packard because he “just showed up” in the Medical Devices Group one day. He answered a member’s question. Then another. Then another. Each, so completely, I wondered who this guy was.

Robert did not participate in the group as part of a campaign. He just built relationships.

His ROR?

Robert can directly tie three clients to his Medical Devices Group contributions. I also invited him to speak at my medical device conference where small- and mid-sized medical device manufacturers will pay to hear him speak.

2. “You can turn a possible negative experience into a shining moment for your company. How? Simply by being there and taking an honest interest in what your customers have to say, even if it isn’t good. Responding publicly has another important, cost-saving benefit. Other people with the same issues (you can and should assume there are others) can receive resolution via your response. They see how you interact … and then make their own judgments about your brand character based on those interactions. If you’re doing it right, you will build brand advocates in the process.”

The first time I got eviscerated in social media, I was furious. I wanted to kick the member out of the Medical Devices Group and delete his comment. Then (after my wife silenced and sent me to another room to eat dinner alone), I read the guest post Ted wrote for me: Lessons from the Chapstick Social Media Fiasco and knew I had to take the high road.

I spent the next four hours crafting my very public response. You can read the exchange here. My response earned my detractor’s respect (we are now friends and connected on LinkedIn) and it unleashed a wave of members who supported my position.

3. “It’s nice to see some humanity behind the giant talking head of a brand, so don’t hide yours.”

Oh, if only my clients would heed this advice.

The world of medical devices can be so stodgy, don’t you think?

I mean, We Are Saving People’s Lives Here.

I was giving a presentation at the Content Marketing World Health Summit back in November when I spontaneously blurted this out. I’m adding it to my talking points.

And again …

It’s ok to Be A Person online. You cure cancer? Great! I still want to see it’s a fun place to work, so post the pie-eating contest photo from your company picnic. I bet it gets shared!

4. What is your Social ID, measured by your responsiveness, thought leadership, content creation, relevance, and demeanor?

Too much here. Get the book: Return on Relationship.

In fact, this post is already one of my longer ones.

Trust me, get the book. It’s only 11 bucks in paperback. It’s a worthwhile read.

I bet you’d love your medical device story picked up by The Wall Street Journal, New York Times, The Huffington Post, WebMD, and the like.

Of course, I’m talking about the online versions. And online, there’s only one currency.

The click.

So why might the Journal pick up your story?

• You might have someone like Chris Gale to help you. (He prepared a great “cheat sheet,” email me if you want a copy.)
• You might have a connection at the Journal.
• You might write your own press release and hope it gets picked up.

But even if you know Chris, someone at the Journal, AND write a press release, you’re going to need a hook. Something to attract eyeballs and clicks for the Journal.

Consider the following tactics I picked up from “Trust Me, I’m Lying,” an excellent but nefarious book.

1. Target the feeder blogs.
The Wall Street Journal must feed “the insatiable beast” with more and more content.

With compressed margins and fewer employees, online publications need pre-packaged stories and synopses to expedite their time-to-publication. Figure out what blogs and publications Journal editors read and target those. If your story is popular on one of those blogs, you have a better chance The Journal will see it and cover it.

2. Use a loaded-question headline.
Remember the click. Clicks are the only way publications can sell advertising and stay in business. You have fractions of a second to catch the scanning reader’s attention and the headline determines whether s/he’ll click through to read more.

Gawker writer Brian Moylan once said the key is to “get the whole story into the headline but leave out just enough that people will want to click.” I believe him.

3. Consider some chocolate chips.
Let’s face it: Most medical device marketing is plain-vanilla boring. Isn’t there any way you can add some chocolate chips to the story and stay within your company’s guidelines?

I’m not talking about being reckless or making up a new indication for your device. But you can probably add some spice to your editorial and still keep your job.

Which headline would garner more clicks about automated external defibrillators?

Billy Mays Died From Cardiac Arrest

– or –

Billy Mays: His Cause of Death

4. Go rogue.
I actively dislike this strategy because it is dishonest. But it’s done. So I’m sharing it for your general knowledge, not your application.

Those feeder blogs you targeted in suggestion number one? They hate silence. From “Trust,”

… Posts that don’t generate follow-up commentary are dead in the link economy.

… No comments, no links, no traffic, no money.

So the logic goes, if it’s comments they want, give ‘em comments … even if it comes from bogus accounts creating false controversy to get the comment count up.

From my LinkedIn group, I know this phenomenon all too well. Comments beget comments. There’s a ‘social proof‘ in the number of comments: If 108 people took the time to say something here, it must be relevant.

To the publisher, a lack of comments may signal a less interesting topic, which may curtail how much more “ink” it gets in the future.

So, how do YOU get the coverage you need?