Worcester Business Journal

wbjournal.com | August 20, 2018 | Worcester Business Journal 41 10 T H I NG S I know about . . . … Text message marketing By Dan Slavin Dan Slavin is CEO and co-founder of CodeBroker, a provider of mobile marketing solutions with offices in Belmont and Amherst. Reach him at dan. slavin@codebroker.com. 10) Undervalued. SMS (text messaging) is a powerful and often overlooked marketing tool able to increase retailer's foot traffic and enhance basket size, though it's not limited to only retailers. 9) Dreamy stats. 90 percent of text messages are read within the first three seconds of being received, and a whopping 98 percent of them are eventually read. These stats spell a marketer's ROI dream. 8) Support. When shopping for an SMS solution, inquire about account/project support, training and after-sales service. Ask whether you can use the system yourself in a self-service mode as this can often be a major time saver. 7) Grow your list. Successful SMS marketing starts with building and growing your SMS marketing list. Use a mobile coupon as a welcome incentive. 6) Coupon offers. Mobile coupons delivered via text message drive high levels of purchases and urgency; 25 percent of consumers redeem coupons within three days, and 60 percent redeem within one week. 5) Sign-up process. Process should be painless – don't ask for too much info. Run through the sign-up yourself to assess it. It should include ability to collect end-user demographic info if that is important for your business. 4) Integrations. When evaluating SMS tools, look for minimal IT involvement and compatibility with existing systems. 3) Due diligence. Evaluate your SMS marketing solution for sign-up completion rates, redemption rates for mobile offers, and revenue generated from programs similar to yours. 2) Compliance. Regulations are prone to change often so ask about compliance. Look for credit-card worthy security to ensure your data is secure. You may still want to run your own security audits. 1) Tracking/reporting. Look for ability to track your SMS campaign performance using analytics in real-time, including list growth, consumer engagement, and opt-in/ opt-out metrics. K N O W H O W Who's got your back? 10 1: M A N A G E R I A L M I S S T E P S B usinesses benefit in countless ways from having a board of advisors. A good board can take a lead role in devising and driving a business strate- gy. It can help a company fulfill its goals and grow through independent feedback and advice. Board members have a gen- uine interest in the company's success and are made up of trusted advisors who challenge management to think outside the box. Boards bring knowledge and diverse skills to the business. All of that is great for a business, but what about you? Aer all, you are your own brand, and you're growing your- self professionally. When you go to an interview or ask for a promotion, you're selling yourself and your skills – YOU are the product. Whether you're working your way up the corporate ladder, tran- sitioning into something new, building a business, or fresh out of school, it's daunting work. So who has your back? Who's on your personal board? On Feb. 24th, I attended the Dynamic Women in Business Conference at Har- vard Business School. At the conference, I attended a breakout session led by Lisa Skeete Tatum, co-founder and CEO of Landit, a technology platform created to increase the success and engagement of women in the workplace, and to enable companies to attract, develop and retain high-potential, diverse talent. At the conference, Skeete Tatum discussed the importance of creating your personal board of advisors – a dream team you can turn to for the support you need to achieve your goals. ey are the people you call when you're in a pinch and need advice, roadblocks removed, a plan of action, or a connection. ese are your go-to people. Your personal board should fill six key roles (the same person may fill multiple): 1. Your mentor. is is your personal strategist. A mentor helps you articulate your goals and holds you accountable. 2. Your sponsor. is is your call-in-a- favor person. A sponsor creates opportu- nities and opens doors for you. 3. Your connector. is person knows everyone and is plugged into great networks. A connector puts you in touch with the right people. 4. Your point expert. is is your been-there-done-that person. You can rely on them for advice on topics rele- vant to your career. 5. Your executive coach. is is the independent voice asking tough ques- tions. A coach pushes you to find the right solutions. 6. Your close friend. is person knows you well personally, and you're comfortable leaning on them for support. So where do you find this dream team? It might take time, but as you meet people in your personal and professional life, think about whether or not they would be a good fit. Perhaps it's a professor who gave you great advice; a supervisor from a previous job whom you admire; or an executive at a local company you follow on social media sharing great nuggets of wisdom. Attend conferences and networking events. e Worcester region is lucky to boast a number of fantastic social events and networking groups. Between the Worcester Regional Chamber of Com- merce; the Young Professional Wom- en's Association; Central Mass. Young Professionals; my new venture coming this fall, Speaker Sisterhood (shameless plug); and so many others, you're bound to find great people, doing great things, who could become great advisors to you, so network with a purpose! Find your people, treat them well, thank them oen, and reciprocate. BY ERIN JANSKY Special to the Worcester Business Journal BY SUSAN SHALHOUB Special to the Worcester Business Journal M anagers have busy days of meetings, conference calls and problem solving. It can be easy to forget to take the time to step back and take a true assessment of your managerial performance when you are the one in charge of assessing everyone else. Here are three things to keep in mind as a manager, to ensure you are doing the best you can for yourself and your team. Mistake No. 1: Giving only routine tasks to team members. Florence Stone of the American Management Association tells Monster.com it's a typical rookie-manager mistake – con- stantly doling out the more monoto- nous tasks to underlings. But offering team members more challenging things to do you may have been auto- matically doing yourself has built-in value. "Since most of the work these managers retain could provide training opportunities for their employees, they lose this chance to grow their employ- ees' abilities," Stone writes. Mistake No. 2: Micromanaging. Good bosses show people it's OK to come to them for help, but they don't hover. "People who feel micromanaged tend to do one of two things. ey quit (or transfer) so they can work for a man- ager who gives them room to do their jobs – or they check their brains at the door because they know you're going to over-control how they do things," according to Forbes.com. A good way to give employees more space is to leave more time in assigning a project, share your goals, and allow ample opportunity for questions along the way, with sched- uled checkpoints as part of the plan. Mistake No. 3: Picking favorites. It's a blow to team spirit and drags down collaboration quality and employee engagement. It's a sure way to destroy morale, writes Brigette Hyacinth at LinkedIn.com. "Employees who are not in your inner circle will always believe that you favor the employees who are – whether you do or not." Erin Jansky is the director of human resources at the Worcester Redevelopment Authority. Reach her at erin.jansky@yahoo.com. W W W

• Cover