Posts Tagged: Darryl Stewart

Herd Philosophy / Marketing — 1 Comment
18
May 12

How to get Medicine Hat people to unsubscribe in record time

By Darryl Stewart, Head of the Herd

Day three of our “Why not Medicine Hat?” campaign started full of promise:

  • We had researched almost 100 small business people in Medicine Hat.
  • We had crafted a 30 second survey to help up figure out how to best serve Medicine Hat.
  • We had secured a special gift for each person who took the survey and written a wonderful email explaining what we are up to.

We felt we would not upset anyone with the offer of a bestselling book in return for a 30 second survey.  The worst that could happen is that we would be ignored.  The best is that we would get to understand Medicine Hat people and businesses a little better and start a few real conversations.

Basically the worst happened.  We were totally ignored.  We also saw the highest unsubscribe rate we have ever had on an email campaign and one of the lowest open rates ever.  At first we were stunned. Had we really missed the mark that bad?

The post mortem revealed some glaring errors in our approach.  Basically, we interrupted a bunch of busy business people with what appeared to be a spam email at the busiest time in the business day.  We got exactly what we deserved!

Why write about our mistake?  We are all about helping other businesses and organizations.  If our lesson helps someone else, then something good came out of this.

As far as Medicine Hat, there is some good news.  The personal touch works much better.  If we take the time to seek people out, listen to their needs and have a real conversation, we get to meet some really cool people, in a really cool place.  More on that in future posts.

Anyone else want to share a marketing mistake?

Employee Engagement / Herd Philosophy — No Comments
20
Jan 12

How to deal with your problem employee

By Darryl Stewart, Head of the Herd

Gallop asked this question to eighty thousand managers: “You have a talented employee who consistently shows up late for work.  What would you say to this employee?”

Common answers were:

  • I would lock them out
  • I don’t care as long as they stay and get their work done
  • I would fire them, we don’t tolerate lateness
  • I would give them a verbal, then a written and then fire them.

These are defensible answers, but the statistically great managers answered something along the lines of:

  • I would ask them why

Herein lies the secret to dealing with your problem employee.

  1. Define the outcome you have agreed on with them (100% on time for the next 60 days).
  2. Hold them accountable for their results (you were 10 minutes late Tuesday and 15 minutes late Friday).
  3. Ask them why they have fallen short and listen, really listen, to the why.  You may have to ask more questions and keep your tone and posture neutral to get them talking – use every ounce of self control you have not to be judgmental during this time.

To summarize… define the outcome together, constantly hold up a mirror (and make them look at it) and then ask the why.

If you can get to why you can usually figure out how you can help, either help them reach the outcome, agree to change the outcome or help them leave your organization.

Herd Philosophy — No Comments
31
Oct 11

The many signs of the IBEX Herd

by Lisa Tachan, Head of Spreading the Herd Word

The first time I walked through the doors leading into the IBEX Herdquarters, I was met head-on with a sign much like these . . .

. . . except of course, it was my name featured on this sign in big fancy bubble letters surrounded by bright flowers. Hey,  that’s pretty neat, I thought.

Little did I know that with IBEX, this is just the tip of the iceberg.

If you follow our Inclusion or IBEX blog, you’ll notice that there is a heavy emphasis on workplace culture, giving back to the community, and customer service. I haven’t been here all that long (earned my “horns” about a week ago), but I can already give you an endless list of reasons why I really enjoy working at IBEX.

Reason #1 – Signmania

I had the pleasure of putting up the Halloween sign this morning in front of the IBEX building (we’re located at 421 Mulvey Ave East, Winnipeg, right off of Osborne, and just before the bridge). Apparently, this is not just a seasonal thing, as pointed out to me by Darryl Stewart, Head of the Herd. Checking out some of our past photos, I’ve come to realize IBEX really likes their signs.

Drum roll please. . .

And last but not least, my personal favourite:

Not just for seasons greetings anymore, folks!

Herd Philosophy / IBEX Payroll / System Improvement — 2 Comments
12
Aug 11

Why I wore only my underwear to work

The other day I came to work in my underwear.  I wanted to highlight that it was time for IBEX to “let it all hang out”.

Darryl in his underwear

The first thing to notice in the photograph is how alone I was.  That day, for some unknown reason, most everyone decided to move to the other side of the room for our daily Herrdle.

The point I was trying to make was that it was time for IBEX to move to the active unabashed phase of our growth plans.

We have been working behind the scenes for almost two years to get our systems and ourselves ready and now is the time to “let it all hang out”.

This is the first in a series on what IBEX is doing to grow our business.

Before getting to the specifics on what we are doing and what we have learned along the way, let’s take a step back to why.

Before we undertook the growth steps I will describe in this series, we asked ourselves – do we really want to grow?

The answer was a resounding yes and our reasons were:

  • Our existing customers want new, better, and constantly improving systems that keep up with their changing needs.
  • We want career growth, learning opportunities and the excitement that comes from improvement and growth.
  • We want to compete not stagnate.  It is healthy for us, our customers (both current and future), and even our competitors, if we raise the bar.
  • It feels right for us

In the second of this series, I’ll share the first step in growing IBEX style.

Herd Philosophy — No Comments
6
Jan 11

The Power of Thank You

I had a tough day yesterday.  It felt like the whole world was piling their issues upon me.  I was feeling sorry for myself and pissed off at everyone.

This morning (I am always 10 times better the next morning) I read an email from someone that reminded me how much they had helped me yesterday and another from a volunteer at my community club, that made me think about how much they do and how little they get back.  Both of these people needed thanking.  I thanked them.  I felt much better.

I then thought about ALL the people in my life that needed thanking.  It is a long list.  Good thing it feels so go to do.

If you need a lift today – try some random thanking.

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