Quantum² Resources : Marketing & Management Tools : Letting the Light Shine: Twelve Steps to Making It So

Letting the Light Shine: Twelve Steps to Making It So

by Donna Stevens, Raychem Corporation

Don't put your light under a bushel: Let it shine! Donna Stevens, senior business information specialist at Raychem Corporation, lives by this age-old adage.

Raychem develops and manufactures thousands of high-performance products, including cable and fiber-optics systems and serves customers in more than 85 countries. The library tends to almost 10,000 employees worldwide.

Their commitment to visibility is critical to the library's successful internal marketing efforts. Employees are invited to drop in and test information products under trial. "I have been able to get a number of products in on beta test or free evaluation—compact disks especially," explains Ms. Stevens. "I send out memos and call and invite people who'd be interested in a particular product or service. This effort has been particularly well received because people love to offer their input."

A recent drop-in visitor was asked to review a compact disc product by an enthusiastic library staffer. "I always stop and chat with anyone who's using a demonstrtation product," says Ms. Stevens. "I realized from his question that there was a better source we could use—a database." She quickly located additional data for him. "I later received a very upbeat voicemail message acknowledging how quickly he was taken under someone's wing," Ms. Stevens says. The high quality of service and information she provided her customer had indeed spread the "light."

Twelve Steps to Making It So

STEP 1 — Know your company and know its business.

STEP 2 — Understand your customers. Know their workplaces, what they need, and how you can support them.

STEP 3 — Make sure your customers understand you. Be visible. Use industry language, not jargon to demonstrate the power of information.

STEP 4 — Find ways to leverage information to improve productivity. Combine external and internal information sources to the advantage of both you and your company.

STEP 5 — Participate on teams to increase visibility and to gain stronger alliances within your organization.

STEP 6 — Position yourelf as the information expert. Consider how new information technologies support your company.

STEP 7 — Examine everything you do in terms of how it contributes to the bottom line.

STEP 8 — Be willing to take risks. The more times you have a chance to hit the ball, the more likely you are to hit a home run.

STEP 9 — Develop a mind-set that concentrates on total customer satisfaction and quality.

STEP 10 Demonstrate your added value to upper management. Show how your department adds to the succes— s of your entire company. Publish regular "bottom line" reports.

STEP 11 — Learn to love change. It's not going to go away.

STEP 12 — Yes, you can. Make it so.