Guiding Beliefs and Values
Communication is how we connect - people, ideas, traditions, dreams and purposeful work. Our best days are when we connect and our worst times are when we are misunderstood - as individuals and as communities and nations. Before there was an Information Age, the vision guiding The Communicators, Inc. was a world that simple worked and played at its best because of the power of in formation and responsible communication - thoughtful, planned, and brilliantly done.
Work is where you spend most of your life and we want that to count. Organizations that represent entire industries, entire professions and certification standards applied worldwide come to The Communicators for consultation and professional services. Spending every day with the top performers and superstars in every industry and profession in the world energizes us and humbles us. Every day millions of people wake up and decide if they will go to work or go on vacation. If the choice is work, then we believe it could be as interesting, as enriching and as rewarding as the time spent anywhere else.
Associations, certification programs and professional service companies deserve the recognition and respect shown to other businesses. The passion and belief that you have about your organization or business is so deeply felt and is often assumed as evident. Selling and marketing seems to rub against the mission or higher calling of our clients. Communication for nonprofit organizations and professional service companies is a constant challenge because they don’t think the rules of marketing apply to them, plus they complicate the conversation with jargon and their own verbal shorthand of initials. We believe every business of any size can be a better communicator. The advances and changes in communications practices and technology that we’ve pioneered for more than 25 years has prepared us well to provide the leadership and steady hand that our clients and larger, for-profit corporations will want to grab as the next wave of “customership,” “membership” and “collaborative environments” hits.
Our Approach
At all times we are creative. When you need to find your way out of the box, we have maps of all the escape routes. Everything you tell us or show to us is valuable. There are no wrong answers, only options. Most options are safe, a few options are brilliant and innovative, and some options make no sense and deserve no further attention. Everyone loves people who make them smile, so we make sure human connections and handshakes are part of everything called “complete communication strategy.”
Customers define us. Customers define your business. We believe the only thing that is real in business in the customer and everything else is ephemeral. This is exactly what all of our clients understand, either at the start of the engagement or by the time we have completed our work together. This is the truth that generates revenues and causes entire organizational charts to regroup around customer groups, rather than products or services. It takes only three months for our clients to begin to experience significant improvements and more relevant programs, once they redirect all attention and business processes to achieving higher levels of customer loyalty and repeat business.
We see the future as well as the immediate benefits of every situation. Some clients tell us it seems like a crystal ball comes with every project. This is more than starting with the end in mind. Because we do so much work building future scenarios for strategic plans and long-range projections, it seems like you have an experienced guide taking you into a future you are experiencing for the first time. That gives you more confidence to make bigger decisions and bolder moves when you have advance clues on what’s likely to appear in the areas of customer behaviors, technology, demographics, economic shifts and international trends.
Integrity and credibility mean everything. We work hard at understanding our client's needs. Long before customer relationship management (CRM) was a hot topic, total quality and customer communication was the way we thought you had to work to grow your organization. That’s why we provide the highest quality service possible in counseling, planning, research, marketing, communications and evaluation. We work even harder at making ourselves as valuable to our clients as they are to us. We take great care to earn the trust each client places in us.
What does it take to determine uniqueness?
It takes time, performance and communication with other people to say what is unique. How did Mozart know he was unique? Big talent and doing something with it certainly points to uniqueness.
What is unique about The Communicators is the constellation of clients we’ve attracted for 26 years, all of whom came from “under the radar.” Some call these emerging markets, such as associations, certification bodies and smaller businesses providing services that did not exist 30 years ago. How did this happen? Some say it’s because all of the partners’ roots are in journalism and the love of a good, accurate story, with pictures. Add to that, the ability to start, grow, manage and spin off or merge professional services and professional development businesses. Complete the picture with equal parts of leadership, innovation and marketing.
“Tell them you are the only for-profit business that shows non-profit associations how to think, act and prosper like corporations.” That comment came from an association executive who worked with The Communicators for four years, through 23 major projects when we asked how to explain all that we had done together. Starting a new magazine for 60,000 members was one project. Starting a national convention that solidified all 50 chapter organizations was one project. Millions of dollars can be on the line with any one of these projects.
We’re management consultants and front-line implementers who help their clients achieve the numbers and gutsy sales goals by knowing how to make the best in marketing and technology work together. We’ve always been the first kid on the block to find out if the latest in marketing systems or communications technologies would work in our clients’ businesses. We invest our own money and spend time with the “best practices” leaders to quickly apply or adapt marketing systems and technology to the nuances and custom requirements of national associations and l standards-setting organizations. When the book The Tipping Point by Malcolm Gladwell came out, several clients bought it and sent it to us with various inscriptions in the front, all saying something about how we are Paul Revere for them and they believe us when we tell them “The British are coming!”
We often “ride shotgun” with the CEO. We’ve facilitated more than 2,000 boards of directors meetings; however, it didn’t take that long to see that the most brilliant communications, marketing and technology solutions still need “buy in” and careful navigation through the minefields of cultures, committees, chapters, corporate partners and member networks. This is the communication that comes before the communication defined in the plans. This is where innovation and sure-fire solutions are most vulnerable to attack. While the leadership is busy running the business, we assist in communicating their vision and best ideas to their boards and customers and build consensus for the implementation of the envisioned solutions.
What's Our Next Step?
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