Mary Beth Ray, then the Van Ness Main Street president, addressing a 2016 VNMS fundraiser.

Mary Beth Ray has never shied away from a challenge. She served as an ANC 3F commissioner and she co-founded the predecessor to Van Ness Main Street, ANC 3Fs Van Ness Vision Committee. Ray went on to chair the VNMS board. Now she is helping people take on their own challenges as a leadership, career and life coach.

The brings to mind visions of one-on-one personal coaching and career development, but Ray also engages groups with her coaching. We were curious about that so we asked her to explain what is involved.

by Mary Beth Ray

You leave yet another meeting exhausted and frustrated. Did anyone even hear what you said? Everyone seemed to be talking past each other, one person hogged the floor, and next steps are clear as mud. Whats the point of a team if everyone refuses to collaborate?

Sound familiar? Whether a law firm, company, nonprofit, board, government agency, or another organization, how you and your colleagues understand or misunderstand each other affects every aspect of your organizations performance.

Workplace conflict is unavoidable, and it most commonly occurs when team members are fundamentally different. But differences are good and provide balance to the organization, which is crucial to top performance. The key is to identify and manage those differences, understanding yourself and others on the team, and the values each person brings.

Mary Beth Ray

What small but significant differences can you make to understand each other better? With a team assessment and debrief, employees understand the reasoning behind their colleagues actions, and they can begin to communicate their frustrations with each other with safer, less-confrontational language, and in turn, improve overall team awareness.

Differences can feel like each team member is speaking a different language. What if you had an instant translator to understand each of those languages? Team assessments are like instant translators.

Whats the difference between individual and team assessments? Many people are familiar with Myers Briggs, but not so familiar with a team assessment. While an individual assessment such as Myers Briggs can tell you about yourself, a team assessment will pull together data on the whole team, highlighting strengths, potential areas where members might get stuck, and identify adaptations that can lead to better collaboration. It can also identify potential gaps on your team, which can be taken into consideration in hiring to diversify your team and build strengths where they are currently lacking.

How does it work? Each member of the team takes an individual assessment measuring behavior, motivators and emotional quotient. The questions are online and take about 20 minutes. The assessment yields a 50-page report, followed up with an individual debrief with a certified coach, which takes about an hour and a half. Individual assessments identify individual strengths, ask if your strengths align well to your job role, and ask whether you are being managed to your strengths. Following individual debriefs, the team gets together for a group debrief with the coach, which takes less than 2 hours.

An example of TTIs Success Insights Wheel.

What happens in the team debrief? Each individual is plotted on the Success Insights Wheel, showing their natural and adapted behavior. Natural behavior is the real you and adapted behavior is how you change your behavior to adapt to your work environment. During a team debrief, the coach facilitates a discussion that gets everyone involved in sharing their strengths and identifying challenges. Starting with a volunteer, each member of the team shares their key insights from their reports. What are 1-2 things youd like your team to know about you? For example, do you like to lead or be in the background? Do you want to research every possible answer, or do you have a strong sense of urgency to get the work done. What value do they each bring to an organization, how do they want to be communicated with? We review perceptions, how each team member perceives his own value, and how others might perceive them under moderate or extreme stress. What do the natural and adapted graphs show with regard to how people approach problems and challenges, how people influence people, whether they process verbally or internally? Whats the potential for conflict when a boss is an extrovert and others on the team are introverts?

Whats up with the wheel? Where do team members fall within the wheel, are they task oriented or people oriented? Fast or slow? What value does each member bring to the team, and where might the team struggle? What are the learnings, and next steps to cultivate adaptations? If everyone in the group is a Supporter, it might feel like a calm, steady, friendly place to work. But would hiring a Persuader help drive new challenges, results and PR? What challenges could be anticipated with the addition of a Persuader?

Is this judgment? No. Its all about self-awareness and empathy. The self-awareness and empathy we learn through assessments teach us to understand where people are coming from, why they do what they do, and what motivates them. Assessments reveal the filters through which we process information and make decisions. Every decision has emotion attached to it, and as we discover our own emotion, and that of others, were able to reflect, make space for others, and ultimately make better decisions.

In short, there is no judgment, no right or wrong answer, and each person brings unique strengths and value to the team. Insights gained through team assessments provide the foundation for more effective communication, and mission success.

How accurate is the data?

TTI is the worlds leading developer of research-based, validated assessment and coaching tools, used in more than 90 countries and in 40 languages. TTI regularly uses statistical analysis and brain imaging to update and validate their questionnaires. Between January 2014 and May 2017, TTI collected data from 1,735,323 people. Here are the study results.

The DISC and Driving Forces assessments are pegged to the norm unique for each population it surveys. So for example, Argentines taking the DISC are benchmarked against other Argentines, not against Americans or French.

The Takeaway

Individual assessments give you an accurate perception of yourself, and how you interact with people. You will understand the causes of conflict. Results will guide your personal and professional development and a higher level of satisfaction. Team assessments will quickly show where conflict can occur, and identify where communication, understanding and appreciation can be increased.

Coaching can be a great next step following individual and team assessments. Coaching is a partnership between coach and client, with the coach using active listening and powerful questions to challenge and inspire the client toward self-awareness, growth, and action. It is different from therapy, mentoring, and performance review.

Leadership requires growth, and growth requires self-awareness. Assessments and coaching are great tools to dig deeply to understand who we are, what motivates us, and whether our lives are aligned with our values. What are our strengths, and how do we lean into them? What are our opportunities to be better leaders? Moving from good to great leadership moves a team or organization closer to mission success.

If you have any questions or would like more information, please check out mbrcoach.com or contact Mary Beth Ray at mbr@mbrcoach.com.

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Meet Your Neighbors: She helps people learn more about themselves and each other - Forest Hills Connection

CHECKPOINT/RNZ

There are 26 in the race, all Kiwis, and four among the favourites - no it's not the Melbourne Cup, but the race to become the next All Blacks coach.

OPINION:I'm at the kids' athletics day.

There's big pressure for them to perform and I know all eyes are on me. There is a lot on the line here.

I've done all I can. I can't run the race for them butI've taught them all my secrets.

I've trained them for hours and hours in the back yard but now this is the big stage. The big time. All I can do is watch and cheer. That's it. It's all up to them.

READ MORE: *How-to Dad: My British roots are haunting me *My name is Jordan and I'm a closethoarder * 25 coaches NZ Rugby likely approached for the top job

HANNAH PETERS/GETTY IMAGES

Pity the new All Blacks coach, they have a tough job ahead, writes Jordan Watson. (Steve Hansen pictured with assistant coach Ian Foster.)

Three third places.They're not happy, the crowd is furious and all fingers point at me.Before I can even catch my breath the kids have found a new dad.

That's how it would be if being a dad was like being a rugby coach.Holy crap, do they have it hard.

Some would say that the more difficult challenge lies before the new All Blacks' coach selection committee.Pffft,that's easy. Whoever they choose won't affect them. Instead, cameras will point at and dissect this new coach straight away.

As soon as their name is read out they'll feel the full force of a New Zealand rugby mad front row.They'll be fighting for the next four years, trying not to crumble under the immense pressure.

Us dads have it easy.Your job is easy.Compared to these international coaches life is easy.

Imagine if your end of year performance review at your accounting/building/bank/farming job put you in third place.You'd be pretty darn proud and your job would be safe. Only you and your employer would know the results and that would be that.

Now tear down the four walls of your working environment and replace them with pointingfingers, couch commentators, headline-hunting reporters and 4.5 million opinions on your terrible third place performance.That's the world of an international rugby coach.

LAWRENCE SMITH/STUFF

I have 2.2 million followers but they're generally kind if I skip a video, writes Jordan Watson.

No thanks, not for me.

Imagine if I didn't push the swing high enough?Or if Iforgot to pack the school book bag. What if I burn the kids dinner!?I'd be out.

Some of you will argue, 'oh yeah, but they get a good pay packet.'

Yeah they probably do, but that big bag of dosh doesn't make that 24/7 scrutiny go away.

It's funny that here in little old New Zealand our rugby coaches are more famous than our 'celebs'. They get more air time, more interviews, more heat and more trolls than our best celebrities combined.

I have 2.2 million followers around the world and am expected to deliver a comedic video every week.

If I dare skip a week ..people are generally kind. The people watching my sport of 'Dad videos' don't have the same rage bubbling in their veins. They are not so quick to judge.

The All Blacks coaching boots are bloody massive boots to fill.

And whether it be the surfy looking blonde guy or Foster the older bloke let's give them a fair go, yeah? Restrain your Facebook typing fingers, bite your cursing tongue and just be grateful the whole nation isn't watching your every move.

Sunday Star Times

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How-to Dad: Being a parent is easy compared to being an All Blacks coach - Stuff.co.nz

The Croydon North constituency was created in 1997 and since then has been represented by the Labour Party.

The constituencycovers the Croydon Council wards ofBensham Manor, Broad Green, Norbury, South Norwood, Thornton Heath, Upper Norwood, West Thornton, and Selhurst.

Labour and Co-operative member Steve Reed became the MP for the area in a 2012 by-election.

In 2017 he retained the seat with 44,213 votes, with the Conservative candidate coming in second with 11,848 votes.

In the EU Referendum in 2016 the constituency voted 58.83 per cent for remain.

Claire Bonham Liberal Democrats

Claire has been a Crystal Palace resident since 2013 and has worked for more than 15 years in the voluntary sector.

She stood for the Upper Norwood and Crystal Palace seat in the 2018 local elections.

If elected, I will be a voice for the residents of Croydon North, she said. I will work hard, collaboratively and with imagination to ensure thatdecisions are takenwithreal local input,deliveringreal local improvementin our services and environment.

Rachel Chance The Green Party

Rachel has campaigned with Extinction Rebellion and volunteered

for Crystal Palace Transition Town.

She has lived in Crystal Palace for the past seven years and works in the charity sector.

She wants to see cleaner air through cleaner public transport and said she will fight to preserve Croydons 39 green spaces.

Donald Ekekhomen Conservative

Donald moved to the UK from Nigeria to study and has worked as a pharmacist across Croydon.

He has lived in the borough for more than 11 years and is a supporterof Crystal Palace.

He added: I volunteer in local charities and am a trustee in one that helps disadvantaged young people.

Candace Mitchell Christian Peoples Alliance

Candace is a former teacher and youth worker.

She now runs RevolutionChange, a life coaching service.

She said: Since 2015 I have been interested in and standing up for things that are important to our community. I am a definition of diversity which is one of the striking characteristics of our constituency.

I am approachable and a strong advocate for things I believe in. I want to continue fighting for our families and community.

Chidi Ngwaba Brexit Party

Back in August it was announced that Chidi would be standing in the Beckenham Constituencybut now is standing in Croydon North.

In a video from the party, the doctor says he honours the will of the people

He has worked in the NHS for most of his career and says the NHS needs some work and he wants to get power back to the people in terms of democracy so we can take back control of our health.

Steve Reed Labour and Co-operative party

Before becoming an MP Steve, who is standing for re-election, was the leader of Lambeth Council.

He served as the shadow minister for children and families.

He said: I gotflammable Grenfell-style cladding stripped from a local housing block, I helped get a new school built after theConservatives left children in containers for six years, and Ive dealt with over 50,000 issues for local people who came to me for help.

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Here are your Croydon North election candidates | Your Local Guardian - Your Local Guardian

Nov. 18, 2019, 5:38 PM UTC

Kanye West has followed the Johnny Cash route and performed for inmates at a Houston jail.

In secret from the public, the star rapper-turned-gospel singer performed songs Friday from his new gospel album Jesus is King. He and his choir performed for more than 200 male inmates at one jail facility before crossing the street to another jail facility and performing for a smaller crowd of female inmates.

Harris County Sheriff Ed Gonzalez said Wests representatives asked jail officials about doing secret shows.

The events were reminiscent of prison concerts given by country singer Johnny Cash in California, and were performed two days before West is to speak at Joel Osteens vast Lakewood Church in Houston.

West discussed his musical and personal turn to Christianity, as well as the inspiration behind his latest album, in an interview with DJ Zane Lowe on Apple Music in October.

"Now that Im in service to Christ, my job is to spread the gospel, to let people know what Jesus has done for me," West said during a nearly two-hour conversation.

West's gospel-inspired album is his ninth in a row to open at the top of the Billboard 200, putting him in a tie with Eminem for the most consecutive No. 1s, Billboard says.

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Kanye West gives emotional performance of 'Jesus is King' for inmates at a Houston jail - NBC News

Arguably the hottest item among Tour professionals this year hasnt been the latest driver or longest ball. In fact, this product doesnt even help golfers hit their shots. But, it does make them better players and more-focused competitors. The WHOOP Strap 3.0 has been on the wrists of several Tour winners this year, as well as throngs of other pros -- none of whom get paid to wear it. Think of it as an ultra-advanced, state-of-the-art fitness tracker.

What started as a performance monitoring tool solely for elite athletes began catching on with the worlds top golfers three years ago. As they travel from one event to the next which in itself can take a tremendous toll on their bodies -- Tour pros perpetually seek an edge to improve their games and stay ahead of the competition. Gushes one top player: Right from the start, I realized WHOOP was an unbelievable tool to evaluate my process and help me prepare each day.

Thankfully for you, WHOOP is now also available to the masses. So, how exactly does it work?

Where other wearables monitor the basics like step count and heart rate, WHOOP goes well beyond -- giving insightful feedback through its Bluetooth-paired smartphone app on how your mind and body are adapting to external stressors. Among other things, stress can manifest itself in sleep quality, heart rate and heart rate variability . WHOOP tracks these physiological phenomena and translates that data into actionable recommendations.

Lets start with sleep. If yours is lacking, its almost certainly affecting you on the golf course. WHOOP evaluates your sleep quantity, quality and efficiency, then coaches you to a better nights rest by suggesting how much time you need to spend in bed. After all, chronic sleep debt reduces your mental and physical capacity that in turn lowers your performance level. Additionally, WHOOP tracks your sleep cycles and stages nightly, telling you how much time you spend in each. Tour pros using it aim to get 40-50 percent of their total sleep in deeper stages, so they can fully leverage physiological and psychological capacity in competition.

WHOOP also measures strain -- the cardiovascular load you put on your body. It opens a window into how quickly or slowly youre using up the proverbial fuel in your tank, and lets you know the exertion level you should aim to achieve each day. Managing strain and understanding how it builds is paramount in reducing any uncertainty around your performance levels. On the WHOOP app, you can see your live strain measure, heart rate and caloric burn all in real time, and even share performance analysis with your coach or swing instructor.

The thing that really sets WHOOP apart -- and the metric that many Tour pros find most valuable -- is the daily recovery score. Taking into account your previous strain, sleep and a number of other key physiological factors, it gives you a percentage from 0-100 (broken down and color-coded as red, yellow or green) indicating exactly how ready your body is to perform that day. Using the WHOOP recovery metric as a training guide enables golfers to ensure theyre in the green when it matters most.

Ultimately, WHOOP is an information portal to your body that lets you know ahead of time when youre primed to swing the club effortlessly, zero in on all of your targets, and think clearly out on the course. By taking your most advanced biometric data and presenting it to you in uncomplicated language and easy-to-understand graphics, its like having a personal trainer right on your wrist.

Click here to sign up for a six-month membership using promo code GD15, and WHOOP will send you the device for free. Then youll see why two of the worlds top four Tour pros rely on it -- and how it can transform your game, too.

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WHOOP: WHY ITS TAKING THE TOUR BY STORM, AND WHAT IT CAN DO FOR YOU - GolfDigest.com

LAWRENCE, Kan. Kansas swimming and diving opened up the first day of the Kansas Classic with not one, but two record-breaking performances in the five-event meet.

It was a team effort in the 400-yard medley relay to close out the night, as the team of Manon Manning, Kate Steward, Elizabeth Amato-Hanner and Jenny Nusbaum broke not only the Kansas Classic record but also the Kansas school record in the event with a final time of 3:37.37. This was a record that had stood in the program for 10 seasons before tonights performance.

Steward not only contributed to the record in the relay, but she also set her own individual record on the day as well in the 200 individual medley. Her final time of 1:59.21 was not only a personal best, but it set the Kansas Classic meet record as well in the event.

"Really good start to the meet. We were solid really from the first race on. How we ended the night was really strong. Our medley really was really good and broke a 10-year-old school record and Manon Manning had a lifetime best in her 100 back. Kate's 200 IM, the way that she finished that race, her best events are yet to come. So this was a great way to start the meet and we hope to keep up the momentum heading into tomorrow."

Through the first five events of the teams midseason meet, the Jayhawks currently sit in the lead with 350 total points. Iowa State currently holds second place with 217 points and Miami (Florida) rounds out the top three with 160 points.

Meanwhile, in Columbia, Missouri, the Kansas divers finished out the final day of the Tiger Invite with the platform dive events. Peri Charapich finished atop the Jayhawks leaderboard with a score of 182.10. She was followed by Amanda Fingerut with 146.00 total points and Alison Grass with 123.20 points.

"Overall, two victories and three top-12 finishes among our best competition to date. We're certainly happy with the outcome. But our divers also gained invaluable knowledge about where they are and what it will take to be even more successful going forward."

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Jayhawks Have Record-Breaking Friday Kansas Jayhawks - Kansas Jayhawks

ShotTracker's 'enabled' basketballs

ShotTracker

"If you don't shoot you don't score," entrepreneur Davyeon Ross recently told CNBC.

For Ross, that isn't just a clich it's a mantra that's helped him use his love of basketball to secure more than $25 million from investors including NBA legends David Stern and Magic Johnson.

Ross is the co-founder of ShotTracker, a start-up developing new technology to help basketball players, coaches and fans track individual and team performance on the court. The system, currently being used by more than 60 college basketball programs, incorporates wearable devices, "enabled" basketballs and on-court sensors to instantly feed more than 70 statistics such as shot count and points won to its users.

Raised in Trinidad and Tobago, Ross came to the U.S. on a basketball scholarship in 1996, studying for his math and computer science degree at Benedictine College before landing a job as a software engineer at Sprint.

"After that, I traveled while working in software but I always had a love for basketball," he told CNBC in a phone call. "My current partner called me one day to ask how I used to track my performance when I was playing at college. He was trying to measure his son's performance to help him improve his game."

The call prompted Ross to look at what was available on the market, which he remembers as "a painful process" and that gap in the market led to the birth of ShotTracker in 2013.

When it comes to securing investment, Ross told CNBC that every start-up founder must to be willing to bet on their own idea.

The founding team launched ShotTracker at the annual technology show CES in early 2016, self-funding to create a physical product they could show to would-be investors. The gamble came with no guarantee of securing additional investment.

"We put our money where our mouths were," Ross said. "You have to find ways to show you believe in your idea and that you've valuated it. That was a big, big investment, but it's paid its dividends."

Being fully behind your product or service as a start-up founder is "very powerful," he added.

"A lot of the time entrepreneurs' effort goes into telling people about their ideas, but for me it's about execution," Ross said.

Stern, former commissioner of the NBA, and legendary player Earvin "Magic" Johnson became investors in ShotTracker in October 2016, and both also act as business advisors. The amount they invested remains undisclosed, but their investments were part of a $5 million seed round for the start-up.

In May last year, Stern led a Series A funding round in ShotTracker, raising $10.4 million and taking the total invested in the company up to $21 million. To date, the team has raised around $27 million.

ShotTracker isn't Ross' first foray into starting a business. He started his first company, Digital Sports Ventures, at the age of 27, developing a platform that organized video and other college sports media.

His partner, Bruce Ianni, is also a seasoned entrepreneur, having founded Innovadex, a company Ross describes as the "Google for chemists," in 1997. Both co-founders sold their first companies to corporations for undisclosed amounts, but Ross told CNBC that their "decent exits" were enough to get ShotTracker off the ground.

Despite its success, ShotTracker has faced its fair share of challenges Ross told CNBC. Among other things, the co-founders struggled with deploying aspects of the technology, scaling the company, and even adapting to the changing nature of how people practice basketball.

"Setbacks are mandatory experiences that come with entrepreneurship," Ross said. "Start-ups are a learning experience. You try to go down one path and learn it's not the most optimal path, so you find a better one."

Looking forward, the company's growth strategy aims for ShotTracker to become to basketball what "wifi is to coffee shops," he added, with a view to expanding to other sports.

Technology focused on sports and fitness is a rapidly growing market.

Earlier this year, research firm MarketsandMarkets estimated the global sports tech industry would be worth $31.1 billion by 2024, with researchers valuing the market at $8.9 billion in 2018.

Big tech is helping to drive that growth, with Apple and Samsung investing in fitness tracking technology, while Alphabet's Google announced this month that it was acquiring Fitbit for around $2.1 billion.

In 2015, U.S. athleticwear brand Under Armour bought Endomondo, an app tracking users' performance while running, for $85 million.

Speaking to CNBC over the phone, Pete Giorgio, head of Deloitte's U.S. Sports Practice, said sports technology fits into two categories, depending on whether it's intended for professional or personal use.

"It's only going to continue to grow on both sides teams are becoming more and more comfortable with the information these things produce, and more adept at analyzing and gleaning information from it," he said.

"I think you'll continue to see an increased sophistication of the devices, but they already are pretty sophisticated. On the personal or non-professional side I think it will grow as well, but this will be less around increased sophistication and a little more around simplification."

However, companies would be challenged to somehow consolidate the overwhelming amounts of data people were given as more devices and systems flooded the market, Giorgio told CNBC.

"It's starting to become a little bit too much in some instances," he said. "If you have multiple devices and use different ones in different situations, one of the things we'll see is how those can create a collective view of all that information versus individual views of different devices."

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How this basketball start-up raised millions of dollars from investors including David Stern and Magic Johnson - CNBC

By Tom Meek Thursday, November 21, 2019 Trey Edward Shults on the set of Waves with actor Sterling K. Brown.

The films of Trey Edward Shults are haunting in their immersive ambience and enigmatic narratives, but theyre also to date deeply personal, if not autobiographical. In his debut, Krisha (2016), Shults explored the effects of addiction on the family surrounding the user, reflecting how Shults immediate family had been affected by addiction and alcohol abuse over the years; even his near post-apocalyptic chiller It Comes at Night (2017) was a means for Shults to work out the grief of losing his father to pancreatic cancer.

Themes of addiction and struggles with an estranged and dying father are also part of Shults latest, Waves, in which young African American wrestler Tyler (Kelvin Harrison Jr.), in a tumultuous romantic relationship in addition to struggling against his controlling father, Ronald (Sterling K. Brown), turns increasingly to drugs after an injury that threatens to sideline his promising athletic career and shot at college. Meanwhile, Luke (Lucas Hedges), another wrestler on the team, struggles to reconnect with his his dying, distant father.

Im both Tyler and Luke, Shults said in an interview with the Day, and [their] girlfriends are something like my girlfriends. The parents are somewhat based on mine primarily Lukes dad but Brown brought a lot to the role of Ronald.

The story revolves primarily around Tylers family members, who happen to be black. I wanted to tell a tale that was both universal to what all families go through, but also show the challenges a black family faces that white people dont, said Shults, who is white, and wrote in collaboration with Harrison Jr. At one juncture in the film, Tylers dad tells him that because they are black, they need to work 10 times as hard to take a step forward, and then theres the one lone hateful drop of the N-word just one, but it resonates.

I just knew I wanted to work with him again after It Comes at Night, Shults said of Harrison Jr., whose experiences described in long mini therapy talks between the director and actor helped Waves take shape. Harrison Jr., who was also in Luce earlier this year, delivers a nuanced and complex performance that is bound to elevate his stock.

Shults, on his third film at only 31, got into filmmaking somewhat by happenstance when visiting his aunt, Krisha Fairchild yes, the star and title character of his debut in Hawaii, where she got him a job working on commercials. That led to an encounter with Terrence Malick, who was there filming his documentary Voyage of Time (2016); Shults, just 18, stepped in as a film loader for the shoot. Seeds for Krisha were sown quickly.

That film changed my life, Shults said. After Krisha won the Grand Jury and Audience awards at South by Southwest, buyer and distributor A24 was was hungry for more. I had a version of It Comes at Night before I shot Krisha, and A24 wanted to know what else I had.

As for what comes next, Im not sure, Shults said.

Maybe live a little? I put everything I had into this film, he said, and now Im just a blank slate.

Waves opens today at Landmark Kendall Square Cinema, 355 Binney St., Kendall Square.

Read more:
The three-film secret of Trey Edward Shults: Keep it personal, even during the apocalypse - Cambridge Day

Editors note: This feature originally appeared in theNovember issueof MReport.

Personalization in marketing campaigns mattersa lot. Delivering the right engagement, to the right person, at the right time, with the right message means marketers have to get a lot of things right.

When done correctly, marketing campaigns soar with success, and it makes the loan officers jobs a lot easier. When done generically, its not necessarily a failure, but the results are nothing to brag about, and much of the success of converting a prospect into a customer is based on the loan officers talents. When done wrong, the wheels completely fall off and its hard to recover with those prospects. In that case, many of the top-performing loan officers will begin to seek a new company to call home.

Great marketing is difficult for a variety of reasons and is a constant work in progress. Implementing personalized marketing automation campaigns at scale and across multiple platforms requires a lot of energy and focus given the amount of detail required, but it will pay dividends for years to come. The result can be an experience that is unique for each consumer. Personalized experiences make people feel like they are being marketed to by someone who knows them and cares about them as an individual.

People like doing business with those that care, are empathetic, confident, and treat them with respect. They dont appreciate being sold or feeling like they are just another number. But the care given doesnt start and end with the loan officer. Marketing plays a vital role in this relationship, more so than most realize. Many times, marketing can make or break a deal based on the level of personalization of campaigns. When marketers have the tools and data to create personalized engagements, and care about getting every detail right, that is when it all comes together seamlessly and harmoniously, and the consumer feels like they matter to the lender. On the other side of the coin, when marketers are sloppy and throw marketing campaigns together, consumers assume the lender doesnt care about them and will seek financing elsewhere.

Marketing Gone Wrong

Weve all seen mistakes in marketing, some small and others large. Consumers reject lenders who make mistakes in getting the marketing details right because its a reflection of what they can expect throughout the process where a mistake can be costly. Here are some examples that negatively impact a lenders conversion.

Email/Text Campaigns:

Outbound Dialing Campaigns:

Marketing Campaigns Gone Right

The best marketers have moved away from lead-based marketing and have deployed a more personalized, one-to-one engagement strategy called people-based marketing, using an omnichannel approach. In other words, the consumer is receiving an engagement message and cadence across multiple channels (phone, email, direct mail, sms, digital ads, etc) that is unique to them.

For example, when Mike Smith fills out an online inquiry, hell receive an immediate phone call with a voicemail left by a real person. Hi, Mike. This is Lauren at XYZ Mortgage, and I just received your inquiry about a mortgage. Its Tuesday at 1:40 p.m. and Im sorry to have missed you. Please call me back at your convenience. I look forward to helping you.

Then, a text message and an email are sent automatically, appearing to be personally written by Lauren. If Mike responds to the text, that is flagged as his preferred contact method moving forward. If Mike goes stale for a month and the marketer is informed by a third-party data vendor that Mike is back in the market for a mortgage, then the timing is right to re-engage. If the vendor indicates Mike is interested in a home equity loan, then future marketing messages are scheduled for home equity or cash-out, messaged to improve click-thru performance.

Lenders who use dialers often get excited to use the automated voicemail feature that will leave a pre-recorded message for all consumers at specific points in the funnel (e.g. all dial attempt five consumers will get the same voicemail). However, performance improves greatly when voicemails are genuine and unique. Let the loan officers leave a well-scripted first-dial voicemail that uses the consumers name along with referencing the time and day. For subsequent voicemail in the calling cadence, consider using the same pre-recorded voicemail that the loan officer recorded that morning referencing the day or date. Consumers will recall the first dial voicemail and assume subsequent voicemails were personalized as well.

Text messaging and emails should be coordinated with the call cadence and should be synchronized with one another and appear to be written by the loan officer personally. How do lenders know when theyve won at creating a winning text and email marketing campaign at scale? When the consumer sends a response that appears as if they are responding to the loan officer directlyHi, Lauren, happy Friday to you too. Thanks for texting about my mortgage. Im swamped and cant answer my phone now. Does tonight at 6:30 work? SUCCESS!

How to Leverage First- and Third-Party Data

Gaining a clear picture of your prospects through the use of third-party data will greatly improve your ability to personalize your marketing and increase win rates. When consumers submit a quote inquiry or complete a lead form, basic contact and loan scenario information is received. Name, address, phone, email, loan amount, property value, loan type, etc. can all be used in personalization. However, some data-as-a-service providers offer more information about the consumers you care about enabling you to create a high-quality people-based marketing strategy with far superior results. Knowing exactly when specific consumers are actively visiting mortgage comparison websites throughout their mortgage shopping journey would allow you to deliver timely one-to-one engagement, substantially improving the performance of those engagements.

Generic, lead-based marketing strategies have quickly lost momentum due to declining performance. By combining a lenders first-party data with third-party data from data-as-a-service providers, marketers can create better strategies and market to consumers as if they know them. Each engagement attempt a marketer attempts should be done in a thoughtful and meaningful way since each failed engagement attempt means a lower chance of successfully converting that consumer.

Link:
Mortgage Marketing With the Personal Touch - The MReport

On the day that it became clear that Robert Moreno wouldn't take Spain to Euro 2020, he led La Roja to an excellent performance in a 5-0 win over Romania.

As if the players wanted to pay tribute to him, they performed above their recent level.

Gerard Moreno, Robert's personal bet, responded to the faith shown in him by scoring, while Kepa Arrizabalaga made a great save in goal.

The bomb dropped before the game that Robert Moreno wouldn't continue on the bench, and that seemed to drive Spain on in the first half, showing their best minutes under him.

In his time on the bench he led Spain to European Championship qualification and has shown that they are on the right track.

Gerard Moreno took advantage of his chance. His one goal didn't reflect how good he was against Malta, but he made up for that by scoring twice against Romania.

The Villarreal forward was one of the players the coach really backed since taking over, and his response has been outstanding.

Santi Cazorla continues to amaze and in the sixth minute he performed a PlayStation play, expertly controlling and spinning on the ball before striking the crossbar.

Sergio Ramos had one of the quietest international breaks of his career against Malta and Romania, and he was afforded rest in both games after an hour. He was again received with applause at the Wanda Metropolitano.

Only 36,198 turned up in Madrid, less than half of the possible attendance for a game that saw a dominant Spain. There were too many empty seats, and that wasn't helped by the cold Madrid weather.

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Spain save their best performance for the day Robert Moreno's exit is decided - MARCA.com