Category: Uncategorized
-
Surprising gifts from social media
Following your customers on social media and arranging little gifts and surprises is a tremendously man-hour intensive tactic, but it really pays off. Travel and hospitality companies now have a way to delight their customers. If your business has employees with 'stand-by' time, such as clerks in a quiet retail shop, you should pursue a…
-
Why successful loyalty programs enable learning
Loyalty is learning. Many companies institute loyalty programs just to be competitive, just to attract return business. They are leaving money on the table if they don't leverage the program to learn as much as possible about their customers. A great loyalty program helps you understand your customers and how to strengthen your relationship. 1…
-
Why innovators depend on selling skill
Innovators either have to become sales people or find someone to help them, because they providing something new and relatively untested. Seth's Blog: Selling vs. Inviting, 2011-May-9, by Seth Godin The salesperson's job: Help people overcome their fear so they can commit to something they'll end up glad they invested in.
-
How GEL Conference influenced my week
Last Thursday, Friday and Saturday, I was at the Good Experience Live conference in New York. It was my fifth year to participate. New York was at its most beautiful with daffodils, tulips and fruit trees all blooming. I got spend time in some of my favorite neighborhoods, but this year I didn't take many…
-
Working this morning on Creative Houston Directory
Photo credit: Downtown Denizen by Adam Baker (AlphaTangoBravo on Flickr). “I went to my favorite spot to watch the International Space Station fly overhead. Alas, it was too cloudy to see anything. So, I decided to just check out the big city.” Welcome to the Houston Inventory of the Creative Economy. Use this directory…
-
How humor encourages loyalty
Long-term loyalty is based upon a sense of relaxed familiarity between a customer and a supplier. What can you do to make customers more comfortable? Humor can be fabulous for helping your customers recommend you to their friends. Just be careful about what type of humor you use. Mitch Earleywine says you should pick the…
-
Can we laugh past our assumptions?
When operating a business, when encouraging innovation, when recovering from setbacks, one of the biggest challenges is recognizing our incorrect assumptions. Day to day, they are almost invisible. But what if the answer were as simple as 'laugh more'? The Daily Beast: Neuroscience of Humor, 2011-Mar=31 by Sharon Begley Inside Jokes argues that mirth (the…
-
Real CEOs know real customers
My husband is a financial strategy advisor, and one of his clients asked him to research a business opportunity that would solve a problem the client has. (Sorry I can't be more specific, but I've got to be fair to the client who may be onto something.) My point is that many of the best…
-
Use everyday conversations to strengthen community
I recommend reading the entire article for tips on strengthening communitities and culture. Sanders Says: Always Build Community, 2011-March-11, by Tim Sanders Focus on the Why, not the What. Talk about the purpose behind our efforts, either at work or in transit. By placing vision or cause at the center of the table, we naturally…
-
The campaign method applied to social media
Although advertising campaigns are problematic, the method of building a campaign holds true today. First you decide what you want your target audience to DO, then you figure out what will persuade them, then you find out what type of media they listen to, then you convey that message in the appropriate media, each part…
QVIews 