Category: Uncategorized
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Don’t build a revolving door for your customers
I promise this will be my last negative post for awhile, but it's so disheartening to see small business owners ruin their existing business relationships while they chase after new customers, and I see it too frequently. Here's how Scott McKain experienced it recently when he got a chair massage. …when I said I didn’t…
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The pain of being a discount customer
The current rage for coupons frustrates me. Maybe it's just a by-product of economic anxiety, but it feels like the relationship between customer and supplier is cheapened beyond repair. I recently took advantage of a photographer who offered a discount opportunity. I wish she had been upfront with me that I was pushing it too…
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How cheerful service is crucial to building loyalty
Part of me is ashamed of the way I behaved in a Verizon Wireless store this morning. That would be the peace-loving, empathetic human being who just wants everyone to have a nice day. The 'mama tigress protecting the den and making sure we get our fair share' part of me triumphed. After I encountered…
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Using each tool for what it’s designed to do
Confess. Once upon a time you dragged your toolbox over to a loose piece of the house, put a small nail in your mouth, and started searching for the hammer. But someone (a child or a spouse) had left the hammer out. So you grabbed a big screwdriver and used the handle to smack the…
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Playing nice on Facebook
In the beginning, restricting people to one, verified identity on Facebook seemed like a good idea. Now it's starting to feel like a straight-jacket. What Facebook suggests, tinkering with the lists and privacy controls is just un-doable for most of us. So if you're like me, you just give up and be the nicest, most…
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Cynthia Neely: Houston needs to Decide about the Astrodome
If the county can’t afford the $30 million to make it habitable, what will they do if it disintegrates into a pile of rubble? Will they surround it with orange cones and yellow “Do Not Cross” tape and vow to remove it when the economy improves? At the very least, the Astrodome ball field could…
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Third Place at Startup Weekend
Our team launched development on a mobile application nicknamed Event Connect. The idea originator and team leader Jason Lee made the presentation. We came in third. Event Connector is a viable product idea, and I hope Jason gets to commercialize it. As a result of the weekend, I learned a lot about development of technology…
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My team at Startup Weekend
At Startup Weekend, I'm working with a team headed by Jason Lee and including Gerard Matthew, Anupam Singh, and Sathish Raju. (Pictured in the same order below.) We're working on Jason's idea to build a mobile application which helps people make their desired connections at college reunions and conferences. (That's in contrast to the random…
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Houston Startup Weekend
Restless folks with overflowing with ideas showed up for a big Startup Weekend at the Bouncing Pixel offices. The casual atmosphere and wide open spaces made it easy and fun to meet people. I encountered a couple of people from FastHouston days. That's Lester Buck in the long-sleeved blue shirt, who brought FOUR ideas to…
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When communication ends, can loyalty survive?
Business relationships can end in all the ways that personal relationships can end. And although business relationships can survive without communication, it's not advisable. When a contact cuts off communication, it's frequently a signal that the relationship is ending, but it's also possible that the consumer is dissatisfied with the way your business communicates, not…
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