Category: Zigging when others zag
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Why getting to NO is a better start than fishing for a YES, via Chris Voss
We can enjoy a terrific interview with Chris Voss published by Talks at Google. Chris is the reigning educator on negotiating skills, and his book is Never Split the Difference. Yes is a commitment, no is protection (not a problem, just a good beginning) Make your counterpart (not adversary!) feel safe, and they grow more creative…
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Defy best practice, be unprofessional, and innovate in marketing
Innovation and best practice are the yin and yang of management. Too much of one and you die, too much of the other and you disappear. Loyal behavior is actually the key. If you are committed to your customers' best interest, understand your strengths and values, then you can be wild and crazy without losing…
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Cultivating good luck in your work and your life
In a recent edition of the NY Times Sunday Review, Pagan Kennedy published a musing on the talent of using serendipity to discover both patterns, some embedded, some emerging from our lives and environment. NY Times: How to Cultivate the Art of Serendipity, 2016-Jan-2 by Pagan Kennedy As people dredge the unknown, they are engaging…
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New customer benefit: sharing back data
A few companies are already giving data back to their customers, such as Pandora and Waste Management. We should always be looking at the data in our order systems and CRM platform to see how it could strengthen our customer relationships. I believe that in the future, companies will be entitled to request the data…
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When do we get to print the marketing?
For most of us marketers, printing has become a luxury. We don't avoid printing because we think people don't enjoy it (when done properly). We don't avoid it because it isn't profitable (when done properly). We avoid it because it requires a capital outlay and a risky expense that we can avoid by putting our…
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More on leadership authenticity: pick your followers
The announcement that the NY Times is discontinuing the "You're the Boss" column now that it's originator, Loren Feldman, is leaving… sent me into a little panic. So I went careening through recent posts to get what inspiration I could before it fades from memory. Tech company founder Rebekah Campbell talked about wanting to hire…
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How to measure loyalty
Does your CRM system have a mechanism for capturing exceptional acts of loyalty? A customer who picks up the phone and argues for your value with a referral? An ex-customer who publishes an article about their positive experience with your company? Someone who skips a big discount to stay with you? Sometimes we can't even…
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To profit from your data, share it with an expert
Analyzing our marketing data takes a very different skill than helpling customers or managing our sales force. When I want a break from difficult decisions and demanding co-workers, I drop down a relaxing data hole. Does sorting, editing and analyzing customer records NOT sound relaxing to you? Then you need to work with someone like…
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How to build sustainable loyalty
I was talking to someone about launching a new retail business and asked him about having a loyalty program. He said, "oh, yes, it's part of the point-of-sale system we'll be using." Unfortunately, the built-in discount for frequent purchase represents a PRICING strategy, not a loyalty system. It may well be a sound way to…
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How to find a place to contribute
Whether we are are looking for an assignment or a job, we have to find a problem to solve. By the time a job description or RFP is written, the pain point that created the need has been obscured. Many more layers of “nice to have” skills and whistles have been added. The experience required…
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