Tag: Customer Relations

Asking for money is probably one of the least enjoyable jobs in business. If it isn't handled right, it can have a massive impact...

Attracting and retaining customers is all about the total experience of dealing with your business. That's why it is important to stimulate all five of your customers' senses every time they come into contact with your business.

While everybody seems to be talking about internet marketing, web 2.0/3.0, social media, Twitter, etc., many people seem to have forgotten about one of...

Ben Kaufman, who also founded mophie and kluster, is back with a new variation on NameThis: quirky. The premise is this: entrepreneurs and creative people in general are bubbling with far more product ideas than they can possibly pursue. Consequently, these ideas end up dormant or exploited by someone else. Described by Kaulfman as a "social product development company", quirky invites users to submit their product ideas for US$99 each - this ensures that only the best ideas are lodged. The quirky community selects one product from the pool of submitted ideas every seven days. From there, the community (known as "influencers") weigh in by voting, rating and influencing other people's product ideas.

Do you like receiving marketing via text message? I don’t. When my BlackBerry rings like a bicycle bell, I get a warm feeling inside...

Call me crazy but we've recently offered 'pay what you think it's worth' (PWYT) terms to selected customers.

Call me crazy but we've recently offered 'pay what you think it's worth' (PWYT) terms to selected customers.

Much of the chatter on the topic of social media has focused on businesses that sell to consumers (B2C) as opposed to other businesses (B2B). Consumer-focused companies like Starbucks, Wells Fargo, Dell, Cirque du Soleil and traditional media outlets are leading the pack, but should B2Bs learn and employ similar tactics, or is social media the domain of the B2C market only?

Much of the chatter on the topic of social media has focused on businesses that sell to consumers (B2C) as opposed to other businesses (B2B). Consumer-focused companies like Starbucks, Wells Fargo, Dell, Cirque du Soleil and traditional media outlets are leading the pack, but should B2Bs learn and employ similar tactics, or is social media the domain of the B2C market only?

Here are five things that you can do to make sure you get the best results when pitching for new business.

You're not a business unless you have customers and clients. If you have customers and clients you'll relate to this. Negotiation tactics... in real...

The world has changed, and it is just a little out of whack. We're living in a time when teenagers are excelling in Second Life but flunking in their first, Maslow's Needs Hierarchy has been flipped on its head and football players have become metrosexuals. Since 2000, the Chinese have embraced capitalism, Muammar Gaddafi is now a respected member of the international community and Big Brother is finally off air. Computer power doubles every 18 to 24 months, farmers speed-date on national television, we tell one minute bedtime stories to our children, and even instant gratification today seems too slow. (I want my cheeseburger, now!) And then, well, then there's Gen Y... Tech-savvy, ambitious, international in outlook and with a sense of entitlement that would have made 18th Century British aristocrats cringe. So how can employers tame the 'silver-spoon' generation?

Reading that your customers are satisfied might give you a warm-fuzzy feeling, but what do you really learn? Katie Harris thinks that to improve...

For developers of new products and services, accurate feedback is worth its weight in gold. That’s why corporations spend billions of dollars on market...

Consumers are overloaded with information, choices and marketing. If you want to ensure that your marketing efforts are being applied effectively, shift your marketing...

AFTER ALL THESE YEARS, MOST SALESPEOPLE STILL DON’T GET IT. SELLING POWER COMES FROM LOOSENING YOU GRIP AND PLAYING TO CONSUMERS’ STRENGTHS, NOT THEIR...

AFTER ALL THESE YEARS, MOST SALESPEOPLE STILL DON’T GET IT. SELLING POWER COMES FROM LOOSENING YOU GRIP AND PLAYING TO CONSUMERS’ STRENGTHS, NOT THEIR...

Customer satisfaction can help your business to achieve a sustainable competitive advantage. It's about understanding the way a customer feels after purchasing a product...

First off, let's be clear. We have to kill the phrase 'online classifieds'. At best, it has the weary note of strained metaphors, like moving staircases and horseless carriages. At worst, it's symptomatic of a dated way of thinking about the world. These days, winning in classifieds really means winning in markets. And that, dear readers, is a much tougher job.

Everyone knows that business is all about cycles. What goes down must go up, and vice versa. With my dot-com scars so recently healed, I am loathe to be trumpeting another technology boom. But things are certainly afoot.