Driving to work the other morning, I heard a news report about how Burberry PLC's third-quarter sales beat market expectations. Same-store sales from the company's own retail outlets, which generated two-thirds of Burberry's overall sales in the third quarter, were up 10% for the period.

What really caught my attention in the report was a comment about how the effectiveness of the company's Internet marketing efforts have helped this 154 year-old maker of trench coats and outerwear to drive additional sales traffic at its retail outlets.

Intrigued, I decided to do a little research.

Continue reading "Internet Marketing from the 'Trenches'" »

Posted by Tom Hoffman at 9:45 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

It should come as no surprise that growth in a company is often directly related to how effectively leaders and managers delegate and are able hold people accountable. The more effective the "hand off" to others, the more aligned everyone becomes and are able to work together towards the same goal. The less effective the delegation, the more likely people are to find that they're out of sync with everyone else.

Here are some tips to make the "hand off" easier for you:

Continue reading "Guest Blogger Mark Goulston, MD: How to Delegate More Effectively and Hold People Accountable" »

Posted by Guest Blogger at 10:15 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

Last week I got an email from a reader who wanted to share an experience she had with Subway restaurants. Unfortunately what started out as a positive experience turned into a negative one, and Subway really missed the mark on two fronts: customer service and involving customers in the decision-making process.

Continue reading "Subway Misses the Mark on a Customer Relationship Opportunity" »

Posted by Elizabeth Glagowski at 10:24 AM | Permalink | Comments (6) | TrackBacks (0)

I just got off the phone with a customer service representative from Delta, and couldn't help but shake my head in disbelief.

I called to cancel a reservation and was completely put off by the fact that there is a $150 "penalty" to change my ticket. That's a story within itself. The reason I was surprised was this: Even though I was clearly annoyed by the absurd penalty, the agent made not one, but two cross-sell offers. Two!

Continue reading "Come On, Managers, Drop the Poorly Timed Cross-Sell" »

Posted by Ginger Conlon at 11:37 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

Microsoft has never had a customer-focused reputation. Like a bull in a china shop, it uses its market share to ram new programs and operating systems into the marketplace. No more was this more evident than with Microsoft Vista, the operating system no one seems to like. Microsoft forced its hardware partners and enterprise customers to install it, even though most were perfectly happy with XP.

Now, as Windows 7 prepares for its launch, Microsoft is taking steps to address customer concerns and preferences ahead of time, a new strategy for the software company. But will it work?

Continue reading "Can Microsoft Prevent Another Vista Debacle With Windows 7?" »

Posted by Elizabeth Glagowski at 9:47 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)