Jetting across the Pacific now, after a great week with some very smart CMO types in Sydney and Melbourne. The Aussies know that with just over 20 million people in the whole country, a company needs to make the most of every customer experience. Here's how one of them is doing it:
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When I was 14, my father was the half owner of a red-and-white Cessna 150, a 4-seater single engine airplane that had wings above the passengers. When other teenage girls were spending Saturdays on their nails and hair, I was in the co-pilot seat learning to fly.
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If you sent in your shoes for repair lately to Allen Edmonds Recrafting, you'd shortly get an email with the subject heading "Remember These?" In Port Washington, Wisconsin, you'll find a shop of contradictions. It's a big/little shoe repair shop, very high touch and high tech, with old and new ideas about how to serve customers best.
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The greatest cost to our economy in the present recession may not be the evaporation of wealth in the stock market or real estate deeds. It may be the shrinkage, violet-like, of any willingness to take a risk - any risk - even a good one. No venture in love, intellect, or business carries a guarantee. The difference between occasional smart, calculated failures and the kind we've seen lately in the headlines is the difference between doing one's homework, exercising
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On a recent trip to the Middle East, I had a chance to meet with Gigi Levy, CEO of 888.com, which trades on the London stock market. I've known Gigi since his days at Amdocs, and I believe he's one of the smartest analysts and most insightful customer-value strategists around. A visitor to 888.com will find a popular gaming site where players can play alone or with others, and more importantly, can play for money or just for fun. The
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In my role as Adjunct Professor at the Fuqua School of Business at Duke University, I have the opportunity and the honor to work with talented faculty and exceptional students. It's always a pleasure to me to get to North Carolina. After a recent session with MBA students, my colleague Professor Christine Moorman and I received the following question from a class participant: What is the value of segmenting customers and devising a profile of customer needs when you are
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This woeful economic time can also be an opportunity for companies looking to build real customer loyalty.
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We think a lot about taking the customer's point of view, and a few situations beg that issue. What's more maddening than waiting to get the check after a meal in a restaurant? How can the manager not see how waiting 40 years to see the promised land can obliterate the effect of a delicious meal, the delightful ambiance, or the prior great service? The waiter who was so attentive about your drinks and coffee and sauces has suddenly tessered
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In the early days of the United States, you had a choice. You could live in the same town all your life, and everything about you was known by your neighbors, or you could wander from town to town, making you anonymous to everyone you met.
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