November 21st 2008
The questioning ideas will help you identify what’s really going on in just about any selling situation that involves a sales obstacle or challenge. Of course, you may wish to target your questions more specifically.
Below, you’ll find some more narrowly focused questions for specific challenges you may face. Continue Reading »
September 26th 2008
A project programme or plan is quite a sophisticated tool. It converts the words of your agreement into a detailed sequence of interdependent actions and activities. That plan, however, is far more than just a list of those activities. For, during its creation and use, it will also provide:
A common understanding, for all involved, of what actions and resources are required
September 19th 2008
This probably falls under the theory that there are two kinds of people. Those who make lists. And those who don’t. Actually, there are three kinds of people. Those who make lists. And conveniently misplace them.
August 22nd 2008
But everybody wants to grow, and you can’t blame them. So what should an Internet brand like Amazon.com do? There are five fundamental branding strategies for a leader in any category.
There are more than 5 million dotcom sites registered on the Internet, and you want your site to stand for more than one thing? Amazon.com should stay focused on books and music CDs. After all, the site accounts for just 4 percent of the $24.6 billion book market in the United States. Continue Reading »
August 22nd 2008
Amazon.com used to use the theme “Earth’s Biggest Book‑store.” No longer. They’ve changed it. The new theme is “Earth’s Biggest Selection.”
Person of the year Jeff Bezos, CEO of Amazon.com, says, “It’s very natural for a customer to wonder, can you really be the best place to buy music, books and electronics? In the physical world, the answer is almost always no. But on the Internet all the physical constraints go away.” (A sign of the times: The company recently registered “Amazoneverywhere.net as a Website name.) Continue Reading »
July 18th 2008
<CROSS-CHANNEL CONTACT HISTORY (MAIL, TELEPHONE), PENDING SUPPORT ISSUE, FIRST AND LAST SUPPORT CALL AND EMAIL, SUPPORT LOG/EVENT HISTORY, PRODUCT RETURN HISTORY …>
Data generated from your direct mail, telemarketing, customer support, and product return operations can be a critical part of measuring true customer value, cost to serve, and cost of customer contact and conversion. Linking this type of external data with your email marketing system will enable you to spot—and avoid— potential problems. Imagine, for example, that a customer has sent you an email complaining about a product defect. If customer service doesn’t let marketing know about the problem, marketing might send the already-angry customer an email offering the latest add-on to the product he or she is complaining about. Continue Reading »
July 18th 2008
<FIRST PURCHASE DATE, LAST PURCHASE DATE, PURCHASE FREQUENCY, PURCHASE VALUE (ACTUAL PURCHASES OR AVERAGE PURCHASE), PRODUCTS PURCHASED, PURCHASE DRIVER (WEBSITE “WALK-ON,” EMAIL RESPONSE, BANNER CLICK-THROUGH … )>
Because past purchases are among the leading predictors of future interest, you should use the information contained in the customer’s purchase history to determine the timing, offer, targeting, and personalization of your promotional communication. If, for example, you bought book from BarnesandNoble, you’ve probably been identified as someone who’s interested in high-tech business books, which means there’s a good chance you’d be interested in Geoffrey Moore’s Inside the Tornado. Continue Reading »
July 18th 2008
As we look at the different sources of profile data, keep in mind that customer or member profiles are dynamic: they’ll evolve as your relationship with the customer deepens. Your goal is not to collect all of this information at one time. Asking a lot of questions on a first encounter can be very off-putting. Imagine walking into a store and having someone come up to you, introduce herself as an employee, and immediately ask for your phone number and how much money you make. You’d probably react quite negatively and you might even leave. Asking for personal information on your website is no different. Continue Reading »
July 16th 2008
What kinds of things will trigger contact? In some instances you’ll plan and schedule your contacts far in advance (such as annual sales). Others times you’ll be responding to one of the following situations:
July 5th 2008
If you want your customers to have a consistent experience and develop a loyal relationship with your brand, you must clearly define your organization’s communications and relationship management responsibilities. Normally, marketing is responsible for managing an email direct marketing program, but it is not the only part of your organization that will engage with customers. Customer service, support, sales, and perhaps even e-commerce groups may also communicate with your customers independently.
To avoid any confusion, I propose that if your company is communicating with thousands, perhaps even millions, of customers, you put your marketing department in charge of managing and coordinating all customer communication, regardless of where it originates, and that the “relationship czar” discussed earlier be responsible for this initiative. Marketing’s role in the engaged organization is to ensure that your company’s email communication have a consistent voice, that they are focused on servicing the customer and effectively coordinated across all points of contact. To do this requires the following: Continue Reading »
