Alan See
Is Hyundai the Only Car Company Currently Listening to the Consumer?
Will my next car be from Hyundai? The odds of a "yes" would not be high if you considered the fact that my last five purchases have been from Toyota. However; I'm impressed with Hyundai's bold new Assurance program. In short, Hyundai Assurance is...
Tips for Improving Your B-to-B Lead Nurturing Process
You are under pressure to do more with less these days. And now that someone took the time to download your white paper or attend your webinar the last thing you want to do is miss an opportunity to follow up on their interest....
How to Build an Organization that is Agile, Adaptable, and Creative
According to Socrates, "Wisdom is limited to an awareness of your own ignorance." Socrates used his Socratic Method as a means of uncovering this ignorance by challenging the completeness of thinking. His series of disciplined and probing questions brought his students to a deeper...
How Marketing Can Help When B-To-B Sales Cycles Start To Extend
Do you refer to it as the funnel, pipeline or forecast? I suppose that depends on the sales methodology your company follows. At the end of the day though, every closed "opportunity" started at the beginning of your sales cycle and then moved through...
The CXO’s First 100 Days
Whenever a new president takes office talk turns to the vaunted first 100 days - Barack Obama's 100 day clock is now ticking. We probably all agree that the expectations placed on the new president are pretty high, especially given the extent of the...
When Your Customers Are Caucusing You Need to Listen
Just about one year ago (January 3, 2008) I posted my blog entry … "Are Your Customers Caucusing?" As I mentioned in that short blog I grew up in Iowa which is generally considered a pretty low key State. However, that week Iowa received...
How to Engage the 2009 Customer Mindset
The U.S. economy shed 2.5 million jobs in 2008 – 1.9 million in the last four months of the year alone. That makes 2008 the worst year for employment since 1945. Simply put that means consumers' have stopped their usual practice of spending tomorrow's...
Marketing Return on Investment and Your Tax Dollars at Work
This year's college bowl season is now over. Did you notice how many bowl sponsors and advertisers were actually recipients of the federal bailout money? According to a recent WSJ article ("The Bailout Bowl: Big-Game Sponsors Scored Billions") critics of the federal bailouts have...
Will Sales and Marketing Become One in 2009?
2009 is not going to be a pretty year. In fact it could be a year in which many organizations actually do less with less, not more with less. As resources shrink it's certainly not an environment in which CEO's are going to be...
How to Reduce Your Social Media Networking Anxiety
I don't know about you, but I'm not handy with tools. I also find most assembly instruction manuals less than helpful and that means the phrase "some assembly required" makes me anxious. For the longest time I put my social media networking efforts on...
Marketing Messages in a Recession: Warmth Versus Value
With rising unemployment and continuing turmoil on Wall Street many consumers are buying just the basics and are hunting for the lowest prices. What type of marketing strategy and communications are likely to resonate under the current conditions? During the Great Depression, Pepsi gained...
Abercrombie’s “Voice in the Wilderness” Discounting Strategy
A recent article in the WSJ ("Abercrombie Fights Discounting Tide") reported that clothing retailer Abercrombie & Fitch Co. was willing to accept lower sales volumes in order to protect profit margins and support their brand reputation. Abercrombie "has refused to join the rush...
Reporting the Marketing News From Lake Wobegon
"Where all the solutions are best-of-breed, the ROI is proven, and employees are first-class." Sounds great, doesn't it? If you are a fan of Garrison Keillor who reports the News from Lake Wobegon – a fictional town in Minnesota – on the radio show "A...
Bootstrapping Your Customer-Centric Marketing Strategy
The term "bootstrap" is often used to describe situations of self reliance. It means to develop by effort with little or no assistance. In the world of marketing this often equates to launching a new customer initiative with minimal capital or cashflow. The current...
Do Your Brand’s “Style Points” Matter in a Down Economy?
In college football, Style Points - hypothetical points awarded to a team when their performance against a difficult opponent is exceptionally cool - are needed to succeed in the Bowl Champion Series. When wins and losses can't decide where teams should be ranked, style...
You Can Support Headcount and Share of Voice on a Tight Budget
The crisis on Wall Street created quite a ruckus on every Main Street across the globe. Stock, currency and commodity markets signal that investors believe even tougher times are ahead. For marketers, those tougher times have already arrived. The Association of National Advertisers reported...
Kickball Draft Strategies and Nurturing Relationships
Last summer I managed to survive my wife's family reunion. It involves a week of camping and a very competitive kickball game on the opening night. Our eight year old nieces were tapped as captains and each selected their own team. I love kickball...
Customer Service Efficiency Delivers a New Customer Checkout Experience
"If you are old, handicapped or just plain slow, would you mind getting out of my checkout lane? Also, if you need cigarettes or some special service, please consider a different lane. Get your money out now or if you are paying by check,...
Can Customer Value Be Calculated Within Executive Months?
Statistics show that nearly 11 percent of executives will fail in their first year on the job, and according to Manchester Inc. nearly 40 percent won't make it past the first 18 months in a new position. When it comes to average number of...
Turning Customer Experience Problems Into Opportunities
I have two daughters working their way through college at the same mid-range family steak house. One is old enough to be a server, the other is a host. In their work environment there are never any problems. As in, "we have a problem...