Alan See
Customer Experience Improvement Is Child’s Play
Child's Play Toys can be learning tools. By guiding play, they socialize us. The Strong National Museum of Play is home to the National Toy Hall of Fame. To date forty-one toys have received recognition. The criterion for recognition includes: 1. Icon-status (widely recognized, respected...
Does Your Customer Intelligence Problem Need a “Data Whisperer”?
The National Geographic Channel showcases Cesar Millan as the "Dog Whisperer." He is a world-renowned dog behavior specialist known for his uncanny ability to rehabilitate dogs from a wide range of extreme behavior issues. Although I don't own a dog it is still a...
If the Marketing People Would Just Do Their Jobs Right
On March 5th the WSJ featured an article about a movie to be released titled "Zack and Miri Make a Porno." According to the director, Kevin Smith, there's no actual porn in the movie. The story is about two friends who try to profit...
The Harrah’s Quandary: Will Bad Credit Change the Customer Experience?
One of my students recently asked if a past bankruptcy or negative credit report would likely impact their opportunity to get a job. They were concerned that as HR departments get inundated by more candidates that more eliminating factors would be put into...
Are You Reprogramming Your Customers’ Expectations?
Tuesday's decline marked the Dow's largest percentage drop since October 1987 and the second-biggest point drop ever. As a result of market downturns many financial advisers are trying to "reprogram" their clients. Reprogramming occurs when the advisor is able to reshape their client's attitude...
Empowered Employees Are Better Equipped to Influence Customer Loyalty
Between the financial markets and Hurricane Ike, it feels like everything I own is down, including: my 401K, cable service, internet service, tree limbs and house siding. OK, OK, you get the picture, and I know I'm not the only one dialing for help....
Marketing Budgets in a Market Plunge
Today's Wall Street Journal headlines look pretty scary ("Bailout Plan Rejected, Markets Plunge, Forcing New Scramble to Solve Crisis"). It's clear that the engines driving the U.S. economy are not going to be hitting on all cylinders anytime soon. And that's bound to be...
Are You Monitoring Your Trademarks on the Search Engines?
Trademark bidding is a debated search strategy and an issue that created some concern in one of my recent consulting assignments. Trademark bidding occurs when one company bids on its competitors name or trademarked terms in its pay-per-click (PPC) campaigns. I've found marketing executives to...
Is 99.9% Good Enough?
Google the phrase "99.9% is good enough" and see what comes back. For the most part you will uncover the following list: • $761,900 will be spent in the next 12 months on tapes and compact disks that won't play. • 1,314 phone calls will…
Keep New Marketing Initiatives From Backsliding to the Old Ways
I recently attended a faculty meeting to kick-off the new academic year. One of the presentations highlighted enrollment trends that did not surprise - but none the less disappointed some of my peers. An increasing number of students are enrolling in online as opposed...
Cincinnati AMA’s First Digital Marketing Summit
I just attend the Cincinnati AMA's 1st annual Digital Marketing Summit. The event was well attended. However; as you might expect, a summit held in P&G's backyard meant that the content was very light as it relates to the B2B environment. What a shame,...
Don’t Wait to Improve the Quality of Your Product
An article in the August 12th edition of the WSJ ("Ford Vows to Build Higher-Quality Small Cars") noted that "The Dearborn, Mich., company promised... that its new compact and subcompact vehicles - due out in 2010 - will beat the industry average when it...
Using Metaquality to Build Customer-Centric Cultures and Operations
The prefix meta- is used to mean "about its own category." For example, under the umbrella of business intelligence you often hear the term "metadata" which means data concerning data. For purposes of this short post, "metaquality" could be described as the process and...
Consider Consumers’ Tastes in a Down Economy
A front page article ("U.S. Consumers Trade Down As Economic Angst Grows") in the July 11, 2008 Wall Street Journal contained a statement that caught my eye. "The ability to capture trade-down shoppers will be crucial for some companies. New, cheaper favorites among brands or...
Automate and Integrate Customer Feedback to Accelerate Your Customer-Centric Strategy
Customer feedback is critical to customer-centric strategies; if the truth be known, oftentimes, the feedback is not exactly good news. For example, software companies sometimes receive bug reports and feature requests from their customers. Yet, despite their best effort to ensure quality,...
Eight Steps to “Blue & Gold” Customer Loyalty
Last year was a good year for Navy football fans. Wins over Army, Air Force and Notre Dame resulted in a bowl game, and 8 win 5 loss season. Over thirty years ago as a Midshipman 4th class (Plebe) I pledged my loyalty to...
Earning Customer Trust–and Trusting the Customer
Last week I listened to a story about a small shoe repair shop as told by one of their long-time customers. It's a heart-warming business story that I think you'll enjoy. Blairsville Shoe Repair is located on Booger Hollow in the North...
Customer-Centric Business Strategies for the SMB
Remember playing "Rock, Paper, Scissors?" The basics of the game consist of each player shaking a fist a number of times (priming) and then extending the same hand in a fist (rock), out flat (paper), or with the index and middle fingers extended (scissors)....
Marketing Research is Important in a Downbeat Economy
The May 17th Wall Street Journal weekend edition contain an article ("Consumers Are Downbeat on Economy" by Sudeep Reddy) that stated "Consumer sentiment about the economy dropped to a 28-year low amid surging gasoline prices, falling home prices and a weakening job market." ...
A CMO’s View on Customer Support
In May the CustomerThink editorial calendar is focusing on contact centers with some attention towards their financial impact. As part of the management leadership team for a small ISV I'm as committed as any of my counterparts to improving efficiency and saving money....