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Chris Stiehl

Chris Stiehl
Chris has helped companies save money and sell more by understanding their customers better. He once saved a company $3 million per year for a one-time research expense of $2K. What does your competition know about your customer that you don't know?

Does Higher Customer Satisfaction Always Mean More Sales?

In brief, the answer is "No!" – You must do more than merely drive customer satisfaction scores up. As an illustration, consider the Cadillac...

Egypt, the Battleship Maine and Market Research – A Question of Ethics?

The Battleship Maine was sunk in Havana harbor 113 years ago today, sparking the US public to get behind the Spanish-American war. Was US...

The ART of CONVERSATION

As a marketer and market researcher, I often wonder about the effectiveness of various communications techniques. Obviously, the marketing and advertising world is going...

Do You Come from the Land Down Under?

It is nice to be quoted. I was alerted today that someone in Australia has published one of my articles for Australian business people...

Take Time to STOP … and Listen!

You may have read about this. Joshua Bell, the world renowned violinist, played incognito as a "street musician" for an hour in the DC...

Is it lack of jobs or lack of skills? + social networking question

Is there a lack of jobs out there, or a lack of skills and training to fill the jobs that are available? A new...

Are You Being Served? Are You Free?

Many of you may recognize the phrases in the title from the hilarious British sitcom about Grace Brothers Department Store in London in the...

My Business Card is a Book?

I know this sounds like an expensive business card idea, but it works. Think of how easy it is to throw away a business...

Is Survey Data Always Relevant or Good?

Obviously, if you are fielding a customer satisfaction survey, you want to have good questions. However, some companies have stopped fielding surveys. They are...

What Does “Service” Mean in Customer Service?

It seems that many companies are investigating their interactions with customers these days. They may be focussing on the wrong issues, however! One of my...

Are You Stuck?

Organizations tend to be entities that are difficult to move, to change directions or to make significant leaps...much like a cow! This image was inspired...

Are You Tired of Selling Features Yet? Shut Up & Listen!

I keep being amazed by how few salespeople know to just listen, listen to what the customer's problems are (their "pains"). I have recently conducted...

Are You Insane?

You know the old addage: "If you always do what you have always done..." ...but people do! I recently worked with a team to answer...

The BEST Executives…LISTEN!

The key to the success of any executive is the ability to listen and translate what he or she hears into action. People are...

Can We Trust Internet Ratings?

Have you noticed how inflated Internet ratings are? It may be that the people who rate things are those who are interested in them,...

Don’t Pin Your Salespeople to Traditional Metrics–and Unprofitable Deals

I witnessed a sales call involving a customer who was not happy. The company had had to call for service frequently, causing irritation and...

How Do You Keep “Dead” Customers Alive?

Have you ever had a dead customer? That is one who has not bought from you in some time. Perhaps they have even stopped...

Are Customers As Loyal As Puppies? Then Why Do They Often Follow the Salesperson Out the Door?

I have always been intrigued by company loyalty programs. I have noticed that even in my own behavior, loyalty programs do influence where I...

What If the Person Building Your Product Met the Customer Who Would Be Buying It?

When Cadillac was audited by examiners for the Malcolm Baldrige National Quality Award in 1990, the examiners picked an employee at random from 7,000...

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