Jim Barnes
A Relationship-Ending Move
Last Saturday morning at 10 o'clock, the phone rang at my home. The lady on the phone indicated that she was calling from one of Canada's largest department stores, and asked to speak with my wife. I called my wife and went...
The Dangers of a Database View of the Customer
I am meeting more and more companies who are enthralled by the sheer volume of data they have collected on their customers. When I talk to them about customer insight, they explain that they already have great customer insight because they know so...
Becoming a Third Place
I have been doing some reading and giving a lot of thought recently to the concept of "the third place." Turns out that Howard Schultz didn't invent the concept at all. It actually dates from the 1970s and 1980s and the work...
Thinking Outside the Batter’s Box
An item on the sports page of Wednesday's newspaper caught my eye. I'll summarize for you… "The Milwaukee Brewers teamed up with the National Prostate Cancer Coalition and the Medical College of Wisconsin to provide free digital rectal exams before last night's game against...
The Flip Side of Customer Loyalty: The Case of the Demanding Customer
So, you have done everything that customers might expect from your firm; you have created lots of emotional value, and your customers now reward you with repeat patronage, positive referrals, and virtually all of their business. Congratulations! But, have you thought about the...
True Insight Means Approaching Your Customers Differently
Yet another customer-related, marketing-oriented term is headed toward buzzword status. I'm talking about customer insight. Marketing researchers are now holding themselves out as experts in customer insight. The problem is that much of what they are coming up with is not especially insightful. I...
A Refreshing Approach
Have you ever been in a china shop where a prominently-displayed sign sternly advises all the bulls "If you break it, you've bought it"? What's the rather unsubtle message being sent? How do customers feel when they see that sign? Not...
Why Is She Buying This?
If there is one abiding tendency that has characterized customer-focused companies in recent years, it is acceptance of the fact that customers want more than good products and good service if they are to put down roots and become loyal. I expect that...
We Are All Customers
Everyone's got a story—or several. Every time I find myself in front of a group of managers at a workshop or seminar, invariably people start telling stories of experiences that they or their families have had recently with a company or organization. More often...
What Makes Experiences Memorable to Consumers?
I recently had a group of more than 50 consumers keep a record of memorable service encounters that they had experienced over a three- or four-week period. They were to record very positive and very negative experiences and then report in some detail...
Car Dealers Could Profit From Relationship-Building
My wife dragged me out of a Volkswagen dealership a few years ago, even though she really wanted that silver Jetta, because the sales guy talked only to me, even though she was buying the car. We went directly to a Volvo dealer, and...
How You Get Beyond Words and Truly Become Customer-Focused: An Interview With Jim Barnes
Throughout his years consulting, teaching and writing on marketing strategy and metrics, Jim Barnes has found that organizations sometimes merely "talk the talk" when it comes to customer-centricity. He also finds that they neglect very basic steps, such as interviewing their own customers. In...
What’s So Hard About Customer Service?
"You'll never believe what happened to me today." Everyone's got a customer service story. One of the problems with customer service, though, is that everyone has a unique view of what it entails. It's the epitome of a moving target. One person's excellent service...
Don’t Miss the Opportunity To Create a WOW! Experience
Many people seem to have just discovered customer experience, as if it's something new. It isn't. Every time a customer deals with you, he or she is having an experience. It may not be a WOW! experience, but it is an experience. All experiences have...
Is It Possible Your Customers Don’t Notice?
Is it possible that you have invested all that money in your CRM system and it has had little or no effect on how your customers feel about your company or your brand? Step back for a moment and ask yourself what you are really...
To Hear the Voice of the Customer, Listen Outside the Box
A Voice of the Customer (VOC) initiative should give voice to things that the firm would not normally hear. It should allow a firm to hear, straight from its customers, insightful things that do not surface through conventional marketing research. I would not include customer...
Data Alone Won’t Help You Understand Customer Relationships
Available data, such as is captured through retail loyalty programs, will not deliver the insight needed to guide relationship development. Such data is, by definition, transactional and behavioral—not even close to the complexity that relationships imply. Such data tells us nothing about...