Rhonda Basler
Why Companies Have a Social Responsibility to Fight the Loneliness Epidemic
This article was originally published on AdAge March 3, 2020. Initiatives that directly impact mental health and wellbeing also make good business sense. Facebook’s dating app, co-working spaces, adult dormitories and friendship apps are all positioned as ways for people to create meaningful offline connections.…
Brand Empathy Alleviates Social Isolation: 4 Ways to Make Customers Feel Less Lonely
It affects nearly half of Americans, and it has been shown to harm health in a way that’s comparable to smoking. What are we referring to here? Loneliness, of course. Isolation is pervasive in today’s climate, and brands have a moral imperative to talk about…
Customer eXperience Rings Hollow Without a Strong Brand Culture
Years ago, companies pushed out products, touting their goods’ features and benefits. Today, the pendulum has swung dramatically, turning the spotlight away from merchandise and towards consumers. As Deloitte and Touche’s research shows, this movement has been profitable and practical. Organizations that place customers first...
What AI, BI and Predictive Models Mean for the Future of Marketing
SHARE By Rhonda Basler | June 21, 2019 | Blog Posts | Marketing Twenty years ago, the Internet was just starting to boom and artificial intelligence (AI) felt like a pipe dream. Back then, organizations built response models the old-fashioned way—wit...
Customer Service is Not a Competitive Advantage, Customer Care Is
SHARE By Rhonda Basler | March 25, 2019 | Blog Posts | Engage Customers Reaching customers in authentic ways transcends basic customer service. Because of this, earning customer loyalty is sometimes easier said than done. In today’s world, people don...
How Building a Customer-Focused Culture Drives Business Growth
SHARE By Rhonda Basler | February 8, 2019 | Blog Posts | Engage Customers Enhancing and improving the customer experience continues to be a top priority for companies both big and small. In fact, 86% of buyers today say they are willing to pay more…
The Best Customer Experience Tip: Think About Customers as Individuals
SHARE By Rhonda Basler | January 23, 2019 | Blog Posts | Engage Customers Let’s imagine for a minute. You’re a new customer to XYZ Energy Company. After a particularly difficult month of expenses, you receive your first bill from XYZ and realize you ...
Millennials vs Baby Boomers: Which is the Most Valuable Generation?
SHARE By Rhonda Basler | December 18, 2018 | Blog Posts | Engage Customers Finding creative ways to woo and impress Millennial consumers is a top priority for many companies today. After all, Millennials represent the largest consumer group, the most...
Hallmark’s Secret to Acquire Medicare Advantage Members
SHARE By Rhonda Basler | December 7, 2018 | Blog Posts | Engage Customers The Annual Enrollment Period (AEP) for Medicare Advantage just closed on December 7. And although it may seem too early to start thinking about AEP marketing, many markete...
Use Big Data to Launch a Direct Marketing Strategy That Works
SHARE By Rhonda Basler | October 8, 2018 | Blog Posts | Engage Customers We live in a society driven heavily by numbers, analytics and cold, hard facts. Big data is particularly vital for companies eager to supercharge their marketing efforts and gai...
5 Lessons from the Leaders of 3 Million Customer Service Representatives
SHARE By Rhonda Basler | September 27, 2018 | Blog Posts | Engage Customers Almost three million people identify their job as being in customer service, arguably one of the most challenging and ever-evolving roles within any business today. That make...
8 Ways to Infuse Empathy into Customer Relationship Marketing
SHARE By Rhonda Basler | September 13, 2018 | Blog Posts | Engage Customers Turning first-time buyers into lifelong customers can be a challenge. But one simple concept can help make it much, much easier. The secret? Empathy. [embedded content] Move...
5 Inspirational Examples of Corporate Social Responsibility in Marketing
SHARE By Rhonda Basler | September 6, 2018 | Blog Posts | Engage Customers Standing out from the competition can be challenging when the marketplace is already crowded. However, companies that demonstrate an obligation to various philanthropic causes...
8 Ways to Use Greeting Cards to Build Customer Loyalty
SHARE By Rhonda Basler | August 20, 2018 | Blog Posts | Engage Customers A survey by the International Council of Shopping Centers (ICSC) found that 82% of U.S. adults are loyal to brands and 84% are loyal to retailers. Unfortunately, most businesses...
Millennials, Mail and Making a Difference
SHARE By Rhonda Basler | July 10, 2018 | Engage Customers It’s not surprising that Millennials have been an increasing focus for marketers over the past decade. Even by conservative estimates, their generation (currently aged 22 to 37) now outnumbers...
3 Critical Questions to Build Deeper Customer Loyalty
SHARE By Rhonda Basler | June 21, 2018 | Blog Posts | Engage Customers We all understand that a loyal customer is extremely valuable to a business. A well-known study found that increasing customer retention rates by just 5% could lead to an increase...
3 Ways Technology Can Humanize Business
SHARE By Rhonda Basler | May 7, 2018 | Blog Posts | Engage Customers The always-insightful Jeannie Walters from 360Connext Customer Experience Consulting is back to talk about two of my favorite topics: trends and technology. Watch the video below to...
5 Reasons Your Company Needs a Human Evaluation of Your Marketing
SHARE By Rhonda Basler | February 16, 2018 | Engage Customers | Engage Employees Today we welcome Jeannie Walters, speaker, writer and CEO of 360Connext Experience Investigators, to the Hallmark Business Connections blog. Jeannie and I share somethin...
Using Emotional Intelligence to Build Employee/Customer Relationships
What do 90% of top performers in business have in common? Emotional intelligence.1 Their blend of self-awareness and self-management catapults them into the upper echelons, outranking peers that might outscore them on IQ tests. In the business environment, a high EQ among leadership and managers...
Employee Engagement: The Domino Effect on Customers
When I reflect on career success, I can measure it in dollars, in terms of salary or in revenue for Hallmark Business Connections. That leaves me feeling proud, but if I stopped there it wouldn’t be enough. Revenue goals are expected to be beaten...