29 Jun 2012
With the inexorable rise of social media has come a headache for businesses. When customers talk about you online, they expect a response. Fail to meet these expectations and they will be disappointed – a disappointment that can quickly turn to outright disaffection.
21 Oct 2011
In truly customer-focused organisations, 'customer delight' is an integral part of the culture. It's just the way things are done. And whatever your industry or sector, there are some common ingredients that can help you achieve it.
08 Mar 2011
In real customer-focused businesses, 'culture' is integral to competitive advantage becuase it is the thing that gives customers a reason to come back and to tell others.
11 Oct 2010
One sign of good customer service is how an organisation deals with customer disappointment. In fact, successful companies go out and look for complaints because they know that the easier they are to complain to, the more customer-focussed they are likely to be.
27 Sep 2010
Lots of organisations invest a lot of time and money in getting customer feedback. But much of this time and money is wasted because they either ask the wrong questions or ignore the answers. So here are 10 questions that can't be ignored.
22 Jul 2010
Planned spontaneity is a great way for any organisation to enhance the customer experience. Not just that, it's also a great way of engaging your people in helping demonstrate to your customers that you do actually care.
02 Jun 2010
As somebody who speaks and presents on marketing and customer care to all sorts of businesses at all sorts of events, one thing I see that really separates successful marketeers from those who are less successful is attitudes towards social media and its impact on marketing.
21 Apr 2010
A truly customer-focused organisation recognises that marketing involves everybody, whatever their function. And a natural consequence of this is that everyone understands the impact that they can and do have on their customers, even indirectly.
10 Feb 2010
Traditional marketing theory has for years been based on a fundamental principle known as the 4Ps. But it's time to forget about them. The original 4 Ps are Passe, Past it, kaPut and Pointless. Instead, I offer you a new set of P's for the age of customer control.
21 Dec 2009
What could you give your customers or colleagues this Christmas? I'm not talking about discounts or donations, but things that won't cost you anything but still add real value to others.
30 Oct 2009
Poor customer service is costing UK businesses an astonishing £15.3 billion a year. So what does 'poor service' mean in practise? And what can orgainsations do to provide better service?
24 Aug 2009
Do you know where your profits really come from? I don't just mean, what's left at the end of the month, but who, how and what drives the profitability of your business? It seems so obvious, but it never fails to surprise me how un-profit focused many businesses are.
11 May 2009
The power of 'word of mouth' has always been strong. The power of 'word of mouse' has the potential to be considerably stronger - whatever business or sector you are in.
24 Jun 2008
When I'm asked how organisations can create devoted customers, I reply 'just keep doing great things to them'. It seesm obvious, but creating 'devoted' customers is about consistently doing things that make customers feel valued.
05 May 2008
What's your Dramatic Difference? What sets you apart from the rest? Don't have one? Well get working on it and raise that bar. Because the chances of achieving success simply by being the same as everyone else are reducing rapidly
25 Feb 2008
I received a handwritten postcard recently from a supplier of mine last week. It had a real impact on me and reminded me that sometime, doing things the old way is a great way to stand out from the crowd.
