Andy Hanselman
Andy Hanselman helps businesses and their people think in 3D. That means being Dramatically and Demonstrably Different. An expert on business competitiveness, he has spent well over 20 years researching, working with, and learning from, successful fast growth businesses. His latest book, The 7 Characteristics of 3D Businesses, reveals how businesses can get ahead, and stay ahead of their competitors.
Seven characteristics of remarkable businesses
21 Feb 2020
What makes a business remarkable? What gets people talking about it and recommending it to others? The simple answer is that they are dramatically and demonstrably different.
10 characteristics of customer-focused businesses
29 May 2018
Customer-focused organisations are dramatically and demonstrably different from their competitors. They don’t just meet customer expectations, they consistently try to exceed them in everything they do.
What you say. What your customers think
10 Jan 2018
Have you ever stopped to think what glib scripted responses to customer enquiries say about your business? Perhaps you should try waiting in your own queues or dealing with your own call centre.
Fish in a different pond
22 Sep 2016
If you always do what you've always done, you'll always get what you've always had. That why you need to start thinking and doing differently if you want to generate any real innovation.
Four takeaways to improve your customer relationships
11 Feb 2016
How do you measure up when it comes to customer focus? Do you find, attract and keep the customers that you want? Do you maximise the opportunities and the profits that they can deliver? Here are some takeaways to help you do just that.
10 ways to maximise your customer relationships
14 Dec 2015
Maximising customer relationships means proactively developing relationships that give the best to, and get the best from, the customers you want. Here are 10 key ways you can go about doing that.
Forget CRM, think MCR
10 Nov 2015
Maximizing your customer relationships - MCR - has nothing to do with fancy CRM systems and everything to do with giving the best to, and getting the best from, the customers you want.
Are you and your business thinking in 3D?
28 Jul 2015
Businesses today face a long list of challenges. But some aren’t just surviving, they’re thriving. And they're doing that by thinking in 3D - by being dramatically and demonstrably different from their competitors.
The ABC of great customer experiences
30 Jul 2014
In the A-Z of great customer experiences, the letter ‘C’ obviously doesn’t stand for ‘Comcast’. Every business needs to think about the letter ‘Q’. It stands for ‘queues’ and for ‘question’ – this question. What's it like to be a customer of your business?
10 Ds of customer differentiation
28 Mar 2014
We're often told to segment our markets, but how? By size, age, sector, location? Here's a different way to look at your potential and actual customers to get you thinking about the sort of customers you want – and the ones you don't.
What's culture - and what's yours?
30 Jul 2013
Customer experiences don't happen by chance. Often they're a reflection of the culture of a business - good or bad. But because culture is all about the behaviours that people demonstrate, it can be one of the hardest elements of management to get right.
Don't disappoint your online customers
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.
The ingredients of customer delight
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.
Competitive advantage and UBER culture
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.
Dealing with disappointment
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.
10 questions to ask your customers
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.
Plan a bit of spontaneity
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.
Seven mistaken beliefs of modern marketing
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.
Who's responsible for marketing in your business?
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.
RIP the 4Ps
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.
Give, give, give
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.
The £15 billion black hole
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?
Get profit-focused
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.
Word of mouth, word of mouse
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.