Management
Three Basic Elements of Successful Customer Engagement
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Earlier this week we talked about the difference between social media marketing and content marketing. What they share at their core is the idea of authentic customer engagement.
So what is the essence of successful customer engagement?
First you must to listen with genuine interest to your customer. You have to hear what their concerns, issues and goals are.
Second, you must understand how to help them solve their concerns with what you have to offer which is relevant to them.
Third, you must respond to them in an authentic and transparent way supporting their need for individual attention, additional information or the move to the next step of the process. Continue reading
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3 Reasons to be Hopeful for Better Business in 2012
For me 2011 was a tumultuous year and I am happy to move on. As I thought about why I was more optimistic about 2012, three things came to mind that have nothing to do with whether or not the economy improves (although we all hope it does).
- A fresh perspective. Most of us have had some down time during the holidays, and whenever we spend time away from the day to day, we can examine what we’re doing in new ways. Even if the only change for you is the New Year itself, take this opportunity to evaluate your work for an opportunity to bring a fresh perspective or to try a new strategy or tactic. If you’ve been dreaming of something different, this could be the time to activate that dream. Continue reading
New Realities of Email Marketing
For smart marketers, the days of indiscriminate batch and blast emails are long gone.
Today's email list builders are not just interested in building the largest list but are gathering names and segmenting them based on individual preferences, behavior or where the name belongs in the sales cycle. Quality outranks quantity.
Savvy consumers are selective about who they give their email address to, and most often are giving it in return for something they value: a free report, white paper, eBook, discount coupons, etc. Continue reading
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3 New Rules of Branding
Traditional branding focused on push-out messaging via advertising, marketing and sales. In the traditional model, the publisher or the manufacturer controlled the conversation around the brand.
No more.
Here are 3 new rules of branding:
It's relationships not transactions.
The power position has shifted to the customer. Continue reading
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Are you Confident in Your Delivery System? The New York Times Shouldn’t Be
After many Sunday morning phone calls, the NY Times has lost a customer. We used to be happy customers, and we still want to have the Times delivered. But that apparently is the problem.
Over the last five years we have been a daily delivery customer; a 4 -day a week customer (Thurs-Sunday); and we've tried unsuccessfully to be a Sunday only customer.
We're finally giving up. Continue reading
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Review: 18 Minutes by Peter Bregman
The subtitle of this book is "Find Your Focus, Master Distraction, and Get the Right Things Done." Although Bregman outlines an 18-minute-a-day time management plan, this book is about much more than just getting things done.
In fact, the author detours from the usual perspective of time management books right from the beginning. He maintains that it is impossible to do everything and that a rewarding life is the result is of choosing the right things that help us achieve our goals. Continue reading
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“Old Marketing” v. “New Marketing”
First published September 14, 2008
Traditional marketing is still very much with us in K-12 publishing. Because of the institutional nature of our market, we still operate in “push” mode with direct mail, outbound sales, either in person or by phone, conferences, etc. For most K-12 publishers, sending occasional customer emails and offering online webinars and demos is as Web 2.0 as it gets. For educational publishers, it is still very much about filling the sales funnel moving prospects to customers through a multi-step process.
But even in educational publishing, this traditional model is giving way to something new. In traditional sales, the company was in charge of moving the process forward, and in the Web 2.0 world, the new driver is the customer. Continue reading
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4 Guiding Principles for Navigating Uncertain Times
First published October 16, 2008
Even the financial pundits have admitted they do not know when the market lurching will end and national and international markets will settle down. With the intercession of the government, there is a general belief… Continue reading
Review: Collapse of Distinction
“People are craving, even coveting, distinction. Being different, standing out, getting noticed in a sea of sameness is vital to an organization’s sustained growth and profitability…businesses that stand out ‘provide a service of perceived higher value to buyers.”
This is the basic premise of Collapse of Distinction by Scott McKain. Each of us can list on one hand the times and companies that have delivered to us a customer experience that was memorable or distinctive. Why is that? The author argues that it is because businesses, for the most part, are focused on achieving their sales goals and not on creating value for the customer. “It is overwhelming how many companies focus on not losing to the competition rather than on delivering what customers really want.” Continue reading
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