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Customer Pain: Identify It, Then Heal It

A Fast Company magazine article  on understanding what customers will buy, brought out the most basic human factors that affect why people will spend money.  Consumers will buy a product or a service to ease pain or in search of pleasure. If you have a nasty headache, you’ll rush to buy aspirin or another pain reliever in a heart beat. Why? Because aspirin will relieve the pain and provide a more pleasant experience. If you scrape a knee, you quickly clean the wound, slather on something that numbs the pain and then apply a bandage to protect the area while it [...]

By |2016-12-27T20:03:23-05:00October 13th, 2013|Customer Experience, Customer Relationships|
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Customer Influence: How It Can Negatively Affect Your Business

'Designing Strategies' Newsletter July - August, 2013                         Volume 10 - Issue 54 It is sometimes difficult to put your arms around actual costs related to losing a customer. That said, the fact remains the impact on your bottom line can be significant. There is a good chance dissatisfied customers will not bother to say goodbye. Nor will they tell you why they are unhappy.  Neither of these situations is a good position for your firm to be in.  The extent of customer influence in your marketplace is something [...]

By |2017-01-08T01:58:02-05:00July 18th, 2013|Customer Experience, Customer Relationships, Newsletter|
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Customer Service – How Good Is Yours?

I've been involved in  'discussions'  in several different Groups on LinkedIn recently.  In every case, conversations eventually got around to the need for better customer experiences  for business success.  This is so true in the relationship environment we are doing business in today.  Expectations are higher than ever.  Customers expect more than what used to be called 'customer service' -- everyone claims to be great at it, but very few stand out.  Most are just sorely lacking.   I recently returned from a trip to Tucson, AZ.  I was scheduled to present a program on Designing for the Generations.  The local ASID chapter [...]

By |2016-12-27T21:02:11-05:00May 14th, 2013|Branding, Customer Experience, Customer Relationships|
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Customers – Separate the Wheat and Chaff

I was reading an article written by Jim Clinton, CEO at Gallup. The title of the article was: "America is Losing Jobs by Ignoring Its Best Trading Partners."   The article discussed how the we spend so much time focused on Russia, China and the Middle East, all of which are very small players in the GDP here in the United States. The article went on to say that Mexico and South America are much better friends to us and represent a much larger piece of our GDP and therefore, our economic situation. "So what?" you might ask. "What does that have to [...]

By |2016-12-27T21:16:05-05:00February 19th, 2013|Customer Relationships, Strategy|
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Transform Your Business With Minor Changes

  I just read a great article in Fast Company about the importance of making  very minor changes within your company.  Small changes can transform your business and its culture.  Minor changes and also transform your business by changing its direction and levels of success.  All it takes is one or two small changes in behavior.  Lisa Earle McLeod, the author, related a story about her family delivering their college-aged daughter to Boston University to begin her college experience.   It's Easy to Transform a Business The family was standing at one of those large public maps of the campus - [...]

By |2016-12-27T23:34:28-05:00December 17th, 2012|Customer Experience, Customer Relationships, Strategic Management|
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Customer Service Strategy: Kill Customers with Kindness

Have you considered the importance and value of your online presence in handling customer service issues?  At the very least, every company needs a web site or other online presence where customers can find them.   Yes, even your company's online presence requires a customer service strategy. Today’s customers do online research before moving forward with a purchase or business relationship.  They also use the Internet to share any bad experiences they had during a transaction. Sometimes they even share good experiences and feelings.  Really.  Reviews are important to potential customers, so be sure to have a method for your [...]

By |2016-12-27T23:55:05-05:00July 19th, 2012|Customer Experience, Customer Relationships|
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Disgruntled Customers: The Rapidly Rising Cost For Small Businesses

'Designing Strategies' Newsletter July – August 2012                                        Volume 9 – Issue 48 The Rapidly Rising Cost of Disgruntled Customers Sometimes, it is difficult put your arms around actual costs related to losing a customer.  But, the fact remains the impact on your bottom line can be significant. It is common knowledge that holding existing customers is less expensive than courting new ones. There is a good chance dissatisfied customers won’t bother to say goodbye, or tell you why they are unhappy. [...]

By |2017-01-04T03:04:48-05:00July 16th, 2012|Customer Experience, Customer Relationships, Employees, Newsletter|
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5 Important Small Business Trends for 2012

'Designing Strategies' Newsletter May – June 2012                                         Volume 9 -- Issue 47 Important Small Business Trends for 2012 None of the financial, economic or trend forecasting experts seem able to clearly predict small business trends for 2012. Could it be that 2012 is destined to be pretty much like 2011? We all know how unpredictable last year was for business owners trying to plan for 2012 and beyond. 2011 was a year of ups and downs, advances and reversals, peaks [...]

By |2017-01-04T02:26:33-05:00May 16th, 2012|Customer Relationships, Marketing, Newsletter, Social Media|
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Maximize Your Existing Database to Keep Customers

It costs five to ten times more to find and cultivate a new customer than to keep one you already have.   In addition to the financial cost of bringing new customers into the fold,  time and energy expended as well.  Sometimes, businesses are overly anxious to finish up a project or fulfill a sale and move to the next one.  This leads to a customer being dropped like a hot potato when the next best thing comes along.   It seems like a no-brainer to keep existing, satisfied customers, than forgetting about them.  Below are several strategies for getting high results if you maximize your [...]

By |2016-12-29T01:10:35-05:00September 22nd, 2011|Customer Relationships, Marketing|
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Customer Relationships Start With Baby Steps

Does your approach to getting a new customer start and end with making a sale?  I certainly hope not.  If you take that hard sell approach to anyone who can pass the mirror test -- fogging up a mirror because they are still breathing -- you are in for a lot of disappointment.   Before you push for a sale, you need to develop strong customer relationships.  That relationship needs to build on getting  the customer to know, like and trust you. Think about the last half dozen telemarketing calls you've received.  They were all trying to sell you something weren't [...]

By |2016-12-29T01:15:13-05:00August 30th, 2011|Customer Experience, Customer Relationships|
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