Posted on July 24, 2008 by cpmccrory
I’ve written before about expectations, especially managing them. But there is another side. For the greatest success, you must exceed whatever expectations exist.
Here’s the thing, once you meet, then exceed those expectations, you have now raised the bar. Created a new set of expectations. That you must now exceed.
It’s not very fair [...]
Filed under: Consumer Experience | Tagged: expectations | No Comments »
Posted on July 21, 2008 by cpmccrory
We’ve been interviewing a number of local PR agencies lately, and I have to say, for the most part, it has been a disappointing exercise. They talk and talk without truly understanding that this is the equivalent of a job interview, and we expect them to be at the top of their game. [...]
Filed under: Communication, Consumer Experience, Promotion Strategy, Sales, brand strategy, message | Tagged: agencies, agency, clients, pitches, PR | No Comments »
Posted on July 14, 2008 by cpmccrory
On Friday, I wrote about closing loops on everything—questions, requests, complaints, whatever. One thing that will make closing those loops much easier is by properly managing expectations.
This concept is one of the most important business lessons I have learned. It truly is a 360˚ method of management, because it goes up, down and [...]
Filed under: Consumer Experience, Employees | Tagged: boss, bosses, customers, Employees, expectations, management, managing | No Comments »
Posted on July 7, 2008 by cpmccrory
Since moving into my new house, I have had the occasion to work with a couple of companies using service contractors and one using its own staff. In each instance, the experience has been fine. Using contractors for your in-home service work makes sense in the right situations:
The contractors’ vision and mission aligns [...]
Filed under: Consumer Experience, Customer Service, Marketing Integration | Tagged: contractors, contracts, management, service | No Comments »
Posted on July 4, 2008 by cpmccrory
This past weekend, I heard a co-worker talking to a customer, and she said she didn’t want the customer to sell the product back to her. I hadn’t heard that phrase in several years. But it’s one of those that makes perfect sense.
We sell all sorts of things to all sorts of people. [...]
Filed under: Consumer Experience, Customer Service, Sales | Tagged: customer satisfaction, purchase, Sales | No Comments »
Posted on June 30, 2008 by cpmccrory
Segmentation is a difficult thing to wrangle sometimes. When internet-based sales starting picking up steam ten years ago, people weren’t sure how to respond, though the thought process really shouldn’t have been much different than for catalog sales. The main difference is that the catalog was now online and accessible to anyone who [...]
Filed under: Consumer Experience, Customer Service, Marketing Integration, Pricing, Sales, brand strategy | Tagged: branding, catalog, internet sales, online, pricing strategy, sales channel | No Comments »
Posted on June 26, 2008 by cpmccrory
Sorry about this, but I have yet another issue concerning moves. Following on yesterday’s complaints about our electric company, today I take issue with the real estate industry.
We sat there in the room with a stack of papers two inches thick in front of us to sign. The closing agent explained briefly what [...]
Filed under: Communication, Consumer Experience, Customer Service | Tagged: lawyers, legalese, paperwork, real estate, title agent | 3 Comments »
Posted on June 25, 2008 by cpmccrory
OK. So we buy a house in Phoenix, having relocated from New Orleans. In preparation, my wife starts contacting the various services—electric, gas, telephone, cable. For almost all of them, it goes as you would expect. They confirm the address, check the cancel order from the previous owner, and agree to [...]
Filed under: Consumer Experience, Customer Service, message | Tagged: checklist, picture ID, proof of identity | No Comments »
Posted on June 24, 2008 by cpmccrory
I was out shopping (browsing, really) at some shops this weekend. In one of the stores, I was particularly interested in a couple of shirts. As I am checking out one of the shirts, deciding whether to buy, one of the salespeople walks up to me and points me to a table of [...]
Filed under: Consumer Experience, Customer Service, Sales | Tagged: consumer, Customer Service, experience, prices, Sales, shopping | No Comments »
Posted on June 16, 2008 by cpmccrory
I’ve never really gotten into, nor understood for that matter, the ongoing fight between PC and Mac users. Each has its own features, benefits and drawbacks and caters to two distinct audiences. Neither one is truly better than the other. As things progress, each one is nudging closer to the other, blurring [...]
Filed under: Brand Value, Consumer Experience, Customer Service, Promotion Strategy, brand strategy, marketing | Tagged: Apple, loyalty, Mac, PC, switching costs | 7 Comments »