Amazon vacuums up Whole Foods. Pega World plans AI world domination. The technology steamroller continues to upset the apple cart of business. (What a mixed metaphor!) But really, what do YOU think about all this? How far should businesses go in using technology to manage customer relationships. And shouldn’t the customer have a say in all this? Join Steve in a follow-up discussion and learn … [Read more...]
ARE YOU USING TECHNOLOGY LIKE A HAMMER?
I think we all have a love-hate relationship with new technology. At the same time, we need to be very careful to not let technology get the upper hand, allowing it to cloud our thinking and our relationships with customers. What is that danger exactly and how is it similar to an issue raised in a 1990 TV commercial? … [Read more...]
The Business Genius of The Beatles
As this broadcast is being recorded, Sergeant Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band is celebrating its 50th anniversary. There is no question both the album and The Beatles were, and still are, great examples of achieving an UNCOPYABLE status within their industry. Most people, however, are unaware of how focused The Beatles were on the fact they were a business. Yes, they ultimately produced … [Read more...]
Somebody Died to Give Us a Day Off
Admittedly, this is a rough, shocking title. It's not meant as click bait, so to speak, but to bring up a harsh reality. Today is Memorial Day in the United States, a day remembering those who gave their lives in the service of our nation. We enjoy many freedoms because of those people and those who currently serve or have served in our armed forces. I'm going off topic this week to say thank … [Read more...]
We Don’t See Things As They Really Are
One of the most oft-repeated pieces of business advice is, “put yourself in your customers shoes.” On the surface this makes complete sense, but, in fact, thinking like your customer is really hard to do. The reason why boils down to the study of heuristics - how people think and why they think certain ways. I was first exposed to this extremely interesting topic at the 2007 TED Conference … [Read more...]
Was Steve Harvey Right? I Think So.
Last week Steve Harvey returned for the fifth and final season of his talk show. Before everything got started, he sent a memo out to the entire staff that was, shall I say delicately, poorly delivered and poorly received. Basically Steve was trying to get control of his personal time and so he laid down a set of new rules, e.g. “Do not come to my dressing room unless invited,” and “Do not wait … [Read more...]
Three Terrible Email Marketing Mistakes
I’m on hundreds of businesses email lists, so I’m pretty clear on how the majority of companies in B2B typically use email marketing. It’s terrible. Average email opens for B2B and B2C are 20-24%. B2C click-throughs are 3.5% and B2b are 5.3% according to Marketing Platform. I think these numbers are abysmal, but they can be increased and, frankly, it’s not that difficult. In this … [Read more...]
Your Second Most Important Component of Marketing: “Whisper”
The Robert Collier’s Letter Book, published in 1937, gave us one of the most important and shared pieces of marketing advice ever. This was personally driven home several years ago when I facilitated a strategic planning session for a large organization’s board of directors. During a break I heard someone across the room mention the words “Pine Valley” and I was immediately pulled onto their … [Read more...]
The 4th Element of Competition
Moving on from the crazy new stories of Sears and United Airlines, I want to talk about the importance of the 4th element of competitive strategy. For years, companies have depended on Product, Customer Service, and Price as the three elements for differentiating from competitors. These aren’t good enough anymore and my new book, UNCOPYABLE: How to Create an Unfair Advantage Over Your … [Read more...]
Forget Sears! United Airlines is Way Dumber!
OMG, I thought the recent Sears story was grabbing the attention of America, but United Airlines has THROWN Sears out of the headlines! Wow, what a crazy, stupid situation. Of course, I have an opinion about what’s going on here and I think it’s actually a HUGE issue that every business in the U.S. must pay attention to. Watch this week’s Uncopyable Rambling video and learn the big lesson … [Read more...]
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