Never talk about your product.

Not ever, not even once.

Talk around it, talk over it, talk under it but never talk about your product.

Why not talk about your product? Simple. You’re too close to it. No one will believe you. So talk about what other people are saying, experiencing and sharing about your product instead.

I’m not talking testimonials here either, I’m talking about real stories about real people with real experiences. Stories in their own voices.

It’s what people say about a product that speaks, not the the product.

Have you ever read a disclaimer or a condition that comes with a a marketing offer and wondered what the $*%# does this mean? Well so have I, and after figuring these things out (the hard way), I’ve decided to spare you, my dear readers the same agony by putting together a little translation guide. So without further ado, and in no particular order, here are the real meanings behind ten of the most insidious marketing lies. Read more »

When was the last time you told your mobile service provider that you love them or the maker of your cell phone?

There is nothing a company wants more than to cultivate a love affair with customers. Now what’s wrong with that sentence? Well nothing really, besides the fact that its usually a LIE, and a pretty brazen one at that.

Sadly, most corporations only preach this without actually practicing it. They prefer to behave like detached creatures that loathe closeness and recoil at the slightest twinge of customer affection. They prefer “customer adoption” and “customer retention” to customer affection. They shrink back from the warm embrace of their most ardent fans.

Read more »

I was at a local breakfast chain (Chez Cora’s) over the weekend and there was a table with two children literally hanging off the wall and climbing anything they could, as children are apt to do. It was apparent that, aside from the food (and the colouring pages), there wasn’t much of anything for the kids to do but climb around their seat. For some reason this made me think that if only there was something that would capture their attention and keep them seated, if only long enough for their parents to relax a little and have a nice breakfast.

Then it came to me. Themed booster seats! Read more »

I was reading up on some of the VizThink 2008 session summaries that people have been blogging about, and there was one bit from Jim Haudan’s Drawing the Big Picture: Strategy Alignment and Deployment Using Visualization session that sort of stuck out at me:

“Gallup polls indicate that 300 billion is lost in productivity as 25% of a typical organization is disengaged, 50% is ambivalent, and only 25% are agents of change. This lack of engagement results in the fact that 66-90% of strategies that are developed don’t get executed.”

An interesting stat in and of itself, but what happens if we think of this not in terms of productivity within an organization, but rather, from the perspective of a company and its customers:

“…$300 billion is lost in revenue as 25% of a typical organization’s customers are disengaged (buy the product service, but are not satisfied with the level of service or quality), 50% are ambivalent, and only 25% are agents of change (excited about your company/product, and tell their friends). This lack of customer engagement results in the fact that 66-90% of customer service efforts targeted at your customers, don’t succeed.”

Now the numbers in my scenario are completely made up, but if that were the reality - and certainly, it could be in a crowdsourced model where your customers are your employees; what would you need to do differently in your customer service strategy?

…And the best thing about getting engaged with your customers, is that it doesn’t cost you 3 months salary!

(photo credit: rmrayner)

I’m typing this post from my newly resuscitated iBook (2005 vintage). Over the holidays, someone accidentally stepped on the end of the AC adapter, crushing the metal shielding and bending the center pin beyond repair (I tried to bend it back slowly and it snapped off).

After the initial shock, I thought, oh well, I’ll just order a new adapter. More shock. The official G4 iBook AC adapter is $100 at the Apple Store. Read more »

While I typically like to focus on customer experiences from the customer side, this post is a win-win from both sides. For anyone that’s been a server or a waiter in a restaurant, these should, for the most part be common sense, but you’d be surprised at how often people get them wrong. Put these into action, and you’re guaranteed to see your tips improve - unless, of course, the food is just plain terrible. Read more »