Cherish Your Existing Customers – Surviving the Recession – Part 2 of 7
How many times have we read that it costs 5 to 7 times as much to acquire a customer as it does to retain one? And yet, knowing that existing relationships are more profitable, we spend the majority of our planning and budget on new customer acquisition. Unless you're...
Focus on Revenue and Customer Service – Surviving The Recession – Part 1 of 7
Concentrate on Business. At the base of the brain stem, in the primitive part of the human brain which controls breathing, sweating, blinking of the eyes, and other forms of involuntary action, is the amygdala. This tiny region of nerve cells is the part of the brain...
Bad News For Business Owners
The economy is in trouble. Which loosely translates as people are spending less. We're all feeling the pinch. That's obvious. And though no official source will admit it, we're now in the middle of the recession of 2008. But there's also good news. The average...
Basics of Retail Marketing from a Nine-Year-Old
Nine-year-old Lindsey, who's visiting her grandmother and me, obviously has the entrepreneurial gene. She decided on Wednesday to open the classic American neighborhood business, the lemonade stand. I suspect there are a few retail marketing lessons every business...
Will A Doomsday Cult Buy A New Dishwasher?
Companies keep using “intent to purchase” surveys to determine the course of their business, even though they are among the least reliable method of predicting human behavior.
If Elected, I Will Not Serve
How much are we willing to pay for a non-material experience? Among the super rich it's no longer enough to give a loved one a new Maserati GranTourismo (MSRP $110,000). Now, the proper gift is a private concert by the Rolling Stones (MSRP $4,000,000). Or so I'm told....
Bottled Water, Fresh Fruit, and the Price of Gasoline
Are you in retail? Have your sales been affected by gas prices? I just eavesdropped on a conversation between the managers of two local stores.* They both noted that store traffic has decreased, and the telephone is ringing much more consistently, since the price of...
A Business Seminar For the 21st Century
The formula used to be simple. You advertised. People responded. They called. They came. They bought what you sold.Today fewer are calling. Fewer are buying. And if you're in business for yourself, you're probably asking yourself “What happened?”I have the privilege...
Military Positioning as Marketing Strategy
How is marketing dominance achieved? The easiest way is to actually be first. The second way to claim a winning position is to create a whole new mental battlefield and be first to occupy it.
Marketing P.A.I.N. – Part 8, Message Frequency, Media Choices, and Tracking
Marketing P.A.I.N. is a step-by-step guide to more effective advertising.