Business

Back in 1995, I landed a job at a London-based systems integrations company that sold their wares into – amongst others – the printing industry. It was a transitory time, from both a technical as well as a commercial perspective. The publishing industry was coming to terms with – for example – no longer being able to charge £70 (about $110) for printing out a “proof” of a magazine page for an advertising agency or publishing company. It was also to be the beginning of the end for the newspaper advertising “Gate Keepers.” These were a group of perhaps five premedia companies that, together, pretty much had the monopoly on preparing and sending ads to the major UK newspaper publishers. Their rationale was that preparing files for newspaper printing needed specialist knowledge – their knowledge. This was back in the day when preparing a PDF file that was fit for the printing press was a lot more complex than it is today. It was before the time of industry standards such as PDF/X-1a, for example. If your company wanted to run an ad in any of the major UK newspapers, the file could only be sent to the publisher via …

Do your clients ‘get’ what you do? I don’t mean if they know what you sell. I’m guessing that they know that already. If they didn’t they wouldn’t be customers, right? I’m not talking about whatever product or service your business sells. I’m talking about the reasons why they should buy from you, as opposed to the hundreds or thousands of others who, in their eyes, offer something similar to what you do. What I mean is: do your customers know your story? The reason why you’re in business? Oh, and by the way the reason as to why you’re in business is not to make a profit. Making a profit is simply a result of why you’re in business (well, hopefully at least). When I say ‘why’, I mean the passion, cause or belief that caused the creation of your organization in the first place. Let me give you an example. We launched KEXINO because we feel that companies and organizations of all sizes – from “mumpreneurs” to SMEs – should have access to next-generation marketing resources in the same way that the big guns do. Why? Because, increasingly, customers expect a certain experience when they interact with a …

Guy Kawasaki’s new book “Enchantment” talks about the importance to go the extra mile in customer service and satisfaction before, during, and after the sale.

John Einar Sandvand talks about a word that should be banned from the vocabulary of all media companies. What’s the word? “Cannibalization.” Many media companies today are happy to develop the digital side to their business, but only as long as it doesn’t negatively impact the revenues they generate from their traditional sales. As John points out, “What Can Become Digital, Will Become Digital.” As consumers, the immediacy and convenience that digital content delivery provides – whether that content is music, movies, newspapers, books, or whatever – is a compelling and attractive proposition to us. More importantly, even if the analog equivalent is ‘better’, it doesn’t mean that it has a given right to co-exist. The market will decide – whether or not we like the results. Take the music industry as an example. Why did the CD all but kill off vinyl? Because with a CD you don’t have the hassle of a turntable and stylus, and you don’t have to get-up to flip the record over when you want to hear “side two.” Similarly, MP3 files replaced CDs for many people because their reduced sound quality from an MP3 files is mitigated by convenience and immediacy of purchase: you don’t have …

In the same way as publishers, newspapers & music companies before them, film studios must change to a customer-centric model in order to survive.

Are you an ‘expert’? I sure hope not. As consumers, none of us want to make the wrong decision when we’re looking to buy something. None of us want to be the one that bought a Zune. We like the assurance that third-party confirmation gives as part of the buying process. Maybe we seek out reviews from trusted sources such as specialist magazines, blogs, or websites. Or perhaps we’d let untrusted opinion guide us. What do I mean by “Untrusted opinion”? In recent years buyers have grown to trust the phenomenon of the Customer Review, essentially a word-of-mouth recommendation from someone that we don’t know. We often can’t confirm that the submitted information is accurate, or unbiased, yet we allow it to influence our purchasing decision. Word Of Mouth has been supplemented by Word Of Mouse. What’s amazing to me is that we often value the opinion of these people over and above the information from more historically-trusted sources. We’d rather believe a total stranger who may not even be real, over a brand’s own content. In the world of business – in sales, marketing, finance, HR, and so on – what we’re looking for, consciously or otherwise, is an ‘expert’. Someone who can …

How far does your business go in building relationships with your customers? Today, many companies have realized that they need to do more than hang a “We’re Open” sign on the door to get customers to buy from them. They may even have heard that “People don’t buy from companies, people buy from people.” As a result, they schmooze, they cajole, they inform, they educate, they interact. To use the current parlance: They engage. If it all goes according to plan, then perhaps the customer makes the purchase. At which time, more often than not, they’re shown the door and we’re off playing the game all over again with someone else. But couldn’t – or shouldn’t – the customer relationship be more than just a way to get the sale? In some cases there is a relationship after the sale: Perhaps the customer has to pay for some kind of assistance or service following the purchase.  Or maybe there’s some ongoing training/induction type sessions that last an amount of time, that maintains the client/supplier relationship. But if a business – any business – sincerely exists to offer some kind of help or solution to their customers, then shouldn’t they view every …

A successful and effective social media presence isn’t voodoo, or another one of the black arts. It’s simply tried-and-tested marketing process applied to other channels. Perhaps, like many business owners, you’re looking at this year as being an opportune time to pin your business on the social media map. A social media presence is no longer the bleeding-edge of a company’s communication, awareness-building, and engagement strategy. If you are about to venture into building a social media presence for your business, may I give you a few words of warning. Many businesses spread themselves too thinly when it comes to social media. There are so many sites to choose from. Where should one start? • Traditional sites such as Facebook or Twitter? • Business-related sites such as LinkedIn, XING, or Viadeo? • Location-aware sites such as FourSquare? It’s tempting to think that you need to be on all of them. After all, you may be missing out on attracting possible customers, right? Technically you’re correct. But surely your business should already know where your customers are, when they are there, and what your organization should be communicating when they are listening? Social media doesn’t abdicate your responsibility in finding and directing relevant …