Dumb. We train a waiter for 3 weeks before they can deliver food. We hire world-class experts to handle corporate communications and speak to the press. We teach our customer service reps everything about the product and company before they can talk to a single customer. Just because undergrads use Facebook a bunch does not [...]
Archive | January, 2010
Share Andy Nulman’s amazing manifesto and enter to win a signed copy of Pow! Right Between the Eyes!
Next up in our Word of Mouth Book Club series is Andy Nulman’s Pow! Right Between the Eyes: Profiting from the Power of Surprise. Andy is a brilliant marketer, entrepreneur, and sole owner of the title, “Prince of Pow!” His book is an eye-opening look at the power and potential of surprise marketing. We’re sharing [...]
Go clean the toilet if you really want to understand the business
Bob Johansen from the Institute for the Future talks about how business executives need deep, personal experience with products to truly understand how to make them better. Example: The top management of a cleaning products company was expecting a fancy pre-conference dinner. Instead, they ended up at a cheap hotel and were told to clean [...]
Nobody wants to talk about something if everyone is talking about it
One of the great ironies of word of mouth is that we don’t want to talk about popular things. We want to be special. We want to be first. We want to be smarter. How did Gmail get so big? Because you were only allowed to invite 5 friends. Customers suddenly felt important. They had [...]
You can make life easier for everyone
Every toy with a battery requires a screwdriver to open the childproof battery compartment. Leapfrog replaced it with a screw you can open with a penny. Hassle gone + kid happy = parent buys more from you. What tiny little thing can you change to thrill your customers?
A really bad sales strategy
You: Found a cool product and filled out a web form to get more information. Salesperson: Emails you, asking to set up a phone call. You: “I don’t even know what it costs or what it does. Can you send me some background and pricing first?” Salesperson (thinking that getting a live lead on the [...]
What did you do with the holiday cards that were returned in the mail?
Are you keeping your mailing list clean? It’s important. A dirty list annoys customers and wastes money. It’s also environmentally wasteful. We sent out a postcard promotion that cost $1.50 each. 200 were returned with bad addresses. $300 wasted. Next step: Pay a temp to clean that list so we don’t waste the same money [...]
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