“To build a product idea you need to understand what your customers’ needs are,” says Chris Miller, founder of Lancaster, Pa.–based Innovation Focus, which helps companies design and facilitate business development programs to foster growth. [Read More]
Competitive advantage is a hot buzz concept in business today, but in his book Hidden in Plain Sight, Erich Joachimsthaler makes the case that a focus on “customer advantage” is a surer path to growth. [Read More]
The key to achieving business longevity, Young maintains, is to create a strategic business development plan — and stick to it. She offers these four tips for putting a plan in action:
The infamous feud between the Hatfields and the McCoys lasted 13 years. But that’s small potatoes compared with the ever-present tension between marketing and finance departments. The two functions have long had a fractious relationship, [Read More]
Yet the employees at Bob Evans restaurants feel so comfortable with their management — have such a strong sense of belonging — that after a long shift on their feet, many go home [Read More]
James Hoggan can come across as an old-school, starched-shirt strategic communication authority. Representing a distinguished blend of both blue-chip and new-economy clients, the Canadian public relations guru has cultivated a particular niche in a fast-paced [Read More]
Back when S&H Green Stamps first introduced many Americans to the idea of a customer loyalty program, consumers were more than willing to fill up stamp-saver books in exchange for reward currency. Today, shoppers are [Read More]
A better product or a more competitive price may spur customers to take their business elsewhere, but most depart over customer service issues. In a recent consumer study conducted by UCLA, 68 percent of respondents [Read More]
It seems counterintuitive. Bad profits? But Fred Reichheld, a director emeritus and fellow at Bain & Co., has a strong message for businesses that are shoring up the bottom line at the expense of customer [Read More]
The importance of earning customer loyalty cannot be overstated. It is, after all, a good way for companies to stay profitable. But to the authors of Loyalty Myths, placing loyalty above all other business concerns [Read More]
