As a marketing and advertising agency, it makes sense that our primary contact at most clients is the individual who oversees marketing. But we usually find ourselves navigating around many masters. When a company draws upon outside accounting expertise, that firm normally works with the controller or the CFO. If legal help is what’s needed, the [...]
If your objective is to increase the number of customers you serve, a prudent way to start is by taking a closer look at the customers you already have. If that sounds odd, consider that the customers you already work with are presumably happy with the work you perform on their behalf. If you use [...]
Want to fix a kitchen sink, restore a broken dryer to health, or create the perfect crème brulee? A quick trip to YouTube will give you dozens of do-it-yourself videos. People like the DIY approach because they feel it empowers them and saves money. Entrepreneurs in particular love to boast about “bootstrap” approaches to their business [...]
Does this make me look fat? The classic question and deadly measure of spousal honesty illustrates the inherent dilemma in conducting customer surveys. Just as spouses typically hesitate before responding, wondering whether the asker is truly seeking honest feedback or fishing for a compliment that might be a little untruthful, many companies claiming to be interested [...]
Ask a business owner how her customers think about the services they receive or the products they use, and you’ll hear comments like "they love us." But when a third party asks those customers the same question, the results can be eye-opening. I recently shared the story about developing a customer profile for a professional services [...]
We had carefully studied the client's stated objectives and analyzed the budget, then created a strategy that addressed both with great efficiency. So we were startled when our plan was completely tossed out the window. The reason? One of the executives walked into the meeting and said he really liked a particular technology, so using that [...]
