Sorry: Easy To Say, Not So Easy To Do

The assistant serving at the counter apologised for the long wait, then for not having received the order and finally for having no change. The cycle continued with every customer she served. There was a sorry for the wrong order given and one for the fact that the croissants hadn’t arrived that morning. And with…

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Satisfaction Vs. Sentiment

Have you ever filled in one of those, ‘we value your feedback’ customer satisfaction surveys at the end of a meal or a service call? Perhaps you have used them to ask customers to rate your service? The theory being that satisfied customers are the end game. Deliver on expectations and people will surely come…

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Value Creation And Stories To Believe In

Just 574 To’ak chocolate bars were produced in 2014 using hand sorted, heirloom cacao beans harvested from rare Ecuadorian trees. Each bar is engraved with an individual number, packaged in a Spanish elm wooden box and comes with a specially designed tasting tool (touching the chocolate with your fingers can alter the flavour). A single…

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The Value Of Connection In A Low Touch World

What matters in a world where….we can tell a device to order the shopping, place our coffee order without speaking, have a conversation involving thumbs and zero eye contact and before we know it, get to our destination in a driverless car? What’s scarce today will be even more scarce tomorrow. And that’s our opportunity.…

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The First Step To Building A Marketing Campaign

As marketers we tend to get lost in the tactics like designing flyers, scheduling tweets and growing a Facebook following—this makes us forget the more important stuff. A campaign by definition is “a systematic course of aggressive activities for some specific purpose”. The following is hard for you to hear and so it’s hard to…

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The Characteristics Of Great Brand Stories

Great brand stories….. Are rooted in truth. Created with intention. Have a bigger purpose beyond a single bottom line. Add intangible value to something that was once a commodity. Take time. Make the customer the hero. Change how people feel about a product or service. Start with the customer’s story. Don’t matter to everyone. Appeal…

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Taking Your Place In The Difference Economy

Whole Foods launched it’s first national and TV marketing campaign in 35 years on the back of losing 30% of its value in just six months. The company has been losing market share to chains like Walmart who are now stocking once hard to find sustainable and organic produce and selling it cheaper. There are…

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The Misleading Advantage

The little gelato place down the road from us is dying. For three years straight they were the only good enough ice cream place in the boat harbour. The lack of competition meant that they could steadily increase their prices from $3.80 per scoop to $5.80 while continuing to staff the store with young, casual,…

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What’s The Reason?

What’s your reason for contacting that prospect? Why do you call her a prospect anyway? What’s your reason for sending that email? Why will everything be okay if you can just get the word out? What’s your reason for printing those fliers? Why does the world need your thing? What’s your reason for starting? Why…

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