There are many stories of young kids or teens starting successful businesses. And there are as well the simple stories of kids mowing lawns or washing cars to earn extra money while their friends are out playing. A similar story gained national media attention when a 12-year old decided to open a lemonade stand in his neighborhood.[…]
With NFL football fans gearing up for another season, DIRECTV is once again offering new customers the 2014 NFL Sunday Ticket for free along with deeply discounted prices and an upgraded DVR Genie on several of the programming packages. What’s the catch? The special prices are valid for only the first twelve months of a[…]
Recently, AdAge reported that Walmart is starting a loyalty program. Based on their price-match guarantee, Walmart is launching an app named “Savings Catcher,” which consumers can use to receive refunds for items purchased at Walmart that have been found for a lower price at a competitor. While many stores have price-match guarantees, this app ups the ante.[…]
Putting the customer at the heart of the business is the central tenet of marketing. In order to do this, a company must ensure that the voice of the customer is integral to the company strategy, and that the customer is considered, not just by customer-facing staff and departments, but at boardroom level. The evidence[…]
As I mentioned in part two of this series, many DMS providers make it difficult for dealers to download their customer database. In some cases, it’s because there are control issues arising between dealers and their DMS (or CRM) as to who actually owns this data. Another issue can be that a provider fears their[…]
Can efforts to capture customer loyalty be thwarted by employee loyalty? Evidence gathered from top retail groups, including auto dealerships, indicates that employee loyalty directly affects customer loyalty and thus business results. Dealer operators and their managers do their business, their stakeholders and their shareholders disservice when they fail to foster, develop and reward employee engagement. Get this[…]
A fascinating article in Forbes shared a concept that is increasingly winning over customers. In the article, the author described what he termed “anticipatory customer service” as “a customer experience that manages to serve even theunexpressed wishes and needs of your customers through the use of technology and automation.” People are busy. A gesture such as an emailed[…]
In a recent announcement by Yahoo CEO Marissa Mayer, it was revealed that Yahoo will soon stop allowing its users to login using their Facebook or Google credentials. This move is an effort by Yahoo to better control its content and services. On the surface, the move makes sense and doesn’t seem as if there would be[…]
Even though businesses spend a great deal of time marketing to new customers, the best business lies in existing clients. Loyal customers tend to buy more, spend more and talk about your business more. Before customer loyalty programs came about, sincere customers got the same standard perks as the rest of the world, until finally, someone spoke[…]
There are countless articles on how hard it is to create a truly loyal customer and how easy it is to lose one. Creating customer loyalty is a challenge that all businesses face. There are many techniques and strategies that can assist you along this path but, at times, we’re presented with opportunities that can accomplish this[…]