Your products or services are purchased because they meet a need for your customer, not because you have a fancy brand or a clever marketing campaign. That need may be for pain relief or to cook a meal or to fit in with peers, but it is still the customer’s need that drives a purchase and the customer’s experiences are what set the stage for that need to be fulfilled. If you’re not managing that experience actively, what kind of situation will your customer be in? Sedating customers isn’t the solution for most industries. MORE >>

'Over the past few years I have been giving a speech about the “six layers” of customer engagement. We are in the process of creating increasingly complex layers of digital distance between our companies and our customers. Historically, we dealt with customers face-to-face, with a trusted word and a firm handshake. Then in the late 1990s, with the creation of our first company websites, we took a one way ticket AWAY from these personal relationships and created the first, permanent digital divide between ourselves and our customers. So, let’s change that. There is. MORE >>

On my website, you can click to see free materials, download an eBook, watch videos, read case studies, listen to a podcast, read my blog … basically I give people lots of reasons to hang around by providing valuable material that would interest my target customer. She is your prospective customer. customer acquisition Internet marketing Psychology and social media Internet marketing psychology psychology and social mediaI’ve been researching and thinking about the psychology of the social web and our Internet relationships. 1) Social proof is king. Be sexy. MORE >>

No customer-centric business process should be isolated. Every business should be working on integrating all data platforms, silos, marketing channels and businesses processes right now in order to have a single customer view and 360 degrees social CRM approach. Because we’re beyond customer-centric already, and you’ll have to know and understand what makes people act, buy, share and communicate. Getting the customer and data basics right. good exercise for every business to do in that smart marketing strategy is calculating the value of the customer life cycle. MORE >>

The book Stories that Sell , and a recent blog post here , lauded Kronos Incorporated for its Best Practices Awards Program, an annual program to recognize customers that achieve value and success with Kronos solutions. Those customers received significant exposure at the event and in the media. While the awards program was considered a success, Kronos has since expanded to create a customer reference program. It found an even better way to engage customers and get them to share their stories. Need a refresh on what a customer reference program is? MORE >>