Although unemployment rates continue to remain high and some market sectors, such as real estate, have not yet rebounded, most corners of the economy continue to gain strength. As corporate financial performance improves, many CEOs are focusing on expanding product sales or diversifying into new markets.

That type of thinking is a common knee-jerk approach most decision-makers often make in the early stages of an economic recovery. Ultimately, however, it's a misguided methodology.

Continue reading "Customer Strategist Orkun Oguz:
Striking a Customer-Centric Strategy Through the Upturn" »

| Permalink | Comments ()

Organizations looking to increase customer retention have a new tool at their disposal: IPTV.

As soon as the Internet became a part of our daily lives, people began to look for ways to watch television online. However, sufficient infrastructure for this technology needed to be developed for this dream to come true. As a result, we witnessed the emergence of Internet-Protocol Television (IPTV) within the past decade.

Today IPTV is gaining traction for many companies from a variety of different industries. For example, telecom companies are trying to create new value-added services for their customers through IPTV and content owners use IPTV as a new delivery channel.

Continue reading "Customer Strategist Yasemin Yücel, Ph.D.:
Tapping Into the Growing IPTV Market" »

| Permalink | Comments ()

In September I wrote parts one and two of this, telling a story about how Amazon.com will go out of its way to help customers avoid making mistakes, even when it's not in their own economic interest (at least in the short term), and about the importance of allowing customers to post reviews of your product or service for the benefit of other customers - on your own Web site.

Trustability often involves incurring short-term costs in order to secure long-term value. That's what Amazon was doing, by reminding me that I had already bought a book that I was about to purchase again. And that's what Microsoft has found to be good policy, both on the enterprise side of its business and on the consumer side.

Continue reading "Trustability and Its Opposite - Part Three" »

Posted by Don Peppers | Permalink | Comments ()

You can't earn the trust of your customers with a policy statement. You can only earn trust with actions. The problem is that the "actions" your company takes are taken by employees, not by the CEO or the Board of Directors. As far as a customer is concerned, the ordinary, low-level customer-contact employee they interact with on the phone or at the store - that employee is your company.

Continue reading "Corporate Culture is What You Do, Not What You Say" »

Posted by Don Peppers | Permalink | Comments ()