Every business will gain and lose customers over the course of the business’s lifetime. Of course the hope is that there will be more gains than losses; however, sometimes businesses find themselves in the opposite situation and struggle to understand why their customers are leaving. While creative companies could come up with a myriad of creative and complex metrics and measurement techniques to try to gain some insights, one of the best ways to determine why customers are lost is to ask them! Continue reading “Do You Know When—And Why—Your Customers Have Left You?”
Category: Customer Communication
Tips for Marketing Your “Boring” Business
Let’s face it. Not all businesses are as flashy and exciting as manufacturing high-end sports cars, groundbreaking technology or exquisite luxury items. The marketing for some products is as simple as letting people know the product exists. Unfortunately, that’s not the case for most companies, and this means they may need to work extra hard or be extra creative in making sales. As Ryan Holiday writes for The Huffington Post, Continue reading “Tips for Marketing Your “Boring” Business”
Cultivating Customer References in a B2B Environment
Most of us understand the value of positive customer reviews. Especially in the world of online retail, a positive product rating on Amazon can represent a big boost to sales. Data suggests that roughly 90 percent of Amazon users believe positive reviews influence their purchase decisions, while 86 percent say the same of negative reviews. Continue reading “Cultivating Customer References in a B2B Environment”
Gaining a Better Understanding of Where Your Audience is Coming From
What event or events would you say have had the greatest impact on the United States during YOUR lifetime? It’s a question put to 2,025 adult survey respondents in a mid-2016 Pew Research Center poll, the results of which were covered by Claudia Deane, Maeve Duggan and Rich Morin. Before looking at the article, try to answer the question yourself. What are the 10 historic events during your lifetime that have had the greatest impact on the country? Continue reading “Gaining a Better Understanding of Where Your Audience is Coming From”
Why It Pays to Be “You,” Rather Than “Me,” Focused
By now, most business owners and business professionals have accepted the value that social media can have in helping to raise awareness, create preference and drive traffic to websites and to brick-and-mortar establishments. But, unfortunately, not all are communicating effectively through these channels.
We often see two common missteps, which we try to advise clients against doing: Continue reading “Why It Pays to Be “You,” Rather Than “Me,” Focused”
You’re Fired! It Works for Customers Too.
Sometimes clichés can become so pervasive that we fail to think critically about their meaning or the full implications of the statement. A classic example in business, generally, and customer service, specifically, is “the customer is always right.” To state the obvious, the rationale is that no matter how difficult, rude and unreasonable a customer may be, that customer is paying the bills — and you should do whatever it takes to make that customer happy. Continue reading “You’re Fired! It Works for Customers Too.”
Beyond Bribery: Building Customer Relationships Through Engagement
It’s hard to overstate the importance of brand loyalty. Marketers know how difficult it can be to win new customers. Once you have brought a new consumer into the fold, it’s important to take steps to ensure that they will not only keep coming back, but that they will also refer others to you. Continue reading “Beyond Bribery: Building Customer Relationships Through Engagement”
Managing B2B Vendor Relationships
Some of the most important partnerships for any business are its vendor relationships. Business-to-business (B2B) vendor partnerships allow the purchasing business to sh
ore up its deficiencies by outsourcing certain business functions to organizations with greater expertise. This avoids the time and effort required to develop the necessary infrastructure, staff and expertise internally.
The obvious downsides of using vendors include out-of-pocket costs and potential lack of control over vendor operations. This lack of transparency and control can and frequently does result in conflict in those crucial B2B relationships. Continue reading “Managing B2B Vendor Relationships”
Harnessing the Power of Your Authentic Brand Identity
We spend so much of our time helping companies develop and strengthen their brands that we almost take it for granted that a brand is one of the most important elements of any organization, product or individual. However, we realize that many companies don’t understand or appreciate the importance of a brand, especially when it comes to spending decisions. So, every once in a while, we like to take a step back to remind our audience why a brand is important in the first place. Continue reading “Harnessing the Power of Your Authentic Brand Identity”
Thinking of Rebranding: First, Ask Yourself “Why?”
At Strategic Communications, we have worked with companies, large and small, in a variety of industries on branding and rebranding initiatives. One of the biggest areas of misunderstanding that we encounter is that a rebranding initiative means updating the company logo and marketing materials. That’s potentially part of the process, certainly, but rebranding involves a lot more than that. Rebranding is a significant undertaking and one that shouldn’t be taken lightly. As we note in a related blog post, “Exercise caution before you attempt to rebrand,” a brand takes a great deal of time to develop, and businesses should think twice before throwing that effort away.
Having gotten that disclaimer out of the way, there are some legitimate reasons companies may need to overhaul their image. So how do you know when it’s time to rebrand? There are a few things that might justifiably point to the need: Continue reading “Thinking of Rebranding: First, Ask Yourself “Why?””