Wednesday, January 14, 2009
How to lose customers – fast
By Mike Lake
Dear Mr. Cable Company Conglomerate CEO,
Yesterday, I was on an important business conference call. Ten minutes into the call, I was dropped. I immediately used my other line to dial back in and after 4 minutes I was dropped again. As I’ve become skilled at through years of experience, I rebooted my modem. I finally got back on the call and at the end, I complained about your company being the sole provider in this area for my cable, Internet and phone. One of the other conference attendees immediately exclaimed that he was about to sign up for your triple package. After my 3 minute rant about how abysmal your service is throughout every aspect of the organization I have touched – and I’ve got years of touching(!) – he thanked me and said he would use your competitor. Where he lives, he has options.
I realize that complicated technology sometimes goes awry. So, it is not your technology I dislike. Rather it your service. I have questions:
Why must I ALWAYS waste my time working my way up the ladder of service competence being transferred from one department to the next to the next to the next until I finally get to that really smart person who seems to hold all the answers? What’s her direct number?
Why do I need to…
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Sunday, December 28, 2008
The #1 way to build your brand – guaranteed!
By Mike Lake
Well, it’s 3 days after Christmas and all the gifts have been opened. But something remarkable has happened with three of them. Before sharing what that is, these gifts are three of the four “high ticket” gifts given within my family: A Kodak digital picture frame, a remote control helicopter purchased at a mall kiosk and a Zales precious gem bracelet.
What else do they have in common? They all were either broken within a VERY short time or came defective right out of the box.
Probably like you, over the years, I could make a fairly long list of things that…
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Friday, December 19, 2008
The most important element of your brand
By Mike Lake
I was in my local bank recently making a deposit and was reminded of a key marketing truth that is critical to the success all of us, yet missed by most.
That day, I opted out of using the drive-through since there were three cars lined up waiting in both open lanes. As I entered the bank and took a first glance at the counter, I felt justified in walking in since there was only one person waiting in line. That assumption, however, proved to be wrong.
As I got in line, I saw that there was only one teller. Without a customer at his window, he was working on his computer, seemingly oblivious to the two of us waiting for him. As one minute grew to two, then five, I started…
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