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Arguably, phone, wireless, and cable providers are simultaneously the most predatory and desperate of all direct-to-consumer businesses. They conspire with each other to set inflated prices for mediocre service and negotiate territories to avoid competition, which, in turn, helps them set inflated prices for mediocre service. They demand your loyalty but only seem to rewardRead more

Here at Sensei, we’re always on the lookout for good and bad examples of customer development and community management strategies. This week an IKEA fan community caught our attention. However, where we could (and should) be discussing a best case example, unfortunately, we’re discussing a large brand misstep in both customer development and community managementRead more

Influence and advocate marketing, a popular and often contentious topic today, have been around since we first coined word-of-mouth marketing. When social media began to capture significant market share of the consumers’ voice, these strategies became more critical. As a result, new social media software evolved to identify, engage, and encourage those with a largeRead more

So I received this call from Rogers, my son’s cellular provider, asking if I wouldn’t mind taking 5 minutes to answer a few questions about why I called to cancel my service contract. It was the “exit interview,” a common practice within marketing and customer service departments in many organizations. The interview is both aRead more

I have attended a few conferences lately where I’ve heard both presenters and attendees use the terms “customer loyalty” and “customer advocacy” interchangeably, which frustrates me to no end – especially when it’s done by so-called “marketing experts.” In my experience, customer loyalty and advocacy are not interchangeable concepts.  There’s a significant difference between the two.Read more

Serious question: is the customer survey dead?  Outside of linear data collection, I argue that there’s more insight to be gained from what customers say about you to others than what they say about you to you. Collecting survey data is like counting the number of followers a business has on Facebook or Twitter. You’llRead more

B2B customers have become more independent buyers in the procurement process as a result of their increasing access to information, research and peer-recommendations. In fact, this modern buyer is something of an enigma to B2B vendors.   Traditional lead generation efforts such as trade show and publication advertising, direct mail, email, etc. are decreasing in effectiveness.Read more

In the B2C world, “Customer Loyalty” has become synonymous with points or rewards membership programs which are used to aid in the acquisition of new customers rather than building value in existing customers. Such loyalty programs are rarer in the B2B landscape yet the tactical importance of loyalty is equally misunderstood and underutilized. 91% ofRead more

There is a significant difference in the tone of a vendor-customer relationship to that of its former vendor-prospect status.  The processes are different; the players are different and so too are the expectations. This first step in the customer development sphere of the customer lifecycle is critical for both parties as it creates the foundationRead more

Unless you’ve been living under a rock, you’ve experienced, seen or at least heard of the many boycotts being waged against corporate brands. Currently, we’re in the throes of a campaign against Chick-fil-A, an Atlanta-based fast food restaurant for comments made by owner Dan T. Cathy that supported the “biblical definition of the family unit”…essentiallyRead more