How To Charge Higher Prices And Thrive. Harvey’s Hardware is a legend in my town of Needham, Mass. In business since 1953, Harvey’s sells what most people consider to be commodity items--nuts, bolts, lawnmowers, shovels, and so on. And yet, Harvey’s revenue per square foot is almost four times higher than the typical hardware store. This is shocking considering that even though they sell commodity products: Harvey’s never has the lowest prices. Harvey’s never runs a sale.Harvey’s never provides discounts or offers coupons. Harvey’s limits their advertising to the backs of Little Leaguers’ uniforms. Why would people crowd into Harvey’s to buy something that they could get for less at Home Depot or another big box store? First proposed in the 1980s by Michael Lanning and Lynn Philips, benefit experiences are the sum of the specific and measurable events that happen in your customers' lives as a result of doing business with you.
The concept of a benefit experience is something that few people talk about. When Unhappy Customers Strike Back on the Internet – The Magazine - MIT Sloan Management Review. 1. www.youtube.com/watch? V=5YGc4zOqozo. 2. www.youtube.com/watch? V=-PnlWHdJGLM&feature=related. 3. J.C. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. 9. 10. 11. 12. 13. 14. The Break Up. Women Dominate The Global Market Place; Here Are 5 Keys To Reaching Them | Co.Design. Women are the next global emerging market. Their economic power is truly revolutionary, representing the largest market opportunity in the world.
Just look at the numbers: Women control 65 percent of global spending and more than 80 percent of U.S. spending. By 2014, the World Bank predicts that the global income of women will grow by more than $5 trillion. In both emerging markets and developed nations, women's power of influence extends well beyond the traditional roles of family and education to government, business, and the environment. Women control more than 80 percent of U.S. spending. And this is just the start of a sweeping change.
A handful of forward-thinking companies with product lines that were historically considered male-dominated, such as electronics and automotive, are starting to redirect their design and messaging at women. Talk about missed opportunities! Who is She? But ignore her at your own peril: Globally, women consumers control $20 trillion in consumer spending. 5 Ways to Use Twitter to Connect With Local Customers. Does your business rely on local customers? Are you looking for ways to make your business more visible in your neighborhood? You know that the Internet puts your business within a few keystrokes of people anywhere around the world.
But did you know that social media tools, especially Twitter, help you pinpoint people who live and work in your neighborhood? Twitter allows you to locate people who live or tweet in your city or neighborhood, people you know, as well as people you don’t yet know. This makes Twitter the ideal tool for infiltrating your neighborhood. How to Search for Local People Most Twitter users occasionally tweet about the things around them. For example, you can search for: City nameNeighborhood or community nameLocal landmarksLocal businessesEvent venues, museums and public locationsLocal fairs, parades and community eventsHashtag identifiers for a local community or event From this list you can fine-tune your search query. #1: Find Local People Using Tweets Near You.
How Apple Stores rewrote the rules of retailing. By Scott Martin, USA TODAY Updated 5/19/2011 8:48 AM | The retail industry has a hard case of Apple envy. By Eugene Hoshiko, AP file By Eugene Hoshiko, AP file For good reason. "They grew faster than any other retailer in history" in the first three years, says Robin Lewis, co-author of The New Rules of Retail, who points to their numbers. Take last quarter's results. PHOTO: Apple Stores around the world The Apple Stores' debut defied logic at the time. Despite the odds, Apple is now the case study for the retail industry of today. "They basically took the old book of retail and threw it out and started over," says Apple analyst Gene Munster of Piper Jaffray. Industry watchers are now closely monitoring Apple amid widespread speculation that it's secretly planning a splashy in-store update to launch soon at Apple Stores. Apple CEO Steve Jobs tapped one person widely credited for the stores' success: Ron Johnson.
Design has set Apple Stores apart. Store mojo Other retailing flameouts. The Four Schools of Customer Experience. I hear a lot of talk and see a lot of confusion around ‘customer experience’. Having taken a closer look I have distinguished four schools of ‘customer experience’. The school of service People that belong in this school tend to come from a customer service background or have something to sell to the customer service community. This school collapses customer service into ‘customer experience’ and that is like collapsing ‘apples’ into ‘oranges’; all manner of things are carried out in the name of ‘customer experience’ which do not build lasting emotional bonds which I argue is the point of any investments in ‘customer experience’.
Yet, lets first look at the bright side. There is a profound grain of truth in the service school. “I felt like she understood what I wanted”“They treated me like an individual”“He cared about me”“They did everything they could to help”“They made me feel I was the most important person in the world” What are the big issues? The school of interaction management. Making the Emotional Investment | By Trevor Godman. By Trevor Godman What's the point in delivering a good experience to customers? As long as you avoid driving them away with appalling service, is there really value in setting a higher target? These are important questions that get to the core of the commercial value of the relationships service providers build with customers. Do you understand what proportion of customers feel you don't meet their functional needs? How many are satisfied with the way their basic needs are met but lack any sense of deeper connection with your brand?
And how many are both functionally satisfied and emotionally connected to your brand; trusting that you care about their needs, proud to use your services and willing to forgive the occasional mistake? It is only through fulfilling both the functional and emotional aspects of customer relationships that you get the benefit of loyal and committed customers. How successful are networks at building emotional relationships? The Age of Customer Capitalism. Forrester: Only One Third of Brands Offer a Postive Customer Experience. Organizations like to talk about how important they consider the customer experience. Yet, according to recent research from Forrester, most fail to deliver really good ones.
Why? One of my closest work friends is a customer experience consultant. This is a role that is highly demanded by many organizations, so it's surprising on some levels that many of these organizations fail so miserably at delivering optimal customer experiences. Forrester Research, Inc. — June, 2011 Despite the fact that the customer experience is considered a strategic priority and that many organizations have an entire team dedicated to it, there are still major issues with delivery, including: Failure to consider all touchpoints in the customer's journeyFailure to understand the impact of the actions of all its employees and partners in that experience Understanding the Customer Experience Ecosystem It's important to note that there may be competing interests here as every party has its owns needs and desires.