Increase employee satisfaction: segment, then survey
January 29, 2007 by Mary Wynne-Wynter · Comments Off
A one-size fits all survey will limit the ability to ask the right questions to the right employees.
Under New Management: Inside the Minds of Your Employees: "Think you know what motivates your superstars? Think again."
WITH all the targeted marketing out there, and the customer satisfaction surveys and opinion polls that companies seem to offer at every turn, you might think that employers could get a handle on which employee benefits are most popular among their workers.
You might think that — but you would be wrong.
For employers who want to head off major defections, the advice often given in “Can This Marriage … ” applies: communication is vital. Surveys can reveal a wealth of information about what benefits workers want most. So can solid analyses of work force demographics: younger employers are more likely to care about benefits like child care subsidies and generous leave policies, while older workers might focus almost solely on health and retirement benefits.
(Via NYT > Job Market.)
Women trends & brands: pt 2
January 29, 2007 by Mary Wynne-Wynter · Comments Off
I recently posted, from both the consumer and consultant point of view, what I thought about cosmetics being hawked to women when they’re at the doctor. Enough of my rant against that heinous trend.
This further supports my idea that a better direction for a brand like Clinique is to WOW the woman shopper when and where she leasts expects it…i.e. Costco. Surprise matters.
Spending: 24 Rolls of Toilet Paper, a Tub of Salsa and a Plasma TV: “It’s more than impulse buying. It is a calculated part of the company’s business plan. Call it the Costco effect.”
Recently, Ms. Schneider and her college-age daughter were excited to find Ugg boots, Smashbox makeup in leather cases and Seven jeans at their Costco in Nashville. “Costco seems to go for the upper crust in taste,” she said.
“We’ll always have the same staples — the cereal, the detergent — and then we add in the ‘wow’ items.”
(Via NYT > Most E-mailed Articles.)
Hey you! Get off my blog!
January 28, 2007 by Mary Wynne-Wynter · Comments Off
You can call me stupid, but I’ve decided to ignore all the hype about marketing my blog. The more its redirected and tagged, the worse the performance. Its meaningless to me that I’m one of 350,000 instead of one of 30 million. And it annoys me to follow the herd.
I’ll defy convention and do the opposite - focus on quality, creativity, simplicity and regularly cleaning out the junk (code) that gets inadvertently picked up. That’s assuming I "can" clean it out. Its easy to add these automated feed services. It can be impossible to get rid of the scripts (3 days and counting with 2 tech support services; I won’t mention names..yet) if you have a problem. My lesson learned: if I can’t delete the code, I don’t want it.
Cream rises to the top and I’ll define what that is for me.
It takes confidence to market with No (Apparent) Effort. It’s a zen thing, and it’s attractive to many people because of the power it projects. We’re drawn to someone who doesn’t try too hard, who is booked enough to not need a booking. When Miles Davis performed with his back to the audience, some people were offended. Others were entranced by his cool.
(Via Seth’s Blog.)
Women trends: When brands cross the line
January 25, 2007 by Mary Wynne-Wynter · 1 Comment
Last summer, my sister was livid that she was pitched cosmetics in a Long Island medical office when she was there for routine ob/gyn. It sounded creepy to me and I hoped it didn’t portend a new marketing-to-women trend mixing beauty and medicine.
It brings up my defiant streak: Don’t even dare try this on me, Doc, and any brand who gets in my face this way - you suck!
Reading this article I see my fear is justified. But I think it can backfire on academic medicine and private physicians as well as diminish the Clinique brand. Why would they risk it? Why not appeal to women’s desire and demand for simplicity, value and basics. A fabulous Clinique bundle at Costco? Very large sizes of cleanser, moisturizer, sunscreen?
”I am seduced by fancy packaging as much as the next person,” Dr. Brademas said. ”But I have a theory that all these skin-care things come out of the same vat in New Jersey.”
Skin Deep: A Word From Our Sponsor: “Clinique is blurring the lines between cosmetics and medicine.”
There are reasons that beauty companies might seek an alliance with a medical institution or with doctors. Americans spent about $7.8 billion last year on skin-care products, according to Euromonitor International, a market research firm. In such a competitive market, cosmetics companies like to ally with doctors and medical schools because such relationships can infuse a brand with an aura of scientific credibility.
(Via NYT > Fashion and Style.)
Self-Awareness and The Curse of Knowledge
January 24, 2007 by Mary Wynne-Wynter · Comments Off
There’s a lot of recent good discussion about how knowledge can be detrimental to communication. But its just the tip of the iceberg. The more we are attached to, and identified with, our accumulated mental and psychological content, the more we become exclusive when we need to be inclusive.
The teachings of Eckhart Tolle and Don Ruiz helped me be more self-aware about my voice of knowledge and led me to integrate knowledge awareness in change facilitation.
Chip and Dan Heath were recently interviewed by Guy Kawasaki about their book Made to Stick: Why Some Ideas Survive and Others Die. There’s an interesting part where they discuss ‘the Curse of Knowledge.’
And that brings us to the villain of our book: The Curse of Knowledge. Lots of research in economics and psychology shows that when we know something, it becomes hard for us to imagine not knowing it. As a result, we become lousy communicators. Think of a lawyer who can’t give you a straight, comprehensible answer to a legal question. His vast knowledge and experience renders him unable to fathom how little you know. So when he talks to you, he talks in abstractions that you can’t follow. And we’re all like the lawyer in our own domain of expertise.
(Via Signal vs. Noise.)
What Companies Do I Like to Promote?
January 24, 2007 by Mary Wynne-Wynter · Comments Off
In response to Tom Peters’ question: I’ll promote the companies that make me feel great when things go bad and who have the guts to say “we were wrong and we are sorry and we will make it right immediately”
This week two companies blamed me for what was 100% their screw-up. (I’m too nice to publish names). One is my hosting provider (I’ve been with them 8 years) and the other sold me RAM (I’m a repeat customer). Both caused me a great deal of wasted time and frustration and it didn’t have to be that way. I get a lot satisfaction working with a responsive company that steps up, admits responsibility for the error, and most importantly, that acknowledges the cost to me in terms of my time! Both failed abysmally. Note: autoresponder-type platitudes about “we value our customers..blah blah are not only worthless, they make companies look lazy.
Costco and AMEX both came through. Costco took back a phone system that I hated, no questions asked. One quick call to AMEX and I got immediate full credit for the RAM.
It will be easy to find a good RAM supplier. Maybe not so easy to find a hosting provider. Its my perceived switching cost in terms of time and aggravation that keeps me with my current provider, and it pisses me off to feel trapped when they treat me like crap. Its a commodity to them, its a critical business system for me. Would I pay a premium for a hosting company that guarantees a smooth transition, quick support, takes responsibility for their mistakes and acknowledges my time?…in a heartbeat I would, if could find one.
Update 1/26/07
My post on TJX is relevant to this question, and finally, relevant to reporters.What Companies Would You Like to Promote?: “
Rather than wait until the Chinese New Year to start my new year’s resolutions (normally I’ll use any excuse to put this off), I’ll make one pledge right now: to promote companies that truly ‘get it’ about customer experience! I’m referring, of course, not to what a company does with a customer (a transaction) but what the customer is feeling and thinking as a result of that transaction (an experience). This is where a brand has to walk the talk. As Steve Yastrow says, ‘Your brand is not what you say you are, but what your customer thinks you are.’ As James Carville might have said, ‘It’s the EXPERIENCE, stupid!’
So what companies would you like to promote, which consistently provide you a great customer experience?
Posted by John O’Leary |
Comments?“
(Via The Tom Peters Weblog.)
Is a Business Plan Necessary?
January 23, 2007 by Mary Wynne-Wynter · Comments Off
It’s good to see that Babson (I’m an alum involved with Babson’s world-class programs) is open to a new perspective regarding the importance of the business plan. When I was there, one of my criteria for taking a class was that it NOT have a business plan included in the coursework.
#1 in Entrepreneurship, Babson is now giving more attention to small professional service start-ups. These budding entrepreneurs won’t need business plans as much as they will need to hone, communicate and present their creative and generalist skills and ideas.
Guy Kawasaki gives good recommendations about what business plans should, and should not be.
My advice to PSF start-ups is to forget the planning and focus on producing content and continually developing creative, writing, authentic speaking, and self-publishing skills. The target is moving too fast to plan for it. Its more important to align with it.
Before you dedicate your life to crafting a business plan the length of a book, read these two paragraphs from the 1/9/07 edition of the Wall Street Journal in an article called "Enterprise: Do Start-ups Really Need Formal Business Plans"
(Via How to Change the World.)
Mapping stickiness: a case study
January 23, 2007 by Mary Wynne-Wynter · Comments Off
My "to-read" stack is getting tall but I had to order this after reading their excerpt and Guy Kawasaki’s interview with the authors.
I found their ideas so provocative and relevant that I played around with their 6 principles for SUCCESs on a mind map using myself as a case study. (click image to enlarge)
It was a good exercise proving just how much right brainpower it takes to turn a collection of abstract ideas into something with impact that people will understand and remember. I’m looking forward to the book and their templates.
As always, when making mind maps, I find its a challenge to not let the ‘head’ take over. When it does, the mind map becomes little more than an attractive list. Its worth taking the time to just let the right-brain rip and not be too serious about it.
I created this map with NovaMind.
(Via How to Change the World.)
I’m not a joiner
January 21, 2007 by Mary Wynne-Wynter · Comments Off
I’m no longer skating around my issues about joining social networks. Its not for me. My digital life parallels my physical life (and hopefully my writing; I’m working on it): i.e. minimalist. No junk, no clutter, no tchotchkes (Polish: cacka), quality vs quantity.
Media Frenzy: Big Media’s Crush on Social Networking: “With a wink and a flirt, big media companies have developed a full-bore teenage crush on social networking businesses.”
Many of the ventures sound like logical extensions of existing media brands because, hey, media companies are all about attracting and keeping audiences and then figuring out ways to bring them closer to marketers.
(Via NYT > Your Money.)
Change trends and reductionist news
January 21, 2007 by Mary Wynne-Wynter · Comments Off
Is it me or are we getting really bad opinion poorly disguised as analysis. Its all about the “us against them” knee-jerk reaction.
It caught me off guard in today’s Sunday NY Times. Is it a fluke this week or does reductionism sell enough newspapers that the NYT wants a piece of the demand? Does this demand arise from a collective unconscious fear of the unknown, or of any form of holism, or of a groundswell desire to change what we identify with and cling to?
Here’s an example of peddling divisiveness..pitting generation against generation. Isn’t the bloodletting among candidates enough?
Is our identity the final frontier for sale?
Shushing the Baby Boomers
By JOHN M. BRODER
Published: January 21, 2007THE time has come, Senator Barack Obama says, for the baby boomers to get over themselves.
In taking the first steps toward a presidential candidacy last week, Mr. Obama, who was born in 1961 and considers himself a member of the post-boomer generation, said Americans hungered for “a different kind of politics,” one that moved beyond the tired ideological battles of the 1960s.
To make his point, Mr. Obama, a Democrat from Illinois in his first term in the Senate, announced the formation of his presidential exploratory committee in a video streamed on his Web site. He is tieless and relaxed and oh so cool.
Here’s another example of reporting reductionism on change trends. The reporter has an nasty voice in the way she links changing trends in marriage, to a class issues.
Why Are There So Many Single Americans?
By KATE ZERNIKE
Published: January 21, 2007But when it comes to marriage, the two Americas aren’t divided by gender. And it’s not the career girls on the losing end. It’s their less educated manicurists or housekeepers, women who might arguably be less able to live on their own.
The emerging gulf is instead one of class — what demographers, sociologists and those who study the often depressing statistics about the wedded state call a “marriage gap” between the well-off and the less so.
