The following post was first published in January 2010. Seth Godin is one of my favourite authors and thinkers on business strategy, marketing, and customer relationship management. His seminal books Permission Marketing, IdeaVirus, and Purple Cow changed the way people think about customer engagement. I had the pleasure of spending 45 minutes one-on-one with Seth Read more about Take the Higher Ground[…]
The following post was originally published in December 2009. Early in November, a group of former co-workers got together at a historic Toronto tavern for a reunion. The atmosphere and the camaraderie were certainly a big part of why I stood for nearly 5 hours around the bar. Throughout the night, I kept an eye on one of the Read more about The Night is Young[…]
This post was originally published in October 2009. Fall is my favourite time of the year…except for the fact that raking leaves seems to be an effort in futility. Recently, I decided to follow my neighbour’s lead and get one of those plastic fan rakes that has twice the fan size as a normal rake. Light, Read more about The Rake with a 25-Year Warranty but a 24 hour Shelf Life.[…]
The following post was originally published in September 2009. Have you ever completed one of those Warranty Registration cards? You get these cards when you buy a television or a clock radio or a basic kitchen appliance. Recently, I purchased a lawn and garden tool that had the longest Warranty Registration form I’d ever seen. Considering we do Read more about What Does My Oily Skin Have to do with my new Lawn Mower?[…]
The following post was originally published in April 2012. Imagine for a moment what our world would be like if Apple, Harley Davidson, Disney, and Miele competed solely on price. Would the style, service, and quality of these top brands be what we know today? Not likely. These companies have consciously chosen a market position Read more about Set the Margin, Solve for Value.[…]
The following post was originally published in August 2009. Perhaps the poster child for cross-sell revenue enhancement is the foodservice industry. From “would you like fries….?” to combo offerings, to super-sizing, the industry has long found ways to get us to buy one more item than we might have otherwise. I tend not to frequent the drive-through burger chains, Read more about Would You Like Fries with that…Sundae?[…]
The following post was originally published in July 2009 Gas stations are particularly dependent on cross-sell marketing and revenue enhancement programs. Yet, as ‘pay at the pump’ has become increasingly popular and cigarette merchandising has become more and more restricted (in Canada), petroleum companies are feeling the profit pinch. As a result, many are looking for solutions Read more about Is this really Self-Serve convenience?[…]
The following post was originally published in March, 2010 March Break can be a stressful time. Families are conflicted by the thought of taking a peak-priced trip to an over-crowded resort, or staying home and finding things to do locally. This year, we chose to do a bit of both. On the first night of Read more about The Magic of Revenue Enhancement[…]
The following post was originally published in September 2009. Not so long ago, I had the opportunity to lead the strategic growth agenda for a diversified weight loss and nutrition company. A franchised retail health business, the company had experienced tremendous start-up growth before hitting an inevitable sales plateau. Despite an industry-leading weight loss ‘success rate’ and Read more about Cut the Fat[…]