Denyse Drummond-Dunn says, “With so much information flowing into organizations these days, we are all feeling a little overwhelmed. What’s worse, however, is that customer insights haven’t increased at the same rate as data availability. Customer insights are essential to growth and continued success, yet they remain the elusive holy grail of business. Let me start by explaining what I understand by an insight. An insight is a statement that summarizes an accurate and deep understanding of a market or consumer. Moreover, an actionable insight is about people’s needs—and... [...]

Arie Shpanya says, “The process of acquiring a consumer and turning them into a customer consists of three main parts: grabbing their attention, selling your product and experience to them, and getting them to return to your store. Each of these parts have different requirements for success, but retaining the customer might be the most complex. It’s tricky because there are so many other options customers have when shopping online, but the results are worth the effort. According to Bain & Co, increasing customer retention rates by just 5% can increase profitability anywhere between... [...]

Barry Levine says, “There aren’t many people who have seen the arc of modern marketing from as many vantage points as John Sculley. The ex-CEO/Chairman of Apple and President/CEO of Pepsi — currently an investor or board member in several marketing tech companies — sees two big movements affecting marketing. One has already happened, while the other is still in progress. The first movement, he told me in a phone interview, is the “power shift” that has been caused by such technologies as cloud computing, mobility and data analytics, not to mention the internet itself. As a result,... [...]

Regina Love says, “When creating a product for your customer, where do you begin? A key element in creating a product is to focus highly on the customer experience. Start by asking how you want your customer to feel, think and what action do you want them to take after viewing your product. The next question to ask yourself should be, how do we begin to organize and execute a valuable customer experience? As we are currently in the process of preparing for MarketingSherpa Summit 2016, I want to apply to these questions what we have learned from creating a real-world experience for the marketers... [...]

Ron Rogowski says, “One of the most enjoyable and fulfilling things about helping Forrester clients become customer-obsessed is leading an experience co-creation workshop. Forrester defines co-creation as the active participation of employees, customers, and stakeholders working together to design new experiences. It’s a technique that helps companies define the right experience for their customers and provides critical information that supports human-centered design. A typical co-creation session puts Forrester consultants, our clients, and our clients’ customers in a room for a whole... [...]

Jeremy Gin says, “Negative feedback from customers can be a hard pill to swallow. It often feels unjust, unhelpful and inaccurate. Even the most professional business owners can be defensive and emotional in the face of criticism. And while business owners may intellectually know negative customer feedback is critical to improving their business — a 10-percent increase in Net Promoter Score (NPS) can correlate with a six to seven-percent increase in revenue — the hard bit is constructively incorporating it. The following are seven things every business, small or large, can do... [...]

Leslie Ye says, “According to HubSpot’s 2015-2016 State of Inbound Sales report, 76% of sales teams use a CRM system. This shouldn’t be a surprise. A CRM system makes it easier for sales leaders to assess team performance, and easier for reps to record information about their prospects. Manipulated correctly, the data stored in a CRM system provides insight into a multitude of operational and performance challenges. So why do only 33% of salespeople make quota? Shouldn’t sales leaders have all the information they need to turn things around? Sales technology is only useful if its... [...]

John Rampton says, “”Yes” is a powerful word. With just three letters, “yes” opens doors, moves mountains, and unlocks your success in business. And yet, getting to “yes” in sales is hard, especially online, where the personal touch that is so effective is missing. I focus on getting to yes in my business every day. A “yes or no” answer makes things black and white. It’s how my company knows exactly how to focus our time and gain more conversions. In online marketing terms, when a visitor arrives at your website, they’ve already committed... [...]

Jami Oetting says, “What’s the worst possible — while still realistic — outcome for any project? A project successfully completed where the client is completely unhappy and dissatisfied with your agency. Most often, this is the result of mismatched or undefined client expectations. This is a common issue when projects are rushed into or when an agency wants the work so badly that they don’t want to cause doubt in the client’s mind by asking too many questions. A defined, repeatableonboarding process can solve many of the issues that cause client expectations... [...]

Mike Renahan says, ““The right thing at the wrong time is the wrong thing.” – Joshua Harris Have you ever called a lead on a Tuesday morning and heard nothing, but tried that same lead two days later and they responded back almost immediately? That’s not luck — there’s some science behind why this happened. According to research from James Oldroyd and InsideSales.com, effectively reaching out to prospects comes down to one thing: timing. For example, did you know 4-5 p.m. had a 164% better connection rate than 1-2 p.m.? Or that connection rates drop by 400% if you respond... [...]