Archive : Category

Selling The Super Informed Consumer via @DanielNewmanUV

POSTED ON May 6th  - POSTED IN Customer at the Core

Let’s face it, today’s consumer (read: buyer) has changed a lot. Customers seem to know more than ever before about your products and services. In this reversal of traditional customer engagement, the paradigm of teaching your customers about what you do has flipped and now customers walk through the door knowing exactly what they want […]

Norrrrmmmm!!: You Wanna Go Where Everybody Knows Your Name

POSTED ON November 20th  - POSTED IN Customer at the Core

It became a familiar place to me. Thursday nights. I would often turn on the TV set grinning, anticipating the funny quip that Norm Peterson threw out as he was greeted at Cheers! Here’s how a typical banter would unfold: “Normmmmmmm! Sam: How’ya doin’ Norm? Whaddaya know? Norm: Not enough!“ ” Normmmmmm! … Coach: What’ll […]

Social Selling… With a Little Irish Flavour

POSTED ON November 7th  - POSTED IN Customer at the Core

There once was a man from Nantucket… This is the most well known first line of Irish born poetry, known as the limerick.  Wikipedia defines the limerick as a short, humorous, often ribald or nonsense poem, especially one in five-line anapestic meter with a strict rhyme scheme (AABBA), which is sometimes obscene with humorous or entertaining intent.  And […]

@UnitedBakersTO: Toronto’s Oldest Restaurant is Connected with its Customers

POSTED ON October 23rd  - POSTED IN Customer at the Core

I’ve been going to UB (patrons’ lingo of United Bakers Dairy Restaurant) for many years. Truth be told, my brother married a wonderful girl named Irene, who works there with her amazing mom, Helen Zellermayer, Manager of United Bakers.  It was here that Mrs. Z. introduced me to the delicious pea soup when I was […]

Quid Pro Quo: The Ultimate Dance Between the Brand and Consumer

POSTED ON July 17th  - POSTED IN Customer at the Core

The sustainability of today’s business in a world increasingly controlled by the customer seems daunting for many businesses, who are used to and, in many cases, hell bent on maintaining status quo with respect to how they market their products and communicate with their customers. The pundits are saying this: In order to adapt to […]

Silo-d PR is Business Suicide

POSTED ON June 5th  - POSTED IN Customer at the Core

A thought provoking post on how combining marketing with PR will kill the latter, by public relations pro Jayme Soulati, drew me in as soon as I read the title; my immediate reaction was “oh no.” Oh no, because I believe deeply that the only way forward for any company dedicated to performance marketing is […]

On Moving Beyond the Social Media Bubble

POSTED ON May 1st  - POSTED IN Customer at the Core

Recently, I gave a presentation about social media and reputation management to approximately 100 entrepreneurs and business representatives. Two things were evident with the audience that are not uncommon when I present – people were keenly interested in social media but some of them seemed to be hesitant, overwhelmed, or unconvinced about it. Additionally, while […]

Big Banks & Social: To Be or Not to Be?

POSTED ON April 23rd  - POSTED IN Customer at the Core

No less than 8 years ago, I found myself happily making a jaunt away from the banking industry. I decided to flee a dinosaur that was slow to change. It had all the best intentions of tapping into emerging technology – however, riddled with red tape, regulation, and rigid policy, this old and established institution […]

The ROI of Humanity in Business

POSTED ON March 21st  - POSTED IN Customer at the Core

On Tuesday Andrew Jenkins started a discussion on this blog about organizations showing their humanity. Another way of looking at the humanity of a business is by analyzing its culture: is there a culture of kindness and mutual respect? If there is not, I can guarantee you that there are a tremendous amount of missed […]