Conventional wisdom states that websites and other new products should be evaluated with non-tech savvy participants. With 63% of American adults accessing the Internet regularly, 83% of teens, and 20% of adults actively avoiding the online world we are a nation of tech-savvy or tech-avoidant. Conventional recruiting strategies not longer apply. Rather than pursue an …
Monthly Archives: June 2004
The Sidewalk Pitch
Help us defeat George Bush. or Do you have a moment for Greenpeace? You’re running late for a meeting, which of these lines stops you? Political activist recruiters are on the Nicollet Avenue street corners this summer . Last week it was the Democratic National Committee and this week – Greenpeace. One of the volunteer …
Repeating the Same Action and Expecting a New Result?
Engagement at meetings and excitement about projects is down. A number of key people are leaving. The passion that sparked our initial conversations is waning. One of our clients is at a turning point with their organization. A number of never-been-tried-by-us suggestions were thrown around in a recent strategy session. Most of them immediately dismissed …
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Daily Productivity Tips
We’re working with a number of clients to make their days more effective. One of the smallest, yet most profound changes is making each meeting a working meeting. Though powerful and effective, this technique does go against more than 96 years of conventional wisdom This technique works especially well for document review meetings – have …
Hotel Room as Showroom – Part 2
Starting this week and running through Sept. 20, guests can check out the cameras, take pictures and print them using an HP Photosmart 245 photo printer installed at the hotels Following up on the original Hotel Room as Showroom article, Yahoo Reports that Fairmont Hotels and HP are partnering to offer guests digital camera rental …
Taking Ownership
Clients, customers, collegues don’t care why there’s a problem. They just want it fixed and to move on. To do that, each person approached with a client issue needs to take ownership of problem and feel they have the authority to deliver a satisfactory solution quickly. Take this Ritz Carlton experience for example: At exactly …
On-Board Wi-Fi
The last place for wireless to penetrate may actually be where the money is – according to this Forbes article: Boeing plans to charge $30 for flights longer than six hours, $19.95 for flights of four to six hours, $14.95 for shorter flights and $9.95 for a 30-minute trial. Continuous access from Munich to LA …
McDonald’s Learns From Best Buy
In the Star Tribune’s recent “Best Buy Copes with Costs” article, they report that Best Buy’s customer-centric format roll-out (and here) has been scaled back 40%. The customer centricity strategy has its costs. Operating expenses as a percentage of revenue were 2.2 percent higher at the test stores, the company said. But the test stores’ …
The 30 Second Rule
If it takes you or your collegues longer than 30 seconds to find a piece of information, then your workplace organization needs drastic improvement. I recently attended Minnesota Technology’s overview on Lean for the Office. The 30 second rule is a great yardstick to measure your day against. Extend the principal a bit..if no one …
You Expect What You Pay For
Recently – a collegue recounted his experience selling a fully-capable product with a price less than half its competitors. “After the presentation, the customer turned to the sales representative and asked, ‘What’s wrong with it?’” This, more than 78 years after J. Walter Thompson’s research for Pond’s Cold Cream proved that price and quality are …