In his Roads Gone Wild article for Wired, Tom McNicol describes a new mentality in traffic control: fewer signs = fewer accidents. From this perspective, traffic control signs are actually a poor band-aid for an unsafe environment. At best, they keep accident rates constant, at worst they actually cause more. This phenomenon is not unique …
Category Archives: Customer Relationship
Real Voices Not Marketing Voices
It’s been quiet here. I know. I’ve been wrapped up in a number of new projects. One of them being the First Crack podcast, others are about where the Work Better Weblog (and Working Pathways as an entity) are telling me they want to go. More on that later. Skimming my blogroll (opml) this evening …
Advertising is Dead, Part 2
First Amazon, now Dorothy Lane Market ends advertising and focuses on offering customers value. “We realized that we couldn’t give club members the deals that we wanted to give them if we continued spending $5,000 to $10,000 a week on print advertising” More in this Fast Company article: Dorothy Lane Loves Its Customers
Care and Feeding of Your Harshest Critics
Marqui is paying people to test drive and blog about their content management system. From Marc Canter on the origins of the idea: When I first came up with the idea – the question was poised “what if they blog something negative?” My answer was “that’s a good thing! Can you imagine how powerful it …
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Control vs Distribution
One of our current projects is with a client with a reputation of being extremely protective of their brand. They know the value of having customers distribute their brand message yet they’re struggling with the lack of control that entails. Heisenberg’s Uncertainty Principle rearing it’s ugly head. This is the same dilemma political candidates had …
Best Buy Focuses on Personas
Best Buy has taken the first step in their persona-centric model. According to the Wall Stree Journal’s Analyzing Customers, Best Buy Decides Not All Are Welcome, the sales associates have received training to briefly interview customers to determine if they are a Barry, Jill, or Ray Buzz. In an effort to keep their store relevant …
Cost of Stolen Towels Comes Out of Marketing Budget
A couple years back, Amazon attempted two things: Advertising in print and on television. Charging for shipping. They found little return on the first, and a found a huge backlash against the second. Amazon now finances their Super Saver shipping with their advertising budget: NY Times – Amazon Tries Word of Mouth Holiday Inn just …
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Sales Clerk Shops Competiton With Customer
Until now there were only 5 responses you’ll receive when asking a store clerk about an item: “Yes, we have it. Allow me to get it for you.” “Yes we have it. It’s in aisle 4, I’ll show you.” “Yes we have it. It’s in aisle 4.” “No, we don’t carry it.” “No, we don’t …
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5 Tips For Better Customer Interviews
The easiest way to collect interesting, usable data from a research effort is to blend into the background of the subject’s life. Media journalists know this – that’s why they’re embedded in the presidential campaigns and in the military actions. To give honest unselfconscious, response, subject’s need to be comfortable with researchers – as peers, …
How Not To Do Customer Research
We do quite a bit of customer and employee research here at Working Pathways. From in-depth 1-on-1, deep dive, interviews to quick email surveys to observational studies – our expertise runs the gamut. Whatever the study, each participant involved is 1. screened and qualified and 2. receives some level of compensation for their time and …