Marketing faux pas

by Dale Furtwengler — President, Furtwengler & Associates, P.C.

Eric Spitznagel, in his SFGate article Memorable marketing flip-flops, highlights the errors of some well-known, well-respected brands.

Avon's makeover: A world affair brought home

by Lisa Biank Fasig — Director, JZMcBride and Associates

When I was a teenager my sister sold Avon products. She was actually pretty good. Our house was filled with Skin So Soft lotion, Sweet Honesty perfume and…

How one three-letter word can create a personal buying experience

by Chris Petersen — Owner, IMS

Much has been written and continues to be written about the battle between online e-commerce and retail stores. If it is only about lowest price, game over.

Positioning and pricing

by Dale Furtwengler — President, Furtwengler & Associates, P.C.

Pricing goes well beyond merely establishing a price. Indeed, there are some industries in which there’s little, if any, ability to adjust price. The health…

This is the most popular customer service question ever

by Micah Solomon — president, four aces inc

“How should I compensate a customer for a service or product failure?”

Five ways to raise your retail associates' conversion rate

by Bob Phibbs — CEO, The Retail Doctor

Brick and mortar retail stores face the daunting challenge of getting their retail associates to convert customers who are lookers into ones who are buyers.

Do your customers say they love you?

by Jeanne Bliss — Founder, CustomerBliss

Are customers saying they love you?  At yelp, epinions, Twitter and hundreds of websites every day, customers who are treated well are not bashful about…

Bank of America's CEO: Brave or naive?

by Colin Shaw — Founder & CEO, Beyond Philosophy

I have seen so many proclamations like the one Brian Moynihan, CEO of Bank of America sent to his 270,000 employees recently stating they needed to improve…

Customer service will transform your business ... starting today

by Micah Solomon — president, four aces inc

Customer service–exceptional, consistent, customer-centered service–can transform your business more quickly than nearly any other advantage.

Stage, actors, script: Great theater and retail

by Chris Petersen — Owner, IMS

One only needs to peruse the retail headlines to see the wide ranging discussion on the importance of customer experience in retail. In IMS Retail University…

Giving shoppers what they don't know they want

by Jeff Weidauer — Vice President, Marketing & Strategy, Vestcom International, Inc.

The National Grocers Association and Supermarket Guru released some teaser facts from their Consumer Panel Survey that will be released at the annual…

To bundle or not to bundle?

by Dale Furtwengler — President, Furtwengler & Associates, P.C.

Business owners can’t seem to win. If they bundle their offerings, customers ask for itemization of the various components with the price of each clearly…

An amazing customer experience from TSA?

by Doug Fleener — President and Managing Partner, Dynamic Experiences Group, LLC

Last Friday I was in line for security at Logan airport. I noticed that there was only one agent checking IDs, so I figured this was going to be a long and…

When retail associates hold their head up

by James Bickers — Editor, Networld Alliance

During a panel discussion this morning at the NRF 102nd Annual Convention & EXPO, the conversation turned to hiring and keeping employees that are willing…

The Retail Revival has begun!

by Doug Stephens — President, Retail Prophet Consulting

Did you just spell your customer's name wrong?

by Micah Solomon — president, four aces inc

"They spelled my name wrong again!" sings Loudon Wainwright III, the incomparable (if hard-to-spell) singer-songwriter.

Cookies and the key to success in retail

by Doug Stephens — President, Retail Prophet Consulting

For the holidays I took my friends, clients and business colleagues cookies. I bought them from a small coffee house and bakery in Toronto called Le Gourmand …

Four myths of the marketplace

by Harvey Mackay — Author, Mackay Mitchell

1. We don’t have any competition.

Autonomy vs. standards: in business, customer service and the customer experience

by Micah Solomon — president, four aces inc

As a business keynote speaker, I spend a lot of time speaking about the need for employee autonomy in customer service and business operations in general. And…

The one simple thing your retail associates should be doing, but probably aren't

by James Bickers — Editor, Networld Alliance

As Dale Carnegie's sixth principle teaches us, the sound of a person's name is the sweetest and most important sound to that person. It is an immutable truth…