Is Twitter a good venue for customer service? While I've seen it work, the problem is that if your non-social media customer service sucks, your social media customer service will just suck more. I've written about customer service before and the companies I've called out for poor customer service … [Read more...]
Social Media Marketing Mix
Achieving a balanced marketing mix in the social media space can be tricky business. Part of the problem is that most social media is completely free to utilize. Just add your time and effort and shazam you have a marketing campaign. As a result, your inclination might be to try and utilize as many … [Read more...]
Customer service is simple count and communication
This post could have easily been a rant about a certain government agency charged with airport security and an airport I fly through frequently. If I'd chosen to go that way however, I'd have missed the customer service lesson in what happened to me and hundreds of other travelers one morning not … [Read more...]
How's your Logo Mojo?
I'll be the first to admit that you don't need a logo, business cards or even a website to do business because you don't. I often advise folks just starting out to not even worry about such things until you have lined up your first paying customer. So while JimRaffel.com Ventures (the umbrella for … [Read more...]
Accountability Circles
Want to stay out of trouble? Of course you do. More success comes your way when you are staying out of trouble. Besides, you wouldn't be reading this blog is you didn't want to be more successful. Well here's a way to improve your success. Create Accountability Circles In six tips for the traveling … [Read more...]
Why Content Matters
My first post of the year revealed my three words for the year: customers, content and strategy. A couple of weeks back, I shared my thoughts about customers and, today, I'm going to drill down into content. Content is at the heart of what ColorMetrix and Jim Raffel do. Content is the glue that … [Read more...]
Why Customers Matter
One of my three words for 2011 is customers. Every business focuses on customers - right? Well, actually no. My experiences in 2010 proved to me that many large companies have forgotten about the customer in favor of the product/service and the bottom line. I chose this word so that I can focus more … [Read more...]
The 2011 Plan
For me, 2010 marked a year of radical changes in the way I do business. It was in many ways a year of rebirth, learning and growing. While the learning and growing will continue in 2011, it will also be a year of solidifying positions established in 2010. In 2010, I developed an over-arching … [Read more...]
How do others present your wares?
I had the opportunity to watch a longtime customer and friend present the ColorMetrix story to one of his customer's the other day. What an invaluable learning experience it turned out to be. I was able to observe which bits and pieces of our product and services offering he feels add value to the … [Read more...]
Business Partner or Customer?
Just the other day a customer jokingly referred to me as being on the payroll. Well, OK he was probably only half joking as this is a large client when measured financially. It got me thinking, however, why he would say that at all? That in turn reminded me of a comment my brother left over on … [Read more...]