Can you sell without telling lies? I’ve been invited down to London to explore the possibility of taking part in a TV series for Channel 4 where apparently sales teams will be split in two and one half will sell stuff ‘aggressively’ and the other more ‘ethically’ (my phrase, not theirs - I think it means being ‘totally’ [...]
Posted in Culture, General, Marketing by: Andy on July 21, 2008 | No Comments | 
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Fresh from some great customer experiences in Las Vegas, I popped into a local pub to watch the Champions League Final last week. Settling down for the match, a couple of us decided to have a quick snack, and ordered some chip butties. We were told we couldn’t just have chips even though all the meals came with them.
When [...]
Posted in Culture, Customer Service by: Andy on May 27, 2008 | 2 Comments |
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I’ve already commented on the trials and tribulations of Terminal 5. My initial thought was to come over all ‘Victor Meldrew’ and think ‘I don’t believe it!’ Have you ever done that? You know, when you’ve spotted something that seems so daft or pointless in a business? You think ‘who on earth came up with [...]
Posted in Culture, General, Leadership by: Andy on April 8, 2008 | 1 Comment |
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Speaking at the Service Excellence Conference last week introduced me to the ‘delights’ of James Timpson of Timpsons. His refreshing approach was a revelation to all, especially when dealing with those ‘problem performers’ in your business.
Some key points:
Don’t tolerate ‘Drongos’ - those negative people who sap your business bring everyone else down. Do everything you can [...]
Posted in Competitiveness, Culture, Leadership by: Andy on March 11, 2008 | No Comments |
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Chat rooms, forums and social networks have shifted power to customers. The dialogue and ’chatter’ about businesses and their performance is totally out of the control of the businesses themselves. The result? Recommendations, warnings, and tales of the good, bad and ugly spread incredibly quickly. The real danger of course is when a rant or complaint gets added to, built [...]
Posted in Culture, Customer Service by: Andy on January 16, 2008 | No Comments |
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I love this. Successful Chicago based software design company 37 Signals are renowned for their innovative approach. They set out to make a difference in 1999 with a manifesto.
Their manifesto helps answer a number of questions:
Who are they?
What do they stand for?
What makes them ‘dramatically different’?
It also helps to ‘demonstrate’ that ‘dramatic difference’ to clients, [...]
Posted in Branding, Culture, General by: Andy on December 19, 2007 | No Comments |
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But what do you actually do? It’s a question asked by lots of parents of their kids. Olgivy PR overcame this by organising a ‘Bring Your Parents To Work’ Day, a neat twist on the more traditional ‘Bring Your Children To Work’ events held in many organisations. The aim was to ‘educate’ parents on the [...]
Posted in Culture, Innovation by: Andy on October 22, 2007 | No Comments |
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