How to lose a million customers in one simple move

Posted Q1 CommentPosted in marketing

Are you feeling dumb over a mistake you recently made? I know what that’s like, but not to the degree Reed Hastings, the current CEO of Netflix, does. WOW, what a mess!

The changes to these red envelopes had a lot of people seeing red.

Netflix started in 1999 and, in many ways, pioneered the modern method for renting movies. Much as Napster did with music, these guys started to disrupt an entire distribution system where the traditional path was to go to your local Blockbuster and pick out a few flicks for the weekend. (That is a whole other story that you can read about here.) By 2011, Netflix grew to 23.6 million subscribers and had a lot of those raving fans I keep talking about. If they had such a large, loyal following why did a million customers cancel their accounts? (more…)

The Benefits of Brutal Honesty

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I just came back from a trip with a few customers of mine. I have been on several trips with these guys and they have become real friends to me over the years; the kind that I genuinely look forward to seeing. Whenever we are together, it is a good-natured battle royale. From the minute we say hello to the minute we say goodbye, anyone is a possible target of the group, and when the group turns on you, it can get ugly. We are brutally honest with each other and it is really refreshing. Sure, most of that is couched in humor, so it is a constant belly laugh. But at dinner over a glass of wine, that honesty continues and we really speak the truth as it relates to our business. It’s even to the point that when someone new is introduced to this group, they think I am crazy for attacking a valued customer the way I do. But with these people, that is just the way we do it. (more…)

Legendary

Posted QLeave a commentPosted in creativity, marketing
Jobs' innovative ways of thinking and humanizing technology made him a visionary who was respected by all.

With the passing of Steven Jobs last week, much has been said about the impact he made on the world. Think about it: This guy was fired from Apple, hired back, stole the portable music business away from Sony, changed the entire digital music industry, stole the cell phone market away from Nokia and Motorola and changed the entire mobile industry. Just about everything he touched turned to gold. He made his impact by living his life and dreaming big. (more…)

Opinions are Everywhere

Posted QLeave a commentPosted in marketing, product development, social media

We live in a world where everyone has an opinion and they aren’t afraid to share it. But when it comes down to it, how are we incorporating these opinions into our marketing and product development?

Are we listening to those who are talking about us?

Going along with consumer research, these crowdsourced opinions are incredibly valuable because of their raw, unfiltered sentiment. People who are voicing these opinions because they have a strong reaction, whether positive or negative. Do we prefer reading opinions, or looking at websites that incorporate user feedback? On one hand, it’s beneficial because it has us step back and look at our efforts from an outside perspective. It shows us what works, what doesn’t work and what just plain stinks. On the other, it also forces us to realize that we aren’t perfect and that we won’t be able to please everyone all the time. This is still beneficial to us because we can assess our own strengths and weaknesses internally. (more…)

Do you LOVE your job?

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I love it when the “Best Places to Work” list comes out and you get to read about companies that are getting it right. I was reading this article from the Harvard Business Review about attributes that can help you get on that list. It inspired some thinking on my part.

How happy are these employees? What can we do to help them be happy?

The article makes a great point: Instead of worrying about what you can get out of your people, shift your thinking to, “What more can I do for my people?” Doing more for your people leads to them giving you great results. Only 20% of employees around the world report that they are fully engaged. REALLY?! Are we so wrapped up in a quarterly report full of numbers that we don’t grasp the simple idea that happy employees make a happy customer? We must be, because if we really believed in that idea, more of the companies we worked for would engage us differently. (more…)