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2012  Summit on Customer Engagement February 28-29 San Mateo, CA, USA Stay tuned for information on presenters, our newest inititive--workshops for skills building, and more.

With Steve Jobs being customer #1. I'm an Apple outsider to be sure, but I can't imagine that many people working at Apple aren't avid users of the products they make. And relish they thought of creating new one's that will delight them even more. People attribute Apple's status as... read more →

Yesterday your intrepid blogger ventured out into the clothes shopping wars. I was actually kind of excited--men's clothing is really looking good, based on what I'm seeing "on the street" with some of the more fashion-forward looking guys, plus the catalogues I get that I occasionally thumb through (and that... read more →

We've just been treated to the sweet site of two superb athletes come back, big time, from the depths of sporting despair. In golfer Rory McIlroy's case, he blew a four stroke lead  at the Masters last April by shooting an 80 in the final round (a 43, I believe, on... read more →

Readers of this blog know that customers can create value for firms well beyond their purchases. They can market for you, sell for you, spread positive word of mouth, provide referrals, help build customer communities, contribute valuable input into product development and strategy, and more. This month's Harvard Business Review... read more →

What shall we call peer association groups--such as those formed by dog lovers, or software engineers, or quilters, or Harley owners? Or, more to the point for my particular audience, what shall we call peer groups that companies form for their customers, or that customers form for themselves? Seth Godin... read more →

Business growth is eluding a lot of good companies today, as the usual approaches--acquisitions, alliances, pursuing cutting edge technology bandwagons, entering fast growth markets, etc.--turn out to be a tough slog. Here are some thoughts on how the dynamics of growth are changing: 1. The key to growth in the... read more →

Interesting article in the current Fortune <http://tech.fortune.cnn.com/2011/05/09/inside-apple/>. Some interesting takeaways to me (confirming Steve Jobs' remarkable contrarianism as perhaps the key to his tremendous success). For example, he dismisses the need for managerial skills, preferring to cultivate process specialists. Indeed Apple's organization doesn't have a matrix structure, dotted lines, committees,or separate lines... read more →

FROM THE MAY 2011 NEWSLETTER Last month's issue provided seven tips for better listening to a senior executive--a critical step in gaining her trust and ultimately her active support. Once your senior executive sponsor knows you're listening--and consturctively contributing to the conversation--you can start guiding the discussion to those areas... read more →

FROM THE APRIL NEWSLETTER Gaining strong executive support for any initiative is a key element of success, which is why we've discussed this enduring issue several times in previous issues and in our conferences. In this short series, we're going to look at a fairly bold approach: how to increase... read more →