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August 30, 2008

What leadership looks like

Regardless of your thoughts of Barack Obama, you must admit that it takes true charisma to hold an audience of 80,000 captive and inspire motivation.

August 26, 2008

Fishes and ponds

Forty years ago the news stand had a pretty limited selection-- Time, Newsweek, People, Good Housekeeping. Those were the magazines that everyone turned to, they covered a variety of topics and the writers were really big fish in a really big pond.

The barrier to entry was incredibly tall.
If you were into kayaking you could write a specific article and chances were it wouldn't get published. Society was into learning a little bit about everything.
Look at Dear Abbey. She could jump from pond to pond and still be big.


Look at a newsstand today. There are hundreds of magazines, with millions of writers and contributors. Each a really big fish in a really small pond-- dare I say puddle.

So what happened? Everything became specialized. Rather than learn a little about everything, each of us has decided to learn a lot about a little.

The barrier to entry is still incredibly tall.
Now there are millions of small ponds each with big fish, when before there were only a few ponds with big fish.
Interestingly enough, there are so many puddles, that a big fish in one pond is a minnow in another. Today there are hundreds of "Dear Abbey's", most newspapers now have their own.

So what's point?
If your a company that wants to be in a certain pond you need to understand the pond before you jump in. You need to a look at the fish in the pond and yourself and ask this all important question-- "If I am going to be a big fish in this pond how do I attain the status without alienating the other fish? And why will people listen to me?"

August 16, 2008

How to keep your customer information updated

I got this email from Ikea yesterday. Its a perfect example of how to keep your customer database up to date.

The email is simple.
The email is a fast read.
The email includes an action item.
And the best part-- for $550 they keep their database up to date.

Don't get forgotten


About a year ago I dropped Verizon wireless to get an iPhone. There was no other reason. Verizon also didn't give me a reason not to drop them. They were like the "steady ok looking" girlfriend. They were always there, never posed me a problem, and never gave me a reason to give them much attention. I gave them up for the sexy chick (AT&T) down the street.
Now I kind of regret it. But I have an iPhone!

I take Netflix for granted, as do most subscibers. This week they had a problem and I have heard some people are canceling. My relationship with Netflix is much like my previous relationship with Verzion. Dependable. Reliable.

So what are they both doing wrong? They are too dependable, too reliable.

Verizon and Netflix both gave me online billing statements and automatic payments. No noise, very simple. Its the first part that is the problem. My bills were paid automatically-- charged right to my card, so I never thought the service. Which made it very easy for me to quit them.

If I was Verizon what would I do to not be forgotten. First, I would take a page from Netflix. They email me when they receive a movie and mail me one. But they could do more, when they credit my card for the subscription they could remind me of the transaction and engage me in conversation. They could ask me to rate more movies, or remind me that some of the movies I have rented are available for sale. Maybe include a button to automatically buy it and have it shipped to me with one click.
Verizon could have done just about the same. They could have reminded me of my payment, and included a link to text my friends for free and tell them how pleased I was with my Verizon service.

So what does this all mean? If your going to make your transactions with your customers easy-- online bill payments, electronic statements, etc. you need to engage them in a conversation every time to stay at the top of their mind. This is a perfect chance to make your message viral and offer your customer the ability to send a message to a friend.

The main point-- don't let easy lead you down the path of forgotten.