By Andrew Wilson, CIO at Accenture In recent years, companies have begun to look beyond existing collaboration models for new ways to engage and interact with employees. And it’s no wonder – According to a 2014 article by the Entrepreneur…
Users can gain two months of free access to ZoomInfo’s online database in exchange for their Outlook business contacts. ZoomInfo has announced the launch of FreshContacts, an offer of two free months of unlimited access to ZoomInfo’s online database of…
Is it me, or has this year flown by? It’s time to finish up the year’s major projects before the lockdown on development moves them from the “must be done by Q4 2004” to the “maybe next year” list. Not…
CRM is a no-brainer. Obviously, companies must react to customers’ needs and show them the “right” products to buy. They need to keep consumers interested in their products and encourage loyalty through superior products and services. What about companies that…
Although the Internet provides the ability to scale your customer base without scaling your online sales force as quickly as you’d have to in the offline world, there’s no replacement for the human connection between buyer and seller. This week,…
So many of you e-mailed following my last column, here’s a follow-up. I’d specifically addressed mass customization of products, as opposed to the “mass customization” many people use when describing user experience. I’ve always found the differentiation between “personalization,” “customization,”…
I just keynoted the World Congress on Mass Customization and Personalization in Munich. It was wonderful to meet so many smart people, all thinking about the issues surrounding Mass Customization (MC) and personalization. MC is a fast-growing trend. What is…
“As soon as possible” (ASAP) is not as nebulous as you might think. Customers are innately aware of what an acceptable timeframe is for certain interactions. These expectations are generally based on the status quo, available information reporting, and communications…
Every now and then, I get really inspired by a great piece of copywriting. Over the weekend, I was down at the Jersey Shore (Long Beach Island, for those in the area) and saw a really wonderful sign at the…
I talk a lot about building relationships with customers on their terms. Many of my columns focus on the different ways to interact with customers that make sense to them: understanding cultural differences, channel preferences, and language usage. What I…
I had such a great time last week at ClickZ E-Mail Strategies. My session was about multi-channel marketing, but I got to talk about e-mail strategies during the final session — the most daring and unconventional of the two-day event.…
What Is Channibalism? “Channibalism” is a basic fear felt by many executives and managers that one channel, or line of business, will steal business away from another. There are two facets to this fear: one tied to fears of consumer…
Time for my annual birthday column. Last year at this time, I wrote a column about how peoples’ preferences change over time. Last year, my birthday was a time to reflect on how my needs and my desires changed with…
I’m an amateur videographer and love reading about the latest technologies. Sony just came out with a new camera that records 16:9 video (movie screen aspect ratio). It mailed a flyer about the camera, promoting a free accessory (a “hood”…
In 2000, any business proposal with “wireless” or “mobile” in it got venture capital funding. By late 2001, every business plan with the words “wireless” or “mobile” was avoided. Other words have come and gone as well. Are those once-hip…
There’s an interesting crossover between what’s traditionally known as “householding” and viral marketing techniques. Where they overlap is a barren zone of lost opportunity for many companies. Let’s look at a company doing it right and one that missed the…
Last year, I wrote a column describing a horrible customer service experience with Virgin Atlantic Airlines. Last time, I detailed some user experience nightmares I had with other companies: Amazon.com, Sony.com, and ShopNBC.com. I’ve never received as much reader feedback…
Employees are more loyal to companies that invest in their education. Can we extrapolate this idea and say customers are more loyal to companies that invest in their customers’ education? I think the answer is yes. Customer education can be…
Sometimes my train of thought leads me to unexpected places. One of the conferences I am speaking at this month will take place on a cruise ship, which will be sailing off the coast of England for four days. What…
In the second installment of my series “Your Web Site as a Narrative Device,” I asked you to submit sites you thought exemplified the best practices of using a narrative device on a Web site. I went through all of…
As I mentioned in the first column in this series, a micronarrative is a self-contained story. It contrasts with the macronarrative, which represents the through-line of your entire site. This week, we will look at examples of micronarratives and discuss…
Welcome to part two of “Your Web Site As a Narrative Device.” The basic theory behind this series can be read in my first column on the subject. Today’s discussion is on the call to action on your Web pages.…
Needs-based search was the subject of my last column. The natural evolution of a discussion about needs-based design is to talk about the browsing experience. A lot of people have talked about variants of this idea, but given the number…
The Internet hosts two basic types of users: browsers and searchers. Personalization projects tend to focus on browsers, not searchers. The problem is 80 to 90 percent of people who go online to buy products are searchers. This week, we…
Seeing the new Steven Spielberg flick “Minority Report” got me thinking about the difference between mass marketing and personalized marketing. I attended a matinee on Sunday because several people have told me about its futuristic visions of brand, interactive, and…
Can a Web site be personalized for someone you don’t know anything about? Companies ask people like me to help them strategize personalization and email initiatives, but very few ask what kind of CRM they can do for the bulk…
On the surface, I love Virgin Atlantic Airways. It succeeded in setting itself apart from every other boring airline. It’s cool. It’s daring. It’s sexy. It understands a customer-centric experience. Or is it just a faÇade? Under the covers, does…
Can personalization exist in a world without money or resources? That’s the question I posed and began to answer last time, in the first partof this article. It’s a question I’m sure many marketers are asking in these budget-strapped times,…
Welcome Back, Mr. Lesbian! In 1999, I created the personalization practice at barnesandnoble.com. About two weeks into the job, I got an email directly from the CEO… and I was being yelled at. A customer had bought a book for…
So many sites have “my” areas, whether they are as robust as a “My Yahoo!” or as simple as a “my account.” Regardless of its features, each of these areas has a similar purpose: to allow users to manage their…
Personalization has always been associated with two other major things: technology and money. But since it’s early in the year, odds are, if your experiences are anything like mine, the following has happened to you: You submitted a budget last…