While all businesses know, at least theoretically, that differentiation is one of the major keys to success, it is often difficult to find true differentiation anywhere. Company after company offers up the same products and services, as well as the same claims of excellence, e.g., “we are customer focused,” followed by ditto mission statements. It is not…
The Economist reported that Alibaba.com handled $170 billion in e-commerce sales last year – that’s more than Amazon and eBay combined.The company is poised to become the world’s leading e-commerce business and inevitably the most valuable company… ever. As it prepares to go public, it could easily eclipse Facebook, which at the time of its own IPO was valued…
Apple’s Macintosh desktop and laptop computers have enjoyed near-cult status among devoted users since the 1980s, but it wasn’t until the new millennium that the company began hitting a series of bona fide home runs with consecutive new product launches. It began in 2001 with the iTunes media player, which was followed later that year…
Is e-commerce “gaining ground” even in terms of convenience shopping? I am not sure if this is a social issue or a business issue. If you have read prior blogs, I have talked about how to make the purchasing experience not only pleasant, but at a bare minimum, easy. This seems to be a challenge in…
When it comes to figuring out what makes for the most relevant selling to customers, you have to consider more than just price. There are endless beliefs, opinions, needs and wants that customers factor into the relevancy equation. Rather than presenting long lists of how to use information that you should be collecting from customers, I thought…
FORT LAUDERDALE, FL–(Marketwire -03/22/12)- Jaynie L. Smith, CEO of marketing/management consultancy, Smart Advantage, Inc., follows up her best-seller with “Relevant Selling: Research Proves Customers Value More then Just Price” (www.smartadvantage.com), a guide for taking the guesswork out of sales and marketing. “To become relevant, businesses need to discern and address what customers really value,” Smith says. Surprisingly, less…
Recently I was interviewed by New York Times journalist Elizabeth Olson who asked what my thoughts were on “Made in America.” This past week, USA Today published a similar article titled Made in USA Making a Comeback as a marketing tool. And Barron’s just featured “Made in America” as a cover story for their January 28th issue. Barron’s cites that…
New York Times interviews Jaynie Smith for research findings that support survey outcomes by Boston Consulting Group. “Companies can be foreign owned, but they need to say that ‘We are still on your soil. We create jobs. We make quality products, and we’re delivering them quickly.'”
Market Trends Are Predicted to Shift… Are you Ignoring Your Biggest Potential Customer? There is great umbrage over the fact that women may still earn less than men for equal work in many areas. Market changes are worth noting: women currently control $12 trillion in assets with an expectation that number will almost double in the coming…
Do you make your customers buying experience easy or difficult? While I have never experienced water torture I have had the unpleasant experience of car shopping, car buying, and car purchase negotiation. I keep a car much longer than I would like. I procrastinate buying a new car to avoid the agony of the experience….
