by Chuck McKay | Aug 20, 2008 | Customer Education, Expectations, and Motivation, Customer Focus, Retention, and Evangelism, Lifetime Customer Value (LCV)
How many times have we read that it costs 5 to 7 times as much to acquire a customer as it does to retain one? And yet, knowing that existing relationships are more profitable, we spend the majority of our planning and budget on new customer acquisition. Unless...
by Chuck McKay | Aug 19, 2008 | Advertising / Marketing Strategy, Customer Focus, Retention, and Evangelism
Concentrate on Business. At the base of the brain stem, in the primitive part of the human brain which controls breathing, sweating, blinking of the eyes, and other forms of involuntary action, is the amygdala. This tiny region of nerve cells is the part of the brain...
by Chuck McKay | Aug 17, 2008 | Advertising / Marketing Strategy
The economy is in trouble. Which loosely translates as people are spending less. We’re all feeling the pinch. That’s obvious. And though no official source will admit it, we’re now in the middle of the recession of 2008. But there’s also good...
by Chuck McKay | Jul 25, 2008 | Customer Education, Expectations, and Motivation, Customer Focus, Retention, and Evangelism
Nine-year-old Lindsey, who’s visiting her grandmother and me, obviously has the entrepreneurial gene. She decided on Wednesday to open the classic American neighborhood business, the lemonade stand. I suspect there are a few retail marketing lessons every...
by Chuck McKay | Jul 13, 2008 | Customer Education, Expectations, and Motivation, Psychology and Consumer Behavior
Cognitive dissonance. It’s the discomfort caused by two conflicting thoughts. It’s the pain of learning something new, which contradicts what’s already accepted as true. And it’s often strongest when a person believes something about himself,...
by Chuck McKay | Jul 5, 2008 | Uncategorized
How much are we willing to pay for a non-material experience? Among the super rich it’s no longer enough to give a loved one a new Maserati GranTourismo (MSRP $110,000). Now, the proper gift is a private concert by the Rolling Stones (MSRP $4,000,000). Or so...
by Chuck McKay | Jun 23, 2008 | Advertising / Marketing Strategy, Budgeting, Pricing, and Return on Advertising Investment (ROAI), Customer Education, Expectations, and Motivation, Customer Focus, Retention, and Evangelism
Are you in retail? Have your sales been affected by gas prices? I just eavesdropped on a conversation between the managers of two local stores.* They both noted that store traffic has decreased, and the telephone is ringing much more consistently, since the price of...
by Chuck McKay | Jun 12, 2008 | Uncategorized
The formula used to be simple. You advertised. People responded. They called. They came. They bought what you sold.Today fewer are calling. Fewer are buying. And if you’re in business for yourself, you’re probably asking yourself “What happened?”I have the...
by Chuck McKay | Jun 3, 2008 | Advertising / Marketing Strategy, Market Segmentation, Targeted Marketing, Database Marketing
Your company is the newcomer. You’re the young upstart that has innovated, and is generating significant buzz. How can you expect the leader in your business category to react? The expression “level playing field” implies a fair contest. In battle, as in...
by Chuck McKay | May 28, 2008 | Advertising / Marketing Strategy
Marketing P.A.I.N. is a step-by-step guide to more effective advertising. I’ve made reference to the P.A.I.N. acronym, and since this is the last post in the series, I’d best explain it. 1. Pinpoint your prospect’s specific pain to create a salient...
