After a decade of waiting for shipping, the same-day delivery model is exciting. However, it’s being largely played as a fulfillment mechanism. It’s also being considered as a model where retailers can potentially charge a premium for instant delivery – although I think that’ll not be feasible in the long term Uber, Google, eBay and Amazon are getting into this model with Amazon […]
TD Bank recently announced TD Helps, an online community where specialists answer questions quickly. It’s a great initiative. And definitely a step in the right direction. The obvious incentives are better customer responsiveness, lower costs and of course marketing. However, in a world where more than 70% of customers prefer to self serve rather than initiate a conversation, how can […]
The Retail Design Institute’s 2014 “Store of the Year” award was presented to a concept for Umpqua bank! Some banking myths were definitely broken here. And I think that all our discussions about reinventing the branch should be seen in light of the next wave of innovation which is coming soon. 1. Get rid of the original definition When we think of a branch, what […]
Analytics is a must to succeed today. But as we think of and define business scenarios where we can get greater insights, I am surprised by the little thought that goes into systematically feeding it into the right operational (and technology) processes. It takes long. Far too long. And costs too much. And by the time it’s done, it’s already […]
6 years ago, in 2008, Kyle MacDonald successfully traded for a house. In 14 trades. He started with a small red paperclip. Most of us may not start on a plan to trade a paperclip for a house or a car, but there’s great value in the lessons Kyle MacDonald learnt along the way. Of course, the lessons are after-the-fact, in […]
Every business needs loyal customers – customers who come back time after again because they had a great experience, found great deals, just liked what they see or any other reason. Loyalty is about several strategic issues. In today’s post I wanted to outline an example of how an effective loyalty program can be structured. A few years ago, working […]
Investments in Omni Channel banking have been focusing on traditional and commonly known media such as mobile, web, branches, paper, email and ATMs. These strategies have no doubt brought tremendous advances in customer experience, operating cost synergies and marketing effectiveness. However, with recent industry evolution, the definition of channels is changing. Previously largely ignored in the integrated multi-channel marketing strategy, […]
One of the prerequisites to creating a successful customer partnership is to manage and eliminate the need for external reinforcement. This helps both you and your customers to take positive actions. Two key drivers of attrition for products and services are: Incorrect fit Insufficient education An incorrect fit arises from acquiring a customer who is not best served by your […]
2014 has arrived and here’s wishing you a very successful and wonderful year. Time really flies. I hope this year we can all catch a breath and enjoy the scenery as we whiz along. Resolutions are the “in-thing” at this time of the year. Here’s to grit and hope! However, statistics show that only 75% of the personal resolutions will […]
(first published on supplychainbrain.com and edited to fit here) A couple of years ago I helped define the GTM and launch program for a smart consumer facing machine (ATM, vending etc.) for a pretty large company. And for the first time, through that unusually stressful exercise, I truly understood just how complex an undertaking it can be to think beyond […]
This advice comes often from seasoned entrepreneurs and investors. We also see these claims from software development methdologies like Agile. But there is an equally important area where this concept holds true which could dramatically help decrease overhead and help us “corporate cogs in the wheel” live a pretty comfortable life. As someone with an entrepreneurial bent of mind, I […]
Here’s an example of how to read faces and predict what’s going on in the background. Recently I received an email from “my bank” asking me to log on to MyBankBillPay.com (and not usual MyBank.com) to search for billers (utilities, credit cards etc) and pay my bills. I also regularly have to pay “My Other Bank’s” credit card bill through […]
I recently read an article in Information Week that SOA (Service Oriented Architecture) “needs business transformation”. To tell you the truth I was completely stumped. All the while I thought that SOA was to enable business and not the other way around. I may be wrong. But here’s my take on it anyway. SOA is common sense. Its not web […]
Recently I saw an article on marketing titled “Find out what your customers want, how they want it and give it to ’em just that way!”. The same day, crisp news about the Balance(d) Score Card concept had hit the stands. The BSC model is a way for providers and clients to align their goals so they can work in […]