60 Second Articles

Chris Lambrecht's 60 Second Impact
60 Seconds of Information Impacting You and Our Fast-Forward Economy

July 2008 - Estimated Reading Time: 60 Seconds

60 Second Articles:

1. Did We Forget About Transit Advertising?
2. Three Reasons Why “The Customer Is Always Right” Is Wrong
3. Zappos Offers New Employees $1,000 to Quit Their Jobs
4. Need Zip Code Information Fast? Get the Skinny with “Zipskinny.”
5. The 60 Second Close: Sales, Productivity and Turnover

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1. Did We Forget About Transit Advertising?

• The consideration of mass transit as an effective way to reach your audience is pretty much forgotten in the midst of heating discussions on traditional versus online advertising.
• With sky-high gas prices, more and more commuters are climbing aboard public transportation across the country as a cost-saving alternative to driving.
• A national opinion poll by a market research firm called GfK surveyed 2,000 adults who own cars and found that 8 percent of motorists said they would begin to use public transportation once gas hit $2.50 a gallon, which it has already well surpassed. That figure increased to 16 percent at $3 a gallon, 26 percent at $3.50, 40 percent at $4 and 59 percent once the price of a gallon of gas exceeds $5.
• What kind of transit ridership numbers are we talking about? For example, Friday, June 20, was the third-busiest day in the 32-year history of the Washington D.C. Metropolitan Area Transit Authority with more than 850,000 people riding the rails.
  Our recommendation is to consider transit advertising as part of your media mix.

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2. Three Reasons Why “The Customer Is Always Right” Is Wrong

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  The phrase, “The customer is always right” originally came from Selfridge’sdepartment store in London, England in 1909 and was used to convey to customers that they would get superb service.
• Over the years, more companies are realizing that the customer isn’t always right, and that this mantra ironically leads to deteriorating customer service.
• From “The Best Article Everyday” blog (www.bspcn.com), here are three reasons why “the customer is always right” is wrong:
  It Makes Your Employees Unhappy: In conflicts with unreasonable customers and your employees, you should always support and trust your employees.
• It Gives Unruly Customers An Unfair Advantage: With the slogan, “the customer is always right,” abusive customers can demand just about anything and get it.
• Customer Service Deteriorates Rapidly: In his book “The Customer Comes Second: Put Your Employees First and Watch ‘em Kick Butt”, author Hal Rosenbluth of Rosenbluth Travel claims that when you put employees first, they put the customers first. Put employees first and they will be happy at work. Employees who are happy at work give better customer service.
• Our recommendation: if your corporate philosophy favors your customers, then it’s time to re-think this policy and put your employees first. It’s the best way to improve your company’s customer service.

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3. Zappos Offers New Employees $1,000 to Quit Their Jobs

• Zappos is an online shoe retailer (www.zappos.com), with sales this year expected to reach an astronomical $1 billion dollars. How do they do it? Zappos delivers an exceptional online experience and superior customer service. They offer free delivery and free returns—if you don’t like the shoes, you box them up and send them back to Zappos at no charge.
• More than 1,600 employees are at the reins of providing this great service, answering the phones and talking to customers for hours at a time. It’s a tedious task and one that requires exceptional energy and motivation.
• The executives at Zappos understand that to continue to have sales increases, they have to hire the right people while reducing costly turnover.
• They also realize that working at Zappos is not suited for everybody. As a result, after the first week of an extensive four week training period, Zappos says to its newest employees, “If you quit today, we will pay you for the amount of time you’ve worked, plus we will offer you a $1,000 bonus.”
• Why does Zappos do this? The company learns early on which new employees have the commitment and motivation for the job; who’s a good fit and who isn’t. If you’re willing to accept the company’s offer, then you’re not a fit for the job. (source: http://discussionleader.harvardbusiness.org/taylor)

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4. Need Zip Code Information Fast? Get the “Skinny” With “ZipSkinny”

• Need the “skinny” on a zip code? Click on www.ZipSkinny.com and immediately find detailed city demographics for any zip code in the country. The site serves up information based on the last U.S. census data. Just type in your zip code and you'll get back general info, social and economic indicators, and how your town compares with neighboring boroughs.

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5. The 60 Second Close: Sales, Productivity and Turnover

• How important is finding the right people with the right fit for your company and what does it mean to your bottom line? High turnover is costly and can slow down a company’s growth to the pace of a walk in quicksand.
• Finding the right people can mean an increase of 20-60 percent in sales and a 15-50 percent reduction in costly turnover.
• Zappos has found the answer in finding the right people. What about you? Need help in developing a hiring strategy? It’s not so much of hiring good people, but hiring good people that will adapt to your business culture. Need help? Give me a call today at 770-457-3700.
  

Best Wishes,
Chris Lambrecht

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Best Wishes,
Chris Lambrecht
Intelligent Marketing Solutions

Member

IMC, Georgia Chapter
http://www.imcgeorgia.org