2014 Retailing Customer Service Champions

Posted on December 9, 2014 by bermanevansretail
1to1 Media recently released its 2014 Customer Champions report. This is how it defines customer champion:
“Behind every successful enterprise-wide customer strategy is an individual who tirelessly evangelizes the customer cause, who reminds employees that customers are the business, who understands how to transform loyalty into profit, and whose efforts both command attention and garner real results. I am a Customer Champion.”
“Since its inception in 2004, the 1to1 Media Customer Champions has grown into a one-of-a-kind awards program that honors and spotlights individuals responsible for game-changing customer-focused strategies — a truly unique event that honors the leaders who create innovative change in their organizations. The awards program now includes a group of more than 130 distinguished leaders representing household name brands. From sweeping voice-of-the-customer initiatives and data analysis strategies to employee engagement and omnichannel initiatives, this year’s winners are the creative disruptors in their firm who play a critical role in advancing their organizations’ customer strategies.”
These are the 2014 RETAILING winners:
  • Anna DiGregorio, Marketing Director at Marketplace Philadelphia Management, “implemented training programs and gamification features to streamline services at Philadelphia International Airport.”
  • Mike Lester, president of The Melting Pot, “inspires employees to pursue the ‘Perfect Night Out’ standard by serving customers on an individualized level in any capacity possible.”
  • Jim McCann, 1-800-Flowers.com’s CEO, “commits to conversations with satisfied and dissatisfied customers.”
  • Gregg Tilston, global social media leader at Flight Centre Travel Group, “empowers employees with the social playbook and creative freedom necessary to exceed consumer expectations and cultivate true fans.”
  • John Wompey, vice-president of operations at Foot Locker, “uses voice of the customer data to uncover truths that drive company-wide innovation and employee success.”
Click the image to access 1to1 Media’s full report, with profiles of each winner (including non-retailers).

 

 

Posted in Part 1: Overview/Planning, Part 2: Ownership, Strategy Mix, Online, Nontraditional, Part 3: Targeting Customers and Gathering Information, Part 7: Communicating with the Customer | Tagged , , , , , | Leave a comment

Show Passion in Your Job Interview

Posted on December 8, 2014 by bermanevansretail
It is not just our qualifications that determine whether we get a desired job. It is also the passion we display about getting and doing that job during the interview stage of the hiring process.
Consider these observations from Jessica Simko, writing for Careerealism:
“You [should] understand why a person who may be less qualified than you gets a job you don’t get. It’s all in the presentation. Oftentimes, you say all the right things but if your presentation is flat, it will fall on its face. If you don’t really want the job or you aren’t excited about it, it shows even if you say, ‘I want to work here more than any other company.’”
“Enthusiasm, presence, and passion – these qualities excite hiring mangers and they will always tip the scale in someone else’s favor if you don’t show up with them in your interview. When you are expressing  those qualities, people can’t help but love you and be engrossed in everything you say. This is especially important to remember when you consider that many hiring managers conduct back to back (or close together) interviews. I cannot express in words how often candidates get tossed out of the candidate pool simply by deficiencies in their overall presentation that only become apparent when running multiple interviews back to back or close together.”
Read more by clicking the image.
 
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Photo credit: Shutterstock

 

Posted in Career Useful Information, Careers in Retailing | Tagged , , , | Leave a comment

Do You Understand the Value of Cross-Channel Attribution?

Posted on December 7, 2014 by bermanevansretail
In this era of complex retail channels, one of the big challenges is attributing the contribution of the various channel members in the consumer’s purchase process.
As Forbes’ MarketShare notes:
“In today’s more measurement-focused marketing world, cross-channel attribution is a hot topic. Briefly, this is the science of using advanced analytics to allocate proportional credit to each marketing touch point across all online and off-line channels, leading to a desired customer action.”
“That’s basically how Forrester defined it in The Forrester Wave: Cross-Channel Attribution Providers, Q4 2014 report (here), published in November. At MarketShare, we like to phrase it a bit more simply as ‘giving credit where credit is due.’ Either way, the result is this: Attribution helps brands track their marketing and media efforts more accurately and show how they impact the overall business.”
Click the image to read more.

 

 

Posted in Part 1: Overview/Planning, Part 2: Ownership, Strategy Mix, Online, Nontraditional, Part 3: Targeting Customers and Gathering Information, Part 5: Managing a Retail Business, Part 7: Communicating with the Customer, Part 8: Putting It All Together | Tagged , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment