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As anyone who has been diagnosed with a long-term illness or condition knows, it can result in a rapid array of emotions. First comes denial, then pity, gradually followed by acceptance. Back in 2005, I was diagnosed with Type-1 Diabetes. At first, I took it very much in stride, and decided that it would not change anything. As far as I was concerned, my life would continue on as normal. However, nothing is that easy. Before accepting this new part of my life, I absolutely played the blame game. Why me? What did I do? Is it my parents’ fault? Believe it or not, this ritual can actually be helpful, as it makes you investigate your condition further and can really aid in your education.
While I don’t look like Wilford Brimley or the ...
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What a pleasant surprise to find a message on my voice mail from Erin at the AT&T store. She took the liberty of letting me know that I was way over on my text message allotment based on my plan – and proactively switched me to a more cost-effective plan. In today’s challenging economic climate, I am even more impressed that a company would seek out ways to have their customers spend LESS money with them. It is this kind of customer service approach that can help distinguish AT&T from Sprint and Verizon in the uber-competitive cellular phone market. Now if only their coverage was better, I wouldn’t need to text so often! ;)
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Let me tell you a story of how one company dropped the ball on customer service, and then, much to my pleasant surprise, picked it up and shot a three-pointer… nothin’ but net!
One of our fun family traditions is Pancake Saturday. We have a Rival® double-burner stainless steel table top burner, just like the one on the right. We then put a two-burner griddle on top of it and cook away! It’s simple, convenient, and works well. The kids, of course, particularly enjoy Pancake Saturday. We’ve used the burner for about 6 months, three or four times each month.
In late January, the knob on the right burner broke. I took the whole thing apart in an effort to possibly fix it or find a reasonable work-around. Alas, no such luck. I ...
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I just saw an ad for Toyota on TV. It featured a baby boomer couple, looking sincere and honest, telling viewers that they stand behind Toyota for the cars’ reliability and safety. They talk of knowing the brand for years, and always being satisfied with it.
We then see a steady stream of earnest consumers, saying “Thank you” to Toyota.
What?! Is “thank you” really the message here? The company is on the hook for deaths and withholding information – and they have people thanking them on TV?
In the face of a horrible PR debacle amidst massive recalls and government inquires, it seems like a poor strategy for the embattled car manufacturer to implement.
Wouldn’t it make a lot more sense to show people saying “We Still Believe”? Toyota ...
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An article from today’s AdAge reports on the latest findings from Edelman’s Trust Barometer, and those who are fans of WOM may be concerned. Much to everyone’s surprise, the number of people who view their friends as credible sources of information about companies has dropped from 45% in 2008 to just 25% in 2010. While this kind of data does little to support the expected value from WOM programming, it also should not come as a huge surprise. And it may be just Facebook’s fault.
As the social media superpower has grown in its reach and influence, more and more people are redefining the term ‘friend’. What once defined a relationship between two people who have shared experiences and who have spent a good deal of time together has ...
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For those of you who know me or have heard me speak, you know I am a huge Seth fan and an ardent follower of his work. I even had the honor of having dinner with him last week in NYC with a bunch of other amazing people, raising my admiration for him to a whole new level.
If you have never read one of his books or don’t subscribe to his blog, I highly encourage you to do so. I guarantee he will change the way you think.
Over the years, Seth has taught me a lot about marketing and what it takes to succeed. Most all of his books have been focused on how companies can gain attention as a permission asset, create remarkable products, and tap into the power of authentic word of mouth.
Today Seth Godin’s new book, Linchpin, officially goes on ...
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I had the pleasure of spending a couple of days last week with a group of very talented and inspiring people. We are all part of Seth Godin’s tribe, and we organized in NYC as part of Seth’s new book launch.
My head is still spinning from the ideas and concepts from our collective riffing, but one that stands out for me is the power of being in neutral. My new friend Mark Richards opened my eyes to this idea, and we starting pushing it a bit further.
The way I see it, people have the perception that being in neutral is a bad thing. It suggests ‘standing still’, not moving forward, not advancing. But as we started talking about it more, we realized the great power of being in neutral - to give you the time and space to evaluate your ...
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In an article posted today from AdAge, Blue Cross Blue Shield of California announced that they are opening themselves to consumer feedback. BCBS is working with Bazaarvoice, a company that helps businesses analyze online consumer discussions, to help engage consumers, enable a process to submit feedback, and learn from what people are saying about them - both the good and the bad. I applaud this effort, and hope that it represents a new trend across healthcare providers.
In a similar move towards transparency, the FDA recently announced a new website called FDA Basics. The site is intended to inform the public about what the FDA does and how it works, explaining in layman’s terms how the agency operates. According to PharmExec, the ...
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After nearly three years of a lot of hard work, our business is really beginning to take off. Our value is becoming apparent to our clients, our phones are ringing with RFPs, and our levels of engagement are higher than expected. To handle this growth, we now are in the midst of hiring a bunch of new people to join the HT team. The hiring process is just that - a process - and we’ve worked hard to find the right kind of people to hire. There seem to be plenty of job seekers out there, many of whom have the right skill sets and background to do the job. Then there is that intangible quality that you can’t quite articulate - but you know it when you see it. We can’t put it in the job description, and people certainly can’t include it on ...
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Fire. *
It can shine forth as a candle lighting the darkness. Or it can burn everything in it’s path, leaving only ashes and ruin.
How does your team handle fire drills? When things go bump in the night (or smack dab in the middle of a work day), is it an opportunity to shine? Or just a tempestuous conflagration that destroys attitudes, team unity, confidence and business value?
I had the opportunity to “fire-test” our tech team this week. At HealthTalker, we are working toward running our entire infrastucture “in the cloud” using Citrix’s XenServer platform. Cloud computing provides all sorts of useful infrastructure features that make our platform that much more robust.
One component of this infrastructure is having SAN systems set up to ...
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Observations, commentary and perspectives on word of mouth, life in a start-up, and the challenges of the pharma industry.
