Tag Archives: customer

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40 Things Your B2B Customers Value Most

A few weeks ago, I wrote a post about the 30 Things Your Customers Care About Most. I summarized a study that was published in the August 2018 issue of Rotman Magazine where the authors presented “The Elements of Value” model for consumers and for business to business.

That post described the Business to Consumer model while this post summarizes the Business to Business Elements.

The B2B Value Pyramid

According to the authors and their research, there are 40 fundamental building blocks of value in the B2B model. These 40 elements organize nicely into a four level Maslow Hierarchy of Needs pyramid. They are shown in the diagram below and, for the most part, the model is quite easy to follow.

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Linchpin

Are You Indispensable?

The book review for this week is Linchpin by Seth Godin.

Godin is simply an outstanding author and this book proves it once again! Linchpin describes how each of us needs to approach how we deliver our unique genius to the marketplace. Linchpins are the mapmakers of society. They are the people who drive our world forward through the application of their skillsets and talents. Each of us needs to strive towards this mindset and build our organizations to create and develop Linchpins.

My takeaway from this book is that everyone can be a linchpin. Godin suggests that we need to do the following seven things in our quest to become an indispensable linchpin:

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How Your People are the Key to Sustaining Success

We have all heard it said that people are the most important asset your business has. In fact, it is said so much that now we have become somewhat numb to it!

Do we really believe this? Are people truly the key to your organization’s success? What about innovation or leadership or cashflow or customers?

Sustaining Success

According to Tom Peters in The Excellence Dividend there are seven steps to sustaining success. These seven steps start with taking care of your employees. If you can take care of them and treat them with excellence, they will address all the other components of an excellent business!

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How To Be Amazing And Make The Sale

Customer first service mantras have been around so long that we are sick of hearing about them . . . until we personally go through a new dismal customer service experience and are reminded how important the customer experience really is!

The truth is that business leaders must not only build a customer centric culture in their organization but they must constantly maintain this culture. It only takes one bad experience to tarnish a company’s reputation which can take years to rebuild!

My Honda Experience

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What I Learned in 2017 and Why It Is Critical to Your Success

This past year was a great year of learning for me! Transitioning out of the big corporate world into my own business consulting has given me the opportunity to adjust my “point of reference” and to see the world from yet another very valuable perspective!

In addition to this monster change, I was also able to either consult or serve in a board role in two not-for-profit organizations, a landscape company, a drywall company, a home renovation company, an equipment sales company, and a start-up engineering company. In the middle of all this, I started a Mastermind Group of senior level business leaders.

It was definitely a year full of change, learning, and growth!

And, as I have in done previous years, this post shares my biggest lessons learned over the past year.

What I Learned in 2017

The most important things I learned in 2017 are: