Bank of America Tops Citigroup November 29, 2006
Posted by Tim Raines in: business, finance , comments closed
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Follow-Up With Your Customers
Posted by Tim Raines in: business, marketing, management , add a commentIf you’re interested in finding new customers, you might want to start with the ones you already have. How many of your existing customers are repeat customers? Of the ones who are not, WHY NOT?
If you don’t know the answer, it’s probably time to find out. Most salespeople don’t like to follow-up after the sale, as many seem to think it’s akin to asking for problems. “No news is good news,” they reason. Of course, no news is really no news.
Following-up with your customers makes sense for a number of reasons:
- It’s an opportunity to fix any problems that might exist. This could potentially turn an unhappy customer into not just a happy customer, but a fiercely loyal one
- It’s a chance to get feedback on your product or service. This amounts to practically free market research. After all, there might be some critical opportunities for changes that will take your product from run-of-the-mill to extra-ordinary.
- There’s a good chance, of course, if you have a quality product or service, that your customer will have nothing but praise. And let’s face it—couldn’t we all use a few minutes of listening to positive feedback? Best of all, by following-up, you’ll have planted a seed that tells the customer you care.
Finally, you might just find a customer who’s willing to send you more customers. As Seth Godin suggests:
If you really want to generate those referrals, don’t ask for a referral, ask if everything was great. Offer to help. Do it in a gentle way, with no strings, no additional addons, no sales pitch. If you really and truly care, why not ask? Not a form, not a survey. Just one caring person, asking. Not that hard, actually.
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Air Berlin Places $5.7 Billion Boeing Order November 28, 2006
Posted by Tim Raines in: business, manufacturing, transportation, finance , add a commentOne week after receiving a $5.5 billion order for 25 aircraft from Korean Air, Boeing received a $5.7 billion order from German airline Air Berlin.
The company said it would purchase 60 of the 737-800 model, extending Boeing’s lead over Airbus, which has been having problems with design and production on its commercial jets as of late.
The aircraft are to be delivered by Boeing between 2007 and 2014.
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Reinventing the Nail
Posted by Tim Raines in: business, construction, government, insurance, manufacturing, architecture , add a commentPopsci.com has an interesting article about how Ed Sutt, the son of an architect/contractor in suburban Connecticut, stumbled into an idea to redesign one of the most basic tools of construction: the nail.
Sutt, who now works for Stanley Bostitch, researched the problem of houses collapsing during hurricanes to help design a new nail, the HurriQuake.
Tests conducted by researchers at Florida International University and the International Code Council—the independent building-safety standards organization—confirmed that the HurriQuake has more than twice the “uplift capacity” of standard power-driven nails. Other independent tests showed that the HurriQuake can double a typical home’s resistance to high winds and add up to 50 percent more resistance to earthquakes.
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Big Dig Firms Sued Over Tunnel Accident
Posted by Tim Raines in: business, construction, government, insurance, manufacturing, transportation, architecture , add a commentMassachusetts Attorney General Tom Reilly announced he will sue 15 companies that worked on the $15 billion “Big Dig” roadway project in Boston, alleging negligence that caused a ceiling panel to fall and crush a woman this past summer.
The civil suit claims project manager Bechtel/Parson Brinckerhoff was “grossly negligent” in building the tunnel, part of which collapsed less than four years after it was opened. The lawsuit also names the manufacturers and distributors of the epoxy used to hold bolts.
The family of Milena Del Valle, the 38-year-old woman killed on July 10th, filed a wrongful death lawsuit in August.
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What’s Your Story? November 27, 2006
Posted by Tim Raines in: business, marketing, management , add a commentAs Seth Godin points out, “Every organization tells a story, want to or not.” And every member of every organization contributes to that story, want to or not.
The best advertising in the world will not be able to overcome members of your team who aren’t on the same page or are working against the message. For example, the bureaucrats at the TSA:
“No Cake!” the screener yells. “No pie either!” and they make the person traveling to her family throw out her home-baked cake.
We got up to the line. I had an ounce of gel left in a five ounce
bottle. They made me throw it out because the label said 5 ounces
(though it was clearly more than half empty).The story?
- We don’t care. We don’t have to.
- We don’t make judgment calls. We’re not allowed to and we don’t care that management treats us this way.
- Don’t you dare say anything.
- Be afraid.
- Bothering everyone is smarter than hiring talented people to find the .0001% of the population that’s harmful.
No Cake!
What story are your people telling?
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Ford Looking for $18 Billion
Posted by Tim Raines in: business, manufacturing, transportation, finance , add a commentNumber two U.S. automaker Ford Motor Company said it plans to acquire approximately $18 billion in financing to help with near- and medium-term negative operating cash flow and with funding for its restructuring.
After the transactions, which Ford expects to close before the end of the calendar year, its “automotive liquidity” will be about $38 billion. The company lost $7 billion between January and September and has said it won’t return to profitability until 2009.
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$26 Billion Deal to Create Largest Copper Firm November 21, 2006
Posted by Tim Raines in: wholesale, business, finance, mining , add a commentFreeport-McMoRan Copper & Gold announced it will pay $126.46 per share in cash and stock to purchase Phelps Dodge, creating the world’s largest publicly-traded copper company.
From Reuters:
“This kind of big merger could raise the company’s ability to take advantage in price negotiations, therefore this should be positive for copper prices,” said Naohiro Niimura, director at Barclays Capital Japan.
“In the current bearish trend, the market is not too sensitive about buying copper actively, but in the medium- and long-term it should be positive.”
Phelps Dodge has mines in North America, South America and Africa, while Freeport-McMoRan operates the Grasberg mine in Indonesia, said in terms of reserves to be the world’s largest copper and gold mine.
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Deere Profit Estimates Worsen
Posted by Tim Raines in: business, agriculture, construction, manufacturing, finance, forestry , add a commentProfit at Deere & Co., the world’s largest farm equipment manufacturer, will fall below analysts’ estimates in 2007, according to the company.
Total net income of $150 million to $175 million for the first quarter was the company’s prediction, resulting in 65 cents to 76 cents per share. Analysts on average were expecting 97 cents per share.
Chief Executive Officer Robert Lane is limiting production to prevent excess inventory due to higher fuel and fertilizer costs which the company expects will hurt farm budgets.
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Free Service Leads to Loyal Customers November 20, 2006
Posted by Tim Raines in: business, marketing , add a commentFree samples? Free service? Volunteering? It will most likely make you feel great. And it might just earn you some new customers, as Seth Godin points out via a note from one of his visitors:
Rick writes:
Our little tire shop repaired her tire and had her on her way in a few minutes. Now, we’ve just moved to this small Texas town, and though we’ve lived in Texas for years, what happened next still took me a bit by surprise. My wife inquired about payment, and they wouldn’t hear of it- she needed help and they gave it to her. Well, she decided it was time for some new tires and told them she’d be back in the morning for two.
Maybe it’s something about helping folks with a flat, but what a great example of how easy it is to build a brand when you help someone in need.
Helping someone when they really need you is just icing on the cake. Give some thought to giving something back or at the very least, giving something away. If not for altruistic reasons, at least do it to gain some new (and fiercely loyal) customers.
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