Startup Professionals Musings

DECEMBER 17, 2012

Not so long ago, training to meet the press and television reporters was a realm reserved for top business executives only. Now, even the earliest stage startup can rise to visibility or be forever lost by their first media spotlight, so it behooves us all to know the rules early. On the social media side, the stakes are just as great.

Training 93

Training Media Entrepreneur Social Media 93

Startup Professionals Musings

DECEMBER 25, 2021

Today’s customers are overloaded and overwhelmed by too much information, so making a decision is a challenge. You may think this is only important to your marketing and sales people, but in reality it doesn’t matter how great your product or technology might be, you won’t succeed if you don’t understand your target customer decision process.

Customer 136

Customer Custom Sales Social Media 136

Startup Professionals Musings

NOVEMBER 17, 2018

For decades, efforts to satisfy customers have been built around demographics – capitalizing on race, ethnicity, gender, income, and other attributes. Today, in this age of pervasive social media and two-way communication, the focus needs to get beyond demographics into personalities.

Customer 100

Customer Custom Social Media Training 100

Startup Professionals Musings

FEBRUARY 3, 2020

Today’s customers are much more in control of their buying decision, as they have more choices and more information than ever before. Bloom’s classic book, “ The New Experts: Win Today's Newly Empowered Customers.” This is a key moment where your customer acquisition costs go way down, and your profits go way up.

Customer 124

Customer Custom Startup Course 124

Startup Professionals Musings

OCTOBER 22, 2016

For decades, efforts to satisfy customers have been built around demographics – capitalizing on race, ethnicity, gender, income, and other attributes. Today, in this age of pervasive social media and two-way communication, the focus needs to get beyond demographics into personalities.

Customer 97

Customer Custom Social Media Training 97

Eric Greenspan

DECEMBER 13, 2009

After the slideshow, we chatted about Make It Work’s culture, specifically, our philosophy of “employees first, customers next&# and our dedication to delighting every customer we serve. We talked about “ON IT,&# as a means to responding NOW to every customer request. It was a great day!

News 172

News Santa Barbara Social Media Customer 172

Startup Professionals Musings

DECEMBER 22, 2021

As I talk to many of you in my role as business advisor, I still often hear the concern for maximum return to the business and stakeholders, more than a passion for sustainably enriching the lives of your customers and team. This applies to your own team, as well as customers. Make every customer experience memorable.

Customer 114

Customer Custom Satisfaction Metrics 114

Startup Professionals Musings

JANUARY 27, 2017

Customer service has traditionally been a support function to respond to customer initiated requests, meaning someone waits for the phone to ring or for a website support request form. The old days of routing a customer to a single phone queue for any request will quickly kill any brand loyalty or advocate referral.

Customer 95

Customer Custom Services Technical Review 95

Startup Professionals Musings

AUGUST 3, 2020

For example, both need to provide exemplary customer service, build customer loyalty, and provide real value for a competitive price. If you can’t quantify or document your service for repeatability and new employee training, you will kill yourself trying to grow the business. The customer experience is more than the service.

Startup 174

Startup Training Services Writing 174

Startup Professionals Musings

SEPTEMBER 9, 2023

Today’s customers demand more than a good product; they expect a great customer experience. A few companies are leading the way, including Apple with their iPad and iPhone, offering irresistible stores with friendly experts, elegant packaging, and customer service that never ends.

Design 105

Design Customer Custom Product 105

Startup Professionals Musings

MARCH 16, 2019

Today’s customers are overloaded and overwhelmed by too much information, so making a decision is a challenge. You may think this is only important to your marketing and sales people, but in reality it doesn’t matter how great your product or technology might be, you won’t succeed if you don’t understand your target customer decision process.

Customer 107

Customer Custom Sales Social Media 107

Startup Professionals Musings

JUNE 5, 2019

Too many business owners still think of “ customer support ” as an after-sale process to rectify customer problems with completed transactions. With the advent of instant communication and social media, customer service starts at the first hint of interest by you, and never ends for repeat customers.

Customer 84

Customer Custom Company Companies 84

Startup Professionals Musings

JULY 19, 2014

Today’s customers are much more in control of their buying decision, as they have more choices and more information than ever before. Bloom’s recent book, “ The New Experts: Win Today''s Newly Empowered Customers.” This is a key moment where your customer acquisition costs go way down, and your profits go way up.

Customer 98

Customer Custom Entrepreneur Startup 98

Startup Professionals Musings

JUNE 11, 2023

For decades, efforts to satisfy customers have been built around demographics – capitalizing on race, ethnicity, gender, income, and other attributes. Today, in this age of pervasive social media and two-way communication, the focus needs to get beyond demographics into personalities.

Customer 131

Customer Custom Social Media Training 131

Startup Professionals Musings

OCTOBER 21, 2023

Proof of any business model starts with a finished product or solution, sold to a new customer for full price, with high satisfaction for the value received. Customer support is more than handling exceptions. Your challenge is to present a total business solution to the right customer set to build your credibility and momentum.

Customer 109

Customer Custom Satisfaction Sales 109

Both Sides of the Table

DECEMBER 17, 2013

Clearly in an enterprise customer this is unlikely. “We don’t have budget for that this year” “I don’t believe in social media advertising.” Calling high means reaching the highest level appropriate person in an organization that you can reach to hear your pitch. It’s too strategic.

Sales 375

Sales Technical Review Organization Case Study 375

Both Sides of the Table

OCTOBER 26, 2014

Yesterday I wrote a post about The Silent Benefits of PR in which I pointed out that most young companies I encounter don’t fully grasp the benefits of PR because they are less measurable than product milestones or customer acquisition analyses (like CAC/LTV). Just don’t spam people.

Press 319

Press Startup Writing Training 319

Startup Professionals Musings

AUGUST 30, 2015

Today’s customers are much more in control of their buying decision, as they have more choices and more information than ever before. Bloom’s classic book, “ The New Experts: Win Today's Newly Empowered Customers.” This is a key moment where your customer acquisition costs go way down, and your profits go way up.

Customer 101

Customer Custom Startup Course 101

Both Sides of the Table

JANUARY 26, 2013

I think many board members (including VCs) were trained 10+ years ago when life was very different and their advice often comes from an outdated lens. One of the advantages of blogging, using social media, public speaking, etc as a VC is that you get a more nuanced view of these shifts by watching your own successes and failures.

Startup 355

Startup Funding News Press 355

socalTECH

MARCH 1, 2013

From a marketing marketing perspective, that allows filmmakers to quickly and easily promote their films through social media and build a fan base, and incentivize fans to support their films by offering access to exclusive content, livestream video chats, and production updates, as an example. That's really the core focus for us.

Hollywood 256

Hollywood CTO Hire Social Media Platform 256

TechCrunch LA

OCTOBER 16, 2019

Originally called Dopamine Labs, the company was founded in 2015 to bring some of the same technologies that social media companies like Facebook used to boost engagement to a broader range of applications. One of the places where Thrive Global is putting its brain training regime to the test is in call centers in Central America, .

Artificial Inteligence 226

Artificial Inteligence Seed Funding Startup Screening 226

Both Sides of the Table

OCTOBER 22, 2010

I had called on Chamillionaire from the audience and asked him to provide some views on how artists view social media, why they use it and where it’s heading. Customer Feedback - Chamillionaire regularly seeks public feedback from his fan base. He was riveting. In the early days that was from releasing mixtapes.

Entrepreneur 356

Entrepreneur Venture Capital Startup Email 356

Eric Greenspan

DECEMBER 13, 2009

After the slideshow, we chatted about Make It Work’s culture, specifically, our philosophy of “employees first, customers next&# and our dedication to Delight. We talked about “ON IT,&# as a means to responding NOW to every customer request. They asked, I agreed. We took a bunch of pics and wrapped.

Burbank 156

Burbank Yahoo News Social Media 156

Tech Zulu Event

MAY 19, 2016

While social media can be a powerful way for businesses to interact with audiences, there are many costly mistakes that can be made in this area. Many mistakes, of course, never reach the media but they can still harm the bottom line of your business. If you’re on social media, sooner or later you will be attacked.

Social Media 56

Social Media Media Entrepreneur Content 56

Startup Professionals Musings

OCTOBER 30, 2020

Offering one more social media site (over 200 already exist on Wikipedia) probably won’t work. I suggest looking for painful problems to solve, rather than “easier to use” or “nice to have” solutions, for customers with money. Collaborate with customers to tune your solution.

Outsource Development 154

Outsource Development Social Media Software Review Customer 154

TechCrunch LA

OCTOBER 23, 2019

The serial entrepreneur behind the Dubai-based online fashion retailer, Elabelz and marketing studio Elephant Nation had always wanted to redesign the shopping experience for how customers actually shopped in stores and online. Initially, Agha and Ellman are tapping influencers to hook in their target customers.

Social Media 184

Social Media Commerce Los Angeles Social Network 184

Startup Professionals Musings

JANUARY 2, 2021

He later closed more than 8,000 of his stores for a day to provide employee racial-bias training. I often think of the scope of this example in my role as mentor to a struggling entrepreneur who is quick to blame his problems on employee mistakes, or even changing customer expectations. Don’t wait for a crisis to test accountability.

Training 173

Training Examples Startup Social Media 173

Startup Professionals Musings

FEBRUARY 26, 2022

Not so long ago, training to meet the press and television reporters was a realm reserved for top business executives only. Now, even the earliest stage startup can rise to visibility or be forever lost by their first media spotlight, so it behooves us all to know the rules early. On the social media side, the stakes are just as great.

Media 118

Media Tips Social Media Startup 118

TechCrunch LA

AUGUST 1, 2019

Detergent attacks during gallery openings, anti-gentrification graffiti and harassment via social media have put owners on edge. Helping existing community members train for the kinds of jobs your company offers will allow locals to bridge the income gap so central to the destruction of existing communities.

Boyle Heights 237

Boyle Heights Los Angeles Design Training 237

Both Sides of the Table

APRIL 16, 2011

I provided information for my customers to make their lives easier.&# Really understanding the business of your customer matters. For women - &# Don’t get off the train completely when you have children. Certainly if you look at eCommerce & social media – women are the ones using these products.

Startup 311

Startup Sales Venture Capital Entrepreneur 311

Startup Professionals Musings

FEBRUARY 1, 2014

Not so long ago, training to meet the press and television reporters was a realm reserved for top business executives only. Now, even the earliest stage startup can rise to visibility or be forever lost by their first media spotlight, so it behooves us all to know the rules early. On the social media side, the stakes are just as great.

Press 105

Press Social Media Startup Training 105

Startup Professionals Musings

DECEMBER 21, 2022

As an entrepreneur, it’s never too early to set the culture you need for a thriving business, as well as thriving employees, customers, partners, and vendors. Start with only the very best people, demand excellence, and train them to stay ahead of the pack. Reframe selling as an activity that improves customer’s lives.

Training 127

Training Customer Custom Social Media 127

Startup Professionals Musings

JANUARY 22, 2021

Proof of any business model starts with a finished product or solution, sold to a new customer for full price, with high satisfaction for the value received. Customer support is more than handling exceptions. Your challenge is to present a total business solution to the right customer set to build your credibility and momentum.

Sales 165

Sales Customer Custom Social Media 165

Startup Professionals Musings

JANUARY 18, 2023

Customer service has traditionally been focused on the resolution of complaints , primarily after a transaction. My recommendations always include adopting a customer mindset, as well as the following steps: Accept today’s definition of relevant customer support. Treat every customer exceptionally before they complain.

Competition 109

Competition Services Customer Custom 109

Startup Professionals Musings

MARCH 28, 2020

As an entrepreneur, it’s never too early to set the culture you need for a thriving business, as well as thriving employees, customers, partners, and vendors. Start with only the very best people, demand excellence, and train them to stay ahead of the pack. Reframe selling as an activity that improves customer’s lives.

Startup 122

Startup Training Customer Custom 122

socalTECH

FEBRUARY 7, 2012

That's funding our new product, FanMix, which is a a social media tool. We have about 8500 customers there, but only a small percentage have built great communities that took off, and the rest floundered. That's why we built FanMix, to solve our own problem, and help our SocialEngine customers to promote their own sites.

Startup 242

Startup CTO Coach Blogging Social Media 242

Startup Professionals Musings

MAY 24, 2020

Every company and startups needs marketing experts, who are skilled and knowledgeable in the development of marketing programs, content creation, lead generation, and the utilization of social media. This world changes rapidly, and needs a professional with experience in digital and conventional media to keep up.

Startup 164

Startup Social Media Course Entrepreneur 164