The New Global Economy

Of Cows and Customers by Francine Hardaway

The FUSION Foundation has been a fan of Francine Hardaway | Stealmode Partners for many - many years this is substanstianed by the fact we are subscribers to her yahoo groups still today! Her recent post was so spot on we had to repost it in hopes of shinning more light on this most important articulation!

Thanks Francine for all you do and the committment you have to excellence!

As the dawn of an era known by early adopters as social business begins to spread its colors across the business horizon, a chorus of voices is already raised in praise of new tools for promoting customer relationships. But I believe relationships are not built by tools, no matter how helpful they are. They're built by attitudes. And by what we prioritize. If we prioritize business growth, we are almost always prioritizing transactions rather than relationships.We compensate sales teams much more highly than we compensate customer service teams. Or marketing teams. This is wrong. Anyone can bring in a customer once. But what does it take to KEEP that customer and unlock his value?

You can't really talk about the lifetime value of a customer unless you have reached my age and have seen your customers stay with you for thirty years, through several different businesses of theirs and mine, through thick and thin. And until you are working with their sons and daughters, who are also your customers. The transactions have faded in memory, but the relationships remain. That's "social business."

To start thinking about social business, we must remember when we went to the bazaar with our goods, we put 

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