We know the COVID-19 epidemic is causing events to be postponed or canceled around the country, and we want to be as helpful as possible to you.  As of now, you have the option to postpone an event without even having a fixed future date set. You read that correctly. We’ve designed a way to help you keep your sales and your audience. When your event does set a new date or you have a suitable alternative event, we will...

Read More

Looking for a little #MondayMotivation? We’re pulling out past stories that are still just as relevant today. Here’s a pearl from Jim: United Got the Wrong Answer Because They Were Asking the Wrong Question. Do you agree with the maxim “the customer is always right”? It’s the cornerstone of the American customer service philosophy, and American customer service is pretty darn good by global standards. Not the best, but pretty good. But I don’t agree with that maxim for two reasons: It’s not true...

Read More

A few weeks ago, 10 million members woke up to find 300 Goldstar Rewards points in their accounts. They just magically appeared. If you look, you have them in your account, too. Now, for every $1 spent on Goldstar, members get 1 reward point. For every 400 points earned, they’ll get a $5 reward to spend on tickets. Thousands of people have already cashed in their points to save money on their next night out at your event. This program harkens...

Read More

Recently reporter Aileen Cahill had such a great customer experience with Maui Jim that she wrote about it on Marketing Land. She also outlined "the elements that made Maui Jim stand out: Have a great product they stand by. Listen to their customers. Follow through and do what they say they will. Strong partners in their distribution network. Easy to do business with no 'gotchas.'" You can read about Cahill's "remarkable and inspiring" customer experience here. Then check out more from Jim about Customer Commitment: How...

Read More

Editor’s Note: Our own Jim McCarthy shared some thoughts about Customer Commitment with the Goldstar team, and, well, we thought you might get something out of it, too. From: Jim McCarthy Sent: Fri 8/2/2019 2:00 PM To: GSE There's a famous psych experiment that you may have read about, that you can actually play along with if you'd like. People were asked to close their eyes and, with their finger, draw an imaginary capital letter B on their forehead. (Actually, the original study used...

Read More

Editor's Note: Our own Jim McCarthy shared some thoughts about Customer Commitment with the Goldstar team, and, well, we thought you might get something out of it, too. From: Jim McCarthy jmccarthy@goldstar.com Sent: Fri 4/26/2019 4:16 PM To: GSE Hi Everybody! As we talk about Customer Commitment, the more I think about it, the more a single word comes to mind: Quality. That may sound a little weird to you. Quality may imply craftsmanship or great ingredients or even high-tech robots on an assembly line...

Read More

Boost your patrons' confidence and, hopefully, it'll boost your sales. PSFK reports, "Consumers gauge their brand loyalty by the level of service they are being provided. Accordingly, retailers are increasingly focusing their efforts on offering expertise at all stages of the shopping experience ... " The post highlights a few companies that are investing in services "designed to boost the confidence of consumers at every stage of their journey." We've highlighted one example below, and you can check out the others here: "Best...

Read More

In honor of Customer Service Appreciation Week, October 1-5, we're sharing a few posts from Jim about the importance of customer service. You can click on any title below to read the full article: You Know What Customers Love? Rules You may not think customers react viscerally to rules, but they do. They’ll see that you took advantage of your opportunity to push them around, and they’ll remember it. You won’t be building up good will. Is there such a thing as building...

Read More

As we get ready to say goodbye to 2017 and ring in the new year, I’d like to thank all the readers and contributors to Selling Out. We've covered a lot of ground this year -- from marketing and technology to customer service and experience. Next week, we'll be highlighting some of our best posts in those categories for those of you who'll be checking in. We've really enjoyed sharing these innovative ideas with you. And thank you for your support....

Read More

We write a lot on this site about how good customer service is important for business. Jim wrote in The Easy Math of Good Service: "Good service is the best marketing money you’ll ever spend." Well, here's an infographic (below) highlighting 20 compelling reasons to double-down on customer loyalty. With facts like "Current customers spend 31% more than new customers," and "Just a 5% increase in customer retention can lead to an increase in profits of 25-90%," it's easy to see why...

Read More