Getting Started on The Edge

Every Organization Has Them

Customers, customers everywhere. They come in all shapes and sizes, but every single organization has them. They may be called something else – member, patient, constituent, fan, or guest, but they are still simply, customers. (I am just going to use the term customer for all of you that call these people something else – please forgive me.) More to the point, every organization needs them – there is absolutely no purpose without customers. You can’t run a business, for-profit or not-for-profit, without these pesky customers. This is a site about customers, my favorite group of people (outside of my family).

Customers on the Edge

Every organization has prospective customers waiting to become customers. The question is, how do you tip them over the edge from not being a customer to being a customer? More important, how do you tip over the good customers? This is a site focused on business development strategies and good practices (the term “best practices” is over used). Also, how do you keep good customers from leaving – going over the edge and becoming somebody else’s customers? This is also intended to be a site regarding account management strategies and good practices.

On the Edge of Normalcy

There is an amazing amount of verbiage out there regarding how to sell. It is important for me to state here and now that this is not a site about how to sell in three EZ steps. There are many places to look for ideas there. One that I personally like is SpiN http://www.Huthwaite.com
Go check it out, but please do come back. This site is intending to look at the whole process of acquiring and keeping customers, and maybe a few peripheral topics here and there – I need a bit of flexibility to stay motivated. But, I would like to think that I will offer some unconventional wisdom – and I hope you will be willing to share some too. There is plenty of convention elsewhere.

On the Cutting Edge?

Maybe, maybe not – I don’t tend to be an early adopter, but I very much like my HDTV and use IM on a daily basis. I am hoping to share 25 years of experience working with a lot of different companies –of which every single one had customers on the edge. The longer I work in this space, the more I see things over again – new ideas tend to recycle – I’ll hope to share some that have been improved with age.

Razor’s Edge

Let’s keep this to the point – or at least a sharp edge, like a razor. No rambling monologues from me. OK? But a razor blade has two edges, so let’s make this a dialogue. There is a lot of insight to share, and we need to get multiple points of view out on the table. So, please share your comments, and also keep me from going over the edge.