Providing feedback to team members is one of the most important tasks for managers, yet often ignored. This is because of more pressing deadlines and the fact that providing feedback is often an awkward experience. That is why a lot of employees across organizations face this situation of never getting authentic feedback except during the annual one-off performance appraisal. To plug this gap, tech giant Adobe has developed this system of check-ins in place of the appraisal. Such check-ins comprise providing inputs on three broad spectrums that determine the quality of work done. The first one is Expectations which determines how well the employee has performed against the targets set. Then there is Feedback which is an evaluation of ongoing work and the way the said employee is viewed in the organization. The third is about Growth and Development. This tracks the level of growth that has been attributed to the employee. Gaps are identified for specific management training programmes to be assigned to the person or team concerned.

Source:https://hbr.org/2017/07/how-adobe-structures-feedback-conversations

Uploaded Date:28 July 2017

The traditional 5 Ps of marketing are in for a tweak when it comes to firms which follow a customer-first strategy. The five Ps are People, Product, Price, Place and Promotion. On the People side, such firms keep customers at the centre of the decision-making process and allow opinions to be generated across the organization and not just centralized. On the Product side, customer inputs are collated and analyzed before improvising on existing ones or creating newer product ranges. The Price at such places is fixed according to the value or relevance in the eyes of the customer. The importance of brand value then emerges for retailers and manufacturers alike. Place no longer refers to any centralized physical space alone, but in fact anywhere the customer wants a service to be delivered at, whenever they need. Social media has thus emerged as the new warfront. Pew is one such marketing research agency providing in-depth insights on social media activity. The Promotion has to be such that the customer can easily connect to preferred channel. Timely valuable information is provided to the customers and communications are such that relations can be further enhanced. The customer is constantly updated on brand progress.

Source:https://customerthink.com/what-a-customer-first-strategy-means-for-marketings-5ps/

Uploaded Date:20 July 2017

Some of the most successful companies in the services sector such as Amazon, Facebook, Apple, Google, Alibaba and Netflix have mastered the art of what is known as Customer Lifetime Value (CLV). This is a detailed study on the overall value that customers individually generate over the course of their respective lifetime. This business intelligence emerges after extensive quantitative analysis as well as the presence of a long term corporate strategy aimed at acquiring and building relations with customers. A particular study was conducted which detailed that beyond just meeting customers’ needs and delighting them, companies must proactively engage in developing the human capital of customers. A business can consider itself having the grip of customers when they can continue to benefit from industry innovations. Specific sessions must be held within company confines top discuss an investment innovative approach towards customers. Ultimately customers become more valuable to firms when they provide insightful ideas, promote the brand on social media, enable in cost reduction and try new products. They must also be ready to share their data with the firm and engage in collaboration.

Source:https://hbr.org/2017/04/what-most-companies-miss-about-customer-lifetime-value?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+harvardbusiness+%28HBR.org%29

Uploaded Date:10 July 2017

The recent United Airlines fiasco clearly demonstrated how service companies can suffer immensely if they lose customer trust. Customer trust on any brand may get eroded due to three main conditions identified. First is if any particular incident is particularly appalling to create shock. This is particularly dangerous in today’s world where social media can instantly transmit negative feedback within moments. The second condition is when any incident fits a pattern of poor customer service provided over a period of time. The third is when the apology intended to recover from the shock is even worse. In order to gain back the trust, a few methods have been known to work well. As far as possible, service problems must be dealt with before they even reach the customers. A lot of companies feel obliged to follow the contract towards the customer to the letter of the law. Instead of this the firm must try to solve the perceived contract as customers often judge the service provider from a different lens. For mistakes committed, the company must be honest enough to admit to take corrective action. There will be occasions when the company will not be able to provide the ideal service, at such times, one must trying to make up by providing generous service in something else. For recovery communications, along with an apology, an explanation must be submitted. For conventional as well as digital marketing, realistic slogans must be applied, so that even at times of imminent failure, the ripple off effect may get minimized.

Source:https://hbr.org/2017/04/how-service-companies-can-earn-customer-trust-and-keep-it?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+harvardbusiness+%28HBR.org%29

Uploaded Date:07/07/2017