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Showing posts from December, 2009

AN APPETITE FOR APPS

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The iPhone is the most popular smartphone in many countries. One of the reasons for that success is the availability of many, many useful applications (apps) in the Apple store. An app is software, which is to be used on your iPhone only, The crucial difference with any other software is the ease of use, the focused functionality and the price. Above all, the customer needs are truly at the center of every app.   Traditional software vendors should learn from the success of these apps. So many users buy now apps, who didn’t buy much software for their pc earlier. A great example is the “Appie”.   I know for the moment it is only available in The Netherlands, but I am sure that its success will drive international implementation. The Appie is an app from Albert Heijn, one of the largest supermarkets in the world. Basically Appie helps me with my shopping, as I can see the special offers of the week, read product info and build my shopping list. One of the most useful features

WHY ARE SMART WORKING AND INNOVATIONS GOOD PARTNERS?

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EIM did a large research (650 companies) into the effects of smart working in the Dutch SME market. Companies who invested in smart working have on average: -        16% higher growth in results -        9% higher growth in productivity -        8% higher growth in revenue -        5% higher growth in employment They define smart working as innovation, which is targeted, at organizations and employees. Using the potential of your employees -        How do you use their strengths? -        How do you effectively use their knowledge? -        How do you involve them in the growth of your organization? -        Which employment conditions are best suited? Having efficient processes in place -        How to streamline your processes? -        How do you effectively assign the work to de done? -        What are suited workplaces and working hours? -        Which management style is best suited? Smart working encompasses new management styles, new ways of organizing

GREEN SERVICES REQUIRE A CHANGE OF BEHAVIORS

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Last week in Copenhagen I attended a side event in the Climate Change Conference (COP15). The topic was the importance of growing the service industries. There were two presentations from the hotel business and two presentations from the ICT business. One hotel presented their efforts to be carbon neutral, which is a huge success in itself. They also were very good in keeping their employees engaged throughout the whole process. I do think that this is the key to their success. The frontline employees are really their ambassadors for the services that they deliver. Much of what they did was internally focused. There is still a big opportunity in translating this greening of the business into great customer experiences. They had plans to buy electric cars. But what about picking up your customers from the airport with these electric cars? Or giving them these electric cars in the city? They also explained the Green Key program. Although this is a fine program in itself, but what do

CUSTOMER (SERVICE) IS KING

I just finished reading the book Trust Agents from Chris Brogan and Julien Smith. Obviously it is a must read for everyone in the business world. When I reflected on the content I had some kind of epiphany. Most corporations and organizations do think that when the crisis is over that they will return to the previous state of ‘business- as-usual’. We just have to focus on some more cost cutting and then we will be good for the next phase. Not much will change. By doing that they make a big mistake! The world is changing structurally and it will not return to the old habits and patterns again. For a long time the large corporations determined what we  –the customer-  should buy or do. “They knew what was good for us’. They invented push marketing strategies for that. Although the saying is that the customer is king, it never really was. The customer was king as long as it suited their way of doing business. That has changed significantly with the possibilities of the Web and so