Sales with Synergy...

So, you saw that movie, or perhaps that new tv show, and now, now the spin-off merchandise is hitting the shelf, just in time for the holidays...worse yet, your children are now asking for that new children's show high-tech item that will undoubtedly break the bank...Or, perhaps Santa's back...

Sales are all about timing and connections. These days, companies plan for distinct merchandising patterns. They evoke emotion with the original storyline within the movie or tv show. They engage you with the commercials and allow you to test out the products when at the store. Lastly, they try to empower you to purchase the products...OK, OK, it has happened that way for years. This is how advertising and marketing work. During this holiday season, however, remember the E-III model and get caught up in the holiday itself, not necessarily the planned marketing behind it...if you do receive many new items, remember to share the stories of the new items within your life with others...it will become how you or your family interact with the products that bring the value and ROI to the season of giving...enjoy the season or the synergy, but enjoy it...

Customer loyalty is the best measure of the success of a product or service…

Satisfaction only measures an immediate and isolated reaction to a product or service. Multiple measures that tie to an internal listening post build to understanding customer loyalty. These measures are developed from your storyline and key message points.

Understanding the customer experience follows satisfaction in measuring the success of a product or service. Multiple measurements over an extended period of time create your experience measures. Combine these measures with your satisfaction reports and an experience impact is realized.

Building relationships with customers through many points in time, a diverse product line, and a rich storyline is the next step of success. At this point, you will have reinforced your key messages efficiently. You will be within the last phase of your communication plan. Knowing not only what people liked, but what continues to encourage them back is important to maintaining market share and enable predictability in returns on your reinforcement investments.

Loyalty is the final measure you can establish. Once your story is shared, your internal partners have embraced your vision, and your communication efforts have been exhausted, you are ready to measure customer loyalty. By combining satisfaction results with that of experiences and relationships, you will obtain a loyalty factor and understand the breadth of your brand essence.

Internal buy-in and understanding are signs of a good marketing strategy…

Our employees are our customers whether we like it or not. Whether we sell things employees need or sell only to specific agencies, if the employees buy into the packaging of the product, they can ensure our customers of its quality. If they do not, the product will not sell itself for an extended period of time, if at all. We can create the best device, software package, or process. Without the support of all of our partners, we just have a product.

Projections, for the most part are short-term, short-term in the respect to the life of the company. Storylines and key messages can be reinforced at a later time while new material is created to encourage buy-in and increase positive impact. Phased timelines allow for measures to be taken at key moments of the products lifecycle. These measures are based on the key messages and branding efforts that have been developed. Measurements should not be based on arbitrary satisfaction points as this would only provide satisfaction with the company not necessarily the product or service itself.


Strategy without values sway slightly as the breeze of change shifts with the expectations of solutions…