Imagine you are pushing the shopping cart down the aisle at your local supermarket. As you round the corner you see the free sample table. Unbeknownst to you, this is a classic research experiment by researchers at Columbia and Stanford (read original research here (PDF)) to determine how the … [Read more...]

If you want your customers to buy from you again, you need to remind them that they should do exactly that. Don't just remind them about the purchase, but tell them how. In the past, I've noticed that all the outward paintings on airplanes are so that people outside the plane can tell who is … [Read more...]

Your sales and marketing efforts will be more successful if you take a customer-centric selling approach. What is customer-centric selling? Simply put, customer-centric selling is selling with the customer in mind. Here are some tips to do this effectively: What Customers Want Your … [Read more...]

It is human nature to follow the crowd. After all, when a group of people are running a certain direction, it is usually for a reason. This tendancy to follow others relies on the powerful psychological trick of social proof. Social proof becomes extremely powerful when it is personally very … [Read more...]

This is a guest post by Kate Manning These days, it is impossible to turn on the TV, open a magazine or check your e-mail without getting bombarded with advertisements. In an age of increasingly short attention spans, many businesses may feel that creating massive advertising campaigns is the … [Read more...]

This promotion on an IKEA catalog highlights how this year's prices are lower than last year. By calling out how this year's prices are lower than last year, IKEA alienates everyone that bought the item last year. Granted, the number of people who bought this bookshelf last year are small … [Read more...]

This is a guest post from Thomas Warren Branding yourself as an expert is no easy feat. You need to be secure in your abilities to deliver what you promise, create an interface for prospective clients to take advantage of your services, and offer some proof that you are what you say you are. … [Read more...]

Your customers and prospects see patterns and expect certain outcomes, if your marketing is the same-old thing people always see, they will assume they know the end result and will ignore your message. I got an interesting piece of mail the other day that made me stop and think. The envelope … [Read more...]