Yearly Archives: 2002

Keep ’em If You Got ’em

by Michael Katz on December 20, 2002

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“Retention explains profits better than market share, scale, cost position, or any of the other variables usually associated with competitive advantage.” — The Loyalty Effect, by Frederick F. Reichheld I was driving into Boston in the middle of a snow storm last week, on my way to an early morning business breakfast. Feeling pretty bad already — cold hands, cold feet, poor driving conditions and forced to put on a suit at 6:00 in the morning — I decided to accentuate my misery by tuning into National Public Radio at […] Click to read more…

Gotta Make The Donuts

by Michael Katz on December 6, 2002

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Grab a blank sheet of paper and a pen. On it, draw a donut (if you’re eating breakfast as you read this, feel free to draw your donut). If all went well, you’ve now got a piece of paper with two circles on it, one inside the other. Although I admit it’s a bit of an oversimplification, when it comes to using an E-Newsletter as a business marketing tool, this donut illustrates how I view the world (now you know why we consultants get paid so much money). Here’s what […] Click to read more…

Cranberry Nut French Toast

by Michael Katz on November 15, 2002

As I walked past the “Jimmy Mac Luncheonette” this morning on my way to the post office, I saw a chair positioned out front with a white board propped up on it. Handwritten on the board were these four words: “Cranberry Nut French Toast.” No price, no “Today’s Breakfast Special” headline, no assurances that they were, “the leading provider of enterprise-wide french toast solutions for the food consuming public.” Just four simple words. I kept walking, but all the way to the post office I couldn’t stop thinking about the […] Click to read more…

Fix Your Broken Web Site

by Michael Katz on November 1, 2002

Raise your hand if your web site stinks. By “stinks” I mean that despite your best efforts to create something that looks good and reads well, it just doesn’t seem to have any positive impact on your business. No clients ever mention it:, no leads ever come from it; nobody in your organization ever raves about how useful it is as a tool for getting their work done. S-T-I-N-K-S.. You’ll be happy to know that you’re not alone. Most businesspeople that I speak with — regardless of the size of […] Click to read more…

Lost In America

by Michael Katz on October 18, 2002

I was driving back from Waltham, MA last night, making my way home from dinner with a friend. As I turned out onto the main road, I saw flashing blue lights and a line of traffic backed up for a good half mile. Deciding to test my uncanny sense of direction, I turned off on a side street and attempted to make my way around the mess. That was a mistake. 45 minutes and ten miles later, I was no closer to my destination and now completely lost. Although reasonably […] Click to read more…