Profitless prosperity

Ah, the era of “profitless prosperity” is back. I still have my Pets.com sock puppet to remind me of those once glorious times. Barely a day goes by now that we don’t hear about a stratospheric valuation (actual or rumored) for some digital darling. From Facebook to Twitter to Groupon, it seems that unless your [...]

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Discount Nation and the sucker price

When was the last time you went to Macy’s or Bed, Bath & Beyond or any furniture store and paid full-price?  Did you actually pay for shipping on any e-commerce purchases during the holiday? At most retailers, regular price is the sucker price. You only pay it out of desperation or ignorance. Walk through any [...]

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Prospects, Not Suspects

The notion that a smart sales and marketing strategy distinguishes between suspects–consumers who MIGHT turn out to become profitable customers–and prospects–consumers who are highly likely to turn into valuable clients–is an old idea. Great sales people possess this intuition.  Great marketers use customer insight, robust analytics and customer segmentation to do this more scientifically. If [...]

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