Flip the Funnel: How to Use Existing Customers to Gain New Ones

CUSTOMER SERVICE LIVES IN THE NOW

I’m not sure how else or more conclusively I can stress this next point, except possibly TO WRITE IN CAPS, but here’s the thing: You simply MUST figure out how to compress and reduce the time that elapses between identifying, communicating, and solving a problem.

We can thank Bill Gates and his cohorts for turning our computers into perfect pieces of spying equipment. I’m actually not being sarcastic—well, perhaps a little. Your PC’s registry is analogous to a restaurant kitchen, in that if you knew what went on there, you’d probably never eat in a restaurant again. it is literally at this moment sending information back to the geeks in Redmond—supposedly about your computer’s performance, conflicts with software, identification of bugs, and other logistics. It’s all in the name of continuous improvement, which is allegedly going to make everything better in the process. I guess it will translate into a 0.111 percent reduction in blue screens of death or a 0.3131 percent decrease in the number of malicious worms wreaking havoc with my address book and sending reams of porn to my network of contacts (you’re welcome). Ultimately, however, we know this is a vital piece of Microsoft’s valiant attempts to prevent Google from taking over the world. In reality, it’s a free-for-all. Google’s taking the same information from you via their various plug-ins, downloads, deskbars, widgets, and accounts. Apple’s not far behind with its army of i-software, ...