M/C/C Blog

M/C/C: "The Time to Strike
By Mike Crawford
Another January and another opportunity to wipe the slate clean and begin anew. Everything is relative, but from where I sit, 2003 was much better than 2002. The economy showed signs of improvement, we got more comfortable with the new world order and the Dallas Cowboys had a winning record again.
We have good news at last, and it looks as if there is more to come. The Dallas Cowboys are winning again (Did I say that already?) and tech companies are turning a profit ďż˝ albeit sometimes small ďż˝ compared to the year-ago quarter when most reported huge losses."

M/C/C :"Who Would Have Thought - The Customer Really Is Right
By Joni Hart and Michelle Metzger

We recently attended a panel discussion at the SMU Cox School of Business called - Market Strategies Driving Today's Business co-sponsored by the American Marketing Association. While the fancy title suggests unseen forces that act as puppetmasters in business, we were struck by the simplistic conclusion drawn by every panelist customers know what they want, and if you want their business, you'd better learn how to listen to them. The old adage applies - the customer is always right. What a novel idea.

The importance of communicating with your customers is something you can learn the easy way - ask them. Or you can learn the hard way - spend lots of marketing dollars pushing a product customers don't want or in a way that makes them not want to do business with you. Either way, you'll find out what they want in the end. Your pockets will just be much lighter if you choose the latter. What follows are a few lessons from the "big guys" on how they learned to listen to their customers. "

Technique: "Whose side are you on anyway?
By Todd Brashear
Remember recess in elementary school? Before a game of kickball, everybody lined up, waiting to be chosen by the team leaders, usually the most popular kids in the class. The same goes for American politics.
As the primary season approaches, the Democrat presidential contenders are busy wooing supporters, looking for endorsements, picking their teams. Gephardt got most of the labor unions. Dean got Gore and Bradley. And just when you think all the good kids have been taken, the biggest fish of all ďż˝ the guy who could change the campaign ďż˝ might have just been picked. Is Bill Clinton waiting in the wings, ready to endorse Wesley Clark? "