Services marketing and account managers approach organizations as cohesive and rational entities. They expect healthy-looking companies to have clearly defined and consistent service requirements. They presume decision makers know what they want and can reconcile their internal differences for the good of the organization.

Experience and anecdotal evidence paint a different picture – one of divided management who lack adequate time and resources to prioritize needs and negotiate internal differences.

It's a foregone conclusion that airlines have lost sight of the customer a long time ago. Driven by a singular focus on reducing cost and maximizing revenue, airline executives are consistently signaling that the customer is no longer their number one priority. This has trickled down to their services marketing staff who are producing offers that exude desperation and incompetence. When you lose focus on the customer, anything goes – the sky is not even the limit anymore. Read more »

At a recent industry reception, while a group of us were talking, the conversation somehow meandered to competitive service pricing. Someone asked: “Can you get good competitive research on service pricing?” “Sure,” I replied, “but it won’t be of much value to you anyway and you can probably find a better use for your money.”

From time to time, people in service management become obsessed with finding out how much their competitors are charging for similar services. Other than a general awareness of going rates and ball-park prices – all common knowledge in any industry, there’s not much value to finding out exactly how much your competition charges for their services. Here’s the case for why this has always held true, particularly in recessionary economic times.