Online shoe retailer Zappos has gotten a lot of attention lately for its knockout customer service. But Tony Hsieh, founder of the billion-dollar company, says his secret of success is really about his employees. “Our belief is that if you get the company culture right, most of the other stuff, like great customer service, will just happen,” he says.

What difference does empathy make in business? The answer is most visible in the tales of two major product launches from the same company: the Xbox and Zune from Microsoft. What led Microsoft teams to deliver a great performance in one case and a dud in the other?

What should you know when planning a lead-generating direct mail program?  Here are a few pointers to guide you in the right direction.

The economy is in trouble. But good marketing can still lure plenty of qualified buyers. It’s just harder to close the deal. A “shared risk” offer can warm up those with cold feet.

One of the toughest questions beginning and experienced service providers wrestle with is: "How much should I charge?" Here are four important factors to consider when determining what to charge the client:

Driving visitors to your company’s web site and coaxing them to provide contact information is a great way to generate sales leads. However, only 4% to 8% of people who click to a web site leave their personal information. To convert those web surfers into customers, consider these four surefire tips from FuelNet.

James Andrews is a stealth force in sports, making (or saving) teams billions by mending their players, including 62 Hall of Famers. Aside from his skills as an orthopedic surgeon, Andrews has made his own fortune by pressing an extreme form of customer service.

If you are trying to convince potential customers that they need your product, you’re on the wrong track. The old rules say that you should control your resources. The new rules say just the opposite, says Rob Slee, author of Midas Managers: How Every Business They Touch Turns to Gold.

We think the economic downtown will yield a silver lining: better customer service. Here’s a case in point out of Microsoft a few years back. ...

When it comes to advertising, high costs and low response rates can tempt small business owners to throw in the towel. But print, online and broadcast ads can indeed deliver results. The secret is to run the right ad in the right medium.

Even when the economy hits the skids, it doesn’t mean everyone has stopped buying. People still need products and services; the challenge is attracting them to your doorstep. To help goose your sales before year-end, go back to some of these traditional tactics.

The fourth quarter is here, and if your company’s sales reps are behind on their numbers, it’s make-or-break time. Luckily, it’s not too late to turn things around. To win the sales revenue game, business owners must respond “like football coaches whose teams are behind at the start of the fourth quarter,” says George Ludwig ...

The fourth quarter is here, and if your company’s sales reps are behind on their numbers, it’s make-or-break time. Luckily, it’s not too late to turn things around.

A California commuter train engineer may have been distracted by a text message seconds before he crashed into a freight locomotive in September, an accident that killed 25 passengers. The accident is a powerful reminder that employers must restrict texting (and talking on cell phones) while employees on duty drive vehicles or operate dangerous equipment.

As sales decline, you think about cutting expenses. But it’s also important to prepare for the next upturn. Case in point: Lucent Technologies in the early 2000s.

At a time when companies around the world are being buffeted by dire economic conditions, many of their sales organizations are ill-equipped to weather the storm due to surprisingly ineffective sales forces beset by people problems that limit their ability to perform.

Done right, online marketing fills your company’s pipeline with better clients at a fraction of what print-based marketing costs. But are you doing it right?

Jeff Bezos, who is famous for his crazy laugh and sturdy optimism, gins up strategies a little differently at Amazon.com. Here’s what he thinks about the future and his customers:

Listing your company on national and local barter networks can help save money and generate new customers!

Margaret Rudkin proved that it’s possible to bounce back from adversity to achieve success.

The word “recession,” by itself, has been known to send small business owners into a panic. But worrying is counterproductive. You can’t get anything done when you’re in panic mode.

Are your salespeople bogged down in administrative minutiae?

If you have salespeople on staff, how do your customers view them? A new study says the picture isn’t pretty. To turn the tide, focus on these five strategies to successfully manage your salespeople ...

Here's a case study of a company looking to improve customer service without taking on extra employees or investing in new technology.

More companies today understand the importance of knowing how their customers and prospects view their organizations. They also realize that customer viewpoints can change quickly. Here's how to gather customer data as objectively, accurately and quickly as possible ....