Conversation Agent - Valeria Maltoni

The Four Types of Customer Connection and Respective Engagement Levels

How to connect with customers from Valeria Maltoni Marketers are still working their way to understanding the customer in front of them. The opportunity for business is to understand each customer as an individual -- and they can do that through direct interaction. Technology allows us to see a fraction of what people are interested in and what they say. Enough to start the conversation. We can become better at presenting information that is timely and situational in a personal sense when we learn to respond respond quickly and get involved on our side. In this presentation, I explored four... Read more →

How Blogs Continue to Create a Trust Path with Customers

This chart is a couple of years old. I used it in a post about trust and corporate blogs. If you know of a more recent chart point me to it. After almost six years of publishing regularly on this blog and other sites, I still see the benefit of blogging. The discipline and drill help organizations build continuity and consistency in their interactions. Especially those with customers. And publishing gives organizations the opportunity to 1) tell their story and potentially version of what went down directly, 2) remind customers of the promises they keep, 3) simplify and clarify information... Read more →

How Good Are You At Going Around Obstacles?

"Architecture and building is about how you get around the obstacles that are presented to you. That sometimes determines how successful you'll be: How good are you at going around obstacles?" [Jeremy Renner] +++ How you get where you're going is up to you. A good way to combine your talents with business is by making something concrete come to life. + Valeria is an experienced listener. She is also frequent speaker at conferences and companies on variety of topics. To book her for a speaking engagement click here. Read more →

Change Your Environment, Change Your Life

Are you a happy and relaxed person or are you too busy to even know? Do you feel you need to be producing something every second of your day? How about your outlook, can you see the silver lining to act appropriately in situations and events? Change Your Environment, Change Your Life Whether you use social networks for personal sharing or for business, there are so many tools (and new ones every day) that you could be tempted to try use them all. You see others doing it -- how do they do it, by the way? Seemingly cramming work... Read more →

Leaving the World in a More Interesting Place

A tweak on leaving the world in a better place than you found it I learned from my mother. (Note: I'm sure this is an idea many have had over the centuries. My mother owns the example she set by living her life in a manner consistent with her beliefs and thus transmitting this as tangible teaching to me.) "Interesting" leads to a process of discovery where curiosity and ingenuity shake hands with knowledge and deliver new experiences for all involved. Two examples of design of interesting in the world of cinema The Name's Bond, James Bond And so is... Read more →

On Slowing Down

Happy July to you. Maybe you have noticed it, too. After the Fourth of July (U.S.) the only kind of reading I look forward to doing is that of a good book -- a great story -- on a beach, by the pool, or perched on a favorite spot somewhere outdoors. Well before the heat sets in, when the skies are clear, our disposition gravitates towards sunny. Which means we begin to slow down at work. Whether you are your own boss or not, it's hard to take yourself to task -- especially around holidays. If you're like me, you're... Read more →

Imagination and Independence

[direct TED link] Massimo Banzi sys "You don't need anyone's permission to make something great." As co-founder, Banzi helped invent the Arduino, a tiny, easy-to-use open-source micro controller that's inspired thousands of people around the world to make the coolest things they can imagine -- from toys to satellite gear. You could be reading tweets from your plants, as illustrated in one of the examples. + Valeria is an experienced listener. She is also frequent speaker at conferences and companies on variety of topics. To book her for a speaking engagement click here. Read more →

Nike's Big Idea: Do Things for People

Experiences are more satisfying than material purchases. Relevant experiences that help connect people in the moment are the most rewarding for brands as well. Why? Because when we enjoy something in the present moment we're not occupied with comparing as we are already maximizing one experience. When remembering and sharing about a happy time we're inclined to err on the side of nicer than it was vs. re-evaluating it. Our memory is the feeling we had with it. These are all reasons why when a brand is able to shift its marketing from product to business strategy, it's poised to... Read more →

Being the Only One

The way my mother uses Facebook is very different from the way you and I do it. She doesn't follow any of the rules we set in the marketing and communication social media world. She doesn't have a calculated quota of likes to reach, or number of friends she absolutely needs to have. It's easy to see how she might think "I'm the only one who uses it this way", because it's personal. There are millions of similar reasons why social networks and tools work for people who just want to share who they are with their friends and family.... Read more →

Risk Management and Risk Aversion

Risk is part of business and life. The key to getting a handle on the idea itself of facing it is not total predictability in the nature of risk -- it's in being prepared to respond to events as they develop. When a person or an organization says they are risk averse, they admit they fear change and loss of control. We all do. There is a fair degree of uncertainty that comes with change, and we get used to the way things are. We know how to deal with "normal" circumstances. We like the way things are because we... Read more →