Found this great post from Create Passionate Users.

I've found (by working with dozens of different "hats" in Ecommerce) that picture methapors are an excellent way to not only make a point.....but to hit the hammer down on it...to inspire change.

Create Passionate Users does an excellent job with this on their blog posts. This one deals just with how we treat customers before and after. This "tool" should be done as a full audit on your online operations:

Advertising
Call into sales....call into customer service.
New visitor to a site, repeat user on a site (one sees new content/the other sees old content).
Before and after an order....
During and after a return.....


Try it on all your touch points.

What I'm Reading......

What attracted me to Gilbert's Stumbling on Happiness was the praise from the Blink author and Freaknomics author.

The read is decent....concentrating on the thesis that what separates men from others is their ability to think about the future. The book explores your fore-brain development and how it works (or "fools") you into envisioning a future that is very unlikely to happen.

The book is good for exposing how you (and your brain) assumes...wrongly. However, it doesn't draw a line to business (expect that we know discruptive technologies usually lead to change that could not have been envisioned).

What I'm Reading

I just started reading Charles Handy's The Elephant and Flea.

This is turning out to be a great, relaxing and very informative read. Handy, who's books Age of Paradox (Empty Raincoat) and Hungry Spirit are some favorites of mine, continues his candid and often self-reflecting writing style that brings macro and micro business concepts together to share a little common sense about life.

While there is nothing "Amazing" about this current read, it is a good addition to your reading schedule if you are looking for commentary on our current and possible future business environments through a lens of a great business teacher throughout this past century. Paraphrased examples of his commonsense, "that which counts most, can't be counted" and "with the rapid development of communication, you now longer call a place (someone's work, someone's home, etc) you call a person (whether their in the restroom or on vacation)."

Telsa Man Out of Time

What I'm reading.

I just finished up a biography on Tesla. The father of radio, alternating current, xrays, etc. Pure to the title, Telsa was a man out of time from the beginning to the end of his life. At the beginning, his concepts were so advanced and influenced so many, that he didn't receive credit (or money) for his inventions/theories. Others, like Edison (who valued an invention by the $$ potential it had) rolled not only in the money, but in the fame.

At the end of his life, as quantum physics and engineers pushed out the notion of general inventors, Telsa was a man who was running our of time, energy and money....who couldn't then deliver on even more fantastic theories.

Zappos keeps chuggin'.

I previously posted about Zappos being ahead of the curve.

Internet Retailer has just reported that Zappos remains a pure play ahead or pushing the curve by offering subdomain hosted sites for footwear manufacturers, now is setting customer expectations of free OVERNIGHT shipping and is adding new categories such as eyewear and outdoor equipment.

Others should watch this company closely (especially in apparel) for lessons.

Full story here.

Don't miss the small mention of their custom built inventory system too.