He leaned close and said, “there is not a missing tooth in sight, is there?” The land of magnolias, sweet tea, and southern charm out the Yazoo (Yazoo City that is). Mississippi. Last week I was presenting at a conference in Jackson, Mississippi. Gorgeous country and warm people. While at a luncheon the person sitting next to asked if I had been to his state before. “Nope” came the reply, my witty rapporteur in full swing. He asked what I expected on my first visit and I had to admit that in many ways his state was light years ahead
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Posts by Kordell Norton
The Heroin to Cost Saving Shopping – Addicted to Aldi
We are addicted. There, I said it. I remember one of my most powerful mentors (he has since passed beyond this cacky coil) was so miffed when he found out that each box of Tide soap had an allowance for Soap Box operas. . . daytime TV. He was so incensed that he was the force behind introducing No-Name Generic Food products here in the U.S. Is was during this effort that we connected, starting me on a journey of marketing and consumer packaged goods. I came to know and understand the quality of various products. Is there
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And they make good shoes as well
I am writing an article for an association magazine and recall seeing a set of rules that came from Nike in the 1980’s. Referred to at the time as an escaped email from within Nike it outlined 10 Principles that supposedly represented the dogma and maxims of Nike as they went out and competed in the market in the early days of their existance. In searching through the Internet, I had a hard time finding them. Finally I resorted to calling Nike’s PR arm in New York City. Leaving a message I thought, “well, they will never call back .
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Real World Bathroom Humor
My sixteen year old daughter had just come out of the restroom, her hands still wet from washing. She smiled, walked over and put her damp hands on my forearm and looked up into my face and said with a giggle, “Excuse me mister, could you help me get my penny out of the toilet?” Argh! It takes me back to a visit to the COSI Museum in Columbus, Ohio. That is where I was engrossed (or is that gross’d?) in the bathroom stall experience. As I entered the mens room and found that appropriate seat, I looked up and
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Professionalism is Catchy
I work with lot of colleges and universities. Several years ago I did some strategic planning for one group of post secondary schools which eventually lead to being asked by a lot of different education institutions to conduct Strategic Planning, Sales Training, Marketing & Branding classes and workshops. Recently Kent State University started asking me to help some of their internal customers as well as external clients with various projects. I have come away from these experiences with a new found respect for the professionalism of some of the Kent State people. These are warm, intelligent and yet very progressive
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IKEA – Which is Swedish for "Great Customer Experience" – big grin
One quarter TRILLION catalogs a year and over 600,000,000 customers makes IKEA of Sweden big. But not so big that they can’t pay attention to customers. Recently I was eating lunch with family in one of their stores (the famous Swedish Meat Balls with mashed potatoes.) I noticed a young man a few feet away from me with his back turned toward me. He walked away and there was a Microwave. Right in the middle of the cafeteria. A microwave. How many restaurants would even consider allow YOU, the lowly customer, the choice of reheating your food when it
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Bryant Heating Equipment Leaves a Cold Feeling
I came home from a Holiday get away to a cold house. My Bryant furnace was on the fritz. Told by the repairman that it was the “Cadillac” of equipment. He then proceeded to tell me how I would need a new squirral cage fan and motor for $1000. A new furnace is only $3000. What a rip off. There is no way a motor and some fan blades cost $1000. Our conversation now turned very cold. He finally came back with an offer which gave me a discount if I bought a one year service contract that brought
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Godiva Chocolates Hides Their Charms
Godiva has to have great looking products that stand on their own. They must, because if you take away the gorgeous packaging and the great looking products . . . the rest looks pretty bad. I was doing sales training for a large group of executives in Reading, Pennsylvania. I found out that Godiva has their chocolate plant in Reading and so I tried multiple times to connect with someone, anyone with in the Godiva organization. What I found out was that there is no way for you to talk to a real person at Godiva. No one returns your
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Baby Boomers Start to Lose to Gen Y
Bryan Badger is THE honcho at Hot Pockets. For two years he has been the CEO in Colorado. In our conversation he pointed out that his sales track the economy. As it goes south, his sales go north. The really cool stuff he is doing has to do with the culture there at Hot Pockets. The average age of his employees is about 32 years of age, so he had to change the culture to cater to the younger audience. Some of his ideas are so simple that they are brilliant. Guitar Hero for lunch. That’s right. There are times
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Worlds Greatest Speakers . . . and they are coming
I am the President Elect of the National Speakers Association – the Ohio Chapter in 2009 and 2010. As part of that assignment I get to pick the speakers for our Sunday meetings. Now the NSA has 4,000 professional speakers across the country. The best of the best. All of them as a way of “giving back” and to get exposure want to get on the agenda. I am so excited for my fellow NSA brothers and sisters as I look at the considered field. These will be absolutely awesome. If you could learn from the best of the best
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