On annual basis Interbrand publishes a list of the most valuable brands of the world. There are three key aspects that contribute to the list ranking: the financial performance, the role of the brand in the purchase decision process and the global strength of the brand. As a further inclusion criteria the brand must be truly global and has successfully transcended geographic and cultural differences.
2011 Rankings (brand value in million US$):
1 Coca-Cola (70.8 $m)
2 IBM (69.9 $m)
3 Microsoft (59.0 $m)
4 Google (55.3 $m)
5 GE (42.8 $m)
6 McDonald's (35.5 $m)
7 Intel (35.2 $m)
8 Apple (33.4 $m)
9 Disney (29.0 $m)
10 Hewlett-Packard (28.4 $m)
View all top 100 brands.
Monday, November 7, 2011
Sunday, September 4, 2011
A two minute management seminar: How to convey unpleasant messages
A while ago I had a short break at a bakery in Munich. I bought a Brezel at the self service counter and took a seat in the bakery’s coffee house. I ordered a Cappuccino and began to eat the Brezel. Suddenly the waitress came back and said: “I’m very sorry, it’s not allowed to eat outside food in the coffee house area. We have a different service tax compared to the self service counter. So I would like to ask you if you can move to the self service area, I will take care your Cappuccino is served there immediately. (pause) Do you accept this?”
Without hesitation I said “No problem”, and moved to the self service area. Two minutes later I got the Cappuccino served and enjoyed my Brezel.
Self service area and coffee house area were in the same bakery and served by the same staff, so what sense did it make to annoy a customer with such a weird move to the self service area? Actually, it didn't matter to me. I accepted her request and appreciated the way the waitress communicated an unpleasant message. She included 3 key points to convey an unpleasant message without annoying the customer:
Politeness
The waitress phrased the message in a polite way: “I’m very sorry...”, “I would like to ask you...”.
Reason
The waitress clearly gave the reason for the message: “We have different service tax...”.
Feedback
The waitress asked for customer feedback: “Do you accept this?”.
If you are with North American or Asian background, this might sound normal for you. Unfortunately such kindly service is of rare occurrence in Germany.
Sometimes a two minutes talk matters more than an 8 hour management seminar. These 3 keys can be used whenever you need to communicate “bad news”, no matter if you talk to your boss, a client, or your spouse.
Without hesitation I said “No problem”, and moved to the self service area. Two minutes later I got the Cappuccino served and enjoyed my Brezel.
Self service area and coffee house area were in the same bakery and served by the same staff, so what sense did it make to annoy a customer with such a weird move to the self service area? Actually, it didn't matter to me. I accepted her request and appreciated the way the waitress communicated an unpleasant message. She included 3 key points to convey an unpleasant message without annoying the customer:
Politeness
The waitress phrased the message in a polite way: “I’m very sorry...”, “I would like to ask you...”.
Reason
The waitress clearly gave the reason for the message: “We have different service tax...”.
Feedback
The waitress asked for customer feedback: “Do you accept this?”.
If you are with North American or Asian background, this might sound normal for you. Unfortunately such kindly service is of rare occurrence in Germany.
Sometimes a two minutes talk matters more than an 8 hour management seminar. These 3 keys can be used whenever you need to communicate “bad news”, no matter if you talk to your boss, a client, or your spouse.
- Be polite
- Explain the reason
- Ask for feedback
Tuesday, March 22, 2011
Suggested read: The World Factbook
The World Factbook provides information on the people, government, economy, geography, and many more for 266 world entities. It's published by the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) of the United States and updated on average every two weeks. Countries can be compared with a wide variety of fields like population, birth rate, live expectancy, GDP, unemployment rate, and so on. The facts are an interesting read for globally oriented people, e.g. did you know that Zimbabwe has an unemployment rate of 95% or the country with the highest life expectancy is Monaco with 89 years?
Link: https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook
Link: https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)