Thanksgiving Polar Bear Swim Max Effgen, November 25, 2011December 2, 2013 Happy Thanksgiving to all three of my readers! This year, I decided to do a Polar Bear Swim at Golden Gardens in Seattle. This is on the Puget Sound and the water is always cold. Telemetry from a nearby buoy read the water temp as 50 degrees Fahrenheit. The buoy… Continue Reading
The inevitable gCRM Max Effgen, November 18, 2011 Will Google enter the enterprise applications market? It is a matter of time. The recent GM announcement signal that the company is almost there. For many enterprises, the first business process to be put into place is CRM. Google will enter the enterprise application space in CRM to better leverage… Continue Reading
Game-Based Marketing Max Effgen, November 18, 2011 I do not consider myself a gamer. Then I realized I am an elite player in American’s AAdvantage program. I have never made a mileage run, but know plenty who have. Games are everywhere. One of the hottest areas of the online engagement economy is gamification, a strategy that meshes… Continue Reading
Lessons in salesmanship Max Effgen, November 14, 2011 Had a great lesson in asking for the business from an unexpected source last week — my landscaper. Now I do not have a regular service, but did have some work done last summer. Living in the Pacific Northwest, I have come to learn that lawn aeration is not optional…. Continue Reading
Veterans Day Max Effgen, November 11, 2011December 2, 2013 To all the Veterans and active duty military, thank you for your service to our great country. I would especially like to thank my father. He received his 1LT bars in 1970. It is one of the only photos of him in uniform where his head is not shaved. Continue Reading
Matt McIlwain, Rock Star Venture Capitalist Max Effgen, November 9, 2011December 2, 2013 Many, many thanks to Matt McIlwain for speaking at Rock Star Venture Capitalist on November 7. Matt has a reputation for bringing his “A game” and this was no exception. Approximately 65 people from cross-sections of UW and the Seattle startup community took in Matt’s observations of the ingredients of… Continue Reading
Kefta that takes me back to Morocco Max Effgen, November 5, 2011 Somewhere where the Middle Atlas meets the Sahara in Morocco, I discovered kefta, a lamb meatball. The restaurant was a porch across from the bus station. The sheep heads for the recent cull were hanging from wall. Each had several trails of clotted blood streaming from them. The kefta was… Continue Reading
Questions to ask: Social CRM Max Effgen, October 30, 2011 Amazingly my $0.02 on questions you need to answer in mapping out your Social CRM strategy still ring true: Where are your customers? Where do they go when they have issues with your products and services? Is that channel cost effective for you? How open is that conversation? How are… Continue Reading
How to buy eyeglasses online Max Effgen, October 18, 2011 It seems like I am always talking to people about buying eyeglasses online. This is an update of a previous post. Almost 4 years ago, I realized that I needed glasses. The 20/10’s of my youth were done. I got a very nice pair at one of the cool places… Continue Reading
Why Focus Intent? Max Effgen, October 3, 2011 I have been revisiting the idea of customer intent and its implications. Social media has exploded given customers and prospects the ability to express intent. Buyers signal. Customers signal. Competitors signal. These signals are important data points for the Sales, Marketing and Service — the 3 big users of CRM… Continue Reading