Rajesh Jain

Thinks 822

Anticipating the Unintended: “There are two real risks facing the economy when you go beyond the immediate numbers. The debt to GDP numbers remain elevated at 85-90 per cent range, and the government continues to crowd out others in the debt market. There is some consolidation, as was seen in this budget, but the government has to stay on course to reduce the fiscal deficit and bring the debt-to-GDP ratio back to the 70 per cent handle. The other risk is on the balance of payments (BoP) which will remain in deficit for the foreseeable future. Exports have slowed, and the tightening of the rate differential between India and the US will lower the risk appetite which will impact capital inflow. A longer duration BoP deficit puts India at risk in case of an ‘accident’ in the global market.” Mint: “Fixing India’s manufacturing sector is the surest way to create more jobs and ensure a robust and sustainable economic recovery.”

The ChatGPT list of lists: A collection of 3000+ prompts, examples, use-cases, tools, APIs, extensions, fails and other resources.

Atanu Dey: “There are only three major religions in the world and they all originate in one tiny part of the world — the Middle East. It is commonly understood that the other major religions — Hinduism, Jainism, and Buddhism — originated in India. But that is a major misunderstanding. My contention is that these are not “religions” in the same sense that the Middle Eastern creeds are. India gave birth to dharmas, not religions. Unfortunate fact is that two very distinct concepts get conflated by pigeonholing the Indic dharmas with the monotheistic religions.”

Shane Parrish: “Good thinking is expensive. Bad thinking costs a fortune. One way to force yourself to think is to write. Good writing requires good thinking. Forcing yourself to make your thinking visible gives poor thinking nowhere to hide. You can’t simply take a few minutes here and there, get the gist of the problem, and expect to have clear writing. It doesn’t work that way. Good writing, like good thinking, takes time.”

Kevin Kelly: “[My new book] is an inadvertent book. Writing a book of advice was never on my bucket list. But I like pithy quotes. When I want to change my own behavior, I need to repeat little behavior-modifying mantras as reminders. I have found that memorable proverbs give me a way to grab hold of lofty advice. So if I can distill a whole book’s worth of advice into a sentence, that gives me the handle for it, to easily bring the lesson forward when needed. With that in mind I started the habit of compressing a lot of useful information into a short memorable tip. Advice is best when directed at a specific person, so I decided to aim my advice at my adult son, who was in his early twenties. Once I started writing tiny bits of advice down for him, I discovered I had a lot to say — as long as I could telegraph it into a tweet. Most of my advice is ancient wisdom, evergreen notions that have been circulating since forever. But I try to put everything into my own words, as few as possible. Most of my writing time on the project was trying to remove words and reduce the advice even further until it is less than 140 characters.” Some advice: “Separate the processes of creating from improving. You can’t write and edit, or sculpt and polish, or make and analyze at the same time. If you do, the editor stops the creator. While you write the first draft, don’t let the judgy editor get near. At the start, the creator mind must be unleashed from judgment. To write about something hard to explain, write a detailed letter to a friend about why it is so hard to explain, and then remove the initial “Dear Friend” part and you’ll have a great first draft. To be interesting just tell your story with uncommon honesty.”

Rethinking B2B Loyalty Programs (Part 7)

Design

As a buyer of many B2B solutions, I don’t think Netcore is part of any B2B loyalty program. At the same time, Netcore itself is a seller as a B2B SaaS company to many B2C companies. This was the context I started with in thinking about designing a next-gen loyalty program – one which I would be delighted with as a buyer and seller.

The core of a loyalty program comes down to two elements: earn and burn. How do members receive points? How do they redeem them? [For reference, I had done a similar exercise for Mu tokens in my Loyalty 2.0 essay (part 13).]

Earning

Points can only be earned by the business, and not by the individuals who are part of the decision-making process.
Earning can be linked to both monetary and non-monetary actions. For example, points are earned based on spending (and could be linked to the gross margin generated by the product). Points could also be earned for time (events attended, reviews, testimonials, referrals). Points could also be earned for additional data provided by the buyers which can help with RoI calculation. For example, most email service providers do not get transaction data. If that data were available, it would help with a better assessment of revenue per email (RPE). The same could apply to customer journeys in marketing automation solutions. So, think of this as a blend of both Loyalty 1.0 and 2.0 elements that I wrote about earlier.
The formula for earning points will need to be determined by the quantum of investment made for the program. A reasonable figure is 1% of revenue generated.
A minimum monthly or annual spending threshold should be there for either membership continuation or redemption.
Earnings could be linked to products and services from a single company or a consortium. Membership tiers could help drive more loyalty (and spending).

Redeeming

For redemptions, the key to long-term success will be the CPP:VPP calculation. Cost per point is what the B2B seller is spending, while value per point is what the buyer perceives. A good example of this is that while redeeming airline miles for a free ticket, the buyer perceives the full value of a ticket, while the cost for the airline is just the cost of meals. Similarly, for B2B loyalty programs, it is very important to ensure the value of rewards is far greater than the 1% or so which serves as the basis for earning points.
In this context, there can be two types of rewards: conventional rewards and Mu (Atomic Rewards). Examples for conventional rewards are discounts against future product purchases, attendance at events, and participation in beta programs for new releases to get a marketplace edge. What can make the redemptions program much more valuable and exciting is the addition of Mu to the points. Mu can benefit the B2C business’ customers. For example, Mu tokens could help a business drive change in end customer behaviour. [I have written on these ideas]
The Velvet Rope Marketing ideas can also be applied here with rewards being used to provide exclusivity, ease, and access. The creation of a community of buyers is an example of exclusivity.

To summarise: B2B sellers need to start thinking of creating loyalty programs which can help drive retention and growth of their buyers. It can also help with creating better experiences and relationships, and offer newer dimensions on which to win rather than just price discounting. A program which can excite end customers of the buyers can make it even more “rewarding.”

Thinks 821

WSJ: “A literature review just published in January in the journal Infant and Child Development looked at nearly four dozen studies on father-child relationships and highlighted the role that dads play in building a child’s skills in regulating emotions. Fathers who were involved in caregiving and play, and who reacted with warmth and greater sensitivity to a child who expressed emotions, were significantly more likely to have children with better emotional balance from infancy to adolescence. Those skills in children are linked, in turn, with higher levels of social competence, peer relationships, academic achievement and resilience, while poor emotional regulation skills are linked with anxiety, depression and behavioral problems.”

Atanu Dey: “I believe that it is part of our human nature that we have a preference for equality to some degree. Perhaps it has something to do with the perfectly human emotion of envy. I know that from introspection. I used to envy the more wealthy their wealth, the more beautiful their looks, etc. Fortunately, I have overcome that infantile emotion to a large extent. Interestingly it was a concern with inequality that directed me to study economics. The question I wanted the answer to was simple: why are some parts of the world rich and others poor? I had come to conclude that people are pretty much the same across the world. But then why the divergence in material prosperity? I began with wealth inequality. But with time, I learned that wealth was only part of the matter. There were other dimensions related to wealth but not congruent to it. Those were income, consumption, and finally, well-being or flourishing.”

FT: “National trade strategy will make it hard for Indian companies to take full advantage of Beijing’s geopolitical problems…India has already had a decade of opportunity to scoop up the industrial production leaving China. It has performed poorly, and its trade and investment policy is regressing towards unhelpful Indian traditions of protectionism and import substitution…Clothing and shoes, ceramics, leather goods, furniture — these are all mass-employment, labour-intensive manufacturing industries in which India ought to specialise. But raising tariffs to deter imported inputs means it struggles to be competitive in global supply networks. When China and Vietnam began their textiles and clothing export booms, respectively in the mid-1990s and the mid-2010s, foreign inputs made up more than 40 per cent of their exports. For India in 2015 the equivalent number was just 16 per cent.”

HBR: “Do the best leaders take charge, lead from the front, give orders, and push people to do great work? Or do they listen to them, empower them, and get out of the way?…Leaders who are adept at shifting power modes let everyone know when it’s time for divergent thinking (during idea generation, for instance) and when it’s time for convergent thinking (to, say, map out next steps). They send clear signals about when their teams should offer suggestions, raise concerns about problems and risks, and argue. They also make it psychologically safe for people to speak up—ensuring they feel they’ll be heard, respected, and valued. And when it’s time to end the discussion, make a decision, and act, skilled leaders signal that they’re taking charge again.”

WaPo: How to organize your books, according to people with thousands of them. “While there is no single way to organize a collection, there are some useful guidelines. Typically, libraries and bookstores sort titles by genre or subject area, then stack them in alphabetical order by the author’s last name.”

Rethinking B2B Loyalty Programs (Part 6)

Examples

I have aggregated examples from multiple sources of loyalty programs. As a caveat: most are probably US-centric and Netcore is not part of any of these programs. A few may even be dated. This exercise in listing programs is to provide ideas to get started.

Antavo provides examples of loyalty programs:

IBM VIP Rewards: IBM’s VIP program is challenge-based, meaning customers have to perform predefined actions to earn points. Points can be redeemed for gift cards or private sessions with IBM experts. The program also features a leaderboard based on the number of points earned with challenges to foster a bit of competition.
Celebrity Rewards: [Operated by Celebrity Cruises], the program is rather straightforward, utilizing direct cash incentives to motivate agencies. Every cruise sold translates into 500 points for the booking agent. After hitting the 2,500-point milestone, points can be exchanged for cash using a Celebrity Rewards Mastercard. The program works on a per-agent basis, meaning each participating booking agent has their own individual point balance.
Lenovo: The Leap Program, which stands for ‘Lenovo Expert Achievers Program’, combines the premise of IBM’s and Celebrity Cruises’ loyalty programs. Leap features a dual system dubbed ‘Learn & Earn’ and ‘Sell & Earn’. Partners earn points for selling Lenovo products and participating in education sessions. Points can be exchanged for cash rewards. Points are accumulated on the Leap Account and can be transferred to gift cards or a prepaid Mastercard.

SmartKarrot has more examples:

American Express: American Express launched its referral-based partnership program ‘American Express Partners Plus.’ Through the program, American Express rewards organizations if they successfully refer their contacts to AE’s Global Corporate Payments program. The simple program played a key role in deepening trusted partner relationships.
HP: The global tech company came up with the ‘HP Planet Partners Rewards Program,’ where the company rewards businesses for returning used HP print cartridges. The program is also aimed at supporting HP’s recycling initiative. Thus, businesses are able to earn rewards while also contributing to the environment.
Nufarm: Nufarm Limited is a leading global specialist seeds and crop protection company. The company operates through retailer channels. It has come up with the loyalty program ‘Priority Partnership’ for its partners in New Zealand. The company rewards partners for purchasing and promoting its products through the program.

From Loyalty Programs: The Complete Guide:

Schneider Electric: [Schneider] is a multinational company providing energy and automation digital solutions, and Clipsal is a subsidiary brand providing electrical accessories. Club Clipsal is Australia’s largest loyalty club for the electrical industry with over 8,000 members in the rewards program. Operating on a three-tiered membership basis, the program offers members the ability to earn points by purchasing Clipsal products from their selected wholesalers. The program features an earn accelerator, where the higher the tier, the higher the earn rate per dollar spent. Points can then be redeemed via a rewards store for a variety of gift cards and consumer goods.
Uber: Uber Pro Partner Rewards program was designed to recognise and reward Uber drivers. Like their B2C program, points and status tiers provide drivers with the ability to reach higher tiers and unlock more desirable member benefits. Provided by Uber and partner third-party companies, member benefits include economic rewards such as fuel discounts, free coffees, and discounts for business, support services, as well as more functional and experiential rewards such as providing drivers with the ability to view trip duration and direction before accepting a job, receive priority airport rematches, 24/7 support and accident replacement vehicles.
Allianz: Allianz is a German multinational financial services company with core businesses insurance and asset management. The Allianz Blue Eagle Program exists to engage and reward their broker network, primarily through networking, educational and celebratory events. The program offers one point of call for all the information brokers require, such as program news, policy and claims information, online training, and product quoting and binding. An important aspect of the program is to build a sense of community between brokers and the brand, and Allianz do so by organising a variety of initiatives to get members involved.

Some additional examples:

TRW: TRW is one of the leading global brands for steering, suspension, and braking parts in the automobile aftermarket. In 2014, competitors are flooding the market with branded and non-branded products. Also, because of its complex distribution structures, there were no direct means for businesses to communicate with its aftermarket. To counter the issue, TRW relaunched its Automotive Diamonds, a B2B loyalty program to target workshops across Europe. [via Retail CRM Cloud]
Metrodata Electronics: This technology, information and communication company has a B2B loyalty program called SMILY (SMI Loyalty) for its B2B customers. This loyalty program is integrated between offline and online sellers where customers can collect points which can then be exchanged for rewards. [via Tada]

So, what can a next-gen B2B loyalty program look like? I will answer this from my vantage point of running a B2B SaaS company (like Netcore) selling customer engagement solutions to B2C companies.

Thinks 820

Colin Coggins: “The greatest salespeople on the planet are not the most gregarious. They’re not the most sociable, but they are the most socially aware. They can realize mid-sentence that they said something, and it didn’t land—they’re present and capable of changing that narrative in real time. They’re not these extroverts who are so self-confident, but they are self-aware..When you think about a way that a salesperson can mitigate inauthenticity, rule number one is to be aware. Give yourself permission to be authentic and be aware that the world will give you credit for your flaws, that the world will give you credit for being just like the person you’re talking to, who is imperfect. Inauthenticity is rooted in someone who’s trying to seem like they’re better than they are, but that’s not actually what we want. Those aren’t the expectations, and there’s a real disconnect between that.”

HBR: “When it comes to corporate life, busyness is not a virtue, and it is long past time that organizations stopped lionizing it. Evaluating employees on how busy they are is a terrible way to identify the most creative and productive talent. Yet many firms reward and promote only people who display how “hard” they’re working. The effect on companies and their employees is significant. Research indicates that when organizations overload employees, base their incentives primarily on the amount of time they work, and excessively monitor their activities, productivity and efficiency actually drop. Exhaustion among employees can increase turnover, at considerable cost to firms’ financial performance. Even if employees don’t leave, busyness harms the bottom line by reducing staff engagement and increasing absenteeism.”

Alex Jadad: “We tend to think about health as the absence of disease, but we have been very privileged to have been part of an effort to reimagine the meaning of health. Instead of the absence of disease, we advocate for a position that views health as an ability: the ability to adapt to the inevitable physical, psychological, or social challenges that we face throughout our lives…By focusing on health as an ability—the ability to adapt—and by focusing on our capacity to assess our own health, a lot of possibilities open. We can cultivate that ability, we can make it stronger, and we can explore many, many ways in which, even if we have diseases, we can feel healthy and be considered a healthy person.”

Derek Sivers: “February 13 through 21, 2023, I went to Chennai and Bengaluru, India. My sole purpose was to meet new friends…So I scheduled fifty one-hour conversations with fifty interesting people over seven days. Back-to-back meetings from 9am to 10pm every day. It was one of the most intense and fascinating (and heart-warming and educational) things I’ve ever done in my life.”

Alaine Bertaud: “I think that, frankly, India should abandon the idea of planning the growth of cities. They have done that since the beginning. They were not the only one, you know; Europe did the same thing. I think the United States is the only country which had no plan (because it’s a federal country) for the growth of cities. I think that this has been a mistake. People vote with their feet…Don’t forget that if Mumbai is now close to 16 million people, depending on the way you count, it’s not because it was planned for 16 million. It was planned for 5 million, or not even. There was a discouragement. People decide that going to Mumbai was better for them than going to a smaller town. I think we have to respect that because they have a knowledge, the people who migrate have a knowledge that we planners do not have…I think that the local authority, rather than trying to tell people where to go by trying to direct them by investments, things like that, they should just concentrate on the public space and think about what is the best use of the public space. Widening the sidewalk or, on the contrary, creating a bicycle or motorcycle lane, maybe? They have also to observe means of transport. I think that many cities consider that trains, suburban trains for instance, or subway or buses are the only means of transportation.”

Rethinking B2B Loyalty Programs (Part 5)

ChatGPT

ChatGPT on how B2B and B2C loyalty programs are different: “B2B loyalty programs are designed to reward companies for making frequent purchases, while B2C loyalty programs are designed to reward individual consumers for making purchases. B2B loyalty programs often have a different structure and focus, as they deal with larger transactions and longer buying cycles. They may also offer additional benefits such as special pricing, dedicated account management, and early access to new products. In comparison, B2C loyalty programs tend to have a more straightforward rewards structure, where points or stamps are collected for purchases and redeemed for rewards such as discounts, free products, or exclusive experiences. Overall, the key difference between B2B and B2C loyalty programs lies in the nature of the customer and the business relationship, and the rewards and incentives offered are tailored accordingly.”

ChatGPT’s response on five features of a good B2B loyalty program (lightly edited):

Relevance: Offer rewards and incentives that are relevant and valuable to the target business customer, such as exclusive access to new products, special pricing, or dedicated account management.
Flexibility: Allow for flexibility in terms of the types of purchases that can be made to earn rewards, and how rewards can be redeemed. This helps to ensure that the program is accessible and appealing to a wide range of businesses.
Customization: Allow for customization to meet the unique needs and preferences of different business customers. This may include offering tailored rewards or creating different tiers of membership based on the amount of business a company does with the provider.
Simplicity: Should be easy to understand and participate in. The program should have clear, straightforward rules and be user-friendly, so that businesses can quickly start earning and redeeming rewards.
Communication: Have effective communication and engagement strategies in place to keep business customers informed and motivated to participate. This may include regular updates on rewards earned, reminders of opportunities to earn more rewards, and promotional campaigns to drive engagement.

And finally, here is ChatGPT’s answer to how can B2B loyalty programs be improved:

Personalization: Offering customized rewards and experiences based on a business’s specific needs and preferences can increase engagement and satisfaction with the program.
Data Analytics: Using data analytics to better understand customer behavior and preferences can inform more effective program design and decision-making.
Streamlined Enrollment and Redemption: Making the enrollment and redemption process simple, fast and user-friendly can increase participation and reduce friction for businesses.
Real-Time Feedback: Providing real-time feedback on rewards earned and opportunities to earn more can help keep businesses engaged and motivated to participate.
Integration with other business systems: Integrating the loyalty program with other business systems such as procurement, accounting, and customer relationship management, can provide a more seamless experience for businesses and help maximize the value of the program.
Flexible Rewards Structure: Offering a flexible rewards structure, such as allowing businesses to choose from a variety of reward options, or allowing rewards to be redeemed in a variety of ways, can increase the appeal of the program and ensure it is valuable to a wider range of businesses.

Next, let us look at some examples of B2B loyalty programs.

Thinks 819

Greg Ip: “Industrial policy, often called “picking winners,” is sometimes seen as un-American by elevating the judgment of politicians and bureaucrats over that of the free market. In fact, the U.S. has a long history of intervening to support particular industries. Alexander Hamilton, the first U.S. Treasury secretary, favored protection for American manufacturers to help them compete with the U.K…The lesson is that industrial policy is most likely to succeed when the goal is narrowly defined and leverages private-sector incentives. It is less likely to succeed when it is used to solve multiple social goals disconnected from the industry’s economic viability.”

NYTimes on India’s UPI: “The scan-and-pay system is one pillar of what the country’s prime minister, Narendra Modi, has championed as “digital public infrastructure,” with a foundation laid by the government. It has made daily life more convenient, expanded banking services like credit and savings to millions more Indians, and extended the reach of government programs and tax collection. With this network, India has shown on a previously unseen scale how rapid technological innovation can have a leapfrog effect for developing nations, spurring economic growth even as physical infrastructure lags. It is a public-private model that India wants to export as it fashions itself as an incubator of ideas that can lift up the world’s poorer nations…Digital payments are being made for even the smallest of transactions, with nearly 50 percent classified as small or micro payments: 10 cents for a cup of milk chai or $2 for a bag of fresh vegetables. That is a significant behavioral shift in what has long been a cash-driven economy.”

Linwood Barclay on his love for model railways. ” When you’re a writer, and you spend your day imagining a world in your head, it’s nice to take a break and create one with your hands. Laying and ballasting track, sculpting mountains, planting trees, making roads, assembling intricate structures. And then there’s the actual running of the trains. Standing in the middle of the layout as a triple-headed freight or a VIA passenger train circles around me, the digital diesel sounds echoing throughout the room, affords a kind of Zen-like experience. I am transported from the stressful world we live in to this one, where anything and everything that happens is in my control.” I too had a model railways setup when Abhishek was young.

Atanu Dey: “Wealth is a purely human construct. Wealth is artificial. It’s not natural. There was no wealth in the world before humans arrived on the scene; there was only stuff. There were mountains, forests, fertile lands, rivers, minerals in the ground, animals and birds and fish and all sorts of things we don’t even have names for. But that was all stuff, not wealth. Humans created wealth in the world (and who knows perhaps in the entire universe, if humans are the only intelligent life in the universe.) Second, the amount of wealth has been growing monotonically since wealth began to be created. This increase is not due to some law of nature but it is an empirical fact. It’s partly because of the fact that humans create wealth coupled with the fact that the number of humans who have ever lived keeps increasing.”

Economist: “There are plenty of problems with India’s economy, from poor primary education to an inability to grow its limited manufacturing sector. But these were present even as previous growth spurts lifted millions out of poverty. Recent pains are thus more likely to reflect the pandemic’s after-effects. Construction firms in cities, for example, complain of labour shortages, as many workers who headed to villages during lockdowns have not yet returned. These may at last be starting to ease. The latest data releases suggest that rural wages may be picking up. Deposits in bank accounts set up for the poor are also rising. Even sales of two-wheelers are slowly creeping up. A lot more improvement will be needed, however, for claims of Amrit Kaal to ring true.”

Rethinking B2B Loyalty Programs (Part 4)

Commentary – 3

The Loyalty Leap for B2B by Bryan Pearson writes about the 4 Rs of B2B loyalty:

Relationships: With B2B loyalty plans, our direct communications will not always be with the end user or decision maker. If we are working with a large enterprise, for example, our contact might be a buyer, several function heads, or representatives, but it is unlikely to be the CEO or the chief marketing officer. The information gleaned from talking with one or two of these contacts is likely to be too vague to meet the needs of decision makers. To make up for this, we must implement broad data collection and disciplined customer information use.

Rewards: B2B organizations must differentiate themselves from their competitors with “soft benefits” or experiential perks, such as training events that lead to certifications or introductions to key vendors or partners. Channel marketers, in particular, are receptive to experiential rewards because the contacts are often sales representatives whose compensation is a mix of salary and incentives.

Recognition: Unlike rewards, recognition is not doled out based on the accumulation of points or miles. It is tied to longevity, customer potential, and transactional history. Recognition is the equivalent of sending a handwritten appreciation note or simply doing someone a favor. n fact, recognition is most often delivered on a person-to-person level.

Relevance: Relevance means knowing where the client is at a point in time, because understanding where the client is in the purchasing process and the associated needs both affect how a marketing message resonates. It also means understanding life stages.

Loyalty Programs: The Complete Guide by Philip Shelper and others writes about how the characteristics of B2B programs tend to be different to B2C programs in six fundamental ways:

Member base size: B2B programs generally have smaller member bases than B2C programs… This provides B2B program operators with an advantage; a smaller member base makes personalisation of communications and services much more achievable.

Member base spend: on average B2B programs generally provide greater value to members than B2C programs. This is because B2B customers tend to spend more than B2C customers, allowing the company to return more value to the business customers as rewards.

Purchasing drivers: businesses have different purchasing approaches to consumers, which necessitates variations in program design. businesses buy to enhance profitability, productivity, payback, and operational ease and maintenance, make slow and complex decisions, receive relevant marketing primarily via direct one-to-one presentations and discussions, and are overly sensitive to technological changes.

Relationships: a B2B relationship may be between multiple participants, including owners, initiators, influencers, deciders, users, buyers and gatekeepers.

Fundamental challenges: the design of a B2B program needs to accommodate three fundamental challenges; ethical, communications and employee longevity.

Reward variations: B2B programs…also tend to include the businesses own products, direct discounts, free education courses, access to events and conferences, and other benefits more suited to the needs of particular customers.

The authors add: “B2B programs should strive to build customer commitment to the brand. Gilliland and Bello (2002) identified three important characteristics specific to loyalty commitment within B2B relationships; it makes it difficult to exit the relationship, partially because loyalty sentiments motivate participants to work out problems rather than leave; it suggests a preference for one company over their competitors when making supply decisions; and, it maintains the relationship even if the decision may be economically irrational.”

One aspect of B2B sales process is the involvement of channel partners. Cristina Ziliani wrote in Loyalty Management about an analysis of 420 cases which contained premium and prize promotions, spanning 20 industries and 25 years, from 1990 to 2015.

Thinks 818

NYTimes: “If you’ve ever gone to bed upset about something and woken up noticeably less bothered, it’s likely a result of the emotional processing and memory reconsolidation that happen during REM. There’s evidence that your brain divorces memories from their emotional charge — removing the “sharp, painful edges” from life’s difficulties, said Matthew Walker, a professor of neuroscience and psychology and the founder and director of the Center for Human Sleep Science at the University of California, Berkeley. REM is “like a form of overnight therapy,” he said. REM also makes us better learners. During this sleep stage, your brain strengthens neural connections formed by the previous day’s experiences and integrates them into existing networks, Dr. Robbins said.”

A social network taxonomy by Ethan Zuckerman. “All taxonomies are, at least in part, arbitrary and incomplete. But taxonomies can be useful and they make it easier to talk about complex subjects. At a moment where there’s public debate about leaving Twitter for Mastodon, it’s worth spending time talking about ways in which the structure and governance of social networks can differ.”

Nathan Baschez: “How can we get people to accept a new idea? Show how it is a natural extension of the things they already believe. Sure, evidence also helps, but no amount of evidence will make someone believe a story they’re skeptical of. The other thing you can do is start with a group of people who are already inclined to believe the prerequisite narratives they’d need to accept to be interested in your new narrative.”

Tim Martinez: “I write for 3 reasons: (1) Writing helps me process my thoughts and make sense of the world at large (2) It serves as a historical journal (time machine) where I can track progress or simply get a kick out of how my perspective changes over time (3) Writing allows me an opportunity to share my personal and authentic voice with the world (and hopefully add value in the process). I’m not sure ChatGPT can accomplish this for me.” I said something almost similar to a person who asked me about my writing and the impact of ChatGPT.

WSJ on new ideas from Mobile World Congress: “AI will make phones smarter. Mixed reality will change our interactions. IoT will connect everything.”

Rethinking B2B Loyalty Programs (Part 3)

Commentary – 2

Affise: “B2B rewards and incentives help businesses retain customers and build brand loyalty. This is achieved by offering some kind of prize in return. This prize might be a physical reward, or some other sales incentive. Often, these rewards are offered for spending over a certain amount, or making a certain number of purchases. They may be done in conjunction with a channel partner for greater efficiency. The B2B market is different to the B2C market, and B2B merchants face unique challenges. Business customers are looking for different things compared to a consumer, which should impact your planned B2B rewards strategy. The most obvious difference is that any deals you make are fewer in number but greater in importance. This means you need to think about what value you’re offering to a business customer, as much more is riding on this deal.”

SmartKarrot: “B2Bs can tap into several benefits, including access to reliable customer data, encourage up-selling and cross-selling, and gain actionable insights to enhance business strategies.”

Comarch had this chart based on a commissioned study conducted by Forrester on its behalf.

strategy+business: “In a recent PwC customer survey, almost 60% of B2B customers reported they had never had an experience with a brand that made them feel special. That’s an alarmingly high percentage of customers who’ve been given no particular reason to stick around. But the implications of consumer loyalty for B2B companies are enormous, and, if anything, as crucial as they are for consumer-facing companies. After all, it can cost five times more to acquire a customer than to retain one, and on average the most loyal customers account for up to 80% of a company’s revenues. For companies willing to reimagine the traditional transactional nature of their B2B relationships, a loyalty program represents an important growth opportunity. But in this regard, B2B customers can be a tough nut to crack. Many times, the B2B “buyer” is actually more than one person—including those in procurement and finance, along with heads of business, for instance—and these individuals have different needs. Companies must figure out who to pursue: the whole entity or the different purchasers? And getting targeting right is just one piece of the puzzle. To be successful, a B2B loyalty program must also align with the customer’s strategic goals and transform transactional relationships into dynamic partnerships designed to promote mutual success… It won’t be long before loyalty programs begin to take off throughout the B2B world, particularly as the economy springs back from its pandemic lows. And once relationships become sticky, the switching costs for customers will only grow. This should be incentive enough for companies to get serious about showing some love to customers.”