Humes Associates

Tips to keep you from weaving a tangled Web

lhumes — Tue, 27 Oct 2009 13:49:38 +0000

“We’ve heard that a million monkeys at a million keyboards could produce the complete works of Shakespeare,” says author Robert Wilensky. “Now, thanks to the Internet, we know that is not true.” There are tens of millions of websites out there. And a good many of them, in modern parlance, suck. They possess poor navigation, are [...]

Some good advice on handling adversity

lhumes — Fri, 09 Oct 2009 12:50:06 +0000

Has life dealt you any setbacks along your journey? Here’s some advice from two guys who have shared your experience: Lee Iacocca went to work for the Ford Motor Company in 1946 as an engineer, but it was in sales that he distinguished himself. He quickly rose through the ranks and in 1964, at age 40, [...]

Is customer service at your college an oxymoron?

lhumes — Mon, 28 Sep 2009 21:59:09 +0000

If your institution is still in the mindset of refusing to think of and treat your students as customers, then I’ll wager your retention rate could definitely stand improvement. In their book Rules to Break and Laws to Follow, authors Don Peppers and Martha Rogers observe that customers have good memories. They add, “Customer trust can [...]

How would you rate the experience?

lhumes — Fri, 11 Sep 2009 19:34:34 +0000

When Shakespeare wrote about all the world being a stage and all of us mere players upon it, I think he was on to something. When we talk about customer service and enhancing the teaching and learning experience, I think emphasis needs to be placed on that last word. It all boils down to the [...]

What’s on your totem pole?

lhumes — Thu, 27 Aug 2009 15:50:33 +0000

Last fall, as my wife and I cruised the Northwest Passage, we saw a lot of totem poles. Carved by natives centuries ago, each pole, with its distinctive carvings, told the story of the family or village it represented. As a stranger approached, he could tell a lot about the community and its inhabitants by [...]

How community colleges are surviving …

lhumes — Wed, 19 Aug 2009 13:57:56 +0000

Anyone wondering how the current economy is affecting community colleges need only look at a recent survey conducted by the Campus Computing Project. Almost three-quarters of 120 college presidents and chancellors surveyed said enrollment at their schools was up at least 5 percent over last year. At the same time, 57 percent of them reported [...]

The dark side of viral marketing

lhumes — Thu, 13 Aug 2009 21:26:43 +0000

In the past, I’ve written about taking advantage of free viral marketing by posting videos of your institution on social networks like YouTube and DailyMotion. In this posting, I’d like to address the dark side of that equation. Dave Carroll is a Canadian singer and songwriter who, with his brother, Don, heads up a music group [...]

Into which category does your institution fit?

lhumes — Fri, 10 Jul 2009 07:22:46 +0000

I had an interesting phone conversation the other day. A telemarketer from our local cable company called to see if we would be interested in bundling our internet service with them as well? No, I replied. They had provided our internet service years ago and the service was terrible. We would lose the signal about [...]

Lessons you can lean on

lhumes — Tue, 16 Jun 2009 18:37:40 +0000

I had the pleasure a few years ago of meeting and spending a few minutes with Joe Clark, the baseball bat-wielding principal of troubled Eastside High School in Patterson, New Jersey.

Does your information lead to understanding?

lhumes — Wed, 03 Jun 2009 17:19:45 +0000

We marketeers do a pretty good job of informing our audiences about whatever product or services we pitch. We inundate them with lots of facts and figures that tout all the benefits, advantages, and features. But do we invest as much time and careful attention in making sure those same folks understand what we’re telling [...]