Top 6 – June 2010
Published June 3, 2010
“All I Really Need to Know I learned in Kindergarten.” Robert Fulghum
- “Say you’re sorry when you hurt someone.” Toyota should have done this earlier and more strongly.
- “Flush.” Nordstrom flushed the status quo and embraced change.
- “Play fair.” The intelligent customer-focused company will face its crises squarely and honestly and use the crisis to show its stakeholders that it is a responsible corporate citizen.
- “Share everything.” Nordstrom didn’t take all of the burden of the recession upon itself, it shared the need to alter the value proposition with its customers.
- “Remember the Dick-and-Jane books and the first word you learned – the biggest word of all – LOOK.” Rather than blaming the crisis on loose floor mats, Toyota should have quickly assigned its top engineers to get to the root cause of the problem.
- “Warm cookies and cold milk are good for you.” Be good to your customers. They are good for you.
About The Author
Tim J. Smith, PhD, is the founder and CEO of Wiglaf Pricing, an Adjunct Professor of Marketing and Economics at DePaul University, and the author of Pricing Done Right (Wiley 2016) and Pricing Strategy (Cengage 2012). At Wiglaf Pricing, Tim leads client engagements. Smith’s popular business book, Pricing Done Right: The Pricing Framework Proven Successful by the World’s Most Profitable Companies, was noted by Dennis Stone, CEO of Overhead Door Corp, as "Essential reading… While many books cover the concepts of pricing, Pricing Done Right goes the additional step of applying the concepts in the real world." Tim’s textbook, Pricing Strategy: Setting Price Levels, Managing Price Discounts, & Establishing Price Structures, has been described by independent reviewers as “the most comprehensive pricing strategy book” on the market. As well as serving as the Academic Advisor to the Professional Pricing Society’s Certified Pricing Professional program, Tim is a member of the American Marketing Association and American Physical Society. He holds a BS in Physics and Chemistry from Southern Methodist University, a BA in Mathematics from Southern Methodist University, a PhD in Physical Chemistry from the University of Chicago, and an MBA with high honors in Strategy and Marketing from the University of Chicago GSB.