Comments on: The Physics of Marketing — Chaos Theory http://www.davidebowman.com/the-physics-of-marketing-chaos-theory.htm questions, answers, thoughts, theories, observations, speculations, and assorted bits of information. Tue, 12 Jul 2011 03:53:43 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v= By: davidebowman http://www.davidebowman.com/the-physics-of-marketing-chaos-theory.htm/comment-page-1#comment-2523 davidebowman Mon, 04 Aug 2008 12:15:57 +0000 http://www.davidebowman.com/?p=1101#comment-2523 With business, this is absolutely true today. Why did the video of the Comcast repair guy sleeping resonate with so many people? Because it is part of a larger pattern of bad behavior by the company. Could they have predicted that he would do this? No. But the fact that they have made so many consumers upset, creates a pattern where by this can happen. It is symbolic of their service. Thus, I can't tell you with a high degree of certainty when a company will implode, but I can say with confidence that if you treat customers poorly it will haunt you. You never know when that customer is an influential blogger or a connected consumer. When you find out, if it is indicative of something larger, you are in big trouble. Little things like being nice, accepting responsibility, treating employees well (so they do the same for customers) all make big differences in the final outcome. With business, this is absolutely true today. Why did the video of the Comcast repair guy sleeping resonate with so many people? Because it is part of a larger pattern of bad behavior by the company. Could they have predicted that he would do this? No. But the fact that they have made so many consumers upset, creates a pattern where by this can happen. It is symbolic of their service. Thus, I can’t tell you with a high degree of certainty when a company will implode, but I can say with confidence that if you treat customers poorly it will haunt you. You never know when that customer is an influential blogger or a connected consumer. When you find out, if it is indicative of something larger, you are in big trouble. Little things like being nice, accepting responsibility, treating employees well (so they do the same for customers) all make big differences in the final outcome.

]]> By: Nick Wright http://www.davidebowman.com/the-physics-of-marketing-chaos-theory.htm/comment-page-1#comment-2495 Nick Wright Sat, 02 Aug 2008 16:28:02 +0000 http://www.davidebowman.com/?p=1101#comment-2495 David, If I'm working in a direct customer support position (which is an aspect of my job), I'd first respond accordingly to irritated customers by listening to them... accessing the situation and then either solving the problem myself--OR--finding a co-worker who can help. Then after the problem was solved, I'd follow up with the customer to make sure the problem hasn't arisen again. And if appropriate, on that follow up call I'd recommend an add-on product or service that may help prevent similar problems in the future. Good post David. Nick Wright David,

If I’m working in a direct customer support position (which is an aspect of my job), I’d first respond accordingly to irritated customers by listening to them… accessing the situation and then either solving the problem myself–OR–finding a co-worker who can help.

Then after the problem was solved, I’d follow up with the customer to make sure the problem hasn’t arisen again.

And if appropriate, on that follow up call I’d recommend an add-on product or service that may help prevent similar problems in the future.

Good post David.

Nick Wright

]]> By: Chad http://www.davidebowman.com/the-physics-of-marketing-chaos-theory.htm/comment-page-1#comment-2483 Chad Fri, 01 Aug 2008 21:54:31 +0000 http://www.davidebowman.com/?p=1101#comment-2483 Chaos Theory – I took a class on this many years ago when I was in college. Very interesting class and it definitely changes your perception of the world around you. I remember my professor giving a good example: Imagine a drop of rain falling on the peak of a mountain in the Continental Divide. If the rain drop fall just a fraction of an inch on the west side of the peak, that rain drop ends up flowing out to the Pacific Ocean. If the rain drop falls just to the east of the peak it will end up in the Gulf of Mexico. A very slight change in initial position can have a drastic change on the final position. You can see chaos everywhere. 22 years ago I got a call on the phone that turned out to be the wrong number. Well, through that wrong phone number I ended meeting my wife and we now have three children. That one minuscule event altered my life forever. My wife uses terms like destiny to describe such behavior. But if I tell her our relationship can be described with simple chaos theory, I'm all of a sudden the insensitive jerk. The weather is notoriously chaotic in nature, but a definite pattern exists (a chaotic attractor). I can't tell you exactly what the temperature will be tomorrow at 2PM. But, I can say with a high degree of certainty that it will not drop below freezing or likewise exceed 120F. The world around you is not completely random, historically speaking I could say that the temperature this time of year will be around 90F. It is these patterns that you can study and leverage to make predictions... just not with a high level of certainty. Chaos Theory – I took a class on this many years ago when I was in college. Very interesting class and it definitely changes your perception of the world around you. I remember my professor giving a good example: Imagine a drop of rain falling on the peak of a mountain in the Continental Divide. If the rain drop fall just a fraction of an inch on the west side of the peak, that rain drop ends up flowing out to the Pacific Ocean. If the rain drop falls just to the east of the peak it will end up in the Gulf of Mexico. A very slight change in initial position can have a drastic change on the final position.

You can see chaos everywhere. 22 years ago I got a call on the phone that turned out to be the wrong number. Well, through that wrong phone number I ended meeting my wife and we now have three children. That one minuscule event altered my life forever. My wife uses terms like destiny to describe such behavior. But if I tell her our relationship can be described with simple chaos theory, I’m all of a sudden the insensitive jerk.

The weather is notoriously chaotic in nature, but a definite pattern exists (a chaotic attractor). I can’t tell you exactly what the temperature will be tomorrow at 2PM. But, I can say with a high degree of certainty that it will not drop below freezing or likewise exceed 120F. The world around you is not completely random, historically speaking I could say that the temperature this time of year will be around 90F. It is these patterns that you can study and leverage to make predictions… just not with a high level of certainty.

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