Re-Igniting Your Jaded Employees' Passion for Work
Every business can have a management slump. But what do you do with apathetic employees who are having trouble recovering from broken promises and never-realized visions? Try this plan.
April 05, 2005
By Stever Robbins
Editor's note: This article was originally published in Harvard Business School's Working Knowledge.
Q: I'm interested in motivating long-term employees who have fifteen-plus years with my company. This group has heard all the visions of transient managers who were unfortunately only furthering their own careers, and they've become apathetic to improving their own lot, space or environment. I’m keen to hear the latest thoughts on whether it’s possible for these people to shift their thinking and practices.
A: Current wisdom says, "Hire for attitude and train for skills." That's because humans are stubborn and don't like change. Well, that’s not exactly true: We like change when other people are changing to make our lives easier. That's why social change takes a generation--the old mindset has to die off to make room for the new. But all is not hopeless. When attitudes are just a reaction to the work environment, people can change. Fix the situation, show them it's fixed, and let the change begin!
People get cynical and apathetic for good reason. Scandal after scandal reveals golden parachutes, endless perks and upper managers making millions without linking pay and performance. Jim Collins says in his book Good to Great that there's even evidence that the worse the leader, the more he or she takes home.
But let's assume you and your management team are prepared to be accountable, will accept a pay level the rank-and-file consider reasonable, and genuinely want to create a new company culture.
Do as I Do
Start with action, not words; people want results, not promises. You'll have to start by delivering change that's in their best interest, and back up your action with words, not the other way around.
A good place to start is by making a visible sacrifice for the company's common good. You might consider cutting your own pay, bonus and raise--especially if you've had layoffs recently. Give it back to the people who made it: your employees. Increase their benefits, hire back some laid-off workers or boost salaries. The role model here is Aaron Feuerstein, CEO of Malden Mills, who in 1995 kept 3,000 employees on the payroll after a fire leveled the business. His belief was that his responsibilities extended to employees and the community as well as to shareholders.
Next, give everyone a sense that showing up for work could make their lives better. At first, they won't be able or willing to believe you. You'll have to combat their lack of emotion with added emotion. Find the emotional connection people have with the company.
Some research indicates that people are most motivated when challenged to use their strengths to reach goals they think are doable. (See Authentic Happiness by Marty Seligman.) Find emotionally important goals by asking, "What's important about the work you do?" When they answer, ask, "What's important about that? What will that do?" a few times. Their answers will reveal values and passions. If they reply, "for the pay" and don't connect with any further goals, they may have no job passion to awaken. If someone's never had job-related hopes, dreams or aspirations, he or she probably won't develop them mid-career. (Significant emotional and spiritual events might do it, but that's a bit beyond the scope of this column. Business research suggests it's easier to change skills than attitudes, so your best bet may be to start hiring people with a more engaged attitude.) Watch people's faces: If they become animated or talk with longing in their voice, you've tapped into something real.
Now ask them to stay in that passion and describe their perfect job. Have 'em go wild. If the past culture has been especially oppressive, you'll probably be amazed at how unwild their dreams actually are. Things like "having a desk with three drawers" may be a big deal. Ask them, "What one thing can I do to help you move closer to that dream?"
Listen very, very carefully to the answer; you're at a critical moment. They're telling you how you can send an emotional message, not just a verbal one. Whatever they say to do, just do it. Say, "I appreciate your sharing that. I'll keep it in mind." Don't promise anything; they've learned that promises get broken. Just quietly get it done. Then check back and ask about next steps. As soon as possible, have them suggest what they can do to drive the change further.
Beware the temptation of self-promotion! Don't crow about how responsive you're being. It's no big deal. Choose small things and take visible actions that people find meaningful. Actions are what people want, not words. They'll notice, and the word will spread that you're a leader who actually makes life better, rather than issues empty promises.
Once you've taken action and people have evidence that things can be different, it's time to encourage them to step up and do their part. Once they start going, your job is supporting them and helping them align their actions with the direction of the overall company.
This isn't an easy process. If people are truly happy in their work environment, don't expect them to embrace change. But if the apathy comes from bad leadership and unchanging drudgery, you can change that, and they'll get it once you start demonstrating that you're truly different.
Help the Change Take Root
Be vigilant! People will have trouble adapting to you. Even if they're psyched to take the reins, they may need help coping. I worked with a secretary who dreamed of becoming a project manager. When given her first project, she discovered she didn't know how to step up and lead. In meetings, she deferred to senior people out of sheer habit, even when the responsibility was hers as project manager. We worked to help her define her role and to acquire the project management skills to master the position. As a leader, you foster change that may push people into new territory. Be sensitive, and be prepared to intervene and help insure their success.
As people take charge, they might charge right in someone else's face. Look out for turf battles, injured egos, feelings of exclusion and other potential hot spots. When war looks likely, step in and help the participants negotiate a settlement. Get them together, help them find common goals (or remind them of the team's common goals), and then give them the responsibility for working out their differences. Be available as a resource, but get them in the habit of behaving like mature adults. Once you've tapped their motivation, it's up to you to help them grow to work as a strong team that produces solid, substantial results.
Stever Robbins is an authority on overwhelm in the workplace. A veteran of nine startups (can you say: overwhelm to the max?) over 25 years, Stever co-designed the "Foundations" segment of Harvard's MBA program. He is the author of It Takes a Lot More than Attitude to Lead a Stellar Organization, and has appeared on CNN-fn and in the Wall Street Journal, Investors Business Daily and Harvard Business Review. Stever and his monthly newsletter can be found at http://SteverRobbins.com/.
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Friday, May 06, 2005
Tuesday, February 15, 2005
Be open -- be secure
Be open -- be secure
[ By David Gabel, Contributor ]
It may seem like a paradox, but companies can use open source software (OSS) to secure the whole enterprise. The contradiction comes in this observation: Information that is secure is normally not open. Can you imagine some sort of classified government information that was open to view? Now, we know that some of that type information does become public, but not to the delight of the people who want it to remain under wraps.
It's the same for sensitive personal information: It's not open. So why can OSS, which a company can download the source code and modify it to suit its particular situation, secure the enterprise? If everyone can see it, then how secure can it be?
The solution to the paradox is in the nature of the information and the software. The information companies want to secure needs to stay private, but the toll for accomplishing that task is available for study, download and modification. That is the nature of OSS and, many people argue, that is the primary benefit of such software.
"Open source software is sometimes more secure than proprietary software, sometimes it isn't," said David A. Wheeler, author of the reports "Why Open Source Software/Free Software (OSS/FS, FLOSS or FOSS)? Look at the Numbers!" and "Secure Programming for Linux and Unix HOW-TO." "In fact," he added, "a lot of enterprises would be in trouble were they not using OSS." But, he added, companies have to first determine their security requirements. Then, they need to examine and compare their options.
It's much like everything else in life, or at least in information technology. You have to suit the tool to the requirement, after determining which tools are available to take care of that need and then compare the tools against one another to see which is the best fit.
But what can OSS tools do for companies? For one thing, there is a whole list of OSS that performs various security functions, from Snort, which is a very well-known and widely used intrusion-detection solution, to firewalls, to software that will lock down a PC and stop intrusion.
"You can just about create your whole security infrastructure [with OSS] and be very well served," said Bernard Golden, president of Navica Inc., a systems integrator that uses open source software in many of its applications.
He added that he has several clients who have used OSS, either alone or in combination with proprietary software, to build their security setup. Wheeler reinforced this point as well, noting, "OSS is already important to computer security." He also said the U.S. Department of Defense has been using free and OSS for computer security purposes for years.
Golden explains that security software is often like a burglar alarm: People put them in after an intrusion. In IT, it's too often an afterthought in system planning, and when IT managers get to thinking about it, there's no budget left. So the lower cost of OSS (for most OSS, there isn't a license fee) makes it a good choice.
So, if a company decides to use OSS for its security requirements, then is there a good method for determining how to do it? Of course. It turns out that it's a lot like the method a company would use for any similar kind of choice.
For example, Wheeler said, the most important task is that companies need to first figure out what their requirements are. "That's a step too many people forget," he added. "What are your threats? What are you trying to accomplish?"
He noted that it might be that once a company analyzes its situation thoroughly, it will find it may not need software for at least some of the requirements. "Maybe buying a separate un-networked machine will meet your requirements, for example," he said.
Once a company has determined what its needs are, it will have to answer more questions: Should it create an information fortress into which no one can penetrate? Or does it just need firewalls? If there specific machines that need to be locked down, then Golden recommends a multi-step process for going about it. "First, harden the machine, then protect the machine, then harden the network and then, finally, manage the whole thing," he said.
By hardening, he means putting policies in place that will keep the machine secure. And protecting, he said, is putting something (a firewall, perhaps) in front of the machine to keep people from getting to it.
Once the company has identified the tasks and the steps to follow, it is in the selection stage. Said Wheeler: "Once you get down to the point of starting to evaluate specific software products, you need to evaluate them on the basis of a whole host of important attributes." He proposed four basic steps for selection: identify candidates, read existing reviews, briefly compare the leading programs' attributes to the company's needs and then perform an in-depth analysis of the top candidates."
Golden explained that once the software is in place, managing a company's security situation is critical. That's because there will be so much security information generated by the company's security solutions that it will be difficult making sense out of it all.
"How can you use that real-time information?" he asked rhetorically. Well, there are various open source tools for this management task. Golden mentioned Analysis Console for Intrusion Databases (ACID) in particular, noting that companies can hook ACID up to a database and to Snort, and "ACID will let you make sense out of mountains of data."
So it's a sure thing that companies can secure their enterprise with OSS. If they do, there will be two distinct advantages: lower cost than proprietary software, and the fact that OSS is, well, open. If a company gets attacked, it may be able to change its security infrastructure quickly. And there's a huge community of developers that can help companies and get patches ready much faster than a proprietary vendor typically does. In some ways, this makes the open source solution better than the alternatives.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR:
David Gabel has been testing and writing about computer and information technology for 25 years.
[ By David Gabel, Contributor ]
It may seem like a paradox, but companies can use open source software (OSS) to secure the whole enterprise. The contradiction comes in this observation: Information that is secure is normally not open. Can you imagine some sort of classified government information that was open to view? Now, we know that some of that type information does become public, but not to the delight of the people who want it to remain under wraps.
It's the same for sensitive personal information: It's not open. So why can OSS, which a company can download the source code and modify it to suit its particular situation, secure the enterprise? If everyone can see it, then how secure can it be?
The solution to the paradox is in the nature of the information and the software. The information companies want to secure needs to stay private, but the toll for accomplishing that task is available for study, download and modification. That is the nature of OSS and, many people argue, that is the primary benefit of such software.
"Open source software is sometimes more secure than proprietary software, sometimes it isn't," said David A. Wheeler, author of the reports "Why Open Source Software/Free Software (OSS/FS, FLOSS or FOSS)? Look at the Numbers!" and "Secure Programming for Linux and Unix HOW-TO." "In fact," he added, "a lot of enterprises would be in trouble were they not using OSS." But, he added, companies have to first determine their security requirements. Then, they need to examine and compare their options.
It's much like everything else in life, or at least in information technology. You have to suit the tool to the requirement, after determining which tools are available to take care of that need and then compare the tools against one another to see which is the best fit.
But what can OSS tools do for companies? For one thing, there is a whole list of OSS that performs various security functions, from Snort, which is a very well-known and widely used intrusion-detection solution, to firewalls, to software that will lock down a PC and stop intrusion.
"You can just about create your whole security infrastructure [with OSS] and be very well served," said Bernard Golden, president of Navica Inc., a systems integrator that uses open source software in many of its applications.
He added that he has several clients who have used OSS, either alone or in combination with proprietary software, to build their security setup. Wheeler reinforced this point as well, noting, "OSS is already important to computer security." He also said the U.S. Department of Defense has been using free and OSS for computer security purposes for years.
Golden explains that security software is often like a burglar alarm: People put them in after an intrusion. In IT, it's too often an afterthought in system planning, and when IT managers get to thinking about it, there's no budget left. So the lower cost of OSS (for most OSS, there isn't a license fee) makes it a good choice.
So, if a company decides to use OSS for its security requirements, then is there a good method for determining how to do it? Of course. It turns out that it's a lot like the method a company would use for any similar kind of choice.
For example, Wheeler said, the most important task is that companies need to first figure out what their requirements are. "That's a step too many people forget," he added. "What are your threats? What are you trying to accomplish?"
He noted that it might be that once a company analyzes its situation thoroughly, it will find it may not need software for at least some of the requirements. "Maybe buying a separate un-networked machine will meet your requirements, for example," he said.
Once a company has determined what its needs are, it will have to answer more questions: Should it create an information fortress into which no one can penetrate? Or does it just need firewalls? If there specific machines that need to be locked down, then Golden recommends a multi-step process for going about it. "First, harden the machine, then protect the machine, then harden the network and then, finally, manage the whole thing," he said.
By hardening, he means putting policies in place that will keep the machine secure. And protecting, he said, is putting something (a firewall, perhaps) in front of the machine to keep people from getting to it.
Once the company has identified the tasks and the steps to follow, it is in the selection stage. Said Wheeler: "Once you get down to the point of starting to evaluate specific software products, you need to evaluate them on the basis of a whole host of important attributes." He proposed four basic steps for selection: identify candidates, read existing reviews, briefly compare the leading programs' attributes to the company's needs and then perform an in-depth analysis of the top candidates."
Golden explained that once the software is in place, managing a company's security situation is critical. That's because there will be so much security information generated by the company's security solutions that it will be difficult making sense out of it all.
"How can you use that real-time information?" he asked rhetorically. Well, there are various open source tools for this management task. Golden mentioned Analysis Console for Intrusion Databases (ACID) in particular, noting that companies can hook ACID up to a database and to Snort, and "ACID will let you make sense out of mountains of data."
So it's a sure thing that companies can secure their enterprise with OSS. If they do, there will be two distinct advantages: lower cost than proprietary software, and the fact that OSS is, well, open. If a company gets attacked, it may be able to change its security infrastructure quickly. And there's a huge community of developers that can help companies and get patches ready much faster than a proprietary vendor typically does. In some ways, this makes the open source solution better than the alternatives.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR:
David Gabel has been testing and writing about computer and information technology for 25 years.
Be open -- be secure
Be open -- be secure
[ By David Gabel, Contributor ]
It may seem like a paradox, but companies can use open source software (OSS) to secure the whole enterprise. The contradiction comes in this observation: Information that is secure is normally not open. Can you imagine some sort of classified government information that was open to view? Now, we know that some of that type information does become public, but not to the delight of the people who want it to remain under wraps.
It's the same for sensitive personal information: It's not open. So why can OSS, which a company can download the source code and modify it to suit its particular situation, secure the enterprise? If everyone can see it, then how secure can it be?
The solution to the paradox is in the nature of the information and the software. The information companies want to secure needs to stay private, but the toll for accomplishing that task is available for study, download and modification. That is the nature of OSS and, many people argue, that is the primary benefit of such software.
"Open source software is sometimes more secure than proprietary software, sometimes it isn't," said David A. Wheeler, author of the reports "Why Open Source Software/Free Software (OSS/FS, FLOSS or FOSS)? Look at the Numbers!" and "Secure Programming for Linux and Unix HOW-TO." "In fact," he added, "a lot of enterprises would be in trouble were they not using OSS." But, he added, companies have to first determine their security requirements. Then, they need to examine and compare their options.
It's much like everything else in life, or at least in information technology. You have to suit the tool to the requirement, after determining which tools are available to take care of that need and then compare the tools against one another to see which is the best fit.
But what can OSS tools do for companies? For one thing, there is a whole list of OSS that performs various security functions, from Snort, which is a very well-known and widely used intrusion-detection solution, to firewalls, to software that will lock down a PC and stop intrusion.
"You can just about create your whole security infrastructure [with OSS] and be very well served," said Bernard Golden, president of Navica Inc., a systems integrator that uses open source software in many of its applications.
He added that he has several clients who have used OSS, either alone or in combination with proprietary software, to build their security setup. Wheeler reinforced this point as well, noting, "OSS is already important to computer security." He also said the U.S. Department of Defense has been using free and OSS for computer security purposes for years.
Golden explains that security software is often like a burglar alarm: People put them in after an intrusion. In IT, it's too often an afterthought in system planning, and when IT managers get to thinking about it, there's no budget left. So the lower cost of OSS (for most OSS, there isn't a license fee) makes it a good choice.
So, if a company decides to use OSS for its security requirements, then is there a good method for determining how to do it? Of course. It turns out that it's a lot like the method a company would use for any similar kind of choice.
For example, Wheeler said, the most important task is that companies need to first figure out what their requirements are. "That's a step too many people forget," he added. "What are your threats? What are you trying to accomplish?"
He noted that it might be that once a company analyzes its situation thoroughly, it will find it may not need software for at least some of the requirements. "Maybe buying a separate un-networked machine will meet your requirements, for example," he said.
Once a company has determined what its needs are, it will have to answer more questions: Should it create an information fortress into which no one can penetrate? Or does it just need firewalls? If there specific machines that need to be locked down, then Golden recommends a multi-step process for going about it. "First, harden the machine, then protect the machine, then harden the network and then, finally, manage the whole thing," he said.
By hardening, he means putting policies in place that will keep the machine secure. And protecting, he said, is putting something (a firewall, perhaps) in front of the machine to keep people from getting to it.
Once the company has identified the tasks and the steps to follow, it is in the selection stage. Said Wheeler: "Once you get down to the point of starting to evaluate specific software products, you need to evaluate them on the basis of a whole host of important attributes." He proposed four basic steps for selection: identify candidates, read existing reviews, briefly compare the leading programs' attributes to the company's needs and then perform an in-depth analysis of the top candidates."
Golden explained that once the software is in place, managing a company's security situation is critical. That's because there will be so much security information generated by the company's security solutions that it will be difficult making sense out of it all.
"How can you use that real-time information?" he asked rhetorically. Well, there are various open source tools for this management task. Golden mentioned Analysis Console for Intrusion Databases (ACID) in particular, noting that companies can hook ACID up to a database and to Snort, and "ACID will let you make sense out of mountains of data."
So it's a sure thing that companies can secure their enterprise with OSS. If they do, there will be two distinct advantages: lower cost than proprietary software, and the fact that OSS is, well, open. If a company gets attacked, it may be able to change its security infrastructure quickly. And there's a huge community of developers that can help companies and get patches ready much faster than a proprietary vendor typically does. In some ways, this makes the open source solution better than the alternatives.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR:
David Gabel has been testing and writing about computer and information technology for 25 years.
[ By David Gabel, Contributor ]
It may seem like a paradox, but companies can use open source software (OSS) to secure the whole enterprise. The contradiction comes in this observation: Information that is secure is normally not open. Can you imagine some sort of classified government information that was open to view? Now, we know that some of that type information does become public, but not to the delight of the people who want it to remain under wraps.
It's the same for sensitive personal information: It's not open. So why can OSS, which a company can download the source code and modify it to suit its particular situation, secure the enterprise? If everyone can see it, then how secure can it be?
The solution to the paradox is in the nature of the information and the software. The information companies want to secure needs to stay private, but the toll for accomplishing that task is available for study, download and modification. That is the nature of OSS and, many people argue, that is the primary benefit of such software.
"Open source software is sometimes more secure than proprietary software, sometimes it isn't," said David A. Wheeler, author of the reports "Why Open Source Software/Free Software (OSS/FS, FLOSS or FOSS)? Look at the Numbers!" and "Secure Programming for Linux and Unix HOW-TO." "In fact," he added, "a lot of enterprises would be in trouble were they not using OSS." But, he added, companies have to first determine their security requirements. Then, they need to examine and compare their options.
It's much like everything else in life, or at least in information technology. You have to suit the tool to the requirement, after determining which tools are available to take care of that need and then compare the tools against one another to see which is the best fit.
But what can OSS tools do for companies? For one thing, there is a whole list of OSS that performs various security functions, from Snort, which is a very well-known and widely used intrusion-detection solution, to firewalls, to software that will lock down a PC and stop intrusion.
"You can just about create your whole security infrastructure [with OSS] and be very well served," said Bernard Golden, president of Navica Inc., a systems integrator that uses open source software in many of its applications.
He added that he has several clients who have used OSS, either alone or in combination with proprietary software, to build their security setup. Wheeler reinforced this point as well, noting, "OSS is already important to computer security." He also said the U.S. Department of Defense has been using free and OSS for computer security purposes for years.
Golden explains that security software is often like a burglar alarm: People put them in after an intrusion. In IT, it's too often an afterthought in system planning, and when IT managers get to thinking about it, there's no budget left. So the lower cost of OSS (for most OSS, there isn't a license fee) makes it a good choice.
So, if a company decides to use OSS for its security requirements, then is there a good method for determining how to do it? Of course. It turns out that it's a lot like the method a company would use for any similar kind of choice.
For example, Wheeler said, the most important task is that companies need to first figure out what their requirements are. "That's a step too many people forget," he added. "What are your threats? What are you trying to accomplish?"
He noted that it might be that once a company analyzes its situation thoroughly, it will find it may not need software for at least some of the requirements. "Maybe buying a separate un-networked machine will meet your requirements, for example," he said.
Once a company has determined what its needs are, it will have to answer more questions: Should it create an information fortress into which no one can penetrate? Or does it just need firewalls? If there specific machines that need to be locked down, then Golden recommends a multi-step process for going about it. "First, harden the machine, then protect the machine, then harden the network and then, finally, manage the whole thing," he said.
By hardening, he means putting policies in place that will keep the machine secure. And protecting, he said, is putting something (a firewall, perhaps) in front of the machine to keep people from getting to it.
Once the company has identified the tasks and the steps to follow, it is in the selection stage. Said Wheeler: "Once you get down to the point of starting to evaluate specific software products, you need to evaluate them on the basis of a whole host of important attributes." He proposed four basic steps for selection: identify candidates, read existing reviews, briefly compare the leading programs' attributes to the company's needs and then perform an in-depth analysis of the top candidates."
Golden explained that once the software is in place, managing a company's security situation is critical. That's because there will be so much security information generated by the company's security solutions that it will be difficult making sense out of it all.
"How can you use that real-time information?" he asked rhetorically. Well, there are various open source tools for this management task. Golden mentioned Analysis Console for Intrusion Databases (ACID) in particular, noting that companies can hook ACID up to a database and to Snort, and "ACID will let you make sense out of mountains of data."
So it's a sure thing that companies can secure their enterprise with OSS. If they do, there will be two distinct advantages: lower cost than proprietary software, and the fact that OSS is, well, open. If a company gets attacked, it may be able to change its security infrastructure quickly. And there's a huge community of developers that can help companies and get patches ready much faster than a proprietary vendor typically does. In some ways, this makes the open source solution better than the alternatives.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR:
David Gabel has been testing and writing about computer and information technology for 25 years.
Be open -- be secure
Be open -- be secure
[ By David Gabel, Contributor ]
It may seem like a paradox, but companies can use open source software (OSS) to secure the whole enterprise. The contradiction comes in this observation: Information that is secure is normally not open. Can you imagine some sort of classified government information that was open to view? Now, we know that some of that type information does become public, but not to the delight of the people who want it to remain under wraps.
It's the same for sensitive personal information: It's not open. So why can OSS, which a company can download the source code and modify it to suit its particular situation, secure the enterprise? If everyone can see it, then how secure can it be?
The solution to the paradox is in the nature of the information and the software. The information companies want to secure needs to stay private, but the toll for accomplishing that task is available for study, download and modification. That is the nature of OSS and, many people argue, that is the primary benefit of such software.
"Open source software is sometimes more secure than proprietary software, sometimes it isn't," said David A. Wheeler, author of the reports "Why Open Source Software/Free Software (OSS/FS, FLOSS or FOSS)? Look at the Numbers!" and "Secure Programming for Linux and Unix HOW-TO." "In fact," he added, "a lot of enterprises would be in trouble were they not using OSS." But, he added, companies have to first determine their security requirements. Then, they need to examine and compare their options.
It's much like everything else in life, or at least in information technology. You have to suit the tool to the requirement, after determining which tools are available to take care of that need and then compare the tools against one another to see which is the best fit.
But what can OSS tools do for companies? For one thing, there is a whole list of OSS that performs various security functions, from Snort, which is a very well-known and widely used intrusion-detection solution, to firewalls, to software that will lock down a PC and stop intrusion.
"You can just about create your whole security infrastructure [with OSS] and be very well served," said Bernard Golden, president of Navica Inc., a systems integrator that uses open source software in many of its applications.
He added that he has several clients who have used OSS, either alone or in combination with proprietary software, to build their security setup. Wheeler reinforced this point as well, noting, "OSS is already important to computer security." He also said the U.S. Department of Defense has been using free and OSS for computer security purposes for years.
Golden explains that security software is often like a burglar alarm: People put them in after an intrusion. In IT, it's too often an afterthought in system planning, and when IT managers get to thinking about it, there's no budget left. So the lower cost of OSS (for most OSS, there isn't a license fee) makes it a good choice.
So, if a company decides to use OSS for its security requirements, then is there a good method for determining how to do it? Of course. It turns out that it's a lot like the method a company would use for any similar kind of choice.
For example, Wheeler said, the most important task is that companies need to first figure out what their requirements are. "That's a step too many people forget," he added. "What are your threats? What are you trying to accomplish?"
He noted that it might be that once a company analyzes its situation thoroughly, it will find it may not need software for at least some of the requirements. "Maybe buying a separate un-networked machine will meet your requirements, for example," he said.
Once a company has determined what its needs are, it will have to answer more questions: Should it create an information fortress into which no one can penetrate? Or does it just need firewalls? If there specific machines that need to be locked down, then Golden recommends a multi-step process for going about it. "First, harden the machine, then protect the machine, then harden the network and then, finally, manage the whole thing," he said.
By hardening, he means putting policies in place that will keep the machine secure. And protecting, he said, is putting something (a firewall, perhaps) in front of the machine to keep people from getting to it.
Once the company has identified the tasks and the steps to follow, it is in the selection stage. Said Wheeler: "Once you get down to the point of starting to evaluate specific software products, you need to evaluate them on the basis of a whole host of important attributes." He proposed four basic steps for selection: identify candidates, read existing reviews, briefly compare the leading programs' attributes to the company's needs and then perform an in-depth analysis of the top candidates."
Golden explained that once the software is in place, managing a company's security situation is critical. That's because there will be so much security information generated by the company's security solutions that it will be difficult making sense out of it all.
"How can you use that real-time information?" he asked rhetorically. Well, there are various open source tools for this management task. Golden mentioned Analysis Console for Intrusion Databases (ACID) in particular, noting that companies can hook ACID up to a database and to Snort, and "ACID will let you make sense out of mountains of data."
So it's a sure thing that companies can secure their enterprise with OSS. If they do, there will be two distinct advantages: lower cost than proprietary software, and the fact that OSS is, well, open. If a company gets attacked, it may be able to change its security infrastructure quickly. And there's a huge community of developers that can help companies and get patches ready much faster than a proprietary vendor typically does. In some ways, this makes the open source solution better than the alternatives.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR:
David Gabel has been testing and writing about computer and information technology for 25 years.
[ By David Gabel, Contributor ]
It may seem like a paradox, but companies can use open source software (OSS) to secure the whole enterprise. The contradiction comes in this observation: Information that is secure is normally not open. Can you imagine some sort of classified government information that was open to view? Now, we know that some of that type information does become public, but not to the delight of the people who want it to remain under wraps.
It's the same for sensitive personal information: It's not open. So why can OSS, which a company can download the source code and modify it to suit its particular situation, secure the enterprise? If everyone can see it, then how secure can it be?
The solution to the paradox is in the nature of the information and the software. The information companies want to secure needs to stay private, but the toll for accomplishing that task is available for study, download and modification. That is the nature of OSS and, many people argue, that is the primary benefit of such software.
"Open source software is sometimes more secure than proprietary software, sometimes it isn't," said David A. Wheeler, author of the reports "Why Open Source Software/Free Software (OSS/FS, FLOSS or FOSS)? Look at the Numbers!" and "Secure Programming for Linux and Unix HOW-TO." "In fact," he added, "a lot of enterprises would be in trouble were they not using OSS." But, he added, companies have to first determine their security requirements. Then, they need to examine and compare their options.
It's much like everything else in life, or at least in information technology. You have to suit the tool to the requirement, after determining which tools are available to take care of that need and then compare the tools against one another to see which is the best fit.
But what can OSS tools do for companies? For one thing, there is a whole list of OSS that performs various security functions, from Snort, which is a very well-known and widely used intrusion-detection solution, to firewalls, to software that will lock down a PC and stop intrusion.
"You can just about create your whole security infrastructure [with OSS] and be very well served," said Bernard Golden, president of Navica Inc., a systems integrator that uses open source software in many of its applications.
He added that he has several clients who have used OSS, either alone or in combination with proprietary software, to build their security setup. Wheeler reinforced this point as well, noting, "OSS is already important to computer security." He also said the U.S. Department of Defense has been using free and OSS for computer security purposes for years.
Golden explains that security software is often like a burglar alarm: People put them in after an intrusion. In IT, it's too often an afterthought in system planning, and when IT managers get to thinking about it, there's no budget left. So the lower cost of OSS (for most OSS, there isn't a license fee) makes it a good choice.
So, if a company decides to use OSS for its security requirements, then is there a good method for determining how to do it? Of course. It turns out that it's a lot like the method a company would use for any similar kind of choice.
For example, Wheeler said, the most important task is that companies need to first figure out what their requirements are. "That's a step too many people forget," he added. "What are your threats? What are you trying to accomplish?"
He noted that it might be that once a company analyzes its situation thoroughly, it will find it may not need software for at least some of the requirements. "Maybe buying a separate un-networked machine will meet your requirements, for example," he said.
Once a company has determined what its needs are, it will have to answer more questions: Should it create an information fortress into which no one can penetrate? Or does it just need firewalls? If there specific machines that need to be locked down, then Golden recommends a multi-step process for going about it. "First, harden the machine, then protect the machine, then harden the network and then, finally, manage the whole thing," he said.
By hardening, he means putting policies in place that will keep the machine secure. And protecting, he said, is putting something (a firewall, perhaps) in front of the machine to keep people from getting to it.
Once the company has identified the tasks and the steps to follow, it is in the selection stage. Said Wheeler: "Once you get down to the point of starting to evaluate specific software products, you need to evaluate them on the basis of a whole host of important attributes." He proposed four basic steps for selection: identify candidates, read existing reviews, briefly compare the leading programs' attributes to the company's needs and then perform an in-depth analysis of the top candidates."
Golden explained that once the software is in place, managing a company's security situation is critical. That's because there will be so much security information generated by the company's security solutions that it will be difficult making sense out of it all.
"How can you use that real-time information?" he asked rhetorically. Well, there are various open source tools for this management task. Golden mentioned Analysis Console for Intrusion Databases (ACID) in particular, noting that companies can hook ACID up to a database and to Snort, and "ACID will let you make sense out of mountains of data."
So it's a sure thing that companies can secure their enterprise with OSS. If they do, there will be two distinct advantages: lower cost than proprietary software, and the fact that OSS is, well, open. If a company gets attacked, it may be able to change its security infrastructure quickly. And there's a huge community of developers that can help companies and get patches ready much faster than a proprietary vendor typically does. In some ways, this makes the open source solution better than the alternatives.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR:
David Gabel has been testing and writing about computer and information technology for 25 years.
Be open -- be secure
Be open -- be secure
[ By David Gabel, Contributor ]
It may seem like a paradox, but companies can use open source software (OSS) to secure the whole enterprise. The contradiction comes in this observation: Information that is secure is normally not open. Can you imagine some sort of classified government information that was open to view? Now, we know that some of that type information does become public, but not to the delight of the people who want it to remain under wraps.
It's the same for sensitive personal information: It's not open. So why can OSS, which a company can download the source code and modify it to suit its particular situation, secure the enterprise? If everyone can see it, then how secure can it be?
The solution to the paradox is in the nature of the information and the software. The information companies want to secure needs to stay private, but the toll for accomplishing that task is available for study, download and modification. That is the nature of OSS and, many people argue, that is the primary benefit of such software.
"Open source software is sometimes more secure than proprietary software, sometimes it isn't," said David A. Wheeler, author of the reports "Why Open Source Software/Free Software (OSS/FS, FLOSS or FOSS)? Look at the Numbers!" and "Secure Programming for Linux and Unix HOW-TO." "In fact," he added, "a lot of enterprises would be in trouble were they not using OSS." But, he added, companies have to first determine their security requirements. Then, they need to examine and compare their options.
It's much like everything else in life, or at least in information technology. You have to suit the tool to the requirement, after determining which tools are available to take care of that need and then compare the tools against one another to see which is the best fit.
But what can OSS tools do for companies? For one thing, there is a whole list of OSS that performs various security functions, from Snort, which is a very well-known and widely used intrusion-detection solution, to firewalls, to software that will lock down a PC and stop intrusion.
"You can just about create your whole security infrastructure [with OSS] and be very well served," said Bernard Golden, president of Navica Inc., a systems integrator that uses open source software in many of its applications.
He added that he has several clients who have used OSS, either alone or in combination with proprietary software, to build their security setup. Wheeler reinforced this point as well, noting, "OSS is already important to computer security." He also said the U.S. Department of Defense has been using free and OSS for computer security purposes for years.
Golden explains that security software is often like a burglar alarm: People put them in after an intrusion. In IT, it's too often an afterthought in system planning, and when IT managers get to thinking about it, there's no budget left. So the lower cost of OSS (for most OSS, there isn't a license fee) makes it a good choice.
So, if a company decides to use OSS for its security requirements, then is there a good method for determining how to do it? Of course. It turns out that it's a lot like the method a company would use for any similar kind of choice.
For example, Wheeler said, the most important task is that companies need to first figure out what their requirements are. "That's a step too many people forget," he added. "What are your threats? What are you trying to accomplish?"
He noted that it might be that once a company analyzes its situation thoroughly, it will find it may not need software for at least some of the requirements. "Maybe buying a separate un-networked machine will meet your requirements, for example," he said.
Once a company has determined what its needs are, it will have to answer more questions: Should it create an information fortress into which no one can penetrate? Or does it just need firewalls? If there specific machines that need to be locked down, then Golden recommends a multi-step process for going about it. "First, harden the machine, then protect the machine, then harden the network and then, finally, manage the whole thing," he said.
By hardening, he means putting policies in place that will keep the machine secure. And protecting, he said, is putting something (a firewall, perhaps) in front of the machine to keep people from getting to it.
Once the company has identified the tasks and the steps to follow, it is in the selection stage. Said Wheeler: "Once you get down to the point of starting to evaluate specific software products, you need to evaluate them on the basis of a whole host of important attributes." He proposed four basic steps for selection: identify candidates, read existing reviews, briefly compare the leading programs' attributes to the company's needs and then perform an in-depth analysis of the top candidates."
Golden explained that once the software is in place, managing a company's security situation is critical. That's because there will be so much security information generated by the company's security solutions that it will be difficult making sense out of it all.
"How can you use that real-time information?" he asked rhetorically. Well, there are various open source tools for this management task. Golden mentioned Analysis Console for Intrusion Databases (ACID) in particular, noting that companies can hook ACID up to a database and to Snort, and "ACID will let you make sense out of mountains of data."
So it's a sure thing that companies can secure their enterprise with OSS. If they do, there will be two distinct advantages: lower cost than proprietary software, and the fact that OSS is, well, open. If a company gets attacked, it may be able to change its security infrastructure quickly. And there's a huge community of developers that can help companies and get patches ready much faster than a proprietary vendor typically does. In some ways, this makes the open source solution better than the alternatives.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR:
David Gabel has been testing and writing about computer and information technology for 25 years.
[ By David Gabel, Contributor ]
It may seem like a paradox, but companies can use open source software (OSS) to secure the whole enterprise. The contradiction comes in this observation: Information that is secure is normally not open. Can you imagine some sort of classified government information that was open to view? Now, we know that some of that type information does become public, but not to the delight of the people who want it to remain under wraps.
It's the same for sensitive personal information: It's not open. So why can OSS, which a company can download the source code and modify it to suit its particular situation, secure the enterprise? If everyone can see it, then how secure can it be?
The solution to the paradox is in the nature of the information and the software. The information companies want to secure needs to stay private, but the toll for accomplishing that task is available for study, download and modification. That is the nature of OSS and, many people argue, that is the primary benefit of such software.
"Open source software is sometimes more secure than proprietary software, sometimes it isn't," said David A. Wheeler, author of the reports "Why Open Source Software/Free Software (OSS/FS, FLOSS or FOSS)? Look at the Numbers!" and "Secure Programming for Linux and Unix HOW-TO." "In fact," he added, "a lot of enterprises would be in trouble were they not using OSS." But, he added, companies have to first determine their security requirements. Then, they need to examine and compare their options.
It's much like everything else in life, or at least in information technology. You have to suit the tool to the requirement, after determining which tools are available to take care of that need and then compare the tools against one another to see which is the best fit.
But what can OSS tools do for companies? For one thing, there is a whole list of OSS that performs various security functions, from Snort, which is a very well-known and widely used intrusion-detection solution, to firewalls, to software that will lock down a PC and stop intrusion.
"You can just about create your whole security infrastructure [with OSS] and be very well served," said Bernard Golden, president of Navica Inc., a systems integrator that uses open source software in many of its applications.
He added that he has several clients who have used OSS, either alone or in combination with proprietary software, to build their security setup. Wheeler reinforced this point as well, noting, "OSS is already important to computer security." He also said the U.S. Department of Defense has been using free and OSS for computer security purposes for years.
Golden explains that security software is often like a burglar alarm: People put them in after an intrusion. In IT, it's too often an afterthought in system planning, and when IT managers get to thinking about it, there's no budget left. So the lower cost of OSS (for most OSS, there isn't a license fee) makes it a good choice.
So, if a company decides to use OSS for its security requirements, then is there a good method for determining how to do it? Of course. It turns out that it's a lot like the method a company would use for any similar kind of choice.
For example, Wheeler said, the most important task is that companies need to first figure out what their requirements are. "That's a step too many people forget," he added. "What are your threats? What are you trying to accomplish?"
He noted that it might be that once a company analyzes its situation thoroughly, it will find it may not need software for at least some of the requirements. "Maybe buying a separate un-networked machine will meet your requirements, for example," he said.
Once a company has determined what its needs are, it will have to answer more questions: Should it create an information fortress into which no one can penetrate? Or does it just need firewalls? If there specific machines that need to be locked down, then Golden recommends a multi-step process for going about it. "First, harden the machine, then protect the machine, then harden the network and then, finally, manage the whole thing," he said.
By hardening, he means putting policies in place that will keep the machine secure. And protecting, he said, is putting something (a firewall, perhaps) in front of the machine to keep people from getting to it.
Once the company has identified the tasks and the steps to follow, it is in the selection stage. Said Wheeler: "Once you get down to the point of starting to evaluate specific software products, you need to evaluate them on the basis of a whole host of important attributes." He proposed four basic steps for selection: identify candidates, read existing reviews, briefly compare the leading programs' attributes to the company's needs and then perform an in-depth analysis of the top candidates."
Golden explained that once the software is in place, managing a company's security situation is critical. That's because there will be so much security information generated by the company's security solutions that it will be difficult making sense out of it all.
"How can you use that real-time information?" he asked rhetorically. Well, there are various open source tools for this management task. Golden mentioned Analysis Console for Intrusion Databases (ACID) in particular, noting that companies can hook ACID up to a database and to Snort, and "ACID will let you make sense out of mountains of data."
So it's a sure thing that companies can secure their enterprise with OSS. If they do, there will be two distinct advantages: lower cost than proprietary software, and the fact that OSS is, well, open. If a company gets attacked, it may be able to change its security infrastructure quickly. And there's a huge community of developers that can help companies and get patches ready much faster than a proprietary vendor typically does. In some ways, this makes the open source solution better than the alternatives.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR:
David Gabel has been testing and writing about computer and information technology for 25 years.
Be open -- be secure
Be open -- be secure
[ By David Gabel, Contributor ]
It may seem like a paradox, but companies can use open source software (OSS) to secure the whole enterprise. The contradiction comes in this observation: Information that is secure is normally not open. Can you imagine some sort of classified government information that was open to view? Now, we know that some of that type information does become public, but not to the delight of the people who want it to remain under wraps.
It's the same for sensitive personal information: It's not open. So why can OSS, which a company can download the source code and modify it to suit its particular situation, secure the enterprise? If everyone can see it, then how secure can it be?
The solution to the paradox is in the nature of the information and the software. The information companies want to secure needs to stay private, but the toll for accomplishing that task is available for study, download and modification. That is the nature of OSS and, many people argue, that is the primary benefit of such software.
"Open source software is sometimes more secure than proprietary software, sometimes it isn't," said David A. Wheeler, author of the reports "Why Open Source Software/Free Software (OSS/FS, FLOSS or FOSS)? Look at the Numbers!" and "Secure Programming for Linux and Unix HOW-TO." "In fact," he added, "a lot of enterprises would be in trouble were they not using OSS." But, he added, companies have to first determine their security requirements. Then, they need to examine and compare their options.
It's much like everything else in life, or at least in information technology. You have to suit the tool to the requirement, after determining which tools are available to take care of that need and then compare the tools against one another to see which is the best fit.
But what can OSS tools do for companies? For one thing, there is a whole list of OSS that performs various security functions, from Snort, which is a very well-known and widely used intrusion-detection solution, to firewalls, to software that will lock down a PC and stop intrusion.
"You can just about create your whole security infrastructure [with OSS] and be very well served," said Bernard Golden, president of Navica Inc., a systems integrator that uses open source software in many of its applications.
He added that he has several clients who have used OSS, either alone or in combination with proprietary software, to build their security setup. Wheeler reinforced this point as well, noting, "OSS is already important to computer security." He also said the U.S. Department of Defense has been using free and OSS for computer security purposes for years.
Golden explains that security software is often like a burglar alarm: People put them in after an intrusion. In IT, it's too often an afterthought in system planning, and when IT managers get to thinking about it, there's no budget left. So the lower cost of OSS (for most OSS, there isn't a license fee) makes it a good choice.
So, if a company decides to use OSS for its security requirements, then is there a good method for determining how to do it? Of course. It turns out that it's a lot like the method a company would use for any similar kind of choice.
For example, Wheeler said, the most important task is that companies need to first figure out what their requirements are. "That's a step too many people forget," he added. "What are your threats? What are you trying to accomplish?"
He noted that it might be that once a company analyzes its situation thoroughly, it will find it may not need software for at least some of the requirements. "Maybe buying a separate un-networked machine will meet your requirements, for example," he said.
Once a company has determined what its needs are, it will have to answer more questions: Should it create an information fortress into which no one can penetrate? Or does it just need firewalls? If there specific machines that need to be locked down, then Golden recommends a multi-step process for going about it. "First, harden the machine, then protect the machine, then harden the network and then, finally, manage the whole thing," he said.
By hardening, he means putting policies in place that will keep the machine secure. And protecting, he said, is putting something (a firewall, perhaps) in front of the machine to keep people from getting to it.
Once the company has identified the tasks and the steps to follow, it is in the selection stage. Said Wheeler: "Once you get down to the point of starting to evaluate specific software products, you need to evaluate them on the basis of a whole host of important attributes." He proposed four basic steps for selection: identify candidates, read existing reviews, briefly compare the leading programs' attributes to the company's needs and then perform an in-depth analysis of the top candidates."
Golden explained that once the software is in place, managing a company's security situation is critical. That's because there will be so much security information generated by the company's security solutions that it will be difficult making sense out of it all.
"How can you use that real-time information?" he asked rhetorically. Well, there are various open source tools for this management task. Golden mentioned Analysis Console for Intrusion Databases (ACID) in particular, noting that companies can hook ACID up to a database and to Snort, and "ACID will let you make sense out of mountains of data."
So it's a sure thing that companies can secure their enterprise with OSS. If they do, there will be two distinct advantages: lower cost than proprietary software, and the fact that OSS is, well, open. If a company gets attacked, it may be able to change its security infrastructure quickly. And there's a huge community of developers that can help companies and get patches ready much faster than a proprietary vendor typically does. In some ways, this makes the open source solution better than the alternatives.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR:
David Gabel has been testing and writing about computer and information technology for 25 years.
[ By David Gabel, Contributor ]
It may seem like a paradox, but companies can use open source software (OSS) to secure the whole enterprise. The contradiction comes in this observation: Information that is secure is normally not open. Can you imagine some sort of classified government information that was open to view? Now, we know that some of that type information does become public, but not to the delight of the people who want it to remain under wraps.
It's the same for sensitive personal information: It's not open. So why can OSS, which a company can download the source code and modify it to suit its particular situation, secure the enterprise? If everyone can see it, then how secure can it be?
The solution to the paradox is in the nature of the information and the software. The information companies want to secure needs to stay private, but the toll for accomplishing that task is available for study, download and modification. That is the nature of OSS and, many people argue, that is the primary benefit of such software.
"Open source software is sometimes more secure than proprietary software, sometimes it isn't," said David A. Wheeler, author of the reports "Why Open Source Software/Free Software (OSS/FS, FLOSS or FOSS)? Look at the Numbers!" and "Secure Programming for Linux and Unix HOW-TO." "In fact," he added, "a lot of enterprises would be in trouble were they not using OSS." But, he added, companies have to first determine their security requirements. Then, they need to examine and compare their options.
It's much like everything else in life, or at least in information technology. You have to suit the tool to the requirement, after determining which tools are available to take care of that need and then compare the tools against one another to see which is the best fit.
But what can OSS tools do for companies? For one thing, there is a whole list of OSS that performs various security functions, from Snort, which is a very well-known and widely used intrusion-detection solution, to firewalls, to software that will lock down a PC and stop intrusion.
"You can just about create your whole security infrastructure [with OSS] and be very well served," said Bernard Golden, president of Navica Inc., a systems integrator that uses open source software in many of its applications.
He added that he has several clients who have used OSS, either alone or in combination with proprietary software, to build their security setup. Wheeler reinforced this point as well, noting, "OSS is already important to computer security." He also said the U.S. Department of Defense has been using free and OSS for computer security purposes for years.
Golden explains that security software is often like a burglar alarm: People put them in after an intrusion. In IT, it's too often an afterthought in system planning, and when IT managers get to thinking about it, there's no budget left. So the lower cost of OSS (for most OSS, there isn't a license fee) makes it a good choice.
So, if a company decides to use OSS for its security requirements, then is there a good method for determining how to do it? Of course. It turns out that it's a lot like the method a company would use for any similar kind of choice.
For example, Wheeler said, the most important task is that companies need to first figure out what their requirements are. "That's a step too many people forget," he added. "What are your threats? What are you trying to accomplish?"
He noted that it might be that once a company analyzes its situation thoroughly, it will find it may not need software for at least some of the requirements. "Maybe buying a separate un-networked machine will meet your requirements, for example," he said.
Once a company has determined what its needs are, it will have to answer more questions: Should it create an information fortress into which no one can penetrate? Or does it just need firewalls? If there specific machines that need to be locked down, then Golden recommends a multi-step process for going about it. "First, harden the machine, then protect the machine, then harden the network and then, finally, manage the whole thing," he said.
By hardening, he means putting policies in place that will keep the machine secure. And protecting, he said, is putting something (a firewall, perhaps) in front of the machine to keep people from getting to it.
Once the company has identified the tasks and the steps to follow, it is in the selection stage. Said Wheeler: "Once you get down to the point of starting to evaluate specific software products, you need to evaluate them on the basis of a whole host of important attributes." He proposed four basic steps for selection: identify candidates, read existing reviews, briefly compare the leading programs' attributes to the company's needs and then perform an in-depth analysis of the top candidates."
Golden explained that once the software is in place, managing a company's security situation is critical. That's because there will be so much security information generated by the company's security solutions that it will be difficult making sense out of it all.
"How can you use that real-time information?" he asked rhetorically. Well, there are various open source tools for this management task. Golden mentioned Analysis Console for Intrusion Databases (ACID) in particular, noting that companies can hook ACID up to a database and to Snort, and "ACID will let you make sense out of mountains of data."
So it's a sure thing that companies can secure their enterprise with OSS. If they do, there will be two distinct advantages: lower cost than proprietary software, and the fact that OSS is, well, open. If a company gets attacked, it may be able to change its security infrastructure quickly. And there's a huge community of developers that can help companies and get patches ready much faster than a proprietary vendor typically does. In some ways, this makes the open source solution better than the alternatives.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR:
David Gabel has been testing and writing about computer and information technology for 25 years.
Monday, January 03, 2005
Customer loyalty counts
Customer loyalty counts
November 2, 2004
EVER wondered if customer loyalty programs are worth the trouble?
Spoilt for choice.... Keep customers with loyalty programs. Picture: Chris Pavlich
According to marketing communications firm Tick Yes, businesses can benefit in seven ways:
1. Predictability
Knowing your customers means you can predict the future of your business. When you can predict your customers' buying habits, you are also able to predict staffing, inventory, and every other aspect of your business.
2. Save money
It costs a lot to attract new customers. By holding something like a loyalty card, a consumer has shown a commitment in which they are bound to the company in some form or other.
3. Save time
It takes time to learn how to best work with new customers. How demanding are they of your product or service? How responsive are these new customers to special sales or promotions?
4. Word of mouth
Positive word of mouth is free advertising and is the most effective way to attract new customers. Your customers have more credibility with their friends and family than you do.
5. Sense of importance
Maslow, Freud, Jung and many other great scholars of the human condition tell us that only two forces motivate people: the sex urge and the desire to be important.
6. We like you
People respond to and naturally like people that like them. People don't have to be alike to like each other.
7. Customer knowledge
Gives you a better understanding of your customers and what motivates them to return. Each time they communicate it's a chance to learn more about who they are and what they like.
The Daily Telegraph
November 2, 2004
EVER wondered if customer loyalty programs are worth the trouble?
Spoilt for choice.... Keep customers with loyalty programs. Picture: Chris Pavlich
According to marketing communications firm Tick Yes, businesses can benefit in seven ways:
1. Predictability
Knowing your customers means you can predict the future of your business. When you can predict your customers' buying habits, you are also able to predict staffing, inventory, and every other aspect of your business.
2. Save money
It costs a lot to attract new customers. By holding something like a loyalty card, a consumer has shown a commitment in which they are bound to the company in some form or other.
3. Save time
It takes time to learn how to best work with new customers. How demanding are they of your product or service? How responsive are these new customers to special sales or promotions?
4. Word of mouth
Positive word of mouth is free advertising and is the most effective way to attract new customers. Your customers have more credibility with their friends and family than you do.
5. Sense of importance
Maslow, Freud, Jung and many other great scholars of the human condition tell us that only two forces motivate people: the sex urge and the desire to be important.
6. We like you
People respond to and naturally like people that like them. People don't have to be alike to like each other.
7. Customer knowledge
Gives you a better understanding of your customers and what motivates them to return. Each time they communicate it's a chance to learn more about who they are and what they like.
The Daily Telegraph
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