Watermark Founder Jon Picoult is a widely published author who has served as a contributor to The Wall Street Journal, The New York Times and many other leading publications.Below are links to some of Jon’s articles.
How Businesses Can Keep ‘Occupiers’ At Bay[USA TODAY]
Occupy Wall Street has overlooked some prominent members of the so-called 1%. And therein lies an important lesson about branding your business and engaging your customers.Read more…
Insurers’ Best Kept Secret [National Underwriter]
For decades, multi-line insurers have doggedly pursued the Holy Grail of their industry – getting customers to cross-purchase. Success has been elusive and a new study offers a surprising explanation why. Read more...
7 Surprising Ways To Improve Your Recruiting Strategy [Monster.com]
Learn how to put a smile on job candidates’ faces (and gain an edge in the talent wars) by delivering "pleasant surprises." Read more…
Exiting Gracefully[Best’s Review]
How a multi-product company exits a business can have a huge impact on its brand.Using the insurance industry as an example, Jon Picoult provides pointers for exiting a business without abandoning your customers.Read more…
Are You Sentencing Your Job Applicants To Hard Labor?[Monster.com]
Have you considered thanking all of your recent job applicants for laboring through your hiring process?Statistics show that businesses are creating recruiting experiences that actually drive good candidates away.Read more…
5 Things Job Candidates Are Saying Behind Your Back[Monster.com]
Job candidates won't tell employers about the indignities they suffer during recruiting, for fear of jeopardizing their hiring chances. So what are candidates saying behind employers' backs, and what can you do about it?Read more…
Attract The Best Talent[Round The Table]
Tired of competing for talent on the same old dimensions?Break free from traditional modes of talent competition by creating a candidate experience that sets your company apart from all others.Read more…
If your goal is to create a highly engaged workforce - a team of people truly committed to your business' success - then don't focus on employee retention. Learn why in this provocative article.Read more…
Check With My Chief Of Staff[The Wall Street Journal]
Executives want to have a good rapport with their employees, but there’s something (or, more aptly, someone) standing in the way. Learn how many managers are inadvertently driving a wedge between themselves and their staff.Read more…
Here Comes A Turnover Storm[The New York Times]
A turnover storm is looming and most businesses are ill prepared for it. The Great Recession has left employees discontented and disengaged. As their pent-up frustration is released, the impact on businesses, their workforces and their customers will be pronounced.Read more…
How To Capitalize On A Post-Recession Turnover Tsunami[Monster.com]
When faced with the prospect of higher turnover, most companies’ knee-jerk response is to focus on strengthening employee loyalty.But there’s another side to the turnover equation that routinely gets overlooked.Read more…
Why Do Customers Tune Out Insurers[National Underwriter]
With the insurance industry routinely scoring at the bottom of the pack in measures of customer engagement and corporate reputation, it’s no surprise that many consumers just disregard what insurers have to say to them.But does it have to be that way?Read more…
How To Scare Customers[Inc. Magazine]
Are you afraid that your customers might disappear like ghosts?Worried that competitors might pick them off like vultures?This Halloween-themed commentary describes ten common ways that businesses inadvertently scare their customers away.Read more…
The Top Five Reasons Customers Tune Out Insurers[LOMA Resource]
With the insurance industry routinely scoring at the bottom of the pack in measures of customer engagement and corporate reputation, it’s no surprise that many consumers just disregard what insurers have to say to them.But does it have to be that way?Read more…
Insurance Can Be As Engaging As Apple’s iPad[Business Insurance]
Can stodgy old insurance be as engaging as the iPad?On first blush, it sounds like a stretch… but the real answer may surprise you.Applesque customer engagement is well within the reach of insurers.Read more…
What Oprah Can Teach The Boys At Goldman Sachs[Brandweek]
There’s a curious dualism evident in how the public evaluates the fairness of compensation for Wall Street executives versus that of celebrities and sports figures.The dichotomy is rooted in basic branding issues, and highlights just how powerful personal and corporate brands can be in shaping people’s perceptions.Read more…
Networks Too Big For Their Own Good[The New York Times]
To create a positive workplace experience, most every business aims to be a meritocracy, rewarding employees based on their accomplishments, not their connections.But there is one area where emphasis is still placed on who you know rather than what you’ve done – and it’s undermining companies’ efforts to acquire the best talent.Read more…
Yes, Virginia, There Is A Return On Customer Experience Investments[CustomerThink]
Some business leaders remain skeptical about the payoff on customer experience excellence, and are reticent to invest in improving their customer touchpoints.A new study by Watermark provides some compelling evidence that might just win over the skeptics.Read more…
The Perils Of Organizational A.D.D.[LOMA Resource]
Ever worked in a place where organizational priorities changed as often as the weather?Welcome to the world of Organizational A.D.D., where businesses are unable to stay focused on what’s important and find themselves meandering from buzzword to buzzword.It’s a dynamic that can be tremendously jarring for employees and customers.Read more…
An Erosion Of Trust[Dow Jones MarketWatch]
How can financial services firms begin to regain the trust of U.S. consumers?Aligning the interests of their advisors with the customers they serve would be a step in the right direction.But industry reactions to U.S. financial regulatory reform efforts suggest that financial services firms aren’t ready for this novel idea.Read more…
My Triple-A Went Away[LOMA Resource]
In a world where companies with century-old heritages of stability scramble for government assistance, in an environment where a Triple-A financial services giant comes close to insolvency virtually overnight – how will consumers judge which providers are stable and which are not?Read more…
65,000 Apps and Counting[Insurance & Technology]
Well established companies, and their customers, are frequently brought to their knees by complex portfolios of administrative systems that have accumulated over decades of business.But there’s one company where a portfolio of 65,000 IT applications actually seems to be brightening prospects rather than weighing them down.Read more…
They Are What You Call Them[Workforce Management]
Organizational labels can exert a surprisingly strong influence on employees’ perceptions about their roles and, consequently, the experience they deliver to customers.Leaders can harness the power of language to free employees from this common cognitive pitfall that could be clouding their potential – and that of the organization. Read more…
Your Brain’s Wiring:Asset or Liability?[Personal Excellence]
Even the best leaders sometimes disregard critical information that can mean the difference between phenomenal business success or colossal failure.That’s because basic cognitive actions that help people function normally in daily life can actually be detrimental when applied in organizational contexts.Read more…
How To Do Performance Reviews Right[Forbes.com]
To build a strong customer brand, you’ve got to start with a strong employer brand.The latter can easily be undermined by poor staff development practices that foster employee cynicism rather than engagement.A common culprit – the manager who “delegates” performance reviews to his/her staff.Read more…
Be Nice To Job Seekers.(They’re Shoppers, Too.) [The New York Times]
Want happy, satisfied customers?It’s not going to happen without happy, satisfied and customer-oriented employees.You’ve got a better chance of attracting that kind of talent if your recruiting and selection process “screams” customer-orientation.Treat prospective employees as customers and the right people will take notice.Read more…
Flight To Quality Might Be A Bumpy Ride For Buyers[National Underwriter]
In a world where companies with century-old heritages of stability are now scrambling for government assistance, in an environment where a Triple-A financial services giant came close to insolvency virtually overnight – how will consumers judge which providers are stable and which are not?Read more…
Is The “Experience Economy” Contracting Towards Irrelevance?[CustomerThink.com]
Differentiated customer experiences are especially important during recessionary periods, helping businesses to better weather, and bounce back, from economic downturns. Even during times of shrinking budgets, significant experience improvements can be realized with even small investments.Read more…
Monte Carlo vs. Meal Tickets:Are Your Sales and Service Incentives Equitable?[Incentive Magazine]
Many companies invest a lot of energy (and money) into incentive programs for their sales staff, but rarely apply the same focus to service staff incentives. The resulting impact on service employee engagement and customer experience can be disastrous. But these imbalances can be remedied, often more quickly and cheaply than you might think.Read more…
The Forgotten Customer[Staffing Management]
If a business aims to create a distinctive experience for those with whom it interacts, the attention is nearly always focused on consumers. Many businesses invest less energy (if any time at all) thinking strategically about their employee experience. Prospective employees, in particular, are an often ignored constituency – but there are huge advantages to treating them, and impressing them, like you would a customer.Read more…
Media Mentions
Watermark’s insights are frequently solicited by leading print and online publications.Below are examples of articles which reference Watermark:
Another Satisfied Customer[Cataract & Refractive Surgery Today]
Rx for doctors:How to turn your patients in raving fans.Read more…
The Pros and Cons of 360-Degree Feedback[Society For HR Management]
The good, the bad and the ugly about 360-feedback implementations.Read more…
How To Change Your Management Style[Inc. Magazine]
How do you spot and correct problems with your management style?Read more…
Google Leads List of Desired Employers[The Wall Street Journal]
Which employers are most appealing to young professionals and why?Read more…
Break Through Growth Barriers With Ease[American Express OPEN Forum]
How do you get your business out of a funk?Read more…
Reducing Employee Turnover in the Eye of a Storm[AmEx OPEN Forum]
How can your business surf the turnover wave to a better place?Read more…
8 Ways to Ramp Up Help Desk Response Times[Zengage blog]
Turn your Help Desk into a brand asset instead of an anchor.Read more…
How to Make an Employee’s First 90 Days Successful[Inc. Magazine]
Tips for creating a great new hire experience.Read more…
How Can You Change Your Management Style[American Express OPEN Forum]
Adapt your leadership to deliver a better employee experience.Read more…
