commonsku Staff Picks: Blog Posts
We’re passionate about creating educational content and resources for the promotional products industry. In this new series, we’ll be asking members of our commonsku team to share their favorite skucast episodes, series, videos, and more to shine a spotlight on some of our favorite pieces of content, and to give readers a road-map to getting the most out of our blog.
The commonsku blog has been around nearly as long as commonsku itself! With a library of over 600 pieces of content, we’re often asked where to start reading, and what our favorite posts are. We asked a few members of the commonsku team, from different departments, to share their opinions. Read more and head to the full post below!
Joe Kemple, Sr. Customer Success Representative
Being the Most Productive You At Home (#WFH Series, Part 1)
“What's the most valuable lesson we can all learn from our time in self-isolation? As much as "working from home" has been a valuable lesson, learning how to be productive and keeping a positive mindset by mastering my emotions is a class I wish I had taken a long time ago - after all "solitude is good for the great minded and bad for the small" which is why this is my favorite blog post.”
Musaa Sami, Graphic Designer
If Your Customer Were Honest, Here’s What She’d Say
“Sometimes dealing with a customer that is too honest can be difficult, but without a doubt, it is a great source of organic growth. I love this blog post because it is brutally honest and gives the reader what they NEED to understand and not just what they want to understand. After the tough love, the reader is presented with positive suggestions that they can implement right away. Additionally, all of this is packaged as a letter from YOUR honest customer to give you what you've been missing.”
Bobby Lehew, Chief Content Officer
Four Demands the Client of the Future Wants From You Now (The Future of Work Series, Part 2)
“I gave up a long time ago trying to answer anyone's "favorite question." Favorite film, favorite book, a favorite podcast, favorite musician. My favorites (of any kind) are usually the most recent memorable experience that transported me to an undiscovered shore or shifted my perspective. When it comes to my favorite post, my perspective is even tougher to narrow because it's that of the writer (first) and reader (second). But similar to the most recent memorable experience, my favorite post is usually the latest one that surprised me the most while writing. Robert Frost used to say, "no surprise in the writer, no surprise in the reader," and I find this to be true, whether writing a poem or non-fiction think piece.
The last one that surprised me was a post on the future of the customer. Typically, I'll read dozens of articles, watch webinars, or read studies for any of our written series about "the future." It's imperative to get multiple perspectives on "the future" as we're all taking educated guesses (informed by research) but, this latest one really surprised me for a new reason. During COVID and this post-economic, ambiguous clusterfuck (which no one can define), I was surprised that there seemed to be a unanimous opinion, whether it was a B2B opinion or a B2C opinion, on where we're heading and how we can adapt. The piece surprised me so much I recorded it too (a first) for the skucast.”
Bre Redmond, Sr. Customer Success Representative
Qualifying the Right Opportunity (Keys to Unlocking the Most Profitable Shops, Part 1)
“This is my favorite blog post because it challenges you to question your understanding of your client's needs. It's the first time I've heard of B.A.M (budget, authority, motive) and it's been ringing in my ears ever since! That acronym resonates with me even though I work in Customer Success. Of course, I interpret it differently, but it helps keep me on track so my service is in line with what our users need.”
Mark Graham, President, and Chief Brand Officer
The Guide To Creating a Modern Office
“Why? Because this post is timeless, aspirational, and helps us imagine a future for our industry that helps us get past the stereotypes of being tired and stodgy. I love how this post highlights processes that the very best distributors in our industry are employing to stand out.”
Do you have a favorite commonsku blog post not mentioned in this post, or a topic suggestion for a future post you would like to see? Email us at news@commonsku.com, we always appreciate your feedback and suggestions.