Alignment Services Also known as putting The Point That Matters to work, ZOOM's alignment services bring together the key functional areas in your business – product, marketing, sales, and the executive team - with the target hill and Point That Matters. "By using ZOOM's Alignment Services to integrate our Point That Matters, we have gotten the executive and sales teams working toward the same goal, and brought consistency to our products and how we market them," said Bob. Bubble, The The rarified and often incorrect self-image of a company that only looks to internal views to gain perspective on itself, eschewing any outside objective analysis. "Everybody on the executive team thought we had the Next Big Thing," sighed Bob. "But when it flopped in the market, we realized we had all been stuck in The Bubble." Customer Service 2.0 A new approach to customer service, which recognizes that the ROI on making customers happy exceeds the cost of providing service which does not aggravate or alienate them. "I didn't spend an hour on hold and they cheerfully dealt with my problem instead of making me want to rip their heads off," exclaimed Bob. "Now that's what I call Customer Service 2.0!" Customer Segmentation The subdivision of a market into distinct groups in order to reveal any unmet needs or untapped competitive advantages. "Everybody seemed to like TiVo, " said Bob. "But it wasn't until we did Customer Segmentation that we realized that unlike most new electronic devices, women were as excited about it as men." Debate Generally speaking, a formal argument or discussion; in ZOOMspeak the debate is the argument around a product or service, and the trick is to frame it so that you are clearly on one side and that people are inclined to agree with you. A classic debate in technology service is over whether integrated suite is better than best of breed. Elevator Story The quickest, most effective way to tell your company's story in words. A good elevator story is succinct, complete and engaging.. "So what exactly is TiVo anyway?" said Bob as he pushed the button for the fifth floor. "TiVo is the most popular DVR," replied Jan. "DVRs are like VCRs, but with a hard disk and no tapes. TiVo automatically finds and records your favorite shows so you can live your life. Your shows will be there." "Really?" said Bob as the elevator doors slid open. "That sounds interesting, you'll have to tell me more about it.." Goat Rodeo An executive team round up wherein the stated purpose is to discuss ideas and come up with progressive strategies, and the result is an untenable mix of clashing egos, bad ideas, and general chaos. Watching his executive team exchange bitter epithets, Bob had to admit that his idea for a comprehensive strategy review had, in fact, become a goat rodeo. Hill Shimmer The generally-incorrect notion that a company's hill can or should cover every conceivable potential market. From Saturday Night Live, back when it was good: "You're both right! New Shimmer is a floor wax AND a dessert topping!" Innovation Generally speaking, the process of making improvements to something by introducing something new. "Wow," said Bob, "I've played two sets today and my feet don't even hurt!" "Yes," said Jane, "These 'tennis shoes' are a great innovation." Metaphor A comparison which helps to describe an object or a process. Metaphors are often vital to bring abstract technospeak into terms people can easily understand. "Oracle's Point That Matters is 'Integrated suite is better than best of breed,'" said Jan. "Which means what, exactly?" asked Bob. "Well," replied Jan, " you wouldn't buy a car from five different vendors, would you?" "Oh, I see," said Bob. "That clever metaphor makes it all clear." Metric A Point That Matters is not just a claim or a tagline, but a clearly measurable reason why a company wins. To measure a Point's success, various metrics are used. With over 135 million registered users (enough to form the ninth-largest country on Earth), eBay has an indisputable metric by which to prove its dominance of the online auction market. MiniZOOM An abbreviated, variable approach to The ZOOMing Process (see entry). Depending on budget and needs, ZOOM services are pared down for a particular client. Without time or money to do a comprehensive set of customer interviews, the MiniZOOM allowed us to still gain valuable information for our positioning strategy." The Point That Matters The single driving reason a company will succeed. It is unique (no one else can claim it as their own), measurable (business metrics back it up), and it frames the debate on your terms. ZOOM's Point That Matters is: "You need a Point That Matters to win." Positioning Research The art and science of examining a company's hill where the goal is to determine not just where a company sits in its market, but also to develop ideas on where it might go. "My company definitely owns the hill for our market," said Bob. "But we're going to need to do positioning research on both where we're at and where we want to be to come up with a good direction." Puffalump Noun form of puffery, used to describe a singularly obstinate and self-absorbed personality type known for longwinded, content-free monologues which affect all parties and result in no change. Often useful in lieu of profanity. "We'd have this matter settled by now if it weren't for that-- that-- PUFFALUMP in there," said Bob. Sponsorship Model A different approach to "advertising," wherein end users inform content providers directly of the sorts of products and services they are interested in, allowing content providers to provide relevant paid information. "My email home page used to be filled with ads for new cars, even though I don't drive," said Bob. "But thanks to the sponsorship model, I'm actually getting some useful information on parts for my bike." TiVo Anxiety An emerging phenomenon wherein a person may come to perceive that their TiVos are making undue presumuptions about their interests and lifestyles. Also referred to as amazonaphobia. "..and every time I come home it's got another episode of Queer Eye for the Straight Guy waiting for me," bemoaned Bob. "Hm..." thought his analyst. "It looks like Bob might be suffering from TiVo Anxiety." The ZOOMing Process ZOOM's very own proven and proprietary system for finding The Point That Matters. "Thanks to The ZOOMing Process, my company now has a single Point That Matter s on which we can base our marketing efforts."