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When I began this blog one of the areas on which I wanted to focus was job search. Specifically I wanted to blog my own job search. I had developed a methodology for targeting my resume and my job-related communications to the specific company and job I was seeking and felt it would be good insight to share. Blogging my job search was at the advice of Heather Hamilton, a Microsoft recruiter and blogger. At about the time I felt comfortable having enough material in place to go public with the blog I got my current job at ChannelAdvisor. I still feel I have a lot to share from my job seeking experiences, but an ongoing job search is not a part of my focus here at this time. I still read Heather’s blog and particularly enjoyed her latest post. Heather details some of the thinking from the staffing side on how candidate resumes can tell a story.

The last interviews I had before this job were, ironically, with Microsoft. The interesting thing about the all-day series of interviews I had in Redmond was how much fun I had. In fact it was the most fun I have ever had interviewing. The critical difference was that I approached it entirely as a conversation. Instead of answering open-ended questions with the standard interview responses I told stories. Over the years of thinking about this I have found anecdotes from each job I have had that demonstrate critical thinking, leadership, overcoming objections, working with teams, working independently, recovering from setbacks, and all the other standard “describe a time when you had to…” questions. I have turned those experiences into stories that not only address what the interviewer asked but also reveal who I really am. If you ask any of the six interviewers I met that day if they know anyone who is passionate about retail they will likely remember Scott Magoon leaning forward in his chair telling a story about his retail experiences and what he has learned and accomplished.

We remember conversations. We connect with mental images. All the standard interview advice and resume training focuses on parsing words and phrases to convey the right meaning. I think there is something seriously missing if we are not treating interviews as conversations and using stories to convey lasting impressions beyond the appropriate action verb and quantifiable result.

The retail business model has long been based on a simple customer acquisition and retention strategy.

1. Get potential customers to your store.
2. Convince them to pay for your product or service.
3. Bring them to back to purchase again.

Acquire. Convert. Retain.

This works for brick and mortar and online commerce. But retailing is changing from a transactional model to one based on relationships. Your best customers are no longer simply those which spend the most money. Now they are those who reliably and predictably purchase, enabling you to forecast accurately. They are those who evangelize your products and influence others to become your customers. They are those who engage in conversations with you offering useful feedback and direction on where the market is going.

So I am introducing a new focus on what I call Retail Conversations. I will highlight how smart retailers are connecting with their customers in new and innovative ways. How they are using blogs and podcasts. How they create value through free information leading to more informed and loyal customers. How they respond to customer feedback and adapt to the market.

The Internet and related technologies have created a world of opportunity to sell to customers as never before, but even more importantly to engage in conversations with those customers. Retail Conversations will be my look into how and why that interaction works.

Microsoft is preparing to challenge Google Base with its own online listing service called Freemont. The service is currently in internal beta testing but Charlene Li at Forrester concludes that it will be better than Google Base.

Google Base is an unstructured online database of user-supplied content. Its stated purpose is to make more information searchable (in line with Google’s primary mission), but it is causing waves in the ecommerce world. Our CEO Scot Wingo has blogged about Google Base several times, raising its profile among sellers who currently utilize eBay as a sales channel. ChannelAdvisor has even announced official support for sending inventory feeds to Google Base from our Merchant platform.

Google Base does offer some great advantages for sellers – it’s free and integrates into Froogle searches. The parlor game is now to speculate on how far Google will take Base into competing as a full online marketplace. I have said that I think it’s more about bringing more information into the realm of Google searches and Charlene and Danny Sullivan at Search Engine Watch seem to agree. That said, the implications for online marketplaces and especially classifieds are enormous. Few things validate an online service’s approach than a direct confrontation by Microsoft. And Microsoft is about to face off against Google Base with its Freemont service.

What’s exciting to me about the service, now in Microsoft internal beta, and what Charlene highlights, is its ability to limit viewing of posted material to a specified list of contacts. Microsoft points to using a contact list in MSN Messenger as an example, but there is a far more interesting aspect for retailers. When used as a marketplace this ability could be used to target promotions to certain client lists. Right now many retailers use mailings to target a portion of their customer base with exclusive offers and private shopping events. Freemont will offer the ability to maintain an exclusive online listing area for select customers.

This service is still in beta so I don’t know how it will ultimately work or if as Charlene Li suggests it will be better than Google Base. But the competition in this market space is great news for both buyers and sellers.

[Update: Scott Wingo has posted a few more links to articles on Freemont and Google Base.]