TechBiz Connection Forum to Consider Why Satisfied Customers Are Not Loyal, Only Advocates Are

IRVINE, Calif. - March 13, 2014 - PRLog -- TechBiz Connection will present a panel of experts who will discuss why a company’s advocates are the only truly loyal customers before an audience of local business executives on Wednesday, March 19, 2014 from 6:00-9:00 PM at the law offices of Knobbe, Martens, Olson & Bear in Irvine.

According to Jack Bicer, TechBiz Connection president, in today’s markets customers can voice opinions in seconds, learn all they need to know about a product or brand while standing in a retail aisle or sitting at their desk. Complex product or simple consumer item, it doesn't matter.

“The question then becomes what really creates loyalty and what turns loyal customers into ‘advocates’,” Bicer explained. “Our panel will answer these questions and more while discussing how we as marketers, technologists, sellers and product developers really create repeat customers. The audience will learn what the difference is between a satisfied customer and an advocate; how to turn satisfied customers into advocates; and why this is important.”

Panelist Thumbnail Bios

·         Alex Mercer, president, ResortCom International, has built bridges between technology and business, specifically in the area of customer experience management for the past 20 years. He thrives on creating and nurturing new business ideas to maturity and delivering first class service to customers. Mr. Mercer came on board at ResortCom International (www.resortcom.com) in 2002 as SVP of operations. Since that time he has been leading a cultural transformation to a process and customer-centric organization, an endeavor culminating in the CRM Implementation of the Year Award by CRM Magazine in 2006.

·         Christina McKeon is senior director of product marketing at Oracle where she is responsible for service automation as part of the overall customer experience. Her coverage includes emerging service channels, with a focus on social customer service and mobile. She has moderated and participated in panel discussions on social care, helping service executives and contact center leaders get ahead of service issues submitted via social channels. Follow Christina on twitter @ChristinaMcKeon.

·         Barry Lieberman, president, Advantage Plus Marketing, works in an interim executive role as a change artist to enable organizations to scale and open new markets, become the industry go to brand, and to improve sales and customer retention by executing best in class customer care. He is considered an expert in the profitable execution of demand generation, marketing automation and customer support systems. By doing so, Mr. Lieberman empowers companies to increase their value to the marketplace and investors while enjoying the rewards of a consistent, integrated approach to marketing & sales. Prior to his current projects, he had owned and operated Advantage Plus Marketing Group, Inc. for 17 years, executing over 1600 demand generation marketing programs. Before Advantage Plus Marketing Group he was in key marketing roles at Avnet Computer and was a major account manager with Hewlett-Packard.

·         Parham Javaherian is the CEO of Practice Builders, a national healthcare marketing company founded in 1979 in Orange County and the cofounder of PracticeReputation. During his time at the company, he completely reinvented and revamped Practice Builders through introducing state of the art solutions for healthcare practitioners and merging them with traditional marketing services. These new services include Internet based solutions for healthcare practitioners such as online reputation management, eBrochures (becoming green and paperless), social media solutions, eVideos, etc. Thousands of doctors and dentists have used Practice Builders to enhance their marketing efforts. Since 2010 Parham has been able to improve the company’s profitability by more than 200%. Before Practice Builders, Parham was cofounder and chief marketing officer for Peak Virtual Accounting, a startup venture in Irvine. He received his MBA from UCI's Paul Merage School of Business in 2009.

The TBC Forum’s discussion and subsequent question-and-answer session is sponsored by Daly-Swartz Public Relations (http://www.dsprel.com); Haynes and Boone LLP (http://www.haynesboone.com); Septium Corp.(http://www.septium.com); Smith Micro (http://www.smithmicro.com); and Knobbe Martens, Olson & Bear (http://www.kmob.com).

Admission to the TechBiz Connection event is $20 prepaid and $40 at the door. For further information and RSVP, visit http://www.techbizconnection.org or e-mail president@techbizconnection.org.

TechBiz Connection (http://www.techbizconnection.org) was created to support Southern California business and technology professionals, companies and entrepreneurs by providing timely education and networking opportunities. The organization focuses on where technology and business intersect; everything a successful high-tech company would want to do.