One of the speakers who stood out to me was Les McKeown, who wrote Predictable Success, and most recently, The Synergist. He described the way companies grow and fail in 7 distinct phases.

1. Early Struggle
2. Fun
3. White Water
4. Predictable Success
5. Treadmill
6. The Big Rut
7. Death Rattle

I could relate to this on a bunch of levels, including watching the company I helped grow reach a pinnacle and then go through that incredibly bumpy period of adding process and people.

The thoughts that have bounced around since then, however, have been about the experience.

Can we predict how the experience will be successful?

I’d argue yes. And no.

If we really looked at the experiences we offer our customers, we could predict some things.

Yes.

Will putting them through an endless series of automated prompts when they proactively call in to our “customer service” number make them feel valued and respected? (No)

Will sending them invoices that never mention appreciation for their business help them feel valued as customers? (No)

Will being nice help them relate to our company as a group of people, rather than a faceless corporation? (Yes)

Will understanding our data help us provide the right things to our customers? (Yes…and No)

No.

Can data be the answer? (No)

Can asking the questions be enough? (No)

Can we totally predict what will happen in the marketplace? (No)

Can we always predict how each individual customer will react to each individual situation? (No, we’re irrational, emotional humans!)

But there are strategies we can use to predict how successful our experience design will be. It’s something I’m thinking about a lot lately. What do you think?

Photo Credit: Ian Crowther via Creative Commons license

 

Some fascinating tidbits from the show:

• The company never advertises. Ever.
• The maximum markup for any product ever is 15%.
• Costco posts $93 billion in annual sales. (Yes, that’s a B in billions)

But here’s what struck me about it. The founder and former CEO of Costco, Jim Sinegal, said (and I’m paraphrasing) that success is really about doing a million little things well over and over again. Think about that. It’s not the big idea or the store design or the way you price your products. It’s the little things.

Isn’t this true for all businesses? Years ago, sitting the lobby of a client bank, I asked the customers some basic questions on their way out the door. One of them was the uber-simplistic “What do you like about it here?”

So many of those customers answered what they liked was the relationship with the teller or banker. One woman, clearly rushed, stated, “They always smile and get it right. That’s all I ask.”

She liked how the employees at the bank “got it right.” It could be a variety of things, but essentially customers want companies to deliver “right” with a smile.

Costco is not glamorous, and yet shoppers describe it as “fun.” They pay their employees a lot more on average than most retailers, keeping turnover much lower than others. They keep a determined focus on their original strategy – low margins, low overhead, big profits.

There is nothing revolutionary about this, and yet companies forget it and instead launch splashy web sites that don’t work or hire surly employees who don’t care. It is absolutely the little things done well over and over.

How would you grade your own company on doing the little things well over and over? How about those where you are the customer?

Photo Credits: coolmikeol and aquababe via Creative Commons

 

On a beautiful, bright evening in Chicago, overlooking Lake Michigan and Navy Pier from the iconic John Hancock Building, about 30 professionals gathered to discuss our favorite subject – customer experience. (Thanks to Brandtrust for hosting us in their beautiful office and to Nicor’s Customer Experience team for sponsoring great food and drinks.) We came from a variety of organizations, including consultancies, agencies, and one of the largest utility companies in the U.S. And while our immediate goals may differ, our long-term vision remained the same.

Each person there was passionate about improving the customer experience. YOUR customer experience.

And while some of us geeked out over new technology to improve speech analytics, the majority of stories shared were about the one customer we remember. One of my favorite stories was about the approval of a fleet of trucks, whose drivers would be paid overtime, to help a woman whose husband was recovering from cancer. “Did it make us money? No way, but it was the right thing to  do.”

This is why I’m passionate about what I do. This is why we’re all passionate about it. It matters. Not just to the companies we work for but also to each individual person who is impacted by experience – good and bad. I sometimes wax philosophical about why I love what I do. When it comes down to it, I truly believe improving the small experiences that add up to the greater customer experience improves lives. As customers, we are guarded, jaded and just plain angry. What happens when we are pleasantly surprised by something going right? Magic. Not just in the moment, but in the person’s life. I know I represent a majority of customers by being a busy mom. One bad experience in a carefully choreographed day can ruin the whole 24 hours. No thank you. Let’s have magic instead.

This local group will be meeting again, and we want you to join us. We’re planning speakers, roundtables, best practice sharing, and more. Check out the global CXPA site, join our group on LinkedIn, or just get in touch with me. I have a feeling more magic lies ahead.

 

1. Marketers have to stop pushing. It’s a conversation now. Pushing tv ads that never get views thanks to DVR’s and newspaper ads that never get delivered won’t work.

2. You have to care. Setting up a Facebook brand page with no interaction, just push messages, is stupid. It basically shows your customers you don’t care, not even a little.

3. It’s going to be more work. The days of thinking “I’m done” after publishing an ad, white paper or even web site are over. You are just beginning. Stay involved.

4. Measurement is great, but only if you use it for good and not evil. Measuring hits on your web site isn’t worth anything. In fact, Avinash Kaushik calls them “How Idiots Track Success.” Love that!

5. You are not caring enough if you are just pushing your product and don’t get to know your customers. Your customers don’t want to answer questions about your logo. They want to answer questions about themselves.

Bottom line – marketers need to start caring about EXPERIENCE. This is not news or new, but it does seem to be a wake up call. So many brands push and push and push some more, never considering what value they are adding.

It was refreshing to hear this, and I hope marketers start paying attention.

By the way – this week, I’m hosting the first-ever Customer Experience Professionals Association Chicagoland meetup. It’s a happy hour to get to know others who care about experience and want to hear great speakers, pool resources, and understand what’s next in this space. All are welcome for this first gathering in downtown Chicago. Please join us! http://cxpa_chicago.eventbrite.com/ You must RSVP to be on the list!

If you’d like more detail about the speakers and their messages from yesterday, please check out my friend Barbara Rozgonyi‘s great post on it here.

Photo Credit: Mirka23 via Creative Commons license

 

I love new. I love love LOVE innovation. I get so excited about what’s next. And I love when my clients do, too. Innovation and staying ahead is absolutely essential to a superior customer experience.

But if it’s not broken, let’s try to not to fix it. Remember the Gap logo fiasco? It was a fiasco because the old logo was working just fine, thankyouverymuch.

Or, as a different take, consider the Apple store. In a blog on the Harvard Business Review today, Saul Kaplan discussed how Steve Jobs set up a pilot store near the Apple campus to get the whole thing right. After exploring there, they were able to tweak and dramatically change the design and layout to really provide the greatest experience. This was true innovation.

 But the real-world prototype and other early stores that Apple was able to iterate toward a winning customer experience ultimately became Apple’s hallmark. from Harvard Business Review blog by Saul Kaplan

Now, if you’ve been in any Apple store in the last several years, has much changed? Not really. The products have changed, but the actual layout hasn’t really. The staff may have changed but their approach to sales and support haven’t really. Don’t fix what isn’t broken.

What is working right now for your customers? What do they love? What do you love about your experience? Is it unique to your brand? What is not worth changing?

 Photo credit: ricardodiaz11 via Creative Commons license

 

Send a survey and you’ll receive great feedback from a wide swath of your customer population. Ask for comments about their experience and you’re sure to get some gems.

But there’s gold in them there off-the-cuff customer comments.

I discuss nuance a lot. Sometimes, I have to back off of working with a potential client because they don’t believe in the subtleties like I do. They praise the 1 – 10 satisfaction scale as if it’s the only path to true enlightenment. I disagree it’s the only way to track what’s important. Here’s why.

When we connect with companies we’re really connecting with people. When we connect as people, we share stories. One story could tell a company SO much about their customer experience. And, yet, they’re dismissed.

Many customer-facing employees – customer service reps, sales people, account folks – hear the stories. They hear some gems.  Customers don’t always go through the “right” channels. They don’t call the proper number or fill in the right survey bubbles. But they will sing like a bird if they are feeling heard. The problem is when there is nowhere to catch those stories – no way to record nuance.

Too often, customers send up warning flares. They mention to their regular contact, be it the bank teller, the client services rep or the cashier, something is a little off. Maybe they don’t like the way the new web site works or the change in the billing policy. Maybe they talk about how their friend has recommended they leave your organization and they’re considering it. It’s subtle. But it’s a warning shot nonetheless.

As customers, we’re often met with a shrug or a friendly “I know” from the trusted company representative we mention our subtle complaints to. They don’t really know what to say. They may not have much to say. There is no way to take our comments and DO anything with them. All they can do is empathize.

Hope is not a strategy and neither is empathy. Empower your employees to actually DO something with those anecdotes. A few ideas:

• Have a place to record “unofficial” complaints. Set up a regular review. Encourage front-line employees to ask and listen to customer feedback.
• Bring in a customer or two to just talk about their experience to your executive or board meeting.
• Challenge your employees to bring up the best and the worst comments they heard from customers that week. Share strategies. Follow up with those customers.

Hearing customer complaints is easy. Acting on it before it becomes a dip in your retention rates or revenue is priceless.

What are your ideas to capture this type of feedback?

Photo credit: jczart via Creative Commons license

 

What greeted me was a beep, a woman who sounded half-awake and who started a monologue about my “auto warranty.” I suspected something was up, since she never mentioned my name or the make of my car. She started listing all the things that might be covered if I were to extend said warranty. In a half-awake mumble, she kept droning on: “engine, power locks, steering…” I couldn’t take it any longer, so I interrupted her. (Perhaps this was a bit rude.) And I asked where she was calling from. She mumbled the answer: National Protection Services (good thing I caught it!) and I asked then to be removed from the list because we weren’t interested.

This is when she suddenly became non-mumbly and quite coherent.

She began talking over me to tell me about my Dodge extended warranty. I said we don’t own a Dodge. But she kept talking about an extended warranty.

I will own this – I am sure I stopped letting her complete her sentences. I had wasted enough time. I’m sure I was impatient. I’m sure I might have been a little rude.

She then told me I was being very rude (big sigh) and she needed to confirm my information to get me off the list. But it wasn’t said as much as shouted.

I sat. Quietly. Forming this blog post in my head.

She asked if I was Cordelia Walters. Nope.

“See!?” she shouted. “Was that painful!?”

Then she hung up.

So that was groovy. But it ruined my workflow and sunshiney outlook temporarily. And I just hate that. And I thought about how I almost NEVER complain as a customer. (Shocking, right?)

I did a Google search. Called the number. Sat through the depressing IVR prompts. Waited on hold. When “Customer Service” answered, I asked calmly to speak to a manager of the call center. Mr. Customer Service said he was “one of them.” I told my tale in calm tones and stuck to the facts.

He requested my name, then said he’d remove me from the list.

I waited. I was hoping he’d come through for me; for all of us! But, no, Mr. Customer Service is not there to apologize or tell me this is wrong. He’s just there to make sure his poor callers never have to deal with a meany like me again.

So many fails I don’t even know where to start.

1. We’ve had this number for 8.5 years. There has never been a Cordelia Walters associated with this number. FAIL.

2. This number IS on the Do Not Call list. FAIL.

3. The rep who called was either chewing on marbles or had repeated herself so many times that day, she was practically incoherent. FAIL.

4. She lost it with me. This could be because I was the umpteenth person to imply she probably shouldn’t be calling. Could be because I was a little rude. Still – not really my fault. FAIL.

5. The web site. Oy. FAIL.

6. The “manager” who took my call expressed no remorse or apology about the situation. FAIL.

7. I write a blog and own a company focused solely on customer experience. (Ok, this one is really a FAIL for them.)

But really, why do companies think this is remotely ok? THEY had called ME. This is clearly a problem with their data, their culture, their attitude, their hiring practices and their business ethics. This is the type of company who will never really get it. It’s too much about them and not about their customers. Would that call center rep EVER be hired at Zappos? No. Not a chance.

Just when I think companies are becoming enlightened about how all of these factors drive experience, and how experience drives success, I get  reminder from the universe that our work is far from over.

 Photo Credit: FindYourSearch via Creative Commons license

 

Except this relationship is with a company. They woo you. They send you special notes and offers. You decide to try it out. It starts off strong. You like the product, the company, the interactions. Then you decide you’ve outgrown this particular relationship. It’s time to move on. But they have different plans.

They make it so difficult to cancel. They think if they can keep you just  wee bit longer as a customer, you’ll have the opportunity to remember the honeymoon phase. They’ll sweet talk you into another option, one that’s better for you. It’s not you. It’s them.

I recently tried out an online backup service. It was one of several I was trying out. This one didn’t offer any free trial, so I read the rules of engagement (cancel anytime – it’s month-to-month!) and decided to fork over my digits. (Credit card digits, that is.)

They were ok. But then I felt it just wasn’t for me.

So after an entire relationship built online – sign up online, billing online, engaging with the product online – I searched and searched for how to cancel. No dice. I decided to call the “Contact Us” number only to find that I had to login to a special support site I had never used to have my “support case number” handy. I tried punching zero to talk to someone. But, no, they had outsmarted me. They would hang on to me a little longer. I had called on my way out the door – not sitting patiently in front of my computer. So I decided to do it later.

Another month. Another charge. For a product I no longer felt I needed or wanted.

Then I made up my mind. I did a search on the FAQ‘s and guess what!? “How do I cancel” is a common question in the user forums, but oddly not addressed in the company-written FAQ’s. Users ask over and over and the answer? Well, it’s shocking.

Log in to the support site you may have never used.

Need a password? That’s another step to go through.

Log in to the support site so you can punch in your “case support number” to the robot on the call.  Then call “Sales” although it’s not conveniently located near the support section.

So I called support, staring at my “Case Support Number” so I would be sure to get this done.

“Why would you like to cancel?” She asked. My blood pressure was rising. “Because I don’t use the product. I haven’t used it for at least 2 months, but this cancellation process is sort of a nightmare.”

“I’m so sorry about that. I actually can’t help you with canceling, but I will have someone CALL YOU BACK.”

I wish I was joking. I took a deep breath and said “I need to make sure to get a call today. And I will be, you know, living my life, so here is my mobile number.”

I received the call several hours later as I was trying on a dress for an event in a department store dressing room. He asked me to verify my case support number. I almost lost it.

He settled for the last 4 digits of my credit card number.

I asked why I couldn’t cancel online, when I can do everything else that way. He didn’t really have an answer.

Let’s say I need this type of product in the future. I will not even entertain working with this company again. All because they ruined it at the end.

This was, to put it mildly, a very bad breakup.

 Photo Credit: birgerking via Creative Commons license

 

mobile for the masses

Mobile is the new black.

We are learning that more customers (your customers) are using mobile than ever before. Mobile apps help us verify we’re getting the best deal, finding the best option, and otherwise enhancing (and controlling) the experience with brands.

So what is your strategy around mobile?

When I ask this question, typically I hear these answers:

“We are creating an app! It’s really cool.”

“We want to create an app. But we don’t know what it would do.”

“Our site isn’t very mobile-friendly.”

Do you see what’s missing?

Strategy. Not technology. Not desire. Simple strategy. Customer experience strategy, to be exact.

Before jumping into the mobile morass, I propose asking the following questions:

1. What do our customers do with our products? What can we help them do via mobile devices?

For example, Redbox offers customers a way to reserve and rent a movie from their mobile device.

2. What are most of our web site visitors looking for? What should we serve up via mobile immediately?

Many of us, myself included, turn to our mobile devices when we have that thought – I need a manicure, I need an oil change, I need a library book – and find ourself with 3 minutes and our phone. Using a mobile web browser, we search and find our preferred vendor site, simply because we want the phone number. And guess what? It’s not on the freaking home page! You know what that means? We have to search in the itty-bitty navigation for “Contact Us” or something. Please, for the love of all that is holy in customer experience, put your phone number in regular font on your home page if you are any type of business that requires customers to call you for appointments!

3. Why do we need an app?

Yes, there is probably an app for that. But we may not need it. Take care to create an app that customers will appreciate. My recent favorite was the Disneyland line wait time app we used on our recent trip there. Brilliant!

4. How will this experience connect with our web and offline experiences?

I recently evaluated the mobile experience of an established technology product. It worked fine. The only problem was that the Android, iPhone and iPad apps all worked slightly differently. They didn’t mirror the online experience in ways they should have – like using the same icons. When you send 4 different teams out to design 4 different apps, consistency is hard to achieve.

Mobile is here to stay, and with good reason. Using a creative mobile experience can absolutely enhance your customers’ experiences. Just think first, develop second.

What apps do you love?

Photo credit: Kabra Vaibhav via Creative Commons license

 

Last year, it was the group texting trend that seemed to be the one everyone was discussing. The year before that, it was location-based social networks. This year, I’m having trouble identifying the ONE trend everyone seems to be discussing. (Although some would argue the next generation location-based connection apps are still big.)

Instead, there is a murmur of a few trends that will influence the way smart companies interact with customers, employ the smartest people and design experiences.

Access 

Access has been discussed a lot over the years, but now it seems to be a heftier subject. Think of the millions of people who don’t have the regular access we do to electricity, water and technology. Beyond that, how can all the smart people who make things like electronics and software make their products more accessible? Consider this as you design your experience. Access is about making the way we use the amazing tools we develop work without steep learning curves, obstacles for certain populations, or excessive maintenance.

Decentralization

This is another topic that has been knocked around for some time. Here’s the thing that stood out to me this year – decentralization only works when certain things ARE centralized. For example, centralize the core values of your company, centralize the concise social media rules, then let your folks loose. IF – and this is a big if – they know the core values, the rest will not only fall into place, but empower everyone in the process to deliver the extraordinary.

Failure

A culture of failure is ok. Failure is part of the process. The companies and technologies and products who survive are the ones who adapt by trying stuff out. If failure is consistently punished, the result will be stifled innovation. Lack of innovation kills companies, and now this is true more than ever. Innovation can only happen if a culture supports new ideas.

IRL

Half of the appeal of making the trek to Austin is the attraction of hanging out with people in real life. As we add new technologies, better ways to connect and eventually technologies that connect for us, we as people still need to interact with other people. The best innovations will enable that.

There is no question the world is changing at an incredible pace. The choice for those who care about designing and delivering amazing experiences is to choose to focus on the  parts of the experience that will not change first. Focus on the people, the interactions, the empowerment.

Thanks for the hospitality, Austin. See you next year!

Photo Credit: CC BY-SA HonestReporting.com via Creative Commons license