I had the privilege of attending the all-city Chicago Vistage meeting last week. While it was great to meet other like-minded business leaders, it was most compelling because of the speaker, Alan Beaulieu. Alan and his twin brother are economists who provide forecasts for companies, organizations, and even governments through their company, the Institute for Trend Research.
If you’re thinking “you lost me at ‘economist’” then we are kindred spirits. It’s not my thing. But he was powerful in his predictions, and I’ve been thinking about the discussion ever since. I admit, when he first began speaking about 2011 and the future, I was growing uncomfortable. What about NOW? What about TODAY?
But his focus was on beyond. What happens beyond Chicago, beyond the United States, beyond 2011, beyond this economic turmoil in which we’ve been immersed.
It’s so tempting to think short-term. So many organizations are focused on the immediate realities of our world today. Even the “unsinkable” companies of past generations are looking at how to make the next payroll; how to pay off the latest debt; how to cut the costs FAST.
When it comes to customer experience, it’s easy to fall into short-term thinking. Here are some examples:
- Promotion without strategy – customers can smell desperation and often exploit it. Know your limits and understand your desired pay-off before promoting something too quickly. (KFC!)
- Talking without listening – Executives who decide what to say to customers without talking to them first will have a hard time appealing to them. (MotrinMoms learned this the hard way.)
- Sacrificing current, loyal customers for the sake of acquiring new customers – AT&T recently retreated on their original iPhone policy in response to the outcry from current customers.
- Finally – this one is a personal favorite – treating social media as the end-all of customer communications. Social media is a fabulous tool, as I discuss here, but it’s just that – a tool. It’s part of a larger strategy of connecting with customers in powerful ways to naturally create loyalty and retention. If there is no larger strategy at work, social media will be a way to possibly connect with a segment of customers, and that’s only if it’s executed well. If not, it’s just another tool being underutilized.
So, as hard as it is, I believe we all have to start looking at beyond. Take a minute, map out where you want to go with your experience strategy, and then take the steps to get there. I feel better already.
7 Comments
Leave a Reply
Additional comments powered by BackType
- jeanniecw: Nice post. RT @ginidietrich: Guest blogger @LenKendall RT @spinsucks Crowdsourcing Means More Work for You, Not Less http://bit.ly/aU6Ucx
- jeanniecw: @redinthecity I might have to take your advice!
- jeanniecw: @blfarris Um, that's pretending. Can I draft some employees I don't have to pay?
- jeanniecw: T-2.5 hours until a gathering of grown men pretend to draft famous football players at my house. I'll be hiding upstairs.
11:20 AM on June 24th, 2009
Agree, agree, agree. And then agree more. Social media tools only work when the customer experience objectives and requirements have been carefully defined and the selected social media tool matches the requirements.
I’ve learned this lesson the hard way during #hcsm Twitter conversation events where the various Twitter clients were completely ineffective in the context of the conversation velocity, expert content and participants. Great information was shared. Nobody could grasp any of the information in the context of a Twitter client. When topical transcripts were prepared and edited by participants the information tripled in value.
Tom
12:04 PM on June 24th, 2009
Love your third bullet point above. Personal bugaboo – I hate how magazines I have been subscribing to for years regularly offer a deeply discounted rate to appeal to a new subscriber whereas my renewal rate as 2x or 3x the promotional rate. Haven’t businesses learned that it is cheaper to KEEP a customer than to go out and source a new one? Besides, they are teaching me to abandon them and then come back… a far costlier proposition for them while only a mild annoyance for me… assuming I do come back.
9:10 PM on June 24th, 2009
Tom – I love what you did to listen to your audience and synthesize the information for them. That’s a great point about internalizing what’s communicated – it’s hard to do when information is broadcast in 140 characters.
Teri – I totally agree with you. I personally believe policies like that one create resentment – quickly – from loyal customers. I recently had the experience of being told the free perk was “for new subscribers only.” It just made me mad!
Thanks to both of you for adding to the discussion!
9:14 PM on June 24th, 2009
As a CFO I found him facinating as well, but love your write up as I can see the whole speech from a different perspective. You have broaden my understanding and perspectve. Very well said!
Julie
12:55 PM on June 26th, 2009
Part of the frustration customers feel is that the customer experience often doesn’t seem that difficult from the customers perspective.
This week I stayed at a hotel where I am a “gold” member in their loyalty program and my reservation got messed up-had me checking out a day early. When I tried to rectify the situation, they offered no help. In fact, they told me there was nothing they could do as they had oversold that evening by 40 customers. When I asked the manager if they could assist me in finding another hotel, they said no. After resolving the situation on my own, I emailed their “customer support” and am still waiting for a response.
I suggested they keep their cookies and chocolates at check in and instead help their loyal customers when it counts. It just doesn’t seem that difficult and what may seem insignificant to the employee, can have lasting damage on the relationship.
The loyalty programs companies offer also set higher expectations that the company should be prepared to meet, wouldn’t you say?
9:36 AM on December 10th, 2009
[...] This post was mentioned on Twitter by Jeannie Walters, Tery Spataro. Tery Spataro said: great post by RT @jeanniecw Stop Thinking Short-Term « 360Connext http://bit.ly/mSAIa [...]
3:41 PM on December 11th, 2009
This is so true! Just because we have new forms of communication does not change the fact that people want to do business with people they feel that listen to them and hear them.
The businesses that can use social media to listen to their customers will be much more successful than the ones that use it just to talk about themselves.