1. Fix something you know is broken. There are such things as easy fixes. You know what some of them are – broken links, bad information, too much time waiting. Fix them.
2. Change a message. If you send invoices, do they just ask for payment? Add a thank you (especially this month). When you send confirmation for payment, say thank you again. (What? You don’t send confirmation? There’s another thing to fix!)
3. Look at your “front door” with new eyes. Walk through your front door, call your sales line, check out the sign when customers walk into your dental practice. Ask yourself if it really shows your customers you respect and welcome them. If not, do what you can TODAY to make it friendly and inviting.
4. Check out the photos on your web site. Do they represent your company and your customers? Many times they are boring stock photos of mostly 40-something white people. Consider who your customers are and do your best to represent them.
5. Give a little extra. I recently heard a story about a dry cleaner who takes off 10 – 20% randomly for his best repeat customers. He gets to know their stories, and says things like, “Oh, you have a kid in college!” and then marks down the bill right there. It’s enough to spur real loyalty.
6. Greet your customers by name…for real. How many emails start with “Dear Jeanne C. Walters, As a loyal customer…” Excuse me, but this is not how we talk to each other in real life. Take a page from the drycleaner mentioned above and get to know your customer.
7. Invite your customer to tell you how it really is. Instead of just pushing out surveys or relying on a Facebook poll, look for the responses that are most meaningful and then call that customer up and ask them to share with your executive committee, your board or your call center staff what they shared. Then do something about it.

Photo credit: r3v || cls  and Andrew Stawarz via Creative Commons license

 

“Why do these things keep happening to me!?”

“I work so hard. I deserve more than this.”

“I know I’m great. I’ve lost my last few clients because THEY’RE crazy!”

“I’m so sick of trusting people and being a good person and getting hurt.”

There are a lot of people who live in a state of perpetual victimship. The world is a big, bad place sometimes. Bad stuff happens for no reason at all. The difference is how we handle it. It’s ok to be bummed out, but it won’t get better by living in that state.

Unfortunately, these people don’t see themselves the way the rest of the world does. They get feedback from enablers who tell them, “You’re right. You ALWAYS do the right thing. It’s those other people.” They only listen to those who agree with them. They truly believe they work harder, deliver better, or even feel more than others.

Simply put, they’re delusional.

We all work hard. Yes, some work harder than others. Some who don’t work very hard get to roll around in piles of cash they earned from either dubious or lazy methods. Some really, really hard workers have to keep working really, really hard just to get by in the world. Some of the worst in their professions get the most accolades. Some of the best are ignored. It’s life. It’s hard. It’s not fair.

So what? What does that have to do with you or this blog or any of it?

These people who are victims – let’s call them the cursed – bring that curse with them. They rain on parades and ruin others’ moments. They look for opportunities to complain and kvetch. They bring misery and mayhem and most of all – DRAMA – into every situation they can.

Like it or not, the cursed are probably working for you. They bring that gift of the cursed attitude to the break room, the staff meeting, and the company outing. Worst of all they probably bring it to your customers.

The cursed really can’t help it. They can’t see it. They truly believe they are fighting a good fight against the world and losing. They are battling because they believe those outside forces are really out to get them.

The cursed bring a curse which is a poison to a workplace, a company, or an experience. Don’t let them. Find the cursed, and ask them to bring their curse elsewhere.

 Photo credit: Rev. Xanatos Satanicos Bombasticos via Creative Commons license

 

I consider myself the Customer Experience Investigator(sm). I’m thinking of creating a “CXI” badge to flash when I arrive at the scene of the crime.

I’m not sure if I can do this in one post, but here goes. A day in the life of me as a customer experience investigator.

Someone cue the music and I’ll be slowly removing my aviators for the opening credits…

There really is no typical day.

Most of my clients have ongoing relationships with me, so I know exactly what the expectations are on a weekly basis. I challenge myself to have at least one deliverable per week for each client. I’m able to do this with some help from contractors and assistants, but I understand clients hire me for me, so I am still very involved with the main parts of the products.

Here are a few of the things I’ve done recently my clients, depending on what we’re working on or what their concerns are:

Taking a walk in the customer’s shoes is usually a part of my day. This is done in a variety of ways, most of which I can do virtually. I have a proprietary heuristic analysis I use to review web sites from the customer perspective, complete with scoring and colorful charts. This type of evaluation is highly detailed, so I try to reserve appropriate brain power for it. Sometimes taking a walk in their shoes is about mapping out the customer journey. I do this with a variety of research tidbits, employee interviews, documentation exploration, and actually walking through the process.

Competitive analysis is playing a bigger role in what I do. This means I examine the experience from the customer’s perspective, point out where competitors are gaining or lacking, and usually get inspired by something “missing” from everyone. This leads to innovation and better experiences for my clients’ customers. Much of this is focused on the online experience, so I have a features gap analysis I use as well as just qualitative observation.

For lack of a better name, I become a high-level mystery shopper for my clients. This means conducting actual transactions, going through the corporate sales process, reviewing customer communications, ending a customer relationship – all as if I’m a real customer. While I’m a focus group of one, I bring with me about 15 years of doing this. It’s never disappointing what we learn from these types of experiences. My clients have improved many processes by being open enough to receive feedback this way. The process on paper is never quite what’s happening in real life.

Social media is part of the experience. More and more, we’re focusing on ways to review how social media is used and how we can use it better to serve customers. I do a lot of social media audits and work with the internal departments who are focused on this aspect of the experience. This is another fascinating way to learn every day about what’s working and what isn’t!

Training and speaking is something I enjoy doing but don’t do as much of any more. I’m just not up for too much travel since I’ve got 2 munchkins at home who need me here IRL. Occasionally, though, a specific need arises and I help my clients create training programs or speak with their group. The most popular topics are employee engagement, social media and communication.

Strategy Sessions are other IRL events I enjoy but can’t do too much. My favorite ones are the totally free-for-all, get-everyone-thinking-big innovation sessions. That’s where real customer experience magic happens.

Part of what I love about how I’ve framed this business is that I am totally a third-party investigator. Once we identify what needs to be done for the online experience, or sales process, or retention strategy, I am not trying to sell the next step. I help continue to examine things from the customer’s perspective so we can continue to improve proactively.

I’ll be honest – it takes enlightened leadership to be ready to pay for this. It may seem easier to have the web firm do the initial analysis, but they can’t bring the outside-in perspective. It’s easy to fool yourself into thinking your employees give you the information you need, but they can’t. And while we like to think we are always keeping one eye on the competition, it’s typically buried in the day-to-day of running a business. I’m grateful every day for the clients I have who get this and understand that evaluation, investigation and honesty are what build strong experiences.

Then, of course, there’s my business.

I wish I could say I have this all figured out into a science, but I don’t. But I still have to worry about finances, marketing, blogging, guest blogging, learning, managing projects and people, and planning the growth of 360Connext. Somwhere, somehow, I try to find time for these things in my week.

So, there you go. The not-so-typical day of a Customer Experience Investigator.  I’m thinking I need a trench coat and a walkie-talkie to complete the look. What? Too much?

 Photo Credits: AngryJulieMonday, catfordCelt and 1936matt

 

I’ve come to my own conclusions about this. It’s difficult to address and isolate the issues. One reason is because we are each pulled in so many directions these days we have to triage constantly. How can we start to seriously consider our culture, people and attitudes if we are trying to squeeze in these serious questions in between meetings about the (decreasing) budget, the (inevitable) loss of our superstar, or the (stressful) improvements in technology.

So perhaps this weekend, perhaps on your walk from the train station, or perhaps just now, you can disconnect from the busy-ness to get down to business.

Questions to move you forward, if you are brutally honest with your answers:

1. Do our people think of customers first?

Often, the real answer is no. They consider internal factors and forces first.

2. Is there any part of our customer experience I don’t totally understand?

Experience it yourself or get a third party to do this for you.

3. Is there any part of the experience we know isn’t working?

You know the thing. Time to fix it.

Empower yourself to be the change agent you’ve been waiting for. But it starts away from the office.

 

SOBCon is one of the smallest conferences I attend. And I love it for that reason. Instead of watching from the sidelines, EVERYONE is involved and participating. The speakers are humble and yet top-notch, and after their presentation they sit with you for lunch or mastermind problems at your table.

It is both inspirational and humbling. I got lots of doses of heavy wisdom which made me rethink my business strategy, my web site, my priorities, and everything in between. But I also became aware of how much I COULD be doing to make the world a better place.

There are many lessons from SOBCon.

Dream Big.

Start Small.

Be Kind.

Don’t Give Up.

Stay Humble.

Work Hard.

Create Your Own Luck.

Let’s be honest, these are not revolutionary. They are things we have said before and will say again. We will compare notes on the best way to say them, but overall these are lessons we all try to remember in our own daily grind.

But it boils down to this for me…Listen.

Ask that voice in your head, the one who criticizes and judges and whispers “you can’t,” to vacate the premises for once. Really listen to what others are teaching you. And then ACT.

That’s one lesson I believe we all need to hear more than once. The trick is to really hear it.

There have been several great posts from attendees of SOBCon ’11. Here are two of my favorites:

Barry Moltz summed up his experience as a very active listener (thanks to losing his voice) with Favorite Quotes at SOBCon 2011.

Steve Woodruff summarized the amazing types of people you’re guaranteed to meet in his post The Five People You Meet At SOBCon.

Photo Credits: The awesome and friendly Shashi! His Flickr stream is here. Enjoy.

 

Here are a few areas you think are working within your company, but aren’t:

1. Your “social media strategy” consisting of your college-aged nephew and the occasional “our customers love us” tweet from you.

2. Your warm front desk reception – the woman who treats YOU really well when you walk in? She doesn’t treat others the same way. Your employees get the stink eye if they ask for favors.

3. Your carefully worded press release about your latest product launch. It’s boring. And nobody cares because you post it on your site and hope for the best.

4. Your invoices which get paid on time because they have a due date on them. They do not have a sincere thank you (aside from the preprinted “Thanks for your business!” on the template) nor do they have a personal note.

5. Your mandated customer service training employees loathe. They are not taking notes on those laptops – they are Facebooking to pass the time.

Here’s the tricky thing about customer experience. It’s HUGE. And it’s super small. So while your BIG processes might be working just “fine,” the little things that chip away at customer relationships might not be.

I read somewhere that the number one behavior that destroys marriages is one spouse criticizing the other over and over. It’s not the big thing you might expect – it’s the daily drip-drip-drip erosion that creates the impassable crater.

So think about ONE area you think is working well within your company. Now go fix it.

Photo credits: Stacy Lynn Baum & richardmasoner

 

We don’t create better experiences for our customers for the same reasons. “We can’t do that because it would be impossible.”

“It” might be responding to a frequent request from customers that improves the overall experience but requires a total revamping of your IT, legal or logistical operations.

“It” might be empowering your employees to solve your customers’ problems faster and without approval.

“It” might be finding time in an already time-crunched world to engage with your customers by inviting a dialogue.

But “it” means asking hard questions and ignoring your current limitations. Throw out all of the “but we can’t because” excuses and allow yourself to think big. There are questions you can ask about your customer’s experience that you aren’t allowing yourself to ask today. What could they be?

• How can we address the biggest obstacles our customers have to a greater experience?
• What sort of experience would make them talk to all their friends?
• How can we surprise them?
• When was the last time we said thank you? How can we say it more often?
• How can our customers share more with us? How can we listen?

What questions would you add?

Photo Credit: Eleaf

 

It only works if you look at it. And update it. Then revise it based on reality. And let’s face it, that rarely happens.

I have a love/hate relationship with documentation. I love reviewing it when it gives me real information. Give me a process map and I’m happy. Leave me alone with a few information architecture flows or wireframes and I can really go to town. Love.

Then I fall a little too in love. I find a documented process about how customers are to be treated. And I believe it. I quickly feel a fool for considering I actually know what’s happening. Hate.

But when was the last time you reviewed your sales process documentation? Oh, sure, it might live in Salesforce somewhere or be written on the white board at your sales retreats, but is it followed? And what if it is? Does that equal success? An even better question – what if it’s ignored? Does anyone care?

I’ve found processes involving humans (that is, ALL of them) require lots and lots of reminders, revisions and revamping. That is the crux of the problem with documenting the customer experience.

Processes are outlined, expanded and asterisked. But your humans, those employees, partners and customers, change the rules willy-nilly.

They change things for the better:

• Customer service representatives spend “too much time” helping a customer in distress.
• Your collections people have pity on the real people in real situations and allow them to push out their payments a little longer.
• Your sales people realize that the hand-off to account management is bumpy without their involvement – going against the org chart and process map acknowledged as “the way.”

They also change things for the worse:

• Your sales and marketing folks get in a territory war and change the rules accordingly.
• Your temporary web developers don’t know the rules – so they create their own error messages for YOUR customers. EEK!
• “It’s better this way” mindset wins when it shouldn’t.

Documentation is great! But make sure you occasionally look behind the curtain and ensure the way your customers are treated is the way you want. If documentation was created as the ideal, walk through the process and see if it’s close.

And if you don’t have any documentation. It’s time to start. Just so you know what the ideal should be. That exercise alone will help your organization and your customers more than CRM systems, surveys or focus groups.

How do you feel about documentation? Love or hate?

Photo credit: dplastino and mundoo

 

Battles are fought over perceived turf – marketing budget dollars, headcount, the attention of Mr. or Ms. Bigshot.

I get what you’re going through as a fiefdom lord. It’s not your fault. You’re just doing your job.

You’re supposed to ONLY care about the one thing that will secure your bonus.

Your product is the one that you are in charge of – not the others. They can worry about themselves.

Your job is to sell, right? What happens after that isn’t your concern. You were already reprimanded for overstepping into account management territory.

You’re not the one who should worry about what happens when things go wrong. That’s someone else’s job, too. That’s someone else’s department.

Employees are forced to put blinders on every day. They are told to keep their noses clean, stay away from upsetting Manager X, and just deliver on their key metrics.

The problem is that customers are left with a sub-par experience.

We love our salesperson but find the post-sale attention is lacking.

We love the product but can’t bear the thought of calling tech support because it’s just too painful.

It’s the biggest barrier to a superior customer experience. And without delivering what your customers expect, you are left with an army of disappointed, vocal and defecting serfs.

Are you supporting a fiefdom or the experience overall? The battle is not worth it. It’s time to wage the war.

* Photo Credits: Opensourceway & vilseskogen

 

Hosni Mubarak, Egyptian President for more than 30 years, finally stepped down after several attempts to hold on to his power. As much as we like to shake our head at him and tsk tsk about ego and losing touch with reality, there are lessons in his behavior for all leaders of any organization.

1. You don’t know as much about your people as you think you do.

Sure, you might fancy yourself as in touch and connected, but if your team has any more than about 3, you’re probably not. Your people are most likely agreeing when they shouldn’t and looking for other options when you’re not looking. Remember that and give them some space to achieve – and fail.

2. It’s not them, it’s you.

Mubarak stubbornly and remarkably held on to his position and power even when the battle cry of “Out Mubarak!” was heard around the world. He fired his staff, essentially, and thought that would do the trick. His ego and self-deception made him so out of touch he assumed the rebellion and the world would pat him on the back for doing so and move on. Self-deception is a well-studied angle of leadership, as highlighted in the book Leadership and Self Deception: Getting Out of the Box. But we leaders tend to think OTHERS do that, but not us. The deception continues, and the enemy is us.

3. Sometimes a job well done means handing over the reins to someone else.

I’m forever inspired by America’s founding framers. George Washington, in an act of heroic discipline and forethought, refused a third term as President. This set the stage for our rare and significant peaceful transfers of power. He understood his job was well done, but it was DONE. New ideas, new people, new insights were needed. Mubarek was so unaware he even made that odd speech last week when he essentially did everything BUT resign. It was over, but he refused to accept it.

I want to mention here that I in no way want to trivialize the amazing events happening in Egypt and now other parts of the world. What happened over these last few weeks is nothing short of historic and inspiring.

As leaders, none of us are too far away from this level of self-deception. And with this type of self-deception comes all sorts of issues – employees become disengaged or – worse – hostile, customers leave, your organization suffers. So let’s let Mubarak serve as a cautionary tale, and take a hard look in the mirror.

Photo Credit: Steve Rhodes & Efouche