Touchpoint Insights, April 2011: A New World of Customer Experience

Insights and Influence in 140 Characters or Less…

This month’s posts reflect on the “new” world of customer experience, as companies high on the possibilities begin to confront the reality of change: strategy vs. execution, empty (brand) promises vs. execution, and the old paradigm vs. current possibilities of…you’ve got it, execution.

To offer the kinds of experiences customers are beginning to expect (they won’t demand them – they’ll just leave if you don’t deliver), your data needs to be analyzed in ways that anticipate their needs, and your products and services need to be delivered in ways that actually meet these needs. Among other things, this means finding new ways to use old tools (segmentation, rewarding employees, and tailoring services) in new ways that support the customization of the experiences your customers get. That’s the inevitable future of customer experience.

The shift from what “is” to what “could be” is almost always on a path fraught with danger. But this is a path companies must walk, because customers are starting to call the shots in ways that were unthinkable just a few short years ago. The question companies need to ask (and answer) is this: As customers get smarter, will they think our company is smart? Or stupid?

1.) Baby steps. As long as each one is solid, you can walk a mile... http://ow.ly/4rpGl
If your brand is ultimately a set of (author says “great,” I say “relevant and connected”) experiences, then how do you ensure you really deliver? After all, your delivery can make or break you. Creating a sound strategy may be tough, but it’s a snap compared to translating a strategy from paper to reality through the hands, brains and mouths of employees. (Tweet Score: 53)

2.) Reading: "Closed loop feedback and your customer: What, why and how?" http://ow.ly/4rpKf
We’ve mentioned that CEM stakes are rising daily, right? Case in point: closed loop feedback. Customers do what customers do, companies send out surveys to ask how they did, or hire someone like us to talk to customers and re-engineer the process. But the ante has been upped yet again, with the discussion of maximum employee empowerment and engineering for an endless dialog…the aforementioned loop. Without this intimidating-sounding model, your customer experience efforts could too easily float out the window on the next spring breeze. (Tweet Score: 49)

3.) Wal-Mart proves that satisfaction is more closely tied to expectations of service than actual quality of service... http://ow.ly/4sYlk
Er, um, not that I was picking on Wal-Mart or making a judgment call on their service. Just, I mean, for example. The point is, you can be the best of all cable companies and still live down in the basement with the standing water and spider nests. Whereas retailers and hotels, organizations that have an obvious set of amenities and a huge pool of competitors are up in the penthouse of the public’s perception. (And I’m about to research Region’s Bank, which is hanging out in USAA’s rarified company.) (Tweet Score: 48)

4.) Did you know you’re competing with Apple? http://ow.ly/4zjvI
Well lookee here, no wonder I agreed with post #3. As it / I was saying…customers don’t segregate themselves into neat buckets of business buyers or retail consumers, they’re just folks who want stuff. Quickly, cheaply, conveniently, nicely. So if Amazon sets a high bar? You’d better start jumping. It’s your bar too. (Tweet Score: 47)

5.) Reading: "Making Mobile Work for Your Brand: Five Expert Tips" http://ow.ly/4vozX
Gilt, Foursquare and Bump, three companies on the leading edge of mobile technology: what do they know that you should too? Some you’re already well aware of (data, data and more data). But are there any other useful takeaways for even those of us who are not young turks on the razor’s edge of a futuristic game of virtual one-upmanship? Sure. Think global. Gratify. And get moving! For starters. (Tweet Score: 45)

6.) Customer service is critical for survival. But it’s not always easy. http://ow.ly/4xV9W
Oh how much easier your business would be if it was Customer Transaction Management rather than Customer Experience Management. But it’s not, so get to work on that experience, no matter what size your company. A few of my favorites? Sink or swim is not an employee training methodology (damn). And get ready to say you’re sorry. (Tweet Score: 44)

7.) Joe Pine on customer experience... http://ow.ly/4Bnjf
You may be tempted to shun an article titled, “What is customer experience?” but read on, it’s Joe talking. And this ain’t your average Joe. (Tweet Score: 42)

8.) Reading: "The personalisation minefield: Are you engaging customers or enraging customers?" http://ow.ly/4CQRC
So if you read Joe above, you’ll know that customer experience is a uniquely valuable customized service for which the customer is willing to pay. And let’s be honest. When you dissect that deceptively simple statement it’s more challenging than it sounds. But what happens when our ability to customize serves us better than it serves our clients? Say, in the realm of flagging a customer’s interests as we prospect? You and your customers may disagree on where the line is between smart and smarmy, customizing and stalking. (Tweet Score: 36)

9.) Great service is defined by the served, not the server. http://ow.ly/4HnU6
“Great customer service” has the same brand-value battle as “integrity”: it’s so pervasive and un-unique that it’s a waste of space. And yet because of its prevalence in everyone else’s branding, you don’t want to be suspect by its absence. Here are some ideas of how to make a unique promise that speaks volumes, rather than a generic promise that means nothing. Tangible is always better, and who knows, in trying to come up with a good promise on paper, you may even improve your customer service. (Tweet Score: 35)

10.) Reading: "The best marketing strategy is dynamic execution" http://ow.ly/4DA8M
There are so many points in this post I’m not sure where to start, so maybe the best strategy is to just start reading and follow the rabbit holes. I suspect the unifying theme is this: with all the technology and expectation available today, try to look at strategy and execution as one four-lane road rather than two separate paths that need to be bridged. If you decide that desire drives creation of tools rather than the other way around, and that we’re at the dawning of a new age of possibility (like a really new age, giving “post-industrial” a face, wardrobe and address to go along with the name), this is a bigger paradigm shift than it may seem at first glance. (Tweet Score: 34)