Voting for Over-Delivery: The Inspirational Power of Promises Fulfilled
Brand advertising, marketing, and sales efforts are all “promises”. The product and service experiences that follow those promises either fall short, deliver on, or exceed the promises made as customers choose to engage your brand. In a world where many make distorted claims, people are inspired by experiences and stories of those who meet or…
The Kindness GAP: Differentiation by Practicing Civility in Uncivil Times
In addition to highly conflictual political discourse (which may have sunk to an all-time low in the US), I’ve recently observed a number of people making obscene gestures at one another, swearing, and ranting in stores as well as during miscellaneous business transactions. American activist Rachel Corrie once noted, “We should be inspired by people…who show that human beings…
Will it Fly? How to Leverage Quantitative and Qualitative Customer Listening
I’ve been doing customer experience design for a long, long time. In the old days, I would have read about some intriguing customer innovation and assumed that the attempted breakthrough was crafted on a firm foundation of customer listening and data analysis. For example, had I read about something like Indian airline, IndiGo’s, recent effort to create a…
Stepping To The Curb – Go Faster…Make It Easier
It will come as no surprise that consumers today demand effortless and expedited service! Online retailers like Amazon have made shopping easier (24-hours a day, purchasing from the comfort of our home, with no lines at checkout) but they make customers wait for delivery (typically relying on UPS). By contrast, brick-and-mortar businesses have products available…
We Are All In The Perception Business!
Recently, I’ve been suggesting that “perceptions” are a key economic driver. In the course of my work as an experience designer and consultant, I have been defining customer experience strategy as a disciplined approach to brand differentiation achieved by elevating the perception of those you serve based on their interactions with you. Obviously, in today’s…
You Want Engaged Employees? Ignite Mastery
Thought leaders like Daniel Pink have provided insightful analysis of research showing three key drivers of human behavior: Purpose Autonomy, and Mastery In essence, ample research shows that people will give maximal effort when they believe their effort will make a purposeful difference when they are given some level of control over the task or timeline for completing a…
Send in the Drones: Elevating Service in A Technology-Driven World
Have you been watching Domino’s global strategy over the recent number of years? If not, I think the pizza giant it worthy of study. Unbeknownst to many, Domino’s is an amazingly forward looking company. While other brands like Polaroid or Blockbuster have run into a bit of a complacency trap (thinking that what brought them…