Imagine it is 2025 – How’s Your Customer Experience?
What will customers expect and encounter when they interact with you and your business in 2025? I know that the question is asking about a distant horizon line, but it wasn’t long ago that 2020 seemed like it was forever far away. As a consultant to Fortune 500 companies, I have had the privilege of…
The Art of Wrapping and Trimming Your Customer Experience | Put a Bow on It [INFOGRAPHIC]
For as many times as I have done it myself or experienced it, you’d think I would have made this connection much earlier. My newly emerging awareness involves the symbolic relationship between outstanding customer experience delivery and the practice of wrapping a personalized present and then putting a bow on it. May you have a…
Human Experience in A Technological World
My momma used to say, “If you can’t say something nice – don’t say anything at all.” That guidance has typically proven to be invaluable. Today, however, I am going to skate on the edge of mom’s wisdom. I will not name the villains in the story I am about to share, but I also…
Customer Segments or Customer Need States?
Customer segments or customer need states? The answer is … both! It’s an important distinction in which I work with my clients to understand and leverage. It is the difference between creating experiences based on customer segmentation versus customer need states. To help make this distinction clear, I will use my son Andrew and myself…
Trusting Your People [Infographic]
Customer experience is best defined as the perception of your customers based on all the interactions they have with your brand. Some of those perceptions extend beyond their direct interactions with you. Some people have suggested that when it comes to customer loyalty, it’s good to create service breakdowns that you can resolve well. I have…
Lessons from South African Entrepreneurs [Infographic]
As you may know, I work predominantly as a consultant to senior leaders in Fortune 500 companies but occasionally choose to participate in public or private events for entrepreneurs and small business owners. As a small business owner myself, I realize the importance of accessing thought leaders who can help me with my business and…
The Agility of Ownership – Lessons from South African Entrepreneurs
This is the 3rd and final installment in my series on customer experience lessons I gained from a recent trip to Africa. The first two blogs involved insights from the African Bush and from the informal townships. As you may know, I work predominantly as a consultant to senior leaders in Fortune 500 companies but occasionally…
Not All Customer Moments Are Created Equal | Building Memories When It Matters Most
If I asked you to tell me about a concert that you attended, my hunch is your story would either be of a recent event, a favorite concert, or a live-event debacle. I am not a gambler, but when it comes to predicting what is most salient in human memory, it’s a good bet to…
No Joke! The Role of Humor in Customer Experience
Isn’t it remarkable how things we learn at one point in our life come back to us as welcome gifts later? Early in my career, I wrote a book about helping children develop humor skills (Humor, Play and Laughter – Stress-proofing life with your kids). I became a student on the topic because I wanted…