It was my birthday this week, so that usually means birthday-related direct mail from women's retail stores. I have two examples that showcase distinct differences between doing the minimum amount and doing something worth buzz. Ann Taylor delivered a typical postcard: 15% off a one-time purchase in February. "On your special day, treat yourself with your Birthday Bonus," says. "It's your birthday. May all of your wishes come true." Anthropologie sent a card in a odd-sized bubble pouch featuring a perforated cupcake with a candle on it. The candle is part of a necklace. It, too, offers 15%…
Customer Service
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Church of the Customer Blog
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A tale of 2 birthday cards
4 Feb 2010 | 1:48 pm -
Simplify your objectives
27 Jan 2010 | 4:50 amStrategic objectives are the Holy Grail of a company's being. They typically involve big plans, so the natural inclination is to compose a lengthy description of each objective. That means strategies and tactics are often piled into the wording of the objective. That unnecessarily complicates the objective, making it less likely to be understood quickly and efficiently. Anything not understood easily is unlikely to spread. Here's a fictitious, slightly over-the-top example of what a top-heavy objective might look like: Understand how to create better innovation opportunities for our products… -
Why it's important to be a linchpin and an artist
25 Jan 2010 | 9:00 pmIf you want to succeed in today's world of work, author Seth Godin says you should focus on being a "linchpin." That's the title of his new book, so we asked him a few questions about it. Q: What is a linchpin, and why is it important to become one? A linchpin is the part you can't live without, the thing that makes a difference. In every organization there are one (or several) people like this. It might be the brilliant inventor who creates the impossible, but it's far more likely to be the great sales rep or customer service person who makes a connection, or the marketer who knows how to… -
5 new ways to compete for book PR
18 Jan 2010 | 4:15 am(Editor's note: This is a guest post from Barbara Henricks of CaveHenricks, a public relations firm for business books and authors. She's considered by many to be one of the best book publicists in the publishing industry. She can be reached at barbara@cavehenricks.com.) I’ve been in the PR business nearly 20 years, and there’s been more change the past two years than in the first 18. That’s created much fear and confusion. Readers are consuming content from more outlets and with a staggering number of devices-- via iPhones, computers, Blackberries, Kindles, Nooks and Sony Readers, to… -
Please donate to Haiti earthquake relief
15 Jan 2010 | 10:49 amIf you are able, please consider giving to the Haiti relief efforts. We have given to Yele Haiti, a grassroots movement that builds global awareness for Haiti while helping to transform the country through programs in education, sports, the arts and environment. Yéle Haiti was founded in 2005 by Wyclef Jean, Grammy-award winning musician, humanitarian and Goodwill Ambassador to Haiti.
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Leadership & Learning
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Fascinate: Your 7 Triggers to Persuasion and Captivation
8 Feb 2010 | 3:30 amThis week’s Resource Recommendation – Fascinate: Your 7 Triggers to Persuasion and Captivation By Sally Hogshead We buy products because we are fascinated in some way. We enter professions, pick jobs and choose friends (and mates) because of fascination. We pick movies, television shows and books because of . . . fascination. This book arrived in my mail courtesy of the author. When I met Sally more than a year ago she was working on this book. We talked about it. I was fascinated. When I picked up the book, I knew Sally hit a home run. The book is divided into three parts:… -
Seven Ways to Nurture Professional Relationships
8 Feb 2010 | 3:30 amEarly in my consulting career I started telling people the consulting business is a relationship business. I was right, just a little short sighted. Actually all business is a relationship business. All work is a relationship business. All leadership is a relationship business. And while our focus in this article is on business or professional relationships, I believe you could say, at some level, life is a relationship business. Regardless of how you would say it, it is hard to overlook the importance of relationships in all of our professional endeavors. Having stronger relationships… -
Grade Your Goals
6 Feb 2010 | 5:18 amTony Robbins says, “People are not lazy. They simply have impotent goals – that is, goals that do not inspire them.” So I ask you . . . Are your goals impotent, or important? If you aren’t making as much progress as you wish, in any area of your life, ask yourself that question again. And as a leader I challenge you . . . Have you created created impotent or important goals? If you wish your team was more “engaged” or “motivated” look first in the mirror and the goals that exist for the team/organization. -
Your Farmer List
5 Feb 2010 | 11:04 pmThe title and idea for this post comes from social media superstar and super good guy (I’m pleased to call him a friend) Chris Brogan, who recently wrote a post called, Your Farmer List . In the post Chris shares things that should be on a blogger’s daily task list. Of course, as a farm kid, I totally get Chris’ point. Growing up with hogs, there were tasks that had to be done everyday. Pigs had to be fed – at least twice per day. 7 days a week, 365 days a year. This wasn’t a “should do” or “put it on your to do list” thing,… -
I Love Snow – and Why That Matters to You
5 Feb 2010 | 2:55 pmWatch this video, and take the action I suggest – it might be your most important leadership activity of the day – and I might make you smile too!
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AllBusiness.com - Customer Service Experience
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Why Your CRM Strategy Should Not Focus On Your Customers
1 Feb 2010 | 5:00 pmThen there are those people who consider themselves evangelists for that particular business... -
Nine Customer Service Blogs You Should Check Out
30 Jan 2010 | 9:05 pmI'm going to recommend nine customer service blogs that I read... -
Delta Gets It (or at Least One Captain Does)
25 Jan 2010 | 11:55 pmDuring our entire trip he went out of his way to not only keep us informed but to explain what he was doing and why. -
Look Before You Leap, Or Tweet, Or Post
21 Jan 2010 | 9:45 pmBut in the meantime, McDonald’s brand was unfairly smeared... -
That's The Way, Uh-huh Uh-huh, I Like It...
19 Jan 2010 | 10:00 pmIt’s always been my practice to give feedback to organizations when they deliver, as Sam Walton called it, “legendary customer service,” and this time was no different.
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vancouver | restaurant, retail, entertainment service review information
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dirty apron cooking school
7 Feb 2010 | 12:17 amI used to love multiple choice tests at school (as much as one could love multiple choice tests), especially when the answer seemed to jump off the page like frogs on a dynamite pond. Try this on for size: What’s black, white and red all over? a) a newspaper b) a sunburned penguin c) Santa with a black eye d) The Dirty Apron Cooking School in Vancouver If you answered (d), full points, collect your $200 as you pass Go. If you answered anything other than (d), do it again. Speaking of doing things again (for the first time in my case), this past Friday evening I found myself enjoying… -
welcome fresh dish!
26 Jan 2010 | 6:44 pmWe at timinganddelivery.com would like to take this opportunity to welcome its newest partner, Fresh Dish! Fresh Dish is located at 1412 East 49th Avenue (and Knight) and has at the heart of its reason for being two things we favour: 1) food; and 2) service Picking your menu, choosing your dishes, and clicking (or coming in) is as easy as it gets when it comes to fine food being delivered to your door. But don’t listen to me, listen to Fresh Dish’s owner tell you the story: One of my favourite aspects of their service: Fresh Dish does all the meal planning, shopping, chopping,… -
toni&guy
23 Jan 2010 | 9:13 amI was forced to take piano lessons as a kid. So that sucked. Picking up on that concept, in terms of the ‘that sucked’ factor, the past year or so has thrown a couple of service experiences my way that I think are worth yammering on about: Waiting 15 minutes to order a beer Questioning why scrambled eggs take over an hour to get to your plate Being told what to order, where to sit, and being afraid to suggest otherwise Waiting for wine gums…that never came Feeling like I was at a public camp site waiting in line to use the single men’s washroom at a lounge And, adding… -
ranked one of the top blogs in vancouver…
22 Jan 2010 | 12:20 amWe were honoured that Craig and the team at LetsGoForDinner Blog ranked timinganddelivery.com as one of the Vancouver’s Top Restaurant Blogs. Out of 55, we placed 11th! It was certainly a tight race for us folk in on the other side of 5th place (smirk). So thanks to all of YOU, our readers, for doing what you do (reading). I’ll keep on doing what I do (writing) as long as you stick to the ‘wash, rinse, and repeat’ program with us. We’ve got some great stuff planned this year, including a reader affinity program with special discounts at all of our sponsors (stay… -
The Bay
16 Jan 2010 | 9:37 amHave any of you been to The Bay lately? I have to admit, that aside from the occasional need to get some socks or white t-shirts, I hadn’t been on their frequent visitor list; until recently. Stepping through the doors at the corner of West Georgia and Granville (674 Granville to be exact) kind of feels like you’re standing in line for the gondola at Whistler (minus the skiis and people in blue coats trying to scan your lift pass). Madness on the main floor aside, something smacked me right in between the eyes on my latest visit to return a Christmas re-gift I received (a…
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toronto | restaurant, retail, entertainment service review information
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dark horse espresso
8 Feb 2010 | 6:41 amIn my entire café-going existence, I have never seen staff clean tables so quickly. Now, of all the things I choose to bring up with Dark Horse Espresso Bar (215 Spadina Avenue), I can’t believe I’m talking about table-cleaning. But really, this ain’t a tangent. Think about it: if they’re so conscientious and hyper-sensitive on this level, it likely works its way through every part of the business. There’s pride in what they do, and it definitely shows. And by gad, this place is immaculate… maybe even moreso than its older sibling, the popular Dark Horse… -
top 10 posts (October)
28 Oct 2009 | 8:29 amThe results are in! Ranked by number of page views, the following is a list of the top 10 Toronto service reviews for the month ended October 27. Some recurring trends in this month’s top 10: meat, leather, and coats… 1) Lorne’s Coats - Vanessa Green 2) Copacabana Brazilian Steakhouse - Vanessa Green 3) Northbound Leather - Frances Avalon 4) Ronnie’s Local 069 - Frances Avalon 5) Black’s Photography (on Bay) - Connie Tsang 6) Chez Cora - Connie Tsang 7) The Brant House - Frances Avalon 8) Hoops Sports Bar and Grill (Yonge) - Connie Tsang 9) … -
dance cave
30 Sep 2009 | 9:40 amThe Dance Cave 529 Bloor St. West 416.532.1598 I’m pretty sure The Dance Cave has been around since before dirt. It’s situated above famed live-music venue, Lee’s Palace, and it’s about the same footage and layout-a big square, but without a stage for bands. It’s got that late-80s boho Queen St. vibe that the Bamboo had and the Horseshoe has in spades. The walls are even decorated in a Keith Herring rip-off paint job of black squiggles that go nowhere. Pros: Fridays and Saturdays have had a line up four deep and a block long for over a decade. It’s only $5… -
midtown
28 Sep 2009 | 10:04 amLittle Italy is absolutely bursting with bars and clubs and somewhere in the middle, you’ll find Midtown (522 College). This is a crowd favourite for the university crowd and late twenty somethings and the place is always bumping. You’ll have a rough time getting to the bar and dance floor area of Midtown as this place is constantly ram-packed with drunken revelers. Once you do get through the crowd of people, you will most definitely be waiting again at the bar. There aren’t nearly as many bartenders required to serve the mass of people, but what else is new in Toronto? Midtown is not… -
studio gallery
24 Sep 2009 | 9:27 am294 College Street 2nd Floor 416.832.3933 In the 90s there was an illegal after hours above the paint store on the corner of College and Spadina. I only mention it because every time I go to Studio Gallery (also on the second floor on College, but a few door down) I think of that space. It’s an alternative gallery that caters to the hipster Cive-Guide-to-cool set. The layout is basic: up a flight of stairs and down a long hallways there are two square 500 sq. ft or so rooms that are used as gallery spaces. On occasion they use the back fire escape as the entrance for smaller, one-room…
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CustomerThink - Blog Posts
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adidas gives ‘a little something extra’ using augmented reality
8 Feb 2010 | 10:18 pm -
Sales Productivity Sounds
8 Feb 2010 | 6:18 pm -
Creating B2B Growth
8 Feb 2010 | 5:18 pm -
Does Brand Marketing still matter?
8 Feb 2010 | 5:16 pm -
Important updates from Scout Labs today
8 Feb 2010 | 4:16 pm
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Conversation Agent
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How I Participate in Social Networks
9 Feb 2010 | 4:00 amI'm borrowing a page off the Communicatrix blog to lay out how I participate in social networks. Why? Because we all have a different strategy to how we spend our time and energy to be social and to achieve our goals and since we have a strategy, in the spirit of social, we should make it transparent. [hat tip to Skip Shuda for suggesting it]I've been getting more than many requests from several people in many networks lately. Requests to friend, requests to tweet, to forward, to bookmark, to stumble, the list goes on. Being online for the best part of my day makes me very accessible. That I… -
Are You Customer-Averse?
8 Feb 2010 | 4:00 amWe all know the story of how Comcast went from customer-averse to customer-friendly. It started online with a person, and it's making its way to the rest of the organization. You will agree with me that Comcast went from this episode, to this action, to this thinking. They went from customer-averse, to customer-friendly. It didn't happen overnight, still it did. Competition helps, too, so we keep our fingers crossed on any one company getting too big to care.Businesses continue to look for more ways to get new business either from new or current customers -- usually both, in this order. Shiny… -
Trust in Media Down, Good News for Experts
7 Feb 2010 | 4:00 amTrust in business and Government has gone up in the last year, while trust in media seems to be declining across the board -- this is the latest finding of the latest annual Edelman Trust Barometer survey. Take a look at the executive report and see that:Trust in traditional media is trending downward: TV news dropped by 20 points radio news dropped by 17 points print news dropped by 12 points Trust in digital media is still pretty low, and although corporate communications are trending higher than social networks, they're still not that high.We've all witnessed the decline of stretched news… -
The Future Online is Subscription-Based: Why I Joined Third Tribe
5 Feb 2010 | 4:00 amClearly, the title left out a few pieces of information. I believe there is still a future online for free, but increasingly, the way to get things done, to go from conversation to agent, is subscription-based. Why? Accountability, resources, self-selected network, and opportunity to syndicate service, for a fee.The service for a fee model interests me most. That's why I joined Third Tribe as a member this week. The whole velvet rope community concept should make brands pay attention. This is not just a build a community to push your products, or just engage customers in your stuff kind of… -
We Still Get Things Done Through Search
4 Feb 2010 | 4:00 amWith all the talk about social networks and engagement, when it comes to getting things done, we rely on search. The image above was part of the set I used last Fall at the Inbound Marketing Summit when we talked about the importance of creating content for sharing.There was another interesting study I did not mention at the time that confirms a few of the following statements on social media as content delivery mechanism to: help conversions connect to value build relationships extend to influentials engage via education They are all outcomes I've had the opportunity to experience and…
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CRM Daily
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Super Bowl Ads Go for Laughs Amid Product Spotlight
9 Feb 2010 | 4:05 amBetty White plays football, babies talk about "milkaholics" and a house made of Bud Light cans falls slowly apart. It must be the Super Bowl -- or at least the advertising showcase that entertains amid the gridiron action. Not every commercial was strictly humorous. Automaker Toyota aired several ads before and after the game to reassure worried owners after its recalls connected with accelerator problems. A hotly anticipated commercial by conservative Christian group Focus on the Family hinted at a serious subject, although even it had a surprise punchline. Heisman Trophy winner Tim Tebow… -
SAP CEO Abruptly Resigns; Co-CEOs Will Take Over
8 Feb 2010 | 10:26 amLeading business-software maker SAP AG (NYSE: SAP) on Monday announced a strategic shift in the corporate suite. Léo Apotheker has resigned as CEO and member of the SAP executive board, effective immediately. The abrupt decision came as part of a "mutual agreement" with the company's supervisory board not to extend Apotheker's contract as a member of the executive board. Apotheker joined SAP, which is based in Germany but well-known worldwide, more than 20 years ago. The company didn't offer details on severance or his future plans. His replacement came quickly with two co-CEOs: Bill… -
MEI Achieves Record Growth in 2009
8 Feb 2010 | 6:28 amMEI Computer Technology Group, Inc. -– a leading developer of trade promotion management solutions for the Consumer Packaged Goods (CPG) industry -- recently announced that the Company achieved record growth in 2009, achieving an increase in revenue of 25.2% over last year and cash reserves of 29.3%. The Company also increased its customer base by 25% adding new customers including Wheetabix North America and continued expansion into the Natural Foods and Organics market segment. The MEI Trade Promotion Management solution continued to receive accolades from CPG manufacturers by enabling… -
Empirix Offers OneSight Voice Quality Assurance
8 Feb 2010 | 6:08 amBedford, MA - February 08, 2010 - Empirix Inc., the market leader of service quality assurance solutions for new IP communications, today announced the availability of Empirix's OneSight Voice Quality Assurance solution, which combines the company's best-of-breed OneSight customer experience monitoring with active monitoring to assure end-user voice quality. With the OneSight Voice Quality Assurance solution, any single-site or multi-site organization can emulate realistic end-user behavior before an agent or customer picks up the phone, thereby assuring that the best voice quality is part of… -
LiveTime Speeds and Simplifies User Authentication
8 Feb 2010 | 5:53 amLiveTime Software announced its leading Service Management and Help Desk software will fully support SAML/SAML2 based Single Sign-On (SSO) in its upcoming 6.1 release. Security-Assertion-Markup-Language (SAML) leverages existing investments in infrastructure deployed for Single Sign-On to validate user credentials, and streamlines access to LiveTime Service Manager and Help Desk. When using SAML/SAML2 SSO, LiveTime simplifies the user experience, allowing access to resources without forcing service technicians to re-authenticate with each application. LiveTime uses an IdP (Identity Provider)…
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Customer Experience Crossroads
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Are we really an urban nation? Maybe not
3 Feb 2010 | 8:35 amI've been working on a B2B interview project for a couple of weeks now, and I'm driving into industrial parks and suburban shopping areas all over the place. As well as the downtown core. It's been a real eye-opener. Yesterday, I went to the wrong corporate building downtown. No problem, the other building was a 10 minute walk away, I just trotted over and held the interview. But last week, I went to the wrong business outlet in the suburbs. The owner maintains offices in both locations, but he was in the other one. It was a short distance as the crow flies, but I had to get back on the… -
Truth, lies and feedback (Part 4 final amazing installment)
26 Jan 2010 | 3:50 amI've been posting for a few days on this topic of how to get truthful feedback. Here are the links to Part 1 which poses a question, Part 2 about how to seek face-to-face feedback, and Part 3 which is about a questionnaire virtually designed to elicit falsehood. Today, I want to look at the most challenging of all truth-finding situations, the police investigator. This is a situation that makes the work of commercial interviewers of all sorts look like absolute child's play. People generally volunteer to talk to us, most times we actually pay them. The worst downside they are likely to… -
Truth, lies and feedback (part 3)
22 Jan 2010 | 3:50 amI've been posting about truth, lies and feedback -- you can read the previous posts here and here.On the same trip to Baja Mexico referenced earlier, we were traveling while the H1N1 situation [scare? epidemic? what are we calling it now?] was still rolling. Going in and out of Mexico, we had to pass through an extra screening at the airport.There was a woman on our outbound trip who wore a face mask on the plane. Whether worn to protect herself or others was not clear to me, as she seemed the picture of health. But the mask quickly disappeared before we left the plane. Both times, we had to… -
Truth lies and feedback (part 2)
20 Jan 2010 | 3:34 amI mentioned the story of my kayak guide asking for feedback before the trip was over in the previous post. It's pretty easy to see why we all provided something less than full and frank disclosure to this man. We liked the guy. Despite our gripes, we now had something of a social relationship with him, after several days of constant contact. SOCIAL INFLUENCES We were painfully aware of our abundant wealth compared to most everyone we encountered, including our guide. As right-thinking liberal minded educated persons, we didn't want to place inappropriate expectations on someone from a less… -
On truth, lies and feedback (part 1)
19 Jan 2010 | 8:24 amHow many times this month have you already been asked for feedback or invited to fill in some kind of a questionnaire? Take a minute... Probably quite a few. When we are the people seeking the information, we tend to act as if the answers we get are generally truthful. Maybe not a good assumption. I've been thinking about this a bit, and will be looking at the issue from a few angles in the next couple of posts.One of the situations that got me thinking was on a recent holiday. My beloved and I were on a kayak trip in Baja, with one other traveler and our guide. We were a good day's paddle…
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Customer Relations
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A Toyota Customer Speaks Up
In the middle of the controversy hounding Toyota these days, a customer speaks up and shares his experience with the company. Vincent Chin of iSixSigma blogosphere shares: A few years back we sold of our Malaysian made Proton cars and got a Toyota MPV and another Toyota sedan. When the sedan came ... -
Consumer News: Alaska Airlines Unveils New Elite Mileage Program
Alaska Air Group Inc. launches a new elite level frequent flyer program for passengers who log 75,000 or more miles on Alaska Airlines or Horizon Air. Pudget Sound Business Journal reports: Travelers can also qualify for Seattle-based Alaska’s (NYSE: ALK) MVP Gold 75K elite program if they fly 90,000 miles ... -
Inputs from a Generation-Y Customer
How do you serve generation-Y customers? Do you know them well enough to serve them right? Here are tips from a generation-Y customer: Shopping patterns of Generation Y Because our generation responds and adapts rather quickly to social changes, we have emerged from the recession as "Recessionistas," informed shoppers who stick to tight ... -
Domino’s Pizza Moves to Satisfy Customers More
I'm sure you've heard about the new Domino's Pizza. I did, as well as the comments from customers about it. I think it's a natural tendency to praise and critique new things in the market. Some would love it, others won't. But I have to hand it to Domino's for going ... -
Is Nexus One’s Customer Support Ready?
An article on StockWatch says that Google customer support should deploy a better customer service strategy. And that is to let customers talk to a customer support representative (read: a person), not just through email, support forums, or refer to FAQs. I agree! Especially that Nexus One is a new product, and there will be ...
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makeorbreakmoments.com
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Toyota Rebuilds Trust
8 Feb 2010 | 5:27 amBoy, Toyota has sure had a run of back luck recently. Accelerators that stick and brakes that don’t work. A bad combination. So how are they handling the situation? Check out the video commercial about how Toyota is focusing on customer cars FIRST. “To restore your faith in our company.” They aren’t hiding from the issue No excuses are [...] -
Welcome Smart Marketing Strategy
4 Feb 2010 | 2:24 pmJean Gianfagna, marketing strategiest and business owner of Gianfagna Marketing recently started a blog entitled: Smart Marketing Strategy. Great name and as it turns out – great information. I just took a visit and found an interesting blog post on connecting the customer data gathered with the marketing message delivered. In the post, Why Customer Data is Essential [...] -
The Seven Things I Love About Social Media
2 Feb 2010 | 4:49 pmI’m preparing for a series of four classes I’ll be teaching on social media - especially how social media can be used to connect with your customers. So I thought I’d just jot down a few of my thoughts and maybe even start an Internet meme. Blogging – sharing my thoughts about customer service and learning [...] -
Hard to Build Rapport While Multi-Tasking
1 Feb 2010 | 1:02 pmAre you a multi-tasker? I am the Queen of doing seven things at once and inevitably doing none of them well. That’s why one of the feature articles in the recent Manta Sales newsletter caught my eye. The article is entitled 6 Ways to Build Rapport but it starts with a story in which the author, [...] -
Silence is Deadly
29 Jan 2010 | 11:29 amThere is nothing worse than silence. Whoever said “no news is good news” or ”silence is golden” must have been the parent of a new born because as an entrepreneur and the mother of a college student – there is nothing worse than NO NEWS. It’s Friday. The end of the work week. I should be [...]
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Customers Rock!
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The Social Customer
4 Feb 2010 | 5:07 pmI have been reading quite a few blogs and comments lately about how social media and customer service need to come together. There has also been a lot of talk about the Social Customer and its importance. I wholeheartedly agree, and as you might imagine, I have a few quick thoughts on the subject which I will share below (inspired by some comments on left on Esteban Kolsky’s post at the blog TheSocialCustomer). Service is the New Marketing Been hearing that for ages; I even spoke at a conference of that name 2 years ago! But what I believe is really trying to be said by this statement… -
Focus on Customer Service in 2010 (Finally?)
18 Jan 2010 | 11:11 pmThis may be it. This may be the year that it finally happens. 2010 may just be the year that companies start to focus on their customers and serving them well. Now, I am cautiously optimistic about this focus on customer service, but let me tell you why I feel this way. - Brands are using a focus on customers as a competitive differentiator in their advertisements. Frank Eliason mentions the new commercial for the Chase Sapphire credit card service. It features the ability to talk “directly to a live person when I call” rather than being routed around an automated call queue. The… -
What Gets in the Way of Offering Great Customer Service?
8 Jan 2010 | 1:09 amI am enjoying my new radio program, Customers Rock! Radio, and on it I have the opportunity to talk with many different people. Some are from businesses, some are consultants, and others are authors. Later this month (January 25), I will have the privilege of hosting Barry Moltz on my program. Barry is the author of the new book BAM! Delivering Customer Service in a Self-Service World, recently chosen as a 2009 Best Small Business Book. Barry is also my guest author today here on the first Customers Rock! post of 2010. Enjoy! What Gets in the Way of Offering Great Customer Service? Guest… -
I’m Back! Plus, some great links for holiday reading
28 Dec 2009 | 8:05 pmI realize I have not been around much here on the blog these past few months. I have missed it, but more than that, I have missed the conversations I have with you, my readers! My plan for 2010 is to blog at least weekly, possibly more often if I keep the blog posts relatively short (like a Posterous-type post). Thank you all for hanging in there with me – I really appreciate your loyalty to Customers Rock! over these past 3 years (yes, I just celebrated this blog’s 3-year blogiversary in December!). More to come… much more. I have been spending more time lately on Twitter,… -
Bathrooms and Customer Experience
30 Oct 2009 | 7:50 pmYes, it is that time of year when the Bathroom Blogfest comes around and our thoughts turn to those forgotten spaces where the customer experience, and customer perceptions, are still impacted. Yes, even the bathroom at your establishment (restaurant, retail store, hotel) reflects on your brand. As you know, here at Customers Rock! there is a strong focus on looking at your business from the customer’s perspective. Sometimes, that perspective takes place in the restroom, and this blogfest focuses on exactly that. The Bathroom Blogfest 2009 has been taking place all week this week, with a…
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Demand Satisfaction!
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We’re Crossing the Pond. Meet Us in London February 17th
7 Feb 2010 | 11:57 amWe’re going to London, and we’d love to meet up! We’ll be speaking at the Parature Customer Experience Seminar, a free event at The Cumberland hotel in London on February 17th. Want to attend? Just register here. Thor will be presenting “Customer Service Is the New Marketing” at 11:30 a.m., and we’ll be hosting our own meet-up at the hotel. If you’re not familiar with Parature, they offer on-demand, customer-service software (customer portals, knowledgebases, trouble-ticketing software systems, and live chat, among others). They integrate very well… -
The Last Words of a Community Manager
5 Feb 2010 | 11:58 amWhat happens when a community manager leaves their community? The simple answer is that someone takes their place. The more complicated answer: perhaps something new and unexpected happens. I’ve been pondering this question because I’m departing my job as community manager at Get Satisfaction. Today is my last day. I’m off to help steward a new community where I’ll do my best to help people and drive participation for a whole new network of people. It’s a new challenge for me, and I’m excited at what I’ll learn and experience. A lot. I’m sure of… -
A New Role at Get Satisfaction: Community Education Specialist
29 Jan 2010 | 10:30 am2010 is already shaping up to be a great year. Change seems to be in the air everywhere, including here at Get Satisfaction. We’re growing, and fast. We have so many exciting developments in store! We’ve added a number of new people to our crew, in areas like engineering, sales, marketing, user experience, customer outreach, community management, and support. We introduced our two new Customer Support and Community Management team members to you here in our blog over the past couple of weeks — the very experienced, whip-smart, and outgoing Morgan Sherwood and Ginevra Kirkland. -
Today Is Community Manager Day: Let’s Hug It Out!
25 Jan 2010 | 12:05 amA journey of a thousand steps begins with… a tweet? Last week, Jeremiah Owyang sent out a simple query: Is there a Community Manager Day? If not, why not? This sparked a lot of discussion across the Web and the Twitterverse and all the places where people who do community management get together to share ideas. Everyone seemed to agree: There should be. So, now there is. Welcome to Community Manager Day. Every fourth Monday of January, as Jeremiah said, “Let’s take the time to pause, recognize, and celebrate the efforts community managers around the world are doing.”… -
Introducing: Our New Community Team Member Ginevra Kirkland
21 Jan 2010 | 2:26 pmWe hired a bunch of new people! Lots of growth going on around our new 2010 initiatives. (Pssst: Stay tuned for a big announcement in the coming weeks.) We’re formally — in an informal way — introducing you to all of the awesome new people who have been joining the Get Satisfaction team. Last week, we told you about our new service and support manager, Morgan Sherwood. This week: another superb addition to our community management crew: Ginevra Kirkland, joining us as Community & Account Manager. Q&A time! Eric: How did you find yourself here at Get Satisfaction? How did you…
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Dennis Snow Blog
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Service Mapping - A Tool For Creating Outstanding Customer Experiences
4 Feb 2010 | 9:40 amFellow consultant and blogger Mari Pat Varga recently asked me to be a guest blogger on her site. Specifically, she wanted me to discuss the customer experience improvement tool that I call “Service Mapping,” which helps organizations design their processes with the “lens of the customer” in mind. In the blog post (the link is below) Mari Pat also included a clip from one of my presentations in which I describe how to get the most from the Service Mapping tool. I hope you find the tool to be valuable in your service improvement efforts! A Tool For Creating Outstanding… -
Customer Service and The Amazing Service Guy
30 Jan 2010 | 11:19 amI recently interviewed Kevin Stirtz, The Amazing Service Guy, on the subject of improving customer service. Kevin’s experience as a speaker and consultant has led him to engagements with organizations like Urban Outfitters, Supercuts, Pep Boys, and Embassy Suites. Kevin also hosts one of the best customer service sites on the Web, www.AmazingServiceGuy.com. Click below to listen to our interview, which focuses on what organizations can do to continually raise the level of service they provide. -
Customer Service Tip – Diffuse First, Educate Second
27 Jan 2010 | 3:04 pmI recently had the opportunity to work with Family Video, the largest privately owned movie and game “rentailer” in the United States, and third largest overall, with 612 stores. In an industry struggling to deal with significant changes, such as new rental options offered by Netflix and Redbox, Family Video is the only DVD/game rental operation showing positive growth. Expanding continually, they again achieved record profits last year. Why is Family Video doing so well as others in the industry struggle? First, they are constantly looking for ways to offer increased value to… -
Whatcha’ Readin’?
18 Jan 2010 | 2:23 pmEvery morning, the law firm of Baker, Donelson, Bearman, Caldwell & Berkowitz reviews the list of clients who will be visiting the office that day, noting the industries the visiting clients are in. Then, instead of having generic magazines in the waiting room, they put out magazines that are of interest to members of those industries. They have to stay on top of their client list so that they have appropriate magazines, but imagine how much better their approach is than the norm. Most waiting rooms have the standard, general-interest magazines that, more often than not, are months (or… -
The Curse of Arrogance - An Update
7 Jan 2010 | 1:44 pmMy post about my recent experiences with Southwest Airlines, The Curse of Arrogance, seems to have struck a nerve with some folks, especially Southwest Airlines flight attendants. Another site picked up the thread and included several comments from flight attendants who placed the blame on obnoxious or abusive passengers. I agree; no employee of any organization should put up with abuse. But the situations I observed involved no abusive passengers. As I wrote in the original post, I’ve recently started to notice more and more Southwest flight attendants being standoffish, mechanical,…
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Experience Planner by Scott Weisbrod
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Weekly Linkage 2010-02-05
5 Feb 2010 | 6:09 amSkittles re-designed its website when they realized that social media isn’t all rainbows. Adweek and Fast Company weigh in on Skittles’ experiment with social media. Business Week published a special report on the Value of Design this past week. A couple of choice articles to check out include The Role of Design in Business and Why Design Matters. Frontline recently aired a new documentary called Digital Nation that “explores what it means to be human in an entirely new world — a digital world”. They’ve created a companion web site containing tons of raw… -
New Trend: The Splinternet
2 Feb 2010 | 11:59 amJosh Bernoff says “prepare for the Splinternet“. The ecosystem of internet-enabled devices with various input modes (e.g., touch, voice, mouse) on closed vs open platforms (e.g., iPhone OS vs Android) is absolutely exploding right now and the Splinternet is the perfect term to describe that trend and the growing need for companies to be more selective about which devices they build apps, sites and experiences for. The good news is that companies can focus if they are disciplined and make device selection a strategic choice. There are methods for making decisions like these easier. -
Generation Dissatisfied - Is Gen Y Really Gen D?
29 Jan 2010 | 11:59 amForrester recently published a report that rates customer service experiences across industries. Bruce Temkin has shared a few highlights from the report on his blog. What really jumped out at me was how dissatisfied Gen Yers are with customer service experiences (you’ll have to read/purchase the actual report to see the breakdown by generation). I took a look at other Forrester research about which consumers care about customer service and for whatever reason, Gen Yers care less about customer service when compared to their older cohorts. Is it that Gen Y is more concerned with low… -
Weekly Linkage 2010-01-29
29 Jan 2010 | 7:59 amQuick Links The Maturation of Social Media ROI The Age of Customer Capitalism Strategic Planning is Too Slow The Art & Science of Evidence-Based Design The Future of Online Customer Experience Sites of the Week Nike True City Starbucks Love Project -
My Take on the New Apple iPad
27 Jan 2010 | 5:37 pmAt first glance, the new Apple iPad doesn’t appear to be a game changer. Honestly? What it is, is an upgraded, tricked-out iPod Touch and in typical Apple fashion, they’ve focused on basic functionality the first time out. There is no camera, no HDMI, no USB - not without an adapter, at least - and it lacks multi-tasking. Apple has created a low-risk product based on their existing technology. So unlike the Apple iPhone, there’s no new real technological or user experience innovation here (i.e., touchscreen tech and an application delivery channel in the form of the Apple…
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Steve Curtin
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Problems may bolster satisfaction
8 Feb 2010 | 9:15 amTime and again research confirms that customer encounters in which a problem is resolved quickly and efficiently receive higher satisfaction scores than situations in which there was no problem reported. Obviously, each customer is different with respect to his temperament and tolerance for mistakes. But dropping the ball here or there can turn out to be a good thing if the problem is properly resolved. Using a hotel example, imagine you’ve just been asked to answer a satisfaction survey about a recent hotel experience. As you reflect on how satisfied you were with different elements of… -
Handle problems with care
28 Jan 2010 | 9:29 amLast December I worked with a hotel leadership team in Dayton, OH. One of the discussions lead to identifying the obstacles that stood in the way of creating promoters of its hotel. Consumer research firm Bain and Company defines promoters as those customers who are the least price-sensitive, have the highest repurchase rates, and are responsible for between 80 and 90 percent of positive word-of-mouth. One of the executives, Ryan, mentioned that the frequency of problems experienced by hotel guests was an obstacle. In examining this further, it became clear that a contributing factor was the… -
Work vs. Play
20 Jan 2010 | 3:38 pmEarlier this week, a friend of mine passed along a copy of Daniel Pink’s latest book, Drive. It was a pleasant surprise because, having read his bestseller, A Whole New Mind, it was on my buy list. One of the reasons I enjoy reading authors like Daniel Pink, Malcolm Gladwell, Thomas Friedman, and others, is that they consistently challenge deeply held assumptions that I’ve guarded for years. And while Drive opened in this way—causing me to rethink what I’d previously accepted as truth—I soon read a sentence that reaffirmed what I’ve known to be true for years: “Work consists of… -
Next?
18 Jan 2010 | 9:09 amWhen was the last time you checked yourself into a flight and checked a piece of luggage at a self-service kiosk at the airport? Like supermarket self-service checkout stations or ATMs, I find these kiosks helpful. Once they become familiar, they’re easy to navigate and usually end up saving me time. Last week, I was flying out of the Denver International Airport and checked myself in using one of these kiosks. Because I checked a bag, I needed to wait for an airline representative to verify my ID, affix the luggage tag to my bag, and give me a receipt for my checked bag. While the flight… -
Compete FOR customers, not AGAINST them
1 Jan 2010 | 3:13 pmHave you ever sensed an adversarial, “us vs. them” mentality from employees of service organizations? Perhaps you were on the receiving end of what you would describe as rude or abusive behavior? Or perhaps it was more subtle—like dismissive body language or an exasperated sigh? Maybe it did not even involve you and was just something you overheard or observed? Just last month I witnessed a supermarket employee chastise a customer in the store’s parking lot. When the customer failed to return his shopping cart to a designated cart collection area, the employee called out…
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Free Articles in Customer Relationship Mgt
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Very Easy Ways To Improve Cutomer Relationship For Online Businesses
20 Jan 2010 | 8:48 amYou can easily improve customer relationship if you are vigilant and follow some simple easy to follow steps. Customers are the lifeblood of a business organization and unless you nurture them properly and with due care, they could stand between success... -
Ways Of Improving Customer Relationship To Make Them Lifers For Your Business
20 Jan 2010 | 8:46 amBetter understanding of the customer is imperative in improving customer relationship. You should know and collect all available formation about the customers to be able to serve them well. -
Creating Value for Your Online Customers
14 Jan 2010 | 7:26 amCustomers are the lifeblood of any business (whether it's online or offline). So it makes sense to look after your hard-earned customers and give them excellent value for the cash that they hand over to you. It's not about you. -
Being Present is a Gift to All: The Real Meaning of Real Time
14 Jan 2010 | 7:26 amHow present are you at any given time and place you find yourself? Many professionals appear in body but little else. Don't get marked as missing in action. Help customers feel connected! -
How Your Attitude Affects Your Mortgage Customers
14 Jan 2010 | 7:26 amKeeping mortgage customers happy makes good economic sense. Here's a little dissertation on how a customer feels...
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Maximum Customer Experience Blog
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Vacation Rant #1
5 Feb 2010 | 12:16 amDear Reader, Bonjour! from marvellous, chilly Canada. The Kid and I are here for the Carnaval de Québec, or Québec Winter Carnival, which we’ve been meaning to get to for years now. Let me tell you we are both pleased as punch to be here, among friends and snow and just in time for this super-cool event. As is usual, there are a few things one must take care of before going on a long trip… for this one, we had to gear up with new long johns (this is a winter carnival, after all), pack the car with all manner of food, drink, and goodies for the drive, and oh, yeah,… -
Inspiration Points: How to Prevent (Business) Frostbite
3 Feb 2010 | 12:18 amWednesday Words To Go Where Your VisionPoints, a few inspiration points for you and your business. The practical success of an idea, irrespective of its inherent merit, is dependent on the attitude of the contemporaries. If timely it is quickly adopted; if not, it is apt to fare like a sprout lured out of the ground by warm sunshine, only to be injured and retarded in its growth by the succeeding frost. —Nikola Tesla Though Tesla probably meant to be a pessimist (as was usual for him) when he said this, there’s a lot of truth in what he says. Following on yesterday’s post,… -
Recreate This! What Creative Copy Challenge Gets Right
2 Feb 2010 | 12:14 amShh… 1 addiction and 7 brand-new secrets I’ll bet you can get ideas from, today I don’t let too many people in on the deepest workings of my mind, nor on the details of what I do when I’ve stolen a moment away from creating great customer experiences for my clients. My private life is my business. My addictions… *shudders* … you don’t want to go there. Well, I’m breaking down that wall around my innermost secrets, for only a day. Folks, I’m addicted—and I don’t want your help at all. Creative Copy Challenge came into being only… -
Well, Maybe Your Customers *Do* Know Something…
29 Jan 2010 | 12:12 amFrustrated by your own declining sales? Earlier this week we talked about the client who told me, by way of dismissing my instant read of his business, “But my customers love it.” (To that dear client: If you are reading this—and we both know you are not—but if you are reading this, this post is not for you. Seriously.) Well, what if your customers do love it, and what if they’re right? You’ve read Tuesday’s post. You know that you’re focused. You’re polished and professional and the go-to guy, girl, or multinational firm for… -
Inspiration Points: No One Out-thinks George
27 Jan 2010 | 12:19 amWednesday Words To Go Where Your VisionPoints, a few inspiration points for you and your business. Imitation is the sincerest form of camouflage. If you’re being out-spent, you have one course of action: out-think. —George Tannenbaum, AdAged: Maybe Now We’ll Get Some Good Advertising* True to form, when George has really hit the nail on the head I’d rather send you, dear reader, on over to read his entire post for yourself. Short and sweet. My wish for you, if you decide to follow George’s advice and out-think: May the results be five times as effective as your…
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QAQNA
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One Way to Save Time, Save Money & Get Better Data
4 Feb 2010 | 4:39 amMany companies ask their Customer Service Representatives (CSRs) to enter a "wrap code" at the end of a call so that the company can track what types of callers and what types of calls are being handled. In over 15 years of working with corporate call centers, I have yet to see a "wrap code" process that worked well and yielded valid data. Here's the problem: It's a hassle. Most CSRs have to enter the wrap codes during their After Call Work (ACW) and before the next call comes in. Because most call centers are routinely slammed with call volume, and CSRs can't finish their ACW before the next… -
Managing Appeals & Challenges in QA
3 Feb 2010 | 5:22 amSpecial thanks to one of our readers, Sarah M., who sent an email asking about the process of a CSR challenging their Quality Assessment (QA) evaluation. Unless you've gone the route of having speech analytics evaluate all of your calls (which has inherent accuracy challenges of its own), your QA process is a human affair. Just as every CSR will fall short of perfection, so will every QA analyst. No matter how well you set up the process to ensure objectivity, mistakes will be made. Because QA is a human affair, you will also be evaluating individuals who do not respond positively to… -
"I've already TOLD YOU THAT!"
27 Jan 2010 | 7:40 amThis past weekend my wife had a little health issue. She is and will be fine, but her problems led to me taking her to the Emergency Rooom and then she was admitted to our local hospital for overnight observation. Upon entering the ER, we were taken to a room with a triage nurse who asked all about my wife's symptoms, condition, history and meds. She wrote everything down on a clipboard. She was wheeled to an ER room where she was transferred to the care of an ER nurse, who asked her the same questions that the triage nurse had asked. An ER doctor came in a while later and asked my wife… -
Anticipating the Customer's Questions is Key to One-call Resolution
22 Jan 2010 | 7:55 amGreat chess players are always anticipating their opponents moves. Great Customer Service Represenatives are always anticipating their customers needs. One of my team members and I are conducting group call coaching this morning. We have 6-8 associates together and listen to an example of each person's phone call. The associates get to receive positive feedback from their peers and hear how others on their team approach very common calls. For this client, it works very well and has been an efficient way to call coach. The client has been doing QA for many years and the associates are, for the… -
Thoughts from the Calibration Trenches
19 Jan 2010 | 6:42 amYesterday was calibration marathon day. Three different calibration sessions with three different teams with a staff meeting scrunched in between. It's not exactly what most people would consider an enjoyable day at the office. Granted, compared to countless calibration sessions I've endured with many different client's, our calibration sessions are a cake walk. Nevertheless, as I was driving home I got a call from one of my teammates struggling with discouragement after the session and we had a great conversation about the calibration process. It got me thinking about some basic lessons I've…
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Ragsdale’s Eye on Service
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Announcing Categories for the Spring 2010 TSIA Recognized Innovator Awards
5 Feb 2010 | 7:02 amNow in its eighth round, the Recognized Innovator Awards recognize TSIA partners for outstanding innovation in products and services. The awards will be presented at our Spring Technology Services World Conference, May 3-5 in Santa Clara. The categories are: Innovation in Knowledge Management (KM). Creating, maintaining and leveraging content to speed issue resolution and project success is [...] -
Welcome to TSIA’s Newest Blogger: Michael Israel
26 Jan 2010 | 7:34 amI’m happy to report that there is a new voice of sanity in the service blogosphere, as our expert of field service operations, Michael Israel, has launched his new blog, Maintenance Matters. Michael joined TSIA last year after years of being a partner of the AFSMI. His expertise on field service operations and technology has [...] -
Coveo Customer Information Access: Search is Just The Tip of The Iceberg
20 Jan 2010 | 11:31 amI admit to being pretty jaded about “new” technology. In the 9 years I’ve been an analyst, I estimate I’ve had over 2,000 vendor briefings, and unfortunately the majority of claims about unique technology turn out to be the same or similar as other products. So when I say I was blown away by something [...] -
2009 Remembered: Top Three Customer Service Technology Trends
29 Dec 2009 | 10:15 amWe all seem to be breathing a collective sigh of relief that 2009 is over. Thank goodness. 2009 started in a very dark place, with budgets in question, technology projects on hold, and a laser focus on ROI. I remember advising our partners in January that, “2009 is not the year anyone wants to hear your [...] -
Gartner and AMR: Shrinking Demand for IT Advisory Services
7 Dec 2009 | 8:39 amAfter I get a question for the third time, I usually try to write about it in my blog. I’ve had more than three inquiries from TSIA partners asking my thoughts on the continued consolidation among IT advisory firms as Gartner announced last week they were acquiring AMR, so here goes. As a former analyst from one of [...]
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Return Customer
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Why Being More Like a Tiger Will Help Your Business
3 Feb 2010 | 7:01 amThis year, 2010, is the year of the Tiger on the Chinese calendar. More specifically, 2010 is the year of the Metal Tiger. According to ChineseZodiac.com, the Metal Tiger is: Assertive, competitive and sharp, once Metal Tigers set their sights on their goals there’s no stopping them. They’ll always do what’s necessary to remain at the center of attention. Metal Tigers tend to jump to conclusions; a behavior they need to work at improving. Your business would be wise to learn from these attributes of the Metal Tiger. Attack Your Goals Imagine what would happen if you actually… -
Keeping Internet Customers Happy
27 Jan 2010 | 7:01 amThis is a guest post from Keith Barrett at Offer UK If you sell your products and services online then you may feel somewhat distant from your customers. To some extent, that’s a natural by-product of the way in which online selling often works. It’s not like having your own physical store, where you may see individual customers on a regular basis and will probably find it easier to strike up a good relationship with them. Despite this, it is perfectly possible to provide your customers with what they want when you are selling online. As ever, the key to running a successful business is… -
Are Your Prospective Customers Still Interested in You?
20 Jan 2010 | 7:01 amPeople that have expressed an interest in you in the past may no longer care about you nor want to hear from you. This may be sad, but it is still true. What should you do with these prospective customers? Talk to them. I recently got an email from TripAdvisor.com where I has signed up to receive notifications about a trip to Chile: Still thinking about that trip to Santiago, Chile? We’ve been sending you e-mails about Santiago, Chile for a while. Are you still interested? Wherever you’re hoping to go, TripWatch can bring you the best deals and reviews. Add new places and drop the places… -
Guest Bloggers Wanted
13 Jan 2010 | 7:01 amI’m looking for some guest bloggers to share their experiences and lessons here on ReturnCustomer.com. Your post could be about anything business-related, be it marketing, customer service, e-commerce, best practices, etc. I only ask that your post be unique to ReturnCustomer.com. You can include a byline with your post with links back to your blog or site if you wish. For two examples of previous guest posts on Return Customer, see: 5 Ways to Better Treat Your Customers 5 Ways to Win New Customers and 10 Ways to Keep Them (Yes, those are both lists but you don’t have to write a… -
4 Steps to Make Contact With Customers in 2010
6 Jan 2010 | 7:01 amThe science fiction movie 2010 had the subtitle “The Year We Make Contact”. This new year, 2010, needs to be the year your business makes contact with your customers. Step 1: Observe Your Customers One of the most eye opening experiences you can have is to observe your customers using your product or doing business with you. Take some time to watch your customers and see how they interact with you and your products. The simple act of observation will highlight points of confusion, frustration, and wasted time that currently plague your business processes. Step 2: Ask Your…
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Service Untitled
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It’s nothing personal
8 Feb 2010 | 3:41 pmMonday morning and an angry customer is walking into the office, and for your own self-preservation, you never want to trade insults, yell back, engage in sarcasm, or be intimidated. You must first understand an angry customer at the simplest level. They’re not angry at you; it’s only because you are an employee and representative of the company, but since you’re there in front of them, you naturally become the target. That angry woman who reminds you so much of your mother wants her problem solved, and your job is not to get her to that particularly hostile point… -
Introducing the Service Untitled Team
5 Feb 2010 | 8:15 amWhen I started Service Untitled back in April 2006, I was the only writer. I’d have occasional guest writers contribute to the blog, but for the most part, Service Untitled was me and me only. Nearly four years later (!), I’m happy to formally announce and introduce Service Untitled’s team of regular writers. The writers page features a listing of the regular contributors to Service Untitled, along with the photos and biographies of the people who bring you customer service advice and insight five days a week. These people have been writing for Service Untitled for some… -
How to build great customer relationships
5 Feb 2010 | 6:05 amIf you pick the top three companies known for their extraordinary customer relationships; Nordstrom, Amazon and Starbucks, it’s pretty easy to dissect their redeeming qualities. Nordstrom is known for their incomparable attention, Starbucks is renowned for its generosity to its employees and the personal touch, and Amazon uses small teams who are empowered to solve problems without having to ask permission of a superior. Consumers still want to buy from real people and want to buy and associate with people and businesses who carry similar values and good will. Nordstrom, Amazon, and… -
Customer service gone bad
4 Feb 2010 | 10:51 amIt’s hard to tell if you’re losing business because of the economy or doing something wrong. Competition is so keen now, what once may have just been mildly annoying is now the reason your competition has claimed some of your customers. Perhaps it is time to take a closer look at the management support, training and motivation of your workforce. I’ve compiled a short list of the most annoying habits of customer service personnel which is almost guaranteed to have your customers running to your competition. Any of these sound familiar? Chewing gum. Can you think of anything… -
Make Service Your Nature
3 Feb 2010 | 6:22 amThe economic recovery is on its way according to the animals around my house. And, they seem to be trying to let me know. I recall how my childhood dog got under the back porch steps if there was a storm coming. And, if she paced around a lot and whimpered, you could count on rain. She was never wrong. Nature seems to know the future. Two years ago I caught a quick glimpse of a red fox in the woods near my place. Last year it crossed the road in front of my car. But, this week? The fox sat right near the road and watched me drive by. I was impressed by its courage and wondered it was giving…
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The Chief Happiness Officer
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Getting to action: My latest Reboot talk
8 Feb 2010 | 3:52 amHere’s a video of my presentation at last year’s Reboot conference in Copenhagen: For a long time, I’d been wanting to do a speech in shorts and flip-flops and since Reboot is a) held in the summer and b) mostly attended by IT geeks, this was the perfect venue to do it :o) The theme of the presentation is action. My point is simple: A bias for action is good for you because stuff happens when you act. But mostly I talk about how you get to action. Your take What about you? What helps you act? When do you get up and do stuff and when do you prefer to think, analyze and plan? -
A question for ya
4 Feb 2010 | 4:39 amI’m currently writing an op-ed piece for a Danish newspaper about how to treat new hires. A lot of companies get this wrong and more or less toss in new recruits at the deep end to let them sink or swim for themselves. Others, like for instance Disneyworld or Zappos.com spend a lot of time and money on their new people to make sure that they “get” the company culture and are given all the tools, instructions and knowledge they need to succeed. For all of us, starting a new job can be a stressful time. You don’t know anyone there, you don’t know the written and… -
Hooray – it’s snowing
4 Feb 2010 | 4:29 amDenmark is having the coldest winter in many years and the whole country has been covered in snow for the last several weeks. This, predictably, annoys the Danes. The roads are icy, the trains are late, your feet get wet, etc… So last night I went on Danish TV to explain why snow makes us happier. Here’s the clip: Basically, it’s because snow reflects light which means that the days are brighter which counteracts winter depressions (or SAD – Seasonal Affective Disorder). -
Quitting time
1 Feb 2010 | 12:25 amI got an email from Red in the Philippines, who took a major step towards happiness at work last week: Red writes: I have been your follower and i really admire your writing style. In fact, I have adapted your style in my report writing. I just talked with my boss this morning (after reading your article on fear about being fired – now what vs. so what) and told him that I have reached my quitting point and I am resigning effective March 31, 2010. You know what, I felt a sense of relief deep inside and it was really great. Though I dont have a job lined up, I believe that it is worth… -
Friday Spoing!
29 Jan 2010 | 4:02 amHere’s some major happiness at work at the Providence St. Vincent Medical Center in Portland, Oregon. What you see is their staff doing a Pink Glove Dance for breast cancer awareness. Thanks, Elaine.
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The Engaging Brand
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Show 283 - Social Media and Customer Retention
8 Feb 2010 | 6:49 amShow 283 of The Engaging Brand leadership and marketing podcast is ready just for you. To subscribe or listen on your PC now - both for free, you don't need to download anything - all explained at the end of the post and brought by our sponsor: GotoMeeting Hold your meetings online for just $49/mo. Try GoToMeeting FREE for 30 days. On today's podcast we talk to the brilliant Joseph Jaffe. He was written a fabulous new book called Flip the Funnel and we talk about Motivation behind flip the channel How retaining the customer should be at the core of your business strategy The need to fuse… -
4 Steps to Recovery
5 Feb 2010 | 12:28 pmFollowers in twitter or facebook will know that I broke my foot this week - and I have to say I am not the best patient there has ever been! I was thinking that businesses could learn a lot from my experience.When your strategy is "broken" or your business needs "mending" then try a C.A.S.TC = Create a culture which diagnoses the problem quickly. Realizing the problem too late just makes the recovery so much harder...create warning systems to diagnose quickly - trend reporting, constant conversation, constant challenge, listening for pressure pointsA = Articulate simply the recovery process. -
3 Ways to Tap into People's Emotions
3 Feb 2010 | 3:46 amThe social in the phrase social media gives you a clue on what people are looking for....When people get their social media strategy right, they tap into the emotional element of people's lives.But how can you tap into that emotional element? I think there are 3 key ways with social mediaTap into memories. Memories can be long term or short term. There is a huge difference in selling say 'Basic finanical training' and 'Ever looked at a set of numbers and thought I have no idea what they mean?'. Your product is the solution to a fear or an experience which that existing or potential customer… -
Your brand is social whether you like it or not!
1 Feb 2010 | 1:40 pmThe web has many conversations about brands each day. I often have conversations with people who say "I fear social media, I fear the negative aspect for the brand"What I think is important, is that brands realize that the web is social by nature......and if you don't give your customers something to share, or if you don't give them something to talk positively about.......then your brand still remains talked about, but with you on the outside of the conversation. Your inactivity does not stop the social web, it may even increase the negative aspects of the social web...because people feel… -
Show 282 - How to manage your energy through thoughts
29 Jan 2010 | 12:58 pmShow 281 of The Engaging Brand leadership and marketing podcast is ready just for you. To subscribe or listen on your PC now - both for free, you don't need to download anything - all explained at the end of the post and brought by our sponsor: GotoMeeting Hold your meetings online for just $49/mo. Try GoToMeeting FREE for 30 days. On today's podcast we talk to Janet Richmond about how to manage your thoughts, we discuss What is energy of thought? Are thoughts contagious? How you can manage your thought process Are negative thoughts more powerful than positive thoughts? How to neutralize…
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The Social Customer Manifesto
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Social Customer Case Study: OK Labs Hits 150% of Customer Community Target
5 Feb 2010 | 6:34 amA nice article from CRM Magazine about the work we did with OK Labs. -cfc A Social Strategy That's A-OK OK Labs forgoes traditional marketing in favor of a community-based Web 2.0 approach. By Marti Konstant, vice president of marketing for Open Kernel (OK) Labs, as told to Lauren McKay• Tell us about your organization. Open Kernel—OK Labs—is a three-year-old start-up that was born in Australia and is now headquartered in Chicago. My role when coming on board was to build up the brand and, most importantly, create awareness among the technical developer community who work on… -
Phrase of the Day: "Transaction Myopia"
4 Feb 2010 | 4:48 pmJust tripped across a great turn of phrase from Peppers and Rogers: "Transaction Myopia." Good stuff, and worth checking out. (Via CRMAdvocate) The key bit:"It's far easier for almost any business manager to think in terms of transactions completed-whether you talk about products sold, or calls handled, or loyalty points awarded-than it is to think in terms of asset values improved (i.e., lifetime values increased because of strengthened relationships). And obviously, having better transactional data will help any firm do a better job in making customer-centric decisions. But even… -
The Social Customer Will Be Mobile
4 Feb 2010 | 7:59 amMorgan Stanley's uber-analyst Mary Meeker recently published her 671(!) page report on the state (and future) of the mobile internet. Of her eight "key themes" in the report, one really stood out: Mobile is Ramping Faster Than Desktop Internet Did and Will Be Bigger Than Most Think - a confluence of five factors (3G + Social Networking + Video + VoIP + Impressive Mobile Devices) Are Driving This Change Whoa. Think about that for a second. Mobile Internet usage is ramping even faster than Desktop usage did between the early 90s and today. As soon as… -
American Airlines Hoses Me, Again
19 Jan 2010 | 4:27 pmYou think I'd learn. I'd been scheduled to go on an embark aboard the USS Stennis this week, on a trip similar to this one taken by Guy Kawasaki and others. (Thank you, again, USNavy for the invitation, and Andy Sernovitz for facilitating.) However, the storms hammering the West Coast changed the plans, and the embark was cancelled. No problem, these things happen. Totally understand. I'd split my flights so the outbound to San Diego was on American Airlines, and the return was on Southwest in order to get the best fare. When I found out the trip was canceled, I… -
Offtopic: El Vez at the Independent
18 Dec 2009 | 10:39 amHad a rare chance to see the great El Vez* (along with the Elvettes) at The Independent last night. Los Straightjackets were the backing band. As always, big, big fun.* - Yes, indeed. El Vez, the Thin Brown Duke, the Mexican Elvis, was in town for his bi-annual holiday show. Woot!
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Think customers: The 1to1 Blog
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Betty White and Lindsay the Milkaholic: Memorable Super Bowl Ads
8 Feb 2010 | 7:23 amRemember Super Bowls ads that were truly memorable? Like Apple's `1984' spot for the Macintosh? The Budweiser frogs? Monster.com's 'When I grow up'? -
Stepping Outside Your Comfort Zone
5 Feb 2010 | 10:59 amThe ability to innovate is an entrepreneurial quality that is essential for companies to succeed in today's fiercely competitive retail markets. However many companies may be locked in an inertia of change dictated by industry norms. -
Hoffman's Hot Seat: Customer Data in the Cloud
4 Feb 2010 | 6:05 amCIOs have expressed some trepidation about managing different types of customer data in public and private cloud environments. Security, loss of control over data and regulatory/compliance issues top the list of worries. 1to1 Media's Tom Hoffman spoke with RightNow Technologies CIO Laef Olson about these concerns and steps that can be taken to address them. -
Forrester's Moira Dorsey: The Future of Online Customer Experience
3 Feb 2010 | 12:16 pmNew technologies follow a pattern. They start by imitating older technologies before they evolve to their true forms. The first automobiles looked like horseless carriages. It wasn't until the Vintage Era of the 1920s that cars evolved to a form that we'd recognize today with features like front-engines, enclosed cabs, and electric starters. Televisions started off copying radios -- they looked more like an armoire with a small screen stuck on the front. In the process of working on my latest piece of research, it became clear that the Web has followed a similar pattern. Early sites imitated… -
Guest Blogger James Castellano: The Truth About Motivation, and What You Can Do About It
2 Feb 2010 | 9:17 amMotivation as a topic is quite popular. Whether in sports or in business, we talk about motivating others to perform better, to work better, or to help us accomplish our goals. But the best way to motivate can be quite elusive. We try all sorts of different programs and philosophies to get others motivated, but in the end, we are right back where we started. There is a very simple reason why this happens. The reality of motivation is this: We cannot positively motivate anyone but ourselves.
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The Intervals Blog by Pelago
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Open Source Project Management Software Review
3 Feb 2010 | 8:44 amWe are, and always have been, big fans of open source software. In our daily workflow at Pelago we use various open source technologies; PHP, MySQL, PostgreSQL, Linux, Apache, Subversion, and many others. We primarily use these open source technologies in developing Intervals, our online time, task and project management software, and in designing and developing web sites and web-based applications for our clients. When selecting online project management software for your company, not everyone wants to use a hosted pay-per-month app. Some would rather download the app and install it on their… -
Working Remotely as a Web Designer, Developer or Creative
26 Jan 2010 | 2:32 pmI recently brought home a new laptop. After getting all of my favorite apps installed and customizing my desktop, it was time to get to work. As a web designer and developer most of the work I do has an online component, making working remotely from home, or the local coffee shop, ideal. That isn’t to say it’s easy to work remotely, because it is not. There are several challenges, even some technical ones, to telecommuting effectively. Most of these challenges can be overcome with the right tools, the right attitude and a little creativity. Ground Control to Major Tom Solitude is… -
Online Time Tracking, Task Management and Project Management, Reprised
19 Jan 2010 | 1:35 pmThe landscape of online offerings in the time tracking, task management and project management realm of productivity tools has changed considerably in just the last year. Not only have the number of online applications increased, but the versatility and uniqueness of web-based software has also grown to meet the needs of every niche imaginable. The suite of available web-based applications for web designers, web developers and creatives has grown considerably, most likely because the ones churning out these online apps are themselves designers and developers with experience in creative… -
Web Design, Artisans and Craftsmanship
13 Jan 2010 | 9:05 amThe DesignInformer has posted an excellent article calling web designers to slow down a little and give more thought and time to exploring the roots of our craft and our origins as artisans. Principles of Great Design: Craftsmanship outlines five essential points every designer should address in the course of their careers: Practice Education Accept Criticism Attention to detail Design for the future Definitely read this one. It’s a well-thought and well-written blog post on why web designers need to get back to their artisan roots, and expands on a blog post I wrote last week about web… -
Designing Web Sites Using Pencil and Paper
5 Jan 2010 | 4:30 pmWhen asked about what goes into a web site design most of us web designers will automatically start talking about color palettes, image formats, UI effects, and of course, Photoshop and its endless array of filters, plugins and effects. What about the design? Where do the ideas and the creativity come from? How does a visual concept floating around in our brain make its way onto the computer screen? The web medium is a digital one, but all good ideas usually come from analog instruments that have been around for a very long time… pencil and paper. Any good web designer should be a…
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Yahoo! Small Business: Customer Service
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How to Boost Sales in a Deflated Economy
17 Jan 2010 | 4:00 pmMuniz is president of Boxes Etc., a 25-employee wholesale packaging supply company in Orlando, Florida. When the economy was humming along, Muniz ... -
Connect With Your Customers
17 Jan 2010 | 4:00 pmIn 2008, Pete Blackshaw authored a book titled, Satisfied Customers Tell Three Friends, Angry Customers Tell 3,000 . You don't have to be a math ... -
When Customer Focus Becomes Predatory
11 Jan 2010 | 4:00 pmCustomer focus is a good thing. We all know that. Give the customer what they want, sell based on needs, not products, and offer benefits, not ... -
Become a Gift-Giving Guru
16 Dec 2009 | 4:00 pmLast December, Jennifer Finke, having thoroughly enjoyed working for a client, decided to send her a gift. Finke, 32, who owns JF ... -
Capitalize on Meaningful--and Affordable--Gifts
15 Dec 2009 | 4:00 pmSmall businesses want their clients and employees to know they're appreciated, and the holidays provide an ideal opportunity to say thank you. ...
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evergance.wordpress.com
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Predictive Analytics Part 2: Apply Models to Your Service Processes
29 Jan 2010 | 2:36 amPredictive Analytics Part 2: Apply Models to Your Service Processes To effectively optimize your decisions, you first need to define your customer service processes and ensure that your agents are following them. Next, you need to add a decision step in your service processes that allow the agent to offer a cross-sell. Then you must carefully measure the success of each cross-sell with individual customers and correlate their relative success with the data that you have gathered about these particular individuals. With this information, you’re better equipped to recognize new situations… -
IT Is from Mars, Customer Service Is from Venus
22 Jan 2010 | 2:32 amIT Is from Mars, Customer Service Is from Venus IT and business simply do not speak the same language. Collaboration between the two groups is difficult. Often perceived as ‘lack of alignment’, it results in frustration for both sides. The problem has existed for ages. However, in today’s hyper-competitive world, where agility is one of the most important differentiators, poor collaboration between IT and Business holds huge repercussions. So much so, that in the recent 2010 State of the CIO Survey, two of the top three imperatives for CIO were identified as: 1. Aligning IT initiatives… -
Let’s Rethink SEARCH, Shall We?
14 Jan 2010 | 7:24 pmLet’s Rethink SEARCH, Shall We? The one constant in my support KM career has been working with search tools – I got involved in creating the CD-ROMs for support right from the commercial inception of that technology in the late 80’s, then in knowledge base search tools of all sorts, then on the web. It’s something that’s been taken for granted as a core support capability, and one that’s now ubiquitous on the web. So I’m as jaded as anyone else of PRESUMING that search is a core, if not THE core way we should be accessing knowledge. … -
Predictive Analytics Part 1: Optimize Your Decisions
8 Jan 2010 | 2:30 amPredictive Analytics Part 1: Optimize Your Decisions How exactly do you go about optimizing your business decisions? Can you determine, for example, whether it’s more advantageous to cross-sell or upsell a customer during a service interaction? The success of your decision depends on a variety of factors – the persona, or profile of the customer, the issue at hand and the mood of that customer at the time are a few of the critical factors. Since we live in a world of information overload, you very likely have mounds of information relating to these various factors stored somewhere in your… -
New Years’ Resolution: Think about CONTEXT, not CONTENT
30 Dec 2009 | 2:44 amNew Years’ Resolution: Think about CONTEXT, not CONTENT As we enter the New Year, I’d like to propose a resolution for 2010 – that we get over CONTENT, and start thinking about CONTEXT. The world of information is fragmenting and multiplying rapidly. The idea that ‘content’ exists in one repository, in a tidy consistent format, is already antiquated. From databases to blogs, from documentation to FAQ’s, the places and types of information at our disposal are endless, and as such, all equally potentially confusing. To provide knowledge to others to enable…
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Serving Reason
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The True Cost of Service is Effort, Not Money
6 Feb 2010 | 4:32 pmSometimes, wonderful service just jumps out and leaves you almost breathless. Below is an extract of some feedback I gave Qantas about a recent flight. I have also posted about 10 Airline Rip-Offs, and Airline Loyalty, in previous posts.The reason for posting this interaction is to a) make a point about the cost of service and b) to publicly wrap a service superstar. It's so easy to criticize.As you read the encounterbelow, add up the costs of the service. The cost was minuscule – all it took was effort.Here's my feedback to Qantas.I feel obliged to give a… -
How to Engage Customers Through Surveys - Relevance
3 Feb 2010 | 2:08 pmAfter having recently rented a motor vehicle from Hertz, I received a survey through email.The survey was very short (I think) but I never got to the end of it, I got bored.In my rental process, I never have meaningful interactions with staff. My name appears on the Hertz Gold Board, I get in the car, someone checks my ID, I drive, I drop off the car.My expectation is for a new(ish) clean car which is ready for me when I arrive at the airport.Back to the survey. The survey asked my satisfaction (on a scale of 1-10), and whether I would recommend to a friend (on a scale of… -
Help me - Don't Sell Me
4 Jan 2010 | 1:10 pmClick on the "HELP" section of most websites and you will find a horrible new trend. Selling through help.When I click on Help, I need just that - help. I don't need to read dumb hints such as:"How we can make your life easier""Three reasons why you should switch"Be helpful. Solve the problems. You know what they are, perhaps you haven't gotten around to fixing them. That's OK, just give me an answer, not a spiel. Serving Reason -
Finally online after my Blog died
20 Dec 2009 | 8:28 pmMy Blog finally came back to life. Now to get back to the discussion. Serving Reason -
Enough of Me
14 Dec 2009 | 6:53 pmEnough of me talking about Purpose. This quote by Indian Philosopher Patanjali says it all. "When you are inspired by some great purpose, some extraordinary project, all your thoughts break their bonds; your mind transcends limitations, your consciousness expands in every direction and you find yourself in a new great and wonderful world. Dormant forces, faculties and talents become alive and you discover yourself to be a greater person that you ever dreamed yourself to be." Thanks to Brooke Alexander for finding this. Posted via web from Steven Di Pietro's posterous…
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Customer Service That Astonishes
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What Are You Doing to Offer Value?
9 Feb 2010 | 5:08 amWhen was the last time you re-evaluated your value offering? When did you last sit down expressly to think about the value you offer to both your customers and your employees? What does your organization offer that sets you apart from your competition? And remember competition is not just others who offer the same service — but others who compete for the same dollars. Value is the real heart of why people buy from you. And regardless of the economy, if you have a real and compelling value proposition, they will continue to buy. That’s why some companies continue to do thrive and… -
Can the Union/Management Divide be Crossed?
3 Feb 2010 | 4:51 amHere in Toronto, our public transit system — the TTC (Toronto Transit Commission) is currently the focus of considerable negative attention by the public. The public is lashing out at the union as well as management — pointing fingers and making suggestions about how they should each do things differently. General discontentment was smouldering because of a fare increase earlier this year, but their outrage escalated when a picture was posted on Twitter which showed a ticket agent sleeping in their ticket booth. The public was rightly outraged. The senior union official chastised… -
Even Disney Has Missteps
27 Jan 2010 | 3:17 pmRecently Disney introduced their program Give a Day, Get a Disney Day. This is a program where Disney offers a free ticket to one of their theme parks in exchange for volunteering a day to a local organization. A great idea that has the ability to generate tremendous goodwill for Disney and make a positive impact within local communities. However, I wonder if they realized the torrent of volunteers they would unleash on unprepared volunteer organizations. My daughter noticed the ads for this program and immediately wanted to participate. This program will help her earn her required volunteer… -
Are Your Values Aligned?
12 Jan 2010 | 3:25 amI trust everyone had a restful holiday season and are energized about the coming year. I know I am. New Years is traditionally a time for reflection and planning and today’s post is about exactly that. Over the holiday’s I had breakfast at Chez Cora’s – a franchise restaurant that specializes in breakfast. It has an excellent reputation locally for appetizing breakfasts that are presented well. On this particular morning I felt like an omelette, but wanted one that wasn’t listed on the menu — a Western with no onions. I was told “no”, all the… -
Seasons Greetings
22 Dec 2009 | 4:08 amDuring the Holiday Season more than ever our thoughts turn gratefully to those who have made this last year successful. As a way of expressing our thanks to you and in keeping with the spirit of the season, we have made donations to Princess Margaret Hospital and our local Food Bank. These gifts will help ensure those less fortunate than ourselves share in the goodwill of the season and receive some of the everyday necessities that we often take for granted. Sharing our good fortune with others has become one of our holiday traditions and with your continued support we hope to uphold the…
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X-Squared On Demand LLC Blog
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Get Documents and Attachments out of Salesforce
8 Feb 2010 | 11:16 amAs Content will be included in all Salesforce licenses (for completeness, I'll add 'to some degree') with the Spring '10 release, orgs will be faced with the daunting prospect of getting their documents and attachments out of Salesforce and into Content. I had this problem when Content was first released and I was asked to be one of the first SysAds to use it. At the time, we used Solution 1 (below), but since then, other products have been released to help with this. Why is it even an issue? Surely we can download each file? Yes, but who wants to? Can't we do a Data Export and then upload… -
Computer Associates Plans To Release Agile Development Tool On Force.com Platform
19 Nov 2009 | 10:48 amToday, at Dreamforce 2009, Computer Associates plans to release CA Agile Planner(http://www.ca.com/agile), a tool to manage agile development teams. CA Agile Planner will be integrated with CA Clarity PPM (http://www.ca.com/ppm). Although it was not clear how much of the demonstrated app will run on Force.com and how much will run on the CA servers (though it appeared to be 100% on Force.com), it was clear that the application was accessed via a force.com URL. For more information, see http://www.ca.com/agile. A release date for the product was not mentioned, but the earliest planned release… -
New Developer Library Released
19 Nov 2009 | 9:43 amToday, Developer Force (http://developer.force.com) released its new library. Here are a few of them. All can be found at http://wiki.developerforce.com/index.php/Documentation. Workbook http://www.salesforce.com/us/developer/docs/workbook/index.htm Fundamentals http://www.salesforce.com/us/developer/docs/fundamentals/index.htm Cookbook http://www.salesforce.com/us/developer/docs/cookbook/index.htm Apex Advanced Code Example http://www.salesforce.com/us/developer/docs/apexcode/Content/apex_shopping_cart_example.htm… -
Dreamforce Keynote – Chatter and the Platform
18 Nov 2009 | 1:30 pmThere is no way to write one post to cover everything, so I want to address one thing that some people may not have noticed: Salesforce Chatter is being pushed as a platform layer. Looking at the “chiclet” slide that Marc Benioff unveiled, let’s start with the “old” slide: Yes, this is not the exact slide, but getting a copy of the initial slide is proving difficult. We'll have to use this one from Dreamforce 2008 as a reference, and will need to imagine the rest. Notice that the bottom level is Infrastructure. This is the hardware that salesforce.com provides along with the promise… -
Salesforce.com Releases “Chatter” – a first look
18 Nov 2009 | 9:28 amThe keynote hasn’t even started and already there is a lot of chatter on twitter and the web about salesforce.com’s new offering: Salesforce Chatter. In the Blog Pound, we were given books of Service Cloud success stories and chattering-teeth. The press packets were handed out, full of descriptions of Salesforce CRM’s new releases, all focused on the Service Cloud. The biggest release is Salesforce Chatter, an enterprise collaboration – social computing mashup (http://www.salesforce.com/chatter – link inactive at posting time). It combines Content, Apps, and People in a secure…
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Constructive Grumpiness
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Crowdsourcing (with a small crowd)
6 Feb 2010 | 2:59 pmRecent posts by BBH-Labs and Edward Boches have inspired a few thoughts in me regarding crowdsourcing. The below items were posted originally in comments but I wanted to share them here as well. 1) Crowdsourcing will only help us if we can prune that crowd. I think this is essentially the model that Victors & Spoils is trying to take. 2) You’ll see that the work going into your efforts are high at the left and right ends of this chart. It is first hard to collect a decent number of qualified members of your “crowd.” Once you do, and the project becomes more widely known… -
One Month In: Crowdsourcing Ain't Easy
2 Feb 2010 | 6:26 pmIt's been 30 days since the3six5 project started. If you haven't heard of the3six5 then you must be new to following me on Twitter...I mention it at least 3 times a day. Daniel and I weren't quite sure what to expect when planning this project. Don't get me wrong, we put 4 months into preplanning, building up an authors list, talking to lawyers, and the list goes on, but you never know what a project is going to throw your way until you are in the middle of it. One thing people keep telling me is, "the case study for this project is going to be just as interesting as the project itself." I'm… -
Be Mindful of Tech News and Timing
28 Jan 2010 | 3:25 pmThis was originally posted at over MarketingProfs daily. The world of social media has given PR a slew of new means for sharing their content. From a high-level, seeding news via digital means can often be similar to that of sharing news releases through traditional media such as newspaper and magazines, but the one differentiating factor that should never be forgotten in the world of digital is timing. Mainstream news outlets use the web heavily to supplement (or in some cases, overshadow) their broadcast or print counterparts, but the fact remains, tech writers were there long before… -
Get Creative with Geolocation
20 Jan 2010 | 5:47 pmThis post was originally written as a guest piece for @ArikHanson's blog: Communications Conversations. With the recent popularity of location-aware social mobile networks (geo-somo) such as Foursquare, Gowalla, and MyTown, many brands have been asking, what are (if any) the PR opportunities for engaging consumers by leveraging this technology. From a local business perspective, the benefits are obvious. Those of us who have been using networks such as Foursquare have started to see the “local deals” and “free X for the mayor of this place.” On a national level, brands… -
Prediction: Ford will buy Tesla Motors
11 Jan 2010 | 7:38 amMuch like I made a prediction back in November 2008 about Ford adding a Twitter/Sync system (recently they announced that they will in fact be releasing this soon), I'm going to make another prediction about my new favorite domestic car manufacter...it's going to buy Tesla. You've got two very different companies, but ones that have many alligning interests. Ford, which could be considered the father of the modern vehicle has been spending the last few years pioneering the integration of peronal technology. Just recently at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas, Ford took home some major…
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The Amazing Service Guy
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Recipe for a great customer experience
8 Feb 2010 | 1:47 pmRecently, at our weekly breakfast club meeting we were treated to one of the better dining experiences I have had in a long time. It didn’t happen because the food was spectacular. It wasn’t. It wasn’t because the restaurant team did everything right. They didn’t. And it’s not that our server was overly funny or charming or entertaining. He wasn’t. It was a great experience because we were able to enjoy our food and each other without being distracted. Our server was not the center of attention. That was not his job. And he knew it. Every time someone at… -
What Can Paul McCartney Teach About Customer Service?
8 Feb 2010 | 7:16 amA key customer service principle is to “deliver on the promise of the brand.” Every organization owns a particular brand image in the minds of customers, and anything out of alignment with the brand creates a disconnect and a disappointment for the customer. Imagine, for example checking into a Ritz Carlton hotel only be treated rudely or with an attitude of indifference. The contrast between the brand image and the actual experience would be jarring and memorable. But when the experience and an organization’s brand image are in alignment, the result is confidence, trust, and loyalty. -
If I Could Do It Over, I Would . . .
8 Feb 2010 | 7:12 amI rushed down to the lobby of the SE Hotel in San Diego a couple weeks ago to grab a cup of coffee for myself and hot tea for a friend. It was 7:00 a.m. and I was on a tight schedule. As I whisked toward the elevator, a hotel employee dashed from behind a counter to push the elevator button for me. “Thank you,” I said, “I hadn’t figured out how I was going to do that with both hands full.” He then entered the elevator with me, and asked what floor I was going to. He pressed the button for me, then stepped back out of the elevator, wishing me a good day. I was delighted. Before I… -
Don’t assume everything is clear to your customer
5 Feb 2010 | 9:32 amCommunication is the surest path to delivering Amazing service to our customers. But it’s often harder than we realize to be on the same page with our customers. Here’s a funny (and true) example of how something can seem so clear to an employee but not their customers. Thanks to the good people at NotAlwaysRight.com for this. Me: “Hi, [pizza place].” Customer: “Hi, it says you have a nine inch small pizza. How big is that?” Me: “Nine inches, six slices.” Customer: “But how big is it?” Me: “The diameter of the pizza is approximately nine inches. There are six… -
Burger King learns lesson about customer loyalty
5 Feb 2010 | 9:20 amA recent article about Burger King points to a weakness in what seemed like a profitable marketing strategy. It reveals lower earnings by the company at a time when many of their so-called “Super Customers” are leaving them. According to the article, BK has focused much of their marketing on customer 18 to 34 years old. And their marketing strategy has been to focus on entertaining and even irreverent (some say offensive) ads. The idea seemed to be that funny ads could attract and keep their target customers. But now, due to changes in the U.S. economy and culture, BK is…
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Can I have that with!
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2.2.2010
2 Feb 2010 | 5:28 amMost of us grapple with the mundane, such as "will we make budget this month?" Phil on the other hand deals with the bigger picture. -
We make the most amazing.
25 Jan 2010 | 8:52 amChris Brogan offers a lesson on how to sell,but when it came time to try and sell us dessert, I noticed a flaw in her service. She said, “Do you think you’re going to have room for dessert?” The answer to this should always be no. To say yes is to say that you’re gluttonous. It also isn’t very appealing. It requires more questions. Instead, if Jenna had said, “We make the most amazing molten chocolate cake here,” I might have raised an eyebrow. Even if chocolate isn’t my thing, my head would immediately go to the dessert I wanted, but then I’d already be shopping for it. -
Train schedules and signals
25 Jan 2010 | 8:15 amThere is a magic in a train schedule. You know that there is certainty in your life. You anticipate the arrival and then the railroad crossing signals engaged as the familiar ringing blares out. Too often navigating in the uncertainty overwhelms and we long instinctively for a respite.The negative to the positive of course is that there is a tyranny in a unbending schedule. If you are late, you are late. There needs to be a balance. I do not know where that balance point is, however I am certain that you need to provide that balance to keep your customer coming back.Certainty without tyranny… -
I thought this was easy
22 Jan 2010 | 7:40 pmTim Berry says it is not easy,One of the hardest thing we do, in startups and small business, is figuring out when to stick to the plan and when to back up and try something else. There are no magic formulas, no software that can do that for us. It wraps up a combination of guessing the future, projecting different possible scenarios, understanding what’s at stake, and figuring out where assumptions were wrong, where sticking to the plan makes sense, and where it’s going to be like running your head against a brick wall over and over. -
Add a little romance to your menu
22 Jan 2010 | 7:36 pmLexi Rodrigo thinks your use of words is critical, I agree.Plain: “Solve Email Problems”Heroic: “Battle Your Email Overload”Romantic: “Love Your Email Inbox Again” Plain: “Stop Procrastinating”Heroic: “Defeat Procrastination”Romantic: “Kiss Procrastination Goodbye” Plain: “Advice to Help You Do Better”Heroic: “Advice to Help You Win”Romantic: “Advice to Make You a Star” Plain: “Ditch Your Bad Habits”Heroic: “Conquer Your Bad Habits”Romantic: “Make Your Bad Habits Disappear Like Magic”
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The Sun Rises Today
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At what point does passion become routine?
9 Feb 2010 | 3:00 amJacob loves cooking and has always wanted to open his own restaurant. He prepared by working at a variety of restaurants all around town in various positions, read lots of entrepreneurial blogs and books, and met with those he considered great mentors. Two and a half years later, Jacob opened his own restaurant. After six months, Jacob's restaurant became the go to place in town. The place was busy, always. The more people that came, the more the word spread. Jacob loved it. His dream was becoming reality day by day. He worked for himself, was pulling in a handsome income, and… -
Is the talent more important or is the sales team?
8 Feb 2010 | 3:00 amImagine you own a music production firm. You create jingles for clients of all sizes for radio and television. In fact, your composers create the best jingles anybody has ever heard. There's nobody as talented as the composers at your firm. But your sales team sucks. You've had zero clients in the past six months and only two clients in the six months before that. Your composers are now just as good at twiddling their thumbs as they are writing music. On the flip side, your biggest competitor has the best sales team any firm could ask for. They're signing clients faster than… -
Which irons should you keep in the fire?
4 Feb 2010 | 3:00 amAs the saying goes, keep plenty of irons in the fire. The more you've reached out, the more chance for opportunity. On the flip side, you could instead concentrate on keeping the right irons in the fire, and not worrying about the irons that have little chance of generating opportunity. How do you know which irons are the right ones and which are the wrong ones? Does it help to throw'em all in at once and figure out which work the best over time? -
Must we fail in order to succeed?
1 Feb 2010 | 3:00 amWhen we're young, we experiment. We explore the unknown world around us by trying new things and learning from what happens. If we touch the stove and burn our finger, we learn not to touch the stove again. If we start walking and fall, we remember what helped us walk and concentrate on that. When we're young, we fail before learning how to succeed. That's just human nature, right? A lot of people criticize those who advocate this idea of failing a bunch before succeeding. They think we should concentrate on succeeding, not failing. I don't think we're concentrating on failing in these… -
Are you ready for 2010?
28 Dec 2009 | 8:49 amThings have been slow here, mostly due to an increasing focus on my Chicago web series Beyond The Pedway. That focus continues with the launch of the Beyond The Pedway newsletter on January 7. I'm going to be exercising my writing skills more with the newsletter, so if you enjoy my writing/style here, I encourage you to subscribe to the newsletter. Also, if you're simply looking to get your company more involved with web video, I invite you to subscribe. Every Thursday morning, you'll get tips, ideas, and techniques on how to tell your company's story with video on the web. My goal is…
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Questar Blog
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Return…I Don’t Think So
5 Feb 2010 | 4:40 amNote: stick with me here in the beginning. I know what you’ll be thinking in a second: quit with the sales pitch. I only do it to provide a context for my experience from the other day. I promise. Well, sort of… At Questar, we measure the customer experience. We help our clients deliver a consistent, superior experience for their customers, because consistent, superior experiences breed customer loyalty. And loyalty equates to sales growth. It’s what we do. In our industry, customers are typically invited to provide feedback through transaction-based invitations, meaning… -
Adding Perks on a Shoestring
28 Jan 2010 | 6:34 amFortune’s “100 Best Companies to Work For” issue arrived in my mail box this week. I love Fortune’s lists. The Fortune 500. The World’s Most Admired Companies. Fastest Growing Companies. But the “Best Companies to Work For” is definitely a favorite. As always, the companies on this list do some really incredible things to demonstrate their commitment to employees. In exchange, these companies hope to gain commitment from their current employees and build better applicant pools from which to select future employees. Top of the list this year is SAS. As a… -
Babies at Work
21 Jan 2010 | 2:28 amToday the American Psychological Association’s newsletter Good Company included an article I wrote. Check it out. The Babies At Work program at Clockwork Active Media Systems is a formal policy allowing parents to keep their babies with them – in their workspace – while they work. Clockwork has implemented the policy with resounding success and if you believe it’s a program just for working moms, think again. Click on the link below to read the full article. http://www.phwa.org/resources/goodcompany/newsletter/article/150 Anna Erickson Ph. D. | Director, Consulting Services -
No Worries
18 Jan 2010 | 5:36 amFad (fād) n. A temporary fashion, notion, manner of conduct, etc., esp. one followed enthusiastically by a group. Every year begins with such promise for new ideas and new ideals, a new way of life we fondly refer to as New Year’s Resolutions (So what’s yours this year? Mine: lose ten pounds, what else?) And every year ends with fads…most of them being that year’s resolutions; sorry to burst your bubble so soon. But some fads do go on to become trends. Some of them stand the test of time. Think iPod and YouTube in 2006; Facebook and Poker in 2007; Wii and Obama for… -
Taking on Bullies…In Court? Should we criminalize workplace incivility?
13 Jan 2010 | 2:35 amWe have all experienced some form of incivility at work one time or another. Someone completely ignored your email. You overheard someone taking credit for your work. You went to get a cup of coffee only to find an empty pot. A coworker criticized you personally in front of the whole group. As innocuous as they may seem, research has shown us that these toxic behaviors can leave employees hurting mentally – and even physically – and can leave organizations hurting in their pocket books. They have been linked to depression, anxiety, and medical conditions such as cardiovascular…
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spark new thinking
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Announcing The Ugliest Conference Room Contest!
3 Feb 2010 | 9:02 amDo you have a boring, uninspiring, or downright ugly conference room? Send us a picture of it and you could win a free meeting room rental at sparkspace...the most exciting retreat center on the planet. The ugliest conference room we receive by Tuesday, February 23 will receive a FREE meeting rental in any one of our amazing spaces. We're on a mission to help those who need it the most! So let the ugliest conference room win! Click for more info and official rules -
You're One of the Best. Are You Acting Like It?
2 Feb 2010 | 1:21 pmIf I told you were are one of the best at what you do, would you believe me? Some of you might. Others would blow me off thinking, "There are a lot of people better than me at what I do." And you're probably right. But that doesn't mean you're not one of the best. Remember, I didn't say THE best. I said ONE of the best. I'm making an assumption here that you're not the WORST either. So, technically speaking, if you're not the worst, then you're one of the best. You could be next to worst, but that still makes you one of the best, right? Here's another example that you might be more… -
Cool Spaces In Other Places
30 Jan 2010 | 8:39 amWe're always on the lookout for cool & creative meeting spaces. First of all, they totally inspire us just lookin' at 'em. Secondly, we know your meetings can't always come to the most exciting retreat center on the planet in Columbus, Ohio. Check out these amazing spaces in London, England at spacehopper.com By the way, if you're ever looking for creative meeting space outside of Columbus, Ohio, we have an ever-growing directory of unique spaces around the world (mostly in the US, but a few other countries as well). Send us an email for a complimentary copy of our creative meeting… -
X-Rays Can Be Fun? Who Knew?
27 Jan 2010 | 9:40 amI'm thinking about getting an X-ray, just for fun. I'm not kidding. I recently had an X-ray at Riverside Health Center. We were checking my hand to look for evidence of arthritis. Thankfully, my hand contains nothing but boring, normal bones. My experience at Riverside Health Center was everything BUT boring and normal, however. I would even classify it as kind of fun. Thanks to Tanisha. That's her in the picture with some brilliant (and obviously caffeinated) doctor at Riverside. Have you ever approached a reception desk and been greeting by a H-U-G-E smile and a very… -
Tell Them Yes
13 Jan 2010 | 5:30 amI'm a big fan of Compendium, Inc. They produce the coolest inspirational and motivational books on the planet. We give them away as thank-you gifts and always have some laying around sparkspace. You may have also seen them at Starbucks. Last year, Starbucks carried the Five book, which helps you think about what you want to do with the next five years of your life. This year, Starbucks carried their newest book, the 1 book. If you've ever wondered how to make a difference in the world, you should really pick up a copy. Starbucks is pretty much sold out (I know, I pretty much bought them out),…
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ClickSoftware
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Natural disasters
2 Feb 2010 | 10:34 amWe humans think that we can control our environment, but as the recent cold and snowy weather has confirmed, this is certainly not the case. Trucks de-icing the roads with salt have been busy, but, horror of horrors, a lack of planning and foresight has meant that the UK government has enforced rationing to ensure that the salt does not actually run out. Surely, it would not be that hard to build a proper forecast for the salt supplies, the drivers and the equipment to ensure that this situation is not repeated?However, the inconvenience of icy roads pales into insignificance when compared to… -
Thinking ahead three moves...
25 Jan 2010 | 8:36 amWhile flying on recent business trip I discovered the pre-loaded chess game on my new MacBook laptop. I was a reasonably good player in my teens but play only occasionally as an adult.I clicked on the program icon, selected White and made my opening move. The computer didn't beat me. It quickly, efficiently and ruthlessly destroyed me. Game after game. While losing the game was not a surprise, how quickly the computer gained a significant advantage in position, pawns and major pieces was a shock.I realized I was struggling to analyze two moves ahead and the computer was easily at 3+. The… -
Just for a change, a good service experience!
6 Jan 2010 | 1:30 pmThis Christmas, among other things, my parents asked for a fold away reading lamp…not the most exciting of presents sure, but it was Christmas and I was happy to indulge them! My Dad had found the lamp they wanted on Amazon, and conveniently sent me the link so I could buy it for them.So, I logged on to the site and within a few short minutes the order was placed and my confirmation email popped into my Outlook account. Job done. That seemed easy enough; it was battling Oxford Street in the snow and avoiding the crowds of last minute shoppers that would bring the biggest challenge!So, a few… -
Wouldn’t it be nice?
28 Dec 2009 | 12:31 pmBack in 1966 The Beach Boys asked ‘Wouldn't it be nice’ if we were older. I bet it would – if we could do that just for a short while and then return to our original surroundings. But here are some more thoughts –Wouldn’t it be nice to calculate how much it would cost to provide our customers with 2 hour time windows instead of 4 hours?Wouldn’t it be nice to understand how many new employees you need to recruit in order to introduce a new line of service?Wouldn’t it be nice to know whether you should approve a vacation request or not, making sure that your service level does not… -
Happy Holidays!
24 Dec 2009 | 9:19 amOn behalf of all the authors that have contributed to Clickipedia over the last twelve months, we would like to wish our readers 'Happy Holidays' and a great New Year.May all your gifts arrive on time and your service experiences be positive ones!We look forward to hearing all about your festive service experiences (good, bad and ugly) in the New Year.If you are looking for some light reading over the holiday period, why not download ‘Service Chain Optimization for Dummies’ at www.clicksoftware.com/sco4dummies. Author: Simon Morris
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Your Source for Providing a Better Customer Service and Customer Support Experience
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Tweets of the Week: February 1-5, 2010
8 Feb 2010 | 7:41 amTweets of the Week - February 1-5, 2010 Every week it is our goal to share interesting articles that we feel can help our followers learn best practices and discover new trends to continually improve their organization’s customer service delivery and ensure a great customer experience. To keep up to date with all these valuable links, simply follow us @Parature. CRM & Customer Satisfaction: CRM implementations that improve your customer knowledge increase your customer satisfaction scores http://bit.ly/9Feqk8 by Jim Henning at Vovici The Perils of Treating Different Customers… -
Support Channel Survey
5 Feb 2010 | 10:34 amSupport Channel Survey by John Moore We invite you to help our friend John Moore with his survey of customer support preferences and usage patterns. John will be running this survey – hosted on his blog Random Thoughts of a Boston-Based CTO: John Moore’s Weblog – through the end of March and will share his results once all the survey data is complete. Please take the survey and invite your communities to do the same. Take Survey -
Getting Your Worst Customers to Love You: True Tales from the Front Lines of Customer Support
2 Feb 2010 | 2:04 pmWebinar: Getting Your Worst Customers to Love You Most customer support teams are good at handling routine transactions. But what about a customer who is threatening to sue you? Or asks to have you fired? Or an employee who got so fed up with IT support that he smashed his laptop and then ran over it? All of these are real situations that support professionals reported in a recent survey sponsored by Supportindustry.com and Parature. This interactive webinar, teaming communications skills expert and bestselling author Rich Gallagher with Parature’s VP of Marketing Gary McNeil, looks at… -
Sahar Hashemi, Co-Founder of Coffee Republic – Keynote Speaker for Parature European Users’ Group
1 Feb 2010 | 8:11 amSahar Hashemi, Co-Founder of Coffee Republic - Keynote Speaker for European Users' Group Sahar Hashemi, co-founder of Coffee Republic, founder of Skinny Candy and lecturer on innovation & entrepreneurship will be the keynote speaker at Parature’s European Users’ Group to be held February 16 - 17, 2010 at The Cumberland in London. This customer centric event will allow Parature users in Europe to gain invaluable knowledge from industry experts and thought leaders, while networking with colleagues and peers. Sahar Hashemi, together with her brother Bobby, founded Coffee Republic… -
Parature Receives 2009 Product of the Year Award by Customer Interaction Solutions® Magazine
1 Feb 2010 | 7:54 amParature Receives 2009 Product of the Year Award Presented by Customer Interaction Solutions® Magazine Parature Customer Service software received a 2009 Product of the Year Award from Technology Marketing Corporation’s (TMC®) Customer Interaction Solutions magazine, the leading publication covering CRM, call centers and teleservices since 1982. “Parature is honored to be a recipient of this prestigious Product of the Year Award, stated Parature CEO, Tim Davenport. “Parature is committed to setting the standard for support teams worldwide by continuing to bring innovative products…
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John Caddell's blog
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If you read this blog, you could have seen Toyota’s problems coming…
4 Feb 2010 | 5:24 amDoes anyone remember this post from nearly 3 years ago? Toyota: The Inevitable Decline Starts Now 18 Feb 2007 It’s Toyota’s PR person’s dream: a front-page story in the Sunday New York Times magazine (by Jon Gertner), depicting your company as a comic-book superhero, slaying its competitors amid exclamatory sound effects (VVRRRMM!). And the article’s teaser hailing your company as not only “not only the best automaker in the world but also maybe the best corporation.” The PR dream is the executive’s nightmare. Not only is it difficult to build from… -
Customers are talking: HBR says customer service is a strategic function
3 Feb 2010 | 6:39 pmThe Jan-Feb HBR features the article “Rethinking Marketing,” by Roland Rust, Christine Moorman and Gaurav Bhalla. In it, the authors argue that B2C companies need to adopt strategies that put the customer in the center, and tailor products and services to small segments, rather than pushing products and services onto the mass market. VRM advocates will encounter in the piece lots to disagree with around “managing” customers and pushing offers on them, Including a rather gruesome example of “one insurance & financial services company (that has) proved adept… -
“Backshoring”: the new buzzword that may give you a job
27 Jan 2010 | 3:54 amA recent post from Booz & Company’s “Strategy + Business” introduced a new term: “backshoring” – an emerging trend of returning manufacturing from an offshore location to the home country (”The Case For Backshoring“). This is especially important for US business, which has been a very aggressive proponent of offshoring for the past decade. Why is this reversal happening? In short, the conditions that made outsourcing look so attractive have changed utterly: …The logic behind backshoring is compelling enough that it cannot be easily… -
Department of Brandular Deception – what is a Samsonite anyway?
25 Jan 2010 | 9:02 amThe old backpack briefcase had a hole in it, and it wasn’t healthy to carry 15 pounds of stuff on my shoulders anymore, so I searched online and found a great deal on a Samsonite rolling briefcase. It arrived late last week. My wife said, “Does that have the Samsonite lifetime warranty? Sometimes when you get something that’s discontinued, they don’t have the lifetime warranty. You should check.” Fast forward to today. I was moving my stuff from the old briefcase to the new one, and saw a card from Samsonite. “Thank you for purchasing a fine Samsonite… -
Risk is risk: an idea for spotting emerging asset bubbles
21 Jan 2010 | 3:50 amOne of the causes of the recent financial meltdown was a bubble in the value of housing assets that emerged over a number of years. Some people saw this while it was happening, but could do little to impact things. When the bubble burst, institutions and individuals suffered tremendous damage that is still hurting people today. An important question is this: can asset bubbles be spotted earlier, and, if so, can measures be taken that can minimize the impact of these bubbles? Sendhil Mullainathan of Harvard Business School thinks to the answers to both questions is yes. In one of the 10…
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The Think Zone
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And Sometimes Ugly
7 Feb 2010 | 12:44 pmFunny thing, Customer Service. We all need it from time to time. Sometimes it's good. Sometimes it's bad. And, yes, sometimes it's ugly.Last week, our home Internet connection simply disappeared. Our Internet Service Provider (ISP) had an outgoing message on their support number that announced a statewide outage of all DSL service. (To me, an IT guy, this screamed "single point of failure" which is never a good thing.) Luckily, my iPhone gets enough signal at our house to keep my email, news and Twitter going. About 2 days later, our service was announced "restored."None of my connected… -
The Outcome Is Not Guaranteed
23 Jan 2010 | 1:01 pmI have always thought of people as fundamentally optimistic. If someone tells us something, we usually believe it. When we buy something, we expect that it will work. We have a symptom, we see a doctor, we get a prescription, and we believe that we will get better.I've also always thought that this is a naïve approach. Not everyone gets better. Things don't always work as advertised. And this is as true in computer support as it is in health care. No matter how we may wish to make everything perfect, fast, easy, and reliable, we can't always do so. Sometimes the outcome is a frustrated… -
Now Is the Winter of Our Discontent
2 Jan 2010 | 6:59 pmThe pointed firs stand in defiance of the weight of the snow here in Maine, just as they are designed, fundamentally, by nature to do. It's the beginning of 2010.This year, I believe that economic conditions will make it imperative for businesses to pay even more attention to the fundamentals. Those fundamentals include quality of productvalue, and quality of service. Customers will also be thinking in fundamentals such as price, quality, value, and the Customer Experience. I'd like to think that 2010 is the year that businesses really start to believe that retaining a Customer… -
Cheerleadership!
21 Dec 2009 | 3:10 pmGuest post by Bren Boddy-ThomasBren is Helpdesk Manager at a Sonoma County's Exchange Bank and sits on the HDI Member Advisory BoardRah Rah Go Team! That’s cute on the football field, but look at it from a different perspective.I’m not talking about someone who LEADS Cheers, but someone who CHEERS LEADERS!When was the last time YOU cheered on a Leader? I don’t mean a manager. We all know someone who was thrust into the throngs of management. They’re the boss. They make decisions. They manage the team or department. But do they LEAD?You can Google a million quotes and sayings… -
Janus
13 Dec 2009 | 11:38 amThis is the time of the year when we reflect on the past and look to the future, like the Roman god of beginnings and ends, Janus. We get together with friends new and old. We gather up the harvest of what we have done during the past year and make lists, plans, or resolutions of what we would like to accomplish for the next. For many of us, 2009 has been difficult. Personally and professionally, we've had to weather the storm of economic changes that have caused rapid and massive change in our businesses, careers, and networks. Jobs have been lost, teams changed, training discontinued,…
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Scott McKain Viewpoint
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Thanks, CBS, for showing us why customer service is SOOOO bad!
8 Feb 2010 | 8:01 amWhile I was licking my wounds from my Colts loss in the Super Bowl — by the way, no excuses…the Saints deserved to win…they played and acted like champions – I discovered CBS was also providing an incredible opportunity for us to observe why most companies provide such terrible service to their customers. Did you watch the program after the Super Bowl? It was the premiere of a new series, “Undercover Boss,” where a leader of a major organization goes incognito to do the work of his front-line employees, who have no idea they are working side-by-side with… -
Thoughts before the “big game”…
5 Feb 2010 | 2:49 pmWhat the two teams in Sunday’s Super Bowl can teach us… (Click to play…) -
Fly the disconnected skies…
2 Feb 2010 | 6:52 pmFor better or worse, much of my life these days is spent online. Don’t misunderstand – I’m not complaining! In fact, I like it this way. The opportunity to reconnect with long-lost friends on Facebook, to keep updated on ideas and insights via Twitter, to share my thoughts and opinions on this blog – I think it’s great! Naturally…as with anything…something you enjoy can become detrimental if it is overdone. Research indicates you can enjoy a glass or two of wine in the evening, and it’s good for your heart – but, if you start consuming much more on a daily basis, you’ll… -
Living off your reputation…
1 Feb 2010 | 9:30 amEver been to a concert where one of your long-time favorite performers disappoints you? If that experience sounds familiar, I’ll bet it had little to do with the technical performance the star was delivering that day. In other words, the performer’s voice was probably in fine shape — it was the simple fact they was “mailing it in”…living off the stardom previously established…not “getting it right” for that show…THAT was what soiled your experience. Many years ago, I went to see a legendary country singer. She’s been the… -
What YOUR business can learn from the iPad introduction…
28 Jan 2010 | 3:13 pmWhile most of us — regardless of the industry in which we work — would give just about anything to receive the publicity for a product launch that Apple receives, there are a couple of points we should observe that may assist us in every aspect of our business. 1) Critics are everywhere. Many of the early reviews of the iPad are negative…and they’re coming from people who have yet to use the product! Don’t forget…the iPhone generated a similar response! (I’ve heard it’s not doing too badly…) Resist the urge to respond to every bad review!
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crm intelligence & strategy» crm intelligence & strategy
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Why PaaS is the New Black
8 Feb 2010 | 12:37 amI had very interesting conversations and strategy sessions with my clients lately, and noticed peculiar things in the market as well — all of them around the same issue: Platforms. No, I am not talking about the shoes of the 1970s we loved so much, I am talking about the intermediate layer of the cloud model – Platforms used to deploy applications. I wrote about Chatter back in November, and Genesys couple of weeks ago — and in both I expressed my firm belief that Platforms are going to be the issue that defines the cloud in the next few years. I also wrote about the cloud… -
Look Ma, New Content at TheSocialCustomer.com!
1 Feb 2010 | 6:57 amI write two posts a month exclusively on TheSocialCustomer.com, which I do think is a very interesting community to share all things related to Social Businesses and Social CRM. When I told you what I was going to focus on for this year I said I wanted to look at the evolving business functions in a social business. I am going to use that platform for that exploration — but will also announce it here in case you just get the feed for this blog (yeah, I am that smart and figured that out last night…). First post looked at the role of Customer Service as the new Marketing… -
The Re-Genesys of Genesys
1 Feb 2010 | 12:09 amIf I mention Genesys to ten analysts in the customer service or CRM space nine of them will tell me they are a telephony company, and one probably won’t know who I am talking about. I was one of the nine when I first started with Gartner: to me Genesys was the software arm of Alcatel, and you could not have one without the other. In other words, Alcatel led with voice and telephony products, and if the client wanted a software product, they would offer the eService Suite from Genesys. Somewhere in the mid-2000s this began to shift. I remember in 2004 when I was doing the research… -
The SCRM-E2.0 Convergence: Train Wreck or Chunnel?
15 Jan 2010 | 12:25 pmOn Tuesday January 12th we had discussion on the convergence between SCRM and Enterprise 2.0. My introduction to the topic summarized what I see as the main issue: SCRM and Enterprise 2.0 are heading in the same direction (customer-centricity), talking about the same issues (engagement), using the same technologies (collaboration), and solving similar problems (culture, politics, adoption) — yet, we pretend we are talking about two very separate, different things. Not only are they very similar, but whether you are collaborating internally among users, or externally with clients,… -
My Foray into Enterprise 2.0
10 Jan 2010 | 11:29 pmI am a glutton for punishment, apparently. Not only I have not learned from diving into Social CRM early on, but I am trying the same fate now with Enterprise 2.0. Why? Convergence. If you remember, this is one of my key topics for 2010. No, we will not witness convergence between Social CRM and Enterprise 2.0 in 2010. However, the smart organizations will start their move towards it in 2010. And they will make inroads. This is a three-to-five year trend that will gain momentum between now and 2012. The road is long, and lots of changes await. The most traditional path to…
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crm intelligence & strategy» crm intelligence & strategy
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Why PaaS is the New Black
8 Feb 2010 | 12:37 amI had very interesting conversations and strategy sessions with my clients lately, and noticed peculiar things in the market as well — all of them around the same issue: Platforms. No, I am not talking about the shoes of the 1970s we loved so much, I am talking about the intermediate layer of the cloud model – Platforms used to deploy applications. I wrote about Chatter back in November, and Genesys couple of weeks ago — and in both I expressed my firm belief that Platforms are going to be the issue that defines the cloud in the next few years. I also wrote about the cloud… -
Look Ma, New Content at TheSocialCustomer.com!
1 Feb 2010 | 6:57 amI write two posts a month exclusively on TheSocialCustomer.com, which I do think is a very interesting community to share all things related to Social Businesses and Social CRM. When I told you what I was going to focus on for this year I said I wanted to look at the evolving business functions in a social business. I am going to use that platform for that exploration — but will also announce it here in case you just get the feed for this blog (yeah, I am that smart and figured that out last night…). First post looked at the role of Customer Service as the new Marketing… -
The Re-Genesys of Genesys
1 Feb 2010 | 12:09 amIf I mention Genesys to ten analysts in the customer service or CRM space nine of them will tell me they are a telephony company, and one probably won’t know who I am talking about. I was one of the nine when I first started with Gartner: to me Genesys was the software arm of Alcatel, and you could not have one without the other. In other words, Alcatel led with voice and telephony products, and if the client wanted a software product, they would offer the eService Suite from Genesys. Somewhere in the mid-2000s this began to shift. I remember in 2004 when I was doing the research… -
The SCRM-E2.0 Convergence: Train Wreck or Chunnel?
15 Jan 2010 | 12:25 pmOn Tuesday January 12th we had discussion on the convergence between SCRM and Enterprise 2.0. My introduction to the topic summarized what I see as the main issue: SCRM and Enterprise 2.0 are heading in the same direction (customer-centricity), talking about the same issues (engagement), using the same technologies (collaboration), and solving similar problems (culture, politics, adoption) — yet, we pretend we are talking about two very separate, different things. Not only are they very similar, but whether you are collaborating internally among users, or externally with clients,… -
My Foray into Enterprise 2.0
10 Jan 2010 | 11:29 pmI am a glutton for punishment, apparently. Not only I have not learned from diving into Social CRM early on, but I am trying the same fate now with Enterprise 2.0. Why? Convergence. If you remember, this is one of my key topics for 2010. No, we will not witness convergence between Social CRM and Enterprise 2.0 in 2010. However, the smart organizations will start their move towards it in 2010. And they will make inroads. This is a three-to-five year trend that will gain momentum between now and 2012. The road is long, and lots of changes await. The most traditional path to…
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the customer experience for profit blog
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When customer experience isn’t for customers
4 Feb 2010 | 5:00 pmWe often talk about customer experience and how it pertains to our customers, the people (or businesses) who will use our goods and services. But you can also use a well-defined experience as an operating guide when making decisions about any of the stakeholder groups your organizations serves. Really! Here are two examples. First, I’ll point to Julia Halberg, Director, Global Health, General Mills, Inc. Julia serves two stakeholders simultaneously: her “customers” are the General Mills’ employees working at more than thirty locations throughout North America. The problem she… -
Focusing on customer experience helps Starbucks rebound
28 Jan 2010 | 4:35 amAs you know I’ve been following Starbucks and their 15th Ave experiment, and it looks like the gamble has paid off. According to the NY Times: Starbucks’ net income was $241.5 million up from $64.3 million in the first quarter last year Revenue climbed 4 percent to $2.7 billion Same-store sales were up 4 percent The company’s stock has nearly tripled to $23.29 But I’m not telling you this just to report Starbucks’ good news. What I wanted to point out was this interesting paragraph from the Times’ story: Mr. Schultz brought Cliff Burrows, who was managing… -
Do you know WHEN your customers are?
27 Jan 2010 | 2:27 pmHave you ever noticed that when you put a single event or idea into a larger context, its impact becomes more clear? Time can be just the context you need to make better choices about your customer experience. If you’re a regular participant in this conversation, you know I’ve just completed a series of posts outlining the six steps common to any customer experience. You know that every customer experience starts with a person with a need, problem, or desire they would pay to have solved. You know their experience is what happens, and how they feel as they realize the need, learn… -
Experience Step 6: Customer needs evolve. You anticipate what comes next.
21 Jan 2010 | 2:19 pmHere we are at the sixth and final step common to any customer experience. Earlier, we covered the triggering need, earning consideration, demonstrating how you solve the problem, affirming your customers decision, and delivering on your promise. Today we’re talking about anticipating your customers’ needs as they evolve. “Evolve” truck art photo by anarchosyn The EVOLVE step from your customer’s point of view As your customers realize their problem has been solved (or not solved, as the case may be), their role at this step becomes less of a task and more of a… -
Experience Step 5: Customers solve their problem. You prove your promise.
29 Dec 2009 | 8:40 amWe’ve reached Step 5 in the six steps common to any customer experience. So far we’ve covered the triggering need, earning consideration, demonstrating how you solve the problem, and affirming your customers decision. Today, we’re talking about problems solved. The SOLVE step from your customer’s point of view At this step, your customers have one and only one goal: solve the problem. They are putting your product or service to work to do just that. For some (primarily consumers) problems, the time and tasks of using the product or service is quick and easy: imagine the…
