Welcome back to Have a HEART, Part 2, Exploring the role of EMOTIONS  in todays business world.

In part 1, I introduced the subject of emotions in business and why they’re becoming increasingly important in staging customer experiences and influencing buying decisions.   I also shared some ground breaking research, conducted by Colin Shaw and his Company, Beyond Philosophy.  That research revealed for the first time ever ”the empirical link between evoking certain emotions along the customer experience journey, and increasing and decreasing revenue”.

Has the business world changed ?  Are Emotions now ok to talk about ?  I say yes.

Consider The book and Nation-Wide Tour by Tony Hsieh, CEO of Zappos,  called “Delivering Happiness.” (See video above)

Did you know that Zappos also has a “Chief Happiness Officer ?  I love it!

Did you know that research shows, that making customers happy, is one of the most important emotions to develop screaming fans of your business ?

Doesn’t seem like rocket science,  but I don’t believe that many business meetings have a subject matter of How Do I Make Customers Feel Happy  as a main meeting priority.

Experiences,  Storytelling  & Emotions

“Our understanding of what truly influences people has fundamentally shifted thanks to new brain research and public data, which proves over and over that people make decisions emotionally, and that storytelling is (and always has been) the most powerful form of communication.”

When is the last time that you made a buying decision that was influenced more by emotions than logic ?

For me it was yesterday, when I chose to drive from Staples to Barnes & Noble  to purchase a supply of Moleskin Note Books for my writing & research.  I bought this more expensive brand strictly because of their brand story and quite frankly how i feel when I use these notebooks.

It really was a purchasing decision based on emotions.  People buy certain car makes and models because of how a particular car makes them feel about themselves.  How about the Mac or Harley Davidson fanatics?  Do you think there is an emotional involvement by their fans?  How many Harley tattoos, bumper stickers, sweat shirts, hats coats etc have you seen over the years?

My Personal Connection – A Mini Backstory On Emotions

In early 2004, I decided our company had to develop a new strategy that would differentiate our video production and media company.  One of our very first activities in this process was to revisit what we really did – our work.   Re-thinking and answering this question led to us defining our work as creating experiences —    ones that touched hearts and reached minds.

We didn’t just pull the word experiences out of a thesaurus or use it because it sounded cool.  The connection was more personal.

We were fortunate to have seen the emotional impact of a number of our video stories on a few audiences as they were played at events that we attended.  (Hope that doesn’t sound  promotional)

Having a few audiences stand up out of their seats and clap at the conclusion of the videos,  and the post event buzz the videos created, directly influenced us in defining our work, as creating experiences. This  ultimately led to a Google search on the words ‘EXPERIENCES and BUSINESS, to investigate any possible connections or trends in business, between the two.

WHAT A DISCOVERY !

I remember that Google Search to this day.  Discovering what was being called ”The Experience Economy”-a shift in the core fabric of business, the progression of new economic value to Experiences.  This emerging strategy addressed the age old business questions of on how to differentiate.  Remember, my initial challenge was  to find a way to differentiate my own company.

I was EXCITED about my discovery.

The sub title of Pine & Gilmore’s book, “Work is Theatre and Every Business a Stage, resonated with me.  I was ENERGIZED.

After reading my first book on customer experiences,  The Experience Economy by Joe Pine & Jim Gilmore, I was very much INTERESTED.

Simply stated it had my ATTENTION!

I wanted to explore more !

BACK TO EMOTIONS

Feeling interested, excited, stimulated, energetic and exploratory, as I was reading Pine & Gilmore’s book, are emotions.  As a matter of fact they are part of what Colin Shaw in  “The DNA of Customer Experience – How Emotions Drive Value”,   defines as,  ”The Attention Cluster” of Emotions.

Colin’s research,  has also identified,  specific emotions that should be evoked during the customer experience, that will lead to a customer recommending you and another cluster that if evoked will lead to customers advocating your business – becoming screaming fans!

The very first stage of any EXPERIENCE is ATTRACTING customers.  It begins by getting their attention.   I hope you are getting the connection.

In future blog post and newsletters (sign up to the right) I will continue to explore the subject of evoking emotions.   We’ll take a look at specific emotions and explore as Shaw says, “drive value or destroy it”.  We’ll continue to take a peek at some of Colin Shaw’s findings on specific emotions that help develop Loyalty and Customer Advocacy.  I hope you’ll  join me.

Buy Colin’s Shaws book “The DNA of Customer Experience here.

Let me leave you with a little thought on story & my role as a video producer.

THE VIDEO CONNECTION - One of the real powers of using the tool of video in business communications is its ability to evoke emotions from your audience.

A critical component of designing experiences (Including video stories) is to evoke emotions.

How do you want your customers or your audience to FEEL ? –  not just after  the viewing experience but during the various stages as well.

It just doesn’t happen by chance. It is part of the story development process.  We deliberately map certain emotions along the story structure.  Beginning – Middle – End

The ultimate goal….. to engage our audience and  connect with them in a personal way,  resulting in an experience that they will remember and share.

If your interested in the latest thinking and cool ideas on customer experiences and business storytelling, don’t forget to sign up for my new e-mail letter.  This information will not be published on this blog.  Love to have you join the community.

Until next time.  Rock Your Customers !   Make them Happy !  Bill G

Emotions Drive Value or Destroy It

It seems that the latest marketing buzz found in most business writings, especially those about ‘Social Media’ , is the new business mandate to connect and engage customers.   The drum beat sounding the critical need to develop deeper customer relationships can be heard everywhere.

Have you heard it? Do you agree?

Despite all the noise however, very few of these articles, briefs, and marketing content  GET TO THE  HEART of how to engage customers and connect with them at a much deeper level.   If you dig deeper than the buzz words, here’s one thing that you’ll learn.

If you want to establish a deeper  connection with people,  (your customers) you need to deliberately evoke certain emotions during the experience you stage for them.     You need to know how they feel, when they feel it,  and how those feelings are now impacting your bottom line.

So let’s start exploring the concept in greater depth.

THIS FEELINGS THING FEELS STRANGE  -  It’s understandable as most businesses don’t usually sit around conference tables, talking about how customers feel.

Yes, talking about feelings might seem strange for a business point of view.  But the truth of the matter is that most of us evoke emotions as part of our every day lives.  We just do it naturally.

• We buy flowers and cards for birthdays and anniversaries to let people know still we care for or love them
• We write thank you notes to make people feel appreciated
• We burn candles and play soft music to evoke feelings of love and romance
• We go out of our way to pay extra attention to friends or family going through tough times to help them feel hopeful, encouraged or cared for.
• We tell stories about our experiences to make people feel inspired, entertained, or understood.

OK…Let’s Take a quick glance at some emotions you might have had in the business world……as a customer.

• Have you ever bought something from a business and didn’t get a simple thank you, making you feel unappreciated or even irritated?
• Have you ever felt stressed in a buying situation because you didn’t trust the business you were buying from ?
• Have you ever felt unsatisfied or disappointed because you settled for something and didn’t buy exactly what you wanted?
• Have you ever felt hurried on a busy night in a restaurant thinking they wanted to seat new people at your table?

FLASHBACK

I remember being trained and drilled on Feature and Benefits selling, when beginning my business career in sales,  with Hunt-Wesson Foods.(Now ConAgra Inc.)     There was never any discussion, and I do mean never, on the role emotions played in a successful sale .   About as close as we came to discussing emotions was reviewing trade relations and customer rapport progress.

Times sure have changed.

Have you heard of Zappos?  They are known for their fantastic customer service and employee culture.

“We built the entire company around our employees and customers. If employees weren’t happy, they would not make customers happy. If customers weren’t happy, we wouldn’t be where we are today.  Delivering happiness supported by a culture of service became our vision.” - Tony Hsieh, Zappos CEO

Evoking the emotion of “HAPPINESS” HAS HELPED MAKE ZAPPOS A POWERHOUSE COMPANY.  DELIVERING HAPPINESS IS THE HEART & SOUL OF ZAPPOS. (Check out book here.)

If we are going to engage and connect with customers , (A key to customer loyalty & advocacy) we need to understand emotions and how they drive value or destroy it, for your business.

Research and study in the fields of Neuroscience, Neuroexperiences, and Psychology is hot and heavy today, attempting to better understand the impact of emotions and experiences on customer behavior – buying decisions.

In his book, The DNA of Customer Experience, Colin Shaw and his team at Beyond Philosophy, deliver the proof and demonstrate (for the first time ever) “the empirical link between evoking certain emotions, and increasing and decreasing revenue”.    We already know that Emotions Account for over 1/2 of the total customer experience and ultimately 50% of all buying decisions.  We also know that over 90% of Senior executives world-wide believe the customer experience is the next battleground for competition.

Those businesses that stage memorable customer experiences differentiate themselves and gain a significant competitive advantage.

An Important Question For You That Matters?

• Have you devoted any time during the last year thinking about the role emotions play in your business success ?  I’m guessing not !

 Here’s A Thought

If 50% of your customer experience is dependent on how a customer feels and you’re not devoting any significant time to this area, aren’t you just rolling the dice when it comes to your customer experience?

A Final Thought

My goal for The Rock Your Customers Blog is not to provide content in the form of rules, best practices, do’s and don’ts, or guaranteed steps for business success.  It’s not as easy as many seem to make it sound.

One of my goals is simply to provide you some food for thought as you investigate and explore business strategies to address a very changed business world and let’s face it a very changed customer.

The reality of today’s business world mandates that we all need to THINK ABOUT the business of business in new ways.

• Think about  the fact that over 50% of all buying decisions are made based on how people feel.
• Think about how you make your customers feel.
• Thnk about what emotions are most important in your business.
• Think about getting your team together and having a discussion on how your customer experience makes customers feel.

Thanks for the visit and please do share this post with a friend. Thanks

Best to ya & Rock Your Customers,

Bill

Getting Excited About Staging Customer Surprises…..Do You ???

I continue to believe that one of the key approaches to understanding the concept of the customer experience,  is to walk in the shoes of the customer.   So let’s put on our customer shoes for a minute and talk about surprises..

As always, a couple of questions.

Have you ever been the recipient of a surprise party,  or have been a part of staging one ?

One of my most memorable surprises was a 40th Anniversary party my  family staged for my mom and dad.  This was a big event as our family included not only a large number of siblings (10) but at the time of the event, 40 additional cast members, and VIP’s. (family friends and relatives)  Our plans also went to the extreme of including a fake surprise party (actually a picnic) on the day before the main event.     The family spent months planning every detail of the event, while getting excited anticipating springing the actual surprise.  Since we were in the video production business we even produced a 25-minute family documentary for the main event.

It was a memorable family celebration that is still re-lived by many,  years later.

So back to your shoes – Was your surprise party memorable ?  Are there any you’ve experienced,  that you continue to re-share years later?

 You might be asking “where is this post headed?”  or “what does this have to do with my customer experience?”

The answer -Great Customer Surprises Create Lasting Memories that are shared through storytelling.    We call it Word of Mouth Marketing.

What’s the big deal ?

Why You Should Care ?

• Two separate studies by Mckinsey & Thompson Lightstone suggest that over two thirds of all buying decisions are primarily influenced by word of mouth.
• Designing Customer Surprise is similar to the element of surprise that is written into a great story script.  If your customer experience has no element of surprise incorporated into it, it becomes more predictable, been there done that,  and therefore not takable.

Joe Pine & Jim Gimore, authors of The Experience Economy argue that “Surprising Customers is perhaps one of the most important ingredients to staging Memorable Customer Experiences.”     (Get The Experience Economy Book Here)

When is the last time that a business surprised you ?  You may have a difficult time answering that question.  I certainly did.  Here’s the point.

Incorporating customer surprise is a great way to standout from competition in a world of commoditized goods and services.  Using the concept in the real world of business, has proven successful,  in attracting attention and creating some incredible buzz (word of mouth) about businesses & brands.

Have you heard of The Morton Steakhouse story ? (Read about it here)  I’ll recap it for you.  A businessman (Peter Shankman) returning home from a busy travel day,  jokingly Tweeted one of his favorite restaurants Morton Steakhouse with this Tweet:

According to Shankman, the Tweet was sent merely as a joke . “Let’s understand: I was joking. I had absolutely no expectations of anything from that Tweet. It’s like how we Tweet “Dear Winter, please stop, love Peter,” or something similar.”

Guess who was at Newark Airport when Shankman landed…….  ”Alex, from Morton’s Hackensack walks up to me, introduces himself, and hands me a bag. He proceeds to tell me that he’d heard I was hungry, and inside is a 24 oz. Porterhouse steak, an order of  Colossal Shrimp, a side of potatoes, one of Morton’s famous round things of bread, two napkins, and silverware.

He hands me the bag.

I. Was. Floored.”

Morton’s Customer Surprise made world news.  Do a google search and you’ll see the results of how a business can can transcend customer expectations, by going off in new and totally different directions, in their relationships with customers.  Let’s be clear Customer Surprise is not about exceeding expectations it’s about staging the unexpected.

‘The Morton Steakhouse Meets Customer Peter Shankman at Airport’  was a great story , and yes,  it was shared around the world. Priceless !

To conclude, If you have a unique story of customer surprise pleas share with me.  I’d love to hear your thoughts and as always feel free to share this post with your friends.

Don’t forget to sign up for The Rock Your Customer Newsletter and blog.  —–check out right column—- I’ll be delivering special content not found on this blog that will help you explore and design compelling customer experiences.

What's Your Heritage? In Photo FDR & Bill

Going Back to The Future ! “Your BackStory” Part 2

Hi again,

Thanks for stopping by.   As I recall at the conclusion of my last letter I promised to share more thinking on telling your back story.  Part 1 Here  But first I have a few questions for you to consider.

Have you ever made a decision to watch one program over another because one was billed as a true story ?

Have you ever bought something because you felt more connected to the business?

Have you ever not bought something from someone because you just didn’t trust them?

Ok…. A quick review- Your backstory is how you became what you are today?  It’s the revealing of the where, when, who, and why of your business or organization.

I believe we all need a point of departure on the important concept of a business backstory.

Let’s start with why you should invest your precious time in both understanding your story and telling it.

In part one of this series I explored how understanding their backstory (Their beginnings) not only energized a brand, but was a catalyst for transforming a dog food company.

There’s another reason for crafting a great back story of your company according to marketing expert and thought leader, Rohit Bhargava,  author of *Personality not included”*.

It will help establish a foundation of trust and credibility for your business or organization.

Stories ultimately help build an emotional connection.  Emotions are critical in buying decisions. (Over 50% of all buying is done based on Emotions)

Telling your backstory provides context and meaning for the greater story of you and opens up the emotional gates for those deeper customer connections.

Back to those questions at the beginning of post

When trying to understand a concept ,  I always attempt to ‘get it’ from my own world’s point of view or experiences.     That statement provokes the question- When is the last time that you heard a story about a business that had a significant impact on you, to influence a buying decision?

Do you like buying something  from someone you don’t really trust or like?   I know I don’t.  Why are you loyal to one business over another ?  I will spend more if one business treats me like a person versus transaction.

One of the most daunting challenges faced by every business today is gaining trust from your customers.   Numerous research studies conducted on customers, clearly identify the lack of trust in businesses as a major issue.  Only 8% of all consumers believe advertising and marketing messages. (Wiki Brands)

A Small Example

I recently bought a couple of expensive concert tickets because I watched a video backstory of a musician. (Toby Keith)  Before I saw his story, the one of a decent guy, who overcame many trials and challenges before making it big,  I would not have paid money to see one of his concerts.   Was he perfect?  No. But his story help make him more human, more real.   More importantly, a part of his story became my own, a key ingredient of any great story.   His story, not his music was the key,  in establishing a deeper connection.  There were plenty of live music concerts to choose from but I spent the bucks on his.  (side notes- I am more a traditional rock fan- Toby Keith puts on a great show !)

Where do I begin telling my BackStory? 

Here’s some elements to think about when telling your backstory.  Exchange them with your team or a trusted colleague after you’ve tried to answer for yourself.  It doesn’t matter if you’re a solo entrepreneur or the CEO of a fortune 500 corporation.

Characters –

Every great story has characters, people who’s actions and decisions ultimately determine the script of the story.  Who are the key people who have shaped who your company is today.   Who are/were the founders?   Who were some of the very early employees?   Who are the current day leaders?  Who are the people that customers must interact with ? What kind of stories are told about your people or you today?  The characters in your story don’t necessarily have to be exclusive to individuals directly associated with your company.  Are there any heroes or villains in your story?

Challenges-

What were the challenges or problems the business was trying to answer for customers?  What was the sense of purpose for starting the business beyond just the bottom line?

Vision-

What was the dominant theme or idea of the founders that they set out to create and have others follow, both customers or employees ?

Conflicts-

What were the obstacles that the business faced or has faced that stood in the way of success?

Triumph-

How did the team overcome the conflicts or will overcome them?

To conclude, examining, understanding and sharing(telling) your backstory fits perfectly in the new business world where connecting with customers is the new business imperative.  As Rohit writes in his book *Personality not included , “the biggest challenge most organizations face today is discovering how to go from a brand that people consume to one that they are passionate about.  Personality Matters.”  So what’s your story?

Until Next time- take care and Rock Your Customers. (Employees too!)

Bill G.

PS.  If you’re interested in Engaging Customers, Telling Compelling Stories or On-line Video Production, I’d love for you to join the community. Sign up for Rock Your Customers Newsletter and Blog on the right.  Best to you & Thanks

Going Back to The Future ! “Your BackStory”  

A Gateway to Emotion Connection & Engagement

Part 1

Hellooo Again from Story Mavericks  !

Just a quick little “Hope all is going well so far in Twenty 12.”  What a difference a year makes.  If you’re from the Northeast or snow country and love snowfall & winter,  I’m guessing you’re not a happy camper this year.   Last year was a different story.  Hang in there.  Snow is on the way.

Ok.  Todays topic relates to the importance of revisiting your backstory.  How you became what you are today.  Your heritage.

I’d like to explore the topic by first sharing a little story.

It’s about a dog food company.

How Did Pedigree (Dog Food) Transform Itself From A Just Another Company Selling Dog Food, To A  Distinctive Company Where Dogs Rule ?

Back in 2004 Pedigree began a process to strategize how to answer the challenge most businesses face today,  commoditization of their brands. (Price-Price-Price)  Early on, as part of that process, they revisited their roots, their history, their backstory.

The Pedigree Team immersed themselves in a journey through time, to explore and try to uncover new ideas or something from the past that would be special today,  in moving forward and rejuvenating the Pedigree Brand.

By revisiting their back story, the Pedigree team were reminded that The Mars Family, who founded the company, had been passionate pet-lovers for generations and that Pedigree had a long history of being  a brand endorsed by breeders.  What Pedigree discovered was that they had moved away from the original founders mission.

That mission was centered on being in the business,  because they loved dogs.

That was their soul.

They had become another me too  company who tried to make food that cost less.

Rediscovering their soul created a gateway to the future success of the Pedigree Brand.  It became their compass to guide future business strategy.  More importantly, it allowed them to transform their culture and invigorate the brand with a greater sense of purpose.

It made them different and distinct in their industry.

Imagine the difference in a company culture where it’s employees come to work thinking that they work for a company who loves dogs, versus coming to work for a dog food company.  I believe it makes a big difference.

Imagine again, the neat, talk-able stories, that were created by everyone walking the “canine talk” at Pedigree.

Here’s a few actions Pedigree took after exploring their backstory:

• Employee badges and cards included photos of employee dogs.
• Employees were encouraged to bring dogs to work or use the companies on-site dog care center.
• The company offered health insurance for pets.
• In some cases dogs made sales calls on supermarket buyers
• The company crafted a creative customer (dog) experience statement that they called “Dogma”, a manifesto on why the company exist and how it should behave.

” Originality matters.  But history matters too.  The very act of rediscovering and reinterpreting the past creates the clarity and confidence necessary to craft a distinctive game plan for the future.” 

William Taylor-Co-founder, Fast Company Magazine, Author of Practically Radical

I came across the quote in “Practically Radical” a book on the changing landscape of business management from William Taylor.  (Great Book!)

The Pedigree story is an example of one of the many companies that get the fact that their heritage & tradition can be an important component, in providing a competitive advantage versus competition, and one that can’t be copied.

The transformation of The Pedigree culture, no small task, gained momentum and energy  by exploring their back-story.  Understanding their history helped create a clear path and distinctive game plan for their future.

The key message I wanted to share with this post is the critical need for all businesses to look at themselves with a pair of “Fresh Eyes”.  Let’s face it to remain wed to past practices ignores the reality of a changed world.  Despite the revolution in marketing, there is still important lessons we must take from the past.

Imagining your business from the framework of a story and revisiting the effects of your heritage, your origin, history- back-story, is a great place to start.  In that story can be found a script to guide your future communications and the staging of authentic experiences for all stakeholders in your business.

In part two I will share some thinking on the elements to consider in your back-story including some questions to explore with your team, colleagues or friends.    Until my next post, give some thought to why and how your company was founded.  Take care &  always, “Rock Your Customers.”

Bill G.

Welcome Back to Rock Your Customers.  I hope everyone has recuperated from Super Bowl XLVI.   To begin with I have a couple of confessions to make.  1.  I spent most of the entire Super Bowl Sunday parked in front of my TV. watching both pre-game coverage followed by the actual game.   2. Yes, I am a Giant Fan, but  not a crazy one – crazy defined as probably not losing any sleep if they lost.   My wife is from New England (Ma.) so it might be a good bet to say that she was not happy with the outcome.  I’ll continue to console her tonight by cooking a nice pasta dinner.

Unlike many people who say that their favorite part of any Super Bowl are the TV. Commercials, I have a different view.  I watch pre-game coverage mainly to view the backstories the networks decide to produce. I’m just not into the XXXX’s & OOOOO’s.

I think that instead  spending so much time evaluating commercials,  we should be talking about the meaningful and inspirational stories that that some how intersect with the game of football or the NFL. We should be voting on our favorite story.

Besides isn’t it somewhat ironic that we create a lot hoopla over TV. commercials a business practice that people love to hate?

This years Super Bowl coverage had backstories on players, teams, parents of players, owners and even special programs that came directly out of the NFL.  Most of these stories connected you on a more personal level to a person or player not just a number on a jersey.   I found myself rooting for that individual, regardless of team (kind of)  to do we’ll.

One of my favorite stories was about,  a program called The Indianapolis Legacy Project that incorporated such activities as planting trees, (becoming the greenest Super Bowl ever), fighting cancer, & redeveloping neighborhoods.  They even had a program to motivate, train, & recognize The Indianapolis  Super Bowl Volunteer Force,  called “Super Scarves” all part of a Super Service Initiative.  Very cool stuff !   There was so much for community builders to learn and be inspired by in this story.

The other favorite  was a heart breaking but inspirational story about Steve Gleason a former football player from The New Orleans Saints.   Check the video above to learn about Steve’s Story.  The lesson- Life is short.  ”We all have a timeline. Most of us don’t live like we have a timeline.”   It is a story about courage, about love and about helping & inspiring others.  Seems to me a more important story to share than voting for your favorite Super Bowl Commercial.

Tell me what you think ?

Best

Bill G

PS. Sorry New England Fans.  For what it’s worth the Pats are my second favorite team.

It was a brisk September Morning in September of 2005.  I was sitting in an outdoor amphitheater, anticipating the opening session of ‘tHINKABOUT’, a two-day business conference held that year in The Rocky Mountains of Colorado. The event staged (and I do mean staged) by Strategic Horizons (Joe Pine & Jim Gilmore) is an annual gathering of 150 business professionals to learn, explore, and share ideas on the important role experiences are playing in business worldwide.  I’m sure Joe and Jim won’t mind me using their conference name –ThinkAbout to introduce the provocation for this post.   Which is….

When is the last time you really staged a serious THINKABOUT on your world of business? 

No I’m not talking about the traditional stuff like industry trends, competition, ROI, ROE, etc.

I’m referring to some thinking on how much the business world has been turned upside down and every which way,  by the Internet, “the greatest source of commoditization know to mankind”.

and……..What Are You Going To Do Differently To Change With The World.

My personal THINKABOUT was dictated by my own business feeling the pressure of commoditization.  We knew we had to find a new way to differentiate-to find something that made us unique in the world of video production.  The commitment to finding that something, ultimately led to me sitting in an amphitheatre that September morning in Keystone, Colorado.

I remember thinking, what an incredibly inspiring environment The Rockies offered, to re-Imagine something new for my business.  International business guru Tom Peters,  was the opening keynote speaker.

THINKABOUT KEYSTONE was the beginning of a journey of learning and discovery on business and how many businesses worldwide  are redefining WHAT work they do, HOW they do it, and WHY they do it.

It all starts with the simple act of Thinking, followed by recognizing that in most cases incremental improvement is not going to cut it.

So…. have you stopped for a minute to simply THINKABOUT what changes you have made in your strategy (if any) that reflects the transformation occurring in the business?

Tom Peters says it best.  “Business today is a brawl with no rules”.  “Business as usual is a bust”.

In Industry after Industry the old guard is cutting back and losing ground,” state the authors of Mavericks at Work, William Taylor and Polly LaBarre.  The companies that are winning big today in business are those that are “rethinking the logic of how business gets done.”

Let me first suggest having a serious THINKABOUT with one of the priorities being just to be honest with your self on your organizations capacity to change.

Let me also suggest , that your THINKABOUT Jam, should devote  some serious thought to YOUR CUSTOMER EXPERIENCE and the inextricably linked EMPLOYEE EXPERIENCE. (Employees ultimately stage your customer experience)

Research Reports, Business Books, Blog Post, Articles, etc etc. all point to one very clear fact about business today.  It has become a CUSTOMER DRIVEN MARKETPLACE.   Additionally,  research  illustrates very clearly,  that senior level business leaders consider The Customer Experience to be the next battleground of competition in The US.

I wish you the best for productive ThinkAbout.  Be sure to check out STRATEGIC HORIZONS  thinkAbout Learning Experience HERE –  being held this September 19 & 20 – 2012 in SanFrancisco.   It is a learning & adventure in business like no other.  Links below are additional resources to check out The Customer Experience Discipline.

Strategic Horizons (Pine & Gilmore)

The Experience Economy- The Book UPDATED EDITION

Welcome To The Experience Economy HBR

If you want to chat about how we can help you with your customer experience initiative please feel free to drop me a line bill@storymavericks.com or Give me a phone Call @ 518-587-6340

Don’t forget to sign up to become a member of  The Rock Your Customer Community. (Sign up to right)  I will send you the latest info, tips, industry practices, & ideas that will help you create more value for your customers and your business  through the staging of  memorable customer experiences.

THANKS FOR VISITING WITH ME.  I truly hope you found the information meaningful and relevant.

BILL G.

If I had to chose one important area that most businesses do not understand  when it comes to their customers, it is the difference between their Customer Service and  Customer Experience.  In my  involvement in the customer experience discipline the last 8 years,  I can’t count the number of times people have equated their customer experience to their customer service.

Ok Let’s be honest do you know the difference  for your own business ?  I think you should and here’s why.

When you cut through all the marketing buzz on , technology, mobile , search engine ,  Tweets, Blogs & Post, what it all comes down to is two words – the reason for any business-

THE CUSTOMER.

Let there be no mistake, we are now living in A CUSTOMER DRIVEN MARKETPLACE. (Just ask Netflix & Bank of America.   What Joe Pine & Jim Gilmore argued in the seminal work in 1999, “The Experience Economy,  is now a reality.  So Welcome to “THE EXPERIENCE ECONOMY”.

Lesson number one, your customers want more than just your goods or services.  They want EXPERIENCES.  Experiences that engage them in an inherently personal way ultimately creating a great memory.

Your Customer Experience more than what you sell or its quality,  will differentiate your business more than any other factor.   Your Customer Experience encompasses much more than what everyone refers to as your customer service.

Since the purpose of this post is intended to provide you a tip, not an essay I’ll keep it simple. I hope you don’t mind.

When I think of CUSTOMER SERVICE, I think more of a transaction, handling a problem, limited in duration from a time standpoint.  Promptness, Please & Thank You,  Maybe a genuine smile are interactions that come to mind.    Nothing really special or as I say story worthy.  Is it important?  YES !  – But is it a compelling experience?

When I think of the word EXPERIENCE, I think of an event, a journey, an adventure.  It’s more holistic and emotional.  It’s different and original.  It involves senses and surprise. The good ones leave an indelible memory.   There’s a story.  A beginning, middle, and end.  Call it a WOW.

There’s a big difference between the words service & experience.  Black & /White.  Day & Night.

A Great Experience Staged by a Business Rocks Customers

I hope this post provokes some new thinking on your customer experience.  See Links below to a couple of additional resources on The Experience Economy and The Customer Experience.   Please feel free to join the conversation, tell a friend about this site/blog and would love to have you join The Rock Your Customers Community.

Rock,

Bill

Experience Resources

The Experience Economy

Revolutionize Your Customer Experience

Welcome Back to Rock Your Customers.

I thought I’d share some thinking on INTERNET VIDEO that  should be meaningful and helpful to your business.   By chance just in case you haven’t heard or read somewhere….

On-Line Video is Exploding.

YOUTUBE  NOW DOWNLOADS 60 HOURS OF VIDEO CONTENT PER MINUTE

The above was a recent headline in many of the tech news sites this past week.  Additionally, YouTube alone streams 4 billion videos per day to an internet video audience of 182 million people. (85.3% of Internet users)  To give it a little perspective its

• The equivalent of Hollywood creating and releasing 302,400 full-length movies every week.
• The equivalent amount of content that 3,600 cable TV channels could broadcast (or narrowcast) 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, 365 days a year.

Source REEL SEO

AN OBVIOUS CONCLUSSION.  I NEED A REEL.

On-Line Video consumption continues to explode.  It is clearly the preferred communication vehicle preferred by people.  That’s not a big secret.

I think it is also safe to say that if your business or organization is not yet using video to connect with audiences you are at a  competitive disadvantage

YES YOU DO.  BUT NOT SO FAST MY FRIEND

30% of Videos on YouTube Get 99% of The Views

Just having a video up on YouTube does not guarantee any kind of audience.  It indicates also that a lot of the video content posted on YouTube and other Video sharing sites is just not worth looking at.  THE USE OF VIDEO ON THE INTERNET HAS BECOME ORDINARY.

WHAT YOU NEED IS A CONTENT STRATEGY THAT WILL MAKE YOUR VIDEOS UNORDINARY.

Let me suggest a different way.  — by thinking of your video project using the frameworks of a compelling experience design not just making a video.  Changing our language can be a game changer and make all the difference.  The goal is to engage people in a personal way and connect with them.  Create a Lasting Memory!

The  video should observe the 6 Attributes of compelling experiences – which are:

Defined – Do you know it?  Can you describe it? Do the pieces fit together?

Fresh    – Does it startle, amaze, amuse?  Can you make it your own?

Immersive – Does it engage you? Can you feel it? Can you lose yourself in it?

Accessible – Can you try it? Get better at it? Get it to do what you want?

Significant – Does it make sense?  Do you Remember, Connect, Think & Grow?

Transformative – Do you feel differently? Do you want to tell someone about it?

Source compelling experiences Doblin Group

Designing a Great EXPERIENCE is Like Telling a Great STORY – 

To have basis for a story, we need something unusual, something different, and something out of the ordinary, something strange or unique. Deviations from the norm attract our attention!  “When everything goes as expected-the sun comes up, spring follows winter, the airplane works flawlessly there’s no story.  The regular reoccurring events in our existence are simply the way things are.  They are unremarkable.”

Story (Video) Check List Considerations

Clarity – Is the story simple and clear ?

Emotional – Does it connect with you, Have an Impact?

Believable – Does it sound like it can actually happen or happened?

Transport – When audience sees video, can you picture yourself there?

Surprising- What aspects of the story are unexpected ?

Relevant – How relevant is it to issues/needs/wants of target audience?

Memorable – What will be memorable about story ?  What is the Signature Moment?

To conclude, these two check lists give you a solid foundation to start producing/designing content that ultimately inspires your customers.   Would love to hear your thoughts.

Rock UR Customers

Bill

     EXPY STAGING TIP #1

 Great Customer Experiences Are Deliberately Defined & Planned

Hello again from Saratoga Springs, New York, The Home Base of Story Mavericks & “Rock Your Customers.”  As always, I hope your world is great both personally and professionally.  The topic of this post has been on my mind for quite some time so I thought it was time to share a thought with you on an important principle, on storytelling and customer experiences.

Below is a paragraph originally written by the  author of Story Theater Method”, Doug Stevenson, about the art and hard work of business storytelling.  Colin Shaw substituted the words “Customer Experience” for “Story” , in his book,Revolutionize Your Customer Experience.   I think the paragraph illustrates the point i am making in this post.

“For a Customer Experience to come alive and captivate and audience, the content, structure, and performance must be crafted strategically.  The Customer Experience itself is only a beginning.  Customer Experience is an art and the designer of the Customer Experience, the artist.  And all artist need tools.  The actor needs a stage, props, and costumes.  The musician needs her instrument.  The artist needs his brushes and paint.  And the Customer Experience designer needs form, content, and presentations skills and techniques.  The great designers of Customer Experiences distinguish themselves not just by their talent, but also their dedication to their craft.  They think about their Customer Experiences constantly.  They structure the sequence and flow of the Customer Experience,  and experiment to find just the right words that are genuinely theirs.  They work on gesture or movement until it is just right.  Then they rehearse it over and over until it becomes second nature – the line and the gesture effortlessly married together.  They incorporate acting skills and turn the Customer Experience into little theatrical events.  In order to have an end that is amazing, you will have to spend many hours working on your Customer Experience.  Your Customer Experience must be worked and re-worked, formed and re-formed. You’ll want to find the drama and comedy of your Customer Experiences and let them shine.”

I mentioned earlier in the post that this topic has been on my mind.  It is the result of hearing or reading about so many promises of great experiences, or wow customer service from businesses.   The words have really become buzz words that are ubiquitous and have little marketing impact.

The above paragraph written to teach the concepts of Story and Customer Experiences, by Doug Stevensen and Colin Shaw, are becoming a reality in today’s business world.

Study upon study of business leaders points to one very clear fact.  They consider reconnecting with customers the top business priorty for 2011.

Let me be clear that I am not merely talking about customer service here but memorable, “Rock Your Customer” type experiences.  The growing importance of fighting off an increasing commoditized business world of goods and services by staging experiences, was first articulated by Joe Pine and Jim Gilmore in their best selling book ,  The Experience Economy”.

The subtitle of Pine & Gilmore’s book, “Work is Theatre & Every Business a Stage”,  offers a great work model to stage great customer experiences.   Great stage performances just don’t happen. The same holds true for great customer experiences.

Have you intentionally designed your customer experience?  Do you have an articulated written customer experience statement?

Please share your thoughts and if you’ve done something really great in this area I’d love to share it on this blog.  Thanks Much

Best to You & Rock Your Customers !

Bill