Working recently with a highly regulated client, the issue of legal limitations was raised (again). “We are heavily regulated and as such we can’t do it” the argument was made. The truth is that regulations and legal restrictions, as far as I am concerned are excuses. Excuses organizations developed throughout the years to hide behind.

Many industries are regulated. Airlines, health care, food, financial. Every industry seems to have their set of regulations. In fact every public company is subject to Sarbanes Oxley. But lets face it the regulations were not made to restrict you from delighting customers.

Usually regulations were put in place because you offended customers to a point that they need government protection. During the 90’s European airlines passengers complaints about the way they were treated by airlines staff. No one was paying attention to them. So they appeal to the government and eventually the European parliament instituted harsh bill of rights law that protected passengers and requiring airlines to pay hefty fines for every flight delay.

In fact when I further probed the person who asked the question, I realized that the fear from the legal department was so high in this organization that employees simply stopped going to the legal department for approval. They simply stopped innovating and stop trying. In fact the whole company was in fear of the legal department that they started to assume much greater restrictions than what the law actually required.

Was recently challanged with expressing Customer experience management in 15 words. See the results below.

Build The Business Case. Understand Customer Needs. Innnovate Experience. Inspire Employees. Measure Results. Many Thanks = 15 Words

Any comments?

I recently spent a week in Japan working with a client and had an eye opening experience. Although I had visited Japan on a number of prior occasions, I had never done so through the eyes of a customer experience professional. While in Asia, I had the opportunity to experience once again so much of what I enjoy about Asia and particularly Japan, particularly the culture and hospitality. The notion that it truly is a privilege to be of service is but one aspect of Japanese culture that never ceases to amaze me.

During the course of this trip, I made certain to pay attention to aspects of the customer experience, that in the past I may have overlooked. What quickly became apparent was the disparity between the Japanese and Western customer experiences. There were so many differences and lessons, many of which can be applied to the manner in which western countries can improve upon their own customer experiences. Here they are.

A front page piece today in the New York Times (“Saving Chevrolet Means Sending ‘Chevy’ to Dump”) discuss the recently released memo by General Motors requesting employees to stop using the name Chevy and use the name Chevrolet instead. Doing so will ensure brand consistency and will establish Chevrolet as top in consumer minds.

From the article - “When you look at the most recognized brands throughout the world, such as Coke or Apple for instance, one of the things they all focus on is the consistency of their branding,” the memo said. “Why is this consistency so important? The more consistent a brand becomes, the more prominent and recognizable it is with the consumer.”

The zeal for consistency is impressive. Brand experts have always been religious about their choice of colors and font. I wish the same amount of zeal will be applied to their commitment to consistent customer experiences. Customers will notice the wave of change, when their experience will be exceptional and delightful, not when the sales person will insist on using the name Chevrolet instead of Chevy.
I love the passion for consistency. Hope we can bring the marketers to understand that it is time to apply it to the complete customer journey.

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New Book - Customer Experience Stratgy

I recently attended a panel at SAP annual conference SAPPHIRE NOW in Orlando where the subject of social media and Social CRM was discussed. The need to engage with customers through the new channels was iterated multiple times. It is about the communication with customers and listening to what they have to say, it was stated clearly. Recently I noticed the proliferation of new Social CRM stacks by several gurus and analysts. For those of you who are too much in the cloud to remember what a software stack is, it is basically a diagram that illustrates the relationships between different software tools. The new Social CRM stack described the relationships between tools designed to listen to customers, software designed to analyze and to decipher the voice of customer and reporting tools to deliver the message loud, clear and crisp to the executives who need to act on it. It was a beautiful depiction of how all the tools work together. But…

When taking an additional look at the stack I noticed something familiar. It was basically the same stack we used when describing CRM! All that changed was the new channels of listening to customers. And then I realized what is wrong with the picture. Executives and experiences.

Throughout our work in designing and deploying customer experience strategies, we often come across a sad phenomenon. We receive calls from customer experience professionals who are seeking help. For many of them, this is a first time launching a customer experience and they have absolutely no experience in it. They are fishing for ideas and seeking frameworks and references to speak to and then comes the critical moment. This is the moment of truth when we discuss the kind of help they need. And you can hear them squirming and eventually saying "we don’t really have ANY budget."

We always feel bad for them and provide whatever we can to help them out. The new book Customer Experience Strategy was written with these customer experience practitioners in mind. We wanted to provide them with clear and complete step by step blueprint for success. But there situation raises a much bigger question.
• If you were made responsible for customer experience and were given zero budget to work with, are you set up for success?
• Is there ANY major initiative in your company, when the CEO expect real results that is not funded?

uSwitch.com just published their 2010 Customer Satisfaction Awards. This study provides a clear view as to how customers rank the service they receive across different providers. It is simple and to the point and provides clear guidance. You want better value and quality, there are vendors who deliver it, and others who do not.

It was interesting to note that “The Best deal” question generated lukewarm results. Consistently companies ranked between the low 40’s and the mid 50’s. Nothing close to the 92% O2 received on overall satisfaction. The reason? We have discussed the issues many times and included it in my lasts book Customer Experience Strategy – The Complete Guide From Innovation to Execution (41, 2010). (For a Free chapter visit www.CEStratgeyTheBook.com.) In reliability based experiences such as insurance, utilities, telecommunication and baking, customers do not know how to put a price tag on the value of reliability. As such they let the value perception erode over time and opt for a discount strategy. Companies ought to develop mechanisms to help customers see the value.

I am back home. The return home presents another set of lessons. Considering the fact that during 9/11 I was stuck in Europe, I was expecting the airlines to learn a lesson from that crisis. They did. They told all passengers without confirmed reservations to stay away from the airports. Guards were placed outside the terminals at Heathrow airports and only customers whom their name was on the list were even allowed to enter the building! The result – a BA flight to Boston left with 150 passengers in a 450 seat aircraft. The following flight had 250 passengers on a 450 seats aircraft.

Despite years of investing in the web experience and teaching customers to use self service channels, those channels were shut down and you had to go through the call center for any request or query. The result 2 hours or more of wait time.

This is going to be a positive one. In the sea of chaos and helplessness that we are all facing, I would like to command the hotel staff It is the Montcalm London (http://www.montcalm.co.uk/) . They make an effort every day to remember my name and approach me proactively to check how am I doing. There is very little that they can do to make me get home faster. But there are plenty of opportunities for them to make me feel at home at their hotel. Even the lady who cleans my room makes sure to put an authentic smile on her face when she sees me. And believe me I know the difference between an authentic one and a fake one. Too much travel will make you an expert on it.
My other favorite? They did not wait for my customer survey at the end of the stay. A person stop by at my room to check on my satisfaction with the room! This way they have the opportunity to correct things.
Prior to me moving to the Montcalm, I stayed at another hotel, the treatment was totally different. I learned not to take for granted these small gestures. They simply get it right. It’s the small details that make all the difference. And it does not cost money. This is the attitude part of the experience. You can’t pay your employees to do it and it is priceless to the guests. Thank you to all the staff at Montcalm, London Read more »

And so the journey continues with hotels and airlines being clueless on how to treat their customers during this difficult time. You would think that 9.11 will teach them a lesson. But apparently not.
My hotel placed a signed next to the concierge with a written update on the flight status (It basically says, all airports are closed) The real message to customers facing this sign “don’t talk to us”. Moment of truth like that should provide the hotel with an opportunity to demonstrate empathy and ask guests if need any more help – extension of stay, laundry services, how to purchase missing items. Instead the hotel opted for a simple sign that illustrate the pinnacle of efficiency. “Leave us alone”
Trying to engage is simple conversation with the airline rep whil rescheduling my flight (still don’t know if it wll take off) resulted with similar response. I was actually trying to demonstrate emphathy for the difficult day she might be facing. She simply ignored me.
Lesson – Empathy and emotional engagement are the best way to respond when all other options are not available. Do not leave your customers stranded emotionally. You can’t blame the volcanic ashes for that. You can control this element of the customers’ abandonment. Be there for them even iif it only a listening ear and an open heart you can provide. This is the best time to build long term relationship.
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