Catch Up on Customer Care Tips

NACCM 2011 may be behind us, but that doesn't mean we've run out of insights from the event.

NACCM speaker JoAnna Brandi (who's session our guest bloggers covered here and here) is releasing her insights today via her "Return on Happiness" email list as well as the PowerPoint slides from her session "The Spillover Effect: How Positive Work Cultures Enable."

Subscribe to her list to get access.

And as always, you can follow us throughout the year for more insights and industry information. Join our LinkedIn group to become a member of a worldwide community of customer care professionals, follow us on twitter @NACCMevent or become a fan on Facebook here.

Click It with Pete Winemiller

Definitions of Click: To be a great success; to function well together; to hit it off; to become clear; to interact with another or others; to communicate; to connect; to be on the same wavelength.

Well, I clicked with Pete Winemiller, Senior VP of Guest Relations for the Thunder OKC - franchise of the NBA. His message at the NACCM Conference on How Strong Leaders Facilitate Moments that Matter gave the audience of customer service managers and other consultants a powerful reminder that we are in the people business. I circled in red the statement that people do not remember days, they remember moments. Moments matter.

Pete asked the question - who is your most important customer? Many answers were given - the one in front of you at the moment, the one creating the greatest revenue, and the longest relationship. The answer - YOURSELF. You cannot provide consistent customer service unless you take care of the most important person. Business also need to recognize that employees will never treat their customers better than the employees are treated. The Harvard Business Review has a study called the Service-Profit-Chain that proves that when leadership invests in the frontline employees through recruiting, training and technology and other ways to keep team happy and empowered will influence employee behavior. The results is creation of loyal customers that result in profit.

Click is soon to be a book by Pete Winemiller and I know that I will definitely purchase this book for my customer service library. His values align with the practices and principles that I have held for over 30 years of working with teams and customers.

C Communicate Clearly

L Listen to Learn

I Initiate Immediately

C Create Connections

K Know your stuff

On each table was a CLICK badge to wear around our neck - with a blank space to write the way you could to something small in a better way. Pete says that is is not doing 1 thing 100% better that makes a difference, it is doing 100 things 1% better. During the rest of the day, attendees compared badges and what each would improve. I read many: believe in myself; no complaining; listen more; connect.

During lunch, I sat with Pete and asked him about the NBA lock-out. He stated that he had more time for speaking and training. If you have a need for an excellent presenter with amazing experience in serving his 18,000 guests at each NBA basketball game, give him a call. He will click with your team.

Guest Blogger, Customer Service & Sales Trainer & Speaker

Connie Brubaker

Integrity Training Solutions

www.ConnieBrubaker.com

512 346 7270

Disney World Delivers – Literally - All the Way to the Airport!

Discovering that my coin purse was missing on the final morning of the NACCM Conference was not a great way to start the day. A few dollars and credit cards were concerns, but my Texas Driver’s License was needed for identification to board the airplane that afternoon. I started retracing my steps to no avail. You know the scene, patting down your pockets, looking in your purse, checking under the bed, tearing the room apart and then starting all over again. I went to the front desk and Marva was extremely helpful as she offered to check lost-and-found and call me within the hour.

Long story short, nothing showed up but Southwest Airlines consoled me with the information that I could make the flight but to allow extra time to go through security. While waiting for the Magic Express to the airport, I checked the front desk one more time and Joey listened carefully to my plight. He began filling out a form and handed it to me – a complimentary taxi to the airport so I could arrive without any delays. This generous gesture and comfortable ride calmed down my flustered demeanor and first-hand showed me the exemplary customer service for which Disney is known.

Disney Institute facilitator, Jack Santiago, shared how symbols such as the Big Ears and the Magic Castle represent the heritage, culture and values of Disney. The quality excellence of their cast of stars is demonstrated in all the gift stores, restaurants, hotel front desks, grounds, and rides. The selection and training process really works. From the onset, Disney’s applicants are informed about the culture and the non-negotiable standards. Disney's intent on hiring for attitude and not aptitude is common advice that I give my clients. Disney also state that regardless of the level of schooling, Disney can train for 90% of the jobs but cannot train to have a good attitude.

By the time I made a smooth taxi trip to the airport, navigated through Southwest and security with little disruption, I knew that a little Disney Magic had worked. I applaud Disney because a fairy Godmother and Prince Charming are needed in everyone’s life during difficulties. Thank you, Marva Davis and Joey Lel.

Connie Brubaker

Integrity Training Solutions

www.ConnieBrubaker.com

Got Happiness? NACCM Provides Solutions!

The North American Conference on Customer Management began with great speakers with informative and entertaining messages about Managing Customer Satisfaction. The attendees shared about their objective to return to their workplace with new ideas, renewed commitment, and inspiration to lead their teams. You could see heads nodding in the room as these managers agreed on principles, challenges, programs, dedication to the customer experience and most importantly a determination for new approaches to continue and improve processes to delight our customers.

We began the day with JoAnna Brandi, Customer Care Coach, that shared the science on how happiness can not only create endorphins and serotonin, along with a long list of other benefits, that improve our problem solving abilities, focus, creativity, and resilience to name a few. The formula for happy customers included the AAA Feedback - Acknowledge & Affirm, Amplify it, and Anchor it. Statistics was also a part of equation in understanding the 60% spread in performance when employees are praised, supported, and show strengths versus emphasizing weakness. An enthusiastic and well-documented presentation on the subject of positivity was enjoyed by all.

Kate Feather, People Metrics, gave a presentation on Brand Ambassadors and improving customer engagement. One of the most powerful measures for investment in customer service programs was that a 5 point increase in customer engagement could improve average stock price by as much as 26% while a 5 point decrease caused stock performance to be below the industry average. Julie Broderick of Signature Flight Support gave a case study of their Voice of the Customer Feedback Program. The program includes action alerts and accountability that maintains momentum.

The final morning speaker was Randall Brandt of Maritz. He shared about setting the bar for customer satisfaction by determining and evaluating the goal whether judgement, benchmarking, or linkage-based targets are used. The objective is to drive continuous improvement to realize desired results.

As a speaker, trainer, and writer, I feel validated, encouraged, and inspired by a room full of advocates that share my passion and unwavering commitment to outstanding customer service. I enjoyed my conversations with other attendees like David Fischer of John Deere, C.J. Muniz of Blue Cross Blue Shield, and Faith Williams, Cancer Treatment Centers of America. Yes, happiness rules here in Orlando and I haven't even enjoyed a lunch yet.

Connie Brubaker

Integrity Training Solutions

www.ConnieBrubaker.com

512 346 7270

Red Carpet? Not exactly . . .

My appointment is made for the hair stylist, clothing is selected for a great first impression, flight and hotel reservations are made, and the celebrity list is out-of-sight. Just in case you are thinking that I am headed to Nashville to attend the Country Music Awards on Wednesday night, that is not the reason for my state of mind. Next week, I am attending the 2011 NACCM Conference in Orlando on November 13 - 16. I love to speak, write, train and think about customer service and the opportunity to learn from experts in a wide array of industries fills me with delight. I look forward to hearing the stories of creating magical moments for customers from this high-profile celebrity list and many more:

Peter Guber, Author of Tell to Win

Jamie Noughton, Zappos

Jasmine Green, Nationwide Mutual Insurance Company

Pete Winemiller, NBA Oklahoma City Thunder

Fred Taylor, Jr. Southwest Airlines

Mike Sachs, Volkswagen of America, Inc.

Gina Debogovich, Best Buy

Kelly N. Cook, DSW Designer Show Warehouse

Okay, so I'm not talking about singing stars like Taylor Swift & Toby Keith that entertain audiences with musical notes. I am talking about experts that can teach companies how to keep from hitting a sour note with a client that can impact customer satisfaction, loyalty and the bottom line.

Even with 32 years of customer service experience, I always look forward to hearing fresh ideas and renewing commitment to give my clients the latest and greatest information.

Who do you think will be the entertainer of the year, I mean conference? Please share with me your favorite performances. I hope to see you in Orlando.

Connie Brubaker

Integrity Training Solutions

www.ConnieBrubaker.com

512 346 7270

Building People, Productivity and Profits with Integrity

Hear what your peers are saying about NACCM

Time is running out! 

The North American Conference on Customer Management is in 2 weeks! We think it's our best NACCM yet- with keynotes from Peter Guber, Author of Tell to Win and Jamie Noughton, Chief Culture Ambassador at Zappos.

But don't just take our word for it! Hear from your peers why NACCM is the event to attend:

"I've attended and spoken to many conferences over the years and NACCM is by far one of the best. The selection of keynotes is amazing - they really capture your attention. You bring in folks speaking on such relevant and cutting-edge topics that cut across the industry. Extremely well done!"
- Glenn Ross, Director, Constituent Relationship Management, American Cancer Society, High Plains Division, Inc.

"Typically, I hate conferences because I feel that not a lot gets accomplished. But, I loved NACCM. You have real-world companies talking about what they are doing. It was a refreshing change from the norm. I talked to partners and told them they have to go." 
- Jason Clement, Director, NIKE Consumer Services, NIKE, Inc.

"Its still the best conference out there."
- Andre Harris, National Customer Service Executive, Westfield LLC

"My Favorite conference. The speakers with real work experience sharing their knowledge and experience is invaluable! I leave feeling inspired, renewed, refreshed and ready to conquer!!"
- Shannon Ray, Customer Experience Project Manager, San Diego Gas & Electric.

"I felt like a got my money's worth after the first day. I am leading the new social media pilot for Southern California Edison, so the Social Media Summit was particularly valuable. I connected with wonderful people, and look forward to continuing the interaction."
- Kendall Reichley

Don't miss out on this extraordinarily experience! Make this your best investment this year and register now. Save 15% off the standard registration rate at NACCM with code NACCMBlog.


We look forward to welcoming you to Disney’s Contemporary Resort in Orlando.

The NACCM Event Team

Follow us on Twitter, http://twitter.com/naccmevent or become a Fan on Facebook: http://on.fb.me/oAOFil.

Storyteller Spotlight Series: Pete Winemiller of NBA's Oklahoma City Thunder

In this, the final episode of our 2011 Storyteller Spotlight podcast series before we arrive at the 2011 NACCM event, I spoke with Pete Winemiller, Senior Vice President, Guest Relations of the NBA's Oklahoma City Thunder.

Pete will be presenting "How Strong Leaders Facilitate Moments that Matter" on Tuesday, November 15th at NACCM.

People do not remember days, they remember moments – Moments Matter! Your verbal and nonverbal communication with customers can make or break consumer loyalty in a split second. Customers think more about their experiences with people than they do about products and services. David Stern, Commissioner of the NBA, recognized Pete “for setting the gold standard for the NBA fan experience.” Learn why at this session, where the key takeaway will be "Feel the power of thinking big & ACTING
SMALL to really CLICK!TM with your Guests."

In this podcast we discussed how Pete helps to make 18,000 sports fans feel at home on a regular basis, and the ways we can stay connected to our customers in this increasingly high-tech world. Listen to the podcast here.

To hear more from Pete, join us this month at NACCM! Remember, readers of the Customer's 1st blog and save 15% off the standard registration rate at NACCM with code NACCMBlog.

For more event news, follow us on Twitter or become a fan on Facebook.

Michelle LeBlanc is a Social Media Strategist at IIR USA with a specialization in marketing. She may be reached at mleblanc@iirusa.com.

Learn the Ins and Outs of How Zappos Treats its Customers at NACCM

Want to hear a truly extraordinary customer service story?

Zaz Lamarr meant to return some shoes to Zappos, but her mom passed away and, naturally, she just didn't have time. Zappos arranged to have UPS come pick up the shoes - and then send her flowers:

"When I came home this last time, I had an email from Zappos asking about the shoes, since they hadn't received them. I was just back and ready to deal with that, so I replied that my mom had died, but I'd send the shoes as soon as I could. They emailed back that they had arranged with UPS to pick up the shoes, so I wouldn't have to take the time to do it myself. I was touched. That's going against corporate policy.

Yesterday, when I came home from town, a florist delivery man was just leaving. It was a beautiful arrangement in a basket with white lilies and roses and carnations. Big and lush and fragrant. I opened the card, and it was from Zappos. I burst into tears. I'm a sucker for kindness, and if that wasn't one of the nicest things I've ever had happen to me, I don't know what is."

This is just one of the many, many, many heart-warming, happy, touching, funny Zappos' customer service stories, and the reason why you can't have a conversation about customer service without eventually mentioning (or even opening the conversation) with Zappos.


So how does Zappos do it? What is their secret of great customer service?

The North American Conference on Customer Management (NACCM) is pleased to have Jamie Naughton, Speaker of the House, Chief Culture Ambassador, Zappos.com as one of the keynote speakers, on Tuesday, November 15th, Jamie will present:

Delivering Happiness:
As speaker of the House, Jamie works directly with CEO Tony Hsieh, focusing on the culture for which the company has become known. Her role is essential in creating and driving the architecture of the dynamic culture as well as focusing on culture R&D to ensure Zappos.com always stays relevant to both the employees and their customers. Learn the different ingredients used by Zappos.com to build a long-lasting enduring brand, including the importance of customer service and company culture.

Listen to our podcast with Jamie here for a sneak peek.

Plus, hear professional and personal stories from:
Dunkin' Brands, GfK Customer Loyalty, Dell, The Disney Institute, Hilton Worldwide, Southwest Airlines, Verizon , Humana, Spring, American Cancer Society, JetBlue Airways, Symantec, Best Buy, Kaplan University, Volkswagon America, Nationwide Mutual Insurance, Safelite Autoglass, Sears, Customer Care Coach, Mandalay Bay Entertainment, NBA's Oklahoma City Thunder, Peoplemetrics, Microsoft Bing, DSW Designer Shoe Warehouse,and more!

Download the brochure to see why you can't miss the year's NACCM.

NACCM is less than a month away, register now to secure your spot. Register today as a reader of the Customer's 1st blog and save 15% off the standard registration rate with code NACCMBlog.
We look forward to welcoming you this November 14-16 at Disney’s Contemporary Resort in Orlando.

The NACCM Event Team
Visit the event website.
Follow us on Twitter: http://twitter.com/naccmevent
Become a Fan on Facebook: http://on.fb.me/oAOFil

Curt Carlson on Customer Experience: #4: A New Framework for Business Growth through Customer Experience Management.

In this new series of posts, we are joined by guest blogger Curt Carlson, Senior Vice President, Customer Experience Management – TNS North America. Read the full series here.

Hi! This is the last of four posts leading up to the NACCM conference. Over the past three weeks, I’ve talked about how Customer Experience Management (CXM) is challenged as never before: it is not driving improvement in either scores or financials for most companies today; it is not customer-focused; and it is not taking into account how customers make decisions. We now know that a more comprehensive view of measuring Customer Experience is needed. It is not just about measuring overall customer experience and key drivers; we also need to factor in the varied needs (drivers) and states (emotions) of different customers. Doing this creates a vastly improved measurement system. What gets measured gets done, right?

Not so fast. Back in the day, CXM (aka, CSAT) was easy…identify the key drivers, make the case for low-cost process changes and watch the scores go up. What got measured got done because we knew what needed to be done. Now that we’ve tried everything we can think of, we need new ways of managing business performance improvement. Today, we need a Customer Experience Management framework.

A CXM framework requires understanding the customer from three perspectives: Loyalty Relationships, which are essential to accomplishing strategic objectives; Transactional (touch-point) Experiences, which strengthen or weaken those relationships; and Employee Engagement levels, which are ultimately responsible for performance on the first two. Many companies have programs to measure all three. Unfortunately, most of those programs are left in their Marketing, Operations, and HR silos. This means most companies are failing to get the full return on the significant investments they are making in these programs. For example, if Customer Service performance is low in a call center, do you spend behind additional training and monitoring on low performing attributes? The Customer Experience data might suggest that. But if you also knew that the CSRs in this particular center had very low engagement due to lack of trust and empathy from managers, you would make very different decisions. This potential for misallocation of resources is unacceptable in business today. Managing customer experience to drive business performance requires measuring and managing within an integrated CXM framework.

Measuring and managing is good, but still not enough. I’ve seen too many companies use information from their Customer Experience programs to develop and implement action plans only to then cross their fingers until the next measurement cycle. It is absolutely necessary to monitor your company’s implementation of its action plans, your customers’ responses to those actions, and the business performance outcomes that result.

In summary, whether you say “Integrated,” “Connected,” or “Holistic,” it is all about a comprehensive, customer-focused view of needs/drivers and states/emotions within the framework of Measuring customer relationships, transactional experiences, and employee engagement levels; Managing action planning and implementation; and Monitoring the response. We haven’t even touched on brand promise and its relationship to CXM (Authenticity)…or Social Media…or Innovation. Those will have to wait. Enjoy the conference.

I’ll be continuing to post every week at http://tns-us.com/blog/. Hope to see you there. Let me know what you think of the conference by posting your comments below.

If you enjoyed this series, join TNS this November at NACCM for a session on Best-in-class Customer Experience Management.

To learn more about NACCM, click here. To register, click here. Readers of the Customer's 1st blog can save 15% off the standard registration rate with code NACCMBlog.

Curt Carlson on Customer Experience: #3: How do your customers feel about doing business with you?

In this new series of posts, we are joined by guest blogger Curt Carlson, Senior Vice President, Customer Experience Management – TNS North America. Read the full series here.

Hi! This is the third of four posts leading up to the NACCM conference. In my last one, I discussed a way to begin to unlock some of the strategic value inherent in all Customer Experience Management (CXM) programs. That approach required becoming truly customer-centric…understanding individual customer’s needs and taking action at that level. We also, however, need to take into account how customers make decisions regarding the companies they do business with. Science is telling us that decision making is not very rational. It is, in fact, mostly emotional.

The earth is flat. The sun moves around the earth. We use our powers of reason to make decisions. All were strongly held beliefs…once upon a time. Today, neuroscience reveals that the emotional regions of the brain are very active when making a decision. Once a decision is made, however, the rational areas take over. It sure looks like we make decisions emotionally and then rationalize them. Like Plato’s Cave, our current process-based survey approach is a shadow, a reflection of the rationalization process, but not necessarily of the decision process itself. Understanding customers’ emotional states is as important as understanding their needs. This is where Dynamic Loyalty comes in.

Most relationships are habitual. You shop at the same grocery stores; you buy business supplies from the same providers; you’re wedded to your mobile device. Eventually, however, disruption strikes. You see on the 11:00 news your grocery store has been charging more at check-out than the posted price (anger). Your business supplier stops carrying the printer cartridges for your older printer (irritation). You try your wife’s new iPhone (“wow” – my own emotional response). Each of these experiences and the emotions they produce disrupts the steady state and influences decisions that will weaken or strengthen current business (or other) relationships. This perspective explains a phenomenon we’re all too familiar with: Customers are loyal until they’re not.

They tell you... “We really like doing business with you.” “Just focus on doing what you’re doing.” “Don’t take this the wrong way, but we’re putting our business up for competitive bid – you can expect an RFP in the next few weeks.” THEY LIED! No, they didn’t. They really believed what they told you in your steady state relationship, but there was a disruptive event. (Management fed up with flat customer experience scores? New information found in a competitor’s blog?) Either you create and manage disruption, or someone else will.

So if you’re going to improve customer experience to drive your company’s business performance, you have to find ways to meet customers’ individual needs (drivers) and manage the emotional states (disruptions) that impact decision-making. That will require strong relationships, excellent performance, and engaged employees. Your CXM framework must reflect these components. I'll have more about that in the next post.
Until next time…Tell me what you think: Does this wider perspective reflect fundamental change in thinking about CXM…or is it just another dress on the CSAT mannequin?

If you enjoyed this post, join TNS this November at NACCM for a session on Best-in-class Customer Experience Management.

To learn more about NACCM, click here. To register, click here. Readers of the Customer's 1st blog can save 15% off the standard registration rate with code NACCMBlog.

Customer Experience Assassins and Customer Care for Gen X and Y

The North American Conference on Customer Management (NACCM) would like to invite you to enjoy two complimentary resources in the six weeks leading up to the event. First, join us for a complimentary one-hour web seminar: Do You Have Customer Experience Assassins? Investigating geo-demographic differences across sectors.

Are there customers out there who are just impossible to satisfy? That is, those customers who consistently evaluate products and services unfavorably regardless of industry. Response style explanations notwithstanding, this type of so-called, “Customer Experience Assassin” lurks out there and could be damaging not just your brand but others in their path. But who are they, how do we avoid their ire, and what, if anything, should we do about them?

Likewise, there are “Customer Experience Angels”, individuals who float through life blissfully unaware of the poor service and products they endure. They won’t complain about cold soup or the unkempt hotel room. They won’t return things, don’t complain much or at all, and they are generally happy people. Or maybe they just generally get better service for a variety reasons. Either way, as an organization you would want to know, “who are they and how do we get them to have an even greater influence on others?"

To answer these questions, Dave Fish, VP of Client Solutions, Maritz Research, guides you through discoveries found using Maritz Research’s CEBenchmarks study. In this study we track 34 customer experiences in 16 different industries among 263 different brands. Join us for the webinar on Wednesday, October 12, 2011 from 2:00 PM - 3:00 PM EDT.

Register here: https://www1.gotomeeting.com/register/992023681

Please mention code MWS0042SM when registering

Secondly, NACCM's partner, GfK Custom Research North America, has recently published "The Generational Effect", a white paper that explores the concept of generation and the extent to which various generations are both similar and different in their degree of loyalty, and the drivers of loyalty to companies in the various sectors. GfK compares key loyalty metrics from the benchmark surveys in the banking, automotive, credit card and cell phone sectors to reveal insights associated with this conjecture. To read the paper, click here.

Want to hear more from GfK? Join us at NACCM for the session "Become a Better Leader in Customer Loyalty: Customer Loyalty and Experiences Across the Generations" on Tuesday, November 15th, 2011.

Drawing on GfK Customer Loyalty cross-industry benchmark surveys, this session compares the generations in terms of the delighters that drive customer loyalty and dissatisfiers that drive customers crazy and lead to defection. Explore the similarities and differences between generational cohorts, such as Millenials (GenX) and GenYers, Boomers, Traditionals and emerging GenZ. To learn more, download the brochure.

Plus, you won't want to miss out on this year's keynotes:
Janice Green, Chief Customer Advocate, NATIONWIDE INSURANCE
John Costello, Chief Global Marketing & Innovation Officer, DUNKIN BRANDS
Jamie Noughton, Speaker of the House, Chief Culture Ambassador, ZAPPOS.COM
Michael Hoffman, Author, CUSTOMER WORTHY
Pete Winemiller, Senior Vice President, Guest Relations, NBA'S OKLAHOMA CITY THUNDER

Register today.

We look forward to welcoming you this November 14-16 at Disney’s Contemporary Resort in Orlando.

The NACCM Event Team
Visit the event website.
Follow us on Twitter.
Become a Fan on Facebook.

Curt Carlson on Customer Experience: #2: Customer Experience Management – We forgot about the customer

In this new series of posts, we are joined by guest blogger Curt Carlson, Senior Vice President, Customer Experience Management – TNS North America. Read the full series here.


Hi! I’m back with the second of four blogs leading up to the NACCM conference. In my last post, I talked about the fact that Customer Experience Management (CXM) programs just aren’t working well for most companies today. Flat results and lack of new insights are causing executives to rethink their programs. I attributed this to limited perspectives…a type of tunnel vision that in turn limits practitioners’ abilities to help drive customer experience improvement and the profitable growth that would accompany it. Correcting this defective perspective requires a significant change in how we think about traditional CSAT programs. Not only are such programs not customer-centric, they actually have relatively little to do with the customer.

Santayana’s advice about not forgetting the past suggests a good place to start. CXM can trace its roots back to the Quality era. It started with a focus on process improvement and all these years later is still doing the same thing. (Look at your company’s most recent CSAT survey if you don’t believe me.) While 30 years of focus on process improvement has vastly improved customer experience in terms of product and service quality, the lack of further gains shows it has taken us as far as it can.

All this focus on process improvement is causing us to forget about the customer. What matters is not what process area has the greatest impact on the customer base; it’s about which customers (that is, real people) are most impacted by which processes. Once we understand that it’s about individual customer needs, we start to gain new, wider perspectives. Let’s apply this thinking to some current issues: flat scores and the same ol’ key drivers.

Functional key driver priorities, such as customer service, product quality, and billing, are analyzed and ranked based on the ability of processes (and their attributes) to improve overall customer experience. As we have all learned, they don’t change much over time unless there’s some disruption. Consider, however, that each of the process drivers is the #1 key driver for some subset of customers. Real example… We know that for mobile carriers, Coverage is often the primary driver of satisfaction. However, we have learned that for some customers, Coverage not a key driver, but the Data Plan Offer is. Profiling customers in terms of demographics, products, usage, and spend can provide the additional information necessary to identify which customers are impacted most by which drivers. Your current program is stuck in part because you have been uniformly optimizing experience across your customer base. When you take it to the customer level you have the potential to differentially maximize it, further driving profitable growth.

So this is all about recognizing and understanding the differences among customers. Customers are not all the same; they have different needs. A nice analytical trick, you say, but what strategic potential in Customer Experience studies is unlocked? Top of mind… How about increasing share of spend? Improving competitive position? Increasing the value of the customer database? Improving the efficiency and effectiveness of marketing spend? Building ROI into CXM? All this and more become possible. But how do you turn potential into reality?

Until next time…Please share your experiences in trying to get more from your current CXM program. What worked? What didn’t?

If you enjoyed this post, meet Curt this week, Oct 3rd to 5th, at the Total Customer Experience Leaders Summit in Arizona, or join TNS this November at NACCM for a session on Best-in-class Customer Experience Management.

To learn more about NACCM, click here. To register, click here. Readers of the Customer's 1st blog can save 15% off the standard registration rate with code NACCMBlog.

White Paper: The Generational Effect

Today, in anticipation of the 2011 NACCM conference, we'd like to share with you this new whitepaper from NACCM partners GfK Custom Research North America, "The Generational Effect."

From Traditionals through to Generation Y, is there a ‘generational effect’ when it comes to customer loyalty and satisfaction? This paper explores the concept of generation and the extent to which various generations are both similar and different in their degree of loyalty, and the drivers of loyalty to companies in the various sectors. GfK compares key loyalty metrics from their benchmark surveys in the banking, automotive, credit card and cell phone sectors to reveal insights associated with this conjecture.

To read the paper, click here.

Want to hear more from GfK? Join us at NACCM for the session "Become a Leader in Customer Loyalty: Customer Loyalty and Experiences across the Generations on Tuesday, November 15th, 2011.

Drawing upon GfK Customer Loyalty cross-industry benchmark surveys, this session compares the generations in terms of the delighters that drive customer loyalty and dissatisfiers that drive customers crazy and lead to defection. Explore the similarities and differences between generational cohorts, such as Millenials (GenX) and GenYers, Boomers, Traditionals and emerging Gen Z. To learn more, download the brochure.

Readers of the Customer's 1st blog can save 15% off the standard registration rate with code NACCMBlog. Register here.

Curt Carlson On Customer Experience

In this new series of posts, we are joined by guest blogger Curt Carlson, Senior Vice President, Customer Experience Management – TNS North America. Curt is in the TNS North America Customer Experience Management (CXM) Area of Expertise. In this role, he is responsible for supporting strategy development and Customer Experience – related business, which includes Customer Loyalty, Employee Engagement and Corporate Reputation. In the 20+ years that Curt has spent in Customer Experience-related research, he has also held senior positions at Walker Information, J.D. Power and Associates, and Ipsos Loyalty. Curt received his B.S. in Psychology from the University of Iowa, and his M.A. and Ph.D. (Experimental Psychology) from Kent State University. Curt has also presented at many US and International conferences and workshops including those sponsored by The Conference Board and EFQM, as well as by numerous clients. He is also a member of the Customer Experience Professionals Association (CXPA).

Hi. I’m Curt Carlson and welcome to my blog, which will lead up to the NACCM conference. It is my hope that this will stimulate some ideas that you can discuss with others at the meeting.

Why am I doing this? I love the customer experience arena. After over 20 years of helping some of the greatest companies in the world with their customer experience programs, I like to think of the good we as practitioners bring: customers have a better experience, clients make more profit, as does my employer, and I earn a living. So what’s the problem…if there is one?

Customer Experience Management (CXM) isn’t working for most companies today. Every company will eventually begin to notice a lack of improvement in customer experience performance metrics that goes on and on. Moreover, they also see few if any strategic insights coming from a program that touches most of their customers and costs six or seven figures. Why?

Let’s start with the flat-line problem. We’ve seen this in all sectors…Tech, Telecom, Financial Services, Retail, to name a few. Everyone’s head nods in agreement when I bring this up in front of large audiences. The critical business issues are that over time, customer experience management programs 1) do not inform change management, and 2) do not contribute to profitable growth. The scary thing for both suppliers and clients is that eventually their relationship will end because of these issues. And like a divorce, it is painful and expensive for both sides.

The lack of strategic information should be no surprise. Programs that measure relationships report the same key drivers over and over; new insights stop in Year Two or Three. Transaction surveys are short, limited to a single touch-point, and intended for Ops management. Over time, however, that’s not good enough for executives who need more value from these programs to impact their company growth. As a transportation company exec once told me, “I’m spending seven figures on my study and not getting any strategic value from it…what can you do?”

The good news is that the problem lies not with the programs, but with us. Practitioners, both client side and supplier side, have a bad case of tunnel vision. Over the next three blogs, I’ll be talking about these programs in more comprehensive (I refuse to say “holistic”) ways. These wider perspectives will begin to reveal how companies can unlock the inherent tactical and strategic value of their CXM programs.

Join this community…Share your stories about how your customer experience programs have worked for you over time in the comments.

If you enjoyed this post, meet Curt next week, Oct 3rd to 5th, at the Total Customer Experience Leaders Summit in Arizona, or join TNS this November at NACCM for a session on Best-in-class Customer Experience Management.

To learn more about NACCM, click here. To register, click here. Readers of the Customer's 1st blog can save 15% off the standard registration rate with code NACCMBlog.

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Did you know...
A dissatisfied consumer will tell between 9 and 15 people about his/her experience, and a happy customer will tell about 4 to 6 people?

It's very clear that your customers are talking - about the good AND the bad.
At NACCM: the North American Conference on Customer Management, your PEERS will be talking - about the good AND the bad. Engage face-to-face with hundreds of customer-centric business leaders as they exchange stories of successes, failures and the road to recovery.

Download the full brochure to learn why NACCM is a MUST ATTEND event this year.

Our customers are talking too! Click here to see what past NACCM attendees have to say about their experiences.

Mark your calendars for November 14-16 at the Contemporary Resort in Orlando as over 50 speakers share how they've made a profound difference in their organization in the last year, including:
Big Picture Inspirational Keynotes From:
• Peter Guber, Founder & CEO, Mandalay Entertainment, Owner & Chairman, NBA' Golden State Warriors, Author, TELL TO WIN - CONNECT, PERSUADE, AND TRIUMPH WITH THE HIDDEN POWER OF STORY
• Jamie Naughton, Speaker of the House, Chief Culture Ambassador, ZAPPOS.COM, INC
• John Costello, Chief Global Customer & Marketing Officer, DUNKIN BRANDS
Plus, Actionable Insights From:
• AMERICAN CANCER SOCIETY, INC.: Tim Earley, Director of Customer Experience and Integration
• BEST BUY: Gina Debogovich, Senior Manager, Communities *
• CUSTOMER CARE COACH: JoAnna Brandi, Author, Consultant, Speaker and Positive Leadership Coach
• PEOPLEMETRICS: Sean McDade, CEO
• CUSTOMER WORTHY: Michael R. Hoffman, Author, Customer Cartographer, Client x Client
• DELL: Maribel Sierra, Director, Social Media Listening and Engagement
• DELL: Michelle Brigman, Director, Social Media Listening Command Center
• DISNEY INSTITUTE: Speaker Name TBA
• DSW DESIGNER SHOE WAREHOUSE: Kelly N. Cook, Shoe Lover, Vice President - Customer Strategy & Engagement
• GFK CUSTOMER LOYALTY: Howard L. Lax, Ph.D., Vice President, Consulting
• HILTON WORLDWIDE: Marie Williams, Senior Director, Digital Innovation, Hilton
• HUMANA, INC: William Greenwald, Director, Performance Coaching and Advisory Practice (PCAP)
• JANET LEBLANC + ASSOCIATES: Janet LeBlanc, President *
• JETBLUE AIRWAYS: Bonny Simi, Director of Customer Experience and Analysis
• KAPLAN UNIVERSITY: Sophie Vlessing, Senior Vice President, Strategic Marketing and Student Experience *
• MICROSOFT BING: Lise Brende, Director, Marketing Analytics - Bing & MSN
• NATIONWIDE MUTUAL INSURANCE COMPANY: Jasmine Y Green, Chief Customer Advocate
• NBA'S OKLAHOMA CITY THUNDER: Pete Winemiller, Senior Vice President, Guest Relations *
• SAFELITE AUTOGLASS: Tom Feeney, President & CEO
• SEARS: David Slavick, Director, CRM/Loyalty & Innovation
• SOUTHWEST AIRLINES: Fred Taylor, Jr., Senior Manager Proactive Customer Service Communications *
• SPRINT: Melinda Parks, Director, Loyalty & Retention Marketing
• SYMANTEC CORPORATION: Desirree Madison-Biggs, Director, Customer Experience Insights & Advocacy *
• VERIZON: Becky Carroll, Community Program Manager, Founder, Customer ROCK!/Petra Consulting, and Author, The Hidden Power of Your Customers
• VOLKSWAGEN OF AMERICA, INC: Mike Sachs, General Manager, CRM & Owner Loyalty *
*=1to1 Customer Champion!

It's time to refocus and rebuild. Lead the customer-centric business management strategy at your organization. Readers of the Customer's 1st blog can save 15% off the standard registration rate with code NACCMBlog. Register here.

We look forward to welcoming you this November 14-16 at Disney’s Contemporary Resort in Orlando.

The NACCM Event Team

Follow us on Twitter: http://twitter.com/naccmevent
Become a Fan on Facebook: http://on.fb.me/oAOFil

Captivate your Customers through Storytelling at NACCM this November

"Attracting a new customer costs 5 times as much as keeping an existing one." Source: Lee Resource Inc.

When budgets are tight, how do you ensure your customers don't take their business elsewhere? It's time to start Captivating your Customers, and NACCM: North American Conference on Customer Management in Walt Disney World will help you do just that this November!

Captivate your customers through STORYTELLING
Peter Guber, Chairman & CEO, MANDALAY ENTERTAINMENT GROUP and Author, Tell to Win – Connect, Persuade, and Triumph with the Hidden Power of Story
Success is often won by creating compelling stories that have the power to move partners, shareholders, customers, and employees to action. You will learn directly from Peter on how to craft, deliver – and own – a story that is truly compelling, one capable of turning others into viral advocates for your goal. Click here for a full list of keynotes.

Captivate your customers through LOYALTY
Mike Sachs, General Manager, CRM & Owner Loyalty, VOLKSWAGEN of AMERICA
Learn VW’s philosophy on loyalty, how it is evolving and the initiatives the CRM team are spearheading to drive cross-functional accountability for loyalty from marketing and Operations, through Retail and After Sales. Click here for the full-day Loyalty Summit.

Captivate your customers through SOCIAL MEDIA
Becky Carroll, Author, The Hidden Power of Your Customers, Community Program Manager, VERIZON
Social technologies are changing not only customer expectations but customer behavior. Your business should be using social media to attract new customers as well as engaging existing customers. Becky will share effective ways to utilize social media to achieve your customer relationship goals – and grow your business. Click here for all of our 'next practice' talks.

Captivate your customers through EXCEPTIONAL SERVICE
Jamie Naughton, Speaker of the House, Chief Culture Ambassador, ZAPPOS.COM
The story behind Zappos’ success lies behind two empowering words: Deliver Happiness. Learn the different ingredients used by Zappos.com to build a long-lasting enduring brand, including the importance of customer service and company culture. Click here for all talks on sharpening core competencies.

And many more… Download the brochure to learn more about this year’s program.

Or better yet, register now and see for yourself why NACCM has been the most trusted partner for peer-to-peer sharing for the past 9 years. Readers of the Customer's 1st blog can save 15% off the standard registration rate with code NACCMBlog. Register here.

We look forward to welcoming you this November 14-16 at Disney’s Contemporary Resort in Orlando.

The NACCM Event Team
Visit the event website
Follow us on Twitter
Become a Fan on Facebook

Storyteller Spotlight Series: Michael R. Hoffman of Client x Client

In the most recent episode of the 2011 NACCM Storyteller Spotlight Series I had the pleasure of chatting with Michael R. Hoffman, Author of Customer Worthy, and founder and partner at Client x Client. In his work at Client x Client Hoffman has learned that innovative customer service comes from a place of trying to make every experience a customer has an exceptional, memorable moment.

For Michael, great customer experience begin simply enough with the golden rule of ‘Do unto others as you would have them do unto you.’ When you can gather enough information about a customer to discover what would make an experience extraordinary for them, everyone will profit. Explaining this, he said “because we have all this customer intelligence technology…we can then leverage our knowledge to anticipate where customers are going to go or where they should go and try to ensure that the customer meets their objective and our business meets our objective and that those two are aligned.”

Ultimately he has one piece of all-important customer advice for those looking to solve customer problems or develop new products and that is “Think like a customer.”

To hear more about this philosophy, listen to the full interview here.

Michael will be presenting one of our keynote addresses “It’s 2012, Are You Customer Worthy?” on Wednesday, November 16^th, 2011 at Disney’s Contemporary Resort in Florida. As he said in our interview, “in five years I look at the customer experience and think that it will be dramatically different then it is today…customers are coming up with the newest latest ideas, they’re showing companies how they want to do business, how they want to buy and shop, and often in ways that the companies didn’t anticipate.”

In this session learn how customers are voting with their feet, their clicks and their wallets. In 2011 customers took over brands, messaging and even countries. 2012 demands companies be customer worthy at every contact through every process – or else. To succeed companies must marry corporate objectives to customer expectations and continuously be customer worthy in every interaction. Be prepared to hear some best & worst examples and walk away with new tools.

Readers of the Customer's 1st blog can save 15% off the standard registration rate with code NACCMBlog. Register here.

Stay in touch with NACCM, follow us on Twitter, become a fan on Facebook or join our LinkedIn Community for event updates, discounts and industry news and information.

Michelle LeBlanc is a Social Media Strategist at IIR USA with a specialization in marketing. She may be reached at mleblanc@iirusa.com.

Exclusive 15% discount on NACCM

For the past 9 years, your peers have trusted NACCM to provide them with the opportunity to meet and build relationships with the most inspiring and forward-thinking leaders in the customer world.

The North American Conference on Customer Management is thrilled to announce the list of 2011 speakers looking to share their insights and experiences with YOU.

Meet the Cast of Storytellers Sharing their Moments that Matter...

Big Picture Inspirational Keynotes From:

• Peter Guber, Founder & CEO, Mandalay Entertainment, Owner & Chairman, NBA' Golden State Warriors, Author, TELL TO WIN - CONNECT, PERSUADE, AND TRIUMPH WITH THE HIDDEN POWER OF STORY

• Jamie Naughton, Speaker of the House, Chief Culture Ambassador, ZAPPOS.COM, INC

• John Costello, Chief Global Customer & Marketing Officer, DUNKIN BRANDS

Plus, Actionable Insights From:

• AMERICAN CANCER SOCIETY, INC.: Tim Earley, Director of Customer Experience and Integration

• BEST BUY: Gina Debogovich, Senior Manager, Communities *

• CUSTOMER CARE COACH: JoAnna Brandi, Author, Consultant, Speaker and Positive Leadership Coach

• PEOPLEMETTRICS: Sean McDade, CEO

• CUSTOMER WORTHY: Michael R. Hoffman, Author, Customer Cartographer, Client x Client

• DELL: Maribel Sierra, Director, Social Media Listening and Engagement

• DELL: Michelle Brigman, Director, Social Media Listening Command Center

• DISNEY INSTITUTE: Speaker Name TBA

• DSW DESIGNER SHOE WAREHOUSE: Kelly N. Cook, Shoe Lover, Vice President - Customer Strategy & Engagement

• GFK CUSTOMER LOYALTY: Howard L. Lax, Ph.D., Vice President, Consulting

• HILTON WORLDWIDE: Marie Williams, Senior Director, Digital Innovation, Hilton

• HUMANA, INC: William Greenwald, Director, Performance Coaching and Advisory Practice (PCAP)

• JANET LEBLANC + ASSOCIATES: Janet LeBlanc, President *

• JETBLUE AIRWAYS: Bonny Simi, Director of Customer Experience and Analysis

• KAPLAN UNIVERSITY: Sophie Vlessing, Senior Vice President, Strategic Marketing and Student Experience *

• MICROSOFT BING: Lise Brende, Director, Marketing Analytics - Bing & MSN

• NATIONWIDE MUTUAL INSURANCE COMPANY: Jasmine Y Green, Chief Customer Advocate

• NBA'S OKLAHOMA CITY THUNDER: Pete Winemiller, Senior Vice President, Guest Relations *

• SAFELITE AUTOGLASS: Tom Feeney, President & CEO

• SEARS: David Slavick, Director, CRM/Loyalty & Innovation

• SOUTHWEST AIRLINES: Fred Taylor, Jr., Senior Manager Proactive Customer Service Communications *

• SPRINT: Melinda Parks, Director, Loyalty & Retention Marketing

• SYMANTEC CORPORATION: Desirree Madison-Biggs, Director, Customer Experience Insights & Advocacy *

• VERIZON: Becky Carroll, Community Program Manager, Founder, Customer ROCK!/Petra Consulting, and Author, The Hidden Power of Your Customers

• VOLKSWAGEN OF AMERICA, INC: Mike Sachs, General Manager, CRM & Owner Loyalty *

*=1to1 Customer Champion!

Download the brochure for full conference details.

Readers of the Customer's 1st blog can save 15% off the standard registration rate with code NACCMBlog. Register here.

We hope to see you in Orlando this November,

The NACCM Event Team

Visit the event website

Follow us on Twitter

Become a Fan on Facebook