Customers 1st

Wednesday, August 20, 2014

Exclusive Interview: Using Consumer Insights to Make Smarter Business Decisions

In our next episode of the Inside Insights Podcast series brought to you by Consumer Insights Canada, I am fortunate to sit down with Consumer Insights Canada keynote speaker Kelly Harper, who is the Director Customer Experience Learning at BMO INSTITUTE FOR LEARNING, to discuss how the power of consumer insights help to make smarter decisions in business.

Harper goes into how important customer experience is when it comes using customer insights to make the best business decisions possible. You need to think about what type of experiences your organization is giving your customers. Your consumer insights allows you to understand what is broken in your current experience you are delivering and what is really important to the customer – what are those elements that you have to get right each and every single day. Consumer insights will help you identify and keep track of what is most important to the customer.

Consumer Insights Canada is a conference that showcases the local Canadian culture in its storytelling. With new entrants like Target Canada, rapid changes in technology and increasingly discerning customers, the Canadian retail industry is in a constant state of change, challenging players to adapt strategies and tactics to remain relevant. This conference was created for our insights community that focuses on the power of insights in motivating smarter decision making and shines a particular lens on the local flavor of shopper insights in Canada.

Check out the full interview here:

Download this episode (right click and save)

If you’d like to hear more from Kelly, don’t miss her keynote session, “How to Embed a Culture of Customer Experience in your Organization” at Consumer Insights Canada on Tuesday, September 30th at 10:15 am. The event is taking place this September 29-October 1, 2014 in Toronto, Canada. For more information about the event and to register, please visit our website: http://bit.ly/1khTaTJ

Monday, August 11, 2014

Invest in Your Customers' Futures

Photo: Fremont Street Experience in downtown Las Vegas, Nevada by David Stanley, Nanaimo, Canada

In "Who Do You Want Your Customers to Become?", Michael Schrage maintains that your organization's innovations should be investments in your customers' futures. He proposes to "shift the focus from extracting value from customers to making customers more valuable. Simply put, this new focus redefines the purpose of innovation — which is not just designing better products and services, but designing better and more valuable customers."

Looking for a resource to help your organization redefine their innovation mindset? Immerse yourself in innovation at this year's Back End of Innovation (BEI) event in Las Vegas, Nevada, Oct. 6-8.

You'll learn how organizations are investing in their customers' futures. Kim Schaefer, Director of Communications, The Downtown Project, presents "Redefining a City." By helping to revitalize a downtown Las Vegas neighborhood that has been in a state of decline for many years, The Downtown Project is helping to redefine the image of the city itself. This organization is working to create an environment of entrepreneurship, learning, collaboration, innovation and creativity that it hopes will inspire communities around the world.

To learn more about BEI and register, go to www.BackEndofInnovation.com

Stay connected with BEI:
- twitter.com/BEI_Innovation #BEI14
- linkedin.com/Back End of Innovation
- facebook.com/BackEndofInnovation

Peggy L. Bieniek, ABC is an Accredited Business Communicator specializing in corporate communication best practices. Connect with Peggy on LinkedIn, Twitter, Google+, and on her website at www.starrybluebrilliance.com.

Tuesday, July 29, 2014

Consumer Insights Canada Brings TMRE & Shopper Insights into Your Backyard

Two weeks ago, Shopper Insights in Action uncovered new trends and insights, with one common theme being shared - "Consumers want trusting relationships, they don't want cold, transactional interactions." Sir Terry Leahy, Former CEO, Tesco & Shopper Insights in Action 2014 Keynote.

Now more than ever, it's even more important to have a deeper understanding of your consumer and what they want, and that's why we're so excited to be bringing Consumer Insights Canada right into your backyard.

The Consumer Insights Canada Event focuses on the power of insights to inspire smarter decision making and shines a lens on shopper and consumer behavior in Canada. Whether you're looking to break into the market for the first time, or just deepen your relationship with Canadian consumers - this is your must-attend event.

The North American Consumer Insights Event

September 29-October 1, 2014

The Ritz Carlton

Toronto, Ontario

Canada

You'll hear from leading Canadian insights leaders as well as experts from around the world including:

>The Art of Engagement: The Importance of Connecting with Customers in a Multi-Channel World, Canadian Tire

>Falling in Love & Having a Relationship are Two Different Things, Target Canada

>How to Embed a Culture of Customer Experience in Your Organization, BMO Institute for Learning

>Six Secret Steps to Outsmart, Out-Innovate, and Out-Adapt Your Competitors, TrendHunter.com

>New Canadians: The New Frontier for Marketers, Yahoo! Canada & Mediacom Canada

>Parallels from a Canadian Charity: From Donor-Centric Solutions to Shopper-Centric, General Mills Canada

>Mobile NFC Payments: Canadian Opportunities, Visa Canada

>And from Brandspark, Cadillac Fairview, Colgate Palmolive, General Motors, Mastercard, Saputo and more!

Download the brochure for the full agenda: http://bit.ly/1qb4Wx2

Consumer Insights Canada provides you with the tools you need to push the agenda forward in your organizations and set the strategic framework to better understand Canadian shoppers and consumers. In addition to the insights-filled agenda, you're registration also includes BONUS ACCESS to FEI: Toronto, brought to you by the World's Leader in Advancing Innovation.

Join us in Toronto this fall! Mention code NACI14LI & Save 15% off the standard rate. Register today: http://bit.ly/1qb4Wx2

Cheers,

The North American Consumer Insights Team
#NACI14

@TMRE

themarketresearcheventblog.iirusa.com

Tuesday, July 15, 2014

Do Your Customers Expect the Unexpected?

Photo by paul bica

“Even in the familiar there can be surprise and wonder." - Tierney Gearon, author

Everyone is looking for that unique experience, product or service that will make a difference in their lives. Your customers are no exception.

They expect your brand will "wow" them yet again in some special way. And if you do, they will continue to reward you by being lifelong customers and telling their friends about your brand.

Here are some ideas to help get you started on delivering memorable and meaningful customer experiences:

"How to Give Your Customers an Unforgettable Experience" by Shannon Willoby
"41 Customer Experiences to Learn From" by Denise Lee Yohn

Thursday, July 10, 2014

TMRE is Where You Future is Going

This is the best conference I ever go to." - Emily Pachuta, Head of Investor Insights, UBS Financial Service

In 2013, TMRE hit record breaking attendance uniting more of the world's leading researchers than ever before. In 2014, TMRE goes above and beyond and becomes a catalyst for disruption, growth and impact beyond measure. TMRE 2014 is jam packed with more stories, experience and value than EVER before.

The Market Research Event 2014

October 20-22, 2014

Boca Raton, Florida

Here's what we're excited about:

· MORE PROVEN VALUE THAN ANY OTHER EVENT: Unsurpassed in quality of content, caliber of participants and opportunities to make transformative connections

· SHARPEN YOUR SKILLSETS: Strategic Communications & Consultative Leadership, Storytelling & Data Visualization, Trend & Millennials, Activating Insights

· REINVIGORATE YOUR TOOLKIT: Consumer Psychology & Behavioral Economics, Big Data & Predictive Analytics, Mobile, Social & Digital Insights, Competitive & Business Intelligence

· MAXIMIZE YOUR IMPACT: Shopper Insights & Analytics, Brand Engagement & Activation, Insight Driven Innovation, UX & Customer Experience

· YEAR-LONG NETWORKING: TMRE Connect provides year-long virtual access to the entire TMRE universe enabling you to pass along contacts, schedule follow up meetings and tap into the braintrust that is TMRE long after the conference

· ACTIONABLE TAKE-AWAYS: The TMRE Executive Summary guarantees you can demonstrate value and actionable take-aways back at work. Return READY to share what you learned with your entire team

· FIND OUT MORE about our VIP ambassador program, first timer mentor experience, new networking concierge and more exclusive programs that guarantee the most productive experience possible!

· INVEST IN YOUR FUTURE AT TMRE 2014: No other event in the world delivers such a broad offering of intellectual capital - one rich in story and high in actionable takeaways.

Launched more than 12 years ago as an event focused on online market research, TMRE has grown to be the most comprehensive insights conference in the world and delivers more proven value than any other event of its kind. But please, don't just take our word for it.

Learn more about the market research industry’s #1 event here: http://bit.ly/1kB6Cwz

Mention code TMRE14BL & Save 15% off the standard rate. Register today: http://bit.ly/1oFazob

Cheers,

The TMRE Team

@TMRE

#TMRE14

Themarketresearcheventblog.iirusa.com

Tuesday, June 24, 2014

Using Emotional Energy to Make Your Customer Experience Programs Easier, Faster and Smarter

Photo by paul bica

Identifying and designing for your customers' and employees' emotional needs will simplify and improve the efficiency and effectiveness of your customer experience programs.

During the Total Customer Experience Leaders Summit in April, Daryl Travis, CEO of Brandtrust, described how to discover and leverage emotional energy to drive better business results.

Step 1: Understand how your brand makes your customers feel. Brands are about feelings, not facts. Emotion drives behavior. 95% of decisions are driven by non conscious processing. Forget the "Voice of the Customer," think "Mind of the Customer."
Step 2: Focus on the moments that matter most, which are the ones that are most emotional. It's your competitive advantage. Establish an emotional brand purpose. A brand must stand for something important and must be authentic.
Step 3: Create and pulse employee energy for delivering peak customer experiences. Ongoing measurement optimizes the energy and the experience for employees and customers rating energy level.

The Cleveland Clinic is an organization that builds trust and credibility through their brand purpose. Here are two videos from the Cleveland Clinic empathy series featuring life-
changing stories with emotional energy that are unforgettable.

Empathy: The Human Connection to Patient Care by Cleveland Clinic

If the video doesn't appear, you can view it at http://youtu.be/cDDWvj_q-o8

Patients: Afraid and Vulnerable

If the video doesn't appear, you can view it at http://youtu.be/1e1JxPCDme4

Some moments in the customer's experience simply matter more than others. The critical part is figuring out what people can't or won't tell you so you can make a difference their lives.

Tuesday, June 17, 2014

The Open Systems Model: A Blueprint to Transform Your Organization's Customer Experience Program

Photo by paul bica

"The difficulty lies not so much in developing new ideas as in escaping the old ones.” - John Maynard Keynes, Economist and Author

Here are highlights from a case study on HP Financial Services' 12-year customer experience program transformation:

HP Financial Services' core purpose is to differentiate the HP experience by serving as a bridge between technology and finance solutions enabling customer's achievement of their business goals. The key to their success is their engaged 1,500-employee workforce supporting customers in over 50 countries.

During the Total Customer Experience Leaders Summit in April, John Sullivan, Global TCE Leader, HP Financial Services, described his organization's 12-year journey to transform their customer experience program to drive benefits from a customer point and to minimize customer effort:

Phase 1: Organization Design Around the Customer

Focus on customer relationships
HP Culture, HPFS Operating Philosophy, Open Systems Model

Phase 2: Understanding Our Customers

Systemic understanding of customer experiences. Focus on improving delivery experiences and perceptions.
Segment our customers
TCE Research Programs, Closed-Loop Process

Phase 3: Focus on Colleague Engagement

Focus on enhancing colleague behaviors and skills
TCE Education, Communication, Rewards & Recognition Programs

Phase 4: Process Experience Management

Focus on improving process experience through process engineering. Strong process, operations and technology collaboration.
Six Sigma, Process Roadmaps, Process Improvement Plans

Phase 5: Customer-Driven Experience Management

Look through the lens of the customer experience focusing on ease, not delight
Focus on developing/implementing strategies to deliver a low effort experience
The Pledge, Service Acumen, Escalation Protocols

As a result, overall loyalty scores improved seven points in the last four years. In addition, they achieved a 17 point improvement in the "Secure and Favorable" segment, which contain accounts that enable Share of Wallet growth.

According to John, their blueprint is an Open Systems Model, a measurement process that gives continuous feedback. Based on the premise, "Organizations are perfectly designed to get the results they get," the Open Systems Model is a powerful leadership tool that:

Teaches systemic thinking
Enables more effective analysis and action
Provides common frameworks and language to facilitate and enhance communication
Aids and enhances alignment, which is crucial to organizational effectiveness.

Learn more about the Open Systems Model and how to turn this information into meaningful, measurable action to drive customer loyalty.

Wednesday, June 11, 2014

Why Your Brand Needs Social Customer Service

Everyday users go online to complain about brands – on Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, Pinterest – you name it. Responding to these complaints in real-time reduces the impact of them on your bottom line.

These days, customers aren’t calling your 800 number. Instead, they are getting on Facebook and complaining about you or sending a Tweet about your lousy service. Social customer service is a very different ball game with unique practices, plans and a different timeline. You’d better be listening for online complaints and be ready to respond in real-time or face potentially negative profits.

Social customer service emerged because organic online conversations require an immediate response. When a customer complains about you on Facebook or Twitter, you’d better be listening and respond within a short window or poor attitudes about your brand escalate. Social customer service connects your customers with people, both inside and outside of your organization, and with the information they need to solve problems and make better decisions. Not to mention, your customers expect it.

Check out this infographic, which highlights the key reasons your business needs social customer service:

Wednesday, May 28, 2014

Which Comes First: Business Strategy or Customer Experience?

Photo by paul bica

Following up on yesterday's post, "Making Promises, Keeping Promises: Building Brand and Loyalty through Customer Experience," organizations must transform by aligning toward customer experiences to gain a competitive edge, as explained in "Customer Experience: Is it the Chicken or Egg?" by Christine Crandell.

During last month's Total Customer Experience Leaders Summit, brand strategists, innovation experts and other thought-leaders shared their insights and best practices for driving a customer-centric culture. Here are some highlights to help you design and deliver exceptional customer experiences:

"Incorporating the Rational and Emotional in the Client Experience Journey"

"How to Build an Experience Management Core Competency"

"Innovating a Roadmap for Customer Experience"

Tuesday, May 27, 2014

Making Promises, Keeping Promises: Building Brand and Loyalty through Customer Experience

Photo by paul bica

Would you be willing to pay more for a better customer experience?

According to Kerry Bodine, former VP and Principal Analyst, Customer Experience Research Practice for Forrester, most people would.

During last month's Total Customer Experience Leaders Summit, Kerry indicated that 81% of consumers are willing to pay more for a better customer experience. In addition, she stated that:

70% of consumers stopped buying goods or services from a company after experiencing poor customer service

64% made future purchases from a company's competitors after experiencing poor customer service

These sobering statistics show that customers' perceptions have a profound impact on every organization's brand equity, customer loyalty and revenue. Here's how you can help successfully define, implement and manage your organization's customer experience to deliver on its promises:

Come to terms with what your brand really stands for

Determine how your brand is (or isn't) reflected in your customer experience

Help employees discover the role they play

Align your marketing with your actual customer experience

Thursday, May 22, 2014

Put People First - Your Success Depends On It

Photo by paul bica

"Those that will always help a friend, will always have a friend." - Anthony Douglas Williams, inspirational author

When you put people first in everything you do, you will be rewarded in many ways. Companies that put people first - their employees as well as their customers - achieve new and higher levels of loyalty.

Putting people first allows you to understand the key drivers of employee and customer satisfaction so you can leverage empathy to improve their experiences.

Is your company customer-focused or operations-focused? Find out by reading
"Six Differences Between Customer-Focused Companies and Operations-Focused Companies" by Shep Hyken.

If people are your priority, use these insights from this year's Total Customer Experience Leaders Summit to help you design and deliver exceptional customer and employee experiences:

Tuesday, May 20, 2014

Incorporating the Rational and Emotional in the Client Experience Journey

Photo by paul bica

"The customer’s perception is your reality." - Kate Zabriskie, learning and development industry veteran

Your customer's journey is both rational and emotional. When your clients are your customers, asking purposeful questions to understand their needs and intrinsic motivators builds trust, deepens relationships and drives loyalty.

During the Total Customer Experience Leaders Summit in April, Jill O'Neill, Director, Client Strategy and Execution, Bank of Montreal, shared how to incorporate the rational and emotional into the client experience journey. She also emphasized that investing in people and communications throughout your journey are important to ensure behavioral change sticks.

The journey begins by engaging leaders as client advocates:

Identify what you are trying to solve for
Create a roadmap to drive expectations
Establish a communications strategy and plan

Next, engage employees in the process:

Recruit key influencers
Map the current client journey
Identify the gaps and opportunities in the current experience
Map the desired client experience

When designing the client experience:

Create survey questions that are rational and emotional in nature
Ensure you can take action on what you learn
Encourage full employee participation (quantitative and qualitative)
Analyze priority touch points and attributes
Understand the employee mindset

Finally, when delivering the client experience program:

Hardwire insights into new disciplines
Set clear expectations for employees
Make emotional connections with clients. Set expectations for a different experience focused on non-financial goals.
Identify and prioritize client goals

Wednesday, May 14, 2014

Creating a Positive Customer Experience

When it comes to obtaining and retaining customers, remembering what you learned in kindergarten really isn't enough anymore. Now, it hinges on the effective use of social media and other Internet-based resources, according to a new study from Consero Group.

Further, Chief Customer Experience Officers will continue to need a variety of new tools and processes to manage the smart consumer effectively and retain customers in a competitive marketplace. More companies recognize the importance of positive customer experience to overall success. But even though budgets and staff sizes are increasing in many firms, many CX executives still lack sufficient resources to run their departments well.

Check out this cool infographic by CMSWire about how to create a positive customer experience:

Tuesday, April 29, 2014

Move Brands Faster and Longer in the Social Media Era

Photo by paul bica

With new social media networks and platforms emerging almost every day, organizations must efficiently engage customers while delivering a cohesive experience that drives customer loyalty. During the Total Customer Experience Leaders Summit earlier this month, Nestor Portillo, Director, Social Communities and Customer Experience at Microsoft, shared why customer experience is key to make the content viral and engaging.

Customers in the social media era are in control and are setting companies' agendas. They:

Trust in advice made by online acquaintances and strangers
Read and create product reviews, product rankings and blog posts
Want to provide feedback about the product, brand and the service
Seek support to connect with like-minded peers

To move brands faster and longer in the social media era, Nestor contends that organizations must provide a consistent experience across all social media platforms. It needs to be successful, effortless and quick.

Most importantly, organizations must have a game plan that supports the customer journey by:

Considering the different ways people learn
Pivoting on experience and products
Delivering an emotional hook

This game plan must also include a community that:

Is healthy and is not intimidating
Provides a framework for user-generated content and word-of-mouth triggers
Adds authenticity to help establish brand trust

Following this model will lead your customers to purchase more, use more, consume more and tell and share more.

Friday, April 25, 2014

How NASCAR is Using Social Media to Enhance the Fan Experience - Complimentary Web Seminar

In association with HP Autonomy, The Institute for International Research invites you to join us for a one hour complimentary web seminar, “Driving on the Winning Track with Innovative Customer Engagement: How NASCAR is Using Social Media to Deliver a Dynamic and Engaging Fan Experience.”

The web seminar is taking place Tuesday, April 29th from 1:00 – 2:00 PM (ET)

Presenters include:

Sean Doherty, Director of Digital and Social Media Engagement, NASCAR

Daniel Burke, VP of Multichannel Analytics, HP Autonomy

Reserve your webinar seat now at: https://cc.readytalk.com/cc/s/registrations/new?cid=e76dxuo7mwrw
Please mention priority code: 00UWKCE0D

The rapid explosion of social networks and other media outlets has made it very difficult for marketers to monitor, understand and address all that's being said about their products and services. And this data is becoming so important, as it contains customer insight and growth opportunities that have yet to be identified.

Join us on this webcast and learn how NASCAR, the sanctioning organization for stock car racing, is using its innovative Fan & Media Engagement Center to easily gather, analyze and leverage social and traditional media content to enhance the fan experience and drive revenue growth.

This webcast will be recorded if you can't attend the live session. Please register and we'll send you a link to the recording.

Learn how NASCAR is using its state-of-the-art interactive Fan & Media Engagement Center to:

Monitor all forms of media including social and traditional networks
Extract meaning and sentiment from all types of social media
Discover and act upon emerging trends and opportunities
Deliver a more targeted and engaging fan experience
Respond quickly to issues and repair damage

Don’t miss this presentation! Register now: https://cc.readytalk.com/cc/s/registrations/new?cid=e76dxuo7mwrw

Thursday, April 24, 2014

Innovating a Roadmap for Customer Experience

Photo by paul bica

"There are no traffic jams along the extra mile." - Roger Staubach, former star NFL quarterback

Organizations that focus on improving the customer experience will strengthen their customer relationships and their overall business performance. Len Ferman knows this first-hand. Len is Managing Director of Ferman Innovation, specializing in generating and evaluating ideas to improve the customer experience.

Len is also a world juggling champion. During the Total Customer Experience Leaders Summit (TCEL) earlier this month, he reinforced the three principles of new product innovation through his unique presentation. TCEL attendees learned how to juggle scarves while learning how to solve their customer experience challenges using this proven process:

3 Steps to Innovating for the Customer Experience:

Explore: Understand the customer journey. Identify the customer pain points and challenges. Identify themes for brainstorming.
Ideate: Brainstorm with a diverse group to generate a high quantity of possible solutions. Enable all employees to contribute ideas.
Evaluate: Evaluate, cultivate and prioritize the top ideas for implementation

Learning to juggle not only helped TCEL attendees improve their ability to multi-task, increase eye-hand coordination, sharpen their brains and impress their friends, but also provided these valuable insights related to the 3 Steps:

Explore:

Break down complex processes into elementary steps
Learn how to use the tools that are at your disposal
Recognize the patterns and categories in your data
Identify your customers' key problems
Strive for accuracy in basic tasks
Create intentional "wow" experiences

Ideate:

Defer judgment - no idea is a bad idea
Include all parts of your organization in idea generation
Stray out of your comfort zone to generate ideas
Balance different methods of brainstorming
Go for quantity when generating ideas
Great ideas are the result of collaboration and building on others' ideas

Evaluate:

Filter out extraneous information and out of scope ideas
Evaluate each idea using carefully designed criteria
Include subject matter experts and customers in the evaluation
Cultivate ideas until they resonate with customers
Prioritize your actions to ensure you reach the goal
Optimal solutions are the ones that match your core competencies

Tuesday, April 22, 2014

How to Build an Experience Management Core Competency

Photo by paul bica

"People will forget what you said. They will forget what you did, but they will never forget how you made them feel." - Maya Angelou, American author and poet

Are you building a true experience management core competency within your organization? According to Lou Carbone, Founder & Chief Experience Officer, Experience Engineering Inc., and author of Clued In: How to Keep Customers Coming Back Again and Again, there is "a whole lot of discussion . . . without a lot of deep understanding."

Embracing experience management is a cultural adoption - it's not about improving legacy business frameworks, tools or models. Many organizations are focused on process improvement instead of on creating true experience management systems or fully leveraging the opportunity to transform the value they create for customers, employees and other stakeholders.

According to Lou, to create a true experience management core competency within your organization, you must focus on these five absolutes of experience management:

Move from "make and sell" to "sense and respond:" Change your organization-driven perspective to an experience-driven perspctive (customer-oriented). Sense what customers don't even know and build on those responses.

Think customer back (emotional/rational bond): Focus on the customer perspective first. Be a "firm of endearment," a company that if it went away tomorrow, customers would mourn the loss. Examples include Apple, Starbucks, Amazon, Costco, and Google.

Understand and leverage role of the unconscious mind: Focus on "how" customers think instead of on "what" customers think. Understand and act upon the premise that "the tangible attributes of a product or service have far less influence on consumer preference than the sub-conscious sensory and emotional elements derived from the total experience." - Dr. Gerald Zaltman, Professor Emeritus, Harvard Business School, Laboratory of the Consumer Mind

Become clue conscious: Clue in to how people feel and think as they have the experience, which also includes what they see, hear, smell and taste.

Develop rigorous systems to develop and manage clues: Design your systems around how functional (functionality of good or service), mechanic (sights, smells, textures, sounds) and humanic (choice of words, tone of voice, body language) clues are coming together to create the desired effect. Focus on the moments that matter within customers' perception, interaction and recollection of experiences.

Managing your customers' experiences and emotions is what helps you create the emotional connection you need to keep customers coming back again and again.

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