Through the Eyes of the Customer

If you're going to survey your customers, go the distance, and close the loop!

I'm one of those people that  almost always completes those satisfaction surveys after making a purchase, taking a flight, or staying at a hotel.  Customer feedback is an important link in the customer experience chain, so if I don't give it, I probably shouldn't expect to  get it (the improved experience, that is).

About ten days ago, I stayed one night at the Hilton Garden Inn Denver South/Meridian in Colorado.  Two days after checking out, I received an email from the hotel,  asking me to complete a brief satisfaction survey.   I finally  got around to completing and submitting the survey yesterday.

Today, I recieved an email from the General Manager at that hotel thanking me for staying there, and for taking the time to share my feedback.  And then he asked me a question about one of my responses.

Here's why  I felt this was an event worthy of a blog post - of all the surveys that I complete, surprisingly few companies acknowledge them, and those who do usually do it through an impersonal, automated email.

It's rare that a company actually follows up personally to close the loop on a customer's survey resposne.  But those who do, are very often the leaders in their industries, with the highest levels of customer satisfaction, and customer loyalty.

Is that a coincidence??!

If you ask a customer a question, and the customer answers your question, would you ignore them, or respond in kind?  Why should a survey be any handled any differently?

Can customer-focused Innovation transform the US Postal Service?

The US Postal Service has been bleeding money for years. It's been supporting an enormous infrastructure of buildings, machinery, vehicles and labor to support its original mission of guaranteed delivery of written communication to anyone living anywhere in the United States.

While the world shifted from communication via post to communication via email, the USPS continued to rely on its core business - delivery of hard-copy communication. Even as revenue declined in proportion to the growing use of email and the Internet, the USPS still had to maintain its expensive fleet.

Consumers and businesses have become accustomed to the immediacy of communication, so it's only natural for desire and demand for immediacty to expand from communication to commerce:  The US Postal Service is introducing "Metro-Post."

If I buy it on line today, I want to have it in my hands today.

Back in the dot.com days, companies like Kozmo.com were founded to fill the void: Buy it today, and have it today, because we'll pick it up, and deliver it to you. One of the big problems for well-intentioned companies like Kozmo was that they lacked the infrastructure to "deliver the goods," so new costs were extremely high, in order to maintain operations.

If there's one thing that the USPS has, it's an enormous delivery infrastructure, and one that's virtually paid for.   Local delivery is the core competence of the Post Office. And that's why I think this latest idea of the USPS is probably the best new idea it's ever had, in terms of generating more revenue to save itself from extinction:

Current capability meets market need, head-on.
The Post Office will have a relatively low cost to launch this new service: they have the expertise, and they have the equipment. And consumers most definitely have the demand.

And since the capabilities are in place, the USPS is ready to launch, now. And that's true innovation. And that's why I believe the USPS will be successful with this endeavor.

So what’s the point?

If you're looking to innovate to deliver value and generate revenue, you need to cover 3 bases well:

Have Competitive Advantage
Build the innovation around something that you already do well, and have the infrastructure and expertise to perform at a high level, and on a grand scale. This advantage should also be something that you alone have the capability to do well, with the presence of few if any competitors.

Alignment it with Demand
Be sure that what you're offering is something that meets market demand head-on, and that a market is already willing to pay for. You don't want to have to invest resources in selling the market on the idea.

Readiness to Launch
It's been said that only 10% of Innovation is coming up with the idea; 90%  is delivering the idea to the market, in the form or a tangible product or service. The USPS vehicles already drive past retail product outlets, and into every local neighborhoods every day, so time to market is virtually immediate.

With this current idea, the USPS  has a true competitive advantage over failed predecessors, there's a strong pent-up demand, and time to market is minimal.

Localized same-day delivery service just might be the innovation  that transforms the US Postal Service into a vital  service provider for the 21st century.

 

What the economics of customer loyalty can mean to the future of the sales profession

After reading an article in Forbes entitled "Calculating the Economics of Loyalty," I had one of those apocalyptic moments:

If enough companies truly understand the real value of customer loyalty, they might completely change how they invest in customer aquisition.  In other words, the profession of selling, as we've come to know it, may change forever.

Here's why:

Loyal customers feed your bottom line two ways:

1. They buy more from you (and at a lower cost of sales/higher margin, because you didn't have to pay anyone to convince them to buy from you).
2. They convince other new customers to buy from you (and these new customers also come at a lower cost/higher margin, because you didn't have to pay that salesperson to convince those "referred" customers, either.)

As companies begin to truly understand this value, and the postive financial impact of customer loyalty, they'll begin to invest heavily in customer loyalty initiatives - customer experience projects  that excite customers enough to WANT to share their experience with other people they know - also know as Word-of-Mouth.

Social media, and the Internet have given customer word of mouth a far more powerful reach than the most potent internally-managed sales force could ever hope to have.

In order to harness this power to its advantage, companies will WANT to invest in building a better customer experience, instead of a better sales force, and the loyalty caluculates will support these decisions. 

With the greater customer experience in place,  your customers will do the selling for you.  Those customers already have the sales tools (Twitter accounts, etc.), and they know how to use them.  You just need to give the customer a reason to do it.

As more companies begin to cash in on the customer loyalty concept, they're more likely to focus sales resources on experiential intiatives, rather than selling initiatives. 

A loyal customer's Tweet will outsell any amount of feet on the street.

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The Customer Loyalty Department

Employee Engagement, Customer Loyalty and a Stronger Economy

Which of the three should receive a CEO's most immediate attention?

Employee Engagement. 

Why?

Because the surest way to build something strong and sustainable is to build it from the ground up.  The building is ultimately supported by the bricks within its structure.  Without properly laid bricks, the building will eventually require support from outside sources.  And that can be expensive.

A strong economy requires strong companies; companies that are growing and profitable, and therefore  able to hire more people to build (and design and market and support) more product to meet the demands of a growing customer base.

It's become common knowledge in business (though less commonly practiced) that the surest way to grow your customer base is by delivering an exceptional customer experience (product superiority coupled with ease, and enjoyment in doing business with the seller). 

When customers love your product, and they love the ease, convenience and pleasure of getting it from your company, they'll come back again and again.  And they'll further fuel your growth by influencing others to buy from you.  It's a wonderful dynamic, if you can get there.

But how?  That's where  the bricks come in.  

Everything that goes into what your customer gets out of your company - everything that impacts customer experience and customer loyalty - is produced by the people inside your company.  If you take away the processes, and take away products, what's left are the employees.  The employees ultimately drive the success of your processes, and the efficacy of your products.  And here's where Engagement matters.

A recent article in the  Harvard Business Review cited the value in maximizing employee engagement and commitment.  The Article presented "Five Ways to Retain Employees  Forever."  Those five include Responsibilty, Respect, Revenue Sharing, Reward and Relaxation Time. 

I'd add a sixth "R" to that list:  Relevance.

Every one of us has a deep need to feel relevant; we want to have true sense of purpose that's greater than the functions of the job that we're doing, a purpose to which our job is clearly linked.

It's the responsibility of the employer to (1) communicate the "greater cause" and (2) help each employee to understand the linkage between their job, and that cause.

My favorite example of this is a story of JFK's touring of the Houston Space Center back in the 60's:

JFK came across a custodian sweeping the floor in a hallway, and asked the man, "Tell me sir, what is it that you  do here?"

Without hesitation, the custodian answered, "Mr. President, I'm helping to put a man on the moon."

We all need a sense of purpose that's greater than ourselves.  If every employer can define that purpose, and help each employee to understand how their individual roles support that  purpose, perhaps more employees would be more committed, and everyone would benefit:  Customer, Company and Employee.

So if you're an employer that wants your company to beneft from a stronger economy, there are some things that you  can do to help  the cause.  And on of those is to improve the level of employee  engagement within your own company. 

How Relevent are your employees made to feel?  

What are some specifics that you can do to increase their sense of purpose, and hence the resulting loyalty from customers, and improvements in your growth and profits?

How a half-baked process creates a negative customer experience.

I'm taking a Delta flight tomorrow from Portland, Maine to Denver.  In keeping with the effort to leverage technology and eliminate "stuff" from my life, I decided to check in for the flight using the Delta Airlines app on my iPhone, instead of my laptop and printer.  So, I began my mobile customer journey of checking in....

1. Download the Delta App.   Check.
2. Enter my ticket number and name.  Check
3. Verify the itinerary that displayed on my screen.  Check. (By now, I'm thinking, "Wow, this is easy!")
4. Click the Check-in Button.  Check.

Now I'll receive eBoarding Pass, so when I arrive at the airport, I can go directly to security, right?  Well, almost, but not quite...

The next screen told me that I'm checked in, but an eBoarding Pass isn't available.

OK, so what's the point of walking me through the Check-in process if I have to go to a Delta Kiosk when I get to the airport?

Delta, you lead my iPhone and me down a path of customer bliss, only to stop short of my desired destination - the eBoarding pass.

The Point is this:

If you can't deliver a complete process, then don't deliver a partial process.  You'll only disappoint your customer, and leave them feeling unfulfilled.  Instead, give your customer the proper expectations, before they take that first step.

There are some places that a customer journey should never go.

There are certainly places in life where we should be left alone.  The bathroom, for example.  I'm talking about being left alone, and out of reach of the insidious tentacles of marketing.

Now, I'm OK with those advertisements that men often see on the bathroom walls, just above those manly porcelain fixtures.

Let's face it (pun intended), I'd rather read some content, than just stare at an empty wall - even for a minute or two.

But just last week, while sitting in what I expected to be a more private place in the bathroom, I was unexpectedly interrupted by an adverstisement that appeared in an eqally unexpected place.  

What impression is the advertiser trying to make here?

What kind of customer journey are they mapping? 

What  kind of customer experience begins on a sheet of toilet paper?

I'm convinced that there are certain places, where advertisers should leave us alone.  For our benefit, and theirs' alike.  

After all, what kind of a reputation are some brands trying to build?  To me,  advertising on toilet paper is akin to that overly-agressive obnoxious salesperson who willingly intrudes on anybody, anwhere, just to deliver their pitch.  It can turn us off to the entire brand, rather than convince us to take the next step.

Sometimes, the very act of sending a message can send the wrong message.  Do your customer journeys go to any places they shouldn't?