Subscribe
Why Small, Focused Refinements Matter in the Customer Experience
Author: Jeannie Walters
December 16, 2008
Logo Design Love posted this really interesting discussion about Obama’s campaign logo, and how it got there.
The best quote from Sol Sender, who led the design team, is “The strongest logos tell simple stories.”
This lesson in design is also a lesson in customer experience. Often, our clients are drowning in customer processes - and yet still end up with a totally sub-par (not to mention unprofitable) customer experience.
The evolution of Obama’s design from concept to the clean, simple and compelling logo we know shows the process most of us should take with most complicated and robust challenges. Start with a concept, but keep refining. Don’t make it more complicated - aim for simple.
To see the full transformation of the Obama logo, read the article here.
Positive Deviance – Is There Any Other Kind?
Author: Bill Cusick
December 15, 2008
In this Sunday’s New York Times Magazine, there is a blurb about something called “Positive Deviance.” The basic concept is this in a nutshell: if you are trying to change a person’s or a group’s behavior (in this case they discuss reducing the spread of hospital borne infection) you don’t focus on the majority of people who are doing things the wrong way and try to understand how to “change their thinking.” Instead, you look at the smaller percent of the group who are exhibiting “positive deviance.” That is, how is the minority of the group, who have figured out successful strategies behaving (like a new way to remove a hospital gown without spreading germs which you can see here: www.positivedeviance.org).
The interesting thing here is that they are not looking at or asking about the thoughts or emotions of these people, but rather analyzing the behavior that works. So, when you examine just why your best customers are staying with your company, it might make sense to look at those situations from both the company and customer perspective, and see what behaviors or actions are working. Then you can spread that “positive deviance” throughout the organization.
TWEET !! Wait…What?
Author: Mike Hartman
December 11, 2008
I know some people who LOVE Twitter. And I know some organizations are using it effectively.
Me?
Not so much
The prospect of constantly and immediately getting updates on what everyone I know is currently doing at that exact moment in time begs the question: Which layer of hell is this?
You had cheese fries for lunch? Thanks for the update. What’s that? You’re waiting in line at the DMV? My condolences.
Oooh an application that allows me to organize my tweets into categories, and I can keep it open on my desktop all day long and constantly monitor what everyone I know is doing all day long !!
How will I ever get anything done?
I’m just sayin’ some people love twitter and some people don’t. And it’s really difficult to reach people through the wrong channels, which is why it pays to take the time to get to know your audience.
PS. You may notice everyone here at Vox doesn’t agree with me on this. I guess I’m kind of a maverick that way 
A 3rd Place, or Just a Mash-Up of Places 1 and 2?
Author: Bill Cusick
December 9, 2008
I’m currently sitting in a Starbucks getting a little work done. There are a number of people around me, doing the same. Some others are here to just chat, or, apparently to watch their little ones run around.
You might have heard some of the talk recently about how Starbucks currently defines itself. It’s not a coffee shop, of course. It’s not a café. No, according to CEO Howard Schultz, Starbucks is “the 3rd place.” That is, it isn’t home, and it isn’t work. It’s that place in-between, that allows us all to enjoy some transition from one place to the other. By creating this vision of the 3rd place, Starbucks provides a vision for employees to follow, without necessarily micromanaging every store (beyond how to make a caramel non-fat, half-caf macchiato).
It’s an admirable goal for a company, and also, if done well, can provide employees with a “picture” of what the company should be, and then set the employee free. Are you doing something similar at your company?
Oh, one other thing, apparently a 3rd place needs to play music really loudly. I guess I’m not supposed to be working, but rather transitioning.
Obama’s Team Really GETS What Web 2.0 is All About!
Author: Luis Serpa
December 8, 2008
For a while now, everyone has been discussing how Obama’s campaign revolutionized the way politics is done, leveraging all the concepts of Social Networking and the internet. Since the election, a lot of rumors and speculations have appeared on how Obama’s team would use their innovative approach as a way to improve citizens’ participation in the government, but what they are really planning is anyone’s guess.
Now, we are starting to see a glimpse of what they plan to innovate again: this weekend, I received an e-mail from Change.Gov informing me of their new policy for transparency, leveraging online tools. It is called “Your Seat at the Table.” The memo to the transition team was released by John Podesta last Friday afternoon and shows a huge potential to what can become a really open government using web2.0 concepts.
Despite its apparent boldness, the concept presented is pretty simple: the people and groups the transition team is meeting with, the subjects of the meetings and any documents shared in the meetings will now be made available on Change.gov. Anyone will be able to weigh in with comments, suggestions or their own materials (See video below).
This transition team’s understanding and adaptation of technologies gives us new hope for how much can be accomplished in the next 4 years through empowering citizens. It proves once and for all that technology, when used correctly and in innovative ways, may change everything…
…And games Will Rule the Ad World
Author: Luis Serpa
If anyone still had any doubts of the impact of games on consumers’ choices, that doubt is quickly fading out. Microsoft has broadened the marketing experience and branding possibilities inside Xbox games (See the article here). Aside from the standard banners and videos throughout the game, Microsoft is offering geographical targeting and the ability to serve-up ads during a specific time of day, much like traditional media like TV. Also, gamers can engage with a brand by choosing to dress their avatars in related sunglasses, T-Shirts, jogging pants and running shoes.
Many Ads are clickable, connecting to microsites or offering downloadable content, all taking advantage of the Xbox Live community and all supported by monitoring software to analyze how the gamers use the platform and help build the next generation of advertising services based on user trends and behavior.
So… Are you ready to play?
Good Experience is the Best Strategy in an Economic Crisis
Author: Luis Serpa
December 5, 2008
In the midst of the economic crisis, while most banks are trying to keep attracting customers by offering higher interest savings and money market accounts, one bank (PNC) is thriving by focusing on delivering a unique online customer experience, specifically designed to target the generation Y (people aged 18 to 34, according to PNC demographics).
PNC created a product called Virtual Wallet that boldly discards all usual conventions from the banking industry, such as checking or savings accounts, and offers 3 types of accounts (dubbed “Spend,” “Reserve” and “Growth”) combined in a single solution. They focused on two simple concepts:
- Twentysomethings consider bank sites clunky, and they typically don’t know how to manage their money (’We need help helping ourselves’)
- The Gen Y really understands how to take advantage of online resources.
The solution takes advantage of concepts borrowed from other online services, games, social networks and even e-Commerce sites with features like Wish-List, Financial Calendar, Money Bar, Danger Days and “Punch the Pig.” That strategy is luring 130 new customers a day (20,000+ Virtual Wallet customers since July) to an account that otherwise could hardly compete with more aggressive banks in terms of paid returns.
Defying conventions and betting on exceptional experience can cost a lot initially (PNC expects the project to cost about 15 Million overall), but the ROI is unquestionable: PNC estimates to break even 1 year faster than a similar investment on a new brick-and-mortar branch would have.
From that example (plus everything that we preach here at Vox), I can get 3 great lessons to any company in any industry:
- Don’t be afraid to defy conventions! Know your customers, understand what they what and what they need and create NEW experiences that fit their expectations
- Test your concepts with real customers, watch how they react and behave and adjust your solutions accordingly
- The best strategy in times of crisis is still to offer a truly great customer experience. Marketing gimmicks and discounts can only go so far as… well, superficial wins…
So… What strategy will your company follow to get over this crisis?
See more about it in this article from BusinessWeek
Know Your Customer
Author: Luis Serpa
December 4, 2008
It’s already evident that successful enterprises are a result of carefully planned and researched strategies. Without understanding how your customers think, you will never be able to really get them to engage with your site, service or product.
Now, what most forget is that it is too easy to THINK you know your customers and assume their tastes and needs. It’s even more dangerous to label your target with an ill-conceived or over-generalized persona, like “Soccer Moms” or “High Executives.”
See the example of Blackberry users, recognized all over as “Stressed Executives” and “Workaholics.” It was an interesting surprise to see that more than 400,000 of them already downloaded the new Blackberry MySpace application, and that they collectively updated their “mood and status” more than 2 million times during the first week of use alone. Who would have guessed that a MySpace application would have found its record of downloads on the Blackberry platform? Well, it seems that someone at MySpace did and I would risk saying that they whoever thought of it had some real research to support her decision or this idea would have faced too many “Are you kidding?” reactions to be green-lighted.
Not all customers are equal. People can have drastically different behaviors depending on their personality, life-style, work and even geography. You cannot risk confining them into simplified personas without taking enough time to understand them first.
Knowing your customers means testing, trying and observing their behavior. Avoid oversimplifying or judging them by the use of labels, and, above all, never ever EVER be afraid of contesting your own assumptions.
The Ingredients for a Compelling Customer Experience: Cold, Wind, Snow and Bad Seats
Author: Bill Cusick
December 3, 2008
Hockey is not the most popular sport in Chicago, and one would think sitting outside in the middle of winter would not be the way most people would want to watch a game, if they cared at all.
But the hottest sports ticket this year in the Windy City is turning out to be the Winter Classic. It’s a game being played between our own Blackhawks and the Detroit Red Wings on New Year’s Day, at Wrigley Field. Yeah, that Wrigley Field, where the Cubs play. Seats are going for $2,000 and more for the privilege of sitting in the frigid stadium, with limited views of the action. Last year, the Buffalo Sabres played the Pittsburgh Penguins at Buffalo’s football stadium in front of over 70,000 rabid fans.
Seems crazy, unless you’re a hockey fan. There’s something incredibly novel and exciting about watching the world’s best contend with the elements and the imperfections, especially for those of us who grew up playing on outdoor rinks and ponds.
There’s a lesson in there somewhere for companies: it’s not just the features and benefits; it’s the emotional connections you can create that will draw in and keep customers.
Oh, and if anyone has a line on a couple of seats at Wrigley on New Years, give me a call!
People Over Profits?
Author: Mike Hartman
December 2, 2008
It sounds wacky I know, but isn’t that what the customer experience is really about? Making people the primary focus of your business, whether they are your customers or your employees.
I recently attended an event sponsored by Net Impact, an organization of business leaders who are focused on using their business skills to positively affect the world. I was happy to meet other Chicago area professionals who are genuinely interested in doing much more than generating killer profits, like making the world a better place by creating responsible and sustainable business models.
