Personalization is an excellent tactic for your marketing efforts. However, only some people like this personalization; some feel they're being watched. Therefore, it is important to remember that context and who's doing the personalizing matter.   Picture this: Colin’s at his go-to fishing store, Discount Tackle. The manager knows him, we chat, and he recommends a lure. Even though Colin can snag it cheaper elsewhere, the personalized touch keeps him coming back.    We've all got our...

Customer emotions heavily influence experiences and motivate actions, yet these motivations are often hidden, even from the customers. Organizations must uncover these hidden motivations to serve their customers better. The "Jobs to Be Done" framework, popularized by Clayton Christensen at Harvard Business School, provides a lens through which to view customer motivations.   Eckhart Boehme, Founder and Managing Director of Unipro Solutions, emphasizes the importance of aligning customer...

Colin has been ghosted. He was surprised, considering he is married and has been for decades.    However, his ghosting experience didn’t come from a romantic partner but a professional one. Since ghosting appears to be spreading into many interactions, we thought we should discuss it here.    Ghosting, where someone suddenly stops communicating, has become more common, thanks to technology making it easier to cut off contact. It often happens online, like in dating apps, leaving one...

"What's the one thing we need for a stellar Customer Experience?"    If we had a dollar for every time clients asked us this, we’d, well, have quite a few dollars.    The question is understandable. This unspoken desire for a silver bullet solution echoes across industries. We all want a silver bullet solution that will fix our problems, whether for weight loss, financial growth, or, in Colin’s case, for playing the guitar.    The problem is that there isn’t one for CX improvement. Or...

You will have a customer crisis. We apologize for being so direct, but the fact is customer crises are inevitable.  When it does happen, will you be able to navigate it to an acceptable outcome? Do you have a comprehensive approach?   We doubt it. Few organizations do.    Most think a customer crisis isn’t going to happen to them or that they will be able to manage it when it does with their business-as-usual approach.    They are wrong. It will, and they won’t.    Others think they...

Have you ever come across the Abilene Paradox? It's when everyone agrees to do something that no one really wants to do.    Jerry B. Harvey coined "The Abilene Paradox" based on a family incident. They ended up driving 50 miles each way across the scorching Texas desert to Abilene for dinner, even though none of them wanted to go. They all thought everyone else wanted to go, so they reluctantly agreed. Politeness led them to a hot, dusty adventure that none of them enjoyed.   This...

A hidden impact exists regarding your experience management return on investment (ROI). It is often overlooked because it lurks between a specific moment in a customer process and the behavior resulting from it. However, uncovering and understanding this hidden impact is critical for comprehending its implications on the bottom line.   Emily Davidson wanted to know how to determine the value of her Customer Experience initiatives, a challenge many in the field face. So, she asked us—and we...

Have you ever noticed that spending cash is harder than using a credit card? You are not imagining things. Different payment methods carry varying degrees of discomfort when used.    Cash tends to have the most painful impact, followed by checks. Credit cards offer a lesser discomfort than cash or checks. With advancements in payment technologies like contactless cards or smartphone transactions, the potential exists for these methods to generate even less discomfort than traditional credit...

Exploring ethics is challenging. Given its abstract nature, it is a tough subject for learning and discussion.    That said, we never falter in the face of a challenge.  We developed five principles of professional ethics we believe are vital to revisit periodically.   Are they rigid guidelines? Do they offer absolute answers? Are they timeless?    Not quite.    Ethics evolve over time, and what's acceptable today might not be so in the future. Nevertheless, ethics, much like any...

Practicality is essential. Great ideas you can’t do anything with in the real world are a waste of time.    Bob Black, one of our avid podcast listeners, likes our concepts about eliciting particular customer emotions. But he doesn’t know how to do that in practical steps. So, this episode gives them to him.    Bob isn’t alone. Numerous organizations struggle with eliciting specific emotions in their customers. While most acknowledge the significance of customer emotions in shaping...

Have you ever heard the following?   Then, Bob’s your uncle. It’s the difference between chalk and cheese. On your bike, then.   If you haven’t and you don’t live in the UK, Colin wouldn’t be surprised. They are British idioms and when he employ these expressions with his American pals, they usually don’t know he is talking about. However, his friends and family on the other side of the pond do.    It demonstrates the importance of the words you use to communicate and how easy it is...

This has been created in partnership with YouGov. Our listeners will enjoy $ 500 off their first survey from YouGov. Click here.   Customer research has some big problems. You might think the big problem with customer research is not asking the right questions. But it isn’t.    Then, surely it’s asking the wrong people the wrong way, right? But that’s not it either.    The biggest mistake people make in customer research is not doing it often enough.    Let me explain. Frequently,...

We want to hear from you. Simply record a video with your thoughts, ideas, reactions, lists, or whatever else you have to offer, and we might discuss it on the podcast.  It’s called None of Us Are As Clever As All Of Us. To learn more, click here.    Justin Stafford ([email protected]), founder of a Customer Smarts shared how sports can teach us how to improve your Customer Experience.    Justin's metaphor holds true in various scenarios. In sports, not every player on the field...

Per Statista, the amount of e-commerce losses to online payment fraud in 2022 since 2020 is $41 billion. If you think that is bad, get this: it’s supposed to rise to $48 billion by the end of this year.    But wait, there’s more. Messente, a dedicated business messaging platform, notes the surge in package delivery scams. TransUnion's published a study that unveiled a staggering 1500% spike in shipping fraud between 2019 and 2021, likely spurred by the flourishing ecommerce landscape and...

Picture this: Your customers, like individuals, operate on habitual inclinations. So, if they habitually favor a competitor’s product or service, how does one instigate change? Here, we present seven potent ways to turn the tide.   But before diving into these transformative strategies, let's peer into the psychological underpinnings of habits. They possess distinct characteristics:   A cue within our environment kickstarts the habitual response.  This cue triggers an automatic...

It’s the most wonderful time of the year, and time for one of our favorite traditions: looking back on what we learned.  Each of us has three things we learned in the past year that we think can help all of us moving forward into 2024.   Reflection is a key part of the growth process. That’s why we are excited to continue our tradition of reflecting on the past year and what we learned during it.    Moreover, it's essential to take note if no changes have occurred. A lack of progress...

This year has undeniably been dominated by the rise of AI, bringing both positive and negative outcomes. We host Alex Mead, Global Customer Service Experience Director of Alvarez & Marsal ([email protected]), to discuss this crucial topic and its implications for experiences.    Mead envisions that AI will significantly reduce customer effort in their experiences. He anticipates a future where customers can simply ask, "Where's my order from two days ago?" and that's all it takes for AI...

The Future of Customer Research Teams: Innovating for Success in 2024 and Beyond   AI's enthralling me these days, and it seems the world's caught in the same spell. One realm set for a profound AI makeover is customer market research—a topic worth diving into since it's likely on many of your radars too. Exciting or nerve-wracking—depends on which way you look at it.   Qualtrics recent article, "AI Will Revolutionize the Market Research Industry" suggested a couple of thought-provoking...

During a recent discussion with a valued client, I uncovered an interesting revelation. While they were delighted with their repeat business, which they attributed to customer loyalty, a closer look at the repeat business statistics painted a different picture. What I observed wasn't a steadfast commitment from their customers; rather, it appeared to be inertia.    This prompted my realization that these customers might easily switch to a competitor if a tempting offer came along.   Now,...

Unleashing the Power of AI vs. Human Touch: Which Delivers a Superior Customer Experience?   I often say, "None of us are as clever as all of us." However, sayings are more useful when they can spur action. So, we have a proposition for you: If you have something you want to say about experiences or technology, statistics, or reports, feel free to share them via video. To learn more, click here.   To that end, Tom Martin, CEO at Glance, has submitted one about AI.    Tom makes an...

My client is disappointed with their results. Their experience improvement efforts have been successful, but not as wildly successful as they had hoped.  When my client shared this with me on a recent call, I was neither surprised nor perplexed about what was going on with them. Getting the whole organization to embrace the customer requires more than most organizations think.  You see, when you start an improvement program, you want some quick wins. So, you address the most obvious areas...

Regret is a powerful emotion. One might not think it has a place in a marketer’s messaging toolbox. However, you might be surprised to learn that in addition to being a powerful emotion, it can also be a powerful tool. The reason we regret things depends on the situation. We can regret a purchase we made. We can regret a purchase we didn’t, too. What we regret and how we respond to it requires understanding how regret happens.  Inside each of our minds, we have three selves. There is the...

It’s pickle time again here on the podcast. This time John has a pickle with his new business. He wants to know some ways that he can get other people to help him sell his products and services. We knew several ways, eight in fact, and they might help you, too.  One thing to consider when you listen to this list is how each of the tactics gets you what you want. In some cases, you might discover that our suggestion doesn’t. Or at least it doesn’t get you what you want right now. Later, once...

Colin sometimes struggles with a glass-half-empty disposition. He blames it on being born British. He felt it keenly when gathering the following 14 statistics for this episode. There are a mix of game-changing opportunities, including missed ones, and some acute risks facing organizations next year.  Ryan is American, a population Colin characterizes with as a glass-half-full disposition. He hopes by sharing these numbers gathered from reputable sources, that his American cohost might view...