Our customers are empowered and we can’t control that

Consumers are absolutely empowered through technology now. That means our customers are as well. It has happened and it is a fact. We can’t control that. Sorry to point that out but that is our starting reality. 

Our customers are empowered. They know it. Do we?

They know they have influence. Do we know they have influence?

Our customers know they have voice that is powerful. They know they have more power than ever before. Do we know that they do and do we act like it?

If you a member of the C-Suite or executive team, did you receive a report today alerting you to what your customers or clients said about you on Facebook, your call center, Twitter, YouTube, Tumblr, Blogs, Pinterest, etc. (the list is ever evolving). Do you receive it every day? Do you get weekly, monthly, quarterly and annual summaries? Have you engaged with any of them personally yourself? If not, it is a reasonable question why isn’t that important to you?

Even if we aren’t seeing it, other customers (or potential customers) are seeing what is going on. They are forming an opinion of us based on those comments. We can’t control what is being said. We can control how we will react in real time about it. We can control changing the experience in the future.

Say a customer has a bad experience on your web site and they tweet about it. Do we think others have had the same experience and haven’t said anything? You bet they have. Do we think others will find the same thing and either say something or not in the future? Yes they will find it and yes they will say something or not. There is no hiding. If there is one horrible review out there, they will find it and not the 100 positive things others have said about us.

Companies are beginning to listen to what is being said on social media and respond to it if they can. It does require a commitment of resources but it is not going away. More and more customers (or potential customers) are going to share the good, the bad and the ugly about their experience with us.

Have you started to shift resources into engaging on social platforms? How does that compare to your investment in your call center? Is your call center and social media center integrated in the approach you want your customers to have? We have to manage our online reputation.

What are our customers going to align with if we don’t first define the experience up front? What do we want them to be a part of? Now is the time to invest more in the experience rather than improve how the sales transaction occurs. Our future as executives is in creating programs that scream out in splendor. It is about experiences that kindle meaningful and sincere interactions at every turn. At the center of our evolution (or is it a revolution) is the experience. The experience is everything now.

Are your customer experiences intentional?

What does the future of your business look like? Is it focused on your mission AND design?

The premise of this manifesto is all about being intentional about the experiences your customers are having. 

How many products and services do you have? How many channels (Web, Social, Mobile, Call Center, Direct Mail, etc.) are you focused on? Do they all have a unified design and experience?

Mission + Design = Intentional experiences

We are clear about our mission. Are we clear about our design?

If not, we aren’t ready to be the digital executive of the future. If we aren’t ready to be a digital executive, we aren’t ready for the future. If we aren’t ready for the future, will we have a relevant job 5 to 10 years from now? Tough questions I know but worth considering.

So here are a couple more of intriguing questions:

- How do we ensure that our customers are having an amazing experience?

- Why make customers cope with the ordinary?

- Why aren’t customers more engaged with both your mission and revenue opportunities?

Our focus and day to day work should be about creating “customer experiences” in this new age of consumerism. What is going on in the rest of the world isn’t lost on your customers. They are judging you based on those experiences. We can bury our head in the sand. That will only get us left behind. Your credibility as an executive is at stake.

Consumers expect more from businesses more than ever before. So our products and services have a level of expectation that our business may not be aware of. How does the experience your customers are having compare to USAA for example? Do you know?

Here is the harsh reality. Customers not only expect better experiences, they believe they are absolutely entitled to them. Will we be intentional in delivering on those expectations? Are we ready to get left behind with stagnant growth if we don’t deliver those customer experiences? We may not be ready for that but it may already be happening. I encourage you to think about it. It is a good question to ponder.

There is a unique opportunity to create amazing and positive experiences at our stores, on the web, at your call center (if you have one), on smart phones and in our direct mail pieces. Are all of those unified? Is the experience amazing?

That amazing or ordinary (or perhaps even bad) experience will be how your business is measured in terms of satisfaction or even our revenue success. Do you know how your customers feel about the experience they are having with your company? If not, why not? Are you being intentional about that experience they just had at your store? Is it consistent with the experience they want on your web site?

As an executive, you have an amazing opportunity to lead the charge regardless of your role. If you do, you will be a hero.

Just the facts ~~ Please!!

Dragnet's Sgt. Joe Friday character frequently implore informants to provide 'Just the facts'. We have all kinds of "facts", data from analytic platforms and internal operational systems. Take the call center or a website. There is so much there that can help improve digital experiences dramatically because it separates fact from fiction.

To mine this data for experience improvement opportunities, focus our efforts in examining the actual behavior of customers. Many companies use Google analytics on their website. It helps us understand where visitors are going and what they do when they get there. Nothing like the facts. One company I know of used web analytics to prove a 65% customer drop-off rate at a point where login was required, prior to checkout. And when analysts at InterContinental Hotels Group (IHG) mined web analytics data for design opportunities, they found users pogo-sticking between search results and hotel landing pages, which tipped them off to the fact that users were digging for specific information.

Here are some other things to look for:

• Study customers' mobile and tablet behavior
• Examine customer behavior across channels
• Look at the moments that matter

This is powerful for improving the customer experience. We have the facts.

Act like you are a global company

You are a global company. Do you act like it?

Your audience is 2.4 billion potential customers. You have international reach. Are you designing experiences with that audience in mind? The top 15 countries saw year to year growth of about 15% new users in 2012. Much of that is in emerging markets. The U.S has the highest penetration with 78% of the population connected. China added 264 million new users last year with only 42% penetration.

Key takeaway: You are a global company. Keep that in mind as you design the customer experience. 

Technology won’t save you

Will technology save you? Not likely. It can help transform you but without a passion for amazing experiences that customers enjoy, find simple to navigate and meet their needs, no amount of technology will help. It starts with a well thought out strategy. It moves to people who committed to great experiences. It involves processes that support the designed experience. And it involves the right technology. But it doesn’t, under any circumstances, start with technology.

It is a myth that this is about technology. Everyone thinks that technology is changing behavior. The opposite is true. Our behavior is using technology. For example, the inclination to share is nothing new. We have been sharing our experiences before technology could enable it. All technology is doing is speeding it and enabling it on connected devices.

Are you betting that social media and mobile devices are the new channels for engagement? What data do you have to support that? You may have some and that is great. You may not and that is dangerous. What role does Facebook play in improving the experience for your major customers? What ROI are you getting out of Twitter?

Trust me, I believe in the strategic use of technology. I’m not a fan of blind faith. Hope is not a strategy. Soft or non-existent metrics aren’t useful. You can measure most if not all of your customer experience initiatives.

What is needed for transformation is a path that begins with discovery and completely rethinking the new customer journey. It is intentional and it is cost effective. To get somewhere, we need some discipline to test and prove that it works. We also need to have courage to find out it doesn’t. We can’t get paralyzed because we don’t know if it will work or not. Avoid the temptation to pilot something and have the courage to embark on a small test.

If you have seen the TV show Dragnet, you remember Jack Webb making famous the line “Just the facts”. That should be our internal mantra. The truth is that results can and should be quantified. Someone advocating the flavor of the month with no tests and results needs to be challenged. It is generally a question of who will have the courage to do it. A spirit of discovery will lead you to know where you are losing customers and where you are gaining them. Donations are constantly being earned and lost. Some that is happening through new channels and touch points. A willingness to test and discover is your friend. Blindly following what hasn’t been tested is your enemy.

A great starting point is to always walk on the same path you think your customers are or should be. What is the experience you have? Is it the same one you want for your customers?