“We need to think like a retailer”. Really? In listening to those who are looking to improve customer experiences, I’ve heard two very different opinions from the aviation industry this year on where the aspirations lie. The airline: “We should think like a retailer who happens to run a fleet of aircraft”. The … Continue reading →
Differentiated customer experiences require differentiated thinking
Organisations waste time, money and effort if their approach to creating differentiated experiences is based on the very undifferentiated “Let’s walk a mile in our customers’ shoes”. Inspiration for better and more valuable experiences comes from those who experience things differently. When teams set out to map customer journeys there’s often a familiar reminder […]
Creating the Right Customer Experience is All About Leading By Example
To have any credibility when talking with others about how ‘customer experience’ can improve a business, it’s an obvious understatement to say that leading by example – understanding their issues and what they value – is imperative…
For improving customer experiences I’d rather have Right Data than Big Data
On my first day of my first proper job in the UK they called me “New York”. Not because I was energetic, intriguing or that I never slept but because, when it took me a while to understand what was apparently an hilarious corporate joke, I was – in their words – “five hours behind”. And many […]
Would changing the name from Customer Experience to Customer Memories make us better prepared?
We have Customer Service; it’s what companies do to or for their customers. We have Customer Experience; you could say it’s what it’s really like to be on the receiving end of the service. Done the right way though, understanding all that gives us powerful information. Yet there is also a risk that our focus…
Whose role is it anyway? The organisational side of Customer Experience
The philosophy behind customer experience has been around since cavemen first traded a club for a spear. It was simple then, as it is now. If you didn’t like who you were buying from or you felt they were getting more out of it than you, you’d probably get your own back by inventing the […]
B2B or B2C, it’s all P2P to me
In an age of big data and a seemingly endless capacity to produce and absorb information, one could be forgiven for believing that the end of the TLA, the three-letter acronym, is nigh. It should be, particularly for the subject of this piece, but for different reasons. Popping up everywhere in emails and presentations, these […]
Customer experiences highlight the danger of businesses taking relationships for granted
The sage advice “Don’t bite the hand that feeds you” needs no introduction but it clearly infers that one party is more needy than the other. It’s a sentiment that’s always been true in a commercial context since the earliest days of trading. In today’s world though, while the business side is becoming increasingly reliant, the experience they […]
Luxury or productivity? The question of value for Business Aviation’s customer experience.
FBOs and charter airlines are in a strong position to capitalise on the belt-tightening consequences of recent economic conditions. That’s providing they are able to articulate their value in a meaningful way. Value, to paraphrase, is in the eye of the beholder. Understanding what that means in reality and then being organised to do something […]
Customer Experience at the Board table: a voice, a vote or a veto?
Everyone seems agreed that, like the complaints department, in theory the real aim of an in-house customer experience team should be to do itself out of a role. I say that because if every decision made by an organisation strikes the right balance between what its customers value and what drives the corporate value, then […]
