Sales Cycle/Buyer’s Journey

Making the front look as good as the back has 4 benefits for customer experience professionals

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From Kate & Rose “About the back of embroidery“
During one summer vacation, my mother decided to keep me busy by teaching me embroidery. She wasn’t a fan of crochet or knitting; this was her handicraft of choice. I really enjoyed it and would take on different projects like embroidering doilies, pillowcases, handkerchiefs, all sorts of things.
My mom taught me that the best test to determine the quality of your embroidery was that the front and back looked just as nice. Ideally, you could have a doily wrong side up and no one would notice.
I’ve seen great embroidery at various museums and it’s true – the back and front are flawless and could be used interchangeably. I personally never made it that far in my expression of this craft, but I came close. (Ok, maybe not THAT close.)
But why do this? According to a blog on the site Kate & Rose:
“When stitching household textiles or a garment, it’s a good idea to make the back is as neat and smooth as possible, almost as much as the front. Since the finished work will be worn, used, handled, and laundered, knots and loose threads on the back could get caught and pulled, ruining your embroidery.”
This lesson from embroidery can – and should – be applied to customer experiences. You need to be sure that what’s inside the company (the back) is just as presentable as the customer facing experiences (the front) so it lasts and presents your company in the best light.
If you decide to take this approach to your experiences and business, you may experience 4 benefits:
1. You will make employees feel that they are just as important as customers. 
In our never-ending quest to make the customer happy, we sometimes overlook what we are doing internally, allowing broken internal systems to exist. We’ll do cartwheels inside our organizations to hide our crazy processes from our customers.
We sometimes think that if the customer doesn’t see it, then who cares? But that is far from true. We often believe we can hide odd internal process through faux-mation (fake automation where some steps are automated but other steps are offline), conversations, or emails. But we can’t. Customers always see. It’s like they have a spidey-sense.
How employees work to support the product and customers is just as important as how the customers experience a company. When you develop a new experience for a customer, or modify/update an existing one, the process internally to complete the work needs to flow just as smoothly as the outside for what the customer sees. Why shouldn’t employees have a great experience as well? Aren’t they of minimally equal value as a customer? In many ways, you wouldn’t have a company without your employees. Never forget that.
2. You are forced to be transparent and accountable because you can’t hide a mess.
I think all of us have been in a situation where we have had surprise company coming to visit and we throw all of our mess into a room and close the door to hide it. One of my mom’s friends would put her kitchen mess into her oven (god help her if she needed to cook!). In some ways, this is a human response to hide the unseemly. We’ll show off our great work and then hide the back because it is a mess. We do this with embroidery as well (in fact, this is why the premise exists!).
What we forget to consider when we hide our mess, is that we are keeping a secret. And when we are keeping a secret, we aren’t being transparent. When we aren’t transparent, we can still be accountable, but we are accountable to maintaining an ideal, a perception others have of us, not our customers and their needs. And this is horrible for business, because the business becomes less about solving problems for customers and more about maintaining an image.
Customers will always find a way to see the mess in the same way your houseguest may wander into the mess behind a closed door or accidentally look into the oven or flip over the embroidery piece. During a support call, they could ask probing questions after hearing a confusing answer that doesn’t make any sense, or conflicting answers, or after being passed from department to department. It’s in this confusion that our secrets are revealed.
Sadly, we see the employees as complicit co-conspirators to hide an internal process mess in the same way we see our families as complicit to hide the mess in the closed room. They are supposed to help us maintain the illusion, which is what they are being held accountable to do. It is difficult to be accountable to the customer when you are also being accountable to your team and leadership to hide problems.
We can thank the digital world and the transparency and accountability that it brings. Customers can now notice that your company handles issues differently than others, which raises questions. In this case, do you want to be held accountable to resolve your customer’s issues, or do you want to be held accountable to holding an ideal of who your company is, or both?
You can achieve the best of both worlds if you approach creating customer experiences as an embroidery piece, focused on the inside and outside processes being just as elegant, simple and clean. That approach will naturally bring transparency and accountability into our work, allowing you to maintain your company’s image to the customer and help customers have a great experience. You can’t help to be transparent when you wonder how a customer will perceive the inside of an organization if they knew the truth. The embarrassment from their perception, in a way, drives the accountability to do better and be better.
The key tip in this benefit: always remember that customers will always learn the truth when they work with you.
3. You master details through practice because it has a purpose.
For the front and back of an embroidery piece to be picture perfect on each side, you have to have great technique. I noticed that as I practiced embroidery, my technique improved. My mother had great technique after years of practice and it showed in her pieces.
Practice is the key element. Buddhist monks will practice cleaning their own areas because it has a purpose. Exercise is something to practice for purpose and benefit. This is also true for meditation and other types of practice that brings direct personal benefit. “This is because the cleaning practice is not a tool but a purpose in itself. Would you outsource your meditation practice to others?”
What does this mean for customer experience professionals? Well, customer experience is similar to cleaning, exercise, and meditation. We have been led to believe that customer experience improves business, but what if it is more like meditation and has a purpose unto itself? A customer experience strategist facilitates ways for employees to do their jobs better, meaning, provide better service to customers. Its purpose is to build, or improve, relationships. Is this something to outsource, really? It’s something a company really needs to do.
You have to practice creating great customer experiences in a company in order to service your customers better and more actively engage employees and help them contribute value. And like anything, the more you practice, the better you get.
4. You are constantly reminded that business is always between people – employees and customers. 
Sometimes we get so busy designing processes, creating content, and constructing the best experiences through systems, that we forget that we are doing all of these activities to help people to work better together. People are at the heart of any company – internally (employees) and externally (customers). The only way a company can succeed is to improve relationships. Customer experience facilitates this activity; its purpose is to build relationships inside and out.
Sharing my favorite artwork that summarizes how business works from the Dallas Entrepreneur Center:
If we keep this in mind when we think about customer experience, we realize that creating a great relationship between employees and customers is key. Without it, we don’t have socializing with purpose, or business, happening.
What does this all mean?
When we are creating digital experiences, we are automating what was originally an offline process. Sometimes, our offline processes are clunky, so we need to revisit them to create an optimal employees experience. In the process, we also improve the experience for our customers. Although the result of digital transformation is greater transparency for a transaction and with information, it is also a great opportunity to provide the right tools to help employees and customers “socialize with purpose,” build stronger relationships and do more business.
This means improving accountability to the customer and the employee – not just the company’s image. The employee plays a key role in improving a customer’s experience. First, business is between people, not entities. Second, employees are just as important customers. Without customers, your business doesn’t make money. Without employees, no one is contributing value to the organization and getting work done. It’s a symbiotic relationship. This is why the embroidery metaphor is so fitting – the front (customers) experience needs to be just as attractive as the back (employees). When this happens, you get a quality organization with quality results.
Making the front look as good as the back has 4 benefits for customer experience professionals

Listening with Empathy to Connect with Customers

Gearmark1 Comment

Here is what I presented at CXTalks last Tuesday, May 22. I also included an audio track if you’d prefer that experience. Enjoy!

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Photo from Carlos Pimenta at CX Talks.

How many of you meditate? Daily? Successfully? I have been trying to do that. It’s so hard, but it’s a great way to help me be present.

A meditation that I’ll do to ground me uses my senses starting with sight, then smell, then touch, then listening. I’ll sit in the same place to meditate, so my experience each time is more or less the same, except for listening.

The sounds I hear always change. It’s like I’m having a type of conversation with my apartment and developing a relationship with my space, always discovering something new.

Inside my apartment I’ll hear the air vents humming or the dishwasher running, and sometimes outside of my apartment I’ll hear the birds singing, dogs barking in the hallway, construction, or my neighbors doing something.

Sound waves can travel very far, giving me a lot of information…but it’s not like I’m asking for it…it just comes.

When I’m being present and allowing information to just come to me, it’s the same experience as when I’m listening to understand rather than listening to respond in a conversation. There is a natural curiosity when you listen to understand  that can change the tone and immediately help you to become a better listener. I think it’s because I’m focused on gathering information, like the discovery phase of a project. You don’t yet have any answers. You’re curious, learning, and accepting the information that’s being provided. Sometimes I’ll look at this as a gift someone is sharing with me and this really shifts my perspective about what I’m receiving.

But let’s contrast that with listening to respond where you’re focused on explaining your thoughts and your message. One scenario where I’m particularly guilty of listening to respond is when I’m brainstorming with a team. I’ll get an idea and I’m so excited to communicate it that I blurt it out, interrupting everyone. I think I’m helping the idea process, but I just communicated through my actions that I’m more concerned about sharing my idea than listening to what others have just contributed. It’s not intentional, not mean-spirited, but that’s what I just did.

When we interrupt others, we communicate through our actions that we’re not really concerned with what they have to say.  Our ideas come first.

I think sometimes we often do this in companies – we get so focused on making sure our message is heard and we’re noticed, that we forget to be curious to listen to customer feedback.

Lynn Borton hosts a talk show in Virginia about curiosity, called Choose to be Curious. She sees listening as an way to be open to learn new perspectives. When you are learning, typically you aren’t judging the information you receive as right or wrong. It just is. The earth is the third rock from the sun. Water is wet. My client would prefer if I offered an online course so he could attend when he wants. I can see how the phrase “the customer is always right,” is connected to this idea. I would challenge that it’s not about the customer being right or wrong, or winning or losing, I mean, who wins a conversation? But the challenge the business owner has is to not be defensive and consider the problem through the customer’s perspective and create a solution that solves the problem.

Julian Treasure is a listening expert and has given a number of TED talks about it. He suggests that another challenge of listening is that you can’t control the information you get from someone else. It’s messy – like relationships. Structured flows and experiences and linear thinking won’t necessarily help you establish a conversation with your customer. They don’t give you a neatly packaged group of facts. You get what they give through banter, trial and error, choosing the wrong button.

With all of the information styles we have today, I wonder if it is time for us to expand our definition of conversations beyond verbal or written communication. A conversation is really an interaction between two people or entities that build a relationship….it could be through an online app, social media engagement, a focus group, survey, purchase activity, or a support center call. This means that listening should include observing. And we shouldn’t forget that actions speak louder than words.

Our customer’s communication comes through metrics and results. That’s why we should approach them with curiosity – it’s a way for us to listen. But sometimes in business we get so focused on the bottom line or we want to prove that we were right that we often miss what our customers are really telling us in that data. We overlook trends that may not fit our narratives or contradict our understanding of our customers. We miss key insights that get us to customer experience nirvana, or empathy.

But empathy can’t just emerge from stats. It really starts inside your organization. We all like to think that our employees love our customers, but do they? I mean, do they talk about them behind their backs? Do they see them as dumb? Is respect there? Does your team think your customers are generally smart and capable people who make great decisions?

If you listen to your team and observe their actions you can discover if your team even likes your customers or do they feel contempt for them?

You see, contempt to compassion is a sliding scale. With contempt you believe that your customer got themselves into their unfortunate situation and probably can’t help themselves get out of it even if they wanted to. If you feel sympathy, you feel bad for someone for getting into that situation, but you aren’t up to the task to help them solve their problem. If you feel empathy, you can relate to your customer’s situation and understand their emotions and feelings. There is a desire to help. If you feel compassion, you don’t care how your customer got into that situation, but you can understand how they are feeling and want to help them solve their problem.

It makes you wonder if we should instead be focused on compassion rather than empathy….but that’s another story.

Empathy is defined as “the act of coming to experience the world as you think someone else does” which is the problem with empathy in a nutshell. This is why some researchers say that empathy is not “the cure”. There was a study in Harvard Business Review where marketing managers made “empathetic decisions” for their customers, but the decisions they made reflected their own desires and didn’t consider what the customer really wanted. Psychology researcher, Paul Bloom, wrote a book called The Case Against Empathy. He mentions a few ways to look at empathy – for moral purposes, for connection, or to understand someone else. But at the raw definition, if you have empathy for someone who is feeling bad, then you feel bad too and is that useful? To him, this why compassion is better.

But these researchers all have a point. There are problems with empathy.

And it breaks down in the definition – no two people have the same shared experience, and no one really knows what someone else is feeling, which is why connection with other people is hard.

This is why I propose a different definition of empathy – an attempt at understanding someone else’s emotional situation by relating through a similar physical and emotional event that occurred in their own life.

Here’s an example….let’s say your best friend’s dog passed away and your friend was very close to her dog. Let’s say your pet hamster passed away, but you weren’t particularly close to your hamster (it was one of 20 anyway). You can’t say with any validity to your friend that you understand what she is going through. Sure, you both lost a pet, but you both didn’t lose the same type of relationship with that pet. But let’s say a couple of years earlier, you lost a cat and you were very close to that cat. You could say to your friend that you understand what she is going through. You both lost a pet, you both lost a close relationship with your pet, and there may be some differences between what you are both feeling because it was a different type of animal.

When you are trying to connect with someone through empathy, you can’t simply recall the same exact situation in your life to understand how that person feels. You review similar life events and find one that seems to have the same emotional severity.

You’ll get to this partly from listening, partly from emotional validation and partly from respect. The connection comes from the shared emotion – the event is almost irrelevant in the connection.

So how does this apply to developing empathy for customers?

Listening is the most powerful tool you have available as a business person. But to use listening and connect with empathy, you need to:

  • be present
  • be curious and not have expectations
  • acknowledge that relationships are built on conversations
  • redefine what a conversation is
  • go inside out – see if your team can be empathetic to your customers
  • connect through listening, validating emotions, and respect. It’s about the shared emotion around the event – not the event itself.

Next time you are looking for that great insight or connection with your customers, take a break, maybe meditate, get present, look through all of your data, and listen with curiosity to discover something new in your observations. You may find that golden insight you’ve been waiting for.

Listening with Empathy to Connect with Customers

Being present and listening. The best insights come when you have no expectations.

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There’s a meditation that I do where I get grounded and present by focusing on each of my senses, one at a time. Usually I have similar observations with each sense as I did during the previous meditation, except with listening. I think listening is the most temporal and exciting the all the senses and is open to the most changes. You don’t run the dishwasher all day. Trains pass at specific times. As do helicopters or planes. Sometimes, I’ll do this meditation to simply learn more about my surroundings and discover something new around or outside my apartment. I’ll hear birds singing outside, the lights humming, the fan for the air conditioning or heat, voices from the hallway, my neighbors watching a movie, or doing other activities. Sound waves travel far. That’s why I like listening. It is a way for me to understand what’s happening beyond my immediate location at that specific moment.

Every time I do this meditation, I’m always amazed at what I discover. My fridge can be really noisy. So can my washing machine. Even the dryer. There are times I wonder if my neighbors are watching “Terminator” based on the booms I hear through the walls. I’ll hear pets scurrying somewhere in the building. I have even heard crickets trying to find warmth in the walls.

I think I re-learned the key to listening during this meditation. You listen because you are curious what’s around you at that moment in time.

When I meditate, I’m not really focused on looking to hear what I’d like to hear. Instead, I am focused on receiving and observing what is being presented to me. Like the post yesterday, your intention matters when you are listening.

Rather than listening to see if I hear the hum and roar of the train passing by my house, I hear a dog bark down the hall. Or I hear the washing machine cleaning clothes. Or I hear a noisy neighbor playing music way too loud. I am accepting the data that is being presented to me at that time.

And I’m curious about what this new information is telling me. When I meditate and hear the dog bark down the hall, I wonder who’s dog it is? What is happening for the dog to bark? I start to create a story in my head about the situation; I can’t help it. That is part of curiosity and wonder. But then I bring myself back to the present and focus on what I do know about what’s happening. Honestly, I don’t know what is causing the dog to bark; I can only speculate. I only know what is really happening if I go outside of my apartment, find the dog and observe the situation around it. When I am present, I take the information given to me at face value and discern what needs greater investigation to discover more to the story.

In business we need to do something similar. We need to accept the information that is presented to us, focus on the numbers we see, read what is being said in the posts and listen to the calls coming into customer support and determine what’s missing from the story to satisfy our curiosity. Then we go listen to find information to fill in those blanks.

By not gathering information to create a satisfying story, we risk creating a story that we want to be true. It is so easy to do. It’s hard to return to customers to get the right information to collect more data and get the insights we need. But we need to be present and accept the information gifts customers are giving to us now.

Years ago, I was observing a usability test with a handful of colleagues. We were testing a new homepage design with four participants. Two of the participants couldn’t complete the test tasks and weren’t a fan of the design. The other two completed the tasks with some success but also weren’t liking the design. The VP was desperately looking for this redesign project that was taking way too long to complete (we were over our timeline by 6 months) to be successful, so she proclaimed it a success. My colleagues and I were confused. We witnessed a very different result.

I think the VP was looking at the situation with expectations and saw what she wanted to see. The rest of us entered the observation activity with no expectations and saw what was presented to us. They were two very different stories based on two very different listening styles based on our intentions.

When we are present, we aren’t worried about the future or how to make a program or feature successful. But we are concerned about what our customers are saying right now, why, and their thoughts regarding it. And if we don’t see data that supports our ideas or arguments, we find another way to listen to our customers – a  new survey, usability test, a focus group, a social media listening exercise.

Being present allows us to examine what we are hearing, seeing, and observing at the moment and bring curiosity to discover more about the customer’s viewpoint. In this case, there isn’t a story already created that needs facts to validate it. It is a story that is being created by the customer information being provided. The customers are telling the story; the company is listening to it. That’s why the best insights come when you have no expectations.

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Being present and listening. The best insights come when you have no expectations.

Curiosity: the motivation for being a great listener

Gearmark7 Comments

I learned the art of listening when I was a kid because I couldn’t see the blackboard. It wasn’t because I was sitting in the back of the class; I just couldn’t see well. I had no idea my vision was that poor and said nothing to my mom or dad so I could get glasses. I thought everyone saw the world that way. And it happened gradually over 3-4 years, so I had no idea that there was anything wrong. I had 20/200 vision in one eye and 20/300 vision in the other.

To function at school, I realized that if I focused and listened closely to what the teachers were saying, I didn’t need to see the board or really need to take notes because I would remember what they said. I didn’t only hear the teachers, I was listening to their words, tone, emotions, intention. I developed an amazing memory this way. I managed to get all A’s, so that told me something was working right.

I also learned that listening goes beyond hearing people talk to include observation. As a kid, when you get all A’s and are introverted, you typically aren’t very popular. I had a hard time fitting in, so when I did find a group that would let me hang out with them, I would spend a lot of time listening and observing so I could find ways to contribute best to the conversations and group. I’d find out what they liked to talk about, what topics were off-limits, how the power structures worked, and how they interacted. I was an observant kid.

I didn’t know this then, but these events were teaching me how to listen – listen to words, listen to actions, listen to behaviors – and to understand what listening really meant. I didn’t realize that people aren’t normally this observant and this was a unique skill I was acquiring. Most of us think everyone lives like we do, but I’ve been learning over the years that this is not true. It wasn’t until I started working that I realized my listening skills, and the curiosity I learned by my personal emphasis on listening, were important to business.

Curiosity comes with listening well. When I was learning how to listen, I was discovering what my teachers had to say and why. I wanted to learn. Same with getting to know new kids. I think my desire to fit in made me curious about people’s motivation. Curiosity became the ultimate driver behind my focused listening. I took this curiosity with me into my educational pursuits, work, social life – just about everywhere.

Don’t miss it!

CXTalks on May 22 will feature speakers and professionals around the Dallas/Fort Worth area discussing topics related to customer experience, user experience, andmore.

I’m giving a 10 minute talk, “Listening with Empathy to Connect.”

Don’t be shy – use my discount code for 20% off: MARY20

We sometimes don’t realize that the motivation for why we take an action speaks volumes about our true purpose. Intent is important. When most people are listening in a conversation or in class, their intent could be to listen to respond, meaning to share their thoughts or be ready to raise their hand and participate. I don’t think we realize it, but our attitudes when we are listening to respond are focused on making sure that we communicate what we want to say; it’s not always an approach concerned about understanding the other person or situation.

By listening to respond, we are objectifying the speaker. We don’t mean to do this; it’s all subconscious. We may be so excited to communicate an idea that we blurt it out, but in the process we aren’t respecting the other person’s ideas or expression (I am often guilty of this). Again, not intentional, not mean-spirited, but that’s the impact of listening to respond in that case. Or we may cut someone off while speaking because we may think they are saying something inaccurate. It’s subconscious, but at the same time, you just discounted what the person was saying. Even if the person got their facts slightly wrong, they were trying to add to the conversation and your correction prevented that. We’ll also sometimes gloss over someone’s contribution to the conversation by not closely listening. That person may need to repeat themselves in the future. The need for that speaker to do that discounts the point they were making.

In all cases, if you are listening to respond in a conversation, focused on making your points and not being curious about what the other person is thinking or trying to communicate, it will be difficult, if not impossible to listen and understand the speaker’s true message. Your purpose is always clear – to talk, to communicate, to express yourself. You aren’t focused on learning about the other person and what they are trying to express. This is the first step to connecting with someone else to build a relationship.

This is why shifting your motivation to curiosity when you are in a conversation can change its entire tone and it will immediately help you to become a better listener. When you arrive curious, you naturally want to learn more about the person communicating. You are more easily able to build empathy and validate if you really understand what the other person is saying – factually and emotionally. That means the person needs to fully express their idea, and if you don’t understand it right away – ask more questions. Be curious!

Lynn Borton hosts a talk show in Virginia about curiosity, called Choose to be Curious. I have interviewed her twice and she’s one of my favorite people to listen to, mainly because of her approach to life using curiosity. Every time I talk to her, she reminds me how being curious about people and situations really changes how you approach problems – and helps you have a happier, more positive approach to live. From the conversations with Lynn, the key element to curiosity rests in asking questions – and then listening.

Curiosity provides you with an opportunity to look at a person or situation in a new, non-judgmental way and to be open to a new perspective. This is great for learning. When you are learning, typically you aren’t judging what you are learning as right or wrong. It just is. It’s like a fact. The earth is the third rock from the sun. Nothing to debate. Water is wet. Nothing to debate. My client would prefer if I offered an online course so he could attend when he wants. Nothing to debate.

Sometimes I think we need to approach customer feedback with curiosity. The phrase “the customer is always right,” alludes to this idea. The customer’s perspective of the situation is what you need to learn about, and is all that matters. I have heard business owners express contrary reactions to this idea, some outright rejecting that a customer could be right about a situation.

However, I would challenge that statement, “the customer is always right.” There isn’t a right or wrong angle regarding a customer situation. What we are really talking about is the customer’s perspective. And the challenge of the business owner is to reach an understanding about that situation that provides a positive experience for everyone involved.

Conversations typically aren’t battles, except for debates, which are a separate matter. There is no winner or loser in a conversation. The real goal of a conversation is to find commonalities, shared experiences, connection and ultimately, build a relationship.

If you are looking to build a relationship with your customer, start a conversation with them by being curious. You can only come to consensus and understanding when your motivation is to learn what the other person’s perspective is. The first step is to be curious; the next step is to listen closely; the next step is to connect empathetically, and more on that soon.

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Curiosity: the motivation for being a great listener

What have I been up to for the past year?

Gearmark1 Comment

Last year, I decided to get a second master’s degree, this time in Corporate Communications. I attended a blended program, meaning I worked and went to school part-time (more like full-time, but who’s counting), that was virtual through IE University in Madrid.

I had four reasons:

  • Effective communication is more important than ever before, especially with the increasing adoption of technology. Today, all companies are technology companies. Chatbots use is on the rise, and natural language communication will continue to replace tapping and typing. How should talking to a computer about a company work? I wanted to better understand communication theories and ideas to better understand this.
  • Every company I worked with treated crafting a message differently. It was hard to discern best practices. I figured by taking classes in this area, I’d get a solid baseline for constructing an effective message and what to consider while doing that.
  • We live in a global world, but what does that mean? Yes, in the US we work with people in other countries, but often that means that the project is US centered – from meeting times to communication style. I wanted to broaden my understanding of the world.
  • Learn how to speak to executives and understand what they value so I could sell to them directly. I wasn’t getting the type of gigs I wanted to get for my business and expand it properly. I kept realizing that I didn’t know how to speak to them. I had a number of ah-ha moments during the school year to change all that. And I know I don’t think the same way anymore about business or projects.

It was exhilarating, exhausting, challenging, and one of the best personal growth experiences ever. Sure, it had its high and low points (I worked on over 9 papers in February alone) but I learned more than how to communicate more effectively.

  • There are many factors that influence how we each see the world. I know, that sounds obvious, but it is something that we sometimes take for granted. Our country’s government structures, national leadership, religion, values, perspective of what equality means – it all has an impact on our world experience. We say travel is important to understand another country’s values and culture, but a 2 week trip doesn’t immerse you into an environment where you can really understand a different life perspective and experience.
  • Working in a global US company doesn’t mean that you understand what it means to work with a global team. In other countries, the teams will rearrange their schedules to accommodate who pays their bills – that US company. By attending a program in Madrid, I got to experience what it’s like to be part of a team not centered in my home country. It feels very different, but it is very humbling and mind expanding. Flexibility is key for this to work.
  • Measurement is key to communication. I always knew this, but now I understand the value even more. Effective communication has a purpose. Before you craft a message, you need to define that purpose and if it isn’t clear, then it won’t do anything. I know that this is obvious, but many companies don’t do this. It’s shocking.
  • Branding is the starting point for any company. If you don’t have a strong brand, your company may have a hard time surviving. How you communicate that brand is even more important. If you don’t communicate the identity of a company properly, creating great messaging or experiences will be difficult.
  • Business matters, but people matter too. I’ve known this for years now, but it’s always a good reminder when you work on a fantastic team and get solid results, what made those results.
  • Being humble isn’t a bad thing. I think Americans at times are addicted to fame. I got an earful a few times about the thought leadership movement in the US and how it can be nonsense – and they have a point. I’ve heard some thought leaders who get the mic provide inaccurate information to their listeners. It’s shocking to hear the lies and misinformation that is spread on a daily basis.

Part of the challenge is the motives of these thought leaders – are they looking to help their audience? Or are they in it just for fame? (the ones in it for fame tend to be the ones who give the rest of us a bad reputation. I write my blog to help companies see content in a new way. I knew many thought leaders who genuinely want to help their audience. I respect and applaud them.)

If people read more and talked a little less, maybe we’d have more quality information in the world.

Had to share this video I found today, posted by a colleague on LinkedIn….it’s exactly what my classmates and professors thought about this “thought leadership” thing. Not all of us are like this, but some out there want easy fame so they contribute to the mess.

  • There’s room in the world for formal education. I often hear business experts say that an MBA isn’t necessary to succeed in business. That may be true, but man, I can now see how it helps. If you have an opportunity to get an MBA, do it. If you get an opportunity to get a master’s degree of any sort, do it. But don’t do it unless you have a clear purpose of what you want to get out of it. I think that’s the challenge of formal education – you need to have a clear goal for doing it. In my case, I achieved all of my goals, and then some. I think in the US we could use some formality (I also think that in Europe, they could use some loosening up). Formality can help drive results. Too much is bureaucracy, and we already have enough of that.

What’s next? 

Getting back to business as usual. I have missed writing my blog and working on thought leadership content. (Yes, I am one of those Americans who creates that stuff, but I like facts!). I have also missed reading for pleasure. I’ve started doing both again. I can’t wait to share ideas!

In May, I will be giving a talk about listening.

Don’t miss it!

I’ll be at CXTalks on May 22.

I’m giving a 10 minute talk, “Listening with Empathy to Connect.”

And don’t be shy – use my discount code for 20% off: MARY20

This idea has been fueling a shift in how I present my material in general. More to come. Yes, a book is in the works. Revised training videos are in the works too.

Revise the Gearmark business model. More coming soon on that! I’m really excited where this is starting to go.

It’s great to be back and I’m looking forward to everything coming up!  Can’t wait to hear from you!!

What have I been up to for the past year?

Our changing perception of ownership – 6 trends sparking the shift

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We may own a lot of stuff, but I think we are starting to have a different view of what should be owned/purchased/bought versus accessed/licensed/rented. The end desire is the same – ability to use an item to solve a problem. But how you access that solution – direct purchase or access rights – may be different. And does that matter? Or do customers care more about finding an economic and sustainable way to solve their problems?

How we view ownership in society is changing. In many respects, ownership is the goal of the buyer’s journey, the sales process, and the main interaction people have with a company. Many look to “own” a solution to a problem. We make ownership seem simple – you go to a store (brick and mortar or virtual), buy something, and bring it home. But that’s not really what happens. Subconscious decisions occur during various steps of the process to determine if a product really solves your problem, and if the product has value or worth to you at its current price point. There can be many stakeholders involved in a purchase, depending on the item, how much it costs, who will use it, the type of benefits, and how it will be maintained.

We sometimes kid ourselves into thinking that money doesn’t matter when we are solving a problem. “Money is no object.” But it is. Money is often a deciding factor for a purchase or license. We may decide that the high cost of the solution makes the problem not worth fixing and reduce the priority of the problem in our lives. We may decide that it’s ok to live with the problem as-is, or do some more research and find a free or low-cost substitute workaround. In doing this, there is a chance that we may simply not be seeing how deeply the product will change our lives for the better. We walk away from the solution because it’s too difficult to see a new way. We need help visualizing the change.

An evening gown is a great example of a complex purchase that may be influenced by money. A gown may not change your life, but it is a great example of a buy or rent scenario and the factors involved in the decision making around that.

If you attend formal functions often, it makes sense to own a gown. But there are a number of reasons why gown ownership isn’t practical:

  • Most of us attend a formal event a handful of times in a lifetime. We don’t need one in our closet.
  • A gown is usually based on high fashion trends. If you only wear one every few years, then it would go out of style before you could wear it again.
  • You don’t want to be seen wearing a gown twice by the same group.
  • Gown maintenance and storage can be costly (depending on the gown, it could take up a lot of room in a closet and require a special dry cleaner to clean it)

For many, it makes more sense to rent a gown for an event and return it the day after. Rent the Runway was founded on the premise of reducing replacement and maintenance costs. They also rent designer clothes that you may only want to wear a handful of times before they are out of fashion. They solve the problem of wearing the right outfit for the right occasion and provide a different way to finance access to the solution. The alternative solution to renting a gown for a formal event is putting the gown on a credit card (some would return the gown the next day, as unethical as that sounds…it is a common option). Another solution is simply not going to the event. But if Rent the Runway does it right (and they have), they found a way to paint a picture of a future where you get the best of all worlds – even cost-wise.

As mentioned above, the cost of ownership is tied not only to the purchase cost, but the cost of maintenance, repairs, and replacement. There are also insurances, warranties and guarantees to consider. There are pros and cons to alternatives like leasing or renting once these other costs are considered.

As an aside….I’d like to clarify the definition of a product and/or service that a company offers. Sometimes we view products from a company’s perspective – as items to be sold or items that we need to get someone to buy. From my perspective, a product or service should be seen from a customer perspective as a solution to a problem. The problem could be, for example, hunger (products in a grocery store), boredom (amusement parks, zoos, museums), or desire for knowledge (books, schools).

To clarify, if someone doesn’t buy your solution, it’s because it’s not a priority for that person. He simply found another way to solve his problem without buying from (or spending money with) you. 

Historical view of ownership
Ownership used to be related to investments and assets. People would purchase land as an investment. That land became a place to grow food and generate revenue from the excess harvested. Or they could sell the land because it increased in value as it sat there. Same with a house. Same with a horse. You bought a horse and had transportation, manpower, and wealth that could be sold to another bidder. Sure, you had to feed it and care for it, but those costs were far less than the value it gave providing transportation and other services (even the ability to reproduce and make more to sell).

In some ways, clothes were an investment (they could be repaired and worn for years). Food was an investment. A printing press was an investment. Owning a book was an investment. Jewelry was an investment.

Then came along automation and mass production. Costume jewelry. Plastic plates. Things that were not made to last. Things that required maintenance, serious repairs, and possible replacement because they were temporary, created for fun, or just a handful of uses.

Over time, even cars were not seen as an investment. They required a lot of maintenance and repairs. And replacement. Things were no longer seen as investments or assets. They were things that cost money and declined in value the longer you owned them.

According to this Financial Times article, businesses were the first in revising their perspective of ownership. Many stopped owning their offices and business spaces (e.g., supermarkets, airlines). They rented because it was perceived as more economical, flexible (they could change locations and not need to sell), and sustainable.

I see six trends influencing our views of ownership as well as our view of products and solutions and wealth/assets.

#1: Ownership isn’t really connected to wealth and investment anymore.

As stated earlier, people in the past would own something because it was an asset with long term value. Buying a good was equated with making an investment, increasing in value over time, adding to your wealth.

With the rise of mass production and consumerism, we have witnessed that not all items we buy will increase our assets and wealth. In fact, some things we buy will decrease our wealth because of maintenance and repair costs. Again, cars are a great example. Many say that a car loses its value as soon as someone drives it off the dealer’s lot. Then there are the maintenance and repair costs. After 10 or more years, there are replacement costs. It provides transportation, but are the costs worth it?

#2: Our definition of wealth and investment has changed.

What does it mean to be a wealthy person? Our definition of personal wealth is shifting from being based on money to personal experiences and balanced living. Trips are now being seen as a personal investment to broaden our views of the world and how we see ourselves in it. Education has always been perceived as an investment because you can expand how you see the world and yourself.

Sure, what is in your bank account matters when defining wealth, but that is not the only factor.

The movie Citizen Kane illustrates this best. Although the movie was made in 1941, its message is still relevant, if not more relevant, today. Charles Kane owned a mansion, the largest personal zoo, incredible artwork, but on his deathbed, he wished to find his slide, Rosebud. He had this slide as a kid before he entered the world of wealth. To him, Rosebud represented his most prized possession – his childhood with his family. It makes you wonder if he saw himself as poor, although he had many things.

This begs the question: how do you define wealth? In some ways, your perception of wealth could be a reflection of your value system.

#3: We are increasingly wanting access to things that simply can’t be owned.

You can’t “own” a song. You can write or perform a song. You can record a song for later listening. You can access that song to listen to it. But you can’t “own” it. You can own the CD that the recording is on, but that song is not technically yours. Same with a book. Someone else wrote that book. You are reading it. You may own the paper it is on, but you don’t own the tale or the thoughts or ideas outlined in the book. Those are from someone else. The person who originated the thoughts and ideas can provide access to you to read it, or keep it to himself.

In a way, the digital world and the discussion around media rights is raising a solid point about creative work and ownership. It can’t be owned. It’s about access.

We are almost extending the model of the library. The library provides access to books that we return. With the rise of the Internet, we now have access to knowledge. But we don’t own it. It’s free, we can read it at any time, but we will never own everything on the Internet. However, we can always access it.

#4: The cost of ownership (maintenance and repairs) may be too high.

The term, “total cost of ownership,” (TCO) is now commonplace. Businesses consider this when they purchase a solution. It’s no longer a consideration of what’s the cheapest solution – it’s how much the solution will cost a company or person in the time that the person “owns” the product. It’s a long-term cost view of ownership.

Rather than the car example I keep using, let’s look at a house. If you don’t go to the right appraiser or inspector, you could purchase a house with a faulty foundation or frame. There may be a leaky roof that even the previous owners weren’t aware existed. Or the shingles could have been poorly installed. Or the gutters. There is always maintenance for a house, which is why many don’t own and rent. Issues can range from structural damage after extreme weather to simple wear and tear to general improvements. There is even gardening and yard work that needs to occur.

Another example for TCO is clothes that require dry cleaning only. Dry cleaning can easily cost $10-15 per shirt depending on the dry cleaner. So a $100 silk blouse may easily cost $250 after 10 wearings.

This is why ownership doesn’t always make sense. Wearing a dry clean only shirt could easily double, if not triple, the cost of the shirt. We are told a home is an investment, but in some ways, given that it is based on property values and market rates and how much work you put into it, is it?

#5: Technology is changing so fast that ownership is no longer sustainable. 

If we look at how technology is changing so fast, we can quickly see how items are built to last a few years, if not only a few seasons. We get new technology to replace old, dated technology. We dread buying it because we know we’ll need to replace it. Sometimes, you can’t even repair it if it is broken. Further, if you can repair it, the cost is prohibitive and it is cheaper to purchase a new solution. 

The iPod is now essentially dead (and iTunes is probably shortly behind) after only 16 years with the rise of the iPhone and other media devices. Another example is ethernet cables. We no longer connect to the internet with cables (for about 5-7 years now). Dial-up access is a thing of the past. The world is wireless. I predict that keys to homes will be a past novelty in 5 years – already homes are using combination locks rather than keys. And with biometric technology on the horizon, isn’t that a better way to lock your door?

Cell phones can now be purchased using a monthly charge and replaced after 2-3 years – you turn in your phone and get a new one. I personally have an issue with this regarding wiping the data off of a device when you return it. However, options are now appearing to accommodate and better support sustainability and waste from the technology changes causing tech products to be obsolete in a handful of years.

#6: Time is valuable – owning may take longer to do than other means of accessing an item.

We believe a myth when we go to buy expensive goods: you go to a store or showroom, find what you want, give cash, take it home.

The reality of buying expensive goods: you research your options, you go to the store or showroom several times, you talk to sales people, research more, talk to customers, you research finance options, you decide on what you want to buy, you sign a bunch of paperwork, add in maintenance agreements and additional warranties, and then you bring it home.

Buying could include securing a loan, insurances, warranties, and more. It’s not always that simple.

Again, the example of a car. Renting a car for a few days takes minutes. Buying a car is a multi-month process.

An apartment can be rented in days. A home takes at least a week to purchase.

Peer sharing is a new purchase and ownership/access method that is revolutionizing how we use solutions. Airbnb for hotels and Turo for cars are a few examples that only scratch the surface of shared ownership. There are new living environments like cohousing that have smaller living spaces to own or rent with larger common spaces so you can spend more time with your neighbors building community and socializing with them – not simply stay in your room by yourself. Some space is shared; some is for yourself.

To sum up these new models, there are 3 clear options:

  • Buying – the item is your possession outright – and your responsibility.
  • Renting – you can use the solution, but someone else worries about the maintenance. To them based on their values and how they operate, ownership has value.
  • Peer sharing has you invested in the maintenance and share the cost of ownership during your time using the item.

And I’m sure there will be new models in the future to accommodate new perspectives of ownership and cost.

Conclusion

How we view ownership is changing how we access, purchase, and use items. It is also linked to how we view worth and its value. Worth and value have intertwined definitions that are unclear yet related. It also merits its own blog post.

How you view the value of something is linked to how you access it. Do you own it? Can you have it in your possession physically – can you touch it? Or is it an idea? Is this item going to bring you future wealth in some way?

Does ownership matter?
That’s the larger question. As a society, we grew to believe ownership was the answer to access to solutions to problems. But many solutions today in the sharing economy are reflecting trends that point to a different perspective. Maybe it is time to consider that ownership isn’t the only last step for a buyer’s journey or a way to measure worth. We need to expand our perspectives and consider all aspects of ownership, from maintenance and repair to replacement to stakeholder involvement to access to if something can even be “owned.”

I’m curious what you think the future will bring us regarding new models to access solutions to our problems. Please add to the comments below!

Our changing perception of ownership – 6 trends sparking the shift

B2C and B2B audiences have more in common than you think

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I continue to work on my course (yep – still working on it. It’s now coming in 2018. Here’s the new intro video. Curious about thoughts and feedback). I think the reason why I’m having a hard time getting it out is that I keep finding new issues in each section.

When I was working on the section about personas for purchasing, using, and maintaining a solution, I realized that the B2B and B2C audiences have more in common than we typically believe.

We usually say that B2B and B2C purchases are similar because marketers are selling to people. But what if we compared B2B/B2C sales not from the perspective as the B2C standard (being simpler with fewer people involved and less steps), but from the perspective of the B2B standard, with multiple stakeholders and considerations?

What if the factors that influence a sale are based on philosophical questions like someone’s perception of ownership, money, or product maintenance? What if those who will use the product and who will benefit impact the decision making process? Or if the individual is buying a solution to a problem, access to a solution, or simply accepting help or assistance?

What if a sale is really impacted by the number of stakeholders included in defining the problem – and the solution and the support?

Let’s consider a family looking to buy a car. This is a large purchase and often a decision isn’t made quickly by a single person. Larger purchases require more time for research and consideration into:

  • The product itself (technical/mechanical, quality, aesthetics)
  • Payment methods (more expensive purchases may require payment plans or savings)
  • Individual experience feedback (other product users, those who will maintain the product, social influencers and stakeholders).

I’m sure there are issues I’m forgetting and not listing here.

On the surface, the parents or adults of the family would research different makes and models, test drive the top options, investigate finance options and make a purchase decision. That sounds simple enough, but there is more to consider. Here are some questions that someone may consider actively or subconsciously, depending on the individual buyer/product user.

  • How does the buyer view car ownership?
    • Rent or own?
    • Purchase with cash or payments? Or a loan from family?
  • New or used? Which is a better value?
  • What about maintenance?
    • Who will do that? A local car repair shop or someone in the family or the dealership?
    • How often will it be needed?
    • Are parts expensive? How about labor?

We usually don’t consider the role of the children in family decisions, but these are factors as well.

  • What is the role of children in their family? How do the parents value their opinions?
    • How do the parents react to the children’s feedback?
  • Are the children old enough to start to drive that car?
  • Will the children be in the car often? Does their comfort matter?

Families sometimes include more than 2 parents and/or children. There can be extended family members to consider or friends who are as close – or closer – than family.

  • How do the parents view the opinions of others in this purchase?
    • Do their parents matter? How about others?
    • Will they use the car too?
    • What’s the proximity of the other family members? Does this impact the decision?

And there is how the family will use the car to consider regarding the experience and the benefits:

  • Long-trips vs short-trips
  • Large family vs smaller family trips – how does everyone fit in the car?
  • Are entertainment options required?
  • Does anyone get car sick?
  • Will a pet travel with you? How about the size of the pet? (Does the pet have preferences?)

As you can see, this decision is far more complicated than what you may assume. It’s not simply between the two parents in the household – it’s between the parents, possibly their parents and relatives, possibly the children, and possibly even the pet. These members could be considered stakeholders, silent stakeholders, or influencers, depending on how the parents view everyone’s opinion. The car repair shop could be a silent stakeholder or influencer (the repair shop may not fix a particular car brand so you avoid buying that car brand so you can keep going to them, or the shop may give biased advice so you get a certain type of car that is in their sweet spot for repairs so they don’t miss revenue). The technical knowledge of one of the parents to fix the car could be a factor.

As previously mentioned, how the parents view money and ownership could be a factor.

I didn’t even include the decision to rent or own the car. This gets to the definition of ownership which needs a blog post of its own.

You may be thinking that a car is an expensive purchase, so of course it is complicated. So, let’s consider a cheaper yet large purchase – a couch.

When choosing a new couch for the family living room or play room, same factors exist:

  • How does the family perceive the opinions of the children in the purchase?
  • Who will use the couch?
  • Is maintenance a factor? This could apply to fabric selection.
  • Does the opinions of extended family matter? How does the family view the opinions of others?
  • How does the family view ownership? Some may choose to rent a couch rather than buy.
  • How about money and payments? What does the family think about debt? Is a couch worth the debt?

Still too high budget of a purchase? Well, let’s now look at a family buying something less expensive and more day-to-day like a box of cookies.

  • Who likes which types of cookies? Who eats them?
  • Who should or should not be eating the cookies?
  • What’s the cost? How many are in a box? How long will they last at home before they are all eaten?
  • How does the family view baking them vs buying them (ownership)?
  • Is there budget to purchase cookies? Or is money very tight?
  • Are cookies seen as an occasional treat? Or a daily treat?
    • Is buying cookies for a family member like buying a present for them?
    • Does the family need to buy cookies for visitors who want a snack? Is that part of the family custom?
  • What’s the nutritional value of the cookies? Is there a healthier option?

Consumer decisions are not always simple and could involve many hidden stakeholders, influencers, and those who simply benefit from the purchase and use of the product. The problem is that these questions are often answered subconsciously, so we don’t know if or how it’s happening. But rest assured – it is.

This is why I propose that the B2B purchase model extends to the B2C space and we stop saying that they are different. Both businesses and individuals use the same purchase process in general –  the difference between the two is the type of solutions that are accessed (food to solve hunger or a car to help with transportation vs a data center to help with managing customer information) and the size of the group involved in the decision, from stakeholders to influencers to users to maintainers. Oh yeah, and how ownership is defined (again, that’s another post).

When it comes to B2B and B2C purchases, it’s less about what is being purchased and more about stakeholder roles and influence during the purchase decision and how they are perceived by the person accessing the solution for himself or a group.

B2C and B2B audiences have more in common than you think

Feel stressed while waiting in the TSA line? They have an automated solution for that.

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TSA security lines can cause many to feel a lot of stress when traveling. Why?  There are so many unknowns about what could happen to delay your journey to your flight. Let’s face it – there are dozens of people in front of you at the security checkpoint. Who knows what could happen?
Sometimes if we’re in a rush, we’ll get angry at those who unpack themselves to go through security. Or we’ll get upset at the elderly or handicapped who have difficulties coordinating their preparations for the metal detector.
Or you may be the culprit, not coming prepared and needing assistance.  Or something unintentionally or intentionally packed may show up as dangerous. Or more.
And the delay could last seconds or minutes.
Some thoughts I think we all have at the checkpoint:
  • This line is so long…will I make my flight?
  • Will there be enough bins?
  • It seems like everyone moves so slowly. Can they hurry up?
  • Will I hold up the line putting my stuff in the bins? I have so much to unpack.
  • Will I get my stuff back? (such a weird thought because why would these guys want our stuff? But anyway…)
  • Hurry. Hurry. Hurry.
  • Oh no! What could I have in my bag to set off a manual check?
  • What’s wrong? Will I get in trouble? I hope I don’t get in trouble.
  • I have to hurry and repack. I’m holding up this part of the line.
  • Do I have everything? Shoot – I have to recheck.
I often travel with a lot of electronic equipment and take a while to unpack, putting items into up to 4 separate bins. I know people hate me because I seem to take forever to do this. I guess some TSA agents have sensed my stress because a few intervened while I was pulling it together and reminded me to take my time. They weren’t being sarcastic. They meant it.
That improved my experience somewhat, but it’s still pretty stressful.
I was pretty surprised at DFW airport the other day when I saw that TSA is testing a solution to resolve these thoughts that we all have and make the experience 100% better. Honestly, this was probably one of the best security expeirences I have ever had. I hope they implement it nationwide. I felt relaxed, not rushed, moved at my own pace, and I didn’t feel like I was interfering with someone else’s need to move faster.

What the new experience is like

To start, for this trip I was in a security line that wasn’t really a security line because there was no one in it. There was a long line was for the TSA Pre-Check group; no line for regular travelers. Go figure!
Once the woman checked my identity and sent me onwards, I walked up to a “station,” where I picked up a bin below a conveyor belt. I put my stuff into the bin, which was HUGE (double the size of the standard bins today). And I could combine multiple items in the bin – including my computer and bag in a single bin. So convenient!
After I loaded all of my things into the bin, I went through the metal detector while the bins themselves were scanned and the TSA agent completed the standard screening.
If there was a problem during the initial screening and more inspection would be required, the bin would be “tagged” and redirected on a conveyor belt direct to an agent, next to the main screening line. The inspector would then pick up the bin, ask who owned the items, and you could watch him inspect your bag while you wait for more of your items to be screened or you repack your things.
Otherwise, it’s business as usual for the checkpoint. Your items pass inspection, you get your bin, you reassemble yourself, and you go on your way.
And don’t forget – once you are done, please be a good citizen and put your bin in a cart with the ohers.
It’s a much smoother, relaxed experience for sure. I didn’t feel I was holding anyone up and I didn’t feel rushed. Neither did the other people in line.
There are some challenges in the system. When I was there, a shoe got pushed out of its bin somehow and dropped onto the conveyor belt and the agents couldn’t get it out. Everything stopped and my items were not scanned properly and had to be rescanned. That wasn’t so ideal. However, the rest of the experience went so smoothly, it made up for that.
So, thank you, TSA! This new experience solves so many problems.
  • It reduces the stress people feel holding up others in line because they have a lot to unpack (electronic equipment, etc.)
  • It reduces the stress of someone going thru your things without you if your stuff didn’t pass the initial scanning and needed more investigation. Everything is right near you to keep an eye on it.
  • There’s far less of a line.
  • You are then responsible for unpakcing yourself and getting through the process – not responsible for the wait of others.
The most important solution TSA gave with this automation is easing the emotional tension that we feel while going through security. It didn’t just reduce stress, they removed it. Now when I think about going thru security with this new process, I think about how at ease I will feel. It’s like the peak-end rule in action.
I hope that people appreciate the new TSA automation as much as I do and it becomes the new norm. It’s not only a great application of automation, but it will improve the security experience for many travelers, making it more relaxed and easy. We could all then move at our own pace, not getting upset at people being “in the way.” Can’t wait!
Feel stressed while waiting in the TSA line? They have an automated solution for that.

You, too, can improve your organization’s customer experience 100% with a positive attitude (for free!). My expeirence at the post office.

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I used to hate going to the post office. I have had a number of bad experiences and long wait times. I used to say going to the post office was like going to the Department of Motor Vehicles – it’s slow, the people are miserable, there’s too much paperwork, it gets confusing, and if feels like you just gave a part of your life away after waiting in line (often up to an hour).

This time I had to go to the post office to drop off my tax returns. I, again, was dreading going. I feared the line, the wait, the frustration. 

But I had a completely different experience at the post office. Like, 180 degrees different. I was pleasantly surprised and couldn’t believe how great it was. 

When I walked in, an official (possibly a manager) came over to ask me what I needed. I told him I wanted to send my package certified mail. He pointed out the form on the counter and told me what to do. I was a little confused at all of the help (I’m not used to this at the post office. This was a new experience). The postmaster (I think that was who it was) let me borrow his pen so I could complete the form and get in line. I then went to the next open clerk at the counter to send my package. 

People were smiling and laughing. I commented that I wanted to go back and use the post office again. Heck, I almost bought stamps to send letters again (I used to send letters all the time. I stopped because the USPS experience became difficult – even to get stamps.). Of course, the postmaster said we hope you come back. (He gets it!)

I was in and out of the post office, successfully sending my envelope, in 10 minutes. In the past, this same task would take me up to 20-30 minutes. It was productive and a positive experience.

All that was a result from a shift in attitude from the management and employees. A positive, energetic attitude costs nothing. This new addition to that USPS location turned into a 100% free upgrade in the customer experience. 

(It’s a lesson many companies could take to improve their own experiences.)

To further explain why the experience was so great, I'll use the help of the 10 characteristics of great experiences (it's actually 9 of them with a recent 10). 

  1. The customer feels supported. Someone helped me find the right form, complete it and process it. I didn't feel like I was trying to figure out what to do alone. Someone was available to help me. Actually, many people were available to help me. Sometimes in business, we think that automating knowledge (putting it online in a knowledgebase or FAQ) is the solution for assistance. It can help, but especially for in-person and live environments, this doesn't help. Having a person available to answer questions makes a world of difference. The challenge at the USPS was always that the person who could help was at the counter. That didn't help productivity and caused long lines. Having someone available before the counter helped customers to be prepared before the counter. Now I could see a postal clerk prepared with me ready to pay.
  2. The customer doesn't feel pressured. I did feel a little pressured when I came in because I wasn’t used to getting so much help at the post office. However, they didn’t rush me and let me take my time. I could have decided to choose a different product to send the envelope and I would have gotten help. I felt like I could ask questions or change my mind. It was very liberating.
  3. The customer feels secure and confident in his or her decisions throughout the process. Usually at the post office I’m confused in general – too many forms and products to choose from. The individuals working there helped me make the right decisions through the process. Their confidence and positivity helped me feel confident. It's catchy! I knew they had it under control.
  4. The customer feels that he is experiencing progress – whatever that may mean. I got through the line quickly (there wasn’t really a line, so to speak), got to the counter and someone helped me get what was needed. I felt like the process went smoothly and I wasn't held up without a good reason. And I wasn't able to hold myself up in the process either with questions, challenges, or confusion. There was too much help available.
  5. The customer feels a sense of accomplishment for an activity. I sure did when my taxes were on their way to the tax center in less than ten minutes! That was just great!
  6. The customer feels informed – knowing all of the options available and understand that there are choices. I knew what I wanted but I felt like I could ask someone questions and get answers if needed. There wasn't a need that day.
  7. The customer has a pleasant experience with it. Everyone was smiling – how could I not? The postmaster of the location had such a great attitude! So friendly and happy. That alone makes you want to return.
  8. The customer feels it is easy to conduct business with this company.  I typically find the post office difficult to deal with because of the lines and the wait. And if I ask a question, I didn’t always get great advice. Until this time. They gave great help!  
  9. The customer feels he can trust the store/site. I left feeling that was true. Again, it was part of the positive attitude, which also bring confidence and courage. The team at that USPS location all had confidence and 
  10. Always exceed your customers’ expectations. That day, they more than exceeded my expectations. I’d say the post office reset my expectations. Now I know a great experience is possible and that I can return to that post office for a positive one. The only problem is that they have now set the bar so high, I am curious what the experience will be like round 2. If it's the same, in some ways, they have exceeded my expectations. When you experience something once, that's a fluke. When you experience something twice, that's a standard. I look forward to learning if this is the case.

Again, a significant experience upgrade can be made for free just from a shift in attitude. They created a great experience by being helpful with a smile. It's amazing how far positivity can go. Maybe I need to go buy more stamps? 

You, too, can improve your organization’s customer experience 100% with a positive attitude (for free!). My expeirence at the post office.

Marketing creates relationships…and then sales….but always success

GearmarkLeave a comment
Marketing has always been about building relationships with customers in the same way that advertising has always been about building market awareness. Sometimes, the marketing role may be misinterpreted as having similar responsibilities as sales, especially with the emergence of marketing automation, sales automation, and online stores. But in the end, sales people sell (and they build relationships – but more on that another day). Marketers should build a customer relationships.
 
(As an aside, online stores should be created by a team that includes technologists, sales people, product managers, and marketers. Marketers shouldn’t build a sales site alone.)
 
The problem that I think many organization have with marketing building relationships is how do you measure it (building relationships, that is)? That partially explains why marketing often focuses on online selling – selling is measureable. Honestly, it’s easier to demonstrate contributions and value through a click than it is to understand a perception, an emotion, affinity, and connection.
 
Rather than write about emotions and theory, I figured I'd explore how to make measuring successful relationships more practical.
 
How are relationships built in general?
  • You build awareness
  • You educate consumers about who and what the company is, the products that they offer, and the value they provide
  • You create a sense of trust
  • You determine if there is a match between needs and solutions, what’s in common, if there is a connection
  • You start to build a relationship by understanding how to best work together

 

You build awareness

If a tree falls in the forest, and no one is there to see are hear it, does it really fall? 
 
The same is true with products. I hate the expression "if you make it they will come.” It's absolute rubbish. If anything, it’s overconfidence and arrogance at its best. Most people in the world aren’t waiting at the edge of their seats to get any company's product. Believe it or not, it's true for Apple too (ever notice how Apple builds hype before a product launch? How there are "leaks"? Or they have a big announcement? Or let you know something's coming?) Prospects may not even know they have the problem a company is solving. They need someone to reach out and tell them about their problem and its solution, introducing the ideas to them in some way. 
 
This is where PR, television ads, online articles, social media advertising and more happen. As a marketer, you reach out to your prospective audience/customers where they are. You get them to the forest to witness the tree fall.
 
This is true even in real-life relationships. You can’t make friends with someone if you haven't met him yet. To take this further, you can meet a lot of people but to find people you can be friends with takes finding the right people, or people who share similar values.
 
Measurements for awareness: 
This is where I think the problem happened with marketing – tracking the influence of an activity to a sale. Sure, there is a relationship between marketing activities and sales, but this isn’t a one-to-one relationship. There are many activities and interactions that lead to a sale. The key measurement for success, though, is to determine if you are reaching the right audience.
 
This is why personas matter. You can have many people liking your social media posts, reposting them, and more, but if you aren’t reaching the right audience, then you gathered a bunch of witnesses who saw the tree fall but can't share that news with others (they couldn't get to the right forest).
 
The best way to measure awareness isn't just getting someone's attention. It's about getting the right person’s attention.
 

You educate consumers about who and what the company is, the products that they offer, and the value they provide

What do you really sell? To answer that question, you need to ask yourself what is the problem your company is really solving? That’s what your prospects and customers care about.
 
The product you sell isn’t all that you sell. Sure, someone gives you money to own it, but you are selling value that the product will give them in their lives. You are selling what that product or service can do for someone, how it can improve their life or make life easier. 
 
And that’s the catch. Value is personal and hard to define. A device can provide value to someone by saving them time, energy, money – a number of things. But you need to balance that with what it means to your customer. What is their benefit with this value? What are the gains – and how will they use those gains?
 
Saving money can mean using that same money for something else (a hobby, a trip, clothing). Saving time could be put towards time with family or hobbies. Saving personal energy could be used for other projects. And the list goes on.
 
Your prospect needs to understand the value your company provides, the problem your product/service solves, what you do, and why you do it. And they need to understand all of this before considering having a deeper conversation about how this directly applies to them and purchasing.
 
And this works in real-life with friends too. You may choose a friend candidate from a pool of acquaintances, but if you discover that your candidate has very different personal values than you do, he or she may not be a match after all, right?
 
Measurement for education:
 
A success metric at this step is determining if a member of the target persona has a second, third, or more engagement with the company. The person returns to read the Web site, a white paper, the blog, another social media post. Achievements at this stage focus around a customer or prospect returning to the business to learn more. By returning to the site or blog, the prospect/customer is providing the company an opportunity to build rapport with them. 
 
What emerges from this step is a customer/prospect starting to see the company as a helpful expert. They should be starting to see the value the company can offer them.
 
 
Create a sense of trust
 
Trust is key to building any type of relationship. I have written a number of pieces on this. If a prospect doesn’t trust you, you won’t go far. 
 
Stephen Covey's analogy of the bank of trust/emotional bank account is completely accurate and applicable in all situations, especially between customers and prospects. 
 
To sum up what the emotional bank account represents is sharing experiences with someone else to learn about who they are. People can tell you who they are, but nothing beats learning who someone is by observing and witnessing their actions. Can you share a confidence with them? Can you have difficult conversations? Different perspectives? Respect the similarities and differences?
 
 
How can you build trust with a prospective customer?
  • Let customers get to know your company through reviews – the good and the bad. People like to know how others experienced your company, how they see you and know you. Product and company reviews are a great way to get information and insights quickly.
  • Get certified! Certifications are important. Certifications build credibility with customers. They provide that someone else besides you (and your mother) thinking your product is a solid solution that offers great value. 
  • Consistent communication. Stay on point in your company's messaging and information. Being inconsistent in your message about what you sell, what your product does, and who you are doesn’t help a customer get to know you or trust you. Consistency builds trust. 
  • Stay squeaky clean in the media. Have a positive reputation and image. What does the media have to say about your company and product? That makes a difference. That reflects your actions, which is also who you are. People also watch to see if you clear negative perceptions quickly and how you do it. It's not just the what – it's the how. How people and company do things tells you who they are.
  • Take opportunities for shared experiences. Always. Always try to interact with customers directly. 
 
Measurement for trust:
 
How people in the world perceive you is a measurement of trust. When people call customer support and services, do they give your company the benefit of the doubt? Or is it accusatory? Do callers micromanage your staff? Or are they open to be updated?
 
What are their sentiments of your company on social media? In reviews? Does your company have many positive reviews?
 
What are the articles about your company in the media saying? Is it about corporate achievements? Or is it about failings? 
 
There are ways to measure trust. Trust may be an ooey-gooey sentiment, but you can find a way to show that your company is trusted by prospects and customers by measuring how they see you.
 
 
You determine if there is a match between needs and solutions, what’s in common, if there is a connection
 
Does what the company sell solve customer and prospect problem? Does it improve their lives? Does your customer or prospect even want to solve that problem?
 
Those are the questions that can determine if there is a match between the needs of a prospect or customer and your company. Both sides, especially the customer side, need to see and acknowledge the match. The customer needs to understand that they indeed have a problem, that the company's solution is necessary for their life to improve. 
 
This is where the initial stages of a partnership happen. And a partnership isn't only about a sale – it's how the company can help another company or person be successful.
 
In real life, you determine if there is a match with a prospective friend. You determine if you have shared values, if you share interests, if you share perspectives. Over time, you share experiences to get to know each other. Over time, these experiences determine if there is a connection, or a connection will build. 
 
How do you measure a connection?
 
We have officially reached the step between a prospect and customer and a company – lead gen! This step is less about a prospect/customer understanding what you sell. It's a realization that your company can help them solve their problem, that the company can help them improve their life, and the company can provide value to them in some way. At this step, the prospect/customer is admitting that they have a problem and they need help. 
 
 
You start to build a relationship by understanding how to best work together
 
When both sides realize that there is a match, they find a way to make it work. This happens during the sales discussion when both sides determine how the customer can best use the product. It’s at this step that someone wants to trial use your product, see how it works in their systems, see how it benefits them. This is the step right before the sale – and right after.
 
In real-life, this is the step where a friendship and relationship really builds. It's when both sides come together and see that they can create something bigger than themselves.
 
A relationship is something bigger than its parts. This is true for a corporate partnership, a marriage, a friendship. But how do you measure this?
 
Case studies and stories – the stories can be from employee wins as well as corporate wins. Relationships are about collaborations that push people forward. That's how you measure success. 
 
And failures? What about them? Well, there are really no failures. There are learnings. There are areas for improvement. 
 
As long as value is perceived, there is success, and people want to know about it.
 
 
 
In the new world where the lines between online and offline experiences are blurred, we'll be returning to building customer relationships like we did long ago. It's so important to build a relationship with your customer. Even if that customer or prospect doesn't become a lead, that person could refer others to your company and solution. A sale is a result of a relationship, and given that relationships aren't linear, who knows where any relationship will lead. Well, we do know – relationships always lead to success in some way.
 
Marketing creates relationships…and then sales….but always success