Apple… is it time to break up?

2018-11-04T00:56:23+00:00

Apple hit my customer experience sweet spot, then broke it. Was it down to poor customer experience redesign? Is your new offering destroying the very value that won your customers in the first place? The situation… I’ll never forget Father’s Day 2004… Not only was it my first Father’s Day with the arrival of my son Lucas a few months earlier, I also received my first ever father’s day present, an iPod from my wife. It was my first Apple product. As a huge music fan, and a faithful Walkman and Discman user over the years, the iPod was a [...]

Apple… is it time to break up?2018-11-04T00:56:23+00:00

Flip your perspective, not the bird!

2018-11-04T00:57:30+00:00

"Who cares what I think? Especially when it comes to hearing my side of a road rage story." Well that is what I figured when I was nearly run off a suburban road by a ute full of tradies. They didn’t care for my opinion. They just yelled at me for being in their way. So, rather than yell my opinion at them, I flipped my perspective and found a more powerful result. Let me set the scene … I was riding my bicycle on my usual path to work. It is only a 15 minute ride. I’m not a slipstream MAMIL [...]

Flip your perspective, not the bird!2018-11-04T00:57:30+00:00

From customer-phobic to Customer-focused!

2016-06-14T02:45:05+00:00

Are you arachnophobic, agoraphobic or acrophobic? If not, you’ll certainly know someone who is. Fearing spiders, crowded places and heights is not always a bad thing as each of these has an inherent aspect of danger. A phobia is an unhelpful anxiety or fear of a situation or thing. If you are scared of something and it can harm you; that is a good thing. If the fear is present, but the danger is not, such as seeing pictures of spiders or approaching the window in a skyscraper, that is unhelpful and hence, is a phobia. What is Customer Phobia? [...]

From customer-phobic to Customer-focused!2016-06-14T02:45:05+00:00

Sales or Service?

2014-04-28T00:21:37+00:00

When you purchase a product the sales person often tries to ‘add on’ or sell another related item in the name of service. Cynically I view this ’service’ as a way to increase the retailer’s profits and have rarely purchased the additional ‘add on‘ item. That is up until now. I don’t camp.  It is beyond me why anyone would willingly leave a perfectly dry house with a comfortable bed with 1000 percale cotton sheets and share an evening with creepy crawlies and unpredictable weather. This aversion stems from my first Girl Guiding ‘under canvas’ experience that ended with me [...]

Sales or Service?2014-04-28T00:21:37+00:00

Reinvigorate your Customer Experience

2014-04-28T00:22:46+00:00

It’s never to late to reinvigorate your customer experience! Have you ever felt your competitors have overtaken you? As new entrants they’ve been nimble and responsive to customer needs. In contrast you’ve invested in systems and infrastructure that make it harder to adapt quickly. What options do you have to respond, to let customers know you’re still around? Like many in Australia I have done my fair share of flying. I recently travelled to Perth to facilitate a customer strategy workshop for a client. When it comes to domestic plane travel I am a big fan of Virgin. They are [...]

Reinvigorate your Customer Experience2014-04-28T00:22:46+00:00

Who Cares for your Customers?

2014-04-28T01:48:35+00:00

When we think of customer support, we generally think of the important role that our front-line sales and service people play, but it’s critical to think carefully about the role that every person plays in supporting your customer experience. I mentioned that my new car broke down a few weeks ago (Give your Customers a Break).  The breakdown was one thing, but when they damaged the car trying to get it out of my garage, the issue became a lot more complex. After 5 weeks, 4 re-sprays, 3 attempts to collect the car only to find it wasn’t up to scratch, 2 customer [...]

Who Cares for your Customers?2014-04-28T01:48:35+00:00

Keep your shirt on… again!

2014-04-28T01:52:40+00:00

Is a superior product enough to build customer satisfaction, or is it important to take a more holistic approach to your customers and their experience? For those of you who read my earlier blog on my search for a ‘no-crease’ cotton business shirt, you may be interested to know what happened next… I think it will surprise you! I take up the story seeking to find more shirts like the amazing Abelard one I discovered recently. My first option was to browse the Abelard website. Why pay a mark-up for something when I can buy it online? I knew my [...]

Keep your shirt on… again!2014-04-28T01:52:40+00:00

Give your customers a break!

2014-04-28T02:00:00+00:00

Aligning your organisation systems, customer experience and employee engagement to your strategy can create a truly customer focused business.  Misalignment can leave your customers shaking their heads… and for some organisations this must happen on a daily basis. My car was playing up last week – intermittent, but potentially hazardous.  After a couple of days of believing I must have been at fault (customers do that all the time!) I decided to call the service department of my local dealer to see if they could check it out while I was in the area.  Bear in mind, this claims to [...]

Give your customers a break!2014-04-28T02:00:00+00:00

The ‘Peak End’ Rule

2014-04-28T02:02:26+00:00

The ‘peak end’ rule applies to customer experiences where the process may be drawn out over a few hours, days, weeks or even months, and looking back we tend to only remember two aspects of the experience. The emotional peak, when the experience was at its the most frustrating or enjoyable, and the end, how did it eventually turn out. Once such instance occurred just last week when my wife and I were lucky enough to attend a concert, which doesn’t happen too often these days. The opportunity to see Paul Kelly and Neil Finn playing together rolling out more [...]

The ‘Peak End’ Rule2014-04-28T02:02:26+00:00