Why was I there?  They were interested, like many other CEO’s in the area, in learning more about the Social Media Revolution and how his new phenomena of communications could impact their businesses.  They were eager to hear my message about what the “tools of Social Media” are and how they fit together to become this powerful business communications force.

I shared the concepts and advantages of blogging, social networking (myspace, facebook, LinkedIn, and twitter) and the other elements that make up this powerful suite we call Social Media.  By sharing a number of examples about how companies are using these today, they were able to understand how Social Media will be changing the landscape of how we communicate, build relationships, improve the customer experience and achieve business goals faster and cheaper than ever before.  The group responded very favorably and asked some excellent questions.

The Bellevue Chamber of Commerce, led by Betty Nokes, CEO and President, is really looking ahead to how they can personally use Social Media to build even more value for their members and the businesses in the Bellevue community.  I commend Betty for her willingness to allow us to share a somtimes shocking message about how dramatically this landscape is changing.  I also want to personally thank Jim Frank of Human Capital Resources, a human capital solutions company, for introducing me to Betty and the Chamber.  Jim attended one of our early seminars and became “enlightened” and felt this was an important message to share with his fellow EBRT members – thanks Jim, the members are all a little better off today because of your willingness to share our message.

I also wanted to recognize a few of the members of EBRT that I had the opportunity to talk with at the event.  Donna Shirey of Shirey Contracting, sponsors of the Zero Energy Idea House  (check this out – way cool), Nancy Cho, President and CEO of Oki Golf, Dave Ferguson, CEO of Click Engineering, Jim Hebert, Hebert Research, John Parkey, and George Bartell of Bartell Drugs - just to name a few.  What a great group of people.  I would encourage anyone to join the Chamber and in particular the EBRT group.  Definitely call Betty if you are interested.  This group will definitely make things happen in our area…

Blaine

Blaine Millet

Customer Experiences Inc.

twitter: @BlaineMillet

This is an executive networking group that has been around for 90 years and has a very rich history and heritage for helping the members build new relationships in the community and help each other out in growing their businesses by sharing opportunities.  The executive Director, Glenna Thomas, was really looking out for her members by allowing us to come in and talk about a very leading edge and yet at times controversial topic – Social Media and Social Networking.  My hat goes off to her and Dennis Tyler of DialPro Northwest, for taking the chance on having us speak to their members and introduce some leading edge information. 

The group seemed to really enjoy being exposed to how Social Media is the next REVOLUTION in communications and how it can be used to help them in their businesses.  This was our 7th seminar on the topic of “Social Media for CEO’s” in the past few months and as usual, much of the information was very new to the audience.  I was very encouraged at how receptive the owners and executives were to how this could transform their businesses.

If you are in the Seattle area, I would strongly encourage you to contact Glenna and get more information about the group.  While we didn’t get a chance to meet everyone, we did meet a few great people afterwards, some of which were: Peter Frix of Frix Technology Group, John Kane from Kane Environmental Inc., Jim Conway from The Farwest Group, Diana Ehli, Dexter Barnes from Seattle Dental Associates and Linda Bianchi from both Windemere and the Vashon Island Chamber of Commerce - just to name a few. 

Again, THANK YOU Glenna, Dennis and The Seattle Executives Association for allowing us to crash your luncheon – much appreciated and very enjoyable.

Blaine

Blaine Millet

Customer Experiences Inc.

twitter: @BlaineMillet

What we need is for the media to point out all the things that are RIGHT and GOOD for a change – where are those journalists and media people when you need them.  Well, I found one and I wanted to dedicate this post to him and his publications/media.  His name is JOE KENNEDY, publisher of EastsideBusiness.  I just read his column, “Words from the Publisher” and I was so pleased and excited I wanted to CONGRATULATE him and HONOR him for taking a stand and leadership in this area – WAY TO GO JOE!!

Allow me to quote some of what he says directly from this column.

Despite the type of news you may be getting from other media outlets, Eastside Business and Eastside Life newspapers are choosing to stay positive – it sure beats the alternative!  in fact after almost 4 years in print, I finally made my first company policy – we will not use the “E” or “R” words in our publications.  We will stay positive and want you to as well.

Joe, I can’t compliment you enough – this is AWESOME. Does this mean everything is fine and all the bad will go away – certainly not, nor is he saying it will.  But while we are sitting in all the muck, why not look up at the sunshine and the sky and enjoy the beauty around us – that is what I believe Joe is saying.  None of us will be better off for continuing to talk about the problems – only the solutions.  I, for one, will be the first one to walk behind Joe.  Attitude is everything and we have shown that as a nation we don’t let this kind of thinking and talking take us down.  So to ALL the other media sources out there – GET A LIFE AND GET THE MESSAGE – we don’t want to hear about it any longer.  Thanks Joe.

Blaine

Blaine Millet

Customer Experiences Inc.

With that being the case, now is the time NOT to forget about your customers and clients.  While you may think everyone is focused on their own business and doesn’t care as much about others, i would challenge that level of thinking.  This is EXACTLY the time when your customers are watching you closely to see how you react to such negative news.  All eyes are upon you and your employees.  

Now is the time for calmness and focus on your customer.  Why?  Because they are getting beat up as much or potentially more than you are and worrying as much or more than you are.  This is the time when you can build some real credibility with them.  If you act in an irrational and panic mode like the rest of the people out there they will see you in that light.  However, if you act in a calm and constructive manner, who do you think they will ALWAYS want to turn to in times of crisis?  You’re right, its YOU.

This is where you reach out to them and see if you can be of even more assistance than you probably are already.  This is where you contact as many of them as possible, starting with your best and most loyal customers, and work your way down the list.  You want to see how they are doing, see how you can help, see how you can work closer together to figure this whole mess out.  Yes, I make it sound so simple and we all know it isn’t.  But even if you can’t work things out or do certain things, the point is you ASKED.  Asking is more than half the battle at showing people you care.  Asking is what separates you from the pack.

I always remember when I worked at IBM and had lots of tickets to events.  I would invite 3 times more people than I had tickets for. Why?  Because i knew that many customers wouldn’t be able to attend the event and if by chance (which rarely happened) I got more people saying yes than I had tickets, no problem, someone else always had extras.  But the real value is that I asked 3 times as many customers and just by asking they felt as good about it as if  they had gone with me.  

So the moral of this message is simple.  Go against the herd – lead.  Be the one that is out there showing you CARE and ASKING what you can do to help each other out and working TOGETHER to solve some of these short-term issues every business is going to be facing.  This is one of the best times to build loyalty and create an advantage over your competitors.  Don’t sit back, get out there and talk to your customers and come up with a plan of how you could potentially help each other.  Crisis brings out one of the best times to build relationships.  So don’t just mope around and complain – that won’t help anyone.  Instead, avoid the panic and take the lead and build some LOYALTY with your customers.

Hope this helps…

Blaine

Blaine Millet

Customer Experiences Inc.

What we ARE going to do is EXPAND upon what we have been talking about over the past year by adding one of the HOTTEST and most TALKED ABOUT aspect of the market – SOCIAL MEDIA.  We have been working in this area for a while now and there is such a natural connection between Customer Loyalty, Customer Experience, Employee Retention and building a dominating competitive advantage we decided it was time to bring you, our readers, kicking and screaming into this world.  You might ask  yourself, “Why are we doing this now?” 

Simple, we have always tried to be on the leading edge in helping our customers and readers – give them tools that help them be “first to market” and leaders rather than simply following their competitors.  This is one of those areas where one of three things will happen.  The train has left the station and you get to choose whether you jump on it, watch it go by or get run over by it – your choice.  For our loyal readers and all the new ones, we want you to not only be on the train but driving the train in the direction you choose and not in the direction your competitors choose – make sense?

So what does all this mean to you?  It means we will now share with you our thinking, our experience and insights into what the latest thinking and developments are in this area.  Our goal is to help move you along both the “learning curve” and the “execution curve” so you can come on board at whatever pace you choose and become part of the social media revolution at the level you can absorb.  Regardless of what you choose to do, you will be more educated and knowledgeable and understand the benefits of moving more into this new direction.  Suffice it to say, it is here and it is going to be staying around for quite a while.

So stay tuned, hold on and fasten your seat belts – its going to be a fun and profitable ride for you and your organization.  As we begin to launch into this, please let me know what you think and where we can focus our education as we begin to bring you leading edge content.  You can either leave a comment on this blog or shoot me an e-mail at bmillet@ceinc.info.  Either way, I would love to hear from you.  Thanks.

Blaine

Blaine Millet

Customer Experiences Inc.

The quote was, “Not everything that counts can be counted, and not everything that can be counted counts.”  So how does this relate to customers?

Simple.  It really relates to a number of areas but let me pick just one – CUSTOMER SATISFACTION SURVEY’S. This is a tool that is basically worthless, in my opinion, today as a tool for caputuring differentiating data from your customers.  Instead, it has been used as a “validating tool” to simply validate what it is the organization “thinks” is important to their customer.  Problem is the traditional “Bell Curve.”  Only the extreme ends (those that love you and those that hate you) generally provide feedback so it is automatically skewed from the start.  The customers in the middle (the other 80%) don’t bother either because they are merely “satisfied” or they don’t care – either because they know their information won’t change anything or they truly don’t care enough to respond.  Either way, bad information.

So, back to the Einstein quote on counting.  Think about his quote in regard to customer survey’s.  “Not everything that counts can be counted” is the first part. Exactly!  What is most important to the customer isn’t something that can be tallied in a survey.  Rather, they want to be heard and give you their opinion and what Promises they want you to keep – not checking boxes.  Is it more work?  Yes. Is it more valuable?  Absolutely.  The voice of the customer, giving you their own words is invaluable, most companies are just too lazy to take the time to go get it. 

The second part of the quote supports the first part, “…not everything that can be counted counts.”  This basically says the same thing as above – just because you “can” count it (as in a survey with numbers and statistics) doesn’t mean it really counts.  Having numbers doesn’t make it right nor does it make it accurate – it just is something that has numbers behind it.  Are numbers good?  Absolutely – but only when used to capture “valuable” information used for the benefit of improving the customer experience each and every day.

So Einstein was spot on in regard to how to capture valuable information from your customer and how to use it – he just didn’t know it.  Put his saying on your wall and next time ask your customer which they would rather have – someone asking them specifically what Promises they want you to keep or handing them a survey and a pen.

Blaine

Blaine Millet

Customer Experiences Inc.

Let me start by saying I LOVE Southwest Airlines – not just as an airline but for who they are and what they stand for.  I am very passionate about customer experiences and I don’t understand why customers have to put up with bad ones.  One of my key missions is to help organizations figure out how to deliver them consistently and repeatedly and earn the customers TRUST and LOYALTY.  Because of this passion, Southwest Airlines is one of those rare companies that does this day in and day out and as such delivers consistent and repeated profitability to their shareholders – you just have to flat out respect that.

They don’t do it with smoke and mirrors either – they do it with plain old transparency and putting all their cards on the table for the customer.  Their Mission Statement is SIMPLE and one that everyone gets, its to ”Follow the Golden Rule — to treat people the way that you want to be treated, and pretty much everything will fall into place.”  Don’t you love it – simple and easy yet extremely powerful and executable.  This is the way every organization should function in my opinion – keep things simple so everyone, from the board room to the factory floor gets what you are about and what their job is in serving the customer.

Customer Service is Colleen’s passion.  She goes on to say that 85% of her job is “dealing with worker issues – what she called “pro-active customer service to our employees”.  She states that “the underlying idea that a happy and motivated workforce will essentially extend that goodwill to Southwest’s customers. When we have employees who have a problem, or have employees who see a passenger having a problem, we adopt them, and we really work hard to try to make something optimistic come out of whatever the situation is, to try to make people feel good whatever the dilemma is that they’re dealing with.” Simple and straightforward and everyone gets it.

The article and online interview are something in would encourage you to read and view – it is inspiring and emotionally uplifting to any business of any size.  Colleen isn’t a Harvard MBA, she is a down home, speak and act from the heart type of person that can instill Herb Keller’s passion from when he started Southwest to all their employees and customers.  Truly a case study any university should analyze.  Way to go Colleen and Southwest Airlines – keep up the great work!!  Sometimes Simple really is Better.

Blaine

Blaine Millet

Customer Experiences Inc.

There have been a number of exciting things going on which has taken me away from my blog and over the next several weeks and months I will share more of that with you, our readers.  As you notice, I have also put a new “temporary face” on the look and feel of the blog.  I say interim as this might not last too terribly long, depending on how soon we can launch some other themes.

I am also in the midst of writing another book but can’t disclose much, if any of the details about it to you as of yet.  In fact, it is in a related yet unrelated area of what I have always been passionate about and focused on for many years – Strategy, Customers, Sales and Business Development and General Business Management.  More on that later…

Also, there will be another blog, in addition to this one that will also be launched sometime in the next few months that will start to talk about this new are of focus.  More on that a bit later as well.

So, the long and short of it is that the BLOG IS BACK and will be full of fresh new ideas, comments, articles and all the other things our readers have asked for and grown to enjoy from our Customer Experiences Blog.  Thanks for your patience and please send me your comments, ideas and suggestions on things you want to know in any of these areas.  If I don’t have the answer or any good ideas at hand, I have a very deep resource base where I can get them.  You can send any of them directly to me at: bmillet@ceinc.info and just let me know they are for the blog.

Again, thanks for your patience and LET’S GET ROLLING…

Blaine

Blaine Millet

Customer Experiences Inc.

OK, so i might be just a little biased, they chose to print my last two articles as part of their monthly newsletter to CEO’s.  My latest article, “Be Disruptive, Build Loyalty and Consistently Beat the Competition – 5 Steps to Succeeding in Difficult Times” was chosen as their feature article in the Customer Service category.  We thank them for that and hope it allows many more readers to access the article.  I have had great success and feedback so far on the article – most downloads ever from our site. 

Back to the CEO Refresher site.  One of the things I really like about the site is how well organized it is and easy to find information of interest.  They also add lots of new fresh content every month and spend time to quality control what goes into their newsletter and site.  Not very many these days seem to take the time to check what goes up so it is nice to see.  I would also recommend the subscription, even though it might cost you a few bucks – well worth it from what I can tell.

So check them out, it will be worth your while and worth the bookmark.

Blaine Millet

Customer Experiences Inc.

I just recently released an article, “Marry Your Customer – Creating Trusted, Loyal Relationships,” on our website, www.customerexperiencesinc.com, to share some thinking I have had for quite a while.  It also supports what I have been seeing in various client situations and since it is so “simple yet powerful,” I wanted to share my thinking and some additional insights in this area.

What I absolutely find amazing and appalling in organizations is how leadership tells their people to act one way toward their customer that goes against all the principles of building trusted relationships – all for the almighty dollar.  This is just plain wrong!  The organizations we see that have the greatest success, create linkage between what the leadership stands for and the employees and this is then demonstrated to their customers through their actions.

Let me give you an example.  When employees go to work, they bring with them their own set of “ethics” or what I call “Employee Character.”  Included in this Employee Character is an underlying component of wanting to build trusted relationships with co-workers, leadership, customers, suppliers, partners, etc.  And they know how to do it.  They understand how important it is to a successful personal relationship to make and keep your Promises - they do it every day when building their own relationships outside of work.  So now, they enter the workplace and one of the first things that happens is they are asked (directly or indirectly) to make Promises that they know they can’t keep – at least not consistently. 

For most employees, this doesn’t work.  They are at odds with this and whether they recognize it outwardly or not, they are violating their own character to act this way.  This conflict between the employer and the organization is one of the greatest frustrations in employees and one of the key reasons for employee defection – or leaving the organization.  But when there is great alignment between “Leadership Character” and “Employee Character” and the Promises they are asked to keep are actually supported by leadership – great things happen.  The organization has become both “customer-focused” and “employee-focused” instead of “operationally focused.”  This is a huge distinction and one that separates the best organizations from all the others.

So I won’t steal the thunder of the article and allow you to read how all this comes together but let me leave you with one parting thought.  Promises Made = Promises Kept is one of the most basic concepts an organization can embrace and one that has some of the most profound impacts on short and long-term profitability, Loyalty and ongoing sustainability.  It is just interesting so few understand it or have implemented it today.

Take a minute and let me know what you think?  Are you seeing the same thing in your organization?  Does this make sense to you or not?  Do you think this is off base and isn’t the way it works and you have other ideas?  Do you agree and would like to see your organization operate like this?  Any and all comments are welcome – as we continue to explore this area and write about it, we would love to incorporate others experiences and thoughts.  Thanks.

Blaine Millet

Customer Experiences Inc.