Let me give you a very simple answer.  It is NEVER too late to do planning.  It is ALWAYS better to start than to think you missed the window and wait.  So the rule to never forget – when in doubt, PLAN!!

I just read an article by Gladys Edmunds in USA Today about planning and it made me want to share it with you with one addition to what she is saying.  Her article, “Here’s a Mission for you – Make a Great Statement,” talks about the importance of having a crisp and clear Mission Statement.  She gives a couple of good examples and shares some experiences on companies that don’t even have one, whether it is a good one or not.  I completely agree – a Mission Statement is important for any organization.  

However, it is only one piece to the puzzle.  The Mission is simply your statement of what you are going to do over XXX years to help you achieve your Vision, guided by your Values.  In essence, it falls out of your Vision.  The key to a Mission statement is that it helps put some framework around your ability to create Strategic Goals and subsequently Actions to achieve these goals.  So is a Mission Statement important? Absolutely, but just as important as the other components of planning.

OK, now here is where I extend the conversation.  Planning WITHOUT ACTION is a waste of time.  The best developed plan isn’t worth the paper it is written on if there isn’t a steady, consistent focus by top management (yes, the CEO and President) to make sure it gets implemented and action occurs.  I know, this sounds pretty basic.  But I have to tell you that in my 15 years of doing strategic planning for companies, I see a number of them never get implemented – how sad.  There is such great thinking and great ideas developed by some incredibly bright people that never see the light of day because they don’t move beyond the planning stage.

So my piece of advice for the new year is simple. PLAN, PLAN, PLAN – just make sure you IMPLEMENT the plan so you can celebrate all your hard work and efforts.  And remember, “celebrate the little things because they always add up to something great when you do.”

Happy New Year,

Blaine

Blaine Millet

Customer Experiences Inc.

Let’s look at Differentiation. Customer Experience 2.0 focuses on helping companies understand the promises their customers want them to make and using the tools of social media to help deliver these promises.  We see over and over again that companies simply don’t understand the promises their customers want.  If they don’t understand the promises they want then they can’t deliver the experience they want either.  Those organizations that understand this can deliver a truly unique and exceptional experience, leading to Differentiation from their competitors.  This is a significant step in building a sustainable competitive advantage.

Now let’s look at Sales.  This is simply being able to increase the sales of your organization.  It’s one thing to have some really cool, leading edge tools to offer your customers and others.  However, if they don’t help you increase your sales, what value do they really have at the end of the day?  We believe all the social media tools are terrific, but it’s only when they are combined with delivering a better customer experience do they allow companies to increase sales.  This is about increasing sales while delivering a differentiated customer experience.

There you have it – the two key ingredients that makes Customer Experience 2.0 an approach and framework we believe can help companies create a great competitive advantage.  More to come in this area…

Blaine

Blaine Millet

Customer Experiences Inc.

I was reading an article in the Harvard Business Publishing Blog on Warren Buffet and his views of this whole economic mess when I came across a great comment at the bottom of the article.  The article was titled, “The Wisdom of Warren Buffet,” by Bill Taylor.  Bill writes about a variety of topics and this one was spot on in the way we should think about “leading” and “innovation” and our “competition.”

Bill pulled some comments from a speech Warren Buffet gave where he said,

At one point, his interviewer asked the question that is on all our minds: “Should wise people have known better?” Of course, they should have, Buffett replied, but there’s a “natural progression” to how good new ideas go wrong. He called this progression the “three Is.” First come the innovators, who see opportunities that others don’t. Then come the imitators, who copy what the innovators have done. And then come theidiots, whose avarice undoes the very innovations they are trying to use to get rich.

The beauty of his down to earth logic was spot on in my opinion – innovation should never be stopped but watching great innovation be turned into worthless riches because of idiots is not what we should support.  Lehman Brothers and many others have shown us how this can happen and how great ideas can be turned into garbage when irresponsible idiots get a hold of it – thanks Dick Fuld.  Ok, now you know how I feel about that situation.

But there is one other point I want to offer to you to consider that was hidden at the very bottom of Bill’s article.  This, to me, was the point we should all consider when it comes to our customers.  Customer Innovation should be top of mind all the time for everyone in the company, especially any “C-Level” executives.  After all, they are the only ones that still write us checks.  But beyond customer innovation, one needs to consider “leading” with how they can create a better customer experience and by doing that is rewarded by greater Loyalty and greater Riches.  This is the way true customer innovation should occur.  There are others out there that are the Imitators and want to copy the leaders, nothing wrong with this at all – it helps the customers and raises the bar for everyone.  What we want to see weeded out are the “idiots” that enter the game and screw it up for those doing the right things.  Hopefully some of the economic challenges will purge these from the system – one can only hope.

OK, so what is the great quote I was referring to?  It was,

“The curse of humanity is that people feel compelled to look over their shoulders,” Professor Warwick told my colleague Polly LaBarre a while back. “Happiness and self-esteem depend on rank and relative income. We are consumed by relativism. If your neighbor drives up in a new Lexus, and you’re still driving the Toyota that you were perfectly satisfied with yesterday, you start to become dissatisfied.  So don’t use the financial crisis as an excuse to stop taking chances or downsize your ambitions. But do use the crisis as an opportunity to take stock of what really matters–and to stop looking over your shoulder.”

 

My thinking – STAY THE COURSE, remain a LEADER and INNOVATOR in the way you support and serve your customers and don’t look over your shoulder and drive by the rear view mirror.  

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.

However, I heard a commentary on our local news radio station, KOMO 1000, yesterday that I felt compelled to share with you as it has direct linkage to what we are all about – building LOYALTY with your CUSTOMERS and helping you build your own COMPETITIVE ADVANTAGE and DIFFERENTIATION in the marketplace.

As you might suspect, it had to do with Vice-presidential candidate Sarah Palin from Alaska.  The commentator started to talk about the selection of such a different candidate and how the liberal Democrats were blasting McCain for his choice of running mates – which is what in the news every day.  His point was that if the Democrats thought Sarah Palin was such a poor choice as a running mate for McCain, why are they so focused on talking about it and rubbing it in to the American public?  Usually, if someone picks something or someone feels they have made a bad choice, they usually just leave it alone and are glad that they didn’t pick that option or make that choice.  For example, kids on a playground that are picking players for their individual teams would never think of getting into a big discussion about the other team picking the weakest player on the playground.  Instead, they might have a little snicker or chuckle but quickly move on so as not to let the other team know they picked someone they thought was a weak player.  Can you imagine the scene if the other team went into a huge debate to criticize and discredit the other teams choice of players – of course not.  We can take a lesson from our early days in elementary school.

Back to the message.  The commentators point was simple and impactful.  He was exactly correct – why, if you truly believe this is a poor choice, would you not let it be and let the public figure this out over time and you end up winning the contest?  Simple, because it ISN’T a bad choice and they know it.  They are only trying debate and criticize this because it IS A GOOD CHOICE and they KNOW IT!  They are reeling from the impact of “why didn’t you pick Hillary” issue.  So rather than move forward and capitalize on what they believe to be their strengths, they are trying to cover it up and discredit what many believe to be the best choice by the Republicans.

What does this have to do with customers? I know most of you have probably already figured this out by now based on my example but allow me to explain anyway.  If you truly felt the majority of your customers were loyal, why would you say anything about what your competitors are doing or how they are operating in the market or treating their customers?  You wouldn’t.  You would only say something if you felt you didn’t have that degree of loyalty and needed to try and “win” these customers over to your camp.  Everyone talks about having loyal customers but when you really test their loyalty, you realize they aren’t really loyal, they are merely satisfied.  And most of you know my definition of “satisfied customers” by now, “customers that are simply satisfied and looking for the next best deal” to come along and then they “defect” to your competition.

The real message here is that if you truly have loyal customers, you don’t spend a minute of time worrying about how to discredit your competition – you continue to build upon the great foundation you have and dominate the market.  That is what the best companies do – they drive looking through the windshield, not the rear view mirror.  Take a lesson from the poiticians.  If you find you and your people spending more time talking about your competitors and their customers instead of leading and driving forward with building deeper and more loyalty with your own customers – you have missed the point and need to rethink just how loyal your customers are and what you are doing to build upon that.  Otherwise, you are just kidding yourself that you have lots of loyal customers – you don’t.  Hope this helps…

Blaine

Blaine Millet

Customer Experiences Inc.

John states in the article that when times are tough and the economy is either weakening, is already weak or is headed downward, don’t try and cover it up with “things are going well” type comments to employees – be straight with them and be TRANSPARENT.  Everyone knows this is happening, so why are we making excuses that it isn’t or it isn’t as bad over here or over there – just be straight.  There is too much information easily obtainable today that would warrant this type of behavior.  Yet, many if not most organizations today continue to play this pathetic game of cat and mouse with employees.

OK, let’s turn the tables a bit on this same subject.  What about your CUSTOMERS?  Don’t you think they deserve the same treatment?  Absolutely YES!!  Why would an organization try to paint a different picture for their customers when they, in most likelihood, realize things are tough and as such you should be straight with them as well.  It is really pathetic when a company tells their customers “hey, things are going well for us” and then they lay off 20% of their employees – duh?  Customers aren’t stupid and when you treat them like they are, guess what happens – they DEFECT and buy from your competitors. 

The goal of any organization should be to be as transparent as possible to their customers and form greater partnering opportunities and situations where they share more information with their customers.  Customers realize you need to make a profit so why hide it – be up front with it.  Customers know you have to operate in certain ways to make their life as easy as possible, don’t hide that either.  And most certainly customers figure out when you are in trouble as a company or not – don’t hide that either.  Instead, adopt a philosophy of TRANSARENCY with both your customers and employees and you will benefit greatly.

Remember, Loyalty, whether it be employee loyalty or customer loyalty, is an end state.  It is built on a foundation of trust.  Trust is built on a foundation of making and keeping your promises and being transparent with your customers and employees.  Don’t think you can get to loyalty and skip trust – hasn’t ever worked and never will.  Spend the time, invest in your people and your customers and above all, be transperant and straight with both of them.  The rewards will far outweigh any additional costs or hardships you might endure. 

Blaine

Blaine Millet

Customer Experiences Inc.

Strategy is something that should be done when times are good – modify during weaker times but fully executed the way it was designed.  The problem with developing an all encompassing strategy in bad times is that companies tend to build “reaction strategies” instead of “proactive strategies” – there is a difference.  Companies generally aren’t thinking as clearly when they are in react mode than when they have time to create a “blank sheet of paper” to work from.  This can compromise your true intent as a business and cause you to forget what will differentiate you in the future.

However, one thing I would encourage you to consider during bad times is that you might have to change the way you “execute” your strategy or the “priority” of some of the goals/objectives.  Some areas may need more emphasis during weaker times and others might need to be put on hold for a few months to focus in certain areas.  This is NOT changing your strategy but merely modifying it to the current conditions.  There is a big difference between modifying it and changing it completely.  What you wanted to accomplish in good times shouldn’t change – HOW you get there should.

Bottom line – definitely build a strategy for where you truly want to get and what you stand for as an organization.  Get outside help to work with you so you can see the forest AND the trees.  After you have created the core strategy, goals and objectives, now do an “overlay” of today’s conditions and see what you  might need to modify in its “execution” based on current economic conditions.  Stay in “proactive” mode with the focus that your customers will see through your antics if you switch to “react” mode.  Customers are still the driver and as long as you incorporate their input and contributions to help make a “Customer-Centric” Strategy you can’t be too far off target.

Remember, customers are still the primary group that writes you checks every month.  To stay in sync with them during weaker economic times, you need to be even closer to them so you are more in tune than your competitors.  Take the lead, bring them into the fold and get them involved more than ever – it will pay big dividends both today and tomorrow.

Blaine

Blaine Millet

Customer Experiences Inc.

First, Step One – Decide you will invest in your customers.  When the economy is down, NOW is the time to invest in your customers.  I just read a report that gave some interesting numbers.  For example, a 20% increase in loyalty can yield up to 70% increase in profitability.  Cut it in half, cut it in a quarter or some fraction, it still generates higher profitability – that is the key message.

Step Two, understand your customers true loyalty triggers and drivers.  Take the time, invest in your customers and find out EXACTLY what it is that they want from you in these difficult times.  This is the time when most companies simply cut prices and feel this is being “customer-centric” – WRONG.  All this tells your customers is that you were over priced before and now you are trying to be more realistic.  What they really want is better service and more focus on their needs in their difficult times – that is the bond they want.  Trust me, they are waiting to tell you but you have to know WHAT TO ASK to get the right information.

Step Three – TELL THEM what you are going to do different.  The key is to make sure they know what you are doing BEFORE you do it.  Don’t just surprise them and test it out, tell them what you are going to do so they know what to expect.  They will be excited to see what happens and how you are going to deliver on these promises and services.  Don’t be afraid to tell them what you are capable of doing – just don’t tell them something you can’t deliver on. That will backfire and be worse than doing nothing.

Step Four – DELIVER, DELIVER, DELIVER.  Do what ever you have to do to deliver on these loyalty triggers and promises you make to your customer and what you are telling them you are going to do.  If you really want to do the best job, link to your business processes (this is what we talk about in our book, “Creating and Delivering Totally Awesome Custome Experiences“) so you can deliver “consistent” and “repeatable” awesome customer experiences to delight your customers.

Step Five – TELL THEM AGAIN what you are delivering and then ask them how you are doing – measure what you just told them and delivered to them.  Think about it – you now have three touchpoints with the customer – you told them twice and you delivered once.  What other program do you have that allows you to touch your customer with information they want to give you and get from you anyway – none that I have found.

I hope this helps a bit more and gives you a bit of additional insight.  The key to remember is make a concerted and active decision that you are going to focus on your customer more than ever in these difficult times – and don’t do it with price.  Do it with what they really want and what will last far longer than a quick price cut – delivering the experience they want and that will differentiate you and give you a competitive advantage.  Best of luck…

Blaine

Blaine Millet

Customer Experiences Inc.

But really folks, think about your own lives and those of your businesses.  Isn’t it refreshing when something you are working on or involved in or managing is so simple everyone gets it right away?  Isn’t every one’s life easier (other than possibly the consultant that is trying to make it too complex) when something is simple?  I am reminded of this every day in the work we do and in my own personal life.  Think of Apple and the Ipod – can’t get any simpler than that – one button and a wheel does it all.  Every time, and I mean every time I either make something more complex than it should be or communicate my thoughts in a way that is too complex to understand, everyone loses – especially me. 

I built Customer Experiences Inc. using the mantra, “Simple Solutions – Powerful Results” and I try to live by that every day for the sake of my clients.  We do a lot of things, one of which is helping companies better understand the promises their customers want them to keep.  As part of that work we are constantly reminded by our clients customers how complex they have made the relationship.  They don’t fully understand what they are being promised and they aren’t really sure if they are delivering on these promises that they don’t fully understand – whew – that is is complex and confusing. 

Another example is when we look inside our clients own “house” to see what is happening internally.  Invariably, we see new solutions and programs being implemented (or I should say trying to be implemented) that have no chance in you know what of succeeding.  Why?  Because they are so complex that the majority of employees don’t even understand the program or their role in helping to make it happen.  It doesn’t work if only top management and the creator of the program gets it – it has to reach the “lowest common denominator” in the company.  If they don’t get it, it won’t work.  But when companies introduce programs that are so simple the lowest level employee “gets it” and understands their role in it – it is generally wildly successful. 

A great example of this, and I keep going back to this company, is Southwest Airlines.  Their missions statement is so simple everyone gets it and knows their role in it.  It is simply, “The Golden Rule – do unto others as you would have them do unto you.”  Simple – everyone gets it and can do their best to make sure they are living by this rule.  We could all learn a bit more and be a bit more effective at everything we do if we constantly keep the word SIMPLE in front of us every step of the way – and when things start to spiral out of control, remember the Golden Rule and get back to something that is simply simple.

Blaine

Blaine Millet

Customer Experiences Inc.

As you all know well by now, I spend a lot of time working with top executives in the areas of customers, sales and business development, strategy, marketing and other business consulting venues.  I say this to support the fact that I have seen a lot of very successful organizations and some very unsuccessful organizations. 

One thing for certain in all my travels is that if you aren’t moving forward you are going backward.  There is no more “neutral” position in the market as far as I can tell.  “Holding your ground” just means waiting for the enemy to attack – and on their terms, not yours.  The comparison to the shark is so accurate – keep moving or you will die.  However, I have also been preaching the benefits of “consistency” and “predictability” and “repeatability” in every interaction you have with your customer, partners, shareholders, employees, suppliers, etc.  So how does one balance this “constant state” with that of a “changing state” in today’s fast moving and challenging environment?  How does one actually create innovation without crisis?  These are some of the questions I was asking myself this weekend and thought i would share my results with our readers.

Let me first begin by saying I don’t find these mutually exclusive in any way.  In fact, I think they are completely supportive of each other in many ways.  Second, I believe there are ways you can offer this up to your “internal” and “external” constituents in a way that benefits everyone.  What is innovation anyway?  Many definitions out there today as the word is used extensively.  My simple one is, “coming up with something ‘different’ that allows you to stay in the lead.”  This might not pass the Webster scrutiny but if you think about it, isn’t that why we want to innovate – to stay on top and in a leading position in whatever we are doing?  Now let me throw a different perspective at you.

Why wait?  Why wait for a crisis to force you to innovate?  Why be pressed into the corner and have to come up with something in order to create new and innovative ideas?  I don’t believe you have to.

I prescribe to the belief that proactive is generally better than reactive.  True, while you have the luxury of obtaining market and other information ahead of your response, you certainly won’t be viewed as the “innovator” or “creator” of new products or services.  This may work in certain situations but there are a lot of other benefits to also participating occasionally as the “innovator.”  So how can you do both – simple.

Create a “Mock Crisis” to simulate what you believe could occur in the market.  Do this on a regular basis, not just once a year when you do planning.  Train your teams to think in “Mock Crisis” mode and you will find people are much more creative and innovative in a less stressful time and can come up with more ideas than you could possibly imagine.  Are all of them good ones – absolutely not.  But all of them are ways to think about the crisis BEFORE it actually occurs so if it does occur, you find yourself in a much less stressful situation and thinking much clearer – and with better information. Mock Crisis simulation lets you live the future today.  Experience the fear and pressure when there isn’t any and learn how to react to this in advance.  Know how you will respond quickly and the process you will go through before you have to go through it. 

So yes, crisis does force innovation and always will.  Just take control and put the leverage and timing on your side and not that of your competitors or other outside influences.  Keep moving forward, even when things are running along smoothly.  Innovate continuously and proactively – not reactively.  At least not all the time…

Blaine

Blaine Millet

Customer Experiences Inc.