Brilliant !
Here is a good example of the overwhelmingly powerful effect of experiences in creating customer behavior and loyalty.
The new product is clearly less effective than the alternative, yet customers prefer it 66% after the addition of the experiential component.

Suggestion:  Reduce your costs by dropping features and re-invest in adding experience.  The results are evident.
take a look:

Thank you  Volkswagen for the vision to undertake this project.

Rudy Vidal
Committed to XCL

Friends,

Some of you may remember this posting from over a year ago.

As the need to differentiate becomes more and more critical, I thought I would have Johnny remind us
how its done.

This is a perfect example of the importance of the experience and the value of differentiation.

Enjoy.

Click for Johnny’s Video

Thank you.

At the recent inaugural meeting of the Chief Officer Council held at Oracle Headquarters and hosted by Jeb Dasteel/CCO of Oracle, I was invited by 50lessons.com to tell a few stories about customer service and the role of the CCO.

In my life, stories have always been a source of innovation.  For some reason, when we listen to other people’s stories we see our own situations from a different angle, this is always helpful.  For this reason I thought it may be interesting to post the stories.

These “Lessons Learned” will soon be offered on the 50lessons.com website and published in Harvard Business Press’ new book series “Lessons Learned”.

I would like to thank our friends at 50lessons.com for their consideration in the posting of these videos.  Also, since I mentioned him twice, I’d like to thank Don Szczepaniak as well as Lorraine Robbins and the entire Panasonic contact center team for all I learned from them over the years.  They are true professionals who make great customer service look easy.

Rudy Vidal
Committed to XCL

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Mr. Enderle explains very eloquently the benefits of services organizations in their ability to strengthen relationships post sale.  I could not agree more.

Imagine if sales organizations understood that the signing of a contract was only half the revenue and value, and that the other half came as a result of our alignment and authenticity to our purpose as a company, as people.

Imagine if sales organizations considered the lifetime value of a customer the true goal.

Imagine if sales organizations saw themselves as the conduit to future value for the customer, the matchmakers for a long term relationship.  Many do.  But we usually don’t pay them for that, we certainly don’t measure that.

Imagine if sales organizations and service organizations were on the same team.

When was the last time you were happy to see a sales person from a company you didn’t know.

Imagine.

Thank you for your post Mr. Enderle.

Dell Buys Perot Systems: The Hidden Benefits | Blogs | ITBusinessEdge.com

At times I find it difficult to illustrate to clients the idea of emotional customer experiences that transcend the product or service.  They often feel obliged to openly explain the product features or benefits in order to present a clear value proposition.

Although features have their place, in a commoditized market they are no longer effective differentiators of brand.  At best, and only marginally, features differentiate products.  In fact, continuing this practice can put entire industries in insatiable races to give customers more for less.

As we know, for the time being the differentiating power is now in the experience.  So, I have decided to start compiling examples of what I think are well executed experienced based campaigns so I can show the point in action (A video is worth a thousand words).

I thought it would be interesting to post one of my favorites, take a look: IQ font

In this example, Toyota uses the concept of typesetting fonts to demonstrate a feature, without mentioning it.  In doing so, it creates an experience outside of our expectations that reveals things about Toyota that for me, makes it more  human, organic and real.  The emotional requirement is achieved (we would never expect a car company to relate itself to typesetting fonts), yet the effort is still in context with the brand.  But wait, there is more.  The font is downloadable and available for us to use, thereby continuing the experience and incorporating the brand into our daily lives.

In today’s market, a company that is simply surving is no longer intersting.

Would love to hear your comments.

Rudy Vidal
Creating Profitable Loyalty

Today I was brushing up on Mahatma Gandhi, his philosophy and methods. If you are not familiar with his works and philosophy beyond what media or folklore provide, I highly recommend a closer look.

While reading, it occurred to me that part of the reason customer service has a large impact on our lives is not because it is special in and of itself, but because it is an extension of the golden rule and therefore, of good social order -

“Do unto others as you would have them do unto you”.

The curious thing is that in order to follow the golden rule, we must be willing to temporarily disengage from our own condition. That is to say, we must focus on the customer’s point of view, putting ourselves in their position.

We cannot offer good service only when we feel the world has been fair to us, when things are going well, when all is just as we want it. Good customer service requires that we consider the needs of another, even as we struggle with our own. OK, this is sounding a little dogmatic, but isn’t it the essence of good customer service.

I often notice three types of customer service people.

1. Those of us whose willingness to provide XCS is dependent on whether or not we are receiving it.
2. Those of us who are simply trying our best to do a difficult job
   and
3. Those of us who have realized, strangely enough, that our own quality of life is usually positively affected by our honest effort to consider the needs of others.

Those of us in the first group, need to move to either of the others, or should consider a diferent line of work. Most of us, however, find ourselves in the second group as we move forward day to day to do our best at a job that is, at times, difficult. This is not a bad place to be.

But, the blessing of customer service work can more readily be felt in the third group, where our lives tend to improve because of our work. Where we become more tolerant and our problems seem to become less debilitating as we disengage from the idea that we are the center of the universe, while we concentrate on helping someone else.

Service does not need to be monumental or earth shattering. It just needs to consider the customer’s point of view separately from our own.

“An eye for an eye makes the whole world blind” – Mahatma Gandhi

Rudy Vidal
Committed to XCS !

Last week I had the pleasure of speaking at Panasonic Computer Systems Company’s National Team Meeting in Tampa. As with most sales meeting, the purpose was to educate, promote and motivate the sales force towards increased efficiency and effectiveness.

Unlike most sales meetings, nearly all of the speakers (The Chairman of Panasonic North America – Yoshi Yamada, High level dignitaries from Japan’s Parent Company Matsushita Electric, and local senior management) spent considerable stage time speaking about Customer Satisfaction, or as the corporate culture addresses it, Customer Comes First.

Matsushita’s founder, Konosuke Matsushita (KM) was a visionary who saw the customer as the necessary focal point for a successful business before the concept was an accepted piece of common business sense.

I worked at Panasonic Corp. of America for a long time. In fact, I would say I grew up there and cut my corporate teeth under the influence of KM’s philosophies. It is clear to me that who I am and what I believe about customer satisfaction is, in large part, the result of this experience.

I often tell the story of reading an article in a business magazine as I was starting my working career. The story was about KM and his philosophies on business and social responsibility. Immediately I knew I would do all I could to work in his organization.

We all would like to think we are original in our thinking, but in reality we are greatly influenced by our environment and by key personages in our lives.

I have a passion for customer service and for the concept of turning the power of corporations towards social good. My idea? I think not.

I’m just thankful to have had the opportunity for such exposure.

We would all be better served to address a bit of KM at all of our Sales Meetings.

Committed to XCS !

One of the reasons I have concentrated on business as a way to increase quality of life through XCS is because businesses have the power to reach and influence so many people. (it’s also my sphere if greater influence – small point)

Some of you may know that I have recently moved to Salt Lake City and that my experience here has, thus far, been very good. One of the key points in my transplantation from the greater New York area is that I have been making some unexpected changes in the process.

There are things I no longer do, and more surprisingly, there are things I have never done before which I now do (for example, for some reason, I have stopped watching TV, and I have started being more friendly with my neighbors). I attribute this change to the influence of people and the local culture.

So, it occured to me that although there are many businesses that can reach many people, there are many more PEOPLE that can reach Businesses. That perhaps, the responsiblity to improve customer satisfaction is not only on the shoulders of the corporations but also on each one of us.

Maybe we, the customers, should give companies “slightly more than they expect” in the form of our patience and understanding as well as our intolerance for the deliberate disregard of customer centricity.

Maybe we need to be more understanding, explain and make them understand without loosing our heads, but also be willing to take action when companies refuse to consider the customer as a vital part of their structure. We can help too.

Our role on this stage should not be limited to complaining about their lack of consideration. We should also do what we can to influence them, in the spirit of building relationships not in a threatening spirit to leave their patronage.

Is this too mushy? May be. But I’m tired of complaining and closing bank accounts. Maybe I just need to sit down with Wells Fargo and ask them to understand me as I try to understand them a little better.

I’m not ready to go hug my local banker, but I feel a little softer.

Committed to XCS !

Today a colleague brought me a recent article in Time Magazine called “The End of Customer Service“- thanks Josh.

The topic of the article is the prevailing movement to replace customer service personnel of one sort or another, with automated processes powered by, the consumer. A common example is the self-check out at the supermarket. The question, “Is this a good thing”? .

Because we often tend to look at the glass as half empty, many would say that this is not a good trend, that corporations are abusive in trying to increase their profitability by having the comsumer do the work and not paying for it.

Although this is probably true, there may be another way to look at it.

I believe there are times when reduced costs may also improve customer service and satisfaction. It all depends on the situation and the customer. I use ATMs and online banking almost exclusively. I like it. I don’t have to deal with lines and I can do it when it suits me. However, I remember when the ATMs first came out, we all thought the banks were trying the cover up their greedy need to reduce costs in the clothing of “customer convenience”. Actually, the banking industry was not driven by the consumer’s best interest (sorry to say they rarely are- I have bank issues). However, it turned out to be a pretty good thing. Why? Basically, automated systems are more reliable than people, and once we get the process working right, they don’t get tired, go on break or develop an attitude when under paid.

Change doesn’t usually feel good, especially when the intended benefit is for someone else. However, we should give ourselves more credit as consumers. We are powerful and if we don’t think something is good for us, we’ll usually reject the change.

To the extent the change brings about improvements in consistency and efficiency, we may want to say hello to the kiosk instead of a person. As long as when we need a person, or are unable to deal with a machine (my Mom hates machines), we have a choice.

This is an important distinction: People must be closely behind the automated process providing a human alternative as necessary. Ultimately, people must take care of people !

Think about some of the shifts we have come to depend on.

• self check-in kiosk at the airport ( I prefer the kiosk, I know what it does, I get in and out in 2 seconds, it makes my travel easier)
• online shopping – I remember when we thought this would never work – some think it still doesn’t – I haven’t been to the mall in at least a year.
• Pour your own soda/coffee at the convenience store – I prefer to pour my own, just the way I like it -not too much ice, please.
• Online and ATM Banking – no line, no problem.
• Pumping your own gas -Ok, there is nothing good about pumping your own gas. This was a bad idea !

I’m not saying that getting rid of people is a good thing, but making process better is. If we can reduce a few variables and improve the quality of our lives through science, I say thank you. I can get my human interaction somehow, I don’t need to do it at the bank.

To the extent that technologies are not ready for primetime, or they don’t add value to my experience, then keep it. This is about my experience not your cost reductions !

Committed to XCS !

I was adjusting the FAQ portion of the blog and I came across one of the simple reasons we are doing this work. I thought I would post it, since it usually brings about considerable thought and good discussion.

The question is: Why is it that most business leadership is usually inconsistent and less than impressive in its commitment to customer satisfaction programs?

I won’t beat around the bush to give you my opinion and hope you will give us yours.

I believe reason for the inconsistency in customer centricity comes from the fact that most business leadership find customer centric programs to be short term expenses for unquantifiable, long-term results.

If we are able to show them that the short-term expense provides quantifiable short term results, I believe they will commit to changing their business and in turn changing the world.

The XCS methodology does just that.