Our Customerspective Blog is now located at http://www.voxinc.com/blog/
From now on our day-today thoughts on the customer experience will be posted there.
Thanks for reading!
Our Customerspective Blog is now located at http://www.voxinc.com/blog/
From now on our day-today thoughts on the customer experience will be posted there.
Thanks for reading!
Posted by Mike Hartman on April 12, 2007 at 04:15 PM | Permalink | Comments (1) | TrackBack (0)
I've been reflecting on Luis' blog entry about Information Overload. I concur that it is a complex and ever-expanding phenomenon. We at Vox encounter Information Overload in our own lives as well as that of the Customers for which we advocate.
However, I controversially postulate that the real problem isn't actually too much information. There is really no such thing as too much information. The problem is one of organization. It takes too much time and effort to get to the information we want and need, whether it's to get a 1-800 number, to find out how much our insurance will cost, or to find out when our favorite movie comes out on DVD.
Therefore, we realize that from the Customer’s perspective, it's imperative for us to accomplish two objectives: one, to create a clear path to their goal and two, to set expectations of time and effort.
Creating a clear path to Customer goals involves building experiences based on what the Customer wants to do versus what the company wants the Customer to do. It is about--to give just a few touchpoint examples--automated phone systems that tell the holding Customer where they are in the que, websites that always let Customers know when they have received or are sending out an item and written customer communications that speak to the customer instead of at them.
Setting Customer expectations involves answering the questions they ask themselves when trying to access information. Customers want to know "How long will this take?" "What steps will I need to complete to accomplish this?" "Will I need to process a ton of information and make a complex decision, or will this be straightforward?" The more accurately we answer these internal questions of Customers, the less "Info-intensive" we will make their experience.
What else can we do to help Customers accomplish their goals?
Posted by kim on February 15, 2007 at 11:34 AM | Permalink | Comments (3) | TrackBack (0)
Everyone around me is overwhelmed by information and I am no exception.
My desk is overflowing with invoices, statements, memos, meeting minutes, reports, articles and books. Post-its® decorate my computer at work and at home. Somewhere in there, I have a paper calendar that I stopped updating long ago. I try to concentrate on the electronic part of my life, hoping that my computer's processor will magically sort out this mess for me...
Not a chance! My desktop background is hidden behind an army of icons, shortcuts, gadgets, widgets, and, of course, digital Post-its®. Microsoft Outlook practically attacks me with meeting alarms every time I open it; my inbox now has 86 new emails (not counting the already filtered spam and junk mail) and at least the same amount of old emails that I should answer, but I know I am not. On top of that, I'm stacking up more than a thousand unread feeds from my favorite news websites and blogs.
All my potentially good ideas seem to be adrift in this vast virtual pool of information. They are just there, below the surface, waiting for some essential fact to jumpstart my brain into a feverish state of creativity.
Just within my sight, but still beyond my grasp, I can identify a few good candidates for inspiration:
After all, if I don't read other people's works and opinions, how can I write my own?
If a solution for my problem is available anywhere out there, I haven't found it yet. It is probably in article number 875 in the list of blog posts I will never read, or chapter 11 in the 100th book from my Amazon wish list.
The real problem is that I am already so numb from information overload that I don't realize I have a problem (and I am supposed to evaluate processes and usability in my job!). I have some vague notion that I need to do something about it some day, but the endless list of tight deadlines keeps pushing it down the priority list.
And it all gets worse. One issue of the New York Times now contains more information than a 17th century man or woman would have encountered in a lifetime. In the last 30 years, humanity has produced more information than in the previous 5,000. The world's produced information is increasing at a rate of 30% per year, and it doesn't show any sign of slowing down.
Now you would say, "Yeah, that's pretty interesting, but what does it have to do with customer experience?"
Well, imagine that your customer is most probably suffering from the same predicament. What can you do to make your products or services stand out and emerge above all others?
You will find at least 6,020,000 "answers" to that question in Google.
Now, if you excuse me, my brain just froze and I need to reboot.
Posted by Luis Serpa on January 29, 2007 at 10:32 PM | Permalink | Comments (1) | TrackBack (0)
Customers and Insurance Companies don't seem to share the same perspective about California's new Auto Rate regulations... And they may be sorry for that later!
Read more about in our last article and give your opinion here.
Posted by Luis Serpa on September 27, 2006 at 09:28 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)
Yesterday, I realized that there's nothing more customer-centric than a dental exam. You are seated in a chair in the center of a room with a stage-like light over your head, and surrounded by equipment and people totally focused on you.
Not so bad, right? But you'll get the same perception on torture chambers and surgical rooms! What kind of customer experience should you expect from a place where you are frequently constricted, numb or in pain?
These situations make me think about the relation between customer-centric processes and good customer experience. I would even risk saying that all good customer experiences are customer-centric by definition, but not all customer-centric processes guarantee a good customer experience.
Customer-centrism is not a goal to be achieved, it's the state of mind your company must be in, when providing any service. The real goal here is to always aim for providing a good customer experience. The rest will fall into place.
Then, how do you achieve a really good customer experience? Just place yourself in your customer shoes and look at the problem from the customer’s perspective. Forget for a minute all your MBA-taught analysis, your marketing strategies, your business requirements, everything that you ever learned about your industry, and just be your customer.
In our dentist's case, once you know your patients’ feelings and concerns, it is easy to act on his or her expectations. Show your genuine concern for them; be caring and sensible, maybe even lend the patients your iPod to take their attention away from the awful drilling noise inside their head.
You may not be able to turn a painful experience into a perfectly good one, but you may at least soften a very awkward situation.
Frequently, that's all one would hope to achieve when going to the dentist.
Posted by Luis Serpa on September 07, 2006 at 02:52 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)
I always understood that it can be difficult to please a customer, but I never gave much thought about why. Seth Godin has some curious insights though on that matter in two of his recent blog entries: What People Want and The Thing About the Wind.
My two cents to companies: Listen very carefully to your customers and understand them as if you were in their shoes. Without that, you may be catering to your customers’ every whim without ever giving them what they really want.
Luis Serpa – Customer Experience Consultant
Vox Inc – www.voxinc.com
Posted by Luis Serpa on August 21, 2006 at 04:50 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)
It all began when I received an offer to open the new Citibank e-Savings Account. Already a Citibank customer, I thought that this new savings product with 5% APR would fit me perfectly.
I went online but couldn’t find any way to sign up through my internet banking account. So I called my account manager to see what I was doing wrong. She told me that my account wasn’t considered a domestic account and, as such, not eligible for an e-savings account. To qualify, I should open a new checking account.
I explained that this account is a remnant of my wife’s relocation benefits package and it is linked to it several other Citibank products (investment brokerage account, CD account, normal savings account, credit cards, bill payments, etc). Reconfiguring everything to a new checking account would be a tremendous hassle. I mentioned that I could easily open an e-savings account with several other institutions and link it to my current one with no hassle.
My Citibank account manager’s opinion? I SHOULD GO AHEAD AND DO THAT!
I wanted to prove myself a loyal customer, so I reconsidered opening a new checking account. To my surprise, I found out that with my balance, investments etc, I was entitled to a more beneficial financial package than I have with my current checking account.
Of course, instead of being happy I am now very upset.
What did I learn?
• I am a better client than I knew but never got any recognition.
• They seem to value the acquisition of new customers over retaining the current ones.
• They are willing to let me go to another bank without even trying to accommodate my needs
• Their internal bureaucracy and inconsistencies are getting in the way of a good customer experience
So, now that I know I am more than they deserve, what do you think I will do?
Luis Serpa – Customer Experience Consultant
Vox Inc – www.voxinc.com
Posted by Luis Serpa on July 11, 2006 at 02:34 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)
I was at a cocktail party last week and met a number of people, from an outsource HR firm rep, to an IT consultant, to a custom wood furniture craftsman. The food was excellent, the venue (an art gallery) was stimulating, and overall I had a good time.
As usual in these events, everyone asked each other what their companies did. Again, as usual, when I explained that I helped organizations to improve their customer experience, I got a lot of blank stares. Interestingly, in almost every group, immediately after the blank stares, one person piped up with “Oh yeah, we do that!” and he or she proceeded to explain a practical example that dovetailed nicely with Vox’s work.
While a few of the largest companies have adopted customer-centric philosophies, I’m starting to see that a lot of smaller firms are waking up to the fact the “the customer comes first” is not an outmoded cliché. For instance, I met a guy who launched an executive assistant staffing firm. He attributes his company’s success to their focus on providing the best, most pleasant experience possible to their applicants.
When the time came to add headcount due to growth, he decided to hire a concierge for applicants rather than to just add another recruiter. The result? He’s getting more high-quality applicants, and even when they wind up being placed by another firm, they’re more likely to come back to his firm for their next job placement. And by developing a pool of talented, high-quality personnel, his ultimate clients, C level executives, keep coming back to him when they need quality personnel.
Ultimately, your best assets, and the only assets that don’t depreciate over time are people, either your employees or your customers. Focusing on providing a superior experience will win you longer, more profitable relationships with both. People have known this for a long time. The challenge is figuring out how to change organizations to do this consistently. That takes a special kind of mind-set.
Posted by Jack Borland on March 13, 2006 at 10:29 AM | Permalink | Comments (1) | TrackBack (0)
Many of the folks here at Vox are heading out for the holidays. We want to wish everybody a happy holiday and a wonderful New Year. Take some time off, spend it with family and friends, eat some good food, drink some good drink, and we'll see you in January, 2006!
Posted by William Cusick on December 22, 2005 at 10:28 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)
"Thanks!" - said the little boy. - "You have a very scary house, mister."
Given the circumstances, I took that as a compliment. After all, it was Halloween and all kids were going from house to house in search of candy and the best spooky experience.
But the comment got me thinking about how Customer Experience can be relative. If I had received that comment on a typical day, I would be concerned about my house's lighting, security or just on how to avoid being embarrassed in front of my neighbors' kids. It is really amazing how the customer experience depends entirely on the Customer Perspectives and Expectations.
It is pretty easy for a large company to forget that and start interpreting their customer's complains and suggestions from a wrong point of view, without really understanding what the customers meant at first place.
Customer Experience may be about looking for and reacting to customers' inputs, but it is much more than that. Customer Experience is also about understanding the subtle context that sometimes affects the Customer Perception.
You better be prepared to understand your Customer and not just listen to them. Or else, next time you hear something like "hey, Mr., you have a very scary house!", you could be changing your whole company's strategy because of a simple compliment.
Posted by Luis Serpa on November 01, 2005 at 01:41 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack (1)