theIdeaStudio (Customer Crossroads)

Consumers need signals to tell us what's happening: the "you are here" of experience management

When something is a new process or procedure, has a lot of lag time, or is complicated, it doesn't take much to create uncertainty in the mind of your customer.  Here's an example.

I love my no-frills, free-chequing Bizsmart account, but the rate on their savings component is appallingly low.  After dithering for months, losing the applications in the pile of on the filing cabinets, throwing them out, and finally reprinting them off the web, I finally moved forward to apply for an account at ING Direct.

I waded through the forms, copied all my paperwork, and stuffed some cheques into the envelope per the required procedure.  This was almost two weeks ago, and I had heard nothing.  I knew the cheques had cleared, and wondered what was happening, so I finally gave them a call last night. 

Here's what amazed me:  if I had never made that call, my account would have stayed in limbo indefinitely.   Let's just review step 4 in their instructions:

Once ING DIRECT receives the Enrollment Form, the Authorized Individuals Form, the Business Banking Resolution Form (if applicable), the cheques, and copies of the documentation noted above for the type of business specified, the account will be opened. To transact on this account, each Authorized Individual
must call us at 1-800-ING DIRECT (1-800-464-3473) to set up his/her unique PIN and Password once the cheques have cleared.

I remember at the time thinking, "okay, they are going to send me something, and then I have to call them."   I was wrong about the part where they send me something.  It didn't say that, I just assumed that.  (D'oh)  Of course, the instructions had gone in the mail with the forms.

It's a pretty good process, and the instructions are pretty clear, but not really clear enough.  Some important signals felt like they were missing for me, signals to let me know what's happening and where we all are in the process.  In this case, a signal that it's my turn to throw the ball. 

Contrast this with L.L.Bean.  I waited close to two months for a fleece sweater, and then sent it back for a different size, which was also backordered and took about six weeks to arrive.  In that time, I received at least a dozen communications from LL.Bean letting me know where things stood.  Result: no vague worries. 

Some small grain of uncertainty has now already colored my heretofore flawless relationship with my newest bank.   How unnecessary.

We all have a lot of things in our lives to deal with.  Redundancy in communication is critical.  Remember that lame joke, the punch line of which is "I told you 25 years ago that I loved you.  If anything changes, I'll let you know".  Not a good model for managing customer experience. 

Financial Services Innovation Watch: The E-Bay Model Comes to Banking

The essence of banking is intermediating between buyers and sellers of the time value of money -- except they're called borrowers and savers.   

Just as E-Bay brought this intermediary role into a new place with hard goods of all types,   a service called Zopa hope to do this with borrowing and lending money.   

Wired has the story,  Either a Borrower or a Lender Be.
Richard Duvall and James Alexander are the innovators behind Zopa, as well as Egg, an internet bank. 

The driving force behind this innovation appears to be the distaste some kinds of borrowers -- and investors --  have with the whole banking experience.   Zopa's creators had economists helping them, sure, but they also had ethnographers. 

Stay tuned, this could get pretty interesting.   

B2B Customer Experience: Rules for Rainmakers

Michael W. McLaughlin in Marketing Profs sets out Rules for Rainmakers (free subscription):

Rainmakers go beyond the superficial to cultivate a holistic and substantive understanding of the customer's strategic and operational issues. Their mindset is that of a business advisor, not simply a vendor. Rainmakers immerse themselves in the high-priority concerns facing all of the customer's executives.

When you are thinking of the B2B customer experience, this is the holy grail all account personnel need to strive for: value added business advisor.

This is not just a matter of training, of course.  The people in Staples that are offering you this week's special on highlighters are not just a relationship course away from providing strategic advice, anymore than you or I are just a leadership course away from being CEO of GE.

Umpqua Bank is Posting to Blogs about Banking?

An interesting article on Decent Marketing about the Banking Experience, asking why the whole concept is so stuck in tradition:  Decent Marketing: The Banking Experience.

I've always wondered why bankers are so stuck in the traditional thinking of what a bank should be, since it seems to me there are so many opportunities to create an interesting and compelling experience around money.

Even more interesting are the comments posted in response, one of which is a pitch from Umpqua Bank.  They are pretty innovative, actually, but this was quite remarkable.  So I have sent them an e-mail asking them what they are up to here.  If I get a reply, I'll let you know.

Blogging 101

Many of the people I talk to about this blog say something to me like: "What's a blog?"  (That kind of thing sure keeps you grounded, doesn't it?) If you are one of those people who is just figuring this out, follow the link below for 

a simple, step by step example of how to dip a toe in the blogging waters

Scroll down to the article How to get into Blogs, 101 at the tecosystems blog.  It's got a lot of interesting and useful stuff, and is relatively free of mystifying technojargon. 

The biggest thing you need to know about to get value from blogs is how to use an aggregator.  I use Bloglines, which is pretty straightforward, and also FREE.  When you see a blog you want to read again, you simply subscribe using Bloglines, and then you can see updates to your whole list in one place, instead of surfing over to each one.  Bloglines makes this subscription process easy for you by giving you a "bookmarklet" that you save in your list of favorites.  When you are on a blog you want to subscribe to, you can click your bookmarklet, and Bloglines does this for you. 

Some blogs put buttons on their sidebars that will also add that blog to your aggregator.  Just like the ones over there on the left of this page.  (It took me a while to figure that part out too)

We all know a few people who are not really part of the digital age -- they don't have a computer, they don't use e-mail.  They're missing a lot of richness and diversity.  Aren't you glad you're not one of them?

Postscript added April 5, 2005

An even better description of how to start a blog kindly provided by Michael Hyatt at WorkingSmart, which provides useful links to various blogging tools and aggregators.  And ongoing, his perspective on corporate blogging.

Postscript May 6, 2005

A great step-by step description of how to use Bloglines to keep up with lots of blogs without a lot of work.   From Betterdays blog.   Has lots of screen shots, step-by-step, and additional tips from other people who have commented.

The New Marketing Order: How to be Chosen

Pamela Parker, writing in ClickZ,  The New Marketing Order: How to be Chosen, makes an important point about control:

It all comes down to control. People want control over how they're marketed to, and they're clamoring to get it. Witness 158 telephone numbers registered per second on the Do-Not-Call registry, according to the Federal Trade Commission (FTC). Witness consumer anger over spam, resulting in the most punitive anti-spam law yet. Witness the incredible success of a "pull" medium, search, over which consumers have control. To accommodate new expectations, marketers must change strategy. Ignore consumers' collective desire at your peril.

Now that we have the tools to give us more control, we're not going to surrender it willingly.   More interesting dynamics at work in the world of customer experience.

Choice and the Role of Advice: How Advisors Change the Customer Experience

I've been thinking a lot about choice lately, and this morning I awoke with this graph in my head. 
We are often overwhelmed by choice, because we live in a wealthy society.  And as your willingness to spend increases, so does the range of choice you have.  But then something strange happens -- when your expenditure gets large enough, the role of advisors starts to come into play. And the advisors can reduce complexity and choice.

This is easier to see using some examples.  Let's start with the most obvious: investing money.

Investing Money

Those who don't have much to invest we actually call savers.  And the options for savers are really fairly limited.  If you have less than $500 to invest, you are limited mainly to savings accounts, and savings bonds.  With a little more money, your options spike dramatically, becuase you can now afford mutual funds.  With still more, you can invest in a huge range of securities: bonds, equities and other financial instruments.  With still more, you could consider things like real estate, or direct ownership of a company.  One can imagine that the investment options available to Oprah Winfrey, Donald Trump or Bill Gates are virtually limitless. 

Something interesting happens along the way, however.  Most people pick up some kind of financial advisor. 

In the beginning, this individual can actually make things worse, by telling you about choices you didn't know you had -- like thousands of  mutual funds.   But as the money you are spending, on both the investment and the advisor, increases -- the role of advice is to radically reduce the number of choices that need to be made.   The advisor weeds out all the poor choices for you, and only asks you to choose among good options. 

This scenario plays out in many kinds of services. 

Interior Decorating
I had to shop for new drapes recently, and was expecting it to be a daunting task.  I deliberately chose to start with a single store that carried a wide range of goods, BB Bargoons.  My plan was not to overwhelm myself with decisions, and try to find a workable solution in this one store if possible. 

While I was there,  a woman came in with her decorator.  They had already been to at least one other store, judging by the swatches of fabric.  Together they reviewed a lot of fabrics.  The decorator kept coming up with new ideas and suggestions.  I could see the client becoming overwhelmed with the choices, until I actually heard her say "I don't really know what I want anymore". 

Many people who hire interior decorators leave the majority of the choices to the decorator.  They outsource all of the choice-making. 

Eating Out
The same dimensions appear to be part of the eating out experience too, although they manifest themselves differently.

At the low end, there are many possibilities, but little real variety: McDonald's, Wendy's, Burger King, and their competitors.  As you go up the quality/cost dimension, you have many more choices.  There are still chains, like Swiss Chalet and Pizza Hut,  But there are also independent bistros.  By the time you get to a Kelsey's, East Side Mario's or Shopsy's type of operation, the menu may have 80 or more items on it. 

But then you pass through that level, and something changes. 
When you get to fine dining, there are likely not quite as many choices, because the chef is making some of those choices for you.   The menu changes daily, as the availability of prime ingredients changes.  The serving staff can also assist you in making choices.

The number of items on the menu shrinks. Although the wine list may be overwhelming, there is now a sommelier who can choose for you, if you wish and you are prepared to pay the cost. 

And a select group of high-end dining experiences offer virtually no choice at all, with the chef and their staff taking as their mission giving you a memorable dining experience. 

Here's one:  if you dine at Susur, the menu is not set until 5:30 pm every day.  Eigensinn Farm, one of the stars on the global dining scene, serves a seven course meal to only 12 people each night.

What Does it all Mean?
The preponderance of choices facing us every day actually makes more room for the role of trusted advisors in many forms. 

An automated advisor doesn't actually add much to the cost.  Consider how Amazon shows you other books you might like.   It is cross-selling, of course, but it is also a kind of advice. 

Part of the role of brands is clearly to help thin out the choice-making.  You can get any kind of computer you want from Dell, so why confuse yourself with other suppliers?

If you are offering more choices to your customers, you need to also help them make wise choices, and reduce the tension and stress that accompanies too much choice.   

Researching the Remittance Business: How Easy is it to Send Money Somewhere?

I shipped a package abroad recently, containing dutiable goods.  Unfortunately, I underestimated the duty that would be charged, and now I need to send the recipient a cheque.   (Feeling annoyed with myself for dreaming that FedEx would handle this aspect and bill me, and now I have caused a big nuisance) My fall-back position is going to my local bank branch and obtaining a bank draft in US funds, which I would then mail or courier.  But I have another plan.

Remittance services, are a HUGE and expanding business.  Some countries take in more money through remittances than they do through major industries.  All those foreign workers and immigrants send funds home on a regular basis, and these are the services that help them do it. 

So I want to see if I can do this online through a remittance service.  Care to join me while I go shopping?

First stop, Senvia.

Selling the Box: How Soft-Sell Works in Retail

Thanks to  Mark Askey at Just Looking  for their addition to the Blockbuster comments of a few weeks ago.   

Retail salespeople need to remember that the biggest thing they sell the customer, is the company they work are working for.  I call this Selling the Box.    A good retail sales person sells the benefits of working with his company as well as the benefits of the products.   Sometimes this is done more obviously, like when you talk about the return policy or your money back guarantee. But sometimes it is the subtle things like creating an environment of helpfulness without being pushy that bring the customer back for more.   Or actually knowing enough about the products to help the customer feel more satisfied that they are making the right decision.

How very true that is.  When you think about the stories you have told friends about your retail experiences, they probably fall into one of two categories: 

1. What a horrible experience I had at store XYZ
2. What a helpful experience I had at store XYZ

Sell the box!

Loyalty Programs Turning Into Giant Cross-Category Alliances

Loyalty programs are moving from discount programs into more complex alliances, according to Rupert  Duchesne, President of Aeroplan Canada.   He had some interesting things to say over morning coffee last week at a seminar.   

1. More and more, typical loyalty programs will create less and less loyalty.  Notable exceptions are the programs offered by Sears and Zellers. 
2. Consumers want portability of their points under programs
3. As a result of points 1 and 2,  major programs are going to consolidate into competitive alliances which will look more and more like the battles of giants
4. Inclusive loyalty programs need to take these major spending categories into account:  GAS, PHARMA, BANKS, TRAVEL and GROCERIES   
5. Wal-Mart doesn't have a loyalty program -- they put this 3% cost into lower prices.  So loyalty programs that are really just discount programs may actually be doing damage to the companies that sponsor them, if they compete with Wal-Mart primarily on price
6. Starbucks has created unreasonable loyalty (speak for yourself, there Mr. Duchesne, I think it's quite rational, actually)
7. Only one in 6 of their 6 million members are regular flyers
8. Aeroplan aspires to make their miles as fungible as currency

After his talk, I had a chance to ask him if Air Canada was actually at risk due to their relationship with the now-independent Aeroplan.  Mr. Duchesne told me that this risk is actually the reason that they are in a 20 year agreement, and the non-renewal provisions are favorable to Air Canada for that very reason.  For example, Aeroplan would have to wait a full year to align with another carrier if they did not renew with Aeroplan.

If he's right, things could get interesting in Kansas, Dorothy.  Stay tuned, especially to see which grocer lines up with Aeroplan, and which with AirMiles.  And what does this mean for PC Financial?  (Maybe they start PC Travel???)

Teenagers don't like tiny print online either according to Jakob Nielsen

Some interesting research by web guru Jakob Nielsen crushes several myths about teens and tech. Yes, they like cool design.  But no, they don't like noisy design, small print, or mystery navigation.  Their search strategies and reading skills tend to be lower than adults, and they have very low boredom and patience thresholds, so they abandon quickly when they can't find things.   

When using websites, teenagers have a lower success rate than adults and they're also easily bored. To work for teens, websites must be simple -- but not childish -- and supply plenty of interactive features.

Read the whole story here:  Usability of Websites for Teenagers (Jakob Nielsen's Alertbox).

Thanks to Kyle Coolbroth over at the experience journal for bringing this to my attention.

Fundraising Under the Guise of Research - aka FUGGING and it's close cousin SUGGING

You've seen these too -- they come in the mail from a charity usually, and the envelope says something like this:

Your response to a survey is urgently requested.  Please take a few minutes to respond, even if you have responded to a similar survey in the past.  Thank you.

Inside is an official looking document with the logo of the good cause prominently displayed, and questions that look like research questions.   There's a bank of attitudinal statements with a Likert Scale. 

And then there are a list of BIG WORLD PROBLEMS:  I need to select what concerns me most from a long list.  Things like children, refugees, security, global warming, terrorism, natural disasters, AIDS. 

Just in case I had forgotten for a moment what a troubled globe we live on, here's a list to remind me.  What is going through my head right now ?  Well, probably some thought like this:  "how can you pick just three???"  And that is exactly what I am supposed to be thinking.

The whole survey is a sales pitch, designed to get me to a place where I am favorably disposed to writing a cheque, or even better, joining the AMBASSADOR'S CIRCLE by agreeing to a monthly debit to my account.

Deconstructing

This is not research.  It is very well written direct marketing.  Why can I say that so definitively, when you may be thinking this organization is just trying to be efficient with stamps? Here's why: 

• You can't research complex issues this way. 

We know in our hearts that the UN (United Nations Association in Canada was the issuer in this instance) does research on public opinion.  But this isn't it.  The real research probably asks me about a number of other organizations as well, such as Medicins sans Frontiers, Red Cross, Salvation Army, Save the Children, Amnesty International, and others. 

• These questions are biased

For example, one question asks me to choose from a long list what I see as the UN's "greatest successes to date".  Isn't that a clever way to claim that list as successes, without directly saying it?  Such good copywriting! But not a good research question.

• The sampling alone is a deal-breaker

There is not nearly enough information about me to know where I fit in the national demographic mix.  What if my spouse actually answered the questions, instead of me?  Are only those people who send in a cheque going to have their opinions included?  (I'm doubting if anyone's opinions are going to be included, actually)  Real research manages these issues with some care. 

So What?
But really, what is wrong with this?  Why are Selling Under the Guise of Research and Fundraising Under the Guise of Research against the code of conduct for all professional researchers? And why shouldn't organizations use this method if it helps them raise money?

Well, it's against the code of conduct becuase it brings real research into disrepute,  It looks like it might be real, but then there's this request for money.  Hmmm...

These kinds of things make it harder to get real opinions from people. 

It's not even nice from a straight consumer-protection perspective.  We all have our sensors set up to "raise shields" when we are dealing with advertising messages.  But this doesn't immediately look like one, so it sneaks in under the sensors, and subtly influences our opinions before we even get to the fundraising question.

People don't really like this much.  That is why reputable research firms now go to some lengths to tell people at the start "we are not trying to sell you anything".

The Bottom Line

It probably works.  That's why we see so much of it in our mailboxes.  But we don't have to play along.  You can withhold your financial support from organizations that use these tactics.  And you can tell your direct-marketing company that you want to see different options presented for fundraising.   

And if you ever get a call like this from a broker (as I did once), RUN.  Because the last person you want to trust with your investments is someone who is trying to deceive you before they even have your business.

(Someday, NUGGING will be thought tasteless too -- that's networking under the guise of begging for employment or referrals. )

Marketing Profs makes it official: blogs are marcom

Marketing Profs'  B.L.Ochman is now telling people how to improve their blog writing.  I'd say that makes it official that blogs are now considered marketing communications.  (But you knew that already, right?)

Even if you are not writing for a blog, there are excellent tips here for how to write clear, compelling words that speak to your market.  Did you spot the problem with the title of this post?  I already broke the "no jargon" rule by using "marcom", instead of marketing communications. 

A good read, and it's available with the free subscription. How to Write Compelling Blog Posts.
Another good piece on blog writing is available at Ochman's own blog, here.

Concept Watch: Life Cycle of Information

I heard a new concept from a financial services executive recently that caught my attention:

The life cycle of information

When planning data collection strategies to build a custome-centric integrated experience, one needs to take a view on this issue.  You want the contact centre to know about the problem you had with your plastic at the cash machine last night, but a year later this information is probably valueless.  However, you do want the whole history of your mortgage is probably pretty essential.

This concept ports readily into other environments.  In conversation with a United Way representative recently, we discussed how some information is mission-critical during a given campaign, but has little or no lasting value.  Likewise, information that is useful for local committee management is mere clutter at the national level. 

A young IBM analyst told me some time ago that their company policy was not to keep hard-copy of anything more than two years old unless it was of continuing value as a reference, and unreplaceable.  A highly useful policy which I have tried to implement to keep the paper under control on my own desk (admittedly, not always with success).

Complexity and Choice

Our chief mission when designing and managing the customer experience is now really about reducing complexity without reducing choice and without eroding value. 

That should keep us all busy for a while.

Using Cash to Motivate: A Case Study

It's becoming conventional wisdom that cash solves motivation issues, and that employees can and will do what they are motivated to do.  On a recent change management discussion on CRM Guru, (registration required) someone wrote in for advice on how to motivate adoption of a new system more than a year after it was introduced.  Only 40% of the account managers had moved to the system.   Several people who posted to the discussion liked the idea of creating a performance incentive as a way to solve the problem.   There are a lot of assumptions in this kind of thinking. 

I got thinking about this again when Jonathan, my clever entrepreneurial stylist was cutting my hair. He told me a story about an ill-fated attempt to increase sales using cash incentives. (We have had some great conversations about business over the years, and he said I could tell this story.)

A few years ago, he wanted to increase the number of sales of highlights and colors.  So he ran a campaign, and offered a $10 cash incentive to the stylists for all sales during the month of the campaign.  Sales actually dropped. 

What happened here?