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The Bathroom Experience

October 28, 2011 By 7 Comments

Once again I am participating in the Bathroom Blogfest. As I have mentioned before, if you have a physical presence, whether you are B2C or B2B, your bathroom is an important part of the customer experience. What does it say about your brand?

I have been on the road A LOT these past few months since my book launched, so I have had the opportunity to stay in many different hotels across the country (and at a variety of hotel brands). I thought it would be fun to post photos of some of the bathrooms I encountered during my travels (mostly in my hotel room). Which bathrooms do you think belong to which brands? The following are some of the brands where I stayed: Marriott, Westin, Ritz-Carlton, and a boutique hotel, Paramount Hotel in New York City. (Answers are at the end of the post.) Do they say would you would have expected about that brand?

Be sure to check out the list of all the participating bloggers, also at the end of the post. A big shout-out to CB Whittemore for leading the charge again this year!

Bathroom 1

 

 

 

 

Bathroom 2  Bathroom 2

 

 

 

 

Bathroom 3  Bathroom 3

 

 

 

 

Bathroom 4  Bathroom 4

 

 

 

 

 

Here are the list of Bathroom Blogfest bloggers (answers afterwards):

 

Name Blog Name Blog URL
Susan Abbott Customer Experience Crossroads Customer Experience Crossroads
Paul Anater Kitchen and Residential Design http://www.kitchenandresidentialdesign.com
Shannon Bilby From the Floors Up http://fromthefloorsup.com/
Toby Bloomberg Diva Marketing Diva Marketing Blog
Laurence Borel Blog Till You Drop http://www.laurenceborel.com/
Bill Buyok Avente Tile Talk http://tiletalk.blogspot.com
Jeanne Byington The Importance of Earnest Service http://blog.jmbyington.com/
Becky Carroll Customers Rock! http://customersrock.net
Katie Clark Practical Katie http://practicalkatie.blogspot.com/
Nora DePalma O’Reilly DePalma: The Blog http://www.oreilly-depalma.com/blog/
Paul Friederichsen The BrandBiz Blog http://brandbizblog.com/
Tish Grier The Constant Observer http://spap-oop.blogspot.com/
Elizabeth Hise Flooring The Consumer http://flooringtheconsumer.blogspot.com
Emily Hooper Floor Covering News Blog http://www.fcnews.net/category/blog/
Diane Kazan Urban Design Renovation http://blog.urbandesignrenovation.com
Joseph Michelli Dr. Joseph Michelli’s Blog http://www.josephmichelli.com/blog
Veronika Miller Modenus Blog http://www.modenus.com/blog
Arpi Nalbandian Tile Magazine Editors’ Blog Tile Editor Magazine Blog
David Polinchock Polinchock’s Ponderings http://blog.polinchock.com/
Professor Toilet American Standard’s Professor Toilet http://www.professortoilet.com
David Reich my 2 cents http://reichcomm.typepad.com
Victoria Redshaw & Shelley Pond Scarlet Opus Trends Blog http://www.trendsblog.co.uk
Sandy Renshaw Purple Wren http://www.PurpleWren.com
Bethany Richmond Carpet and Rug Institute Blog Carpet and Rug Institute Blog
Bruce D. Sanders RIMtailing http://www.rimtailing.blogspot.com
Paige Smith Neuse Tile Service blog http://neusetile.wordpress.com/
Stephanie Weaver Experienceology http://experienceology.blogspot.com/
Christine B. Whittemore Content Talks Business Blog Content Talks Business Blog
Christine B. Whittemore Smoke Rise & Kinnelon Blog http://smokerise-nj.blogspot.com/
Christine B. Whittemore Simple Marketing Blog http://www.simplemarketingblog.com/
Ted Whittemore Working Computers http://www.kinneloncomputers.com/
Chris Woelfel Artcraft Granite, Marble & Tile Co. http://www.artcraftgmt.com
Patty Woodland Broken Teepee http://www.brokenteepee.com/
Denise Lee Yohn brand as business bites http://deniseleeyohn.com/bites/

Answers: Westin, Marriott, Paramount, Ritz-Carlton – how’d you do?

Filed Under: Bathroom blogfest, Customer experience Tagged With: , , , ,

How Zappos Affects Your Customer Experience

September 6, 2011 By 10 Comments

Who is your customer experience competition? Those of you only looking inside your own industry need to take a look around, as your competitors are not who you think they are – especially online. Organizations should be asking this question: Which companies have the best practices in customer focus across all industries?

I recently exchanged Facebook messages with Deb Robison, a smart marketing and social media gal. She wanted to share a customer service story with me and get my take on it.  Here is her story:

I got a new computer recently and needed to order some accessories. Around this same time, I needed some shoes and books. I placed orders with Zappos, Amazon, Apple, and a designer’s shop, Jonathan Adler. Of course, the three big guys sent me order acknowledgment and tracking info all through the process. I got an order notification from (ordered a laptop sleeve) Jonathan Adler, then nothing, so a few days after I placed the order, I sent an email asking if my order had shipped. Later the next day I got an email from a customer service rep explaining that they did receive my order and that “my colleague is trying to find your bag at one of their stores.” Once it ships, I would get a shipping notification. That was two days ago. And, I noticed they have already charged my credit card.

So my question is this – are my customer service expectations skewed because I have dealt with some big companies that have solid customer service and shipping systems in place? (Note: Zappos had the best and most prompt services of the three big companies, of course.) Jonathan Adler is a smaller brand, but a high-end one and kind of trendy right now, so is it fair for me to set the same expectations on them?

My expectations have clearly been shaped by the immediacy which other retailers respond & deliver. Is that fair? As customers, we never had this kind of relationship before. We used to get out the catalog, fill out the form, put a check in the envelope and wait.

Yes, Deb, customer expectations are absolutely set based on our experiences with companies such as Zappos and Amazon. In fact, every interaction we have with a company sets our expectation for the next interaction, whether with that business or with another completely different organization. Additionally, the online experiences that customers have with companies, whether on the company website or via social media, are creating a higher degree of visibility. In social media, this becomes even more important as the social customer’s friends and followers are also watching, and sometimes sharing the experience with their network (unfortunately, this is more often the case when the experience has been poor).

Customer Expectations of Service

It is important to understand the needs of your customers, as well as their wants and desires. It is also critical to understand what they expect when they contact your company. Typically, customer expectations of service tend to fall into three areas:

- Customers want fast service: They want their problems solved or questions answered quickly. “Help me get back to what I need to do.”

- Customers want friendly service: They want to feel that the company appreciates their business. “Help me know that you care about me.”

- Customers want it to be easy: They want to be able to accomplish the task in the most efficient way possible. “Help make this simple for me.”

The three areas listed above may change in priority based on who your customer is, what kind of relationship they have had with your organization, and, as mentioned by Deb, what types of interactions they have had with your company and with others. Do you know what your customers want from you?

Taking Action

What can you do tomorrow to improve the experience your customers are having with your company?

1. Ask your customers. Really – go ask them! Find out what they expect from you, what you are doing well, and what you need to improve. Your customers will probably be happy to tell you, and they will also be glad you asked.

2. Look in the mirror. When is the last time you or someone from your organization called into your customer service line? Ordered something from your website? Tried to get help via your social media channels? Find out what it feels like to be your customer; I encourage you to look for both areas of improvement as well as your own best practices to share with your organization.

3. Look at the competition – from your customer’s perspective. Understand who is competing with you for the best customer experience, keeping in mind that it may not be anyone within your industry.

A world-class customer experience doesn’t happen by accident. It takes a plan that can be executed across all aspects of your organization. Your customer experience strategy should facilitate consistent treatment of customers, cultivate customer trust, and enable meaningful interactions at all points of customer contact. Most importantly, it should meet and exceed customer expectations. Now you have a customer experience that will ignite passion, inspire brand loyalty, and cement relationships.

Filed Under: Customer experience, Customer service, Customer strategy, Featured Tagged With: , , ,

The Old College Try

August 5, 2011 By 3 Comments

Today, I have a special guest blogger, Greg Meyer. Greg and I are kindred spirits when it comes to customer experience, and I asked him to share a recent car rental story and the lessons one can learn from it. Thanks, Greg. You rock!

The Old College Try

“Do, or do not. There is no try” -@yoda

“We try harder” -@avis

It’s really challenging to “speak with one voice” as a company, whether your company is small, large, or anywhere in between. I recently had an experience with a major car rental company that left me appreciative of individual effort and frustrated at the inability of the company to meet the needs of the customer.

So, what happened?

I had a small crisis – a flat tire on the way to an important meeting while traveling on business to Research in Motion headquarters in Waterloo, Ontario. I called Roadside Assistance, and my expectation was that Avis would send a crew to fix my tire. They actually told me to fix it myself and that there were tools in the trunk to accomplish the task.

Lesson #1 – The Company Process Doesn’t Always Benefit the Customer
The representative from Avis wasn’t necessarily wrong – he was following a script that suggested what he should do when someone calls in with a flat tire – but he wasn’t able (or willing) to see things from my point of view. I didn’t want to learn a new process, use any tools, or to do work because my day was already full.

Lesson #2 – Help can come from an Unexpected Place
Lauren (the building receptionist) went above and beyond my expectations by finding a local Avis rep when he was returning another car and escalating the issue to the local sales manager Chris. Chris showed up and brought me a new car – a Kia Soul – and was very pleasant. I was ecstatic and wanted to shout everyone’s praises to the whole world. And I did.

Lesson #3 – Oops, Everyone’s not on the same page
I drove off into the sunset with a new rental car and went along my merry way. Everything’s great, right? Not quite – when I returned home to the states I got a bill to replace the tire. Huh? After a few emails to figure out what was going on, I found that because my corporate office advises me to decline the rental car-provided insurance, incidents like a flat tire are “rotten luck” and need to be paid out of pocket.

I wrote to @AvisWeTryHarder and explained to Ann Smith (the social media representative) that this outcome was silly, that I shouldn’t need to pay it, and that she should fix it. She did (eventually), but she wasn’t able to do so immediately (by policy.) And the overall experience was one of confusion, rather than triumph at great service and heroic efforts by a few people.

What did I learn?
Avis resolved my issue and I didn’t have to pay for the flat tire (yay!) There were a few key lessons that I gleaned from this experience, including:
  1. It’s hard to speak with one voice – even if everything goes right, training your employees to understand the complexities of a situation and how to use common sense is difficult to train, so you’ve got to hire for attitude;
  2. The customer decides if it was a good experience — customers don’t care why it went wrong, they just want you to fix it. Or explain very clearly why you can’t fix it and to offer a good alternative;
  3. There might be good substitutes, but it’s hard to think of them sometimes - I could have called AAA Auto Club, but I didn’t realize that they would cover me while traveling in Canada. In this case heroic effort won the day.
What’s the impact of the “old college try”?
The customer doesn’t care whether you try harder. The customer cares whether you get it done. Yoda wins.
About Greg Meyer: Greg delights customers and tries to provide the best customer experience possible by listening, providing support, and solving problems. He is a startup veteran of several early stage companies including Gist (acquired by Research in Motion.) In addition to his ability to translate simultaneously between English and Geek, Greg likes to draw things and take pictures of signs. You can contact Greg at @grmeyer. (photo by http://flickr.com/photos/gregmeyer)

Filed Under: Customer experience, Customer service, Featured, Guest bloggers Tagged With:

Killer Customer Service, or Customer-Killer Service?

June 26, 2011 By 5 Comments

A friend of mine has been a member of a particular airline’s frequent flier program (we will call this major US airline, AirlineX) for a number of years. He even has a credit card linked to that account to help accrue points. This friend had earned enough miles for a free trip to Europe but hadn’t been able to fly AirlineX for awhile since his company now required him to fly the cheapest option (which this airline never was). Knowing that his hard-earned points would expire soon, he called the airline to see what could be done to retain them. AirlineX told him that he had to fly a “qualifying flight” in order to retain his points. Unable to do that due to the aforementioned company policy (and with no other potential trips on the horizon), my friend lost his accrued points (and a future flight to Europe).

Now, this happens all the time; that is the part of the formula for points-based loyalty programs. Keep customers coming back so they will continue to earn points and hopefully continue to spend money with the business.

The real pain in this case is the monthly emails that my friend receives from the airline. Each month, AirlineX sends an email showing how many frequent flier points he has (or at this point, doesn’t have). This is most likely intended to help the airline stay top-of-mind with the customer and gently encourage them to book their next flight with the airline. However, in this case, the monthly email only serves as a reminder that this particular customer doesn’t have any more points with AirlineX – and that hurts.

Customers are watching the actions of your company. Every email they receive, commercial they view, social media site they “like”, and direct mail piece they read (or not) affects their view of your business and their overall customer service experience. It may be something that seems small to your organization which pushes the customer out the door.

What do your marketing communications say about your company? Are they helping your customers to buy more from you? Or are they painful reminders of a damaged relationship, resulting in customer-killer service?

(Photo credit: marco)

Filed Under: Customer experience, Customer service, Featured Tagged With: , ,

Announcing my first book: The Hidden Power of Your Customers

May 5, 2011 By 13 Comments

I am so excited to share the news with all of you that I have a book coming out in July! And it is thanks to you, my faithful Customers Rock! readers, that it is happening. The book is called The Hidden Power of Your Customers: Four Keys to Growing Your Business Through Existing Customers, being published by John Wiley & Sons. The hardcover edition will be released on July 20, with eReader versions to follow.

This book has actually been a long time in the making – not so much from the perspective of how long it took to write it (see The Story below) but from the perspective that I have had this book in mind since before I began this blog in December of 2006. In fact, one of the reasons I started Customers Rock! blog was that I wanted to see 1) whether I enjoyed writing (I do) and 2) whether anyone else would enjoy reading what I wrote (you do!). So in a sense, this book has been over 4 years in the making!

This book is also one of the main reasons that I have been so quiet on my blog the past few months. I have definitely missed writing for all of you, and many of you have been encouraging me to get back out here and post. I am finally ready, and what better way to start back up than to introduce you to my book.

The Book

The Hidden Power of Your Customers is a book about how to focus on your current customers so that you can lengthen and strengthen your business relationship with them, thus bringing about increased customer loyalty, customer advocacy, and ultimately increased referrals. It is not a social media book (more on that in The Story below), but social media is woven throughout the book (as it should be woven throughout a company’s marketing and customer service strategies). It is also not a customer service book (but that is an important tenet). It is a book about growing your business through one of your company’s best assets – your existing customers.

Here is a short excerpt from the introduction:

It has been my experience that many companies spend most of their time and budget focusing on selling to new customers and end up neglecting their existing ones. This might work in the short term, but eventually these companies will find themselves losing more customers out the back door than they bring in through the front door. Additionally, the onset of social media is driving a major change in customer behaviors and habits, making it highly risky not to focus on existing customers. Social media has brought the customer experience to the forefront of discussions, so it is important for companies to be more vigilant than ever before.

As a result, some people will tell you that you need outstanding customer service. But customer service is not enough. You also need marketing that connects with your current customers. In fact, you need to consider the entire customer experience, and support it with a customer-centric culture, one that promotes an equally exceptional employee experience. And, of course, you do need outstanding customer service.

The Hidden Power of Your Customers is based around the principles of Customers Rock!, and the sections of the book follow the ROCK acronym:

R: Relevant marketing – Organizations need to market to their customers in a way that is relevant to them, including recognizing them as customers, using their language, and meeting their needs.

O: Orchestrated customer experience – Every place a customer interacts with a company needs to provide a consistent, planned experience for the customer that is beneficial to both parties. We can’t leave the customer experience to chance.

C: Customer-focused culture – We can’t just expect that a company will become customer-centric because it hires a few great customer service personnel or states that it cares about customers in its marketing. We need to ensure that customers are part of everything that our company does so that customer-focus becomes part of the company DNA.

K: Killer customer service – Companies need to take customer service to the next level, and it needs to be an integral part of the customer experience. Customer service is where the rubber meets the road, as many buying and renewal decisions are based upon this critical touch point. It has to ROCK.

The book is also supported with many case studies (based on personal interviews I conducted with company leaders), lots of practical tips, and fun personal stories – all written in the Customers Rock! style that you are familiar with here on this blog.

The Story

This past summer, at the end of my Marketing via New Media class which I teach at UC San Diego, my students were encouraging me to take what I know and write a book. I told them I had a book in mind already, I just hadn’t made any inquiries about it yet. I went home that evening and tweeted out that I was thinking about writing a book. Less than a week later, I received an email from an editor at John Wiley & Sons. In it, he said that he was interested in working with me on my book. He said he enjoyed this blog and felt that I had good material, and good credentials, to write a book. I actually had already written a book proposal the year before but hadn’t tried to do anything with it. I asked the Wiley editor whether this should be a social media book, and his recommendation was no, it should not be; he felt there were already quite a few of those out there (and I agree).

So, after giving Wiley’s offer some thought, I agreed and signed the contract. The book was off and running!

I then spent the next four months doing interviews, pulling together information, and writing the manuscript. It was completed on February 1 (I think I missed out on most of the family holiday activities this past season). Since then, I have been working with Wiley on a few rounds of edits, approving cover artwork, seeking “blurbs” (endorsements) for the book, and getting a top-notch thought leader to write the foreword (Thank You, Brian Solis – author of Engage! for being so gracious).

The book is now just about ready for prime time, so I felt it was high time to share about it with you all. The attendees of my recent session at SugarCon got a sneak preview of some of the concepts, and I will be giving more talks in the next few months before the release where I will have the opportunity to sign some pre-release booklets and get the word out about the book.

Will You Help Me Share About It?

I am thrilled that the book releases in just a few months (July 20), and I plan to continue blogging, speaking, and sharing about it on my social networks. Will you help me? Here are a few ways you can get involved in sharing the Customers Rock! philosophy that is in The Hidden Power of Your Customers:

  • Share about the book on your own blog or social networks. Here is the link to the book on Amazon.
  • Go to the Amazon page and click Like (right under my name, at the top of the listing)
  • Pre-order the book
  • If you are in San Diego, come to one of my Book Launch Parties (more info on these as it gets closer)
  • If you are not in San Diego, you can help sponsor me for a Book Signing/Event in your city. I will gladly come to your city for a signing if you help arrange the event; please contact me for details.
  • Submit to write a review of the book on your blog! I will be reaching out to bloggers for reviews to take place in early July; please leave me a comment or drop me a note at becky at petraconsultinggroup dot com if you are interested.

Again, thank you all for your support, encouragement, and loyalty over the past 4 1/2 years of this blog. Customers DO rock, and I can’t wait to show you more about that in the book.

Let me know what you think!

 

Filed Under: Customer experience, Customer loyalty, Customer Rock Stars, Customer service, Customer strategy, Customers Rock!, social media, Voice of the customer Tagged With: , , ,

Customer Experience Conference: NetPromoter

January 27, 2011 By 1 Comment

conversation

I was recently contacted by the team running the Net Promoter Conference in Miami Beach, February 3 and 4, 2011. If you are a customer experience or other customer-centric professional, this is one event you should consider attending. I was fortunate enough to be able to interview Richard Owen, CEO of Satmetrix (who I have interviewed previously on Customers Rock! Radio), and John Abraham, General Manager of NetPromoter Programs, about the event, the speakers, and why a focus on customer experience is so important.  Take a few minutes to grab a cup of coffee and have a listen to our brief conversation. Sounds like a great event!

Here are some of the speakers:

  • Andy Lark, Vice President, Large Enterprise, Dell
  • Brian Scudamore, CEO, with Simon Lowe, Director of Operations, 1800-GOT-JUNK?
  • Dan Cathy, President & COO, Chick-fil-A
  • Lara Wise, Vice President, Customer Experience and Customer Care, tw telecom
  • Mary Currier, Vice President, IT Relationship Management, Allianz Life Insurance NA
  • Michael McOmber, Customer Experience Manager, Siemens IT Solutions and Services North America
  • Richard Owen, CEO, Satmetrix and Author, Answering The Ultimate Question
  • Fred Reichheld, Bain & Company Fellow and Author, The Ultimate Question

Have a listen to the interview, and for those of you who attend, come back here and share your key takeaways!

Satmetrix interview

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Filed Under: Conferences, Customer experience, Customer strategy Tagged With: , , ,

Letting Customers Contribute to the B2B Experience

January 17, 2011 By 3 Comments

SpiceRexHow can companies get their customers more engaged and involved? Social media has been making it easier for user-generated content to appear as part of a brand’s marketing, usually with consumers. If a consumer is truly a loyal fan of that brand, they will be very excited to see their submission being used by their favorite company. There are many, many examples of companies using these tactics for marketing buzz and excitement as part of a social media campaign. When the campaign ends, the buzz usually dies down, and the new “fans” go look for other contests to enter. Not a great way to create long-term relationships. For this reason, I often say that social media is not a campaign; it is a relationship.

Customers Contribute

Some companies have been engaging with their true fans for years. For example, at Jones Soda their bottle labels are actually photos submitted by their customers via the Jones Soda website. Customer photos appear on the Jones Soda gallery, and a lucky few get theirs put on a bottle. Even though there is no fame and fortune to be received from this activity, Jones Soda fans love to contribute to the Jones community in this fashion.

Spice it Up in B2B

Spiceworks is a great example of letting customers contribute in the B2B space.  Spiceworks is a free set of tools that helps over 1 million IT professionals manage their network, helpdesk, and “everything IT in small and medium businesses.” They have a very active online community which answers questions for each other and shares what they think on a variety of topics. Spiceworks put together a photo contest asking IT professionals to share some creative pics that contained the Spiceworks logo, brand name, or simply a red chili pepper. From that contest, a community mascot was born, SpiceRex. Submitted by one of the members, SpiceRex grabbed the attention of the Spiceworks team and the hearts of the community, and he travels the world to visit various members (he is made of paper, so he travels light). He has become so popular that Spiceworks will be featuring the red orange T-Rex in a series of ads, created by community members, to tell the IT world about their free software. Spiceworks recently won a Groundswell award for the way they have energized their customers and created tremendous word of mouth through them.

When you have information about your customers and their passions that your competitors don’t have, you have an advantage.  When you use what you know about your customers and let them play a role in the experience, such as featuring a community mascot in your ads, now you are building on the customer relationship and increasing the likelihood of loyalty.

(Credit: SpiceRex created by akp982 @UnofficialSpice)

Filed Under: Advertising, B2B Marketing, Community, Customer experience, Customer loyalty, Customer strategy, Featured, social media Tagged With: , , , , , ,

Tweets Not All Sweet on Black Friday

December 6, 2010 By 1 Comment

santa online 2Social media has brought the customer experience more in-focus than ever before, and this became very apparent during the start of the 2010 holiday shopping season on Black Friday and Cyber Monday. Consumers made their lists of who had the best deals, based on what they learned on Twitter and other sites. The brave ones, armed with their mobile phones, made the trek into the brick-and-mortar retail stores to fight the crowds for their coveted items.

Other customers started their own Cyber Monday on Black Friday and decided to stay home and shop online. Armed with their own lists, and easy access to their social networks, they shopped and Tweeted heavily on both days.

Tealeaf, using advanced sentiment analysis from Crimson Hexagon, took a look at the tweets which occurred between Black Friday and Cyber Monday about the online customer experience, and here is what they found:

  • Twitter conversations about online shopping increased 256 percent on Black Friday and 202 percent on Cyber Monday compared to a regular shopping day.
  • Shoppers were not shy about sharing their victories and failures as they strived to beat the in-store crowds.
  • 38% of customers were delighted with the online shopping experience.
  • However, nearly a quarter, 24%, of online shoppers cursed and complained their way through the process.
  • 50% of the frustrated shoppers tweeted about the specific issues they were having, such as website errors, out of stocks and other classic online customer struggles.

Here are some examples of the frustrated tweets:

· well, so much for THAT christmas present. couldn’t even figure out how to order. Thanks. *rolling eyes*.”

· Why doesn’t the website work!!!! Need to buy my ticket home. -___-

· I was going to go nuts buying lots of stuff on the website, but it’s been down all day – lots of angry comments on their facebook

· I tried! website won’t let me checkout! I keep hitting refresh!

· I would love to buy the album, but there are issues with the website

I spoke with Geoff Galat, VP of Worldwide Marketing for Tealeaf, to learn more about the social media report they conducted. Geoff shared with me that these numbers are similar to the percentage of customers that experience online shopping frustrations on non-holiday occasions; there were just a lot more of them over the last weekend. More importantly, we discussed how the expressed experience of online shoppers might affect the perceptions of others. In a previous customer survey, Tealeaf found that 51% of online shoppers said social media had influenced their online transactions. When they read a negative comment online, 74% of consumers said it influenced their likelihood to do business with that company; 56% said they would avoid a particular vendor after reading bad reviews. Yikes!

On the other hand, 52% of consumers said they would use a particular vendor after reading good reviews.

What is the key takeaway? Social media has made the consumer online shopping experience one that everyone shares, at least vicariously. The good, the bad, and the ugly are all out in the open for anyone to read – and it is impacting their perceptions and potentially their behaviors.

It is important for companies doing business online to take a closer look at their online experience – not just for purchasing, but across the entire customer lifecycle. Each of these little website experiences might not look like much to the enterprise, but when they add up over time and across many customers, they could result in “death by 1000 cuts” for the website, and for the customer base. Companies need to understand all aspects of their online customer experience, including how customers use the site as well as customer expectations (which could be set by other great websites!), in order to make sure they are delivering the best service to prospects and customers over the holidays – and every day.

What are you seeing happen in the online customer experience that is best – or worst – practice? Please share some thoughts in the comments.

To see the Tealeaf presentation of the report, go here.

(Photo credit: YanC)

Filed Under: Customer experience, sales, social media Tagged With: , , , , ,

Bathroom Blogfest 2010 – Stuck in the 60s?

October 26, 2010 By 14 Comments

BathBlogfest 2010 buttonOnce again this year, I am pleased to be participating in the Bathroom Blogfest. This is the 5th year of the Blogfest (4th year participating for me – now with 34 other bloggers in 2010), and we use this opportunity to focus on the customer experience in one of the “forgotten” spaces, bathrooms! This year’s theme is inspired by Mad Men, and we will look to see whether some of these areas area still “stuck in the 60s”. Unless your business is 60s-inspired, it probably won’t work for you!

Now, here on Customers Rock!, I like to focus on the positives. So, I will show you one bathroom experience that is definitely “stuck”. However, I will then share photos of bathroom experiences that do a beautiful job of carrying the customer experience from the establishment into the washroom.

This Bathroom is Really Stuck!

I always advocate looking at the entire customer experience and working to ensure positive feelings as a result of those interactions. Recently, I was in Las Vegas for the BlogWorld conference, and I went to eat at Burger Bar in Mandalay Bay with some friends. The bar had a lot of great beers on tap, as well as a wide selection of bottled beers; it was a point of pride with them. So when I went to use the restroom, I wasn’t surprised to see the hallway lined with metal beer signs.

burger bar 1

This is a pretty neat experience; I felt immersed in the atmosphere as I proceeded (the door to the bathroom is at the end of the hall).  burger bar 2

Imagine my surprise when I opened the door to this ugly scene:

burger bar 3

Apparently, the restaurant shared the bathrooms with other stores/restaurants in that area (it was similar to a shopping mall), so their cool Beer experience ended at the door. It was such a stark contrast that at first it made me wonder whether I was in the right place!  The Burger Bar is “stuck” with this experience. Much like a parking lot, this bathroom situation was out of the control of the establishment.

What could be done to make this experience better? I don’t think there is much that could be changed, other than to create a sign at the end of the hall, before the door out of Burger Bar, noting that you are now leaving the restaurant and entering shared space. I am not sure that would completely remedy the situation, but sometimes simply setting expectations is all that is needed to turn a crummy experience into a tolerable one.

And Now For Some Great Bathrooms!

Las Vegas is definitely the city of glitz and glam, and the casinos and resorts make sure that feeling is carried through to every corner of their facilities.

Mandalay Bay

This washroom in the casino area of Mandalay Bay conveys the lush feeling that permeates the whole facility. The opulent furnishings mirror the carpets and upholstered walls leading into the bathroom. Luxurious.

Mandalay Bay bathroom

The Mirage

We went to The Mirage to see the fabulous Cirque du Soleil show Love (which was an absolutely wonderful experience itself, and one I highly recommend!) The bathroom was beautifully decorated with drawings of flower arrangements, which can be seen on the walls as one enters the restroom. (I definitely got some strange looks as I took this photo!)

Mirage bathroom overallWhat interested me was that the floral art actually continued right into the stalls themselves. There was a floral drawing mounted above each toilet (yes, I peeked into more than one stall to confirm it); see pics below for proof.

Mirage bathroom stall

While the pictures were indeed lovely, it would have been more practical to make the marble shelf a little larger so that a purse or small package could be placed there while using the facilities.

mirage stall 2

New York, New York

New York, New York hotel and casino is designed to look like something out of New York, and there were a lot of Broadway-style touches to the decor. We finished up our evening by sending the younger members of our party onto a voyage aboard the wild and long roller coaster at this hotel. While waiting, I stopped into the ladies room to check out the scene. The entrance to the bathroom had photos of famous stars from earlier decades (Marilyn Monroe, for example) lining the walls. The most striking feature of the restroom, however, was the fireplace! I don’t believe it was operational, but it looked very extravagant, especially with the chandelier above it.

nyny bathroom

What About Your Bathroom?

We have looked at the good, bad/ugly in this post with respect to how the customer experience carries over to the washroom. Whether your business is a retail establishment or a commercially-focused company, your bathroom still speaks volumes about your company. Is your bathroom “stuck in the 60s”, or are is it fully present in the year 2010, reflecting the best image possible about your organization? Let me know what you think about the bathroom experience!

Thanks to the Participating Bloggers!

Here is the list of all the participating Bathroom Blogfest 2010 bloggers! Thank you to CB Whittemore of Simple Marketing Now for her hard work pulling this blog festival together. I am honored to be a part of this effort

http://www.customercrossroads.com/customercrossroads/

http://www.KitchenAndResidentialDesign.com

http://blog.bigbobsoutlet.com/

http://blog.carpetsnmore.com/

http://blog.dolphincarpet.com/

http://fromthefloorsup.com/

http://blog.mybigbobs.com/

http://bloombergmarketing.blogs.com/bloomberg_marketing/

http://www.laurenceborel.com/

http://tiletalk.blogspot.com/

http://blog.jmbyington.com/

http://customersrock.net/

http://www.resultsrevolution.com

http://practicalkatie.blogspot.com/

http://www.professortoilet.com/

http://www.oreilly-depalma.com/blog/

http://livepath.blogspot.com/

http://www.awarepointblog.com/

http://circulating.wordpress.com/

http://spap-oop.blogspot.com

http://yourfifthwall.com/

www.josephmichelli.com/blog

http://www.modenus.com/blog

http://www.tilemagonline.com/Articles/Blog_Nalbandian

http://www.people2peopleservice.com/

http://www.onqualitativeresearch.blogspot.com/

http://blog.polinchock.com/

http://trendsblog.co.uk/

http://reichcomm.typepad.com/my_weblog/

http://www.arounddesmoines.com/

http://www.purplewren.com/

http://www.carpet-and-rug-institute-blog.com/

http://rimtailing.blogspot.com/

http://stevetokar.wordpress.com/

http://spiritwomen.blogspot.com/

http://experienceology.blogspot.com/

http://flooringtheconsumer.blogspot.com/

http://www.simplemarketingblog.com/

http://smokerise-nj.blogspot.com/

http://carpetology.blogspot.com/

http://lindaloo.com/

http://secretsinsandiego.com/

Filed Under: Bathroom blogfest, Customer experience Tagged With: , , ,

The Latest at Customers Rock!

October 4, 2010 By 1 Comment

News picThere has been a lot going on lately here at Customers Rock! October is going to be a busy month.

BlogWorld

I will be moderating a panel again this year at BlogWorld & New Media Expo in Las Vegas, October 14-16. My session this year is a special one. It looks back at the first panel I was ever involved in at BlogWorld 2 years ago, with some very special people. It included Frank Eliason (with Comcast at the time, now with Citibank – his first talk ever!), Tony Hsieh (CEO of Zappos), Brian Solis (author of Engage!), and Toby Bloomberg (Diva Marketing Blog). We discussed

BlogWorld Panel 2008

social media and customer loyalty, a very new topic at the time.  Fast forward two years to 2010. Much has changed in the world of social media, and customer loyalty/customer service is just now being discussed as a social media goal. I am very excited to have a panel this year with some of the same players (Frank Eliason and Toby Bloomberg are returning), as well as a new person (Melissa Lacitignola from Zappos) to revisit the topic of Creating Customer Loyalty and Social Media – A Look 2 Years Later. If you are coming to BlogWorld, please come to the session and meet the panelists – and me. And say “Customers Rock!” (On the right, there is a pic from the original panel.)

Customer World/NACCM Customers 1st

Later in October, I am speaking in Orlando at the Customers 1st Conference, which is now co-located with two other customer-focused events at the Walt Disney World Dolphin hotel, October 25-27. In my role as Community Manager at Verizon (where I am a contractor), I am speaking on how to use a branded community to engage customers and move from customer support to customer relationships. There are many great sessions throughout the three conferences (including another Verizon session at the Customer Uninterrupted event on using technology to support customers). Let me know if you plan to come; it should be very helpful for those of you in customer service!

Customers Rock! Blog on Assistant Edge

My blog Customers Rock! is a Featured Resource on the new content site Assistant Edge. It is a community site that gathers great information for executive and admin assistants, and Customers Rock! was asked to participate. There looks to be some very helpful information over there for assistants as well as for others in business; check it out and let me know what you think.

And more news…

Will be coming later this week, with a very BIG announcement. Stay tuned!

Filed Under: Customer experience
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