tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35030911016546558012024-03-05T06:13:27.466-08:00That Little Extra...A look at how great truly customer-obsessed organisations create ever lasting experiencesMatt Coxhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01471255471295297501noreply@blogger.comBlogger18125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3503091101654655801.post-83468759864115938022012-03-25T01:11:00.000-07:002012-03-25T01:11:49.157-07:00Ocado - great experiences come with high investment<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgMiIa8ANTZ8olXvj-bY1M7CdWqm1fNE-wobUjIFM08zkggJjGuy4uBITCREHYipGZB4nSuGK-p5X02kWCPb6YeBFVkDfY0kK_miJMjQjDn0svC8rww6ErkwSgijvjJJ1tsmYHfBwpTkdjK/s1600/Ocado-logo.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><br /><img border="0" height="218" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgMiIa8ANTZ8olXvj-bY1M7CdWqm1fNE-wobUjIFM08zkggJjGuy4uBITCREHYipGZB4nSuGK-p5X02kWCPb6YeBFVkDfY0kK_miJMjQjDn0svC8rww6ErkwSgijvjJJ1tsmYHfBwpTkdjK/s320/Ocado-logo.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
Given that my wife and I work full time and the thought of traipsing around the supermarket at the weekends with the kids who have the potential to lose the plot at any moment, we frequently use Ocado. The online supermarket, set up through venture capital and until recently, the exclusive online shopping facility for Waitrose, has worked very hard to put the customer at the heart of what they do and it has a proven success formula.<br />
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A recent experience reminded me of this. We ordered some goods via the iPad app on Wednesday night for delivery on Sunday night 9pm. A few things to note about ordering:<br />
<br />
<ul>
<li>lists are easy to use, remembering similar purchases from before and categorising them</li>
<li>delivery slots are hourly; very convenient.</li>
<li>certain slots are highlighted as "green", since that particular van is already going to be in your neighbourhood. </li>
</ul>
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Sunday approached and a call arrived at 7.30pm with the driver stating that she was in the neighbourhood and asking whether it would be convenient to deliver now. However, hearing the screaming kids in the background she quickly said "Shall we just leave it until 9pm?".</div>
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At 9pm she called "I see you have a side gate. Is that nearer your kitchen and easier for you? Would you like me to enter into the kitchen or leave the goods at the door?" Finally, a smiley driver greets me at 9pm and leaves the goods, which are already divided into colour-coded frozen and non-frozen bags and with no products missing.</div>
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I share the whole story because it's a great example of how to deliver a great experience the customer has to be at the heart of the operating model. Analysing my experience means that they thought of me when they:<br />
<br />
<ul>
<li>recruited by hiring on attitude ("we can teach you to drive a truck, but not smile")</li>
<li>created a proposition that has colour categorised bags ("what happens after we leave the shopping?)</li>
<li>created great delivery interfaces ("this has to remain simple and convenient")</li>
<li>invested in one major distribution centre ("we don't want dissatisfaction over substitute orders").</li>
</ul>
<div>
Recently, Ocado posted <a href="http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-16813624" target="_blank">a loss of £2.4m for 2011</a>. Now in its 10th year of existence, <a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/business/nils-pratley-on-finance/2012/jan/31/jury-still-out-ocado" target="_blank">some argue</a> that they have over-invested in order to gain the customer experience they desire and cannot return on the investment. They are indeed investing more, constructing a second major distribution centre. I personally would like to see Ocado flourish. They have all the right ingredients for success. Potential expansion to other parts of the UK might be the key they need to return on such a large fixed asset, since I am sure that others experiencing what I have will be sure to return frequently.</div>
</div>Matt Coxhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01471255471295297501noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3503091101654655801.post-25081604166060819222011-04-20T07:36:00.001-07:002011-05-02T09:46:43.274-07:00Random Acts of Kindness<p>The website <a href="http://www.trendwatching.com">Trendwatching</a> recently posted a great article called "Random Acts of Kindness (RAK’s) - how kind, human brands will thrive in a connected economy". The basic tenet is as you would expect from the title, namely:<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhhCxzr3A36Dlt3qj_Eb4CnPvf4jUs1gZ1MBQ1v-FmCC2_vcMixXKsuJ3XwKCc2hWEei-oX7Ht3sQDNRbvi0se2iNdMKAN6pBseIua5eJBvuXvF3RO2aAV-L5pPWyJMfhBo6ORCGmN1kh5z/s1600-h/image%5B3%5D.png"><img style="border-bottom: 0px; border-left: 0px; display: inline; margin-left: 0px; border-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; border-right: 0px" title="image" border="0" alt="image" align="right" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhX21oTRouA69J5GYPrPqdkCfD0_IGxidAWNpQw9PxXyKX48-r-Vxq7zmTlj_fz8cO6I9fMVYDH9Rr-XJKs4IPSvzDV8CuF28FRpxODrP8L_1uM_7ccg4TaSFeckgz2xFNB-YQZIaTDS7a8/?imgmax=800" width="244" height="179"></a> </p> <ul> <li>customers want to see the human side of brands after so many disappointing experiences <li>the connected economy makes this increasingly easy to do so in a relevant manner <li>surprising and delighting consumers will have an exponential effect, as they easily share these experiences with many others.</li></ul> <p>The article cites examples such as:</p> <ul> <li>Interflora, a flower delivery service in the UK, monitored Twitter users to look for people who needed cheering up. Once found, they were sent a bouquet of flowers as a surprise. </li> <li>Sweetgreen, a Washington restaurant chain, employs a street team to perform random acts such as covering people’s bicycle seats when it rains, or leaving gift certificates for drivers who’ve received parking tickets.</li> <li>Topicana took a huge helium balloon “sun” to Inuvik, an Arctic town where residents have 31 days of pure darkness in the winter</li></ul> <p>One I’ve also heard of recently is from Apple. A man returned his iPad to Apple with a return note where under the section “Reason for return” he had put “Wife says “no””. A customer service agent receiving the returned item read this and found it interesting and passed it onto Apple executives. A week later the said customer received the iPad back in the post with a note from the company saying “Apple says “yes””. </p> <p>This is so much about what my blog is dedicated to. Companies who do this understand that these activities help build brand equity and that there is a genuine desire by consumers to see a human face to brands they purchase. It may be difficult to measure in the short term but KPI’s exist that would show a trend of brand preference, strength, etc over time. Indeed, monitoring the online viral impact of these events helps to calculate more instant feedback. Getting investment for this kind of activity on a sustainable basis, rather than a one-off, is notoriously difficult, as P&L owners clearly like to see the link between marketing activity and sales. Yet, this is always the challenge that faces any marketing activity that is not direct response based. My feeling is that we will see more and more of the cleverer companies delivering RAK’s.</p> <p>If you have any other stories of RAK’s by companies I’d love to hear them. <a href="http://www.trendwatching.com/trends/" target="_blank">Download this article</a> - you’ll love it.</p> Matt Coxhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01471255471295297501noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3503091101654655801.post-69811187927459740662011-03-11T06:57:00.000-08:002011-03-11T06:57:38.740-08:00Smart and Stupid CompaniesWhen it comes to consumer experiences, there is much stupidity but sometimes smartness within the corporate world. I have personally sat in meetings during my career where, for all the right desire to do the right thing by the consumer, the solution is designed to do the right thing to the bottom line (interestingly, only short term clearly, since doing the right thing to the consumer will drive bottom line improvement).<br />
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David Williams, a colleague of mine, talks about <a href="http://howtoexperience.wordpress.com/2010/03/23/smart-and-stupid-companies/">what makes smart and stupid companies</a> within the world of Consumer Services. He writes about why they do what they do, and comes to a similar conclusion. David argues that having empowered employees to do the right thing, or even the unexpectedly delightful thing, is a pre-requisite. I would agree, but build on that to say that the right attitude must be present in the individual to want to go that extra mile for the consumer, empowered or not. The attitude comes from that individual and is reinforced by the organisational culture. <br />
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Have a look at David's article. Appreciate your thoughts.Matt Coxhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01471255471295297501noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3503091101654655801.post-10400204098275532142011-02-27T06:28:00.001-08:002011-02-27T06:28:19.483-08:00Using Web Chat in Commerce: Be prepared to change your model<p>As companies strive towards lower operating costs and as technology progresses, web chats have become a great way of improving customer experiences. However, as always, the simple introduction of the technology without the appropriate operating model changes can lead to disappointment and ineffective customer service. </p> <p>I’ve recently had two experiences of using web chat with two large organisations. The first was with Adobe, to help out in a technical query about functionality in a certain version. The second was with Ikea, as I had encountered problems with their online planning software and was looking for help.</p> <p>The experience with Adobe was a good one. It was purely text based, not cam. The level of English was fine, and the Customer Services Advisor (CSA) <img style="border-bottom: 0px; border-left: 0px; display: inline; margin-left: 0px; border-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; border-right: 0px" title="adobe" border="0" alt="adobe" align="right" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjPZNBqj3pliSKyGH48mb2lA2TUk7tZLCM5jwDVtwpNiDR8nB4iAKkG-aWrZf-CGQskZ6HZGJGULKlCHmJVCtHxaoDyrhR8t4bv3ADkGYtPcEYNvjB1gbja95wdOrlMtdUe41swM77Dhwj5/?imgmax=800" width="72" height="72">answered my question very quickly. It was an enhanced experience over other channels, since she sent me a link to various Adobe sites, which were clearly easy to then access. At the end of the chat, she then moved to a subtle sales approach for me to upgrade to other software. Clearly, this channel is not easy to “push” sales down, as a customer can politely but firmly decline and halt the conversation abruptly. Nonetheless, a thought was planted about the newer software, on which I may enact another time. So not a wasted question. Overall, it was a great experience, that was seamlessly integrated into other channels. Well done.</p> <p>The experience with Ikea was different. I had looked to use their <a href="http://www.ikea.com/ms/en_GB/rooms_ideas/splashplanners.html" target="_blank">online planning tools</a> to think about changes to our kitchen. However, I was blocke<img style="border-bottom: 0px; border-left: 0px; display: inline; margin-left: 0px; border-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; border-right: 0px" title="ikea" border="0" alt="ikea" align="right" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgYvsxK4FSh0gt2kVVTWVav8wgf3L7GTby9-Aw6bmxCc94xovV_m8kh3t1nVgaDREpyvcvF1K-Svr1-CVexr8xwoUQcCaPfNRbPdhHBWMBmDML1Y7EvPKwgEpt9xpuE8_HdFJKc0u_r_oUQ/?imgmax=800" width="63" height="63">d from downloading the software, despite turning off my firewall. So I tried to look for help on their website. Nothing. I then found their web chat for customer services. Over the next two hours, I kept receiving the message that no-one was available to take the “call”. So, I’m none the wiser as to what’s wrong. </p> <p>It got me thinking. Clearly, Ikea has put in a service that is linked to UK office hours (not even their store hours, as the store would have been open), and failed to update their operating model that would allow for 24/7 service levels. Nowadays, consumer expectations have been set, rightly or wrongly, that companies set their back office functions around the world to reduce cost and always be available. Yet, when you create a channel such as web chat you instantly create an expectation with the end consumer that the channel will be available when that individual needs it, having taken away the shackles of manning a physical building. Following the sun operations are de rigueur. </p> <p>I’d suggest that Ikea, who have committed to driving high customer service, have another think as to why they introduced web chat, and how they can use it to drive improved service levels. They are currently running an online survey asking how they could improve. I’ve passed the comment on. </p> Matt Coxhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01471255471295297501noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3503091101654655801.post-89466594093946418402011-02-20T12:25:00.001-08:002011-02-27T09:44:22.265-08:00Relative Pricing: are we in control?<div class="wlWriterEditableSmartContent" id="scid:5737277B-5D6D-4f48-ABFC-DD9C333F4C5D:580bad32-5d8a-4598-a692-e90fe0b51cd2" style="display: inline; float: none; margin: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;"><div><object height="326" width="446"><param name="movie" value="http://video.ted.com/assets/player/swf/EmbedPlayer.swf"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true" /><param name="allowScriptAccess" value="always" /><param name="wmode" value="transparent"></param><param name="bgColor" value="#ffffff"></param><param name="flashvars" value="vu=http://video.ted.com/talks/dynamic/DanAriely_2008P-medium.flv&su=http://images.ted.com/images/ted/tedindex/embed-posters/DanAriely-2008P.embed_thumbnail.jpg&vw=432&vh=240&ap=0&ti=548&introDuration=15330&adDuration=4000&postAdDuration=830&adKeys=talk=dan_ariely_asks_are_we_in_control_of_our_own_decisions;year=2008;theme=speaking_at_ted2009;theme=unconventional_explanations;event=EG+2008;&preAdTag=tconf.ted/embed;tile=1;sz=512x288;" /><embed src="http://video.ted.com/assets/player/swf/EmbedPlayer.swf" pluginspace="http://www.macromedia.com/go/getflashplayer" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" wmode="transparent" bgColor="#ffffff" width="446" height="326" allowFullScreen="true" allowScriptAccess="always" flashvars="vu=http://video.ted.com/talks/dynamic/DanAriely_2008P-medium.flv&su=http://images.ted.com/images/ted/tedindex/embed-posters/DanAriely-2008P.embed_thumbnail.jpg&vw=432&vh=240&ap=0&ti=548&introDuration=15330&adDuration=4000&postAdDuration=830&adKeys=talk=dan_ariely_asks_are_we_in_control_of_our_own_decisions;year=2008;theme=speaking_at_ted2009;theme=unconventional_explanations;event=EG+2008;"></embed></object></div></div>I watched a great speech given by <a href="http://danariely.com/" target="_blank"><span style="color: yellow;">Dan Ariely</span></a> at a TED conference back in 2008. He talked about a topic that’s close to my heart: relative pricing. Dan has written a couple of books on behavioural economics. In this particular conference, he talks about pricing strategies and consumer behaviour and draws a couple of great points: <br />
<br />
First, that we, as humans, cannot cope with multiple pieces of information when making a decision, and the more we get the worse our decision making. <br />
<br />
Second, when making decisions around purchasing, we tend to create views on a item’s value relative to what else is on offer, rather than the inherent value against the money charged. When you look around the commercial world, you would agree that certainly this is not a new tactic. Super-size me portions, mobile bundles, positions of certain wines within the wine list etc. all play to consumer behaviour around how we make relative purchasing decisions and the somewhat irrationality around how we get there. <br />
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Dan highlights this superbly in a test he did on The Economist subscription pricing. I won’t give the whole thing away but watch the speech. He’s a great speaker and the topic is fascinating. Would be interested on other examples you find on behavioural pricing.Matt Coxhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01471255471295297501noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3503091101654655801.post-31307432279313146662011-02-11T11:08:00.001-08:002011-02-11T11:08:25.046-08:00ApologiesApologies all. I let the latter half of last year run away with me, and the blog suffered as a consequence. I'll be to sure to be better at updates and insights this year.Matt Coxhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01471255471295297501noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3503091101654655801.post-9277924941743566772010-05-21T04:28:00.001-07:002010-05-21T04:31:27.130-07:00Which brands burnt in the volcano?<span xmlns=''><p>What an interesting couple of weeks for brands. I've spoken a few times on this blog about service recovery and its ability to galvanise consumers' views of a brand, good or bad. In the worst ever grounding of flights in Britain's history, directly affecting travellers and indirectly affecting those companies reliant on air freight to ship their products, companies had the opportunity to shine in consumers' eyes. Some indeed have, others are still covered in ash. <br />
</p><p>Those who found their demand for their service shoot up as a result took very different approaches. <br />
</p><p>The <strong><b>rental car organisations</b></strong> appeared to all let dynamic pricing take its course and charge limitless amounts to rent a car as supply decreased. <br />
</p><p><strong><b>Eurostar</b></strong>, on the other hand, announced that it would only charge the £89 for a one-way trip from Paris to London. As tempting as maximising revenues may have been, I think this was the right move in the longer term. Consumers will not be travelling with a sour taste in their mouth over the extortionate fare and could alight with a positive "thank you for saving me" feeling after a horrendous journey. <br />
</p><p>Those who were caught directly in the chaos came out mixed. <br />
</p><p><strong><b>British Airways</b></strong> came away a bit mixed. Customers reported some very good experiences, where passengers were continually briefed on a daily basis through fax and text and staff looked to do what they could to ease discomfort. However, Willie Walsh spent his entire time in the media trying to land the fact that the laws required changing and that it was unfair for airlines to pick up the tab for compensating passengers. Perhaps justified, but pick your moment Willie. Talk about what you're doing to help passengers, then come back after the chaos to discuss changes to the law. It didn't come across well.<br />
</p><p><strong><b>First Choice/Thomson</b></strong> ran adverts afterwards to make the point that they had booked over 100,000 and arranged hundreds of flights to bring guests home. Sounds good.<br />
</p><p><strong><b>Easyjet</b></strong> offered £10 off the next flight as a sorry for the disruption, pushing an acquisition message for the next time you fly with them. A bit naff. I had flights cancelled with them, and their website was helpfully always updated 24 hours a day, but when I had a query that could not be answered by FAQs, I looked to speak to someone. Customer Services numbers were hidden from the site. When I eventually found one, offices were shut outside "working hours". Not great. <br />
</p><p>Once planes were running again, the trains from airports ran 24 hours to get people home. A small thing, but you can imagine how inconvenient finally getting back home only to find the next train was at 5am tomorrow morning. <br />
</p><p><strong><b>Lonely Planet</b></strong> had a great idea. For a couple of days only, the Lonely Planet City Guide apps were free to download onto your iPod/iPhone, helping out those stranded in cities in which they hadn't planned to be (I'd imagine the Madrid app did well). They could have increased their charge by 50p and remained within consumers' price sensitivity with short term gain but chose to help out and invest in loyalty.<br />
</p><p>My view on the matter: those who invested to re-coup the rewards later, through fixed prices or accommodating travellers out of their pocket, will reap the rewards in the long term. <br />
</p></span>Matt Coxhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01471255471295297501noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3503091101654655801.post-4957839357030213442010-04-19T13:06:00.000-07:002010-04-19T13:29:23.501-07:00United Breaks Guitars - don't service recover at your perilI'm sure that most of you have come across the story about Dave Carroll, Canadian singer/songwriter who, together with his brother, forms the group Sons of Maxwell. In 2008, the group were flying with United Airlines from Halifax to Omaha via Chicago. While disembarking in Chicago, a woman behind them noted that the ground crew baggage handlers were "throwing guitars out there". The bass player looked out the window to see his bass being thrown out, which had been preceded by Carroll's Taylor guitar. The next morning, Dave opened his guitar case at his hotel to find that the guitar had been smashed.<br />
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There begins <a href="http://www.davecarrollmusic.com/ubg/story/">the story </a>of a horrendous customer experience (please take the link to read the full horrors of his tale). To summarise here, when Dave went to complain, he was first passed from agent to agent, not one taking responsibility. It then moved from airline to airline, since United use the services of Air Canada in Chicago. After nine months of complete runaround by the airline with Dave having dutifully followed every process required of him without any admission of culpability or help in solving the matter by the airline, (including them losing the claim on multiple occasions), Dave gave up with the normal route. <br />
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He said: "At that moment it occurred to me that I had been fighting a losing battle all this time and that fighting over this at all was a waste of time. The system is designed to frustrate affected customers into giving up their claims and United is very good at it but I realized then that as a songwriter and traveling musician I wasn’t without options". <br />
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So he wrote a trilogy of songs about the experience and created videos of them (with all involved giving their time and effort freely), available for free download<a href="http://www.blogger.com/"> <span id="goog_1054567859"></span></a>on You Tube with the goal of getting 1 million hits . It was an instant viral success. Here is the first video (check out Dave's website for all the others):<br />
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The video had 150,000 hits within the first week of being posted and to date has been seen by 8 million users and potential customers. It was an instant viral success, was shown on CNN, <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PGNtQF3n6VY&feature=related">CBS</a> and other stations, a PR coup for Dave Carroll, Taylor Guitars, who sent him replacements and offered help on You Tube for all those travelling with guitars, and a PR disaster for United. Eventually, the airline offered to pay for a new Taylor guitar (around $3,500), and said that the saga would be used internally as a learning experience to help improve customer experiences. <br />
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The reason I particularly like this story is not so much for the initial incident. In any large organisation serving thousands of customers daily, mistakes are made. And consumers know that. Yet brands are sometimes made (and broken) on their service recovery. Reading the full experience, United were given a full year's worth of dialogue to get it right, yet failed. As a result, 8 million more individuals found out and shared in the horror. <br />
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Moral: create a model and a culture where your employees feel like doing the right thing by customers is what is expected of them, where they feel genuine accountability for making things right, and you won't go far wrong in the long term.<br />
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Incidently, Dave now gives lectures on customer experiences. It seems his disaster gave him a great sideline business.Matt Coxhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01471255471295297501noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3503091101654655801.post-36119658713420404372010-04-10T06:09:00.000-07:002010-04-19T13:27:53.626-07:00Prêt à Manger recipe keeps working<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgwx-ndQrWZIjueMYSbHHotqXQN4g6h2GujrhKnGN7_o7uSbhP1gZUh6yOIZBg0TmS-2eWvOgT3fk9WvOytk7zLFRHX0kk-Kz9lByB21b25rnsWFhd4jlhJtpxApvwq-lXTCdFRMiU2dLGI/s1600/pret+a+manger.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; cssfloat: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgwx-ndQrWZIjueMYSbHHotqXQN4g6h2GujrhKnGN7_o7uSbhP1gZUh6yOIZBg0TmS-2eWvOgT3fk9WvOytk7zLFRHX0kk-Kz9lByB21b25rnsWFhd4jlhJtpxApvwq-lXTCdFRMiU2dLGI/s320/pret+a+manger.jpg" wt="true" /></a></div>Prêt à Manger, the chain of healthy sandwich options, announced yesterday that it is looking to open a record number of outlets this year. Founded in London in 1986 by Julian Metcalfe and Sinclair Beecham, two university friends working in the City who were constantly irked by the lack of good, healthy sandwiches on offer despite the obvious demand, the chain has continued to grow. It has remained private, after a non-controlling share was sold to McDonalds, who then sold it onto its current owners, Bridgepoint Capital, a private equity company.<br />
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This growth statement is quite something, given that Prêt's inception and obvious success brought a whole series of companies into the market looking to emulate and help fill the gap in the market. So what have been the key to its success? I'll have a stab:<br />
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<strong>Remaining private</strong> - has allowed the company to be undistracted by shareholders looking for quick, and constant returns. No doubt cashflow and exit strategies plays a pivotal role in board conversations. Yet, it has avoided having to trade off investment for customer need with a concern over share price.<br />
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Julian then cites three values on top of this that have remained core to the company throughout its life:<br />
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<strong>Its passion for food </strong>- Fresh and interesting are core to its purpose. Says Metcalfe "It would be easier to get tubs of guacamole instead of cutting fresh avocados in each kitchen in each shop but we stick to quality and taste".<br />
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<strong>Its staff </strong>- what a surprise. Another top notch services company citing its staff as its USP. And it's true. As a frequent consumer when in London, I have always received top notch service, despite it lasting maybe no more than a minute, and potentially quite transactional. They commit to ensuring there are opportunities, and always an energetic culture within the outlets.<br />
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<strong>Not corporate just proud </strong>- says Andrew Rolfe, Chairman of Prêt à Manger, "We make and have made mistakes but we remain proud of what we do and we try not to get distracted by a corporate approach".<br />
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One final thing I have noticed: virtually all of the staff serving are not from the UK. Apparently over 60% are foreign. I wonder whether Metcalfe and the executives felt that creating such a can-do and positive customer-centric culture has always needed a majority of non-Brits in which to make that possible. <br />
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It's great to see such a great demonstration of the basic tenet: listen to and look after your customers, and they'll look after you.Matt Coxhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01471255471295297501noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3503091101654655801.post-753242193905279722010-04-09T12:09:00.000-07:002010-04-11T05:32:52.844-07:00Mexican Customer Service and using employees rightI recently spent a couple of weeks in Mexico, predominantly in Mexico City. This urban sprawl of 8,000 sq. km and 21 million inhabitants is immense in every respect. An extremely low daily minimum wage of around £3 has translated into an ability to afford a high level of employees, which in turn has meant a high level of customer service. <br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh1OFUOJ24rZ8ne6_B7qQpKLCCigNbEa0UUTKf2BZTvWeoHfws6Lw5jHgUL06tagLfqimBISwqTG4CTqpOaSnLFMt779sLsj3cnfa5lla7l1LULDynLCfk3Rd5Abqd5q5bMdTcAVSXhTfOk/s1600/gas+station+attendant.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; cssfloat: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh1OFUOJ24rZ8ne6_B7qQpKLCCigNbEa0UUTKf2BZTvWeoHfws6Lw5jHgUL06tagLfqimBISwqTG4CTqpOaSnLFMt779sLsj3cnfa5lla7l1LULDynLCfk3Rd5Abqd5q5bMdTcAVSXhTfOk/s320/gas+station+attendant.jpg" wt="true" /></a></div><br />
I saw this translated into action in a couple of different instances, one great another not so:<br />
The first was in a regular trip to a Pemex petrol station. Pemex is the state-owned monopoly supplier of petrol to the Mexican consumer. Obviously, being a monopoly comes with its own rules about what service you wish to give. Normally, it vies on the side of "less is better, because what choice do you have". Yet here, two gas station attendants, smartly dressed in overalls and shirt and tie underneath, filled the car, cleaned all the windows and very quickly checked the oil. The forecourt was immaculate, service was with a smile, and we were politely waved away at the end. Evidently, there was a tip involved, which all parties knew only too well. Yet, it served a purpose of taking an activity that I could have done myself and felt nothing for the brand in question to one where I would like to go out of my way against to visit if there were a competitive marketplace. Horses for courses, but I'd happily pay a little extra for a little extra service.<br />
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The second was at Telmex. A leading telecommunications company, Telmex also has a big retail outlet footprint. For a European it was incredible to see how many outlets there were within a small area, which must have led to cannibalisation between stores, but I imagine still important in terms of market share.<br />
My experience was to look to buy a local pay as you go SIM card for a mobile for my stay there. The process took me to four different customer service attendants:<br />
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- one on the initial welcome desk to take my query and direct me to a desk<br />
- one to talk to me and give me a card<br />
- one in a separate booth (and queue) to take payment<br />
- another to put the SIM card and ensure all was working.<br />
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I counted over 25 customer facing employees in the average sized branch. Here, a large amount of staff had translated into inefficient, non-customer centric processes, elongating my visit without a value add. Frustation began to set in towards the end of a 45 minute activity and didn't leave me with a good brand experience.<br />
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I appreciate that culturally I was in a country where what consumers value may be very different from a Londoner. Someone constantly pushed for time may seek efficiency at all costs whereas a Mexican may prefer to take time but ensure it's done right. <br />
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But in summary, it reminded me that having a labour cost that permits a large amount of customer interaction can be great for transforming a dull, commoditised process into a USP. Yet many hands don't always make light work. Organisations should look to ensure that customers are always advantaged through whatever processes it translates into.Matt Coxhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01471255471295297501noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3503091101654655801.post-45987339517220967982010-02-17T15:01:00.000-08:002010-02-17T15:02:28.013-08:00The CrusadeIn analysing what customer obssessed organisations have in common, it seems that there are a few underlying themes that reoccur:<br />
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<span style="color: yellow;">There is always a crusade </span>- there is something stronger than a vision, a crusade, around which the entire organisation is driven. This could be about anything from creating customers for life to wanting to change what an industry stands for, but it's theren and organisations are almost cult-like in looking to achieve it.<br />
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<span style="color: yellow;">The People Agenda is not downplayed</span> - getting the right people and treating them fairly rings out clearly.<br />
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<span style="color: yellow;">The Spirit to Serve plays out</span>, but through people focus, not necessarily customer focus.<br />
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<span style="color: yellow;">Leadership style</span> must support to allow the points above to play out.<br />
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<span style="color: yellow;">Relentless communication </span>- go further than you think you need and it will be appreciated and leveraged.<br />
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Appreciate your thoughts.Matt Coxhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01471255471295297501noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3503091101654655801.post-29039497215676367722010-02-17T14:01:00.000-08:002010-02-17T14:52:16.383-08:00Why is the Ritz Carlton the exception?You can't have a blog called "That Little Extra" without talking about Ritz Carlton. It is constantly cited as an organisation that truly puts customers at its centre, delighting them through a plethora of unexpected ways. There are enough examples of truly great experiences to ensure the cynics that the myths and stories shared at conferences are indeed everyday occurrences. <br />
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So what is it that drives such a model of excellence? What engages the employees in such a way? It is purely this engaged employee workforce or does the entire business circle around the customer? From what I can glean, it is the following:<br />
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<strong><span style="color: yellow;">The staff are not paid over the odds </span></strong>- it is not financial benefit for which employees do magical things for customers. While there is an exchange system whereby staff can work all over the world, the monthly take home is not the reason for it. However, staff do talk about working at the cream of the crop in the hospitality industry.<br />
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<span style="color: yellow;">Values are lived, not forgotten </span>- there are different ways to embed a set of values into organisational culture. Some are simply "the ways things are", and staff would find it difficult to articulate them. Others are far more overt. Ritz Carlton has a set of 12 service values. Each employee and manager has a laminated card with these services values (an example of one: "I build strong relationships and create Ritz Carlton guests for life"). Each day, in a 15 minute line up, once housekeeping issues are addressed, time is taken to reinforce these values, through storytelling. <br />
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<span style="color: yellow;">Share Stories </span>- I must admit to never having stayed in a Ritz Carlton, but I have heard countless stories of customer delight. One story sticks of a simple task - a doorman who opened the door to a seemingly new guest, who realised that she had approached the wrong hotel and was actually staying across the road. Nonetheless, the doorman took her luggage and, in the rain, accompanied and protected her to the correct hotel then bid her farewell by name (where do you think she'll stay next time? Guest for life?)<br />
<span style="color: yellow;"></span><br />
<span style="color: yellow;">Beware the enemies of great service </span>- not sharing the big picture with the team, a bad attitude, not celebrating and blame are all highlighted as barriers to delivering high customer service.<br />
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<span style="color: yellow;">Recovery is everything </span>- not everything goes right 100% of the time. We're all human. How you recover from a glitch or mistake is the moment of truth for customer advocacy. One guest told of a story of when his surname was mispronounced on first arrival, and from then on never again. <br />
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<span style="color: yellow;">Systemise </span>- while much is driven by people, some things have to be systemised. The last example is driven by sophisticated software where staff can record how names are pronounced, to be shared across a hotel and chain. <br />
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<span style="color: yellow;">Ruthlessly interview </span>- I have heard that all employees are interviewed by the General Manager, for which there is one key purpose: to check attitude. Many firms say "skills can be taught, attitude can't", yet then go on to hire through evaluating skill. It appears Ritz Carlton takes attitude very seriously in its recruitment process. <br />
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<span style="color: yellow;">Empower and mean it </span>- employees are given up to a certain amount ($2,000 I believe) to take control of a situation and remedy for any recovery required. It doesn't take 3 chains of command and a day to sort things out. <br />
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There are probably more things to share but you get the point. If you are serious about delighting customers, then the accompanying philosophy must be embedded across a company's entire operating model and transcend any conflicting metrics in order to do so. Hats off to you, Ritz Carlton for being the exception to the rule and truly embracing this. I'll look to see if I can try out one of your hotels myself at some point...Matt Coxhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01471255471295297501noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3503091101654655801.post-28892961437136806592010-02-14T15:08:00.000-08:002010-02-17T14:36:37.052-08:00iPhone apps to keep my life ticking over...There are some great iPhone apps I have seen this year that have tapped into consumer need to date badly fulfilled. My iPhone 3GS now has 108 apps on it. Within a very short time, I've come to consider my iPhone as a gateway to my world and my can't-do-without piece of kit. Over and above basic communication, here are the "need states" I find myself using it for most, with some specific apps to complement it:<br />
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<strong><span style="color: yellow;">To capture my life</span>: </strong>As with most PDAs, being able to quickly capture a moment, be it unexpected, sad, funny, etc. especially with my kids, is priceless. I find I use other cameras much less. As a result, I have four camera apps to improve the basic built-in camera, one for zooming, another to add a flash, etc. My favourite add on is <a href="http://itunes.apple.com/gb/app/sepiacamera/id299882541?mt=8"><strong>Sepia Camera</strong></a>, which turns your pic to a professional, sepia colour, and <strong><a href="http://itunes.apple.com/gb/app/animoto-videos/id300033126?mt=8">Animoto</a>, </strong>turning a montage of your pics into great music vids. <br />
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<strong><span style="color: yellow;">To keep the kids quiet in restaurants</span></strong>: both my 2 year old and 4 year old are now adapt touch screen iPhone users. Even the younger one can deftly swipe to find his favourite app, turn it on and keep himself amused. Success in ensuring lunchtimes on the odd trip to a Strada or Pizza Express now go without meltdowns has now meant me having to also buy my wife an iPhone! In all seriousness, there are some fantastic educational apps for kids. I have two pages of kids' apps, but the favourites seem to be:<br />
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<em>For the 4 year old:</em><br />
<strong><a href="http://itunes.apple.com/gb/app/cute-math/id301358953?mt=8">CuteMath</a></strong>: for our 4 year old, an interactive set of maths games for basic addition and subtraction. <br />
<a href="http://itunes.apple.com/gb/app/suzy-dress-up/id297875296?mt=8"><strong>Suzy Dress Up</strong></a><strong>: </strong>more for girls, an interactive app to allow Suzy to be dressed up in hundreds of combinations of clothes. My daughter loves this one.<br />
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<em>For the 2 year old:</em><br />
<strong><a href="http://itunes.apple.com/gb/app/old-macdonald-by-duck-duck/id324655784?mt=8">Old MacDonald</a></strong>: widely-acclaimed app based on the song, with interactive scenes.<br />
<strong><a href="http://itunes.apple.com/gb/app/toddler-flashcards/id304021996?mt=8">iTot Cards</a>: </strong>flashcards showing pics of shapes, animals, food, etc. In English, Spanish and French.<br />
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<strong><span style="color: yellow;">To organise my world:</span> </strong>As well as Calendar, etc. I use three others:<br />
<strong><a href="http://itunes.apple.com/gb/app/password-keeper/id338061150?mt=8">PassKeeper</a></strong>: there are just too many user names and passwords these days. This is a nice easy app to store them all in one place rather than search through your contacts<br />
<strong><a href="http://itunes.apple.com/gb/app/things/id284971781?mt=8">Things</a></strong>: a great task manager.<br />
<strong><a href="http://itunes.apple.com/gb/app/shopshop-shopping-list/id288350249?mt=8">Shop Shop</a></strong>: quite a nice interface for shopping lists. My daughter loves to strike things off as we go around the supermarket (when we haven't used the Ocado app!)<br />
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<strong><span style="color: yellow;">To keep in touch with news:</span> </strong><br />
My day tends to begin with me walking down to the station while listening to Radio 4, via <a href="http://itunes.apple.com/gb/app/internet-radio-box/id293623806?mt=8">Radio Box</a>, a nice app covering thousands of radio stations. Once on the train, it's then a newspaper app, either:<br />
<a href="http://itunes.apple.com/gb/app/the-telegraph/id303301873?mt=8">The Telegraph</a>, <a href="http://itunes.apple.com/gb/app/sky-news/id316391924?mt=8">Sky News</a>, <a href="http://itunes.apple.com/gb/app/bbcreader-with-mobile-feed/id298010737?mt=8">BBC Reader</a>, or to check other areas of interest, <a href="http://itunes.apple.com/WebObjects/MZStore.woa/wa/viewPodcast?id=150770445">El Mundo</a>, <a href="http://itunes.apple.com/gb/app/noticies-catalunya/id337690642?mt=8">Catalan News</a>, and to keep my now basic level of Japanese, <a href="http://allatanys.jp/">Aratanisu</a>, which pulls various Japanese newspapers together.<br />
Also like a different perspective on the world, through <a href="http://itunes.apple.com/WebObjects/MZStore.woa/wa/viewPodcast?id=303668886">Engadget</a>, keeping up to date with technology news, and <a href="http://itunes.apple.com/gb/app/ted/id298728479?mt=8">TED</a>, showing conference clips of some of the world's most fascinating people. <br />
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<strong><span style="color: yellow;">To communicate:</span> </strong><br />
The usual of Linkedin and Facebook apps, Skype and Twitterific. Also have <a href="http://itunes.apple.com/gb/app/whatsapp-messenger/id310633997?mt=8">Whatsapp</a>, which allows free smartphone to smartphone texting.Matt Coxhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01471255471295297501noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3503091101654655801.post-54411711002326773412010-02-13T14:37:00.000-08:002010-02-14T04:12:11.575-08:00Another Friday night in A&E with the kidsFrom conversations with friends, we are not the only family to spend the odd evening in London's A&E. The mix of a lack of vocabulary to inform you exactly what they're feeling, a non-stop energy that can sometimes lead to accidents, and a body that's not had much time to build its defences, create occasions for immediate help when the UK's GP system clocks off at 6pm (at least my GP surgery).<br />
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So when my 2-year old son developed a soaring temperature that we couldn't appear to control over a period, we decided it was best to get him checked out. Having left my parents baby sit our daughter, we set off at 8pm on a Friday night to the local A&E (Accident & Emergency) unit. There is a Pediatric unit, allowing children to be seen and wait away from the wider adult population. Once our details had been taken, we waited around 30 minutes to see a nurse, then a further hour to see a doctor. The problem was found through a general inspection and after around 2.5 hours we were leaving. <br />
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While the problem for which we went was resolved. I came away feeling disgruntled. Admittedly a free service to all UK citizens with impressively dedicated staff, nonetheless you can't help notice that:<br />
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- there is a distinct lack of communication with waiting, anxious parents, when up-to-date communication is paramount<br />
- the environment needing a good lick of paint and updating does not help inspire confidence in the level of health advice.<br />
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Considering patients as customers has much room for improvement within the UK A&E arena. The fantastic job that doctors and nurses are doing can't be supported by environments, resource levels, and processes that drive such deep customer dissatisfaction. I understand the difficult situation in terms of budget, an underinvested system in which we are slowly being re-invested, and a system that was designed for a far smaller population. But as marketers know, it is sometimes the small cost, high-perceived value items that can make all the difference. For example:<br />
<br />
- a nurse constantly checking on families to update them on queue situations<br />
- an area for babies to lie down while they wait, rather than parents holding them for hours on end<br />
- a water fountain (!)<br />
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I appreciate that this is a controversial area. Yet, the staff within hospitals could find themselves meeting with slightly less stressed parents, leading to improved dialogue when they meet.<br />
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Appreciate your thoughts.Matt Coxhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01471255471295297501noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3503091101654655801.post-73984171397880659602009-11-24T13:22:00.000-08:002009-11-24T13:24:03.607-08:00Is Marketing the new Finance?Has Marketing finally come of age within business models? Are we now going to see CMO's take their rightful place on boards? I'd say yes, on the undertaking that the CMOs are commercially and technically astute and know their NPV from their VPN and that they can demonstrate that their Marketing activities can measurably drive true value, be it long or short term. <br />
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Here's a view from the <a href="http://www.youtube.com/survivalofthefastest#p/a/40EABAA7453658FF/0/RmnTGo-kasA">Chief Economist of Google</a> to back that up.Matt Coxhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01471255471295297501noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3503091101654655801.post-37106871800131836422009-11-24T13:10:00.000-08:002009-11-24T13:10:28.024-08:00Understanding modern mums...CupcakeLiving in what is cited as the area in which most babies are born per capita in Europe, it is interesting to see how the commercial world has reacted to take advantage of such a skewed demographic. Enter <a href="http://www.cupcakemum.com/">Cupcake</a>, a meeting place for future and present mums (and sometimes dads) to pamper both mother and child. The club (it's membership based) offers a café, a crêche from 4 wks to 5 yr olds, baby and parent classes or just classes and personal training sessions for you (I came across Daddy Karate being promoted). <br />
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Nothing too extreme you say. But then there are treatment rooms - from manicures to massages, facials to tanning etc. And when combined with the crêche facilities and baby classes, suddenly the club comes into its own. It focuses on what primarily mothers seek, rather than a pure add on service offered by the gym chain. Add therefore it was no surprise when the second branch opened recently.<br />
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In a world where one reflects on every minute and asks whether we used it wisely or not, I can see more and more of these types of club growing in popularity. It gives parents a place to increase little Oscar's development while burning off that unneeded second pasta helping the night before. While its current pricing structure would render it a luxury establishment, it may be with time that something more mainstream comes into play. Well done ladies for your spotting the growing untapped consumer need.Matt Coxhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01471255471295297501noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3503091101654655801.post-2571542104786808422009-11-01T06:52:00.000-08:002009-11-01T06:53:51.448-08:00It's all about attitudeI attended a conference this week, where <a href="http://www.liquidthinker.com/">Damian Hughes</a>, a sports psychologist and speaker on leadership, talked to the attendees about leadership styles. He was fascinating to listen to, and I would highly recommend him as a motivational speaker. He covered a lot of areas, but the one part that stuck most in my mind was around individual attitudes and their importance in the change process. Changing behaviours in organisations begins with altering individual behaviours, which in turn begins with individual attitudes. Damian talked through many topics, but two that stuck with me were: <br />
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1) Don't worry about being ridiculed.<br />
Arthur Schopenhauer, the German philosopher, said that ideas tend to go through three stages of being: <br />
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- ridiculed (that'll never work)<br />
- violently opposed (not while I'm working here)<br />
- accepted as self-evident (of course that's how we do things).<br />
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<div style="text-align: left;">If you are in constant fear of being ridiculed, you'll never get your idea through to being accepted. Likewise, if your colleagues are aware of these stages, everyone can help to allow ideas to grow.<br />
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2) You choose the day you're going to have<br />
He reminded me that every day I can decide the kind of day I'm going to have. It's up to me to decide how I want the traffic jam, the cold weather, the last minute presentation changes, to affect me. My attitude to how I react to these petty examples will help define the outcome to the day. No-one expects a 100% positive individual 7 days a week. Yet, you know that the days you arrive home exhausted wanting nothing more than bed, probably had much to do with how you approached that day. <br />
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So, keep positive and you're half way there.Matt Coxhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01471255471295297501noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3503091101654655801.post-32458868504932128902009-11-01T05:24:00.000-08:002009-11-01T05:33:52.160-08:00Customer obsessionHaving spoken to colleague bloggers, the one point that comes across time and time again when deciding a blog theme, is to ensure that whatever you choose is something you're truly passionate about. Otherwise, you'll quickly find that times between updates get increasingly longer.<br /><br />For me, that topic is how great organisations find the right set of ingredients within their business to develop truly great customer experiences to their commercial advantage. Likewise, in working this through, it's equally as interesting to look at those who don't quite get there, to understand what's going on and what to take out of it.<br /><br />Hopefully, you'll find this of interest. Please feed back to help me continuously improve.<br /><br />Matt.Matt Coxhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01471255471295297501noreply@blogger.com0