Is Big Data Neglect Responsible for Failing Customer Experience Strategy?
This article asserts that despite 78% of survey businesses agreeing with a statement about the importance of customer experience as a business differentiator, customer experience efforts are still failing. (And they are!) After showing an investment intention graph, suggesting that organizations are stuck on personalization and content optimization, the author suggests that in fact, the big gap - both in spend intent and in current performance - is in the joining up of online and offline data. The assertion is that "...Marketers know the value of data, but won’t prioritize data-driven customer experience if it’s perceived as too difficult to get social, mobile, CRM, personalization tools, offline data, beacons, Web analytics, etc to play nicely with each other." I'm not totally convinced; sure, we need efforts to leverage consumer insights and implement whole customer marketing that aligns across touchpoints and channels, but I honestly believe it's simpler than that. I think it is, first and foremost, about organizational commitment to customer service excellence. Relationships are a key differentiation source - and they inherently involve people.
Brief Reminder - Let's Not Forget the Deliverable!
Fellow Canadian Michael Falcon makes a whole lot of sense in this brief article that reminds us to seek the yin for our exceptional customer experience yang - namely, exceptional products. If the customer doesn't want what we've got, well we can experience them til the bells ring, but still not sell. Yup, that's right, don't throw the product/solution out with the customer experience bathwater!
Flashcards - They're Back! (Or Maybe They Never Left...)
In a very different job opportunity from what I had previously been doing, I found myself required to master a great deal of terminology quickly - and to be examined on it. I was in my early 30s, out of school for several years, and never strong on memorization. I hunted online, and purchased a "flash card" software for my Windows PC - and proceeded to use it extensively to memorize the new lingo. All turned out well, and I still respect the power of flashcards. The infographic in this article is helpful because it actually explains why flashcards can work - and for what types of learners. Now, with phones and tablets, it is more feasible than my Windows-based tool of many moons ago - and it still makes sense where memorization or prompting for response will be required in testing.