Learning Programs and App Strategy
Is there an app for that? Well, for a whole lot of learning, particularly in the corporate / organizational environment, there really ought to be. The author reviews how apps might be able to enhance learning, whether delivered online or in more traditional course-like settings. The big questions, however, remain; how do we affordably create great mobile app-based learning tools and supports? How do we help these apps deliver just-in-time "right" content? While I personally struggle with finding sensible technology that delivers well to phones (with maybe the exception of GoMo so far...), I think we also need to calibrate our expectations - mobile learning needs to be more about job aids, reminder tools, and such, and try not to do too much.
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!