Purpose and Conviction…

What’s your purpose?  What do you believe you were put her on earth to do?  To be?  To experience?  Are you doing it?  Are you being everything you envisioned yourself being?  Okay, are you at least experiencing everything you wanted to experience or creating those experiences?

As we ask ourselves those questions, companies should be asking themselves the same questions.  What is your company’s purpose?

I ran across a great article from Bruce Temkin at Forrester Research that talks about Starbuck’s and how they regained their purpose.

From Starbuck’s website:  “The bottom line We always figured that putting people before products just made good common sense.”

Take a look:

Starbuck’s Brews a Comeback with Purpose

Between you and me, I like the idea of being relentless in pursuing something – a purpose.

I want to know the company I align my time, values and experiences with are aligned with my purpose as well…and is in relentless pursuit.

Is it?

M

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Posted under Customers, Employees, General, Leadership, Shareholder Value, Value Proposition

This post was written by Michelle R. Gardner on February 3, 2010

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One More Apple…

On Wednesday, January 27th, Apple will hold a not so top-secret event to share with everyone or rather unveil to everyone yet one more product in their product line up that will be a show-stopper, game-changer and all around marvel to the tech world.  Or at least that is what the buzz and rumors are all about.

Personally, I’m fascinated at the machine that is Apple.  Love them or hate them, I don’t think we have the luxury of ignoring them.  Having said that, in the article “The Science Behind Apple’s Magic”, Chris Morrison takes us through several articles from “How to Innovate Like Apple” to “Four Principles of Apple’s Successes (and Failures)” to “Insanely Great Marketing”.  Chris even takes us beyond the tech field in “The Apples of Other Industries” where we get exposure to even more great companies making a difference and creating their own Magic.

From “Four Principles of Apple’s Successes (and Failures)”:

Principle One: Don’t Follow Your Customers; Lead Them

Apple’s design process differs from that of most other companies. Traditional design research relies heavily on focus groups and customer feedback about existing products. Apple tends to place less emphasis on evidence than on intuition, under the theory that consumers can’t tell you they want a product or function if they can’t yet envision it. Instead, they need to be shown a superior alternative. Apple sees itself as being in business to create those revolutionary alternatives.

From “Insanely Great Markeing”:

1. A Clear Sense of the Customer

Apple has positioned itself as the tech provider for the creative class, so it often injects a dose of avant-garde savvy into its advertising. The iPod’s boldly colored ads, for example, could have doubled as art school projects (or acid trips). Other spots simply articulate and emphasize the investment Apple has put into its design “language” — the engineering and styling that make its products so instantly recognizable. In almost every instance, Apple strives to appeal to anyone who lives (or aspires to live) a more creative life, and the results flatter both Apple’s products and the people who use them.

I love that last sentence, “…Apple strives to appeal to anyone who lives (or aspires to live) a more creative life…”

What does your company strive to deliver?  Does it appeal to your customer?  Really?  Do you have a clear sense of your customer?

M

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Posted under Business & Process Innovation, Customers, Employees, General, Value Proposition

This post was written by Michelle R. Gardner on January 25, 2010

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Let’s Begin 2010….You Matter First.

Welcome to 2010.

I can feel the excitement, the resolutions being penned, the “how did we get here so fast”, the thought of “so many possibilities”.  And that’s how a new year should feel.  Especially, filled with the thought of “so many possibilities”.

This year, I want to create a challenge.  A challenge that involves you (and me) being the best, doing our best – everyday in the moment – living up to the name of this blog – Customers Matter.

But where to start?  At home, with you…

Carol Kinsey Goman talks about Drew Westen’s book, “The Political Brain” in “Five Tips to Improve Your Personal Curb Appeal” about investing first in ourselves.

How’s your personal curb appeal? When your co-workers, clients, and business partners “drive by” you, how do you come across? If you’d like to improve, here are five tips to keep in mind:

1. Dress for success.
When it comes to curb appeal, the way you dress matters. A lot. Clothing has an effect on both the observer and the wearer. It has been proven people are more likely to give money (charitable donations, tips) or information to someone if that person is well dressed.

Dressing for success doesn’t necessarily mean you have to wear a suit to work. Many organizations have a more casual dress code. But it does mean that whatever you wear should help you make the statement that you are a competent professional.

2. Maintain positive eye contact.
Eye contact is most effective when both parties feel its intensity is appropriate for the situation. This may differ with introverts/extroverts, men/women, or between different cultures. But, in general, greater eye contact—especially in intervals lasting four to five seconds—almost always leads to greater liking.

Looking at someone’s eyes transmits energy and indicates interest. As long as you are looking at me, I believe I have your full attention. In my book, “The Nonverbal Advantage: Secrets and Science of Body Language at Work,” I offer a simple way to improve your likeability factor: Whenever you greet a business colleague, remember to look into her eyes long enough to notice what color they are.

3. Learn to speak the body language of inclusion.
Back-to-back doesn’t do it. But belly-to-belly—facing people directly when talking with them—does. Even a quarter turn away signals your lack of interest and makes the speaker shut down.
Remove barriers between you and the other person. Take away things that block your view. Move the phone or stacks of paper on your desk. Better still, come out from behind your desk and sit next to the person you’re dealing with.

Use palm-up hand gestures when speaking. Keeping your movements relaxed, using open arm gestures, and showing the palms of your hands—all are silent signals of credibility and candor. Individuals with open gestures are perceived more positively and are more persuasive than those with closed gestures (arms crossed, hands hidden, or held close to the body, etc.).

4. Use your head.
The next time you are in a conversation where you’re trying to encourage the other person to speak more, nod your head using clusters of three nods at regular intervals. Research shows people will talk three to four times more than usual when the listener nods in this manner. You’ll be amazed at how this single nonverbal signal can trigger such a positive response.

Head tilting is another signal you are interested and involved. As such, head tilts can be positive cues when you want to send messages of empathy and understanding. But a tilted head also is subconsciously processed as a submission signal. (Dogs will tilt to show their necks in deference to a more dominant animal.) And in business negotiations with men, women—who tend to head-tilt the most—should keep their heads straight up in a more neutral position.

5. Activate your smile power.
A smile is an invitation, a sign of welcome. It says, “I’m friendly and approachable.” The human brain prefers happy faces, recognizing them more quickly than those with negative expressions. In fact, a smile is such an important signal to social interaction it can be recognized from 300 feet—more than a football field away.

Most importantly, smiling directly influences how other people respond to you. When you smile at someone, they almost always smile in return. And, because facial expressions trigger corresponding feelings, the smile you get back changes that person’s emotional state in a positive way. This one simple act will instantly and powerfully increase your curb appeal.

Drew Westen found, after party affiliation, the most important predictor of how people vote is their emotional reaction (gut feeling) toward the candidate. I found similar results in the work place. We all want to do business with and work for people who come across as friendly, trustworthy, competent, confident, and empathetic.

I can’t guarantee you’ll win a political election. But improve your curb appeal and I will guarantee you’ll be more successful in your career.

Here’s to a great start for 2010!

M

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Posted under Customers, Employees, Leadership

Have a Great Holiday Season!

Here’s wishing each and everyone of you a fantastic holiday season.

Enjoy time with friends and family – eat too much – laugh lots – live it up!

Family and Friends Matter,

M

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Posted under General

This post was written by Michelle R. Gardner on December 25, 2009

Bruce Temkin’s “7 Keys To Customer Experience In 2010″

As we begin to wind down 2009, Bruce Temkin, Vice President & Principal Analyst at Forrester Research focusing on customer experience takes us into 2010….from his post Customer Experience Matters:

“In the December issue of CRM Magazine which focuses on customer experience, I wrote an article called “7 Keys To Customer Experience” that provides advice for companies as they look ahead to 2010. Here’s how the article starts:

‘Despite the economic difficulties in 2009, we’ve seen a significant up-tick in real customer experience efforts. What do I mean by real? Efforts which address systemic issues like poorly designed interactions, broken processes, outdated business rules, insufficient customer insight, and cultures that are far from customer-centric.’

After the introduction, I outline these 7 areas of focus for next year:

  1. Drop the executive commitment facade
  2. Acknowledge that you don’t know your customers
  3. Keep from getting too distracted by social media
  4. Stop squeezing the life out of customer service.
  5. Restore the purpose in your brand
  6. Don’t expect employees to get on board
  7. Translate customer experience into business terms

I’ll provide more details for all of these items in a later post. For now, you can read the CRM Magazine article if you want to see more.

The bottom line: 2010 will be a busy year for customer experience”

Thanks Bruce!

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Posted under Customers, Employees, General, Leadership

This post was written by Michelle R. Gardner on December 14, 2009

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