Hands up if you have a ‘to-do’ list. I suspect nearly everyone does. Now hands up if you have a ‘done’ list. Fewer if any, hands in the air. Me among you. I stumbled upon the idea last week from Oliver Burkeman, a favourite thinker about how to use our...
The warning tells me I’ve got 10 minutes before my Zoom call ends. I’m on a free plan, and once upon a time, talking to one friend had no time limit. Things have changed. The call ends mid-sentence. So we both click the meeting link again and pick up our...
When a brand’s store of value overflows, there’s usually an undercurrent of I care about what you care about going on between me and you. It shows up in both the promises made and agreed upon.Within those same promises is a contract called ‘what we owe each other’. In his...
Experience without expectations is unthinkable — literally. What I believe will happen plays a prominent part in how I feel about what does happen.Even when it’s part of a subconscious story I didn’t know I was telling myself.So, why should organisations even try to shape people’s experience?Because even a modicum...
These days, it feels like every damn thing I do is called a journeyI’m not buying a drill. I’m on a home improvement journey.I don’t need to make a different choice. I’m on a change journey.I’m not visiting my doctor. I’m on a wellness journey.I don’t deposit money into my...
The combination of hubris and aspiration, liberally sprinkled with puffery make many value sets mosh pits of self-delusion.So there’s every chance your company values are complete bullshit. And if they are, it’s a quick ride on the slip slide to cynicism and ridicule when actions reveal them to be naked...
The sign on the counter said: ”If you’re not satisfied with your stay, let us know and we’ll make it right.”I’m sure plenty of similar signs litter hotels worldwide. It’s a reassuring sign. A promise to fix things. Pity it was rubbish.In the grand scheme of things, our problem was...
Customer experience is often discussed as if it is a singular thing as “the customer has an experience”. However, customers continually have a whole bundle of experiences. And each one is a promise kept or a promise broken. In a past article, I talked about the dance of promises and experience. The...
The sneakers were cool, and after what seemed like the thousandth shout out in newsletters and on Instagram I gave in and bought a pair. That moment of weakness would haunt me over the following days as they bombarded me with their excitement about my purchase and breathless updates on...
A note about expectations popped into my Linkedin feed this week. The author Matt Watkinson shared a seven-point list for how customers come by them.It covered a lot of things, however, sitting underneath any list is a necessary step too many organisations shy away from - saying what they can or can’t,...