A barrage of recent activity stemming from Unilever chief Alan Jope’s article on ‘woke washing’ and an organisation’s responsibility to their purpose might seem like catnip for someone like me. However, it’s the downside of the so-called ‘purpose movement’ I’m more interested in, and the impact it can have on the brand...
Every week brings new stories of businesses and unhappy customers. And so this is for all the customers out there. In other words, all of us, because we’re all customers of something. And every day sees yet another story of someone wronged. People are up in arms, wrath and recrimination spilling...
A friend Sue (not her real name) lives in a rental house that’s up for sale — in our overheated real estate market, it’s a common story.The landlord warned her about it late last year, so she wasn’t surprised when the real estate agent Dan (not his real name) got...
It started with a conversation: Me: “You don’t need to exceed expectations, just do what you say.”Them: “So, under-promise and then over-deliver.”Me: “No, set expectations, whatever they are and meet them — that’s it…”I recommended they read the Harvard Business Review article ‘Stop Trying to Delight Your Customers’, and while the...
The investigation into Australian Leisure and Hospitality (ALH) pokies venues returned yet more damaging details last week. On top of the fact that staff used customers’ personal information to encourage continued gambling, new whistleblower information alleges they also illegally gave free drinks to pokies players to keep them gambling longer, and were instructed on...
Customer experience (and it’s more recent bedfellow employee experience) often suffer from a buffet approach. And rather than speeding up improvement, the all-you-can-eat mentality often dooms well-intentioned efforts to a bloated waddle. The process most-often begins with an enthusiastic sprint across every stage of the experience and ends with a kind...
People talk about customer loyalty in terms akin to the Holy Grail; something all businesses seek, but few genuinely manage to find. In general, I believe customers want to be loyal. Unless you have a strong masochistic streak, continually searching out new places and comparing value for things you want to...
After a recent flight, and before I’d even completed my return home, there it was in my inbox. The survey, so I can tell the airline how they can “keep improving”. It also happens with the hotel, or the homewares online store, or the public bathroom. It seems everyone wants me to...
Today I want to talk about customer-centric. Or passenger-centric, member-centric, patient-centric, partner-centric or any of the other centrics bandied about. Because everywhere you look organisations are jumping on the bandwagon. Which wouldn’t be a problem if they also took the time to make sure people understood what the hell they were...
Bless businesses everywhere: they still just can’t seem to help themselves from doing stupid things to customers. I’m a fan of the business world. It’s takes unbelievable fortitude to front up every day and open the doors. And many times, customers don’t make life easy. I’ve said it before: in general...