How do I reward customers without spending a penny?

So if you clicked through to read an article on creating / rejuvenating an advocacy programme for free, then I’m afraid you’ve come to the wrong place – there is no quick fix or magic spell for a fully-fledged nurture programme for your greatest fans!  If you’re looking for a handful of cost-effective and simple…

If you need to say it to your customer, you probably don’t really mean it.

There I was, hanging on the phone, waiting for someone, ANYONE to answer my call.  The financial services company had forced me through an annoying process of automated identification, and a clunky IVR, and now I was stuck waiting to speak to someone, listening to bland elevator music.  Suddenly the music stops, and a voice…

Why your product is NOT what the customer wants!

Whilst this post was intended to focus on the motivation of your strongest advocates, your champions, I hope you might first indulge me whilst I have a small rant! For those of us working on innovative solutions to old problems, one of the worst traps to fall into is misunderstanding the purpose of our product…

Refreshing your customer messaging strategy – and linking it to data

2018 for me is all about increasing customer engagement. Understanding what matters to customers and why they use our products, what turns them “on” & “off”, why they behave in particular ways – it’s all so much more scientific than it used to be! Every customer experience professional worth their salt is driving a data-driven…

Why more retail businesses are turning to customer success

In the run up to Christmas, like many people, I’ve made quite a few purchases online.  Convenience, ease, speed of delivery (and return), as well as great pricing have changed my shopping habits.  The thought of shuffling along the high street, in the cold and wet, fighting through crowds in the vain hope that the…

The many shades of engagement – what’s the magic metric?

I’m sure I’m not the only one out there who is seeking the holy grail of customer experience – a single metric that shows the level of engagement reached across the customer base.  There’s many providers who claim to deliver the magic metric, or a system that will deliver the magic metric, but I’ve yet…

Why robots won’t take over customer success!

With the evolution of technology, and the dawn of Artificial Intelligence (AI), the media is awash with statistics on how many of today’s jobs will be lost to “robots”.  In apocalyptic headlines, humans will be marginalized in the working world, leaving many of us on the scrap heap, apparently. Quick! Best we find a new…

Should you ever say sorry at work?

As I said to my boss recently, sometimes we all decide to use an attention-grabbing byline.  Of course you should say sorry at work, just as much as you should at home, or on the street when someone bumps into you (OK, the latter is just a quirk of the British character!) So back to…

Why customer success is NOT the new “customer service”

A well intentioned colleague recently referred to customer success as “the new customer service” in an attempt to show that customer delivery has moved on.  The sentiment is right, but the message is wrong – customer success is SO MUCH more than a better version of customer service.  It’s not just a team, it’s a…

The Internet of Things needs substance!

We live in a connected home – my husband is a secret geek who loves all things automated.  Lights, security cameras, heating, TV, music, the garden, even the doorbell are all connected up and accessible via our mobile phones.  We have fully embraced technology, and welcomed the internet of things into our lives.  From a…