CRM Downloads and CRM Articles

Reality TV – Distance Learning For Consumers

I’m sitting writing this on a flight from Heathrow to New York – on my way to conduct our first Beyond Philosophy seminar in the USA. As I entered the terminal at Heathrow it reminded me of the Reality TV show I’d caught a glimpse of the previous evening. At check-in I overheard an argument between a passenger and the check-in clerk. I won’t bore you with the details, but it was the closing line that had such great significance……”You did this for a passenger last night on TV so why are you telling me that you can’t do it for me now? Do you only act nicely to customers when the cameras are around?”
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The DNA of Customer Experience: Chapter 1

How Emotions Drive Value
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Customer Experience Council

One of the big problems any organization faces is how to get their people to look at the customer’s end to end experience through the eyes of the customer, when they are only responsible for one part of that experience, i/e call centers or shops. As we know, when a customer starts their experience, many different parts of the organizational structure are effected and in so doing gaps and overlaps can occur.
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The Credit Crunch A Time to retreat?

I always remember watching a film of a racing driver in the late ‘50s. He had just won a race where there was a fatal accident. He was asked, “After seeing the accident, did you slow down?” His reply has always stayed with me. He said this: Whenever there is a bad accident, other racing drivers slow down. I don’t. I see this as my opportunity to win. I accelerate and drive harder than before. As others slow down, I pull ahead of them and win. This, for me, is the same as the credit crunch.
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Customer Retention: I could be dead for all they know...

It never ceases to amaze me how organizations pour money into attracting new Customers, but comparatively spend little on retaining them. Everyone knows it costs far less to retain an existing customer than acquire a new one, some say it is 5 times more cost effective. Why then is there an obsession with acquiring new Customers and such scant regard given to existing customers? In this article we’ll get to the root cause of this dichotomy.
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Are you a coward? I was.
By Colin Shaw, founding Partner, Beyond Philosophy

Primarily, it is because we all feel we can say things in emails that we found never say face to face. In my experience this never works how people expect. No matter how hard you try, you think you have written one thing and the person reads something else.
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Why airlines are more interested in themselves than their customers
By Colin Shaw, founding Partner, Beyond Philosophy

Great Customer Experiences are built 'Outside in' rather than 'inside out' What this means is if you are 'outside in' you find out what your customer wants and change your organisation to meet their needs accordingly. If you are 'Inside out' however...
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Why companies have no sense!
By Colin Shaw, founding Partner, Beyond Philosophy

How many senses do you have? The answer is six sight, sound, touch, taste, smell... and common...! How many senses do you use when planning your Customer Experience?
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People Are Your Greatest Asset -- Rubbish! ... The Right People Are Your Greatest Asset.
By Colin Shaw, founding Partner, Beyond Philosophy

A number of years ago, I took over the management of a team of Customer Service people. The Customer Experience that they were delivering had been poor for some time and previous managers had not been able to improve this.
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Offshore Outsourcing - A Good or Bad Idea?
By Colin Shaw, founding Partner, Beyond Philosophy

The theory is that if you outsource your Customer Experience it is perfectly possible to still deliver a Great Customer Experience. Outsourcing itself is not the issue. The real issue is determining what the driver for outsourcing is and how it will be managed when it is remote to you.
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One of the secrets of a great Customer Experience
By Colin Shaw, founding Partner, Beyond Philosophy

The common traits are of companies who provide a great Customer Experience. Undoubtedly one of the traits is "attention to detail".
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Who cares what women think, business is a man's world...?
By Colin Shaw, founding Partner, Beyond Philosophy

And that’s what too many people are still saying – if not out loud, then at least in their minds. If only they knew how much business they were losing because of this attitude. In my view, women are one of them most under estimated resource and channel in their business world today. They are a massive source of talent - particularly because they are generally more "in touch" with their feelings than men and, critically, because they make most household buying decisions as consumers.
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The Branded Customer Experience - We never say no
By Colin Shaw, founding Partner, Beyond Philosophy

You hear customers point out the inconsistencies - "I would like a non-smoking room, are there any available?" The employees replies" no, I'm sorry they are all gone" - and inevitably the customer says "but I thought you never said no"?
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Saying one thing, doing another
By Colin Shaw, founding Partner, Beyond Philosophy

Half the customer experience is about emotions. So does your organisation measure the emotions you're evoking in your customers? When were your measures last reviewed to check they are still the right ones and changed if necessary.
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Revealed - a simple formula for success! Exceeding Expectations
By Colin Shaw founding partner, Beyond Philosophy

Customer Delight = Customer Expectation Plus 1. This was the simple formula for delighting your customers that Ken Blanchard informed us of in his book "Raving Fans". For me this is a great formula, but in itself it also raises a number of questions...
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