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A guidebook to reinventing the customer experience

March 2, 2007

I received a copy of Jonathan Tisch‘s Chocolates on the Pillow aren’t Enough: Reinventing the Customer Experience and just finished it.

Tisch is CEO and Chairman of Loews Hotels and his book is an insightful primer on crafting your customer experience. Like Tisch, I do not believe a remarkable customer experience happens by accident. It is the result of a deep understanding, an unfettered desire and a meticulous plan to actually delight your customer.

The book is a quick and enjoyable read. Tisch draws from many different industries. Throughout the chapters, he highlights key learning points in boxes marked Your Big Aha’s.

If you’ll give Tisch a couple hours of your time, in return he’ll share insights like:

How to use technology to create intimate connections with customers — without losing the human touch.
Perfecting the art of the welcome in both physical and virtual spaces.
Finding the balance between transparency and the need for confidentiality.

I don’t care how good you are– there’s a tweak or two that you can make to your customer’s experience. Let Tisch’s stories inspire you to do it a little better.

The romance is dead!

February 28, 2007

Ahh, the wooing. The courtship. The attention. The expressions of heartfelt love. A belated Valentine’s Day post? Nope. Just a reminder of how you behaved as you were chasing that potential client.

Until you caught them. Then the romance was over. No more flowers, candy, late night calls. Now it’s business as usual.

If this sounds uncomfortably like you — don’t worry. When you lose that client to the competitor who woos them away, you can always turn on the charm and find a new one. And so on and so on…

Or, here’s a novel idea. Keep the romance alive.

Cam Beck talks about this phenomenon over at ChaosScenario. As Cam always is — it’s worth the read.

Are you brave enough to walk away from business?

February 27, 2007

That’s what branding is all about. Walking away from business.

The wrong kinds of business. The wrong kinds of clients. The wrong kinds of growth.

When you brand the right way — you boldly proclaim what you stand for AND by default, what you don’t stand for.

I think that’s one of the reasons why so many companies either brand very superficially (our people are our difference or our quality sets us apart) or they don’t brand at all.

Business leaders and owners focus on the bottom line. I’ve got no argument with that. But many of them are unwilling to say "thanks, but no thanks" to business that’s a bad fit. Short term gain, for long term pain. Branded companies are specialists, not generalists. They don’t have to be. Their brand attracts the right kind of business. If they let it.

Every business has a sweet spot. An ideal client profile. Every time they connect with this kind of client, everyone wins. There’s success, profit and everyone feels good.

A good brand attracts your sweet spot kind of client. But you have to be willing to say no to the wrong ones, to make room for the right ones.

Are you brave enough?

Flickr photo courtesy of Splinter Group.

A whole lotta Drew

February 27, 2007

If you care to, you can practically pick your medium and find a little bit of me there.

The good news is…you can completely ignore me in each and every one of these venues… and STILL learn a lot about branding, blogging and relationship building. I just happen to be there too.

So go ahead and take your pick.

Live Radio: Tuesday night, I’ll join the BlogTalk radio show Nuts and BlogBolts to talk branding. Hosts Mike Sansone and Wayne Hurlbert will no doubt lead a lively conversation with the likes of myself, Valeria Maltoni, Mike Wagner, Derrick Daye and John Moore. It should be a good time and I am looking forward to learning quite a bit.

Podcast: If you can’t listen to the Nuts and BlogBolts show live, you can download the postcast here.

Print/Blog: My friend Phil Gerbyshak over at Make It Great! does some insightful interviews with authors, thinkers and relationship geeks. I’m not sure what possessed him…but he’s decided to interview me and give away a few copies of my book.

Live Conference Presentation: I’m joining some smart speakers, bloggers and thinkers (see Mike Sansone and Phil Gerbyshak above) to be a part of SOBCON ’07. Chicago. May. You should come.

Whew….that’s a whole lotta Drew! TV may be your only escape!

Extending your brand’s reach

February 26, 2007

Brand extensions are nothing new. The reality is, we see more bad ones than good. Want proof?

Cheetos flavored lip balm
Chicken Soup for the Pet Lover’s Soul dog food (bad idea and really long name!)
Starburst (yes the candy) shampoo, body gel and conditioner

There’s a great survey that is done every year by BrandWeek and TippingSprung (NYC branding agency) that highlights the best and the worst. A hat tip to Nancy Friedman’s post that reminded me of this annual brain food.

So what makes a smart brand extension?

Does it add value to the core brand?

Think of this a a math equation. Does A+B=C? If you take the core brand and add a new element, does it create something new that’s of value. One of the survey’s winners was the Red Cross who is now marketing emergency radios. You can see the logic and thought process that created the extension. Not only is the extension itself smart, but it reflects well and adds potency to the core brand.

The quizzical look factor.

You know that expression that a dog gets, when it cocks its head and looks confused? When you say, "hey, look Cheetos flavored lip balm" most people get that same expression. That’s a big clue that the extension is a disconnect. If the two elements are miles apart, it’s going to be tough to get the consumers to buy the connection.

Has anyone asked?

20 years ago, you couldn’t even find a Mickey and Minnie in wedding garb to use as a wedding cake topper. Today, Disney has a wedding pavilion on the grounds of Disney World and the bride can arrive in Cinderella’s coach, if she’d like. How did this come to be? Disney listened to its guests and their requests.

Just this week, in the Wall Street Journal, I read that Disney is now partnering with couture bridal designer Kirstie Kelly to create Disney princess inspired wedding gowns. Check out the Orlando Sentinel story here. (Download kellydisney.pdf )

How credible is it?

Here’s one where I disagree with the survey results. They lauded the Snoop Dog extension into pet products, like dog beds. I’m sorry but just because the man’s made up name includes the word dog does not make him a dog bed or doggie coat expert. Could he be a funny spokesperson for a dog bed manufacturer? You bet. But that’s different than the man opening a line of dog sweaters.

Brand extensions are tricky business. Bottom line — how does it strengthen your core? How does it introduce you to new customers who would find benefit in both the parent and the extension? How does it add value to your current customers?

Taking a 360 degree look

February 25, 2007

8+ inches of snow fell on us over night. Hundreds of churches and other organizations cancelled their Sunday events. Reporters told us to stay off the roads. Almost 200,000 were/are without power.

But what does the snow mean?

It would be easy to only see it from my own perspective. Using that single lens focus we discussed in an earlier post. But what happens when you actually take the time to walk around an issue, thought, product, client and take a 360 degree view?

For me, the snow is beautiful. Having grown up in Minnesota, I love the snap of cold, the crispness of the snow and the serenity in the blanket of white.

For my dad, who’s flying here from Sarasota today, it’s a reminder of why he left the Midwest and no doubt will be a source of much grumbling over the next few days.

For the neighborhood kids, it’s an imagination overloaded play land filled with an ice fort’s construction materials, bombs to be lobbed, and snow people to be birthed.

For my friend Steve, whose daughter was at a weekend church retreat deep in the woods and about an hour away, it brought worry about how to retrieve her safely. (We took my 4-wheel drive…all is well!)

For my daughter, it was a close but no cigar. 24 hours later and we’d have had a snow day.

For Mark the guy who runs a snow removal company, it was cha-ching and relief after a very slow season.

For the families without power, it was a potential crisis. No heat brings frozen pipes, no way to keep the family warm, and a huge hassle.

A relatively simple thing. A snow storm. And yet to each different audience, its importance and meaning was very different.

As you approach a marketing project — how often do you "place the item in the center of the table" and walk around it, describing it from different perspectives. We know people buy based on emotional responses. This snow storm brought a sense of calm/serenity, disgust, frustration, glee, disappointment, worry, relief, and panic.

Wow…those emotional truths are tools for a marketer. With a better understanding of people’s reactions to an event, product or service — you can talk to them in a way that will resonate with those emotional realities.

But only if you take the time to understand them.

It’s not art, it’s a website

February 25, 2007

Fine artists sign their works. I get that. It’s art.

Apparently many web designers are aspiring Picassos. There’s a trend initiated by web design companies that I just don’t get. It’s the "signature line" that they believe they’re entitled to place at the bottom of their clients’ websites.

"Website designed by XYZ" is a prevalent footer on many commercially designed websites. I am here to tell you, as a client — just say no.

I have no idea how this trend started. Can you imagine seeing a TV spot and then, as part of the close hearing "this spot was created by Weiden + Kennedy?" Or seeing McLellan Marketing Group at the bottom of a print ad in one of our client’s trade pubs? Sounds ludicrous, doesn’t it?

And yet, clients across the land don’t blink an eye when the company they are paying decided to use that site as an advertisement for themselves!

I think the ONLY acceptable exception to this rule is if the web design company donates their services. Then, they deserve the credit line.

If you’re a client out there — check your site and if there’s a fine art signature at the bottom, e-mail your web company and ask them to remove it immediately.

If you’re a web company — why not differentiate yourself in the marketplace by acknowledging that you understand you’re creating a business tool for your clients and will treat it accordingly.

You don’t know what you don’t know

February 24, 2007

One of the most dangerous habits a marketer can develop is thinking that they/their life experience is an accurate (and the only) filter. We’ve covered aspects of this topic before.

That’s a very narrow lens to use. But, with a slight twist, your single lens view finder could become a kaleidoscope with all the colors and images mixing up and showing you a completely different way of seeing the world.

Let me give you an example. I read an article about a new product/trend that is beginning to bubble up across the globe — women only cab or car services. When I first read it, I thought — wow, are we talking segmentation too far? But as I kept reading, my middle-class white man perspective melted away. I’m embarrassed to admit it, but it never occurred to me that women would be attacked after getting into a cab. But, according to what I read, it happens. In London alone, an average of 10 women a month are attacked.

Here’s how the Pink Ladies, a women-only cab service in the UK is solving that problem for women.

"Booking is done over the phone, and a text message is sent to the customer to let her know the vehicle is approaching, which means she doesn’t have to wait outside. Drivers are trained in self-defense and will wait outside a customer’s home after a drop-off to ensure she gets in safely."

Bravo to someone who turned the kaleidoscope to see the picture in a new way and develop a profitable and customer centric new solution.

Here’s my question to you marketers — how do you make sure you’re looking through a kaleidoscope and not a single lens view finder?

A marketing tip from my Italian grandma: Sampling starts something contagious

February 23, 2007

No doubt you look at my last name and say Italian? But rest assured, on my mom’s side I’m your amico! Like all Italians, I had an Italian grandma. And like all Italian grandmas, she had an opinion about everything and wasn’t afraid to share it or the life lessons she had collected along her colorful life. What she didn’t realize is that she also taught me some great marketing tips that in her honor, I’d like to share with you.

One of my grandma’s claims to fame were her pizzalles. If you’ve never had one…wow, are you missing out. They’re a traditional Italian waffle cookie and can be hard and crisp or soft and chewy depending on the ingredients and method of preparation.

They require a special pizzalle iron (like a waffle iron) and were always a big treat in my family. My grandma lived a plane ride away and I vividly remember being a kid, waiting for her at the gate (way before 9/11). She was old and didn’t move all that quickly, so it wasn’t a surprise to see streams of other people getting off the plane first.

But what was a surprise is that many of them were coming off the plane, munching on a pizzalle. As my grandma slowly appeared out of the jetway… the other passengers, with big powdered sugar-faced grins, were waving at her and telling her to enjoy her visit as though they were old friends. On my grandma’s arm was a big metal tin, like a picnic basket.

Well, you can deduce the rest of the story. The batch of pizzalles she had made and brought for us were gone, but lots of people on flight 427 had a great treat!

It started simply enough. She had a high quality and unique product. No doubt, she mentioned the tin and its contents to her seat mate and offered a sample. Pretty soon, there were samples flying everywhere. I guarantee you that my grandma and her tin of pizzalles were the talk of many a passenger’s ride home that day or call home that night. Had she been in the business of online pizzalle sales, she’d have scored big that week!

At McLellan Marketing Group, we are firm believers in sampling. Since 1999, we’ve produced a short e-newsletter called, as you might have guessed, the Marketing Minute. Every week, a few thousand people get to sample our marketing and branding expertise. This blog is big old tin of how we think.

Sampling creates word of mouth buzz. Sampling creates familiarity and a sense of already knowing you. Sampling creates demand and sales. Sampling creates the confidence to buy.

What’s in your pizzalle tin? And where are you sharing its contents?

(photo — one of my favorite possessions. The infamous pizzalle tin)

Several people have asked for my grandma’s pizzalles recipe — I’m very happy to share it!

Here’s the entire Marketing Tips from My Italian Grandma series, for your enjoyment:

Technorati tag cloud — what does it say?

February 22, 2007

I was checking Technorati tonight and the tag cloud on the home page caught my eye.

These are the things we — the entire blogging world — are talking about.

For those of you who aren’t as familiar with tag clouds — the bigger the type, the more frequently blog posts are tagged with that word. In this moment of time — this is what matters to us enough that we write about it.

Where’s the marketing lesson in the cloud?

Pop culture is clearly huge. Shock tactics (like shaving your head) still work. Despite the mainstream media focus, people aren’t ready to talk/think presidential race ’08 yet.

What do you see in the cloud?

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