Ever wonder why some people (and brands) have you at hello…and others just don’t? At Uniqlo, Hello isn’t just a company policy. It’s actually a revenue-driving principle of management that must be felt authentically by the customer to mean: – “I’m here to help you, not sell you.” – “I respect ...

Imagine a dance routine in a 2082 version of Dancing with the Stars. Think it would blow you away compared to today? Now, check out this from the same 70-year time span…going back in time. Think it could possibly still be one of the greatest dance routines ever? You decide. ...

More People = Less Desire To Compete Did you take standardized tests to get into college? Like the SAT and ACT? How many people were in the room when you took the test? Does it matter? Research by Stephen Garcia and Avishalom Tor shows that it may matter a lot. Fewer ...

Next time you’re considering a visual for, well, absolutely anything representing your brand, consider the difference between the two responses: “Nice”       or “Wow”     Ask yourself, will it: 1. Stand Out from the 1,000s of images they will see today? 2. Stop+Engage them in feeling, thinking, and supporting ...

No focus groups. Just you and a friendly stranger at a cafe or waiting in line. One-on-one conversation. About all kinds of things. Like what people buy and why. So, you have some fun and ask, “Well, if a company were a real person, which brand would you really trust?” ...

It’s not “social  media” that CEOs need concern themselves. It’s more a common sense leadership thing about knowing one’s self and one’s company’s Social Self.  A company’s Social Self can be a revenue-influencing metric that shows a CEO the comparative values between its company and its competitors when and how ...

I have to bring us back to this classic Gladwell. It remains deliciously relevant to seeking a universal answer for making customer X satisfied with product or service Y. Don’t fret over the length of this talk. Malcolm Gladwell makes it fly. ...

Don’t blink. You don’t want to miss your company’s best predictor of success. In just three more quarterly reports, by 2016, 89% of businesses will compete for brand differentiation. In one area: customer experience. Why? Because people never forget how you make them feel. They amplify their feelings about your product, ...

The biggest brands are figuring out how to get small. Small as in not just doing social, but being social. Understanding customers not as data points, but as people. In full human context and experience. Insight-rich social research flowing into their reimagined front offices. The C-Suite is getting it: the revenue-driving ...

Just how exactly do you actually listen to your customers?  How does your social technology reconcile social selling and social customer service with… being human? What’s love or like got to do with it? How do you tap into their all-too-human pain and happiness – their feelings – at the massive scale being ...

“I’ve learned that people will forget what you said, people will forget what you did, but people will never forget how you made them feel.” ~ Maya Angelou ...

Track A: You’re waiting for a train. The platform sign says it will arrive in 12 minutes. So you relax a bit, maybe read your email or latest celebrity gossip. When the train arrives, on schedule, you’re a happy customer. Track B: You’re waiting for a train with no platform sign, ...

Strategy is the single driving cue. With this cue, you have a clear direction. It lights the way. Sets your tone. Ensures the feel. Drives nuance. It changes habit and creates craving. There is only one strategy. All else are tactics that support it. You can decide to revise a ...

What would your customers say when asked, “If brands were human, who would you want to hang out with? Kiss you goodnight? Trust?” CEOs, CFOs and COOs are, or should be, as invested in customer experiences as their CMOs. The C-suite is Getting It: the revenue- and innovation-driving value of social ...

Have you ever been asked to show a direct correlation between customer experiences and revenue? In this case study of two companies with different revenue models — one transactional, the other subscription-based, you can see the link between two common elements relevant to all industries: customer feedback and future spending by individual ...

In a study conducted by Bain Consulting on customer experience, 8% of the customers of 362 companies described their experiences with those companies as “Superior.” Yet, 80% of those companies believed the experiences they provided to their customers were “Superior.” Why the reality gap when it comes customer experiences? A Harvard Business ...

I don’t just want to be where my prospects are. I want to make their experiences there better.   ...

How does an “innocent” public keep drug cartels and terrorists in business? By thinking it is doing no harm when buying counterfeit brands. So, when Prada, Versace, Dolce & Gabbana, Ray-Ban, Coach, Gucci, et al, gathered in Washington, D.C. for the Anti-Counterfeiting Coalition, they were presented the problem, and marketing ...

A boy tells the story of his father returning to work after battling cancer. And a hospital emerges as a friend, neighbor, and hero. ...