Dunkin' Donuts Is the Anti-Starbucks

It's Hip to Be Cheap

Have you noticed?

People are proudly walking around with their DD coffee, to say “I didn’t spend $4.75 this morning.”

Can you capture them?

• The anti-status community
• The sale-rack community
• The Target community (by the way I ADORE Target)
  

This reaction against the Starbucks community is as inevitable as Hummer having to go small with the H3, but what will Starbucks do about it? Will they wake up in time, or will the giant lie sleeping?

Grow and be well,

Kelly Erickson

Experience Design 101: Part Two

You Really Need to Get Some Air

This is part two of 13 in the Experience Design 101 series. For links to all the articles in this series click here.

Why do high-powered publishers need editors? Best-selling authors like J. K. Rowling or Maya Angelou, Jakob Nielsen or Keith Ferrazzi, they’re inspired and creative and masters in their fields. Why edit?

Because even an expert needs outside perspective when they’ve been knee-deep in their own thoughts for months or in some cases, years.

My father sometimes read papers for me in high school. My mother used to look at my math. A fresh pair of eyes can catch the easy boo-boos, and that’s great. What fresh eyes are best at, though, is being... fresh.

Call it the duh! factor. [Liz Goodgold does; check out her Duh! Marketing Awards.] If your concepts can’t pass the duh! test you may be headed for trouble. When Dad didn’t think a paragraph made sense, or when Mom couldn’t get the same answer as I did on the math, it was time to go back to work, clarifying and focusing.

You need to step away from your business, on occasion. If you’ve ever held a dinner party at home you probably know how this works: with a half-an-hour to go, you walk the house—What have I forgotten? Any clutter I didn’t spot earlier? Did I chill the wine? Is there a knife for the cheese?

When you step away from your business you perform this same check. Get a little air, gain fresh Perspective on what you offer and how you present it. Is my website too busy? Does it inform enough? Are my ads pulling in the kind of leads I want? Do my staff look pulled-together? Are sales trending up?

All those talented authors step away from their work plenty before they send it off to the publisher. Their magnum opus goes off to an editor, who as gently as possible, hacks it to bits. Or so it feels, because no matter how constructive, criticism can hurt.

Bring it on!

Whether it’s a book or a restaurant or a law firm or a liquor store, your work won’t be its best until it’s made it past the Perspective of an outsider’s eye.

You need an outside eye to watch for nonsense terms and overblown rhetoric like “best in class,” “guru,” and “top-notch” in your materials. [For more, read the uniquely fascinating, top-notch Gobbledygook Manifesto.] You need an outside eye to tell you the colors you’ve chosen for your executive portrait studio scream “hospital,” or the chairs in your reception area are only comfortable to you, or your signage is driving people away. You need an outside eye to tell you the staff you regard as family need to brush up on their manners when you’re not looking, or your prices are upscale but their attire is downscale. You need an outside eye to tell you when your concept needs a little gentle editing.

Get your mom, your dad, a friend who is not afraid to tell the truth, or just stop six new customers today. What strikes them first about your concept, your name, your location, or other aspects of your customer experience? What would bring them to your company? Are they using your offerings in the way you intended? Do they “get it”? Would they recommend you to a friend? Why or why not?

Take your time with this. Don’t wince when you hear their answers, or you’ll hinder the process. Don’t take it personally—this help is literally a gold mine for your business!

Ask for and really learn from this “kick in the pants.” The more Perspective, the better you’ll focus in on creating the Customer Experience that maximizes your growth.

Gather all the information and mine it for the most usable insights right away.

Then, take a break; after all this hacking and mining, you’ll probably need to get some air.

Grow and be well,

Kelly Erickson

Next up in the series: Part Three: 3 Critical lessons learned from the Big Boys

P.S. If you're enjoying the Maximum Customer Experience Blog, subscribe today (at top left) and get updates delivered by email or RSS. It's easy and it's free!

Caring and Community Create Authentic Customer Experience

Lyndon’s Window

August, 2007

Vacationing in beautiful Hampton, New York today, I watched as a huge storm blew in from nowhere and took out power, phones, and (gasp!) the wi-fi at the Panorama Motel. I’d like to say that without cable or the Internet to distract us, we sat around and roasted marshmallows and told stories. In fact, we’d had a lovely evening doing just that four nights ago, so instead we sought civilization and went out to eat.

As we drove we saw destruction everywhere, on a pretty rare scale for a Lakes Region summer storm, and folks all around pitching in to help clear roads, supervise accident scenes, and direct traffic. The brand new Blue Cat Bistro in Castleton, Vermont benefited from being in one of the very few towns with power, and one of the few without so many downed trees and telephone poles that you couldn’t drive round it. We had a great but slow meal (they were packed), then raced back to the Motel to review our own damage. On the way back I heard the story of Lyndon’s window.

Lyndon was a fellow who came to stay at the Motel some years ago. After a time, he asked to stay on in exchange for work, and as there is always so much to do, my parents said yes. A door on their shed had been having difficulty closing for some time, and Lyndon crafted a plywood “window” that solved the problem and saved money, too. He created a simple enclosure for their new coal furnace that made their winter fuel choice much more workable. He built several structures and made many needed repairs, did his work and became a temporary part of the Panorama’s very large circle of friends.

My parents, the owners of the Panorama Motel, did a good deed and got a great exchange for it. They make no fuss about this charitable attitude. As they see it, they gave nothing away. They want the Motel to be the best it can be for guests. Lyndon’s work offered them an avenue to some improvements in their physical space, and time for them to work on other aspects of their customer experience. The caring hospitality of Peter and Roxann Flynn is an important part of what makes folks choose their place to stay. No fuss at all - you’re simply part of their circle if you’re at the Panorama. They listen, they care, and they treat everyone like family.

Lyndon’s window broke out during the storm today. I don’t know if my parents were remembering it with nostalgia or not, but it certainly caught me. People pitching in on the streets. My parents and Lyndon. In extraordinary times, we all pitch in.

What makes your business extraordinary is every day’s human experience. People buy from people they trust, like, respect... and yes, from people who care about them, in ordinary times. Never miss an opportunity to show true care for your customers.

Have you ever given in your business, and gotten back your own “Lyndon’s window” in exchange? How can you expand that individual attention to your entire customer base? What good deed can you do that will make customers feel like family?


Grow and be well,

Kelly Erickson

 

Thanksgiving, 2007:

P. S. Visit the Panorama Motel next time you're wishing for a little room to breathe... winter on the border of New York and Vermont is heavenly!

P.P.S. I'm thankful for the opportunity to share this article on the MCE Blog! Happy holidays, everyone!

Experience Design 101: Part One

Shh! It’s a Secret! Experience Design Revealed

This is part one of 13 in the Experience Design 101 series. For links to all the articles in this series click here.

It’s Pop-the-Question Night, the most important might of all nights. Quick—which local restaurant ensures the answer is Yes?

Why?

It’s cozy.” “It’s intimate.” “It’s over-the-top gorgeous.” “They treat you like royalty.” “The food is amazing.” “We’ll remember it forever.”

You didn’t have to think long to know the answer in your city, did you? It’s a personal answer, yet a lot of people where you live think of that same place. If a friend asked you, you’d tell them to go there, as if sharing a secret source. They’re at the top of your mind for romance and pampering, and it’s not all about the food.

It’s about the Experience, and the Experience is the difference between being customers’ secret source and being a nobody-knows-about-you secret.

Some companies take years to gradually build a cult following. That’s not the kind of secret you want to be. It seems almost an accident when they become known, and in some ways it probably is. Not everyone had a conscious plan for customer experience, but you can bet that accidentally grown customer experience does have a focused Visionary behind it.

Let’s assume you don’t have years to wait around for growth. Well, other companies throw millions of dollars at a “brand” to get it to the top of their customers’ minds.

Let’s assume you don’t have the millions, either.

Is there a secret formula for True Positioning, positioning so your name comes up first when a customer needs what you do best? No, Experience Design is not a secret.

Experience Design is simply researching, planning, and executing a comprehensive design for all aspects of customer experience: the message, or Vision; the visual, from your physical location to your graphics; the interactive—human-to-human interactions, from telephone to point-of-sale.

When each customer interaction is clear, focused, and in line with every other element, you are able to maximize your company’s powers of persuasion. By reinforcing Maximum Customer Experience over time, your firm becomes top-of-the-mind—your customers’ secret source, with loyal fans who refer their colleagues and friends to you.

The only secret of Maximum Customer Experience is having a pinpoint focus at all points of interaction. In these days of infinite choice, when one or more “touchpoints” fails to communicate your overall message, you’re sure to lose a customer to a competitor whose experience is seamless. That restaurant you’d recommend to a friend? The real reason is because it’s all seamless when you’re there. The restaurant fulfills your needs so neatly, you don’t even notice the lightness of your wallet.

Pinpoint focus = seamlessness = Maximum Customer Experience

What aspects of your customer experience are scattered?

Do you know what needs bring customers to you now?

List all of the ways customers interact with you, and think about ways to bring seamless focus to their experience.

Grow and be well,

Kelly Erickson

Next up in the series: Part Two: You really need to get some air

P.S. If you're enjoying the Maximum Customer Experience Blog, subscribe today (at top left) and get updates delivered by email or RSS. It's easy and it's free!

Experience Design 101

Experience Design: What’s it all about and why do I need it?

This is the classic collegiate primer, daring to take on a subject most colleges won’t: Making Money. Many small-to-medium business owners learned an awful lot about practicing their craft in college, but not a bit about how to grow and thrive once you take that craft out on your own. You may be responsible for dozens of employees, but at heart you’re just the top employee right now.

Customers come in, but do you know how? Why? How to get more like them? Do you want more like them? And what’s great design got to do with it?

Growing your business is either seat-of-your pants, or its designed. There’s no in-between.

The Maximum Customer Experience blog aims to help you become the Visionary and leader that a thriving firm needs at the top. Wait—you’re not the top dog? Fear not. At VisionPoints, we know every member of a company is a crucial stakeholder, and needs to be an evangelist or “propheteer” for the firm to really take off. There’s plenty for you here, too. Just imagine if your custodian went to a barbeque this weekend and told friends about your awesome new product instead of about an aching back or an ignorant, demanding new hire. Heck, even your mail carrier could spread the word about you!

Witty! Thrilling! Jam-packed with tips and tales! (Well, at least the last one. I’ll do my best on the other two.)

In Experience Design 101, I present a baker’s dozen actionable articles (linked below) to help you showcase your Vision and grow your business. Hmm, a baker’s dozen? I think I’d better go get a bagel...

1. Shh! It’s a secret! Experience Design revealed
2. You really need to get some air
3. 3 Critical lessons learned from the Big Boys
4. Key concepts in Experience Design
5. Who do you think you are?
6. The long, winding road to the top (of the mind)
7. It’s not all about the web (but you’d better get on the bandwagon)
8. ROI: Can you really measure the power of Experience Design?
9. Firm growth (not) guaranteed
10. Uniqueness and innovation: What have you got that I haven’t got?
11. Are you ready to be a Visionary?
12. How to put Experience Design to work, today: 11 Tips
13. Who drives better, men or women?

Read on, write back, and Go Where Your VisionPoints.

Grow and be well,

Kelly Erickson
Owner, Creative Director
Vision Points
The Experience Designers