I’ve noticed a pattern many of the organizations with whom I work. People tend to think that their industry/type of business is different than any other. Within their industry, they think that their business has its own set of unique challenge. And, within their business, they believe that their department somehow is different from the …
After a couple of examples of non-customer centric encounters, I thought it might be time to provide some positive examples. The timing is perfect as I recently was reflecting on how I went from not using Netflix to paying $8.99 per month. It didn’t happen overnight but it did happen because they made it ridiculously …
Well, my saga with United continues. They still aren’t proving to be very customer friendly.They went 0 for 2 with the on-line check in process. You would expect that once you log in you can hit a button and check in. But, that’s not the case. I had to go through three screens of advertisements …
Today I contacted United Airlines to change a return flight on trip. The total came to $230 ($150 change fee and $80 difference between the price of my old and new ticket).Fortunately, I checked on-line before making the call and saw that the one way trip on my new date was only $194. The agent …
Read more “United Airlines: Charging a premium for decreased service”
Recently I wrote about customer-centric processes. In early posts, I’ve discussed the idea of the “path of least resistance”. That is, if there is something that you want someone else to do, you need to make that action easier than doing something else. To many, path of least resistance and customer-centric processes are a no-brainer. …
Read more “Please fill out this form to request that your discount be terminated”
During a recent meeting, I made what I thought was a casual observation. The group of people with whom I was working weren’t very customer-centric. That message was not received very well (by most of the group). They assured me that they are very empathic toward their customers. They treated them with the upmost respect. …
Read more “Being nice to your customers doesn’t make you customer-centric”
Peter Drucker once said, “The most serious mistakes are not being made as a result of wrong answers. The truly dangerous thing is asking the wrong question.” Yet, for many leaders coming up with the right question is still a challenge. In prior posts I’ve listed questions that are helpful in a specific context (e.g., …
Creating meaning is one of the most important things that a leader does. But what is “meaning”? The most eloquent definition of meaning come in Viktor Frankel’s book Man’s Search for Meaning. Frankel ties meaning to the internal purpose for which one lives. I use a much less philosophical definition to provide a framework that …
“Strategy” is one of those words that is loosely bantered about without much precision. There seems to be a lot of confusion about what a strategy is. There is even more confusion around what a strategy does. In working with groups to develop strategy, I’ve learned a few important lessons: 1) strategies that try to …
In some organizations, the word “bias” has the same status as many other four-letter words; you need to avoid it in polite company. After all, leaders are supposed to be objective and data driven in their decisions and actions. But bias is essential to decision making. In his book, “How We Decide”, Jonah Lehrer, tells …
Read more “Embrace your bias – just don’t let it control you”