Consumer Centric

How often have you found yourself doing exactly what you counsel others not to do?  I’m a parent of four kids, so I have to admit I’ve experienced that awakening once or twice at home.  But yesterday I found myself, and our team, facing the issue at work in a way that was ironic given our trumpeting the consumer-centricity horn.

Since we launched PURSUIT one year ago, we’ve put a lot of effort into the look and feel we wanted to maintain, project, and deliver as a brand.  We decided it was critical to convey a simple, modern, and elegant, but not aloof, feeling in everything from our logo to our letterhead.

Early on we made the switch to Mac over PC so we could use the presentation prowess of Keynote, Pages, and the like to be able to incorporate a higher order design into our work.  And we figured we’d deal with compatibility issues by always giving our clients nicely packaged PDF versions of our work.  No problem.  Well, not always a true statement.

Most times this has worked well.  And we’ve received the feedback about the look of what we do aligning with the value it provides many times.  But with one of our biggest clients we’ve continued to run into difficulty when we prepare our “deck” in Keynote and then convert to PowerPoint because this client wants to be able to view and manipulate files in the collaboration process.

It came to a head again yesterday when we had spent weeks getting what we thought was one of the best project deliverables yet.  The team even worked around the clock in the final hours the days before to make sure we posted the working draft for the client ahead of the scheduled time.  That’s when the “fun” began anew.

First, the PowerPoint conversion we did had problems when they uploaded it from Basecamp because of different versions of PowerPoint on either end.  Immediately, past frustrations on the part of our client emerged again, distracting right away from the content and thinking central to our deliverable (product).  Quickly, we fixed the version issue and re-posted only to hear they were still having issues with certain slides not appearing correctly even though on our machines it was clean.

Finally, we discovered we were using a specific font, part of our initial look and feel effort we worked on to set ourselves apart, that was not on their machines.  So, a few slides in the deck were still totally messed up on our client’s side when they opened it up on their end.

The frustration was high at this point because we knew little attention could be given to the content of our work and we knew our client, who appreciates what we do for sure, was reaching a point of wanting to figuratively slap us upside the head.  I kept thinking aloud (with members of our team) that I couldn’t understand why they wouldn’t just let us use the PDF version and communicate that way… then none of the compatability issues would be there.  Then they’d see the really great work we’ve done.

At some point, I heard myself talking and realized the obvious.  When have I heard a company say, “if only my customers would accept our way of doing things then they’d appreciate our work and see how good the thing we’ve made for them really is?”  Or, how about… “why do we have to make something that our customer can use?  We’ve made something that we know works, don’t they get it?”

Ok, so the obvious lesson, or slap upside the head, was the cliche “physician heal thyself.”  Our use of the tools we’ve chosen for our work meets our needs, not our client’s.  When we are able to present and control the delivery of the results it is useful, impressive, and helpful to our client because it’s clean, clear, and concise.  But, when our client needs something they can use and work with when we are not there, what we produced has considerably less value.

Relevance and utility.  That’s what we preach all of the time to our clients.

You have to consider your customer’s point of view and determine how you add relevance and utility in their life, on their terms.  If you miss that perspective you’ll push out products/services that look great to you, things that cost money, but things for which the value of is considerably less to the people paying for them.

Moving ahead… clearly we need different versions for different purposes:  (1) those in which we control the full delivery and, therefore, can use our Mac software tools to make them shine and tell a powerful story, and (2) those in which our clients need to be able to use the material on their own, so we’ll need to deliver the same quality on different software platforms.

The less obvious lesson in this experience is that companies who find themselves creating things that don’t add utility and relevance from the customer point of view are not always self-absorbed egotists.  Many likely find themselves in the exact situation we were yesterday… having created something they expect is grand, only to realize they’ve failed to truly listen to their customer.

The point:  it’s not easy to be consumer-centric, even when it seems obvious as does this example of our struggle.

I’ve noticed a recent uptick in spam email that apparently is too sophisticated for today’s filters to keep out.  I haven’t seen these for a long time, but spammers are getting smarter on the technical front, but obviously not on the creativity front.

The outlandish stories in these spam messages (written in broken English with terrible grammar) make you wonder who could possibly think this is real and reply to it.  Somebody must… a lot of somebodies.

Here’s a sampling of the most entertaining recent requests for my help:

• Born Again Christian Mrs. Alyssa Walton and her late husband who worked with the Embassy of Iceland in Canada for 10 years before he died.
  When my late husband was alive he deposited the sum of 19Million Dollars (Nineteen Million United State Dollars) on the safe deposit Box with the diplomatic vault house.
  With God all things are possible As soon as I receive your reply I shall give you the contact of the diplomatic vault house.
  Any delay in your reply will give me room in sourcing for a church or Christian individual for this same purpose. Please assure me that you will act accordingly as I stated herein Hoping to hearing from you.
  I have set aside 15% for you and for your time and 10% for any expenses if there is any then remaining balance for the word of God.
• Sponsorloterij Jackpot and Promotions and my lucky number winning One Million Euros.
  Please note in order to avoid unnecessary delays and complications, remember to quote your Ticket number, Lucky number, lottery Ref. number, Serial number, your full names, telephone number and address in all correspondence.
  Note:You are advised to keep this winning very confidential until you receive your lump prize in your account or optional cheque issuance to you.
• 9/11 Victim David Angel and his $58.2M dollars I’ll share with you, courtesy of David Leung of the Bank of East Asia USA.
  I chose to reach you through (Internet)  because it is the fastest, surest and most secured medium of communication. However, this correspondence is un-official but private, and it should be treated as such. I also guarantee you that this transaction is hitch free from all what you may think of.
  Please include your telephone/fax number/ Home address when replying this mail and I will give you more information as soon as you indicate your willingness to assist in this transaction. I will use my positions to get all internal documentations to back up the claims.
  MR. DAVID ANGELL is an account holder in my branch; he owns a dollar account with the sum of 58.2M (Fifty Eight Million, two Hundred Thousand United States Dollars Only) deposited in a Secret account with my branch .In fact, since his death, no next of kin of the account holder nor any relative of him has shown up for the claim, this is because he has the account as a secret account thus he left all the documents for the deposit with me. The wife whom he signed in as his next of kin died with him on that unfaithful sad day.
  Do not be bothered that you are not related in any way to him as I am in position to affix your name as the next of kin. The whole Procedures will last only 9 working days to get the fund retrieved successfully without trace even in future. After the transfer of the money we shall share the money 60-40, which is I will have 60% while you will have 40%.
• The late Iraqi Hassan Hussein who was killed by gunfire and left a $24.5M cash deposit and his personal oil well just for me.
  We later found out that Mr. Hassan Hussein and his family had been killed during the war in Gunfire that hit their home at Mukaradeeb where his personal oil well was.
  After further investigation it was also discovered that Mr. Hassan Hussein did not declare any next of kin in his official papers including the paper work of his bank deposit. And he also confided in me the last time he was at my office that no one except me knew of his deposit in my bank. So, US$24,500,000.00 is still lying in my bank and no one will ever come forward to claim it. What bothers me is that according to the laws of my country if nobody comes forward to claim these funds my government will confiscate it.
  Please, note, I am a family man, I have wife and children. I send you this mail not without a measure of fear as to the consequences if you decide to report me but I also know that no venture, no success.

I’m just sayin…

Co-creation, social media, engagement, viral campaigns, etc. New tools for today’s marketers? Well, yes and no.  The digital side is new… the practice is not.

I’m reading the new book by Magic Johnson and Larry Bird and came across a piece of NBA trivia new to me about the 1979 draft that landed Magic at the LA Lakers.  Little did I know it involved a co-creation exercise with a viral component and a social media spin.

The result was the Bulls missed out on drafting Magic Johnson and, instead, picked up UCLA senior David Greenwood.  But they had engaged their fans in helping make the decision:  ”heads” instead of “tails” was the consensus.

Turns out the Bulls and Lakers were up for the first pick in the draft, and Magic was the expected first pick.  On June 25, 1979 the issue was resolved by a coin flip.  But the Bulls general manager, Rod Thorn, didn’t call it out on his own.  The Bulls ran a fan promotion in which the poll results showed more fans wanted Thorn to call “heads” and win the toss to pick up Magic.

As reported on a NJ Nets fan page:

“I’ll never forget that,” Rod Thorn recalled. “We had some sort of promotion with our fans, and we let them choose what we’d call. And Bill Sharman, the Lakers’ GM — he was on the line from L.A. — Bill was so gracious, he let me call it. Then I hear, ‘Tails, L.A. wins.’ I would have always called tails. It was always luckiest for me, but we did it for the fans.

“But it’s amazing and ironic how life works out, isn’t it? Had the Bulls gotten Magic, we never would have gotten Michael Jordan five years later. The Lakers won all those titles, but I’d say it worked out great for everybody.”

Fascinating concept:  engage your loyal fans to help win the prize on draft day.  So, was it good or bad for the fans given they ended up picking wrong?  Or did they?

Would it have been better to get Magic Johnson in 1979 and miss picking up Michael Jordan in 1984? Obviously, not a question you can answer… and not the point.

The real point is brands have been doing things to involve their customers for years.  Today’s tools make it so much easier, but the rules of needing to provide relevance and utility have only become more important today.

I think the Bulls’ actions show how brands have to be “all-in” to genuinely involve their customers in charting the future of their franchise.  And they have to be willing to risk that what you create together may not payoff in the short term.

Stick with it, though, and you just may find the next Michael Jordan in the process.

Who knew?  Sports, the NBA, social media, and co-creation… all 30 years ago.

Life’s opportunities have kept me moving such that I’ve been posting life and not writing about it!

A recent life “moment” for me was jury duty in Texas’ 299th District Court in front of the Honorable Charlie Baird.  The day was quite a bit different from the selection process for a jury I served on in a 2005 murder trial in Sacramento, CA.

So, of course, it got me thinking about the customer-centricity of civil service on a jury (I’m weird that way). Can it be done in a way that meets the needs of the state while respecting the needs of the citizens?  Texas has a very different approach than California. But both have citizen-centric elements to their process.

First, Texas.  The process starts with a way cool online system for you to acknowledge receipt of the summons, selection of available dates, and assignment to a court and a specific starting date.  I was impressed and figured the experience at the court room would be as efficient, and as focused on making it easy for me to do my duty.  Well, not so much.

The day started in the courtroom lobby as we were all lined up and given specific numbers. The first 24 were asked to stand in line, but then we were asked to sit back down as we waited almost an hour for any stragglers.  One showed. Then we were back in line again and took our seats in the court room.

The selection process in Judge Baird’s court room was very Texas:  mostly polite, lots of talking, and very long. We listened to an hour of instructions from Judge Baird, then we listened to more than an hour of what was supposed to be questions from the prosecutor.  In reality, we were hearing part of her case in the child abuse trial about to start — and occasionally a few questions made it out.  Still, up to this point noone has been dismissed, we’re all there for the long haul.

Following a 90-minute lunch break, we reconvened to hear almost 90 minutes, or more, of the defense attorney rail into us about the corrupt political, legal, and law enforcement system in the US and how people like him are there to rescue the little guy.  His tirade, speeches, and general approach included even fewer questions than the prosecutor.  It was crazy.  Many of us were looking around wondering if we were going to be asked any questions to help select the jury.

We waited another 45 minutes outside while the judge listened to individual concerns about serving on the jury.  Then we returned.  Still, noone has been let go except for the doctor who early on said he knew a witness in the case and couldn’t be impartial.  The rest of us were stuck as the attorneys did their final selection.

Finally, at 6PM the judge read the numbers of 13 jurors and it was over. The rest of us were free to leave.

Contrast this with the California murder trial jury selection process I was in from 2005. We gathered, same number of people, after we received our assignment in a large room on the first floor (nowhere near as easy up front as the Texas process).

The rest of the process was efficient, straight forward, and quick.  The judge told us the rules in about 15 minutes. He then asked people to stand with any major personal issues, and he let a few go.  He then probed directly on some tough questions and tossed a few out.  Then it was time for seating the jury.

The judge put 15 people in the box, the first 15 numbers from the original random assignment.  The attorneys questioned those in the box they were interested in talking to, then one by one several were dismissed and a new person from our larger group was put into the box.  Once they ran out of strikes, it was over… and the jury was selected before lunch time.

Ideally, I’d love to see the Texas summons technique coupled with the California selection process in the court room to make it match the importance of what it represents and what it really is, but do it in a way that doesn’t subject people to a full day of legal arguments and posturing in a way that has nothing to do with selecting a jury.

Who’d a thought Texas could learn something from California?  Your thoughts…?

Daily course of a rather busy day led me to some nuggets of examples:  one not-so-good actual customer service interaction and one really great idea.  The primary criteria I use for evaluating these types of things:  does it help someone and make them like you even more?

Bad example first.

Story.  Well, we’re opening a new account with Salesforce.com to track some opportunities and stay organized, etc.  I’ve used it at a large company before, but was trying it on for size (free trial period) for small biz use.  I’m ready to buy, but the options online were different from what I recall, and the features and fees were not clear — I needed to chat with someone to decipher the fine print.

When I first clicked that I was ready to buy (end the free trial and pay them money!) I got the automated email from my personal sales rep almost immediately.  How cool, right?  Well, his email informed me he was out of the office until the 16th, but “so-and-so” was covering him the 8th – 11th.  So, no worries, I can contact that gal in his absence.  Which I promptly did, forwarding the mail I’d sent to my personal rep.

I asked:  ”I only need contacts, accounts, leads, opportunities.  That’s it.  What is the best solution for us?  We’ve been using it now for a few weeks.”  I provided a little more context and background info.

Her response:  ”I am actually at an off site meeting right now.”  She continued:  ”You can actually purchase directly from your trial if you are ready to move forward. You can review the feature comparison on our main page to see what edition may be best.”

Basically, she let me know that, although she’s the one my personal rep has covering for him from the 8th – 11th, that she, too, is not able to break out of a company meeting to help me.  What’s more, she thought she’d tell me to read it myself and figure it out, as if I’d not already spent time doing just that, only to arrive at some questions that silly me thought a sales person could answer!  When I shared my surprise at her response, she let me know she’d be happy to talk with me on Friday when she gets back.

Wow! And the funny thing… Salesforce.com sells a tool to help you stay in contact with your customers and your prospects to help sell your product.  Oops!  Maybe they should work on the human side of interacting with their customers… not just relying on technology.

On the positive side… I can’t take any credit for this. But it’s such a great idea of demonstrating value to people in a customer service perspective that I had to share it.

David Armano posted this tweet mid-day:

It speaks for itself.  It’s an example of thinking from the consumer experience to create a relationship that keeps people coming back.

This type of thinking, however, only comes when a company truly puts themselves in the position of why their customer behaves a certain way.  When you think about it from that perspective, an airline can realize that people on the plane love getting a surprise visit to the first class seats… those seats are their greatest relationship-building asset.

Wen you think about it from that perspective, a software company can realize that people wanting to buy their service sometimes need a short conversation to understand how to buy the product they’re most likely to use, not the one most likely to make the company the most money.

You see… when a company thinks about people in that way, consumers become people who purposefully choose to enter into a relationship with a company.

Relevance. Utility. Authenticity.

It’s about connections. It’s about being real.

Two recent experiences add to what I consider the good side of the technology behind social networks and communication tools that are constantly emerging.

This morning, I was jogging and came across a moleskine book on the side of the road. It was a little wet from the sprinklers, but it was obvious someone did not intend to “store” it there. I grabbed it and finished my run… in fact, I kept thinking a number of the people I saw along the way must have wondered why I felt compelled to jog with a notebook in my hand!

I saw the name inside the notebook. Got to my computer. The first place I turned to was Facebook to search for this guy. Sure enough, from his profile I could easily tell it was him. I clicked on “send ___ a message” and told him about the find.

Later today I’ll connect with him out near my home and get it back to him. Easy. Quick. Non-invasive. Benefit for the both of us… feels good to find something when you know what it feels like to lose something, plus he has his book back now.

Earlier this year I posted about a chance encounter I had on a flight home to Austin. I was so touched by my interaction with Dawn that I felt like I had to share the way she approached adversity with honor and commitment. She and two of her children are now serving in Iraq with the MN National Guard, leaving her husband and teenage daughter back home.

Just a few days after posting the story, I was surprised to see a post from Dawn’s husband, Todd.  Then several other people with family in the military shared their own experiences. Eventually, her young daughter, Meagan, even posted her feelings and gratitude to those who had shared support. Together, we were able to share thoughts and a common sense of respect for someone who would never promote it herself. And it isn’t about pointing a spotlight on Dawn, it is about expressing appreciation for goodness, honor, and respect.

This person captured my reactions, too:

Just a few weeks ago another comment to my post on Dawn came from a friend of hers from years ago.

Dawn’s husband, Todd, replied and explained Dawn had talked about her friend many times over the years. I assume they’ve since connected and she’s been able to send a care package to Dawn.

My point in sharing all of this? Ambient awareness through social networking tools has a good side. Used for uplifting purposes we can find good and honorable people, things, and experiences.

Likely, I will never meet Todd and Lois and others who have shared in this story. But I’m a better person knowing what they’ve shared. How cool is it that we can facilitate such connections today?

Sure, these tools have as many, if not more, negative sides.

But I appreciate the good that can come. In the end, authentic connections between people on issues that matter will drown out the self-interest and negative scheming via online social networks. In my world, these are two examples of what I mean…

How many times have you bought batteries or a new electronic gadget or a DVD and it takes you 10 times as long to get it open as it ever took to find and purchase it? It can’t be just me who has wondered why they package certain items as if they really, really don’t ever want you to open it and use it.

Surprise! Innovation has hit the packaging world.  Maybe this has been around for a long time, but last night was my first pleasant introduction to the simple change that rocked my world… OK, it really did for about 30 seconds. And then it happened twice in the same night with a second purchase.

First, I bought an iPhone car charger (made by Monster) because I needed one, but really because my phone was dead and I had to make a few calls and was a long way from home or the office.  Got out in the car, looked around for something hard and sharp to pry may way into the plastic safe.  But, no… check this out:

How amazing is that?  Someone realized you could perforate the plastic case in the back to make it so a person who most likely wants to get into it after buying it can do so easily.

I was irrationally excited about a simple, consumer-centric innovation.

Then, this morning I went to open the new Logitech wireless mouse that I bought. Again, I prepared to cut through the very strong plastic case to extract the device.  Lo and behold… someone at Logitech had a similar epiphany, but they took it one step further.  They told me how to do it!  On the case!

Way cool.  I’m just excited someone got around to solving for that little problem.  A great example of taking a consumer-centric insight and taking the time to solve for it.

Thank you Logitech and Monster.

Once or twice a week I get this email from American Airlines.  It’s their weekly AA Net SAAvers Fares. I live in Austin, TX.  Naturally, my home airport selected is Austin’s airport. And, each week, the email starts out like this:

So, my weekly “custom” promotional email from American Airlines starts by telling me they’ve got some great weekend deals from Austin, TX only to say immediately after that there aren’t any Net SAAver fares from Austin next weekend. Gee… thanks! I feel special!

But, that’s only the beginning.

My “custom” promotional email then tells me about the special weekend getaway fares they have from Dallas, TX.  I should point out that the DFW airport is about a 4 hour drive (give or take) from where I live. So to enjoy these weekend getaways I’d need to drive up to Dallas, then hop on a plane.

Here are the wondrous trips American Airlines picked out for me this weekend:

(1) DFW to Killeen, TX for $58 each way.

(2) DFW to McAllen, TX for $81 each way.

(3) DFW to Amarillo, TX for $47 each way.

(4) DFW to Corpus Christi, TX for $74 each way.

Interesting offers since I’d pass Killeen in my drive up to Dallas. Not to mention the other locations are within drives for me, too, and the price offered isn’t anything to write home about for these short flights.

Finally, the one time I did see something interesting on this email (flight to Germany out of Dallas), I clicked on the email and was taken to the AA site through typical online booking and it was the exact same price I could have gotten if I just went to their site to begin with and searched for flight to Germany, but left from Austin.

Sure, I get that they’re just trying to alert you to the low fares. But, it is presented as something special and just for me. It’s like me sending an email to a prospect or client of my company, PURSUIT, and offering the following:

(1) Here is your PURSUIT special marketing innovation solution just for you this next quarter.

(2) Since we don’t do anything that you need, we don’t have anything to offer. But I’ve included what we did for another company who had a totally different need than you. But we’ll do what we did for them just for you at the same price we did it for them. Lucky you.

(3) Oh, and if you’d just call me and check what we offer, I would have just told you the same thing. In reality, I don’t have anything special to offer you. But I’d really like your business.

How’s that for Custom Promotions?

Please, American Airlines… don’t send me a custom offer unless it’s (a) real, (b) custom to something about me that you already know, (c) actually a better deal than it would be had I found it myself, and (d) something that makes me feel a bit better about you and your company.

That, my friends at American Airlines, is the difference between generic spam offers versus custom promotions… utility and relevance in my life.  As it stands, I ignore your emails except for the rare moments I look for entertainment to see where you want to send me from Dallas this week! Come to think of it, why don’t I just unsubscribe from that service… hmmm.

Certainly you’ve had a similar experience. Please share.

Early this morning (like 1AM) my colleague, Jim Wilkerson, pointed me to a bizarre (searching for right word here) and entertaining (sort of) live-tweeting going on by a guy on a plane narrating an argument between a couple apparently sitting next to, or near, him.  Jim was alerted of the exchange by Augie (August) Ray by this tweet to his 2,114 followers:

When you click on @jmatusin you can follow his mad rush to the gate at the MN airport, the help he got from a non-English-speaking gal who let him cut in line and who he then helped to her gate, the Traveler’s Insurance ad he spotted along the way to his gate, and… then this exchange he broadcasts to the Twitterverse between two people seated near him on his flight (read from bottom to top in case you’re not familiar with Twitter stream flow).

He closes out the experience with this observation on the whole thing.

So, aside from being entertaining, this version of live-tweeting raises a lot of issues. I’ve covered a number of posts on this blog about our analysis of live-tweeting at business conferences and events.  I’ve reviewed pros and cons… but this now opens a totally different realm of live-tweeting life, for entertainment value.

Suddenly, material for stand-up comedy is live broadcast to an audience whose limit or potential is hard to define. It’s funny because it’s real. But that’s why it’s weird, too.

Certainly, the couple was having a conversation between the two of them. But, we’ve all overheard such exchanges and privacy can’t be expected, especially when you listen to aspects of this drama.

So, what does this mean for ethics, protocol, and human interaction? Anything can be shared and likely will be shared if it has inherent pass-along value like this does. @jmatusin provided his protocol by using HIM and HER and not trying to convey anything that could identify people.  What other socially acceptable norms for this behavior will emerge?

I can see a new line of employment opportunities for college students or interns hired by authors, writers, and Hollywood types to work through their lives broadcasting the real-life sitcoms they encounter along the way.  What can be better than the real thing, right?

Interesting… this can’t be the first time someone’s done this?  Any other examples? Do share…

Sometimes we don’t have to look any farther than right above us to get a glimpse of nature’s playful moments.  If we allow them, these very human experiences can fill the heart and enlighten the mind.  A few current examples from my life…

First, tonight I’m going to wake my kids to get a glimpse of the Perseid meteor showers. We’ll try to get ‘em up at 3AM and watch. I’ll add in a photo or two here if we get any. How often can you watch the heavens light up outside of the 4th of July?

Second, on the way home tonight, we noticed these clouds as we waited for the light to turn. The kids commented on the cloud with a hole in it and the sounds of angels with the rays of sunshine spreading out.

It was one a moment that would pass so quickly I had to get one more photo after we made it through the stop light and could get a clear view of the amazing cloud and light show. The sun spotlight almost looked too staged to be real!

Third, I took the following pictures with my iPhone of a storm that rolled in during our soccer practice (I coach a few of my kids’ teams). The Texas skies offer a number of different dramatic performances. The emotions and nature’s expressions are very different in this series.

The storm came in so quickly we had to gather the team and wrap up practice. But the clouds were amazing and mesmerizing to stare at. Their intensity and depth were almost palpable. They seemed to be dropping down right on top of us. The emotions expressed by kids and parents alike ranged from fear (those who know how fast Texas storms turn bad) to pure joy (never seen anything quite like us).

For me, I didn’t want to leave. It was too much fun watching the rapidly moving clouds.

Tonight, I guess these expressions of nature reminded me of how real the human experience is when you add in the rich context in which life is lived.

Nature is authenticity. It is what it is. Yet it is always changing. Nature is sometimes predictable and many times not. It is always an expression of individual elements interacting to yield a beautiful tapestry. Humanity plays out its part within the tapestry and inseparable, really, from the reality of nature.

To be authentic in life, we have to appreciate the context in which people live their lives. We have to be real. We have to a part of the tapestry of their lives.

Ok… back to living my own adventure!