ThinkAbout-Questions That Matter

In addition to my "Rock Your Customers"  blog, one of the channels that I use to communicate with is e-mail. Most business call them newsletters.  I call mine "Get Reel".  In my "Get Reel" letter I try not to share news but rather more thinking on The Customer Experience and its connection to On-Line Video.  My goal is similar to this blog in simply trying to provoke new thinking about the business of business. 

My Latest Reel

Welcome Back to Get Reel, a place where ideas about on-line video storytelling and  customer experiences take center stage.  Let me first thank you for spending a few minutes with me. I appreciate the responses I have been receiving from many of you regarding the content I share.   Speaking of content, I remain committed to sharing ideas and information that provoke new Thinking, Conversations, & Questions on customer experiences and on-line video.   I think we all need to look at the world differently.  On a personal note, it's hard to believe that six years have passed since I began a journey connecting video storytelling to customer experiences.   I believe more than ever, that conversation on both of these topics are more important than ever to your business.  As always,  give me a call if you're interested in some conversation on your customer experience or digital communications and please feel free to pass along this letter to a friend or colleague. 

Video & Experiences
On-line Video & the Customer Experience are connected.  When you cut through all the buzz, technology, and facts and figures, associated with on-line business video, it is only a part of a greater  development in business - The important role experiences are playing to differentiate businesses.   Video is a powerful communication tool that can attract customers to your business, engage and inspire them during their visit, OR Create an Experience !  Great Customer Experiences also Create BUZZ and most importantly loyal and raving fans. 

My Left and Right Brain Still Fight
Pardon my digression to the left side of my brain but....consider the following facts from comScore:

• There were 5.2 billion viewing sessions of video by 175 million U.S. Internet users, during Sept.2010

• Technology giant Cisco predicts that by 2013, 90% of all web traffic will be video.

• From 2005 to 2010 on-line video grew at a rate of 910%

• Video uploaded to YouTube during the last 2 months is greater than the content from ABC, NBC, & CBS, since 1948 !

I hope you get my point on the growing importance of on-line business video. I think it matters.  Check out this TED Talk on the future of on-line video.  See Video

  

Research after research report points to one simple fact. 
The next battleground for competition in American Business is The Customer Experience.

Does your Company or Organization have a defined CUSTOMER EXPERIENCE STATEMENT ?   Why should you?

Consider another mind blowing fact.  83 Billion Dollars - The cost of POOR CUSTOMER SERVICE in The US.  That's $289.00 per customer. source:Beyond Philosophy

Your video strategy should be to set the context for that experience.  Quite frankly, I believe too many businesses using video today, are doing so as an afterthought, without devoting time to developing a a content strategy that considers a drastically changed and empowered customer.   I also believe that too many companies simply associate the term CUSTOMER EXPERIENCE with the words customer service, in both their marketing strategy and internal training efforts.  Do you know the difference?   

OK - Let's move on. 

The Very First Class of Pine & Gilmore Experience Economy Certified Pro's @thinkAbout Minneapolis

There are now more than 100 business professionals world-wide who have been certified by the recognized leaders in customer experience design, (Pine & Gilmore) to help businesses lead initiatives on customer experiences.  Many of these leaders gathered again recently in Minneapolis, Minn. for the annual "Experience Economy" Conference. 
 
thinkAbout

The thinkAbout Story
I  attended that annual conference on "The Experience Economy", called thinkAbout.  The thinkAbout event is staged in a way that demonstrates the principles behind designing and staging unique and memorable business experiences.  It puts philosophy into practice.  For 13 years now it has brought together professionals from a wide spectrum of Industries and classes of business.  The goal- to share new thinking and practical applications to create new customer value through experiences.  In my last letter I promised to share some thoughts on thinkAbout.   (The spelling of thinkAbout is not a typo ! )

My thinkAbout Experience
The setting and theme specially developed for this years thinkAbout was "The thinkAbout Cafe".  The 2 1/2 day event was a series of Cafes, (really) consisting of multiple rounds of conversation about Questions That Matter, about Experiences, Authenticity, and yes, real world business issues. 

My experience at his years event was somewhat different from my past attendance as I participated in a role as a video producer.  ( Yes I ran from camera to conversation!)   The take away however was the same as always. 

Being exposed to and interacting with, so many incredibly talented, creative and accomplished professionals, from entrepreneurs to CEO'S of major companies, was inspirational.  Collaboration and sharing creative intelligence are key in our changed biz world.  "Nobody is as Smart as Everybody!" 

Feel Free to Share an event that you experienced that was transformational to you or your business.  

Hearing some of their stories and sharing conversation with many of these individuals, including their trials and tribulations, affirmed my already strong belief  that "Rocking Your Customers" with memorable experiences, is not just more philosophical BS. found in books, but works big time in today's commoditized business world.  
Remarkable customer experiences deliver to your bottom line !   

Here's a few of the many cool and talented people who attended this years thinkAbout in Minneapolis, that I had the pleasure to meet and learn from.  You might recognize their names and companies. 

Maxine Clark-Build A Bear Workshop-with Pine & Gilmore

Maxine Clark  - Founder of Build-A- Bear Workshop.  Maxine's big idea was to  create a fun retailing experience for kids.  Since opening its first shop in St. Louis in 1997, Build A Bear has expanded to over 300 locations across The U.S., Asia, Canada & Europe.  Maxine was awarded this years Experience Stager of The Year Award  by Joe Pine and Jim Gimore, authors of "The Experience Economy, and founders of the 13 year old thinkAbout experience conference.  A little side note- Maxine surprised all thinkAbout participants with their very own thinkAbout Bear !  I gave mine to one of my granddaughters. (Pictured below :) )



When is the last time you made your Customers Smile ?

Made Them Happy ?

Robert Stephens- Founder Geek Squad

Robert Stevens  is the brainchild behind Best Buy's Geek Squad.  He founded a computer support company he named The Geek Squad in 1994.  When Best Buy acquired the company in 2002, The Geek Squad consisted of 62 "Agents" generating 3M in revenue.  Today there are over 24,000 Agents world- wide generating over $1Billion in sales.  The Geek Squad is what differentiates Best Buy from other national chains.  It's not just about the work they do but how they do it.  They stage computer support "EXPERIENCES" !!!  I love Stephens quote, "Advertising is the Price You Pay for being Unremarkable."
Mark Grenier- Sr.VP. Chief Experience Officer Steelcas

Mark Grenier -Chief Experience Officer Steelcase

Mark led a group of experience experts and 'workspace' pros at Steelcase Inc., to design a network of collaborative meeting rooms- A full service retreat space for businesses, called Workspring .  Workspring is located in the heart of Chicago within walking distance of The magnificent mile.  The company bills this new offering as "a place to experience meetings like you never imagined.  Workspring was the recipient of an Edison Award which recognizes achievements in innovation.  Mark Grenier was awarded Pine & Gilmor's annual EMA (Experience Management Award) for his leadership in designing a new experience for learning and working. 
  

Questions That Matter
The framework of this year's thinkAbout centered around "awakening & engaging collective intelligence through conversations about questions that matter,"  for business. 

I chose to share information on the three individuals above for a couple of reasons.

• Their accomplishments & successes demonstrate  new possibilities for creating new economic value for your business through the staging of compelling experiences.
• I believe one of "The Most Important Questions That Matter" in today's economy is what is a compelling & memorable customer experience?  These businesses exemplify through their actions some of the key aspects of experience staging.

? WHAT KIND OF EXPERIENCES DOES YOUR BUSINESS STAGE?

 

?DOES YOUR BUSINESS HAVE A DEFINED CUSTOMER EXPERIENCE STATEMENT?

 

 ?DOES YOUR BUSINESS COMMUNICATIONS AND MARKETING PROMISES REFLECT THE "REAL"  EXPERIENCE YOU OFFER BOTH CUSTOMERS & EMPLOYEES?

 A final thought & question.  Let's face it the old ways of marketing just aren't cutting it anymore.   It's a drastically changed business world, where customers have more power and control than ever.  Jim Gilmore and Joe Pine's,  annual conference on The Experience Economy called thinkAbout, is really a call to action to start looking at the world of business with a pair of fresh eyes.

? HAVE YOU STARTED THE HARD WORK TO "tHINKABOUT" NEW AND INNOVATIVE WAYS TO CREATE NEW VALUE FOR YOUR CUSTOMERS THROUGH EXPERIENCES?

 

Ok - We are back live to the blog again. :)

Another Personal Note (Experiences afterall are Personal)

As I mentioned at the beginning of this letter, it's been about six years since I began a really exciting journey of learning and study on customer experiences.  A journey to connect the dots between experiences and digital video production.  It started by defining what we really did (our work as video producers) was to create experiences.

That ultimately led me to Joe Pine & Jim Gilmore & their seminal book, The Experience Economy.  That book along with their latest body of thought, Authenticity-What Consumers Really Want , have been invaluable resources for the transformation of my business.  Any business serious about creating new value through the staging of memorable customer experiences, would be well served by picking up a copy of both books.  I would also highly recommend you or someone from your organization attending Pine & Gilmore's annual "Experience Economy" gathering called thinkAbout or their one of a kind "Experience Economy Certification Program" .  Be on the lookout for Pine's new book on cyber experiences based on a concept he calls multiverse ! I've read the pre release. WOW !  Also the second edition of one of the best selling business books ever, (The Experience Economy) is due to be released soon !

Another fantastic resource to understand the economic potential from the staging of customer experiences is Colin Shaw and his team at Beyond Philosophy.  In addition to Joe and Jim's books, I have the 4 books on customer experiences that Colin has authored that are trusted resources in my studio.  Colin and his team while being among the international leaders in the customer experience field, have also conducted cutting edge research on all aspects of customer experiences.  Colin's work on the important role of "EMOTIONS" is facinating, exciting and groundbreaking.  It matters big time to a video producer like myself as the real power of video is to evoke emotions.  CHECK OUT Colin"s latest book Customer Experience- Future Trends & Insights 

Disclaimer- No these guys don't pay me to sell their books !  After reading more than 3 + dozen books, numerous articles etc. on customer experiences/service, their thinking and writing just resonated with someone (me) who spent 19 plus years in the trenches of a the real world business, we call Corporate America.  You certainly are welcomed to chose between the over 87,000 books that have been written on the topic of "customer experience". 

Thanks for spending some time with me & thanks so much (in advance) for any efforts you make to "Rock Your Customers." It really does matter to them and me !  Be Back soon.

Best,

Bill G

 

 

 

Comments

[roulette en ligne]

Great info, about putting up a business, its really a great one.. cheers