Customer Effort: How to Make Things Difficult for Customers, by Premier Inn

This is the not the first article I have written about the subject of Customer Effort. In 2014, I wrote a story that still makes me break out in a cold sweat today. On that occasion, Vauxhall provided the case study to bring Customer Experience ‘theory’ to life. You can read the story here… In [...]

Irrelevance & Ignorance? NPower, BHS & Moonpig add fuel to the CX Fire!

I am still regularly asked if this 'Customer Experience thing' is really a 'thing' at all. Despite the growing waves of publicly available evidence that proves the positive effect a customer centric approach to business can have - and specifically the effect it has on financial performance - there will always be the doubters! As [...]

Heroes or Villains? Customer Experience Spotlight on the Telecoms Industry

Allow me to start this post by asking a question. Do you 'like' your Telecoms provider? It is a very simple question - it contains only 6 words - yet I believe it is a question that opens a large can of worms. Let me ask another question. Have you ever recommended your Telecoms provider [...]

How to turn a great customer experience into a terrible one: Hammonds, the fitted furniture company

I am often asked how I find so much to write about on the subject of Customer Experience. Happily and sadly too many organisations make it very easy. So many of us experience great things (less so) and awful things (too often) on a regular basis, that I am inundated with stories that bring to [...]

Lessons in authentic leadership from ao.com: It’s not First Time Resolution – it’s Personal Resolution!

Social media has truly changed our lives in so many ways. For me personally, the last few days have demonstrated how the influence of what we see online has affected the way businesses operate. I had the pleasure of delivering a keynote speech at an event for a financial services company on Thursday. I was invited [...]

Never rest on your laurels (or your brand name)! How the Waldorf Astoria can serve as a lesson to all!

Doing what I do for a living, I am not easily shocked when I am exposed to unsatisfactory Customer Experiences - either my own, or those that are shared with me. This week, a good friend of mine shared a video clip that almost made me spit out the mouthful of coffee I had just [...]

The customer is not always right…..BUT be careful how you respond when you think they are not!

It is very likely you have not heard of 47 King Street West - a French restaurant based in Manchester in the UK. Although you may not have heard of it, it is possible that the eatery will become infamous as an example of how NOT to respond to customer feedback. When an organisation considers [...]

Falling out of love with John Lewis – even the best find it tough to deliver consistently good customer experiences

This is not the first time I have written about John Lewis. A British retailer recognised by many as the epitome of a people (customers and employees) focused brand, their challenge for a long time has been to maintain their position as a Customer Experience leader for others to look up to and admire. Founded [...]

The big ‘Wi-Fi’ conundrum: a way to make money or a way to give customers what they need?

Maslow's Hierarchy of needs  is a psychological theory proposed by Abraham Maslow in his 1943 paper "A Theory of Human Motivation". The theory is most commonly portrayed in the shape of a pyramid with the largest, most fundamental levels of human needs at the bottom and with the ultimate need for self-actualization at the top. 71 years [...]

Customer Empathy – ignore it at your peril!

Have you ever looked up the definition of the word Empathy? I would suspect that you have not! It is not often that we take the time to read dictionaries!! If you read the definition above, it is also likely that you will find it difficult to correlate many of the words used with organisations [...]

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