Art + Science = Commerce

Yes. What you offer to your customers is Science & How you offer is an Art. Its a mix of the two creates total customer experience.

Many a times we are so much obsessed with science part that ART is completely missing.

However in an experience economy , it is an ART which commands premium. All great customer experience creating companies are focusing on ART part of commerce , of 

course after mastering Science part of it.

How you do what you do matters the most.

Are you still struggling with Science part of the commerce or graduated to the ART side of it ? A question every entrepreneur must answer. You can have clue to solve many business related issues by answering this.

Envy people about your CUSTOMERS.

Have you made your potential customers envy of your existing customers? 

Yes it is the role of every customer experience professionals. Every company MUST make endeavour to achieve this status.  Once upon a time Onida TV used to have slogan Owners Pride Neighbours Envy. Converting this slogan into reality is exactly what is needed in today's time of commoditisation. 

You customers MUST love, talk about and advocate your offerings. 

When i read the book Delivering Happiness by Tony Hsieh & I become member of very happy person group on their site I received gift hamper with one copy the book, t shirt and a pack of wafer from the US.  When I first used Flipkart to buy a book it was very simple and quick - a superior experience. Thereafter I have recommended both the companies to many through this blog as well as in person. One CM is making entire country envy of his state and people want him as PM. This is the power of making others ENVY about what you have to offer to your customers (citizen in this case). 

It is not only about physical appearance & rationality, it is about touching the senses , it is about human emotions. 

Make it a habit to please few of your customers every week - DELIBERATELY (Even if you are a b2b company). Do unexpected, go out of the way, and make them feel special. Words will spread and more & more people would like to be your customer.  Your DELIBERATE habit will make your company talk of the town. 

In this attention deficit world something unique will get the attention. It is far more easier and cheaper than huge Ad spend and marketing gimmicks (which no one believes) .  

How do you think you can make people envy of your customers ? Share your ideas. 

Are you selling what you are making?

Are your brand management and product design teams in sync with the kind of customer experience your company wish to offer ? 

Most of the time it is seen that there is no connect between brand commitment company conveys through all kind of communication , product design team actually creating an experience and customer service team managing the gaps between the two. 

Customer experience design is a deliberate DESIGN & therefore involving CE team in inception of product design , process design , advertising , branding  , marketing and training is CRITICAL.  

When music symphony is orchestrated , every aspect are planned in order to achieve the kind of experience symphony director wish to offer to the audience. Everything is in sync with the expected outcome. 

Offering scintillating customer experience which is truly a competitive advantage requires entire company to behave in sync with expected outcome i.e. experience which company aim to deliver to the customers.  Your branding and marketing team shall not behave which makes people disbelieve your brand.  Unfulfilled brand promises can cause disaster for the brand it self. 

No company can afford to forget words of wisdom of Steve Jobs " You have to start with Customer Experience & work backward for technology, process & people." & even branding & marketing.

RAQs in the world of FAQs

Yes we all are used to FAQs. Today I came to know of the term RAQ and realised it is these set of questions that are critical for everyone. 

An entrepreneur will always ask what the ROI of any initiatives is. He will rarely ask irrespective of ROI whether it is critical and important for the enterprise. 

As a citizen we always ask our politicians and leaders what they have done for us. We rarely ask ourselves whether we have fulfilled our duty as a citizen.

Venture capitalist and PE investor will always ask about ROI , EPS & Valuation but they will rarely ask what is the employee satisfaction level of the enterprise.

To a potential job candidate employers will always ask what the past experience is and what has been achieved till date.  Candidate will rarely be asked what he can do that can change the fate of the company for better.   

We always ask in our customer feedback form about how the company has fared on select parameters. We rarely ask them whether their expectations were met by the efforts of the company.

Asking RAQs will make us think about RTIs (rarely thought ideas). 

Converting RAQs in to FAQs is the real challenge and that is what truly differentiates winners.  

Prevention is better than Negative customer Experience

Prevention is better than cure. Yes this is applicable for health as well as for wealth. However it is also applicable in the case of Customer Experience. 

Customer can leave you for bad experience. She can do negative Word Of Mouth (WOM) and takes few more customers away.  Sales & Marketing efforts and cost will go up to get more new customers. However again they will leave you for negative or not so exciting experience. Every-time your sales team gets you new customers, retention is the job of product design which incl customer experience & after sales team. Let your sales team add more customers rather than replacing old with new ones.

Unless there is a built-in element of superior customer experience throughout the chain - product design, display, delivery, usage and soft skills associated at each of the stage, customer will experience bad and not so good experience. They will go and takes someone with them. 

In order to avoid such scenario companies must focus on creating better customer experience while designing the product. Prevent bad experience rather than allowing bad experience to reach customers and damage the brand. reputation.

Prevent bad experiences rather than reacting to bad experiences. Companies can retain customers, gets more by positive WOM , get more referrals. Cost & Pain of treating disease is always more than Cost & Pain of preventive cure. Same rules apply for Customer Experience.

In built better Customer Experience in your product than be sorry. 

What Mr Raghuram Rajan Cant Do

RBI Governor cant manage inflation. It is a myth we all are living with. Even present Governor's sustained efforts are not yielding the results. This also proves solution lies somewhere else. 

Role of Mr. Raghuram Rajan is to convey to the Govt that bottlenecks in the economy is the real problem for inflation , resultant erosion of rupee value , lower GDP and Current Account Deficit (CAD). 

Hoping that RBI and its governor can do wonders with mere monetary policy is nothing but day dreaming and in-actin at all other levels. 

In any company , CFO can create value upto an extent but even CFO can't do anything unless there is a efficient production system  , product innovation at regular intervals, flawless logistics , sufficient profit margin which enables future investments without much of the unsustainable debt. If these aspects are managed by the CEO and the management , CFO can add some value by capital structuring , lower debt cost (this again depends on performance of the company not entirely in the hands of CFO ) , raising money from various sources , budgeting & allocation etc.   However CFO cant act as a driver.

We are expecting RBI to drive our economy ,  manage inflation , manage rupee value and control CAD !!! All these are interlinked and only way to break the same is quick decisions , transparency and progressive policies at all level of the Govt. We need action on war footing but we are hardly taking any action, forget right action. 

Indecisiveness and lack of imagination in Govt cant be substituted by ably qualified and young RBI Governor. 

IN DEMAND - Script & Crisp Writers

5 days test match to 1 day match to 20:20 this is how game of cricket has evolved during last 30 years.  People cant wait for 5 days to know the result. Rules of the game have remained more or less same but wait for the outcome has reduced from 5 days to 3 hours. 

Attention deficit , impatient & speedy society needs new forms of everything.  

From magazine articles to blog to micro blog (twitter). Whatever is to be conveyed is to be conveyed in short & with speed.

Print to TV to Social Media , modes of communication has changed. People are changing their platforms to know what they want to know. 

From Commodity to goods to services to experiences.  Yes now customer needs and pays premium for experiences.  Needs and way of receiving the same has changed. Commodity providers are many , experience creators are in scanty.   

All communicators i.e. enterprises are the largest class of communicators to their customers and potential customers , must learn to know how the new society behaves , communicates and consume things.  

Movies are creating experiences and spend millions of dollars in communicating the same. 

Script writers ( writing business plans that delight and wow customers )  , directors of experience creation ( executing  wow !! script ) & Crisp communicators ( smart ,quick & innovative ) and are in demand in the new economy. 

Are you selling Burger or Vadapav ?

Burger Vs Vadapav. What is the difference? 

Burger will cost you US $ 1 (Rs.55/-) while Vada Pav will cost less than 5th of US$ 1 (Rs.10/-). 

Burger is a Brand an Vapa Pav a commodity. 

Burger become a brand as it was presented in air conditioned outlet with a happening ambiance , hygienic condition & quality , unlimited time outlet allows you to sit. Perhaps cost-wise Burger may be costing few rupees more , taste-wise Vadapav may scores over Burger.   

In short both offers more or less same quantum of food and taste but price difference is 5 times. This 4 times difference people are paying is for experience not for food.  

Same is applicable to Starbucks Coffee vs Coffee at South Indian Hotels. Price difference is perhaps 10 times. Cost of Coffee itself may be 2 to 3 times more. They are charging 7 times more money for experience. This is called branded experience. 

Many a times professionally person with technically sound knowledge can’t command salary which a person with all round personality can.  

This DIFFERENCE in PRICING use to superior experience which people would LOVE to pay is critical. Critical for every business.  

In B2B or B2C all kind of businesses experience creators can command premium in pricing. You may be manufacturing best of Vadapav but even though you can’t command Burger pricing. You have to convert your Vadapav into BRANDED experience which is more than just meeting the need but meeting the need with ease and delight added.

Even small effort in this journey of customer experience creation will start fetching you better pricing and customer loyalty which all businesses are dying to achieve.     

Time for reality check and finding opportunity to add EXPERIENCES in your business offerings. 

Are you making Balance Sheet for Self Use ?

Deep Pocket , Ignorance or Business Operations/ (realised) Profitability is keeping you happy in times of economic distress  ? 

Entrepreneurs with deep pocket is surviving thinking that this shall go and we will come out winners , many hand to mouth competitors will die. 

Ignorant Entrepreneurs have no cue what is happening and whether they are in financial trouble. As long as their cash flow is ticking they think they're are safe. 

& the last one is rare class of entrepreneurs thriving and flourishing on true business operation and profitability. They are able to produce, sale and recover their money. 

Economic conditions across business segment is stressed. Banks are finding it difficult to support but they are forced to do it. They are forced to do CDR.  Its time for every business to go for reality check. Its time to make real P & L A/C & Balance Sheet for SELF USE. (Usually its made for shareholders , lenders & tax authorities  and invariably its misleading). 

Making sense out of own financials is the most sensible thing for every entrepreneurs in today's time.

By Design or by Default, Everything is an EXPERIENCE

Everything that happens to customer when they are dealing with any of the touch points of your business its an experience. 

Challenge is to make these experiences memorable and delightful without losing sight of the CORE value proposition. 

Starbucks offer scintillating customer experience but not at the cost of taste of the coffee. However only coffee taste can not create delight and memorability of customer experience. 

Therefore it is the responsibility as well as need of every enterprise to add more delight to the touch points. Customer is going to experience every bit of experience , now if you make it designers its becomes WOW!!! and adds to your competitive advantage or else it will remain one of the many such experiences enterprises offer.  

- Soothing music in the dentist's room can help patient in forgetting her pain

- Serving beverages to visitor's guests in hospital can add huge richness in experience

- Child Specialist Pediatrician set up small kids zone in her dispensary will make         
  it memorable for child patient for life

- Gynecologist offers Parenting Seminar coupon to would be parents can do wonders in 
  customer experience

- One of the CAs was offering car washing services for the clients visiting him

Every small and large businesses and professional firms can think of better and superior ways to add  that EXTRA bit to make the interaction and experience truly memorable.  

By default or by design CUSTOMERs are experiencing. Left to chance it can be miserable and when designed purposefully it can become delightful. Choice is yours.