Pti Worldwide - Business Insights Q2 by Pti Worldwide

Business Insights ‘Leading edge thinking for growing your business and unlocking your people potential’

‘Customers want memorable experiences and organisations MUST become stagers of great experiences!’

The Changing Economy The business landscape is changing and it’s changing fast! We’ve seen the demise of the Industrial Economy, which was focused solely on the efficient production of goods, and we’re now past the peak of the Service Economy, which wrapped products into bundles of services to make them more attractive to customers. Now we’re in a new age of competition…the Experience Economy! Products and services are simply props to engage the customer in this new era.

“Customers want memorable experiences and organisations MUST become stagers of great experiences!” Is your organisation a stager of great customer experiences? Nowadays customers are more informed, more educated and have even more choices than ever before. Therefore, it’s your ability to connect and engage with your customer(s) in memorable experiences that really will differentiate you from the competition. Take Disneyland for example. The very idea for Disneyland was germinated during a Sunday trip that Walt Disney made to an amusement park with his two daughters. While he waited for his daughters to finish their rides, the successful animator began to watch the other customers and how they reacted to the park. He asked himself, how could this experience be improved?

businessinsights@pti-worldwide.com

www.pti-worldwide.com

Walt’s answer was to create a new kind of amusement park, and since the beginning, Disneyland and all of the company’s parks have been intensely focused on the ‘guest’ experience.

When you talk to Disney cast members about the parks, you will hear them described as ‘living movies’, movies in which the guests themselves participate. As if no elaboration was needed, Walt himself simply said, “Disneyland is a show”. And with the infusion of some practical magic, your business could be too! The style of Business Insights is to share with you the science, the substance and the thinking behind the main topic of each issue, and then flip it over and make it practical for you to instantly start applying the ideas to your business. To get you started straight away, here are a couple of questions to summarise what we’ve talked about so far…

• Are you and your organisation currently creating memorable experiences for your customers? • Are you and your colleagues stagers of great experiences? • In this new age of the Experience Economy, how are you gaining the edge over your competition and locking customers into you and your business’ brand? This whole notion of the experience as a differentiator is not just the latest fad or buzzword. The prize of getting this strategy right in your business is ‘true’ differentiation from your competitors, greater advocacy amongst existing and future customers, and a business culture where your people want to come to work every day and be the best they can be. As a result of this differentiation, commercial success will follow through increased acquisition, maximisation and retention of customers. With this level of importance on experience, it’s worth us drilling further into how you can truly bring this concept of the experience to life in your business. A question we’re frequently asked when delivering The Customer Experience Academy is “OK, I understand conceptually the idea of customer experience, but what is the difference between a service and an experience?” Let’s deal with this question first. 2

lorem ipsum :: [Date]

What is the difference between a service and an experience? Service

Experience

Aliquam dolor.

byline

Lorem Ipsum

Exploring this notion of service versus experience at an even deeper level, there are four specific psychological needs that we must satisfy when creating and delivering world class customer experiences: 1.

The tangible needs of the customer

The informational needs

The intangible needs

And, the affiliation needs

Let’s consider these four psychological needs in the context of a really simple example to bring them to life. Do you have a favourite restaurant which you frequent on a regular basis? For the purpose of this example let’s imagine it’s an Italian restaurant. In fact it’s… 3

lorem ipsum :: [Date]

Taking each of these psychological needs in turn... What is your tangible need when you go to the restaurant? A meal…the need for food! The tangible need is the physical product or service that you provide to your customer(s). Here’s the challenge though, because if you did a google search for restaurants, within just a 3 mile radius of Ristorante Italiano Buschetto, there are 72 other restaurants including Chinese, Thai, Indian, a selection of fast food outlets and even 4 other Italian restaurants! It's clear from this that in the crowded, competitive market place of today’s economy, tangible needs are not enough to differentiate you and your business. In the experience economy there has to be more!

• Are you and your business offering a truly world class proposition to your customers? Now let’s consider informational needs in the context of the Italian restaurant Imagine that you arrive at the restaurant, you’re seated and given a menu and you place your order with the waiter. Having been given the menu when you sat down, you think your informational needs have been satisfied – you have everything you need to make your selection. However, whilst sitting having a glass of wine with your partner, a waiter walks past your table and serves the table next to you with 2 large bowls of pasta topped with fresh lobster. The smell of the garlic and herbs hits your nose as he walks past. Turning to your partner you say; “I don’t remember seeing that dish on the menu?!” A few moments pass by and you call over the waiter and ask “What was that dish you just brought over to the next table?” He tells you it was the fresh lobster served on a bed of linguine pasta with the chef’s special garlic and herb sauce. You reply saying “I didn’t see that on the menu”, to which the waiter responds with “It is not on the menu, it’s one of today’s specials and therefore on the specials board.” How are you feeling at this point? Disappointed? Gutted? Annoyed? Why? Because the waiter did not take just a couple of seconds when handing you the menus to point out the specials board You may well have had your favourite dish which you always have when you go to the restaurant, but when you’re leaving at the end of the night and your partner says to you “Did you enjoy your food?” what do you think your response would be? “Yes, BUT I wish I’d had the fresh lobster pasta with the chef’s special garlic and herb sauce, as it smelt delicious!” You’re a disappointed customer, and all because your informational needs were not satisfied in a pro-active way. 4

lorem ipsum :: [Date]

Out of the 4 psychological needs, this need is the least satisfied, and yet one of the easiest to fulfill for your customers! Thinking about the Italian restaurant example, how much extra would it have cost to fulfill the customer’s informational need? Absolutely nothing!

“In a world where the BIG things make little difference…it’s the little things that make a BIG difference!”

Informational needs must be satisfied to educate your customers and keep them informed throughout the entire ‘end to end’ customer experience - right from… …the first touch point they have with your business During the buying process Before delivery of your product or service During delivery After delivery …to the ongoing regular contact through your multi-channel ‘touch point’ strategy. Most importantly, it is informational need satisfaction that will give your customers what they desire above everything else, and that is PEACE OF MIND.

• On a scale of 1 – 10 how good are you and your business at satisfying the informational needs of your customers across your ‘end to end’ customer experience? Now to the third psychological need - what are intangible needs? Back to the Italian restaurant example. Imagine you walk into the restaurant and the waiter says “Hi Graeme, Hi Kirsty, we haven’t seen you for a while. Would you like your usual table in the corner? The couple have paid the bill and are just finishing their coffees. Why don’t you go through to the bar and I will prepare the table and come and get you in 10 minutes.”

lorem ipsum :: [Date]

How would you feel at this point? Special? However, the waiter then goes one step further “Can I get you a drink while you’re waiting, Graeme do you want your usual, a Peroni? Kirsty, is it a glass of dry white wine? How are you feeling now? Even more special? Now that’s an intangible needs in action! It’s all about the emotional engagement and connection with the customer, creating a lasting impression and leaving them feeling individual, special and unique.

“They may forget what you said, but they never forget how you made them feel!” Carl W Beuchnar The emotional needs of your customers can be as far ranging as… • • • • • • • •

Pride Importance Excitement Peace of mind Ego gratification Curiosity Winning Pleasure

Customers have specific emotional needs which they need fulfilling at each stage during the ‘end to end’ customer experience. Great businesses, that are already providing world-class customer experiences, have taken the time to not only understand the emotional needs of their customers and each touch point in the customer journey, but have designed their experience to meet and fulfill these needs.

• On a scale of 1 – 10 how good are you and your business at satisfying the intangible needs of your customers across your ‘end to end’ customer experience?

lorem ipsum :: [Date]

And finally the fourth psychological need…affiliation You return to work on Monday morning and are talking to one of your colleagues. They’re racking their brain as to a great restaurant to take their family to for a celebration next weekend. What’s the first place that pops into your head? Ristorante Italiano Buschetto. You ask if they like Italian food and they say yes. You respond “Then try Ristorante Italiano Buschetto, when you call mention my name and they’ll give you a great table and look after you.” That’s affiliation in ACTION! One of the main psychological needs of all people is ‘belonging’. They wish to feel part of a special group. Organisations who meet these needs build a band of loyal ‘relational’ customers, who buy again and again and again. Innocent is a brand that has built a fantastic band of loyal fans through relational activity with their online community. They listen to the opinions of their customers, answer all personal messages from customers and have a wall of love in the office showcasing their biggest fans. They make any customer interaction memorable, and by investing in their fans, these fans are the first to recommend Innocent products to their friends, family and colleagues. Some are so affiliated with the brand they have Innocent tattoos! Football clubs are another great example. No matter where their club is in the league, ask the supporters if they would switch to a rival team and their answer would more than likely be no, because they are affiliated to their team.

• On a scale of 1 – 10 how good are you and your business at satisfying the affiliation needs of your customers across your ‘end to end’ customer experience? In summary… When you satisfy the tangible needs, informational needs and intangible needs of your customers they become your number 1 advocates. They become your salesforce, active in the market place ‘talking up’ you and your business and the difference you make by providing a truly world class customer experience? The principles behind staging memorable customer experiences are not complex, and certainly don't need to be over-engineered. However, what is critical is; 1. Making the time to map out the ‘end to end’ customer experience across your entire multichannel solution (you may well already have this part done) 2. Mapping the fulfillment of the 4 psychological needs across your ‘end to end’ customer experience, drilling into the detail and specifics of each need at each stage 3. The disciplined execution of how you engage the hearts and minds of your people to ‘live’ the customer experience, and build a culture where the customer truly is the heart beat of everything you do

We’ve covered a number of ideas throughout this issue of Business Insights and posed a number of questions for you to consider. Here’s a summary of those questions, which you can use as a checklist in carrying out a ‘mini audit’ on your business. 1. Is your organisation a stager of great experiences? 2. Do you talk about service or experience in your business? Which do you want to use moving forward? 3. What’s the tangible need you fulfill for customers? Is it truly a world-class proposition, whether a product or service? 4. On a scale of 1 – 10 how good are you and your business at satisfying the informational needs of your customers across your ‘end to end’ customer experience? 5. On a scale of 1 – 10 how good are you and your business at satisfying the intangible needs of your customers across your ‘end to end’ customer experience? 6. On a scale of 1 – 10 how good are you and your business at satisfying the affilation needs of your customers across your ‘end to end’ customer experience? 7. What are your next steps and actions to review your customer experience strategy?

“Customers want memorable experiences and organisations MUST become stagers of great experiences!” If you would like a more in depth discussion about this topic, or would like to talk through how we might be able to help you implement or review your customer experience strategy, grow your business or unlock your people potential, please email businessinsights@pti-worldwide.com or call us on +44 (0) 870 850 8931.

Consulting l Leadership Academy l Sales Academy l Customer Experience Academy l Coaching Academy l Training Academy l Business Investments l Conference Speaking l livingyourfuture™ 8

lorem ipsum :: [Date]

Pti Worldwide Resources Business Insights is a quarterly publication designed to provide you with leading edge thinking, trends and insights into the world of business and people development. It will address one key topic per issue, focusing on the practical application for you and your business. Please don't keep this issue of Business Insights to yourself; forward it on to your team and colleagues to ensure everyone in the business understands the importance of creating and delivering worldclass experiences for your customers. If you know anyone who would benefit from receiving Business Insights please ask them to email businessinsights@pti-worldwide.com so they can be added to the distribution list. Alongside the Business Insight publications we have a vast array of online business growth resources including podcasts, articles and videos, all available to download from the ‘Resources’ section of the Pti Worldwide website.

Keep up to date with Pti Worldwide and what we are up to by following the below links…

Join us on Facebook…www.facebook.com/ptiworldwide

Connect with us on LinkedIn…www.linkedin.com/in/roystonguest

View us on YouTube…www.youtube.com/user/RoystonGuest

Listen to us on iTunes – www.itunes.apple.com/gb/podcasts/livingyourfuture-podcasts

9 businessinsights@pti-worldwide.com

lorem ipsum :: [Date] www.pti-worldwide.com