Total CX

A Holiday Wish List to My Favorite Merchants

As I was holiday shopping on Amazon.com this year, I discovered items that I had put in my wish list over the last several years. Some of these are big ticket items that I’m not yet ready to purchase, but want to remember. But others were things I wanted, but was in too much of a hurry or was feeling too poor to order on the spot. And then I promptly forgot about them. I have since sent out invitations to view my wish list to select friends and family members, but, in each case, I had to send a separate email to each person telling them to whom I had sent the list (they all know each other) so that the gifts wouldn’t be duplicated.

Amazon—and many other etailers—do a good job with wish lists. Looking back at the capabilities, I saw a lot of flexibility. I can create multiple wish lists, give each item a priority, and add comments. But what I really wanted to do was to be able to send out specific items to specific recipients—I’d rather get the frying pans from my brother and the negligee from a girlfriend. I could have set up separate lists, but that was such a bother.

And then I started wondering why Amazon hadn’t ever “pinged” me about the things I wished for. It seems to me that a wish list is a great marketing vehicle for Amazon and a terrific reminder about things I might list to get for the holidays.

This started me on the road to my article this week, “ All I Want for the Holidays: A Wish List to My Favorite Retailers and Etailers.” I started daydreaming about how these merchants could help me give and receive the perfect gifts this season…and make money in the process!

Using Daily Deals to Encourage Donations

Regular readers know that I am a Groupon/Living Social/Tippr/KGB Deals/Amazon Deals/Boston Deals/etc. groupie. I spend at least a half hour each day looking through the discount offers sent to my email to find the few that will save me money on things I really need and want. Not only do I take my Goddaughter out for dinner at least once a month (almost always discounted at least 50 percent by a deal coupon), but I have gotten great deals on at least five holiday presents, allowing me to be more generous than I can actually afford to be (and making me look like the best relative ever!).

Over the past few weeks, I was surprised, and yet delighted to be offered daily deals that don’t offer me cost savings, but allow me to make charitable contributions quickly and easily by using my stored daily deal account information. It started with Groupon, which offered me a deal where, if I donate $11 to Feeding America, that donation will be matched by Pepsi. Now, I consider myself a generous person, and I give regularly to my chosen charities. However, Feeding America isn’t one of them. But it all seemed so easy—Groupon has my payment info on file and the matching gift made it irresistible. So I made the donation, and I felt great about it. Once I received my confirmation, I did have to go to the Feeding America site and register my donation, but it was pretty darn easy.

Creating Brand Loyalty

By Patricia Seybold

We are all mourning the Steve Jobs’ death. Although not unexpected, it is a very sad turning point for many industries. Steve is being remembered and revered by musicians and music labels, by retailers, by radio, movie and TV executives, by educators, by marketers, by phone users and computer users and podcast creators. It seems that there’s not a single industry that Steve Jobs’ magic touch didn’t reinvent! That reinvention invariably revolved around transforming the customer experience in ways that simplify our lives and delight us.

We all know what it means to have an “Apple” or an “i-experience”—whether we’re discussing user interfaces, physical device design, business models, physical shopping, customer service, software design, or any other aspect of design and execution. Steve Jobs raised the bar forever and took us into new territory. He also proved beyond a doubt that designing and delivering customer-centric products and experiences is hugely profitable!

We can’t all be Steve Jobs. In fact, no one will be able to replace him or come close. But as we consider his legacy, think about what he has done to and for the Apple brand. Most of us have a really strong attraction to the brand. We see ourselves in it. It fits our self-image of who we want to be seen as, and what we want to surround ourselves with. We don’t see ourselves as Steve Jobs’ clones. We DO see ourselves as people who appreciate and deserve well-designed products, seductive experiences, and great relationships with the people who represent the brand. That’s because we know we can trust them to embody the brand values and to provide a level of personal service that respects our needs and context.

As you think about Steve Jobs’ legacy today. Think about how well your organization delivers both products and experiences that customers love to love!

Brand Loyalty
The Direct Path to Customer Satisfaction, Referrals, and Revenue
By Ronni T. Marshak, Executive VP and Senior Consultant, October 6, 2011

How Well Does Amazon.com Let Customers Manage Their Stuff?

By Patricia Seybold

Since we feel strongly that excelling in helping customers “manage their stuff” is important, we’re embarking on a series of customer experience audits of some of the best exemplars. We begin our series with the etailer that has continually set the bar for customer self-service—not only in making it easy for customers to purchase online, but also in making it easy for customers to manage their relationships and their stuff: Amazon.com.

As you read through Ronni Marshak’s customer experience audit of a typical “manage my stuff” scenario on Amazon.com, think about which of these features your company currently offers. Some of these are consumer-related (like managing the gift-giving experience), but others pertain equally to business and consumer customers.

Note that there are many areas in which Amazon excels, in particular:

• Amazon provides access to the order details for EVERY transaction you’ve ever done with Amazon.

• Amazon now provides order summary reports.

• Amazon lets you manage the list of addressees to whom you send stuff AND associate different payment mechanisms for each.

• Best of all, Amazon tells you WHY they recommended something to you and lets you tune the assumptions on which it bases its recommendations.

But, perhaps surprisingly, there are other areas in which Amazon falls short. For example:

• You can’t get a complete list of your digital and physical orders in one place.
• You can’t easily see how much you’ve spent in total in a given time period.
• You can’t select and sort and organize your purchases.
• You can’t see how much money you saved by signing up for Amazon Prime (which costs $79 and provides free shipping).

How Well Does Amazon.com Let Me “Manage My Stuff?”

Customer Experience Audit of Amazon.com’s Capabilities to Let Customers Manage Their Relationship
By Ronni T. Marshak, Executive VP and Senior Consultant, July 7, 2011