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Enhancing the Customer Experience…

Apr 11, 2018

  • How can we reward our customers for doing business with us — which will increase the likelihood that they will come back and do more business in the future?

You redirect their attention to an enhanced experience.

Think like a Hollywood director and re-shoot, re-cast, or re-edit your brand.  These three steps could involve everything from your image, packaging, employees, and even your customers. Here’s how:

Re-shoot 

Maybe there’s nothing wrong with your product; perhaps all you need to do is revamp your image to attract a new audience. And sometimes, all that calls for is a reshoot of your products.

Motorola figured that out when they realized they should go beyond marketing themselves as nothing more than an electronic device but as a symbol for fashion and lifestyle. Now, to compete with the iPhone, Motorola is trying to convince you they aren’t just selling you a smartphone — instead, they are delivering an accessory that helps complete your overall look with everything from phone design to an add-on projector, and more.

Re-cast

Find approaches to “re-cast” your employees or customers in a manner that creates an enhanced customer experience. Look at your target customer and see how your business needs to change based on how your customer has changed.

We’ve seen Vegas do this by recasting themselves from the gambler who hits the buffet…to the “hip” person who hits the Strip, parties, shops, and makes memories that require making pacts that, “what happens in Vegas, stays in Vegas.”

Re-edit

How can you re-edit and enhance the experiences that your customers have to deliver them more “hands-on” time with your products and services?

Interactivity is one. (Yes, your customers can get “hands-on” time both virtually and physically.) Optimizing your distribution channels is another.

We all know someone who hates being the passenger. When they’re riding in the car with us, we can sense their foot pumping an imaginary brake. These people are used to being in control.

I believe many customers are experiencing a similar anxiety today. They, too, want to have their “hands on the wheel. Providing the customer with more authority and autonomy could be an important step to enhance the experience that our customer receives in this time of “show business.”

Great examples of interactivity today can be found in the video game industry, Pay-per-view movies and on-demand sporting events, Netflix, Hulu, and Amazon, and just about every television newscast that offers their viewers the opportunity to dial their “televote” line or connect via social media to register their opinion. The reason these work so brilliantly is that the interactive participant becomes an involved customer. And isn’t this a concept that we can acknowledge all started with show business?

This approach of prioritizing interactivity can also work on your own “show business.”

  • The interactive customer becomes so emotionally involved and connected to the experience you provide that they become more than customers…they are loyal advocates of your brand who start promoting for you! 

I know that we’ve been focusing on change a lot lately here at Distinction Nation. But one thing that has remained constant despite all the innovations and evolving business landscape: “word of mouth advertising” remains the most powerful form of marketing.

When you re-shoot, re-cast, or re-edit your product or service, you enhance the likelihood that your customers will be delivering great “word of mouth” for YOU!

The Power of Stories: How to Tell Your Company’s Story

Mar 28, 2018

  • What is the “story” of your company, department, organization, and team?
  • How about YOUR personal and professional story?

The fundamental role of “story” in business is to create a method by which audiences (customers, prospects and colleagues) understand and emotionally bond with a brand, organizationally and individually.

Because of our entertainment culture, stories are more powerful than ever.

Yes, your “company story” has the power to make an emotional connection with your clients and colleagues. They can captivate your audience and cause them to stick around, waiting for the next chapter.

What do you think happens next? Your customers and employees become so invested in your story that they want to be a part of it.

  • For your employees, that means thinking long-term and staying loyal to the organization.
  • For prospects, that means converting into paying customers.
  • For existing clients, that means having loyal brand advocates.
  • A great story can inspire years of purchases and organizational loyalty!

Whether it’s politics, sports, professional wrestling, or your business – we are ALL in “show business!”  Therefore, we must tell our story!

But how? Where do you start?

Whether it is a movie, television program, or your corporate story, certain fundamental elements are found in all stories. Let’s examine the ingredients that create a compelling business story:

The Hero

Companies get started because they fulfill a need. They offer a product or service that helps their customers overcome some sort of challenge.

When your business solves their problems, you become the hero they seek…and a story is born.

Strong Narrative Tension

Every story needs some form of dramatic tension; without it, we lose interest in the story. Your audience wants to wonder what happens next. They love the thrill of watching the hero’s journey and how they overcome all odds. The journey is perhaps the most captivating part of any story; it’s where the hero shows the audience what they’re made of.

We typically see these kinds of dramatic tension build up in a “three-act” format. It starts with “act one” – the setup or introduction. It is followed by the “second act” where the effort to resolve the conflict is established. Finally, we come to the “last act” – the resolution.

Because your business is “show business,” craft a three-act story that will have your customers cheering for you!

The Memorable Conclusion

There is almost always a well-defined, heroic resolution in every movie. The guy makes it to the airport in time to profess his love, or the lone survivor defeats the bad guys.

Take a hint from Hollywood:  don’t terminate your business story with a definite end. Instead, conclude it with the hint that something new and exciting may follow.

The Marvel Universe has done an exceptional job at this. Each superhero is like a different product, each with their own story to tell. Sometimes they branch out and do their own thing, and other times they come together to tell a story together. The point is — because we’re all so invested in their journeys, the studios can keep telling us new stories, reinvent old ones, or go back to their origins, and we’ll be just as captivated.

  • Are you ready to tell the story of why your business does what you do?
  • Do you have a compelling reason why your story is worth telling?
  • Does your story create distinction?