Thinking Ahead.
Customer experience, loyalty, and the AI era.
A new post every week — drawn from Joseph's current research and the ideas shaping his presentations.
1139 posts in the archive
Earlier writing.
Page 48 of 57
- Nov 14, 2014
It’s Not Just Moments-Of-Truth: It's the End-To-End Experience
The findings of a powerful research study emerged in the Harvard Business Review late last year and it’s clear from the behavior of some companies I’ve visited recently that word has not been disseminated widely. The article was titled “ The Truth…
- Nov 12, 2014
Segment Your Service Experiences!
Customers aren't always right and they certainly aren’t equal, but…customers are always paying the bills! I am stuck by two groups of business leaders - those who treat customers as an after thought to profits or products and those that treat every…
- Oct 31, 2014
Experience Delivery = Quality Products + Service Excellence + Empathy
I am blessed to be attending the gala Singapore Experience Awards as a guest of the Singapore Tourism Board. I was asked earlier in the year to serve as a judge to help determine the best experience providers in Singapore. As you likely know, I am a…
- Oct 24, 2014
Becoming Known For Service Excellence – Aligning Who You Are With Who You Say You Are
I have often suggested that a measure of a person and of a brand is what people say about you when you are not around. Many customer voices are included throughout my book The Zappos Experience but it seems only fitting, given the innovative use of…
- Oct 10, 2014
Blessed are the Peacemakers. They will Experience Business Success!
Leadership guru Brian Tracy has been kind enough to endorse a number of my books and I have looked to him for wisdom throughout the years. One of my favorite quotes of Brian's is "Set peace of mind as your highest goal, and organize your life around…
- Oct 3, 2014
Exploiting Breast Cancer Awareness Month – Think Authenticity When Doing Cause Marketing
As a person, who lost his wife to a six-year battle with breast cancer the month of October is bitter sweet. I am heartened by so many organizations championing the cause of breast cancer awareness, research, and treatment – the month is awash with…
- Sep 26, 2014
More Freedom Considered for Virgins: Empower Through Trust
Okay, the title may be somewhat misleading, but Richard Branson has announced a policy for a small number of employees at the Virgin Group. Essentially he is copying something that is occurring quite frequently among tech companies in the Silicon…
- Sep 19, 2014
To Tattoo or Not to Tattoo? - Starbucks, Ink, & Customer Experience
"Cover your tattoos!" That's the current policy at Starbucks (and for that matter many other businesses). Partners (the Starbucks term for employees – more on that in my recent book Leading the Starbucks Way ) are hired without prejudice for…
- Sep 11, 2014
A Lesson Your Business Could Learn from the Ray Rice Video
I will leave it for others to opine about Ray Rice, his wife, and the NFL. But as a customer experience consultant there are two important business lessons to take from this horrific situation. Assume every customer interaction is being videotaped…
- Sep 4, 2014
Pregnancy to Birth in 6 seconds – Customer Experience and the Short Attention Span
Ian Padgham one of the creative geniuses at Origiful may be the only person who has shrunk an entire pregnancy and delivery to 6 seconds. If you haven’t seen it already, check it out Ok so his wife, Claire, actually went through a normal birth and…
- Aug 27, 2014
How Sorry Are You? Keys to Driving Satisfaction While Resolving Customer Issues
not not In addition to their products and services, I am a fan of Zendesk because they openly share pertinent customer experience information. Unlike others who report customer experience results, Zendesk’s data is not the byproduct of surveys but…
- Aug 20, 2014
How to Create Experiences through Personalization, Sharing, and Social Platforms
not I am sure it is news to you that Coca Cola has been facing declining sales numbers for a considerable stretch thanks to consumers who are less inclined to want sugar based carbonated drinks. That trend notwithstanding, Coke’s global presence and…
- Aug 14, 2014
Renewing Commitment to Customer Experience – A Cost-Saving Approach
In many parts of the US, back to school begins weeks before the first nip of autumn can be felt in the air. It is a season that inspires lifelong learning, seeing things differently, and replacing the antiquated with the fresh. In this spirit of…
- Aug 6, 2014
Walk A Mile In Their Shoes - Mapping Your Customers' Journey
Sometimes we are too close to something - a process, an idea, a product or service - to see it with true, objective clarity and perspective. This can be especially (and paradoxically) true when a notion is born from our own brains. We think we know…
- Jul 30, 2014
Forging a Digital Connection of Trust and Relevance
Many business leaders have a love/hate relationship with technology. On the one hand, technological advances offer great business opportunities. On the other hand, the infrastructure costs associated with technology shifts and the rapid pace of…
- Jul 23, 2014
Easy Wins
Ahhh, summer - a season of sunshine, valiant efforts to slow one’s life down, and vacation travel. It's hard not to notice, however, how our great escape efforts are often marked by so much preparatory and participatory stress. Marketing guru (and a…
- Jul 21, 2014
My First (and possibly my last) Book Review – Hooked on Customers by Bob Thompson
As an author, it seems I am always on deadline with my own manuscripts. This leaves me little more than the opportunity to write business related correspondence and a weekly blog. Through the years, friends have asked me to provide reviews of their…
- Jul 16, 2014
Mystery, Sensuality and Intimacy – Loving your Customer and your Message
Here's an exercise for you. Try to go one day without seeing an advertising message. Ok, how about an hour? Some subtle, others overt, marketers are finding us in as unsuspecting of places as the bottom of golf holes. Every business is talking at…
- Jul 9, 2014
Why it's in your own interest to forget your self-interest
The modern world inundates us with a constant flow of information. Not wanting to miss anything, our tendency is to scan the clutter for ways to improve our businesses. Studying best practices, following experts on Twitter, regularly checking in…
- Jul 2, 2014
How to Balance Service Standards with Empowerment
I recently had a conversation with someone who just changed customer-facing jobs. Beyond the dynamics of salary, benefits, and the myriad of other factors that influenced her decision to move on to the next professional opportunity, the way she…
Joseph Michelli
Bestselling author of twelve books on Starbucks, Ritz-Carlton, Mercedes-Benz, Zappos, Airbnb, UCLA Health, and One Medical. Top 5 Global CX Thought Leader for ten consecutive years.
More about Joseph