Disqus - Latest Comments for Irant

Re: Tiffany & Co. catalogues are priceless

Irant — Sat, 26 Nov 2011 14:14:32 -0000

That's a great idea...

Re: Customer equity

Irant — Fri, 25 Nov 2011 11:18:23 -0000

Nice post, Steve - I think it is important that companies understand what their customers are worth; that value is highly variable, and many customers may actually lose the company money. Businesses are in the business of business, not of equal rights, and should be managed accordingly.

I think a necessary distinction that you make is that you treat good customers better - not bad customers worse. It doesn't take heroic efforts to treat all customers with a minimum level of courtesy and service, although Best Buy, Frontier and other companies may disagree.

Nice job.

Re: Hard data versus cute puppies

Irant — Thu, 13 Oct 2011 02:31:55 -0000

Satisfying customers and "soft skills" are not antithetical to hard data. I've seen the same retention and acquisition costs numbers you mention, and more, and what those numbers say is that keeping customers is a very valuable activity. Satisfying customers is a great retention strategy. The causal chain exists - it just isn't as immediate as others you can look at.

So it is completely valid to say that making customers happy increases customer retention which increases lifetime value (both revenue AND profit) from your existing customer base (just as losing customers through bad service leads to churn, and increased acquisition costs, lower revenue and lower profit). These are not "niceties" and soft-skill mumbo jumbo - this is hard finance and solid strategy.

Re: Did Cap Gemini Just Move to Take Social Media Into The Business Mainstream?

Irant — Sat, 18 Jun 2011 10:30:30 -0000

I agree, Steve - in fact, I think there is a lot of that "buzzword consulting" going on right now in the social media space. As you say, without a solid understanding of the business levers that consulting is meant to influence, there will be lots of people reporting to their executive team the results of their "social engagement" initiative. I am also pretty concerned that there are a lot of "measures" being invented to describe the value of these initiatives - "return on engagement" is one of my favorite non-measures.

I think the picture I am trying to paint with this blog is that the social media revolution is not a media revolution, it's a revolution in the way people interact. People are congregating around their preferred social spaces, interacting with their friends - real and "imaginary" (OK - they're not real imaginary; they're just friends you haven't met IRL). If this is where people are, then businesses need to embrace a reality - just as you build gas stations where cars drive by, your business better be where the people are. And this means that companies must embrace the social sphere as not just a tool, but an entire channel over which they can interact with their customers for service, marketing, product research, etc.

For a company to embark on that path, they need to embrace a whole set of challenges - to the way they currently do business, to the processes by which that business is carried out, and by the systems of measures and technologies that support that business. That requires a broad set of skills - many that companies like Cap Gemini already have. I see this move as a recognition that the heavy lifting of social channel enablement is about to begin in earnest.

Thanks for the comment, Steve. Well considered, as always.

Kevin

Re: Can job essence be scripted?

Irant — Tue, 29 Mar 2011 15:42:59 -0000

It's amazing how little words mean these days. I guess the take-away is for companies to find the employees who are willing to mean what they say . . .

Excellent, as usual!

Re: A Funny Thing Happened At Nordstrom The Other Day . . .

Irant — Thu, 17 Mar 2011 00:29:53 -0000

I couldn't agree more, Steve. That is the beauty of the service culture Nordstom has developed over the years - we all know that mistakes will be made, but Nordstrom is one of what I would argue are a minority of companies which offer that implicit guarantee. They'll do everything they can to make it right.

I was talking to a friend the other day about the idea that for most companies, customer service is a cost center. That is, a drain of resources, that only detracts from the bottom line. And that's why so few companies can compete successfully on service . . .

Thanks for the comment, Steve.

Re: A Funny Thing Happened At Nordstrom The Other Day . . .

Irant — Thu, 17 Mar 2011 00:21:52 -0000

I was thinking after I posted this about Napoleonic Law - particularly the idea that you are guilty until proven innocent - and this idea of customer service. It's the same idea you suggest - this associate assumed there was no problem until I proved there was a problem. In the beginning, she acted as though I should accept her answers and go away - in fact, my wife and I talked about the fact that had she gone instead of me, she wouldn't have gotten her suit because to be polite, she would have accepted the answers, left, and been angry about the result.

Do I think this was the Nordstrom A-team? No. Do I think the associate was empowered to resolve my problem? I know for a fact she was. Has she embraced the service culture of Nordstrom? No.

Did I suggest to the floor manager that she should be counseled on the point I made? Yes. Am I confident the floor manager did so? YES. That's the difference here. There can always be a bad apple, but the culture of an organization will determine how bad situations are dealt with.

I imagine what that conversation would have been like had I been at Target, JCPenney, Macy's or lots of other stores. In those stores, I would have talked myself blue in the face trying to explain why, even though the associate ultimately resolved the problem, that there was still a service issue. I imagine those conversations would have been, essentially, "What's the problem? You got your stuff, right? And by the way, we expedited your order, so you're welcome." Right?

If she hadn't resolved the problem and I had escalated it to the manager, I might have heard "I'm sorry, but ...." If not, I would have heard "This is the only piece we have received from the tailor, and unless you have a ticket that says we owe you another piece . . .."

Any system can have a bad apple, or perhaps an undertrained rookie, or a kid looking to close out a Sunday with as little grief as possible. I am not going to quibble on that point, and frankly, her service was as good as I would expect at most places. The key to me is that there was something beyond an individual associate's performance that, years in the making, was there to preserve the Nordstrom brand beyond the act of one associate that was either having a bad day, or was a bad hire. I was confident that the accumulation of my experiences with Nordstrom (as a customer, and in a previous life, they were a client) would reinforce the perception that the ORGANIZATION has inculcated a strong culture of service. And therefore, I didn't have to say "Yes, I know she solved the problem, but . . .."

I would offer Nordstrom as an example (there are many, but certainly it is one) of the idea that outstanding customer service is either a core value of an organization, or it is not. If it truly is a core value, then the culture will develop to support that core value, people will be judged on how they do (or don't) represent that core value, and the right behaviors will result - great service or involuntary terminations. On the other hand, if the organization only pays lip service to customer experience, without establishing it as a core value, then you can define all the protocols you like around service related issues, but at the end of the day, if the company doesn't believe it, the associate won't either, and the protocols are just so many pages in a binder.

So says I . . .

Re: My Terrorist Friend

Irant — Mon, 22 Nov 2010 16:03:53 -0000

I'm posting this for @theJamesDWhite:

"Poor Paul.. And poor the rest of us. Is this the end of free speech. Why aren't all the real terrorists who openly threaten our soldiers and countrymen from within our own shores, treated in the same fashion? It's disgusting.

I'm not in a position to be able to donate to the cause but would encourage anyone that is to donate generously to Pauls cause.

We need to fight for our freedom! http://twitter.com/twjoketr..."

Re: A Periwinkle Breeze

Irant — Thu, 02 Sep 2010 12:51:20 -0000

Beautifully written, as always ...

Re: The Bitch Slap: Apple Can Suck My Left Apple

Irant — Mon, 12 Jul 2010 14:42:21 -0000

Who do these fuckers think they are? Microsoft?

Re: We Are Facebook’s Product, Not Its Customers

Irant — Mon, 10 May 2010 11:14:59 -0000

I think you are absolutely correct - we are Facebook's product. What they do will be in their own commercial interest, and you can't really fault them for that.

I think the difficulty with this product, however, is that because the value of Facebook is in the value of the network of people that use it (Reed's Law, Beckstrom's Law), we are not parts in a bin to be ignored; as consumers of its service we are constituents that cannot be ignored.

There is nothing that immunizes Facebook from a MySpace-like flame-out, in theory. That decision is in the communal hands of the network, fragmented though that power may be. I know I use Facebook much less frequently now because of all of these functional and policy changes, and I suspect others feel the same way.

And because the power of Facebook has nothing to do with the platform, but the people that use it, it also behooves those that recommend social strategy to ensure that they recognize a Facebook backlash is a risk factor and therefore their recommendations are diverse enough to immunize their clients from this risk.

Nice post.

Re: Why Facebook’s Like Button Makes Me Swoon

Irant — Mon, 03 May 2010 14:57:40 -0000

As always, great stuff, Shelly. I think your point about real time search and instant focus groups is an interesting one. I think the challenge for any organization, though, is - if this sort of real time information is the goal - to understand how to act based upon the real time information, and also to develop filters for separating the wheat of stable opinions from the chaff of fads and whims. There's a whole lot of "there" there, but I agree that the power of this information, if an organization can figure out the best way to use it, is enormous.

There is one message for Facebook, though: I described Facebook as a "random functionality" generator because, in general, they do a terrible job of helping their 400M+ user base understand what's changing, why, and how it impacts the user. A platform (and Facebook is not a social network, it is a platform for social networking) has to be stable - you aren't going to walk across the floor if you think it will collapse under you.

Re: If I Can See You, You’re Not a Ninja

Irant — Tue, 13 Apr 2010 14:47:36 -0000

How many "Rockstars" are there?

Re: McDonald’s and Mommy Bloggers? Get Serious.

Irant — Tue, 13 Apr 2010 12:25:05 -0000

Nice, Shelly! My favorite is McDonald's recent efforts to portray themselves as concerned about childhood obesity ...

Re: TweetUp: Paid Search Goldmine?

Irant — Mon, 12 Apr 2010 17:47:35 -0000

My opinion is that not everything is a search engine, nor is it suitable for the "Google System." The risk of marginalizing the medium - much the same way that email has been marginalized because of all the efforts to turn it into a paid marketing platform - is pretty significant.

One could argue that this is a move limited to the search function, and that it only boosts a given user's tweets in search results, but the logical extension of this plan is "paid influence" rather than "earned influence." Twitter is only a tool that can be used as part of a larger strategy anyway - those whose only goal is to turn it into a one to one marketing platform are going to hit the limits of scalability very quickly. Buying influence will only accelerate the decline of the true value of Twitter, and its usefulness as a way to converse (and ping your audience with targeted information) will rapidly decline as people flee under the weight of commercial solicitations.

Nice post, Shelly - I hope I'm wrong, but I see Facebook and Twitter making the same mistakes - they aren't Google, people don't go to them for the same reasons they go to Google, so to adopt the Google System makes little sense. It's a hammer trying to find a nail.

Re: Dear Facebook – WTF?

Irant — Wed, 24 Feb 2010 13:25:09 -0000

Fucking funny, and dead on-point . . .

Facebook would do well to realize that its technology, UI, etc. etc. are worth about as much as Google Wave except for one thing (AND ONLY ONE THING). 400 Million users (for now) . . .

Re: Should You Be on Twitter?

Irant — Wed, 03 Feb 2010 00:08:49 -0000

Another excellent post, Red. Very informative, and the message about figuring out WHAT you are trying to do before you decide HOW you are going to do it is a key takeaway. Motion is, indeed, not progress . . .

Re: potential

Irant — Wed, 13 Jan 2010 20:46:28 -0000

My daughters are 12 years apart - a whole different dynamic . .

As usual, and excellent post.

Re: The Decade Explained

Irant — Thu, 31 Dec 2009 19:09:24 -0000

Well said, and I'm with you - New Decade in T minus 7 hours (or so) . . .

Happy New Year, Red!

Re: ice

Irant — Mon, 30 Nov 2009 15:08:50 -0000

A touching story, brilliantly written. Sorry for your loss - I could feel it.

Re: Could You Help Me With a Project

Irant — Wed, 28 Oct 2009 00:42:32 -0000

I watched it - nice job!

Re: 5 Secrets To Get Retweets That The Experts Won’t Tell You.

Irant — Wed, 30 Sep 2009 15:08:34 -0000

What the hell? This actually had good insights & was very useful! WTF? You're losing it, @tremendousnews

Re: No escaping hate on the news desk

Irant — Thu, 24 Sep 2009 00:08:39 -0000

These are ugly times, that's for sure. I only hope that this is just the prejudiced, inflammatory and hysterical ranting of a fringe few - these views certainly don't represent the country I live in. But to paraphrase Barney Frank - it's a testament to our constitution and the first amendment that idiots and haters like this jackass get to say the things he says.

Keep the faith - this country and it's people are greater than the shrill screams of hatred and vitriol that seem to be so prevalent right now.

Re: My Twitter mistake

Irant — Sat, 19 Sep 2009 22:28:08 -0000

A very interesting point - "I didn’t think of the other station’s news strategy and goal." I think any "proprietary" information should go through the same filters, but as social media usage expands, everyone has to be cognizant of sharing / not sharing and open collaboration vs. internal collaboration and act accordingly. I can see how this is absolutely critical for a content (information) based medium, as the news is. Rules of engagement should be understood early and reinforced often.

Re: The Myth of Brand Loyalty

Irant — Sun, 09 Aug 2009 01:42:03 -0000

I believe the Print division of HP (you know, the cash cow) has 10 or 11 customer facing CRM systems, each supporting different touchpoints with the customer. I know they are working hard to integrate what looks like 11 customers touching the company once into a more accurate picture of 1 customer touching the company 11 different ways.

But the real issue isn't how many CRM systems they have - it's how many silos within which they interact with customers, and developing a unified business view and strategy for long term customer value and loyalty (and whether that is even a goal). Without this unifying context, then whether the information is in 1 system or 10, the functional silos that exist will still lead to these disconnects. A unified business view of the full customer lifetime with a brand, and strategies and tactics supporting that unified view, are still very hard to come by.

Kevin Boulas