Great article at Fast Company by way of 37 signals about Alaska Airlines' proactive attempts to rethink the check in experience. This is really a great case study that illustrates a point I try to make to my own clients, students and colleagues:

You don't always need fancy research, study and expensive agencies to help you improve experience. Often, you can find the really innovative solutions yourself. Here's how:

Identify the challenge/opportunity

Select a mix of your smartest, most enthusiastic, hardest working people

Give them a reasonable amount of uninterrupted time within which to problem-solve

Encourage them to talk to other people who have solved similar problems - even outside of your own market

Give them the ability to brainstorm, model and experiment

Have them create a prioritized list of improvements, based on business and customer value

Test each improvement and adjust as necessary

Roll out solid solutions across the board

In this case, Alaska Airlines assembled a team of its own people. They read books, interviewed and visited theme parks (like Disney), hospitals and retailers to find innovative solutions to expediting check-in. They created models for the redsign using cardboard boxes (cool) ... and then they built test podiums and refined the designs in real airports.

The article will tell you more. In summary, the outcome has been improved customer service, streamlined check ins for customers and a significant cost savings.

A+ to Alaska for its grassroots approach to resolving customer experience challenges from both the customer AND the business side. This seems a heckuva lot smarter than cutting out meals, beverages and peanuts...

I had a surreal moment today when I discovered that Amazon.com - the most reliable eCommerce site around is down. Meanwhile, while Twitter - the most unrealiable microblogging website around - was up!

For awhile at least. Twitter went down shortly thereafter. Probably due to so many people tweeting about Amazon.

What's it gonna cost the seller of all things? Well, according to my Ad Age alert...the downtime is worht $1.8 Million dollars per hour.

Ouch. That's gotta hurt!

I left corporate America for the blissful freedom of self-employment several years ago. Prior to this point, I had spent years working with startup companies, living in cubicles and hijacked conference room spaces... I was at the point in my career where an office with a door was almost a guarantee.

Ahh...the office with a door....

But then, I went into consulting. As a traveling "Big 5" consulant, I traded my office dream for the hope of first class upgrades (more laptop space to work within), shared offices and desk spaces, borrowed client cubicles and - of course - hijacked conference room space.

It was a noisy and distracting existence.

Today, I've got my spacious office, with a door. I can have a happy dog at my feet (if I want) - even a baby and some toys (if I want). Yay!

Well, I was celebrating, until I expanded my involvement in social networks, joining Facebook, Twitter and Plurk among others. Now, I seem to be back in a noisy cubicle again. I'm being plurked and tweeted, IM'd, DM'd and friended by people I don't know, filtering out conversations I don't have time for, people are writing on my wall and sending me links to things I must read.

The funny thing is, I don't even have that many friends or followers. I used to want more. But after my recent mprofs article, in which I invited people to follow me on Plurk and Twitter -- perhaps I should reconsider. There's joy in being a neatly kept secret...in managing one's conversation streams.

For now, I find myself again working in a noisy and distracting existence. Part fun - part frustration - part vortex. It's easy to feel like there's no door - but truth be told, there is. It's called "EXIT"... but my desire to do that with each application is proportionate to my fear that I'll be missing out of the discussion, in some way (good and bad). Maybe I'll get over that soon and disconnect a bit.

It seems each day I’m presented with yet another "killer app" I need to go evaluate and monitor.

These seem to have a few things in common. First, most seem to have these cutesy 3-7 letter names like "Blyk" and "Fark". Second, none of the names really reflect what the apps do. Next, most of the home pages for these services use fluffy language to describe the value they offer - or how they may be distinct from other similar services within their niche. Finally, many of them are similar in functionality and purpose.

I challenged myself to take a bit of a top-of-mind list of social applications - not including games - today. It started with a list I had on a post-it note on my desk. Some are older and you'll recognize them. Some may be new to you, as they were to me. Note that this was a casual effort - and I quickly got to about 70, in number. Sorted alphabetically...

• Backflip
  
• Bebo
  
• Blinklist
  
• Bloglog
  
• Blogmarks
  
• Blyk
  
• BrightKite
  
• De.licio.us
  
• Digg
  
• Diigo
  
• Disqus
  
• Dopplr
  
• Facebook
  
• Fark
  
• Faves
  
• Feed Me Links
  
• Flickr
  
• Friendster
  
• Friendfeed
  
• Furl
  
• Goodreads
  
• Ilike
  
• Jaiku
  
• Jott
  
• Hi5
  
• Last.fm
  
• Librarything
  
• Linked in
  
• Live
  
• ma.gnolia
  
• Mixx
  
• MrWong
  
• Multiply
  
• Myspace
  
• Newsvine
  
• Netvibes
  
• NetVous
  
• Orkut
  
• Pandora
  
• Picasa
  
• PhotoCrank
  
• Plaxo
  
• Pownce
  
• Propeller
  
• Reddit
  
• Seesmic
  
• Segnalo
  
• Simpy
  
• Slashdot
  
• Slide
  
• Slideshare
  
• Smugmug
  
• Spurl
  
• Stumbleupon
  
• Tailrank
  
• Tumblr
  
• Twirl
  
• Twitter
  
• Twitterbuzz
  
• Upcoming
  
• Utterz
  
• Veotag
  
• Vimeo
  
• Wink
  
• Qik
  
• Yelp
  
• Zoomr

I actually put these in a spreadsheet and categorized them by type (Community, Utility, Media Sharing, Bookmarking...etc.) after looking up each one. I also added a brief description. This was a lot of work. (Thankfully, I had a client delay so I had time). The thing is, I kept finding more as I went along. If you're reading this you may even know of one that's not on this list... and I wonder how many more are added each day...

Sunday's discovery (yes Mack - it was on Twitter) was "PLURK". I hadn't heard of Plurk before. Maybe I spend too much of my spare time changing diapers or something. Evidently, it's Toronto's answer to Friendfeed or Twitter. I'm not enthusiastic about the name... it reminds me of "PERVERT" plus "LURK" - not positive really. I guess at the least it is memorable.

All this to say: Call me crazy but I'm seriously getting to the point of total app saturation; so much so that I've developed a syndrome I call "APP reflex." It involves a facial tic, shoulder spasm and a gagging sinus noise. This came on gradually but was fully in force after one day of casual research. It is doing wonders for my marriage (attractive!!!).

I can only imagine what the high tech venture capitalists think about this topic as they're presented with the flavor of the day startup. They probably have nightmares. But I digress again...

Like the rest of you, I do have a day job. Fortunately, this is relevant to my day job, so I can justify writing this post. It's enough to say that it IS very hard to keep up on the exponential growth of the social applications, sites and utilities out there. It takes time to evaluate and use each one -- and some tinkering to figure out which tools are things that will become valuable for the future, and which things are fly-by-night, wannabe technologies.

This exponential growth is another reason why Forrester's Peter Kim recently produced research that indicates a very strong lack of confidence in agency ability to keep up on new technologies and know how to apply them intuitively to boost bottom line results and customer loyalty. ;-)

If by chance I happen to find something valuable, I've got to take the time to use it - and have it top-of-mind, and keep up on it - figure out how it's going to be valuable to my clients. That's not always easy. Truth be told -- the activity can be a colossal waste of time if one is not selective. While now I could be considered a "twitterpated" evangelist, the whole investment thing was part of the reason I was a latecomer to Twitter.

But there is hope as the apps proliferate. Last week, I was quite happy to find AddThis... an application that allows you to add one button to your site that allows users to Digg, Multiply, Bookmark, Reddit, Twitter away on any post... In fact, I believe it works with at least 20 services. Adding this to my site was grand time saver and I was happy not to have to add those links individually. ;-)

Who knows how many other helpful utilities like this will come along for folks like me -- like us -- who are time starved and look for a way to cut through the noise and figure things out!

So I'm encouraged... and as the apps multiply like rabbits in heat...I will press on - bold and brave. I heard rumors about drug trial for people dealing with APP REFLEX and I'm thinking of signing up. Feel free to join me.

But seriously, if you know of more social apps, send them to me with a brief link or description. I'll do my best to publish this list with categories and descriptions in the near future for the benefit of all.

Great article in Advertising Age last week, in case you missed it. Google's Web Analytics guru Avinash Kaushik asserts that one of the reasons why so many websites "suck" today is because of the hippo -- as in the "highest paid person's opinion."

I've worked with a lot of Hippos in my lifetime, and this really cracked me up. It's also very true... Sadly, Kaushik asserts that the individuals making choice decisions about what works best for customers on the web are often those the least connected to those customers. This ties to a bunch of stuff we've been saying on this site for a very long time.

Also - decent article from Mark Hurst in his May 20th Good Experience on the top mistakes companies are making in usability testing. I've included the link to the online article here - there's some good reader discussion there.

Excellent post by Ted Mininni on Mprofs today about the recent launch of Starbuck's MyStarbucksIdea web site. The site allows interested users to submit ideas, vote on ideas, add comments to ideas and view responses from others - including Starbucks "Idea Partners" (48 trained Starbucks employees tasked with championing good ideas). This is good stuff and we're going to see more of it. Starbucks illustrates perfectly the point I keep making about staying close to your customers. Evidently, Shultz realizes the importance of the pulse of customers... I am rooting for them, but I still question whether this will be enough to help Starubucks in a lagging economy? The idea "Lower Your Prices" has 19610 votes, so far. Guess we'll see!

The experts tell me that, when it’s time to baby-proof my house, my husband and I should get down on our hands and knees and crawl through our home at “baby height” to find any risks that may be present for our child. I did this the other day. It was actually eye opening because it gave me a totally new perspective.

It then occured to me that this is precisely what we should all do with with our customers if we're truly interested in improving their experience with our brands. In doing so, we can better position ourselves to innovate and even co-create with our customers in a manner that builds brand loyalty and market share.

To better illustrate this point, please crawl with me, for a moment...

As some of you know, in addition to being an experience architect, I am the mother of a seven month old. He has been incredibly sick for ten days now. As a result, my focus has not been on working, writing or tweeting … but on changing, bathing and hydrating a feverish, restless baby.

In the course of doing caring for baby, I had a myriad of less-than-stellar product experiences. These prompted me to ask:

• How many Huggies and Pampers brand or product managers have had to work in a daycare for a week?
  
  
• How many babies have the Aveeno Baby or other product managers at Proctor & Gamble and Johnson & Johnson actually had to wash using their product(s)?
  
  
• How many purple-stained onesies have the makers of Pedialyte had to clean?
  

And I wonder, if these individuals actually got these assignments, if they’d actually design:

• Diapers that readily discourage leakage up the back of baby
  
  
• Easy-grip, non-tip containers designed for one-hand use, which naturally force product to the bottom of the bottle so that it's easy to access and dispense through a no-leak dispenser.
  
  
• Non-staining flavored electrolyte formula for babies

This certainly seems intuitive - but perhaps I'm some kind of weird customer anomoly. All of these product improvement/innovation ideas are 100% actionable... and produced simply through repeated exposure to product use. This proves that customer listening, improvement and innovation don't require magic powers or extensive and expensive customer research.

If this formula is true:

...then how important is it that we experience our products as our customers would - rather than going from third-party research, our gut, or just plain ignorance. This would seem the only way to ensure the "aspirational brands" (brands we want to create) match up with our actual brand recognition.

The point: If you're not "crawling with your customers", you are missing out on some important perspective.

Coco Chanel used to say that before leaving your house, you should check yourself in a mirror and remove at least one accessory from your ensemble. That's part of the reason she became a style icon: She knew when too much was enough. Not so for Kimberly Clark/Cottonelle in their new (largest) non-traditional advertising campaign EVER...

Hat tip to Adrants, whose initial coverage led to tear jerking laughter for me and my family. Since then, in an attempt to be fair, I've done a little more research. I can't help but come away with the opinion that this is one of the most over accessorized campaigns I've ever seen!

Up front, it sounded like a clever idea for the puppy-advertising brand. As summarized the concept is something like this ...

"Life's rough on your bottom. Be kind to your behind with Cottonelle."

Not bad, right? The schtick -- Make your own pledge to be kind to your behind in exchange for a chance to win a luxury give away. We'll also give you free coupons!

Cute. Lots of advertising potential! But then they began to accessorize...

First (and the most understandable move, in my opinion), they merged the idea with their "adorable mascot" the infamous Cottonelle puppy. I understand - continuity.

The thing is, they made the mascot into a spokespuppy. Note the freakish new voice, which they're using on the new commercials and on the web site.

This is where Coco begins to twitch. At least they don't make his mouth animate when he talks! (Shudder)

Then they added more stuff: On the web site, where you can create your own pledge and enter to win... they've got totally unrelated bells and whistles that don't really boost the experience at all. In fact, some are totally disconnected from it. .

For example, you canattach a garish, nearly illegible cartoon to your pledge. It appears they are drawn on toilet paper. Many show people sitting on toilets. I wonder how much they paid for this crap? (Pun intentional) Here's an example courtesy of the website...


Incidentally, I have a friend with a sleeping disorder that had a similar incident in college. She missed her finals and it took four hours to get the sensaton back in her legs

Then there's the outdoor advertising component. Does anyone else feel this gets lost in context? They bought a wrap in the subway.... but to really make a statement, why not outfit some of those hard seats with cushions - or brand some restroom space and make them cleaner, more comfortable...and graced with Cottonelle? That's what Charmin did in Times Square. This is entirely forgettable.

Then, my favorite accessory: The mobile component. Nope. Sorry. It's not mobile as in wireless - as in the ability to find any restroom within 1000 feet of your phone, compliments of Cottonelle.... It's mobile as in motor vehicle! Meet Cottonelle's "Comfort Haven Bus."

According to Ad Rants, the bus will engage in a cross-country tour stopping at locations across the United States: "The bus will offer visitors access to "relaxation stations" where people can see first-hand -- and hopefully in privacy -- how soft and comforting Cottonelle can be."

Somehow, "Come poop in our bus" just seems a little far fetched to me (pun intended). But it it gets even worse, folks. The bus has fur!


Come poop in our PUPPY bus? Okay, now you vote: which of the following does the Comfort Haven Bus most resemble?


Lest, I digress, they're not done, they've also added an on-board fitness trainer who will give people who sit down a lot some helpful advice to “loose the caboose.”

AND... just to show you they're not done accessorizing, they retained Judith Greer from ABC's "Miss Guided" as a kickoff celebrity. Now, I like her. She's funny, but what she has to do with toilet paper escapes me.

All this to say, this whole campaign is just, well -- OVER ACCESSORIZED. Sometimes, we just need to know when enough is enough. Otherwise, we find ourselves on - or over - the edge of ridiculous.

Over my professional and personal lifetime, I have probably posessed or worked with about all the major credit card companies. One of my favorite cards was my Platinum MBNA Visa. Until, that is, they were acquired by Bank of America.

After 18 years with my MBNA, I was concerned that the great service I'd experienced with would be interrupted by the Bank of America acquisition. I was eloquently assured by my Platinum rep that they'd keep providing the same stellar customer experience I'd had in the past.

After five rounds with Bank of America, this has proven to be a lie.

ROUND 1

Back in October of 2006, I was planning my wedding. At the time, I had an *ample* credit limit, and charged up to about 80% of my available credit for things like photographers and other expenses. During that time, I was busy getting married and selling my house – and I goofed and my check was misdirected to the wrong account.

I spent time on the phone correcting the issue, which was a hassle. It took a few weeks to fix things (and late fees, etc.), but they assured me it would have no impact in the future. I had had one late payment that year (it missed by 2 days!) so I breathed a sigh of relief.

ROUND 2

After selling my house, I paid down the MBNA/Bank of America card down to less than 45% of my credit limit. I had done this before and maintained an ample credit limit with MBNA with no problem. It was a comfort to know I could access this line of credit any time for trips, business expenses and travel.

Well - Bank of America's response to my large payment was an unexpected reduction in my credit limit to less than half the original limit! I didn’t get it! Nothing in my credit profile had changed, outside of the fact that I’d paid off my mortgage!

As a result of this move, my “paid down” balance was about the same as my available credit. Thus, instead of raising my credit score because I'd paid down the card significantly – Bank of America's move actually worked to lower my credit score.

This was a nice reward for 18 years of customer loyalty, for a really solid track record of payments! When I called to complain, the representative agreed to raise my limit again - not quite as high as my previously ample limit, but placing me at 60% available credit to debt ratio. It wasn't enough to repair my credit rating and the sour taste in my mouth lingered.

ROUND 3

Just a few months later, I paid the card down another 50%. My happiness over becoming more debt free was dampened by Bank of America's response. They immediately lowered the credit limit, AGAIN.

Now – I’m no expert, but I had the same income. I did get married – thus combining and increasing our annual incomes. However, we both had great credit ratings… so I was confused that they now viewed me as some kind of credit risk. It was weird, but I didn’t call because I planned to pay it off completely and rid myself of the card and Bank of America.

ROUND 4

Keeping my cash is always a temptation. I rationalized keeping the card because it I had a very small balance at a low interest rate. I went online and set up a recurring payment in my online bank to make sure the card would be paid monthly.

Unfortunately, three weeks later, I found out that my recurring payment never went through. After hours and days of research, I found out that the day I set it up, my bank's service provider did a system upgrade - and there was obviously some kind of technical problem that impacted my recurring payment setup.

Bank of America responded by jacking my interest rate to 32.99% and assigning a $45 late fee to my account. I called to advise them of the situation. They unapologetically told me I needed a letter to reverse the rate increase and charges, and all but scolded me for 3 late payments in a one-year period. (Remember my history here – one late payment by 2 days… one account # misallocation, and my bank error). I immediately paid off the card to avoid paying the crazy interest.

Determined to get reimbursed for the interest and late fees that accrued as a result of my bank’s error, I spent time on the phone fighting to get a letter proving the error was not my fault. I did this while preparing to deliver our first child. Pleasant. Not!

ROUND 5

After the birth of our son, the letter from my bank arrived, and I called Bank of America and offered to fax it to them. The representative stated that they didn’t need to see the letter (!!??). I was so glad I'd gone through the hassle.

Then she said she’d reverse the interest charges and remove the late fee assessed - but stressed that they "could not" return my interest rate to the previously low rate I had. I was appalled.

After protesting, she offered to reduce it to 24.99%. I laughed out loud. The representative went on to inform me in a very STERILE manner, that they were allowed to jack up my rate because I had been late three times within the allocated period. I asked her to review my account history, which would show that only ONE late payment was actually my fault.

She responded by saying something very close to this: "I realize your last late payment was due to a bank error, but the error is still not our fault and we have no lower rate to offer you at this time." She was like a parrot who’d memorized a script.

The easy translation was this: "We're seizing this opportunity to jack your rate because we can. We realize you have been a loyal, interest paying customer since 1991, but frankly, we don't want your business, and we don’t care about you as a customer."

Well - I laughed in disbelief and closed the account immediately, asking the representative to snail-mail me the refund. She agreed in an equally sterile manner. She expressed no regret, and no appeal for my business. Nuthin!

KNOCK OUT!

In the end, Bank of America lost a very loyal, 18-year customer without giving so much as a sideways glance. POOF. gone. And never to return, I may add.

As the recipient of such treatment, I MIGHT have felt like some kind of credit loser… being rejected by a bank. I MIGHT have been upset by their rejection…

Thankfully, I know better!

As I thought through this article, I realized how important it is to pay attention to all those “worth” attachments. Money is personal and valuable. Banking an entirely PERSONAL thing… so when the bank screws up the experience it can be intensely personal. I guess that's why I wouldn't ever be a brand evangelist for Bank of America. Ever.

This is something Bank of America (and all the rest) should remember as they place profits over people … especially with the coming economic storm.

When I hear Bank of America's slogan ("Bank of Opportunity") that they need to revise it to "Bank of Opportunists". I believe, no matter how BIG they are that in the long-run, they will lose by doing business like this.

We all heard the hype generated by Starbuck's 3.5 hour shut-down on Wednesday. I'm sure now, many of us are wondering if steps the company is taking will restore and renew the "coffee experience" to save more than 100 poorly performing stores in their 7100 store chain.

If you didn't hear about this, you can read all about this here.

I tip my hat to CEO, Howard Shultz for making time to properly rally the troops and train people to bolster the Starbuck's experience. It was an interesting decision to conduct this training during normal business hours, when it could have easily been done before or after hours: Using the shut-down during normal business hours is a highly promotable move -- and it does underscore to the public the company's heartfelt desire to better the quality of the product.

What I want to know is whether retraining baristas to create a better latte is going to cure the ills the company faces?

As the leader in the coffee experience, Starbucks set the bar high, and has succeeded through innovation for years. However, what we know in Customer Experience Management is that those who set the bar don't always have an easy time of things: The standard they set soon becomes the norm. As such, the experience leader must consistently raise the standard to create better experience and retain a loyal and enthusiastic customer base. Meanwhile, the competitors forego some of the experimentation and investment raising the bar requires, and merely copy the leader...and so it goes...

Raising the quality bar is a great move... but is it enough?

I can't help but wonder, how Starbucks can raise the bar in an increasingly sagging economy?

The link I posted above serves as an excellent reinforcement for this point. Check out the "Related" vignette on the left-side of the body copy in the article: It is called "Eye on the Economy".

I don't want to get all "doomsday" here.... but the truth is this: In yesterday's economy, I didn't think much about my daily $4 cup of coffee (or two of them and a snack!). In today's and tomorrow's - I will probably be more careful with my dollars - and so will many other people! If every loyal customer cut back to one latte per week what would happen to revenues?

It will be really interesting to watch and see what happens as Starbucks adjusts to these market conditions.

This week, a ton of reports on inflation, unemployment and other economic indicators are slated to hit Wall Street. While the financial world braces, everyday Americans don't need data to tell them the economy is in the crapper!

Beyond the gas pump, we're beginning to feel it in other areas now. Some of us may even realize that we have some choices to make: We can grab our tax rebates and continue to spend -- OR we can do the smart thing and scale back a little, simplify - or maybe even get out of debt! What we're feeling here in America is surely going to hit other markets, too - as our spending ability (and willingness) decline and impact the economy of producing nations.

Beyond the economy, an increasing number of people are becoming overwhelmed by the sheer weight of the "stuff" they own. We aren't just over stimulated by media messages, but by the physical things we accumulate. This doesn't just influence us to give stuff away -- it makes us want to spend less.

Therefore, I suspect, in the near future, we'll be seeing a new trend in marketing and customer experience targeted to folks of all economic ranges who are beginning to scale back, spend less, simplify and economize.

Interestingly, this will have a direct influence on what Reinier Evers, founder of Trendwatching calls "FREE LOVE" in this month's trendwatching report. According to Evers, the Free Love trend is defined as follows:

FREE LOVE: the ongoing rise of free, valuable stuff that's available to consumers online and offline. From AirAsia tickets to Wikipedia, and from diapers to music.

FREE LOVE thrives on an all-out war for consumers' ever-scarcer attention and the resulting new business models and marketing techniques, but also benefits from the ever-decreasing costs of producing physical goods, the post-scarcity dynamics of the online world (and the related avalanche of free content created by attention-hungry members of GENERATION C), the many C2C marketplaces enabling consumers to swap instead of spend, and an emerging recycling culture.

The trendwatching report will fill you in on the astonishing amount of free goodies there are to be had, from wireless, national and international phone service, free airline tickets, free food & beverages, car rentals, photo prints, textbooks, travel guides, wifi, gps, stock photography, notes, photocopies, financial management, games, bikes, music, vacation homes... and much more.

According to trendwatching, the rise in free love is attributed to a number of factors and I agree with all of them. It even addresses how my own increased desire to get rid of our crap and clutter plays into the free love phenomena (swap - not spend...etc).

My only critique of this excellent briefing is that it doesn't seem include the economy as an influencing factor in the expansion of the free love trend. I am positive it will have a direct impact. Whatever the case, the report is FREE! Read it to get goodies, or do it for the ideas - but read it!

Also, check out this month's WIRED magazine's headline story "FREE"! Happy reading!

Guess where I am: Here's a hint. It's a restaurant you have probably visited at least once in your life.

I walk in to the sound of water running down glass panels. There is a sculpture of a crane on one side - a coi fish on the other. The room is light and airy with colors in earth tones and accents of red. Bamboo plants grace the scene. I am intrigued by textured walls patterned to resemble the ocean and the asymmetrical tiling. The seating is leather and lounge like. It's comfortable and very Zen.

If you guessed a sushi restaurant, sorry! Thank you for playing.

Nope, believe it or not, I'm in McDonald's in Hacienda Heights, California. Just one of several restaurants in the chain who are rethinking brick and mortar experience and putting the Chinese art of Feng Shui in practice. You can read about this here.

I am a big supporter of brand reinvention...and this is an interesting twist on the Mc Donald's I grew up with. I can't wait to see how this plays out over time.

I understand they've even adjusted door placement to block out evil spirits! Nevertheless, I can't help but wonder what magic they may be doing to block the artery clogging fat and cholesterol found in their food? Alas, until this happens, McDonald's will be unable to lure me as a customer.

In the day of third-place thinking... it will be interesting to see how this drives increased revenue in the future - and whether this trend continues.

My good friend, Ann Handley, former brainchild at ClickZ and more recently, Chief Content Officer for MarketingProfs.com has started a new personal weblog called "Annarchy".

I've gotta say - I'm stoked. Ann is an incredible writer and a total HOOT (hence my "Hootennannie" pun). She's also a student of customer experience herself. Check out two of her recent posts "A Virgin in Hollister" and "Hey Pretty Lady". I love reading her personal musings and bet you will, too. Her posts are always a real treat! Enjoy!

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January 2007 - Happy New Year. I'm back in the saddle again, after maternity leave. I'm also typing with a honking cast on wrist, after minor surgery! Looking forward to updating the site, including my resources page in between client work, articles and other activities. Stay tuned.

September 30, 2007 - For those of you who don’t know, I’m expecting our first baby (featured right) in two weeks. I’m feeling a bit like a stuffed goose, and hurrying trying to tie up loose ends before our son arrives.

I haven’t written much as I've been dealing with insomnia, fatigue and juggling multiple projects. Of course, the queue of ideas and thoughts is full…and I’ve had no time to get anything out in the form of an article. ...Maybe post-baby? Don’t laugh - I'm enjoying my denial and convinced I have the ability to multi-task!

As my schedule is finally calming down, I did a little shopping this week. This morning I was chomping at the bit to air my feelings on some experience pitfalls I witnessed. So, on behalf of all expectant and new mommies, I offer the following:

Brick and Mortar Stores like Macy’s, Kohl’s, JC Penney and even Gymboree boutiques – Hear our cry! If your aisles are too narrow for women shopping with a large belly to fit through without knocking stuff off the racks --- OR for women pushing a stroller with a grabby infant, you are losing sales! Get a clue – create space for us and you’ll create space for sales!

Grocery Stores It confounds me as to why you offer only a single "token" "new and expecting mother" parking space!? I mean, it's a nice gesture, but do you really think that there will be only one of us, out of the 250 others parking in your lot? Perhaps it would be good for us to be granted temporary handicap badges when we're 7 months pregnant, which will expire on baby's one year birth date so we can use the litany of handicap spaces. While that's not likely to happen, couldn't you offer 2-3 pregnant and expecting mommy spaces for us? Especially in freezing cold and icy climates!!

Children’s Place –We got a fat gift certificate to use for baby clothes only to find out that Children’s Place doesn’t take them online. What’s worse, my local store didn't have my online items in stock and couldn't order them for some reason. The online customer service people told me the best thing to do was to purchase the items with another method of payment, wait for shipment, then drive to the store, return the item and repurchase it on the gift card. Classic experience hurdle: Make me pay for shipping, then drive to the mall to take care of this when I may deliver any day. Silly! Catch up with the times – most online stores take gift cards today, and harried mommies (AND expectant moms) can’t always make it to the mall .

Gymboree – I picked out a few cute outfits online today, while I was in the middle of shopping at the Children’s Place. Not 15 minutes after I got off the phone with Children’s Place, I went back to my shopping cart on Gymboree, and my visit had timed out (expired) – and so did my shopping cart! As a result, I lost the special sale purchases I’d so carefully looked for. Web statistics reflect that many online shoppers multitask when browsing online…and it’s time for Gymboree to catch on to this trend! Shopping carts should dynamically represent inventory available (so if I come back, and my product is no longer in stock, it tells me apologetically). They should also time out after a LONG period of time (varies from 12-24 hours usually, although Gap and Old Navy seem to last for about a week). You lost my sale on principle alone!

Target – In general I have problems with the online experience at Target.com, which I may do a future “Experience File” on. In short, the entire online store forces the consumer to hit back buttons repeatedly, because there is consistent “loss of state” as people select various categories and shop by type or brand. The site would also benefit from some Web 2.0 features that could make the experience much more streamlined for individuals adding items to cart or a registry list, among other things. While I shop Target online a lot, my professional opinion is that the site has severe experience limitations imposed by its catalog provider that push the user experience behind the times - by at least three years.

Specific to mommy stuff at Target– I have been a user of Target Gift registries (wedding registry AND baby registry within 18 months) and I’ve been frustrated! Why can't I prioritize the items I select for my guests? Further, I can’t add notes to items for the benefit of my fellow shoppers. Also, when I update my registry in the store using the hand scanner, photos of the items I select NEVER show up online (even if there’s an online version of it). This makes the shopping experience difficult for others, as well as they must rely on SKU numbers. Take the target lists experience to the next level, and consider the context of the users participating in gift registries! Improve this experience and improve sales!

Amazon.com Generally the best experience overall, although I do believe the site could benefit from some more dynamic Web 2.0 features that make adding items to a registry and viewing related items a better experience. When a user adds items to lists, pages load with "other recommendations" which are often not useful. This requires the user to do a lot of “back buttoning" to get to a desired place. Other than that, my gripe is with the Amazon/Target registry situation. I just don’t understand why, when Amazon features the Target gift registry, there is no synchronization between items on my Amazon registry and my Target registry. Either make the Target and Amazon gift registries integrated, or keep them separate! Having partial integration is just confusing.

I won't even go into the challenges I experienced while trying to find maternity pants that do not fall down ... or the joys of finding "belly bands" to keep your pants up! That seems endemic to the plight of the maternally challenged woman today. I will say KUDOS, however, to Gap and Old Navy for offering GREAT maternity clothing with a wide range of sizes and fast delivery! It has been a godsend!

Well, I’m sure there’s more to say, but this is enough for one day’s shopping. I’m off to have yet another sonogram! More soon!

In case you missed it, there's a lot of talk about the embarrassing outage of Whole Foods CEO, John Mackey, covertly posting on web and investment blogs. Fellow contributor, David Reich opens the door for some good commentary on the subject here.

As a Whole Foods fan, I'm just disappointed. As Ann Handley points out in her comments, you'd think a company that promotes the idea of "real" food would have executives that are equally "real." As experience evangelist, I promote the idea that great brands can stand on their own. Beyond the legal ramifications of this... I wonder if we'll begin now to uncover other trends like in companies we know and love?

My brain is full of posts. However, it seems the longest distance these days is between my head and the keyboard.

For the past few months, I've been very heads down managing the strategy for a portal integration project for a B2B company in the high tech space. It's a complex company, with a complex audience and complex products.... and untangling that all to create something simple has been the challenge for our team.

So that's why I just haven't been able to extricate myself long enough to post, or read much. Amazing how easy it is to fall behind.

Last month, however, at the request of my friend Kelly Goto, I did take the time to pen one article she asked me for. The article is a personal story that runs parallel to Kelly's new gotoreport issue dedicated to the topic of becoming "UNSTUCK". The series primarily focuses on companies making the transition from Web 1.0 to 2.0.

Recently, Kelly and I played a good amount of "brain tennis" on the "STUCK" issue. As we chatted, we continue to marvel at how "STUCK" most companies -- or most individuals truly are. It happens to us, too. Whether we get mired in old legacy systems while moving to Web 2.0, or stuck in a culture that can't effectively innovate, implementing new models for customer-centric commerce.... or loosing ourselves to create a new, satisfying professional or personal lives...lots of us live stuck.

The article in this month's gotoreport is my personal story of becoming unstuck. Rather than post it here, I thought I'd link you over . While you're there, check out the other terrific articles on Web Usability, Design, and moving into a Web 2.0 development environment.

Smart companies have customer service policies in place to protect their best interests and the bottom line. Smarter companies, however, know how and when to bend certain policies for customers who have the right profitability, loyalty, frequency of purchase and long-term revenue potential. This helps protect customer loyalty and works to maximize the bottom line.

The challenge in today's market, however, is institutionalizing a system wherein each employee understands customer centricity - and the right employees are adept in exercising flexibility with appropriate boundaries. Databases, systems and policies are critical tools. Executing based on the knowledge gathered by companies is another thing entirely.

Beyond loyalty programs, when it comes to appropriately recognizing customers in the service arena, most companies fall short. This is why customers losing out on good service have little choice but to become more vocal and tenacious.

Consider this recent experience.

I went to Best buy to accomplish two things: First, I needed to return an extra power source I'd purchased for my laptop. The associate who helped me had sold me the wrong model. The kicker was, I didn't realize it was the wrong adaptor for three months because while I had purchased the smaller model for a trip to Europe, I had forgotten to bring it with me. When I finally took it out of the package and realized the extra $90 power source was useless to me, it seemed worth trying to return.
Second, I was with my sister-in-law, Leah, who was ready to buy a new laptop with my assistance.

We trolled the computer department first, and I left Leah to play with the model I had recommended. I then approached the customer service desk to return the power source.

It only took a minute of watching the dull-eyed customer service representative handle the woman in front of me to predict that I was going to need a supervisor. After 10 minutes, she turned and walked away, cautioning me to get a supervisor if I wanted any “real help.”

When my turn came, I made my case and, as I suspected, “Dulleye” expertly spouted the 30 day return policy to me. I thanked him and asked for his supervisor. After a long wait, an eye-rolling supervisor approached, and the two huddled with briefly before he approached me.

It's enough to say that both "Dulleye" and "Eyeroller" expertly spouted "policy" to me. After explaining for the second time that 1) The packaging was intact; 2) The item had not been used, and 3) the exact model was still being sold on the shelves, I said in an exasperated tone "Look, YOU guys are the one who sold me this power source -and it's the wrong one!"

I was met by open mouthed, blank stares and a glance toward the counter from both of the policy drones. So, I continued:

"Does it help to know that I've purchased FOUR laptops at Best Buy this year alone? I've actually come to purchase another one today, and I'd hate to take that sale to another store because I'm short on time. What do we need to do to make this right?"

After another wait, I asked for the store manager. I watched as “Eye Roller” explained my situation to the store manager, shaking his head vehemently to indicate that Best Buy should not refund the money. So far, about 20 minutes had elapsed.

Hope sparked as the store manager walked over to me with eye contact and a hesitant smile. I repeated my plight to him. I explained that I would love to exchange the power supply for the right product, but they didn't happen to sell one. I was fine with store credit and it only made sense. He wasn't quite convinced.

So, with one final push, I drew upon my inside knowledge of Best Buy's customer management infrastructure and added:

"I understand you've got policies for a reason. In fact, I write, speak and teach about customer service for a living. Because of this, I also understand that Best Buy is flexible with its policies for good customers. I'm a good customer. In fact, it may help your decision to know that in Best Buy's profiling schema, I am considered a "JILL" and I carry a profitability level of four out of five. I understand this means that you guys should want to keep me as a customer at this store."

This is where the store manager got the nickname "Wide Eyes." I continued with a pleasant smile.

"Now, Jeff over there (pointing to our Geek Squad computer sales rep, Jeff as he waved) is helping me and my sister-in-law with my fifth laptop purchase of 2006. So, can we return this cable now, or do I need to head for another store?"

The store credit was issued immediately. We bought another laptop that day, too.

Now, I was fortunate enough to have been previously shown my entire Best Buy purchasing history, demographic profile and profitability number in an interview with a Best Buy executive several months before. She had explained to me congruently how someone with a profile like mine would (hypothetically) be handled in a return policy decision. The same executive had also described how hard it was to get her staff to understand the simple categorizations to make exceptions to the rules on a case-by-case basis.

I'm glad I had that knowledge in my back pocket – but ultimately all of this serves to make a point.

I’ve written a bit about Best Buy in the past. In short, what's great about Best Buy's system is that it maps customers to persona-based profiles that help associates understand the type of customer they are dealing with. It also assigns a simple profitability scoring scale from 1-5 (5 being the best). This should make it super easy for any associate to quickly grasp the value of a customer without doing a detailed analysis on purchase history.

… The problem is getting people to use this knowledge. I went through three people to get Best Buy to treat me like a "Jill" with a profitability multiple of four. And all three had access to my profile. Not one of them looked at that information – despite my earlier pleas.

The truth is, it just takes time to operationalize a flexible customer service framework. A myriad of factors weigh in, including training, turnover, management preferences, staff maturity, common sense, level of experience and individual store policies. Over time, it should only get easier for Best Buy to properly train customer service associates to review a customer's profile, understand their value and to take action that is fiscally responsible and that meets the customer's requirements to remain loyal.

However, until this happens, the sadder truth is, it's still the tenacious are more likely to get the service they deserve. While most of us aren't positioned to know how we're profiled in a store's database, there’s good news:

The visibility created by the internet, social networks and sites like "You Tube" are creating popular outlets for wronged and vocal customers. The exposure risk companies now face will only create more impetus for them to get customer service right the first time – and to invest in appropriately flexible customer service management policies and procedures.

I had an experience this week that serves as a great follow up to my previous article on scent marketing. Right now, I'm in San Francisco. I have been staying at the Four Points by Sheraton at the SFO Airport and commuting between downtown and San Jose.

Upon entering my hotel, I immediately noticed the scent of pie wafting from the lobby. In fact, the was pervasive in every corridor, inside my room, even outside the hotel and it didn't take long to suspect scent technology at work.

But first, I had to ask if they had pie at the restaurant. The waiter answered "only sometimes." Interested in how this related to the scent technology use, I inquired about the scent with the manager. He reluctantly admitted that Four Points is using scent technology to create a more home-like and welcoming atmosphere.

Oooh. Okay. Interesting. But here's what I noticed after four days...

The smell made me hungry

When I learned they had no pie, I then felt cheated!

The smell eventually became annoying - especially when I was not hungry. You know how you feel after you've eaten and the smell of your empty plate or leftovers turns you off? Yech.

The smell, combined with the stainless steel cleaner they used in the elevator, created a smell similar to that of VOMIT. That's not welcoming at all.

Okay, so good for Sheraton for wanting to create a more "home like and welcoming" envorinment. The thing is, this goes to show that a comforting smell itself isn't without some drawbacks. Further, smell alone isn't going to create the home like experience.

There's no doubt, smell can be terrific for memory recall - and can be used to reinforce experience. But what heppens when the experience fundamentals are missing and smell reinforces bad experience? Let's talk about a few of the fundmamentals gone wrong at this hotel:

Getting Settled.

The parking garage below the hotel has elevator access. Bad News: It is locked during the day! Those who have no room key must schlep out of the garage, up the hill, and around the building to the upstairs lobby carrying all their stuff. Grrr

Walk in and you're immediately confronted with a fancy set of five stairs with a curved facade.... separated by a brass railing. There's no ramp (although there's a lift for handicapped guests). This seems to defy logic since most people checking into a hotel are carrying luggage.

Upon entering my King Suite, I was confronted by about 15 more, rather narrow stairs that led to my sleeping loft. All I wanted to do was to find a bathroom and crash for a minute. Instead, I ended up hefting luggage up the steep incline to my sleeping quarters.

How about a cold, clammy bath?

For some reason, the company insisted on installing SPRINGS on all bathroom doors, which forced them to close behind you. I could not hear the phone or anything going on downstairs from inside the bathroom. I was forced to prop the door open with a trash can so I could listen for the phone and/or knocks from room service.

While the curved shower rods around the standard tub created a spacious shower interior, I was dismayed to find a freezing cold bathroom (no heater or controls there) and a shower with really POOR water pressure. Not only was the pressure bad, the water didn't get hot enough, leading to an unsatisfying shower and a freezing exit on to the cold, poorly cleaned travertine floor. This wasn't like home at all!!

The hotel boasted bath robes and spa products. My robe was hidden in the back of a closet and went unnoticed for days. I actually used the spa lotion and it was nice -- but my mostly-empty bottle was never replenished for me like they are at other hotels. This felt a bit "cheap" in the end. Why not put out the robe as a welcome and replenish the goodies for the guests?

Comnecting by phone.

The phones were improperly programmed in my room, making it very difficult to connect to the front desk, housekeeping or room service. The first time I dialed the front desk, I tried three times to get an answer. I got no answer, a hangup call, and then an annoyed response after more than 30 rings. It was only 9:45 pm.

And what to eat?

Beyond the fact that they pulled a bait and switch on the pie, the hotel's restaurant menu was uncreative and uninspired: Wings, hamburgers, fries, grilled chicken whatever... It was the same travel fare most of us road warriors are completely sick of. If they wanted to make the hotel feel more like home - why not offer home cooked meals, instead of the same, hotel fare you can find anywhere?

The point is that customers don't like to go through hoops - we don't have them in our home environment, and we'd rather not have to jump through them at a hotel. In fact, hoops are actually contrary to creating a home-like and welcoming experience.

For the marketers that dreamed up this experience: Is the scent of Fresh Baked Pie is going to make me feel positive when so many other aspects of the hotel experience were simply annoying? Did the company do ANY experience testing whatsoever with real customers - travel weary people, families, etc.?

Either Four Points is trying to create a more home-like experience that drives brand affinity and loyalty, or it is not. From my experience at this hotel, it looks to me like they built a lot of marketing hype around a hotel experience that may fail to deliver. The question is whether or not what I experienced is a limited set up hiccups related to this hotel only.