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Posted by Harley Manning on July 15, 2011
Over the past few weeks, Paul Hagen, Kerry Bodine, and I have been posting our takes on Forrester's Customer Experience Forum, 2011. We've included video of moments we like from 10 out of the 11 main-stage sessions (sadly, we don't have video of the Voice Of The Customer Awards, but at least we have a list of the winners!).
To give attendees and others an easy way to find the moments that matter to them, I've assembled this guide to our posts about the event. If you find these posts interesting, you can jump into the discussions that started at the forum in our online Forrester Community For Customer Experience Professionals.
"Customer Experience Is Personal"
Harley Manning, Vice President, Research Director, Forrester Research
Here's the man-on-the-street video I used in my opening remarks. We took a camera crew to Harvard Square and asked people to describe their best and worst customer experiences. Yikes!
"What Is the Right Customer Experience Strategy For Your Company?"
Paul Hagen, Principal Analyst, Forrester Research
What is a customer experience strategy? What is it good for? How can you recognize a good one? Hear Paul's answer, which sets the theme for the rest of the event.
"A Relentless Focus On Members"
Posted by Ron Rogowski on July 14, 2011
Today's digital landscape is complex. As companies use digital interfaces to engage with customers and foster long-term relationships, customer interactions are spanning an increasing array of touchpoints, with customers often crossing multiple channels in the pursuit of a single goal. While this new reality is riddled with challenges, it's also ripe with opportunities for companies that have a strategic plan for digital customer experience.
In a recent report, and subsequent Mashable article, I made the case that companies need to develop and execute digital customer experience strategies. As opposed to digital marketing strategies that focus mostly on what a company will provide and where, a digital customer experience strategy determines the "what" and the "where" based on the "who" and the "how." That is, a digital customer experience strategy balances company goals and strategy with user expectations (the "who") and describes the intended experience (the "how"). This, in turn, guides specific investments based on what customers need and a well-thought-out way of delivering on those needs that leaves a lasting positive impression.
Posted by Harley Manning on July 14, 2011
Late last year, I attended a workshop at a small but quite interesting conference in London. The two guys running the workshop separated the attendees into small groups where each of us took turns describing the worst customer experience we'd had, and then the best customer experience we'd had.
I thought it was a remarkably effective exercise, and I would have liked to try something like it at Forrester's Customer Experience Forum, 2011. Of course with roughly 1,200 attendees, we couldn't do that so instead we did the next best thing. A few weeks before our event we took a camera crew out to Harvard Square and asked some people on the street to tell us about their experiences.
Let me tell you a little bit about Harvard Square. It's right in the heart of the Harvard University campus, which is right in the heart of Cambridge, Mass. — a town that Amazon.com recently ranked as the country's most well-read city.
The day we were there, it was graduation week. So in addition to the usual students and tourists from around the world, we met parents there for their kids' graduation and alumni there for reunions.
We heard some fascinating stories, which led us to a few conclusions. For example, it's very hard to satisfy every customer, every time — even for a customer experience icon like Apple.
Hopefully that first segment scared you just a little because when companies get the customer experience wrong, it makes a big impact.
But of course, there's good news, too. When companies get the customer experience right, that also makes a big impact.