Tag: Technology

7 Essential Steps to Making Customer Experience Your Competitive Advantage

In a world where “experts” are derided, “truth” has become “post-truth” and “news” has become “fake news”, how do organisations become trusted partners with their customers?

In 2017, information has never been more readily available, and yet less trusted, by consumers. The 2016 Edelman Trust Barometer shows that just 28 per cent of Britons say they trust business leaders – and 59% would prefer a computer algorithm chose news for them than a human editor!

So, what should organisations do, to survive, and thrive, in this most competitive and unpredictable environment?

by Stephen Spencer

Always Be POSITIVE: Secrets of Customer Experience Success

My latest newsletter gives me the opportunity to share an interview I gave to Museums + Heritage Advisor magazine, sharing some of the lessons I’ve learned developing retail concepts for Buckingham Palace, the Tower of London, and other prestigious organisations over nearly 30 years.

I also share Baroness Karren Brady’s “6 Key Ingredients for Success”, gleaned from her appearance at the Spring Fair in Birmingham.

by Stephen Spencer

All You Need for 2017

My first newsletter of 2017 has a new look and a new focus. It’s inspired by a quotation given to me by my friend, futurist Nick Price:

“Customer Experience isn’t simply the quality & arrangement of assets. It’s their orchestration.”

So this month’s newsletter reflects three aspects of my mission:

“I help organisations orchestrate their assets so that everyone and everything plays to their full potential.”

by Stephen Spencer

Is it really the end of the high street store? 

Capgemini’s Digital Transformation Institute report “Making the Digital Connection: Why Retail Stores Need a Reboot” consulted 6,000 consumers and 500 retail executives from nine countries. The conclusion:

Customers are simply not getting what they expect from an in-store experience.”

Not only did 40% of respondents describe going shopping as “a chore”, amazingly, over one third would prefer to figure-6-2-systems-for-listening-to-customers stay at home and wash the dishes!

What a sorry state of affairs.

by Stephen Spencer

The Future of the Experience Economy, by Eventbrite’s CEO

This week I attended a conference, The Future of the Experience Economy, to discuss and learn how to succeed in the Experience Economy, what innovations will drive it forward, and how progressive brands can stay ahead of the curve to create incredible experiences that build loyal audiences.

Over the next few days I’ll publish some short posts sharing some of the highlights. Up first: Julia Hartz, CEO and Co-founder of Eventbrite, a global marketplace for live experiences that allows people to find and create events in 190 countries.

by Stephen Spencer

Customer Experience: Technology Alone Is Not Enough

The supermarket sector is, as everybody knows, facing an identity crisis: other than discounting, the majority of players seem to have little to offer their customers. Customers’ shopping habits have changed, yes – driven in part by economic factors and partly by the supermarkets’ own proliferation of convenience stores. Yet the sector’s response is exemplified by Sainsbury’s partnership with Argos. Forgive me if I yawn! Surely the supermarkets need to look beyond technological innovation and partnerships with other brands, and explore ways to create genuinely exciting, life-enhancing experiences for their customers?

by Stephen Spencer