Claire Hillman, a loyal listener, a subscriber to our NL, Why Customers Buy,  and viewer of our podcast on our new YouTube Channel is in a pickle and needs our help. She asks, Should I move to where my customers are or move them to where I want to be? 

Now, our first reaction was to tell Claire that she should absolutely meet customers where they are. After all, isn’t that the customer-centric thing to do? 

However, it occurred to us that at one time, we waited in line at the airport to check in, wrote out our bills on paper checks to mail back through snail mail, and bought DVDs and CDs that we had to store on specially made racks in our homes. 

We did these things because we hadn’t moved to digital check-in, automatic bill payment, and streaming. If organizations hadn’t moved us to these efficient and easy ways to simplify these tasks, we might still be making small talk with the airline employee or licking envelopes.

Since we see that many things that we do today are not the way we used to do things—and realize how much better the experiences are with the new way—it might not be the best things to meet customers where they are. Instead, it might be better to move them where you want them to be. 

In this episode, we explore the finer points of moving customers to where they want to be and how to manage this process for your organization. You might be surprised to know that giving customers exactly what they want isn’t always the best way to handle your customer strategy. 

Key Ideas to Improve your Customer Experience

Another area where some customers might have not realized was a benefit to them is Self-Service, particularly at the supermarket. However, other customers are never going to want to serve themselves there. What is happening here is the idea of customer segmentation. Some customers love taking matters into their own hands; others feel like it’s losing something from the experience to have to handle things themselves. How you move these groups to where you want them to be requires a careful look at the value you bring to the experience and framing the change in a way that appeals to each segment. 

Here are a few other key moments in the discussion:

• 02:51  We learn about Claire’s pickle and how our first reaction was replaced with the idea that it depends on where your customers are and where you are trying to move them.  
• 4:50  Colin shares a story about how self-service at a supermarket showed him how organizations train customers to try new services and having front-line employees there is a great way to do it. 
• 07:58  We discuss how customer segmentation and understanding what customers value is an essential part of managing the process for moving customers, or you can move some of them right out the door.
• 13:57  Colin describes how he gets his wife Lorraine to update her iOS on the iPhone, a task she detests, by showing her a couple of new features she is sure to value, which is a great example of what to do with customers.
• 16:48  Colin explains how the Focus feature that came out on Apple’s last iOS for the iPhone demonstrated how different people care about different things (customer segments), so getting them to change using the same strategy can be difficult.
• 23:22  Ryan explains how meeting customer might also mean taking into consideration their cognitive state, and what resources they have for deciding to move forward when you position the change.
• 26:15  We both share our practical advice for what you can do with this information to move customers where you need them to be. 

Do you have a business pickle? Tell us about it here.

Please tell us how we are doing! Complete this short survey. 

Customer Experience Information & Resources

LinkedIn recognizes Colin Shaw as one of the 'World's Top 150 Business Influencers.' As a result, he has 290,000 followers of his work. Shaw is Founder and CEO of Beyond Philosophy LLC, which helps organizations unlock growth by discovering customers' hidden, unmet needs that drive value ($). The Financial Times selected Beyond Philosophy as one of the best management consultancies for the last four years in a row. Follow Colin on LinkedIn and Twitter.

Click here to learn more about Professor Ryan Hamilton of Emory University. 

Why Customers Buy: As an official "Influencer" on LinkedIn, Colin writes a regular newsletter on all things Customer Experience. Click here to join the other 35,000 subscribers. 

How can we help?

Click here to learn more about Beyond Philosophy's Suite of Services.

General Show Notes:

Practical Advice on How to Influence People: 6 Key Principles

Many years ago, Robert Cialdini introduced the principles of influence. Today they are crucial skills for salespeople worldwide. They are also foundational to your Customer Experience. If you enrich your experience with these principles, which include things like learning to genuinely like other people and encouraging a favorable environment for reciprocity by your sincere generosity, you can benefit your bottom line. 

In this episode of The Intuitive Customer podcast, we speak to our guest Brian Ahearn, CMCT^®, Chief Influence Officer at Influence People about Cialdini’s Six Principles of Influence. We discuss how you can use them to create the experience you want that will deliver the customer-driven growth you need. 

Key Takeaways 

There are six fundamental principles of influence, according to Cialdini. These are what Ahearn uses in his work to help people strengthen relationships, overcome uncertainty, and motivate other people to action. They include:

1. The Principle of Liking. Many people make the mistake of thinking this principle is about getting other people to like you, but it isn’t. What Cialdini is saying is that if you genuinely like other people and communicate this fact to others, it will set the stage for a relationship that can move forward. 
2. The Principle of Reciprocity. When people do something for us, we often feel like we should return the favor. However, these feelings of reciprocity only occur when we feel like the other person is sincerely helping us, not just trying to get something out of us. Ahearn says that this principle is about helping other people get what they want, not getting what you want in return. Ahearn explains when you demonstrate sincere generosity these things you want will come back to you naturally as a result. 
3. The Principle of Authority. When we feel like someone is an expert in something, we appreciate their advice more. It’s why we hire a CPA to file our taxes and go to the doctor when we have symptoms. We want sound guidance, and it saves us a lot of time to get it from an expert. Making yourself an authority in a relevant area to people makes you a credible resource with advice others want to hear.
4. The Principle of Social Proof. There is an evolutionary imperative in the idea of safety in numbers. Therefore, showing people how other people just like them have taken action and enjoyed a significant benefit as a result, is a compelling motivator for all of us humans. 
5. The Principle of Consistency. We all want to believe that we are as good as our word. When we agree to something, most of us intend to deliver and feel great shame when we don’t. So, gaining agreement to move forward in some way is an excellent way to persuade people to change their behavior. They want to live up to your expectations—and their own. 
6. The Principle of Scarcity. In the time of our COVID-19 pandemic, we all have seen plenty of customer behavior motivated by feelings of Scarcity. We all want to have what we need when we need it. Creating feelings that a person needs to act to have what they need before it’s gone is a strong motivator for action. However, Ahearn cautions that it is essential to keep people working together instead of in competition. If you don’t believe him, consider the empty shelves of toilet rolls in stores as of late.

Recommended Actions

We often talk about the psychological principles that are behind the customer behavior inspired by  Cialdini’s 6 Principles of Influence. Your customer-facing teams must recognize this behavior and its motivations. We recommend training your employees in the soft-skills of emotional intelligence and the concepts of Behavioral Economics, in a program like our Memory Maker Training, so that they can manage it to a better place for your organization. 

For his part, Ahearn advises us to stop telling people what to do and start asking. This minor adjustment in your approach can make a major difference in your ability to persuade other people to do what you want. Moreover, he tells you to have a fallback position if the person cannot agree with your original request. That way, you have a better chance of still moving forward with your desired action, even if you don’t get agreement for what you originally asked.  

For my part, I believe talking to people on a human level, with empathy and an eye toward helping others, we can meet everybody’s needs—and that includes your need for customer-driven growth. 

To discuss this further contact us at www.BeyondPhilosophy.com

About Beyond Philosophy:

Beyond Philosophy help organizations unlock growth by discovering customers' hidden, unmet needs that drive value ($). We then capitalize on this by improving your customer experience to meet these needs thereby retaining and acquiring new customers across the market.

This podcast is produced by Resonate Recordings. Click here find out more.

Are we thinking less in the age of information overload? In this episode of The Intuitive Customer, Colin Shaw and Professor Ryan Hamilton discuss the hidden dangers of short-term thinking in customer experience. Businesses are obsessed with quick fixes, but is this addiction to fast results actually damaging long-term success?

Join us as we explore why short-form content gives the illusion of learning, why deep understanding requires more than a 30-second soundbite, and how behavioral science can transform your customer experience for the long haul.

From the pitfalls of Net Promoter Score (NPS) to the psychological magic of the Peak-End Rule, this episode is packed with insights that will change how you approach CX. Plus, hear why Colin thinks AI could be the modern-day version of Google Maps—and why that’s not necessarily a good thing!

Quote of the Episode

“Shortcuts create a false sense of progress. Just because something looks easy doesn’t mean it actually works.”

Key Takeaways:

🔹 Short-form content is tricking us into thinking we’re learning – but real understanding takes time, effort, and curiosity.

🔹 Net Promoter Score (NPS) isn’t the holy grail – It’s useful, but without deeper analysis, it’s just another vanity metric.

🔹 The Peak-End Rule explains why customers remember emotions, not experiences – Learn how to optimize key moments in your CX journey.

🔹 AI is a powerful tool, but it’s not a substitute for real thinking – Automation is helpful, but businesses that over-rely on it risk becoming robotic and disconnected.

🔹 Long-term relationships matter more than quick wins – Sustainable customer loyalty is built through trust, emotional connection, and meaningful engagement.

About the Hosts:

Colin Shaw is a LinkedIn 'Top Voice' with a massive 284,000 followers and 86,000 subscribers to his 'Why Customers Buy' newsletter. Shaw is named one of the world's 'Top 150 Business Influencers' by LinkedIn. His company, Beyond Philosophy LLC, has been selected four times by the Financial Times as a top management consultancy. Shaw is co-host of the top 1.5% podcast 'The Intuitive Customer'—with over 600,000 downloads—and author of eight best-sellers on customer experience, Shaw is a sought-after keynote speaker. Follow Colin on LinkedIn.

Ryan Hamilton is a Professor of Marketing at Emory University's Goizueta Business School and co-author of 'The Intuitive Customer' book. An award-winning teacher and researcher in consumer psychology, he has been named one of Poets & Quants' "World’s Best 40 B-School Profs Under 40." His research focuses on how brands, prices, and choice architecture influence shopper decision-making, and his findings have been published in top academic journals and covered by major media outlets like The New York Times and CNN. His work highlights how psychology can help firms better understand and serve their customers. Ryan has a new book launch in June 2025 called “The Growth Dilemma: Managing Your Brand When Different Customers Want Different Things” Harvard Business Press Follow Ryan on LinkedIn.

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Episode Summary:

In this special end-of-year episode, Colin Shaw and Professor Ryan Hamilton reflect on 2024, sharing personal and professional lessons learned throughout the year. The conversation dives into themes of resilience in both life and customer experience, the vital role of community, the need for balance, and the hype surrounding AI. 

Key Takeaways:

• Resilience Matters: Colin discusses how personal resilience during a home crisis parallels the resilience required in customer experience. He explains how understanding customers' emotional journeys (e.g., the grief cycle) can improve support and satisfaction.

• Community is Key: Both hosts underscore how community support during tough times can be mirrored in the business world, where fostering a sense of community can strengthen customer loyalty.

• Communication & Transparency: Ryan shares insights on the role of clear communication in managing customer expectations and protecting processes. It’s not just about better ideas; it’s also about maintaining trust.

• Balanced Approach: Colin and Ryan advocate for a balanced customer experience strategy that combines quantitative measures with a focus on emotional and behavioral insights, and a mix of human interaction with technology.

• AI and the Hype Trap: Colin warns against getting swept up in the AI hype. While AI holds great promise, organizations should prioritize strategic, integrated implementations over rushing to adopt the latest tools

About the Hosts:

Colin Shaw is a LinkedIn 'Top Voice' with a massive 284,000 followers and 86,000 subscribers to his 'Why Customers Buy' newsletter. Shaw is named one of the world's 'Top 150 Business Influencers' by LinkedIn. His company, Beyond Philosophy LLC, has been selected four times by the Financial Times as a top management consultancy. Shaw is co-host of the top 1.5% podcast 'The Intuitive Customer'—with over 600,000 downloads—and author of eight best-sellers on customer experience; Shaw is a sought-after keynote speaker.

Subscribe & Follow

Apple Podcasts

Spotify

Like the rest of the world, the Customer Experience world is changing. Customers have new expectations and are doing business in new ways. While we adapt to the world that COVID-19 presents, we change what we want as customers and how we think about our relationships with the entities we buy. As Customer Experience managers, we must rise to meet this challenge by getting inside our customers' minds. 

This episode of The Intuitive Customer hosts Lewis Carbone, Customer Experience expert and speaker, and founder of ExpereinceEngineering™. His book,  Clued In: How to Keep Customers Coming Back Again and Again, discusses his methodology for designing into your experience clues that signal to your customers that you have what they are looking for, so they keep coming back for more. 

Key Takeaways 

Carbone shared several essential insights from his decades in the field of Customer Experience. Here is a quick summary of what he had to say:

• The unconscious mind makes decisions long before the conscious mind rationalizes it. Many decisions we make happen at a primitive, emotional level, per Carbone. Therefore, it is essential to build your Customer Experiences on this foundational principle to increase your emotional engagement with customers. 
• Few companies are using this principle as their foundation, even still today. Many companies know that customer emotion is vital to experiences, but they still don't emphasize them in their day-to-day. Carbone says this is because they don't know what to do, so they stick to methods with which they are comfortable. 
• Knowing how customers think is more valuable than what they think. Carbone believes that once you have the code for customer decision-making, you can unlock how to give customers what they want and evoke the emotion you want them to feel. 
• The clues you leave in an experience help you achieve this outcome. Carbone shares the example of how the toilet paper triangle signals a freshly-cleaned hotel bathroom. If he ever uses his bathroom for the first time and the paper doesn't have a triangle, Carbone wonders who was there before him or if the staff forgot to clean the room. In other words, if the clues you leave send the wrong signal, you evoke the wrong emotions. 

Recommended Actions

Carbone says that when it comes to the next evolution of Customer Experience, it is essential that organizations and individuals who seek to manage them should increase their self-awareness of how well they understand the field. The behavioral sciences are crucial to help you design experience that leaves the appropriate clues. 

Carbone also shared his Five Absolutes for Customer Experience Management, which include:

1. Moving from the idea of "making and selling" to the concept of "sensing and responding is the best approach.
2. Considering the emotional and rational bonds you have with customers is essential. 
3. Ensuring that you understand and leverage the role the unconscious mind plays in customer decision-making is foundational to your design.
4. Becoming "Clue Conscious" of signals your experience sends in the language you use, physical space characteristics, and gestures by employees, among others, is critical to your success.
5. Developing a robust system for clue management, along with a Clue-Conscious culture, is vital for your organization. 

Also, an outside perspective can help. As global Customer Experience consultants, we find that we can see experiences with new eyes. We often engage in what we call Customer Experience Health Checks, which involves us walking the experience as if we are customers, and conducting internal interviews to get an idea of the company culture. Then, we present our recommendations based on what we discover.

Finally, remember to design not only for fixing problems but also for customer motivations. Whether it's feeling safe or feeling cared for, knowing what motivates customers to do business with you helps you design the right experience to give it to them. Solving problems often have too narrow a scope; widening your perspective will yield better results in the long-term. 

To discuss this further contact us at www.BeyondPhilosophy.com

About Beyond Philosophy:

Beyond Philosophy help organizations unlock growth by discovering customers' hidden, unmet needs that drive value ($). We then capitalize on this by improving your customer experience to meet these needs thereby retaining and acquiring new customers across the market.

This podcast is produced by Resonate Recordings. Click here find out more.

A massive gap exists. It widens every second between what customers expect and what many organizations can provide as we come out of the COVID-19 pandemic. If companies don't figure out what the future of their experience looks like pretty quickly, they face the grim reality that they will be watching from across a chasm as their profits and customer-driven growth fall into it in 2021. 

Verint, the voice of customer experts for over 25 years, has recent research from respondents worldwide and across industries that indicates most companies are confused about what to do. Their respondents indicated that 82% believe the challenges of managing customer engagement and experience will get more difficult this year. The majority of them, 74 percent, didn't hire their planned new hires last year because of COVID and the related economic uncertainty. Moreover, only half say they are prepared for the rest of this year. 

Verint's Nancy Porte, VP Global Customer Experience, CCXP, joins us in this episode to discuss the research. She explains what is happening, why this perfect storm of factors has backed organizations into a corner, and what they can do about it to join the few companies that have it figured out.  (Hint: Customer Science is important here.)

Key Ideas to Improve your Customer Experience 

Porte says Verint undertook this research because of several factors, not just the end of the pandemic. Before we ever heard of SARS-CoV-2, we were experiencing a digital disruption to business as usual. This disruption accelerated during the pandemic out of necessity, but not every company has succeeded. Also, many organizations saw a change in customer behavior to which they were not prepared to respond. Moreover, companies were experiencing changes in the workforce that were generational and compounded by a sudden work-from-home environment. All of these factors contributed to the environment organizations face today. 

Here are a few critical moments in the discussion with Porte:

• 04:53     Porte shares some surprising statistics that emerged from the research about the state of companies today.
• 12:14     Porte explains why she thinks companies feel unprepared to meet customer expectations in the coming months. 
• 14:48     We discuss the role technology can and should play in the future of Customer Experiences that meet customers’ expectations.
• 24:04     Colin talks about a critical and often over-looked aspect of choosing a technology partner for your CX design.
• 26:44     We talk about the pitfalls of data silos for the future of predictive analytics for customer behavior.
• 32:03      We share what you should do with this information to avoid letting all your success fall into the gap in 2021. 

Please tell us how we are doing! Complete this short survey. 

Customer Experience Information & Resources

This podcast is sponsored by Verint.

Verint helps the world’s most iconic brands build enduring customer relationships by connecting work, data, and experiences across the enterprise. The Verint Customer Engagement Cloud Platform draws on the latest advancements in AI and analytics, an open cloud architecture, and The Science of Customer Engagement to meet ever-increasing, ever-shifting consumer interactions and demands.

Download the new Verint research report on the Engagement Capacity Gap, by visiting www.Verint.com/boundless 

Customer engagement is critical to your success. Join this three-day, virtual conference to discover tools and techniques that can help you build enduring customer relationships. Register at www.Verint.com/engage

LinkedIn recognizes Colin Shaw as one of the 'World's Top 150 Business Influencers.' As a result, he has 289,000 followers of his work. Shaw is Founder and CEO of Beyond Philosophy LLC, which helps organizations unlock growth by discovering customers' hidden, unmet needs that drive value ($). The Financial Times selected Beyond Philosophy LLC as one of the best management consultancies for the last two years. Follow Colin on Linkedin and Twitter.

Click here to learn more about Professor Ryan Hamilton of Emory University. 

Why Customers Buy: As an official "Influencer" on LinkedIn, Colin writes a regular newsletter on all things Customer Experience. Click here to join the other 22,000 subscribers. 

Experience Health Check: You already have an experience, even if you weren't deliberate about it. Our Experience Health Check can help you understand what you have today. Colin or one of our team can assess your digital or physical Customer Experience, interacting with your organization as a customer to define what is good and what needs improving. Then, they will provide a list of recommendations for critical next steps for your organization. Click here to learn more. 

How can we help?

Click here to learn more about Beyond Philosophy's Suite of Services.

Per Statista, the amount of e-commerce losses to online payment fraud in 2022 since 2020 is $41 billion. If you think that is bad, get this: it’s supposed to rise to $48 billion by the end of this year. 

But wait, there’s more. Messente, a dedicated business messaging platform, notes the surge in package delivery scams. TransUnion's published a study that unveiled a staggering 1500% spike in shipping fraud between 2019 and 2021, likely spurred by the flourishing ecommerce landscape and the surge in digital solutions post-pandemic. What’s more, a 2023 study highlighted that nearly half of all fraudulent emails and texts revolved around package delivery. 

Clearly, fraud is on the rise and that means organizations have to protect themselves. So, two-factor authentication, text confirmations, codes, and retinal scans (not really) should be part of every transaction then, right?

Not so fast. Customers don’t like getting hassled during their purchases with extra steps or queries that question whether they are who they say they are. Some might get annoyed enough to create some significant abandonment issues in your e-commerce channel.

So, how do you balance the need to prevent fraudulent activity in your interactions with customers and the need to provide and easy and excellent customer experience? In this episode, managing partner and CEO of Messente Uku Tomikas joins us to explain.

Here are some other key moments in the discussion:

• 05:07 Tomikas explains that the next big thing in fraud is using AI for it; marking perhaps the first use of AI in customer experiences that Colin isn’t enthusiastic about.

• 07:07 We begin our discussion about how to be diligent about fraud and security while still providing an easy and excellent customer experience.

• 13:00 Tomikas explains how organizations are handling this balancing act currently and how their efforts can unwittingly make it easier for fraud to occur.  

• 21:03 We talk about the particulars of how AI can get into the mix with these tricks and personalize the fraud attempts. 

• 27:17  We share the practical advice we have for organizations to deal with this threat without driving customers around the bend with security hurdles. 

This has been created in partnership with Messente.

About Colin Shaw

LinkedIn recognizes Colin Shaw as one of the 'World's Top 150 Business Influencers.' As a result, he has over 294,000 followers and 78,000 subscribers to his LinkedIn newsletter ‘Why Customers Buy’. The Financial Times selected Beyond Philosophy as one of the best management consultancies for four years. 

Colin is a renown keynote speaker and undertakes consultancy work and educational workshops to help organizations improve their Customer Experience. 

Click here to learn more about Professor Ryan Hamilton of Emory University. 

How can we help?

Click here to learn more about Beyond Philosophy's Suite of Services.

Please tell us how we are doing! Complete this short survey. 

Taking unproven routes can lead to exciting new possibilities. However, it could also lead to potential failure. That's what makes life interesting, isn't it?

 Optimistic thinking has led to groundbreaking achievements, like the moon landing in the 1960s. However, it's important to strike a balance between hope and realism. 

In today's episode, we explore the concept of optimism bias and how it plays a role in the "AI Hype Cycle." We discuss the pros and cons of optimism and why it can be risky and rewarding. 

For those of you who don't watch MBA videos as a hobby, this video summarizes the Hype Cycle's importance and how it relates to the recent trend toward leveraging Big Data. 

So, what is this hype cycle we keep referring to?

 The Gartner Hype Cycle maps out the lifecycle of new technologies, including artificial intelligence (AI). Starting with initial media excitement, the Hype Cycle often leads to inflated expectations, followed by disillusionment as challenges arise. However, innovation doesn't stop there. As understanding improves, we reach a more balanced "slope of enlightenment," eventually leading to the "plateau of productivity," where technology adoption becomes more widespread and realistic.

The discussion touches on AI's current status in the Hype Cycle, questioning whether we are at a turning point where initial optimism is waning. Some organizations overestimate the short-term benefits of AI, hoping it will be the silver bullet to solve all their problems, only to face disappointment when things don't work out as expected. 

Like many other innovations, AI is more complex to implement than initially imagined, and optimism can sometimes blind organizations to its true limitations. Managing expectations is key: while optimism is necessary to drive change and innovation, one must temper it with caution and realistic planning. 

Ultimately, this episode encourages listeners to temper optimism with practicality regarding new technologies like AI. Small, calculated risks are encouraged, but organizations should avoid placing all their bets on one solution. Balance is key to navigating the Hype Cycle successfully.

More Key Points Discussed in This Episode:

• Understanding the pros and cons of optimism bias in business decision-making.

• An overview of the Gartner Hype Cycle and how it applies to AI.

• Why the initial excitement around AI may not meet short-term expectations.

• The risk of overhyping new technologies and the consequences of inflated expectations.

• The importance of balancing optimism with realism in the implementation of AI.

• Strategies for navigating the Hype Cycle without falling victim to disillusionment.

5 New Rules Guaranteed to Build Trust

A lot of Behavioral Economics can feel intimidating. However, it doesn’t have to be. The Five Rules Podcast Series is our attempt at giving you an easy entry point into the complex and messy world of Behavioral Science.

When you choose to do business with a company, which do you prefer, Company A, that you trust, or Company B, that you don’t? If you chose A, then you chose wisely—and you decided to like your customers would. 

People like to do business with people, brands, or organizations they trust. This episode of The Intuitive Customer shares our five new rules guaranteed to build trust. With trust, you can have the kind of relationship that yields the customer behavior you want to get the customer-driven growth you need. 

What Are The Five Rules?

The five rules guaranteed to build trust are not complicated. Instead, the rules are simple, or at least simple to say. Doing them is a bit more complicated—but still not that hard. Here are the five rules:

The 5 New Rules Guaranteed to Build Trust

1. Remember that trust is earned, not given. 

2. Be authentic.

3. Be transparent.

4. Do what you say are going to do.

5. Be consistent.

What Should You Do With Them? 

Remember that trust is earned and not given. If you think about it, none of us start off trusting people (in general), which is especially true with businesses. However, if you approach customers with a deliberate strategy with specific actions designed to build your credibility, you can earn people’s trust and deepen your relationship with them. 

 Be authentic. You can build trust when you are genuine with people. However, people still won’t necessarily believe you are sincere. So, one way to show your authenticity is to offer a contract. Contracts can provide peace of mind that you mean what you say, and if you don’t deliver, the customer has recourse. Contracts also help customers relax and let you do what you do without feeling the need to watch you or micromanage the project, which gives everyone a little more room to work.  

Be transparent. Along with authenticity, letting the customers know everything is another way to prove you are genuine. This policy includes lousy news. There is no point in hiding bad news; the customer will find out anyway, and it will be that much worse that they didn’t find out from you. The same goes for mistakes; admitting them and trying to correct them goes a long way to prove that you are a trustworthy company or individual that customers can rely on. Furthermore, suppose you have a good standing with your customers, what Stephen Covey’s book The Seven Habits of Highly Effective People calls an emotional bank account, customers will usually forgive your mistake without losing trust. 

Do what you say you are going to do. Actions speak louder than words. So saying you are going to do something isn’t enough; you have to do it. If you always do what you say you are going to do, people will learn to trust your words.  

Provide consistency. The continual delivery of customers’ expectations leads to trust. Moreover, it makes a brand promise that can follow you all over the world. For example, people know when they go to a Hilton anywhere in the world, they will get roughly the same level of experience. Another example is being consistent about many of the little things in a Customer Experience. For example, when we choose a specialist for medical care, we don’t always know if they are “good” at their job. However, we do know that the office appears organized, that they always listen when we talk and look us in the eye when they speak to us. While these little things do not tell us explicitly that they are good at what they do, they do indicate a level of trustworthiness that helps us move forward without as much stress about it. Don’t forget all the little things when you are interacting with customers, because what seems like an irrelevant detail might have more impact on your relationship with customers than you might think. 

To discuss this further contact us at www.BeyondPhilosophy.com

About Beyond Philosophy:

Beyond Philosophy help organizations unlock growth by discovering customers' hidden, unmet needs that drive value ($). We then capitalize on this by improving your customer experience to meet these needs thereby retaining and acquiring new customers across the market.

This podcast is produced by Resonate Recordings. Click here find out more.

Customer expect different things. Its a constantly moving goal. How do we keep up with these? Colin Shaw and Professor Ryan Hamilton discuss this and other topics.

This Podcast produced in partnership with Zuper™.

You are probably underestimating the importance of a vital part of your Customer experience. Most organizations do. However, neglecting to address it can have negative impact on your customer satisfaction, customer loyalty, and customer advocacy. 

Dying to know what it could be? Well, the area that is often underestimated in importance is the impact of your field service engineers. Often the face of your company, these team members deliver a critical part of your customer interaction. Underestimating the significance of this part of your experience is a critical mistake. 

Field service is a term not everyone is familiar with. However, you are familiar with them even if you don’t know what they are called. Field service describes the people that install, repair, and upgrade your equipment. Their ubiquity is such that they are a part of everyday life. In fact, you probably saw a few at work in some capacity today; you just didn’t know what they were called. 

In this episode, we host an expert in Field Service on our recent podcast, Michael Israel (MichaelIsrael@Zuper.co), Head of Field Service Evangelism at Zuper. Israel has worked in customer and field service for over 50 years. He has managed domestic and international field service operations, including 12 years at IBM. He's also been in management and executive roles with Customer Relationship Management (CRM) providers and field service software applications with Oracle and SAP. 

Here are some other key moments in the discussion:

• 02:05 Colin introduce Israel, and Israel shares some of his related experience that led him to becoming an expert in Field Service, as well as what the area entails. 
• 10:11  We get into a discussion of the changing attitude for the service side of a customer experience, from viewing it as a cost to seeing it as profit center.
• 20:38  Colin asks why more organizations don’t embrace adopting software to manage this part of the experience; Israel’s response might surprise you.  
• 24:23 We discuss the opportunity for a lot of companies regarding training and who does a good job with leveraging performance in this area.
• 27:29  Israel gives us a glimpse into the future of field service and what technology will do to enhance this critical area. 
• 30:37  We all share our key takeaways and practical applications for organizations that want to address field service in their experiences.

_________________________________________________________________

Did you know we have a YouTube Channel too? Check it out here.

Connect with Colin on LinkedIn HERE.

Follow Colin on Twitter HERE.

Click HERE to learn more about Professor Ryan Hamilton of Emory University. 

To learn more about Beyond Philosophy's Suite of Services Click here.

The 5 Rules for Making and Managing Customer Memories

A lot of Behavioral Economics can feel intimidating. However, it doesn’t have to be. The Five Rules Podcast Series is our attempt at giving you an easy entry point into the complex and messy world of Behavioral Science.

What Are The Five Rules?

I love the subject of customer memories.  From how they form to how they change to how they drive your customer loyalty, customer memories are a crucial aspect of your Customer Experience. Knowing the role your Customer Experience design plays in the formation of customer memories is critical to enabling customer-driven growth. Here are the five rules to bear in mind when making and managing customer memories:

Five Rules for Making and Managing Customer Memories

1. Embrace that we don't choose between experiences, but between the memories we have of experiences. 
2. Emotions create memories.
3. Map your customers' "fishing nets."  
4. Define what you want a customer to remember. 
5. Discover how your customers retrieve their memories. 

What Should You Do With Them?

Embrace that we don't choose between experiences, but between the memories we have of experiences. Full disclosure, this rule is not mine. Professor Daniel Kahneman, Nobel-prize winning economist, came up with it. It is a foundational element of your entire Customer Experience strategy. If you think about it, memories are what make us who we are. Moreover, memory is how we learn and what we use to make future decisions. For all of these reasons, it is essential to have a plan for making customer memories that drive value for your organization.

Emotions create memories. How you feel affects memories in two main ways. The first way is that the strength of the emotion is the catalyst for memory formation. Those things you feel most strongly about are what you remember. The other stuff you didn’t have strong emotions about? Not so much.  The second way feelings affect memories is that they are essential. Professor Kahneman gave us the Peak-End rule, which says that what forms a memory is the peak (or most intense) emotion you felt and how you felt at the end. Therefore, we encourage you to determine what peak emotion you want customers to feel and when, and how you want them to feel when the experience concludes. Then, we want you take deliberate actions to deliver these emotions to customers.

Map your customers' "fishing nets."  There is also the idea that your memories are part of networks, which means that memories connect to one another. An analogy we use to describe this is a fishing net. If each memory is a knot in the fishing net, the connected memories are the knots that are attached to it. Now, if you imagine you have hold of a knot in a fishing net and you are drawing it up to the surface of a shallow pool, you can see that the connected knots will rise with the knot you are holding. Some knots will break the surface while the others hang out just below. We like to think of the knots above the surface of the water as conscious memories, and the ones below are subconscious memories. We want you to see if you can discover what memories customers will associate with the memory of your experience and use that to your advantage in your Customer Experience design.

Define what you want a customer to remember. There are practicalities to consider regarding managing customers’ memories. First, choose what you want the customer to remember. Second, have strategies in place to reinforce these memories. For example, if you manage a theme park and you know your experience has a strong emotion at a particular moment, like the top of the roller coaster as the cars start to plummet down, how can you help customers remember it? Many theme parks have identified that moment as a strong emotion and have cameras that take photos so their guests can see themselves in that thrilling moment right after they get off the ride. Even if the customer doesn’t purchase the pic, that photo reinforces the exhilarating moment in the guests’ memory right away.   

Research can help you find these valuable moments in your experience to reinforce. Moreover, research can help you focus on the areas in your Customer Experience that give you the most impact first. Our  Emotional Signature^®  Research defines what drives value for your customers emotionally. Then, you can look at the customer process to see when there are moments with potential to evoke that emotion.

Discover how your customers retrieve their memories. Helping your customers create fabulous memories of your experience does not do you any good if they do not remember them at the right time. Understanding how your customers recall experiences is essential. Remember the fishing net analogy we shared? We want them to pull the right knot at the right time and associate the memory to a moment when they make a buying decision in your area. Also, you should be aware that every time a customer accesses a memory, they re-remember it. This tendency can make the intensity of emotions increase. It's great when they get more positive. However, if you experience has the customer repeat what went wrong over and over to different members of your customer service team, you could be making a bad memory worse.

To discuss this further contact us at www.BeyondPhilosophy.com

About Beyond Philosophy:

Beyond Philosophy help organizations unlock growth by discovering customers' hidden, unmet needs that drive value ($). We then capitalize on this by improving your customer experience to meet these needs thereby retaining and acquiring new customers across the market.

This podcast is produced by Resonate Recordings. Click here find out more.

Is your data ready? Is your team ready? Are you ready? Being ready is critical to the successful implementation of artificial intelligence (AI) to improve your customer experience.

The next competitive battleground for organizations will be predictive experiences, or experiences that anticipate customers’ needs. The ability to make these predictions is AI-driven. However, to do so accurately requires data, lots of quality data. 

Herein lies the rub for many organizations. Their data house is full of siloed data and isn’t ready for AI analysis. So, firms need to be sure that they address this challenge before devoting a ton of time and resources to the implementation. 

However, there is another challenge, too. Many organizations might think they want to implement AI, because it’s so cool and people like to have the coolest, newest thing. But, in some cases, AI might not be the best fit. It isn’t magic; it has some things it does well and some that it doesn’t. Knowing what problems your organization has can help you decide whether AI can do the right things for you right now. 

There’s a lot to consider before implementing AI in your customer experience. What ready means and how AI can improve customer experience are two areas that are not always well understood by organizations. Moreover, the size of the firm has little to do with the understanding; big companies are struggling the same way little ones are, albeit in different areas. 

 In this episode, we host The Agile Brand podcast host  Greg Kihlstrom, (www.gregkihlstrom.com) Principal Chief Strategies for GK5A, on this week’s episode to explain how organizations can get ready and what AI is positioned to provide organizations.

Here are some other key moments in the discussion:

• 03:45  We ask Kihlstrom to explain some of the common issues he sees in the introduction of AI and technology. 

• 09:25 Ryan lead Kihlstrom into talking about how organizations are faring with implementation, who is and isn’t having a great go at it, and where it is going in the future. 

• 20:19  Kihlstrom explains how the most innovative companies are using AI to the extent it can provide proactive experiences.   

• 25:49  Colin shares his worries that too many organizations will not use a unified approach in implementation.

• 35:25  We all share our advice about implementation and what organizations should do to make this work for them.

_________________________________________________________________

Did you know we have a YouTube Channel too? Check it out here.

Connect with Colin on LinkedIn HERE.

Follow Colin on Twitter HERE.

Click HERE to learn more about Professor Ryan Hamilton of Emory University. 

To learn more about Beyond Philosophy's Suite of Services Click here.

We all know that feeling when you see which client is calling and you inwardly groan, What is wrong now? Some customer relationships are more difficult than others, for sure. That is to be expected in any organization. 

However, there are other customer relationships that have moved beyond difficult. The costs of the resources it takes to manage the many aspects of doing business with them has outgrown the revenue the generate. Or they are so heinous to deal with that the money you do make doesn’t feel worth it for the toll it takes on your people and organization. 

With customers like these, it might be time to fire them. 

In this episode, we talk about our listener Robert’s problem with difficult customer relationships and when it is time to call it quits. Moreover, we discuss the best possible way to handle this tricky process that can keep you from burning that bridge entirely, even when there are days when you would be all too happy to light that match.

Key Ideas to Improve your Customer Experience

Every customer relationship has two general areas to consider. First, there is the financial aspect. Are they making your organization money? Sometimes, when you determine the costs of the resources it takes to maintain the account, you discover that they aren’t, which makes your decision less difficult. Second, there is the interpersonal aspect. Are they making you and your people miserable? If servicing the account means that you have high turnover in the account management positions that deal with the customer, as well as throughout the organization, it might be worth it to reassess the relationship. We discuss these areas, as well as other considerations in the decision process. 

Here are a few key moments in the discussion:

• 04:53  We learn about Robert and his business problem with difficult customers and when to know it’s time to move on.
• 07:13  We start by agreeing that there are customers who should be fired and how you can identify those situations from a rational perspective.
• 11:48  Colin shares an example of who shouldn’t be in on the decision to fire a customer and who would be better suited with the task, and why.   
• 16:11  We discuss the key traps to avoid in this decision process, so you can make a decision that will not cost you more in the long run.
• 21:38  Colin shares a seven-step process for letting a customer go as gracefully as possible.  
• 27:29. Ryan shares some tips for managing your reputation during the transition.
• 30:46  Colin shares one last tip for what you should do to avoid this situation in the future.     

Do you have a business problem you would like our help with? Please contact us to tell us about it. We may solve it with you and our listening audience on the podcast!

Please tell us how we are doing! Complete this short survey. 

Customer Experience Information & Resources

LinkedIn recognizes Colin Shaw as one of the 'World's Top 150 Business Influencers.' As a result, he has 289,000 followers of his work. Shaw is Founder and CEO of Beyond Philosophy LLC, which helps organizations unlock growth by discovering customers' hidden, unmet needs that drive value ($). The Financial Times selected Beyond Philosophy LLC as one of the best management consultancies for the last two years. Follow Colin on LinkedIn and Twitter.

Click here to learn more about Professor Ryan Hamilton of Emory University. 

Why Customers Buy: As an official "Influencer" on LinkedIn, Colin writes a regular newsletter on all things Customer Experience. Click here to join the other 22,000 subscribers. 

Experience Health Check: You already have an experience, even if you weren't deliberate about it. Our Experience Health Check can help you understand what you have today. Colin or one of our team can assess your digital or physical Customer Experience, interacting with your organization as a customer to define what is good and what needs improving. Then, they will provide a list of recommendations for critical next steps for your organization. Click here to learn more. 

How can we help?

Click here to learn more about Beyond Philosophy's Suite of Services.

Personalization is an excellent tactic for your marketing efforts. However, only some people like this personalization; some feel they're being watched. Therefore, it is important to remember that context and who's doing the personalizing matter.

Picture this: Colin’s at his go-to fishing store, Discount Tackle. The manager knows him, we chat, and he recommends a lure. Even though Colin can snag it cheaper elsewhere, the personalized touch keeps him coming back. 

We've all got our versions of this – the local diner, your loyal barber, or maybe a small biz that fuels your hobbies. Small businesses nail personalization. But big companies? They play the tech card, crunching data to determine "personalized" offerings—not always a slam dunk.

Why? With technology, the data sometimes gets too personal, and without a personal relationship supporting it, you're left feeling like the company is stalking you, not helping you. 

The trick is to balance personalization and privacy without making it weird. Discount Tackle gets it. They add value to Colin’s fishing game. Spotify does well with personalization, too. It has cool features, like Spotify Wrapped and DJ playing mode, that enhance the music and user experience but aren't creepy.

But then there's Facebook. Facebook dives deep into Colin’s life for personalized ads, which he doesn’t appreciate, nor do they enhance his experience. Remember: we do not pay for Facebook, but they're cashing in on us. 

Graham Hill on LinkedIn – he's all about putting the "customer" back in personalization. His take? Check your spam emails; they're not overly personal. He wants to see marketers’ user personalization to send the message to the right people at the optimal time.

We want personalization for a few reasons. It's like getting invited to an exclusive club when it's done right. Sainsbury's in England sends Colin discounts on stuff he buys. It is cool, not creepy. We also like familiar stuff. Plus, we appreciate the effort. 

In this episode, we explore the balance between personalization and privacy. We explain why brands should always consider who you're talking to, how you're doing it, and why. 

In this episode, you'll also discover:

• The Balancing Act of Personalization: Learn how to balance personalizing interactions and avoiding the "too much information" zone.

• The Differences Between Small vs. Big Business Tactics: Uncover how small businesses ace personalization in face-to-face talks while larger corporations use tech and the tradeoffs involved.

• Value and Purpose Dynamics: Explore the critical role of value and purpose in personalization and how it can make or break customer relationships.

• Why Trust and Context Matter: Understand the significance of trust and context in personalization and why it's not just about data but the emotional connection.

• The Critical Nature of Adding Value, Not Just Selling: Shift your perspective from collecting data for sales to providing genuine value, making customers feel respected and appreciated.

Hurricane Debbie dumped 17 inches of water in Colin's home. 

It was a traumatic experience, from wading through the murky water to the neighbor’s house—hoping not to encounter the alligators that usually hang out nearby—to watching a team of 12 recovery professionals sweeping through and gutting what remained inside after the water subsided. The experience has been emotionally draining, especially since they didn't have flood insurance, making the cost of repairs overwhelming.

It exposed the emotional nature of these circumstances and reminded us of what is important when treating a distressed customer. This episode explores the Customer Experience lessons learned along the way. 

The story begins with the frantic search for help after the flood. With no time to gather multiple quotes, a friend recommended Servpro, a disaster recovery company. While Servpro did a great job, one small misstep—using the term "demolition"—upset the host's wife, highlighting the importance of language and empathy in high-stress situations. Despite the upsetting circumstances, Colin and his wife appreciated the team's professionalism and sympathy.

We also touch on a less positive customer service experience with the cable company. While their technician was helpful and empathetic, the initial process during the phone call didn't consider the host's extreme situation. The rigid, unempathetic procedure highlighted how companies, like the cable provider, can improve by empowering their employees to handle unique circumstances flexibly.

While getting coffee, the lack of empathy from a cheerful barista served as another example of how businesses can fail to acknowledge customers going through difficult times. While we recognize that coffee chains do not specialize in disaster recovery, it was still a missed opportunity for them to show empathy in a moment requiring more than routine friendliness.

A frustrating visit to a self-storage facility was another eye-opener. The company had implemented a tablet/virtual receptionist system, which lacked the human touch, particularly during hurricane season when people needed help the most. Companies should be prepared to offer a more hands-on, empathetic approach to meet heightened demands during extraordinary times.

The episode is a call to action for companies to build flexibility and empathy into their Customer Experience strategies, especially during times of crisis. Businesses that show genuine concern for their distressed customers during challenging times will create loyal customers for life, while those who don't may lose them.

In this episode, we also dive into:

• The emotional toll of disaster recovery and its impact on Customer Experiences.

• How language choice can impact a customer's emotional state.

• The importance of empowering employees to handle unique customer situations.

• Why self-service solutions may fail in high-stress scenarios.

• The critical role empathy plays in building customer loyalty, especially during crises.

Deborah has a pickle. She is considering implementing a Loyalty Scheme but isn't sure when and how to do so. She thought we could help. 

We can help. The first question, then, is easy. Now. These things work. They don't create real loyalty, but they get people to keep buying from you, giving you more chances to earn loyalty.

It's the second question, how, that's a little trickier. 

Many companies create these programs to foster loyalty, but often, they work more as reward systems, encouraging repeat transactions rather than building emotional attachment.

For example, although frequent flyer points, like Delta's SkyMiles, incentivize repeat bookings, they don't necessarily create genuine loyalty. Loyalty, we argue, is a deeply emotional connection rather than just a series of repeat transactions.

We explore the psychological principles behind why customers participate in rewards programs and why they might hoard rewards rather than redeem them. A concept called Medium Maximization explains why people often "save" points or miles, viewing them as a bridge to future rewards and experiencing reluctance to part with them. This phenomenon works in favor of companies, as it increases customer engagement without necessarily incurring a cost. 

Additionally, the Goal Gradient Hypothesis illustrates how people accelerate their efforts toward a reward as they approach it, which is why punch-card systems, for example, are so effective.

While rewards programs have significant benefits, they can also have downsides. Complex or restrictive redemption policies can damage the customer experience, as can the use of extrinsic motivations that may unintentionally reduce intrinsic motivations. 

For instance, when a daycare chain imposed a fine on late pickups, late arrivals increased as parents viewed it as a trade-off rather than a rule. Companies should, therefore, be cautious about unintentionally undermining genuine, behavior-based loyalty with overly complicated or restrictive rewards systems.

In this episode, we discuss customer loyalty programs' true purpose and impact. Ultimately, we recommend keeping loyalty programs simple and transparent. Avoid blackout dates or complicated redemption processes, as these can frustrate customers and reduce the program's value. At their core, loyalty schemes are tools to encourage spending rather than create loyalty, so Deborah—and you—should design them with that goal in mind.

Additional Takeaways to Listen for In This Episode:

• How extrinsic rewards, like points, can decrease intrinsic motivation and affect customer behaviors.

• The importance of aligning a rewards program with customer behavior patterns and preferences.

• How Idiosyncratic Fit influences customers to engage more deeply in programs where they feel they have an advantage.

• Examples of how poorly designed loyalty schemes can backfire and damage customer relationships.

• The pros and cons of different reward types, like points versus cashback, and how this impacts customer satisfaction.

• Understanding competitive rewards programs can help you refine your offering to stand out.

How Can We Measure Customer Emotions in Our Digital World

When you think about the Olympic medalists on the podium during the awards ceremony, who do you think is happier, the silver medalist or the bronze?

Objectively, you might say the silver medalists because, after all, they came in second and the other competitor was third. Objectively, the silver medalists had a better outcome and should be happier. 

However, the happier medal winner is the bronze medalist, and the reason we know this is the subject of this episode of The Intuitive Customer. With guest Dr. Bill Hedgecock, professor at the University of Minnesota in the Carlson School of Management, we explore the power of facial recognition with facial expression analysis software and what it can do to help you improve your Customer Experience. 

Hedgecock is a leader in academic circles on facial recognition technology and facial expression analysis. He also studies neuromarketing, which is how the brain works when we make decisions.

His psychology-based research shows us the wealth of knowledge available to us when we measure customer emotions in real time. So much is revealed from our facial expression in the moment, and it can be essential to your Customer Experience design strategy.

He and his team used the technology to prove that bronze medalists were happier than silver medalists, and it was all in the eyes. It turns out that in a genuine smile the muscles contract around our eyes. This involuntary reaction is difficult (but not impossible) to fake. When studying the photos of the past five years of summer Olympic medalists, it was clear that gold was happiest, naturally, followed by bronze, and silver, ironically and yet understandably, coming in last on the happiness meter.

Like Olympic medalists’ mix of triumph and disappointment, customer behavior is complicated. At any given moment, you might have two or three different psychological theories that explain why customers do what they do. However, Hedgecock says when you combine those theories with the data about how the customer felt at different moments in your experience, it can help point you in the right direction of which theory is correct.

What’s more, once you know how a moment makes them feel and why people are doing what they are doing, you can respond. Responding can lead to many excellent outcomes, including an improved experience for your customer, the better impact for your marketing campaigns, and more emotional engagement with your customers—the foundational element of customer retention and loyalty.

Listen to the podcast in its entirety to learn more about How We Can Measure Customer Emotions in Our Digital World for your Customer Experience.

The Intuitive Customer podcasts are designed to explain the psychological concepts behind customer behavior.

If you would like to find out from one of our CX consultants how you can implement the concepts we discussed in your organization’s marketing to improve customer loyalty and retention, contact us at www.beyondphilosophy.com.

To subscribe to The Intuitive Customer and never miss a podcast, please click here.

How Well Do You Know What You Really Want?

Have you ever bought a book you thought you should read and then didn't read it? Did you ever buy a variety of yogurt flavors and then throw out some of them after they expired because you never wanted that flavor when it was time to eat yogurt? 

We do these things because we often overestimate how much variety we want in the future. In psychology, it's called Naïve Diversification Bias, and it means that we are notoriously bad at predicting our future selves' wants. This episode of The Intuitive Customer explores this concept and what you can do about it for your customer experience. 

Key Takeaways 

As always, with the behavioral sciences, Naïve Diversification bias isn't the only thing that is happening when we make these forecasting errors. However, it is a significant driver of these decisions to overestimate our desire for variety in the future. Here are a few things to remember about this psychological concept that influences customer behavior:

Research shows we choose the same thing in the moment, and more variety for the future. Itamar Simonson, Ph.D., The Sebastian S. Kresge Professor of Marketing at Stanford University, showed in the 1990s that we do this. When his students chose snacks for the next three weeks ahead of time, he saw that they picked more variety than when they decided the snack for the day each week. 

We all overestimate our need for variety in the future. Naïve Diversification bias is one we all share. Part of the reason we choose more variety in the future is that we think we want more variety than we do. When the future becomes the now, we are content with the same choice, usually our favorite one. 

Naïve Diversification Bias does not mean people do not want a variety of choices. People like having options, just not too many of them. However, most people don't know that they don't like having too many choices until they face them, and they feel overwhelmed. 

Mapping out customer behavior can help you identify Naïve Diversification Bias when it occurs. Many organizations participate in journey mapping, which is an excellent way to identify these moments in the customers' process. However, it does not show customer behavior. Behavioral Journey Mapping takes traditional journey mapping to a new level that helps you see what customers do and how their choices could be creating dissatisfaction for themselves.

Recommended Actions

There are a few ways to mitigate the consequences of this natural bias we all share. Here are our suggestions for combatting its effects in your customer experience:

1. Be able to recognize Naïve Diversification Bias. It is essential to know what is when you see it. Identify where in your experience it occurs and the circumstances that surround that decision-making moment. 
2. Understand that customers change their minds. Knowing that regret is not an emotion that drives value for your bottom line, find ways to mitigate the effects of Naïve Diversification Bias in your experience whenever possible. We recommend discovering these moments by mapping customer behavior rather than process. 
3. Develop strategies to manage the potential negatives of the bias. To improve the experience for them, offer customers opportunities to remedy their wrong choices. Have a clear return policy or give them regular opportunities to re-evaluate their options in subscription services.
4. Compress the time between choice and consumption. People make choices that create more satisfaction when the timeline between the decision and the time they use or consume the product is short. Whenever possible, it would be best to shorten this interval to facilitate customer satisfaction with their choices.
5. Build filtered-diversification into your offer. When customers make decisions for future consumption, they want options. However, if you present too many choices, you can overwhelm customers. Therefore, we recommend offering a wide variety of products or services and a way to narrow down the field from which the customer can choose. This way, you offer enough choice to satisfy customers and prevent them from getting weighed down from too many options. 

To discuss this further contact us at www.BeyondPhilosophy.com

About Beyond Philosophy:

Beyond Philosophy help organizations unlock growth by discovering customers' hidden, unmet needs that drive value ($). We then capitalize on this by improving your customer experience to meet these needs thereby retaining and acquiring new customers across the market.

This podcast is produced by Resonate Recordings. Click here find out more.

You might not realize it but the failure of the European Super League in soccer, the pros and cons of vaccine passports, and a brand that took a political stand and paid the price for it all have something in common. These things are part of three news stories that can provide insight into improving your Customer Experience. 

So how do they provide insight? Like you can learn from other people's experiences, you can learn from other people's mistakes. Either way, it offers an opportunity for vicarious learning. Vicarious learning is beneficial for avoiding the pain of errors but still getting the benefit of the gained wisdom from it. 

We see news headlines all the time about different types of vicarious learning opportunities, both good and bad. However, in this episode, we explore the lessons we can gain from the pain of three organization's Customer Experience mistakes and avoid making the same ones. 

Key Ideas to Improve your Customer Experience

There are three news stories that we talk about in this episode that, at first glance, do not seem to be about Customer Experience. However, after taking a deeper dive into the cause of the problem, we discover that Customer Experience is a contributing factor in all three cases. In this episode, we discuss why and how the experience affects the story's outcome and what insight you can glean from the situation. 

Here are a few key moments in the discussion:

• 03:12  The discussion begins with a recap of the failure of the European Super League for soccer and how it shows the importance of recognizing the value you provide customers.
• 13:47 We talk about the movement for and against vaccine passports in the reopening of different venues and experiences after the pandemic and how that will affect CX.
• 16:15 The discussion turns to what happens when supply shortages disrupt business as usual after the pandemic, and the best way to handle that for your customers. 
• 22:29  We review what happened to Delta in the past couple of months when Georgia, the state where the company is based, passed voting laws that were hotly contested and they decided to come out on the issue. 
• 27:21  We offer advice on how to choose sides when staying neutral on a contentious topic seems impossible. 
• 28:26  We talk about how framing can change how customers perceive your communication, and the benefits of being deliberate about your strategy regarding these issues. 

Please tell us how we are doing! Complete this short survey. 

Customer Experience Information & Resources

LinkedIn recognizes Colin Shaw as one of the 'World's Top 150 Business Influencers.' As a result, he has 289,000 followers of his work. Shaw is Founder and CEO of Beyond Philosophy LLC, which helps organizations unlock growth by discovering customers' hidden, unmet needs that drive value ($). The Financial Times selected Beyond Philosophy LLC as one of the best management consultancies for the last two years. Follow Colin on Linkedin and Twitter.

Click here to learn more about Professor Ryan Hamilton of Emory University. 

Why Customers Buy: As an official "Influencer" on LinkedIn, Colin writes a regular newsletter on all things Customer Experience. Click here to join the other 22,000 subscribers. 

Experience Health Check: You already have an experience, even if you weren't deliberate about it. Our Experience Health Check can help you understand what you have today. Colin or one of our team can assess your digital or physical Customer Experience, interacting with your organization as a customer to define what is good and what needs improving. Then, they will provide a list of recommendations for critical next steps for your organization. Click here to learn more. 

How can we help?

Click here to learn more about Beyond Philosophy's Suite of Services.

You probably don’t say no to people enough, especially if it’s to your boss. Like most of us, you are conditioned to cooperate with others, which means we usually say yes to most requests to avoid conflict. However, learning to say no in the right way, might also avoid conflict while simultaneously giving you back control over your life. 

We host author Vanessa Patrick, Associate Dean for Research, Professor of Marketing, and researcher in the Consumer Behavior Marketing field, to talk about this right way to say no based on her book, "The Power of Saying No: The New Science of How to Say No to take Charge of Your Life." Patrick addresses this critical skill in her book, as well as its relationship to saying no to ourselves through self-regulation or self-control.  

Patrick’s past research often depicts self-control as an upbeat version of self-discipline. Self-control serves as a reflection of your values, rather than self-imposed constraints. Patrick believes defining and defending these boundaries to others enables you to make decisions that create more fun and happiness in your life, particularly regarding the things you already said yes to. 

In this episode, we explore the idea of personal policies, or the rules we set that should guide our decisions. Calling it compassionate self-control, Patrick says this approach facilitates having your needs driving your decisions. It also means that instead of looking out for cues from other about how to respond to these requests, we look within ourselves.  

Here are some other key moments in the discussion:

• 01:29 Ryan introduces our guest and who then talks about her past research and explains how that led to the premise behind her new book.
• 06:16 Patrick explains the three competencies she identified that are essential to the “Art of Empowered Refusal.”
• 16:01. We discuss the significance of personal policies to guide your decisions and the two forms they can take to aid in that effort.
• 25:06  Patrick explains the importance of using empowering language, especially when talking to ourselves. 
• 32:05  We discuss the practical applications of this concept in your life and how you can leverage Empowered Refusal in your life and work. 

_________________________________________________________________

Did you know we have a YouTube Channel too? Check it out here.

Connect with Colin on LinkedIn HERE.

Follow Colin on Twitter HERE.

Click HERE to learn more about Professor Ryan Hamilton of Emory University. 

To learn more about Beyond Philosophy's Suite of Services Click here.

The metaverse. It is supposed to be a digital world. Some say it will combine social media and virtual reality (VR), like a more complex VR chat. Some say it will be the next level of online interaction where anything can happen. Others are confused by what it is and what it means. Some call it Mark Zuckerberg’s pipe dream. We think it is the future of Customer Experiences. 

Immersive experiences are part of the metaverse, leveraging the power of augmented reality (AR) and VR. While they have to this point largely been dominated by games and entertainment, these immersive technologies are poised to change how people interact with brands’ products and services in more everyday ways. 

In this episode, we invited Dobrian Dobrev (@DobrianDobrev), a User Experience Designer and a speaker at UX conferences and author on UX Design and Information Architecture  to tell us how the metaverse will change things in brand marketing. Dobrev takes us through the ways Coca-Cola has been using these technologies in their customer strategy to great success. 

Key Ideas to Improve your Customer Experience

The metaverse is in its infancy. Few organizations really know what it is or how to use it in their customer strategy, perhaps thinking of it as a “gamer thing.” However, Dobrev sees enormous potential for brands to use these technologies beyond entertainment, which he has written about in the past. Coca-Cola has been one of the first brands that gets it and Dobrev gives us a front-row seat to their strategy and success. 

Here are a few key moments in the discussion:

• 05:29  Dobrev to defines the immersive technologies that Coca-Cola uses, and the differences between AR and VR.
• 07:41  Colin gives a layman’s example of what a metaverse is using a science fiction example and Dobrev explains how AR, VR, and the metaverse will leverage immersive technology to real-world applications and change customer interactions.
• 13:04  We learn about an entertainment VR project Coca-Cola used to promote their Fanta brand and how that evolved into a campaign, called Hydr8 AR prototype that ventured outside entertainment and what it was designed to do for customers.    
• 17:02  Dobrev shares the concepts behind an early VR project where Coca-Cola made their packaging convert to a VR headset.       
• 18:48  Dobrev explains how Coca-Cola used AR to help small businesses reinvigorate their business after the first global shut down with “Open Like Never Before.”
• 20:50  We ask Dobrev what he sees as the future and what brands can do to get started creating immersive experiences for their products and services.  

Want more stuff like this? Don’t miss CXN Live: Voice of the Customer 2022  for more great ideas on leveraging customer feedback to enhance customer understanding, optimize key touchpoints, identify friction points, and drive culture change.

Please tell us how we are doing! Complete this short survey. 

Customer Experience Information & Resources

LinkedIn recognizes Colin Shaw as one of the 'World's Top 150 Business Influencers.' As a result, he has 289,000 followers of his work. Shaw is Founder and CEO of Beyond Philosophy LLC, which helps organizations unlock growth by discovering customers' hidden, unmet needs that drive value ($). The Financial Times selected Beyond Philosophy LLC as one of the best management consultancies for the last two years. Follow Colin on LinkedIn and Twitter.

Click here to learn more about Professor Ryan Hamilton of Emory University. 

Why Customers Buy: As an official "Influencer" on LinkedIn, Colin writes a regular newsletter on all things Customer Experience. Click here to join the other 22,000 subscribers. 

Experience Health Check: You already have an experience, even if you weren't deliberate about it. Our Experience Health Check can help you understand what you have today. Colin or one of our team can assess your digital or physical Customer Experience, interacting with your organization as a customer to define what is good and what needs improving. Then, they will provide a list of recommendations for critical next steps for your organization. Click here to learn more. 

How can we help?

Click here to learn more about Beyond Philosophy's Suite of Services.

The 5 Rules for Behavioral Journey Mapping

A lot of Behavioral Economics can feel intimidating. However, it doesn’t have to be. The Five Rules Podcast Series is our attempt at giving you an easy entry point into the complex and messy world of Behavioral Science.

What Are The Five Rules?

We were training customers with journey mapping recently when it became apparent that people didn't understand what journey mapping could do for them. Moreover, they thought they did. To respond, I came up with five precepts for advanced journey mapping skills, which can serve as a guide to your desired outcome. 

Before we get into the rules, I should clarify for those of you that aren't familiar with Journey Maps what they are. They are essentially what a customer does in your experience. This exercise is excellent, and I support their use in designing your Customer Experience. 

My criticism for journey mapping is that most people only do a superficial version that does not dip much outside their interaction with customers. Moreover, they usually don't indicate why customers do what they do. In many cases, it feels more like a customer process than a journey map, mostly because it isn't going to take you where you want to go. 

Our version of journey mapping is called Behavioral Journey Mapping. It is different because it expands past the actual customer interaction where the experience starts and stops. It also identifies how customers feel entering the experience. Also, Behavioral Journey Mapping digs deeper into how each of the moments of the experience influences customer behavior, which is essential if you want to get customers to behave the way you want. 

Now, for the rules:

The 5 Rules for Advanced Journey Mapping

1. Embrace that the journey is rational, emotional, subconscious, and psychological. 
2. Look for the hidden aspects of a customer journey.
3. Define strategically what specific emotions drive most value across the market.
4. Build deliberate memory points. 
5. Identify how to nudge customer decision-making.

What Should You Do With Them?

1. Embrace that the journey is rational, emotional, subconscious, and psychological. The first step is to understand that it is essential to know what customers do and why they do it. It is also necessary to know how they feel entering the experience. When you have this understanding of all the aspects of a customer journey, from practical to emotional and all the psychological stops in between, the rest of the rules will make more sense and yield more useful actions to get to where you want to go.

2. Look for the hidden aspects of the customer journey. Here is where you begin to plot out what is happening in your Customer Experience. You should include where the experience starts, recognizing it often happens way before the customer ever interacts with your organization. Furthermore, it would be best if you carried the journey map out to the end of the experience, which may conclude long after your organization's last interaction. Furthermore, third-party providers that take over parts of your experience (e.g., shuttle drivers, installers, tow truck operators) are also part of the experience and should make the map. 

3. Define strategically what specific emotions drive most value across the market. Now that you have detailed what is happening in the customer journey comprehensively, you can plan how you want to enhance it. A crucial part of this strategy is the emotion your customer feels at the end of the experience. Whatever feeling you choose, from satisfied to safe to appreciated, the sentiment should drive value for your organization, which could mean anything from Net Promoter Score^® to customer-driven growth. Then, your job is to design an experience that evokes these emotions. If you don't know what these emotions are, you should do research, like our Emotional Signature^® Research, which uncovers the customers' unmet, hidden needs that can drive value for your Customer Experience if you were to meet them.

4. Build deliberate memory points. Memory is vital to your experience. Your customers don't choose you based on the experience you provide; they choose you because of the experience they remember you provide. Therefore, building a positive memory of your experience is essential to your customer-driven growth. Memories form based on the peak experience of the experience and how customers felt at the end, called the Peak-End Rule, first introduced by Nobel-Prize-winning economist Professor Daniel Kahneman. If the peak emotion that occurs in your experience and the one at the end, as identified in your customer journey map from Rule 2 do not drive value for your organization, you need to change them. 

5. Identify how to nudge customer decision-making. There will be moments in your experience that present an opportunity to nudge customer behavior to something that you prefer to what is occurring now. Understanding how people make decisions, and the psychological concepts that explain them will help you design your situations to make it easy for customers to make the decision that you want. After all, isn't that what spending all this time and money on customer journey mapping was meant to do?

To discuss this further contact us at www.BeyondPhilosophy.com

About Beyond Philosophy:

Beyond Philosophy help organizations unlock growth by discovering customers' hidden, unmet needs that drive value ($). We then capitalize on this by improving your customer experience to meet these needs thereby retaining and acquiring new customers across the market.

This podcast is produced by Resonate Recordings. Click here find out more.

Ah, yes! It’s the most wonderful time of the year. When we reflect upon the passing year and make plans for the New Year: what we want to keep, where we want to be, and how we need to change. Then, we make them, our New Year’s Resolutions. 

However, in just a few days’ time, we will have failed at keeping these resolutions (again) and forgotten all about it. 

There are a number of psychological reasons why change is hard, and much of it has to do with habits. Habits are part of our Intuitive System, which is the fast automatic thinking we use to save energy instead of dragging out our Rational System, the slow, deliberate thinking we sometimes use. We get a cue, which triggers an automatic response, that gives us a reward.  

However, habits can be broken once you understand where you need to intervene. With a few tricks and some real motivation, you can kick a bad habit or even start a good one. 

In this episode, we explore why some people are successful with their New Year’s Resolutions and win, and why some people fail and lose out on the benefits of meeting the challenge for change in the New Year. (If you want to be a part of the first group, we suggest you listen. Want to be in the second group? Keep on rolling with your present strategy.)

Key Ideas to Improve your Customer Experience

Habits are a giant part of New Year’s Resolutions. Usually, we want to stop having bad ones, i.e., start losing weight and exercising, quit biting nails, or to stop smoking or drinking so much. However, sometimes we want to start good new habits, i.e., floss more, take up a new hobby or learn a musical instrument, or subscribe to a fantastic newsletter on LinkedIn (hint, hint). Below are some moments in the podcast that can help with either direction you are going with this in the new year:

• 03:16  Colin shares a little bit about his personal weight loss journey and how what he learned there made it clear that psychology is a big part of success or failure with resolutions. 
• 09:14 Ryan explains why using the Framing Effect on your project can be persuasive in these goals. 
• 11:10   We get into change management and how habits are an integral part of that process.
• 15:00  Ryan explains how  the two-system of cognition, and more specifically, the Intuitive System play a role in habitual behavior and why that is.
• 20:01  Colin explains how similar failures often happen with Customer Experience programs, too, but that those failures say a lot more than many people think they do.
• 25:55   Ryan explains why goals and reaching them is one thing, staying there is another. 
• 27:21  We close with an excellent suggestion on how to be successful, based on a story from the actor Terry Crews on how to build a good habit for going to the gym, and it’s not what you probably think. 

Did you know we have a YouTube Channel too? Check it out here.

Customer Experience Information & Resources

LinkedIn recognizes Colin Shaw as one of the 'World's Top 150 Business Influencers.' As a result, he has 290,000 followers of his work. Shaw is Founder and CEO of Beyond Philosophy LLC, which helps organizations unlock growth by discovering customers' hidden, unmet needs that drive value ($). The Financial Times selected Beyond Philosophy as one of the best management consultancies for the last four years in a row. Follow Colin on LinkedIn and Twitter.

Click here to learn more about Professor Ryan Hamilton of Emory University. 

Why Customers Buy: As an official "Influencer" on LinkedIn, Colin writes a regular newsletter on all things Customer Experience. Click here to join the other 70,000 subscribers. 

How can we help?

Click here to learn more about Beyond Philosophy's Suite of Services.

Please tell us how we are doing! Complete this short survey. 

Imagine that you own a well-known car brand during a global pandemic. No one is coming to the show room to see your dealer’s cars, nor are they bringing them in for service. No one is really driving them around, either. What do you do?

For Nissan’s Hussein Dajani, General Manager, Digital and CX Transformation, this wasn’t hard to imagine since he lived it for the past 18 months. He and his Customer Experience Steering Committee came up with a virtual version of the traditional car-buying and service experience and implemented it in record time. The results? Double-digit growth. 

I learned about this story on a CX Network Live event. Fascinated with the story and the success, we invited Dajani to this episode of the podcast to share what he learned with you. 

Key Ideas to Improve your Customer Experience

Digital experiences are much more prevalent today than they were even a couple of years ago. The virus accelerated the emphasis on digital transformation of formerly analog experiences for all industries, even one like buying a car. The COVID-19 Pandemic also forced organizations to take more risks than they would have otherwise.

Nissan’s Shop@Home program is widely successful, producing double-digit growth at a time when many people weren’t even driving their cars much. Dajani shares what he learned during the project and the practical tips he has for other organizations that have a similar journey ahead. 

Here are a few key moments in the discussion:

• 03:56  Dajani shares his story about how he ended up at Nissan and what he wanted to change even before the pandemic disrupted business-as-usual.    
• 08:22  Dajani talks about how the day he thought he was getting fired was the day the organization called upon him to deliver.    
• 11:53  We learn about Shop@Home and what it was designed to do for customers.    
• 15:29  Colin asks Dajani if COVID helped get the internal team on board; Dajani’s answer might surprise you.    
• 17:59   Nissan’s plan is to transform the business, not just get through the pandemic, and Dajani explains why. 
• 22:47  We learn about some of the ways that Nissan changed the service experience to a virtual one and why it fixed some friction points for the business.
• 29:51  We ask Dajani the practical advice he has for organizations on a similar journey, and he leads with empathy, empathy, empathy.  

Artificial intelligence and predictive customer experience can transform customer experience initiatives by identifying and shaping customer intent. As a result, it has the potential for businesses to increase engagement, retention, and long-term customer value. Want to know more? Attend CX Network's Online Live Event on January 25th and 26th, 2022.

 Click here to register today.

Please tell us how we are doing! Complete this short survey. 

Customer Experience Information & Resources

LinkedIn recognizes Colin Shaw as one of the 'World's Top 150 Business Influencers.' As a result, he has 289,000 followers of his work. Shaw is Founder and CEO of Beyond Philosophy LLC, which helps organizations unlock growth by discovering customers' hidden, unmet needs that drive value ($). The Financial Times selected Beyond Philosophy LLC as one of the best management consultancies for the last two years. Follow Colin on LinkedIn and Twitter.

Click here to learn more about Professor Ryan Hamilton of Emory University. 

Why Customers Buy: As an official "Influencer" on LinkedIn, Colin writes a regular newsletter on all things Customer Experience. Click here to join the other 22,000 subscribers. 

Experience Health Check: You already have an experience, even if you weren't deliberate about it. Our Experience Health Check can help you understand what you have today. Colin or one of our team can assess your digital or physical Customer Experience, interacting with your organization as a customer to define what is good and what needs improving. Then, they will provide a list of recommendations for critical next steps for your organization. Click here to learn more. 

How can we help?

Click here to learn more about Beyond Philosophy's Suite of Services.

🔹 Ever wonder why you always end up choosing the medium popcorn, even when you weren’t hungry? Or why some websites magically guide you toward the “best” deal? That’s not luck—it’s behavioral science in action.

In this episode of The Intuitive Customer, Colin Shaw and Professor Ryan Hamilton reveal the power of nudging—tiny tweaks that subtly influence decisions without forcing them. But here’s the catch: sometimes nudges don’t work at all. So, what separates a genius nudge from a total flop? That’s exactly what we’re unpacking today.

🔥 Best Quote from the Episode:

"Nudges feel like magic when they work. But throw the wrong nudge at the wrong audience, and it’s like trying to convince a Diet Coke fan to drink Pepsi—it’s just not happening!" – Professor Ryan Hamilton

🎯 Key Takeaways:

✅ Small changes = big impact – A well-placed nudge (like a cleverly designed pricing tier) can significantly influence customer choices.

✅ Choice architecture is everything – The decoy effect, compromise effect, and default bias all play a role in steering decisions without customers realizing it.

✅ Why nudges fail – Not every customer is persuadable. Nudges won't move the needle if someone has a strong preference (like die-hard brand loyalty).

✅ Testing is essential – Don’t just assume a nudge will work. Test different variations in real-world scenarios before rolling them out at scale.

🚀 Why You Should Listen

If you’re in customer experience, marketing, or sales, this episode will change how you think about influencing behavior. Learn how to craft nudges that actually work—and avoid the ones that flop.

So, what are you waiting for? Hit play and discover the tiny tweaks that can have a BIG effect!

About the Hosts:

Colin Shaw is a LinkedIn 'Top Voice' with a massive 284,000 followers and 86,000 subscribers to his 'Why Customers Buy' newsletter. Shaw is named one of the world's 'Top 150 Business Influencers' by LinkedIn. His company, Beyond Philosophy LLC, has been selected four times by the Financial Times as a top management consultancy. Shaw is co-host of the top 1.5% podcast 'The Intuitive Customer'—with over 600,000 downloads—and author of eight best-sellers on customer experience, Shaw is a sought-after keynote speaker. Follow Colin on LinkedIn.

 Ryan Hamilton is a Professor of Marketing at Emory University's Goizueta Business School and co-author of 'The Intuitive Customer' book. An award-winning teacher and researcher in consumer psychology, he has been named one of Poets & Quants' "World’s Best 40 B-School Profs Under 40." His research focuses on how brands, prices, and choice architecture influence shopper decision-making, and his findings have been published in top academic journals and covered by major media outlets like The New York Times and CNN. His work highlights how psychology can help firms better understand and serve their customers. Ryan has a new book launch in June 2025 called “The Growth Dilemma: Managing Your Brand When Different Customers Want Different Things” Harvard Business Press Follow Ryan on LinkedIn.

👉 Listen now on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or your favorite podcast app.

Got a nudge story? Connect with Colin & Ryan on LinkedIn and share your experiences! 🎙️🚀

When I worked in the corporate world, people often asked me what I did all day. Facetiously, I would say that I played chess. While it was meant to be cheeky, the joke was not far from the truth. I spent my day navigating company politics.

You will not find training programs on company politics or how to deal with them. It is a bit shocking considering their significance in the corporate world. Our latest episode of The Intuitive Customer podcast addresses office politics and how to manage them effectively.

Company politics are ubiquitous and influential. Managing them is part and parcel of a career. As a senior vice president, at a large telecoms company, office politics surrounded me.

Every organization that I have worked at had office politics. They exist because it is human nature to crave power and influence.

You must be able to manage office politics for many reasons. First, it will help you advance your career. When you can get on with management, you can get on with your promotions after all. Also, if you can’t manage company politics, you won’t make it at many organizations. There was a phrase that used to entertain me along these lines that said, “When somebody pats you on the back, they are looking for the place to stick the knife.”

However, company politics are worth managing because it can help you move your Customer Experience program forward. Without support from others at the peer level and above, your plan is doomed. 

Managing office politics requires different finesse for the various types you will encounter. Typically, office politics have two levels. The first level tends to come from above, meaning those with their names above yours in the organization chart. The second level tends to come at you from your peers, which has a different dynamic entirely. Developing skills for managing up and managing laterally are essential to the success of your Customer Experience program.

The first skill you should develop comes from the advice I received from my dad early in my career. He said to me, “Colin if you focus on doing a good job, everyone will want you.”

He is correct. Who doesn’t want people on the team that do a good job?

Having a reputation for successful work behind you is an excellent strategy for managing company politics also. Not only will everyone want to be on your team or have you reporting to them, but it also allows you access to the influencers at the top.

Listen to the podcast in its entirety to learn more about How to Manage Company Politics for your Customer Experience.

The Intuitive Customer podcasts are designed to explain the psychological concepts behind customer behavior.

If you would like to find out from one of our CX consultants how you can implement the concepts we discussed in your organization’s marketing to improve customer loyalty and retention, contact us at www.beyondphilosophy.com.

 To subscribe to The Intuitive Customer and never miss a podcast, please click here.

Have you ever noticed how many vitamin options there are at a drug store? If not, you should know there are hundreds. It is bloody overwhelming. 

All these vitamins got us thinking about differentiation. If your product isn’t that different from another, like a B-12 vitamin, how do you differentiate yourself from the competition? 

Vitamin companies are not alone here. One of our listeners wrote in with a business pickle about differentiation on how to have it in an ever-competitive market. The answer lies in the experience.

But how? What does differentiation even mean? And what does B-12 do for you anyway? (It does lots of stuff, by the way; you should probably take it if you don’t get enough.)

When you are too close to something, you might have a hard time seeing what your differentiation could be. Your usually helpful depth of offering knowledge can be a hinderance. The nuances of competitive improvement might be authentic but too deep in the minutiae to distinguish you. 

In other words, your competitive advantage might be real, but really boring to your customers. So, instead of coming up with something that is a competitive differentiator, you come up with this minor detail, emphasizing something the customer doesn’t care about or doesn’t recognize they should.

Therefore, it takes an outside perspective sometimes to see what is possible regarding differentiation. And sometimes, this differentiation from the outside is disruptive and turns everything in your industry on its ear. 

In this episode, we explore the ways our listener and you can differentiate yourself from the competition. As a bonus, we package it into five rules that you can use to drive your actions. 

Here are some other key moments in the discussion:

• 06:44  We kick off the discussion with the first rule, which tells us that different means different and not just a little different. (They do get better, we promise.)
• 10:07  We get into the discussion about how disruption is often the key to differentiation that matters; otherwise, everyone ends up chasing the same goals and having little variance from one another.  
• 17:50  We introduce the third rule, which is define the Who and the How Much, two key areas for besting the competition. 
• 22:49 Rule number four says what are you going to differentiate on, meaning what area of your offering will be your competitive advantage. 
• 25:35 We introduce the last rule, which is shamelessly bias, that experience is the hardest thing for your competitor to copy. 

_________________________________________________________________

Did you know we have a YouTube Channel too? Check it out here.

Connect with Colin on LinkedIn HERE.

Follow Colin on Twitter HERE.

Click HERE to learn more about Professor Ryan Hamilton of Emory University. 

To learn more about Beyond Philosophy's Suite of Services Click here.

Picture this: Your customers, like individuals, operate on habitual inclinations. So, if they habitually favor a competitor’s product or service, how does one instigate change? Here, we present seven potent ways to turn the tide.

But before diving into these transformative strategies, let's peer into the psychological underpinnings of habits. They possess distinct characteristics:

• A cue within our environment kickstarts the habitual response. 

• This cue triggers an automatic reaction stemming from ingrained memories. 

• The reward at the end reinforces the habit loop, solidifying its existence.

The crux lies in our Intuitive System. This part of our brain swiftly recognizes this cycle and transforms it into an automatic routine.

Colin’s Intuitive System has influenced his habits enormously as a customer. In the realm of modern convenience, Colin’s shopping mantra revolves around a singular hub: Amazon. Be it the fleeting wish for something or a dire need, Amazon stands as his go-to, an ingrained habit so sturdy that breaking it seems an arduous feat for anyone.

However, daunting doesn't equate to impossible. In today's episode, we delve into the art of habit transformation, uncovering seven strategic pathways to overhaul routines and maximize returns on investments.

Here are some other key moments in the discussion:

• 04:10  Ryan explains the habit cycle, and what each point of it has to do with our brain’s way of processing information. 

• 09:24  We discuss the importance of recognizing these cycles in customers behavior and how that translates into your strategy for changing it with our first two rules. 

• 18:31 We explain how to craft a winning strategy for changing customer behavior (spoiler alert: it involves making it easy and rewarding for the customer).  

• 24:17  The discussion turns to how you can help things get easier and feel more rewarding by educating and reinforcing your desired customer behavior with rules 5 and 6. 

• 31:49 Colin reviews and summarizes the seven rules and how they can help. 

Did you know we have a YouTube Channel too? Check it out here.

About Colin Shaw

LinkedIn recognizes Colin Shaw as one of the 'World's Top 150 Business Influencers.' As a result, he has over 294,000 followers and 78,000 subscribers to his LinkedIn newsletter ‘Why Customers Buy’. The Financial Times selected Beyond Philosophy as one of the best management consultancies for four years. 

Colin is a renown keynote speaker and undertakes consultancy work and educational workshops to help organizations improve their Customer Experience. 

Click here to learn more about Professor Ryan Hamilton of Emory University. 

How can we help?

Click here to learn more about Beyond Philosophy's Suite of Services.

Please tell us how we are doing! Complete this short survey. 

It’s pickle time again here on the podcast. This time John has a pickle with his new business. He wants to know some ways that he can get other people to help him sell his products and services. We knew several ways, eight in fact, and they might help you, too. 

One thing to consider when you listen to this list is how each of the tactics gets you what you want. In some cases, you might discover that our suggestion doesn’t. Or at least it doesn’t get you what you want right now. Later, once you have worked your way down the “to-dos” with your marketing and sales, one of the ones that didn’t work then would now.

For example, with Beyond Philosophy, Colin didn’t like the first tactic, Affiliated Marketing. He felt that by getting into a relationship where he was contractually bound to suggest a specific company might compromise his integrity to his clients. So, Colin has carefully avoided that one. 

However, that might not be the same for your business vertical or philosophy. It’s these goals for the communication or tactic that should drive these decisions for which ways work best for your business.

In this episode, we help John with his business pickle—and some of you, too—with our eight suggestions for what you can do to get other people to sell for you. 

Are you “in a pickle” at your firm, too? Tells us about here and we might feature your pickle on an episode of the podcast. 

Here are some other key moments in the discussion:

• 06:09  We share the first tactic, Affiliated Marketing, which allows you to recruit others to present and close your product on your behalf. 
• 10:03  The second tactic, Referral Programs, is another way you can leverage the relationships you have to make new ones. 
• 17:48  We discuss Joint Ventures, including some that worked well and some that didn’t.
• 21:07  We encourage John to sponsor a sports stadium, or at least a local soccer team, because sponsorships are a great way to build awareness.
• 26:09  Ryan and Colin share final thoughts about how John’s new business can use these tactics to get other entities selling for him.

_________________________________________________________________

Did you know we have a YouTube Channel too? Check it out here.

Follow Colin on LinkedIn HERE.

One of our listeners in Finland is in a pickle. Anna wants to operationalize journey mapping to make their Customer Experience more customer centric. Perhaps more importantly, she wants these improvements to prove practical and effective rather than viewed as a “soft and fluffy” exercise that is not practical for the organization to continue to support. 

Anna is not alone in this problem. Similar situations are everywhere in business today. After all, owners and stakeholders in an organization do not invest money in anything because they are hoping it doesn’t provide a return on investment. The things you spend resources on in business should provide a return on investment—or they are not practical enough for the organization to continue to support. 

In this episode, we discuss Anna’s business pickle and how she can leverage what she learns in journey mapping to improve her organization’s customer strategy. In addition, we will share practical steps and advice that any organization should take when implementing what they learn from the exercise to become more customer-centric in the experience they provide.

Key Ideas to Improve your Customer Experience

When it comes to journey mapping, we often encounter a problem. People think that the exercise is the answer to everything that’s wrong (or right) with Customer Experiences. But it isn’t. Journey Mapping is a way to uncover the answers to everything, and should be combined with other customer-centricity experience improvement efforts and measurements to ensure success. We talk about these areas in the podcast. 

Here are a few key moments in the discussion:

2:55  Anna shares her pickle in a recording about how to use the findings in their journey mapping exercise to change the organization to be more customer-centric.

6:10  We share our advice on how to operationalize journey mapping starting with the four parts of a customer experience, including the rational, conscious, subconscious, and psychological. 

07:15  Ryan shares his view on what journey mapping can do for an organization, and how it can benefit organizations in their experience improvement efforts.

12:50  Colin addresses the nine areas of customer centricity that affect customer experiences, and the four levels of customer centricity that range from Naïve to Natural. 

16:40  Colin shares a personal example of how an experience can expose how customer-centric an organization is. 

20:46  We talk about the John Cotter’s 8-step Process for Leading Change and how Anna (and other organizations) can use it to manage the process. 

32:08  We both share the practical steps for leveraging what you know from your journey mapping exercise into improving your experience to drive value for the organization, from Emotional Signture research to measurement strategy and more. 

Do you have a business problem you would like our help with? Please contact us to tell us about it. We may solve it with you and our listening audience on the podcast!

Please tell us how we are doing! Complete this short survey. 

Customer Experience Information & Resources

LinkedIn recognizes Colin Shaw as one of the 'World's Top 150 Business Influencers.' As a result, he has 289,000 followers of his work. Shaw is Founder and CEO of Beyond Philosophy LLC, which helps organizations unlock growth by discovering customers' hidden, unmet needs that drive value ($). The Financial Times selected Beyond Philosophy LLC as one of the best management consultancies for the last two years. Follow Colin on LinkedIn and Twitter.

Click here to learn more about Professor Ryan Hamilton of Emory University. 

Why Customers Buy: As an official "Influencer" on LinkedIn, Colin writes a regular newsletter on all things Customer Experience. Click here to join the other 22,000 subscribers. 

Experience Health Check: You already have an experience, even if you weren't deliberate about it. Our Experience Health Check can help you understand what you have today. Colin or one of our team can assess your digital or physical Customer Experience, interacting with your organization as a customer to define what is good and what needs improving. Then, they will provide a list of recommendations for critical next steps for your organization. Click here to learn more. 

How can we help?

Click here to learn more about Beyond Philosophy's Suite of Services.

Are We Talking Ourselves Into a Recession

You hear it all the time on financial media. “Consumer Confidence is low.” It describes how people think that something terrible is going to happen to the economy, and it affects their spending behavior.

Confidence is a feeling, not a fact or a physical item. However, this emotional reaction has serious implications on the economy, as well as your bottom line.

Not only is consumer confidence an emotional concept, but it is also contagious. Sometimes having it makes other people have it, too. Other times not having it makes people lose theirs also.

So, does that mean when we hear things like, “consumer confidence is low,” and the “stock market was down XX points today,” that we are talking ourselves into a recession?

Recessions are an economic reality. They occur when the economy is out of balance in some way or operating inefficiently with its resources. In many ways, recessions get an economy back on track. So, in some ways, we should be grateful for a downturn. However, if you are one of the people caught in an economic correction and lose your job or your livelihood, you likely have a different opinion of it.

There are objective or physical forces that can affect whether a recession occurs. For example, natural disasters can disrupt the flow of goods, whether it’s a Hurricane that stops logistics or a drought that kills crops. Also, human-made disasters like wars can affect the economy, too.

However, there are also subjective forces that affect the likelihood of a recession. Studies have shown that things like the weather or the win or loss of the British National Soccer Team in the playoffs can affect how the stock market performs. And, yes, things like consumer confidence.

This episode of The Intuitive Customer explores how much influence our emotions have on things like the stock market or the economy. We also talk about how confidence—or the loss of it—can be contagious and wreak havoc on both our business and personal bottom line. Finally, we use what we have learned through past recessions to strategize for you to come out ahead of the competition on the other side if we do have a recession. 

The Intuitive Customer podcasts help you take your Customer Experience to the next level by unlocking the “hidden” aspects of your experience and determining what really drives value for your customers.

To find out more about how your organization’s marketing can improve customer loyalty and retention, contact us at www.beyondphilosophy.com.

To subscribe to The Intuitive Customer and never miss a podcast, please click here.

Breakthrough thinking: Why do we believe things that are not true?

There was a car brand several decades ago in the UK called ŠKODA. It was a terrible car, much like Yugo was in the US. However, they have changed their image and today, my son wants to buy one. I told him the jokes we all used to have about ŠKODA and their low-quality construction (What do a ŠKODA and a baby have in common? They never go anywhere without a rattle.) 

My son doesn’t care. His perception is that they are a great car company. Mine hasn’t changed. 

Now, I know my son better than anyone, except maybe his wife and mother. I know he is sensible and good with his money. He’s no Wally. If he decides to do something, he bloody well knows why (he gets that from me). Nevertheless, his opinion that the company is better now has done nothing to change my mind. 

In this episode we are exploring why we believe things that are not true, even when faced with facts. Psychologically, there are a lot of reasons we do this. We also talk about how you can overcome a bad reputation and change customers perceptions of you with your customer strategy. Spoiler alert: It doesn’t happen fast. 

Key Ideas to Improve your Customer Experience

There are a few reasons why we won’t change our minds even when the facts tell us we should. Some are psychological; some are social. However, they are all at work in this critical customer strategy concept. 

Here are a few key moments in the discussion:

• 04:31  Colin shares how the different spread of information about the war in Ukraine in the West vs. Russia can ensure that the Russian people don’t change their minds or stop supporting it. 
• 09:19  Ryan answers Colin’s questions about why people don’t change their minds even when they are presented with information that they are wrong about something with several influences. 
• 12:32  We discuss how the self-image can get in the way of changing one’s mind, also; we push away negativity from our self-image.    
• 16:12  We talk about the length of time it takes to change minds and what it takes during that time to ensure it happens.
• 19:11 Ryan tells a story about how social agendas can also get in the way of changing one’s minds, and it will probably not surprise you to know that politics is a culprit. 
• 26:54  Colin reviews what he thinks the key learning is for organizations and how we would combat these inclinations with customer strategy.    

Please tell us how we are doing! Complete this short survey. 

Customer Experience Information & Resources

LinkedIn recognizes Colin Shaw as one of the 'World's Top 150 Business Influencers.' As a result, he has 290,000 followers of his work. Shaw is Founder and CEO of Beyond Philosophy LLC, which helps organizations unlock growth by discovering customers' hidden, unmet needs that drive value ($). The Financial Times selected Beyond Philosophy as one of the best management consultancies for the last four years in a row. Follow Colin on LinkedIn and Twitter.

Click here to learn more about Professor Ryan Hamilton of Emory University. 

Why Customers Buy: As an official "Influencer" on LinkedIn, Colin writes a regular newsletter on all things Customer Experience. Click here to join the other 35,000 subscribers. 

How can we help?

Click here to learn more about Beyond Philosophy's Suite of Services.

Fads come and go. From Tamagotchi’s to fidget spinners, we have seen plenty come and go. However, one fad that will never go out of style is treating your employees as the valuable resource they are. So, to answer our own question, Employee Experience is not just a fad and is definitely the future of a successful organization. 

We are fired up about this today because one of you, Praveen Kumar is in a pickle and he asked for our help. He wanted to know how to build an excellent Employee Experience. Not surprisingly, we had plenty of advice about it. 

You see, so much of what we talk about on this podcast applies to customers. However, it also applies to employees. People are people, whether they are buying or selling. So, until your employees are robots, you should be managing both experiences. 

In this episode, we explore the question of how to build an excellent Employee Experience. We also share some advice on how to implement the advice practically and successfully, which is more than we can say for bringing back the Thighmaster.  

Key Ideas to Improve your Customer Experience

One thing that might be a fad is what we call this area. For our part, we like Employee Experience because it goes with Customer Experience, and it uses alliteration. So, we don’t think the idea behind it will fade, but the terminology might. And we are okay with that. 

Here are a few key moments in the discussion:

• 06:23  Colin explains how we are all experiential animals, so it is essential to ensure that experiences work for us, or there are negative consequences. 
• 10:46. We discuss how the Customer Experience and the behavioral science theories that we relate to it also apply to the Employee Experience. 
• 13:26  Ryan explains how Reference Points are essential in the conversation about Employee Experiences. 
• 20:56  We address the various ways you can use Customer Experience advice to manage your Employee Experience efforts. 
• 26:10  Colin gets into how a previous podcast about the 5 Rules of Leadership are essential here also. 
• 29:11  We both offer our last bits of advice for Kumar and anyone who wants to build an excellent Employee Experience. 

_________________________________________________________________

Did you know we have a YouTube Channel too? Check it out here.

Connect with Colin on LinkedIn HERE.

Follow Colin on Twitter HERE.

Click HERE to learn more about Professor Ryan Hamilton of Emory University. 

To learn more about Beyond Philosophy's Suite of Services Click here.

Business as usual is anything but usual today. How things will change in the “new normal” and what you can do to manage it is almost anyone’s guess. However, if you can open your mind to trying new things other than what you normally would do, you might discover the magic trick that makes it all work well for managing your customer behavior.

In this episode of The Intuitive Customer, we continued our discussion on these ideas with Rory Sutherland, an author, speaker, and the Vice-Chairman of Ogilvy in the UK. Here is what we discussed. 

Key Takeaways 

Dare to be trivial. We like this rule of Sutherland’s 11

rules of succeeding with nonsensical ideas, because it supports the idea that little things

matter a lot to the Customer Experience and can have a significant effect on customer

behavior. Sutherland adds that this rule is tied into the idea of “magic,”

which is what he calls getting significant results from little changes. He also thinks

these magic details can cause butterfly effects in the best possible ways. 

If there is a logical answer, we would have already found it. Perhaps most importantly, Sutherlands last rule tells us that there likely isn’t a reasonable explanation for why this type of thinking works (or doesn’t, as the case may be). He points out that many, many people have well-established systems of analysis to come to precisely that answer and haven’t. Moreover, it’s hubris to believe you can do it better, so don’t hang your hat on your ability to do so. However, if you leave behind the well-established system and forge a new one, you open up possibilities to get the customer behavior you want in exciting ways. For example, before airlines, cruise ships crossed the Atlantic to the states, and there was a lot of competition to be the fastest crossing. However, once airplanes could manage the crossing in an afternoon, the cruise line competition was pointless. Instead, cruise lines went to extremes to make the journey more enjoyable than an airplane and created a whole new industry for holidays and travel. 

We will do more of what we did during the crisis and less of what we didn’t do during it. Sutherland predicts that the pandemic will change customer behavior in many ways he cannot foresee, but in one way that he can. We will all have adapted to a new way of doing things during this time that we will continue doing after it ends. For example, Zoom calls might replace some meetings and business trips. Grocery deliveries will enjoy more widespread use. Some people might continue working from home. 

Recommended Actions

1. Open yourself to magic. If you can leave behind the usual ways of doing business and open your mind to new ways of doing things, you broaden your potential solutions considerably and often economically. 
2. Avoid following the crowd. Many organizations, especially those that use management consultants, are more comfortable doing what has always been done because it is easier to measure, quantify, and report results. Now, the ability to do those things is lovely, however, they are also well-known and well used. If you can break away from the pack, what you give up in certainty you gain in potential competitive differentiation. 
3. Read Sutherland’s book. To get into these ideas in greater detail, we would encourage you to read Sutherland’s book, Alchemy: The Surprising Power of Ideas That Don’t Make Sense. Another option is to look up his TED talks or engage with him on Twitter (@rorysutherland). 

To discuss this further contact us at www.BeyondPhilosophy.com

About Beyond Philosophy:

Beyond Philosophy help organizations unlock growth by discovering customers' hidden, unmet needs that drive value ($). We then capitalize on this by improving your customer experience to meet these needs thereby retaining and acquiring new customers across the market.

This podcast is produced by Resonate Recordings. Click here find out more. 

Maybe it’s a towing service. Perhaps you use an interior designer. It could be that you needed to outsource your call center. Whatever the reason may be, you have outsourced part of your Customer Experience. 

There is an inherent risk involved, of course, if there are problems. After all, customers do not distinguish between the part of the experience you provide and the part your third-party does. To customers, it’s all one experience and any problems that happen along the way, whether they were under your control or not, reflect upon your brand. However, by bringing in these additional resources the third-party company provides, you also have created an end-to-end experience that makes it easy for your customers to do business with you. 

The question is, was outsourcing that part of your experience really a good idea or a big mistake? In this episode we answer that question and give you some actionable steps to manage your third-party partners. 

Key Ideas to Improve your Customer Experience

This episode has some examples of what we mean by third party partners and how they fit into an experience. We also explore the pros and cons of outsourcing part of your Customer Experience. Finally, we discuss different ways you can mitigate your risk and manage customer expectations to the best possible outcome for your experience. 

Here are a few key moments in the discussion:

• 03:20 Ryan shares a story about his friend and her troubles with a trampoline installation.        
• 06:21 For the first time EVER in the podcast, Colin complains a bit about an experience he had with Apple.
• 07:40 We explain that how you position the third-party’s role in your experience might create some separation for the two parts in your customers’ mind. 
• 09:58 We explain how companies can’t contract out part of the experience and then walk away from their responsibility for it.
• 12:22 Colin shares a story where a hotel saw their airport shuttle service like it was a favor and he saw it as a failed part of their experience, and why that happens.
• 15:56 Colin shares a term he learned from BMW when writing his first book, “Only-ers” and why you shouldn’t have them in your company.
• 19:58 Ryan explains how big companies can sometimes make customers feel like they are dealing with a third-party company if they don’t improve the customer journey between departments.
• 26:42 We share our advice and actionable items to help you manage the parts of your experience you might have outsourced. 

Please tell us how we are doing! Complete this short survey. 

Customer Experience Information & Resources

LinkedIn recognizes Colin Shaw as one of the 'World's Top 150 Business Influencers.' As a result, he has 289,000 followers of his work. Shaw is Founder and CEO of Beyond Philosophy LLC, which helps organizations unlock growth by discovering customers' hidden, unmet needs that drive value ($). The Financial Times selected Beyond Philosophy LLC as one of the best management consultancies for the last two years. Follow Colin on LinkedIn and Twitter.

Click here to learn more about Professor Ryan Hamilton of Emory University. 

Why Customers Buy: As an official "Influencer" on LinkedIn, Colin writes a regular newsletter on all things Customer Experience. Click here to join the other 22,000 subscribers. 

Experience Health Check: You already have an experience, even if you weren't deliberate about it. Our Experience Health Check can help you understand what you have today. Colin or one of our team can assess your digital or physical Customer Experience, interacting with your organization as a customer to define what is good and what needs improving. Then, they will provide a list of recommendations for critical next steps for your organization. Click here to learn more. 

How can we help?

Click here to learn more about Beyond Philosophy's Suite of Services.

I have written seven books, countless articles, and tons of keynote speeches, not to mention thousands of emails. As a writer, through and through, I know how difficult it can be to stare at a blank screen watching that blinking cursor wondering where to start. 

But a new AI-powered chatbot might make my life a whole lot easier, and yours, too. 

It’s called ChatGPT, and it has the potential to change how we create things and make the power of AI accessible to everyone. It is a conversational chatbot that can process requests and, if you want, write things for you. It has written poetry, code for applications, the copy for a Ryan Reynold’s MINT mobile company commercial, and more.  

Unfortunately, it also means ChatGPT is accessible to high school students that need to write a five-paragraph essay about Romeo and Juliet. If there is one group where ChatGPT is unwelcome, it’s the teacher’s lounge at any high school or college. 

In this episode, we discuss how ChatGPT might change the way organizations do things moving forward.

Key Ideas to Improve your Customer Experience

We also discussed what some of my readers on LinkedIn think of the AI technology in ChatGPT. Igor Rodrigues likes how it handles context. Sergei Liashenko thinks it could be useful for staff training. Graham Hill worries that if too many people leverage the technology, we will lose the distinctions between organizations that often provide a competitive edge. 

We would love to also hear your insight. To subscribe to the newsletter and weigh in, please click here.

Here are some other key moments in the discussion:

• 02:41  We introduce what ChatGPT is and how we have been working with it, and how it differs from what other technology we have encountered.
• 07:54  Colin shares some of the ways he thinks it will serve as a writing assistant for him moving forward, and Ryan explains how it has completely wrecked the educational essay. 
• 16:51 Colin shares some of the responses he got from readers of the newsletter on LinkedIn. 
• 22:53  We share what the 8^th imperative would have been for our book, The Intuitive Customer, if we had leveraged the AI, and it was surprisingly good.
• 24:32  We share our insights about what you should take away from this topic and apply it in your organization.

Did you know we have a YouTube Channel too? Check it out here.

Colin Shaw and Professor Ryan Hamilton discuss the fact that we all think that we make logical decisions but the reality is we don't. We are irrational, customers are irrational. What should we do about this?

Sometimes it’s a “processing” fee. Sometimes it’s called an “admin” fee. We have even seen it labeled “convenience fee,” a refreshingly candid explanation for it. However, they are always additional fees, and if you have them in your pricing, they might have terrible implications for your customer experience. 

However, they might not. Unfortunately, there isn’t a lot of scientific evidence that points to a definite negative effect on additional fees for a customer experience. For my part, it leaves a sour taste in my mouth when I get hit with one, so, my presumption is that I am not alone. 

However, our listener Brian Williams wrote into us with a pickle. His company is facing rising costs and are debating the merit of raising prices over additional fees and vice versa. Unable to decide—or just wanting an outside perspective—they wrote to us to find out what we think. 

It is a quite a pickle. Probably one that some of you are facing, too. There isn’t a clear-cut answer either. However, there are some important considerations that can guide a decision to go one way or the other. 

In this episode, we explore these considerations, the possible fall out from them, and give our opinion on what Williams and his company should do.  

Are you “in a pickle” at your firm, too? Tells us about here and we might feature your pickle on an episode of the podcast. 

Here are some other key moments in the discussion:

• 01:48  We present Williams’ business pickle and why this is such an area of interest today, and for more than Ryan and his academic friends.
• 04:21  Colin shares a couple of instances where additional fees soured his experience.
• 07:57  Ryan gets into the theory behind what’s going on with additional fees and why they are so common in an era of inflation.      
• 17:32  We introduce the topic of tipping and how it is a form of Two-Part Pricing also, and becoming too steep and too ubiquitous to sustain itself in the U.S.
• 26:24 We explore whether additional fees are a form of transparency, and what the fall out can be from listing out fees as line items in pricing bids. 
• 29:23  We share our advice for Williams, and anyone else facing this same problem. 

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Did you know we have a YouTube Channel too? Check it out here.

Follow Colin on LinkedIn HERE.

Choice architecture is a significant factor in buying decisions you make every day. From how they stock the buffet line to how likely you are to donate your organs after you die, the psychology of choice is influencing your decisions every day.

In this episode of The Intuitive Customer, we explore the concept of Choice Architecture and how it affects our daily lives. We also discuss the different variables that you need to consider in the way you present your choices to customers as part of your CX Strategy.

It all started with a new public bench. You see, I live in Sarasota, Florida. and recently, there have been some interesting changes to the public benches. Halfway along the seat, there are armrests.

At first I thought, “Well, that will be more comfortable to sit in for sure.” Then, I realized that the armrests were not there for my comfort, but instead to convince the homeless who sleep on the benches sometimes to find a more comfortable spot for their repose.

The armrests on the public benches are a type of Choice Architecture design. Choice Architecture is the way you present options to people who are making a decision to influence the outcome. By changing the way Sarasota presents their benches, they influence the decisions of their citizens. 

Obviously, this situation is different than how you would use Choice Architecture in your Customer Experience. That said, the way you present your options can either draw people in and build a relationship with customers, or it can repel them and send them looking for a more comfortable spot. 

Choice Architecture manifests in many different ways. It can be something physical like the armrest in the bench or it can be wording that is used on the packaging. It can be the way you price items or even the sizes you package and what you name them.

Choice Architecture is part of many of the decisions you make each day. Consider the following: 

• When you order a drink at the restaurant, do you calculate the cost per ounce and choose the best value or do you just order the medium and call it a day?
• When you go to a buffet, do you discover that you loaded your plate with chips and bread and now don’t have room for the prime rib that you found at the end of the line?
• Is there ever a time besides a movie theatre when you would buy more popcorn than you could ever eat for $15?

Listen to the podcast in its entirety to learn more about How Choice Architecture Can Revolutionize Your Customer Experience.

The Intuitive Customer podcasts are designed to explain the psychological concepts behind customer behavior.  

If you would like to find out from one of our CX consultants how you can implement the concepts we discussed in your organization’s marketing to improve customer loyalty and retention, contact us at www.beyondphilosophy.com.

To subscribe to The Intuitive Customer and never miss a podcast, please click here.

Did you ever have an imaginary friend? If so, you already have a leg up on this week’s episode. Chances are you created a mental model of your imaginary friend and could predict with 100 percent accuracy how they might react to a given situation. 

A mental model is a detailed creation of an imaginary customer that helps you determine how a real-life customer might react to a given situation. However, unlike the imaginary friend, science and data develop the imaginary customer, not creativity.

As we conclude the Masterclass Series about the intricate world of Customer Experiences and the myriad factors that shape customer behavior from a behavioral science perspective,  today’s episode pulls everything together. We discuss why you should create mental models of imaginary customers to understand why your real-life customers do what they do.

Traditionally, advertising professionals crafted detailed fictional personas, like an imaginary friend from childhood. Then, they targeted their messages to these fictional customers to hone their brand messages. Today, marketers continue this practice by segmenting customers into groups with specific characteristics, creating a persona that represents the group, and tailoring messages for each persona. 

AI presents an intriguing opportunity to enhance this approach, enabling AI to predict customer responses by accurately simulating real-world behavior. This practical application holds immense promise.

However, relying solely on intuition is inadequate for constructing precise mental models. A wealth of data is necessary to uncover the underlying motivations and psychological triggers of customer behavior. 

Understanding the context in which customers make decisions is another critical element of creating effective mental models. Factors such as current emotions, memories of past experiences, and the situational context can significantly influence decision-making. Also, we discuss how Daniel Kahneman’s two-system model from "Thinking, Fast and Slow" explains the interplay between rational and intuitive decision-making processes.

This final installment of our Masterclass Series underscores the significance of customer personas or mental models in comprehending and anticipating customer reactions to diverse marketing strategies. Our discussion emphasizes the criticality of incorporating comprehensive data into these models to ensure accurate predictions of customer reactions, particularly in the context of incentives. The discussion also highlights the challenges of integrating such data into AI models. 

In this episode, you will also learn:

• The historical development of customer personas in advertising

• The potential future role of AI in creating and predicting customer personas

• The limitations of relying solely on intuition for customer behavior predictions

• The significance of memories and emotional drivers in customer decision-making

• Why nutrition labels did little to encourage obese people to make better food choices

• The impact of situational context on customer choices

One of our listeners has a pickle. They did research that told them a product was just what their customers wanted, so they developed and launched it. But now, there are no sales. They want to know what went wrong. We suspect we might know. 

Research is a double-edged sword. It has the power to give us answers we want but not always the answers we need. Many things we do, deliberately or otherwise, affect what we hear. 

In addition, sometimes our sources are unreliable. Customers have different mindsets when they answer a question on a survey and when they make a buying decision. So, what they tell you on a survey might be quite different than what they do as customers.

In this episode, we take a deeper dive into these ideas of what went wrong for our listener’s product launch. We also share some practical advice to avoid making these mistakes in the future. 

Here are some other key moments in the discussion:

• 02:43  We discuss the pickle our listener, who wishes to remain anonymous, wrote into us about. 
• 06:36  We talk about how survey questions can lead your respondents to an answer, called Push Polling, which is very well explained in this comedy program from the UK, Yes, Minister." 
• 11:28  Colin talks about where he thinks the real crux of the problem is for his listeners’ pickle, not understand the customers real underlying motivations. 
• 16:55   We discuss the concept of what we hire product and services to do for us, like a job, and how some buying decisions satisfy two different roles.
• 19:02  Colin shares a story about a major product launch that cause major headaches for his organization back in the day. 
• 25:30 We share the practical advice for our listener’s pickle and how you can avoid making these same mistakes in your product development. 

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Did you know we have a YouTube Channel too? Check it out here.

Connect with Colin on LinkedIn HERE.

Follow Colin on Twitter HERE.

Click HERE to learn more about Professor Ryan Hamilton of Emory University. 

To learn more about Beyond Philosophy's Suite of Services Click here.

A Master Class Part 3: Unlocking the Psychology of Customer Experience

In the third episode of our Master Class series on the Psychology of Customer Experience, we delve into how other people influence our behavior. Understanding these theoretical dynamics is practical, empowering you to design effective Customer Experiences.

Robert Cialdini's research on influence is a cornerstone of understanding social dynamics and persuasion techniques. In this episode, we rely heavily on his groundbreaking work.

First, let’s consider Social Proof. Social Proof is a concept that describes how the actions and preferences of others influence people. Two examples that demonstrate how this works are the idea of trending, or the tendency to like something if others do, and the fear of missing out (FOMO), which drives people to join in activities or trends.

Reciprocity influences behavior, too. Reciprocity is the idea that people respond positively to kindness and favors. Many times, people who have been on the receiving end of kindness will return that behavior.. However, acts of kindness that inspire reciprocity must be genuine. If they come with the expectation of something in return, they will not produce the same results.

Scarcity is a persuasive tactic that capitalizes on the limited availability of a product or service to create a sense of urgency and desirability. It can be seen in online shopping carts indicating low stock or limited time offers presented during a cruise.

In this episode, we provide an overview of many of these social dynamics that influence customer behavior in your experience. Understanding social dynamics and influence can inform strategic decisions in customer experience design, including marketing campaigns, sales techniques, and product positioning. Best of all, Colin uses his serious “Master-Class” voice, which tells you that he really knows what he is talking about.

In this episode, you will also discover:

• The concept of Social Proof and how it influences consumer behavior.

• The power of Reciprocity and how acts of kindness can drive customer loyalty.

• How Scarcity tactics can create a sense of urgency and increase demand for products or services.

• Examples of these influence techniques in real-world scenarios, like online shopping cart messages and to-good-to-be-true cruise line offers.

• The importance of considering social influences throughout the customer journey.

• Strategies for leveraging social dynamics to enhance customer experiences and drive sales.

Unleashing the Power of AI vs. Human Touch: Which Delivers a Superior Customer Experience?

I often say, "None of us are as clever as all of us." However, sayings are more useful when they can spur action. So, we have a proposition for you:

If you have something you want to say about experiences or technology, statistics, or reports, feel free to share them via video. To learn more, click here.

To that end, Tom Martin, CEO at Glance, has submitted one about AI. 

Tom makes an excellent point. As we develop AI into our systems, we will need to determine what AI will replace, what it will augment, and what it will add.

AI presents opportunities to shift some routine tasks from human employees to virtual ones. However, shifting of tasks should mean reducing head count. Instead, AI should be a way to help employees pay more attention to the needs of customers. 

Moreover, we should be realistic about the power of AI. It isn’t magic; it can’t solve all our problems. What it can do is be a powerful tool that we can leverage and develop over time. 

We have been here before, too. I had a system that was going to be the best thing that ever happened to my organization 20 years ago. That was the fantasy. The reality was quite different.

And let’s not forget the internet. It took years for it to be what it is today. AI will likely follow a similar path. 

In this episode we explore the points made by Tom in his video along with our take on AI and Customer Experiences. Perhaps most importantly, we implore organizations to remember that AI doesn’t replace your employees; it enhances what they can do for customers. 

Here are some other key moments in the discussion:

• 04:28  We listen to Tom’s video and why he thinks leading with humans creates a better AI strategy. 

• 09:48  Both Ryan and Colin share their thoughts about AI and the next frontier of business, including Colin’s frustrations with the phrase, “high call volumes at the moment.”

• 18:10  Colin shares a story about a new system implementation program that didn’t live up to his hopes and dreams for it 20 years ago, and how that applies to organization implementation with AI.      

• 20:23  Ryan explains the Hype Cycle and how it applies to the implementation and adoption of AI. 

• 26:50  We both share out thoughts about the future of AI in organization and what you should take away from the discussion.

Did you know we have a YouTube Channel too? Check it out here.

About Colin Shaw

LinkedIn recognizes Colin Shaw as one of the 'World's Top 150 Business Influencers.' As a result, he has over 294,000 followers and 78,000 subscribers to his LinkedIn newsletter ‘Why Customers Buy’. The Financial Times selected Beyond Philosophy as one of the best management consultancies for four years. 

Colin is a renown keynote speaker and undertakes consultancy work and educational workshops to help organizations improve their Customer Experience. 

Click here to learn more about Professor Ryan Hamilton of Emory University. 

How can we help?

Click here to learn more about Beyond Philosophy's Suite of Services.

Please tell us how we are doing! Complete this short survey.

Many organizations are making a common mistake when it comes to AI. They fail to capitalize on the potential to enhance Customer Experiences through this powerful technology by building it incorrectly. By changing their strategic approach, they could gain a significant competitive advantage.

Take, for instance, a telecom company that developed an AI system to detect customer churn. While it successfully identified customers likely to churn, it fell short in explaining why they were leaving.

Here's the issue: AI models excel at predicting customer behavior but lack the ability to establish meaningful connections and provide context for the data. It's akin to Deep Thought from The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy revealing that the answer to life, the universe, and everything is 42. It may be a correct answer, but we're left without understanding the underlying context.

The mistake lies in how organizations set up their AI systems. The outcome resembles the ambiguous answer of 42. What we truly need is the context that explains the reasons behind it.

In this episode, we explore the mistake many organizations are making with AI and what might happen if the Flat Earthers get a hold of it. Chances are their answer will be about as useful as 42.

Here are some other key moments in the discussion:

• • 01:42  Colin kicks it off by asking how to link together The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy, Flat Earthers, and Artificial Intelligence, and how that relates to the opportunity inherent in AI systems.
  • 09:11  We describe the difference between machine learning and deep learning under the larger umbrella of AI work, and why machine learning might have biases written into its code.
  • 14:44  Colin explains what Flat Earthers have to do with all this, and explains what they believe, suggesting that listeners watch this clip from the ABC News YouTube channel.
  • 20:08  Colin share the big danger of all this, particularly when you consider the parts of Customer Science that are coming as a new wave of change.
  • 29:16 We share our big takeaways from the discussion and how organizations would be wise to improve their AI strategy.

_________________________________________________________________

Did you know we have a YouTube Channel too? Check it out here.

Connect with Colin on LinkedIn HERE.

Follow Colin on Twitter HERE.

Click HERE to learn more about Professor Ryan Hamilton of Emory University. 

To learn more about Beyond Philosophy's Suite of Services Click here.

"What's the one thing we need for a stellar Customer Experience?" 

If we had a dollar for every time clients asked us this, we’d, well, have quite a few dollars. 

The question is understandable. This unspoken desire for a silver bullet solution echoes across industries. We all want a silver bullet solution that will fix our problems, whether for weight loss, financial growth, or, in Colin’s case, for playing the guitar. 

The problem is that there isn’t one for CX improvement. Or guitar, frankly. Achieving mastery in guitar isn't about shortcuts—it's about hours and hours of practice. Likewise, crafting a remarkable CX demands dedicated effort, not a quick fix. Yet, the allure of a silver bullet persists.

The quest for a single, transformative action stems from a human penchant for simplicity, urgency for instant results, and an aversion to complexity. Many wish to sidestep the nuanced challenges of CX improvement, preferring an easy remedy. It's a journey fueled by a lack of CX expertise, feeling overwhelmed by the myriad CX considerations, and the appeal of past CX success stories with simple solutions.

In this episode, we explore seven reasons we want silver bullet solutions. Perhaps more importantly, we offer a realistic perspective on embracing the truth: CX improvement demands dedication and a holistic approach. By understanding the reasons behind the silver bullet mindset, businesses can navigate their CX journey with a clearer understanding and realistic expectations.

In this episode you will discover:

• Why our psychology drives us to crave straightforward solutions, overlooking the intricacies of CX enhancement.

• How our love for immediate results fuels the search for quick fixes and why we shy away from the multifaceted challenges in CX, seeking simplified remedies.

• What guitar solo Colin would play if he had a magic wand, or, magic guitar pick. 

• The influence of exceptional cases and how they reinforce the belief in silver bullet solutions.

• How our old pal Risk Aversion weighs in by leading us to seek shortcuts instead of embracing comprehensive CX strategies.

THIS is the Big Reason You Make Mistakes

We make a lot of subjective decisions. Without the guide of "right" and "wrong" to direct us, we weigh the pros and cons and do the best we can. However, our brains can thwart our best efforts for an optimal outcome by focusing on the wrong things. 

Focalism is a concept that describes how our minds can overemphasize specific points of information over others, and often the wrong ones. Focalism is a reason we often make mistakes. This episode of The Intuitive Customer explores Focalism, why it happens, and what you can do to overcome this natural bias we all share. 

Key Takeaways 

There are a few things you should know about Focalism:

Objects of Focalism in a Customer Experience tend to be notable, easy-to-remember moments that make for good stories. For instance, if you're evaluating your customer experience and someone was rude to you in a way that makes for a good story, you might overemphasize this moment in your whole evaluation of the experience. 

When it comes to overemphasizing the wrong things, the person making the decision is who puts the weights on those decisions. However, people are influenced by what's going on around them. For example, if your sales team emphasizes miles per gallon fuel efficiency for a car, then the customer might also. However, the customer could also react by exaggerating the importance of another feature in response.

People are not as happy with decisions made using Focalism long-term. A study in the 1970s showed that student participants who justified why they chose a poster for their dorm room didn't keep it hanging as long as those students who chose the one they liked best without justification. 

We make the best decisions by integrating the information. One way of doing that is by allowing the Intuitive System (fast, automatic thinking) more time while the Rational System (slow, deliberate thinking) is distracted to process information. 

Recommended Actions

We have a few recommended actions that you can use to manage Focalism in yourself and your customers:

1. If you want to make the best decision as a customer, we recommend that you do something else before making it. Focus on something else for a while, and then come back to the decision and see if you have a different perspective.
2. If you manage the experience for your organization, it would be best to look for these attributes that will become the overemphasized focuses of a customer's evaluation later and improve those aspects of the experience. These will be the easy-to-remember moments of an experience. 
3. We recommend that you have an A/B test regarding how changes to the experience affect your customer behavior. Have a control group carry on doing what you have always done and another group where you change something, whether it's a suggested or mandatory "waiting period" before they sign up with you or a distracting activity before you push for the close, or something in-between. Then, analyze the results to see which process or experience drove the most value for your customers and your bottom-line. 
4. Remember also that Customer Experience has many influences that affect the outcome. Focalism is one of many forces at work at any given moment, so solving it will not necessarily fix all your problems or drive all your success. This part is one of a much more complex system, and it is better to integrate all of that information than solve for the one piece. We recommend additional training on Customer Decision Making to help you identify and manage all the moving parts involved.

To discuss this further contact us at www.BeyondPhilosophy.com

About Beyond Philosophy:

Beyond Philosophy help organizations unlock growth by discovering customers' hidden, unmet needs that drive value ($). We then capitalize on this by improving your customer experience to meet these needs thereby retaining and acquiring new customers across the market.

This podcast is produced by Resonate Recordings. Click here find out more.

Colin Shaw and Professor Ryan Hamilton examine the question: Why do customers change their minds? What makes a customer change their minds when they have been so certain the day before? Critically what can we do about it? Ryan discusses research by psychologists that give us some clues, and pointers for improving your customer's experience. Hosts, Colin Shaw and Ryan Hamilton.

We all love to keep what is ours. As soon as we have possession of something, it becomes part of our “endowment,” a fancy word for “our stuff.” Psychologists call this the Endowment Effect, and it explains how we value things that we have, even if we got them for free.

However, we also hate losing our stuff, even more that we enjoy getting new stuff. Psychologists call this Loss Aversion, and it is the overall concept that explains why your free trial might help increase your sales. Some people would rather pay for something they used to get for free than lose access to it. 

In this episode, we answer a question from one of our listeners, Mohammed, who wanted to know how to convince his team to implement a free trial to increase sales. We shared our theories about why it might work and what we recommend. 

Key Ideas to Improve your Customer Experience

There are practical considerations that accompany implementation of a free trial to optimize your success. We discuss a few of them in the podcast:

• 02:41  We share the problem, which is part of our “In a Pickle” feature of the podcast where we address listeners problems with practical applications of the behavioral sciences.    
• 04:48  We explain the Endowment Effect and how it relates to Loss Aversion.    
• 08:10  Colin shares an example of how a return policy can make or break a “free-trial” experience.    
• 14:01. We talk about how you can use the successes with a free trial to outweigh some of the costs of having one.    
• 15:10  We talk about the concept of follow-on sales where bringing on new customers presents an opportunity to sell them additional goods and services.  
• 18:41  Ryan talks about Reference Points and how it can be difficult to get some people to pay for something they used to get for free unless you make it clear that is the arrangement from the start.
• 22:01  We summarize our suggestions for Mohammed to convince his team to implement a free trial in his company to increase sales.   

Please tell us how we are doing! Complete this short survey. 

Customer Experience Information & Resources

LinkedIn recognizes Colin Shaw as one of the 'World's Top 150 Business Influencers.' As a result, he has 289,000 followers of his work. Shaw is Founder and CEO of Beyond Philosophy LLC, which helps organizations unlock growth by discovering customers' hidden, unmet needs that drive value ($). The Financial Times selected Beyond Philosophy LLC as one of the best management consultancies for the last two years. Follow Colin on LinkedIn and Twitter.

Click here to learn more about Professor Ryan Hamilton of Emory University. 

Why Customers Buy: As an official "Influencer" on LinkedIn, Colin writes a regular newsletter on all things Customer Experience. Click here to join the other 22,000 subscribers. 

Experience Health Check: You already have an experience, even if you weren't deliberate about it. Our Experience Health Check can help you understand what you have today. Colin or one of our team can assess your digital or physical Customer Experience, interacting with your organization as a customer to define what is good and what needs improving. Then, they will provide a list of recommendations for critical next steps for your organization. Click here to learn more. 

How can we help?

Click here to learn more about Beyond Philosophy's Suite of Services.

We all want to sell more, so how do we do this? Are you using this powerful sales technique? The best organizations are, the worse, not so much. Learn what you should be doing.

Why do customers ask for multiple competitive quotes? When they get them how do they decide what to buy? Customers have a natural tendency to avoid extremes. How can you use this to your advantage?

Waiting around for a customer experience is rarely a good thing. When customers are waiting for you, that’s usually a sign that not waiting would have been difficult or inconvenient (read: expensive) for your company. However, not valuing customers’ time is probably the most expensive mistake you can make. 

Then, of course, there are the times when the waiting is part of the experience. For example, the Peter Pan ride at Disneyland has several rooms you pass through before you get to the ride that set the mood and build anticipation of the adventure to come. When you skip it, you get to the ride faster, but you miss out on the building of the anticipation. 

Part of what makes the Peter Pan wait more beneficial than your average waiting around situation for an experience is that it make the waiting more enjoyable. Many would also argue that the ride—and the park itself—provide value to customers who are waiting. 

So, waiting isn’t always bad; like many things we discuss on the podcast, it depends. However, it does always reveal how internally focused you are and whether you place importance on the value of customers’ time.

In this episode, we explore what it means about your focus when customers wait and how you can manage or enhance the waiting experience to engage and enhance customers’ time spent with you. 

Here are some other key moments in the discussion:

• 02:59  After sharing some stories about waiting that made him feel cross, Colin explains that you need to value customers’ time in your experience.
• 10:33 We discuss how Disney manages wait time by offering Fast Track to reduce queue wait times, and signs in line that estimate how much longer you have to wait before the ride.
• 16:17  We talk about when waits are good for building anticipation; and how sometimes the wait is even better than the experience. 
• 24:21 Ryan explains that his kids are excited about some changes to Minecraft that are coming that they had to wait for; and what they were waiting for might surprise you.
• 26:59  We suspend the conversation, and explain that listeners will have to wait to hear about the rest of the topic on next week’s episode. (See what we did there?)

_________________________________________________________________

Did you know we have a YouTube Channel too? Check it out here.

Connect with Colin on LinkedIn HERE.

Follow Colin on Twitter HERE.

Click HERE to learn more about Professor Ryan Hamilton of Emory University. 

To learn more about Beyond Philosophy's Suite of Services Click here.

Fernando has a problem that he wants our help solving. In his industry of branding and packaging fast-moving consumer goods, his clients often tell him to do whatever the competition is doing. However, Fernando knows that while imitation is the highest form of flattery, it’s a less than ideal customer strategy when you want to win customers from the competition. 

In this episode, we explore Fernando’s business problem, aka Pickle, for our, “I’m in a Pickle” segment of the podcast. We discuss the challenges surrounding competitive differentiation as well as the psychological theories from the behavioral sciences that can help guide the customer strategy. Not surprisingly, it takes standing out from everybody else to fit in with customers. 

Key Ideas to Improve your Customer Experience

Human beings are social. From an evolutionary point of view, our social natures is tied into survival. Those that were part of the pack had a better chance of living out the day than individuals going it alone. 

Without the same threats today that we might have faced in the past, our social nature persists. Sometimes, this natural inclination is a good thing. However, when the need to fit in influences our decisions in the marketplace, it becomes a problem. Moreover, things like “best practices” can get in the way of creative approaches to deliver experiences. A critical part of any organization’s customer strategy and competitive differentiation is to find a way that you are different from the pack and communicate it. The behavioral sciences explain why this is challenging—and also why it works.  

Here are a few key moments in the discussion:

• 03:54  Ryan kicks off the discussion of three influential concepts, Risk Aversion, Loss Aversion and Social Proof, that describe why differentiation can be challenging for Fernando’s customers.    
• 07:06  We explain why adopting best practices and following the leaders in the marketplace is not a great long-term strategy.    
• 08:29  Colin shares a story demonstrating a concept called optimal distinctiveness about buying a popular car, but ensuring that his was “just a bit” different, so his car stood out from the others.    
• 15:56  We bring it back to Fernando’s problem to talk about how to balance the need for conformity with the desire to achieve optimal distinctiveness.    
• 18:49  Ryan explains where we got the term for Top-Shelf liquor and how that relates to Fernando’s problem.  
• 21:48  We explain that appealing to customers requires a practical understanding what those target customers want, and using those values in the experience design.    
• 24:35  Colin shares his advice on what Fernando, and anyone else having a problem with competitive differentiation, can do to overcome their risk aversion and employ a winning customer strategy.  

Please tell us how we are doing! Complete this short survey. 

Customer Experience Information & Resources

LinkedIn recognizes Colin Shaw as one of the 'World's Top 150 Business Influencers.' As a result, he has 289,000 followers of his work. Shaw is Founder and CEO of Beyond Philosophy LLC, which helps organizations unlock growth by discovering customers' hidden, unmet needs that drive value ($). The Financial Times selected Beyond Philosophy LLC as one of the best management consultancies for the last two years. Follow Colin on LinkedIn and Twitter.

Click here to learn more about Professor Ryan Hamilton of Emory University. 

Why Customers Buy: As an official "Influencer" on LinkedIn, Colin writes a regular newsletter on all things Customer Experience. Click here to join the other 22,000 subscribers. 

Experience Health Check: You already have an experience, even if you weren't deliberate about it. Our Experience Health Check can help you understand what you have today. Colin or one of our team can assess your digital or physical Customer Experience, interacting with your organization as a customer to define what is good and what needs improving. Then, they will provide a list of recommendations for critical next steps for your organization. Click here to learn more. 

How can we help?

Click here to learn more about Beyond Philosophy's Suite of Services.

Loss Aversion teaches us that people like to gain things, but that they like hanging on to what they have even more and feel losses much more profoundly than gains. So, you would think that effective policy to reduce disposable bag usage by charging a surcharge for a grocery bag would tap into these feelings.

Not so fast. New research reveals that Loss Aversion is not the reason for the grocery bag surcharge’s success. 

In this episode of The Intuitive Customer, our guest host Alicea “Allie” Lieberman, a Ph.D. candidate from the University of California, San Diego, shares her findings with us regarding why incentives work. The Harvard Business Review also published an article about her results, “Why We’re Incentivized by Discounts and Surcharges” in February of this year. She and her research partner Kristen Duke also published their study in a peer-reviewed journal that shows how Social Norms help drive the effectiveness of incentives to change customer behavior.

Every so often, I get a chance to chit-chat with colleagues of mine about the future of customer experience. This time, my colleagues were pioneers in customer experience, Lou Carbone (Experience Engineering.com) author of Clued In, and Joe Pine (StratgicHorizons.com), author of The Experience Economy. We discussed what we see changing in CX. 

We all think we are at a turning point in the movement. There are a lot of things that the recent pandemic has broken. However, organizations haven’t fixed all of them. Add in the inflation rates that are crippling the economy and affecting customer behavior, and you have a good idea of the state of things these days. 

However, my colleagues and I agree there are also exciting things on the horizon. Customer experience enjoyed its first academic nod. We also see CEOs taking a new interest in creative thinking and open-mindedness. Customer science looms on the horizon. 

In this episode, we explore the potential for the new year in the customer experience movement and combine the powers of decades of experience to guess what will happen in 2023. We see significant changes coming and share what we see and what you should do about it. 

Key Ideas to Improve your Customer Experience

The state of affairs today in customer strategy is dire. The American Customer Satisfaction Index is at its lowest level in 17 years. From 2010 to 2019, two-thirds of organizations still needed to improve customer satisfaction. Forrester predicted that one out of every five people in Customer Experience would lose their job in the next twelve months. 

Here are some other critical moments in the discussion:

• 02:53  Carbone discusses how too much business thinking is still stuck in the industrial age and how we should change that.
• 08:31   Pine describes how experiences are about people’s time, not wasting it but making it well-spent.
• 12:51 Colin threatens to sing Abba’s “Knowing me Knowing You.”
• 20:00  Carbone announces a milestone for customer experience management, getting a nod from academia. 
• 27:36 Pine shares ideas about developing new measurements for success in CX beyond the traditional that might track customer sentiment more than today’s measures.
• 36:11 We share our predictions for the new year and what organizations should focus on.

Did you know we have a YouTube Channel too? Check it out here.

Customer Experience Information & Resources

LinkedIn recognizes Colin Shaw as one of the 'World's Top 150 Business Influencers.' As a result, he has 290,000 followers of his work. Shaw is Founder and CEO of Beyond Philosophy LLC, which helps organizations unlock growth by discovering customers' hidden, unmet needs that drive value ($). The Financial Times selected Beyond Philosophy as one of the best management consultancies for the last four years in a row. Follow Colin on LinkedIn and Twitter.

Click here to learn more about Professor Ryan Hamilton of Emory University. 

Why Customers Buy: As an official "Influencer" on LinkedIn, Colin writes a regular newsletter on all things Customer Experience. Click here to join the other 70,000 subscribers. 

How can we help?

Click here to learn more about Beyond Philosophy's Suite of Services.

Please tell us how we are doing! Complete this short survey.

No one ever sends out an email that they hope no one will read. Well, not on purpose, anyway. No one would go through the trouble of writing, editing, circulating, and then editing an email some more only to have readers skip it and click on another, more compelling email in the inbox. We write and send emails to get people to do something, starting with reading it. 

In this episode we explore the ways that email marketers can increase response rates to their campaigns using the concepts from psychology and behavioral economics. By using the way humans respond to information as a guide, you can change the reaction your email creates in people, and get them to respond more. 

Key Ideas to Improve your Customer Experience

There are two main concepts that we focus on in this episode, Framing and Loss Aversion. Framing explains how the presentation of information is never neutral and how that affects people’s reaction to it. Loss Aversion explains that we react more intensely to losses than we do to gains. Using the combination of these two concepts, you might be surprised at how different the response rate to the same information in an email can be. 

Here are a few key moments in the discussion:

• 04:16   Ryan presents an explanation for Framing and Loss Aversion, and how you can use them to persuade people to do something.
• 08:51  Ryan explains how there is also a Negativity Bias at play which suggests we prefer negative information over positive information.
• 10:08  We make an important distinction between presenting losses and being negative,  and how one does not necessarily lead to the other every time. 
• 12:07   We describe how FOMO, or Fear Of Missing Out, is a form of Loss Aversion that can be useful when writing email copy. 
• 15:07   Colin shares a tool that he finds helpful for writing headlines that are compelling for content, which could be useful for email subject lines.
• 21:54   We explain why understanding your customers goals and motivations will help you create a message that gets their attention.
• 24:59  We share all the specific things you can do to make your emails more compelling and increase your response rates. 

Please tell us how we are doing! Complete this short survey. 

Customer Experience Information & Resources

LinkedIn recognizes Colin Shaw as one of the 'World's Top 150 Business Influencers.' As a result, he has 289,000 followers of his work. Shaw is Founder and CEO of Beyond Philosophy LLC, which helps organizations unlock growth by discovering customers' hidden, unmet needs that drive value ($). The Financial Times selected Beyond Philosophy LLC as one of the best management consultancies for the last two years. Follow Colin on LinkedIn and Twitter.

Click here to learn more about Professor Ryan Hamilton of Emory University. 

Why Customers Buy: As an official "Influencer" on LinkedIn, Colin writes a regular newsletter on all things Customer Experience. Click here to join the other 22,000 subscribers. 

Experience Health Check: You already have an experience, even if you weren't deliberate about it. Our Experience Health Check can help you understand what you have today. Colin or one of our team can assess your digital or physical Customer Experience, interacting with your organization as a customer to define what is good and what needs improving. Then, they will provide a list of recommendations for critical next steps for your organization. Click here to learn more. 

How can we help?

Click here to learn more about Beyond Philosophy's Suite of Services.

Quote of the Episode

"If something feels off, it probably is. Trust your instincts and push for clarity—because informed customers are empowered customers."

Episode Summary

In this episode of The Intuitive Customer, Colin Shaw and Professor Ryan Hamilton discuss the all-too-common experience of feeling ripped off. Drawing on Colin’s personal experiences with home repairs and unexpected costs, they delve into the anatomy of being taken advantage of as a customer. Together, they explore the power dynamics, manipulative tactics, and psychological cues that underpin these interactions.

From high-pressure situations to unnecessary upsells, the hosts provide insights into recognizing when you’re being overcharged and how to protect yourself. Along the way, they share actionable tips for consumers and lessons businesses can learn to build trust and transparency with their customers.

Key Takeaways

1. Red Flags of Being Ripped Off:

   • Urgency and High Demand: When time is short, and demand is high, you’re more likely to encounter inflated prices.

   • Irrelevant Questions: Excessive or unrelated inquiries can signal attempts to upsell or gauge your lack of expertise.

   • Upselling Early: If a provider pushes additional services before addressing your core issue, proceed cautiously.

   • Manipulative Sales Tactics: Techniques like “calling the manager” or creating false scarcity are designed to wear you down.

   • Unease: Trust your gut—if something feels off, it probably is.

2. Power Dynamics and Information Gaps:

   • Service providers often have the upper hand in terms of expertise and resources, which can lead to exploitation.

   • Customers should ask detailed questions, break down costs, and research to close the information gap.

3. Lessons for Businesses:

   • Transparency and honesty foster long-term trust and customer loyalty.

   • While exploiting urgency or knowledge gaps may yield short-term gains, it damages reputation and drives customers away.

4. Practical Tips for Consumers:

   • Avoid rushed decisions and gather multiple quotes when possible.

   • Demand clarity on costs and don’t hesitate to negotiate.

   • Recognize manipulative tactics and assert your rights as a customer.

About the Hosts:

Colin Shaw is a LinkedIn 'Top Voice' with a massive 284,000 followers and 86,000 subscribers to his 'Why Customers Buy' newsletter. Shaw is named one of the world's 'Top 150 Business Influencers' by LinkedIn. His company, Beyond Philosophy LLC, has been selected four times by the Financial Times as a top management consultancy. Shaw is co-host of the top 1.5% podcast 'The Intuitive Customer'—with over 600,000 downloads—and author of eight best-sellers on customer experience, Shaw is a sought-after keynote speaker. Follow Colin on LinkedIn.

Ryan Hamilton is a Professor of Marketing at Emory University's Goizueta Business School and co-author of 'The Intuitive Customer' book. An award-winning teacher and researcher in consumer psychology, he has been named one of Poets & Quants' "World’s Best 40 B-School Profs Under 40." His research focuses on how brands, prices, and choice architecture influence shopper decision-making, and his findings have been published in top academic journals and covered by major media outlets like The New York Times and CNN. His work highlights how psychology can help firms better understand and serve their customers. Ryan has a new book launch in June 2025 called “The Growth Dilemma: Managing Your Brand When Different Customers Want Different Things” Harvard Business Press Follow Ryan on LinkedIn.

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Colin Shaw and Prof. Ryan Hamilton discuss how to understand the rules of customer decision making. If you don't know how customers make decisions you cannot influence them to best effect. Explore the decision-making process and listen for actionable advice you can use today.

Episode Zero - Colin Shaw discusses what you can expect from The Intuitive Customer podcast. Colin outlines in very understandable way, how behavioral economics and psychology fundamentally influences your customers experience and how you can use these to improve your customer loyalty and customer retention.

Facebook is a glimpse into the future for most businesses. Colin Shaw and Professor Ryan Hamilton discuss the recent controversy and the implications. What can we learn from the Facebook scandal? What are they doing with data? What action should we be taking?

One of our listeners, Jeanne-Claude, has a problem. He sells a complex product and despite the fact that they have the best one in the industry, the competition is outselling them. 

I can relate. I sold a complicated product when I was in corporate life, and it was always a highly competitive field. It can be challenging to communicate why you are the best when you have a complex offering and you want to tell customers all about it. However, one thing I know to be true is that it doesn’t matter who is the best; it matters who customers perceive to be the best. 

In this episode, we explore what behavioral science concepts might help Jeanne-Claude, and all the rest of you that suffer through something similar, to get the best of his competition. 

Key Ideas to Improve your Customer Experience

There are a number of factors that influence how customers perceive and offer. In the case of a complicated offering, they might be using something that is easier to compare to get them to a decision. However, it could also be the way the information is presented that drives them to the competition. It might even be that the way the choices are presented is making it difficult for them to choose Jeanne-Claude’s company. We talk about all of these concepts in this episode and how they might be influencing his results as well as how he can leverage them to change the outcome. 

Here are a few key moments in the discussion.

• 01:54  We read Jeanne-Claude’s frustrating problem that despite being the best, they are losing to the competition. 
• 03:39 Ryan explains the Evaluability Hypothesis and how it might influence the decision-making process for customers.    
• 07:50  Colin shares a story about choosing travel insurance and how a magazine provided an easier metric to choose one from the many available options.    
• 14:44  Colin explains that it is essential to understand what motivates a decision for specific customers so you can appeal to that in your communication.    
• 21:22   We introduce the concept of framing and how it might influence people’s decisions.   
• 25:42  Ryan brings Choice Architecture into the conversation and how presenting the choices in a different way might lead Jeanne-Claude’s customers in a new direction. 

Please tell us how we are doing! Complete this short survey. 

Customer Experience Information & Resources

LinkedIn recognizes Colin Shaw as one of the 'World's Top 150 Business Influencers.' As a result, he has 289,000 followers of his work. Shaw is Founder and CEO of Beyond Philosophy LLC, which helps organizations unlock growth by discovering customers' hidden, unmet needs that drive value ($). The Financial Times selected Beyond Philosophy LLC as one of the best management consultancies for the last two years. Follow Colin on LinkedIn and Twitter.

Click here to learn more about Professor Ryan Hamilton of Emory University. 

Why Customers Buy: As an official "Influencer" on LinkedIn, Colin writes a regular newsletter on all things Customer Experience. Click here to join the other 22,000 subscribers. 

Experience Health Check: You already have an experience, even if you weren't deliberate about it. Our Experience Health Check can help you understand what you have today. Colin or one of our team can assess your digital or physical Customer Experience, interacting with your organization as a customer to define what is good and what needs improving. Then, they will provide a list of recommendations for critical next steps for your organization. Click here to learn more. 

How can we help?

Click here to learn more about Beyond Philosophy's Suite of Services.

I love when listeners write in with their business problems. I don’t love that they have problems, but I love that they share them with us so we can all work through them together. In our latest submission for our “I’m in a Pickle” feature of the podcast, Janet explains that even though their customer comments are overwhelmingly positive, their Net Promoter Score^® (NPS) is not where they need it to be. Without any complaints to speak of, Janet and the organization don’t know what the problem is, and they asked for our help. 

In this episode, we explore the practicalities and pitfalls of using NPS as a metric for your customer strategy success. We also look at the tactical and practical things that Janet and her organization can do to get the score where they need it to be. 

Key Ideas to Improve your Customer Experience

Our first advice to Janet was to remember that NPS is a lot of things, but it isn’t a diagnostic tool. It is a score for how well you already did. If the score is low, it won’t tell you why. Likewise, it can’t tell you why you scored well. It is a way to measure the success of the efforts you have made and, of course, how likely it is that your Customer Experience efforts will lead a customer to recommend you to their family and friends. Here are a few key moments in the discussion.

• 02:42  We read Janet’s email and explain what her business pickle is.    
• 05:42  Ryan kicks off our discussion by explaining that NPS is not the entire picture of what you need to know about your company’s performance.    
• 10:21   Colin shares a tactical mistake Janet’s company is making with how they ask the Net Promoter Question, “How likely are you to recommend our product or service?”    
• 13:39   Colin gives Janet’s organization questions to consider as they address the need for improvement to hit their goals. 
• 16:38   Ryan agrees strategy to get detailed about why customers aren’t happy enough to recommend them, so they can find their opportunities to improve.  
• 18:09  We kick off a discussion about customer behavior and the differences between what people say and what they do, as well as how to overcome that.
• 26:49   We summarize all our recommendations for Janet’s company to improve their NPS, from the tactical to the practical.

Please tell us how we are doing! Complete this short survey. 

Customer Experience Information & Resources

LinkedIn recognizes Colin Shaw as one of the 'World's Top 150 Business Influencers.' As a result, he has 289,000 followers of his work. Shaw is Founder and CEO of Beyond Philosophy LLC, which helps organizations unlock growth by discovering customers' hidden, unmet needs that drive value ($). The Financial Times selected Beyond Philosophy LLC as one of the best management consultancies for the last two years. Follow Colin on LinkedIn and Twitter.

Click here to learn more about Professor Ryan Hamilton of Emory University. 

Why Customers Buy: As an official "Influencer" on LinkedIn, Colin writes a regular newsletter on all things Customer Experience. Click here to join the other 22,000 subscribers. 

Experience Health Check: You already have an experience, even if you weren't deliberate about it. Our Experience Health Check can help you understand what you have today. Colin or one of our team can assess your digital or physical Customer Experience, interacting with your organization as a customer to define what is good and what needs improving. Then, they will provide a list of recommendations for critical next steps for your organization. Click here to learn more. 

How can we help?

Click here to learn more about Beyond Philosophy's Suite of Services.

During a recent discussion with a valued client, I uncovered an interesting revelation. While they were delighted with their repeat business, which they attributed to customer loyalty, a closer look at the repeat business statistics painted a different picture. What I observed wasn't a steadfast commitment from their customers; rather, it appeared to be inertia. 

This prompted my realization that these customers might easily switch to a competitor if a tempting offer came along.

Now, you might be wondering, aren't loyal customers the ones who keep coming back for more? They certainly are, but not all repeat business is a result of loyalty. In some cases, it's due to inertia, and distinguishing between the two is what we'll delve into today.

First, let's establish clear definitions for customer loyalty and inertia. Loyal customers intentionally choose your product or service because they have a genuine emotional connection with your brand. They can articulate why they prefer your offering. In contrast, inertia is about automatic and habitual purchasing. It's a decision made almost unconsciously, and individuals might struggle to explain why they chose your product.

Reflect for a moment on the people in your life to whom you feel truly loyal. Typically, you'd think of family and close friends. These are relationships rooted in deep emotional connections. Surprisingly, it's these very emotions that underlie brand loyalty.

For many organizations, measuring loyalty can be challenging, but they often track repeat business. The issue arises when they treat other types of repeat buying – the inertial and the habitual – the same way they view loyalty, failing to distinguish between them.

In this episode, we talk about how to make this distinction. This approach separates loyal customers from those who buy out of habit or inertia. We also talk about how to develop strategies that nurture genuine customer loyalty.

Here are some other key moments in the discussion:

• 02:03  We discover how Colin decided to cover this topic from his recent client meeting. 

• 05:29  Ryan shares his mini framework that he teaches his grad students, the three groups of repeat business motivations.

• 10:19  Colin shares how he discovered that he wasn’t really as loyal to Delta Airlines as he thought he was.      

• 18:28  We share our list of telltale signs that you have customer loyalty. 

• 23:24  We discuss how extrinsic and intrinsic motivation is different and it affects customer behavior. 

• 26:51 We share our final thoughts about this topic and what you should take away from the conversation.

Did you know we have a YouTube Channel too? Check it out here.

About Colin Shaw

LinkedIn recognizes Colin Shaw as one of the 'World's Top 150 Business Influencers.' As a result, he has over 294,000 followers and 78,000 subscribers to his LinkedIn newsletter ‘Why Customers Buy’. The Financial Times selected Beyond Philosophy as one of the best management consultancies for four years. 

Colin is a renown keynote speaker and undertakes consultancy work and educational workshops to help organizations improve their Customer Experience. 

Click here to learn more about Professor Ryan Hamilton of Emory University. 

How can we help?

Click here to learn more about Beyond Philosophy's Suite of Services.

Please tell us how we are doing! Complete this short survey.

You might be surprised to learn that when golf courses make less revenue, Disney World's attendance goes up. You might also find it weird that Mississippi's marriage rate correlates 99.3% with the US per capita consumption of whole milk. Perhaps most shocking is the fact that more people die of fire, smoke, and flames in years when Nick Cage is in fewer movies.

All of these are 100 percent true. Why do you think that is? If you just tried to think of the answer, congratulations! You are human. Also, don't worry about it. While each of these things is true, they are called a Spurious Correlation, which describes two parallel and completely unrelated statistics. 

This episode discusses how your brain encounters something like a Spurious Correlation, and it tries to make sense of them, even when there is no sense to make. We see this kind of behavior in many different areas, including big data, pictures from Mars, and even your customer behavior analysis. Could you see something in the numbers that isn't there? 

Key Ideas to Improve your Customer Experience

Spurious Correlations are statistics that are closely parallel, but there is no relation between them. We often see correlations in customer behavior statistics. Usually, you can explain why you know what you see, so you fix it. However, what happens if you are wrong about what you saw? We discuss what you can do about this problem before it ends up causing you more significant issues in your Customer Experience.

Here are some key moments in the discussion:

• 04:11   Ryan explains what a spurious correlation is and how it relates to Customer Experience.
• 07:28   Ryan tells us what our brains do when we see a correlated statistic, even when there is not an obvious connection
• 09:17   We share what Nobel Prize-winning economist Daniel Kahneman says about this phenomenon.
• 14:17   Colin shares why we evolved to seek patterns in data we receive about the world around us.  
• 17:16   We talk about Professor Gary Smith’s article on Spurious Correlations in Big Data and what dangers that portends for Customer Experience analysis.
• 19:51   Ryan explains how the peer review process keeps scientists from making their opinions their conclusions.
• 28:40   We share three actionable things you can do to avoid making this mistake with your analysis of customer behavior.

Please tell us how we are doing! Complete this short survey. 

Customer Experience Information & Resources

LinkedIn recognizes Colin Shaw as one of the 'World's Top 150 Business Influencers.' As a result, he has 289,000 followers of his work. Shaw is Founder and CEO of Beyond Philosophy LLC, which helps organizations unlock growth by discovering customers' hidden, unmet needs that drive value ($). The Financial Times selected Beyond Philosophy LLC as one of the best management consultancies for the last two years. Follow Colin on Linkedin and Twitter.

Click here to learn more about Professor Ryan Hamilton of Emory University. 

Why Customers Buy: As an official "Influencer" on LinkedIn, Colin writes a regular newsletter on all things Customer Experience. Click here to join the other 22,000 subscribers. 

Experience Health Check: You already have an experience, even if you weren't deliberate about it. Our Experience Health Check can help you understand what you have today. Colin or one of our team can assess your digital or physical Customer Experience, interacting with your organization as a customer to define what is good and what needs improving. Then, they will provide a list of recommendations for critical next steps for your organization. Click here to learn more. 

How can we help?

Click here to learn more about Beyond Philosophy's Suite of Services.

“Did I tell you about the time I …”

These seven words are one of many ways we signal one of our favorite things is coming next: a story. We can’t get enough of stories and look for them everywhere, from news to conversations to the commercials we can’t avoid on TV. Stories are an essential part of the human experience. 

In today's world, storytelling is crucial in various aspects of business, including marketing. 

Human fascination with narratives stems from their ability to captivate attention, evoke emotions, and aid memory retention. Stories provide context, making information easier to recall, and create emotional connections that reinforce memory.

Businesses leverage storytelling to establish their brand identity, often highlighting humble beginnings or overcoming adversity. Effective storytelling goes beyond mere anecdotes; it persuades and simplifies complex concepts, making them relatable to the audience. For instance, Ikea's narrative of cost-saving design innovations clarifies the correlation between low price and high quality.

In marketing and persuasion, storytelling proves instrumental in communicating abstract ideas and influencing consumer behavior. By tapping into emotions and personal experiences, storytellers can make their points resonate with the audience. Stories simplify complex concepts, facilitate self-awareness, and enhance brand perception.

In this episode, we explore why storytelling is such a powerful tool in a marketer's toolbox and how you can tell compelling ones to your customers. 

You will also learn:

• The importance of storytelling in marketing and communication.

• How narratives aid memory retention and emotional connection.

• Examples of successful brand storytelling like how Ikea helps us buy their assemble-it-yourself furniture because it’s far more affordable that way.  

• The effectiveness of storytelling in persuading and simplifying complex ideas.

• Strategies for crafting compelling stories, including emotional resonance and relatability.

If you have a story you want to share with us, please send us a video or audio for our None of Us Are As Clever as All of Us Feature. We’d love to hear it and might feature it on the podcast and in the newsletter.

Poor Irene Beard. She is in a pickle, and she needs our help. A strong believer in brand, Beard is starting a new company and asked us for help getting people to take away what she wants them to about her company’s brand. Beard’s question brings up some interesting concepts regarding brands, their origins, their evolution, and their existence for organizations today. 

Before we get into any of that, it is essential to remember that your brand is a tactic. It communicates the value you provide customers. Brand is a tool in your toolkit that can adjust your strategy and deliver the experience that wins over the hearts and minds of customers and keeps them coming back for more. 

Today, branding is all about the value you provide customers. What that value is varies by organization. Some brands offer value by doing one thing really well. Others deliver value in several areas.  The success of your brand isn’t whether it provides one value or many; success depends on understanding what your customers value and delivering that. 

In this episode, we explore the areas of value a brand usually provides and what an organization can do to ensure that their brand delivers the right ones to customers. 

Are you “in a pickle” at your company, too? Tells us about here and we might feature your pickle on an episode of the podcast. 

Here are some other key moments in the discussion:

• 01:34  We discuss Beard’s business pickle and why branding is an excellent focus for anyone in business today.
• 03:23  Ryan explains how he appreciates that Beard is already on the right path by concerning herself what customer think, because that is key for branding.
• 08:00  We believe in frameworks to organize thinking, and begin the discussion about ours, which has four parts.
• 15:42  Colin shares a story about spending way too much on athletic shoes given the level of play of his ten-year-old on the pitch, and how branding made it happen. 
• 19:55 We explore brands that have done a good job with branding and why, as well as the differences one should expect in brand strategy depending upon the type of brand it is. 
• 27:33  We get into the practical takeaways for Beard, and anyone else struggling in this area, to get the right branding for her new company. 

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Did you know we have a YouTube Channel too? Check it out here.

Follow Colin on LinkedIn HERE.

A lot of the behavioral sciences can feel intimidating. However, it doesn’t have to be. The Five Rules Podcast Series is our attempt at giving you an easy entry point into the complex and messy world of Behavioral Science.

The concepts behind behavioral science are powerful stuff. The psychology that drives how people make decisions has far-reaching and critical influences on how people act as customers. 

We often hear about small changes that make a big difference on the outcome when you read about the experiments that prove the theories the science produces. However, the theories that play out in an experiment do not always have the same outcome in the real world. Sometimes, the behavioral science works fine, but isn’t as dramatic as the study you read about it. In the worst examples, behavioral science concepts don’t work at all. 

In this episode, we explore the 5 rules that will help you set up your business for success in the implementation of the concepts theorized in behavioral science. We love the effects possible using behavioral science in Customer Experience, especially when they, well, work. 

Key Ideas to Improve your Customer Experience

Learning about behavioral science is engaging, fun even. However, implementing experience improvements using the theories you enjoyed learning about can be less fun and even a little frustrating if you aren’t getting the results you wanted. The following five rules will help you set up your behavioral-science-inspired Customer Experience design implementation for success:

1. Focus on the goals or problems to be solved rather than applying the theory. You must know what you are fixing to pick the appropriate tool to do the job, which was the subject of another podcast a few weeks ago, “Is This One of the Most Important Jobs in Business Today?”
2. Get granular. Behavioral science doesn’t work in general; it works in specifics.
3. Identify your levers. Determine what parts of the experience are under your control and concentrate your efforts there. 
4. Identify your customers' mindset. Recreating the situation where your customer decides what to buy (and what not to) is essential to effectively applying the behavioral sciences. 
5. Iterate. Behavioral science’s influence on customers works best when fine-tuned over time and measured for success. 

Here are some highlights of the discussion:

• 03:46  Ryan presents how the way we learn behavioral science affects how we want to implement it.
• 07:26   We discuss the essential nature of getting specific with your actions using behavioral science concepts to drive behavior.
• 10:40  Colin discusses how people like things in threes, sevens, and so on, and Ryan explains how research has shown that people converge on specific numbers of items.
• 13:59   Ryan reminds businesses to focus on what they can control when implementing behavioral sciences; Colin explains that the way you manage it should be deliberate.
• 18:35   We discuss how essential it is to understand your customers’ mindsets when designing your experience and why. 
• 25:05    We explain the importance of fine-tuning your efforts, even after implementation, and why you should measure your results. 

Please tell us how we are doing! Complete this short survey. 

Customer Experience Information & Resources

LinkedIn recognizes Colin Shaw as one of the 'World's Top 150 Business Influencers.' As a result, he has 289,000 followers of his work. Shaw is the Founder and CEO of Beyond Philosophy LLC, which helps organizations unlock growth by discovering customers' hidden, unmet needs that drive value ($). The Financial Times selected Beyond Philosophy LLC as one of the best management consultancies for the last two years. Follow Colin on Linkedin and Twitter.

Click here to learn more about Professor Ryan Hamilton of Emory University. 

Why Customers Buy: As an official "Influencer" on LinkedIn, Colin writes a regular newsletter on all things Customer Experience. Click here to join the other 22,000 subscribers. 

Experience Health Check: You already have an experience, even if you weren't deliberate about it. Our Experience Health Check can help you understand what you have today. Colin or one of our team can assess your digital or physical Customer Experience, interacting with your organization as a customer to define what is good and what needs improving. Then, they will provide a list of recommendations for critical next steps for your organization. Click here to learn more. 

How can we help?

Click here to learn more about Beyond Philosophy's Suite of Services.

It’s summertime. Do you know what that means? That’s right. It’s time for your summer reading list. I bet you thought you were too old for such things. 

In this episode,  we share 7 essential books for any Customer Experience professional to read, ideally in a tropical locale with a fruity drink in hand. 

Key Ideas to Improve your Customer Experience

From books on Customer Experience to books about psychology to 1990s bestselling business books, we have a wide variety of reading material for Customer Experience professionals. These books will help you understand why customer behavior is the way it is and how you can help move that behavior to a place that delivers customer-driven growth. Best of all, we save the best for last.

Here are the 7 books we think you should read this summer:

1. The Experience Economy: Competing for Customer Time, Attention, and Money by B. Joseph Pine and James H. Gilmore
2. The End of Average How We Succeed in a World That Values Sameness by Todd Rose
3. Who Moved My Cheese? By Dr. Spencer Johnson
4. Uncontrolled: The Surprising Payoff of Trial and Error for Business, Politics, and Society by Jim Manzi
5. The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People by Stephen R. Covey
6. The Up Side of Down: Why Failing Well Is the Key to Success by Megan McArdle
7. The Intuitive Customer: 7 Imperatives for Moving Your Customer Experience to the Next Level by Colin Shaw and Ryan Hamilton

See what we did there?

Here are a few key moments in the discussion:

• 02:56   Colin introduces his first book, The Experience Economy cowritten by Joe Pine, a recent guest on the podcast from a few weeks back. 
• 05:05   Ryan introduces his first book, The End of Average, and explained the basic idea of the book and the implications for Customer Experience.
• 06:53    Colin recommends Who Moved My Cheese?, a 90s bestseller that changed his life by urging him to start his own global Customer Experience Consultancy.
• 12:54    Ryan shares a book called Uncontrolled, a book that emphasizes the importance of experimentation.
• 17:15   Colin gives a brief summary of the seven habits shared in The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People.      
• 22:19.   Ryan suggests The Up Side of Down, which shares the idea that failure is critical to growth and lessons learned from failure can lead to future successes.
• 24:40.  We save the best for last with The Intuitive Customer, our book that explores the 7 imperatives for taking your experience to a new level of greatness.

Please tell us how we are doing! Complete this short survey. 

Customer Experience Information & Resources

LinkedIn recognizes Colin Shaw as one of the 'World's Top 150 Business Influencers.' As a result, he has 289,000 followers of his work. Shaw is Founder and CEO of Beyond Philosophy LLC, which helps organizations unlock growth by discovering customers' hidden, unmet needs that drive value ($). The Financial Times selected Beyond Philosophy LLC as one of the best management consultancies for the last two years. Follow Colin on Linkedin and Twitter.

Click here to learn more about Professor Ryan Hamilton of Emory University. 

Why Customers Buy: As an official "Influencer" on LinkedIn, Colin writes a regular newsletter on all things Customer Experience. Click here to join the other 22,000 subscribers. 

Experience Health Check: You already have an experience, even if you weren't deliberate about it. Our Experience Health Check can help you understand what you have today. Colin or one of our team can assess your digital or physical Customer Experience, interacting with your organization as a customer to define what is good and what needs improving. Then, they will provide a list of recommendations for critical next steps for your organization. Click here to learn more. 

How can we help?

Click here to learn more about Beyond Philosophy's Suite of Services.

Many drivers of human behavior can be traced back to caveman days. Colin Shaw and Prof. Ryan Hamilton explore what they are, how you can identify them, and what you should do to respond.

If I asked you for $100, what would you say? My guess is no. You probably have a rule against giving people money just because they asked you. 

But what if I asked you for $1? Most of us would probably be okay with that. Sure, it’s still giving money, but it’s only $1, and that isn’t the same thing.

However, by saying yes to giving me $1, you broke your rule about giving people money just because they asked you. It’s not a big deal, of course, but it does make it more likely that if I came back and asked for $5, $10, or $20, that you would give it to me. Moreover, if you discovered that you didn’t mind giving me money, you might say yes the next time I ask for $100. 

There is a name for this method of getting people to do what you want. In psychology, it’s called the Escalation of Commitment. In laymen’s terms, it’s called “in for a penny, in for a pound.” We refer to it as making it easy for your customers to say yes. 

Escalation of commitment works on more than just money. It also works for time, like volunteering, or effort, like getting someone to work harder or run farther. The idea is you make it easy for someone to say yes to you over something small and then slowly increase the amount of whatever resource you want from them over time. 

In this episode of The Intuitive Customer, we explore how Escalation of Commitment works and applies to Customer Experience. We also explain how you can use it to segment your customers to give you an idea of where they are on the commitment spectrum with you. Finally, we caution you on what not to do when getting your customers to yes to avoid creating negative feelings toward your brand and organization. 

The Intuitive Customer podcasts help you take your Customer Experience to the next level by unlocking the “hidden” aspects of your experience and determining what really drives value for your customers.

To find out more about how your organization’s marketing can improve customer loyalty and retention, contact us at www.beyondphilosophy.com.

To subscribe to The Intuitive Customer and never miss a podcast, please click here.

We are very judgmental, particularly when it comes to prices. We can always tell whether something is a good or bad deal.  The fact that some of the ways we do this are not as accurate as others doesn’t even occur to us.

Knowing that customers have different ways they evaluate your pricing that are sometimes inaccurate shouldn’t upset you, though. It’s a bonus to realize it. Once you understand how people judge your pricing, you can use strategy to present it better and maximize your pricing to gain profit. 

There are three basic ways that customers evaluate your prices. These have varying levels of simplicity and accuracy. The most accurate way is not the easiest, naturally, and vice versa. However, these three ways come together to deliver the good-deal-bad-deal message to your customers’ consciousness. 

Some retailers are wise to these judgmental ways. They use customers’ natural propensity to compare pricing when communicating their offer, so it comes out on top against competitors. However, some choose a different tack, which doesn’t always make it easy to compare. 

Still others spend their time building a reputation for low pricing while offering a few high-priced things alongside hoping that no one does the math. Since we don’t always do the math, it works. 

In this episode, we explore the three ways that customers evaluate your pricing and why. We also talk about how you can present your prices in the best possible way to tip the scales away from bad deal to good. 

Here are some other key moments in the discussion:

• 03:17  Ryan kicks off the discussion with a story about shopping for milk at Costco, and why he was wrong (and his wife was right) about the best deal for milk.  
• 05:22  Colin shares one of his favorite YouTubers that covers things like pricing, and reveals some retailer tricks of which every consumer should be aware.
• 07:13  Ryan shares the three ways that people evaluate pricing, starting with internal reference pricing.  
• 09:37  We discuss how external reference pricing also influences our pricing evaluations, and sometimes even across product categories.
• 11:53  Ryan explains the third category, which is price image, an evaluation we gravitate toward when we don’t have as much information.
• 19:32  We share the two dimensions that organizations should consider when they anticipate how customers will evaluate pricing.
• 22:06  We explain how price images form and how they influence our decision making.
• 34:19 We wrap up with some practical ways you can leverage this understanding to present your pricing in the best possible way to customers. 

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Did you know we have a YouTube Channel too? Check it out here.

Connect with Colin on LinkedIn HERE.

Follow Colin on Twitter HERE.

Click HERE to learn more about Professor Ryan Hamilton of Emory University. 

To learn more about Beyond Philosophy's Suite of Services Click here.

Why Are We Scared of New Technology? 

We have some exciting new technology for CX. Facial recognition technology and facial expression analysis yield some new and exciting data about how customers feel during a Customer Experience. The only problem is that many people find it creepy.

This episode of The Intuitive Customer asks the question Why Are We Scared of New Technology? It turns out, we have been here before with new technology. Of course, that time, it was something far more crazy than recording facial expressions and using software to determine how a person feels. 

What was this crazy technology? It was trains.

According to mentalfloss.com, some people believed back when the first trains were running that if women traveled over 50 mph, their uteruses would fly out of their bodies. Other people thought humans would just melt.

Luckily, neither prediction came to pass. Now we travel at hundreds of miles an hour with no concern for melting or reproductive organs flying out of anyone.

In other words, we got used to the idea of riding trains and other transport at high rates of speed, and we don’t worry anymore.

I believe the same pattern of fearing technology and then getting used to it will be valid for facial recognition and facial expression analysis technology also. However, before we get into it any deeper, we should clarify the difference between the two technologies.

• Facial Recognition: Uses your facial features to identify who you are.
• Facial Expression Analysis: Uses your facial expression to identify how you feel.

In both technologies, the software records the spatial relationships of your features and compares them to a database. However, with facial recognition, it’s a database of people’s identities. With facial expression analysis, it’s a database of unconscious reactions our face makes in response to how we feel, e.g., dilation of the pupils or a widening of the eyes, tightness around the mouth, etc.

There are excellent applications for this technology for Customer Experience strategy and design. As global customer loyalty consultants, we believe knowing how your customers feel at the different moments of their interaction with your organization is invaluable when you are seeking to foster customer retention. Best of all, you don’t have to ask them about it, which can introduce some other influences that may or may not skew the data.

However, we have also learned that many don’t like the idea that cameras are recording their reactions and analyzing their unconscious reactions to how something makes them feel. 

Facial recognition and facial expression analysis is the future of research for Customer Experience. I think we can get over this creepy factor and embrace the technology for our industry. Also, before too long, I believe we will wonder how we ever lived without it.

Listen to the podcast in its entirety to learn more about Why We Are Scared of New Technology for your Customer Experience.

The Intuitive Customer podcasts are designed to explain the psychological concepts behind customer behavior.  

If you would like to find out from one of our CX consultants how you can implement the concepts we discussed in your organization’s marketing to improve customer loyalty and retention, contact us at www.beyondphilosophy.com.

To subscribe to The Intuitive Customer and never miss a podcast, please click here.

Throughout human history, it seems that around 150 is the number of meaningful relationships any human can maintain. Oxford University's anthropology professor Robin Dunbar discovered this number by studying monkey groups and extrapolating that number to match the human brain's capacity. Understanding why this is can help you optimize your ability to manage your team, your business, and even your social media feed.

In this episode, we discuss Dunbar's number and its implications for our personal and business relationships. Our social brain maxes out around 150 for loved ones, close friends, friends, and so on, but we can maintain relationships with acquaintances and familiar faces for up to 1,500. For those of you with thousands of social media relationships, this might sound crazy. However, if you take a deeper dive, you will likely find a similar number within that range amongst these online connections when it comes to meaningful relationships.

Key Ideas to Improve your Customer Experience

From our ancestral hunter-gatherers to military troops to the number of people on your Christmas-Card list, the number of relationships hovers around 150. However, this number breaks down further into smaller groups, like five loved ones, 15 good friends, 50 friends, and 150 meaningful contacts. The concept goes beyond 150 as well. Many people have up to 500 acquaintances and 1,500 people that they at least recognize. However, the idea behind Dunbar's number is that those relationships outside of the 150-range need additional effort to move into the inner circle. 

When it comes to your relationships from a personal or business perspective, understanding the relationship circles and your human limitations can identify opportunities for you and the teams you manage. We discuss these as well as how you can use this information moving forward:

Here are some of the key points in our discussion:

• 03:32 Ryan explains Dunbar’s number and how Professor Dunbar discovered it.
• 06:24 We discuss what it implies when it comes to management relationships.
• 10:11 Colin explains how you see what relationships people value by looking at how they spend their time.
• 16:19 We discuss what Dunbar’s number means for social media. 
• 19:52 Ryan shares how the pandemic might have changed how our social interactions occur, but the vital nature of rekindling them as much as possible.
• 22:28 Colin shares how you can use Dunbar’s number in management at an employee and account level.

Please tell us how we are doing! Complete this short survey. 

Customer Experience Information & Resources

LinkedIn recognizes Colin Shaw as one of the 'World's Top 150 Business Influencers.' As a result, he has 289,000 followers of his work. Shaw is Founder and CEO of Beyond Philosophy LLC, which helps organizations unlock growth by discovering customers' hidden, unmet needs that drive value ($). The Financial Times selected Beyond Philosophy LLC as one of the best management consultancies for the last two years. Follow Colin on LinkedIn and Twitter.

Click here to learn more about Professor Ryan Hamilton of Emory University. 

Why Customers Buy: As an official "Influencer" on LinkedIn, Colin writes a regular newsletter on all things Customer Experience. Click here to join the other 22,000 subscribers. 

Experience Health Check: You already have an experience, even if you weren't deliberate about it. Our Experience Health Check can help you understand what you have today. Colin or one of our team can assess your digital or physical Customer Experience, interacting with your organization as a customer to define what is good and what needs improving. Then, they will provide a list of recommendations for critical next steps for your organization. Click here to learn more. 

How can we help?

Click here to learn more about Beyond Philosophy's Suite of Services.

A Master Class Part 2: Unlocking the Psychology of Customer Experience

In this episode, we continue exploring the psychology behind Customer Experience, focusing on the role of memory. Customer loyalty hinges on how memories are formed and retained. Therefore, understanding memory formation is crucial for designing impactful experiences.

Memory formation begins with encoding, where new information is processed and stored in the mind. Encoding involves several effects, including the Primacy Effect, which prioritizes remembering initial experiences, and the Recency Effect, which emphasizes recollecting recent events. Additionally, the Frequency Effect highlights the importance of repeated actions in memory retention.

Retrieval effects determine how stored memories are recalled. Professor Daniel Kahneman's Peak-End Rule suggests that people remember the most intense emotion experienced during an event and its conclusion. This rule applies to evaluative memory, shaping overall perceptions of past experiences.

Memory also has structure. Memory structure resembles a fishing net, with individual memories as knots connected to form a net, which represents the larger memory network. Retrieving one memory often triggers the recall of associated memories, along with the emotions and experiences linked to them. It’s helpful to picture the fishing net at the bottom of a shallow pool and imagine pulling it by one of the knots to the surface. You get the knot you grabbed, but all the connected knots come along, too.

Strategically managing memory formation involves planning for encoding, recall, and structure. Tactics such as leveraging primacy and recency, incorporating humor or emotional connections, and providing follow-up reminders can enhance memory retention. It's crucial to prioritize memorable aspects of the experience and reinforce positive memories over time.

Considering the interconnected nature of memory concepts, such as the relationship between encoding and recall, helps design experiences that leave a lasting impression. For instance, understanding how customers perceive value allows you, as a professional, to highlight key features that resonate with your target audience, instilling confidence in your ability to create memorable customer experiences.

In this episode, we discuss how memory plays a significant role in driving customer loyalty, making it essential to proactively shape how customers remember their experiences. By being deliberate about memory formation, businesses can create meaningful connections and foster enduring relationships with their customers.

In this episode, you will also learn:

• The importance of encoding and retrieval in memory formation.

• Strategies for enhancing memory retention, such as leveraging Primacy and Recency effects.

• The role of emotional connections in shaping memorable experiences.

• The significance of follow-up communication in reinforcing positive memories.

• How memory structure influences the recall of associated experiences.

• The interconnected nature of memory concepts and their implications for experience design.

Let's talk about government and Customer Experience. It might surprise you that government and Customer Experience have a tighter relationship than you think. 

Many organizations, particularly in the private sector, recognize the importance of providing great experiences to keep customers satisfied and loyal. But should governments do the same for their citizens? Can a well-run government improve societal well-being by focusing on efficiency, transparency, and user-friendly services?

In this episode, we explore the government's role in delivering experiences to citizens through essential services or regulatory actions that impact organizations and their customers. Historically, a poorly managed experience with the government has significant consequences (cue: the Boston Tea Party). But beyond extreme cases, day-to-day interactions with government agencies also influence our quality of life.

We start by asking why government agencies should care about CX at all. Using real-world examples, such as the surprisingly smooth process of renewing a passport or the convenience of services like Global Entry at airports, we see how an efficient government improves employee morale and public satisfaction. Plus, efficient government departments can save money, attract top talent, and increase citizen trust.

Beyond service delivery, governments play a vital role in regulating experiences for private companies. Markets can become exploitative without proper regulations, leaving customers vulnerable to poor practices. We look at examples of beneficial regulations, like the Truth in Lending Act, which protects consumers from misleading financial products, and the Americans with Disabilities Act, which ensures accessibility for all. 

However, regulation is a delicate balance. Too little oversight can lead to exploitation, while too much can stifle competition and innovation. Some laws—like those that mandate thousands of training hours for hairstylists or forbid self-service gas stations—seem overly restrictive and detrimental to the customer experience. Finding a middle ground that protects consumers without creating unnecessary barriers is key.

Join us as we discuss governments' critical role in shaping experiences and why every government, like a business, should aim to improve the CX it delivers to its citizens.

More Key Moments in the Discussion: 

• How efficient government services influence national life satisfaction.

• The impact of "bad profits" in the financial sector and their regulatory solutions.

• Why governments can't afford to ignore inefficiency for long.

• Examples of overregulation stifling innovation in U.S. states.

• The link between government CX and economic growth.

• How the White House's consumer protection initiatives aim to improve daily life.

One of the benefits of being in business and academia for years is that we have a lot of experience running workshops. This episode is a brain dump of all the stuff you won’t learn in a book but is critical to the successful outcome of your program.

The first and perhaps most critical step is breaking the ice. By setting a relaxed and open tone, you ease participants into the session, ensuring they’re ready to engage. A simple question at the start can do wonders—something as quirky as asking attendees to share something strange about themselves. This activity breaks down barriers and injects some fun into the proceedings, setting the stage for a lively and productive workshop.

As a facilitator, it's vital to approach the workshop without a predefined answer or outcome in mind. Your role is to guide participants in finding solutions, ensuring participants take ownership of the results. This approach fosters a deeper connection to the material and encourages lasting change. 

For instance, when working with a client like Maersk Line, the world's largest shipping company, it’s important to ask the right questions and provide tools rather than answers. This method leads to better results and enhances the participants’ sense of accomplishment.

Also, flexibility is key when it comes to planning your workshop. While having an agenda is important, adjust it as discussions evolve, allowing for deeper exploration of ideas and ensuring that everyone is on the same page. 

Similarly, consider the group dynamics when dividing attendees into smaller teams. Mixing personalities and ensuring a balance of perspectives can prevent dominant voices from stifling creativity and lead to more innovative solutions.

In this episode, we dive into these essential strategies for leading a workshop that leaves a lasting impact. Drawing from years of experience, we explore practical tips to ensure your workshops are engaging, effective, and memorable for all participants.

If you listen, you will also learn the following:

• Ryan wrote a script for Broadway, and Colin is married to his stepsister. No, really.

• How to effectively manage group dynamics by balancing personality types and seniority levels.

• The importance of having a clear goal for the workshop and aligning all activities towards achieving it.

• Why off-site workshops can prevent distractions and boost creativity.

• The significance of determining the ideal team size for different workshop activities.

• Techniques to ensure follow-through on workshop outcomes back in the workplace.

• The impact of physical space on group energy and interaction during the workshop.

Way back in 1998, I read a book by Joe Pine (@joepine), co-founder of Strategic Horizons, LLP,  and Jim Gilmore called The Experience Economy. I was gobsmacked by it. 

I dashed down the hall to my boss at British Telecom. He read it and had a similar reaction to mine. The next thing I knew, he put me in charge of improving the Customer Experience for our company, and the rest is history. 

You could say that Joe Pine changed my life. His insight into how the experience would be vital to business today has shaped my career for 23 years. So, when I got to host him on this episode of The Intuitive Customer, you can imagine how excited I was. 

We talk to Pine about how the pandemic changed in-person events, trade shows, and conferences for the better and what we can learn from going virtual. The future, it seems, will take the best of both worlds. The important thing is to avoid the worst of both worlds. 

Key Ideas to Improve your Customer Experience

 Starting in March 2020, Pine watched as all the events he had booked canceled. At first, the organizers canceled them. But then, they began to migrate to an online format. It turns out, virtual events, for the interested attendee, could be excellent resources for information. Pine was fascinated at how effective virtual events were and the extent of their reach. 

However, they weren't a replacement. The information was great, but Pine and the other event participants missed the interaction with other people in the field and the inherent networking involved.  

Businesses responded to this need with hybrid events. The idea behind the hybrid event is a live event with attendees, and then a simultaneous online event complements the in-person one. Pine's book, Infinite Possibility Creating Customer Value on the Digital Frontier, discusses how technology can enhance the event's value in business post-pandemic. Whether it's a conference or symposium or a sporting event or concert, the hybrid event could be the format's future.

Here are a few key moments in the discussion:

06:50  Pine explains what the new trend of hybrid events.

08:50  Pine says online experiences like Twitch predict what people will want from events moving forward.

12:31 Colin shares the value of comments given by the audience during a presentation.

15:08 Colin talks about the emotional value people feel connecting to a presenter even when you are not in person. 

22:17 Pine advises that hybrid events should have a producer handle the management of the virtual event.

20:15 We break down the four different possible levels of value for a hybrid event.

25:24 We share the top recommendations and tips we have for using the hybrid event in your experience. 

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Customer Experience Information & Resources

LinkedIn recognizes Colin Shaw as one of the 'World's Top 150 Business Influencers.' As a result, he has 289,000 followers of his work. Shaw is Founder and CEO of Beyond Philosophy LLC, which helps organizations unlock growth by discovering customers' hidden, unmet needs that drive value ($). The Financial Times selected Beyond Philosophy LLC as one of the best management consultancies for the last two years. Follow Colin on Linkedin and Twitter.

Click here to learn more about Professor Ryan Hamilton of Emory University. 

Why Customers Buy: As an official "Influencer" on LinkedIn, Colin writes a regular newsletter on all things Customer Experience. Click here to join the other 22,000 subscribers. 

Experience Health Check: You already have an experience, even if you weren't deliberate about it. Our Experience Health Check can help you understand what you have today. Colin or one of our team can assess your digital or physical Customer Experience, interacting with your organization as a customer to define what is good and what needs improving. Then, they will provide a list of recommendations for critical next steps for your organization. Click here to learn more. 

How can we help?

Click here to learn more about Beyond Philosophy's Suite of Services.

Friction occurs when a customer has to work or think hard during an experience. Many times, friction is accidental or the result of organizational apathy. In these instances, friction is a bad thing. 

Friction is rarely a good thing in a Customer Experience. However, there are times when it can be beneficial. 

For example, when your bank uses two-factor authentication to ensure you are who you say you are. This friction enhances customers’ feelings about an experience. 

So, how do you know the difference? It depends on the context. 

For example, Disney and Apple have annoyed Colin. Typically, he sings these two brand’s praises, so this friction surprised him. 

Both require Colin to make appointments for his experience, which bugs him. Disney has a new program where you book appointments before you arrive to ride an attraction at a certain time. They charge for it, too. Apple requires you to book an appointment in one of their locations rather than turn up with your questions. (But Apple doesn’t charge for this service.)

While Colin is still determining if the Disney program will improve the experience, he is sure this new process will be more hassle than the previous one. Time will tell whether it will be worth it.

Regarding Apple, the friction of booking an appointment has benefited Colin. He isn’t turned away because everyone is “too busy” to deal with him when he arrives at his appointed time. 

So, while Colin would rather Apple was always available when he shows up at a retail location, making the appointment—and the friction it introduced—has provided value for him.  

In this episode, we delve into friction in Customer Experiences, exploring when it's beneficial and detrimental. We provide examples illustrating how friction can enhance or hinder customer interactions, shedding light on its nuanced role in shaping perceptions and behaviors. By understanding the multifaceted nature of friction, businesses can unlock new opportunities for customer engagement and loyalty.

You will also learn the following:

• The advantages of removing friction and making things easier for customers.

• The prevalence of accidental friction stems from neglect or apathy rather than deliberate strategy.

• Examples of deliberate friction in various industries, from amusement parks to luxury restaurants, and the underlying psychological mechanisms at play.

• The importance of finding the right balance between security measures and customer convenience, avoiding excessive friction that may deter or frustrate customers.

• Strategies for strategically managing friction to align with broader business goals while prioritizing customer satisfaction and ease of interaction.

This is The New Imperative for 2020 

Our global Customer Experience consultancy engaged research at the end of 2019 to determine our direction for the next decade. We learned that, first and foremost, organizations want to gain growth. So, we have a new focus for 2020, helping organizations achieve the growth they want by assisting them in providing the Customer Experience they need to do so.

Growth is challenging today. Competition is intense due to many factors. One critical reason is that the time from innovation to imitation is down to weeks in many cases. Today’s businesses must face the challenges of new product and service launches in a commoditized market, fueled at least in part to massive growth in online commerce. 

However, gaining growth is not impossible, in fact, far from it. Growth can come from many different strategies. Chief amongst the approach is by providing a Customer Experience that meets your customers’ needs, even the ones they are not entirely aware they have. Meeting these unmet needs is the foundation of what we call customer-driven growth, which is growth powered by exemplary Customer Experiences.

Since 2002, Beyond Philosophy has focused on growth driven by an improved Customer Experience. Our work with Maersk Line, the largest shipping container company in the world, improved Maersk’s Net Promoter Score® (NPS)by 40 points in 30 months, a statistic I often share. However, the next part is essential to realize; they also increased their shipping volumes by 10 percent. Moreover, our work with RICOH Canada, the printer company, improved their NPS by 34 points in 30 months and also increased printer sales by 10 percent—and this was in a declining market.

If organizations want growth, we are going to give it to them. So, how do we get growth? Where do we get new customers? This episode of the Intuitive Customer explores the types of growth that organizations can focus on, how to approach gaining it in today’s marketplace, and the four essential steps to take to be successful in this effort. Moreover, we show how improving Customer Experience leads to this growth and why. 

The Intuitive Customer podcasts help you take your Customer Experience to the next level by unlocking the “hidden” aspects of your experience and determining what really drives value for your customers.

To find out more about how your organization’s marketing can improve customer loyalty and retention, contact us at www.beyondphilosophy.com. 

To subscribe to The Intuitive Customer and never miss a podcast, please click here. 

This podcast is produced by Resonate Recordings. Click here to see how they can help you.

How Customer-Facing People Should Evoke Emotions in Customers

I have always thought that talking about how to do something was important, but not as important as actually doing something. I feel so strongly about this idea that I named my company after it. I want my clients to take their ideas “beyond the philosophy” and into action.

To that end, this episode of The Intuitive Customer discusses how organizations can take theories and use them in their everyday operations to improve the Customer Experience. We explore how you can help Customer-Facing teams evoke the proper emotions from customers during their interactions with people by training them to do it properly.

The word practical is significant here. Lofty ideas are wonderful inspirations, but when it comes to the nuts and bolts of delivering a Customer Experience, you need a much more practical breakdown of what to do. More specifically, your frontline teams do.

Talking about psychological theories, research, and studies is a critical part of the process, of course. However, what comes next is even more vital because it crosses the line from a good idea to the “new way to do things around here.”

It is not advisable to have a new Customer Experience program that you roll out without training. Imagine all the painstaking research and design that address all the vital customer emotions that drive value for your organization circling the drain before that program disappears forever. That’s exactly what happens if you don’t teach people how to deliver that new Customer Experience program.

Most of us know how to evaluate and manage the emotions of the significant others in our lives. You first listen to their responses, then determine how they feel, and finally choose how to respond.

It is not any different when dealing with customers. They feel a certain way when they arrive at your customer-facing team. You want the people that greet them from your organization to read the customer for their emotional state, decide how the customer is feeling, and then respond in a way that will create a good emotional outcome for the customer. 

However, not everyone knows how to read the customer for their emotional state or even what the readings mean for how the customers feel. Moreover, some people have no idea how to manage other people’s emotion to a better emotional state. 

That is, they don’t until you train them. Training your people on these emotional skills is critical to your success.

Listen to the podcast in its entirety to learn more about training is crucial to How Customer Facing People Should Evoke Emotions in Customers for your Customer Experience.

The Intuitive Customer podcasts are designed to explain the psychological concepts behind customer behavior.

If you would like to find out from one of our CX consultants how you can implement the concepts we discussed in your organization’s marketing to improve customer loyalty and retention, contact us at www.beyondphilosophy.com.

 To subscribe to The Intuitive Customer and never miss a podcast, please click here.

Does the time of the day that you sell or deal with your customers affect how much they buy or how they see your customer experience. The answer is yes, but why is this the case and what should you do about this?

You know that friction in a Customer Experience is a problem that needs fixing. However, do you have that same perception of workplace friction?

If you feel the friction at work, you probably do. But if you don't, you likely think little of it, if at all. Doing work for money requires a certain amount of friction, right?

However, if the friction impacts employees and decreases employee morale, it can be a significant problem. One might even say it is a problem worth fixing.

In this episode, we delve into workplace friction and its impact on employee productivity and morale with Christophe Martel, founder and CEO of FOUNT. Martel, an expert in eliminating workplace friction, shares his insights on how reducing friction can transform employee experience, leading to happier and more productive teams.

We define workplace friction as anything that makes it harder for employees to do their jobs. This friction manifests in various ways, such as messy interactions, poor intra-company team collaboration, lack of established rules, and inadequate systems for settling disagreements. While most companies recognize friction in Customer Experience is detrimental, many organizations overlook its impact on employees.

Martel explains that workplace friction is an evolving concept that varies from person to person. Unlike organizational friction, which slows down processes company-wide, work friction is more acute and usually affects frontline employees. It often arises unintentionally from policies or changes designed to meet departmental goals, complicating interactions for customer-facing staff.

FOUNT addresses structural friction by identifying and resolving issues through data collection and analysis. By understanding employees' specific tasks, FOUNT helps organizations implement solutions that improve productivity and morale. Martel emphasizes that solving work friction leads to happier employees and yields operational benefits, making the company more efficient and profitable.

One key takeaway is that productive employees are long-term employees. Contrary to the popular belief that people leave managers, Martel argues that they leave because of work friction. Managers often absorb friction for their teams but lack the authority to make systemic changes. As a result, friction becomes ingrained in company processes, persisting even when everyone acknowledges it doesn't work.

Martel advocates for open communication between frontline employees and senior managers to identify and address work friction. He also highlights the potential role of AI in reducing friction, though its effectiveness depends on user adoption. AI tools can help when properly deployed based on insights from work friction data.

We discuss why addressing work friction requires a clear understanding of its causes and a commitment to making systemic changes. We also hear about how Martel's approach with FOUNT demonstrates that reducing friction can significantly improve employee satisfaction, productivity, and overall company performance.

Listeners will also learn:

• How to identify different types of workplace friction

• The importance of data in understanding and resolving friction

• Examples of structural friction and how to address them

• The role of managers in mitigating or exacerbating friction

• The potential impact of AI tools on workplace productivity

• Practical steps for fostering open communication and gathering actionable insights from employees

• The financial benefits of reducing work friction in large organizations

How to Manage Uncertainty

My team is the Luton Town Football Club. I heard the manager say about the team that you have to control the controllable. I quite like that phrase and I believe it is the key to managing uncertainty in your business for your customers.

Now, he didn’t come up with the phrase. It’s a well-used epithet by many coaching organizations—and not just for football.

The reason the saying is so well-known is it helps us as human beings cope with uncertainty. It means that even as the world is changing, and in some cases going crazy, you can still keep some parts of your experience in check. These are “the controllable” parts. 

In some ways, this is how you manage uncertainty. We talked about how to manage uncertainty for yourself, your organization, and your customers in this episode of The Intuitive Customer podcast. Like so many things involving human beings, managing uncertainty is not simple.

People don’t like to risk making a bad decision. When they have uncertainty, making decisions is difficult. This feeling falls under the umbrella of the psychological principle of Risk Aversion.

Human beings all have risk aversions, just not about everything and not all the time. Otherwise, no one would smoke or drive fast on a mountain road or invest in race horses.

However, as a general rule, uncertainty and risk are things we just don’t like. Managing risk aversion for ourselves and our customers is a vital part of what we need to address in our Customer Experience strategy. 

I often ask the following question when I am speaking to groups:

Is business going to get easier than it is today or harder?

Obviously, the answer is harder. Part of what makes business hard is the uncertainty of it.

I once attended a conference for the CBI (Confederation of British Industries). Something one of the speakers said helped me understand how vital certainty is for businesses. It drives how much inventory they produce, how many people they hire, and how they plan for future products and services.

Making these decisions is difficult when you are uncertain about the future. Unless you have a special gift, a time machine or an awesome psychic friend, none of us do know the future. That means that uncertainty about the future is built-in to all decisions.

Learning how to avoid uncertainty is not an option. Instead, you have to learn how to manage uncertainty. 

Listen to the podcast in its . to learn more about [TITLE] for your Customer Experience.

The Intuitive Customer podcasts are designed to explain the psychological concepts behind customer behavior.

If you would like to find out from one of our CX consultants how you can implement the concepts we discussed in your organization’s marketing to improve customer loyalty and retention, contact us at www.beyondphilosophy.com.

To subscribe to The Intuitive Customer and never miss a podcast, please click here.

Personalization is a developing area in Customer Experiences. With AI driving what could be possible, many of you might be wondering how you can best leverage its capability in yours. To that end, we invited our special guest, Graham Hill, Ph.D., to explore the rapidly evolving field of Personalization in Customer Experiences.

With decades of experience in customer relationship management (CRM) and Customer Experience, Hill shares valuable insights into how personalization, particularly with the help of AI, is reshaping customer interactions and driving business results.

Hill explains that personalization operates on a continuum, ranging from broad, branded communications to highly individualized content tailored to a single customer’s needs. 

He also emphasizes balancing mass and personalized communication within a marketing strategy. While mass communication builds general brand awareness, personalized and individualized content can significantly enhance customer engagement and drive sales.

Hill discusses the impressive impact of personalized communications, noting that customized content can be up to nine times more effective and individualized content up to 44 times more effective at eliciting customer responses than generic communications. 

However, he warns against over-personalization, advising businesses to consider their goals and the specific problems personalization can solve before investing heavily in these technologies.

Hill also critiques traditional segmentation methods, advocating for outcome-based segmentation instead. By understanding what customers are trying to achieve and how they measure success, businesses can design more effective personalized communications that resonate with customers at different stages of their journey.

The episode also features a case study from Hill’s work with Toyota Financial Services, where implementing personalized communication in the repurchase management program led to a significant increase in response rates—from 10% to 35%. Hill’s approach underscores the importance of clear goals, continuous improvement, and a customer-centric focus in personalization efforts.

In this episode, we also explore:

• The balance between mass communication and personalization in marketing strategies.

• The significant impact of personalized and individualized content on customer engagement.

• The importance of outcome-based segmentation for effective personalization.

• The dangers of over-investing in new technologies without clear goals.

• Practical steps for understanding customer needs and enhancing key interactions through personalization.

• The role of AI tools in supporting but not overshadowing simple, effective personalization efforts.

Colin sometimes struggles with a glass-half-empty disposition. He blames it on being born British. He felt it keenly when gathering the following 14 statistics for this episode. There are a mix of game-changing opportunities, including missed ones, and some acute risks facing organizations next year. 

Ryan is American, a population Colin characterizes with as a glass-half-full disposition. He hopes by sharing these numbers gathered from reputable sources, that his American cohost might view these numbers with a bit more positivity. 

Will Colin be disappointed? Maybe, maybe not. 

For example, one statistic says by applying certain principles, organizations can expect 85 percent increase in sales growth and more than 25 percent in gross margins. It sounds great because it is. 

However, another statistic shows that only 30 percent of organizations have improved their experiences enough to satisfy customers over the last ten-plus years, and it’s getting worse not better. It does not sound great because it isn’t. 

This episode explores 14 statistics from reputable sources that present some compelling numbers regarding the whole Customer Experience movement—and what can happen if you ignore it or focus your efforts on less impactful components. From opportunities to risk, don’t miss out on this episode before you start planning your next year. 

Here are some other key moments in the discussion:

• 05:31  We get into the first statistic from Gallup and how it can really sell the experience program to the revenue-oriented and a second from them about the emotional nature of deciding.
• 11:53  Colin shares his statistic from the American Customer Satisfaction Index (ACSI) regarding how 70 percent of organizations remained flat or decreased customer satisfaction and that the index is at its lowest point since 2006.
• 19:14  We discuss the merits of growing existing customers versus recruiting new ones, but that 44% percent of companies still focus on customer acquisition, even though the probability of selling to an existing is 60 percent.  
• 23:06  Colin shares a statistic from Emplify that explains why customers will pay a higher price to buy from you. 
• 27:52  We discuss the last stat from Zendesk which explains how quickly you can lose a customer and what these stats revealed about Customer Experiences.

_________________________________________________________________

Did you know we have a YouTube Channel too? Check it out here.

Follow Colin on LinkedIn HERE.

Surge pricing, a form of dynamic pricing, involves raising prices during spikes in demand to balance supply and demand. It is a rational economic solution to manage demand effectively, but it can generate negative emotions among consumers who feel they're being unfairly charged. Surge pricing is a specific flavor of dynamic pricing or, depending on your perspective, price discrimination.

Surge Pricing is commonly seen in ride-sharing services or airlines, where prices increase during peak times to encourage more drivers to hit the road. Examples of surge pricing include Uber's increased fares during rainy weather and airlines charging higher prices for last-minute bookings or peak travel times.

In addition to ride-sharing and airline industries, surge pricing can be observed in other sectors, such as bars offering happy hour discounts to attract customers during off-peak hours. However, it doesn’t work in every situation and can damage your customer relationships. 

Surge pricing has its good points. It can increase revenue and manage demand effectively. However, to do so, this dynamic pricing strategy must be balanced with customer-centric considerations and strategic communication to avoid negative perceptions. 

In this episode, we explore the particulars of surge pricing and explain how effective communication is crucial when implementing dynamic pricing strategies. Customer communication can ensure customers understand the rationale behind the pricing changes and feel they're receiving fair value. 

In this episode, you will also learn the following:

• Examples of surge pricing in various industries, including hospitality and energy.

• The role of strategic purpose in dynamic pricing implementation.

• Why effective communication helps stave off disaster when implementing dynamic pricing strategies.

• How framing dynamic pricing changes can influence consumer perceptions.

• Balancing the benefits to the customer with revenue optimization goals.

• There is a need for flexibility and supply management to support dynamic pricing strategies.

Organizations need to embrace that emotional side of their experiences. Not only to design an experience that surprises and delights their customers, but also so their Artificial Intelligence works to provide useable insight. Combining the emotional data into the formula with concepts from the behavioral science side will make it so organizations can understand what and why their customers do what they do. 

However, I worry that they don’t. 

You’ll remember that Customer Science is the fusion of data, the behavioral sciences, and artificial intelligence (AI). Today, we will discuss what role AI plays in predicting customer emotions and how they affect customer behavior. 

AI isn’t perfect. Yet. We did an interview with Broderick Turner, Ph.D., from Virginia Tech about AI recently. Turner explains his skepticism about AI since he views AI as opinions written in code. 

However, imperfect or not, AI technology gives us some options we didn’t have before.  Applied intelligently and with a deliberate approach, AI has the potential to solve problems, and help us achieve goals. 

This episode is the second of a series of podcasts we did with Beyond Philosophy’s own Zhecho Dobrev (@ZhechoDobrev), author of The Big Miss: How Organizations Overlook the Value of Emotions. We talked with him before on our podcast a month ago about how emotions drive customer behavior. This week, we dive a little deeper on this concept, and explore how emotions affect the insights we get from Customer Science. If you’d like to read a bit more from Zhecho on emotional attachment being a key factor in customer-drive growth check out this article here.

Key Ideas to Improve your Customer Experience

In the book, Dobrev shares research about AI. It looks at the typical customer journey touchpoints and how much value do each of those drive. Also, Dobrev examines where emotions and customer relationships affect the outcome, and how much value those provide. Now, he is analyzing how AI uses each of those customer journey mapping touchpoints, meaning the customer infinity lifecycle thinking about the brand, learning about the product, purchasing experience, and all the other points until we get to customer retention. 

Here are a few more key moments in the discussion:

• 03:36  We talk about the recent podcasts that led to this one, including the first one with Zhecho a little while ago, the podcast we did on Customer Science, and an episode we had with a guest, Broderick Turner, about how opinions make their way into AI code. 
• 08:30  Dobrev explains that regarding AI in the Customer Science mix, it should include customer emotional data, as they are the main drivers of customer behavior; otherwise, the insights it has gleaned may not be authentic drivers of behavior.
• 10:43  Dobrev shares three organizations that have done a great job using AI to understand how emotions affect and drive customer behavior and why it helped. 
• 20:26  Colin shares how a previous podcast, one about the book, The Myth of Experience, demonstrates one of the problems with AI, which is that organizations don’t have the data they think they do and how that leads to problems with their application of it.
• 29:09 Dobrev shares his plans about what is next for AI and experience, and his effort to piece together a strategy that can improve all experiences moving 

Please tell us how we are doing! Complete this short survey. 

Customer Experience Information & Resources

LinkedIn recognizes Colin Shaw as one of the 'World's Top 150 Business Influencers.' As a result, he has 290,000 followers of his work. Shaw is Founder and CEO of Beyond Philosophy LLC, which helps organizations unlock growth by discovering customers' hidden, unmet needs that drive value ($). The Financial Times selected Beyond Philosophy as one of the best management consultancies for the last four years in a row. Follow Colin on LinkedIn and Twitter.

Click here to learn more about Professor Ryan Hamilton of Emory University. 

Why Customers Buy: As an official "Influencer" on LinkedIn, Colin writes a regular newsletter on all things Customer Experience. Click here to join the other 35,000 subscribers. 

How can we help?

Click here to learn more about Beyond Philosophy's Suite of Services.

One thing many positive Customer Experience stories people tell have in common is they involve a moment that surprised and delighted customers. Customer loyalty consultants refer to it as Innovative Customer Experience, and it is the key to getting your customers to talk about your experience to everyone they know.

Author, speaker, and customer loyalty expert Dr. Chip Bell is our guest on this episode of The Intuitive Customer podcast. As a customer loyalty consultant to Fortune 100 Companies, Bell explains how Innovative Service is the kind that gets talked about, and what inspires the customer behavior you want.

Bell says that while good Customer Experience is often appreciated, it rarely results in people talking, posting, or tweeting about it. However, when people have a unique experience with innovative service, they talk, post, and tweet about it all the time.

Innovative service is the pleasant surprise, the moment they didn’t expect in your experience. Bell describes innovative service as a moment that doesn’t make customers say, “Wow!” but the moment that makes customers say, “Whoa!” These Whoa-moments are what people talk about in person and online.

Innovative Customer Experiences are more than value-added. Bell says they are value-unique. The main difference is that customers expect your experience to be value-added. When they get more than they expected, however, it is unique—and that has a lot more value.

Delivering Innovative Customer Experience requires a few important considerations: 

• When have you been surprised in a good way by an experience or customer service in the past?
• How did it make you feel about the company?
• Did it lead to an increase in your business or you recommending them to others?
• What would be an appropriate and creative moment to deliver in your organization’s experience that would surprise and delight customers?
• Do you have the proper culture for your front-line employees to deliver Whoa -moments to customers as they see fit in the moment?

This episode of our podcast explores How to Create Innovative Service and explains why people feel more loyalty as a result of them. It also will talk about what you can do in your organization to create these Whoa-moments in your CX strategy that will get your customers telling stories about you to all their friends, families, and followers. 

Listen to the podcast in its entirety to learn more about Innovative Customer Experience

The Intuitive Customer podcasts are designed to explain the psychological concepts behind customer behavior.

If you would like to find out from one of our CX consultants how you can implement the concepts we discussed in your organization’s marketing to improve customer loyalty and retention, contact us at www.beyondphilosophy.com.

To subscribe to The Intuitive Customer and never miss a podcast, please click here.

Where AI Meets CX: The Remarkable Future for Humanizing Brands

Artificial Intelligence (AI) will transform the customer experience in many ways in the coming years. One area that we see interesting applications of AI Technology is the brand personification and social media management. This new way of creating meaningful interactions with your customers will build emotional engagement with your company, even though the entity doing it is not a human being. 

Brand personification is a fundamental principle of the concept of Conversational Commerce first introduced in 2016 by Chris Messina, tech expert, and inventor of the hashtag. Conversational Commerce is a way to describe how customers interact with brands on social media and other channels to move them through the sales cycle. These interactions will be handled more and more by AI, at least in the beginning stages. Brand personification represents how the values of your brand become a persona that interacts with customers in this way. 

When you consider brand personification, you can see it follows the “cult of the entrepreneur” prevalent over the past 20 years. Brands like Apple, Amazon, Facebook, and Tesla all have a persona, and it seems to resemble the founders that introduced them to us. These organizations are a manifestation of the entrepreneurs themselves, from how they do business to the culture that supports their work. 

Messina says that you don’t have to have a super-famous founder to have a brand persona. Any organization can adopt one. By using a set of principles your team decides best represents the values you want to deliver in your Customer Experience, you can “humanize” your brand to be a persona that says and does things that communicate these values. Many of these communications will take place on social media platforms. In other words, you use your values to envision what that would look like in a real human. Then, you communicate as if that human were your brand in your social media presence. 

As this technology progresses, chatbots will do the heavy lifting in these efforts. Moreover, they will populate with responses from AI-powered technology. AI will help technology mimic authentic human behavior. However, organizations will still need to determine what they want these personas to be. 

In this episode of The Intuitive Customer, we discuss with Messina how an organization should undertake humanizing its brand for customers in the second of a two-part interview. Building on the concept of Conversational Commerce addressed in Part 1, we take a deeper dive into the practicalities of developing an AI-powered anthropomorphized brand that will interact on social media on your behalf to build a relationship and how that might affect customer behavior and, perhaps most importantly customer-driven growth.

The Intuitive Customer podcasts help you take your Customer Experience to the next level by unlocking the “hidden” aspects of your experience and determining what really drives value for your customers.

To find out more about how your organization’s marketing can improve customer loyalty and retention, contact us at www.beyondphilosophy.com. 

To subscribe to The Intuitive Customer and never miss a podcast, please click here. 

This podcast is produced by Resonate Recordings. Click here to see how they can help you.   

Are You Using the Right Measures?

Measuring your progress for your Customer Experience strategy is an essential aspect to your program’s success. Not only will it show if your program is working to provide an excellent experience for your customers, but it also shows what customers really value, which can be an elusive thing to discover.

In this episode of The Intuitive Customer, we discuss the importance of measuring Customer Experience correctly. We invited Don Peppers, bestselling author, business strategist, and engaging keynote speaker to joins us to share his wisdom on the subject. With 11 books on marketing and Customer Experience, he had much to add to our discussion about the best way to handle Customer Experience measurement.

There are two types data marketers can user for measurement:

1. Voice of Customer (VOC) data, which involves an interaction with customers.
2. Observational data, which involves analyzing numbers and operational reports, among other things.

Peppers says that VOC data is excellent for many things. It can provide you feedback on moments in your experience that are or are not working. It also gives you the opportunity to respond to problems immediately and repair damage to a relationship before it has repercussions on customer behavior. However, it has some drawbacks for Customer Experience measurement.

Let me give you an example. I fly on Delta a lot. Every time I fly back and forth to England, they send me a survey. They want to know more about my experience on the flight. However, I never fill out the survey unless I had either a very good or very poor flight. 

This survey is an example of why VOC data measurement is flawed. Since I don’t fill out the survey every time, they have a skewed view of how I feel about their airline. Sometimes I am delighted; other times I am disgusted.

Now, if Delta were to look at my flight purchases over the past six months, that would be observational data. If they were to see that I purchased fewer flights compared to the previous year, they would see that my customer behavior had changed. Then, they would know how their Customer Experience is performing and they could react.

To be fair, both types of measures are useful and have their place in Customer Experience Measurement. However, in many ways, marketers tend to favor VOC measurement over observational measurement. The reasons for this preference are understandable; VOC is easier and more popular, and who knows better than the customer how they felt about the experience, right?

However, it is in the observational data that you get a much clearer understanding of how your Customer Experience performs. Observational data shows customer behavior, and that is a far more accurate indicator of how customers feel about your experience.

Listen to the podcast in its entirety to learn more about Are You Using the Right Measures for your Customer Experience.

The Intuitive Customer podcasts are designed to explain the psychological concepts behind customer behavior.  

If you would like to find out from one of our CX consultants how you can implement the concepts we discussed in your organization’s marketing to improve customer loyalty and retention, contact us at www.beyondphilosophy.com.  

To subscribe to The Intuitive Customer and never miss a podcast, please click here.

It stinks to wait around for something as a customer.  Whether it’s in a waiting room or a hot sweaty line at a theme park, none of us are usually very excited about waiting around for something. However, it’s a fact of life that customers have accepted over time. 

It also stinks to know that your experience makes customers wait sometimes. You probably would rather that your customers didn’t have to wait around and could get down to business spending money with your organization. However, despite your diligent efforts, you still have some time where customers are waiting around. 

Instead of throwing your hands up in the air and accepting defeat, we have a few strategies that can help manage this bump in your experience’s road. Eight of them, in fact.

Now, to be fair, our tips come from David Meister’s article, "The Psychology of Waiting Lines."  That said, this paper has excellent tips for you. 

In this episode, we talk about Meister’s eight areas and how you can emulate other organizations that have made the waiting experience a little less painful for their customers.

Here are some other key moments in the discussion:

• 02:37   We explain that sometimes customers have to wait, but it doesn’t have to be terrible while they do, thanks to the paper by Meister that defines what makes waiting so terrible.
• 03:31  Distraction is key and helps with the problem of making your customers feel like their time is occupied with more than just waiting around for you.
• 07:23  We use the examples of customer behavior on airplanes to explain the Meister’s concept about how people want to get started waiting, even if it is only to wait in a new position afterward.  
• 10:49  We explain how Uber manages the third area, uncertain waits are longer than certain waits, well by letting you know the car is coming and when.
• 15:17. We talk about a related area of communication about waits pertaining to Meister’s area that unexplained waits feel longer than known waits and why kids don’t get it.
• 19:18. Unfair plays a big role in how waits feel; just ask anyone in a Disney line watching the fast pass ticket holders blow past them. 
• 27:17 We end on the 8^th area, which is that solo waits feel longer than group waits, because misery loves company, doesn’t it?

_________________________________________________________________

Did you know we have a YouTube Channel too? Check it out here.

Connect with Colin on LinkedIn HERE.

Follow Colin on Twitter HERE.

Click HERE to learn more about Professor Ryan Hamilton of Emory University. 

To learn more about Beyond Philosophy's Suite of Services Click here.

The Secret of Creating an Effective Customer Experience (CX) Strategy 

What is the experience you are trying to deliver to your customers? This is one of our key questions we ask organizations when we consult with them. It seems a very simple question and yet in reality, the answer is very strategic and critical to moving your CX to the next level. What is surprising is most organizations do not know the answer to this question! Be clear, everyone thinks they know the answer, but in reality every part of the organization does what they think is the right thing. Marketing, Sales, Customer service, Finance, IT, etc. all do what they think is the right thing, but it is not aligned, it is different and as a result the Customer is confused, there are overlaps and gaps in the experience. This leads to re-work, overlaps, gaps and all this costs money. More importantly, the Customer looks at your organization as a whole and ends up being frustrated. This does not build Customer loyalty.

It is therefore vital to define the answer to this question. What is the experience you are trying to deliver to your customers? The answer to this is a strategic choice. The experience that you should be delivering should be one that drives value ($) for the organization. It should be decided strategically by the senior executive of the organization. It should be debated and argued about. Once agreed, it should set the direction of the whole organization and as a consequence it should outline all the things that you need to start and stop doing as a result of the strategy.

In this podcast we outline how to go about this. We give you an example of one organization who, by setting the strategy in this way, improved their Net Promoter Score® by 40 points in 30 months that lead to a 10% rise in volumes.

The Intuitive Customer podcasts are designed to help you improve your Customer Experience by unlock the ‘hidden’ aspects of your experience and what drives value for you to enable you to take your experience to the next level

If you would like to find out more in your organization’s marketing to improve customer loyalty and retention, contact us at www.beyondphilosophy.com.

To subscribe to The Intuitive Customer and never miss a podcast, please click here.

A lot of the behavioral sciences can feel intimidating. However, it doesn’t have to be. The Five Rules Podcast Series is our attempt at giving you an easy entry point into the complex and messy world of Behavioral Science.

Experiments serve as the gold standard for determining causality. If we create them correctly, we know that an action we take makes something else happen and there isn’t any other explanation. 

That is, if we create them correctly.

Even in my corporate career I realized that determining causality is tricky. After presenting to organizations the revenue gains they can expect by taking my advice, they ask, “How do we know that your changes caused the increase instead of something else?” My answer was always the same, unsatisfying one: You won’t.  

That’s because we can never know the causality of behavior at 100 percent certainty (even if we follow all the rules). 

However, when we have more data we also have more confidence that there is no other explanation. Sound experiment creation strategies will help us build a solid case for our causality. 

In this episode, we share the five rules for creating behavioral experiments. We talk about how academics design behavioral experiments and how that could work regarding your experimentation regarding changing experiences to inspire new customer behavior. 

Key Ideas to Improve your Customer Experience

So, what are the 5 rules? The 5 Rules for Running Behavioral Business Experiments include:

1. Define your metrics and what you're going to measure. 
2. Establish comparison conditions.
3. Randomize or get as close to randomization as you possibly can. 
4. Define the theory…or not.
5. Foster a culture of experimentation.

Here are a few key moments in the discussion:

• 03:46  Ryan begins his list of rules by first explaining why you should care about following them, which is because proper experimentation determines causality.
• 07:43  We get into a discussion about the three things that you need to establish causality in your experiment and why they are important to your results.
• 10:12 Ryan begins the list of the rules, starting with the most foundational, which is to determine what you want to measure before you design your experiment.    
• 12:48  We discuss why it is essential to establish different conditions in your experiment (Hint: it comes down to one word: comparison).
• 20:25  Ryan explains why having a theory going into an experiment than not having one.  
• 25:42  We talk about why it is essential to allow failure with regards to experiments, and why you will be glad you did (most likely). 

Please tell us how we are doing! Complete this short survey. 

Customer Experience Information & Resources

LinkedIn recognizes Colin Shaw as one of the 'World's Top 150 Business Influencers.' As a result, he has 290,000 followers of his work. Shaw is Founder and CEO of Beyond Philosophy LLC, which helps organizations unlock growth by discovering customers' hidden, unmet needs that drive value ($). The Financial Times selected Beyond Philosophy as one of the best management consultancies for the last four years in a row. Follow Colin on LinkedIn and Twitter.

Click here to learn more about Professor Ryan Hamilton of Emory University. 

Why Customers Buy: As an official "Influencer" on LinkedIn, Colin writes a regular newsletter on all things Customer Experience. Click here to join the other 35,000 subscribers. 

How can we help?

Click here to learn more about Beyond Philosophy's Suite of Services.

If you are like most companies, you probably think that you put the customer at the center of everything you do. But do you?

There are some critical things that the most customer centric companies do differently than the average company. It requires a mindset that understands the essential nature of it and then a consistent approach to applying it in all the areas of the company, from how you recruit talent and empower employees to how you prioritize customers in your team meetings. 

In this episode, we discuss how we categorize the customer centricity of organizations and use the areas of People and Culture and Leadership to determine it. 

Key Ideas to Improve your Customer Experience

There are four distinct types of organizations regarding customer-centricity, which we call our Naïve to Natural Model. There are Naïve organizations that do not or will not put customers first, Transactional ones that know they should do more but aren’t, Enlightened companies get the importance of it but are still working on putting them there, and Natural companies, well, they just do it. 

We use nine areas to determine where an organization is on this model. Two of the most significant are People and Culture and Leadership. How you handle these areas and how they relate to customers indicate where you are on your Naïve to Natural journey. 

Here are a few key moments in the discussion:

• 03:19 Colin defines what customer-centricity is for an organization.
• 05:07 We share the four types of organizations that we use to codify organizations for customer-centricity. 
• 07:04 Colin explains how there are nine areas that affect an organization’s customer centricity, starting with people.
• 11:36 Colin shares a story about how he knew an organization was Transactional based on how much time they devoted to customer training in employee orientation. 
• 23:27 We introduce another area of customer centricity, Culture and Leadership.
• 25:44 Colin explains how they once used a speed dating format to get senior managers back in touch with customers. 
• 27:58 We share how the position of customer issues on the company’s team meeting agenda indicates how important they think it is. 

Please tell us how we are doing! Complete this short survey. 

Customer Experience Information & Resources

LinkedIn recognizes Colin Shaw as one of the 'World's Top 150 Business Influencers.' As a result, he has 289,000 followers of his work. Shaw is Founder and CEO of Beyond Philosophy LLC, which helps organizations unlock growth by discovering customers' hidden, unmet needs that drive value ($). The Financial Times selected Beyond Philosophy LLC as one of the best management consultancies for the last two years. Follow Colin on LinkedIn and Twitter.

Click here to learn more about Professor Ryan Hamilton of Emory University. 

Why Customers Buy: As an official "Influencer" on LinkedIn, Colin writes a regular newsletter on all things Customer Experience. Click here to join the other 22,000 subscribers. 

Experience Health Check: You already have an experience, even if you weren't deliberate about it. Our Experience Health Check can help you understand what you have today. Colin or one of our team can assess your digital or physical Customer Experience, interacting with your organization as a customer to define what is good and what needs improving. Then, they will provide a list of recommendations for critical next steps for your organization. Click here to learn more. 

How can we help?

Click here to learn more about Beyond Philosophy's Suite of Services.

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We have another business pickle to address. This time it’s with Christine Jones who is having problem with her organization not taking customer complaints or the Voice of Customer program seriously. 

We have been there. Ryan once worked at a grocery store that had a suggestion box that he never once in all the years he worked there saw opened. He suspects that no one even had the key anymore. 

Colin’s corporate employer engaged in a pricey customer survey every year, listened to the results, including the complaints, and then carried on with business-as-usual. When Colin complained, one person suggested maybe they stop doing the customer survey. 

In this episode, we explore why this happens with Voice of Customer feedback and complaints. We also share practical and actionable steps to change this for your organizations—and none of them are to stop getting customer feedback. 

Key Ideas to Improve your Customer Experience

Organizations that are monopolies don’t need to bother with customer feedback. However, monopolies are few and far between. For the rest of the organizations, which is almost all of them, competition necessitates taking customer complaints seriously—before your customers become the competition’s customers. 

Here are a few key moments in the discussion:

• 01:58  We read Christine’s pickle and share our stories that commiserate her problem, because it’s not an uncommon one, especially in business today.
• 06:00  Colin shares his last point first with Christine, which is exactly what he did in the same situation: realize that it could be that this organization might not be the best fit for her long term.   
• 13:57  Ryan explains that empathy for fellow employees will help customer strategy champions to help them prioritize the experience agenda, which might mean making allies higher up in the organization.
• 19:26  We discuss Confirmation Bias and Reference Points and how they play a role in how organizations view the Voice of Customer and customer complaints (hint: they are not small ones).  
• 24:24  We share the practical things that Christine can do in this environment to affect change and get the organization to take customer complaints seriously.
• 29:24  We talk about what might be the greatest customer complaint ever set to music, United Breaks Guitars.

Do you have a business pickle? Tell us about it here.

Please tell us how we are doing! Complete this short survey. 

Customer Experience Information & Resources

LinkedIn recognizes Colin Shaw as one of the 'World's Top 150 Business Influencers.' As a result, he has 290,000 followers of his work. Shaw is Founder and CEO of Beyond Philosophy LLC, which helps organizations unlock growth by discovering customers' hidden, unmet needs that drive value ($). The Financial Times selected Beyond Philosophy as one of the best management consultancies for the last four years in a row. Follow Colin on LinkedIn and Twitter.

Click here to learn more about Professor Ryan Hamilton of Emory University. 

Why Customers Buy: As an official "Influencer" on LinkedIn, Colin writes a regular newsletter on all things Customer Experience. Click here to join the other 35,000 subscribers. 

How can we help?

Click here to learn more about Beyond Philosophy's Suite of Services.

Sanjay Patel faces a challenge many of us can relate to: how to get senior executives to buy into your program. 

Dealing with senior management can be nerve-wracking, as I learned twenty years ago when my heart rate spiked during a presentation to the CEO and C-suite. Today, I've mastered strategies for these situations. 

In this episode, we discuss how to deal with them effectively and get what you want.

For example, it starts by being confident in your knowledge. Senior executives are usually clever and ambitious, knowing a lot about various topics but often not much about Customer Experience (CX). When discussing CX or any program you are knowledgeable about, remember they can learn from you. They wouldn’t talk to you otherwise. Respect your expertise and believe in yourself. If you don’t believe in your ideas, why should they?

So, yes, confidence is key, but avoid being overly technical or jargon-heavy. Overcomplicating your message can make you seem like you’re covering for something. Instead, align your message with what the CEO cares about most. For example, if the CEO is focused on cost-cutting, explain how your CX program can save costs. Understanding and addressing their needs will help you get through to them.

You should also keep your questions simple. Surprisingly, the higher you go in the management chain, the simpler the questions should be. Simple questions like "What experience do we want to deliver?" engage the senior team effectively. Avoid complex questions that convolute your message. Being clear and relevant is more important than appearing clever. 

Additionally, using examples from within the organization or from customers helps illustrate your points effectively. Personal stories make your message digestible and relatable. For instance, Colin always asks his clients to think about a good or bad experience they had recently. By asking your audience about their own good or bad customer experiences, you can help them understand the importance of emotions in CX.

Finally, senior management values opinions. When asked, state your opinion clearly and respectfully. And be straightforward; senior management can easily detect dishonesty.

Today’s episode explores how to convince senior management to support your program.  . Ultimately, persuading senior management is a sales job. So, we talk about how to sell your idea by meeting their needs. 

In this episode, you will also discover:

• How to frame your expertise in a way that resonates with senior executives' priorities.

• Techniques for simplifying complex ideas to ensure clarity in communication.

• The importance of aligning your proposals with the company's strategic goals.

• Methods for using storytelling to make your case compelling and memorable.

• Strategies for addressing tough questions with confidence and transparency.

• Ways to gather and present evidence that supports your proposals effectively.

18 months. That was the timeline Colin gave himself to move from a sales job to a general manager post. It was a long time ago now, the kind of thing one remembers when they look back over a decades-long career. 

However, it also worked. Colin did make that transition, moving throughout departments and learning new skills, and always with the goal of moving to general manager.

Ryan, being from academia, teaches an introductory marketing course to his MBA students. It’s a class they take first semester when their enthusiasm and exuberance are high. 

This abundance of energy also drives them to his office during office hours, hoping for some career advice. As an academic, Ryan has some for them, but recognizes that there is always room for more. 

In this episode, we explore the key insights we have gained over the spans of our careers and share them with you. From taking advice from Colin’s father to learning how to navigate the political quagmires that many organizations foster, we give you some areas to focus on to get where you want to go. 

Here are some other key moments in the discussion:

• 04:06 We kick it off by explaining that over the years we have seen jobs come and go and job come from out of nowhere that can change the course of a career for good or ill.
• 08:39  Colin shares some advice he learned from his dad, which on its face seems simple, but in truth is the one thing everybody looks for and appreciates. 
• 12:30  We talk about the importance of looking down the road in a career rather than on the part right in front of you; you don’t want to be 50 or 60 and realize that you were headed the wrong way.
• 17:19  We share a strategy that seems counterintuitive, that sometimes the way forward is taking a step back or sideways. 
• 20:17 Colin discusses how there is always something to learn, even in a bad job, so don’t forget to notice what you shouldn’t do in your career.
• 25:00 We talk politics (no, not those politics), and how you can use them to your advantage when you understand them in your organization.

_________________________________________________________________

Did you know we have a YouTube Channel too? Check it out here.

Connect with Colin on LinkedIn HERE.

Follow Colin on Twitter HERE.

Click HERE to learn more about Professor Ryan Hamilton of Emory University. 

To learn more about Beyond Philosophy's Suite of Services Click here.

The 5 Rules to

Managing How Your Customers Make Decisions

A lot of Behavioral Economics can feel intimidating. However, it doesn’t have to be. The Five Rules Podcast Series is our attempt at giving you an easy entry point into the complex and messy world of Behavioral Science.

What Are The Five Rules?

How people make decisions is a complicated and fascinating subject. Understanding the process and the role your Customer Experience design plays in it is essential to providing the platform to encourage customer-driven growth. To that end, here are the five rules to bear in mind when managing customer decision-making:

1. Embrace the fact that customers don't always make rational choices. 
2. Strive to make customers buy from you intuitively. 
3. Discover your customers' decision-making strategy. 
4. Map your customers' habits. 
5. Design your experience understanding the different ways customers make decisions.

What Should You Do With Them?

1. Embrace the fact that customers don't always make rational choices. Before you can proceed in this management process, you should first accept that your customers do not make rational decisions all the time. Rationality plays a role, of course, but it not always the driving force behind the yes or no customers give you. This concept applies to the business-to-consumer as well as the business-to-business market. Many organizations have based their experiences on the idea that rational decision-making is the driving force. If you do the same, you run the risk of ruling out ways you can create a competitive advantage. By opening up your solution set to include the emotional in addition to the rational, you not only create a winning formula for winning customers and prospects over, but you also create a competitive differentiation that is hard to beat by your competition. 

1. Strive to make customers buy from you intuitively. Intuitive purchases are automatic and occur without the customers giving it a second thought. This situation is ideal for obvious reasons. However, it requires creating an easy experience that appeals to customers' need for simplicity while also meeting their needs.

1. Discover your customers' decision making strategy.  There is a multitude of ways that customers use their rationality and irrationality in tandem to make buying decisions. Some methods are based on how you position the offer, others on the customers' tolerance for risk; others are based on how much effort they are willing to put into the purchase process. We recommend determining how your customers make decisions and use that pattern to help you design an experience that leads them to the choice you want. When you can do this successfully, you create a competitive differentiation few organizations are willing to undertake.

1. Map your customers' habits. Habitual behavior is one of the ways customers make intuitive decisions to go with your product or service. A trigger in your experience signals the habitual response to start. However, your competitors have triggers, too. When you can spot the triggers, either yours or the competition, you understand how to meet your customers or move your customers to a different behavior where you want them to be. 

1. Design your experience understanding the different ways customers make decisions. When you apply the previous four rules in an exercise we call Behavioral Journey Mapping, an advanced take on traditional journey mapping, you can see how the different touchpoints in an experience influence customers' decisions. You can then determine what experience you wish to deliver so that you can take deliberate actions in the appropriate moments to encourage or change customer behavior. The Behavioral Sciences do not work "in general," but instead work "in specific." 

To discuss this further contact us at www.BeyondPhilosophy.com

About Beyond Philosophy:

Beyond Philosophy help organizations unlock growth by discovering customers' hidden, unmet needs that drive value ($). We then capitalize on this by improving your customer experience to meet these needs thereby retaining and acquiring new customers across the market.

This podcast is produced by Resonate Recordings. Click here find out more.

Organizations only pay lip service to CX, and now, we have the numbers to prove it. 

From Zendesk’s The Trends Report 2022, you can see a clear dichotomy between what people say they will do and what they will actually do regarding CX.  

You should read the whole report, but for starters, here are some stats I was surprised to learn (or maybe not surprised as much as interested to see it in print):

• 73% of business leaders reported a direct link between customer service and business performance
• 56% of organizations say they will focus on driving better customer experiences over the next 12 months. 

However, later in the report we learn:

• 23% of organizations said that they were looking to increase customer satisfaction. 
• 23% said they are looking to drive stronger relationships

Framing that one in reverse means 67% are not looking to increase customer satisfaction or drive stronger relationships. So, what is going on here? 

In this episode, Chief Technology Officer of Zendesk Adrian McDermott (@amcdermo) joins us to give his take on these numbers. For the past 15 years, Zendesk has provided tools and technologies for digital CX and worked with companies to enable agent efficiency in customer service. McDermott has been with them for the past 10 years and scaled his product development from ten people to around 1,500. He also shares what he thinks  organizations should do with their experiences. 

Key Ideas to Improve your Customer Experience

My regular readers will remember that customers satisfaction scores across the board are falling or stagnating for most organizations. The American Customer Satisfaction Index published a report that suggested customer satisfaction was approaching a 17-year low. What’s more, customers care about this dissatisfaction. Zendesk reported that 61% of customers say that they would switch to a competitor off the back of one bad service experience—and that’s just one dissatisfying experience!

Here are a few key moments in the discussion:

• 05:04  Colin goes through the stats from the Zendesk report that show the dichotomy between what organizations say they will do regarding CX versus what they plan to actually do. 
• 08:12  McDermott shares his take on how these numbers demonstrate two problems, one on the supply side and the other on the demand side, and how organizations should respond.  
• 19:59  We shift the conversation to discuss Customer Science, and to get McDermott’s take on how these tools will help move CX forward.    
• 23:13  McDermott explains that he thinks these tools can aid in personalization, ideally down to a segment of one individual. 
• 26:35  We talk about the strengths of Artificial Intelligence and Machine learning in improving Customer Service efficiencies and where that is an appropriate application in customer facing interactions.   
• 34:18 We all share our tips for taking this report’s information and today’s technology and doing something practical with it, proving once again that taking theory beyond the philosophy is the most significant way to make it useful in CX.

This episode of the podcast was made in partnership with Zendesk.

Please tell us how we are doing! Complete this short survey. 

Customer Experience Information & Resources

LinkedIn recognizes Colin Shaw as one of the 'World's Top 150 Business Influencers.' As a result, he has 290,000 followers of his work. Shaw is Founder and CEO of Beyond Philosophy LLC, which helps organizations unlock growth by discovering customers' hidden, unmet needs that drive value ($). The Financial Times selected Beyond Philosophy as one of the best management consultancies for the last four years in a row. Follow Colin on LinkedIn and Twitter.

Click here to learn more about Professor Ryan Hamilton of Emory University. 

Why Customers Buy: As an official "Influencer" on LinkedIn, Colin writes a regular newsletter on all things Customer Experience. Click here to join the other 35,000 subscribers. 

How can we help?

Click here to learn more about Beyond Philosophy's Suite of Services.