A Unique Perspective on Customer Experience

I am always so ceaselessly curious about how others live their life. In no time at all I am hooked to the point of obsession on any and all interviews, whether the focus is on a celebrity, professional, politician, or just a random, ordinary person (of which I think more interviews should be focused on!). Learning how people organize, lead and experience their life is insightful.

Recently I read Fast Company’s feature on Ron Johnson, former CEO of JC Penney, and current CEO of the Startup ‘Enjoy’. I had never heard of Enjoy so, already, this interview had me intrigued. Coming from a professional career that saw its (arguably) biggest success at Apple, Johnson has modeled ‘Enjoy’ after the Genius Bar. I encourage you to read the full article if you’re curious about the premise of this startup.

I will say this, I applaud the way Enjoy values their employees. In a world where the share/freelance economy increasingly reigns, it’s refreshing to see a company that treats their employees like individual contractors, but pays them a salary, offers stock options and covers health benefits.

My favourite part of the article was not focused on Enjoy, but instead the personal ethos of Johnson when it comes to customer experience:

"Most love is not emotional love. It’s rooted in compassion or help. Look at the Genius Bar. You’re just helping people. And so that’s what my governor is: How do you create an environment where you feel this love? Because love is contagious."

Though Johnson’s interpretation comes from a biblical source, I would argue this perspective works really well in a completely secular way. Empathy is so key when engaging with customers of any kind. The age old adage of “treat others the way you would want to be treated” is powerful in retail and should not be overlooked in training, staffing and employment decisions. 

Weekend Musings: Want vs. Need

"I need to get a pair of platform wedge sandals."
"You need them? Why?"
"Because they're gorgeous, so comfortable, and will make me taller...duh!"
"Those don't sound like needs to me...."

Here is a sample conversation between my impulsive self, and my rational self, that should really happen more often. You can swap 'platform wedge sandals' for almost anything, and the conversation would be the same. So much of my consumer behavior is impulsive, or spurred on by reasons completely unrelated to 'need'.

This is on my mind this week for a couple reasons. First, as some of you may remember from this post, I recently visited the library. Among the pink-hued covers and satisfyingly frivolous reads I took home was a book by consumer behavior consultant Philip Graves. In the very first chapter of Consumer.ology, Graves begins to describe the subconscious emotional desires that trigger spending, which often go undetected by consumers' conscious minds. He goes on to explain how adept our conscious brains are at finding totally reasonable explanations for our behavior, a practice that maintains our own sense of self as autonomous, well-intentioned, sensible humans. Our purchase may be driven by things as complex as social symbolism, or as simple as how a store smells. For many of us, our conscious brain will then identify reasons for the purchase, and justify it as a 'need'.

The topic of want and need is top of mind for another reason. Last week, I had the pleasure of attending a panel discussion organized by the American Marketing Association, titled the The Canadian Chief Marketer. At one point, the panel was discussing 'Want' vs. 'Need' in the context of the Nest Thermostat. One of the panelists was on the side of 'Want', citing that there is no way adjusting your thermostat from the comfort of your home is a 'Need'. Another panelist raised the example of driving to his cottage in the winter, setting the cottage thermostat as they left home so they could arrive to a comfortable cottage climate. In this case Nest was fulfilling a 'Need'.

Convincing consumers their 'Want' is, in fact, a 'Need' is what marketing is all about, but society's role can not be overstated. Perhaps that is why social advertising, brand advocates, and content generation will be so critical for marketing moving forward, though not to such an extent that credibility and transparency is lost.