BBC Radio 4’s ‘Money Box’ isn’t often where you go for a scoop with political ramifications but today’s announcement by the programme that families on Universal Credit will miss out on payments over the festive period adds some excitement to what’s often a ‘worthy but dull’ feature in the Saturday schedule. Leaving aside the politics … Continue reading Universal Credit: customer experience without compassion
Less-than-superior examples
Mattress-buying – a hotbed of intrigue (pun intended)
Who can you trust these days? In an era of ‘fake news’ and everyone’s opinions masquerading as facts, it’s a relevant question. I just read a great Fast Company article on the dodgy world of mattress-recommendation sites and it made me think that trust is going to be a key differentiator for all kinds of … Continue reading Mattress-buying – a hotbed of intrigue (pun intended)
Bad boys? Dove and the problem with reputation
The recent furore over Dove's Facebook ad - where a black woman 'changes' to a white, then Asian one as she removes her t-shirt - appears to be a result of a thoroughly misinformed piece of decision-making. Dove's subsequent 'apology', claiming that they had 'missed the mark' struck many as less then wholehearted, apparently compounding … Continue reading Bad boys? Dove and the problem with reputation
Ryanair has a customer-centric approach, but it’s not what you think
I recently co-wrote a report on customer-centric strategy for NextTen – more on that later – that included Ryanair as a (positive) case study. The recent problems with pilot scheduling might cause me to make a hasty edit – but I think not: Ryanair is thoroughly customer-focused, but their low-cost approach illustrates the challenges of maintaining … Continue reading Ryanair has a customer-centric approach, but it’s not what you think
Towels and farewells
Towel Day has passed me by in the last few years (actually it's passed me by since its inception) but I noticed it last week and as it reminded of a towel-related customer experience I'd intended to write something and shamelessly exploit the hashtag for a link or two. In the end a mild virus … Continue reading Towels and farewells
Tales from the sharp end #1: M&S Food
Starting an occasional series in which I report back from the front line of customer experience. As well as an obsession with the minutiae of customer experience I have an obsession with keeping things as simple as possible (but no simpler as Einstein once put it) and so a recent experience with M&S Food reminded … Continue reading Tales from the sharp end #1: M&S Food
My week in CX #9
In a week in which my customer experiences revolve around eating, I give some feedback, find out how much my advice is worth, eat far too much pizza and receive more communication from the mysterious Amy Ingram... Expectation Gap Through a combination of laziness and the fact that I get a regular stream of email … Continue reading My week in CX #9
My week in CX #8
Delays to last week's customer experience owing to some pressing client work means that I'm casting my mind back to about a fortnight ago... if only I had some memory enhancement to help me... more on that later. It was a week in which tech matters seemed to come to the fore, particularly in the … Continue reading My week in CX #8
Dog days: when brands bite
I like the occasional beer, and I like brands that position themselves as something a bit different, so it was disappointing to read of the contortions that self-styled punk brewers Brewdog went through when their solicitors asked Birmingham pub The Wolf to change its original name - The Lone Wolf - as it conflicted with … Continue reading Dog days: when brands bite
My week in CX #5
In a week of customer experience lunches I re-discover that it pays to complain, get creative online and wish more people were like the #timetunneltrain driver. Whole lotta lunch Fay Maschler, restaurant critic of the Evening Standard publishes a diary of what we might call her meets and eats alongside her weekly review. Mine lunch … Continue reading My week in CX #5