Category Archives: marketing

The Impact of Customer Service on Brand Loyalty

GUEST POST from Chateau G Pato

In today’s hyper-competitive market, customer service is no longer just a support function; it is a critical component of brand strategy. Exceptional customer service can transform customers into loyal advocates, while poor service can drive them straight into the arms of competitors. In this article, we will explore the profound impact of customer service on brand loyalty through two compelling case studies.

The Importance of Customer Service

Customer service is the front-line of any business. It is where the brand meets the customer, and first impressions are often lasting. Here are some key reasons why customer service is crucial for brand loyalty:

Customer Retention: Satisfied customers are more likely to return and make repeat purchases.
Word of Mouth: Happy customers are more likely to recommend your brand to others.
Brand Differentiation: Exceptional service can set your brand apart from competitors.
Customer Feedback: Direct interactions provide valuable insights for continuous improvement.

Case Study 1: Zappos – The Gold Standard of Customer Service

Zappos, an online shoe and clothing retailer, has built its brand around exceptional customer service. Their approach is simple yet effective: prioritize the customer above all else.

Key Strategies

24/7 Customer Support: Zappos offers round-the-clock customer service, ensuring that help is always available.
Free Shipping and Returns: They provide free shipping both ways, making the shopping experience risk-free.
Empowered Employees: Customer service representatives are empowered to make decisions that benefit the customer, without needing managerial approval.
Customer-Centric Culture: Zappos has ingrained a customer-first mentality into its corporate culture, from top to bottom.

Results

High Customer Satisfaction: Zappos consistently ranks high in customer satisfaction surveys.
Increased Brand Loyalty: Their customer-first approach has resulted in a loyal customer base that frequently makes repeat purchases.
Positive Word of Mouth: Zappos’ exceptional service has led to widespread positive word of mouth, further enhancing their brand reputation.

Case Study 2: Apple – Creating a Seamless Customer Experience

Apple is another brand that has mastered the art of customer service. Their approach focuses on creating a seamless and integrated customer experience across all touch-points.

Key Strategies

Genius Bar: Apple Stores feature the Genius Bar, where customers can get personalized technical support and advice.
Integrated Ecosystem: Apple products are designed to work seamlessly together, enhancing the overall user experience.
Customer Education: Apple offers workshops and tutorials to help customers get the most out of their products.
Proactive Support: AppleCare provides proactive support, including regular check-ins and updates.

Results

High Customer Satisfaction: Apple consistently receives high marks for customer satisfaction.
Brand Loyalty: Apple’s focus on customer experience has resulted in one of the most loyal customer bases in the tech industry.
Increased Sales: Loyal customers are more likely to purchase additional Apple products, contributing to the company’s robust sales growth.

Conclusion

Customer service is not just a department; it is a philosophy that should permeate every aspect of a business. Brands like Zappos and Apple have demonstrated that exceptional customer service can lead to high customer satisfaction, increased brand loyalty, and ultimately, greater business success. By prioritizing the customer and creating a seamless, positive experience, brands can build lasting relationships that stand the test of time.

In a world where customers have more choices than ever, exceptional customer service is the key to standing out and building a loyal customer base. Invest in your customer service, and the returns will be immeasurable.

SPECIAL BONUS: The very best change planners use a visual, collaborative approach to create their deliverables. A methodology and tools like those in Change Planning Toolkit™ can empower anyone to become great change planners themselves.

Image credit: Pexels

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Crazy New Products – Real and Imagined

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Krispy Kreme Smartfood MayOreo Lay's Chicken Waffles Pop Tart Bud Light

Above are three crazy new product photos – two real, two imagined.

Can you guess which is which?

I’ve written before about flavor proliferation but every day it seems as if food companies keep increasing variety even as the number of choices on our shelves are already at ridiculous levels. Does the world really need Oreo mayonnaise? Or Krispy Kreme Smartfood popcorn? Or Bud Light Pop Tarts?

I’m not so sure.

But what is a reality is that in today’s world it has never been easier to do quick and dirty market research to find out whether or not there is demand for a potential new product or service without building it at scale. A photo ready prototype or even a mock up is often enough to throw up a web site, run some banner advertisements and see how many people are willing to click and pay real money, at least to request information, about your new product or service.

To the entrepreneurs out there without a marketing department or a fancy marketing agency – don’t waste your money, leverage these techniques to gauge the market of something you’re considering launching, to fine tune pricing, etc.

So, which of these products are the real ones and which are the fakes?

Well…

Bud Light Pop Tarts — Fake
Krispy Kreme Smartfood — Real
Mayoreo — Fake
Lay’s Chicken & Waffles — Real

I know the Krispy Kreme Smartfood and Lay’s Chicken & Waffles are real because I’ve seen them in my local grocery store and I was more than a little surprised – especially given the brand positioning efforts of Frito Lay for Smartfood over the past several years. But, I guess things change – not always for the better.

Keep innovating!

Accelerate your change and transformation success

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The Power of Social Proof

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How Consumer Behavior Influences Innovation Success

GUEST POST from Art Inteligencia

In today’s competitive marketplace, successful innovation is crucial for businesses to thrive and survive. However, understanding consumer behavior and leveraging social proof can significantly influence the success of these innovative endeavors. In this thought leadership article, we explore the concept of social proof and its impact on innovation success through two compelling case studies.

Case Study 1: Airbnb and the Power of Peer Recommendations:

In the past decade, the emergence of the sharing economy has disrupted traditional industries, particularly the hospitality sector. Airbnb, as a prime example, revolutionized the way people find accommodations by capitalizing on the power of social proof.

By allowing hosts and guests to leave reviews and ratings, Airbnb created a robust system of peer recommendations. This social proof effectively influenced potential customers’ decisions, leading to increased reservations and higher customer satisfaction rates. The number of positive reviews and the overall rating of properties became a key factor in the success or failure of hosts within the platform.

Airbnb’s innovative business model showcased the power of leveraging social proof to drive innovation success. By tapping into the collective wisdom of its users, Airbnb created a community-driven platform that thrived due to the trust established through social recommendations.

Case Study 2: Tesla and Consumer Influence on Electric Vehicles:

The success of electric vehicles (EVs) is another fascinating example of how consumer behavior and social proof contribute to innovation success. Tesla Motors, under the leadership of Elon Musk, pioneered the mass-market adoption of EVs and disrupted the automotive industry’s status quo.

One of the key factors behind Tesla’s success was its ability to tap into social proof to mitigate common consumer concerns about EVs. By producing high-quality vehicles with exceptional performance and range, Tesla created an aspirational brand that symbolized success, innovation, and environmentally-friendly choices.

Moreover, Tesla’s decision to build a network of Supercharger stations worldwide addressed charging infrastructure worries, a crucial aspect of EV adoption. This strategy provided consumers with tangible proof that electric vehicles were a reliable and practical transportation option.

Tesla’s innovative approach not only increased mainstream acceptance of EVs but also encouraged other automakers to invest in electric vehicle technologies. Consumer demand and social proof played a pivotal role in driving innovation within the automotive industry.

Conclusion

The power of social proof, as demonstrated through the case studies of Airbnb and Tesla, cannot be underestimated when it comes to innovation success. By understanding consumer behavior and influencing their choices through peer recommendations, businesses can gain a competitive edge and create new markets.

In today’s interconnected digital landscape, social proof plays a vital role in shaping consumer decision-making. Capitalizing on this power can help businesses drive innovation, boost customer trust, and achieve sustainable growth.

The lessons learned from Airbnb and Tesla reaffirm that by prioritizing social proof and incorporating consumer insights into the innovation process, organizations can create products and services that meet real consumer needs. As we move forward, businesses that can effectively harness the influence of consumer behavior and social proof will position themselves for long-term success in an ever-evolving marketplace.

Bottom line: Understanding trends is not quite the same thing as understanding the future, but trends are a component of futurology. Trend hunters use a formal approach to achieve their outcomes, but a methodology and tools like those in FutureHacking™ can empower anyone to be their own futurist and trend hunter.

Image credit: Unsplash

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Building Cumulative Advantage

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Exclusive Mark Schaefer Interview Excerpt from CustomerThink.com

Mark W Schaefer Cumulative Advantage as a concept builds unstoppable momentum for your ideas and your business — even when the odds seem stacked against you. The book shows how initial advantages, seams of opportunity, sonic booms, and the lift from mentors can impact your world in powerful and permanent ways. It’s designed to be a practical source of inspiration for the entrepreneur, business leader, and every person with a dream that’s ready to take flight. The Cumulative Advantage concept focuses on:

How the initial advantage that drives momentum comes from everyday ideas.
The inside secrets of creating vast awareness for your projects.
How to nurture powerful connections that lead to break-through opportunities.
Why momentum is driven by the speed, time, and space of a “seam.”
How the “certainty of business uncertainty” can be used to your advantage.

I had the opportunity recently to interview Mark Schaefer, a globally-acclaimed author, keynote speaker, and marketing consultant. He is a faculty member of Rutgers University and one of the top business bloggers and podcasters in the world. Mark is the executive director of Schaefer Marketing Solutions, Chief Executive Officer of B Squared Media and on the advisory board of several startups. He has been a contributor to Harvard Business Review and Entrepreneur magazine.

His latest book is Cumulative Advantage: How to Build Momentum for Your Ideas, Business and Life Against All Odds.

Below is the text of the interview:

1. Is success random?

Yes and no.

Momentum in life begins with some initial advantage. That is almost always random and unearned. It could be inherited wealth, a special, early educational opportunity, or being in the right place at the right time. Even being born into a free country and living in a stable household with two parents can be an advantage.

Frans Johansson wrote an entire book about this phenomenon called “The Click Moment.” I can point to a random conversation with my boss in 1992 that led to this book!

However, just having an idea or an advantage is not enough. You must pursue the idea and apply it to something changing in the world to create an opportunity. Randomness is likely to get the ball rolling, but hard work and smarts still make a difference when it comes to success.

2. Why is creating a cumulative advantage important?

There are many reasons to understand the patterns of momentum but for me, it’s the fact that it’s just so hard to stand out today. Even if you’re doing your best work, you can be buried because the level of competition and content out there is so great. How can a person or a business be heard? How can they be found?

For the past 10 years, most of my career has been devoted to this idea of becoming the signal instead of the noise. It’s never been harder for a business to be seen and heard and I think understanding how we can apply momentum to our lives is a big idea to help solve this problem.

3. Can anyone create cumulative advantage for their business or ideas?

This is going to sound weird, but honestly, no. This haunted me as I wrote the book. I realized that every business book and every self-help book is inherently elitist. The author assumes a person has the money to buy the book, the time to read it, and the resources to act on it.

But there is a big part of society that is being pulled under by Cumulative Disadvantage. It’s a cosmically complex topic that I address, in part, at the end of the book. I wanted to write a book that could help everyone, I don’t think anybody can, really.

But let’s put it this way — if you have the resources to buy the book and read it, then yes, you can probably build momentum!

4. What kinds of initial advantages might the average person have?

It can be anything really that leads to some momentum in later life. I already mentioned this idea about just living in a safe home as an advantage. Children adopted out of poverty had a substantial gain in IQ just from being in a safe environment.

Research has shown that early reading skills can lead to an advantage in education. Early athletic coaching can lead to longer and more profitable professional careers (just ask Tiger Woods or Serena Williams!). It can be a special ability, a personality trait, or even a stroke of luck along the way.

5. We are all surfing the crest of a wave that started long ago. Advantage builds on advantage. Why is curiosity so important?

I once had the opportunity to meet Walter Isaacson, the biographer of Steve Jobs, Leonardo DeVinci and Benjamin Franklin. I asked him what made a genius. He said endless curiosity and an ability to see patterns.

The world is filled with millions of ideas. An idea is worth nothing without the pursuit of curiosity, That is the beginning of momentum.

Click to read the rest of the interview on CustomerThink.com

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Innovative Ways to Gather Customer Feedback

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GUEST POST from Chateau G Pato

In a competitive marketplace, understanding the voice of the customer is crucial for innovation and sustained business growth. Traditional methods of gathering customer feedback, such as surveys and focus groups, often fall short in capturing the nuanced and spontaneous nature of customer experiences. In this article, we explore innovative ways to gather customer feedback and illustrate their effectiveness through two compelling case studies.

Leveraging Social Media Listening

Social media offers a vast river of unsolicited, real-time customer feedback. Companies can tap into this stream to discern customer sentiments, identify emergent trends, and detect potential issues before they escalate.

Case Study 1: Starbucks

Starbucks, a global coffeehouse chain, harnesses the power of social media listening tools to refine its customer experience. By monitoring platforms like Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram, Starbucks captures real-time reactions to its products, services, and marketing campaigns.

For instance, Starbucks introduced the Unicorn Frappuccino, a limited-edition beverage, that took social media by storm. The Starbucks team monitored hashtags, comments, and reviews, quickly identifying common themes and sentiments. Customers loved the drink’s vibrant appearance but there was mixed feedback on its taste. With this information, Starbucks promptly engaged with their audience, adjusting their messaging to emphasize the drink’s adventurous and whimsical nature rather than its flavor profile.

The insights gleaned from social media listening not only helped Starbucks understand customer preferences but also enabled the company to engage with customers directly, showing appreciation for their feedback and fostering a sense of community.

Utilizing AI Chatbots for Interactive Feedback

AI-driven chatbots are another innovative way to gather customer feedback. These intelligent agents can engage customers in natural, conversational dialogue, collecting detailed and context-rich feedback without the constraints of formal surveys.

Case Study 2: Amtrak

Amtrak, America’s national rail operator, implemented an AI-powered chatbot named “Julie” to enhance the travel experience and gather valuable customer insights. Julie assists passengers with ticket bookings, schedule inquiries, and travel disruptions. Beyond these functions, Julie is programmed to ask customers about their travel experience upon completion of their interaction.

For example, if a passenger inquires about train delays, Julie might follow up with questions about the overall travel experience, such as the comfort of seating, cleanliness of the train, and the quality of customer service. This conversational approach allows Amtrak to capture specific, actionable feedback in real time.

Furthermore, Julie’s AI capabilities enable her to analyze the sentiment behind the responses, flagging particularly negative or positive interactions for further review by human agents. This dual-layer feedback mechanism ensures that critical issues are swiftly addressed while also recognizing aspects of the service that delight customers.

The implementation of Julie has provided Amtrak with a continuous stream of high-quality feedback, allowing the company to make informed decisions about service improvements and operational adjustments.

The Role of Gamification in Feedback Collection

Gamification, the application of game-design elements in non-gaming contexts, offers a dynamic way to engage customers in the feedback process. By making feedback collection an enjoyable and rewarding experience, companies can significantly increase participation rates and the quality of the insights gathered.

Case Study 3: Duolingo

Duolingo, the language-learning app, uses gamification to motivate users to share their learning experiences and provide feedback. The app incorporates points, badges, and leaderboards to encourage regular usage. Periodically, Duolingo invites users to complete short, in-app surveys or participate in feedback challenges to earn additional rewards.

These gamified feedback mechanisms not only enhance user engagement but also provide Duolingo with a steady stream of user insights. For instance, when Duolingo launched a new feature, the company implemented a feedback challenge where users could earn special badges by completing targeted feedback tasks related to the feature. The responses helped Duolingo understand the feature’s impact, identify any usability issues, and gauge overall satisfaction.

By turning feedback into a game, Duolingo ensures that users are more willing to participate and more honest in their responses, resulting in richer and more reliable data.

Conclusion

In an era where customer preferences and expectations are constantly evolving, it is paramount for businesses to innovate in their approach to gathering feedback. Methods like social media listening, AI chatbots, and gamification provide richer, more immediate insights than traditional approaches.

The success stories of Starbucks, Amtrak, and Duolingo underscore the power of these innovative techniques. By meeting customers where they are and transforming the feedback process into a value-added interaction, companies can foster stronger relationships with their customers, drive meaningful improvements, and maintain a competitive edge.

Finally, innovation should permeate every aspect of a business, including how we listen to and learn from our customers. By embracing new technologies and creative strategies, businesses can unlock deeper customer insights and pave the path for continuous improvement and success.

Image credit: Pixabay

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Zoom Tutorial – Amazing New PowerPoint Background Feature

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EPISODE SIX – Ask the Consultant

Today in EPISODE SIX of Ask the Consultant, host Braden Kelley shows you how to take advantage of an amazing new Zoom feature that lets you easily create compelling videos with PowerPoint slides over your shoulder in the background.

This is a way better method of presenting slides than having your camera on and sharing your screen.

This video is itself an example of what you can do with this new Zoom feature (currently in BETA) and inside I’ll show you step by step how to do it.

This zoom tutorial will help all of the following people be more efficient and effective:

educators
keynote speakers
consultants
authors
entrepreneurs

It shows how to simply do what previously took third-party apps like mmhmm or post-production video editing knowledge and lots of time to achieve. It’s so easy that I can finally get around to recording Change Planning Toolkit™ eLearning and certification programs.

So, stay tuned!

Surprise people the next time you present on Zoom or record more compelling instructional videos and e-Learning to power your business or engage your students.

Now would be a great time to hire me to do a virtual keynote for your organization to empower your employees with greater knowledge and capabilities around innovation, change, transformation or design thinking.

Quick Reminder of Steps to Create Over the Shoulder Slides in Zoom

PART ONE:

Create a new PowerPoint (13.33” x 7.5” works well)
Choose a Background for your Zoom slides
Fill default wide-screen format of all slides
Copy slide from source presentation and paste it as an image onto one of your new background slides
Resize pasted slide image to be 9.5” wide
Position slide image upper right with ¼” border
Repeat

PART TWO:

Open Zoom
Start a Meeting
Click the Start Video icon (ALT + V)
Click the Screen Sharing icon (ALT + S)
Click the Advanced tab
Click on ‘PowerPoint as Virtual Background’
Select Your PowerPoint to import as a background

Help Shape the Next ‘Ask the Consultant’ Episode

Contact me with your question for the next video episode of “Ask the Consultant” live from my innovation studio

Grab a great deal on Stoking Your Innovation Bonfire on Amazon while they last!

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Below are the previous episodes of ‘Ask the Consultant’:

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An Innovation Evangelist Can Increase Your Reputation and Innovation Velocity

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Chief Evangelist Braden Kelley

by Braden Kelley

Building upon my popular article Rise of the Evangelist, I wanted to create an article for the global innovation community focused specifically on the importance of the innovation evangelist role.

In my previous article I defined five different types of evangelists that organizations may already have, or may want to hire, including:

Chief Evangelist
Brand Evangelists
Product Evangelists
Service Evangelists
Innovation Evangelists

This specialization occurs when the evangelism an organization needs become too big for one evangelist to handle. At that point, a Chief Evangelist creates the evangelism strategy and manages the execution across the team of brand, innovation, and other evangelism focus areas.

When should an organization focus on innovation evangelism?

To continue to exist as a business, every organization should build an infrastructure for continuous innovation, but many don’t. If you’re not sure what this looks like, here is my Infinite Innovation Infrastructure (which leverages the Nine Innovation Roles):

Infinite Innovation Infrastructure

For those organizations investing in innovation, it is crucial to also invest in innovation evangelism when:

Innovation is part of the company’s strategy
Innovation is central to competitive differentiation
The company wants to share their innovation stories
The company wants to partner with customers to innovate
The company wants to partner with suppliers to innovate
The company wants to engage experts in innovation
The company wants to engage the general public in innovation

You’ll notice many of these points hint at the need for an external talent strategy, and Innovation Evangelism must play a key role. Because of this, I encourage you to download and consult the success guide I created for Innocentive on Harnessing the Global Talent Pool to Accelerate Innovation which focuses on the elements and importance of external talent in any company’s innovation efforts.

Bill Joy, a co-Founder of Sun Microsystems, once famously said:

“There are always more smart people outside your company than within it.”

Any external talent strategy must accumulate energy and then unleash it in a focused direction. And part of the way to do that is by establishing a common language of innovation. The process begins by defining what innovation means to your organization. Consider looking at this as the WHO – WHAT – WHEN – WHERE – WHY – HOW of innovation:

WHO is to be involved in your innovation efforts?
WHAT does innovation mean to you? WHAT types of innovation are you focused on?
WHEN will you be looking for innovation input?
WHERE can people go to find out more? WHERE do they go to contribute?
WHY should people want to participate?
HOW can they participate?

Continue reading this article on InnovationManagement.se

… where we will answer these questions and more:

Should innovation evangelism be a role or a job?
What does an innovation evangelist do?
What makes a good innovation evangelist?

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Rise of the Evangelist

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by Braden Kelley

What is an evangelist?

When many people hear this term, their minds used to picture Billy Graham or Pat Robertson, but this is changing. Why?

Our perceptions of evangelists are transforming as the pace of change accelerates to construct a new reality faster than most human brains can process the changes.

This creates a chasm in understanding and change readiness that evangelists can help bridge in a number of different ways.

Let us look at what an evangelist really is…

Oxford Dictionaries say an evangelist is a “zealous advocate of something.”

In business, the evangelist is a role that any of us can take on (with varying levels of success). Evangelism is very important to innovation success, which is why the evangelist is one of The Nine Innovation Roles™. This is how I define this particular role:

“The Evangelists know how to educate people on what the idea is and help them understand it. Evangelists are great people to help build support for an idea internally, and also to help educate customers on its value.”

Notice at this point we are talking about an evangelist as a role that can be played by one or more people, and not as a job that one or more people hold. Evangelism normally will be a role and not a job, but there are inflection points where this must change.

Outside of an innovation context, evangelism often falls on the shoulders of CEOs, business owners and product managers within organizations. When the need for evangelism is small, this can work. But for most organizations, this is no longer the case.

When should you hire an evangelist?

The time to cross over from evangelism as a role to evangelism as a job is when:

The pace of internal change is accelerating faster than employees can grasp without help
The pace of external change is accelerating faster than customers can understand without help
Your company is facing disruption by new entrants or existing competitors
You’re considering a digital transformation
You’ve already embarked upon a digital transformation
You’re using Agile in product development
Your brand essence is being shifted by you or your customers
You need a more human and personal presence in your marketing efforts to better connect with customers

When one or more of these conditions are true, you’ll find that it isn’t possible for CEOs, business owners and product owners to meet the needs for evangelism in the short spurts of time these people can dedicate to the necessary activities.

As highlighted by Agile Product Development’s presence in the list, organizations leveraging Agile to develop software-based products will find that their product managers are always engaged with the backlog with little time to focus on evangelism. They’re always focused on shipping something.

Some organizations will resist adding evangelists to their team, feeling that such a role is superfluous, but having one or more people focused on evangelism delivers value to the organization by executing a range of incredibly important activities, including:

Growing awareness

Building a community around the company and/or plugging the company into pre-existing external communities (potentially taking the brand to places it has never been before)

Generating interest

Working with customers and the marketing team to identify the stories that need to be told and the themes that need to be introduced and/or reinforced

Creating desire

Building and maintaining conversations with the community that cares about your products/services/brands

Engaging in an open and honest dialogue to help gather the voice of the customer

Facilitating action

Practicing a human-centered design mindset to continuously elicit needs and surface wants and desired outcomes

Depending on the size of the organization you may decide to have a single evangelist, or some larger organizations have more than one type of evangelist, including:

Chief Evangelist
Brand Evangelists
Product Evangelists
Service Evangelists
Innovation Evangelists

This specialization occurs when the evangelism an organization needs become too big for one evangelist to handle. At that point a Chief Evangelist creates the evangelism strategy and manages the execution across the team of brand, product, service and other evangelism focus areas.

So what makes a good evangelist?

Evangelists arrive from a range of different job specialties, but key knowledge, skills and abilities include:

Empathetic
Passionate About the Company’s Mission, Products/Services, and Customers
Comfortable Public Speaker
Efficient and Effective Writer
Human-Centered Design Mindset
Experienced with Social Media, Audio and Video
Skilled Content Creator
Continuous Learner
Self-Directed and Comfortable with Ambiguity

… and ideally your chosen evangelists will already have some presence in the communities important to you, or the knowledge of how to establish a presence in these communities.

Customer buying journeys are notoriously unpredictable, meandering, long and non-linear. Evangelism is a critical part of helping to build relationships with potential buyers and increasing the chances that your brand will be top of mind when a non-buyer finally becomes a potential customer of your products or services.

It’s a long-term non-transactional investment, one that will pay dividends if you see the wisdom in making the expenditure.

Has your organization already invested in evangelists? What learnings would you like to share in the comments?

Are you ready for the evangelists to rise in your organization?

Or do you need help with evangelism? (contact me if you do)

Share the love!

p.s. I wrote a follow-up article for InnovationManagement.se that you might also enjoy — Increase Your Innovation Reputation and Velocity with an Innovation Evangelist

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The One Movie All Electric Car Designers Should Watch

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Ford Mustang Electric Cobra

by Braden Kelley

In 2011 a Ron Howard comedy was released starring Kevin James, Vince Vaughn, Winona Ryder, Channing Tatum, Jennifer Connelly, and Queen Latifah. The film was called ‘The Dilemma’ and it was a very funny buddy comedy focused on commitment and marital infidelity. But today, we’re focused on one of the subplots that makes ‘The Dilemma’ a movie that every electric car designer should watch. The subplot highlighted a solution to the silent problem with electric vehicles and one of the barriers to widespread adoption.

Vince Vaughn and Kevin James’ characters are best friends and partners in a small auto design firm. The two have recently been given an opportunity to pitch an eco-friendly car to Dodge. One of the main features of this car is that it looks like a muscle car and it sounds like a muscle car, but it’s actually an electric car. Here is a video clip in German that I found on YouTube that shows their sound triumph:

Besides being like large golf carts, electric cars are also INCREDIBLY dangerous to pedestrians and cyclists at low speeds because they’re nearly silent. In addition to being dangerous, electric cars also sound boring.

Electric cars are so dangerous because of their silence, some governments are mandating that they make sounds at least while backing up – you know, those annoying beeping sounds.

Even the cool 1,500 horsepower equivalent electric Ford Mustang Cobra pictured above sounds really boring when it shoots off the line in its promo video going down the drag strip.

Designers, why can’t you implement more interesting, more exhilarating sounds like those in the video before we’re all forced to buy electric vehicles?

They could easily be designed to fade away as the vehicle reaches speeds of around 30 miles per hour and wind and road noise starts to become sufficient to give pedestrians and cyclists a fighting change.

What say you?

Image credit: Slashgear.com

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The Jobs to be Done Playbook

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Exclusive Interview for CustomerThink with Jim Kalbach

Jim Kalbach JTBD Playbook The Jobs-to-be-Done (JTBD) approach offers a unique lens for viewing the people you serve. Instead of looking at the demographic and psychographic factors of consumption, JTBD focuses on what people seek to achieve in a given circumstance. People don’t “hire” products and services because of the demographic they belong to; instead, they employ solutions to get a job done.

JTBD is not about your product, service, or brand. Instead of focusing on your own solution, you must first understand what people want and why that’s important to them. Accordingly, JTBD deliberately avoids mention of particular solutions in order to first comprehend the process that people go through to solve a problem. Only then can a company align its offerings to meet people’s goals and needs.

I had the opportunity recently to interview Jim Kalbach, a noted author, speaker, and instructor in user experience design, information architecture, and strategy. He is currently Head of Customer Experience at MURAL, the leading online whiteboard. Jim has worked with large companies, such as eBay, Audi, Sony, Elsevier Science, LexisNexis, and Citrix. His latest book is The Jobs To Be Done Playbook.

Below is the text of the interview:

1. What is one of the biggest misconceptions people have about Jobs-to-be-Done (JTBD)?

There are a couple, actually.

First, I often hear others referring to JTBD as something “new.” It’s not. People have been working in the field for a couple of decades now. And precursors to modern JTBD go back nearly 40 years. We really just now see a surge of interest around JTBD, and the hype around it makes it feel new.

Second, JTBD often gets conflated with existing methods in other fields. Marketers look at it is as just another type of “voice of the customer” program. Or, folks coming from human-centered design and related fields see JTBD as a version of UX design or similar. While there might be some overlaps with existing disciplines, JTBD offers a unique perspective and yields unique insights.

Finally, I see JTBD as a “language” of sorts to describe the objectives and needs of the people you want to serve, and learning a language takes practice. Even people who “get” JTBD quickly need to put time into understanding the language and techniques, which at times can be specific and rigorous. I often see people expect to walk away from reading a book or taking a workshop fully capable of practicing JTBD. That’s rarely the case, and it typically takes some effort to work into the topic and apply it.

2. What are some of the benefits of taking a JTBD approach to innovation?

JTBD offers a unique perspective that points to new insights and opportunities. The JTBD approach intentionally forces us to expunge any mention of technology, solutions, brands, or methods from our language. In doing so, you’re able to then see your domain as people do. First and foremost, they want to get their job done, not necessarily interact with your product or service. Viewing objectives and outcomes people have independent of technology opens up new possibilities and yields new conversations that point toward innovation opportunities.

Also, but removing ourselves and technology from the equation, we can better future-proof our thinking. Solutions come and go. Technology is often a fad. Jobs, on the other hand, are stable when you boil them down to their fundamental steps.

3. Who needs to be considered after selecting a job to focus on?

At first, simply consider job performers. Once you’ve defined your target job, you first want to understand how the job gets done independently of any specific technology or solution. I find that different types of job performers emerge based on the key factors, or circumstances, of getting the job done that can give rise to different personas.

Within your team, I recommending going as broad as possible and including stakeholders at all levels. Yes, JTBD can help you find hidden needs to address. But it’s also a catalyst for conversations and a way to get team alignment. Think of the various ways you can involve others in everything from the definition of your jobs landscape to interviews with job performers to creating a job map to finding opportunities.

4. What is your perspective on the interrelationship between functional, social and emotional jobs within JTBD?

I find that functional jobs give the most structure and reliability to work with initiation. So your work is generally framed by functional jobs, with emotional and social aspects layered on top. Emotional and social aspect then play a larger role when finding solutions to the unmet needs you’ve found and help frame how you’ll solve for them.

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