Colin Shaw
Hooked on Your Phone? Here’s Why
I was texting with my daughter the other day and there was a pause in the conversation. I could see the three little dots. Surely she was typing a clever response to the remark I’d just made. I couldn’t wait to see it, so I…
Too Big To Care? Why Mega-Mergers Threaten Us
How big does a company need to get before it is too big to care about Customer Experience? If this week’s news is any indication, telecom customers in the U.S. and grocery shoppers in the UK could find out. We all can see from surveys like th...
What You Must Learn from Facebook’s Mistakes with User Data
Facebook is in hot water with their users regarding the use of personal data. No matter where you are as a Facebook user—or not, as the case may be—we can all learn three crucial lessons from Facebook’s mistakes. To summarize, the Facebook Cambridge An...
Starbucks: How to Respond to a Crisis
Starbucks has announced that it will close more than 8,000 company-owned stores on May 29 to present racial bias education to its employees. This dramatic move is a response to last week’s incident at a Philadelphia Starbucks, where two black...
Customer Loyalty Isn’t What You Think It Is!
A lot of business professionals talk about customer loyalty. However, if I’m totally honest, they often don’t know what they are talking about. Or they do know what they are talking about, but what they are talking about is not customer loyalty! Many o...
How To Uncover Your Customer’s Hidden Needs
Honest feedback from your customers is the best way to improve any hiccups in your Customer Experience. Social norms, however, can get right in the way of getting that honest feedback, at least in some instances. Overcoming the obstacle of social norms...
The Non-Conscious Influence that Affects How You Will Read This Post
We like to think that influences on our behavior are things of which we are aware. It makes us feel like we are in control. However, forces affect our behavior whether we are aware of them or not. Moreover, the non-conscious influences of which we…
How To Manage Expectations
I always go by the old business axiom: “Under-promise and over-deliver.” This means promising something you know you can achieve, and then going above and beyond in your performance. When you do this, customers are thrilled because you set their expectations low and then then…
The Big Assumption That Economists Got Wrong – And You?
You know that old saying about what you make of you and me when you assume something? Well, it turns out, that economists made quite an assumption for years: that people were entirely rational in their decision making. However, they were wrong and we k...
The Remarkable Truth about (the Lack of) Workplace Privacy
Amazon received two patents on wristbands that can track the moment-by-moment actions of their warehouse workers. Amazon has not said whether they will use the technology in their warehouses but stated if they did, they would be used to improve th...
Has Apple Lost Touch With Its Customers?
I’m a great fan of Apple, and not just because I use their products. For years, Apple has distinguished itself as a company that knows how to build an emotional connection with its customers. Because of that connection, Apple claims legions of loyal fa...
Wells Fargo: They Should Do This
The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) meted out a $185 million fine that included a $100 million penalty to Wells Fargo in 2016 for their violation and abuse of consumer trust. The San Francisco-based bank, whose employees opened many fraudul...
Amazon’s Latest Experiment – Will It Work?
The new cashierless Amazon Go store is open for business in Seattle, and it could revolutionize the way we shop. At least that’s what some people think. Personally, I’m not so sure. Amazon Go is an 1800 square foot market, with a mix of prepared f...
Why Customers Make Strange Decisions
Imagine that you bought a ticket to see a play for $20. But when it’s time to go to the theatre you have lost the ticket. Would you buy another ticket for the show for $20? The reason I ask is that it is a…
How We Make Decisions – Prospect Theory
Prospect Theory is the name of the concept developed by Nobel-prize winning professor Daniel Kahneman and Amos Tversky, who were the “Godfathers of modern decision science.” It describes the hidden influences that exist that drive our behavior—and they...
Troublesome Trends & Predictions for 2018
I am apprehensive about my industry. Having worked in Customer Experience since 2002, I may be too much of a purist. However, for a while now, I have been writing about the decline and dilution of the discipline of Customer Experience. From changing ti...
UK Scores Fall Whilst U.S. Rise – What’s The Problem?
Every time I go back to the UK I feel like I took a step back in time. The Customer Experiences I have in the UK are not as good as I have in the USA, now there is evidence to back this up....
Nudges: Make Sure Yours Work!
Small changes, or nudges, having a big impact on people’s behavior is one that everyone in the behavioral economic community supports and heralds as the latest great idea. However, this great idea isn’t working for everyone. In particular, nudges don’t seem to be making...
What the Best Companies Do That Yours Doesn’t!
Many companies seeking to improve their Customer Experience (CX) understand the importance of putting the customer at the center of everything they do. Doing it, however, flummoxes them. Not all companies have this problem though. Those that have excellent experiences, the kind that makes their...
Make It Happen! Keep Your Holiday Shoppers Coming Back
It’s mid-November, and that means retailers’ annual holiday promotions are reaching a fever pitch. Discount department store Kohl’s will kick off Black Friday at 5 p.m. on Thanksgiving day. It plans to encourage spending by offering deep discounts and making it easier for shoppers to...