Sampson Lee
The Paradox of Happiness
Carl Jung (1875-1961, Swiss psychiatrist) said, "Even a happy life brings some darkness and the word happy would lose its meaning if it were not compensated by some sadness." Human beings are comparison animals, whether we feel good or bad and to what extent...
Most Call Centers Are Too Efficient to Be Effective
From the customer's point of view, what is the perfect support call experience? When I'm the customer, I believe my call should be picked up by a customer service representative—yes, a human being, not interactive voice response (IVR)—in a few seconds. He or she must...
Love and Hate Drivers–Multiple Touch-Point Experience
What drives us love or hate a particular touch-point experience? Recently we've conducted two customer experience surveys on two key touch-points--Inbound Call and Online Experiences. The call center customer experience survey was jointly conducted by Australia-based CallCentres.net and Global CEM in March 2007, and the...
The Zidane’s Head Butt
How powerful are our Emotions? When we saw Zinedine Zidane head butt Marco Materazzi in the World Cup final in 2006 summer, we witnessed an emotional response moving much faster and more strongly than rational thinking. What goes on inside the mind--from what we perceive...
A Lousy Speaker
As a business executive, I think most of us have been requested or invited to speak publicly, no matter it's for a client brief, training, presentation, seminar or conference. Assuming if you're invited to deliver a 45-minute public speech, if you were a great speaker,...
We Need More Pain
Well, it doesn't sound right and logical. But think about the queuing up at Starbucks, DIY service at IKEA and flights without meals on Southwest--these are examples of "pain" within an experience. Without those pains, the Pleasure Peaks they generated would not be as...
Design a Differentiated Online Experience: Insights from eBay China and Taobao
Every year, I travel from Shanghai to Singapore several times and choose between Singapore Airlines and several Chinese airlines. Although I prefer Singapore Airlines, the premium price is a barrier. Recently when planning a Singapore trip, I found a cheaper and better way to...
Ice Cream, Airlines and x-VOC: Don’t Settle for So-So Customer Experiences at Touch-Points
I prefer traveling on Dragonair, a regional airline operating in Greater China and acquired by Cathay Pacific in September 2006. Why? I like the service and the food, especially the memorable cup of Häagen-Dazs I'm served after meals. Ice cream may not be a...
The Smell of French Fries: Fast Food Restaurants Ignore the Integrated Sensory Experience
When I was a kid, I passed by McDonald's during my daily route to school. The tempting smell of french fries seduced me, compelling me to walk into the shop. Thirty-something years later, I still recall my school days, and my mouth waters whenever...
Ikea Represents a New Wave in China, a Branded Experience
I recently had two unpleasant buying experiences at stores in China. One was at Ikea, where I went to buy office furniture, and the other one was at Staples, whose online store I visited to buy a magazine rack. One was an example of...
One Cup of Coffee, 20 Experiences: Take a Tip From Starbucks
Until recently, I was not a coffee lover. In that way, I'm not very different from others in mainland China. China has a deep-rooted tea culture, and a few years back, no one would have foreseen a demand for paying $3 to $5 (in...
CRM Is Not CRM in China: Five Challenges for the Industry in 2006 and...
It is always interesting to compare CRM in Greater China and CRM in the United States. The main differences are the quality of data—or lack thereof; the differences in uniform prosperity; and even the way CRM is viewed. Still, there are similarities. The same...
How Do You Evaluate Your CRM Implementation?
Let me ask you one question: Do you have a CRM evaluation method or a full set of measurement metrics to judge how good (or bad) your CRM initiative is? Most business leaders would answer, "No," despite the fact that it doesn't make sense...
CRM in China? Here’s Why It Has a Few Years To Get There
Based on our field experiences and the Best CRM Practice Evaluations in the past four years, it's clear, even without direct research, that the failure rate of CRM in China is still high. To understand why, you should know the truth behind three common...