The Intuitive Customer - Improve Your Customer Experience To Gain Growth

Poor Irene Beard. She is in a pickle, and she needs our help. A strong believer in brand, Beard is starting a new company and asked us for help getting people to take away what she wants them to about her company’s brand. Beard’s question brings up some interesting concepts regarding brands, their origins, their evolution, and their existence for organizations today. 

Before we get into any of that, it is essential to remember that your brand is a tactic. It communicates the value you provide customers. Brand is a tool in your toolkit that can adjust your strategy and deliver the experience that wins over the hearts and minds of customers and keeps them coming back for more. 

Today, branding is all about the value you provide customers. What that value is varies by organization. Some brands offer value by doing one thing really well. Others deliver value in several areas.  The success of your brand isn’t whether it provides one value or many; success depends on understanding what your customers value and delivering that. 

In this episode, we explore the areas of value a brand usually provides and what an organization can do to ensure that their brand delivers the right ones to customers. 

Are you “in a pickle” at your company, too? Tells us about here and we might feature your pickle on an episode of the podcast. 

Here are some other key moments in the discussion:

• 01:34  We discuss Beard’s business pickle and why branding is an excellent focus for anyone in business today.
• 03:23  Ryan explains how he appreciates that Beard is already on the right path by concerning herself what customer think, because that is key for branding.
• 08:00  We believe in frameworks to organize thinking, and begin the discussion about ours, which has four parts.
• 15:42  Colin shares a story about spending way too much on athletic shoes given the level of play of his ten-year-old on the pitch, and how branding made it happen. 
• 19:55 We explore brands that have done a good job with branding and why, as well as the differences one should expect in brand strategy depending upon the type of brand it is. 
• 27:33  We get into the practical takeaways for Beard, and anyone else struggling in this area, to get the right branding for her new company. 

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So, you think the sale is in the bag. The customer signed the paperwork and everything. However, when you log in the next day to email, there is a cancellation. You think, what happened?

People change their minds all the time for a lot of different reasons. Sometimes, it is about something they ordered or bought; sometimes, it is about paint color or springing for the upgrades. Why they change their mind has a lot of influences, and understanding how a customer’s mind works can help you manage these situations to the best possible outcome. 

The customer’s mind is a complicated thing. We think of ourselves as unitary, meaning the only version of ourselves. However, psychology shows we have multiple versions of ourselves that activate under different circumstances. These versions might not always agree on the decisions made, so once a new version gets control, it might reverse a previous version’s decision. 

Plus, these versions of us also have two ways of thinking. There is the fast and automatic thinking provided by our Intuitive System and the slow and deliberate thinking employed by the Rational System. The outcome could be quite different depending on which system controls the decision. Moreover, sometimes the Rational System will come in and overrule the Intuitive System later, which can be the impetus behind that cancellation you just saw. 

In this episode, we explore why customers change their minds and how you can build into your experience ways to manage this. So, go ahead and listen; the future version of yourself will thank you for it. 

Here are some other critical moments in the discussion:

• 03:50  We introduce the concept that we have multiple versions of ourselves and multiple thinking systems that influence decision-making and mind-changing.  
• 07:50  Ryan shares a story about research showing how one can reach different decisions and sometimes less-than-optimal results. 
• 11:05  Colin explains how the two systems of thinking work off each other about decisions, and Ryan explains how wish lists on purchases rarely come to fruition.      
• 16:55  We share a practical example of customers changing their minds in the real world on a buying decision and how the company responded to manage this change. 
• 20:40   We talk about Cognitive Depletion and how it affects customer behavior.
• 26:35  We share practical tips and suggestions that can help you manage customers’ changing minds in the future. 

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For many of us, planning can be an area of opportunity. We underestimate how much time something will take and how much time we will have available for something, particularly regarding project completion. However, Daniel Kahneman and Amos Tversky explained why we do this, and we will tell you what we can do about it. 

Kahneman and Tversky call this phenomenon the Planning Fallacy. Our optimism about our future selves and the abilities and resources available causes it. For this reason, it rarely occurs on a tight timeline; we are far less optimistic about our right-now selves. We know we can’t do it right now.

There are a few reasons besides optimism that cause this problem, too. For example, we tend to focus on certain details and ignore others (Focalism). Or we might be wishful thinking. We want to finish the project by then, so why not pick that date?

In this episode, we explore why so many of us are victims of the Planning Fallacy and what we can do about it in our own work and the work of our organizations. If you listen to this podcast, your future self will thank you. 

Here are some other key moments in the discussion:

• 04:02  We introduce the idea of the Planning Fallacy and explain what it is and how it affects us. 
• 08:15  We discuss why it’s different when considering something with a short timeline, meaning an imminent due date. 
• 11:10  Colin shares an example he frequently encounters on Emotional Signature projects, and why it isn’t his fault they miss their optimistic deadlines. 
• 19:36  Colin points out that different departments organizationally can contribute to the problem and that these departments should learn The Power of Saying NO.
• 21:29  Ryan shares more contributing factors to why we victimize our future selves with the Planning Fallacy.
• 29:42  We share practical advice about what you can do to ensure that your past self doesn’t get your future self in a bind. 

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Sometimes it’s a “processing” fee. Sometimes it’s called an “admin” fee. We have even seen it labeled “convenience fee,” a refreshingly candid explanation for it. However, they are always additional fees, and if you have them in your pricing, they might have terrible implications for your customer experience. 

However, they might not. Unfortunately, there isn’t a lot of scientific evidence that points to a definite negative effect on additional fees for a customer experience. For my part, it leaves a sour taste in my mouth when I get hit with one, so, my presumption is that I am not alone. 

However, our listener Brian Williams wrote into us with a pickle. His company is facing rising costs and are debating the merit of raising prices over additional fees and vice versa. Unable to decide—or just wanting an outside perspective—they wrote to us to find out what we think. 

It is a quite a pickle. Probably one that some of you are facing, too. There isn’t a clear-cut answer either. However, there are some important considerations that can guide a decision to go one way or the other. 

In this episode, we explore these considerations, the possible fall out from them, and give our opinion on what Williams and his company should do.  

Are you “in a pickle” at your firm, too? Tells us about here and we might feature your pickle on an episode of the podcast. 

Here are some other key moments in the discussion:

• 01:48  We present Williams’ business pickle and why this is such an area of interest today, and for more than Ryan and his academic friends.
• 04:21  Colin shares a couple of instances where additional fees soured his experience.
• 07:57  Ryan gets into the theory behind what’s going on with additional fees and why they are so common in an era of inflation.      
• 17:32  We introduce the topic of tipping and how it is a form of Two-Part Pricing also, and becoming too steep and too ubiquitous to sustain itself in the U.S.
• 26:24 We explore whether additional fees are a form of transparency, and what the fall out can be from listing out fees as line items in pricing bids. 
• 29:23  We share our advice for Williams, and anyone else facing this same problem. 

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We can be grumpy about the restaurant experience. This self-awareness is key, especially when we realize that our behavior closely resembles the behavior of two grouchy Muppets heckling Kermit and Fozzie from the balcony.

However, it’s easy to see that every business can learn from restaurants that bungle these moments of the experience. 

We are aware this episode is a grumpy rant. Moreover, not everyone will agree with the things that we think restaurants do wrong. What drives us mad could be the very thing you love most. However, the fact we differ on these points demonstrates a critical overarching theme of this podcast: segmentation matters, and accommodation is key to deliver an excellent experience. 

Restaurants that choose to ignore these criticisms have a right to do so. Moreover, if they prefer to cater to a specific segment of customer that prefers the way they do things, that is their prerogative. Some restaurants have been extremely successful by doing this and we do not fault them for it.  We don’t eat there either, but that’s beside the point. 

In this episode, what we hope to achieve by airing our grievances is to point out how these moments in the restaurant experience demonstrate moments that every experience design could have.  For your business vertical, whatever it may be, we hope that the common experiences of dining out—or ordering to go—help illustrate these concepts and help you improve your experience. 

Plus, it sometimes feels good to complain. 

Here are some other key moments in the discussion:

• 03:41 Colin kicks off the complaints by pointing out that some restaurants do not understand the business they are  in, and therefore, do not send the right signals with their experience. 
• 06:39  Ryan describes a restaurant experience that could use a little spruce up in the post-pandemic takeout vs. dine in experience. 
• 11:32 We discuss the importance of managing the key interactions in an experience by properly training the team to put customers first so people remember that experiences can be time well-spent.     
• 16:29  We remind our listeners that the little things add up and can burn you in the customer’s evaluation of how you did at the end of the experience. 
• 19:17 Colin refers to an article out of Cornell that explains how what restaurants leave off the menu cause customers to spend more than they would have thought. 
• 24:30  We summarize what we would change about these things that drive us mad at restaurants and that you can apply to your experience, too.

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A podcast listener is in a pickle! Catherine wants to establish that her firm is known for low prices. However, she wants their reputation to avoid seeming cheap or low quality. 

Cheap and low quality is brand promise few firms want to make. However, many brands want to have a reputation for low prices and high quality. Unfortunately, this brand promise is challenging to get right. Most customers don’t believe such a thing is possible. 

However, it is possible. Amazon got their start with a reputation for low costs for high quality books. Over time, they built a brand known for service, delivery speed, and continuous improvement, which customers view as hallmarks of high quality. These examples are non-price influences that affect the price image. 

For example, if you walk into a shop where they are serving complimentary espresso or champagne, you know that the prices are going to be high even before you see a price tag. By contrast, if you walk into a shop where everything is piled on a fold up table and supervised by a single, sullen employee scowling at their phone behind a makeshift counter, you know prices will be low.

In this episode, we explore the ways Catherine can establish her firm’s reputation for low prices without seeming cheap or low quality. We also give you practical advice that will help you make the case to your customers that you are the best deal in town. 

Here are some other key moments in the discussion:

• 03:26  We talk about brands that have done an effective job of establishing themselves as affordable and high-quality. 
• 05:49  Ryan starts off the discussion of how to achieve this tricky feat by explaining all the influences that affect a customers’ perception of a company’s price image. 
• 17:19  We talk about reference points and how they affect price evaluations.   
• 22:22  The discussion turns to how communication of how you are doing this amazing thing of providing high-quality items at low prices so customers can accept it. 
• 27:48  Ryan summarizes his advice in practical ways that Catherine, and you, can apply these strategies to overcome this pricing challenge.

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Did you know we have a YouTube Channel too? Check it out here.

Connect with Colin on LinkedIn HERE.

Follow Colin on Twitter HERE.

Click HERE to learn more about Professor Ryan Hamilton of Emory University. 

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Is your data ready? Is your team ready? Are you ready? Being ready is critical to the successful implementation of artificial intelligence (AI) to improve your customer experience.

The next competitive battleground for organizations will be predictive experiences, or experiences that anticipate customers’ needs. The ability to make these predictions is AI-driven. However, to do so accurately requires data, lots of quality data. 

Herein lies the rub for many organizations. Their data house is full of siloed data and isn’t ready for AI analysis. So, firms need to be sure that they address this challenge before devoting a ton of time and resources to the implementation. 

However, there is another challenge, too. Many organizations might think they want to implement AI, because it’s so cool and people like to have the coolest, newest thing. But, in some cases, AI might not be the best fit. It isn’t magic; it has some things it does well and some that it doesn’t. Knowing what problems your organization has can help you decide whether AI can do the right things for you right now. 

There’s a lot to consider before implementing AI in your customer experience. What ready means and how AI can improve customer experience are two areas that are not always well understood by organizations. Moreover, the size of the firm has little to do with the understanding; big companies are struggling the same way little ones are, albeit in different areas. 

 In this episode, we host The Agile Brand podcast host  Greg Kihlstrom, (www.gregkihlstrom.com) Principal Chief Strategies for GK5A, on this week’s episode to explain how organizations can get ready and what AI is positioned to provide organizations.

Here are some other key moments in the discussion:

• 03:45  We ask Kihlstrom to explain some of the common issues he sees in the introduction of AI and technology. 

• 09:25 Ryan lead Kihlstrom into talking about how organizations are faring with implementation, who is and isn’t having a great go at it, and where it is going in the future. 

• 20:19  Kihlstrom explains how the most innovative companies are using AI to the extent it can provide proactive experiences.   

• 25:49  Colin shares his worries that too many organizations will not use a unified approach in implementation.

• 35:25  We all share our advice about implementation and what organizations should do to make this work for them.

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Did you know we have a YouTube Channel too? Check it out here.

Connect with Colin on LinkedIn HERE.

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Click HERE to learn more about Professor Ryan Hamilton of Emory University. 

To learn more about Beyond Philosophy's Suite of Services Click here.

We are very judgmental, particularly when it comes to prices. We can always tell whether something is a good or bad deal.  The fact that some of the ways we do this are not as accurate as others doesn’t even occur to us.

Knowing that customers have different ways they evaluate your pricing that are sometimes inaccurate shouldn’t upset you, though. It’s a bonus to realize it. Once you understand how people judge your pricing, you can use strategy to present it better and maximize your pricing to gain profit. 

There are three basic ways that customers evaluate your prices. These have varying levels of simplicity and accuracy. The most accurate way is not the easiest, naturally, and vice versa. However, these three ways come together to deliver the good-deal-bad-deal message to your customers’ consciousness. 

Some retailers are wise to these judgmental ways. They use customers’ natural propensity to compare pricing when communicating their offer, so it comes out on top against competitors. However, some choose a different tack, which doesn’t always make it easy to compare. 

Still others spend their time building a reputation for low pricing while offering a few high-priced things alongside hoping that no one does the math. Since we don’t always do the math, it works. 

In this episode, we explore the three ways that customers evaluate your pricing and why. We also talk about how you can present your prices in the best possible way to tip the scales away from bad deal to good. 

Here are some other key moments in the discussion:

• 03:17  Ryan kicks off the discussion with a story about shopping for milk at Costco, and why he was wrong (and his wife was right) about the best deal for milk.  
• 05:22  Colin shares one of his favorite YouTubers that covers things like pricing, and reveals some retailer tricks of which every consumer should be aware.
• 07:13  Ryan shares the three ways that people evaluate pricing, starting with internal reference pricing.  
• 09:37  We discuss how external reference pricing also influences our pricing evaluations, and sometimes even across product categories.
• 11:53  Ryan explains the third category, which is price image, an evaluation we gravitate toward when we don’t have as much information.
• 19:32  We share the two dimensions that organizations should consider when they anticipate how customers will evaluate pricing.
• 22:06  We explain how price images form and how they influence our decision making.
• 34:19 We wrap up with some practical ways you can leverage this understanding to present your pricing in the best possible way to customers. 

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Did you know we have a YouTube Channel too? Check it out here.

Connect with Colin on LinkedIn HERE.

Follow Colin on Twitter HERE.

Click HERE to learn more about Professor Ryan Hamilton of Emory University. 

To learn more about Beyond Philosophy's Suite of Services Click here.

It stinks to wait around for something as a customer.  Whether it’s in a waiting room or a hot sweaty line at a theme park, none of us are usually very excited about waiting around for something. However, it’s a fact of life that customers have accepted over time. 

It also stinks to know that your experience makes customers wait sometimes. You probably would rather that your customers didn’t have to wait around and could get down to business spending money with your organization. However, despite your diligent efforts, you still have some time where customers are waiting around. 

Instead of throwing your hands up in the air and accepting defeat, we have a few strategies that can help manage this bump in your experience’s road. Eight of them, in fact.

Now, to be fair, our tips come from David Meister’s article, "The Psychology of Waiting Lines."  That said, this paper has excellent tips for you. 

In this episode, we talk about Meister’s eight areas and how you can emulate other organizations that have made the waiting experience a little less painful for their customers.

Here are some other key moments in the discussion:

• 02:37   We explain that sometimes customers have to wait, but it doesn’t have to be terrible while they do, thanks to the paper by Meister that defines what makes waiting so terrible.
• 03:31  Distraction is key and helps with the problem of making your customers feel like their time is occupied with more than just waiting around for you.
• 07:23  We use the examples of customer behavior on airplanes to explain the Meister’s concept about how people want to get started waiting, even if it is only to wait in a new position afterward.  
• 10:49  We explain how Uber manages the third area, uncertain waits are longer than certain waits, well by letting you know the car is coming and when.
• 15:17. We talk about a related area of communication about waits pertaining to Meister’s area that unexplained waits feel longer than known waits and why kids don’t get it.
• 19:18. Unfair plays a big role in how waits feel; just ask anyone in a Disney line watching the fast pass ticket holders blow past them. 
• 27:17 We end on the 8^th area, which is that solo waits feel longer than group waits, because misery loves company, doesn’t it?

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Did you know we have a YouTube Channel too? Check it out here.

Connect with Colin on LinkedIn HERE.

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Click HERE to learn more about Professor Ryan Hamilton of Emory University. 

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Waiting around for a customer experience is rarely a good thing. When customers are waiting for you, that’s usually a sign that not waiting would have been difficult or inconvenient (read: expensive) for your company. However, not valuing customers’ time is probably the most expensive mistake you can make. 

Then, of course, there are the times when the waiting is part of the experience. For example, the Peter Pan ride at Disneyland has several rooms you pass through before you get to the ride that set the mood and build anticipation of the adventure to come. When you skip it, you get to the ride faster, but you miss out on the building of the anticipation. 

Part of what makes the Peter Pan wait more beneficial than your average waiting around situation for an experience is that it make the waiting more enjoyable. Many would also argue that the ride—and the park itself—provide value to customers who are waiting. 

So, waiting isn’t always bad; like many things we discuss on the podcast, it depends. However, it does always reveal how internally focused you are and whether you place importance on the value of customers’ time.

In this episode, we explore what it means about your focus when customers wait and how you can manage or enhance the waiting experience to engage and enhance customers’ time spent with you. 

Here are some other key moments in the discussion:

• 02:59  After sharing some stories about waiting that made him feel cross, Colin explains that you need to value customers’ time in your experience.
• 10:33 We discuss how Disney manages wait time by offering Fast Track to reduce queue wait times, and signs in line that estimate how much longer you have to wait before the ride.
• 16:17  We talk about when waits are good for building anticipation; and how sometimes the wait is even better than the experience. 
• 24:21 Ryan explains that his kids are excited about some changes to Minecraft that are coming that they had to wait for; and what they were waiting for might surprise you.
• 26:59  We suspend the conversation, and explain that listeners will have to wait to hear about the rest of the topic on next week’s episode. (See what we did there?)

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Did you know we have a YouTube Channel too? Check it out here.

Connect with Colin on LinkedIn HERE.

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Click HERE to learn more about Professor Ryan Hamilton of Emory University. 

To learn more about Beyond Philosophy's Suite of Services Click here.

I get mad when people waste my time. It’s probably why I have such a beef with cable companies and organizations’ call centers that have long hold times. Wasting someone’s time is also a waste of an opportunity to deliver an excellent customer experience. 

The source of my ire is likely tied to time being our most precious resource by some estimations. Therefore, when you waste it, you are careless with something with a finite supply. Some of us have more than others available—or left as the case may be. 

So, when an organization wastes customers’ time, it can be one of the worst things they could do to increase customer loyalty and customer-driven growth. Would you want to be anxious to return to an experience that wasted yours? Not bloody likely, I say. 

By contrast, saving time is among the most essential things you could do for a customer. People will pay a premium for it, too. 

Regarding time and customers, one of the most essential things you can do is to make it worthwhile. In other words, any time customers give you should return to them as a memory of time well spent. 

The ideas expressed thus far here are not ours. Time progression is a critical area that key opinion leaders in the experience economy are exploring these days. 

In this episode, we host Strategic Horizons’ Joe Pine, author of The Experience Economy and co-founder of the concept of Time Progression, to discuss what that means and how it can influence how customers respond to your experience. 

Here are some other critical moments in the discussion:

• 03:22  Colin asks Pine to explain the concept of Time Progression to the listeners who have yet to become familiar with it. 
• 09:49  We discuss organizations doing interesting things with time analysis that companies would be wise to emulate and those that have decided to take up more customer time that companies should not.
• 19:25  Pine explains why healthcare is a transformational experience, so it should do better with patients’ time progression.
• 26:02  We discuss where we think SMART products should go, as Pine wrote in HBR in his article, "Are Your Digital Platforms Wasting Your Customer's Time?"
• 28:53  Pine shares his practical tips for how to improve your performance regarding time progression with customers.

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Did you know we have a YouTube Channel too? Check it out here.

Connect with Colin on LinkedIn HERE.

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Click HERE to learn more about Professor Ryan Hamilton of Emory University. 

To learn more about Beyond Philosophy's Suite of Services Click here.

We have all been there. We think we did something great, and we look forward to getting the feedback that tells us so. Unfortunately, when we do get the feedback, we discover that we weren’t quite so great as we thought we were. It’s a matter of perception and understanding this concept can help avoid this mismatch in the future. 

One of our listeners, Damien, found himself in this pickle recently. His organization has delivery stats that paint a glorious picture of achievement. However, the customer surveys do not paint delivery with that brush at all. So, Damien asks, why the discrepancy?

The problem could be a challenge with perception. The internal organization has one perception of performance, the customers have another. If perception is reality, which one matters? 

(Hint: say the customers. Okay, not a hint so much as a gimme, but we do our best here.)

From a psychological perspective, perception isn’t the correct term. In fact, psychologists would only have perception as one part of what is going on here. To summarize, psychologists would submit that perception applies only to receiving the information through our senses. How we interpret and compare the perceived experiences to our expectations is the reason for the discrepancy. 

In this episode, we take a deeper dive on what is happening here to Damien’s organization, and what they—and you— can do about it.  

Here are some other key moments in the discussion:

• 02:05  We hear about Damien’s pickle and why he needed our help. (Do you have a business pickle, too? Tell us about it here.)
• 05:00  Before we move further into solving Damien’s pickle, we define our terms in the style of psychology.
• 10:24  Ryan ignores Colin’s request to get practical by exploring a very heady and philosophical example, Plato’s Allegory of the Cave.
• 17:10  Colin explains how you can learn more about perception, interpretation, and evaluation of an experience and how it relates to memory by shopping for a TV in a showroom.
• 21:51  Colin shares a story about how he thought the Princess Lunch at Disneyland Paris was expensive; for the record, he didn’t go alone but brought along his grandchildren.
• 27:20 We share our practical advice for how to understand how there was such a discrepancy in perception between Damien’s organization and customers, and what to do about it. 

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Did you know we have a YouTube Channel too? Check it out here.

Connect with Colin on LinkedIn HERE.

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Click HERE to learn more about Professor Ryan Hamilton of Emory University. 

To learn more about Beyond Philosophy's Suite of Services Click here.

18 months. That was the timeline Colin gave himself to move from a sales job to a general manager post. It was a long time ago now, the kind of thing one remembers when they look back over a decades-long career. 

However, it also worked. Colin did make that transition, moving throughout departments and learning new skills, and always with the goal of moving to general manager.

Ryan, being from academia, teaches an introductory marketing course to his MBA students. It’s a class they take first semester when their enthusiasm and exuberance are high. 

This abundance of energy also drives them to his office during office hours, hoping for some career advice. As an academic, Ryan has some for them, but recognizes that there is always room for more. 

In this episode, we explore the key insights we have gained over the spans of our careers and share them with you. From taking advice from Colin’s father to learning how to navigate the political quagmires that many organizations foster, we give you some areas to focus on to get where you want to go. 

Here are some other key moments in the discussion:

• 04:06 We kick it off by explaining that over the years we have seen jobs come and go and job come from out of nowhere that can change the course of a career for good or ill.
• 08:39  Colin shares some advice he learned from his dad, which on its face seems simple, but in truth is the one thing everybody looks for and appreciates. 
• 12:30  We talk about the importance of looking down the road in a career rather than on the part right in front of you; you don’t want to be 50 or 60 and realize that you were headed the wrong way.
• 17:19  We share a strategy that seems counterintuitive, that sometimes the way forward is taking a step back or sideways. 
• 20:17 Colin discusses how there is always something to learn, even in a bad job, so don’t forget to notice what you shouldn’t do in your career.
• 25:00 We talk politics (no, not those politics), and how you can use them to your advantage when you understand them in your organization.

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Did you know we have a YouTube Channel too? Check it out here.

Connect with Colin on LinkedIn HERE.

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Click HERE to learn more about Professor Ryan Hamilton of Emory University. 

To learn more about Beyond Philosophy's Suite of Services Click here.

At first glance, authenticity appears straightforward. To be authentic, one simply needs to be genuine in their thoughts and actions. However, as is often the case with our discussions in the podcast, the subject becomes complex under scrutiny. 

Our motivation to discuss authenticity stems from a podcast listener's request. They find themselves grappling with authenticity in their experience and want to know how to improve and leverage it to generate growth with their customers.

Consider the Sherlock Holmes Museum in London. It has meticulously recreated Holmes's apartment. As part of the London School's team, Professor Kent Grayson, MA, PhD, a scholar fascinated by authenticity, would engage museum visitors by posing a seemingly absurd question: Is the apartment portrayed in the museum authentic?

However, it’s a silly question. It cannot be authentic since Sherlock Holmes himself lacks authenticity.

Nevertheless, individuals earnestly responded to Professor Grayson's query. Some offered genuine critiques, pointing out anachronistic furniture pieces and other details. It was ironic that the attendees thought that the fictional place inhabited by an imaginary detective was inauthentic because the end table was from the wrong period…but there it is.

In this podcast, we discuss authenticity and how it matters in Customer Experiences. What we discover is elementary, our dear Watsons.

Here are some other key moments in the discussion:

• 02:05   Ryan explains about the London Business School Professors research about the authenticity of the Sherlock Holmes Museum. 
• 07:02  We discuss how a thing doesn’t have to be real to be authentic; it just has to feel real.
• 13:22  Colin explains that every experience is authentic; however, what it reflects about an organization might not be what customer want or value. 
• 20:38  We cover the idea that the customer perception is key, so making customers feel an experience is authentic is essential.
• 30:03  We discuss the key takeaways that we have from this discussion and how it can help your experience.

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Did you know we have a YouTube Channel too? Check it out here.

Connect with Colin on LinkedIn HERE.

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Click HERE to learn more about Professor Ryan Hamilton of Emory University. 

To learn more about Beyond Philosophy's Suite of Services Click here.

Have you ever noticed how many vitamin options there are at a drug store? If not, you should know there are hundreds. It is bloody overwhelming. 

All these vitamins got us thinking about differentiation. If your product isn’t that different from another, like a B-12 vitamin, how do you differentiate yourself from the competition? 

Vitamin companies are not alone here. One of our listeners wrote in with a business pickle about differentiation on how to have it in an ever-competitive market. The answer lies in the experience.

But how? What does differentiation even mean? And what does B-12 do for you anyway? (It does lots of stuff, by the way; you should probably take it if you don’t get enough.)

When you are too close to something, you might have a hard time seeing what your differentiation could be. Your usually helpful depth of offering knowledge can be a hinderance. The nuances of competitive improvement might be authentic but too deep in the minutiae to distinguish you. 

In other words, your competitive advantage might be real, but really boring to your customers. So, instead of coming up with something that is a competitive differentiator, you come up with this minor detail, emphasizing something the customer doesn’t care about or doesn’t recognize they should.

Therefore, it takes an outside perspective sometimes to see what is possible regarding differentiation. And sometimes, this differentiation from the outside is disruptive and turns everything in your industry on its ear. 

In this episode, we explore the ways our listener and you can differentiate yourself from the competition. As a bonus, we package it into five rules that you can use to drive your actions. 

Here are some other key moments in the discussion:

• 06:44  We kick off the discussion with the first rule, which tells us that different means different and not just a little different. (They do get better, we promise.)
• 10:07  We get into the discussion about how disruption is often the key to differentiation that matters; otherwise, everyone ends up chasing the same goals and having little variance from one another.  
• 17:50  We introduce the third rule, which is define the Who and the How Much, two key areas for besting the competition. 
• 22:49 Rule number four says what are you going to differentiate on, meaning what area of your offering will be your competitive advantage. 
• 25:35 We introduce the last rule, which is shamelessly bias, that experience is the hardest thing for your competitor to copy. 

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Did you know we have a YouTube Channel too? Check it out here.

Connect with Colin on LinkedIn HERE.

Follow Colin on Twitter HERE.

Click HERE to learn more about Professor Ryan Hamilton of Emory University. 

To learn more about Beyond Philosophy's Suite of Services Click here.

Many organizations are making a common mistake when it comes to AI. They fail to capitalize on the potential to enhance Customer Experiences through this powerful technology by building it incorrectly. By changing their strategic approach, they could gain a significant competitive advantage.

Take, for instance, a telecom company that developed an AI system to detect customer churn. While it successfully identified customers likely to churn, it fell short in explaining why they were leaving.

Here's the issue: AI models excel at predicting customer behavior but lack the ability to establish meaningful connections and provide context for the data. It's akin to Deep Thought from The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy revealing that the answer to life, the universe, and everything is 42. It may be a correct answer, but we're left without understanding the underlying context.

The mistake lies in how organizations set up their AI systems. The outcome resembles the ambiguous answer of 42. What we truly need is the context that explains the reasons behind it.

In this episode, we explore the mistake many organizations are making with AI and what might happen if the Flat Earthers get a hold of it. Chances are their answer will be about as useful as 42.

Here are some other key moments in the discussion:

• • 01:42  Colin kicks it off by asking how to link together The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy, Flat Earthers, and Artificial Intelligence, and how that relates to the opportunity inherent in AI systems.
  • 09:11  We describe the difference between machine learning and deep learning under the larger umbrella of AI work, and why machine learning might have biases written into its code.
  • 14:44  Colin explains what Flat Earthers have to do with all this, and explains what they believe, suggesting that listeners watch this clip from the ABC News YouTube channel.
  • 20:08  Colin share the big danger of all this, particularly when you consider the parts of Customer Science that are coming as a new wave of change.
  • 29:16 We share our big takeaways from the discussion and how organizations would be wise to improve their AI strategy.

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Did you know we have a YouTube Channel too? Check it out here.

Connect with Colin on LinkedIn HERE.

Follow Colin on Twitter HERE.

Click HERE to learn more about Professor Ryan Hamilton of Emory University. 

To learn more about Beyond Philosophy's Suite of Services Click here.

_________________________________________________________________

Did you know we have a YouTube Channel too? Check it out here.

Connect with Colin on LinkedIn HERE.

Follow Colin on Twitter HERE.

Click HERE to learn more about Professor Ryan Hamilton of Emory University. 

To learn more about Beyond Philosophy's Suite of Services Click here.

You wouldn’t think to look at it that The Magic Castle hotel in Los Angeles has been ranked in the top ten hotels on TripAdvisor, but it has. A converted apartment building has turned its unassuming appearance into an excellent experience for its guests, and how they do it isn’t that big of a thing, quite the opposite. It’s the little things make a big difference in their customer satisfaction. 

In this case, it’s things like a popsicle hotline that makes this small hotel a surprisingly successful one. People who use the hotline—aka a red phone with a sign over it that reads, “Popsicle Hotline”—poolside receive a popsicle from the staff.

Now, people remember this small thing when they talk about their experience. However, there are countless little things that happen in an experience that they don’t remember. These little things often create value to customers. However, since they don’t always remember them later when asked, they keep them a secret. In other words, they can’t tell you because they didn’t remember that moment specifically. 

In this episode, we explore the little things in an experience that create value for customers and what you can do to leverage these types of moments in yours.

Here are some other key moments in the discussion:

• 04:48   We both share many small things that can occur in an experience and how they create value. 
• 09:34  We get into the idea of nudges and how they can affect our judgment of quality for an experience.
• 13:51  Colin shares an example of how small things can also change an experience and customer behavior at the same time, which just might save the world. 
• 20:11  We talk about how you can apply this idea of convincing people to change in your experience with a little nudge and how to leverage that for experience improvement.
• 24:02  Colin explains how the Emotional Signature can help in your efforts to determine what are some of these “secret” things that matter to customers. 
• 28:21 We share our practical advice for applying this concept of improving small things for people in your experience.

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Did you know we have a YouTube Channel too? Check it out here.

Connect with Colin on LinkedIn HERE.

Follow Colin on Twitter HERE.

Click HERE to learn more about Professor Ryan Hamilton of Emory University. 

To learn more about Beyond Philosophy's Suite of Services Click here.

You probably don’t say no to people enough, especially if it’s to your boss. Like most of us, you are conditioned to cooperate with others, which means we usually say yes to most requests to avoid conflict. However, learning to say no in the right way, might also avoid conflict while simultaneously giving you back control over your life. 

We host author Vanessa Patrick, Associate Dean for Research, Professor of Marketing, and researcher in the Consumer Behavior Marketing field, to talk about this right way to say no based on her book, "The Power of Saying No: The New Science of How to Say No to take Charge of Your Life." Patrick addresses this critical skill in her book, as well as its relationship to saying no to ourselves through self-regulation or self-control.  

Patrick’s past research often depicts self-control as an upbeat version of self-discipline. Self-control serves as a reflection of your values, rather than self-imposed constraints. Patrick believes defining and defending these boundaries to others enables you to make decisions that create more fun and happiness in your life, particularly regarding the things you already said yes to. 

In this episode, we explore the idea of personal policies, or the rules we set that should guide our decisions. Calling it compassionate self-control, Patrick says this approach facilitates having your needs driving your decisions. It also means that instead of looking out for cues from other about how to respond to these requests, we look within ourselves.  

Here are some other key moments in the discussion:

• 01:29 Ryan introduces our guest and who then talks about her past research and explains how that led to the premise behind her new book.
• 06:16 Patrick explains the three competencies she identified that are essential to the “Art of Empowered Refusal.”
• 16:01. We discuss the significance of personal policies to guide your decisions and the two forms they can take to aid in that effort.
• 25:06  Patrick explains the importance of using empowering language, especially when talking to ourselves. 
• 32:05  We discuss the practical applications of this concept in your life and how you can leverage Empowered Refusal in your life and work. 

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Did you know we have a YouTube Channel too? Check it out here.

Connect with Colin on LinkedIn HERE.

Follow Colin on Twitter HERE.

Click HERE to learn more about Professor Ryan Hamilton of Emory University. 

To learn more about Beyond Philosophy's Suite of Services Click here.

Your customers are having a relationship with your brand right under your nose. Do you know if it’s a strong, healthy one?

Our connection with brands is much like any other relationship in our lives, with some being healthy while others are not. Unfortunately, it's not uncommon for people to form codependent or dysfunctional relationships with brands. Therefore, it's essential to build strong brand relationships with your customers.

Despite being legalistic trademarks, brands have become an entity, almost human-like, with which people form a personal connection. The corporate structure with its trademarks, colors, taglines, and messaging guidelines are irrelevant to customers. 

What matters is the brand's presence in customers' minds, memories, thoughts, and emotions. Creating an attachment is crucial. 

Stephen Covey, the author of The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People, introduced the concept of the Emotional Bank Account years ago, which can apply to these relationships customers have with your brand. Emotional Bank Accounts have positive and negative deposits in them all the time, only the assets held within are how we feel about the brand. 

Just like we have these accounts with people in our lives, brands also make deposits and withdrawals in these accounts.

In this episode, we explore the ideas behind these five rules and how they help you form a strong emotional bond with your customers with a robust deposit history in their emotional bank accounts, ensuring their loyalty to your brand.

Here are a few key moments in the discussion:

• 01:29  The podcast begins with the idea of brands and what they are.
• 08:04  We kick off the five rules, with the first one, “Focus on emotional benefits and value to your customers, not just on product features.”
• 19:13  We talk about the importance of storytelling and why it matters in branding.
• 20:25  Ryan explains that trust is foundational to the relationship but not the place to stop and why. 
• 23:48  We share the final rule and explain why people need practical ways to make emotional connections, not wispy, ethereal concepts that don’t mean anything in the real world. 

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Did you know we have a YouTube Channel too? Check it out here.

Connect with Colin on LinkedIn HERE.

Follow Colin on Twitter HERE.

Click HERE to learn more about Professor Ryan Hamilton of Emory University. 

To learn more about Beyond Philosophy's Suite of Services Click here.