How AI Puts Marketers in the Fast Lane
Join me + Justin Keller from Drift for a boffo broadcast talking about how marketers can best use AI (and some pitfalls to avoid). No cost.
How to Hug Your Haters
I'm excited to talk about how to handle customer negativity! It's such a key business skill today, and it's easy to take it all....too....personally.
I'll be interviewed live online at Birdeye View, and you should sign up to tune in. No cost. (they are also giving away copies of my Hug Your Haters book!)
Why Time Matters More Than Ever
In Forbes, a terrific summary from my pal Shep Hyken about my new book and how speed will build your business.
Your Customers Hate Information Asymmetry
Disrobed.
On the phone.
Making a very embarrassing request.
"Yes, this is Mr. Baer in room 717. I was wondering if you could tell me how to turn on the shower?"
This was 15 years ago, in Las Vegas.
In scramble mode to get to an early AV check for my keynote speech, I sought a quick shower.
But I was confronted with a convoluted and discombobulating array of dials, knobs, and switches more suitable for a Russian submarine.
I tried. Believe me, I tried. But I could NOT get water to emerge.
Sheepishly, I called the front desk for help making WATER APPEAR, a skill I had, to that point, essentially mastered.
Her reply astonished me.
"Oh, that's quite alright Mr. Baer. We get several calls about this each day."
How many times do your customers have to experience information aysmmetry before you solve the imbalance?
Customers hate not knowing.
It creates frustration. Angst. Anxiety. Ennui.
This Vegas resort knew full well that the shower controls were too complex, and instead of either changing the plumbing or at least making a sign, they just ignored it. Day after day after day.
This is a dangerous game.
Eventually, your customers will not stand for not knowing. They will seek an alternative where they can be more consistently in the loop. And it doesn't matter if it's a shower, a software package, a homebuilder, or anything in-between.
Which is why I was OVERJOYED in Tampa recently, when I went in my bathroom at the Epicurean Hotel, to see that at least one lodging company gets it!
This shower is about four orders of magnitude less complex than my Vegas fandango, but the Epicurean Hotel leaves no informational stone unturned.
Bravo!
You should not tolerate customer confusion in your company.
Which is why you need to catalog and analyze customer questions and concerns and constantly strive to eliminate them systematically.
One of Amazon's internal rallying cries in this arena is quite appropriate, and certainly should be embraced by luxe shower designers everywhere.....
Ideally, you should never have to answer the same question twice.
If it solicits a question, push the answer to the forefront (hello, shower controls how-to sticker) so that the next person doesn't have to inquire at all.
The Books Report
People (including many of you) are LOVING the limited edition 3-packs of The Time to Win - my new book about using speed as your best competitive advantage.
Still perfect, 5.0 reviews, and this little, meaty book is now in the top 5 books for customer service, customer experience, consumer behavior, et al on Amazon. (Kindle-only on Amazon for now)
Thank you!!
Jay's Faves
I travel so much that the weather is key info for me.
I have used just about every weather app there is. I have a new favorite.
Tomorrow has all the features I want: hyper-local forecast, 14-day look ahead, hourly UV, radar, push notifications. And a LOT more.
It packs a ton of info into one app, but crucially the interface is intuitive, and highly customizable.
It's super slick. Give it a look for Apple or Android.
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