Welcome to 2012 … Will You Make It Matter?

According to the some, 2012 is the year in which we all call it day.  As the Mayans never really said such a thing, the chances of this happening are quite slim.  But just imagine for a moment that all the doomsday prophets are right and that in less than a year the South Pole decides to take a holiday somewhere near the Equator.  

Apart from the obvious death, despair and heartbreak that would go with such an event, it would also make the 2012 plan you're working on right now the last you'll ever work on.  Your legacy.  The sum of what you stand for.

So when you look at this plan, would you want it to be the one that defines you?  Is it the one in which you improve life for your customers, renews and accelerates the growth of your business and makes the world a slightly better place?   Or is it a cut and paste from the ones that have gone before?  A plan who's biggest achievement is that it maintains the status quo and - in time - makes you rise to that next step on the career ladder.

If the latter is the case, I'm not asking you to throw it out and start over.  Though I do suggest that you introduce one first element which you believe will really make a difference.  And you make a resolution to fight for this when Q3 budget cuts come calling.  Even though this may sound futile and even scary, your little act of defiance towards habit will inspire others, and before you know it a movement could emerge.

After all, the world won't end in 2012.  But by taking a first step, you can make it change. 

Happy 2012 ... Make it matter.

7 Supermarkets to visit in 2012

When interviewed for my book So You Want To Be Customer-Centric, Georges-Edouard Dias of L'Oréal pointed out the opportunity to truly improve the customer experience in many traditional supermarkets.  In his view:  “Many stores today aren't really user-friendly.  You need to drive there and park far away from the entrance.  When you get inside, it's hard to find the information you're looking for.  There are too many products to get a clear picture, and the staff aren't always much help either.  Not to mention that even if you know exactly which product you want to buy, it may not be in stock.”

Having just restocked our fridge at the local hypermarket, I can only agree that grocery shopping can seem like a stressful, inefficient and occasionally depressing endeavour.  

While it was tempting to write a post on "fixing the supermarket experience", I decided to take a positive view and instead look for supermarkets which are making the experience of grocery shopping painless, or even enjoyable.  As much of the industry is still stuck in its orthodoxies, the examples weren't always easy to find.  But the seven below definitely stood out enough to make my 11 year old son conclude: "if these people can do this, why can't supermarkets do it everywhere".  I think he's got a point, so if you're working in the supermarket trade, you may want to visit a few of the stores below for inspiration.

MPREIS in Tirol (Austria)
If you thought supermarkets were square boxes which lacked any form of architectural imagination, MPreis in Austria is clearly intent on proving you wrong.  Launched 90 years ago, this Tirolian supermarket chain is known for making sure their supermarkets are architectural beauties beyond compare in their industry.

EATALY in New York
Part deli, part experience, part restaurant and with a massive beer garden on the roof, Eataly is somewhat hard to define.  But what is pretty clear is that this high end Italian megastore is pretty on the ball when it comes to creating a food shopping experience to remember.  Not to mention the art of securing the margin that goes with it.   The video below says it all.



H-E-B in San Antonio, Texas
In early 2010, this Texas supermarket decided to group all male skincare in a Men's Zone.  This was driven by the insight that most guys, especially in Texas, don't really feel at ease looking for their products alongside female hygiene and hair removal products.  The results were phenomenal with a year-on-year sales increase of 11% on a range of 534 personal care items.  


ChronoDrive/ChronoVillage, France
We have all seen the "shop online and pick up in store" programmes which most advanced supermarkets have implemented.  But France's Auchan has taken matters a step further by designing a Chronodrive service station where you can  collect your groceries in 5 minutes or less.  The current format upgrade, Chronovillage even helps you secure a freshly baked baguette, a good bottle of wine or a rose to remind your spouse how much you love her (hey, it's France).  These extras are provided by complementary specialty stores which surround the pick-up zone. Apparently the format is hitting it off, as Auchan has announced a quite aggressive roll-out plan.

Kaiser's Berlin, Germany
The Futurelab blog already covered the store in 2009, but Kaiser's in Berlin is still the most senior friendly supermarket that I've ever seen.  From magnifying glasses to read prices to modified trolleys, every aspect of this food retailer has been adapted to the needs of those who aren't as young as the product managers that typically market to them.  As the world's population keeps aging, this is one retailer everyone needs to watch.



Tesco Homeplus, Korea
Sure, I know it's shown up in every retail presentation of 2011, but Tesco out-innovated everyone with its subway station smartphone stores.  If you would have missed it, or would like to indulge once more, do check out the video.




The People's Supermarket in London, UK
Last one in the row is a supermarket that doesn't use special furniture, architecture or technology to create a unique experience, but manages to do so nonetheless.  Owned by it's customers, who are also regularly asked to lend a hand in the restocking the aisles or servicing customers, The People's Supermarket focuses on local, authentic products at fair prices.  




Did I miss anyone who's equally remarkable?
This was my little list of remarkable supermarkets.  Do you know of a chain that should also be on the list, then please use the comment section below to add to this post. I'm always happy to learn about new customer experience innovators.

New book: So You Want To Be Customer-Centric?

For the past few years I've been quite active in the field of customer-centric marketing and management. I had the privilege of working with the likes of Philips, ING, Lexus, L'Oréal, Sanoma and many others on projects which touched every part of our globe.

Along the way I learned many things. But the most important thing I learned is that the journey to customer-centricity is the most rewarding but also the most challenging that any executive or company can undertake. It is rewarding because a truly customer-centric business grows faster and creates more profits than any of its competitors. It is challenging, because the desire to focus on the customer questions many existing corporate habits, beliefs and even industry orthodoxies.  

But as I tried to explain the rules of this game to my colleagues and customers, I struggled to find easy points of reference for them. Take a look on Google and you'll find hundreds of books, articles and presentations on the theory of customer-centricity. 

You'll find research models, academic frameworks and aspirational cases, usually referring to Apple, Zappos, Southwest airlines and Virgin. But you'll find very little about the practice of getting a business to become customer-centric. 

So I called up some of my friends at the above companies as well as Orange Business, C&A and the World Economic Forum, and I wrote the book I wanted to read. Short, to-the point and packed with practical suggestions from a guy who's been there. I'm proud to announce that the result So You Want To Be Customer Centric? is now available through Amazon, Barnes & Noble and an increasing number of other outlets (Click here for details).

But I'm even prouder to say that the book's message is starting a conversation. At Philips, Arne Van Wijdeven, Director Customer Experience and NPS has declared the book compulsory reading for the company's market customer experience leaders around the world. Satmetrix Systems apparently liked it enough to invite me to their London NPS Certification course as a guest speaker. More companies that I can't yet mention are also expressing their interest. And in the weeks running up to publication, requests have come in to discuss translated editions in Danish, Finnish, German and Spanish.

At a very personal level, this conversation is what the book is really all about. My personal mission is to do all I can to make the world more beautiful, happier and healthier. In a business context this translates in an objective to help make the world a more customer-friendly place. I know there are many people out there like me, and I want to reach out to them with the suggestions I've picked up, while learning from the knowledge they have acquired as well.

If you are one of these people, I invite you to go to Amazon and then join the reader's only group on Linkedin (titled: CustomerCentric). If we share what we know and act on this knowledge, we can all make a difference, one customer at a time.

So You Want To Be Customer-Centric?

On the face of it, customer-centricity is easy.  All you need to do is figure out what your customers need, and give it to them.  But anyone who's attempted to make his business act on the voice of the customer knows better.  Silos, policies and KPI's get in the way.

So companies set up customer-centricity programmes.  They appoint someone with a fancy title and expect this person to succeed where the rest of the business has failed.  But for those in the hot seat, this may be a poisoned gift.  Getting a business to focus on the customer is probably one of the most rewarding, but also difficult challenges any executive can be given.

It is rewarding, because when it you get it right, customer-centricity is probably the biggest contributor to sustainable growth and profit in any company.  It is difficult, because most companies aren't really set up to care about their customers at all.

So as I've had the good fortune of being part of some highly successful customer-centricity projects, I decided to write down some of the lessons I learned along the way.  Some of these lessons are based on my own mistakes, others are borrowed wisdom from those who took on challenges elsewhere.

Either way, I hope a few may be helpful in pointing your business in the right direction.

So you want to be customer centric?

About Vampires, Warlocks and Audience Engagement

It was Kevin Kelly who once said that to make a living an artist would only need 1000 fans.  After all, if every fan generates $50 of income a year and convinces two or three of his friends to also purchase the occasional book, song or T-shirt the math works.

The corollary of this is that creative artists should stop thinking in terms of big audiences and mass media success.  Instead, they should focus on getting to know and engaging their fans on a virtually individual basis.

The cases illustrating this type of behaviour are still few and far between, but over the Christmas holidays I learned about H.P Mallory, US writer of paranormal romance novels that is setting an example in this field.  

As part of my annual tradition to read one book I would normally never buy, I downloaded her first novel Fire Burn and Cauldron Bubble, a Paranormal Romance through my iPad Kindle app.  While a little heavy on the oestrogen for my taste, the book did make for a pleasant poolside read and Ms. Mallory is clearly a gifted storyteller.

The remarkable bit, for me, came at the end.  Here I found HP Mallory announcing a competition for readers to be included as a character in the book she was currently writing.  The rules for this competition were not of your traditional lucky draw variety.  Only diehard fans could apply, and fandom was measured by the willingness to engage with the author herself.

Points can be gained by befriending her on Facebook, commenting on her blog, writing a public review of existing work, actually buying her new book, etc.  The more a fan was willing to engage with the author, the bigger the chances the author would actively engage with the fan. 

One can only imagine the effort Ms. Mallory needs to put into this.  But by flipping the model, she is generating a group of loyal fans that repurchase her books and bring their friends.  Today, by her own account, she has sold about 20,000 books this way.  I believe that as long as she keeps delivering what her fans are looking for, she's going to sell a lot more.

What business can learn from Ms. Mallory

We are heading for a world where every product and business will need to rely on a limited group of fans to be successful.  Only by knowing who they are, and by being there for them, you can ensure their continued loyalty and business.

As such, the experience of Ms Mallory is also relevant to your business.  Ask yourself how much your business engages its fans?  Do you actually know who they are?  Is your organisation willing, skilled and able to actually include their views and personalities in the products it makes?  If the fan makes a comment, are you willing to spare the resources to respond and nurtured a relationship?