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Why better stripes build better branding

Pesky details are what separate branding monsters from the also-rans. It’s not one big thing, but a bazillion little things. Mike Dandridge, author of The One-Year Business Turnaround. , says it’s actually about 100 things.

Through his research, Mike has established the 100 specific touch-points affecting your business’ Customer Experience Factor. Through his objective measurement, Mike isolates areas in your business where a little adjustment can make a big difference.

Last week, Mike explained the basic principles of the Customer Experience Factor. This week, he shares specific examples of where something as simple as the striping in your parking lot can have a big impact on your branding and customer experience.  (click the white arrow twice to play)

Next week, Mike shares how the Customer Experience Factor also applies to service businesses where the experience occurs in the customer’s home. Mike will be in Houston speaking at a breakfast being hosted by Wizard of Ads Gulf Coast. Space is limited. So, contact me now if you’d like to attend.

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How much is customer experience costing you?

How your customer experiences your business is the acid-test of your advertising and marketing. Whether it happens in your store, or in their home, in an instant your branding pays off or goes up in flames. The Customer Experience Factor may hold the key to optimizing what happens when your customers have a tangible experience of with your company.

Mike Dandridge is author of The One-Year Business Turnaround. It’s the story of his experience leveraging the Customer Experience Factor to take a business he ran from $3 million in total annual revenue to a million dollars a month. And, he did that in one year.

Now, Mike has created The Customer Experience Factor, a tool that provides an objective measurement of how well businesses manage the critical moment of customer contact. Mike shares some insights into optimizing your customers’ experience in a conversation with had recently.

How did he do it?

Listen to part one of my three-part conversation with Mike. In this segment, Mike lays out the basics of CEF. The remaining two segments will appear next week. (Double-click the arrow to play the interview)
Partial transcript:

What is the Customer Experience Factor?

“The Customer Experience is almost self-explanatory.  It’s really defined by how the customer feels and thinks and feels in response during and after a business transaction. Now, the Customer Experience FACTOR is simply the measurement of that experience.

We all have a kind of mental scale as customers; a measurement we use when we go into a business. Whether it’s a restaurant, or we’re buying something. We grade the performance of that business. So, that’s what the Customer Experience Factor is.

If a customer comes into your store, and they have the same exact experience they expected and leaves, it’s just a neutral experience. But, if they go in and they’re blown away, then that raises the needle on The Customer Experience Factor.

On the other end, if they come in and they have a really disappointing experience, that’s going to tip it the other way. And, those are the ones that usually cause people to talk and tell their friends about their bad experiences”

I imagine a negative score has a lot more carry power than a positive one.

“Certainly is. Unfortunately, that’s how we are.”

Most people probably take it for granted when they walk into, say, a Starbucks. You know exactly what you’re going to experience when you walk in, that same arrogant disregard behind the counter.

(chuckles) “Well, the expression was, “we have the best service in town.” And, everyone says that. If your competitor is saying the same thing as you are, someone’s lying. Not everyone has the best service.

So, it’s really broadened into not so much the words you speak as the actions you take. You used the Starbucks example, a good way to give an illustration of the way we measure an experience.

I was out of town and needed a toothbrush. So, I went to Target. And, when I went in, I had preconceived expectations of what I was going to experience based on all the other times I’d gone into Target. And, it was exactly the same. I walked in. There’s a guy at the door to greet me. He hands me a basket. There was someone walking the aisles to show me where the toothbrushes are. Checked out, paid the price I expected and left.

It was just an ordinary experience. Now, in Target’s defense, it was, of course, a wonderful experience. But, you see, they’ve raised the bar on their service to such an extent that you expect that. So, you’re not surprised.  You’re not overwhelmed. You’re not going to tell your friends about it.

The challenge for businesses is, how do you keep exceeding your own setting of the bar. But, most people don’t have the problem Target has. Most people have the problem of just delivering a compelling customer experience to begin with.”

I was checking out at Wal-Mart one time. The woman at the register said, “did you find everything you were looking for?” I told her, “No. I was actually looking for that WalMart that I see on TV with the people who are ready to help me.

“Yeah. I think we’re all looking for that.”

NEXT TIME: Learn some of the 100 elements used in the Customer Experience Factor.

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Sponsors in the weeds on Woods

Building a brand on the back of a celebrity is only slightly less risky than juggling chainsaws. One bad move and it’s a bad day. Accenture PLC saw trouble enough for their brand in Tiger Woods’ bad press to find an exit. But, Tag Heuer and Nike Golf are staying in the game–so far.

Endorser issues are not purely the domain of mega-stars like Tiger Woods. A local media celebrity endorser can be just as risky for you. Deciding to stay or go is a tough call. How these big brands handle the heat can help should problems fire up for you.

PR consultant Peter Himler takes a look at what may be ahead for the world’s top golfer–and his sponsors:

Give your brand a safe exit

Having a morals clause in personality endorsement agreements gives you a safe exit in the event your endorser’s personal life takes an unexpected turn that diminishes his value, or runs the risk of dragging your brand through the mud. As with any agreement, starting with the end in mind is the wise path.

What would be the tipping point for you? Would you still be hanging tough with Tiger Woods? Or, would you have hitched a ride with Accenture PLC?

UPDATE:

Time may heal some wounds, but it has done little to soothe sponsor concerns where Mr. Woods is concerned. AT&T is severing its ties with Tiger owing to the continued public reaction to the golfer’s alleged marital infidelities. Gillette also announced it will sharply limit Woods’ role in its branding efforts.

Nike, Upper Deck and Tag Heuer, meanwhile, have pledged to stand by Woods. The watch maker is, however, dialing back his presence in ads.

My gut: Save for the release of even more allegations, the worst has passed for Woods. His silence and continued absence from golf will only stoke interest in his ultimate return. No news is good news for Woods and his sponsors.

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Do big budgets beget better ads?

You have no idea how lucky you are to work within a limited advertising budget. More money doesn’t buy a better message. In fact, I’d wager the contrary is more often true: awash with money, the urgency of making each penny count matters less. Seemingly untethered from budgetary limitation, AT&T’s advertising braintrust birthed the following convoluted say-nothing ad:

..

What are they advertising?
What are we supposed to do or believe?

The lockout attempts to mop up the mess by saying, “your windows stuff goes with you.” (I suppose that includes viruses.) I’ve watched it a half-dozen times and still don’t get it. Is it an ad for windows mobile as a platform? Is it an ad for the phone? Is it an ad for AT&T’s mobile service?

Creative’s cardinal rule: one ad, one message.

This one is a train wreck of messages: platform, product, and carrier. The more messages you mash into one ad, the more muddled the message. Instead, keep it clean: Say one thing. Say it well. Shut up.

High-dollar ads like this fail because creativity hijacks the message and focus is lost. Bottom-line sales impact, meanwhile, gets shunted to the back of the bus right next to the customer’s true felt-need.

The ad also fails to show one application that isn’t already mobile without Windows Mobile. Even if you don’t tote a Blackberry, Android (Google), or iPhone, you can twitter, email, surf, etc. on most phones. What’s my plus-up for getting Windows Mobile? Beats me. I only know what the ad told me (or didn’t).

Focus where it matters

Because you probably can’t afford life-sized dancing icons in leotards, you wouldn’t get distracted creating a message like this. You’ll just have to settle for focusing on telling a compelling story based on the genuine felt-need of your customer in a way that more directly leads to a sale.

Those are the breaks when you advertise in the real world with a real budget. And, I’ll bet you didn’t realize it was a lucky break at that.

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