WTF? E-Book

Brian Solis

• Herausgeber: John Wiley & Sons
• Kategorie: Fachliteratur
• Sprache: Englisch

Seitenzahl: 172

Veröffentlichungsjahr: 2013

Beschreibung

"In today's rapidly changing digital environment, Darwinism is alive and well. What's the Future of Business doesn't just explore trends and theories; it introduces a dynamic, actionable path to transformation." --Evan Greene, CMO, The Recording Academy, Producers of the GRAMMY Awards Rethink your business model to incorporate the power of "user" experiences What's the Future of Business? will galvanize a new movement that aligns the tenets of user experience with the vision of innovative leadership to improve business performance, engagement, and relationships for a new generation of consumerism. It provides an overview of real-world experiences versus "user" experiences in relation to products, services, mobile, social media, and commerce, among others. This book explains why experience is everything and how the future of business will come down to shared experiences. * Aligns the tenets of user experience with the concepts of innovative leadership to improve business performance and engagement and to motivate readers to rethink business models and customer and employee relationships * Motivates readers to rethink business models, products and services, marketing, and customer and employee relationships with desired experiences in mind * Brian Solis is globally recognized as one of the most prominent thought leaders and published authors in new media, and is the author of Engage! and The End of Business as Usual! Discover how user experience design affects your business, and how you can harness its power for meaningful revenue growth

Leseprobe

CONTENTS

Business . . . Meet Design

Chapter 0: Total Recall

The Voice of the Empowered Customer

Are You Experienced?

Chapter 1: Sorry, We’re Closed: How to Survive Digital Darwinism

Disruptive Technology Is a Catalyst for Change, Not the Reason

Chapter 2: The Journey of Business Transformation

There’s a Hero in Every One of Us

The Great Myth of Technology

Chapter 3: Meet the New Generation of Customers . . . Generation C

Widening the View from Generation Y to Generation C

Different Times Call for Different Measures

Chapter 4: The New Customer Hierarchy

A New Era of Social Service: Promoting the Experiences of Customers

The Broken Link of Social Media Customer Service

Connecting the Dots in Social Media to Improve Experiences

Chapter 5: The Dim Light at the End of the Funnel

Funnel Vision: Without Awareness There Can Be No Consideration

The Cluster Funnel

Chapter 6: The Zero Moment of Truth

Chapter 7: The Ultimate Moment of Truth

The Ultimate Moment of Truth

Chapter 8: Opening a Window into New Consumerism

Discovery Disrupted

Opening the Door to a New Generation of Connected Consumerism

Opening the Windows to Digital Influence

Chapter 9: The Dynamic Customer Journey

Chapter 10: Inside the Ellipse: Embarking on the Dynamic Customer Journey

Formulation (Stimulus)

Precommerce (Zero Moment of Truth)

Commerce (First Moment of Truth)

Postcommerce (Ultimate Moment of Truth)

Chapter 11: Improving the UMOT to Optimize the ZMOT

Chapter 12: The Six Pillars of Social Commerce: Understanding the Psychology of Engagement

Hear No Evil. See No Evil. Speak No Evil.

The A.R.T. of Engagement

The Psychology of Social Commerce

Heuristic Number 1: Social Proof—Follow the Crowd

Heuristic Number 2: Authority—The Guiding Light

Heuristic Number 3: Scarcity—Less Is More

Heuristic Number 4: Liking—Builds Bonds and Trust

Heuristic Number 5: Consistency

Heuristic Number 6: Reciprocity—Pay It Forward

Chapter 13: The Importance of Brand in an Era of Digital Darwinism

Branding Is More Important Than Ever Before

Brand Empathy: Always Improve Experiences

Chapter 14: Why User Experience Is Critical to Customer Relationships

The CrUX of Engagement Is Intention and Purpose

The Experience RedUX

User Experience Becomes the Customer Experience: Principles and Pillars of UX

Medium-alism Equals FaUX Engagement

The JUXtaposition of Empathy and Experience

Chapter 15: Innovate or Die

CMOs Are at the Crossroads of Customer Transactions and Engagement

Through a Telescope, We Bring the World Closer—Through a Microscope, We See What Was Previously Invisible to the Naked Eye

Customer Engagement Is Not the Same as Conversations

Ten Priorities for Meaningful Business Transformation

Disruptive Technology and How to Compete for the Future

Chapter 16: The Dilemma’s Innovator

Innovation Is Blindness: Why Innovation Is Fundamental to the Survival of Tomorrow’s Business . . . Today

In the Battle against Relevance versus Irrelevance: It’s Survival of the Fitting

Chapter 17: The Hero’s Journey

The Task Force, AKA Steering Committee

The Stages of Change

The Hero’s Journey

Stage 1: Inception

Stage 2: Tribulation

Stage 3: Transformation

Stage 4: Realization

Thank You

Notes

Cover image: Mekanism

Cover design: Mekanism

Copyright © 2013 by Brian Solis. All rights reserved.

Published by John Wiley & Sons, Inc., Hoboken, New Jersey.

Published simultaneously in Canada.

No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, scanning, or otherwise, except as permitted under Section 107 or 108 of the 1976 United States Copyright Act, without either the prior written permission of the Publisher, or authorization through payment of the appropriate per-copy fee to the Copyright Clearance Center, 222 Rosewood Drive, Danvers, MA 01923, [phone], fax [phone], or on the web at www.copyright.com. Requests to the Publisher for permission should be addressed to the Permissions Department, John Wiley & Sons, Inc., 111 River Street, Hoboken, NJ 07030, [phone], fax [phone], or online at www.wiley.com/go/permissions.

Limit of Liability/Disclaimer of Warranty: While the publisher and author have used their best efforts in preparing this book, they make no representations or warranties with respect to the accuracy or completeness of the contents of this book and specifically disclaim any implied warranties of merchantability or fitness for a particular purpose. No warranty may be created or extended by sales representatives or written sales materials. The advice and strategies contained herein may not be suitable for your situation. You should consult with a professional where appropriate. Neither the publisher nor the author shall be liable for damages arising herefrom.

For general information about our other products and services, please contact our Customer Care Department within the United States at [phone], outside the United States at [phone] or fax [phone].

Wiley publishes in a variety of print and electronic formats and by print-on-demand. Some material included with standard print versions of this book may not be included in e-books or in print-on-demand. If this book refers to media such as a CD or DVD that is not included in the version you purchased, you may download this material at http://booksupport.wiley.com. For more information about Wiley products, visit www.wiley.com.

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data:

Solis, Brian.

What’s the future of business? : changing the way businesses create experiences / Brian Solis.

p. cm.

ISBN 978–1–118–45653–8 (cloth); ISBN 978–1–118–45714–6 (ebk); ISBN 978–1–118–45718–4 (ebk); ISBN 978–1–118–45719–1 (ebk)

1. Customer relations. 2. Customer services. 3. Social media. 4. Consumers. I. Title.

HF5415.5.S6218 2013

658.4’06—dc23

2012042066

[BUSINESS . . . MEET DESIGN]

As you’ll soon see, this book blends the worlds of business and design to deliver intentional experiences. You’re going to notice something as you turn the pages. There’s a reason the cover is what it is. The shape? That too was not by chance. What’s the Future of Business? is a visual representation of a simple but powerful formula: business + design = intended experiences.

The book is organized by a traditional table of contents. But, you’ll notice a virtual slider on the side of each chapter that visualizes a story arc to help you navigate each important theme as you go.

To help me deliver this experience required the assistance of some friends. First, the team at Mekanism, an award winning creative agency that I’ve had the pleasure of disrupting markets with over the years, is responsible for bringing the book to life. Next, my dear friend Hugh MacLeod (@gapingvoid) and his team at Social Object Factory transformed the thrust of each chapter into a piece of original art.

Thank you Mekanism.

Thank you Hugh and Social Object Factory.

Thank you too for picking up this book.

Let’s go . . .

CHAPTER0

[TOTAL RECALL]

[TOTAL RECALL]

SORRY, WE’RE CLOSED

THE JOURNEY OF BUSINESS TRANSFORMATION

MEET THE NEW GENERATION OF CUSTOMERS . . . GENERATION C

THE NEW CUSTOMER HIERARCHY

THE DIM LIGHT AT THE END OF THE FUNNEL

THE ZERO MOMENT OF TRUTH

THE ULTIMATE MOMENT OF TRUTH

OPENING A WINDOW INTO NEW CONSUMERISM

THE DYNAMIC CUSTOMER JOURNEY

INSIDE THE ELLIPSE: EMBARKING ON THE DCJ

IMPROVING THE UMOT TO OPTIMIZE THE ZMOT

THE SIX PILLARS OF SOCIAL COMMERCE

THE IMPORTANCE OF BRAND IN AN ERA OF DIGITAL DARWINISM

WHY USER EXPERIENCE IS CRITICAL TO CUSTOMER RELATIONSHIPS

INNOVATE OR DIE

THE DILEMMA’S INNOVATOR

THE HERO’S JOURNEY

Happiness is not something you experience, it’s something you remember.

—Oscar Levant

How do we ensure that our customers have an amazing customer experience? An intriguing question.

In the 1990 movie Total Recall, Douglas Quaid’s character visits “Rekall,” a company that helps people have experiences they wish they could have by implanting memories. For his vacation Quaid selects his dream experience, a trip to Mars with an added espionage package.

During his experience, Quaid is jolted awake carrying the experience back into the real world. It is later discovered that he really is the character he was hoping to become temporarily. Like Quaid, every customer desires a remarkable experience.

Why make customers cope with the ordinary?

Total Recall echoes the focus of this book and my day-to-day work. While implanting desirable experiences is not necessarily a metaphor for this book, creating real-world “customer experiences” is a critical role businesses must create in a new era of consumerism.

The Total Recall moment is waking consumers up to expect more from the businesses they support and the products they purchase. They not only expect better experiences, they believe they are entitled to them. This is an opportunity for your business to create positive experiences. For it is the experience that will become that measure of satisfaction and success.

[THE VOICE OF THE EMPOWERED CUSTOMER]

Through technology, consumers are experiencing a validating and influential form of empowerment.

Businesses must recognize that the voice of the customer is now more powerful than ever before. Whether Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, Yelp, review sites, product forums, blogs, or Pinterest, your customers are sharing their experiences on platforms where audiences can find what others are saying about you.

So what?

Your customers and prospects will inevitably find the negative experiences others have had. Customers will uncover the one horrendous review rather than the incredible experiences that others have had.

As customers tweet negative experiences, businesses try to respond or address the complaint. The more a company engages, and the more people gain access to social and mobile platforms, interactions accelerate and amplify. Knowing this, companies are spending more money and resources managing their online reputations. Increasingly, businesses are shifting resources until the traditional call center is replicated at social scale. Although that’s inherently a good thing, the downside is that the call center becomes a notable cost center.

Perhaps this is just the new cost of doing business. In an era of connected consumerism, to earn customer attention, trust, and loyalty is a cost and an investment in relevance and relationships.

Yet even with the pervasiveness of technology, and increased customer expectations, businesses are making the same mistakes. We are not designing and implementing incredible experiences; rather, we’re marketing, selling, and serving customers.

What are customers to align with if we don’t first define it? What do we want them to be a part of?

Now’s the time for an investment in something more than price, performance, or value. The future of business is about creating experiences, products, programs, and processes that evoke splendor and rekindle meaningful and sincere interaction and growth.

At the center of this evolution—or (r)evolution—is the experience. And, the experience is everything now.

[ARE YOU EXPERIENCED?]

Yes, it’s time to invest in proactive experiences. If we do not, we will be forever tethered to the unproductive dance that is reacting, responding to, and solving negative experiences in real time, over time.

What if I told you that the cost of reacting to experiences is far greater than the cost of proactively defining experiences from the onset? Indeed, companies are investing in reactive engagement. And, for the most part, they can succeed in shifting negative experiences toward positive territory. However, any favorable outcome is weighed against the cost of the initial negative experience—or more importantly, the cost of how that negative experience was shared and how it ultimately impacted others. What’s most startling is that businesses do not measure these numbers today. But that’s about to change.

Businesses must invest in defining not only a positive experience, but also a wonderfully shareable experience. Doing so influences others to join the fray while offsetting negative inquiries and the damaging viral effects of shared negative experiences.

This is the time to reframe those negative experiences. Pushing a change from responding to negative experiences to proactively creating positive ones is everything. Why? The cost of reacting to negative experiences is completely eclipsed by the upside of creating and nurturing positive experiences at the inception.

To better understand the importance of experience requires that you first acknowledge that you are the very consumer you’re trying to reach. You’re not looking for just any experience, you’re looking for the experience. Businesses that recognize and adapt to you and people like you will quickly learn how to entice you through shared values and meaningful affinity hooks . . . while never stopping to compete for relevance.

Experience is everything. And, businesses must create experiences that mean something. If necessity is the mother of invention, then vision is the father of innovation.

#InnovateorDie

CHAPTER1

[SORRY, WE’RE CLOSED]

How to Survive Digital Darwinism

TOTAL RECALL

[SORRY, WE’RE CLOSED]

THE JOURNEY OF BUSINESS TRANSFORMATION

MEET THE NEW GENERATION OF CUSTOMERS . . . GENERATION C

THE NEW CUSTOMER HIERARCHY

THE DIM LIGHT AT THE END OF THE FUNNEL

THE ZERO MOMENT OF TRUTH

THE ULTIMATE MOMENT OF TRUTH

OPENING A WINDOW INTO NEW CONSUMERISM

THE DYNAMIC CUSTOMER JOURNEY

INSIDE THE ELLIPSE: EMBARKING ON THE DCJ

IMPROVING THE UMOT TO OPTIMIZE THE ZMOT

THE SIX PILLARS OF SOCIAL COMMERCE

THE IMPORTANCE OF BRAND IN AN ERA OF DIGITAL DARWINISM

WHY USER EXPERIENCE IS CRITICAL TO CUSTOMER RELATIONSHIPS

INNOVATE OR DIE

THE DILEMMA’S INNOVATOR

THE HERO’S JOURNEY

People never learn anything by being told, they have to find out for themselves.

—Paulo Coelho, Veronika Decides to Die

The customer journey is still evolving. How businesses react and ultimately lead the enhancement of relationships is not solely determined by technology.1 To truly get closer to customers takes a culture of customer-centricity, empowerment, and innovation.

Saying that we need to get closer to the customer is hardly enough to convince business leaders that the customer revolution they hear about is literally steps away from their office door. I know I’m not saying anything here you don’t already know. The difference is, however, that what started as a groundswell for business transformation from the bottom up has hit a ceiling. To break through it requires that someone (read: you) has to make the case to bring change from the top down.

Most executives don’t use social networks or smart phones. Many don’t even read their own email. Many won’t ever read this book. So, trying to convince decision makers that this is a war fought on the battleground of technology is in and of itself fighting a losing battle.

The future of business isn’t tied to the permeation of Facebook, Twitter, iPhones, and Droids, pins on Pinterest, tablets, or real-time geolocation check-ins. The future of business comes down to relevance and the ability to understand how technology affects decision making and behavior to the point where the recognition of new opportunities and the ability to strategically adapt to them becomes a competitive advantage.

But make no mistake: This is as much a technology revolution as it is a series of real-world revolutions that will eventually seize organizations, governments, and businesses.

Change boils down to three things:

1. Listening

2. Learning

3. Adapting

[DISRUPTIVE TECHNOLOGY IS A CATALYST FOR CHANGE, NOT THE REASON]

Look, I get it. Change is all anyone talks about today and we all know that talk is cheap. We also know that change is inevitable and that it is rarely easy. Among the greatest difficulties associated with change is the ability to recognize that change is needed at a time when we can actually do something about it. All too often, by the time we realize that change is needed and that we must shift to a new way of thinking, it is already too late. Or worse, competitors recognize the need for change before us, and we are by default pushed into a position where our next steps are impulsive or reactive rather than strategic.

The volume of emerging technology is both awe-inspiring and overwhelming. As new technology makes its way into everyday life and work flow, devices, applications, and networks, it disrupts the norm and begins to impact behavior. It is this disruptive technology that over time influences how people work, communicate, share, and make decisions.

The question is at what point does emerging technology or new behavior become disruptive?

And, more importantly, what systems, processes, and protocols are in place that recognize disruption, assess opportunity, and facilitate the testing of new ideas?

The time to answer these questions is now.

In my last book, The End of Business as Usual,2 I introduced the notion of Digital Darwinism, the evolution of consumer behavior when society and technology evolve faster than our ability to adapt. And the reality is that because of the role technology now plays in our lives, we forever compete for survival to effectively fight off Digital Darwinism.

Humility is a gift and it’s needed in business now more than ever. Disruption not only faces every business, its effects are already spreading through customer markets and the channels that influence decisions and behavior.

A recent advertisement produced by Babson College cited a rather humbling statistic:

“Over 40 percent of the companies that were at the top of the Fortune 500 in 2000 were no longer there in 2010.”

As we’re often painfully reminded, history has a way of repeating itself. Forbes published an article in early 2011 that served as a harbinger for the turbulent and transformative times that lie ahead.3 The opening line read,

“The End is Near: Why 70% of the Fortune 1000 Will Be Replaced in a Few Years.”

The author cited a study published in the book Built to Change by Edward E. Lawler and Christopher G. Worley. The study found that between 1973 and 1983, 35 percent of the top companies in the Fortune 1000 companies were new to the list. Over the next decade from 1983 to 1993, churn jumped to 45 percent, and then soared again to an astounding 60 percent between 1993 and 2003. If the current trend continues, more than 70 percent of Fortune 1000 companies will turn over from 2003 to 2013. As the author observes, “In other words, over three-fourths of the existing captains of industry will fall from their throne.”

They include:

Blockbuster

Borders

Compaq

CompUSA

E.F. Hutton

Hostess

KB Toys

Kodak

LIFE

Merry-Go-Round

Mervyns

Pontiac

Tower Records

Woolworths

This is about the survival of both the fittest and the fitting. It takes more than a presence in new channels to improve customer experiences and relationships. It takes courage. It takes persistence to break through resistance. But, in the end, it’s how you work with your leaders, or how you lead, to move toward an empowered and customer-centric culture that sets in motion real transformation.

You have a special path you must follow to set in motion the change that opens the door to improve experiences inside and outside the organization.

CHAPTER2

[THE JOURNEY OF BUSINESS TRANSFORMATION]

TOTAL RECALL

SORRY, WE’RE CLOSED

[THE JOURNEY OF BUSINESS TRANSFORMATION]

MEET THE NEW GENERATION OF CUSTOMERS . . . GENERATION C

THE NEW CUSTOMER HIERARCHY

THE DIM LIGHT AT THE END OF THE FUNNEL

THE ZERO MOMENT OF TRUTH

THE ULTIMATE MOMENT OF TRUTH

OPENING A WINDOW INTO NEW CONSUMERISM

THE DYNAMIC CUSTOMER JOURNEY

INSIDE THE ELLIPSE: EMBARKING ON THE DCJ

IMPROVING THE UMOT TO OPTIMIZE THE ZMOT

THE SIX PILLARS OF SOCIAL COMMERCE

THE IMPORTANCE OF BRAND IN AN ERA OF DIGITAL DARWINISM

WHY USER EXPERIENCE IS CRITICAL TO CUSTOMER RELATIONSHIPS

INNOVATE OR DIE

THE DILEMMA’S INNOVATOR

THE HERO’S JOURNEY

A mind that is stretched by a new experience can never go back to its old dimensions.

—Oliver Wendell Holmes, Jr.

[THERE’S A HERO IN EVERY ONE OF US]

American mythologist, writer, and lecturer Joseph Campbell is lauded for his work in comparative mythology and comparative religion. In 1949, he published The Hero with a Thousand Faces1 where he traced the journey (rise, death, and rebirth) of the archetypal hero. His theory suggested that all historical myths from around the world, many surviving thousands of years, share a common story, stages, and outcomes.

Over the years, Campbell’s work has become known as the Hero’s Journey. The journey that lies ahead for you is in many ways similar to that of Campbell’s heroes:

“A hero ventures forth from the world of common day into a region of supernatural wonder: fabulous forces are there encountered and a decisive victory is won: the hero comes back from this mysterious adventure with the power to bestow boons on his fellow man.”

Campbell’s Hero’s Journey and its various interpretations have inspired everything from books and movies to video games . . . most notably the original Star Wars trilogy and the Matrix series. We can adapt this Hero’s Journey to the world of change and change management and the role you play in creating a culture of transformation and innovation in your business.