Interview with Jeanne Bliss
Posted by Nancy Porte on Thu, May 13, 2010
I have a voracious appetite for books about the art and science of improving the customer experience. Books in this category used to be few and far between but in 2006, Amazon recommended the book, Chief Customer Officer, by Jeanne Bliss. I read the book as soon as it arrived and, over the next few years, it became my favorite business book and the first one I refer to anyone interested in the topic. Last year Ms. Bliss released a second book, I Love You More Than My Dog, which she summarized in her Vovici Vision keynote Tuesday. I had the chance to interview Jeanne about what she has learned about customer experience.
Porte: You mention dozens of companies in the book, all of which have an enviable customer presence. Yet, none seem to do it in the same way. Can you tell us why what works for a supermarket may be different than, a hospital, for instance?
Bliss: There is no "one size fits all" solution for "being there." Zappos, an internet service company selling shoes and clothing decided to "be there" for their customers by bringing their entire inventory in-house and absorbing the extra cost of warehousing, picking, packing and shipping. Companies customize "being there" to their customers.
Porte: You talk a lot about the transparency that the online community and social media have created. Have these been the drivers of a customer-driven community or are they merely the byproduct?
Bliss: What's different about companies that people are drawn to is that they aren't afraid to show up as who they are, foibles and all. This means earning the rave when they do things well. But it also means 'fessing up when things go wrong. These businesses allow people to bring the best version of themselves to work with them. They are nurtured and encouraged to apply their personal business decision making in their business decision making.
That's what drives Netflix, for example, to clearly state "we messed up." And that straight talk gets back customers who say "Don't listen to the naysayers! You did your best." It's what enables other companies, such as Lush Cosmetics to have the open volley and exchange of ideas with employees and customers who debate and defend decisions on which 100 products they cut out each year.
A lot of companies want to "get" the rave. My take is that they've got that backwards. Companies need to earn the right to have customers tell their story. The five decisions in this book help companies achieve the accolades that beloved companies receive on Twitter, Yelp, and across the internet.
Porte: There is a great deal of talk about the customer and customer service in companies. But you seem to be talking less about a specific program or department to deal with customers, and more about a company's entire focus. Do all companies need to be customer driven in order to grow?
Bliss: What's funny is that companies lose sight of the fact that it's customers that keep them in business. Customers who love companies grow them. We do what I call "customer math" with every company I work. This is done by creating a rigorous way to track incoming customers by volume and value and then reconcile that number with the lost customers in that same period, comparing incoming and outgoing customer volume and value; doing the "math." The ‘aha moment' always comes when the math reveals that company marketing dollars are spent replacing customers lost rather than growing the business with the addition of new customers. In essence, many companies are running in place.
Beloved companies get talked about and grow and have their story told because their actions reveal that they considered the people on the other end of their decisions.
Porte: What's the biggest opposition companies face in adopting the five transformational decisions that would make them beloved?
Bliss: I'd say that the two biggest things in the way of companies adopting these decisions, is first, time: The rush of the deadline, of the quarter, and of making the quarterly sales goals. The second is silos. The inability of coming together as a unified operation to work together, fail and learn together and win together.
Porte: What's your favorite part of what you do every day?
Bliss: I am in love with turning on the "aha" light.
Porte: If readers come away from your book with a single idea, what would you hope it would be?
Bliss: We're delivering defaulted "accidental" experiences to our customers every day. Make a choice. You can connect with customers and the people in your company who serve them. But you need to purposefully decide what direction you want to take your company. And then trust the people in their moment of connection with customers to do the right thing. The decision is yours.