What I Learned About Customer Experience from Anthony Weiner
Posted by Nancy Porte on Fri, Jun 10, 2011
Customer experience is usually associated with either B2B or B2C companies. Anthony Weiner is neither, but he has one thing in common with companies – he has a brand. Here was a politician who was popular, outspoken and, at times, irreverent. But, most importantly, he was highly respected and trusted. His career was trending up with buzz around a viable run for mayor of New York City.
Successful brands have many of those same qualities – popularity, respect and are, at times, loud and irreverent. Brands have an external appearance with logos, names, advertisements and communications. But great brands are supported by a strong base of culture, mission, vision and values. Customer relationships are built and promises are kept reflecting those values. Essential to the maintenance of those relationships is the trust in consistent behavior. Apple promises to be consistently innovative, Nordstrom promises great service and Dunkin’ Donuts promises great coffee. You can have the best slogan or advertising in the world, but when your promise is broken the brand suffers.
Personal brands are similar with communication and slogans reflecting a strong base of values. Constituents and supporters expect consistency of message to these base values. And they expect promises to be kept.
Watching Anthony Weiner’s televised, tearful confession about sending a photo of himself in his underwear to a woman via Twitter and then lying about it, I couldn’t help but look beyond the personal tragedy and see a brand disintegration. The relationships that had been built with Weiner’s constituents and supporters over the years were at risk. Perhaps because of the Twitter activity. But more likely because when the time came for honesty, he chose dishonesty. Constituents, supporters – and customers – understand flaws and errors in judgment. They have a harder time understanding – and respecting – dishonesty. It is unclear whether Representative Weiner will resign. If he does it will not be because of the Twitter event. It will be because of the dishonesty which caused irreparable damage to his personal brand.
When I discuss how to develop a customer experience wheel and improve customer experience, I emphasize the importance of identifying and improving “moments of truth”. These are the most important moments to your customer and there are expectations that you will keep your brand promise during those interactions. They will make or break your relationship. So, now I have a real-life illustration of a “moment of truth”.