At work and wishing you weren’t today? Vacation boring you to tears already? Snow piled up around your ears and you just want to let your mind run free?

Give a few minutes to DomainsBot today. No, I’m not getting anything but a blog post from saying this. They don’t know me, and this isn’t one of those endorsements. I had fun with it and so should you.

It’s a very simple, free site with a few tools to choose from in their sidebar menu. I tried them all. My two favorites aren’t just a fun way to burn a little time, they’re also useful for creating Maximum Customer Experience.

Domain Classifier: So you think you’ve picked a great name?

Can a tool teach you how your customers will experience your name? Well, this one can give you a glimpse.

If you have a website or blog, are thinking of starting one, or are helping someone else figure out how to choose a great domain name (or if you just want to laugh at your friends’ choices), you’ll want to start with the Domain Classifier.  You type in the domain name—maximumcustomerexperience, for instance, without the http:// and the .com—and it tells you what it thinks of the name. Will the name help you? What industry should you use it in?

Handy if you’re starting out, and very thought-provoking if you’ve already made your choice.

The Perception of the public without having to hire your favorite Experience Designer to analyze the domain name for you—oh, no!

Good thing we do a lot more than that. I don’t think it’s going to put us out of business but you are going to get a kick out of it.

Keyword Cloud: Guided brainstorming

The second tool is their Keyword Cloud tool. I know, there are other keyword generators around (I use—get ready for this—my thesaurus when I want to think of synonyms and near-synonyms), but this one is simple and easy to use and fairly effective. If you’ve just discovered that the name you chose isn’t so hot, maybe you want to explore new directions, or maybe you just need an off-kilter way of looking at your chosen focus for a blog post or an ad you’re writing. This tool can help.

I found that I couldn’t type just any old thing into the “Get Related” box (both experience and customer got no results, grrr), but once I settled on letting the tool help me brainstorm by clicking on a word in the cloud, I had a grand time. I spent five or ten minutes completely lost in the Keyword tool.

Give it a shot. I know you’ve only got five or ten minutes to stare off into space today, so play for a while and bookmark it for the future. And don’t forget to type a few friends’ domain names into the Classifier so you can gloat or groan over who picked the better name for their website or blog!

I’d love to hear what you think of the tools, so come back and leave a comment—did you learn something new about your domain name from DomainsBot?  And dare I ask it, did you type “DomainsBot” into DomainsBot, first thing?

Grow and be well,

Kelly Erickson

Because I want to know what you really think….

Last week I came down on the side of sending holiday cards to your business contacts.

Don’t let the wishes be meaningless!…

I wouldn’t skip the tradition of sending a card at this time of the year, but for Maximum Customer Experience, make well-wishes a fun part of thinking of your best customers and business contacts more than once a year. Create a schedule for keeping in touch, keep your list small, and let your firm’s Vision shine through in your approach.”

We had a rollicking, unexpected discussion in the comments, debating the phrasing of your greeting. Ironically, every word of this post was written before that one—including the opening sentence, which goes like this:

We’re all super sensitive about “Merry Christmas” these days. Some folks don’t want to hear it; some folks adamantly do.

I recently got a card in the mail from a retailer that merely stated “Greetings.”

Apparently even “Season’s” is too much for someone at their headquarters.

This is nothing new. Though that card was a bit extreme, I actually applaud our pan-religious, pan-ethnic approach to the holiday season. I have friends and colleagues of many faiths and backgrounds, and I’m happy to change a little phrasing to tell them I’m wishing everyone well, not just folks who celebrate the season as I do.

There are two ways to look at it: if you don’t know a person’s background, a nice neutral “Happy Holidays” is a seasonal pleasantry that works; if you do, I see nothing wrong with coming right out and saying “Happy Hanukkah!”

Retailers were all over this. For years your greeting was inclusive, while your selection was carefully targeted to our many seasonal needs: There were at least a Christmas section, a Hanukkah section, and a Kwanzaa section in many larger retail stores. Hallmark, the card and gift retailer known for celebrating anything, had you covered no matter what.

So what’s up with the Big Boys this holiday season?

I drove to Target‚ the massive discount department store, for blue and silver Hanukkah wrap and discovered there is NO section of the store set up for my Jewish friends and those of us who’d like to give them a gift at this time of year. This is a gigantic store, people. No excuse.

I next went to Michael’s, the major craft store in the U.S. and the next closest purveyor of holiday items. They, too, are ignoring folks who celebrate Hanukkah. Never mind Kwanzaa, the seven-day African-American celebration which gains in popularity every year, in which the sixth day is dedicated to Kuumba, the principle of Creativity. Not one shelf. More than in our overly commercialized, modern Christmas, in Kwanzaa making gifts is actually common. Can you say “missed the boat”?

Finally, I went to Hallmark, not relishing paying too much but ready to peruse the aisle and find just what I had in mind. One. Endcap. For  Hanukkah gifts, decorations, and wrap. Two linear feet.

If I were one of these retailers, I’d make my stock reflect my greetings. I’m offended by the pretense of not offending, with “Season’s Greetings” displays and the like, while in fact only catering to folks who celebrate this season in one way.

‘Tis the season to give more than lip service to Happy Holidays to All.

Now I know, if you have a Volvo, you see Volvos everywhere, and if you’re shopping for Hanukkah, you notice what is and isn’t available, so (not knowing each of my readers’ preferred holiday celebrations) perhaps you haven’t paid close attention, but this change seems very strong and sudden, and pretty tough not to notice at all.

Have you seen a move toward less than sincere attention to inclusiveness as you shop for your holiday needs this year? [Dare I say it?] What do you think this backslide’s all about? Is it one more “recessionary indicator,” or is it something more?

Grow and be well,

Kelly Erickson

Sometimes they’re dead wrong. What do you do?

In line a while back, at my favorite bagel shop for lunch.

The lady in front of me walked in “with a mad on” as my mother used to say, which a short wait to order did not help. I’m guessing she’d never been there before.

She tried to catch my eye a couple of times for affirmation of her ire. I firmly ignored her eye-rolling and loud sighing, focusing on my chipped toenail-polish. No more open-toed shoes at client meetings until I get a bit pickier about the details. What am I saying with this look?

She had a coupon for a couple of bucks off her meal. The cashier couldn’t get the original price correct, in order to take off the $2. He had to get a manager to figure out the problem. While he was gone, she turned around and tried to stir me up.

I smiled indulgently.

It stopped her.

Have you ever seen someone “with a mad on,” trying to drag you down, at:

• Grocery store
• Rush hour
• Office “watercooler”
• Your favorite blog
• Cable company customer service
• Dinner table
• Holiday checkout lines…

Have you noticed how just a little poison can ruin the well? If a couple of others get on that mad train, all of a sudden it’s GroupThink. Everybody’s mood goes foul.

You don’t have to take on he mood of the others around you. Buck a trend and spread sunshine instead.

The cashier? He came back, calm and as pleasant as before, fixed the price, and asked her to have a nice day. With a smile, size Large. The way he was trained, the way his mama raised him—he delivered Maximum Customer Experience whether she wanted it or not.

Grow and be well,

Kelly Erickson

P.S. The day after I wrote this (which yes, was a little while ago), I read a post by Karen Swim confirming that a little customer poison can do quite a bit of damage. Read Customer Responsibility—The Other Side of Service at Words for Hire.

Whether you’re the provider or the customer, you have a hand in the Customer Experience. Karen says, take responsibility for that Experience on both sides.

They say that a cat doesn’t recognize his own reflection because an image on glass has no scent. No scent = Not cat, and certainly not himself.

Some time ago I worked with a client to assess strengths and weaknesses regarding the public’s Perception of his company. Sales were slipping, and he didn’t know why.

My assessment, in a word, was corporate arrogance.

Not the word I chose to use, of course, but the one that fit best.

They’d gotten big, kinda fast. They were justifiably proud of their growth, but they had a fatal flaw: they thought their growth was all about them, instead of seeing it was a joint effort between them, with their charming, early eagerness, and a band of their customers, who agreed to be charmed. (Yes, your customers must agree to be charmed by you.)

Lately, in the company’s quest for new customers, they had clearly been ignoring their old customers.

Their old customers, who had once been fans devoted to building something with the owner, figured he didn’t need them anymore, and stopped coming by.

He seemed to think he and his staff spent too much time with these loyal customers, and had acted too friendly with them. So he’d cooled off with people who believed they were “friends,” and his staff had followed his lead. It was all very professional. Hard to point a finger at.

Friendliness was what the old customers came in for, true enough; it almost felt like they’d been invited into the company’s living room.

As we discussed our findings, he discovered that old, loyal customers:

— Buy More Often — Spend More Money per visit — Refer Their Friends to become part of this living room atmosphere —

WAY more often than newer customers.

Not news to you, I hope.

It may have been too late for him to hear this news, because do you know what happened when he got our report and talked with us?

Sure you do.

He looked in the mirror I held up, but he didn’t recognize his reflection. (Like a cat.) Denied it applied to his company entirely. Essentially, he said, “We haven’t changed enough to bother anyone. Everybody else has changed.”

Blame the market. Blame Jean Chrétien (no, I don’t know why his name popped into my head). Blame the changing demographics of your town, blame the competition, blame those loyal customers. Ooh, it’s tempting.

If customers didn’t feel like hanging around your joint anymore, would you be brave enough to look in that mirror? Would you recognize yourself?

Grow and be well,

Kelly Erickson

P.S. I hope you’ll come by my living room again soon! The Devil’s Advocate takes on this subject later in the week.

Re-learn the picky, little things that get noticed when times are tough

When times are great, some of you don’t worry too much about MAXIMUM Customer Experience. I know who you are, and I know you’re reading this. You’d like to deliver better-than-average CE; you’re even willing to exceed an expectation or two here and there.

News flash: The fewer dollars I have to go around (or the fewer I feel like I have…) the more I want the WOW. Or I’m not parting with my bucks.

Or… I’ll give ‘em to someone who seems to care more than you do.

What’s that? You care very much, and you deliver an awesome product or service that speaks for itself?

My bucks are going to someone who seems to care more than you. What you believe (“we care”) and what I see (“you’re sloppy”) aren’t always the same. Sticklers work to get the Perception of the public aligned with their internal Purpose all the time. That’s at the core of Experience Design.

Nothing speaks for itself when I’m choosing between your restaurant and a tank of gas; between your sneaker store and the one 100 feet away in the mall; between your cleaning service and finally scrubbing my floors myself… or letting them go. So speak up in all your interactions.

Maximum Customer Experience is more important than ever right now.

Sticklers are obsessed. They know how to go beyond good, beyond exceeding a few expectations, to redefine the expectations. How?

What Sticklers do (and you can, too)

Wear suits

Speak well, write well, spell well

Notice the details of their operations

Keep fresh (get inspired)

Write thank-yous

LEAD FEARLESSLY. (If you’re doing all of the above, you’re on your way to leading already.)

Yes. In a recession, you should “stickle” to wow your clients and prospects, and to get the edge over your competition. Then maybe, as we pull out of this slowdown, you should keep on being a stickler.

Because the truth is, your customers always notice your attention to the picky little things. You just don’t notice them noticing, until there are fewer customers.

Are you looking for a competitive edge? Have you tried being more professional than the other guys?

What other “stickler” elements do you notice when you’re choosing a store, a restaurant, a service provider?

Grow and be well,

Kelly Erickson

P.S. If you enjoyed this post, I hope you’ll subscribe by email or by RSS (it’s free!), and link to it, Stumble it, or otherwise bookmark using the “Share” button below.

Brigette Bardot

Sex kitten.

Sex Pistols

Punk anarchy.

AK-47

Street killer.

Attack of the Killer Tomatoes

Cult classic.

Turner Classic Movies

Black-and-white.

Movie theatres

Overpriced.

Hummer

Oversized.

Sears

Shrinking.

I could go on and on… whatever you sell, if you become known at all, you’ll find your product/ service/ company is being reduced to simple expectations in your customer’s mind. “Brand perception” is a fancy term for this idea. Customers form the expectations. You aren’t in charge of their Perception, but you’d better be trying to direct it. Know your company’s Purpose, and demonstrate it in everything you do.

VisionPoints

Growing your small business.

Tip: Do a Perception check once a quarter. If customers think you stand for something that’s way off from your Purpose, you’ve got work to do!

Have fun and riff with me today—name a well-known product, a business, or a category and the expectation they’ve formed in your mind. It’s shockingly easy to do.

Grow and be well,

Kelly Erickson

1.

Ad this week for a mobile phone: No mention of the original price. A photo, and “Save $199.”

Any phone I can save $199 on is probably one that I will feel like I can’t afford (no, it’s not for the one you’re thinking of).

If you know the thing is bloody expensive and you don’t want to tell me how much, try “Save 40%.” That at least gives me the hope that I can afford it, and an understandable measure of how great your deal is. I’m listening.

If it’s something that I understand what ballpark the price is in (like, say, a Mercedes), you can try “Save $12,000.” Why doesn’t it work here? Mobile phone prices are all over the place. “Save $199” could mean “Pay $49,” or it could mean “Pay $369.” The phrasing just worries me into wondering how many dollars you began with, that you can afford to shave off 199 of them. No sale.

2.

I got a “special friends” discount letter for [Big Department Store] when my parents were in town a while back. Knowing how infrequently they get to any metro area, I suggested they hit the store and do a little damage while I was at work. Dad wrinkled his nose. “I know how that company works. It’s 20% off everything, except all the brands and departments you want.”

No restrictions, it said. I showed him the shopping pass. I’m a special friend, after all. Not a single trick in sight.

Still, he’s seen so many of their passes in the newspaper that he refused to believe it. Mom and Dad did no damage at Big Department Store while in tax-free Delaware, because of the damage BDS has done to their reputation over the years, with their meaningless discounts.

More on discounts and promotions:

Put a Cork in the Fine Print

How You Can Get Me to Jump Over my Granny

Giving the Cow Away, but the Milk’s Not Free!

Grow and be well,

Kelly Erickson

The service is clairvoyant….”

Patricia Schultz wrote it in the book 1,000 Places to See in the U.S.A. & Canada Before You Die about Twin Farms, a luxury inn in Barnard, VT.

Oh, to have that said about your firm!

Heard a better one? Please share below!

Grow and be well,

Kelly Erickson

Wouldn’t you think that if you bought a mouse…

[An image of a small furry thing is in my head at this point]

… the software that has to be installed, prominently labelled ‘Install before you use this mouse’…

[Oh. That kind of mouse]

… would be installable without the use of a mouse? I mean, it’s a Microsoft mouse!”

Yup.

What can I say. Their head honcho retired.

Maybe they’re a little off their game right now.

Get on it, Steve Ballmer.

Duh.

How are you making your customer’s Experience as simple as possible?

Grow and be well,

Kelly Erickson

I went to undergrad school twice. Let’s just say the first time I didn’t get it right, and I don’t mean grades, I mean I didn’t know what the heck I was doing there. I learned a lot of cool stuff I wouldn’t trade, but I didn’t do what I needed, whatever that was. The second time I went to college, several years later, was an awakening for me. By then I’d been in business for others and for myself; I was focused and goal oriented, and ready to be a bulldozer, plowing through the learning.

What stopped me? Turns out professors don’t always see it that way.

I ran into maddening, zenlike profs all over the campus, who wanted me to grow and experience and absorb and notice, for Pete’s sake. I had no time for noticing. Should have caught me when I was a post-hippie first timer. Just show me the direction to what I want to know and look out.

Darn these guys, there’s a reason they’re teachers. They were on to something big.

Miss Observant is Taken to School

An Interior Design professor, in particular, plagued me with something she called an “Observations Log.” First week of class: Buy an oversized sketch journal with 200 pages in it. She wanted me to walk around, sit down, read, stare, talk, and then write, every week, with accompanying sketches, magazine tearouts, and photos, about what I’d seen and why I’d put in in the book. Anything at all. Three entries per week, thank you, and she checked, and it was a major part of the grade. Observing.

For two months, I hated that book. I nodded yes of course I’m doing it, then waited until Sunday nights, “noticed” a bunch of stuff all at once, backdated three entries, and handed it in every Monday. Miss Observant.

There were always comments back, indicating she had read and considered what I’d barely considered in order to get it in on time, always praising my powers of perception. To me this indicated that she had none, and that I was right in considering her an idiot.

One week she wrote that there was a theme emerging; that though we were told we could observe anything at all, I was observing similar things, in all different settings.

Usefulness. Effectiveness. Elements of success. What makes something, as Seth Godin would later say, remarkable?

I looked back through, and from the first bad-attitude week to that moment, she was right. My hastily torn-out examples, tossed-off sketches, and brief essays, were talking about the things all around us that impact us deeply, that stay in our memories, or cause us to buy, or make us feel special, and why—in spite of myself. An obsession with observation was born.

I kept the log book up for a couple of years afterward in the literal sense (the card above, an ad for an upscale fabric designer, is from that period). Even without the book, I’ve never stopped smelling the roses, seeing the roses, feeling the petals, hearing the bees, and writing. Sure, I was already the eyes-wide-open type, but that prof and her assignment sharpened my senses and probably changed my life.

Log 2.0

In Ever Notice, an article for Gain, the AIGA Journal, Steve Portigal (author of the fabulous blog All This ChittahChattah), discusses active noticing with his colleague Dan Soltzberg:

I’ve assigned students to routinely maintain a noticing log, either a blog (words with pictures) or a Flickr account (pictures with words). The exercise helps sharpen noticing skills by giving people permission to simply observe and document.”

Please read the entire article, it’s well worth it. We’ve come a long way, with electronic journals, but I’ll bet Steve’s got students who resent it and toss the assignments off lightly. Some things don’t change.

What’s in it for you?

Oh, you don’t need a journal. You’re not getting graded on whether your eyes are open every day to the little things all around you.

Or are you? Would noticing all the little things before your customers do, highlighting some, fixing others, impact your business? Even knowing what your competition is up to (or drawing inspiration from unrelated sources like a milk ad) is a lot easier when you’ve honed your powers of observation.

So, are you a bulldozer, getting through the day with your head down, plowing through your piles of work? Or a Zen professor, observing, wondering, and looking for connections? Have you trained yourself to slow down and notice?

Coming up: A series of mostly tiny articles with one thing in common: they’re observations. I hope they’ll inspire you to look around your world, and maybe even write down what you see.

Grow and be well,

Kelly Erickson

P.S. My observation about Alex and Eddie Van Halen: “Sex and rock and roll selling milk. Couldn’t have happened when I was a kid, even. The times, they are a-changin’.”