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What matters most in your healthcare customer experience?

Modern tech can save your life … Patients remember staff who cared

By Chris H. Petersen

Technology is becoming pervasive in all arenas of our lives. Hundreds of millions of IoT devices already supply real time data on all kinds of things and our behaviors. Beyond passively transmitting data, IoT devices provide alerts and serve as control points in critical feedback loops. One area where IoT technology is exploding is healthcare. Every device imaginable connects to create a massive patient database for personal care. Does it improve your customer experience in healthcare? What are critical success factors that "customers" deem important?

Why this is important: IoT technology enables more information more rapidly. More data does not guarantee quality or customer focus. Customers remember how they felt about their experiences where staff engaged to help.

Do customers want help from associates or technology?

Retail Dilemma – Defend yesterday's strengths or invest in innovation?

By Chris H. Petersen

Image Credit: Pixabay.com

You see it in the repeated in the headlines – bricks and mortar stores greatest strength is the staff on the floor. The one thing that ecommerce does offer is the ability to interact with human beings to get advice and assistance. What do today's customers really want? Do they really come to stores to engage with sales associates? Or, do they in fact prefer to get what they need from technology or their smartphones? What seems like a simple question is no longer simple or trivial. The future of retail stores hinges on where and how to make the best investments to increase relevancy for today's demanding customers.

Why this is important: Today's retailers walk a tightrope of defending yesterday's strengths versus innovating for tomorrow. Future success lies in finding ways to be increasing relevant for consumers who have become channel agnostic.

“More is not better. Only better is better.”

Adding more technology does not mean that they will come or buy  

By Chris H. Petersen

Image Credit: https://www.ces.tech

Along with 180,000 other humans who converged on Las Vegas last week, I attended CES (Consumer Electronics Show). Every tech gadget imaginable filled the millions of square feet of exhibition space. From drones, to self-driving vehicles, to rolling stores. AI and robotics were everywhere, including a robot designed to fold clothes that did not exactly accomplish the task, at least reliably. The pervasive theme of CES seems to be that more is better. More technology is better. More gadgets are better. Bigger and faster are better. The reality is that only a handful of the CES gadgets will ever become viable products in retail actually purchased by consumers. Spoiled by choice, today's customers are more finicky than ever. The question is whether all those brands and manufacturers will understand that the "C" in CES determines when and how better is better.

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For today's spoiled consumers, adding more features does not make it better. Better is better when consumers perceive value for them.

Can any traditional retailer survive the “Battle of the Bots”?

Going up against Amazon is like taking a knife to a light saber battle

By Chris H. Petersen

Image Credit: Pixabay.com

It's hard to escape the news regarding the digital transformation and how it is impacting retail as we knew it. In the US, there are ever increasing reports of more store closings and shopping malls grasping for tenants to fill empty space. While Amazon grabs the headlines as the poster child for ecommerce, what is not so apparent to the average customer is why it is so hard for traditional stores to compete. Once you peel back the layers to reveal the battle of "bots" and other emerging AI, it is apparent that most retailers are trying to compete in the new "star wars" of retail by bringing a pocket knife. Question is whether Amazon is invincible?

Why this is important: Nothing is fair in love, war or retail. Amazon and large retailers are deploying technology that makes it impossible for many retailers to compete. To survive, tomorrow is "day one" to find something to differentiate value.

5 Things retailers can learn from booking a “smart” cruise!

The future of customer experience is on that cruise ship in the harbor

By Chris H. Petersen

At CES, there was a lot of continued hype about "smart" homes and how it will change your life (eventually). The challenges of connecting all of it still leaves the customer experience to be piecemeal at best. CES also included dramatic demos on VR and AR, which have the potential to change customer experience in retail stores. But, perhaps the best demonstration of what is possible today for seamless, end to end consumer experience may have been Carnival Cruise's CES announcement of the "smart cruise". Carnival is launching their own version of a Disney like "magic band", which creates an immersive personalized experience that follows you everywhere, and spoils you rotten … and it starts before you even set foot on your cruise ship.

Why this is important: Consumers expectations rise every time they have personal experiences which exceed the norm, and they bring those new expectations to retail with them. Retailers must now reach beyond traditional store design to start delivering personalized experiences that customers know are possible today.

The Empathic Enterprise – What are your balance points?

Key questions for winning by staying human in a digital age

By Chris H. Petersen

Image Credit; Amazon

I was very fortunate to meet Mark Brown via our blog and social media. I was even more fortunate when Mark was kind enough to share an advance copy of his new book: The Empathic Enterprise. I have literally been dragging this book across Europe on my travels and "dog earing" (marking) more pages on every flight. Brown's book raises the ultimate business paradox for this technology age – Is our love affair and reliance on technology gone too far, and now putting us at jeopardy? In the age of droids, drones and robot servers, Mark Brown raises some intriguing strategic questions: what is right the balance of technology and the need for empathetic relationships in business, and our personal lives?

Why this is important: The old adage is still valid – too much of anything can kill you. The opportunities for more digital technology are literally exploding geometrically. The key to winning is asking the right questions to find a balance.

So long Siri … Hello Alexa … Goodbye Privacy?

Your new helper is always listening to help and track everything you ask!

Image Credit: CuteImage

By Chris H. Petersen

It seems that our lives are now filled with sexy sounding digital assistants all competing to serve us. Amazon's Echo with Alexa has been a real hit because "she" is always standing by to answer your request. If you haven't used Echo, it is often described as "like Siri, but it works". There are a host of seductive assistants waiting to serve: Siri, Cortana, and the old reliable "Hey Google". The allure of the new digital assistants is that they are always on, and don't require a computer. As your seductive new assistant listens for your requests, is she also spying on you and your life? Is the convenience of AI (Artificial Intelligence) tied into the internet worth a potential loss of privacy?

Why this is important: Voice recognition and response is the first wave of AI that is making real in roads into your daily life. The "always on" aspect of devices listening also opens up the potential of "Big Sister" recording everything you ever ask.

Droids vs Drones – The war to win the “last mile” of retail

Winning the last mile of delivery creates a major competitive advantage

By Chris H. Petersen

The "last mile" of retail refers to the last leg of the delivery getting the product in the hands of the consumer. With the increasing importance and growth of ecommerce and omnichannel, delivery and logistics are now at the forefront of how to win in the future of retail. The speed and convenience delivery to the home is now a major differentiator in winning customers. Consequently, reducing delivery costs of the last mile has become incredibly significant for retailers. Most have heard of Amazon's plans to use flying drones, but what may actually be more practical are ground based droids for delivery. Droids versus drones … the race to win the war to your door is going to scale rapidly, get very competitive!

Why this is important: Home delivery costs were not an issue when you had to go to the store. In today's omnichannel age, the delivery for the last mile has become both a strategic differentiator, and a competitive advantage if costs can be lowered.

If there is “an app for that”… why should we care about bots?

Ignorance is not bliss, nor is it profitable in today's connected world

By Chris H. Petersen

Image Credit: Nenetus

Facebook has certainly sent loud messages about the future of bots this past week. But, is anyone really listening? Bots are the latest buzz to sweep through the world of mobile users. Many are predicting that bots will replace the current mobile phone "apps". Actually, bots or "chat bots" have been around for decades. So, why this sudden obsession with them? Where do bots come from? More importantly, how and when would you use them? Based upon Facebook and other major player's plans, you'll be hearing a lot more hype about bots very soon. Does it really make any difference to you and me if the world now goes bot crazy?

Why this is important: Bots enable consumers to directly message a business automating all kinds of interactions. Through artificial intelligence bots can learn your preferences, but is the convenience worth the potential loss of control and privacy?

Kid Power demonstrates the power of technology for good

Finally a gift that just keeps on giving to children around the world

Image Credit: UNICEF

I've discovered that the best part of being a grandparent is that you keep on learning from both your kids and grandkids. This past holiday season, I discovered a wearable for children that was so popular it was almost impossible for parents to buy one in time for Christmas. If you don't have preteens in your immediate family circle, you may have missed the UNICEF Kid Power Band. It is a "Fitbit-like" wearable designed to promote fitness by having kids earn points that convert into lifesaving nutrition packets for malnourished children around the world. It is also a lesson for all of us in the power of engagement at a personal and global level for doing "good" that benefits others.

Why this is important: Childhood obesity is a growing problem in developed countries. Kid Power Band incorporates the genius of motivating kids to exercise by tying their activity to a tangible social benefit of helping other children.