I have recently discovered the ‘Let’s talk about tech’ weekly podcast and it’s been a great addition to my #2013Kms ‘playlist’. It gives a general overview of the key tech-related news of the week, with a light-touch commentary.

It is published by BBC Radio 5 live, and is broadcast on Saturdays.

Even though this podcast is focused on technology it is not at all nerdy – rather, it offers a ‘popular culture’ angle on recent news. They cover topics as diverse as the latest videogames’ releases, applications of 3D printing in science, national security technology and the usual social media stories.

If you are looking for in-depth coverage, this is not for you. Plus, the news and the commentary are very UK centric. But, otherwise, it is a nice programme, well produced and just the right length of time to listen to while you jog

What other podcasts would you recommend?

One of the issues mentioned over and over again at these events is that traditional business models are not relevant in the current business context characterised by intangibility, interactivity and abundance of information. There is great need for research looking into the potential of business model innovation. Hence, it is with great pleasure that I share with you the news that Paul Jackson, Sarah Quinton, myself and three other colleagues at Oxford Brookes University have now secured funding for a research project looking into this very same topic.

The project is entitled ‘Going mobile: what today’s digital technologies mean for business models’ and, as described in this blog post, it aims to:

• Identify how mobile digital technologies are impacting upon different businesses and industries;
• Identify business models organisations might adopt in responding to threats and opportunities presented by these technologies within their industry;
• Develop, through workshops and action research, a methodology that could be used by organisations to address the challenges mobile presents to their business models.

So, busy (but exciting) times ahead!

What has been the most fundamental way in which mobile digital technology has affected your life?

And as more and more of our consumption moves online, we find ourselves waiting there, too. We wait for files to download, for pages to load, for updates to install, for replies to e-mails… the list goes on.

While the speed of Internet access has continued to increase both at home / in the office and in our phones and tablets, it is also true that our expectations have quickly adjusted. We expect instant access, instant reactions and instant replies to our queries [for instance, see this hilarious video by Louis C.K.]. Moreover, we have lots of choice online – many alternative sources of information and many suppliers of similar products.

Researchers at the FHOM (The Human Factor) Research Group of the Universitat Rovira I Virgili (in Catalunya, Spain) decided to investigate 1) whether our feelings of frustration with waiting in the offline world translated to the online context, and 2) whether customers endure the wait or, instead, move on to competitors. Gerard Ryan presented the findings from this research at a workshop that I attended recently.

The results may surprise you.

1. How do customers feel about waiting online?

The researchers found evidence of a very broad range of feelings. Some customers reported high levels of anxiety, frustration and even feelings of deception – for instance, when the information on the website is wrong (e.g., stock levels) or incomplete (e.g., steps to be followed in a procedure). Other customers reported delight or surprise, when the transaction is finally completed or the question answered.

Not only that, but the same user could experience different – and extreme – feelings in the same waiting instance: from very positive to extremely negative, or the other way around.

The key to the prevalent feeling was not so much how long they had waited but, rather, whether or not the customer had been able to complete the task.

2. How fickle are online users? Do they wait or do they abandon the site?

The answer is: it depends. Specifically, abandonment depends on the purpose of the browsing.

Consumers are more likely to abandon a website when:

•  Searching for information

•  Being forced to register their details

Otherwise, they tend to wait and rationalise the delay. Instead of blaming the website, they may assume that there is a problem with the Internet connection (e.g., on their mobile devices). Furthermore, rather than leaving the site, customers try to troube shoot – e.g., by reloading the page. Or, they simply fill in the wait.

In summary:

1. If you provide some sort of service online, ensure that your website users can complete the task – be it finding some information or completing a transaction.

2. A certain amount of delay is tolerated and will not necessarily lead to abandonment, particularly if they are browsing on a mobile device and doing some sort of transaction that is not purely information based and does not require registration.

We are not that fickle after all!

I am looking forward to start reading it – hopefully by Tuesday, after I submit this chapter that I am writing about methodological issues around collecting data on the Internet (blogs, discussion groups, etc).

What interesting books are you reading, or have read recently?

There is also a documented link between the purpose of the interaction and the behavioural expectations of social media users. The dominant drivers for interacting with firms on social media are to solve problems and to obtain relevant information [see slide 30 of this presentation]. Approaching social media presence in a structured way maximises the likelihood that customers’ will, indeed, get the high value content they want.

By ‘structured interactions’ we mean exchanges that follow an organised set of rules regarding who can participate and how. So what aspects did participants in our study mention?

The 3 elements of a structured approach to social media interactions are:

1. A clear process for dealing with enquiries
2. Clear responsibility for monitoring and responding to customers’ comments
3. Multichannel integration

Let’s look at each element in turn:

• 1. There is a process for dealing with users’ comments and requests

Respondents appreciated knowing how their comment would be dealt with, including who would be dealing with it and when.

Time was often mentioned in our interviews. It was not so much about particular lengths of time (though these were mentioned, too), but rather consistency in the response. This consistency was both in relation to past experience (e.g., I usually get an answer back in one hour), and in terms of expectations (e.g., They promised customer service would get back to me within 24 hours, and they did, even though it was an weekend).

• 1. Someone has been clearly assigned the role of monitoring social media interactions

Examples mentioned in our study included the existence of a community manager or social media team, and employees identifying themselves by name and/role.

• 1. The social media channel is integrated with other communication channels

Even though the initial contact may take place via social media, this may not be the most effective way to continue the conversations. Other means mentioned included links to websites where a form could be filled, e-mail exchanges and telephone (toll free numbers). This link documents a great example of integration across channels and geographic locations.

In summary, while interactions on social media may be generally characterised by informal interactions, when it comes to interactions between firms and customers there is no room for amateurism: firms need to have clear, multichannel strategies in place to respond to customers’ comments.

Do these findings reflect your own expectations and experiences?

OxonDigital is a network that brings together Digital Marketers based or working in Oxfordshire. It organises informal get togethers and encourages the sharing of multiple view points on digital marketing – e.g., technical aspects, the communications agency angle… and, well, the academic perspective. Its creator and, pretty much its soul, is Daniel Bianchini.

The post is available here. Enjoy and let me know what you think.

Professor Rozin applies insights from psychology to understanding what makes for memorable meals. I think that these insights are very relevant to the design of customer interactions, too; for instance, following a customer complaint.

Insight 1: There is the experience, and there is the memory about the experience.

How we judge an experience and how we remember that experience are two separate things.

In marketing, we may be able to control aspects of the experience, such as how we present the product, what sort of retail environment we create or the training we provide to customer service staff. But ‘memories’ are entirely personal and subjective. Furthermore, they happen sometime in the future.

The experience and the memory are two very different phenomena, following very different processes and requiring very different skills. It is not enough for an organisation to deliver great experiences; it also needs to create the right type of memory around those experiences.

Insight 2: What makes a particular experience ‘good’, is not the same thing that makes the memory of that experience ‘pleasurable’.

In his talk, Professor Rozin’s presents a familiar scenario. Imagine that you book a place at your favourite restaurant, and you need to decide between:

• Option A – ordering your favourite item on the menu
• Option B – ordering something that you never tried before

If you choose option A, you immediately start feeling good about the future visit to the restaurant. The certainty of what the meal will taste like helps you to anticipate the pleasurable experience. This expectation is confirmed when you actually consume your favourite meal. Though, once you leave the restaurant, you will soon forget about the whole event.

If you choose option B, however, you can not start anticipating how good the meal will be, because you don’t actually know. The outcome is uncertain. On the actual day, you may actually be pleasantly surprised by the chosen item, and end up having a pleasurable experience. Or not. There is risk. But if the meal is good, that pleasant surprise will be imprinted in your mind, as a pleasurable memory.

In other words, options A and B optimise different stages of the consumption experience as summarised below:

Insight 3: Pleasurable experiences are like good narratives. They require a great start (or two!), are well structured and end with a bang.

Drawing on fields of research as diverse as pain memory, music enjoyment and molecular gastronomy, Rozin concludes that the components of a memorable meal are:

• The start has to be highly engaging, because the first part of the experience is what people will remember the most. This is called the primacy effect.
• Intermissions create the opportunity for a 2^nd beginning and, therefore, provide another opportunity to create a lasting memory.
• Repetition of positive elements helps to create memories. Though, it is about the repetition in itself, not the number of times something is repeated. As per Rozin’s example, 2 little scoops of caviar are as effective as 4 in generating a pleasurable memory.
• There needs to be a consistent narrative throughout the experience, because we are more likely to remember things that are associated with each other. This means that the type and order of activities is highly consequential for the assessment the experience, and that the structure needs to be carefully thought through.
• There are opportunities to talk about aspects of the experience during the experience itself – e.g., talk about the various dishes while the meal is still happening.
• The end needs to relate to the beginning, marking a clear conclusion to the narrative and reinforcing the positive (first) impression. The experience needs to end on a high note.

If we apply these principles to a service recovery scenario, for instance, we would:

• Tell / show the customer that s/he is extremely important to us, and that the main goal of the conversation is to regain their trust;
• At some point in the conversation, engender an intermission. For instance moving to another location, bringing in another member of staff, offering a coffee…; and restarting on the very positive note (in this case, assuring the customer that we are very keen to redeem ourselves for whatever went wrong);
• When offering something that the customer values – e.g., an apology, access to a senior member of staff, a discount… – we need to do it more than once;
• Ensure that the conversion progresses towards the ultimate goal but in a manner that is consistent with the overall tone and goal – for instance, if the conversation is about how the customer felt (emotions), we can not switch to focusing on material losses;
• At various points during the conversation we need to ask the customer to confirm whether s/he is happy with the progression of the discussion and how the situation is being handled;
• When the conversation ends, we can not let it just fizzle out. We need to end with a bang, and be consistent with the start. If the focus was on regaining trust, we need to end with a great demonstration that we are, indeed, trustworthy. If, instead, the focus was how special the customer is, we need to end on a personalised note – perhaps a handwritten message or a carefully chosen reward that really reflects how well we know this customer.

What do you think?

The application of the principles to this very simple scenario shows that delivering great experiences that create lasting memories requires both careful planning and flexibility. ‘Planning’ to think through how the various elements fit together to create the best possible experience and memory. ‘Flexibility’ to adapt to the very personal preferences and characteristics of the customer.

Well, I have just seen it into action.

My daughter e-mailed the owner of a small business that offers rabbit boarding services, asking whether they could look after her pet rabbit while we are on holidays. This is the reply that she received:

Hi [daughter’s name] & [rabbit’s name]

I am more than happy to take [rabbit’s name] again as he is a lovely bunny.

I am pretty much full [on dates mentioned] but will buy another hutch to accommodate [rabbit’s name] as you are good customers and I like to keep repeat customers.

Many thanks 

[owner’s name]

First, how great is it that she addressed the message to the rabbit, as well as its young owner?

And second, how brilliant is it that, effectively, she invested in the relationship with this customer, offering to buy another hutch so she could accommodate the rabbit?

She could have simply said no; or she could have bought the hutch without telling us. Maybe she was already thinking of buying another hutch, anyway, and this was just a minor step in a long process. Out of all the options, she chose the best one: a) she helped us get exactly what we wanted and b) we now feel extremely grateful that she went the extra mile to help us.

The thing is that we are not even that good as customers. We only got the bunny earlier this year, and this is only the second time that we are using her services. Obviously, it is easy for her to see that, unless something dramatic happens to the rabbit, we could be using her company’s boarding services for a few years to come. But she has no idea what our family’s travelling habits are, or whether we have referred her to anyone, yet – we didn’t, but will surely do that. This lady knows how to run her small business

Have you come across great examples of relationship marketing recently?

Talking with each of these 3 persons reminded me of a message that I sent to my students not long ago. It is a very personal message and, certainly, it is not about marketing in everyday life. But it is about life, and it is important, and so I thought that I would share it with you, too.

Illustration from the book ‘The Gift of Nothing’ by Patrick McDonnell

The message was entitled ‘My Cousin’s Wedding‘, and this is what I wrote:

When I was a teenager I went to a family wedding. It must have been a beautiful ceremony followed by a great party, but I confess that I don’t really remember. In fact, there are only 2 things that I remember from that wedding. The first one is the hairstyle. It involved a lot of hair spray and I felt like a rock star. The second one is something that a misty eyed (and rather drunk) uncle told to the bride and groom. He said that the secret to happiness is to keep talking because ‘when you talk, your happiness gets doubled and your sorrows are halved’.

The fancy hairstyle is long gone (and, for good measure, so are the pictures), but the advice has stayed with me and has served me really well. Sometimes, I told other people about something that I thought was OK, and they showed me that it was, in fact, very good. And that boosted my self-confidence, and inspired me to reach higher and higher. Sometimes, I felt I was a misfit, but someone showed me that I was not alone. And learning that others had experienced the same feelings gave me hope. Sometimes, I told people about a problem I was facing, and they showed me a way out of what I thought was a dead end. I learned about useful resources available to me or I learned a new way of looking at the situation that I was facing. Other times I talked about something that was worrying me and… I have no idea what people said in return because all I really needed was the time and the space to think through what was in my head. Voicing my concerns to somebody else had given me exactly that time and space.

I am mentioning this because it never ceases to amaze me what you have achieved outside of the classroom. Some of you have great initiatives for your neighbourhood, for a charity that you support, for other colleagues, for a cause… You may shrug it off as something rather mundane when it is, in fact, extraordinary. Talking about these initiatives with someone may help you see how you can use these experiences to stand out in the job market.

Similarly, I am truly humbled by the incredible challenges that you face. In my years of teaching in general, and the past few months in particular, I have come across incredible personal stories. There were stories of financial struggles and of self-doubt. I heard of body image problems, unthinkable grief and immense pain. There are terminal illnesses to deal with, family dynamics to adjust to. The list goes on and on and on. What saddens me is that many of you carry these burdens alone, and miss on the many forms and various sources of support available to you at Brookes or in the wider community (e.g., your health centre).

Our mission at Brookes is to help you live lives of consequence. But for that, you need to make the most of your assets and strengths, and to offload the problems dragging you down. Please know that you can always approach me to talk through whatever is on your mind. I can not promise to understand what you are going through, but I can promise to listen without judgment. I am never too busy to talk with you, and if I can not see you immediately, I will be at the end of a phone. Or you may prefer to get a male perspective on your problem – [name of colleague] has a wealth of experience to draw on. Or you may prefer to approach your dissertation supervisor, or a module leader with whom you can communicate easily. There is also [name of colleague] and the other amazing student support coordinators, who know about all sort of resources at Brookes and about the rules you need to be aware of, and who go well beyond their duty to ensure that you get the practical and emotional support you need. There is also the counselling service based in Headington Hill, as well as online resources: http://www.brookes.ac.uk/student/services/counselling/selfhelp/bibliotherapy.html

Talk. Ask for help. Reach out. It is not a weakness. It is something that you owe to your future selves, and to those persons in your past who helped you get here and have cheered you on from the side lines.

Also, please, make sure that you eat well (quantity and quality) and stay hydrated, as food and water are essential fuel for your brain. And get out: enjoy the sun and the open spaces and get moving. Anything can feel gloomy and difficult when you are stuck inside four walls all day.

Yours,

Ana

<div style=”margin-bottom:5px”> <strong> <a href=”http://www.slideshare.net/acanhoto/canhoto-2013-at-lse-handout&#8221; title=”Canhoto 2013 at lse handout” target=”_blank”>Canhoto 2013 at lse handout</a> </strong> from <strong><a href=”http://www.slideshare.net/acanhoto&#8221; target=”_blank”>Ana Canhoto</a></strong> </div>

The presentation focuses on the paper entitled ‘Customer service 140 characters at a time: The users’ perspective‘. It is co-authored with Moira Clark and was published on the Journal of Marketing Management.