Category Archives: Branding

Engineer Your Customer Experience

21 Friday Jun 2013

Posted by in Branding, Customer Experience, Shared values

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Customer Service, Brand Advocate, Lucavia Consulting

Created: The Happiest Place On Earth

Earlier, I dropped into BestBuy looking for a gift. Sometime ago they must have implemented a greeting policy for their personnel. For a time, they would look right at you, smile, and greet you as you walked in. That devolved into a “Hi,” or “Welcome to BestBuy” that was sort of lobbed in your general direction but not at you personally. Now the greeting is gone and you’re invisible again.

The Apple Store: When you enter you’re always greeted and someone speaks directly to you (sometimes they smile!). Customers shop, learn, and discuss their needs with a small army of Apple staff members so no one ever waits long for personal service. I realize it’s familiar now but I’m still impressed with their checkout process. It’s just so cool when your sales guy reaches into his pocket and pulls out his iPod touch, takes your payment, activates your product, and emails your receipt.

So, the obvious question is, what makes the difference between these two experiences? They are both branded experiences. That is, we have come expect a certain kind of experience with each brand. BestBuy’s is what it is. Apple’s doesn’t just happen by chance. Seemingly effortless and organic it’s something they’ve invested in, iterated on, and improved year after year. Apple’s experience is one of the ways they consciously strive to transform customers into brand advocates with the hope that those brand advocates will “evangelize” the Apple message by telling their friends (or blogging about it).

Lucavìa Consulting engineers positive branded experiences and uses them to: 1) Increase the power of your brand, 2) Mobilize your staff toward a shared goal, and 3) Transform your customers into brand advocates who can’t wait to return and eager to tell their friends about you.

Jim

Lucavìa
gojimlucas@lucavia.com
lucavia.com
(925) 980-7871

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© Copyright Jim Lucas 2007-2013 All Rights Reserved

How To Transform Customers into Advocates

21 Friday Jun 2013

Posted by in Branding, Customer Experience, Shared values

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Customer Experience, Brand Advocate, Lucavia Consulting

Your brand image is composed of hundreds of little connected fragments of customer perception. Your logo, your business card, your products, the way you dress, your store/storefront/offices, the way customers are treated by your staff and then what they tell their friends. Every little interaction and every way your customers come into contact with you, your staff, and your messaging comes together to create an image. It all builds up to create your brand. Your brand = what you stand for; but not just in your mind: primarily in the minds of your customers.

It’s important to make each of these little interactions and perceptions add up to something you intend—something that keeps your customers coming back with passion. Taking ownership of the total customer experience is the single most important step you can take and it is one where you have an enormous amount of control. It’s far more powerful than any advertisement or inbound/outbound promotion—and you can invest in it every single day.

From the time a new customer starts looking for a new place to shop, to the time they return, to the time they refer their friends; you are in relationship with them. The more responsibility you take for how they perceive and experience your brand, the more opportunity you have to make a good impression, satisfy their needs, and develop a positive lasting image in their minds. But, of course, this comes with responsibility; it requires you to think outside your four walls, beyond the time your customer spends directly in front of you, and it requires a clear plan of action to make them feel qualitatively better after every interaction.

If you would like to learn more about creating a Transformative Customer Experience for your business, please contact me.

Jim

Lucavìa
gojimlucas@lucavia.com
lucavia.com
(925) 980-7871

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© Copyright Jim Lucas 2007-2013 All Rights Reserved

A Framework for Your Brand

19 Wednesday Jun 2013

Posted by in Branding, Effectiveness, Shared values

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Branding Framework, branding

A Branding Framework defines who you are, what you stand for, and what you will communicate to your customers, team, and partners. There is an old saying, “If you don’t know where you’re going, every road will take you there.” A well thought out framework has a beginning, middle, and end—and all the points on the journey are well defined. Starting with anything less increases the risk that you’ll waste time, resources, and money, let alone confuse your customers and fail to inspire your workforce.

A Branding Framework also creates consistency. Consistency is important in the execution of any integrated marketing campaign (where each element of the campaign reinforces and strengthens every other element). And, it serves as the basis for constant iteration and improvement of past and current campaigns.

The key to adopting any framework is to adopt it once: Then pour your energy into execution and continuous improvement. The body of branding knowledge is replete with definitions, counter definitions, and terms that overlap. Our framework addresses what your business needs, and if used consistently, will accelerate the development and strength of your brand.

In the end, the real value comes from what the Branding Framework allows you to accomplish. So, when you find yourself asking, “Why am I putting time and energy into developing this framework?” remember the answers:

  • Create a shared understanding of your values, purpose, and vision
  • Set a strategy that will turn your customers into your brand advocates
  • Increase the power of your brand
  • Drive profitable growth

If you are curious about how to develop a Branding Framework for your business—complete with Statement of Purpose, Vision, Brand Promise, Ideal Client, and much more—please contact me. I would enjoy talking to you about your specific needs and the future of your business.

Jim

Lucavìa
gojimlucas@lucavia.com
lucavia.com
(925) 980-7871

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© Copyright Jim Lucas 2007-2013 All Rights Reserved

Not Too Big To Fail

18 Tuesday Jun 2013

Posted by in Branding, Customer Experience, Customers, Shared values

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Orchard Supply Hardware, OSH, Customer Service, Lucavia Consulting

As a “Radical Do-It-Yourselfer” (R-DIY) I’ve been a regular same-store Orchard Supply Hardware customer for 16 years. In all but a handful of visits I’ve shopped at OSH because it’s about half as far away from my house as the big box stores. In other words I only shop there if I’m in a hurry or if I’m already nearby. As a result, I only buy the small inexpensive items where paying an extra 10%-30% won’t break the bank. You know; screws, nuts, bolts, and minor plumbing supplies.

Why? It’s convenient. And. That’s. It. Being in a neighborhood gives a brand many advantages. However, none will overcome if people only visit you for fill-in purchases—while spending 95% of their budget elsewhere. So, after 16 years of not one OSH clerk or manager taking the time to learn my name, or to even recognize my face with a smile or head nod, it came as no surprise—and, yes, a bit of schadenfreude to read of OSH’s demise.

The irony is I’ll be able to reuse this post in just a few years. Lowe’s management is buying the locations—not OSH culture. Without a commendable customer service culture of its own to inject into OSH it will only be a matter of time before the same cycle repeats itself (Sears bought-and-spun out OSH 1996-2011). One day, Lowe’s will look back and wish they hadn’t simply purchased the locations without doing more to make OSH worth the few percentage points customers would willingly pay to patronize a community resource: Where the staff looks up, smiles, makes eye contact, and says, “Hi Jim. Nice to see you.”

Seriously, all the management firepower that could be brought to bear to make this acquisition succeed pales in comparison to this one friendly human touch.

Jim

Lucavìa
gojimlucas@lucavia.com
lucavia.com
(925) 980-7871

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© Copyright Jim Lucas 2007-2013 All Rights Reserved

30 Seconds on Lucavìa Consulting

15 Saturday Jun 2013

Posted by in Branding, Customer Experience, Effectiveness, Innovation, Management, Shared values

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Lucavia Business Front

I believe entrepreneurs need partners to help them turn their creations into businesses.

While entrepreneurs focus on their creations, I bring focus to their businesses by:

  • Defining their organizations
  • Planning their success
  • Creating effective teams
  • Understanding and Engaging their customers.

The entrepreneur needs to accomplish five very big things:

  • Create shared values and purpose
  • Create direct business results
  • Multiply their impact by working through others
  • Innovate
  • Build and develop tomorrow’s talent.

I would like to start our relationship working on your Branding Framework. It is the foundation for:

  • Shared vision within the organization
  • Concentrating effort on results
  • Consistent branding across all media
  • Iteration and improvement.

Jim

Lucavìa
gojimlucas@lucavia.com
lucavia.com
(925) 980-7871

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© Copyright Jim Lucas 2007-2013 All Rights Reserved