I’ve had a good look in my crystal ball and when it comes to the evolution of customer experience, I reckon one trend in particular is going to dominate this year: personalization.

But here’s the interesting thing: this isn’t a new trend. In fact, the Cloud IQ team released research documenting the rise of personalization as a customer trend way back in 2017. At that point they found that 69% of all consumers across the UK, U.S, and Australia want more personalized experiences and in 2018 Accenture Research found that an incredible 91% of consumers are more likely to shop with brands that provide such an experience.

So far though, not enough businesses are listening to the research. Or if they are listening, they’re not quite nailing what personalization means to the consumer.

On the bright side, now you know that personalization is what customers want in theory, all you need to do is keep on reading to find out what it actually looks like in practice, and...

What’s your customer’s trigger question? We all think we know the answer to this one — it’s whatever they typed into Google before they were directed to your site, right?

Well, not so much. You see, the real trigger question comes way before they even get to that stage. And I have a little exercise to share, that’ll help you uncover it, every time.

The curse of knowledge

Last week, I was in the Bahamas with 700 heating, ventilation, and air conditioning professionals — every one of them was an HVAC expert. Now, if you’re running a successful business, you too are an expert in your particular field. And when it comes to uncovering your customers’ trigger questions, that’s a problem.

You see, you know too much. It’s the curse of knowledge, and if you want to overcome it, there’s only one thing for it.

You gotta start acting like a moron. Yes, really…

Loyalty Loop lesson 1: Act like a moron (and discover your...

Do any of these sound familiar?

“Consumers demand free shipping these days and it’s killin’ us.”

“Customers today just want a cheap product. In an Amazon world we gotta reduce our prices if we want to compete.”

And my personal favorite: “We gotta keep our content short, our marketing short; people have the attention span of a goldfish.”

I hear these all the time from businesses. Whenever revenues start to slide, or marketing campaigns fail, business owners turn to these consumer-driven excuses.

But the thing is, the problems they’re facing often have less to do with changing consumer behavior — and way more to do with their own less-than-stellar business practices.

This week, I’m going to take the daddy of all excuses, dig a little deeper, and figure out if the problem is consumer behavior, or whether the real issue is a little closer to home.

The print industry is doomed

“People don’t want print...

“How can banks improve their customer experience?”

A few weeks ago a Loyalty Loop subscriber actually asked me that question and they couldn’t have picked a better time to ask. You see, I’m actually looking for a new bank right now.

And the reason I’m switching after 27 years?

My current bank’s customer experience leaves me feeling like I’ve been scammed

Quick disclaimer: I haven’t exactly been with my bank for nearly three decades by choice: I started as a BankBoston customer, and then BankBoston was bought over by BayBank, which was bought by Fleet Bank, which was then sold to Bank of America. So it’s fair to say that I’m a Bank of America customer by acquisition, not by choice.

But all of those mergers are kind of old news, so why am I only now considering moving my five (yup, five!) bank accounts elsewhere? 

Well, it’s mostly down to one short email from Sophia at Bank of America:

Subject line: Follow up to...

Bonobos — the menswear retailer Walmart purchased for $310 million a couple of years ago — isn’t doing too well.

And it’s a real shame because I actually really like their products. They’re stylish, well-made, just really great clothes.

The thing that’s not so great? The customer experience

If you’ve already checked out part 1 of my Bonobos breakdown analysis, you’ll have seen how the brand failed to impress after the first moment of commitment. And in part 2 you’ll remember that things went from so-so to pretty terrible when I actually visited the store and bought some suits.

But, hey, things can only get better right? And just maybe, in part 3, they’ll totally redeem themselves. After all, I’ve already made my purchase. All they need to do is ship it out: job done.

Well, let’s just see…

Miami Matt strikes again?

Poor Miami Matt — he’s going to get a raw deal in this post. You see, after...

Walmart are in a sticky situation, after investing $310 million in struggling menswear brand Bonobos. And they really shouldn’t be because this has the potential to be a great brand, making great products.

So where are they going wrong?

Well, you’ll remember that last week I took a look at how Bonobos failed to impress after my first moment of commitment: booking my Guideshop appointment.

This week I’m going to show you how things went from bad to worse…and the three lessons we can use to create a great Loyalty Loop. Oh, and I’m going to go undercover in NYC to do it. Exciting, huh?

The Miami Guideshop appointment

But first things first, back to Miami and my Guideshop experience.

Now you might remember that this is how Bonobos pitches their in-store Guideshop experience:

"Every Bonobos Guideshop location is outfitted with a team of knowledgeable, stylish, and witty guides that will give you as much attention as you want or don't want, to make sure...

350 million dollars — not exactly small change, right? 

That’s how much Walmart paid for the Bonobos menswear brand two years ago. So I imagine they’re not exactly super pumped about the fact that the brand is struggling. Like really struggling. At the point where they’re having to lay off dozens and dozens of employees and may even have to sell the brand.

But why isn’t it working out for them? After all, they’re working with a great product. Their clothes are stylish, well-made, they feel great, they use great fabrics…

Well, folks, you’ve probably guessed what I’m going to say this but here goes anyway: it’s all about the customer experience. And when it comes to Bonobos, the customer experience is broken.

Over-worked buttons, “Queer Eye”, and Bonobos

Time to back up a bit. I was watching videos of my recent speeches at events around the world and realized that I’m outgrowing my suits. Those suit...

You’ve done it! You’ve sealed the deal on a new car. But as you drive away from the car lot you pause. You start to wonder: did you actually get a good deal? Or did the car dealer just take you for a ride?

Next scenario... You’ve agreed to a 30-minute meeting with a vendor. You were happy enough to begin with but now you’re wondering if it was a good idea. They’re just gonna spend those 30 minutes trying to upsell you, right?

What does each of these scenarios have in common? They both highlight a micro moment that you — and all of your customers — go through any time you trade your money, data, or time for a product or service.

The crucial concern

This micro moment is called the crucial concern — and I’ve just experienced it myself.

Picture it: I’ve just had my morning coffee and I’m signing up for a free demo of some software. Of course there’s a form to fill in and I’m working my way through it. First...

I’m packing again! You know I travel a lot. And for the last few weeks, I’ve been going through every single airport looking for one special thing.

And guess what? I found it. Finally, in the Seattle airport.

I’m going to show you this amazing device that’s transformed consumer experiences. I’ll tell you how it’s changed the flying experience for 9.5 million passengers. And how we can replicate this to transform experiences, just by changing the way we ask people to tell us how we're doing. 

Everybody’s got survey fatigue

These days, everything you buy, whether it’s a plane ticket, car rental or something on Amazon. Whether you download an app, open an app, call customer service, sign up for something, treat your house for termites, donate to a cause, eat a taco or join a gym. No matter what it is, the next thing you know you’ll get a request to fill out a survey.

“Tell us how we did”

“Leave a...

Over-thinking our email reach — it happens to the best of us, right?

Numbers-wise your email list is looking pretty healthy but as soon as you dig a bit deeper you find that it’s full of leads that have gone dark on you. So you freak out just a little and desperately try to re-engage those prospects.

Well, listen up, guys, there’s no need to panic.

I’ve been digging a bit deeper too and I’m going to show you how one particular company made a huge marketing mistake, and how it led to an amazing re-engagement of those clients, prospects, and leads that had fallen off the face of the earth.

Experiment time! 

My friends, I’ve been doing a little marketing experiment, just for you. I’ve spent the last three weeks interacting with B2B brands, executing small moments of commitment with them — I’ve signed up for newsletters, free trials, demos, and webinars. I’ve filled out contact forms and asked for pricing info.

Then...