2024-03-22 19:08
#NoBullshitCX #20yearsFuturelab
“Don’t think. Ask!”
Think you know your customers? Think again. When we started to work on a Voice of the Customer (VoC) programme for… Read More
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Marketing, strategy, innovation, focus on customer centricity and CX
2024-03-15 23:53
#NoBullshitCX #20yearsFuturelab
“Question (almost) everything.”
Are you innovating “a faster horse”?A few years ago, I worked with the world leader in logistics… Read More
2024-03-09 00:56
#NoBullshitCX #20yearsFuturelab
“Numbers don’t take decisions, leaders do.”
One of our clients is very numbers oriented in their CX approach. Whenever we discuss thei… Read More
2024-03-01 13:23
#NoBullshitCX #20yearsFuturelab
“Unhappy customers cost you more than you think.”
A customer is worth more than you think. In my previous column, I mentioned the surprising… Read More
2024-02-23 14:03
#NoBullshitCX #20yearsFuturelab
“Don’t stick to the seemingly obvious.”
Feedback is not about the averages. When I presented customer feedback to a global leader in s… Read More
2024-02-16 11:11
“Customers don’t bite. Most of them.”
Talking to customers is vital for customer-centric product management. But for those who aren’t used to direct customer conta… Read More
2024-02-14 11:37
#NoBullshitCX #20yearsFuturelab
“Just be honest.”
It’s Valentine’s day, so don’t throw tomatoes at me for this cheeky title, I am only joking.&n&hell…Read More
2023-12-27 12:37
The Shifting Landscape
In the not-so-distant past, market research teams were perceived only as information providers, distanced from the whirlwind of business-generating processes. Gener… Read More
2023-12-27 12:07
When I was on vacation in Cuba a few years ago, I had an interesting conversation with the bartender at my favorite bar on the beach. He asked me where I was from and what I did. When I expl… Read More
2023-04-04 16:13
As those who follow me know, I am quite passionate about Voice of the Customer (VOC) Programmes being set up correctly to drive action, engagement and ROI. I have given many speeches, presen… Read More
2022-03-20 13:52
Today’s post includes an excerpt of a guide I wrote for GetFeedback in November 2020. The original guide can be found here, and a video excerpt can be found here.Tags: A… Read More
2022-03-20 13:42
I originally wrote today’s post for Momentive.ai. It appeared on their site on February 3, 2022.
The COVID-19 pandemic has amplified existing customer expectations and create… Read More
2022-03-20 13:32
I originally wrote today’s post for Momentive.ai. It appeared on their site on January 25, 2022.
Customer expectations were already changing before COVID-19, but the pandemic… Read More
2022-03-20 13:13
In last week’s post, I wrote about the acquisition versus retention “dilemma” from the marketer’s perspective. Obviously, there are two sides to every story, and… Read More
2022-03-18 05:42
Click here to download a PDF of the documentClick here to subscribe to all of our reports and publicationsFor more information about our Mass Afflue… Read More
2022-03-18 05:20
Capturing the Mass Affluent opportunityFuturelab wants to equip a select number of financial institutions with the methodologies, tools and template… Read More
2022-02-27 15:31
Should acquisition vs. retention really be a dilemma? Can’t there just be a balance between the two? Must one outweigh the other?
Companies have long been pouring disproportionate reso… Read More
2022-02-27 15:21
the language that you speak shapes the way that you think. And that gives you the opportunity to ask, “Why do I think the way that I do?” “How could I think differently?&rd&hell…Read More
2022-02-27 15:09
I recently read an article on Bloomberg Businessweek (about culture and how to sustain it – or whether it’s sustainable – in the wake of so many employees working… Read More
2022-01-31 14:02
I originally wrote today’s post for GetFeedback. It A modified version of it appeared on their site in late 2020.Tags: Annette Franz (Gleneicki)metricsuser experien… Read More
2022-01-31 13:48
I originally wrote today’s post for GetFeedback. It appeared on their site in late 2020.
User experience (UX) is part of the bigger customer experience (CX) ecosystem. U… Read More
2022-01-31 13:40
I originally wrote today’s post for NICE inContact. It appeared on their site on July 1, 2021.Tags: Annette Franz (Gleneicki)artificial intelligenceautomationcontact cen… Read More
2022-01-31 13:29
I originally wrote today’s post for StellaConnect. It appeared on their site on July 13, 2021.
You’ve probably all heard – or read about – the Bain statisti… Read More
2021-12-09 10:34
I originally published today’s post for StellaConnect. It appeared on their site on May 25, 2021.Tags: Annette Franz (Gleneicki)customer experiencecustomer serviceFacebo… Read More
2021-12-09 10:29
I originally wrote today’s post for WixAnswers. It appeared on their blog on June 7, 2021.Tags: Annette Franz (Gleneicki)collaborationculturecustomer experiencecustomer… Read More
2021-12-09 10:21
A few months ago, I wrote a post on what it looks like when a company is sales-centric. I’ve seen this culture many times over the last year or so (and prior, for sure, but exampl… Read More
2021-12-09 09:13
I originally published today’s post on Forbes. It appeared on their site on August 23, 2021.Tags: Annette Franz (Gleneicki)customer experiencecustomer successFacebook Li… Read More
2021-11-09 09:30
As customer experience professionals, the work you do to identify improvement opportunities and other initiatives to design and deliver a better experience requires you to build the business… Read More
2021-11-09 09:25
Culture is so important to your business. The right culture is even more important. If you ask me, the right culture is always one that is customer-centric. Putting the custom… Read More
2021-11-09 09:20
You know you need to make changes in the business, but there are competing forces, those that help to drive the change and those that impede the change. How do you identify and then sol… Read More
2021-11-09 09:13
A few weeks ago, I wrote about Seth Godin’s concept of finding your Who, which is all about identifying who your products are for. The Who isn’t defined by demographics but… Read More
2021-10-18 07:10
The following is a modified excerpt from my book, Customer Understanding: Three Ways to Put the “Customer” in Customer Experience (and at the Heart of Your Business), availa… Read More
2021-10-18 07:03
I’ve written about change and change management several times over the years, especially last year. After all, customer experience management really is (all about) change man… Read More
2021-10-18 06:56
A couple months ago, I wrote about the difference between consensus and alignment and why that’s important to know.
Back then I wrote:Tags: Annette Franz (Gleneicki)alig… Read More
2021-10-18 06:47
“How do you keep the customer top of mind when everybody is working remotely right now?” This was the question that Ben Motteram and I tackled on one of our recent calls. The fol… Read More
2021-09-13 10:49
One of the most-commonly requested needs – often as a result of CEO/executive asks – is to build the business case for the business to focus on the customer experience. (It&rsquo&hell…Read More
2021-09-13 10:42
What is a brand? And what does it mean to ride for the brand?Tags: Annette Franz (Gleneicki)brandcustomer loyaltyemployee experienceemployee expectationFacebook Like
Linkedin Share… Read More
2021-09-13 10:31
There’s a difference? Yes, there is.
I’ve been involved in a few conversations lately where it was quite obvious that what these folks were talking about clearly described sales… Read More
2021-09-13 10:19
Every time you choose a model like e.g. a business model canvas or a customer journey you are choosing which information is important to you and which information is not.
e.g. if you map a c… Read More
2021-08-10 11:54
Consensus versus alignment: is there a difference? Does it matter? Where does it apply in your customer experience work?
Back in 2015, I asked a similar question about buy-in and commitment… Read More
2021-08-10 11:48
The history of the Customer Success profession dates back to 1996, when a CRM vendor, Vantive, realized that their system had a high failure rate, an issue that certainly did… Read More
2021-07-21 12:05
A critical component of a great employee experience is feedback – both from peers and from management. The iterative, continuous improvement that happens as a result of that… Read More
2021-07-21 11:56
The topics of customer trust and customer confidence have come up in conversations a few times recently, especially as it relates to pandemic and post-pandemic actions by… Read More
2021-06-30 19:40
As companies strive to improve their customer experience, the desire to do more than satisfy customers is becoming increasingly important.
But at the same time it is remarkab… Read More
2021-06-30 08:43
“Hiring for culture fit” is always a hot topic. I love it. I think it’s so important that you get the right people on the bus to ensure you (a) have the culture y… Read More
2021-06-30 08:35
I’ve been know to say, “You can’t transform something you don’t understand.” You don’t want to change things that are working well or that create value fo… Read More
2021-06-07 17:00
There are so many different customer experience roles these days that I wrote a post a few months ago called “Customer [Insert Term Here]: What Do They All Mean?” In the past, I… Read More
2021-06-07 16:45
Back in 2019, I shared an excerpt from my book, Customer Understanding: Three Ways to Put the “Customer” in Customer Experience (and at the Heart of Your… Read More
2021-05-12 19:37
In a major customer centricity programme I ran a number of years ago, we interviewed over 100 people at all levels of the organisation. We wanted to understand how customer-centric they cons… Read More
2021-05-11 08:16
I originally wrote today’s post for GetFeedback. It appeared on their site on February 27, 2020.
As a follow on to the post, Four Actions to Take on Customer Effort Feed… Read More
2021-05-11 08:10
I’ve had a lot of conversations in recent weeks about how the employee experience drives the customer experience, but the part that stands out from these conversations is the common th… Read More
2021-05-11 08:01
Change is hard. We know that. But it’s even harder when we hear nothing but excuses for why something can’t be done or why it shouldn’t change.Tags: Annette… Read More
2021-04-13 19:41
Imagine the following situation.
A man sees an attractive woman at a party. They talk and decide to have a few dates. After giving all the right signals for being a loyal, caring, trustworth… Read More
Futurelab's Founder Has Participated In The Special Report - "Human Truths In A Time Of Coronavirus"
2021-04-13 19:38
The partner and founder of Futurelab, Stefan Kolle has participated in a special report by McCann Worldgroup, in which he shared how he's changed his mind in the past year when it comes to t… Read More
2021-04-04 12:58
In last week’s post, I wrote about some findings in Salesforce’s latest State of the Connected Customer report. One of the graphics for the first finding, “custom… Read More
2021-04-04 12:50
I recently got my hands on a copy of Salesforce’s latest State of the Connected Customer report, which captures customers’ thoughts from midway through 2020 and, ultima… Read More
2021-04-04 12:39
I originally wrote today’s post for GetFeedback. It appeared on their site on July 25, 2020.Tags: Annette Franz (Gleneicki)customers experiencemarketingcustomers experie… Read More
2021-03-17 08:32
I originally wrote today’s post for GetFeedback. It appeared on their site on July 19, 2020.
Designing and delivering a cohesive end-to-end customer experience is important f… Read More
2021-03-17 08:26
I originally wrote today’s post for GetFeedback. It appeared on their site on March 1, 2020.
According to Salesforce, 51% of customers expect that brands will anticipate… Read More
2021-03-17 08:19
The terms “customer-centric” and “customer-centricity” get thrown around a lot; oftentimes, it’s quite clear that they’re being used out of turn. I believ… Read More
2021-02-22 12:00
Back in late 2015, I wrote an article titled Work Harder or Smarter? in which I offered up some ways to help employees work more efficiently – ultimately, to work smarter. Th… Read More
2021-02-22 11:53
I’ve written about inside out thinking and behavior a few times, but today’s focus on inside out is a little different.Tags: Annette Franz (Gleneicki)cus… Read More
2021-02-22 11:43
In 2019, I wrote about this marketing phenomenon that I kept hearing about, that customers are in control, that they have all the power. I never felt like that was right. In that p… Read More
2021-02-01 11:53
Here’s an uncomfortable – yet indisputable – truth: you are in business to create and to nurture customers. Without customers – and especially without employees to cr… Read More
2021-02-01 11:43
You know your customers are satisfied because the customer satisfaction (CSAT) score that you see on your daily dashboard tells you as much. The score is solid. But you aren’… Read More
2021-02-01 11:32
Author and businessman Harvey Mackay once said: “You learn when you listen. You earn when you listen – not just money, but respect.”
Those words could not be truer when it… Read More
2021-01-11 07:46
I’ve written about change and change management many times over the years. Last year was also and especially a big year to talk and write about change and… Read More
2021-01-11 07:21
What’s the secret to a great customer experience?
I’ll keep today’s post simple – and fun. Bob Farrell, founder of Farrell’s Ice Cream Parlors, shared the… Read More
2021-01-11 07:12
How do you define customer trust? How do your customers define trust as it relates to your brand?Tags: Annette Franz (Gleneicki)customer experiencecore valuestrustFacebook Like
Linkedin… Read More
2021-01-11 07:04
In last week’s post, I wrote about Building Your Multi-Faceted, Multi-Skilled CX Team. I outlined the various skills that you’ll need on your team. An important thing to not… Read More
2020-12-13 12:08
Over the years, I’ve written a lot of posts about change and change management. In a post I wrote earlier this year about change and some of the learnings and… Read More
2020-12-13 12:01
Do you consider the candidate experience to be part of the employee experience? If not, you should. The employee experience begins well before the employee gets her badge and goes through or… Read More
2020-12-13 11:42
Earlier this year, I wrote an article about CX Teams: Who, What, Where, How Many, and How Much?, answering all the questions that you might have about what a CX team looks like, i.e., t… Read More
2020-12-13 11:37
What is it to be a customer-centric enterprise?
When I started my journey in the land of customer-centricity (2000), the answer to this question, according to the leading theorists an… Read More
2020-11-17 14:02
Digital technologies can be used to improve Customer Experience. For example, by:
Enabling the customer to do more more for him/herself e.g. check/update account information, find relevant i… Read More
2020-11-17 13:54
There’s the Golden Rule: treat others the way you want to be treated.
And there’s the other Golden Rule: he who holds the gold makes the rules. In o… Read More
2020-11-17 13:47
I originally wrote today’s post for Shep Hyken’s blog. It appeared on his site on May 29, 2020.Tags: Annette Franz (Gleneicki)core valuescustomer experiencecustome… Read More
2020-11-17 13:36
The first step in my six-step journey mapping process is Plan.Tags: Annette Franz (Gleneicki)customer experiencecustomer understandingemployee experiencejourney mappingFa… Read More
2020-11-10 20:47
For many companies, autumn is the time to review their expenditures and make annual plans. As I am writing these words, I almost hear thousands of CEOs ordering their teams to slash costs wh… Read More
2020-10-28 14:14
I originally published today’s post for Oracle CX. It appeared on their site on October 7, 2019.Tags: Annette Franz (Gleneicki)brand promisecustomer experiencejourney ma… Read More
2020-10-28 14:07
Decisions, decisions, decisions.
As customer experience professionals, we have decisions to make; we need to help our executives make decisions; and prioritization is an important part of ou… Read More
2020-10-26 06:27
For one more year our Blog is selected to be part of the top 75 Customer Experience Websites and Blogs, which should be followed. This year we are happy to be at the 43rd place and in the co… Read More
2020-10-12 10:45
It’s trendy for big companies to devolve authority to operating units, and the jury is still out on whether or not making them compete as collections of smaller independent ones makes… Read More
2020-10-12 10:34
I originally published today’s post on Forbes. It appeared on their site on April 27, 2020.
Is it time for a brand refresh?Tags: Annette Franz (Gleneicki)brandcustomer e… Read More
2020-10-12 10:19
I originally published today’s post on Forbes. This is a modified version of the post that appeared on their site on February 18, 2020.Tags: Annette Franz (Gleneicki)cu… Read More
2020-09-29 17:48
Our Customer Experience Maturity Assessment method is now officially certified by the Customer Institute.Tags: CXcustomer experienceCustomer InstituteFacebook Like
L… Read More
2020-09-28 11:31
Ruth Bader Ginsburg: “A court ought not be affected by the weather of the day, but will be by the climate of the era.”Martin Ginsburg: “The law is never finished. It is a w… Read More
2020-09-28 11:21
Culture fit is an interesting topic. Some revere it, while others revile it. (OK, maybe not that extreme… but wasn’t that fun to say/read?!)
About a year ago, I wrote about &hell…Read More
2020-09-28 10:59
If the content on company websites was complete and truthful, you’d have to conclude that we’re turning the corner on climate change and social injustice. Only it’s not, an… Read More
2020-09-10 11:28
I recently read a Recruiterbox article that stated: “Culture can either immunize or infect a company. Good culture can revitalize and motivate. Negative culture increases emp… Read More
2020-09-10 11:20
Just before the pandemic hit, I was invited to speak – and to moderate a fireside chat – at a major global event. Sadly, the event was canceled, but I had spent a bit of time wit… Read More
2020-09-10 11:03
I know it’s hard to believe, especially for some of the youngsters who might be reading this, but there was a time when air travel was so much nicer than it is today. And no, I’m… Read More
2020-09-10 10:57
While most of us think about “corporate purpose” as companies adopting programs to promote public good beyond what directly benefits their bottom lines, I wonder if a bigger, mor… Read More
2020-09-10 10:47
The world we knew at the start of 2020 longer exists. Covid has disrupted how we work, live, and learn, and the only certainty about the future is that we’re not returning to the past… Read More
2020-08-27 09:40
I’ve written many times over the years about change, including posts on change management, change vision, change fatigue, and more.Tags: Annette Franz (Gleneic… Read More
2020-08-27 09:30
Stakeholderism. Shareholderism. Two words we don’t talk about much in the CX world – at least not in the “-ism” format. I’ll come back to these concepts in a mo… Read More
2020-08-27 09:11
If your sales team approached customers the way we communicators talk at our stakeholders, your company would go out of business.
The differences are shocking, and for years they’ve be… Read More
2020-08-11 09:37
I originally wrote today’s post for the CXPA. It appeared on the CXPA site on April 15, 2020, as part of a series on CX as a Strategy for Resilience. Be sure to che… Read More
2020-08-11 09:28
Do you have the right people in the room for your journey mapping workshops?
I’m often asked about who should participate in journey mapping workshops. The obvious answer is the custom… Read More
2020-07-24 13:30
I originally published today’s post on Forbes. It appeared on their site on November 18, 2019. I’ve made some additions and edits since writing the original, so this is… Read More
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