Customer Experience Is the New Battlefield

Customer Experience Is the New Battlefield – Blogger Jake Sorofman shares findings from the 2015 Marketing Spending Survey done by Gartner. Customer experience is the most pressing mandate for marketers, the top area of marketing technology investment in 2014, and it will lead innovation spending. As Sorofman points out:

• Customer experience itself is proving to be the only truly durable competitive advantage. Gartner research on the role of marketing in Customer experience found that by 2016, 89% of companies expect to compete mostly on the basis of Customer experience versus 36% four years ago.
• By 2017, 50% of consumer product investments will be redirected to Customer experience innovations.

*Related – The Secret Service Summit in the media

Victim dies after 911 Dispatcher hung up on woman giving first aid to shooting – A dispatcher for the Albuquerque Fire Department told a 911 caller who was giving first aid to a 17-year-old shooting victim, “Okay, do you know what ma’am? You can deal with that yourself. I’m not going to deal with this, okay?” The victim later died. You can listen to the 911 call.

Netflix offers ‘unlimited’ leave for new parents – Netflix announced that it would begin offering employees “unlimited” maternity and paternity leave during the first year after a child’s birth or adoption. A Netflix representative said, “Netflix’s continued success hinges on us competing for and keeping the most talented individuals in their field. Experience shows people perform better at work when they’re not worrying about home.”

Holly Stiel is back and better than ever! Holly Stiel wowed the attendees as a speaker at the 2013 Secret Service Summit with her dynamic and engaging presentation. This year Holly will be the Emcee of the Secret Service Summit and will be doing a breakout session. The reasons why Holly was asked to emcee was she is so passionate about what the Secret Service Summit is about. As Holly puts it, “I am so excited to be the Emcee at the Secret Service Summit. I am a giant fan of The Secret Service Summit and use many of the ideas I have learned from John and the talented cadre of speakers to benefit my clients.” Another key to her emcee role is Holly is familiar with every speaker in this year’s lineup, having recommended several personally. “As Emcee I will be able to connect the dots and the takeaways from each presenter, applying it to how the companies can apply it to their own Customer service revolution. And just for fun, I’ll throw in a few hands on activities I love to present,” says Stiel. In addition to Holly’s emcee role, she will be offering a breakout session on what she considers to be the two hardest and most important skills we can master in service:

• In a world where the only thing anyone ever wants to hear is YES and you sometimes have to be the messenger of NO, it is important to learn how to deliver the disappointing news. For the times when Yes is not an option-learn how to make NO fly.
• Get an A in service with the four A’s in the “Art of the Apology.” When things go wrong, knowing how to apologize can turn an upset Customer into a loyal one. As with all of my work it benefits the service provider as much as the Customer.

*Related – Interview with Mike Rayburn Secret Service Summit Keynote Artist

Less than 40 days left until America’s #1 Customer Service Conference this September 29 & 30 – The Secret Service Summit is the only event that brings together world-renowned speakers, as well as brand executives from across industries, to give you two days of Customer experience education, training and motivation. This year’s Summit will do the impossible– it will be our best Secret Service Summit ever. The Summit sells-out every year. The Secret Service Summit will enable your management team to return with a solid plan to become the brand your Customers cannot live without, and make price irrelevant. Tickets for the 2015 Secret Service Summit – Cleveland – September 29th & 30th are now on sale! You can register here or contact david@thedijuliusgroup.com or call 440-443-0022 with any questions.