Band-aid strategies for pleasing customers isn’t enough to differentiate your business—it needs to be designed for service from the ground up. In today's interview with Patricia O’Connell we discover the importance of service design in businesses that compete today. Patricia shares her journey of discovery in the field of service design and the inspiration behind Woo, Wow, and Win, a guide to service design, strategy, and the art of customer delight. Patricia currently serves as the President of Aerten Consulting, in New York City.   Key Takeaways: [1:03] As a journalist transitioning from print to web, Patricia found service design thinking a necessity. [4:30] The big idea behind Woo, Wow, and Win. [7:12] The importance of co-creation. [9:40] The 5 Principles of service design. ● The customer is always right, provided they are the right customer for you. ● Don’t surprise and delight your customers, just delight them. ● Heroics should not be required for good service. ● Anywhere you play, you have to play well. ● You’re never done. [28:22] The 10 E’s of Customer Experience. [31:49] Patricia can be found on Woowowwin.com   Mentioned in This Episode: Woo, Wow, and Win: Service Design, Strategy, and the Art of Customer Delight, by Thomas A Stewart and Patricia O'Connell Woo Wow Win @Woowowwin on Twitter Praxent @PraxentSoftware on Twitter

Commanding Business

EP057: Patricia O’Connell & Woo, Wow, and Win

Woo, Wow, and Win reveals the importance of designing your company around service, and offers clear, practical strategies based on the idea that the design of services is markedly different than manufacturing. Most companies, both digital and brick-and-mortar, B2B or B2C; are not designed for service—to provide an experience that matches a customer’s expectations with every interaction and serves the company’s needs. When customers have more choices than ever before, study after study reveals that it’s the experience that makes the difference. To provide great experiences that keep customers coming back, businesses must design their services with as much care as their products. Tune in for our interview with Tom Stewart, an authority on intellectual capital and knowledge management, and an influential thought leader on global management issues and ideas.   Key Takeaways: [02:04] Service design is the most important management discipline you haven’t heard of. [3:56] Services are experiences, and therefore open to user interpretation. [6:45] It's harder to produce planned outcomes with services. [11:36] Starbucks is a beautiful example of service design, from start to finish. [16:06] The four design archetypes: The Trend-Setter The Classic The Old Shoe The Bargain [19:58] Design your business around customer emotion. [25:33] Critical moments can make or break your customer relationships. [30:06] Providing an omnichannel experience is hard. [32:50] A big city hospital designs the patient experience. [35:16] Growth is the great enemy of strategy. [38:38] How to learn more about Thomas Stewart or Woo, Wow, and Win.   Mentioned in This Episode: Woo, Wow, and Win: Service Design, Strategy, and the Art of Customer Delight, by Thomas A Stewart and Patricia O'Connell Tom Stewart on LinkedIn Tom Stewart on Twitter Praxent @PraxentSoftware on Twitter

EP056: Thomas A. Stewart & Woo, Wow, and Win

Service design thinking is the designing and marketing of services that improve the customer experience, and the interactions between the service providers and the customers. We interview Marc Stickdorn, consultant, speaker and author of This Is Service Design Thinking.  Key Takeaways: [1:03] The big idea behind This Is Service Design Thinking. [3:47] How the linear approach can waste two years of your life. [8:01] Silos make an organization easy to manage, but this creates friction. [11:10] The classic trap of change management. [12:43] Adapt the process to the existing culture in small increments. [16:20] Fail early. Fail safe. Fail cheap. [17:54] Effective ways of prototyping and market testing. [24:45] A “Service Safari” requires management to use their product and sell it. [26:41] Becoming a customer-centric organization. [28:21] This Is Service Design Doing is a more experienced approach to integrating service design.   Mentioned in This Episode: More Than Metrics This is Service Design Thinking, by Marc Stickdorn This is Service Design Doing, by Marc Stickdorn Praxent @PraxentSoftware on Twitter

EP055: Marc Stickdorn & Service Design Thinking

In The Customer Funded Business, best-selling author John Mullins uncovers five novel approaches that scrappy and innovative 21st century entrepreneurs working in companies large and small have ingeniously adapted from their predecessors like Dell, Gates, and the Zieglers. John Mullins is an Associate Professor of Management Practice at the London Business School and a worldwide speaker and educator. He is a regularly published author at Harvard Business Review and MIT Sloan Management Review.   Key Takeaways: [1:05] The big idea behind The Customer-Funded Business book. [3:30] Raising capital is a huge distraction. There is a better way. [6:57] Does Venture Capital funding ever make sense? [9:55] Three out of four VC-funded companies fail to return the capital that goes into them. [12:26] The pay-in-advance and subscription models allow entrepreneurs to collect a customer’s money before delivering the product. [16:54] The scarcity-based model uses a limited time offer to lure an immediate purchase. [23:49] The key to a successful service-to-product model is segregating the two offerings. [30:40] Airbnb is a good example of the Matchmaker model.   Mentioned in This Episode: Customer-Funded Business: Start, Finance, or Grow Your Business with Your Customers' Cash, by John Mullins, Ph.D. How to Finance and Grow Your Startup Without VC Built to Sell Praxent @PraxentSoftware on Twitter

EP054: John Mullins & The Customer-Funded Business

Keith Casey is co-author of A Practical Approach to API design: From Principles to Practice. Former Developer Evangelist at Twilio, his current work with Okta focuses on identity and authentication APIs. Keith is a software engineer focusing on creating open architecture, specifically APIs. His goal is to get good technology into the hands of good people to do great things.   Key Takeaways: [2:43] Keith Casey describes APIs from a business perspective. [5:04] Why would a business adopt an API strategy? [7:01] Twilio eliminates the need for a carrier contract and provides enterprises with immediate cost structure. [10:03] Zapier captures an event and then sends the information to another system. [12:48] Jeff Bezos’ memo ensured APIs would be part of Amazon’s future. [19:23] Salesforce and their development community built APIs to integrate with other systems and platforms. [21:45] The concept of API-First gives users a toolbox instead of a finished product. [25:45] Security implications shouldn’t keep a business from designing an API strategy.   Mentioned in This Episode: The API Design Book Casey Software @Caseysoftware on Twitter Praxent @PraxentSoftware on Twitter  

EP053: Keith Casey & A Practical Approach to API Design

Journalist, author, and speaker, Karen Dillon is a former editor of Harvard Business Review Magazine, and the former Deputy Editor of Inc. Magazine. She recently co-authored Competing Against Luck with Clay Christensen.  Using the Jobs to Be Done framework, Karen Dillon and her co-authors help businesses understand what causes customers to "hire" a product or service. With that understanding, a business can improve its innovation track record, creating products that customers really want. Jobs theory offers new hope for growth to companies frustrated by their hit and miss efforts   Key Takeaways: [1:11] Karen Dillon defines Clay Christensen's Theory of Disruption using a real-world example. [8:02] Can an incumbent company’s actions be predicted when faced with a threat from an entry-level rival? [15:57] Karen explains why "likelihood to purchase" is still so unpredictable, even with today's plethora of customer knowledge and data gathering tools. [19:42] Customers make choices based on the Jobs to Be Done in their lives. [21:08] Karen Dillon outlines three dimensions of the Jobs to Be Done framework. [27:03] Trigger events often occur before a customer makes an actual decision to buy. [34:39] The Jobs to Be Done Interview is used to identify a customer’s trigger event. [40:58] Karen Dillon provides a tip for marketers who sell business-to-business.   Mentioned in This Episode: Competing Against Luck Jobs to Be Done Karen Dillon @KarDillon on Twitter @ClayChristensen on Twitter Praxent @PraxentSoftware on Twitter

EP052: Karen Dillon & Competing Against Luck

David Hubbard is a Revenue Growth Expert and CEO of Marketing Outfield. He works with private and public companies to strategically align sales, marketing, and product development efforts and grow annual revenues by 25-50%. He creates growth machines by integrating a company’s core values into the customer decision-making process.   Key Takeaways: [1:14] Many companies struggle to find alignment between the three revenue-producing functions of product management, product marketing, and sales. [3:31] When companies struggle with alignment, the customer experiences mixed messages in the purchasing decision-making process. [9:11] Technology is causing marketing efforts to be more complicated than ever before. [11:42] Make the most of sales and marketing efforts through integration. [17:28] Align systems to create a growth machine. [24:00] Focus on the core value of the company. [25:33] Making a product successful in the marketplace is the greatest cost a company has. [28:09] Pressure can force entrepreneurs to do things faster than they should be done. [31:00] A good product manager is the most important thing you can have in your business.   Mentioned in This Episode: @MOutfield - David Hubbard on Twitter David Hubbard on LinkedIn Praxent @PraxentSoftware on Twitter

EP051: David Hubbard & Technology for Sales and Marketing

Jim Kalbach is a noted author, speaker, and instructor in user experience design, information architecture, and strategy. He is currently the Head of Consulting and Education with MURAL, a leading online whiteboard for digital collaboration. Previously, Jim has worked with large companies, such as Audi, SONY, Elsevier Science, Lexis Nexis, Citrix, and eBay, among others. Jim Kalbach authored #1 Amazon Business Development Bestseller, Mapping Experiences: A Guide to Creating Value Through Journeys, Blueprints, and Diagrams.   Key Takeaways: [1:05] Jim Kalbach never worried about what title was on his business card. His focus is on facilitating big-picture, strategic conversations. [3:36] Jim marries the idea of design information architecture with visualizing strategy in Chapter Three of Mapping Experiences. [5:46] Customer-centric thinking is a fundamental shift in the way business gets done. [8:54] Business leaders can use customer journey mapping, or experience mapping, to create a visualization. [11:04] Blue Ocean Strategy gets to the core of why an organization exists, and what value they are creating. [16:35] Organizations must look at strategy as a creative endeavour. [23:36] Unpacking Clayton Christensen's Jobs to Be Done framework. [29:16] Jim Kalbach’s view of Jobs to Be Done has six dimensions and goes well beyond task analysis. [34:03] With business strategy, deciding what you're not going to do is as important as deciding what you are going to do.   Mentioned in This Episode: Mapping Experiences: A Guide to Creating Value Through Journeys, Blueprints, and Diagrams, by Jim Kalbach Experiencing Information @jimkalbach on Twitter Praxent @PraxentSoftware on Twitter

EP050: Jim Kalbach on Designing Web Navigation and Mapping Experiences

Author of the NYT and WSJ bestseller, Flash Foresight, Daniel Burrus is a leading futurist in global trends and innovation. A leading consultant to Google, Proctor & Gamble, IBM, and many other Fortune 500 firms, Daniel Burrus provides strategic advice for predicting forthcoming market innovators and anticipating disruptions before they disrupt. His Anticipatory Organization Model uses the key components of hard and soft trends to identify transformative, pre-active solutions. Key Takeaways: [1:33] To see the invisible and do the impossible, you must start with certainty. [7:02] How a forecaster can separate hard trends from soft trends. [9:45] The three categories of hard trends: ● Technology ● Demographics ● Government Regulations [19:24] Examples of how soft trends can be influenced and manipulated. [22:41] The anticipatory organization must be agile. [25:28] Amazon is using anticipatory techniques along with hard and soft trends to create a new experience for their customers. [29:25] The key is to be pre-active to future known events. [30:48] The next four years will include the transformation of every business market.   Mentioned in This Episode: Daniel Burrus @DanielBurrus on Twitter Daniel Burrus on LinkedIn Flash Foresight: How to See the Invisible and Do the Impossible Praxent @PraxentSoftware on Twitter

EP049: Daniel Burrus & The Future of Global Trends and Innovation

Author of six books, with a seventh in the works, Bill Halal is a Professor Emeritus of Management, Technology and Innovation at George Washington University. As the President of TechCast, Bill Halal and his team study the impact of artificial intelligence, the age of knowledge as compared to the age of consciousness, and future forecasting with a goal of simplifying change at the meso-economic level.   Key Takeaways: [1:09] TechCast is a collective intelligence system that collects background data on emerging technologies, social trends, and wildcards. [2:56] TechCast has forecasted that 30% of routine knowledge work will be automated by 2025. [9:08] Bill Halal explains the Age of Consciousness, a great frontier to be explored. [11:59] In the future, the corporation will be redefined as the focus of making money becomes obsolete. [15:39] The future of organizations is one of small, self-contained enterprises. [19:39] A stable economic system less prone to booms and bust is a possibility of the future. [21:00] Universally guaranteed income may allow people's innate goals and interests to emerge.    [24:56] How can managers use forecasts to navigate a meso-economy? [27:34] Traditional corporate accounting systems do not include social impacts. [29:00] A successful corporation needs a committed labor force. [30:36] US corporate leaders need a transformation from their single-minded focus on money. [34:40] Find out more about Dr. Bill Halal.    Mentioned in This Episode: Bill Halal Bill Halal Books TechCast Global Conscious Capitalism Praxent @PraxentSoftware on Twitter

EP048: Bill Halal & Technology's Promise

Best-selling author of three customer service books, John DiJulius shares how a company can make their customer service approach and their customer experience their single biggest competitive advantage. Training is the #1 factor in an employee’s ability to recognize and deliver world class customer service. In order to extract the gifts of a millennial workforce, an organization must include them in the corporate purpose.      Key Takeaways: [1:32] Is it possible for a business to make price irrelevant, by competing in experience wars? [7:36] A real business example of how Lexus breeds customer loyalty by reducing a ‘grudge by’ factor. [10:24] How to reinforce the customer service vision statement using the 3 pillars: ● Quality ● Customer Interaction ● Going above and beyond. [13:03] The Starbucks example — A customer service vision statement must be MOAT: ● Measurable ● Observable ● Actionable ● Trainable [16:49] The currency for millennials is purpose. [17:57] E-commerce giants give us whatever we want instantly. [22:34] How to measure the service aptitude of a company. [27:55] Training is the only way a business can proactively shape an employee to increase their awareness of what a world class customer experience is. [30:55] The always and never list. [34:39] The secret service component is the ability to collect customer intelligence and utilize it to personalize their experience. [35:30] How FORD represents the most important things to the person you are serving: ● Family ● Occupation ● Recreation ● Dreams   Mentioned in This Episode: The DiJulius Group The Customer Service Revolution Praxent @PraxentSoftware on Twitter

EP047: John DiJulius and The Customer Service Revolution

New York Times bestselling author and applied neuroscience expert Christine Comaford knows what it takes to move people from the Critter State into the Smart State, where they have full access to their own creativity, innovation, higher consAciousness, and emotional engagement. When an entire culture maintains that state, it becomes what she calls a SmartTribe. Focused. Accountable. Collaborative. Imbued with the energy and passion to solve problems and do what needs doing, again and again and again. Today, Christine Comaford unpacks those ideas for us, offering practical tools for business leaders and managers.   Key Takeaways: [1:53] Christine Comaford shares the big idea behind the predictability of building a company. [3:09] Leaders should assist employees in moving from the critter state to their smart state. [6:55] Christine outlines key questions for creating an Outcome Frame: ● What would you like? ● What will having that do for you? ● How will you know when you have it? ● What of value might you risk or lose? ● What are your next steps? [17:24] The Outcome Frame helps leaders teach others to arrive at insights and aspiration. [19:40] Advocacy shows a lack of trust in an organization. Leadership development is much more effective in the long run. [23:07] Christine explains how to deal with conflict via the Feedback Frame: ● What’s working is… ● What I would like to see more of is... [30:48] Christine outlines a tool for helping teams operate in their smart state by focusing on high-value activities, as opposed to low-value activities. [41:02] Revenue inflection revolves around people, money, and business model. Christine describes the characteristics that are present at each major level of company growth. Mentioned in This Episode: Smart Tribes Book Smart Tribes Institute Praxent

EP046: Christine Comaford & SmartTribes: How Teams Become Brilliant Together

Tim’s guest, David Evans, is one of the world’s leading authorities on multisided platform-based businesses. Many of the most dynamic public companies, from Alibaba to Facebook to Visa, and the most valuable start-ups, such as Airbnb and Uber, are matchmakers that connect one group of customers with another group of customers. Don’t let the flashy successes fool you, though. Starting a matchmaker is one of the toughest business challenges, and almost everyone who tries to build one, fails. In today's episode, David Evans explains how matchmakers work best in practice, why they do what they do, and how entrepreneurs can improve their chances for success.   Key Takeaways: [1:03] The 3 big ideas behind the book Matchmakers. [3:15] David Evans describes three scenarios for overcoming the critical mass challenge that platform entrepreneurs face. [8:01] Scenario three requires pre-commitment from one side of the match to encourage investments into the platform. David gives an example from the video game industry. [11:37] The crux of the platform-based business is that there's reluctance on both sides of the platform, and entrepreneurs have to overcome that reluctance. [14:09] David Evans describes how Apple used the self-supply strategy model to gain commitment and users. [20:20] Developing the right pricing model is crucial to a successful matchmaker business. David Evans offers some pointers. [24:37] David Evans offers a description of the history and future of the payment card industry, which all started with Diner’s Club. [36:50] Using mobile devices and payment platforms to move money can transform economies in developing countries. [42:38] Why haven't mobile devices and payment platforms taken off in the United States? Friction must exist and be big enough to make consumers change habits and adopt new technologies. [47:25] How to best connect with David Evans and gain additional insights on Matchmaker businesses.   Mentioned in This Episode: Matchmaker Economics Praxent

EP045: David Evans & The New Economics of Multisided Platforms

The smartest, most successful companies are using radically new membership models, subscription-based formats, and freemium pricing structures to grow their customer base―and explode their market valuation―in the most disruptive shift in business since the Industrial Revolution. Today's guest, Robbie Baxter, unpacks The Membership Economy: Find Your Super Users, Master the Forever Transaction and Build Recurring Revenue.   Key Takeaways: [1:09] The big idea behind the membership economy. [2:47] Cost certainty is part of the appeal to subscribers of membership-based organizations. [8:18] Robbie Baxter unpacks three components within the membership economy: suspension, community, and loyalty. [16:02] Businesses who adopt the membership economy business concept experience major benefits, including recurring revenue. [22:27] Incumbent businesses in classically organized industries can adapt to the membership economy by focusing on and building off of the mission of their members. [30:42] Robbie Baxter explains how a manicure business demonstrates the difference between fixed cost and incremental cost and why this matters in the membership economy. [36:24] How to best Contact Robbie at Peninsula Strategies and read The Membership Economy.   Mentioned in This Episode: Peninsula Strategies The Membership Economy @robbiebax on Twitter Praxent

EP044: Robbie Baxter & The Membership Economy

Today’s guest, Jay Harman is the CEO of PAX Scientific and author of The Shark’s Paintbrush. In The Shark's Paintbrush, Harman introduces us to pioneering engineers in a wide array of businesses who are uncovering and copying nature’s hidden marvels. He shows business leaders and aspiring entrepreneurs how we can reconcile creating more powerful, lucrative technologies with maximizing sustainability. Jay Harman injects a whole new vocabulary and way of thinking into the business sphere that speaks to both small start-ups and corporate giants.   Key Takeaways: [1:14] Biomimicry looks to nature to determine how nature has solved a problem humans are facing. [2:48] Jay Harman designed a boat based on the “using the least to get the most” techniques used by nature. [7:23] Examples of breakthrough innovations that are fundamental game-changers. [16:59] PAX Scientific projects may allow for energy savings of up to 50%, meaning we may be able to reverse the negative effects of climatic change. [20:40] The opportunities to optimize the energy requirements of automotives are endless. [22:57] Reverse engineering a frozen whirlpool allows for an inventory of variables to study.     [26:16] How to best reach Jay Harman.   Mentioned in This Episode: Praxent PAX Scientific PAX Water The Shark’s Paintbrush

EP043: Jay Harman and The Shark’s Paintbrush

The challenge with growth is that the habits that got you here become the limitations that prevent you from getting there. Growth not only requires us to learn new habits. It requires that we unlearn old ones. I’m Tim Hamilton, CEO of Praxent and host of the Commanding Business podcast. Each week, I interview authors, experts and real world leaders about how they grew their teams, their organizations and ultimately themselves. From leadership to management and marketing to innovation, we’ll cover a variety of topics with an aim to uncover actionable takeaways you can implement in your own organization today.

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Commanding Business

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