77 %

That’s the number of CEOs – consulting giant Deloitte reported recently - who say they expect their organizations growth to be strong over the next 12 months.

Further, “almost 40 % expect accelerated or pent – up consumer demand to drive business success this year! “

Now let me ask you, is your sales organization taking best advantage of this great opportunity?

“Genuosity”.

Never heard the term? Neither had I until I interviewed a Starbucks barista named Alli a few years back.

“Genuosity” is a made-up word Alli used when she was telling me about how she had learned to be successful with customers over the years.

Especially “unhappy” customers!

87 %.

That’s the percent of companies Microsoft found in a recent research study who said that a traditional customer experience “no longer satisfied” them.

Gosh! No wonder there are so many unhappy customers around here these days.

Back to my story about Alli and “genuosity”. Alli used the term as a substitute for “sincerity”. No kidding!

Trust. Customer Journey Mapping, Employee “burnout”.

These have been my “most viewed” pieces in 2021 thus far. And new articles around these themes will no doubt continue to attract the most eyeballs over the next few months if my hunch is right.

Trust has long been a “top issue” emerging from Covid with the need to address so much uncertainty and doubt out there. In fact, one article I wrote at the end of 2020 on Trust garnered the most views ever of any of my LinkedIn articles.

76 %.

The percent of workers, researcher Spring Health said recently, who admit they are experiencing “burnout” at their jobs today.

2020 has taken it’s toll on everyone it seems. And that effect is likely to last for some time, U.S. healthcare officials reported just last month.

O.K., I know what you’re thinking. Porter is always reminding us about delivering a great customer experience and now he’s saying don’t spend time with customers – say what?

0.8 %.

The growth of the U.S workforce from 2000 to 2020, reported recently by the New York Times.

$ 10,000 per year.

The increase in yearly salary, says the Federal Bank of New York, workers without a college degree were making in March of this year over November of 2019.

Talent is now driving the boat. Perks. Extra benefits. WFH. Whatever it takes to hire new talent in a rapidly shrinking labor market.

And, although the big push is now to attract new employees, I’m convinced companies today need to also ensure they attract “the right talent”!

89 %.

The percentage of all companies – research firm Gartner predicts - that will have to compete mainly on the experience that they deliver to their Customers.

Just another new concept only a few years ago, the Customer Experience and all that goes with it looks now to be the “gold standard” for how business will compete for new Customers in the years to come. And companies are rushing to put together a plan to design an “experience” for their Customers.

The recent book, The Experience Economy, provides some good pointers on designing a “Customer Experience” for today’s times.

First, as today’s Customers demand evermore “Value” from companies, that company must figure out “the main value they provide” to their customer base. Is it speed? Is it end results? Is it a more competitive Brand position? Exactly what is it?

Famous business author Stephen Covey once remarked, “Trust is the glue of life. It’s the foundational principle that holds all relationships.” 

So, as we begin to fully emerge from the pandemic, I’m convinced that companies will need to continue to stress the “trust factor” as they start to ramp up business. 

Confidence. Dependence. Reassurance. 

Terms that have been in pretty darn short supply this past year wouldn’t you agree? 

As businesses start to rebuild their brands, I believe they’ll need to include a healthy dose of trust in their efforts. 

53 % of employees these days are unhappy at work.

Only 15 % of employees say they are engaged in their jobs.

88 % say they would consider changing jobs.

So, given this disturbing recent research, it’s not surprising that companies today struggle with retaining and, more importantly, attracting good talent (employees), especially now as the economy starts to open back up.

So, what’s your company’s strategy for dealing with the talent conundrum? What programs do you have in place to be successful at retaining and attracting talent? Do you have programs to help understand how your talent feels about your organization?

66 %.

That’s just how far into the “sales cycle” researchers say a sales prospect will be these days before they ever speak to a sales rep. Wow!

And then along came Covid to “upend” things even further.

With the explosion of new social platforms plus customers sharing everything and anything online, sales prospects do a lot of their homework before finally talking V2V with a company trying to sell their products and services these days. It’s tough!

Time was only a few years ago when a company looking to buy a new product had a sales person “guide” them through all the facts and features, customer reviews ( always favorable, of course! ) and so on form the very beginning of the “sales cycle”.

No more.

The Customer Spring. Trust as Strategy. The Customer Decision Journey.

As I looked back over my last dozen or so – about 3 month's worth - of LinkedIn articles, “Customer Experience" and “Trust” – themed articles tend to have attracted the most eyeballs, with the “Sales Prospect” topic third place a bit further-back ( yet still viewed many times ).

So, as we pivot from the Pandemic, the Customer Experience and Trust as a strategy are top-of-mind out there hands down. And I think I know why. I’ll explain.

89 %.

The percentage of companies Gartner research says will compete mainly on the customer experience that they offer in today’s marketplace.

Demonstrates just how critical it is for companies today to identify the dozen or so key points in the “Customer Journey”, I.e., gathering info, finding customer reviews, bonding with a solution, etc. Key points where you better be providing a “memorable” and “lasting” experience which will keep customers coming back for more or risk losing them to a competitor!

Even more perplexing is the following research just in:

Over half of sales prospects – 66 % - are half way through the sales process these days before they ever interact with a sales representative.

A truly amazing fact!

Truth is the time window has begun to narrow. And you better make every encounter count, right? Or possibly risk losing a customer to a competitor.

“It’s like a time machine. It goes forward and backwards.
It takes you to a place. A place where you are loved.”

Mad Men’s Don Draper making a pitch to the Eastman Kodak Company in 1962 describing how to position their revolutionary new Carousel wheel slide projector in the now iconic Netflix series episode.

As Kodak execs view color photos of weddings and smiling young children go by in a darkened room, it becomes pretty evident that Draper’s suggestion is to play on the emotional heart tug of nostalgia and happy memories.

Is there possibly a nostalgia brand play for your company as we emerge from covid in ‘21?

66 %.

These days, researchers say, sales prospects are now already over half way through the “decision process” (“Customer Decision Journey”, or CDJ) before they even speak with a sales person.

Remarkable, but true.

So, the usual opportunity - and time - to build rapport between sales person and prospective customer is now way limited from just a few short years ago. Hey, and there’s also so much information, online reviews, customer comments, social platform remarks and such out there...you know what I mean.

Time will tell, but as the world starts to slowly begin reopening after a disruptive-bring-to-a-stop 2020, Customer Experience programs, I believe, will be among the first in line to kick off!

Not surprising then that researcher SuperOffice just reported that some 45 % of companies they recently spoke with said Customer Experience was highest on their list of priorities coming out of the pandemic, followed by products (33%) and company pricing (20%).

Inspiration.

Revelation. Awe. Wonder.

When’s the last time you felt really inspired by something?

An event. A place. A person.

If you’re like me, inspiration doesn’t happen often. And when it does occur, you remember it, right?

I ask you: does your company have a Trust Play? If you do, you could be a strong player in the Impact Economy currently bearing down on us, a phenomenon I discuss in great detail in my upcoming book, The Coming New Impact Economy which will be available on Amazon and on the Kindle.

Articles that I penned in 2020 regarding these topics attracted major interest from viewers in my LinkedIn audience. So, for example, my article titled “Starbucks Once Sold ‘Inspiration’ with that Macciato ”, attracted dozens of reader eyeballs confirming to me that my new book is probably on target with the larger business community’s interest these days.

The world seems to be literally exploding with new technology and tools that will help scarce talent achieve more productivity plus produce a richer Experience for their Customers in the next few years.

Could the “Surprise factor” be a strategy you could use to better position and brand your portfolio of products and services going forward?

The “pandemic pause” is changing how businesses think and operate. The same goes for your customers. They are rethinking everything. Including why they are doing business with you. You need to be in on their rethinking efforts. You seriously do.