Commanding Business

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

  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

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• EP056: Thomas A. Stewart & 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

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• EP055: Marc Stickdorn & Service Design Thinking

  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

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• EP054: John Mullins & The Customer-Funded Business

  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

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• EP053: Keith Casey & A Practical Approach to API Design

  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  

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