Humanity is Alive and Well

I tend to be an overly positive person. I like to see the good in all things and in all people. You need to know this to understand where this story is headed.

I have a rental home; typically vacation rentals, but I recently leased it to a single mother with two children who was having a terrible run of luck.

As the Holidays came, my family helped them with toys and clothes. I was very lenient with rents and waived many fees. I felt like she was truly working on getting her life back on track, and I wanted to help. When she decided to leave, she left the home in what can be described as nothing short of a nightmare. I had not collected a deposit, so I was disappointed and annoyed. When I spoke with her, she apologized repeatedly and promised to reimburse me for all of the additional cleaning costs. Everyone I know, told me I could kiss that money good-bye and that I would never hear from her again.

Last week she showed up on my doorstep with cash in hand. She wanted to deliver it in person so she could share how my generosity had helped change her life and restore her faith in humanity. The irony is that she had done the same for me. She is now in a great job, has a great home, and seems to be doing very well. She went on the tell me that she had planned to write a review and make recommendations for the house.

It just goes to show that generosity can drive more referrals for your business, and more importantly go a long way in restoring ones faith in humanity.

Take-away: Give with no expectation. The rewards will come full circle!

Using Video to Engage Customers

At this year's Association for Fundraising conference I sat in on a session "Building Websites to Enhance Donor Engagement" led by Feldmann and Sundar. It was a great session with many great tips. Some of them we have talked about here before, but all of them are worth repeating.

Here are my top three tips for engaging customers using video based on this session.

1. Keep it short. Videos added to your site should be no longer than 2 minutes. And, honestly I think they should be even shorter.
   
2. Post it on your site and YouTube. This doubles your opportunity to share and increases your search optimization.
   
3. End every video with a call to action.
   

   
    

Here is a great example; although it is a bit on the long side, the video does a great job of sharing the story in a simple, unique, and impactful way. Charity:Water share who they are, what they stand for, and how you can help!!! I love it!

Thanks AFP for a great session and thanks for turning me on to a new nonprofit with a great mission. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rphhfy4qCfc

Take-away: Give up your birthday for a better cause, and start using video to share your story. It clearly works.

Listen and act!

It is no secret and I have blogged about it many times. It is critical to listen to your customers/donors, but it is more critical to act on that feedback. I qualify that with a dose of reality. You can’t always do everything for everyone, but it is top priority to make a concerted effort.

This week my heart goes out to Convio, a competitor of Sage, which I do highly respect and have several friends who are a part of that organization. This week, they have seen what happens when you speak customer experience and don’t deliver it.

Convio_headache Convio_headache appreciate that @convio is listening to
customers. How about not ignoring what u hear?

In today’s society of fast information and consumer control, being an organization that focuses on the needs of those you serve will serve you well. Forgetting that will result in a twitter feed of your very own.

Take-away: Talk the talk; walk the walk!

You're Changing the World. Google Wants to Help.

Today Google announced new and free services for nonprofit organizations.

Over time, we’ve learned that many nonprofits require hands-on assistance to optimize the use of Google tools. So we’re also introducing the Google for Nonprofits Marketplace, which connects nonprofits with professional service providers who have agreed to offer their services for a free or discounted rate.

Google really is changing the world, and I for one am glad that they have decided to bring nonprofits along for the ride!

Take-away: If you are a nonprofit, check out this blog post https://sites.google.com/a/pressatgoogle.com/google-for-nonprofits/announcement-blogpost

Customer Experience Brain Storming Template

Why not try this innovation tool and conduct a customer experience strategy session?

Paul Williams, author of the Idea Sandbox Blog, has created a simple tool that helps to bring some structure to the planning of brainstorming sessions. He calls it a Brainstorming Brief.

This simple but effective tool appears to be designed with the session facilitator in mind. The idea is to get clear on what you hope to accomplish, invite the right cross-section of well-prepared participants, and be aware of the "frame" within which you need to work, which should lead to better results. I downloaded the brief and edited it to facilitate a customer experience brain storming session. All organizations benefit from improved customer experience, but relatively few actually conduct meetings dedicated to that improvement.

Take-away: Use this tool to conduct your own customer experience strategy session.

Customer Experience Brainstorm Brief

Title - Meeting Date

Brief Date

Objective / Desired Outcome:

Opportunity / Challenge:

Background:

Who Should Be Included:

C - Champions

A - Audience Affected

T - Tasked

B = Buy-In

R = Responsible

I = Informed

O = Okay

What is the Climate / Politics?

With what do participants need to be prepared?

Knowledge Ahead of Time

Bring With

Attitude / Approach

In-Meeting

What can we do that makes working with us easier?

What Are the Measures / Considerations / Constraints

Brainstorm Brief – How To:

Title
Provide a title that quickly and clearly describes the meeting.
Example: "Christmas 2012 Consumer Promotion Ideas"

Brief Date: Use this to keep track of the most recent brief.

Objective / Desired Outcome: Write specific deliverables of the meeting here. How will success be measured for this meeting? How will success be understood? Keep this short and to the point.
Example: "To think-up five, big, actionable ideas to explore further to build awareness of our key holiday products during the 2011 Holiday promotion."

Opportunity / Challenge: In one or two sentences, what needs to be addressed? What is so important that it has prompted a meeting? What is broken? What is the problem? What needs to be solved? Keep this short too, you can elaborate in the Background section.
Example:"2011 is going to be a challenging sales year. We typically make our sales numbers in the last quarter. We need bigger ideas than ever if we are to stay ahead of the competition."

Background: Use this space to provide additional background about the opportunity or challenge.

Who Should Be Included:

C - Champions -These people will create excitement for this project. They will serve as ambassadors and spread the word for you. You don't *have* to invite them... but be sure to keep them in the loop.

A - Audience Affected-Who will be affected when the ideas thought up in this meeting are implemented? These could be external such as: customers, vendors, suppliers, etc. Or, they may be internal such as: operations team, front-line employees, leadership, etc. If possible, try to include someone – or a few – from this group. Why make assumptions on behalf of this group when they can be represented.

T - Tasked -Who will have activities or tasks to make this idea a reality (builders)? Who will have tasks because of this project (implementers)? Whose roll will be affected?

B = Buy-In -Who will be consulted? What specialists should you include who have input and value? Whose buy-in essential?

R = Responsible -Who is ultimately responsible for delivering this project? Only one name should be in this spot.

I = Informed* -Which people need to know about your ideas and decisions? They don't need to be involved in the process, but want to know the outcomes.

O = Okay* -Who needs to provide approval?

*With both the Informed and those who provide the Okay – keep them in the loop. Give them relevant updates that allow them to be ambassadors of your project.

What is the Climate / Politics? What is the current attitude and behavior of potential participants toward the topic? Are people excited, worried, fearful, energetic, supportive, combative? Does this meeting excite them? Threaten them?

With what do participants need to be prepared? Here, clearly outline the pre-work needed to for the meeting. Then, communicate these expectations to your participants (ahead of time). This will make your time in-meeting more productive and relevant.

Knowledge Ahead of Time What should participants do or read before the brainstorm? Industry background, product information, articles, research? Is there something they should experience? Visit the competition?

Bring With Are there things you want participants to bring? Updates from their departments? A list of their own suggested solutions?

Attitude / Approach Any additional instructions? Proper sleep the night before? Dress in jeans and sneakers? Leave laptops and mobile phones at the door? Start with a clean slate?

In-Meeting Is there knowledge or experience you want to ensure the whole group experiences together? Something you want to guarantee they are aware of?

For example... At Starbucks Coffee when I led the Holiday brainstorming session to think-up consumer promotion ideas supporting the Christmastime beverages, beans, and products... we started the brainstorm session by tasting the new Holiday beverages. It was much easier to understand Gingerbread Latte when you have actually tried the product.

What can we do that makes working with us easier? As you consider experience it is important to keep in mind that good experiences make working with your organization easier. What can you do that helps facilite that?

What Are the Measures / Considerations / Constraints What are the ways you will measure the success of the implemented idea? For example:

• Meets a timing deadline
  
• Logistically possible
  
• Ease of implementation / low complexity
  
• Fastest to market
  
• Uses only existing resources
  
• Fits within brand guardrails
  
• Strengthens brand
  

Doesn't require additional funding