eNews - May 23, 2008

Table of contents

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Upcoming Event

Workshop: Customer Scenario^® Mapping Workshop

Customer co-design and customer-led innovation are two “secrets” of many of today’s most successful companies. If you’re about to embark on any new customer-impacting initiative, you should consider the benefits of Customer Scenario^® Mapping. It’s a mature, proven methodology developed specifically to support customer co-design and customer-led innovation.

"Six Sigma is really slow. For us, it takes 6 to 9 months to come up with a new solution, and then we still have to implement it! Using Customer Scenario Mapping, we were designing the new process in three days, and we knew it was what customers needed." - VP, Customer Experience, High Tech Fortune 100 company.

For Patty Seybold's report on why and when to use Customer Scenario Mapping, click here.


Want to be trained on how to measure, monitor, and continuously improve the things that matter most to your customers?

Customer Scenario Mapping is the best way to prioritize and redesign your processes from your customers' perspective. Join us in a 2.5-day, hands-on, learn-by-doing, knowledge transfer workshop to learn the fundamentals of our proven methodology.

CUSTOMER SCENARIO INTRODUCTORY TRAINING     A Core Competency for Co-Designing Your Business with Customers     June 10-12, 2008 — Boston, MA     Fee: $3,000 (team discounts available)     For more info, to access a complimentary research report (a $995 value!), and to register, click here.

Make it easy for customers, employees, partners, and stakeholders to do business with you by becoming an "outside in" organization. Using this technique, you can:

• Measure, monitor, and continuously improve what matters most to customers.
  
• Build a core competency you can use to improve profitability.
  
• Build consensus across fiefdoms and organizational boundaries.
  
• Gather customer and partners’ ideal requirements.
  
• Identify and prioritize information, resources, applications, and technology.
  
• More about this methodology.

The $3,000 fee includes (per person):

• 2.5-day methodology transfer and training course led by our Master Consultants.
  
• Ongoing coaching as you return to run practice sessions with your internal stakeholders and prepare for certification.
  
• Plus: One-year membership in our CSM Exchange community of practice. More info.
  
• Plus: One-year membership to Patricia Seybold Group's research. More info.
  
• Course materials in hardcopy and electronic formats.

Unlike conferences and seminars, where hundreds of people listen to a presentation by "experts," and vendors demonstrate their technology solutions, our workshops are designed to address specific issues of each of the participants, with individual coaching by our master consultants. Therefore, space is limited.

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Free Research Report

When Something Is Wrong, Are You Really Making It Right for Customers? by Ronni T. Marshak
Identifying and Measuring the Key Moments of Truth in Break/Fix Customer Scenario^® Patterns

Customer Scenarios^® fall into patterns. Based on running hundreds of customer co-design sessions with thousands of customers, we’ve noticed that customers in a particular context tend to want the same things. It‘s valuable to know these patterns ahead of time so that you’ll know what kinds of customer metrics and operational metrics to elicit. Then you can focus your co-design activities on the real secret sauce: how to differentiate the experience, products, and services you offer to help customers reach their goals.

In the typical “break/fix” scenario, it is practically universal that the customer has three key things that she wants:

• I want to know what’s wrong
• I want it fixed
• I don’t want it to happen again

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Patty’s Latest Blog

Why Are Design Patterns Valuable?

Design Patterns are valued by software designers, usability experts, and architects—both technology architects and building and landscape architects. Patterns tell us how to design a construct so that it works effectively and efficiently to achieve its end. Patterns are esthetically pleasing as well. Simplicity. Form meets function. I believe that good patterns emerge from the confluence of three things:

1. Watching what people do and noticing what works and what pleases them.
   
2. Discovering what people want to do but have difficulty doing.
   
3. Thinking carefully about, and testing, designs that make it easy for people to accomplish their goals (both tangible and emotional goals) in a pleasing manner as efficiently as possible.

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ABOUT US
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If you're a visionary customer-focused executive, the Patricia Seybold Group should be your first choice for ongoing strategic advice, business and technology guidance, customer experience best practices, and help with customer-centric initiatives. More info.

Patricia Seybold Group
Boston, MA
Phone: +1 (800) 826-2424 or +1 (617) 742-5200
Fax: +1 (617) 742-1028
Web: http://www.customers.com

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