Arnold Beekes

A few days ago my neighbour asked me to help him with the installation of his new laptop. After asking him some (technical) questions, it became clear to me that he had never owned a pc/laptop before. He just had a brand new laptop and he thought that he had bought internet access three years ago from his telco provider. Yes, this can still happen. Not all elderly people are used to this kind of technology. Besides the laptop he had also purchsed new anti-virus software. But......... the salesrepresentative never asked him whether he needed help with the installation. Neither did he offer him trainings on how to use a laptop and the relevant software. By not offering these services he missed a revenue opportunity and he did miss a chance to build a great customer relationship. Also you must never assume that your customer kows how to use your product. Always ask if you are not sure. This is even more the case when selling a cell phone. When I talked with my (retired) golfingbudd...

There is a lot said and written about continuous improvement. But most of it is done from a process perspective, for instance how to speed up processes, how to make them cheaper or how to make them easier. That is fine, but still a major area is missing – the people, the relations side . This covers the relationship between (individual) employees and their managers. And also the relationships in teams. Employees should be encouraged to discuss with their managers, how the managers themselves can improve their behavior, their style, and their communications. This requires courage, trust and openness on both sides. If this is accepted and applied you will find that there will be many areas of improvement, which will have a huge positive impact on the atmosphere, motivation and culture in the organization. Also within teams it is important to know each other’s strengths and weaknesses. Only if they are openly discussed you can create a team which operates like a team. Then you will c...

Recently the battery of my iPhone was no longer working, so I did go to the retail store to have the battery replaced. I assumed that I had a one-year warranty, so I could easily get it done. Wrong! The guarantee on the battery is only 6 months and it was 7 months since I bought the phone. They suggested using my insurance to get it fixed. It would cost me € 30,- and that was fine. Especially because they told me that it would only take a few days to repair and in the meantime I would receive another iPhone as a replacement. I thought this was a good deal.... Then I did call the insurance to collect my phone. I checked the statements from the retailer. And I did get a complete different story; they said that the repair would take 3 to 5 weeks and that there was a waiting list for the iPhone of more than 50 people. Well as I had no choice (I couldn’t appropriately use the phone any more), I registered to put the process in working. So, after 2 days they were supposed to collect my p...

Recently I received a mailing from my optician offering me a free check up, as it has been over 2 years since I bought my pair of glasses. This is a great example of looking at services from a lifecycle point of view. It is not only at the point of sale that I am their customer, but also really over the lifecycle of the actual usage of my glasses. In this way a retailer/optician is also a service provider. There are many more service opportunities when you look at the lifecycle usage of products. E.g. the dentist can send you a reminder for your semi-annual check up, the IT provider can ask you whether you maybe need some extra memory, the car dealer can ask if you need your car inspected for the holidays. This is applicable in both the BtC and in the BtB market. The supplier of office equipment can check whether you need extra filing cabinets, the broadband provider can ask whether the speed is still sufficient, the caterer can check whether you are interested in more organic pr...

When organizations need new employees they start up their recruiting process (preferably earlier, but that is not the topic of this article). Once the first candidates are selected the interviews will start. Certainly at this initial stage you could say that the potential employees are still your customer. So, it would be a great idea to apply the rules of customer experience design to this process. But there is still a long way to go! Let’s split up the interview process into three steps: Preparation Interview Follow up Ad 1. Preparation The expectations for the ‘new’ employee are high. They are supposed to have read all the relevant (web) information about the employer. Out of that huge database they have to distill relevant and clever questions. They also have to know what they want for themselves, what their goal is and why they would be ideally suited for the job. And of course what their motivation is. This is all very logical and although it is very time-consuming, it is o...

In the April issue of Fast Company there are quite some facts listed about stress. -        62% of Americans are stressed about work, according to the American Psychological Association. -        In Sweden mental illness, including stress and anxiety, accounts for 41% of total sick pay, up from 15% in 1990. -        One in four Americans admits to having taken a “mental-health day” to cope with stress. This costs employers $602 per worker per year. -        Each year more than 275,000,000 working days are lost in the US because of absenteeism resulting from stress. This is shocking, both for employees and for employers. So stress makes you feel not good and it costs a lot of money as well.  But what are we doing about it? It looks like many people think that stress is normal and that you just have to cope with it. What a sad way of looking at stress this is. I...

I just finished the inspirational book ‘Change By Design’ from Tim Brown. You can feel the passion as Tim describes the difference between being a designer and thinking like a designer. That passion, like most other passions, is contagious. For me it was revealing, because it explains why service innovation or service design are still relatively new topics in the business world. I have been working in that area for more than 20 years, but service innovation was always part of marketing or business development. And it was never called that way. And there was no R&D department for services, even though most of the revenue and the profit were provided by services. That is still the case in many companies. In Western economies services accounts for more than 80% of GDP, but there are not many service companies who have their own ‘innovation labs’.  This is a huge opportunity AND a must as well. A must, because services (and experiences) are the only sustainable way of growing a...