Some of the ideas you won't hear from me this week...

I'm very frustrated right now, having just received an email telling me that my presentation at a conference on customer self-service has to be cancelled due to a contractual conflict with the conference sponsor.

I had been asked at short notice - last Monday - to stand in for another presenter, and have worked to put together a presentation looking at the principles to be applied to customer experiences to maintain their human-centredness, and avoid technology being the sole driver. Those ideas will no longer get a voice at the conference, but I thought I would share at least some of them here.

So, here's a really high-level outline of what I was going to talk about...

Technologies shaping customer experiences
1. Mobile & mobility (inc. GPS)
2. Social
3. Internet access & use
4. RFID
5. Contactless cards
6. Mobile payments

Implications for customer experiences
1. Customers expect access 24/7, real-time
2. Expect customers to be informed, but don't assume it. Information asymmetry will still exist, but it will be a question of desire, not capability.
3. If they can't ask you they'll ask someone; and probably first. The power of social networks for product/service research, customer servicing, and loyalty.
4. Information needs to flow, and follow the customer
5. Expect customers to jump between channels, but don't force them to do so

Design principles
1. Use technology to do the heavy lifting - automate and streamline as much as possible
2. Understand your brand, and the power of interactions with a 'real person'. Use them where they'll have the most impact.
3. Don't lock information into a specific channel
4. Look for analogs in other industries, and look at how they might be transferred and adapted
5. Use technology where there's a clear value to the customer and to the business. It doesn't make sense otherwise.