Acronym

"Customer experience" is clearly a catchword at this year's conference. Author Joseph Michelli used the analogy of Starbucks as an example of a company that has used customer experience as the way to differentiate itself from other companies selling coffee as a commodity. While the presentation offered some points of value, Michelli's delivery leaned more toward the slick and less on the actual information. As far as I could tell, the points were:
- You can't survive on commoditized products or services
- The experience is what turns something from a commodity to something exceptional
- People make decisions based on emotions, so use that to your advantage
- We think our products and services are much better than our customers/members do
- In order to figure out what kind of experience to offer your customers/members, ask them what they want. Make them feel like co-owners of the association
- Understand how your members experience your association, at all touchpoints

(I attended this session because I figured that there would be many bloggers attending the "Creating Member Evangelists" session led by the fabulous Jackie Huba. Can't wait to see some posts about that session!)