DR. MICHELLI INTERVIEW

The KCMPI Times: So much has changed in the world since September 2008. One of the biggest is the push for proof-positive ROI for investments. What data do you have for organizations that want to measurably know that enhancing customer experiences drive top- and bottom-line performance?

Dr. Michelli: I am convinced, and recent research confirms, that now, more than ever, customer service matters.  Since customers have been spending money reluctantly, there are two primary options available to business owners.  They can compete on price (at the risk of becoming a commodity) or add value in cost-effective ways.  Enhancing service is one important way to add value in these times.  Research conducted since the third quarter of 2008, when customer behavior began to reflect a fundamental shift, shows that 50 percent of consumers still are paying more for a better experience and 50 percent of customers still are  leaving businesses because of bad experiences.  Additionally, modern research confirms a customer experience that both fulfills customer needs and connects emotionally with those customers results in three times greater customer retention and four times greater cross-sell.
 
The KCMPI Times: When Starbucks was on a hot streak, your best-selling book documented many things that gave them a competitive edge. What changed and what lessons can be learned by others now?

Dr. Michelli: Howard Schultz, the Starbucks CEO, said it best in an internal e-mail that became widely circulated.  Howard noted, "In order to achieve the growth, development and scale necessary to go from less than 1,000 stores to 13,000 stores and beyond, we have had to make a series of decisions that, in retrospect, have lead to the watering down of the Starbucks experience, and, what some might call the commoditization of our brand. Many of these decisions were probably right at the time, and on their own merit would not have created the dilution of the experience, but in this case, the sum is much greater and, unfortunately, much more damaging than the individual pieces."
 

In addition to changes that Howard referenced in that e-mail such as automated espresso machines (taking away from the handcrafted nature of drink preparation) and machines that were too tall for customers to see their drinks being made, Starbucks defied traditional wisdom regarding store placement.  In its major growth push, Starbucks placed stores across the street from one another.  While Starbucks beat conventional wisdom in a booming economy, the wisdom prevailed in an economic downturn.  Lessons learned from Starbucks' challenges include strive to act small while growing big, stay true to the experience that led to your growth and heed the adage "location, location, location."
 
The KCMPI Times: On July 23, you were the keynote speaker for a joint PCMA/KCMPI meeting. For those readers who were not able to attend the event, what highlights did they miss?

Dr. Michelli: I referenced a New York Times article titled "Twice the Work, Half the Pay" that was published earlier in the month.  The article stated, "When meetings or conferences are canceled — a relatively common occurrence in these financially difficult times — hotels collect a fraction of the money they were expecting, and participants lose the chance to network or gain knowledge about their industry.  But one group of hospitality professionals is literally watching its livelihood go down the drain as corporate events are pared to the bone -- the corporate event planners hired by companies to book and coordinate meetings."
 

Despite daunting media assessments and the harsh realities encountered by many members of the audience, I championed the notion that it is time to refocus the meeting experience from being informational to instead being transformational.  I helped participants examine ways to design meeting experiences that are framed not as nice to have but essential, that are less about cost and more about ROI and that offer less about past knowledge and more about future needs. 
 
The KCMPI Times: Planners and suppliers to the event industry have experienced significant professional changes over the past 12 months. What advice can you offer them to enhance their own customer's experience so they may gain a competitive advantage?  In your answer, please consider what is actually in the scope of their own control whether they be a planner or a supplier - or work for themselves or for a large organization.

Dr. Michelli:  I challenge meeting planners to ask the question "can you imagine a world without face-to-face meetings?"  The question is posed so that planners can understand the unique benefits a personal meeting can deliver which can't be achieved through alternatives like web conferencing or other virtual solutions.  Planners and suppliers can then enrich aspects of the face-to-face meeting to further deliver what only face-to-face meetings can.  Put another way, if you believe meetings are memorable events that take a person from one state of being to another far more powerfully than any less personal method, then you should be designing meeting experiences to enhance memorable transformation and focus less on production values that simply entertain.
 
The KCMPI Times: In a world ever-focused on technology, how can customer experience be part of that equation? Please be as tactical and specific as possible.

Dr. Michelli: Technology is a great way to engage meeting goers in the meeting experience.  Rather than having the meeting conducted for the attendees, technology can actively help the attendees be participants in the experience (be that through real-time blogging, Twitter communities, real-time evaluations of aspects of the meeting experience or opportunities to give input on how the meeting can be immediately changed to serve the participants emotional and practical needs).  Technology should be used to design, assess and adjust the human experience of meetings, but technology should not BE the experience.  Meetings are experiences conducted by humans for humans with the aid of technology!

The KCMPI Times: Any last words of wisdom for this group?

Dr. Michelli: As a professional speaker, I owe a debt of gratitude to meeting planners worldwide.  I know no more noble profession.  My experience suggests that the meeting planning industry is rich with passionate, detail-focused people committed to flawless planning and execution.  I simply wish to remind them that they are not just planning meetings but they are designing experiences that have unforgettable and unparalleled impact on individuals and the organizations in which those individuals are a part.