Experience Is Our Teacher

I don’t know about you, but I work with adults. Adults respond both intellectually and with their emotions to a learning moment.

This means most communication, and specifically education, has to engage adults on both a cognitive and emotional level. For now, I will assume you create learning for a variety of audiences and clients (both internal and external) using various tools and techniques.

Regardless of their age, the following rules apply to most adults:

Everybody Likes A Good Story. We learn through stories. Most people love to experience a good story and share them. For thousands of years we have passed along information by telling informational stories. As a result, this preference is hardwired into us like a pigeon’s sense of direction.

Everybody Enjoys Discovery. Kids learn quickly that the process of pulling wrapping off a box leads to a surprise. They also learn just as quickly which person’s gifts under-whelm or delight them. As adults, people still enjoy an element of discovery within learning.

Everybody Learns by Trying. Most people want to learn through experience, and in fact, most people learn best by applying knowledge immediately to job or task.

Everybody Likes to Succeed. Most individuals do not set “failure” as their primary objective, unless a perceived failure leads to a larger success. In general, we want to be seen as successful and become more like our heroes: inspiring us to greatness.

These fundamentals haven't changed over thousands of years. They won’t change anytime soon. Our approach to learning should acknowledge this fact, regardless of the tools we use, online or in the classroom.

The Learning Experience Matters!

Let’s pretend I could magically place an educator into your organization that was focused completely on Making the Moment for your students.You wouldn’t need an awe-inspiring office or training center. Your employees would feel GREAT!

Students will ask where you found the new trainer. They will remember how good they felt, they will feel more engaged, they might even feel challenged to learn more or come back sooner.

Moreover, they will will remember the one person that turned an otherwise hum-drum training course into something meaningful through a genuine level of commitment, transparency, and honesty. And then, they will tell others and encourage them to interact with your organization. And next, they share that excitement with your customers.

You don’t necessarily need the latest tools to make learning great. You simply need people who are passionate, committed and open to creatively using the tools you have to the advantage of their students.

Faces & Places

Your choices determine whether your employees learn faster, easier and more frequently.

We are wired to remember people and places. You can use those assets to your advantage. Most organizations can't afford to build their campus beside a beautiful mountain stream or tropical bay. But they can afford to hire, train and promote great people.

The quality of your facilitators does matter. For God's sake, don't transfer your worst sales rep into training where they can pollute all of your new hires! By replacing a ineffective teacher with a more talented one, you can turn a dull technical course into something more meaningful, memorable, and engaging.

Fundamental Fact #1

In order to survive, our ancestors needed to recall faces and places, not shopping lists. Our brain physiology developed accordingly. We respond eagerly to agreeable faces and interesting places. Humans that avoided bad people and bad places survived to share their story.

Fundamental Fact #2

The process of developing from child to adult (school years) is a time that is loaded with personal development and self-exploration. The courses we took inside the classrooms were often sidebars to the main event: surviving social traumas and learning how to cope, work with and love other people.

Fundamental Fact #3

We measure the quality of human interactions by how we feel, not simply what occurs. People quickly forget what we said, but will remember how we said those words – and how they felt working with us - for a long, long time.

“Never ask a barber whether you need a haircut.”

Warren Buffett

CEO, Berkshire Hathaway

The Barber Says You Need a Haircut

I firmly believe, whether through formal curriculum, mentoring programs, “edu-tainment”, informal web safaris, water cooler group discussions and any other of a number of ways, education is at the heart of a vibrant community and better work+life experience.

For the most part, corporate education is not the highest paying position in an organization. It’s not usually a stop on the career path to Chief Executive Officer, which is quite a shame.

I believe the reason many people choose to work in learning is because of the opportunity to partner with such an amazing diversity of individuals from across the enterprise, and learn from them as we help them learn. It’s a unique position, and one that could be considered a great way to prepare future leaders for their role at the top.

Despite any challenges in budget or staffing, educators who are passionate about learning are creative, intelligent and resourceful people. A young instructor delivered one of the most exciting courses I have ever observed in the parking garage of a theme park. No fancy technology or props, just a great sense of humor and a commitment to his students’ success.

Don't underestimate the potential of the professionals within your corporate education department.

The Outsourced Experience Comes Home

Recently, a friend of mine flew to Beijing to visit her son. A recent graduate of M.I.T., he chose to work there and was highly recruited to assist with the design and development of battery technologies.

China is investing billions in battery technology and, through companies like Build Your Dreams and more than thirty other automotive industry partners, preparing to launch a generation of Asian-designed automobiles built using advanced technologies, such as battery and electronics. India is not far behind, with increased ownership in corporate capabilities.

This is part of a larger transfer of knowledge and expertise that began at the latter half of the 20^th century. As we move into the 21^st century, Asian countries are taking on broader roles in product design and corporate ownership, in addition to manufacturing capability. The 21^st century will be less about Western design (or design for Westerners), and more about Asian design and products designed first for Asian preferences. With this shift, it will be Western society that consumes primarily Asian-designed and owned services and products.

I think this is the beginning of a transformation that will have a profound impact the American live+work experience for many years to come.

Service Experience Scorecard

Here's 4-question checklist to begin dialog regarding the customer service experience:

1. Does our organization clearly define typical customer challenges (experience) so employees can anticipate them?

 In general, my team knows the type of experiences our typical (customer/audience/member) craves, and the reasons why.
 We clearly know why your customers prefer the experience we offer, versus those offered by other companies or brands.
 A typical customer experience within our (department/division/organization) is a positive event, for both employees and customers.

2. Does our organization map customer contact points and assign adequate resources to insure a great service experience?

 Everyone on my team knows what resources to use, and when, in order to deliver a great experience.
 We honestly and openly measure customer feedback at multiple contact points.
 We use customer feedback to improve our internal processes, staffing and learning within days, instead of months and years.

3. Does our organization provide ways for employees and customers to collaborate on new services or solutions?

 We support informal learning experiences (versus curriculum or LMS driven learning) for all team members and offer innovative leadership opportunities for every team member, within weeks of their arrival
 We routinely turn interactions into enjoyable learning moments for customers, members and/or clients
 We allow tremendous flexibility in how employees engage prospects and customers and use social media tools to help us draw customers closer.

4. Does our organization identify, grow and sustain service champions, both internally and externally?

 We know what motivates people to become one of our loyal customers.
 We know our champions (loyal customers that live, eat, breath our product) and can identify them, by name
 My team is given the resources to track, validate and sustain both internal (employee) and external (client) champions through programs that reward their loyalty and honest feedback.

Why The Moments Matter

I primarily teach and present workshops to corporate audiences. A lot of people immediately understand why great interactions matter, especially in an era when customers can share their experience almost as it happens. Your customers make decisions based on their emotional responses to your brand, your service, your team. Period.

Regardless, I still get the pinstripe suit reaction that goes something like this:

"Great story, Russ, but why should I care about the moment? Worrying about how customers feel takes our eyes off important work or distracts us from business at hand."

True... it might distract people briefly from a mountain of to-do's on a desk, but it helps them re-focus on the real reasons customers arrive, leave and do or don't come back (or post nasty comments online). When I spend time with an organization, I try to listen to what others are saying about their people. I try to find specific ways a better experience (training, new-hire orientation, leadership development, sales process, etc) can benefit their organization.

For those who remain unconvinced, here are three top reasons why great experiences or "moments" are valuable for any organization:

Reason 1: Return on Investment

People like to go places, buy things and participate in activities based on great experiences. Like most ROI calculations, three primary measures of a user experience are made in quantifiable measures: productivity per employee, costs, and sales (revenue). You can reap a major benefit from the right training, better leadership and enhancing sales and service experiences.

Reason 2: Active Community Development

Online communities and social media tools are changing the way we learn, share and measure our experiences. A store manager tells of being negatively reviewed on Yelp when he asked a college student dressed only in pajamas and no shoes to return with shoes on. Even though she wasn't a customer, she posted a review complaining of rudeness. His real customers jumped online and contradicted her statements. Their better experiences give them better material to share with others.

Reason #3: A More Highly Engaged Workforce

The wall between work and life is dissolving. As it does, people don’t just want a job, they want a more satisfying work+life experience that makes a difference for them, their families and their customers. By focusing employees on how they can create better customer experiences, you offer them a way to engage their personality in daily activities. It's a more fulfilling and fun way to work. Are you that kind of employer or organization? If not, watch out. You may lose some critical high-potential talent.

Okay, so the experience matters. Now what?

It's time to turn that cash register into a (Superman) cape: Define the experience your audience wants. Measure the experience they (not employees) say you deliver. Use these experiences to inspire others. The goal for you and your team is to:

1. Define customer challenges, and then the experience(s) employees can create (during any transactions) related to solving them.
2. Measure the user experiences through traditional methods (surveys, online polls, etc.) and non-traditional approaches (storytelling, staff complements, event creation/participation, etc.) as well as through the use of social network monitoring tools that are discussed later in this book.
3. Find ways to inspire audiences (customers, co-workers, family members) by sharing these experiences and the impact they have had on others.

If you answer honestly, you can gauge if you and your organization are creating an atmosphere better suited to someone with the personality of a cash register or a superhero. Now it’s up to you to decide if you need to take a victory lap or re-dedicate yourself to the challenge of creating more meaningful customer experiences.