Jim Hertzfeld – Principal and Chief Strategist

In my last post, I shared the primary insights you need to pull together a Now/New/Next portfolio and get started on making sense of where you stand in the market. In this post, I’ll share how to use those insights to make sense of what to do about it.  The Approach For most of us, […]

In my earlier post, I shared our motivation for Now/New/Next and why our clients are using it to rapidly make smart decisions to focus their Customer Experience attention. In this post, I’ll share what you need to know to build your Now/New/Next portfolio. The Approach At the center of Now/New/Next is knowing where you stand […]

When many people think of the word “strategy,” they start to conjure up images of a long-term plan built around some theoretical idea that may never happen. Unfortunately, many well-intended, traditional strategies have been outdated attempts at predicting the future that were beset by the realities of market changes, bad data, and, more often than […]

The last best experience. It may seem unfair or counterintuitive to compare your organization’s customer experience to others outside your industry, but your customers are doing it every time they interact with you. They are holding you accountable to your promises but they are also passing judgment against the expectations set from experiences they have […]

Delivering seamless, consistent, and engaging experiences starts with a customer-centered digital strategy. This ongoing series explores the characteristics that make up a great digital strategy and how to deliver powerful brand moments that solidify customer loyalty and drive differentiation for your organization. Earlier in this series, we revealed the importance of organizational alignment for your […]

Delivering seamless, consistent, and engaging experiences starts with a customer-centered digital strategy. This ongoing series explores the characteristics that make up a great digital strategy and how to deliver powerful brand moments that solidify customer loyalty and drive differentiation for your organization. Innovation is not just about technology As we work with clients, we find […]

I have two pieces of old news to report. First, the world is changing faster than ever. The second piece of old news: customers are more empowered than ever and have almost complete control over their own journey. So, what is the real news today? These two well-established trends have joined forces to push companies […]

Omnichannel experiences are ones that provide a seamless shopping experience across all channels – in brick-and-mortar stores and across digital. To do it well, your messaging and the purchasing processes must be consistent and harmonious. Why is omnichannel marketing essential? This attempt to be everywhere for everyone means that traditional retailers could have an advantage […]

You may have a different name for it, but your My Account experience is the self-service avenue you provide customers to manage their relationship with your brand before, during, and after the purchase process. This includes elements such as their shopping cart, wishlist, payment and shipping information, order history, loyalty program membership, preferred brick-and-mortar store, […]

The product experience encompasses all aspects of the product itself: what it does, detailed product specifications, images, video, sizing and color options, complementary product recommendations, and customer-provided content like ratings, reviews, and images of the product in use. Why is your product experience so essential? As more and more retail purchases are made online rather […]

Total Retail recently released its annual ranking of the top 100 publicly traded retailers, and athletic wear company Lids Sports Group found themselves in the #1 position. We are thrilled for our client Lids on this recognition, and for its commitment to continuously transforming itself to compete, win, and differentiate in an increasingly sophisticated omnichannel […]

We wanted to close out a great week at Shop.org with another topic we found threaded throughout the conference and among brands and retailers: How technology is transforming – not replacing – the physical retail experience. I think we’ve firmly settled into the fact that omni-channel business is just business as usual. But is it […]