Google describes their doodles as “the fun, surprising and sometimes spontaneous changes that are made to the Google logo to celebrate holidays, anniversaries and the lives of famous artists, pioneers and scientists.”

In 2000, Google produced its first doodle for Bastille Day. It was so well received by our users that doodles started showing up more and more regularly on the Google homepage. In the beginning, the doodles mostly celebrated familiar holidays; nowadays, they highlight a wide array of events and anniversaries from the Birthday of John James Audubon to the Ice Cream Sundae.

Over time, the demand for doodles has risen in the US and internationally. Creating doodles is now the responsibility of a team of talented illustrators and engineers. For them, creating doodles has become a group effort to enliven the Google homepage and bring smiles to the faces of Google users around the world. The index of doodles is available here, but please come back to finish reading this post.

Here is the complete doodle for Feb 14, 2012 in case you missed it.

Why is this Google doodle important? Because it reveals in just a little over a minute the Google DNA, the first step in achieving Service with Boundaries. While there is a “not so thinly veiled shot across the bow” to others like Facebook and Path for their privacy policy blunders, it really focuses on the core of Google. That is, trust built through shared mission. Only by wanting what you want will we ever win your heart. And your trust.

And that is all Google wants. It doesn’t want to control us or manipulate us but rather to make us happier by finding us what we truly want.

In return, that alone will make Google happier. And more profitable. I think it believes this to its core.

On Feb 1st, JC Penney unveiled its new pricing strategy and service policies called Fair and Square. JC Penney describes it as three kinds of pricing, one happy return policy. It got our attention for a couple reasons.

Simplicity of message: The three kinds of pricing are everyday low pricing, month-long values and best prices. The “best prices” will happen on the 1st and 3rd fridays of every month.

Leadership change: Ron Johnson used to be the Senior VP of Retail for Apple and is now the CEO of JC Penney. He helped shape the Apple Store concept and Genius Bar.

At first blush, we could rush to say that Johnson is trying to simplify the JC Penney brand to mimic Apple, but that might be overly simplifying the issue. It may also be the easy cynical thing to say. What I would hope be more likely correct is that Johnson is getting JC Penney back to its DNA.

JC Penney was established first in 1904 as The Golden Rule store. Later in 1913, the company re-incorporated as JC Penney, named after the partner James Cash Penney who bought out the interest of the other two, Guy Johnson and Thomas Callahan. It has since grown to over 1,100 stores nationwide with anchors in malls.

According to the Ascension Research Center, Penney envisioned a chain of stores across the Rockies based on His business philosophies and the revolutionary idea of charging a flat price to all customers regardless of social status and class.

Is the Fair and Square program Johnson’s attempts to get JC Penney back to its core DNA? Knowing who you are is the first step in establishing Service with Boundaries.

Only time will tell. We’ll be watching.

Speed Theory is not your ordinary bike shop.

Besides selling some sweet Cervelo, Felts and Argon bicycles for your next Ironman, it is also a place where anyone can get a great bike to compete in the local mini triathlon or just to cruise on some backroads.

Speed Theory makes great use of its real estate, even when the shop is closed. When I arrived at 5:30 am, the temperature was –22° F and I watched people trickle in — carrying their bicycles and trainer apparatus — until there were about twenty of us in all. They were all coming for spin class, but this was not like the spin class you did at the gym last week.

The Santos Tour Down Under from Australia was playing on a large screen screen in front. While there was some music in the background, the main attraction was the race. Our instructor, Trev Williams gave us some commentary on what was going on and we incorporated what the pros were doing during the class that lasted a little over an hour.

Besides being a cool spin class, what was pure genius was the fact that the owner, Paul Anderson, is making the most of his space even when the store is closed, maximizing his rent. By doing this, he is creating a bond with his customers and creating a strong emotional experience with him and his shop. I would have walked out with $300 worth of merchandise if I didn’t have only a small carry-on bag with me for my return to the US.

Paul’s expansion solution works because it is within his company’s DNA. Building excitement for cycling is what Speed Theory is all about. As we have seen from some businesses, though, it is easy to become confused about what maximizing your space really means. You don’t want to become a bagel shop selling pizza slices.

Watch this video. It is very short (7 seconds.) And that’s kinda the point I’m about to make.

Kelly Swallow makes chairs that make people smile.

To do Service with Boundaries well, you need to start off with a solid foundation. You have to know who you are. Who is Swallow? She’s the designer who makes chairs that make people smile. It is short, simple and direct.

In setting and sticking to her core DNA, Swallow’s entire business has a natural flow to the other two formula components: Listen to your customer… most of the time and You can’t improve what you don’t measure. Swallow knows generally what customers want and her customers trust her to design a chair that will delight them.

Finally, her measurement for success is simple and immediate; did the customer smile?

I’m vacationing with my family in Europe over the next week, visiting Paris, Brussels and Amsterdam. One of my favorite places to visit when I am in Paris is Le Relais de l’Entrecôte. I like it mostly because they have defined the boundaries of dining experience

They serve only one entrée; steak frites cooked rare, medium rare or medium. You order your steak the way you like it and the server writes it on your tablecloth, then brings out your salad — lettuce topped with walnuts and a mustard vinaigrette.

After your salad starter, your steak is brought to you in two stages, with one half held back to keep warm, so you can enjoy it at its best and is accompanied with more freshly prepared frites.

The only wine is red.

And they don’t take reservations.

The only choice besides the steak temperature you have to make at Le Relais de l’Entrecôte is your dessert. You can choose from a selection of cheeses and a dessert list with profiteroles, meringue and other ice cream confections.

The service is prompt and efficient and the rules are easily stated. Show up, wait if needed, order your steak and beverage, eat, leave. There is no calling ahead, no menus to pore over and no substitutions.

Le Relais de l’Entrecôte is the perfect example of a restaurant that has embraced Service with Boundaries. They have thought about who they are, staking their entire success on one entrée. A quick glance at their Yelp page shows they listen to their customers, but not too much and they measure their success with each meal service. When the line stops forming out the door and around the block, I’m certain they will rethink the formula.

In the meantime, Le Relais de l’Entrecôte will continue doing business and setting their own service boundaries.

What do you do with almost $10,000 worth of merchandise that you can’t return to online retailers because their return procedures are so dysfunctional? If you are STELLAService, you break out the wrapping paper and bows, have a wrapping party and donate the items to various charities throughout New York City.

And we decided to help them.

STELLAService tests online retailers by purchasing and returning real products as a normal customer would. Usually they return the items, but due to poor customer service they were stuck with this stuff.

Turning rain into rainbows. In this case, wrapping present bows.

Folks from ICC who participated in the event were Patty Rivers, Nanette Brown, Kevin Leifer, Alex Montanile, Lauren Botsolas, Emily Stotzer and me.

Happy holidays everyone!

A solid mystery shopping program consists always of three components:

- Objective measurements
- Never a “gotcha” program
- Action, not just reporting

Often misunderstood and even more often not implemented correctly, mystery shopping are one of the most important tools you can use to measure, manage and improve the customer experience.

A few things you may or may not know. Mystery shopping is the only objective way to measure the customer experience. Why is that important?

Unlike customer surveys — which are great in their own right — mystery shopping measures what actually happened rather than measure what people felt happened. It’s much easier to improve performance when you have specific behaviors to focus on.

All too often, initiatives are used to benefit the executive suite and companies become information rich but execution poor. The wonderful thing about mystery shops is the information can be easily disseminated and cascade down from the corporate to the region to the district level — all the way down to the store level and even the associate within hours.

The most successful mystery shop programs are not “gotcha” in nature. Instead, they help us understand the difference between where the performance level is and where it needs to be. They create this whole process to help everyone to get from point A to point B collectively.

They are not so much motivation but rather, inspiration.

Too often, though, we see budgets allocated and approved for the mystery shopping program but little budget dedicated to helping improve performance. This is akin to buying a car but not spending anything on gas or insurance; buying a house but not paying the property taxes or going out to eat but not leaving enough in your wallet for a tip.

Without a follow up plan to act on the result of a mystery shopping program, it is destined for failure from the start. A solid mystery shopping program that includes execution at the end will help you avoid the common pitfalls most mystery shopping programs face.

This post is part of a series with a group of bloggers from different professions and world views, each exploring a theme from his/her world view. This was about exploring the theme, If you can’t afford the tip, you can’t afford the meal. To explore how others handled the theme, check them out below.

Earlier, we examined when a customer experience ends at a retail store, but when does the experience actually begin? Here are several examples of companies in various industries who have examined the question and have pushed the customer experience dramatically forward of their front door.

VW – Automobiles
If you were a car company, you may say the retail experience for the customer begins when the customer enters the showroom and starts looking at the cars. But VW would disagree with you. Watch the following video about their factory in Dresden, Germany.

Where most car manufacturers hide the assembly line behind walls, VW has made the line an extension of their showroom. Each step in the process becomes a performance that the customer can watch — and even take part in.

Amali – Restaurant
Most restaurant web sites focus on their locations, their menu and getting you to make a reservation, but Amali in New York City focuses on a different mission for its website. The owners would prefer that you are hungry before you arrive at the restaurant. By leading with stunning photographs of menu items on their front page (and every other page) your tastebuds and stomach are already seated long before you arrive at the maître d’ stand.

KrispyKreme – Donuts
What can we learn about customer experience from the simple, ubiquitous donut? As it turns out, a lot!

A few years back, I attended a conference in Las Vegas. Since I was taking the redeye home, I had a few hours to kill after the conference ended, so I wondered into the tunnel that connects the Luxor to the Excaliber. As I got closer to the Excaliber, I noticed a crowd of people pressed up against a glass wall. When I made my way to the front, I saw KrispyKreme donuts dancing in a lazy river of frying oil, through a series of elaborate racks and flipping machines and finishing up in a shower of sugary glaze. Every person pressing against the glass were engaged in the show, eagerly awaiting their turn in line to buy their box (or boxes!) of hot, delicious donuts.

These are just three examples of companies who refused to adopt a “build it and they will come” approach to the customer experience. Instead of waiting for the customer to come to them, they reached out and included the customer into the process.

When does your customer start experiencing your product or service?

Does the shopping experience at a brick and mortar store end when you are done shopping or when you are done checking out?

For many who live primarily in a digital environment, the experience ends when they are ready to check out. The check out process for them is a necessary evil, one they are defining as more and more unnecessary. They can check out in 1-Click on Amazon.com; why can’t they check out in a few minutes at a mall clothing store?

In truth, brick and mortar stores don’t make 1-Click check out as part of their brand promise and have set no expectation that they need to live up to. For most of them, checking out at a register is part of the shopping experience. In fact — done well — it is necessary as that is one more opportunity for the sales clerk to up-sell additional merchandise.

As the digital shopping experience push further and further into the culture, retail stores will probably need to begin to address this issue more overtly. Some will choose to incorporate the check-out experience (or wait during the holiday season) into the shopping experience by engaging with customers as they wait or even check them out in line with a mobile solution. Still others may want the shopping experience to end as quickly as possible and staff the registers more to move customers through a frictionless process.

Some retailers rely on the checkout procedure to build a relationship with their customers, especially those that give their customers a more DIY experience while shopping. For example, Big Y grocery stores will be eliminating self-check out in favor of cashier-assisted checkout, saying its customers were not saving time as “self-checkout lines get clogged as the customers needed to wait for store staff to assist with problems with bar codes, coupons, payment problems and other issues that invariably arise with many transactions.” For these customers, Big Y chose to include the check out process as part of the retail experience.

Still others manage the check out process by setting expectations early, like Whole Foods in Columbus Circle in New York. They post a sign in store and on their website with wait time expectations. The customer can then choose what kind of shopping experience they want just by selecting the day and time they come into the store.

However the retail shopping experience will change in the next few years depends first on the retailer asking, “Who am I?” early in the process. Once they define who they are, they can begin crafting the retail experience around that which contributes to setting expectations for their customers.