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Mike Wittenstein

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Customer Experience Designer, Storyminers

342 points

Mike Wittenstein helps his clients beat their competitors by differentiating their brands with memorable and profitable customer experiences. As an interactive agency leader, e-Visionary at IBM, interim CXO, and now as a speaker, Mike has guided hundreds of companies to ...

Mike Wittenstein helps his clients beat their competitors by differentiating their brands with memorable and profitable customer experiences. As an interactive agency leader, e-Visionary at IBM, interim CXO, and now as a speaker, Mike has guided hundreds of companies to adjust their front-line experience for bottom-line results. He is the go-to guy on aligning management, marketing, people, and technology to deliver great customer and employee experiences.

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Feb. 3, 2012

Mike Wittenstein and 7 other people answered this question

What are some of the worst things to say in a team setting?

"That's a good idea" might sound like a compliment but its sets up the person saying it as a kind of king-maker. Judgmental phrases, even positive ones, can wreak havoc on team dynamics, especially in larger groups. Instead, use a pattern like this one "That ... more

Human Resources

Jan. 17, 2012

Mike Wittenstein and 9 other people answered this question

What's the best way to motivate front line customer service agents?

Great level of detail, Cale. I wish more responders on FOCUS would 'close the loop' like you just did! more

Customer Service

Customer Experience Management

Talent Management

Jan. 16, 2012

Mike Wittenstein and 27 other people answered this question

Death by PowerPoint! How do we tell someone that quantity of complex slides does not equal quality?

Hi Linda,
One more thought. Introduce the offending powerpoint practitioner to PREZI.com. Prezi presents graphic and numeric information dynamically. Cognitively, it lets viewers' minds 'rest' on a context slide before zooming into to see the content. The zooming in and zooming out feature is visually ... more

Human Resources

Information Technology

Jan. 9, 2012

Mike Wittenstein recommends this answer by Matt Heinz

What advice would you give someone with a marketing background who's about to go into sales?

Below are several recommendations I'd have for those making the jump from marketing to sales.
Keep watching (and learning from) your numbers
As a marketer, you’ve been used to watching the metrics behind your campaigns, the conversion rates of your lead generation waterfall, and so ... more

Human Resources

Career Development

Jan. 6, 2012

Mike Wittenstein and 2 other people answered this question

Can you share a great story about how an organization created a competitive advantage in the market that it served by being highly customer-centered?

Hi Justin,
Many more companies are figuring this out--and size isn't a factor. Big companies like Apple, Nordstrom, and Singapore Airlines are doing it and break-away brands like lululemon, Alternative Apparel, and many of the web services start-ups are getting on the bandwagon too.
One ... more

Customer Service

Customer Relations

Jan. 6, 2012

Mike Wittenstein and 1 other person answered this question

How much time do you believe a elected candidate needs to accept a Board Invitation?

Give your candidates a heads up as early as possible fore the formal invitation goes out to shorten your time-to-answer. more

General Management

Board Compensation

Board Management

Jan. 6, 2012

Mike Wittenstein and 6 other people answered this question at this roundtable

Community Management 101: Startup Edition [1/4 @ 11 am]

How do you balance day to day activities with longer term projects? How do you get time to focus?

Hi Mae!
I use the 70-20-10 rule (which I think I invented, but probably 'borrowed' from reading over the years ;-)
Spend 70% of your time on Priority A items, 20% on Priority B, and 10% on Priority C. This approach:
Helps prevent little issues ... more

Customer Service

Community Management

Jan. 4, 2012

Mike Wittenstein and 1 other person answered this question

What New Year's resolutions will help you get more done in 2012?

If you're considering which projects to take one, consider this: If you can't finish it in 30 days, don't start. Better to have several small things finished than several large things that never make it to the finish line. more

Dec. 29, 2011

Mike Wittenstein and 9 other people answered this question

What is the best example of customer service you have ever seen?

The customer experiences that I appreciate the most (in my role as an experience designer) are the ones that happen on purpose and by design because the company made the commitment and put the operational horsepower behind them to bring them to market at scale. ... more

Customer Advocacy

Customer Excellence

Customer Expectations

Dec. 29, 2011

Mike Wittenstein is now following Chris Selland and 7 other people

Dec. 22, 2011

Mike Wittenstein and 10 other people answered this question

What hiring approaches can improve customer service long term?

Hire for the long-term. Even if you're in a time bind, don't sacrifice for a lesser-than-desired candidate
Look for people who are 'wired to serve'. The up-and-coming generation is full of people with this characteristic.
Emotionally-intelligent people are better than automatons at providing great experiences and great ... more

Human Resources

Customer Experience Management

Customer Loyalty

Oct. 20, 2011

Mike Wittenstein and 2 other people answered this question

Do you think social customer service is unfair?

No. It's to everyone's advantage to have options.
Who says all service levels have to be the same in all channels?
The trick is to manage expectations. If you enter an expressway, you expect to go 40mph. If there's too much traffic and you can ... more

Customer Service

Customer Experience

Customer Experience Management

Oct. 4, 2011

Mike Wittenstein and 23 other people answered this question

Is Facebook getting too complicated?

No. In my opinion (from what I've read and heard and experienced myself) most of the changes are user-requested. The more intimately you work with something, the more you depend on it, the more you want it to WORK for you. I believe that what ... more

Information Technology

Product Usability

Social Networking

Sept. 7, 2011

Mike Wittenstein asked a question

What are the best results you've seen or achieved with customer experience thinking?

Customer Experience

Customer Experience Design

Sept. 2, 2011

Mike Wittenstein and 104 other people answered this question

What do you think successful people do that others don't?

Successful people consistently:
Spend time getting clear on the outcomes they plan to bring about before starting to work on them.
Handle deviations of path and approach without sacrificing the outcomes they have committed themselves to.
Enlist the support of others regularly--and help them learn along the way.
Invest ... more

Aug. 30, 2011

Mike Wittenstein and 5 other people answered this question

Is it deceiving to use the title "Customer Experience Specialist" for quota-carrying sales people?

This role title is still aspirational at most companies. I believe it's used with good intention in most cases and that the decision-makers believe that the use of this title is an important part of helping their employees fully understand the role they play in ... more

Customer Service

Customer Experience Management

Aug. 22, 2011

Mike Wittenstein answered this question

Do QR codes enhance or detract from customer experience?

Since this question can go so many different directions, I'll use retail as a backdrop for answering it.
QR Codes totally enhance the retail customer experience.
1. They offer customers the ability to get more detailed information about their prospective purchase while completely avoiding the cost ... more

Customer Service

Customer Experience

Customer Experience Management

Aug. 17, 2011

Mike Wittenstein and 3 other people answered this question

How can a company go about mapping the customer's journey?

David and Adele have done a great job of outlining the basics, so I'll tackle a specific case some people are likely to run into.
To get to that Desired or Ideal Experience a couple of questions usually arise:
What's ideal?
For whom is it ideal?
How do we ... more

Customer Service

Customer Experience

Customer Experience Management

Customer Journey

Aug. 15, 2011

Mike Wittenstein and 6 other people answered this question

How do you show your customers that they're valued?

Scott did it in only seven words! Way to go.

Customer Service

Customer Experience

Following 17 Topics

Angry Customers

Customer Excellence

Customer Expectations

Customer Experience

Customer Experience Design

Customer Experience Management

Customer Experience Software

Customer Loyalty

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Customer Service

Customer Service Training

Social Customer Care

Following 11 People

Followed by 26 People

Knowledgeable in 44 Topics

Customer Service

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Customer Experience

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Customer Experience Management

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Thought Leaders

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General Management

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