IT NEVER ENDS…The Journey To The Consumer!
What I Was Doing…
The past two weeks has been an incredible journey for the Nason Group. Last week, our team partnered with IIeX NA in Atlanta, where we joined some of the strongest leaders in consumer insights across a broad range of industries.
Next, we spent time with a partner in Philadelphia, Health Partners Plans (HPP). We finished up a 12-week project focused on improving member communications. WOW! They blew us away!
Then, this week, we traveled to Boston and partnered with MadPow & Health 2.0 for HxR2017! Again, WOW! The passion, the purpose, and drive of every participant coming together to “look” at healthcare differently was incredibly powerful. If you work in the healthcare consumer experience space or innovation space, you need to attend this event in 2018!
What I Learned…
There are so many things I could share on what I learned personally and what we learned as a team, but I am only going to focus on THREE! Here they are:
WE ARE ALL HUMAN! I know that sounds so simple, but I really do feel that many industries have forgotten this fact. Organizations have been focused for so long, solely on how to build a better product, a better service, or how to increase revenue and impact the bottom line! Sadly, many have lost sight that in the end, the customer is human – with all the emotion, motivation and need to feel connected and heard. Over the past several weeks the term “humanize” has popped up several places during my travels. In our recent work with HPP, as part of our “How Might We” statement, we discussed the important of humanizing member communications. Just this week, Aetna’s President Karen Lynch addressed this topic on “humanizing” at the Forbes Women’s Summit.
BREAK DOWN THE SILOS! How many times have we heard this and yet, the conversation continues with little result. While spending time building relationships at IIeX (otherwise known as “networking”) I continually heard that major corporations were still working in silos. I just do not get it! What are organizations afraid of? More important, what are leaders afraid of? Losing power? Losing domain? I don’t know, but it has to stop! This week there was a two-hour session at HxR focused on breaking down the silos. If you want to move fast, and enact real change – just do it!
HIGH TOUCH! HIGH TECH! I specifically wrote these words in that order. We live in a technically savvy world, where if we lose our cell phones we go in melt down mode. We have convinced ourselves that we cannot exist or function without technology. REALLY! The the last time I checked, WE ARE ALL HUMANS – NOT ROBOTS! Now, don’t get me wrong, I believe in the value of technology to enhance or improve my experiences and my business – however, but I still want human connection. I still desire personal relationships.
Let me be clear. I am not calling out either of these conferences or our partners. What I am saying is this – humanize your communications. Whether it is in the service, retail, or healthcare industries, keep the connection and relationship and use technology to blow it out of the water.
What Can We Do…
Usually at this point in the blog I talk about ‘what I will do” and then challenge you to look at ‘what you can do.’ Today is going to be different!
This is simple challenge for all of us and it is this: GET OVER YOUR BAD SELF! We all need each other. We are all consumers. If you work in an industry where you deal with consumers (which are all), put a smile on – say thank you and remember that we all come from different places, backgrounds, and life styles! As I stated in the title of this post, The Journey To The Consumer Never Ends!!