If you've had the opportunity to visit our office you'll have been struck by the black and white photos adorning the walls. Louis Armstrong, The London Playboy Club, Black Power, Swinging London and the Beatles. They're left over from a 'dot-com' idea we had back in 2000 when we hoped to sell framed photographs via the web. The photos' came via an ex Spitfire Pilot called Terry Spencer who amongst other things is in the Guinness book of records for the lowest ever parachute jump. After the war he bought a plane and flew with his new wife, without a map, down to South Africa. There he started working for Life magazine, returning to the UK in the 60's to photograph the defining moments of the decade.
Terry was thrilled by the idea of selling his photos online and we spent many hours in his study carefully reviewing negatives and selecting the best ones for hand printing and drum scanning. Despite our best efforts we didn't manage to sell sufficient prints to make the site a success and so shut it down and decorated our office with the remaining pictures.
Every one who visits the office comments on the pictures, how great they are and their depth of character. Whilst I'm sorry that we couldn't get that business model to work I'm glad we tried because we learnt from the experience and have applied the lessons to make others a success. And heartfelt thanks to Terry who was prepared to have a go.
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The author, blogger and software developer Joel Spolsky recently likened software development to fine tuning a transistor radio. You spin the dial to roughly the right point, make a series of minor adjustments before the clear signal rings through and you can enjoy your favourite radio station.
It’s also a nice simile for managing online customer experience. Successful web properties have already arrived at a place where customers want to visit them but it takes a lot of fine tuning to reduce the static which might drive them away. Small adjustments to areas like sign posting, footpaths, email templates and other primary customer touch points add up to a big improvement in customer satisfaction.
Maintaining a static free signal is not easy, it requires constant attention, moulding the brand experience to customer preferences, tested in real time. It’s important not least because the competitor ‘pirate ships’ are circling, hoping to woo dissatisfied customers away.
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Christopher Johns
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Member since: 04 Nov 2008
Last login: 12 Nov 2009
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