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    Who's Afraid of the Big Idea?
    Who's Afraid of the Big Idea?
    Who's Afraid of the Big Idea?
    Ebook132 pages1 hour

    Who's Afraid of the Big Idea?

    By George Kiley

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    About this ebook

    Existing on the front line of evolving customer expectations, retail offers a fantastic window into the broader changing customer culture of our times, and the fundamental need to re-think business from the ground-up.

    My work in retail has introduced me to many great thinkers, innovators and go-getters. Over the past year, I’ve spoken to many wonderful, knowledgeable and creative people on the fore front of changes in the retail landscape. I now want to share my findings and how I believe they can provide a fantastic platform to re-think the way we approach business far more broadly.

    ‘Who’s Afraid of the Big Idea?’ is all about the questions you must ask and answer to succeed in the business of putting customers first. Ultimately, I wish to persuade you: To give your customer that something extra that can turn information into inspiration.

    The best way I can make this argument is to share with you my own learning journey of the last year, a period that completely changed my understanding of why customer-first thinking matters, and what it might become. This book is designed for people working in retail, as well as everyone else with a passion for business, who are dissatisfied with the status quo and optimistic about new possibilities.

    All primary research shared was undertaken by One Connected Community (OCC) and partners between July 2016 and July 2017.

    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherGeorge Kiley
    Release dateAug 24, 2017
    ISBN9781370347988
    Who's Afraid of the Big Idea?
    Author

    George Kiley

    Hello, thank you for taking the time to learn a bit more about me. I'm passionate about change and transformation across retail, consumer services and business more broadly I research, write and speak about customer-first thinking, and all the cultural, technical and organisational challenges businesses face (plus the psychology of changing customer behaviour) I'm also the co-host of the podcast series, ‘Who’s Afraid of the Big Idea?’ centred around the customer, technology and culture of our times Always keen to grab a coffee, feel free to get in touch!

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      Book preview

      Who's Afraid of the Big Idea? - George Kiley

      Who’s Afraid of the Big Idea?

      By George Kiley

      Retail offers a fantastic window into the changing customer culture of our times, and the fundamental need to re-think business from the ground-up.

      Over the past year, I’ve spoken to many wonderful people on the fore front of changes in the retail landscape. I now want to share my findings and how I believe they can provide a platform to rethink the way we approach business far more broadly.

      This book is all about the questions you must ask and answer to succeed in the business of putting customers first.

      Copyright 2017 | George Kiley | Smashwords Edition

      Cover Artist Abigali Quiroz

      Prologue

      My work in retail has introduced me to many great thinkers, innovators and go-getters. I wish to thank the countless people who dedicated time to help make this book possible. In over four years, I’ve spoken to many wonderful, knowledgeable and creative people on the fore front of changes in the retail landscape. I now want to share my findings and how I believe they can provide a fantastic platform to re-think the way we approach business far more broadly.

      In a world surrounded by technology, moving at an ever-increasing pace, I fundamentally believe that face to face conversations matter and provide the most effective way to drive positive change. To unlock mind sets, I designed workshops, video documentaries and podcast interviews in an honest, open, intimate and inquisitive way.

      All primary research shared was undertaken by One Connected Community (OCC) and partners between July 2016 and July 2017.

      The opinions I express on creating effective commercial conversations through mastering human communication; contextualising and framing ideas; and sharing the nature of the work that you’re doing, and the power of the ideas that inspire it; are all my own.

      Table of Contents

      Prologue

      Chapter 1. Introduction

      This book will help you achieve

      What happens when you listen to what people say

      Chapter 2. Engage and Entertain Customers across all Channels

      Background

      What retailers say

      On mobile

      Customer recognition and personalisation

      Social media

      Digital in-store experience

      What retailers can learn

      What everyone else can learn

      Chapter 3. Omni-channel from the inside

      Background

      What retailers say

      People, process and technology

      Team work

      What retailers can learn

      What everyone else can learn

      Chapter 4. How to Leverage the Store for Improved Customer Experience

      Background

      What retailers say

      Bridging channels; and redefining the role of the physical store

      Data, tools and technology to drive personalised customer service in-store

      Staff and cultural mind-set

      What retailers can learn

      What everyone else can learn

      Chapter 5. Social Shopping: Benefit from the Rapidly Growing Intersection of Retail and Entertainment

      Background

      What retailers say

      Give and take

      Command and control

      Is ‘success’ direct sales?

      Online/offline

      Data capture

      What retailers can learn

      What everyone else can learn

      Chapter 6. The GDPR and Personalisation

      Background

      What retailers say

      Data, consent and the customer

      Trust, personalisation and profiling

      Technical and cultural adjustments

      Data

      What retailers can learn

      What everyone else can learn

      Chapter 7. Conclusions

      What have we learned?

      Chapter 1. Introduction

      Before we start let me explain my ambition. I intend to help you think in new ways, explore new visions, and discover new ambitions which will help you ignite enthusiasm and curiosity among your customers and colleagues.

      This book will help you achieve

      To understand the of importance of customer context

      Making obscure knowledge accessible

      Mastering human to human communication and showing genuine interest in other people

      Seeding a valuable idea is the most impact an individual can have

      Not to just create communications but create a new philosophy for doing business

      The significance of rapidly evolving Social Shopping and UGC (User Generated Content)

      An understanding of the opportunity the GDPR (General Data Protection Regulation) brings

      What happens when you listen to what people say

      I love the work of BBC documentary maker Louis Theroux. Louis helps the world’s most eccentric, unfortunate and extraordinary people to openly and honestly share their story by talking to them.

      When I started One Connected Community (OCC), I hoped to apply the same approach to complex business challenges. What happened next is outstanding.

      I began by looking at the retail industry. I started with retail because it’s people intensive, customer facing, easily relatable and going through a period of significant upheaval. In this way, it’s the perfect place to observe broader customer and business trends. What’s more, British retail is a benchmark for other industries, so the lessons learned would benefit a wider audience.

      Among much learning, I quickly realised our Louis-inspired honest and story-led approach to research really helps to break down myths, reveal truths, ignite curiosity and inspire new ways to take on challenges (with much broader implications than I could have imagined). I discovered the ‘Big Idea’ is still very much alive.

      Existing on the front line of evolving customer expectations, retail offers a fantastic window into the broader changing customer culture of our times, and the fundamental need to re-think business from the ground-up.

      My research takes me in many different directions. From the challenges and opportunities of personalised marketing in the world of high-end fashion, to empowering store staff with multi-functional tools in supermarkets, to making the most of mobile platforms in shopping malls, to the new EU data regulation which impacts all retailers.

      On this journey, something was starting to spark. At the heart of all this upheaval are two big ideas: Changing customer culture and the changes in organisational culture needed to keep-up to date (including people, technology and processes).

      I learned that in our crazy attention-grabbing modern economy, it’s increasingly important to deliver crisp, powerful content. I learned attention is a truly precious commodity and you never want to give someone an excuse to zone out. I learned the flood of digital communication has increased the value of human connections. I learned igniting curiosity is a truly valuable tool for ensuring audience engagement; while inspiration is the principal force that tells the brain what to do with a new idea. And I learned, if mastered correctly, all the above, can be extremely powerful in your business and personal life.

      In short, I learned the challenge, and opportunity, for all of us begins and ends with our ability to better understand our audience, identify with them, and give them something in a crisp, powerful and human way that ignites curiosity and inspires them to take the next step.

      Through examining customer culture with a retail lens, I begin to analyse the typical differences between B2B (Business to Business) and B2C (Business to Customer) thinking. But I show that they are now one of the same thing. It’s all about how to communicate effectively – whether your customer is Mr Smith buying a new pair of jeans (B2C), or Mr Smith a professional looking for a technology supplier (B2B).

      This book then is about questions you must ask and answer to succeed in the business of putting customers first: what follows is not a manual but an exercise in thinking. It essentially covers two things. Firstly, the way key decision-makers within British retail really feel about changing customer culture, and its impact

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