This summer, my nearly-17-year-old daughter really hit her stride socially. Offers for dates and for weekend get-aways with groups of friends (all wholesome activities) have come with a regularity that seemed to keep her watchful and admittedly slower-paced parents always on-edge. Our early reactions of caution and inquisitiveness challenged her autonomy in a way that was beginning to really bother her. Until one day, we sat down and talked it over. Did she want us to not care? Did she think we should feel good about her taking long road trips with young, inexperienced drivers? Did she want us to let her define all her own boundaries? What kind of parents did she want us to be?

It turns out that she did want our guidance, and she wants protective parents. Though it sometimes frustrated her, she acknowledged her need for boundaries. Now on the same side, we were then able to agree what those boundaries should be. We solved the problem together. That approach changed her view – and the view of her parents – and the summer has been more enjoyable since then.

What was the difference? Permission.
Before our chat, our sweet daughter wasn’t sure of our parental motivations. When our boundaries got in her way, she certainly didn’t want them. After our chat, my daughter gave us permission to parent her – to be the watchful and protective parents she needs; and that we want to be. And we recently let her go with her friends on a road trip.

Permission changes everything.

The same is true in business. As consumers, we love the convenience and ease of the telephone; unless it’s ringing. Ringing telephones interrupt. We don’t appreciate dropping what we’re doing only to be confronted with someone who is selling something we are not shopping for. This is also the case for unsolicited surveys.

To give American consumers more control over their telephones and to restore a sense of privacy in one’s home, the Federal Trade Commission implemented a Do Not Call Registry. The registry went live beginning June 27, 2003. Beginning in October, telemarketers will be legally bound to honor the expressed wishes of anyone who has asked that their phone number not be solicited to.

Within the first 6 weeks, permission to solicit through the telephone has been denied in about 25% of American households. And the registrations continue to grow.

	As of August 4, 2003, 30 million phone numbers have been registered. Of 119 million households, that represents 25% penetration in just over one month.

Marketers in many industries are going to have to find other ways to sell their products and services, or continue to sell to a rapidly-shrinking marketplace.

In today’s hyper-competitive marketplace, there are other market forces at work, and they affect far more industries than the relative few who sell over the telephone. Competitive advantage is increasingly difficult to achieve in traditional areas; e.g. financial resources, logistics, and size. As a result, growing number of manufacturers, retailers, and other service-providers are sharpening their focus on the customer experience.

To compete in one’s market today requires managing the customer’s experience (CEM). The focus on CEM is correct, but is not enough. Managers are tactical. Tacticians require leadership, and when it comes to CEM, the most qualified leaders are the customers themselves. Customers provide leadership through their feedback.

Through Mindshare's automated customer feedback, the customer experience can be constantly monitored. Mindshare's breakthrough technology automatically connects the customer feedback with managers at all levels. Tactical information is given directly to those who most need it. Strategic information is hyper-accurate, and constantly flowing. The cost structure of Mindshare's fully-automated system means that CEM is cost-effective to implement in each business unit. Continual customer feedback, with actionable information. It's an important source of competitive advantage in today's highly-developed and competitive marketplace.

There is more good news.
Mindshare’s partners do not need to worry about annoying their customers with a ringing telephone. The customer dials the telephone. They do not answer it. Permission changes everything.

And so does managing and monitoring the customer experience.

For leading manufacturers, retailers, and other service-providers, precise evaluation and continual improvement is now possible. Possible because through permission-based and immediate customer feedback, they are coached on how best to improve and enhance their customers’ experience from the person that matters, the customer.

And consequently improve their business results.