Conversation Agent - Valeria Maltoni

Why Customers Turn to Social For Support

Customers are going more and more online, and are becoming increasingly demanding. They choose when and where to ask questions, talk about issues and share complaints, blurring the line between Marketing and Customer Service. Social technologies have a way of blurring traditional (and I would add artificial) lines. Is the customer finally in charge? Many brands have already accepted that customers turn to social networks for service and support, and they are listening and responding. Here's a list of top customer service accounts on Twitter from two years ago. I have 59 brands on the list so far. Customer service... Read more →

The Perpetual State of Now

We do live in a constant state of now. Two ways to approach this: we can interpret and execute it as a way to be fully immersed in delivering on our promises -- making sense of what happens around us, listening to hear/understand, asking more appropriate questions, speaking and acting with sincerity, and so on we can treat it as a blunt instrument used to forget the promises already made and not yet fully kept and any good karma built delivering on promises and live in a perpetual "What are you doing for me right now?" state Which one are... Read more →

Remembering is a Key Part of the Experience

It's good that Lufthansa still flies from Philadelphia as many other international airlines have pulled out over the years. Those that pulled their flights may have done themselves a favor. Compared to the majority of international airports I have flown into and out of, interactions with Philadelphia ground staff feel like you're on the receiving end of malicious compliance vs. talking with experienced and trained pros. Case in point the now standard -- three is a trend, as they say -- inconsistencies with allowing oversized bags on international Lufthansa flights originating from PHL (see composite image above). To note that... Read more →

Big Ideas and Sweating the Small Stuff

Growing up professionally on the brand side in complex industries and often mature models I developed a very pragmatic point of view on strong marketing execution. One that puts customers at the center and the brand in a prominent role. Which means sweating the small stuff. In the last few years, with individuals and groups tasked to develop programs for social, many organizations have in fact formalized the idea of the participant-observer role. Brand View Take mature industries and brands, mix them with consumer technology adoption and a wide array of choices and options to get the job done, and... Read more →

Decisions, Scale, and Experiences

A fascinating project and example of strategic design: Humans have attempted to structure their understanding of the world since ancient times. Taking a pile of items and finding order in their coexistence is one way of searching for meaning by focusing on the relationships between things. Different taxonomies create different alignments and leave open different gaps. Building and rebuilding these structures is a way to be diligent about seeing all aspects of an issue and discovering areas that need more attention. Things we often overlook when creating experiences: decisions at one specific scale affect or are affected by decisions at... Read more →

The Best Funded Projects of 2012

Are those that get done. If you attended one of my keynotes in 2012, you know I refer to Kickstarter as a good place to learn how people connect with ideas by looking at what we vote on with our dollars and support. The company pulled together a great narrative as a year-in-review of projects and inspiring stories. 2012 was a year of many memorable moments and as well as large scale change personally -- I'm still processing much of it so will share what I feel will help the community (actually with the goal to build a REAL community... Read more →

Customer Journey, Options, and Alternative Paths

Has all this computing capacity broadened your ability to design better customer experiences? Do you feel empowered to build options that make room for diverse personalities and uses into your services? Are alternative paths enriching your daily moments rather than being escape routes? How do you show up for customers? Forget the (metaphorical) script, you can have a lasting impact right here, right now. What do you choose to do? Give or take? Best lever to move the needle I know of? Love. Show you care. The rest, you can handle. +++ Valeria is an experienced listener. She is also... Read more →

The Importance of Clarity

After posting daily and re-imagining the conversation on this blog for more than six years, a pause felt necessary. While doing is important, I believe "being" precedes it. The focus of my work continues to be that of designing the experience that connects a business and its customers. To me, the answer to how can we employ technology to design human-centered experiences? starts with understanding where we are and the job we're trying to do and building a path to it. Before we go ahead and challenge the status quo, we need to gain clarity on the sincerity of our... Read more →