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Industry Leaders Support Xplor at Print 17 Panel

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Lutz, FL — August 15, 2017: Xplor International today announced that Canon Solutions America, Compart North America, Pitney Bowes and Racami will be sponsoring the Xplor at Print 17 Breakfast Panel being held September 12, 2017 during Print 17 in Chicago.

The session titled, Exploring the Role of Print in Today’s Customer Journey will be moderated by Matt Swain of Keypoint Intelligence – InfoTrends  and will focus on the integral role that print plays as part of the customer journey.

Session description: The recent enterprise focus on improving customer experience is strongly tied to reviewing and improving the customer journey. Understanding—and mapping—a customer journey can be as much an art as it is a science. Since that journey now spans many media types, the role of print can get lost in the mix.  A timely communication by mail can secure a new customer, while a poorly-executed print campaign can also spell disaster.

Our moderator, along with our end-user panelists, will focus on the latest market trends, best practices, and the role of print in today’s customer journey.

The complimentary event is limited to the first 200 registrants. Registration includes admission to the panel session, a networking breakfast, and a Print 17 exhibit hall pass, all courtesy of the event sponsors. For more information, or to register for the event, visit the event page.

“As technology and human behavior evolve, print remains an integral component of the customer journey.” says Skip Henk, President and CEO of Xplor International. “The panel will focus on the role of print as part of the customer experience, as well as the methodology involved and how their companies use print as part of their strategy.”

Event Details:
Date: September 12, 2017
Time: 8:30 AM to 10:00 AM (Breakfast starts at 7:30 AM)
Location: McCormick Place, Chicago, IL – Room S105ABC
Cost: FREE (Registration required and limited to the first 200 registrants)

For information about Xplor at Print 17, please visit: http://bit.ly/2ftuv2C. You can also contact Xplor Headquarters at +1-813-949-6170.

About Xplor International
Xplor International is a not-for-profit association that provides thought leadership to the customer communications industry. As a community Xplor provides advocacy, education, training, mentoring and networking opportunities.

Our members are decision makers and recommenders who are involved in the conception, design, implementation production and delivery of multi-channel client, member and customer communications.

Xplor’s mission is to enhance organizational success and advance the careers of our members by providing research, publications, industry certification, professional development, web-based events, and conference programming. Xplor International has its worldwide headquarters in Lutz, Florida, with affiliated offices around the world. Further information is available at www.xplor.org.

Facebook: facebook.com/XplorInternational
Twitter: twitter.com/Xplor_Int or @Xplor_Int

Xplor International Media Contact:
Chad Henk
Director of Marketing
+1-813-949-6171
Chad@xplor.org

Xplor to host Keynote breakfast Panel at Print 17

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Complimentary registration is now open for the event titled
“Exploring the Role of Print in Today’s Customer Journey”

Lutz, FL— June 21, 2017: Xplor International today announced that they will once again host a complimentary keynote breakfast panel during the Print 17 event, September 10 – September 14, 2017 at McCormick Place, Chicago. Additionally, the event is now open for registration. Attendees can register for the complimentary breakfast panel here: http://www.cvent.com/d/j5qw5s.

The recent enterprise focus on improving customer experience is strongly tied to reviewing and improving the customer journey. Understanding—and mapping—a customer journey can be as much an art as it is a science. Since that journey now spans many media types, the role of print can get lost in the mix.  A timely communication by mail can secure a new customer, while a poorly-executed print campaign can also spell disaster.

The breakfast keynote session, moderated by Matt Swain of Keypoint Intelligence – InfoTrends, is titled “Exploring the Role of Print in Today’s Customer Journey” and will focus on the latest market trends, best practices, and the role of print in today’s customer journey. End user panelists will share their insights during the event that boasts a lively discussion.

This sponsored breakfast session is presented at no charge, thanks to sponsors Canon Solutions America, Compart North America, and Pitney Bowes. Space will again be limited to the first 200 people who register, so register today as this session has reached capacity each year.

When:  September 12, 2017
Where: McCormick Place, Chicago, IL, Room S105abc (Right by Bus Drop Off)
Time: 7:30 AM-10:00 AM
Registration Fee: Complimentary (Registration Required here: http://www.cvent.com/d/j5qw5s)

Questions and requests for additional information can be directed to Xplor Headquarters via phone at +1-813-949-6170 or via email at info@xplor.org. One additional sponsorship opportunity remains open for the event. For more information on becoming a sponsor, please contact Deborah Green, Director of Sales, at +1-770-444-3845 or deborahgreen@xplor.org.

About Xplor International
Xplor International is a not-for-profit association that provides thought leadership to the customer communications industry. As a community Xplor provides advocacy, education, training, mentoring and networking opportunities.

Our members are decision makers and recommenders who are involved in the conception, design, implementation production and delivery of multi-channel client, member and customer communications.

Xplor’s mission is to enhance organizational success and advance the careers of our members by providing research, publications, industry certification, professional development, web-based events, and conference programming. Xplor International has its worldwide headquarters in Lutz, Florida, with affiliated offices around the world. Further information is available at www.xplor.org.

Facebook: facebook.com/XplorInternational
Twitter: twitter.com/Xplor_Int or @Xplor_Int

Xplor International Media Contact:
Chad Henk
Director of Marketing
+1-813-949-6171
Chad@xplor.org

Brian Platte Lifetime Achievement Award Presented at Xploration® 17

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Lutz, FL — March 28, 2017: Xplor International, the worldwide electronic document systems association, today named the recipients of the Brian Platte Lifetime Achievement Award. This award was presented at Xplor’s Annual Conference, Xploration 17, on Tuesday, March 28th during the awards ceremony.

Tweet this: Brian Platte Lifetime Achievement Award Recipients Recognized at Xploration® 17 http://bit.ly/2mJd0JV #Xplor17

The Brian Platte Lifetime Achievement Award was established in 2007 and is given to an individual, or individuals, whose efforts and contributions have significantly changed the course and development of the digital document industry. This award is open to Xplor International members as well as non-members.

This year, two Brian Platte Lifetime Achievement Awards were presented.

The first recipient is Kemal Carr. Kemal is the President of Madison Advisors, an industry research and consulting firm that provides project-based advisory services designed to assist clients with business strategy and technology selection decisions. Prior to forming Madison Advisors in 2001, Kemal held various system roles including three years with the industry analyst group at Doculabs and seven years in the systems company of Fidelity Investments. Kemal is also a frequent writer for leading industry publications and speaks at industry events around the world.

Mr. Carr supports the New York University Prism Award Luncheon, has served on the Board of the Colleyville Grapevine Youth Football Association, and volunteered on a committee working with his local City Council to pass a bond for improvements to area schools. He also supports the Woodland Hills Community Park, nurturing 100-year old pecan trees and planting more in an effort to beautify the area for all the community to enjoy.

A second Lifetime Achievement Award was also presented to Harald Grumser, who founded Compart 23 years ago and has run the company like a family ever since. The innovation that the company was built upon gives users the ability to convert any kind of print format to any other kind of print format. The unique approach Harald took to accomplish this any-to-any conversion is called “Docponents®” and remains an idea well ahead of its time that has proven to be a uniquely prescient approach.

In addition to Harald’s contributions to the industry, he has shown his deep social consciousness by sponsoring giving campaigns for victims of earthquakes, floods, famine and the tsunami caused by the Indian Ocean earthquake in 2004. His sense of humanity has been touched by the plight of Syrian refugees streaming into Europe and Germany. Sensing that money was not enough, he initiated a program to teach refugees German, using Compart’s office space, volunteers, and facilities. Volunteers were granted time off from their usual assignments in order to teach both adults and children the language skills they will need in order to thrive in Germany and adapt to their new country.

“I’d like to congratulate both Kemal and Harald for their achievement, it is well deserved.” says Skip Henk, EDP, President/CEO of Xplor International. “Our industry as a whole and the world around us are better places due to their efforts.”

Other Xplor annual awards, recognized and announced at Xploration® 17, include:

Technology of the Year
Winner – Pitney Bowes / Clarity Solutions
Honorable Mention – Xerox Corporation / Xerox Direct to Object Inkjet Printer 
Honorable Mention – Elixir Technologies Corporation / Tango+

Application of the Year
Winner: BMO Bank of Montreal / GMC Software / The CX Ecosystem and Digital Transformation
Honorable Mention: Gore Mutual / uBiz
Honorable Mention: Health First / Ricoh USA, Inc. / RICOH ProcessDirector

About Xplor International
Xplor International is a not-for-profit association that provides thought leadership to the customer communications industry. As a community Xplor provides advocacy, education, training, mentoring and networking opportunities.

Our members are decision makers and recommenders who are involved in the conception, design, implementation production and delivery of multi-channel client, member and customer communications.

Xplor’s mission is to enhance organizational success and advance the careers of our members by providing research, publications, industry certification, professional development, web-based events, and conference programming. Xplor International has its worldwide headquarters in Lutz, Florida, with affiliated offices around the world. Further information is available at www.xplor.org.

Facebook: facebook.com/XplorInternational
Twitter: twitter.com/Xplor_Int or @Xplor_Int

Xplor International Media Contact:
Chad Henk
Marketing Manager
+1-813-949-6171
Chad@xplor.org

Clarity, Award Winning Technology by Pitney Bowes

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Interview with Marie-Pierre Belanger, VP Digital Solutions & Product Manager at Pitney Bowes
By: Skip Henk, EDP – CEO of Xplor International

Xplor’s annual Technology of the Year Award honors an individual, company or organization that has conceived and developed an original concept leading to a significant advancement in the industry.

Each year Xplor’ call for Award Submissions yields a plethora of hardware and software submissions as vendors vie for recognition which tasks the Xplor Award Committee.

This year’s winner of the Technology of the Year Award is the Clarity product by Pitney Bowes, a new cloud offering   that leverages data analytics and services to help increase productivity and lower the cost of running a print and mail operation.

I had the opportunity to speak with Marie-Pierre Belanger, VP Digital Solutions & Product Manager at Pitney Bowes to learn more about their award winning product. Marie assumed her role in August of 2016 with the mission of continuing the success of Clarity by leading highly skilled team of experts to define, develop and deliver PB Industrial Enterprise Mail equipment data optimization solutions.

Skip: First, congratulations on receiving the Technology of the Year Award. I have to say our judges were quite impressed.

Marie: Thank you and we are honored to accept this award recognizing our work in the Industrial Internet and it’s especially gratifying to be recognized by Xplor.”  

Skip: Clarity is part of the Enterprise Business Unit of PB. Could you share with our readers how it fits within the PB family?

Marie: Our clients include many of the world’s leading insurers, telecommunications companies and financial institutions who have come to rely on Pitney Bowes to process billions of pieces of mail annually. Faced with increasing competition and cost pressures, mail operations are constantly looking for ways to improve efficiency and productivity, and maintain a competitive advantage. By connecting industrial sensors, machine data, people and processes, the Clarity solutions suite helps clients access new intelligence to drive higher levels of operational performance.

Clarity Solutions is a cloud based SaaS offering available on our global fleet of production mailing systems.  It integrates and organizes data collected from sensors on our machines to drive greater operational performance for our clients.

Skip: In a nutshell, what is Clarity and what does it represent to the industry?

Marie: Clarity is a disruptive technology that brings the transformational benefits of the Industrial Internet to production print and mail.   The data and real-time insights enable the predictive analytics, and prescriptive maintenance that drive optimized performance and improved business outcomes.   The Clarity suite is comprised of three offerings:

Clarity Advisor, launched in early 2016, is our new service delivery model that offers an intelligent view into the performance of our client’s equipment to help drive higher levels of machine efficiency.  It proactively monitors trends and patterns to diagnose and resolve issues before they occur resulting in up to 10% greater machine efficiency.   Our technical experts leverage these analytics and insights to prevent system downtime and predict anomalies allowing us to start moving to outcome based service support.

Clarity Optimizer leverages actionable insights and industry benchmarks to identify an optimal combination of jobs, machines and operators to help clients improve equipment performance, operational productivity and capacity.

Clarity Scheduler provides real-time adaptive scheduling to help clients meet critical service-level agreements and drive productivity.

And in late 2017, Clarity for Production Print Systems will provide a detailed view of machine efficiency and consumable usage.

Skip: Clarity utilizes the “industrial internet”. For those not familiar with the term what exactly the industrial internet?

Marie: The Industrial Internet brings together industrial machines, advanced analytics and people in a network of highly secured connected devices to monitor, collect, analyze and deliver data-driven insights that help drive transformational business outcomes.   The business benefits include lower cost of operations, greater productivity, output and increased service levels.

Skip: This seems to be a collaborative effort with GE. How do they fit in to the equation?

Marie: At Pitney Bowes, we are leveraging a combination of physical and digital technologies to transform our businesses, which include mailing and shipping, global ecommerce and location intelligence.   We chose to partner with GE to transform our enterprise mailing business with GE Predix, the software platform for the Industrial Internet since GE has expertise in industrial manufacturing.  Our production print and mail equipment is very similar to the large scale industrial GE equipment.

Skip: What makes Clarity unique? 

Marie: This cloud based Industrial Internet technology, the first in the mail industry, allows Pitney Bowes to provide unique innovative capabilities to our clients.  Many systems collect and report data; however, by coupling the cloud analytics with our technical system knowledge and expertise, Clarity Advisor delivers the intelligent insights needed to drive higher levels of operational performance.

And by leveraging the data collected across our global install base, our clients can begin to understand how their operation compares with industry benchmarks and obtain insights that will drive the most optimal combination of jobs, machines and operators through Clarity Optimizer.

Truly innovative and unique, Clarity Scheduler leverages machine learning capabilities along with in-depth insight into the productivity relationships, trends and reoccurring patterns between operators, machines and jobs.  This provides our clients with a dynamic, adaptive real-time scheduler that learns from historical performance to unlock additional capacity and maximize yield.

And finally, all this is delivered through a secure cloud platform that allows our client to focus on their core competencies and automatically receive new features instead of supporting and maintaining complex IT infrastructures.

Skip: Marie, once again congratulations to Pitney Bowes. Do you have any closing comments? How can our readers learn more about the Pitney Bowes Clarity product?

Marie: We are proud of the recognition we have received from Xplor for Clarity.   This innovation offers the Xplor community a solution that will transform the way print and mail operations provide high quality service to their clients and driver better business outcome.  We invite you to learn more about how Clarity might benefit your operation.  Click here to do so.

skip_Henk_Photo_2011

 

Skip Henk, EDP
President/CEO
Xplor International

Xplor Announces 2017 Technology and Application Award Recipients

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Award Recipients to Be Recognized in Orlando at Xploration® 17

Lutz, FL — February 21, 2017 – Xplor International, the worldwide electronic document systems association, today announced the recipients of its 2017 Technology and Application of the Year Awards. The awards will be presented at a ceremony Tuesday, March 28, 2017, during the Xploration® 17 event at the Caribe Royale Orlando in Orlando, Florida.

Tweet this: Congratulations to the #Xplor17 Technology of the Year winner: @PitneyBowes & Application of the Year Award winner: @gmc_net!

Application of the Year Award:
The Application of the Year Award is presented to an individual, a company or an organization to recognize outstanding achievement in the imaginative application of current technology and/or unique implementation of existing document and communication systems. This award is open to members and non-members.

Xplor will award two honorable mentions in addition to the 2017 winner.

  • The winner of the 2017 Xplor Application of the Year is BMO Bank of Montreal and GMC Software. The initiative BMO undertook is a one-of-a-kind customer onboarding project that pioneered an end-to-end digital account opening process, enabled by the creation of dynamic eForms and eSignature capabilities. BMO Bank of Montreal embraced digital transformation to achieve operational efficiency, significant reduction of cost, and an improved customer experience.
  • An Honorable Mention is being awarded to Gore Mutual who leveraged technology from OpenText Exstream, Infusion and Duck Creek Technologies to create uBiz – a platform that plugs directly into broker websites, replicating their design palette to provide their small business customers with a seamless digital experience.  New customers can get quotes, policies and secure insurance all online.
  • An additional Honorable Mention is being awarded to Health First and Ricoh USA, Inc., who collaborated on identifying areas of improvement and best practices in workflows, as well as implementing a centralized monitoring and management solution. Working together Health First and RICOH Managed Services utilizing RICOH ProcessDirector to reduced errors, increase security, and improve overall efficiency.

Technology of the Year Award:
The Technology of the Year Award honors an individual, company or organization that has conceived and developed an original concept leading to a significant advancement in the industry.  This can be a new program, product, or technology that notably enhances the capabilities of document and communication systems.

Like the Application of the Year award, Xplor will present two honorable mentions, in addition to the winner of the award, due to the large number of submissions.

  • The winner of the 2017 Xplor Technology of the Year is being awarded to Pitney Bowes Clarity Solutions.  Harnessing the power of the Industrial Internet and “industrial data science”, Pitney Bowes Clarity solutions is a new cloud offering for Pitney Bowes systems that leverages data analytics and services to help increase productivity and lower the cost of running a print and mail operation.   Clarity collects, integrates and organizes existing sensor data from remote systems to support real-time insight, predictive analytics and prescriptive maintenance.
  • An Honorable Mention for Technology of the Year is being awarded to Elixir Technologies Corporation for their Tango+ product. Elixir’s Tango+ is a 100% browser-based content lifecycle management platform that enables companies to create, manage and deliver business-critical contracts, correspondence, and other communications via print and e-channels.
  • An additional Honorable Mention for the Xplor Technology of the Year award is being presented to Xerox Corporation for their Direct to Object Inkjet Printer. This inkjet drop on demand printer can print directly onto a wide range of substrates (including plastics, glass, ceramics and metal) and virtually any surface type (including smooth, rough, slightly curved or stepped).

“I want to first congratulate the 2017 Award Winners and thank all those who submitted a nomination.” said Skip Henk, EDP, President and CEO of Xplor International. “The Awards Committee once again had a difficult time selecting the winners from such a broad range of submissions.”

Xplor International will also be announcing the recipients of the Xplorer of the Year and Brian Platte Lifetime Achievement awards at Xploration® 17 on Tuesday, March 28, 2017.

For more information regarding Xploration® 17, or to register, visit www.xplor.org/xplor17. Questions should be directed to Register@xplor.org or +1-813-949-6170 between the hours of 9:00 AM and 5:00 PM (ET), Monday through Friday.

Vendors interested in being an exhibitor should contact Xplor’s Director of Sales, Deborah Green at +1-770-444-3845 or via email at deborahgreen@xplor.org.

About Xplor International
Xplor International is a not-for-profit association that provides thought leadership to the customer communications industry. As a community Xplor provides advocacy, education, training, mentoring and networking opportunities.

Our members are decision makers and recommenders who are involved in the conception, design, implementation production and delivery of multi-channel client, member and customer communications.

Xplor’s mission is to enhance organizational success and advance the careers of our members by providing research, publications, industry certification, professional development, web-based events, and conference programming. Xplor International has its worldwide headquarters in Lutz, Florida, with affiliated offices around the world. Further information is available at www.xplor.org.

Facebook: facebook.com/XplorInternational
Twitter: twitter.com/Xplor_Int or @Xplor_Int

Xplor International Media Contact:
Chad Henk
Marketing Manager
+1-813-949-6171
Chad@xplor.org

2016/2017 Xploration Tour Premiers in Dallas

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Latest Trends and Best Practices in Customer Communication Management

Lutz, FL – October 5, 2016 – Xplor International, today announced the 2016/2017 Xploration Tour that will premier in Dallas, Texas on November 10, 2016.

The Xploration Tour is a joint-venture with Xplor USA designed to provide educational programming, information, and networking opportunities to members as well as industry professionals across North America.

The 2016-2017 Xploration Tour speakers will delve into the latest trends and best practices in Customer Communications, sharing trends in the industry as well as what they have learned dealing with their own CCM strategy.

The one-day events will each feature an industry analyst overview, four educational sessions, and a speaker panel discussion. Registration includes a continental breakfast, all six sessions, lunch, and in selected cities, a facility tour.

“With multi-channel and omni-channel communications playing a more integral role in the discussion of the Customer Experience, CCM is no longer an option”, says Skip Henk, President/CEO of Xplor International, “Whether a company already has or is looking to implement and/or enhance their CCM strategy, these one-day sessions will provide insight and direction.”

The Xploration tour will target US cities across North America and include:  Atlanta, Chicago, Dallas, Minneapolis and Omaha*. The events will begin on November 10, 2016 in Dallas and run through October of 2017.

Confirmed events include Dallas, Texas on November 10, 2016 which is exclusively sponsored by Pitney Bowes. The second event will be in Atlanta, Georgia on February 9, 2017 and is sponsored by Racami. Additional cities and events will be announced when confirmed.

For more information about the Xploration Tour, visit www.xplor.org/tour.

For information on becoming an Xploration Tour sponsor please contact Deborah Green, Director of Sales, at +1-770-444-3845 or email deborahgreen@xplor.org

*Final city selection may vary.

About Xplor International
Xplor International is a not-for-profit association that provides thought leadership to the customer communications industry. As a community Xplor provides advocacy, education, training, mentoring and networking opportunities.

Our members are decision makers and recommenders who are involved in the conception, design, implementation production and delivery of multi-channel client, member and customer communications.

Xplor’s mission is to enhance organizational success and advance the careers of our members by providing research, publications, industry certification, professional development, web-based events, and conference programming. Xplor International has its worldwide headquarters in Lutz, Florida, with affiliated offices around the world. Further information is available at www.xplor.org.

Facebook: facebook.com/XplorInternational
Twitter: twitter.com/Xplor_Int or @Xplor_Int

Xplor International Media Contact:
Chad Henk
Marketing Manager
+1-813-949-6171
Chad@xplor.org

“Xplor at Graph Expo” Event Sponsored by Industry Leaders

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Lutz, FL — July 26, 2016: Xplor International today announced that Canon Solutions America, Compart North America, Pitney Bowes and Xerox Corporation will be sponsoring this year’s Xplor at Graph Expo event being held September 27, 2016 during the Graph Expo show.

Customer Experience: A Critical Factor for Achieving Success will be moderated by Matt Swain of InfoTrends who, along with panelists, will address whether the advancements in technology and changes in human behavior make superior customer experience a moving target. A superior customer experience has emerged as a critical success factor for companies. It is about meeting, and ideally exceeding, the expectations of your customer.

The complimentary event is limited to the first 200 registrants. Registration includes admission to the panel session, a networking breakfast, and a Graph Expo exhibit hall pass, all courtesy of the event sponsors. For more information, or to register for the event, visit the event page: http://bit.ly/1U9jX6g

“Over the last couple of years the concept of delivering a great customer experience has taken center stage and has become a critical success factor for companies.” says Skip Henk, President and CEO of Xplor International. “Our panelists will discuss the critical success factors in delivering a superior customer experience, as well as the obstacles and how companies can overcome them.”

Event Details:

Date: September 27, 2016
Time: 8:30 AM to 10:00 AM (Breakfast starts at 7:30 AM)
Location: OCC North Building – Level 3, Room N310 E&F
Cost: FREE (Registration required and limited to the first 200 registrants)

For information about Xplor at Graph Expo, please visit: http://bit.ly/1U9jX6g. You can also contact Xplor Headquarters at +1-813-949-6170.

About Canon Solutions America
Canon Solutions America is a leading provider of digital document technology solutions.  The Océ brand has a reputation for delivering high speed, outstanding quality and rock-solid reliable production printers to some of the biggest industries and brands. From cut-sheet to continuous feed, monochrome to full-color, and toner to inkjet, these scalable printing and workflow solutions are customized for your business and backed by award-winning service. As part of Canon Solutions America, we have the brightest R&D minds advancing tomorrow’s innovations to help you grow your business, control costs, and practice environmental stewardship. Whether it’s improving productivity or opening new markets and applications, we can help you be ready for the future. Learn more at pps.csa.canon.com.

About Compart North America
Over the course of two decades Compart has helped over 1,200 companies worldwide, across a broad range of industries, to successfully implement output management solutions. Our international team has extensive technological expertise in providing output management solutions for complex enterprise environments. We work with you to design the ideal output management solution for your business. www.compart.com

About Pitney Bowes
Pitney Bowes (NYSE: PBI) is a global technology company offering innovative products and solutions that enable commerce in the areas of customer information management, location intelligence, customer engagement, shipping and mailing, and global ecommerce. More than 1.5 million clients in approximately 100 countries around the world rely on products, solutions and services from Pitney Bowes. For additional information, visit Pitney Bowes at www.pitneybowes.com.

About Xerox Corporation
Xerox is a global business services, technology and document management company helping organizations transform the way they manage their business processes and information. Headquartered in Norwalk, Conn., we have more than 140,000 Xerox employees and do business in more than 180 countries. Together, we provide business process services, printing equipment, hardware and software technology for managing information — from data to documents. Learn more at www.xerox.com.

About Xplor International
Xplor International is a worldwide, not-for-profit professional association that consists of thousands of users and suppliers of the products and services that create, modify and deliver customized information using a wide variety of document technologies. The association provides educational products and programs for its members and the industry at large through conferences, meetings and annual events. Xplor International has its worldwide headquarters in Lutz, Florida, with affiliated offices around the world. Further information is available at www.xplor.org.

Facebook: facebook.com/XplorInternational
Twitter: twitter.com/Xplor_Int or @Xplor_Int

Xplor International Media Contact:
Chad Henk
Marketing Manager
+1-813-949-6171
Chad@xplor.org

Customer Experience: Put the patty on the damn bun!

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By Skip Henk, EDP, President/CEO of Xplor International

Over the last year I have been spending a great deal of time better understanding the varying intricacies of a customer experience, its relationship to our industry, and how a great customer experience can pay big dividends.

An article I read the other day by Warren Buffet said, “Your business will succeed if you execute this three word mission, DELIGHT YOUR CUSTOMER.” Speaking at the 20th Graduation of Goldman Sachs’ 10,000 Small Businesses at LaGuardia Community College, Buffett told the graduates: “Tomorrow morning when you look in the mirror after you’ve gotten up, just write — or just put it in lipstick or whatever you want — ‘delight my customer’ not ‘satisfy my customer.’ ‘Delight my customer.’”

This perhaps is the most descriptive and succinct definition of a the Customer Experience I have read.

(To read the article http://tinyurl.com/jxgghuy )

We have dozens of customer experiences each week which can vary greatly. Whether you are dropping your clothes off at the cleaners, going to the grocery store or ordering on Amazon we have plenty of opportunity to be delighted.

Some of the most mundane of interactions can be delightful with delight being driven by expectations.

Setting Expectations
Customer experience is how we expect to be treated in a given situation. When we go to the cleaners, we don’t want to wait in line too long to drop them off and we want our clothes cleaned properly and ready when promised. At the grocery store, we expect shelves to be well stocked, for the store to be clean and for there to be plenty of cashiers or self serve kiosks to minimize our wait when leaving. When ordering online, we look for availability, price, shipping costs and time. Then we expect our purchase to arrive on or before the date promised.

Expectations vary based on the task and whether we have high or low expectations. When expectations are met, it represents a good experience.

Put the Patty on the Damn Bun
I occasionally go to a fast food restaurant, typically with fairly low expectations. I do expect to wait if I go during a peak times and I automatically assume my order is will not be right, so I check it. I also expect that it is at least warm.  Reasonable but certainly not high expectations.

hamburgerLast week, I had a Big Mac craving and ventured to McDonald’s to order myself a Big Mac and fries.  (Don’t judge me, I know the Big Mac is 560 calories and fries add an additional 368 calories; this isn’t the point)  The “customer experience” was going along well, I did not have to wait long, the order appeared correct and I saw the fries come out the fryer, so they were nice and hot. I was good to go. I sat down to eat and opened my Big Mac finding BOTH patties were hanging halfway off the bun. Not sure exactly why it crossed me but it did.

As I looked at my burger I contemplated taking it back but decided not to do so. What I realized is that the customer experience can in fact be a moving target with expectations theoretically changing with each transaction. The same may hold true for our industry.

At the Xplor at Graph Expo breakfast session, September 27th in Orlando, our panel, moderated by Matt Swain of Infotrends, will try and answer the question:  “With advancements in technology and changes in human behavior, is offering a superior customer experience a moving target?”

If you are planning to attend Graph Expo, I invite you to attend our complimentary breakfast session sponsored by Canon Solutions America, Compart North America, Pitney Bowes and Xerox Corporation. For more information and to register, visit the event website.

As far as my Big Mac expectations, “Put the damn patty on the bun!”

skip_Henk_Photo_2011

 

Skip Henk, EDP
President/CEO
Xplor International