"INSTANT" Trade-off Mapping: Towards Automatic Strategic Planning, Performance Management, and Innovation

Inexpensively Leapfrogging the Competition
“INSTANT” TRADE-OFF MAPPINGA Tool for Mapping and Innovating on Customer ExperienceDr. Rod King

CLASSIC BUSINESS PLAN
INSTANT TRADE-OFF MAP

One-page tool for mapping customer experience
Facilitates daily and group decision-making
Instantly communicates business strategy & vision
Bulky document containing a business/financial plan
Does not focus on performance management
Not effective in communicating business strategy

WHAT IS
“INSTANT”
TRADE-OFF MAPPING?

Simple and fast to use or prepare
Inexpensive; no extra software
Focuses on innovativetrade-off concept and visual idea generation
Complex/time-consuming to use
Expensive to prepare
Does not focus on delivering unique and delightful customer experiences
Scalable: applicable to elements of value chain
Uses universal metric of Trade-off Quotient (TQ), which is descriptive as well as predictive
Can be used to improve as well as innovate on strategic and operational customer experiences
Not scalable; expensive to modify or change
Uses various criteria/performance indicators
Usually excludes performance management; does not focus on facilitating the discovery of innovation opportunities

THE COST OF POOR STRATEGY IN BUSINESS AND LIFEHighly Successful Businesses See and Manage Strategy Through the Lens of Desirable Customer Experiences
UNHAPPINESS
LOSS OF
JOBS
LOSS OF MONEY
DEATHS

“Business strategy revolves around 8 archetypal questions.”
What is the current customer experience or performance of the most critical competitors?
What is the potential for a product/service to succeed?
What currently is the customer experience of your product/service/tool/
business/organization? Why?
What must be the customer experience? When? Why?
3. For a given market or customer job, why is product/ service/tool/business A (market leader) far more successful than product/ service/tool/business B?
4. What customer value propositions as well as competitive strategies and tactics are required so that competitor Y can leapfrog competitor X?
8 STRATEGY QUESTIONS
THAT YOU CAN
INNOVATIVELY ANSWER USING
A TRADE-OFF MAP
5. How to simply monitor the performance of a business or value chain as well as competitors in terms of customer experience?
7. How to simply design or generate scenarios for ‘hit’ products/services/tools/ business models/experiences that redefine a market or change the rules of the game?
How to innovatively get more customers, sales, or market share? From what sources?
How to align employees and customers with the vision and strategy of the business/org.?
8. What would be the next generation or ideal species of ‘hit’ or ‘leapfrog-innovation’ products/services/tools/ business models?

“INSTANT” TRADE-OFF MAPPING for Starbucks Stage of Customer Experience Cycle: Adoption/Usage/Maintenance/Disposal
TRADE-OFF VOICE
Description of Customer: ………………………….……………………….… Date: 2007-2009
10
6
(+): DELIGHT
TRADE-OFF MAP
TRADE-OFF MAP
3
3
6
10
0
(-): PAIN

“INSTANT” TRADE-OFF MAPPING Stage of Customer Experience Cycle: Adoption/Usage/Maintenance/Disposal
TRADE-OFF VOICE
Description of Customer: SMEs – Strategists/Planners/Marketers Date: Sept. 2009
10
6
(+): DELIGHT
TRADE-OFF MAP
TRADE-OFF MAP
3
3
6
10
0
(-): PAIN

‘HIT ZONE’ STRATEGY FOR IMPROVING X-CUSTOMER EXPERIENCE Stage of Customer Experience Cycle: Adoption/Usage/Maintenance/Disposal
Description of Customer: SMEs – Strategists/Planners/Marketers Date: Sept. 2009
Disruption Spot
‘HIT ZONE’ STRATEGY:
Description of Customer Job/Need: To simply develop ideas and strategies for delivering unique and delightful customer experiences
Description of Customer Value Proposition: “Providing unique and delightful customer experiences”
Mission/Vision: Automatic customer experience innovation for everyone

“INSTANT” TRADE-OFF MAPPING Stage of Customer Experience Cycle: Adoption/Usage/Maintenance/Disposal
TRADE-OFF VOICE
Description of Customer: ………………………….……………………….… Date: …………..…
10
6
(+): DELIGHT
TRADE-OFF MAP
TRADE-OFF MAP
3
3
6
10
0
(-): PAIN

‘HIT ZONE’ STRATEGY FOR IMPROVING X-CUSTOMER EXPERIENCE Stage of Customer Experience Cycle: Adoption/Usage/Maintenance/Disposal
Description of Customer: ………………………….………….… Date: …………..…
…………………….…………………..
‘HIT ZONE’ STRATEGY:
Description of Customer Job/Need: ……………….…………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………….
Description of Customer Value Proposition: ………………………….………………………………………………………………………………………….………….
Mission/Vision: ………………………………….………….…………………………………………………………………………………………………………….……………….

CATEGORIES OF CUSTOMER NEEDS, SELECTIONS, AND EXPERIENCESStage of Customer Experience Cycle: Adoption/Usage/Maintenance/Disposal
Zero Trade-off-Experience
(cf. “Wrecking-ball moment”)
‘Hit’ Zone
MARKET (CUSTOMER JOB): ………………………………….
Period/Year: …………….…………………………………………..
High-end
SuperHit-Need/Experience
Sweet Spot-Need/Experience
Luxury Spot-Need/Experience
Disruption Spot-Need/Experience
Oasis-
Need/Experience
Volcano- Need/Experience
DELIGHT:
Fidelity
Low-end
Green Ocean- Need/Experience
No Man’s Land- Need/Experience
Red Ocean- Need/Experience
Fidelity Belly
Convenience
Inconvenience
PAIN: Inconvenience

CUSTOMER EXPERIENCES IN THE HIT ZONE AND FIDELITY BELLY Examples of Businesses with Archetypal Customer Experiences
‘Hit’ Zone
SuperHit

Google Search
Dell
Amazon
Swatch

Sweet Spot

Cirque du Soleil
Target
FedEx
Borders

Luxury Spot

iPhone
Disneyland
Porsche
Louis Vuitton

High-end
Disruption Spot

Southwest Airlines
Nintendo – Wii
Wal-Mart
YouTube

Oasis

Segway
Hulu
Starbucks
Mariott Hotels

Volcano

Amazon – Kindle
Blu-Ray
Newton PDA
Movie Theaters

DELIGHT:
Fidelity
Green Ocean

Small independent bookstores

NHL – TV Broadcast
No Man’s Land

Traditional newspapers
Earthlink
Early Electric Cars

Red Ocean

Yugo Car
Webvan
Teledesic
General Magic

Low-end
Fidelity Belly
Convenience
Inconvenience
PAIN: Inconvenience

WHEEL OF CUSTOMER EXPERIENCEThe 4 Stages of the Customer Experience Cycle

DELIGHT-PAIN BALANCE Stage of Customer Experience Cycle: Adoption/Usage/Maintenance/Disposal
MARKET (CUSTOMER MAIN DESIRED EXPERIENCE/INTENT/NEED/OBJECTIVE/JOB): …………………………………………………………………..……….
DELIGHT (Fidelity)
PAIN (Inconvenience)

Quality (Content/Performance)
Cost (Price)
Differentiation (Social Status/Cachet)
Inaccessibility/Unavailability
Personalization (Identity/Character)
Complexity (Time)

TOOL
ALTERNATIVES: ………………
Trade-off Quotient (TQ)
= Pain/Delight
= Inconvenience/Fidelity
= Customer Exp. Quotient
SELECTION/ACTION: ………

“What gets measured and monitored, gets improved.”
BETTER BUSINESS ANALYSIS/PLANNING
GREATER CUSTOMER SATISFACTION
STRONGER COMPETITIVE ADVANTAGE
MORE DELIGHTED CUSTOMERS
BENEFITS OF
TRADE-OFF MAPPING:
… Obtain …
MORE CUSTOMER LOYALTY/REFERRAL
MORE SUSTAINABLE GROWTH
MORE SALES AND PROFIT
ROBUST DEFENSE AGAINST ATTACKS

REFERENCES
Christensen, C.M. (1997) The Innovator’s Dilemma. Boston: Harvard Business School (HBS) Press.
Kim, W.C.; Mauborgne, R. (2005) Blue Ocean Strategy. Boston: Harvard Business School (HBS) Press.
King, R. (2009) Fractal Box Thinking: A Simple Visual Tool for Total Problem Solving and Innovation. Fresno, California: TOAD Publishing.
Maney, K. (2009) Trade-Off. New York: Broadway Books.
Verganti, R. (2009) Design-Driven Innovation. Boston: Harvard Business School (HBS) Press.
Dr. Rod King

Thought Leader, Speaker, Consultant, and Trainer on Trade-Off Mapping & Customer Experience Management
rodkuhnking@sbcglobal.net & http://tradeoffmap.ning.com
http://twitter.com/RodKuhnKing