GEN Z : How They Differ & Their Impact on Business

This is the first in a three part series-post on Generation Z and its future influence on companies.  Called 'true digital natives', Gen Z'ers are in the 0-16 age group and are the first generation raised in a totally digital world.

Full-life exposure to the internet, social networks, and mobile platforms produced a generation that is at ease collecting and cross-referencing many sources of information and with integrating virtual and offline experiences.

Gen Z'ers, it seems, have four core behavior traits:

- value of individual expression and avoidance of labels
- mobilize themselves for a variety of causes
- believe in the value of dialog and verbal interaction to solve conflicts and improve the world
- make decisions in a highly analytical and pragmatic way

This value system is in vast contrast to the Y Generation (Millennial) which are often referred to as the 'Me' generation - that were raised in an era of economic prosperity and focus on the 'self'. Y'ers are more idealistic, more confrontational, and less willing to accept diverse points of view than Z'ers.

Given this very significant 'values-shift', it is incumbent upon all businesses to attune themselves to address Gen Z'ers wants. Consumption as access vs. possession, consumption as an expression of individual identity, and consumption as a matter of ethical concern - all working in tandem with fast-changing technological advances and all leading to a transformation of the consumer landscape.

Businesses must now rethink how they deliver value to the customer (see prior posts on the importance of the CX), reset their thoughts on scaling against personalization, and live-up to their brand's promise and ethics.

McKinsey & Company has preformed extensive research on the comparison of generational values and emotional purchasing behaviors, I will be using some of this research in part two of this series on Gen Z.


Best
Jim Lavorato, Principal
Fund-House Ventures, LLC

Case Study: CONSTRUCTING A LOGO

A logo. A metaphor for a Brand. A symbol that imparts, at a glance, the image and essense of the company.

A logo should contain at least three of the following : an image, a font, a color palette, a name, a tagline, a symbol, sizing, all wrapped-up in a great graphic design.

The process of  developing a logo consists of the following: conceiving, designing, selection, re-designing, re-selection, final selection, tagline determination, tag conceiving, writing, selection, placement, size.  All leading to a final logo.

Case Study: Building A Logo

I had embedded within Fund-House Ventures a unique business consult process based upon the four cornerstones of business performance: Money, Management, Market, Momentum. I wanted this new service to have its own name, image, and logo while still being part of  F-H .   To accomplish this I needed to do the following:

-  Create a name for the new service
-  Design an image that would best represent the new service.
-  Decide on how to co-brand the new service with the existing Fund-House brand.
-  Decide if a tagline was required and, if so, create one.
-  Finalize Logo

The Name

Since the four cornerstones all started with the letter 'M', incorporating 4M into the name was obvious. It was also apparent that the cornerstones were all about performance so the name quickly became '4M Performance' - an accelerator model for revenue generation and market expansion.

The Image

I wanted to incorporate the number 4 and the letter M into the logo. The problem was, what to do with the word 'Performance'?  To have the logo incorporate the 'P' or to spell out the word? And what about using the key words Marketing, Money, Momentum, Management in the logo or as a tag.

After a lot of thought and the aid of a great graphic design firm, Electronic Ink, 14 logo designs were created. Of the 14, three were selected as the finalists with color changes. From those three, one was selected. It is a very stylized image but imparts what 4MP is all about - a forward moving business consult model.

The Use and Image It Portrays 

This particular logo is going to be available in three separate color combinations, depending upon its use: business cards, brochures, letterhead, sway and give-aways, etc. It will be embedded into the Fund-House literature as well and in all slide show and advertising/PR promotional  materials.

This logo comes with or without the '4M PERFORMANCE' tag.

This is a strong logo. It is bold and stands on its own pillar. It also has an arrow pointing upward that, coincidentally is in the shape of the B-2 Stealth Bomber.

Summary

A logo must stand for something and be relevant to the company brand.  It must be easily understood and identifiable. Logos are fun to conceive and more fun to develop.

Jim Lavorato, Principal
Fund-House Ventures, LLC
Phoenix, AZ

Being Aware of Your Biases

From a one person start-up to a major corporation, all decision-makers must be acutely aware of where and what their biases are and how to conquer them.

There are a variety of biases and many of us have more than one type. Biases can be Action, Interest, Pattern-recognition, Stability, or Socially oriented. Following are examples of Action, Interest, and Social biases.

Action Oriented - Push to take action less thoughtfully than we should.

- Excessive Optimism: The tendency for people to be overoptimistic about the outcome of planned actions, to overestimate the likelihood of positive events, and to underestimate the likelihood of negative ones.

- Overconfidence: Overestimating our skill level relative to others', leading us to overestimate our ability to affect future outcomes, and neglect the role of chance.

- Competitor Neglect: The tendency to plan without factoring in competitive responses, as if one is playing against a non-competitive opponent.

Interest Oriented - Arise in the presence of conflicting incentives, including non-monetary and even purely emotional ones.

- Misaligned Individual Incentives: Company incentives for adopting views or seek outcomes favorable to themselves at the expense of the overall company interest.

- Inappropriate Attachments: Emotional attachment of individuals to people or elements of the company (such as legacy products or services or brands) creating a misalignment of interests.

- Misaligned Perception of Business Goals: Disagreements (often unspoken) about the hierarchy or relative weight of objectives pursued by the business and about the trade-offs between them.

www.fundhouse.us For business coaching

Social Biases - Arise from the preference for harmony over conflict.

- Group-think: Striving for consensus at the cost of a realistic appraisal of alternative courses of action.

- Group-management: Tendency for people to align with the views of their management.

Biases come in many forms and it is incumbent upon all managers to recognize their biases and disregard them when making decisions about business operations.

Jim Lavorato, Principal
Fund-House Ventures, LLC
jlavorato@fundhouse.us

WHY START-UPS FAIL - It's NO SECRET

- 70% of all tech start-ups fail
- 97% of all consumer hardware start-ups fail
WHY?

9 out of the top 20 reasons start-ups fail (and five out of the top 10) were related to CX - not meeting customer needs, not listening to them, or flat-out ignoring them.

The number ONE reason start-ups fail was 'no market need.' NO Customers. Start-ups fail when they are not solving a market problem. When the business model doesn't solve a customer pain point in a scalable way.

Nearly the same number of reasons for failure (seven of the top 20) were related to the people and/or culture of the company (EX).  Not having the right people on board. Team building is important and oft neglected by the company founder(s).  A lack of focus or passion or both dooms start-ups.

It's noteworthy that only two of the top 20 reasons start-ups fail was due to money or lack of.  What this tells you is that failure rates are people related - inside and outside the company.  The most tragic failures happen when people inside the company don't care about customers, or don't cultivate a culture centered on the customer.

The moral of this warning to entrepreneurs: Customers must be your priority and their needs must be in sync with employee objectives. Ignoring either will result  in failure.

The CX - Why It's So Important

Product development and operational excellence drive innovation and increase sales. However, every company should be innovating in the customer experience and view it as a top priority. CX must be a deliberate, distinct, disciplined effort.

CX innovation differs from other kinds of innovation as it starts with the customers purchase journey. But knowing that CX is the primary way to compete and win in today's market how to get there is another story. Here's what you need to do.

CX Innovation As Priority

Just like any product or service provided by the company, CX needs a dedicated space, process, program and staff.  The purpose is to identify, develop, and test new CX ideas. The idea is to facilitate a test-and-learn approach to CX.  This can start out small with minimal investment, but any CX effort must have two clear
criteria:

1. Does it solve a problem for the customer?
2. Does it enhance the customer relationship?

Collect data from sales staff, company management, outside consult.

Contact us for developing your CX programs or Bootcamps

Must Have Company-wide CX Training

Every company needs to cultivate a CX mindset throughout the business. Every employee needs to know who your customers are and what their needs and journeys are.  They need to be motivated to adopt new ways of doing and thinking. They need to be empowered to implement new CX programs and work together to support the desired CX.

Set up a CX Bootcamp to train employees about the ideal customer's behaviors and their emotional pull to purchase.

Everyone Must Be Involved with Solving CX Problems.

Employees know how important CX is, as they are all customers themselves and aware of the problems customers encounter. To encourage and instill a strong sense of ownership for CX improvement is not an over-burdensome task.

On of the ways to improve CX is to assign to an employee or several a customer pain-point and ask her (them) to develop a solution for it. It is surprising how good the solutions are as the employee puts themselves in the customer's place.

CX and EX are the two must important business issues of the day and into the future. They are inexorably connected and need to be developed and nurtured simultaneously.  Fund-House, along with the 4M Performance model can assist with both your CX and EX issues - contact us for a verbal, free consult. Don't let you start-up fail due to CX issues.

Best,
Jim Lavorato
Principal  Fund-House Ventures, LLC
www.fundhouse.com
jlavorato@fundhouse.us

How CX Helps EX, Don't You Know?

The major theme that runs through a successful customer experience (CX) is to align it with the employee experience (EX). 

This makes full sense because they want the same things, a smooth, seamless experience, few problems, and satisfaction with the service or product. The link between the CX and EX must be clear and understandable.

The Customer Journey

Customers want consistent and engaging experiences at all stages of their purchasing journey. This is accomplished by addressing their pain-points quickly with clear and meaningful employee interaction. This is done by establishing 'control points'  - those key points, in the customer journey, where it is essential to control the risk of poor CX.

The Branding & Identity Specialists : www.fundhouse.us 

Customer Pride

The CX must be hassle-free.  Problems must be quickly and completely resolved. If not, negative
word-of-mouth travels fast and wide and creates problems for employees. Reacting to frequent problems frustrates and alienates employees and negatively effects their sense of
pride in providing excellent CX.

How It's Done

Simply giving employees access to customers usually increases employee engagement and therefore
CX traction. At many companies, employee success and customer success are at odds. The solution is that whatever the customer defines as success is also what the employee views as success.

All companies, of all sizes, should be instilling a customer-centric culture and ensure that everyone feels responsible for CX.  Once established this culture will foster best CX.

The approach to CX makes sense and seems simple but that doesn't mean easy. Discipline, commitment, and patience are required to connect the dots between CX and EX pain-points, drive excellence, and push sales.

Jim Lavorato
Fund-House, LLC
www.fundhouse.us