Closure in services, presented at Livework Insights

Closure Experiences

Joe Macleod. @mrmacleod @ClosureExp closureexperiences.com

Death, Denial and Debt

http://www.closureexperiences.com

WhatWhat is a Closure Experience Why the customer life cycle is biased What created this situation How it has impacted us Good and bad Closure Experiences Techniques and models

The satisfactory conclusion to a product or service relationship. Each party feeling satisfied with the completed transaction, it being a fair, just conclusion without negative consequence.

Closure

”

”

The Consumer Experience

1. 2. 3.

Any consumer experience can be broken down into 3 stages

On-Boarding Off-BoardingUsageThe stable, committed relationship between the user and the service they use, or the product they own.

It is the effort it takes to get the customer to commit to the

product or service relationship. The start of the relationship.

It is the effort it takes to neutralise the effects of the engagement. To complete the agreed engagement. It is the conclusion of the relationship.

enga

gem

ent

time

Starting Experiences

Closure Experiences

Fuelled by commerce Fuelled by societyLanguage of self actualisation Language of safety and security





Joe Macleod. Closure Experiences.

Packaging

Advertising

Marketing

enga

gem

ent

time

Examples include…

T&Cs

Inactivity / dormancy

Break the contract

Examples include…

Recycle


Closure Experiences







enga

gem

ent

time

The interest gap

Packaging

Advertising

MarketingExamples include…

T&Cs


Break the contract

Examples include…

Recycle


Closure Experiences







enga

gem

ent

time

The interest gap

Packaging

Advertising

MarketingExamples include…

T&Cs


Break the contract

Examples include…

Recycle


Closure Experiences







The customer life cycle is biased

There is a gap of interest

Consumers and industry in codependent denial


servicesproducts

digital

…the consequences we see in


The Social context of Closure

Life was hard,

El Ángelus. Jean-François Millet. CCJoe Macleod. Closure Experiences.

death was familiar,

Ars Moriendi. Meister E.S.Joe Macleod. Closure Experiences.

funerals were meaningful,

A Burial at Ornans by Gustave Courbet. CCJoe Macleod. Closure Experiences.

heaven was an attractive reward.

Belshazzar’s Feast. John MartinJoe Macleod. Closure Experiences.

Plague arrived

Antonis MilanosJoe Macleod. Closure Experiences.

Meaningless death

Scène de la peste de 1720 à la Tourette by Michel SerreJoe Macleod. Closure Experiences.

Miss-managed

Raphael's Portrait of Leo X with cardinals Giulio de' Medici Joe Macleod. Closure Experiences.

Hacking access with indulgences

Protestent uprising

Scène de la peste de 1720 à la Tourette by Michel SerreJoe Macleod. Closure Experiences.

Day of reckoning

Work in the eyes of God

Joe Macleod. Closure Experiences. Eisenwalzwerk. Adolph Menzel

Re-invest in the eyes of God


Increased wages

Joe Macleod. Closure Experiences. CWD Negative Collection, Orange & District Historical Society

work less? buy more?

Medicine learnt to control death,

Portrait of Dr. Samuel D. Gross. Thomas EakinsJoe Macleod. Closure Experiences.

and hid it away.

Gross Clinic on display at the Army Post HospitalJoe Macleod. Closure Experiences.

Consume Heaven on Earth without end

Joe Macleod. Closure Experiences. American Abundance for all Vintage ad Wheaties sweepstakes 1958

Death gave birth to Heaven

Work was un-Godly

Death was an expected part of life

Heaven is abundant on Earth

Work and investment Godly.

Death is hidden from life

So…


Closure changed…


Closure had value and a vocabulary

Closure is hidden, overlooked and unwanted

The Psychological Impact of Closure

Ernest Becker Denial of Death

Terror Management Theory

“most human action is taken to ignore or avoid the inevitability of death”


Terror Management Theory

We are all in denial that things end.


Terror Management TheoryKasser and Sheldon 2000

Researchers attempted to connect consumption to Terror Management Theory

Liberation. M.C. Escher 1955Joe Macleod. Closure Experiences.


“suggested that concerns about mortality, although sub-conscious, strongly influence our behaviour and aspirations about material goods and economic status”



“suggested that concerns about mortality, although sub-conscious, strongly influence our behaviour and aspirations about material goods and economic status”

this impacts our relationship with consumption


Role Exit

Helen Rose Fuchs Ebaugh 1988

“doubts are often ignited from organisational changes, personal burnout, a change in relationships, or the effect of some event. These doubts are then reflected to peers or friends as cuing behaviour.”


Role Exit

First doubts

cuing behaviour

• Organisational changes • Burnout • Changes in relationships • Events

assess following situations

seeking out individuals who will reinforce doubts

re-evaluation of the situation and temporary halting of the doubting process

negative interpretation of subsequent events

agreement of others

reinforcement of doubts

Seek alternatives


Closure is started with a doubt

Role Exit


Closure in the Service Landscape

Government

The only service your born into.

Petr Kratochvil. CCJoe Macleod. Closure Experiences.

To leave; vote, move or die

By English: Gerry J. Gilmore [Public domain], via Wikimedia CommonsJoe Macleod. Closure Experiences.

Nuclear deterrent

UK spends £205 Billion on Trident

“A nuclear weapon must be always at the ready, yet never used” Bernard Brodie

Never ending story

Multi-billion £ oxymoron

By English: Gerry J. Gilmore [Public domain], via Wikimedia CommonsJoe Macleod. Closure Experiences.

DivorceNever ending story

£205 Billion

Divorce rates doubled between 1970 (58,239) and 1980 (148,301)

Marriage/Divorce

Marriage ended by husband by saying “Talaq" 3 times

5 reasons considered grounds for divorce in UK

1. Adultery, 2. Un-reasonable behaviour, 3. Desertion, 4. Lived apart for 2 years and agreed to get divorced 5. Lived apart for 5 years without agreement UK Government

Divorce with Blame

Immediate Divorce

Jan Van Eyck. Arnolfini Wedding Portrait

Russian revolution in 1918.

• Helped people leave abusive relationships. • Lowered the incidents of wives committing suicide by 8-16% • 30% decrease in domestic

violence Betsey Stevenson and Justin Wolfers

No Fault Divorce

• 1 in 11 Muslim women are survivors of triple Talaq • Vast majority receiving no compensation.

Bharatiya Muslim Mahila Andolan (BMMA)

Thad Zajdowicz. CCJoe Macleod. Closure Experiences.

Credit cards

US household debt as of Q1 2016, is $132,086

www.nerdwallet.com

Credit cards US average $15,310

Consumer rewarded for more debt. Never rewarded for paying back.

Gaming debt. Not celebrating good debt payers.

http://www.nerdwallet.com

Switch Guarantee

Energy industryFinancial industry

“people change their bank accounts, on average, every 26 years” “75% of personal current account holders have never switched, with nearly 1 in 5 saying this was because of the hassle and potential risks.”

Current Account Switch Service will let consumers safely and reliably switch their accounts between banks in 7 days. Sept 2013

Independent Commission on Banking Report

(a) 36% did not think it was possible to change one or more of the following: tariff, payment, method and supplier. (b) 34% said they had never considered switching supplier. (c) 56% said they had never switched supplier, did not know it was possible or did not know if they had done so.

Competition and Markets Authority

Energy Switch Guarantee is a commitment that promises a speedy and safe switch from one energy provider to another. June 2016

Big industry find it hard to create endings. So watchdogs have to do it for them.


Gyms

Attrition rate of gyms 30-50%. Even the best gyms are losing 30% each year www.ptdirect.com

2 in 5 people had trouble canceling contracts. 1 in 4 people had a notice period over 1 month. 1 in 5 found they couldn't leave due to being tied in for minimum term. which.co.uk

Gyms deny endings with contract lock-ins.

Opportunity to create a best in class Closure Experience - celebrate the ending.

http://www.ptdirect.com

http://which.co.uk

Office of War Information Photograph Collection . CCJoe Macleod. Closure Experiences.

UK Financial Ombudsman

Negotiate settlements between customers and companies in UK

2009 considered 127,000 cases. In 2014 this leapt to 512,000

£13.4bn cumulative payouts mis-selling PPI UK

Cultural bias towards On-Boarding

Users trapped in contracts

Business fail to create closure

Off-Boarding lengthy, legal and hidden


Services

As an industry, services don't do endings well.


A good Closure Experience will be…

Consciously Connected to the rest of the experience through Emotional Triggers that are Actionable by the user in a Timely manner.

A good Closure Experience will be…


Consciously ConnectedClosure is Consciously Connected to the rest of the experience through Emotional Triggers that are Actionable by the user in a Timely manner.

Canon fail to link the starting experience, and the closure experience - despite having all the bits.

Nearly 500ml of redundant space in Canon packaging.

A printer pioneer, having operated a cartridge recycling program since 1990.

Users don’t understand what ‘benzisothiazol’ means and therefore can’t action anything about it.

On-Boarding Off-Boarding

Fill in form, sign T&Cs - 2300 words.

Usage

Canon Ink Cartridge



Sales interviews

The conversation is a ‘sales opportunity’

Sky requires the customer to have a 1 hour phone call if they want to leave

Gavin Hackwood from UK. Attempted to leave Sky. After 90 minute call his request was denied.

Pensions

Pensions need to connect a Starting experience and a Closure experience over decades.

1 in 4 of these pension pots goes missing through lack of contact. Age Concern

Average of 11 employers in our lifetime. Department for Work and Pensions UK

20s 65s40 years of v i s i b i l i t y

lifespan


Emotional TriggersClosure is Consciously Connected to the rest of the experience through Emotional Triggers that are Actionable by the user in a Timely manner.

Marie Kondo Tidying Technique

New York Times

Questioning: does a product ‘bring you joy?’ helps the owner understand the meaning if ownership and responsibility.

Encourages emotional endings with the clutter in your home

‘Goodbye, and thank you for teaching me what doesn’t suit me’


ActionableClosure is Consciously Connected to the rest of the experience through Emotional Triggers that are Actionable by the user in a Timely manner.

HTC One Mini Packaging

Some packaging mis-places closure

Starting experiences wrapped up as long term responsibility

Closure experience overlooked as important or actionable


Carbon off-setting on flights. As part of the customer lifecycle worked.

Carbon off-setting for flights was part of the customer purchase lifecycle. Sadly it has moved into the background, and airlines do it as part of their Social Responsibility.

Carbon off-setting for your flight

A perfect moment to ask about a Closure Experience


TimelyClosure is Consciously Connected to the rest of the experience through Emotional Triggers that are Actionable by the user in a Timely manner.

A commitment to the perceived lifetime of the product

CCO by Ryan Stone

Traditional approaches of warranty aim to reassure against failures in the product. KIA aims to deliver assurance to the lifetime of the product.

Kia

KIA 7 year warranty disrupted the market when it first launched.


Mortgages

Jameslwoodward

There should be a period of reflection and celebration.30 years of

payback shouldn't end in a moment

Sadly debt is only celebrated, when more debt is added. Paying off debt is not celebrated, avoiding a Closure experience for the user.


DNR. Do Not Resuscitate

Jameslwoodward

Occasionally resuscitation takes place despite the existence of a DNR. Prompting many elderly people to get their first tattoo.

DNR is over burdened as an interface.

A DNR document is a humble A4 piece of paper that informs medical staff about the life and death intentions of the user.


Techniques and Models

On-Boarding Off-BoardingUsage

Closure Experiences


ConsequencesTransaction types

Key moments

1. 2.

3.

Customer lifecycle

65

Consequences


Rebirth Reflection Rest

Released to take part in another experience

Look back at a wonderful experience

Provides an opportunity to rest, a moment of peace

Closure Experience will bring about

Resentment

I could have made more of that opportunity

Regret

I feel cheated, and its someones fault.

Desirable Avoidable

3.

66

Closure ExperiencesThere are 5 main types of closure experiences the user has with Services.


Time out Credit outTask/Event completion Withdrawal Lingering

2 week holiday, 3 year degree, 1 year software subscription,

Pay As You Go, Points on your driving license

Parcel delivered, boiler fixed, car serviced, concert watched, operation successful, money transferred

Break the contract, leave the film early, end the relationship,

A pension that you no longer pay into. An unused gym membership

2 3 4 51

2.

67

Transaction types


Payment after delivery

Payment before delivery

Scheduled payment Synchronous

Continuous observation

restaurants, plumbers, hairdressers, taxis

flights, trains, music concert

gym membership, car insurance, utility payments

digitised services, pay-as-you-go, commissioned services

Google Maps, Facebook, phone manufactures, carriers

The Transaction type establishes the relationship for the rest of the service delivery and therefore characterises the Closure Experience.

2 3 4 51

1.

So…

Balance the l i f e c y c l e


value death, in life.


for every start,


design an end


every emotional


HELLO!

deserves


a

grateful


GoodbyeJoe Macleod. @mrmacleod. @ClosureExp www.closureexperiences.com

http://www.closureexperiences.com