Alexa Orr

Posts by Alexa Orr

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Your Brand Can Survive for Decades—You Just Need to Blow Up Your Box

Want to make sure your business doesn't wind up hanging on by a thread? Check out proven success stories and tips to drive innovation.
Blowing Up the Box

Hilton Hotels: How This Brand is Blowing Up The Box

If you’re delivering the same customer experience today as you were in January 2020, you’re doing things wrong. To help you get it right, let's talk about a brand that is “blowing up the box” on their customer experience. First up: Hilton Hotels.
Blowing Up the Box

I Dub Thee Chief Disruption Officer: Blowing Up Your Customer’s Experience!

The way we live, work, socialize, travel, learn and more is all a bit (or a lot) different now. Today incremental change is not enough – you can’t just think “outside the box.” You need to blow up the damn box. Here's how.

Your Stand on Health and Safety Will Help You Surpass the Competition: Are You Ready?

Is your organization establishing new health & safety rules as a result of COVID-19? This is an opportunity to create a long-term competitive advantage.

Business Not as Usual: Challenging Your Assumptions for 2020 & Beyond

At Root, we believe in challenging you to become a disruptor, and then empowering you and your people to get engaged in that journey. It's time - will you disrupt or stay stagnant and watch someone disrupt you. What do you choose?

Traveling During a Pandemic: The Customer Experience is Anything But Consistent

When it comes to enacting change, how do you encourage your people to do it with a consistency that creates an effective and successful CX?

Intimacy: It’s Not Just for the Bedroom Anymore

COVID-19 has created a radical sales shift from exchanging pleasantries to creating intimacy. Developing deeper client relationships is transformational.
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HOLD THE ANCHOVIES! NOT YOUR CONTACTLESS EXPERIENCE.

As you continue to perfect your contactless customer experience, think about how your people will help bring the digital experience to life.

SHAKING UP THE HANDSHAKE: REINVENTING THE CUSTOMER & EMPLOYEE EXPERIENCE (Part 2)

Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, shaking hands or giving hugs when you greet someone is likely a thing of the past. This pandemic has accelerated and intensified the need to reinvent the customer experience, too. We need to reinvent the handshake and CX – and we need to do it right now.
handshake - Reinventing customer and employee experience

Shaking Up the Handshake: Reinventing the Customer & Employee Experience (Part 1)

Right now you’re seeing the needs of your customers change dramatically, which requires operations changes.Your employee experience needs to change too.

Musings on Change Cultures & CX Consistency

Today I'm discussing change & consistent CX. Today you need to either keep pace with change or risk failure. And when it coems to CX, organizations need to be consistent because the experiences created for customers are the pathway to success or failure.
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Customer Experience – Your ONLY Differentiator

The importance of exceptional service was ingrained in me before the term “customer experience” was ever created. My grandfather, and then my parents, operated the business with the following mindset: “The customer is always right – even when they’re wrong.”

Bots: Breakdowns or Breakthroughs?

Customer experience has come a long way. Once only a focus of retailers, it has now become a top priority of almost every industry
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Haggling: Is it the latest trend for in-store retailing?

Consumers have power and retail brands want loyalty, so before you cut and run because the big retailer won’t indulge in a little haggling, try it!

The Micro Business in a Big Box World

Some of the best customer experiences come from small businesses because the employees act like (or are) the owner. Let's scale that magic.

Wait, the Customer Is Not Always Right?

We all know customers are not flawless, but that doesn't mean they should leave our store dissatisfied with the experience we provide them.

Who’s Managing Innovation?

Find out if your managers are building a strong front line, which is important for the change you are striving for to happen with this quick assessment.

So, You Think You’re Ready to Innovate?

Find out with this quick 5 statement assessment if your leadership is ready to become a disruptor in the marketplace today.

Take the Disruptor Challenge

Be the disruptor, or be disrupted. Here are 6 things to think about to help you disrupt your marketplace and stay ahead of the competition.

Binging Isn’t Just for Chips and Netflix: Why Binge-Learning is the Next Trend

People begin binge-learning when the content they consume is created with storytelling elements instead of a checklist.

Disruption is Not a Destination

While success should be celebrated, it's important to remember disruption is not a destination. Becoming a disruptor just puts a large target on your back.

Why Company Culture As You Know It Is Dead

Company culture must change to reflect societal trends, marketplace shifts and more. Here are three tips to a successful culture change.

How Do We Build a Global Customer Experience?

Every culture has a unique experience, and so does every organization. How do we create a consistent global customer experience.

12 Powerful Questions That’ll Make You a Better Manager

Unleash the potential of your individual employees and your team by asking these 12 powerful questions that will make you a better manager.
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Disruption: Are you the next Kodak or are you the next Nintendo?

Disruption. That’s a word that can be misused or even mistaken for a buzzword and it’s anything but. To be a disruptor means to evoke palpable change
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Let’s Make Flying Great Again!

Customers on airplanes don’t’ want to be treated like threats and airline employees don’t want to be enforcers.Both sides must have more empathy.
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Customer Experience Goes To Capitol Hill

You can’t force employees to care, to be nice, to smile or to be authentic. You simply can’t mandate a great customer experience.
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United We Do NOT Stand… Without an Apology

The real issue was not the incident itself, it is the incredibly poor job United did in the recovery. United Airlines blew it. Plain and simple.
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The Instructional Designer’s Guide to the Galaxy Stories: Part 1

When done well, combining storytelling and training is an impactful way to capture attention and engage your employees in your message.
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How Microtouchpoints Can Elevate the Customer Experience

Engage your people in how important micro experiences are and how they can elevate the customer experience by making it magical.
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The Canned Customer Experience

A customer who has had a CX problem that is resolved to their satisfaction is actually more likely to become loyal than one that has had no problem at all
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Technology is Enhancing the Personal Connection, NOT Killing it!

Online technology doesn't hamper the personal connections for good customer experience, it can help bypass the transaction and focus on the relationship!
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The Concierge Level Customer Experience

Creating a unique and personalized experience drives great service. It is extremely important to connect with customers to build emotional connections
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The Manager of the Future Thinks Like a Coach

Whether you’re a CEO, senior manager, or recent college grad just entering the workforce, I have no doubt that you’re hearing the term employee engagement

My Experience with Customer Experience – Brooks Brothers vs. Men’s Wearhouse

Everyday, your brand interacts with people in stores and online. Creating a great customer experience and delivering it consistently is job one!
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Today’s Managers…Yesterday’s Shopkeepers

That manager knew what I wanted and was able to make a real-time decision to win me as a customer and begin to create a loyal relationship.
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Online is the New Frontline

Online is your new frontline and everyone involved in that experience – from the coders to the designers to the developers – should understand the customer.
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Creating Customer Experiences that Differentiate Your Business

Almost all organizations are laser-focused on trying to deliver customer experiences that truly differentiate their businesses.
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Authenticity Doesn’t Come From a Script: Lessons for Creating Exceptional Patient Experiences

What does being a patient have to do with being a customer? Everything! Retailing has transcended consumer products and is now a part of the way we “shop”
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Customer Experience Secrets Revealed – 3 Tips to Employ Right Now

3 secrets to customer experience - establish a customer first culture, empower staff to act like business owners, and create an authentic experience.
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Let’s Get Flexible

If you follow through with transparency and flexibility working hand-in-hand, the end result is happier, more engaged employees
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Dude, What’s Your Story?

People love a good story and it’s not just because stories are entertaining. We are wired for storytelling. The short story about stories is that they sell.
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Starbucks is Brewing Exceptional Customer Experiences

Starbucks barista offers a stellar example of how great companies teach everyone to act like an owner and deliver great experiences.
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What I Learned About Customer Experience From The World Series

Is your company creating an overall experience that captures the hearts and minds of your new customers? What makes your customer experience different?
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Creating a Great Customer Experience (CX) Doesn’t Start with the Customer

Many organizations operate under the premise that everything revolves around the customer. That may not be the best way to do things.
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Winning Customers for Life: Who’s in the driver’s seat?

You might think you’re in the driver’s seat when it comes to creating amazing experiences for your customers. You’ve put the right people in place,
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Get Your Strategy Off the Ground! Lessons in Leader Alignment

If the strategy isn't clear and the executive team and board of directors weren't aligned on the it, they would never be able to bring the strategy to life.
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Six Ways to Deliver a Better Customer Experience

You probably think you’re pretty focused on delivering a stellar customer experience. You have a great brand, loyal customers, and
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Do Your Employees Love You?

Employees can truly love their organizations only when they are committed to the organization’s vision, understand the strategy and how they contribute
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Working Together as a Team is the Key to Success

Working together as a team means engaging individuals in how their efforts impact their team’s success and how that success contributes to the company's success
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Why Do Great Employees Leave Great Companies?

Throughout the business world, managers rely on their employees to deliver results. Managers know that there is a never-ending war for top talent
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Bad Boss – Good Boss: Learning from Both Kinds

I’ve always been fascinated with the things that distinguish a good boss from a bad boss. Just what is it that makes a good boss good and a bad boss bad?
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Can’t teach an old dog new tricks? Corporate Training Programs

There's a fundamental flaw in the traditional mindset of corporate training - “getting people to training” and a “learning process”
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Earning and Keeping Loyalty = Customers for Life

We customers are a finicky bunch. It only takes one bad experience to destroy our loyalty to a brand. Think about your own buying habits.
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The “Manager of the Future” – The Future is Now

For traditional managers, the future looks bleak. However, for those who want to coach and develop people, your time has arrived!
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Great Managers and Fresh Produce

For years, I’ve been fascinated by managers. The more I learn, the more I realize their vital role in the execution of strategy.