I’ve attended several Satmetrix conferences over the years, and one of the things that always hits home is the wide variety of backgrounds, businesses and best practices that they bring together. This year is no exception—in my track alone we have a business that manages pools and one that manages people! Roger Thompson from FirstService will be highlighting how he built the Net Promoter Score Program there across 18,000 employees, while Joyce Maroney of Kronos Inc will discuss how she revamped the existing voice of customer efforts across the 30-year-old company with 3000 employees in 60 countries. They will provide tips on starting from scratch, as well as tips on how to redirect existing, well intentioned efforts to something more impactful for the business. And of course we have some industry best practices from Steven Nicks of Satmetrix, who will share what he has seen at the coal face so that we can hopefully avoid the pitfalls!

Like any major endeavor, getting started on a loyalty journey is not easy…where to start is the main question new program owners have, especially when the to-do’s seem infinite! While not everyone’s journey is the same, and we all certainly face different terrain with different obstacles, you will find enough nuggets of commonality in these tales from real life to help you along your way. I have found that sometimes the best tips come from the most unexpected sources…I remember getting a ton of ideas from the discussion led by Simon Lyons of Aggreko…a company that rents generators! Who would have thought that there was much in common with renting machinery and selling software to consumers and businesses! It turns out that delivering great customer experiences transcends products, geographies and segments. Regardless of what you are trying to deliver to what audience, there are some basic tenets that you must adhere to—like the Golden Rule that Fred Reichheld refers to--and some basic checklist items that you will need to have to ensure that your journey is successful. You may have to add to the list, but you certainly won’t get far without making sure you cover off the minimum set. I am confident that you will find out what this minimum set is at the conference and figure out what your priority items are to go back and address at the office. Awareness, as they say, is the first step!

I managed to climb Mount Whitney (and get back) in one day on June 30, 2009. I did it by first deciding (easy), getting best practices (REI lecture, 2 books and countless blogs), building my checklist (fitness training, equipment, altitude conditioning), and lastly having a go (hard)! It just proved to me, a non-hiker, that everything is possible with the right attitude, some good advice, and the right company.

You can be successful on your journey…with a little help from people who have done it already. Roll on February!