Good customer service is the lifeblood of any business. You can offer promotions and slash prices to bring in as many new customers as you want, but unless you can get some of those customers to come back, your business won’t be profitable for long.
Good customer service is all about bringing customers back. And about sending them away happy – happy enough to pass positive feedback about your business along to others, who may then try the product or service you offer for themselves and in their turn become repeat customers.
If you’re a good salesperson, you can sell anything to anyone once. But it will be your approach to customer service that determines whether or not you’ll ever be able to sell that person anything else. The essence of good customer service is forming a relationship with customers – a relationship that that individual customer feels that he would like to pursue.
How do you go about forming such a relationship? By remembering the one true secret of good customer service and acting accordingly; “You will be judged by what you do, not what you say.”
I know this verges on the kind of statement that’s often seen on a sampler, but providing good customer service IS a simple thing. If you truly want to have good customer service, all you have to do is ensure that your business consistently does these things:
1) Answer your phone.
Get call forwarding. Or an answering service. Hire staff if you need to. But make sure that someone is picking up the phone when someone calls your business. (Notice I say “someone”. People who call want to talk to a live person, not a “fake recorded robot”.) For more on answering the phone.
2) Don’t make promises unless you WILL keep them.
Not plan to keep them. Will keep them. Reliability is one of the keys to any good relationship, and good customer service is no exception. If you say, “Your new bedroom furniture will be delivered on Tuesday”, make sure it is delivered on Tuesday. Otherwise, don’t say it. The same rule applies to client appointments, deadlines, etc.. Think before you give any promise – because nothing annoys customers more than a broken one.
3) Listen to your customers.
Is there anything more exasperating than telling someone what you want or what your problem is and then discovering that that person hasn’t been paying attention and needs to have it explained again? From a customer’s point of view, I doubt it. Can the sales pitches and the product babble. Let your customer talk and show him that you are listening by making the appropriate responses, such as suggesting how to solve the problem.
4) Deal with complaints.
No one likes hearing complaints, and many of us have developed a reflex shrug, saying, “You can’t please all the people all the time”. Maybe not, but if you give the complaint your attention, you may be able to please this one person this one time - and position your business to reap the benefits of good customer service.
5) Be helpful - even if there’s no immediate profit in it.
The other day I popped into a local watch shop because I had lost the small piece that clips the pieces of my watch band together. When I explained the problem, the proprietor said that he thought he might have one lying around. He found it, attached it to my watch band – and charged me nothing! Where do you think I’ll go when I need a new watch band or even a new watch? And how many people do you think I’ve told this story to?
6) Train your staff (if you have any) to be ALWAYS helpful, courteous, and knowledgeable.
Do it yourself or hire someone to train them. Talk to them about good customer service and what it is (and isn’t) regularly. Most importantly, give every member of your staff enough information and power to make those small customer-pleasing decisions, so he never has to say, “I don’t know, but so-and-so will be back at...”
7) Take the extra step.
For instance, if someone walks into your store and asks you to help them find something, don’t just say, “It’s in Aisle 3.” Lead the customer to the item. Better yet, wait and see if he has questions about it, or further needs. Whatever the extra step may be, if you want to provide good customer service, take it. They may not say so to you, but people notice when people make an extra effort and will tell other people.
8) Throw in something extra.
Whether it’s a coupon for a future discount, additional information on how to use the product, or a genuine smile, people love to get more than they thought they were getting. And don’t think that a gesture has to be large to be effective. The local art framer that we use attaches a package of picture hangers to every picture he frames. A small thing, but so appreciated.
If you apply these eight simple rules consistently, your business will become known for its good customer service. And the best part? The irony of good customer service is that over time it will bring in more new customers than promotions and price slashing ever did!
Posted by Lien Leonardi
Saturday, March 14, 2009
Friday, February 20, 2009
Generating Income During a Recession
The most popular way to earn money in this country is to get a job and exchange 35-50 hours of your week for a paycheck. However, as many Americans continue to receive dreaded pink slips and join the masses on the unemployment lines, paychecks are becoming an increasingly elusive form of income. For those who are fortunate enough to still receive their paychecks, perhaps there is no urgent need to seek additional ways to generate income. But for those who have personally felt the sting of this ugly recession, this information is for you.
One of the easiest ways to generate income is to freelance or pursue contractual work. With the explosion of freelance websites, there are a good number of opportunities available to qualified candidates. The most popular areas of demand for freelancers include writing, web design, graphic arts, and programming. However, there are other opportunities to package your unique skills and offer a service to the right audience. There are also virtual jobs that are often contractual in nature, and offer opportunities for one to do everything from providing answering services, to managing HR functions for another organization.
So who is hiring all of these freelancers and contractors?
Any person or organization that is willing to outsource an activity, project, or long-term assignment. In fact outsourcing work to freelancers and contractors can be a preferred method of doing businesses. It is less expensive to hire a freelancer than a full time employee, and it offers an organization more flexibility in handling projects.
So in between your job search, take some time to identify a skill that you can turn into a profitable service. Research rates and opportunities for freelancing that would be a good fit for you based on your talents and time management skills. Finally look for work. You can find a myriad of opportunities on the following websites:
www.elance.com
www.sologig.com
www.guru.com
www.virtualassistants.com
www.gofreelance.com
www.virtualassistantjobs.com
Good luck and remember to always be as proactive as possible. Freelancing may lead to additional income, and a new passion!
Keri Glover
One of the easiest ways to generate income is to freelance or pursue contractual work. With the explosion of freelance websites, there are a good number of opportunities available to qualified candidates. The most popular areas of demand for freelancers include writing, web design, graphic arts, and programming. However, there are other opportunities to package your unique skills and offer a service to the right audience. There are also virtual jobs that are often contractual in nature, and offer opportunities for one to do everything from providing answering services, to managing HR functions for another organization.
So who is hiring all of these freelancers and contractors?
Any person or organization that is willing to outsource an activity, project, or long-term assignment. In fact outsourcing work to freelancers and contractors can be a preferred method of doing businesses. It is less expensive to hire a freelancer than a full time employee, and it offers an organization more flexibility in handling projects.
So in between your job search, take some time to identify a skill that you can turn into a profitable service. Research rates and opportunities for freelancing that would be a good fit for you based on your talents and time management skills. Finally look for work. You can find a myriad of opportunities on the following websites:
www.elance.com
www.sologig.com
www.guru.com
www.virtualassistants.com
www.gofreelance.com
www.virtualassistantjobs.com
Good luck and remember to always be as proactive as possible. Freelancing may lead to additional income, and a new passion!
Keri Glover
Thursday, February 12, 2009
Taking Control of Your Career Transition
Unfortunately,
Conventional wisdom dictates networking as a critical way to get re-employed. That’s so true. I view networking as now a way of life. You should always be making connections not just when you feel you are in danger of going down for the third time.
Now’s not the time to sit back and wait for the phone to ring. For many if not all of us it just doesn’t happen that way.
For the purposes of this blog let’s take a closer look at one form of networking that is really sizzling right now -- social and business networking. It’s hot and getting hotter. And leading the way is LinkedIn. Millions are finding it a serious way for making meaningful business connections. If you haven’t checked it out yet you really should.
Follow this link for a great article on LinkedIn and key ways to use it as a part of your job hunt.
http://blog.guykawasaki.com/2009/02/10-ways-to-use.html
Personal Effort
In terms of tapping into the power of the LinkedIn network my own experience involved starting a discussion group based on a critical current interest – finding work. It’s known as “Job Seekers-Charlotte Metro Area”. Last count we’re now up to 79 members!
I started it about six months ago as a way for job seekers in our area to connect with one another, ask questions, hold discussions, make employment-related announcements and more. Basically, I jumped it knowing virtually nothing about creating and owning a discussion group. It sounds trite but if I can do it anyone can.
To me, this is an extension of participating in one of many career support self-help groups located throughout our region. Whenever possible I attend the Careers in Transition (CIT) group that meets twice a month in
So, if you are contemplating setting up or participating in a LinkedIn discussion group here are a few tips I’d like to share:
- Keep it fresh – Start or encourage others to begin discussion topics that are relevant and timely. As with most web sites, people need reasons to get involved and check back – frequently.
- Encourage sharing success stories – Even in this horrible economic climate people are finding ways to land jobs. Welcome their stories. It provides hope and encouragement to all. Fresh approaches and new ideas are what the group is all about.
- Be open to change – Listen to the members. Understand their needs. Adjust the emphasis of the group accordingly. Actively encourage involvement and engender a sense of individual ownership of the group.
The point is everyone deals in job loss differently. Those that succeed maintain a positive attitude, try to surround themselves with supportive people, and keep working at finding ways to reinvent themselves. If you’re in the job market what are you doing to better position yourself? What works and what doesn’t?
As a CAMA blogger I’m very interested in your thoughts on the subject of career transitions. Please share your ideas. In this job market we all need to pull together to help each other.
Enjoy and Happy Hunting!
(Incidentally, if you’re reading this and are interested in the “Job Seekers-
Ken Caputo is a marketing professional who relocated his family to the Greater Charlotte area from
Tuesday, February 10, 2009
CRM - Best use to distinguish yourself
The next 12 months are threatening to be far tougher for organisations than the last. So what has the world of customer relationship management tought us this year that will stand us in good stead for 2009?
“Credit crunch” - a phrase that neither you nor I had heard of 12 months ago that is now shaping up to be the bane of our lives. There’s no escaping the fact that there is some serious belt-tightening going on around the globe. And all the business forecasts for 2009 make for bleak reading.
Speaking at the Microsoft Convergence conference, Brad Wilson, general manager of Microsoft Dynamics CRM, emphasised that the most important thing to do during a recession is to keep your eye on the customer.
“It’s critical now for every company to think about how they invest in the processes needed to help their customer relationships,” he explained. “Nucleus Research says the one area you should continue to invest in is CRM. Nobody today has unlimited funds to pursue all the projects that they want to do, but guaranteeing the best possible customer experience is really important.”
So with that in mind, it’s a good time to take stock, and consider some of the key lessons that organisations have leant in the past 12 months - and that will stand them in good stead as we move into challenging conditions in 2009.
1. Use your online communities as a tool for feedback and innovation
At the recent Dreamforce Salesforce.com global gathering, Starbucks discussed the success of its MyStarbucksIdea.com site, which was set up to solicit ideas from customers for how to improve the coffee giant’s service. To date, some 65,000 ideas have come through the site. The functionality of this site is now integrated into Facebook.
“This allows us to engage in regular dialogues with our customers. Facebook gives us the personalised local experience.”
Chris Bruzzo, CTO, Starbucks
“It’s an experience for a brand like Starbucks that allows us to embrace our customers and bring them into the boardroom,” says Chris Bruzzo, CTO of the MyStarbucksIdea site. “That’s happening on a consistent basis. It’s changed our capability to see our customers. We went from one great store in Seattle to today when we have tens of thousands. In the process, you lose some of the connection with your customers. This allows us to engage in regular dialogues with our customers. When you get to 65,000 ideas that is too many ideas to understand. Facebook gives us the personalised local experience.”
Elsewhere at the event, Michael Dell also shared his thoughts on using customer communitites for feedback and innovation. “We have an ecommerce site that has 35 million visits a week and 480 million unique visitors a year,” he explained. “We have put the idea of listening into a whole other realm. We have more conversations with customers than any other company I know. We have had 10,000 ideas posted on our IdeaStorm site. We are inspired by listening. We have this incredible model of co-participation whereby our customers are driving the development of our products. Listening is in our DNA – we are a company with big ears!”
2. Ensure you are managing your reputation online
The surge in online consumer generated content presents many challenges and opportunities for marketing professionals in businesses across the world. Studies suggest that the majority of brand comment online is negative and firms need to engage with these commentators.
At the same time, Web 2.0 can be a blessing for firms who have an army of advocates. Many companies are not yet clear on how to identify and influence brand advocates or manage their reputation within a wider social network environment. Brand advocates are critical for companies to effectively manage their reputation on social media sites.
Identifying users and supporters of one’s brand and then offering incentives for voicing support in a group often creates brand advocates. However, some brands are lucky enough to already have a number of brand advocates without carrying out any official activity on social media. In this case, brands should use this as an opportunity for consumer research and then introduce some kind of non-invasive presence to reward loyalty.
Either way, users must welcome brands into the fold and they must also be absolutely certain they are not going to be interrupting conversations. The key to this is providing information and content to advocates that is valuable and non-intrusive.
3. Move from monologue marketing to dialogue/conversational marketing
Direct marketing as it stands is nothing more than ‘monologue marketing’. Whether the consumer deems the communication relevant or not, simply bombarding them with marketing messages isn’t indicative of forging a long-term, two-way relationship.
“Like anything that is new, [next best action marketing] is something that can actually provide key competitive advantage, so they don’t want to make a song and dance about it until they have actually got it bedded down.”
Umporn Tantipech, Teradata
Brands must change their current monologue mentality, whilst at the same time harnessing digital and other channels to their fullest potential.
Digital channels offer a huge opportunity for direct marketers to establish meaningful and two-way relationships with consumers, but only if brands can change their way of thinking and move beyond one-way communications. If a brand is going to develop a dialogue with a consumer it must take a step back and allow the consumer to decide, albeit with well defined prompting, what information they want to have and when.
In technology terms, next best action marketing has been increasing in popularity as a way for organisations to deliver the right message on the right channel at the right time, as opposed to just pushing the product at any and every opportunity. O2 and Orange are just two businesses that are benefitting from the technology.
“There is a lot of activity going on, but it is low key,” says Umporn Tantipech, director of Teradata’s CRM Centre of Excellence for Financial Services. “Like anything that is new, it is something that can actually provide key competitive advantage, so they don’t want to make a song and dance about it until they have actually got it bedded down.”
4. Know your customers (lifestage, values and lifestyle)
Last year, a McKinsey study berated managers for not understanding the important issues in their customers’ lives. Too many, they said, did narrow product research without understanding the context of lifestage, values and lifestyle. The result was a trust gap between companies and customers: consumers felt companies had poor CSR credentials and were more willing to take them to task about it.
An example of this could be found in the US, where executives thought data protection was a more important issue than it was in reality, and underestimated healthcare and retirement concerns because they didn’t understand the baby boomers. With the business of business becoming more social, generational value research must have greater prominence. You may think you know today’s customers but if your demographics don’t change, will you know who they are tomorrow?
There are cultural issues to consider, specifically:
• The rise of customer power- The wane of the nuclear family and the rise of singles needing networks.- Technology (and particularly the internet) that lowers market entry barriers and allows for knowledge/content sharing.• The increasing ‘tribalisation’ of society- Flexible living- Future Foundation believes people are spending more on temporary enjoyment and less on what they can keep.• Return to arts and crafts- The concerns over manmade climate change and population size, and how this links to consumerism.- The business of business being social rather than shareholder value.
But there are also generational issues to consider, i.e. the differences between marketing to Generation Y, and the oft-overlooked over-50s.
5. Learn to locate real customer insight
Insight is the ability to get into the customer’s head in a way that is valuable to the business. Insight is not just data. It is a deep understanding of the customer in the context of the market.
According to Dr Brian Smith and Dr Paul Raspin, it should be useful and actionable. It needs to be ‘of its time’ and can include both hindsight (perception gained analysing the past) and foresight (perception gained from modelling the future). It is not obvious to others or easily found.
So how might real, valuable, hard to acquire, actionable insight be produced? Some tips include:
• Define the business challenges that the insight needs to address and eliminate noise. What are the key issues in your market to which no one has the ‘right answer’?
• Audit and plan out the areas where you need data and information to research the issues. Usually, they fall into three groups:- PESTE trends (political, economic, social, technical, environmental).- Market data on consumers, customer, competitors, suppliers, channels.- Internal performance data.
• Someone needs to have ownership of that issue and be continuously scanning the relevant information for insight.
• The issue owner needs to build a ‘model’ of current accepted knowledge and insight for why things are currently done as they are.
• It is against this knowledge that new insight can be explored and measured for potential.
6. Measure your customer experience
Customer experience should be a leading KPI for customer-centred organisations, but firms run into difficulties measuring it. “The nearest many organisations get is the use of customer satisfaction surveys and average call answering statistics - neither of which adequately measure customer experience,” says Tony Mooney, consulting and propositions director at Experian Integrated Marketing.
“The nearest many organisations get is the use of customer satisfaction surveys and average call answering statistics - neither of which adequately measure customer experience.”
Tony Mooney, consulting and propositions director, Experian Integrated Marketing
“For example, most companies with call centres use average call answering as a KPI. This is merely a hygiene factor and, anyway, is usually inaccurate as it measures call answer times from the point at which the poor customer has made it through several layers of IVR. Of far greater importance than how quickly you pick the phone up is how the call is handled, e.g. single contact resolution.”
A company’s first thought should not be ‘how do we measure IVR effectiveness?’ but rather ‘what are our customers expecting when making a call and how do they feel when confronted by a taped voice going through messages and menus?’.
Measuring customer experience does not mean throwing new metrics into the pot along with the old, according to Jennifer Kirkby. It needs a thorough re-evaluation of the whole feedback infrastructure flowing into a balanced scorecard metric system.
Tips for ‘measuring’ customer experience include:
• Too many companies use magic numbers – KPIs which are deemed to be important because “everyone has them” – for instance, net promoter score, customer retention and leads. Model your processes from the customer perspective, and understand through research and feedback what happens at each stage – then put in metrics.
• We think we listen to customers but the evidence tells a different story. Break down your propositions and services - the customer’s view of process – and find out just what drives engagement, and how customers feel about each part. Norwich Union uses emotional feedback measures they have found to be important, such as ‘do you feel appreciated as an individual?’ and ‘do you genuinely feel that NU cared about meeting your needs?’ and use the result in ‘customer innovation’ sessions with staff.
• Measuring word of mouth is hard but there are indicators. Ratings and recommendations on the likes of YouTube or TripAdvisor are examples of how Web 2.0 is opening this up to measurement.
• Too many companies ask customers what they want - e.g. do you want the phone answered in three or six rings? - and set metrics accordingly, rather than establishing what the customer’s objective is and setting measurement on whether it was achieved. Dig down to root causes and set metric systems accordingly; measure benefits not service levels.
7. Ensure your staff are your biggest brand advocates
Measuring, training and rewarding employees can all be effective tools to ensure that your staff are engaged with your brand message. But making customer-facing employees the voice of the customer can be even more rewarding.
Jennifer Kirkby suggests that frontline staff can be engaged by involving them in product and service design. She suggests their importance as insight workers should be recognised, for not only do they understand what customers want (after all they deal with them day to day) but they also understand what the solutions are because they know your business.
“Not only has Disney defined four things that are important but also an order: Safety, Courtesy, The Show, Efficiency. Based on this, staff can make the right brand choices every day in every interaction.”
David Williams, CEO, How To Experience
When your employees are used in this way, customer service moves from the end of the ‘make and sell’ process into the heart of the customer value proposition design (CVP) – and lo, sales through service enters the corporate DNA.
John Lewis recently came second in a consumer report on service across 77 retail organisations by Which?. Interestingly, the department store had managed the feat of a large organisation giving the much vaunted ‘corner shop experience’.
It was reaping the rewards of initiating a ’selling through service’ programme. “The core of our programme is our ABC process – Acknowledge the customer, Build the relationship through conversation, Close the sale through listening and questions,” says Andrew McMillan, former manager of customer service at the retailer. “It took us five years to complete the enormous culture change and get our partners (the John Lewis staff) to be proficient in ‘acknowledging’ – putting across the message ‘I’m here if you need me’. Then we launched into B and C. This entailed getting groups of around 24 outstanding partners (six from each store) together to come up with ideas for building and closing.
“With that information, we put together a strategy and implemented it through a cascade run by the shop floor partners. Performance was measured in a mystery shopper programme. The mystery shoppers themselves were ex John Lewis shop floor partners and were intimately involved in both designing the measures and the research.”
But for firms to get this right and reap the benefit, they must ensure staff are aligned with the brand. Disney, for instance, has its entire business based on brand image and so it has been critical to ensure its staff live and breathe the brand message. “Helping frontline staff resolve day-to-day dilemmas is key to making your brand real,” explains David Williams, CEO of How To Experience. “Disney has done this brilliantly. Not only has it defined four things that are important but also an order: Safety, Courtesy, The Show, Efficiency. Based on this, staff can make the right brand choices every day in every interaction. You don’t need a big rule book, just clear guidelines. Human beings do the rest!” (Source: MyCustomer.com 19-Dec-2008)
by Lien Leonardi
“Credit crunch” - a phrase that neither you nor I had heard of 12 months ago that is now shaping up to be the bane of our lives. There’s no escaping the fact that there is some serious belt-tightening going on around the globe. And all the business forecasts for 2009 make for bleak reading.
Speaking at the Microsoft Convergence conference, Brad Wilson, general manager of Microsoft Dynamics CRM, emphasised that the most important thing to do during a recession is to keep your eye on the customer.
“It’s critical now for every company to think about how they invest in the processes needed to help their customer relationships,” he explained. “Nucleus Research says the one area you should continue to invest in is CRM. Nobody today has unlimited funds to pursue all the projects that they want to do, but guaranteeing the best possible customer experience is really important.”
So with that in mind, it’s a good time to take stock, and consider some of the key lessons that organisations have leant in the past 12 months - and that will stand them in good stead as we move into challenging conditions in 2009.
1. Use your online communities as a tool for feedback and innovation
At the recent Dreamforce Salesforce.com global gathering, Starbucks discussed the success of its MyStarbucksIdea.com site, which was set up to solicit ideas from customers for how to improve the coffee giant’s service. To date, some 65,000 ideas have come through the site. The functionality of this site is now integrated into Facebook.
“This allows us to engage in regular dialogues with our customers. Facebook gives us the personalised local experience.”
Chris Bruzzo, CTO, Starbucks
“It’s an experience for a brand like Starbucks that allows us to embrace our customers and bring them into the boardroom,” says Chris Bruzzo, CTO of the MyStarbucksIdea site. “That’s happening on a consistent basis. It’s changed our capability to see our customers. We went from one great store in Seattle to today when we have tens of thousands. In the process, you lose some of the connection with your customers. This allows us to engage in regular dialogues with our customers. When you get to 65,000 ideas that is too many ideas to understand. Facebook gives us the personalised local experience.”
Elsewhere at the event, Michael Dell also shared his thoughts on using customer communitites for feedback and innovation. “We have an ecommerce site that has 35 million visits a week and 480 million unique visitors a year,” he explained. “We have put the idea of listening into a whole other realm. We have more conversations with customers than any other company I know. We have had 10,000 ideas posted on our IdeaStorm site. We are inspired by listening. We have this incredible model of co-participation whereby our customers are driving the development of our products. Listening is in our DNA – we are a company with big ears!”
2. Ensure you are managing your reputation online
The surge in online consumer generated content presents many challenges and opportunities for marketing professionals in businesses across the world. Studies suggest that the majority of brand comment online is negative and firms need to engage with these commentators.
At the same time, Web 2.0 can be a blessing for firms who have an army of advocates. Many companies are not yet clear on how to identify and influence brand advocates or manage their reputation within a wider social network environment. Brand advocates are critical for companies to effectively manage their reputation on social media sites.
Identifying users and supporters of one’s brand and then offering incentives for voicing support in a group often creates brand advocates. However, some brands are lucky enough to already have a number of brand advocates without carrying out any official activity on social media. In this case, brands should use this as an opportunity for consumer research and then introduce some kind of non-invasive presence to reward loyalty.
Either way, users must welcome brands into the fold and they must also be absolutely certain they are not going to be interrupting conversations. The key to this is providing information and content to advocates that is valuable and non-intrusive.
3. Move from monologue marketing to dialogue/conversational marketing
Direct marketing as it stands is nothing more than ‘monologue marketing’. Whether the consumer deems the communication relevant or not, simply bombarding them with marketing messages isn’t indicative of forging a long-term, two-way relationship.
“Like anything that is new, [next best action marketing] is something that can actually provide key competitive advantage, so they don’t want to make a song and dance about it until they have actually got it bedded down.”
Umporn Tantipech, Teradata
Brands must change their current monologue mentality, whilst at the same time harnessing digital and other channels to their fullest potential.
Digital channels offer a huge opportunity for direct marketers to establish meaningful and two-way relationships with consumers, but only if brands can change their way of thinking and move beyond one-way communications. If a brand is going to develop a dialogue with a consumer it must take a step back and allow the consumer to decide, albeit with well defined prompting, what information they want to have and when.
In technology terms, next best action marketing has been increasing in popularity as a way for organisations to deliver the right message on the right channel at the right time, as opposed to just pushing the product at any and every opportunity. O2 and Orange are just two businesses that are benefitting from the technology.
“There is a lot of activity going on, but it is low key,” says Umporn Tantipech, director of Teradata’s CRM Centre of Excellence for Financial Services. “Like anything that is new, it is something that can actually provide key competitive advantage, so they don’t want to make a song and dance about it until they have actually got it bedded down.”
4. Know your customers (lifestage, values and lifestyle)
Last year, a McKinsey study berated managers for not understanding the important issues in their customers’ lives. Too many, they said, did narrow product research without understanding the context of lifestage, values and lifestyle. The result was a trust gap between companies and customers: consumers felt companies had poor CSR credentials and were more willing to take them to task about it.
An example of this could be found in the US, where executives thought data protection was a more important issue than it was in reality, and underestimated healthcare and retirement concerns because they didn’t understand the baby boomers. With the business of business becoming more social, generational value research must have greater prominence. You may think you know today’s customers but if your demographics don’t change, will you know who they are tomorrow?
There are cultural issues to consider, specifically:
• The rise of customer power- The wane of the nuclear family and the rise of singles needing networks.- Technology (and particularly the internet) that lowers market entry barriers and allows for knowledge/content sharing.• The increasing ‘tribalisation’ of society- Flexible living- Future Foundation believes people are spending more on temporary enjoyment and less on what they can keep.• Return to arts and crafts- The concerns over manmade climate change and population size, and how this links to consumerism.- The business of business being social rather than shareholder value.
But there are also generational issues to consider, i.e. the differences between marketing to Generation Y, and the oft-overlooked over-50s.
5. Learn to locate real customer insight
Insight is the ability to get into the customer’s head in a way that is valuable to the business. Insight is not just data. It is a deep understanding of the customer in the context of the market.
According to Dr Brian Smith and Dr Paul Raspin, it should be useful and actionable. It needs to be ‘of its time’ and can include both hindsight (perception gained analysing the past) and foresight (perception gained from modelling the future). It is not obvious to others or easily found.
So how might real, valuable, hard to acquire, actionable insight be produced? Some tips include:
• Define the business challenges that the insight needs to address and eliminate noise. What are the key issues in your market to which no one has the ‘right answer’?
• Audit and plan out the areas where you need data and information to research the issues. Usually, they fall into three groups:- PESTE trends (political, economic, social, technical, environmental).- Market data on consumers, customer, competitors, suppliers, channels.- Internal performance data.
• Someone needs to have ownership of that issue and be continuously scanning the relevant information for insight.
• The issue owner needs to build a ‘model’ of current accepted knowledge and insight for why things are currently done as they are.
• It is against this knowledge that new insight can be explored and measured for potential.
6. Measure your customer experience
Customer experience should be a leading KPI for customer-centred organisations, but firms run into difficulties measuring it. “The nearest many organisations get is the use of customer satisfaction surveys and average call answering statistics - neither of which adequately measure customer experience,” says Tony Mooney, consulting and propositions director at Experian Integrated Marketing.
“The nearest many organisations get is the use of customer satisfaction surveys and average call answering statistics - neither of which adequately measure customer experience.”
Tony Mooney, consulting and propositions director, Experian Integrated Marketing
“For example, most companies with call centres use average call answering as a KPI. This is merely a hygiene factor and, anyway, is usually inaccurate as it measures call answer times from the point at which the poor customer has made it through several layers of IVR. Of far greater importance than how quickly you pick the phone up is how the call is handled, e.g. single contact resolution.”
A company’s first thought should not be ‘how do we measure IVR effectiveness?’ but rather ‘what are our customers expecting when making a call and how do they feel when confronted by a taped voice going through messages and menus?’.
Measuring customer experience does not mean throwing new metrics into the pot along with the old, according to Jennifer Kirkby. It needs a thorough re-evaluation of the whole feedback infrastructure flowing into a balanced scorecard metric system.
Tips for ‘measuring’ customer experience include:
• Too many companies use magic numbers – KPIs which are deemed to be important because “everyone has them” – for instance, net promoter score, customer retention and leads. Model your processes from the customer perspective, and understand through research and feedback what happens at each stage – then put in metrics.
• We think we listen to customers but the evidence tells a different story. Break down your propositions and services - the customer’s view of process – and find out just what drives engagement, and how customers feel about each part. Norwich Union uses emotional feedback measures they have found to be important, such as ‘do you feel appreciated as an individual?’ and ‘do you genuinely feel that NU cared about meeting your needs?’ and use the result in ‘customer innovation’ sessions with staff.
• Measuring word of mouth is hard but there are indicators. Ratings and recommendations on the likes of YouTube or TripAdvisor are examples of how Web 2.0 is opening this up to measurement.
• Too many companies ask customers what they want - e.g. do you want the phone answered in three or six rings? - and set metrics accordingly, rather than establishing what the customer’s objective is and setting measurement on whether it was achieved. Dig down to root causes and set metric systems accordingly; measure benefits not service levels.
7. Ensure your staff are your biggest brand advocates
Measuring, training and rewarding employees can all be effective tools to ensure that your staff are engaged with your brand message. But making customer-facing employees the voice of the customer can be even more rewarding.
Jennifer Kirkby suggests that frontline staff can be engaged by involving them in product and service design. She suggests their importance as insight workers should be recognised, for not only do they understand what customers want (after all they deal with them day to day) but they also understand what the solutions are because they know your business.
“Not only has Disney defined four things that are important but also an order: Safety, Courtesy, The Show, Efficiency. Based on this, staff can make the right brand choices every day in every interaction.”
David Williams, CEO, How To Experience
When your employees are used in this way, customer service moves from the end of the ‘make and sell’ process into the heart of the customer value proposition design (CVP) – and lo, sales through service enters the corporate DNA.
John Lewis recently came second in a consumer report on service across 77 retail organisations by Which?. Interestingly, the department store had managed the feat of a large organisation giving the much vaunted ‘corner shop experience’.
It was reaping the rewards of initiating a ’selling through service’ programme. “The core of our programme is our ABC process – Acknowledge the customer, Build the relationship through conversation, Close the sale through listening and questions,” says Andrew McMillan, former manager of customer service at the retailer. “It took us five years to complete the enormous culture change and get our partners (the John Lewis staff) to be proficient in ‘acknowledging’ – putting across the message ‘I’m here if you need me’. Then we launched into B and C. This entailed getting groups of around 24 outstanding partners (six from each store) together to come up with ideas for building and closing.
“With that information, we put together a strategy and implemented it through a cascade run by the shop floor partners. Performance was measured in a mystery shopper programme. The mystery shoppers themselves were ex John Lewis shop floor partners and were intimately involved in both designing the measures and the research.”
But for firms to get this right and reap the benefit, they must ensure staff are aligned with the brand. Disney, for instance, has its entire business based on brand image and so it has been critical to ensure its staff live and breathe the brand message. “Helping frontline staff resolve day-to-day dilemmas is key to making your brand real,” explains David Williams, CEO of How To Experience. “Disney has done this brilliantly. Not only has it defined four things that are important but also an order: Safety, Courtesy, The Show, Efficiency. Based on this, staff can make the right brand choices every day in every interaction. You don’t need a big rule book, just clear guidelines. Human beings do the rest!” (Source: MyCustomer.com 19-Dec-2008)
by Lien Leonardi
Wednesday, January 28, 2009
Creating Value
As we enter the second month of 2009, many Americans are filled with a sense of total uncertainty. The very core of our society has been irrevocably changed, and yet it is difficult to predict where these changes will lead in the future. Despite the different status we all hold, the one thing we all have in common is the fact that change will continue.
As unemployment increases and more people find themselves without income, the dollar has become an even more valuable item for the average consumer to part with. What may have seemed like a reasonable purchase last year, may seem completely unnecessary right now.
So how do businesses continue to create value for their customers?
Very few organizations and industries are recession proof. However, there are basic necessities that most people will continue to purchase even when times are tight. For this reason, grocery stores, mass merchandisers like Target and Wal-Mart, drug stores, gas stations, and utility companies will continue to see consumer dollars.
But what about everyone else? How does the neighborhood restaurant, or the local florist shop survive when consumers don’t have the extra money to support them?
One way for these businesses to survive, is to continue to create value for their existing customers who can afford to spend discretionary income, and explore a new customer base. Value can really be subjective, as it is based entirely on perceptions of worthiness, importance, usefulness, and necessity. So the best thing for business owners to do is to use their experience as consumers as a guide, and ask themselves the following questions:
· Is my product or service considered a necessity, a luxury or somewhere in between?
· Is my product or service truly unique?
· Do customers really get what they pay for when purchasing my product or service?
· Would I honestly pay for my product or service in a recession?
If you can answer yes to most of these questions and you are truly being objective, then perhaps you have mastered the art of value creation. However, if you can honestly identify some valid reasons why a consumer would decide not to purchase your product or service during a recession, then you can create a plan to re-invent perceptions of value, and weather the storms that lie ahead.
by Keri Glover
As unemployment increases and more people find themselves without income, the dollar has become an even more valuable item for the average consumer to part with. What may have seemed like a reasonable purchase last year, may seem completely unnecessary right now.
So how do businesses continue to create value for their customers?
Very few organizations and industries are recession proof. However, there are basic necessities that most people will continue to purchase even when times are tight. For this reason, grocery stores, mass merchandisers like Target and Wal-Mart, drug stores, gas stations, and utility companies will continue to see consumer dollars.
But what about everyone else? How does the neighborhood restaurant, or the local florist shop survive when consumers don’t have the extra money to support them?
One way for these businesses to survive, is to continue to create value for their existing customers who can afford to spend discretionary income, and explore a new customer base. Value can really be subjective, as it is based entirely on perceptions of worthiness, importance, usefulness, and necessity. So the best thing for business owners to do is to use their experience as consumers as a guide, and ask themselves the following questions:
· Is my product or service considered a necessity, a luxury or somewhere in between?
· Is my product or service truly unique?
· Do customers really get what they pay for when purchasing my product or service?
· Would I honestly pay for my product or service in a recession?
If you can answer yes to most of these questions and you are truly being objective, then perhaps you have mastered the art of value creation. However, if you can honestly identify some valid reasons why a consumer would decide not to purchase your product or service during a recession, then you can create a plan to re-invent perceptions of value, and weather the storms that lie ahead.
by Keri Glover
Thursday, January 22, 2009
Branding during Recession
One hopes, that in times like these, business management is focused on the overall health of a brand. However, a typical reaction to an economic recession, without a strategic approach in place, ends up damaging its most valuable asset: the brand itself. Nurture it and you'll always be safe; dismiss it and you'll see the immediate effects of decay and neglect.
Brand Advantages During a Recession?
It is important for any size business to understand that recessions need to be addressed positively. It may not seem realistic, but recessions do have their advantages. The importance of recessions in forcing change for the better cannot be emphasized enough.
When feeling the pinch of a recession how does one go about BRAND AID? Recessions are tough times and management/owners often find it difficult to face the pressures of receding bottom lines. Character is tested greatly by restricted cash flow and lower sales. The last thing anyone wants to do is to lose even a slight portion of hard-earned brand equity.
According to Anthony Pappas, CEO of the Pappas Group, “In these cash-tight times, marketing budgets and brand-building activities are often the first cost centers to get the axe. But rather than slashing the budget and crossing your fingers, refocusing your marketing and brand-building initiatives can help you stay top-of-mind with customers.”
Focus on the Overall Brand
It’s important to stay calm and not overreact to a temporary phase even when it looks as if it will go on forever. To do this, however, recessions require an increased focus on the overall brand. Once a brand has established itself, it can easily become complacent. Brands get a huge wake up call during a down-turn in the economy to turn the brand inside out and look at exactly what they are providing to the marketplace. Don’t hesitate and try to wait it out.
Now is the time to ask some very important questions, find and implement strategic answers:
· Is my product or service the best it can be?
· Where is my brand weak?
· Am I giving consumers good value for the money?
· Are there new options I need to be exploring for emerging markets that can be implemented at a low cost?
· How do I give consumers confidence in my brand during a time of immense insecurity?
· Am I reaching my customers effectively with the marketing dollars I have to spend?
After a thorough and honest brand review and audit stay focused on implementing these initiatives for success and healthy brand.
Give Assurance
One of the important but often neglected aspects of a recession is the insecurity that it causes everyone. Brands can use this period of insecurity to make assurances of quality as well as other reassuring signs that help the consumer go through an uneasy period with greater confidence. The moral support that is provided by a brand at this time could go a long way towards building enduring relationships with the consumer. Consumers tend to cling even stronger to a known brand and or a comforting voice to help guide them toward a wise, prudent decision during tough times. Most importantly, remember the recession will go away but your brand won’t.
Customer Service
If you don't have a high quality product or service, let’s face it, you're not even in the game. Don’t bank on price being your competitive edge…because someone can always undercut your price. Focus on having a fair price that delivers value. The real competitive edge you have today is how you treat your customers. As Wal-Mart demonstrates daily “be passionate about your customers.” The one thing your competition can't take away from you is the relationship with your customers.
Value
Even if brand sales are falling, be careful before announcing a drastic reduction in price and don't compromise quality. If market share is falling due to competitors discounting their brand excessively it may be a good idea for your brand to avoid discounting. No one wins a discounting battle. The damage that this sort of scenario causes to a brand can be irreparable when the economy eventually rights itself. Give your brand some credit as a viable long-term entity and inspire a positive brand association in the consumer's mind.
However, if the recession has led to new processes or cost savings that help deliver higher value to the consumer at a lower price then there is cause to think seriously about offering a permanent price reduction or value add. This would show the brand in a good light especially to consumers who are looking for this kind of benefits. The bonds that brands build with consumers at such times through strategic price reductions or value additions are powerful and distinguish a brand from low cost labels.
Stay Focused & Take Action
Further, Michael Dunn, CEO at Prophet, warns that it's actually more damaging than doing nothing at all. "The process of branding should not magically stop during an economic downturn. Keep in mind that customers and prospects are still forming opinions and gathering experiences whether you're proactively managing your brand or not."
Spend Marketing Dollars Wisely
Don’t overlook the importance of your online presence. Instead of simply spending less money in the same areas, spend it smarter by ramping up online marketing activities. It’s more cost effective and according the Pew Internet & American Life Project, 81% of Web users go online to research products or services before they buy. Those are your prospects. Get in front of them with more aggressive search and online advertising campaigns.
However, as you move more online, don't forget other branding initiatives. Many organizations, especially small and mid-size businesses, do away with brand-building activities — such as print advertising, public relations, direct marketing and broadcast media — in tough economic times, simply because their competitors are doing the same. Instead, use that herd mentality to differentiate your business. Step up brand awareness by having a presence in those channels just as your competitors are leaving them. You can often score media buys at a discount, and even modest investments can reap big rewards: Once the economy brightens and competitors rush back, customers will be familiar with you and long forgotten your competition.
Tough Times Don't Last but Tough Brands Do
Look at how successful brands like Coca-Cola, Microsoft, Mercedes-Benz, McDonalds, HP, IBM, Wal-Mart and more continuously reinvent themselves while staying relevant and retaining the trust of their customers. Their brands continue to succeed…no matter what! Small to mid size business can gain by learning from their successes and failures and emulate them at times like this.
The bottom line is that branding is essential to the overall health of an organization. Given that, smart marketers won’t ignore the facts. Instead, they’ll take action today, and leverage their brand and avoid losing valuable ground to the competition (source: www.resourcenation.com)
By Lien Leonardi
Brand Advantages During a Recession?
It is important for any size business to understand that recessions need to be addressed positively. It may not seem realistic, but recessions do have their advantages. The importance of recessions in forcing change for the better cannot be emphasized enough.
When feeling the pinch of a recession how does one go about BRAND AID? Recessions are tough times and management/owners often find it difficult to face the pressures of receding bottom lines. Character is tested greatly by restricted cash flow and lower sales. The last thing anyone wants to do is to lose even a slight portion of hard-earned brand equity.
According to Anthony Pappas, CEO of the Pappas Group, “In these cash-tight times, marketing budgets and brand-building activities are often the first cost centers to get the axe. But rather than slashing the budget and crossing your fingers, refocusing your marketing and brand-building initiatives can help you stay top-of-mind with customers.”
Focus on the Overall Brand
It’s important to stay calm and not overreact to a temporary phase even when it looks as if it will go on forever. To do this, however, recessions require an increased focus on the overall brand. Once a brand has established itself, it can easily become complacent. Brands get a huge wake up call during a down-turn in the economy to turn the brand inside out and look at exactly what they are providing to the marketplace. Don’t hesitate and try to wait it out.
Now is the time to ask some very important questions, find and implement strategic answers:
· Is my product or service the best it can be?
· Where is my brand weak?
· Am I giving consumers good value for the money?
· Are there new options I need to be exploring for emerging markets that can be implemented at a low cost?
· How do I give consumers confidence in my brand during a time of immense insecurity?
· Am I reaching my customers effectively with the marketing dollars I have to spend?
After a thorough and honest brand review and audit stay focused on implementing these initiatives for success and healthy brand.
Give Assurance
One of the important but often neglected aspects of a recession is the insecurity that it causes everyone. Brands can use this period of insecurity to make assurances of quality as well as other reassuring signs that help the consumer go through an uneasy period with greater confidence. The moral support that is provided by a brand at this time could go a long way towards building enduring relationships with the consumer. Consumers tend to cling even stronger to a known brand and or a comforting voice to help guide them toward a wise, prudent decision during tough times. Most importantly, remember the recession will go away but your brand won’t.
Customer Service
If you don't have a high quality product or service, let’s face it, you're not even in the game. Don’t bank on price being your competitive edge…because someone can always undercut your price. Focus on having a fair price that delivers value. The real competitive edge you have today is how you treat your customers. As Wal-Mart demonstrates daily “be passionate about your customers.” The one thing your competition can't take away from you is the relationship with your customers.
Value
Even if brand sales are falling, be careful before announcing a drastic reduction in price and don't compromise quality. If market share is falling due to competitors discounting their brand excessively it may be a good idea for your brand to avoid discounting. No one wins a discounting battle. The damage that this sort of scenario causes to a brand can be irreparable when the economy eventually rights itself. Give your brand some credit as a viable long-term entity and inspire a positive brand association in the consumer's mind.
However, if the recession has led to new processes or cost savings that help deliver higher value to the consumer at a lower price then there is cause to think seriously about offering a permanent price reduction or value add. This would show the brand in a good light especially to consumers who are looking for this kind of benefits. The bonds that brands build with consumers at such times through strategic price reductions or value additions are powerful and distinguish a brand from low cost labels.
Stay Focused & Take Action
Further, Michael Dunn, CEO at Prophet, warns that it's actually more damaging than doing nothing at all. "The process of branding should not magically stop during an economic downturn. Keep in mind that customers and prospects are still forming opinions and gathering experiences whether you're proactively managing your brand or not."
Spend Marketing Dollars Wisely
Don’t overlook the importance of your online presence. Instead of simply spending less money in the same areas, spend it smarter by ramping up online marketing activities. It’s more cost effective and according the Pew Internet & American Life Project, 81% of Web users go online to research products or services before they buy. Those are your prospects. Get in front of them with more aggressive search and online advertising campaigns.
However, as you move more online, don't forget other branding initiatives. Many organizations, especially small and mid-size businesses, do away with brand-building activities — such as print advertising, public relations, direct marketing and broadcast media — in tough economic times, simply because their competitors are doing the same. Instead, use that herd mentality to differentiate your business. Step up brand awareness by having a presence in those channels just as your competitors are leaving them. You can often score media buys at a discount, and even modest investments can reap big rewards: Once the economy brightens and competitors rush back, customers will be familiar with you and long forgotten your competition.
Tough Times Don't Last but Tough Brands Do
Look at how successful brands like Coca-Cola, Microsoft, Mercedes-Benz, McDonalds, HP, IBM, Wal-Mart and more continuously reinvent themselves while staying relevant and retaining the trust of their customers. Their brands continue to succeed…no matter what! Small to mid size business can gain by learning from their successes and failures and emulate them at times like this.
The bottom line is that branding is essential to the overall health of an organization. Given that, smart marketers won’t ignore the facts. Instead, they’ll take action today, and leverage their brand and avoid losing valuable ground to the competition (source: www.resourcenation.com)
By Lien Leonardi
Tuesday, January 13, 2009
The View From Ground Zero
Well, it's the start of a new year. With it brings new possibilities. For many of us this year it is a bit different. For many are starting the year filled with uncertainties. That once-taken-for granted automatic paycheck is no longer coming in. We are part of the legion of folk who no longer have a job.
In my case, I came down to the Charlotte area a little over a year ago filled with high hopes. Coming from the cold Northeast I figured it would be a snap to land a marketing communications or corporate training position. But the souring economy followed me. Decent jobs are no longer easy to come by.
To "tide me over" I landed a part time position at a local home improvement center. And now the worsening economy has even affected that modest stream of funds. Consistently my hours are cut back to less than 10 a week from a high of 35. If there's a bright spot my wife found a decent job with nice benefits in the town over for us. Thank God or we'd all be on a steady diet of Liva Snaps.
I'm hopeful the new year is going to be better than the last. It has to be. And with everyone I meet I feel I'm that much closer to finding a job that will help me feel alive again. I guess that's why the camaraderie and support of professional groups like Charlotte's thriving chapter of the American Marketing Association are so important to me.
But what about you? If you've lost or are concerned about losing your job, how are you handling it? What are you doing about? Times like these are challenging for us all. But you have to believe that soon you'll once more find your rightful place in the world of work.
Posted by Ken Caputo
In my case, I came down to the Charlotte area a little over a year ago filled with high hopes. Coming from the cold Northeast I figured it would be a snap to land a marketing communications or corporate training position. But the souring economy followed me. Decent jobs are no longer easy to come by.
To "tide me over" I landed a part time position at a local home improvement center. And now the worsening economy has even affected that modest stream of funds. Consistently my hours are cut back to less than 10 a week from a high of 35. If there's a bright spot my wife found a decent job with nice benefits in the town over for us. Thank God or we'd all be on a steady diet of Liva Snaps.
I'm hopeful the new year is going to be better than the last. It has to be. And with everyone I meet I feel I'm that much closer to finding a job that will help me feel alive again. I guess that's why the camaraderie and support of professional groups like Charlotte's thriving chapter of the American Marketing Association are so important to me.
But what about you? If you've lost or are concerned about losing your job, how are you handling it? What are you doing about? Times like these are challenging for us all. But you have to believe that soon you'll once more find your rightful place in the world of work.
Posted by Ken Caputo
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