What should you do to start the journey of constituent experience?

The effect of everyone jumping on the constituent experience bandwagon is a slowdown in the maturation of this new business discipline. Confusion abounds as does disbelief. No one wants to risk exposing their constituents (and their job security) to new engagement practices that might increase instead of decrease frustration and churn.

However, the growing confusion opens unique opportunities. Here are a couple of strategies to start action plans around.

• Creating a disruptive mindset by reimagining your business and constituent relationships in a digital world.


• Making trusted content the center of your business strategy and constituent experience.


• Infusing social constituent experience across all business functional and digital touch points.


• Repeatedly measuring and proving the financial results.

If you haven't begun the journey, now would be the time to start.

“Lithium’s blueprint is in direct response to customer requests for advisory and insight services to help them make their social customer experience strategy a reality.” He defines social customer experience as “unlocking the passions of your customers in the digital world in a way you can capture those insights, measure them and empower your organization to bring your customers along.” ~~Rob Tarkoff, Lithium Technologies President and CEO

Growing Constituents And Revenues Are Top Priorities For 2013

As more signs point to strengthening economic activity in the US and selected regions of other parts of the world, corporate austerity is fading and growth is back in the spotlight. Acquiring customers, improving the customer experience, and growing revenues have returned to center stage. Forrester Research recently asked more than 2,000 global business decision-makers at large organizations what their “critical” and “high” priorities are for the next 12 months. We found that:

• Their top priority is acquiring and retaining customers (73%).
• Tied for the top spot is growing overall company revenue (73%).
• The third most important priority is addressing the rising expectations of customers and improving customer satisfaction (68%).
• Lowering operating costs now only takes sixth place on the priority list (63%).

It is evident from these data that effectively managing customer relationships has become the top priority for business success.

Better customer experiences drive improvement for three types of loyalty: willingness to consider another purchase, likelihood to switch business to a competitor, and likelihood to recommend to a friend or colleague. Forrester's models estimate that the revenue impact from a 10-percentage-point improvement in a company’s performance, as measured by Forrester's Customer Experience Index (CXi) score, could exceed $1 billion.

More here: Carpe Diem With The CRM Playbook: Growing Customers And Revenues Are Top Priorities For 2013 | Forrester Blogs.

5 questions to ask about your customer focus

Whether you are a business leader of a department or the CEO, these questions make sense to ask and get answers about.

Asking the right questions is most of the job some days. Thanks to Peppers and Rogers for their insight into these questions. They have been at the customer focus for a long time now.

1. How many new customers are you attracting and what is their value?

2. How many customers are you losing; why and what is their value?

3. Why are your continuing customers loyal to you?

4. What is the profitability of each customer group?

5. Are your customers vouching for you?

Read more: Customer Strategy | Making Customers an Asset of Your Business

What is the Customer Experience Index? Why should you care?

Is it ok to your investors to ignore money on the table by providing a mediocre customer experience?

Kerry Bodine, Vice President and Principal Analyst at Forrester Research, discusses what Forrester's Customer Experience Index is and what it means for you at Customer Experience Forum 2012 in Los Angeles.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oTlpizEuuHM

Related articles

• How to Build a Connected Brand through a Better Customer Experience (greatfinds.icrossing.com)


• Why some companies succeed without focusing on customers (customerthink.com)


• Who are the UK's 2012 Customer Experience Leaders and What Can We Learn From Them? (customerthink.com)


• Customer Experience and Outside In thinking (and our book about it) (forrester.typepad.com)

What is the future of customer surveys in our brave new world of customer experience?

What is the future of customer surveys in our brave new world of customer experience?  As more companies thirst for customer feedback, the number of surveys has escalated. But there is a limit to customers’ willingness to complete surveys. I know, as a customer myself, that I am growing weary of completing the long, almost narcissistic surveys. 15 to 30 minutes, really???

As completion rates get more difficult to maintain, companies will become more efficient with the questions they ask, target questions at specific customers in specific situations, and stop relying as much on multiple-choice questions. Tidbit: When the Tempkin Group asked large companies with Voice of the Customer programs about the changing importance of eight listening posts, multiple choice survey questions were at the bottom of the list.

Why Customer Experience? Why now?

Kerry Bodine at Forrester, in a great blog post, writes that “For decades, companies have been promising to delight customers, while simultaneously disappointing them in nearly every channel. That tactic won’t cut it anymore. Why not? We’ve entered a new era that Forrester calls the age of the customer — a time when focus on the customer matters more than any other strategic imperative.”

Here are 3 reasons why now:

• Commoditization has stripped away existing sources of differentiation. Competitive barriers of the past like manufacturing strength, distribution power, and information mastery can’t save you today – one by one, each of these corporate investments has been commoditized.


• Traditional industry boundaries have dissolved. Companies in every industry find themselves competing with new types of competitors – automakers with services like Zipcar, newspapers with Google News, travel agents with Expedia, and the entire retail industry with Ebay.


• Customers have more power than ever. With online reviews, social networks, and mobile web access, it’s easy for your customers to know more about your products, services, competitors, and pricing than you – and to share their opinions of your company with their friends.

Related articles

• Excerpt from Forrester's Outside in (Manning, Bodine, Bernoff) (serve4impact.com)


• For Customer Experience, "Just OK" Is Not OK (fastcompany.com)

How should we measure results for our customer strategy?

Let's talk a little about customer measurements. 2 measures have gained traction in the last few years. One is Net Promoter Score and the other is the Customer Experience Index. We are beginning to experiment in using them. They give us a basis of comparison to public data that is common to many companies today. Please let me know if you have questions. I’ve also included links to additional resources for each one. There is a great book on the Net Promoter Score.

Avoiding the big sucking sound of a time waster

We've all been there. Whether it is said explicitly or not, the clear message of the project is "I'll know it when I see it." When you hear or sense this you hear the big sucking sound of a time waster coming on. Invariable it creates an endless cycle of, "hmmmm not quite right." If the architectural drawings, high-heeled shoes or ad campaign doesn't meet their unstated standards, you're back to doing it again.

Sometimes you can make a handsome profit on all the fees you charge to redo things that indulge the ego of the customer, but more likely than not, your time is wasted until they're happy. If you have a client who feels the same way, you can work together to save time and money by being clear with each other about what's wanted. I think helping a client say what they want before they see it is a worthy endeavor.

Here are some good ideas from Seth Godin on how to avoid all this.

1. Do it on purpose. When engaging with a new client, intentionally create an environment where personal taste is described in advance, and as much boundary-building as possible is done when it's cheap to iterate, not at the end when it's expensive.


2. Demand benchmarks. The world is filled with things that are a lot like what you've been asked to create. So mutually identify them. Show me three other websites that feel like what you're hoping to feel like. Hand me a hardcover book that has type that reads the way you want yours to read. Walk me through a building that has the vibe you're looking for...


3. Describe the assignment before you start. Using your words and the words of the client, precisely state what problem you're trying to solve. "We're trying to build something that does a, b and c, and not d..."


4. Then, before you show off your proposal, before you hand in your work, restate the problem again. "You asked us to do a, b and c at a cost of under X. What I'm about to show you does a, it does b and it does c... and it costs half of X." This sort of intentional restatement of the scope of work respects your client by honoring their stated intent, at the same time it focuses your work on the stated goals.


5. Make a decision about whether you want a reputation for doing this sort of focused work. If you do, don't work for clients who don't buy into the process. Over time, you'll earn the kind of clients you want.

via Seth's Blog: Avoiding "I'll know it when I see it".

Related articles

• How to Give Your Clients Exactly What They Want (bizsugar.com)

Crossing the Innovation Chasm. Does CIO stand for Chief Innovation Officer?

Why does the Innovation Chasm exist? As a CIO, you have been charged with protecting your organization’s valuable assets, and with providing a reliable and stable infrastructure. As a result, you have become the “CI-No”:

• “No, we can’t buy that application you saw in an airplane magazine.”


• “No, we can’t have a new Web site built in two weeks.”


• “No, we can’t do that because it will expose our customer data.”

You could be the CI-No because you were the only game in town: if the business wanted access to technology, they had to come through you. That’s not the case anymore. One of the byproducts of the perfect storm is that the business can now access technology directly from the Cloud without your involvement, and without your knowledge. It happens in companies of all sizes, in every industry, regardless of your IT or security stance. When business has access to that technology, it widens the chasm.

IT has to up its game, and smart CIOs are on a path to help the business use technology to innovate both what they do and how they do it.

Here is a great visual of how to align with the CEO.



via Crossing the Innovation Chasm.

Related articles

• BoxWorks 2012: CIO role should be forward-thinking enablers (zdnet.com)


• "Making the Turn" for social entrepreneurship.. (jcholman.wordpress.com)

How do you turn bad customer service into a win-win?

Customer service isn't always easy. No product or service is perfect. Customers get frustrated. There are some basic principles that executed consistently can turn bad customer service into a win-win.

Here are some very good ideas from Amber Schaub, founder and CEO of RuffleButts, an online retailer specializing in clothing for toddlers, offers a few tips on providing excellent customer service based on her five years’ experience as a small-business owner:

• Always respond promptly. Even if you don’t have an immediate solution, customers like to know their complaint has been heard. Offer a tentative time frame if possible, or let them know you’re working on a solution.


• Carefully choose employees. Employees who will be working in the customer service department or handling any customer interactions. “They are ultimately your voice,” says Schaub.


• Make it personal. Include a handwritten note or a personal follow-up call.


• Follow the golden rule. Treat your customers as you would like to be treated in a similar situation.


• Use the Wow factor. Wow them. They will never forget it.

via How to Turn Bad Customer Service Into a Win-Win : topic :: American Express OPEN Forum.

Related articles

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• How can you turn a problem into an opportunity? Great service is the key! (businesstechnologypartner.wordpress.com)


• 5 Tips for Using Social Media as a Customer Service Tool (entrepreneur.com)


• New Study Shows 20% of People Turn to Social Media for Customer Service Complaints (prweb.com)

The mobile war, transforming customer expectations and business capabilities ...

The Mobile War CEOs should be aware of an approaching tech war -- because its outcome is going to change their customers.  As the Web becomes the AM radio of digital, the mobile App Internet will rise. This market will be dominated by two or three ecosystems -- semi-closed worlds built on a closely fitting set of apps, phones, tablets, computers, operating systems, and partners. An ecosystem owner will possess extraordinary market power -- able to dictate terms to content providers, customers, and application developers. It doesn't matter what you sell -- insurance, pills, cars, energy, bonds -- you'll be reaching many of your customers through these ecosystems in the future.

Social Media Has Transformed Customer Expectations At Every Step Of The Customer Journey After moving to a new apartment, do you need to get a new TV. The first instinct may be to gather information from a few sources. Do you browse online retailers to get an idea of prices, and look atoked at manufacturers' marketing content to understand the latest technologies like 3D TV. After all of that, you may turn to consumer reviews and discussions to get a feeling for whether you would actually find those features valuable. (For example, some customer reviews may help you confirm that you don’t want 3D TV.)

Where did you find those reviews? Everywhere -- there are star ratings and comments on product pages at retail sites (like John Lewis and Amazon.com), technology media sites (like CNET) and manufacturer websites. Interestingly – you get the feeling that the manufacturers still aren't entirely comfortable with the transparency that social media brings. They'd like to put a spin on the message, even if they can't entirely control it -- For example, Panasonic's UK site has a page that promotes "5 Star Reviews Of The Month". Can you think of a situation when you’d want a firm to guide you only to the most positive reviews of its products. Can you?

Business Capabilities Are The Strongest Foundation For Tech Strategy In developing a technology strategy for your organization, what will be your basis for deciding which technologies to pursue, when to pursue them, and how to implement them? In other words, what will be the foundation for your technology architecture and strategy? In considering this question, I assume we agree that technology strategy should directly support improvement of business outcomes, both now and over the long haul. To provide for the long haul, your technology architecture and strategy must be crafted to support a continuous stream of business change, both small incremental steps and large radical shifts.

Are you thinking customer experience?

Passion for our customers is what it is all about. Here are some recent articles focused on the customer experience.

Protecting Our Data-Driven Efforts In a world that's ever-more reliable on data, some proposed policies in front of Congress threaten to hamper companies' customer-experience efforts. If Congress passes some of the proposed data privacy bills, personalization in marketing and one-to-one communications will deteriorate.

Data, Data Everywhere The new reality of marketing is one in which consumers expect a sophisticated level of personalization in their communications, offers, and interactions with companies. At DMA2012 in Las Vegas, thought leaders from all aspects of the direct marketing industry will converge to discuss and share best practices about how to help organizations move forward on the path toward integrated, one-to-one communications.

Why Some Companies Succeed--For Now--Despite Their Poor Customer Experiences Recently there was a question via email from one of Forrester's clients, who asked: "How do you explain the success of companies that consistently provide a poor experience but perform well financially?"

Delivering Customer Service That Makes an Emotional Connection Many companies strive to provide great customer service. However, few companies deliver the kind of customer service that makes an emotional connection with customers - the kind of connection that fosters loyalty and willingness if not an eagerness among customers to recommend a company to a friend.

Related articles

• Moving from Customer Service to Customer Experience (customerthink.com)


• Customer Service Drives Sales (customerthink.com)


• Reverse Customer Service Strategy (smallbiztrends.com)

Just the facts ~~ Please!!

Dragnet's Sgt. Joe Friday character frequently implore informants to provide 'Just the facts'. We have all kinds of "facts", data from analytic platforms and internal operational systems. Take the call center or a website. There is so much there that can help improve digital experiences dramatically because it separates fact from fiction.

To mine this data for experience improvement opportunities, focus our efforts in examining the actual behavior of customers. We use Google analytics on our website. It helps us understand where visitors are going and what they do when they get there. Nothing like the facts. One company I know of used web analytics to prove a 65% customer drop-off rate at a point where login was required, prior to checkout. And when analysts at InterContinental Hotels Group (IHG) mined web analytics data for design opportunities, they found users pogo-sticking between search results and hotel landing pages, which tipped them off to the fact that users were digging for specific information.

Here are some other things to look for:

• Study customers' mobile and tablet behavior


• Examine customer behavior across channels


• Look at the moments that matter

This is powerful for improving the customer experience. We have the facts.

Related articles

• Hey Twitter, Show Me the Data (digitaria.com)


• The Best App That No One Writes About But Every Founder Should Have (businessinsider.com)


• How Analytics Can Give You The REAL ROI of Your Online Marketing (slideshare.net)


• 5 Ways Analytics Can Help Grow Your Business (smallbiztrends.com)

What is the single most important business technology trend?

What is the single most important business technology trend? I think it is fair to say we have entered the age of the customer. Customers have amazing choices (and technology) at their fingertips. From a competitive point of view it can be disruptive. It can mean the difference between thriving economically or failing.

In an age where customers are so empowered by easy access to information, they are taking control of processes companies are used to controlling. Hard wired strategic plans are going out the window as we are forced to become more flexible and nimble. So some things to think about:

• Are we customer obsessed?


• Can we master the customer data flow when existing data integration projects have failed?


• Will we provide new services quickly based on emerging customer needs?


• Are we on the "technology side" ready to partner with business teams to remove complexity and create lean, nimble solutions?

Hard questions but our customers expect no less since they have so many choices.

Related articles

• Zincubate "Tech For Business" has arrived (techi.com)


• What kind of business technology scorecard do you use? (businesstechnologypartner.wordpress.com)


• Mobile Technology and Its Future Interaction With Customer Loyalty Programs! (mygolli.wordpress.com)


• Leverage Technology for Business Transformation (blogs.hbr.org)