2013MEET THE

W I N N E R S

As the 2013 Gartner & 1to1 Media CRM Excellence Award winners prove, taking a customer-centric approach to business takes care of the bottom line.

Customer Obsessed. Strategy Focused.Results Oriented.

www.teletech.com

CUSTOMER ANALYTICSGOLD: Maple leaf sports & entertainment: MLSE uses

behavioral data and customer insight to better target email cam-

paigns and deliver relevant messaging, focusing on long-term

retention over single ticket sales on creating lifelong fans. .......... 5

SILVER: AAA: The auto clubs federation is leveraging customer

data to understand its millions of customers, allowing clubs to

interact with their members in a more relevant way .................... 6

CUSTOMER EXPERIENCE EXCELLENCEGOLD: intuit, inc.: Gathering and acting upon an extensive

array of customer input has helped Intuit drive higher satisfaction

and renewal rates ......................................................................... 7

SILVER: United Airlines: The airline is making extensive use

of data about its frequent fl yers and non-members to deliver richer

experiences and offers ................................................................. 9

CUSTOMER SERVICE OPTIMIZATIONGOLD: Cisco: Users and experts help shape and create con-

tent, advancing Cisco’s effort to boost loyalty and personalize the

consumer’s online support experience ......................................10

SILVER: Cigna: Cigna aims to make healthcare a fun, relevant

part of each person’s everyday life by helping every customer

reach their full potential. .............................................................11

INTEGRATED MARKETING PERFORMANCEGOLD: Autodesk, inc.: The software company added a layer

of gamifi cation to its software trials, allowing users to compete in

a more engaging experience. .....................................................12

SILVER: eaton Corporation: The power management

company embarked on a marketing campaign to penetrate the

IT market ................................................................................13

SALES FORCE EFFECTIVENESSGOLD: Agreliant: Mobile CRM is helping the seed company

be more agile in its sales process, which has led to a more robust

customer database ....................................................................14

SILVER: ingram Micro: The tech company has made it easier

for resellers to renew service contracts that are about to lapse,

leading to an increase in sales and better customer service ......15

SOCIAL AND MOBILE ENGAGEMENTGOLD: Best Western: By integrating customer insight from

social review sites, the hotel chain has developed an engagement

strategy that values transparency and cultivates trust ..............17

SILVER: lego systems inc.: Through fun and imagination,

the toymaker’s social community expands upon the brand promise

by clearing the path for safe, creative storytelling and educational

opportunities ..........................................................................18

WINNERSMEET THE

2013W I N N E R S

THE AMERICAS

©2013 Peppers & Rogers Group. 1to1 Media is a division of Peppers & Rogers Group. All rights protected and reserved.

BY CYNTHIA CLARK, THOMAS HOFFMAN, AND ANNA PAPACHRISTOS

DESIGN BY LORRI COSENTINO

CO

NT

EN

TS

4 #GartnerCRM

In 1993, Don Peppers and Martha Rogers, Ph.D., collaborated on a book called The One to One Future. In the book, the duo described what they envisioned as the quintessential marketing future, consisting of an environment that fosters collaboration with individual customers, strategies for nurturing clients, inte-grated marketing practices, customer portfolio strategies, employee org charts designed around the customer, and a virtual business environment.

In this one-to-one environment, Peppers and Rogers predicted this: “You will fi nd yourself col-laborating with one customer at a time. You will collaborate by helping a particular customer shape what he wants from your fi rm, often by helping him design his own product or service package. At the very least, you will have to have the ability to discuss your product and service with individual customers, so you can help them solve their problems and meet their needs.”

On the 20th anniversary of that book, it appears as though we’ve arrived at that future. The 12 companies honored in this year’s Gartner & 1to1 Media’s CRM Excellence Awards have proven that an enterprisewide focus on the customer experience can yield impressive results.

From implementing processes and strategies aimed at understanding customers’ individual issues to creating integrated, cross-channel customer experiences that are tailored to their individual preferences, the 2013 winners are setting the standards in CRM. As a result, they are gaining an unprecedented understanding of their customers, going above and beyond their expectations along the way.

We salute these customer experience groundbreakers and wish them continued successes in their CRM journeys. — Mila D’Antonio, Editor-in-Chief, 1to1 Media

Blazing the Trail for Customer Experience

A panel of judges, including Gartner analysts, past award winners, and 1to1 Media Editor-in-Chief Mila D’Antonio, reviews the nominations and selects the winners in each category of the Gartner & 1to1 Media CRM Excellence Awards. This year’s judges include:

Guy Benham, Business Improvement Manager, British Gas Company

Ven Bontha, Director of Customer Experience Management, Cemex

Kim Collins, Managing Vice President, Gartner

Mila D’Antonio, Editor-in-Chief, 1to1 Media

Gareth Herschel, Research Director, Gartner

Steve Jackson, CIO, Harry Rosen

Michael Maoz, Vice President, Distinguished Analyst, Gartner

Jenn McMillen, Division Vice President of Loyalty and CRM for GameStop

Patrick Stakenas, Vice President and Distinguished Analyst, Gartner

Jenny Sussin, Senior Research Analyst, Social CRM, Gartner

Ed Thompson, Vice President, Distinguished ROM, Gartner

Penny Tootle, Customer Service Supervisor, Las Vegas Valley Water District

Peter Winemiller, Senior Vice President of Guest Relations, Oklahoma City Thunder

2013 Gartner & 1to1 Media CRM Excellence Award Judges

Gartner & 1to1 Media CRM Excellence Winners

5www.1to1media.com/crmexcellence

Sports fans are extremely devoted and passionate. They stand

by their favorite teams no matter the score. But, when it came

to cultivating steadfast customer relationships, Maple Leaf

Sports & Entertainment (MLSE) decided it needed to boost its

service performance in order to win over the loyal hearts of its

customers for good.

As Canada’s leading sports and entertainment organization,

MLSE owns the NHL’s Maple Leafs, NBA’s Toronto Raptors,

AHL’s Toronto Marlies, Toronto FC of Major League Soccer,

Air Canada Centre, Real Sports Bar & Grille, and numer-

ous other sports and entertainment properties. Its CRM and

research department, which acts as the central hub for analyt-

ics and customer intelligence across the organization, leads

the charge in championing intelligence-based decision-mak-

ing across all of MLSE’s properties, leveraging insights from its

database of more than two million customers to strengthen its

core organizational value of “exciting every fan” in particular.

“Our fans are the lifeblood of our teams,” says Neda

Tabatabaie, director of CRM and research, Maple Leaf Sports

& Entertainment. “They live at the center of our company’s

vision and values, and we strive to excite and inspire them

with everything that we do. Our ‘fans fi rst’ approach means

understanding our fans and their needs, giving them the

proper channels to share their feedback, listening to them, and

applying the learnings.”

To extract customer insight, MLSE segments fans based on

their demographics, lifestyle habits, and consumer behavior

to develop a clearer picture of how these fans interact with the

various teams. Understanding these interactions allows MLSE

to service customers better, while also boosting its ability to

provide timely, relevant campaigns and messaging to these

fans. By analyzing its CRM database’s wealth of diverse fans,

MLSE was able to gauge customers’ varying expectations and

measure their satisfaction, validating whether they are truly

receiving the right messages at the right times. Customer sur-

veys show that more than 85 percent of Season Seat Holders

were highly satisfi ed with the amount of communications they

received, while 90 percent of Insider email opt-ins were highly

satisfi ed, helping to reinforce that analytics and targeting

strategies are enhancing the positive fan experience.

MLSE’s ability to factor fan feedback and customer intelli-

gence into all key decisions for the organization depends on

the support the CRM and research team has received from

senior management and stakeholders to establish this suc-

cessful analytics program. Buy-in across the organization

triggered more productive service interactions with fans,

more timely access to customer data for analytics, and deeper

insights into what truly inspires fans. MLSE wants to make

sure fans are informed about the next event or game with-

out bombarding them with too many messages. Analyzing

three years of ticket purchaser data also revealed that MLSE

needs to be more mindful of fan life stages and provide fans

with options based on where they are in their life, family, and

career commitments.

For example, MLSE targets one key Raptors demographic—

the “Young Urban Trendsetter” segment—by tailoring

marketing messaging to these 20-something-year-old con-

sumers looking for the latest products and entertainment

experiences. By presenting them with relevant ticket offers

for Friday night games and “Guys Night Out” specials, MLSE

has seen a 30 percent email open rate. MLSE’s particular focus

on providing excellent service to these fans also stems from

the need to nurture them to long-term fandom, for these tools

allow the company to tailor the right messaging to the right

Maple Leaf Sports & Entertainment’sCustomer Strategy Cultivates Fans for LifeMLSE uses behavioral data and customer insight to better target email campaigns and deliver relevant messaging, focusing on long-term retention over single ticket sales on creating lifelong fans. —by Anna Papachristos

H gold

Customer AnalyticsB

US

INE

SS

B

oo

st

MLSE’s fan-focused culture brings relevant messaging to the right customers at the right time, resulting in a 54 percent increase in email open rates and a 166 percent increase in click-through rates during the 2011-2012 sports season.

To View RelaTed Video

6 #GartnerCRM

The American Automotive Association (AAA) is commit-

ted to remaining a member-centric organization which

not only provides safety, security, and peace of mind,

but also anticipates the needs of its more than 53 million

customers who are members of the federation’s 44 affili-

ated auto clubs. The clubs are cognizant that in order to

be successful, they need to leverage customer analyt-

ics to understand what its members require, and then

respond to those needs before they ask.

However, some clubs were using simplistic cus-

tomer analytics strategies and were relying on basic

customer profiling. Despite hiring expensive teams of

consultants and contracting third-party predictive mod-

els, the clubs weren’t able to scale these initiatives and

were struggling to optimize relationships. Further, while

some clubs were very analytics-driven, others weren’t

as savvy. “We were missing opportunities to grow our

business,” notes Daniel Mathieux, director of AAA’s

Member Relationship Management action center, which

AAA set up to help clubs with customer analytics initia-

tives. The action center had a four-pronged objective:

Leverage national buying power of hardware, software,

and market data; socialize best practices for marketing

and analytics; provide customer analytics; and support

clubs’ membership relationship management and cus-

tomer analytics initiatives.

The first task that the action center needed to mas-

ter was creating a 360-degree view of AAA members

through the aggregation of more than 2,500 attributes,

with the aim of helping clubs predict member needs. In

2009 the action center implemented a predictive analyt-

ics solution by KXEN, allowing AAA to quickly create

and evolve analytics models. The center’s team of mar-

keting analysts works with each individual club to create

a plan and then use the automated system to deliver

analytics to optimize club cross-sell, acquisition, and

retention campaigns.

Increased customer visibility means that clubs know

the characteristics of customers who are likely to

respond to a given offer or can identify members at risk

of churn. Mathieux notes that while AAA has a renewal

rate in the upper 80’s, new members are the most likely

to churn but their propensity to renew their membership

increases exponentially when they use one of the prod-

ucts offered by AAA.

Data is being used to listen to members, focusing on

what different customer segments find most appealing.

The federation was quick to see results. After applying

customer analytics to travel campaigns for one year,

one particular club reported a 42 percent year-over-year

increase in sales. Individual clubs believe the campaigns

have contributed to substantial incremental sales across

AAA’s network, with some of the larger clubs increasing

their sales by millions of dollars.

Further, a forecasting initiative uses customer road

service history to predict call counts and the types of

vehicles needed at a facility, allowing AAA to be more

agile in responding to roadside assistance requests.

The federation has achieved a forecast accuracy of 89.5

percent, leading to cost savings, partner loyalty, and

increased member satisfaction.

Seeing the strength of predictive analytics and the

successes achieved, individual clubs have been request-

ing more analytics insights from the action center, which

has grown from five people when it first started in 1998

to a 30-strong team. In fact, the center uses predictive

models to help clubs serving 93 percent of AAA’s mem-

bership optimize marketing campaigns.

Membership renewal rates have also increased

slightly, from 87.9 percent in 2009 to 88.2 percent in 2012.

fan at the right time, thereby developing a stronger relation-

ship with the fan of the future.

Thanks to MLSE’s fan-focused culture, the 2011-2012 sports

season saw a 67 percent decrease in the number of emails

fans received over previous seasons, a 54 percent increase in

email open rates, and a 166 percent increase in click-through

rates, proving that the right messaging must be reaching the

right fans at the right time. Driven entirely by customer ana-

lytics, and led by the cross-departmental agreement to think

differently, MLSE has truly prioritized the long-term value of

its customers rather than reaping the immediate and short-

term gains of a single ticket sale.

AAA Drives Customer Centricity with Savvy Data UseThe auto clubs federation is leveraging customer data to understand its millions of customers, allowing clubs to interact with their members in a more relevant way. —by Cynthia Clark

H silver

BUSINESS BoostBy leveraging customer analytics, the AAA’s different clubs are able to have more relevant communications with their mem-bers, improving their experience.

Customer Analytics

AAA

To View RelaTed Video

Intuit has some pretty audacious goals for wowing its custom-

ers. The maker of financial software has set a goal for each of

its flagship offerings to achieve a Net Promoter ScoreTM (NPS®)

that is at least 10 points higher than each of its competitors.

Impressively, more than 70 percent of these products reach

that goal.

Customer experience has strong business ramifications

for both Intuit and customers of its Accounting Professional’s

Division (APD). For accountants and tax preparers, time is

money. Time wasted navigating a poorly designed system or

holding for support can translate into hundreds of dollars of

un-billable time or lost business opportunities. The customer

experience strategy for Intuit’s APD group is set up to enable

the organization to design product offerings and experiences

that deliver time savings and crackerjack execution while

retaining a customer-focused mindset. The group’s customer

experience program focuses on continuously elevating NPS

and customer retention as its primary business goals.

APD’s ability to deliver great customer experiences doesn’t

just happen by chance. Although APD product managers are

the end-to-end custodians of the customer experience, the

Customer Experience and Business Excellence (CEBE) team

for APD supports product managers and functional groups by

providing market insights, and helping them gauge and under-

stand the state of customer experience and identify areas for

improvement. CEBE has developed a methodical approach

to gathering, analyzing, and acting on customer feedback to

improve the customer experience. The group has developed

a three-pronged approach for delivering exceptional customer

experiences: 1. providing accountability during the product

design, 2. creating a structured approach for driving excel-

lence, and 3. fostering a high-performance

culture that’s passionate about serving

the customer.

In the first approach, Intuit has cre-

ated a design for delight (D4D)

group that uses a set of tools

and processes to support

customer experience

design. Intuit has more

than 200 employees

with D4D expertise,

known as “innovation

catalysts,” who are also available for coaching and consulta-

tion during product design initiatives.

The second prong that supports APD’s ongoing com-

mitment to customer experience is a structured approach

the group has developed to drive execution for excellence.

Components that help drive successful execution include the

use of an effective process management methodology, con-

tinuous improvement efforts, and a closed-loop system for

gathering, acting on, and communicating back to custom-

ers how their input has been used to improve the customer

experience.

Third, in order to ensure that it is delighting customers,

Intuit’s APD group gathers and acts on customer feedback in

a variety of ways. In addition to conducting regular surveys

of the accounting professionals who leverage its software

using Medallia’s customer feedback and reporting platform,

APD also hosts a number of forums throughout the year to

obtain customer feedback. These include an accountant coun-

cil, a group of 12 to 15 accounting and tax practitioners who

are invited to one of Intuit’s campuses twice per year to learn

about and provide feedback on APD’s strategy, roadmap,

and products. Intuit also administers a panel of about 10,000

accountants and tax professionals who share their input

through in-depth interviews and topical surveys.

The company’s online suggestion box is also a valuable

mechanism for gathering customer insight. “We get feed-

back from all the different channels, we review the customer

voice weekly, and we identify areas where we need to make

improvements and then teams take action on making those

improvements,” says Alice Chu, a former senior customer

experience business partner at Intuit.

Unifying the feedback loopTo close the loop with the online suggestion

box, the CEBE team may share with cus-

tomers how a particular suggestion was

acted upon. One way the company

does this is through its marketing com-

munications. After customers receive

their contract renewal notices, they

can, and often do, suggest product or

customer experience improvements in

their renewal forms.

Intuit Accounts for Positive Experiences via Customer Feedback Gathering and acting upon an extensive array of customer input has helped Intuit drive higher satisfaction and renewal rates. —by Tom Hoffman

H gold

Customer Experience Excellence

7www.1to1media.com/crmexcellence

BUSINESS Boost

From 2009 through 2012, transactional NPs increased 18 points for service and support.

To View RelaTed Video

9www.1to1media.com/crmexcellence

The 2010 merger between United Airlines and

Continental Airlines created not only one of the

world’s largest airlines, but also one of the world’s

biggest loyalty programs. As the two airlines went

about merging their respective customer databases,

executives at United saw an opportunity to explore

new and creative ways to use customer data from

both MileagePlus and non-members that could help it

build richer profi les of its customers that could enable

the airline to deliver personalized and relevant com-

munications, critical day-of-travel updates, and to

ultimately deliver better customer experiences.

United also sought to break new ground. The only

customer database that United previously maintained

was for its MileagePlus members. United decided to

expand the database in order to provide more relevant

and personalized communications with the millions of

customers who aren’t MileagePlus members and to

better serve their needs.

United partnered with Acxiom Corp. to help it build

richer profi les of its MileagePlus members and also

non-members. In addition to identifying duplicate

records to help United work with the cleanest and most

accurate member information possible, Acxiom also

overlays demographic and lifestyle data on top of cus-

tomer records and groups them into customer types.

For instance, while United tries to include basic demo-

graphic information in each member profi le such as

age, household income, and net worth, in some cases

it relies on Acxiom to either fi ll in missing pieces of

information or to add interest-specifi c elements, such

as golf, says Mark Krolick, managing director of mar-

keting and product development at United.

United has also been able to make more effective

use of its member data and interact with customers

in ways it wasn’t able to before. Each day, United

analyzes its MileagePlus database to identify custom-

ers who are about to reach a certain milestone, such

as specifi c mileage levels, program anniversaries, or

birthdays. The general manager, or another designee

at one of the 72 domestic airports that the program

has been extended to, then fi lls out a hand-written

thank-you card and passes it along to an agent to

hand out to these customers as they scan their board-

ing passes when they’re about to board their fl ights.

“The customer feedback has been a nice validation

and we’re seeing value from the program,” says

Michelle Brown, director of the MileagePlus program

at United.

Having richer customer information has enabled

United to segment its customers more accurately. For

instance, United can group customers by similar past

behaviors, such as customers who have been price

sensitive. United can then use these insights to create

relevant offers for customers.

United’s ability to develop rich information about

its customers—loyalty members and non-members

alike—has enabled the airline to be more relevant and

drive greater revenue. Since the launch of the initia-

tive, United has been able to convert 4 percent of its

non-members to the MileagePlus program, resulting

in tens of millions of dollars in additional revenue.

“We’re investing in customer service and the right

marketing technologies.... The pieces are all falling

into place for us to become the world’s leading air-

line,” Krolick says.

Customer Experience Takes Off at United AirlinesThe airline is making extensive use of data about its frequent fl yers and non-members to deliver richer experiences and offers. —by Tom Hoffman

H silver

Customer Experience Excellence

Customer comments from promoters, neutrals, and detrac-

tors are also distributed through a weekly Listen2Me document

that Intuit product managers and others are able to share.

Through its efforts to listen to the voice of its customers

and respond to their comments and requests, APD has been

able to generate strong business benefi ts. From 2009 through

2012, transactional NPS has increased 18 points for service

and support. Meanwhile, renewal rates for most customer seg-

ments continue to grow. In addition, under Intuit’s closed-loop

feedback process, detractors who were called and spoken to

by an APD employee have 9 to 10 percent higher renewal rates

than detractors who weren’t contacted.

Looking ahead, Intuit continues to explore ways to gather

and act on customer feedback in real time. Tim Rollins, APD

customer experience leader, explains, “We’re sensitive to

survey burnout, so we’re actively looking for ways to readily

glean customer feedback...that can draw on a conversation in

real time without the need to conduct a survey.”

BUSINESS BoostUnited has been able to convert 4 percent of its non-members to the MileagePlus program, resulting in tens of millions of dollars in additional revenue.

10 #GartnerCRM

For many customers, the decision to purchase doesn’t solely

revolve around product features or cost because the customer

experience rarely ends at the point of sale. Most customers

prefer to do business with companies that also offer depend-

able customer service throughout the entire customer journey.

With this in mind, Cisco Systems, Inc. set out to bring collabo-

ration into the service and support mix, measurably boosting

customers’ and partners’ online support success.

In its move toward improved customer service support,

Cisco decided that future success would hinge upon Web

ease, speed, and increased sources of knowledge. Cisco’s

team noticed that the best service sites were easy to navigate,

recalled the customer’s identity, tailored content by tracking

online behaviors, and supplemented self-support with forums.

With these aspects in mind, Cisco established its goals around

simplifying and personalizing the Cisco Support Website’s

self-service offerings, growing a robust community to mobi-

lize networking and social wisdom, and bringing agents

explicitly into the fold.

To bring these goals to life, Cisco’s Smart Web Technology

Group (SWTG) and its Smart Web Community Management

Group (SWCMG) aligned to form an established team dedi-

cated to user experience, customer interaction, and analytics.

These two departments combined their expertise in order to

develop a community that focused on both self-service and

peer service offerings. By engaging users and allowing them

to help shape the site and its content, Cisco has created an

environment that welcomes knowledge from both users and

experts. The support community not only discusses issues,

but also contributes content, rates answered questions, and

attends or replays webinars. This initiative also employs lead-

erboards, which refl ect Cisco’s recognition program’s drive to

incentivize customers and experts to answer questions, share

solutions, and contribute content.

“Today we see great opportunities to engender a true “One

Cisco” Web experience by joining with other teams to ensure

all the parts fi t together,” says Glenn Schleicher, director,

Cisco Smart Web Technology Group (SWTG). “For example,

we place links to current forum discussions right on top of each

product support page. Why? Because someone over there

may have just answered a nagging installation question.”

For Cisco, support and community play mutually reinforc-

ing roles. This symbiotic relationship has helped to build

loyalty and fortify the sales value proposition by helping

customers resolve issues effi ciently and engaging them in

change. In 2012, Cisco’s 4.1 million unique monthly visitors

resolved 390,000 issues per month, defl ecting 84 percent of

technical issues online, thereby saving Cisco millions of dol-

lars and customers hours of call time. “Truly loyal” customers

with service contracts also saw signifi cant improvements, ris-

ing to 83.5 percent, versus 24 percent and 27 percent loyalty

expressed for Cisco’s two major competitors.

Cisco’s effort to craft an easier, more personal Web experi-

ence has also made support more widely accessible, as this

uniform, worldwide experience offers identical advantages

for every user. By logging in when visiting Cisco’s website,

individuals can now immediately link to product pages they

frequently view, see a personal download history and corre-

sponding new releases, start “one-click” downloads, check

support case status, or open a new case. By offering personal

dashboards with “hot links,” Cisco has managed to turn Web

histories and preferences into a powerful asset for fi nding

answers quickly.

By constructing single and collective customer views to

improve support, site logins continue to increase. Since

October, Cisco’s support site has seen a 64 percent jump in

visitors who log in to the support home page each month,

allowing the site to track the customers’ behaviors and interac-

tions. Remembering each individual not only takes customers

to the right destination in fewer clicks, but also creates a

personal connection. In the end, personalization also boosts

customer retention, as users are constantly welcomed by the

fact that each interaction allows Cisco to get to know them

even better.

Cisco Cultivates Community Through Collaborative Self-Service SupportUsers and experts help shape and create content, advancing Cisco’s effort to boost loyalty and personalize the consumer’s online support experience. —by Anna Papachristos

H gold

Customer Service Optimization

last year, customers resolved 390,000 issues per month, defl ecting 84 percent of support cases and saving Cisco millions of dollars in call center costs.

BUSINESS Boost

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11www.1to1media.com/crmexcellence

Doctors may no longer make house calls, but

for Cigna, reviving the personalized approach

for today’s consumer has boosted engage-

ment and instilled the sort of trust that has

been absent from the industry in recent years.

In its move to connect consumers with cus-

tomer service, Cigna instituted a social media

strategy that has enabled it to engage with

customers in a way that reaches them on their

terms and through their channel of choice. By

providing customers with an array of contact

channels, Cigna also reinforces transparency

in its customer interactions, as customer ser-

vice professionals actively engage across

platforms, including Facebook, Twitter,

LinkedIn, Pinterest, Foursquare, Tumblr, pod-

casts, and YouTube. This online customer

service optimization strategy, managed by

Cigna’s Internet Customer Service (iCSA)

team, supports questions about MyCigna.

com, monitors and responds to postings on

social media sites 24/7/365, addresses all ser-

vice related postings, and engages in other

areas of the organization when additional sup-

port is needed.

“Cigna is committed to helping our custom-

ers improve their health, well-being, and sense

of security,” Eric Galvin, senior director of ser-

vice operations at Cigna. “We recognize that

to be a truly customer-centric company, we

need to be where our customers are. By engag-

ing with our customers through social media,

we have the opportunity to show them we are

listening and demonstrate we want to build a

relationship of trust. We want to understand

each customer’s unique needs so we can deliver

solutions relevant to their personal health.”

By upholding its mission to care for the

individual, Cigna has been able to tap into

the opinions, concerns, likes, and dislikes

frequently shared on the Internet by custom-

ers to earn their trust and cultivate brand

ambassadors who will embrace and recom-

mend the service to others. Social media also

offers Cigna the unique opportunity to reach

people who may not be current customers by

presenting prospective and current consum-

ers with health-related information, facts, and

tips through Cigna’s GO YOU! Facebook page,

Twitter feed, and YouTube account.

While making health a fun and relevant

part of each person’s everyday life represents

Cigna’s primary goal, the GO YOU! brand also

honors the individual, recognizing that each

customer has their own needs. Cigna strives

to help customers be true to themselves and

reach their full potential, going beyond bene-

fi ts coverage and insurance claims by offering

health coaches who work with customers to

set up personal plans that support their indi-

vidual health goals. For Cigna, the GO YOU!

brand represents the company’s overarching

mission to earn trust and build long-term,

fulfi lling customer relationships that inspire,

encourage, and celebrate each individual.

Since implementing this personalized

social strategy, Cigna has seen a 20 percent

increase in its transactional NPS, while its GO

YOU! Facebook page added 4,396 new “likes”

in November 2012 alone. Cigna also set and

surpassed its goal to respond to 90 percent of

customer-related issues within 30 minutes of

posting, often redirecting customers to more

personalized service settings, such as phone

or direct email when appropriate, to protect

confi dentiality. Public relations personnel

handle inquiries relating to industry criticism,

healthcare reforms, and questions about

products, with an overall goal to respond

to all posts within two hours. However, in

November 2012, Cigna exceeded its business

goal by responding to more than 99 percent of

customer posts within 30 minutes, exhibiting

the company’s core mission through action.

Cigna Personalizes Its Approach to Healthcare Customer ServiceCigna aims to make healthcare a fun, relevant part of each person’s everyday life by helping every customer reach his or her full potential. —by Anna Papachristos

H silver

Customer Service Optimization

BUSINESS BoostBy treating each customer as an individual, Cigna has seen a

20 percent increase in its transactional NPS, while its GO YOU! Facebook page

added 4,396

new “Likes” in November 2012 alone.

12 #GartnerCRM

First impressions are not only imperative in life, but they’re

also important in business. Forward-thinking organizations

are putting in a lot of effort to make sure they leave a posi-

tive impact on their customers and prospects from the fi rst

interaction.

Autodesk, which creates software for architects, engineers,

and special effects professionals around the world, was

cognizant of this and wanted to make sure prospects’ fi rst

experience of its products was positive. The company’s cus-

tomers expect to try out Autodesk’s sophisticated products

before they make a purchase to be sure they’re making the

right fi nancial investment. It is therefore essential for Autodesk

to create a meaningful initial user experience for products that

replaces a signifi cant learning curve.

This was a challenge for Autodesk, notes Sheila Tolle,

senior director for e-commerce and small business marketing.

“We needed to fi nd a way to viscerally demonstrate the value

and selling points of the software in a way that truly gave the

customer a great experience,” she says. The aim was to get

customers to really understand the value that the software

would add to their workfl ow.

While the majority of customers only open a trial once,

Autodesk’s business leaders were aware that those who

open the same trial three times or more are twice as

likely to make a purchase. It was therefore important

to make trials more engaging to encourage customers

to use them and become familiar with them.

Armed with this knowledge, Autodesk decided to

introduce a layer of gamifi cation and link it to social

channels. Tolle says the company wanted to create a

“curated and guided learning experience” that pro-

vided incentives for trial users and was also fun.

“The point was to leverage game mechanics

and psychology to get trial users to be more

engaged,” Tolle explains.

Last fall, Autodesk launched “Uncharted

Territory,” an in-trial marketing game for

Autodesk 3ds Max, a 3D modeling, ani-

mation, and rendering software. Using

Badgeville, Autodesk built game

mechanics into the trial, providing a

way to reward customers for using

the trial. Tolle describes the initiative as a “learning experi-

ence contextualized within a ‘race against time’ narrative.”

Through a series of missions, users were guided through the

various features of the software. “At the heart of these mis-

sions is the learning track that walks a user through activities

where they interact with the product and learn how to use it,”

Tolle explains. Players earned points and achievement badges

when they completed missions, which they could share on

Facebook and Twitter to earn additional points. In order to

increase the element of competition, Autodesk developed a

leaderboard that ranked trial users against their peers, and

ultimately showed who won the game.

Throughout the experience, Autodesk kept in touch with

users through emails highlighting the leaderboard and

encouraging them to continue playing. Autodesk decided to

host the game on its key community site, AREA, where 3ds

Max users were already congregating to share their work and

participate in forums. “This strategy helps pull in new players,

get blogger coverage, and encourage game-related conversa-

tions within the customer forums,” Tolle notes.

Autodesk was also aware of the important role that

social media has in its clients’ decision-making process.

Word of mouth is critical in the purchasing decisions of

very small businesses, with which

Tolle’s team mainly works, and they

use social media as part of their vali-

dation and vetting process. “Social

media is where this peer review and

endorsements take place,” she says.

“[Prospects] use it to determine

whether our products are right for

them and how their peers are using

them.” In fact, research showed that

YouTube is one of the fi rst places where users go to

get training in using the software. The team lever-

aged Facebook and Twitter to promote the games

and to reward players who shared their mission

completions on social channels, which in turn

would attract their friends and followers to

the game.

More than 600 trial users played the game

over a three-month period, Tolle explains.

Autodesk Ups Engagement with Gamifi ed TrialsThe software company added a layer of gamifi cation to its software trials, allowing users to compete in a more engaging experience. —by Cynthia Clark

H gold

Integrated Marketing Performance

BUSINESS Boostgamifi cation increases Autodesk’s trial downloads and ups sales.

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Positive brand perception is imperative for orga-

nizations to succeed and create brand awareness,

especially when trying to penetrate a new market, like

the IT sector. Power management company Eaton was

facing this challenge since it was largely unknown

among small and medium business IT professionals.

The $17 billion company, which markets prod-

ucts and services to chief technology offi cers to

provide power to small and medium-sized data cen-

ters, wanted to improve its brand perception among IT

professionals. Kristin Somers, marketing communica-

tions manager at Eaton, explains that the brand was

already established in the electrical power distribution

space and large data center markets, but only had a

minimal presence in the IT channel, particularly in the

small and medium business market. She notes that

understanding the demands of the IT community, the

company wanted to introduce more customers to its

power management products and services.

In fact, at the beginning of 2011, Eaton had less than

a 5 percent share of the SMB IT market, opposed to

its largest competitor which commanded an 80 to 90

percent share. This lack of brand recognition meant

that fi eld sales representatives were encountering

challenges selling Eaton’s products since most pros-

pects had never heard of the company and were not

comfortable switching to an unknown manufacturer.

“It was clear we needed to introduce Eaton, gain

awareness, and increase sales,” Somers says. “A

game-change was needed.”

With acquisitions and new products poised to

launch, Eaton’s business leaders felt the time was

right to further position the company as an IT solu-

tions provider. The organization determined the need

for an integrated marketing campaign to differentiate

the company and generate leads for partners, recruit

new Eaton resellers, and increase awareness and

preference for Eaton’s products in the market.

After researching the situation, Eaton’s leaders deter-

mined the need to position the company to behave as

a challenger brand and demonstrate that it truly under-

stands the IT professionals who infl uence purchases.

A required change was to communicate to different

audiences in the most relevant way. Previously, Eaton

was sending its three client segments—directors of IT

and IT managers, CIOs and CTOs, and IT resellers—

email notifi cations about product launches. Eaton held

focus groups and one-on-one interviews to determine

audience pain points and challenges to tailor the cam-

paign messaging to their needs.

The campaign, “Things Have Changed,” kicked

off at the end of August 2011 featuring IT manag-

ers’ desk toys, ranging from fi nger puppets to mini

Triceratops, with the aim of showing IT managers

that Eaton understands their needs. This underscores

the company’s expertise in IT and data center solu-

tions while positioning Eaton as a company that gets

IT. The campaign was built as an online ecosystem,

with numerous channels and tactics, including print

and banner advertising, email, direct mail, and social

media, driving traffi c to the SwitchOn.eaton.com web-

site, a hub that invited users to share their personal

information to either download a white paper, sign up

for sweepstakes, or create a caption for images of desk

toys, among other interactions.

The success of the campaign was evident from

the start. In Q42011 alone, the campaign exceeded

the goal of gathering 10,000 end user leads and 400

reseller leads in a third of the time that had been ear-

marked. Initial results show that between September

and November 2011, the “Things Have Changed”

campaign led to the identifi cation of $2 million worth

of opportunities. Last year, Eaton added another

12,000 leads to its database.

Eaton Powers Up Its Brand PerceptionThe power management company embarked on a marketing campaign to penetrate the IT market. —by Cynthia Clark

H silver

Integrated Marketing Performance

Autodesk saw a 10 percent increase in trial downloads while

trial usage went up by more than 50 percent. Further, the com-

pany saw a 15 percent increase in buy clicks through the trial.

Following the success of the fi rst trial, Autodesk decided to

expand the gamifi cation approach to AutoCAD, its fl agship

product, allowing the company to give customers a truly

engaging experience that helps them get a quick understand-

ing of the product’s value proposition and its benefi ts. The

AutoCAD Design Suite game saw more than 500 players and

trial downloads went up by 4 percent.

BUSINESS Boosteaton identifi ed $2 million worth of new opportunities and added 12,000 leads.

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Sales representatives have one of the most important roles

in an organization. For many customers, they are the main

contact to the brand and are instrumental in ensuring that

customers become regulars and advocates for the company

through excellent and personalized service.

Seed company AgReliant Genetics, recognizes the crucial

role that the organization’s 300 specialized sales representa-

tives have in forging a great relationship with their customer

base of farmers, dealers, and retailers. The organization has

been working hard to improve the sales call experience for

both the company and its customers, and also increase the

efficiency of the sales process. The company’s business lead-

ers were cognizant of the need for a robust CRM solution that

was accessible to the sales representatives even while on the

road, which is where they spend an inordinate amount of their

time, each travelling an average of 35,000 miles per year to

service their territories.

AgReliant Genetics, which was formed in 2000 and markets

five product brands in corn and soybean states in the Midwest,

was collecting information about its customers and prospects

in its CRM system, through which the company was also

managing seed orders, scoring prospects to ensure a better

sales cycle, and automating marketing campaigns. However,

for sales representatives to make the most out of the system,

they needed to carry their laptops to client meetings, which

are often held in fields. This was impractical, notes Steve

Thompson, AgReliant Genetics’ director of IT. Connectivity in

remote areas was sometimes challenging and it was cumber-

some for sales reps to boot up their laptops, hold the machine,

and input the needed data while continuing with the conversa-

tion. The company didn’t mandate that reps use the system.

“Instead, we expected to show the sales force the benefits of

using a CRM system,” Thompson says. But only 5 percent

were inputting customer data.

Eager to find a solution that made sense, Thompson’s team

started looking into mobile CRM and decided to invest in

a customized Sage SalesLogix iPad app that gives easy and

secure on-the-go access. “The computer had to feel like one was

carrying around a paper notebook, which would allow them

to use it while standing up,” Thompson says. The device also

needed to be functional without a keyboard and allow them to

voice record data. Regional sales teams who were shown the

iPad system immediately recognized how this could help them

with their daily business activities and the company kicked off

a pilot project in December 2011, allowing Thompson’s team

to gather feedback from both users and customers who were

exposed to the device’s use for sales purposes. The system

was deployed to all 300 sales representatives six months later.

The success of the mobile CRM solution was apparent from

the beginning, allowing sales representatives to be more

agile in their work and present a professional appearance.

The voice-to-text note logging feature proved to be extremely

helpful to reps, allowing them to speak out the notes from

their meeting rather than type them in, increasing the amount

of recorded sales activities. “[The company’s regional and

brand managers] were amazed how well it worked, so from

that point forward the managers knew there was no excuse for

a salesperson not to enter sales activities, Thompson says.”

With sales reps calling on up to 300 farmers every year, they

need a good planning system to be as efficient as possible. The

app includes a planning map which leverages Google Maps’

technology and uses color-coded pins to visually show each

account’s current acreage, how recently a particular farmer

has purchased seed, and each farm’s unique agronomic speci-

fications, like soil type.

Sales reps can choose a number of different views, for exam-

ple a sales status view indicates the status of each opportunity

within the sales process of each account, including pending

orders, shipping status, and follow-up. Different colored pins

are used on the map to give reps an at-a-glance view of differ-

ent factors, like the size of each opportunity based on previous

orders. Reps are also able to see each farmer’s position within

the sales funnel, giving them informed knowledge about who

they should be calling on next. They’re also able to see which

farmers were included in specific marketing campaigns.

Adoption of the CRM solution has increased drastically and

is now being used by 95 percent of sales employees. This facil-

itates sales interactions and the company is benefitting from

iPad CRM Mobilizes AgReliant Genetics’ SalesMobile CRM is helping the seed company be more agile in its sales process which has led to a more robust customer database. —by Cynthia Clark

H gold

Sales Force Effectiveness

By introducing a mobile CRM system, Agreliant genetics has increased usage by 95 percent.

BUSINESS Boost

14

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leading to a negative experience for customers since

their IT resources were not protected by service agree-

ments. The traditional spreadsheets being used to

track contract expirations were at times plagued with

inaccuracies or missing information.

In its search for an expeditious but long-term

solution, the company decided to collaborate with

service contract management technology provider

MaintenanceNet to improve its Reseller Services

Portal, allowing it to offer a way for resellers to transact

and automate service quotes.

In order to facilitate the renewal process, Ingram

Micro wanted to automatically send resellers accurate

and pre-validated renewal quotes, making it easier for

them to reach out to customers and manage orders

online instantaneously, a process that previously took

hours or even days. The solution, AutoQuote, was

deployed to all resellers as part of the Reseller Services

Portal and alerts them about service expirations 90

days before the contract expires, giving them time to

take action. “It delivers a goldmine of new opportuni-

ties that requires little action and no real investment on

the part of the partner, but adds significant business

value,” Bay says.

The financial gains were substantial, helping Ingram

Micro gain revenue that would otherwise have been

lost. Service renewals for a particular vendor increased

by 135 percent last year over 2011. Last year Ingram

Micro delivered more than $200 million in auto-

mated quotes to resellers each quarter.

Further, this system is helping resellers drive bet-

ter and stronger relationships with customers. “By

staying on top of their customers’ ongoing service

needs, resellers are able to cultivate a sense of trust

and stronger partnership,” Bay notes.

A chain is only as strong as its weakest link.

Organizations that sell their products through a third

party need to make sure that their resellers are making

the most of each sales opportunity.

Technology distributor Ingram Micro North America

was finding that its resellers were missing out on

thousands of service sales opportunities. “If we could

transform the time-consuming processes that kept

[resellers] from capturing the full scope of renewal

opportunities that were available to them, particularly

with the ‘low-dollar’ service renewals, we could drive

new profits and revenues for their businesses,” notes

Peter Gambino, executive director, advanced technol-

ogy division and Cisco Business Unit, Ingram Micro

U.S. Under the guidance of Paul Bay, the company’s

president, Ingram Micro kicked off an ambitious initia-

tive to improve operational efficiencies in more than

3,700 resellers in North America, help them close more

deals without adding human resources costs, and in

turn deliver greater profits.

Further, Ingram Micro’s business leaders wanted

to strengthen the relationship between resellers and

their end customers, helping the businesses better

communicate with clients and remain up-to-date with

customers’ renewal needs. Bay noticed that tedious

and time-consuming processes, for example, heavy

reliance on traditional spreadsheets, often meant

that resellers were not putting enough weight to the

renewal of “low-dollar” service opportunities, which

amount to less than $25,000 per year. These need to be

kept up-to-date to make sure that customers are enti-

tled to continued service protection for their products.

The company realized that thousands of these ser-

vice contracts were coming up for renewal every

month, potentially costing the company money and

consistent and accurate forecasting and sales stage reporting

since more reps are actively recording their notes. AgReliant

Genetics has also seen an increase in customer satisfaction

since the solution is helping sales reps deliver a more person-

alized service—a crucial element in the company’s strategy

that seeks to understand and address the individual needs

of its customers. “Every farm and farmer can have their own

unique needs, so it’s all about delivering a personalized solu-

tion for them,” Thompson notes. The brand that utilized the

new system most is all set for a 25 percent growth this year,

compared to 5 percent for AgReliant Genetics’ other four

brands. “I believe we’re just starting to scratch the surface

on improving customer satisfaction with our new system,”

Thompson says.

Ingram Micro Ups Sales Through Service Renewal Automation The tech company has made it easier for resellers to renew service contracts that are about to lapse, leading to an increase in sales and better customer service. —by Cynthia Clark

H silver

Sales Force Effectiveness

BUSINESS Boost

last year, ingram Micro delivered more than $200 million in automated quotes to resellers each quarter.

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H gold

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For Best Western, social review sites have opened the door to

a world of honest insight and the customer experience. In the

hospitality industry, review sites such as TripAdvisor provide

travelers with a way to assess their booking decisions, with

72 percent of consumers claiming they trust online reviews as

much as personal recommendations. But, because 35 percent

of travelers have admitted to changing their hotel reserva-

tions after reading online reviews, Best Western took it upon

itself to manage its online reputation and improve their cus-

tomer care services.

Using Medallia’s Social Feedback for Hospitality platform,

Best Western now enables managers of its 4,200 locations

worldwide to respond to customer concerns and reviews

while keeping a consistent brand voice. The dashboard

solution provides hotel managers with the ability to reply

to customer feedback right from within the program. Each

hotel has the opportunity to observe the social chatter for

Best Western hotels in general, as well as collect targeted

feedback that pertains to their location specifically. Notifica-

tions appear in real time, allowing these managers to care

for issues publicly and swiftly. Even further, hotel managers

can customize their dashboards to display the social chatter

for their competitors far and wide.

“The biggest opportunity for our hotels comes from the

chance to truly understand not only what the consumer says

about them, but also what they’re saying about their com-

petitors,” says Michael Morton, vice president of member

services at Best Western. “Because social feedback is pub-

lic knowledge, we can not only see how we stack up on all

these review sites, but also see how we stack up against our

competitors. We can understand where we excel, where we

can improve, and aggressively market these advantages to

consumers who are still in the decision-making stage of the

hotel booking process.”

Acknowledging issues and solving problems via social re-

view sites adds a level of transparency, but the immediacy

of these responses convey that Best Western listens to and

cares for its customers by using their feedback to make im-

provements. The hotel chain views social media as a cus-

tomer experience management opportunity, allowing the

company to listen to both solicited and unsolicited feedback

to establish a holistic view of the customer experience. And,

with 1.3 million solicited surveys and nearly 150,000 social

reviews collected each year, Best Western has ample oppor-

tunity to understand an array of opinions.

To boost its transparency, Best Western has even incor-

porated TripAdvisor reviews alongside its booking pages to

keep potential customers on the site. Best Western wants to

encourage users to embrace its site as an accessible channel.

Frequently, customers will return to the review sites to consult

their fellow travelers. The hotel chain also wants to hook cus-

tomers when they land on the site so they will quickly decide

to book with Best Western before they begin to wander. In-

tegrating the TripAdvisor reviews alongside booking options

provides customers with the information they seek, while en-

hancing the company’s transparency. By voluntarily highlight-

ing customer reviews, Best Western displays confidence in its

brand because they need not sugarcoat anything their cus-

tomers say. This also fosters active, engaging communities

that cultivate relationships and honest, consistent feedback.

Since implementation, 69 percent of Best Western’s hotel

managers have adopted the social dashboard platform—the

highest rate in the industry, and more than twice the indus-

try average (32 percent) according to TripAdvisor. Active Best

Western properties have seen 64 percent more reviews than

their inactive counterparts, and a 30 percent higher ranking on

TripAdvisor. This higher ranking inevitably becomes crucial to

any given hotel’s success, as higher rankings on TripAdvisor

H gold

Social and Mobile Engagement

Best Western Checks in on Customer FeedbackBy integrating customer insight from social review sites, the hotel chain has developed an engagement strategy that values transparency and cultivates trust. —by Anna Papachristos

BUSINESS Boost

Active Best Western properties have seen 64 percent more reviews than their inactive counterparts, and a 30 percent higher ranking on TripAdvisor.

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18 #GartnerCRM

Playtime has always been an innately social activity,

enabling children to make friends and exert energy at

the same time. But, for children growing up in today’s

technology driven world, “play” often revolves around

the mental, not the physical. For LEGO fans, the brand’s

creative roots have grown into an interactive forum

that allows children across the globe to create together

using their imaginations to role-play and write stories

they can share with the entire community.

While LEGO’s off-domain communities, such as

LEGO Facebook and LEGO Redbrick, offer lively ways

for fans to interact, LEGO wanted to provide users with

the same exceptional service and experience on LEGO.

com directly. To do so, the company needed to move its

current forums to a more interactive platform to ensure

users would not only view content, but actively engage

and participate, as well. Just as the LEGO brand con-

tinuously reinvents its products, the company’s social

presence needed a refresh to recapture and retain fans

of all ages, while maintaining the company’s over-

arching values—imagination, creativity, fun, learning,

caring, safety, and quality.

However, as with all new platforms, LEGO had to

handle the potential dangers that come along with data

migration. Often times, when transferring customer

data to a new platform, companies run the risk of losing

customer account information in the process. Though

potentially problematic, LEGO guaranteed no informa-

tion from its 2.4 million existing users and more than

four million posts was lost by taking extra precautions

and investing additional funds, successfully transfer-

ring 100 percent of its existing data to ensure there

were no disruptions in the user experience.

With the help of Lithium Technologies, LEGO also

tackled poor moderation response times to improve the

user experience and boost both employee and customer

engagement. Though “response times” had dwindled

from 72 hours in 2010, to eight hours in January 2012,

LEGO found these long periods to be counterproductive

in light of its social enhancement goals. The new ini-

tiative, however, repurposed LEGO’s talented team of

resources in a newly formed group to manage, engage,

and moderate with the LEGO message board commu-

nity. Efficient moderation allows users to have more

conversations more often, while the specific emphasis

on staff engagement encourages users to participate.

Now, moderation times have decreased to 56 min-

utes as of December 2012, contributing to the 62

percent climb in user interaction. Moderators and

users also provide constructive and positive feedback

on shared stories, boosting user confidence and inspir-

ing them to write more and hone their skills.

“Praising stories also makes kids feel good, and we

have a really good community feel now,” says Mark

Fothergill, head of children’s community and modera-

tion at LEGO Systems, Inc. “The kids are forever telling

us that they feel special and that it really gives them a

spring in their step on a daily basis. This seal of approval

from other users and moderators spurs them on to write

more and more, and to become good writers.”

Users continue to leave encouraging feedback,

thereby thrusting LEGO’s desire to inspire and educate

into the center of its social engagement strategy. The

company’s new social ranking structure also pushes

users to post high-quality stories and comments, as

the new system bases success on the content, not

quantity. Not only has this structure helped decrease

spam, but users are no longer posting frequently just

to boost their standings. Instead, users are striving

to better themselves by developing their skills and

embracing LEGO’s underlying emphasis on learning

and imagination.

LEGO Systems Inc. Builds Kid-Friendly Social Forums to Foster Creativity and FriendshipThrough fun and imagination, the toymaker’s social community expands upon the brand promise by clearing the path for safe, creative storytelling and educational opportunities. —by Anna Papachristos

H silver

Social and Mobile Engagement

BUSINESS BoostSince launchingits new socialcommunity,“get to times” have dwindledfrom 8 hours inJanuary 2012,to 56 minutes in December 2012, contributing to the62 percent climb in user interaction.

mean greater visibility on the review site. In fact, these higher

rankings have led to 1,252 Best Western hotels receiving

TripAdvisor’s Certificate of Excellence, which is bestowed

upon only 10 percent of hotels listed on-site. Due to such suc-

cess, many property managers and executives are making

moves to mandate social engagement across the brand.

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