no customer, no glory - about customer relationships and customer-centric business
DESCRIPTION
Do you know your customers? Do you understand their needs, wishes, plans, values? Do you know what your customer expects from you, and your products or services? And are you delivering at these expectations? Or even beyond them? Many companies spend most of their marketing budgets in lead generation/new customer acquisition and invest just a bit in their own customers. Nowadays is about relationships; being interested in human beings, not in figures, numbers etc.; spending time and money to get to know the users of your products; continuously engaging with real people; willing to build a customer-centric business; and delivering lasting moments on top of valuable products and services. Read this presentation about being engaged. This presentation uses several surveys/studies to demonstrate the relevance.TRANSCRIPT
No customer, no glory It’s all about connecting with people
Who is the customer?
A customer is not a number
A customer is not a target group
A customer is the person you are working for. The one you serve. He is the user of your products. He knows the best how to use your products and make them even better. He talks about you and your products. He experiences your services. He should be feeling important, welcome, embraced, connected, recognized. He is the one why you are in business. Without him you’ll be out of that.
But…
Do you know your customer? Do you understand his needs, wishes, plans, values? Do you know what your customer expects from you, and your products or services? And are you delivering at these expectations? Or even beyond them? Do you offer him the best value possible? Are you consistently delivering in a way that satisfies and even surprises your customer?
And…
Do you think that your customer will give the same answers to those questions as you did?
Many companies spend most of their marketing budgets in lead generation/new customer acquisition and invest 20% or less in their own customers
That’s an unwise policy
Because 80% of revenues come from customer retention
That’s an unwise policy
Treat your customers well, and they will stay with you (and will come back to you at the next purchase)
Surprise your customers, and they will share their surprise with their friends (and will convince them to become a ‘fan’ as well)
So, find ways to genuinely surprise your customers…
… creating WOW MOMENTS
In our competitive, over-communicated society, there’s more to deepen customer relationships than delivering operational excellence
Managing efficiency
Managing affection
Being interested in human beings, not in figures, numbers etc.
Spending time and money to get to know the users of your products
Continuously engaging with real people Willing to build a customer-centric business Delivering lasting moments on top of
valuable products and services
It’s about
‘A deep understanding of the users of your products and services, leads to new perspectives which, in turn, spawn novel solutions’
d.school
Research shows: Most customers will put service ahead of price - if you give them the chance
BIGresearch
Unfortunately 79% of business leaders have only a generalized or superficial/absent understanding of their customers…
IBM research
And 60% of marketers doubt if they can identify their loyal customers…
Acxiom/Loyalty360
And 60% of marketers doubt if they can identify their loyal customers… let alone their customers’ needs and expectations
Do you know what your customers EXPECT from your products and services?
Do you know what your customers EXPECT from your products and services?
90% of businesses don’t
Smart Advantage
Reasons why: no direct interactions with customers unwillingness to ask about
expectations unpreparedness in addressing them
Pheng & Nguan
When decision makers do not fully understand customer’s expectations, they may cause a chain of bad decisions and suboptimal resource allocations that result in poor service quality
Gap analyses
ORGANISATION
CUSTOMERS Expected service/ product
Perceived service/ product
Communications with customers
gap 1
gap 3 gap 4
gap 5
gap 2
• Absence of customer driven standards • Inadequate service leadership • Poor service design
• Inadequate market research orientation • Lack of upward communication • Insufficient relationship focus
• Deficiencies of human resource policies • Failure to match supply and demand • Customers not fulfilling roles
• Ineffective management of customer expectations • Overpromising • Inadequate horizontal communications
Closing this customer gap will: • enhance customer satisfaction • enhance customer loyalty • develop the lifetime value of the customer
Translation of perceptions into services
quality specifications
Management perceptions of
customers’ expectations
Worth of mouth Actual personal
problems, needs & wishes
Past experiences
Service/product delivery
Actual service/product
A customer experience starts with a personal question, need or wish; which solution is worth paying for
But why should people choose YOUR COMPANY to solve their problems?
Why should consumers spend their most valuable and scarce resources - money, time and attention - on you?
You only EARN these by meeting the needs of your customers surprisingly well
HOW? By putting your customers in the heart of your organization
‘In high performing organizations, everything starts and ends with the customer. This is a radical shift from organizations whose business design puts customers as the end-receiver of the chain.’
Ken Blanchard
Marketers might think that putting their customers in the heart of their organization equals CRM, database marketing or marketing intelligence
But having a customer-centric organization is not the same as: Having an up-to-date client database Using profiles and scenarios of your
average client or target group Asking feedback from clients when
product modifications have been developed
Customer-centricity means before making any decision, find out how that decision will have impact on your customers
It means watching at and listening to real people when you have a business or product idea or assumption; focusing on your customers’ needs, whishes and perspectives
If you do so, you’ll let real customers involve in the way your products and services are conceived, designed, delivered and experienced
But how do you get in contact, and keep in touch with your customers? And how can this contact be effective?
THE GOOD NEWS: your customers are willing to help you
Nowadays, consumers increasingly want to participate in the organizations they feel connected with
Rather than receiving e-mails, news letters or push-tweets consumers want to engage in debate, co-create, share experiences and stories, and build engaging relationships with organiza-tions that are truly looking for customer insights to make their customers happy
Especially with organizations that are reliable, value sustainability, adopt mindful consumption, and have the drive to innovate, and are able to make a difference
It’s a fact: Organizations that work closely with their customers and end-users, design and develop better, more relevant and more consistent high-impact solutions for people’s problems, needs or wishes
So, empower your organization to engage with customers to design sustainable products and excellent service which creates lasting interactions and experiences
Most executives believe that customer engagement is extremely important to their business. Nearly 90% say that customer relationships are very important to the success of their business
The Economist
More important; companies with engaged customers enjoy: improved customer loyalty (80%), increased revenue (76%), and increased profits (75%)
The Economist
REMEMBER, Customer engagement isn’t realized by a set of isolated interactions. It’s about cooperation, involvement, consultation and dialogue. You have to recognize that the interactions with your customers are based on an ongoing dialogue of equals to nurture trust and form meaningful relationships
These interactions create valuable experiences and outcomes for your customers
It all starts and ends with connecting with your customers
Inge Keizer Email: [email protected] Twitter: @ingejk
March 18, 2012