Leuke blog over hoe experts kijken naar hoe je in 2011 kunt werken aan het verbeteren van de klantervaring.
Ter inspiratie
Gertjan
Marketing and customer experience trend posts seem to be a dime a dozen right about now—but what about trend posts from real customer experience experts targeted at line executives of Fortune 500 companies? Folks who have credible, real-world experience. People who have worked (or are working) as high-ranking executives for the Fortune 500 companies they now counsel. Those prediction posts are a bit tougher to find.
As someone who’s sat in that chief marketing officer chair (I was a line executive for a number of years with organizations like Digital River, Wilson’s Leather and Deluxe Corporation), I know the challenges of trying to stay ahead by looking forward, but also trying to keep one foot on the ground by continuing to achieve financial results.
So, what would I share about the year ahead from a customer experience standpoint if I had 10 minutes with a roomful of Fortune 500 executives? I thought you’d never ask.
First, top performing organizations are learning that customer experience is a path to profitability—not a trade-off. A while ago an executive said to me, “Linda, I’m not sure how much customer experience we can afford.” He saw investments in experience as a trade-off to profitability. Heading into 2011, fewer executives profess this view—and that’s good news for them, their organizations, and their customers.
More and more leaders are defining a specific ideal customer experience, then using it as the guide for daily decision making across the organization, in good times and in bad. They’re winning the same payoff we saw in the top performers in our 2008 research. In that study we found that organizations with a well-understood definition of customer experience are TWICE as likely to beat their profit targets than those who do not. Heading into 2011, I see more and more companies follow the customer experience path to better financial performance.
For additional insights, I polled seven other thought leaders and line executives who have proven success in driving performance for organizations via customer experience. I asked them what they’d share with a Fortune 500 executive if they had 10 minutes to talk about key trends in 2011. Here’s what they had to say:
Barry Dalton
“Customer experience and marketing will converge. A turf war is possible for ownership between chief experience offers and chief marketing officers. Also, self-service and social media for customer service will continue to grow.”
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Chris Reaburn
“I have to say, a key trend is that people are starting to link the service profit chain in a meaningful way, recognizing the connection between employee satisfaction and loyalty, customer satisfaction and loyalty, and profit. The best are measuring internal satisfaction as a leading indicator of external satisfaction.”
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Ted Coine
“Savvy companies are already using social media to engage their customers more, to include them in the actual design of products and service experience. We’ll see a LOT more of that in 2011 and onward. The gulf between 20th- and 21st-century business models will grow vast as a result.”
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Wim Rampen
“I think customer involvement is the overarching trend that will affect customer experience in 2011 and beyond. We’ll see a huge increase of customer involvement in customer service through support communities and we’ll see an increase of mass customization propositions, product co-creation efforts and ideation forums. I hope to see companies seeking to involve customers more to create value for themselves or other customers than seeking customer involvement for broadcasting marketing messages to potential targets.”
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Alan See
“First, you will not get a do-over, mulligan ,or practice shot. Translation: Do your P&L homework upfront and structure your best offer immediately. Don’t hold back. Consumers with cash and a willingness to spend it are in short supply right now.
“Second, focus on the consumer. Translation: Make sure you address competitive weaknesses within the four stages of the consumer purchasing process lifecycle, including: Awareness, Information Search, Evaluation, and Purchase/After-Sale Service. In addition, you may need to think smaller by breaking large marketing initiatives into several highly targeted micro campaigns based on continuous selection of the best (most profitable) of the best (ready-to-buy).
“Third, don’t wait until there is a problem to contact or follow up with customers. Translation: Monitor trigger events (contract dates, service calls, etc.) closely and nurture two-way relationship-building conversations. For example, my cell phone contract expired back in February, and I still have not been contacted. When you do follow up, make sure you have something valuable or significant to relate. By the way, a call merely to say you ‘just wanted to touch base’ is not value-add.
“Finally, keep asking, listening, analyzing and improving. Translation: Keep asking for and listening to your customer’s feedback. And make sure you are leveraging and engaging your entire organization as it relates to that feedback. Social media platforms are an excellent channel to help you both listen and engage in conversation.”
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Jeannie Walters
“I would tell them to be aware of giant killers in customer experience. There are several larger companies that have ignored what smaller, more nimble competitors are doing to create memorable experiences for their customers. This differentiator can create more loyalty, word of mouth awareness, and recommendations. I’ve watched as large companies stick their heads in the sand as start-ups, even with fewer features or higher prices, chip away at their customer base by appealing to the emotional experience people are craving. ‘The way we’ve always done it’ is not good enough! Watch what your competition is doing to appeal to customers, and take note.”
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Kent Huffman
“In 2011, your entire organization should be laser focused on customers—not on simply satisfying needs or even fostering loyalty, but creating a unique customer experience that motivates them to willingly spread the word about your products or services with evangelical enthusiasm. One very effective way to accomplish that is by truly listening to and interacting with your customers via social media. Companies like Dell, with its newly launched Social Media Listening Command Center, are already leading the way.”
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That’s what the experts think. What about you? What customer experience trend would you point to if you had 10 minutes with a Fortune 500 excutive for 2011?
