On one hand, I’ve found it interesting and a bit surprising that PRM (partner relationship management) never gained the same popularity as CRM. Of the approximately 14 million salespeople in the United States, only 30 percent are direct sellers for their firms. The other 70 percent are agents, brokers, dealers, and the like. Basically, channel partners.

On the other hand, it’s not surprising at all. If you consider the challenges of user adoption among staff salespeople, then add the complexity of a partner relationship, it’s no wonder that the uptake of PRM has been slow in comparison to CRM. Yet organizations that do convince partners to use PRM tools often see tremendous benefits for both themselves and those partners. Blue Roads customer Nortel, for example, doubled its channel sales revenue, on average, for six consecutive quarters, and is expecting that success to continue.

Suite CRM and PRM vendors still see the huge growth potential for the PRM market. As PRM companies like Blue Roads are evangelizing its benefits and experiencing uptake, CRM vendors are taking notice. Salesforce.com, for example, is releasing its own PRM solution in July, complete with deal registration, dealer lifecycle management, incentive management, workflow rules, and more.

The question now is, Will renewed interest in the PRM market spark additional growth? The answer lies not in the technology, but in the strategy behind it. As with CRM, strategy must come first. Companies must have a compelling answer when channel partners ask, What’s in it for me? If they do, if they use PRM to improve business results and customer insight for themselves and their partners, it will most certainly create a win-win-win situation for company-partner-customers.

Posted by Ginger Conlon at 8:20 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

I recently attended a Frost & Sullivan Executive MindXchange during which Purdue’s Mike Trotter talked about customers’ expectations for reaching the companies that serve them. Trotter is the executive director of the university’s Center for Customer-Driven Quality. According to Trotter, a recent Purdue study found that 68 percent of customers will not do business with companies that don’t offer multiple channel choices for interaction. That’s up from 61 percent last year. These customers want access to companies via the Web, via phone, and in person (either at retail or with a salesperson). Easy enough for most firms. The catch is offering consistent service delivery across those channels. “If you don’t, you give customers the right to shop [competitors] for answers,” Trotter said.

Continue reading "Consistency Across Channels " »

Posted by Ginger Conlon at 10:58 AM | Permalink | Comments (2) | TrackBacks (0)

When I hear people talk about loyalty these days, they always mention how it's all about the customer experience. What I don't hear these same people talk about is customer value. After all, what's an experience without value to the customer? Loyalty programs are great ways to learn more about your customers, and then act on that information to increase their value. These programs must have a long-term goal that involves deep customer connections.

That means rewarding value with value. A loyalty program is most effective when its incentives, rewards, and other communications meet the needs of customers who are high-value today and those customers with the potential to be high-value tomorrow. Then you will truly create an experience with impact.

Posted by Elizabeth Glagowski at 9:23 AM | Permalink | Comments (2) | TrackBacks (0)

One of the facts that was not highlighted in this week's story about consumer goods and their advanced customer strategy was the amount of cash these companies have on hand. According to Columbia Universoty professor Larry Selden, consumer goods companies have an embarrasing amount of cash in the bank. Instead of using this cash to reinvest in customers, they are buying back stocks and buying other companies. The most recent example is Johnson & Johnson's plan to pay $18 billion for Pfizer's consumer goods business. This is not a sustainable strategy. At some point the M&A opportunties dry up. At some point, companies have to realize that their customers are not Wall Street analysts. Yes, Wall Street analysts are important people. But their judgments are fickle. Customer judgments are rarely fickle. Invest in customers and they will repay with a larger share of wallet and their long-term loyalty. Grow customer value. It's predictable.

Posted by John Gaffney at 8:41 PM | Permalink | Comments (1) | TrackBacks (0)

Last week I had the great pleasure of meeting with several of our Atlanta-based readers. We had a lively discussion on various customer strategy topics, and were joined via teleconference by Don Peppers. During our conversation, several comments particularly caught my attention. One was from Delta's Carole Ashworth (who Mila D'Antonio recently interviewed for our feature on the airline's customer strategy overhaul). Carole noted that one challenge Delta faces in building customer relationships is that some customers won't give the airline the information it needs to better serve them (for example, preferred airports), yet they complain when they receive communications that aren't relevant -- communications that could easily be made more relevant if those customers would provide a bit of information on their preferences. It's a tough Catch-22.

Don commented that Delta's conundrum is quite common, but that as trust is built over time by company's using information in customers' best interest, customers will share more informatoin. The result is that over time that trust builds the bottom line. "If customers trust a company, they will go for optimal value creation for themselves and for the company," Don said. So I say, welcome those tough customers, find ways to build a trusted partnerships, and you'll create win-win relationships every time.

Posted by Ginger Conlon at 9:04 AM | Permalink | Comments (5) | TrackBacks (0)

If Enron had to report the lifetime value of its cusomer base on a quarterly basis, could it have misled so many people for so long? I don't think so. The kind of detailed measurement discussed in our Return On Customer newsletter this month is not only effective as a measurement and accounting tool, it's necessary as a backstop against corporate greed and corruption. A company that can measure the result of its short-term and long-term customer strategy is worthy of investor interest. A company that expresses a strategic interest in how customer value is being measured along with standard quarterly revenue and profit is a company aligned with customer advocacy. The more tricky and complex accounting and measurement methods become, the more suspicious I get about whether the company behind them is in this for the customer, or in it for the stock options.

Posted by John Gaffney at 11:20 AM | Permalink | Comments (1) | TrackBacks (0)

Vincent Ferrari, blogger at insignificantthoughts.com and dissatisfied AOL customer, made headlines this week when he publicized a recording of his discussion with an AOL customer service rep on his blog. Ferrari, who through numerous attempts during the conversation, pleaded with the agent to cancel the account. The abrasive rep, in a desperate attempt to retain the customer, told him that keeping the service was for his own good, implied that Vincent had a problem, and even at one point asked the 30-year-old to put his dad on the phone. Toward the end of the call, the rep reduced Vincent to begging.

While this piece raised the eyebrows of Matt Lauer, we at 1to1 Magazine often hear similar customer service violations. Don Peppers and Martha Rogers even cited AOL’s poor customer service in their book Return on Customer. I realize that every good customer service rep must try to retain the customer upon exiting, but there comes a point where the rep must thank the customer for his or her business and offer up services in the future. Such gracious actions will build trust and create a positive word-of-mouth effect in the long-term.

In Ferrari’s case, Nicholas Graham, executive vice president of AOL’s Corporate Communications, apologized personally and fired the customer service rep immediately. Graham’s response was swift and appropriate, but may be too little too late. As Don and Martha note, treating customers as you would yourself builds trust, which ultimately breeds an ethical organization. In achieving this trust, companies like AOL must continuously examine their customer relations policies and require reps to undergo a certain number of ongoing training hours. Most importantly, companies must work vigilantly to ensure their customer strategy is clear to their reps and that they understand the value of customers—whether they’re staying or going.

Posted by Mila D'Antonio at 10:10 AM | Permalink | Comments (2) | TrackBacks (0)

Marketing's evolution will revolve around the customer, if John Fleming has his way. At last week's CCSF retreat in Las Vegas, Fleming, chief scientist for customer engagement at Gallup, discussed the movement toward "Human Marketing." The concept, developed by Donald Cooper, is all about viewing both internal and external marketing holistically. Why not bring all customer-facing activities into one group? HR, marketing, finance, and the contact center almost never talk, but if they worked together as a "human marketing" department, the messages would be clearer. But more importantly, internal and external customers would have one place to go for information and get their problems solved more easily. What do you think of the concept? Is it plausible in the business reality?

Posted by Elizabeth Glagowski at 10:30 AM | Permalink | Comments (2) | TrackBacks (0)

I'll say what Forrester Research didn't quite say in the research report we quoted in this week's Inside 1to1 piece on alternative marketing strategies. What it didn't quite say was: Marketers are cowards when it comes to putting their money where their customers are. If you went by the media that attracts the most money, you would think that customers were researching purchases and making them on network TV and print ads. Nothing could be further from the truth. Customers are researching and buying online. Yet, we still hear and read about the paltry marketing budget percentages allocated to online, email, mobile and even in-game advertising. Percent of marketing budgets is not the solution here. I'm not suggesting that. If I was in charge of a consumer marketing budget I'd put my money where my customers are making decisions and engaging with my products. I wouldn't decide to increase my online budget by 10 percent, for example. Companies need to roll the dice a little. Percentages are for statisticians, not marketers.

Posted by John Gaffney at 8:40 PM | Permalink | Comments (3) | TrackBacks (0)

The W Hotel uses the funky catchphrase "Whatever Whenever," which means that the staff willl go out of their way to provide you with whatever you need whenever to need it to make your stay more enjoyable. This is great, and quite a few of the staff members at the W Atlanta (where I stayed last night) have clearly embraced this strategy. The concierge, bell manager, and front desk staff all gave a warm welcome when I entered, as did the hostess at the hotel's restaurant, Savu. But that's where the consistent experience ended.

A bellman failed to hold an elevator door for me when I was clearly in a rush to get there before it closed. I guess he was in a bigger rush. Later, when I and my six guests showed up at Savu for dinner, our table was yet to be set up. "So?" you ask. I had called twice to ensure everything would be ready when we arrived. Our waiter, though fully courteous, was not nearly as upbeat as the rest of the staff. This stood out so much simply because it was so different. Finally, I returned to my room to find I'd received one of "those" messages: thanks for staying here, hope everything is to your satisfaction. Great! Except that the person who left the message obviously had had quite enough of repeating it to everyone who had checked in.

My point is this: Don't promise Whatever Whenever if you can't deliver it. It's hugely challenging to deliver a consistent customer experience across touchpoints (in this case, staff who work steps away from each other). And although I give W kudos for trying, if you're going to step out and make a big promise like that, you had better plan to have whatever it takes to deliver on it, whenever customers expect it -- not just when it suits the individual employee.

Posted by Ginger Conlon at 8:30 AM | Permalink | Comments (3) | TrackBacks (0)

Yesterday I gave a presentation at a conference on how to increase customer profitability. The audience was a mix of CPAs and their IT executives. About 50 people attended my session. I started by asking a question: Who here feels that customers are their firm's most valuable asset? Surprisingly -- to me, anyway -- only four or five people raised their hands. After sharing with them Don Peppers and Martha Rogers' quote from Return on Customer, "Without customers, you don't have a business, you have a hobby," most of the people in the room started nodding in agreement. No customers, no revenue, no business.

I went on to explain that the next most valuable asset companies have is employees: not just their quality and skill, but also their customer knowledge. That knowledge can be as powerful an influence on the customer experience and on sales as a recommendation from another customer.

Would you agree? What do you think is an organization's most valuable asset?

Posted by Ginger Conlon at 10:43 AM | Permalink | Comments (6) | TrackBacks (0)

It's great that there are technology solutions to help companies measure marketing initiatives and other formerly intangible programs. But the fact that you can now measure short-term impact doesn't mean that you should react quickly to the short-term results. Last week I spoke to Firefox's community coordinator Asa Dotzler, who emphasized that any customer interaction program needs time to develop. "Looking at a three-month ROI on a customer interaction program is missing the point," he said. If you can be engaged with your customers on an ongoing basis, go for it. You may learn a lot more than what fits into a project plan.

Posted by Elizabeth Glagowski at 10:07 PM | Permalink | Comments (1) | TrackBacks (0)

Let me amplify one of the points made in our lead story in Inside 1to1 this week. Customer satisfaction is not only a lame measurement of customer strategy, it is simply not enough to achieve. I am a satisfied ExxonMobil customer. And as soon as a competitor comes up with one of those cool little Speedpass keys that keeps me tied to ExxonMobil it will take a hot minute to switch. Why? Because at eight billion dollars of profit for the second quarter running you can “scuse my dust when I step on the gas” as the old song says. I am a satisfied T-Mobile customer. But when my contract is up, I’m shopping. I am a satisfied Nike customer, but I think those Asics running shoes the sales clerk recommended last month feel pretty good.

Customer satisfaction is simply not enough to produce loyalty. It is a temporary measurement that gets blown away easily because customers like change. They like to be treated fairly. And they want as much transparency as they can get into what they pay for (like eight billion profits at $3.15 a clip). I would argue that customer satisfaction needs some kind of “futures index.” Some kind of measurement that predicts whether current satisfaction will lead to future satisfaction and ultimately more deeply rooted loyalty.

Posted by John Gaffney at 10:23 AM | Permalink | Comments (8) | TrackBacks (0)

Business travel is often filled with tales of woe: flight delays; lame snack boxes; multitasking at security to get laptops, shoes, belts, and more in bins. So let me share my recent positive experience at DFW Airport. With 90 minutes until my flight and an empty stomach, I was looking for a place to eat. As I walked by Champps Americana (Terminal D), the hostess, DJ, beamed at me, said hello, and invited me in. So, in I went. There were plenty of tables, but DJ offered me the choice of a seat at the bar, promising that Michael, the bartender, would take great care of me. So off I went to the bar, where Michael did in fact take great care of me. He introduced himself and asked my name. “I love to use people’s names, it’s the sweetest music to their ears,” he told me later when I asked about my name being printed on the check. Indeed, he used my name every time he came by to check on me. He also made welcoming, yet unintrusive conversation as he passed to serve other customers: “What are you reading?” “Can I get you anything to make you meal more enjoyable?” He treated all his customers this way, and was contagiously upbeat.

“I love my job,” he told me when I asked about his approach. “I try to make it an art form; to take it to the next level.” Michael’s goal is to make his customers feel more like they’re a regular at Cheers than just passing through the airport eatery. And he does. So next time you’re at DFW and need a burger and a smile, stop in and see DJ and Michael. My guess it that they’ll make sure you feel at home on the road.

Posted by Ginger Conlon at 2:15 PM | Permalink | Comments (3) | TrackBacks (0)

Is marketing child’s play? Of course not, but thinking of marketing as an ongoing, evolving process (think: Slinky) instead of a closed-loop can improve your outcomes. So says Andy Wright, EVP of sales and marketing services for Carlson Marketing Worldwide, who recently met with our editorial team. Andy made the point that marketers shouldn’t think in terms of a closed-loop cycle, but should think of marketing as more like a continuous wind of a Slinky: You test a program or product, you gather feedback and other results, you take that information back to the organization and act on it -- which, if done correctly, will bring you up to the next level (i.e., better results the next time and the next and the next).

What caught my attention was how well this goes hand-in-hand with Don Peppers and Martha Rogers’ idea of the learning relationship, in which you take what you’ve learned about the customer and use it to improve the customer experience, as well as to learn more about the customer -- creating a continuous, evolving loop that entangles customer and company.

Posted by Ginger Conlon at 2:09 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

The buzz at the Thought Leadership Summit (TLS) telecom conference was learning about customer retention. Not just churn, but loyalty drivers and other retention strategies like communication triggers and interaction with customers even if their contracts aren’t up yet. Offering unique services also came up as a topic of interest. According to Lee Khatchadourian-Reese, national director of customer service for Comcast, the company is about to do a big deal with Sprint to provide wireless services with Comcast cable content. Khatchadourian-Reese said it’s hard to innovate because customers aren’t asking for all these new things, so it’s a big challenge to get them to want it.

Posted by John Gaffney at 2:21 PM | Permalink | Comments (1) | TrackBacks (0)