Live From Gartner CRM Summit UK: c=e.m.2.0 Is the Recovery Equation
"We're all on the edge of fear due to the current economic conditions," Mark Raskino, vice president and Gartner fellow, said during today's opening keynote. But like a roller coaster, there's also a thrill because of the potential for opportunity.
"Everything is changing. Competitors are changing, customers are changing," Raskino said. "Our job is to reconsider what is really going on. What is the new normal? The way we used to do business, what we used to understand...is all likely to change."
According to Raskino, what business leader will need use to understand their markets and how they're changing is analysis. "You need to take the data and cut it and cut it and cut it," he said. Companies made big mistakes in the past by sticking with the same data and analysis. Now it's time to cut the data in new ways and reanalyze it to find a different path, he said. Raskino cited as an example airlines' discovery pre-9/11 that a dip in business-class travel wasn't across industry. Cutting the data in a new way showed that dip was heaviest among travelers employed in IT.
Business leaders must uncover customers' different needs and new concerns to survive and thrive today. They're in protection mode, not risk taking mode. They're not being showy; they're talking about money savings. "You have to discover their wants and needs quickly," he said. "How can you get there? You have to show better value and more relevance and smart service to capture customers today."
Raskino transformed Einstein's e=mc2 formula into an electronic marketing recovery equation:
c=e.m.2.0 or customers retention = e-commerce/e-service + mobile + Web 2.0
"You're going to have to exploit these things to the maximum over the next two to three years to keep your customers," he said.
Raskino's elements of the recovery equation:
E-commerce/e-service:
Most companies are doing e-commerce and e-service and are comfortable with them, but they're not being used to full advantage.
Raskino suggests that when using Web, executives will stumble across something really good that their company doesn't do. Write it down and test it out. "It's a mature market," he said. "What can we learn from others?" He cited Amazon's returns process as an example of an e-commerce best practice. Amazon makes returns easy for customers and for itself, and makes the cost low, by automating as much of the process as possible.
"There are incredible ideas out there that you can be applying to your e-commerce efforts," Raskino said.
E-service is still advancing, but also offers great opportunity. Raskino asks, "Can you intercept and change live processes" like UPS's Delivery Intercept? Customers can request to return a package to the shipper, redirect it to another address, or hold it for pickup or future delivery--for a fee. This is an example of deep innovation and customer-centric thinking, Raskino said.
Mobile:
Mobile has been going for some time now, and is finally presenting some big opportunities, Raskino said. Digital money, electronic purses are starting to happen, extending micropayment opportunities. There are experiments going on everywhere for transport and contactless payment. One temp agency pays its workers daily and sends them text messages to let them know that they have been paid.
Integrating m-commerce and m-service is another area of opportunity. "A photo barcode reader and GPS location create new integration channel and process integration possibilities," he said. Lufthansa customers can show a barcode on their mobile phone as an e-ticket, for example.
Web 2.0
"Web 2.0 is too new for most business leaders to understand fully, but they know there's value there," Raskino said. Most can't quite harness the power of it or measure it yet.
That said, there are 150 million Facebook users, 100 million MySpace users, and 3 million Twitter users, along with countless others on myriad social networking sites and online communities. "You have to learn how to interact with customers in those forums," he said. Sheraton, for example, showcases "free content" that keeps its website lively by having guests send photos of where they're staying from across the globe. Renault, JetBlue, and Starbucks are among the companies interacting with customers on Twitter. "This is dirt cheap or free technology that gives you a visceral, direct view of what customers are saying about you," he said.
Business leaders get it. But the fear in corporate culture about being that open is holding companies back. It's time to get past that fear, Raskino said. Companies have to do it; they have to be more open. "Customers have moved there," he said. "You have to move with them."
Walkers, which makes crisps (potato chips), asked customers to recommend and vote for new flavors. The company received more than a million ideas for new flavors. It selected and produced several "finalist" flavors and asked customers to vote online for their favorite. This drove millions of consumer interactions, increasing customer involvement and engagement--and helped to maintain demand into the distribution channel.
"Business leaders will continue invest in CRM in 2009," because integrated, interactive multimedia marketing can sustain business both tactically and strategically, Raskino said. "Over next two years you must help your company survive and thrive by maintaining customer faith and keeping repeat business."
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