While Ben Bernanke has been raising our hopes that the recession is "very likely over," we're noticing a change in the conversations that we're having with marketers and vendors alike. These conversations seem to reflect that the economy is getting stronger, purse strings are loosening, there's greater talk of RFPs and vendor evaluations -- this week alone, our team had inquiries about vendor selection with marketers in insurance, retail (and it's almost Q4!), travel, pharmaceutical, and telecom.

So, while we're delighted that the rebound might be real, we also hope that marketers pay attention to the lessons from a little over a year ago. Although it's easy to point the finger at the Wall Street rogues, plenty of firms took on too much risk or paid more attention to acquiring new customers than focusing on the ones they had.

Continue reading "Forrester's Dave Frankland: Are You Ready for the Economic Rebound?" »

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At 1to1, we know the tremendous amount of time and money companies spend pursuing prospects, and on average only 20 to 40 percent of leads convert. In this economy, organizations need to implement lead management strategies and solutions with proven ROI, actionable analytics, real-time results, and scalability.

Continue reading "The B2B Lead Management Automation Market Faces Uphill Battle" »

Posted by Mila D'Antonio at 11:19 AM | Permalink | Comments (2) | TrackBacks (0)

Beloved companies decide differently than everybody else. Acutely aware of how their every action impacts how customers feel and respond to them, they take the time to make purposeful decisions about the contacts they have with customers.

First and foremost, the beloved companies decided to believe. They believe their customers and they believe their employees. And they practice this first by suspending cynicism. Trust and belief are cornerstones of their relationships. By deciding to trust customers, they are freed from extra rules policies and layers of bureaucracy that create a barrier between them and their customers. And by deciding to believe that employees can and will do the right thing, second guessing, reviewing every action, and the diminishing ability of employees to think on their feet is replaced with shared energy, ideas, and a desire to stick around.

Continue reading "Guest Blogger Jeanne Bliss: Decide to Believe -- The First Decision of Beloved and Prosperous Companies" »

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We here at 1to1 Media often discuss the importance of trust in the business-customer relationship. Companies that can create a trust-based relationship will see value over the long term. In financial services these days, however, it's a tricky situation. Consumers in general are wary of banks, insurance companies, and other financial services firms after living through bailouts, sub-prime chaos, and shuttered branches. Even the so-called "good guys" have been lumped into the bunch, and it's hard to overcome the untrustworthy reputation. But two recent articles from 1to1 Media offer financial services companies tips to overcome their negative situations.

Continue reading "Trust Is Worth $40 Billion" »

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Even though customer experience is viewed as a seminal force that will eventually drive contact center ops, there are far too many opinions in the market on how to realize it. Should customer experience be measured as first contact resolution in the center, should it be measured through well-oiled service factors like handle and wait times, or do we really need to look deeper? I was in conversation with a veteran ops leader and we poked through a few perspectives.

Continue reading "Guest Blogger Badri Srinivasan: Seeing Through Your Customer's Looking Glass" »

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Mobile devices today are always on and always on hand, so how does an organization get attention on its customers' smart phones? Gartner research vice president Gene Alvarez asked and answered that question during his presentation on e-commerce in a wireless world during the recent Gartner CRM Summit.

According to Alvarez, by 2012, 30 percent of smart phone users will browse the Web to shop, resulting in 3 percent of the smart phone population conducting e-commerce transactions using their phones. This doesn't mean downloading ringtones. Alvarez is referring to products purchased using a mobile device that previously would have been purchased using a personal computer. He also noted that there will be significant growth in mobile "pre-tailing," or researching and evaluating products online using a mobile device before purchasing through another channel.

Continue reading "Mobile E-Commerce in Your Hands" »

Posted by Ginger Conlon at 10:48 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

The impact on customer experience from social media technologies is not un-measureable. Difficult to measure, yes, but not impossible. Recently we've finally seen data that supports using customer communities, blogs, and social networks to improve customer service and tie the improvements to bottom-line metrics. Now the question is becoming "do you measure social media ROI" rather than "can you measure social media ROI," and research suggests most companies don't.

Continue reading "Can't Measure, or Don't Measure?" »

Posted by Jeremy Nedelka at 11:55 AM | Permalink | Comments (1) | TrackBacks (0)

I just got off the phone with a customer service representative from Delta, and couldn't help but shake my head in disbelief.

I called to cancel a reservation and was completely put off by the fact that there is a $150 "penalty" to change my ticket. That's a story within itself. The reason I was surprised was this: Even though I was clearly annoyed by the absurd penalty, the agent made not one, but two cross-sell offers. Two!

Continue reading "Come On, Managers, Drop the Poorly Timed Cross-Sell" »

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The customer experience team at Forrester is currently updating our Web site review methodology, which will get us to Version 8. I'll write more about that in a subsequent post but I wanted to get it on the table (or in the blogosphere - pick your metaphor) by way of explaining why we've been looking at which version of what browser to use as our default for conducting research.

In trying to answer that question we had one of our Researchers - Rich Gans - talk to people at Mozilla, Microsoft, Apple, and Google to get insight into where they're going with their browser offerings and how they advise site developers to deal with the current landscape.

What he found out was fascinating (to me anyway) and I hope for you, too. For example, Microsoft has gotten religious about standards compliance. And we're talking official standards here, not de facto standards they create and put out into the marketplace.

Continue reading "Forrester's Harley Manning: The Browser Wars Are Back! You Can't Run or Hide So Here's What To Do" »

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Marketers may be facing shrinking budgets, but a new study shows greater accountability best practices and closer collaboration between marketing and finance despite having less resources.

Continue reading "Marketers Report Greater Accountability " »

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

During hard times it's even more important to keep your customers. Markets have shrunk and competition for remaining customers is becoming more intense. But, it's possible to add customers during hard economic times if you are very good and consistent in what you do.

I have always believed that the secret to keeping and adding customers goes beyond having the best product and service. There is nothing more compelling than sharing your customers' fundamental beliefs and values - and authentically demonstrating those values in your products, service, and operations. In my most recent book, INPSIRE! Why Customers Come Back, I write about two companies that do just that: Stoneyfield Yogurt and Honest Tea.

Continue reading "Guest Blogger Jim Champy: Developing Values-Based Relationships" »

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Customers are gaining more control of the relationship with almost all businesses they frequent. Even a stoic and reserved industry like banking has relaxed its stringent operations in favor of meeting customer needs. Umpqua Bank in the Northwest U.S. took the idea to new heights by redesigning almost every aspect of the branch to serve multiple needs of its customers.

Continue reading "Banks Redefine the Customer Experience" »

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CRM is becoming a dead topic, asserts RightNow Technologies CMO Jason Mittelstaedt. "The moniker and category are dated and tired," he said when we spoke about customer strategy trends during the Gartner CRM Summit. Customer experience and social media are two growing areas executives are and should be focused on today. "Customer experience is the higher calling," Mittelstaedt said.

According to Mittelstaedt, the big challenge is the question of customer experience ownership: Should it be one person or a group? The answer: It depends on the industry and a company's organizational structure. In B2C often the CEO is the strongest champion of customer experience. In B2B often "the COO is mostly commonly chartered to deliver on customer experience, and has the resources to deliver on it," he said. "Also, it tends to be that customer service and marketing report to the COO." He also noted that the CIO is involved more and more as a key enabler of the customer experience.

Continue reading "Customer Experience Is the New CRM" »

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"Do you know who your customer advocates are and how much their recommendations are worth to your organization?"

Lithium CMO Sanjay Dholakia posed that question rhetorically when we were discussing social media trends during the Gartner CRM Summit. "The wall is coming down between on and offline," he said, citing as an example Barnes & Noble, whose retail sales of specific books increase when customers discuss those books it its online community.

He also noted that companies should track the value of customers resolving other customers' issues online. Every issue satisfactorily resolved deflects a call, chat, or email to customer support. That translates to hard dollars saved.

Continue reading "Will Customer Communities Become Table Stakes?" »

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Despite recent coverage of major organizations backing away from social media, avoiding it like the plague, there is some hope. The Air Force, not necessarily the first group you'd think of when it comes to online innovation (although many other types of innovation do come to mind), is fully embracing social networks, Twitter, and other online tools to build its brand and connect with servicemen, servicewomen, and citizens.

Continue reading "Branding the Military with Social Media" »

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In a new Forrester Research report called Service Seekers Are More Loyal Than Price Seekers (based on a survey of about 4,600 US consumers), we analyze the loyalty of four consumer segments that I've previously discussed.

The report examines the loyalty of these segments across 12 industries: airlines, banks, wireless providers, credit card providers, hotels, insurance firms, Internet service providers, investment firms, health plans, PC manufacturers, retailers, and TV service providers. Across all industries and consumer segments, I analyzed three areas of loyalty: willingness to buy more products, reluctance to switch from current providers, and likelihood to recommend providers to friends and colleagues.

Continue reading "Forrester's Bruce Temkin: Customer Service Attracts Loyal Customers" »

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The CMO Council and the U.S. Chamber of Commerce launched an initiative yesterday that not only makes sound business sense, but it's also socially beneficial.

The Pause to Support a Cause campaign aims to create a global community of millions of research-ready and receptive panelists to participate in online surveys and market research. It's expected to direct as much as 10 percent of the $18.9 billion spent on market research worldwide to thousands of non profits.

Continue reading "Tapping Into an Engaged Research Group While Adding Altruistic Appeal " »

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What do you do when your business process has turned escalation into SOP?

With my son's sixth birthday around the corner, I recently found myself headed to the local "big box" book retailer for a copy of Roald Dahl's Charlie and the Great Glass Elevator. We'd enjoyed reading Charlie and the Chocolate Factory aloud over vacation, and I knew he was looking forward to the next installment. The book was easily located and I proceeded to check-out. Purchase in hand, I then settled in for a latte at the in-store cafe.

Continue reading "Guest Blogger Catrina Logan Boisson: A Case of Employee (Un)Empowerment" »

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A year ago today, financial services firm Lehman Bros. collapsed, triggering a 500-point drop in the stock market, the toppling of other businesses considered "too big to fail," and signaling the start of the worst recession in modern times. Now, a year later, have businesses learned that short-term gain and isolated profit motives aren't sustainable?

Continue reading "The Collapse of Lehman Bros., One Year Later" »

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How do you win customers' attention and loyalty? Know them and be relevant.

That was the straightforward advice Acxiom's Chris Marriott gave earlier this week during its Global Marketing Performance Series event on social media marketing. "Leverage the information you have about customers to personalize communications," he said.

Marriott, vice president and general manager for Acxiom's Digital Marketing Services' Eastern Region, also advised attendees to:

• Build strategies around customers (not just products or services)
  
• Find more people who look/act like current best customers
  
• Know where customers spend their time, especially online
  
• Recognize customers and treat them like an old friend

Continue reading "Know Thy Customer" »

Posted by Ginger Conlon at 10:26 AM | Permalink | Comments (4) | TrackBacks (0)

With no recommendation engine, graphical improvements, or image search, Craigslist is a website stuck in the past. And while business best practices often include heavy investment in sales, marketing, and customer service, Craigslist eschews these functions--yet continues to grow its revenues. What makes Craigslist a "classifieds killer" and how is it able grow its business with little attention to the customer experience?

Continue reading "Guest blogger Paul Barsch: CRM Isn't Welcome at Craigslist" »

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I admire Wikipedia for trying to create a common knowledge database that everyone could access and participate in, but ultimately the site learned what politicians and sociologists realized long ago: when left to their own devices, people can't be trusted.

Continue reading "Is Wikipedia a Failed Social Experiment?" »

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Email marketing is an easy yet powerful tool in bringing home a huge volume of traffic to your website, and email opens doors to many marketing opportunities. But a new study shows that companies are not taking full advantage of their email campaigns.

Continue reading "Make the Most of Email Marketing" »

Posted by Mila D'Antonio at 10:21 AM | Permalink | Comments (3) | TrackBacks (0)

Warning: Default decisions and actions, although seductive when chosen and not always easy to recognize, can be lethal to your success.

First, perhaps it's best to define default. It occurs when you have chosen--operative word, chosen--not to make a decision or take an action that would help you move forward in achieving what you want in business, in your career, or in your personal life.

Many companies lose market viability because of a default mind-set that results in default behavior. Individuals lose out on career and personal relationships, due to default behaviors. So, how do you recognize this lethal-to-your-success choice of behavior? Here are some examples:

Continue reading "Guest Blogger Arlene Johnson: Choosing Default Can Take You Down" »

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I know, most people hate hype. In a post-bubble economy, hype it's a four letter word. But I love it.

I'm no advocate of projecting unrealistic expectations on every new, shiny thing. But, hype can be used for good.

Hype is a marketer's dream. It takes advantage of our human inclination toward curiosity about the new and unusual. Hype can give a brand enough exposure to sustain it until it can stand on its merits, build a reputation, and move toward majority adoption.

Continue reading "Guest Blogger Jeff Scurlock: I ❤ Hype" »

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Companies today are challenged with how to make operations efficient while delivering value to the customer. The answer to both of these customer management questions hinges upon effective collection, analysis, and deployment of your organization's customer feedback.

Continue reading "Are You Voice-of-the-Customer Challenged?" »

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This Monday I had a series of calls with marketers evaluating campaign management solutions. After the economic slowdown I am starting to see a steady renewal of interest in marketing technologies. The questions ranged from: "How is campaign management different from marketing automation?" to "How much do the various modules cost to implement?" to "What's the on-demand market look like?". But by far the most commonly asked question was about the integration of outbound (batch) and inbound (real-time in the context of the interaction) marketing programs.

Given the renewed emphasis on retention, customer value management, and customer experience, this isn't a surprising question. But many marketers seem to be confused by what the integration of these channels really means. I thought it would be useful to share with you what I shared with them. The integration of outbound and inbound channels means marketers should:

Continue reading "Forrester's Suresh Vittal: Integrating Inbound and Outbound Marketing Campaigns" »

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In Management Rewired, Charles S. Jacobs tells us that brain science has confirmed what many of us have long suspected: We each live in a reality of our own making. As Jacobs points out, this isn't just a philosophical issue; it impacts the way we do business. Arrogantly (or innocently) assume that your customers experience the world in the same way that you do, and you'll find your actions unlikely to produce the results you expect.

We all talk about seeing things through our customer's eyes. But Jacobs' researchers would argue that even the most enlightened and open-minded marketer can't help but bring their own perception of reality to the strategy table. And the pressures of business in a bad economy can make it that much more difficult to see the long-term impact of potentially myopic decision-making.

Continue reading "Guest Blogger Catrina Logan Boisson: Your Customer's Perception Is Not Your Reality" »

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If you've read an article on 1to1media.com recently, you may have used the "share" button that allows you to re-post the story on sites such as Digg, LinkedIn, Mixx, Reddit, and Twitter. This sharing feature, and its accompanied list of social media websites, is common in today's online world. Nearly all news sites, and many e-commerce sites, give customers the option to share content with friends. In the past few months, though, I've noticed that on more and more sites this list has dwindled from a dozen (typical a year ago) to a handful. In particular, two have appeared side-by-side most frequently.

Continue reading "The Social Media Cream Rises to the Top" »

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