One day last week when I emptied my mailbox, I got an interesting surprise: the fall 2011 catalog for retailer Restoration Hardware.
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As many sales and marketing executives have learned, search engine optimization (SEO) is critical for driving customers to a company's website. And while there are varying approaches to SEO, such as services offered by third-party providers, some companies, particularly smaller ones with limited resources, have discovered that a do-it-yourself strategy can pay big dividends.
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When sales reps are in front of customers, or when service reps are on the phone with them, do those reps have all the information they need for the circumstances? Often they don't. They have to derail the conversation at hand to search for what they need. That information is often housed in siloed systems that require a new sign-in, a call to a colleague, or even escalation.
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Customer experience is a hot topic. There's no doubt about that. There are, however, many perspectives on the vast topic of customer experience. Here are 12 from conversations I had and sessions I attended at several recent industry conferences:
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One of the worst things that can happen to a customer who is distraught for one reason or another is to have to communicate with an employee who is just going through the motions in a robotic fashion and does not show an ounce of emotion or empathy.
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In today's economy, the importance of customer service is the bedrock for a sustainable business--and quite possibly paramount for survival.
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I've been a YMCA member for the past several years and have generally had very good experiences with the organization. Most of the facilities I visit are relatively up-to-date and I enjoy the convenience of being able to use different locations when I'm traveling. However, a recent experience with my "home Y" left me a bit disenchanted and has led me to question its approach to providing its members with a consistent multichannel customer experience.
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Every year the Voice of the Customer (VoC) Awards process gives my fellow judges and me the opportunity to explore the inner workings of the day's best VoC programs. I've already documented many of the best practices we've uncovered on my blog and in Forrester reports. Now I want to let you behind the curtain. Here are the pieces of advice that this year's nominees provided for other organizations to learn from, grouped into common themes. Straight from the horses'
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There seem to be two types of brands these days: ones that continue to deliver on their promises despite the turbulent economy and pricing pressures; and ones that use their brand equity to sell products that aren't nearly the level of quality that the brand originally promised and delivered. That group of brands is likely boosting their margins, but how long can the fun last before consumers catch on and lose trust.
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Last Saturday I had a memorable dinner at Craft, in New York. It wasn't just that the food was delicious and the staff attentive, but the restaurant created memories that will ensure a return visit.
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For the past several years many businesses have scrambled to jump on the content marketing bandwagon to differentiate as thought leaders, gain more Google "juice" in the SEO wars, and feed their emerging social channels. Today, as consumers increasingly demand entertaining and informative content whether they are online, on their iPhone, or even in Facebook, and business buyers look to influencers and communities for insight and advice, content marketing has become an essential technique for both consumer and B2B brands.
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On a recent visit to the beauty salon, my hairdresser, and owner of the store, lamented on how the business had been slow in recent weeks. As she rinsed my hair under the sink, she talked about the reason for the decrease in business, equating the slowdown with the lunar phases. She said that she noticed an uptick in business during full moon cycles.
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The sales cycle is evolving more and more to become a purchasing cycle. Increasingly, customers today--both B2B and B2C--are researching products and services, seeking insight and advice from their social networks, and inviting salespeople into their purchase process when the decision is very nearly made. With customers taking charge of the conversation, data is developing into a sellers' best productivity tool.
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With pressure mounting on the marketing function to more clearly identify the return on various investments, attribution modeling may seem like the Holy Grail to some marketers. To others, attribution modeling--or attribution management, as it's often called--is as much an enigma as the concept of marketing ROI.
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Today Google announced that it will purchase Motorola Mobility, the makers of the Droid smartphone and other mobile devices, for about $12.5 billion. Many in the industry note the move was done to resolve patent issues and provide more intense competition with Apple's iPhone and Microsoft's Windows mobile operating system. But it's also a sign that the industry, a fiercely competitive space revolving around innovation and leading technology, needs a shift toward customer centricity.
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As turbulent as the economy has been recently, and is now, there are still customers out there with money to spend. The important question is will they spend it with you? One place consumers are spending: Godiva. Yes, upscale chocolate. In fact, in June the company's year-to-date sales had increased 19 percent globally and 12 percent in North America, according to Mahender Nathan, vice president, direct, for Godiva. The reason for this growth, in my opinion: customer-driven innovation.
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Traditionally, within B2B transactions, buyers were dependent on sellers to provide expert advice. This often led to courtship, evaluation, and acquisition. Of course buyers could pay consultants or purchase analyst research, but ultimately all roads led back to the seller. Even in the Google era, search results usually returned vendor-authored content. Vendors were essentially in control of what information was released to buyers, and when. Conversely, social networks promote a free and open exchange of information that continues to drastically
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It was 1960. Elvis Presley recorded the song Are You Lonesome Tonight. The FDA approved the pill for contraceptive use. Hawaii was recognized as the 50th state of the U.S. And on September 26, about 70 million people tuned in to watch Presidential hopefuls John F. Kennedy and Richard Nixon square off in the first televised political debate.
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Corporate leadership today is under scrutiny. And rightly so. Corporate bailouts, high profits, and big bonuses have shaken public confidence in many companies' leaders.
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Lately, I've had a number of conversations with industry executives where the topic of "right-channeling" has come up, referring to the practice of guiding or directing customers to use lower-cost channels such as online or mobile for support or other needs. While there might appear to be a business rationale for trying to shift customers to use economical channels, ultimately, customers are going to use the channels they want to use, depending on their needs and preferences. When companies take
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Today's lead article in 1to1 Magazine is an interview with Deeanne King, vice president of customer care at Sprint. In it, she discusses how the company used a laser focus on customer experience to generate revenues, improve customer service, and grow its subscriber base. Customer experience has been noted as one of three goals for the entire company to work to improve (along with strengthening the brand and generating cash). King's message emphasizes how important the customer experience is to
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Though the age-old conundrum has had millions fighting an inconclusive battle for decades, we may never figure out which came first, the chicken or the egg. All we can truly agree upon is that, without one, the other simply could not exist. Much like their notorious counterparts, companies and customers have developed a cyclical codependence that makes it hard to tell where one leaves off and the other begins.
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Converging forces like increasingly demanding customers and harsh market conditions have made the competitive landscape tougher than ever. It can be a challenge to stay positive and to continue to focus on customer experience when the pressure to grow is so intense. Lisa Nirell, author of Energize Growth Now: The Marketing Guide to a Wealthy Company, shared some insight with me recently about ways to do both (stay positive and customer focused) and to create growth as a result.
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A number of years ago I was creating customer strategy for a credit card processing company and as a result of some intensive customer analytics, I found a rather large customer segment that would gladly pay two, three, even five times their current rates because they valued the company's product and service so highly. I recommended the company charge one to two times more, which translated into $20 million annual incremental revenue. However, the CEO focused on one other finding
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Consumer reviews have revolutionized the way we make choices: Rather than take a leap of faith before spending our money, we painstakingly read other people's experiences, eager to learn from their mistakes rather than risk following in their footsteps and down the hill of buyers' remorse. This phenomenon has become such a routine in our lives that we barely even stop to think about it. Instead, we just scroll through pages of reviews and click on photos, keen to learn
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As mobile usage continues to accelerate across the globe, new McKinsey research that tracked consumers' digital habits through a series of surveys covering more than 100,000 respondents, highlights the increase, with results showing nearly 50 percent of U.S. online consumers are now advanced users of smart phones, social networks, and other emerging tools--up from 32 percent in 2008.
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To get a grip on your customer experience ecosystem, you need to map it, co-create it, and socialize it. In a previous post, I talked about how Fidelity Investments co-creates its customer experience ecosystem. Through co-creation exercises and workshops, you can engage a fairly large number of internal employees, external partners, and customers in the design of your company's customer experience. But for most large companies, this group will still only represent a small fraction of the people in your
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1to1 Media's Tom Hoffman speaks with Martin Hayward, Director of Marketing at Mirror Image Internet, about the importance for marketers and advertisers to understand the link between customer brand preferences and the types of devices they use.
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The calendar has turned to August, which means that school will be starting sooner rather than later (sorry kids). As families begin their back-to-school shopping, many will go online. And those companies that provide the best overall experience will come out on top during this busy shopping season.
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