Last weekend I flew to Turkey to give a speech on one-to-one marketing. I was invited by Xerox to speak at the Marketingist Conference and Exhibition. Also speaking at Xerox’s booth/theater was Rafi Albo, managing director of SegMarketing, an Israel-based marketing agency. Albo discussed what he calls data creative: Starting with customer data to generate the creative of one-to-one campaigns.

“You need to think creatively about data,” he said during his presentation. “Data is the language of real customer behavior.”

Continue reading "One-on-One Gets Double Digit Results" »

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As much as we believe in customer centricity and applying the Golden Rule in business, truth be told, not all customers return the favor. From unrealistic expectations to outright rudeness, customers can sometimes challenge even our most patient service experts.

Continue reading "We Love Customers, But…" »

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The next competitive battleground is customer experience. So say 95 percent of business leaders, according to Ed Thompson, a Gartner vice president and distinguished analyst. Additionally, he said during his keynote at the Gartner CRM Summit, 80 percent of executives think customer strategy is more important than it was three years ago.

Continue reading "There’s More Than One Way to Customer Experience Success (In Fact, Here’s 7)" »

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I’ve attended two CRM conferences in the past two weeks with session after session on everything customer strategy—social media, CRM technology, capturing customer insight, boosting retention, and more. The one common theme: No matter how terrific the strategy or technology, none of them will fly without great people at the controls.

You’ve probably heard it a thousand times, but it still bears repeating: If you want loyal, engaged customers, you first need loyal, engaged employees. As much as we in this “CRM industry” tout the idea of customers first, and as much as the reality is that without customers you have a hobby not a business, it is employees who deliver those loyalty-building customer experiences, whether through delivering great service, designing unique products, creating and participating in two-way communications, or simplifying processes. Thus, to truly succeed over both the short and long term, a customer strategy must includes a comprehensive employee engagement strategy.

Here is some of the advice on employee engagement shared at the two events.

Continue reading "Rules of (Employee) Engagement" »

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This question may seem easier to answer than it actually is. In fact, in some organizations different constituents may see customer strategy completely differently. Some executives may be focusing on cost cutting while others are aiming to boost brand equity. According to Gartner managing vice president Scott Nelson, companies need to select one primary strategy and stick with it. Sure, you may cut costs while deepening customer relationships, but ultimately, if building relationships is your primary aim, it will take you down a different path of strategy, tactics, processes, and even technologies than cost cutting would.

Continue reading "What’s Your Customer Strategy?" »

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