|
|
|
|
|
| Management Briefings
|
|
|
|
|
|
Killer mishaps: Richard Boardman, Mareeba CRM Consulting (July 2010)
|
|
|
|
|
|
I recently put together an e-guide on how to buy and implement CRM software. In the
process, it was apparent that there are popular misconceptions about many aspects of
purchasing and implementing CRM technology – and perhaps for that matter many other
types of technology.
The sooner we dispel these myths, the sooner we can better harvest CRM’s potential – so here
are the key areas of misunderstanding:
Misconception 1. CRM is all about choosing the right software.
While technology selection is important, it’s not as important as people think. We’re blessed to
live in an age where there are a host of flexible, highly functional, low-cost CRM technologies
available for purchase. Yes, you need to exercise caution, but there’s considerably less scope
to get things wrong than there was five years ago.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Supplying demand: Mark Whitehouse, SolutionChannels (June 2010)
|
|
|
|
|
|
When you are looking to get your message out there these days – in order to generate demand
for your products or services – you have to be more creative and innovative than ever before.
Most organisations indulge in e-shots on a regular basis and email is still the primary demand
generation ‘tool’. This is rather worrying when you consider that the average response rates to
email blasts are typically only 2-4%. Hardly a great return for a high investment of time and
resource!
Put another way, with such low response and click-through rates, does this mean that 96% or
more of your target audience are simply not interested in your message? Or does it raise the
question of what needs to change to increase these poor response rates?
To make matters worse, the volume of email we all receive is increasing (on average by 16% a year) and this means it’s even
harder to make your email stand out from the crowd – so that your target audience will actually open it in the first place, let
alone take any action.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Experience for a lifetime: Conrad Funnell, PA Consulting (February 2010)
|
|
|
|
|
|
Organisations are trying to determine what they should do to lift them out of the economic
downturn. But given that companies worldwide have cut resources and budgets over the last
year and the purse strings will be tight for some time to come, how should businesses make
best use of these limited resources?
In PA’s view, customer retention delivers greater shareholder value than seeking new
customers. The primary challenge, therefore, is to make the most out of your existing customer
base, rather than attract new customers.
In fact, even without the backdrop of current market conditions, retention makes business sense
– customer acquisition has been benchmarked as being four to 10 times more expensive than
retaining one existing customer.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Blind to the faults?: L Mitchell/M Richards, Objective Designers/expw (Nov 2009)
|
|
|
|
|
|
Most people can relate to examples of when customer service organisations have driven you
completely bonkers: being passed off to another department that does not answer your call
and drops you into a black hole; getting through to an overseas call centre that has not a
clue how to address your problem; orders placed and fulfilled incorrectly…the list is
endless.
But given that the customer relationship is such a fundamental component of the success of
any business, why do companies behave in such a maddening way?
We believe the answer may lie in some interesting new research which describes a model that
can help us both diagnose the roots of certain common mental health problems – as well as
understand some of the wider dysfunctions within organisations. Recent psychological research in the UK has come up with a new model for us to understand
better what is going on with people suffering from a range of mental health conditions, such as
Asbergers’ syndrome, autism and schizophrenia.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Pressing the hot buttons: Trevor Alderson, Ipsos Mori (June 2009)
|
|
|
|
|
|
The global economic downturn has dramatically increased the need to understand and manage customers. At the same time,
customers have more and more choice and are seeking value in everything they buy, helped by the growth in price
comparison websites and multi-channel shopping.
These combined issues have led to an increasing focus on customer retention. In fact, recent research by Ipsos MORI shows
that 57% of industry leaders intend to focus on the retention of customers whereas only 23% will be concentrating on
acquisition strategies.
With this in mind, businesses need to work very hard to make sure they understand their customers and that their
communications are as effective as possible. As businesses across the board switch their focus to retention strategies, they
need to pinpoint exactly what their customers’ hot buttons are. Otherwise they risk being sucked into a downward spiral of
price discounting and promotional deals, to appeal to customers solely on price with consequent adverse impacts on margin
and profitability.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Towards SRM: Tim Haigh, Cirquent (March 2009)
|
|
|
|
|
|
Relatively few companies have incorporated customer relationship management technologies
effectively, even though the concept has been around for a long time now. Many early adopters
failed to implement often highly complex and costly systems successfully, with poor-quality
data. The result? Little user take-up.
In some instances, the problems related to the chosen technology. Frequently, however, the
shortfall of delivery against expectation can be traced to a lack of training, resulting in a
fundamental lack of understanding among end users as to how to get the best from the CRM
system.
Likewise, companies have failed to address cultural issues around transparency of process,
which demands a very different way of working.
Yet there are also many best-practice examples of how CRM, properly implemented, can deliver powerful benefits in both
customer service and internal efficiencies. And this has recently moved a significant step further, as organisations have begun to
recognise that these benefits can be extended to other third-party relationships, including suppliers, partners and intermediaries.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Keeping your contact centre happy: David Bennett, Siemens (January 2009)
|
|
|
|
|
|
Customers are demanding faster and more efficient responses from customer service, and with technological developments,
these demands are coming through multiple contact channels.
The knock-on-effect is that contact centre agents are experiencing increased work demands and expectations. The key
question is whether the IT system supporting them is delivering results without impacting on the speed of call resolution or
ease of use?
A recent poll by Siemens Enterprise Communications addressed these issues by examining the service delivery challenges
faced by contact centre professionals and their impact on customer satisfaction.
The report, which is based on responses from over 500 contact centre workers in the UK, highlights two key challenges faced
by contact centre agents – the technology threat to performance, and agent attrition.
The research also offers insight into contact centre best practice, and how businesses can use new technologies to deliver a
more effective service to customers.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Bridging the gap: Mary Ann Tillman, Convergys (October 2008)
|
|
|
|
|
|
When it comes to quality of service, customers have growing expectations. Consumers
everywhere are more in control now and require anytime, anywhere, any channel service.
Customers and call centre agents alike are frustrated – and have been for quite some time.
Each side wants enquiries resolved on the first call.
In a recent Convergys study of 1,000 customer service consumers in the UK and North
America, the two most important attributes of service were found to be knowledgeable agents
and getting customer needs addressed on the first contact – ranked by 65% and 64% of the
survey respondents respectively.
In the past, CRM systems – regarded as the ‘be-all and end-all’ for customer-centric businesses
– might have been touted as the solution to this issue. But CRM has major shortcomings when
it comes to retrieving vital information that customer service agents need in order to resolve an
issue on the first call.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
'Our customers are tarts': David Butler, TripleIC (August 2008)
|
|
|
|
|
|
Here’s an interesting proposition. Customer churn – the rate at which companies lose customers
– is increasing. In 2005 it was 19%, in 2008 it’s 22% and in 2010 it’s likely to reach 25%.
At this rate, businesses are losing between a quarter and a half of their potential revenue.
Increasingly, boards of directors have remuneration-committee targets influenced by churn.
Bosses are forfeiting their bonuses through churn. What’s more they don’t know how to improve
that situation. They’re looking for someone who does.
Twenty years ago customer satisfaction was the key. Do the customers like what we offer?
Nowadays satisfaction means nothing.
A recent study in the US showed that among customers who claim to be ‘delighted’ with a given
supplier, three-quarters nevertheless will shop around before the next time they buy. As one
retail CEO told me: “Our customers are tarts, they go with anyone if the price is right, and
they’re stealing my bonus.”
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Solution or part of the problem?: David Jacobs, Profit from Information (Apr 08)
|
|
|
|
|
|
A new system is often seen by the modern business as a solution to its problems. But
without a careful questioning approach, the introduction of such a system can easily
become more of a problem than a solution.
Worse, in the customer-facing systems arena, not ‘getting it right’ can be more damaging
than in other areas of the business – resulting in loss of sales or even complete
business meltdown.
As a start point, most people accept that projects to implement customer-facing systems
usually fail when run as a technical exercise. This is so well-known that we should be
way beyond such misapprehensions by now. The problem is, we don’t get much detail
on how to run projects as a truly business-led exercise in order to end up with the
perfectly aligned IS/IT and business functions the pundits talk so much about. We know
we need to focus on business objectives but after that the signal goes weak.
One way forward is to ask the following key questions when you are faced with a possible systems project in the
customer area.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Putting customers on the map: Louella Fernandes, Quocirca (February 2008)
|
|
|
|
|
|
The global digital age has had a profound impact on consumer access to maps, which are
becoming an intrinsic part of everyday life.
We are all familiar with web-based mapping applications such as Google Maps, Yahoo Maps or
Microsoft Windows Live Local, as well as the Google Earth or Microsoft Virtual Earth platforms.
Along with GPS devices for leisure applications, in-car navigation and the emergence of mobile
phones and handheld devices that offer GPS services, we are being exposed to a wealth of
location-based information.
The influx of these web-based mapping services and pervasive GPS data is bringing geography
to the masses and also stimulating the corporate appetite for exploiting location technology.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Customers: the keys to prosperity: Professor Tom Lambert, TripleIC (December 07)
|
|
|
|
|
|
‘Customer centricity’ is a simple concept, but it has proved difficult for many organisations to
move beyond the concept to effective action.
Customer centricity demands that you make the customer the driving force of the business. In
essence it is matter of treating customers like people; finding out and anticipating what they
want and expect, and being ready to change internal processes to redesign or excise those that
fail to deliver real customer value, is one key aspect.
Customer centricity is what a few, very few global brand leaders are good at. But it is something
that we all need to become better at if we want to survive. It has become a constantly reiterated theme that ‘the customer is king’ – or some similar
nonsense. Nonsense because until things go wrong, too many firms believe they know best and
give no real opportunity for customers to talk about what is important to them.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Improving contact centre agility: Sheryl Kingstone, Yankee Group (October 2007)
|
|
|
|
|
|
All organisations need to provide superior customer service across all interaction channels. When a customer contacts the
company, it has to manage that interaction quickly and accurately across any touchpoint.
A poor service experience will have a negative ripple effect on customer satisfaction. Over time, it could potentially: increase costs by forcing interactions with different employees over multiple channels – customers will create separate
service requests through the phone, web, email or chat; cut revenue by losing valuable cross-selling or up-selling opportunities; and force the customer to look at competitive offerings.
The contact centre, a single port of call for all sales and service needs, gives the customer or customer service representative
(CSR) access to new services and customer care functionality, while acting as an individualised marketing channel that
organisations can use to push new products and services.
However, many CRM applications do little to meet the main goals and objectives of contact centres – in fact, CRM application
packages become yet another unused silo of information for many companies.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Channelling your efforts: Dan Eddy, EMCG (July/August 2007)
|
|
|
|
|
|
Historians from the future who focus on this time will doubtless pay particular attention to the
extraordinary range of communications technologies deployed today.
The global internet, instantaneous voice and data communications and the myriad private
international computer networks run by corporations, have combined to create a world where
people are interacting in real and virtual space on a grand and complex scale.
The global communications revolution has implications for people and organisations in every
part of the world – not least because it is making it so much easier and cheaper to interact. For
anyone thinking of setting up a new business, doing so without taking into account the
commercial opportunities offered by new communications technology is almost unthinkable.
Indeed, more and more new businesses today are essentially offshoots of the global
communications revolution.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Are you a back-seat driver?: Andrew Broome, Axactia (April 2007)
|
|
|
|
|
|
Would you drive your car from the back seat? Hopefully not. So why are many
businesses driving from the equivalent of the back seat – the back office?
In my experience, this is not a deliberate choice. It’s something that comes about over a
period of time as changes are made to business processes, organisational structure and
technology. But it’s not uncommon to find that the root cause of a back-seat driving
mentality lies in the deployment of technology within a back-office function.
An IT architecture designed from the back office creates a backward-looking, or
internally focused, culture within a business. Decision making becomes preoccupied with
supply-side considerations – the impact of change internally, how to be more efficient
and constraint-driven thinking. The customer ends up down the list of priorities.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Where future value lies: Nick Hewson, Hewson Group (December 2006)
|
|
|
|
|
|
CRM has had a short but quite dramatic history. It has, variously, been over-hyped and
oversold – it has been seen as a Holy Grail and has been criticised for failing to deliver much in
the way of a return on investment. Worst of all, it has been widely perceived as a technology,
when more properly it should have been seen as a philosophy or business strategy that was
technology-enabled. As a result, many CRM solutions – perhaps the majority – have been
poorly acquired and badly implemented. Yet almost no major corporation in the Western economies operates today without a fairly
substantial CRM infrastructure. How else would contact centres, service management,
marketing campaigns, internet trading, business intelligence or sales management happen?
CRM technologies are now integral to business life.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Completing the picture: Professor Robert Shaw, Cass Business School (October 06)
|
|
|
|
|
|
Twenty years have passed since the world’s first marketing, sales and service systems were
designed and implemented. But it was clear from the outset that to enjoy the benefits, it would
be necessary to solve a jigsaw puzzle, as CRM had many interlocking pieces. Recently, those
involved in CRM have written numerous press articles about their problems and frustrations,
and the guru Seth Godin has even posted a pessimistic blog entitled “CRM is dead”.
Over the 20 years, I have provided advice and analysis to scores of organisations, surveyed the
development of new methods in over 100 organisations, and written books including the
bestselling ‘Database Marketing’ – and I don’t agree that CRM is dead. But it is clear that one of
the key pieces of the CRM puzzle – revenue analysis and profit optimisation – has been
overlooked.
In this article I describe the issue, explain why it’s important, identify 10 reasons for the problem
and propose a solution for you to implement.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Avoiding the tyre kickers: Mark Walker, Merchants (August 2006)
|
|
|
|
|
|
Hands up if you decide which new car to buy because you are especially attracted to its tyres. I
wouldn’t expect to see many fingers pointing to the sky – because when you buy a car, you buy
what is valuable to you. For Mercedes owners, this could be prestige and the latest technology;
for Alfa Romeo owners, this could be speed and Italian styling.
Of course, tyres are critical to a car’s performance, it won’t move far without them, but they are
not a core component or differentiator for each specific marque. This is the very reason why car
manufacturers don’t make tyres themselves. Instead, they concentrate on their core
competencies of car design, build and branding, and outsource tyre production to third parties
whose core competence is making tyres.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Contact centres: your troublesome teenager: Paul Scott, DiData (June 2006)
|
|
|
|
|
|
Like a child emerging from innocent childhood to clumsy
adolescence, contact centres are growing up, they are
maturing, and their custodians and guardians – the IT
community – are finding out just how tough this can be.
Contact centres are continually demanding improved
technology – switches, IP-enabled centres, integrated voice
and email across multiple sites.
So how should the IT community and the business in general
respond? How is the role of contact centres changing and what
is the appropriate level of technology investment? What value
does the contact centre represent to the business and what is
the typical level of technology used in UK contact centres?
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Using channels to beat your competitors: Gino Morelli, IF International (Apr 06)
|
|
|
|
|
|
Organisations seeking to win competitive edge need to become masters of the channels
they use to deliver their products and services. Yet while delivery channels are clearly
fundamental, their importance is sometimes overlooked even by organisations that pride
themselves on the quality of their business thinking.
A company’s approach to its marketing channels is one of the few really powerful
potential differentiators that are still readily available. After all, your competitors are, by
definition, trading in the same marketplace and under the same conditions as you. Yet
even if your competition have access to the same potential marketing channels as you,
in practice how you wield your marketing channels, and the quality of your understanding
of them, will be uniquely yours.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
| |
|
|
|
|
|