No customer, no glory It’s all about connecting with people

Who is the customer?

A customer is not a number

A customer is not a target group

A customer is the person you are working for. The one you serve. He is the user of your products. He knows the best how to use your products and make them even better. He talks about you and your products. He experiences your services. He should be feeling important, welcome, embraced, connected, recognized. He is the one why you are in business. Without him you’ll be out of that.

But…

Do you know your customer? Do you understand his needs, wishes, plans, values? Do you know what your customer expects from you, and your products or services? And are you delivering at these expectations? Or even beyond them? Do you offer him the best value possible? Are you consistently delivering in a way that satisfies and even surprises your customer?

And…

Do you think that your customer will give the same answers to those questions as you did?

Many companies spend most of their marketing budgets in lead generation/new customer acquisition and invest 20% or less in their own customers

That’s an unwise policy

Because 80% of revenues come from customer retention

That’s an unwise policy

Treat your customers well, and they will stay with you (and will come back to you at the next purchase)

Surprise your customers, and they will share their surprise with their friends (and will convince them to become a ‘fan’ as well)

So, find ways to genuinely surprise your customers…

… creating WOW MOMENTS

In our competitive, over-communicated society, there’s more to deepen customer relationships than delivering operational excellence

Managing efficiency

Managing affection

  Being interested in human beings, not in figures, numbers etc.

  Spending time and money to get to know the users of your products

  Continuously engaging with real people   Willing to build a customer-centric business   Delivering lasting moments on top of

valuable products and services

It’s about

‘A deep understanding of the users of your products and services, leads to new perspectives which, in turn, spawn novel solutions’

d.school

Research shows: Most customers will put service ahead of price - if you give them the chance

BIGresearch

Unfortunately 79% of business leaders have only a generalized or superficial/absent understanding of their customers…

IBM research

And 60% of marketers doubt if they can identify their loyal customers…

Acxiom/Loyalty360

And 60% of marketers doubt if they can identify their loyal customers… let alone their customers’ needs and expectations

Do you know what your customers EXPECT from your products and services?

Do you know what your customers EXPECT from your products and services?

90% of businesses don’t

Smart Advantage

Reasons why:   no direct interactions with customers   unwillingness to ask about

expectations   unpreparedness in addressing them

Pheng & Nguan

When decision makers do not fully understand customer’s expectations, they may cause a chain of bad decisions and suboptimal resource allocations that result in poor service quality

Gap analyses

ORGANISATION

CUSTOMERS Expected service/ product

Perceived service/ product

Communications with customers

gap 1

gap 3 gap 4

gap 5

gap 2

•  Absence of customer driven standards •  Inadequate service leadership •  Poor service design

•  Inadequate market research orientation •  Lack of upward communication •  Insufficient relationship focus

•  Deficiencies of human resource policies •  Failure to match supply and demand •  Customers not fulfilling roles

•  Ineffective management of customer expectations •  Overpromising •  Inadequate horizontal communications

Closing this customer gap will: •  enhance customer satisfaction •  enhance customer loyalty •  develop the lifetime value of the customer

Translation of perceptions into services

quality specifications

Management perceptions of

customers’ expectations

Worth of mouth Actual personal

problems, needs & wishes

Past experiences

Service/product delivery

Actual service/product

A customer experience starts with a personal question, need or wish; which solution is worth paying for

But why should people choose YOUR COMPANY to solve their problems?

Why should consumers spend their most valuable and scarce resources - money, time and attention - on you?

You only EARN these by meeting the needs of your customers surprisingly well

HOW? By putting your customers in the heart of your organization

‘In high performing organizations, everything starts and ends with the customer. This is a radical shift from organizations whose business design puts customers as the end-receiver of the chain.’

Ken Blanchard

Marketers might think that putting their customers in the heart of their organization equals CRM, database marketing or marketing intelligence

But having a customer-centric organization is not the same as:   Having an up-to-date client database   Using profiles and scenarios of your

average client or target group   Asking feedback from clients when

product modifications have been developed

Customer-centricity means before making any decision, find out how that decision will have impact on your customers

It means watching at and listening to real people when you have a business or product idea or assumption; focusing on your customers’ needs, whishes and perspectives

If you do so, you’ll let real customers involve in the way your products and services are conceived, designed, delivered and experienced

But how do you get in contact, and keep in touch with your customers? And how can this contact be effective?

THE GOOD NEWS: your customers are willing to help you

Nowadays, consumers increasingly want to participate in the organizations they feel connected with

Rather than receiving e-mails, news letters or push-tweets consumers want to engage in debate, co-create, share experiences and stories, and build engaging relationships with organiza-tions that are truly looking for customer insights to make their customers happy

Especially with organizations that are reliable, value sustainability, adopt mindful consumption, and have the drive to innovate, and are able to make a difference

It’s a fact: Organizations that work closely with their customers and end-users, design and develop better, more relevant and more consistent high-impact solutions for people’s problems, needs or wishes

So, empower your organization to engage with customers to design sustainable products and excellent service which creates lasting interactions and experiences

Most executives believe that customer engagement is extremely important to their business. Nearly 90% say that customer relationships are very important to the success of their business

The Economist

More important; companies with engaged customers enjoy: improved customer loyalty (80%), increased revenue (76%), and increased profits (75%)

The Economist

REMEMBER, Customer engagement isn’t realized by a set of isolated interactions. It’s about cooperation, involvement, consultation and dialogue. You have to recognize that the interactions with your customers are based on an ongoing dialogue of equals to nurture trust and form meaningful relationships

These interactions create valuable experiences and outcomes for your customers

It all starts and ends with connecting with your customers

Inge Keizer Email: inge.keizer@yabber.nl Twitter: @ingejk

March 18, 2012