feature
“In a crowded market place populated by
the most informed and discerning
customers that businesses have ever had
to deal with, price and convenience
simply won’t cut the mustard”
Karine Del Moro is VP
Marketing, Confirmit
www.confirmit.com
or Voice of the Customer. Involving employees from the front line,
with their insight into day-to-day customer experiences, marketing
teams who understand what you’re trying to convey through those
experiences, and people from supporting functions, such as
finance or logistics who bring a knowledge of the processes that
impact customers positively or negatively.
what your customers are trying to achieve at every stage of their
relationship with you, and how they go about doing so. Your map
should create a framework that encompasses the entire company,
how each area impacts the customer and feeds into your Voice of
the Customer programme to ensure you’re able to capture
feedback at the right moments.
2.A large pinch of executive buy-in
A key purpose of the map is the ability it gives you to show
everyone in the company where they sit in relation to the customer
and how their role impacts the customer. For those on the front
line, it’s easy, but for the team members who may consider
themselves far removed from the customer, it’s powerful to see
how their action can make a difference.
Without support from the top of your company, your programme is
destined to remain a niche project. Executive buy-in means
stakeholders take the programme more seriously, that targets must
be met, and most critically, that budget is assigned. You’ll need to
talk numbers - e.g. ROI models - in order to capture your executive
team’s attention and really lay the foundations. It may be daunting
to set yourself solid financial goals, but it’s what you need to do to
secure the future of your programme.
3.A selection of business goals
To ensure your programme remains relevant and, more importantly,
measureable, focus on the goals that are core to your business.
The goals of your CX programme must be inextricably tied to the
wider business goals in order to deliver real value to the company.
By including a few simple variables such as turnover and churn
rate, you can quickly start modelling the impact your programme
will have on the bottom line.
4.3-5 clear CX objectives
It is imperative that you have clear and measureable goals for your
programme. “Happier customers” is not enough and there is more
to ROI than increased revenue. Ensure you support these
objectives with metrics that really do reflect how your company
operates. For example, Net Promoter Score (NPS) which can
demonstrate a clear causal link between customer loyalty,
customer acquisition and the bottom line. Or Customer Effort
Score which is particularly suited to the call centre environment or
business areas dealing with problem resolution. Whichever metrics
you use, they must give you the ability to prove the success of your
programme.
5.1 customer journey map
This may sound like a list of customer touchpoints, but in fact it’s
much more than that. Customer journey mapping must focus on
21
6.1 Voice of the Customer solution
Make sure you have the technology you need to manage your
programme. All the exec buy-in and support in the world won’t
help if people can’t access the information they need, customer
feedback gets lost or you end up alienating customers with poor
feedback experiences. Bear in mind that customers who choose to
share their experiences with you must be treated carefully so you
need to be able to follow up with them – individually or en masse –
where appropriate. Make sure you can support whichever channel
they use to contact you – web, telephone, social media, mobile –
and create alerts to flag immediate issues so the right team can
get on the case straight away. And remember that information can
indeed be power if your key stakeholders have the ability to
monitor the impact of your programme through a clear, customised
CX dashboard.
7.A large dollop of enthusiasm
This may not sound like it’s important, but it makes a huge
difference. While Customer Experience and Voice of the Customer
are becoming well-established disciplines which generate clear
ROI, there is sometimes a sense of “herding cats” about getting all
the pieces you need aligned and all the stakeholders properly
involved. Use your stakeholders as CX advocates who can help to
get buy-in from the whole business.
And what to do with these ingredients? Treat carefully, mix well and
be sure to share the final – delicious – results with your customers
and employees!
ISSUE SEVENTEEN • NOVEMBER 2014