EWA Bespoke Communications Blog

Bespoke CRM – back in vogue?

2011-11-23T01:16:00.000-08:00

It does seem that age old question IT Directors are faced with when their business has a CRM requirement, just won’t go away – “do we buy off the shelf or do we go for a bespoke CRM solution?"

The past few years have seen many companies shy away from bespoke CRM solutions, maybe due to the perceived higher cost and risk, or maybe as a result of numerous high profile government IT initiatives that have badly failed and served to simultaneously make everyone in the IT industry shudder at the cost.

Whilst business leaders have always understood the inherent benefit that a solution tailored to their existing business practices and make-up provide, that understanding has been tempered with a large slice of should they invest in a bespoke solution that does everything or trade a proportion of that functionality for an off-the-shelf product that everyone else uses

No doubt there are some very good off the shelf CRM solutions out there, with differing delivery options, packaged components and as the saying goes ‘no one ever got fired for recommending the market leader’.

So are Bespoke CRM solutions back in vogue?

Well it would appear the tide is turning in favour of solutions that meet all the CRM requirements of the business, bridging existing operational solutions, collecting data and insight from all channels, integrating Social Media and in so providing that one-stop-shop that customers demand.

These days bespoke CRM solutions are not built from the ground up, but from the customers’ existing data layer and intended touch points, utilising proven, scalable, reliable software libraries and hardware platforms – reducing the risk and costs previously associated with the bespoke CRM solutions of yesteryear.

Finally, given these uncertain economic times it would seem to make sense that business leaders are more inclined to buy into CRM solutions that fully support their own, very specific, business and customer requirements, over the functionality that maybe provided by an off the shelf product which is probably being used by their competitors – after all, everyone needs an edge!

How Customer Insight can Shape Your Marketing

2011-11-09T01:24:00.000-08:00

Understanding your customers, particularly your existing customers, has always been an important element in successful marketing. Ultimately through this understanding it is possible to target the right people, at the right time with the right message. To achieve this however, it’s vital to have data at your disposal, data which can be effectively segmented and used for marketing and advertising functions.

Such a point was recently reiterated by the head of marketing and communications at the Chartered Institute of Marketing, Ray Jones. Mr Jones emphasised the importance of learning as much as possible about existing customers and using such information to provide better marketing material. He also highlighted that segmenting customers along the lines of wants and needs and developing plans to appeal to these desires should be a priority for all businesses.

Gathering data which can be segmented and profiled to provide a platform for effective, targeted marketing has long been a key principle of customer insight at EWA. Customer insight and data analysis has a vital role to play in marketing, look at companies such as Amazon or Play that send emails filled with products which customers are the most likely to buy based upon a plethora of data and the behaviour of other customers within their segment.

Whilst they may not always get it right, companies like Amazon do use their data to the greatest effect. They ensure that the insight they gain from it is never wasted and consistently use it to shape marketing campaigns based upon segmented data and not supposition.

Much can be learnt from such activities for all businesses but the primary lesson here is to understand that the data you collect as part of your customer insight activities needs to be handed over to your marketing department or agency. Fail to do this and your marketing is unlikely to speak to your customers in the right way. Do this however and it can help you to garner the largest ROI from marketing and improve the lifetime value of each customer through targeted, relevant and timely communications.

ISO27001? - Let the force be with you … (not against you)

2011-10-12T01:35:00.000-07:00

Data security reminds me of global warming; it is an ever encroaching force in which we seem powerless to resist. Our thirst for data, its collection, availability and the sheer number of ways in which it can be accessed is mesmerising. So much so that the number of regulations acting in equal and opposite force has left communication companies like us facing the twin gauntlets of the law and those of whom we hold information.

Well, don’t you know it; there is a way in which you can live with the force, which admittedly comes with some pain – but hey no pain no gain! –and that is ISO27001 Information Security Standard. I know what you are thinking, I can hear the yawns already – another tiresome quality accreditation, hard to obtain, impossible to police and despised by the staff that have to pay attention to it.

Well, partly true, but with some (not inconsiderable) focussed effort, the sunny uplands of ISO27001 can be quite uplifting. And before being cast in the role ‘anorak’, this bit of regulation train spotting will make a profound difference to how your company is perceived by its clients and prospects, whilst being the catharsis of data management if handled with the right attitude.

Comfortingly it did prove that our systems were in pretty good nick before accreditation. So now we proudly fly our ISO flag, confident that it helps to open doors to new contracts, makes our existing clients very happy and secure and wouldn’t you know it – it has actually helped our sceptical workforce by reducing their paperwork and misunderstandings about the ‘monster’ data security; and by making sense of and seeing the benefits of the apparently incomprehensible.

@respondquicklyplease

2011-10-10T00:09:00.001-07:00

I recently read an article on social media which suggested that consumers contacting brands through Facebook and Twitter had a much higher expectation of fast response times than consumers using other more traditional channels.

This brings about the question of how Brands should respond to this growing trend of ‘social is instant’ and ‘instant is best’.

Surely a consumer is entitled to a great ‘customer experience’ regardless of the channel or channels they choose to communicate via?

Of course it is essential that Brands adopt and respond to new media, and the growing number of consumers using these channels to seek information, contact a brand or comment on products – but the real question is how?

Throwing resources at the challenge is very often the first response but Social Media and the opportunities it provides should be integrated into the core Customer Management, CRM or communications Strategy.

Responding to tweets in a matter of seconds, while a backlog of emails builds up in the website inbox or customers listen to ‘greensleeves’ for two minutes before someone answers the phone is simply not acceptable.

Why not strive to provide an excellent customer experience across all channels at all times?

And, what about customer value? – Surely if you knew a high value customer was waiting for an email response while you deal with a low value prospect, you’d get on the case – and quickly.

The point is that measuring customer value and integrating channels for communication shouldn’t be a ‘nice to have’ – it should be fundamental to the investment in the future of your Brand.

Good consistent customer service delivered across all channels is within reach but needs to be a priority if Brands are to realise the vast opportunity as communications and consumer response expectations evolve.

Customers are revolting!

2011-10-06T01:18:00.000-07:00

Isn’t it sad – in a recent survey of consumers in London and the Southeast, top of the list of ‘things that irritate them’ was...

Overseas Call Centres! – and, even Health and Safety overkill came in at number 5 . . .

This brings about a bigger question though, which is: what is it about Overseas Call Centres that really irritates people? – Most probably, it isn’t actually anything to do with location.

When you think about the original key driver for off-shoring these critical services in the first place – in virtually all cases it was to save money – not improve the customer experience, sharpen up the knowledge base, give customers better value or to make it easier for customers to access services. The bottom line, financial benefits far outweighed any real concern over the customer reaction or long term effects on the Brand.

But of course over time, the inevitable u-turn has taken place – big Brands (many of which pioneered the mass exodus from UK based suppliers in the first place) are returning to UK Call Centres and prioritising this return in terms Brand differentiation.

Regardless of where a call centre, customer service desk, helpline etc. is based, it needs to be geared around providing the very best customer experience possible and this should be viewed as an investment, not a cost.

Fill your desks (preferably in the UK) with bright, professional, enthusiastic and well trained people; encourage them to build their knowledge; give them fast access to key information so that the advice and guidance they give the customer is accurate and consistent and get them to LISTEN to what the customer wants – then perhaps we can move Call Centres down the list of irritations or rather leave the list altogether!

B2B Marketing Fundamentals – Your Website & Data

2011-10-05T01:26:00.000-07:00

From my previous post on B2B marketing fundamentals you should now have a clear idea of who you are, what your offer is (your business identity) and who you are offering it to (your target audience). This post will study the second element in our B2B Fundamentals blog series, highlighting the importance of using websites and data in successful B2B marketing.

Make sure your website is earning its keep

You should be asking yourself if your website is effective at promoting your brand, products and services. You should also be questioning whether it is an effective generator of enquiries or leads and finally, if it is visible online and whether it is geared up to receive any campaign specific traffic you may expect to receive.

If not, why not? Start thinking about how you can make your website more effective, not just in terms of the way it is laid out and navigated but also the message it provides visitors through content. If it is ineffective at generating leads look at the way it entices visitors to make contact or enquire and perhaps even test page elements to find where your website could be working harder (or smarter) for you. If it is not visible online, consider online marketing strategies, focussed towards your target audience with relevant keywords that will drive traffic to the website.

Track who visits your website

The value of understanding who and how people use your website should rarely be underestimated. Analytics software can help you to understand how effective your website is and will tell you how people arrive at your site and the way in which they behave once they are navigating it. This data if used correctly can help you to improve your website and help you get the most from your online real estate.

Get your data sorted

As well as the data you are able to glean from your website you should make use of existing client and prospect data. If you don’t have enough data to sustain your B2B marketing consider buying data. Do however ensure that your data is clean, contains the correct information and is up to date. You should also place your data in an actual database, as this is far more efficient that hoarding it away in a spreadsheet.

The success of your B2B marketing efforts is closely tied to the cleanliness and usefulness of your data as this allows you to target prospects effectively. Equally, your website also needs to perform effectively, generating prospects and converting website visitors into leads.

Call Centre Growth in India Faltering – The Beginning of the End for Outsourced Contact?

2011-09-27T05:29:00.000-07:00

According to new research the call centre industry in India, from a position of prominence is now faltering in the wake of companies wishing to move their operations back to the UK and to countries in South East Asia.

The reasons behind this stalling are multiple. As always customer difficulties with the Indian accent have been presented, despite extensive ‘neutral accent training’ at Indian call centres. Adding to the problems for Indian call centres however is the decreasing kudos of call centre jobs within India and the result of rising living costs in cities such as Mumbai and Delhi.

There are now an increasing number of companies bringing their call centre operations back to native shores. One is Santander, the Spanish owned bank which now has a contact centre within the UK; another is Aviva, which has moved part of their operation to Norwich.

These developments can be seen as part of a wider u-turn made by many companies who originally outsourced to India and other off-shore centres primarily to save money. At the time their perception was that customer service and experience levels would be maintained but in many cases that proved not to be the case.

The resulting customer frustration has often arisen because of the inability of off-shore agents to converse with customers ‘naturally.’ Cultural differences, language barriers and rigid, scripted call structures have all led to a general feeling of dissatisfaction amongst UK consumers. Eventually this reflected poorly on the brands which jumped on the off-shoring bandwagon.

Recently however this bandwagon is faltering and both Aviva and Santander form part of a growing trend for “on-shoring,” or bringing call centres back to the UK. This trend actually began some time ago with a number of brands now using the fact they are returning as both a USP and a positive PR story.

Rather than the spin associated with this PR however, the real reason why such companies are coming back to the UK is that they have finally realised hanging on to customers during tough economic times is as important as cutting costs. Providing a good customer experience is now a priority ... something which in many cases was not paramount in the off-shore model.

Is it the beginning of the end for off-shore call centres? Perhaps in the Indian example it may be, although ultimately it is the realisation that a good customer experience is the most economically viable way to retain customers which will signal the death knell for off-shoring.

B2B Marketing Fundamentals – Your Identity & Target

2011-09-12T05:54:00.000-07:00

In a recent blog I outlined some of EWA’s fundamentals when it comes to B2B marketing. Within the blog 3 main areas were explored, which if understood could help you to make positive changes in your marketing efforts. The first of these areas is Your Identity & Target, which are both vitally important if your marketing is to be effectively focussed. Consider the following in order to achieve this marketing fundamental.

Who are you and what do you offer?

As a business you should have a clear idea of who you are but it is equally important to define this in a concise statement. This statement should combine your company identity with the types of services where you excel, clearly showing any potential clients your positioning, whatever the communication medium.

What is your target market?

Marketing without targeting is unlikely to be effective or profitable making identifying a target audience for your B2B marketing essential. Any targeting exercise should consider who you are planning to sell your services or products to by defining the size and type of businesses they should be.

Why should businesses buy from you?

By now you will have established your own identity and even the role that your specialities play in this, however, it is also important to consider your USPs (Unique Selling Points). These USPs are what sets your business apart from the competition and should consist of specific features and benefits customers will gain if they choose you.

Who do you need to speak to?

The final area of your identity and targeting is to define exactly who you need to contact. Ideally these contacts should be someone within a business with the power to make decisions as to arranging meeting with the key stakeholders in the company. For some businesses this may purely be the MD, but with others this could be a marketing manager or commercial director.

B2B differs from B2C in that the people you deal with have different considerations to make and are driven by different purchasing factors. By asking yourself these questions and setting your stall out early on in the marketing process you should be able to find ways to appeal to these purchasing factors from the outset, greatly improving the chances of success for your marketing.

B2B Marketing Fundamentals

2011-08-22T01:33:00.000-07:00

A conversation with a friend prompted this blog. He was asking how he should go about developing a marketing strategy for his business as they are due to launch in a new market. We had a long, productive conversation which hopefully put him on the right path; but it struck me during this conversation that maybe other people would benefit from a little help and advice.

So in order to share some of the basics of our collective experience, here are EWA’s B2B marketing fundamentals:

Your Identity & Target

Clearly define and state who you are and what it is you offer (as well as what you’re REALLY good at) – develop a positioning statement you can use across multiple mediums.
Decide on your target market – who do you want to sell your services to, what sort (and size) of businesses are they?
State why businesses should buy from you – what are your USPs? – think about your features and benefits you offer.
Decide on the best people to make contact with at your target companies – which job role would you typically make contact with first? (And who signs the cheques?)

Your Website & Data

Make sure your website is earning its keep – does your site generate enquiries and leads for you, can interested businesses easily find you online?
Track who visits your website – specialist software can give you insight into who visits and what they look at.
Get your data sorted – clean what you have and then buy more if needed and make sure it’s in a proper database, not lurking on a spreadsheet somewhere. B2B campaigns either sink or swim based on the quality of the data used

Your Voice & Interaction

Become thought leaders in your sector – give people a reason to listen to what you have to say – build trust and become a source of information.
Write a blog – share your thoughts, opinions, advice and guidance. It will build trust in your prospective customers (as well as having SEO benefits).
Develop a social media strategy – it’s becoming as important as having a plain old website – make and foster new connections.
Use online business network tools – Make genuine connections and engage in conversations with people looking for your services.
Get help from specialists where you need it – you can’t do everything yourself and engaging the right agencies can make a huge difference (do you know the difference between organic and paid search, how to conduct successful telemarketing, which PR sites to post your stories on??).

Clearly this isn’t an exhaustive list and each point on its own will be discussed in a separate blog post. It’s really just a starting point to bigger conversations so if you consider carefully what marketing you do currently, use the guidance above and make some positive changes, you should join my friend on the right B2B marketing track.

Stop doing any Marketing you can’t Measure

2011-08-12T03:47:00.000-07:00

All of your marketing activity should be trackable, right down to the specific campaign and channel which generated every enquiry or sale.

Why?

Because if you can’t trace a sale or lead back to its source (how did the person become aware of your company or the product you’re selling), then how can you know whether your marketing budget is being spent on the right things? How can you know which campaign (and channel) is the most effective and which isn’t?

Put simply, you can’t. And you should be able to.

If your marketing activity isn’t generating results (and profit), stop doing it. If you are seeing results and can track where they came from, do a great deal more of it. You’ll only know whether to stop or do more if you’re measuring the results.

Effective data management and customer insight goes a long way to fixing this challenge. Providing you’ve put in the effort up front and used response codes or sent campaigns via traceable mediums such as email, data analytics will tell you exactly which campaign has been successful and why.

Success can be a little subjective but ultimately it’s all about revenue. Did your campaign generate sufficient profit (at the right margin) once you have deducted the actual costs to consider doing more of it? If the answer is yes, then you know what you should do... much, much more!

If you’re scratching your head at this point and wondering how to make your campaigns much more effective, come and talk to us. We’ve a huge amount of experience in designing, implementing and analysing marketing campaigns which have delivered real results for our clients.

Direct Marketing Campaign Planning – Assess and Improve

2011-08-08T10:40:00.000-07:00

The final post in our series on direct marketing campaign planning is dedicated to studying the ways to assess where your campaign has been successful and to develop processes which will improve future marketing activities.

The first element of this process is to assess which elements were successful and to learn from the campaign by identifying:

The segments which were most successful in terms of responses and revenue generated. It is also important to find out the reasons behind this as this will instrumental in shaping future marketing strategies.
Which channels were most preferred by recipients and why.
If there are any trends within the data and if there are any conclusions which can be drawn from these trends.
The successful calls to action. The importance of the call to action within your marketing messages should never be underestimated and any opportunity to gain data on which have been most popular should be taken.
If there were particular combinations of communication channels which was most successful, for example a direct mail message followed by telemarketing or a website/email combination.
If there was an ideal time period to follow up on the original marketing message in order to generate the largest revenue.

The second clement is to use this information to improve future campaigns. This can be done by...

Collecting and managing the analytical data gained throughout the campaign with the aim of building propensity models.
Using these propensity models to create specific audience segments which are statistically most likely to respond to marketing messages.
Using data about calls to action to find and implement refined marketing messages on a segment by segment basis.
Use all of the data to indentify where and how it is possible to build the relationship over time, encouraging purchasing behaviour in the long term.

Throughout this series we have studied:

The benefits of setting the foundations of your campaigns early on in the process by understanding your business and the campaign objective
The importance of effectively managing your campaign data,
Developing marketing messages which are targeted towards your audience, and
How to handle your responses most efficiently and also how to measure the success of the campaign.

This final stage in the process reinforces the cyclical nature of direct marketing. Where the lessons learnt from one campaign form a significant element in the next; helping to improve the return on investment for direct marketing campaigns and build long lasting, profitable customer relationships.

Direct Marketing Campaign Planning – Measuring Success

2011-08-04T06:29:00.000-07:00

A key component of your direct marketing campaign is planning the ways in which you will measure success. Success however can only be assessed by looking at your multichannel approach and finding key performance indicators for each individual channel.

Methods for measuring the success of your campaign channels include:

Direct Mail - Measuring the success of your direct mail marketing requires evaluation of the total responses, only possible if effective response handling processes have been enacted (see our previous post).

Online - If you are using a website as a major communications channel there are numerous ways to measure responses. Web tracking technology such as Google Analytics will enable you to track, measure and report on the success of marketing communications. Similarly, this is possible with online advertising mediums where click through rates and interactions should be measured.

Email - If your campaign utilises email the most efficient ways to measure success are to track and assess the number of successful sends, the rate of opens and furthermore, the interaction levels for the emails sent out.

Telephone – The call-to-lead ratio is one of the key indicators for success with direct telemarketing activities. Measurement of success with telemarketing however should be based upon both qualitative and quantitative data.

Combining the insight from each of your communications channels makes it possible to assess the overall success of the campaign. Essentially there are two identifiers for success. The first is whether the campaign costs were exceeded by the attributable revenue - this will tell you whether the campaign was financially successful; in the short term.

The other indicator of success is the amount of new customer revenue the campaign achieved. This figure gives not only gives an idea of the short term accomplishments of the campaign but also provides an idea of the future revenue and the added value provided by the marketing activity.

Measuring the success of your campaign is not however the final element in an effective direct marketing campaign, in our next post will explore the ways in which it is possible to use this data to learn from your campaign and improve future marketing activities.

Direct Marketing Campaign Planning – Handling Your Responses

2011-07-20T00:36:00.000-07:00

The latest instalment of our series on planning a direct marketing campaign is dedicated to the subject of response handling, and how this vitally important aspect of the campaign should be planned in order to yield the most significant benefit. Planning how to handle the responses returned from your direct marketing can be split into 2 major areas; the first, your methods of collecting different responses and secondly how the responses (and subsequent data) should be managed.

Collecting Your Responses

Previously the importance of a multichannel approach has been presented, however it is important to understand how to collect the different responses returned from such an approach.

Telephone – If one of your channels utilises inbound phone calls to collect responses it is vital to create a team of customer service professionals to handle these calls, a team that understand the objectives of the campaign and has been effectively trained to handle responses.

Email – Setting up a dedicated email address is another form of collecting responses. This can be a single email address or multiple addresses in accordance with the direct marketing segments.

Website – Depending upon the marketing strategy, the creation of a campaign specific website can be a worthwhile course of action. This website or simply a landing page should contain the enquiry forms and may even operate an Iframe to harvest the responses.

Social Media – Increasingly social media is being used within direct marketing campaigns due to its growing popularity as a marketing medium. Once again, campaign specific pages can be set up to handle responses whilst connections made through social media can be an effective way to build customer profiles.

Managing Your Responses

Once you have decided which response channels to use as part of your campaign, to ensure they are managed effectively it is important to undertake the following.

Firstly, you should make an assessment of your in-house capabilities, investigating your internal capacity to handle/manage responses.
Secondly, if this assessment reveals that your internal capacity is insufficient, you may want to consider outsourcing response handling activities.
Finally, whether the handling activities are being handled in-house or outsourced, it is vitally important to set out, precisely what defines an opportunity, as this will be used when determining the success of the project.

Response handling is a key component in any marketing campaign whilst understanding multiple response channels and whether an in-house or outsourced solution will be most effective are both important in the planning stage.

Direct Marketing Campaign Planning – Getting the Message Right

2011-07-08T04:30:00.000-07:00

At the heart of every successful direct marketing campaign is the marketing message; a message that has been carefully constructed so that it will deliver the greatest returns on marketing expenditure. Essentially there are three main processes needed when considering the message these are:

Refinement

By now in the campaign the message has typically been developed although it is vital that it is refined if it is to be successful. Any message should first and foremost understand the challenges and problems facing the target audience and offer them a solution. Delivering this message should be from a strongly branded standpoint which aims to build trust with recipients from the outset. It is also worth considering using the segmented data, to refine messages for each segmented group so that the target audience receives the most relevant message to their needs. Finally, the message and physical content of the communication should ALWAYS include a call to action that will entice the recipient to respond.

Thinking, Feeling & Doing

Not only is it important to understand what the recipient is thinking feeling and doing as they receive the message but it is also important consider the objectives of the campaign in direct relation to these three actions. Fundamentally the marketing message should be created with these aspects in mind and specifically aim to direct the thoughts, feelings and actions of the audience.

Getting The Message Out There

The final element of the planning and creating the message is deciding how the message will be delivered to the audience. It is important to consider than different communications mediums will require adjustment to the way in which the marketing is presented. For example a direct mail message will differ from email marketing and telemarketing.

However, whilst it is vital to consider the different communications mediums; in today’s campaigns it is integrated campaigns, which take advantage of a multichannel approach which will return the largest rewards.

The message is at the core of your direct marketing campaign and requires a great deal of thought. This planning, which should take into account the communication channels, segments of data and audience profiles, if completed effectively will result in a message that is targeted, focussed towards the needs of the audience and subsequently has the greatest opportunity of success.

Direct Marketing Campaign Planning - Managing your Campaign Data

2011-06-20T01:25:00.000-07:00

In our previous post detailing the basics of direct marketing campaign planning we highlighted the importance of identifying the USPs of your business, the objectives for the campaign and the necessity to define a target audience. With these planning elements complete however, it is also vital that you manage your campaign data effectively before, during and after the campaign.

The first step of effective data management for your direct marketing campaign is to source what data is available for your target market. This should include profiling information for the intended audience and in many instances will be available from data brokers. If buying data however it is vital that any data adheres to industry best practices, complies with ISO 27001 regulations for data protection reasons and is always the result of opt-in protocols.

With the data in your possession it is important to know how to use it; this means managing the data in a database which allows you carry out campaign activities and handle responses. At this point organisation is key; the data should be segmented into sets and cleansed to ensure that it is still relevant and timely. The cleansing and segmentation exercise should also install profiling flags which identify the specific profiles of a business or the customers (in B2B and B2C campaigns respectively).

If you have created intuitive segments they can then be used to run direct mail, telemarketing or email marketing campaigns which are aligned with the target segments and profiles, greatly improving the focus of your campaign and increasing the opportunity for gaining responses.

Handling responses is also a key element in managing your campaign database. As much as possible it is worth considering automated data capture by integrating technology such as IFrames into web enquiry forms as this has consistently proven successful. Additionally, it is worth instigating channel response codes in order to track and analyse the response rates for each communication channel throughout and after the campaign.

Setting up your campaign database correctly and implementing effective protocols for segmentation and response handling are both foundational elements in running a successful direct marketing campaign. Look out for our next post on creating the right message for your campaign to ensure it is targeted and focussed towards your audience’s needs.

Direct Marketing Campaign Planning – The Basics

2011-06-09T06:26:00.000-07:00

Whilst it may be an overused business cliché “failure to plan, is planning to fail” and this is certainly true when it comes to your direct marketing campaigns. Ultimately your direct marketing creates a revenue stream, one that is vital to your business, its growth and development.

A logical approach to planning your direct marketing campaign will offer serious rewards and is a necessity. In the following approach, the first step is to consider your company, its objectives and also who the campaign is likely to target.

Your Business

It may sound strange when you are considering sending out communications to hundreds if not thousands of people, but the first stage of any marketing is to look inwards, studying your own business. This process should include focussing on the USPs of your business, identifying how your brand is perceived in the wider world and also, if the direct marketing is focussed towards a single product or service, objectively highlighting its selling points.

Your Objectives

Getting the objectives right for your marketing campaign is a fundamental aspect of planning. A misconceived campaign will fail, equally, a campaign with a focus that is too broad, is unlikely to provide the feedback you require.

Direct marketing campaigns can be focussed towards increasing the awareness of your brand, opening relationship opportunities with potential customers or delivering messages to existing customers in order to foster better relationships.

Additionally, you may be using the campaign to generate leads or simply to stimulate the market. Ultimately whatever the objectives are, the important point is to have predefined objectives that are relevant and will deliver added benefit.

Your Target Audience

By knowing the objectives you can then move on to deciding who to target. Whether the campaign is B2B or B2C this stage requires you to make the most of the data at your disposal, using this insight to develop target profiles, or “look-a- like” profiles for your marketing. If your targeting is executed effectively, you are giving your campaign material the best chances of success by ensuring it is placed into the hands of people that are the most statistically likely to respond.

This first element in your planning is about setting the foundations for your direct marketing campaign. Look out for future posts studying the other stages in the planning process including, Managing your Campaign Database, Getting the Campaign Message Right, Planning how to Handle the Campaign Responses and How to Learn From your Campaigns.

CRM is dead... long live PRM!

2011-06-03T00:17:00.000-07:00

Customer Relationship Management (CRM) is a term which has long been used in sales and marketing circles to describe a methodology for acquiring, retaining and deepening customer relationships through targeted, personalised communications.

Or to put it more eloquently, Wikipedia defines CRM as:

“... a widely-implemented strategy for managing a company’s interactions with customers, clients and sales prospects. It involves using technology to organize, automate, and synchronize business processes.”

Wikipedia also highlights that the overall goal of CRM activities is fourfold:
Firstly; to locate, attract and secure new clients
Secondly; to cultivate and retain existing clients
Thirdly; to bring former clients back to the business, and...
Fourthly; to reduce marketing and client servicing costs.

Where this definition differs from our own is that it focuses on the use of technology to achieve the end goals. Whilst we don’t necessarily disagree with this, at EWA we prefer to focus on the overall ‘CRM ethos’ i.e. how can we help our clients to get closer to their customers through the use of CRM led techniques and appropriate technology rather than thinking of CRM technology as being the panacea to all customer communication challenges. Customer Relationship Management technology is only ever as good as the people who use it and the data that goes in.

A conversation along these lines with a client recently sparked a new idea (and I must say it was hers not mine, so well done Talia at Wilshire Farm Foods!), shouldn’t we be thinking about Personal Relationship Management (PRM) and not just an all encompassing approach to customer management?

The Holy Grail for marketers has always been to properly, completely understand what makes customers tick and then use this information to talk to them about (and ultimately sell) products which are of interest. The practice of CRM goes some way to achieving this, but ‘traditional’ methods can still lump people together into segments which share broadly similar characteristics. Marketers will then often fall foul of sending communications via the channel that best suits them (or is the cheapest) and not necessarily the one which their customers prefer.

So what we’d like to advocate is a shift in mindset to a PRM approach – essentially each and every customer communication should adhere to the 3 Relevances:

Relevance of channel
Relevance of message
Relevance of timing

If a communication can be sent at the right time, talking about things of interest via the right means it will ultimately improve customer relationships and remove the annoyance factor of untargeted, irrelevant marketing, something which is often underestimated in terms of negative brand impact.

And the technology to achieve this already in place, the integration of CRM systems and email marketing together with customer insight have brought customer communications on in leaps and bounds - Amazon is a fantastic example of this and how to use customer data to achieve highly personalised marketing. We’ve all spent more than we intended on Amazon as a result of their very sophisticated cross sell and up sell messaging (or is that just me?!)

So there you have it, it’s all about Personal Relationship Management and truly treating customers as individuals. We’d be interested to hear your thoughts on this: is it just a utopian dream or can technology coupled with the right approach deliver the returns we’re all after?

Why Data Cleansing is So Important

2011-05-16T00:03:00.000-07:00

Keeping databases cleansed so that they contain the most accurate and up to date records has always been important. Whilst it may be a labour intensive process the rewards make it wholly worthwhile, adding significant value to your marketing efforts and the understanding of your customers, or potential customers.

Data cleansing is about more than good housekeeping, removing duplicate or obsolete data and correcting inaccurate information. In today’s climate of data protection and financial pressure on marketing budgets the necessity for cleansed and accurate information is greater than ever. Here are just some of the important reasons to ensure your data is sufficiently cleansed.

Benefits of Data Cleansing:
• There are myriad financial benefits to cleansing your databases, not only will such activities stop you wasting money on storing old or obsolete data, but the improved accuracy can result in greater return on investment for your marketing activities.
• This greater accuracy in terms assists in your target profiling, meaning that your marketing campaigns will be more focussed, relevant and subsequently more likely to be successful. Understandably, using obsolete data for your targeting activities will only lead to misdirected campaigns.
• Storing old information can actually harm your brand image and customer perception. For instance, if you are consistently sending marketing literature to old addresses, customers that may have died or opted out of receiving promotional material, your efforts are actually helping to create a wider negative image, rather than return on investment.
• In modern business the Data Protection Act should always be a consideration, particularly in regards to the storage of personal information, where failure to cleanse can actually result in non-compliance. Subsequently, cleansing activities are necessary to eliminate any chances of breaching the Data Protection Act and hence any financial penalties.
• Finally, improving the quality of you data results in improved customer insight and adds considerable value to your marketing efforts by improving ROI.

These are just some of the reasons to undertake data cleansing, however, as a business it should be remembered that the process is ongoing, databases require practically constant management and cleansing to ensure they contain, up to date, accurate and valuable information.

Project Kaisei - Clearing the North Pacific

2011-05-11T00:30:00.000-07:00

This is a little bit of a change to norm for the EWA blog but we have been asked by our fellow WPP agency Cohn & Wolfe to help by posting some information on Project Kaisei, an important initiative to stop the growing problem of plastic debris in the North Pacific.

Project Kaisei is a non-profit ocean clean-up initiative with a mission to stop the growing Plastic Vortex. The Plastic Vortex, otherwise known as the Great Pacific Garbage Patch, is a huge accumulation of plastic debris in the North Pacific Gyre, containing large pieces of plastic and other rubbish.

This is a severe problem; previously referred to as the 8th continent and floating roughly one thousand miles off California’s coast, this plastic patch was estimated to be twice the size of Texas and growing.

Each year the Project Kaisei ship sets sail to research the Plastic Vortex and increase understanding of marine debris, its impact on our ocean environment and how we can introduce solutions for both prevention and cleanup. $2.7 million will be required to help cover the costs of the next voyage.

To help raise funds for the voyage, Cohn & Wolfe and Project Kaisei have created a 30 day campaign centred on a streaming video of Kai (pronounced Kī), a small goldfish involved in an epic battle against plastic pollution.

Via a 24-hour webcam consumers can follow Kai’s plight, living in an aquarium filled with plastic material, representing the Plastic Vortex. To “Save Kai” and remove plastic from his castle in the sea, participants can make donations via Facebook www.facebook.com/projectkaisei in as little as £5 increments from now through just after World Ocean’s Day on June 10.

As donations increase, the plastic debris in the aquarium decreases, creating a safe and plastic-free environment for Kai to enjoy. All proceeds from the campaign will go toward helping Project Kaisei fund scientific research and clean up expeditions.

Customers Still Want to Talk Even with the Growth of Self-Service Culture

2011-04-11T02:16:00.000-07:00

It wouldn’t be unreasonable to believe that in this “connected” world, with the internet available nearly everywhere that the phone call and particularly the phone call to contact centres would no longer be a necessity.

According to new research from BT and Avaya however, this is simply not the case. Whilst the use of smartphones has been growing at pace throughout the UK, opening up the opportunity to use self-service websites, this has not had a significant negative effect upon the use of contact centres for customer enquiries and support.

The report states that the vast majority (90%) of smartphone users are expecting to use contact centres in the future, despite having the internet available to them practically constantly. The research also points out that contact centre communications were particularly utilised when enquiries were of a technical or complicated nature.

Head of BT Global Services Andrew Small said that “calling the contact centre is the favoured way to resolve the most complicated queries.” Mr Small also highlighted that users were still using the internet in the enquiry process, but argued that typically consumers now research before calling; meaning that once the call is made they already have a basic knowledge of the issue and expect the advice at the other end of the phone to be capable over and above what they have learnt themselves.

This demonstrates the importance in the modern contact centre climate to have staff members that are effectively trained and knowledgeable, so that they can resolve issues confidently and correctly. It also highlights the current importance of understanding multiple, integrated communication channels such a telephone, email and direct messaging when dealing with customer enquiries.

These two important aspects of modern day call centre operation, effective training and multiple communication channels, demand that outsourced customer communication services are now a seamless extension of a brand and company, showing not only technical knowledge but a professional approach to customer handling and insight.

Customer Response Handling – An Introduction

2011-03-18T09:10:00.000-07:00

Response handling can be considered one of the most important elements within customer service and more widely, business. Put simply, response handling is the mechanisms put in place by a business, or an outsourcer, to deal with customer enquiries, orders and complaints. By defining and putting these mechanisms in place early in a marketing campaign or a longer term customer communication strategy, it is possible for businesses to apply a logical approach to each and every customer interaction.

The way in which response handling is performed defines the customer experience and as such is one of the key building blocks of a positive brand image and successful marketing campaigns.

Response handling activities can utilise a range different communication channels such as telephone email, SMS, social media and direct mail. The selection of these channels is largely dependent upon the preferences of the target audience to ensure the appropriate response channels are used.

Response handling actions can form part of a larger customer strategy or even be directly linked to a marketing campaign. Essentially, a short term project will utilise personnel that are trained to answer enquiries on a specific product or promotion for the duration of a marketing campaign. In contrast, long term response handling activities will use staff that are well versed in the business, and will typically form part of wider customer communication initiative.

Like so many other aspects of customer interaction one of the key components of effective response handling is managing data correctly. It is by collecting and analysing this data that it is possible to extract the maximum value from each and every customer interaction.

With the right response handling activities being undertaken it is possible to hone and refine customer engagement, whilst simultaneously improving the wider service offering. The resultant benefits are myriad and include improved customer services, the creation of a positive brand image and subsequently, increased customer loyalty. By outsourcing this task it is possible to not only make financial savings but also to secure adept, professional services that significantly improve business/customer relationships

Why Data Management is Vital to Customer Insight

2011-02-28T00:19:00.000-08:00

With the benefits of effective customer insight studied at length and the importance of understanding the integral role played by data analysis activities presented; it is also vital to understand that how you manage your data is an important business decision.

Data management is one of the more utilitarian aspects of customer insight, concerned with actual design, development and hosting of databases. Ultimately, well managed data can be analysed as efficiently as possible and as such, data management tools form the building blocks of improved customer relationships, better business strategy and overall, enhanced performance.

Essentially, after a range of different customer insight activities have returned reams of information, a place in which to store, manage and analyse the data is needed, this is where data management tools offer a very real and extremely useful resource.

Typically data management tools will utilise relevant technologies in order to deliver the greatest amount of added benefit to the client. Functionality which grants efficient and effective access whilst allowing sets of data to be fully understood should always form the backbone of any data management service.

Data management tools may also incorporate the physical hosting and maintenance of databases. Frequently referred to as data warehousing, anyone looking to utilise such resources should note the inclusion of secure access features, efficient search and query functions and also the practical application of data management principles.

If a company is to make the most of its customer insight activities it can be worthwhile to obtain an integrated solution from a single service provider; one that offers a strategy for obtaining insight, demonstrates how data will be effectively stored and finally can provide systems to break down data so that it can be analysed.

Ultimately the foundations of effective customer insight can be found within the right data management tool set; if the choice of services is correct, a company is given the greatest opportunity to benefit from customer insight activities.

Customer Insight – More Than Purely Metrics

2011-02-10T01:15:00.000-08:00

Whilst customer insight processes can rely heavily on sets of data in order to present levels of satisfaction, retention and behaviour, it is a fundamental element of customer insight to look beyond the numbers and take something tangible away from the figures. With the right customer insight service at your disposal it is possible to make on-the-spot and strategic decisions that can significantly change operating procedures and customer interactions. In essence, customer insight has the potential to revolutionise customer services for the better.

At the operational level, having effective customer insight by intelligently analysing and using metrics can lead to much improved customer handling procedures. It is through breaking down data and seeing where deficiencies lay that it is possible to recycle this understanding into training procedures. This training in turn helps to improve specific customer interaction activities such as up-selling and complaint handling and ensures that all procedures are relevant and appropriate to a company’s customers.

As well as increased capacity to resolve issues reactively; the improved training that results from customer insight activities allows a company to instigate proactive measures, which help to solve problems and identify opportunities in the long term. The result of these procedural changes is an increase in productive customer relationships and a decrease in those that are stagnant or degrading.

Whilst it may have been explored previously the assistance that customer insight can provide in the formulation of strategies for the business is invaluable. This applies to not only upcoming marketing campaigns, to ensure they are effectively targeted but can equally apply to new products and services, to ensure that they are in the interests of a company’s customer base.

Fundamentally customer insight data and initiatives should change the entire outlook of a company, to one that is far more customer centric and focussed towards providing the best service possible. It is by employing customer insight strategies that it is possible to instigate this change, improving not only customer loyalty and retention, but also allowing a company to understand the delicate balance between customer satisfaction and revenue.

Service and Value Differentiation

2011-01-28T07:21:00.000-08:00

I spoke to a friend recently who has just started a new job at a large digital print company. They’ve been very successful for a number of years but are now finding it increasingly difficult to differentiate themselves from the competition.

It’s not because the quality of their service and products has dropped or because they are too expensive but because the competition has found ways to add value to their offering and move away from a commoditised model.

I’ve spoken to a number of print businesses recently who are facing the same challenges and are therefore looking at ways in which to diversify their operations. They have all realised that competing on price alone cannot be sustained and that they must offer clients a full service approach to marketing communications by moving into data management, email marketing and online communications, often through forming partnerships with experts such as EWA.

Personally I think this is down to a number of factors some of which are not unique to their industry. The changing demands of clients themselves are one of the main reasons. Many are increasingly using procurement professionals as a means to extract every last ounce of value from a new contract, both in terms of price but also in the scope and quality of services provided.

The same can be said of us as consumers, we all want to achieve what we perceive to be a good deal although this doesn’t always necessarily mean the cheapest (and I think perception is the key word here). We’re happy to pay a premium for products or services that offer just that little bit more than the competition, whether it’s in terms of quality of service, speed of delivery or customer support, both pre and post purchase.

And customer service can be a simple and cost effective way of gaining competitive advantage and standing out from the crowd in a saturated marketplace. You may sell the exact same products as your competition for the same price or perhaps even a few pence more. If your customer service is exceptional and you strive to add value to each and every purchase, then your customers’ experience will be a positive one and they will be happy to spend that little bit more, hopefully becoming advocates of your business as a result.

In today’s digital world, news (good or bad) spreads fast. Social media has opened up a whole new world of communication and information sharing between groups of like-minded individuals. Where previously recommendations would have been limited to an individual’s peer group or family network, people (i.e. your customers) are now much more comfortable sharing their opinions and feedback online. Such feedback is given almost in real-time and becomes viral in its own right, propagating across multiple social networking sites and the World Wide Web for consumption by other potential customers.

So in summary, good customer service and adding value to each purchase, whether real or perceived by the customer has the potential to make your business a success, attracting new customers who in turn will help spread the good news.

Choosing a Contact Centre Outsourcer

2011-01-19T03:21:00.000-08:00

Choosing an outsourcer for your contact centres requires a considered and conscientious approach. Essentially when you are selecting someone to operate your customer or client contact you are choosing a face for your business, a service that will reflect on your brand. As such this decision needs to be based on fact rather than supposition.

One of the first questions you should ask any potential outsourced contact centres provider is about their previous and existing clients. Fundamentally it is by understanding how the provider treats their existing clients that it will be possible to gain an idea of the effectiveness of their services. It can also be worth asking the contact centre provider whether they can offer references and examples of their work in your specific industry sector, this can highlight how they implement industry specific strategies and demonstrate their success at maintaining working relationships.

It is worth remembering that choosing a contact partner is a big step for any business. The benefits are myriad, but only if your partner has the ability to implement contact solutions that you require. A contact centre should typically offer services along the lines of:

* Customer Services (including after sales support and advice)
* Technical Support (in accordance with your products and services
* Outbound Telemarketing (in both B2B and B2C sectors as lead generation
* Customer retention and relationship management (to develop customer loyalty)

These services are only a small cross section of what can be offered but give an idea of what a contact centre provider should be capable of.

When choosing your partner for outsourcing contact centres it is also a good idea to visit the facilities at their disposal. It is only by seeing them in action that it is possible to ascertain the services on offer, at this stage looking at training programmes, staff management and the technology being utilised will provide valuable insight into how your customer or client contact will be administered. It should also give an idea of how they intend to communicate with your company representatives and how they may instigate any of your campaigns or programmes. More general points to look for in a contact centre outsourcer include financial stability, effective service level agreements and metrics within SLAs that are suitable and appropriate.

Choosing an outsourcer is about finding a partner with whom it is possible to build a solid and effective working relationship. Get this choice wrong and you could be sacrificing your reputation with customers and clients; get this choice right however and your company stands to receive significant operational and financial benefits

How Customer Insight Can Improve Customer Relationships

2010-12-20T07:51:00.000-08:00

It has been established in previous blogs just how instrumental customer insight is to today’s marketers in the creation of marketing campaigns. However, it should be noted that it is only through effective and thorough database management that it is possible to take advantage of the greater customer insight and make this knowledge work for greater profits.

Customer insight is only one side of the coin, after all having and using the knowledge of customer behaviour are entirely different processes. Essentially it is the ability to make sense of the data that results from customer insight projects that leads to more effective business relationships.

One way in which this is possible is by compiling data that around customers’ order lag. The frequency of orders is a vital piece of information in understanding the patterns in which customers place orders. By studying these patterns it is possible to identify which customers are lagging in their orders and which are simply maintaining their regular ordering behaviour, subsequently indentifying the customers that could need contacting to encourage future purchasing.

It is through developing a Critical Lag formula, based upon customer ordering behaviour that it is possible to interact and communicate with customers at the right time. When this is combined with effective customer segmentation prospects can be readily identified and targeted to make the most of existing business relationships. The results of effective communication based upon a solid understanding of a customer base are less customer churn, and greater revenue generated from each customer.

Fundamentally customer insight is a highly valuable business tool. It is however only through efficient and effective database management that it is possible to make sense of the data extrapolated through customer insight activities and use this information to formulate customer relationship and retention strategies.

The Value of Customer Insight to Marketers

2010-12-08T08:42:00.000-08:00

Customer insight is rapidly becoming a vital component in any business strategy; after all, who can afford not to know who their customers are, how they behave and how their loyalty can be assured? Put simply customer insight employs the collection, analysis and use of data, allowing businesses to create customer acquisition, development and retention strategies.
Customer insight can play a massively important role in planning and implementing marketing campaigns, helping marketers to extract the greatest revenue from limited marketing budgets. It does this by creating best match profiles for potential, loyal and the most profitable customers.
Fundamentally greater customer insights allows for more effective targeting. It has been a long known fact within marketing that a campaign can stand or fall on its ability to target the right type of people. A misguided campaign can be a costly mistake; conversely a well targeted campaign can court potential customers, produce profitable relationships and develop future prospects.
Understanding where targets should be focussed is only possible through in-depth analysis of data. Data is one of the most powerful tools at the marketer’s disposal and an integral element within modern customer insight services. In most cases, this data is easily accessible and gives the opportunity to identify profitable prospects, rather than pursuing customers that will provide little if any return on investment.
Existing customer data creates massive up and cross-selling opportunities. The profiles created using segmentation and modelling help to identify precisely which customers should be targeted through a greater understanding of their purchasing behaviour, the types of products they are likely to buy and an idea of their likely spend.
Understanding the behaviour of customers means marketers have the knowledge to implement campaigns that target these profiles in a very specific way, taking into account when and how they spend their money in order to extract the greatest revenue. It is this potential that attracts so many marketers to customer insight services; understandably, having the knowledge of how your customers spend their money is an extremely valuable asset in business.

Outsourcing Contact Centres – A Path to Reduced Costs?

2010-11-23T04:03:00.000-08:00

Outsourcing has always been presented as an excellent way for companies to save money and reduce their overheads. With the current economic situation now is the time to make the most of outsourcing contact centres, eventually granting more freedom for a company to manoeuvre. But whilst using the correct outsourcer will help to save money, precisely how will outsourced contact centres reduce overall spend?

This is fairly self-explanatory but essentially, if a company reduces the amount of work it must do for its customer contact operation, requires less hardware and infrastructure and reduces the number of staff devoted to the task, they will save money. Outsourcing practically eliminates the low-value work and tasks that add up in terms of hours and cost. Fundamentally, the Service Level Agreement and metrics provided by an outsourcer offer return on investment without draining company resources indirectly.

Similarly, whilst the workload is reduced, the amount of spending needed to achieve the same or better results is also reduced. This increased efficiency per pound spent is a result of the professional set up of the outsourcer and the fact that their contact centres are filled with highly trained, dedicated customer service professionals that are highly capable and deliver predefined results.

Fundamentally, by combining these two features of outsourcing it is possible to reduce costs. These costs can be reduced by downsizing the number of people dedicated to customer service within a business; by removing the need to employ so many contact workers. In addition, the reduction in infrastructure and IT spend also reduces the investment needed in comparison to an in-house solution.

With the right outsourcing provider considerable savings can be made when it comes to running and maintaining contact centres. Vitally however, it should be recognised that reducing costs should not mean sacrificing standards, ideally an outsourcer should be able to provide services that are equal or better than what would be possible in house, at a price that is also cost effective.

Onshore vs. Offshore Contact Centres – The Real Benefits

2010-09-08T03:18:00.000-07:00

In the past major companies made the most of utilising offshore outsourced contact centres in order to maximise profits and reduce the costs of providing customer services. The low cost solution offered by contact centres in the developing world meant that the price per minute was much lower than what had been available in the UK or “onshore”. However, whilst the offshore model is still certainly popular, there is a growing trend for bringing back contact centre services to the UK.

There are a number of reasons behind the re-emerging popularity of home based services. The largest contributing factor has to be the overwhelming customer demand for customer services and contact centres to be operated within their own country. Customer frustration is one of the major causes of this demand for change with communication problems, a lack of specific technical knowledge and an inability to effectively resolve issues topping the list of customer complaints.

Companies have now realised that the costs of customer services are not purely the management fee of a contact centre or a cost per minute for each enquiry. It has now been realised that the combined costs of offshore contact centre management, the loss of customers due to poor customer service and the increased call length due to misunderstandings makes the entire offshore customer service option less financially palatable.

Essentially, if pursuing high customer satisfaction rates then the onshore contact centre is a far better option. When combined with highly trained customer service professionals the benefits are astounding. Major UK companies have followed this route, for instance, insurance company Norwich Union announced that 150 call centre jobs would be brought back from India to be carried out in the UK whilst energy supplier Powergen has completely shut down its Indian contact centre operations in favour of UK based services.

So, whilst companies initially saw massive financial and operational benefits to outsourcing their customer services, in recent years, the popularity of offshore contact centres seems to have been stymied. With a greater understanding that customer service is less about minimising costs in the short term, and instead about forging and maintaining good customer relations as a long term goal, confidence in the UK contact centre industry has increased.

Does your CRM system give you everything you need?

2010-07-14T06:54:00.000-07:00

EWA recently had a stand at the Data Marketing Show, part of Marketing Week Live and over the course of the two day exhibition, I had numerous conversations with people about all things data and CRM related.

One topic that kept cropping up was the failing of “off the shelf” CRM systems and the frustrations experienced by marketing personnel in particular.

“It doesn’t integrate with our email marketing software”, “I struggle to export the data in a usable format”, “We’ve had to change our processes to suit the way the system works” and “All I need is a system which I can use for mailings and allows me to keep my data up to date” were all common themes I heard. Now of course I’m sure some of the frustrations vented can be put down to what I like to call “user error” but not everyone I spoke to can be guilty of under-using or mis-using their CRM system. Which leads me to the question, are proprietary CRM systems right for everyone or have we all been a little sucked in by the hype?

A little bit of Googling returned some interesting stats to help answer the point raised.

1. In 2003, a Gartner report estimated that more than $1 billion had been spent on software that wasn’t being used.
2. In a 2007 survey, four-fifths of senior executives reported that their biggest challenge is getting their staff to use the systems they’d installed
3. 43 percent of respondents said they use less than half the functionality of their existing system
4. 72 percent indicated they’d trade functionality for ease of use
5. 51 percent cited data synchronization as a major issue

Given the facts above and the anecdotal evidence gathered during the exhibition, the answer to my earlier question has to be no, proprietary CRM systems aren’t (necessarily) right for every business and on some level, we have believed the industry hype.

This leads me on to my second point and one which addresses the other main thing I heard during the show, “if only I could have a system which just does… (Insert wish list here)”

And of course the answer is yes, you can have a bespoke CRM system which exactly matches your requirements, without all of the unnecessary functionality that you’ll never need and will have to work around.

“Hmmm, not sure about bespoke” I hear you say. “Doesn’t that mean it’ll be expensive and developed in some weird programming language?” In a word - No. In the past, bespoke, has been something of a dirty word when used in conjunction with software development. However; in just about every other circumstance, bespoke conveys a message of made to measure, quality and a precise fit which is exactly what a bespoke CRM system provides.

With the web technology available today, bespoke CRM systems can be quickly developed and deployed to multiple concurrent users giving them precisely the functionality they need, often far more cost effectively than a proprietary CRM system.

So if you’re considering a new CRM system it’s a good idea to take a look at the bespoke route, you may find it fits a little better than the off the peg version.

Should an agency be judged on more than just their results?

2010-06-22T00:10:00.000-07:00

New business at a marketing agency can be a funny business sometimes. Part of my pitch always focuses on results as that’s primarily what any business that employs an agency like ours is looking for. But in order to get results, a good working partnership needs to be established. A great client/agency relationship leads to better insight, understanding and most importantly trust.

A call from the senior salesperson at the online marketing agency we use (and that’s quite a unique relationship, an agency using an agency) prompted this particular blog. The salesperson in question asked me to act as a reference site for a new prospect. “It’s all about conversions” he told me. “If you can focus in on that, it should clinch the deal for us”. Now I had no problem at all acting as a reference site or indeed talking to his prospective client about the excellent results they have delivered for us but personally, I rank the relationship I have with our agency as highly as I do the results.

Which led me to the question, if I didn’t get on as well with the staff who work on our account and if they didn’t have a really good understanding of our business, would we still see the results we do?

Well of course the answer is no (I’d be contradicting myself a little if it was yes!) But that led to another question… If we were getting results but they were a pain to work with, would I be looking elsewhere for another agency? And the answer to that question is probably yes. No one wants to work with an agency or indeed an individual with whom they don’t have a good relationship.

If though, the results are good and you feel you get value for money then small misdemeanours can be over-looked sometimes. Everyone makes mistakes from time to time but in my experience, it’s how you go about fixing those mistakes that really counts. If done well there is no need for a relationship to suffer and often it can become stronger as a result.

So next time you’re on the hunt for a new agency or a new business manager (like me!) is pitching to you, take a second to look beyond all the ROI metrics and ask yourself the question – “do I like this person and can I work with them?” Hopefully, if it is me in front of you, the answer will be yes!

As always, what do you think? Is it all about getting bangs for your bucks or should a good working relationship be as, if not more, important?

Are Your Messages Getting Through?

2010-06-15T02:25:00.000-07:00

Successful relationships are surely the key to life – whether they are family; friends; business or social they are, essentially, what can separate us from the animal kingdom… Our ability to communicate across multi channel media with any of ‘our circle’ enables us to engage appropriately at any time.

We recognise and differentiate the channels depending on the message and the recipient – whether we are texting our kids; phoning our parents; writing to the bank; or emailing a friend; we often subconsciously select the right channel for the best and most certain response… But, do we do the same in business or does cost and ‘efficiency’ override our inherent knowledge that what’s right and appropriate for one recipient is inappropriate for another?

Surely we cannot dispense with years of learning to jump onto the next comm’s bandwagon? As I write today – social networking is the fad. I am old enough to remember direct mail, and then the telephone, before email became all the rage. At each stage of communication evolution we leapt fully into the new world and dispensed with the old. What happened? In the main – very little! Lots of money was invested in making calls and sending emails to attract new business – sometimes with calculable evidence of a required ROI; however, rarely was the leaky bucket of customer attrition addressed and so real growth was not achieved.

Understanding customers, developing relationships and building loyalty will; surely remain the key to successful business and growth. Partnering with the right specialists can help reduce investment, and - will most certainly add value - as you benefit from a range of experience and not just your own.

So before embarking on Twitter and Facebook; before you purchase another batch of data to fire off some more emails; why not stop and take stock…?

• What can your current customer data tell you?
• How can it help inform your future strategy?
• Where does your profit come from rather than just your revenue?
• Which customers are more likely to lapse and which should you endeavour to keep?
• How and why do they like to be communicated with?

In summary - the right partner can help with these questions and make your business grow healthily and less expensively because they use the knowledge locked within your data to expose the communication opportunities of the future. Sometimes the answers are right under your nose!

What are the factors behind a good client/agency relationship?

2010-06-03T08:26:00.000-07:00

What are the main elements that go to making a good, long term client/agency relationship? Tough question isn’t it? Cultural match, ROI, outstanding creativity, awards even perhaps… all have their place but sometimes it can be a little more intangible than that.

I was presenting to a prospective new client recently and was asked how long on average our clients had been with us. In our case it’s around 5 or 6 years which I think is pretty darn good for a CRM agency such as ourselves (we currently have clients that have been with us for as long as 15 years). But the question got me thinking, why do our clients remain so loyal to us and why have we been successful in developing their accounts? Well I’m not about to reveal our secrets or bore you to death with a diatribe on our approach to Account Management. What I will do though, is tell you what factors I believe make a good client/agency relationship and some of the things to look for if you are searching for a new partner.

Trust – The foundation upon which any good relationship is built and by far the most important factor in forming a long-term, mutually beneficial partnership. If there is no trust between a client and their marketing agency every project, idea, suggestion or piece of work will be second guessed or viewed with suspicion. A client has to believe and trust that their agency has their best interests (and those of their brand) at heart in order to produce the best results.

Cultural Match – Without exception, every business has a distinct identity, a culture and a work ethic. If the relationship is to be successful it’s important that the business finds an agency whose culture mirrors or complements their own. That’s not to say that there shouldn’t be differences as often the best work or campaign can be produced when ideas and the established status quo are challenged by both parties.

Personalities – Never underestimate the importance of matching account management staff with the client, if the two get on both on a professional and personal level then the relationship will undoubtedly flourish. Get it wrong and the exact opposite will happen, trust won’t be established and creativity will be stifled.

Honesty – We all get things wrong from time to time but if your agency is honest enough to own up to mistakes and they go the extra mile to put them right, then that can only be a good thing. Honesty is also important when it comes to communication and feedback which leads me to my next point…

Communication – Open and honest communication, particularly feedback is essential in the client/agency relationship. As a CRM agency, feedback whether positive or constructive (no one likes negative!) is invaluable if we are to continue to innovate and drive the client’s communication strategy forward. We do our upmost to ensure that the key stakeholders on any project are talking all the time and that any little ripples are ironed out along the way.

Value for Money – A topic that can be highly subjective to say the least! An agency and their client may well disagree on what constitutes value for money but what can’t be disputed is the more accurate measurement of Return on Investment (ROI). As an agency, ROI is all important and if we’re to retain our clients then we must be able to accurately measure and demonstrate ROI. That is why each programme we implement has metrics built in whether it’s establishing control groups to measure the impact of an eCRM campaign or KPIs for contact centre performance.

And finally…

Shared Objectives – We’re all in business to make money (well most of us are anyway). If we’re honest about this and don’t try to screw every little last piece of discount or margin from each and every deal then the trust and relationship that we worked so hard to establish won’t be affected. By all means challenge your agency to justify their charges (and hopefully they’ll be honest about them) but don’t be surprised if the quality of work begins to slide if you’ve beaten them down to a rock-bottom price. Likewise from an agency perspective, if a client gets even the slightest whiff that they’re being taken for a ride, they won’t be a client for much longer.

In Summary

So there we have it, what I believe to be seven important elements that go together in making the foundation of a solid client agency relationship. Clearly the list is not exhaustive and there are many other less fundamental factors which cumulatively can have a dramatic effect. But what do you think - are there any other major factors I have missed, would you like to challenge any of the statements I have made? All feedback (well most!) will be gratefully received.

Contact Centre vs Communication Centre vs Call Centre – But Which One is Right?

2010-03-26T08:40:00.000-07:00

Think of these 3 phrases:

• Contact Centre
• Communication Centre
• Call Centre

What images do they conjure up? Rooms full of people in small cubicles chattering away on headsets? 2,000 seat off-shore facilities filled with people reading from call scripts? Or small teams of dedicated individuals dealing with enquiries received across a variety of channels?

Well to be fair you’d be right in all of these cases as fundamentally they mean the same thing - or rather they are variances on a theme. The main differences would be in the type of work and projects they undertake.

The contact management industry includes a vast array of operations of all shapes and sizes serving just about every sector and marketplace you can think of. Some businesses operate in-house contact centre departments whilst others prefer to outsource to experienced professionals.

When outsourcing any contact management operation the question is how do you find the right partner – do you need a call centre, a contact centre or a communication centre?

Well this comes down to a number of factors some of which may include:

•Through which channels do your customers want to talk with you?
It’s important to think of it in these terms rather than through which channels do I want to allow my customers to talk to me. If you’re not engaging with them on their terms you risk alienating a significant portion.

•How many calls/contacts/enquiries do you receive and how long does it take to deal with each of them?

•What experience do you want your customers to have?
For example, a high volume, quick and easy, churn through calls may not be what you want to expose your customers to…

•What level of knowledge and expertise do the enquiry handlers need – about product; service; sales; etc.

All customer contact operations can be successfully outsourced, but your selection of the right partner is crucial. Get it wrong and you may not have too many customers to worry about anyway!

More channels than ever, but have we forgotten how to talk to our customers?

2010-03-03T08:41:00.000-08:00

I’ve got a sneaking suspicion that technology is taking over my life.

Until recently I was just another happy go lucky guy, ignorant to the likes of Twitter, iPhones, Kindle’s, streaming media, HD TV and all the other multitude of “must have” gadgets (a phrase which I despise by the way… the “must have” part somehow insinuates that our lives are not complete without these things!).

Then I turned the corner and life hasn’t been the same since.

I’ve had a Facebook account for sometime but I decided to see what all the fuss was about with Twitter. All of a sudden I’m immersed in a world of tweets, access to a whole new universe of exciting information, a new way of communicating with like minded people – people I’ve never met with interesting ideas and comments on the industry I work in as well as life in general.

Next came the iPhone. And oh my God the apps… the wonderful, life enhancing, “must have” apps (they really are in this case). This opened up a new way to stay up to date with my email, my Twitter account, Facebook, text messages, world news, sporting events, to measure my exercise, to find my way, etc. etc. etc…

This then led to streaming media and content to my TV. Normal TV is boring. Sky+ has allowed me to watch the programmes I like when I want to watch them but that’s not enough; I want online content as well. A spot of online shopping and a few pounds later (don’t tell the girlfriend) and now I can get my favourite extreme sports’ videos streamed to my TV, not just on my PC.

There are of course a number of consequences to all of this media buzzing around my life. I suddenly have accounts all over the place, things I need to check just in case I’ve been sent a message or someone has posted a life changing piece of information, a tweet that I need to share with the rest of my followers, an event being organised on Facebook by an old acquaintance. And this takes time, but time well spent I reassure myself. After all, the direct message sent to me on Twitter could be from a prospect I’ve been following with a question about our services.

And that’s what I mean by technology taking over my life. Back in the good old days, if you wanted to talk to someone or share an idea, you called them or sent an email. Now we have a plethora of channels through which to share our ideas, suggestions, offers and to promote our services. An ever-growing cornucopia of ways in which to connect to the world and absorb information.

This presents a challenge for marketeers like me and businesses in general. Through which medium and what channel do you communicate with your customers and prospects? An integrated campaign now needs to be truly integrated and that goes for the response channels as well.

There are ways to identify the channel preference of your customers – simply asking them is always a good place to start. But your data will tell a story too, different customer profiles will interact with your business in different ways, they’ll respond to different campaigns and calls to action and if you can analyse this, you’ll begin to build a picture of what your customers’ preferences are.

We use one word to describe this concept: Relevance. Put simply, every campaign should take into consideration relevance of channel, relevance of timing and relevance of content to the recipient. You know so much about your customers from the data you hold; when they buy, what they buy (and have bought previously) how they pay for it, and to what communications they respond - so why not use it?

Bringing this information and the three ‘relevancies’ into a communication programme, whether it’s an outbound campaign or an inbound response channel will have a dramatic effect and improve relationships with your customers.

So what are you waiting for… stop Tweeting, step away from the iPhone and discover how your customers really want to talk to you.

Product Direction in Action

2009-08-27T07:22:00.000-07:00

Being a tentative member of the Digital Generation (I’ve got a Facebook account and I own an iPod so I just about qualify) I thought it was time I got round to loading my CD collection onto my PC and using Apple’s iTunes application for more than just loading the odd song to my iPod.

Having spent almost every evening for a fortnight loading all my CDs into iTunes I discovered a great new feature called Genius. Basically it allows you to play a song, click the Genius button and iTunes then creates a playlist of other songs from your library that go well together. It also recommends new music, films and TV shows that it thinks you’ll like based on your current library and you can preview and buy the recommended items with a single click from iTunes.

Being a bit of a sucker for a gadget I spent quite a while playing with the Genius feature, creating playlists covering all different sorts of music (I have an eclectic music collection) and each time the selection Genius came back with was more or less what I would have chosen myself and in some cases it was probably better.

The recommend new music feature also led to my first paid for music download. Up until recently I have been firmly in the buying CDs camp meaning I’ve often bought them on the strength or one or two singles from a band or a friend’s recommendation. The thought of downloading music and not really ‘owning’ a physical copy hadn’t really appealed… until now. I’ve only downloaded a couple of singles and podcasts so far but I’m beginning to see the attraction, why buy a whole album only to find out you only like half of the tracks on it when you can just buy the ones you like?

It has to be said that I’m a Marketing Managers dream when it comes to features like this which is ironic considering what I do for a living but I love functionality that adds real benefit to the user and is not just a cynical sales or marketing tool. The iTunes Genius feature is one of the best examples of product direction I have seen recently and is up there with Amazon’s ‘customers that bought X also bought Y’ functionality. Both work in a similar fashion and use product or service association to recommend items that the user is statistically likely to find appealing and let’s face it who hasn’t spent more with Amazon than they intended as a result!?

It’s a relatively simple concept; analyse the purchase patterns or online behaviour of previous customers to build product associations and understand which combinations of products customers are most likely to buy. These associations can be used to drive cross-sell and up-sell opportunities by marketing and promoting the associated products together. This is particularly relevant and successful in the ecommerce sector but can be used in offline marketing as well as Digital Marketing.

So congratulations to Apple on another innovative product introduction...now it’s got me thinking which of our clients could use a similar product direction tool?

Buying Online is Painless Right?

2009-08-14T02:05:00.000-07:00

I’d like to talk about a recent experience I had while shopping for my husband’s birthday present. I wanted to buy him some clothes but didn’t have enough spare time in my busy schedule time to go to the shops. The perfect place for me was obviously online; shopping at whichever shops I wanted all under one roof, no rain, no fighting for car spaces and most importantly, no hordes of people.

After some virtual ‘window shopping’ I finally found the perfect gifts all on one well known site for less than I had hoped to spend. My total basket came to £150 and I was very satisfied with my shopping experience, all I needed to do was pay but this was where my nightmare began!

I only had 10 minutes left before work but for some reason my account wouldn’t accept my password so I followed the instructions and my correct password was emailed to me instantly. Although it was the same as the one I had previously entered, I was impressed by the speed of the response. However, when I tried to log in again, an error message flashed saying I had tried to log in too many times and had now been logged out for half an hour! My happy online shopping experience was slowly fading away.

An hour later (just to be on the safe side) I tried once again to log in but still nothing. After a further two hours of receiving the same message I was more than a little annoyed and started trying to find a help line I could call. Surprise surprise, there was no customer service number listed, only an email address. I Googled the company and found a number for their head office.

Whilst the lady I spoke to was very polite the only help she could offer was “I’ll email customer services and they’ll get back to you within the hour”. I informed her I had done this 3 times already over 3 hours ago and hadn’t received a response. “Well that’s the best I can do for you I’m afraid, but I will mark it as urgent”. Great, this was not going well at all and I was beginning to lose the will to live.

I tried to forget about my little shopping drama and move on, feeling very frustrated. I wanted to shop but no one would let me, my husband does that enough I thought, I don’t want my favorite online stores to stop me as well!

At around 4pm that day I received a call from the Customer Care team but they weren’t particularly interested in hearing my vent. They just wanted to tell me I could back log in but all I wanted to do is tell them about what had happened, after all, feedback is important right? I asked the Customer Care agent to stay on the phone while I logged in which she agreed to with a very loud huff, making me feel like I was keeping her from something infinitely more important.

At last, I managed to log in and tried to pay for my items realising though that I couldn’t as the contents of my basket hadn’t been saved. Marvelous, all I want to do is spend some money with them! So back I went and started to look half heartedly for my items. I found the first which was a jumper but it’s sold out in the size I wanted… argh!! I shut down my browser and threw a bit of a tantrum in the style of my 3 year old son, much to the amusement of my work colleagues which left me feeling a bit silly.

After work that night I drove to my local shopping centre and found all I needed within half an hour (a new personal record). Any questions I had while shopping, the staff in the shop concerned solved immediately. I got home exhausted but happy and feeling good for getting my shopping fix… I also gave in and treated myself while I was out (well you would, wouldn’t you!)

Looking back on the whole experience, I honestly think that if I could have picked the phone up and spoken to a real person the second my password stopped working I would have placed my order by 8.30am and been a very happy girl. Instead they lost my order and any future purchases as I really do not have the time (or indeed inclination) to deal with these kinds of issues again. I was a very loyal customer spending on average £100 a month, £1200 a year, maybe £2000 if you included shopping for Christmas last year but the whole debacle put me off using the store again. It’s a shame but like so many people when things go wrong you just want to talk to someone.

I’d be interested to hear about your online shopping experiences, have you had the same frustrations and are e-retailers missing a trick by directing us to only deal with them via email?

Why it’s Important to do your Homework

2009-08-13T03:00:00.000-07:00

It’s Thursday afternoon and I’ve just had a second cold call in as many days from a telemarketing agency trying to sell their services to me. Whilst I can’t complain about their enthusiasm or technique (the last lady who called was particularly polite), if they had done their homework beforehand they’d have realised that we’d be competition for them. Looking at this in isolation you might think it’s not a huge issue, it’s just some poor telemarketer being forced to grind out 20 calls an hour working from an excel spreadsheet and from that perspective you’d be right. However, look a bit more closely and you’ll see that that kind of untargeted, scattergun approach is the worst kind of marketing faux pas you can make and here are the reasons why:

It’s a waste of their time and yours. If the telemarketer has targets (and lets face it, who doesn’t?), that’s one less genuine call they could have made.
Brand damage. For a company that pitches itself as a ‘targeted B2B telemarketing agency’ making untargeted calls surely goes against their ethos?
Cost. The agency had probably bought the data list that our company is on, paid the IT person that loaded it into their database and paid the telemarketer at least a basic salary (that’s without taking into account any kind of overheads) – so what’s the true monetary cost of that call?
Annoyance factor. I’m a fairly level headed kind of guy and not prone to writing complaints or ‘disgruntled of Guildford’ letters (except maybe for this blog) but it is extremely annoying to receive calls from agencies that clearly have no idea about what we do.

As a new business person myself I spend a great deal of my time either pitching to prospective new clients or researching businesses that I can approach with our service offering i.e. businesses that appear to have a genuine need for what we do. Clearly there is an investment in terms of time to conduct this research but what it does mean is that it increases the chances of each approach I make being successful – or to put it another way, it removes a great deal of wasted time trying to talk to businesses that will never have a need for what we do.

And that’s really the point of my long-winded rant, taking the time to research prospects before you contact them, be that via email, DM or telephone can make a huge difference to your success rate and position you as a thoughtful, professional organisation.

There are number of ways to ensure you get your targeting right. If your new business team has the luxury in terms of time and can Google each prospect before they call them then great, if not a fairly simple customer profiling exercise should be undertaken before you purchase new data. That way you can identify the profile of your most profitable customers and purchase data which matches that profile. Or to be even more targeted, you could bring predictive models in to play which use multiple variables to statistically predict which businesses are most likely to purchase your products or services, giving you a pool of prospects that are genuinely likely to be interested in what you have to say.

Anyway, enough said, that’s my rant over; I’ll get back to praying to the cricket Gods for an England win next week and avoiding cold calls!

Spend or Save? - Tactics to Survive a Recession

2008-12-03T07:28:00.000-08:00

Spend or save? – what are your tactics to survive an economic downturn or recession?

History shows that at times of economic down turn or recession, one of the major impacts to business is either a lack, of or slow down of decision making – particularly in terms of marketing spend or customer communications.

Clearly it is important at any time to understand the value and return on investment of your spend and also the potential impact of hesitation or the ‘Ostrich Syndrome’ – but when things are tough it’s not just important, it’s essential.

Through Customer Insight, we can examine trends in customer behaviour and most importantly value – this enables critical decisions to be made about where and how to make the best use of potentially limited spend to positively influence customer actions and decisions.

How much do you really know about your most profitable customers?

What proportion of your customer base contributes limited or no profit to your business?

Which customers are ripe for development – and when?

How much do you understand about the customer journey, your interaction and the touch points – by individual?

What impact are your communications having on customer behaviour and spend?

If you can’t answer these questions accurately – the chances are your spend isn’t working hard enough for you and at worst your messaging and communications are confusing, unrewarding, impersonal, and have little or no impact. The good news is that the answers probably lie in your data – all we need to do is find them.

Now is not the time to postpone or cancel your interaction with your prospect or customer base – but it is absolutely the right time to pay much more attention to whether your communications add any value to your relationship with the people that can influence your business future – it costs surprisingly little to find out!

Online Retail and Customer Insight – The Perfect Partners?

2008-12-01T00:46:00.000-08:00

Online retail not only offers companies an efficient and economical sales route over more traditional channels but also provides an invaluable resource of customer data and behavioural trends. The only question for marketers is how to put this wealth of information to best use?

In my view there are two options:

1) Sit back and do nothing hoping that the various presumptions about your customers and their buying trends continue to hold true

2) Unleash the power of your data through a combination of customer insight solutions to understand the unique nature of each customer’s buying behaviour.

Any business focussed on acquiring, developing and retaining the right customers - and in doing so benefiting from increased profits - will of course choose the second option. So which customer insight solutions can be deployed and what are the actual benefits that can be realised as a result?

Propensity Modelling - Through the profiling and segmentation of existing customers, propensity models can be designed to predict how they may behave in the future, based on past events and score them accordingly. This greatly increases the chance of a successful campaign by only communicating with prospects for which your message is relevant and avoiding indiscriminate mass-marketing. Essentially propensity modelling helps target the right audience to reduce cost and positively impact customer conversion and up sell.

Cross-Sell Modelling – The purpose of cross-sell modelling is to identify product association trends in transaction history. The analysis would identify trends of which products customers are most likely to buy in conjunction with another product. Whilst business knowledge and intelligence says that some products and services will naturally go together, analysis usually uncovers hidden associations. These associations can be used to drive cross-sell and up-sell opportunities by marketing and promoting the items together with the ultimate effect of increasing the value of each customer’s order.

Retention Programmes – In the current economic climate businesses are being forced to focus on their customer retention programmes (and in some cases formulate them). Of course the more astute companies will have prioritised this tool throughout – research shows ‘that acquiring a new customer costs five to seven times as much as maintaining a profitable relationship with an existing customer’, (Marc Fleishhacker: Ogilvy Consulting). The difficulties with retention though are; are you retaining profitable customers; and ensuring that your message to a customer at risk of lapsing is relevant, timely and delivered via the right channel. The mistake that many companies make is to take a broad brush approach to retention and target customers in large clusters with the same message. EWA’s Critical Lag programme is specifically designed to address this problem. It involves analysing the frequency and time lapse between customer’s purchases or interactions to identify lag trends. Based on this analysis, individual customer communications can be tailored to deliver specific messages designed to encourage customers to continue their relationship.

I have highlighted just a selection of the customer insight programmes that can be used others such as geo-demographic profiling, the application of the Pareto principle, impact assessment and forecast mapping will provide another layer of valuable, detailed information.

Deploying any customer insight programme is of course just the first stage, determining how you incorporate the insight gained into your marketing communication programme becomes the next focus. So look out for the second part of this blog in which I will focus on the types of customer communications that insight programmes can drive.

When is a lapsed customer not a lapsed customer?

2008-11-12T04:09:00.000-08:00

What defines a lapsed customer? Tricky question isn’t it, is it a customer that hasn’t bought from you in last six months, twelve months, or eighteen months even? Now I know some of that comes down to what your company produces, (for electrical retailers for example, it’s probably not that unusual to see “regular” customers who purchase once every eighteen months), but surely there must be a way of actually quantifying which of your customers have actually lapsed or are in danger of doing so?

And then there’s the question of how best to reactivate those lapsed customers; or more importantly, stop customers getting to the lapsed stage in the first place.

Something as simple as a personalised email can be the solution - but if you’re thinking of sending bulk email campaigns to all your “lapsed” customers, stop right now. Treating everyone the same is not the answer! And here’s why…

Imagine your business sells electrical components to the repair industry, supplying buyers from the one-man-band, TV repair man to big household name electrical retailers.

You have a considerable pot of loyal customers who purchase regularly but who each have quite unique purchase patterns. The big electrical retailer buys large quantities of components on a weekly basis whereas the small TV repair man buys the odd component once or twice a month. Both are loyal customers and both purchase regularly - in their own way.

And this is the key point to make. If the TV repair man went for a month or two without purchasing, it wouldn’t be too far outside of his usual behaviour but if the big electrical retailer didn’t purchase for two weeks that would be a problem. Treating both the same when it comes to being lapsed (i.e. contacting them after six months of no activity) would mean potentially losing a lot of revenue as you would have six months without the big electrical retailer buying from you. Also by this stage, they’d have most likely gone to your competition so trying to reactivate them would be nearly impossible.

So as you can see, treating each of your customers as individuals is absolutely key to managing any lapsed customer programme. It removes the broad-brush approach and means that whenever a customer lapses or looks like they might, you’re on the case immediately and can hopefully stop them going elsewhere.

So how do you go about implementing a programme to address the issue of lapsed customers? Well one way would be to consider EWA’s “Critical Lag”.

Critical Lag is a programme designed and developed by EWA’s Customer Insight team to identify customers whose buying habits show the potential to lapse. It can then deliver customer specific communications to significantly improve retention, reduce churn and help to build brand loyalty.

In a nutshell, Critical Lag is a set of business rules and algorithms which can be deployed to a marketing database and used to determine when a customer has fallen outside of their usual or expected purchase behaviour. This will trigger a communication to the customer. The key thing to remember is that Critical Lag looks at each customer’s unique purchase behaviour and only triggers a communication when they cease – or change - that behaviour.

The communication that follows can be sent in a number of different ways, that’s really down to you and the type of products you sell; but as with all marketing campaigns, relevance is key. So perhaps an email designed to encourage customers to return or to promote relevant products. Segmenting your customers by value is also worth considering so the most valued customers (in terms of their value to you) would perhaps receive a phone call with an incentivised offer whilst other medium value customers might receive a simple “we miss you” email or text message.

To give you an example of where this programme has been successful, Critical Lag has been implemented by EWA for a retailer as part of their customer communication programme. Over a three year period the programme has increased annual revenue by around 7%, generated approximately £1,100,000 of additional orders and has increased customer retention by 20%.

So, as I’m sure you’ll agree, a lapsed customer may not always be truly lapsed and treating your customers as individuals will always deliver better returns than lumping them in with the herd.

But what are your experiences, is customer churn a major problem for your business, and are you acquiring fewer new customers than those that you lose? We’d love to hear your thoughts.

Being Green can help your profit margins

2008-10-27T10:08:00.000-07:00

Everyone is talking about going “Green” and corporate social responsibility. But unlike a lot of people, we at EWA are doing something about it and so can you.

EWA understands the benefits of going Green, not just to the planet but also to a company. We are not suggesting you become eco-warriors, although we would be more than happy if you do become one! We don’t want to brainwash you or make you feel guilty about the way in which your company operates its marketing campaigns. What we will do is help you do your bit. ‘More action and less talk’ is what we say.

Over the last few weeks I have monitored my post. The amount of untargeted, un-personalised direct mail I receive each day is amazing. Not only is this hugely damaging to our planet, but it costs the companies who produce it a small fortune. None of this post has had ANY relevance to me at all. Now, I’m a girl who likes to shop, but I’ve not made a single purchase or registered with any of the companies that have contacted me. If I had been sent information related to products that are relevant to me then I would have been more likely to buy from the companies concerned. I’m afraid to say all the post I received went in the recycling bin, apart from one mailing that was delivered on recyclable paper which I actually took the time to read. What a huge waste of money and our planet’s resources.

Direct Marketing can cost companies huge amounts of money and because of the untargeted nature of some campaigns; often little return on investment is seen. Some surprisingly do not even monitor the campaign’s success or track the volume of responses. As my Mum would say, “you may as well chuck your money down the drain”!

In today’s world, being Green does not only help the environment, but can also help your company’s profit margin too, something I’m sure you are interested in. So what can you use to help you become Green and see a better ROI from your marketing campaigns? The answer is simple - Customer Insight.

Customer Insight is in my mind a green weapon that all companies that care about the planet and profit should be using. Customer Insight is the collection, deployment and translation of information that is essential for a business to acquire, develop and retain the RIGHT customers.

Customer Insight makes sure all communications to potential clients and existing customers is relevant to them as individuals, avoiding mass marketing, huge amounts of paper wastage and cost.

Customer Insight is an essential marketing tool in an increasingly competitive market place. A greater understanding of your customers will help you position products to them that are relevant and help promote loyalty, something that can only be good in today’s financial climate and above all it will give you piece-of-mind that you know your customer and what they want better than anyone else. You will increase your profit, save money AND help save the planet. Sounds good doesn’t it? So why not give it a try and see if you can do your bit and go Green with the added bonus of a bigger profit margin.

The winning formulae for a successful contact centre

2008-08-27T01:31:00.000-07:00

We would like to think all our contact centres are successful. It’s about having that winning formula that EWA uses and tailoring it around the client’s specific product and again the use of appropriate language, using clear and concise messages.

It’s also about holding a conversation with customers so they don’t feel you are following a script. It’s also about taking responsibility and ownership of the customer’s problem, and delivering at the right pace with clear consistent messaging.

Some of our successful contact centres included the Department of Health, where the contact centre can have very difficult calls to handle. Its messages need to be delivered with empathy rather than sympathy, which is where EWA can provide expertise.

Getting the right people for a successful contact centre to run like clock work is also part of the winning formula. We can give basic phone training, a lot of product training, but we also have to give people the freedom to convey their personality during the communication to the customer. An individual also needs to be confident in dealing with calls in the contact centre. It’s about product matching too. If you work in our adidas contact centre for example you have to have an interest in sport or it’s never going to work for the caller because you are not going to be able to talk knowledgeably and confidently about the products.

What are the challenges faced in managing a contact centre?

2008-08-27T01:18:00.000-07:00

One of the main challenges when working in a contact centre is relying on inbound traffic and managing the peaks and troughs of those calls. It’s all about finding the right balance between having enough staff to manage the incoming calls but still retaining cost effectiveness for clients.

It’s also about staff motivation. A number of contact centres can be dealing with highly emotive subjects, quite standard and even boring subjects, so staff motivation and retention is key in managing a contact centre. It is also about measuring and monitoring the output and it depends on the individual’s interpretation of customer service.

We can all give examples of bad customer service but may struggle to recall an example of good customer service. A recent study showed that 80% of companies believe they deliver a superior customer experience but only 8% of their customers agreed. So whilst a company might think they are doing a great job, you are only as good as that customer remembering the conversation. You do have to go over and above what you believe good customer service is to make a great impression.

Listening and delivering the message is also important. Another of the challenges is that the customer may not really know what to ask you. Perhaps they have a letter which does not make sense to them and they are angry as a result. You really have to listen to them carefully and deliver the correct answer which they may not even want to hear, so it’s important the agent conveys the message in a positive manner.

Call duration brings about its own challenges. A client may measure us on our call duration, and then we have to keep those calls short and deliver a high quality level of customer service which can be something of a contradiction.

Again the bottom line is ensuring that there is consistency in delivering key messages to customers and managing all the challenges that we face.

Can your data and Customer Insight help you avoid the credit crunch?

2008-08-18T06:03:00.000-07:00

There’s no doubt about it, it’s tough for most UK businesses at the moment, we’re in the middle of an economic downturn and consumers are becoming increasingly cautious with their money. But do businesses already have the means to help them avoid the worst of what may become a full blown recession without knowing it?

So what am I referring to? (And no it’s not Mervyn King’s mobile number!) Well in a word… data, and more specifically, consumer and transactional data.

Most businesses have a huge amount of information at their finger tips. Every time a customer buys your products or services you collect information on them, whether it is their contact information, details of the products or services they have bought, when they bought them or the communications they have responded to. All this information can be collated into a marketing database and through the use of Customer Insight, really help you to understand your customer’s behaviour.

“So what” I hear you say, “how is knowing what my customers buy going to help me avoid tough times ahead?” Well it all comes down to relevance, by using Customer Insight to help you market relevant products through relevant communication channels to people who are statistically likely to buy them, you can seriously increase the level of responses to your marketing campaigns and remove the reliance on above the line marketing. All this equals less expense and more return from your marketing budget.

So before you begin to worry about your customers spending less and going to the competition look at the one thing already in your possession and make your data work for you.

I’d like to hear you thoughts on the topic I’ve discussed. Is Customer Insight helping you during the credit crunch?

Exhibitions and making your data work for you

2008-08-12T04:06:00.000-07:00

The aim of this blog is to try to give some advice and help people avoid one of the biggest errors made while taking part in events or exhibitions. Based on my previous experiences, I hope to give you some pointers which will enable you to make the most of any future events.

Exhibitors spend a huge amount of money on stands for exhibitions to make sure they look state of the art; they make sure they have their best sales personnel present to establish and build new customer relationships, and finally they make sure they gather as much data as possible on prospects. However, all of this time and money can be wasted if you do not act on a few key points!

The key objective for exhibitors when venturing in to any event should be to gain a deeper customer insight, generate leads that can be turned into monetary value, and increase their company’s profit.

Exhibitors normally gauge how successful a show has been by the amount of data and leads they collect. All this is extremely valuable, but unless this data is used quickly and accurately, it could be a waste of time collecting it in the first place.

Making better use of the data you worked so keenly to collect can be the hardest part about taking part in a show. It’s sometimes difficult to find the time or resources within your company to do simple things such as data capture the information from an exhibition into your sales and marketing database when you get back to the office. However, what people often do not realise is within that data can be the key to your future success.

Information that can be extracted from data and information captured can offer customer insight that will open your client base in so many ways. Handled by the right people, it can be of significant benefit to your company, placing you leagues ahead of any competitors.

By enhancing this data you can build relevant propositions, it can affect future decision making, you can cross sell, track the behaviour of your clients and know when they are more likely to place orders with you.

What you do at the show does not have to change, you know what you are selling, you are the expert in that, what needs to change is what you do after, so let an expert get the most out of the hard work you put in.

At the show make sure you are asking for the correct information from your prospects so you can make the most of your data. If in doubt ask an expert for some advice on the data to be captured and how to go about it, it can make the process a lot less painful in the long run and remove the need for manual data capture.

You have spent a lot of money on the show so you need to get the best return on your investment; by allocating a small amount of your budget to outsource your data management really will bring you the return you deserve.

If you have any event advice or tips please post them for us all to learn from.

How do I source a contact centre?

2008-08-12T02:47:00.000-07:00

Any company needs to ask themselves what they would like to get out of using a contact centre. Here are some questions companies have to ask themselves when finding the right contact centre supplier.

• What type of service do you want to offer your customer?

• Do you want a very quick, automated sign posting service, where people can find out information on their own?

• Do you want it to be made available for out of business hours?

• Is the call being made to the end customer or is it to a business to business customer?

• Would your customers prefer to use a free phone number or a local phone number?

• Do you know customers that have recommended other companies?

• Have you done any mystery shopping?

• Have you looked at who’s around?

• Does the contact centre belong to a professional membership? Contact centres that belong to the Contact Centre Association are worth investigating.

Contact centres allow yours truly to build a relationship with your customer

2008-08-06T06:21:00.000-07:00

In our previous post we mentioned that contact centres serve a variety of purposes and offer solutions for our clients and this in turn will depend on a client’s needs and wants. It could be to support direct mail, PR work or any campaigns which may need following up.

Despite all the technologies available, particularly online, our clients’ use the telephone. We have contact centres where we have also managed product recall programmes. Customers simply want to speak to someone on the telephone. Some people want assurance and an answer quickly and many customers feel the quickest way to get to an answer is by phone. The telephone call also gives people the opportunity to build relationships, which is one of the strengths of a contact centre.

The value of contact centres - consistency in the message and delivering excellent customer service

2008-08-05T08:35:00.000-07:00

A contact centre is a team of trained specialists, who are there to deliver a first class service. They are very different from a call centre. Contact centres serve a multi-channel environment; For example, a contact centre maybe used to answer emails, work on written material that has come via post as well answer telephone calls. When you go through to a contact centre using multiple communication channels, there will always be consistency in the message communicated. A contact centre plays a key role and is very much a frontline for our client’s customers at EWA.

Leave it to the experts when investing in a contact centre…

It’s a bit of a cliché, but when you do invest in outsourcing a contact centre you are leaving it with the experts. It’s like when you are looking for a plumber, you’re looking for a professional who can do the job. All our experts in our contact centres are professionally trained and have the time to talk to clients’ customers. Our team are trained in answering the telephone appropriately and in a timely fashion.

The added value of a multi-channel contact centre does also give you the facility for a higher volume of customers to reach you more quickly. For example, if you have five or six people who happen to call you at the same time, and there are only just two of you in the office, you are potentially going to miss three or four of those calls, whilst a contact centre is going to be able to pick up those calls almost immediately.

The volume of traffic can also vary. This will depend on the client’s requirements and the customer service offering. Sometimes you could receive fifty calls in a week or fifty in a day. Again this depends on the message you want to send to you customer. We always evaluate the client’s needs and the history. A contact centre can be used for a variety of requirements. Some clients may make use of our multi-client contact centre facility because they may want us to manage the back end of a direct marketing campaign and provide response handling services. Or it could be they want us to look at one of our dedicated units where they want to have a conversation with their customers, offering advice and guidance so this would be a very different call.

Project Management – The Language Barrier

2008-06-25T08:27:00.000-07:00

Would you go to a foreign country without learning a bit of the language or understanding the culture? No probably not, or if you did, then you would be at risk from looking slightly ignorant or embarrassed every time you tried to order a drink! Project Management can work in the same way and it’s essential to understand the language that’s spoken by those that you’re working with both within your own organisation and perhaps more importantly, with the client.

This doesn’t of course mean that for a Project Manager to speak to a Customer Insight colleague they need to have detailed knowledge of how to build a propensity model, understand neural networks or determine the most appropriate regression model. But, it does help if they can have dialogue which the ‘analysts’ are comfortable with and translates well to the client. If language and terminology is used that the Project Manager doesn’t understand, they shouldn’t dismiss it as a foreign language, they should attempt to talk ‘pigeon analytics’ until a common ground is found. I’m sure you’ve all been on holiday trying to order that dish from the menu that you have no idea what it is, but with a bit of patience from you and the native waiter, you work it out together.

Once the language is established and understood, the Project Manager can then be clear when detailing the clients’ requirements. It is essential that these are understood and consensus is reached to be confident that project efficiency is maximised. When managing a Print and Fulfilment campaign, it’s essential that the correct inserts go with the correct personalised letter – it matters to that individual what is received. Or another analogy would be to go back to the international dish, if you don’t understand what that foreign ingredient is – then on your taste buds be it!

Should any problems arise through the course of a project, the Project Manager is responsible for working the challenge through with the person who will essentially resolve it whether that is the client or internal colleagues. This will have a positive impact as the solution will support the overall project objectives and also enhance understanding. When managing a Database Marketing project, decisions and choices can be vast and the wrong one made through miscommunication could have a big impact of the overall deliverables.

As our core business is Customer Relationship Management, the skills required to work efficiently and effectively with clients and colleagues alike are ingrained in all our Project Management staff. A Project Manager needs to have skills to perform a range of duties from sales, to accountancy, to business analysis and even diplomacy as well as a firm understanding of the importance of when in a service department, do as that service department does!

How much do you REALLY know about your customers?

2008-03-31T05:10:00.000-07:00

How much do you REALLY know about your customers?

I recently met a new client who told me that he knows very little about his customers or the reasons they buy one product in preference to another. As shocking as this might sound, I’m almost certain he’s not alone. A great number of businesses we speak to can tell you all about their sales figures, about their average order values or about the number of new customers they have acquired. But when it comes to actually knowing what a customer thinks of them or perhaps more importantly, the business’ perception of themselves compared to that of their customers, then very few have a clear understanding of what makes their customers tick.

Perception mapping

In our experience, a simple solution to this problem can be to conduct a questionnaire to both internal stakeholders and a business’ customers and then analysing the results using perception mapping. Perception mapping uses survey data to provide a visual representation of the perceptions of diverse segments, in particular, highlighting key differences. It is particularly useful when analysing the differences in perceptions from a company and customer point of view in areas such as service levels and product quality. Perception mapping can help prove or disprove the perceptions or assumptions of a business and identify gaps in the service or product offering.

Are customer survey’s a little “old hat”?

People may argue however, that customer surveys are a little “old hat” or that they struggle to get significant enough responses to allow accurate analysis. Again in our experience, if the right questions are asked in a non-intrusive way, using the most appropriate medium and to the right customers (and by that I mean ones who have an existing relationship with the business), then response rates can be surprising. We have seen response rates from online customer surveys as high as 75% and that’s without offering an incentive to respond. Clearly it helps to have a very receptive and loyal customer base in order to see response rates that high but other surveys we have run on behalf of clients regularly get response rates in excess of 25% which gives more than enough accurate data to perform detailed analysis… providing enough questionnaires were sent in the first place obviously!

Questionnaires…a great way of getting customer insight

Questionnaires are also a great tool for cleansing or filling gaps in your customer profile information… without customers feeling as though they are being interrogated by the Spanish Inquisition. Any analyst will tell you that having information like date of birth, occupation or postcode in customer data is invaluable when it comes to accurate profiling and segmentation or building customer insight initiatives such as propensity models. By clearly stating the purpose of the questionnaire (i.e. to improve customer service or help with product development) and asking carefully planned, relevant questions, detailed information on customers can be built-up and incorporated into database profiles.

…And to conclude

So in summary, here are a few points to remember and some advice about the successful use of customer questionnaires and surveys:

• Planning – think about why you want to perform a survey in the first place. Is it to address a specific business objective, to prove or disprove a theory or to gather valuable profiling data?

• Relevance – Make sure the questions reflect the information you want to gather and that they are relevant to the customers purchase behaviour… there is no point in asking a question if no action can result from its answer!

• Objectivity – Try and make your surveys and questionnaire as objective as possible, after all you want your customers to be honest in their responses even if the results make for difficult reading.

• Channel – If all your customer interactions are conducted online or via email, then it’s a good idea (if not an obvious one!) to conduct a survey via the same channels. Online surveys give the added benefit of direction integration into marketing database systems without the need to data capture the results.

• Format – Complicated questions in a poorly designed format will only serve to dissuade customers from responding. Equally, complicated questionnaires with lots of free text will make data

• Analysis – Most companies would say that they analyse the results of the surveys they have conducted but in our experience, very few actually get the most from the data they capture. Using a specialist data analyst or customer insight company can really help unlock intelligence in data and help you get the most from a customer survey.

But what do you think? What response rates have you seen and how successful have your surveys been?

Database Marketing – Five Top Tips

2008-03-26T04:16:00.000-07:00

Most marketing professionals understand the reasons for collecting good customer and prospect data and most also understand (in theory at least) what to do with that data.

However, one thing that never ceases to amaze me is the number of businesses that don’t get the best from their data. So for that reason, below are some basic tips for using and getting a return from what has the potential to be a huge asset – your database.

Keep it clean – There’s no point in collecting huge quantities of customer and prospect data if it isn’t regularly cleansed and updated. With customers moving around frequently and more and more people subscribing to TPS and MPS, you need to give your campaigns a fighting chance of success by starting with a clean and up-to-date database.

Unlock the intelligence – Most customer databases have a story to tell and can offer so much more than just a mailing list. Modern customer insight and data mining techniques can add real value and help drastically improve the success of marketing campaigns by targeting customers that are statistically more likely to buy your products.

Make it relevant – How many people have received marketing messages from a company that they have an existing relationship with but which are completely irrelevant to them? If you have transaction and sales information in your database (or you can prise it from your Accounts Dept.) then you’ll know what your customers buy, when they buy it and how likely they are to buy related products… Why not use this information to make your campaigns 100% relevant to your audience?

One size doesn’t fit all – If your message is relevant and timely then your campaign should succeed - right? Wrong! Make sure you give consideration to the communication medium, not all of your customers and prospects will respond (or welcome) traditional DM no matter how relevant the message. Today’s marketing professionals have a wide range of channels available to them from email, SMS and DRTV or even good, old fashioned, telemarketing. Trial and measure your campaigns across different mediums before rolling them out completely - different customer/prospect profiles will respond to different channels.

Learn from experience – So your data is clean, your message is relevant and the communication channels have been chosen, the campaign goes live and the results are encouraging, happy days! Well of course that’s good but the results of even the most successful campaign can tell a valuable story and inform your next campaign. One thing we always advocate is analysing the results of a campaign to understand factors such as which channel brought back the best response rate, what the profile(s) of the responders were and the time lag from message delivery to response. These factors (and more) will all help your next campaign to become even more focussed and help target the customers/prospects most likely to respond.

If you pay attention to this advice and ensure that your database continues to evolve and grow, then your marketing campaigns will have every chance of success. But we’re keen to hear your feedback and experience, what database marketing techniques have proved most successful for you?

Customer Churn – Not just Your loss, but Your Competitor’s Gain

2008-03-26T04:13:00.000-07:00

Very few businesses can claim to achieve 100% customer satisfaction and 100% customer retention despite the fact that these - theoretically – would be the goals for any self respecting business. Given that you lose customers, the issue is how easily you can identify the real value of a lost customer. In these days where word of mouth marketing and social networking become more and more prevalent – does losing one customer result in a knock on effect? Could your ‘accepted’ customer attrition be hurting you more than ever before?

These questions may be difficult, if not impossible to answer. They’re the classic Economist’s Opportunity Costs. They are challenging marketing personnel the world over. However, there is a simple solution – real customer insight can enable you to pre-empt customer churn. If you had a means to identify that customers were about to defect, then you would take appropriate action to retain them. As we are always told – it is less expensive to keep a customer than it is to find a new one. So who has this magical crystal ball?

Many analysts assess customer profitability and make assumptions and calculations on ‘life time value’ – however, these become worthless if you lose the customer! You can’t implement your customer relationship management if you haven’t the customer to relate to anymore!

Remember, if your customer stops buying from you that’s bad enough, but what makes it worse is they are probably buying from your competitor. That’s lose-lose for you in anybody’s eyes.

Propensity Modelling: The Green Option

2008-03-19T03:18:00.000-07:00

The advantages of propensity modelling are well documented: it allows you to score and target the right customers, optimise resources and avoid indiscriminate mass marketing. However, the impact on the environment should not be overlooked.

In 2006, direct mail accounted for 500,000 tonnes of paper. That’s a big impact on the environment, especially considering the significant amount that would have been thrown away unopened, let alone unread.

Of course, the materials used, accurate suppressing and the cleanliness of data are viewed as playing a significant role in lessening the environmental impact of direct mail. Propensity modelling should be viewed in the same way.

Propensity modelling allows an organisation and its marketing department to score and target customers based on their propensity to act in a certain way, for example, the propensity of a customer to take up an offer or respond to your call to action.

By sending direct mail to only the customers you believe your message or offer will be relevant to, not only will you see better response rates from your campaigns, potentially maximising profitability, you can also reduce your below the line spend and your impact on the environment. Truly targeted and relevant direct mail means a reduction in paper usage, production of printed material, printing inks, delivery fuel and use of packing machinery (and related energy consumption), thereby helping the environment.

And ‘Green’ credentials or environmental impact are becoming increasingly important to consumers who are looking to make an informed choice about their purchases. Recent research has shown that people are more likely to buy from companies who are carbon neutral, fair trade, or involved with charitable work.

Publicising your company’s investment in areas such as sustainable consumption, environmental management systems, environmental accreditation and charitable donations can all help reinforce your brand values and develop productive customer relationships.

What are your thoughts on Propensity Modelling?

Customer Insight vs. Management Information

2008-03-19T03:12:00.000-07:00

We talk to a large number of companies who believe they are maximising their customer insight opportunities. However, on further examination it becomes evident that, whilst many do have effective management information systems, they are not taking full advantage of the insight they can gain through their customer interactions.

So, what are the differences between customer insight and management information? There are no hard and fast rules and often they overlap, but the following provides some basic distinctions.

Management information is delivered by developing prescribed data queries based on a pre-determined requirement. Customer insight is delivered through database and knowledge base exploration, evaluating theories and developing data models, sometimes utilising complex data mining algorithms.

Of greater significance is that, whilst the output of management information tends to be paper based/electronic reports and/or presentations (e.g. weekly sales reports/campaign response rate presentation), the output of customer insight will tend to be deployable and measurable customer relationship initiatives used to acquire, develop and retain the right customers (e.g. retention programme/targeted direct marketing extract/pricing rule change).

We’d like to hear you views on this subject matter. Do you feel that management information is used effectively in your business? What would you like to get out of your systems?

Cutting Edge – Phone Rage (Channel Four, 6th March 2008)

2008-03-11T02:26:00.000-07:00

So Channel Four has uncovered deep customer dissatisfaction with call or contact centres; with outsourcing overseas; on-hold music; voice managers – press one for; and the like…

How did the programme inform – is it representative of the call centre industry or just of EVERY company that has a telephone help desk, enquiry line, complaints’ department, etc., etc.?

What the programme failed to address is why many of these ‘departments’ have to exist in the first place. If companies took advantage of the vast amount of information being provided by their customers, when they bother to call, they could easily overcome many of the issues raised. A highly experienced colleague once continuously asserted in training, "that a complaint is a positive buying signal" – and whilst at the time it always seemed bizarre – over the years it is clear she was absolutely right.

Why do companies fail to engage with their customer facing staff – whether in-house or outsourced - and use the information that is provided daily to enhance and improve their product and service offering?

What became clear is that people are principally calling because of a process failure – they were less concerned with where the call was answered but more with how quickly their problem was resolved. Was it resolved without multiple call transfers, did they have to re-explain the issue, were staff empowered to make decisions?

For many businesses the focuses of their call centre – in-house or outsourced – are call length and cost; they are still rarely about customer and service insight; about relationship development and sales opportunities (even when things go wrong!) and that, for me, is where the programme missed its Cutting Edge opportunity.

Customer Service is king in the land of increasing product choice

2008-03-10T03:59:00.000-07:00

What’s the definition of good customer service? We can all give examples of where we’ve experienced that warm, fuzzy feeling from being treated as a valued customer and perhaps even more examples of where we’ve been left feeling decidedly turned off after yet another interaction with an obnoxious customer services agent. But have you ever stopped to think about the quality of the product or service in each case… Good service relating to a mediocre product or worse, dreadful service relating to a supposedly excellent product?

Customer service; the good and the bad

Case in point – I recently went for a meal at my favourite local restaurant which is usually excellent for both food and service but on this particular occasion something wasn’t quite as normal. From the moment we stepped into the restaurant things got off on the wrong foot, we couldn’t have our usual favourite table and instead were stuck in the middle with waiting staff brushing past every thirty seconds. “Fair enough” I thought, “they’re busy and I can’t always have my own way” but then we had to wait ages for them to take our order after being seated which is never a good start!

When the food did arrive, the waitress seemed more interested in what was going on behind the bar than serving us and the meal didn’t seem to be quite as tasty as usual. Now whether that was because it genuinely wasn’t up to the chef’s usual high standards or because my taste buds had somehow been affected by the below average customer service, I’m not too sure, either way, that warm, fuzzy feeling was strangely absent. Again, when it came to paying the bill, what I would normally think is quite a reasonable amount for dinner and wine at what is after all, a supposedly upmarket restaurant seemed rather on the expensive side.

Fast forward to the weekend and my partner and I decide on the spur of the minute to visit the new Indian restaurant close to where we live. I was a little sceptical about being able to reserve a table at such short notice but was pleasantly surprised when the Restaurant Manager said it wouldn’t be a problem, (box number one firmly ticked in the “excellent customer service” category).

We duly arrived on-time for our meal and we were greeted by the warmest welcome I’ve ever had whilst being ushered to a discrete table that’s perfect for people watching (my partner’s favourite pastime!). After a bit of friendly banter with our waiter, we ordered our food which then arrived a short while later and I tucked into my favourite King Prawn Bhuna which definitely tasted better than I was expecting. More smiles and chatting with the waiter, an offer of complimentary drinks and it’s time to pay the bill. “Very reasonable” I thought this time (to be honest, it was perhaps a little towards the top end of the scale for an Indian meal for two) but I gladly paid and left a generous tip too… “We’ll definitely be going back there again”, my partner and I both agree.

….And the point being?

Now you might be wondering what I’m ranting on about (or thinking this person eats out too much) but what these experiences highlight for me is how a few small things can make a massive difference to how a customer perceives your product. It’s not a difficult correlation to make; excellent customer service can seriously enhance your product’s positioning in the marketplace and increase your brand value too. Likewise, poor customer service can do a huge amount of damage to your brand, costing you customer loyalty and affecting your market share (not to mention the bill your PR agency will charge for fixing the problem).

So my advice is this, you may have the best product in the world or you may be competing with fifty other suppliers in a highly competitive market place but in order to gain the competitive edge and increase customer loyalty, you need to get your customer service function spot on. This can be done by either:

a) Outsourcing your customer services to an industry expert such as an experienced contact centre, therefore allowing you to concentrate solely on what you do best, producing exceptional products, or by:

b) Employing experienced staff, maintaining high standards through continual training and immediately dealing with any issues that arise.

Whichever route you decide on, treating your customers as valued individuals will always ensure they have that warm, fuzzy feeling and stop you losing them to the competition.

We’d really like to hear your thoughts, should customer service be king?

Welcome to the new blog of EWA Bespoke Communications

2008-03-10T03:19:00.000-07:00

EWA is an award winning relationship management agency and we specialise in providing outsourced marketing services including:

• Database Marketing
• Customer Insight
• Contact Centres
• Response Handling
• Print & Fulfilment
• Relationship Management

We have been in business for over twenty five years and provide outsourced customer relationship management programmes for clients such as M&S, Nissan, adidas and Merial Animal Health.

As an outsourcing agency, return on investment is ingrained in everything we do at EWA and clients need to see a return on the trust and financial commitment they place with us. That is why every campaign we handle is strictly managed to agreed service levels and outcomes are analysed to gauge their effectiveness.

To give an example; approximately three years ago EWA highlighted to M&S the need for a customer retention programme in order to help reduce customer churn. The programme that was developed and put in place by our Systems and Customer Insight team has today seen customer churn levels reduce by 20% which represents an additional £750,000 worth of orders since the programme’s inception… impressive results we hope you’ll agree.

The reason for launching our new blog is simple… we have a lot to say! EWA has been a market leader in customer relationship management since 1981 and we want to share our knowledge, create debate and discuss areas of work which we are passionate about. As with all blogs, it will be a work in practice so please check back regularly and feel free to send us your feedback on any of the topics we write about.

The blog will become the voice of EWA and will be contributed to by experienced staff in senior positions across the company. We’ll be discussing topics as varied as customer service and the benefits of outsourced contact centres to getting the most from your data and how eMarketing impacts our lives.

We believe we have expertise in supporting outsourced marketing services for our clients and our blog is an opportunity to tell you about what we do; for you to question us; challenge us; learn about us and most importantly engage with us!

We’re looking forward to your thoughts and comments and welcome anyone to join the online conversation!