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.
Wednesday, 12 October 2011
Monday, 10 October 2011
@respondquicklyplease
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.
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.
Thursday, 6 October 2011
Customers are revolting!
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!
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!
Wednesday, 5 October 2011
B2B Marketing Fundamentals – Your Website & Data
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.
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.
Tuesday, 27 September 2011
Call Centre Growth in India Faltering – The Beginning of the End for Outsourced Contact?
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.
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.
Monday, 12 September 2011
B2B Marketing Fundamentals – Your Identity & Target
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.
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.
Monday, 22 August 2011
B2B Marketing Fundamentals
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
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?)
- 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
- 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??).
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