| Experts Corner |  Communicating intelligently with existing customers is critical, and marketing spend is heavily weighted towards this pool. But businesses cannot afford to neglect prospecting activity. So, what techniques can businesses adopt to ensure that the search for new customers is both targeted and cost-efficient ?
David Jefferies, Marketing Director, Pitney Bowes
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| Highlights |
 Getting Off on the Right Foot: Avoiding Common Master Data Management False Starts
Companies wishing to start a master data management (MDM) project may be unsure where and how to begin. After all, MDM is a journey and success or failure at the first step either defines or dooms the further evolution of the project.
by Ravi Shankar, Director of Product Marketing
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| Abstract: Today, communicating with customers via one channel alone is not satisfactory. Most consumers have access to multiple channels, and have very distinct views on which type of message they wish to receive across each. These preferences are often so strong that a customer will refuse to respond to even the most enticing and exciting offer, if it is delivered over the wrong medium. |
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| Author: By Kate Leggett, Director e-Service Product Strategy |
| Company: KANA |
| Doc Type: Article |
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| Abstract: It is fair to say that customer service has changed since the web 1.0 days. Empowered customers of today want to make their own choices in the way that they interact with companies they do business with. This means that not only does the company need to provide the goods and services, but also the tools and culture to make the service experience one of paramount value to the customer and thus to the company in return. |
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| Author: By Richard Higginbotham, Head of Marketing |
| Company: CDMS |
| Doc Type: Article |
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| Abstract: The ability for consumers to switch suppliers has never been easier. As the balance of power has shifted in favour of the consumer and customer churn rates plague many an industry, marketers are constantly looking for new ways to connect with the customer and hold their attention. |
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| Author: By Mark Greatrex, Product and Services Director |
| Company: Lakeview |
| Doc Type: Article |
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| Abstract: A decade ago, ‘customer is king’ was an almost universal corporate mantra, yet one observed more often in the breach than the observance.
By contrast, in today’s highly competitive IT markets, products have become more commoditised and, as a result, real differentiation must increasingly come from superior service and support. It might be reasonable to expect as a result that companies would take this area of their operation more seriously and no longer simply pay lip service to customer service quality.
Yet the reality is that there are still too many vendors who, through lack of real commitment, have yet to translate fine words into real actions.
In the software arena, for example, not unsurprisingly perhaps service providers have proved rather better in this regard than software houses, as it is closer to their core business.
The goals and objectives of a software developer will primarily be centred on software creation and the sale of product licenses. As a result, its investment focus is more likely to centre on those areas where the company sees the most direct and immediate return, rather than in delivering service improvement which is harder to justify in terms of measurable RoI.
Right staff, right structure
Yet in general there is a lack of sufficient investment in the people, processes and technologies to provide the level of service support which will ensure a consistent and high-quality customer experience.
In terms of staff selection, companies should place greater emphasis on recruiting people with strong inter-personal and customer service skills. And this should be supported by on-going training which enhances such softer skills, as well as ensuring employees acquire the necessary technical expertise.
Organisationally too, it is essential that the most appropriate customer-centric structures and processes are in place to underpin this. First impressions are crucial and again, in the software marketplace, service delivery can often fall well short of the ideal in that the customer’s initial experience of a provider’s service quality is when their telephone call is taken by a call-logger.
With no product or service knowledge, such staff simply note the contact and the customer is frequently left with the vague hope that the company will call them back at some point in the future, often unspecified. By contrast, with the right customer support staff backed up by the right training, form the outset the customer will have the confidence that their issue will be dealt with in a timely, efficient and effective manner.
The basics of service quality
So, in practical terms, what are the key elements of a truly customer-centric approach likely to make a vendor stand out from the noise?
In setting realistic and achievable customer expectations, central to this is the importance of having a common understanding of precisely what product or service the customer is buying, together with the level of service that customer can expect and at what cost.
Communication as a three-way process (vendor to client, client to vendor, client to client): No business stands still and both the vendor’s offering and the client’s needs will change, perhaps significantly, over time.
Firstly, the customer should be kept up-to-date with product changes and compliance issues, for example, via newsletters and other marketing communications.
Equally, the vendor needs to be constantly aware of what customers think and want, both informally and more systematically through the use of user groups and regular customer satisfaction surveys. It should also be recognised that customer feedback provides important input more broadly into the product and business development programme.
And finally, the use of customer forums provides a valuable opportunity for clients to
share with each other matters of mutual interest and concern.
Rapid, ‘first pass’ response: On the one hand, it is important to put together a dedicated team to ensure superior service quality on a non-going basis. (And, in the case of a channel sale, this may well involve staff from several companies in the supply chain.)
Similarly, in responding promptly and effectively to customer issues, vendors should put processes in place to maximise the number of customer calls dealt with at first pass, by ensuring ready access to relevant technical and support staff. And for those calls which cannot be dealt with in one call, it is critical to manage customer expectations and deliver within agreed response times.
Proactive support: However, it is no longer enough simply to be highly responsive to customer requests. To get ahead of the competition, a vendor must anticipate need, by ‘getting under the skin’ of both the client and their marketplace. And this highlights another corporate truism which frequently does not bear close scrutiny, that is, the desire to adopt a ‘partnership’ approach as the basis for creating long-term client relationships.
This cannot be achieved by, in effect, walking away after the sale has been completed and subsequently providing a purely reactive service. By contrast, it is essential to maintain regular contact with the customer, both pre- and post-sale and across the whole business, as part of an end-to-end, proactive approach which enables the vendor to flush out issues and recommend solutions before they become problems.
In establishing the foundations for a long-term and mutually beneficial relationship, this also has the benefit of ensuring that much of the contact will be positive - in exploring and taking advantage of market opportunities in moving the business forward - rather than just liaising on the more negative aspects of solving a client’s problems.
Tailored market solutions: The ‘one size fits all’ product or solutions proposition is another dinosaur strategy whose day is past, as solutions-savvy customers are no longer satisfied with off-the-shelf, standard or ‘vanilla’ responses. Yet in defining an effective sales approach, a vendor must not only take into account the particular needs of each sector and company, but also the concerns and level of IT understanding of the individual client within the business.
Business optimisation: many end-users still think in terms of point solutions for point problems. To provide a truly value-added service, vendors must take a step back and help the customer look at solutions, often linked to other best-of-breed products, which will maximise benefit to the broader business. The key here is to help ensure clients have the best tools available in order that they can make fully informed business decisions.
There is a common denominator here. In many companies there remains a commonly-held, if misplaced, belief that your customers are dependent on you as the supplier. Yet in terms of the balance of power, the reality is very different: with customers increasingly willing to vote with their feet and go elsewhere, vendors now have to work harder than ever to retain existing clients and attract new business.
Typically this will require a sea-change in attitude and ethos across the whole business. In order to achieve this, companies like Lakeview have implemented customer charters, which seek to reflect a company-wide recognition of the importance of customer service.
In encapsulating how every department should manage customer interactions, such charters achieve two important goals. First, they make everyone fully aware of their responsibility to the customer, irrespective of their role or job title. Further, the customer benefits from a unified ‘one company’ response, by ensuring consistency of message and quality of service delivery.
The question remains however: with many, and often conflicting, pressures on today’s business, how far up the corporate agenda should quality of service sit? The answer, in short, is at or near the very top.
Failure to implement effective customer service strategies may not have an immediate catastrophic impact on the business. Yet it is now equally clear that, in a world where ever-more promiscuous customers have unparalleled choice, existing business will inexorably hemorrhage as customers switch to suppliers who show a genuine understanding and commitment to their business.
And so, longer term, the result will be equally devastating. |
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| Abstract: Advertising is everywhere. According to several sources* the average person is exposed to more than 3,000 advertising messages every day. And it’s not just in traditional media like television, radio and print. Ads can be seen on New York City taxi hub caps, on the surface of your chair-back tray in an airplane, and even served up dynamically in video games. So why not in email?
Historically, email strategists recommended against putting ads in your email newsletters for several reasons:
Advertisements distract from the carefully crafted, relevant content that the recipient subscribed to in the first place.
Marketers typically have little control over the look, feel and animation within an ad that rests within their email, leading to conflict between the brand’s color palettes and tone.
Marketers also typically have little control over whom or what is featured in dynamically served ads. For example, Pontiac bought out all the ad placements to promote their new GTO in the same Car & Driver article that featured the new Ford Mustang.
The presence of additional images hinders deliverability, especially “spammy” animated GIFS that tarnish your brand.
These are all good reasons to think hard before placing ads in your email newsletter. But that doesn’t mean it can’t be done. In fact, as you may have noticed, many marketers do feature advertising in their email messages. And as with any medium, there are best practices for displaying advertising in email. Here’s a few to ponder:
What size placements work best for your email template? The most used and recommended ad sizes for email are 468 x 60 for headers and footers, 120 x 600 Towers to run along the right rail, the 250 x 250 square, and of course text advertisements of varying character lengths.
Look at which sizes blend most naturally into your current template. And don’t stop at just one layout — create two or three versions each using different ad sizes and arrangements. Then test, test and test. Which layout has the highest open rate? Which has the highest combined click-though rate? The highest opt-out rate? Which ad placement rates the highest?
Consider testing graphic ads versus text ads. Graphics typically garner higher click-through rates (and thus media cost), but you may opt for a more deliverability-friendly text ad that will always be displayed regardless of message rendering.
Look to add to your email with advertising, not distract from it. Rather than sell each individual placement in your newsletter, sell them all to one advertiser. This ensures the advertiser “owns” that particular campaign and opens the opportunity for advertisers to create placements that all work together leading to a less jumbled look and higher performance.
Where possible, try to control content. This is easy for some, impossible for others. Develop an Advertising Guidelines document that restricts distasteful ad content. If you can encourage relevant ad content then do so. For example, if your email newsletter content focuses on healthcare, then steer ad content to promote healthcare products and services. If possible, also consider which brands are being promoted in your emails — do they add or detract from your identity?
Close the loop. While it has become easier to track the basics in email performance like clicks and opens, strive to be able to tie revenue to a click. This typically requires an integration, either manual or automated, between the data of the advertiser (revenue) and the marketer who is sending the email (clicks). Being able to know ROI from advertising in your email is a powerful selling point that allows you to demand higher media costs.
With all that being said, some email newsletters solely exist to display advertising. This is the case for many publishers. Many of the above recommendations around testing and content still apply, however, if ads are the reason the newsletter is being sent out in the first place, then your layout should reflect that.
When emails exist to display advertising, then content takes the back seat to ads. In these cases, advertising should distract. It should be placed to “pop”, not to blend into the background. It should be above the fold, not buried outside the viewable dimensions of your email where a user needs to scroll to see it. This will ensure your ads grab attention and garner more clicks, leading to higher advertising revenue.
Advertising in email newsletters can be done, and must be done in some cases. By following best practices, you can ensure that the ad helps you accomplish your objectives rather than just add to the clutter.
http://www.ucsusa.org/publications/guide.ch1
http://www.superprofile.com/problems.html
http://www.naa.org/display/retailheadlines/v1no4/pg6.html
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