| 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: Everyone's talking about analytics. Some are even applying them with varying levels of success. But if a company really wants to understand its customers, make a connection and gain a competitive advantage, analytics needs to be more than just business lingo that gets tossed around the conference table, or considered a nice-to-have. |
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| Author: By Michael Caccavale, CEO |
| Company: Pluris |
| Doc Type: Article |
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| Abstract: In general, marketers are good at managing their marketing systems in-house on a day-to-day basis. But the skill sets used to create day-to-day reports and analyses are different than those needed to assess the information in a database to make decisions about how to track customer behavior, what data is needed, and how to attack the marketplace. |
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| Abstract: There’s an old axiom: “Nothing happens before you make the SALE.”
“Except marketing.”
Marketing has evolved. But most corporate marketing approaches have not. And in a tough economy, those who have not are feeling the pressure – but who’s taking the heat? Why, the CEO, of course.
Marketing has grown from the most simple, measurable tactics (put a sign in your window and see how many people come in), to a world of complexity never envisioned even a decade ago. Buyers are better informed, more savvy and with more options than at any time in history. Higher levels of product innovation, increased personalization of services, and cheaper foreign competition set the performance standards higher for all of us. As a result, the customer is much more difficult to hold onto. Most companies have not kept up; the outcome is increasing frustration at their inability to tie marketing to results.
Those companies that have a tighter grip on the customer than their competition know the key to keeping and winning customers is what it has always been – relevance. Relevance is at the center of your customer’s buying decision. Is your product or service directly aligned with their need? Companies seeing sales stagnate or decline are finding out the answer is no. CEOs are struggling to produce more predictable outcomes in the modern marketing environment. But they have not taken the time to understand how to configure these elements for control. And configuring the elements involves a new look at relevance as the heart of any marketing effort.
Here is a quick way to understand the product, market and customer relationship and the importance of relevance to getting the outcome you desire. Envision a crowded cocktail party (the marketplace). You (the product) are on one side of the room, and you have agreed to deliver a message you know is important (the promise) to a person (the customer) on the other side of the room. The party is noisy (the status quo), and crowded (the competition), so they cannot hear you shouting, or see you waving your arms.
You are irrelevant to their discussion, and even though the information you have is more valuable, they’re still having a good time. Unable to penetrate the crowd, you find a chair (the innovation), stand up on it (the strong position), and now that everyone has stopped what they were doing to pay attention (the alignment) to you (the market leader), you deliver your message (the marketing), “IT’S A BOY!” The person smiles, laughs, and then weeps with joy (the relevance), crosses the room pushing the crowd out of the way, gives you a hug (the adoption), and then hands you a cigar (the sale).
There are many marketing elements at work in coordination in the above example, but relevance closes the deal.
Companies that are succeeding in the marketing war right now are focused on strengthening customer relevance first by methodically and systematically understanding the full customer need, and demonstrating total commitment by building an offering that meets every aspect of that need completely.The truth is, once relevance has been established (and it’s not easy), marketing can deliver more meaningful and measurable returns than any other function inside of your business. For sales, relevance offers a stronger position. For marketing, relevance develops context. For the CEO, relevance spells relief. |
| CRM Function:
Customer Loyalty | |
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| Author: By Thierry Sada, Director of Sector Marketing |
| Doc Type: Article |
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| Abstract: Over the past couple years there has been much disillusionment concerning effectiveness of customer relationship management and customer service. CRM has gone from being the marketing buzzword to an increasingly maligned acronym because many industries, having spent millions apiece, still remain unable to show clear return on investment. |
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| Abstract: To put this in perspective, let's discuss why a single view of the customer is important. In the contact center, agents are at the front-line of customer interaction. Because the service they deliver plays such a critical role in customer satisfaction and retention, agents have at their disposal many, many tools to improve their efficiency and productivity. The challenge is that most of the tools may co-exist on the desktop. However, these tools have little or no integration, forcing agents to toggle back and forth between applications.
A typical contact center agent uses CRM applications, catalogs, finance applications, knowledge bases, softphone tools, scripting, chat and email, to name a few. There’s also data, including current call activity, call history and real time operational state. When these tools are not integrated, too much time can be spent toggling between applications, looking for information and updating data in multiple locations. This takes away from time that could be better spent focused on the customer.
A single view of the customer ties the tools and information together. The agent then has a quick and easy view of all of the information required to understand and address the customer needs. The benefits include a greater understanding of customer history, needs and priorities and allow agents to address the needs of the customer the first time, every time. This contributes greatly to both efficiency and customer satisfaction.
The Value of Workforce Optimization
Unifying agent tools streamline processes. Tying in workforce optimization helps agents focus on delivering maximum value to the business based on goals – in other words, it makes them more effective. For the agents, these tools include the day’s schedule, future schedules, PTO and time trade requests, a performance score card, personal recordings and evaluations, and eLearning. By knowing the team’s schedule, presence and current call volume, agents can make informed decisions about whether or not, for example, they should go on break or request to leave work early.
Other critical information includes key performance indicators, or KPIs, that measure an agent's performance. Supervisors use KPIs to determine, for example, if their agents are meeting sales quotas, consistently delivering quality customer service and upholding high customer satisfaction levels.
These are not new ideas. Many contact centers have some level of monitoring, quality management or workforce management systems in place to measure, evaluate and train agents based on performance. However, oftentimes this becomes yet another collection of tools on the desktop. Lack of integration between workforce optimization solutions and agent workflows can contribute to greater inefficiency in business processes. It can also result in conflicting data or gaps in information.
By weaving these performance tools within the agent’s unified desktop toolset, the view of the customer becomes clear and continuous performance improvements become integral to the agent’s daily process.
Tips for Implementation
Before you start, a clear understanding of business goals is critical. Most companies will want to avoid large development costs or on-going support fees. Depending upon the scope, projects could take as few as three months to more than a year.
The important thing to know is that it does not all have to be built from scratch. Contact centers should take advantage of pre-packaged, integrated tools to get to 80 percent of the solution. When looking at pre-packaged tools, make sure to look for a framework that is web-based, or based off a service-oriented architecture. This will make integrating with additional third party applications much easier.
If it is a large project, it is best to prioritize and approach it in phases so it doesn’t overwhelm your business. If bottom line profitability is the goal, unifying CRM and other applications and automating workflows for greater efficiency are good places to start. If growing revenue is the objective, focus on getting quality management and performance management tools into the hands of agents and supervisors first.
The benefits are clear: a happier workforce in a well-run contact center that clearly and effectively supports the goals of the overall business.
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