Companies Fail To Define and Deliver Complete Customer Experience

The pursuit of customer loyalty through customer experience is high on the corporate agenda, yet companies still fail to understand the totality of customer expectations and therefore deliver commodity products and services, Strativity Group's new Global Benchmark study discovers.

The 379 executive participants study examined organizations' complete customer experience cycle from customer experience definition to customer-centric organizational alignment as well as their mechanism to respond to customer feedback.

Although the study indicates that 80% of the executives strongly agree that customer strategies are more important to companies' success than ever before, companies fail to design and deliver those strategies and, as such, lose customer commitment and loyalty.

Study results highlights include:

--Only 43.9% (up from 40.0% in 2006) believed that their companies deserve their customers' loyalty

--42.6% responded that their companies' products and services are NOT worth the price they charge (down from 44.0% in 2006)

--56% responded that their companies have differentiated and beneficial products and services (up from 49.5% in 2006)

--43.7% said their companies will take any customer that is willing to pay (up from 38.3% in 2006)

--Only 34.8% indicated that their company has a dedicated customer experience management role

--Only 27.2% of the respondents said that the definition of the customer experience is well-defined and communicated in their companies

--Only 28.8% responded that employees have the tools and authority to solve customer problems (down from 34.0% in 2006)

--Only 23.9% agreed that their employees are well-versed in how to delight customers

The benchmark study highlights a critical gap between companies' recognition of the importance of customer-focused strategies and their ability to successfully develop and implement such strategies. The executives surveyed responded overwhelmingly that their companies lack the three foundational elements critical to any customer-centric program:

1.A clear customer experience strategy
2.Employees with the tools and empowerment necessary to deliver extraordinary experiences
3.A systematic mechanism to transform customer feedback into actions

More information on Customer Relationship Management can be found at www.CRMindustry.com

Two-Thirds of Retailers Lack Cross Channel System and Process Integration

Recent Aberdeen research indicates that only 30% of cross-channel retailers (e.g., direct sales, stores & Internet, Internet & call center, or a combination) have attained some level of cross-channel integration across their inventory, order management, fulfillment, and customer processes such as consistent pricing, product information, promotions, and loyalty initiatives. All of the above processes contribute towards a new customer acquisition and customer retention in the web, catalog, and store channels.

The research has detailed the Best-in-Class approach to integration. For instance, Best-in-Class retailers’ focus on creating a roadmap for multi-channel integration compared to Average and Laggard companies. More than half (53%) of the Best-in-Class are currently focused on developing an integrated brand identity amongst their customer base as a core strategy. The research reveals that designing the process and system strategy for multi-channel integration is a significant decision for any retailer from a web site, call center, end-to-end order management, or customer fulfillment standpoint. The business case for improving, or introducing, a unified cross-channel strategy involve factors such as customer value, business targets, investments to change or improve existing multi-channel technology, operating costs, and internal skill sets.

More information about Customer Relationship Management can be found at www.CRMindustry.com

Customer Satisfaction Improves for Retail Websites

Netflix.com does the best job satisfying its customers, according to the ForeSee Results Top 100 Online Retail Satisfaction Index. The online retailer leads the Index with a score of 86 on the study’s 100-point scale with QVC.com (84) and Amazon.com (83) trailing slightly. Overall, customer satisfaction with the Top 100 online retailers is up 1.4 percent to a score of 75.

The study found that online satisfaction drives loyalty, sales, and word of mouth. Highly satisfied online shoppers are 69 percent more likely to purchase from the retailer the next time they are shopping for similar merchandise, 75 percent more likely to purchase online, 42 percent more likely to purchase offline and 75 percent more likely to recommend the retailer. In order to increase online satisfaction (thereby increasing loyalty and purchase intent), e-retailers in the aggregate should focus on online branding and improving site experience.

The Books/CDs/DVDs and Sporting Goods categories lead the product category rankings, both with aggregate scores of 76. Other categories of e-retail measured by the study include: Food/Drug, Mass Merchants, and Specialty Retailers all with aggregate scores of 75 and Apparel & Accessories and Computers/Electronics bringing up the rear with 74.

More information on Customer Realtionship Management can be found at www.CRMindustry.com

Worldwide IT Services Revenue Grew 11 Percent in 2007

Worldwide IT services revenue totaled $748 billion in 2007, a 10.5 percent increase from 2006 revenue of $677 billion, according to Gartner, Inc. Across all IT services, IBM continued to be the worldwide market leader, with 7.2 percent of the market. IBM and Accenture delivered strong growth rates, 12.2 percent and 19.7 percent, respectively, and were the only companies in the top six that experienced revenue growth rates above the overall market average.

While global sourcing makes the location of a provider’s headquarters increasingly less relevant, Gartner tracks this information for more than 360 vendors who collectively account for more than 70 percent of end-user spending worldwide. While India-based vendors’ IT services revenue grew 38 percent in 2007, these companies earned only 4.1 percent of revenue tracked, and U.S.-based vendors dominated the IT services market with 55.4 percent of that total.
More information on Customer Relationship Management can be found at www.CRMindustry.com

Sixty-Five Percent of Small Businessse Say 'Following Up With Leads' Biggest Failure in Marketing Efforts

Surveying the landscape of small businesses across the U.S., and amid concerns over the need to grow sales while reducing expenses, small business owners say the number one frustration they face daily when it comes to sales and marketing is the inability to consistently follow up with prospects. In a survey of entrepreneurs across the U.S. conducted by small business marketing automation software provider Infusionsoft, 65 percent of small business owners cite an inability to consistently and efficiently follow up with leads as the top concern.

The survey indicates a growing frustration among small business owners and marketers with closing an immediate sale, saying that they forget the nurturing process and instead let leads simmer. Small businesses increasingly seek a way to automatically capture and court leads until they are ready to buy, thus allowing the business owner to work on strategically growing the business.

The following is a list of the top 10 marketing-related frustrations as cited by small business owners in the 2008 U.S. Small Business Marketing Frustration Survey (ranked in order of importance):

--Too difficult to follow up with cold, warm and lukewarm leads consistently and efficiently
--Can't properly track and manage prospects and customers
--Need to integrate online and offline marketing efforts
--Poor email deliverability
--Too much manual grunt work in the sales and marketing process, no automation
--Can't track sales activity
--Lack of centralization, too many different programs and systems
--Too costly to maintain servers and IT staff
--Too difficult to manually manage multichannel campaigns
--One-dimensional marketing

Automation of marketing and processes enables the small business to convert more leads into customers, grow the business without the need to grow staff, and increase sales from existing customers.

More information on Customer Relationship Management can be found at www.CRMindustry.com

Inside Sales Delivers Efficiency and Customer Intimacy Needed in Challenging Markets

As the role of selling has become more complicated, inside sales has shifted from a simple overlay designed to assist outside sales to a force in its own right. Inside sales is now on equal footing with outside sales and playing a pivotal role in maintaining current customers and driving new revenue. According to a new study from IDC's Sales Advisory Practice, inside sales reps are generating both higher sales efficiencies for vendors as well as increased customer intimacy.

The IDC study shows that the efficiencies offered by inside sales are compelling. For example, an inside sales rep can conduct four to eight professional interactions to an outside rep's single interaction, delivering significantly higher customer satisfaction and sales productivity. Moreover, most mid-market buyers are not interested in seeing a sales rep in person more than once or twice anyway, leaving inside sales in the ideal position to manage the relationship or opportunity in a highly efficient manner, in a way that many buyers actually prefer.

Inside sales has also become highly consultative in its approach, reaching fragmented markets and bringing new views on both accountability and capability. As inside sales has evolved, it has taken on the characteristics of other successful sales organizations. Many best practice organizations have torn down the boundaries of salary versus leveraged compensation between inside and outside sales, although the issue of accountability - which person is actually driving the business - remains a point of contention in some organizations. Management's tracking of the pipeline, this study finds, is the answer.

Although the role of inside sales is expected to continue its evolution, the study uncovered an interesting point regarding the inside sales employee’s classification and its particular lack of evolution. The study reveals that although an inside salesperson may play a role similar to that of an outside salesperson, the inside salesperson is required to be classified as a non-exempt employee by the U.S. Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA). While this classification may have made sense when the typical inside salesperson worked in a call-center environment, it is outdated and limiting.

More information on Customer Relationship Management can be found at www.CRMindustry.com

Marketers Are Flying Blind When It Comes To Leveraging Customer Data And Analytics

Only 50 percent of global marketers report having a strategy for further penetrating or monetizing key account relationships, reports the Chief Marketing Officer (CMO) Council in a new research study, "Business Gain From How You Retain." In addition, a surprising 45 percent rate the effectiveness of customer relationship management (CRM) systems as deficient or needing more work, with only 15 percent of companies rating themselves extremely good or effective at integrating disparate customer data sources and repositories.

Just six percent of marketers say they have excellent knowledge of the customer when it comes to demographic, behavioral, psychographic and transactional data, while over 50 percent report they have fair, little, or no knowledge of the customer.

More importantly, marketers are struggling to gain a true and timely view of the customer due to inadequate or incompatible IT systems and databases, siloed data in functional areas, and a limited strategic focus or management mandate on Customer Data Integration (CDI). Compounding the issue is a lack of formalized data-sharing policies and practices in the organization, combined with internal political or cultural barriers and IT obstacles and objections to data integration.

Other key findings from the CMO Council’s online engagement program revealed that:

--Only 15 percent of marketers say their companies are doing an extremely good or effective job of integrating disparate customer data sources and repositories; 55 percent note there is room for improvement or a deficiency in this area.

--More than 31 percent of companies surveyed had customer churn rates of more than 10 percent and 32 percent reported turnover of five to 10 percent. In comparison, more than 62 percent said they desired or expected a churn level of less than five percent

--Respondents believe customer churn significantly impacts business performance through revenue loss (59.9 percent), reduced profitability (39.6 percent) and greater marketing and re-acquisition costs (36.3 percent)

--While churn is a big issue, nearly 67 percent of those surveyed say they have no system for re-activating dormant or lost customers, while just over half of respondents have a strategy for further penetrating or monetizing key account relationships.

--While more than 35 percent of respondents report that the CMO or marketing department (38.9 percent) has primary responsibility for the customer analytics function, they are not leveraging its value. Over 31 percent of those surveyed do no data mining at all and 63 percent are only doing moderate levels of data mining for intelligence and insight.

--The top six strategic applications of customer information by marketers include:
-Up-selling and cross-selling
-Segmenting and targeting
-Driving retention, loyalty and promotional programs
-Identifying new opportunities and unmet needs
-Improving customer service
-Shaping personalized and customized communications

Key initiatives to increase customer retention include improving customer communications (65.2 percent); addressing complaints, problems and pain points (51.8 percent); and enhancing the customer experience (54.8 percent). Unfortunately, fewer marketers noted their companies’ willingness to modify business practices and policies to accommodate customer needs.

More information on Customer Relationship Management can be found at www.CRMindustry.com