CUSTOMER EXPERIENCE MANAGEMENT A BUSINESS OWNER S GUIDE

Transcription

1 CUSTOMER EXPERIENCE MANAGEMENT A BUSINESS OWNER S GUIDE 1

2 CUSTOMER EXPERIENCE MANAGEMENT A BUSINESS OWNER S GUIDE Helping to improve customer satisfaction and loyalty with Customer Experience Management. WHAT IS CUSTOMER EXPERIENCE MANAGEMENT? Customer experience management (CEM) is the collection of processes a company uses to track, oversee and organize every interaction between a customer and the organization throughout the customer lifecycle. MARGARET ROUSE TECHTARGET.COM CEM? CRM The quote from Margaret Rouse may sound familiar Customer Relationship Management has often had similar explanations applied in the past. So is Customer Experience Management (CEM) just a new term used to sell re-packaged Customer Relationship Management (CRM) software? 2

3 WHAT IS CRM? Although these two methodologies are quite similar, there are some key differences. CRM software: Records business interactions with customers Allows recording of potential sales opportunities Provides automated pipelines for moving customers through the sales process The idea at the center of CRM can be stated in the following way: Every time a company and a customer interact, the company learns something about the customer. By capturing, sharing, analyzing and acting upon this information, companies can better manage individual customer profitability. CRM, MEET CEM BY PETER GURNEY WHAT IS CEM? CEM often provides exactly the same functionality as CRM, but also focuses on the customer as a person, rather than simply a faceless client. In many respects CEM: Forces your business to look at itself from the customer s perspective Forces your business to shape the experience you believe your customers want Is also interested in your customer s thoughts and emotions CEM s premise is almost the mirror-image [of CRM]. It says that every time a company and a customer interact, the customer learns something about the company. Depending upon what is learned from each experience, customers may alter their behavior in ways that affect their individual profitability. Thus, by managing these experiences, companies can orchestrate more profitable relationships with their customers. CRM, MEET CEM BY PETER GURNEY 3

4 CRM comes after the experience, and CEM works hard on anticipating it. SANDRINE PROM TEP When using CRM software and methodologies it is often easy to reduce customers to a collection of facts and figures used to calculate future sales opportunities. CEM seeks to add personality into the mix to create a more rounded picture of each client, allowing for better customer service and even more finely targeted insights. Consumers are statistics. Customers are people. STANLEY MARCUS, FORMER PRESIDENT AT NEIMAN-MARCUS. WHY BOTHER WITH CUSTOMER EXPERIENCE MANAGEMENT? The goal of CEM is to optimize interactions from the customer s perspective and, as a result, foster customer loyalty. MARGARET ROUSE TECHTARGET.COM The customer is always right is a well-worn mantra that has survived for more than a century, mainly because the sentiment behind the statement is true. Harry Gordon Selfridge realised the importance of making a customer feel special to aid their purchasing decision-making process. CEM seeks to use technology to assist with this personalisation. Many businesses assume that acquiring new customers should be of a higher spending priority than nurturing existing contacts. However, the reverse is actually true. 4

5 It is 6 to 7 times more costly to acquire a new customer than retain an existing one. THE VALUE OF AN EXISTING CUSTOMER BLOG, FLOWTOWN.COM But increasing competition means that the boundaries of traditional CRM software have now been reached. Customers (rightly) have ever higher expectations from companies, meaning that simply tracking communications and sales opportunities is no longer sufficient to create a competitive difference. Companies that invest 10% or more of their revenue in customer experience have lower attrition rates and higher referral rates and customer satisfaction scores than companies that invest less in customer experience. STRATIVITY GROUP 2009 CUSTOMER EXPERIENCE MANAGEMENT BENCHMARK STUDY This startling statistic from Strativity clearly demonstrates the importance of the experience in Customer Experience Management. As the era of CEM takes over we can expect to see: Companies which adopted experience management techniques early reaping the greatest rewards Early adopters having more experience in shaping customer experiences, gaining a larger competitive advantage in the process Greater brand loyalty for businesses which focus on experience as well as relationships Businesses which stick with older CRM software systems losing market share to competitors which choose to use CEM CRM software has helped raise the profile of the customer. Customer experience management simply takes this to a new level for even greater opportunities for your business to shine. 5

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