Throughout the month of April, a major customer experience concern seemed to be with the more tangible aspects of the customer experience – data, analytics, loyalty programs, proactive tactics, and facets of the digital experience. Read on for our top 5 thought provoking articles found in April, we hope you find them useful too!
Antoinette Su covers her top takeaways from the April eMetrics Summit, a summit that helps marketers and IT professionals use data to make better customer and digital experiences. Su picked up on a theme of how analytics is crucial to the customer experience, drawing upon speaker stories and really highlighting their key experiences that reflect the value of big data and analytics in data-driven decision making, in sharing knowledge throughout organizations and encouraging integration, in driving valuable innovation through experimentation, and in achieving automation and scalability. A refreshing reflection on the real value behind analytics!
Ken Wheaton speaks honestly about the way he, and all real customers, view their relationships with cable and satellite providers on AdAge. Really, he reflects on things we’re well aware of but his take and delivery somehow causes you to pause and go “wow, it really is that bad!”. Wheaton cuts to the chase by bluntly reviewing very common CSP messaging and interactions with customers and comparing them against how one would view a relationship. By doing so, he immediately makes it clear that cable and internet service providers could really easily revolutionize their CX by approaching their customers with a loyalty program. Rather than taking customer loyalty completely for granted, CSPs have an opportunity to improve their customer relationships.
Adrian Swinscoe recently published a book covering 68 strategies for creating amazing customer experiences. In this post on MyCustomer, he explores proactive customer service. A full exploration, Swinscoe covers why companies need to seriously consider proactive customer service (especially considering the cost savings!), the stages of the customer journey where proactive service can be applied, and he even mentions how to begin applying proactive customer service strategies. We particularly enjoyed the mention of personalized, interactive video – a customer experience offering that can proactively serve existing customers very well according to Swinscoe!
While such a simple concept, Gerry McGovern reflects on a number of big brand examples where site speed has a major impact on bottom lines, customer experience, and other valued business areas. Referencing results from Google, Amazon, and other digital experience leaders, McGovern makes it clear that speed matters to customers in the digital age.
Perhaps the most interesting point to be made about this article is not explicitly stated in the text – IKEA is recognizing a shift in buyer behavior and altering its customer experience to get a jump on where they anticipate customer expectations and desires are headed. Known as the affordable furniture retailer, IKEA recognizes that household consumption patterns are drastically changing, they’re anticipating customers who will recycle or repair their existing homewares, or be increasingly thoughtful about their home purchases. Rather than waiting to realize this from a drop in sales or from customer comments, IKEA’s doing their research (making use of the data and analytics!) and strategically making use of their findings.
Looking to make improvements to your customer experience offerings? Ask us about upcoming webinars to learn more about how we can help you (and have helped some of the world’s leading companies) ensure successful customer experience transformations!
