The Dysfunctional Difference
With over 40 years working in marketing and sales with national and regional companies, my observations blend into certain realities.
A lot of companies are dysfunctional.
They were dysfunctional then and years later, they still are.
A few do almost everything right.
There are profound differences in how these two types of companies go about creating value for ... Read More
Which of these statements is true?
Statement 1
Contact center employees are a vital link to the customer. Through the way they exercise their talents, knowledge, and resources, they are uniquely positioned to influence customer perceptions of the enterprise and build or diminish the brand promise.
Statement 2
Contact center employees are among the most poorly paid and under- appreciated employees in the enterprise. They have limited career growth opportunities, are measured and evaluated more frequently than any other group of employees, and incur the highest turnover rates.
by Randy Saunders
Aberdeen Group has published a new research report, “Customer Experience Management: Engaging Loyal Customers to Evangelize Your Brand.”
The study explores the adoption of Customer Experience Management (CEM) and isolates the leaders in customer retention and satisfaction to examine why these Best-in-Class companies outperform others when it comes to growing and harvesting customer advocates.
The study finds:
By Randy Saunders
A recent Ventana Research report titled, "Customer Experience Management: Improving the Consistency and Quality of Customer Interactions," found that only “12 percent of organizations provide optimal [Customer Experience Management] CEM.”
In an era where “customers may be one annoying phone conversation or frustrating experience at a poorly ... Read More
By Dale Wolf
In his last post, Louis Columbus counseled on how to manage change when launching a new Customer Experience Management process. Let me add just one extra piece to this puzzle … a nine-step process for covering all the bases when designing the communications to push this process forward:
1. Identify what customers value
... Read More
By Dale Wolf
A variety of different surveys indicate that at best only one in ten consumers have an outstanding experience when calling corporate contact centers. The other nine are average, mediocre or poor. The fact that I work for a company selling contact center technology brings an interesting observation. As much as we want to sell our solution, the reality is that providing a great customer experience on the phone is mostly about how you use the technology. Sure, you need certain features to enable agents to fluidly provide fast and accurate responses, but the customer happiness is about how company policies and whether the agent actually cares about providing the customer with a wonderful experience. The features touted by ... Read More
We all know that in an economy where there is over-supply of virtually every product and service and in a world where the Internet makes information transparent, the customer is in charge. As you might know from reading this blog, I believe that designing and delivering a perfect customer experience is an essential business strategy.
But does that mean breaking the bank to satisfy customers? Of course not. None of us would be in business if we met every customer demand. The perfect customer experience is delivered to those customers who are most profitable. The business strategy must be designed with "tiered experiences" that are appropriate and reasonable for each cluster of customers.
Now, what do you do about abusive customers? We all have them. Customers who ... Read More
Opinion by Dale Wolf
Howard Sewell writes on his blog that "A growing number of Silicon Valley companies are promoting Webinar events broadcasting at a specific date and time, but that (unbeknownst to the attendees) aren’t broadcasting live. Companies just flip the proverbial switch at the appointed time and play the recorded event, even including a canned Q&A session at the end."
In my opinion "this growing number of Silicon Valley companies" has it all wrong.
In the era of “customer experience” and the requirement of building trust with customers, this strategy seems to make no sense at all.
Sure a live event has a sense of ... Read More
By Shaun Smith
Do you know what your most profitable customers value and the 3 or 4 most important attributes which drive their intention to repurchase or to refer you?
Without the answers to these questions you may have data, but you do not have insight. A key ... Read More
