Marketing
Posted on February 3rd, 2012 at 1:04 pm by Angela Gordon
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Theme: High Performance Business, Latest Post, Marketing, Open leadership | Tags: customer expectations, customer experience, customer loyalty, customer needs, Customer Service, Differentiated Service Strategy; customer service; workforce; digital interaction, Social Media
The thing about passion is that it is catchy…the energy it gives rubs off onto others. A colleague of mine had a recent ‘service experience’ and wanted to share it with me and I would like to share it with all of you. I would like to introduce you to Lucinde Klop (@Lucinde_K ) – another passionate customer service consultant from Accenture – and this is her service experience.
Selecting a new health insurance plan has been on my ‘to do list’ for a couple of weeks. I was not looking forward to this task, as I was expecting my only choice was between marginal differences in monthly payments and reimbursements. However, when I finally got to it, I was highly surprised! Not only could I choose from monthly payment options, but I could also choose between various levels of service defined per insurance package.
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Posted on January 20th, 2012 at 10:44 am by Gregor Aaij
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Theme: Business Transformation, High Performance Business, Latest Post, Marketing | Tags: Customer Analytics, Customer insights, Customer segmentation, Managed services, Marketing, Multichannel Campaign Managemernt
In the wake of the recent recession, consumer behavior has changed substantially. Expectations of customers globally are accelerating: they expect the highest product quality, more value for money and better tailored service. Like stated by my colleague Jort Possel in his previous blog post: “Consumers are connecting in more than one way and on multiple devices, consuming more content, and doing it all on the go”.
With the explosive growth of online, mobile and social media channels, customers choose their interaction channel of preference and demand a seamless multi-channel experience. To sustain high performance and growth through uncertain times, companies will need to work harder and smarter to find and capitalize on growth opportunities and to provide a great customer experience.
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Posted on January 13th, 2012 at 1:04 pm by Angela Gordon
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Theme: Business Transformation, Latest Post, Marketing | Tags: Customer Analytics, customer expectations, customer experience, customer loyalty, customer needs, Customer Service, Digital channels, Digital interaction, Social Media
A new year brings new hope, new chances, and new energy - or as the Dutch say – ‘nieuwe ronde nieuwe kansen’! At the start of 2011 I selected five key service themes for the focus of 2011; these unfortunately did not all play out over the course of the year. But one must not get disappointed in the lack of progress. One must smarten the goal and move forward…
For 2012 I have selected three service themes which are going to monopolize the conversations both on the blog and on location with our clients. In order of personal importance;
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Posted on January 12th, 2012 at 5:11 pm by Jort Possel
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Theme: Business Transformation, Column, Marketing | Tags: communications, Consumer Electronics, Consumer Technology, Emerging markets, globalization, High-Tech, Hypermobility, Mobility, Multichannel purchasing, Smart phones
In the past five years, Accenture’s Consumer Electronics Study has researched consumers’ preferences for technologies and services. As innovations in technology continue, it doesn’t appear that consumers’ affection for technology will fade anytime soon. With mobility as the latest trend in consumer technology, hardware and content providers enjoy a booming market that shows no signs of slowing down, at least in the foreseeable future.
Accenture’s 2012 survey of more than 10,000 consumers across 10 countries shows consumers are making their networked lives more robust. They are connecting in more than one way and on multiple devices, consuming more content, and doing it all on the go. Specifically, this research has identified 5 trends for manufacturers and service providers to consider as consumers strive to be always connected. Below I will discuss three trends of these trends in more detail.
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Posted on January 5th, 2012 at 1:40 pm by Angela Gordon
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Theme: Driving Growth, Latest Post, Marketing | Tags: Air France, Customer Care, Customer Service, High Performance Marketing Conference, HPMC12, KLM, Marketing
Sometimes life is all about patience and perseverance. Around the Accenture halls I jokingly get called the ‘cheerleader’ due to my North American enthusiasm for ‘customer service’; all that it is and all that it has the potential to become in Holland.
Through my years here in Holland I have met a few individuals on occasion as enthusiastic as myself; however, they all shared one similarity. They didn’t believe there was a way to turn their dream into reality. I was beginning to wonder if anyone here had read the book ’Dromen, durven, doen’….?
Then one fall day in November 2010 I met a man, a man with a dream, and for the first time in many years I could see by the determination in his eyes that this man was determined to turn his dream into reality. This was the day I met Roy Scheerder (Vice President Marketing KLM Netherlands), a man with a dream and a desire to pursue it. Read more…
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Posted on December 30th, 2011 at 12:29 pm by Angela Gordon
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Theme: Business Transformation, High Performance Business, Latest Post, Marketing | Tags: corporate citizenship, customer experience, customer loyalty, Customer Service
As the end of 2011 approachs it time to take a moment to look back at all it has brought and all it has become. What a disappointment. Now I am not trying to be the grinch that stole away the happy holiday feeling but lets’ face it folks, no one really surprised us this year?!
I opened the 2011 year with a positive post about customer service and a challenge question as to whether this would be the year that companies would make the difference or if they would continue to kick-back and let customers scream at the door. As a law abiding Netherlands consumer let me just say I have lost my voice a few times this year. But has all been lost? Can our little Dutch customer service economy be saved? I still really believe so and am awaiting to meet the individuals with the ‘doorzettingsvermogen’ to change the game. Oh where oh where can they be….?
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Posted on October 25th, 2011 at 3:25 pm by Jort Possel
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Theme: Latest Post, Marketing | Tags: Brand communities, Brand personalities, Branding, Consumer behavior, customer engagement, Social Media, Social networking
Interactive new media offer new opportunities to interact with consumers. Considering the importance of these interactions, communications taking place within this new digital space can have an important effect on the perceived brand personality. Research I am currently conducting as part of my MBA program focuses on defining important elements within interactive, social media that can contribute to the formation of brand personality and investigating those relationships.
Please help in the completion of the research by completing the survey: tinyurl.com/crossmediambathesis.
Transformation of engagement
When Howard Schultz returned to the CEO position at Starbucks in 2008, he stated rebuilding trust with the customers was the main priority for the company. At the basis of his approach: social media. “It has become paramount that brands understand that trust isn’t something you build through traditional marketing,” Schultz said. “You do that through integrating social and digital media. It is a science – as well as an art – to understand how to do this in a way that is authentic and genuine, and not just marketing. Because if it’s just marketing, (consumers) will see right through it.”
In recent years, social media has gone past the hype and became mainstream. In the U.S. for example, social networks and blogs now reach close to 80% of active internet users and represent nearly a quarter of total time spend online. Other countries follow closely, with users joining either local heroes and/or the global giants. But social media not only connects people with each other, but also with places they go, media they watch and items they like and buy. This phenomenon has great implications for business. As everybody and everything is connected and exchanges information real-time, organizations get flattened and leadership becomes more transparent. But arguably the biggest impact is that it has changed the old way of doing business forever.
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Posted on October 7th, 2011 at 11:59 am by Jort Possel
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Theme: Latest Post, Marketing | Tags: customer centricity, customer expectations, customer loyalty, Economic downturn, Innovation that works, Markeing, Profitable growth
While many signs point to economic recovery, companies will need to work harder and smarter to find and capitalize on growth opportunities. In an environment undergoing profound change, the face of Marketing is changing.
According to the Accenture Marketing Executive Survey 2011, nearly eight in 10 senior marketing executives noted growing profitably was most important to their current marketing strategy. To support this renewed focus on growth, improving customer retention loyalty was cited as the most important business issue to address by 79 percent of marketing executives. The most important key aspect of this transformation is a heightened focus on building customer-centric loyalty in a rapidly changing consumer context.
Changing playing field: Is consumer loyalty truly a relic of a past era?
Marketing has a greater role than ever when it comes to returning companies to profitable growth—and the key will be developing a new, nimble and customer-centric approach. With fewer than 50 percent of consumers declared themselves to “feel loyal” to the brands they purchase, Marketing executives acknowledge the fact that they are increasingly challenged by major changes in their customer bases. The economic downturn significantly altered customers’ overall purchase behavior and what they want and expect from (their) providers, especially in terms of product quality, more value for their money and customer service.
Today’s customers are generally better informed, less influenced by conventional brands, and more likely to assess brands based on their own experience or the experience of their acquaintances. Customers are also increasingly aware of their power, as well as their value, and are not shy about exercising this power.
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Posted on October 3rd, 2011 at 3:44 pm by Jort Possel
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Theme: Latest Post, Marketing | Tags: Brand management, C-suite, Customer relationships, Four Ps of marketing, Reputation management, Social Media, Stakeholders engagement, Voice of the customer
Social media is rapidly coming of age, as the massive acceleration of social media adoption around the world can attest. More people are taking to their computers and mobile devices to connect with friends, post their opinions and engage in conversations. Therefore it’s vital for business leaders to understand this phenomenon and to prepare their organizations to thrive when customers wield more power and influence over businesses than ever before.
As companies consider their approach to social media, they must first understand the benefits of engagement, as well as the risks of not engaging. For most organizations, social media offers significant opportunities to accelerate their ability to launch new brands, incrementally strengthen customer relationships and drive revenues from existing customers, new customers and new local/global markets. If a company chooses not to engage, it will find competitors rapidly filling the gap—and, potentially, could see its brand and reputation damaged by critical comments that ‘‘go viral.’’
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Posted on June 16th, 2011 at 12:13 pm by Angela Gordon
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Theme: Driving Growth, Latest Post, Marketing | Tags: Accenture, customer experience, customer loyalty, customer needs, customer satisfaction, Customer Service, research, Social Media
The Accenture CRM Team recently completed a global survey of consumers to ask about their views and opinions in the area of customer service. In the Netherlands there were 1004 participants in the survey and the results were at times quite surprising! To keep it simple I have selected five key findings that I wish to share with you;
1. Customer service expectations are rising!
Globally, 40% of consumers stated their customer service expectations had risen as compared to one year ago. This figure dropped to 19% for the Dutch sub-set of consumers. Why so much less in the Netherlands…?
2. Dutch consumers are the least satisfied with the most important service characteristics!
From eleven pre-specified service characteristics, Dutch consumers gave the following three (in order of priority) the highest score in importance: ‘having employees who are knowledgeable and informed’, ‘having customer service employees who know my history so I do not have to repeat myself’, and 3rd place was ‘the amount of time I have to wait to be served’. After scoring the characteristics to determine which were the most important consumers then were then asked to rate how satisfied they are with the current delivery of these characteristics from Dutch service providers. On a scale of 1-5 (5 being highly satisfied) the scores are shockingly low;
- having employees who are knowledgeable and informed scored 2.74
- having customer service employees who know my history so I do not have to repeat myself scored 2.42
- the amount of time I have to wait to be served scored 2.44
So the service characteristics that are the most important to Dutch consumers are also those characteristics that consumers are least satisfied with. Odd, don’t you think? Are Dutch consumers not communicating to service providers what is important to them…? Or are service providers just not listening…? Read more…
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The thing about passion is that it is catchy…the energy it gives rubs off onto others. A colleague of mine had a recent ‘service experience’ and wanted to share it with me and I would like to share it with all of you. I would like to introduce you to Lucinde Klop (@Lucinde_K ) – another passionate customer service consultant from Accenture – and this is her service experience.
