1to1 Magazine - November/December 2008 - (Page 27) performance measurement, and rapid response to shifting market demands,” Akca says. “Researchers say the banking sector will invest $1.8 billion in information and communication technologies by the end of 2008, increasing the 2007 expenditure by 15 percent.” Australia: Aiming for Customer Strategy Success In Australia customer strategy is a wellunderstood but often poorly executed part of doing business, according to John Turnbull of Customer Connect Australia. “In terms of customer management here, the biggest issue is understanding how to implement the strategy effectively,” Turnbull says. “There’s no lack of intent on the part of companies, but corporate inertia, old measurement systems, and traditional management practices tend to get in the way.” Africa: Fostering Trusted Relationships Although South Africa is commonly cited as the hotbed of business in Africa, other areas of the continent are advancing economically, technologically, and commercially. Despite, and in part because of, the lack of infrastructure, mobile phones are more common than landline phones in many countries. And while Internet penetration is far less than it is in the developed world, it’s growing rapidly. For companies that enter the developing African market, Joseph P. Cool, president of Cool & Associates, advises using a threepronged approach. “To be successful you need access to government, business, and education,” he says. “With all three, you can gain an understanding of the culture, politics, and customs.” Even companies that build relationships with local officials face an added challenge. According to Cool, both foreign and domestic companies operating in Africa lack the kind of demographic data available in the U.S. Consequently, it’s difficult to even know who to target, let alone build customer trust. “Companies need to understand that in many places, it wasn’t so long ago that society was set up in tribal villages,” Cool says. “That creates a family market structure, and it leads to certain expectations from consumers.” Micro-loans, for example, have taken hold in many African countries as a way to empower entrepreneurs (especially women) and create local businesses where consumers expect to have a relationship with the person they’re buying from. In places like Ghana and Nigeria, which are more progressive countries and also rich in oil revenues, there is opportunity for rapid expansion, Cool says. “The key,” he says, “is finding a way to build a strong marketplace while also helping the people, so that going in you’ve already built trust and can count on a higher level of customer satisfaction.” 1997, and sales are up across product lines. The problem with industries in Australia, Turnbull says, is that they see customer experience management as “the customer is always right,” which misses the point of customer satisfaction. “Fundamentally, few understand that managing customer experience is really about recognizing the emotions of customers rather than just satisfying rational factors,” he says. Australian consumers expect reliable service and value. So far multichannel service isn’t at the top of their priorities, but with the growth of mobile, it may well be soon. CRM 2.0 Takes Hold in North America Organizations in North America are obsessed with getting closer to their customers. As a result, data-related strategies top the list of notable trends. Social CRM: Companies are interacting with customers online, gathering feedback, integrating it with their CRM tools, and taking action to improve processes, products, and service. Both company and customer benefit as a result, as improvements lead to greater loyalty. Data management: With today’s advanced data mining and sources of customer information, increasingly companies are able to obtain a consistent view of a single customer across multiple channels. Tearing down the silos that previously existed in customer data management means that communications are more relevant and customers can interact with multiple service channels based on their preference, not a company mandate. Self-service: Companies are decreasing costs and improving customer experience with innovative self-service options. From ticket kiosks at movie theaters to avatars on the Web to speech-recognition technology, customers with common questions are serving themselves, leaving service representatives with more time to devote to the customers who need them the most. One industry in Australia experiencing customer strategy success is banking. Westpac Bank, for example, aggressively measures its customers’ future needs and satisfaction, as well as corporate leads and opportunity conversations, to profitably deliver a topnotch customer experience. The bank shares data across the organization and takes action based on that information. As a result, the company’s customer satisfaction score is at 73 percent, the highest it’s been since When it comes to loyalty, Australian companies largely think of repeat purchasing as the most important metric, Turnbull says. His research has shown that measuring loyalty by share of wallet or other purchase-based metrics doesn’t work. “Of course that isn’t loyalty,” he says. “Better measures like advocacy will gain focus here, and then organizations will see growth in their customer satisfaction and loyalty.” November/December 2008 27
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