Growth and Customer Centricity / Customer Experience, does this fit together? Where should I focus on, on the customer or the ROI? True is, that things are changing fast and agility is what’s needed to follow this speed.

How do you want to reach growth? Are you customer centric with your company?

In the past marketing was focusing on the brand view. With digital we get more and more information about user on an 1:1 base and can solve his individual needs. Through the information an user shares, he gets an huge power. Be sure you use this information, otherwise the user will end up at you competitor.
We all know Amazon…. it’s an all in one platform, easy to use, with the biggest choice of goods, best prices and everything else I need like product reviews. So Customer Experience (#CX) means:

It’s much about (consumer) psychology on the one hand if we talk about #CX. The mesolimbic system is a main part in taking decisions. This is not only relevant for commerce, it’s relevant for all decisions.
On the other hand it’s about data. You can them to understand and set the right stimulus to gain an (user) interaction and reach a positive feeling.

Growth will be reached through many points and experience is one of them…. It’s for sure one of the most important points and a point with a direct relationship to the other ones. So let’s see what are the other ones and have a look at the growth map.

But what’s about the ROI you may ask now? Be sure he will come and trust in it, don’t focus on it in everything you do. You can recline and have a backward view on the overall ROI, that’s ok, but have the customer in mind if you interact with him, not your ROI. Think about the customer growth first, build trust, relationship, do a two direction communication / interaction and understand pains and needs. This is a big change in how to work and it requires all departments.

• Marketing is clapping on the own shoulder and shouting out “we are the best”
• Marketing is the corporate view
• Marketing is traditionally thinking in channels (online vs. offline, search vs., display, vs. e-mail, etc.)
• Customer Experience means an interaction with the user, not only a one direction communication through marketing
• Customer Experience is an emotional thing
• Customer Experience is a global approach, not only a marketing point

As mentioned #CX is a big change management topic which needs the attention from corporate management and everyone in the company must be involved. Marketing, sales, client service, accounting, PR, IT, etc. Everyone wo interacts (directly and indirectly) with the customer, also product management. Only if everything is aligned you will gain the right customer experience and reach the growth level you want to have

I have many issues with my mobile network provider. The connection is always braking and I’m calling the support several times a week. When I’m calling the system is always asking me why I’m calling and guiding me through 6 or 7 steps. >>> Would be great if the system would ask me if it’s the same reason I’m calling and forward me directly.

Ok, then I’m in the final step where say I have a dysfunction. The system asks me “You have a dysfunction, is that right?”. I confirm and will be forwarded to the right call center agent…. while I’m in the queue I get the standard music and always “have you seen our new products, we have a great offer for you”

That’s a bad experience. I do not want to have an offer I want my problems to be solved after weeks. I’m short before canceling my contract

If we are working towards a 1:1 communication (like explained in “Communication 2025“) within marketing we need to have an integrated / cross interaction with the user between marketing, customer service, accounting, IT, etc. Here’s another example with the same mobile carrier:

I received an e-mail newsletter with a great off, but couldn’t find all the details in the newsletter and also not on the webpage. On the webpage I was only able to order it but without knowing all the details I needed. >>> Great experience again.

Then I called the call center and asked them what they can offer me. They came up with something which was 2 times more expensive. Then I told that I got an offer by e-mail…. the call center agent wasn’t able to find this offer. >>> I said thank you, closed the call and signed up with another carrier.

Let’s see what to do to work towards the growth map…

1. Find out who in your company interacts with the customer and define at least one person of each department for the #CX project
2. Think about consumer psychology (not only if you have an e-commerce site)
3. Think about how you can understand a customer and how you can predict his next step / needs
   1. Which kind of data could be helpful for #CX and how to get them together / make them usable
   2. Are these 1st, 2nd or 3rd party data and are they raw or aggregated data, are they structured or unstructured and in which format do you need them?
4. What is making the customers life, while he is with you, easier?

More about data you can read here:

Start a Digital Transformation Project: Data

I wrote much about vision, mission, values and strategy. The real transformation starts in many (smaller or bigger) projects. If we know what we want from a business point of view it’s time to start the transfer / implementation. Here it starts with thinking about data. Data about user and getting knowledge out of them are essential for every business in future.

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Source: https://esser.me/start-digital-transformation-project-data

Data are a key element within #CX. They are important to understand a user, but data by themselves doesn’t great an experience or an ROI. Data can help you to understand an user and predict his next step / needs. Then you can set the right stimulus and gain an user behavior. Understand how the customer is feeling himself and how you can help him to feel great. The human is a creature of habit. People buy from Amazon because it’s an habit (and convenience, easy, etc.). Amazon reached this status perfect. So you should do similar, but maybe you must break through existing habits first. Don’t copy Amazon, build your own experience and understand your own user and their interests in your business.

Maybe you now think about the customer journey as a funnel. This is one of the big buzzwords which are great in theory, but in real not that relevant. There is no single customer journey.

• Customer switching channels
• Customer are in the final stage before buying and reading then something which throw them back to the stage where the consider which is the right product

The individual customer journey isn’t finished with buying a product. Maybe they send it back, maybe the need something to use the product (e.g. paper for the bought printer), maybe they have a support issue, etc. Finally you want to make him a loyal customer who is buying for the next years in your shop. If he is happy he is someone who recommends your website.

Let’s think in milestones

1. User visit website
2. User registered for the newsletter
3. User placed something in the shopping card
4. User bought something
5. …

We see the four main milestones which are mainly in focus… and then the user will be lost and brought back through marketing (media buying) after month. This cost money. If you have someone once on your site make him to stay with you. Build the right experience within this 4 milestones and extend the experience by developing him to milestone 6, 7, 8, 10, 15, 20. Milestone 20? Have you ever thought about this? How could this milestone looks like? This depends on your business first, but also how granular you set the other milestones before.

If someone buys the first time for just 10 Euro that’s fine.. but if someone buys every month for 500 Euro, that’s much better. You earn much more with him and you can take much more attention on him. Let’s assume you have a bike shop for mountain bikes. Such a loyal customer you can invite to an bike event in spring to test the newest models, write an review and post it on your site as well as on Facebook. So such an user is suitable to invest money in. Inviting him to this event as an VIP is maybe milestone 14 and the review milestone 18.

And whats after the event? The user buys a small product in your shop and is having some issues with it, want to sent it back after 8 weeks. The customer support doesn’t know his milestone status and doesn’t accept sending it back. If they would know his milestone status they could say internal “ok, this cost us money, but this user is spending so much with us and such a loyal customer that we can (must) accept it.”

Let’s extend the previous list what to do…

1. Find out who in your company interacts with the customer and define at least one person of each department for the #CX project
2. Think about consumer psychology (not only if you have an e-commerce site)
3. Think about how you can understand a customer and how you can predict his next step / needs
   1. Which kind of data could be helpful for #CX and how to get them together / make them usable
   2. Are these 1st, 2nd or 3rd party data and are they raw or aggregated data, are they structured or unstructured and in which format do you need them?
4. What is making the customers life, while he is with you, easier?
5. How to grow the user over time and reach the status of a “trusted advisor”
6. Keep the growth map always in mind

Also interesting is the VEA Principle…

Customer Experience and the VEA Principle

Customer Experience is changing the roles in the role game between a brand and the customer… The customer is now leading. If not the company will fail and their competitors will make the race. But what are the 3 elements of the Customer Experience?

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Source: https://esser.me/customer-experience-and-the-vea-principle