Voice of the customer. Engagement. Loyalty.
What do these buzzwords mean? How do we use them to drive value? Where are the best practices?
These often-used terms have connotative and denotative meanings that can be quite different depending on who uses them and how they are used. We continue to see uncertainly about loyalty, engagement, and voice of the customer. Questions about these buzzwords keep coming fast and furiously.
The confusion indicates that in this challenging economic environment, the focus on loyalty and engagement is becoming ever more important. Customers, clients, employers, brands and channel partners believe that voice of the customer, Web 3.0, the Groundswell, etc., can give them a well-needed competitive edge. Yet they don’t know how to execute these initiatives effectively. They’re looking for best practice examples of groups creating engagement, excitement, and commitment to help the answer the overriding question: How?
On one hand, brands and consumer package good companies tell us that they want to re-engage their customers and have more direct communication with them, and that social, mobile and emerging media is helping them to do this. On the other, they want to have better and more actionable data results. They want to see the true 360-degree view of the customer, yet realize that they’re not privy to data from other sources — such as channel partners, merchants, and distribution channels — that allow them to complete this circle.
Getting the true voice of the customer doesn’t just mean using social, emerging, and mobile media. It also means focusing on traditional media channels such as the contact center, direct-mail response, customer loyalty program, surveys, etc.
Merchants, banks, hotels, restaurants, travel, and entertainment companies pose to us a litany of the same questions. These entities want to work together and collaborate in a manner we have not witnessed in quite some time. Capturing a 360-degree view of the customer means knowing what Jack Jones is spending at Applebee’s, on Delta, at JC Penney, and at 53 Bank. They want this level of broad insight because they know it will enable them to make more effective communication decisions and tailor the form, factor, and fashion of these timely communication in order to increase its effectiveness.
But they continue to ask: How?
How do I get this information? How can I create loyalty? How can I create engagement? How can I make the insight I have more actionable? How do I drive the behavior that I need to drive? How do I change the mindset within my organization to be more accommodating and amenable to this new transition?
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