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Becoming Customer Centric - Respond to the Customer
with Account Strategies
by
Craig Bailey
In
the
prior edition, we began discussing the step of responding to the
customer based on the results of your Voice of the Customer (VoC) input
and analysis. We continue that topic by sharing a strategy to leverage
your VoC results for specific customer accounts. The result (why you want
to read this) is that you will:
-
Identify additional revenue opportunities in existing
accounts
-
Expand the level and breadth of contacts that account
managers have with these accounts
-
Clearly identify account issues (gaps that can be
closed)
-
Align the corporation's resources to resolve account
issues
-
Enhance the relationship between account managers and
their customers
-
Increase account revenue
In
many ways, implementing account strategies could be considered a microcosm
of an overall VoC program. Implementing account strategies (to the fullest
extent) is something that may only be done for a firm's highest-profile
(strategic) accounts. However, there are many facets of this that any
account manager may find beneficial to leverage for his or her specific
accounts.
Implementing account strategies involves the following six steps:
-
Compile account-specific results
-
Engage senior management in the customer's experience
-
Prepare for the customer review meeting
-
Meet with the customer
-
Educate the organization and engage resources to
respond
-
Continue the process
Compile
account-specific results. The first step is to compile an account-specific report. This entails
creating a report of the specific customer's feedback resulting from
surveys, interviews, etc. The report should outline: who participated
(names and titles), the levels of satisfaction and dissatisfaction by
person, and any comments they shared during the process.
Additionally, it is important to review the overall VoC reporting which
outlines global or customer segment-specific trends and compare with the
feedback received from the specific customer. By doing so, you can
communicate to the customer what is being done to address global issues,
or issues impacting customers like them, in addition to discussing those
issues which may pertain only to the specific customer. Customers value
knowing how their experience with your firm is the same as, and/or
different from, other customers.
The following steps outline how this can be done, by leveraging the
customer's feedback.
Engage senior management in the customer's experience. While it is
not expected that each customer has a relationship with an executive from
your company, it is highly beneficial to have senior executives (VP and
above) develop relationships with 2-3 of the firm's highest priority
accounts. Highest priority accounts can be defined as those that generate
the most revenue, have strategic name recognition or are an important
partner in the industry within which your firm operates. Having executives
develop relationships with the highest priority accounts forms the basis
for a very effective and long-term partnership between the firms. A
specific step that an executive can perform is that of an interactive
review of VoC results, with the customer's Account Manager and the
customer. This provides opportunities for the executive to hear
"unfiltered" feedback from the customer base. Additionally, it is an
excellent opportunity to turn problem situations into new business
opportunities. That is, executives typically don't get bogged down in the
details. Instead, they strive to form strategic relationships built upon
mutual respect and trust. With executives this close to the customer, the
firm demonstrates to all constituencies the commitment the organization
has to the customer.
Prepare for the customer review meeting. The major activity in this
step is holding a rehearsal, or dry-run, of the customer meeting between
the account manager and the senior manager assigned to the account. The
goal is to determine the appropriate strategy for the meeting and what
messages need to be delivered to the customer. It is important to assign
specific discussion points. The senior executive typically covers an
overview of the corporation, future plans and objectives of the VoC
program. The account manager then discusses the customer's feedback
results and asks key questions, such as:
-
What can I, the Account Manager, do to improve your
satisfaction and loyalty with our firm?
-
What can the Company do to improve?
-
What is everything necessary for you to become Totally
Satisfied?
Note: these questions provide additional input to the VoC program and
serve as a closed-loop to the step of "obtaining the pulse of the
customer."
When scheduling face-time with the customer, use this opportunity to
indicate that a senior manager from your firm will be present, and it
would be beneficial to have senior manager(s) present from the customer's
firm as well. By taking the posture of presenting analysis material that
will benefit the account, instead of selling, the account manager can
enter offices that may have previously been closed. The account manager
now has an excuse to move horizontally and vertically within the account's
organization in order to present the results and extend his or her sphere
of influence.
Meet with the customer. In summary, this step involves sharing what
has been observed as broad trends across the customer base and what is
being done to respond globally. Then comes a review of the customer's
specific input/concerns and finally your firm's response.
The main goals of this meeting include:
-
Clarify any account issues
-
Identify additional ways to help the customer achieve
specified goals and objectives (a.k.a. identify additional business
opportunities)
-
Understand how the account evaluates the firm's
products and services
-
Demonstrate to the customer that the firm takes
customer input seriously and is responding to meet identified needs
Educate the
organization and engage resources to respond.
This step involves educating and engaging others in the firm to respond to
the specific account's feedback. For example, there may be information
that needs to be shared with Marketing and Product Management that may
lead to future enhancements to the products or services. It may also be
appropriate to pull together the extended account team to respond to the
customer's specific feedback. Too often, customer satisfaction and loyalty
are left on the shoulders of account management and/or customer care.
While these are key functions impacting the customer's experience with the
firm, many other personnel touch the customer, and/or influence the
customer's experience. As such, it is important to bring together members
of the extended account-team to ensure that each organization understands
the areas of satisfaction and dissatisfaction of the particular account
and each person knows what he or she can do to positively influence this
specific customer's perception of the firm.
Continue the process. By now, many of the benefits of implementing
account strategies have been realized. It is important to continuously
loop through this process on a periodic basis (monthly or quarterly) with
each account in the program. During each subsequent meeting, the team will
start by providing an update on what has been done, the programs now in
place, or steps taken to respond to the customer's previously identified
areas of dissatisfaction. It will be observed that each pass at this
process builds upon an increasing relationship of mutual trust and
respect.
To reiterate, implementing all aspects of account strategies outlined
above is not something that is necessary for all customers. It is
suggested that this is a program that is performed, in its entirety, for a
firm's highest-profile accounts. With that said, however, it is highly
recommended that account managers leverage VoC results to hold similar
discussions with their lower-profile accounts. While senior management
from the firm may not be engaged, the account managers and customer will
realize positive results here as well.
In the next edition we will discuss approaches that you can take to
provide an update to the overall customer base sharing the results of your
VoC program.
In closing, responding to the customer to communicate what was learned,
what you have done and what is planned as a result of your VoC activities
demonstrates that you care about your customer's business. And, as
outlined above, by properly leveraging this information, you can not only
increase customer loyalty, but also lock-in additional revenue
opportunities!
View previous articles in this series. |
Contents
+ Becoming Customer Centric
+ Recommended Reading
+ Reader-Input Incentive Plan
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View previous newsletters
Recommended Reading
This issue we recommend Mike Sheridan's article
Reinforce Your Brand in the Contact Center in CRM Magazine. The
article highlights the importance of using your call centers to strenghten
your brand, as Mr. Sheridan writes: "Your brand identifies your
organization and is made tangible through every customer interaction.
Because your contact center is frequently the primary point of customer
interaction, it is in a unique and powerful position to build and
reinforce your company's brand."
Reader-Input Incentive Program
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