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Contact Vox to learn about how we can help you create a comprehensive Customer Experience that drives bottom-line results dramatically higher.

A recent article on the Financial Times website points out ways travel could be made easier by airlines and hotels, and makes this great point:

"Travel, particularly flying, could be much more pleasant if airlines, airport operators, and the services that support them actually employed people who have an intimate knowledge of how their passengers live, and who put themselves in such a mindset when making service decisions."

The author wonders why international airports don’t always carry international newspapers, and why a clean airplane isn’t always a guarantee. By giving the customer simple goods and services they would use and appreciate, businesses could produce happy customers and increased revenue.

I have recently been surfing online banking sites for better investment and savings alternatives - namely with better rates of return than the products I was currently invested in.

  Out of the several bank and investment sites I visited, one that I really liked was INGDirect.  I had heard good things about the company through the grapevine and their Orange financial products are marketed and explained in a fashion that anyone can understand.  The good rates of return they offer don’t hurt either.

So while considering transferring some of my current investments to something new, I logged into my online bank and went about reviewing how much collective money I had to maintain to keep from having to pay any service fees - as I planned to still keep my checking account open, if nothing more.

During this little review session, I came across a new eSavings product that knocked the socks off the other online savings products I’d come across, with no minimum requirements to boot!

Wow! Just like that, all I needed to do was transfer funds out of one type of savings product into this new eSavings offering - immediately reaping the benefits of a better return without the hassle of opening up a new account with another online banking firm.  But what if I had not stumbled across this new eSavings product? Well, I would now have much less funds held with this bank and would be half-way out the door - so to speak - and more easily swayed to completely abandon them.

While pondering this, my thoughts turned to the question - why hadn’t my bank proactively communicated this new offering to customers? Yes, the bank probably did not want the masses to all roll into this higher rate account and most likely created the eSavings product solely to deal with INDirect’s Orange savings and the like, but in an industry where customer loyalty and retention drive long term success the bank should be yelling out to everyone "We have a great new product - check it out!".

The bank might not make quite as much money in the short term this way, as a result of paying out higher returns, but think how many customers would be more inclined to remain long-term clients?  I know I am…

Forrester Research just announced the top financial services companies in customer advocacy. For the 3rd year in a row, USAA holds the top spot followed by credit unions, Geico, AAA, State Farm and Vanguard. Many of the top banks ranked the lowest. It’s remarkable that many of the winners are membership oriented or customer-owned. The customer defines who they are, in many regards.

The rankings define advocacy as the customer’s perception that the company is looking out for them, not their own bottom line. But truly, the bottom line is affected positively when the company puts the customer first. When you focus on customer needs and create a great customer experience, this sparks an emotional response from the customer. Customers are happy, purchase more, tell others, and stay with you. Result: Your customer base grows and so does your bottom line. It’s that simple.

Putting the customer first puts you in first place too.

In a 1990 Harvard Business Review article, Bain consultant Frederick Reichheld and Harvard Professor W. Earl Sasser, Jr. captured the attention of the business community with the promise, "By reducing customer defection by a mere 5%, companies can boost profits by 25% to 85%." This enticing claim rocked the business world and "jump-started" the customer retention movement - in its infancy at the time. Several additional HBR articles and a great many books in the intervening 15 years have further promoted customer loyalty as an almost universal cure for many of the problems plaguing marketers today.  For more information, click  The Loyalty Guide.

When we talk to our own prospects, we sometimes find resistance to addressing the Customer Experience. Some feel they need to create a budget for it - which is already tapped out. The fact is, they already have one.

In your marketing budget, earmark some - or most - of it for the Customer Experience. It’s shifting your marketing dollars from acquiring new customers to retaining current, profitable customers. You get more bang for your marketing dollar. My colleague, Luis talks more about shifting your perspective.

Ah yes. The ever common spilled drink by a frazzled waitress. It’s happened to almost everyone and if you’ve ever been a server, you’ve probably been that clumsy weakest link on the waitstaff at some point. So no big deal right? The phrase "don’t cry over spilled milk" is a cliche for a reason. Well, this article begs to differ. In fact, it argues that it’s how businesses and their workforce try to make a customer happy once there’s been a service failure that ultimately determines if that customer sticks around or not. It’s not just about saying you’re sorry but showing that you mean it by making both psychological and tangible efforts. How? Click on the link to find out!

Enterprise Content Management solution provider Interwoven recently launched a new Customer Experience solution promising  to enable enterprises to automate the Customer Experience Management
process — "from the creation of customer-facing content all the way
through to the publishing of this content across all customer
touchpoints including the Web, mobile devices, contact centers, e-mail,
retail stores, printed collateral, television advertisements, and more.."

I wonder if the next step is to automate customers.

J.D. Power and Associates recently released a study of customer satisfaction with the Home Equity Line/Loan Origination process. They found a high correlation between borrowers who contacted their lender directly and their level of satisfaction with the lender’s representative.

That’s good news! Personal contact increases satisfaction. Loan companies are teaching customer-centric skills to their personnel.

More interestingly, 42% of home equity line/loan customers only seriously considered one lender when shopping. What does that say about the financial services industry if, on average, 58% of consumers don’t feel strong loyalty to a single home loan provider?

Other data shows that consumers have a wide variety of relationships with financial service providers. A 2005 A.T. Kearney study found that 75% of consumers have products with 4 or more institutions, and 65% at 5 or more.

This demonstrates that the bulk of the financial services market hasn’t developed strong customer loyalty. What’s a company to do if you’re competing in the financial services market? Figure out how you can provide superior personal interactions. And for those interactions that don’t offer personal contact, figure out how you can make that contact as customer-centric as possible.

Yes my friends! The 4-hour scheduling window is now an 8-hour window.

I couldn’t have been happier when People’s Energy escalated my request and promised to resolve my issue that same day! Especially since the fault was all on their part. Now that was a wonderful Customer Experience!

But lo and behold - it seems that “Good Customer Service” comes with strings attached. People’s Energy changed their 4-hour scheduling window (which they may have met 70 -75% of the time) to an 8-hour window that they probably would be able to meet 98% of the time. Talk about meeting your company goals. Apparently you can set customer expectations at a super low level and still have those expectations met reliably.

A recent issue of the online publication, the Wise Marketer noted that most dissatisfied customers just don’t have the right avenue to tell you why they are unhappy. Or frankly, no one asks them. People’s Energy assumed that this 8-hour window worked just fine for their customers. I doubt that if polled, most customers would agree. People’s Energy would be well served to take a leaf from SBC and AT&T on providing a great Customer Experience!

Customers often stay with a certain company because of the relationship they have formed with someone there. For example, a customer may stay with a bank (even if it’s inconvenient) in order to stick with a particular banker. Or with an insurance company (even if they can get a lower premium elsewhere) because of a trustworthy agent.

What if the banker or agent leave for a different company? Do you follow him/her?

In the sports world, this is difficult. The roster on the field changes year after year, so it’s tough to get behind the players on the team for more than a season or two.

Edward J Hart’s article, "Is Customer Satisfaction Really Enough" addresses customer experience in the world of sports. He points out:

• "A successful team on the field does not always equate to a successful campaign at the gates, concessions, or merchandise stands. The opposite holds true as well."
• "The objective is to win over our customers for life!"
• "Make the experience a memorable one for fans, time after time."
• "The dazzled customer will return every year, multiple times, and will be our best marketer and advocate."

This holds true for any business. It is important to make sure a customer is having an all around good experience. That way, if you lose a top performing employee, you don’t have to worry about losing their loyal customers as well.