Keeping It Real With Customers

7/29/2019 Keeping It Real With Customers

http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/keeping-it-real-with-customers 1/6

©2013 Predictive Consulting Group, Inc.All rights reserved. Reproduction prohibited.CHIEF CUSTOMER OFFICER COUNCIL™

www.ccocouncil.org | (978) 226-8675

Keeping it Real with

Customers

by Curtis N. Bingham





Keeping it Real with Customers

Curtis N. Bingham

Founder and Executive Director

Chief Customer Officer Council

CurtisBinghamistherecognizedauthorityonchiefcustomerofficersandthefirsttopromotethisroleasacatalyst

forcompetitiveadvantage.HeisthecreatoroftheCCORoadmap,agroundbreakingworkcontaining100+critical

strategiesessentialforcustomercentricity.Asaninternationalspeaker,author,andconsultant,Curtisispassionate

aboutcreatingcustomerstrategytosustainablygrowrevenue,profit,andloyalty.

Introduction

SincesteppingintoherroleasVicePresident-andChiefCustomerAdvocateforNationwideInsurance,

JasmineGreenhashelpedtheinsuranceandfinancialservicesorganizationfocusonmorepersonalized

customerexperiences,championingcustomersacrossallofNationwide’sbusinessunits.Duringher25-

yearcareerwithNationwide,sheservedasassociatevicepresidentintheOfficeofthePresidentfor

NationwideInsuranceWesternOperations,aproductdirectorandinvariousothermanagementroles.

Inhercurrentposition,Greenworksasanadvocateforbothbusiness-to-businessandbusiness-to-

consumercustomersandasksallassociatestomakeapersonalcommitmenttocaringforcustomersaspartofNationwide’s“ICare”program.Shesharedthesebestpracticesforbuildingcustomerloyaltyand

creatingacustomer-centricculture.

Keep customers top of mind

Foranorganizationtobetrulycustomer-centric,associatesneedtounderstandthatit’snotan8to5

job.Theyrepresentthecompany24/7:onthejob,awayfromthejobandeverywhereinbetween.

Rememberhowcustomerswanttobetreatedandactaccordingly.

Build psychological currency

Customerswantthebestvaluefortheirmoney,especiallygiventheeconomicclimateofthepastfewyears,buttheyalsovaluesoftskillslikecompassion.Whenservicerecoveryhappens,customersdon’t

alwayswantarefund.Alotoftimestheysimplywantthatpsychologicalcurrencythathappenswhen

yousay,“thankyouforyourbusiness,Iappreciateyou,IapologizeforthisandI’mheretoassistyou.”





Practice empathy

Encourageassociatestopersonalizeeachcustomerrelationshipandshowthattheyempathizewiththe

customer’spointofview.Bepoliteandcourteous,apologizingforanyissuesthecustomerhas

encounteredandthankingthemfortheopportunitytohelp.Treatcustomerslikefriends.Many

insurancecompaniesfocusonbeingcarefulbutNationwidestrivestobefullofcare.Whenyou’refullof

careandunderstandthingsfromthecustomer’sperspective,beingcarefulcomesnaturally.

Partner with the Better Business Bureau

TheBetterBusinessBureauisacustomer-centricorganizationforconsumers,sothat’sanexcellent

resource.Don’tthinkoftheBetterBusinessBureausimplyforthecomplianceandregulatory

perspectives.Alsouseittomonitorpositiveornegativefeedbackonyourorganization.Whatarethe

issuescanyoulookatandresolve?

Take a proactive approach to social media

Findoutwhereoutwhereyourcustomersareandhowbesttoreachthem.Increasingly,thatmeans

beingaccessibleandproactivethroughblogsandsocialnetworkslikeFacebook.Inadditiontoposting

goodnewsaboutpartnershipsorsponsorships,Nationwidesurfstheinternetforanythingregardingthe

companyandhasateamreachouttoindividualswhohavequestions.Someonemightpost,“I’mtrying

togetincontactwithNationwideaboutmyautopolicyandIdon’tknowwhomtocontact.”

Nationwide’steammightrespondwithamessagesaying,“we’reavailableforyou,pleasecontactmeat

thistelephonenumberorprovidemewithyournumbersothatIcangiveyouacall.”Customersare

oftenimpressedwhenyoureachouttothembeforetheycallwithacomplaint.

Identify patterns of service issues

Don’ttreatcomplaintsasisolatedincidents.Oftenassociatesknowaboutareasthatneedimprovement,

soengageyourassociates,tapintotheirknowledgeandalerteveryoneintheorganizationabout

ongoingissues.Thenworktoresolvethoseissuesasateamsothateveryoneisonboard.

Engage and empower your associates

Galluphasastudythatsaysthemoreengagedyourassociatesare,thehappiertheyare.They’llinturn

spreadthatpositiveattitudetoyourcustomers.Ifyouhavethewrongapproachinternally,itshows

externallyaswell.Makesureyourassociatesfeelempoweredandhavetheauthoritytoactinthebestinterestsofthecustomer.NationwideusesGallup’s7x7methodologywhereyoucommunicatea

messageseventimesinsevendifferentways.Youwanttomakesuretheyunderstanditandhearit

back.Thathasledtocontinuousimprovementinemployeeengagement,whichisalsoreflectedin

Nationwide’scustomerenthusiasmmetric.





Recognize excellent customer interactions

Aspartofthe“ICare”program,Nationwidepresents“ICare”Awardstoshowgratitudeforgreat

service.It’saspeciallapelpinpresentedtoassociatesalongwithathankyoumessagefromtheCEO.

Alongwiththeawards,Nationwidehasablogtosharethepositivethingsthatcustomersaresaying

aboutindividualassociates.Sometimespostsincludeaphotoorvideooftheassociate,whichisa

wonderfulwaytoacknowledgeassociateswhoembodythatcustomer-centricmindsetandshowhow

associatesinotherdivisionsinteractwithcustomers.

Use data to tell your story

Whetherlookingatcustomersatisfactionsurveys,customerenthusiasmmetricscoresoremployee

engagementmetrics,manyorganizationshaverichdataavailable.Pulltogetherthatdataanduseitto

tellyourorganization’sstory.Forinstance,“ifwehaddonethis,thiswouldhaveoccurred.”Storiesareoftenthemosteffectivewaytogetleadersonboard.Trueexamplesalwaystrumphypotheticalones.

Tie customer data to your bottom line

Foranorganizationthatisstillmakingtheshifttoacustomer-centricculture,collectcustomerinsights

andanalysisandpresentittotheorganization’sleadership.Includerecommendationsforimprovement

andrelatethoseimprovementstothebottomline,whetherthatmeansthecustomerretentionrate,

cost-lossratioorexpenseratio.Alsotiethosecustomerinsightsintoyourorganization’smissionand

strategysothatitbecomesembeddedineverypartoftheorganization.Withoutagreatcustomer

experience,yourcustomerswillgoelsewhere.

Don’t wait for feedback

Alwayslooktoseewhatyoucouldhavedonebetterorhowyoumighthavedonesomethingalittlebit

smarterasopposedtoworkingharder.Don’talwayswaitforsomeonetogiveyouthefeedback.Goout

andseekfeedback,whetherinternallyorexternally.Continuouslyworkonimprovements.

Create a customer advocacy council

Enablecollaborationatthedropofahatbyputtingtogetheracustomeradvocacycouncilthatincludes

representativesfromdifferentbusinessdivisions.Theycanshareinformationoncomplaints,innovative

ideasorevenpositivefeedbackfromcustomersthatyouwouldliketospreadacrosstheorganization.

Alsolookatwhatyousay,howsayitandwhenyousayit.

Understand that no person or department “owns” the customer

Someorganizationshaveatugofwarbetweendepartmentsoverwhom“owns”customerrelationships.

Thatisthejobofeveryoneintheorganization,notjustcustomerserviceorsalesormarketing.Everyone





needstobeonboardwithacustomer-centriccultureoritdoesn’twork.Youcanhaveonedepartment

thatdoescustomerinsightsandanalytics,anotherdepartmentthatdoesyourbusinesstransformations

andanotherthathandlessales.Multipledepartmentsmightbeinvolvedinsocialmedia.Everyoneowns

apartofthatcustomer,andeveryonehastospeakthatsamelanguagefromtopdownandbottomup.

Ithastobeacollaborativeprocess.*

*CopyrightNotice:Allcontentcontainedinthisarticleiscopyrightprotectedmaterial.Reproduction,inwholeorinpart,inany

formormedium,withouttheexpresswrittenpermissionoftheChiefCustomerOfficerCouncilisstrictlyprohibited.





About CURTIS N. BINGHAM

AsExecutiveDirectoroftheChiefCustomerOfficerCouncil™,CurtisBinghamis

therecognizedauthorityonchiefcustomerofficersandthefirsttopromotethis

role as a catalyst for competitive advantage. He is the creator of the CCO

Roadmap,agroundbreakingworkcontaining100+criticalstrategiesessentialfor

customercentricity.Asaninternationalspeaker,author,andconsultant,Curtisis

passionateaboutcreatingcustomerstrategytosustainablygrowrevenue,profit,

andloyalty.

About THE CHIEF CUSTOMER OFFICER COUNCIL

TheCCOCouncilisapowerfulandintimategatheringoftheworld’s

leading customer executives from widely diverse industries.The

Councilhelpsexecutivesachieveobjectivesfasterandmoreeasilyby

leveragingbest practices. Ithelps validateand refine strategiesand

initiativestoavoidexperimentingatcustomerexpense.Membership

isbyinvitationonly,andpurposefullycross-pollinatedwiththemost

forward-thinkingcompanies,largeandsmall,soastohelpcustomer

executivesdeliversolid,customer-centricbusiness results. Formore

information,[email protected].

Jointheconversationwww.ccocouncil.org

PowerfulInfluenceonCustomerCentricity– AuthorityisthecurrencyoftheC-

Suite.GreaterAuthoritymeansgreaterabilitytoinfluencetheorganizationto

takeadesiredaction.Sohowdoyouincreaseyourauthorityandbetterusethe

authoritythat’sbeengrantedtoyou?Howcanyoubuildstrongerrelationships

and demonstrate and communicateresults?In thisBinghamAdvisory , you’ll

not only learn about the three types of chief customer officer authority:

Positional,BorrowedandEarned,you'llalsolearnfivewaystoborrowandfour

waystoearngreaterauthority,withspecificexamplesofeach.

Downloadyourfreecopytodayatwww.ccocouncil.org/thebinghamadvisory/

Thought-leadingVideos

ccocouncil.org/video

MoreArticlesbyCurtis

ccocouncil.org/exclusiveresources

LinkedInDiscussionforCCOs

(ForVPsandabove)

CCOCouncilNetwork

Keeping It Real With Customers

Documents

Transcript of Keeping It Real With Customers