| Marketing Morphs as IT Innovation Targets Global Economies
Innovation created for the demanding constraints of emerging nations will deliver systematic disruption to technology solutions in developed nations during the next decade, according to Gartner Inc. By 2015, Gartner estimates that IT engineered for developing economies will drive 20 percent of disruptive IT innovation worldwide.
In examining how to serve the core needs of the poorest consumers, many corporations have found that solutions frequently go beyond packaging and price, demanding a fundamental rethinking and re-engineering of product specifications, design and creation processes, says Gartner.
Disruptive technologies usually begin at the low end of the cost and value curve. At first, these newer technologies are below the quality levels required by existing customers and are limited to small, previously unserved markets too small for the established players to worry about. Over time, the performance of low-end technology rises to where it more than adequately meets the needs of large numbers of consumers, and new players take over market share from the incumbents, according to Gartner.
A renewed focus on innovation is driving organizations to focus not just on the continuing flood of new technologies, but also on the inextricable relationship of technology with business and societal trends.
Organizations should include these best practices in their 2007-2011 planning, but plan to update this information frequently:
- Opportunity to Reach Underserved Markets: Hordes of organizations need simple low-end solutions. For them, consumer-grade technology is good enough, economic and easily managed.
- Disruption of Traditional Marketing: Traditional marketing has been displaced by the unlimited creativity, reach, range and viral aspects of the Web. Despite seemingly unbounded by change, smart organizations can harness the power of the Web through new access to markets and new ability to monitor and analyze patterns, trends and behaviors.
- Brand Innovation: It can keep an organization ‘top of mind’ and can develop a social connection to desirable people. Increasingly, organizations will broadcast social consciousness and lifestyle to markets.
- Second Wave Success: Success may not involve making money from those you are attracted to your products and services. Tangible success can also occur in a second wave by selling and leveraging access to or knowledge about the crowd.
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Customer Service Remains Critical to Profitability
Is customer service getting better or worse? Despite the conventional wisdom of customer "no-service" as the norm, over 61 percent of consumers see call centers as doing a better job than three years ago. An international survey of more than 4,300 consumers conducted by Genesys found that, despite some continued pockets of frustration, 23 percent of all consumers considered their experience "significantly better," and an additional 38 percent felt it was "somewhat better.” Only 12 percent thought it was worse.
In addition, the survey revealed that customer service is a critical driver of profitability and satisfaction, with more than 75 percent of consumers saying they would give more business to a company based on a great contact center experience. And, 50 percent of consumers say the last time they stopped doing business with a company was partly or wholly due to a poor customer service experience.
The survey findings indicate that, while investments in technology and self-service are starting to pay off, consumers increasingly want better multi-channel service, through SMS, e-mail and other new media.
In 2003, Genesys created the pioneer study in customer frustration and has followed in each of the past four years. Globally, the major sources of customer frustration are consistent with findings over the past four years:
- Long hold times: 67 percent of consumers are frustrated by long hold times, and 88 percent would prefer to receive a call-back in 10 minutes than to be on hold for that long.
- Poor automation: 57 percent of consumers are frustrated by IVRs with too many or incorrect options and 76 percent of consumers feel that companies are pushing them to use self-service systems instead of talking to live people.
- Customer repetition: 52 percent of consumers are frustrated by having to repeat information they’ve already provided.
Survey respondents indicated that a good way to create a positive experience is to address consumers’ basic frustrations. For example, the survey results indicated that companies can eliminate long hold times by including a call-back option in their IVR systems. Rather than waiting on hold, 74 percent of customers would like to have the option to ask for a call back when they feel the wait would be too long.
The hottest new emerging trends in customer service are the desire for proactive contact and the need for better support for a broader set of communication channels, such as SMS, web chat and e-mail. When it comes to new channels, 86 percent of consumers want e-mail communication and more than 45 percent of consumers would like e-mail to become their primary communication vehicle. Speed of communication is critical, however, with 21 percent expecting a one hour response time -- up from 6 percent with that expectation in 2003. An additional 17 percent of consumers expect an e-mail response within 4 hours, and 47 percent within 24 hours. In addition, 19 percent would like web chat (instant messaging) and 17 percent want SMS text messages.
Surprisingly, over 89 percent of consumers would like to receive proactive communications from companies, by phone or text, to keep them informed about service delivery and/or other products and services that may be of interest to them. Proactive communications offer a way of creating a positive image with customers. According to the survey, 87 percent of customers would have a more positive opinion of a supplier after receiving a courtesy call to thank them for their business or to ask about their satisfaction; however, only 43 percent have received such a call.
While consumers agreed on most core customer service issues, substantial regional differences are emerging that offer some of the most striking findings from the survey. Europeans are 10 times more likely to want SMS text messages sent to their mobile phones than Americans (21 percent for Europe versus 2 percent for the U.S.). Similarly, 19 percent of consumers from Asia Pacific and 7 percent from Japan also want SMS messages sent to them. Meanwhile, more than 28 percent of U.S. consumers want instant web chat capabilities, compared to 19 percent in Europe, 18 percent in APAC and 11 percent in Japan.
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Online Bill Payment Drives Greater Share of Loyalty For Banks
A new study from ForeSee Results and Forbes.com found that customers who pay bills through their bank’s web site are more satisfied with the bank and the online banking experience than those who don’t, and are significantly more likely to purchase additional services from the bank. The data suggests that converting online bankers to online bill-paying customers represents the best opportunity for banks and credit unions to increase share of wallet while driving customers toward the most cost-efficient channel for services.
The survey of over 900 Forbes.com newsletter subscribers compared three different kinds of banking customers: non-online bankers; online bankers who don’t pay bills online with their bank; and online bankers who also pay bills online through their bank’s web site. The results show that the more engaged customers are with their bank’s web site, the more satisfied they are. The survey uses the methodology of the American Customer Satisfaction Index (ACSI), which has been proven to link customer satisfaction to financial returns.
Customer satisfaction with the bank overall is highest among online bankers who pay bills via their bank’s website: 79 on a 100-point scale. Online bankers who do not pay bills via their bank’s web site rated bank satisfaction a 76 while non-online bankers scored 70. Higher customer satisfaction boosts share of wallet, too: online bill pay customers are 31 percent more likely to purchase additional services from their bank than online bankers that do not pay bills via their bank’s website.
The survey results suggest that converting customers to the online experience represents additional opportunities for banks to improve their bottom line. In addition to being more satisfied, customers who bank online are 19 percent more likely to recommend their bank than those who don’t, which helps fuel acquisition. In addition, online bill payers are 21 percent more likely to use the web site as their primary channel than those who do online banking alone. The web site is a lower cost interface for the bank than the call center or teller window.
Almost half of non-online bankers in the survey cited privacy and security concerns as their primary reasons for not adopting online banking. It’s possible that phishing and other online scams may make them skeptical of online banking.
If paying bills online is a good thing, then paying more bills is even better. The survey shows that satisfaction among banking customers who pay six bills or more through the bank is 81, whereas customers who pay between one and five bills score 75.
Banks have an opportunity to convince customers to pay bills via their web site, with 74 percent of the survey respondents stating that they pay bills online through other sources. Of this group, 15 percent use independent payment services like PayPal, 43 percent pay bills directly with the vendor or service provider and 13 percent pay bills online with banks that aren't their primary bank.
Credit unions, which scored 83, have higher overall customer satisfaction scores than both large banks (77) and community banks (74).
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Is Your Salesforce Mobilized?
Is your sales force prepared for the surge in globalization? In a recent survey conducted by Aberdeen, a Harte-Hanks Company, nearly two-thirds of survey respondents indicated that they are using or planning to use a mobile sales force automation solution (SFA). Fifty-eight percent of respondents indicated that access to real-time data was the key factor driving their company to invest in Mobile SFA.
Twenty-nine percent of respondents identified that mobile SFA will have a major impact on their company over the next 5 years. The infrastructure for mobile SFA solutions is beginning to fall into place with 54% of the sales force already using PDA’s and 40% using smart phones. The complexity of implementing a mobile SFA solution remains a challenge for most companies. Among the key challenges, 39% of survey respondents identified user adoption rates as a major concern. Another 37% indicated that getting executive level support would also pose a major challenge.
Access to real-time content provides the salesforce with the ability to respond to inquiries on an as needed basis. The timing of the inquiry becomes less important if the data is available when it is needed. Supporting customers and partners worldwide means the salesforce can not have any down time due to system unavailability, says Aberdeen. Mobile technologies make systems available around the clock and increase the sales representative’s ability to respond to demand.
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