When we think about differentiation in a business-to-business context, our minds tend to go right to how products are unique. We think about how Apple has been able to differentiate in the market through disruptive innovation or how a company made an acquisition to help strengthen their product portfolio. We do see and understand, although less frequently, how service-related or customer-focused characteristics of a company can help to drive a competitive advantage as well. But which is more important? Differentiating by being a product-focused company or a customer-focused company?
Companies obviously have to pick one angle to stand on, likely supplemented by some level of operational excellence, in order to drive strategy. While that’s true, there obviously has to be a balance. An extremely customer-focused company won’t succeed without a product that meets some bare minimum threshold of product satisfaction. The same goes for product-focused companies that need to provide a level of service that allows them to retain customers. Understanding this balance and the “breaking point” of profitability is what companies today continue to try and understand in order to separate themselves from the competition.
Where we as customer advocates can help our organizations with this balancing act is by helping to define what “customer focus” means. Customer focus today requires a new approach, particularly with the shift towards customers having more power in the relationship than ever before. They have greater access to information than in the past, access to many more alternatives, and the ability to communicate with other customers.
The key will be to figure out what’s next and how companies can continue to find their “sweet spot” that allows them to differentiate from their competitors. One key component to this will be a focus on partnership. Understanding from customers what you can do as a company to help their business be more profitable and using that as the driving force of strategy is critical. More focus on customer profitability, less focus on product profitability.
We have continued to change our focus over time on how we measure customer feedback. Shifting our thinking again to understand customer profitability and partnerships should be considered a logical next step in this evolution. Without a focus on customer profitability and partnership aspects of the relationship, companies will struggle to differentiate in the future.
As customer experience professionals, we often conduct customer surveys that primarily ask customers to provide answers from a defined set of response options. While I do believe we need to do more qualitative, ethnographic research, I want to take a different direction with this post.
Instead, my hypothesis is that our focus on closed-end survey questions leads us to ask "bad" questions outside of surveys. This hit me as I read this summary of Killer Questions by Phil McKinney. Good survey questions basically ask customers to confirm or disconfirm a hypothesis (our support is great, do you agree or disagree?). These questions are fine in a survey, but we need to use more investigative, Socratic questions within our organizations to drive the learning and innovation necessary to create the customer-focused strategies our companies need to thrive in the marketplace.
Every year, aquatics centers offer American Red Cross lifeguarding classes. They train lifeguards to act with speed and confidence in emergency situations both in and out of the water. Training covers critical areas, including water rescue skills, surveillance and recognition, first aid, breathing and cardiac emergencies, CPR, AED and more.
The value of that preparation was reinforced at the 2012 American Red Cross of Greater Indianapolis Hall of Fame. A group of lifeguards was honored for turning their training into action -- by running to the scene of a fire at an assisted living facility for seniors and people with functional needs, breaking out windows to rescue trapped residents and also providing first aid. Having the advance training prepared the lifeguards to take action and help.
When thinking about your customer strategy, have you ever considered the value that could be realized by your Voice of the Customer program simply by training and preparing your teams to respond to customer feedback?
For example, a membership organization that is getting ready to launch a member relationship assessment will first prepare their team on how to respond to feedback. They plan to contact selected members each month, asking them to provide feedback in advance of the membership renewal period. The goal is for Retention Specialists to be equipped to respond to feedback, making any adjustments needed to extend and expand the relationships.
In preparation for this activity, the Retention Specialists will be trained on how to respond to the VoC feedback prior to the launch of the program. Through the training, they will be made aware of the initiative, understand what the feedback means, and what they need to do about it. Having that advance preparation will set the stage for the team to respond to feedback and take action to improve the customer experience.
Is your team ready to break through glass to help your customers?
The recent death of Steve Jobs and publication of his biography sparked public attention to business innovation. Apple's track record brings to mind a more old-fashioned word -- invention. New-to-the-world, breakthrough products or "disruptive" ones in the sense of their changing whole business categories. Most product innovation activity is actually making upgrades or iterations to existing products or services rather than new ones. But the brand new, disruptive ones attract the most attention because their impact can be enormous ... and awfully good for business.
Launching disruptive products is not exactly new. History notes the major global impact of the printing press, telephone, automobile and airplane. Entire lifestyles have been changed by new products, not to mention launching major business industries world-wide. But in business today, the strategic importance of achieving breakthroughs and innovation of entire businesses has picked up steam. It was recently reported in an Innosight study of the S&P 500 Index that up to 75% of listed companies probably won't be around in 2027. Where the average company in 1958 had been around 61 years, that average duration dropped to just 25 years old in 1980. The tenure today has dropped again dramatically to just 18 years.
So innovating and re-inventing the business has truly become an issue of survival. It's interesting that many companies and industries spawned by major inventions couldn't always follow that act up over time and eventually faltered. Kodak is one example. Its inventions helped people over the last few generations use affordable cameras and film and earned itself prominent listing on the S&P 500 for many years. But, with the advent of digital technology is struggling mightily today. In contrast the Innosight authors cite IBM, P&G, and J&J as three giants surviving the test of time and innovation turmoil by 1) operating effectively 2) creating products meeting market needs and 3) shedding their legacy businesses toward the end of their life cycles. Good survival strategy tips.
While Channel Partners are customers too, unlike the traditional customer, partners are able to provide a unique perspective. When it comes to Voice of Partner versus Voice of Customer survey research, consider these four differences:
1 - Many Channel Partners sell competing products and services giving them a unique perspective on what drives customer purchase decisions. Their input can help companies understand what causes a customer to purchase one product over another competing product.
2 - In a similar manner, OEMs can use partner input to understand what drives a partner to recommend one product over another.
3 - Many partners are combining an OEM's products with other products to deliver a complete solution. Having a better understanding of solution offerings, can be valuable input for the product group.
4 - Customers who purchase from a channel partner often go to the partner for support. Partners can provide a unique perspective on what is needed to support the indirect customer. This input can also be leveraged for serving the direct customer.
Corporate business strategy can benefit from insights provided by the channel. The partner perspective can be used to grow market share, enhance the product roadmap, and deliver an experience that both direct and indirect customers value.
If you are working to create a customer focused leadership position, consider including the perspective from all customer types.
I am officially declaring spring to have arrived. Living in the Midwest, I realize I could be jumping the gun a little, but my number one sign has recently appeared and the weather has been terrific so I am going out on a limb.
One of the first flowers to bloom each spring is the crocus. There is not much to this tiny flower and many people probably don’t appreciate it. I do. I respect the little guy. This flower has such a thick stalk that it can barely support it own weight. Yet many years, the first crocus to bloom actually finds it way to daylight through a layer of snow.
For me, the crocus is spring. It is the first sign of renewal, the rebirth of flowers and trees after what can be a tough few months of winter (I say “can be” because every once in while our winters are mild like this year).
Spring is also a great time to think about renewing relationships with key customers. Too often we let these relationships roll along, almost taking them for granted. It can be easy to think everything is going along just fine, why rock the boat? It’s time for renewal, but what does that mean? Here are some things to try…
The Unexpected. Often the most impactful things you can do to energize a relationship are seemingly insignificant, but because they are unexpected they leave a lasting impression with your customer. Send a birthday card, call and check in for no reason, anything they would appreciate and not expect you to do.
The Dramatic. You probably should save this one for times when you really need it … drastic times and drastic measures kind of stuff. Make them an offer that appears “out there.” For example, if a customer has been complaining about the price of a proposed product or solution (and you are confident of its fit and value), tell them to pay you what they think it’s worth. That puts the burden on them and will force them to justify their concerns over the price. Most importantly, and this is where the renewal comes from, they will understand your confidence in your value.
The Challenging. This is a great time to sit back and challenge yourself. Are you delivering enough value to your customers? Are you giving them your best stuff, your best thinking, your best work? If you aren’t, now’s the time.
The Collaborative. There is nothing more effective at building relationships than working together to solve tough problems. When you and a customer collaborate to tackle challenges, it becomes the two of you against the world.
Spring is a great reminder of the power of renewal and the impact it can have. Flowers and trees bloom in the spring and those blooms are the basis for more flowers and trees to grow. Same with our customers. Relationships must be constantly renewed and refreshed, and that plants the seeds for more and better relationships in the long run.
You have lots of loyal customers. But, what do you do to make the most of these relationships?
First, let's describe what we really mean when we talk about loyal customers. As described in the framework of the Loyalty Matrix, truly loyal customers are those that are positive in both their attitude and behavior. In other words, they have every intention of continuing to do business with you and they have a positive attitude toward your company. They like working with you and are more likely to increase their spending and recommend your company to others.
Then what strategies and tactics should be deployed to leverage loyal customer relationships? Here are four key initiatives that every company can incorporate into their customer strategies:
1. Support new sales - in most businesses referrals are a key component in closing new deals. Because loyal customers have a positive attitude about their work with you, they are an excellent source of referrals and testimonials.
2. Earn more business - loyal customers typically are planning to increase their spending. This is a chance to up-sell and cross-sell to generate new sales.
3. Team up to innovate - loyal customers are often the best partners. They will be more open and interested in collaborating to consider and test new solutions.
4. Network with other customers - ideally, you want their loyalty to be contagious. Encouraging networking between loyal customers and trapped customers can help convert these trapped customers and earn more loyalty.
Too often, when a company looks at the breakdown of their customers in the Loyalty Matrix framework they focus on the negative - how to improve relationships high risk and trapped customers. Unfortunately, the positive aspect can be overlooked – how to leverage relationships with their most loyal customers. And yet, this may be the quickest way to generate new revenue for the company!
One more note - this blog is part of a series of blogs covering the Loyalty Matrix and each of the other quadrants - accessible, trapped, and high risk. You can also access a position paper on the Loyalty Matrix by clicking here.
Walker recently set out to answer the question, "What drives partner preference?" Or, asked a different way, "Why do partners recommend one product or brand over others?"
As we analyzed data from more than 20,000 partner surveys across multiple IT OEMs, one of the findings that emerged is partners have similar needs as customers.
As we reviewed the drivers of partner preference and compared them to the drivers of customer satisfaction and loyalty, we noticed some similarities:
Partners and customers prefer OEMs that offer reliable products. This area, more than any other, including the financial incentives that OEMs provide to their channel, has the greatest impact on partner preference and is a common top driver of customer satisfaction and loyalty.
Partners and customers want to work with companies that are easy to do business with. While this is a nebulous concept, partners and customers generally consider the people and the processes they interact with when evaluating a company as being easy to do business with.
As we sifted through all of the data, I couldn't help but wonder what would happen if OEMs adapted their voice of customer (VoC) best practices to their partner relationships. Best practices such as soliciting partner input, creating partner-specific action plans for vulnerable relationships, and leveraging partner feedback to prioritize improvement initiatives. Would that help them grow market share? Would this help them solidify their customer retention strategies?
Based on the work that we've done, the answer is yes.
I was recently with a business strategist from a Fortune 500 company who stated there were ultimately three reasons corporate strategies fail. Even though he was speaking of overarching corporate strategies, the three reasons align with what I have seen related to customer strategies:
You measure the wrong things – Good strategy is the result of careful, intelligent analysis; however, the old maxim “garbage in, garbage out” applies here. In customer strategy consulting, this can be the result of jumping on the bandwagon of the latest killer metric without a full analysis of whether or not the metric actually applies to your industry. One way to avoid this shortcoming would be to conduct a pre-program strategic assessment – this step will allow you to learn not only the key customer touchpoints, but also identify the critical needs of key stakeholders in the process. It will also help you make certain you are profiling the customers the right way and focusing on the most critical.
You make the wrong decisions – Even if you measure the right data, there is no guarantee you will make the right decisions. Some of this is related to the data itself – in customer strategy consulting, using statistical methods that allow us to determine which areas of focus will have the greatest impact on customer loyalty will provide some insulation against focusing on the wrong areas. There is, however, another source of potential error – and that is the direction of where the market in total is heading. Every decision is framed not only by the data you observe, but also by your outlook on the competitive environment in general. To ensure you get it right, there are three recommendations I would make:
Include competitive assessments in your loyalty measurement program – Having an idea on your position relative to the competition can help fine-tune your analysis. You can read more about benchmarking options in this series.
Commit to ongoing measurement – This does not necessarily mean an ongoing data collection effort; rather, it is about knowing when to re-assess the customer landscape to ensure you are accounting for all the relevant issues. Most clients do this every 18 to 24 months at a minimum.
Build macro and micro-level strategic plans – The overall strategy that emerges from the statistical analysis is best used in the context of focal areas that have the greatest impact on the greatest number of customers; however, building more micro-level, customer-based action plans will ensure you are accounting for the individual differences that exist among customers.
You do not take action – This is the one we tend to see the most. I once worked with a person who was prone to saying “strategy is cheap; execution is hard.” When I first heard him say this, I thought he was saying that strategy was simple; I now realize what he meant was that even though strategy can be hard, it is infinitely more difficult to execute on a plan of attack you know is correct. The phenomenon of acting in ways that are not in your best interest is less about intelligence and more about discipline. I tend to use diet and exercise as an example – I know I should exercise more and eat less, but it is far easier to do the opposite. We at Walker have designed a framework to help navigate the key disciplinary elements needed to take action – namely, organization, process, communication, and motivation.
Certainly there are many reasons strategies can fail; however, I suspect that most of the reasons would fit into this framework. Being mindful of the potential pitfalls that may exist can help you be more proactive in building a plan that will maximize your probability of success.
Mark A. Ratekin
Sr. Vice President, Consulting Services
One common response from people who use customer insights to drive corporate business strategy goes something like this, "The customer comments are great. They are very helpful and valuable."
There are a lot of tools for analyzing unstructured data, but my nine year old daughter recently introduced me to one tool for displaying this type of data.
It is called Tagxedo and is similar to Wordle. But, with Tagxedo you can put the word clouds into different shapes and images.
This example is my blog displayed as a coffee cup.
While this text tool won't provide you with the rich natural language processing that is available in some text analytics software, it is a fun tool for visualizing the common words customers use when they talk about your products, services, and brand.
Launching a new voice of the customer initiative is a big undertaking. Unfortunately too many companies do just that – they launch! They charge into an initiative without taking the time to develop a thoughtful plan. Given the potential impact of a company’s customer engagement strategy and the importance of doing it right, it makes sense to conduct an assessment to consider all the elements that will be critical to the launch and implementation of a results-oriented program.
The following 11 key elements are the key factors to consider in a well-executed assessment.
Scope – The scale of this undertaking is understood and the necessary resources have been identified.
Readiness – The degree of organizational readiness has been assessed and it is understood what will be necessary to create buy-in for the initiative across the organization.
Alignment – There is a clear line of sight on how customer insights tie to business results.
Listening posts –The organization has determined how they will collect and integrate the most important information for making customer-focused decisions.
Stakeholders – The information needs of the organization have been assessed and it is understood how customer insights will be distributed and used across a variety of functional departments and customer-facing associates.
Education – Programs to drive awareness, understanding, and action have been identified to bring about the necessary corporate culture for customer-focused success.
Communication – Communication needs have been outlined to understand how the organization will drive internal awareness, deliver actionable reports, and communicate externally with customers.
Technology tools – Technology tools needed to facilitate the collection, analysis, and distribution of customer insights have been identified and it is understood how these tools will integrate with existing technology systems.
External resources – There is an understanding of what additional resources will be necessary for methodology, research, technology, training, and additional consulting.
Metrics – The key metrics for the success for the company’s customer engagement strategy have been established.
Roadmap – A detailed plan or roadmap has been developed that includes a timeline of activities and a breakdown of the necessary individuals to be involved in a practical, phased program.
Usually when we think of relationships, we think of having a connection with another person. Relationships are so important that Facebook profiles indicate you are “in a relationship” when you have a special connection with someone.
A friend made the decision to home school her oldest child this year. The reason? Family interactions were turning into a series of transactions. They were losing the key ingredients of a real relationship. Every day they went through the same routine: Wake the kids up, get them to school, go to afterschool activities, do homework, have dinner, and then bed time. By simply going from event to event, they were missing the critical connections of being a family. Home schooling is changing their interactions – from going through the motions to having a lot more involvement in each other’s lives. It’s not for everyone, but it is making all of the difference in how this family connects with each other.
As a customer strategist you might think about how this applies to your company. (Yes, there is a connection…)
Is your company in a relationship with customers? Or, do you simply have a series of transactions?
Is it possible that you might have even fallen out of relationship with your customers? Are you simply going through the motions?
Do you think your customers have started connecting with someone else (e.g. your competition)?
To be in a relationship, you should take time to understand customers’ needs, expectations, and wants. Know how well you’re doing and where you need to make changes. Customer Listening Programs are a great way to obtain information and the insights needed to develop a Customer Strategy to create or enhance customer relationships.
My advice is to make sure you are not just focusing on the transaction at hand. In addition, be in a relationship with your valuable customers!
I have been blogging for some time that eventually the dam will burst and employees will start moving around. I think the dam is starting to leak. We recently conducted a survey of Indiana business leaders and asked if they were going to increase hiring in the next year. The percent of those indicating they were going to increase hiring went up 7 percentage points compared to 2011 (to read more about this study go to www.indianabusinesscouncil.com) . I recently saw a study by Young Presidents Organization (YPO). This is organization of, as you can guess, presidents of organizations that are below a certain age. This study asked these presidents about various aspects of their business; sales, fixed investments, and employee count. In this study, more than 30% said they planned to increase hiring by at least 10% over the next year, with more than 10% saying they will increase hiring by 20% or more. So who do you think they are going to hire? Sure some of the unemployed will get snatched up but the majority of these hires will be companies pilfering the top talent from other companies, your top talent.
As business leaders you have a couple of choices here. You can turn away and ignore the dam and explain it away. You can try to put your finger in a few of the holes in hopes that it will get you by. Or you can put up some bricks and mortar to reinforce the dam, the bricks and mortar is called employee loyalty. By measuring what employees are looking for in their job and from their company, you can take the appropriate action that will have an impact on employee loyalty and the organization as a whole. We know for a fact that loyal employees are less likely to leave an organization and more likely to resist offers. We also know these employees are more likely to speak highly of the company, help out co-workers with heavy workloads, support the strategy of the organization, and go above and beyond in their job. The graph below is from a national employee loyalty study from several years ago but it clearly illustrates that loyal employees are more likely to exhibit positive behaviors.
Customer strategists continue to look for creative ways to share their message and to inform others. They are looking for ways to demonstrate why customer focus is important to the business strategy and how customers feel about the organization.
The communication gets complex because the audience is varied, ranging from external groups like customers and shareholders, to internal teams like sales managers, account managers, product developers, product marketing, service reps, executives...the list goes on and on.
When this infographic came through my twitter feed, I couldn't help but think of different ways customer strategists can use this type of an approach to reach their audience. Here are some of the things that came to mind:
Communications to customers: Customers want to know that their feedback is being put to use. An infographic can be used to share some of the insights you learned from their feedback.
Reach an entire sales organization: Sales teams are geographically dispersed, requiring the use of technology to reach them and let's face it, sales teams want simple. They are busy serving customers and want to spend their time that way. Let's give them something that is easy and enjoyable to digest.
The broad organization: I can visualize an infographic that is focused on communicating how customer feedback is being used for customer retention strategies. It would include statistics like the financial benefit of Loyal customers and demonstrate how customer feedback can be used to predict future customer behaviors.
What do the cloud, social media, and lean innovation have in common? Each are impacting voice of the customer programs and changing the way we measure, manage, and deliver an exceptional and differentiated customer experience.
Cloud computing: The cloud changes the way customers buy products. Customers move from product ownership to product subscription. In doing this, the switching barriers are lessened for the customer and the company is rewarded with recurring revenue. Cloud-based companies need to adapt their voice of the customer program to focus on predicting customer renewals.
Social media: Customers don't need to wait for a company to conduct a customer survey research program to share their thoughts and feelings. With social media, customers have channels to share their feedback with the company, not to mention their closest friends, fans, and followers. Companies are reacting to this trend by monitoring the discussion and engaging in the conversation on public and private social media forums. This has resulted in a voice of the customer platform that companies are still trying to understand.
Lean innovation: Have you ever thought that product development happens in a bubble with engineers, scientists, and innovators isolated in a building and left to their own devices? This paradigm is shifting and the voice of the customer is becoming more important throughout the product development cycle. In this article, Ravi Aron, senior fellow from Wharton's Mack Center for Technological Innovation implies, "[Lean] begins its journey when an organization attempts to hear the voice of the customer." As the innovation process looks to adopt lean principles to reduce time and costs, one essential ingredient is the customer perspective, putting the customer perspective in greater demand.
In a world where the only constant is change, our voice of the customer programs must be adaptable to support our ever changing customer retention strategies.
Are Accessible customers worth the effort? After all, they are an odd mix -- they like you, but don't plan to keep giving you their business. There are a couple ways these customer relationships can be valuable and shouldn't be shunned too quickly.
In the context of the Loyalty Matrix accessible customers have a positive attitude (how they feel about working with your company), but show negative behavior (what they actually plan to do). When you think about, it is a little strange. Why would a customer have a good attitude, but not plan to keep coming back?
It usually means something has changed and they no longer need your product or service. For instance, let's say you have a favorite coffee shop. You like the people, the atmosphere, and the products. But then you move a few miles away. Even though you like going there, it is simply too far out of your way and there are other good options that are much more convenient.
Here are two reason to continue to cultivate accessible customers.
First, accessible customers will recommend you. Who knows how their positive comments will help you secure new customers in the future?
Second, you may have other solutions to offer to them. Particularly in a business-to-business situations it's smart to check in with these customers to make sure they are familiar with your entire range of solutions. They may discover another reason to work with you or may direct you to another contact and provide a personal endorsement.
Accessible customers are typically a small percentage of a company's overall customer base, but they can still be important in helping you grow your business.
In this video, Allison Melangton, CEO of the XLVI Super Bowl Host Committeee, shares some of her lessons learned while planning and organizing the 2012 Super Bowl.
Allison's advice serves as a nice reminder for those in charge of developing and executing customer retention strategies. Consider these tips:
Be Bold: Allison says, "If you really believe in something, be bold about it, even though you might have some doubters." Are your customer strategies bold? If not, why?
Make it Different: Allison talks about how they decided to use a different approach to submit the bid for the Super Bowl. Instead of sending the bid to the NFL owners via UPS, they decided to have 8th graders deliver the bid. Are your customer retention strategies unique or are you delivering the same customer experience as others?
Don't Let Logistics Stand in the Way: As a customer strategist, we often face logistical challenges such as, how are we going to train our entire sales organization, or how can we get the right customer names and contact information for our customer survey research program. We can no longer let logistical challenges stand in our way. What logistics are holding you back?
Focus on Your Strengths: Whether or not someone tells you that, "all of your work is self-inflicted," we must focus first on our strengths. What strengths are your customer retention stratgies focused on?
How does your company operate? Are you “winging it” or do you have a plan and a process to get things done?
According to urbandictionary.com “winging it” means to improvise with little preparation.
There may be successful companies that don’t plan much. But in my experience, without a plan and process to improve the customer experience - nothing happens.
Companies are much more likely to achieve their goals when their systems and processes work together. This was recently reinforced when a business colleague shared a successful example of using customer feedback in a very tangible way.
• The VOC program identified issue resolution as a priority area for the support organization. Open case age was over 50 days. A customer could easily get lost in the shuffle. Eventually many had to call in again and start all over. (How frustrating would that be?)
• The team put a big focus on managing and reducing open case age in their action plan. They created global visibility around the issue and built accountability into the process. (No winging it here!)
• As a result, open case age has dramatically declined. The customer experience is better and customers are more satisfied with the time it takes to resolve issues.
Case age has been reduced by 67%, but they’re not done yet. The team is working to reduce it even more - and they will. They have the discipline to stick with the process and make a difference.
“Winging it” usually isn’t enough to execute a customer focused strategy. Aligning the customer results effort with process improvement is critical to your success.
One common challenge customer-focused leadership faces is knowing the right question to answer or problem to solve. This isn't just a challenge reserved for customer strategists. It is a challenge faced by all leaders.
In the movie Moneyball, this challenge surfaces during a meeting where the Oakland A scouts discuss how they are going to replace their most valuable player. The discussion went something like this:
Scout 1: "We're trying to solve a problem here Billy."
Billy Beane: "Not like this you're not. You're not even looking at the problem."
Scout 1: "Look Billy. We all understand what the problem is."
Billy Beane: "Good. What's the problem?"
Scout 1: "The problem is, we have to replace three key players."
Billy Beane: "No. What's the problem?"
Scout 2: "Same as it's ever been. We have to replace these guys with what we have existing."
Billy Beane: "No. What's the problem Barry?"
Scout 3: "We need 38 home runs 120 RBIs."
Billy Bean: Makes a buzzer sound indicating another wrong answer and goes on to explain the real problem.
Knowing the real problem that you are trying to address is the first step to developing a customer strategy that will ensure success. Before you get too far down any path, take a step back and challenge the problem you are trying to solve.
Once you've identified the real problem, you can design a customer satisfaction and loyalty program that is aligned with the true business need.
The cloud is changing a variety of customer interactions, one of which is the purchase process. We've seen a shift from buying, to renting, and now to subscribing.
Consider movie viewing as an example. Years ago, to watch a movie at home, we bought a VHS or DVD. Shortly thereafter, we went to Blockbuster and rented the movie. Today, many subscribe to Netflix, where they pay a monthly fee and get unlimited rentals.
This change is happening across many industries, including those providing business-to-business products and services. In the report titled, "Sizing the Cloud," Forrester predicts the "global market for cloud computing will grow from $40.7 billion in 2011 to more than $241 billion in 2020."
This shift is impacting the role of customer strategy consulting. Historically, customer strategy consulting has focused on predicting repeat purchases by identifying which customers are likely (or not likely) to purchase again, when the need arises.
With the cloud, customer strategy consulting is focused on protecting the ongoing and recurring revenue. It is focused on predicting which customers will continue their service versus those who will cancel.
While there are many similarities between the historical role of customer strategy consulting and the role for companies with cloud offerings, consider these differences.
- The switching barriers are minimized for cloud customers, shifting the risk from the customer to the company. To help protect their investment, the company needs to have an intimate understanding of their customer segments, sophisticated analytics to understand and predict renewals within each segment, and systems or business processes that optimize the renewal potential.
- For many cloud-based companies, one sales manager could have many customers. Having a clear line of sight into each customer becomes difficult, if not impossible. Companies need a system that leverages the various sources of customer information to help sales managers prioritize where and how to spend their time.
The cloud is transforming the way companies do business. It has many advantages for companies and customers, but to have long term success, companies must leverage the customer voice to protect and grow their renewals. Integrating the customer perspective into business processes will bring clarity from the cloud.
outside of surveys. This hit me as I read this 
While 
daylight through a layer of snow.
One common response from people who use customer insights to drive corporate business strategy goes something like this, "The customer comments are great. They are very helpful and valuable."
s of organizations that are below a certain age. This study asked these presidents about various aspects of their business; sales, fixed investments, and employee count. In this study, more than 30% said they planned to increase hiring by at least 10% over the next year, with more than 10% saying they will increase hiring by 20% or more. So who do you think they are going to hire? Sure some of the unemployed will get snatched up but the majority of these hires will be companies pilfering the top talent from other companies, your top talent. 
Billy Beane: "Good. What's the problem?"
The cloud is changing a variety of customer interactions, one of which is the purchase process. We've seen a shift from buying, to renting, and now to subscribing.
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