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Why Your Company's Customer Experience May Be Falling Behind
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(Posted on Jul 24, 2013 at 07:53PM )
Regular readers of the Help Scout blog know that we love research and statistics.I recently came across new consumer data from Forrester, a global research and advisory firm specializing in the customer experience, which features a number of shocking claims.

While many companies think that they are leading the charge with service quality and creating an innovative customer experience, the numbers tell quite a different story … in the eyes of customers, most companies are falling flat.

Today we are going to scrutinize what most companies are doing incorrectly and highlight how to fix these problems.
Avoid reading at your own risk, since we’ll be putting the spotlight on why less than 10 percent of companies are receiving a passing grade from customers!

1. Too Much Imitation, Not Enough Innovation When it comes to delivering an outstanding customer experience, far too many companies are content with simply “keeping up with the Joneses.â€
In the most recent Forrester survey of 100 customer experience professionals, 58 percent of respondents said that their firms drive customer experience innovation by closely watching what their direct competitors are doing, and a full 72 percent look to outright copy companies in other industries.

The embarrassing amount of copying that is going on has been recently pointed out by research analyst Kerry Bodine, and it’s the reason why “good enough†is the disappointingly low bar to which many companies now strive:
Citibank wanted to copy the Apple store so badly that it actually hired the same architects responsible for the Apple store concept to design its bank of the future. Imitation may be the highest form of flattery—but it's not innovation.†There is a lot more risk in copying your competitors than you may think. First of all, they might not know exactly what they are doing; even if they do, it doesn’t mean that what works for them will work for you.

Even worse, many companies are not seeking to imitate the industry leaders, or those businesses most known for their customer experience. According to the Forrester analysis published in the Harvard Business Review:

…13% of companies said that they'll settle for nothing less than having the best customer experience across every industry—in other words, these companies want to be the next Apple, Disney, or Zappos.â€Ã¢Ã‚۬ That leaves a whopping 87 percent of companies who will settle for less than the best when it comes to their customer experience!
We’ve previously shown you the data on how 80 percent of companies believe they are delivering superior service to their competitors. In light of these admissions, it’s easy to see why in reality they are falling flat. Consider this startling statistic from the Forrester survey:

In 2013, only 8% of the companies surveyed received a top grade from their customers for their customer experience.
The problem: Many companies think that they are leading the charge in customer experience innovation, but in reality they are okay with being just “okay.â€Ã¢Ã‚۬
This sort of thinking is dangerous. You’ll never be able to convince customers to switch to your company by simply matching the passable service quality of your competitors.
The image below offers a supporting example (because here at Help Scout, we’re nothing if not honest!) of this fact. Many of our prospective customers who are currently with a competitor stay not because they are blown away by what they are paying for, but because their current experience is “good enough.â€Ã¢Ã‚۬
If “good enough†is what landed the customer in the first place, do you think it’ll be enough to win them over to your business? Of course not! Remember that “okay†is not okay when it comes to delivering an experience that aims to keep customers for life.
Since the majority of companies are failing to deliver when it comes to customer expectations, following their lead will likely result in a vicious cycle of the blind leading the blind. Being at the head of the pack means turning your back to them.

2. Using Technology as a Crutch A great customer experience is still reliant on memorable employee-to-customer interactions. In other words, it’s still about the people. (Breaking news: The sun is hot!)

Why, then, do so many companies rely on technology as the crutch for delivering their service?

Keep in mind that technology alone isn’t the culprit here; the issue is using technology without considering the needs of your customers (“technology for technology’s sakeâ€), which can end in disaster.
A multinational auto insurance company provides an excellent example here. The company invested heavily in a new mobile app that would connect customers to a call center agent in an emergency.
The idea looked good on paper, but it failed to account for the fact that drivers wouldn’t preemptively download the app in anticipation of getting into a car crash … and they had more pressing things on their minds than browsing an app store once an accident occurred.
The result: Another so-called innovation that failed to produce business results.

The lesson here is that new ways to improve the customer experience must be founded in differentiation and their ability to generate long-term value for the business.
Simply being innovative or on-trend won’t result in real improvements in doing business with your company.
Remember why this app fell flat, and be sure that the improvements you make are geared toward resolving the issues that actually plague your customers.
How to Fix These Problems Bodine has outlined a few smart, applicable strategies for putting some of the worries discussed above to bed.

Below are her top three tips for avoiding a stagnant, misguided customer experience.

Tip #1 Rethink Opportunities Before Moving Academic research has shown that when it comes to brainstorming, the best ideas and most creative solutions result from looking at the problem from multiple angles. As Einstein said, “If I had an hour to solve a problem, I’d spend 55 minutes thinking about the problem and five minutes thinking about solutions.â€
Bodine sees the lack of multi-angled investigation as one of the fundamental errors that most business owners make when they seek to improve the customer experience. She highlights this point in her HBR piece:
Companies need to start their innovation initiatives with an outside-in approach that frames their business challenges within the context of customers' unmet needs.†Essentially, Bodine is saying that companies should reframe and closely evaluate what customers actually want before diving headfirst into the latest favored strategy in the world of CRM. This advice seems obvious, but as evidenced in the insurance example above, companies are prone to creating apps and new tools without closely evaluating whether or not they will truly be useful to customers or whether they solve a real pain point.

Bodine continues with an example from Philips Healthcare, who gathered customer feedback by using an innovative real-life form of user testing:

To identify new opportunities, for example, Philips Healthcare mapped out a typical day in the life of a radiologist, a key purchase influencer, regardless of whether those activities involved Philips. This approach enabled the team to identify a key pain point in radiologists' daily work—an inability to compare one patient's scan with those of others—that Philips already had the data for and capability to solve but hadn't considered productizing.â€Ã¢Ã‚۬ Tip #2 Infuse the Experience with the Brand Many of the most memorable customer experience innovations are strongly tied to the brand that first championed them. In many instances, the idea wasn’t so much unique as it was different. Bodine points to some big brands that were able to pull this off:

Ikea Systems' cartoon furniture assembly instructions, Mini Cooper's retro-inspired dashboard, and the cheerful chirp of a Zappos’ customer service rep—the qualities of these customer experiences create strong associations with their brands.â€Ã¢Ã‚۬
Since the majority of companies are failing to deliver when it comes to customer expectations, following their lead will likely result in a vicious cycle of the blind leading the blind. Being at the head of the pack means turning your back to them.

2. Using Technology as a Crutch A great customer experience is still reliant on memorable employee-to-customer interactions. In other words, it’s still about the people. (Breaking news: The sun is hot!)

Why, then, do so many companies rely on technology as the crutch for delivering their service?

Keep in mind that technology alone isn’t the culprit here; the issue is using technology without considering the needs of your customers (“technology for technology’s sakeâ€), which can end in disaster.
A multinational auto insurance company provides an excellent example here. The company invested heavily in a new mobile app that would connect customers to a call center agent in an emergency.
The idea looked good on paper, but it failed to account for the fact that drivers wouldn’t preemptively download the app in anticipation of getting into a car crash … and they had more pressing things on their minds than browsing an app store once an accident occurred.
The result: Another so-called innovation that failed to produce business results.

The lesson here is that new ways to improve the customer experience must be founded in differentiation and their ability to generate long-term value for the business.
Simply being innovative or on-trend won’t result in real improvements in doing business with your company.
Remember why this app fell flat, and be sure that the improvements you make are geared toward resolving the issues that actually plague your customers.
How to Fix These Problems Bodine has outlined a few smart, applicable strategies for putting some of the worries discussed above to bed.

Below are her top three tips for avoiding a stagnant, misguided customer experience.

Tip #1 Rethink Opportunities Before Moving Academic research has shown that when it comes to brainstorming, the best ideas and most creative solutions result from looking at the problem from multiple angles. As Einstein said, “If I had an hour to solve a problem, I’d spend 55 minutes thinking about the problem and five minutes thinking about solutions.â€
Bodine sees the lack of multi-angled investigation as one of the fundamental errors that most business owners make when they seek to improve the customer experience. She highlights this point in her HBR piece:
Companies need to start their innovation initiatives with an outside-in approach that frames their business challenges within the context of customers' unmet needs.†Essentially, Bodine is saying that companies should reframe and closely evaluate what customers actually want before diving headfirst into the latest favored strategy in the world of CRM. This advice seems obvious, but as evidenced in the insurance example above, companies are prone to creating apps and new tools without closely evaluating whether or not they will truly be useful to customers or whether they solve a real pain point.

Bodine continues with an example from Philips Healthcare, who gathered customer feedback by using an innovative real-life form of user testing:

To identify new opportunities, for example, Philips Healthcare mapped out a typical day in the life of a radiologist, a key purchase influencer, regardless of whether those activities involved Philips. This approach enabled the team to identify a key pain point in radiologists' daily work—an inability to compare one patient's scan with those of others—that Philips already had the data for and capability to solve but hadn't considered productizing.â€Ã¢Ã‚۬ Tip #2 Infuse the Experience with the Brand Many of the most memorable customer experience innovations are strongly tied to the brand that first championed them. In many instances, the idea wasn’t so much unique as it was different. Bodine points to some big brands that were able to pull this off:

Ikea Systems' cartoon furniture assembly instructions, Mini Cooper's retro-inspired dashboard, and the cheerful chirp of a Zappos’ customer service rep—the qualities of these customer experiences create strong associations with their brands.â€Ã¢Ã‚۬
Cartoon Style for IKEA Assembly Instructions And when it comes to innovation, the more an experience feels like a specific brand, the harder it is for competitors to copy it. It doesn’t take a huge budget to pull this off, either. As the examples above clearly showcase, it’s the little things that count; starting with items like a personal thank-you note can go a long way in creating an experience that customers will remember.

When your customer experience is intrinsically tied to your brand, you will naturally avoid the first problem discussed above—innovations, features and experience improvements that don’t suit your customers’ actual needs.

In another fascinating case study, Bodine highlights how a new restaurant concept from Bertucci’s addressed this highly important aspect:
That's why design and innovation consultancy Continuum created mood boards when developing a new restaurant concept for Bertucci's called 2ovens. A collage of carefully chosen photos depicted the desired 2ovens vibe; helped align internal Bertucci's stakeholders; guided the design of touchpoints as diverse as the dining space, menu, and website; and even shaped the company's hiring policies.â€Ã¢Ã‚۬ A 2ovens-style focus on innovation efforts that fit your brand’s personality and way of doing business will also help you create experience-specific elements that your competitors can’t easily mimic.
Tip #3 Create an Experience Around the Business Model Lastly, Bodine encourages companies to innovate in areas that best support their business model of choice. Just as choosing the right channel for customer service is critical (whether you adhere to traditional or newer online service methods), innovations for the customer experience should be based on the business you are running and your business model’s inherent strengths.
As an example, Bodine focuses on how ZipCar was able to spur on innovation where other traditional companies couldn’t compete:

Zipcar's car-sharing business model drove a need for keycard (and then mobile phone) vehicle entry—new types of interactions that traditional rental companies never envisioned.†Where can your company improve the customer experience and overall satisfaction while playing off of the advantages of your industry and how you do business?

When your customer experience is intrinsically tied to your brand, you will naturally avoid the first problem discussed above—innovations, features and experience improvements that don’t suit your customers’ actual needs.

In another fascinating case study, Bodine highlights how a new restaurant concept from Bertucci’s addressed this highly important aspect:
That's why design and innovation consultancy Continuum created mood boards when developing a new restaurant concept for Bertucci's called 2ovens. A collage of carefully chosen photos depicted the desired 2ovens vibe; helped align internal Bertucci's stakeholders; guided the design of touchpoints as diverse as the dining space, menu, and website; and even shaped the company's hiring policies.â€Ã¢Ã‚۬ A 2ovens-style focus on innovation efforts that fit your brand’s personality and way of doing business will also help you create experience-specific elements that your competitors can’t easily mimic.
Tip #3 Create an Experience Around the Business Model Lastly, Bodine encourages companies to innovate in areas that best support their business model of choice. Just as choosing the right channel for customer service is critical (whether you adhere to traditional or newer online service methods), innovations for the customer experience should be based on the business you are running and your business model’s inherent strengths.
As an example, Bodine focuses on how ZipCar was able to spur on innovation where other traditional companies couldn’t compete:

Zipcar's car-sharing business model drove a need for keycard (and then mobile phone) vehicle entry—new types of interactions that traditional rental companies never envisioned.†Where can your company improve the customer experience and overall satisfaction while playing off of the advantages of your industry and how you do business?

This is an interview I did with Klout for their Klout Stars series, where they ask “influencers†about their background in social media. 1. How did you get started in social media? I was originally a political consultant, helping manage campaigns for Governor, U.S. Senate, and President. I moved out of that industry into digital marketing in 1994. Since then, I’ve owned several companies in the online marketing world, including an award-winning agency that I sold in 2005. In 2008, I started Convince & Convert to help corporations and other agencies strip away the hype and successfully integrate social media.
I love social because it’s the perfect combination of online marketing and retail politics. You’re trying to win hearts and minds one at a time, or a few at a time using stories and humanization, but you’re using digital techniques to do so, rather than salacious 30-second ads and cheesy direct mail.
I started my Convince & Convert blog to create a place that straddles the line between social media theory and social media execution, while always trying to show how social is an ingredient, not the whole entree. Same thing for The NOW Revolution: 7 Shifts to Make Your Business Faster, Smarter and More Social
the book I wrote with Amber Naslund. It’s not a book about doing social media, it’s a book about how companies can BE social.
2. What’s your strategy for the content you produce and share on social media?
My mom and stepdad were both high school teachers, as was my grandmother. Education (and tequila) runs through my veins. I see my role as that of a translator and coach, taking important social media principles and explaining them in a practical way to people who are very smart marketers and businesspeople, but not necessarily social media practitioners day-to-day. With my blog, my Twitter feed, my twice-weekly email newsletter, and other vehicles, I try to curate what matters and add a heavy dose of my own interpretation and advice.
3. What advice do you have for someone who wants to take their social media influence and presence to the next level?
Three things to remember:
First, it’s a paradox, but the more you “sell†the less you sell. You earn the right to promote in social, you can’t buy it. The difference between helping and selling is just two letters, but those letters mean everything. Find a way to genuinely help other people via social media, and it will come back to you five-fold eventually.
Second, realize that social media happens fast, but success is accrued very slowly. If you think you’re going to be able to get involved in social media and have massive influence in two months, you’re kidding yourself (unless you’re a celeb, in which case your influence just needs to be unlocked, preferably from aboard a yacht).
Third, there is NO shortcut. People invariably try to game the system, to increase their Klout score by doing this or doing that. I’m fortunate enough to have interacted with a lot of people who are (at least according to Klout score) considered influential in social media. And the only thing that is universal among them is that they worked extremely hard to make it happen. I firmly believe that just about anyone can make social media work for them, but you have to love it and you have to put in the time.
By Jay Bear
DealerNet Services 
In the past, writing skills for B2B marketers weren't as important as being able to source lists and batch send a heavilyproduct-oriented email, hoping someone will open the email and maybe even read it!But it's not so easy these days.
Your buyers are sick of interruption-style marketing tactics, so B2B marketers are switching to content marketing tactics in order to cut through the noise and engage successfully with the target audience.
Content marketing entails drawing buyers to you so they happily part with their details in exchange for information they actually value and want - and that rarely involves talking about your product or service.
So you have to develop your writing skills to be a successful B2B marketer in this day and age. Here are some of the different things you will need to be able to write:
1. Website Copy Because you're most familiar with the buyer personas that you're selling to, you will probably be given the task of writing copy for the entire website - and beyond. This is no easy feat.
Write with SEO (Search Engine Optimisation) in mind Although Google is asking for an emphasis on content and user experience, keywords are still important, because it's what your buyers are searching. You must know how to write for:
- On-site SEO. To make sure your website is easily found, you'll have to think of attractive metadata and meta descriptions. You'll also have to decide on phrases for headings, alt text, and internal links. Then there's the job of writing the actual copy.
- Off-site SEO. Besides guest blogs, off-site SEO is all about social media. These include everything from status updates to personal and company bios.
Build Landing Pages & Calls to Action (CTAs) These are really important, because CTAs entice buyers to visit your landing page, and landing pages entice buyers to convert into contacts. For this reason A/B testing would be a good idea on both to test the language and design you have used.
If you're not sure what kind of copy would be most successful, put up variations and see which one does best when you have a good data set. Your marketing automation software should be able to do this easily.
It's also important to consider how you will structure your forms on these pages. While you must add enough fields to make it easy for yourself to segment your contacts later on, if you're too demanding you will scare people away. You want to have contacts to market to in the first place!
Use Paid Ads Using Google AdWords for PPC or remarketing campaigns can work really well - if you're offering the right thing, in the right way. Remember, people are completely sick of being sold to, so don't be too pushy. Consider what stage of they funnel they're in, and match your offer accordingly.
For example, link to a piece of content if they're still educating themselves. But if they're lower down the funnel and already looking for a solution like yours, that's when you link to a demo, trail or product/services page so they can find out more.
2. High Value Content Buyers don't need to talk to a salesperson until they're ready to buy. When they're doing research, they're making those early buying decisions themselves. Use your high value content to be seen as a trusted source of information when they're in that key stage of their journey.
Write Smart Blog Posts I do not mean press releases about your product, or new hire, or what award you have recently won. None of those blogs will be of any value to your buyer. Resist the urge to talk about yourself and give them some valuable tips that will make their lives easier. Prove to them that you know all about the problems they're facing, and you are happy to share some tips on how they can solve these problems.
Which brings us to our next point.
Develop "Chunky" Content Each blog should have a CTA at the end which serves as a way of converting your blog reader into a contact. But again it has to be of high value to them, aligning with your blog topic. Most of the time, it's something like an eBook, a research report, or a webinar. It can be anything, as long as it's worth it to your buyer. Put yourself in your buyers shoes - what are they looking to get out of the blog? Use an offer that best suits that purpose.
Invest In Case Studies The old school case study still has a place in content marketing - as long as it's written with an inbound twist. This means that you focus more on the experience of the person you're interviewing. How did they feel at the time? What pushed them to realise they had a problem? How did they go about their search? Write as if you're telling a story. You are trying to demonstrate to other potential buyers that you understand their world and have solved their problems before. These work particualrly well at the consideration stage, once your target buyer are past the awareness stage of their buying journey.
3. Emails Writing non-salesy emails can be tricky if you've never done it before - especially if you're sending it to people who don't know who you are yet. It's imperative that you have a strong incentive for them to open, read, and click through your email.
The basic structure should go like this:
- Introduce yourself. Answer the question: Who are you?Â
- State your offer. Answer the reason: Why are you emailing me?
- Reinforce your offer. Answer the question: Why should I care?
- Provide instructions. Answer the question: What should I do next?
Here are three awesome blog posts for further reading:
- 4 Steps to Writing B2B Promos That Actually Work (MarketingProfs)
- 11 Smart Tips for Brilliant Writing (CopyBlogger)
- Copywriting: How to improve headlines on landing pages and blog posts (MarketingSherpa)
Dealer Net Services
Your Copywriter Don't Dance and Your Content Don't Rock 'n' Roll [PODCAST] Shake it up Baby!
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(Posted on Jul 18, 2013 at 11:57PM )
If you haven't heard this it's great. If you have it's worth another listen
“The Point – In Your Ear†is back sneering at crappy content like the king of rock and roll. In this wild tale, you’ll hear about a street corner advertising rock star, the ho-hum state of online content, the point of view of advertising legend Tom McElligot, how content is too much like merlot, and why you need to step on some blue suede shoes.
It’ll all make sense 9 minutes from now. Enjoy.
Follow this link:Â Podcast
The story begins...
 You know those starved-for-work folks who stand out on street corners in extreme heat and wave around signs and giant arrows attempting to bring you into a nearby store?  Of course you do. They're everywhere. Cheap advertising, I guess. I have to believe they make $8 an hour or whatever minimum wage is in your state. This is not a position that demands much skill. Fairly often, these human ads have a tiny touch of schtick. Costumes are common. Maybe they wear a sandwich board or have a prop of some sort. Let's call it what it is. It's dull.
A street corner advertising rock star.
Her job is to generate traffic to the Verizon Wireless store. She has no props. Nor does she hawk an offer you haven't seen a million times. Sounds, pretty ho-hum, I know. But day after day, she's doing her thing on the well-traveled corner of Green Valley and Francisco and she calls a ton of attention to herself and the store. I bet she actually does generate traffic. And I'd bet you an hour wages, she's paid several shillings more than minimum wage. Why?
She dances. Enthusiastically. Oddly, actually. Relentlessly. She has an iPod in her pocket, earbuds in her ears, music in her heart, and she never stops dancing. And believe me, she doesn't dress like or move like a Dallas Cowboys cheerleader. And if you're wondering if she'd cut it on "So You Think You Can Dance," the answer is no chance.
She doesn't bring amazing talent to her extremely unusual profession. She brings originality and passion.
Let's talk about online marketing now.
Listen to the podcast now
http://dealernetservicesonline.biz
Â
Let Me Count the Ways-Who’s Running “Your†Digital Marketing Campaigns?
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(Posted on Jul 8, 2013 at 03:03PM )
This is not meant to act as an advertisement for any one company but as an awakening to inform you of Quality of talent, professionalism and knowhow that is available out there in the marketplace.I recently joined   One Big Broadcast (OBB) as OBB’s Strategic Global Marketing Partner and I will explain why.Â
If you look carefully at their website they’ve got it down. A Professional Production and Arts and Design Department and Professional Writers from all over the world who handle Content, Social Integration, Social Casting, Organic Search etc. And all their platforms are proprietary developed by their own Software Engineering Department. Â
Also, OBB’s Platform is a cloud powered tightly integrated framework which means speed and everything works together. More importantly everything works together blogs with web pages. Multiple blogs with social accounts etc. Our own Google Maps powered galleries called IMGY as a landing pad for Pinterest. In this new age of content marketing everything needs to work fast, together and most important be on your web site or point back from social, articles or external blogs.
OBB also has clients from around the world in many different industries which brings a much broader out of the box understanding with fresh ideas that can enhance your marketing strategy. OBB is headed by one of the most down to earth men I have had the honor to know. And this is the type of open minded person that is going to attract other like minded people who are open to fresh ideas that will make a bigger impact for their clients.
And if you haven’t heard of some of these terms, programs and platforms and everything mentioned and discussed at OBB’s Website then please read on and thoroughly and learn because you do not have a great Digital Marketing Department-Yet.
And you should not be piecemealing your marketing out to this or that vendor. You need an integrated marketing strategy for it to work properly and be successful. You need an experienced company that can fully integrate your Digital Marketing Program.
The complexity of this New Technological Frontier is too great and would be too costly for you to try to recruit the people companies like OBB can provide you to benefit you from everything this phenomenal and rapidly changing technological environment has to offer.
 I am sure there are other qualified and experienced Digital Marketing Companies out there and this discussion is to bring your attention to seriously look at what you are doing. Are you just stumbling through, do you have it down because if you don’t you are losing through wasted expenditures that are leaving you spinning your wheels.
If you are to fully engage the new Digital world we live in, you need professionals like OBB or a company like them to lead the way and help make your Digital marketing the best it can be.
Your BDC should be staffed with people who know how to make appointments to get customers to your lot. Staffed with people who know how to follow upon on non-converted visits ( because a third party can generally get a customer to open up more than they would to the salesperson who dealt with them.) Interacting with leads should be the main focus of your BDC staff.
Let’s face it would you expect your receptionist to desk deals-of course not so keep your BDC people focused on what they should be doing and do best.
Your professional in your field so deal with professionals who specialize in what they do best and you will save money and your top and bottom lines will be a lot better for it.
Below is an article whose intent was not to imply what I am here but this is a prime example of why you need a Professional Digital Marketing Company to take the reins at your Dealership.
Why would you want to waste time and money and wait, test and experiment yourself or worse yet with a company who is in this position when there are companies out there that already have all these things tested out measured and proven and in place now.
If your feeling like the person in the picture accompanying this article then after reading the article below go back and read this piece again study everything again and again and then make the decision to call a company that can make all these things happen for you now.
Author Bill Cosgrove
http://dealernetservicesonline.biz
