CRM Steps for Success – Plotting the Journey Part 4 of 7
People remember how they feel, not how well they were processed
Developing a customer-centric organisation is the Holy Grail for most businesses. But the road is too often paved with good intentions that make little difference to the actual customer. To get it right requires translating system implementation into a customer management context.
This should highlight the fact that good customer management comes from people, the organisation and the way they are measured. Information is purely part of the enabling platform for this process and not an end in itself.
So, staff need to be taken through the journey that the organisation will take on its way to becoming customer-centric. This process should be two-way with staff from the various functions feeding back their view on where the company currently is on its (customer centric) journey and any outstanding issues that they experience within their company roles.
The result of this planning and feedback process can be encapsulated into a vision statement with clearly identified objectives, milestones and a road to its realisation.
How do you build the vision for a customer centric organisation?
Map The Journey
Using the input from all stakeholders map out your customer journey, from ‘cradle to grave to re-incarnation’ is a good way to look at it. Look at your understanding of the following key fundamental questions;
- What are the main interactions you have with your customers, from roadshows, to digital experiences? Who deals with these interactions and what processes do they follow?
- Ask some deep and difficult questions about where the weak points are in the process, how can they be overcome and where does change need to happen.
- How good well do you get to know the customer, do you build your plans in line with theirs?
- Do you manage the process in which a customer chooses to re-purchase systematically? Are there key points you should be contacting them, do you know what they are?
- Do you manage the lapsed customer experience, once you’ve lost them is there an effort or process in place to get them back as a customer?
The main thing to bear in mind with a customer journey map is that it’s a constantly evolving process. It’s also a process that feeds into it ‘self and repeats, don’t fall foul of the old adage “history repeats because no-one ever learns.”
Don’t forget customer remember how they feel not how well they were processed.
When building your customer journey map into your CRM automate what you have to, but don’t over-do it (or you might get kick back from your users). When you have it really nailed down you can then utilise BI (Business Intelligence) tools to really understand what’s missing and further improve by plugging those gaps as well.
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He is an expert in B2B Customer Experience and Customer Management. This includes CM strategy development; execution of improvement plans (incl. organisational modelling for customer management); programme design; and partnership & alliance development.
Mark's applied work across FMCG, industrials, medical devices, financial services, business services and construction has led to organisations making, significant improvements to their customer management. A large focus of this work has been moving organisations up the Trust Ladder to enable them to benefit from reduced cost to serve, while continuing to innovate and deliver mutual value.
Mark is a Fellow of the Chartered Institute of Marketing and Member of the Institute of Sales and Marketing Management. He holds an MBA in strategy from Henley Business School.
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