High Performing Customer Management Organisations

What are the key characteristics of high performing Customer Management organisations on the Trust Ladder?

Data from our B2B assessments show marked differences between organisations at the top and bottom of the Trust Ladder.

We highlight key characteristics of top performers:

KNOWLEDGE

High scorers consider knowledge the lifeblood of the organisation. They focus on its quality to drive insight into strategy development, and review often to ensure they remain on fertile ground. Insights are used strategically to create added-value with key customers and build relational dependence. Knowledge is shared within the organisation.

STRATEGY

The best have a clear sense of strategic direction flowing through the business. They identify key customers, share and align strategy with opportunities for mutual development at solution, category, channel, sector and market level.

PLANNING

They use simple transparent planning internally with clear links to strategy and action. Planning is extended into the customer base, and manifests itself as: joint planning on specific initiatives, demand planning, inventory controls, etc. It also appears on ‘wiring’ plans – people across the organisation know who to contact, when and why.

IMPLEMENTATION

Top organisations offer excellent customer service. What is promised happens! A culture of improvement is created. There’s a clear ‘one way of working’ providing customers with consistency across all touch points. They work closely with customers on process and procedures to measure cost-release, and ease of doing business. The account team tend to be well respected, expert and empowered.

RESULTS

High scoring Customer Management organisations look beyond standard metrics into outcomes which measure the quality of relationships – indicators of trust levels. They focus internally on capability development, deliver high quality customer relationships and mutual value.

CULTURE & VALUES

High levels of internal trust exist within organisations that perform well, along with collaborative working. They build trust systematically at an organisational, group, divisional and interpersonal level.
Caveat: The scores of the top B2B organisations on the Trust Ladder still fall short of Customer Management ‘good practice.’ We still have lots to do!

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Dr Mark Hollyoake

Mark is a co-founder and Director of Customer Attuned Ltd. He holds a Doctorate from the University ofSouthampton, his thesis focused on Trust as a dynamic within business to business customer relationships.

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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