FEI and IMA recently surveyed their membership (these are CFOs from local Southern California businesses). While many were cutting costs, through renegotiating with vendors and the like, most were looking forward to a better future. They were investing in improving processes. They were training their management and staff on ways to cut costs and perform better. Almost half of them were launching new products in the next few months and continuing to invest in Research and Development, at least, not cutting there. Many of their businesses, particularly in service industries, have flattened out and are just starting to see the hints of recovery. The business is nowhere near as good as 12 months ago, but it may be turning up. Many of these excutives felt that the road to full recovery may take a while, up to two years. What do you think?
Penn Post, Bob Eberlein and Chris Stiehl conducted this research. It will be available as a white paper soon. Please let me know if you want to be able to obtain a copy.
Friday, June 5, 2009
Saturday, May 23, 2009
Are You a Good Web Conversationalist? Companies better be!
The great benefit to Web 2.0 is the conversation. Normally, you advertise or do your PR work, and it is all about talking to customers (the target market, etc.), telling them your benefits, then measuring the impact and response. LinkedIn and other social networks allow a conversation between the company and its customers - not just listening, but interacting. How well suited are you to having a conversation with your customers? How do you listen and generate a response, without sending it through legal, etc.?
In my experience, many companies have no mechanism for this. At one company, getting a communication through legal could take a month or more - not practical for the Web. The companies that can design the system for having a conversation with customers online will have a tremendous advantage over their competitors.
The interactive nature of the conversations provides opportunities for market research, particularly for creating a Voice of the Internet Customer. What are the demographics? Do they mirror your target market for your product or service? A well-trained researcher can use the opportunity to ask generic questions, with sincerity, and collect ideas and attributes for analysis. The techniques outlined in our book are applicable here, with a few modifications.
How are you using the interactive nature of the Web? Are you taking advantage of the conversation, or just listening?
In my experience, many companies have no mechanism for this. At one company, getting a communication through legal could take a month or more - not practical for the Web. The companies that can design the system for having a conversation with customers online will have a tremendous advantage over their competitors.
The interactive nature of the conversations provides opportunities for market research, particularly for creating a Voice of the Internet Customer. What are the demographics? Do they mirror your target market for your product or service? A well-trained researcher can use the opportunity to ask generic questions, with sincerity, and collect ideas and attributes for analysis. The techniques outlined in our book are applicable here, with a few modifications.
How are you using the interactive nature of the Web? Are you taking advantage of the conversation, or just listening?
Friday, May 8, 2009
Customer Service People Need to Learn How to Listen!
Companies need to trust their customer service people a little, and not just have them follow a script. Sometimes you feel as though you are speaking to a recording, and listening to one, even when it is a live body on the other end!
I called someone about a service that I had seen advertised on the Internet. I was an enthusiastic buyer, but I had a couple of questions. The person who answered the phone had a script to follow. He proceeded through his script quickly, as if he were in a hurry to get to the next break point where he would ask for my credit card information. I tried several times to interrupt him with questions. One time he stopped, totally befuddled, and had no idea how to answer my question or where to refer me for an answer. He transferred the call to a supervisor.
She asked what my issue was. When I told her, there were a few clicks on her keyboard followed by her reading a script, which was not exactly related to what I had asked. She wound up transferring me again. Apparently, this company had never seen the data that each time you transfer the call, customer satisfaction is cut in half.
By now I had gone from being a very interested buyer, to being an annoyed buyer, to being just curious about where this would all end! No one seemed to be interested, or willing, or able to just shut up and listen to me! They did not have access to the data or the authority to think about my question and answer it. I wound up deciding not to waste any more time, but I wondered, what could my clients learn from this?
Do your sales, marketing and customer service people have access to the data they need and the authority to use it? Are your incoming sales calls scripted, or do you allow the sales rep to listen to the customer and think creatively about how to meet their needs?
If you are reading this post, you are probably sympathetic with the need to ask customers about their pains, wants and needs with respect to products and services. Don't forget to include the sales experience! How do your customers prefer to buy? What are their wants and needs with respect to the sales process...the ordering process? Do you have that needs hierarchy? Make sure your sales people know how to listen!
I called someone about a service that I had seen advertised on the Internet. I was an enthusiastic buyer, but I had a couple of questions. The person who answered the phone had a script to follow. He proceeded through his script quickly, as if he were in a hurry to get to the next break point where he would ask for my credit card information. I tried several times to interrupt him with questions. One time he stopped, totally befuddled, and had no idea how to answer my question or where to refer me for an answer. He transferred the call to a supervisor.
She asked what my issue was. When I told her, there were a few clicks on her keyboard followed by her reading a script, which was not exactly related to what I had asked. She wound up transferring me again. Apparently, this company had never seen the data that each time you transfer the call, customer satisfaction is cut in half.
By now I had gone from being a very interested buyer, to being an annoyed buyer, to being just curious about where this would all end! No one seemed to be interested, or willing, or able to just shut up and listen to me! They did not have access to the data or the authority to think about my question and answer it. I wound up deciding not to waste any more time, but I wondered, what could my clients learn from this?
Do your sales, marketing and customer service people have access to the data they need and the authority to use it? Are your incoming sales calls scripted, or do you allow the sales rep to listen to the customer and think creatively about how to meet their needs?
If you are reading this post, you are probably sympathetic with the need to ask customers about their pains, wants and needs with respect to products and services. Don't forget to include the sales experience! How do your customers prefer to buy? What are their wants and needs with respect to the sales process...the ordering process? Do you have that needs hierarchy? Make sure your sales people know how to listen!
Sunday, April 26, 2009
No $ for Marketing in Downturn? Evidence Says That's a Mistake!
The historical evidence is clear. Companies that want to win in the long run, MAINTAIN or INCREASE their marketing budgets during a downturn, when the ad rates are lower.
Dr. Gerard Tellis of The Marshall School of Business at USC has conducted a study of the recessions in the last 110 years. The recessions are growing less frequent and of shorter duration. Of interest to us is the fact that those who invest in marketing and advertising during the recessions come out of the recession with much stronger brands. Kellogg's did this in the 1930s to gain considerable ground on Post Cereals, for example.
Russ Klein, Chief Marketing Officer of Burger King is doubling down on his investments. He told Advertising Age: "There is strong historical evidence around companies that step up with their innovation and advertising and their ability to move through economic downturns and emerge with stronger brands."
Dr. Tellis' research has shown "There is strong, consistent evidence that cutting back on advertising during a recession can hurt sales during and after the recession, without generating any substantial increase in profits."
Bernard Ryan, of the American Association of Advertising Agencies wrote in Advertising in a Recession in 1991 "One study after another, of recession after recession, shows that those who reduce spending usually lose market share and sales. Furthermore, they take longer to recuperate...The bottom line? The advertiser who does not cut back can move ahead during the recession and afterward, capturing share from those who, hesitant and unsure, do cut back."
Content may still be king. We can help with that with "Voice of the Customer" studies to get the right messaging and words. What do you think?
Dr. Gerard Tellis of The Marshall School of Business at USC has conducted a study of the recessions in the last 110 years. The recessions are growing less frequent and of shorter duration. Of interest to us is the fact that those who invest in marketing and advertising during the recessions come out of the recession with much stronger brands. Kellogg's did this in the 1930s to gain considerable ground on Post Cereals, for example.
Russ Klein, Chief Marketing Officer of Burger King is doubling down on his investments. He told Advertising Age: "There is strong historical evidence around companies that step up with their innovation and advertising and their ability to move through economic downturns and emerge with stronger brands."
Dr. Tellis' research has shown "There is strong, consistent evidence that cutting back on advertising during a recession can hurt sales during and after the recession, without generating any substantial increase in profits."
Bernard Ryan, of the American Association of Advertising Agencies wrote in Advertising in a Recession in 1991 "One study after another, of recession after recession, shows that those who reduce spending usually lose market share and sales. Furthermore, they take longer to recuperate...The bottom line? The advertiser who does not cut back can move ahead during the recession and afterward, capturing share from those who, hesitant and unsure, do cut back."
Content may still be king. We can help with that with "Voice of the Customer" studies to get the right messaging and words. What do you think?
Friday, March 27, 2009
Can You Understand Customers Without Talking to Them?
Recent market research has shown that 75% of senior managers and above in the United States NEVER talk to customers! Does this make sense to you? Not to me!
How can you possibly understand what's going on in the world without talking to customers? I understand that salespersons and Customer Relationship Managers will get nervous about having executives talk to customers. They may promise things that their organization cannot deliver, or say that an issue is "fixed" when the solution that they are talking about is in a future product, not the one the customer has.
Of course, the senior manager or executive will need to be coached on what to ask and what can and cannot be promised. They may want to read our book concerning the Voice of the Customer process. They can talk to their salespeople about what may be on the customer's mind and what problems they may be having.
Having said all of that, why not talk to customers? Why not get a first-hand account of what the issues are? The book describes how to collect and make sense of that data, how to organize it to take action. It is our feeling that ALL senior managers and above should have at least a few conversations with customers every year. There is no substitute for that experience. What do you think?
How can you possibly understand what's going on in the world without talking to customers? I understand that salespersons and Customer Relationship Managers will get nervous about having executives talk to customers. They may promise things that their organization cannot deliver, or say that an issue is "fixed" when the solution that they are talking about is in a future product, not the one the customer has.
Of course, the senior manager or executive will need to be coached on what to ask and what can and cannot be promised. They may want to read our book concerning the Voice of the Customer process. They can talk to their salespeople about what may be on the customer's mind and what problems they may be having.
Having said all of that, why not talk to customers? Why not get a first-hand account of what the issues are? The book describes how to collect and make sense of that data, how to organize it to take action. It is our feeling that ALL senior managers and above should have at least a few conversations with customers every year. There is no substitute for that experience. What do you think?
Monday, March 2, 2009
Can 900 Customers Be Wrong?
On Amazon they began selling milk for $3.99 a gallon. As a result, they got 900 people to rate the milk as very good or outstanding! One rater said that the milk was so good it was "worth its weight in gold times infiniti!" An analysis of Amazon's ratings of books shows that the "average" rating is 4.2 out of 5! When Amazon sold staplers, almost 60% of the raters gave the stapler a 5, with only one rater giving it a 3. Does this mean that there are no average staplers? I don't think so!
When people rate romance novels, for example, they tend to be fans of romance novels. So even a mediocre read is rated good by that audience. How many of us, when we are unhappy, will make the time and effort to find the item on the web and enter a "Poor" rating? If only fans of products are rating them, what happened to the old addage that an unhappy customer tells 30 people, while a happy one tells just a handful? Is that changing on the web?
Are the people inflating scores on the web sincere? There were stories of some companies inflating scores about their products on blogs, etc. Do we trust these scores?
Some companies are using online reviews as measures of the "Voice of the Customer." Is this wise?
We would recommend more traditional surveys, but they have problems as well. What are your thoughts?
When people rate romance novels, for example, they tend to be fans of romance novels. So even a mediocre read is rated good by that audience. How many of us, when we are unhappy, will make the time and effort to find the item on the web and enter a "Poor" rating? If only fans of products are rating them, what happened to the old addage that an unhappy customer tells 30 people, while a happy one tells just a handful? Is that changing on the web?
Are the people inflating scores on the web sincere? There were stories of some companies inflating scores about their products on blogs, etc. Do we trust these scores?
Some companies are using online reviews as measures of the "Voice of the Customer." Is this wise?
We would recommend more traditional surveys, but they have problems as well. What are your thoughts?
Friday, February 27, 2009
Voice of the Sales Staff?
Do you treat your salespeople as well as your customers? You should. Good salespeople are tough to hire and even tougher to hold. You can apply our listening techniques to your sales staff. Learn their pains and learn how to solve them. You will reap great benefits!
One company that did this hired us to interview their sales staff. We obtained a "Voice of the Sales Force" in much the same way as described in our book. We then got several sales managers together to discuss metrics that would predict success with the sales staff's pains, things like "The Amount of Time Required to Generate Reports for Upper Management." Obviously, the staff wanted this metric to be near zero!
By implementing these metrics and solutions, their sales increased, the staff were happier and had more time to make sales calls. Revenues and profits increased. After all, that's the purpose of sales activity, isn't it?
One company that did this hired us to interview their sales staff. We obtained a "Voice of the Sales Force" in much the same way as described in our book. We then got several sales managers together to discuss metrics that would predict success with the sales staff's pains, things like "The Amount of Time Required to Generate Reports for Upper Management." Obviously, the staff wanted this metric to be near zero!
By implementing these metrics and solutions, their sales increased, the staff were happier and had more time to make sales calls. Revenues and profits increased. After all, that's the purpose of sales activity, isn't it?
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