According to findings by the CMO Council, as reported in a recent MediaPost article, CMOs “don’t know how to use customer input to improve operations, products and processes.” The study, “Giving Customer Voice More Volume” was based on a survey with about 500 senior marketer respondents from major corporations.
Here’s how the respondents’ numbers stacked up in the study:
* 33% indicated their companies “claim to be good at handling customer complaints”.
* 23% indicated their companies “track or measure customer emails”.
* 17% use email feedback “to identify potential customer advocates”.
* 16% “monitor online message boards and social networking sites”.
* 59% indicated their companies “do not compensate any employees or executives based on customer loyalty, satisfaction improvements or analytics”.
* Only 37% cited said they gathered customer insights from customer engagement opportunities; only 15% use this information to “identify and cultivate” potentially powerful brand ambassadors.
* Only 33% said they used customer problems as a means to cultivate new sales opportunities with their customers.
* Only 16% used customer interactions as a means of introducing new products or services.
In the article, the conclusion reached, that was most troubling to the executive director of the CMO Council, Donovan Neale-May, because the “customer custodian” function “is one of the most critical–in fact, the most critical role a CMO can play in an organization: to own every facet of listening, learning, interacting, engaging and optimizing the relationship with the customer, and understanding where the attrition, pain and aggravation is, and doing this in real time. It is mind-boggling to me that the level of attention to this is not what it should be, and fragmented in terms of who owns it.”
In other words, how fragmented is the access to customer data within companies? How fragmented is the “ownership” of responsibility for that data? It’s an age-old problem and based on the findings of the CMO Council, it’s still a problem. But wouldn’t you think, given the state of competition and the economy today, companies would move quickly to fix this problem?
It seems to me, if there’s one thing companies can and should do right now to stabilize their sales losses, it ought to involve customer retention initiatives first rather than customer acquisition as the primary goal.
Questions for Daily Fix readers:
* Shouldn’t marketing and sales managers be able to access all customer data? Shouldn’t it be integrated now, more than ever?
* Shouldn’t listening and engaging customers be job #1 for everyone in every company right now?
* Shouldn’t the marketing department take ownership of monitoring this information and use it to retain customers?
* Lastly, can you think of examples of company interactions you’ve had recently where your problems, observations and requests were truly listened to and honored? Conversely, can you think of examples where they weren’t? In either scenario, how did it make you feel?
I’d love to hear from you.
Ted,
Every CMO who doesn’t know how to integrate customer data should be fired. Integrating it is easy, and there is more than enough technical and non-technical information decribing the available resources and the changes necessary by IT.
The real problem is getting CMOs and others to recognize the need for Inbound Marketing, and then getting them to break down the walls so call centers, customer service, sales and marketing gather, input, and analyze the same data and then use predictive software to turn each functional area (not just sales) into profit centers by addressing calling customer’s wants and needs.
Easy–no. Necessary–absolutely.
Hi Ted,
Great post, and thanks for the heads up on this study. It’s truly alarming that customer engagement seems to be so far down the To Do list. At the same time, this is a good reminder for those of us who think this there’s a “duh” factor here to realize that we still have a lot of work to do to educate our companies and/or our clients.
If CMOs are not paying attention to customer service, what are they doing? Or, to paraphrase liberally from Richard Scary: What do CMOs do all day?
Best,
Daria
Thanks, Lewis. I believe your observations are right on the money, as usual. But here’s my question: who is going to take the initiative to break down these silos in order to market more effectively? Many don’t, can’t or won’t.
Agreed: getting customer service into the purview of marketers is an absolute necessity, otherwise businesses are doomed to fail. Thanks again, Lewis.
Daria,
Thank you for your kind words. I appreciate it. In any time, and especially in one of economic hardship, customer service ought to be job #1 for marketers and everybody else in business.
“If CMOs are not paying attention to customer service, what are they doing?” Good question, Daria. My guess: scrambling to save what they can of their advertising budgets, trying to stave off staff cuts, etc. Rather than using their time and energy in this manner–which might be a moot point anyway–maybe they should just focus on getting a handle on their customers. It’s time for marketers to step up to the plate. Time to prove their worth, or risk becoming increasingly marginalized.
Great observations and comments, Daria. Please do try to get your clients to focus on their customers first. This is increasingly crucial to survival.
Hi Ted, enlightening post, with scary numbers.
I’ll actually offer a different take than Lewis. My experience is that integrating data across corporate silos can be challenging. While technically, such a project can be implemented with available technologies in the marketplace, the project lengths (depending on size of company) could be 6-9 months and maybe longer. Another stumbling block is political issues (data silos are there for a reason–because in most instances information is power). Then you have challenges of data modeling (i.e. entities and their associated relationships), data quality, continued data stewardship and data governance(before and after the project). And I haven’t even yet mentioned the TCO of the technologies required to make all this happen.
All this said, take heart–the journey is absolutely, 100% worth the reward! This is a prime opportunity for marketing –lead by the CMO (and working closely with the CIO)- to take charge and show their companies the business value of integrated data. Companies can go from worst to first with such a strategy.
A small project (you don’t have to eat the whole elephant today) started now in a challenging economic environment, will pay off in spades-and competitive advantage-when the inevitable upturn begins.
Thank you for enlightening us, Paul, about the challenges of breaking down corporate silos. I see this from the outside looking in, so it’s important to get the insights of someone on the inside. While it probably does take considerable time to accomplish a thorough integration of data and customer-facing communications, it’s important to start right now. This really can’t wait. As you say, survival, not to mention competitive advantage are at stake. Let’s hope marketers heed the challenge and rise to it.
Thanks, Paul, for your valuable insights.
Ted & Paul,
I actually agree with Paul. Getting the tech side up is not a mystery but it can take time. That’s what I meant when I said “Integrating it is easy” and then added that the hard part is alignment (breaking down the silos).
CMOs who don’t know how to get the information regarding how to make Inbound Marketing work, which is what we are talking about here, aren’t looking. And I still think they should be fired.
Agreed, Lewis, that this is one of the most important aspects of any CMO’s job. I would think concerned marketing execs would work to get everybody in their organizations on board with the idea of sharing information and communicating effectively with the customer. That necessarily means breaking down corporate silos. But how can you fire CMOs if they don’t get the help/cooperation they need from their counterparts and top management?
What then, Lewis?
Great info.
and confirms what many think. Companies just dont pay enough attention to their customers and this is even more ridiculous given all the web tools that could be used. The good companies consistently have great customer service reputations that they earned.
Successful implementation of business intelligence absolutely requires the support of upper management. According to a book I recently read, it is typically more successful when the upper level management is the CFO or CEO. Not only are they more familiar than the CIO (in most organizations) with the business issues involved, they have greater influence over the pursestrings and can better set expectations throughout the organization.
The good news is, as Paul said, you don’t have to do it all at once. Often the best way to get the CEO or CFO onboard is to tackle a small project “under the radar” and show the value in it.
Depending on the data structure, full integration can be very challenging, but ultimately necessary.
Ted,
[disclosure - I'm the Publicity Director for the International Association for Information & Data Quality]
Excellent post and, as Paul said, frightening numbers. Frightening but not surprising given that repeated studies (formal and informal) have put the cost of poor quality information in organizations at anything from 20% to 50% of turnover depending on the business.
Lewis is correct – technically it is very easy to integrate data. However given the often silo’d and fragmented nature of data in organizations it is often a challenge to be sure you have the right data and are interpreting it correctly when integrating it.
Furthermore, due to the nature of information as an asset that spans the enterprise and can be shared without being diluted or diminished (unlike people.. you can’t share Bob in Accounts across 4 offices in 4 countries and expect him to do a full days work in each office each day) the politics of managing information and its quality can be challenging.
For example, if you marketing efforts are being affected because of incomplete or incorrect customer data, you may find that a key root cause is the metrics being used to incentivise and manage your call centre staff.
What is required is a clear commitment from C level management that information is a key asset of the business and needs to be managed as such and then improved (in the same way as you service company machinery).
I’d recommend the following resources for anyone interested in tackling data quality: Data Driven (by Tom Redman) and Executing Data Quality Projects (by Danette McGilvray) and Implementing an effective Data Quality Strategy
All of these resources (and more) can be found at http://amazon.iaidq.org
Measured Up,
I contend that the companies that continue to offer great customer service will survive, and even thrive, no matter how tough the economy gets. We are all consumers and we all need to be respected, heard and helped to solve our problems, don’t we?
Thanks for adding your thoughts to the post. I appreciate it.
Cam,
I do believe there has to be “buy in” on this kind of integration from the top. In order to break down some of the natural resistance that occurs in the corporate structure, it’s helpful when all of the major players have consensus. It does take time, as Paul duly noted, to accomplish true integration of all customer communications and responses. There’s no time like the present to focus on making this happen, in my view.
Thanks for sharing your insights, Cam. Many of us concur with your thoughts.
Thanks, Daragh, for making some excellent additional points here. Customer information is a key asset of every company and ought to be given the attention and weight that it deserves.
I especially note what you state here: “For example, if you marketing efforts are being affected because of incomplete or incorrect customer data, you may find that a key root cause is the metrics being used to incentivise and manage your call centre staff.”
Not all information is good information. It’s important that quality and not quantity be the focus when it comes to retrieving and managing customer data well.
Thanks for sharing some resources with Daily Fix readers, as well, Daragh. Great stuff.
Ted,
One final clarifying comment: My point regarding firing a CMO was not to fire him or her if they were trying to implement an aligned Inbound Marketing program. They get it! It was to fire any CMO who didn’t understand what that Inbound Marketing program requires and looks like.
As to Cam’s comment, a CMO will find it a struggle to do almost anything if he or she is not working closely and is not building a relationship with the CFO.
It’s tough enough to get this kind of integration done, and to take responsibility for it if the CMO doesn’t get the support needed from the rest of management. CMOs absolutely should be held responsible for taking care of the customer, and for taking the needed steps to make that happen. However, if their counterparts in the organization do not assist them in making that happen, even when the marketing officers try to reach out, what then? All relationships are a two-way street. I guess what I’m saying is that the situation needs to be assessed from all sides. Thanks for clarifying, Lewis. I appreciate your taking the time to do so.
I’d like to offer points of view in regard to two of your questions.
First, “Shouldn’t listening and engaging customers be job #1 for everyone in every company right now?” — Absolutely. Consciously and sub-consciously customers make their decisions about buying and recommending a brand using all of their senses at every Touchpoint of their Experience with a brand. Everything from the appearance of the service personnel, to the advertising, to tech support interactions, to monthly billing statements, to greetings on the phone and in person, to the product itself has some level of impact on the customer’s future behavior. Many corporations have tried to take the position that listening to customers is everyone’s responsibility. Unfortunately when it’s “everyone’s job” it seems to be that no one team or individual is evaluated, compensated, or held responsible for accomplishment of the task. “Everyone” is instead more formally charged with lots of other jobs within their departmental silos. Sadly, understanding customer needs and priorities across the board in some ways becomes no one’s assignment. That’s what has lead to the creation of the Customer Experience Officer/Chief Customer Officer. (Just not sure how well the responsibilities of those positions have been formulated to date.)
Second, “Shouldn’t the marketing department take ownership of monitoring this information and use it to retain customers?” — If marketing is charged with retaining customers, increasing share of category spending from those customers, and improving word of mouth about the brand, then it certainly should be their job to monitor what customers are saying. They probably should also be in charge of identifying the key areas for change in process, products, environment, policies, training, etc., and even leading the action planning. However, despite how much responsibility they might be willing to take, it’s only the rare CMO that has the power within the corporation to allocate or redirect budgets and other internal resources to really get things done to improve the Customer Experience.
Thanks for taking the time to articulate your insights, Doug. You make some excellent points. Every person in every company who interfaces with the customer should be charged with making those touch points excellent experiences. These functions should be overseen by a management position and marketing plays a key role in this. No question. However, what we are also talking about is the fact that mountains of customer data–some of more importance than other data–must be organized from many sources and acted upon in a more centralized manner.
The customer is in need of solutions and problem solving. It is crucial for marketers to know that this is being done effectively. Customers are giving companies continual feedback and there are valuable insights here to assist marketers and their counterparts to improve products and services if they simply heed that feedback. Marketing should be charged with this activity since they are the keepers of the company brand. All of the efforts of the marketing department are voted on daily by the customer. . .who either says “yes” to continuing to purchase or “no” due to the fact they perceive their business is not appreciated; they are not heard or their problems are not important. Translation: brand disconnect.
Thanks, Doug, and let’s hope customer service does in fact become job #1 for marketers.
Great discussion, but it’s so sad that we’re still in this situation with all the advances made in technology. What’s really wrong? Why haven’t CMOs and other executives been able to create holistic, customer-focused organizations? It seems like such a “duh” to us here, but what’s the big barrier? Anyone?
Interesting article. I have posted on this subject at http://bpmfundamentals.wordpress.com/2009/02/23/how-to-become-a-customer-driven-organisation/
Thanks, Ian, for adding a link to another good article on the subject of business refocus on customer satisfaction. Treating the customers’ needs, problems and communications with respect is a deal maker or breaker, isn’t it?
A good topic for the recession when just holding on to the paying customers you do have tops every marketer’s “to do” list.
I just wonder if a big part of the problem here is that there isn’t an overall strategy steering the ship. Marketers have all this data, but when it comes to making marketing investments, what is it telling them to do?
It could be that ownership is fragmented, they aren’t using it, or collecting it in some cases, and so on because they don’t have a “filter” to help them prioritze what they need to do to have the greatest impact on profitability.
Kevin,
“I just wonder if a big part of the problem here is that there isn’t an overall strategy steering the ship.” Excellent point. One that has not been raised yet, either.
“Marketers have all this data, but when it comes to making marketing investments, what is it telling them to do?” Excellent question. I think in this era of slashed budgets, the point is to advise marketers to focus the dollars they do have on making customer service/responsiveness improvements. Wouldn’t that have the greatest impact on business and profitability?
Thanks for always adding some great insights to these conversations, Kevin. Most appreciated.
Ted,
On your question, while it would be great for marketers to be able to fix EVERYTHING that’s undermining rentention and satisfaction, in this era of slashed budgets, it’s just not possible.
What I was trying to get at–and maybe didn’t do so well–was that there needs to be some prioritization about what gets done. Ideally, prioritizing improvements should be guided by what will have the greatest impact on satisfaction, retention, and profitability.
I think your point is well taken–marketers need to pay attention and make improvements, absolutely. I just think without a strategy in place, actually making a DECISION about which problems to fix, which tradeoffs to make, is very, very difficult.
Right, Kevin. It isn’t possible to fix everything, but much can be done to streamline data collection of important customer information. Absolutely. With a focus on prompt, courteous communications with the customer at all times, of course. It was not my intention to make it all seem simple. It certainly is anything but.
As you stated so well: “actually making a DECISION about which problems to fix, which tradeoffs to make, is very, very difficult.” Absolutely right. Actually, you could expand that to say that running any business without an overall strategy and plan is very, very difficult. . .if not impossible.
Thanks, Kevin, for explaining in more detail.
Great information I sew from the outside looking in, so it’s important to get the insights of someone on the inside.
Thanks