merlin stone cmo b2b conference

12
Real-time communications Repercussions for your brand. Professor Merlin Stone, Head of Research, TCF

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Page 1: Merlin Stone CMO B2B Conference

Real-time

communications

Repercussions for your

brand.

Professor Merlin Stone, Head of Research, TCF

Page 2: Merlin Stone CMO B2B Conference

Contents

• The Internet age demands that B2B brands are ready and able to

engage with customers and prospects at a time to suit them

− That inevitably means almost immediately

• This presentation focuses on the implications of instant gratification

communications on brands and marketers

• How they can provide customers and prospects with what they want

and need

Page 3: Merlin Stone CMO B2B Conference

Putting it into perspective

• We have been consulting /benchmarking in customer management for

25+ years

• We’ve seen companies make great progress in customer management

• We’ve seen new arrivals take customer management to new levels

• We’ve seen new information and communication technology make an

immense difference to how customers can be understood and how

customer management can be planned and executed

• We’ve seen customer expectations rise, making it hard for companies

to take credit for their customer management achievements

• But we’ve also seen successful challenges based on very strong and

simple propositions which succeed by allowing customers to find their

way to them and manage themselves

• The change never stops

Page 4: Merlin Stone CMO B2B Conference

Trends that CM leaders master

Decade Characteristics of leaders

1980s • Success in grappling with giant databases, using mainframes• The first giant call centres• Direct mail dominant

1990s • Multichannel emerges (sales, TAM, contact centre, mail, web/email beginning)• Channels measured independently• Customer Value analysis investigated

2000s • Acceleration of process, real time data gathering and use, but still mainly batch insight and customer management

• True multichannel consistent customer management becomes possible• Silo’d functions collaborating clumsily

2010s • Low-latency customer management focussing on enterprise-wide real-time update and use of data

• Social media becomes integrated with real time customer management ‘always on’ marketing

• Matrix organisations re-design of workflows, processes, targets & incentives• Line of sight metrics help align organisations behind strategies• Customer engagement more of a focus for leaders and the city

Page 5: Merlin Stone CMO B2B Conference

Big B2B trends for 2011-15

• Low-latency customer management becoming a reality

− Immediate customer management – from prospect to after-sales

and relationship development

− Enterprise-wide real-time update and integration of channels, and

analysis/follow-up

• Customer self -service and self-segmentation becoming essential

• Increasing board focus on customer engagement strategies

• Line of sight metrics help align organisations behind strategies

• Social media becomes integrated with real time customer

management – in B2C and B2B

• Matrix organisations forcing re-design of roles, workflows, processes,

targets & incentives, to allow “seamless flow” across them

* © TCF May 2011 World Class Benchmarking Survey of 30 of the World’s best companies

Page 6: Merlin Stone CMO B2B Conference

Leaving brochure ware behind

• Too many B2B websites effectively brochure-ware

− Advanced

− Well-organised

− Beautiful

− Comprehensive

− Easily searchable

• But still brochure-ware

• Engagement is becoming much more important, even normal

• N America setting standards for rapid responsiveness

• Hence importance of click to chat/call

Page 7: Merlin Stone CMO B2B Conference

An example from Marketpoint

Page 8: Merlin Stone CMO B2B Conference

Click to chat planning

• Match presentation rules to business goals

• Aims e.g.

− Increase sales

− Reduce abandonment

− Better service

• With experience and experimentation, identify key variables e.g.

− Time spent on site/page

− Value (customer, order)

− Abandoning (pages, online form)

− Service (history, need)

Page 9: Merlin Stone CMO B2B Conference

Click to chat management

• Response time

− Customers should wait no more than a minute for an agent after

accepting chat invitation

− Streamline delivery to agents

− Set up routing rules based on parameters such as line of business,

customer value, language and level of escalation.

• Chat availability

− Constantly review agent workloads, do not deploy C2C during peak

− Plan routing so agents handle no more than three simultaneous

sessions to ensure quality and efficiency

• Agent skills and proficiency - not all suited to C2C

− Agents must be able to respond to customers succinctly and

accurately, which requires specific communication skills.

Page 10: Merlin Stone CMO B2B Conference

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Cordinating click to chat/call

• Click to Chat is best suited for service and support where interactions

are of low to moderate complexity or sales transactions are of lower

value e.g.

− Routine/repetitive customer enquiries ideal for chat

• As the value of online purchases, or the complexity of customer,

increases, customers prefer to speak with agents on phone

− Strong preference for voice channel for complex, high-value

transactions

− Click to Call more effective

• By combining Click to Chat and Click to Call, gain flexibility to manage

contact throughout sales/service cycle and transition a chat to a phone

session if appropriate

Page 11: Merlin Stone CMO B2B Conference

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C2C productivity (Marketpoint)

• Proactive chat can increase conversion rates by up to 20% vs. reactive

sales interactions

• Increases productivity of agents by cutting handling time by up to 20%

• Sessions average 6 mins, longer than typical phone call

• Conversion lift about 15% for customers who are having problems

compared with where no chat session

• In customer care, where agents are helping existing customers set up

online accounts, the lift as much as 30%

• Customer response overwhelmingly positive (post-call survey)

Page 12: Merlin Stone CMO B2B Conference

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Conclusions

• C2C is just one example of the many innovations available to

accelerate customer interactions

• Offer better than classic web heading “I want to”, followed by a list

− i.e. real-time direct engagement

• The ultimate in integrating the web into other channels

• Start point – mystery shop your own company, your competitors,

parallel industries, best of breed

− B2C as well as B2B