Over the last number of posts, I have referred to the importance of customer reviews, and customer review sites (i.e. Bazzarvoice, Loudervoice,) They form an important part of the customers online search and evaluation strategy. Bazaarvoice claims that sales of a product go up from 16% to doubling just by adding customer reviews. The next stages are probably feature and price comparison and evaluation and customers are using tools for this as well, like Farecast. Going back to my old Marketing days, I’d say there is a great deal of brand-Halo effect going on, where we think we are getting good value, because the brand says so. With so much information, tools, and engines available, how on earth are we going to make decisions?

It would seem to me that the overall Brand Reputation of a company will be paramount here, and Reputation will be driven by customer experience, the reporting of customer experience, and overall levels of customer advocacy.

Customer advocacy is the result of customers getting exceptional service. 121media.com has a nice little piece on a US brokerage firm that uses direct personal contact to drive this sense of exceptional service. They don’t have an IVR, or a cenralised customer service center. Calls are driven right through to the local branch where they are handled by trained and informed individuals. Now I am sure their are lots of infrastructure bells and whistles in the background to ensure that questions can be answered and clients serviced properly, but they key to the companies success is “driving contact”, not “withdrawing from contact”.

So why do they want to draw the customers in?

financial services customers who make referrals tend to be worth 50 percent more than a typical customer, and a new referred customer is worth almost as twice much as a customer coming from other channels. Also, “advocates become more valuable and more loyal simply by making a referral, because they put their reputation on the line,”

Now back to some very old chestnuts:

- how many of your customers would actively refer you to a friend?
- do you know what interaction points provide the opportunity for exceptional customer service?
- do you know how to identify, interact with, and leverage the power of advocacy?

The Guys at BazaarVoice have a good entry on getting to grips with some of this stuff.

technorati tags: customer, interaction, voice, messaging, customer, contact

Explore Tags: bazaarvoice, customer contact, customer loyalty, loudervoice

Via The Wise Marketer: Six million UK savers state their intent to churn Nearly 6 million British savers plan to switch savings accounts, according to a survey by MoneyExpert.com and Defaqto. The study found that 5.99 million people intend changing their savings accounts for a better interest rate during the next 12 months. Savers are reacting to recent cuts in rates by leading financial providers. The study interviewed adults aged 18+ and found that 57% (26.5 million) regard improving their savings as one of their biggest financial challenges for 2007. Around 3.6 million people said they do not understand savings accounts well, representing a significant opportunity for institutions that are willing to educate potential customers as part of an acquisition campaign.

As a consumer myself, perhaps it would be more useful for the Banks if they identified their own “at risk” customers (switchers) and called them to invite them to discuss “what their concerns are” with a local customer service representative. Research conducted by Abhay Padgaonkar (president, Innovative Solutions Consulting LLC, 2006)and supported by other research (”Manage Your Human Sigma” – Harvard Business Review, July, 2005), indicates that

There is increasing evidence that emotionally satisfied clients contribute far more to the bottom line than rationally satisfied clients, even though both groups may appear to be equally satisfied

.

This resonates with my today, having heard Jeff Bonforte from Yahoo at the eTel conference speak about “emotional” products, and products that address an emotional state. The example Jeff gives (rather colourfully) is that people hate getting their telecom bill. Hate is a strong emotion. Products that address this hate, will get customer attention, even customer action. Where the cost-benefits for the new service aren’t even clearcut, customers will react “irrationally” because they are driven by emotion. Skype users hated their telco bills, so put up with bad initial voice quality, and a low number of “connections”.

Banks and other Financial Service organisations have very nervous, anxious customers at the moment. Yet, I wonder how many organisations have a segmentation variable that surfaces individuals that may need a call, right now.

technorati tags: customer, interaction, voice, messaging, customer, contact

Explore Tags: customer loyalty, customer service., financia, jeff bonforte, yahoo