Customer First: From Data to Insights to Impact

Editor's Notes

• #3: When we talk about our Clients / our Customers, one thing is certain: We love our clients and we love selling them our products & services When we look at how well we are selling those products and services, we look at our realized sales, we look at our product profitability,… And when we look at things from a Marketing perspective, we all love to connect with our customers, give our customers a wonderful feeling and create a wonderful customer experience. So I think we can agree that it’s all about: the right message at the right time to the right customers. But do we really know who is “the right customers”, do we really know “the right message” or for that matter “the right time”? When it comes to sales & marketing, we rely on our gut-feeling, we rely on what customers tell us and we adjust our plans when we see that last-month’s performance was behind schedule. When we dive in Gartner & Forrester’s surveys. The reality can be a tough call: 80 % of your customers are not adding profits to your company 50 % of sales & marketing budget is spent on the wrong customers Customer data is widely available in companies, but only 5% uses that data to improve their sales & marketing Companies are currently spending only 8% of their marketing budgets on marketing analytics. -…
• #4: Although those surveys are telling us 1 thing, it is obvious that for every company, every euro counts. We want to create the most return for every euro that we spent. Up to that point: nothing has changed these past decades. The difference is that customers have changed. Customers also want something in return. Customers want a wonderful service, high-quality products, 24/7 support, free delivery of goods, free return of goods,…and they want it all FREE OF CHARGE. Companies created Customer Experience programs to meet these new demands and are even exceeding customers expectations on all levels (so customers would reamin ours) So yes, we have created value for our customers. But have we also created value for ourselves? Sony & 3Suisses are just 2 global companies that have decided these last 6 months to close their webshops.  Because they don’t generate value for the company. The question that comes to mind is then: “What is value for the company?” Since Customers have changed their definition of value (towards the ultimate customer experience), Companies are forced to upgrade their current way of working. Because the value that was created for the customer resulted in a loss of profitability for the companies. So, last month’s sales results or our current market share won’t give us the value that was created by our customers. Value for the company is defined as “Customer Lifetime Value”. (the value that customers will generate over the entire lifespan that they are your customer) This is huge change in mindset. This means that companies will evaluate all business decision on the positive or negative impact of a customer his lifetime value.
• #5: In order to evaluate whether a specific decision will have a positive or a negative impact on a customer’s lifetime value, we need to gain an in-depth understanding of the characteristics of our customers. (what are their preferences? what is their history? What is their lifestage? What is their spending-pattern? What is their social profile?...) Analyzing your data and understanding the true DNA of a customer are now essential in sales & marketing. The company that will analyze its data the best has a competitive advantage, the company that understands its customers the best, has a competitive advantage. If we want to optimize our value (our return on investment), we need to target the right customers, with the right message at the right moment via the right channels. And it is your data that will tell you who is the right customer, what is the right message, what is the right moment,…and yes, it will be different for every individual customer which will make the case for one-to-one mass personalization. So maximizing your return on sales & marketing is not a question of spending more money on marketing campaigns, hiring new sales reps, launching more campaigns,…it’s actually quite the contrairy  it’s about doing things SMARTER, BETTER and FASTER.
• #6: Use the intelligence that is hidden in your existing data. It sounds logic but is something that not many companies do, let alone incorporate as a true continous process. However, this is exactly where you can make a difference. You have the data, even if it is in different information-silos, this shouldn’t keep you from not diving in your data and revealing your company’s true potential. I have seen companies buy incredibly great CRM-software and tools for marketing automation, without changing their way of working. Without understanding their data and the underlying dynamics in their customer base. If you want to do things faster, you will certainly need the software, but if you also want to do things smarter and better, you need to create intelligence. And the moment that you combine the software with the intelligence, is the moment that your marketing-team is REALLY performing data-driven marketing that will create customer lifetime value. So why isn’t every company worldwide already doing this? I have been working at many customers these past years and I can give you many reasons: We don’t have time Marketing is afraid that computers will take over their jobs We dont have the skills. ….. But what is really happening is that companies often lack a vision on customer intelligence and how they want to use it.
• #7: If we zoom in on the gap in skills, we don’t see
• #8: That vision will be different for every company. But of you look at the way things are evolving: you better don’t miss the train of advanced customer analytics. As an example: A limited group of retailers is talking the creation of lifetime value into the physical stores and making it realtime. Retailers will start working with iBeacons to recognize your customer DNA. They will use your smartphone to push relevant messages, promotions, discounts,…. at the exact moment that your are walking in their store. They will use dynamic pricing via smart displays,…. All of these actions are aimed to maximize the Customer Lifetime Value in realtime. So yes, it is going fast. But so is your competition.
• #9: Truly understanding your customers (and acting accordingly) is the key to a sustainable competitive advantage. Sales, Marketing and Operations should focus on creating customer lifetime value (avoid campaigns with loss-making customers!) Sales & marketing metrics should be expressed on longterm financial terms in order to assess the value creation. Working with advanced customer insights is a process that requires a shared vision, it can not be something that “we did it this one and we haven’t done anything with it”.