Loyalty Management November 2011

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powered by Loyalty 360

Volume 3 Number 4

November 2011

Inside Scoop: CVS “Money Trasher”Campaign

New Frontiers in

Hotel Guest Loyalty

Driving Loyalty inthe B2B World

CustomerIntelligence

Issue-Securing C-Suite Buy-In

-Social Customer Satisfaction

-Maximize Actionable Insights



Loyalty Management™ • LOYALTY360.ORG

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Loyalty Management™ • NOVEMBER 20

NOVEMBER 2011

DEPARTMENTS

LOYALTY FORUM

FEATURES

What’s on Loyalty360.org

Letter rom the Editor

Contributors

Your Voice

Behind the Brand

Shawn Bloom, Scene LP

360 Insights: The Challenge o Engagement:

The Paradox o the "Golden Rule" Mark Johnson, Loyalty 360

Q & A: Ask the Experts

We are looking to invest in a mobile strategy as partof our loyalty platform. Do I need both a mobile

website and a mobile app? How do I determinewhich is best?

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WWW.LOYALTY360.ORVOLUME 3 NUMBER 4

This Month in

The LoyaltySocial Scene

pg20

pg30

Go behind the

scenes with

Shawn BloomBehind the Brand: Shawn Bloom

pg

14

The Loyalty Social Scene

Robert Passikoff, Ph. D. & Amy Shea, Brand Keys

The Four Fundamental Pillars o a Voice o theCustomer Program

Lee Orr, Cvent

The Bright SIde o Negative Engagement

Mike McDonnell, Afnion Loyalty Group

Jump-Start Your Customer Intelligence Initiative

by Securing C-Suite Buy-in

Connie Hill, VeraCentra

Secureyour

C-Suitebuy-in







NOVEMBER 2011

TECHNOLOGY,

TRENDS & REWARDS

BEST BUSINESS PRACTICES

Loyalty Innovation

New Frontiers in Guest Loyalty

Todd Hotaling, Lodging Hospitality Management

The Inside Scoop: The Westpac Group & Cyara

Solutions

Q&A with Sam Jackel, The Westpac Group &

Alok Kulkarni, Cyara Solutions

The Next Generation o Customer Feedback is

Social Customer Satisaction Intelligence

Ashish Gambhir, newBrandAnalytics

By the Numbers

Achieving CEM Goals Customer Experience

Competency Centers Drive ProcessesSid Banerjee, Clarabridge

The Inside Scoop: CVS: Don't Be a Money Trasher"

Campaign

Q&A with Melissa Studzinski, CVS/pharmacy

Don't Expect Loyalty Without Romance

Darin Rock, SolutionSet

Driving Loyalty in the B2B World

Karen Posey, Geehan Group

How Customer Intelligence Can Help Deliver a

Positive and Consistent Customer ExperienceQ&A with John Bastone & Wilson Raj, SAS

Loyalty Reads

Maximizing Actionable Insights through Multi-

Channel Listening

Chris Cottle, Allegiance, Inc.

Behind the Brand

Anita Emoff, Boost Rewards

Focusing on Key Customer Loyalty Metrics

Karl Sharicz, Simplex Grinnell

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WWW.LOYALTY360.ORVOLUME 3 NUMBER 4

Loyalty Management

Editorial & Production Team

Erin Raese - Editor in Chief

Mark Johnson - Contributing Editor

Caitlin Schar - Editorial Director

Kathleen Ostoich - Graphic Designer

Crescent Printing Company - Print Production

Loyalty 360 Team

Mark Johnson - President & CEO

Erin Raese - COO

Caitlin Schar - VP Account Management

Amanda Chasteen - Manager, Marketing Operations

Kathleen Ostoich - Marketing Manager

Jillian Hensley - Corporate Marketing Manager

Lindsay Wagner - Sales Manager

Contacts

Article Submissions & Advertising: Erin Raese

[email protected] or 513.360.8680, ext. 210

To subscribe to Loyalty Management, visit loyalty360.org.

© 2011 Loyalty 360, Inc. and/or its Afliates. All Rights Reserved.

Reproduction and distribution of this publication in any form without prior written permission is

forbidden. The information contained herein has been obtained from sources believed to be reli-

able. Loyalty 360 disclaims all warranties as to the accuracy, completeness or adequacy of such

information. The opinions shared are those of the contributing authors and not necessarily reec-

tive of Loyalty 360 and/or its afliates. Loyalty 360 shall have no liability for errors, omissions

or inadequacies in the information contained herein or for interpretations thereof. The opinions

expressed herein are subject to change without notice.

This Month in

pg48

Don't ExpectLoyalty without

Romance

The Inside Scoop:CVS/pharmacy

(4



LOYALTY 360 ON THE WEB

6 Loyalty Management™ • LOYALTY360.ORG

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LOYALTY 360 THOUGHT LEADERS HIP SERIES WEBINARSLoyalty 360 has had a packed schedule offering a variety of topics and insights.

DID YOU MISS A WEBINAR? Loyalty 360 members have exclusive access to full playback.Check the Loyalty 360 archives and catch up on what you missed.

SAVE THE DATE! Check the winter schedule now and register for upcoming webniars atLoyalty360.org/webinars




Loyalty Management Online!More articles, insights, best practicetips from your preferred tradepublication. Loyalty Management isnow available online at Loyalty360.org/

LoyaltyManagement.

Share and comment on your favoritearticles from this issue, and nd additionalweb-only exclusive content every month!

Turning Customer Data into Action: A New Whitepaper from TSYS & Loyalty 360

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

Customer data is one of a company’s greatest, yet often underutilized, assets. Learning aboutyour customers and using that behavioral and transactional data to inform more relevantand meaningful customer interactions is the key to creating, building and maintaining strongcustomer relationships—and gaining a distinct competitive advantage.

New ndings from Turning Customer Data Into Action, a survey sponsored by TSYS andconducted by Loyalty 360 – The Loyalty Marketer’s Association, found while the vast majority of brands collectcustomer data they face myriad obstacles in using the data to drive strategic change. Marketers that are able toovercome these challenges, however, report that making the data actionable delivers bottom line results.

The full whitepaper is available now at tsys.com/GRSwhitepaper.

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TURNING CUSTOMER DATA INTO ACTION

Mark Johnson,President, CEO,Loyalty 360

Erin Raese,COO,Loyalty 360

2011TtalSystemServices,Inc.®llri htsreserve wrl wie.T talSystemServices,Inc.,an TSYS®arefeerallyre istere servicemarksf TtalSystemServices,Inc.,intheUnite States.TtalSystemServices,Inc.,an itsafliateswnanum erf servicemarksthatarereistere intheUnite Statesan inther cuntries.l l therr uctsan cmany namesaretraemarksf theirresectivec manies.(08/11)

NEWwhat's

on LOYALTY 360.OR

Some of the Featured Articles found exclusively on Loyalty Management online:

•Inside Scoop: AAdvantage - Destination LoyaltyLoyalty 360 Q&A with American Airlines Charlie Sultan

•Employee Motivation: Non-Monetary Rewards Work Bestby Tim Houlihan, BI Worldwide

•Business Blogging—A Company’s First Line of Defense for Engaging Consumersby Melissa Fernandez, Destination Interactive

•Five Critical Points for Social Media and Unied Communications in the Contact Centerby Bob Hockman, Empirix

•Customer Service, Engagement and Loyaltyby Peter La Porta




FROM THE EDITOR

8

The Issue o Customer Intelligence.

Many thanks to all o you to joined us or the frst annual Engagement

Expo! With your support it was a huge success! A special thanks to all o our

speakers: the knowledge we gained rom your experiences will help us all as

we work to enhance our engagement eorts and strategies.

We ask our contributors to share what is topical and trending today. Our

open platorm allows us to share with you the most valuable and sought ater

inormation in the moment. Through no pre-planned agenda, this edition o

Loyalty Management developed to become our customer intelligence issue.

As a Voice o the Customer (VoC) organization we look to you or insights

to ensure that we share what's important to you. We talk about about how

cluttered the world is or our consumers; but as marketers we don't always

realize how cluttered our world is. We're all collecting an enormous amount

o data rom a ton o sources and touch points. How do we intelligently and

cost eectively use it to increase basket size, increase transactions and build

long-term loyal customers and advocates? This issue is sure to answer a gooddeal o your questions.

•Cvent shares our undamental pillars o a VoC program and insights

rom ProBuild Holdings; a group who has successully instituted the

undamentals.

•Lodging Hospitality Management shares their story o how they've

integrated personal service based on CI through their 12 properties.

•On page 48, learn how CVS is tying social media strategies into its loyalty

program to urther engage and build stronger relationships with its best

customers.•Want to try some o these strategies yoursel? Connie Hill rom Vera

Centra provides tips or educating and engendering support or your CI

eorts with your upper management.

Also, don’t orget to mark your calendars…Coming soon, Loyalty Expo

2012! March 18 - 20 at the Rosen Shingle Creek, Orlando, FL. For more

inormation and to view the agenda visit www.loyatlyexpo.com. See you

there!

Enjoy the issue!

Sincerely,

Erin Raese

Editor-in-Chie

Loyalty Management

[email protected]

Welcome newLoyalty 360Members:

Altair

Microsot

TCS

MotivAction

DestinationInteractive

TruAxis

BI Worldwide

TIBCOSaepio

Siegel + Gale




loyalty is a journey.

we're here to guideyou along the way.

Find tools, tips, and connect with your peers to fnd the answers to your loyalty questions at loyalty 36

Looking to build your organization's engagement and loyalty strategies?Loyalty 360 makes it easy to nd a partner with the capabilities to help you reach your goals.

Want to be a part o the largest engagement and loyalty supplier directory?For only $2500/year, sign up to be listed with your own customizable member page.




Mark Johnson

Lee Orr

Mike McDonnell

Todd Hotaling

Robert Passikoff, Ph. D.

CONTRIBUTORS

Sid BanerjeeAs CEO and Co-Founder of Clarabridge, Sid

provides executive leadership and strate-

gic direction and is a well-known expert in

customer experience, business intelligence,

and text mining.

Chris CottleChris Cottle is an entrepreneur and 16-year

B2B and B2C marketing vet. He leads the

marketing and product management teams

at Allegiance, a B2B software company

specializing in Voice of Customer Intelli-

gence solutions. Allegiance is an Inc. 500

company.

Ashish GambhirAshish Gambhir is the Executive Vice

President of newBrandAnalytics, the lead-

ing provider of social business intelligence

solutions. newBrandAnalytics uses social

media feedback to provide companies with

an unparalleled level of insightful business

intelligence.

Connie HillMs. Connie Hill, President and Founder of

VeraCentra, brings more than twenty ve

years’ experience delivering strategy and

execution services to the marketing com-

munity, and is passionate about helping

marketers manage the complexities of data

driven, customer relevant programs and

campaigns.

Todd Hotaling Todd Hotaling is Corporate Director of Rev-

enue at Lodging Hospitality Management.

He began his career with Lodging Hospital-

ity Management in 2008 after moving to St.

Louis from Kansas City where he worked

in Advertising and Public Relations for

Harrah's Casino and Hotel.

Mark JohnsonMark is the President & CEO of Loyalty 3

He has signicant experience in selling

signing and administering prepaid, loya

CRM programs, as well as data-driven m

keting communication programs.

Mike McDonnellAs Vice President of Product Managem

& Client Solutions at Afnion Loyalty Gr

Mike works to continuously nd ways

grow the company. Mike focuses on o

mizing the way ALG delivers merchand

to their clients, establishing a greater fo

on product development and acting a

consultant to understand loyalty needs

Lee OrrLee Orr spearheads the strategic direct

of Cvent’s Enterprise Feedback Man

ment solution and is responsible for n

business development, customer succ

and professional services. Under his le

ership, Cvent has helped hundreds of o

nizations run effective customer feedb

programs.

Robert Passiko, Ph. D.Robert Passikoff, Brand Key’s found

president, is a sought-after speaker

thought leader on engagement and loy

He has pioneered work in these areas,

ating the Customer Loyalty Engagemen

dex and the Sports Fan Loyalty Index. N

York University’s communication sch

declared Dr. Passikoff “the most-quo

brand consultant in the United States.”

Karen PoseyKaren Posey is a Senior Consultant at

Geehan Group with an extensive b

ground in executive engagement and fa

tation, sales leadership, strategy, coach

and the best practices that drive BEST (

ter Engaged Selling Time).

Chris Cottle

Ashish Gambhir

Connie Hill

Sid Banerjee

10

Karen Posey




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Amy SheaDarin Rock

Karl Sharicz

Darin RockDarin brings over 25 years of experience

and a heightened understanding of con-

sumer empathy. Darin’s insight inspires

development of innovative marketing com-

munications programs tuned to the needs

of today’s consumer.

Karl ShariczKarl Sharicz is Manager, Customer Intel-

ligence at SimplexGrinnell, a Tyco Interna-

tional Company. SimplexGrinnell is a leader

in re and life-safety systems and services,

with one million customers and 150 local

ofces throughout the country.

If you would like to contribute to a future issue of Loyalty Management please contact Erin Raese at (513) 360.8680, ext. 210 or email at [email protected].

Amy SheaAmy Shea, EVP Global Director of B

Keys’ Brand Development, has wo

with brands for over 20 years, transla

research-based insights into effective

munications. Her work has been recogn

with the David Ogilvy Excellence Awar



LOYALTY FORUM: YOUR VOICE


As a consumer, how do you feel about reward

with expiration dates? Does an expired

reward affect your continued loyalty?

don't dislike as much the expiry dates as the e-mailing/

newsletters sent by the program trying to sell you everything, but

they never mention that you have an amount of miles or points

that are going to expire soon. I would expect if they are sending me

newsletters every month, that at least they show some interest in

his customer and make a real effort in giving you a proper warning

that the points, miles or whatever are going to expire soon.

Werner Haeberle

manage RelianceOne, the loyalty program at Reliance Retail, one of the

biggest retailers in India. We recently dropped down the 'Points get Expire

two years' and changed it to 'Evergreen Points'. This has been taken very

with the customer and the Reward Points accumulation has increased by

in the very rst month. Previously, the customer felt cheated when their p

expired without their notice since we didn’t intimate them. Now they can

their shopping and redeem points as they like.Richa Tewari

I

II

T

THE CONSUMER POINT OF VIEW

can speak for consumers in Canada, and I can say in

certainty that we dislike programs with expiry rules. Not

very long ago, a new law forbade the sale of gift cards

with expiry dates. The same should apply to loyalty

programs. How loyal would customers stay, when they

nd out the rewards they collected for a program have

expired?Seta Elbekian

ypically the reward points are accumulated in bits and spent in bulk. So, accumulation takes time and by the time the customer is ready

for the spend he/she realize that the accumulated points have vanished due to expiration clause and thus poofs the dream. I have stopped

shopping with a few retail stores who have short (1 year or less) expiration dates on points.

Sanvir Singh Jham

It denitely does aect loyalt

(obviously); I understand the

draw to enacting expiration

dates on rewards, but adds

inconvenience.Chris Tarantino



I


Loyalty 360 Pulse

77%o respondents polled confrmed

that YES! their continued loyalty

is aected when rewards expire.

MARKETERS' RESPONSE

When companies lose sight

o what is best or their client

customer then they are on thslippery slope to losing clientBill Hayward

here are lots of case studies demonstrating expiring points also

expires the consumer loyalty.

The best way to manage the points liability is sophisticated

actuarial management using your consumers behavioral database--

when a card is dormant for a period of time calculate the probability of

it being reactivated...obviously the longer it is inactive the higher theprobability it will never reactivate. You need to start by calculating this

probability/time relationship. As you gain experience look at other key

predictive variables like: balance, distance to store, owners vs renters,

RFM, age...

You can conservatively and scientically adjust the reserve for the

points in the pool of 'dead/dormant' accounts without expiring points.

This way you never disappoint your loyal customers and the

business lowers its program costs and reserve pools to what it

actually needs to for redemptions.

David Moxley

T

As with any loyalty initiative the points liability needs to

be carefully managed to ensure that the managing compan

does not run into trouble. Whilst 'points expiry' can have

very negative impact, especially for members who are sav

towards a specic goal, 'account expiry' should denitely b

implemented and points wiped off after a certain period (e

1 year of no activity) which will help ensure the liability is n

being inated by 'dead' members.

Tim Wilcox

would say, customers don't hate the expiry but hate not being notied about the same. It pinches, when they kept collecting them and th

points vanish all of a sudden.

I appreciate that some companies are offering lifetime validity of their loyalty points; however, I feel it sometimes becomes a very costly

proposition to do so. I suggest companies should have a point’s expiry policy while keeping few things in mind.

•Keep your customer informed; ne prints shouldn't be too ne

•Send notications well in advance when the expiry date is nearing.

•Expiry period should be carefully chosen.

Why I thing expiry policy is important is because:

•Loyalty points are like cash, which the company owes to its customers. Now, if the redemption rate is low then unlimited point collectio

policy might lead to a big liability on the company in future.

•Unnecessary balance maintenance cost for dormant cards

Mamta R.




14

LOYALTY FORUM: BEHIND THE BRAND

As a consumer, what inspires loyalty or you?In a word, relevancy. It is great to see when businesses

get this right. That they are using the information they collect

through their loyalty programs or nancial service products to

develop offers, products and services that are relevant to my

needs and served up through a channel I prefer. Businesses

that understand my interests, and can translate this into rel-

evant offers will win my loyalty each and every time.

In today’s marketplace, what is your avorite com-

munications channel or reaching loyal customers?Facebook has been a phenomenal tool for businesses to

create a dialogue with their customers. We currently have

over 200,000 fans between our English and French Facebook

pages and its really proven to be a very vibrant community of

entertainment lovers. We did some research a while back to

understand the make-up of our Facebook members and found

that they are some of most loyal and active customers. So the

ability to get instant feedback on changes we are making to

the program, on new offers or partnerships has proven to be

invaluable. In addition, these customers are some of our big -

gest advocates so having them tell their friends that they ‘like’

SCENE and posting testimonials online about a positive expe-

rience with the Program they may have had is more authentic

than any advertisement we could ever do.

What do you personally appreciate most about

Scene rewards program?From a consumer standpoint it has to be how easy it is to

get rewarded. Every tenth movie I see is free and I get 10%

off of concessions on every visit! Plus, with the ability to earn

more points at the concession stand, at Cineplex’s online

store and with a Scotiabank Visa and Debit card the rewards

add up really quickly.

From a loyalty marketer’s perspective it is the ability to

get rich customer data and insights that we can use to make

better business decisions and develop deeper relationships

with our customers.

Shawn BloomGeneral Manager, SCENE LP


Shawn Bloom has over 13 years o loyalty management experience

in Financial Service, Retail and Entertainment. In his current at

role as General Manager o SCENE LP, Shawn is responsible or

program development and the overall perormance o SCENE,

the entertainment loyalty program rom Cineplex Entertainment

and Scotiabank. Since its launch in 2007, SCENE has become

Canada’s leading entertainment loyalty program, providing movieand entertainment rewards and benefts to over three million

Canadians.

Businesses that understand my interests, and

can translate this into relevant oers will win my

loyalty each and every time.




How are today’s emerging trends impacting

Scene and their plans or the uture?For us a priority right now is in enhancing our ability to

reach and engage our membership through their mobile de-

vice as we see this as such an important communication plat-

form going forward.

For example, mobile has given SCENE the opportunity to

overcome one of barriers to joining any loyalty program which

is the necessity to add another card to ones wallet. Through

our mobile app we are now offering our members the ability

to store their card right on their mobile device. Mobile also

gives us the opportunity to enroll members into the program

wherever they are. We recently launched mobile enrolments

and it has already proven to be extremely popular. Next for

us in this space is to leverage mobile to further engage our

members by pushing them relevant and timely informationand offers.

Words o advice or a novice loyalty marketer?Your goal as a loyalty marketer should be to inuence

positive changes in customer behavior. So start with the cus-

tomer. Leverage whatever tools are at your disposal to de -

velop the capabilities to understand your customers better

and closely measure your ability to lift, shift and retain. Do

this well and your well on your way to a long career in loyalty

marketing.


We also asked Shawn

some quick fre questions

about some o his movieavorites…

Favorite movie theater snack: Peanut M&M's.

Favorite movie: The Shawshank Redemption

Favorite actor? Will Ferrell (For his outlandish

characters including…Chazz Michael Micheals,

Ron Burgundy and Ricky Bobby).

Best quotable movie line? “Why so serious?”

(Heath Ledger as The Joker, The Dark Knight)

Hypothetically, what flm character would you

most like to be? James Bond. For the gadgets.

Favorite movie type? Action, Suspense,

Drama, Comedy…

Love a good laugh so have to go with comedy.

Start with the customer.

Leverage whatever tools are

at your disposal to develop

the capabilities to understand

your customers better and

closely measure your ability

to lit, shit and retain.

L



16

LOYALTY FORUM: 360 INSIGHTS


t the recent inaugural Engagement Expo, the refrain

from marketers (although more inquisitive and loquacious) re-mained the same: brand engagement and loyalty in this eco -

nomic environment continues to be a challenge.

They’re striving to determine: How do we most effectively man -

age in this era of brand malaise? How do we make our com-

munications programs and marketing messages work most

effectively?

In the midst of a challenging economic environment, we as con-

sumers want the brands (much like our family and friends) with

which we “engage” to show us a modicum of responsiveness

and respect. Yet, most brands just do not “get it.” Their lack of

mutuality continues to confuse us. Engagement is and should

always be simple and rational, yet marketers make it so com-

plex—confounding the most astute marketing and intellectionminds.

When one thinks of engagement, the “Golden Rule” should

come to mind. Do unto others as you would have done to you.

Marketing purists realize the tremendous opportunities that

exist when a brand, merchant or bank engages in best practices

around true engagement and loyalty. To partake in and execute

a voice of the customer response tool creates great interactivity

and reciprocity, and drives signicant behavioral and nancial

results. So why do marketers forlorn the opportunity?

The Challenge o

Engagement: The Paradoxo the “Golden Rule”

"Beyond Loyalty: Meeting the

Challenge of Customer Engagement,”

a report from the Economist

Intelligence Unit, illustrates the

bottom-line impact of decreased levels

of customer engagement. Among the

survey’s key ndings:

•Nearly 90% of all respondents stated

that customer relationships are either

very or extremely important to thesuccess of their business.

•In addition, they believe more

customer engagement would translate

into: Improved customer loyalty

(80%); Increased revenue (76%);

Increased prots (75%)

A

by Mark Johnson, Loyalty 360



Recently, for example, Bain researchers stated that while 90

percent of brands feel they are engaged with consumer, only

a mere nine percent of consumers feel that way. This clear dis-

sonance between what a brand hears and what their customers

are “saying” is a huge dichotomy.

Adding to this conundrum, in a re-

cent study conducted by Economist

Intelligence Unit, 86 percent of the

survey respondent’s (comprised of

311 executives) believed insufcient

engagement from their organization

costs between 25 to 75 percent of

sales. Yet 43 percent of these same

respondents stated that engage-

ment strategies can get side tracked

because of other priorities. Being a

small business owner myself, to for-

sake 25-75 percent of my sales due

to a lack of customer engagement would be a formula for fail -

ure. To put this into perspective: Focusing on other priorities

aside from loyalty and engagement is akin to the chain smoker

who has emphysema partaking in one more cigarette. Or, the

diabetic who continues to the defy the doctor’s warning for a

more healthy diet and lifestyle as they sit on the couch watch -

ing their favorite football team while eating a bag of chips and

imbibing the next six diet Cokes. It’s just not rational.

The recent global IBM study of mid-market CMOs revealed that

building and sustaining brand loyalty is the top concern for to-

day's mid-market CMOs, yet 72 percent do not feel sufciently

prepared to effectively build this loyalty. Today's CMOs need to

be prepared to deal with an empowered consumer who is im -

pacting brands instantly on Twitter, Facebook and other social

channels. 61 percent of mid-market CMOs are struggling with

how to manage the impact that social media will have on their

marketing function, reveals the IBM study.

So what should marketers do when the “Golden Rule is broken?”

Acknowledge the mistake, admit you (the brand) were in er-

ror, apologize and rectify. The simplicity of this process should

Bain researchers stated

that while 90 percento brands eel they are

engaged with consumer,

only a mere nine percent o

consumers eel that way.

It’s like the frst grade student that raises his hand 20 times,

never to be called on. Like the student, that brand participant will

eventually quit raising his hand. The only dierence, however, is

the participant is ree and willing to leave (and they will).

not be understated, as it will create more brand engagement an

loyalty than doing nothing. Yet in an environment that allows fo

greater interaction with brands, one has to wonder why brand

don’t take the opportunity to listen to, engage with and respon

to their most loyal fans. Why would they not embrace a chance t

make these bonds stronger?

We now read that customer satisfa

tion is not equal to customer loyalt

More than 60 percent of defectin

customers indicated they are sati

ed right before they leave (Busines

Week) and 40 percent of satise

customers switch suppliers withou

hesitation (Forum Corp). How can th

be true in the age of increased data i

sight, comprehensive brand analytic

and media that allows for real time i

teractivity, response and communic

tion? Simple: these metrics are short term. Data doesn’t alway

equal actionable insight, and brands don’t effectively take adva

tage of all media.

Most brands forsake the numerous interactions (both past anpresent) and the customer considerations (both positive an

negative) that have had an impact on the user. It’s like the rs

grade student that raises his hand 20 times, never to be called o

Like the student, that brand participant will eventually quit raisin

his hand. The only difference, however, is the participant is fre

and willing to leave (and they will), while the rst grader is boun

to stay for the remainder of the term!

Brands continue to disregard engagement and voice of th

customer driven strategies for short term couponing and pric

matching in the hopes that one additional sale will create tha

brand advocate for which they and their competitors are vyin

For every 100 Reed Hastings there is only one Steve Jobs; for e

ery 100 Yahoos there is only one Amazon; and for every 100 we

sites focused on temporal gains there are few mystarbucks.com

But remember…you, too, can be an Amazon or a mystarbuck

com. The opportunity of fullling a brand promise remains for a





Ask the ExpertsQ

&A

Q:

18

LOYALTY FORUM: Q&A

We are looking to invest in a mobile strategy as part of our

loyalty platform. Do I need both a mobile website and a

mobile app? How do I determine which is best?

The short answer is: it depends. The

best place to start is with your over-

all business objectives. Dene what members

are looking for from your program, and what

you want to enable them to do, then look at

how you can make that experience more con-

venient or more engaging on a mobile device.

If you’re looking to acquire new members

through mobile, to initiate and build a new re-

lationship, a mobile website is a great destina-

tion. If you plan to do mobile advertising, or to

create mobile versions of your emails, you want

to have a mobile-optimized website where youcan drive members and prospects. If someone

starts an action on mobile, you want to make

sure they can complete it on mobile. But build-

ing a mobile website doesn’t mean you have

to duplicate your entire website for mobile de-

vices. Look at the top actions and transactions

your members are doing from mobile on your

website today, and start by building or optimiz-

ing those rst.

If you’re looking to strengthen a relation-

ship with your membership base, and can

offer them content or functionality that they

will want to access on a regular basis, a mo-

bile app can deliver the best experience. It

can offer a much richer and more interactive

experience, and can overcome barriers that a

plastic card and a website are not able to. You

want to make sure that there is a reason for

members to come back to your app again (and

again). The stickiest actions are functional—a

card-on-phone, a location-based search—or

entertaining—a new way for members to en-gage and have fun with your brand.

Chances are good that your members want

to engage with you on mobile. They may even

expect it. How you enable them to do that is

up to you. L

A:

—Lindsay NortonSenior Marketing Manager,

Member Engagement, SCENE

Look at the top

actions and

transactions your

members are

doing rom mobil

on your website

today, and startby building or

optimizing those

frst.




When determining any mobile

marketing strategy it is impor-

tant to not only measure your Return On

Investment but also your Return On En-

gagement. How will you provide a mem-

orable, user-friendly mobile experience

that rewards the customer for frequently

engaging with you? How will your mobile

campaign assimilate into your target audi-

ence’s world and become equally impact-

ful in the lives of their friends and family?

Let’s examine both strategies keep-

ing in mind that neither solution alone is

perfect to reach all of your customers and

the answer comes from carefully listening

to your customers. A recent IBM Global

CMO strategy, stated seventy percent

of the marketers surveyed said they feel

incapable of analyzing and responding to

the glut of data available about their con-

sumers. An alarming statistic, but an im-

portant insight to take note of. How can

you build out any marketing strategy with-

out understanding the needs and wants ofyour customers? Your data holds the key

for creatively experimenting with inter-

active mediums based on the insights it

provides.

A mobile website will certainly al-

low consumers to shop on-the-go, ac-

cess product reviews, etc. but an app can

heighten the user experience for loyal

customers. An app is an excellent way to

reach loyal customers who want to inter-

act with you on a regular basis and a fuller

experience than just a mobile website. For

instance, the app can allow consumer to

earn points by checking in, sharing anexperience on social networks such as

Facebook, Twitter, foursquare and Google,

identify local stores, neighborhood events,

and local dining areas, pick up products

in-store, have them delivered anywhere

and deliver rich media content to highlight

seasonal trends, promo-

tions, downloadable

rewards catalog, add

A:

—Melissa FernandezSr. Advisor, Destination Interactive

A:Each Company really needs to evaluate and assess

mobile solutions and platforms that are best for

them it and most importantly, ones that t their customers’

needs. Ensuring that you launch the right product and plat-

form for your customers’, which also meet your goals as a

company, these really are the keys to success with any mo-

bile strategy, no matter if you decide to go with a mobile app,

a mobile website—or both.

At Best Western, we chose both. We launched a brand

app and a brand mobile site, as well as a mobile site for

our rewards program, as research has shown that morecustomers are prone to go to a company’s mobile site rst

and transact there. We rst launched our brand mobile site

to ensure that we were one of the rst in market, the we

launched our brand app, “Best Western To Go” followed by

our Best Western Rewards® mobile site.

Ensuring that we were one of the rst to have a mobile

version of our brand website provided our customers with

hotel availability no matter where they were and, no matter

which device they were using. We also have an app because

it helps us build brand awareness and engagement. It also

offers our customers an enhanced experience on our mobile

app, keeping our brand top of mind.

—Tammy LucasBest Western

L

an item into their shopping cart by shak

ing their phone, etc. The retailer could

take the idea one step further and add a

gaming component rewarding consum

ers with points through scavenger hunts

Some marketer’s worry that a customer’s

interaction with an app may take a tumble

after the customer’s rst experience with

the app or even after a month, so how will

you re-engage customers and nd new

ways to heighten their senses? The an

swer lies in push notications. Push no

tications are sent out to your users with

a short message providing relevant mes

sages and key reminders of why your app

peaked their interest in the rst place. The

best part about push notications is that

the user controls how often they are no

tied and which notications they would

like to receive.

Loyal customers will provide you with

valuable and actionable insights you need

to develop marketing strategies that in

crease ROI and ROE. Your loyal customers are your brand advocates and expect

to you to provide a rich experience that

moves beyond a basic mobile website

The search should not be for the silver bul

let in mobile marketing which will leave

you with overspent budgets and frustrat

ing returns. The search should be how do

you deliver intrinsic value that begs your

customers to ask for more. L

Ensuring that you launch the

right product and platorm

or your customers’, which

also meet your goals as a

company, these really are

the keys to success withany mobile strategy, no

matter i you decide to go

with a mobile app, a mobile

website—or both.

An app is anexcellent wayto reach loyalcustomers whowant to interact withyou on a regularbasis and a ullerexperience than justa mobile website.



20

FEATURES

t’s no surprise that loyalty marketers have taken digital

and made it part and parcel of loyalty offerings. Or tried to.Why not? Social media marketing and the various connect-

ing tools and social platforms can be extraordinarily useful in

creating connections between brands and customers.

But for real loyalty to be created, outreach must be more

than just connection and more than just “communication” or

“outreach,”—and far more than a new form of “coupon,” or

“freebie,” or, excuse me, “value add.”

However, let’s be clear about the distinction that must

be made: engagement with social media and consumer-gen-

erated content forums should not ever be mistaken for en-

gagement with the brand or loyalty-building. And, yes, that

goes for when engagement with those platforms resulted in

the delivery of an entertaining brand message, that in turn

received a quippy consumer comment, gave out a coupon, or

provided the chance for that consumer to add their name to a

list of 432,621 other “close friends” of the brand.

One can easily see the attraction—and potential—of us-

ing social media when it comes to loyalty efforts. But these

tools should never be mistaken for the brand mission. Like

any great conversation, it can be a part of growing a rela-

tionship, but it's the relationship itself that matters. Which

is where understanding brand loyalty and loyalty to a Social

Network comes into play.

Social Media “usage,” or “visitation,” or “friendings” have

The Loyalty Social Sceneby Robert Passiko, Ph.D. & Amy Shea, Brand Keys, Inc.

become the 21st century version of last century’s “awareness”

paradigm. We know the argument: no, it’s not just aware-

ness; it’s engagement, because consumers are not passive,

but actually doing something on the social network. But let’s

be real: that “something” is just clicking a button that means,

okay, I will give you enough attention to let you talk to me.

Until I don’t; until you disappoint me by asking me to be your

friend but not giving me one good reason why I would want to

be. The “edit friends” feature is just another content lter, but

likely more decisive than the TV remote.

This may be a good time to remind you, dear reader, that

simply offering coupons are not the answer. They are readily

available on the internet, and you don’t have to get annoyed

by a brand’s FB status updates in the process. Just saying.

It’s not enough to be known. In fact, most of the brands

playing in the social media space today are already known

to this generations’ grandparents. You have to be known for

something meaningful to hold hands with consumers on that

coveted loyalty road. And it’s that critical truth that so often

gets overlooked as brands create a new colored siren and big -

ger balloons to attract consumer attention. It’s what is at the

destination that matters, not simply the social media stunt

that gets you there.

A brand can create a kind of perfect storm when it comes

to loyalty, where the power of brand and platform meet—

where the brand understands and is delivering on what’s

I




driving engagement in its category, and is shaping social me -

dia tactics to deliver against what’s driving engagement on

the social media platforms themselves. When a brand has

that, it’s delivering brand meaning in a meaningful way.

According to the 2011 Brand Keys Customer Loyalty En-

gagement Index (46,000 consumers, Male/Female, 18-65

years of age, drawn from the 9 US census regions, self-se-

lecting for participation in the social media space) loyalty to

Social Networking Sites can be described via four critical cat-egory drivers:

1. User Self-Image,

2. Ease of Connection,

3. Security and Control, and

4. Brand Value & Content Connection

Twentieth century-mode was to talk about “time spent”

gures or sputter about “number of visits” or “number of

friends,” or “the number of e-coupons collected over a 24-

hour time period.” But take a moment, and looking through

the lens of these consumer-generated drivers (we did noth-

ing to create or rank them—consumers did that), does the

site you are using, or thinking of using, deliver against these

expectations? Or might you just be collecting names, enter-

taining the masses, or, even worse, actually degrading the

brand’s value-for-dollar proposition?

Loyalty rankings aren’t based on awareness levels, but on

the ability for the social network platform to meet expecta-

tions consumers hold for the Ideal in the category—that is,

delivering against those drivers listed above. Here’s how the

six Social Networking Sites included in our Brand Keys Cus-

tomer Loyalty Engagement Index ranked when we conducted

the survey in January of 2011. For those of you shackled to

awareness, it should be pointed out that Friendster had high-

er awareness levels (according to the number of unaided cus-

tomer mentions) than Flickr at the time of the survey:

1. Facebook

2. MySpace

3. LinkedIn

4. Flickr

5. Twitter

6. Friendster

But as we are talking about “loyalty” here and not “aware-

ness” it should be pointed out that seven months later, in Au -

gust 2011, in our Brand Keys Loyalty Leaders List, Friendster

ranked #522 of 528 brands when it came to loyalty.

So much for correlating awareness and loyalty. Friendster

ended up erasing all the remaining photos, blogs, and tes-

timonials on their platform and reinvented itself as a music

and games site. All that’s left are the original basic proles

and friend lists, i.e., an outdated list of people you currently

‘friend’ on Facebook. To add real insult to virtual injury, they’llbe using Facebook Connect. How do you think those actions

and interactions affect loyalty? How fast do you think it took

disloyalty to set in?

Social media marketing for brand and loyalty building,

once the refuge for very small or very young or very quirky

brands, has become a commonplace element in the ever-

growing toolbox of more established brands. And those

established brands should have long-ago learned that the

platform is a delivery system. It’s a relevant message, cus-

tomized to that platform, which will deliver the best results.

Transferred to the social media space, that still makes sense.

There’s a reason brands don’t take their print ads and stick

them up on television, but use the power of the media to max-

imize their messages. The same holds true for social media.

That means not stopping at expecting loyalty using plat-

forms and programs alone. It means trying to create real

engagement with the brand—and understanding how those

platforms themselves drive loyalty.

Brand Keys denes loyalty and engagement as the result

of efforts—social and otherwise—that cause the consumer

to “see” the brand as better meeting or exceeding her or his

expectations for the category Ideal. This consequence-based

denition is one we stick to, as most brands get very touchy

about making entertaining advertising that makes viewers

laugh but does nothing to ring the register. But all tools tradi-

tional, digital, and those still coming down the road should be

able to provide some measure of Loyalty Return-On-Invest-

ment, otherwise why do them at all?

Okay, it’s true that for some brands looking to leverage

loyalty, playing in the social media arena is just a matter of

not wanting to be lagging behind what seems to be really

cool, high-tech marketing, although that classication is fad-

ing quickly in this rapidly changing digital age. Or they just

don’t want to be left behind competitors. That never changes.

Or for some brands, having only recently discovered that the

newest member of the Brand Group is their CFO, it all seems

a more cost-effective very-trackable expenditure, certainly

more so than traditional marketing platforms, and seemingly

provides some easier form of ROI.

But for most brands, largely it’s the fact that social media

has grown at a pace and has become a driving force as to how

brands of all sizes and types—new, small, medium, and large,

B2B, B2C, for bricks, clicks and clicks-and-mortar brands—

are trying to create and build more emotional, loyalty links

between themselves and consumers. For brands it turns outthat social media has become not only a useful augment to

traditional tactics, but for many it’s become an indispensable,

21st century brand management tool. Happily, a surrogate

form of ROI can be observed on the basis of advocacy levels

attained, the numbers of new, informed insights gleaned, and

actual cost reductions achieved.

Guaranteeing some degree of branding success has al-

ways been reliant upon a brand establishing an emotional

bond between itself and the customer. That need has only in-

creased. So, done correctly, social media marketing can pro-

duce a greater emotional bond between the consumer and

continued on next page

Engagement with social

media and consumer-

generated content forums

should not ever be mistaken

for engagement with the

brand or loyalty-building.




22

the brand. Done correctly, customers and prospects, able to

interact with brands in more active and personal and emo-

tional ways, can lead to connections that create higher lev-

els of brand engagement, and higher levels of brand loyalty,

which actually does correlate with sales and protability.

So, from an advocacy perspective, brands have found

social media an incredibly useful way to socially interact

with—and, at the same time, monitor—their most-loyal cus-

tomers and create a word-of-mouth forum for loyalists whocan advocate on the part of the brand, and exert a powerful

inuence on others in the brand engagement process – also

leading to insights.

Done appropriately, brand involvement in social media

can also signicantly change the traditional brand-marketing

paradigm. That used to be reach and frequency-based to cre-

ate a some level of awareness, to develop some degree of

consumer interest, in the hope that the marketing program

generated a reasonable level of desire, and, ultimately, acti-

vated the consumer I.e., got them to go out and buy the brand.

Social media loyalty programs have now become—or

should become—exercises to delight the consumer and cre-

ate higher levels of involvement with the brand. It can engen -

der some social interaction by means of communications,and create activities that are sufciently resonant and rel-

evant and of real utility to the consumer. Enough so that so-

cial conversations via electronic round tables, where opinions

can actually be shared, might be regarded as a more emo-

tional experience by consumers than, say, having a coupon

emailed to them because they visited a social network site

and/or clicked a link.

More and more social media brand conversations have

to do with far more involving expressions of what consum-

ers really expect. Comments regarding recommendations for

brand improvements, discussions of category specics, and

L

true consumer confessions to which brands might not other-

wise be privy can be of real value in craf ting loyalty. Collected

and culled, these insights can be used to inform a brand’s

loyalty positioning, strategic options, and tactical market ac-

tivities. And, because it was the consumer who was actively

involved with all this, marketers also likely to see increased

levels of brand engagement. And brand loyalty.

Finally, brands can look to certain social media activities

to help reduce costs. Social media networks like Facebookand other online communities can act as surrogate support

services. Just take a look at how many actual social media

interactions and conversations have to do with getting help,

answering problems, seeking ratings and recommendations,

or just learning how to do something for/with/about the

brand. It shouldn’t be too hard to understand that such social

media self-diagnostics and user-generated contributions can

help to alleviate some of the stress on service cost centers.

Oh, and loyal customers actually enjoy participating in the

interaction. They’re six times more likely to do so than the

average consumer.

And the traditional, word-of-mouth, aka a friend’s rec-

ommendation or a conversation with a “friend,” is still alive

and well and making a high percent-contribution to loyalty,engagement and protability—only these days it’s also being

conducted via “tweets” and on smarter-and-smarter smart-

phones via text messages. And that’s only going to increase.

The poet Ralph Waldo Emerson noted, “Conversation is

an art in which man has all mankind for competitors.” Brands

already acknowledge that a larger consumer discussion is be-

ing conducted, a good deal of it over via Social Networking

Sites. Brands that want more loyal customers will be listening

for, measuring properly, and capitalizing upon those chang-

es—if they want to successfully be part of that social scene.

The Loyalty Social Scene (continued)

Social media loyalty programshave now become—or should become—exercises to

delight the consumer andcreate higher levels of

involvement with the brand.




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ANALYTICS




FEATURES

rganizations have been collecting feedback rom

customers orever. However, over the last several years, the

need or a deep understanding o customer needs has increased

tremendously. With the popularity o the internet and the ease

o publishing thoughts, opinions, ideas and reviews, customers

have been given a new voice. I an organization doesn’t pro-

actively collect eedback rom customers, chances are, they’ll

never hear rom an unhappy customer until it’s too late.

Voice o the Customer (VOC) is a complete, well-defned

customer eedback program that encompasses the entire cus-

tomer liecycle. The overarching purpose o a VOC program is

to gain deep customer knowledge and use it to grow the busi-

ness, regardless o whether your specifc program goals are

to increase customer renewals, grow market share, arm your

sales team with an understanding o customer requirements,

or something else entirely. The knowledge obtained rom a

VOC program is oten a springboard or innovation.

Successul VOC programs are not a single customer sur-

vey, but an ongoing investment to collect actionable eedback.

The Four Fundamental

Pillars o a Voice o theCustomer Programby Lee Orr, Cvent

When done correctly, large organizations see revenue return

in the hundreds o millions. Regardless o the size o the org

nization, there are our undamental pillars in the custome

eedback loop:

•Listen. Listen broadly to what customers are saying the

need or want, but also keep your ears open or their ru

trations. There should be clear mechanisms or capturin

eedback on specifc interactions and overall perceptions

whether they be good or bad.

•Interpret. Understand what customer eedback means o

the organization. Are customers commenting on the symtom o a bigger issue? What are the key takeaways?

•React. Take action based on what you’ve learned. Establis

a process to ensure customer insights are being used whe

making business decisions.

•Monitor. Ater making changes, don’t orget to monito

the results by continuing to gather customer eedback an

mapping changes to business results.

O





Within each o these pillars, there are common roadblocks an

organization can ace. Let’s dive into these challenges and how

you can eectively overcome them.

Listening HurdlesEectively gathering eedback rom customers is the ounda-

tion o an eective VOC program. Similar to constructing a build-

ing, it’s critical to pour the oundation correctly, otherwise you’ll

develop cracks as the program matures. There are several prob-

lems that occur in this part o the eedback loop; below are two o

the most common:

A Lack o Goals: Establishing clear goals is critical in obtaining

buy-in rom senior executives and setting program expecta-

tions. Without goals, you risk ending up with the wrong in-

ormation, fnding inaccurate insights, and not being able to

prove program value and ROI.

A Narrow Scope: Think broadly about how customers interact

with your organization. All too oten companies only collect

eedback ater interactions, such as service calls. In actuality,

you should collect it beore a customer signs on, throughout

the entire liecycle, and i a customer decides to stop using

your product or service.

Interpretation Hang-upsThe best VOC programs incorporate data rom one project

with internal data sources. But, otentimes, organizations will

eel paralyzed with the sheer volume o inormation, so they sim-

ply zero in on the collected eedback rom the project at-hand and

neglect the additional insights. However, companies should look

at this extra data as a valuable resource.

You already have a lot o customer inormation rom internal

sources, such as your CRM system: when they frst purchased,

the last time they called support, general demographics about

who they are, etc. It’s common to orget about this data and sim-

ply ocus on what the customers said but, when combined with

customer eedback, it gives additional context. For exampl

someone who has been a customer or years is dieren

than one starting implementation. A 360-degree custome

eedback program can only be achieved by bringing in thes

other sources o customer data.

Once you’ve combined the various eedback ows, th

best way to avoid paralysis is to lay out a plan that answer

specifc questions, such as: What are the key perormanc

indicators (KPIs) your C-suite wants to see? Is it Net Pro

moter Score, Customer Satisaction Index, or one o the oth

er many loyalty and satisaction metrics?

You’re moving towards being able to share and act upo

your fndings. KPIs are easy or the organization to rall

around with analysis supporting the reasons behind thos

scores.

Reacting FailuresThis is the most important VOC pillar. Unortunatel

many organizations come to a standstill when interpretin

eedback. You can do all o the research and analysis you

want, but i it’s not acted upon, the impact will be small. Thi

happens or a number o reasons, the most common bein

that fndings and insights aren’t shared throughout the o

ganization.

Findings won’t be internalized by simply distributin

a single 60-page report. Various groups within the organ

zation need to see dierent inormation—or example, th

CEO’s requirements may dier rom a project manager’

The best approach is to consider the specifc needs o eac

audience separately and then tailor the presentations a

cordingly. When done eectively, every employee will b

more customer-ocused in their day-to-day activities.

Finding the best way to share customer eedback is

journey that evolves over time. Read more about how on

company tackled this eat below.

Establishing clear goals is critical in obtaining

buy-in rom senior executives and setting

program expectations. Without goals, you risk

nding inaccurate insights, and not

being able to prove program

value and ROI.






Is ur brnd gd friend? Appl traitial lalt tchiqus

t strgth ur scial mia prfrmac. W’ll hlp lvat

ur status i ur csumrs’ prsal spac.

Beyond e ke:SocIal loyalty

Redefning loyalty across social, mobile and web channels:

points-based rewards, auction, community, punch card, promotion overlays, catalog managementwww.eprize.com – facebook.com/eprize – 877.837.7493

Bringing a VOC Program In-HouseProBuild views its VOC program as a continuous

customer eedback loop, with no real beginning or

end. The company starts with defning what it wants

to know, then identifes the best method to collect

that inormation. Ater that, it implements the ap-

propriate research methodologies, analyzes the eed-

back and shares the fndings internally. Then, thecontinuous customer eedback loop starts over, with

ProBuild asking: knowing what we know now, what

do we want to know next?

For ProBuild, the quantitative values that codiy

customer satisaction are just the beginning. The

company also strives to determine the “why” behind

the customers’ ratings. For example, in a satisaction

survey, anytime a customer is dissatisfed, the com-

pany asks how it can improve. This way, ProBuild

can implement the appropriate changes, rather than

making changes based on guesswork.

Communicating the Findings

ProBuild rarely just distributes an internal reporto its fndings. Instead, the company presents the

fndings through one-on-one meetings, small group

presentations, or video conerencing applications.

ProBuild has ound that this osters more in-depth

discussions on the “why” behind the report’s data

How ProBuild Holdings Manages its VOC ProgramProBuild Holdings Inc., supplier o proessional building ma-

terials, brought its market research in-house one and a hal years

ago. Prior to that, the organization was limited in its research

capabilities and typically engaged one-o projects conducted in

conjunction with third party research vendors to obtain primary

and secondary data.

With separately commissioned studies rom disparate groupsand decentralized ownership, the company ound that it had a

series o project-based studies that each had a discrete hard stop.

This made it difcult to efciently address ollow-up questions,

understand what data already existed, and integrate data rom

separate projects into one cohesive understanding o their cus-

tomers. ProBuild quickly realized there would be great beneft to

having the resources in house to conduct ongoing longitudinal

studies, rather than continuing to contract out a series o proj-

ects.

“Research is an integral part to building a strategic market-

ing organization and is the backbone o enabling a culture o us-

ing data to understand our customer’s needs,” said Lisa Peterson,

vice president o Marketing and Communications or ProBuild.

“Given the strategic signifcance, it is a unction that we eel isimportant to own and manage internally, versus outsourcing.

While third party research vendors are still utilized as supple-

mental resources, we eel that being intimately involved in the

data collection and analysis gives us the opportunity to ‘slice and

dice’ the data in ways that can be meaningul to our operators.”

The Four Fundamental Pillars of a Voice of the Customer Program (continued)



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T cnnct with yu sas chann, mpys

an custms in this nw w, yu n t

unstan th nw us ngagmnt.

That’s wh w cm in. At BI WorldWIde

w can hp yu pay by th nw us t

bnft yu ban.

T an m, visit BIWorldWIde.cm/ngag.

Engage your worldEngage your employeesEngage your channelEngage your consumers

and uncovers more meaningul insights. They believe the “true”

value o the research comes not just rom the report per se, but

rather in the discussions that ollow.

The End ResultBy bringing its market research in-house, ProBuild now spends

more time listening to customer eedback and truly understand-

ing their needs, and less time educating third-party research

vendors on industry vocabulary and nuances. The marketing department is now better able to combine inormation rom one

customer research project and relate it to insights rom other

projects. The result? A holistic view o the customer base, and a

clearer understanding o the voice o ProBuild’s customer.

Monitoring BreakdownsSimply taking action doesn’t mean you’re done; customer eed-

back is a continuous journey. I you’ve avoided the other pillars’

major pitalls, your organization will continue to want more in-

sights and the loop will continue. Companies love newly-gained

customer knowledge and use it when making business decisions,

but what impact do those decisions have on the organization? It’s

important to monitor successes, as well as ailures, to inorm u-

ture decisions.

Untracked Results: Monitoring results involves both a cus-

tomer and business perspective when selecting metrics.

Common key perormance indicators include the customer

satisaction index, Net Promoter Score, customer lietime

value and customer churn rate. You don’t need to

track every KPI, but it’s important to be able to tie

insights to decisions to business results. Without

it, it’s difcult to maintain internal buy-in.

Stagnant Goals: It can be overwhelming to start

a VOC program i you try to tackle everything

at once. Instead, break it up into smaller, more

manageable phases so you can prove ROI. As yourprogram matures, reevaluate the goals you set in

the beginning. Are you still listening to the right

things, conducting the right analysis and taking

the right actions? Without reexamining the goals

throughout the program’s evolution, the potential

may be stunted, and the organization will miss

growth opportunities.

There are a lot o pieces that come together to

make up a successul customer eedback program,

and getting started can be intimidating. However,

when you come up against pushback, point out the

many benefts: improved process efciency, in-

creased customer lietime value, and the ability to

identiy new market opportunities. In today’s hyper-

competitive economy, the most successul organiza-

tions are that the ones living and breathing customer

eedback, constantly asking themselves, “with what

we know now, what do we do next?” L




FEATURES

28

iven the technological evolution of social media, dis-

cussions about customer engagement are ubiquitous. From

retail to travel to banking and industries in between, compa-

nies understand the need to engage customers in a positive

manner.

Sometimes, though, even the best companies fall short of

customers’ expectations. Dissatised customers are unhap-

py, even angry with a company, but they are engaged

nonetheless. And the 2010 Cus-

tomer Experience Report by

Harris Interactive revealed

that 82 percent of consum-

ers have stopped doing

business with a com-

pany as a result of

a negative ex-

perience.

Instead of dreading these negative engagements, com-

panies can learn to recognize the opportunity inherent in en-

gaging a disappointed customer. A company that correctly

handles a negative engagement can convert a dissatised cus-

tomer who never wants to do business with them again into a

positively engaged customer—one who genuinely desires to

interact.

Give customers a platform to be heardThe Customer Experience Report shows that 58 percent of

respondents would like the company to respond if they left a

comment on a social networking site like Facebook or Twitter.However, only 22 percent of those who left a comment on a

social networking site actually received a response. Your cus-

tomers are having conversations, whether you are listening or

not. With social media, you can hear those conversations and

participate.

During a recent Loyalty 360 webinar entitled “The Bright

Side of Negative Engagement,” 58 percent of respondents

noted that they have a strategy in place for

listening to customers.

These companies

understand the importance of listening and the

impact that it can have to your bottom line. After

all, the Customer Experience Report notes that

85 percent of consumers would be willing to pay

more—up to 25 percent more—to ensure a supe-

rior customer experience.

The Bright Side o

Negative EngagementRecognition and Personalization Rated

the Most Useful Strategy for Astonishing

Customersby Mike McDonnell, Afnion Loyalty Group

G




Recognize and evaluate their feedbackOften, recognizing a complaint goes a long way to diffusing,

or even reversing, the negative situation. However, evaluate

the feedback rst. Not all complaints are created equal. Look

at the motives behind the feedback and respond accordingly.

Be accountable, remove obstacles, andastonish them

Social media and engagement expert Clay Hebert coined

a great saying, “Carpe Defect. Seize the defect, clean it up,

make it better and create life-long fans.” Through a nationwide

advertisement, Domino’s Pizza turned a customer-submitted

photo of a poorly delivered pizza into a rallying point for im -

proved customer service. They even took it one step further

by broadcasting customer ratings of their food on the Times

Square JumboTron.

A company that correctly

handles a negative

engagement can convert a

dissatisfed customer who

never wants to do business

with them again into apositively engaged customer.

When it comes to astonishment, 32 percent of webinar respon

dents are in development with their strategy and an equal number

noted that it’s “on their radar screen” to develop one. Nearly 60

percent felt that the most useful strategy for astonishing custom

ers employed recognition and personalization. Domino’s certainly

employed recognition and personalization when they had their

pizza makers “sign” their pizzas and then displayed customer

comments on the JumboTron. Talk about astonishment.

Build trustIn his book Enchantment, Guy Kawasaki devotes an entire

chapter to achieving trustworthiness. He urges, “If you want peo

ple to trust you, you have to trust them. Consider what you have to

look forward to: When people trust each other, they stop playing

games, they look beyond temporary problems, and they expose

themselves with less hesitation… Get this right: The rst step is

to trust others—as Zappos trusted its customers not to abuse the

ability to return shoes with free shipping.”

Make them look goodAnd, nally, establish that emotional connection with custom

ers. Understand who they are, what they are interested in and

what their goals are. Whether it’s looking smart, cool, funny or

philanthropic, know what appeals to your customer and help her

achieve it.

The payoff? If you focus on engaging customers in a way that

resonates with them on a personal level, you can convert them

into loyal, long-term fans of your brand. Fans often are less sensi

tive to price, more understanding of service issues, provide mean

ingful input for product development and become genuine word

of-mouth advocates for your brand. L

www.veracentraFollow us on Twitter @verac



30

FEATURES

arketers are feeling the pressure to ramp up their contributions to the top and

bottom line. They can do so by taking ad-

vantage o the customer intelligence needed

to execute on a customer-ocused strategy.

Savvy marketers know that by implementing

a customer-intelligence solution they can ag-

gregate and leverage data collected through-

out the organization to improve proftability.

Yet many marketers struggle to get a solution

implemented within their company because

they ail to get buy-in at the executive level.

To successully take a customer-intelli-

gence initiative rom vision to reality, market-

ers need to connect with executives on issuesthat are top o mind. By applying the guidance

shared here, marketers can articulate their

business case in language that resonates with

the executive team – and gain support or the

technology needed to produce customer intel-

ligence.

Winning Over the Corner OceMore and more CEOs are defning their vi-

sions to establish a customer-centric culture.

Jump-Start

Your Customer

Intelligence

Initiative

by Securing

C-SuiteBuy-in

However, until CEOs get on board with a so-lution that helps their organizations tap into

their customer data, this customer-centric

vision will remain out o reach. While many

CEOs have supported investments in CRM

and other customer-related systems, they’re

likely unaware o the missed opportunities

to ully take advantage o the data exploding

across their organizations.

A Customer Intelligence Platorm isKey to Harnessing Customer Data

Convincing the CEO to invest in a custom-

er intelligence solution hinges on explaining

how this helps marketers maximize customerproftability while improving the customer

experience. Uniting multiple data sources

rom multiple applications throughout the

organization leads to more eective analysis,

deeper customer insights, and the develop-

ment o a successul customer strategy. Op-

timizing the use o customer data to create

relevant customer messaging improves the

customer experience, creates true loyalty, and

increases proftability per customer over time.

What is Customer

Intelligence?

According to

Forrester Research,

customer intelligence

is the management

and analysis o

customer data romall sources, used

to drive marketing

perormance and

business strategy.

by Connie Hill, VeraCentra

M





How Customer

Intelligence Aligns

with the CEO

Perspective

According to

Forrester Research

Vice President and

Practice Leader o

Customer Intelligence

Suresh Vittal and

researcher Emily

Murphy, customer

intelligencesupercharges loyalty,

making it possible to

design and sustain

loyalty programs

that stand out

due to advanced

segmentation and

highly relevant

targeting thatdelivers an enriched

customer experience.

Tip: Understand yourorganization’s businessstrategy and yourCEO’s agenda—and

align your purchase ocustomer intelligencewith the top initiatives.

Clariy the OptionsMarketers must also lay out solution

choices: leveraging internal business intelli-

gence tools, developing an in-house solution,

or opting or an outsourced solution. Though

developing an in-house solution can appear to

be the most cost-eective option, the trade-

o is time. Because marketing initiatives are

requently waitlisted while other projects getpriority, in-house customer-intelligence solu-

tions can take up to 24 months to develop and

implement, even i companies are leveraging

an existing business intelligence tool.

With customer centricity as the new com-

petitive advantage, time is o the essence.

Ambitious organizations opt or outsourced

solutions that leverage cloud or on-demand

platorms specifcally designed to support

customer marketing, rom a provider with

combined marketing and technical know-how

and analytic expertise.

Customer Focus Starts with the CEOSavvy CEOs should be ully behind any

investment that provides a oundation or a

customer-centric strategy and empowers the

organization to manage and track all related

initiatives to overarching corporate goals.

Such an investment will help transorm the

organization into one that realizes long-term

fnancial benefts.

Speaking the CFO’s LanguageTo gain the support o the CFO, market-

ers should explain the pressing need to gain

better customer insight and how that insight

will translate into increased profts. Withthis keen understanding o the customer base,

marketers can segment based on customer be-

havior, liecycle stages and the overall proft

potential o each customer. By explaining how

they can use customer intelligence to increase

share o wallet, convert occasional buyers into

high-value customers, increase the requen-

cy and value o transactions, or increase the

proft o customers over a longer period i time,

marketers gain the CFO’s attention.

On-Demand Customer IntelligenceDelivers Rapid ROI

The CFO will appreciate marketing’s new-

ound ability to measure customer value and

improve the ROI o marketing spend on exist-

ing customer programs. In act, the CFO can

be a valuable ally when evaluating solutions.

CFOs value a ast return on investment,

and long, drawn-out internal implementa-

tions o up to 24 months can hurt the bottom

line. By hiring an outside provider that under-

stands data, business intelligence and market-

ing, an organization can have an on-demand

solution up and running in 90 days or a ast

return.

Plus, an on-demand solution is a low-risk

investment. Because the company won’t incur

expenses or inrastructure, the initial and

ongoing outlay is in line with the CFO’s push

to drive down costs.

To achieve even greater CFO buy-in, mar-

keters can collaborate with their CFOs to es-tablish metrics around incremental customer

value based on customer retention, growth in

the number o repeat customers, longer cus-

tomer tenure, and higher profts.

Tip: Share quantiablemetrics with yourCFO – both showingwhat the solution

provider’s customershave achieved andwhat your organizationcan expect to realize interms o ROI.

Real-world Returns rom On-Demand

Customer IntelligenceOne company improved the top line by

working with an outside customer intelligence

provider, VeraCentra. COIT Services, started

in 1950, is one o the largest specialty cleaning

and restoration companies in the world.

Concerned about the growing costs to

acquire new customers, COIT used the on-

demand customer-intelligence solution rom

VeraCentra to analyze its customer buying

patterns and trends. It ound that new cus-

tomers were less likely to place a second ser-

vice order, but those that did place a second

order within a certain time rame tended to-

ward long-term loyalty. COIT then created a




Jump-Start Your Customer Intelligence Initiative (continued)

32

strategy to improve the customer’s frst-time

experience and secure that valuable second

purchase. The results? An increase o 34% in

repeat purchases, leading to a 25% lit in in-

cremental revenue per customer and perorm-

ing 66% over the established ROI goal.

Making the CIO Your Champion

To secure the CIO’s buy-in or an on-de-mand customer-intelligence solution, ocus

on three points:

•Leveraging IT’s expertise in evaluat-

ing a solution

•Ensuring the organization’s data is se-

cure

•Expressing appreciation or the com-

peting priorities the IT group is con-

stantly balancing

Leverage IT’s ExpertiseBecause CIOs must ensure non-stop oper-

ations and scalability, the solution being con-

sidered must be a good ft with the company’stechnology approach and strategy. Engage a

member o the technology team early on to

explore this issue. By doing so—and demon-

strating respect or IT’s perspective—market-

ers can ultimately gain a champion or their

initiative.

Fear o Losing ControlSome CIOs resist an outsourced solu-

tion, earing the worst when data leaves the

corporate frewall. Yet, corporate data leaves

the company every day, via emails, portal

exchanges, axes, and phone calls. Moreover,

with companies increasingly relying on theInternet to conduct business and compete

in a global marketplace, they ace a growing

number o security threats. The reality is that

sensitive company data is at risk within the

corporate network, whether due to hacking

attempts or unintentional oversights or mis-

takes by employees.

THINKstrategies has ound that SaaS and

cloud computing vendors, and the solutions

they oer, can actually help organizations

better protect their private data because they

are ocused entirely on storing and process-

ing mission-critical corporate data in a secure

ashion.Again, by asking IT about their concerns

and including them in the solution evalua-

tion process, marketers can address and allay

these concerns.

Ofoad the IT GroupOtentimes, marketers are a burden on

technology groups due to constant requests

or customer lists, data queries and reports.

Today’s on-demand customer-intelligence

solutions are designed or business users,

alleviating the IT group o the need to run

time-consuming and bothersome queries

and reports.

At the same time, these solutions place

minimal demands on IT. Help the CIO un-

derstand that, while IT’s involvement may

be needed or initial integration, the time

commitment can be measured in days, not

the months or years needed or sotware in-

stallation or in-house development. In act,

IT can connect the company’s data sources

to cloud-based customer-intelligence solu-

tions using application programming in-

teraces and other connectors that enable

quick linkage.

Moreover, a cloud-based solution scales

to support a company’s growing needs

without the need or additional capital in-

vestments. In other words, it will handle

growing data volumes while obviating IT o

the need to deploy additional hardware.

Tip: Share thesolution provider’sindependentcertication with yourIT team to show ithas achieved SAS70certication andmeets the minimumrequirements or aSarbanes-Oxley Actaudit.

Put Forth a Compelling Business

CaseAt the heart o successul customer-

centric strategies is customer-intelligence

solutions that unite – and help marketers

tap into – the silos o rich customer dataound throughout their organizations. Em-

powered in this way, organizations can

create a viable customer-ocused strategy

backed by well-defned market segmenta-

tions, compelling messages and oers, and

measurable improvement in incremental

customer proft. Tap into these best practic-

es or building a business case to secure C-

suite support or deploying an on-demand

customer-intelligence solution. L




One Size Doesn’t Fit All: Inspire People with Meaningful Rewards

People come in all shapes and sizes with many different interests and hobbies. So when it comes to choosing wh

rewards motivate and influence behavior, the task becomes increasingly difficult. And, while you already hav

successful program in place, you might not have the time or the desire to manage multiple reward vendors. At Mar

our rewards specialists have already strategically selected rewards that are meaningful and motivating to y

audience – resulting in inspired employees, customers and partners that can help you achieve your business go

For more information about our reward options, email [email protected] or call 1-877-4MARITZ.

©2011 MasterCard.

MasterCard and the MasterCard Brand Mark are trademarks of MasterCard International Incorporated.

ADVANCING LOYALTY ADVANCING CO

Give your custome

a superiority comp

Offer the exclusive rewards and benefits that keep cardholders happy and loyal.

rovide your customers with exceptional service experiences wherever they go, with comprehensive cardholder

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Learn more at mastercard.com/loyalty.



GoRebate MobileGoRebate mobile apps, launched by the leader in rebates, provides consumers and

businesses a valuable shopping tool

Parago (www.parago.com), a leading provider of innovative re-

ward programs that drive behavior and promote brand loyalty with

consumers launched GoRebate Mobile™, the rst mobile shopping

applications for iPhone and Android focused on rebates that allow

marketers to deliver rebates directly into the hands of value-seeking

consumers.

GoRebate Mobile, which launched in the iTunes App Store and

Android Market is free to download, utilizes an intuitive and user-friendly design and allows users to:

•Be presented with available rebates based on their current location

•Browse for rebates in their area either by retailer or product category

•Access rebate terms and conditions

•Share specic rebate promotions with others via text, email, Facebook or Twitter, or tag

them for a reminder at a later date

•Track submitted rebates to see where they are in the redemption process

•Track the card balance of their rebates paid out on prepaid cards issued by Parago

•Set alerts for rebates by proximity and frequency

LoyaltyInnovationPRODUCTS,

ADVANCEMENTS,

& TECHNOLOGIES

TECHNOLOGY, TRENDS & REWARDS

34 Loyalty Management™ • LOYALTY360.OR G

GoRebate Mobile was designed to be

practical tool for value-seeking consume

that are likely to use rebates, and deliver hig

value content to people seeking savings. T

progressive technology behind GoRebate

lows it to seamlessly integrate into consume

existing shopping routines and enables brow

ing for or notication of rebates in their area

The app’s innovative sensitivity featur

are intelligent enough to know when to query Parago’s server not only based on ne

location, but also on rate of movement. F

example, rather than continually notifying

user that is driving down the highway of ne

rebates, it can send notications of nearby

bates when the user has slowed or come to

stop.

GoRebate Mobile aims to solve a genui

problem in the marketplace: until now retaile

had to actively do something to market reba

promotions to the public or they had to ho

that consumers would notice them in th

stores. GoRebate offers a whole new aven

for businesses to make consumers aware rebates and to drive store trafc and sales l

For more information about GoReba

download the application for free in the iTun

App Store or Android Market or visit http

www.gorebate.com.

Until now retailers had to actively do something to

market rebate promotions to the public or they had to

hope that consumers would notice them in their stores.



ActivePathTechnology partnership creates new op-

portunities or building loyalty, benet-

ting retail merchants, card issuers and

consumers alike.

A new technology partnership an-

nounced by Cardlytics and ActivePath

presents an innovative opportunity for

loyalty marketers. The program builds

customer loyalty and drives adoption of

eStatements for banks and card issuers,

attracts new customers and builds repeat

customer trafc for retail merchants, while

generating tangible rewards for consumers.

Joining forces has combined unique

capabilities from Cardlytics’ Transaction-

driven Marketing™ solution and Active-

Path’s interactive ActiveMail™ system,

enabling custom incentive offers to beembedded into secure interactive eState-

ments. Banking customers receive, view

and transact the offers directly directly

within the email message at their conve-

nience, without the need to log on to online

or mobile banking or download the state-

ment.

Customers viewing their eStatements

nd incentives clearly marked at each rel-

evant transaction. Clicking to view the re-

ward automatically activates it to the debit,

credit or prepaid card associated with the

loyalty program. The next time the cus-

tomer uses their card to make a purchase

that meets the offer’s conditions, the of-

fer is automatically transacted without the

customer having to enter promotion codes,

clip or print coupons.

When the customer makes a purchase

with the designated card, their savings are

automatically shown in their account. At

the end of the following month, the savings

are credited directly into their account. It’s

all done through their bank’s reward pro-

gram and managed through the safe, se-

cure environment of their bank.


One of the “11 Big Ideas for 2011” in

American Banker’s January cover story

of the same name, was ‘building loyalty

through merchant rewards’ citing Cardlyt

ics and its adopters, First National Bank of

Omaha and Regions Bank. The article not

ed that simplicity prompted First Nationa

to implement their loyalty program, presenting bank customers with offers from a

wide range of businesses.

The Cardlytics program has already at

tracted a wide range of participating mer

chants, including national, regional and

local apparel retailers, discount retailers

restaurants and individual brands such

as The Body Shop. Now with the addition

of eStatement rewards delivered and acti

vated within email, ActivePath and Cardlyt

ics have streamlined the loyalty marketing

process for customers, retail merchants

and banks alike.

Read more about the potential applications and best practices, including a case

study and supporting data, in the unabridged

article, “Technology partnership creates new

opportunities or building loyalty, beneftting

retail merchants, card issuers and consum

ers alike” on Loyalty Management online at

Loyalty360.org.

AnametrixInstaVista™ Business Analytics (BA) lls the gap between home-grown spreadsheets and costly Business Intelligence (BI) or better

corporate decision making.Marketers need a more effective way to understand how promotional campaigns specically reach and impact

prospects and clients from a holistic perspective. With so much data from so many divergent sources, the ability to

measure and compare performance within the marketing mix can become overwhelming. To justify programs and

allocate budgets, ROI can only be determined by knowing how marketing efforts across multiple initiatives translate

into generating new business opportunities and extending relationships with current customers.

Anametrix InstaVista enables marketers to see vast amounts of online and ofine source information funneled to

one simple interface. Real-time, customizable cloud-based dashboards offer powerful interactive visualizations of:

•Web Analytics

•Point of Sale (POS)

•Social Media

•Search Engine Marketing (SEM)

•Video & Audio

InstaVista frees resources required to pull, clean, and understand information across an organization. Created specically to help

companies make faster, better decisions, InstaVista combines disparate data feeds and offers predictive alerting of trends, opportunities,

and even problems before they arise, not after a campaign ends. Executives can focus on determining which activities are performing or

not performing and immediately adjust programs to positively impact the bottom line.

Smarter than spreadsheets but yet much less complicated than traditional business intelligence technology, InstaVista also features

seamless Microsoft Excel bi-directional synchronization, an industry rst. This exclusive function enables organizations to align day-to

day employee activities with enterprise systems to drive quality decision-making across multiple applications without burdening IT staff

Individual end users across all departments quickly and cost-effectively move beyond Excel to visually navigate combined complex data

points and uncover unseen relationships within their own business units.

For companies with brick-based storefronts as well as click-based digital presence, Marketers can clearly determine correlations and

amortizations across an entire user base by tracking all on/ofine activity associated with cross-channel advertising initiatives. Data

segmentation by product line or locale accelerates speed to market, builds customer loyalty, and maximizes market share by weeding

out inefciencies.

•E-mail Campaigns

•Market Research Surveys

•Customer Relationship Management (CRM)

•Loyalty Programs

•...nearly any source data

Customers viewing

their eStatements

nd incentives clearly

marked at each

relevant transaction.



36

verything old is new again.” Peter Allen penned those lyrics about fash-

ion and fads, but it’s an apt description of the latest guest loyalty advances in

the hospitality industry. Positive word of mouth among friends, family, and

colleagues has always been hoteliers’ most coveted and effective form of

marketing because it drives repeat business. The difference now is that those

recommendations take place online. Social media channels such as Facebook

fan pages and TripAdvisor have become the electronic back fences over which

people exchange travel tips on what to see and where to stay.

The good news is that today hoteliers can be part of that conversation to de-velop stronger, more guest loyal relationships. An active social media strategy

combined with a comprehensive property management system (PMS) allows

us to directly engage both repeat and potential guests. The web-connection-

ready Maestro PMS technology we use, makes it possible to earn a reputation

for superior customer service the old-fashioned way—by getting to know our

guests so that we can fulll their needs and provide their preferred amenities

and services. And when guests feel properly pampered, they come back.

Online Conversation Leads to ‘Book Now’Adding social media and a exible internet-savvy PMS to the formula al-

lows hospitality marketers to engage modern travelers and be a part of their

decision making process. Software applications enable hoteliers to monitor

keywords throughout various social media channels. The Lodging Hospitality

Management (LHM) team continually monitors social media sites to assist

guests who are traveling to the St. Louis area. We operate 13 properties un -

der major ags and two independent boutique hotels, so we can offer a vari-

ety of options. LHM uses the Maestro PMS at our two luxury boutiques, The

Cheshire and The Seven Gables Inn to place a ‘book-now’ reservation button

on the propertys’ Facebook pages so visitors can join our conversations and

book a room without leaving their social media page.

Here is an example of how we use social media. Someone may post a query

on a travel site stating, “Visiting St. Louis for the rst time. Can anyone recom-

mend a hotel?” This gives us a chance to educate potential guests about our

properties and offer a solution to their travel needs. They might ask, “Which

hotel is near my meeting? Where can we stay near the zoo?” By assisting po-

tentials guests, we often convert online conversations into clicks on the ‘book

now’ button.

New Frontiers in Hotel

Guest Loyalty:Technology Enhances Time-Honored Formula

for Success and Personal Service at Lodging

Hospitality Managementby Todd Hotaling, Lodging Hospitality Management

PMS Empowers Front Desk with GuesReady Wish List

When you feed social media intelligence into

web-connected front ofce system like Maestro PM

you empower your front desk staff to fulll a traveler

wish list when they arrive. You can begin to learn from

online conversations a guest’s preferences and antic

pate other sales opportunities such as room upgrade

food and beverage recommendations, and futur

bookings, and this recognition creates loyalty.

Once a prospect becomes a LHM guest, our Ma

stro PMS from NORTHWIND adds to what we learne

online by compiling information such as historical sta

patterns, arrival times, and special requests. If w

were late on delivering a guest’s extra towel reques

during their last stay, our PMS will remind us and w

avoid these issues on subsequent visits. LHM also r

lies on its PMS to help its team devise and track cr

ative loyalty programs for our agged hotels and i

dependent boutique properties. These programs ar

particularly important to independent hotels becaus

they do not have the name recognition and marketin

muscle of a major ag.

There’s No Such Thing as a ‘Bad’ OnlineReview

Most hotels make an effort to survey guests abou

their stay via comment cards. Social networking cha

nels extend our reach and keeps LHM in post-sta

conversations.

We nd that guests tend to post two types of o

line reviews—glowingly positive or strongly negativ

We appreciate a thumbs-up review, of course, bu

we also focus on turning complaints into opportun

ties that cultivate loyalty. We do this by immediate


E




addressing negative reviews with personal messages from upper

management and issue a public online response. This strengthens

our personal relationship with guests and our online reputation.

Online reviews are also an invaluable source of good sugges-

tions for increasing business. Comments such as “I wish theyopened the pool earlier” or “I would have stayed at property X, but

they have no airport shuttle” also helps LHM hone its amenities

and services.

Nothing Sells Management Like SuccessIncorporating social media as a marketing component is a

major shift in how hoteliers do business—probably the most sig-

nicant change since we began using third party channels to sell

our inventory. Social media involvement is a learning process that

takes time to do well. But, building social media into the staff’s

daily tasks builds a corporate culture of service.

The secret to selling a new approach to staff is presenting posi-

tive outcomes. Efcient online processes to review selected social

media sites combined with a web-connection PMS streamline ourguest service and loyalty efforts and help keep labor costs low.

Top management at LHM quickly saw the value of a good on-

line reputation when they viewed positive guest comments

that result from monitoring and responding to our proper-

ties’ reviews.

Social Networking + PMS = The New NormalLHM rolled out multiple training programs across

all departments to engage its teams in seeing the

value of listening to what our guests are saying

about us online and how to use this information

during the guest’s stay. We now have a month-

ly scorecard that evaluates team members’

social networking efforts and gauges howour properties rank throughout the web.

Management has gotten onboard

with this technological sea change for

the same reason that other advances

have become standard practice—it

created guest loyalty that produc-

es more business. L

Building social

media into the staff’s

daily tasks builds acorporate culture of

service.




38

he Westpac Group and Cyara recently spoke at

SpeechTEK in New York on the topic o creating and man-

aging customer-centric, speech-enabled, interactive voice

response applications. This interview was a ollow up to their

joint presentation.

What current marketplace challenges broughtCyara & The Westpac Group to work together?Sam Jackel: “From my perspective, the cost o poor quality

is high. The service landscape is very competitive and the key

consumer dierentiator is service. We needed to be able torepeat speech testing, quickly, efciently and cost eectively

and to monitor our production systems to alert us in the event

critical customer experience issues. We view Cyara as a key

plank in our strategy around quality and efciency and use

Cyara or end-to-end regression, systems integration, unc-

tional, stress, perormance and load testing and real-time

monitoring o the customer experience in the production en-

vironment.

Alok Kulkarni: “We provide a solution that our customers

tell us is the most complete, mature solution or helping them

ensure their customers calling in have a avorable phone-

based customer experience. We provide automated, interac-

tive voice response (IVR) simulation and testing, and load,agent routing and CTI simulation, testing and monitoring.

Companies like Westpac oten have requirements such as

end-to-end testing; simulating a caller entering the voice sys-

tem and interacting using natural language speech or DTMF

input and traversing the established paths and exercising the

data integration and agent routing so that they get a true pic-

ture o how the system is really perorming rom a custom-

er’s perspective. We automate very tedious, time-consuming

testing and monitoring, which means companies end up test-

ing applications and systems more quickly, more requently,

and more broadly with less time and eort, which ultimately

results in the kinds o quality and efciency improvements

Sam mentioned. Customers also like the idea that we run on

non-proprietary hardware, oer a choice o deployment mod-

els a at the right price point.”

Are there any marketplace trends, unique toAustralia (vs. US), which require a particularapproach to Customer Experience Management(CEM)?Jackel: “From a banking perspective there are a small num-

ber o banks competing or client business when compared to

Europe or the USA. The challenge is to dierentiate rom acustomer service and relationship management perspective.”

Kulkarni: “We have a global customer base and while there

are nuances and challenges unique to each region and each

vertical—banking, telecommunication, utilities or retail, etc.—

what we fnd common is the need to fnd a way to balance the

goals o delivering exemplary customer experience while en-

suring operational efciencies and bottom line results.

Why is CEM important to Westpac at this time?Jackel: “Westpac takes a customer centric approach to

speech recognition design, designing the system around cus-

tomer requests rather than around business or organization-

al structure. This approach allows us to keep dialogue with

our customer short and sharp but at the same time efcientin terms o the inormation gathered about the customer’s re-

quest. Customers gain access to banking representatives very

quickly and with a very high degree o accuracy. From a cus-

tomer experience perspective, this is unique among speech

recognition applications in the Australian market. Customer

experience as measured by Net Promoter Score (NPS), a rat-

ing based on the simple question o how likely one is to rec-

ommend Westpac to a riend or colleague, is a strategy that

underpins everything we do and think about at Westpac.

Each member o sta is ocused on improving customer ex-

perience and this is a shared scorecard measure.

The Westpac Group

& Cyara SolutionsQ&A with Sam Jackel, Project

Director, The Westpac Group &

Alok Kulkarni, CEO, Cyara Solutions


TAlok Kulkarni

Sam Jackel




Sam Jackel, Project Director, Contact Center Transormation

The Westpac Group

Sam Jackel is a voice technology expert, who has experience in

implementing innovative technology solutions and large scale projects.

Sam has been working in the fnancial services industry since 1998, and

his career has encompassed roles in online banking, project deliveryand voice channel management. Sam is responsible or the delivery o

Westpac's new speech recognition system.

The Westpac Group

Westpac was established in 1817 as the

Bank o New South Wales. In 1982 it

changed its name to Westpac Banking

Corporation ollowing the acquisition o the Commercial Bank o Australia.

Westpac has branches and afliates throughout Australia, New Zealand

and the near Pacifc region and maintains ofces in key global fnancial

centers including London, New York, Hong Kong, Singapore and Shanghai.

How are Cyara & Westpac working together toimprove upon the customer experience?

Jackel: We take a continuous approach to testing andimproving the quality o our speech application.”

Kulkarni: I think the simplest answer is beore you can

fx a problem, you have to identiy and pinpoint where

the problem is, as ast as you can. We help customers like

Westpac understand where problems exist in the appli-

cations and systems their customers use to interact with

the organization. And Westpac quickly responds and im-

proves the application. And as Sam mentioned, it’s not a

one-time eort. Westpac takes a continuous, unrelent-

ing approach to testing and improving the quality which

has a direct, positive impact on customer experience.

What has been the impact on overall customer

satisaction as a result o these eorts?Jackel: This cannot be directly attributed to the speech

recognition program or the partnership with Cyara,

however since a broader program o work was com-

menced over 2 years ago, customer satisaction mea-

sured via NPS has lited rom 30's to 60's in the contact

center channel.

Kulkarni: We are all consumers. One o my avorite

statistics Sam quotes when talking about the impact o

improving customer experience at Westpac is the reduc-

tion in the time a customer must spend in the automated

system beore reaching their intended destination. What

took a minute and a hal dropped to 13 seconds, which

means customers are getting their needs met morequickly, which has actor into how likely they are to rec-

ommend Westpac. “

Alok Kulkarni, CEO

Cyara Solutions

Alok Kulkarni is the co-ounder and CEO o Cyara, a pioneer

o next-generation premise and cloud-based solutions or

simulating, testing and monitoring IVRs, voice biometrics and

other contact center systems and applications via automatedload and unctional testing and production monitoring.

Cyara Solutions

Cyara Solutions is helping

Fortune 500 companies

around the world redefne

their customer service through a better contact center

experience. Cyara is a pioneer o next-generation premise and

cloud-based solutions or simulating, testing and monitoring

IVRs, voice biometrics, outbound dialers, voice callback and

contact centers.

How does this partnership drive customerengagement?

Jackel: The solutions we deploy are high quality, quick to marketand we get it right the frst time.

Kulkarni: Cite any survey or your own consumer experience and

you will note there is vast room or improvement or phone cus-

tomer service. One o the barriers to improvement is how much

time, money and eort it takes understand where or how to tweak

and improve the applications and systems. Our solution in com-

bination with the broader overall commitment to truly taking a

top-down, customer-centric approach to service as Westpac does,

drives positive customer engagement as he’s indicated rom their

NPS improvements. And rom our perspective, we view custom-

ers as partners and consider our relationship a two-way street. We

have continuous dialog with and take input rom customers like

Westpac and roll that invaluable eedback into every product re-

lease.

O course, we have to ask, what is next or Cyara?The Westpac Group?Jackel: Westpac will continue to leverage its recent investment in

the contact center channel and ocus on continued improvement

in customer satisaction. We also continue to extend relationships

with our existing clients.

Kulkarni: Cyara continues to ocus on helping Fortune 500 re-

duce risk and project timelines with their oten disruptive and

transormational technology and process contact center deploy-

ments. In the second hal o this year, we opened an ofce in the

United Kingdom to serve a growing customer base in EMEA and

continue to serve and support a growing customer base in both theU.S. and APAC regions. And, we look orward to sharing more pos-

itive deployment results such as Westpac’s in the coming months.

Background on Interviewed & the Companies They Represent

From my perspective the cost o poor quality is high. The

service landscape is very competitive and the key consumer

dierentiator is service. -Sam Jackel, The Westpac Group




40


ustomer surveys. Mystery shopping. Printed com-

ment cards. Inbound emails. Website comments. Call ins.

Not too long ago, marketers relied on these traditional

forms of feedback as the primary methods to gauge cus-

tomer satisfaction. As feedback volume from these sourc-

es continues to decline—response rates from these chan-

nels has fallen from 50% in 2007 to 28% in 2011—the

value of traditional guest satisfaction is being questioned.

During the same time period, mentions per store per

year on social feedback channels grew exponentially, sky-

rocketing from 450 to 9,330. Social media feedback israpidly growing, has tremendous reach, and is unbeliev-

ably inuential.

•Facebook boasts some 750 million active users

worldwide,Twitter receives 95 million Tweets

everyday and Yelp has surpassed 50 million

monthly unique users.

•The number of Foursquare check-ins exploded

by 3400% in 2010.

•90% of consumers online trust recommenda-

tions from people they know; 70% trust opinions

of unknown users.

The Next Generationof Customer Feedback is Social CustomerSatisfaction Intelligenceby Ashish Gambhir, newBrandAnalytics

Given these staggering numbers, there is no denying

that your customers are talking about you online—and

with great reach and inuence. They are tweeting, post-

ing, and blogging their experiences with your brand—both

the good and not-so-good. They are also talking about

whether or not they will return to your location, buy your

product again, and recommend you to their peers.

As Jeff Bezos says, “Make a customer unhappy in the

real world, they might tell six friends. Make a customer

unhappy on the Internet, they can each tell 6,000 friends.”

One good or bad experience can be easily shared andbroadcast to thousands of existing and prospective cus-

tomers, magnifying its effect within minutes.

Knowing what customers are saying online and put-

ting all of the social media activity to work in a productive

way is a business imperative. Mining and translating the

rich information embedded in online customer mentions

arms brands with the unltered, real-time, voice-of-the-

customer insight they need to enhance customer satisfac-

tion and earn their loyalty.

The question on the minds of most marketers, how-

ever, is HOW. Yes, the vast majority of companies today


C



capture customer feedback in some form. But, nearly all are

struggling to create structure in the unstructured and unsolic-

ited feedback re hose that is online customer feedback. How,

they ask, do I turn volumes of online insights into actionable

opportunities?

For instance, a hotel may cull samples of online feedback

and notice an unsettling service issue, but is it enough to war-

rant action? Management may even be able to see an inconsis-

tency in service from a few customer mentions online, but are

the authors credible? Collecting the data via current method-

ologies does not pinpoint clear opportunities for improvement,

let alone what actions need to be taken to turn the situation

around, re-engage the customer, and earn their loyalty and

brand ambassadorship.

The answer: Creating social customer satisfaction intel-

ligence.

The intersection of online customer feedback with busi-

ness intelligence—or what is known as social customer satis-

faction intelligence—is the sweet spot from which brands can

most effectively leverage online feedback for operational, mar-

keting, and strategic insight. By tapping into tools that blend

social media feedback themes, customer satisfaction, author

credibility algorithms, web analytics and enterprise business

intelligence, brands can capture a complete, real-time view of

customer satisfaction, synthesize it into the richest customer

insight, and distill the actionable insights needed to improve

customer satisfaction and loyalty, increase revenue, and drive

sustainable bottom-line results.

Gaining this deeper level of social customer satisfaction

intelligence is just what Parasole needed to take its customer

experience to the next level. Minnesota-based Parasole is one

of the nation’s premier restaurant concept generators, opera-

tors and developers (founders of Oceanaire, Buca Di Beppo).

In November 2010, Parasole opened Mozza Mia, an up-

scale pizza shop and mozzarella bar. The company found that

for its portfolio of restaurants, feedback gleaned from tradi-

tional sources gave them some insight into guest satisfac-

tion—but certainly not a complete picture. So, from the time

of Mozza Mia’s launch, Parasole monitored every single online

mention about the restaurant (as they do on a regular basis

with all their establishments) working with newBrandAnalyt-

ics to mine the Internet for customer satisfaction feedback.

Specically, Parsasole identied three key strengths during

its rst few months: authenticity, taste, and ambiance. With

the same social customer satisfaction intelligence tools, Para-

sole realized a key and credible concern: customers wanted

the ability to build their own pizza.

“We learned that some patrons enjoyed the authentic pizza

combinations we offered on our menu, but others really want-

ed the exibility to make their own creations—from a simple

pepperoni pizza to ones with a variety of ingredients,” says

Sarah Nerison, Social Media Marketing Manager at Parasole.

“Gaining this deeper level of social customer satisfaction intel-

ligence enabled us to revise our menu in order to meet—and

often times exceed—our customers’ expectations. What’s

more, the analysis also helped us hone in on how we should

promote our new menu. We learned what messages would

be most impactful for our current and prospective customers.

And, because we were able to see where online these folks are

talking about us, we knew exactly where to engage them in a

conversation about our new menu. The theme in the feedback,

generated by the newBrandAnalytics approach to social cus-

tomer satisfaction intelligence, would otherwise not have been

identied.”

And that’s precisely what Mozza Mia did. In additional to

several other marketing channels, they posted the news about

their new “Build Your Own Pizza” on their Facebook page: “Ask

and you shall receive. We now offer a "Build Your Own Pizza"

at Mozza Mia! Beginning with a freshly baked crust, red sauceand shredded Mozzarella cheese, then it's up to you to build

your own creation!

Says Nerison, “We introduced the build your own pizza on

April 1, 2011 and already nearly 10% of our pizzas ordered are

build your own. That’s one in ten people who are now choos-

ing to create their own Mozza Mia pizza experience. Besides

increased sales, we are no longer receiving negative online

reviews that can persuade potential Mozza Mia customers.

We’re enhancing the experience of our guests by listening to

them and eliminating any reason they would have to not be

pleased with our pizza options."

We learned what messages

would be most impactful for

our current and prospectivecustomers. And, because

we were able to see where

online these folks are

talking about us, we knew

exactly where to engage

them in a conversation.

—Sarah Nerison, Parasole

L




Loyalty Management™ • LOYALTY360.ORG42

BY THE NUMBERS

BY THE NUMBERS

Highlights rom Recent Industry

Research

Nearly 89% o consumers surveyed would like to make

payments using their mobile phone at their avorite stores.Mobile preferences included the ability to link to various payment options:

•77% of survey respondents wanted the ability to link a Credit Card to their

mobile phone

•64% would like to link their ATM/Debit Card•54% would attach a Git Card as a payment method on their mobile device

Nearly 78% of consumers surveyed are open to receiving targeted location

based offers on their mobile device.

89% reported interest in using their mobile phone as a preferred shopper/

loyalty card, and 90% would like to use their mobile device to redeem rewards/

benets in store.

Where do consumers want to use this new technology oering? Grocers ranked frst

as the top desired location or using a mobile device.

The Customer

Experience Report

notes that 85 percent

of consumers would

be willing to pay

more—up to 25

percent more—to

ensure a superior

customer experience.

Javelin StrategyGroup reports that 71

percent o requent

credit card users

indicate that rewards

are key to top o

wallet position.

DIRECT MAIL DISCONNECT FROM A RECENT ACXIOM SURVEY

CONSUMER RESPONSE L360 MOBILE WALLET SURVEY

of consumer respondents

are currently using a credit

card or gift card to make

payments using a mobile

device!

60%

People who welcome SMS marketing (marketers guessed 25% o customers would be happy to get text

messages rom brands)

Consumers feel they are ‘in control’ of their brand relationships and receive marketing only when

they want it—50 percent higher than the proportion o marketers who think their consumers are in control

Consumers who say they receive "inappropriate" marketing communications

Consumers happy to receive mail from organizations they are already customers of

82%

25%

71%

9%




In “Turning Customer Data into Action” Loyalty 360, on behalf of TSYS, polled marketers to learn

more about if and how brands are using customer data. The results o the research provide

keen insight into the types o data marketers are collecting, where and how they’re

collecting it and challenges they must overcome along the way, and how they’re using

the data to drive act-based marketing decisions.

KEY FINDINGS HIGHLIGHTED IN THE RESEARCH INCLUDE

•82% o respondents collect data with the goal o growing their marketing

database and building marketing campaigns (81%).

•Nearly two-thirds also collect data on their prospects.

•The data-collection sources most often cited include website, point-of-sale,

call center and loyalty program.

•Lack of budget and lack of support from other departments most often impede datacollection.

•While 68% report using the data they collect, limited sta (51%)

and systems integration issues (49%) make using the data

eectively more challenging.

•The 32% that sometimes or never use the data report that limited analytics expertise is

the bottleneck.

•Results most often realized by using the data include increased loyalty program participation

(59%), increased marketing ROI (55%), increased number of transactions (53%), and

increased marketing effectiveness (53%).

Find a ull copy o the whitepaper, “Turning Customer Data

into Action” on Loyalty360.org

94% o respondents are collecting

data on their customers.

Data Insights rom "Turning

Customer Data into Action"




44


ustomer Experience Management (CEM) has been a hot topic this

year, with the c-suite engaged and looking to launch enterprise-wide

initiatives tied to this new discipline. Competitive realities and market

volatility have created ever more complicated customer requirements.

Customers want value, they want to be heard, they want their sugges-

tions acted upon, and they don’t have time and loyalty for companies

that can’t listen to and act on their feedback. Now more than ever com -

panies need to quickly collect, analyze and act on customer feedback.

Getting feedback and using it to solve the right problems more proac -

tively increases sales and improves customer retention. And equally

important, CEM programs can help pinpoint opportunities to create

customer sales, support, and marketing efciencies, saving money.

That is how a sound CEM process works, whether it’s reacting tonegative feedback on a new product or identifying and acting on cus-

tomers’ suggestions, addressing the customer input quickly and effec-

tively translates into signicant ROI. In today’s tough economic envi-

ronment, it’s no wonder that more and more c-suites now include Chief

Customer Ofcers who are building out their organizations to create a

new organization—the Customer Experience Competency Center.

Making It HappenSo often, the rst question asked by companies who understand

the need and importance of CEM is: How can we do this quickly and

cost-effectively? You need to deploy technology that “activates” all the

Achieving CEMGoals: CustomerExperienceCompetency Centers Drive

Processes

by Sid Banerjee, Clarabridge

listening posts and sources of customer in-

puts to rapidly spot and track specic issues

and problems that can impact revenue.

The latest, proven analytical tools for

doing this includes advanced text analyt-

ics, based on natural language processing

(NLP), as well as accurate sentiment scor-

ing techniques that return meaningful and

actionable data. Feedback can be as short

and sweet as a tweet, or as detailed and ver-

bose as a ranting review about a bad expe-

rience from a survey or a site like yelp.com,

but either way you need NLP and advancedsentiment scoring algorithms need to be

able to precisely identify, for every single

piece of feedback, what is being said about

products, services, people, experiences, and

qualitatively how it’s being said. And, once

you have the data, you need to build a team

who can take advantage of all the feedback,

track it, use it to create and manage perfor-

mance management programs, and execute

changes to the business as needed, to create

maximum business benet and impact. And,

C

Loyalty Management™ • LOYALTY360.OR G

CECC: A central clearinghouse for all

CEM analyses, its mission is simple:

drive effective, coordinated and

customer-focused decisions throughout

the enterprise



those very people make up a Customer Ex-

perience Competency Center (CECC).

A CECC is built on the concept of being

a “process-driven” entity that proactively

monitors and responds to global Voice of

the Customer (VoC) feedback by driving

action across all business units in an enter-

prise.

Who are these people and depart-

ments concerned with monitoring and

acting on customer feedback? Certainly,

product marketing spends a good deal of

effort to identify what people want and

why, as well as seeking out the most up-to-

date information about quality and safety

issues. Marketing specialists need input to

accurately gauge the effectiveness of their

own initiatives. Customer service

personnel are tasked with dis-

covery—what keeps customers

happy and loyal and what drives

them away. And, human capital

is always looking for hot buttonissues to act more quickly on em-

ployee feedback. A company may

choose to add more people to

the mix, but these core individu-

als within a CECC ensure analysis based

on customer feedback gets processed and

disseminated throughout an organization

as required.

A CECC should be viewed as a central

clearinghouse for all company-related CEM

analyses, tasked with leading communica-

tion efforts with appropriate individuals or

business units. Its mission is simple: drive

effective, coordinated and customer-fo-cused decisions throughout the enterprise.

Without a structured cross-functional

CECC in place, many companies’ CEM ef-

forts have been ad hoc, with duplication

of efforts between business units and in-

efcient or sporadic action taken based

on customer feedback. The types of data

inputs are wide and varied (i.e., surveys,

call centers, website feedback) and com-

plicated further by emergent input from

the likes of social media, blogs and chats.

Recognizing that the data management di-

lemma can be insurmountable, companies

need a means to integrate raw data fromall available sources of customer input and

render it into analytics and insights that

can be acted upon.

Armed with actionable data, a CECC

determines and implements an agreed

upon set of cross-functional processes

specically tailored for improved CEM.

These could include sales alerts (i.e. spe-

cic products are “spiking” in feedback

with negative sentiment, sales staff are not

addressing questions about a hot product,

a food product is alerting with quality de-

fects suggesting a recall is needed); prod-

uct quality issues or actions (products are

hard to use, difcult to congure, poorly

labeled, contain defects, are generating

excessive customer support inquiries to

call centers). A CECC uses these insights

to communicate xes via customer sup-

port and plan HR response tactics to en-

sure the customer is prioritized and that

employees know they are essential to the

process. When these processes are built

and enacted effectively, producing more

satised customers, cost center savings

and enhanced sales and marketing capabil-

ity—and that’s denitive ROI.

Functional PillarsTo ensure processes are properly fol-

lowed that result in positive metrics, a

CECC needs to operate on ve functional

pillars: Organization, Listening, Collection

and Analysis, Communications and Deliv-

ery.

Organization

For a CECC to succeed, it must be sup -

ported at the executive level. In fact, somecompanies have created executive posi-

tions directly responsible for CEM over-

sight, while others might assign responsi-

bility to an existing marketing executive’s

organization. Without senior leadership

support, a competency center cannot take

root within an organization. Similarly, in-

vestment must be made in a team capable

of analyzing and disseminating practicable

information within the enterprise.

Listening

Capturing VoC data requires the es-

tablishment of “listening posts” that de-liver consistent, high-quality data from call

centers to social networks. Inbound “chan-

nels” should be aligned with relevant busi-

ness units and generate data that supports

those constituents. Conversely, outreach

initiatives, such as surveys, should be co-

ordinated to avoid redundancies and an-

noyed consumers.

Collection & Analysis

Robust sentiment and text analytics

platforms are essential to a CECC, in that

they manage the heavy lifting involved

gathering and transforming text-bas

customer feedback from listening po

into actionable insights. Utilizing sentime

and text analytics technology empower

CECC to establish itself as a repository

all aggregated customer experiences a

feedback, which can be used to devel

strategies and tactics to grow and sercustomers over time.

Communications

A CECC’s functional responsibility is

create greater transparency throughout

organization, so that important insights a

more easily shared and outbound effo

not reproduced. The ability to conn

and build internal relationsh

with individual organizatio

is elemental to a CECC, a

providing regularly schedu

updates on customer insigh

such as an electronic newslet

or report, helps maintain strostakeholder relationships. R

ognition that a CECC provid

customer experience insig

that directly supports business and p

ductivity is a common theme.

Delivery

Timing and communications tactics a

the buttresses that support effective de

ery of CE insights within an organization

CECC works to get the right informati

to the right person at the right time, a

in the right format. Achieving this involv

a deep understanding of internal clienneeds and the use of different communi

tion channels to deliver data, from onli

reporting tools and sales playbooks to R

feeds and iPhone apps.

Revealed ROIBusiness is driven by ROI. According

Forrester Research’s 2009 report, “C

tomer Experience Boosts Revenue,” on

erage, a large company can net $284 m

lion per year with a modest improveme

in its customer experience manageme

based on $65 million in increased sa

$116 million from a reduction in churn a$103 million from new customer conv

sions through positive word of mouth.

Clearly, CECCs possess an enormo

potential to support ad grow business

while also improving internal commun

tion of customer insights. Most importa

ly, for those businesses that understa

the undeniable importance of custom

satisfaction and loyalty, CECCs should

given serious consideration when asse

ing current CEM goals and processes.

Customer service personnel are

tasked with discovery—what

keeps customers happy and loyaland what drives them away.

L





46


L

What is a “MoneyTrasher”?Melissa Studzinski: “MoneyTrashers” are customers who

“trash their money” by not doing simple things like checking

their receipts for ExtraBucks® Rewards before tossing them

in the trash, or redeeming special coupons cardholders re-

ceive by email and at in-store ExtraCare Coupon Centers.

What inspired the creation o the campaign?Studzinski: CVS/pharmacy’s customers save millions of

dollars each year by redeeming their rewards—in fact, the

ExtraCare program has grown into the largest and most

popular retail rewards program in the country because so

many people do take advantage of the savings availableand love how the program caters to them in a personalized

way. However, there are millions of other customers that

are throwing their earned ExtraBucks® Rewards away when

they receive them, either because they don’t realize they

have earned them or forget to use them during their next

shopping trip. CVS/pharmacy launched the MoneyTrashers

campaign to encourage more ExtraCare cardholders to take

advantage of their ExtraBucks® Rewards.

What is the goal o the “MoneyTrasher”campaign?Studzinski: The goal of the campaign is to help more cus-

tomers realize that ExtraBucks® Rewards can be used to

buy items they need and want at CVS/pharmacy. Duringthe rst and second phase of the MoneyTrashers campaign,

which launched alongside the July 1 and October 1 Extra-

Bucks® Rewards payout dates, CVS.com/moneytrashers

and the CVS/pharmacy Facebook page featured interactive

content, including playful videos showing shoppers how

to avoid being a “MoneyTrasher,” as well as an interactive

pledge application so customers can take a pledge to not be

a MoneyTrasher and share their commitment with friends

and family.

How did CVS engender internal support or thisinnovative approach to customer engagement?Studzinski: As the largest retail loyalty program in the coun-

try, a key part of ExtraCare’s success is the choice we give our

members in terms of how they want to engage with us. Over

the past year, social media has become an important way

for us to engage with customers who prefer to connect with

us this way. We are constantly offering sneak peeks and ex-

clusive deals through Twitter (Twitter.com/CVS_Extra) and

Facebook (Facebook.com/cvs) and have utilized our social

networks as a platform for fun and interactive campaigns such

as MoneyTrashers. These campaigns foster a sense of com -

munity among our cardholders and make it even easier for

our customers to share their excitement about the ExtraCare

Rewards program, which ultimately helps more people learn

how to participate in the program and save more during their

shopping trips.

Tell us about the CVS “MoneyTrasher” campaign?Does it tie into the CVS ExtraCare Rewardsprogram?Studzinski: The ExtraCare Rewards program is designed to

make it easy and convenient for our customers to save money

on health, beauty and household items throughout our stores,

and ExtraBucks® Rewards is one of the primary saving options

available through the program. CVS/pharmacy’s customers

save millions of dollars each year by redeeming their rewards,

however, there are millions of other customers that are throw-

ing their ExtraBucks® Rewards away when they receive them.

This educational and fun campaign puts a spotlight on the mil -

lions of customers who aren’t taking advantage of their Extra -

Bucks® Rewards and encourages them to redeem them. Ad-

ditionally, CVS/pharmacy launched a redesigned ExtraBucks®

Rewards coupon this past July to help make the rewards stand

out more prominently to encourage shoppers to take notice

and redeem the rewards on register receipts.

CVS: “Don’t Be

a Money Trasher”Campaign

oyalty 360 had the opportunity to hear rom Melissa Studzinski, Vice-President o Customer Relationship Management

or CVS/pharmacy or an inside scoop on the CVS “Money Trasher” campaign. Melissa shares insights into what inspired the

campaign, why social media is an important channel or CVS ans, and how the campaign has lead to greater engagement with

CVS customers.




How can shoppers save money by spending

points at CVS?

ExtraCare cardholders receive 2% back on nearly every dolla

spent in store, every time they shop, regardless o whether or

not they participate in any sales or special oers. Additionallyin nearly all U.S. states, or every two prescriptions flled at

CVS/pharmacy, ExtraCare cardholders automatically receive

ExtraBuck® reward. At the end o each quarter, these automa

ExtraBucks® Rewards are printed on the bottom o cardholde

receipts during their frst visit.

Each week certain items are also marked with instant earned

ExtraBucks® Rewards oers in the sales circular and on store

shelves. By purchasing these qualiying items, cardholders ea

instant Extra Bucks coupons that print on the bottom o the

receipt ater the transaction is completed.

In addition to automatic quarterly earned ExtraBucks® Rewar

and instant earned ExtraBucks® Rewards, there are a numberdierent ways customers can save:

•ExtraCare E-mail Alerts: I an ExtraCare cardholder prov

an email address at sign-up, or links an email address to

their ExtraCare card online at CVS.com – they will also

receive special money-saving oers by email that are

personalized just or them. Additionally, CVS/pharmacy

recently announced the launch o a “Send to Card” digital

savings option, which gives cardholders the ability to send

select ExtraCare coupons received by email directly to the

ExtraCare card.

•ExtraCare Coupon Centers: These ‘scan and save’ kiosks

have also been introduced in nearly all stores – they let

shoppers swipe their cards at the beginning o trips and ge

personalized coupons they can use right then and there

•ExtraCare GreenBagTag: Available or 99 cents, the

GreenBagTag rewards customers every time they use a

reusable bag or simply decline a plastic bag. For every ou

scans members receive $1 ExtraBucks® rewards

•ExtraCare Advantage or Diabetes: ExtraCare members

who opt into the program receive savings on diabetes-

specifc products, including 4% “DoubleBucks” back on m

than 100 store ront items

•ExtraCare Beauty Club: ExtraCare members who sign up

receive rewards or purchasing qualifed beauty products,

including $5 ExtraBucks ® rewards or every $50 spent onbeauty.

•Social Media Savings: Shoppers can ollow the CVS/

pharmacy ofcial ExtraCare Twitter eed (twitter.com/CV

Extra) or “Like” the CVS/pharmacy Facebook page (aceb

com/CVS) or the latest deal, savings advice and inside

scoop updates, as wll as exclusive coupons and contests.

Additional inormation about the ExtraCare Rewards program

can be ound at cvs.com/ExtraCare.

How are consumers guilty o wasting rewards & becoming, “MoneyTrashers”?Studzinski: Some don’t look close enough at their receipts

and others don’t realize that they’re throwing earned Extra-

Bucks® Rewards in the trash. Some even leave them at the

register or lose them in the bottom of their purse. These

actions are a result of customers not realizing they can usetheir earned ExtraBucks® Rewards to buy almost anything

they want at CVS/pharmacy.

The “MoneyTrasher” videos have gone viral,

what drove the decision to include videos in thecampaign?Studzinski: CVS/pharmacy incorporated videos into the

MoneyTrashers campaign to provide our savviest custom-

ers with fun, digital resources to spread the word and teach

their friends and family to stop ‘trashing’ their ExtraBucks®

Rewards.

Any an avorites?Studzinski: During the rst phase of the MoneyTrashers

campaign which launched July 1, CVS/pharmacy encour-

aged viewers who came to the Facebook page to vote on

their favorite videos and ultimately help spread the word to

their friends and family on Facebook and Twitter to teach

them to “Stop Money Trashing.” The most popular videowas “CVS/pharmacy ExtraBucks® Thriller” but the others

were well trafcked as well.

What have you learned about (or heardrom) the CVS customer as a result o your

“MoneyTrasher” campaign?Studzinski: Since launching the campaign, the number of

cardholders redeeming their rewards has increased and it is

clear the message is resonating with our customer base and

people are really having a lot of fun with it.

Social media has become

an important way or us to

engage with customers who

preer to connect with us this

way. Our campaigns oster a

sense o community among our

cardholders and make it even

easier or our customers to

share their excitement about the

ExtraCare Rewards program.

L




48

H ow do you dene “customer loyalty”. Oten, the term “loyalty” in

marketing is used to mean one o two things: 1) Increased purchase re-

quency, or 2) lower likelihood to attrite. Sometimes it means both at the

same time.

This casting o loyalty tends to entrap the concept as a tactical applica-

tion—another tool in the marketer’s arsenal. One that can be prescribed or

the right set o circumstances, but is known to take substantial overhead

to run, needs a long ramp up to generate ROI, and requently becomes an

Albatross o liability and maintenance.

Thinking o loyalty programs this way reects the years o weather-

ing the concept has endured, not to mention the rigorous scrutiny every

marketing idea now undergoes—especially in a less exuberant economy.

It certainly takes us away rom thinking about customers as people, and

ar rom the meaning o “loyalty” as a positive quality or partners in a

relationship.

Oh yes, relationship.

Don’t Expect LoyaltyWithout RomanceI your loyalty program seems to be missing that “spark”, maybe it’s time

to put some real eort into spicing up your relationship eorts.

by Darin Rock, SolutionSet

I I described a customer that was680% more likely to buy with you,732% more likely to make timely

payments, 18% more likely to staywith you, more likely to tell you aboutthemselves and denitely more likelyto talk about you with riends and othercustomers, would you call them loyal?




Have we lost that “loving” eeling?In April o this year, Forrester reported that more than

40% o loyalty programs the marketers they surveyed have in

place under perorm. The problems cited included lack o di-

erentiation, increase in cluttered oers, and disconnect with

the brand, among others. In essence, these initiatives treat

“loyalty” as a bolt on program—lacking brand relevance and

cause or engagement.

With all the money and time these programs require tomodel, build and approve, there’s a lot o eort that ends up

with all the “un” going into a dis-un-ctional relationship.

But i we look where relationships are creating a big impact

or marketers, we might discover some new developments that

could rekindle our hope or loyalty.

I I described a customer that was 680% more likely to

buy with you, 732% more likely to make timely payments, 18%

more likely to stay with you, more likely to tell you about them-

selves and defnitely more likely to talk about you with riends

and other customers, would you call them loyal? Would you

say they’re engaged?

I’m guessing “Yes”. And you might even agree signs are

pretty positive on the relationship ront.

These are the results reported by the marketing team atCareOne debt relie services in January this year. The driver

or these high results: a well nurtured social networking pro-

gram aimed at increasing engagement.

While these results where shared to prove the value o so-

cial media, I think it’s impossible to miss the value they dem-

onstrate or engagement to drive all the classic goals or loy-

alty programs—and more. It also points out that engagement

comes rom a broader and more integrated eort.

Putting luster in loyaltyThe CareOne discovery validates the not so surprising idea

that building engaging relationships that lead to genuine loy-

alty takes more than tabulating points or customer behavior.

Ideally you’re scoring some relationship points yoursel—giv-ing your best and most responsive customers experiences, ex-

citement—an expression o your character and their value to

you.

There’s clearly an exciting potential or social media to

be employed to achieve engagement, and with rewards like

badging, it’s not too hard to see how you can make your social-

ites your loyalists. I we take a step back and revisit our ull

marketing arsenal with a mind toward reshaping what and

how to crat more engaging loyalty programs, we discover a

rich vocabulary and a wide range o touch points at our dis-

posal.

Every company and situation has its own unique strengths

and possibilities, but a good lineup o areas to examine or op-

portunities to liven up your “loyalty relationship experience”include:

•Company brand: what do you stand or and how can a

loyalty program ampliy it? Is it outstanding customer ser-

vice? Premium quality? Exclusivity?

•Contact points: how well are you integrating channels

to deliver unique experiences? Is the web an online ware-

house, the store a clearance center and the phone center

“cross-sell” powerhouse? How are your best customers ex-

periencing these and other points o contact?

•Listening: Are you doing all the talking? How oten do you

ask your best customers or input or or their preerences?

Perhaps you can dedicate more communications to jus

hearing back rom them.

•Response communications/recognition: Recognition i

a powerul reward that can be a lot less expensive than

discounts. How oten, how ast and how well are you re

sponding to purchases, web visits or calls? Are your loya

ists hearing rom you on their birthdays and anniversary

dates?

•Customization : How tailored can your experience beWhat would it take to allow your best customers to pick a

design or their bag, choose a type o music or their room

pick a category o quotes to be printed on their receipts

Mass customization may be easible in unexpected and

aordable ways that allow your customers to eel more in

control with your brand.

•Promoting "hookups": Are there opportunities or you to

connect similar customers? Provide them with things to

talk about? Help each other with a complicated purchase

or process? Tap and reward your best customers or help

ing others.

•Life stage: Are you paying attention to changing need

over time? Are there liecycles to products they’ve pur

chased or experiences they’ve had that you can recognizeto show you value their history with you?

•Metrics: Have you widened your view to lietime value? I

the name o the game is short term gain, you likely won’

build a relationship that lasts. Think about the metrics tha

reect the net eect o your eorts and help you improve

relationships over time—customer lietime value and a

dashboard o your marketing mix are the tools o tomor

row or many marketers.

Rediscovering the magicPoints programs defnitely added spark to our marketing

mojo when they were frst being institutionalized with trave

and hotels some 30 years ago. They continued to add spice to

the mix as they expanded to every grocery, department andpet store we know.

But, as with those other relationships we keep, too much o

the same thing oten transorms magic to mundane.

Today, most consumers belong to upwards o 14 loyalty

programs. Most only care about two or three. Arguably, those

top picks are the lucky lie essential stores that are able to earn

requency, but may not be making magic or their loyal cus

tomers.

There’s an opportunity to stand out and rediscover the

magic. Let’s remix, realign and redesign loyalty to ashion a

new kind o relationship that won’t go stale anytime soon.

Building engaging relationshipsthat lead to genuine loyalty takes

more than tabulating points orcustomer behavior. Ideally you’rescoring some relationship pointsyoursel—giving your best and mostresponsive customers experiences,excitement.

L




50


A major aspiration for companies today is to be in ‘high growth’

mode, which can be challenging given the current economic climate.

In the Business to Business (B2B) world, high growth is achieved

through sustainable, predictable, protable growth (SPPG), for

which many factors come into play, most importantly customer loy-

alty.

Three key areas are outlined for marketing executives to considerfor leveraging customer loyalty to transform their organizations: the

Pareto Principle, Levels of Loyalty, and the Value of Engaging Deci-

sion Makers.

The Pareto PrincipleMarketing in the B2B world greatly differs from marketing in the

Business to Consumer (B2C) world—mostly by the sheer number of

customers alone. B2C companies have thousands, some even mil -

lions, of customers while B2B companies have a vital few. The Pareto

Principle, or the 80/20 rule, best describes a B2B company: 20% of

customers generate 80% of revenue. Do you know the top custom-

ers that make up 80% of your revenue?

For example, Walt Disney Company does $39 billion dollars in

revenue and has 100 million customers. AmerisourceBergen’s DrugCompany division is nearly twice the revenue of Walt Disney Com-

pany with just 3500 customers.

Driving Loyalty in the B2B Worldby Karen Posey, Geehan Group

Levels o LoyaltyUnlike B2C companies who depend on frequent buyer progr

to track customer loyalty, B2B companies must apply a differen

proach by targeting three distinct levels in top customer organizat

•Users

•Inuencers

•Decision makersSpending marketing dollars on all three levels is critical. How

we often nd organizations spend disproportionately at the user

inuencer levels. Through a recent assessment conducted by

han Group for a client, we found 75% of their marketing spend

at the user level and 25% at the inuencer level, leaving no marke

dollars invested with decision makers. This was clearly a contribu

factor to low customer retention rates.

A recent study from Business Week states over 60% of defec

customers indicate they are satised right before they leave. Wh

customer survey results reect one thing, while actions suggest

the opposite? Unfortunately, organizations usually survey custo

users and inuencers, neglecting the ultimate decision makers.

Vicki Cooney, Vice President of Health Systems Marketing

AmerisourceBergen, shares how they allocate marketing resouto decision maker levels. “We evaluate marketing spend acros

three levels on a yearly basis,” Cooney stated. “Over time we h

evolved our marketing spend to 25% with decision makers, which

improved our position with top accounts.”

The Value o Engaging Decision MakersAfter the Pareto Principle has been applied, the next step in ac

ing loyalty is through engaging decision makers. Why engage dec

makers? There are three reasons:

•Insight

•Relevancy

•Relationships

B2C B2B

Walt Disney Company AmerisouceBergen

$39 Billion Revenue $64 Billion Revenue

100 Million Total Customers 3,500 Total Customers




Over 60%of defecting

customers are

highly satised

right before

they leave.

A common theme we see when organizations want to engage at

the decision-maker level is that they are nervous because these are

their top customers. Often they have been working with users or in-

uencers, and while they may know who the decision maker is, they

don’t have a relationship at that level.

However, decision makers give you insight that users and inuenc-

ers within an organization simply cannot provide. They can tell youwhere the market is going, their biggest challenges, and their percep-

tion of your company, for example. This feedback is vital for your or-

ganization to provide more relevant offerings and solutions to their

challenges.

At AmerisourceBergen, several years ago the entire pharmaceuti-

cal model was changing and they needed insight. Leadership Forums

were established with hospital decision makers to learn where the in-

dustry was going and what was important to them. “We learned a lot

from these forums,” explained Cooney. “The opportunity to engage

these decision makers in a different way gave us tremendous insight.”

For AmerisourceBergen, however, the Leadership Forums were more

geared to position them as thought leaders and build awareness. Am-

erisourceBergen achieved their objective with these events. However,

they realized there were two missing pieces: enhancing decision-mak-er relationships and gaining insight—keys to driving long-term loyalty.

AmerisourceBergen decided to create an Advisory Council to

build long-term relationships and loyalty with decision makers in their

top accounts. They evaluated their top customers and chose 20 that

t their established criteria. Leveraging learning from the Leadership

Forums, they knew they needed a program that could be sustained,

allowing them to integrate insight from decision makers to guide the

transformation of their organization.

Cooney shared, “We are in the midst of a transformation. Engag -

ing our decision makers in a different way will be key to sustaining

long-term growth.” Cooney is not alone. Our research found that

engaging decision makers helps organizations drive loyalty in the

following ways:

Engaging decision makers builds and institutionalizes the

tionship. Once you have internal buy-in, it is important to leve

the executive team to build relationships with your customer

sion makers (especially critical with products and services that h

low switching costs, like travel and incentive programs, for exam

Leveraging your executives to start building relationships outsideselling motion is critical to achieving game-changing relationshi

ConclusionCustomer loyalty for B2B companies requires consistent eng

ment, creation of relevant solutions, executive-to-executive relaship-building, and an organized team approach.

Keep in mind three areas required for success:

•Identify the top customers driving the majority of revenue

•Balance marketing resources among all customer levels: u

inuencers, decision makers

•Engage decision makers to gain insight, relevancy and ins

tionalize relationships

Transformation happens when your organization integrate

sight gained from decision makers (through an Advisory Cou

into shaping the future direction of the company. This is a ma

ing executive’s ultimate secret weapon to not only loyalty, bu

achieving sustainable, predictable, protable growth.

Decision Maker Engagement

Not Engaged Engaged

Retention 72% 90%

Account Growth 4% 12%

Reference-able 28% 94%

L




52


he Loyalty 360 editorial team recently sat down to talk with John Bastone and Wilson Raj—two of the resident Customer Intel-

ligence (CI) gurus at SAS Institute—about how organizations can use CI to help them ensure all of their decisions and actions are as

customer-centric as possible.

How Customer Intelligence

Can Help Deliver a Positiveand Consistent CustomerExperienceQ&A with John Bastone and Wilson Raj, Customer Intelligence Marketing at SAS

T


Wilson RajJohn Bastone



•Think multi-channel data: Think from an online and ofine

perspective. Multiple channels inuence a purchase decision

a brand choice, a loyalty commitment, and so on. The key is

to understand your customer’s journey, identify the appropr

ate touch-points and dene the relevant data points to inform

your actions.

•Start connecting the dots: A single view of the customer is

essential to deliver positive and consistent customer experiences. With analytics, businesses can start mining for the

hindsight, insight, and foresight to help take the appropriate

marketing actions, make the relevant marketing investments

and pull the correct marketing operations levers. Think

through these possibilities and develop a roadmap for co

lecting and testing these data points as they become avai

able and actionable.

There are so many media and channels that today’s

marketers can use to engage consumers, and

some o them didn’t even exist 5 years ago. How

can organizations plan to make analytics-based

decisions today that will put them on solid ootingor the uture?Bastone: In many ways the rules haven’t changed—you have

to test hypothesis at a smaller scale, do proper test and contro

learn and iterate, constantly. Yet in many other ways, things have

completely changed, as companies now have the opportunity

(and in many industries, the responsibility) to track interactions

with customers at a very detailed level. If you know every promo

tion you’ve exposed a customer to, across every channel, what

response was elicited, and overall activity, you have all the raw

materials to understand exactly what works, what doesn’t, and

to what extent. There’s still room—lots of it—for creative think

ing, and gut feeling on all manner of marketing. But what’s unac

ceptable is not using the data you have to mitigate your risks.

Raj: I agree with John’s points and would just add that the step

by-step approach I outlined above will serve companies well to

day and in the future—this logical progression builds the founda

tion to support current and future goals.

What’s the rst thing someone unamiliar with

Customer Intelligence (CI) should know?Raj: The rst thing to realize is that all organizations already have

customer data and information amassed through the varied in-

teractions they have with their customers. Customer Intelligence

is simply the next logical stage: gleaning insights or knowledge

from the collected data to drive more desirable and protable

interactions with customers, both immediately and over time.

Customer Intelligence is the process of gathering information

from wherever your customers are, distilling this information into

insights, and sharing these with stakeholders across your com-

pany so you can improve products, marketing, customer service,

and more. In short, CI allows ALL decisions and actions to be

customer-centric.

Bastone: To build on Wilson’s points, I’d add that CI is the glue

that holds together any truly differentiated Integrated Marketing

initiatives we see in the marketplace today. At SAS, our CI focus

targets three core areas: providing companies with the smarts to

identify gold nuggets of protable opportunities, providing infor-

mation so the factory can take the best marketing actions rooted

in those insights, and providing the integration with core nancialand operational systems to drive real cross-business impact. SAS

customers who execute on these three points aren’t just smarter

or delivering more (and more integrated) campaigns, they’re

having measurable impact on prots and customer loyalty.

What are your tips or organizations as they begin

to think about using analytics and CI to drive loyalty

programs and customer marketing decisions?Bastone: Well, as a somewhat grizzled veteran of loyalty efforts

in the Grocery and Consumer Packaged Goods sectors, I can tell

you that any loyalty effort needs to start with the end in mind. And

the end in mind shouldn’t be another two-tier pricing scheme, or

a “me-too” points program, but the basis of something that trulyallows a company to offer a differentiated customer experience

that impacts the bottom line, favorably. Companies committed

to doing that are doing amazing things.

I think Wilson can expand on the concept of “start with the

end in mind” and give us some step-by-step pointers on how best

to approach it.

Raj: Yes, in my experience, steps successful organizations should

take the following steps to accomplish best-in-class CI and cus-

tomer loyalty efforts.

•Start small: test the waters by deciding which marketing

goals are priorities, then collect and organize data according-

ly. For example, typical marketing goals could be to increase

demand generation, improve quality of engagement, evalu-

ate campaign effectiveness, and enhance customer personas,and so on. Start by picking the one or two areas that make the

most sense for your business.

•Get a landscape perspective: Try to identify other customer

interaction points as they relate to your specic marketing

objectives. Isolate various data points or inputs that may be

of value. For loyalty programs for instance, data that reects

RFM (Recency of purchase, Frequency of Purchase, Mone-

tary Value) may not be sufcient. The most successful loyalty

programs are those that recognize lifetime customer value.


I you know every promotion

you’ve exposed a customer

to, across every channel, what

response was elicited, and

overall activity, you have all the

raw materials to understand

exactly what works, what

doesn’t, and to what extent.-John Bastone




56

Once organizations begin collecting large amounts

o data on their customers, what’s the best wayor them to share that data across the rest o their

business?Raj: The top three barriers to effective sharing of the data

gleaned from CI efforts are: lack of a comprehensive customer

view, organization culture and skills, and limited appreciation or

applicability of CI to the broader business. Let me describe what

I mean by all three of these in more detail:

•Lack of comprehensive customer view

Start by building and evolving the data and intelligence infra-

structure that allows you to mine insights from multi-channel

customer interactions.

•Organization culture and skills

Typically, organizations are structured around brands, verti-cals, channels, solutions, products, etc., but not necessarily

around the customer. While this is slowly changing, many or-

ganizations still don’t have a “catcher’s mitt” for all the data

and insights that are coming in. Build centralized teams that

mine the data for customer intelligence and can translate

insights to actionable recommendations for marketing. Thisrequires insights teams or CI practitioners to have left- and

right-brain skills and to focus on problem-solving.

•CI applicability to broader business

The responsibility here is to show that data-driven and in-

sight-fueled actions can increase marketing effectiveness. In

other words: demonstrate business value. CI practitioners

have to evangelize and teach the rest of the organization the

value of insights by aligning with the various organizations’

success measures but also help create a culture of data-driv-

en strategic thinking.

Bastone: Those are all good points. I’d sum them up by saying:

don’t just share data, add value. I’ll use a retail example here. If

I’m running a loyalty group, and I’m churning out reports on the

retention rates or sales averages for my top customer segment,

what’s the category manager for electronics going to care? If I

can identify that this same segment constitutes 60% of the prof-

its in electronics, that’s the start of a more interesting conver-

sation. And if I know who’s most likely to lapse as a shopper in

How Customer Intelligence Can Help Deliver a Positive Customer Experience (continued)

As CI matures, most practitioners are adapting to the need to capture,

integrate, analyze, synthetize, and apply insights to marketing decisions.-Raj Wilson


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the next 6 months, and can project that negative impact on

the consumer electronics business, now you’ve got a strategic

conversation. If I can guarantee within a few percentage points

ROI for a campaign that engages those shoppers, using some

of that electronics merchandising budget, that helps electron-

ics hit its sales target, now I’m core. Finally, if I can quantify

why it is a better spend for the business to invest some of the

mass circular budget into ongoing attrition campaigns, that’swhen marketing actually moves the needle.

I you could look into a crystal ball and see the

uture o using analytics to maximize customer

experience and loyalty, what do the most

successul practitioners look like?Bastone: They’re intensely curious. Those successful practi-

tioners look at every customer interaction as a chance to learn

something to improve sales downstream. They’re also math-

ematically literate, with the knack for taking something com-

plex and telling a compelling story. Where the crystal ball gets

cloudy is where we will nd this next generation of marketers.

Raj: As CI matures, most practitioners are adapting to the

need to capture, integrate, analyze, synthetize, and apply in-

sights to marketing decisions. The notion of analytics as a key

strategic capability is becoming more mainstream for CMOs

and other executives. Having a single view of the customer

is now considered “tablestakes,” despite the difculties and

challenges involved. The most successful CI practitioners are

not only doing some of the things we mentioned, but are taking

analytics to the next level.

We’re seeing successful practitioners extend data capture

beyond traditional sources. As newer channels emerge, prac-

titioners are now integrating social, mobile, location-based

intelligence and insights to optimize marketing performance.Newer sources will also likely include interactive TV, tablets

(digital and mobile data), and apps.

Second, there is an increasing pressure on CI practitioners

to deliver “real-time insights,” not just “real-time data.” The

multi-channel, “always-on,” reality of today’s customer neces-

sitates that practitioners deliver actionable insights almost in-

stantly so that businesses can operate at the velocity of their

customers.

Third, the more successful practitioners are not only using

CI to optimize marketing. They are extending the value of CI

to other business functions: sales, customer service, merchan-

dising, manufacturing, design, supply chain, etc. These leaders

establish customer intelligence as a core strategic asset and

valued at all levels of the organization.

John Bastone and Wilson Raj are part of the Worldwide Marketing

Team at SAS, a leader in business analytics. They focus on helping

SAS Customers understand Customer Intelligence solutions. L



56

Loyalty Reads

LOYALTY FORUM: BOOKS


Profles in Marketing ExcellenceBy Pamela Lockard

DMN3 Institute | 2011

Marketers spend the majority of their career

focused on buyers. In a recently published

book, “Proles in Marketing Excellence,” Au-

thor and Marketer Pamela Lockard decided

it was time to focus on the marketers them-

selves.

"I have always been interested in suc-

cessful marketing leaders," Lockard said. “I

wanted to know what makes other successful

marketers tick. This curiosity led me to searchthe globe to nd 25 marketing experts willing

to share their knowledge, experience and wis-

dom."

All the people in “Proles in Marketing

Excellence” are successful in their eld, or,

in some cases, multiple elds. Many come

from companies, like JC Penney, HP, Shell and

Radio Disney. Others are marketing profes-

sors, such as Dr. Mary Ann Stutts of Texas

State University, or industry leaders, like John

Jantsch of Duct Tape Marketing.

With the unique question-and-answer for-

mat of the book, it is easy to read. You learn

where these experts see the future of market-

ing going. You also nd out how they plan to

tackle the ever-changing world of marketing.

Each marketer provides insights in to hisor her background, thoughts and dreams.

After reading, you will like them and want to

know more. So, add “Proles in Marketing

Excellence” to your library. You'll gain new in-

sights about marketing and meet 25 engaging

marketing thought leaders at the same time.

Books to Know About NowThe B2B Executive

PlaybookBy Sean Geehan

Clerisy Press | November 2011

Business-to-business (B2B) companies

undamentally dierent rom busine

consumer

(B2C) companies. But ar too oten

leaders try to apply B2C strategies an

tics in their companies with disappo

even disastrous results. B2B

success requires a completely diplaybook.

In this seminal book, Sean Ge

draws upon over 20 years of e

ence to outline the proven characteristics of successful B2B comp

and the executive customer strategies they adopt in order to thrive

playbook described in the book is supported by case studies and rese

from market-leading B2B companies, including HCL Technologies,

ris Broadcast Communications, Crown Partners, Henny Penny, Spr

Science+Business Media, Wells Fargo, Intesource, Oracle, and more

This extraordinary book is an invaluable resource for executiv

small, medium, and global B2B companies.

Geehan’s approach tp B2B success helped us rene our strat

build customer retention rates, and grow our revenue and margin.

Social Media Leadership:

How to Get Off the Bench

and Into the GameBy Michael F. Lewis

Leigh Walker Books | August 2011

Business just got a jargon-free guide to

social media. Social Media Leadership:

How to Get Off the Bench and Into the

Game (2011, Leigh Walker Books) ex-

plains the eld in plain English and offers

experience-based counsel on practical

solutions in key disciplines for companies

of all sizes. The book is based on the expe-

rience of Mike Lewis, chairman of ILD Corp., a $100 million operations

company, who learned the hard way to use social media for research,

customer support and marketing. He wrote the book to take other busi-

nesspeople beneath the hype so they can see and seize bottom-line

opportunities that social media presents. In this practical guidebook for

businesses, Lewis relates the evolution of his own social media aware -

ness from “sleeping in the back pew,” as he puts it, to full-edged evan -

gelism for the global phenomena that is changing the way the world

does business. Lewis shares his own lessons learned along the way as

well as abundant examples and best practices of those companies who

are successfully using social media to build their businesses and their

brands.




Onward: How Starbucks

Fought for Its Life

without Losing Its SoulBy Howard Schultz & Joanne Gordon

Rodale Books | March 2011

In 2008, Howard Schultz, the presi-

dent & chairman of Starbucks, made

the unprecedented decision to re-

turn as the CEO eight years after he

stepped down from daily oversight

of the company and became chair-

man. Concerned that Starbucks had

lost its way, Schultz was determined

to help it return to its core values

and restore not only its nancial health, but also its soul. In Onward,

he shares the remarkable story of his return and the company's on -

going transformation under his leadership, revealing how, during one

of the most tumultuous economic times in history, Starbucks again

achieved protability and sustainability without sacricing humanity.

Onward represents Schultz's central leadership philosophy: It's

not just about winning, but the right way to win. He gives readers

what he strives to deliver every day—a sense of hope that, no matter

how tough times get, the future can be just as or more successful

than the past, whatever one denes success to be.

How We DecideBy Jonah Lehrer

Houghton Mifin Harcourt | February 2009

The frst book to use the unexpected discoveries o n

roscience to help us make the best decisions.

Since Plato, philosophers have described t

decision-making process as either rational

emotional: we carefully deliberate, or we blink a

go with our gut. But as scientists break open t

mind's black box with the latest tools of neuro

ence, they’re discovering that this is not how t

mind works. Our best decisions are a nely tun

blend of both feeling and reason and the precise m

depends on the situation. When buying a house,

example, it's best to let our unconscious mull over the many variables. But wh

we're picking a stock, intuition often leads us astray. The trick is to determ

when to use the different parts of the brain, and to do this, we need to thi

harder (and smarter) about how we think.

Jonah Lehrer arms us with the tools we need, drawing on cutting-edge

search as well as the real-world experiences of a wide range of deciders fro

airplane pilots and hedge fund investors to serial killers and poker players. L

rer shows how people are taking advantage of the new science to make bet

television shows, win more football games, and improve military intelligence.

goal is to answer two questions that are of interest to just about anyone, fr

CEOs to reghters: How does the human mind make decisions? And how c

we make those decisions better?

Flowing in the Workplace: A Guide to Personal and Professional SuccesBy Lawrence Vijay Girard

Fruitgarden Publishing | June 2011

Each day we are challenged to nd meaning and fulllment in our lives. The workplace demands strength and toughness, wh

our personal lives we seek simply to be happy, with a positive sense of purpose, and a joyful loving relationship with our frie

and family. Is there a way to achieve outward success and inward fulllment?

The idea that business and the rest of life are two separate things is a myth. Science itself has declared that life is one un

whole. The truth of the body/mind/spirit connection is accepted by most people. The problem is: What do I do about it?

do I make it practical?

Lawrence Vijay Girard has bridged the gap between an inspirational and practical approach to business. Based on a f

expression of time honored precepts about how life works from the "inside out", Flowing in the Workplace presents a formu

success that takes into account how life actually works and each person's unique circumstances. The precepts and techniqu

this book can be applied to virtually any life or business challenge.

This is no set of beliefs with vague theories, but a very specic step by step guide; including techniques and examples. E

area of discussion is applied to three overarching areas of application: Sales, Customer Service and Management. In this way

reader can very clearly see how basic principles can be applied in all aspects of business.

Who Hired These People? by Peter A. LaPorta

Author House Publishing | April 2009

Thirty ve register lanes available but only two lanes open. You approach the customer service desk to voice a complaint

the rude woman behind the counter tells you that the customer service department is now closed. A typical response in a w

where customer service has slipped away.

Everywhere you go in the world today service has been downsized or eliminated. The wonderful concept of self-sedominates everything from your local gas station to the world wide web and everything in between. You call a customer ser

phone line and there is no one to talk to. You go to fast food restaurants and they don’t give you fast food or fast service. R

banks, rude servers, rude clerks. Where does it all end?

Former DISNEY leader and best selling author, Peter A. LaPorta, takes you on a fabulous tale-telling journey in Who H

These People? Story after story brings you into the hilarious but incredibly true world of customer service disasters. No pun

are held back as Peter shares real life experiences of encounters with such giants as Walmart, Denny’s Restaurants, Ban

America, and much, much more.

Just when you think all service has gone down the drain, Peter takes you into the wonderful service world of champions with such companies as Walt Dis

Co., Walgreens, Darden Restaurants, Stew Leonard’s and several others. Organizations such as Angie’s List are heralded for promoting customer loyalty and

port. He shares their best practices and gives us hope for a brighter tomorrow.



58


veryone is talking about social media and its

impact on managing customer eedback. However, most

customers are still using traditional channels to engage

with brands, such as email, phone and web site orms.Combining these unsolicited eedback channels, includ-

ing social media, with solicited survey responses can

provide the most complete picture o customer loyalty

and engagement.

A recent survey by the Temkin Group ound that 34%

o consumers shared a very bad experience directly with the company by phone,

email, letter or web site. Even ewer, 20%, put a comment on Facebook, while

only 4% posted something on Twitter. (How Customers Give Feedback by Tem-

kin Group). Thereore, to ensure that your company is gaining the most intelli-

gence rom customer eedback, it is important to incorporate solicited customer

surveys together with unsolicited eedback channels to uncover key insights.

A good example o the benefts o this approach is 3Rivers Credit Union in

South Bend, Indiana. 3Rivers created a company-wide member experience initia-

tive that provided timely, relevant and meaningul responses to member eed-back, thereby increasing member engagement. An essential part o that initiative

was to obtain member eedback in as many touch points as possible, immediately

acting upon the eedback and measuring the engagement level.

Although 3River’s average member is about 48 years o age, the credit union’s

long-term uture lies within a younger demographic group. The Temkin report

ound that 18 to 24 year-olds are the least likely to give direct eedback to com-

panies. Thereore, generating eedback rom this group became a major priority.

3Rivers also wanted to increase customer engagement levels and be more visible

in the community.

Maximizing

ActionableInsights through

Multi-Channel

Listeningby Chris Cottle, Allegiance, Inc.

E




Gathering and Centralizing Feedback3Rivers created an easy way or members to provide un-

solicited eedback and to respond in a timely manner to im-

prove customer engagement. Feedback was given at several

touch points such as branches, phone center, web, email and

mail. The credit union also decided to survey members ater

transactions to improve the customer experience as well as

measure customer loyalty through NPS scores.

3Rivers implemented the Allegiance Engage Voice o

Customer (VOC) platorm in April o 2010. Allegiance En-

gage gathers eedback rom all channels into a single, in-

tegrated platorm to help organizations grow and become

more proftable through improved customer/employee loy-

alty and engagement. Specifc

eedback mechanisms include

an ad-hoc/sel-serve survey

engine, a transaction survey

engine, relationship surveys

and unsolicited eedback

management, all in one plat-orm with easy-to-use report-

ing and analytics.

3Rivers decided to link the

VOC platorm to an “I have a

voice” button on the company

Web site. Upon clicking the

button, customers can quickly

enter a suggestion, comment,

concern or question, which is

categorized and immediately

emailed to the appropriate

person within Member Ser-

vices.

Using the Allegiance web-based sotware, 3Rivers had

a central point where all customer eedback was captured,

in real time, acted upon and measured. For example, every

two weeks 3Rivers’ cross-unctional team meets to review

recurring issues rom customer eedback and discuss per-

manent changes and actions. The results are captured in an

Actionable Item Report or easy monitoring and ollow up.

Since many comments have a ollow-up action associated

with them, managing them properly is an important compo-

nent o the customer experience.

3Rivers also uses the Allegiance survey tool to create a

fve-question online survey to ollow up each VOC interac-

tion and assess the customer’s satisaction level. The survey

includes a Net Promoter Score (NPS) question to determinethe impact o the interaction on the customer’s overall im-

pression o the company and ascertain customer loyalty.

Several other surveys provide 3Rivers with additional

insights. The CustomerPulse survey is sent to each member

twice a year to identiy customer engagement levels as well

as the key drivers o engagement. 3Rivers is also using Pulse

to assess what happens to new customers ater the ‘honey-

moon stage’ is over. The survey is especially important or

young customer groups, because 3Rivers ound they had

shorter honeymoon periods than older groups.

Identiying Actionable Insights3Rivers tries to give each member immediate eedback,

even i it will take time to resolve the issue, so that they know

their voice has been heard. The frst CustomerPulse survey

uncovered a ew surprises. It highlighted issues that 3Rivers

didn’t know about that could have had serious consequences.

For example, the qualitative eedback rom the survey indi-

cated members weren’t happy about the way the credit union

had communicated a change in interest rates on certain types

o accounts.

The credit union took this unexpected and crucial fnding

to heart and changed its process. Now it sends important no-

tifcations with more advance notice, using multiple methods,

not just by email or a post-

ing on our Web site

In another example,

when 3Rivers implement-

ed new online security

procedures, it received

nearly 100 comments.Without the VOC mecha-

nism, the credit union

might have lost a signif-

cant number o disgrun-

tled customers. Instead,

these individuals became

part o the problem-solv-

ing process.

Since implement-

ing the Allegiance VOC

platorm, 3Rivers has

increased the number

o customer reerrals by

eight times, on average,rom 25 to more than 200

per month. The credit union’s overall Net Promoter Score also

increased rom 56% to 66%.

3Rivers has also expanded ‘wallet share’ o its customers

rom increased engagement and reerrals, as evidenced by in-

creases in active checking account balances, total and average

savings balances and average ree checking balances.

The multi-channel VOC program has also helped 3Rivers

understand which customers oer the best opportunities or

increased wallet share. Members are segmented into groups—

by age, by income, by preerred transaction method, by cus-

tomer duration—and the percentage o engaged members are

identifed in each group. 3Rivers then looks at the qualitative

inormation within each group to identiy what will have thequickest impact on engagement. This helps them come up

with a game plan that will increase the likelihood that less-

engaged customers will become strong proponents.

This example rom 3Rivers shows that, to gain the most in-

sights rom customer eedback, be sure to consider customer

demographics and the eedback channels most applicable to

them. Then set up a system to gather eedback rom multiple

channels in order to gain the most comprehensive customer

intelligence, identiy the actionable insights, and improve cus-

tomer loyalty. L

Be sure to consider customer

demographics and the eedback

channels most applicable tothem. Then set up a system

to gather eedback rom

multiple channels in order to

gain the most comprehensive

customer intelligence, identiy

the actionable insights, and

improve customer loyalty.





Careul considerationo trends, especiallyin the choice o rewards, may make

your program muchmore relevant to theemerging youngeraudience in theworkorce.

President, Boost Rewards

Anita Emo

Last year you were named a 'Rising Star' byPromotional Products Business Magazine.Congratulations! You were recognized or thechanges you instituted at Boost Rewards, correct?Please tell us about this.

As a relative newcomer to the Incentive industry, I quick-

ly understood the value immersing myself into the industry

through association involvement, developing relationships

with industry superstars and being bold with our approach

to designing performance based solutions that were relevant,

fresh and highly scalable. Our rapid growth, enabled by our vi-sion and leadership team, has been catching the eye of many

industry analysts.

What’s new with Boost Rewards since?In 2009 I became the majority shareholder in Boost Re-

wards and we achieved our WBE certication shortly there-

after. Our focus on process and technology led us to the

development and release of our latest platform—Boost 7.0—

enhancing our client experience, reporting suite and reward

options. We’ve also built a very tight implementation process

for on boarding new clients with built-in communications to all

involved in the process. I’ve lead a major investment in R & D

and will be launching a patent pending and innovative market

solution in the rst quarter of 2012 that will enhance consumerto employee recognition like nothing ever seen in the industry

before.

What changes are you seeing in the marketplacetoday? What should our readers we be aware o?

My observation is that there are two major changes emerg-

ing in the market. The rst is a technological evolution—pri-

marily on the provider side, which includes integration with

social media, ease-of-use, mobile apps, advanced communi-

cation, measurable data tracking and award integration. My

opinion is that if you are not engaged with leading technologyyou will likely earn new business through price cutting. Second-

ly, there is demographic evolution of the typical consumer and

employee which means that careful consideration of trends,

especially in the choice of rewards, may make your program

much more relevant to the emerging younger audience in the

workforce. Positioning yourself with relevant, sexy and high

demand items that appeal to multi-generational workforce will

prove the most effective motivator to modify behavior in to -

day’s market space.

BEHIND THE BRAND


Boost Rewards™, an award winning WBENC-Certifed Women’s Business

Enterprise, is a trusted partner or organizations committed to achieving total

workorce engagement. As the President o Boost Rewards, Anita oversees

the operations o the company to create smooth client implementations o

employee perormance programs, and has been a critical leader in designing

new technology solutions that have given Boost Rewards a competitive edge.

Her sales and management experience rom prior work along with her driven

personality have guided Boost Rewards to become one o the Fastest Growing

50 Woman Owned Businesses.




Anita and her team

Anita and her family

What do you believe is key in building the ideal employeerelationship?

Creating a trusting and caring culture is paramount. Showing youremployees that you truly care builds trust—trust however must be

earned. My advice to any business owner is to understand that your

employees must have clearly dened expectations of their role in the

organization.

How do you view the relationship between employee andthe customer?

The consumer is the ultimate boss of the employee—my view is that

the customer is in fact, always right. An organization will have rules and

procedures, however, I am a rm believer that the employee should be

empowered to make decisions at the moment of truth to satisfy the cus-

tomer. Unfortunately, in our society today, human interactions are being

hindered by voice mail, email and text messages. Wouldn’t it be refresh-

ing to get back to developing personal relationships with the customer?

What would you like to see change in the market’sapproach to employee experience, engagement andloyalty?

I would like to see the market embrace an approach to recognition

that evolves as employees do. There are simply too many outdated solu-

tions in the marketplace. Without the constant infusion of bold and in-

novative solutions that challenge the status quo, the incentive industry

is at risk of appearing ineffective.

What is your personal motto?I have a favorite Maya Angelou quote that I

think sums up how I approach everything that I

do.

“Love life, engage in it, give it all you’ve got,

love it with a passion, because life truly does give

back, many times over, what you put into it.”

I live my business and personal life in this

manner. With that said, I have become very in-

volved with the “Pay It Forward Foundation”—

www.payitforwardfoundation.org/wristbands.The foundation believes that we are a community

of hope-focused individuals whose mission is to

inspire, promote and celebrate the practice of pay

it forward principles.

Who has had the most infuence onyour proessional lie, and why?

My inspiration comes from my husband and

business partner Michael. He’s been in the indus-

try for 30 years—his vision, advice and belief in

me has been the fuel for my professional growth.

What can we expect rom Boost

Rewards in 2012?There are some amazing, unique and inno-

vative solutions on the horizon! Some of these

solutions you would not expect from the typical

incentive platform. We are committed to provide

fascinating on demand solutions to both large and

small organizations. You can expect to see new

solutions focused on the consumer loyalty mar-

ket.

We like to end these interviews withsome words o wisdom. Would youplease share one or two key lessonsyou’ve learned over the years that could

help?From a personal perspective, keep people that

you love close to you and do things that you are

passionate about. I love my family, Zumba, trav-

eling and experiencing other cultures—My per-

sonal life keeps me vibrant.

From a professional perspective, engaging in

a structured and strategic process, surrounded by

strong team players, is the key to success—I have

a fantastic team! L

My inspiration comes rom myhusband and business partner

Michael. He’s been in the industry

or 30 years—his vision, advice

and belie in me has been the uel

or my proessional growth.



Loyalty Management™ • LOYALTY360.ORG62

Focusing on Key Customer

Loyalty Metrics


aving run the customer loyalty program at SimplexGrinnell

for the past several years, I’m often asked to provide ONE met-

ric that will provide a clear picture of customer loyalty. And while

there are several metrics that are regarded as primary indicators

of “loyalty”, none of them will provide you with sufcient informa-

tion if used alone.

The longest running metric that I’m aware of is overall satisfac-

tion (OSAT), which is what the American Customer Satisfaction

Index (ACSI)* was built upon. The ACSI has more than 12 years of

empirical evidence supporting the relationship between customersatisfaction scores and key nancial metrics. It is the gold stan-

dard of measurement. Academic research and literature has at-

tested to the value of the ACSI in measuring customer satisfaction

and predicting business success.

Since 2006, we have used OSAT along with two additional key

indicators of customer loyalty—“likelihood to continue purchas-

ing” (renewal) and “likelihood to recommend.” The “recommend”

metric, Net Customer Advocacy (NCA) score, is our version of

NPS*, based on a 5-point scale instead of a 10-point scale.

I do not subscribe to the idea that you only need to measure

customer loyalty using one metric. To the contrary, I nd all the

measures critically important. A pilot would never consider y-

ing an aircraft having just one instrument, and likewise we should

never believe that one customer loyalty metric will sufce. Overal

satisfaction is a baseline requirement. Without that measure rm

ly established and returning levels of 8.2 (on a 10-point scale) and

higher, we cannot and should not expect high levels of customer

renewals, and certainly not customer referrals.

These loyalty metrics serve only as indicators and without fur

ther clarication as to why the customer rated us as they did, we

would have no clue about what we could do to improve the rating

Therefore, each of the loyalty metric questions is followed by arelated open-ended question, so we can obtain additional insights

through verbatim comments. Without these verbatim comments

all three metrics would be academic and entertaining at best—but

certainly not actionable. Metrics and verbatim customer com

ments must go hand-in-hand.

The chart below shows the three key customer loyalty indica

tors we have used since 2006, along with the scale applied to each

its calculation, the exact syntax of the quantitative survey ques

tion, and the syntax of the related open-ended question. These

are the primary KPIs we report monthly by company, by operation

by region, and by district. Because we have other variables in ou

customer upload data-le, we have the ability to report each o

these KPIs by product, by vertical market, by customer tenure, and

by contract value.Survey design should always include metrics that lead to the

most accurate assessment of customer satisfaction and loyalty

It’s best to avoid single metric approaches and instead combine

several to serve as key performance indicators and help trend cus

tomer loyalty over time. Overly complicated and lengthy surveys

that challenge the patience of the recipient should also be avoided

in favor of carefully constructed surveys that maintain the balance

between quantitative and open-ended responses.

OSAT Likely to Renew Likely to Recommend

How loyalty is

currently measured

Average score on a 10-point scale where

one is low & 10 is high

The percentage of top two scores on a ve-

point scale where one is low & ve is high

The percentage of top scores minus the

percentage of the bottom two scores on

ve-point scale where one is low & ve is

How is the question

ramed?

Please rate your overall satisfaction with

this service experience.

Based on this most recent service

experience, how likely are you to continue

doing business with SimplexGrinnell?

Assuming you were allowed, how likely

would you be to recommend SimplexG

to colleagues or others based on this m

recent service experience?

Related open-ended

question

In light of your responses to the

questions we've asked so far, what could

SimplexGrinnell have done differently to

improve your satisfaction with this service

experience?

Could you please provide an example or

reason for your response?

Could you please provide an example o

reason for your response?

Simplex Grinnell's Key Loyalty Indicators

by Karl Sharicz, Simplex Grinnell

Survey design should always

include metrics that lead to the

most accurate assessment o

customer satisaction and loyalty.

H

L




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BUSINESS

RESULTSDELIVERED

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INSIGHT

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Loyalty Management November 2011