In the video interview, Helen introduces the key new features of Google Analytics and the services Foviance provide in helping you better understand conversion and user journeys on your website. We are well into the New Year and it’s a great time to carry out an Implementation Healthcheck, Helen describes some of the features and processes that will validate your customer data ensuring it is accurate and correct. Finally, the overview of our bespoke Analytics Training courses explains what benefits and learning’s your business will be able to take away and carry out on a daily basis.

www.youtube.com/watch?v=WWdlHP9SHfI

The buzz around Pinterest has been around for a while now but what are the attraction and the purpose of the new social network?

Mashable’s beginner’s guide is a good place to start for an overview; however with most things the best way is to just to try it out. I’ve been a member for less than a week and have played around and wondered about what to add? Suddenly, an hour had past and my ‘boards’ began to fill up; but how and why?

The first emotional hook is the intrigue in applying for an invitation to the ’exclusive’ group; a little buzz being accepted and then the realisation that you have an empty profile -plus a potential audience of over 11 million (The Realtime Report)

Secondly, Pinterest helps by suggesting titles for your boards. I like to call them “mood boards”. It’s nice to have a starting point. Pinterest will even sign you up automatically to ‘follow’ people; a manageable number that you can check out an ‘unfollow’ if they don’t suit you. So, what will your boards be filled with?

Personally, I think about what interests me as time is short and I have so much to ‘pin’. Over time it will develop and grow, so why am I bothering? It’s like a record of my life in a non threatening way. I have confidence in my interests, there’s nothing to hide, and it’s enjoyable to share and see what others are interested in – all in pictures!

A recent gripe is that a number of websites I’ve wanted to pin either don’t have large enough images to show or any images to show at all, which is a shame. It makes the search to pin an interest take much longer. Interestingly, ecommerce sites have seen a huge increase in their revenue. It’s a genius way of promoting products by using the most reliable source – word of mouth!

The user experience of Pinterest is excellent. The ease of use and the fact that it’s hugely engaging makes it something that we will be using more and more in the future. -Organaising events,-sharing interesting landmarks,-various collections and even videos; Pinterests’ options are endless and exciting.

There’s so much more to say, but really interested in your views. Please comment below.

httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J1ZaDZo0z1I&feature=player_embedded

Boardroom executives typically understand the importance of multichannel customer experience, but are failing to invest in the processes and frameworks to make this happen, according to research published today.

The Second Annual Multichannel Customer Experience Report, published by Foviance in association with Econsultancy, is based on a survey of more than 650 companies and agencies carried out earlier this year.

The research gives a state-of-the-nation perspective on the extent to which organisations are committed to delivering an integrated experience in a world where the customer journey is becoming increasingly complex due to evolving technology and the proliferation of devices.

The study, which looks at what the most successful multichannel companies are doing differently, has found that ‘mature’ companies have overcome technical challenges and are using a much wider range of data sources than other companies to understand the customer experience.

A commitment to customer experience from the top of the organisation is regarded as a key requirement by just under half of companies (46%) surveyed, higher than for all other organisational attributes deemed to be important. More than half of responding companies rate themselves either as ‘excellent’ (21%) or ‘good’ (37%) in terms of internal buy-in at the top of their organisations.

But only 26% of respondents say their companies have a well-developed strategy in place for improving customer experience, just a slight increase on 22% last year.

The research has also found that ‘complexity of customer experience’ is now seen as the greatest barrier to improving multichannel customer experience, overtaking ‘organisational structure’ since 2010.

Richard Sedley, Commercial Director at Foviance, said: “Companies that have benefited most from improving their multichannel customer experience are those that have recognised the importance of combining quantitative and qualitative customer insights. If your company isn’t already capturing ‘voice of customer’ via onsite surveying and social listening and integrating it with data from web analytics and search there has never been a better time to start.”

As part of this year’s research, responding organisations were asked to rate themselves across five key areas which are crucial for delivering a joined-up and compelling multichannel customer experience. These are systems & processes, leadership & culture, alignment with brand, customer touch points and use of insight.

‘Mature companies’ are those which scored highly across the five key pillars of the Foviance Multichannel Customer Experience Maturity Model.

In addition to this survey, Foviance carried out five consumer surveys about customer experience, covering retail, travel, online banking, mobile phone providers and gaming / gambling. It highlights that 69% of the 4,000 consumers surveyed have dealt with a company online and 73% of people would be likely to recommend a retail brand based on good customer experience.

Econsultancy Research Director Linus Gregoriadis said: “The understanding about the importance of customer experience is there, but many business leaders are talking the talk without walking the walk. Evidence of ownership of customer experience among company executives has not necessarily translated into clearly-defined strategies, frameworks and processes for making it happen.”

The research found that mature companies are more likely to have overcome technology and data-related issues. ‘Immature’ companies, because they are still worried about technology and systems, are losing sight of the importance of customer service and empowered staff.

Other findings from the 2011 Multichannel Customer Experience Report:

• Just over a quarter (28%) of companies say there is ownership of customer experience at board or ‘c- level’, but without full commitment across leadership teams. Almost a fifth of companies (18%) say there is ‘c-level ownership of the total customer experience’.
• The gap between mature companies and others is typically more pronounced for integration of digital channels, such website, email and internet advertising, into the overall customer experience.
• The gap is less obvious for offline touch points (for example retail outlets, direct marketing and events), with the notable exception of telephone support and sales where mature companies are way ahead of the curve.
• The research also shows how mature and ‘immature’ companies have a different perception of the attributes required for delivering a positive customer experience. Mature companies are far more likely than the least mature organisations to regard motivated and empowered staff and efficient customer service as being among the most important attributes.
• In contrast, immature companies are more focused on visibility of customer behaviour across channels and the need for a single or joined-up customer database.

Download the reports:

2nd Annual Multichannel Customer Experience Report

Multichannel Customer Experience Report Consumer Survey Results

For further information: Contact Richard Sedley: Tel:+44 (0)8450 546 500, e-mail: info@foviance.com,
web: www.foviance.com

About Foviance

Foviance is a leading multichannel customer experience consultancy that helps some of the world’s best known global brands to deliver better customer experiences that drive improvements in customer satisfaction for increased customer loyalty and better financial performance.

About Econsultancy

Econsultancy is a global independent community-based publisher, focused on best practice digital marketing and e-commerce, and used by over 240,000 internet professionals every month.

Our hub has 105,000+ members worldwide from clients, agencies and suppliers alike with over 90% member retention rate. We help our members build their internal capabilities via a combination of research reports and how-to guides, training and development, consultancy, face-to-face conferences, forums and professional networking.
Call us to find out more on +44 (0)20 7269 1450 (London) or +1 212 699 3626 (New York)

Foviance, the expert in customer experience, worked with SensoMotoric Instruments (SMI), a world leader in computer vision applications and developed their Emotional Engagement Measurement™ (EEM™)  service, which is a fresh approach to customer experience research. The Emotional Engagement Measurement™ service combines a variety of Foviance’s user research methods, eye tracking data collected with SMI solutions and brain data on emotional states collected with a specialised neuroheadset.
Measuring emotional engagement has always been a challenge for customer experience professionals because emotions are largely driven by unconscious processes.

Electroencephalography (EEG) data provides a view on how the brain responds to different experiences, revealing unconscious emotional states. Foviance’s expert consultants are able to use this brain data to offer clients actionable insights on how to increase the effectiveness of marketing and improve customer experience.
In a pilot project with Foviance UK, SMI developed a special interface to integrate the Emotive EPOC neuroheadset with the SMI Experiment Suite 360 ° eye tracking software and the SMI RED eye tracking device, which successfully delivered a service to analyse home, product and landing pages, as well as banner and email content.

By adding eye tracking to EEM™, each emotional reaction can be objectively associated with the focus of visual attention at a certain time. Or in plain words: “In an EEM™ study, we get deeper knowledge on the process of information processing because we know where someone was looking when the brain reacted in a certain way”.

Foviance is really excited to have this resource available, which will become the knowledge base of emotional engagement worldwide.

Explore the Emotional Engagement website

About Foviance 
Foviance is a leading customer experience consultancy that helps some of the world’s best known global brands to deliver better customer experiences that drive improvements in customer satisfaction for increased customer loyalty and better financial performance.

About SMI
SensoMotoric Instruments (SMI) is a world leader in dedicated computer vision applications, developing and marketing eye & gaze tracking systems and OEM solutions for a wide range of applications.

Last night, Foviance held a launch event for the Multi-channel Customer Experience report carried out  in association with Econsultancy.

The event was held at the creative Hospital Club and we had drinks and canapes from 6-9pm.

The report findings were introduced by Foviance’s CEO, Paul Blunden and presented by Econsultancy’s Research Director, Linus Gregoriadis.

View the presentation below:

It is clear that British businesses are struggling  in the quest for the “holy grail of a single customer view”, as the number of brand touch-points on a customer’s journey continue to grow.

If you would like Foviance to come and present at your offices or hear more about our customer experience services, please get in touch

Original blog:
The convenience of online shopping has rapidly developed and although I wouldn’t usually shop for food online, I decided to try out Sainsbury’s to test out my big shopping list that justified the delivery charge.

The sign up process was quick and easy and didn’t interfere with being able to shop straight away (much easier process than AsdaDirect and Waitrose, both of which I tried to sign up with but abandoned) Being in the customer experience business, I was possibly more critical than most in trying to pick up on flaws during my online experience – however they were minimal. I found all of the items needed in the obvious places and could manage my basket with ease without having to move back or forth between screens. Even better, once the order was placed, it could be added to or changed (before 11pm) – brilliant!

So, with the order placed and delivery slot booked, the experience moves offline…I still can’t fault Sainsbury’s because the delivery was on time, the delivery person was polite, helpful and explained any substitute products with the option to return them if I wasn’t happy. As I put my shopping away I critically looked them over, checking for any damage or unexpected items (especially the handpicked veg) aside from slightly small parsnips, everything was as it should be, impressive!

My Sainsbury’s experience didn’t end there. Continuing offline, two days after the delivery I received a phone call at home, at the reasonable hour of 6pm from a polite woman asking if I had a few minutes to answer a short survey. When mentioning what I believed to be minor points about where I thought things could have been slightly better (not have all the meat expire on the same date for example) she agreed and even told me which department she would be providing the feedback to.  I was also given the option of returning the shopping bags for recycling or keeping them for re-use.

It was very refreshing to experience a business taking on board the whole customer experience and actively wanting to improve on it across multiple channels.

Foviance has been user tesitng the iPad for the past month and made some interesting findings – notably that if you’re using it out in the sunshine, it’ll take only two minutes before it overheats! Great battery length though, and the most common problem is with the reflection on the screen.

I posted a ‘photoblog’ in April and clearly I loved the iPad, but what of it’s usability and overall customer experience?

Our experts take a closer look…

www.youtube.com/watch?v=y2iYO0Wioog

Shocked by my own reaction (I just simply love it), I wanted to know what others thought too…below is a 1 minute Photo Blog showing our very own iPad.

httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FkgbpcPUaA4

In my humble Marketing opinion after an hour of play:

• It’s the perfect size
• It’s light enough to hold in one position for half an hour (only slight arm ache involved, not long lasting!)
• Not having an iPhone will not hinder it’s use - it’s extremely user friendly and intuitive
• Videos look great directly from websites and iTunes - yes, it plays Flash
• Sound quality is great
• It reminds me of using the Microsoft Surface in terms of how you can zoom in/out and move across pages seamlessly.

Over to our experts in usability and customer experience now, to get to the nitty gritty practicalities of it all…

Web analytics is the measurement discipline that underpins the success of all the world’s top web sites, including those popular in the UK. The professionals driving these metrics work together with marketing and online channel experts to improve the quality and effectiveness of the UK’s website portfolio. Many of them already belong to the Web Analytics Association with numbers increasing all the time as the WAA pushes ahead with its global network program.

Aurélie Pols, Globalisation Chair to the WAA and Principal Partner in Europe for Web Analytics Demystified, a global consulting firm focussing on web analytics and digital measurement, commented, “Matthew has a tough year ahead of him but has the drive to help promote web analytics in the UK and be part of a European effort to globalise the WAA. I’m looking forward to support him to also foster collaboration with other digital associations” She also noted that, “The UK has one of the most enthusiastic groups of Web Analytics Professionals with “Web Analytics Wednesdays”© regularly attracting over 100 people learning and networking together”

CEO of Foviance Paul Blunden said, “We at Foviance are delighted that Matthew is able to assist the WAA and congratulate him on taking on this additional role. Foviance has always recognised web analytics as a core part of helping to deliver a clear cross-channel customer experience and we have encouraged the team of skilled web analysts here to become members of their industry’s professional body. Foviance has a long tradition of being at the forefront of thought leadership within web analytics with our Director of Analytics Consulting, Neil Mason being for many years involved with the WAA’s main board.”

About the Web Analytics Association:

Founded by web analytics industry leaders in 2004, the mission of the WAA is to lead and support the online marketing analytics profession by educating, creating community, developing standards and best practices that facilitate best use of data, technology and processes. The organization has more than 1,500 members worldwide, representing forty countries and a broad spectrum of expertise. In addition to serving as a forum for members to discuss a wide range of issues related to the web analytics profession, the association works to build and elevate the profession through advocacy and education, and serves as the industry’s unbiased reference for standards and practices.

About Foviance

Foviance is a leading customer experience consultancy that helps some of the world’s best known global brands to deliver better customer experiences that drive improvements in customer satisfaction for increased customer loyalty and better financial performance.

Founded in 2000 and with a heritage in usability research and data analytics, Foviance delivers research and analytics-based consultancy to its clients about the effectiveness of their individual channels, such as mobile, web and call centre and how they combine in a cross-channel environment. For many clients, insight is provided not only in their home market, but also internationally through Foviance extensive alliance network. Foviance engages with its customers wherever they are in their product lifecycle, and provides insight so they understand how to improve, create and deliver excellent customer experiences. Foviance boasts 43 of the UK FTSE 100 companies among its client roster, including Barclays, BSkyB, and Sainsbury’s. In addition Foviance works with International brands such as AstraZeneca, Dell and Nokia. Foviance has offices in London and Shanghai. For further information please visit: www.foviance.com

Press contacts:

WAA Media Contact:
Carla Vicens, blast! PR
carla@blastpr.com

Foviance:
info@foviance.com