London, 13 October 2010 – Foviance CEO Paul Blunden and Econsultancy’s Director of Research Linus Gregoriadis are speaking at the multi-channel event “JUMP” and sharing findings from recent research. For example, 68% of business surveyed recognised a strong link between customer experience and long term business performance but 78% do not have a well-developed strategy in the area.

Further findings from the research will be shared at the Whitepapers Live 2 area from 10:30 – 11:00: Research findings: The multichannel customer experience.

The research was an investigation into organisations’ approach to joined-up customer experience and looked at how close companies were to the Holy Grail of a single customer view. Also under the lens were the different approaches to managing multiple customer touch points, methods used to measure customer experience and the numerous challenges, from cultural to technological, that companies face when trying to adopt a truly multi-channel approach.

Paul Blunden, CEO of Foviance said: “this research has provided clear evidence that whilst organisations see the link between customer experience and long term business performance they face significant barriers in adopting and executing a strategy. Foviance is helping businesses to establish and implement road-maps toward greater customer centricity and this report will help to provide a benchmark of overall maturity.”

The full report will be launched on November 4th at an exclusive Foviance event (by invitation only– sign up on our stand for a chance attend) and will be available to download for free from Econsultancy and Foviance web sites from the 8th November.

Copies of the reports’ Executive Summary together with introductions by both Foviance and Econsultancy will be available from the Foviance stand (#23) and senior consultants from Foviance will be on hand to discuss specific customer challenges.

In addition there is an opportunity to “ask our expert” Sven Krause, during the Engage panel debate 1 (from 12.15 -12.45) and see Foviance Consultancy Director and data analytics guru Neil Mason who will be hosting the Analyse track.

The roundtable brings together senior customer service managers and decision-makers from the world of finance, telecoms, regulatory bodies and travel including BT, Ministry of Justice, Society of Consumer Affairs in Europe, PayPal UK, Thomas Cook, together with Beyond Philosophy, 6Consulting and Foviance.

Some of the themes that will be discussed include:

• Social media is very open and unstructured, how are you dealing with this? What are the challenges, particularly for the more regulated industries?
• Customers are now able to complain literally at the moment when something goes wrong. What are the challenges, risks and opportunities of this with respect to your current ways of working?
• What is your company doing in terms of social media customer service? What’s working, what’s not working?
• The rise of social platforms such as Twitter, Facebook, YouTube and blogs is resulting in the general drift of the customer relationship from private to public spaces, which often have little to do with a company itself. How do you see this trend playing out? How are you developing your strategy to respond to this?
• Future trends, challenges and next steps?

The findings from the roundtable discussion will be available for download by registering on the National Complaints Day web site from 13th August and further details will be available on the Foviance website.

You can keep informed about the events from the day by following #ncd2010 via Twitter.

If you have any questions please feel free to email info@foviance.com or contact Guy Stephens on 0845 054 6500

Foviance, a leading UK cross-channel customer experience consultancy, announces it has opened its first China office in Shanghai “Foviance Asia”.

The Shanghai office is the first international office for Foviance and represents the starting point for their international expansion plans. The company already carries out customer research in Asia for a number of global brands including Dell and Nokia from its London head quarters and believes having a physical presence will enhance their capabilities to support clients.

“China and the wider Asia region is a key market for our customers and a growing local market in its own right. Foviance Asia will provide not only a hub for delivering research back to our European and North American clients but also a regional business development function that will connect our clients in China to the West” said Paul Blunden, Foviance CEO.

Foviance has appointed Frank Ma as Managing Director of Foviance Asia. Frank brings with him 13 years of consumer research experience in the Asia Pacific region as well as a track record in establishing and growing businesses. He is also a well known regional commentator on telecommunications and Internet trends and has appeared on CNN and CNBC.

Foviance will initially deliver its full range of user experience research services into the Chinese market and expects demand to be strong. “We have already received enquiries from organisations in the Asian region who have been working with one-man-bands and are looking for the professional support and scale that Foviance can offer,” reported Blunden. The company anticipates that there will also be demand for user centred design, data analytics and customer insight services and plans to roll these out later in 2010 and early 2011.

According to Ma “businesses in China are already implementing online strategies but they have yet to find an effective way to incorporate their online offering into their offline offerings to ultimately enhance their revenue & profit potential. The multi-channel expertise is where Foviance Asia brings unique capability built on a platform of solid user experience research and it is our biggest strength.”

Foviance played a central role in educating the UK market when it set up shop in 2000 and expects to have a similar role in Asia. “We want to be active in the local Usability Professionals Association (UPA) as well as within the growing digital community. We have always shared our thought leadership and product innovations and we have benefited, along with the wider market, from the improvements in professional skills and capabilities that have resulted” said Blunden.

The Shanghai office opens today and Foviance’s website is now available in both English and Mandarin. The launch will be supported by Foviance with proactive Marketing in China along with a quarterly newsletter for clients and those interested in the Chinese cross-channel customer experience market.

Sign up to the Chinese newsletter or the English newsletter

Shanghai Kerry Center where Foviance Asia offices are located

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

lowcostholidays.com acted exceptionally quickly in implementing the easily accessed and prioritised recommendations and actions from Foviance’s reports. This commitment to their customer’s experience on both their front end and back end systems has not only increased conversion ratios, but also positioned lowcostholidays.com with a market leading user centred design website.

Lawrence Hunt, Director, lowcostholidays.com said: “Foviance brought years of user experience research and design expertise to our project and delivered a set of recommendations that were very effective when implemented. They understood our business and what we were trying to achieve through the website and focussed on the areas that would deliver an enhanced customer experience and improved business performance. Implementing just 3 of the key findings and seen a 17% improvement in our conversion rate which is a very positive return on investment!”

Mark Rose, Senior Business Consultant, Foviance, said: lowcostholidays.com is an organisation that understands the importance of getting the customer experience right and the positive impact this can have on business performance. They implement our recommendations quickly and measure the performance improvements, which is both refreshing and effective.”

About lowcostcolidays.com

lowcostholidays.com uses unique technology to provide a service enabling holiday packages like flights and accommodation, to be put together at the lowest price available in the market (5-star to budget). The service also offers an extensive range of other holiday options including transfers, insurance, airport parking and car hire. They are a UK Travel Industry award winner.

View and download the full case study