Multi-channel

Infographic displaying results from the Multichannel Customer Experience Report – Consumer Survey.

Customers’ were asked to rate the most important areas that companies should focus on in order to provide them the best customer experience in the banking, gaming, mobile phone, retail and travel sectors.

We recently released our 2012 Multichannel Report. It shows that companies are making some progress towards customer-centricity since last year, but still have some way to go. The graph on page 23 of the report shows a series of organisational indicators of customer experience maturity and illustrates this point very well.

(Reproduced with permission)

This one chart touches on all of the main themes which form the basis of customer- centricity:

• STRATEGY: Customer-centric organisations are focussed on strategy as determining customer experience outcomes (the first bar).
• PROCESS & GOVERNANCE: Customer-centric organisations design their processes around customer experience outcomes which result from them, and govern their processes on this basis (the last bar). 
• REWARDS: Customer-centric organisations ensure that each individual is motivated to produce good customer experience outcomes (the third bar).
• SYSTEMS: The systems in customer-centric organisations are specified and implemented to produce optimum customer experiences, either directly or indirectly (the last bar).
• MEASURES: Customer-centric organisations measure and analyse the customer experience accurately and track it consistently (the seventh and ninth bars).
• CHANNEL EXPERIENCES: Of course, the result of all of this is that customer-centric organisations produce better customer experiences (the 2nd, 4th, 5th, 6th and 8th bars).

Strong on strategy, weak on operational delivery

The strongest performance is in the adoption of strategies, and it’s clear that customer-centric strategies are really taking hold now, but the operational changes needed to drive results from them are not yet in place. The operational customer experience really sets more CX-mature organisations apart from the rest, and is where many companies are currently stumbling.

How to measure it?

Customer-experience-mature companies recognise that strategy, process, rewards, governance and systems have a major impact on the customer experience, however, very few measure or monitor this impact. Almost all customer experience measures are focussed on measuring the channel customer experiences themselves, but not the operational factors which determine these channel outcomes. It’s hardly surprising then, that companies do not always make the connection between operational causes and customer experience effects.

I predict that the measurement of the impact of strategy, process, rewards, governance and systems on customer experiences will represent the next level in customer experience maturity over the next ten years. These measurements are needed to build the case for the strategic direction required to drive true customer-centricity.

These measures also allow a business case to be built which ties organisational factors to customer experience outcomes, and hence the case can be made, for the organisational changes which are needed for companies to become truly customer-centric. This is when customer-centricity really starts to deliver benefits.

Customer-centricity continues to grow

Over the next ten years, we can expect the economy to be fairly rocky. Increasingly, customer experience will be seen as the main USP and differentiator, especially in the service industries on which so much of the developed world’s economy is based. As channel-level improvements start to reach optimal levels for many companies, we will start to see greater focus on the connections between customer experience outcomes and deeper, organisational and strategic factors.

Earlier this year, Google chairman Eric Schmidt named Google, Apple, Facebook and Amazon as the four companies which currently rule consumer technology. It’s not a coincidence that these four companies are among the most customer-centric around. As Amazon CTO Werner Vogels puts it “ We want to be the most customer-centric company on the planet ”. Where these 4 companies lead, the rest of us generally follow, so it’s time to sit up and take note of customer-centricity.

As you will see from the results of our Multichannel Report, it’s not easy, and most companies have some way to go. You can download the Multichannel Report here.

In Foviance’s second annual multichannel customer experience report, 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.

Only 26% of respondents say their companies have a well-developed strategy in place for improving customer experience, just a slight increase of 4% from 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.

To download the whitepaper a valid e-mail address is required, however Foviance will not contact you unless you specifically request it.

Welcome to the consumer survey section of our second Annual Multichannel Customer Experience Report.  

This report looks at how a total of nearly 5,000 consumers (spread across five separate surveys) regard their experience with companies in the retail, travel, online banking, mobile phone and gaming (gambling) sectors.
Our consumer research shows that the relative importance of different attributes varies by sector, as does the frequency of overall interaction and use of different channels (including online and offline).

• Customers are increasingly moving online, however, the face to face experience is still important, the call centre and brochure being relegated to less important ways of buying
• Mobile experiences are weak – even if you’re a mobile phone company!

To download the whitepaper a valid e-mail address is required, however Foviance will not contact you unless you specifically request it.

London, UK, 4 November, 2011
Business executives back multichannel customer experience but fail to ‘walk the walk’.

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)

John Lewis have recently made wifi available throughout out their high-street stores. According to reports, the primary reason for this is to enable customers to compare the price of products before choosing to buy them. This is a very bold move from John Lewis, sticking by their longstanding price promise to be ‘never knowingly undersold’.

I’d be very interested to monitor the usage of this wifi. I wonder if customers will be more likely to whip out their mobile devices to check prices as they shop in store? Or, will this move of enabling wifi increase trust in the brand in providing great value products, so that customers don’t feel the need to actually check up on the prices offered? Is it instead going to be used by John Lewis customers to simply check Facebook or read their online copy of the newspaper in the John Lewis café?

Either way, it’s a great move to ensure that customers can make immediate decisions in store and complete purchases there and then, rather than having to do online research separate from their offline experience. The important thing for John Lewis to ensure in rolling this out, is that customers’ mobile online experience is fully aligned to their in store experience, to provide a fully joined up multi channel experience. Done well, this could transform shopping experiences and is a great step in the direction of ensuring that the digitally evolving needs of customers are met throughout the traditional shopping journey.

By Robert Brauer

Eating fast food is my most dubious habit. To me, it is neither a culinary delight, nor a tolerable source of nutrition. However, every once in a while and especially when I am enjoying my passion for travelling foreign countries and getting immersed into different cultures, the chances are high: I will end up in fast food shop. Most of the times, it will be a chain with stores all over the planet. The names are well known. In situations like that, when it comes down to choosing between exciting foreign cuisine and a trusted but maybe less exciting burger, the burger simply seems to be the most reasonable choice.

This choice of experience is no exceptional case for human nature. Albeit the awareness of possibly missing out on a remarkable experience, I am turning myself to a relationship of trust. Even though it might not be the best experience in the world, I know what to expect. In commercial terms, my need can be described as a customer experience of consistency, which is an important driver for the trust relationship between a customer and a brand.

Not surprisingly, the described experience is a major revenue point for international fast food chains, and the example can be related to almost every service or product. For instance, when deciding to try a completely new device experience, such as a tablet computer. For an appreciator of the functionality of an iPhone, it is straightforward to choose an iPad. Despite the significant monetary investment that it requires, a baseline user experience is shared among the devices. Overall this reduces the possibility of the new purchase to be a technologic gamble as well as a source of frustration.

Generally speaking, consistency within multichannel experiences is a design challenge that concerns a wide variety of brands and services. Multichannel experiences exist simultaneously among several customer touch-points. Online as well as offline, a coherent and integrated customer experience builds up trust by mediating competence and direction as well as generating perceived familiarity. Despite the broadness of the problem space of managing a trusted relationship between customers and services, almost all key issues and design requirements can be determined, investigated and revised. Consistency within multichannel experiences in this case is achieved though the following characteristics.

• Coherent – basic idea of the service is perceived as consistent across channels.

• Complementary – coherent service experience delights with specific benefits within chosen service channel.

• Simultaneous – benefits of service channel can be combined as needed.

• Shiftable – service adapts to customer flexibility and present needs.

• Synchronized – service allows shifting between channels and shared features across service a shared among channel.

Characteristics like these not only ensure that the service delivers consistently among websites, microsites, mail, social media, in-store and even call centre experiences. Familiarity and stability also improve the overall quality of the service beyond the perception of trust and allow design space to delight with innovation and significantly increase adoption rates of new features and services.

This article was originally published by the Customer Experience Magazine

Following the success of the Directors Forum in March, Foviance are sponsoring the third forum, which is focused on Multichannel Customer Engagement.

Hosted at the Gallup Office overlooking the London Eye, the day will include keynotes from global experts, examining how to provide a seamless customer experience over the widening range of channels to market including; social media, mobile, call-centre, web and instore.

Paul Blunden, will be a keynote speaker opening the forum with his presentation:

Multichannel customer experience – from consumers to clients: Multichannel customer experience means different things to different people. This keynote presentation will consider how different stakeholders define the issue with some examples of how they approach solutions to the various challenges they encounter. The presentation will include real consumer examples from Foviance research practice as well as examples of what Foviance clients are doing.

Paul presenting our maturity model at the forum

To download our Multi-channel Customer Experience Report