Looking back on 2009 and forward to 2010

If there is one word that sums up the year we have just been through it would be ‘unpredictable’. I have heard it said again and again in every area of our customers’ and our own business.

A year ago, when I put together my round up of the year for the 2008 year end newsletter, the recession was really gaining momentum on the back of the credit crunch and we already faced a very difficult outlook. In 2009 with the recession in full-swing, business was in constant flux – one day there would be no projects underway the next there would be a half a dozen urgent propositions. Like every agency and consultancy in our industry, we had to become masters at expecting the unexpected and delivering great experiences for our clients.

And the economy is by no means out of the woods yet. 2010 will continue to be a difficult year with unemployment continuing to rise in the UK until we witness sustained GDP improvement, hopefully by the summer. We’ll probably see a few more businesses closing over the same period too; maybe even more household names – although a lot will depend on their customer strategies as well as their balance sheets.

It’s worth noting some startling statistics surrounding those business closures in 2009. For example, Real Business reported that 10 percent of UK retailers went bust between January and September 2009. When I look down the names on that list one thing strikes me – none had a particularly differentiated customer experience strategy, even the more familiar names like Woolworths, MFI, Principles or Adams. I’m certainly not about to argue that had badly managed businesses had a better customer experience strategy they would still be trading today – nothing is that clear-cut in a recession – but certainly companies with an unswerving customer focus are now better positioned to survive than those concentrating purely on ‘value’ above all else.

This time last year I predicted a reverse of the progress organisations had made in developing multi-channel customer experience strategies. By June I was wondering whether we would see increases in cross channel-integration, largely driven by the need for cost savings. These observations now appear to have been borne out by cScape’s Online Customer Engagement Survey Report 2009, which I was lucky enough to get a sneak preview of.

The challenge for business now looking ahead to 2010 with a little more optimism is to get their online experience right, and then mirror that customer-centric approach across all channels and customer touchpoints. Companies that benefit from picking up the scraps of failed businesses in the short-term, but also have a long term strategy to appreciate their customers in new ways. This approach will prove as important on the High Street as it will through innovative new channels such as social media platforms.

So, 2010 won’t see an immediate end to tough times, but it will see new opportunities emerge for businesses willing to learn new rules of engagement. Social media will help businesses to make their customer service channels more web-centric while driving down the overheads of physical call centres. Engaging with customers in different ways will save businesses money while also appealing more to those customers and fitting in better with their communications lifestyle. True cross-channel progress may have to wait for some time, but social media can pick up the slack in an attractive and economical way, which can only be a good thing in the current climate.

There’s a lot of learning to be done as we move into a new year. Businesses will need to embrace new ways of thinking and Foviance will be here to help them by launching a whole bunch of new services around the use of social media research to ensure these platforms can be controlled and used as strategic tools for recovery and future success. I look forward to a better experience for everyone over the year ahead.

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