gaining critical insight to grow your business

7/29/2019 Gaining Critical Insight to Grow Your Business

1/6

2013 Predictive Consulting Group, Inc.All rights reserved. Reproduction prohibited.CHIEF CUSTOMER OFFICER COUNCILwww.ccocouncil.org | (978) 226-8675 Page 1

Gaining Critical Insightto Grow Your Business

by Curtis N. Bingham


2/6


Gaining Crit ical Insight to Grow Your Business

Curtis N. Bingham

Founder and Executive Director

Chief Customer Officer Council

CurtisBinghamistherecognizedauthorityonchiefcustomerofficersandthefirsttopromotethisroleasacatalyst

forcompetitiveadvantage.HeisthecreatoroftheCCORoadmap,agroundbreakingworkcontaining100+critical

strategiesessentialforcustomercentricity.Asaninternationalspeaker,author,andconsultant,Curtisispassionate

aboutcreatingcustomerstrategytosustainablygrowrevenue,profit,andloyalty.

Introduction

Decliningpricesandmargins.Decayingsales.Unprofitablecustomers.Lacklustermarketperformance.

Doesyourcompanysufferfromthesemaladies?Thesolutiontothesemaynotbespendingmore

moneyonadvertising,replacingtheVPofsalesandtherestofthesalesforce,orfurthercuttingcosts.

No,theanswermayliesomewhereelseentirelyandifrecognizedandaddressed,mayresolveallof

thesesymptoms.

Theproblemmayactuallylieinthewaythatyourproductsandservicesaredesigned,developed,

delivered,andrefined.Whodrivestheseactivities?IsitEngineering?Management?Support?Sales?If

thecustomerisnotinthedriver'sseat,yourrevenues,profits,andevenyourcompanymaybeatrisk.Theproblemmaywelllieinthefactthatcompaniesdon'tunderstandtheircustomerswhattheyneed,

want,andmostespecially,whattheyarewillingtopayfor.Withoutthisunderstanding,companiesdo

notknowwhatproducts/servicestooffer,orhowtomarketandselltoprospects.

Theonlywaytoguaranteeincreasedrevenues,stronger,longer,andmoreprofitablecustomer

relationshipsistocenterstrategicdecision-makingonactionablecustomerinsight.

Symptoms

Someofthesymptomsthatcompaniesexperiencewhenoperatingwithoutsufficientcustomerinsight

include:

DecliningmarginsandpricesPriceandmarginareexcellentmeasuresofacompany'sabilitytomake

itsvaluepropositionsuccessfulinthemarket.Toomanycompaniesdonotrecognizewhenthemarket

nolongervaluesitsofferingsandresorttopricecutsorothermargin-cuttingpromotions.


3/6


DecayingSalesAcompanyoutofsyncwithchangedcustomerneedswillsufferassalesdecay.When

customersarehardertofindandsalesaremoredifficultthereasonisoftenthatacompanyhasnot

drivencustomerknowledgefarenoughintothecompanyprocesses.Adaptingeverythingacompany

doesfromproductdevelopmenttocoremetricsofbusinesshealthtocustomervalueisakeystrategyto

reinvigorateacompany'seconomicengine.

UnprofitableCustomersOftencompanies,particularthosethathavebeensuccessful,donotknow

whatagoodcustomerlookslike.Manycompaniesgrewindifferenteconomictimesbytakingthe

business'cameinthedoor'buthavenotyetinvestedingatheringinsightintowhatkindofcustomers

areprofitableones.

Lacklusterproduct/serviceperformanceLackofmarketadoptionclearlymeanstheproductorservice

missedthemarkanddoesnotadequatelysolvecustomerpain.Customerknowledgeneedstopervade

howacompanymanagesinnovationinproducts,markets,andbusinessextension.Everycompanyhas

tobealerttoopportunityintheseareasbecausegrowthisabroadbasedchallengesimplydoingonethingverywellisnolongerenough.

Mostcompanieshaveonlytwocommunicationschannelswithcustomers:salesandcomplaints.Bothof

theseareimportantcompaniesneedtosellandcustomersneedwaystoseekredressbutneither

tellsacompanywhatthecustomerneedstomakethemsuccessful.Toensuresuccess,youmust

continuouslydeliverwhatyouknowyourcustomersandprospectsneed,want,andarewillingtopay

for.

Therearefourstepstosuccessinthisprocess:

1. Proactivelylistentocustomersinanorganized,meaningfulfashion2. Makecustomerdataactionable3. Drivecustomervaluedchangethroughouttheentireorganization4. Measureeffectsofthechange

Thefirststepiscriticalforthesuccessoftheremainingthree.

Customer Insight Conduits

Thefastestwaytoovercometheproblemsdescribedaboveandgainrealinsightintowhatcustomers

needandwantisbyestablishingCustomerInsightConduits.TheseConduitshelpbridgethegap

betweencompanycapabilitiesandmarketorcustomerneeds.

CustomerInsightConduitsaredefinedaschannelsthroughwhichinformationpassesprimarilyfromcustomersandthemarketplacetoafunctionwithinthecompanythatisabletomakedataactionable

anddrivecustomer-valuedchangethroughouttheorganization.TheseConduitsprovideanearly-

warningsystemforproblems.Asproblemsarerecognized,theConduitsserveasadiagnostictoolto


4/6


helpfullyunderstandissuesanddeterminetheefficacyofsolutions.Inaddition,theConduitsarea

measurementvehicletoassessoverallcustomervalueandothermetrics.

CustomerInsightConduitsareanearly-warningsystem,diagnostictool,andameasurementvehicleall

inone.

Examples

CustomeradvisoryboardsEnsurethatthesearecomposedofeconomicbuyersofyour

products/servicesfromanappropriatesamplingofthecustomerbase.Somecompaniesrotatethe

membershipevery1-2yearstoensurefreshinsight.

TechnicaladvisoryboardsTheseshouldbecomprisedofthe"usebuyers:thosewhoareactually

goingtobeusingyourproductsortakingadvantageofyourservices.Fromthese,youobtainvaluable,

on-the-streetinsighthelpfultodevelop/refineproducts.

CustomerconferencesCustomerconferencesareactuallysalesconferenceswherecompaniesrollout

theirnewproducts,hopingtoconvincecustomerstoupgrade.GarlandHall,whenhewastheChief

CustomerOfficerofwebMethods,acompanythatprovidesenterpriseintegrationsoftwaretomajor

companies,usedcustomerconferencestogathercustomerinsightandfurthercementcustomer

relations.webMethodsinvitedcustomerstopresentwaysinwhichtheywereusingwebMethods'

products,shareinsightsandissueswithproductmanagers,etc.

GuestCustomerswebMethodsused"GuestCustomers",wherecustomerspresentedinfoon

themselvesandhowtheywereusingproductstogroupswithinthecompanywhodon'tnormallyhave

customercontact(i.e.,accounting,operations,etc.)

Productorservice"provinggrounds"LLBeaninvitesoutdoorguidestoaspecialweekendescapewheretheytryoutnewproductsandgivefocusedandevenharshfeedback.

Host/MonitorchatroomsanddiscussionboardsMercuryInteractive'sformerVPofStrategic

Initiatives,PatrickSaeger,didanexcellentjobofgleaningideasandidentifyingproblemsthroughthe

company'sproductdiscussionforums.Significant"thoughtleaders"wereidentifiedandusedtogather

insightandultimatelychampionproductsandservices.

CustomerHallofFameLaurieLong,whenshewastheSeniorDirectorofCustomerSuccessatUnica

organizedaHallofFametorewardcustomersforinnovativeuseoftheirproducts.Winnerswere

chosenafterreviewofapplicationsbyanoutsideanalystcommunity.Thisofferedthecustomer

recognitionfromthevendor,othercustomers,andfromtheanalystcommunity.

On-siteassistanceforadayCompanieswithastrongservice/consultingcomponentshouldsendanengineer,consultantorotherappropriatepersontoacustomers'siteforadaytosimplyhelpthemgain

thefullbenefitofyourproduct/service.Theycangleanhugeamountsofinsightindoingso.


5/6


SalesandsupportchannelsSendthesalespeopleouttofindanswerstospecificquestions.Havethe

supportorcallcenterrepresentativespolltheircallerswitha1-2questionsurvey.Leveragethese

channelstogainanswerstospecificquestionsaspartofanoverallinformationgatheringeffort.

TheseareonlyahandfulofCustomerInsightChannelsthatcouldbeleveragedasakeycomponentto

helpgathercustomerdatathatisthenconvertedtoinsight,madeactionable,andusedtodrive

strategic,customer-centricchangethroughouttheorganization.

Conclusion

Theonlywaytoovercomethemaladiesdiscussedpreviouslyisbylisteningtocustomers,makinginsight

actionable,effectingchange,andmeasuringchange.UsingCustomerInsightConduits,companiescan

gaincriticalinsightandwhenmadeactionablecan:

Developsuccessfulproductsandservices Differentiatefromcompetitorseffectively Improvepricesandmargins Attract&retainmoreprofitablecustomers *

*Copyright Notice:All content contained in this article is copyright protected material. Reproduction, in whole or in

part, in any form or medium, without the express written permission of the Chief Customer Officer Council is strictlyprohibited.


6/6


About CURTIS N. BINGHAMAsExecutiveDirectoroftheChiefCustomerOfficerCouncil,CurtisBinghamis

therecognizedauthorityonchiefcustomerofficersandthefirsttopromotethis

role as a catalyst for competitive advantage. He is the creator of the CCO

Roadmap,agroundbreakingworkcontaining100+criticalstrategiesessentialfor

customercentricity.Asaninternationalspeaker,author,andconsultant,Curtisis

passionateaboutcreatingcustomerstrategytosustainablygrowrevenue,profit,

andloyalty.

About THE CHIEF CUSTOMER OFFICER COUNCIL

TheCCOCouncilisapowerfulandintimategatheringoftheworlds

leading customer executives from widely diverse industries.The

Councilhelpsexecutivesachieveobjectivesfasterandmoreeasilyby

leveragingbest practices. Ithelps validateand refine strategiesand

initiativestoavoidexperimentingatcustomerexpense.Membership

isbyinvitationonly,andpurposefullycross-pollinatedwiththemost

forward-thinkingcompanies,largeandsmall,soastohelpcustomer

executivesdeliversolid,customer-centricbusiness results. Formore

information,[email protected].

Jointheconversationwww.ccocouncil.org

EightImperativesfortheChiefCustomerOfficer ThisBinghamAdvisorylays

outindetailnumerousstrategiesthatenablecustomerexecutivestobe

successfulindrivingcustomercentricitythroughouttheirbusinessesandin

creatingsustainablecompetitiveadvantage,including:sixkeychallengesto

CCOsuccessandthemeanstoovercomethem,ninemetricsthatneedtobe

consideredfortheCCOdashboard,sevencriticalsuccessfactorsforCCOs,three

necessarycharacteristicsforCCOs,andsevenstrategiestosupportcustomer

centricchange.

Downloadyourfreecopytodayatwww.ccocouncil.org/thebinghamadvisory/

Thought-leadingVideos

ccocouncil.org/video

MoreArticlesbyCurtis

ccocouncil.org/exclusiveresources

LinkedInDiscussionforCCOs

(ForVPsandabove)

CCOCouncilNetwork

gaining critical insight to grow your business

Documents