Extracting Business Value From All Three Phases of the Customer Experience

August 18, 2016

The customer experience has become the competitive battleground for business. By delivering a consistent, memorable experience, companies can create a competitive advantage that increases customer engagement, conversion, loyalty and advocacy.

Over the next three-to-five years, 75 percent of marketers say they will be responsible for the end-to-end customer experience.

This series will provide CMOs and business executives with a deeper understanding of the strategies and tactics required to deliver a superior end-to-end customer experience.

/ About the Series

James F. O’Gara, CEO and Founder, OnMessage

/ About me

1,000s of Hours Workingwith CMOs / CEOs

HUNDREDS of Emerging Companies

DOZENS of Fortune 500 Companies

25+ Yrs Experience

Leading Brands

Expertise and Experience/ Customer research and analysis

/ Corporate messaging strategy and execution

/ Customer-centric culture development

/ Go-to-marketstrategic planning

About the sponsor. OnMessage specializes in helping executives align and activate their entire organization around a corporate strategy and story that dramatically improves the customer experience. Leveraging our disciplined methodology — executive teams are able to crystallize their go-to-market strategy, formulate a strategically aligned corporate messaging platform and ensure every stakeholder understands how to activate the strategy and story throughout the customer journey. www.itsonmessage.com

/ Upcoming sessions: September - October

/ Upcoming sessions: November - December

Download the complete curriculum guide and register for the entire series:

www.cmoeducationseries.com

Quick Recap July Education Session

Driving Organizational Change in Support of the Customer Experience.

JULY SESSION RECAP

Culture is …

The manifestation of your company’s story and strategy … in action.

Your story. Clearly defines the company’s purpose, positioning, value proposition and promise to customers.

Your strategy. Defines vision, mission, values as well as the associated actions, investments and initiatives required to make that story a reality.

Winning cultures are built on clarity.

Clarity in the company’s story

Clarity in the company’s strategy

Mindset Behavior

Culture

It requires a fully aligned, documented story and strategy.

Strategy StoryBehaviors & Actions Mindset & Words

Vision:

Mission:

Values:

Customer needs and desires:

Promise to customers:

Go-to-market strategy:

Enterprise strategic pillars:

Divisional strategies:

Who we are:

What we do:

Our company’s purpose:

Positioning statement:

Value we deliver:

Key points of difference:

Our story:

Stra

tegy

Go-to-Market Planning & Strategic Initiatives

Leadership Communication & Actions

External Messaging / Marketing / Branding

Public Relations

Investor Relations

Employee Recruiting & Onboarding

Internal Communications

Employee Performance Reviews

Compensation / Incentive Programs

Internal Events, Awards & Recognition Programs

Stor

y

A Holistic Infusion Process. A formal, sustained initiative that ensures every functional leader is tasked with infusing the story and strategy across employee and customer channels in their respective areas of the business.

Fully Aligned, Documented Story & Strategy

Leadership Decisions, Words & Actions

Strategic Initiatives & Investments

C-Suite Decisions, Words & Actions

Internal Communication Programs

External Communication Programs

Incentives, Rewards & Recognition

Performance Reviews, Mentoring & Coaching

The CEO must hold leaders across the enterprise accountable for implementing the infusion process within their respective area of the business. This is crucial. Internal and external messages must align. If they don’t, it will negatively impact adoption and the culture you are trying to build.

End-t

o-E

nd, To

p-t

o-B

ottom

Connectivi

ty

Top-to-bottom, connectivity and consistency.

If you’re like 95% of executives that believe change is needed in their company’s culture, it’s time to address the root cause:

Lack of alignment and clarity in your story and strategy.

Because remember, your corporate culture is the byproduct of your story and strategy — in action.

Today’s Topic: Extracting Business Value From All Three Phases of the Customer Experience

“Customer experience is not restricted just to the attract-engage-convert-close funnel. Rather it is about the lifetime experience

the buyer expects to have with a vendor.” ~ Forbes Magazine

Every aspect of the business that

touches the customer …

matters.

It’s not just about successful lead generation.

It’s not just about great sales conversion rates.

It’s not just about better than average Net Promoter scores.

Only when all three phases of the customer experience are performing at a high-level can a company reach its full potential.

Increasing in importance every day. Prospects and customers are engaging with your corporate story independently without any human interaction from your organization.

They are learning more about your company, people, products and services predominantly online, consuming content and messages through a wide-range of digital channels.

Critical to the buying and repeat-buying experience.

Self-Service

Sales

If they like your story, content and point of view they will engage with a sales person.

Your goal in the sales phase is to ensure sales professionals are well positioned to connect with, extend and add to the story consumed during the self-service phase.

Companies that connect the self-service and sales phase of the customer experience with a clear, consistent corporate message spark meaningful and trusted connections and conversations with customers.

Post-Purchase

Many executives default ownership of this phase to customer service or support. This is an oversimplification.

Almost every aspect of the business plays a role in the post-purchase experience.

CMOs and customer experience executives must get more involved in shaping the post-purchase experience.

It is the phase where the promises and messages communicated during the self-service and sales process must actually be fulfilled.

And there is one aspect of your business that connects and directly impacts every phase of the customer experience.

That’s your corporate story.

From a prospect’s first encounter with your website to the conversations they have with your sales

team, the connections they have with your customer support team and everywhere in between

… your story is omnipresent.

The question is, what is that story and how consistent is it?

The story most prospects and customers consume throughout their journey is

fragmented and inconsistent.

Confusion

This negatively impacts business performance. How?

Uncertainty Doubt

Trust

The foundation of any lasting, profitable customer relationship is … TRUST.

There is a direct correlation

between the consistency of

your story and the degree of

trust you earn throughout

the customer experience.

Lack of consistency … reduces trust.

Lack of trust results in … lower customer acquisition, retention and advocacy rates.

Metrics that directly impact financial performance of your business.

Trust is critically important. So much so that we should look at the definition …

Definition: a firm belief in the reliability, truth, ability, or strength of someone or something.

Consistency is critical when it comes to establishing trust between a company and customers.

Who you are

What you do

Value you deliver Trust

What you stand for

And yet, the corporate story most prospects and customers experience in their journey is far form consistent.

It all starts with having a compelling corporate story that is told consistently.

“The most successful brands are purpose-driven and don’t get bored with their story, because it is authentic to them. They retell it over and over again in new, surprising, creative ways. The story doesn’t change because of a new CMO or a new agency. The pace might get more dramatic, the plot might take a twist, but it is still the same story.”~ Susan Credle

“But we have created a media environment that is obsessed with disposable content. Bits and pieces of work that rarely add up to a big story. If someone came up with the Macy’s Day Parade in 2016, odds are it would last two or three years before someone else decided it was time to do something new. Where is our ambition, our commitment to tell these epic, equity-building brand stories?” ~ Susan Credle

You need a “platform” that will drive clear, consistent communication.

Messaging Platform: a single source of the truth. The entire corporate story in one comprehensive tool.

A shared story that captures the essence of the company’s:

> Purpose > Vision > Mission > Values > Positioning statement > Who we are > What we do > The value we deliver > Promise to customers > What makes us different

A story packaged in easy to deploy, consistent components.

A “story” rooted in …

The company’s go-to-market strategy

Competitive intelligence

Insights from voices that matter (prospects, customers, employees and partners)

Even with a shared Messaging Platform in hand, you still must contend with barriers that exist across the enterprise.

barriers that prevent companies from delivering a clear, compelling and consistent story throughout the customer experience.

3 Distributed ownership1

2

3

Functional silos

Multichannel integration

The number of individuals, teams, partners that are responsible for developing and / or delivering the corporate story throughout the customer experience has dramatically increased.

The independent functions / roles within departments, business units, divisions and partner ecosystem that

communicate with customers has grown significantly.

The shear number of channels and communication vehicles used to communicate and interact with

customers has exploded.

should be a strategic priority for every CEO, CMO and customer experience professional.

Tearing down these barriers …Distributed ownership1

23

Functional silos

Multichannel integration

Close your eyes. Picture all the ways your company communicates and interacts with customers.

Close your eyes. Think about your organization. Different owners, different functions. Think about the channels, vehicles. Think about the partners involved.

Close your eyes. Now isolate each phase of the customer experience.

CommunicationChannels

Never before has there been more channels through which companies communicate with customers. From websites, to

social channels, customer portals, online chat, email …

the list goes on and on.

PartnerEcosystem

Technology has dramatically

impacted the number of sales and marketing partners

companies manage. Years ago, one “agency” handled how,

when and where the story was told. Today, dozens deliver

messages in the CX.

OrganizationalStructure

There are more individuals with customer-facing communication responsibilities than ever before. Think about all the “customer-facing” areas of your business and the interactions they have

with customers.

These barriers have taken root inthree key areas …

Distributed ownership / Functional silos / Multichannel integration

MessagingDevelopment

& DeliveryPartner Ecosystem

Organizational Structure

They negatively impact a company’s ability to develop and deliver a consistent and connected story.

Communication Channels

Distributed ownership Functional silos

Multi-channel integration

Messaging Development & Delivery

They exist within all three phases of the customer experience.

SELF-SERVICE



Partner Ecosystem


SALES



Partner Ecosystem


POST-PURCHASE



Partner Ecosystem


This results in a highly fragmented and inconsistent story being told across a wide-range of communication vehicles throughout the customer experience.

Self-Service Phase

Sales Phase

Post-Purchase Phase

Press releases

Content marketing

Website content

Social media

Event marketing

Media coverage

Sales tools

Phone conversations

Online demonstrations

Sales meetings

Proposals / contracts

Email communication

Service calls

Account reviews

Online support

Product reviews

Customer events

Newsletters


It’s overwhelming. Where do I even… START?

Audit each phase of the customer experience.

Activate platform and processes.

Two specific steps you must take …

12

For Each Phase of Customer Experience

DistributedOwnership Func2onalSilos Communica2onChannels Partner-Ecosystem

Which departments / areas of the business have messaging development and delivery responsibilities?

What roles / functions in each of these areas play a role in developing and delivering our story?

What communication channels and vehicles do they utilize in this phase of the customer experience?

What partners do they manage that develop and / or deliver messages in the customer experience?

AuditingProcess

1

Leverage the “Audit Worksheet” provided to get started.

Self-Service Phase - Sample Audit

DistributedOwnership Func2onalSilos Communica2onChannels Partner-Ecosystem

CorporateCommunica2ons InternalCommunica/ons Intranet,eMail,Newsle5ers,etc. J.WalterThompson

ExternalCommunica/ons Adver/sing,Website,SocialMedia,etc. RichardsGroup,DoubleClick,Imaginuity

PublicRela2ons MediaRela/ons Print,OnlinePublica/ons Edelman

AnalystRela/ons AnalystsReportsandCoverage Forrester,Gartner

Writers PressReleases,Ar/cles,etc. NA

PRCoordinator eMailCommunica/on NA

ProductMarke2ng ProductAManager ProductAmessaging,technicaldocumenta/on,webinars OnMessage

ProductBManager ProductBmessaging,whitepapers,presenta/ons OnMessage

HumanResources Recrui/ng Adver/sing,Tradeshows,Website,eMail,Brochures Indeed,LinkedIn,AonHewi5

EmployeeEngagement Intranet,eMail,Signage,Presenta/ons,etc. Mercer

Payroll/Benefits Intranet,BenefitsPackage,Presenta/ons,etc. NA

TalentManagement LMSContent,TrainingPresenta/ons,etc. OliverWyman

ContentMarke2ng VP,Content WesbiteResourceCenter,Blog,SocialChannels,eMail Curata

DigitalTeam Website,LandingPages,Video,Podcasts,Webinars Imaginuity

Writers WhitePapers,CaseStudies,BlogPosts NA

SocialMediaTeam LinkedIn,Twi5er,Facebook,Instagram,YouTube,Pinterest Ignite

Areas of the organization that are involved in the self-service phase.

Functional roles that develop and / or deliver messages in this phase.

Communication channels / vehicles utilized to tell the story.

Partners responsible for channels / communication vehicles in this phase.

Do owners, functional roles and partners have access to the Corporate Messaging Platform?

Have they all been trained and educated on our corporate story?

Do they have “messaging infusion” guidelines for their communication channels / vehicles?

What multichannel integration processes are in place to ensure consistency within and between each phase of the customer experience?

Activation Process

Mul2channelMessagingIntegra2on

2 Self-Service Phase - Sample Audit

Remember. The goal is to drive deep understanding and buy-in of the story and ensure processes are in place to activate consistent messages across critical channels and touchpoints throughout all three phases of the customer experience.

Platform: a comprehensive Corporate Messaging Platform that drives consistent storytelling.

Process: a connected enterprise-wide messaging development and delivery strategy.

Value creation is achieved through a connected platform and process.

Questions.

Thank you for coming. Please complete your “Feedback Form” before you leave.

“10 Commitments Every CEO Must Make to Realize Customer Experience Success.”

Make sure you pick up these valuable resources and educational materials:

“Why Messaging Connectivity and Continuity is Critical to Success.”

“The Secret to Creating a Culture That Increases Employee Engagement and Improves the Customer Experience.”

About the sponsor. OnMessage specializes in helping executives align and activate their entire organization around a corporate strategy and story that dramatically improves the customer experience. Leveraging our disciplined methodology — executive teams are able to crystallize their go-to-market strategy, formulate a strategically aligned corporate messaging platform and ensure every stakeholder understands how to activate the strategy and story throughout the customer journey. www.itsonmessage.com

Extracting Business Value From All Three Phases of the Customer Experience

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