Here’s Zaheer’s question -

Defining Contact Strategy: Improving Customer Experience

Hi all,
There seems to be varying definitions available on ‘Contact Strategy’ – some argue it as an essential marketing and brand management strategy whilst others see it as customer management tool – and then there are others that see it as an holistic approach to enhancing customer loyalty, revenue for business and achieving operational efficiencies… however,

-What is your understanding of Contact Strategy?

-How do you define it for your organization?

-What objectives do you aim to achieve?

-How do you measure it?

-Is Contact Strategy part of your overall Customer Experience Strategy? If yes, how do you map it?

I have attached a simple document detailing key components for ‘Contact Strategy’ however, I am sure you will help me achieve more comprehensive understanding of this subject. Looking forward to your feedback.

Thanks in advance!
Zaheer Gilani – Senior Programme Manager – Deutsche Telekom, United Kingdom

Zaheer,
For our book “The Customer Experience Revolution - How Companies like Apple, Netflix, and Starbucks have changed business forever” Sean Van Tyne and I interviewed many great people at genuine “experience companies.” Large or small, these companies were all faced with answering the same question about developing a contact strategy. And that depended upon their definition of customer experience, what their customers wanted in terms of contact experience and their business objectives.

All of the companies we interviewed have a much broader definition of customer experience than most other businesses. The same is true for how they define when the experience actually begins. It begins when people are potential customers, continues as they become customers and through to when they become advocates. And these companies have a positive and disproportionate number of energized advocates compared to their competitors.

Here’s how some of the best in the experience business define cx and ux and it guides them through the process of determining, developing and delivering great experiences, including contact experiences.

Customer Experience ( CX )
All interactions people have with or about a company’s messages, people, processes, products or services from potential customer to customer to advocate.

User Experience ( UX )
When a person directly interacts with a company’s products or services they are having a user experience. It is the proof point that promises made are true.

Make sure to define customer experience and user experience at your organization before you finalize your contact strategy.

I hope this is helpful,
Jeof

All of these companies have a much broader definition of customer experience than most other businesses. The same is true for how they define when the experience actually begins. It begins when people are potential customers, continues as they become customers and through to when they become advocates. And these companies have a positive and disproportionate number of energized advocates compared to their competitors.

Here’s Bean and Van Tyne’s aggregate view of how the best experience companies define customer experience and user experience -

Customer Experience ( CX )
All interactions people have with or about a company’s messages, people, processes, products or services from potential customer to customer to advocate.

User Experience ( UX )
When a person directly interacts with a company’s products or services they are having a user experience. It is the proof point that promises made are true.

How does your company define customer experience and user experience?

The book is about a select group of extraordinary companies that have shown us that great ideas, great products and services are not good enough. Not good enough for their customers, not good enough for their business or our future. www.cxrevolution.com

These exceptional companies include Apple, Amazon, NetFlix, Starbucks, Flip, Intuit and Mini-Cooper. There are also smaller businesses like Skinit, EMN8 and Square. “Delivering extraordinary customer experiences is becoming more and more important. We know from the data that people will pay for it,” according to J.D. Power & Associates. Companies that have adopted these principles are much more profitable than competing companies in the same industries.

Sean and I were fascinated by the people and these companies since they transform industries and change people’s lives for the better. They have mastered purposely discovering, developing and delivering great experiences!

From our live interviews and research we show in detail the stories and principals behind the best customer experience leaders. Yet all of these companies have experienced challenges and have occasionally faltered. This book shows how and why these companies have been able to overcome adversity to become industry and profit leaders.

“The Customer Experience Revolution is a book that everyone who wants to succeed in business must read.” –Todd Robinson, Founder and Former Chairman, LPL Financial

“Companies that delight their customers outperform their peers. This guidebook tells us why and how they do it in industries as diverse as retailing, smart phones, food service and driver education. I highly recommended it to anyone building a customer-focused business or refocusing an existing business on the experience of the customer.” –Larry Tesler, former Vice President and Chief Scientist at Apple Computer and Vice President of Shopping Experience at Amazon, now Consultant Director at The Gorilla Foundation

Sean and I hope that you enjoy reading The Customer Experience Revolution as much as we did writing it. Let us know what you think.

Availability
While general availability and promotion will begin January 1, 2012, The Customer Experience Revolution can be ordered now directly from the publisher with delivery in late December. http://brigantinemedia.com/books.php
Enter code CX for a $5 discount when ordering before Christmas

Or
e-mail: neil@brigantinemedia.com or
Call Neil at Brigantine Media 802-751-8802

Could this also mean that Bank of America and other giants also do not understand the increasing power of social media and communications platforms like smartphones and tablets? The speed, power and importance of social media and communications platforms in decision and the customer experience should not be underestimated during such a volatile economic time.

If big banks don’t understand the new world they will have to learn through trial and error that this is not the old school days. Instead of having people, social media and communications platforms doing things for their business, they run the risk that they will do things to their business.

Banks will do much better if they engage prospects and customers in their decision making much earlier than after they announce a new fee. J.P Morgan Chase & co. also retracted their plans to demand debit card fees at about the same time B of A did, according to the Wall Street Journal on November 2, 2011. The Journal also reported that Wells Fargo, Suntrust and others banks were dropping either plans or fee programs too.

There is opportunity for ‘an experience maker’ to easily best the low benchmark of what customers are experiencing. After seeing companies in other industries transform their markets and change peoples’ lives for the better, I am convinced that the banking industry is ripe for a customer experience makeover. Will it come from one of the traditional financial institutions or a new player in banking? Either way, it will have to come from an organization where the Chief Executive is also the Chief Customer Advocate.

The 30 minute show, featuring Jeofrey Bean from Del Mar Research & Consulting speaking about marketing and business development, aired on the AmericanLifeTV NetworkSM October 10th, 2007!

If you think you can exclude customer’s experiences from your business strategy – think again! To be competitive today, you need to know how your customers interact with your services, processes, products, people, and company. And, this knowledge must be straightforward to communicate as well as easy to for all to understand. You can get there using Customer Experience Journey Maps!

Customers are having experiences with your company today – can you afford to not know what these experiences are?

Customer Journey Mapping is critical for:
• Identifying your customer’s experiences
• Making improvements
• Company and competitive experience benchmarking
• Tracking strategy and tactical success

Join our panel of experts for this insightful session about real companies that have made themselves different, better and more profitable. Register

This session will include business stories from:

• NetFlix – Outflanking Blockbuster with experience

• ICW Group – Onboarding agents: from confusion to solution

Panelists will discuss:
• The difference between customer experience and user experience.

• What Customer Experience Journey Mapping is, and what it does for your company and customers.

• Real examples of Customer Experience Journey Maps.

Attendees will leave with a solid presentation and practical templates that will guide them and their team on the road to being different, better and more profitable with extraordinary customer experiences!

Moderator:

Sean Van Tyne, User Experience Director, FICO www.seanvantyne.com
Author and speaker, Sean Van Tyne is currently working on a book with Jeofrey Bean on insights into how great companies create great experiences that will be available at the end of this year. Sean Van Tyne is currently the User Experience Director at FICO. Prior to FICO, Sean was the AVP of User Experience for Strategy & Technology at LPL Financial; Director of User Experience and Technical Communications for Marketing and Product Management at Mitchell International; and has held leadership positions in other technology companies.

Panelists-
Carol Buehrens
Principal, Customer Experience / Chief User Experience Architect, Enterprise Marketing, ICW Group http://www.icwgroup.com/ Carol Buehrens brings over 30 years of customer and user experience research, development and delivery, as well as product interface design expertise, working for major companies such as Liberty Mutual, Northrop, McDonnell-Douglas, Bechtel, GE, and Mercury Marine. She entered her career as an instructional designer working with CAD interfaces and usability, and became involved in web design in 1996. Carol is a published author with over 20 book titles through McGraw-Hill and multiple software vendors. Implementing experience strategies for both internal and external customers, her focus is in “transforming complexity into simple, intuitive design”.

Carol currently works for ICW Group, a group of multi-line insurance companies providing workers’ compensation, earthquake and auto insurance. She is the Board Chairperson of the San Diego Software Industry Council’s User Experience Business Interest Group (SDSIC-UX BIG), and an active member of the expert review panel for San Diego User Experience Special Interest Group (UX SIG).

Jeofrey Bean
Principal, Del Mar Research Consulting, LLC http://www.delmarresearch.com/
Jeofrey Bean is an author, speaker and Principal of Del Mar Research & Consulting, LLC. He specializes in increasing client’s success of product development, marketing and customer experience decisions. Jeof’s experience spans strategic to tactical with small innovative companies to large successful organizations like I Drive Safely, LPL Financial, Sprint, AT&T and Quest Diagnostics. Jeofrey is on the Board of Directors of the San Diego Software Industry Council’s (SDSIC) User Experience Group and User Experience expert review panel. He is an Advisor to companies that develop or depend on technology for their success.

Jeofrey Bean and Sean Van Tyne are authors of the upcoming book “The Customer Experience” about companies that change industries and peoples’ lives with extraordinary customer experiences! Published by Brigantine Media, www.BrigantineMedia.com. Available this Fall.

Sharon Carmichael
User Experience Manager, Sony Electronics http://www.sonystyle.com/ Sharon Carmichael is an industry leader in user experience design, information architecture and usability, and specializes in developing meaningful interactive experiences. She has provided customer and user experience guidance to major corporations such as Sony, Hewlett-Packard (HP) and Mitchell International. She studied information design and usability at the UCLA Graduate School of Education and Information Studies and holds a B.A. in Political Thought and Studio Art from the University of Virginia.

Sharon currently manages the User Experience team for Sony Store Online, Sony Electronics’ B2C e-commerce site. Sony Electronics is a leading provider of audio/video electronics and information technology products for the consumer and professional markets. She has revamped site navigation, established an internal usability program, and evangelized a research- and data-driven design methodology. Sharon is currently working on a full site redesign for the US and Canada. She is an advisor to the San Diego Computer Human Interaction Group (SAND CHI).

Register

The expert panel will cover:
* What are the most important usability considerations?
* How are visitors getting lost or confused on your website?
* What are some of the best ways to find and understand your offer?
* How do you apply design-based thinking into your website?

Register early, this event is likely to sell out
After registration please submit your website for review at
Sitereview @ techbizconnection.org
Website reviews require interaction with the panel. We can only review your website if you are present at the event.

Moderator:
Jack Bicer | CEO | Septium
Jack is the founder of Septium, a Microsoft Partner and a hybrid-offshore custom software development company, combining offshore cost savings with US management expertise. Prior to Septium, Jack held several CTO roles in dot coms since 1996. A 30-year software industry veteran, Jack is an industry expert in SaaS/web software, new product development, hybrid offshoring and Android based mobile applications. Known as the “Father of Uninstall”, he invented the uninstall concept and wrote the first uninstaller. He is also credited with inventing the “Automated Software Updates”. Jack holds a Bachelors in Communication Engineering from University of Kent, followed by a Masters in Computer Science from George Washington University and attended the MBA program at Pepperdine University.

Panelists:
Dr. Joely Gardner | President | Human Factors Research
As a licensed psychologist, Dr. Gardner captures the emotional essence of what customers consider a great experience. She then helps her clients to operationalize that experience, measure and manage it. Dr. Gardner’s consulting clients range from startups in mobile technology and social networking to Fortune 100 companies. Clients include Intuit, Hewlett Packard, Quest Diagnostics Clinical Trials Division, Invitrogen, and Cricket Communications to name a few. Previously, she was the Director of Customer Experience Research for France Telecom R&D in San Francisco, and is the co-author of nearly 40 books with publishers such as Harper & Row, IDG, and QUE.

Jeof Bean | Principal | Del Mar Research & Consulting, LLC
Jeof specializes in increasing the success of client product development, marketing and customer experience decisions. His experience spans strategic to tactical with small innovative companies and large successful organizations that develop or depend on technology for success like Promedia Wireless, LPL Financial and AT&T. Jeof is on the Board of Directors of the San Diego Software Industry Council’s (SDSIC) User Experience Group. He is a frequent guest speaker at companies and conferences. Jeof and Sean Van Tyne are authors of the upcoming book “The Customer Experience” about companies that change industries and peoples’ lives with extraordinary customer experiences! Published by Brigantine Media, available Fall 2011.

Sean Van Tyne | User Experience Director | FICO
Author and speaker, Sean Van Tyne is currently working on a book with Jeofrey Bean on insights into how great companies create great experiences that will be available at the end of this year. Sean Van Tyne is currently the User Experience Director at FICO. Prior to FICO, Sean was the AVP of User Experience for Strategy & Technology at LPL Financial; Director of User Experience and Technical Communications for Marketing and Product Management at Mitchell International; and has held leadership positions in other software companies. Sean has also consulted and provided insights to companies such as Oracle, Hewitt Packard, Nokia, Kodak, and more.

Ant Creed | Vice President, Customer Experience | Kelley Blue Book
Ant Creed’s professional passion is the pursuit of growth through innovation reinforced by engaging experience design. He’s spent his career leading and coaching cross-functional teams to envision future products and services, to create compelling experiences, and to pilot or launch these in the market. He’s also heavily invested in coaching business leaders on the principles and practices of successful innovation and design. At Kelley Blue Book, Ant leads the vision, strategy and execution of experience design and user research for all KBB products and services. Prior to KBB, he worked in a wide variety of design and development environments, for companies such as Intuit, Sony Electronics, Kodak ImaginationWorks, IDEO, Philips Design in the Netherlands; and the Health & Safety Executive, UK.

Date: Wednesday, June 15th, 2011
Time: 6:00pm – 9:00pm
Place: 2040 Main Street, 2nd Floor, Irvine, CA 92614 MAP
Cost: $20 with reservation, $40 at the door. Parking: Free.
Click here to reserve your seat.

Exceptional companies, large and small, have proven there is a new frontier that excels over features and price. They go beyond typical product, technology and project development and delivery. They make the case for purposely developing and delivering customer and user experiences that create new markets or segments. These companies benefit from the new revenues and customer advocates they create. They have the expertise to create customer and user experiences that attract, retain and sustain customers like no others.

Please join Jeofrey Bean for a dynamic and engaging session with real world examples of why and how purposely developing and delivering extraordinary customer experiences is smart, profitable and practical. The session includes a pragmatic process you can start to implement when you get back from the conference.

Register

Biography:
Jeofrey Bean is an author, speaker and Principal of Del Mar Research & Consulting, LLC. He specializes in increasing the success of product development, marketing and customer experience decisions. Jeof’s experience spans strategic to tactical with small innovative companies to large successful organizations like I Drive Safely, ComplianceMAX, LPL Financial, AT&T and Quest Diagnostics.

Jeofrey has an M.S. in Business Management, a B.S. in Psychology / Marketing and has served as Adjunct Professor of Business Management and Marketing, Centenary College. He is on the Board of Directors of the San Diego Software Industry Council’s (SDSIC) User Experience Group and User Experience expert review panel and an Advisor to companies that develop or depend on technology for their success.

Jeofrey was recognized for keeping companies competitive with the Heartbeat of America Award, presented on the television show “The Heartbeat of America” with host William Shatner and the interview by Doug Llewelyn on American Life TV Network.

Jeofrey is the author of several marketing, business and product development articles; and a frequent guest speaker.

Recent topics include:
-Opening Your Innovation Channels for Effective Product Advantage
-The Experience Economy: What it means for Product Development and Innovation
-The Customer Experience Advantage: Companies that transformed their industry and customers lives forever

Register

PMI 8th Annual Conference

Join us for this engaging panel session about the companies, people and products that have made themselves different, better and more profitable than their competition. These companies have done this by rising above industry and customer expectations. They break away from the slippery slope of competing solely on features and price. These companies’ have the insight to develop and deliver extraordinary and profitable customer experiences.

Panelists Jeofrey Bean, Joely Gardner, PhD. and Sean Van Tyne are experts in working with senior executives, product developers, product managers and business owners in discovering customer desires, developing and delivering the experiences people will have with a company’s processes, products, people or services. They will be sharing with you the stories of real companies, large and small, and the successes and lessons learned in the development and delivery of extraordinary customer experiences. This engaging session will then be open for discussion and your questions.

Customer experience real stories and lessons from real companies, product and services:

- NetFlix
- SkinIt
- iPhone and Android

The session will cover these important points-*
* What are the differences between customer and user experience? Are they related?
* How are different, better and hard to duplicate experiences created and measured?
* What processes can you use to get the customer and user experience advantage?

Wednesday,
March 30, 2011
6:00 – 8:30 PM
JT Schmid’s at The District in Tustin, Ca

Register for this event: http://ocproductmanagersmar2011.eventbrite.com
This event is brought to you by the Orange County Product Managers Association