Laura Patterson says, “You know that developing a customer journey map is vital in today’s customer-centric world, but let’s revisit what a customer journey map really means for your business. It means that you understand your customers’ interactions with your business. It means you know their preferred touchpoints and channels across the entire experience, from first contact through usage to potential repurchase or a new purchase. It means that you can clearly depict, from a customer-centric perspective, the steps your customers take when engaging with your company. Clearly,... [...]

Ayaz Nanji says, “Some 7.5% of essential contact information in B2B sales databases become outdated within three months,according to recent research from Radius. The report was based on a Radius analysis of B2B database information, conducted between May and August, 2016. The researchers took the original customer relationship management (CRM) data for 10,000 B2B contacts and re-examined it three months later, using Web research and calls, to determine whether the information was still correct. For the database with 10,000 contacts, the researchers found that 757 of the entries were no longer... [...]

Jeff Rajeck says, “How are marketers carrying out customer experience improvements? We discussed this topic at our latest roundtable discussions. Of course, we are quite familiar with what the customer experience leaders are doing to satisfy and delight their customers: Amazon provides lightning-fast delivery at a reasonable cost LUSH delights customer by being ultra-transparent about how its products are made, and First direct (UK bank) has had a customer-focused service culture since its inception But what about everyone else? To find out, Econsultancy held a roundtable event, Understanding... [...]

Jeff Rajeck says, “As marketers, it’s our job to understand the journey that our customers take from discovery to purchase. How is that going? Not very well, according to a recent Econsultancy report. In our 2016 survey, Customer Experience Maturity in Australia and New Zealand, half of respondents (50%) said that there are a ‘lot of missing parts’ of the customer journey andonly 5% have ‘a coordinated approach across online and offline’ parts of their business. So only one marketer in 20 feels like they have connected the online and offline customer journey.... [...]

Maeve Hosea says, “Customer relationship management (CRM) is more complex than ever as marketing channels allow for ever-more sophisticated targeting and content delivery. So what are the challenges facing CRM marketers? I spoke to a couple of people in the industry and here list a mere 10 challenges we discussed. 1. Too much data, not enough action? In 2015, Econsultancy’s Measurement and Analytics report showed that 40% of executives found more than half of their collated analytics data was useful for decision-making. That proportion of marketers dropped to 33% in the recent 2016... [...]

Loretta Jones says, “Creative professionals love to innovate and ideate. However, it can be a challenge to bring the same drive to project management. In order to balance the creative and business sides of a company, creatives need to keep the sales funnel moving and projects on track to meet deadlines — which tends to be easier said than done. Recently, Insightly (my employer), worked with TechValidate, an independent third party, to conduct a survey of creative professionals, freelancers and business owners in marketing, communication, design, advertising, media and agencies to uncover... [...]

Bart Mroz says, “By focusing on the customer experience rather than sales, smaller brands and retailers can effectively compete with their largest competitors. A great example of this comes from flower delivery service UrbanStems. Over $4 billion is spent each year on online flower purchases for occasions such as birthdays, celebrations, graduations and more. While gifting flowers can bring great happiness to those receiving them, shopping for them can be a tedious process. UrbanStems is a relatively new online flower startup, and is changing the way consumers purchase flowers online by delivering... [...]

Shaun Haase says, “CRMs are meant to be much more than a glorified contact management system, and if used correctly, can greatly increase business productivity and effectiveness. CRM software often have a multitude of features, many of which are rarely used by sales teams. Here, we’ll take a look at three ways you can start getting the most out of your CRM, from automating actions to utilizing sales pipeline functionality for managing customer support. While some features are overly complex or not fit for every business, there are key components that can deliver tremendous value if you... [...]

Shaun Haase says, “CRMs are meant to be much more than a glorified contact management system, and if used correctly, can greatly increase business productivity and effectiveness. CRM software often have a multitude of features, many of which are rarely used by sales teams. Here, we’ll take a look at three ways you can start getting the most out of your CRM, from automating actions to utilizing sales pipeline functionality for managing customer support. While some features are overly complex or not fit for every business, there are key components that can deliver tremendous value if you... [...]

Jeff Rajeck says, “In a recent Econsultancy report, marketers rated ‘increased customer lifetime value and loyalty’ as the most important benefit derived from understanding the customer journey. But how does this work in practice? What are brands doing in the real world to increase customer loyalty? To find out, Econsultancy invited dozens of client-side marketers in Shanghai to discuss this and other customer experience (CX) topics over roundtable discussions. The roundtables were moderated by volunteer client-side marketers and subject matter experts from Econsultancy and our... [...]