IS THE digital age making it easier or harder for companies to keep their customers happy? Some would say easier because smartphones, social media and other evolving new communications technologies allow marketers 24-hour, personalised access to their customer base.
But there’s another side. Precisely because of these developments, consumers must also be kept smiling 24 hours a day. Marketers no longer control brand messages. Consumers do.
The speed and versatility of services like Facebook and Twitter mean a single bad customer experience can be shared millions of times before the marketer is able to respond.
A report by Accenture Interactive, part of the global Accenture business consultancy, says many companies are falling short in their efforts to use digital technology to enhance customer experience. One of their biggest failings is complacency.
They figure that if the experience they offer is slightly better, or at least no worse, than that of their direct competitors, that’s enough. It isn’t. In a globalised environment where consumers have real or virtual access to almost every brand in the world, they want state-of-the-art experiences.
Gareth Murphy, head of Accenture Interactive in SA, talks of "liquid customer expectations" driven by constantly improving benchmarks.
"You’re no longer competing only in your industry," he says. "It goes without saying that, for example, local banking group FNB must be aware of what Standard and Nedbank are doing, but when it comes to customer experience, it’s also competing against Apple and Google and Airbnb and Uber.
"Consumers have experienced something special in a different industry and now expect the same from other brands, irrespective of their product."
The report titled, Expectations vs Experience: The Good, The Bad, The Opportunity, is based on commissioned research conducted in 14 countries by Forrester Consulting. Murphy says all the findings can be applied to SA.
Some local business sectors, notably financial services and telecommunications, have gone to great lengths to improve digital customer experience but, in general, South African companies "are lagging in most areas", he says.
The definition of digital customer experience is itself "liquid" because of the rate of digital development. Besides websites, mobile sites, apps and social media, companies are making increased use of data that allows them to learn preferences and characteristics of groups and individuals, and to personalise services accordingly.
The Accenture report says companies must be obsessive about this digital experience. But is it possible to be too obsessive? For while few would argue with Accenture’s view that "digital transformation is the key to driving customer experience", there is less consensus on its idea that "digital is everything".
Debi O’Brien, Johannesburg MD of customer relations specialist iKineo, says this is to downplay the importance of other parts of the consumer experience: instore shopping, touching and trying goods, dealing with staff. Real people still have a part to play, whether face to face or through switchboards. "Digital is not everything," she says. "It’s certainly very important but there are other channels that brands also use to create the experience they want. Digital is a very efficient tool that allows you to be on duty 24/7. But if you overuse it, it risks becoming just another gimmick."
READ THIS: SA’s advertising sector needs a kaleidoscopic view
Meeting customer expectations can be the difference between business success and failure, says the Accenture report. Based on the Forrester research, brands that meet or exceed those expectations have seen brand relevance improve 21%, customer satisfaction 16%, customer loyalty 17%, revenue 11%, return on investment 14% and cost savings 6%.
"This isn’t the first study showing that customer experience is linked to business performance but many executives can’t break away from traditional business efficiencies and cost-cutting methods," says Murphy. Such methods will never be redundant but are no longer as effective in isolation.
Often, says Accenture, consumers’ digital use and capacity improves faster than that of brands. Many companies make the mistake of trying to catch up, not stay ahead.
"Constantly evolving customers require constant customer expectation evolution, not a one-off improvement effort," says the report. "Experience transformation requires preparing the company to pivot into a state of constant analysis and redesign."
Murphy says it’s impossible to overestimate another finding of the report: that the process must be driven from the boardroom. "You need senior buy-in," he says.
"If that’s not there, it’s hard to drive through the rest of the organisation. You need collaboration at every level."
Marketing professor Geoff Bick, acting director of the University of Cape Town’s Graduate School of Business, says some misguided CEOs still look at digital marketing as a form of communications and budget accordingly.
"They’re wrong. It must be integrated into the organisation. Digital is no longer a department, it’s at the heart of the business."
Murphy acknowledges that the cost of full digital customer innovation may be prohibitive for smaller companies, so it may make sense to outsource to specialists.
But he adds: "Be selective. Don’t try to do too many things at once. Decide what you need to deliver the change you need, and focus on that."
Smartphones and other new communications technologies allow marketers and consumers 24-hour access to each other. Picture: ISTOCK
IS THE digital age making it easier or harder for companies to keep their customers happy? Some would say easier because smartphones, social media and other evolving new communications technologies allow marketers 24-hour, personalised access to their customer base.
But there’s another side. Precisely because of these developments, consumers must also be kept smiling 24 hours a day. Marketers no longer control brand messages. Consumers do.
The speed and versatility of services like Facebook and Twitter mean a single bad customer experience can be shared millions of times before the marketer is able to respond.
A report by Accenture Interactive, part of the global Accenture business consultancy, says many companies are falling short in their efforts to use digital technology to enhance customer experience. One of their biggest failings is complacency.
They figure that if the experience they offer is slightly better, or at least no worse, than that of their direct competitors, that’s enough. It isn’t. In a globalised environment where consumers have real or virtual access to almost every brand in the world, they want state-of-the-art experiences.
Gareth Murphy, head of Accenture Interactive in SA, talks of "liquid customer expectations" driven by constantly improving benchmarks.
"You’re no longer competing only in your industry," he says. "It goes without saying that, for example, local banking group FNB must be aware of what Standard and Nedbank are doing, but when it comes to customer experience, it’s also competing against Apple and Google and Airbnb and Uber.
"Consumers have experienced something special in a different industry and now expect the same from other brands, irrespective of their product."
The report titled, Expectations vs Experience: The Good, The Bad, The Opportunity, is based on commissioned research conducted in 14 countries by Forrester Consulting. Murphy says all the findings can be applied to SA.
Some local business sectors, notably financial services and telecommunications, have gone to great lengths to improve digital customer experience but, in general, South African companies "are lagging in most areas", he says.
The definition of digital customer experience is itself "liquid" because of the rate of digital development. Besides websites, mobile sites, apps and social media, companies are making increased use of data that allows them to learn preferences and characteristics of groups and individuals, and to personalise services accordingly.
The Accenture report says companies must be obsessive about this digital experience. But is it possible to be too obsessive? For while few would argue with Accenture’s view that "digital transformation is the key to driving customer experience", there is less consensus on its idea that "digital is everything".
Debi O’Brien, Johannesburg MD of customer relations specialist iKineo, says this is to downplay the importance of other parts of the consumer experience: instore shopping, touching and trying goods, dealing with staff. Real people still have a part to play, whether face to face or through switchboards. "Digital is not everything," she says. "It’s certainly very important but there are other channels that brands also use to create the experience they want. Digital is a very efficient tool that allows you to be on duty 24/7. But if you overuse it, it risks becoming just another gimmick."
READ THIS: SA’s advertising sector needs a kaleidoscopic view
Meeting customer expectations can be the difference between business success and failure, says the Accenture report. Based on the Forrester research, brands that meet or exceed those expectations have seen brand relevance improve 21%, customer satisfaction 16%, customer loyalty 17%, revenue 11%, return on investment 14% and cost savings 6%.
"This isn’t the first study showing that customer experience is linked to business performance but many executives can’t break away from traditional business efficiencies and cost-cutting methods," says Murphy. Such methods will never be redundant but are no longer as effective in isolation.
Often, says Accenture, consumers’ digital use and capacity improves faster than that of brands. Many companies make the mistake of trying to catch up, not stay ahead.
"Constantly evolving customers require constant customer expectation evolution, not a one-off improvement effort," says the report. "Experience transformation requires preparing the company to pivot into a state of constant analysis and redesign."
Murphy says it’s impossible to overestimate another finding of the report: that the process must be driven from the boardroom. "You need senior buy-in," he says.
"If that’s not there, it’s hard to drive through the rest of the organisation. You need collaboration at every level."
Marketing professor Geoff Bick, acting director of the University of Cape Town’s Graduate School of Business, says some misguided CEOs still look at digital marketing as a form of communications and budget accordingly.
"They’re wrong. It must be integrated into the organisation. Digital is no longer a department, it’s at the heart of the business."
Murphy acknowledges that the cost of full digital customer innovation may be prohibitive for smaller companies, so it may make sense to outsource to specialists.
But he adds: "Be selective. Don’t try to do too many things at once. Decide what you need to deliver the change you need, and focus on that."
