Customer engagement is an important indicator of marketing and value proposition performance. And it takes on increased urgency in a recessionary environment that demands businesses get more value from existing customers (especially given the cost of acquiring new ones). The challenge is how to effectively influence customer engagement. It takes an understanding of how current customers engage and what factors drives those behaviors; factors such as the business's and its competitors' actions, natural customer characteristics, and changing category dynamics to name a few.

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Posted by Niren Sirohi | Permalink | Comments ()

Customer acquisition is hard. But many companies miss the opportunity to retain customers that might be at risk of leaving. Retention is more than a one-off activity. We at Peppers & Rogers Group recommend four levels of "safety nets" to maximize customer retention and profitability: customer experience management, total relationship loyalty, proactive retention strategies, and reactive retention/winback efforts. Watch the video to learn more.

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Posted by Elizabeth Glagowski | Permalink | Comments ()

I had the opportunity to participate in a panel discussion recently sponsored by the Boston chapter of the American Marketing Association that focused on how companies were using data and customer analytics to drive marketing activities and what the trends are.

The interest in the topic was exemplified by the large and energetic crowd. Although our moderator had prepared a set of questions for us as a guide, he needn't have bothered as the session quickly devolved into a lively Q&A exchange.

Continue reading "What Customer Analytics Matters to Marketers: A Discussion" »

Posted by Don Ryan | Permalink | Comments ()

Whether it's the global credit crunch, rocketing food and fuel prices, increasing interest rates or political instability, businesses have to navigate their way through uncertain times. Keeping revenue flowing whilst keeping an eye on ever-increasing overheads is the key to survival at times like this and it has become crucial that companies continue to bring in those all important sales that keep the business afloat.

Whether it's services, goods or time that is being sold, the successful businesses outsmart their competitors, and while more advertising will likely bring in more sales, there is one often neglected area that needs to be given attention when times get tough: customer relationship management (CRM).

Continue reading "CRM Vision to Reality: How to Become More Customer-Focused" »

Posted by Zoran Vasiljev | Permalink | Comments ()

To be proactively trustworthy, a company must facilitate customers' sharing their honest opinions with other customers.

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Posted by Don Peppers and Martha Rogers, Ph.D. | Permalink | Comments ()

Customer churn is like a leaking faucet that, if left unchecked, can erode the foundation of your business. So getting a handle on what's causing it and what can be done to fix it is critical, especially in highly competitive marketing environments.

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Posted by Ken Howes | Permalink | Comments ()

Customers use many channels to interact with the companies they do business with. This includes the rising adoption of smartphones and use of social networks among consumers. According to the Mobile Marketing Association, more than half of the population in countries such as the U.K., Saudi Arabia, Sweden, and UAE are using smartphones, while the penetration rate is greater than 40 percent in countries such as the U.S., Spain, and Switzerland. Meanwhile, Facebook has 845 million active users worldwide; LinkedIn and Twitter boast 150 million and 127 million users, respectively.

Continue reading "Redefining Retail in a Multichannel World" »

Posted by Orkun Oguz | Permalink | Comments ()