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ANA Customer Engagement BPG PDF
ANA Customer Engagement BPG PDF
CUSTOMER
ENGAGEMENT
Action Plan 32
About 43
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY CUSTOMER ENGAGEMENT BEST PRACTICES GUIDE 3
Executive Summary
A new question is challenging the Modern Marketing Organization (MMO). Overview
Demand Metric’s research, benchmark studies, methodologies, and tools
have consistently shown that Customer Engagement drives revenue and
Yesterday’s question was: profits for the organization when Customer Engagement is employed as
“How can we improve the experience our customer an aligned strategy of best practices for people, processes, and tools in a
has with our company, brand, product, or service?” coordinated, holistic approach.
In this Best Practices Report on Customer Engagement we will provide
Today’s question is:
best practices, insights, and vendor analysis in five distinct categories:
“How well is the customer engaging with us?”
Personalization Platforms
Not how can we “engage the customer,” but how are
Voice of the Customer (VoC)
they engaging with us?”
Gamification
Online Communities & Social Media
Advocacy and Loyalty Platforms
The answer to that question is at the core of Customer Engagement,
which views the customer-vendor relationship from the perspective We will approach this report as organizations should be approaching
and willingness of the buyer. Customer Engagement: from the viewpoint of the buyer rather than from
the seller.
It is not about just doing business with us; instead, it is to embrace us,
prefer us and stay with us, even when lower prices and “better” options We’ll look at the buyer’s journey from the problem identification trigger
come calling. through the stages of evaluation, validation, purchase, and on to relation-
ship building, advocacy, and loyalty.
It is to help the MMO answer that core question and implement strate-
gies, processes, and best practices for Customer Engagement that we
have produced this report.
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY CUSTOMER ENGAGEMENT BEST PRACTICES GUIDE 4
Our goal is to enable the MMO to create a holistic, end-to- end, measurable approach to Customer Engagement. We present three models to enable
modern marketers to take a holistic approach to Customer Engagement. These models are:
The Customer Engagement Map, which follows the buyer The Demand Metric Customer Engagement Framework,
through the entire journey, highlighting critical junctures, which highlights the roles, responsibilities, processes, tech-
best practices, and solutions while examining relevant plat- nology, content, and metrics for effective Customer Engage-
forms, tools, and applications. ment strategies and practices.
STAGE 3 - Mature
STAGE 4 - World-Class Demand Metric’s key recommendation from this report is that Customer
STAGE 2 - Progressive
VIEW RESOURCE
Enterprise; Coordinated effort between
Strategy is uncoordinated; Aware of Customer Engagement across an Enter-
Marketing, Sales and Customer Care to
It’s not an easy change and it is the goal of this Demand Metric report to help
you get there.
UNDERSTANDING CUSTOMER ENGAGEMENT CUSTOMER ENGAGEMENT BEST PRACTICES GUIDE 8
Demand Metric positions Customer Engagement as the evolution of If customers aren’t coming to the company, the company must actively
Customer Experience (CX) and its corollary Voice of the Customer (VoC). reach out to them with the right “touch” to create a connection for
that point of the journey.
This is based on the reality that companies cannot really control the
customer’s experience. Every touch across the omni-channel is critical. This is why making
Customer Engagement a corporate priority and not simply a sales or
They can influence it, but they cannot control it. Numerous studies have
customer service issue is so important to revenue success.
shown that the buyer completes from 55% to 75% of their purchasing
decision journey before they contact the company or sales rep.
From Sales Enablement to Sales Engagement The Power of Online Customer Engagement
As Customer Experience is rapidly evolving into Customer Engagement, a As we know, the buyer travels up to 75% of their journey without direct
similar evolution is occurring within sales organizations beginning with an engagement with the company being considered. Equally, we know that
important mindset change: Sales Enablement is about helping sales per- most of that journey takes place online, especially in the B2C space.
form better under the reasonable belief that if the sales team is performing
While offline Customer Engagement still occurs, especially with retail
better, it is closing more deals and producing more revenue.
consumers, it plays a decreasing role in the buyer’s journey.
With that, Senior Management, Marketing, and Customer Support strive
New Customer Experience/Engagement platforms from Personaliza-
to provide better tools, support, and education to sales teams.
tion, Advocacy, and Loyalty vendors now reach customers on their
The dangerous gap here is that Sales takes the new tools and educa- phone with online offers while they are physically in the store.
tion, but does not initiate a behavior change.
The trend is obvious even in the B2B space where, due to the nature and
Sales still approaches customers in a traditional way of product presen- size of the transactions, sales teams are more personally and directly
tation, response, objection handling, etc. to the final win/loss conclusion. involved.
Focusing on Sales Engagement changes the relationship dynamic and Sales teams rely on tablet-driven, cloud-powered presentation tools
the sales mindset from “selling” to “listening, learning, offering, and and applications to provide the prospective customer with the best
supporting” the buyer’s journey. experience.
It dramatically alters the sales conversation and the way the product/
service is presented. It enables Sales to find a way to deliver what the
customer really needs rather than “what’s in the bag.” Today’s mantra is
“helping is the new selling.”
In Demand Metric’s Customer Engagement Map, we present the journey from identification by the customer of the problem or need they are facing
(Problem Identification) to the ideal point when they become an engaged advocate of the brand, company, or product (Advocacy & Loyalty).
Problem Identification
In this model, we view problem identification as primarily an
internal customer step with one proviso: if the prospect is already
a customer (even of another unit or division), best practices indi-
cate that triggers should be set through your CRM or database to
alert the sales team to a possible upsell or cross-sell opportunity. VIEW RESOURCE
Research
This is a great, but often missed, opportunity for Customer Personalization platforms offer a range of capabilities that include
Engagement. In both B2B and B2C environments, prospects targeting visitors based on origin and behavior, and providing
begin their research with past experiences, referrals, commu- personalized content, messages, and offers to sophisticated
nity exchanges, and website visits. Your company needs to be big-data driven analytics platforms make real-time product
ready for this kind of engagement. recommendations and that can predict and adapt to customer
choices in real-time with targeted engagement strategies.
This is where personalization platforms come in.
Technology Evaluation
At this stage, buyers are starting to make choices, zeroing in on Equally important at the customer contact stage are Feedback
the product or services they are most interested in. They are and Chat platforms. VoC/Feedback Platforms offer a range of
likely to engage the company, and if they are B2B, they may engagement options, from surveys to social commerce engines,
present an RFP. The sales team gets the opportunity to directly that continually capture and provide customer input to improve
engage the customer. VoC engagement.
The three platform solutions used to provide best practice Feedback platforms often support omni- or multi-channel envi-
Customer Engagement at this stage are: Personalization plat- ronments and include detailed analytics and sophisticated
forms, Voice of the Customer/Feedback/Chat platforms, and reporting options.
Online Communities & Social Media platforms.
Chat programs provide the connection point to engage if the
Personalization platforms that provide sentiment analysis, visitor chooses. Basic chat sits passively on the Website waiting
behavioral targeting, and a 360-degree view of the customer for the customer. More sophisticated chat platforms track Web
are critical here to drive the precise content the buyer is looking visitor activity and offer a chat option at the exact point when the
for based on their exact buying criteria. visitor is most likely to want to engage.
Validation
At this stage, buyers have narrowed their focus to a short list of VoC platforms engage the customer through the integration of
vendors, usually no more than three. purchase activity, survey responses, social conversations, and
commentary.
Potential customers will ask for a demo, request a pilot program,
or use the free trial. First level VoC products offer a profile of the customer’s wants,
needs, and level of satisfaction with current solutions.
This is the company’s opportunity to improve engagement
using VoC platforms. Sophisticated VoC platforms mine and aggregate data to
provide business insights that can be used to develop or
VoC, Feedback, and Chat platforms for website, social,
change the effectiveness of engagement programs.
in-store, and product feedback focus on collecting, analyzing,
and leveraging customer feedback across all touch points Solutions mature from a single survey and post transaction
to increase conversion, drive in-store traffic, and measure reporting to proactive actionable insights that drive Enter-
customer lifetime value (CLV). prise-wide decisions.
CUSTOMER ENGAGEMENT MAP CUSTOMER ENGAGEMENT BEST PRACTICES GUIDE 14
Social Media and Online Communities become critically important to the Several best practices stand out in Step 3 (Evaluation) & Step 4 (Valida-
buyer’s journey. These networks and communities are full of customer tion) prior to reaching Step 5 (Product/Service Acquisition), which are:
insights: forums, Q&A, group chats, posts, comments, lists, reviews, etc.
Customer Engagement in Social Communities goes beyond listening or 1 Implement a 360-degree view of your customer profiles that
responding to comments. combine customer data from all sources.
Social data should be integrated into VoC platforms. 2 Purchase a personalization platform or website personaliza-
Beyond that, companies should consider creating a private Online tion application.
Community where they have more influence and control over community
3 Create a VoC strategy for your organization, beginning with
activity, and better access to behavioral insights than in the big public
solving any outstanding customer issues, and progressing to real-
social networks.
time analysis of customer behavior to predict behavior, influence
the buyer’s journey, and guide the brand’s engagement strategy.
Product/Service Acquisition
At the acquisition stage, if not before, the buyer connects with In B2B journeys, product/service acquisition becomes a more
the company. If it is an online purchase, the customer passes complex process. Vendors will often work with buyers on
through an eCommerce site. system design, customization, and implementation at this stage.
Self-service feedback systems often need to be augmented
A best practice here is to collect more than the purchase
with live support. Capturing the Customer Experience through
information. The site should collect satisfaction with buying
Customer Care is a key component of this stage.
process and current sentiment toward the company, brand,
and product; how and what motivated the purchase through
pop-up and/or a follow-up survey.
Product/Service Implementation
At the implementation or delivery stage, Customer Care can For marketers, it creates a better understanding of customer
really shine. Here education, training, and support are critical drivers as well as the opportunity for relationship building. For
as the company will be judged on the speed and quality of their system implementation, Gamification can help drive the adop-
responses. tion of new products, services, and technologies, both internally
and externally.
Gamification can be an asset to learning and adaption of new
tools for both employees and customers. Sales and Customer Care teams in particular can benefit from a
little gamified competition, and the metrics built into Gamifica-
Gamification incorporates game-design mechanics into
tion platforms are valuable to Operations.
non-game applications and environments to make them more
engaging, while adding a dimension of fun and competition. On the customer side, Gamification can drive social and commu-
nity activity around the new solution.
Gamification is a means to an end; and in broad terms, that end
goal is behavior change leading to customer excitement and
loyalty.
Relationship Building
Customer Engagement, at this stage, starts with ensuring that the Best Practices at this stage include:
use of the product/service is flawless and enjoyable, and that the
Begin by ensuring that Chat and Feedback mechanisms
desired outcome is realized by the customer. Interactivity is a critical
are incorporated into your website with activity and
best practice for engagement in the relationship building stage.
response tracking activated.
Key platforms to focus on this stage are: Feedback, Chat and Provide Customer Care with an effective workflow so
VoC platforms, and Online Communities. issues are addressed quickly.
Best practices go beyond feedback and surveys to inviting the Implement a real-time VoC platform with multi- channel
new buyer to participate with others through Gamification and support for all customer touch points.
Online Communities where they can build trusted relationships Consolidate VoC data into one centralized database with
not only with the company but also with peers. Active VoC integration to the company’s CRM, Marketing Automation,
connections should do more than gauge satisfaction – they and ERP systems to provide actionable insights to key
should elicit ideas. stakeholders.
Online Community features, such as crowdsourcing and ideation Create/expand your Online Community to foster advocacy.
that build the foundation for advocacy, are valuable here.
Benefit Assessment
At this point in the buyer’s journey, the customer should be In the B2B space, the focus is on showing results. Results
comfortable with the product or service, formed an attachment range from increases in activity (shares, connections, etc.) to
from mild to strong with the company, and begun to uncover upsell and/or cross-sell opportunities to measurable increases
any flaws or issues. in sales, revenue, and profits.
In this stage, engagement focuses on resolving issues (if any), Best Practices in this stage are:
continuing to offer an enjoyable experience, and proactively
Use Demand Metric’s Advocacy and Loyalty Vendor
identifying ways to improve the customer’s loyalty.
Matrix for an analysis of the vendors in this space.
The primary platforms to focus on here are Loyalty and Advo-
Download Demand Metric’s Communications Touch Point
cacy platforms. For B2C brands, Loyalty platforms extend the
Diagram to ensure you plan out your customer contact
value of Online and Social Communities and infrastructure to
points.
enable customer registration in programs, track purchases, and
Ensure that Loyalty and Advocacy programs are tightly inte-
offer referrals.
grated with analytics.
They provide mechanisms for earning rewards based on transac- Use Demand Metric’s Customer Engagement Metrics Dash-
tions, such as coupons, special promotions, and advertisements. board to track the key metrics for your program.
Personalization platforms or capabilities help ensure that special
offers for customers are directly related to something that they
need or are looking for that day.
CUSTOMER ENGAGEMENT MAP CUSTOMER ENGAGEMENT BEST PRACTICES GUIDE 19
Account Expansion
At this stage, the ideal buyer is a frequent user of the product, Ideally, in B2B, you have gained a deep understanding of your
and a regular participant in Loyalty programs and Online company’s position as a preferred vendor within the customer
Communities. In the B2B space, the buyer would have finished organization, as well as the level of loyalty and advocacy behav-
a product roll-out and is seeing measurable results. iors your internal account champion has exhibited.
Revenue Accountability Budgeting & Planning WCM Thought Leadership Blog Revenue by Channel
Senior Management Customer Centric Strategy Reviews & Coaching CRM/Marketing Automation Webinar Presentations Customer Lifetime Value, NPS
Reporting to CEO/Board Recruitment & Retention Visualization/Dashboard Conference Keynotes Return on Customer (ROC)
Customer Engagement Strategy CX & On-boarding Personalization Platforms Buyer Personas Customer Satisfaction Index
Customer Success Customer Advocacy Customer Journey Mapping Advocacy & Loyalty Platforms Customer Journey Map Customer Lifetime Value Net
Identify Sales Opportunities Customer Persona Creation Online Community Platforms Proposals, Presentations Promoter Score (NPS)
Customer Acquisition
Sales Process CRM Compensation Model % Quota Achieved Renewal
Customer Retention
Sales/Account Mgmt. Opportunity Management VoC/Chat TCO/ROI Calculators Rate, Revenue Opportunity
Sales Opportunity
Contact Management Sales Content Portal Sales Playbook Metrics
Management
Build Reports & Dashboards Sales Forecasting/Compensation CRM New Features/Ideas for R&D Sales Qualified Leads
Sales Operations Monitor Sales Productivity Lead to Close Proposal/CPQ Objection Responses Cost Per Lead (CPL)
Data Management Territory Management Sales Content Portal Sales Scripts Cost of Acquisition (CAC)
Marketing Generated Pipeline Advertising/Sponsorship Marketing Automation/Email How-To Guides Campaign ROI, Conversion Rate
Demand Generation Inbound/Outbound Marketing Lead Generation & Nurturing Online Community Platforms Research Reports Marketing Qualified Leads
Omni-channel Marketing Tradeshows & Webinars Social Media & Gamification Webinars Contribution to Pipeline
Brand Strategy Marketing Budget Personalization Platforms Post, Tweets, Photos Market Share, Profitability
Strategic
Website/Online Communities Agency Management Advocacy & Loyalty Platforms Forums, Chat, Comments Brand Equity
Communications
Social/Mobile Marketing Strategy Communications Management Online Community Platforms Articles, Community News Content Usage
New Product Development Product Launch eCommerce Data Sheets, Whitepapers Avg. Revenue Per User
Product
User Experience Win/Loss Analysis Product Management Systems Case Studies/Testimonials Avg. Order Value
Management
Technical Evaluations Competitive Analysis Enterprise Feedback/Surveys Competitive Analysis Renewal/Repurchase Rate
Customer Insight/Feedback Helpdesk (Phone Support) Customer Support, Twitter New Features/Ideas for R&D Avg. Time to Resolution
Customer Care VoC – Peer Level Support Case/Ticket (Email Support) Enterprise Feedback/Surveys Support Scripts % Escalations to Tier 2 Net
Customer Satisfaction Online Community Requests VoC/Chat FAQs, SLA Promoter Score (NPS)
CUSTOMER ENGAGEMENT MATURITY MODEL CUSTOMER ENGAGEMENT BEST PRACTICES GUIDE 23
STAGE 4 - World-Class
STAGE 3 - Mature
STAGE 2 - Progressive
Customer STAGE 1 - Undefined
Engagement
Defined, integrated strategy for
Customer Engagement exists across an
Defined strategy and processes exist for
Enterprise; Coordinated effort between
Strategy is uncoordinated; Aware of Customer Engagement across an Enter-
Marketing, Sales, and Customer Care
No defined strategy or process for need to create a customer journey prise; Touch points are coordinated across
to provide closed loop engagement
Orientation Customer Engagement experience; Projects are developed and functions to meet customer expectations
delivered ad hoc
Personalization Platforms
Personalization platforms provide the ability to prepare for and directly Sophisticated data-driven platforms use functions, such as machine
respond to individual interest and activity at your website, or through learning and large-scale systems science, to match relevant products
marketing or email campaigns. to consumer needs, predict product purchases, and adapt to customer
choices. These features help to provide targeted content, such as
Personalization platforms offer a range of capabilities. Key features
showing one customer one type of content while presenting a different
include targeting visitors based on origin and behavior to provide
view or version to someone else.
personalized content, messages, and offers; preventing or recovering
from shopping cart abandonment, and follow-up email campaigns. Our vendor analysis divides this market segment into two sub-seg-
ments: Personalization platforms, which provide multi-channel and
integrate Social Networks, and Website Personalization apps that
specifically focus on the website visitor experience.
Online Communities
We examined company-owned Online Communities rather than the
large Social Networks, such as Facebook, Twitter, and LinkedIn. For a
review of those networks and the platforms that support them, please
download our Social Media Marketing Solution Study.
TECHNOLOGY OVERVIEW
CUSTOMER ENGAGEMENT VENDOR SOLUTIONS CUSTOMER ENGAGEMENT BEST PRACTICES GUIDE 28
Many VoC solutions combine VoC with Voice of the Employee (VoE) and modern market research tools based on agile research techniques and real-time
feedback to provide a 360-degree view of their company, product, and brand.
Gamification Platforms
Gamification incorporates game-design mechanics into non-game appli-
cations and environments to make them more engaging while adding a
dimension of fun and competition.
TECHNOLOGY OVERVIEW
CUSTOMER ENGAGEMENT VENDOR SOLUTIONS CUSTOMER ENGAGEMENT BEST PRACTICES GUIDE 30
Both Advocacy and Loyalty solutions fall within the broader realm of Customer Engagement. They are compatible yet different. The vendors tend to lean
clearly toward either Advocacy or Loyalty. Even when a vendor offers solutions for both, one or the other is typically presented as a core capability or
strength. The common thread between these solution types is referrals.
TECHNOLOGY OVERVIEW
ANALYST BOTTOM LINE CUSTOMER ENGAGEMENT BEST PRACTICES GUIDE 31
CUSTOMER ENGAGEMENT
ACTION PLAN
Follow this simple, step-by-step, methodology to develop a Customer Engagement plan that increases
sales, builds customer insights, and grows brand awareness.
ACTION PLAN CUSTOMER ENGAGEMENT BEST PRACTICES GUIDE 33
1 Follow
5 Develop
7 Select
8 Evaluate
9 Train
10 Measure
ACTION PLAN CUSTOMER ENGAGEMENT BEST PRACTICES GUIDE 34
1 Follow
STAGE 4 - World-Class
STAGE 3 - Mature
STAGE 2 - Progressive
Customer STAGE 1 - Undefined
Engagement
Defined, integrated strategy for
Customer Engagement exists across an
Defined strategy and processes exist for
VIEW RESOURCE
Enterprise; Coordinated effort between
Strategy is uncoordinated; Aware of Customer Engagement across an Enter-
Marketing, Sales and Customer Care to
No defined strategy or process for need to create a customer journey prise; Touch points are coordinated across
provide closed loop engagement
functions to meet customer expectations
6
Orientation Customer Engagement experience; Projects are developed and
Identify
delivered ad hoc
7
Utilizes comprehensive, end-to-end
Select
Tools and platforms for all customer system integration of all Customer
Platforms, applications and workflows journey points, from problem identifi- Engagement related platforms with
Development; Point tools for Email, that perform specific functions have cation to advocacy development, have tight integration to Enterprise CRM, MA
Content and Social Media Marketing; been implemented for the buyer’s been implemented; Maintain 360-degree and other legacy ERP systems
Tools & No Online Community, Personalization journey and personas, but little coor- customer profiles and implement behav-
Platforms or Loyalty tools/applications dination across Sales, Marketing and ioral targeting
Customer Care exists
8 Evaluate
9 Train
10 Measure
ACTION PLAN CUSTOMER ENGAGEMENT BEST PRACTICES GUIDE 35
1 Follow
3 Build
Build a business case for your Customer Engagement initia-
tives with our Customer Engagement Business Case.
4 Organize
5 Develop
VIEW RESOURCE
6 Identify
7 Select
8 Evaluate
9 Train
10 Measure
ACTION PLAN CUSTOMER ENGAGEMENT BEST PRACTICES GUIDE 36
1 Follow
5 Develop
7 Select
8 Evaluate
9 Train
10 Measure
ACTION PLAN CUSTOMER ENGAGEMENT BEST PRACTICES GUIDE 37
1 Follow
5
Develop your Customer Journey Map and Customer Engage-
5 Develop ment Map in order to understand how your buyers engage
with you and what platforms may be integral to having
customers engage with you more.
6 Identify
7 Select
VIEW RESOURCE
8 Evaluate
9 Train
10 Measure
ACTION PLAN CUSTOMER ENGAGEMENT BEST PRACTICES GUIDE 38
1 Follow
8 Evaluate
VIEW RESOURCE
9 Train
10 Measure
ACTION PLAN CUSTOMER ENGAGEMENT BEST PRACTICES GUIDE 39
1 Follow
7 Select
9 Train
10 Measure
ACTION PLAN CUSTOMER ENGAGEMENT BEST PRACTICES GUIDE 40
1 Follow
7 Select
VIEW RESOURCE
88 Evaluate
9 Train
10 Measure
ACTION PLAN CUSTOMER ENGAGEMENT BEST PRACTICES GUIDE 41
1 Follow
5 Develop
S TA R T L E A R N I N G
6 Identify
7 Select
8 Evaluate
9 Train
10 Measure
ACTION PLAN CUSTOMER ENGAGEMENT BEST PRACTICES GUIDE 42
1 Follow
5 Develop
VIEW RESOURCE
6 Identify
7 Select
8 Evaluate
9 Train
10 Measure
About ANA
Founded in 1910, the ANA provides leadership that advances marketing excel-
lence and shapes the future of the industry. The ANA’s membership includes
more than 1,000 companies with 15,000 brands that collectively spend or
support more than $400 billion in marketing and advertising annually. The
membership is comprised of more than 750 client-side marketers and 300
associate members, which include leading agencies, law firms, suppliers,
consultants, and vendors.
Further enriching the ecosystem is the work of the nonprofit ANA Educa-
tional Foundation (AEF), which has the mission of enhancing the under-
standing of advertising and marketing within the academic and marketing
communities.
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THE EVOLUTION OF SHOPPER MARKETING CUSTOMER ENGAGEMENT BEST PRACTICES GUIDE 45
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