Loyalty Marketing Report: The key to a successful CRM and loyalty strategy

Have an eye on the “softer” side of value creation; that which is based on the emotional connection between your company and its customers.

Projects that focus on technology first, rather than the customer and business objectives, are destined for a bumpy ride or failure.

Our decades in the business of helping global brands grow their business suggests the most successful, memorable and profitable CRM or loyalty plays always start with a business strategy that drives changes in the organisation and work processes, which are in turn enabled by information technology.

A customer-centric approach pays lasting dividends, especially as a result of product advantages being reduced or neutralised in many industries because of increased “commoditisation” – so the customer relationship itself becomes the focus for a competitive advantage.

No matter how hyped up the technical changes are, you won’t get the results you want from CRM/loyalty without first understanding and managing its impact upon the customer and your people who will have to live with it and make it work on a daily basis.

Everyone talks about value, how to create customer value and how to add to it, yet few companies really understand value from the customer’s perspective, and instead, they gravitate towards the latest fad or shiniest toy to dangle in front of them.

As we implement CRM programmes and activities, ask yourself if you are really creating value for your customers. What kind of value is it – functional or emotional? Remember the emotional is the more lasting, yet the more difficult to create. A reliance on technology alone will not do it.

A successful CRM initiative starts with a business philosophy that aligns company activities around customer needs.

There are two dominant trends transforming our future:

1. The explosion of data being created by business, governments and customers.

2. The shift in power from companies to consumers.

We are now seeing the convergence of unprecedented access to customer data and the emergence of highly empowered customers who demand highly personalised offers and services.

Companies that survive and thrive will be those that can turn customer data into insight, use it to align around their customer and build trust-based relationships with them. Businesses that fail to achieve the above will gradually become obsolete over time.

Let’s dive a little deeper on these two critical areas that will make or break you.

Data:

As data becomes more abundant the challenge is to leverage the right data to make timely, informed decisions. (Walmart handles more than one million customer transactions every hour, feeding databases estimated at 2.5 petabytes, which is equal to 167 times the number of books in the US Library of Congress.)

Data is growing exponentially as is the strategic value to marketers – hence, the importance of having a clear data strategy in place to set the foundation to filter out/define “what” data is important to drive loyalty, “how” it will be captured and what is the “right” system to help leverage and manage the information to allow you to explore and then execute targeted, personalised, relevant campaigns and strategies effortlessly.

The customer:

In the past few years, there has been an inexorable power shift to customers – example, comparison shopping sites such as Pricegrabber.com enables customers to find the lowest-cost vendors for specific items in seconds. Cameras in phones to scan barcodes to compare prices, customer peer review sites – bottom line – today’s customers demand product/service and information that’s relevant, timely and delivered through their preferred channel.

The customers are in the driving seat. They expect a seamless, consistent experience with a company across channels and they want a dialogue with companies that demonstrate that you know, care and understand their needs/wants.

What should you do? Start by putting yourself in the customers shoes, work a strategy that puts the customer first – start with the basics, and only once you have a clear customer roadmap only then align the right technology mix to support it.

Where we see clients make a mistake is not having a clear data and customer strategy or trying to bolt on different technology platforms or vendors that act like a band-aid – causing more issues and results in what we now call “big data” – resulting in data (conversations) being stuck in separate silos/systems or platforms making it near impossible to have a clear vision/picture of a customer.

While this approach is the easiest short-term, it is also extremely costly to maintain and manage in the long run – juggling different email, mobile, social, analytics vendors/systems and trying to connect the data in these separate systems so as to have visibility of the customer is almost impossible.

How do you turn a fickle fan into a follower?

Start by understanding the needs and motivations that drive their purchase decisions. And then you deploy the strategies and tactics that deliver the most value. Follow these simple steps to help lay the foundations and set the stage.

1. Put the customer at the heart – start with them in mind, treat them like they own you. Because they do.

2. Identify the various offline/online customer interaction points in your organisation.

3. Create a data strategy that helps identify the right data that will deliver the organisation’s strategic objectives.

4. Run a technology/systems audit to ensure you have the right tools/systems in place.

5. Identify possible obstacles (people/platforms) that will prevent you from being able to have a full 360-degree view of a customer (profile, campaign history, transactions offline/online, social influence, feedback) in one location.

6. Put the right people and platforms in place and implement your data, customer strategy.

7. Manage this process with KPIs that help you continually improve.

Your success is a function of the quality of your customer’s data and insight and how you choose to leverage customer data to drive better decision-making to better recruit and retain customers. Doing so will create a powerful and sustainable competitive advantage.

Companies which have succeeded have three things in common:

1. A shared vision – leadership at the top that shares the same vision.

2. Enterprise-wide focus and strategy that is data, customer-driven and will align systems to support.

3. An integrated technology or marketing automation platform (campaigns, surveys, analytics, loyalty, automation and ability to track interactions and effortlessly execute or action).

If you feel overwhelmed just remember to keep it real, keep it relevant and if someone is promising you the world or a solution that will make profits rain overnight – as my dad always said – if it’s too good to be true … it usually is.

Go back to the basics, it’s not rocket science – and don’t forget your best relationships are built over time with trust and authenticity; and when you invest in the relationship, and in doing so gather information, that helps create a bond and understanding, and a feeling of value.

About CPR Vision:

CPR has a unique fusion of cutting-edge technology, creative and strategy solutions that have helped leading global brands grow a sustainable competitive advantage.

1. Established market leader with over 12 years of experience.
2. Proven track record with leading global brands.
3. We are CRM, loyalty and digital specialists.
4. CRM Agency of the Year 2012/13/14 and Loyalty Agency of the Year 2014.
5. Our “client testimonials” also vote us No.1!
6. We are not afraid to push the boundaries and don’t do “ordinary”!
7. If there is a better way to do it we will find it.
8. We live and breathe data and analytics!

Our unique proprietary approach means we can adapt, innovate and respond faster to provide you with a “customised” solution that is scalable and more competitive.

For a FRESH perspective and approach contact me directly Cameron@cprvision.com or call (+65) 6535 – 0996. www.cprvision.com.