Skilled integrators can drive the execution of customer initiatives. The integrators draw on the insights of the central analytic group to create customer programs, speeding and energizing implementation by linking customer marketing to product management, customer service, IT, and other groups. The integrators may belong to a range of functions, from the analytic group to business unit marketing. They act as champions in ensuring the broad participation and communication that is required for the success of a program.
For Example…
A diversified financial services provider designated specific champions for priority initiatives that its central analytic group had identified as high value. A vice president from central marketing, for example, served as an integrator in developing a consumer segment that crossed product lines. Heading up a cross-functional team that included representatives of key business units, IT and other functions, the VP ensured that pilot programs were successfully rolled out to the targeted segment.
4. Cross-functional teams are quickly and fluidly mobilized to capture next-generation customer opportunities.
At high-performing organizations, cross-functional teams comprising the best internal and external CRM resources are adept at leveraging customer data to quickly pursue multiple opportunities. These teams have the freedom, resources, and authority to define target customers, design and launch offerings, and track and refine initiatives to maximize their performance.
For Example…
To accelerate the development and capture of customer opportunities, one financial services provider determines who will lead and make up the team based on the nature of the opportunity. On initiatives to increase customer retention, for example, the team includes: 1) the central analytic group, to assess the potential and construct models to identify attrition risks; 2) analysts from the key product group, to develop offers to retain customers; 3) operations staff, to identify the requirements to execute the initiative; and 4) frontline managers, to create plans for required frontline training. After the pilots are validated, the team disbands and a key business unit takes over the program.
Skills
Building and managing critical customer skills requires more than adding technical specialists or repurposing existing talent – mistakes many companies make. Winners break away by cultivating a broad-based approach that leverages customer insights and data to make key business decisions. At the same time, they also build and maintain the deep targeted skills needed to support customer marketing efforts.
5. Obsession with customer analytics and insights across key business decision makers.
High-performing CRM organizations have a deep-rooted sense of the importance of the customer. They relentlessly draw on customer data in decision making; they embed the customer-focused mind-set in recruiting and training programs; and they link compensation to customer-specific metrics and the identification of new CRM opportunities. Business unit leaders, business unit marketing managers, and product managers all share a focus on deep customer insights.
For Example…
A leading service provider leverages a rigorous, shared view of customer lifetime value to shape decisions in critical areas such as new product development, investments, and acquisitions. This view is then used to prioritize all investments in new and existing marketing programs. Business unit heads use customer metrics – together with traditional sales and profit metrics – to assess monthly, quarterly, and annual business performance. These metrics are also embedded in performance reviews with product managers who are given explicit customer targets. Also, segmentation-based attitudinal research is used to support the design of specific customer programs to improve relevance and impact.
6. Carefully balanced core CRM skill sets.
Many companies generate robust customer insights but struggle to design compelling customer programs. Or they create innovative programs, but these programs are either too complex or the front line lacks the skills to execute them. Also, they generate programs consumers seem to love, but they lack the ability to track and measure results to sustain funding over time. These imbalances are key drivers of underperformance for many customer initiatives. To avoid these traps, the high performers cultivate a balanced set of skills to deliver and sustain highimpact customer initiatives. They actively seek balanced skills across four areas: 1) database and tool development capabilities; 2) the ability to tailor analytic approaches and interpret results; 3) skills in structuring offers, including understanding of new channels; and 4) the ability to effectively deliver the program and to track results. To maintain balanced skills, high performers develop – and continually update – coordinated, stepwise capability development plans that target key customer objectives. They evaluate ongoing investments area by area based on their ability to leverage complementary areas, and they conduct ongoing skill assessments and develop action plans to address gaps.
For Example…
To seize a growth opportunity in a more profitable, lower-risk customer segment, a leading direct insurer needed to segment and target customers based on both behavior and risk parameters. To do so, the company strengthened its direct marketing skills, augmenting its expertise in risk management with the necessary capabilities to create pricing for the new customer segments it wanted to reach. The skills drove impressive results. Over a decade, the company reduced its dependence on the high-risk segment from 90 percent to 20 percent by building its market share among the more profitable lower-risk segment.
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