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Improving Customer Relationships: Beyond the Buzz

Customers are always a hot topic. But lately the discussions on
customer relationships, including retention, satisfaction, and
loyalty, have intensified. What is the basis for these
discussions, and more importantly, what are leading
organizations actually doing to improve customer relationships?

Savvy organizations have begun to realize that customer
relationships are not the domain of an individual, team, or
department. If the accuracy of invoices, or the professionalism
of installers or the cleanliness of your store or office is
lacking, then the relationship can suffer no matter how well the
salesperson or “owner” of the relationship performs. Savvy
organizations know that they can best enhance relationships with
customers by improving customer interactions – or “touchpoints”
– across the entire enterprise.

Touchpoints are all of the communication, human and physical
interactions your customers experience during their relationship
lifecycle with your organization. Whether an ad, Web site, sales
person, store or office, touchpoints are important because
customers form their perceptions of your organization and brand
based on their cumulative touchpoint experiences.

To help improve customer relationships, there is an innovative
new movement called Customer Touchpoint Management, or CTM. CTM
reflects an organization’s concerted efforts to improve customer
relationships through the management or optimization of customer
touchpoints. Touchpoint optimization can include filling
identified gaps with new touchpoints, modifying under performing
touchpoints, or eliminating redundant touchpoints. This process
can include optimizing individual touchpoints, or groups of
related touchpoints, such as those that make up a process.

However, it is not easy to get your hands around the myriad ways
in which your organization “touches” its customers. To
understand and improve your touchpoints, the process of
“Touchpoint Mapping(TM)” can be used to inventory and map your
organization’s touchpoints along the seven stages of the
Customer Relationship Lifecycle, and then identify your
customer’s needs in each stage. This process delivers insights
into your current touchpoint performance, and helps with
identifying how your performance can be improved. An important
component of CTM efforts to improve the consistency of touchpoint
performance is to establish touchpoint standards, and manage to
these standards.

Improving your customer relationships can deliver tangible
results to your organization. For example, as a result of
consistently superior touchpoint experiences with her local
Lexus dealer, the marketing executive of a $5 billion dollar
division of a Fortune 10 conglomerate became motivated to improve
the customer-centricity of her own organization. She recognized
the impact of consistently positive touchpoints on her brand
perception of Lexus, her purchase decision, and her resultant
advocacy of the automaker. By applying Touchpoint Mapping,
Touchpoint Metrics recently helped this executive’s organization
dramatically improve touchpoint performance across the
organization. Both “voice of customer” customer satisfaction and
employee satisfaction scores have increased, and these
indications of enhanced customer-centricity are expected to
translate into added sales and profitability.

Avis implemented a CTM initiative to understand and improve key
customer touchpoints. As result, Avis gained market share in key
travel markets and became a leader in customer loyalty and
satisfaction as measured by Brand Keys and JD Powers.

Both of these companies, along with other forward thinking
organizations, are applying the concepts of Customer Touchpoint
Management to improve customer relationships, touchpoint by
touchpoint. The benefits are powerful, creating happier
customers and employees, and improving the financial metrics
that create happier owners.

About the Author

Hank Brigman is President/CEO of Touchpoint Metrics, the
research consultancy that pioneered Touchpoint Mapping(TM), and
author of the upcoming book “Touchpoint Power!.” For more
information and to download the white paper, “Touchpoint Mapping:
Improve Customer Experiences and Relationships Through Touchpoint
Optimization,” visit http://www.tpmetrics.com.

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