Marketing’s Front Line
Every year, millions and millions of dollars are spent on marketing campaigns with each campaign hoping to engage the customer in an action – a call, a click, a visit, a purchase, etc. That action, most often, will put the customer front and center with your salesperson, a customer service representative, the cashier at your store, your receptionist, guest services, waitress – a person who now has the entire ROI for your campaign in their hands. So why do we so often hear from these front-line ambassadors of your brand, “I didn’t know we were doing that/offering that/advertising that/promising that?”
A great customer experience from start to finish is no longer the exception, it is the rule. We have Amazon to thank for that. They have set the bar for business and customers expect us all to reach it.
Lisa Macpherson, Senior VP of Marketing at Hallmark, said “Customer experience is now the fifth marketing P that needs to be managed as purposely and carefully as the product, and the price, and the promotion – the traditional Ps of the marketing mix.”
The strongest marketing campaign, whether you are a B2B or B2C business, ensures every employee charged with delivering on the customer’s expectation understands his/her role in the campaign before it goes out. This simple act of breaking down silos and including an employee communication as part of your marketing SOP (standard operating procedures), not only promotes team-building, but creates a company-wide dedication to a customer-centric culture.
How important is a customer-centric culture to delivering ROI? Mac Wheeler, at Sandsiv, a global leader in customer experience management offers this:
- On average, a customer is four times more likely to move to a competitor due to a service-related problem, rather than a product-related problem.
- For each customer that comes forward with a complaint about their experience, there are 25 more on average who are similarly distressed, yet remain silent.
- Reducing customer churn by just 2% gives the same financial benefit as reducing costs by 10%.
- In the eyes of an average consumer, it takes up to 12 positive experiences to make up for a single negative experience.
Moving the needle for your business today will require breaking down silos to deliver a seamless, uncomplicated customer experience. That starts with ensuring those closest to the customer understands how important they are in your marketing efforts.
Navigate Marketing Group, LLC provides strategic coaching to small and mid-sized companies wanting to manage their own marketing and communications more effectively.