This story on CRM.com discusses the subtle, but very important differences achieved in giving the customer experience a high profile in your day-to-day operations. Here are a few of the major points:

It is true that the customer experience has a lot to do with sales and marketing, but to limit it to these silos is to miss the larger point. Everyone in your organization is a touch point to the consumer.

It’s also true that the customer experience reflects the emotions or feelings of your consumers. However, there are also tangible elements like contract clarity, financial options, web support, or even something as simple as the ease of transporting your product.

There are those who believe customer experience is a “tradeoff to profitability.” This “necessary evil” attitude is misleading. A healthier viewpoint is to see your operations as a mean to solving your customers’ problems. The better you can do this, the more profitable you will be.

The truth is that there is a grain of truth in every attitude toward the customer experience. The only trouble is that many of these approaches are incomplete. Try thinking of the customers’ need in all phases of your operation.

An article on retailcustomerexperience.com offers the following advice as brand marketers and retailers continue to travel down this road:

“Drop the executive commitment facade.” Executives need to “put their money where their mouth is” with time, treasure and talent. If it’s a real priority, they will manage customer experience like they do financial results.

“Acknowledge that you don’t know your customers.” The means to truly knowing the customer does not lie in a long and drawn out marketing research project. Establish a “voice of the customer program” for a quick, ongoing and continuous dialogue with your customers.

“Keep from getting too distracted by social media.” Social media should be an important “listening post” in your efforts, not the end all and be all. Other listening posts include surveys and call center calls and other customer touch points.

“Stop squeezing the life out of customer service.” By measuring how well your customer service organization serves the consumer instead of using efficiency metrics, you can turn this necessary evil into a strategic asset.

“Restore the purpose in your brand.” A true brand is more than just your logo. It’s a promise that you make and keep with your customers at every transaction. Your raison d’être should be apparent in everything you do.

“Don’t assume employees will get on board.” When you announce your new customer experience initiatives, expect a good amount of eye rolling from your employees. It’s critical to sell them on why this is so important and engage them to participate in how to make improvements.

“Translate customer experience into business terms.” Develop a model that measures the direct impact of customer experience on brand loyalty. That number can help bridge the understanding gap among employees and engage the accounting department as to a tangible financial impact.

In his opinion column in the Times of London, Accenture executive Neil Miller say there is no one model that will fit all and that approaches must be targeted to fit individual channels and markets. His company reports that nearly all UK businesses have invested in improving the customer relationship, but either they are missing the mark or the target is moving faster than the aim. Miller says, “Almost two thirds of British respondents in the study reported switching between businesses in the past year as a result of experiencing poor service. Only about a third believed that customer service experiences had improved.”

Less loyal and more demanding customers are setting the pace. It becomes more important to understand differences in customer service needs and channel preferences as they align with your brand proposition and the balance between price and value. Miller explains, “Different sectors have different agendas and demand different services and models, which must be tailored using appropriate digital platforms, processes, data, analytics and skills.”

In the end it comes down to differentiate and deliver. The upturn offers an opportunity to reach out and engage your customers. But one blanket approach will not work for all markets as it has in the past.

Like many others in recent days, Owyang takes a look at the trends of 2009 that drive the decisions of the future. He identifies four key trends that senior marketing execs should give some thought to.

“The Recession Spurred Consumers to Adopt Social Technologies.” It’s not just the enabling technology that caused the movement. Hard financial times also drive people to connect to one another. High unemployment levels also contribute by giving people more time to connect. Motive, means and opportunity equals the perfect storm.

“Some Brands Followed Suit with Social Marketing.” The story says that print budgets have been cut by 37% and television by 21%. Brands are hurting too, so it makes sense that they also look for lower cost means and innovation. More money is being directed at Social Marketing due to its low cost and high return.

“Social Networks Share Data, Spreading Social Influence.” Social networks are connecting with other systems. This means the consumer experience can spread like wildfire because opinions and experiences won’t be limited by software or service provider.

“Consumers Move Faster By Sharing Real-Time Data.” A bad customer experience can now travel to the masses at the speed of thought. Real time updates allow instant feedback so brands have to learn to move faster. Even good service recovery practices may now be too late to turn the tide.

“An emphasis on value.” Walmart was the big winner in 2009. Their approach defined the term “value” as being synonymous with “saving money.”

“Private label brands take center stage.” It’s no surprise that consumers turn to store brands during tough economic times. However, this time around appears to have staying power as half of the consumers polled said that they found the product better than expected and 41 percent said that brand names are not worth the money.

“The shadow of Apple.” Apple stores continued to be the talk of the customer experience movement just as Microsoft opened its first store. Additionally, Steve Jobs was brought in to help improve Disney Stores.

“Online price war creates the need for better experiences.” The Amazon/Walmart price war showed that other retailers can’t just compete on price. They will have to, “differentiate on the experience, and give customers a reason to pay you more than your competitors for the same goods.”

“Retailers grapple with social media, mobile.” It has been pretty well documented that retailers are scurrying to catch up with this medium. The same can be said for mobile devices as an advertising and communications medium.

The coming year will be a good one for marketers to imprint upon their employees who interact with customers. Why? High unemployment levels will encourage employees to hold onto their jobs by being good at them. They will try harder.

Service will become your identity, not the product you are selling. Companies will learn from the online model of Amazon and Zappos who show that you can build a business based on service.
Along the same line, successful internet companies have trained consumers to look for highly personalized service. Internet sites greet us by knowing our names, habits, likes and dislikes. This expectation will transfer to face-to-face transactions and thus the bar will be raised.

Facebook, Twitter, and YouTube will force higher service levels due to the consumers’ ability to transmit satisfaction or dissatisfaction to a large audience. Brand marketers will have to react quickly and completely to avoid reputation damage. Brands are working quickly to increase their capability in the social networking medium.

This is only part of the list, but you get the picture. Almost every single factor for going to market is changing. Companies are finding out through experience and analysis that the common denominator is providing a great customer experience at every turn.

A story in Progressive Grocer reports on an analysis of over 2 million grocery shoppers. The results are that 10% of the store customers visit the store over twice a week and are responsible for almost 40% of the store’s total sales. These customers spend over $39 on each visit.

Ninety-five percent of these loyal or “best” customers will continue to shop at the same store all year-round. Only 34 percent of a store’s “worst” shoppers, who visit less than once a week and spend only $9 per visit, will remain as customers. Only 11 percent of the dollars spent by the loyal group were on marked down items, meaning these customers not only provide volume, but also profit.

The message is simple. Loyal customers are hard to replace and new customers are hard to get. Promotion, pricing and advertising can bring new people to the store, but only a great customer experience can create the type of “best shopper” that, from these results, seem to be the life blood of retailers and brand marketers.

Based on customer feedback, 60 stores engaged in a re-fresh program in which stores were made more inviting and informative. Additional banners, more messages and more color was used to address what the customers were calling a “sterile” environment that made the stores appear to be “too discount” for the U.S. shopper.

After 18 month in operation, 120 stores were remodeled this year to take advantage of the learning accumulated over that time. Frozen food space was increased and 600 skus were added by increasing aisle height by 10 inches. Store décor was changed yet again.

Change is never easy, but it appears that Fresh and Easy has broken through the anxiety by creating a culture that listens, and more importantly, responds to the customer. Look for this chain to continue to enhance its presence in the U.S.

According to Supermarket News, the GMA CPG Social Media Forum revealed 52.6 percent of consumer packaged goods companies still have low presence or engagement via social media. Half of the companies used Facebook and 41% had a presence on Twitter. Twenty-nine percent said they have an active blog presence.

The hold-up could be the ability to realize and identify ROI. Half of the brand marketers surveyed said they are working toward social media revenue, while a small percentage said they are currently generating funds. Further education, a clever approach and success metrics seem to be at a premium.

An article found on callcentrehelper.com discusses research that found consumers from age 27 to 43 are 60 percent more likely than those over 44 to abandon your brand, store or offering due to poor customer service. Clearly businesses need to not only continuously raise their service levels to meet the heightened standards, but they must also increase and augment their understanding of what the consumer identifies as a poor, reasonable and excellent customer experience. When customers are walking away from sales, failure to understand and manage the expectations can cost millions in lost revenue, repeat sales and diminished brand equity.

The research cites several current expectations. Among them were proactive engagement when using contact channels and better integration of those channels to allow for flexibility and personalization. Whether it’s in the UK , the USA or the rest of the world, the bar is rising on customer service expectations. Do you know what your customers are thinking?

The survey, reported on by the Chicago Sun-Times, by the SALT & Pepper Group measured 1,027 interactions between customers and salespeople in 73 retail stores over a four month time frame. The study said that electronic and hardware/home improvement stores were slightly better than other channels. Luxury retailers, who you would assume would be at the top of the ranking, fell somewhere in the middle.

The SALT & Pepper Group identified, “the sin of omission,” as a big problem that they encountered when entering a store. In a nutshell, the associates working the registers or aisles simply would not recognize or acknowledge the customer. It seems like a simple thing, but when it comes to training and educating store personnel on customer service, we must not commit, “the sin of omission,” in including this basic concept.

According to CMS Wire, the pattern that many have followed has resulted in a web presence that does not measure up with today’s consumers, “They not usable enough. They are not accessible enough. And they are not persuasive enough. There are also too many bits and pieces stapled together to create the feedback loops.”

The article quotes consultants who say the problem lies in a growing gap between those who see the need for a heightened customer experience and the technical realities that such an approach requires. Improving the customer experience on the web is said to be at that top of many organizations’ Christmas lists. Because of the size of this gap, there is really no one solution that can provide all the elements of rich media, social media and analytics. The solution may be your ability to convince your organization to take steps and then to organize the movement yourself.

Included in the top 10 are: Coca-Cola, Starbucks, Disney, Victoria’s Secret, iTunes, Vitaminwater, YouTube, Chick-fil-A, Red Bull and T.G.I. Friday’s. The criteria for this list was having at least 200,000 friends, employing a dedicated social media staff, length of Facebook presence and amount of money spent on social media.

In general, these companies have continued to offer fresh and original Facebook content and material resulting in a tremendous amount of interest from followers. The ratings also found their Facebook presence to be well integrated with a broader marketing approach.

The names on the list speak volumes about the need to engage in establishing a touch point with consumers via social media. Major brands are embracing the philosophy and are seeing great reward.

Christina Veiders, Managing Editor of Supermarket News, writes how retailers, realizing that the old idea still has some life, are using gift cards as not only a sensible gift idea, but also as a means of sales promotion. The technology behind gift cards takes an old idea, the gift certificate, and gives it new life because they are cheaper to produce, easier to track and provide a long lasting branding opportunity. Consumers love the convenience.

After taking a dip last year because of retail bankruptcies, gift cards are again experiencing growth. After market stabilization and some needed legislation, retailers are taking advantage of the trend for promotional purposes. Some grocery chains are offering savings on the grocery bill for the purchase of a certain value card. This makes a good tie-in to their loyalty card programs. Others are offering fuel discounts or tying using the cards as an incentive to buy certain items.

There are very few ideas in the business world that are truly win-win. For enhancing the customer experience and proving effective and efficient for retailers, the gift card seems to hit this lofty goal.

New York, NY — ICC/Decison Services’ latest in iPhone applications shows retailers the dollar value resulting from increasing their conversion rates. ConversionCalc™ is the second of its iPhone applications available for free download on iTunes. ICC’s existing application, the UpSellCall™, was the first of its kind in the industry when it was launched this past summer. ICC/Decison Services is an international customer experience management company based in New York City.

Field management loves our calculators because they are portable and easily show store management the power of associate behavior. “We received great feedback on the UpSell Calc, our first application,” says David Rich, President/CEO of ICC/Decision Services. “Field management loves our calculators because they are portable and easily show store management the power of associate behavior. Corporate loves them because they point to increased revenue. It takes so much to get customers in the door in today’s marketplace,” continues Rich, “but many retailers don’t realize that increasing your conversion rates by only 2% can increase revenue by 10%. The ConversionCalc™ will quantify that lost opportunity for retailers and can produce calculations for a single store, district or the entire retail chain.”

Other features of the ConversionCalc™ include: easy one-screen operation; allows calculations over multiple time periods (days, months, quarters, etc); reveals the true dollar amount for increased associate performance.

Click here for more “ConversionCalc” conversion rates information, iPhone applications and download links.

About ICC/Decision Services
ICC/Decision Services was founded in 1979 to design and execute Customer Experience Management programs. ICC/Decision Services offers a wide range of qualitative and quantitative business tools, including mystery shopping, shopper intercepts, iPhone applications, conversion rates tools, customer satisfaction and employee engagement. Clients include Coach, L.L. Bean, Rite Aid, 7-11, Foot Locker, CVS, Walmart and others. The company is headquartered at 122 West 27th Street, New York, NY 10001, U.S.A. Phone: (800) 444-1717. More information is available at www.iccds.com.

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A story in the Boston Globe documented some unique approaches. Best Buy offered a limousine ride, special seating outside the store prior to opening, a private shopping tour before opening and a $1,000 gift card. All of this was for winning an essay contest.

The early results of Black Friday show that deep discounting isn’t enough to coax consumers. It also takes an equal amount of clever promotions and some good old-fashioned customer service to close the deal. According to one retail analyst, “The combination of value and service will be the great differentiator,’’ According to the National Retail Federation, sales for November and December are expected to decline 1 percent.

Some other examples of VIP treatment are free cookies, holiday tote bags, gift cards, subscriptions, limousine rides, wardrobe consultations, shopping butlers, gift-wrapping assistants, video cameras and celebrity wake-up calls. Most of these special offers and VIP contest were advertised via social networking outlets like Facebook and Twitter.

In this Retail Customer Experience article, the author discusses how consumers are starting to take power over the event by attacking it like a military exercise. Teams of consumers enjoy plotting a strategy and executing their game plan as not only a bargain hunting trip, but also as a fun social event.

The trend is not going unnoticed by retailers who are ramping up their efforts to cater to this type of social consumer. In many cases they are reshaping the, “Waiting in line experience,” by offering coffee and treats to those in line, making every effort to make the lines faster, and in general just trying to keep the tone friendly. This concierge level of customer care plays in perfectly with the mindset of the “Black Friday as a Social Event” shopper.

Not unlike others, Target will expand its store hours and feature price promotions. For example, the stores will open at 5 a.m. and the first 500 guests will receive a gift. Those who spend $100 or more (not hard to do at Target) between 5:00 and Noon will get a $10 gift card.

As far as price, the retailer will offer its Low Price Promise. In other words, if a guest finds a lower price at a competitor, Target will match the price during the competitor’s valid ad date.

Perhaps more eye opening is the improvement being made to the return policy. As a standard, Target has a 90 day policy for returns or exchanges accompanied by a receipt. However, a recent expansion allows you to return or exchange up to $70 in merchandise without a receipt on a rolling 12-month cycle and new and unused items over the $70 can be exchanged for items in the same department.

The on-line function is also getting into the act with free shipping on most items when you spend $50 or more.

Other retailers are also offering similar programs. This is just one example of how a company is using their customer satisfaction data to directly enhance the customer experience for the holidays and beyond.

With other airlines singing the blues and charging for everything from baggage to peanuts, how does Southwest continue their remarkable story? This article in The Motley Fool suggests it’s by sticking to core values and focusing on the customer experience. As the story points out, even the company’s ticker symbol (NYSE:LUV) seems to personify the approach toward travelers..

Having another profitable year doesn’t mean it has been easy. Southwest is faced with all the very real challenges of other carriers. The difference is in the choice to sacrifice short-term profits for long-term brand loyalty. They refuse to charge for bags, have employed a new customer centric boarding system and have embraced an emerging business traveler segment.

Listen to Chairman and CEO Gary Kelly’s message to his shareholders, “Our objectives remain: enhancing the overall Customer Experience; appealing to more business travelers; and generating more revenue per flight.” By putting the discussion of revenue last in the list, this is one nice guy who is finishing first.