Office
Reading time: 6 minutes
In my last article, I explained that siloed organizations are rarely as customer-centric as they say they are. But VML has created a structured roadmap to take any company from silos to success. What does it take to break down the barriers? Like most successful strategic initiatives, it takes commitment from the top and buy-in from every layer of the organization. Our proven approach and playbook will guide you every step of the way will guide you every step of the way.
I’d like to start with a clear message to the C-suite. After all, you’re the ones who most often – and most loudly – talk about putting the customer at the heart of everything the business does. But do you know what that actually entails? Achieving customer-centricity takes engagement, time, and effort. You can’t buy customer-centricity from an outside agency, or assign actions to individual teams. And the more things you do yourself, the more customer-centric you’ll become. But it’s a marathon, not a sprint. We’ll give you the map to follow, but you need to actually do the running.
In the early discovery phases, we often see teams interacting for the very first time. The Commerce teams shaking hands with the in-store managers. The IT teams talking to the Merchandisers. And, for the first time, they’re listening to each other and understanding each other’s struggles. But they’re also providing feedback about which tools work for them and which don’t. How to align their KPIs. What tech is actually user-friendly and which tech makes colleagues run for cover. And all this input enables better alignment of objectives across the organization.
As we align strategies, we keep a single objective in mind: how to make every customer a positive business case. Get the most value out of them for the lowest possible cost. Create Customer Lifetime Value (CLV). That starts with having a Single Customer View: every phone number, email address, payment method, purchase moment and interaction they’ve had with you. Online, in-store, mobile. The complaints they’ve filed with Customer Service and the praise they’ve given you on Instagram. Their preferences, demographics, and favorite things. And, of course, their consent to use all that information to offer them a better experience. Not just for compliance reasons, but because that’s what truly customer-centric companies do.
The next step is to redefine your targets based on this singular customer view. Not just how to get more ’Add to Carts’, but how to get the most out of each customer interaction. New KPIs and targets. A new commission structure. Marketing that thinks about Commerce. Service that thinks about Sales. And their shared vision for future interactions. And here’s the difference: we address each roadblock to CLV from two distinct perspectives: business & experience on the one side, data & tech on the other.
But we don’t silo these discussions. There are always data & tech representatives in the room when we talk business & experience, and vice versa. That way, we identify early both opportunities and non-starters. So, one team doesn’t dream of unicorns while the other team is working in the coal mines. We develop a strategy that suits the needs of both, and works with the tech you have in place. So we can hit the ground running.
The next step is to turn that strategy into an action plan. And we sort each of the objectives based on the effort needed to implement them, and the expected impact of the change on CLV and satisfaction. Low effort and high impact? Let’s get it done right away. High effort and high impact? Let’s make a strategic plan and work on it. Low effort, low impact? These get done when they can be. And all the while, all of your teams – from the front office to the warehouse – are aware of the shared objectives and their role in them. So, we stay on course or we correct where needed.
A centuries-old Dutch financial institution wants to increase Customer Lifetime Value. Acquisition isn’t an option, since most people don’t often change their financial service provider. VML is helping them develop a strategy to get the most out of their powerful brand and effectively offer new services to existing customers.
Global businesses have an extra layer of challenges. Every country has different needs and challenges. So, we show you how to build a central library of tactics and use cases that incorporates enough flexibility to accommodate differences. It’s called ‘build once, deploy many’. Are your shops fully company-owned in one country but franchised in another? Do your customers have distinctively different channel preferences in different countries? Got one store in a large country and one hundred stores in a small country? We’ll show you how to maintain your global view and collect global data, while addressing the specific needs, preferences, and expectations of each region.
Now that you have a centralized, cost-effective data and tech stack and shared objectives, we can start testing out some campaigns. You keep your centralized view as you target customers where they want to find you. You maintain your singular, aligned brand while you adapt to the languages, preferences, needs, and expectations of your global audiences. You test, measure, and adapt until you find the sweet spot.
A major international car manufacturer has – for the first time – direct contact with car buyers through the app that accompanies their electric car fleet. After decades of siloed customer experiences, they’ve engaged VML to set the roadmap to a consistent and clear, international brand identity and true customer-centricity.
And here’s a little added level of support: we’ll show you how to incorporate AI into the process to automatically monitor your progress. Is one of your strategic objectives not performing as desired? Not getting engagement from a specific audience base? AI will use your own data to recommend strategy adjustments to fix the issue. Customers aren’t responding to emails in a certain region, but AI will show you that they actually prefer text messages. A certain campaign looks successful on paper, but 85% of acquired customers don’t buy anything in the subsequent six months. AI will recommend potential adjustments to your campaigns, which you can try in small batches, adjust, and scale. So, your own data and tech will help you continue to accelerate.
You can’t outsource customer centricity to an agency. But you can break down the steps into workable, digestible pieces. If you want customer-centricity from your employees, then you must provide them with the tools, mindset, and clarity that makes it easy for them. And instead of trying to manage the journey all on your own, you can use our structured roadmap to make it all much easier. Want to be as customer-centric as you already claim to be? It’s a marathon you’ll have to run on your own. But VML stands ready to be your biggest supporter and trusted navigator. Give us a call.
