There’s some difficulty reaching a consensus on what customer engagement is and how to do it, which is why we began a research programme
in 2009 to produce clearer guidelines for our current and prospective clients.
8. The2010 Follow Up Survey2010.Customers
Confidentthattherewasaseriousdisconnectbetweenmarketersandcustomers,wesetouttodefinecustomer
engagementinourfollow-up2010CustomerEngagementSurvey.
Customer Engagement is not something to be taken lightly; there are major upsides for a brand in getting it right.
We went on to find that two thirds of us are willing to show support for our favourite brand through positive word of
mouth, increased spend, recommendation and so on. But the picture is pretty much reversed when it comes to our
bank, telco and supermarket relationships.
IntheFollowUpSurveywesetouttoarriveatadefinitionofCustomerEngagementwecould hangourhatson-something
thatclientscoulddevelopintoastrategyforimprovingtheengagementtheyhavewiththeircustomers.Sowhobetterto
askthancustomersthemselves?Afterall,failingtoaskthemwheretheystandonthisissuemightbewherewe’veallbeen
goingwrong.
Wediscoveredthatwhilewepractitionersmightstruggletoagreeonadefinition,customersthemselvesweremuchmore
aligned.Theytoldusloudandclearwhatcustomerengagementmeansforthem.
Thecustomerdefinitionofcustomerengagement
Offering1,300UKconsumersseveralpotentialdefinitionsofCustomerEngagement,weaskedthemhowbrandsshould
buildbetterrelationshipswiththem.
Theyoverwhelminglysaid:“Listentowhatcustomershavetosay–andactonit”.
Toouramazement,wefoundthisunanimouslysharedacrosstheageandgenderspectrum.
Wewerealsosurprisedtofindthat “Giveyouspecialcustomeroffersanddeals”and“Giveyoumore,thelongeryouarea
customer” provedtobemuchweakercontenders.
10. Deliveringthesevaluesintherealworld
Testing how well these values are delivered in the ‘real world’, we asked customers how well their bank, telco and main
supermarket fare in these six areas: how engaged they are in those relationships and what have they done in return for
the brand.
Thegoodnewsisthatforthesecategoriestheyappeartobeontherighttrack.
Butwhilethesethree“everyday”categoriesseemtohavetheirprioritiesintherightplace(inotherwordstheymakea
biggereffortintheareasthataremostimportanttocustomers),theyfalldreadfullyshortonexpectations.
Thesadfactisthat,overall,theyaren’tdeliveringonthesevaluesnearlyenough.
Insomeareaslike‘worry-free’,‘confident’and‘informed’thisisverypronounced.Withthesesixvaluesthey’retellingus
whereweshouldbespendingourefforts,andwherewearewayoffthemarkinourday-to-daydealingswithcustomers.
13. Thehard-to-engagecustomers
Interestingly,theresultsfor“showingtheirengagement”suggestthat35%ofallcustomersareextremelydifficulttoengage.
Inoursurveythey stronglydisagreed withthefollowingstatements:
‘IfshortofcashI’dratherbuyoruselessofaproductthandowngradetoacheaperbrand.’
‘Iwilloftentrytomakerecommendationstofriendsandfamilyonbrands/productsIthinktheymightlike.’
‘Whenasatisfiedcustomerofabrand,Iwouldalwaysconsiderbuyingtheirotherproductsbeforeseeing
whatcompetitorshavetooffer.’
Thesecustomersfailtoidentifyawaythey’vesupportedtheirfavouritebrand.Andthepicturegetsworsestillforthe
essentialeverydayrelationshipsweallhavewithbanks,supermarketsandmobilephonenetworks.
Wherebrandsmightbewastingtheireffortsoncustomerengagement
Furthermore, our survey revealed a hardcore group of customers for whom customer engagement may always be
unachievable. 30% of all customers in our survey showed no engagement for their mobile phone provider, bank and
supermarket. Of those, around 2/3 also refused to show their support for even their favourite brand. This equates to 19%
of all customers. And they showed a bias towards being male.
14. Listen and act in action
Yourcustomershavespoken.Theywantyouto“listen–andact”.
Soacrossallchannelsapplythisframeworkandaskofyourbusiness:
LISTEN areyoulisteninginalltheplacesyourcustomersaretalkingabout
yourservice/product
Show you arelistening haveyouacknowledgedyourpresence/takenthetimetothankcustomersfor
theircontribution
ACT howquicklydoesittakeyoutoactonwhatyoufind,andareyou
usingtheappropriateprivateorpubliccustomerchanneltodoso
SHOW YOUHAVEACTED areyoudiligentaboutcheckingbackinandannouncingyouractionssoyour
customersknowyouhaveacted
‘Listenandact’istwo-way-andsoissocialmedia
Eventhoughsocialmediaistheperfectplacetohaveanexchangewithcustomers(byitsverynatureit’s“two-way”)brands
arefailingtogetmoreoftheircustomersengagingwiththeminthisspace.
Despitethefactthat:
•Globally,65%offirmsuseTwitter
•54%useFacebook
•Firmsaretweeting25-30timesaweekonaverage
•TheyareactiveonFacebookwith3.8postsaweek SOURCE:Burston-Marsteller,Feb2010
Wefoundthatjust4%ofUKcustomersbotherwiththem,evenwhenitcomestotheirfavouritebrand.Wethinkthisis
becausesocialmediahasyettobecracked forcustomers.
Therearesomeouttherewhoagree:
“Peoplecometomydeskandsay’whenarewegoingtogetaFacebookpage?’Isaywewillgetonewhen
weknowwhatwewilldowithit,whatwilladdvalueandwhatwillmakecustomerswanttointeractwithus.”
RobbieTutt,webdesignanddevelopmentmanageratComet.
Thereisnodoubtthatsocialmediagetsbrandsclosertocustomersthanbefore.Andallowsbrandstobemoreresponsive
thanever.Butit’snotwithoutitschallenges.
Customershavesaidto‘listen–andact’,butwitharound38%ofbloggerspostingbrandorproductreviewsandover3.5billion
pieces of content shared on Facebook each week, we can’t listen to everything (Source: Econsultancy’s Social Media Statistic, Jan 2010)
Whatwillmakecustomerswanttointeract?Howcangreatercustomerengagementbeachievedinthisemergingchannel?
Theanswerliesinthe6valuescustomersdeemall-important:
•Respected •Worry-free •Informed •Confident
•Understood •Organised