Contact Center Solutions Featured Article

Customer Journey: SAP Finds Americans want Shared Values and Personalized Brand Experiences

Hearing the “Voice of the Customer” is always a good thing for marketers. SAP wanted to listen, and hopefully have brand stewards hear customer voices. SAP conducted a poll of 3,000 American consumers, ages 18 and older, in October to help organizations improve their understanding of customer happiness and encourage brand loyalty as customers take the journey from consideration to purchase.

We hold these things important

 The insights into what makes customers loyal to a particular brand are illuminating, and SAP has some suggestions as to steps brands should take into consideration as their customer's preferred methods of communication, research methods and values they hold at highest importance. These include:

• Brand Values: 30 percent of respondents cited "shared values" as a reason they are loyal to a brand.
• Email Outreach: While email was cited as the most popular way to communicate with companies, 48 percent said they had problems with delayed or no responses to email.
• Customer Support: 54 percent would like, or may like, an offer of help before they have to ask for it.
• Personalization: 69 percent would like personalized information about a brand's products.
• Product Quality: 75 percent said a product or service's quality contributes to their brand loyalty.
• Internet Presence: 72 percent of respondents said they research products and services online.

"We've heard the notion of the customer being in the driver's seat over and over again and these results really drive that point home," said Jamie Anderson, global senior vice president, Customer Engagement and Commerce, SAP. "The message is clear: Brands must not only provide the best possible customer service, but also truly invest in learning about each customer's individual buying habits and interaction preferences, while also making that information really accessible. It's both an exciting and difficult time for brands to connect with their customers, and we continue to help brands understand and adapt to their customer's individual preferences to put them ahead of competition and strengthen customer relationships, which is the main goal."

SAP found three distinct personas that surfaced from the poll data:

1. The "virtuous" customer who patronizes companies that have values to which he or she relates
2. The "invested" customer, who loves to interact with companies and often seeks guidance and information
3. The "ignored" customer, whose inquiries about a product or service sometimes get delayed or ignored. By understanding which customer falls into which persona, brands will have the ability to deliver content that customers consider most important and, in turn, improve overall engagement.

SAP has created an infographic that provides a bit more granularity on the poll.

Embedded from The Customer Edge

The good news is that customers are willing to hear from you in a balanced way. In fact, and this is a cautionary note, in the social world we inhabit they seem willing (and are certainly able) to praise you when they have a good experience and damn you when things go badly. 

There is a significant difference between merely listening and hearing. SAP has provided the listening. It is now your opportunity to turn hearing into what we like to call, “actionable insights.” 

Edited by Maurice Nagle