Right out of the gate it was clear why the software as a service company is embarking on their customer experience journey. As the Chief Customer Officer explained at the VoC kick off meeting, they want a holistic view of their customers. This company recognizes the importance in having a greater understanding of customers. It’s not enough to sell great products. It’s not enough to react when customers have issues. They need a holistic view to better serve and benefit customers.
The term “holistic view” is being used more and more as companies develop and refine customer strategies. The intent is to use customer information to create meaningful insights that will drive a competitive advantage. This might include:
- Financial Metrics (e.g. revenue, profit)
- Operational Metrics (e.g. first call resolution)
- Sentiment (e.g. text analytics, social media)
- Product (e.g. usage data)
- Survey Metrics (e.g. loyalty, satisfaction)
- Customer Engagement (e.g. conference participation, customer advisory board member)
Last year, Walker released the report “Data Rich, Insight Poor–The Art of Transforming Data into Customer Intelligence.” It provides a framework for leveraging multiple sources of data to improve customer interactions with B-to-B companies. It’s a tool for creating value from customer intelligence. Unfortunately there is no silver bullet for putting the pieces together. The first step requires a bit of discovery. You may need to determine what information is needed for your organization, what already exists and what doesn’t. The task of gathering that information and consolidating it is not easy. But, think of the power in having that holistic view of your customers.
Kitty Radcliff
Vice President, Consulting Services
