Knowing where value lies for the customer has become critical, as satisfied customers lead to more customer loyalty and retention, positive word-of-mouth, a stronger competitive position, increased brand equity and, ultimately, higher market share. With the world still in a state of flux and varying degrees of Covid restrictions, for a global audience this has never been more impoortant. And closer to home, for domestic and local customers providing support at a time when many consumers are still feeling anxious deomstrates jusat how critical the value exchange has become.
The problem is how do you find out exactly where that value lies? And once you know, what do you do about it? Importantly, how about the areas that aren’t adding value – what can be done about these?
The bottom line is that customers always have an experience – good, bad or indifferent. The Value Exchange Audit’s job is to ultimately increase the number of good experiences by leveraging the value exchange within the customer journey.
Why is the Value Exchange so important?
Leveraging the value exchange within the customer journey is important because our research shows that doing so provides an average uplift in customer spend of 27 per cent. A figure that is hard to ignore! In its most simple form the Value Exchange Audit is a check-up that evaluates customer value, pinpointing the points of most effective value and diagnosing the inefficiencies in the customer journey. The areas that aren’t adding value are as critical as the ones that are – because often they aren’t just non-value adding, they can actually be brand damaging, so understanding ewhat they are and doing something about it can have significant results. What is also key to understand is that value is most definately in the eye of the beholder. Like with most things, there is no ‘special sauce’, one size most definitely does not fit all. But by considering the 10 killer questions you will be well on your way to maximising customer value and understanding how you can feed the insight into your own customer journey and value exchange.
The Value Exchange Audit: 10 Killer Questions
1. Which are you most valuable customers? How are you defining valuable? Why are they most valuable to you? Why are you valuable to them?
2. Which touchpoints do your most valuable customers value most, and why?
3. Which touchpoints aren’t valued by your most valuable customers and why?
4. Are your most valuable customers advocates? If not, why not?
5. Who are your least valuable customers? How do you define least valuable? Why are they the least valuable? How much do they cost to serve?
6. What are the needs and missions you serve across the customer journey? Are any needs unmet or under met?
7. Why do customers come to you rather than a competitor?
8. What percentage of customers are return customers? And why do they come back?
9. What is the influence of post-purchase touchpoints on satisfaction, loyalty, and advocacy?
10. To what degree does the customer journey and value exchange currently influence our decision making?
By answering these killer questions you will be able to identify quick fixes that can be implemented in the short-term, but importantly also diagnose longer-term strategic recommendations which will enable you to maximise the value exchange and ultimately bolster the bottom line.
