Italian Customer Intelligence - page 7

In the Age of the Customer even small innovative targets contribute in “attack” the customer to the brand. In this example, we talk about Itsu, a brand born in London back in the 1997.

During our studies through European Europe capitals, resulted in the book Waiting for Starbucks (click here for free download), we came across Itsu in London. In the British metropolis where all the social, cultural and trendy innovations appear in advance, the paradigms of the modern metropolitan client have immediately emerged as well (click here to learn more). London is the city where four Fast Casual brands were born, which are real champions to know and fulfil the needs of wellness, speed and health of the metropolitan client. Pret a Manger, Eat, Itsu and Leon propose a concept which represents the most immediate surpassing of Fast Food.

To draw a comparison, we can imagine that these realities have the shoulders, muscles and breath of a Fast Food. They are fast, efficient, tidy and offer a simple, informal and affordable (economic) experience to their customers. At the same time, they were able to respond to the demands and quality requirements of the modern consumer who lives in the metropolis. Starting from Pret a Manger, which has been the pioneer of this new proposal, the brands we mentioned have focused their investments on an offer made of these elements:

• Fresh and organic products.
• Dishes prepared daily, packaged and ready for consumption.
• Variety of choice.

Among these brands, Itsu is a specialized chain in Eastern kitchen. Since the beginning of its adventure, the brand has been seen by consumers as a reference point for all those who like to pursue a healthy lifestyle, but at the same time don’t want to lose the pleasure of a delicious and fresh dish. Because of the recall to a dynamic lifestyle supported by a highly nutritious and low-fat diet, Itsu has become a sponsor of the Volleyball England beach tour. Itsu offer is varied and offers a proposal that runs along different time slots: from breakfast to dinner: porridge, eggs, yoghurt for breakfast, sushi, salads and snacks for lunch and dinner.

We talked about Itsu during the second stage of the course  Fast Casual & Customer Experience. Clarifying and formalizing a synthetic brand promise, Itsu has been able to apply a small innovation within its stores, which soon became a ritual immediately appreciated by the brand’s customers. Itsu offers daily to its customers fresh products and, in order to avoid wasting leftovers at the end of the day, it has placed a bell in each restaurant. The bell rings everyday 30 minutes before closing and signals to customers that 50% discount is applied on the remaining products from the stock.

Talking with some sales persons, they told us that since the bell was introduced many customers appreciate the innovation and many of them arrive for the last half-hour discounts. For a brand that promises a delicious and fresh dish, that was a simple and smart move: they show the customers that the product is used only during the day and, at the same time, they do not weigh down the restaurant’s economic performance because of unusable stocks.

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“Capture” all possible customers. “Fix” everything that customers ask to imprve. “Is it worth it” to focus only on our fans? This is usually the approach, or sometimes even the obsession, of many brands. Are we sure that it is the right path? 

“Promoters ” of a brand are “fanatics” of that brand: those who assert they are very likely to make diligent and positive word-of-mouth and to give a score of 9 or even 10 to their brand (on a scale of 0 to 10). “Passives” are those who vote 7 or 8: they are satisfied but not enough fascinated to spread the word. “Detractors” are those who vote from 0 to 6: real “detractors”, usually spreading a negative word of mouth.

The relationship between the percentage of a brand’s promoters and detractors forms one of the most important indicators for measuring the health condition customers attribute to that brand: the Net Promoter Score  (Click here).

Intelligent brands are doing anything to collect the email addresses of their fans as they perfectly know that their fortune is coming from the constantly dialogue with them. The dialogue has a dual purpose:

• building and continuously offering an advanced customer experience (connected with purchase frequency, average receipt value, customer loyalty and investment attractions);
• approaching new customers through the promoters’ word-of-mouth.

1ST OBJECTION: PROMOTERS ARE ALREADY CONQUERED. INSTEAD, PASSIVE AND DETRACTOR MUST BE CONQUERED!

Answer: the promoters can’t be conquered once and for all. The promoter is interested about the relationship with your brand due to memorable past experiences. This means that the relationship must always be memorable, surprisingly and full of innovation, otherwise he stops to be a promoter and begins to be a passive. On the other hand, in the saturated market it has been seen that, once the claim reasons for the detractor are “settled”, all companies get is to become filled up with costs and other services without managing the detractor to become a promoter. This approach was typical one from the previous economic Age, the  Marketing Age (Click here), during which markets were not that saturated and the client wasn’t so demanding, informed and connected.

2ND OBJECTION: PROMOTERS ARE FANS OF THE BRAND AND THEY JUST COMPLIMENT US. WE HAVE TO LISTEN PARTICULARLY TO PASSIVES AND DETRACTORS TO UNDERSTAND WHERE WE HAVE TO IMPROVE.

Answer: When the promoters are listing the reasons for their interest, actually in the same time they are listing the reasons of delusion, in case the brand ignores the reasons for their interest. The more the client is enthusiast about the relationship with a brand, the more will he be “justicialist” if the relationship is betrayed, changing to be a relentless detractor. That’s why it is essential to concentrate on getting to know the reasons for the interest also in the opposite side.

The promoter is very reliable and influential in his interest/critic because he is enthusiastically interested  in the brand promise (Click here). Instead, the critics of the detractors start from a promise which is usually the client’s himself expectation which normally is not that of the brand. That’s why some say that the detractors are not “real” customers of the brand: they actually love other promises!

This also explains why brands with a high index of Net Promoter Score have clear, explicit and maintained promises. Without a clear and explicit brand promise, the brand approaches, confuses and then loses the client who naturally is attracted by a promise alligned with his feelings and with his values.

3ED OBJECTION: IS IT REALLY WORTH IT? HOW MANY CUSTOMERS DO PROMOTERS BRING WITH THEIR WORD-OF-MOUTH?

Answer: a lot, a lot, a lot! Of course, the number depends on so many factors and the first is obviously the type of market. But promoters mostly attract to the brand they are fan of friends and colleagues (especially friends) who have a system of values and preferences similar to theirs. Friend and colleagues who are likely to become additional promoters! Or better, authentic brand customers, available at a major frequency of purchase, a larger value of the average receipt and a higher loyalty.

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Customer experience and brand promises

The Customer Expectation is a measured as an alignment between Client’s expectations and his real experience with a company or a brand.

The expectations that the Client reach and through which he approaches a company, a brand, a product or a service are the result of a complex process in which numerous factors are involved.

One of the most important elements in the process of developing and shaping clients’ expectation is represented by the explicit or implicit promises that the company or brand communicates. Therefore, it is really important to bring out these “promises” as they often aren’t clear and explicit even among the protagonists of the company.

A simple but meticulous method suggests to compare the company or the brand to a person and answers these questions:

Adaptation  of Italian Customer Intelligence from Aaker’s Brand Equity model

Style and Look

Prevailing attitude towards life

Respect to Others

Future orientation

Brand Core

If your brand / company was a person ..

• What style and look it may have?
• What characteristic and prevalent attitude would it have towards life?
• What orientation would it have towards the future?
• What characteristic and prevalent attitude would it have towards other people?
• How would you define the “heart” of this person?

When you get to the five adjectives that define your person-company (maybe thanks to an internal survey) you will have something very decisive in your hands! As a matter of fact, the five adjectives describe the “character” of the experience you would like to offer to your customers in every “touchpoint”, in any relationship occasion and at least in the most strategic ones (read the full article here).

Non vi resta ora che chiedere ai clienti di descrivere con qualche aggettivo l’esperienza che vivono con la vostra azienda/brand/prodotto o servizio. Se l’allineamento è totale.. Bè, complimenti!

Now, you just have to ask customers to describe their own experience with your company / brand / product or service.

If the alignment is completed… Well, congratulations!

If it’s partial … You can always improve!

If it is nothing… Then there is a hard work to do. But it’s worth it!

An ultimate Customer Experience is related to purchase rate, its average value, customer loyalty and investment attractions.

Good job!

To offer advanced Customer Experience to your clients, contact Italian Customer Intelligence at: info@italiancustomerintelligence.it

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Forrester research calculates the value of economic return following improvements on customer experience.

What is the relationship between ultimate Customer Experience and revenue growth? It is a question that often arises for those who start to be in face of planning a work and an experience offer that surprises the customer. It’s a compelling question, as long as the Customer Experience has costs and as long as “it’s a journey, not a destination” (click here to learn more).

On the other hand, the relationship between ultimate Customer Experience offer and customer loyalty, his purchase frequency, the increase in his average spending and the growth in the possibility of generating viva voice, has been widely emphasized in the literature.

Once again, further answers come from Forrester Research, an independent American research company which has been engaged for many years with the drafting of the Customer Experience Index all over the world and which holds hundreds of companies in suspense every year.

THE FORRESTER RESEARCH MODEL

By thanks to recent usage of CX Index data carried on in the United States (122,500 consumers), Forrester was able to underline how changes in the Customer Experience, offered by companies in 13 sectors, have an effect on their revenue. Specifically, in the “Drive Revenue with great Customer Experience – 2017” report, Forrester calculated, for each sector, the economic return related to customer loyalty (assumed as the incessancy of acquisition of goods or services by the same company), to the enrichment loyalty (assumed as the intention to spend more in the future at the same company) and to the loyalty of promotion (Assumed as the incessancy of positive word of mouth).

Of course, the model considers the specific dynamic of each sector. For example, it has been considered that some sectors impose on their customers when they want to leave the company; or the specific relationship value in terms of size and transaction frequency (staying at a hotel has a lower value, but probably it happens more frequently, while the car acquisition has a bigger value but certainly it is less frequent). Also, it has been considered the real value recommendations can have within a sector: the more the market position of a company is higher, the less the recommendation is made to a totally stranger to that company. Furthermore, in some cases, regardless of the levels of Customer Experience, it has been considered that additional acquisition or more frequent purchases are rare, like in the case of insurance companies.

With this model, Forrester was able to calculate the relationship between the revenue growth for each customer and the growth of Customer Experience score. Then the single customer value is multiplied by the average number of customers of the biggest brands within each sector.

THE FORRESTER RESEARCH RISPONSES

Here is the result  of the Forrester analysis:  

Revenue impact of increasing CX Index Score by 1 point. Source: Forrester Research.

Considering the necessary variables within each sector, Forrester was able to demonstrate that the improvement of the experience offered to customers (being it by solving the big problems to raise low levels of Customer Experience, or making real innovations to raise good or higher score) is strictly related to an actual (and quantifiable) benefit in terms of economic return.

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Some words of winsdom unconsciously against the customer experience

SOME WORDS OF WINSDOM UNCOSCIOUSLY AGAINST THE CUSTOMER EXPERIENCE.

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