1- Customer Relationship Management (CRM): a catch-all concept
Customer Relationship Management is itself a confusing concept. It can refer to the department that answers customers' questions about products, services and so on. It can also refer to the software (CRM) used to track relationships between customers and the organization. At KESTIO, we consider that Customer Relationship Management covers all interactions between the customer and the organization, whether upstream of the sales process (in which case we speak of the prospect rather than the customer) or downstream. These interactions can take place via a variety of channels: customer service, of course, but also the salesperson, the Internet, traditional advertising channels, etc. In addition, CRM software is evolving to integrate increasingly complete traceability of this Customer Relationship in the broadest sense, i.e. multi-channel. This means you can track the relationship established by a sales rep via outgoing calls, the number of times a customer has ordered from your website, and the mail he or she has sent to after-sales service, as well as the response he or she has received. All in the same tool. These different contact points and channels can also be visualized in the form of a Customer Journey, a diagram showing all the interactions between the organization and its customers.
2- Customer satisfaction: the quest for the Holy Grail
Customer satisfaction is a concept that seems simple, even binary: is the customer satisfied (or not) with the offer (product and/or service) that the organization has made? However, customers tend to declare themselves satisfied as soon as the offer corresponds to their minimum expectations. Kano's model explains this phenomenon. For example, during a customer journey observation mission in a store, I noticed that a customer was having trouble quickly finding the product she had come for, and then identifying the right product on the shelf. As an external observer, I felt that her journey was unsatisfactory, as she had gone round in circles in the store. After her purchase, this person declared herself satisfied with her experience and had no negative remarks to make about her journey: she had finally found her product, mission accomplished. The fact that her journey could have been quicker was not obvious to her, so her satisfaction was not affected.
The good news is that customers declare themselves satisfied as soon as the company has correctly met their basic expectations (i.e. found the product they were looking for). The corollary is that this notion of "satisfaction" is the company's minimum target, and that it would be a pity (and even dangerous) to be satisfied with it: to leave a lasting impression on the customer's mind, you have to offer more than that!
To increase customer satisfaction, it is therefore necessary to widen the field of possibilities and not limit oneself to customer declarations:
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- focus on "Very satisfied" customers and understand why they report this level of satisfaction.
- identify and understand implicit needs in order to meet them.
- use other metrics such as Net Promoter Score to determine whether Customer Satisfaction is at such a level that customers become ambassadors for the organization.
- Vary the moments at which Satisfaction is collected: on the spot, after a moment of truth (see below), or on the fly, by conducting an annual satisfaction survey and analyzing the verbatims expressed by customers (this is known as Voice of Customer or Ecoute Client).
It's only by aiming for a high level of Customer Satisfaction that a company can build lasting customer loyalty.
3- Customer experience: the little extra that makes all the difference
Customer Experience is one of the keys to optimizing Customer Satisfaction.
Customer Experience is the customer's perception of the relationship they have with the organization.
This perception is conditioned by the customer's culture and the market expertise of the organization serving him. These two factors will generate a certain level of expectation. It's up to the organization to take this level of expectation into account, in order to generate a positive Experience that leads to Customer Satisfaction. To meet these expectations, the organization needs to master two axes: the ease with which the customer can obtain the desired offer , and the emotion generated by interactions between the organization and the customer.
The SNCF has been working hard onCustomer Experience in recent years. It has facilitated the customer journey by multiplying the points of contact for buying a ticket according to each user's channel of preference: the website, the mobile application for smartphone users, the call center, ticket offices for customers who need advice, kiosks in stations, and so on. At the same time, we also work on emotion and comfort to create preference among our customers: welcome on board trains, TGV or other first-class magazines, frequent flyer reception areas... All these services aim to improve the Customer Experience from a global point of view over the entire journey.
While improving the Customer Experience produces immediate and positive results, it's crucial not to overlook the equally powerful impact of the opposite attitude: certain stages of the Customer Journey are critical, and if theCustomer Experience delivered at that precise moment is not good, the customer may decide to leave the brand, whatever his or her level of loyalty. This is known as the Moment of Truth. Imagine, for example, that you've been a bank customer for over 10 years. The day you want to take out a loan, your advisor tells you that, despite his best efforts, he can't grant it. Chances are you're so annoyed by this experience that you're going to take out the loan with another bank and transfer all your accounts in the process!
Customer Experience is therefore a more conceptual notion than the other two. Based on effort and emotion, and therefore perception and feeling, it is more difficult to measure for each individual customer. To improve it, we need to put ourselves in the customer's shoes and understand what they experience, or better still, observe them directly in their relationship with the organization.
The 3 concepts are therefore interdependent. Customer Experience is at the heart of the other two notions: it is the link between the two. Trying to improve Customer Satisfaction by working only on Relationships (i.e. processes and players) is difficult. We need to understand, measure and improve the Customer Experience if we are to succeed in improving Customer Satisfaction in a sustainable way.
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