By Stewart Noyce

Principal, TruNorth Consulting

www.trunorth.com

noyce@trunorth.com

On the Internet, your next customer is just a click away. For that customer, your competitor is also just a click away. Loyal customers stick with you and even recommend you to others. Wandering customers cost you both money and time. With today's intensified global competition, there isn't really a choice. Your business goals for revenue and profit growth rely on customer loyalty.

Yet that customer loyalty is hard earned, developed from a foundation of mutual respect and repeated positive transactions. If your company puts customer needs at the level of its own, it probably has developed this respect. From that respect came loyalty that kept sales costs low and built brand equity that enabled profits in other ways.

So, can information technology make a difference? With customer respect solutions it can provide the means to amplify and reinforce repeated positive interactions between vendor and customer with the intent of developing a long term relationship based on mutual respect.

Customer respect solutions are built from the foundational components of modern enterprise application software, which may include web portal, self service, e-commerce, business intelligence (BI), knowledge management, and collaborative communications technologies. These standard components become a customer respect solution when a company envisions an information technology (IT) strategy of differentiated value based on customer respect.

Here are three core elements of a typical customer respect solution. Note the win/win aspect of a single information technology used to satisfy mutual needs.

First, a self service application provides access to production information systems for account management, purchases, product support, bill presentment, etc. Implemented properly, it should be fast, comprehensive and accurate. For your company, the cost of an online customer interaction is an order of magnitude less costly than a phone call. More importantly, your customer values it as private, secure, and fast.

Second, a business intelligence predictive analysis application allows discovery of efficient product offers for potential cross-selling. The emphasis is on efficient, focused products attractive to customers that cost less to produce and sell. Whether you have a large sales force or an on-line e-commerce approach, you delight the customer by offering the value they need in the moment they need it.

Third, a collaborative community application enables marketing conversations that result in profitable and highly desirable new customer value. Innovation thrives when companies listen to customers, alone or in community, and satisfy their needs in creative ways. Customers crave the rapid response to need with product, services and solution partnerships. Companies see the value in profitable business growth.

Strong customer respect solutions integrate these three elements for maximum impact. For consumer-facing applications, core value shines through a web portal that mashes product offers, self service, community feedback, and brand experience extensions onto the same screen. For higher-touch commercial and premium service situations, the elements can work together in a call center where customer service representatives take calls and manage relationships, using the time to optimize information flow and up-sell / cross-sell opportunities.

Many other examples exist. A customer respect solution does not come in a shrink-wrapped box, but instead is developed to match the needs of each business innovator. After all, you can't create sustainable profit zones if you have turned yourself and competitors into a commodity. Good solutions will build on the three core elements listed above, integrate them for maximum value (e.g. mixing sales and service and feedback), and link them intimately with overall company brand experience.

It's pretty clear that a customer respect solution lies at the core of any successful company's long term strategy. But what can a company do when it is pressed for time and resources? Here's a roadmap.

Most companies already have the technology they need in place. What they must do is dedicate some time to envision their own customer respect solution. The first step should be to hire a business strategy consultant to identify, clarify and shape the solution vision. Expressing the vision and breaking it into manageable pieces is critical and difficult work. A neutral and objective third party with extensive IT solutions experience and strong process skills drives such work to effective completion. Expect services that discover your company's shared vision, audit it for additional opportunities, and align cross-functional team members around the solution.

For development, most companies will not have all the resources required to implement a comprehensive integrated solution. The next step should be to hire outsourced IT software developers. Just do your homework. Look for a company with 1) reasonable prices, 2) excellent process, 3) comprehensive skills, and 4) team consistency. Between the low cost provider of cheap labor and the big consulting firms, you will find specialized service providers that are well matched to your quality and innovation expectations. What you need is a team that can complement your ability to innovate, not compete with it.

Customer respect solutions aren't some new crazy fad. Developing loyalty to a company's brand has been the goal of superior companies as long as there have been businesses. What is new is the level of competitiveness and the tools available to make customer respect a more nuanced and refined concept. You must challenge yourself to think both broad and deep, and be willing to partner with others. Take a long term view and success should follow.

For a conversation on customer respect, feel free to contact Stewart Noyce at noyce@trunorth.com.