Archive for Posts
Wanna Buy a Checking Account?
A recent study from Thunderhead Communications shows that loyalty to financial services companies hovers in the 16% - 17% range. Further, more than six in ten financial services customers say they are actively looking to switch banks or insurance companies in the next year or so.
Yikes. With numbers like that, and with the […]
Repeat Business is Online Retail’s Core Customer Metric
In a study released recently by MarketLive, research confirms the importance of repeat business to online retailers. Many online (and off line) retailers focus strictly on acquiring new customers, often in the mistaken belief that volume is the name of the game.
This work indicates that it’s the size of the online basket that makes all […]
Social Media Usage: Part of a Robust Core Customer Metric?
A study released by the Society for New Communications Research discusses how Social Media (i.e., blogs, online rating systems and discussion forums) is not only an important bellwether for consumers making decisions about a brand, but also as an indication of loyalty to a brand.
Consider this scenario: You’ve just purchased the cool new MyVu video […]
Business To Business Core Customer Metrics
The Corporate Executive Board recently studied Customer Loyalty from a business to business perspective. One of the major conclusions is that, in many cases, switching business to business suppliers is so hard to do, the fact that a customer is buying from you (behavioral loyalty) doesn’t mean they are emotionally invested in that behavior. Also, […]
Zen and the Art of Motorcyclist Hospitality
I love it when my personal and professional life converge.
The Wise Marketer reports that Harley-Davidson and Best Western are co-promoting a loyalty program aimed at H-D motorcyclists. Benefits include, according to the article, “special wipe-down towels at check-in, access to a bike wash, tar remover, lip balm and sun tan lotion” among other things.
Why […]
Customer Lifetime Value (CLV) as a Core Customer Metric
The latest edition (3 April 2008) of The Wise Marketer newsletter has some nice discussion regarding the idea of Customer Lifetime Value as a Core Customer Metric that is predictive of profits. (Sign up for your own copy at the link above, or if you have some cash laying about, about $2,300 in the US, […]
Is It Really the “End of Customer Service”?
Time Magazine recently published a special called What’s Next 2008. Within the normal discussions regarding trends were its list of 10 Ideas that are Changing the World.
Number 2 on this list was “The End of Customer Service.” They pointed to self service lines in airports, grocery stores, hotel lobbies and movie theatres.
But is […]
Don’t Choose Your Core Customer Metric Using the “Wisdom of Crowds”
Seni Thomas wrote a thought provoking piece here decrying the current blogging world’s lack of ability to predict things that would be a fancy-tickler. The posting made me think about the crowd mentality that seems to be prevalent in the marketing research industry, particularly related to choosing a Core Customer Metric that 1) is […]
Are You Sure You’ve Selected the “Right” Core Customer Metric?
During my keynote presentation at IIR’s 2008 Linkage Strategies Conference in Miami, I invited the audience to participate in a sort of informal “survey” regarding successes and failures experienced in connection with putting the Voice of the Customer (VOC) to work.
I asked how many felt their organization had successfully selected and implemented a core […]
CoreCustomerMetric.com Welcomes the AMA!
D. Randall Brandt, PhD, known to us as Randy Brandt, discussed the ins and outs of selecting the RIGHT core customer metric for businesses with the American Marketing Association on Marketing News Radio, March 5, 2008.
Listen in to our illustrious Blogger in Chief as he shares a career’s worth of insightful industry knowledge, practical experience […]
The Law of Diminishing Customer Returns
John Todor (author of “Addicted Customers: How to Get Them Addicted to Your Company”) was discussing an interesting notion — for a given value proposition, for every customer you add, the value of these incremental customers diminishes over time. He quotes author Merlin Stone, author of “The Law of Diminishing Customer Returns,” making the […]
Duh! Unhappy Customers Can Ruin Your Business
Here’s one website/ blog where you don’t want to find out that your Customer Experience has failed: PissedConsumer.com
Yes, there’s a website dedicated to giving unhappy consumers voice. These customers name names, tell their sides of the story and potentially reach thousands of other people. I’m betting that you aren’t going to print […]
Linking to Business Results: The Holy Grail?
We’re receiving many more requests from clients who are interested in linking aspects of their customer experience research to their business results. Some of these requests are defensive: the marketing research group is trying to justify the customer experience research expenditure by showing how it drives results. Or, management has tied a rather hefty bonus […]
Core Customer Metric - Knowing What is Best to Measure
What is your organization’s Core Customer Metric?
Is it a customer satisfaction or loyalty index, or something else? A Core Customer Metric (CCM) may be one of your company’s most important performance measures. It is critical to company growth and success in developing and implementing customer strategy.
This website and blog is dedicated to discussion and […]
Core Customer Metric Always, All Ways?
Core Customer Metric…
What thoughts, images, ideas or feelings come to mind when you see or hear Core Customer Metric?
What exactly is a Core Customer Metric?
A Core Customer Metric is a key measure of how strongly customers embrace your brand, and how committed they are to continuing to buy from or to do business with you.
Ideally, […]
Nominate The Best Core Customer Metric
What do you think is The Best Core Customer Metric?
“Best” means how strongly customers embrace your brand, and how committed they are to continuing to buy from or to do business with you.
Now is your opportunity to nominate what you think is the Best leading customer indicator of brand affinity and downstream business results. Is […]
Research Spurs Debate Over Net Promoter Score
BtoB Magazine featured a lively article, “Research Spurs Debate Over Net Promoter Score” by Kate Maddox in the Septermber 10, 2007 issue on page 3.
The crux of the article was research co-authored by Timothy Keiningham, Bruce Cooil (Vanderbilt University), Tor Wallin Andreassen (Norwegian School of Management), and Lerzan Aksoy (Koc University) appearing in the Journal […]
Customer Experience or Customer Satisfaction?
I hear this question posed frequently: “What’s the difference between customer satisfaction and customer experience? Isn’t customer experience just a fancy name for customer satisfaction?”
Ask any five industry professionals for their definitions of customer experience and customer loyalty, and likely you’ll get at least ten different definitions. Why the confusion?
The answer is both simple […]
NPS Discussion Paper Receives Awards
Most people discussing Fred Reichheld’s Net Promoter Score (a popular Core Customer Metric) seem to be either rabidly in favor of it or violently opposed to it. Most of the criticism of the NPS comes from technical perspectives, while most of the adulation for it comes from the upper levels of management.
The primary purpose of […]
