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6/12/06 - The Retention Challenge
In the last week, this column has been home to a lively dialog on allocating budget for customer activities. Specifically, how much should be spent to get new customers versus how much to spend to keep existing customers. One reader wrote:
"I challenge companies to state what their retention budget is on an annual basis. Most companies I see will tell you they invest in retention, but they don't create a budget and business plan on how to retain customers, so in the end the retention activity becomes a spontaneous activity versus a planned one."
I would like to echo those thoughts and say that I find that retention analysis is often a reaction to someone asking the retention question rather than a planned, on-going metric. Do you have a story about how customer retention is done in your company?
Gary Lemke, Publisher
(Share your thoughts)
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TODAY'S NEWS (more)
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Satmetrix Systems unveiled the findings of the "Net Promoter Industry Report 2006: Telecommunications", identifying the best and the worst Net Promoter rankings within the US telecommunications industry. The report compares 33 organizations from across the sector, and reveals which company's customers are most likely to recommend them and drive further business growth.
Washington State Employees Credit Union (WSECU) reports that over the past three months alone, it has successfully responded to more than 120,000 member and employee inquiries using the Fuze Suite's self-service and knowledge management products.
IEX announced that TravelCLICK achieved major erational efficiency and service delivery benefits using the TotalView Workforce Management system through a number of operational improvements: boosting the center's occupancy rate by 4 percent and service level by 3 percent and improving staff scheduling to more effectively track with customer demand.
AnQ Systems announced that it is entering the mobile business communications market with solutions that extend the range and functionality of wireless LAN (WLAN) and mobile/cellular networks for mobile workers.
FINEOS has been recruited into IBM's North America ISV Advantage initiative, a program designed to provide independent software vendors (ISVs) with technical and marketing support to meet the specific information technology needs of small and medium business (SMB) companies.
Intervoice announced that EchoStar Communications will be using the Intervoice Voice Automation Platform to enhance customer self-service to its more than 12 million subscribers.
RightNow announced two new RightNow Voice applications that optimize the customer experience, reduce call center costs, and deliver enhanced management insight. The RightNow Voice contact management application uses automatic number identification (ANI), touch-tone interactive voice response (IVR) input, or human speech to identify known customers when they call.
HP announced the results of a poll showing that while many companies have adequate business continuity, availability and disaster recovery systems in place, only 26 percent regularly review and test their plans.
SAP announced that it has enhanced the solution designed to help companies manage the complex business processes of cross-border global trade, and that the solution has achieved broad market penetration.
Salesforce.com announced that TARGUSinfo is using the Salesforce AppExchange platform to integrate and optimize cross-department operations.
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 FEATURE WEBCAST (more) |
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"Does your CRM system know what customers are thinking?"
Bob Jurik, Director of Sales, Satmetrix
CRM is a good start. However, today's CEOs are waking up to the sober reality: CRM has not enabled major leaps forward in customer focus. That's where Customer Experience Management (CEM) comes in. Each and every one of your customers has valuable information to share and CEM captures that information and helps you analyze it so you can make timely business decisions. CEM completes the process begun by CRM by directly channeling customer feedback to impact all business units. CEM helps you continually fine-tune your customer-facing actions and provide a new level of strategic differentiation for your business. CRM promised to focus your organization on the needs of the customer. CEM delivers on that promise. If you are ready to take your customer loyalty/satisfaction strategy to the next level and learn if your customers are really benefiting from your CRM investment, you should invest 40 minutes of your time to learn about the other, more valuable, process that will make a significant and immediate difference.
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| CRMAdvocate Stock Index |
| CRMSI | 46.74 |  | -1.33% |
| Dow Jones | 10,891.92 | | -0.43% |
| Nasdaq | 2,135.06 | | -0.48% |
| S&P 500 | 1,252.30 | | -0.45% |
| Top Gainers |
| ICT Group | 25.75 |  | 0.73 |
| Sykes | 16.09 | | 0.42 |
| Tekelec | 11.74 | | 0.26 |
| Top Losers |
| SAP | 49.07 | | -0.61 |
| Vignette | 13.63 | | -0.60 |
| SPSS | 36.59 | | -0.51 |
| Complete Stock Index |
| As of close 06/09/06 | |
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 White Papers (more)
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Where are Your Support Dollars Going? Results of Parature's Nationwide Survey - Everyday you answer phones, update servers, and install patches - but do you know how much all of this costs? Or if your support costs are similar to those at other companies? To find out, read a new free white paper entitled "Where Are Your Support Dollars Going". In this report we review the resulting trends of a nationwide survey of support organizations, and discuss ways companies can reduce costs, while becoming more productive and efficient.(Parature)
| | | Customer Experience Happens in the Contact Center - Customer experiences are not created in a vacuum. They evolve from industry conventions, customer demands, executive orders, peer exchanges, and expert advice-and crystallize in the contact center. This white paper, with insights from Shaun Smith, identifies four criteria which are the base for any sustainable customer experience management effort.(Cincom)
| | | From Product-Centric to Solution-Centric - Transforming Your Revenue Growth Engine for Sustained Growth(SPI)
| | | Empowered & Engaged Employees: A Critical Requirement for Customer Loyalty - In the competitive and dynamic world of selling and supporting high-technology software, superior customer service is a critical differentiator. When many software products are sold in impersonal warehouses, telephone technical support or sales groups are important touch points, frequently serving as a customer's only contact with software vendors. Therefore, the response a customer receives over the phone leaves an indelible impression-positive or negative-of an organization.(Witness)
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"OUR TAKE"