MASTERY OF five marketing and customer management capabilities accounts for more than half of the difference in customer loyalty between companies with high and low performance, recent research has revealed
MASTERY OF five marketing and customer management capabilities accounts for more than half of the difference in customer loyalty between companies with high and low performance, recent research has revealed.
Based on responses from marketing decision-makers at more than 700 companies globally, the Accenture study was designed to examine the impact of customer loyalty and how marketing and customer management can help companies increase margins and build shareholder value to become high performers.
One of the capabilities with the most direct influence on customer loyalty is developing and delivering a branded experience. In this capability, the essence of the brand should be apparent in every interaction a customer has with a company, enabling customers to form an emotional attachment with the brand.
It encompasses training and enabling frontline employees who interact with customers, developing high-impact marketing campaigns, defining the brand’s promise and segmenting customers on the basis of value.
Another key capability is the ability to harness talent and technology. This includes hiring, managing, training and retraining the most talented people and giving them the technology and processes to work efficiently, share best practices and apply technology to routine processes.
“Traditional marketing approaches simply aren’t working. Consumers have many options, and industries have so much excess capacity, that broad-based propositions that try to appeal to all customer segments fall short,” said John Freeland, global managing partner for Accenture’s customer relationship management service line.
“This study reveals the capabilities that do work, based on the experience of those who have been successful in creating organic growth and high loyalty.”
The study found that 50 per cent of the difference in customer loyalty between high and low performing business-to-consumer companies is linked to mastery of the five marketing and customer management capabilities. At business-to-business companies, the capabilities account for nearly 60 per cent of the difference in customer loyalty behaviour between high and low performers.
The research also highlighted the role that marketing and customer management mastery plays in helping businesses achieve objectives. It found that 38 per cent of the difference in profit margin, 40 per cent of the difference in revenue growth and 38 per cent of the difference in shareholder value between high and low performing companies is directly linked to the ability of companies to enhance customer loyalty.
Another key capability is the ability to create and shape demand. The study found that this capability requires constant innovation – such as being first to market, developing value propositions that address latent demand and implementing leading marketing and customer management techniques.
High-performing companies make offerings attractive to more customers and experiment with new channels as they expand into new markets. They also apply new research techniques and study future needs while strategically using channels to present a consistent face to customers.
A fourth capability was the ability to translate foresight and insight into marketing productivity, while the last capability involves driving marketing to meet performance objectives.
In this capability, high-performance marketers have an organisational structure that enables work across functional areas, incorporates clear job descriptions and aligns with business goals. In this structure, marketers and customer managers track performance against goals that are tied to business objectives and enable timely measurement of brand impact on business performance.
Accenture identified a distinct difference between higher and lower performing companies, as their leaders place more importance, and spend more of their budgets, on building competency in all five key marketing and customer management areas.
As the high performing companies strive to improve their capabilities in the key areas, they also monitor practices across industries and continually seek new and better ways to improve their performance.
