It was with great excitement that I joined the ” 4th B2B Marketing Colloquium – Innovation in B2B Marketing” at Bournemouth University on Friday 6th October. An action packed agenda, and a chance to present a paper on: “Transforming Key Account Managers into Managing Directors of Accounts“. A subject very close to my heart, having worked with sales, marketing and service leaders on development programmes which have unlocked their leadership potential and in some cases enabled them to move into higher education. The paper is one we are now working on in detail, I would love to hear your stories. I will post more detail here. If you would like the slides, drop me a line: liz.machtynger@customeressential.com.

There was much debate and a keen interest in how the academic world should become more integrated into the world of business and therefore providing greater thinking and impact for the individuals and organisations they interact with. I am quite sure there is a lot more on this to come.

The most exciting part of the day was listening to two fantastic speakers: Mike Russell and Luke Robbins. Each have just completed their MA in Sales Management at Portsmouth University having converted onto this programme from the leadership programme we worked on with them at RSA. Mike presented his work on Social Media in B2B and Luke on Portfolio management. Both gave great presentations and it was a proud moment for us to see them graduate and present to an esteemed audience. Congratulations guys!

Customer Essential and RSA were shortlisted for the coveted CIPD awards – Best L&D Consultancy 2016. It was an honour to be shortlisted, and it was really exciting to attend the CIPD Awards Dinner. The judges noted after our presentation:

“This was a strong presentation to the judges, with a clear sense of connection and collaboration between client and customer. The involvement of a participant in the programme was particularly valuable”.

This makes us all very proud, and even more “fired-up” to take this and other leading edge customer leadership programmes forwards. Congratulations to all the finalists, there are some amazing programmes out there!

Merlin, Katherine, Liz & Luke

http://www.cipdpmas.co.uk/2016-results/

It is welly time today! Lets hope the weather is kinder to all and wishing you a wonderful Christmas time with your friends and families.

See you all soon

The CE Team

Engaging Customer Propositions are what we all (well mostly all) aspire to! Just what does engaging mean? Well, for some it is all about interacting with customers and keeping them connected to the company, and of course being there for them when they have a need.

“pleasing, charming, or winning” is the free dictionary’s definition for engaging.

Although many companies are working hard on the art of customer interaction and building winning formulae for getting target customers to buy from them… few have mastered the art of pleasing or charming! Winning then becomes a dream.

When you get to the level of pleasing, charming and winning.. you are on to a good one! Hats off to John Lewis. They work hard and the continuously engaging journey, but it seems effortless. Their new Christmas ad is out today. It warms the heart as usual. Take a look 🙂

John Lewis this Christmas

Dear Readers,

Welcome to our new site and new blogsite. We are excited by the autumn change. We love the colours of autumn in the UK and have infused them throughout our branding and materials. It makes a very good time to launch something new and fresh.

We have had a pause from blogging, and on request we are back. Please keep us posted with your requests, ideas and feedback we will be glad to hear from you.

Kind Regards

Liz Machtynger

If we are asked which companies we think deliver great service, I know a few of the names that might come up. We usually think of those organisations offering fantastic experience at a time of enjoyment, or service related to a purchase we really want.

There are times in our lives when service really matters. When we rely on an organisation to get it right! These things usually relate to:

• Health
• Schooling
• Finances
• Accidents
• Personal issues or changes e.g. divorce, death in the family, retirement
• Business issues or changes e.g. recession, acquisition

Often these times are not things that we plan for, but they are things that the organisations we deal with should be planning for. They must understand our mindset and need for service delivery.

What is it that we often look for?

• Empathy – someone who is empathetic and understanding of our needs
• Knowledge – the comfort that someone with experience or knowledge is dealing with us.
• Clarity – what should I do next? What will happen next?
• Responsibility – someone to say “don’t worry I will do that for you.
• Action – the process driven or the matter dealt with quickly and clearly to an outcome.
• Communication – clear and proactive communication to remind us or keep us up to date on where things are at.

What is it that really lets us down?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IPxBKxU8GIQ

• Forms
• Process descriptions
• Answer phones
• Queues
• Dealing with the wrong person
• We have to make all the moves
• Feeling of blame or that we have made a mistake

Often we go into important matters with a very low expectation.

E.g. We expect the bank to have a queue, we expect the insurance company not to pay out, we expect there to be many forms and lots of red tape to get through. Often we are right to have this expectation. It is when we go through one of these really important moments and meet a shining star, an organisation that understands our pressures and deals with us differently, that we really know we have received excellent service.

Many organisations deal with customers when they are going through one of these tough moments in their lives, and do not prepare their service to match. It is a real opportunity to shine and really make a difference.

•Our business is as strong as the customer base we have.

•Our customer base is as strong as the proposition we offer!

Just close your eyes and think of a company you would do anything to go back to. Take a moment to consider the reasons why. Note them down, they are a good guide for you as to what is an outstanding customer proposition.

The thing is, that more often than not, the examples we think of are not extremely different or luxurious. They are often the companies that do the right thing, the thing customers really want (or didn’t really know they wanted until it was delivered). Companies that responded well in a difficult situation or delivered something special at a difficult time.

These experiences are also relevant to businesses. Often when we think of outstanding propositions, we consider them as consumers. For a business there are many more factors to put in place to stand out. More people = more complexity.

We have set out in a short series 10 challenges for extremely compelling propositions, and have told the story with a few video examples of companies that are often mentioned when discussing compelling customer propositions.

The first is Knowledgable

First things first, for a compelling proposition, you have to really know about your market, your customers and your competitors to truly understand the difference you can make. Those companies with truly compelling propositions may not be hugely different in the product they deliver but may deliver it very differently.

First Direct is a UK based bank that changed the approach to banking and perception of the banking proposition for customers.