USING SERVICE TO LEVERAGE

COMPETITIVE ADVANTAGE Professor Colin Gilligan

Khartoum, 27th September ,2011

MANAGING THE CUSTOMER

EXPERIENCE BY LEARNING FROM

THE SERVICE LEADERS

Marketing excellence is achieved

not through ignorance and

guesswork, but through a really

detailed understanding of your

market and a compelling value

proposition.

THE WORLD IS CHANGING

• We live in a world characterised by a

surplus of similar organisations,

employing similar people, with similar

educational backgrounds, working in

similar jobs, coming up with similar

ideas, producing similar products and

services, with similar prices and similar

quality.

EVERYTHING’S THE SAME THESE DAYS…

So what makes you interesting,

exciting, different and relevant to

my life?

OR: In a crowded & competitive

market, why should I choose you

rather than one of your

competitors?

TODAY’S MARKETING REALITY

The emergence of:

• A new type of consumer with ever-higher demands

• The ‘new’ competition & over-capacity

• New media

• New technologies

• Maverick factors (ever-higher commodity prices, social & political unrest)

• And new rules of the game

• In most markets

today it is about

demonstrating

relevance &

customer value

SO WHAT ABOUT THE FUTURE?

What do we really think

will happen tomorrow?

THE NEW MARKETING ENVIRONMENT

& THE NEW CONSUMER

THE MORE DEMANDING, MORE

DISCRIMINATING, BRAND AWARE,

EXPERIENCE-SEEKING, TIME-

PRESSURED, CYNICALLY-MINDED,

GREEN-FOCUSED, DISLOYAL

CONSUMER

THE CHANGING PRESSURES

OF MARKETING

THE DIMENSIONS OF

MARKETING STRATEGY

What are the bases of our competitive advantage?

Which markets

do we want to operate in?

Which products & services are

we going to offer?

BUT THE TRADITIONAL BASES

OF COMPETITIVE ADVANTAGE

ARE BEING ERODED

COMPETITIVE ADVANTAGE?

• Genuinely better products?

–I don’t think so

• Lower prices?

–The road to ruin

• Legal advantages & patents?

–Well how much are you willing to

spend in defending these?

COMPETITIVE ADVANTAGE

Instead, the focus today is upon the

‘softer’ factors such as:

The brand;

Innovation & thinking & behaving

differently;

Speed; AND

Customer service and the customer

experience

SO, IS SERVICE & THE

CUSTOMER EXPERIENCE

REALLY IMPORTANT TO YOU?

EVERYONE TELLS ME THAT SERVICE

IS IMPORTANT, BUT….

THINK ABOUT YOUR SERVICE

STRATEGY & TELL ME ABOUT THE

THREE SERVICE INNOVATIONS YOU

HAVE INTRODUCED OVER THE PAST

TWELVE MONTHS

AND THEN TELL ME WHAT

YOU HAVE PLANNED FOR

THE NEXT TWELVE MONTHS

TELL ME ALSO WHAT CUSTOMERS

THINK ABOUT YOUR SERVICE & HOW

THIS IS DRIVING YOUR THINKING

CONDUCT THE SERVICE AUDIT &

IDENTIFY THE BOTTLENECKS &

OBSTACLES (AND THEN DO

SOMETHING ABOUT THEM)

WALK THE CUSTOMER JOURNEY

Point

of First

Contact

Point

of Last

Contact

Where & What are the OTMUs?

DELIVERING GREATER VALUE

• So, think about what value means to

each of your target groups and then

identify:

–The value creators

–The value destroyers

IF SERVICE IS SO IMPORTANT, WHICH

ORGANISATIONS DO YOU ADMIRE AND

WHAT ARE YOU DOING ABOUT

LEARNING FROM THEM?

MY SERVICE HEROES

For technology and service

excellence

The customer relationship

management champions

For database management

BUT WHAT DO WE MEAN BY

SERVICE & WHY IS IT

STRATEGICALLY IMPORTANT?

SOME FACTS & FIGURES

• The cost of acquiring a new customer can be 5X greater than the cost of keeping a current one

• Reducing customer defections can boost profits from between 25-150%

• The ROI from marketing to existing customers can be up to 7X more than for prospective customers

• Used properly, happy customers are the best promoters of the company & its brand

BUT WHAT DOES SERVICE LOOK LIKE

IN YOUR MARKET? IS IT SPEED, IS IT

PERSONALISATION, IS IT VALUE FOR

MONEY, OR IS ITJUST LOW PRICES?

SERVICE SPEED, THE SEARCH FOR

VALUE & THE GROWTH OF CURATED

CONSUMPTION

THE SERVICE VALUE PROPOSITION

RETHINK THE VALUE PROPOSITION

The Unique

Selling

Proposition

The

Selling

Proposition

The Extra

Value

Proposition

SERVICE & INNOVATION

SERVICE THROUGH ONLINE

MARKETING

THE FUNDAMENTAL

IMPORTANCE OF PEOPLE

(MY THEORY OF SERVICE STAFF)

BUT SERVICE COSTS MONEY…..

SO WHAT IS YOUR SERVICE BUDGET?

MANAGING THE CUSTOMER

EXPERIENCE

THE CUSTOMER EXPERIENCE:

THE COMPELLING TRUTH

Don’t expect customer engagement if you

have an indistinct brand personality and

fail to demonstrate your (continuing)

relevance to me. So, give me reasons to

believe. Excite, enthuse and delight me.

Be part of my life.

DELIVER OR DIE!!!!!

OVER-PROMISE & UNDER-DELIVERY

FINAL THOUGHTS & QUESTIONS

SOME QUESTIONS FOR YOU

• What would customers say about your service? Do you even know?

• What levels of service do your customers want?

• How much are they willing to pay for (higher) service levels?

• Do you actually have a service strategy?

• What is the budget?

• Who has responsibility for it in top management?

• What levels of service do your competitors offer?

• What service benchmarking have you done?

SIX LESSONS ABOUT SERVICE

Take customer & service seriously

Lead from the top. If you can’t do it….

Build service into the process from the outset. It isn’t an add on & it isn’t an option

Invest in it & think differently

Select your staff carefully, train them & then retrain them

Use service to gain an advantage

THANK YOU FOR YOUR ATTENTION