They have maximized their customers’ loyalty with effective use of CRM, delivering world class customer experiences.
Improvements in CRM have given organizations the opportunity to carefully model these experiences on their customer’s wants and consumer trends.
CRM has been there to hold up every success, avert potential disaster, and wave its finger to say ‘I told you so’ when customer backlash went undealt with.
Here is a list of customer experiences and the brands that seem to know a thing or two about CRM.
The London Olympics 2012
NBC’s coverage became the most watched TV event in US history; more than 219.4 million people were exposed to the brands that sponsored it. NBC earned a twitter hashtag ‘#NBCfail’ due to their slow scheduling of events, and habit of announcing results before events had even been aired.
CRM’s contribution: compiling vital customer background information for the formation of targeted advertising. NBC would also have benefited from Social CRM to react to the negative feedback, and liaise with their producers so that they stopped getting… everything… wrong.
Two screen culture
Combine your laptop/tablet/smart phone with your live viewing experience and what do you have? Two screen culture: the upward trend amongst tech savvy consumers who want to interact immediately with live television.
CRM’s Contribution: Effective Social CRM allows media companies to feedback to their audience with unique content about what they are viewing. It also allows them to find out their customers wants, and expectations of what they produce, so they can exceed them in the future.
Apple
Apple had another incredible year. They released the iPhone 5 whilst The Apple App Store released over 25 billion downloads. There was one dent: the decision to remove Google Maps and replace this popular feature with an Apple map resulted in a consumer backlash.
CRM’s contribution: Apple reacted quickly. Their effective CRM allowed nimble management decision-making around the issue. Their Social CRM quantified the relative size of the backlash, and how its propagators profiles matched a significant number of Apple product users. Google Apps was re-added to their products and the movement was notified through their preferred communication channels.
Virgin
Virgin has diversified into markets from airlines, to healthcare, to finance. They are set to become one of the first life-encompassing brands. It comes as no surprise that they are looking to break into commercial space travel.
CRM’s contribution: Before discovering the realms of outer space, they first had to discover if there was a suitable market. Using the ‘word of the web’ and their CRM database helped them determine its current promotion through their tourism branch as Virgin Galactic.
Lego
Lego’s 80th Birthday was celebrated with the release of “The Lego Story”, a heart-warming 17-minute long animation about the company’s origins.
CRM’s contribution: A top Youtube comment on the video encapsulates one of its main aims, “you’re never too old for Lego!” The video draws on the company’s legacy to present them as a traditional toy, with plenty of longevity.
The tone, style, setting, and aspects of their story they have chosen to focus on could all have been influenced by CRM data.
Hurricane Sandy
The tragic devastation of America’s east coast still has the country reeling from its effects. The combined damages of New York and New Jersey stand at $72 billion. Star-led fund raising events and charities continue to channel donations to the victims.
CRM’s contribution: CRM data reports can pinpoint those who are close to contributing. This reduces sales cycles and improves the charities’ win rates.
Social CRM be used to encourage vocal supporters who will increase the charities’ social media exposure.
Black Friday vs. Cyber Monday
Online purchasing’s sales continued to encroach on its ailing parent: the high street. Cyber Monday’s sales reached $2 billion- a 20% increase on 2011. The high street will have to carefully assess its business model in order for the in-store experience to remain a popular part of our consumer culture.
CRM’s contribution: Websites have the ultimate advantage if they are using CRM. They can recommend products that match their customers order histories. This vast amount of data can be stored in a secure cloud environment.
