Increase Revenue with Increased Experience

A recent Forrester Research report looked at 13 different industries and came to the conclusion that as a customer's experience (CxPi) with your company increases, so does revenue, specifically in the areas of:

• Incremental purchases from existing customers
• Retention
• New sales from word-of-mouth

OK, not really rocket science, but it shows that there is ROI in employee engagement.

According to Forrester, the banking industry was more effected by positive customer experience than all others in the area of retention. In banking, an increase in positive customer experience yields a higher rate of change in attrition than all other industries. In a time when customers are changing institutions at a significantly higher level - this becomes an important finding.

Want to put some hard numbers to customer experience? According to Forrester's report, the banking industry can expect a total annual impact averaging $21.20 per customer by improving your customer experience - with more than half of the impact coming from reduced attrition.

So, increased customer experience equals increased revenue - you can't argue with the logic. But we have some work to do. Credit unions ranked in the Top 10 of Forrester's 2010 Customers Experience Rankings with only 3 banks in the top 50. How do we improve?

• Create written Customer Service Standards for the entire company to follow.
• Relook at your sales process - do you speak "to" the customer or "at" them. Create a process that facilitates a CONVERSATION with the customer - then addresses their needs.
• Relook at your sales materials. Are they benefit oriented.
• Follow-up is key. Call it on-boarding, re-boarding or just doing your job. But the best experience a customer has with you can be out of your branch and in their home. Set standards and create a process to add value-based communication with your customers.
• Consistent training. Customer engagement is a culture, not a program. It starts with a new hire and continues every-day. Your staff must be engaged and understand that we are dealing with people's money. And when it comes to money, a little empathy, understanding and advise can go a long way!
• Talk to them. Before you make changes to your organization, talk to your customers and determine their needs.
• Let them have it their way. Whenever possible, let the customer create their own product. More and more institutions are turning to a build-your-own checking product. If not that, then package your products in a way that looks tailored to them.
• Measure your success. Start with baselines in: Attrition, services per household and average balances. Then track your progress regularly.

A positive customer experience can differentiate you in a competitive market place and generate incremental revenue. It can grow your institution organically and reduce attrition.

Want to chat about your customer experience culture? Call us.

Take care,

Eric

egagliano@MarketMatch.com

866-501-2233, ext. 106

Color your market, market your color...

Where do you begin when choosing colors for your marketing materials? What were your reasons for making that particular choice? Was it because you liked those particular colors? What did the colors you chose, say to you? Do you know what your choice of colors say to your audience.

Yes colors do talk! In fact they say more than you might think. The choice of your color palette not only enhances the appearance of a poster, website or brand mark, but in fact they also influence our behavior.

Take for instance a hospital. Hospital walls are usually covered in colors such as white, green and blue. White is the most common color to be seen on a hospital wall due to the peaceful and calm mood it provides as well as denoting cleanness. It implies sterility, which has the effect of making patients feel reassured. Blue and green are considered to be the most relaxing and refreshing colors, promoting peaceful atmosphere, which encourages concentration and healing.

Another example…fast food restaurants are decorated with vivid reds and oranges... Studies have shown that reds and oranges encourage diners to eat quickly and leave - and that's exactly what they want you to do.

Keep in mind - Not all colors mean the same thing throughout the world. Different cultures have different meanings. In Brazil purple signifies death or a loss, Yellow signifies sadness in Greece, and red in Asian cultures, is a traditional color for celebrations or weddings. So they key is to know your audience and know the culture before finalizing any color choices.

“Color is an intense experience on its own.”

Jim Hodges

Here is a listing of the most common colors and their meaning according to North American mainstream culture:

Red --excitement, strength, passion, speed, danger.
Blue -- trust, reliability, belonging, coolness, calming.
Yellow --warmth, sunshine, cheer, happiness
Orange -- playfulness, warmth, vibrant
Green -- nature, fresh, cool, growth, abundance
Purple --royal, spirituality, dignity
Pink -- soft, sweet, nurture, security
White --pure, clean, mild.
Black --sophistication, elegant, mystery
Gold -- prestige, expensive
Silver -- prestige, cold, scientific

“Colors, like features, follow the changes of the emotions.”

Pablo Picasso

What do you want your message to say? Do you want to calm your market and let them know you are stable and secure? Do you want to scream in their faces and tell them that you have the best rates around. Color can be a huge factor, in so many ways, it is sometimes overwhelming and can make or break a response. If you need some advice or information on how to put this information to use, just give us a call.