Continuing with the 4th in a series (#1) (#2) (#3) discussing Customer Experience Indexing (CEI) as a way to measure, plan and act on customer feedback. Again, thanks to those who have offered comments and questions so far.

Working our way down a list of six areas:

1. Planning
2. Optimizing the flow of both loyalty and satisfaction feedback
3. (We are here) Analysis of feedback and calculation of actionable CEI metrics
4. Using the data for short, mid and long term account plans for retention and growth
5. Using the data to locate new prospects using rule based company profiling and role-based targeting
6. Using the data to plan and deliver action plans aimed at reshaping customer attitudes and opinions

To get the very best read on how a customer feels about their entire experience with your company, a scoring schema needs to be created to take metrics from both qualitative (loyalty) and quantitative (satisfaction) feedback into account. And it’s more important to get the idea and then craft a schema attuned directly to your situation than it is to try and create some sort of template. The key is to start producing metrics that people can use. There is nothing more boring than a report about customer experience unless the data comes within a highly actionable framework. To get there, let me share some tactics taken from a very recent Customer Experience Survey of ReachForce customers (shameless company promotion).

First, when we set the Customer Experience Survey up, we asked questions from both ends: quantitative (designed to detect technical satisfaction) and qualitative (designed to detect perceptions and feelings). Since this was ReachForce’s first major CEI initiative we paid special attention to creating solid questions for benchmarking – against which future survey results will be compared:

Quantitative question examples

• Repeat purchase
• # Data quality issues
• Data value (ROI)
• Frequency of use
• Length of use
• Have you recommended
• 3 most important purchase criteria

Qualitative question examples

• Purchase experience
• Usage experience
• Repeat purchase experience
• Expertise
• Compare with other vendors
• Overall satisfaction
• Would you recommend
• Will you renew
• Would you seek our brand for related services

Again, keep the wording simple and short when writing the questions and use multiple choice or True/False response, except for text boxes to capture responses for purchase criteria. Don’t be tempted to assume your own multiple choices to list for purchase criteria – Get these from your customers in their own words. More on this later in the series.

Here are a few more thoughts to consider while you are deciding on questions to ask.

• Repeat purchase / frequency of use / length of use metrics will help calculate truer weights for responses to qualitative “feelings.” The more a customer has purchased from you, the more weight their feelings should have.
• Ask the ‘Overall Satisfaction’ question up front as a way to set the best survey taking tone for the responder. Doing this immediately plucks the respondent’s overall impression of your company right out of the air – then builds upon it as subsequent questions are answered. This is a good way to get very honest answers.
• Use skip logic to route newer customers away from questions about repeat purchase or renewals. In general, avoid questions that make the respondent feel like you are trying to up-sell or cross-sell.
• On qualitative questions, give responders a way to respond in varying degrees. It’s hard to get into someone’s head with just Yes/No. For example, if you ask, “Would you recommend our company?” some good variances might be “Absolutely,” “Likely,” “Maybe,” “No.”

The point of the whole effort is to target actionable data discovery to bolster a competitive advantage both by leveraging the positive and finding/fixing the negative. As a simple example the bullets below about recommending ReachForce are simply an expanded take on Net Promoter. The big difference is the angle we took in terms of prompted versus non-prompted advocacy, or as I view it, the ‘gap population,’ — and the differences that exist between companies that are a reference account (92% spending x amount) versus a full blown advocate (73% spending y amount).

• 92% OF REACHFORCE CUSTOMERS SAY THEY’D RECOMMEND US (IF ASKED)
• 73% SAY THEY’VE ALREADY RECOMMENDED US (WITHOUT BEING ASKED)

As we do our Customer Success planning for 2009 we know that 92% of customers would act as a reference account if we asked. We also know that 72% have acted as a ReachForce advocate without our asking. Additional cross tab analysis shows that the 19 point gap is comprised of customers who are more satisfied with us from a technical, quantitative perspective than they are from the warm and fuzzy ‘experience’ perspective.

This is huge because now we not only know who they are – we also know what they specifically need from us to take that step up from ‘reference’ to ‘advocate.’ It’s so important because we know (by cross-tabbing these metrics with Customer Lifecycle Value) that the 73% of customers who are advocates also spend more! What better way to fine tune projections for organic growth and cross-sell, up-sell opportunity? More next week. Chime in customer experience geeks.

Last year, we at ReachForce declared January 15th the “Oh $#%@!” Day in Marketing.

Here’s why:

Are you prepared to deliver sales-ready leads in January? December is typically a slower month for B2B Marketing teams, since most organizations slow down current marketing programs and instead spend their time preparing for the next year. Then, you leave for the holidays happy to have completed the painful process of planning and budgeting for the next year’s activities. But once the holiday haze clears, it’s January and everyone is ready to kick off the New Year with new customer wins. Your sales team wants to know, “Where are my leads? I’ve got a number to hit.”

The “Oh $#%@!” moment…

If you wait until you get back from the holidays to begin developing your marketing programs, when are you going to have leads to pass to sales? End of January? Beginning of February? Can your sales team land those deals by the end of Q1?

Instead, start developing your 2009 programs now and be ready to execute your first week back. Remember to go back and look at where you’ve been before getting started. With the economy on a roller coaster, we’re all being forced to do more with less. It’s more important than ever to analyze and target your lead generation initiatives at the right buyers in YOUR target market. I promise your sales team will thank you.

This tip comes from one of our favorite marketing partners, Christa Kleinhans Tuttle. Christa is the Founder and President of Launch Marketing here in Austin.

Typically, a company engages a firm when it lacks time or internal resources to accomplish certain tasks. While this reasoning is effective and can deliver results, the most significant value of working with a third party is the opportunity to gain an unbiased perspective and deep subject matter expertise.

As the owner of a marketing firm, it is my goal to provide the best service and deliver the best results possible to every client.  So, I recently went out and spoke with multiple marketing executives to better understand what’s important to them when hiring an outside firm.  Questions ranged from discovering common pain points to successes experienced when working with a third party. I also asked about the selection process, priorities, communication styles and much more. After analyzing the results, the following are three of the top points from a client perspective:

1. The Right to be Understood. It is often seen that some firms ramp up for a client pitch by preparing their resume of accomplishments instead of taking the time to do the homework necessary to gain an understanding of your company, products or solutions. The best pitches ‘feel’ like the firm is part of the company, so much so that it should be seen as extensions of your company’s internal team. The further the firm is along on that path of alignment in early stages, the better your odds are that it will add value to your team.
2. The Right to Accountability. As a client, you have the right to receive work from a firm or consultant that is of absolute value to your company. If a firm is running up against obstacles on a project for a client, it is the responsibility of the firm or consultant to notify the client of the situation, and proactively provide an outline of alternative solutions to implement to help achieve projected goals.
3. The Right to be Number One. Most importantly, you have the right to feel like you are the only client; the top priority. Regardless of how busy your point of contact is, he or she should always be responsive and accountable to your needs. If your point of contact can’t immediately start working on your request, he or she should at least respond with a phrase such as, “I can’t get to this today, but I can do so tomorrow.” A quick response to let you know they received the message and will work on it as soon as possible is priceless.

Know Your Rights
Make sure whichever firm or consultant you choose can meet these and any other needs specific to you, your internal team and your company. The expectations you outline up front can help you build a successful and long-lasting relationship with the third party you engage. To read the expanded version of this article with all ten “rights”, click here.

I’d love to hear your feedback and any points you think should be added.

About the Author
Christa Kleinhans Tuttle, is founder and president of Launch Marketing, which acts as a virtual marketing organization primarily for technology companies, and offers a range of services from developing and implementing integrated marketing plans to completing one time projects including launches, conferences, tradeshows, Web sites, print materials, online campaigns, direct marketing and more.

We are very thankful for the past year and all of the successes we have had at ReachForce and on The B2B Lead.  We are most thankful for you, our smart, marketing-loving readers.  Today, we wanted to share with you 25 of the best posts from this year in case you might have missed them or just need a refresher.  Have a Happy Thanksgiving!

• FREE B2B Marketing Tools
• 5 Tips for Promoting Your Business Page on Facebook
• Implement Lasting Plans to Align Marketing and Sales Today
• How to Use News Releases to Reach Buyers Directly
• Practical Strategies to Building Sales-Marketing Alignment
• Even Hitler Got Twitter – Marketing WTF?
• How to Write and Market Whitepapers
• Blogs – Don’t Underestimate Their Reach
• Going New Places – Targeting New Buyers in New Vertical Markets
• Drive Revenue from Customer Events
• How to Get 3,190 People to Watch a Demo at a Tradeshow
• Are You a Viral VIP? – The Definitive Guide to Viral Video Success
• Marketing to the Entire Decision Making Unit
• Driving More Traffic at Trade Shows
• Using Sales Wins Analysis for Focused Lead Generation
• 10 Signs You Picked the Wrong Web Design Agency – Marketing WTF?
• Lead Generation Using Email Marketing
• Using Surveys for Lead Scoring
• He’s Singin’ My Tune – Marketing WTF?
• No Matter How Cool the Giveaway, Not Everyone at the Trade Show Will Want One – Marketing WTF?
• Invest in the Right Tools to Track the Metrics That Matter
• Dive in and Jumpstart SEO With a Quick Start Plan
• Turn Role-based Data Into Interested Prospects With a Relevant and Enticing Call to Action
• Customer Experience Tips for Indexing Relationship Metrics to Find, Keep and Grow More Customers
• Our New President, Barack Obama – Marketer of the Year

First the insurance companies, then the banks, and now the automotive industry…
Feeling like YOU need a bailout, a marketing bailout?

Get 30Days of FREE ReachForce Insight, and get Customer Wins Analysis and Sales Pipeline Analysis.  With this FREE Trial you’ll be able to:

• Get a snapshot of your target market “sweet spot”
• Highlight new customer wins with the shortest sales cycles
• Identify how many more companies have similar profiles to your winning market segment
• Understand patterns within opportunities in the active sales pipeline
• Focus lead generation initiatives on industries that are driving the most revenue

At ReachForce, we know that targeting the right people in the right companies drives results in good times and bad.  By targeting the right buyers in the right companies for your product or service you are guaranteed to increase marketing ROI and accelerate sales cycles.  To help ease the pain of budget cuts and program changes, we put together a bailout program for B2B Marketers to help you better target the reminder of your budget and programs.

Still wanting more?  We understand.  We all do.  So in addition to getting a Free wins analysis…

Get a 30Day Trial of ReachForce Convert and start turning your unknown website visitors into actionable marketing leads.  With this 30Day Trial you’ll be able to:

• apply custom business rules to score web visitors (leads) based on their activity
• identify how many more companies have similar profiles to your unknown visitors
• profile top visitors by industry and appends these records with industry verticals, SIC codes, revenue and employee size

By combining your wins analysis and unknown website visitor reports you’ll have a better understanding of where you should be targeting your lead generation efforts.  Targeted lead generation ensures you are getting the most of your marketing programs and your budget.

And, it’s all FREE, why wouldn’t you want to know.

In my last two posts (#1) (#2) a discussion about Customer Experience Indexing (CEI) as a way to measure, plan and act on both emotional (loyal) and quantifiable (satisfied) customer feedback is underway. Many thanks go out to those who have offered feedback and questions so far. Keep them coming!

We’ve just started working our way down a list of six (I’ve adjusted slightly) areas:

1. Planning
   ->we are here
2. Optimizing the flow of both loyalty and satisfaction feedback
3. Analysis of feedback and calculation “CEI scores”
4. Using the data for short, mid and long term account plans for retention and growth
5. Using the data to locate new prospects using rule based company profiling and role-based targeting
6. Using the data to plan and deliver action plans aimed at reshaping customer attitudes and opinions

Last week the importance of having an approved plan and budget was stressed. Don’t start something like this unless the leadership at your company is willing to sign on as sponsor and be directly involved long term. The goal is to have sustainable ways to collect customer feedback, as well as having a formal business process to make sure collected feedback is actionable.

Every good CEI plan needs three basic components operating as pistons in a multi-mode data acquisition engine. Simple is better … so we look at them this way (with a few examples):

1. Ways to PUSH for customer feedback
   -customer satisfaction survey – SLA report card – quality/value audits
2. Ways to PULL customer feedback in –
   -customer conference, advisory board, focus group, social media
3. Ways to REPSOND consistently to customer feedback
   -CRM data integration; adjustments to communication, product, service level, project and account management strategies

Programs such as key account groups and client advisory panels will differ greatly in execution but the goals are the same … create a unified approach to the relationship with a particular customer, no matter how many points of contact there are and bring the right resources to the table at just the right time regardless of whether those customers are buying, implementing, maintaining or planning their future.

As I said last week (#2) a good way to get a CEI plan off the ground is with a simple but effective customer satisfaction survey. Here, response rates are king and the kinds of questions asked are important because this sets the waterline for both satisfaction and loyalty metrics for the entire program going forward.

I’m happy to go into greater detail about optimizing survey response rates –just let me know, but basically the tactics listed under item #7 from last week’s checklist (#2) have always worked very well for the teams I’ve been on. For example, we recently achieved 90% response to the 2008 Customer Satisfaction Survey at ReachForce.

Survey writing is next. Remember to use less than ten questions and keep them pithy. Simple language = good. And as a giver of many surveys, trust me – use multiple choice and/or ‘true or false’ as much as possible. Open ended questions make peoples’ hair hurt.

Two types of questions to think about:

1. Service fundamentals (quality function, basic expectations)
2. Advocacy (value, competitive advantage)

‘Service fundamentals’ questions are (logically) where the bulk of your ‘satisfied-type’ metrics will come from. They should be written to solicit quantifiable answers.

Specific example:
“How many times a year do you use service ABC?”

This example locks potential answers down to specific objects and links the all important use-frequency metric that is part of the weighting and scoring stuff we’ll talk about later.

‘Advocacy’ questions are for getting inside the respondents’ head and are often multi-dimension. These are where the bulk of your emotional ‘loyalty-type’ metrics will come from (like Net Promoter). They should be written as an attempt to empathize with the respondent.

Specific example:
“From list below, select the part of your ABC service plan that you DISLIKE most?”
And then for added dimension: “what do you LIKE most?”

In both cases a list of well thought out (and friendly tested) multiple choices will help hone in on what about your relationship is most important and vulnerable to the respondent. People generally ‘like’ (and are loyal to) things that are solving their pain = important to them. They generally ‘dislike’ (and aren’t loyal to) things that miss the expectations mark and force them to find a work-around, or as we say: “leave their pain on the table.”

The same duality is REALLY in play with the “Ultimate” advocacy question = “Would you recommend us to a friend or colleague?” As I was taught as a young dad, “to be really, really sure you have to check their temperature from both ends.” I propose more detail on that, here, next post. Keep the feedback rolling.

HubSpot’s ebook, Get Found Online, is right on the money. Today’s marketing is changing from outbound to inbound, and “consumers are going to the Internet to start their purchasing process.” For businesses to remain competitive, their websites need to be found online through search engines, the blogosphere and social media sites.

Luckily, this eBook gives detailed steps on how to be found on each of these inbound marketing techniques. Here is a short outline which should entice you to read the eBook for all the great how to tips (pages 5-9) to get found online.

How to get found on search engines:

1. Find Keywords – choose keywords that your target market is using
2. On-Page SEO – place keywords in the page title, URL, headings and page text
3. Off-Page SEO – build more links
4. Measure & Analyze

How to get found on blogs:

1. Read – other industry blogs
2. Comment – join in on the conversation (even link back to your own blog)
3. Write – find the right blog software, blog weekly and promote your blog
4. Measure & Analyze

How to get found on social media:

1. Guidelines for Engagement – join communities and provide useful information, don’t just sell your company
2. Publish, Share, and Network – everyone can publish and share anything, everyone can network with anyone (through content placement sites, linking to others an online communities)
3. Measure & Analysis

I manage all the online media for ReachForce, and found these tips extremely useful. It is really cool to see how many people go to our website from our blog and social media sites. Think of any other useful tips while reading Get Found Online? Please share!

HubSpot is an inbound marketing system that helps your small or medium sized business get found on the Internet by the right prospects and convert more of them into leads and customers.

No book club next week for Thanksgiving (you have an extra week to read)! Look for us on Thursday, December 4th talking about Marketo’s Best Practices in Lead Nurturing…enjoy!

As I was working on my FREE list last week I noticed I seemed to also be building a list of things that we as B2B Marketers can do that require minimal cost, like less than $100.

• StumbleUpon advertising – be very targeted with your ad and your landing page.  Each click only costs  you $.05.  I’ve only heard good stuff about this, we’ll be trying this one immediately.
• Long Tail PPC keywords – think niche, pick words or phrases people would use to search for your EXACT solution.  The landing page is just as important as your ad.  You’re goal is to convert unknown visitors into known leads.  Remember you can track companies visiting your landing pages using ReachForce Convert.
• Survey Monkey or Zoomerang – both have free versions or subscription pricing (for more features) of about $20/per month.  Create a survey and use it for lead generation, thought leadership or PR.  People are interested in what their peers think and are doing, share your results with the participants.
• PRWeb – write a news release and link it up.  Add an offer to the news release or offer additional content on a landing page with the full announcement.
• Start a blog – you can do this for free but you might consider investing in your own look (vs. stock templates and photos).   Regularly updated content helps your SEO too.
• Video/Podcast Series – you can add them to your website and use them for lead generation programs.  Get a FLiP camera and set up your YouTube account and you’re ready to go.  Remember to keep your videos and podcasts short and to the point.
• Email campaign – If you don’t already use an email or marketing automation system, check out VerticalResponse.  Emails start at less than $.02 a piece.

I’m sure my short list is only a beginning of things you can do for about $100, please feel free to add to the list if you’ve got more.

Last week I expressed my thoughts about the differences between “loyal” and “satisfied” customers. I give lots of credit to Net Promoter for the role it has played promoting (sorry for pun) the concept of easy to digest relationship marketing metrics. That said – I personally need more than just an advocacy index to create and tune relationship strategy for my company’s customers.

Customer Experience Indexing is how I measure, plan and act on both emotional (loyal) and quantifiable (satisfied) customer feedback. Starting with item 1 below, my next several posts will open discussion about …

1. Optimizing the flow of both loyalty and satisfaction feedback
2. Analysis of feedback and calculation “CEI scores”
3. Using the data for short, mid and long term account plans for retention and growth
4. Using the data to locate new prospects using rule based company profiling and role-based targeting
5. Using the data to plan and deliver action plans aimed at reshaping customer attitudes and opinions

Customer feedback in the consumer marketing world has become an art form. Comparatively, B2B companies seem to lag far behind in having clear, sustainable ways to collect feedback, as well as having formal business process to make sure collected feedback is actionable.

The best way to get started is to make sure your company’s business leaders buy in and get involved. And the best way to make sure this happens is to write up a plan and make sure it gets budgeted. (Warning — Don’t even start a Customer Experience Measurement initiative if you don’t have this support. Without it, you will do more harm than good with your customers — as well as waste a lot of time and effort.)

While there are many variables to this type of planning by company size, type, etc., this blog series will cover quite a few customer feedback channels. The most common of all is the dreaded “annual customer satisfaction survey” (mine come with a few twists), and for a number of reasons it’s the best way to get a Customer Experience Measurement effort successfully off the ground.

To finish off this week’s post here is a checklist for getting your plan started:

1. Subscribe to an inexpensive online survey tool (a valuable thing you’ll find many uses for).
2. Figure $60 per customer as a good budget for getting the first year of your plan started (very large customer bases may need smaller scale plan)
3. Involve everyone with frequent customer facing responsibilities (Account managers, Project managers, etc.), segment your list up and assign “contact ownership” by role, (not just by account).
4. Meet with company stakeholders to craft role-based, multiple choice questions that need to be asked and answered. (We’ll talk about putting the scoring mechanism in place later). There are two basic types of questions to consider:
   • Service fundamentals (quality function, basic expectations
   • Advocacy (value, competitive advantage)
5. Test the questions on at least 2 friendly customers and ask them what questions they think you should ask.
6. Create and review the invitee list with your assigned contact owners. Usually, I like to keep the invitations focused on people you deal with (by role) at accounts that have been active within the past 12-18 months. Make sure email addresses and other contact information are accurate/current and that all contact owners “agree” (important) that inviting them into survey process is viable (formula is alive + working + accessible = invitee).
7. Clarify objectives, rewards and tactics. I’ve run a few of these initiatives so I tend to aim high.
   • Goals/objectives: If the invitee list is agreed to with the assigned contact owners (step 6), shooting for and achieving 90% response rates within 45 days is highly doable.
   • Rewards: Offer invitees a meaningful reward for taking time to complete the survey. There are many ideas here, but $20* Amazon.com e-gift certificates have always worked wonders for me. Offer the same $20* (per response) reward to the assigned contact owners as a way to motivate them to provide all important follow-up throughout the remainder of the 45 campaign.  *Note that we’ve already used 2/3s of the per customer budget.
   • The following tactics have proven highly successful in maximizing response rates:
     -Don’t ask more than 10 questions
     -Keep questions pithy
     -Avoid soliciting open ended responses as much as possible
     -Schedule email invitations/reminders to avoid heavy traffic
     -Leverage companywide email signature lines with reminders/links
     -Leverage all phone customer phone contact with reminders
     -Include a write up about the survey in your customer newsletter
     -Leverage outbound customer mailing (including billing) with reminders
     -Create fun response rate competition amongst the assigned contact owners
     -Get upper management involved with reminder phone calls, personal emails, etc.

To be continued. Please chime in with your own ideas and thoughts.

If you’ve been doing B2B Marketing for any length of time you know who Brian Carroll is.  If you don’t know who he is, you should.  His eBook, Eight Critical Success Factors for Lead Generation, is a must read for “lead generation specialists committed  to the long-term proposition that digging for leads, educating prospects, navigating the nuances of the complex sale and creating new, high-level return on investment is what has brought lead generation to the position it enjoys in the marketing hierarchy today”.

I read this eBook a couple of years ago but I was due a refresher.  While all 8 factors are important to lead generation success, I pulled out a few things we could all benefit from doing or ensuring on a more regular basis.  My summary and highlights by no means replaces reading the eBook.

• Remember you are creating conversations, not campaigns – “Companies don’t buy, people do.”  With each lead generation initiative we are developing an ongoing relationship with the prospect.  We are educating and providing value with each touch.  Or at least we should be.
• Be sure you have identified an Ideal Customer Profile before getting started – we’ve talked about personas many times on The B2B Lead. Building out the ideal customer profile makes everyone’s job easier.  Why wouldn’t you do it?
• Universal Lead Definition – it’s key that both Sales and Marketing agree on this.  “There is consensus that sales functionaries fail to act on nearly 80% of the leads they get, largely because most of the leads aren’t qualified, or because appropriate buyers haven’t been identified and targeted.”
• Your database – your most valuable marketing asset.  “The properly designed and well-maintained database is the hub of all lead generation activity and communication.”
• Lead nurturing – we all know it takes multiple touches to turn a contact to a lead and a lead to a real prospect.  “Lead nurturing is not a single marketing campaign, but rather a series of steps and communication tactics with the objective of developing and building a relationship with the potential customer.”  Automation tools make this easier than ever.  No more excuses to not nurturing.

This is only a few highlights from the eBook, now go read it yourself if you haven’t already.  If nothing else, the pictures/diagrams are worth your time.

Brian Carroll, CEO of InTouch, Inc. part of the MECLABS Group that owns MarketingExperiments and MarketingSherpa and author of Lead Generation for the Complex Sale (McGraw-Hill 2006) and the B2B Lead Generation Blog with expertise related to B2B marketing, lead generation and complex sales.

Once you’re done with this one go ahead and download next week’s eBook – HubSpot’s Get Found Online.  We’ll be chatting about it next Thursday here on The B2B Lead.