Growth Archives - Vizability.net

Archive for Growth

Marketing, Customer Experience (CX), and Growth

Posted by Bruce Barchus on March 17, 2016

It is natural to think that marketing (as a function across an organization) is tightly connected with the customer. Sadly, this is not the case. Most often, marketing is focused on internal goals. For example, how much the organization wants to accomplish and what the organization wants to sell (independent from how the product or service adds value to the customer). Most businesses have lost meaningful touch with the customer. In order for an organization to connect with its customer, it needs to have outside-in behavior. The following factors (at a minimum) need to be in place within the organization to truly engage a customer:

Active customer listening
- What are their pains?
- What do they hope to gain?
- What words do they use?
End-to-end marketing across the organization
- Is messaging consistent across tactics?
- Do the sales channels even know about the offer?
- Do the sales channels reflect the marketing message?
- Does the customer get from the operation what was promised by
  marketing:
  - Product features
  - Pricing
  - Timing/delivery
Segmented messaging based on differences in the customers’ profiles
and behaviors
Planned and measured customer experience (CX)

If these things are not true in an organization, then marketing is operating on an inside-out basis. On the other hand, if these things are true, then marketing is working on an outside-in basis and is likely to drive significant growth.

Are your marketing efforts truly engaged in an outside-in customer experience (CX)?

Tags: Customer Experience, CX, Growth

Posted in: Customer Experience, Growth, Uncategorized

How to Thrive: The Vizability Ecosystem

Posted by Bruce Barchus on December 6, 2015

What does it take for an organization to thrive? Like other forms of life, it takes an ecosystem where all the elements work towards a well-defined set of goals. In our experience, the organizations that are thriving are those that include the customer as part of the ecosystem right along side the growth and operational elements.

Customers: Customer experience (CX) is one aspect of a healthy organizational ecosystem. Companies that only focus on increased revenue goals and operational efficiencies open themselves up to competitors who DO listen to the marketplace. And example of this is Uber. Who would have thought that customers would be willing to pay more just to get a clean and convenient ride? Taxicab companies allowed the disruption in their space by ignoring this key aspect of their business.

Growth: But let’s not forget that the organizational ecosystem still needs to generate a profit. This requires effective marketing, sales, and product innovation to drive revenue. Profitability provides for investments in customer experience and operations. Investments are necessary for an organization to grow.

Operations: The operational aspect of the ecosystem needs to run effectively and manage expenses. It needs to deliver its service level agreements. An organization’s ability to execute has a direct impact on customer experience (CX) and profitability. In order to be great, operations need outside-in customer-driven thinking.

TALKING about a being healthy ecosystem won’t get you anywhere near BEING a healthy ecosystem. As a result, organizations need the clearly defined strategy and executional capabilities to make it all happen.

The dynamics of a healthy ecosystem are that all aspects are tended to and nurtured in harmony with the rest of the system. If any aspect of the ecosystem is deprived, that area will fail and the ecosystem will collapse. Typical dysfunctions in the organizational ecosystem include:

Customer/Growth bias leads to Operational stress
Customer /Operations bias leads to Growth stress
Growth/Operations bias leads to Customer stress

While every organizational ecosystem experiences stress in one area or another over time, leadership must be active and accountable to ensure the stress is limited and re-aligned to the goals of the ecosystem.

Posted in: Customer Experience, Growth, Operations, Strategy, Uncategorized

There Is No Magic Bullet…Now Get To Work

Posted by Cathy Carlson on October 19, 2015

Or, as Yoda would say if he were a consultant, “No magic bullet, there is. To work now get.” (Thank you Yoda-Speak Generator)

“There has to be a magic bullet.” We hear this a lot in our business from individuals and companies who are struggling to get launched or grow. Everyone believes they are missing just one thing—a magic bullet—that one thing that will solve all their problems.

The bad news is there is no magic bullet…for anything. Not your strategy, growth, marketing, operations, and least of all, YOUR CUSTOMERS. Any vendor or consultant who tells you different is lying. There is only work. Hard work.

The good news is success…in all areas…is possible if you’re willing to take a customer-centric—outside/in—approach to your business.

Listen to WHAT your customers are telling you—or perhaps NOT telling you in some cases. Then uncover the WHY. That’s where the magic lies…now get to work.

Posted in: Customer Experience, Growth