Lean CE: Are you spending too much money on your customers?!

by | Jun 15, 2012 | Customer Experience | 0 comments

Let’s be honest, some of the highest spenders in CE are not necessarily the best at it! Why? Because it is not about how much money you spend but what you do with it that counts. So taking this as your maxim, is there a way we could actually reduce our spend commitment to customers without impacting the value drivers of our CE. This is an important question but one often not considered. Of course it is very attractive; taking cost out of the business is after all an imperative in ‘austerity times’.

The simple answer is yes, there is a method to see whether you are focusing investment in the right areas and by dint whether you can take waste and cost out of your experience.

This involves the application of what I would call: Lean CE

Firstly, I am not promising to say after a Lean CE analysis that this ‘will’ identify cost savings. What I am saying is that it is a rigorous method that combines statistical robustness with creative thinking to define ‘Quick Savings’ and ‘Long-term savings initiatives’ (the corollary of quick wins and large-scale initiatives). Conducting this requires a deliberate ‘glass half empty’ viewpoint. Here we are shining a light on what drives dissatisfaction and reductions in spend, tenure and so forth. The aim is to remove these. Notice the different perspective applied, most firms talk in the positive, how can we drive up CSAT or recommendation or spend, in Lean CE we actively look to take down or out the negatives.

Lean CE then requires:

  1. Driver and destroyer analysis of your Customer Experience (apply Emotional Signature looking for things such as tipping points so we focus on the sweet spot of investment only i.e., perhaps you do not need to over invest in call centres, after a certain point there is no return)
  2. Translate into financial estimates of return
  3. Map the experience to give focused resolution to a change i.e., understand what this change would mean in the flow of the customer story
  4. Pilot change
 Steven Walden is VP Consulting and Thought-Leadership for Beyond Philosophy. Steven has 17 years Strategy Consultancy experience directing and designing strategies for major B2C & B2B firms. At Beyond Philosophy, the Global Customer Experience Consultancy, he is a Thought Leader and Innovator, directing engagements to assist leading firms to transform through Customer Experience. A world-leader in emotional experience his skills lie in innovation, thought-leadership, strategy consultancy and Qual/ Quant research. He is a regular speaker at conferences, blog writer, CE Trainer and international author.

Submit a Comment

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *