Increasing Customer Status

Johnnie and I are doing a few Open Sauce workshops in the US this week.  One of the ideas that we've been exploring is 'increasing customer status'.  This is quite a helpful notion when working out how to make co-creative programmes tick.  The marketing industry has been guilty of treating customers like targets - not people.  But these days, modern marketeers know that such heavy-handed approaches don't cut the mustard.  When customers have access to their own media bringing them into the marketing process is one way to go.  However, brands that do this need to be clear about their intentions.  If the idea is to use customer community to create another branded vehicle, it's unlikely to work.  Only programmes that increase the status of customers are going to hit the mark.  And that means letting people talk to each other, listening to what they are saying, acknowledging their concerns, taking on board their suggestions, and even giving them some say over the development of products and services.  Not difficult ideas to understand - but tricky for mega-corps to handle.

Comments

[Graham Hill]

James

I fully agree with the importance of raising the profile of customers, in general, within business. It is part and parcel of understanding how mutual value can be delivered to customers as well as to the companies that serve them.

Unfortunately, although all customers are equal, some are more equal than others. For example. Some have a higher lifetime value. Some are easier to serve. Some have a better fit with the company and are likely to remain loyal longer. Some are leading innovators in using the company's products. Some are leading influencers in the market at large. Some even love the company and all that it stands for (if you have great products, treat your customers really well and are really lucky). And so forth.

The obvious challenge is in increasing the status of different customers for different purposes. The real challenge is in working out how to do this cost effectively.

Graham Hill
Independent CRM Consultant