Customer Engagement Plan Methodology

Customer Engagement Plan Methodology
© 2014 Demand Metric Research Corporation. All Rights Reserved.
Follow this step-by-step guide to improve how customers engage with your company and to enable your organization with a customer centric approach to drive revenue.
01 Initiative Preparation
02 Journey Mapping
03 Strategy Planning
04 Technology Selection
05 Engagement & Advocacy
06 Measurement

Meet The Authors
Clare Price, VP Research Clare is an expert in marketing strategy, branding, strategic communications, sales enablement, social media marketing, content marketing and leveraging marketing technologies. Clare is a former Gartner Research Director and helped build their Internet Strategies Services division with clients such as Microsoft, IBM, HP, Cisco, Proctor & Gamble and Wells Fargo.
Kristen Maida, Sr. Research Analyst Kristen has worked with Demand Metric for the past 4 years, learning about and gaining experience in all aspects of the organization. She has developed job functions in almost every department to help with Demand Metric’s rapid growth. Her specialties include: social media marketing, digital marketing, content marketing & management and business process development.
Jerry Rackley, Chief Analyst Jerry Rackley is Chief Analyst at Demand Metric. His 30- year marketing career began at IBM, and includes experience in the technology and financial services sectors. He has worked with companies ranging in size from startups to members of the global 1000, performing marketing, marketing communication, public relations and product management work.
Christine Crandell, EVP Membership Success Christine Crandell is a B2B strategy, marketing and transformation expert who helps CEOs, CMOs, CROs, COOs and investors accelerate revenue growth. She leads a team of seasoned marketing and sales professionals with deep experience in a variety of areas. It is from her 20+ years of marketing and strategy experience that she developed the Sellers’ Compass™ methodology for leading companies to become customer-aligned and accelerating revenue.

How to Use this Consulting Methodology:
1.Understand the shift from Customer Experience to Customer Engagement objectives.
2.Plan & Develop a Journey Map to improve how customers engage with your company.
3.Select & Implement technologies to enhance the customer’s experience with your brand.
4.Identify Advocates & Measure results to increase brand awareness and drive revenue.
If you need assistance implementing your Customer Engagement strategy, contact Demand Metric to schedule a consult with an experienced Analyst: email us at info@demandmetric.com or call us on (866) 947-7744.
This methodology consists of six stages, each with a description of steps and action items. Action items include using our premium tools & templates. Our goal for your use of this methodology is to help you:

Major Outputs from this Process:
Stage 01 – Customer Engagement Maturity Assessment and Business Case Stage 02 – Customer Journey Map, Buyer Persona Template(s) Stage 03 – Customer Engagement Strategy Scorecard, Project Plan, Budget & Job Roles Stage 04 – Customer Engagement System RFPs, Vendor Evaluations and Vendor Selection Stage 05 – Touch Point Diagram, Customer Satisfaction Survey, Customer Advocate Database Stage 06 – Customer Satisfaction Index and Customer Engagement Metrics Dashboard

Demand Metric defines Customer Engagement (CE) as the strategies, processes, technology and tools that enable an organization to attract, gain, retain and influence the behavior of customers consistently and effectively across all touch points throughout the lifetime of the customer’s relationship with the company. Equally important, from the buyer’s point of view, Customer Engagement is the buyer’s on- going connection to and growing appreciation of the company’s brand, people, products and services through every interaction and touch point during the lifetime of their relationship with the company. Done well, Customer Engagement fosters a lifelong advocate (think Apple) who embraces the company and brand beyond any one product or service experience.
What is Customer Engagement?

Demand Metric positions Customer Engagement as the evolution of Customer Experience (CX) and its corollary Voice of the Customer (VoC). This is based on the reality that companies cannot really control the customer’s experience. They can influence it, but they cannot control it. Numerous studies have shown that the buyer completes from 55% to 75% of their purchasing decision journey before they contact the company or sales rep. That means marketers and customer success teams must be creative in how they engage with potential customers. If customers aren’t coming to the company, the company must actively reach out to them with the right “touch” to create a connection for that point of the journey. Every touch across the omni-channel is critical. This is why making Customer Engagement a corporate priority and not simply a sales or customer service issue is so important to revenue success.
Customer Experience v. Engagement

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06 Measurement
STAGE 01 – INITIATIVE PREPARATION
In this Stage, you will focus your efforts around understanding your organization’s strengths & weaknesses as it related to Customer Engagement, documenting your goals and objectives, and developing a business case to gain buy-in from senior management for this initiative. Key steps in this stage include:
1.Understand Customer Engagement
2.Review the Levels of Customer Engagement Maturity
3.Identify Your Organization’s Level of Maturity
4.Build a Business Case
Initiative Preparation

Action Item – Read our Customer Engagement Best Practices Report to learn about the practice area, obtain key insights for program development and implementation and review the vendor landscape.
This Best Practices Report:
Details the benefits of Customer Engagement
Describes the shift from CX to CE
Highlights vendor research for the five CE technologies Also Download our Content & Buyer’s Journey Benchmark Report to get relevant research on the customer’s journey.
Download
STEP 1 – Understand Customer Engagement
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STEP 2 – Review the Levels of CE Maturity
Action Item – Review our Customer Engagement Maturity Model to learn how Demand Metric defines four stages of maturity based on the seven key components of Customer Engagement.
The seven components of Customer Engagement are:
Orientation
Leadership
Tools & Platforms
Customer Success
Download
Alignment
Budget & Staff
Metrics
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STEP 3 – Identify Your Organization’s Maturity Level
Action Item – Complete our Customer Engagement Maturity Assessment to understand where your organization falls on the four tiers of Customer Engagement maturity.
Download
The four levels of maturity are defined as follows:
Undefined
Progressive
Mature
World-Class
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Action Item – Use our Customer Engagement Business Case to ensure senior management that Customer Engagement initiatives aligns with current business goals & objectives.
Sections of your business case should include:
Executive Summary
Opportunity Overview & Key Success Factors
Assumptions & Decision-Making Criteria
Business Impact Analysis
Risk & Contingency Plans
Recommendation
Download
STEP 4 – Build a Business Case
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STAGE 02 – CREATE JOURNEY MAP
In this Stage, you will learn more about how your customers engage with your organization. You will identify the key buyer personas for your business and map out how each of those personas interacts with your organization. Key activities for this stage include:
1.Review the Customer Engagement Map
2.Learn More About Journey Mapping
3.Create Journey Map
4.Identify Key Buyer Persona(s)
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Journey Mapping

STEP 1 – Review the Customer Engagement Map
Action Item – Use our Customer Engagement Map to follow the buyer’s journey from problem identification to brand advocacy and which technologies work best at each stage of the journey.
This map includes the following key touch points:
1.Problem Identification
2.Research
3.Technology Evaluation
4.Validation
5.Purchase/Acquisition
Download
6.Implementation
7.Relationship Building
8.Benefit Assessment
9.Account Expansion
10.Advocacy & Loyalty
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Journey Mapping

STEP 2 – Learn More About Journey Mapping
Action Item – In order to successfully complete Engagement/Journey Maps for your organization, read our series of How-To Guides (listed below) on the use cases and impact of Journey Maps.
How-To Guides on Journey Mapping included in the Demand Metric library are:
Developing Sales Playbooks from Journey Maps
Developing Content Strategy from Journey Maps
Improving Campaign Conversions with Journey Maps
Download
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Journey Mapping

STEP 3 – Create Journey Map
Download
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Journey Mapping
Action Item – Utilize our Customer Journey Map to identify typical engagement touch points, which will enable you to align buyer personas to their journey.
This tool helps you define the buying process at the following stages:
Discovery/Research
Evaluation/Comparison
Decision/Purchase
Implementation
Support/Renew

STEP 4 – Identify Key Buyer Persona(s)
Action Item – Use our Buyer Persona Template to define common characteristics, buying behaviors and pain points for each of your target buyer personas.
Other tools that may assist you in identifying your audience are as follows:
Customer Profile Template
Buying Stage Process Template
Download
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Journey Mapping

STAGE 03 – PLAN YOUR STRATEGY
In this Stage, you plan out your Customer Engagement strategy, programs and initiatives by learning the important aspects of the Customer Engagement Framework and identifying key roles, responsibilities, processes, technologies, content and metrics. The key activities in this Stage are:
1.Understand the Customer Engagement Framework
2.Create a Customer Engagement Strategy
3.Establish a Project Plan
4.Identify Budget Allocations
5.Define Roles & Responsibilities
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Strategy Planning

STEP 1 – Understand the CE Framework
Action Item – Review our Customer Engagement Framework to learn how all of the departments and components of an organization come together to develop, coordinate on and operate with Customer Engagement best practices.
This framework defines Customer Engagement efforts across six categories:
Roles
Responsibilities
Processes
Download
Technology
Content
Metrics
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Strategy Planning

STEP 2 – Create a Customer Engagement Strategy
Action Item – Use our Customer Engagement Strategy Workbook to provide senior management with a one-page document that clearly outlines your action plan for this project. This document will also allow you to track your strategy progress throughout the year.
Key information to include in scorecard:
Objectives
Programs & Initiatives
Metrics & KPIs
Timeframes and Goals
Goal Achievement Tracking
Download
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Strategy Planning

Sections of your project charter should include:
Project Overview
Description
Key Success Factors
Risk Identification
Project Stakeholders
Communications Plan
Decision Rights
Approval
STEP 3 – Establish a Project Plan
Action Item – Utilize our Customer Engagement Project Plan to establish a clear scope, to identify decision rights and to secure executive sponsorship for the initiative.
Download
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Strategy Planning

STEP 4 – Identify Budget Allocations
Action Item – Employ our Customer Engagement Budget Template to track the overall costs for your Customer Engagement programs, initiatives, staffing and resources.
Download
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Strategy Planning
The key components of this budget are:
Technology, Implementation & Support
Staffing
Training & Education
Promotions & Marketing Campaigns
Content Development

STEP 4 – Define Roles & Responsibilities
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Strategy Planning
Action Item – Utilize our Modern Marketing Department Structure to assemble your Customer Engagement team. Our Customer Engagement Framework can help you define responsibilities by role.
Download
Critical job functions to consider for your Customer Engagement team are:
VP, Customer Success
VP or Director of Customer Engagement
Customer Success Manager(s)

STAGE 04 – TECHNOLOGY SELECTION
At this point, you have learned about Customer Engagement and developed Journey Maps and strategies to properly interact with your audience. Now, you will evaluate the technology landscape in order to implement your strategic initiatives. This stage includes the following steps:
1.Read Demand Metric’s Vendor Research
2.Evaluate Vendors and Create a Short List
3.Submit RFPs to Short-Listed Vendors
4.Conduct Evaluations and Make Decisions
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Technology Selection

STEP 1 – Read Demand Metric’s Vendor Research
Action Item – Review the “Vendor Solutions” section of our Customer Engagement Best Practices Report to learn about the technology landscape. This report covers all five technologies, but highlights Personalization and Voice of the Customer (VoC).
For more information on the other three technologies, review the following reports:
Advocacy and Loyalty Technology Overview
Gamification Technology Overview
Online Communities Technology Overview
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Download

STEP 2 – Evaluate Vendors and Make a Short List
Action Item – Use our series of Vendor Matrices (listed below) designed specifically for Customer Engagement to evaluate the top 10-30 vendors for each technology platform. Make a short list of the vendors you will be considering for implementation.
Download
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These matrices are as follows:
Advocacy and Loyalty Vendor Matrix
Gamification Vendor Matrix
Online Communities Vendor Matrix
Personalization Vendor Matrix
Voice of the Customer Vendor Matrix

STEP 3 – Submit RFPs to Short-Listed Vendors
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Download
Action Item – Use our series of System RFPs (listed below) designed specifically for Customer Engagement to document your requirements for each technology and send off to your short-listed vendors to receive more information on their solutions.
Advocacy and Loyalty System RFP
Gamification System RFP Template
Online Community System RFP Template
Personalization System RFP Template
Voice of the Customer System RFP

STEP 4 – Conduct Evaluations & Make Decisions
Download
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Action Item – Use our series of Vendor Evaluations (listed below) designed specifically for Customer Engagement to compare vendors against one another based on up-to-date technology requirements. After this exercise is complete, decide on your solution(s).
Advocacy and Loyalty Vendor Evaluation
Gamification Vendor Evaluation
Online Community Vendor Evaluation
Personalization Vendor Evaluation
Voice of the Customer Vendor Evaluation

STAGE 05 – ENGAGEMENT & ADVOCACY
Now that you have selected the technologies that will assist you with your Customer Engagement programs, you can begin connecting with your prospects and customers. This stage will help you enhance and track interactions as well as identify key advocates for your brand. In this Stage, you will:
1.Build Long-Lasting Relationships
2.Prove Product/Service Value
3.Expand Account Size and Partnership Duration
4.Identify & Track Brand Advocates
5.Engage Advocates & Request Referrals
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Engagement & Advocacy

STEP 1 – Build Long-Lasting Relationships
Action Item – Download our Communications Touch Point Diagram to ensure you plan out your customer contact points strategically. Each touch point is critical in building a solid, long-lasting relationship with each client.
Touch points can include, but are not limited to:
Sales Cycle Calls
Customer Success Calls
Email Campaigns
Social Media Contact
Online Community Interactions
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Download

STEP 2 – Prove Product/Service Value
Action Item – Ensure your customers are getting the full value out of your product/service by offering a Customer Satisfaction Survey along with your planned Customer Success calls to get feedback. Use the data obtained to enhance customer interactions.
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Download
Use this survey to get feedback on the following elements of your organization:
Buying Process
Value Proposition
Products/Services
Strategic Direction
Customer Service & Support
Website/Customer Portal
Brand Preference

STEP 3 – Expand Account Size & Partnership Duration
Action Item – Implement our Key Account Planning Tool to track the progress on each of your important accounts. This tools includes allows you to document important information on the client, opportunity size and action plans for growth.
Other tools that may assist you with this step are:
Account Scoring Template
Decision Maker Influencer Map
Key Account Analysis
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Download

STEP 4 – Identify & Track Brand Advocates
Action Item – While implementing your Advocacy & Loyalty platform to identify your advocates, utilize our Customer Advocate Database to track key information on these customers.
Track the following information in this database:
Customer/Company Name
Demographics
Buyer Persona
Touch Point Discussions
Feedback & Referrals
Download
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STEP 4 – Engage Advocates & Request Referrals
Action Item – Once you have identified the most influential advocates in your client base, utilize our Referral Partnership Agreement to begin a referral relationship with them. By generating leads from customers, you will create a new funnel of business.
Benefits of Referral Partnerships:
Generating pre-qualified leads
Gaining leads that will be hearing your praise from current brand advocates
Driving profits from a new revenue stream
Download
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STAGE 06 – MEASUREMENT
Now that you have executed your strategy, implemented technologies, began engaging users and identified potential brand advocates, you can start to measure the results of your Customer Engagement program. In this Stage, you will:
1.Calculate Key Customer Metrics
2.Measure Your Customer Engagement Program
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Measurement

STEP 1 – Calculate Key Customer Metrics
Action Item – Use our Customer Satisfaction Index Calculator to determine the CSI for your product(s), service(s), company and/or brand based on the responses to your Customer Satisfaction Survey. Use these two tools in conjunction to get an accurate CSI analysis.
Other important metrics to consider for your Customer Engagement program are the Net Promoter Score (NPS) and Customer Lifetime Value (CLV). Our Customer Lifetime Value Calculator is also available within the Demand Metric library to help you complete the calculations for that specific metric.
Download
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Measurement

STEP 2 – Measure Customer Engagement Program
Action Item – Use the Customer Engagement Metrics Dashboard to track the Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) for your program. Update this dashboard on a monthly basis to generate high-quality graphs that will show your progress.
Some of the key metrics we suggest analyzing are:
# MQLs Created
SQLs v. MQLs
Avg. Deal Size
Renewal Rate
Cost Per Lead (CPL)
Customer Lifetime Value (CLV)
Net Promoter Score (NPS)
Customer Satisfaction Index (CSI)
Download
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Measurement

At the end of any project, it’s always a good idea to review it and identify areas for improvement.
Demand Metric has the tools and expertise to help you build an effective Customer Engagement program:
»Create or audit your existing Customer Engagement strategy plan
»Assist with using any of the tools referenced in this methodology
»Provide hands-on marketing assistance to accelerate achieving your marketing department’s goals To learn more, simply contact Demand Metric: info@demandmetric.com
Conclusion

Customer Engagement Plan Methodology

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