Online Customer Experience Management CEM

 On behalf of the Cyprus Chamber of Commerce & Industry, Navigator is holding a 2-day strategic training programme 11-12 December 2018 on the subject of Online Customer Experience Management.

Participation is open to small enterprises (under 50 employees) from Cyprus. Participation is free for qualified enterprises, apart from VAT costs.

Please contact Mr. Christos Tanteles at the Cyprus Chamber of Commerce & Industry, tel. 22-889-800, for more information.

 Introduction 

The online environment for most Cypriot companies is complex: it includes their core website and ecommerce platform, as well as social media profiles, newsletters, online advertising and other channels.

The online environment is rooted in a wider framework of traditional sales and marketing tools and infrastructure, including retail stores, sales visits, sales catalogues, print and media advertising, delivery schedules, special offers and others.

Consumers today expect seamless service between online and offline channels. This creates challenges, because Google, Facebook and other sites, such as Glassdoor or TripAdvisor are creating a universe of online reviews which are now visible to everyone.

• Google shows Google ratings results on Google search, below the URL and above the meta description.
• Facebook displays reviews prominently on the company profile.
• Online searches for specific companies frequently show Glassdoor, Tripadvisor or other results from websites that exist solely to review and share information.

As a result, Cypriot enterprises need to carefully manage the customer experience value chain that consumers experience. This process is known as Customer Experience Management (CEM). Related terms are Customer Experience (CX) and User Experience (UX).

Learning Objectives 

The course supports small enterprises to:

1. Understand online consumer psychology, including customer motivations for purchase. This involves segmentation of customers into demographic groups and investigation of consumer behaviour as well as modelling of the sales funnel as it applies to specific enterprises.
2. Model the customer experience online as seen through social media channels, specifically Facebook, Google+, and LinkedIn.
3. Develop a Customer Experience Roadmap that sets a standard for how the CEM process should work, from both the enterprise and customer perspectives. Develop a Customer Experience Value Statement and Workflows.
4. Integrate emotional components into online properties, content and channels to assure better responsiveness to CEM.
5. Improve the technical design and operations of a sales funnel approach, with specific reference to user registration, wishlists, checkouts, and sales.
6. Improve online branding and relate website content to branding, enabling enterprises and employers to provide specific website content that responds to customer experience and other requirements.
7. Develop the framework for Online Reputation Management, and tailoring content for specific target and stakeholder groups as well as jobseekers, staff, and consumers.
8. Use online tools, including Google Keywords, Google Analytics, MailChimp and others to manage reputation, branding and content online.

 Training Agenda Module 1: Online Consumer Behaviour Online 

Gartner defines customer experience management (CEM) as “the practice of designing and reacting to customer interactions to meet or exceed customer expectations and, thus, increase customer satisfaction, loyalty and advocacy.” It is a strategy that requires process change and many technologies to accomplish.

Employers and brands in Cyprus must take into account rapidly-changing online consumer behaviour. This introductory session reviews how different customer demographics use the internet and interact online with different media channels and products. Subjects include:

1. Definition of consumer demographics and the three main generations: Millenials (born after 1980); Generation X (born 1965-1979); and Baby Boomers (born 1946-1964);
2. Additional information on Cypriot versus foreign customers and consumers, including the tourism market, and review of some of the main online sources of CEM;
3. Online browsing and purchase behaviour using data from the United States and Europe, with specific examples of successful CEM drawn from Cyprus;
4. Social media trends and technology, including the rise of mobile and mobile apps;
5. The online sales funnel, including both linear and non-linear interpretations of how consumers interact with brands online;
6. Common errors and challenges seen online with both CEM and Employer Branding.

 Module 2: Managing CEM at Registration & Checkout 

International research and practical experience in Cypriot companies consistently shows that a key failure and source of consumer discontent is the online registration and checkout process. Consumers report challenges with:

• The complexity of registration
• If social media registration plug-ins are used, the fear that personal information will leak or that the app will post without permission
• The complexity of adding items to a shopping basket
• The complexity of check-out
• Uncertain price / value or tax issues
• Uncertain policy on returning defective items

This module will review the main online issues in customer experience, focussing on:

• The linear vs. iterative sales funnel
• B2B versus B2C selling online
• The strategic selling process
• Effective user registration
• Effective wishlist
• Effective checkout and payment processes
• Sales fulfilment (delivery, other forms)
• After-sales service
• Returns and defective product policies
• Gaining consumer evaluation  

 Module 3: Managing CEM on Social Media 

Social media channels are rapidly evolving into an active consumer mechanism for evaluation, sharing and self-validation. This module will review the main online issues in customer experience, focussing on main online evaluation channels:

1. Facebook: Facebook Evaluation Tool, together with other Facebook functions such as like, like/emoticons, share, follow, and different profile types. The training here will provide 1-2 “horror stories” of negative evaluations and company follow-up, as well as 1-2 successful engagements. This session will include a review of Facebook analytics as well as limitations in bought and earned likes and followers.
2. Google+ & Google: Google’s role as a leading search engine, social media network and video sharing site (Youtube). This session focuses on the interaction between Google Reviews and Google Structured Data for third-party reviews; its treatment of reviews on search engine results, and how Google+ is integrating profile and Google Maps data with search engine panes.
3. LinkedIn: Focus on LinkedIn as a professional networking site, both for corporate and individual search engine results and networking. The session will focus on correct use of LinkedIn profiles system for content generation, and search engine results.
4. Glassdoor: This session reviews Glassdoor as a source of information on recruitment, salaries and employer assessments.
5. TripAdvisor: This session will review TripAdvisor and its role in hotels and related enterprises, including catering / restaurants, tourists sites and other sites.

 Module 4: The Customer Experience Roadmap 

This modules provides a practitioner’s methodology towards establishing a strategic roadmap for CEM in Cypriot small enterprises. We provide a specific approach that small enterprises with limited resources and budgets can deploy to understand value from their perspective as well as their customers’ perspective. This is adapted to both B2B2C and B2C clients. Key points in this module include:

• What are the key drivers of value for your small enterprise / for your consumer.
• Charting the value stream from supplier to B2B customer to B2B2C end-user
• Key performance standards: What do you want to achieve?
• How do consumers and customers interact with you?
• What features and experiences do they evaluate?
• What role do cultural factors play in online evaluation, especially for international customers and consumers?
• What gaps or challenges exist?
• What opportunities exist?

 Module 5: The CEM Workstream 

A key issue in many small enterprises is that customer experience management remains ad hoc. Companies invest in this when there is a problem. Policies and procedures developed in advance are usually not available, or only cover a very specific area. Moreover, companies usually rely on the intervention of a senior manager to “put out a fire”, rather than address the root causes of lower-level employee behaviour.

A workstream is defined as the stream of interaction between customer and suppler for a specific product/service. Documenting a workstream procedure includes:

• Workstream title
• Customer segment
• Communications channel
• Activities and objectives
• 5-10 step description of each activity
• Metrics for success / KPIs
• Cost per activity
• Timescales & Responsibilities

 Module 6: Designing Emotionally-Engaging CEM 

With the general process mapping completed (at least for one Workstream), we now turn to understanding the CEM process through the eyes of customers. What differentiates successful CEM from ordinary CEM is customer emotion and behaviour. By understanding customer psychology online, we can better understand how consumers behave, and therefore what content to offer and how to sculpt websites and sales processes to outperform.

We will use the FFF model (2012) of online consumer behaviour to illustrate the role of emotional customer experience online. This will be adapted with specific reference to successful Cypriot, Greek, and other websites for illustration.

Module 7: Branding & Content Development for CEM 

With the CEM process documented, we now turn to how enterprises differentiate themselves by branding themselves for excellence in CEM. This module explores the general principles of branding as they apply to employers online. The module traces examples of Cypriot brands from a 1970s-era design standard to a 2016 standard. It provides examples of how brands adapt and perform in different contexts, including keywords in brands. It reviews the basic online content which is known to increase customer approval ratings. Subjects include:

• Brand evolution online: examples of employer brands online and offline
• Technical branding issues online
• Brand positioning, valuation and promise
• Content Components for Online Branding
• Mission – Vision – Core Values
• Company History
• Owner Profiles
• Family / Generational Issues
• Staff Profiles
• Key Milestones
• Key Performance Indicators
• Corporate Social Responsibility
• Terms of Use
• Product Return Policies
• Complaints
• Shipping & Delivery Policies
• Communications / Contact Us
• Professional Memberships
• Regulation Information
• Client / Customer References & Testimonials
• Recruitment
• Social Media Links
• News

 Module 8: Branding & Online Reputation Management 

This module explores how Cyprus enterprises can improve and manage their online reputation management in terms of CEM, and when problems with CEM include. While the previous module focussed on the technical, positioning and content issues of the brand, this module focuses on how the brand and other online content are used to enhance reputation online. 

This module explores online reputation management in social media and the online press, taking into account the lessons learned in Modules 1-3. Subjects include:

• Policies for dealing with complaints or criticisms on social media: Focus on Facebook, LinkedIn and Google+; other sites such as TripAdvisor or Glassdoor may be covered, depending on participant composition;
• Procedure for negative search engine result removal requests and removing offensive content from Facebook, including legal take-down requests;
• Balancing negative comment and ratings with positive ones and pushing negative comments off the viewer screen;
• Publishing testimonials and press releases on authoritative sites; paying for press releases; continual online monitoring and keyword monitoring;
• Setting up parallel websites or a website ecosystem to drive traffic and keyword performance;
• Legal and malpractise issues in dealing with customer / consumer complaints.