RightNow – On Demand CX Software

This week I joined 3,000 retailers in Las Vegas for the Shop.org annual meeting – a great mix of online and brick & mortar retailers, direct marketers, and consumer packaged goods organizations. In my conversations with attendees, one theme really stood out: The need to manage business from the customer’s vantage point. Story after story was shared about how retailers manage their websites, catalogs, and stores in silos, with little to no sharing of information – much to their customers’ chagrin. While each of the groups managing these areas has unique operational needs, customers don’t know or don’t care. They don’t want to engage with three different units and repeat information that they’ve already shared. They just want to browse the catalog, research products online or in the store, and make a purchase as conveniently and easily as possible. And they want a similarly easy experience when they need customer service.

Retailers are waking up to the importance of viewing their organizations from the customer’s perspective – but why now?

My take … a tough economy is challenging retailers; they are realizing that their growth and profitability is being determined by the little things that make a big difference in customer loyalty: easy interactions, consistency across communication channels, choice of ways to interact, and responsiveness to customer feedback.

If you are tackling a project to bring your internal silos together to provide a consistent front to your customers, I’d love to hear about your experiences!