Technology News: Customer Retention

Can T-Mobile Get Its Groove Back?
November 18, 2009

This fall has not been kind to T-Mobile. First, it had to account for mountains of lost data that Sidekick customers had stored. Then there was the nationwide service outage for millions of U.S. T-Mobile customers a few weeks ago. Now, it looks as though employees at T-Mobile UK have been selling competitors the names of customers whose T-Mobile contracts were about to expire.

8 Habits of Successful Customer Feedback Managers
November 05, 2009

Customer relationships are damaged when companies hear too late about customer concerns or issues to do anything to repair them. Even worse, many crucial concerns aren't being heard by the right people at an organization. For example, are managers aware of which customers are unhappy? Did an employee treat a customer unfairly? What are the specific factors that caused a customer to leave?

How to Keep Online Shopping Carts On Target
September 17, 2009

Online retail sales are projected to increase by 11 percent this year to US$156 billion, according to Forrester Research. Although that's good news, it's a small decline from last year's growth of 13 percent. It's clear the down economy, with the lack of credit access and low consumer confidence, has dampened consumer spending.

CRM in 2009: Personal, Social, Mobile, Adaptable
September 14, 2009

Making sure that every customer gets the personal touch may be fairly easy for the owner of a neighborhood bakery, but in a mass market of millions, making each customer feel like an individual is a formidable challenge. In the information age, tools like customer relationship management software make it possible for companies to apply a personal touch to the mass market -- and that's golden.

Customer Respect Management: It's About Time
September 08, 2009

Aretha Franklin didn't intend it, but she offered a powerful business lesson when she sang "R.E.S.P.E.C.T -- find out what it means to me." Customer relationship management has evolved into customer experience management, and respect is the biggest part of providing an excellent customer experience. So, what does respect mean to your customers?

Beyond CRM: 5 Steps to Outfox Your Competitors
September 03, 2009

Imagine this all-too-common scenario: A customer needs to add a new line to his cellphone plan. He's had a number of reception and phone issues, and he will stay with his current company only if offered a very good deal. However, the agent -- unaware of the prolonged dissatisfaction and insensitive to the customer's tone -- suggests an expensive upgrade plan and rushes the customer to some type of decision.

Mapping Out an Effective Online Customer Retention Strategy
July 21, 2009

In today's online environments, a bad customer experience can become visible more quickly and have more lasting consequences than ever before. More and more customer interactions are taking place online, thanks to a combination of factors that make the Web an attractive place for doing business. However, the same factors can also quickly turn against an e-commerce company.

How to Earn Your Customers' Loyalty
July 16, 2009

There's a saying in the business world: Customer acquisition is an investment, but customer retention delivers profitability. So, how do you retain your customers and earn their loyalty? It's like any successful relationship: If you want customers to be loyal to you, you must be loyal to them and demonstrate that loyalty.

3 Keys to Mobile Customer Retention
July 08, 2009

The U.S. has a wireless subscriber base of nearly 270 million users, with 12.5 percent using mobile Internet services. At the other end of the wireless technology spectrum, 98 percent of all cellphones in the U.S. are now text-enabled. In the past two years, texting increased more than 450 percent. Today's average mobile user places 204 voice calls and sends 357 text messages per month.

Outsource Your Processes, Keep Your Customers
May 08, 2009

Driven by the housing market landslide and seizure of the global credit markets, economies the world over have slipped into retrenchment and recession. Many organizations are tightening capital and expense budgets, closing locations, shortening hours or reducing staff. Still others are tempted to reduce the level of service and support they extend to customers.

Differentiating Your Company in a Tough Market
April 30, 2009

Several years ago, while selling software in the British telecom market, I met the CMO of a smallish network operator. He described the issues his business was facing, and when I asked him his churn rate, he replied, almost casually, that it was "about normal for our industry: 37 percent." He must have seen my jaw drop.

Meeting the Cost-Effectiveness Test With E-Commerce Innovation
April 22, 2009

Online retailers are facing new challenges today. While more people are shopping online, there are more sites for comparison shopping, and in this difficult economy, people are spending less. Price discounting may help create sales now, but if it is the foundation of your customer acquisition and retention strategy, you may not achieve the long-term results you're after.

Recessionary Times Call for Recessionary Marketing
March 26, 2009

The dismal state of the economy is causing companies everywhere to reassess their marketing budgets to ensure that they're allocating their limited marketing funds in the most productive ways possible. In many cases, this means curtailing, postponing or even eliminating previously planned marketing expenditures.

Repaving the Digital Content Delivery Road
March 19, 2009

As organizations are reducing their budgets due to the current economic climate, they are looking to maximize their return on investment, and a recent Aberdeen Group study shows that technology solutions that would allow these organizations to experience improvements in end-user experience without adding more bandwidth capacity would resonate with their needs.

The Sorry Gap Between Shipping Tech and Customer Expectations
March 18, 2009

Have you shopped online in the past month? Week? Day? If you are like a majority of the American population, you likely answered yes to one, if not all, of those questions. Consumers appreciate the ease and convenience that online retail offers, but with this convenience often comes disappointment during the shipping process.

Rising to the Challenge of Capturing Customers in 2009
March 03, 2009

This year promises to be one of the most challenging in recent memory for online retail. The strategies and tactics that online retailers have relied upon in the past will not work in this harsher, new consumer climate. This year will clearly separate winners from losers.