New communication channels like social media and mobile are fundamentally changing the relationship between companies and their customers. Most organizations are still working through their initial response to this radically different environment. Customers today expect their interactions with a brand to be more of a dialogue than a company-dominated monologue. Companies should not ignore this and involvement from top management is needed to ensure that this trend is imbedded in corporate strategy.

1. Close the customer gap
Joke Dehond
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Customer Communications Management

2. Customers expect a dialogue, not a monologue
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Past:
> Company was in the drivers seat
> Monologue: they had control about ‘what’, ‘how’ and ‘when’ to communicate
Today
> Customers expect their interactions with a brand to be a dialogue
> They decide on the ‘what’, ‘how’ and ‘when’ they want to communicate

3. Customers expect a dialogue, not a monologue
Copyright © 2014 Scriptura Engage
New communication channels (social media, mobile) are fundamentally
changing the relationship between companies and their customers.
Most organizations are still working through their initial response to this
radically different environment.
Companies should not ignore this and involvement from top management is
needed to ensure that this trend is incorporated in corporate strategy.

4. Companies are left in a state of confusion
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Fundamental shift in the balance of power between companies - customers
due to:
> Technological evolution (i.e. > 100% coverage for mobile in Europe and US)
> Always-online and always-connected
Companies are confused:
> Forced to hand over much of the control they once had over their brand image
to the customer.
> The immediate nature of today’s customer communications is outside
marketing’s field of experience

5. No consensus in organizations
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Companies have no consensus about how to handle these challenges:
> Should it be the responsibility of an individual or a team?
It should be a cross departmental team that includes marketing, business
and IT
It is important that the whole company understands the need to address
this customer communication landscape strategically to ensure an integrated
approach

6. Focus on one channel prevents a centralized approach
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In most companies there is an almost arbitrary focus on one channel:
> Social media ‘happened’ to most companies and they had no choice but to
follow how their customers choose to communicate to them and about them.
> Mobile is ‘hot’, so it is often organized as a separate team with a direct report
to the board of directors
> Most customers indicate that email is the preferred communication channel,
but companies lack a coherent strategy.

7. How to prioritize between different channels?
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Focus on one channel is at the expense of other channels, which means that
many companies do not develop a good strategy that addresses the wide use
of a mix of channels.
Listen to your customer (internal and external) to decide which channels
to use and how to prioritize
Set it up as a strategic platform
Close the gap: make sure all applications can benefit from the same
channels

8. Invest in organizational structure
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Different people in the company used to deal with different phases of the
customer experience—before they buy, when they buy, after they buy, when
they are looking for a replacement—and all the time communicating through
different channels. There was no standard message coming out.
 Invest in a centralized organizational structure

9. Conclusion
Copyright © 2014 Scriptura Engage
Companies are still finding their way in this new customer communication
landscape.
Many of them are stuck in the past, when a company had a much greater
control over its brand image.
The importance of structural changes become even clearer with the rise of
younger companies (digital natives) that have grown up with social media
and mobile that compete with older firms.

10. Want to know how we can help you closing the customer
gap?
Contact us:
EU phone: +32 3 425 40 00
US phone: 011 32 3 425 40 00
www.scripturaengage.com
Copyright © 2014 Scriptura Engage