Are Your Customer Relationships Sticky?

Are Your
Customer
Relationships
Sticky?
Three Customer Centric Research
Approaches to Improve
Engagement During and After
the Honeymoon Period

Introduction
While every interaction with
your brand ultimately helps or
hinders customer loyalty, the
"honeymoon period" of the
customer journey is the most
critical time for you to create
“sticky” relationships.
Evaluating this early phase
offers numerous opportunities
to set your customers on a
path to a higher lifetime
value by delivering
extraordinary experiences.
From online banks to
pharmaceutical companies to
retail settings, companies are
feeling the pressure to
differentiate themselves in
today’s customer centric
marketplace. Understanding
this first stage of the customer
experience pathway helps build
the solid foundation necessary to
create brand ‘stickiness.’
In this eBook you will learn practical
examples of how to inform strategy that
make customer relationships stickier.

Part 1: Why Does Customer Experience Matter?
Part 2: What is the Honeymoon Period and
Why is it so Important?
Part 3: Practical Examples
- Customer Journey Discovery
- InTouch™ Communities
- Re-visiting Longitudinal Analysis
Part 4: Key Takeaways
Table of Contents

PARTONE
Whydoescustomerexperiencematter?

There has been a lot of buzz and spin about “customer
experience.” Is it just another trendy management fad that helps sell
consulting time? Does it apply to my company?
Peter Drucker says it best in his landmark book Management: Tasks,
Responsibilities, Practices: “There is only one valid definition of a business
purpose: to create a customer…It is the customer who determines what a
business is. It is the customer alone whose willingness to pay for a good or
service converts economic resources into wealth, things into goods.”
Customer experience matters
because it is fundamental to
the purpose of every
business, to create and by
implication – keep customers.

In 2012, Forrester Research estimated that the net annual
revenue benefit of superior customer experiences ranged
from 88 million to 3.1 billion depending on the industry.
Superior Customer Experiences = ↑ ROI
But what do you do when your CFO says ‘show me
the money?’ What is the economic value of
customer experience?

PARTTWO
Whatisthe“honeymoonperiod”andwhy
isitsoimportant?

We all know both intuitively and by life experience that the early
moments or stages of a relationship are critical – ask any job candidate or
salesperson about the importance of making a good first impression!
The honeymoon period, often referred to as the onboarding process, will be
an anchor for the customer’s feelings about you for the duration of the
relationship.
Evaluating your early
customer life cycle offers
numerous opportunities
to set your customer on a
path to a higher lifetime
value by delivering
extraordinary experiences.

Grow
AwareAttract
NurtureEngageThe honeymoon
period in the path
to loyalty is at the
‘Engage’ phase of
the cycle. This is
where we initially
start to build the
relationship and
set expectations.
The path to loyalty and profitable
customers

Different
industries
same principle
Regardless of the
industry, there is always a
honeymoon period for a
customer. The honeymoon
period goes beyond the first
‘moments of truth’ and
addresses the customer’s full
on-boarding process whether it
be weeks or months.
The underlying nature of the customer problem, what the
customer is trying to accomplish during this early stage, is
similar across industries. The principle of the honeymoon
period can be transferred to any type of business.

Business Problem:
A major financial institution knew they had a good
on-boarding experience. They wanted to design a
great experience to grow share of wallet.
Industry:
Financial Services
How do we identify
channel-specific
strategies to improve
the new customer
experience?

Companies must leverage
the power of the honeymoon
period to build stronger
engagement. Improving the
experience will lead to
additional investments and
increased loyalty.
Companies cannot assume they understand the investor’s on-
boarding experience. Detailed mapping provides a comprehensive look
at the experience to ensure needs are being met and gaps identified.
Identifying critical decision points allows companies to be proactive in
personalizing the experience with relevant communications.

Recruited new customers to
participate in a 12 week study
Combined individual
ethnographic
exercises with short “pulse”
Surveys using two separate
platforms
Collected “artifacts”, such
as marketing and
communication
materials
How we did it

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12+
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12+
Satisfaction
Emotional Impact
Value Add
Why the drop?
Company reaching out to
customers
Customers reaching out to
company
Weeks
Weeks
Communication flow between the company, client and the customer.
We evaluated moments across the first 100 days

We drew nuances and emotions from
individual stories
I would appreciate if (company)
showed me how they could be a
“port in the storm” for me. I
need their expertise.
I had a sense of accomplishment
after opening my account – I was
taking a step forward.
The first few interactions had a
big impact on me. They gave the
company a “face”.

What (company) did well for me…
 Exceeded expectations: great websites, smart reps
What could have been better…
 Provide primer on investing options
What I expect going forward…
 Less hand-holding: be there when I need you
We asked the right questions to enable the
company go from good to extraordinary

Make It Truly Personal2
CMI identified three areas that were relevant and meaningful
Provide Relevant
Communication &
Education
3
Give Me Confidence1
Core
CompetencesOnboarding
Expectations
Be a reliable resource if I have
questions
Make me a confident investor; be
there for me
Make me feel like I’ve made a
good decision
Stay in touch/follow-up
Get to know me
Customize communications
Make website more customized
and easier to navigate
Offer more live, positive
interactions
Provide newsletters, things to
know
Keep me informed of
products/tools

What did the financial services
company do next?
Designed an alternate customer centric
communications program
Rigorously tested the effectiveness of the new
program to build customer engagement
Optimized and rolled out the program
further entrenching customers

What CMI Learned
Instead of using independent
qualitative and quantitative
methods, use an integrated platform
Think differently about the skills
required for these programs. A
team approach that includes
customer engagement, immersive
skills and quantitative analysis will
ensure a successful outcome.

Business problem:
A major pharmaceutical company wanted
to know why patients were abandoning
their Patient Assistance Program (PAP) .
How could they identify the triggers and
touchpoints that were having the greatest
impact on the success of their PAP?
Industry:
Pharmaceutical

Patient Assistance Programs (PAPs) are specialized support
groups offered by Pharmaceutical Companies to assist in financial and
behavioral support focused on achieving the best health outcome for
the patient.
Why is the success of a PAP important?
• Increased regulatory pressure to
have more influences on patient
adherence
• Reinforce the value of
the company’s brand
• Improve patient health

Understand the
triggers and
touchpoints by
mapping the
journey
Increase
effectiveness of
critical touch
points along the
pathway
Increase patient
awareness of
health outcomes
yielding greater
adherence
Improve patient
health and
optimize
business
How to get to Improved
Patient Health

Recruited a short-
term
community of
customers (MROC
platform)
Integrated
qualitative and
quantitative
approach to
decipher emotions
and motivations
Informed Strategy
by modifying critical
touchpoints
How we did it

Advantages of an Integrated Platform
Gather real-time in the
moment insights
Leverage technology for
active communications
Easier to use advanced
analytics to understand
decisions

Week 1 Week 2 Week 3 Week 4 Week 5 Week 6 Week 7 Week 8 Week 9
Week
10
Week
11
Week
12+
Called PAP 1-800 number /
Visited PAP website to
initiate application
process.
They were pretty helpful
in telling me what
information I needed to
apply.
Filled out application to
determine eligibility. Correct
proof of income was not
provided.
The application requires a lot of
documentation. I hope I
completed it correctly.
Received notification
of enrollment status in
the mail and
confirmation of
shipment.
What a relief!
Received 90 day supply with
personalized instructions and
drug information.
The instructions are
easy to follow. Time
to start taking my
meds.
Visited PAP website to research
side effects. Did not find relevant
information and proceeded to
research other websites and
similar medications
These side effects are making me
nervous. Do all OAB meds have
these side effects? Should I look
into other OAB meds?
Received email that it is
time to complete re-
application for refill.
Do I have to fill out all that
paperwork again? Do I really
need these meds? Maybe I can
find an alternative to taking
meds.
NON-ADHERENCE:
Did not place order
for refill.
Received email that
additional proof of
income is needed.
I hope I got it right
this time.
Consumer thoughts & feelings
Touch point
Critical decision points of concern
To fully understand the
journey you have to map the
experience

Understanding the triggers
and touchpoints along the
map will help identify the
pain points of the
patient’s journey. Only
then can you truly improve
the experience.
Typically companies map the journey from the inside out - the
company’s perspective. We show you a ‘walk-in-the-customers-shoes’
journey.
In the previous example you see that the patient’s journey ends in non-
adherence. Not an ideal result. The map outlines the points of concern
along the journey.

Week 2 –
Live chat feature was
added to facilitate the
online enrollment
process.
Week 1 Week 2 Week 3 Week 4 Week 5 Week 6 Week 7 Week 8 Week 9
Week
10
Week
11
Week
12+
Called PAP 1-800 number /
Visited PAP website to
initiate application
process.
Filled out application to
determine eligibility. Correct
proof of income was not
provided.
Received notification
of enrollment status in
the mail and
confirmation of
shipment.
Received 90 day supply with
personalized instructions and
drug information.
Visited PAP website to research
side effects. Did not find relevant
information and proceeded to
research other websites and
similar medications
Received email that it is
time to complete re-
application for refill.
ADHERENCE:
Placed order for refill.
Received email that
additional proof of
income is needed.
Informed channel-specific
strategies
Touch point
Re-designing the Journey
The pharmaceutical company made specific modifications to the
onboarding process to address the points of concern, ultimately
improving the experience and ending the journey with adherence.
Week 6–
Motivational email was replaced
with a personal call from an
adherence coach.
Week 8–
Automation was added to the online portal.
When significant changes are made to an
adherence plan, live-chat will be initiated to
talk through the changes.
Week 11–
Along with a motivational email, a
personalized status update based on data
from the online tools is provided. The touch
point was also moved to week 10.

Business problem
Your company has ideas for how
to redesign the on-boarding
process but you are not sure if
these ideas will really improve
customer engagement.
How do you test
your experiences
that unfold over
time?

Issues with the common approaches
• Too disconnected from the real experience
• Doesn’t take time into account
• Difficult to incorporate the details that
matter when there are multiple
interactions
• Insights are limited to aggregate
conclusions
• No opportunity to observe the dynamics
between pre and post
Concept
Testing
Pre/Post

A typical pre/post study
0
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun
Control
Test 1
Test 2
Engagement
How do you understand
what’s happening in the
middle?

What’s a alternative solution?
Applying Latent Growth Modeling (LGM) to a
customer insight challenge
LGM is a longitudinal analysis technique
to estimate growth over a period of time.
It is typically used in academic and
commercial settings.

LGM: How it’s done in Customer
Experience
1. Define success criteria
2. Develop metrics to evaluate success
3. Build a short term customer panel
4. Measure throughout the experience
5. Explore the “paths”

A longitudinal view allows you to ask
the important questions
0
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
Control
Test 1
Test 2
Engagement
Why is test group 2
the highest at this
particular time?
What is causing the
steady improvement
in Test group 1?

Now that we’ve identified the different paths that
customers are following, LGM allows you to drill down to
find out what’s driving these differences.
0
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
Control
Test 1
Test 2
Engagement
Higher engagement in the
3rd month for Test2 is
driven mainly by stronger
perceptions of “feeling
cared for.”
The consistent rise in
engagement over the last
3 months in Test1 is driven
by growing perceptions of
“confidence.”

Follow the journey
Nothing substitutes this longitudinal view
during the honeymoon period. You must walk
in the customer’s shoes to understand how the
experience unfolds for them.
Understand the triggers and
touchpoints
Identify the pain-points and moments of
truth. Are there any influences outside of your
process that are affecting the outcomes the
customers are trying to achieve?
Leverage Communities
Use a customer-panel approach and track the
same customers over time. Technology makes
this possible.
Test
alternatives

Finally, engage your stakeholders
with compelling stories
Present results
in a compelling
ways to show
the story

Let’s link up
You can talk to us through social media
Join our group on
Share this eBook with other
Customer Experience Professionals
in your network.
www.cmiresearch.com/w/insights/
CMI – Customer Experience

Brian Lunde
VP, Customer Experience Practice Leader
blunde@cmiresearch.com
312.600.4898
Intelligence that delivers
exceptional brands and experience™
To find out more about CMI and our
innovative solutions please contact us:
kshah@cmiresearch.com www.cmiresearch.com

Are Your Customer Relationships Sticky?

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