The SIM Framework

Service Cycle

Within Strategic Interactive Marketing, Servicing is not an after-thought - it is an integral part.

Product/Service Cycle (8K)

The stages within the Service Cycle are:

Service Recognition
Information Search
Evaluation of Alternatives
Service
Post Evaluation Service

In many ways the Service Cycle is similar to the Acquisition Cycle so only specific Service aspects will be discussed.

The most important issue is to see Servicing not as a cost but as an opportunity.Whether by post, telephone, Internet or any of the other mediums, each service request is a customer contact and an opportunity to Build Relationships, Market new Products and Services, and Sell!

An Opportunity to Build Relationships

Each customer contact is an opportunity to build rapport and further understand their needs, wants, aspirations, concerns. and beliefs. This information can then be used on an individual basis and for the market segment(s) that the customer belongs to. All the issues under Communications concerning the protect of privacy etc. and the need to gradually cement the relationship apply.Where there has been no customer contact for some time, then there is an opportunity to "touch base" provided the customer sees the contact as genuine and not a sales call in disguise. This is a time to ask open questions and to listen.

Calendar, Dynamite, and Money symbols (3k)

GTE Telesystems takes its call centre database displays visual icons on the screens of the customer service representatives. An algorithm rates each customer with one, two, or three calendar pages to indicate longevity, sticks of dynamite appear if there have been service problems, and moneybags show volume. Voila, an instant snapshot and a way to differentiate customers consistently, on-the-spot, for far better one-to-one marketing.

From Don Peppers' 1:1 community discussions

An Opportunity to Market

Armed with this information, perhaps allied with other market models like the Family Life Cycle, along with customer product information, you are now in a better position to communicate relevant and timely information. Users with large volumes of data may supplement manual identification and selection with Data Mining techniques. These communications can be handle via a number of mediums, perhaps combining them for added effectiveness:

personalised and general messages on your web site.
postal and e-mail promotions.
push channel messages.
telesales calls.
prompts to customer service representatives.
automated telephone calls and messages
on demand personalised faxes and recorded messages.

Once again there needs to links across the mediums. For example, a customer receiving a personalised e-mail should be able to lift the telephone, dial a service centre, enter a unique code that is mentioned in the e-mail, and then speak to a customer service representative who has an immediate display of the customer's data as well as the unique marketing message.

An Opportunity to Sell

All these personalised initiatives should build-up your customer relationship to a crescendo. When the time is right, then at the next appropriate customer contact a proposal can be put and a sell made!

Issues

Mass Personalisation and Mass Customisation requires a different approach to Servicing - one that sees Servicing as a opportunity and integral to the Customer Relationship Cycle. But to realise this there needs to be enabling processes, technology and staff. These topics are covered under Implications (note that Implications is the next page after the Disposal Cycle page).