Direct Marketing Magazine June 2015

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It’s 2015. Does your media plan mind your own business?

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Big data=big opportunities for Canadian retailers

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Contact Management

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The Authority on Data-Driven Engagement & Operations

The rise of the online retail shopper ❱ 8 Stephane Latreille, the GM of Retail at Aimia (left) and Mark Daprato, Chief Marketing Officer at Shop.ca talk about how to build customer loyalty in e-commerce.

Gary Tannyan

Vol. 28 • No. 6 • June 2015

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Vol. 28 | No. 6 | June 2015 EDITOR Amy Bostock - amy@dmn.ca PRESIDENT Steve Lloyd - steve@dmn.ca DESIGN / PRODUCTION Jennifer O'Neill - jennifer@dmn.ca

CONTRIBUTING WRITERS Alec Paterson Sheryl Boswell Guillaume Seynhaeve Mark Hendrikse Shawn Smith Andrew McNair

LLOYDMEDIA INC. HEAD OFFICE / SUBSCRIPTIONS / PRODUCTION: 302-137 Main Street North Markham ON L3P 1Y2 Phone: 905.201.6600 Fax: 905.201.6601 Toll-free: 800.668.1838

Gary Tannyan

Advertising Sales Mark Henry - mark@dmn.ca

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COVER STORY The rise of the online retail shopper How to build customer loyalty in e-commerce

home@dmn.ca www.dmn.ca EDITORIAL CONTACT: Direct Marketing is published monthly by Lloydmedia Inc. plus the annual DM Industry Source Book List of Lists. Direct Marketing may be obtained through paid subscription. Rates: Canada 1 year (12 issues $48) 2 years (24 issues $70) U.S. 1 year (12 issues $60) 2 years (24 issues $100)

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SPECIAL REPORT It’s 2015. Does your media plan mind your own business?

Contact management IssUe 2

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Case study Brewster Travel Canada & Envoke

Engagement & Analytics

Twitter: @DMNewsCanada

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Big data = big opportunities for Canadian retailers June 2015

Marketing intelligence comes to Internet-of-Things devices

Targeting & Acquisition

Direct Marketing is an independently-produced publication not affiliated in any way with any association or organized group nor with any publication produced either in Canada or the United States. Unsolicited manuscripts are welcome. However unused manuscripts will not be returned unless accompanied by sufficient postage. Occasionally Direct Marketing provides its subscriber mailing list to other companies whose product or service may be of value to readers. If you do not want to receive information this way simply send your subscriber mailing label with this notice to: Lloydmedia Inc. 302-137 Main Street North Markham ON L3P 1Y2 Canada. Please send all address changes and return all undeliverable copies to: Lloydmedia Inc. 302-137 Main Street North Markham ON L3P 1Y2 Canada

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Effective recruitment strategies during a large-scale layoff

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The age of multi-channel Re-defining the modern contact centre agent

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Contact Management 4.0: An industry in transformation DMN.ca ❰


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Special Report

It’s 2015. Does your media plan mind your own business? This media planning strategy provides a wake up call for all retail marketers

Thomas Königsthal Jr, Kamara

Part one in a series about media optimization and measurement*

By Alec Paterson

Memo to: CEO Date: January 2nd, 2015 Subject: Annual Strategic Direction As discussed, our plans to reduce our dependence on flyers by 35% this year will require some big changes. Yes, we need to think differently about how we use consumer information. We also need to look at how we’re currently doing cross platform planning and measurement. Here are the steps underway: STEP 1: Develop media ROI reporting To plan, allocate and measure our media spend, we need to see the true lift (and cost) of each communication—by channel, and by campaign mix. To this end, we’re building an enterprise-wide customer database that will provide us with robust ROI reporting capability. Media ROI Reporting will help us make fact-based decisions regarding budget allocation, media mix and weight—for ALL of our online and offline communications (not just ❱ DMN.ca

flyers!). And better media planning will generate efficiencies that will fund other, more effective, media campaigns. Data supported decision-making and consumer feedback will replace the gut and historical methods we use today. Within two years, robust Media ROI Reporting will: ❯❯ Show us exactly how to grow the business profitably ❯❯ Help us support ongoing Customer Acquisition and Retention initiatives ❯❯ Be used across the enterprise to facilitate market analysis, real estate planning, product allocation, and even human resources STEP 2: Make infrastructure and process changes It’s important we use customer data mining and consumer feedback that we gather in #1 above — BEFORE we go ahead and reduce flyer distribution across the country. Why? Well, it ends up the four variables we’ve been using all this time do NOT actually define our customer base very

well. For example: Our data mining shows we have about six different customer segments across the county, two more than the four we’re currently measuring. ❯❯ And when you take into account other segment variations (like Urban, Rural, Regional and Ethnicity), we actually have 14 customer profiles ❯❯ Add to these 14 customer profiles the geographic and financial data we’ve gathered — and now we have every household’s media preferences ranked, mapped and valued. ❯❯

With these insights in mind, I propose we first reduce flyer distribution in all unprofitable or declining households—but still send one to anyone who wants one. The real objective, of course, is to move the best customers to a 1:1 platform using direct mail and email. To better understand our testing direction, have a quick look at the trade area map examples attached.

What they show is a “before & after” view of a Flyer trade area. The second map shows the TA, with a balanced mix of ranked customers and prospects broken down into sections for testing. Households from each quartile are getting Direct Mail or Addressed Flyers, Traditional Distributed Flyers and Email. STEP 3: Leverage customer insights to radio/TV broadcast planning About six months ago, I shared the “new” 14 customer profiles with our Broadcast Agency, along with the media preference data for each profile. The results were remarkable. OOH shifted by almost 50%. And the TV and Radio buys changed significantly too. Up to this point, we had invested millions of media dollars based on a small survey sample of 50,000 Canadians—many of whom did not even share our basic four customer data variables. By applying data mined from hundreds of thousands of our OWN customers, well, the OOH says it all. June 2015


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Special Report

STEP 4: Create internal synergies Everyone—from our Marketing people to our Agency partners—will need to enter campaign results into the customer database, using standardized measurement criteria. We’ve all got to work from the same customer database. In fact, the multiple customer data silos that exist today MUST come down in favour of ‘one silo for all’. With everyone fighting to keep their budget up and their jobs in place, we need to ensure staff reviews speak to compliance, innovation, collaboration and channel performance. STEP 5: Measure cross platform As you know, our biggest challenges are measuring sales conversion, ROI and transaction response, based on our current use of flyers, direct mail, email and social media. Two tools have helped get us closer to a clearer, comparative analysis. Over the last six months, these tools have generated over 100%+ response increases, together with a series of process improvements and cost June 2015

efficiencies. The tools we’re using are: Tool #1: Postal Code The six-digit postal code is a common link between customer segment location, third party data, many forms of consumer communication, and online and offline sales. It’s also how we’re able to segment customer and prospects target by market. The postal code helps us accurately test a range of communication by single store trade, or by market area. Tool #2: Tracking Methodology Tracking the impact and value of media (especially social media) is very challenging and we cannot keep creating and supporting new platforms, apps and associated communication all year long, allocating precious resources to populate social media’s constant need for content. We have to prioritize and do what we need to do to guarantee we’re talking to the right customers and prospects. Combining consumer profile information with segmentation in all aspects of Social Media and

Mobile will keep us better focused until the measurement model is perfected. We now have a testing and tracking tool that links online/offline media response to objective (e.g. trial versus average purchase increase). We can now: ❯❯ Pre-test response using online media (in some cases by customer segment) ❯❯ Measure response by market smaller geographic areas and overlay variables (e.g., competitive activity, weather conditions) ❯❯ Get the right offers to the right customers and prospective customers (even the lapsed ones) ❯❯ Stop hitting customers and prospects with duplicated (and sometimes triplicated) communications monthly ❯❯ Eliminate wasted advertising spending ❯❯ Stop ‘over rewarding’ good customers with trial offers etc. In conclusion, we are poised to make significant gains in revenue per media ad dollar and improve the

way we analyze markets and plan communication this year. We are modernizing the way we do media planning. All I need is the go ahead and we will have all these plans into execution within 60 days and provide progress report bi-monthly. *The subsequent articles in this Media Optimization Series will cover Planning, Execution and Measurement in more detail and include actual case study results where available. For more information, please visit customerlink-mis.com . Alec Paterson is the Managing Director at

CustomerLink which has been operating in Canada and the U.S. for over 20 years. The company started with a heavy focus on measurement for every form of print communication and has expanded into most forms of Media and Consumer Communication. To date they have measured over 6 billion consumer transactions and have evolved to become media and consumer data specialists, software developers, supply chain managers and consultants to some of the countries largest retail organizations and media groups. DMN.ca ❰


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Targeting & Acquisition

Case Study:

Brewster Travel Canada & Envoke Brewster Travel Canada turns to Envoke to bolster online sales and lead generation By Mark Hendrikse

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ne of the oldest travel companies in Canada, Brewster Travel has been based in Banff, Alberta for more than a century. We now serve over 1.4 million customers each year in Banff and the Canadian Rockies through our four major lines of business: travel planning, transportation, hospitality and attractions. When I joined the company in 2013, Brewster faced challenges common to most online direct marketing companies: driving qualified traffic to our website, identifying visitors to start an online relationship, and automatically nurturing prospects towards an online sale or request for contact. Brewster’s history of acquiring businesses had created a legacy of seven separate websites. We knew the main sources of traffic for these sites but didn’t have a clear understanding of what was driving conversions and sales. Without a method of tracking the source of every visit and the resulting actions, we had no way of knowing what was working and what wasn’t. We needed to rethink our approach and we needed help. Partner selection The Brewster marketing team had the expertise to manage traditional marketing programs, develop branded materials and other content, run email marketing programs and work with our channel partners. We also ❱ DMN.ca

wanted to maintain the long-standing relationship with our online design agency, E-cubed Media Synthesis, based in Calgary. Where we needed help was in the more technical aspects of search marketing, marketing automation and data analytics. We were looking for another long-term partner that would help us grow the business over the next three to five years. Toronto-based Envoke was selected because their combination of technology and services was a good fit with our requirements and they were able to demonstrate a proven track record based on experience with their other clients. This included an existing travel client, Goway Travel, with experience that was directly applicable to Brewster. Envoke sought approval from Goway Travel before responding to our RFP and sharing their experience with us. Marketing technology “stack” The Envoke proposal included a complete marketing technology “stack” with their own product at the core. The Envoke.com platform covered the key functionality we needed such as email marketing, forms, marketing automation, tracking, lead qualification, lead routing and reporting. Envoke’s solution also integrated third party tools for analytics, ad-hoc reporting and paid media portfolio management and could be integrated with our existing

content management system (CMS). Having the Envoke product at the core of our marketing technology stack was a double edged sword. On the downside, the self-service aspect of Envoke’s user interface was not as mature as some of the other marketing technology options. On the upside, Envoke offered a one-stop shop that integrated both marketing services and technologies. What tipped the balance was our calculation that the whole was greater than the sum of the parts. Other selection considerations Because Brewster was in the process of selecting a new Internet Booking Engine, we were pleased that Envoke’s development team had the expertise to develop integrations. We saw this as being crucial to achieving our longer-term goal of true closedloop reporting, linking traffic and conversion sources with individual transactions and customers. Size was another consideration. Envoke has less than 20 employees, which was another double-edged sword. While there’s comfort in working with larger organizations we also benefit from being a relatively large client for Envoke. Finally, Envoke is based in Toronto, which means invoices are in Canadian dollars and they have an appreciation for challenges unique to Canada, such as the CASL legislation.

Search marketing audit The first step in Envoke’s onboarding process was an audit of our search marketing status and opportunities. Paid search advertising campaigns were driving most of the traffic to our websites and volume was growing almost 15 per cent per year between 2011 and 2013. It became apparent that our paid search advertising had been under-performing both in attracting the right visitors and in generating online sales and lead conversions. Furthermore, large gaps in our organic search visibility were in part driving our need to depend so heavily on pay-per-click (PPC) traffic. More investment would be needed to strengthen our domain authority to support improved search engine optimization (SEO) results. This would build lasting value without having to increase our advertising budgets year over year. Strategies The key components of our strategy included: ❯❯ Website consolidation - Consolidate our seven sites into a single larger site for more effective search marketing, a better user experience, more opportunities for cross selling, and easier management. ❯❯ Re-balance paid and organic search - Reduce paid media spend to 70 per cent PPC to make room for 30 per cent SEO and onsite engagement June 2015


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Targeting & Acquisition

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from the previous 95-5 split. Paid Search restructuring and automation - For effective management and targeting, our paid search campaigns were rebuilt from the ground up to enable segmentation for key regional and international audiences across our eleven business units. Organic search optimization ‘Baked in’ keyword optimization to the site’s architecture and content redevelopment. Redirect existing inbound links to the original seven websites to the relevant pages on the new site. Navigation and Layout - The site was designed to optimize the overall consumer experience to the key personas we had identified at the time. Online engagement - New forms and online engagement mechanisms to capture and engage visitors and track all source information data to improve conversion strategies in future campaigns. Lead management - Automatically route prospects requesting to be contacted to our multiple call centers. Closed loop reporting – Link source data to transactions by integrating Envoke with a new internet booking engine (IBE) to be launched at the same time as the new website.

Next steps Working with Envoke and E-cubed, we added many more opportunities for visitors to ask for more information, request quotes, download brochures and sign up to receive newsletters. Every form identified visitors as consumers or travel agents, location, and online source. This provided critical information for email segmentation. We successfully shifted our focus from simply driving traffic to driving targeted traffic. Where low conversion rates demonstrated a disconnect in the consumer’s experience, we made adjustments to traffic driving campaigns or the content presented to users to compel them to move further through the conversion funnel. Our organic search rankings improved in Canada and we maintained existing rankings in the US during our consolidation - which is no small feat when undergoing a massive redesign. We continue to refine our target list of keywords including making changes to the site architecture, content, and links. June 2015

Early results In the first few months after our re-launch, we saw online sales jump over 70 per cent. Visitors were coming to our sites, sticking around, requesting more information and leaving their email addresses. These results were a pleasant surprise as they exceeded all of our expectations for a brand new site. Eighteen months later we’re driving more than 2,500 form submissions, generating about 2,000 new contacts a month with more than 1,000 contacts requesting sales team follow up. We’ve seen a 40 per cent increase in the visit-to-booking ratio, a 34 per cent increase in time spent on the site and a 16 per cent drop in the bounce rate. Key challenges We successfully consolidated seven websites into one site but the structure of our lines of business (LoBs) has remained the same. This created more complexity than I anticipated. Each line of business is a separate profit centre with its own marketing budget. However, Brewster’s customers are interested in travelling to Banff and the Rockies and don’t care how we’re organized internally. For auction-based paid media like Google Adwords we need to set up campaigns where individual LoBs, such as our hotels, are not competing with each other for the same keywords. This means we need to pool LoB budgets and this created a challenge in connecting individual budgets to results in a way that satisfied LoB managers and finance. We were forced to suspend our plans to launch a new Internet Booking Engine at the same time as

we launched the new website. This meant taking different approaches to create proxy metrics for closed loop reporting. It has also proven to be a challenge collecting sales data in a form that is easily integrated into our transaction systems. We will not achieve true closed loop reporting until we can connect source data from visitors to individual transactions, which is the Holy Grail to accurately measure the true ROI for our marketing programs. We haven’t been as successful as I hoped we would be in developing our nurture campaigns. The challenge has been partially technical but more so a matter of being able to consistently develop appropriate content for our needs. It’s become increasingly clear to me both how important it is to have

excellent content to use in our marketing efforts and how hard it is to create. Conclusion Marketing online is a complex endeavour that requires a diverse combination of disciplines from creative and project management to technical analysis and custom development. Only very large organizations have the option to maintain all the necessary expertise internally. For the rest of us, a longterm marketing technology partner mitigates risk and allows our internal team to focus on core marketing activities. Mark Hendrikse is Director of Marketing at

Brewster Travel Canada, based in beautiful Banff, Alberta. DMN.ca ❰


Stephane Latreille, the GM of Retail at Aimia (left) and Mark Daprato, Chief Marketing Officer at Shop.ca talk about how to build customer loyalty in e-commerce.

The rise of the online retail shopper How to build customer loyalty in e-commerce

By Amy Bostock

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lmost half of Canada’s Internet users are now shopping online at least once a month, according to an online poll conducted for PricewaterhouseCoopers. About 87 per cent of the respondents said that they shop online at least once a year, while 49 per cent said they do so on a monthly basis. With so many shopping options available, online retailers face a huge challenge when it comes to building and retaining customer loyalty. For Shop.ca, a Canadian owned multimerchant marketplace launched in July 2012, Mark Daprato, Chief Marketing Officer says that the key to success is engaging customers at every interaction to provide a seamless experience. He says that retailers have to start with four pillars: quality, service, experience and value in order to build loyalty. “It’s the combination of all of those ❱ DMN.ca

that come together, if you’re doing it right, and allow you to think about the customer first so that you’re answering all four of those pillars in a meaningful way and the customer feels that this is a worthwhile value exchange.” According to Stephane Latreille, the GM of Retail at Aimia, building loyalty in the ecommerce space is about more than just offering a loyalty program. It comes down to a customer mindset around their purchasing cycle, in terms of how they approach their buying decision. “Ultimately, these shopper satisfaction drivers help your customers decide whether or not you’re meeting quality, service, product and value. Its a responsibility borne by the retailer to provide a distinct and differentiating value proposition to help guide their potential consumers to ultimately pull the trigger and make a purchase. These are the fundamentals, I think, in basic retailing.”

“These four satisfaction drivers are often forgotten as the foundational elements which foster loyalty, the loyalty program as on its own isn’t enough,” says Latreille. “The loyalty program provides the vehicle to create a meaningful value exchange as well as engagement directly with your customer, creating the opportunity for you to develop a relationship with that consumer. By having your customer share their data, you gain direct insights into their purchase intent and behaviour, allowing to customize your interactions with them.” As an exclusively online company, when it comes to developing a loyalty program for their customers, Shop.ca faces different challenges than bricks and mortar stores. “The challenge for us constantly is to make sure people get to know us,” says Daprato. “If I don’t physically have that person at the checkout counter saying, would you like to take advantage of the

loyalty program, and I don’t have that eye contact and that conversation, or other types of touch points, physical touch points you’ll have in a bricks and mortar, we have to figure out other ways to create that. So we have to think about how do we communicate it, really? How well do you represent it on every page of your site? How well do you represent it at the checkout when somebody is making a purchase? How well do you represent it into core touch points of communication that we have, which are email or cards to the home or packing slips? Recognizing that the human touch point is largely removed from the equation until they actually speak with one of our customer loyalty team members, who can really then talk about it at great length, we don’t have that same ease of introduction at that retail spot.” Shop.ca recently partnered with Aeroplan to offer greater value to their customers. The partnership June 2015

Gary Tannyan

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Cover Story


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Cover Story offers Shop.ca a competitive differentiation in the form of brand loyalty and an extended Aeroplan partner base. This affiliation with a strong, established Canadian brand means Shop.ca is better able to reach like-minded, digitally savvy consumers. It also provides the much needed collaboration with a personalized data-driven partner that will allow Shop.ca to better market to their customers based on personal preferences. Shop.ca uses a mass marketing approach that has utilized channels such as print work with Torstar and other consumer publications. “We’ve also done extensive customized DM in addressed direct mail and unaddressed direct mail,” says Daprato. “In partnership with Aeroplan, we’ve really tried to put some great offers in front of the Aeroplan base, as well as some broader offers. So, we’ve done print, we’ve done door hangers, we’ve done DM, radio, TV.” They’ve also done digital flyers and pushed them out in many fronts in an effort to bridge the physical and digital worlds – a connection that sometimes gets overlooked by online retailers. “I don’t know if other people are missing it,” says Daprato, “but what I do know is how hard it is to do and how much effort we put into it. Hand on heart, there’s not a day that goes by that I don’t think we could be doing this so much better. And, so the whole journey is from not even being an ongoing site three years ago to now being active and just learning every day, and just listening to the customer. And, if we don’t think we’re doing it well enough, learning how to do it better by listening to the customer, or the potential customer.” “Shop.ca is customer centric and are laser focussed on meeting the needs of their customers,” says Latreille. “What I see with traditional bricks and mortar retail models who also have an e-commerce channel is that they’re so focused on in store pick up, they forget the need to provide alternative delivery options. “Shipping to stores isn’t necessarily the best model for all consumers. Give them the option to ship to home. That’s where I see a lack of focus around customer centricity with some retailers, where it’s more around meeting my business objective and less around the customer journey.” People are busy, Daprato adds, so retailers have to be respectful of their time. June 2015

Finding the right data to engage consumers So in the giant sea of data that online retailers like Shop.ca now have access to, how do they choose the RIGHT data for their needs. “I think we’re uncovering it every day,” says Daprato, “but I think the right data for us is data that is appropriate, that we can use together to make a great experience for people loyal to Aeroplan who want to shop for specific brands, or who are looking for specific types of value.” As a result, the team at Shop.ca spends a lot of time learning about what are people browsing. What is it that they’re looking at? “If they’ve logged in and they’ve got an account with us, what are they telling us they want? Are they communicating with us? Are they writing reviews? We look at that, at the reviews and at what pages on the site convert to a sale.” They also track on what pages there’s an immediate bounce to determine which products people are least interested in. “We continually look at all those granular details and we try to look at it as much as we can at the direct customer standpoint so that we can keep trying to create the right data. And, for us, the right data is marrying customer intent, customer purchase intent and customer need with loyalty, with product and with a seamless consumer experience.” On being Canadian Just as there are challenges for etail versus bricks and mortar, there are also challenges associated with being a Canadian online retailer. “The reality is there’s a fair amount of cross-border shopping that’s happening with Canadians,” says Latreille. “The most recent marker stat was that 35% of purchases that Canadians make online are still crossborder. A part of that is tied to the adoption of e-commerce in Canada. It’s been a slow ramp-up, where retailers are frankly just catching up in the e-commerce space and just launching or expanding their e-commerce channels.” But, he says, Canada still doesn’t have the same breadth and depth as Americans do from a choice perspective. “And, in some cases, I think Americans are a bit more competitive around international shipping and have the volume to, potentially to

some extent, provide better pricing. But, that said, I think the adoption of Canadian brands is elevating. Canadians, as a whole, are very pleased to buy Canadian brands. And, if you can provide a value proposition that meets those drivers we discussed earlier around quality, service, experience, etcetera, and there’s an additional value proposition of a loyalty program that resonates with them, it’s a recipe for driving that conversion.” Through their current online channel options, Aeroplan has seen a rise in segments, based on their data, that infrequently bought online before, but who are now embracing etail. “We are continuously seeing greater engagement of our members in online retailing channels from both high value and high potential customer segments from varying demographic groups. It’s a competitive, fierce market, so it’s really about making sure that you have that clear value proposition that’s different from the competing brands like those in the U.S..” “For us, that’s a big part of understanding that there is this

sort of schism between Canadians and Americans in the online space, and just Americans adopted it more aggressively a long time ago,” says Daprato. “So, as much as we use Facebook more than anybody else in the world, and as much as we have the second-average-earner value to everybody other than South Korea, the volume penetration of e-commerce in Canada has been lower. It’s so counter intuitive, when you think about our mobile adoption rates, our internet adoption rates. But, the growth factor is significant for this year.” So while Canada pushes to catch up with our neighbors to the south, Latreille says that while the U.S. online retail space will continue to evolve, projections in growth show that they’re starting to plateau. “I think what’s going to continue to evolve is the digital experience, and then how do you drive personalization at each digital impression in your channel of choice – whether its mobile or tablet, etc., really making it easy for me as a consumer to engage with your brand. It’s about finding your sweet spot that resonates with consumers.”

Fasten your seatbelts. Roll up your shirtsleeves. And prepare yourself for an information packed day.

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Engagement & Analytics

Big Data = big opportunities for Canadian retailers By Shawn Smith

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t’s been a troubling year for retail in Canada. A new Stats Canada report reveals that December 2014 retail sales were down 2% in the busy holiday season. Combined with the recent closures or financial distress of retail outlets like Sony, Mexx, Smart Set, Target, Jacob and Bikini Village, the trend is clear: all is not well with Canada’s retail sector. Yet luxury retailers the likes of Nordstrom, Saks and Jimmy Choo are expanding in Canada, vying for a piece of Canada’s $1.6-billion luxury apparel market. While they are very distinct in demographic focus and customer segmentation, one thing that each of these retailers have in common is data. Lots of data. Big Data. Today’s retailers have access to vast stores of data that allow them to create a personalized retail experience that customers have come to expect. Used in the right way, data analytics can be the key to bringing customers in the door, building a better online experience, or simply helping weather slow periods by allowing faster, more efficient and more nimble supply chain changes. Whatever their customer segment or demographic focus, retailers have the opportunity to improve customer-centric and operational decision-making by building deeper insight from a massive stream of internal and external data. Analytics technology can help struggling retailers compete and thrive in today’s tough marketplace. Here’s how.

acronyms and buzzwords. Hadoop is simply an environment for storing and processing data. Huge volumes of data, certainly, but it’s still a tool to be mastered, not to be ruled by. As the amount of data we collect increases, Hadoop will enable marketers to leverage that data to move a customer to conversion, by providing context about how to deliver the most relevant offer to the customer.

Big Data and Hadoop Big Data is important to every line of business and industry. But marketing is a key passenger on the Big Data bus. In many ways, marketing was doing Big Data before it was Big Data. Concepts like segmentation, offer management and propensity to turnover have always required data and analytics. Big Data doesn’t change the marketer’s role. It encourages it to evolve. It also opens the door to using data in ways they’ve only dreamed about. The explosion of Big Data has fostered the Hadoop ecosystem, which, in turn, has marketing professionals awash in a sea of

A personalized customer experience Offers, advertisements and marketing messages can be sent from every possible direction, but savvy marketers must be careful not to bombard consumers’ senses. In an ideal world, consumers receive messages that are tailored, relevant and timely, and offered to them based on their actions and behaviours in the past--or better yet, how they might act or behave in the future. These personalized offers must be consistent regardless of the channel through which it’s being delivered and seem unique to the individual receiving them. This is the experience customers

❱ DMN.ca

The mobile retailing experience Today’s consumer is more connected than ever before. In this always-on culture, consumers want the right message delivered to the right channel, to the device of their choice, at the time of their choosing. As mobile devices continue to proliferate, marketers will need to understand the needs of the mobile user and be ready to deliver real-time, relevant communications. In many ways the mobile phone has turned into our own personal shopper .The rise of beacon technology is making this a reality. Beacons are hardware sensors designed to wirelessly communicate and transmit data to mobile devices within a specific proximity. Beacons can be used for a bevy of in-store purposes, including geolocation, targeted messaging and shopper analytics. But in order to get the most out of beacon strategies, retailers must combine the technology with analytics to enable a shopping experience that is truly personalized and of value to the shopper.

have come to be expect, and only analytics can drive the type of real-time insight that underpins personalized marketing. Personalized marketing and promotions can also help improve customer loyalty. By tailoring messaging or promotional offers to customers based on their preferences and past behaviours, retailers can establish a more personal relationship with the customer. Research from SAS has found that nearly half of smartphone owners would be more likely to return to a store that sent personalized promotions to their phone while they were shopping. In short, customers who receive personalized deals buy more and come back more often. Yet, according to SAS’s 3rd Annual Analytics in Retail Study, only one in 10 Canadian retailers make customer profiles available to merchandising and marketing teams in real-time. Retailers have access to mountains of behavioral customer data, but if they’re not effectively listening to what the data is telling them, then it’s of no use. Rewards-based incentive programs As the saying goes: You scratch our back, and we’ll scratch yours. This premise is especially important when it comes to gathering personal data from your customers: It should be give-and-take. When you can show consumers the value they receive by sharing data, they’re more likely to opt in. Customers know that their data is valuable, and they need to feel secure in giving it and assured that they’ll see a return on their data sharing. This means they expect retailers to make their information count, in the form of a personalized discount or recommendation for a complimentary item to something they recently purchased. Research from SAS has found that nearly three quarters of Canadians expect that, when they give a company personal information, such as their age, email address, income or birth date, the company will use that information to tailor promotions to them personally. Loyalty programs are only as good as the loyal customers they generate. And this means they’re

only as good as the personal touch they add for customers. Informed inventory A major obstacle for retailers is finding the perfect balance between out-ofstock and overstocked. When it comes to inventory, there is a crucial difference between planning based on activity from the previous year and making informed decisions using much more accurate forecasting based on solid insights. This is the difference between hindsight and the kinds of insight and foresight made possible by analytics. Analytics can help anticipate customer demand by identifying factors that might affect consumer needs. For example, a retailer stocking sports equipment can be prepared for an increase in demand for soccer jerseys before the start of the season. At a deeper level, analytics can help a retailer plan for a baby boom. Based on buying habits, data insights from predictive analytics might indicate an increase in growing families in a younger community. Now the retailer can plan for increased diaper sales, or other sales of items new parents need. Effectively utilizing analytics can help retailers optimize inventory management across facilities, distribution networks and products. Let your data work for you The data onslaught is both a challenge and an opportunity for retailers. For most, accessing customer data isn’t the issue. The issue is what to do with it once you have it. Analytics can provide a deeper understanding of who your customer is, and what they value when it comes to the products and services you provide. Namely, it opens the door for retailers to interact with customers more purposefully and to become more personalized in those interactions. With the use of data analytics, retailers can help guide their marketing strategy and inventory decisions to truly serve the modern and much empowered consumers’ needs. Shawn Smith is a Senior Solutions Specialist

in SAS Canada’s Retail Practice where he is responsible for helping clients gain value from current and future investments in analytic retail technologies. June 2015



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Engagement & Analytics

Marketing Intelligence comes to Internet-ofThings devices Adobe Marketing Cloud extends digital experiences to physical world; new IoT SDK enables personalized experiences across new touch points

A

dobe has unveiled major new innovations in Adobe Marketing Cloud that enable brands to bring highly personalized experiences to physical spaces like retail stores, hotel rooms, vending machines and Internet-of-Things (IoT) devices. The new IoT SDK lets brands measure and analyze consumer engagement across any of those devices. What’s driving this is the digital transformation of the enterprise, catalyzed by the marketing department. Previously siloed, marketing data is now being used in concert with data collected by other departments like sales and customer service, creating a richer view of the customer. “Today, delivering an experience online isn’t enough,” says Brad Rencher, senior vice president, Digital Marketing at Adobe. “Brands need to extend marketing to physical spaces and connect directly with customers across an ever-increasing number of touch points. And they need a vendor that can lead this evolution and define the future of marketing. “Marketing is moving beyond existing digital channels to include new physical experiences in the real world. Adobe Marketing Cloud helps brands use their online marketing data to create unparalleled personalization in retail, entertainment, and travel and leisure experiences.”

❱ DMN.ca

Marketing gets physical Enabled by a richer view of the customer, digital experiences are starting to change how we shop, open hotel room doors, interact with our cars and buy soda from machines. “Starwood is marrying high-tech and high-touch to transform the hotel experience for our guests,” said Chris Norton, vice president, CRM and Channel Intelligence, Starwood Hotels and Resorts Worldwide. “From SPG Keyless, which gives our members the ability to go straight to their rooms and unlock their hotel door with their smartphone, to outfitting our rooms with digital experiences that allow our guests to explore hotel amenities and receive individually personalized content and promotions, we are leveraging analytics and technology to eliminate perennial pain points for our travelers. The Adobe Marketing Cloud is playing a crucial role in that revolution.” Adobe unveiled new solutions and capabilities that are helping marketers to make the most of these new opportunities. Adobe Experience Manager Screens: New Adobe Experience Manager Screens enables marketers to extend interactive content experiences including images, 3D interactive models, video and more to physical locations including retail stores, hotels and even devices like vending machines. A single author user

interface with cross-screen support connects the content with mobile apps and brand experiences continuously across the web to ensure consistency. Support for multi-touch allows for content to move easily across life-size touch screens and mobile apps. And the seamless tie-in with Creative Cloud makes it easy for marketers to store, access and use any asset. Intelligent Location Capabilities: Advancements in mobile technologies give brands new opportunities to improve in-store shopping experiences and maximize ROI. New Intelligent Location capabilities in Adobe Marketing Cloud allow companies to use GPS and iBeacon data to optimize their physical brand presence. With the visualization of iBeacon data, brands are able to view traffic patterns and customer engagements within retail stores, sports stadiums, airports, hotels, museums and other points of interests. Marketers can view and measure dwell times throughout the day, consumer interactions with push notifications and in-app messages triggered by iBeacons and more. The visualization of data enables them to reconfigure store layouts and optimize the display of merchandise to fully maximize ROI. Personalized experiences across IoT devices, wearables With Adobe Marketing Cloud, marketers can now reach IoT devices

and wearables. Adobe Target now supports digital content testing, optimization and personalization beyond web browsers and apps across any IoT device. Brands can use Adobe Target to serve content based on a customer’s personal interests across everyday touch points like ATM machines, gas station pump screens, game consoles, car dashboard screens, appliances and more. Adobe Target leverages predictive, yet anonymous data including CRM and third-party sources to personalize content in realtime. In addition, Mobile Core Services and Adobe Analytics let marketers measure and analyze customer engagement within content and apps across IoT devices using the new IoT SDK, which is an extension of the Mobile SDK. “Digital marketing as a practice continues to evolve rapidly, as do the expectations and needs of leading brands to effectively reach customers,” said Melissa Webster, program vice president, Content and Digital Media Technologies, IDC. “Today, delivering an experience online isn’t enough. Brands need to extend marketing to physical spaces and connect directly with customers across an everincreasing number of touch points. And they need a vendor that can lead this evolution and define the future of marketing.”

June 2015


THE CUSTOMER EXPERIENCE MAGAZINE ISSUE 2 • 2015

The age of multi-channel

Re-defining the modern contact centre agent Also in this issue: ❯❯ Contact Management 4.0: An industry in transformation

❯❯ HR lessons learned from Target



Recruitment

Effective recruitment strategies during a large-scale layoff By Sheryl Boswell

T

arget recently sent ripples through the retail world with the announcement that they will close all of their Canadian store locations. The announcement will result in leaving thousands of employees jobless, with the realization that they’d be competing with their coworkers and other retail employees for a finite number of jobs on the market. This isn’t the first time a large-scale layoff has occurred in the Canadian retail space, and retail is just one of the industries to be hit by mass layoffs over the last several years. While a layoff is never optimal, for human resource professionals, this can provide an opportunity to scoop up prime talent - but if not done with proper care and planning, it could result in a massive fishing expedition to hook minnows instead of the “big fish” everyone wants. Does your organization have the right tools in place to handle a large-scale layoff?

Solid recruitment strategies help companies find the best talent In the recruitment space, the right people are needed to scout out the right talent. If employers want to ensure they find strong employees through a large-scale layoff, they must ensure they have enough recruiting staff to capitalize on the opportunity and support the potential inflow of applications. On top of that, they must have qualified recruiting staff. Good recruiters understand that they are dealing with employees whose lives have been deeply affected by a layoff. They have the skills to be compassionate yet nimble under trying circumstances, and they know where to look. While employing the right recruitment staff is paramount to recruitment success, the right systems can transform your recruitment campaign and support your team to perform even better. If your company’s current system cannot handle a regular inflow of applications, then a large inflow will be near impossible to examine and could result in missed hiring opportunities.

Effective recruitment systems help manage large inflows There is an array of solutions available to recruiting staff, many of which streamline the process and some that even provide new and innovative ways to mine for the best talent. • Applicant tracking systems are used by many organizations to automate the candidate management process, and can be especially beneficial in mining large inflows of applicants. If your organization does not currently have a system in place, it might be time to assess your recruiting needs and use automation to complement your recruiting process. • Social recruiting solutions are a recent development, Issue 2 • 2015

and add another layer to the recruitment process. Social profile aggregation tools like TalentBin enable recruiters to view candidates through a fresh lens: their digital footprint. A full social scan can give recruiters access to non-active candidates, and may pick up on skills and interests not found on a resume. • Automated job seeker email campaigns like Talent CRM can help recruiters reach out to a large number of applicants in an efficient manner through a web-based mailing systems, while offering real-time reporting to get quick, timely feedback to support outreach and recruitment strategy. • Recruitment advertising solutions help showcase your employer brand and reach more seekers through dynamic media campaigns. For instance, are you amplifying your job postings through targeted placement on relevant sites? Job postings are only effective if they’re widely viewed, and utilizing advertising solutions can help you get there.

How to make your job posting stand out from the crowd With quality staff and effective systems in place, a clear, concise job posting will help ensure you attract the right talent. In the face of a large-scale layoff, a large number of candidates will be vetting countless postings to find the one that speaks to them. Like a good resume, effective job postings are carefully crafted and to the point. There are a number of ways to ensure your posting doesn’t get left in the dust. • Identify skill sets that match your organizational needs, and create job descriptions that are flexible enough to cater to candidates in a number of industries. For instance, a customer-facing Target employee may be the perfect fit for a role as a bank teller, so

transferable skills like customer and client relations should be highlighted. Don’t pigeonhole your posting. • Create an outward facing profile that will draw people in and get them excited about working for your organization. If you aren’t sure your organization’s profile is doing that, have an outsider review it. Is it somewhere they’d want to work? Does it accurately portray the company culture? • Ensure your posting and job title are search engine optimized to account for commonly searched keywords. For instance, is the job title a commonly searched term or is there an alternate title that more adequately describes the role and may result in more views?

Finding the right cultural fit When it comes to finding the right fit for your organization, it’s a twoway street. Employers need to let prospective candidates know what their organization is all about, and prospective candidates need to ensure they are doing their research in order to find the right fit. • Preserving your cultural identity. Are you positioned to know what organizations share a similar vision and culture to yours? Do you have reliable networks and interview strategies to discern the right candidates for your organization? A candidate may have all the right specs on paper, but with a feeding frenzy of applicants, it’s important to examine each eligible candidate closely to ensure cultural harmony is protected. Organizations will need to think hard about their needs, but also the workplace personality they hope to protect or grow. • Selling your organization. As mentioned above, when it comes to portraying culture, the Continued on page CM 7

contact management | 3


Contact Management

The age of multi-channel Re-defining the modern

Figure 1: Consumer adoption of communication channels has noticeable changed in three years

contact center agent By Guillaume Seynhaeve

T

oday’s modern consumers are a far-cry from what they used to be ten years ago – or even as early as last year. Tech Savvy, connected, and informed, they are the offspring of a technologically driven world – a fact the retail industry is very much aware of and eager to adapt to although more by necessity than by choice. The modern consumer will use three or more communication channels (phone, email, text, chat, social media, in person, etc.) to interact with a business today. And while the importance and focus on the customer experience has not changed, its delivery and complexity has. In fact, one has but to consider the changes the retail industry has undergone in recent decades to acknowledge the impact modern technology and the digital world have had on it. Case in point, the amount of opened U.S. retail space has decreased from 300 million square feet in 2010 to 43.8 million in 2013 as multichannel-based purchasing continues to chip away at the age-old brick-and-mortar model. Not convinced? Consider the following breakdown of consumer adoption of the latest communication channels (Figure 1 – Forrester Research Inc.). But despite the clear public adoption of multiple channels to communicate with businesses, challenges regarding the successful administration of each either individually or together are evident as well (Figure 2 – Forrester Research Inc.).

Figure 2: Real-time customer service channels have highest satisfaction ratings

The new 3D customer journey If we consider Henry Ford’s famous quote, “You can have any color, as long as its in black”, there certainly existed a time when companies set the standard and consumers were the willing recipients of whatever businesses disseminated. However, today the environment has drastically reversed, with customers clearly dictating 4 | contact management

Issue 2 • 2015


Contact Management what, where, and when without much care or consideration as to the how. Most importantly, by virtue of the latest advancements in multichannel communications, the customer journey has fundamentally changed and become three-dimensional in nature. Customers increasingly rely on multiple avenues to interact with an organization while expecting a seamless experience regardless of the chosen channel. As a result, and in the specific case of retail or any customer facing industry, the customer journey is no longer a linear one, but rather a potentially disconnected experience unless the customer service provider is able to connect the dots and maintain a smooth transition between each interaction. And yet, only 22% of companies have a framework for analyzing multichannel customer journeys with many acknowledging “complexity” as the primary culprit. Unfortunately, customers are unwilling to forgo their needs and expectations to allow businesses time to catch-up with the latest communication trends and preferences, giving root to the aptly named $1.6 Trillion “Switching Economy”. Case in point, fifty-three percent of US consumers switched providers in 2014 due to poor customer service.

Figure 3: Online shoppers are spending more when they use multiple channels

The need for multichannel agents As the emphasis on the customer experience continues to drive business initiatives and strategy, contact centers are increasingly becoming the face of most any industry with retail being no exception. Of course, as consumers alternate between traditional and digital shopping channels, the challenge lies in the unification of each to maintain a complete view of the customer without which a seamless customer experience becomes next to impossible. For example, if a customer journey begins online but finishes over the phone, how can an organization easily and effectively manage the customer journey without breaking the experience? The answer, naturally, lies in the proper use of both technology and people (notably agents). However, it fundamentally implies the need to place the contact center at the epicenter of an organization in order to provide each agent access to the relevant information needed to perform. If modern consumer expectations dictate the need for any and all agents to be capable of addressing any and all needs, it suggests agents must be capable of working not only across channels but departments as well – they need to be multifaceted. Yet many businesses continue to maintain segmented and department-specific organizational structures that are quickly becoming illsuited for today’s nimble consumer. More importantly, despite the growing adoption of software and technology to help meet consumer demand, many organizations restrict each platform and its associated data to the specific department it is intended to serve – CRM software is for Sales, service management solutions are for Support, accounting software is for billing, and so on. As a result, today’s average agent is generally left without insight into the entire Voice of the Customer (VOC) or access to the various solutions which would facilitate their ability to seamlessly address a customer need. Yet, for those organizations able to bridge the gaps, the rewards have the potential to be significant (see Figure 3 - PwC).

The multichannel approach The age of multichannel is already here. But while many industries have already accepted the importance of offering customers their communication preferences of Issue 2 • 2015

choice, the fact remains many have yet to realize the full potential a wellrun multichannel platform can offer. In short, if 2014 firmly established the importance of adopting a multichannel communication platform, 2015 and beyond will tackle the difficult task of how to leverage and monetize the benefits. But where does one begin? Create a unified communication strategy: Per a recent survey by Call Center IQ, Executive Report on the Future of the Contact Center, many businesses still struggle with determining the most appropriate department to which to assign their contact center with 47% falling under Customer Service, 26% under Operations, 12% under C-Level business units, 10% under Marketing, and the remaining 5% under IT. As such, it should come as little surprise if agents are unable to assume the multi-departmental role consumers expect across the various channels they select. However, with a unified communication strategy an organization can begin to approach customer service in the same 3-dimensional fashion its clients. Integrate your business: Of course, a unified communication strategy is of very little use if client-facing representatives lack access to the data and information needed to address client needs. In fact, 40% of customers expect representatives to already know about prior attempts to resolve an issue before an interaction begins.

As a result, the success of any multichannel platform is contingent on the unification of the numerous data-points and applications a company is subject to and uses (CRM, WFM, WFO, Ticketing, Billing, etc.) to allow agents a complete 360-degree view of the customer(s) in question. Without it, a business has the platform but lacks the information to make effective use of it. Train your team to be successful: The success of any strategy will always be subject to the individuals executing it. And assuming a business has an integrated multichannel strategy, the remaining piece of the puzzle lies in the training and consistent oversight of the reps (both sales and support) representing the brand on a daily basis. So while consumers may demand businesses offer multichannel, the true key to success is doing so is with reps who speak, live, and understand it. The growth and expansion of the various communication channels beyond traditional telephony have altered the balance of power in favor of those who are able to address them all uniformly. Of course, whether in retail or any other customer servicerelated industry, the winners will be those who accept the challenge and willingly adapt their people and platforms to the multichannel we live in now. No doubt easier said than done but certainly very feasible. Guillaume Seynhaeve is the Director of Marketing and Business Development at 3CLogic www.3clogic.com contact management | 5


Contact Management

An industry in transformation - contact management 4.0 Multichannel management and the rise of the omni-channel agent By Andrew McNair

C

ontact centers have evolved irreversibly over the last decade. As evidence of this, the results from Dimension Data’s 2015 Global Contact Centre Benchmarking Report confirm a continued, dramatic change. Multichannel contact – in the form of email, web chat, social media and self-service – continues to expand prolifically as preferred engagement methods. This change strikes at the heart of traditional contact center models. It means that more and more contact center customers around the world no longer choose a phone call as the primary way to communicate. In fact, should the evolution continue at its current pace, the research from Dimension Data shows that digital interaction activity will overtake voice-based contact within two years. Why? The reason is that new generations of tech-savvy consumers use the phone only as a last resort for queries that are not solved through other communication mechanisms. The industry has reached a tipping point. As contact centers are reinvented over the next two years, customers in Canada can anticipate common access to six different digital options in addition to the telephone. Smart device apps capabilities will grow to 48 percent (versus 54 percent globally); web chat will almost double to 67 percent (versus 70 percent globally), and social media presence is already at 33 percent. Skill requirements are growing along with the broadening scope of service coverage. Agent support of phone and assistedservice digital channels has become far more complex and critical.

Digital revolution The digital revolution is real, and represents the most radical change in the contact center business in the last 30 years. It has profound implications for the way in which organizations source new skills, manage resources across multiple channels and how they deploy technology to deliver and manage connected customer experiences. The telephone will remain, but as part of a much broader mix of options. It will be used more as an escalation channel, as contact centers evolve from being telephone-centric stereotypes into customer resolution centers. Agents will increasingly face transactions unresolved by digital and, if anything, their roles will become even more important and require greater skill.

Connected journeys While digital is fast becoming a preference, the reality is that consumers want outcomes. A continuous and effortless transition between channels will be a crucial competitive differentiator in the age of the consumer. In fact, it’s this frictionless switching between channels that defines the omnichannel experience.

Multichannel challenge Customers require that contact centers broaden their scope of services, and with the introduction of digital, move out of their traditional comfort zones. It’s no longer enough to provide isolated channels; consumers want an omnichannel experience – one that allows them to use 6 | contact management

Issue 2 • 2015


Contact Management different media methods to complete what may be a single inquiry. Additionally, to maintain customer services satisfaction, these interactions need to be frictionless. Today, the industry appears to be underprepared to deliver against a new set of digital requirements. In the short term, we’re also seeing agent roles becoming much more complex as a result of the broader skill set needed to handle multiple channels. This is compounded by the immaturity of these new solutions, absence of basic analytics, single-view information and lack of integration with enterprise systems. Just 57 percent of global contact center agents are now limited to voice-only telephone support. While it still stands at 69 percent in Canada, it’s predicted to drop further. Onefifth of Canadian contact center agents (35 percent globally) already handle a combination of both voice and non-voice channels. Another 9 percent of the workforce is dedicated to managing digital interactions only. The expanding scope of the contact center – along with customer engagement teams that manage complexity, high value interactions or process failure – has led to the requirement for employees to be more competent. Leading organizations’ approach to employee attraction and retention range from redesigning the work environment to changing the culture. Resources and skills levels are being stretched like never before, and in new ways. Contact centers need to align to recruitment plans, training content and competency profiling with this change. Management structures will most likely also need to be revamped to ensure more direct accountability, management and development of the various digital platforms. New and specialist resources may be needed, rather than redeploying traditional contact center employees, because not all skills will be easily transferrable. In some instances, the benefits of specialization will remain a priority. While skill blending is increasing, some operations will always prefer to dedicate agents to one contact channel.

Ease of resolution matters For service-based contact centers, ease of resolution is ranked the top factor affecting customer satisfaction. Customers say channel choice is good, but they mainly want their issues resolved. They expect telephone and assisted-service agents to have all the tools to help, should self-service channels fail.

As an increasing number of straightforward transactional customer contacts are migrated to self-service channels, it will become increasingly challenging to ensure that front-line agents are able to maintain performance levels in first contact resolution. To add to the complexity, many customers will have tried self-help channels before contacting the center, so their perception of ease of resolution will already be impacted. It’s imperative to give agents the tools they need to resolve queries on first contact. Contact centers need front-line staff to do more, because it’s the right thing to do from the customer’s perspective. In order to accomplish this, contact centers need to apply the right tools and methodologies that are common in traditional telephone channels, across the full spectrum of engagement methods now being handled. At present, they’re falling short. When companies empower and then trust their agents to deal with a broader range of contact types, it opens up the possibility for more interesting roles to be created. The caveat is that these roles shouldn’t become so complex that they drive employees away.

Continued from page CM 3

Andrew McNair has been with Dimension Data for 14 years and Head of Global Benchmarking since 2010. With 18 years’ senior customer management experience across the UK, Europe, Australia, North America, and South Africa, he possesses exceptional industry insight and a wealth of strategic vision. Andrew’s role encompasses responsibilities as Head of Solutions, allowing for continued practitioner involvement on the evolution of the industry.

Sheryl Boswell is a marketing and corporate communications leader engaged in strategic planning and execution to influence growth in both B2B- and B2C-driven markets. As Director of Marketing for Monster Canada, Sheryl leads the national marketing strategies for both employer and seeker audiences. Prior to Monster, Sheryl held a number of marketing and communications roles at ADP Canada.

organization’s profile is a good place to start. An organization that wants to attract fun-loving, creative people will likely do so by creating a witty, outside-thebox profile, while a conservative organization’s profile will convey a serious tone. Think about what you want to reveal. • Perfecting the interview process. Consider your interviewing process and what it says about the organization and its corporate culture. Think about the personality traits that would fit best within the organization, and whether candidates are coming from an organization that shares the same values. With several companies vying for top talent, it’s important to remain nimble – particularly during a largescale layoff. Proactively assessing your recruiting systems and maintaining the right staff will enable your organization to capitalize on an important opportunity to seek out top talent. With over 17,000 former Target employees looking for work, does your organization have the resources to seek out top talent?

The customer experience: the journey from good to great During this interactive discussion on business outcomes derived from improving the customer experience, we’ll show you why the key to overall success is providing choices that match customers’ expectations.

Direct Marketing invites you to a Free Breakfast Briefing July 9, 2015 • 7:30-10am

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ŽŶ͛ƚ ũƵƐƚ ƚŚŝŶŬ ĚŝŐŝƚĂů Žƌ ƉŚLJƐŝĐĂů͕ ĚŽŶ͛ƚ ŝŐŶŽƌĞ ƐŽĐŝĂů ũƵƐƚ ďĞĐĂƵƐĞ LJŽƵ͛ǀĞ ĂůǁĂLJƐ ĚŽŶĞ ŵĂŝů͘ 'Ğƚ ƚŚĞ ďĞƐƚ ŽĨ ďŽƚŚ ǁŽƌůĚƐ ĂŶĚ ŝŶƚĞŐƌĂƚĞ LJŽƵƌ ĐĂŵƉĂŝŐŶƐ ƵƐŝŶŐ tŽŽĚ Θ ƐƐŽĐŝĂƚĞƐ͛ ϯ ŝŵĞŶƐŝŽŶĂů DĂƌŬĞƚŝŶŐ ;ϯ DͿ ƐLJƐƚĞŵƐ ĂŶĚ ďŽŽƐƚ LJŽƵƌ ƌĞƐƉŽŶƐĞ ƌĂƚĞƐ ϯͲϰ ƚŝŵĞƐ͊ dĂƉ ŝŶ ƚŽ ĂŶ ŝŶĐƌĞĂƐĞĚ ĨůŽǁ ŽĨ ƌĞƐƉŽŶƐĞ ǁŝƚŚ ϯ D͘

Ref: SMSL15

CONVERT LEADS INTO CUSTOMERS

Mass Direct/Unaddressed

Direct Marketing represents all areas of the DM industry: from small businesses to Canadian Business 1000 companies. No matter what our reader's size, resources or strategies, each and every organization we reach is driven by data, powered by orders and striving for loyal customers. To advertise in Direct Marketing Resource Directory

ϰϭϲ͘Ϯϵϯ͘Ϯϱϭϭ ĐůŝĞŶƚƐĞƌǀŝĐĞƐΛǁŽŽĚͲĂŶĚͲĂƐƐŽĐŝĂƚĞƐ͘ĐŽŵ ǁǁǁ͘ǁŽŽĚͲĂŶĚͲĂƐƐŽĐŝĂƚĞƐ͘ĐŽŵ

PLASTIC CARDS

High quality offset PLASTIC CARDS, manufactured in Canada . Runs from 250 to 1,000,000 . Magnetic stripes, card encoding . Bar codes, smart cards . Card personalization . Fast turnaround times

Contact: Mark Henry, mark@dmn.ca

MAILING EQUIPMENT

www.cdnprintplastic.com Tel: (416) 240.7775 1.877.236.7746 Fax: (416) 241.0825 91 Kelfield St. #6, Toronto, ON M9W 5A3 sales@cdnprintplastic.com

Authorized resellers for:

. Zebra Card, Datacard, Fargo,

Evolis card printers

. Photo ID cards and systems

Unaddressed Delivery

adm_dm_4c.pdf 1 5/24/2013 4:35:39 PM

Mail Processing Solutions »

Inserting systems, feeders and folders

»

JETVision® integrity/control systems

Learn more:

»

Duplo finishing solutions

»

Inkjet systems, tabbers and pressure sealers

[Sales] Wayne Quesnelle 1.800.889.6245 x2021 Wayne.Quesnelle@bhemail.com

»

Parts, mailing and mailroom supplies

[Service] Charlotte Johnston 1.800.889.6245 x2012 Charlotte.Johnston@bhemail.com

bellhowell.ca © 2014 Bell and Howell Canada Ltd. All rights reserved.

to advertise in

Direct Marketing Resource Directory Contact Mark Henry, mark@dmn.ca



environicsanalytics.ca 416.969.2733


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