Developing Continutiy of Contact Program

Developing a Continuity of
Contact Program
A Step-by-Step Approach to
Improving Customer (and Prospect) Communication
NCDM Summer 2002 | July 22, 2002
Continuity of Contact (COC)
A standard and consistent manner in which to
communicate with customer and prospects
across multiple channels and interaction points.
What it can do for you
! Increase sales
– New customers, up-sell and cross-sell
opportunities
! Improve loyalty and satisfaction
! Improve brand identity
– Consistency in message across multiple channels
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Copyright 2002, Taylor-Harkins Group. All Rights Reserved.
How it’s different from CRM
! Doesn’t require wholesale change to
corporate strategy
– Let’s you take smaller steps to provide “quick
wins”
! Is manageable
– Narrows the focus to marketing and/or
marketing/sales
– No large financial commitments
! Short-term results that grow value
3
Examples of COC programs
! Calendar Driven
– Good for standard contacts
! Urgency/Time Driven
– Multi-channel prospecting/sales programs
! Activity Driven
– Good for managing prospect programs and
customer loyalty programs
! Life-Cycle Driven
– When products/services have short lifecycles
! Life-Stage Driven
– Good for enhancing relationships
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Calendar Driven
5
Urgency/Time Driven
6
Activity Driven
7
Lifecycle/Value Driven
8
Life-Stage Driven
9
COC in Action
Blue Cross Blue Shield of FL
Prospect Continuity of Contact Program
Under 65 Market
Under 65 TV Campaign
! COC is based on response preference
– Phone Response
– Web Response
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Phone Responder
! Postcard letting responder know
– We received the request for information
– Call # now to speak to a sales rep
– Go to the Internet to see products and rates now
– Local agents are available to meet with you
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Web Responder
! Instant quotes
– Allows a person to save information and register
on site
– Purchase product on site
– Has “chatty Cathy”
– Mail box
– Sales agent phone number
– Physician directory
– Face to face agent locator
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Response Activity Based
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Next Steps
! Follow-up based on responder activity
– Internet registration, no purchase
• If a person registers and does not purchase 2 activities
are triggered immediately.
– Auto e-back thanking them for going to the site and a link in
the e-mail to make it easy to back and finish the activity.
– They will receive the monthly e-newsletter with health
information and a link back to the site. The newsletter also
has some information about products.
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Next Steps
– Telemarketing conversation, no purchase
• Direct mail follow up with information about the fact that
BCBSF has multiple products available.
– After 3 months Face to Face agents are sent the leads if not
sales from sales kit to determine if they needed additional
support understanding health insurance products.
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Next Steps
– Face-to-face agent contact, no purchase
• If the lead was originally generated by BCBSF, the
name is added to the prospect file, and direct mail
efforts are made against the name.
– Purchase
• Contract package sent or delivered and other products
and services are promoted. For example, Automatic
Payment Option with a discount on rates if
selected. Dental discount services offered for purchase
and other discounts included and explained for BCBSF
customers.
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Some Follow-up Methods
! Internet e-mail with link message
! E-newsletters
! Direct Mail
! Telemarketing
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Future Developments
! *669 wireless lead generation (sign up service)
! Internet tracking
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How to build a COC Program
Getting Started
! Determine what kind of COC plan you’re going
to develop for each segment
! What are the goals and objectives of each
COC plan
– Drive new sales, increase up-sell/cross-sell, create
customer loyalty, etc.?
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Step 1: Define Target Groups
! Who are your targets groups?
– How many do you have? Pick the top 3-4 for to
start
! What are the Needs, Values and Expectations
(NVEs) of each segment?
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NVE’s Defined
– Needs: How well a product or service meets the
basic customer needs. Obvious examples are
food, clothing and shelter, but less obvious
examples may include safety, security, approval,
and affiliation.
– Values: How well a product or service aligns, or at
least does not conflict with customer values.
Values may include: trust, courtesy and respect.
– Expectations: How well a product or service
meets customer expectations, considering needs
and values. Examples may include: quality,
dependability, and timeliness.
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Step 2: Key Drivers
! Determine the key drivers for each COC plan:
– Build it based on what is meaningful to the
customer, not to your company
• Calendar?
• Urgency/Time?
• Actions?
• Product/Service Lifecycle?
• Life-stage?
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Step 3: Contact Frequency
! Frequency of contact should be based on
customer preference first, organizational need
second
– Think about permission
• Particularly true of e-mail
• What communication permission have your
customers/prospects given?
– In direct mail, it permission is less a factor
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Step 4: Channel Communication
! Considering your specific target groups:
– How do they currently interact with your firm?
• Which channels do they use?
• Why do they use these channels?
• How frequently do they use a specific channel?
• Do they use more than one channel?
– Are we using all of the communications channels
effectively?
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Step 5: Messaging Strategy
! Based on the NVEs of your target group, what
do they want to know about your
firm/product/service?
• How do you communicate the message?
• Do you change this message by channel?
– If you do, are the messages consistent by channel?
• Are your messages consistent across all channels?
– Increasingly important when engaging in regular
communications
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Step 6:
Continuity of Contact Map
Step 7: Implementation
! What do you need to make your plan a reality?
– Supporting systems?
• Doesn’t have to be technology-focus
– Additional resources?
– Other?
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Things to consider
! Technology can help you automate the flow of
the interaction, but is not required to see
results with the COC programs
! Customer information and analysis is helpful
but not a requirement for COC to work
! Customer desire should factor heavily in
program design. Give customer’s (and
prospects) the opportunity to opt-out of
communication at each channel
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Thank you!
Dave Harkins Cindy Tanton
Co-CEO Director, Database Marketing
Taylor- Harkins Group Blue Cross Blue Shield of FL
dharkins@taylorharkins.com cindy.tanton@bcbsfl.com
www.taylorharkins.com www.bcbsfl.com

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