Last time around we looked at the steps that lead to setting a strategy. They aren't difficult and mostly involve evaluating where you are before you set off developing a strategy. For many companies the evaluation process is eye-opening. Who knew there were so many customer touch points? Who knew we were giving so many mixed messages to the customers? The result should have been a better understanding of the current state of the customer communication environment and a sense of where improvements are appropriate.
At this point there are two things that should happen in a coordinated way: the development of tactics to get you through the near term and a strategy to act as guidance for the long term. It is essential to have both, but they are not the same!
A strategy is a long term plan that should be designed to identify the opportunities to advance the product and brand using components from the existing product tool box and new tools (information, processes, people) acquired based on market conditions and revenue goals. That's a mouthful, but anyone who has read
Sun Tzu and the Art of War will recognize the elements. In the customer communication environment the customer communication strategy should speak to the required outcomes of all customer communication activities, including benchmarking and performance monitoring.
Your strategy should start with the mission statement that will guide you. Remember, this is with respect to customer communication activities, so what is the role of customer communication with respect to your brand, your products and your customers? Can you articulate it? If you cannot, it will be hard to set a strategy!
Once you agree on the mission, and assuming you know what tools you have to work with based on your ground work, what is the framework for communications activities. Not just the big picture, but how the elements are intended to work together. Think of this as the "who, what, where, when and how" (4w1h) of growing the relationship with the customer.
So, who are you trying to capture and retain as a customer?
What do you have to sell to them and what is your value proposition to them?
Where will you engage with the customer? Online? Broadcast media? Direct Mail? On bills, statements, packing slips and other transaction communication?
When will you engage? How often will you have something new to say?
How will you measure your performance? What is the baseline and how will you know if you are growing or shrinking?
From these basics you should be able to define your strategy for the next two to four years. Your strategy should be written, circulated, agreed to and made available for all team members. You should be testing against that strategy on a regular basis to see if you are following the strategy or if you are wandering off the path.
The strategy should be short and to the point, avoiding the tendency to create a long document that no one will ever read.
Next time we'll talk about tactics... they are actually more fun!