The 7 habits of Companies Delivering highly integrated Customer experiences.

1. The 7 Habits of Companies
Delivering Highly Integrated
Customer Experiences

2. 2
Table of Contents
Executive Summary 3
Integrated Customer Experiences 3
1. Have a holistic channel strategy 4
2. Born of a sound customer experience strategy 5
3. Loved by the top 6
4. Be clear on where the value is 7
5. Data from everything 8
6. United platforms 8
7. Built by cross-functional teams 8
Background to this Report 9
About CACI 9
© CACI 2014 www.caci.co.uk

3. 3
EXECUTIVE Summary
Amazing customer experiences rarely happen by chance. They require a sound strategy that encompasses data,
technology, business change and senior executive support.
By analysing feedback from 900 marketing executives around the world, CACI have been able to identify ’good
habits’ exhibited by organisations that are succeeding in creating integrated experiences for their customers.
These customer experiences provide consistency, quality, efficiency and integration across the channels their
customers want to use.
The intention of this whitepaper from CACI is to help guide you in the approach your organisation takes to
developing a customer experience that helps you increase the value of your customer across a range of metrics
from acquisition through to retention.
Should you need help creating an integrated customer experience, please contact CACI at marketing@caci.co.uk.
Integrated Customer Experiences
At CACI we define an integrated customer experience as a customer interaction with your organisation that is
both consistent and positive regardless of the channel used.
For example, when booking a restaurant through a mobile app it is expected that the pricing and table availability
will be same on the app as it is within the restaurant. Similarly the customer of today expects to be able to choose
the channel that is best suited for them at a particular time and for a particular requirement.
Our research found that over 80% of respondents expected an integrated customer experience to improve
customer retention, satisfaction and acquisition.
Increasingly, for brands that are operating in a multi-channel world, the question is no longer “should we create
an integrated customer experience?” The questions are “Where do we start?”, “Where is the greatest business
value?” and “How do we get the CEO behind this?”
We believe that the 7 habits of highly integrated customer experiences we have identified here, represent a
checklist to ensure you are well prepared to serve your customers wherever, whenever and however they choose.
© CACI 2014 www.caci.co.uk

4. 4
1. Have a holistic channel strategy
Channels need to co-operate to create integrated customer experiences. Therefore the purpose of each channel
should be considered as part of the end-to-end customer journey.
Translating this need into a strategy requires the analysis of two factors:
1. What are customers using each channel for?
2. Are the channels fit for purpose in relation to #1?
The answers to these questions will define what changes need to be made both within and across channels and
the importance of data and technical integration.
Specifically, currently mobile is an area of focus for businesses that are committed to providing a consistent
experience for their customers. Through both mobile apps and mobile websites these organisations are able to
connect with their customer whilst they’re on the move.
Chart 1: Percent difference in
channel use by highly integrated
companies – Biggest variance is in
the use of mobile channels
In the past it’s been easy to consider mobile as a disruptive option, a little ‘something extra’ for the customer.
This is no longer the case given the rapid growth in mobile technology and high speed 4g networks. Mobile, and
how it is integrated, is a crucial channel to consider, whether you work in B2C or B2B markets.
To provide some balance to this point, mobile in itself is not the strategy for improving the customer experience.
Creating a high quality customer experience across all relevant channels is the strategy. Mobile is simply one
channel that must be considered in your experience design.
© CACI 2014 www.caci.co.uk

5. 5
2. Born of a sound customer experience strategy
Integrating a customer’s journey doesn’t occur by accident or chance. It requires an alignment of all areas of the
business that impact on the customer experience.
This alignment requires a strategy that can be easily understood, is signed up to by all key stakeholders and is
executed well.
Graphic 1: Examples of strategic models used by CACI
Whilst cross-departmental teams can ensure that individual projects are focussed on the customer experience,
they need direction on what the end state is that they are working to deliver.
This is the major role of your strategy; to serve as a filter for projects to ensure that they are moving you closer to
the desired end state, or at a minimum, not making it more difficult/costly to get there.
Building such a strategy requires a dispassionate and honest assessment of your business. There are plenty of
methods and tools to help you do this such as SWOT, PESTLE, customer journey mapping and competitor
research.
Brain storming, vision setting and planning can then be based on these findings to ensure that the strategy
provides a roadmap for your development.
At CACI we use a structured method called Customer Lens to assess an organisation’s customer experience
capabilities. Through senior stakeholder interviews we assess the current and desired level of maturity across a
number of disciplines. These disciplines include your ability to capture customer information, how insight is shared
across the business and what methods you are using to shape the entire customer journey. The output of this is a
prioritised list of focus projects that need to be undertaken to drive business value.
© CACI 2014 www.caci.co.uk

6. 6
3. Loved by the top
The third habit that we identified in highly integrated organisations was that the Board supported the initiative.
In fact lack of senior level support was cited as one of the top barriers faced by organisations who are failing in
customer experience delivery.
Gaining top level support is a key requirement of any initiative that requires involvement from multiple
departments. An integrated customer experience is not exception to this this.
Through this support, teams can be certain that their priorities will be taken seriously and that the long-term
aims of the initiative are not overridden by short-term “fixes” that may be beneficial in the short-term but lead to
complexity/additional cost further down the line.
If you are a C-suite level executive, then start to form your vision for channel integration and build the team to
deliver it. For those who are attempting to influence the Board and steer your organisation’s overall strategy for
customer experience, do your research and present a compelling business case.
Ensure that the opportunity to retain customers, increase their value and be more profitable is clear.
Improving and integrating your customers experience requires executive
sponsorship and support to provide the necessary resources and investment.
Digital Professional
UK Agency
Failure to get this buy-in will create a further barrier that will ultimately slow down your progress.
© CACI 2014 www.caci.co.uk

7. 7
4. Be clear on where the value is
We live in the age of Big Data, where metrics can be captured through channels ranging from websites to running
shoes. Rather than become lost in statistics, individuals working to improve the customer experience need to plan
out what metrics are going to matter most in measuring the business value generated by the enhanced customer
experience.
Our research found a marked difference in what measurements were important in successful organisations when
compared to those who were struggling to create an integrated customer experience (chart 2).
Chart 2: Difference in metric use between highly integrated organisations and low integration organisations
Organisations that have succeeded in enhancing the customer experience have broadened the range of metrics
they focus on to include customer retention, advocacy and overall profitability. Total revenue is of course
measured, but the point is that other important attributes are also considered.
Another important metric that is being tracked is cost-to-serve. The implication being that integrated channels can
reduce the overall cost of serving customers by encouraging them to use lower cost channels, for example web vs
phone.
Overall the takeaway point is that measuring the incremental business value delivered by an integrated customer
experience needs a broader range of metrics than has traditionally been the case. This is in part because
historically organisations have not had access to the necessary data to provide these additional metrics, but it is
also indicative of the breadth of business functions that the customer experience impacts.
© CACI 2014 www.caci.co.uk

8. 8
We need to develop systems to allow us to capture customer
experience feedback from across the spectrum of channels
in a consistent, relevant and actionable format.
Marketing Director,
UK Retailer
5. Data from everything
EPOS data, web data, campaign response information and any other form of data can be used by organisations to
enhance their customer experience.
Data from all of these sources allows an organisation to track and measure customer activity across each channel.
Importantly this data will enable you to see where there are pain points in the customer journey and then let you
test ways to fix the problems.
In order to get the most from the data that is captured, the right skills, processes and systems will be required.
Building internal expertise in this area can often be a difficult as those with the expertise in this field are few
and far between. Even if you are able to build this capability internally, there is frequently the equally significant
challenge of changing the organisational culture to drive data and insight.
With this data, the strategy can be defined, the tactics set, performance optimised and outcomes measured.
This becomes an on-going cycle where the review of data becomes an inherent part of the process of validating
that the deployed strategy is working as expected and to support its refinement where appropriate.
6. United platforms
Great teams are based on individual players all doing their bit. No matter how good your striker is on a football
team, he won’t be able to stop you losing a game if the goalie can’t catch.
The same is true of the customer experience technology implemented by successful firms. Rather than purchasing
a single star player, they combine different technology that serves the entire customer lifecycle and all of their
channels.
Just like a team sport, communication between players is vital. With technology this means that each part of the
solution needs to be integrated to a level that enables the effective distribution of instructions and information.
7. Built by cross-functional teams
Marketers and departments are too segregated to make integrated
marketing decisions. It involves too many different teams and budgets.
Digital Professional
UK Agency
In every organisation CACI has worked with there are people who are passionate about the customer
experience. Given that you’re reading this, you’re probably one of them.
© CACI 2014 www.caci.co.uk

9. 9
But improving the cross channel experience of an organisation won’t be achieved through one or two enlightened
people. What is needed is a cross-functional/departmental team with the remit to make changes.
We have found that successful organisations had a cross-functional team to handle the customer experience.
Having such a team in place can enable organisational barriers to be crossed which, in turn enables all customer
touch points to be improved.
Background to this Report
The findings in this report are based on joint survey conducted by CACI and Econsultancy. Together we surveyed
900 marketing professionals.
This data has been analysed to find the difference between those who have succeeded in delivering an integrated
customer experience and those who have failed.
For a copy of the original report please contact marketing@caci.co.uk.
About CACI
CACI specialises in delivering integrated customer experiences that have data and digital at their heart. We do this
by providing a range of services across all channels:
• Strategy and technology consulting and programme management
• Digital and mobile design and build
• Multi-channel campaign services
• Location/store optimisation services
• Analytics and segmentation services
• Technology integration and managed services
CACI understand the need to deliver value quickly and show results throughout a programme of business change
through “thinking big and starting small”. Our data and analytics heritage is combined with deep expertise in
digital development, database and campaign management, technology integration and customer strategy. This
gives CACI a unique perspective when creating integrated customer experiences.
We support some of the world’s leading brands in retail, telecoms, insurance, retail financial services, sports and
leisure, gaming, media and charities.
Should you need help creating an integrated customer experience, please contact CACI at dsealey@caci.co.uk.
© CACI 2014 www.caci.co.uk