Reduce customer churn using the 5W's Tool

My love for the 5Ws was professed (or at least implied) in a prior post, proving that I am not afraid to express my deep affection for abstract concepts - luckily I have a very understanding wife. So here we go again, another ode to the 5Ws, one of the simplest yet most powerful ways to generate ideas to improve your business.

Let's kick things off with a marketing poem that's all about reducing customer churn... or as I like to put it, fixing those darn leaks in your bucket 'o customers:

There's a hole in the bucket, dear Liza, dear Liza...
Then fix it dear Henry, dear Henry, dear Henry...
With what should I fix it, dear Liza, dear Liza?...
With the 5Ws dear Henry, dear Henry, dear Henry
With the 5Ws dear Henry, dear Henry, with the 5Ws...

How to use the 5Ws to reduce customer churn

1. Use the 5Ws churn matrix to generate ideas. Use the 5Ws Customer Churn Matrix (see it below) to generate as many ideas as possible for why customers might cancel or reduce the use of your product or service. You will be amazed at how rich & vivid your perspective on your customers will become (no, I didn't borrow this line from an infomercial).
   
2. Validate your ideas. Which of your ideas actually result in customer churn? There are a number of ways to validate your ideas, from surveying canceled customers to bouncing them off customer service reps.*
   
3. Find the biggest leaks. Of the cancellation reasons you have validated, which ones account for the largest % of customer attrition? You want to make sure you focus your attention on the biggest chunks to maximize the business impact of your efforts.
   
4. Design ways to plug the holes. How can you reduce or eliminate the biggest drivers of customer churn? Common strategies include making enhancements to your product or service, creating promotional or loyalty programs, retraining your sales & service reps, altering your approach to distribution, and developing new partnerships.
5. Plug away! Unfortunately it's not enough to simply think up cool & innovative ways to reduce customer attrition... you have to execute, execute, execute...
   
6. Measure & adjust. What's working? What's not working? What could work if you made a few minor tweaks? At this point you're looking to optimize your strategies through ongoing measurement & adjustments.
   

Click here to download matrix in PowerPoint

Please share your experiences!
Enough about the 5Ws and my curious fascination with matrices! How do you go about identifying why your customers cancel your service? What have you found to be most effective? Please share your experiences - good, bad or ugly.





Additional posts on using the 5Ws to improve your business

• Marketing & the 5 W's: why every marketer should take a journalism class
• Marketing & the 5 W's: a framework for marketing innovation

Check out my favorite business books

*While you should always be surveying canceled customers and speaking with service reps, arming yourself with the ideas generated from the matrix will significantly enhance the value you derive from these activities.

read more

Using the 5Ws to reduce customer churn

My love for the 5Ws was professed (or at least implied) in a prior post, proving that I am not afraid to express my deep affection for abstract concepts - luckily I have a very understanding wife. So here we go again, another ode to the 5Ws, one of the simplest yet most powerful ways to generate ideas to improve your business.

Let's kick things off with a marketing poem that's all about reducing customer churn... or as I like to put it, fixing those darn leaks in your bucket 'o customers:

There's a hole in the bucket, dear Liza, dear Liza...
Then fix it dear Henry, dear Henry, dear Henry...
With what should I fix it, dear Liza, dear Liza?...
With the 5Ws dear Henry, dear Henry, dear Henry
With the 5Ws dear Henry, dear Henry, with the 5Ws...

How to use the 5Ws to reduce customer churn

1. Use the 5Ws churn matrix to generate ideas. Use the 5Ws Customer Churn Matrix (see it below) to generate as many ideas as possible for why customers might cancel or reduce the use of your product or service. You will be amazed at how rich & vivid your perspective on your customers will become (no, I didn't borrow this line from an infomercial).
   
2. Validate your ideas. Which of your ideas actually result in customer churn? There are a number of ways to validate your ideas, from surveying canceled customers to bouncing them off customer service reps.*
   
3. Find the biggest leaks. Of the cancellation reasons you have validated, which ones account for the largest % of customer attrition? You want to make sure you focus your attention on the biggest chunks to maximize the business impact of your efforts.
   
4. Design ways to plug the holes. How can you reduce or eliminate the biggest drivers of customer churn? Common strategies include making enhancements to your product or service, creating promotional or loyalty programs, retraining your sales & service reps, altering your approach to distribution, and developing new partnerships.
5. Plug away! Unfortunately it's not enough to simply think up cool & innovative ways to reduce customer attrition... you have to execute, execute, execute...
   
6. Measure & adjust. What's working? What's not working? What could work if you made a few minor tweaks? At this point you're looking to optimize your strategies through ongoing measurement & adjustments.
   

Click here to download matrix in PowerPoint

Please share your experiences!
Enough about the 5Ws and my curious fascination with matrices! How do you go about identifying why your customers cancel your service? What have you found to be most effective? Please share your experiences - good, bad or ugly.








 
Additional posts on using the 5Ws to improve your business

• Marketing & the 5 W's: why every marketer should take a journalism class
• Marketing & the 5 W's: a framework for marketing innovation

*While you should always be surveying canceled customers and speaking with service reps, arming yourself with the ideas generated from the matrix will significantly enhance the value you derive from these activities.

read more

Marcom case study: the “Hyatt Shuttle” of New York’s Grand Central Station

It’s not often these days I’m stopped in my tracks (no pun intended) by an ad or related form of marketing communication. Most of them seem to fuse with the background becoming invisible in mere seconds. This week was an exception, however, and it underscores one of the core principles any marketer should keep in mind when crafting effective marketing communications…


My encounter with "The Shuttle"
As I boarded the Shuttle train this morning, half-awake from my morning coffee, I was brought to full attention by a completely transformed subway interior (for those unfamiliar, the shuttle is a train that runs between Time Square & Grand Central Station in NYC). Beyond the expected surprise I felt from entering a subway car that had been bathed in the accoutrement of a solitary theme, there were a few reasons in particular that made the experience so memorable. And, it serves as a great example of how marketers can cut through the clutter – objective number one for any marketing communication. This feat was all the more impressive given that it was competing head-to-head with the madness that is midtown Manhattan during morning rush hour.


Why the Hyatt Shuttle = effective marketing communication
So what made the experience so compelling?

For starters, the train’s interior broke any existing schema (or expectation) I had for “what the inside of a NYC subway looks like”. Instead of steely, cool panels, the train was affixed with faux wood “wall paper” reminiscent of some bachelor’s finished basement from the late 70s, pool table & wet bar not included.

In place of slick, high-design ads pressed into the metal picture frames that dot the subway’s interior were color graphs printed on basic white printer paper; graphs that reminded me of the simple bar charts Microsoft Excel spit out circa 1989 . The charts, whose effectiveness was heightened by their simplicity, depicted how much more successful face-to-face meetings are in comparison with video conferencing, email, or phone calls.

At its essence, Hyatt transformed a cold, unfriendly space (the inside of a NYC subway) into a warm, inviting place - the inference being that Hyatt Conference Centers create the type of warm, inviting atmospheres conducive to effective business schmoozing & networking.

Now I’m neither an event planner nor coordinator of large-scale meetings, so I cannot speak to the level of influence "The Hyatt Shuttle” might have on my decision-making for those upcoming conferences.

However, to some degree that’s irrelevant. “The Hyatt Shuttle” compelled me to whip out my blackberry on a crowded train and snap away - much to the annoyance of my fellow commuters. It got me to write this post with blurry crackberry photos attached for the entire world to see (or 0.00022% of the Internet world per my latest Alexa rankings). And perhaps most compelling - Hyatt was able to convert me into an online PR guy who’s apparently willing to work for free. All Hyatt had to do was serve up a unique experience that added a little bit of zest to my otherwise predictable day. Clever, high-ROI strategy… and heck of a marketing communications case study for marketers to sink their teeth into & leverage for their own business.


The Law of the Unexpected
Let’s bubble-up this mini case study and see what useful principles we can derive for you to use in your business… at its core, what made The Hyatt Shuttle so compelling is that it successfully employed the law of the unexpected, which simply states that throw something out there that I don’t expect and you’ll capture my attention... think giraffe in a field of cows, an orange in a bowl of apples, or your waiter at The Four Seasons dressed in a white t-shirt & cut-off jean shorts.


How to apply the law of the unexpected to your marketing communication
Let's get right to what you're no doubt wondering - how to apply the law to your own marcom efforts... (to be continued... coming soon...)


If you’d like to read more about the law of the unexpected and other means for cutting through the clutter, I highly recommend:

• Made to Stick: Why Some Ideas Survive and Others Die

• Metaphorically Selling

read more

Marcom case study: the “Hyatt Shuttle” of New York’s Grand Central Station

It’s not often these days I’m stopped in my tracks (no pun intended) by an ad or related form of marketing communication. Most of them seem to fuse with the background becoming invisible in mere seconds. This week was an exception, however, and it underscores one of the core principles any marketer should keep in mind when crafting effective marketing communications…


My encounter with "The Shuttle"
As I boarded the Shuttle train this morning, half-awake from my morning coffee, I was brought to full attention by a completely transformed subway interior (for those unfamiliar, the shuttle is a train that runs between Time Square & Grand Central Station in NYC). Beyond the expected surprise I felt from entering a subway car that had been bathed in the accoutrement of a solitary theme, there were a few reasons in particular that made the experience so memorable. And, it serves as a great example of how marketers can cut through the clutter – objective number one for any marketing communication. This feat was all the more impressive given that it was competing head-to-head with the madness that is midtown Manhattan during morning rush hour.


Why the Hyatt Shuttle = effective marketing communication
So what made the experience so compelling?

For starters, the train’s interior broke any existing schema (or expectation) I had for “what the inside of a NYC subway looks like”. Instead of steely, cool panels, the train was affixed with faux wood “wall paper” reminiscent of some bachelor’s finished basement from the late 70s, pool table & wet bar not included.

In place of slick, high-design ads pressed into the metal picture frames that dot the subway’s interior were color graphs printed on basic white printer paper; graphs that reminded me of the simple bar charts Microsoft Excel spit out circa 1989 . The charts, whose effectiveness was heightened by their simplicity, depicted how much more successful face-to-face meetings are in comparison with video conferencing, email, or phone calls.

At its essence, Hyatt transformed a cold, unfriendly space (the inside of a NYC subway) into a warm, inviting place - the inference being that Hyatt Conference Centers create the type of warm, inviting atmospheres conducive to effective business schmoozing & networking.

Now I’m neither an event planner nor coordinator of large-scale meetings, so I cannot speak to the level of influence "The Hyatt Shuttle” might have on my decision-making for those upcoming conferences.

However, to some degree that’s irrelevant. “The Hyatt Shuttle” compelled me to whip out my blackberry on a crowded train and snap away - much to the annoyance of my fellow commuters. It got me to write this post with blurry crackberry photos attached for the entire world to see (or 0.00022% of the Internet world per my latest Alexa rankings). And perhaps most compelling - Hyatt was able to convert me into an online PR guy who’s apparently willing to work for free. All Hyatt had to do was serve up a unique experience that added a little bit of zest to my otherwise predictable day. Clever, high-ROI strategy… and heck of a marketing communications case study for marketers to sink their teeth into & leverage for their own business.


The Law of the Unexpected
Let’s bubble-up this mini case study and see what useful principles we can derive for you to use in your business… at its core, what made The Hyatt Shuttle so compelling is that it successfully employed the law of the unexpected, which simply states that throw something out there that I don’t expect and you’ll capture my attention... think giraffe in a field of cows, an orange in a bowl of apples, or your waiter at The Four Seasons dressed in a white t-shirt & cut-off jean shorts.


How to apply the law of the unexpected to your marketing communication
Let's get right to what you're no doubt wondering - how to apply the law to your own marcom efforts... (to be continued... coming soon...)


If you’d like to read more about the law of the unexpected and other means for cutting through the clutter, I highly recommend:

• Made to Stick: Why Some Ideas Survive and Others Die

• Metaphorically Selling

read more

Engaging Influentials: Twitter and Beyond

By David Capece, Managing Partner at Sparxoo

With the rapid adoption of social media, we have accelerated into a network economy. In a network economy, connectivity enables value to be created and shared by network members. The larger the network, the greater the potential benefits. In the digital world, network activities take place on an open platform that enables participation and cloud computing (think Wikipedia and widgets).

In networks, some members are more connected and active, and therefore have more influence. These influentials are important members because they add significantly more value to the network. In the digital world, they blog, twitter, upload videos, experiment with new gadgets, and create widgets. As early adopters, they tend to be trendsetters that are followed by their friends and sometimes the masses. The book, the Whuffie Factor, talks about Social Capital, and how our society is increasingly motivated to become more useful and creative. Today, more people want to be influencers, and they want to be enabled.

In 2009, Twitter has emerged as one of the most talked about platforms in the network economy. Indeed, there is a simple network exchange on Twitter: influencer creates bite-size content, and follower discovers new information. Here are a few examples of the exchange:

• Gavin Newsom, mayor of San Francisco and California Governor Candidate, has over 500,000 followers. He keeps his followers informed about upcoming events and fundraising, and enables them to interact with him directly.
• Mike Massimino, a NASA astronaut, has over 400,000 followers. He combines his human life story with a behind the scenes look at being an astronaut.
• And of course there is Oprah, approaching 1.4 million followers.

Twitter makes it easy to share your voice and build your presence in the community. RegularGeek’s comment sums up the value: “Even someone like myself, and I do not have a huge social media presence, can talk to and possibly influence about five thousand people. If I have two thousand subscribers on the blog, Twitter, FriendFeed and Facebook, the number of unique people could be around 5,000. That is direct contact, and the network effects could create an audience much larger.”

While we are all familiar with Twitter, there are many more communities that engage and enable an influential audience with network principles. One of the key elements of a network is the idea of reciprocity. The idea of “I win, you lose” doesn’t work in a network, or it will fall apart. Instead, there must be mutual win-win exchanges. One such example is at Triggerstreet, was founded in 2002 by Academy Award Winner Kevin Spacey, which is a community for emerging artists. The promise of the network is to democratize exposure and offer a career boost through a network of peers who review your work, rate it, and provide feedback. Further, the network has engaged influentials in the form of participating judges, including Michael Myers, Sean Penn, Snoop Dog, Sheryl Crow, and Liv Tyler.

It is this very concept of participation by influentials that is becoming increasingly important with each passing day. In our world of choice and overcapacity, influentials are an important element of the decision making process. As we de-emphasize paid media such as television commercials and print ads, the power of earned media and word of mouth is amplified. As you consider new ways to share your story and build your reputation, learn from entrepreneurial initiatives that listen to and engage the influentials.

Our first example is Jodangle which helps you listen to and monitor the online chatter by influentials. In an environment where influential content originates from an exploding number of information sources, Jodange provides intelligence on who and what is influencing customers, competitors, and the overall marketplace. In April 2009, Jodangle received $1.2 million of investments.

Our second and third examples are currently in development at DreamIt Ventures, which helps entrepreneurs launch their ventures and build great companies. Trendsta is a new way for trendsetting teens to test and review the latest hot products. Like BuzzAgent, the principal is that word-of-mouth marketing is powerful. Trendsta has even more of a laser focus on the influentials by engaging trendy teens in the digital world. Our final example is Scribnia, which is a rating and discovery engine for bloggers and columnists. Much like Triggerstreet, the promise is to build an influential community that is engaged in sharing creative work and providing feedback.

Consider your role in the network economy. How you are going to add value to and expand your network? As you build your presence and your reputation, listen to the conversation around you, pursue authentic participation, and engage influentials who can amplify your message.

Original post: http://sparxoo.com/2009/07/01/engaging-influentials-twitter-and-beyond/

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