5 Tips from Peppers & Rogers Group's Don Peppers

Saying that your company truly values customer relationships is quite different from acting like it does, says Don Peppers, CEO of the Peppers & Rogers Group. Don suggests focusing on these five tips to maximize customer value for a successful Return on Customer program:

Tip #1. Evaluate customers
Customer insight comes from understanding what your customers value about, and need from, your products and services. To see a true return on customer, a company must understand that segmenting customers based on needs and values is not a one-time event: it's a continuing measurement in order for service to be relevant for each group.

Tip #2. Keep customer value creation front and center
Procedures must be developed with a customer's lifetime value in mind. Are your customer service reps able to access enough information to tell if a customer is high-value, loyal, and ready to spend more on products and services? Are they trained to offer the products and services your specific customers are seeking? They need to be.

Tip #3. Get the right technology
Technology makes or breaks the most basic customer strategy. Make sure your company has the technology to collect and evaluate customer data on an ongoing basis, and to differentiate customer treatments based on insights gleaned from individual customers.

Tip #4. Examine your culture
A truly customer-centric culture develops employees who are empowered and accountable to make decisions that increase customer value. Do your contact center agents have the authority to alter return policies if it means the difference between keeping and losing valuable customers? Are they confident management will support their decisions?

Tip #5. Consider balance
A successful ROC program does not mean serving the customer at all costs. It means balancing what is good for the customer with what is good for the company.

"Your ability to define and value customer relationships is also a great way to evaluate your competitors," Don adds. "By evaluating your own customers -- and looking at those of your competitors -- you can maximize the value of your customer relationships."

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