Fresh Thinking

Leading our organization through a culture of being customer obsessed 3 L E A D E R S H I P P E R S P E C T I V E Chris Schutt Mid-Atlantic Regional Managing Principal Business leaders are recognizing the competitive advantage of superior customer experience and the value that resides not only in what a company delivers for its customers, but in how it delivers products and services. Where companies once could differentiate themselves by product or efficiency, distinctiveness today increasingly lies in creating an effortless customer experience. In order to remain competitive in today's world of increasingly personalized experiences, businesses need to recognize where they are falling short when it comes to delivering the best customer experiences, and put in place the necessary steps to shift their focus back to the customer. Retention is more critical than ever with significant market challenges. Improving our retention is our biggest opportunity for financial and operational growth. It costs three to five times more to attract new customers than it does to retain existing ones, and one study showed that a 5% increase in customer retention can increase a firm's profitability by up to 75%. When we took a step back, we realized that we were not taking enough time to reflect and ask questions to the clients we have lost over time. We weren't getting clear objective feedback from the client on reasons for the change. Our region in the Mid-Atlantic looked at this as an opportunity and made it a priority for our executive team to make personal phone calls to clients we have lost over the years. We have made it a best practice of administering exit inter views. Connecting with departed clients can be a valuable source of information. It is a wealth of insight into how we perform, the timeliness of our communications and the value we add to their business. And most importantly above all else, their ultimate reason for choosing another broker. This helps us to improve our practices and prevent other clients from leaving. In our original pilot project, we connected with over 40 targeted lost clients, and additionally analyzed 24 clients that were acquired, to understand why they decided to leave and used those insights to inform retention strategies and shape our ongoing business strategy focusing on delivering an exceptional client experience. Through our lost client calling campaign, we uncovered these key drivers: Customers are looking for a business partner that will lead them through an effortless experience — a partner that: u is responsive, timely and follows through on promises u makes their life easier, anticipates issues and simplifies things u understands their business, goals, and what they need to be successful We also learned that changes in our service team and account transitions are extremely disruptive. Of the lost clients we interviewed, 18% felt OneDigital was undergoing too much change and said account transitions were poorly communicated, and they felt less important with the new team. They also noted that a lack of offerings is not an issue – a lack of asking the right questions to understand their needs was where we were falling short. Our customers' businesses and needs are changing rapidly, and knowing how to operate in it is becoming a strategic imperative. We have made it a priority in the region to become obsessed with our customers. When you are constantly putting your customers at the center, you stop talking about yourself and the things that you do and you start talking all about your customers and their experiences instead. Rallying around our clients in this way has helped us get to know them better — both their roles and goals in the business, as well as people having an experience. The key to retaining customer loyalty lies in putting customers at the center of every strategy. Ask yourself these few questions the next time you are having a conversation with your clients: u What are you doing to make it personal and show your client you really know them? u How are you providing them with fresh thinking by teaching them something they don't know? u Are you being responsive to their needs and guiding them through a low effort experience? u Are you a fierce advocate invested in their business as if it were your own and delivering on promises?

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