Service / Product Experience and Content Strategy

As part of this series on content, we've been looking at how every expression and communication a company organizes is an opportunity to build context through content -- and relationships as an outcome.

Does your organization have a service or product experience content strategy?

When you think about content strategically, the result is a better relationship with your customers.

Setting expectations means taking the time to define the customer experience and communicating at each step in the buyer's decision journey.

Some examples of thoughtful content at this stage are service contracts, product manuals, directions and maps to and of your centers. Items that explain, orient, guide, and define the experience of a product or service are part of this content phase.

Are your service contract and product manual as easy to navigate as your phone tree system? In that case, you have a starting point for improvement. Complexity reaches a point of no return -- literally, customers go off and buy from companies with simpler terms.

Have you forgot the meaning of hosting?

If we live in a world that is always in beta, contractual relationships tend to follow suit. Today, customers want shorter term deals so they can continue to evaluate your service as they experience it -- and they will tell all their peers about their experience, too. Your contract is also content marketing.

Andy Sernovitz provides a really good example of when terms and conditions are not seen as an opportunity. As a linguist, I'm all over the term hosting as in being a good host. You would think that an upgrade is a chance to renew a customer relationship.

When in doubt, out-teach

This is something I learned from Kathy Sierra, a lesson that stays with me. Out-teaching helps you with retention, it helps you with customer happiness, it helps your own employees deconstruct what they contribute to, creatively. What are blogs and collaboration tools but also ways to teach what we know?

Way after you signed up to the RSS or email feed for this blog, I'm here researching and proposing what I'm learning with you. And am loving every minute of it.

Your checklist at this stage includes:

• staying engaged with the customer at every touch point
• listening actively to and participating in customer feedback
• continually providing valuable content throughout the experience maturity

This is the phase where marketing tends to walk away, because somehow embracing customers is customer service's job. Product manuals, service agreements, contracts -- these are all marketing, whether you see it that way or not.

Each of your pieces of content should be solving an information problem. Some of them will be solving one your customer didn't know it had. With digital media, you have the opportunity to make the how you solve that problem iterative and interactive.

© 2010 Valeria Maltoni. All rights reserved.

Comments

[Brett Cohrs]

Valeria,

Great post! Being an insurance agent, we are sometimes seen as a dime a dozen, trading in easily replaceable pieces of paper when a cheaper option is available. This is maddening to a lot of my colleagues who put a lot of skilled consulting into their client relationships.

The key, I think: a content delivery strategy that simplifies my product and gives enough practical risk mgmt suggestions to be helpful, but not overwhelming. Kind of a simple reminder that I'm here--if needed (the essence of insurance). Thx, Brett

[Adrienne]

Valeria,
Love the article

Thinking about this article in the context of online content, This article brings up a great question. How do you solve a problem for clients in addition to providing the highest level of customer service. Previously each goal had a separate direction now both paths lead the same way. value the client's time. Meaning it is much more than marketing to your client just to get their eyes on your content or product. providing simple to follow instructions and maps to navigate the content you are saying that you truly value their time and the fact they took that time to visit your site.

[Peter]

This post struck a chord with a contractor contract I'm currently drafting.

Thought I'd put the following clause forward as part of the discussion on terms and conditions as an opportunity:

3.2 Our Shared Promise

We promise to each other to be:

(a) enthusiastic, inspirational and curious about the nature of work and business;

(b) flexible and adapt to the needs of the Client and each other;

(c) aware of how the Client and each other are feeling and act with care;

(d) committed to helping Client’s and each other to learn and develop;

(e) open to learning and developing as a professional including acquiring new tools; and

(f) frank with each other and to talk openly if a promise between US is breaking, the wrong promises have been made or circumstances mean new promises might be required.

So much more to discuss about the role of promises (contracts) in modern like but then when would I find time to write them.

Always a pleasure.

Peter

By the way I have been confirmed to speak at the Corporate Governance and GFC conference at Wharton in September ( most auspicious). It will be fun catching up.

[Valeria Maltoni]

@Brett - I'm very familiar with the insurance world. At some point I was a licensed P&C agent, just so that I could understand what the business I was marketing did and how it articulated what it did. Very familiar with the "necessary evil" nature of insurance. When in doubt, out-teach -- it works. I'm so glad you were inspired to think about your business opportunity.

@Adrienne - it's a time of convergence. Digital body language at the service of customers and not just merely to find out what they click on to mine their data and sell to them. You make a very astute observation, thank you.

@Peter - LOVE this clause. And so exciting to learn that you've been confirmed to speak at Wharton. There are such opportunities for the kind of thinking you bring to the table. I must get the details and spread the word. When you see tomorrow's post, you will get a good chuckle... we've been surfing on the same thought wave.