2013 - CSC Customer Intimacy Barometer - Convergence between on and off-line (English)

Convergence in customer
intimacy at the crossroads
of online and offline
Customer Intimacy Barometer 2013

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Opinions expressed by contributors are their own. Reproduction in whole or in
part without written permission is strictly prohibited.
© Copyright CSC 2013. All rights reserved.

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CSC IN TOUCH WITH CURRENT TRENDS
Within the framework of its I.D.E.A.S program (Inspiration, Debate, Executive,
Annual Surveys). CSC carries out a number of “barometers” every year to analyze
trends and perspectives from key roles within the boardroom (human resources,
finance, IT, procurement…) at the European or global level. Each of these studies,
carried out with the assistance of independent survey institutions (IFOP and TNS
Sofres), involve the participation of hundreds of managers from large businesses
and public administrations. The results of these studies are revealed during high
level events, organized in different cities (Paris, Madrid, Barcelona, Milan, Brussels,
Lisbon, Washington D.C. , etc.), and are also relayed by partners from the media
and from academia (universities and elite business schools).

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customer intimacy barometer 2013
Convergence in customer
intimacy at the crossroads
of online and offline

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TABLE OF CONTENTS
summary11 Page 9
Page 23
testimonials
analysis
CUSTOMER INTIMACY AS A DIFFEReNTIATION strategy
1
1
1
3
4
5
Page 37
Page 67
Page 73
results12
38. Laurent Dechaux. Vice President - Oracle Applications
40. Olivier Derrien. Vice President Southern Europe - Salesforce.com
42. Arnaud Deschamps. Managing Director - Nespresso France
44. Cyrille Giraudat. Marketing Director - PMU
46. Franck Heimburger. Distribution Director, Employee Network - AXA
48. Stéphane Jeanjean. Distribution Director - CA Services. Groupe Crédit Agricole
50. William Koeberlé. CEO - Groupe Marionnaud
52. Xavier Quérat-Hément. Quality Director - Groupe La Poste
54. Mohamed Soltani. Corporate Marketing Strategy Director EMEA - Schneider Electric
56. Franck Suhit. Marketing Director - Lyreco
58. Guylène Tarrazi-Prault. Customer Relationship & Satisfaction Director - Microsoft France
60. Nicolas Terrasse. Business Solution Manager - SAS
62. Raphaël Weiler. Customer Relationship Manager - UPSA
64. Didier Zoubeïdi. Marketing Director - Edenred France
68. Christophe Amouroux. Senior Partner, CRM and Customer Intimacy - CSC
70. Pierre Kalfon. Partner, CRM and Customer Intimacy - CSC

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The Customer Intimacy Barometer is a survey
carried out for the third consecutive year
by CSC, in partnership with TNS Sofres.
It is based on a quantitative analysis of the
trends and outlook for Marketing, Sales,
Distribution and Customer Relationship
Management departments in a sample of
major European corporations.

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customerimtimacy barometer
A European study
Approach and methodology
The third edition of the Customer Intimacy Barometer is based
on a partnership with the TNS Sofres market research institute,
and a survey carried out among a sample of marketing, sales,
distribution and customer relationship management directors
within European corporations employing over 500 people.
These directors were polled regarding the position, concerns,
performance and outlook for the marketing, sales, distribution
and customer relationship management functions.
Interview method
The questionnaire was designed by the TNS Sofres market
research institute according to the CAWI (Computer-Assisted Web
Interviewing) method, in December 2012.
Target and sample
Private and semi-public enterprises:
-- employing a minimum of 500 people,
-- located in Belgium, France, Germany, Italy, Spain and the
United Kingdom.
102 managers were interviewed (without detailed objectives
in terms of activity sector).They represent the following target
groups:
-- marketing, sales, distribution or customer relationship
manager or director.
Ultimately,thesamplewascorrectedtoensureitsrepresentativeness
compared to the population of European corporations in the
activity sectors targeted.

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summary1customer intimacy barometer 2013

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Customer behaviour is often
ahead of the systems for
interaction offered by
organisations
In a financial, economic and social
environment which has further deteriorated
in 2012, businesses are facing a new set
of challenges. Their objectives: maintain
their margins, retain their customers
and differentiate themselves from their
competitors. Innovation in terms of
products and services is no longer
sufficient at a time when growth is
stagnant and optimisation programmes
continue to be set in motion with an
increasingly short-term perspective. The
time horizon is being reduced, both in
terms of the expectations of financial
markets (looking for profitability) and
the winning of orders (the lengthening
of sales cycles and the difficulty of
generating procurement flows that are
smooth over time).
Customers, whether private or professional,
are experiencing an erosion of their
purchasing power on the one hand, and
a drop in their investment capability on
the other. More than ever before, they
integrate the price on the label into
their purchase decisions, thus pulling
the whole economy down in a vicious
cycle. In addition to these developments
in buyer behaviour, we also observe that
customers are subject to various types
of exogenous phenomena which shape
their behaviour and consumption habits
in a lasting manner:
• a major increase in the number of
products and services on offer, the scope,
pricing policy and terms and conditions
of use of which are often difficult to
interpret. Confronted with low cost
offerings (initially in segments such as
transport and distribution), loyalty or win-
back offers, offers reserved for specific
segments, private sales, etc., customers
are finding it harder to make sense of it
all. Brands then become the victims of
their own traps: marketing techniques
designed to propagate demand transform
into a social phenomenon of unbridled
consumption;
• a great hunger for new means to create
relationships with brands. This is the direct
consequence of the multichannel strategies
in which the brands have invested heavily
in the course of the past few years. As a
result, the greater integration and increased
fluidity of movement between channels
(mainly physical networks, call centres and
the internet) has led to an over-consumption
of interaction, often costly and not always
profitable or efficient, combined with a lack
of mastery of those same channels on behalf
of businesses;
• theconsequencesofrecenttechnological
advances (the growing penetration and
usage rates of smartphones and tablets,
the digitalisation of communication, etc.),
and the development of less predictable
summary
2013 Customer Intimacy Barometer
Channels, mobility, new devices: how to adapt the
customer intimacy strategy to these new trends and
consumer behaviours?
Convergence
in customer
intimacy at the
crossroads
of online and
offline

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The 2013 Customer Intimacy
Barometer, produced by
CSC in cooperation with
TNS Sofres, highlights
the need to ensure the
convergence of offline
an online to the benefit
of an overall customer
experience that is
genuinely differentiating.
This new trend is forcing
leaders to rethink the
role that every channel
can – and must – play in the
mix of interactions.

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omni-channel behaviours are all having
a major impact on the often too linear
approach businesses take to the customer
experience. Indeed, new devices favour
mobility by making it accessible to the
greatest number of people at ever lower
cost, while generating great expectations
in terms of instantaneity and immediacy.
When looking for information, getting
answers to specific questions or
concluding transactions, customers –
both private and professional – no longer
have time to wait. According to CSC, this
has two consequences:
-- These trends, driven by the providers
of mobile technologies and telecom
operators, are continuously improving
the usability and smoothness of the
navigation offered by these devices.
The use thereof becomes increasingly
simple, and correspondingly creates
greater expectations in terms of
receiving an instant response from
brands. That in turn causes disruption
within customer-centric organisations,
particularly in terms of the availability
and interoperability of channels for
interaction;
-- This increased fluidity and simplicity
maketheclosingofasalemorecomplex,
whether on a website, in a store or on
a customer site. They offer potential
buyers myriad possibilities to look for
better and cheaper offers elsewhere
– without necessarily resulting in a
sale. Paradoxically, simplicity can be
a cause of constant frantic zapping,
which can be counterproductive in
terms of sales.
In 2013, a breaking away from traditional
behaviours related to information seeking
and purchasing behaviour has also been
observed. The mobility situation no longer
acts as a brake on consumption, but rather
favours multitasking. According to CSC,
this is the end of the unity of time, place
and action for consumers who are able
to simultaneously seek information and
buy, wherever they are, at any time. This
heralds the end of classical scenario
planning of consumer behaviour in the
deterministic sense.
Finally, a last observation regarding these
developments in consumer behaviour:
greater "intelligence" on behalf of
consumers in their relationships with
brands, even if their enthusiasm for
the social media seems to set the pace
(stabilisation of the hype cycleTM). The
upshot: buyers that are better informed
(whether professional or private), who
Main lesson
from the 2013
Customer
Intimacy
Barometer: the
need to consider
the role of each
channel in the
relationship
between
customer
behaviour
and choice of
offerings.
expect greater responsibility and respect
from brands (without necessarily knowing
what to do with it at the end of the day),
and who expect the information they
provide to be put to better use, so they are
treated in a personalised manner but not
exposed to a deluge of communication.
To summarise, an explosion of offerings,
multichannel strategies that offer too many
non-commercial alternatives to customers,
increasingly mobile customers who are
better informed but less inclined to spend,
and for whom the boundary between
professional and private life has become
narrower. Given that these new channels
are not substitutes for the traditional ones
but rather complementary to them in a
manner different from any that businesses
were previously familiar with, it’s important
to give enough consideration to the
role of each channel in the relationship
betweencustomerbehaviourandchoiceof
offerings, which has been totally disrupted.
This is necessary in order to ensure the
convergence of cost control, excellence of
the customer experience, limiting of “exit
routes” for customers and identification
with the model and values of the brand.
Three evolutions
for organisations to
take into account: an
explosion in the number
of product and service
offerings, a strong
desire for new ways to
create relationships, and
new devices that favour
mobility

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Often overly linear modelling of segments (B-to-B) and customer experiences (B-to-C)]
In a B-to-C or B-to-B environment,
organisations have invested heavily in
recent years to put in place multichannel
systems meant to meet the expectations
of their customers, in particular in terms of
their need for autonomy, coherence and
immediacy.
Initially, multichannel approaches taken by
businessesaimedtomakeavailabletocustomers
andprospectsaseriesoftoolsforinteractionthat
wouldenablethemtoprogressthroughthesteps
ofthepurchaseexperiencetogether,according
totheirneeds.Thisperiodcorrespondedtothat
ofthedevelopmentoftheinternetinthe2000s.
The result was a mixture of systems, often
insufficientlycoherentamongthemselves.First
amongthesewastheinternetsilo,traditionally
built up alongside existing channels such as
a sales force, physical networks or customer
relationshipmanagement centres (with the
exception of the pure internet players).
Figure 1: simplified multichannel approach (from the 2000s). Channels built up in silos, often independent
In responding only partially to the needs
of customers, these systems soon revealed
their limits in terms of the coherence of
the information provided, and their level
of interoperability and ability to manage
interruptible sales processes. For example,
it not being possible for a customer to
apply for a loan online and to complete the
application in a bank branch.
After 2010 came the emergence of vast
transformation programmes designed to
enable the existing multichannel systems to
become cross-channel. These investments
were considered to be a priority over the
course of the past two years by 28 percent
of the organisations surveyed (compared
to 19 percent in 2012), and these systems
were characterised by:
• a decoupling of front and mid/back
office systems to ensure greater fluidity
of interaction, independent of the way in
which offerings are effectively produced
and delivered;
• an interoperability of customer
processeswhichmakesitpossibletoensure
the fluidity of all interactions, regardless of
the channel (knowing that 55 percent of
those polled feel major investments are still
needed in this area);
• the capability to interrupt an
interaction (for example, the creation of
a cost estimate) and to restart it in the
same channel or in another one, while
still recovering all the information already
provided;
• a tendency to make better use of
informationcollectedinrealtimeinorderto
adapt every element of the mix in function
of the data collected about every customer,
to better manage the distribution thereof.

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Figure 2 : simplified cross-channel approach (after 2010). Interoperable channels, interruptible processes supporting highly linear customer experiences
These programmes have had a major impact
inenablinggreatercoherenceintheoperating
of the so-called traditional channels. More
recentbehaviouraldevelopmentsontheone
hand, and the crisis on the other, can lead to
the risk that the reach of these investments
is limited. Indeed, these systems were often
designed based on the assumption that
customer experiences (in B-to-C) and the
expectations of each customer segment (in
B-to-B) were linear and homogeneous. As a
result,ateverystepinthecustomerexperience,
or in every customer segment, a single and
rational experience – and thus major channel
– was dedicated to a precise task.
However, the social and mobile revolutions,
thepossibilitiesforinteractionofferedanytime
andeverywhere,andthesmoothnessofthese
customer interfaces have increased the risk
for businesses that customer interactions are
notultimatelyconvertedintoatransactionor
apurchaseproportionaltothesumsinvested,
anddonotrespondfavourablytothequestions:
willIgeta"bargain"?Istheofferingproposed
the one which is best suited to my real need?
Will another website offer me the product
at a cheaper price? Did the salesperson
understand my needs correctly? If I need
after-salesservice,willIbetreatedintheway
which I expect?
Facedwiththeseevolutionsinbehaviourand
habits,itisuptobrandstoidentifyandinterpret
them, and to provide a valid response. As the
2013CustomerIntimacyBarometerillustrates,
evenif34percentoftheorganisationspolled
(-7pointscomparedto2012)considercustomer
intimacy to be a major strategic aspect of
differentiation,46percent(+13pointscompared
to 2012) consider operational excellence a
priority.Unlikein2012,itisnolongersomuch
the quality of the offering that is important,
but rather the ability to excel in terms of
customer interaction. That makes it possible
to make the customer experience special
again by ensuring the coherence between
operational and relationship aspects across
allofthe channels forcontact, throughoutall
the steps of the customer experience, thus
favouringincreasedprofitabilityofaperhaps
smaller number of loyal customers (true for
35 percent of those interviewed, +12 points
compared to 2012).
Customer experiences (in
B-to-C) and expectations
from every customer
segment (in B-to-B) which
are no longer linear nor
homogeneous.

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Customers are now
at the centre of a
triptych: channel,
device and location
the holy grail of convergence of the customer experience
The majority of businesses have applied
traditional modes of thinking to innovative
technologies and channels. However, these
new devices have not only introduced
new ways of interacting during certain
steps of well-defined processes: they
have profoundly modified the processes
themselves. The new customer, at the
convergence of a place, a device and a
channel, manifests a behaviour in which
the potential for disruption is very high
and in which interaction with and beyond
the business has greatly increased.
Figure 3: the customer at the centre of convergence (channel / device / location)
HABIT
HA
BIT
HABIT
DEVICE
CHANNELLOCATION
• PC
• Smartphones / NFC
• Interactive terminal
• Tablet
• Payment card
• TV
• Etc.
• Public place
• Private domain (home, friends)
• Professional domain (office)
• In motion
• Point of sale
• Customer site
• Etc.
• Sales forces
• Physical network
• Website
• Call centre
• Email, chat, video
• Social media
• Etc.
CUSTOMER

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LIa’s customer
experience
Consumer behaviour imposed
upon the business
Consumer behaviour steered
by the business
Lia, fashion
enthusiast, is
looking for a
new pair of
shoes on the
internet, during
the sales.
Lia first searches the internet, but the brand she’s crazy
about isn’t available in a size 38, or only on an internet site
she doesn’t know and doesn’t really trust
The adorable pair of shoes – undiscounted – is still in the
store. Lia sees a 2D barcode close to the display, scans
it and gets access to the opinions of the buyers of the
brand via Facebook: all very positive with in addition
some fashion tips! She signs up for the Facebook
application available on the “top tips” page.
Impressed, she asks the sales girl to try them on.
Lia notices that in this brand a size 38 is too large for her.
And there’s no size 37 in stock. Too bad!
The sales girl suggests that she orders a size 37 via
the brand’s website and have it delivered. Lia finds it
tempting, but finds this pair a bit expensive. She says
she’ll think about it. The sales girl, equipped with a
tablet, asks for her email address and her preferences
so she can send her suggestions and promotional offers
(Lia says that as well as being a fashionista she also
loves dubstep).
Once at home, Lia goes online and finds an email from
the Facebook application she signed up for.
She reads her email and notices that it contains a coupon
for a EUR 15 discount with a direct link to the website of
the brand.
Lia decides to order. When the time comes to pay,
The website proposes to deliver the shoes to her or to
the store (free of charge). Lia accepts to go to the store
(it will still save her EUR 5).
Two days later, the day before the party, Lia goes to the
store, opens the box to try on the shoes and – surprise! –
inside she finds a coupon for a partner offer from a major
online music website
As she leaves the store, she posts the following
message on Facebook: "It’s done, I bought my shoes at
shoesclicksandmortar.com, that shop’s the best!"
Lia first searches the internet, but the brand she’s crazy
about isn’t available in a size 38, or only on an internet
site she doesn’t know and doesn’t really trust.
While walking in town, Lia comes across an adorable
pair of shoes (albeit different from the ones she had
in mind). Obviously, this model is not on sale. Lia goes
into the store, takes a picture of the object of her
desire with her smartphone and posts it on Facebook,
accompanied by the message: "They’re great, but at
EUR 120 I think they’re a bit expensive. Kissss."
Lia still asks the sales girl to try them on.
While she’s been looking in the mirror, three of her
friends have sent her comments. One of them catches
her attention: "Check out fabshoes.com, they’re on sale."
Lia notices that in this brand her size is a 37. She thanks
the sales girl, tells her she’ll think about it, and leaves
the store.
Once back home, Lia goes online, determined to find her
pair of shoes on fabshoes.com. The homepage of her
browser displays an ad that catches her attention, for
cheapshoes.com. She clicks and notices that the brand
she’s crazy about is available, in a size 38, and on sale.
At the moment she wants to check out with her basket,
the estimated time for delivery is three weeks. A bit
long when Vanessa’s party is on Saturday! Fortunately,
the site offers a toll-free number for customer service.
Lia calls and after five minutes ("all our advisers are
busy, the estimated waiting time is two minutes"), an
operator answers and confirms that "yes, the delivery
time is usually three weeks". When Lia asks if it’s
possible to have them sooner, even undiscounted, the
adviser answers "no, the model isn’t in stock”.
Discouraged, Lia hangs up and decides to take her
shoes from last season to the shoe repair shop.
a-do-ra-ble
Illustration of a
B-to-C purchase

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A simple example (see opposite page) of
these new consumer behaviours helps us
become aware of these transformations, in
which "exits" and opportunities to purchase
elsewhere are numerous, and can be the
cause of costs that are not converted
into sales for businesses. It illustrates that
solutions exist to make sure this customer
experience has a happy ending.
Which lessons should be learned from these
fromthesetwodifferentcustomerexperiences
that illustrate these new consumer habits?
1. Buyer behaviour is no longer linear.
Customers no longer follow the classic
scenario: information - choice – purchase –
payment – after-sales. In reality, these steps
are intertwined, and customers can start
again from scratch or leave the process
entirely given the abundance of choice on
offer, and faced with the fear of “doing a
bad deal”;
2. Channels are no longer dedicated to a
single step. Traditionally, at least for bricks-
and-mortar businesses, customers gathered
information via digital channels and carried
out transactions in the store. In reality, this
traditional model is often inversed, or at
least mixed: customers gather information
in the store (the phenomenon known as
showrooming) and then carry out the
transaction online, looking for the best price;
Online and offline convergence is a
fact, both in consumer behaviour and
in the investment plans of 85 percent of
those interviewed. However, although 48
percent have launched initiatives in this
area, 37 percent are still in an embryonic
stage. However, it is better to define this
convergence than to have it imposed upon
you. As the example of Léa illustrates,
consumers armed with smartphones and
flat rate subscriptions surf, chat, post and
tweet, while at the point of sale.
In fact, they themselves have already made
online and offline convergence a reality
(looking up product prices on the websites
of discounters, viewing product reviews
on specialised blogs, asking advice from
friends, etc.). However, businesses can still
pre-empt this by allowing their customers
to use all technological resources to
improve their experience and to maintain
customers’ intention to buy. Three aspects
are worth considering:
3.Allchannelsareimportant.Inthecomplex
world of continuous interaction between
device, location and channel, it is pointless
to sacrifice one channel in order to reduce
costs.Evencallcentresarebecomingcritical
again as consumers turn to them in case
of problems or serious questions, and thus
they still have high expectations from this
channel. Basically, all channels contribute
to the customer experience and if one of
them is disappointing, the entire customer
experience – and thus also the business –
suffers the consequences.
But how best to convert – and make loyal –
these new customers who are increasingly
omniscientandusingevermoredevices?We
thinkitisfutiletotrytoresistthefundamental
trendsthatareshapingconsumerbehaviour
today, however unpleasant this conclusion
may seem:
• Yes, consumers are changeable, fickle
and disloyal;
• Yes,theyabandonpurchaseprocesses
already extensively set in motion, which
have already mobilised major resources,
both in terms of machine time and man-
hours in the sales force;
• Yes, the worst among them are able
and willing to do their showrooming in
our costly stores and then knowingly
make their purchase online via a third
party ecommerce site to save EUR 10.
• How to introduce technology for
consumers at the point of sale, in order
to improve their customer experience?
• How to improve the efficiency of
salespeople thanks to new devices,
typically tablets? Indeed, tablets are
more than just gadgets: they profoundly
modify the sales or advice process
by creating a new attitude. This new
attitude allows salespeople to make their
sales talk more relevant (for example by
accessing customer information), and to
share information with the customer
(by giving a demonstration in which the
customer participates) while benefiting
from the power of the interface (a tactile
multi-touch screen, for example);
• And inversely, how to re-inject the
human element into remote or digital
channels, by increasing the number of
chat experiences, community spaces,
web call-backs or in-store appointments
made via the website?
Three
observations:
buyer
behaviour
is no longer
linear,
channels are
no longer
dedicated to a
single step in
the purchase
process, and
all channels
remain
important.
Ensuring online and offline convergence

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used to create flows towards the physical
stores. France does this rather well for
instance with drive-in pickups, whereby
the customer comes to collect goods
ordered online. It’s also necessary to
move beyond this shared logistics flow
by cross-selling offerings to customers
when they come to collect their
packages (for example, coupons for
trying new products), or capitalising on
the opportunity created by customers’
waiting time to propose trial offers for
new products to them;
• To achieve this, it is indispensable
to simultaneously create bridges
between channels, but also to reinforce
the transmission and use of data in real
time, sometimes even between partners
(for example, between a brand and a
distributor). Thus the interoperability
of experiences becomes less important,
in favour of the interoperability of
knowledge of the customer the offerings.
Ensuring the cross-
fertilisation of channels
The era of multichannel is past: long live
cross-fertilisation! Channels need to be
more than merely interoperable (even
if this remains a priority for the years
ahead for 23 percent of those surveyed
compared to only 10 percent in 2012).
They also have to feed each other, so
as to recover customers tempted by
an “exit” by finding a way to lure them
back, or to capture them as they arrive
from elsewhere. The following examples
help make this concept more concrete:
• The physical store cannot be only
a place for showcasing and selling. It
also has to be a place where customers’
tastes, identity and characteristics are
recorded and used by all channels and
even partners;
• Inversely, the website needs to be
MORE THAN THE
INTEROPERABILITY OF
CUSTOMER EXPERIENCES,
LEADERS ARE EMPHASISING
THE INTEROPERABILITY OF
KNOWLEDGE OF THE CUSTOMER
AND OFFERINGS, AND THE
CROSS-FERTIISATION OF
CHANNELS.
Convergence
between online and
offline channels is
considered to be a
priority for
85%of executives
polled.

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Rethinking the role of
every channel
Lastly, it’s necessary to profoundly rethink
the role of every channel. Today channels
are locked into traditional roles (buy in the
store, get information from the call centre),
or operated according to a financially driven
logic (pushing customers into self-service
via the internet). The time has come to
leave this model behind to reposition the
dominant role of every channel:
• The physical network has to be what
customers want it to be, a showroom,
a space for advice where customers
come seeking expertise. The heart of
the matter is then to find a way to make
these investments profitable. For strong
brands or paradoxically for pure internet
players, the physical presence enables
them to reinforce the anchoring of their
business in the minds of consumers, and
may even reinforce trust. The physical
site (which we no longer dare call store,
boutique or branch) has become a
publicity investment. For the others,
the logic of partnership, which makes it
possible to extend the offering and to take
advantage of knowledge of customers
acquired during interactions with them, is
a credible route to follow. The physical site
is thus becoming a relationship service for
other players: delivery of goods ordered
online, a platform for leveraging customer
knowledge, a location for providing after-
sales service, a place to demonstrate
new products. The traditional store is
becoming a little bit of all of these things,
and the distributors of tomorrow will be
able to create an ecosystem by partnering
with brands;
• The website is once again the all-
purpose channel, with the exception
obviously of physical contact, or when
seeking advice or information that is
urgent or very specific. Websites have
been adapted and enriched, but the
customer experience has become more
complex. It is thus necessary to build up
the site not around sections but rather
around customer experiences, which
bring together all information regarding
a question rather than according to
topics. Take the example of arriving on
a banking website after clicking on a
sponsored savings account link. The
visitor needs to receive all the information
(commercial information, but also way of
working and after-sales service) related
to this product, rather than be confronted
with a traditionally organised website:
presentation of all products, registration,
after-sales service, etc.;
• The case for call centres is specific.
Long considered a cost centre, businesses
are beginning to rediscover this channel,
driven by several phenomena. On the
one hand, consumers only call when it’s
important, after having used all other
means at their disposal, via self-service or
social networks. On the other hand, the
desire to control costs has led businesses
to allow the quality of this channel to
degrade, which has a negative impact
on the entire customer experience. The
call centre thus has to reinforce the
relationship by becoming what it should
always have been: a channel for resolving
the most complex problems of customers,
whose purpose is to help them. The goal:
to generate attachment and satisfaction,
without being obsessively fixated on
average call handling time;
All channels remain important, even
if they are increasing in number,
because they all contribute to the
customer experience: physical
network, internet, call centre,
mobiles, tablet, etc.

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• Mobiles and tablets are a priority for 31
percent of people interviewed compared
to 21 percent in 2012. Businesses need to
leverage the possibilities offered by these
new terminals: they offer a way to interact
with the environment anywhere (including
at the point of sale) and anytime. In CSC’s
opinion, businesses need to capitalise upon
consumers’ hunger for mobility by:
-- Renewing customer interest in the
point of sale by offering them means to
interact (2D barcodes and soon NFC)
to gather more information;
-- Capturing customers by way of
promotional offers on the product they
are discovering in a rival store (this is
the "delivered to you tomorrow" service
offered by an e-commerce leader that
enables customers to scan the barcode
of a product in a rival store run by a
competitor);
-- Using geolocation to send customers
promotional or test offers when they
are nearby;
-- Smoothing interaction in the context
of an enriched sales dialogue between
the salesperson and customer, wherever
the latter may be.
Thus these new mobile or nomadic
terminals can become a way of enriching
the customer experience at the point of
sale or on site with the customer, and are
a new type of "last chance marketing"
when they are elsewhere.
All channels remain important: even if
they are increasing in number, they all
contribute to the customer experience.
In this respect, it is worth noting that
consumers compare all the experiences
they have had, regardless of sector.
When Léa changes telecom operator or
bank, she will benchmark them against
shoesclicksandmortar.com.
The people surveyed agree with this
conclusion: they consider all channels
to be (very) important, ranging from 63
percent (social networks) to 80 percent
(call centres), in both B-to-B and B-to-C
segments.
Businesses need to
leverage the functionalities
behind the essence of
what these new terminals
are: a means to interact
with the environment
anywhere and anytime.
If businesses want to respond to these new
challenges, they need to stop hankering for
a return to a pre-convergence world. They
may deplore certain recent developments
in consumer behaviour, but it is far better
to understand them in order to make the
most of them. CSC feels that businesses
need to:
• Launch projects that will make it
possible to understand the fundamental
expectations of customers vis-à-vis each
channel, without limits. By way of an
extreme example, imagine a store in which
no purchases are made, but which would
serve for all other steps of the purchase
process (the flagship concept). That will
enable a genuine reversal of the traditional
roles of the main channels;
• Approach the customer experience in
its entirety to create a coherent whole,
including all channels that can potentially
be used as well as all partners and service
providers;
• Model the purchase process not
as a linear process but rather as a
group of related steps with multiple
“entrances” and “exits”. The issue is thus
not so much to create a single coherent
purchase process, but rather to bring
together all customer processes to
capture, process and retain customers
in a coherent manner with partners and
service providers associated with every
step (delivery, after-sales service, etc.);
• Design and implement relevant
partnerships that will make it possible to
better steer all purchase processes and
take advantage of shared knowledge
of the customer. We recommend
exploring partnerships between brands
and distributors, but also between
ecommerce sites and bricks & mortar
retail chains, or between parties offering
very similar consumption environments
in terms of targets. It’s worth noting
that this matter is considered crucial by
those surveyed, given that 32 percent
consider integration of partners as
the main obstacle to the further
development of customer intimacy
(item listed number 1);
• Equip themselves with the capability
to collect and use in real time all
information gathered about customers,
and make it available to all channels and
partners. Fortunately the technologies
available today enable this to be
accomplished rapidly, without major
investments, and can be adapted to the
needs of every business:
-- Cloud computing makes it possible to
adapt the capacity required exactly to
the specific needs, instantaneously;
-- Big data enables any business to have
access to processing power and fine
analysis, even of unstructured data,
the likes of which were unimaginable
only two years ago. Furthermore, 53
percent of those interviewed reported
having a project in this area;
-- Offer management in real time makes
it possible to identify the most suitable
sales strategies in function of the
context and customer profile. The
matter of processing and using data
in real time is one that is perceived as
key by those interviewed: 60 percent
of them list real time processing (for
purposes of marketing or to correct
process errors) as one of the main
uses for customer data.
As a result businesses need to transform
their operating model. Marketing, sales
and distribution processes, information
systems, organisation, corporate culture and
management control systems all need to
converge to embrace these new consumer
behaviours, to ensure the satisfaction of
these new customers, both in the B-to-C
and B-to-B segments.
The convergence of customer intimacy, a necessary
transformation for organisations
32%of respondents
consider the
integration of
partners as the
main obstacle to the
further development
of customer intimacy

21
THE CONVERGENCE IN
CUSTOMER INTIMACY IS
FORCING ORGANISATIONS TO
RETHINK THEIR OPERATIONAL
MODEL TO FAVOUR CUSTOMER
SATISFACTION, IN BOTH B-TO-C
AND B-TO-B.

23
results2customer intimacy barometer 2013

24
19 %
8 %
11 %
10 % 15 %
37 %
Industrie
Commerce, Distribution
et PGC
Finance et Assurance
Transport
Secteur Public
Autres secteurs
50 %
20 %
19 %
9 %
3 %
500 à 999 salariés
1 000 à 2 999 salariés
> 10 000 salariés
91 %
9 %
Non
Oui
18 %
66 %
17 %
Clients particuliers (B to C)
Clients entreprises et
organismes publics (B to B)
Tous types de clientèle
(B to C, B to B ou B to B to C)
Activity sector
Size of organisation
Presence of a physical
distribution network
Geographic origin
Type of customers
Breakdown of responses
The 102 interviews were carried out in six European countries: France, Italy, the United Kingdom, Germany, Spain and Belgium. The panel of
respondents was drawn exclusively from organisations employing over 500 people. The majority of the organisations polled have between
500 and 2,999 permanent employees. The breakdown of interviews by activity sector reveals that the majority of the organisations polled
are in the industrial and financial services sectors. Two thirds of the interviews were carried out among organisations selling to both private
individuals (B-to-C) and businesses or the public sector (B-to-B). Only one third of the organisations polled sell specifically to only B-to-C
or B-to-B (an equal proportion of both).
102 interviews carried out in six European countries (Germany, Belgium, Spain, France, Italy and the United Kingdom).
Targets: Directors and Managers from the Marketing, Sales, Distribution and Customer Relationship Management / Customer
Service departments. 19 questions were asked regarding five main topics:
• Strategic alignment;
• Customer processes and organisation;
• Cross-channel;
• Use of customer information;
• Summary and obstacles/difficulties encountered in the development of a customer intimacy policy.
Coverage of the survey
24 %
17 %
22 %
17 %
17 %
5 %
Italie
France
Espagne
Royaume-Uni
Allemagne
Belgique
Industry
Commerce, distribution and FMCG
Transport
Finance and insurance
Public sector
Other sectors
All types of customer
(B-to-C, B-to-B or B-to-B-to-C)
Private individuals (B-to-C)
Businesses and public
sector (B-to-B)
500 to 999 employees
1,000 to 2,999 employees
> 10,000 employees
No
Yes
Italy
France
UK
Spain
Germany
Belgium

25
1- Strategic alignment
Contrary to last year, customer intimacy is only ranked as the 2nd most important element of strategic differentiation, mentioned by 34
percent of respondents. Strategies prioritising operational excellence are the leaders this year, with almost half of respondents listing this as
a priority. Where these two elements meet, organisations are focusing on the excellence of the customer relationship (quality of interaction,
relevance and interoperability of channels offered, etc.). As much as 2012 saw an emphasis on investing in the offering (simplicity, legibility
and involvement of customers in the design / creation of new products and services), 2013 is seeing the rise of strategies that put the
excellence of the customer experience back at the heart of respondents’ concerns.
For more details on the CSC value disciplines model, please see section 5 of this document .
B-to-C (or B-to-B-to-C) organisations seem indecisive, no item stands out clearly among the responses on behalf of organisations to the
fickle behaviour of individual consumers. However, two points seem important:
• In 2013, the focus seems to be on increasing loyalty rather than just acquiring clients;
• The quality of the customer experience, and the ability to respond adequately to all queries and all interactions, appear to be priorities.
It is worth noting that even if the convergence between online and offline is a major theme to be addressed in 2013, it has not yet been totally
integrated into organisations’ strategies.
Major element of strategic differentiation
Response to the impact on the customer relationship of the drop in purchasing
power of households (Base: 84 respondents, B-to-C or B-to-B-to-C)
34 %
46 %
20 % Intimité Client
Excellence Opérationnelle
Supériorité Produit
41 %
26 %
33 %
Convergence des canaux on et off-line, intégration croissante
du rôle du mobile (smartphones, tablettes…)
et création d'une expérience très fluide cross-canal
Personnalisation de masse afin de répondre à chaque client
de manière spécifique, en s'adressant à un large marché
Lancement de nouvelles offres plus simples,
plus lisibles, afin de maîtriser les prix de vente
Fidélisation des meilleurs clients, quitte à perdre
des parts de marché sur les segments les moins contributifs
Création d'une expérience unique
d'amont en aval du parcours client
3,2
54 %
3,1
3
3
41 %
2,8
Classement sur une échelle de priorité de 1 à 5,
1 étant le moins prioritaire, 5 le plus prioritaire Results 2012 Barometer
Classification according to an order of priority from
1 to 5, 1 having the lowest priority, 5 the highest
Creation of a single customer experience from upstream to
downstream in the purchase process
Increasing the loyalty of the best customers, or lose market
share in segments which contribute the least
Launch new offers, simpler, more legible,
in order to control sales prices
Mass personalisation in order to respond to every customer in
a specific manner, by addressing a broad market
Convergence of online and offline channels, increasing
integration of the role of mobility (smartphones, tablets, etc.)
and creation of a very fluid cross-channel experience
Customer intimacy
Operational excellence
Product superiority

26
Organisations serving the B-to-B and B-to-B-to-C (in this case business customers) responded to the crisis by increasing the number of
"physical" interactions with their customers: a stronger presence of salespeople “in the field”. In addition, the equipment available to support
the nomadic activity of salespeople was reinforced, both to improve commercial efficiency (productivity) and to increase the impact of the
sales dialogue with customers. On the other hand, the development of digital channels seems to be slowing, as the role of the human element
is gaining in importance.
In the same line as in 2012, the ongoing integration of customers as genuine partners of the organisation has been confirmed. Almost
30 percent of respondents (compared to 18 percent in 2012) consider it important to involve customers in the main operational
processes for the design and development of offerings, as well as in the process of distribution / commercialisation. This approach
offers a means to better understand their purchasing behaviour, and to adapt systems correspondingly to increase conversion rates
in an environment in which versatility and volatility are key aspects of buyer behaviour.
Response to the impact on the customer relationship of the drop in business
budgets (Base: 85 respondents, B-to-C or B-to-B-to-C)
Current level of maturity of organisations
Développement du rôle des canaux dématérialisés afin
de mieux maîtriser les frais commerciaux et de distribution
Equipement massif des forces de vente en outils de mobilité (tablettes…) :
améliorer l'impact sur le discours commercial
Equipement massif des forces de vente en outils de mobilité (tablettes…) :
améliorer la productivité, mieux cibler les investissements en temps,
en fonction des différentes catégories de clients
Investissements dans le réseau de distribution afin de
bien traiter toutes les interactions avec les clients
Echanges plus fréguents avec les clients : bien comprendre besoins
et contraintes (notamment financières), adapter les offres en conséquence
3,6
54 %
3,1
2,9
2,7
41 %
2,6
1 étant le moins prioritaire, 5 le plus prioritaire
28 %
25 %
29 %
6 %
11 %
Clients peu / mal connus, raisonnement
en termes de produits / services offerts et
de transactions réalisées
Clients identifiés, reconnus à chaque contact
Mise en place de dispositifs d’écoute des clients
afin d’améliorer l’offre et de mieux les servir
Anticipation des besoins des clients via une écoute
systématique, intégrant leurs attentes d’évolution
Clients = partenaires, associés aux principaux
processus de l’organisation (conception d’offres,
commercialisation, après-vente…)
7 %
14 %
34 %
18 %
27 %
1 – Strategic alignment
More frequent interaction with customers: understand needs and constraints
(in particular financial) well, adapt offerings accordingly
Investments in the distribution network in order to handle
all interactions with customers well
Large-scale deployment among the sales force of mobility tools (tablets, etc.):
improve productivity, better target investments over time, in function of the various
categories of customers
Large-scale deployment among the sales force of mobility tools (tablets, etc.):
improve the impact of the sales dialogue
Development of the role of digital channels in order
to better control sales and distribution costs
Customers little / poorly understood, reasoning in
terms of products / services offered and transactions
concluded
Customers identified, recognised at every contact
Implementation of systems to listen to customers in order
to improve the offering and serve them better
Anticipation of customer needs via systematic listening,
integrating their expectations for evolution
Customers = partners, involved in the main organisational
processes (design of the offering, commercialisation, after-
sales service)
Classification according to an order of priority from 1 to 5, 1
having the lowest priority, 5 the highest

27
The main challenge linked to the further development of customer intimacy this year again remains the simplification of the
customer experience and the improvement of the quality of the interactions between the organisation and its customers,
across all commercial and interaction channels. But here again organisations are very divided, breaking down equally between
the quest for profitability (focusing on loyal, often more profitable, customers), volume (increased revenues, sometimes to the
detriment of margins and long-term profitability), and personalisation of the offering with a view to increase conversion rates.
Is 2013 thus a year of indecisiveness?
Main objective for follow-up in the further development of customer intimacy
Main actions taken in the past two years to further develop customer intimacy
Equipement des forces de vente en tablettes
pour améliorer l'efficacité commerciale
Utilisation des médias sociaux avec un objectif commercial
Prise de parole sur les médias sociaux (intégrant l’e-réputation)
Développement de la politique marketing / commerciale sur
les canaux mobiles (smartphones, tablettes…)
Unification et enrichissement de la base clients
Fluidification et interopérabilité des canaux de distribution (multicanal)
Rapprochement des organisations marketing, commerciales et
services pour assurer la cohérence des actions
Personnalisation de la relation client sur l'ensemble des canaux
Personnalisation de l'offre pour répondre au mieux aux attentes client
Développement de la rétention via des actions de fidélisation 35 %
33 %
33 %
33 %
28 %
22 %
22 %
21 %
19 %
17 %
23 %
60 %
32 %
34 %
19 %
25 %
23 %
12 %
25 %
26 %
29 %
20 %
25 %
Développer le CA en favorisant la fidélisation,
les ventes récurrentes : logique de volumes
Adapter l’offre pour gagner de nouveaux clients
en répondant mieux à leurs besoins
Simplifier l’expérience client et améliorer la qualité
des interactions pour réduire les coûts en augmentant
le taux de satisfaction
Améliorer la rentabilité unitaire de chaque client,
en restant sélectif
22 %
31 %
9 %
38 %
In 2013, organisations feel that many tactical elements are important. Unlike in 2012 when personalisation of the offering was
mentioned by 60 percent of those interviewed, this item has weakened in favour of strategies for increasing customer loyalty and
retention. Organisations, often inward looking, are focusing primarily on their “installed base” of customers, and thanks to bringing
the marketing, sales and distribution departments closer together, have reinforced the personalised aspect of the relationships
they maintain with their customers. It is worth noting that in the course of the past two years – as illustrated by the summary of the
Customer Intimacy Barometer (see section 1) – almost 30 percent of the organisations surveyed have invested in the fluidity and
interoperability of the channels for interaction offered to their customers (compared to only 19 percent in 2012).
Further development of retention via actions to boost loyalty
Personalisation of the offering to better respond to customer needs
Personalisation of the customer relationship across all channels
Bringing the marketing, sales and services organisations closer
together to ensure the coherence of actions
Increase fluidity and interoperability of distribution channels
(multichannel)
Unification and enrichment of the customer base
Development of the marketing / sales policy for mobile channels
(smartphones, tablets, etc.)
Communication via social networks
(integration of e-reputation management)
Use of social media with a commercial objective
Equip sales force with tablets to improve sales efficiency
Increase revenue by favouring loyalty
and recurrent sales: volume-driven logic
Adapt the offering to attract new customers
by better responding to their needs
Simplify the customer experience and improve the quality of
interactions to reduce costs by increasing the level of satisfaction
Improve the individual profitability of each customer,
by remaining selective
Results 2012 Barometer

28
The priorities for the coming two years are the personalisation of the offering, improving the responsiveness and the quality of interactions,
and reinforcing the interoperability of channels. It is worth noting that this last item has become a high priority compared to the previous
year (when it was mentioned by only 10 percent of those interviewed, compared to 23 percent this year), whereas the two other items have
remained relatively stable at 27-30 percent each. This interoperability of channels is accompanied by the development and leveraging of the
knowledge of the customer, which explains the priority given to big data projects, ranked 4th with 22 percent of respondents (compared to
only 12 percent in 2012, ranked in 9th position out of 10).
Priority projects to be carried out in the coming two years to further develop
customer intimacy
Equipement des équipes commerciales et
services avec des terminaux mobiles
Mise en place de programmes d'animation relationnelle
Analyse multidimensionnelle, prédictive, scoring…
Renforcement de la présence sur les médias sociaux
Renforcement des canaux permettant d'atteindre nos clients
en situation de mobilité (smartphones, tablettes…)
Amélioration des relations entre le marketing,
les ventes et le service client
Projet de Big Data afin d'enrichir le recueil, la structuration
et l'exploitation de nos informations client
Renforcement de l'interopérabilité des canaux
de distribution / d'interaction client
Amélioration de la réactivité et de
la qualité des interactions client
Personnalisation de l'offre pour répondre
au mieux aux attentes client
30 %
27 %
23 %
22 %
22 %
18 %
15 %
11 %
11 %
10 %
35 %
22 %
10 %
12 %
17 %
15 %
23 %
23 %
14 %
4 %
1 – Strategic alignment
Personalisation of the offering to better
respond to customer expectations
Improve the responsiveness and quality of customer interaction
Reinforce the interoperability of channels for
distribution / customer interaction
Big data project in order to enrich collecting, structuring and
processing of customer information
Improvement of relationship between marketing,
sales and customer service
Reinforce channels that enable interaction with customers when
mobile (via smartphones, tablets, etc.)
Reinforcing presence in the social media
Multi-dimensional and predictive analysis, scoring, etc.
Implementation of programmes designed to bring the customer
relationship to life
Equip sales force and customer service teams
with mobile terminals

29
2- Customer processes and organisation
In 2013, the departments addressing issues linked to customers (marketing, sales and customer service) seem better integrated, even if a
majority of the organisations structure them in an independent manner. This is one of the conditions for the successful implementation of
strategies that enable the convergence of online and offline.
Structuring the organisation to manage customer intimacy
54 %
35 %
11 %
Clients gérés par plusieurs directions interagissant
selon leurs propres objectifs
Relation client gérée au sein de plusieurs directions
très fortement intégrées bien qu’indépendantes
Fonctions commerciale, marketing et service client
unifiées sous une seule direction
15 %
45 %
40 %
Customers managed by several departments which interact
according to their own objectives
Customer relationship managed within several highly integrated
(but independent) departments
Sales, marketing and customer service brought together in a
single department

30
3- Cross-channel
In 2013, all channels seem to be important and the answers given by those surveyed are much less clearly divided than in 2012. In this period
of convergence between online and offline, these answers tend to show that all channels have a role to play in the ability of organisations
to build deep and lasting relationships with their customers. In addition to the social media (which have grown into fully-fledged media in
2013 and seem to be integrated to the same extent as more traditional media), all other channels have regained a position they seemed to
have somewhat lost in 2012. It is worth noting that call centres (which are increasingly making a qualitative contribution to closing sales)
are once again becoming a channel judged to be key by 80 percent of those interviewed. The same holds true for new terminals (mobiles,
smartphones, tablets, etc.), which are securing a privileged place in the mix of channels, as a result of an environment in which customers
interact without regard for time or place.
Importance of the channels used to interact with customers
Top 2 (A+B)
A- Très important
B- Important
C- Moyennement important
D- Peu important
E- Pas du tout important
Ne s’applique pas à mon organisation
Médias sociaux
Réseau physique (magasin, boutique, agence…)
Courrier papier, mail
Commerciaux “terrain”
Site Internet (et Extranet en B to B), y compris self-care
Nouveaux terminaux (mobiles, smartphones, tablettes…)
Centres d'appels (réception et émission d'appels)
80 %
76 %
76 %
75 %
74 %
73 %
63 %
39 %
30 %
71 %
44 %
52 %
42 %
36 %
Call centres (inbound and outbound calls)
New terminals (mobiles, smartphones, tablets, etc.)
Internet site (and extranets for B-to-B), including self-service
Salespeople “in the field”
Post, email
Physical network (store, boutique, branch, etc.)
Social media
Top 2 (A+B)
A- Very important
B- Important
C- Moderately important
D- Not very important
E- Not at all important
Not applicable to my organisation

31
Organisations selling to private individuals do not consider any one channel to be more important than another. The highly heterogeneous
responses observed tend to illustrate strategies in which customers are treated well everywhere and in all the channels made available
to them. Those interviewed seem to recognise the need to no longer consider the purchase process as linear, and will in future adapt by
bringing together all the various purchase processes to attract, handle and retain their customers, in a coherent manner, involving partners
and service providers associated with each step (delivery, after-sales support, etc.).
In 2013, digital channels remain a development priority for organisations: the internet, extranets and the social media. More interestingly,
other channels are also becoming priorities, whether new terminals, the physical network or salespeople “in the field”. Organisations have
understood that their ability to ensure interoperability among all their channels, to reduce the likelihood that customers “escape” after an
interaction, is a key challenge. The result is a cross-channel investment strategy that extends beyond just the digital channels.
Consequences for organisations of the evolution of the interaction with
customers/consumers as a result of new communication devices (Base: 84
respondents, B-to-C or B-to-B-to-C)
Channels to be given a high priority for development in the next two years
Offrir la possibilité aux clients qui viennent en point de vente physique
de se renseigner directement depuis leurs mobiles sur le lieu de vente
Faire converger tous les dispositifs on et off-line afin de les rendre
très complémentaires et d'offrir une expérience d'achat la plus fluide possible
S'adapter à des clients de plus en plus mobiles, en leur offrant
la possibilité d'interagir à tout moment avec nous
2,1
2
1,9
Courrier papier, mail
Centres d'appels (réception et émission d'appels)
Commerciaux “terrain”
Réseau physique (magasin, boutique, agence…)
Nouveaux terminaux pour adresser les clients en situation
de mobilité (mobile, smartphones, tablettes…)
Médias sociaux
Site Internet (et Extranet en B to B), y compris self-care 42 %
36 %
31 %
25 %
21 %
18 %
12 %
60 %
38 %
21 %
17 %
26 %
17 %
8 %
Internet site (and extranets in B to B), including self-service
Social media
New terminals to address customers on the move
(mobiles, smartphones, tablets, etc.)
Physical networks (store, boutique, branch, etc.)
Salespeople “in the field”
Call centres (inbound and outbound calls)
Post, email
Adapt to increasingly mobile customers by offering the possibility to
interact at any time
Ensure the convergence of online and offline systems in order to make
them highly complementary and to offer a customer experience which is
as smooth as possible
Offer customers that visit the physical point of sale the possibility to
gather information directly via their mobile devices at the point of sale
Classification according to an order of priority from 1 to 3,
1 having the lowest priority, 3 the highest

32
Similarly to the private market, organisations addressing professional customers (B-to-B and B-to-B-to-C via distribution intermediaries)
are seeking both to respond to customers’ expectations of autonomy (by making digital channels available to them), while reinforcing their
presence directly beside them, by way of sales forces “in the field” that are better equipped with mobile terminals (for reasons of improved
productivity and sales efficiency when in nomadic situations).
Confirming the trend already observed in 2012, the 2013 results illustrate the complementary nature of virtual and physical interaction in the
channel mix. After a year in which the (re)investment in the human relationship was significant, the rate should slow in 2013 with a suitable
balance between human and virtual interaction (almost half of those interviewed think that the role of the human element will stabilise in 2013).
Consequences of the use of new devices in terms of improvement of the
productivity and efficiency of the sales force when dealing with professional
customers (Base: 85 respondents, B-to-C or B-to-B-to-C)
Predicted evolution of the role of the human element – and thus physical
channels – compared to digital channels
Equiper l'ensemble des forces de vente de terminaux
mobiles afin d'améliorer l'impact de leur discours commercial
Développer des canaux dématérialisés (sites Internet, sites pour mobiles…)
afin de répondre aux attentes clients en matière d'autonomie
Equiper l'ensemble des forces de vente de terminaux
mobiles afin de rendre leurs interactions plus rapides et/ou plus productives
2
2
1,9
22 %
27 %
6 %
45 %
Stabilité par rapport à aujourd’hui
Fort développement du rôle de l’humain
Hétérogénéité (mix entre contact réel
et dématérialisé selon les étapes du
parcours client)
Disparition progressive du rôle de l’humain
au profit du développement de relations
dématérialisées
29 %
6 %
38 %
27 %
3- cross-channel
Equip the entire sales force with mobile terminals to make their
interactions more rapid and/or productive
Further develop digital channels (websites, sites for mobiles, etc.) in
response to customer expectations in terms of autonomy
Equip the entire sales force with mobile terminals to increase the impact
of their sales dialogue
Classification according to an order of priority from 1 to 3,
1 having the lowest priority, 3 the highest
Stable compared to today
Strong development in the role of the human element
Heterogeneity (mix of real and virtual contact according to the
steps of the purchase process)
Gradual disappearance of the human element in favour of the
further development of virtual relationships

33
In 2013, organisations seem to have become aware that the interoperability of channels is not something to be taken for granted. Unlike
in 2012 when many respondents felt that they were able to treat their customers well and in a coherent manner across the entire mix of
channels, in 2013 55 percent of respondents recognise that their systems are not optimal:
• 27 percent of respondents offer several channels for interaction, but without genuine interoperability;
• 28 percent of respondents are still primarily mono-channel, even though their customers have multichannel expectations.
The evolution in consumer behaviour and habits has raised doubts in organisations about their positioning, and is forcing them to reconsider
the relevance of their systems.
A striking result from the 2013 Barometer: 85 percent of those polled consider the convergence between online and offline systems to be
a priority. Their organisations have already invested in projects within their physical network (48 percent of respondents), or they are in the
initial stages of planning in this context (37 percent of respondents). These results illustrate the need for many organisations to focus their
efforts in 2013 on rethinking their approach to the customer experience in terms of this convergence.
Positioning of the organisation in terms of cross-channel management
Convergence between online and offline (Base: 93 respondents, presence of a
physical distribution network)
27 %
28 %
15 %
29 %
Propose aux clients plusieurs canaux
d’interaction réellement interopérables
Est majoritairement monocanal : bien que
les clients aient de réelles attentes en matière
de multicanal
Propose aux clients plusieurs canaux d’interactions
pas réellement interopérables
Est majoritairement monocanal : cela correspond
aux attentes client
39 %
23 %
21 %
17 %
12 %
37 %
3 %
48 %
Nous travaillons déjà sur la convergence on et
off-line via l’usage des technologies Internet au sein
des points de vente
Notre réflexion est embryonnaire
Nous n’avons pas de projet car nous considérons
que cette convergence ne sera pas un enjeu clé en 2013
Nous ne sommes pas concernés du fait de nos
structures de distribution ou des attentes limitées
de nos clients
Offer customers several genuinely interoperable channels for
interaction
Primarily mono-channel even though customers have real
multichannel expectations
Offer customers several channels for interaction that are not
genuinely interoperable
Primarily mono-channel which corresponds to customer
expectations
We are already working on convergence of online and offline by using
internet technologies in our points of sale
Our thinking is still in its initial stages
We do not have a project in this area because we do not think this
convergence will be a key challenge in 2013
This is not applicable to us thanks to our distribution structure or the
expectations of our customers

34
4- Use of information
75 percent of the organisations interviewed feel that Big Data is relevant for them (or at least better gathering and use of information about
customers collected during each interaction). More than half of them have launched or plan to launch projects in this regard. At a time when
customer behaviour is evolving rapidly, organisations have clearly understood that the best way to convert them or increase their loyalty is to
know and recognise them at every interaction.
Usage of new means of gathering and using information about customers
(“big data”)
Projet trop complexe à mettre en œuvre / peu adapté à notre organisation
Technologies utilisées pour mieux comprendre
les clients et analyser leurs comportements (mode réactif et prédictif)
Lancement (effectif ou prévu) de projet de type “Big Data”
afin de mieux exploiter la masse d'informations accumulées sur les clients
53 %
36 %
25 %
Très faible utilisation des informations (collecte “au cas où”)
Utilisation des informations de manière très réactive pour
corriger des problèmes d'organisation ou de processus
Utilisation des informations de manière
réactive pour améliorer l'offre
Partage de l'information collectée avec les autres départements,
utilisation pour améliorer globalement la qualité des interactions
Utilisation des informations collectées à des ﬁns
principalement marketing
Intégration systématique des informations dans les
phases amont de conception de nouveaux produits
34 %
34 %
32 %
31 %
26 %
14 %
22 %
12 %
45 %
38 %
37 %
10 %
Main uses of customer information gathered
In addition to using information to improve the quality of interaction (which is often a matter for the channels themselves), organisations
are focusing on two key matters:
• The use of information gathered to improve the design of offerings proposed to customers (for one third of respondents);
• The use of this information for primarily marketing purposes (namely scoring and pushing offerings in real time, providing more fine-
tuned responses to enquiries, relationship marketing, etc.).
It is worth noting that the use of information to improve organisational processes or shortcomings seems less of a priority than the previous
year, the challenge being more in the use of data in real time (in terms of “what should be done with the information just received in order
to close the sale?”).
Launch (effective or planned) of a “big data” project
in order to make better use of the mass of information gathered about
customers
Technologies used to better understand customers and analyse their
behaviour (reactive and predictive mode)
Project too complex to be implemented or little suited to our
organisation
Systematic integration of information in the upstream phases of
new product design
Use of information gathered mainly for marketing purposes
Sharing information collected with other departments, and using it
to improve the overall quality of interaction
Use of information in a responsive manner to improve the offering
Use of information in a highly responsive manner to correct
organisational processes or problems
Very limited use of information (gathered “just in case”)

35
A key lesson from the 2013 Customer Intimacy Barometer: organisations seem to have carried out a major realignment to facilitate the
implementation of a customer intimacy strategy. Between 75 and 80 percent of those surveyed feel their positioning is coherent on the
various items that make it possible to evaluate this alignment. The further development of a multichannel approach seems to be a priority,
as does the coherence of processes and the organisation, as well as the ability to propose services that support the primary offering.
In terms of alignment of the elements of the operational model on a strategy of customer intimacy (processes, organisation, information
systems, culture and management control systems), organisations feel that the main obstacle (for 32 percent of respondents) is their ability
to ensure the effective coherence of various partners and stakeholders (internal and external). This item is even more important given that,
in an environment in which customers are addressed from all sides, organisations cannot on their own meet all the needs expressed and
must thus develop strategic partnerships. These can be between brands and distributors, between ecommerce sites and bricks and mortar
store chains, or between businesses offering similar consumption environments in terms of target customer. These partnerships need to be
implemented with operators who share not only interests in terms of the targets to be addressed, but also in terms of values at a commercial
level and the way the customer intimacy and customer relationships are managed.
5- Summaryandobstacles/difficultiesencountered
in developing customer intimacy
Coherence of the positioning of the organisation in terms of customer intimacy
Main obstacles/difficulties encountered in the development of customer intimacy
Top 2 (A+B)
A- Tout à fait d’accord
B- D’accord
C- Ni en désaccord, ni en accord
D- Pas d’accord
E- Pas du tout d’accord
Exploitation de l'information collectée et
partage au sein de l'organisation
Différenciation des concurrents via
une politique de services innovante
Cohérence des processus et de
l'organisation, orientés vers le client
Alignement de la stratégie sur
le concept d'Intimité Client
Développement effectif
d'une approche multicanal
79 %
76 %
76 %
75 %
75 %
51 %
60 %
71 %
45 %
43 %
Attentes clients basiques, rendant difficile une
différenciation par la personnalisation de l'offre
Systèmes de pilotage axés sur la rentabilité produit
plus que client, vision trop court termiste
Réseaux de vente on et off-line insuffisamment convergents,
ne se nourrissant pas suffisamment l'un l'autre
Sous-investissement en termes
de systèmes d'information
Organisation très compartimentée, difficulté à déﬁnir
une politique et des objectifs communs autour du client
Culture tournée vers l'Excellence Opérationnelle
ou la Supériorité Produit
Grand nombre de partenaires dans la production de l'offre,
objectifs insuffisamment alignés sur le client
32 %
30 %
29 %
25 %
24 %
23 %
12 %
28 %
15 %
15 %
10 %
19 % 20 %
Effective development of a multichannel
approach
Strategic alignment on the concept of
customer intimacy
Coherence of processes and the
organisation, focused on the customer
Differentiation from competitors by way
of a policy of innovative services
Use of the information gathered and
sharing thereof within the organisation
Large number of partners involved in producing the offering,
objectives insufficiently aligned on the customer
Culture focused on operational excellence or product superiority
Highly compartmentalised organisation, difficulty in defining a
common policy and objectives focused on the customer
Under-investment in terms of information systems
Insufficient convergence between online and offline sales
network, do not feed each other enough
Management systems focused on product profitability rather
than customer, overly short-term vision
Basic customer expectations, making it difficult to differentiate on
the basis of personalisation of the offering
Top 2 (A+B)
A- Completely agree
B- Agree
C- Neither agree nor disagree
D- Disagree
E- Disagree completely

37
testimonials3 customer intimacy barometer 2013

38
Laurent DechauxVICE PRESIDENT. Oracle Applications
"Businesses that are not
focusing on the customer
experience risk choosing and
implementing unsuitable tools."

39
testimonial
Thanks to the new cloud deployment mode, businesses can gradually
adapt solutions that smooth the customer relationship across all
channels. However, it’s important to be aware of the limitations of the
first generation of cloud solutions, which do not facilitate integration
with legacy information systems and risk creating silos again.
What evolution in consumer
behaviour are you observing?
Studies show that 86% of consumers
are willing to spend more in exchange
for better service or a better product.
They’re more volatile, more impatient and
demand recognition, regardless of the
communication channel. Today there are
many of these channels, and consumers
blithely hop from one to another, looking
for information, interacting, and making
concrete purchases. The rise of social
networks and the internet has given
consumers a means to exert pressure
on service quality to a previously unseen
extent.
How are your customers
responding to this evolution?
Our customers reacted to this new state
of affairs by first carrying out an in-depth
analysis of the customer experience of
their brand, in order to adapt both their
information systems (IS) and their sales
processes. They were in particular able
to adopt our solutions for smoothing
the purchase process and improving the
experience of their customers in every
channel: social networks, ecommerce,
call centres, etc. They also drew on the
capabilities of their people, who play
a key role in improving the customer
experience; studies demonstrated people
were highly motivated to participate in
these initiatives.
possible. We also offer tools that enable
our customers to relocate these solutions
within their own Information Systems in
case of need.
What are the limitations of
these SaaS solutions?
The first limitation is at the customer
side, where people still hesitate to move
their data into the cloud despite the
guarantees of security and separation that
these technologies offer today. Another
limitation can be the level of integration
needed between the solution and the
Information Systems already in place.
For example, the adoption of ecommerce
solutions in the cloud is not very well
developed taking into account the impact
on the supply chain, inventory, etc. But
here again, the solutions are improving
and we’re continuously working on making
the integration of processes easier, making
the Information Systems more flexible and
reducing the cost of ownership.
How do you support them?
The method they adopt – and which we
recommend – is to prioritise quick wins
in a given area or channel, check the
performance of the solution put in place
and then gradually extend it to other
channels. We help them to further develop
their IS so it’s able to respond to these
new consumer behaviours, and to improve
the capability of the brand to react more
quickly.Thisisachievedinparticularthrough
the use of SaaS solutions, thanks to which
today it is possible to deploy a complete
tool in less than three months, across all
channels (internet, mobile, ecommerce,
social networks, etc.), while guaranteeing
the integration of these channels and the
Information Systems already in place.
The key outcome: a far better customer
experience than was previously the case!
Does this type of solution have
any drawbacks?
Fewer and fewer, because the solutions are
improving. Whereas the first generation
of CRM tools in SaaS mode could recreate
silos by isolating customer relationship
management or the sales force from the
rest of the Information Systems, that’s no
longer the case with the current generation.
However, even though it has become
easier to implement a SaaS solution from a
functional point of view, the integration part
should not be underestimated. From our
side, we make sure that our technological
solutions are as standardised as possible
to enable the solutions to be integrated
as simply, quickly and non-intrusively as

40
Olivier DerrienVice President Southern Europe. Salesforce.com
"To capitalise on all the
opportunities for performance
improvement offered by social
media, businesses need to
transform themselves."

41
Confronted with the explosion of social networks, businesses are
adapting the manner in which they communicate both externally
and internally. But they still have to transform in order to take
advantage of the sources of growth to be exploited by placing the
customer at the centre.
What evolution are you
observing in customer
relationship management?
The relationship between customers
and brands has changed greatly. Cloud
computing, mobility, geolocation and social
networks have triggered a revolution in
consumer behaviour. The convergence
of these transformations offers new
possibilities for business applications that
reinforce the proximity that a brand can
have with every customer. Following in
the footsteps of clients of ours such as
Coca-Cola or Burberry, businesses need
to unify the experience at the point of sale
and on the internet in order to arrive at
a coherent customer experience, image
and communication.
Where are businesses finding the
main opportunities for growth?
The rise of social networks is profoundly
changing the way in which businesses can
improve their performance. These media
are a new channel for interaction and an
undeniable opportunity to reach new
customers. Today, there are cumulatively
4.5 billion social media users worldwide.
According to Gartner, by 2017, the budgets
available for marketing departments to
spend in this channel will exceed those
of IT departments.
How can you help businesses?
The “social front office” responds perfectly
to this need. Salesforce Marketing Cloud
enables marketing departments to
understand what is being said about the
brand on social networks, and to listen
and even to engage in conversation with
influencers, in order to learn concrete
lessons for the evolution of production,
or to launch marketing campaigns. Our
enterprise social media tool “Chatter”
enables teams to collaborate on matters
that interest them, internally as well as
externally, with partners and suppliers:
a commercial opportunity, a complaint,
a call… In this way, by improving the
communication between the various
stakeholdersinthebusiness,theycontribute
to reducing work in functional silos which
is an obstacle to increasing the flexibility
of the customer experience.
Are businesses aware of this?
They have at least understood that they
need to integrate these tools, even if only to
attract and retain employees. 70 percent of
companies are adopting social networks.
They have also identified the need to
modernise and transform themselves –
albeit at various speeds and levels of depth
– but they have not necessarily defined
the way in which their business model
will have to evolve to make use of these
sources of performance improvement,
in order to centre their operations even
more on the customer.
What is your advice to them?
When managing the customer relationship,
businesses should put in place tools that
work in the same way and have the same
interface,andstructuretheircommunication
accordingly. Knowing what to say and
when to say it on a Facebook page isn’t
necessarily obvious. In the social media,
the rhythm and impact of communication
are fundamentally different. To adapt to
this, you must first be capable of listening
to and understanding what is being said
about the brand.
testimonial

42
Arnaud Deschampsmanaging director. Nespresso France
"Competition is not only
about the product – it’s
also about the customer
experience."

43
Along with coffee and the machines for making it, the customer
relationship is one of the three fundamental pillars of Nespresso’s
identity. From the beginning the company has put customer intimacy
at the heart of its development. And this long-term investment has
paid off, in particular in times of crisis.
What evolution in customer
behaviour are you observing?
We’re dealing with expert customers – in
ecommerce, services, new technologies –
and they expect to be able to do everything
(compare, order and interact) across all
channels, simultaneously if possible. In
addition, the internet has accustomed
them to getting rapid responses in real
time. And with web 2.0, this has expanded
to include being able to express their
opinion, in particular if their ethical values
are not respected by the company.
How do you respond to this?
We have to at least offer them the same
flexibility of experience that they expect.
A customer can initiate an order on the
internet, come to the store to finalise
the transaction, and then decide to have
the order delivered at home. But we also
try to delight the customer by offering
an unprecedented level of service, for
example by offering delivery seven days
a week, within two-hour time slots. To
serve customers that may not want to
talk, we’ve also put in place a self-service
system in our stores, and have equipped
the packaging with RFID chips that are
automatically detected when they go over
the counter at the checkout. In some stores
they can even pick up their purchases
directly without getting out of the car…
Which rules did you follow in
order to succeed?
Sincethebeginning,we’vebeendetermined
to be coherent and convergent. This intent
is shared by every employee, who also
has to trust all the others. If only one of
them does not share this state of mind, or
doesn’t have the information necessary
to advise a customer, the efforts made by
everyone to create customer intimacy can
quickly be destroyed. It’s thus important
to correctly understand the HR challenges
involved (training, recruitment, internal
promotion, etc.), but also those related
to communication and governance
What challenges does this
create in terms of organisation?
Being able to offer this flexibility in the
customer experience creates an incredible
level of complexity which must however
be transparent for the customer. That’s
the price of trust, because customers
would not understand if we said different
things depending on the channel, or that
an action is possible on one channel but
not another. Businesses need to become
aware that customers don’t only compare
products but also purchase experiences.
So companies aren’t only in competition
with other businesses in the same sector,
but with all of them.
And how do you create such
flexibility?
It’s not simple, because most companies
start from a point of technological lag,
compared to consumers. The majority
of them are strong in one channel, but
finding businesses that are strong in all of
them, online and off, is rare. In addition,
customer intimacy shouldn’t be considered
a commercial strategy but rather a genuine
corporate culture. The conviction of its
worth must be shared at all levels if it is
to create value. Clearly, that’s less easy
when businesses operate in silos and when,
for example, commercial objectives can
damage the flexibility of the relationship.
testimonial

44
Cyrille GiraudatMarketing Director. PMU
"Social media enable us
to reach new targets,
on condition that we
understand them and adopt
their conventions."

45
The leading pari-mutuel horserace betting provider in Europe and
second worldwide, PMU is using its expertise in ecommerce and the
online customer experience to drive activity in its physical network
and rejuvenate its clientele.
What evolution are you
observing in your customers’
behaviour?
We’re observing a slight fall in bets in
our physical points of sale (-2 percent),
which is more than compensated for by
the annual growth in our online activity,
which is 22.8 percent. PMU.fr is one of
the leading French ecommerce sites with
revenue of EUR 1.65 billion. The most
striking evolution is the strong increase
in the nomadic share of business, which
represents 20 percent of this activity
today, and which is expected to reach 30
percent by the end of the year.
How does this break down
across your various markets?
Online, horserace betting amounts to a
total of EUR 972.1 million, an increase of 11.1
percent. It’s our growth in sports betting
(+62 percent) and online poker (+39
percent) which is enabling us to acquire
many new customers, in particular younger
profiles. Our objective is to migrate the
latter towards online horserace betting
– 40 percent of these customers have
already tried betting on horseraces – but
also towards the physical network.
How do you integrate social
networks in you customer
relationship management?
Ultimately social networks are only a
transposition of the proximity that has
always existed in pari-mutuel betting.
It’s an essentially community-based
activity: you go there, often after having
been initiated by an acquaintance. Social
media enable us to reach new targets,
on condition that we understand and
adopt their habits and conventions. On
Facebook, we organised a casting session
for the punters in the film "Turf" and co-
organised the first poker championship
of the French grandes écoles. That has
of course allowed us to rejuvenate our
customer base.
What do you do to drive activity
in your network of points of
sale?
The development of the network of points
of sale has been accentuated in order
to optimise the coverage of the French
territory. There was an average of three
openings a day in 2012, accompanied in
particular by a new store concept dedicated
to taking PMU bets and broadcasting races:
PMU City. Open seven days a week, open
until late or all night, the PMU City stores
offer the highest quality of service with
staff who listen to customers, and betting
via terminals and bollards equipped with
top quality audio-visual gear.
How are you organising the
convergence between the two
worlds?
We’re using our digital know-how to
stimulate growth offline. For example,
by re-launching the PMU card, we’re
modernising the customer experience
in the physical network, since every
customer can bet via the interactive
bollards installed in 4,000 points of sale.
The advantage for us is that the customer
is no longer anonymous. We can have a
direct relationship with everyone, as we
do online, and thus build up knowledge
of the customer.
testimonial

46
Franck Heimburger Distribution Director, Employee Network. AXA
"Transparency doesn’t scare
us, it can create value."

47
As the leading employee network in the insurance sector in France,
AXA has just equipped its 3,000 advisers with touch sensitive tablets
loaded with all the necessary sales support tools. This technical
evolution hides an underlying cultural revolution in the approach
to the client relationship.
What has the impact of the crisis
been on the client relationship?
In our business, providing advice on savings
and prevention to 1.4 million clients, we’ve
noted strong demand for transparency.
People now want to understand what
they’re buying and thus demand simple
and clear offerings. With the exception of
certain specific segments, this evolution
is the end of the era of the Expert, who
knows and selects almost in the client’s
place.
How have you reacted to this?
We’re convinced that what creates value
for clients resides in our ability on the
one hand to help them understand the
environment in which they are evolving,
and on the other hand, to make choices
adapted to their objectives and profile.
And we think clients are prepared to pay
for this guidance. Our response was thus to
create, around our clients, an environment
that enables them to have a clear vision
of what they’re buying and gives them
access to all the information they need. In
addition to the transparency expected, it’s
important to give clients greater control
over their choices, by putting them at the
centre of the system.
What challenges did you have to
face to launch this solution?
Agreatdealofworkwasneededtointegrate
the tool into the information system, since
clients sign contracts on the tablet and
everything is then directly injected into
our management system. With iNov, our
ambition is to combine the best of the
physical presence of an adviser at a client’s
home with an administrative relationship
which is digitalised to the greatest extent
possible. Clients receive their documents
by email and can find all their statements
in their personal space on axa.fr. We
also had to invest in the development
of a dozen applications (network, life
insurance, savings, diversification, etc.).
Not to mention the support provided to
our advisers, for whom iNov represents
both a technical and cultural revolution…
How is this more educational
advice translated in concrete
terms?
We have further developed our advisory
tools and processes by transforming
the workstations into something more
commercial and lighter, genuinely oriented
towards the client. Concretely, we’ve
equipped our advisers with iPads loaded
with all the necessary sales support tools
(CRM software, product simulation tools,
digital media library, etc.). This tool will also
enable us to help our advisers’ attitude
develop further, shifting from face-to-face
sales to collaborative sales.
How is this evolution interesting
in terms of customer intimacy?
The goal for the adviser is to guide every
client through their own needs analysis, the
definitionoftheirgoalsandtheidentification
of an appropriate response. Clients can
access useful information themselves,
and observe visually how diversification
of their assets may or may not help them
attain their wealth maximisation goals. By
using our apps, clients can “follow training”
about our products, and learn about other
aspects, all in very accessible language.
Our relationships are thus stronger over
the long term, because by educating
clients so that they are better able to
make their own choices, we’re able to go
through periods of strong turbulence in
the market with less disruption.
testimonial

48
Stéphane JeanjeanDistribution Director. CA Services. Groupe Crédit Agricole
"We put an integrated
multichannel approach
at the heart of the client
relationship."

49
With its 39 regional cooperative retail banks and 7,200 branches,
Crédit Agricole is in fact a business close to its clients. To ensure the
bank’s relationship with its clients becomes increasingly intimate, the
CA Services teams use the Group’s information systems to integrate its
commitments to its clients in a 2.0 client relationship.
How are clients’ expectations
evolving?
They want a bank that is simpler, more
transparent, and they want to be able to
take advantage of the autonomy granted
by new technologies, while continuing
to enjoy the benefits of a traditional
bank: a bank that’s physically close by,
characterised by a human relationship.
They also expect greater responsiveness
and proactivity, and more relevant advice.
The internet has led to clients being better
informed and that repositions the role of
the adviser, focusing it on the added value
of the advice given and the simplicity with
which it is delivered.
How are you responding to
this?
At Group level, this interactive and proactive
relationship is the focus of a plan ("Client
Relationship 2.0") which is centred on
the values of building up relationships
with clients: listening, providing loyal
advice, delivering personalised solutions.
These are the commitments that we’re
integrating into an information systems
transformation programme, which is at the
same time part of a convergence project
that will result in the progressive migration
of all the regional cooperative banks to
this shared platform by the end of 2013.
What have you done in
concrete terms?
We’reputtinginplaceaCRMsolutioncoupled
to a new data warehouse which will enable
us to meet the challenge of understanding
our clients, to communicate with them on
judicious manner. The portal will also be
accessible by tablet, which will facilitate
the mobility of advisers within and outside
of the branch, and will modify the attitude
and behaviour required when interacting
with the client.
In addition to Information
technology, what other
challenges does one face when
implementing relationship
management in this manner?
The job of the advisers will change, because
they won’t necessarily work face-to-face
with clients, but increasingly side-by-side
or remotely. That could lead the bank
to rethink the way certain spaces are
designed. It will also result in managerial
evolution which will have to be supported
with new tools, but also with training since
managers will have to run multichannel
points of sale. To do this means having
to integrate different client experiences,
and no longer considering channels as
cannibalistic but rather complementary,
working for the benefit of the client
relationship.
all channels and to personalise the client
relationship. The objective is to put in place
genuinecross-channelrelationshipmarketing
that responds to our clients’ expectations
in terms of responsiveness and proactivity.
Knowing that in parallel we’re continuing to
develop our tools and processes for each
channel. With this in mind, the smartphone
application "My Budget", available in the
stores and used daily by 500,000 clients
to access their accounts, was adapted for
the various OS1
for use on tablets. We’re
also taking the opportunity to smooth
our processes and promote digitalisation,
with a pilot project in our branches for
electronic signatures using touch sensitive
tablets. Initially this will only be applicable
to transactions involving the till, and
will over time be extended to include
contracts as well.
What are you doing to ensure
the convergence of online and
offline?
We’re going to harmonise the client and
adviser workstations within a natively
multichannel and multi-device portal,
whose underlying principles are based
on the evolution of internet practices
(search engines, ergonomics, etc.). That
will promote dialogue between the adviser
and the client, who will have access to
the same interface and applications. The
multichannelprocesseswillbeinteroperable,
digital and interruptible. The convergence
between online and offline will thus be
reinforced, since a process initiated on
one channel can be interrupted and re-
started at any time on another channel. The
adviser will be informed of the progress
made and will be able to take action in a 1 - OS : operating system
testimonial

50
William Koeberléceo. Groupe Marionnaud
"Improving the quality of our
customer relationship by
adapting our contact strategy
to each profile in order to
increase performance."

51
For Marionnaud, one of Europe's leading retail perfume and cosmetics
specialists, the customer relationship is in essence intimate, and has to
constantly echo the values of the brand: Proximity, Professionalism
and Pleasure. These "Three Ps" recently inspired the evolution of the
communication platform, the renovation of the stores and the online
development around a promise: "Everyday Beautiful".
What changes in behaviour
are you observing among your
customers?
In general they’re more volatile than
previously. In parallel, the shopping
experience has become more complex. In
terms of buyer behaviour, 66 percent have
visited the website – to find information,
compare and reassure themselves about
the price – before coming into the store.
And lastly, all their actions have also been
changing since the arrival of smartphones
and tablets.
How does this change the nature
of your response?
We continuously increase segmentation to
drive greater proximity in the relationship.
With more nomadic lifestyles that combine
the virtual and the real, we have to adapt
our offering of advice to every situation
while ensuring that we remain coherent
in terms of service, values and price. For
example, we designed a loyalty programme
inresponsetotheexpectationofrecognition
from customers who buy for themselves
and want a personalised relationship. With
our VIP Prestige card, they benefit from
exclusive advantages (free delivery for
all orders via the internet, invitations to
private evenings in the store, free beauty
diagnostics, birthday presents, a magazine
“M and You” full of expert advice and
beauty tips, etc.).
And online?
We have reworked our internet site: it’s
simpler, faster, has all the useful information
on the home page, offers the possibility
for contact (via an expert interactive blog,
M The Beauty Blog) and video advice (the
Blush web series). It’s a way to share our
know-how and expertise in an interactive,
accessible and fun way, but also respond to
the expectations of customers who may, at
certainmoments,prefertobeadvisedinthat
way rather than via a discussion in the store.
On Facebook we also run a community of
160,000memberswhoseengagementlevel
is among the highest in the sector.
How do you reinforce your
knowledge of the customer?
We were pioneers in this area, and launched
our loyalty programme in 1990. We’re thus
fortunate to have a database of 14 million
Europeancosmeticsusers.In2012,inorderto
becomemoreresponsive,learnmorequickly
and compare and harmonise information
at a European level, we internalised the
management of this database and built
up internal teams (CRM data minders )
to work with it and successfully steer our
marketing operations in a more responsive
and personalised manner, according to
purchasing profiles. Reinforcing customer
knowledge is a determining factor in order
to offer without imposing, to seduce and to
convince. For Marionnaud, improving the
customer relationship is not only judiciously
proposing products, it’s also about fostering
an enduring proximity between the brand
and the customer.
How have you realised this
ambition to be coherent in
concrete terms?
Welaunchedanenormousrenovationproject
for our stores in order to be coherent with
our positioning and the expression of our
values. Customer intimacy is promoted via
the "advice bar"; the central location of the
checkout in the store favours proximity;
lastly, at the back of the store there is
a space for beauty care that requires a
calmer environment. Focusing on the
notion of pleasure, the customer experience
was rethought so it makes it possible to
get your bearings, and to easily find the
universe of your preferred brand, or that
of a new temptation…
Professionalism is made concrete by the
welcome given in terms of services such as
the personalised beauty care diagnostic of
IOMA1
.It’salsoembodiedinamoreanecdotal
way (but in a manner very characteristic of
our approach that responds to evolution
in customer behaviour) by a small quick
test on an iPad or touch screen on the
wall, which helps you to find the perfume
universe that resembles you and to select
the perfume that’s right for you from among
the multitude of products available.
1 - IOMA is a French cosmetics brand dedicated
to skincare.
testimonial

52
Xavier Quérat-HémentQuality Director. La Poste group
"The cause of complaints, much
like the reasons for dropping
a supplier, has more to do with
service and the relationship
than with the product itself."

2013 - CSC Customer Intimacy Barometer - Convergence between on and off-line (English)

2013 - CSC Customer Intimacy Barometer - Convergence between on and off-line (English)

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