Love Makes The Martech World Go ‘Round
I live and breath client success. Nothing warms my heart like when a client has an “a-ha” moment. When something clicks and they can really see what’s possible because of data insights I helped them mine from their martech solution.
Client success is a powerful force and critical for the success of both the client and the vendor. In fact, according to a recent McKinsey survey, improvements in customer experience reduces churn by 10-15%, increases win rate of offers by 20-40%, and lowers costs to serve by up to 50%. I mean, wow, right?
What this means for you is as you look for a potential martech vendor, you should really focus on ones that have your success at the heart of their product offer. This, in addition to being an engaged participant in the business relationship, will ensure you get maximum value from the partnership–and value goes far beyond price. To ensure a long lasting, loving martech relationship, keep these things top of mind.
1. Ask the right questions (for better, not worse)
When it comes to getting the most out of your marketing technology, you must commit to being better today than you were yesterday. Herein lies the challenge of finding the best martech suitor–the one-and-only solution that truly delivers. As long as you ask the right questions, you will find the vendor who compliments you best and delivers on their promises.
Seems simple enough but we’ve all been in relationships where we are promised the world but are left empty-handed, amirite? According to Forrester, 75% of businesses say improving customer experience is a top priority, however only 63% of marketers are prioritizing implementing technology that will help them reach this goal. This disconnect could be detrimental.
The key to the survival of any relationship is following through on promises. It’s super important to work with a martech partner dedicated to supporting your successful adoption of the new technology and driving that success through any challenges that come up along the way. Your investment will only pay off if they are committed to you for better, not worse.
The right tech partner-your match made in heaven-will be able to answer questions like these, with confidence:
- How will you educate me to be a better marketer?
- How will adopting the new technology solve one or more business problems?
- How will you proactively work to understand my goals?
- How will your customer success team ensure lines of communication are kept open to constantly reassess goals and objectives?
- How will you help me see new opportunities to succeed?
- How will you to nurture, educate, and support a results-oriented relationship?.
Asking the right questions up front will help ensure you find your martech one-and-only.
An integral piece of a loving martech relationship is a strong client experience team…
2. Find a martech love that knows no bounds when it comes to value
Implementing the right technology can successfully solve your marketing heartaches. During your courtship with various vendors, you’ll often know what you want (but not always necessarily what you need). Uncovering what you truly need can be the difference between extracting max. value from the partnership or just getting the status quo. Let me explain.
“Value” goes far beyond price. According to Kissmetrics, true value ecompasses 5 main things:
- Response: When a vendor can identify pain points and actively help solve them.
- Service: The ability of a vendor to handle service-related issues while eliminating perceived risk
- Quality: Consistently helping customers reach their goals via a well-made service/product
- Price: Associated cost of the solution is clear, practical, and competitive
- Time: Product offers a sensible learning curve and demonstrates ROI in a reasonable amount of time
When meeting with vendors, actively explore and understand how all 5 value bases will be covered.
A smooth talking vendor may be able to say all the right things but actions speak louder than words…
3. It’s the (fore)thought that counts
There are many martech partners out there that provide solid support. However, it’s mostly passive. You have a problem. You notify the vendor. Their customer support team solves the problem.
What separates the good from the GREAT is when the vendor can actually anticipate upcoming challenges and help put measures in place to mitigate their effect. They put forethought into your continued success. A GREAT vendor is more than just a set of hands. They are an extension of your brain, your heart and your soul. Your happiness and success keep them up at night and they send you helpful love notes answering questions before you’ve even asked them. It’s these diamond-in-the-rough partners to look out for. The vendors that are committed to developing a proactive customer experience for you. They help you achieve goals you didn’t even know you had.
In fact, by 2020, B2B customer experience is poised to become a key competitive differentiator over product and price, according to Walker Insights. But why wait for the industry to catch up, you can start swiping right on the truly worthy vendors today.
while a pro-active martech vendor is essential, it’s important to remember it take two to tango. Identify your role in establishing a meaningful relationship with your martech partner.
As a client experience professional myself, I can speak on behalf of my best-in-class team when I say we all aim to leave our client’s condition better than it was before we arrived. Any vendor you invest your faith (and money) in should feel the same. Asking the right questions and looking for the right answers will ensure your long-term success. It takes work but it’s a labour of love! At the end of the day, it’s love that’s at the heart of the customer experience–it’s what makes the martech world go ‘round.
And just to toot our own horn (because we put all our blood, sweat, and tears into our customer’s success), here’s what some customers have to say about working with the LookBookHQ team and their onboarding experience:
