💪 When the going gets tough...
Photo by Natalie Runnerstrom on Unsplash
When times are tough, your customers want you to be tougher, according to new research from Adobe.
But it’s not just about low prices or good customer service — it’s about a better overall experience with your company.
Today, we’re digging into all things CX — and what sets successful brands apart.
Today’s agenda:
🏆 How to meet customer expectations
📈 Tips for improving sales and marketing productivity
😶🌫️ The power of transparency
💼 Briefly — our quick news roundup
⏱️ Up & coming
High expectations
At Adobe’s EMEA Summit in London last week, they released new research to help brands grow during economic uncertainty.
🔑 Key findings, via Forbes:
50% of the 13,000 consumers surveyed across 14 countries said they expect better experiences from brands during tough economic conditions
The No. 1 formula consumers chose for keeping their loyalty involved a “balanced approach” of profitability, customer experience, and corporate responsibility
The No. 2 formula involved placing CX above all else, and the No. 3 formula focused on “absolute lowest prices” above all else
🔒 The top way brands can build and maintain trust? Keeping customer data safe.
Consumers also placed emphasis on sustainable operations: 82% of consumers say they would decrease spending with brands they don’t think care about the environment.
It can be tough for brands to balance amazing, personalized experiences when budgets are already tight, but Adobe found that brands that continue to deliver in a downturn achieve a 242% ROI and grow 36% faster than their peers.
The proof is in the pudding.
How can you grow when you’re making cuts?
Most heads of sales and marketing don’t believe their teams can get more productive over an extended period, according to Harvard Business Review — which the writers call a “damaging” belief.
The real answer? Commercial productivity, which calculates the ROI for each dollar spent on commercial costs, then assesses the rate at which revenue increases compared to the growth in sales and marketing expenses.
💪 Here’s how to execute it:
Go-to market model — assign accounts based on a customer’s future spending
Train and coach every sales rep into an “A” player
Find the right digital and automation tools to support marketing and sales
Commercial productivity helps companies make “healthy trade-offs” to push ahead of the competition.
What makes successful companies different
50% of companies fail within the first five years, according to Gallup.
Adam Kroener, CEO of Carbliss, started his business right before the pandemic hit.
🪴 Here are his tips for growing when the odds are stacked against you:
Hire carefully: Specify the criteria you need for each team member
Be transparent: Treat your team as real partners, and share the ups and downs your business is experiencing
Create more incentives: Consider quarterly bonuses or more frequent incentives to maintain momentum
⛈️ Kroener says to “lean into the power of your team” to get through the storm, including sharing the challenges, solutions, and wins.
Briefly
🤖 Is Apple ignoring AI? The company left generative AI out of its recent conference, but some call it a savvy move for them to pave their own way, rather than “play catch-up” to others
📱 Instagram, YouTube, TikTok, and Twitter may be in trouble after a European consumer group claims they facilitated misleading promotions for crypto assets
🏠 New report shows that median income earners can only afford 25% of current home listings — and the housing shortage would not be as severe (even with existing inventory levels) if there were enough homes available for buyers at all income levels
📉 Advanced economies such as the U.S., Japan, and euro area countries are growing at a much slower pace (0.7% in 2023, down from 2.6% in 2022) due to higher rates and the banking crises
💻 Google’s Password Manager will soon gain biometric authentication on PC, depending on the hardware attached to the PC and whether the operating system supports it
Up & Coming
🥾 To hike or not to hike: While the financial markets are confident there will be no fed rate hike this week, some economists aren’t so sure this will be the case.
“The balance of the data still points to another hike,” Andrew Hollenhorst, chief U.S. economist at Citi, said to MarketWatch.
Some are expecting a 25-basis-point hike, bringing the funds rate to 5.25%-5.5%.
Economists agree that it’s a “close call” either way. We’ll find out the outcome tomorrow at 2 p.m. EST.