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Lessons From Retail Smarter 2019 – University of Florida

April 5, 2019

Sam Richardson

Occasionally it’s good to go back to school. Last week, I had the opportunity to attend Retail Smarter 2019 at the University of Florida in Gainesville. As we read about the retail apocalypse, with as many as 5,800 stores already scheduled to close in 2019, it would be easy to say that retail is dead. After a few days discussing with leading academics and experts, it’s clear that retail isn’t dying – it’s just changing.

Challenges today bring about opportunities for retailers to be on the forefront of innovation. Here are my four key takeaways from experts in topics spanning trends, best practices, technology, e-commerce, customer experience and HR:

1. Kim Kaupe, Co-founder-The Superfan Company, brought a unique take from a sport’s perspective. It’s all about the “SuperFan.” Reviews are good, but “braggable” and “Instagramable” moments make a strong personal connection that makes a recommendation real.

2. Jake Annear from Louis Vuitton/Moët Hennessy focused his conversation on consumer and customer driven insights. His perspective – there should be no decisions made without consumer/customer inputs. Some memorable comments included:

Often retailers try to “drive the customer strategy” instead of letting the customers dictate the future. A great example of that is where retailers try to push customers online, rather it is more important to just make the omnichannel experience exceptional.
Avoid timed communications. Too often we focus on frequency of communications, when really we should be focused on tailoring the offer for the customer’s needs. There are billions of conversations between brands and consumers on an annual basis (CRM, Social Media, Interactions), but very few of them are truly engaging.

3. Kevin Moffit, Chief Retail Officer at Office Depot, stated that they have to go beyond being just an office supplies retailer by becoming a place that serves to inform and educate their small business clients to help them succeed. Furthermore, he emphasized that organizational change shouldn’t (and in their case doesn’t) come just from the top. Rather, the change must come from the front-line employees and the rest of the team as a whole.

4. Finally, Steve Knopik, Chairman & CEO at Beall’s Inc., had one of the most insightful statements regarding the Death of Retail; “While stores and retailers are facing some fundamental challenges, no industry has seen more disruption in the past 50-75 years, yet retail is still alive.”

Overall, it was a great week of insights from significant thought leaders in the industry. We’d like to thank University of Florida Warrington College of Business for a great event and we hope to see you at Retail Smarter next year!

Blog Posts

Omnichannel Revolution Requires New Marketing Measurement

April 4, 2019

Sam Richardson

The new solutions that help marketers thrive

Marketing measurement and analytics needs a new playbook. Learn how understanding the new omnichannel Path to Purchase and a revamped Marketing Mix Modeling strategy can tee up your organization for success in today’s omnichannel environment. Enjoy the following sections:

– Looking beyond traditional methods and metrics to map a better understanding of the shopper journey

– A shopper-centric approach to understanding the omnichannel Path to Purchase

– A better understanding of Marketing Mix Modeling, which has had a breakthrough of improvements powered by advances in technology and data integrations

Download here

Blog Posts

When Season Ticket Holders Don’t Renew

April 2, 2019

Sam Richardson

Getting repeat customers is the holy grail of most businesses, and what’s better for that than a sports fan and season ticket holder? Fan loyalty is huge, and for many franchises tickets are hard to come by. In some cases, families pass them down from generation to generation. So when fans stop renewing it suggests something is going seriously wrong.

What does it take to drive these people away? Losing games isn’t usually enough. In fact, some of the worst-performing teams have some of the most loyal fans. For these folks a game is more than a game – it’s a social event, it’s a part of who they are. Most realize that teams will have their ups and downs and they’re willing to tolerate that, even when there’s more downs than ups.

But there are other aspects to the fan experience besides on-field performance, and they can alienate even the most loyal of customers. For management, the question is: how do you identify these issues? How do you know what’s motivating your fans? What circumstance or combination of circumstances finally drove them away? Answer: you have to measure it.

Fan Experience (FX) is the new battleground

The reality is that Fan Experience (FX) is the new battleground in sport. Every sports organization needs actionable Fan Intelligence to compete and to maintain and build loyalty. Questions management needs to ask (and answer) include: what are fans saying online and in the stadium? How does that correlate with ticket purchasing? With stadium behaviors? What are they saying about the food, the concession stand lines, the cost of tickets? And these need to be answered in as close to “real time” as possible.

Today’s CX technology allows sports teams to track fan reactions and the path to purchase across multiple channels and to correlate the data with business outcomes. It provides tools for understanding what works and what doesn’t and for quickly moving that information to the place in the organization where it can have the greatest impact. It has an Artificial Intelligence capability incorporating predictive behavior analysis to anticipate future fan needs. All of this reflects a simple principle: loyalty is built when management responds to customer issues – whether that’s at a department store or on the soccer pitch.

CX program gives better understanding

And this doesn’t just apply to season tickets. Sponsors are looking for better ways to measure their investments in on-field, broadcast and online advertising. They want to know the ‘true’ value – in dollars – of their sponsorship. They want to know how the fans react, and they want to see the numbers. A CX program can provide the framework essential to this understanding.

One recent example illustrates the point. Nepa was brought in by a sports franchise for purposes of sponsorship validation. We used multi-channel research (social media, TV, digital) along with traditional surveying to analyze and measure the impact of sponsorship on fan buying behavior. In this instance we found that the franchise was charging just $100,000 for a sponsorship that was delivering value worth more than $500,000. A lot of money was being left on the table.

In another instance, our Sports Optimizer platform gave a franchise the ability to directly connect with its supporters and gather feedback from thousands of regular fans and high value season ticket holders. Through this, we identified new ways for sponsors to interact with fans inside and outside of the stadium. And with real time analysis throughout the season, the team’s business management team could track progress after each home game. The result was a $1.3M increase in sponsorship value and an 18% boost in season ticket renewals.

In the past, teams mostly measured in-game exposure to signage and TV viewership and called it a day. But now the competitive stakes have been raised. For many franchises, it’s time to re-think the fan engagement process. A good way to get started is to establish a benchmark from which to measure progress for your organization in all areas including fan experience, retail and hospitality optimization, and sponsorship valuation. This can help identify problem areas and open the door to actionable and revenue-drive solutions.

Blog Posts

Empower Employees Win Customers

March 20, 2019

Sam Richardson

Win in the Age of the Customer with Empowered Employees

Learn how measurement and analytics can lead a winning customer strategy by empowering employees with the information that matters most to meeting customer needs. Enjoy the following sections:

– Introduction from Jan Carlzon, former SAS CEO and visionary customer-centric management author

– Exclusive perspective from Forrester CX analysts about CX competencies in the “Age of the Customer”

– How to scope your CX measurement program to drive change in the business

– Practical tips to prioritize the CX actions that drive satisfaction and growth

– How to bring a CX strategy to life by empowering employees to meet customers needs.

Download here

Blog Posts

Does Your Sports Strategy Rely Too Much on GameDay Tactics?

March 15, 2019

Sam Richardson

“Strategy without tactics is the slowest route to victory.

Tactics without strategy is the noise before defeat.”

Sun Tzu, Art of War

Since starting with Nepa Global Sports, I’ve been fortunate to attend many great professional sports conferences and seminars around the country. I’ve met great leaders, representing the best-known professional sports leagues and teams in the world, and had the pleasure of engaging with some really smart, cool and talented folks.

Sports is fun but it’s a business too, and leagues and teams are like everybody else trying to come to grips with rapidly changing business demands and consumer needs. So, whether it’s trying to accurately evaluate the value of their sponsorships, monetize social media, engage more fully with their sponsors or better understand their fan bases there’s a need to know more.

Sports business professionals get it. They understand that they need to know what motivates their fans in order to guide the strategic direction and to bring value to their partners, but they have got to put in the time, effort and most importantly, the resources needed to capture this critical information and drive consumer insight.

This may be due to the seasonal nature of sports; all too often, short-term tactical needs seem to take the priority over longer-term objectives. In baseball you would call that an error.

How many sports marketers look at their budgets based on long-term and short-term objectives? Consider: what resources have you put aside for development, research, insight and understanding, and how much of that is being directed at tactics such as digital advertising or social media? To be really successful you have to measure, and not just once every five years, but constantly and in real time.

It’s all very well finding new fans to come through the turnstiles, but if you don’t know who they are or what your offer means to them, that turnstile effectively becomes a revolving door, churning revenues that have to be constantly replaced.

The sports success franchise that is riding high on the back of a winning streak and great attendance today is a potential headache tomorrow if the team’s management isn’t working to uncover how it can continue to get better by understanding and serving its customers.

In order to be successful over time, it’s estimated that marketers should be investing at least 60% of their resources in long-term brand building, with the remainder in short-term sales activation to achieve the best returns on their marketing investment.

I would guess that most sports marketing teams are probably putting less than 20% of their budgets aside for long-term strategy while fighting the weekly fires of life in seasonal sports by throwing the rest of the budget at short-term tactics.

A recent study from McKinsey on short-term vs long-term resourcing in business, reported the following:

“Among the firms we identified as focused on the long term, average revenue and earnings growth were 47 percent and 36 percent higher, respectively, … Companies that were managed for the long-term added nearly 12,000 more jobs on average than their peers from 2001 to 2015.”

Too many sports business professionals rely on on-field performance or worse still, their instinct or what they have done in the past, to gauge what their fans are thinking and feeling.

“Winning cures everything,” is the mantra. And it’s true, but only in the short term.

Sponsors have a different approach – they’re now looking for better ways to measure investment by analyzing specific KPIs, and they want to know the ‘true’ value – in dollars – of their sponsorship.

So how do you continue to grow your brands, provide value to partners and guard against complacency? The answer is surprisingly simple. Do the research!

Longer term sports organizations need to identify and optimize their fans’ path to purchase. And they also need to provide sponsors with a true valuation of what their sponsorship is worth in the eyes of consumers.

Fan Experience (FX) is the new battleground in sport and every sports organization needs actionable Fan Intelligence to compete. If you’re curious about how your organization’s fan experience measurement stacks up and how to take it to the next level, I’d love to talk with you.

We can start with a simple assessment. It just takes a few minutes and you’ll receive an immediate analysis and a free copy of Nepa Sports “Cultivating FX measurement” eBook, based on decades of experience working with teams at all stages of maturity.

Blog Posts

Tackling Your 2019 Marketing KPIs With a Unified Approach

March 7, 2019

Sam Richardson

**“How do you really feel about me?”**

It’s an awkward question in a relationship. It’s also a difficult one for most brands to answer, but it can be key to a successful campaign. The problem is most brands don’t even bother to ask. Research has shown that as much as 95% of purchasing decisions are made based on fast, intuitive thinking as opposed to a slower, rationale process. In other words, emotion.

Emotion provides a pathway to activation. Recognizing this, market leaders are starting to move some resources in the direction of the upper funnel, e.g. brand building. This acknowledges that increasing marketing efficiency isn’t just about activation and sales; it’s about understanding and measuring brand and brand impact on ROI across channels. It’s about establishing an emotional beachhead in the consumer’s mind early in the decision-making process. Missing that window can mean missing the sale and, just as important, forgoing the chance to start a long-term relationship.

We live in an omnichannel world where customers search for product information and make buying decisions when and wherever it suits them. Tracking the path to purchase provides insight on key inflection points but it doesn’t always go to the emotional core of the decision-making process. In spite of this, advertisers continue to invest more in activation focused communication than in building brands. One major reason: technology makes it increasingly possible to optimize and follow-up the short-term effects of communication.

An omnichannel perspective is key

Understanding activation is great, but it’s not enough. Differentiating your brand from the competition and creating the kind of unique and compelling experience that drives customer loyalty and sales requires building an emotional connection, too. To achieve this, you have to adopt an omnichannel perspective, measuring brand performance across all media. And you need to bring a similar view to measuring KPIs, seeing them in context, using data and analysis to understand not just what the consumer does but why.

If consumers walked a completely logical path to purchase, there would be no need to analyze the emotions that define the upper funnel (consideration for purchase). But they don’t, and there is. If you’re not asking (and answering), how do you really feel about me, you’re missing an opportunity to build brand and boost ROI.

Blog Posts

3 Key Takeaways from The National Grocers Association Show 2019

March 4, 2019

Sam Richardson

As someone who has worked in the customer experience space for over 20 years, across multiple industries, I was happy to bring it back home to my earlier days by attending this year’s NGA Show in San Diego. Right away it was easy to see what a great representation this year’s conference was in showcasing the growing number of resources available to independent grocers – who are competing in today’s technology driven world. As I reflect on the providers and exhibitors, I’m left with dozens of takeaways, however below I havsae prioritized on my top three:

1. Mobile Mania & Omnichannel Omnipresence

It’s really no surprise that mobile accessibility is key to winning and keeping customers. From independents up to the largest chains, many shoppers are using a mobile device to research grocery purchases, build shopping lists and pay. And today, price comparison only accounts for a small part of that research. Keeping things like ingredients and brand reputations in mind, this means grocers will need to have a seamless experience at all levels: online, mobile app and in-store.

It’s no longer enough for CPG brands to understand the omnichannel path-to-purchase, but retailers also need to step up their game. Pay by mobile is increasingly an expectation, and if a retailer doesn’t already accept mobile payment, they are behind. It was Steve Bishop who said it best in his presentation, “Independent retailers need to consider how to make it seamless for shoppers to move between online and in-store.”

2. Marketing (R)Evolution

Creative marketing can be a real win for local grocery retailers – whether an independent or large chain. While traditional mailers and circulars are still a key aspect of the advertising push, the drawing power of a low-cost YouTube video can really maximize returns in marketing. It doesn’t have to be Academy Award winning. It can be about your stores’ core beliefs or even footage from a service event. At the end of the day, it just has to be authentic and show your customers the respect you have for them.

3. Experience Maximization

Brick and mortar store locations can meet future shopper expectations by taking advantage of readily available technology and continuously working to improve the overall experience. Advances in mobile technology are available to help shoppers find the right aisle, pick the right product and even market to them while in store.

Smart home devices will start to roll out into grocery stores to provide that same type of assistance and, eventually, work between store and home (“Alexa – can you tell me how many rolls of paper towels I have left?”). Despite the emphasis on technology, the in-store experience will continue to be significant. No matter your store size, it will be essential to evaluate and measure customer experience and more importantly, further enhance it with actions that drive profitability. Not everyone can afford a data scientist, but everyone will need to be able to respond to data.

It is not by mistake that I have mentioned technology numerous times. Over the past few days I met with at least a dozen “data aggregators”– everything from basket data, to SKU analysis to inventory. Almost every retailer I spoke with talked about the changes from just two years ago when all focus was on product variety and traditional marketing.

Today, experts in the industry have recognized that gathering data is essential for the future success of a business. I would take it a step further to suggest that it is essential for the future success of a business to know how to take action on that data. Having a dedicated function at every location isn’t always possible. However, having a road map to achieve and partners that support you in that effort will always help you win with your customers. As the grocery industry continues to go through massive change, a huge opportunity exists for retailers that use data to deliver omnichannel experiences that meet their customers changing needs.

Blog Posts

Former SAS CEO, on Empowered Employees and Customer-Centric Growth

February 21, 2019

Sam Richardson

My philosophy is that every department has one objective: develop customer satisfaction by meeting customer needs. Everything else – operations, marketing, finance – should be organized around this principle.

For most companies, this is easy to say but hard to achieve. Most are not organized around a single objective. Departments are siloed, information is unevenly shared, compensation structures aren’t always aligned with the overall mission. When I became president and CEO of SAS airlines in 1980, our reputation among the flying public was less than stellar and our finances were under pressure. We were known for often being late, a form of disrespect for our flyers. Our organization was highly centralized, making it hard for front-line employees to respond quickly to our customers. We were losing money.

This had to change if we were going to survive. To focus the organization on what mattered most, I communicated a very tight brief for the company: win the frequent business customer. To achieve this, we set the goal of being the best in customer satisfaction. We told all our employees, “We used to fly airplanes and we did that damn well, now we have to learn how to fly people.” To be the best, everyone needed to understand that the only value any organization has is a satisfied customer.

But words are just words. Empowering employees is how a customer-centric strategy comes to life. An individual without information cannot take responsibility; an individual who is given information cannot help but take responsibility. But to make this work, you can’t just give employees the power to act and step away. You have to measure the success of the program you design and use the data to provide honest feedback and ways to improve. One principle we applied across the organization: it’s preferable to be one percent better in 100 details than 100 percent better in one detail.

This search for improvement led us to focus more closely on the business traveler and to institute a program that empowered customer-facing employees to make decisions on the spot. We improved our on-time performance, becoming the most punctual airline in Europe. Most importantly, within one year, we turned a profit thanks to the hard work of all our team members.

What we were addressing then is now known as the “customer experience (CX)” and many organizations are moving to put this at the center of their mission. In today’s world, the way businesses talk to customers has changed – things have gone digital – but the principles still apply. Done properly, the application of these new CX techniques can significantly enhance customer interaction by providing a better understanding of customer needs and higher levels of personalization.

I left SAS in 1993 but have remained committed to the customer experience message. I love it when I see it properly done. Zappos proving their customer-centric strategy by encouraging customer service staff to spend MORE time talking to customers on the phone is an inspiring example.

Another example is Nepa, which is leading the way in delivering research insights into what matters most for customers. Nepa’s alignment with my management philosophy led me to invest in the company and join the Board of Directors last year.

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A word about Jan Carlzon

Carlzon served as CEO of SAS Airlines from 1981 to 1994. He is the author of Moments of Truth, a look at the 15 seconds of employee interaction that define how a customer sees a company. The book has been translated into 22 languages and has been a global bestseller for 34 years.

Blog Posts

5 Key Takeaways – National Sports Forum 2019

February 19, 2019

Sam Richardson

I recently attended my first National Sports Forum in Las Vegas and, Wow – what an event for the sports business enthusiast! It’s a big show and I was fortunate to have a veteran tour guide, Steve Livingstone, Head of Nepa Global Sports. As Steve and I reflected on the seminars and conversations, here are 5 things that stood out most:

1. Clubs ‘Engagement’ Focus Risks Fan Experience

Sports business leaders are enthusiastic about “fan engagement.” Many teams and their partners were discussing ways to involve the fan in more aspects of the game. It struck us how few were talking to fans about their view of the “experience.”

Since Valentine’s Day just passed, I’ll use a dating example to demonstrate experience vs. engagement. A husband goes all out for a date night: flowers, car service, dinner, theater, etc. He spends hours in planning and several hundred dollars on the evening. However, what she really wanted was the two hours of just the two of them together. In the end, it was all great and very appreciated, but if he had just asked, he would have known that a nice quiet dinner would’ve been enough. And saved some time, effort and money in the process. And remember, those expectations are now higher for next year. Think of your fans in the same way – take some time just to ask what they want directly.

2. Maximize Sponsorships by Understanding Affinity

Not surprisingly, the topic of maximizing sponsorship came up often at NSF. Taking that all in, sponsorship value is at its best when fans’ passions intersect with sponsor’s offers. That doesn’t mean 100% engagement with every sponsor, but those partnerships should relate based on the fans’ demographics, interests and buying behaviors. If that’s the case, it will be a mutually rewarding proposition for the fan, the team and the sponsors. You shouldn’t leave one party out of that mix, or all three suffer. If the sponsors don’t experience an uplift of the sales from fans, they won’t renew – leading to lost revenue that impacts what the club can do for the fans.

Teams can avoid this trap with strong measurement – not just in sales or attendance, but also a measurable affinity. Again, talk to your fans and establish KPIs that will help you evaluate the success of sponsorships, including those that can be tied directly to valuation.

3. Drowning in Data

Teams are getting more data, but doing relatively less with it. Market data, fan data, attendance data, merchandise & concessions data – I saw an NSF presentation about data that corresponds to movements within the stadium to evaluate concessionaires and seating in sections. With all this data, teams are often left with generic takeaways from a single source of data. It is understandable that most teams don’t employ a full-time data scientist, but it’s also important that they understand where data should be merged, where there are gaps and how that data can benefit the entire organization.

4. Play as a Team

Even in a small environment, teams seemingly operate separately from one another. You can find the best example of this when speaking with two members of the same team in different departments. While speaking with them on current projects, one brought up specifics in their marketing initiatives, which prompted the other to respond, “I wish I had known that earlier, we could have used that information in selling tickets.” Even in smaller offices, teamwork sometimes is overshadowed – not necessarily maliciously, but often as a result of everyone trying to focus on their own job. It may require someone taking the initiative, but your fan engagement, fan experience, ticket sales, events and sponsorships can – and should – all be working together.

5. You Can’t Please Everyone

Recognize that you can never please 100% of the people 100% of the time. That even goes for everything above – don’t expect a one-size-fits-all approach. I’ll summarize this idea in one of the most memorable session takeaways, when Las Vegas Aviators VP Chuck Johnson said there will always be CAVE people. What are CAVE people? They are “Citizens Against Virtually Everything.” That sums it up quite well.

I’m sure many of you walked away with some great takeaways. For me, an overarching theme was – the time is now. Sports will continue to evolve, fans will continue to evolve and their business together will continue to evolve. I heard several times that front offices can no longer afford to wait, things are moving far too fast. Measure now, analyze now, evaluate now and win as a team now. I’m looking forward to NSF ’20, where I’m sure we’ll hear teams talking more about “Fan Experience.”

Blog Posts

3 Signs Your DIY CX Measurement is Weakening Your CX Strategy

February 13, 2019

Sam Richardson

Developing a customer experience strategy is easier said than done. It’s a process that needs to be built on a strong foundation, and your measurement will continuously guide the broader CX strategy. As companies grow and evolve, resources are needed to evaluate current performance and chart the path ahead. Dedication, accuracy and clear KPIs that are aligned with overall business goals all play an important role in building your success and supporting long term goals.

Companies that overstay their time on a DIY CX Measurement program risk losing ground to competitors and create operational inefficiencies internally.

Here are three benefits that many companies experience when upgrading to professional CX measurement.

1. You need to focus on what matters most

You know your business inside and out. But are you looking at the bigger picture? Or are you focused on the right metrics? It’s one thing to be an expert on you, but when it comes to developing a strategy for your customer experience, you need to be an expert on them. Understanding your industry benchmarks, advancements, setbacks and overall target customer behavior is key.

Choosing the right CX partner with a flexible model will provide an outside-in perspective on your most relevant focus areas. Having a CX expert in your court will allow you to configure the technology to your needs and ultimately streamline your efforts understand your customers by asking the right questions at the right time.

2. Get full value from your CX data

Disparate tools and insights may give you the basic information you need, but advanced technology, data science, and industry expertise provides the holistic view of your customer base that unlocks growth.

Your CX program should be producing continuous feedback to align with the other sources of data in the business. If these areas are not in sync, you run the risk of only analyzing a piece of the puzzle. Advanced machine learning techniques combined with industry knowledge prioritize which actions will produce bottom line results.

3. Start leveraging your measurements to direct strategy

When it comes to CX, most organizations attack the symptom, not the cause. The symptom could be an upset customer because your company did not accept their credit card of choice. However, more importantly, the cause could be a lack of overall payment options. Many organizations focus on short term goals and how to quickly and efficiently address a customer’s issue. While perfecting the response to a bad experience is important, it’s just as important to identify common issues and put plans in place that prevent these bad experiences.

Businesses with a successful CX program have mastered the art of identifying and meeting customer needs while at the same time, delivering results. CX Measurement is a critical piece of a CX Strategy that professional CX technology and services can help you master – so that you can fail fast and identify opportunities to adapt to win customer loyalty in the long run.