Customer strategy show: New show spotlights customer care

But according to event organisers CMP, there is room for one more exhibition and it is confident that it has hit upon a winning formula with the launch later this month of the exhibition and conference Customer: Strategy and Management 2005. The event does seem timely, tapping into the preoccupation among organisations of how to effectively manage and integrate their customer contact.

Customer management is getting board-room attention, so it seems fitting that there is an event dedicated to such a critical area of the business.

But interestingly, CMP has deliberately steered away from that much maligned acronym CRM. "There are still connotations around CRM, which we are keen to avoid," says Mark Abay, customer strategy and management event director.

"While CRM software does have a role to play, it is certainly not the silver bullet for effective customer management."

Rather, this new exhibition aims to offer a more holistic approach to managing customers. It will incorporate strategy, services and software solutions, which promise to help companies integrate front-end departments - such as sales, marketing and customer service - with back-end roles including IT, HR and finance. It should appeal to a much broader visitor base.

"You have to break the silo mentality and make different job functions unite in a single, integrated approach to customer management," says Abay.

This philosophy seems to have struck a chord with exhibitors, who will number about 75 over the two-day event, which takes place on 28 to 29 June at Birmingham NEC. Among those will be Oracle, Microsoft, Experian, Sage and Merchants.

Olga Goddard is business development and marketing manager at CRM-solutions provider Softlab. The company is product independent and will be hosting a consultancy clinic at the exhibition, offering free half-hour consultations.

Goddard says: "What appealed to us about the event is that it brings together so many customer-contact components under one roof. Rather than having to attend disparate shows, visitors can solve their problems under one roof, so the decision-making process is speeded up."

Visitors are likely to range from directors or senior management staff responsible for the company's overall customer or prospect relationship programmes, through to those involved in day-to-day activity in different departments. Abay stresses that the event is just as relevant for visitors who are new to CRM as the more experienced players.

He breaks the anticipated visitor profile into three distinct groups - jaded and disillusioned users of customer management solutions who are looking to reinvigorate their strategy; new users who may be smaller companies that are coming to CRM for the first time and experienced users who are looking to take their customer management to the next level.

There is, of course, a risk to launching any new event in an already-crowded and what some would argue is a diminishing market. As a note of warning, the exhibition CRM 2004, organised by Penton, struggled as a stand-alone exhibition and is this year being folded into Internet World.

Dealing with time wasters

Little wonder then that some firms, such as the customer management and online-research company Coad Cole and Bury (CCB), are taking a "wait and see" approach. "We will see how this first exhibition goes before making a decision about exhibiting there in the future," says sales director David Cole. "The drawback of exhibiting at a wide-spectrum event is that a lot of your time is inevitably wasted in dealing with people who merely drift onto the stand with no real interest in or understanding of what you are offering."

Dealing with time-wasters is one of the pitfalls of any exhibition, but CMP has two clear advantages when it comes to this event. First, the company has a strong track record in launching and growing trade shows. Technology for Marketing (TFM) launched in 2001 and quickly grew to 150 exhibitors, while Call Centre Expo launched in 1999 and now has 250 exhibitors.

This was an important factor when marketing-solutions company SmartFocus decided to exhibit at the event. "We have exhibited at TFM since its launch and seen it grow year-on-year, so have faith in CPM's ability to deliver," says marketing director Emma Chablo. "We put about 50 per cent of our annual marketing budget into exhibitions, seminars and events and see them as clear lead generators that can be measured very accurately."

The second advantage is research conducted by CMP last year to ensure that the event meets the needs of the market. An email campaign, which drove recipients to an online survey, was sent to individuals selected from the Call Centre Expo and TFM visitor database as well as pre-registered non-attendees.

In total 192 people completed the survey, with £1 being donated to Sport Relief for every returned questionnaire. The results underlined just how seriously businesses are starting to take effective customer management.

Just under 50 per cent of respondents stated that customer strategy and management was considered important two years ago, compared with 90 per cent who believe it will become important over the next two years. More than 80 per cent of respondents say they would be likely to attend an event focusing on customer strategy and management.

According to Abay, visitor numbers are expected to reach 2,500 and pre-registration figures show that it is on track. For those visitors that do attend, there is an extensive conference programme running alongside the exhibition. Legoland, Norwich Union Insurance, Virgin Money and Orange are among the organisations presenting case-study material, which promises to shed light on how blue-chip companies tackle their customer management.

The conference is divided into three main tracks: strategy and management, people and culture, and technology. Each track is divided into four one-hour sessions a day, with single sessions costing only £49. This flexible programme enables delegates to pick and choose the sessions they want to attend and fit them around their time on the exhibition floor. Running alongside the one-hour sessions will be four half-day master classes, which are pitched as interactive workshops and cost £99.

The conference programme is available at www.customer-event.co.uk/conference. Visitors should also look out for the free keynote sessions by Merlin Stone, IBM professor of relationship marketing at Bristol Business School and Robert Bryant, head of UK CRM practice, Deloitte (see box above).

Back on the exhibition floor, many companies are taking advantage of this exhibition to launch new products. Group 1 Software will be showcasing its e2 suite of products tailored to the web and call centre environment.

The call centre product is already being used by Endsleigh Insurance and enables call centre staff to quickly call up an electronic copy of the customer's statement.

"If the call centre representative can see the latest communication that the customer is calling about then the service they receive is vastly improved," says Andrew Greenyer, director of marketing, EMEA at Group 1.

He adds that the company's electronic storage software also enables financial services companies to satisfy the new FSA regulations. This demands that there is a clear audit trail after every step of the communications process to ensure that products are not mis-sold.

Keeping on the right side of the law is paramount and that is one of the benefits of the latest product from QAS. Intact is an online suppression and enhancement tool, which was first developed by QAS's parent company Experian. The front-end has been adapted for QAS customers, but the functionality remains the same enabling users to upload data onto a secure web portal and check it against the various suppression files. These include the Telephone Preference Service, which companies must legally run their data against before embarking on a telemarketing campaign.

Getting it right is crucial

While the product was launched at this year's IDMF, QAS corporate marketing manager Rebecca Hennessy explains that Customer: Strategy and Management is spot on for the audience it wants to reach.

"Our products should sit at the heart of a customer management programme. We want to help businesses manage their customers better, so the broad perspective of this event is very appealing," says Hennessy.

Whether Customer: Strategy and Management will deliver remains to be seen, but exhibitors certainly seem full of optimism. As for CMP it has a clear growth path in mind, based on its previous experiences. "In year one, we want to start small and pack it with visitors," says Abay. "Then we'll grow it slowly rather than being greedy."

SHOW FACT BOX

What: Customer: Strategy & Management 2005

When: 28 June 2005, 10.00-17.00

29 June 2005, 10.00-16.00

Where: Hall 7, Birmingham NEC

Why: A new exhibition and conference aimed at customer service, sales,

marketing and senior corporate management professionals who want to

identify, acquire, retain and develop profitable customers

Website: www.customer-event.co.uk

CUSTOMER STRATEGY AND MANAGEMENT 2005: SPEAKER'S CORNER

SPEAKER: PROFESSOR MERLIN STONE, professor of relationship marketing, Bristol Business School and business-research leader, Business Consulting Services, IBM

Session: How to develop winning customer management strategies

Time: Tuesday 28 June, 12.30-13.30

Why do some organisations lead the way in how they manage their customers, while others are following or even lagging behind? This is the question Professor Merlin Stone will answer in this free keynote session. Delegates will learn the importance of setting realistic objectives as well as tackling the key challenge of securing senior management commitment to customer management. The ultimate aim is to gain competitive advantage. The session will also include examples of companies that have achieved exactly that.

SPEAKER: ROBERT BRYANT, head of UK CRM Practice, Deloitte

Session: Managing change to create a 21st century customer strategy

Time: Wednesday 29 June, 12.30-13.30pm

Customer retention and growth is climbing higher on the executive agenda, but some companies embarking on change management programmes fail to deliver the expected benefits. This keynote will explore the reasons why this occurs, and more specifically, how managers and executives can enhance their understanding of the broader issues around change management.

Bryant will concentrate on those companies that have shifted their focus to concentrate on building customer loyalty and are now benefiting from a more customer-centric approach.

SPEAKER: TONY MOONEY, partner, ClarityBlue

Session: Customer intelligence - meeting the new marketing challenges of the 21st century Time: 29 June, 16.00-17.00

In this session delegates will hear how Centrica has halved its customer-acquisition costs, while increasing marketing effectiveness and how Orange achieved more than 950 per cent return-on-investment in three years across its marketing activity.

Tony Mooney will talk through the critical factors for building sustainable growth in customer value. Customer intelligence solutions can not only reduce campaign management costs, but increase customer loyalty and maximise results.