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PropositionService model

The right service for every customer

Good service matches what each customer needs. The Next Organization helps you choose the right mix of personal and digital contact for each customer group. You can do this directly or through partners, balancing margin and customer experience.

Sound familiar?

Large and small customers get the same expensive level of service
Your channels have grown over time and overlap
Customers hardly use the customer portal or the webshop
Account managers spend a lot of time on customers who bring in little revenue
Your attention goes to today’s revenue, not to growth potential
Customers get a different answer depending on the channel

What is a channel strategy?

A channel strategy defines how you reach, serve and support your customers. It is one layer of how you serve customers. Your service model is also about how intensive the contact is and which support comes with what you offer.

Three layers of service

You set the three layers differently for each customer group

Layer 1

Customer contact

The question

How intensive is the contact, and what form does it take?
For example
1. Personal
2. Hybrid
3. Fully online
High value and complex Simple, high volume
Layer 2

Service model

The question

What support comes with the product?
For example
- Advice
- Maintenance
- Support
- Repair
Layer 3

Channels

The question

Which route do you use to deliver contact and service?
For example
Your organisation
- Direct
- Through partners
- Through a platform
Customer

Customers with complex questions benefit from personal contact, customers with simple questions from fast online service. Choose the mix based on potential, not just on current revenue.

The more channels you have, the more you need one shared foundation, so the customer gets the same answer everywhere. Serving customers through partners? The Network Business Model Canvas helps.

What you get

You get a service model for each customer group and each stage of the customer relationship. Every channel has a clear role, so channels do not compete with each other. A few metrics let you manage margin, scalability and customer experience.

Frequently asked questions

Should you sell directly or indirectly?

That depends on the target group and what you offer. Selling directly gives you control over the customer relationship; selling indirectly through partners or platforms gives you reach. Often you choose a combination, with clear agreements on who serves which customer.

What is omnichannel?

With omnichannel, all channels work together around a single view of the customer. The customer can then switch effortlessly between, say, the website, the phone and their account manager. With multichannel, the channels sit side by side as separate islands.

What is the difference between account management and key account management?

In account management, a dedicated contact looks after a group of customers. Key account management focuses on a small number of customers with high strategic value. Each of those customers gets its own plan, often with a team around that customer.

How do you know if your service is too expensive?

For each customer group, set the cost of contact and service against the margin. If serving the group costs more than it brings in, the model does not fit. Then look at which part of the contact could be digital.

Do you serve customers based on revenue or on potential?

On potential. A customer with high revenue and little growth mainly needs good service. A customer with small revenue and plenty of room to grow deserves more personal attention.