For Customer Experience Professionals

How Chief Customer Experience Officers Gain Active Executive Support

by Megan Burns, October 23, 2009

To be successful, chief customer experience officers (CC/EOs) need a coalition of top executives who take an active role in transforming the organization. While most executives support the idea of customer-centricity, many fail to act because they don't . . .

For Customer Experience Professionals

Firms Struggle To Measure Customer Experience Across Channels

Technical And Organizational Silos Hinder Cross-Channel Tracking

by Megan Burns, September 22, 2009

Forrester recently surveyed decision-makers at 41 companies and found that their primary challenges when it comes to customer experience measurement relate to tracking experiences across channels. Several factors contribute to this problem, including . . .

For Customer Experience Professionals

Estimate The ROI Of A Better Online Customer Experience In Six Steps

by Megan Burns, August 27, 2009

Proving the business value of a better online experience is a top priority for Web customer experience leaders. To help, we've identified a six-step process that lets even financial novices model the ROI for Web customer experience projects: 1) document . . .

For Customer Experience Professionals

Five Mistakes To Avoid When Asking For Web Customer Experience Funding

by Megan Burns, July 23, 2009

The economic forecast for the 2010 budget cycle: tense. As Web customer experience professionals develop their budget requests for next year, they should take care to avoid five common but costly mistakes: 1) letting people think the current site is "good . . .

For Customer Experience Professionals

Five Ways To Turn Business Case Presentations From Boring Into "Wow!"

It's Not Just What You Say, It's Also How You Say It

by Megan Burns, May 1, 2009

With competition for funding tighter than ever, lack of budget is a major roadblock to many customer experience improvements in 2009. Customer experience professionals need to make their business cases stand out from the crowd. This means crafting a compelling . . .

For Customer Experience Professionals

Customer Experience Budgets Weather The Storm In 2009

Firms Will Grow Customer Experience Spending Despite Tough Economic Times

by Megan Burns, March 17, 2009

A recent survey of Forrester's Customer Experience Peer Research Panel shows that while most firms will keep spending flat, many still plan to grow spending in key budget categories like Web design, measurement technology, and persona development despite . . .

For Customer Experience Professionals

Make The Most Of Web Site Satisfaction Surveys

Go Beyond Measurement To Modeling And Diagnosis

by Megan Burns, March 17, 2009

Customer satisfaction surveys are popular, but overall satisfaction scores don't produce actionable insights. Firms need detailed data on specific factors that influence visitors' overall perception of a site like content, navigation, and search. They . . .

For Customer Experience Professionals

Customer Experience Predictions For 2009

Five Things Every Customer Experience Professional Should Think About

by Megan Burns, January 26, 2009

The definition of what makes a "great" customer experience is constantly changing. To help firms keep up, Forrester identified five things that we expect to influence the definition of customer experience excellence in 2009 and beyond: Experience-Based . . .

For Customer Experience Professionals

Map User Goals To Business Objectives

Focus On The Right Customer Goals To Drive Business Success

by Megan Burns, December 18, 2008

Customer experience professionals spend much of their time thinking about how to help users accomplish their goals online. But it's equally important for them to think about how user success or failure affects business success. Why? Because doing so allows . . .

For Customer Experience Professionals

Need To Cut Costs? Improve The Web Site Experience

by Megan Burns, December 1, 2008

When the economy is in trouble, most executives start looking for ways to cut costs from their budgets. Customer experience professionals should take advantage of this situation and promote improving Web usability as a key way to eliminate unnecessary . . .

For Marketing Leadership Professionals

Q&A: Five Web Analytics Answers Direct Marketers Must Know

by Megan Burns, Suresh Vittal, October 14, 2008

Web analytics data is one of the few pieces of customer data that direct marketers have not yet integrated into their customer databases. This is a missed opportunity for most direct marketers: Web analytics data helps marketers deepen their understanding . . .

For Customer Experience Professionals

How Much Will Your Web Site Metrics Improve?

by Megan Burns, October 10, 2008

To help customer experience professionals estimate how far their Web site metrics are likely to move as a result of improvements in the customer experience, we aggregated data on the impact of more than 80 site improvement projects. Our research shows . . .

For Customer Experience Professionals

Fixing Known Usability Problems Pays Off

by Megan Burns, October 10, 2008

Web site design case studies, articles, and consulting projects provide irrefutable evidence that companies that fix known usability problems — like those in Forrester's Web Site Review methodology — see a boost in site success metrics. Customer experience . . .

For Customer Experience Professionals

Bulletproof Your Business Case For Improving Customer Experience

by Megan Burns, August 18, 2008

To help customer experience professionals deliver compelling business cases, Forrester has created the Business Case Review Checklist For Customer Experience Professionals. This checklist should be used by business case authors to validate that their . . .

For Customer Experience Professionals

The Business Case Self-Test

by Megan Burns, June 17, 2008

When seeking budget to improve the Web site customer experience, the most effective business cases appeal to executives on three levels: authority, logic, and emotion. To gauge how well firms are positioned to leverage each of these approaches to persuasion, . . .

For Customer Experience Professionals

How To Get Funding For Web Site Improvements

by Megan Burns, June 17, 2008

Companies are waking up to the importance of the online customer experience. Unfortunately, a lack of funding makes it difficult for many customer experience professionals to improve their company's Web site. To help firms get the funding they need, we . . .

For Customer Experience Professionals

Top Decision Criteria For Execs Who Approve Web Customer Experience Budgets

by Megan Burns, June 4, 2008

Who controls the checkbook for Web site improvements, and what those people think about when making funding decisions? To find out, we asked practitioners at leading firms. Our analysis of their answers shows that Web customer experience budgets are controlled . . .

For Customer Experience Professionals

Required Registration Lowers Online Conversion Rates

by Megan Burns, April 15, 2008

To understand the impact of required registration on conversion rates, Forrester asked US online shoppers what they did last time they were required to register before making a purchase online. The survey revealed that almost one-quarter leave the site . . .

For Customer Experience Professionals

Three Steps To Better Web Site Performance Metrics

by Megan Burns, March 11, 2008

We interviewed measurement specialists at leading companies and interactive agencies to determine how they select the right Web site performance metrics. Through our analysis of their responses, we identified a three-step process for defining key performance . . .

For Customer Experience Professionals

Customer Experience Spending Intensifies In 2008

by Megan Burns, February 26, 2008

To understand their 2008 priorities, Forrester surveyed customer-experience decision-makers at large North American firms. Most plan to boost spending on customer experience in 2008, with measurement tools like Web analytics and customer satisfaction . . .

For Customer Experience Professionals

The Design Guide For Online Customer Reviews

Six Principles For Maximizing The Value Of Customer Reviews

by Megan Burns, January 18, 2008

Online customer reviews are a trusted source of product information for consumers — and therefore a potentially valuable sales asset. But many sites do not implement these tools effectively. To get the most from online reviews, Forrester recommends that . . .

For Customer Experience Professionals

Where To Get Help With Web Analytics

Web Analytics Professional Services Firms Are Small But Experienced

by Megan Burns, December 5, 2007

Our survey of vendor-neutral Web analytics consultants uncovered 91 firms across North America, Europe, and Asia-Pacific. The market is dominated by small firms that average fewer than five full-time consultants. However, these vendors are fairly experienced, . . .

For Customer Experience Professionals

ClickTracks Offers Data Visualization And Basic Analysis At A Low Price

The Forrester Wave™ Vendor Summary, Q3 2007

by Megan Burns, September 11, 2007

ClickTracks is a small Web analytics vendor that offers basic reporting, strong data visualizations, and some analysis tools — especially visitor segmentation — at a low price. The platform isn't nearly as powerful as those of some of the market Leaders, . . .

For Customer Experience Professionals

Unica Makes A Strong Entry Into The Web Analytics Race

The Forrester Wave™ Vendor Summary, Q3 2007

by Megan Burns, September 11, 2007

Unica entered the Web analytics market with its purchase of Sane Solutions in March 2006. The move is part of the company's plan to build an Online Marketing Management platform as a complement to its existing Enterprise Marketing Management (EMM) suite. . . .

For Customer Experience Professionals

WebTrends Sets The Standard For Measuring Visitor Engagement

The Forrester Wave™ Vendor Summary, Q3 2007

by Megan Burns, September 11, 2007

WebTrends offers a robust analytics platform that is highly customizable and a good fit for large enterprises that have the resources to understand and use the technology to its full potential. As one of only three leaders in our evaluation to offer licensed . . .