CCO is ‘next big thing’ in marketing
~ SPSS research reveals the growing importance of chief customer officer (CCO) ~
More than two-thirds of marketers believe that their organisation needs a Chief Customer Officer (CCO), and more than half have already filled the position, according to new research.
SPSS, an IBM Company and the leading global provider of predictive analytics software and solutions, discovered the increasing importance of the CCO in a study of 100 marketing professionals conducted by Vanson Bourne to uncover the priorities driving marketing decisions.
The majority of those questioned said that they understand the value a CCO delivers to an organisation (66 per cent), and 39 per cent believe that the CCO should be based within the marketing department – with a quarter even stating that the CCO should be at board level. The research also suggests/highlights that customer service is viewed as the CCO’s priority objective over others such as customer retention and acquisition.
Interestingly, more than a quarter of responses from marketers in businesses with up to 1,000 employees (27 per cent) said they are planning to recruit a CCO within the next year. In contrast, only 12 per cent of large organisations (with over 3,000 employees) expect to fill the position in the next 12 months.
Colin Shearer, senior vice-president of strategic analytics at SPSS said: “Although attracting, retaining and growing customers are the key priorities for marketers, they see the recruitment of a CCO, with a customer service oriented role, as a natural next step to heighten the organisation’s customer strategy. Our research shows that marketers in larger organisations understand the importance of a CCO but are slower to recruit one.”
He added, “By definition a CCO offers in-depth customer insight to drive customer strategy that feeds the rest of the business. With direct ROI being a key focus point for organisations in today’s challenging economy, it is possible that a CCO may be seen as an unnecessary expense currently. While financial accountability is important, customer service and retention are increasingly vital in delivering return on investment and preparing to be ahead of the game for the imminent recovery.”
(318 words)
NOTES TO EDITORS
About SPSS, an IBM Company (http://www.spss.com)
SPSS, an IBM Company, is a leading global provider of predictive analytics software and solutions. The Company’s complete portfolio of products – data collection, statistics, modeling and deployment – captures people’s attitudes and opinions, predicts outcomes of future customer interactions, and then acts on these insights by embedding analytics into business processes. SPSS Solutions address interconnected business objectives across an entire organisation by focusing on the convergence of analytics, IT architecture and business process. Commercial, government and academic customers worldwide rely on SPSS technology as a competitive advantage in attracting, retaining and growing customers, while reducing fraud and mitigating risk. SPSS was acquired by IBM in October 2009. For more information, please visit www.spss.com <http://www.spss.com/> .
SPSS, an IBM Company and the leading global provider of predictive analytics software and solutions, discovered the increasing importance of the CCO in a study of 100 marketing professionals conducted by Vanson Bourne to uncover the priorities driving marketing decisions.
The majority of those questioned said that they understand the value a CCO delivers to an organisation (66 per cent), and 39 per cent believe that the CCO should be based within the marketing department – with a quarter even stating that the CCO should be at board level. The research also suggests/highlights that customer service is viewed as the CCO’s priority objective over others such as customer retention and acquisition.
Interestingly, more than a quarter of responses from marketers in businesses with up to 1,000 employees (27 per cent) said they are planning to recruit a CCO within the next year. In contrast, only 12 per cent of large organisations (with over 3,000 employees) expect to fill the position in the next 12 months.
Colin Shearer, senior vice-president of strategic analytics at SPSS said: “Although attracting, retaining and growing customers are the key priorities for marketers, they see the recruitment of a CCO, with a customer service oriented role, as a natural next step to heighten the organisation’s customer strategy. Our research shows that marketers in larger organisations understand the importance of a CCO but are slower to recruit one.”
He added, “By definition a CCO offers in-depth customer insight to drive customer strategy that feeds the rest of the business. With direct ROI being a key focus point for organisations in today’s challenging economy, it is possible that a CCO may be seen as an unnecessary expense currently. While financial accountability is important, customer service and retention are increasingly vital in delivering return on investment and preparing to be ahead of the game for the imminent recovery.”
(318 words)
NOTES TO EDITORS
About SPSS, an IBM Company (http://www.spss.com)
SPSS, an IBM Company, is a leading global provider of predictive analytics software and solutions. The Company’s complete portfolio of products – data collection, statistics, modeling and deployment – captures people’s attitudes and opinions, predicts outcomes of future customer interactions, and then acts on these insights by embedding analytics into business processes. SPSS Solutions address interconnected business objectives across an entire organisation by focusing on the convergence of analytics, IT architecture and business process. Commercial, government and academic customers worldwide rely on SPSS technology as a competitive advantage in attracting, retaining and growing customers, while reducing fraud and mitigating risk. SPSS was acquired by IBM in October 2009. For more information, please visit www.spss.com <http://www.spss.com/> .
