5 Ways COOs and CMOs can Effectively Work Together

The digital revolution of the 21st century is reshaping customer relationship with banking. People of all ages can now have 24/7 access to their financial data; the internet-born generation expects new services to assist in their user journey. With this in mind, CMOs need to focus on customer experience when making decisions and collaborating with COOs to manage operations and execute projects. In the banking industry, it is crucial to ease the pain points when coordinating the infrastructure, technology, and messaging. COOs and CMOs need to find a way to work together seamlessly.

1. Create a shared vocabulary and define the metrics

When COO and CMO work together, they have to set up a shared data system that meets metrics and key performance indicators (KPI). Both teams should speak the same language to communicate far more clearly and efficiently and deliver outstanding performances. To avoid taking the wrong track, focus on creating customer-oriented journey KPIs, such as lifetime margin. On the operations side, instead of focusing on how fast the call centre can deal with customer issues, metrics should instead focus on how thriving the call centre is at reducing follow-up calls or how successfully it separates the root causes of customer complaints.

2. Create a structure for collaboration

It’s a whole new way of doing things when moving towards a more collaborative approach. First, the CMO and COO can begin by setting up calls or onboarding processes regularly. They can also allow other departments to join in some operations where their involvement is unnecessary before. They can also actively engage others in processes that they used to have very little involvement with. In the banking industry, CMOs can let COOs participate in marketing planning to ensure the operation aligns with marketing campaigns. That action could bring excellent customer service for the company. Creating joint accountability and encouragement to reward collaboration is also a recommendation.

3. Enhance the customer journey

Complicated analytics can reveal opportunities to enhance the customer journey. CMOs and COOs can better prioritise them based on impact. Enhancing customer journey involves setting up ways to address issues quickly. The CMO and COO should act together to develop protocols to immediately tackle any negative feedback from customers. Measure how every user interacts throughout the journey. User interactions such as phone calls, emails, and messages from social media channels or websites need to be recorded and analysed.

4. Be hands-on in developing products

Both the COO and CMO should be involved in developing products. Product development is the process of turning an idea into a product that translates well in the market. Working hands-on lets you understand the product, and learning from each other allows for a better understanding. For example, Honest Tea’s CEO Seth Goldman had a strong role in promoting their first drink, but as time went by, he admitted that he made the mistake of marketing what he wanted to drink instead of what his customers wanted.

5. Improve the post-purchase experience

Marketing people are skilled at forming emotions for customers, but operations folks, not so much. However, that’s the department that will take over when marketing gets customers through the door. That post-purchase onboarding process has the potential to reinforce the connection with the product, or contrarily, foster buyer’s remorse. Operations play an essential role in assuring those new customers stay loyal.

Related: 5 traits of an Effective COO