Shantanu Narayen discusses customer engagement
Engagement is a word that we keep hearing, but what does it really mean to business?
Engagement is the new business mandate. As I talk to customers, partners, and employees, it becomes increasingly clear to me that the health of a company relies on the extent to which it creates meaningful and sustainable interactions.
At Adobe, we know that engaged customers are a company's best assets. You can't compete successfully in the marketplace only by creating a better product or holding down costs. Quality products and competitive pricing are required just to stay in business, but customer engagement provides a long-term competitive advantage. Without engagement, you can't expect to build a successful company or organization.
How do companies benefit from engaging with their customers?
A lot of research validates that engaged customers are less price sensitive, buy more frequently, are more loyal, are more likely to recommend products, and are more apt to provide useful feedback. It pays to retain these engaged customers and, interestingly enough, it typically costs less to service them.
Why has Adobe become an advocate for engagement?
Helping our customers engage their customers is what we do every day. At Adobe, we enable engaging experiences by developing the technologies that help companies create, manage, and deliver information more powerfully, so they can connect with their customers.
Our products help construct the touch points where companies interact with customers, from media-rich websites to mobile phone displays to collaboration software and web conferencing. Adobe has spent the past 25 years driving innovation that delivers engaging experiences and we continue to build on that legacy. Of course, staying focused on engagement—how to do it most effectively, how to measure it—is challenging for all companies, Adobe included. So I try to keep it a top priority.
How is engagement relevant in noncommerce areas?
Organizations like government agencies and educational institutions have a different kind of bottom line. For example, the IRS knows you have to fill out your tax return, but through interactive, easy-to-use online forms they can make it easier for you to do it on time and with no mistakes. They can also save themselves both financial and human overhead in the process. It's really all about better compliance with policies and procedures while reducing service costs. In education, engagement is a critical factor in helping students learn. Engagement also is relevant to employees—studies show that disengaged employees create disengaged customers.
How does technology impact customer engagement?
Technology—and innovation—are keys to customer engagement. Today, customers expect dynamic, more engaging experiences than ever before, and companies must constantly innovate to meet and exceed these expectations. Technology has heightened customer expectations, and it's also through technology that businesses will meet their customers' increasingly higher demands.
Adobe is especially well-poised to provide the technology needed to engage consumers. Through our software applications, platforms and services, our customers can create and deliver compelling content and powerful applications across all devices and media. The opportunities to bridge media and give people access to exactly the information they want, anywhere, anytime, connected or not, are virtually unlimited.
Which industries are affected by engagement?
All of them. Consumers can be just as passionate about their insurance company as they are about their sneakers, and it's just as important for business-to-business as it is for consumer. For example, one recent Gallup study found that engaged customers of a global cargo shipper gave it 39% of its total business, compared with just 22% from its disengaged customers.
What companies do you think are doing a good job of engaging their customers?
Of course, I think Adobe is at the forefront of creating engaging experiences. After all, if we don't do a good job, then our customers won't engage their customers as well. Additionally, some of the online retailers have demonstrated proficiency in engaging customers: firms like eBay and Amazon where customers can get personalized communications and multimedia. We're seeing that companies who skillfully implement technology are making the biggest gains in creating engaging experiences for customers.
