In a world where brand loyalty is becoming increasingly elusive, organisations across Europe, the Middle East, and Africa (EMEA) are facing quite the challenges.

The landscape is shaped by shifting consumer preferences, economic pressures, and the relentless march of technology.

In 2023, at ServiceNow we highlighted the looming brand loyalty crisis, and now, in 2024, the situation remains dire.

However, amidst the challenges lie opportunities for those willing to adapt and innovate. Drawing on insights from a comprehensive survey that we conducted at ServiceNow together with Opinium Research, today I want to share with you the key findings and offer strategies for navigating the brand loyalty crisis in EMEA.

What's Happening With Brand Loyalty in EMEA?

What was the best thing about November? 

To me, it was the World Forum events we run across Europe at ServiceNow. 

We welcomed over 5,000 customers and partners in four locations: London, Frankfurt, Paris and Rotterdam. 

The exchange was incredible! There was so much learning on stage and off stage while networking. 

Reflecting on the discussions, the main conversations were around 5 key themes which we covered in the main keynotes of each event. I'd like to share these with you today. 

5 Common Themes of Concern for Businesses Today

76% of customers say they are less loyal to a brand than two years ago. 

This finding comes from research about customer and employee experience in EMEA we recently released at ServiceNow. 

The challenging economic landscape and ever-high inflation are the primary reasons to drive brand loyalty down. To battle the current environment, customers are cutting costs, switching to cheaper alternatives and leaving brands for competitors that offer more or better value. 

In summary: it's never been as difficult as today for companies to retain their customers. 

What's the solution?

When you're trying to introduce Customer Success (or Customer Experience) in your organisation, you're obviously going to need a team. 

That team doesn't just consist of leadership people who will set up the vision and plan for the Customer Success organisation but you also need those who will take care of your customers, most often called Customer Success Managers (CSMs) - also called Client Success Managers or Customer Success Executives (CSEs). 

I've never held any of these titles exactly but I've spent a good few years working in similar roles albeit through partners (that's another topic we'll cover later) or directly taking care of customers when I was working in PR and digital agencies which is the same as if you're working in Customer Success in SaaS. But I've learned a lot about Customer Success over the years both by doing the job and by operationally executing on programs to enable Customer Success teams to do their jobs better. 

So from everything that I've experienced, I want to cover the key things CSMs need to be effective in their day-to-day. If you manage a CSM organisation, consider these especially if you're just setting it up. 

3 Things Customer Success Managers Need to Be Effective

A couple of months ago, I covered customer experience and the Cisco racetrack - or lifecycle across the customer journey that's extremely important for companies to be able to drive customer success.

Today, I want to show you one more model that's become more and more popular if you work in SaaS or Customer Success.

This model is called L.A.E.R. and stands for Land, Adopt, Expand and Renew. 

Each of these phases has a different focus and they are not just about customer success as in post-sales but also the intersect with sales pre-purchase and for the renewal stage.

At the end of the day, the model aims to ensure that when a customer buys a product or a service, they truly realise the value of the purchase and achieve the business outcomes or goals they were expecting to get to by buying this product or solution.

As a business, it's on you to deliver on that promise after the sale which will lead to customer happiness and loyalty. 

Let's take a look at the L.A.E.R. model.

What is the L.A.E.R. Model for Customer Success