Podcast ¦ Punk CX: Five blind spots that get in the way of customer understanding and growth – Interview with Toni Keskinen of 180ops

Key Take Aways

1. Organisations often overlook the importance of systematically measuring and managing offer penetration, which reflects deep customer engagement across multiple offerings.

2. High customer lifetime value correlates with increased offering penetration—utilising more offerings signifies stronger relationships and higher revenue potential.

3. Many organisations focus resource allocation on top-tier customers (based on historical revenue), often neglecting mid- and lower-tier segments with future growth potential.

4. Effective strategic segmentation involves combining value chain analysis with industry classifications, enabling identification of large, needs-based customer segments.

5. Portfolio management at the individual customer level helps sales teams prioritise accounts with the highest growth potential rather than solely revenue size.

6. Conventional segmentation tools are often used in silos; integrating them yields better insight into overlapping needs and synergies across segments.

7. Behavioural data and customer journey analytics can unlock counterintuitive growth opportunities—like targeting customers with lower current value but higher future potential.

8. Insight-driven cross-selling and upselling activities should be stratified; different offerings and customer segments require tailored approaches to maximise value.

9. Recognising the differing roles of offerings (e.g., door-openers, halo, and anchor offerings) can influence sequencing of sales strategies and improve customer loyalty.

10. Market and macroeconomic data (interest rates, energy prices, etc.) are vital for understanding external influences on customer behaviour and relationships.

11. Analysing lost customers with a focus on potential value and growth trajectories can provide strategic insights into retention and account development.

12. Data-driven decision-making and a holistic view of customer relationships can create competitive advantages, foster organisational agility, and enable more effective resource use.

Key Statistics

• 80% of customers utilise only one or two offerings, leading to lower average revenue per account.

• Customers with deep offering penetration account for 80% of total revenue.

• Cross-selling familiar offerings to existing customers requires the least effort, with efforts aligning with higher sales productivity.

• Approximately 60% of sales directors struggle to adapt to market changes effectively.

Key Discussion Points

• The importance of measuring offering penetration as a core CX metric.

• How deep customer engagement across offerings correlates with increased revenue and customer loyalty.

• Limitations of traditional resource allocation models based mainly on historical revenue.

• Strategic segmentation combining value chain analysis with industry classifications to optimise market targeting.

• The value of portfolio goal setting for individual customer management and sales prioritisation.

• The necessity of integrating multiple segmentation tools into a holistic view for better market understanding.

• The impact of behavioural data and customer journey insights on targeting and growth opportunities.

• The stratification of upselling, cross-selling, and renewal activities to improve sales performance.

• How different types of offerings — door openers, halo, anchors — influence customer relationships and loyalty.

• The significance of external macroeconomic data in predicting customer behaviour and risk.

• How analysing lost customers’ potential versus actual management interventions can inform strategic decisions.

• The role of evidence-based, holistic data insights in driving customer-centric transformations and organisational agility.

Podcast Description

This podcast explores the innovative work at the forefront of customer experience (CX), with a particular focus on data analytics, strategic segmentation, and resource optimisation within B2B environments. Featuring interviews with industry experts, it delves into how organisations can identify blind spots, leverage comprehensive customer insights, and adopt a holistic approach—balancing internal data with market intelligence—to unlock growth opportunities and improve customer relationships. The host seeks to challenge conventional wisdom, encouraging senior managers in financial services and beyond to rethink their strategic approaches, harness data-driven insights, and foster organisational agility for sustainable competitive advantage.