The speed of change in the digital economy

Customer experience will be become a new management discipline, says Forrester analyst

We have entered a new anew era. It’s one where products and services have become commoditized, leaving companies to compete on new terms. The digital revolution has given consumers and business customers access to more information than ever, enabling them to easily compare product and service options as well as be more selective about the companies they do business with. This new age, which customers wield more power than ever, is truly the age of the customer.

Now it’s experience that matters. Firms must deliver what customers need, make it easy for customers to doing business with them, and make interactions enjoyable. Doing so requires that companies understand needs, behaviors, attitudes, and motivations of their target customers.

Customer experience need to become a global business discipline. The rise of global experience leaders like Apple, Amazon.com, and Starbucks has opened many executives’ eyes to the power of delivering great customer experiences. But great customer experiences are not accidents – they require a rigorous approach to business discipline like strategy, customer understanding, design, measurement, governance, and culture. Unfortunately, most siloed organizations don’t have visibility into the end-to-end customer journey and therefore don’t see the big picture of what customers go through in all of their interactions.

 Think customer experience is a one-off initiative. The framework is based around six key disciplines: customer understanding, measurement, governance, strategy, design and corporate culture.

Source: Forrester blog