What business today isn’t constantly thinking about how to create value and develop new business? What business today isn’t thinking about innovative ways to improve and transform the business? What business today isn’t thinking about the ‘business of tomorrow?’ A key characteristic of the ‘business of the future’ is customer centricity.
Our market place is characterized by increasingly competitive pressures and escalating commoditization. It’s characterised, sadly, by more of the same and generally, by increasing levels of mediocrity. It’s characterised by meaningless statements made by untouchable (in terms of access to) executives who ‘gush’ about their commitment to customer service and differentiated customer experience, with very little operationalisation of the stated intent and promise. Too often, nothing more than lip-service.
Competitive differentials within industries in most cases are limited to new product releases and price, special offers to ‘new’ customers and in many cases a total disregard of existing customers. Don’t get me wrong – product and price (or should we rather say ‘value’) are extremely important but rarely sufficient for true customer commitment and sustainable competitive advantage. Modern business is complex and making decisions in today’s world extremely challenging.
To deliver a differentiated customer experience requires an ‘interconnectedness’ – a shared understanding of the business model – an alignment around strategy and leadership, people and organisation, understanding customers, customer information , customer management planning process, customer propositions, channels, delivering the intended customer experience, customer value enhancement, measurement, governance, risk, competition, regulatory requirements and responsibility
To do this requires both meaningful conversation as well as a framework, within which to develop the future. These frameworks are decisioning criteria, they are reference tools that validate the reality, drive clarity of what the future will be, provide benchmarks to compare and enable measurement of progress. This is the foundation of the 21st century organisation.