Customer Experience Is King

Excellent piece in recent FT by Ade McCormack
about why it is important to focus on the customer experience.

“How entwined is your business with your offerings? Does your mission statement read more like a product catalogue? Mono-trick pony outfits in particular tend to focus on their offering rather than the customer experience.
I propose that in an on-demand, real-time, Darwinian, agile, Web 2.0 world, becoming too closely associated with your offering is a dangerous thing.
Smart companies are braced to have a refreshed set of offerings should conditions change. Those that insist on product orientation – or even service orientation – may as well issue their staff with market-sensitive self-destruct employment contracts.
As an investor warning, it may become law that such companies suffix their incorporation status to denote the associated risk. Acme plc (temporary) or Widgit Inc (transitory) will become the norm.
I suggest an experience-oriented approach. In other words your marketing message will focus on the nature of the customer’s encounter with your organisation, whether that be easy, quick or luxurious.
The assumption is that your core offering, whatever it might be, is as good if not better than your competitor’s. The reason for choosing your organisation is for the uniquely positive experience that you will provide in the course of delivery.
Most “front of house” staff realise this. Unfortunately, many back-office staff do not. There is an experience step-change for customers who, having been charmed by the sales team, are treated brusquely by the accounts department when querying an invoice.
At board level, CIOs are encouraged to be more experience-oriented in respect of customers, users and boardroom colleagues. The key question is how can CIOs improve the perception these stakeholders have of their department? This may seem far-fetched, but job number one for the CIO is brand management. Service levels, governance, security and other high profile matters will all be seen in the context of the IT function’s reputation.
But many of us need to woo and retain customers. In a time-starved, self-centred, affluenza-ridden world the customer wants it all and wants it now. Those that recognise that IT will increasingly underpin the customer experience are likely to attract shareholders who are similarly seeking a positive experience.” ¦Ade McCormack (ade@auridian.com) is founder of Auridian (www.auridian.com)