Michael MaozBy all measures I am more unplugged than most of my peers. I don’t Tweet. I don’t participate in any formal online communities. I don’t have a persona. I don’t own real estate in second life. I shut off my Blackberry after 9PM. I don’t look at it on the weekend. I read books that I hold in my hand. I’m reading The Price of Glory: Verdun 1916, at the same time that I am reading Terry Pratchett’s The color of Magic. I just completed Sandy Pentland’s Honest Signals. I have never been offered useful advice by my bank, my financial advisor, or the big box retailer where I buy my consumer electronics or my insurance companies (x3) or any of the travel / hospitality / entertainment businesses with which I interact. My telecom provider seems not to know anything about my household, or my cable provider, and now both want my business in the other’s area, though neither knows what of mine they don’t yet have nor how to reach me as an individual.
Let’s face it: none of us know much about any of our customers, even when they scream it in our face. Nor do we ask much information that could be used to understand them, their wants, likes, goals.
As businesses, we tend to think we are doing everything to win the trust of the customer, consumer, partner, citizen. But can you honestly say that you understand their intent in doing business with you? That you anticipate their changing needs? That you understand the state of their customer experience or loyalty to your brand? We are still in the early formative stages of customer experience management.
We all talk a good game about our business process prowess, our elegant application architectures, our total IT spend being ‘in line’ and ‘under control’ and delivering value. But if our business is to deliver products and services that captivate the customer, win their loyalty, and do so at a profit, is the lowest cost IT spend the best measure? Or is there some customer-loyalty return on investment that we should be focused on. How does each of your projects deliver a specific return on customer value? Doesn’t matter, you say? Well, what does matter then?
The really amazing companies that I am working with are beginning to question all IT projects from the customer perspective: how does project X advance the relationship with the customer? Specifically! Are any of you doing the same? I’d imagine you are, or soon will be, or soon will be out of a job.
Comments Off
Category: Uncategorized Tags:
