More than ever, Customer expectations matter. Don't like that app that you just downloaded? You can give it a bad review. No response from the developers means lost customers, or worse, going out of business. Such a bad customer experience posted on Twitter, Facebook and various other social media channels can be very detrimental to your brand.
When Customers interact with organizations, they don’t see departments; they see one single organization. They interact across various touch points for product searches, information gathering, price comparisons, reviews, ratings, to finally purchases, and sharing feedback. Digital Transformation will optimize the entire customer journey and help in delivering real results.
Today’s multi-channel customer is:
- Better informed in real time, digitally
- More demanding due to loads of information availability
- Will jump channels at any point with so many options
- Most important to the customer
- Most painful to the customer
- Create loyalty
Aware
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Research
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Consider
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Buy
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Engage
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Service
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Aware: With high internet adoption the range of available information is limitless Digital Display adds, TV commercials, Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, Foursquare, Instagram, Pinterest, customer campaigns.
Research: Customers are doing research on all the available digital channels for the product they want. Search engines, Online reviews, and comparisons, Social inputs from friends and families.
Consider: Customer considers to buy the product they wish
Buy: Unlike the old days, they buy the product mostly online.
Engage: Organizations engage with customers via Omni-channels such as Calls, Mobiles, Emails, SMS, Surveys, Social Media etc.
Service: Customers decide when, how and by whom they want to be serviced. Automated self-service preferred. Based on the customer experience in this overall journey they become loyal or move on to competition
Companies are identifying such key journeys, gauging their current performance over each touch point, redesigning the customer experience with simplified, standard end to end digital processes. This helps in looking at the business from outside in.
Zipcar, the car rental company maps the customer journey from the first time they go to the website through the last time they ever use one of the cars and decide not to be a member anymore.
Lego understands what is and what is not important to the customer journey and design a “wow” experience to improve it.
Eurostar held a workshop for board members and they were encouraged to role-play even dressing up in costumes in order to map the highs and lows of the customer journey from London to Paris. This helped Eurostar treat business and tourist travelers differently, improved the wow factor, reduced the costs.
Nike does not do advertising anymore as they have become part of personal fitness with digital transformation.
Rather than only cautiously protecting an existing business, companies need to understand the end-user and adopt innovative digital technologies and business practices. There is a need to disrupt your own business early before someone else does.
We live in an end-user-centered world and organizations must recognize that their customers and even employees have higher and ever-evolving expectations.
Understanding these customer journeys, the decisions they make and the feelings they have along the way is an essential part of digital transformation !!