The Digital Upheaval & Customer Experience (CX)

By: Mohan Krishnaraj, Vice President & Global Head, HARMAN International (A Samsung Company)

Headquartered in Stamford, Connecticut, Harman International designs, engineers and produces connected products for automakers, consumers and enterprises worldwide. On November 14, 2016, Harman entered into an agreement to be acquired by Samsung, the sale was completed on March 10, 2017. Harman now functions as an independent subsidiary.

As digital technologies dramatically reshape industry after industry, too many transformation initiatives have launched with great fanfare, only to die unceremonious deaths. With most of the technology trends becoming ubiquitous, neither does it look futuristic nor as fanciful. While good customer experience can trump exotic technology, businesses now have to envision the next revolution and identify benefits they can offer customers beyond just traditional CX. 

While success of any Digital Transformation initiative to date has been determined by the commitment to constant reinvention, the competitive playing field will be shaped by the following factors: 

Mashing-up Digital and Physical: Phygital Experiences

With technologies changing so rap-idly, there is no such thing called sustainable competitive advantage. Businesses must learn to leap continually from one wave of opportunity to the next. 

Consumers have changed ­ they demand personal, seamless, and differentiated experiences. Today, their digital and physical worlds are weaved so tightly together, companies need to think systematically about each piece of the customer experience with a holistic transformation Strategy. It develops innovative components, fuses both their worlds and weaves them into a holistic system that extends competitive advantages and accelerates growth. 

Catering to Millennials - the Largest Cohort

In a world ruled by Millennials, from the shift in how they engage with technology to how they buy, true "unconventionals" in them are at display. Being one of the largest generations in history, they are about to move into prime spending years. With their priorities and expectations starkly different from previous generations, they are poised to remould the economy.  Their uniqueness will change the ways companies do business for decades to come - it is crucial that we dis-sect their behaviour and uncover the truth to design for their world that's filled with varied expectations and delivering on the "Experience" promise they seek with a whole new outlook. 

Prioritizing Journeys over Touch-points

Customer experience which was earlier looked at as a sales funnel has gone through a paradigm shift. Businesses that long emphasized on touch-points are now beginning to realise that the siloed focus misses the most important and bigger picture of end-to-end customer experience. Based on consumer's goals, perceptions, and emotions ­ identifying opportunities to engage them at any point in their journey is key.  

Leveraging Partner Networks 

Mindset to deliver stellar experiences need to extend to partner-ships. With a strong network of partners, businesses can innovate, expand market reach or accelerate time-to- market by drawing upon each other's expertise. Collaboration and co-creation allow businesses to orient themselves around the customer, and deliver lovable experiences and new value.

Re-imagining Traditional KPIs

Despite evidences showing investments in CX have long- standing impact, teams that spearhead these initiatives are challenged to confine and operate under traditional ROI model. Redefining and re-imagining traditional KPIs to one that's futuristic can leapfrog returns, jump ahead of the competition and take more market share. 

While delivering superior experiences in these times of Digital Upheaval can vary in complexity from industry-to-industry and even companies, it can also be hard to attribute and tough to measure, But, with the right focus - it can be done.