The are always huge gaps in the experience that our customers are having. In the digital world, this happens at a very fast pace. Digital disruption is real. Competitors are moving ahead at a breakneck speed. Amazon is doing something that changes customer expectations for all of us. There is no stopping it. It is creating gaps for all of us.

• There are gaps between what we believe customers want and what they want. This is a gap.
• Gaps exist between how we perceive the quality of the customer experiences we enable and how customers perceive the value of them. The customers perception is reality.
• Gaps between the front-end of our businesses and the back-office. Sales and service is disconnected from billing and accounts payable.
• Gaps between divisions and departments. Silos are real, and they create disjointed journeys for customers.
• Gaps between brand promises and brand experiences. Yikes!
• Gaps between the ways we seek business value and the ways we offer and benefit from customer value.

This is an interesting study. More gaps – research from McKinsey showing that the themes many B2B companies consider important for brand imaging appear to have minimal influence on buyers’ perceptions of brand strength

All of this points to the need for extreme agility. We need gain ground quickly by setting realistic priorities that measure business results. It helps to focus on real customer value. Does this help the customer with their goals?

What is causing some of these gaps? Many of our business functions are dangerously disconnected from each other. This is painful to the customer. It actually makes them angry. Just listen in at your call center for a day. Seriously! You will walk away stunned at what is going on. Big internal disconnects affecting business results.

We need to look at how we “are selling” the customer experience to our internal stakeholders and employees. Is it getting us the buy in we need?

A final issue to look at is our never-ending urge to control, fear of losing control and overprotection of the silos we create.

What is it all about?

• It’s about integration
• It’s about relationships between people through connected processes and working across silos
• It’s about having a much broader perspective
• It’s about involving the whole business, customers and ecosystem

Why? Because the customer experience is the task of EVERYONE and RELATIONSHIPS in the end make the difference.

Technology simply enables to do it better.

Business Strategy