The Digital Executive is so passionate about Customers that they live for executing a strategy that creates value for the “bottom line”. The goals and strategies they come up with are foundational to success. The Digital Executive refuses to live in a “fool’s paradise”, not knowing what Customers really think of their company (or nonprofit). They go to great efforts to understand customers, listen to them and act on common issues that take away from great experiences. 

Customer Management Illusion – Living in a fool’s paradise. Research regularly proves the chasm that exists between what senior executives believe customers think of them and their companies versus what customers actually think. An Accenture study highlighted that 75% of CEOS’ believed that their organizations were customer-centric yet 59% of customers said customer service was somewhat to extremely dissatisfying. (NB: Customer Service is not customer management or customer experience – it is only 1 attribute of a customer-centric business). In a study by the CMO Council 50% of CEOS believed their organizations were extremely customer-centric. Less than one tenth of customers agreed. 

Source: The Challenges of Implementing Customer-Centric Strategy – What creates the problem? | CustomerThink.

Here are the key ideas:

• Understand the key issues that detract from a great experience
• Listen to customers through a variety of ways including direct conversations
• Implement action to improve the overall experience