In a recent Constellation Research report and related blog post, principal analyst R “Ray” Wang discusses the current shift in digital business from a focus on “selling products and services to promising outcomes and experiences.” With this shift, delivering a seamless and satisfying customer experience will become not just one of the most important jobs of the customer service department, but of everyone in the organization.
The talk ranges from changes for CMOs during the customer revolution in Esteban Kolsky’s recent post, What (Some, If Not Most CMOs Don’t See), to a newly-released report from IBM’s Institute for Business Value that shows top CIOs are moving from a focus on the back-office to the front-lines as customer engagement and customer experience become key to winning business strategies, and delivering amazing experiences becomes an art.
As this digital transformation that so heavily involves the customer experience continues from the top down, hiring managers will also be looking for new attributes in employees. From the CIO, CMO and CCO to the customer service agents on the front lines, technology and process innovation will become the brush and palette of the “digital ARTISAN,” commissioned to craft impressive experiences for digital business success.
In his post, Wang presents in acrostic form the seven attributes of this new and sought-after digital ARTISAN:
- (A) Authentic: stay true to the organization’s mythology and brand
- (R) Relevant: deliver contextual personalization at scale
- (T) Transparent: operate with an understanding that everything eventually becomes public
- (I) Intelligent: adapt to self-learning, smart systems, that anticipate need
- (S) Speedy: infuse responsiveness in digital time
- (A) Analytical: democratize decision making with all types of data
- (N) Non-conformist: espouse disruptiveness in the creation and innovation of new ideas
So much for scripted conversations and promotional, one-size-fits all messaging and responses. In working to create a differentiator in this day and age, brands will need to deliver a customer experience that is an original work of ART.
