Brian Vellmure, a prominent customer experience consultant, recently wrote an articulate and insightful blog. The future of the customer experience was highlighted and how the digitization of everything we touch and hear will affect the way we do business sooner than can be imagined; in fact, it’s happening now.
While Brian stresses how technology will be a major factor in the consumer interaction with the marketplace and the difference that will make in our lives, he points out that the human factor will always be a determinate in whatever we do. To clarify, Brian presents different scenarios, each with varying degrees of one to one human interaction.
While it’s true that most of us enjoy how technology has made our lives easier, more productive and usually more fun, it’s still important that we take time to smell the roses along the way. What’s the point, if we don’t take a moment and reach out, literally, to touch someone?
Ultimately, customers will create their own experience. Some of us, depending on the day or our mood may never want to interact with another person or share our thoughts or emotions. While at other times, even if we are the early adopter of the latest gadget, we may want to savor that cup of coffee with our friend or colleague and talk about our day, how we feel and what’s going on in our life. We may even yearn to meet a stranger who just may become our best new friend.
The future of customer experience is really unknown. What is known is that we are all people and the human spirit can’t be removed and expect the customer to be happy with a life filled with endless robotic encounters. As the blog said, the perfect scenario is a mix of technology and human interaction.
Thank you, Brian, for providing us with food for thought.
