Learning to do things differently will have a positive impact on your business.

Recently, I had the chance to talk with Deep Patel for Entrepreneur to discuss the challenges and opportunities surrounding digital Darwinism. In the conversation, I  shared some of my work and observations about how living in an era of great disruption will ultimately humanize business (at least I hope).

Following is a summary of our conversation and five prescriptions for surviving and thriving an era of digital Darwinism…

1. Reimagine yourself in an era of digital Darwinism.

Our world has undergone a radical digital transformation, and most of those changes stem from investments to technology to modernize business infrastructure.

While all this new technology has enabled important changes to take place, these digital transformations often lack a broader context. Businesses must be thoughtful about how they are using this technology. We must reimagine what the customer experience could be, based on how technology is changing.

One area of my research focuses on digital transformation as people and technology that change from the inside out and the outside in. “t’s about having new perspectives and processes and systems that deliver new value to customers and employees in an era of digital Darwinism.

Ultimately, all these changes will allow businesses and brands to become more relevant during every step of the customer-employee experience.

2. Cultivate meaningful experiences.

Looking out onto the horizon, there’s unprecedented opportunities to change how companies interact with their customers.

The most important thing a brand can do to set itself apart from others is to give customers positive and powerful experiences. Oftentimes brands are too focused on transactions, messaging and marketing, without looking at what kind of experience customers are having with them. That’s a big mistake.

If consumers are deeply connected to a company, and associate positive and empowering experiences with a brand, they will be more likely to share their experiences with others and more inclined to do repeat business.

The reason why experience is such a big deal is that it introduces opportunities for companies to be incredibly innovative on the experiential front.

Some of my favorite brands are Disney, Disney Parks, Apple and Tesla, companies that thoughtfully craft their customers’ experience. They are incredibly experiential and innovative. Every one of them thinks about ‘my’ user experience, meticulously and relentlessly. And they make it easy for me to do business with them, so that I want to continue to do business with them.

3. Cater to the accidental narcissists.

Sometimes I create monikers to help us relate to changes in our environments. In this case, I believe we are becoming a generation of accidental narcissists living in a selfish economy.

Every app, every service and every network is teaching us that we’re the center of the universe. If you want a car, there’s an app for that. If you want validation, here’s a social network for that. We’re being positioned to become accidental narcissists.

This is especially true for millennials and Gen Z. These younger generation members live in a world where everything, from entertainment to social media and advertising, is personalized.

A selfish economy may sound negative, but I have a more optimistic view. We have an opportunity to serve a generation of self-focused consumers, which can drive technology to be more human and force brands to be more empathetic. A selfish economy gives companies insight into what people expect and how people behave, how people communicate and share, what they find interesting.

This combination of factors should inspire businesses to build genuine relationships. Ultimately, this means that businesses must create stellar experiences in order to create lasting relationships with consumers. I think people actually find that all this technology will make things a bit more human and engaging again.

4. Transform in the face of disruption.

On the horizon, we face creative upheaval. Customer expectations and behaviors are changing dramatically as a result of disruptive technology. This will force disruption and innovation at every level in every business.

We’re entering an era of rapid and dramatic innovation. So, the extent to which things like augmented and virtual reality are going to affect life — and as a result, affect behavior, and as a result, affect expectations — are only going to continue.

As a result, there will be tremendous breakthroughs in these areas and those breakthroughs will create a level of disruption that will force agility in many different business models.

5. Maneuver around roadblocks.

Of course companies face many past and future obstacles. And one of the biggest challenges is for them to think about and live their brands the way their customers do.

So often, when brands make investments in customer experience, they do it from a standpoint where they are disconnected, and they don’t feel natural. Company executives must alter their way of looking at competition.  They aren’t just contending with known competitors, but also with unknown startups that will be their competitors tomorrow.

We live and have the ability to shape a new era of engagement, so we need to learn and unlearn how to do things differently. That requires a type of expertise that just doesn’t exist with new organizations today.

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SnapChat officially changed its name to Snap, Inc. as the company restyles itself from a one-[major] hit app company into a digital lifestyle brand. To mark the occasion, Snap, Inc. introduced Spectacles, fashion and tech-forward sunglasses that record 10-second clips, which can then be uploaded to SnapChat Memories via wifi. Following the Apple playbook, Snap, Inc. also designed a fashionable case that doubles as a charger. Spectacles will be available this Fall and will cost $130.

Spectacles are the result of a secret acquisition in December 2014 of VergenceLabs, which developed Epiphany Eyewear to record video clips with the press of a button on the side of the frame and upload them online via its app. Over the last 19 months, Snap, Inc. remodeled Epiphany into a fun, but thoughtful sunglass package to give Snappers a way to share their perspective hands-free.

By pressing a small button on the side of the glasses, Spectacles capture video through a 115-degree lens, which better conveys someone’s natural perspective and field of vision. Those on the other side of the lens, will know they’re being recorded because of a halo-like light that surrounds the lens. Unlike smartphones, which record video in a rectangular format, video via Spectacles is circular, allowing the viewer to watch the content naturally, whether in portrait or landscape mode, the way the user “saw” it. Essentially, clips offer a playback experience that simulates your natural point of view.

Co-founder and CEO Evan Spiegel shared his experience with Spectacles to the Wall Street Journal, “I could see my own memory through my own eyes.”

I know what you’re thinking, Google tried this with Google Glass and it failed while also creating an entirely new category of geekdom, the infamous Glasshole. As an aside, I wonder what some will call those who wear Spectacles? I can’t help but remember comedian Andrew Dice Clay and his famous but derogatory moniker, “snapper head.”

But back to first person POV and Spiegel’s quote about reliving memories. I owned a pair of Glass and once recorded my experience on the runway of a tech fashion show. Re-watching the video, I can relate to Spiegel’s reaction. Having a hands-free, first person perspective is incredibly liberating…especially if you own a larger format smartphone. Plus, it’s just a lot more realistic. It’s what you see. Whereas with a phone, you see forced perspective, which was honestly fine until something different allows you to experience life without a device in hand to accurately share life experiences…albeit in 10 second bursts.

Now back to Google Glass. The comparisons are easy to make between Glass and Spectacles. They both have a camera. They both connect to wifi. But I think that’s where the comparisons stop in my mind. Spectacles, unlike Glass, do not feature augmented reality technology. Nor do they feature a heads up display (HUD). What’s more is that Spectacles cannot run apps that allow the user to, in real-time, blur the line between real and digital worlds. Spectacles are, as Spiegel defines them, connected “toys.” But as TechCrunch’s Editor-at-Large, Josh Constine pointed out in response, “The fact that you have to tweet this underscores how much of a stigma Specs have to fight. Comparison < cognizance.” And, he’s right. He thoughtfully discusses how the entire wearable industry must combat the stigma of Glassholes.

At the same time, I believe that SnapChat’s core user base never considered, and maybe never really had a clue of, Google Glass. Snap, Inc. even refers to its They’re excited to have access to a fun, affordable connected camera that just happens to be embedded in what’s arguably stylish, or not, sunglasses.

Remember, there’s a bit of an “accidental narcissist” in all of us who use social networks and apps. Anything that allows us to better share special, random or everyday moments will always find ready people willing to at least give it a try. Remember selfie sticks and cases? They’re still selling! In all seriousness, it’s more than selfies. My research already shows that shared experiences among accidental narcissists are split between “look at me” and “look what I’m doing.” Approachable first person perspective to SnapChat is not unlike GoPro’s action sport POV.

Remember though, this is just V1. VergenceLabs was working on something bigger, with greater storage capacity (32gb vs time recording). I fully expect multi-platform support and video storage/editing/uploading through a dedicated Snap app or through traditional camera functions in most popular apps.

Spectacles are an admirable and approachable entrant into the wearable space because it puts hardware into the background. This is what Apple does so well and what Google Glass couldn’t do. Technology is invisible. Here, it’s all about sharing experiences with other people and Snap, Inc.’s Spectacles represent a human-centered, first-person approach to doing so.

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Digital transformation has officially become a ubiquitous term that describes any company’s investment in digital infrastructure regardless of ultimate vision and intention. But, unless digital transformation takes a technology-second and a customer/employee first approach, investments will be unaligned with market evolution and more importantly, human behaviors, preferences and expectations. Technology is just a means to power business transformation. But technology can only get part of the job done. You need people. And, like technology, people are changing.

Each time I study the “state of” digital transformation, I learn time and time again, that companies are modernizing the back and front office with the best of intentions but not with new perspectives. As a result, IT continues to operate like a technology partner, marketing sells through creativity and touchpoints, support scales automated or dated customer engagement services at a technological arm’s length, but little is done to upgrade business integration, continuity and value propositions through human-centered design.

When I published my first research report on the subject, I specifically reached out to companies lauded for their progressive advancements against digital Darwinism, the rate companies evolve compared to technology and society. What I learned from the onset was that digital transformation is (or should be) a story of business transformation and people. In the most interesting cases, digital transformation evolved from technology-first approaches to the quest to better understand the new generation of digital customers and employees and then invest in technology, leadership and operational strategies that steered the company in a more relevant and empathetic direction.

In my latest report, I surveyed over 500 executives around the world to understand where companies are in digital transformation, the challenges they face, the catalysts that spur change, the initiatives that take priority, how companies measure ROI and success, and more. The result is, “The 2016 State of Digital Transformation” and it is immediately available for download.

Following are some of the TL;DR highlights:

The Changing Customer and the Lack of Customer Appreciation

55% of those responsible for digital transformation cite “evolving customer behaviors and preferences” as the primary catalyst for change. At the same time, the number one challenge facing executives (71%) is understanding behavior or impact of the new customer. Despite more data being available about customers, this statistic (71%) increased from 2014, when only 53% cited understanding the new customer was a significant challenge. Knowing this, it’s all the more surprising, nor not, that only half (54%) have completely mapped out the customer journey.

You would think by now that companies would understand the extent we’re living in a mobile-first world Yet, a mere 20% of leaders surveyed are studying the mobile customer journey/behavior. That’s right…20%.

This means that many companies are changing without true customer-centricity. More so, you can’t know customer behaviors if you don’t study them and appreciate it how they inform your next steps.

The Top 3 Digital Transformation Initiatives

1) Accelerating innovation (81%)

2) A modernized IT infrastructure with increased agility, flexibility, management, and security (80%)

3) Improving operational agility to more rapidly adapt to change (79%).

Define “Accelerating Innovation”

81% said innovation was at the top of their agenda, 46% stated their company has launched a formal “innovation center.” Right behind innovation was modernizing IT infrastructure (80%) and improving operational agility (79%).

Who Owns Digital Transformation?

Digital transformation is largely led by the CMO (34%) and not the CIO/CTO (19%).

What’s the Long-Term Vision of Digital Transformation?

The easy answer is that most companies are focusing on the immediate horizon. Digital transformation appears to be driven by short-term plans: Just 29% of companies have a multi-year roadmap to guide to digital transformation evolution.

The 2016 State of Digital Transformation

As in every report I’ve published in this space, customer experience (CX) remains the top driver of digital transformation. I also learned that IT and marketing and other functions not only influence technology investments (even without fully understanding customer behaviors and expectations), they must work together to advance along the “Six Stages of Digital Transformation.”

One of the top questions I’m asked right now is where most companies reside in the “six stages” based on the new data in the latest “state of” report. The answer is that in the broader scope of business transformation, many companies are still early in their development. But please do use this data and the maturity model to guide your next steps and bring about the change you wish to see…and you wish others to see…in your work.

The future of all of this starts with you.

Please download the report here.

Note: I want to send a very special thank you to Jaimy Szymanski who has been my long-time partner in research and who once again helped bring this report to life.

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I’ve been a big fan of John Biggs for a long time now. He’s the East Coast Editor for TechCrunch. John is also a fellow geek, global speaker and prolific writer on emerging tech and also fiction and non-fiction books. on top of it all, he’s the host of the popular Technotopia podcast.

Recently, John and I were speaking about the future of AI, autonomous driving and other disruptive technologies. As a result, we turned it into an episode for Technotopia on TechCrunch. We also talked a bit about the back story of designing my new book, X: The Experience When Business Meets Design and how to apply UI/UX methodologies to paper. You can listen or download below.

Enjoy!

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The word “digital” can be misleading. Digital transformation is about how people and their behaviors, expectations, and preferences are changing.

Customer experience (CX) is one of the most important trends in business today as it brings companies closer to customers and customers closer to brands. But CX is also so much more. The work toward creating more relevant, meaningful and productive customer experiences also places your company and employees on a path toward business transformation.

But this isn’t change for the sake of modernization or shareholder value. This is changing your business from the outside in and the inside out to be relevant and engaging to a new generation of customers and employees. But to do so means that CX must evolve from legacy-based approaches to design human-centered strategies and infrastructures that are intuitive, productive and frictionless to real-world customers, not just shareholders.

We live in a time of digital Darwinism, an era when technology and its impact on business and society is constant with varying, but inevitable, degrees of disruption. The thing about digital Darwinism is that it plays out differently in the case of each industry and each organization. It’s less about the origin of the species and more about its fate as digital Darwinism is enlivened though changes in people (your customers, employees and stakeholders) and how markets are advancing as a result. Survival takes an intentional, informed effort to drive business evolution and modernization. But to thrive, takes something more.

In my research I’ve found that among the trends driving the evolution of business digital transformation is at the top of the list as one of the most compelling efforts bringing about meaningful and ultimately lucrative change Part of it is technology’s direct impact on society, our cultures, norms, etc. Another aspect is how technology is changing how we connect, communicate, discover and make decisions.

Digital transformation is one of those terms that means different things to different people. I define it this way:

Digital transformation is the realignment of, or new investment in technology, business models, and processes to create new value for customers and employees and more effectively compete in an ever-changing digital economy.

What started as enterprise initiatives led by progressive CIOs and IT organizations has spread throughout every facet of business. Over time, executives in other critical functions also led investments to bring their own technology roadmaps to life. In some cases, there’s internal competition between groups. For example, CMOs are often cited as the rival to CIOs in spending when it comes to new technologies and resources. But over time, all facets of business must work together under a common vision and aspiration if it is to excel in an era of digital Darwinism. This, I’ve learned, is something that happens only after departments attempt change independently. Eventually, there’s momentum and support to drive collaboration across the enterprise.

In 2014, I published a “State of Digital Transformation” report that found 88 percent of companies I surveyed claimed to be undergoing digital transformation. But I learned in the same research, that only 25 percent had actually studied, or were studying, the effects of digital Darwinism. Clearly, there was much to learn.

In my research over the years, I learned that digital transformation is a movement progressing without a universal map to guide businesses through proven and productive passages. This leaves organizations pursuing change from a known, safe approach that correlates with “business as usual” practices. Operating within the confines of traditional paradigms without purpose or vision eventually challenges the direction, capacity, and agility for thriving in a digital economy.

Introducing a Maturity Model to Guide Your Digital Transformation

Over the past three years, I’ve studied the maturity paths of some of the world’s leading brands including Dell, Discover, GM, Harvard, Lego, Metropolitan Museum of Art, Nestlé, Novartis, Sephora, Starbucks, Target, among many others. The result is a new report, “The Race Against Digital Darwinism: Six Stages of Digital Transformation.” It introduces a maturity framework that documents how companies are advancing technology roadmaps, business models and processes to compete in the digital economy.

This model was developed to help CIOs, CMOs, CDOs, and key stakeholders and follow the paths of other successful companies. But more so, it’s meant to give a checklist of sorts to guide, justify, validate, and effectively make the case for driving transformation.

One of the key insights I learned in the process was that mature companies establish purpose to create the kind of holistic alignment that inspires and drives enterprisewide change. I consistently found that customer experience often served as a primary catalyst for driving change with CMOs and CIOs helping them come together to jointly lead common efforts.

Through the lens of customer experience, digital transformation, I learned, organizations evolved through six progressive stages:

This report introduces each of the six stages as a self-contained phase, offering a narrative and a checklist to guide your journey.

1. Business as Usual: Organizations operate with a familiar legacy perspective of customers, processes, metrics, business models, and technology, believing that it remains the solution to digital relevance.

2. Present and Active: Pockets of experimentation are driving digital literacy and creativity, albeit disparately, throughout the organization while aiming to improve and amplify specific touch points and processes.

3. Formalized: Experimentation becomes intentional while executing at more promising and capable levels. Initiatives become bolder, and, as a result, change agents seek executive support for new resources and technology.

4. Strategic: Individual groups recognize the strength in collaboration as their research, work, and shared insights contribute to new strategic roadmaps that plan for digital transformation ownership, efforts, and investments.

5. Converged: A dedicated digital transformation team forms to guide strategy and operations based on business and customer-centric goals. The new infrastructure of the organization takes shape as roles, expertise, models, processes, and systems to support transformation are solidified.

6. Innovative and Adaptive: Digital transformation becomes a way of business as executives and strategists recognize that change is constant. A new ecosystem is established to identify and act upon technology and market trends in pilot and, eventually, at scale.

Collectively, these phases serve as a digital maturity blueprint to guide purposeful and advantageous digital transformation. Our research into digital transformation is centered on the Digital Customer Experience (DCX) and, thus, reflects one of many paths toward change. We found that DCX was an important catalyst in driving the evolution of business, in addition to technology and other market factors.

While presented in a linear format, our research shows that companies may span multiple stages at once depending on their goals, resources, and overlapping initiatives. Use this framework to validate, benchmark, and map your company’s progress toward digital literacy and leadership. Keep in mind, however, that you may find yourself revisiting and overlapping stages throughout program and strategy deployment.

Digital Transformation is Really about Competing for Relevance

The Six Stages of Digital Transformation represents a journey to evolve with and push ahead of technology and market trends. This is true business transformation. It’s in the ongoing pursuit that makes change less about resolute stages and more about an evolving vision, purpose, and resolve to engage a connected generation of customers and employees. It is the collective efforts of individuals and groups and the collaboration of cross-functional roles that pave the way for a new era of business, work, and customer centricity.

But to get there, executives must see and live the world through the lives of those who use new technologies to disrupt all that they touch to compete and innovate. It is how they do this and how well they execute that defines their destiny and legacy.

Download the report here.

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Every day when you get to the office, there is a surmountable volume of work that greets. The list is usually pretty long, with calls to return, to do items stacked up, emails overflowing, meetings, marketing and sales planning to fill the pipeline. It’s all in a day’s work. But what if one day you woke up and noticed that the volume of work was notably less? I’m sure you’d be relieved for a bit. But then each day, you start to notice that the trend only continues.

Your relief shifts to concern and eventually panic. “What’s happening!?,” you start asking. The answers reveal that your markets shifted because your visitors and your tourism stakeholders started to think and then act differently. While you were busy keeping up with your existing tourism plan and your annual campaign, your market inevitably evolved away from you.

Sounds like a nightmare right?

The good news is that it’s the kind of bad dream that you can wake up from and say, “phew!” The bad news is that this scenario is playing out right now, slowly at first, but then quickly. The reality is that change is accelerating and we have a choice in what we do about it. It’s what you do differently moving forward that defines your place in the future.

While the idea of what you market and sell is relatively the same, it’s the how and also why that separates where you are from where you need to be.

If you think about it, change is less of a threat and more of a gift to shape the future of your work and your industry.

Iteration vs. Innovation

We live in an era of digital Darwinism, a state of evolution where technology and society continues to evolve. The question is, where do we fall in that evolution?

I know, I know. Change is hard, but you’re trying. You’re learning new things, adopting the latest tech, experimenting with state-of-the-art digital marketing. Bravo. This is a great place to start. Learning is how we open new doors. But this only gets us so far. How so, you ask? When we learn something new, we tend to apply it to existing mindsets, how we see and value what we see. Said another way, we take what’s new and use it in ways that are familiar to us. This leads to what I call iteration, which is often confused with innovation. It just takes us incrementally further. But innovation takes, in addition to learning, the ability to also unlearn many things we accept as standard protocol to do new things that unlock new opportunities. The differences between iteration and innovation are important as both are needed to compete for the future right now. It just takes balance…

1. Iteration is doing the same things better.
2. Innovation is doing new things that create new value.
3. Disruption happens when innovative new things make the old things obsolete.

Funnel Vision: Designing the Customer Journey 2.0

In my research as a digital analyst and anthropologist, I learned that one of the catalysts for true innovation and even disruption is exploring not only new technology and trends but also how people are changing in parallel. The answer has been hiding right in front of us this whole time. See, technology is only part of the story. The rest is about how people adopt and in turn use all of this stuff. It reveals how, what and why we need to change, how to be discoverable and relevant and to whom and how to design new products and services that matter to each of our customer groups.

With the rise of social media, pervasive internet and mobile devices, how your visitors and potential visitors discover, learn, share and make decisions has forever changed. In the process, every new technology and the new capabilities they introduce to customers is radically reshaping the customer journey. And, this evolution has impacted everything from marketing to sales to relationship-building.

I know one of the common reactions to this message is to think, “yeah, but that’s just for B2C companies.” Nope. The truth is that it’s every type of company and organization, B2B included and beyond. Because in the end, it’s all about human beings and how they use technology and experiences to make decisions.

How you reach people, how they learn about you, what they value and how they make decisions accordingly is all changing. You must adapt too.

Innovation starts with learning and unlearning. It also takes seeing new possibilities in all the things we missed, misjudged, or chose not to see. Innovation is all the work you do to conform to expectations and aspirations of people as they evolve instead of making them conform to your legacy perspectives, assumptions, processes and metrics of success.

To reach and engage people differently, to earn relevance and ultimately their business, we need to see the world through their eyes and walk in their steps. We need to understand how they discover, where they go, what they ask, what they value, and how they make decisions, et al. Undergoing an out of body digital-first and even mobile-first customer journey teaches us everything. It makes us see and feel things differently.

Yes, you still have your traditional customers who like to do things the way that they always have. However, no innovator ever said, “but that’s the way things have always been done.” You still have to serve them and deliver experiences that they cherish. Change and innovation take an intentional balance between doing what you do well and what you don’t yet know to do well. This takes experimenting with new technology of course, but also learning and unlearning to gain new perspective, empathy and purpose to bring to light new opportunities. Innovation and change start with you.

Please read X, The Experience When Business Meets Design or visit my previous publications

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X has opened the doors to new countries and experiences and for that, I am truly grateful. Recently, I had the opportunity to visit Singapore and also Hong Kong. I already want to go back. While in Hong Kong, I meet with Soon Chen Kang 江欣珍 at Campaign Magazine to discuss X, the state and future of brand and the importance of experience design in all aspects of customer/employee engagement.

I wanted to share the conversation with you here…

Does your brand have an experience style guide? Marketing author Brian Solis thinks it should, and that you should watch today’s top music acts for cues on how to craft compelling experiences.

Most companies have a brand style guide, but few are prepared with an experience style guide for their products and services. This has to change in an era where successful brands like Apple, Tesla and Starbucks are built on satisfying customer experience, according to Brian Solis, principal analyst at Altimeter Group (part of Prophet) and the author of X: The Experience Where Business Meets Design.

“If you have an experience style guide, brands will think about what they want consumers to feel, how consumers would react to the experience and what consumers would talk about them after the engagement,” Solis told Campaign Asia-Pacific in an exclusive interview in Hong Kong. Then, the brands can design the details to create a consistent user experience for the consumers.”

Because every app is telling consumers that they are the most important person in the world, Solis, a self-described “digital analyst, anthropologist, and futurist”, said brands have to work out how they want consumers to feel in every moment. From the time they walk into the store to how they access the website, each stage has to evoke a desirable experience.

“Experience architecture is what brands, businesses, government or rather any other organisations now have to do to design the experience they want people to have, and also to design new processes, services and technology to be able to bring those experiences to life in new ways,” Solis said.

There are very few companies that master experience from the beginning till the end, Solis said, the rare exceptions being Disney and Apple.

“You have to look outside of the industry: Starbucks, Airbnb and Fitbit offer experiences that people seem to love,” he said. “Find out what are the elements of these great experiences, why these experiences are important to people, what are the commonalities that these people share, what do they love about these experiences and what they do not love.” While many businesses try to be consumer-centric in their approach, Solis said many do not understand what that means today, much less 10 years from now.

“The devices are changing us—our expectations, value systems, preferences, how we make decisions, how we define success and happiness,” he said. “All of these are starting to evolve and companies are unaware of these because they are still in the business of selling products and trying to grow revenue.”

Those who ignore changing human behaviours and continue with business as usual risk becoming the next Kodak or Blockbuster, he added.

Musical experiences

Solis pointed to the music industry as an example where some artists are re-engineering their ‘experience’ to fit consumer reality.

“If you look at it, the music industry has completely lost all forms of loyalty,” he said. “Seven, six years ago, it was easy to have an email list of the fans, and people looked forward to the next album. But people don’t even want to buy albums now, and there are so many artists who come and go, the whole concept of loyalty is changing.”

As difficult as it is for the music industry to revive its glory days, some are succeeding spectacularly. “Drake, Taylor Swift and Beyoncé defy all things that go wrong with music, but they have to go to great, great lengths just to be relevant,” said Solis who wrote a paper on what businesses can learn from the music industry earlier this year.

Beyoncé launched not just one, but two surprise albums, and Drake repeated the same stunt. “Beyoncé created an incredible amount of fanfare and publicity around her album,” Solis said. “People just feel they have to get it. The music videos of the songs are so culturally relevant. This is what consumer experience is to the music industry, that a lot of businesses can learn from.”

Pushing the envelope

Although user experience is critical, Solis pointed out a counterintuitive truth: It’s not always about conforming to users’ expectations. Sometimes, disruptors have to push consumers to get them out of their comfort zones. Solis referred to Apple’s decision to remove the headphone jack from the iPhone 7 it launched last Wednesday.

“The 3.5mm jack is a dead space that is useless in a wireless world, if you start thinking about how to use the device today and how you are going to do that tomorrow,” he said. “Apple is thinking ahead. This is experience architecture, designing the future that everyone else has to live with.

“That is also why the first autonomous car was not from a car manufacturer, but Google. They have thought that there might be a time when people do not want to drive anymore; they would rather be on their phones, working or sleeping.”

Please read X, The Experience When Business Meets Design or visit my previous publications

Connect with Brian!

Twitter: @briansolis
Facebook: TheBrianSolis
LinkedIn: BrianSolis
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Invite him to speak at your next event or meeting. 

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While traveling Europe this year, I met Silvia Hänig who was writing a story for Haufe.de about customer experience. She followed up our initial conversation with the questions below. Instead of shooting back quick answers, I took the time, maybe too much time, to thoughtfully reply as if I were going to share the exchange with everyone. And, that’s what I’m doing here.

I hope it helps you…

Mister Solis, why is it so difficult to create Customer Experience (CX) for many people and decision makers?

Customer Experience (CX) is a difficult process, because so many stakeholders interpret CX differently and then prioritize investments and resources accordingly.

The IT department thinks it’s about technology. The marketing department focuses on channel and content trends. Customer service focuses on contact centers. Advertising creates clever campaigns and activates experiential events. And executives make decisions based on gut instinct and maybe even cognitive biases. I could go on and on. Even though these are generalizations, much of the work I’ve seen in CX isn’t really customer-focused. It’s role and process oriented.

These types of traditional perspectives hamper the vision for change. Each group inadvertently contributes to a disconnected approach to CX because they’re attempting to solve one part of the customer’s journey and experience from their silo. Yet, customers don’t see departments, they see one brand.

Just because “this is how it’s always been done” is a recipe for digital Darwinism today. CX is an opportunity to design, improve and integrate real-world experiences that the customer is going to have. In the process, businesses will have to re-align models and processes to unite disparate groups into one congruent effort. This will help companies compete in an era where customers are taking control of their experiences.

Who should own the experience? And what skills will be important in the future?

The best companies in CX take a different perspective regarding this question. They start with acknowledging that the person who owns the customer experience is…wait for it…the customer.

Think about that for a second.

They absolutely own their experience. Yet, here we are debating, who should own it. It seems that companies do everything, but understand their behaviors, expectations, preferences et al.

I define CX this way: it’s the sum of all engagements a customer has with your brand in every touchpoint, in each moment of truth, throughout the customer lifecycle. The question to ask is then, what is the experience they have? What experiences do they expect or desire? What experiences they’re receiving from other companies? More so, how are their favorite apps – for example Uber or Tinder – changing their expectations and how should you rethink the customer journey to be native, frictionless, and delightful based on outside innovation? As such, the question who owns CX, is something that should be answered in a future state and work toward that goal now.

Companies excelling here are looking at ideal customer experiences and building inside and outside for them. New cross-functional groups lead collaboration to remove friction, optimize effective touchpoints and invest innovation based on new areas of opportunity. An empathetic customer-centric approach to CX improves retention, acquisition and relationships. Great Customer Experience is all the work, that you do so your customers don’t have to…

To what extent technology should play a role in Customer Experience?

Too many businesses today take a technology-first approach to Customer Experience, which is ironically not customer centric. I call this the remote control. No one likes the remote control. We use it, because we have to. I would go so far to say that we have a reluctant relationship with it. Yet, every year, even though we get a new generation of TV innovation, we still get a remote control that looks a little different, but also gets more complex along the way. Did you know that there are on average 70 buttons on this brick and at the same time, we all have phones or tablets where we interact with them using completely different gestures? Technology is not the answer, it’s an enabler. CX should start with three “P’s” – people, purpose and promise. Technology should facilitate experiences and bring them to life.

What is the importance of CX as part of the digital transformation?

Digital transformation means something different to everyone. Just like customer experience. It is something, that is started independently in each group with different objectives. But like CX, everything is on a collision course towards convergence. Everything has to work together, otherwise you compete against yourself.

I define digital transformation this way: The re-alignment of, or new investment in, technology and business models to more effectively engage digital consumers (and employees), create new value and deliver delightful and relevant experiences at every touchpoint in the customer and employee journey.

In my research (see below), I’ve found that a common catalyst for rapid and ultimately holistic digital transformation is indeed CX. More so, by zooming in on the Digital Customer Experience (DCX) and asking what would my digital customer do and how is it affecting traditional behavior, companies can beeline towards fast innovation.

Customer Experience: Everything has to work together

This is the part where skeptics or laggards say: “Why would you focus on the digital customer? They’re a minority in the overall market. We should focus on customers as a whole!” They’re right in some aspects.

The thing is that ­they didn’t focus on customers. They focused on shareholders and stakeholders. Additionally, they continued to invest in technologies and systems that distanced companies from people all in the name of efficiencies, scale and profitability.

It’s the same argument with taxis in the face of Uber. They’ve had ­years to study how people’s experiences and expectations, how they were changing, how digital was affecting experiences and decision-making, how start-ups were placing customers at the center of services. Once Uber hit the market, it set a new standard for customer experience. People who take Uber don’t go back to taking taxis unless they have to. There’s an Uber of everything on the horizon of every business and digital transformation is the best defense and offense to compete in a digital economy.

Additional reports that will help you lead the way…

The Race Against Digital Darwinism: Six Stages of Digital Transformation

8 Success Factors of Digital Transformation: How Businesses Are Taking an Opposite Approach to Business as Usual

The 2016 State of Digital Transformation

Please read X, The Experience When Business Meets Design or visit my previous publications

Connect with Brian!

Twitter: @briansolis
Facebook: TheBrianSolis
LinkedIn: BrianSolis
Youtube: BrianSolisTV
Snapchat: BrianSolis

Invite him to speak at your next event or meeting. 

The post Innovation in Customer Experience Starts with a Shift in Perspective appeared first on Brian Solis.

Customer experience is said to be a top business priority for most companies around the world. Many experts agree that investing in CX establishes a competitive advantage against companies that prioritize the bottom line. While customer experience is a noble and important catalyst for business transformation, becoming truly customer-centric requires an introspective approach. This takes stepping back to define what customer experience really means from the customer perspective, what they truly value and also what’s primed, broken or missing to deliver next generation CX.

For example, the organizational infrastructure of many companies is modeled to support the traditional sales funnel. Like the funnel itself, many of the departments designed to support it are compartmentalized. This is why we have silos and why many CX evangelists say that we need to “break down the walls” between them. But, functions such as sales, customer service, marketing, retention, etc., were designed to serve objectives. At the time, those intentions were meant to best serve the customer in those respective stages. The idea and expense of integration was nonsensical in that reach group was funded and measured by how they operated and served customers independently not through integration. To challenge that would often go against the “steady as she moves” or worse, risk averse culture that govern many organizations.

The truth is that traditional business models were designed in an era before the consumerization of technology. Customers (and employees) are empowered by technology and by the connections and access social media, mobile and connected devices, etc., facilitate. As a result, the basic premise of how companies sell, serve and support customers now requires new models and methods that meet the behaviors and expectations of a more discerning generation. This is why I believe that one of the biggest trends in business today, digital transformation, is as much about technology as it is about people, operations, processes and perspectives.

Digital transformation is the realignment of, or new investment in, technology, business models, and processes to deliver new value to customers and employees in an ever- changing digital economy. In fact, in my research, I’ve found that customer experience is often the greatest ally in digital transformation efforts.

So what is customer experience?

Let’s start with what it’s not.

Customer experience is not the investment of new front end and back end technology to fix and modernize touch points. Those are acts of CX.

Customer experience is human and as such, is defined as the sum of all engagements a customer has with your company in every touch point throughout their lifecycle.

Starting with anything other than a customer-first or human-centered perspective is an easy mistake companies often make.

Believe it or not, CX is often a technology-led approach. It’s easy to fall into the technology trap though. After all, that’s how much of it is sold. For example, tools ranging from journey mapping to CRM to content management to data and analytics are aiming to help companies integrate and scale customer experience initiatives. But without understanding people, what’s important to them, and how they, and their preferences and values are evolving, businesses are not actually innovating in CX or basing what’s supposed to be customer-centered efforts on empathy or relevance. Work in customer experience starts with the customer’s point of view and considers their intentions, aspirations, challenges, etc., to fix problems and create new value.

Since customer experience is the aggregate sentiment and resulting reactions of people in each moment of truth, then all work must focus on delivering consistent, efficient, relevant and meaningful experiences. They must be connected, complementary and seamless. This means that previously separated business units must now cross silos to collaborate, connect back-end processes and systems and design a new kind of customer journey that’s intuitive and efficient for a new generation of connected customers. It’s not easy. This is why digital transformation is often led by CX. Great CX reverberates across the enterprise.

Innovation in CX Often Starts with an Opposite Approach

Some of the most advanced companies I’ve studied invest in CX with a human-centered point of view to give technology and operational investments purpose.

The direction each business takes in pursuing change is complex, and there is no one way to excel. Nor is there one tell-all anecdote, framework or app to map the journey of your next steps toward programmatic transformation. Rather, companies that succeed do so by taking an empathetic approach. They also seek executive sponsorship to support the formation of a cross-functional steering committee to 1) find critical missed opportunities, 2) fix what’s broken or causing friction and 3) identify areas for immediate and long-term innovation, 4) develop a roadmap for CX and 5) guide the company’s digital transformation.

To help, I assembled a series of best practices as informed by those leading CX initiatives and transformation in companies such as Discover, GM, Harvard, Metropolitan Museum of Art, Nestlé, Sephora, Starbucks, among many others. This resulted in what I hope is a useful framework and report, “Eight Success Factors of Digital Transformation: How businesses are taking an O.P.P.O.S.I.T.E. approach to business as usual.”

The framework offers insights and new understanding of technology, data and the connected customer. By learning from these companies and following the OPPOSITE approach, digital transformation and all the work, resources, and plans around it becomes identifiable, approachable and attainable for organizations.

OPPOSITE is an acronym that offers companies a step-by-step approach to digital transformation…

1. Orientation:Establish a new perspective to drive meaningful change.

2. People:Understand customer values, expectations and behaviors.

3. Processes:Assess operational infrastructure and update (or revamp) technologies, processes and policies to support change.

4. Objectives:Define the purpose of digital transformation, aligning stakeholders (and shareholders) around the new vision and roadmap.

5. Structure:Form a dedicated digital experience team with roles/responsibilities/objectives/accountability clearly defined.

6. Insights & Intent:Gather data and apply insights toward strategy to guide digital evolution.

7. Technology:Re-evaluate front and back-end systems for a seamless, integrated and native customer (and ultimately employee) experience.

8. Execution:Implement, learn and adapt to steer ongoing digital transformation and customer experience work

The OPPOSITE framework was designed to visualize your work building toward digital transformation and reshaping the customer experience. It’s also meant to help create alignment among different stakeholder groups to drive a larger, more unified movement in the modernization and, in some cases complete innovation, in business dynamics and models.

For companies looking to align their CX efforts with customer preferences, behaviors and values, look beyond your existing infrastructure and processes to unite stakeholders across the organization, create a shared vision, develop an innovative experience architecture and roadmap and take more meaningful steps towards thriving in the new digital reality.

Please read X, The Experience When Business Meets Design or visit my previous publications

Connect with Brian!

Twitter: @briansolis
Facebook: TheBrianSolis
LinkedIn: BrianSolis
Youtube: BrianSolisTV
Snapchat: BrianSolis

Invite him to speak at your next event or meeting. 

The post Human-Centered CX: Uniting Stakeholders Across the Enterprise to Deliver a Relevant and Holistic Customer Experience appeared first on Brian Solis.

I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again, mobile is the first screen, not the second screen. Design and invest accordingly.

Tell me if you’ve heard (or experienced) this one before…

You’re in the market for a new product. You’re on your mobile and you see something in social that prompts you to go online. You hop from page to page and site to site only to become increasingly frustrated with the process because the sites are incredibly difficult to navigate, relevant information is impossible to find, and you can’t complete a transaction without switching screens. Even though many sites/pages are optimized for small screens these days, they’re not optimized for mobile behavior and decision-making.

Did you know that in mobile-first micro-moments (as Google calls them) that 90% of mobile customers are not sure which brand they want to choose and 73% will go with the brand that offers the most mobile-friendly, useful content in each moment?

This is a big problem and it’s only multiplying.

Today’s customer journey is based on legacy rules, processes, and technologies. Mobile is largely a “bolt-on” to the evolving customer experience. From channels to pages to experiences to transactions, the future of mobile commerce is built upon a foundation of the past. In fact, in a recent report I published on the “State of Digital Transformation,” I learned that only 20% of companies were providing mobile-centric content in critical touch points. Yikes!

To flourish, m-commerce requires innovation in perspective and approach. Otherwise, you simply take new technology and capabilities and put them in a box held to yesterday’s standards. To truly innovate, businesses also have to accept what isn’t working today. You have to solve existing problems first before you open the doors that reveal new possibilities. Doing so takes thinking like mobile consumers and personally experiencing today’s journey for all of its challenges as well as its potential. I believe this takes not only a mobile-first philosophy but also seeing the inevitable world of mobile-only customer experiences.

It’s not news that mobile commerce is the future of commerce. All too often however, businesses confuse m-commerce with the ability to transact on smaller screens. It’s more than that of course. It helps to think of m-commerce as inclusive of the entire journey from discovery through transactions to relationship management. Simply investing in technology that adapts existing journeys to smaller screens isn’t enough. It’s as insufficient as it is elementary.  The entire journey must now be re-imagined to optimize discovery, decision-making and engagement. The role each page plays, how they’re experienced, and the functionality embedded along is ripe and deserving of innovation.

The steps that you’ve laid out for consumers of the past have now become obstacles that prevent natural or productive engagement. It’s just not as intuitive as you must think. We’re taking new technologies and potential and forcing customers through processes that are outmoded and to be frank, counter intuitive.

Why?

Let me ask you a question. Have you, not just your UX, UI or usability teams, experienced your customer’s journey on individual and across multiple devices? You simply can’t outsource an experience.

While design disciplines require incredible talent and experience, there is a human intuition that comes into play simply by living the brand the way your mobile customer does. It takes empathy to not only “get it” but also feel inspired to create new journeys that are meaningful and useful.

People use screens differently and as such, experience architects must design journeys, transactions and outcomes that are native to the screen and that meet expectations and aspirations accordingly. Mobile customers in large part wish to travel the journey without having to screen hop. And if they do, multiscreening should be seamless, allowing consumers to pick up where they left off while also optimizing desired outcomes based on known preferences, contexts, and states of mind. As such, technology should be invisible.

The era of mobile-first and mobile-only customer journeys are here. It’s time to learn how to thrive in these micro-moments to build and re-build customer experiences so that they’re intuitive, productive and even delightful. Otherwise, we’re forcing customers to conform to touchpoints simply because we can’t conform to their expectations. Guess how long that will last?

Please read X, The Experience When Business Meets Design or visit my previous publications

Connect with Brian!

Twitter: @briansolis
Facebook: TheBrianSolis
LinkedIn: BrianSolis
Youtube: BrianSolisTV
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Invite him to speak at your next event or meeting. 

The post Dial M for M-Commerce: Why Now’s the Time to Swipe Right for Mobile Revenue appeared first on Brian Solis.

Where are companies at in their digital transformation efforts?

This was the question I set out to answer in, “The 2014 State of Digital Transformation” report.  After two years, it was time to check-in on the digital transformation landscape again to learn how companies are changing, what challenges they’re facing now and what opportunities they’ve uncovered.

Recently, I hosted a webcast on behalf of Altimeter and Prophet to share the findings from the latest “State of Digital Transformation” report. Over the span of one hour, we reviewed the latest facts and figures on the top drivers and challenges, who owns digital transformation and why, what it is and also what it isn’t, and also the best practices of companies undergoing digital transformation.

At the end of the presentation, the number of questions that flew in were too great to address in the live airing. My host for the day, Lindsay Malone, had the great idea to schedule a follow up Q&A to address the remaining questions. I wanted to also share the result here with you.

Who is typically leading digital transformation at organizations?

According to our survey, digital transformation is largely led by the CMO (34%). Not far behind, though, is a digitally savvy generation of CEOs who, at 27%, recognize that it’s time to lead their companies into the 21st century (see page 11). This is a number that we expect to grow in the coming years.

How can I better understand how to measure/assess customers’ satisfaction along the customer journey?

When companies measure satisfaction they often use an array of existing metric systems (NPS to CSAT) or other homegrown KPIs to capture moments or transactions; but, these can’t gauge the overall customer experience.

If we consider CX to be the sum of all parts during a customer’s journey, then someone (a governing body) must be able to assess individual touchpoints and determine how those touchpoints add up collectively to whichever standard we are agreeing to measure. There are new types of metrics that can be introduced, but it starts with deciding what that benchmark standard should be. Shared experience value, happiness, and connectedness are metrics that matter and you’ll need a mechanism to capture how you measure on the standard for which you’re setting out to deliver. It’s a time for innovation on this front.

I find that many companies are still mired in old compensation models based on KPIs that don’t take digital efforts into account. Did you find that successful companies had changed compensation models as well?

There are a variety of interesting experiments in this regard, indeed, most operational elements are dated. This includes everything from process to measurement to reward and everything in between. Companies that are pushing innovation in this area are beginning to experiment with alternative management models which ask employees to work together toward different standards for innovating the processes they manage – this is changing review and reward mechanisms as a result.

For example, management is held accountable for bringing forward and implementing new ideas. Employees are responsible for discovering or considering new opportunities. This goes all the way up to the C-suite as a means of changing what a company values and how people work toward those desired outcomes.

Do you also experience that ‘innovation’ is ambiguous?

Most companies believe they are innovative simply because they are doing things they weren’t doing before or investing in new technology and bringing in new expertise to implement and manage it. But, my research shows that most companies are actually investing in iteration vs. innovation, and the differences between them are huge. I define iteration as doing the same things better. Innovation is doing new things that unlocks new value for your customers. Only one of those can lead to disruption, which is doing new things over time that make the old things obsolete.

What approach would you suggest for companies looking to create a digital customer experience strategy?

If you have a moment, please read a report on this subject I published earlier in 2016, “How Businesses are Taking the OPPOSITE Approach to Digital Transformation.” In this report, I provide eight  best practices that are guiding today’s successful organizations through their digital transformation efforts.

With over 3,000 solutions, the marketing technology landscape is a real nightmare. How do you navigate to find your way to the digital content management and distribution solutions?

Companies need to figure out their key objectives before trying to figure out the tools they need to support them. There are two resources I recommend checking out. My Altimeter colleague, Omar Akhtar published a report this year “Choosing the Tools for a Unified Content Strategy” which will help you navigate the intimidating landscape of content tools by creating clarity around your strategy, identifying gaps and requirements in your content operations, and providing a framework for rating tools that make the final cut.

Also, please read an article I wrote with LinkedIn, “Attention is a Currency.” In the article we reveal that only 20% of companies are aligning content to the customer journey. People don’t want to just see content; they want content that will take them to the next step. This report helps you to see content differently: 63% of consumers that they may deflect brands due to irrelevant content, 41% say they would consider ending the relationship with a brand because of irrelevant content, 22% said they already have.

Can you give an example of a company that has completed a digital transformation and provide an example of how it has tangibly improved its business?

The 2014 State of Digital Transformation report offers many examples of companies who have successfully executed digital transformation to drive business impact.

How is digital transformation realized in big companies (more than 5000 employees)?

The Six Stages of Digital Transformation report is a great resource for you to review for more information about this. This report shares the six phases that serve as a digital maturity blueprint to guide purposeful and advantageous digital transformation.

Have you seen any effective reverse mentoring programs designed to bridge the gap?

I’ve seen many interesting programs on this front, and have witnessed first-hand GE’s reverse mentoring program. There are many articles written about it – I suggest this would be a great place to start.

Please listen to the recording if you have a moment.

Also, if you have more questions about digital transformation, send your questions via Twitter to: Altimeter (@AltimeterGroup) or Lindsay Malone (@LZOMalone). If you’re interested in learning how Altimeter can help you with your digital transformation initiatives, reach out here.

Please read X, The Experience When Business Meets Design or visit my previous publications

Connect with Brian!

Twitter: @briansolis
Facebook: TheBrianSolis
LinkedIn: BrianSolis
Youtube: BrianSolisTV
Snapchat: BrianSolis

Invite him to speak at your next event or meeting. 

The post I Answer Your Questions About the State of Digital Transformation appeared first on Brian Solis.

We’re a company of builders. Of pioneers. It’s our job to make bold bets, and we get our energy from inventing on behalf of customers. Here are just some of the innovations pioneered by Amazon, and we’re always looking for the next one. – Amazon

Every industry is ripe for disruption. It’s what you do now that defines your future and legacy.

One of the most exposed industries to disruption at the moment, among many, is the retail sector. From the internet of things (IoT) to sensors to beacons to displays to apps and everything in between, each new trend introduces new challenges and opportunities to compete.

Technology trends however, do not solely define the future of retail. People count for everything. How they shop today versus how they want to and will shop in the future is the source of meaningful innovation. Technology changes. People evolve. That’s digital Darwinism at work. But there’s more at play.

Mobile, social, and every popular app or device that become the next big thing constantly push people further and further toward new and exciting experiences. Digital payments too, such as PayPal, Square, Venmo, ApplePay, Google Wallet, et al., are conditioning consumers to rethink the relationship between physical cash and transactions. With that said, even transactions are open to new dimensions.

On-demand companies such as Postmates, Uber, and the like, are hiding payments and transactions and packing everything together as “an experience.” Add everything together, and those paying close attention will see how outside forces are influencing new customer behaviors, preferences and expectations day in and day out.

Business as usual is no longer ok. Taking new tech and tying it down to old perspectives and processes is not innovation. It’s iteration at best and dangerous in common practice. Retail and e-commerce not only face new pressures to innovate, but also must explore co-existence and even collaboration to re-imagine the meaning of “space.” The reality is that competition can come from anywhere.

What’s the difference between iteration and innovation?

Iteration is using new tech to do the same things better or differently.

Innovation is doing new things that create new opportunities and value.

Only one sets the stage for a new normal.

What’s clear now is that customers do not want compromise. Yet, they’re forced to compromise in many ways throughout the customer journey. Innovation in shopper experience is all the work you do to conform to expectations and aspirations of people as they evolve instead of making them conform to your legacy perspectives, assumptions, processes and metrics of success.

Physical retail space, operations, and everything behind the scenes are your opportunities to disrupt and at the same time, thwart disruption and competitive threats.

Amazon Sets The Bar for a New Level of Customer Experience…Again

Amazon made news when it opened a brick-and-mortar bookstore to challenge everyone’s idea of what a bookstore could be in the 21st century. Now, Amazon opened a beta version of what a grocery store could be. Introducing Amazon Go. Opened only for employees in Washington at the moment, this 1800 square foot pilot demonstrates exactly how retailers need to rethink the future of retail beyond beacons, magic mirrors and apps.

What is retail?

That’s a serious question.

We tend to base the answer on retail as we know it. It’s a form of cognitive or validation bias if you will. When we consider new possibilities, they’re centered on a common perspective of today’s functional environment. We don’t start from a new center and as such, we unintentionally wrestle with iteration vs innovation.

But not Amazon…

This is a company that often starts with a blank slate, customer-first perspectives, and different questions:

What if…?

Might we…?

Why…?

Amazon is yet again, demonstrating that the future of retail is left to imagination. It seems that more and more, the path to innovation is tied directly to the ability to appreciate, but also see past, iteration.

So, what is Amazon Go?

Let’s start with what it isn’t…a traditional retail store.

Amazon is beta testing a grocery store for the 21st century that reconsiders space and transactions in a world that blurs mobile, online and spatiality. It all takes place in a new 1,800 square foot space at 2131 7th Ave in Seattle.

It all starts with an app…Amazon Go. You “check in” via the app when you walk in the store. Using a combination of sensor (fusion), computer vision and deep learning, the smart shelves track what’s removed and returned creating a virtual cart of sorts. When the shopper is finished, they…wait for it…just leave. There is no check stand, register, or clerk waiting to take your money. The app charges your account and sends you a receipt.

Brilliant.

In a statement, Amazon explained the inspiration for Amazon Go:

Four years ago we asked ourselves: what if we could create a shopping experience with no lines and no checkout? Could we push the boundaries of computer vision and machine learning to create a store where customers could simply take what they want and go?

Our answer to those questions is Amazon Go and Just Walk Out Shopping.

At the moment, the store is open to employees only. But it’s just a matter of time until it, or something like it, opens to the public. Make no mistake, analysts and strategists everywhere are now forced to rethink the future of retail from a new perspective…starting with adapting customer experiences to connected consumerism. Retail now has a new normal.

It’s smart brick-and-mortar retail fused with Amazon Prime built upon a new perspective for physical and virtual space all with the frictionless transaction model of Uber. All it takes to re-imagine the future of retail is to explore the experiences consumers love outside of the industry. Then and only then, can you balance iteration with innovation. As Steve Jobs once famously said, “Start with the customer experience and work backwards from there.”

Please read X, The Experience When Business Meets Design or visit my previous publications

Connect with Brian!

Twitter: @briansolis
Facebook: TheBrianSolis
LinkedIn: BrianSolis
Youtube: BrianSolisTV
Snapchat: BrianSolis

Invite him to speak at your next event or meeting. 

The post E-Commerce and Apps Pave the Way To The Future of Retail: Inside Amazon Go, A New Retail Experience appeared first on Brian Solis.

It was the day after the U.S. election. I arrived in Copenhagen. I was tired. It near the end of a two week trip that took me to Munich, Amsterdam, Beirut, and London. But, I was also excited to attend Digital Copenhagen, a conference that explores digital trends affecting the future of business. My presentation was set to challenge conventional beliefs around several important technological and business trends.

Before I took the stage, I joined the crew at TwentyThree to shoot a short video to summarize my talk. In just eight minutes, we traversed across important topics including the state and future of digital transformation, marketing, CX and EX (Employee Experience).

I wanted to share the video with you here. I hope it helps you. Please share your thoughts!

Please read X, The Experience When Business Meets Design or visit my previous publications

Connect with Brian!

Twitter: @briansolis
Facebook: TheBrianSolis
LinkedIn: BrianSolis
Youtube: BrianSolisTV
Snapchat: BrianSolis

Invite him to speak at your next event or meeting. 

The post Conventional Beliefs and Counterintuitive Realities Driving Digital Transformation, Marketing, CX and EX [VIDEO] appeared first on Brian Solis.

Like clockwork, every December, experts voice their predictions and advice to guide us in the coming year. Sometimes I offer my thoughts. Mostly, I spend my time curating emerging and disruptive technology trends. This year however, my dear friend Giselle Abramovich with CMO.com, reached out with an exceptional question and I couldn’t resist…especially since the answer was limited to 25 words.

Digital transformation and becoming a “customer experience business” is clearly the future for marketing. What is the one thing CMOs must get right in 2017 to make that happen?

I wanted to share the answer with you here :

“Customer experience is just that—what customers actually experience. CMOs must act less like executives or marketers to design meaningful, shareable, and unforgettable experiences that matter to real people, not just shareholders, in every moment of truth.” – Brian Solis, Principal Analyst, Altimeter, a Prophet company; Author, X: The Experience When Business Meets Design

Please share your thoughts in the comments!

Happy Holidays and Happy New Year!

Please read X, The Experience When Business Meets Design or visit my previous publications

Connect with Brian!

Twitter: @briansolis
Facebook: TheBrianSolis
LinkedIn: BrianSolis
Youtube: BrianSolisTV
Snapchat: BrianSolis

Invite him to speak at your next event or meeting. 

The post What CMOs Must Get Right In 2017 To Succeed as an ‘Experience Business’ appeared first on Brian Solis.

I spent the day at Mercedes Benz Research and Development North America (MBRDNA) in Sunnyvale, California getting a full briefing on the state of the company’s EV, machine learning/AI and autonomous work. More on that soon. By the time I arrived home later that evening, thank you Guy Kawasaki for the ride, I received an email from Uber that it was set to debut a bold new autonomous pilot in San Francisco effective immediately.

Wait. What?

Wow.

Indeed. Uber is extending its current mapping and self-driving ride/hail pilot currently underway in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania to the home of Uber itself…San Francisco. Now riders will have the opportunity to catch one of a small fleet of self-driving Volvo XC90s to their next destination.

That happened a lot sooner than I expected.

Now before we get too excited, let’s keep in mind that these are tests not the introduction of official self-driving services. Testing is critical to learn, break things, and advance the technology to accelerate safety and consistency. And while the car is technically driving itself most of the time, there is a specially trained driver ready to take control at any moment. There’s also an additional passenger who is tracking and analyzing real-time data to optimize performance along the way.

In a blog post announcing the program, Uber explained the benefits of testing in public, “Expanding our self-driving pilot allows us to continue to improve our technology through real-world operations. With its challenging roads and often varied weather, Pittsburgh provided a wide array of experiences. San Francisco comes with its own nuances including more bikes on the road, high traffic density and narrow lanes.”

This move didn’t arrive without controversy of course.

Immediately following the announcement, the California DMV claimed the test is illegal and issued the equivalent of a cease and desist.

The DMV requires a permit to test autonomous vehicles on public roads. Recently, it announced 20 companies were granted this special permit. Personally, I’ve been driven in a self-driving Mercedes as part of this program in Silicon Valley.

Uber believes  its technology is exempt because it operates with a full-time driver.

Anthony Levandowski, head of Uber’s Advanced Technology Group, in a blog post published early Wednesday morning, “The rules apply to cars that can drive without someone controlling or monitoring them. For us, it’s still early days, and our cars are not yet ready to drive without a person monitoring them.”

The DMV disagreed. And to be fair, every self-driving test by any carmaker or technology provider on public roads includes a specially licensed driver behind the wheel at all times.

“It is illegal for (Uber) to operate its self-driving vehicles on public roads until it receives an autonomous vehicle testing permit. We have a permitting process in place to ensure public safety as this technology is being tested. Twenty manufacturers have already obtained permits to test hundreds of cards on California roads,” the DMV said. “Uber shall do the same.”

“Nope” appears to be Uber’s response. It continues to drive its pilot program in SF pedal to the metal.

The Self-Driving Uber Experience

So what’s it like to be a human guinea pig in Uber’s autonomous experiment? Most consumers report that it’s a bit anticlimactic. Why? Because there’s nothing really to report. The drive seems normal albeit without someone operating the steering wheel, gas or brake pedals or guiding the vehicle in most cases. The human driver takes over to ensure safety, which is strange to say. That’s why we’re going autonomous in the future after all. Humans make mistakes. For now however, so do computers. That’s the point of the test.

There have been some interesting reports though that reveal just how much self-driving cars need to practice and learn given the countless scenarios that drivers encounter on any given day.

Marisa Kendall with the Mercury News offered details of her “eventful ride” with a self-driving Uber.

Then the car encountered a parked truck that was blocking part of the lane. At the same time, a bird flew in front of its camera. It was too much — the car slammed on its brakes in the middle of the street, ceding control to its human driver.

Believe it or not, this is how the car learns. Each drive feeds a master repository to help it perform in complex conditions that human drivers consider second nature. Kendall also documented a complicated scenario where the car performed normally…

But the car also “saw” pedestrians and bicycles and waited for them to pass before making turns. It noticed when the light turned green and started moving on its own, and once swerved to miss a truck sticking out into the road.

Other reports documented a “robot” Uber running a red light, which made the headlines of course. However, that story was human error according to Snopes.

It’s meant to be an immersive experience that gives riders a glimpse of what happens behind the scenes. Uber provides a large touch screen in the back that displays the car’s route and a real-time rendered version of the what the car sees through its cameras and laser guidance systems. Uber also lets passengers take selfies using a camera facing the back seat. They can then email the picture to themselves and share on social media for all to see, like and share.

The Next Car You Buy Won’t Be a Car You Actually Buy

Uber is investing ghastly amounts of money to prove out its self-driving technology to compete against, well, everyone it seems. But it’s not doing so to simply operate as a sophisticated taxi or limo service. Uber wants to be your next car.

In its announcement of the San Francisco pilot, Uber was transparent in its intentions…

Creating a viable alternative to individual car ownership is important to the future of our cities. And to get there, we need to fuse our ridesharing network with world class self-driving software and hardware.

This is a controversial topic. It almost seems inconceivable that humans won’t own cars. But none of this will happen overnight. In fact, many car markers are betting on shared services, developing “Vehicles as a Service” (VaaS) programs that account for shared or on-demand ownership. Human and robot driven cars will co-exists for the foreseeable future. Nonetheless, these are exciting times and we may or may not be the ones driving ourselves toward our new future. Some of us might just recline the seat and let the car do the driving.

UPDATE: General Motors CEO Mary Barra announced on December 15th, 2016 that the automaker will begin testing self-driving vehicles on public roads in Michigan. Recently, Michigan Governor Rick Synder signed a package of bills that legalize operation of autonomous vehicles. The goal is to bring the spotlight back to Michigan as the beacon of automotive innovation. Additionally, Barra also announced that the Orion Township assembly plant will product its autonomous test vehicles in early 2017. This is the same plant where the all-electric Chevrolet Bolt is produced.

“We expect GM will become the first high-volume auto manufacturer to build fully autonomous vehicles in a mass production assembly plant,” Barra said during a press conference.

GM is already testing its fleet of 40 autonomous vehicles at its Technical Center campus in Warren, Mich as well as on public roads in San Francisco and Scottsdale, Ariz.

Please read X, The Experience When Business Meets Design or visit my previous publications

Connect with Brian!

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This week, Google surprised the technology and automotive industries by announcing that it would spin-out its self-driving vehicle group as a formal business unit under the Alphabet umbrella. What does Waymo mean? Waymo CEO John Krafcik explained at its press conference that the company name stands for, “Way forward in Mobility.”

After years of speculation as to whether or not Google (now Waymo) would introduce its own fleet of self-driving cars, its now clear that the company will become an enabling partner to other carmakers. This is similar to the approach that the company takes with Android and smartphone manufacturers. However, if history repeats itself, Google seems to uncover ways to compete in the hardware spaces where it can compete without necessarily undermining its customers, i.e. Chromebook, Pixel, Home, etc.

Google’s autonomous vehicle program has been one of the most ambitious and public to date. Operating as Google X, this advanced fleet has been unabashedly driving around Silicon Valley for several years. It should be said that Google’s work on this front is unrivaled. Boasting 21 modified Lexus SUVs and 33 unorthodox pod-like small cars that can fully drive themselves, X vehicles have self-driven more than 3 million miles on the streets of Mountain View, Calif., Austin, Texas, Kirkland, Wash., and Metro Phoenix. Of those miles, 10,000 rides have safely carried Googlers and guests without the capacity for a human being to take the wheel…because it’s not there!

Put The Car Into Reverse for A Moment. How Did We Get Here?

Google is largely regarded as the most ambitious and quiet pioneer in the world of autonomous driving.

In September 2016, Google hired ex-Hyundai and TrueCar exec John Krafcik to lead the program. It also hired Kevin Vosen as its first general attorney and Tim Papandreou, former head of San Francisco’s Office of Innovation at the city’s Municipal Transportation Agency. These hires signaled the development of a formalized infrastructure that seemed to prepare it for commercialization under the new Alphabet structure.

At the press event, Krafcik announced that its autonomous project had already completed the first fully driverless ride on public roads in Austin in 2015 with a car that had no steering wheel or pedals in everyday traffic. This is a key differentiator in that widely publicized autonomous tests on public roads are performed with a human driver monitoring performance and safety.

What’s the Waymo way of business?

For those wondering if and when Waymo would or could launch a branded vehicle, Krafcik clarified that the company is focused on technology and not automobiles, “We are a self-driving technology company. We’ve been really clear that we’re not a car company … we’re not in the business of making better cars. We’re in the business of making better drivers.”

According to Krafcik, Waymo’s leading self-driving tech benefits “ride-sharing businesses, trucking, logistics, even personally used vehicles and licensing with automakers.”

But wait, there’s more…

Early in 2016, Fiat Chrysler and Google announced a partnership to test Chrysler Pacifica minivans as the first automotive partner for its self-driving technology.

Fiat Chrysler introduced a different type of model into the space, one that boasts additional passenger room over its competitors and also automated doors. This is important in a future of autonomous vehicle sharing and “taxis” because there will be circumstances when passengers forget to close the door upon exiting. Without human intervention, self-driving vehicles would become temporarily immobilized without automated features. For Waymo, this partnership presents the opportunity to scale tech with the help of automotive expertise to help it meet federal regulations and mass produce its technology in market-ready, consumer-oriented vehicles.

The Information reported recently that this relationship could also introduce a ridesharing service by the end of 2017 to compete against Uber and Lyft.

Please read X, The Experience When Business Meets Design or visit my previous publications

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Image Source: Arstechnica

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Many hotels offer USAToday for guests. Now guests at the Wynn Las Vegas will simply say, “Alexa, read today’s USAToday headlines.”

I believe the future of any brand is directly tied to the experiences they design and deliver consistently through the customer lifecycle. It’s not just any one thing, it’s everything. That’s the definition of customer experience after all. It’s not the technology company’s invest in, nor the touch points they modernize, nor the new policies and processes they introduce to streamline engagement. Customer experience is just that…it’s what a customer experiences in each touchpoint along their journey. It’s measured in each moment but more so, defined by the sum of all engagements a customer has with a brand. As such, experience must be considered from the customer’s perspective. And as such, it takes an empathetic approach to understand problems and uncover opportunities that were previously undetectable or simply not prioritized.

Here’s a simple story of one company thinking about technology with customer experience in mind.

Have you ever tried to call the hotel concierge or the front desk  just to get simple answers about local destinations, events or even instructions on how to use some of the tech in the room? Sometimes you’re put on hold seemingly forever. Sometimes you have to leave a message. Sometimes you get the answer and you’re able to move on. In a world where human engagement becomes less and less scalable, artificial intelligence, chat bots, apps, et al., are rising up to help people in times of need. But it’s what we do in each moment of truth, in each touch point, that defines the experience that people have and remember (or don’t).

The Wynn Las Vegas hotel started with customer experience and explored technology solutions to deliver against the standard they set out to define. What’s the experience they want to deliver? They want guests to feel like they have an in-room, on-demand butler. Steve Wynn announced that to do so, the company would place an Amazon Echo device in each of its 4,748 hotel rooms. Think of it as a “digital butler” of sorts.

In Wynn’s own words…

“I have never, ever seen anything that was more intuitively dead-on to making the guest experience seamlessly delicious, effortlessly convenient, with the ability to talk to your room and say: ‘Alexa, I am here, open the curtains, lower the temperature, turn on the news.’ She becomes our butler at the service at each of our guests.”

Wynn also shared his perspective of the relationship between technology and customer experience in an official statement…

“If I have ever seen anything in my 49 years of developing resorts that has made our job of delivering a perfect experience to our guests easier and help us get to another level, it is Alexa.  The ability to talk to your room is effortlessly convenient. In partnership with Amazon, becoming the first resort in the world in which guests can verbally control every aspect of lighting, temperature and the audio-visual components of a hotel room is yet another example of our leadership in the world of technology for the benefit of all of our guests.”

Alexa is the brain behind Amazon Echo and other Alexa-enabled devices – just ask and she’ll answer questions, read the news, set timers and alarms, recite calendars, check sports scores, control smart devices in-home, and more. Since Alexa runs in the cloud, she is always getting smarter – plus, it is simple and free for developers to build Alexa skills and integrate Alexa into their own products. In the US, there are already more than 6,000 skills available for Alexa. Beyond that, there are programming platforms, such as IFTT, for experience designers to think about implementing personalized experiences with Alexa as a CX platform.

Alexa isn’t the only intelligent hub on the market either. Google recently announced its Home device, which is similar to Alexa, but built upon Google platforms that boast years of algorithmic development. Either way, Wynn has set the bar for in-room experiences that can be used to inspire new applications that are limited only by creativity, imagination and inspiration.

As Joe Pine and James Gilmore famously predicted, we are now competing in an experience economy. Technology gets us part of the way. But, experience design is the new customer engagement and the new brand. It’s meant to be enchanting, shareable and unforgettable….to leave customers with an experience that, to use Steve Wynn’s words, is “seamlessly delicious.” Those moments need to be designed. The feelings people takeaway must also be designed. That takes empathy. To do so, we must think beyond transact to create value, which translates into meaning. Meaning gives way to memories. Remembrance begets loyalty. And, loyalty drives customer lifetime value.

Please read X, The Experience When Business Meets Design or visit my previous publications

Connect with Brian!

Twitter: @briansolis
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Every year, my good friend Jim Marous organizes a “top trends and predictions in retail banking” for the annual Digital Banking Report. I do my best to support his efforts as its an important topic and it’s also a discussion that applies to almost every industry. The report features 99 global financial services leaders plus me ;). The crowdsourced panel includes bankers, credit union executives, industry analysts, advisors, authors and fintech followers from Asia, Africa, North America, South and Central America, Europe, the Middle East and Australia. Jim and team also surveyed the industry, including banks, credit unions and solution providers (suppliers).

The 100-page report will be released next week. In the meantime, I wanted to share the highlights with you here. You can read the full article here.

According to the report, here are the top priorities for 2017…

1. Remove friction from the customer journey.

2. Use big data, AI, advanced analytics and cognitive computing.

3. Improve integrated multichannel delivery.

4. Invest in open APIs.

5. Build partnerships between banking and fintech firms.

6. Expand digital payments.

7. Respond to regulatory changes.

8. Explore advanced technologies such as IoT, voice, AI, et al.

9. Prepare for the rise of challenger banks.

10. Investment in innovation accelerators and innovation centers.

“Now more than ever, the mobile apps that become the ‘Uber of banking’ are becoming the minimum ante to compete in a connected economy. Technology aside, I believe that 2017 is a year that calls for transparency in banking, operations and customer engagement. The prophecy is coming true; we do in fact live in interesting times. Customers and employees are evolving – and how they think about banking, money and success is deviating from the old normal. It’s time for leaders to disrupt themselves before the gift of disruption is given to them by someone else.”

Please read X, The Experience When Business Meets Design or visit my previous publications

Connect with Brian!

Twitter: @briansolis
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LinkedIn: BrianSolis
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The post Top 10 Retail Banking Trends and Predictions for 2017 appeared first on Brian Solis.

With all of the talk about self-driving cars, you’d think that they were already on our streets. Well, technically in some states such as California, Nevada and Pennsylvania, automakers and technology vendors are already publicly testing autonomous vehicles¾with human drivers and engineers onboard. You might have also heard about the Tesla’s driving around town in “Autopilot” mode where drivers are doing everything but driving. Not all autonomous cars are the same. While engineers are striving for full self-driving mode one day, there are levels of autonomy that are hitting the roads for consumers now and also becoming more sophisticated intelligent over the coming years.

Beyond Tesla, many automakers have introduce “Level 1” or “Level 2” semi-autonomous features that bring the race to self-driving (Level 4 or 5) cars closer to reality each day. For example, some vehicles can self-park, suddenly stop to avoid collision, operate in adaptive cruise control mode, accelerating and slowing with the pace of traffic, or maintain a center position within a lane or change lanes, etc. This is just a small list of new features rolling out today and tomorrow.

But, what do these levels actually mean and how do cars progress toward robo-mode in the future?

To help, I’ve assembled a handy chart and set of descriptions by translating existing descriptions from multiple sources into something I hope helps better explain everything to the masses.

Level 0 – Zero Automation – Driving as Usual

A human driver is required to operate the vehicle safely at all times.

Driver in full control.

• Eyes on the road
• Hands-on the wheel
• Foot on the acceleration pedal/brake

Level 1 – Driver Assisted/Function-Specific

Intelligent features add layer of safety and comfort.

A human driver is required for all critical functions. The car can alert the driver to road conditions, environment and potential obstructions. In specific scenarios, the car can offer assisted capabilities such as steering (lane keeping) OR acceleration/deceleration in cruise control modes. The car can also stop itself to prevent collisions in certain conditions.

Driver in full control.

• Eyes on the road
• Hands-on the wheel (relief offered in certain modes)
• Foot on the acceleration pedal/brake (relief offered in certain modes)

Vehicle aids driver.

Level 2 – Partial Automation/Combined Autonomous Functions

Key automated capabilities become standard but driver still in control.

At least two simultaneous tasks become are managed by the vehicle in specific scenarios. In adaptive cruise control mode, for example, drivers can remove their hands from the steering wheel and their foot from the acceleration pedal leaving the car to drive itself at a pre-set speed while maintain a safe distance from other cars and also keeping itself within its lane. Automated lane changing and overtake capabilities are also introduced. The car also offers the ability to self-park in perpendicular or parallel spaces once driver places it into position.

Driver in control.

• Eyes on the road
• Hands-on the wheel or ready to be on the wheel in cruise control mode
• Foot on the acceleration pedal/brake or ready in cruise control mode

Vehicle in partial, temporary control (fixed scenarios).

Level 3 – Conditional Automation/Limited Self-Driving

The car becomes a co-pilot.

A critical shift in environmental monitoring awareness begins to take place. The vehicle now can manage most safety-critical driving functions in known (mapped) certain environmental conditions, i.e. highways and in traffic. A human driver is still present and expected to manage vehicle operation.

Driver in partial control.

• Eyes temporarily off the road but still observant
• Hands-off the wheel in specific scenarios but at the ready
• Foot off the acceleration pedal/brake but at the ready

Vehicle in conditional control (known environments).

Level 4 – High Automation

Capable of performing all safety-critical driving functions while monitoring environments/conditions in defined use cases.

According to the NHTSA, this is full self-driving automation. Here, vehicles only require input on destination and navigation details but humans are not required as pilots.  SAE defines level 4 as the specific performance by an automated driving system that includes all aspects of the dynamic driving task. SAE suggests that self-driving is fully possible in most road conditions and environments without need of human intervention between destination points. A functional driver cockpit is still in place (steering wheel, brake/acceleration pedal, etc.)

Driver becomes passenger but can assume control.

• Eyes off the road
• Hands-off the wheel
• Foot off the acceleration pedal/brake

Vehicle in control (once input is provided and in most situations).

Level 5 Fully Autonomous

Vehicle is completely driverless.

There is no level 5 per the NHTSA but the SAE outlines “5” as full-time automated driving in all roadway and environmental conditions without a human driver. These vehicles will not feature driving equipment and will no longer look like the vehicles of the past. They will take on new shapes to focus on human comfort and productivity, resembling lounges, offices, etc.

No driver.

Vehicle in control.

The State of Autonomous Vehicles

At the beginning of 2016, I started tracking the players in the autonomous industry. Every week I was updating and adding to the database. Toward the end of the year, it was becoming a part-time job just to keep it up to date. I wondered, if I had to do this much work to understand what’s going on, then how is everyone else supposed to stay up-to-date?

CES 2017 will be the starting line for a much faster competition. Anyone tracking the space can benefit from a primer. Ahead of CES, my colleagues at Altimeter, a Prophet company, Jaimy Szymanski, Aubrey Littleton and I, are releasing one of the most comprehensive reports on the “State of Autonomous Driving.”

This new report is being made available to everyone freely because the space is overwhelming and someone needed to organize everything in one place. This is being released as a beta version and features the up-to-date activity of 22 automakers and 34 HW/SW companies.

I hope it helps you…

Download the report here.

Please read X, The Experience When Business Meets Design or visit my previous publications

Connect with Brian!

Twitter: @briansolis
Facebook: TheBrianSolis
LinkedIn: BrianSolis
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Invite him to speak at your next event or meeting. 

Sources:

SAE International

NHTSA

2025ad

Mike Lemanski

TechRepublic

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Last year, I spent time with Mark Johnson, CEO and CMO of Loyalty360, to discuss all things Customer Experience (CX). The conversation was so rich, it resulted into a two-part series exclusively for the Loyalty360 community. Now however, I’ve been given the green light to share the conversation (parts 1 and 2) with you here.

Part 1 – This is the Year of Customer Experience

If you ask 100 executives what customer experience means to them, you would likely get 100 different answers. The need to define CX is compounded by the fact that modern customers expect the very best customer experience from their favorite brands, but not even these shoppers are sure what exactly that experience might entail.

In his literary works, including the latest X: Where Business Meets Design, Altimeter Group’s Principal Analyst Brian Solis examines what constitutes the core of customer experience, and how companies can make a cultural shift to become more customer-centric. Loyalty360 sat down with Solis to discuss his findings.

Mark Johnson, Loyalty360: There’s been discussion in recent years about what exactly customer experience means, how it can be achieved, and what kind of impact can it have on businesses. In your mind, how can we define customer experience?

Solis: The whole concept of customer experience, even down to its basic definition, has been essentially up for interpretation. The interesting thing is that we see perspectives on CX change based on the problem being fixed.

I think in order to truly define customer experience, we need to embrace the fact that customers are different now than previous generation. Because of the prevalence of digital media in their lives, they’ve completely upended the customer journey as we know it. What was once a continuous journey through the shopping experience is now a series of micro-moments.

In other words, to define CX we need to reframe the conversation to face challenges in a way that’s innovative rather than iterative.

The marketing paradigm has traditionally been very top-down and autocratic in the past; do you see changing this paradigm as a real challenge for marketers?

Solis: There needs to be a fundamental change in the structure of people who work on CX within an organization. Some of it can be summed up in a favorite joke of mine: “I tried to be creative, but I ended up stuck in meetings all day.”

In most cases, customer experience is driven by separate departments; they’re not collaborating with one another and by default, they’re contributing to a disjointed customer experience. While each group may be striving to do its best, CX is measured by the sum of its parts. Without collaboration, it can never be truly connected and holistic. Customers don’t see departments, they see an individual brand. That is so important as a marketer, and that’s why we’re seeing so much disruption now as companies like Amazon and Uber provide customer experience in ways we’ve never seen before.

What are some of the challenges you see with these disparate data sources, and being able to piece together these valuable data points?

Solis: As in anything, I think the biggest challenge is looking at how the organization thinks about the customer today, and finding friction points on which to focus data sets. I would use these friction points to spark discussions about who is steering the company’s customer experience efforts.

Most friction points fall within a grey area of responsibility. They occur when an issue falls into a space not completely covered by team responsibilities. I see this creating an opportunity for a new role within organizations that serves as a lynchpin for all experience-related concerns.

We often hear terms like “corporate commitment” and “organizational buy-in” when it comes to creating a customer-centric culture within a company. What have you seen in terms of these challenges?

Solis: In the past several years, I’ve really begun to start taking a hard look at culture. The reason for that is because I see innovation in pockets rather than a way of business and ask why companies are more innovative than others, and the answer often comes down to culture. Culture, like CX, is often hard to define, but what I see over and over again is that important cultural pillars such as employee engagement and leadership are not receiving enough attention or investment from the company.

Culture is massive, but what I’ve also learned is that if you’re waiting for someone to come along and tell you how to change or improve culture or anything, you’re on the wrong side of innovation. If, however, you think you can take it on and create real impact from within, even though it’s not your job, then you’re the right person for the job; change can come from anywhere in the company, from any level of the organization.

A lot of companies may think that they’re affecting culture and impacting employees in a positive way, but actually aren’t. How do you think these brands can pinpoint where they are in terms of culture and employee engagement?

Solis: Many executives simply don’t want or know to prioritize have the culture conversation. Most leaders want everything tied to performance, because that’s a tangible metric they can use for comparison, but it’s a rare gift when they peel back layers to get to the core of why things are (or aren’t) happening. If morale is low, the question becomes: how can we talk about innovation if we can’t take care of the culture and the people responsible for it?

I call this “the engagement gap.” When I’ve studied culture, I cast a company-wide survey about employee engagement practices. What I’ve found is that there’s a significant gap between where executives think employee engagement is, and where it is in reality. It’s a big eye-opener for companies that are investing in things like technology, journey mapping, and digital transformation, but aren’t thinking enough about the employee experience and getting people onboard and engaged to be genuine, empowered brand ambassadors.

We sometimes hear companies talk in buzzwords and acronyms, without necessarily showing that they fully understand the impact behind them, how have you observed this trend in your studies?

Without saying anything negative about things like NPS, CSAT, etc., I will say this: I’ve definitely seen executives set goals based on these metrics simply because increasing these measurements look good to shareholders and stakeholders. They do this, however, without a complete understanding of today’s customer. With how connected we are becoming and how the journey, behavior, expectations, values, etc. are changing, the NPS could evolve from “Would you recommend us?” to “Did you recommend us?”  The proliferation of social sharing or just the publishing of experiences online is changing the marketing landscape, and companies need to change the way they look at metrics and what it means to the new customer journey.

The reason that innovation is difficult is because we tend to look at the future wearing a lens colored with the past. If I walked into a room of executives and had a conversation about what customers like about the company, what they don’t like about the company, and how the company can drive millions of dollars of new revenue, I don’t think a single one would say no to that kind of information. The problem is that to get to that conversation, you need to wade through a mire of politics and risk aversion in order to let go of the way things are and were.

It’s time to move forward.

Please read X, The Experience When Business Meets Design or visit my previous publications

Connect with Brian!

Twitter: @briansolis
Facebook: TheBrianSolis
LinkedIn: BrianSolis
Youtube: BrianSolisTV
Snapchat: BrianSolis

Invite him to speak at your next event or meeting.

About Mark Johnson

Mark is CEO & CMO of Loyalty360. He has significant experience in selling, designing and administering prepaid, loyalty/CRM programs, as well as data-driven marketing communication programs.

Photo Credit: FastCoDesign

The post It’s Time to Change How Companies Perceive Customer Experience (CX) – Part 1 appeared first on Brian Solis.