successful companies are rebooting & transforming

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SuccessfulCompaniesareRebooting&TransformingByAnthonyDeLimaManagingDirectorCarteniaGroupInc.

Inspired by the "Me Generation",companies are rapidly rebooting todeliver thedigital capabilities that customerswant:morepersonalization,greater transparency,convenience and a seamless Omni-channelexperience.Theultimategoalistodeepenrelationshipswithcustomerssotheybuy more products and services and become powerful fans. Too,digital capabilities representa significant opportunity to grow and driveearnings.Leading technology organizations are buildingmodular architectures thatrelyalmostextensivelyoncloud-basedsolutionsanddeliverymodels.Newtoolsandprocessesarebeingbuilttoanalyzevastamountsdataonareal-time basis enablingproducts and services to be continuouslyengineeredandre-engineered.Anewdigitalsupply-chainthatreliestoa largeextenton fast moving and evolving content is setting pace for how companies


engagewithcustomersandpartnersonaglobal scale,drivingproductionforecastsandschedulesandensuringtherightmixofproductsorservicesareavailablewhenandwhereneeded.Astheriseofdigitalproductsandservicessetthepaceforhowabusinessis perceived, ithas becomeincreasinglyclear that digitalwindowdressingalone in the form of cool Apps, responsive websites or other short-termtacticsfallshortoftransformingthebusinesstoonethatisagileenoughtocompetewith traditional peers or more nimble startups.Consequently,companies regardless of their industry in most cases arereinventing critical internal and customer engagement processes andmethods. The goal; become fast,furious, creative and agile marketinnovators.Butwill these new processes and toolswork if organizationalculture andbehavior remainunchanged? This article examines 4key topics: ChangingCulture,RethinkingtheCustomerJourney,NewGovernancestructures,andTransformingcapabilities.MovingawayfromBusinessAsUsual.Successful companies grow. As they grow, they become more complexandeventuallycomplexityundermineswhatmadethecompanysuccessfulin the first place. Bureaucracy increases, centralized control breaksinnovation,progress slows and the entrepreneurial spirit uponwhich thecompany was founded disappears. Eventually the company loses touchwiththeircustomers.Whether culture drives technology adoption or whether technologychanges culture is still an open question. What is certain is that digitalstrategies at maturing companiesgo far beyond pursuing short-termtechnology tactics. They target improvements in innovation, decision-makingandultimately,transformhowthebusinessoperatesandrespondsto market dynamics. However, improvements in innovation includingdigitization of critical processes and the technology that underpins newoperating modelsaremost successful when a company'sculture shiftsfrom "business-as-usual" to one that becomes increasingly impatientabout change recognizing that new customer connections are the only


way to go. In factdigital strategies and underlying technology enablersdon'tdrivechange,peopleandculturedo.Althoughbusinessleadersdon’tneedtobedigitaltransformationexperts,they must understand what can be accomplished at the intersection ofbusiness and a new era of technology enabled digital capabilities. Theyshould also be prepared to lead the way in creating new, dramaticallydifferent business aspirations driven by how a new dynamic culture andinnovativetechnologycantransformthebusiness.UnderstandingCustomerEngagementWhen it comes to rethinking how a company engages in a new digitalera,mapping outcustomer journeys—the specificinteractions andprogression of touch points of how various personas engagewiththebusinessacrossallchannels,becomesacritical firststep in identifyingcriticalchangedrivers.Focusing on these interactions ensurescustomer engagementexpectationsare front and center to any change. Too, understandingcustomerjourneysforcesthebusinesstonotonlyrethinkcriticaloutdatedprocesses but also how to deliveran exceptionalexperience (digital orotherwise). The end result is a fundamental rethinking of culture andattitude and in many cases means getting back to a customer centricproduct/servicemodel,whichoften iswhatmadethecompanysuccessfulinthefirstplace.Companies subsequentlyfocus on how digital capabilities canmake eachtouchpointbetter, faster, andmoreefficient,whileintegrating theseintoone coherent experience that ensures customer excitement rather thanbrand disillusionment. New customer attitude metrics and performanceincentives will need to be definedto track and reward improvementsacrossvariouscustomer journeys instead oftypicalfinancial productindices.


"Tacklingtheend-to-endcustomerexperience."Digitizingselectstagesofthecustomerexperiencemayincreaseefficiencyin specific areas of the process aswell assome burning customer issues,but it is not a recipe for deliveringa truly seamless Omni-channelexperience, whichoften leavescustomers disappointed. To tackle end-to-end processes such as Order-to-Cash, process-digitization teams needinvolvement of key domain leaders. The end customer should be heavilyinvolvedtoo.Thebiggestmistakebusinessesmakeistoassumetheyknowwhat the customer wants. To do this, some firms are creating start-up-style, cross-functional teamsconsisting offunctional domain owners andtechnologyleadersinvolvedintheend-to-endcustomerexperience.Theseteams have the mandate to challenge the status quo and create newmeaningfulexperiences.

"DigitizingCustomerEngagementimpactsCulture."Customer journeys drive businesses toorganize themselves around thecustomerand mobilize employees to deliver value and a consistentexperiencein line with the customer's expectations across criticaltouch-points.Companiesarefindingoutthattraditionalorganizationalhierarchiesoften become inhibitorsin providing new digital era customers with aunifiedviewandexperienceacrosseverydomainofthebusiness.Whethera customer interactsthrough an on-line chat, socialmedia, a web site, amobileAPP,in-storecashier,oracustomerservicecallcenter,theyexpect

Rethinking the Customer Journey Mapping

Reviewgoalsforthe

productorservice

GatherResearch

ListCustomerTouchpoints

acrosschannels

ConductEmpathymap

BrainstormThrough

Variouslenses

CreateAffinityDiagrams

SketchtheJourney

Refine&DigiFze


a consistent experience. Channel strategy (your view of customerengagement)andtouchpoints(thecustomer'sviewonengagement)mustbesynchronized.However, breaking traditional organizational boundaries and behavioralhabits can be especially hardwhen a system of incentives exists thatrewardsperformancewithinspecificsilos.Infactmostincentiveprogramsare built aroundperformance metrics that have little to do with thesuccessful engagementwith customers across channels and touch-points.In some casesthese incentives actually go counter to achieving cross-organizationalintegrationofthecustomer'sexperience.Inanattempttoaddressthegap,businessesmostoftencreatecentersofexcellence with creative staff to digitize processes quickly. However, thissolves only part of the problem, leavingmany companies still wonderinghowtoreorienttraditionalsilo-basedcultureswithnewbehaviorsaroundenablingacohesiveend-to-endcustomerexperience.NewGovernanceStructuresInitiatingacustomer-centric governance makeover isthe foundation forchange. Appointing a chief customer officer who jointly with thecompany's executive team overseas all cross-functional customerjourneys isa first step. Channel focused customer engagement teamsdynamically restructure engagement processes based on real-timecustomer feedback and analytics.A new incentive system thatrewardscustomerexperienceandcustomerjourneysatisfactionbecomeskey.


The next step is establishing a distributed but coordinated organizationalstructure represented bydivision stakeholdersand market leaders thatbecomes the hub for measuring and reshaping how the companycontinually measures customer satisfaction and in turn provides bothprocessandtechnologytuningrecommendations.While theaboveare just the firststeps inrestructuringabusinessaroundcustomer experience and customer journeys, they create the foundationupon which to drive collaboration among departments and establishresponsibility and accountability to govern the customer experience atdifferentlevelsofmanagement.HowNimbleisyourITfunction?Businesses are increasingly faced with having to also transform their ITfunctions,architectures,infrastructuresandcoresystems.Manybusinesseshave embarked on a journeyto transform their core IT capabilities fromtransactionorientedsystemsandtraditionalgovernancestructuresthatarefocused on delivering predictable, reliable performance, to creating ITorganizations that aretuned for speed to market and capable of rapidlydelivering solutions that enable superior customer experience. Various

keyalignmentprioritiesdistinguishlaggardsfromleaders.


NewAppsanddatabasesneedtobedevelopedandlayeredaroundexistingtransactionalsystemswithoutdisruptingthebusiness.Thisnewgenerationofsystemsarebasedonagiledevelopmentandprototypingmethods,withweekly or even daily releases to enablean almost continuous re-engineeringofproductsandservicesbasedonstreamingmarketanalytics.Aside from a new layer of customer facing systems, first quartileperformersalsofocusondeliveringtheanalyticsandintelligenceneededtoprovidenear-real-time insights into customerneedsandbehaviors,whichinturnhelptunecustomerjourneysandvarioustouchpointcharacteristics.______________________ConclusionsItisbecomingincreasinglyclearthattransformingtraditionalcompaniesintofastandfuriousdeliverymachinestakesmorethanimplementingshort-termdigitaltactics.Aboiltheoceanapproachtorethinkingthecompany'sbrand, operational model, products, services and customer engagementmodels can be a daunting task. Nevertheless a blank-sheet approach torethinking the company will allow the business to prioritize ruthlessly,forcing a rethink ofthose critical aspects of the business that createmeaningful customer experiences while automating traditional processestoachievegreateroperational speedandefficiency. Too, theprocesswillhelp retire legacy practices and processes that over time have come toweigh the company down. It is not just an approachto create greatercustomer intimacybutalsoawaytogetbacktothebasicsthatmadethecompanysuccessfulinthefirstplace.Ultimately change in cultural attitude and the acknowledgement thatchange ispivotal to transforming thebusiness isacritical first step in theprocess.