the customer journey - zehnplus

DIGITIZING THE CUSTOMER

JOURNEY

Copyright © 2019 Stephen J. Wright. All rights reserved.

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First Edition: 31 July 2019

ISBN 978-3-9525126-4-7 (Hardcover)

ISBN 978-3-9525126-3-0 (eBook)

Published by Bluetrees GmbH

www.stephenjwright.com

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TABLE OF CONTENTS

Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5

Economic Shift: The Business World Has Changed . . . . . 9Traditional Stores Closing and Online Stores Thriving . . . . . . . . 9Widespread Availability of Knowledge . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12A Shift to Digital Marketing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13Development of New Communication Channels . . . . . . . . . . .15New Business Models . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .17

Customers Buying and Interacting with the Help of Technology . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21

Identifying a Need . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22Searching for Information . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23Evaluating Options . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 26Making the Purchase . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 28After-Purchase Evaluation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 31

Understanding the Digital Customer Journey . . . . . . . 33What Is a Customer Journey? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 33What Is a Digital Customer’s Journey? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 34What Are Touchpoints? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 34What Is a Channel? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 35What Is the Signifi cance? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 36

What Are the Benefi ts of Your Business Being Close to Your Customers? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 37

The 3 Critical Core Processes Running Through a Business . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 43

Growth . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 43Marketing Activation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 44Implementing a Customer Relationship Management System . . . . . . 46An E-Shop . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 48

By Stephen J. Wright

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Effi ciency . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 49Managing Cash Flow in a Business . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 50Accounting . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 51Accounting Software . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 52E-Billing System . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 53

Customer Service . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 54What Is Customer Service? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 54Why Is Customer Service so Important? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 55A Customer Service Portal . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 56

Comparing Offl ine vs. Digitized Business Customer Interactions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 61

Why Online Customer Interactions Are Ideal . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 62Why Offl ine Customer Interactions Are Not that Bad . . . . . . . . . . 65A Website Is Not Enough . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 68

How to Integrate a Digital Customer Experience . . . . . .71Artifi cial Intelligence . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 72What Is Artifi cial Intelligence? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 72Machine Learning . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 73What Can Artifi cial Intelligence and Machine Learning Do For Your Business? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 74

Putting It All Together: A Mobile App . . . . . . . . . . . . 77

What’s Next? A Communication Strategy . . . . . . . . . . 87

A Shift to a Circular Economy . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 91What Is a Circular Economy? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 91How Do You Become Circular-Economy Compliant? . . . . . . . . . . 93

Businesses that Have Led by Example . . . . . . . . . . . . 99

How to Put Things into Action . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .103

Getting the Bigger Picture . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 113

Conclusion . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 119

5

INTRODUCTION

T his book aims to serve as a guide to walk you through the

practical side of digitizing your customer journey.

Let’s face it… It’s tough being a business person in the world

we live in today.

Technology has dominated every aspect of today’s business

world. We have digital marketing platforms, online shopping,

mobile applications, industrial robots, machine learning

algorithms, virtual reality, augmented reality, you name it.

And the worst part is…you have to keep up with nearly all of

them.

Why?

Well, because today’s generation is tech-savvy. It is possible

that most of your customers today are more informed about

these seemingly complicated technologies than you are. And

they expect you to meet them at their level.


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If you are reading this and thinking, I only run a simple

family business and I know my customers, I don’t need all

this technology, then you couldn’t be more wrong. You cannot

afford to be ignorant of technology.

It doesn’t matter what industry you operate in; technology is

going to affect it somehow and you had better stay vigilant. You

see, today’s global marketplace has become very competitive.

Startups will always be looking for opportunities to innovate

in almost any industry, and technology offers them ample

opportunities to succeed in today’s world.

As more startups come to the scene in literally every industry, they

will bring amazing tech innovations that will delight and attract

your customers. You will be left watching in disbelief as they steal

your market share – a phenomenon known as ‘disruption’. And

this type of pressure will force you to adapt or go out of business.

Also, the world is warming up to a new idea called ‘a circular

economy’. If you’ve never heard of this term, it is a system that

aims at optimizing the use of resources and reducing waste as

much as possible. Digitization will be the key enabler to make

this happen.

If you do not embrace changes like this, your business is likely

to suffer in the near future.

If thinking about keeping up with all these technologies (or

losing your business if you don’t) makes you get sick to your

stomach, don’t fret. You are not alone. I can tell you: Many

senior executives report adoption of emerging technologies

DigitiZing The Customer Journey

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and changes to infrastructure as one of the top challenges that

businesses face today.

Fortunately for you, I have some good news: You can do

something about it… Starting now. With just a little bit of

guidance about what needs to be done and a small team of

experts, digitizing your customer journey will be possible. This

isn’t rocket science after all.

And that is what this book aims to provide you with – knowledge

that informs you and your team on what needs to be done and

how to do it step-by-step.

In this book, you will get to answers to the following questions:

What are some of the ways technology has brought

change to the economy?

What is a customer journey?

What are the three most important processes in every

business?

Why is a business that has digitized its processes likely

to do better than one that hasn’t?

What are the best ways you can use technology to

digitize the customer journey?

What is a circular economy?

What’s more is that I have tried to keep the language in this

book as simple as possible so that you won’t need a degree in

computer science to make use of the information.


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Think of the text as ‘a brain-friendly guide in digitizing your

business’.

By the time you are fi nished reading this book, you will be

much more informed on current matters regarding digital

transformation. Additionally, you will have a good idea of

the steps you need to take in order to implement a smooth

transition in your business in the most effi cient way.

You will be miles ahead of other businesses that will choose to

turn a blind eye to this necessity.

Are you excited? Great! Let’s get started…

9

Economic Shift: The Business World Has Changed

T he business world has changed in ways that you and I

would never thought possible a decade ago.

It has become more demanding. It is forcing us to kick ourselves

in the shins and do something about it.

L et us look at some of the ways that digitization has brought

about change in the business world.

Traditional Stores Closing and Online Stores Thriving

One of the areas in businesses that have witnessed a trans-

formation due to technology is the retail sector.


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Previously, traditional brick and mortar retail stores did really

well. But today, the same can’t be said of them.

Some of the best of the best are closing down their shops, and

even fi ling for bankruptcy. One such example is Sears. Sears

has been a dominant retail player in the U.S. for more than

125 years. However, in October 2018, the company fi led for

bankruptcy after a long battle trying to stay afl oat.

Another good example is Mattress Firm. It is another key

player in the retail sector, which specializes in mattresses.

The company fi led for bankruptcy in October 2018 as well. It

proceeded to shut down 900 stores before obtaining emergency

funding to try and stay alive.

Even accessories retail giant, Claire’s, fi led for bankruptcy in

April that same year. It was reported that the company was

struggling with about $2 billion of debt and was looking for

a way of trimming it. The company restructured and bounced

back from bankruptcy in mid-October.

These aren’t the only stores that closed down or fi led for

bankruptcy. There are many others that suffered a similar fate.

In Britain alone, it is estimated that 16 stores close down every

day. In fact the media has coined a name for what has been

happening in the retail sector lately, they call it the ‘Retail

Apocalypse’.

And while popular brands like Tesla, Victoria’s Secret and Gap

Inc. are lucky to be surviving, most of them have woken up to

what has been happening and are announcing closure of most


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of their brick and mortar stores in the near future, citing shifts

to online sales, according to reports by CNBC.

What is surprising is that while some of these stores have been

struggling, teetering on the brink of bankruptcy, and even

completely going out of business, their online counterparts

have been doing really well.

Amazon, for one example, is already an ecommerce

phenomenon. Sales projection by eMarketer have established

that Amazon is likely to command 47 percent of all online

spending in the U.S., a number that is expected to reach $282

billion.

Also, Alibaba of China is reported to have generated a whopping

$30.8 billion on Singles Day in 2018, a far cry from the previous

year’s $25.3 billion. The amazing thing is that these sales were

generated within 24 hours.

Other retailers that are seeing their online sales going up as

well are Walmart, Best Buy, Lowe’s, Nordstrom, Target, and

many others.

Looking at the trend seen by traditional stores closing and

online sales shooting up, it should be clear to you as a business

person what kind of direction you are required to take.

Otherwise, you risk putting your business through the same

ordeal as those major brands that failed.

Let’s look at another change that is taking place because of

adoption of digital technologies…


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Widesp read Availability of Knowledge

If you are looking at the rapid changes in technology in the

business world and wondering, How did this happen? I have

an answer for you.

Knowledge has become more readily available.

Yes, the relative ease of fi nding knowledge has made it easy for

ambitious entrepreneurs to bring massive technological changes

to the marketplace. Knowledge is available everywhere. You can

fi nd resources on websites, blogs, YouTube, Udemy, you name

it (and much of it is free or for very little cost).

Today, you don’t have to go to college to know how to develop

a mobile app. If you have a strong passion for computer

technology, there is a lot of information on the web that can

walk you through literally every stage of developing an app,

along with numerous examples.

Even education institutions are encouraging this shift.

Massachusetts Institute of Technology today hosts MIT

Open Courseware (OCW), an online platform that offers all

educational material from the university for free to the world.

You can study courses on anything – from artifi cial intelligence

to computer science to engineering. It’s all there, and for free!

And that’s not all, recently, a joint effort of top universities in

the world came together to form EDX.org, another platform


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that offers up-to-d ate course materials for free and on a paid

basis for premium courses.

And with knowledge being available like this to literally anyone

who is willing to seek it, adoptions of technology in business

have been on the rise.

Evidence of this has been everywhere. Back in 2013, a teenager

sold an app to tech-giant Yahoo for a staggering $30 million.

When asked in an interview how he was able to accomplish

such a remarkable feat, he said that he taught himself how to

code when he was just 12 years old.

At the time of this writing, ABC is featuring a story of a 16-year-

old dropout, who founded an app and is the CEO of a company

that is reportedly worth millions of dollars.

With knowledge being available to literally anyone cheaply and

at this scale, you can fully expect that the technology craze you

see today is increasing as time goes by.

A Shift to Digital Marketing

Each and every business in existence needs to market.

However, today, we see a dramatic shift on how marketing is

done in business. Traditional methods of marketing like radio,

TV, billboards, posters, etc. are rapidly being replaced by digital

channels.


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Social media, for instance, has brought about this change.

Recently, there has been an explosion of advertising on

social media by businesses. Vox, for instance, estimates that

companies will spend $40 billion more this year on social

media advertisements than on TV.

The amazing thing about social media marketing is that you

do not need vast budgets to market your business. You can

even market for free and gain enough traction for business.

There are entrepreneurs who have built huge followings on

social media and run massively profi table businesses without

spending money on advertising.

For instance, it is reported that Airbnb used Craigslist to get

most of its initial traffi c. Another company Cupshe, which

specializes in creating swimsuits, has built a massive Instagram

following of more than 800,000 followers, purely from sharing

user-generated content.

And even when you resort to spending money on social

media marketing, it is way cheaper and worth the effort. Lyfe

Marketing reports that social media is one of the few places

that exist where you can reach over a 1000 people with less

than $3.

Think about that…less than $3! How much money will you

have to spend just to get a minute long commercial to go live

on TV?

And this isn’t about you spending less money only to get

meaningless results. Top brands like American Express, Mint,


15

Zappos and The Wirecutter credit most of their success to

social media marketing strategies.

Such are the type of changes we are seeing in today’s digital

world. And it doesn’t stop there.

Development of New Communication Channels

You know the importance of communication in business, don’t

you?

Well…in today’s world, communication is more developed than

ever. Old communication technologies are being rapidly phased

out.

Take for instance the news industry. Not long ago, you could

only rely on TV, radio or newspapers from the big media

houses to get business-related information.

But today, it’s a whole different ball game.

Media companies are having to compete with bloggers and

social media infl uencers, who always seem to have a competitive

advantage.

Today, news vendors are looking at a busy generation that is

glued to mobile devices and computer screens with a short

attention span. Most of them are having to step up their game


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or risk being outdone by amateurs, who have the ability of

dominating these new communication channels.

The digital world has even changed how we make phone calls.

Today, with the availability of Voice over IP (VoIP), you can

make cheap international voice or video calls using the internet.

What is even more amazing is the widespread availability of

these communication channels. Until recently, Skype was the

only platform where you could access this type of technology,

and it would usually cost money. But now, voice and video calls

have become available across platforms such as Facebook and

WhatsApp for free.

This type of disruption is forcing telecommunication companies

to up the ante or else… And the ‘or else’ is going out of business.

Fortune Magazine once reported that the telecommunications

industry in the U.S. alone is looking at a $386 billion loss in

revenue to Skype, WhatsApp, Facebook, and others.

Companies like Ring Central, Avaya, AT&T and Dial Pad have

already welcomed this change and are currently some of the

top-rated providers of commercialized VoIP services in the

U.S. according to PCmag. It is likely that others will join the

list in the future as well, either by providing the service or

manufacturing the equipment needed for the infrastructure.


17

New Business Models

Technology has also impacted the way we do business.

We have just seen that online stores are thriving and traditional

stores are closing. However, those changes are not exclusive to

the retail industry alone. Technology has revolutionized many

industries and brought about changes that cannot be ignored.

Take, for instance, outsourcing. Most of the products that

you consume today on the market aren’t manufactured by the

company that sold them to you. The company mainly focuses

on building the brand name and creating possible designs for

their products. The actual manufacturing is done elsewhere.

Yes, you may be surprised to fi nd out that the iPhone you are

holding right now was manufactured at some factory in China.

Apple may have come up with the specs and the schematics,

and will have been involved in the design process, but they

probably sent them to a production facility in China to do the

rest of the work.

It is way cheaper and more effi cient for Apple to operate this

way.

This isn’t only happening in the manufacturing business. Today,

many companies are relying on freelancers to get work done.

Hiring full-time staff is becoming a thing of the past. It is only

done when absolutely necessary, and the number of people

obtaining such positions is minimal.


18

Take media companies for example, higher quality content than

ever before is demanded from them by their audiences, yet they

continue to deliver the goods at low costs. But, it shouldn’t

come as a surprise to you to fi nd out that most journalists, who

create those stories you read every day operate as independent

freelancers.

You may fi nd a huge media company renting a very small space

in a large building since most of its workers work from all over

the world in their homes.

Even tech companies don’t develop software in-house; they

subcontract developers to do the work. The app you use to

order food to your doorstep may have been developed by

someone else who doesn’t even work on the company premises.

I once walked into my bank to change a few details regarding

my account. I was shocked to fi nd only two teller-booths were

manned. Most of the staff had been sent packing because their

services weren’t needed anymore.

The reason?

Customers were doing most of their banking online.

And it is important to note that this was a branch that was

operating at the heart of one of the busiest cities.

These few examples show you how old business models are

rapidly being replaced with newer ones.

In short, the impact of digitization on the economy is real. And


19

that isn’t something you can just shrug your shoulders at or

turn a blind eye to.

If you want a fi ghting chance in business, you have to abandon

the old tired ways of the past and usher in the new and latest

changes. Failure to do so may result in you going out of

business.

However, I don’t mean that everything you are doing right

now has stopped working and that you need a complete system

overhaul. No.

As we will see in the next chapter, there are some true and tried

methods of the past that are still effective even today. However,

many of them are being supported by the new technologies.

So, your challenge may be looking at how you can achieve the

right balance of both old and new business techniques and

approaches.

Let’s discuss that next.

21

Customers Buying and Interacting with the Help of Technology

D igitizing your customer’s journey is not about operating

online exclusively. It’s about properly integrating both

offl ine and online experiences to achieve some sort of hybrid

customer experience.

In other words, it is about using digital technologies to

support and delight a customer, as they look to buy your

product. This means you can still run a physical store, but will

need digital technologies such as online shopping, augmented

reality, robots, comparison shopping, etc. to support the new

generation of buyers, who will be looking to use them as they

buy.

The goal of this chapter is to show you how you can implement

this hybrid experience. To do this, we will be discussing the

fi ve stages that a customer goes through as they look to buy


22

a product. We will look at how technology is being used to aid

the process at each stage.

Ready? Let’s go.

Identifyi ng a Need

Typically, your customer begins by identifying a need they have.

Depending on the nature of the situation, this will be the fi rst

stage where your assistance and guidance will be required.

Let’s look at the fi rst scenario…

There will be situations where your customer will know exactly

what it is they require. If the purchase is being fueled by a pressing

or urgent need of theirs, the customer may simply walk into your

store or fi nd the product on your website, and buy it.

In such a case, your help may not be necessary.

However, there will be situations where your customer is not

buying from a position of pressure to meet a need. The truth

is; your customer will not always have a clear idea of what they

are going to buy from you before they enter your store or fi nd

their way onto your website. They may have a need, but it is

not a priority, and given time it could be forgotten.

So, your role as a business person is to point out your

customers’ needs to them. As you know, one of the ways


23

you can do this is by advertising. Taking the initiative and

advertising your products is an effective way of reminding

customers of their low-priority needs, showing them how your

products solve their needs, and encouraging them to purchase

from you.

The good news is: This is the fi rst place where you can take

advantage of digitization. There are several digital marketing

channels that let you reach your particular audience. Facebook,

Twitter, Google and Instagram are some good places to start,

but there are many other options too.

So, your customer has identifi ed a spe cifi c need they had

through the help of your advertising and now their interest in

your product is piqued. What next?

Searching for Information

If you are lucky, your customer may immediately respond to

your advertisement and make the purchase right then and

there. However, such a scenario isn’t very likely to happen in

the world we live in right now, especially if you are reaching

the customer for the fi rst time.

In the past, all you had to do was market your products through

various channels, and then wait for customers to knock at your

doorstep. Whatever promises you made to them, whether real

or fake, they mostly had to take you at your word.


24

These days, that just doesn’t happen.

Customers are very wary these days. Many have their guard up.

This is especially true if you are a new vendor. If you are an

established brand, you have established trust, credibility and a

reputation that makes selling products easier. But if you are

new to the block, people don’t trust you just yet. So there is

more work to be done.

And like I said before, information is now more accessible than

ever. So after a customer recognizes a need, they will probably

go on a knowledge quest to be suffi ciently informed about all

their potential options.

And that’s not all; your customer will want to know what your

product will be able to do for them. So, they will research

product features and benefi ts. Why is your product going

to be the best solution compared to others that are on the

market? Your customer will want to know all of this before

buying.

They will want to investigate whether your product delivers

what it promises. What are some of the experiences other

people have had as they used your product? Is there evidence

for it? Are there case studies?

Are you beginning to see just how complicated buyers are these

days?

Don’t take it personally; there are a lot of bad guys on the web.

Getting ripped off, scammed, buying a product of poor quality,


25

and many other unpleasant things are realities that people have

learnt to accept as they operate in cyberspace.

So your customer can’t be too careful.

Now if you encounter a customer, assume that they have done

their research. They have probably looked at their decision from

many angles.

“So how do you assist your customer during this process?” you

are asking.

The bad news is that there are no easy, quick-fi x approaches

here. But a solution does exist. And if implemented well, you

can get a substantial competitive edge.

That answer is…

Content marketing. A well-crafted content strategy, that aims

to inform, entertain, develop trust and familiarity with your

customer, can work wonders at this stage.

This is where you create videos showing your product in use,

conduct research to develop and present case studies, write

blog posts that communicate the value your product delivers,

show product testimonials from happy customers, etc.

We will look more at content marketing briefl y later on. But

I want you to understand that these days content is the new

form of marketing.

Content marketing requires heavy investment in terms of

time, money and effort. But, it is likely to be a requirement to


26

succeed in the near future, so you better step on the gas and

conduct research in this area.

So your customer is now informed…then what?

Evaluating Options

Understanding the customer’s search for information is a

critical stage in the research process for your business. The

next step is evaluating options.

This is where the consumer begins assessing the product you

are offering. As they do this, they will make comparisons with

other similar products that exist in the marketplace. The winner

takes all.

Whatever the procedure your customer follows to reach this

decision may vary. And there is no standardized method of

determining how your customer will go about making decisions

in this phase.

Your customer will make choices based on what is important to

them. What kind of value are they looking for in your product?

Are they looking for price discounts? Are they looking for

comfort? Is the product a status symbol? Are they looking for

durability?

There could be a wide range of factors that mean a lot to your

particular customer. Gaining access to this type of information


27

is based on how well you know your customers and discovering

ways to get closer to them.

You can help support this process digitally. For instance,

adding your product to a comparison shopping service can go

a long way. Comparison shopping is a simple practice where

consumers make comparisons of prices of goods or services

offered by companies before they choose what to purchase.

Realize that your consumer may use Google (or some other

search engine) to conduct all types of research.

It would be helpful if, as they conducted this research, your

product came up against other similar products, so that they

could compare easily. To save you the hassle of creating your

own program, Google already offers a comparison shopping

service. You can read all about it here: https://support.google.

com/merchants/answer/7524491?hl=en and see if it is worth the

investment.

I understand that there could be other similar services, but

Google has the most popular program, and the one most likely

to be found by your typical customer.

Your customer also looks to other people to weigh in on the

purchase that they are considering. There could be someone in

their social circle that knows something about your product,

and they would love that person’s input too.

So your customer is likely to turn to social media for help like

this. For instance, Forbes reports that 72% of millennials make


28

purchases based on Instagram posts alone.

So, you can help support this process by being actively

engaged on social media. You can also promote this process

by providing social media share buttons on your website. That

way, a customer browsing for a product can easily promote

your product on social media and get feedback on their post.

Now we are at the next step.

Making t he Purchase

After going through the previous steps, your customer is

convinced that they want to buy.

Now there has been a lot of talk recently that traditional brick

and mortar stores are doomed. But that doesn’t seem to be the

case, on the contrary stores that have operated exclusively online

such as Amazon and Alibaba are now opening physical stores.

Why in the world would they be doing that?

It turns out that there are advantages of shopping offl ine, which

buyers aren’t willing to give up just yet. For most people, they

actually want to be able to see, touch or test a product, and

this is a vital and necessary part of the customer experience �—

especially if that product requires a large fi nancial investment.

When you look at it that way, you realize that the number

of physical stores may dwindle, but they will probably not


29

disappear anytime soon.

In addition, physical stores offer you, as a business person, an

almost unlimited number of opportunities to delight customers

and provide them with a memorable experience that is likely to

foster strong relationships and loyalty.

When it comes to using digital technologies to delight customers

in your stores, it would be safe to say that the only limit is

your imagination. I would narrow down some specifi c things

you could do to improve your in-store customer experience,

but that wouldn’t make any sense. Businesses are diverse and

the applications are just as varied.

I will, however, provide you with a few examples of stores that

are already ‘doing it right’. It is my hope that you will gain some

inspiration to start creatively thinking of similar solutions.

Here they are:

1. Hema in China – which is owned by Alibaba – is a

supermarket that stocks items on its shelves which contain

a QR code. This QR code can be read by any smartphone

that has a QR code scanner app.

Inside the code, customers can fi nd more information

about the product they are looking to purchase, such as its

price, the manufacturing date, expiration date and other

important information.

In addition, the store has an app with an embedded QR

code scanner, which allows customers to pay for the items


30

electronically, which is more convenient than waiting in

line for the cashier.

2. Another Chinese company, JD.com – which is a rival of

Alibaba – has adopted smart shopping carts.

These carts are capable of following the customer along

without being pulled or pushed. How cool is that?! This

allows you, the shopper, to concentrate on other things as

you shop without worrying about the cart.

Also, the store has smart mirrors that are able to detect

when you’ve picked an item off the shelf, and display

information about that item.

3. Frame Styler has developed a software solution that can

be installed in a tablet. The software produces a 3D image

of a customer who wants to purchase glasses. Through its

smart algorithms, the software is able to select the best

match for that particular person, all in a few seconds!

4. Ecommerce giant Amazon has stores called Amazon

Go, where people can shop physically for products and

pay through the Amazon Go app without an in-person

cashier.

5. And Audi is using virtual reality to offer customers an

enhanced experience. They can preview their ideal car,

design it and test it in different locations.

These are just a few examples. There are many, many more

creative digital solutions out there. All you have to do is


31

carry out some research and identify what kinds of emerging

technologies are coming up within your line of business and

look for ways to adopt them.

Let’s look at what the customer does after making the purchase

and what you can do about it.

After-Purchase Evaluation

Lastly, it is important to consider what happens after the

purchase. Typically, during this time, your customer has had

the experience of using your product or service, and they know

what it’s worth.

This moment is crucial to a business that wishes to make more

sales in the future.

If your customer feels that the product or service they purchased

was of a high value, they may express this in a product review

or promote your business on social media, which will have

a positive impact on the growth of your sales.

And if the customer feels your product/service falls short

of their expectations or fails to deliver on your company’s

promises, their feedback c an be vital for the development of

future products and future sales. Although it could temporarily

hurt your sales, it will also highlight the areas that need

improving so that your business can progress.


32

The moment after the purchase can even provide you with an

opportunity to offer more products that you think may be of

value to the customer. Resulting in repeat purchases in the

future. Either way, as a serious business person, you need to

realize the importance of the period after your customer has

made a purchase from you.

So how can you support this phase through digital technologies?

There are several ways. One is by providing live-chat support.

We will talk more about this later on when we talk about your

customer service. Right now, keep in mind that having a chat

widget on your website could be helpful.

You can also have a comment form on your website, where

customers can post reviews about your product or service, and

have the option available for your customers to share their

reviews on social media.

This concludes our chapter on the ways in which technology

can improve the customer journey, and the ways it benefi ts

your business. Let’s move on to digitizing the customer journey.

33

Understanding the Digital Customer Journey

D igitizing the Customer Journey is the title of this book,

and so far I haven’t explained what this really means.

But it was for a good reason.

When you read about this topic, you will see how deep and

complex this subject is… First, we needed to explore the

customer’s buying steps before we could unpack the concept of

a customer journey in detail.

Now, let ’s begin by discussing what a customer journey is. We will

also discuss two other related concepts: touchpoints and channels.

What Is a Customer Journey?

The ‘Cus t omer Journey’ can be defi ned as the entirety of

a potential customer’s experience with your business, from the


34

moment they become aware of your brand, right up to the after-

p urchase phase. By considering the customer’s journey and

seeing from their perspective, you can improve your customer

service and the foundations of your business.

What Is a Digital Customer’s Journey?

In light of this knowledge, a digital customer journey should,

therefore, refer to the experience of a customer beginning when

they browse the internet, and fi nd your website (or another

digital platform) for the fi rst time, then place an order, process

a transaction, and what happens right after that purchase.

But there is s omething else that you should know about.

A typical digital customer journey is made up of touchpoints.

So let’s go through them.

What Are Touchpoints?

Touchpoints in marketing are defi ned as the different ways

customers come into contact with your business. It is important

to keep in mind that this refers to any physical or non-physical

contact that the customer has with your business.


35

As an example, imagine someone who discovers your brand as

they are browsing the internet, either through an ad you ran

or through an online product or service review. You can regard

this as an important customer touchpoint. Also, if a customer

sends you feedback on your product or service through an

online surveying form after buying, that is another touchpoint.

It would be useful to look at touchpoints as the individual

building blocks of your customer journey. Touchpoints help

you map out the customer journey for your business.

Your knowledge of the digital customer journey isn’t complete

without learning about the term, channel.

What Is a Channel?

A channel simply refers to the medium through which

a customer (or potential customer) interacts with your business.

For instance, a potential customer may interact with your

business through a TV ad. In this case, the TV ad is the channel.

Another channel is your product catalog on your website, or

it could be physical, like when your customer visits your brick

and mortar store.

Is this whole customer journey starting to make sense to you?


36

What Is the Sign ifi cance?

So now that you have understood these basic terms, you might

be asking yourself, “What is the point in learning all of this?”

The reason is simple. Learning about the digital customer

journey and everything that it entails is the key to creating that

nearly perfect user experience, which will work wonders for

your business.

For instance, knowing where someone is along the customer

journey helps you interact with them in the best way possible

and send the right type of message that encourages a desired

response.

One of the reasons why marketing fails to achieve stellar

results is due to a poor understanding of the customer journey.

For example, the way you would communicate with a customer

who added items to your shopping cart and left is completely

different to how you would communicate with a person who

just answered your Ad on Instagram for the fi rst time.

If you don’t understand how to apply the signifi cance of this,

don’t fret. As you read on, the whole picture will get much

clearer.

Next, we will examine the importance of your business fi nding

ways to get closer to your customers.

37

What Are the Benefits of Your Business Being Close to Your Customers?

Y ou’ve probably heard that if you want to do well in

business, you have to put the customer fi rst, right? I agree

to that mindset too.

And the right way to ensure that you are doing just that is

by staying as close to your customers as much as possible.

But have you stopped to ask yourself why it is so important

to do so? Is it worth your precious time or is it just another

adage coined by business gurus? This chapter aims to answer

that.

Below, I will give you a number of reasons why maintaining

close contact with your customers or potential customers is so

crucial. If these reasons don’t convince you, nothing will.


38

Benefi t #1:

It Helps You Get to Know Your Customer Better

The fi rst reason why staying closer to customers is so vital is

because it helps you get a clearer picture of who your ideal

customer is. It also helps you know other important details

about them, such as their age, where they live, their needs

and preferences, what motivates them to buy, when they are

most likely to make a purchase, and much more. Knowing your

demographic can make sales and marketing much easier.

The thing is; in the world of business, unless you really know

your ideal customer, your chances of succeeding are very slim.

Having a single digital view of your ideal customer, or, in other

words, a well-crafted profi le of your customer, helps you nail

down who is the best ‘natural fi t’ for your business.

Without having an insight into what your ideal customer looks

like, you run the risk of starting an ad campaign that targets

the completely wrong demographics, or contains messages that

do not resonate with your potential customers. In either case,

you will have wasted both your time and money, because your

marketing efforts are unlikely to yield successful results.

The closer you are to your customers, the better you will

understand them, and the better you will be able to sell to

them.


39

Benefi t #2:

It Helps You Spot Market Transitions

Another thing that you can’t ignore as a business person is the

fact that the marketplace is always changing. And you always

have to be vigilant on the details of the changes taking place.

These changes could be diverse. They could be social or perhaps

economic. They could also be technological.

You may recall it was not that long ago that the taxi business

operated in conventional ways. Customers simply went to

the streets and fl agged a taxi. Today, however, they operate

quite differently. Apps like Uber and Taxify have disrupted

the marketplace, and brought about inevitable change. Today,

anyone who tries to operate the business the old way without

considering these technological changes is destined to fail.

The thing is…these changes didn’t happen overnight. They

happened slowly but surely, and there were ample indications

early on that things were heading in that direction. One sign

was the proliferation of mobile apps and their users.

This is just one example to help you get the idea that by being

close to your customers, you keep your ear on the market about

what could happen next. This helps you prepare ahead of time

to adapt and take advantage of the upcoming change. Today,

doing this is much easier through digital technologies.


40

Benefi t #3:

It Helps You Identify Customer Expectations

Another reason why staying close to your customers is so

important for your business is that it helps you understand

your customers’ expectations.

Knowing what your customer wants is critical to winning their

business. Ideally, you want to know what they are looking for

and either meet or exceed those expectations.

One of the reasons why businesses fail to get repeat purchases

from customers is because they fall short on meeting their

expectations. This usually occurs when businesses do not

know or understand what their target audience expects from

their products or services in the fi rst place, which results in an

overall negative customer experience.

In many ways, knowing your customers’ expectations has to do

with understanding your ideal customer. It also requires you

to collect data on them through surveys, reviews, ratings, live

chats, and more. In other words, communication needs to be

more open.

The best way you can do this is if you get closer to your

customer and elicit this type of information from them. Digital

technologies go a long way in helping you do just that.


41

Benefi t #4:

It Helps You Get More Authentic in Your

Interactions

Another reason why you may want to get as close to your

customers as you possibly can is because it helps make your

relationship with them be more authentic.

Customers yearn to feel like they are cared for and appreciated,

and that they are not just another statistic in the database.

They want to feel like they matter and their input matters. In

other words, they want to feel like a valued partner.

All too often, business people fail to look at their customer as

a real person — a person, who has opinions, feelings, and is

perceptive.

Realize this: Your customer wants to feel that they can trust you.

Also, they have the capacity to know if they are being played

and treated at face value. If your customer ends up feeling as

though they are not receiving the attention and treatment they

deserve, they will take their business to a place that takes care

of such important details.

This means that now, more than ever, you should get as close

to your customers as you can so that you can service them,

talk to them, understand their problems, ask questions, and do

more at a personal level. Otherwise, you will lose them.

You need to put in place digital systems that allow you to have

this kind of person-to-person interaction.


42

Benefi t #5:

It Enhances Your Relevance

No business can survive, let alone succeed, without fi rst of all

being relevant.

You will be relevant to your ideal customer if you run a business

that gets close and personal with them, provides products and

services that they want even as their desires change over time,

and develops an interactive business that listens to their various

issues or problems and fi nds solutions for them.

The benefi ts that we have just discussed will add to your

relevance and will help keep your business moving seamlessly

(and successfully) with the times.

I could continue reiterating the need for close relationships

with the customers in your business, however, I am assuming

at this point you are fully convinced.

Next, we will be looking at the three critical processes in any

business and how they can be digitized.

43

The 3 Critical Core Processes Running Through a Business

W hen implementing a digital solution for the customer

journey of your business, it is important to keep in

mind the main areas of focus: growth, effi ciency and customer

service. Businesses are diverse, but these 3 processes are

central to every business, and form the most important parts

of a traditional customer journey.

Let us look deeper into each of these processes.

Growth

The fi rst critical process in a business involves growth. Every

business desires to grow. But in order for a business to grow,

it needs to conduct marketing focused on driving sales so the


44

business becomes more profi table. This process is also known

as the sales to activation (S2A) process.

With respect to the S2A process, we are going to talk about

what is known as ‘marketing activation’ and what it entails.

Then we will move on to how technology can be applied to the

process and improve on it.

Let’s begin.

Marketing Activati onSo what really is marketing activation?

Marketing activation simply refers to the process of executing

the marketing mix, as part of the marketing plan in a business.

A marketing mix is a collection of marketing tools that a

business relies on to go after its marketing goals.

Ideally, marketing activation is a phase that comes last in a

three-phase process. The fi rst phase is the planning phase,

whereby a business researches and plans all its marketing

activities in order to determine the best approach.

What follows is a feedback phase. This is the phase where

results from the planning phase are analyzed through a process

known as marketing analytics. Depending on what is uncovered

from the analysis, an appropriate marketing approach is chosen.

Then, marketing activation follows. This is where the plan is

put into action. There are two types of marketing activation,

depending on what the objectives are for the business.


45

They include:

i) Brand activation

The process of brand activation involves the business taking

a more long-term approach. This is because the process

involves increasing brand awareness, and cultivating an

emotional connection and loyalty to the brand through

customer engagement. This is done through various means,

such as offering free samples or allowing customers to

experience your service.

ii) Activation

The second type of marketing activation involves what is

known as direct-response marketing. This is a more direct

approach to marketing. Here, the business is focused on

making immediate sales as opposed to taking a long-term

approach. This can be done through product advertising.

For instance, if you browsed the internet and saw an ad for a

product on sale, which (when you clicked on it) immediately

led you to a landing page, which then prompted you to

make a purchase, then you are looking at direct-response

marketing in practice.

So now that you understand the growth process, how can you

digitize it? Here are a few ways…


46

Implementing a Customer Relationship Management System

Your fi rst option is to implement a Customer Relationship

Management System, otherwise known as a CRM application.

In case you have never heard of CRM before, this is a software

system that helps your business manage its relationships with

customers.

More specifi cally, a CRM application helps you keep accurate

records of your customers whom you have dealt with in the

past. The records include such things as their name, email,

phone number, address, preferences, etc.

A CRM can help you keep accurate data that will be useful for

future operations like sales forecasting, analysis of customer

satisfaction, creation of your ideal customer profi le for targeted

marketing, and more.

Your next step to digitizing your sales to activation process is

to conduct digital marketing.

1. Conducting Digital Marketing

Digital marketing refers to all marketing efforts that are carried

out using an electronic device or that happens on the internet.

Digital marketing uses digital channels like search engines,

email, mobile devices, social media, websites, etc. to convey

marketing messages to business prospects.

But why should you conduct digital marketing?


47

There are countless reasons:

The fi rst reason is because digital marketing is proving to

be far more popular than old traditional ways of marketing.

According to Lyfe marketing, 94% of marketers for B2B

type businesses rely on LinkedIn marketing. Also, 90%

of marketers for B2C type businesses said social media

marketing is the most effective. Looking at the numbers,

the reason is simple: Digital marketing works better.

The second reason is that digital marketing offers the

possibility of person-to-person communication, which is

diffi cult to create using traditional methods of marketing.

For instance, when you market through social media,

you offer potential customers the option to interact

with you through commenting. This isn’t possible when

you market through TV, radio, newspapers or other

traditional channels.

Thirdly, digital marketing offers you the ability to target

your audience based on data. This helps you to target

your ideal customer based on as many accurate data

points as you possibly can. This increases the chances of

success of your campaign efforts. In fact, it is through

digital marketing that direct-response advertising is

made possible because it gives the granular control that

is very much needed.

Also, due to the high probability of success when using digital

marketing, it is considered more cost-effective than traditional


48

marketing. When marketing through traditional channels, there

is no certainty that you may reach your ideal audience and this

can lead to wasted dollars.

An E-Shop

Another option that you have for digitizing the growth process

is implementing an e-shop. E-commerce has become quite

popular in the last few years and for good reason: The advanced

technology is infl uencing the power of the marketplace.

I know what you’re thinking, Why do I need an e-shop?

Well for one, an e-shop helps you capture digital traffi c that

can be converted into business.

Remember, you will be generating digital traffi c through your

digital marketing efforts. So at the very least, it makes a lot of

sense to implement an e-commerce website that would allow

you to take advantage of the traffi c you generate and drive

sales, which in turn helps you generate profi ts and grow.

Secondly, an e-shop allows you to capture customer data that

can then be added to your CRM system, which will help you

better keep track of your customer data and improve your

relationships with them. Typically, when someone shops online

they are required to provide personal information. This can

serve as the most perfect and reliable source of accurate data

for your CRM application.


49

So essentially, you are looking at an integrated system that

digitizes the entire sales to activation process. You fi rst

conduct digital marketing through the various platforms

and generate traffi c. This traffi c is then directed to your

e-commerce website, which is then converted into sales for

your business.

At the same time, you get to capture customer data that is then

exported to your Customer Relationship Management (CRM)

system. The CRM system then provides you with the means

and features to help you improve your relationships with your

customers. The data in the CRM system can also be used to

help create accurate customer profi les that can help fi ne-tune

your digital marketing efforts.

Now that you have a full understanding of the sales to activation

process and how it can be improved with digitization, let us

take a look at another critical process – effi ciency.

Effi ciency

You can defi ne effi ciency in business as being able to properly

utilize available resources. It is about a business being able

to maximize the output using minimal input and this will

help save costs as much as possible. A business that does this

effectively ends up improving total operating costs and gains a

competitive advantage in the marketplace.


50

Effi ciency touches on many aspects of a business. But for the

purposes of this book, we are going to discuss effi ciency from

a fi nancial perspective, specifi cally managing cash fl ow. We call

this process billing to cash (B2A).

Managing Cash Flow in a Business

For a business to operate well and successfully, it needs to

properly manage cash fl ow.

But have you stopped to ask yourself what cash fl ow

management in a business is in the fi rst place?

Here is a defi nition: According to The Balance Small Business,

managing cash fl ow refers to the process of keeping track of,

studying and optimizing the net amount of cash receipts less

cash expenses.

This means you need to handle various fi nancial tasks, such as

receiving payments, paying suppliers, paying debt and handling

miscellaneous expenses. A simple way to think about cash fl ow

management is to look at it as the process of managing income

and expenses in a business.

For a small business, the process of managing cash fl ow may

seem like a trivial thing. But for a huge business, or one that is

considering scaling upwards in the future, managing cash fl ow

is vital.

To help highlight the importance of this, a study conducted by


51

SCORE.org showed that 82% of businesses fail due to cash fl ow

management problems. In fact, it was regarded as the number

one reason why small businesses fail.

Now that you understand cash fl ow management and the

importance of it, the question is: How is cash fl ow managed in

a business? The answer is simple – accounting.

Acc ounting

Cash fl ow management is a part of a rather complicated subject

matter in business – accounting.

So what is accounting? Accounting is defi ned as the systematic

keeping, studying, translating and presentation of fi nancial

data.

There are many areas of accounting. The area of accounting

that is tasked with the management of business cash fl ow is

called fi nancial accounting. Other areas include tax accounting

and management accounting, to name a few.

So now that you understand how important it is to manage

cash fl ow in business and just how you can take care of the

problem, let us go ahead and talk about how you can digitize

this process.


52

Accounting Software

The great thing about digitizing accounting in your business is

that it is not diffi cult to implement. Accounting is an area that

is mainly driven by data, and a data problem is always most

easily fi xed with computer software systems.

That said, the best way to digitize the billing to cash process

in business is to implement an integrated fi nancial accounting

software.

By integrated, I mean that your fi nancial accounting software

solution should not be a stand-alone system. It should be able

to communicate and get data from the CRM system that we

discussed previously.

Purchases from your e-commerce website along with other

related data will be inputted into your accounting software. So

it would make perfect sense if both systems are integrated.

If you let the two systems operate separately, you will fi nd

yourself constantly wasting time taking data from one system

and inputting it manually into the other, which can get tiresome

once your business gets to the point of handling multiple

transactions at any given time.

So your CRM and your accounting software should be part of

the same system. In order to have the best solution, you will

need to contract professionals to develop a custom software

system as opposed to getting a software system off the shelf.


53

E-Billing System

Another method of digitizing your cash fl ow is through

implementing a software-based billing system (or e-billing

system).

This will be useful since you will have to charge your customers

for the products or services you are providing them. While

some businesses may require that the customer pay on the

spot, other companies have other billing systems.

For instance, if you are running a B2B type of business, you will

need to implement a system for sending customers invoices,

payment plans, as well as providing receipts, tracking balances

owed, in addition to other documents.

In order to digitize this process, my recommendation is

a custom built system that will be able to create digital and

printable copies of these critical documents, which you will be

able to send to your customers electronically.

As you might have guessed, the billing system will need to be

integrated as well. It will need to have access to customers’

names, addresses and contact information from an existing

database. This can be done effi ciently once the system is

integrated with the CRM system.

Also, the billing system that keeps track of the customers, who

have fully paid, paid partially or not paid at all (and updates

these records accordingly) will also need to be integrated with

the accounting system.


54

I hope you are starting to understand that digitizing the core

processes of your business will require you to implement a robust

software solution that is able to take care of different tasks and

still remain as a single, interconnected and integrated unit.

Failure to do so will lead to problems with scalability. By

scalability, I mean, as your business grows and as its needs

increase, you will fi nd it harder and harder to work with systems

that are working separately. Your digital solution may actually

end up costing you more money than if you had started off on

the right foot.

Let us now discuss one last critical business process that you

will have to consider digitizing – customer service.

Cust omer Service

Lastly, yet another important process in a business is customer

service. So let’s talk about it, its importance and the various

ways you can digitize it.

What Is Customer Service?

Quite simply, customer service refers to the service that you

offer customers or potential customers, before they make a

purchase, as they make the purchase, after they make the

purchase, and even as they use your products and services.


55

Handling customer service involves several things: Being able

to handle customer queries and the issues that arise. Typically,

digital integrations are meant to handle customer issues, and

implement a form of ticketing system (more on that later on).

The end goal is to ensure that all customer issues are resolved

to the customer’s satisfaction. For this reason, we are going to

call this process ticket to resolution (or T2R).

But befor e we dive into the details of implementing a digital

customer service solution, let us fi rst talk about the importance

of customer service.

Why Is Customer Service so Important?

First, providing good customer service ensures that you will be

able to meet customer expectations. When customers provide

you with fi rst-hand information, you can either improve your

product or service, or at least provide it in a way that delights

them.

In doing so, you increase the number of satisfi ed customers,

which, in turn, increases the likelihood of your business

retaining more customers. A good customer helps you foster

better relationships with your other customers by giving you

feedback that helps improve your business, which means that

overall more customers will stick with you longer.

Now that you are done with the basics of customer service,

how do you actually digitize this part of your business? There


56

are many solutions that you could provide, but let me share an

idea that I have seen work perfectly for so many businesses.

A Custome r Service Portal

A customer service portal is a digital solution that solves the

problem of providing your customer with the support they need.

I will explain how well it can help you service your customers

and a few important features that it should include.

A customer service portal includes a secure website that your

customers can access and provides them with the information

that is most relevant to their purchasing history. In other

words, the information displayed in a customer service portal

is mostly account specifi c. For instance, you could have your

customer portal display the following:

● Product or service purchase history

● Account balance

● Products ordered

● Delivery status

● Service status

● Invoices

● Receipts

● Customer details

● Linked credit cards

● Account active status

What I am trying to explain is how this portal is implemented

through a website, but it is actually based on a system. This


57

system displays information pulled from a central data store or

database. Therefore, it would be more appropriate to call this

digital solution a customer service portal system.

Much like the software systems that we have already discussed,

your customer service portal system needs to be a part of an

integrated program. This is because your portal will need access

to user-specifi c data that can be updated by other systems,

such as your CRM, your accounting software and your e-billing

software.

As much as you should look at a portal as a system as a whole,

it is vital that you understand that your portal will contain

sub-systems. It is those sub-systems that will implement the

following important features.

1. A ticketing system

A ticketing system is one of the most important features that

you will need to add to your customer service portal system.

A ticketing system will allow you to handle requests, queries

and other customer issues by collecting, labeling, grouping and

managing the information in a central location.

Your customer can set the category for their query along with the

actual message and details containing the issue they would like

help with. Then based on their chosen category, the system sends

the query along with a unique identifi cation number to the relevant

department. An email notifi cation is sent to both the relevant

person handling the matter in your business and to the customer.


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When the query arrives to the appropriate department, the

person responsible answers the message with the appropriate

solution. Solutions are sent back to the customer’s portal

dashboard along with an email notifi cation.

Ideally, a ticketing system keeps track of the status of each

query and keeps it open until the person handling the matter

marks it as resolved and closes it. So this helps your business

resolve all customer-related queries. This means that the

chances of a customer’s query getting ignored are slim, unless

they are ignored intentionally.

2. Self-Service

Another feature that your portal should support is self-service.

By this, I mean that your system should be implemented in

such a way that it allows the customers to handle issues by

themselves wherever possible. Customers love handling issues

on their own whenever they can, so providing them with that

option is ideal.

How do you do this? Simply implement a ‘knowledge base’ in

your customer service portal. A knowledge base is a store of

information about your product or service along with related

issues. It helps your customers fi nd information on their own.

Most of the time, the customers’ queries are quite similar. This

means that you can take the most common customer queries,

group them into categories, and provide documentation

detailing how to resolve each issue.


59

You could also provide downloadable guides and video demos

that explain how each issue can be solved. So when your

customer is looking for a solution to a problem, they can

browse through these categories and click on the problem they

are having, and fi nd information on how to resolve the issue by

themselves.

In this way most customers will only contact you directly when

they are experiencing a unique problem that you couldn’t

document or that you hadn’t thought of documenting.

A good approach would be to s tructure your knowledge base as

part of your ticketing system. By this I mean, let your customers

browse through the list of possible problems and documented

solutions, and then provide a form for them to fi ll out if they

could not fi nd a solution already provided on your knowledge

base customer service portal system.

This will mean less work on your workforce, which allows them

to focus their energy and time on more important matters.

In this chapter, we have looked extensively at the most

common and important processes in business, and proposed

the best ways you can digitize them. Almost every business on

the planet deals with these processes. If these processes didn’t

exist or simply failed to function, most (if not all) businesses

would grind to a halt.

At the same time, it is important to keep in mind that as we

move into a digital world, it is vital that you digitize these

processes since they will make your work easier and open up


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new opportunities for your business to thrive. Businesses that

choose to ignore the key information provided in these pages

and become complacent with their way of doing things, may

soon fi nd themselves in a predicament.

Now let us make a comparison between a business that chooses

to digitize its customer interactions versus one that doesn’t.

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Comparing Offline vs. Digitized Business Customer Interactions

T here is a heated debate of biblical proportions in the business

world about what is the best way to integrate customer

interactions. Is it better to digitize or simply do it old school?

Well, I will present to you both sides of the debate and help

you reach a fi nal verdict.

We will fi rst start by looking at the advantages and benefi ts of

digital customer interactions compared to offl ine interactions,

and vice versa, as sometimes a completely digital approach

may not be suitable.

After yo u fi nish reading this chapter, you will be able to

determine which direction you should take your business in.

Ready? Let’s jump right in.


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Why Online Customer Interactions Are Ideal

From experience, integrating digital customer interactions into a business is the more successful and benefi cial way to go.

Let’s look at some of the reasons why I think this is the case.

1. Physical Presence of a Customer Isn’t RequiredOne of the main upsides of integrating a digital customer interaction is the convenience for your customers. If your customer wants to purchase your product or service, they are not limited by where you are physically located.

Take this example: Let’s say a customer wants to ship a car from overseas. Such a person may not want to go through the trouble of fl ying to your dealership so that they can buy the car in your inventory. They can just open up your website, browse through a car listing, and place an order.

This is not a convenience you can grant your customer when you are operating an entirely offl ine or brick and mortar business. Not only can offl ine businesses be inconvenient for your customers, but you are also restricted who you can reach as customers. An online business can access customers from far away, which could increase your profi tability signifi cantly. A digital integration solves problems for both parties.

2. Saves time

Another reason why digital customer integration may be an

ideal solution for your business is that it helps save time.


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Think about it this way: In the world that we live in today, it

is very likely that your ideal customer is a busy person with

an impossible schedule. Taking the time to visit your physical

location to seek out your products or services may be a time-

consuming activity for them that they don’t want to do. It

is important for you to take away that problem from your

customer and make life easier for him or her.

You want your customers to be able to place an order with your

business even when they are at work. They are more likely to

do business with you when a company cares about convenience,

over a company that does not.

3. Business Is Now Open 24/7

Another reason for having digital customer interactions is that

you are open around the clock. Your customer can reach out

to you at any time because your website is always online. They

can also place an order to receive your product or service at

any time of the day or night.

This is a huge convenience. You no longer loose a customer

because they have a need during off-hours.

This is not a benefi t you can provide when you run a business that

operates exclusively offl ine. Typically, such businesses are only

open for a fi xed number of hours, unless in rare cases where the

business hires employees to work in shifts for extended hours.

But when you look at the bigger picture, nothing sounds more

convenient than being able to request a service or product no


64

matter where you are or what time it is. And this gives you a

signifi cant advantage over businesses that don’t offer this service.

4. Records on Communication Are Kept

Another benefi t of digitizing customer interactions is that

communication records are kept. This can be very benefi cial to

both parties.

To illustrate, think about this situation: One of your customers

was treated poorly by one of your employees. In such a case,

it would be diffi cult to fi nd evidence of such a claim if you

were operating offl ine. It would be the customer’s word against

the employee’s, and that doesn’t do much to help resolve the

situation. In this type of situation you may lose a customer

who felt that they weren’t treated fairly.

Another scenario is that your business may end up being put on

the spot legally for problems regarding communication. If the

accusations made against your business are false, you would be

able to come up with concrete evidence that show the facts and

save your reputation as well as your dollars.

Issues regarding communication could be endless. Whatever

the case may be, I think it is a good thing that communication

records are always kept as they may come in handy when needed.

5. Better Feedback on Quality of Service

Knowing how good or bad a service you are providing to

your customers is a good thing because it can help you make

decisions on how you can improve it.


65

This is one of the reasons why integrating a digital customer

service interaction is critical. This is because digital platforms

make it so much easier for customers to provide feedback on

the quality of your service and products.

For instance: Let’s say that one of your support agents was

providing support to one of your clients online via a chat

widget on your portal. After communication, the chat widget

could then prompt the customer to provide feedback on the

quality of service. This may not be easy to implement offl ine

since some customers may shy away from being honest when

interacting face-to-face.

Also, customers may provide product reviews along with

ratings on your website, which can help you learn how you can

improve whatever you are offering.

Now that we have looked at arguments on one side, let us look

at the other side too.

W hy Offl ine Customer Interactions Are Not that Bad

While having online customer interactions are ideal, especially

in the technologically advanced world of today, there are still

some shortcomings that are not usually present in the offl ine

customer interactions.


66

Let us examine some of the ways offl ine customer interactions

may be better than ones that are digitized.

1. The Tangibility of Products

One of the upsides of implementing offl ine customer interactions is

that customers get to physically touch, feel and look at the products

they are buying. This is especially important for businesses that

deal exclusively in physical products, especially luxury products.

It is always important to keep this in mind: Most of the time

people buy things they don’t need because of an emotional

drive they get when they have actual contact with a product. I

can’t imagine any better way to fl ip the emotional switch than

being physically close to your object of desire.

This is not a quality you get with a purely online-based type

of business. Online, a customer can only look at pictures and

videos. Then it is up to them to make the decision. Therefore,

you may fi nd an offl ine luxury store outselling one that is

purely online-based.

However, the chances of this happening are minimal since

pictures and videos can be very persuasive. For instance, this

study by e-Marketer showed that 83% of digital shoppers

confi rmed that images are very infl uential when it comes to

making purchases online.

Also, as with many online businesses, a return policy is always

implemented if the customer is unhappy with the product they

ordered.


67

So personal touch associated with offl ine customer interactions

is only important to a certain degree.

2. Lack of Human Interaction

Another advantage with offl ine customer interactions is that

the customer gets to meet face-to-face with the person handling

the sales. Some customers prefer to have a person-to-person

interaction so that they can be persuaded to make a purchase.

Also, customer queries are answered on the spot, which is a

very important thing for some people.

This is not always the case with online customer interactions.

You only have the option of communicating either via e-mail

or live chat, but not in person. This may be suitable for some

people but not everyone.

3. Some Businesses just Don’t Work Exclusively

Online

Lastly, it is important to understand that while operating

online is good in some cases, not every type of business will be

suitable to operate exclusively online. Some businesses need to

operate offl ine for things to work better.

Examples of businesses that may need to operate offl ine include:

● Businesses dealing in highly expensive luxury items, e.g.

private jets, private yachts, luxury cars, luxury real estate,

etc.

● Businesses dealing with the sale of expensive machinery,

e.g. factory installations, etc.


68

● Businesses dealing in the sale of some services, e.g. fast

food, massage therapy, medical treatment, etc.

As you can see, these types of businesses may benefi t from generating leads by advertising online. However, they may not be able to operate exclusively online. As a rule, if a business requires your physical presence in order for a service to take place, then you cannot operate online exclusively.

As you can see from what we have just discussed, even though digital customer interactions have some downsides, the benefi ts outweigh the drawbacks. Therefore, it would be safe to say that an implementation of both online and offl ine customer interactions may be the best way to go.

Before we conclude this chapter, I want to talk briefl y about one aspect of digital integration that most business people tend to get wrong.

A Website Is Not Enough

Many entrepreneurs, both experienced and new, make the mistake of assuming that digital customer integration simply means having a website for your business. Unfortunately, I am here to tell you that if this has been your assumption, then you are dead wrong.

Having a website for your business may be important but it is not the same as fully integrating digital technologies to your critical

processes. Having a website is but a small piece of the puzzle.


69

The thing is…having a website isn’t going to he lp you manage

your customer data. It is also not going to help you keep track

of orders made along with payments (unless it is an e-commerce

site). A website also won’t help you keep track of the fi nancial

data of your entire business, and it certainly won’t help you

manage customer queries and issues through online tickets.

In fact, some businesses have simply implemented basic static

websites that explain what their business does, with no dynamic

or back-end functionality. I have even seen websites that are

built using third-party software systems that don’t even allow

the owners to own their own website domain or gain server

access.

Implementing the solutions we discussed does not come cheap.

But if you understand their value, you will not opt for the

cheaper solution of only having a plain website. Those solutions

may cost you more in the beginning but in the long-term you

will profi t greatly from them.

This chapter compared offl ine and digital customer interactions.

We have seen that there are pluses and minuses on each side.

We have also reached a conclusion that it is better to go with

both methods whenever possible. It is also worth pointing

out that a business that neglects integrating digital customer

interactions is at a huge disadvantage.

Up next, we are going to look at ways to integrate a digital

customer experience.

71

How to Integrate a Digital Customer Experience

S o far, we have discussed how you can digitize the three

most important processes in your business. We also looked

at the benefi ts of a business that stays close to its customers,

and compared a business that integrates a digital customer

interaction to one that doesn’t.

In this chapter, we are going to place even more focus on

the customer by discussing how you can integrate a digital

customer experience. We will look at how you can make use

of the latest technologies, such as machine learning and

artifi cial intelligence to create a rich and personalized customer

experience that makes your customers want to come back to

you for more.

I will show you how you can put it all together in an app that

sits on your customer’s cell phone so they can operate it on the

go, and they can take advantage of many of the features that

you put your hard work and money in to create for them.


72

So let’ s start by fi rst talking about artifi cial intelligence.

Artifi cial IntelligenceWhen it comes to creating a rich, digital, powerful and

personalized customer experience, there is no technology in

existence that does it better than artifi cial intelligence.

Could you imagine being able to give your customers an

experience that is almost similar to that of a close friend or

trusted member of the family talking to them in person? Could

you imagine implementing a solution that is able to identify

your customer by name, and make an almost perfect guess as

to what they may be looking for at the moment?

In other words, imagine a solution that behaves almost like

a human. That is what artifi cial intelligence can accomplish.

To help you better understand what this mysterious technology

is: Let us fi rst defi ne what this is.

What Is Artifi cial Intelligence?Artifi cial intelligence is simply a fi eld of computer science that

deals with the creation of ‘intelligent systems’. By intelligent

systems, I mean computer systems that are capable of performing

various tasks with a degree of accuracy that is almost the same

or even better than that of an intelligent human being.


73

Artifi cial intelligence has been around for quite some time

(since 1956). However, it is not until recently that we have

started to see practical manifestations of its use.

Some of the ways artifi cial intelligence has been applied today

include:

● Speech recognition, e.g. Siri in iPhone, Amazon Alexa

speakers, and Google Home;

● Problem solving expert systems in healthcare;

● Machine vision such as facial recognition in advanced

digital cameras.

Artifi cial intelligence was developed to ensure that

computer systems have the following characteristics: highly

knowledgeable, reasoning power, capability to solve problems,

learning capabilities, ability to plan, ability to have perception,

and much more.

The ability to be knowledgeable, learn and solve problems is

made possible through a branch of artifi cial intelligence called

machine learning.

Machine Learning

Machine learning is a discipline in artifi cial intelligence.

Application of machine learning allows you to program computer

systems that are capable of improving their intelligence by

themselves with little human interference.


74

Exciting isn’t it?

So how exactly do computer systems get smarter by learning

without much human input? The actual details are rather

complex but I will explain it to you in a simpler way that will

give you a generalized understanding.

Computer systems learn through machine learning by being

provided examples, access to data, behavioral observations, and

data and processes patterns.

Now that you have a basic understanding of what artifi cial

intelligence and machine learning is, and how machine learning

works, let’s look at why you should use them in business.

Wh at Can Artifi cial Intelligence and Machine Learning Do For

Your Business?

The fi rst thing that integration of machine learning will do is that

it will be able to access the data on your system. This data will

help the system learn and be able to make intelligent decisions

that can transform your customer journey by providing a more

enhanced user experience.

Remember when I explained that machine learning helps a

computer system get smarter especially when it is provided

access to data?


75

Well, the exact same thing will happen with the data in your

existing digital integration.

This is done through the addition of machine learning

algorithms to your system. In case you are wondering what

algorithms are; they are simply mathematical calculations that

are implemented programmatically that help a system come

up with the best way to solve a particular problem. Algorithms

can perform many things, but in our case they will be used to

access data and process it.

Therefore, once the machine learning algorithms are added,

they will access the data in your system, such as data from

your CRM, e-commerce site, e-billing and accounting software,

customer ticketing system, etc. Then the data will be cleaned

up, sorted, and automated, and then made to fl ow through the

processes that we talked about earlier (growth, effi ciency and

customer service).

The result of all this machine learning is that the entire

digital customer journey will be transformed, enhancing the

experience of your customers. Every important channel that

your customers are likely to use will be artifi cial intelligence

(AI) powered, and they will be served with powerful intelligent

features that will provide for an enhanced user experience.

No w that you understand how artifi cial intelligence can be

added to your digitized system, let us look at how you can

bring all this work together into a seemingly simple solution

that your customers can easily work with – an app.

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Putting It All Together: A Mobile App

D espite all the excruciating details you have taken care of,

you still have to deal with the annoying fact that your

customers won’t care about any of that. Your customers only

need a simple interface that they can understand, enjoy and

easily work with. And that is why we are going to talk about

one point to consider — an app that can be installed on your

customer’s phone.

An app is ideal because it can make use of all the features we

have talked about so far. Yes, an app can be built on top of the

existing framework that you have implemented to digitize your

customer journey. This means it can access data from the CRM

system, the e-commerce website, the accounting and e-billing

system, as well as your customer service portal system.

Another reason is that a mobile app adds itself to a device that

is very personal to your customer – their phone. A recent study

by Asurion referenced in the New York Post, showed that the


78

average person checks their phone at least 80 times a day.

At the same time, it was reported that approximately 60% of

people become stressed when their phone is not with them.

Given how important a cell phone is to a person, this means that

when you implement an app, you get a chance to be as close

to your customers as you possibly can. This makes it possible

for you to serve them better and cultivate closer relationships

with them.

So, let’s talk about some of the crucial features that your phone

app will need to have. If you implement these features, they will go

a long way into providing an enhanced digital customer experience

that most customers seek, even if they don’t know it yet.

1. Real Time Communications

The fi rst important feature that you will need to implement is

that of real time communications. This means that your app

will need to contain features that allow them to communicate

with you in real time and vice versa. Remember, your customer

wants almost instant feedback when they pose a question.

Real time communications can be implemented in a number of

ways. For one thing, you can have a live chat feature integrated

within your mobile app. Live chat is especially important

because it features protocols that allows messages to be sent

back and forth almost instantaneously.

Another way you can implement real time communications is

through live video chat. This is a feature that allows you to


79

have a one-on-one chat via video. Yes, although it hasn’t been

very common in B2C type of businesses, this is still a feature

that is worth considering since it provides your customer with

many additional attractive options to choose from.

You can also implement real time communications through

push notifi cations. In case you have no idea what they are,

push notifi cations are small messages that are sent to your

customers via an app even when that app isn’t necessarily open.

Think about how you receive WhatsApp or even Facebook

notifi cations on your phone. Those are push notifi cations.

Imagine implementing these same features into your app.

This opens up an opportunity to reach your customer at any

time. This feature is especially useful if you are communicating

promotions, product deliveries, payment notifi cations, follow-

ups on queries, etc.

Lastly, you can also implement a feature that allows your

customer to utilize your artifi cial intelligence features. For

example: A voice-activated virtual assistant. This is a feature

that is added to your app that allows your customers to

communicate with your app via voice commands. It utilizes

speech recognition — features of a typical artifi cial intelligence

algorithm.

With this feature, your customer can issue commands to perform

common tasks that your app can then execute on their behalf. For

instance, with this feature, your customer asks to communicate

with an agent via a live chat as the words are typed in.


80

Doing all of the above can provide an unbelievably comfortable

customer experience that will cultivate loyalty with your brand

since they will notice that they are being well taken-care of.

Let’s look at the next most important feature you need to add

to your app.

2. An E-Channel for Real Time Ordering

Next, you are going to need a feature that allows customers to

place real time orders on your app.

Remember, despite everything you try to do, you still run

a business. This means that you provide a product or service

in exchange for money. Therefore, it is vital that you provide

a feature that allows you to do this easily with a cell phone.

As you might have already guessed, this feature is simply an

extension of your e-commerce website that we talked about

earlier in digitizing processes. The data required is very much

the same as the data that your e-commerce website accesses.

The only difference between the two implementations is that

the one on your app is for real-time ordering. This means that

whatever your customer purchases through your app is offered

on demand.

To elaborate: On your website, you may list products or

services that may or may not be immediately available. It is

common practice for businesses to list products that are not

currently in stock and then once on order has been placed the

items ordered are then procured from a supplier. This usually


81

results in products taking signifi cantly more time before they

are actually delivered.

However, in the case of real time ordering, you list whatever

is currently available. Take for instance a restaurant business

app. When you implement a real time ordering feature, you

are supposed to list meals that are available at the moment.

That way, when the customer orders, delivery can begin

immediately, or they can be offered the meal once they check-

in at the store.

Real time ordering can be made better by utilizing artifi cial

intelligence features. For instance: You can make use of

artifi cial intelligence algorithms to analyze the customer’s data

and behavior within the system and provide the most accurate

suggestions as to what they may be intending to order and

present it to them.

Think of it as being able to anticipate your customer’s intent.

If we go back to our restaurant app example, instead of the

customer browsing an entire list of foods available in the menu,

the AI can analyze past orders, check if the meals are currently

available, greet the customer by their name, and ask if they

would like to order any of those previously purchased meals.

The feature can also be voice-activated to add to its appeal.

By servicing the customer this way, he or she can’t help but

be pleased that their needs are met with such a degree of

effi ciency. As such, your customer will be more than likely to

stick around with you for longer.


82

Let’s discuss yet another important feature to include in your

app.

3. An E-Billing System for Instant Bills

Another important feature that you will need to add to your

app is that of instant bills.

Many times, businesses end up ruining a customer’s experience

by not properly implementing a convenient billing system. This

leads to negative experiences after a purchase. A customer may

purchase the item right now, only to be handed the bill 30, 60

or 90 days later.

The problem is: The bill may be handed to the customer at

a time that is inconvenient for them. It is best to serve your

customers with an instant bill so that they can either pay

immediately or choose a time that is most convenient for them.

If you are running a business that operates on spot cash or cash

on delivery policy, then you will probably have no problems

with this because payments are taken care of immediately. This

is mostly a problem with B2B type businesses and occasionally

B2C type businesses that deal in big-ticket items or services.

This feature is identical to what we talked about when we were

discussing billing earlier in the book. The only difference is

that you will implement this e-billing system on the app that

will access and update this same fi nancial data.

This feature can be made better with artifi cial intelligence. For

instance: You have the algorithm analyze the customer details


83

and use it to predict his or her intent. So when the customer

logs onto the app, they are greeted and asked if they would li ke

to pay their bill now or later. A voice-activated version of this

can make for an even better experience.

If the customer accepts the prompt, the system can then check

for available payment options and suggest them to the customer.

If there are preconfi gured payment options in the system, such

as a credit card on fi le, the system can automatically suggest

that payment option.

This kind of automation makes for a memorable user experience

because it mimics human behavior and handles most of the

tedious tasks for you and the customer. The customer will start

believing that the system almost knows them at a personal

level. This opens the door for them to cultivate a relationship

with your brand that may last a lifetime.

Lastly, let us look at another important feature that should be

added to the app – customer service.

4. A Chatbot Solution with an Integrated Knowledge

Base

Finally, your app should feature an integrated customer service

section.

One way of doing this is to integrate live-chat functionality

in the app. You can also add more features to allow for more

fl exibility. For instance: You can provide your customers with

a self-service option. Remember many customers (especially


84

millennials and generation-Z) prefer to handle things on their

own.

This can be done by implementing a knowledge base. Yes, you

got that right: The same knowledge base that we discussed when

talking about digitizing customer self-service. A knowledge

base is the perfect solution to the many queries that customers

make since they are rarely unique.

Just like everything we talked about so far, a knowledge base

can be improved with artifi cial intelligence. For one thing,

machine learning algorithms can access the data in a traditional

knowledge base and prepare to answer customer queries

appropriately.

This can become more practical when the voice-activated

feature is implemented. So instead of clicking through an entire

knowledge base, a customer can simply opt to use the speech

recognition feature. Then the machine learning algorithm

can answer with the proper solution by either displaying the

message on the screen or reading it out loud to the customer.

Also, artifi cial intelligence can determine a customer’s intent

by analyzing their behavior as they search the knowledge base.

Then the app can help the customer quickly fi nd the answer

to his or her query by providing suggestion links. This can

save the customer a lot of time as they try to fi nd a solution to

a problem documented deep in the knowledge base.

Also, another way you can add fl exibility to your customer

service section is by adding a chatbot.


85

If this is the fi rst time you are encountering the term, a chatbot

is a live-chat solution that is AI-powered. It is meant to mimic

a help agent providing live support. An intelligent chatbot can

provide support to almost 80% of customer queries.

For your chatbot to be more advanced, you will need to provide

it with as much information as possible. All the information in

your database is a good start. Also, all the information in the

knowledge base is valuable. Another addition that can make it

better is by providing pre-existing models from an AI vendor

who specializes in your given industry. Their existing models

can help improve your chatbot.

You can research online for AI vendors in your industry and

ask if they can provide models for you. You want to have

a chatbot with knowledge that spans various topics so that it is

able to handle as many customer queries as possible. You also

want your chatbot to be programmed in such a way that it will

provide a form for a query when it doesn’t understand or can

provide an intelligent answer so that a human agent can help

resolve the issue.

All in all, implementing a chatbot in your mobile app can

provide a seamless user experience. This can help your brand

gain a competitive edge, and your competitors may not be so

vigilant about implementing this feature helping you to stand

out more.

As we wrap things up, let’s talk about how to improve customer

relationships.

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What’s Next? A Communication Strategy

A fter investing your time, effort and money into applying

what we have discussed so far in this book, what should

you do next? Is that all there is to cultivating relationships with

you customers?

The short answer is no. There is always more work to do.

So what direction should you take and exactly what should

you do?

We all know that relationships are founded on communication

right? So common sense dictates that if you want to create

great relationships with your customers, you will have to come

up with a communication strategy.

Unfortunately, here is where many businesses get it wrong.

Many people who run businesses think that the best way to

stay in touch with their customers is by bombarding them with

countless emails, bill notifi cations, advertisements, etc. Others


88

don’t communicate at all, which is even worse. These strategies

do not work in cultivating the right relationships with your

customers.

So what to d o? There are no fast and easy solutions to this

problem…you have to use your creativity. However, I will

suggest one solution that I have observed works really well in

today’s world.

Creating Content

You may have heard before that on the web, content is king.

It is very true.

Content is currently the most powerful tool to build relationships

with your customers. If you base your relationship building

strategy around creating regular content for your customers,

then your efforts are more than likely to pay off.

By content, I mean readable, viewable and listenable material.

This could mean you post blog content related to your industry

or products. You could also post video content. You could even

create podcasts for your customers to listen to.

When you craft regular and high quality content, you will keep

your customers engaged and this works well for relationship

building. Content can also be used to draw new customers to

your business.

Integrating a content platform into your existing digital

platforms (website and app) is important. However, using


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content for building relationships in business is a vast topic,

which is beyond the scope of this book. But the important

thing is for you to research further on content creation and

think about how this could work in your business.

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A Shift to a Circular Economy

D igitization is one of the most evident changes in the

business world today. But, it isn’t the only change. There

is a change that is slowly but surely happening in the shadows,

and in the near future its impact will be felt almost everywhere.

Digitization i s a part of this change, but it is not obvious to most

business people. While building your customer’s digital journey,

you could take advantage of this idea before anyone else! This

golden opportunity is the transition to a circular economy.

What Is a Circular Economy?

In simple terms, it is a system that is designed to utilize

resources optimally and minimize wastage. In other words,

a circular economy defi nes a new way of conducting business.

We currently rely on a linear economic system, which is

putting a lot of strain on the environment. In the linear


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economy, we follow what is known as the take, make and

dispose model.

Here is how it works: You take resources from the environment,

you use them to create products. Once those products become

of lesser value to you, you simply get rid of them.

For over 200 years, we have relied on this unsustainable model.

But today, things are different. Production is at the highest time

ever and raw materials are still needed but getting harder and

costlier to source. According to the UN, over 88 billion tons

of resources will be mined from earth this year, which is three

times that of 1970 and it’s forecasted to double by 2050. Given

enough time, this will put the environment and consequently

us in serious trouble.

Imagine a world where companies are unable to produce

products simply because the raw materials are not available.

How would you and I survive?

This is why the concept of a circular economy has become a very

important matter. People in business, after looking at the facts

and fi gures, are coming to the conclusion that the concept of

a circular economy is something worth paying attention to as

they search to get ahead of the competition and governmental

legislation, tariffs, and regulations on single use, non-return

products.


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How Do You Become Circular-Economy Compliant?

So now that I have given you a brief preview of what a circular economy involves, the question you may need to ask is: How does my business actually transition to a circular-economy compliant company?

What needs to be done?

i) Adopt a Long-Lasting Design

The fi rst way you can support a circular economy is by designing your products to last longer. Presently, with the linear economy approach, many companies are not designing sustainable products.

In fact, many businesses have a vested interest in their products not lasting for long. They want a consumer to purchase their latest line of products so they design their products to only remain usable for a limited period.

Take for instance clothing: Are there times when you bought a t-shirt that lasted for a few weeks before it stopped looking wearable? I know I have, many times over.

What happens when clothing gets thrown away every week after it’s been worn only a few times? What is the effect of this on the environment? What about the raw materials used to create the clothing? Will this source keep up with the pace at which

clothing is being created?


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You can change this by creating products designed to last for

longer. Many consumers are happier to pay more for products

that are durable and support the environment.

ii) Recycle

Your next option is that of recycling.

Take a look at the waste that your business produces. Is there

a way of using this waste in your production one more time

before dumping it once and for all?

How about outside sources? Are there businesses or people,

who collect large amounts of materials that can be recycled?

You see, you don’t always have to source from the environment

to get raw materials. Many of the things thrown out by

consumers can be recycled. For instance: Bottle manufacturers

do not have to create new glass bottles every time. There are

plenty of bottles that get thrown away that can be used again

and again.

You also do not need to manufacture new electrical components.

Many electronics are thrown away; you could collect them and

use these components again.

iii) Re-Use

Another way you can become circular economy compliant is by

encouraging re-use.

Instead of throwing away items that are deemed old, they

could be reused. Many items that get thrown away could use a


95

little fi xing and be given to other people. You could even build

a business out of that idea.

Take a look at furniture. Most furniture that is thrown away

could be reused. One report found that people in Britain throw

away 300,000 tons of furniture that is reusable every year.

Just think about it. What if you took old furniture refurbished

it and then sold it to other people? You could make some nice

profi t.

That is exactly what IKEA is doing. They have programs

that allow people to bring in their old furniture that they no

longer want or need. Then they refurbish it and sell it again.

They offer rewards as incentives and everyone involved is

getting the most value from this re-use. You could give it

a try today.

iv) Rent Out Instead of Selling

You could also build a great business that rents products instead

of selling them. This model is called ‘product as a service’ and

more and more customers are looking for access to serviced

products over products they can buy and own.

Here is how it works.

You simply create a great product and then instead of offering

it for sale, you let customers pay to use it or for the time they

need it. You keep ownership of the product. You can even offer

to maintain the product, so that it lasts longer and enables you

to build a closer and more ongoing relationship through more


96

interactions (touchpoints) with your customer after the initial

order.

In this way you will be supporting a circular economy. You will

not be looking to continuously take raw materials for brand

new products from the environment to make a profi t.

This approach also has the benefi t of fostering deeper

relationships with your customers. If they become a regular

subscriber to your renting business, you will end up doing

business frequently with them. As time goes by, you get to

understand them and their needs better and can provide

better products and services helping you to stay ahead of any

competition.

v) Share resources

Sharing resources is yet another way of promoting a circular

economy.

You will commonly fi nd that there are things that you can

easily share with other people or even other businesses.

Take the example of a factory: At a closer look it may not be

necessary to own your own factory. You could share an existing

one with another business.

Another example is housing: Many homes have unused spaces.

It would be much better if that space was offered to other

people for a price. Airbnb is a company that became fi nancially

successful by facilitating this opportunity to the world.


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The goal of sharing resources is to ensure optimal use of

precious resources and avoid exploiting the environment at the

cost of everyone’s future. In this way, we prolong the existence

of these raw materials for future generations.

Take a look at your business operations. Is there a way you

could benefi t by sharing a resource with another business?

If so, take that option. It could end up being cheaper for you,

and you could help save the environment.

vi) Repair and Maintenance

Last but not the least, you can promote a circular economy by

carrying out repair and maintenance of certain products.

Remember, one of the goals in a circular economy is to make

products last for as long as possible. Often, products get

thrown away or abandoned because they were worn out or they

malfunctioned in some way.

That’s where you can come in.

You can improve the useful life of such products and generate

more revenue by carrying out repairs and maintenance.

It is estimated that you can generate up to three times more

revenue providing repair and maintenance services than a one-

off sale.

A gain, you can benefi t by repeated contact with a customer

as you interact with them more frequently during the repair

and maintenance sessions. As you get to know them better and


98

develop closer relationships with them, you’ll be more capable

of serving them better and keeping them as a customer for

much longer.

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Businesses that Have Led by Example

I f you think that you can just pass up this opportunity to

become a circular economy compliant business, keep in

mind that there are successful businesses right now that have

already adopted the ideas we have just talked about. And these

businesses are well positioned to become even more successful

as the wave of circular economy sets in.

You too can position yourself accordingly, similar to the ways

in which the following businesses have done.

Let’s look at these companies:

1. Winnow has come up with smart meters that are able

to detect food in kitchens that is going bad. Here is the

thing; it is reported that a fi fth of food that is thrown

away is still edible. Winnow helps solve that problem

through its meters. These meters will tell you when it is

time to throw away the food. The company is reported to


100

have reduced the problem of throwing away good food

by half. This is the equivalent of saving consumers $25

million a year. This innovation has earned the company

the Circular Economy Tech Disruptor Award.

2. Mobile tech giant Apple is also in on the game. They are

supporting the circular economy through recycling. They

have set up exchange programs where you can give back

an old device. They then offer you credits on your next

purchase. The devices are recycled through the help of

the Liam robot, which can dismantle the device to its

component parts in a matter of seconds. The program

has been so successful that back in 2016 the company

reported recovering more than $40 million worth of

gold from its recycled devices. Can you start seeing why

embracing a circular economy can be so advantageous?

3. Schneider Electric, a French-based energy fi rm, also

adopted circular economy principles. The World

Economic Forum reports that the company makes use

of recyclable materials as it manufactures its products.

It also uses the recycled material in production. Another

practice in the company is to lease its products, service

,and offer them on a pay per use basis. It also adopted

exchange programs that allow consumers to bring back

items that they no longer fi nd useful. As a result of

these efforts, the company says that its revenues have

increased by 12%. It also reports that it will have saved

more than 100,000 metric tons of raw materials by the

year 2020.


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4. Lehigh Technologies has specialized in the art of

recycling old tires and rubber waste into what they call

micronized rubber powder. This powder has a wide

number of uses. Some of them include manufacture of

new tires, creation of asphalt, and other construction

materials. The company reports that it has been able to

create up to 500 million new tires through its recycling

efforts alone. In fact, the company has earned an award

for Circular Economy SME.

5. HYLA Mobile works with other leading electronics

manufacturers to recycle devices and repurpose them,

which generated up to 4 billion dollars with its partners.

It has also prevented nearly 6500 tons of waste from

ending up in landfi ll.

We have seen how transitioning to a circular economy can be

profi table for a business and also benefi cial to the environment.

Note: All of them used digital technologies to make this happen.

The examples we have just looked at are merely a handful, and

there are many more out there. My hope is that you are now

inspired to give circular economy the attention it deserves.

See also my book dedicated to the circular economy mission:

Forget Mars: Circular Economy the Next Big Business

Opportunity for more valuable insights, examples and guidance

on this topic. Available on Amazon and all leading book stores.

Next, we will look at how you can implement all these actions

towards digitization of your business.

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How to Put Things into Action

T here are a few steps that you need to follow in order for

you to stay on the right path when you transition to a

digital journey.

The steps are:

Step 1: Re-Imagine a World Class Customer Journey

Your fi rst step is to imagine what an ideal customer

journey should look like.

Many companies make the mistake of digitizing existing

processes right away without analyzing fi rst. If you take

such an approach, you may end up with poor results.

It can also lead to a waste of time and money.

The best thing to do is to start at the beginning. Take

a hard look at your user cases. How does a customer

interact with your business? What are the main


104

touchpoints? What does your customer need at each

touchpoint? Will making a change in any of these steps

result in an overall positive experience?

For instance: If you look at the process of a customer

subscribing to your email list, ask yourself: What would

be the most effortless and delightful experience for your

customer to give you their email? What are some of

the things that simply make it harder for the customer

to enjoy this process?”

This should be done across all possible customer

journeys. Therefore, you should map out all your

customer journeys and perform your analysis on each

one. This way, you can even prioritize which customer

journeys you should begin with.

Step 2: Bring a Customer to the Process

Keep in mind that all the hard work you are putting

into this process is designed to benefi t the customer

in the end. Therefore, if you want to create the most

benefi cial customer experience, you need to involve an

actual customer.

Think about it…what better way exists for creating

something for someone than to have that person be

present during the process, so that they can dictate what

appeals to them the most, and actually test the product

to verify their experience?


105

Like it or not, no better way exists. You can try putting

yourself in the shoes of your customer all you want,

but you will never be able to know for sure what

your customer actually prefers with a higher degree of

accuracy.

Some companies have tasked other professionals to

carry out this type of research on their behalf. It’s

cumbersome and a time-consuming process that

hinders your effectiveness when you want quick results

you can apply immediately. While this outsourcing can

be a better idea than not doing anything, it doesn’t

produce the best results in the end.

The best approach is to have access to your end user

whom you can reach out to from time to time for

feedback. For instance: If you are developing an app, you

can show them the initial sketch and documentation,

and get their input.

After a week or so of designing the app, you can

show a wireframe (a graphical representation of the

fi nal product) to them, and get their opinion on the

development. The week after that, you can create

a prototype and hand it to them once again for a review.

Finally, you can have them test and critique the actual

app when it’s ready. Having an end user test your

product at every stage of development and approve of

the changes is a much more effi cient approach than any


106

other that exists. The results you get from this approach

will be stellar.

Step 3: Create a Cross-Functional Team

The next step involves bringing in an end user (or

a number of them) to ensure that your team is cross-

functional.

Let me explain.

You should bring in experts from every department of

your organization to participate in the overall design

of your digital customer journey. In other words, don’t

have the IT department do it all alone. If you do so,

don’t be surprised if you are disappointed by the results.

Let’s say that you are a bank. You will need to involve

someone from the legal team, someone from the

accounting team, an economics expert, a representative

from the managerial department, someone from

customer care, and so forth to review the app you’re

creating.

Let each one of these look at the different mapped out

customer journeys and provide their input. Let them

bring their expertise to the table so that you develop

something that is well informed and that has been

observed from many different angles. You want your

solution to be as comprehensive as possible and leave

little room for errors or overlooked situations.


107

One more thing; let each one of these people be

empowered to make major decisions on behalf of their

respective department. You do not want to run into

a situation where a proposed solution is on the table,

and then someone says, “We can’t do this just yet, we

have to check with legal fi rst.”

Such situations will create huge bottlenecks to the

process; especially considering that most of the time

implementing such solutions is almost always a time-

sensitive matter. So, gather a multi-agency team with

authority to give the ‘go ahead’ on most matters so that

you can move with speed.

Step 4: Dev elop the Solution

The next step is to develop the actual solution.

After a proposed solution is designed, tested and signed

off, it has to actually be built. This is another critical

step that needs to be managed properly.

For one thing, you do not want development of

the solution to take forever. The project needs to

be managed by an experienced and highly capable

team so that the process is done efficiently, and the

solution can be brought to the market as soon as

possible.

This means that the team should be relying on an agile

approach to developing the solution. In computing, agile


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is one of the fastest models to develop and implement

software solutions.

Unlike most other models, including the waterfall

approach, which rely on heavy documentation, extensive

testing and feedback, an agile approach eliminates such

lengthy processes. Reusable software components can

also be used reducing the need for the creation of all

new ones, which can also save time and money.

Also, the team could rely on Rapid Application

Development (RAD) tools, which always contain pre-

built models of common software — instead of creating

everything from scratch. The team can customize this

software to meet the needs of the suggested solutions.

Some good ones are Oracle Apex and Microsoft Visual

Studio.

For instance, you may fi nd that a RAD tool such as

NetBeans IDE helps the developers create an interface

quickly through a point, click and drag process — instead

of having to write manual code to include elements such

as buttons, a window, a label, a menu, etc.

The Java language allows developers to code such

functions manually, but it is a cumbersome process

that takes a lot of time. At the same time, such tools

are fl exible enough to allow the developers to customize

nearly every function so that the software solution isn’t

limited to what the tool offers the creators.


109

Don’t worry if you are having a rough time understanding

these terms. If you have a competent and experienced

IT staff, they should have a fi rm grasp of these concepts

already.

Step 5: Rolling in the Solution

After the solution has been developed, then comes the

process of adopting it in-house.

Your current staff won’t be equipped to work with the

new solution; therefore, you will need a way of adopting

it that isn’t slow, cumbersome and ineffective in general.

So how do you go about this?

Traditionally, companies follow a process that involves

making a plan, communicating the changes to the whole

organization, providing training for all the different

departments, etc. This leads to teaching parts of the

company that won’t necessarily even work with the

solution right away.

If you are a big organization, it’s best to start with

a small team. Begin with the people, who are already

familiar with the solution from development, then

evaluate whether this team is able to work at the

capacity you need to implement the solution.

If that isn’t the case, then y ou can gradually train more

staff and add them to the team. As the needs of that

team increase, you can keep including more trained


110

people to that team slowly. Over time you will be

reducing the number of people who are familiar with

your old processes but not with the digitized customer

journey. Before you know it, you will bring your entire

staff up to speed and able to work with the new solution.

This is a much better approach than trying to train the

entire staff all at once. It helps you create a balance

between the staff that will service customers who are

familiar with the new digitized methods, and those who

are still lagging behind, but are not interfacing with

clients at this new level yet.

Step 6: Encourage Customer Compliance

Your fi nal step is to encourage your customers to work

with the new solution.

As you might have guessed, not all your customers will

immediately warm up to the new digitized solutions

you have created. And it doesn’t matter how good your

digitized solution may be; if customers don’t adopt it,

your investment in the solution will have gone down the

drain.

Therefore, you will need a way of slowly encouraging

customers to use your new solutions so that in the end

all your processes become digitized.

One way of doing this is by ensuring that your digitized

solution addresses customer pain points. If you went


111

through the initial steps properly, you should be

confi dent that your digitized solutions address some of

the problems that your customers have as they interact

with you.

The next steps are to make your customers aware that

the new solution exists, explain why it is so much better

than the previous service, and show them how to access

it easily. Now you’ll need a marketing team that has

a decent budget because without a serious investment

in this area, you may not get the cooperation for your

digitized solution that you want.

You can offer incentives to encourage customer

compliance. For instance, you can offer bonuses or

discounts to those customers, who use your digitized

platform. When people see that it will be more

advantageous for them to adopt the new digitized

solution than to insist on the old processes, they will be

encouraged to comply. You can also try adding deadlines

to your promotions to create a sense of urgency.

Lastly, you will be phasing out old processes. You will

need to communicate this transition to your customers,

and explain that you will no longer support the old

processes.

You don’t have to be abrupt. You can slowly but

surely share that you will no longer offer support for

old processes as from a certain date. This will push


112

your customers who are complacent to adopt the new

solution.

We’ve completed explaining all the steps you can take to

digitize customer journeys. In the next chapter, we will

look at a scenario that will help you grasp the overall

picture.

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Getting the Bigger Picture

N ow let us bring everything we learned together so that you

can get a picture of how things should look like when you

have digitized your customer journeys.

We are going to look at a hypothetical case. At the end of this

case study, you will have an idea of how things could work in

your business.

Let us imagine that you are a typical middle-class resident

in the U.S. You just landed a new promotion and decided to

move into a new neighborhood. You bought a new house and

want to replace your furniture. This is the beginning. You have

identifi ed your need.

What do you do next? You begin your research of course.

So, you head straight over to Google. “Which is the best sofa set

to buy?” you type and search. It takes a few seconds to load the

results. You click on the fi rst result that says “Top 10 things to

consider when buying a sofa set.” It is from Supercomfy Sofas,

a major brand.


114

You read the blog post and are satisfi ed that the post is truly

informative. You have new found knowledge in the area of sofa

shopping. At the end of the post, you get a banner asking you

to buy Supercomfy Sofas at a 10% discount. You feel like taking

the deal, but you tell yourself, Maybe I should, but not so fast.

You go back to Google again and this time you search, “Top

dealers for sofa sets in Los Angeles.” Again, you get results

and this time, Google has included a catalog of sofa sets from

different brands along with their prices for you to choose.

But you want more information, so you click on the result that

says, “These are the best brands dealing in sofas.” Again, it’s

a blog post that compares several brands with different criteria.

Once again, you fi nd that Supercomfy Sofas is number two on

the list. This is the second time you have seen the name, and

you are starting to feel that they must be good.

You head back to your search results to look at the catalog.

Now you are comparing, and the results are from Google’s

Comparison Shopping service. Once again, a sofa set catches

your eye…and yes it is from Supercomfy Sofas and is within

your price range.

You click on the link, and you are taken to the landing page

of the brand. You add the item to your shopping list, but you

decide that since this is a big ticket item and is a huge purchase

decision, you want to see the sofa set in person.

Fortunately for you, the website has a ‘Contact Us’ page, which

also has a Google Map. The browser prompts you for your


115

location and you click ‘allow’. The map readjusts itself to give

you directions to the nearest store, along with a calculation for

the fastest and most convenient route there. You drive to the

store.

When you arrive, before you even enter the tore, a transmitter

placed outside the store’s premises quickly identifi es you and

sends you a ‘push notifi cation’ to your phone to notify you of

your latest purchase interest. You also receive other personalized

offers. One is an extra fi ve percent discount on the purchase if

you download the store’s app. There is Wi-Fi on the premises

so you proceed to get the app. The app is super simple to use;

it only asks for your phone number and you are good to go.

The app also remembers your purchase interest! It doesn’t

stop there, a store map pops up that leads you to the specifi c

section in the store that deals in furniture and shows you to

the Supercomfy Sofas section.

You meet the salesperson, who takes you to the particular

product that you ordered, and is ready to answer any more

questions that you may have.

But wait it gets even better...the company has a virtual designer

on the app that lets you preview how the sofas may look like

when you take them home. You brought a picture of your living

room so you just superimpose the sofa set on the image, and

you think to yourself, This is amazing!

The good thing is the store believes in a speedy checkout, and

they embedded a feature on the app that lets you pay for the


116

sofa using your smartphone. No need to wait in line. Your order

is confi rmed in a few minutes, and you leave the store knowing

the date and expected time of delivery. You think, Wow… what

an incredible experience!

A few days later, you are notifi ed that the delivery truck has

arrived in your new neighborhood. The app pushes a notifi cation

that will tell you when the truck is half an hour away so you

can prepare to be back home in time. You continue going about

your day, completing errands and tasks without being confi ned

to the house waiting hours for your sofa to arrive.

After the truck arrives, the sofas are moved into the house and

placed according to your design specifi cations; you confi rm on

the app that the delivery was successful.

The app then asks you for an honest review of the quality of

service you have received. You take the time to write an excellent

review, and then give the company a full 5 star rating. In fact,

you are so impressed that you share the recommendation to

your friends on social media.

The app has a customer care service section, so you know that

you can reach the company any time in the future. The app is

AI–powered and has, therefore, taken notes of your interests,

income level, social status and personal taste based on your

last purchase so it recommends other products that may be of

interest to you. And the cycle begins again.

To top it all, the app sends you a push notifi cation letting you

know that they have an exchange program to help you get rid of


117

your old furniture in exchange for shopping coupons. It turns

out that Supercomfy Sofas is circular economy compliant…

Who knew?

Either way, you are happy because you can get rid of your

old furniture in a much more responsible manner, and gain

a benefi t out of doing this environmentally positive action.

And that is how a typical digitized cu stomer experience mixed

with a taste for a circular economy looks like. You get the idea

now, don’t you?

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Conclusion

I want to thank you for investing your time, energy and

attention throughout these chapters. It shows that you are

fully committed to doing well in your business.

Digitizing your customer’s journey is one of the most

important things you can do in business, especially in

today’s tech-savvy world. Failure to do so will result in

consequences in the future, which may force you to go out

of business.

The wise thing would be to start making the necessary

adjustments right now. If you do these steps, you will be able

to take advantage of the inevitable changes that will happen

in the future. This book explores in depth the ways in which

you can get started to digitize your business.

I encourage you to go through this book multiple times

until you have thoroughly grasped its contents and become

confi dent on all the different aspects of digitizing the customer

journey. I also recommend that you share this resource with


120

your technical team, who can help implement these changes in

your business.

I wish you success.

the customer journey - zehnplus

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