AICEX: Anche in questo post emerge l’importanza del Cliente come persona.

Posted by Sandi Piatz

This title makes a bold statement but don’t get me wrong. I am not suggesting that you shouldn’t consider customer experience within your business objectives. A valuable customer strategy, after all, is known to deliver increased revenue, higher profit margins, decreased expenses, greater efficiency, and improved brand loyalty; however, the fact of that matter remains that many businesses approach this tactic entirely wrong. In fact, I would argue that customer experience is often a fruitless initiative. Rather, your organizational focus must be on the customer’s experience.

You may be thinking that the two are one in the same, but I would beg to differ. The key dissimilarity here is minute yet impactful. One approach emphasizes functionalism while the other concentrates – more successfully – on your customers themselves.

The biggest downfall of many customer experience initiatives is that, somewhere along the way, the customer becomes lost amid the tangle of roadmapping, processes, and delegation of roles. The resulting strategy is often far from the original objective, which was, of course, to develop and provide value to your target audience.

Customer experience means nothing without the customer’s experience.

By considering your customer and their path at every interaction and touch point with your business instead of the logistical segmentation within your organization, you have an opportunity to truly deliver the customer experience promise to your business. A successful customer strategy that takes into consideration your customer base – both ideal and otherwise – in addition to your value proposition will determine which customers you want to foster relationships with, their unique demands and expectations, and the profitability of each grouping. This will clarify how to build lucrative interactions, manage your costs, and create competitive advantage through acquisition, retention, and advocacy.

Providing true value requires small, seismic shifts in perspective. Forget customer experience and instead focus on your customers’ experiences.

Sandi Piatz is the executive leader of Business Development and Client Success Management with Eide Bailly Technology Consulting. With
more than 16 years’ experience in the technology industry, Sandi specializes in driving business opportunities and developing valuable relationships, with a focus on understanding organizations’ business objectives and aligning their technology initiatives.

spiatz@eidebailly.com