The customer is king.  If you take nothing else away from this blog please walk away with that.  No matter what role you currently fill in the organization you have a customer; be they a client, or a business partner or even a fellow employee.  And now, more than ever, you are in danger of losing them. 

The digital economy has changed everything.  It has changed how we interact, how we use data, how we develop product and services, and how our organizations need to operate.  It has spurred new businesses, destroyed others, and completely transformed industries.  But more than anything else it has put the power back in the hands of the customers.

Customers now have more access to information, the have the ability to shape perception through social media, and most importantly they have the ability to easily switch between brands.  What this means is that how a customer perceives you and your service at every interaction will determine if they remain your customer.  The result is that customers have more influence then ever over businesses, what they produce and how they provide service.  In fact, 63% of leaders expect consumers to gain even more power and influence[1].  So the question you need to ask is: what are our customers saying…and are we listening?

To further complicate matters the digital economy has lowered the cost of entry to many industries.  With 58% of business executives expecting new technology reduce barriers to entry[2], many companies are realizing that the infrastructure and knowledge they possess to support one industry can easily be adapted to another.  Look at someone like a Pitney Bowes who for years provided secure physical equipment commerce solutions and is now seeing an increasing shift in their business to API / web service driven transactions.  It is this kind of innovative shift that is leading to the last trend…

And that is new and more competition.  Now, 69% of business leaders expect more cross-industry competition[3].  Which means not just more pressure from your traditional rivals, but from start ups, partners, and even companies that before would not be even mentioned in the same breath as your industry.

How do you stay relevant?  Better yet, for your customers, how do you stay essential?  It goes back to where we started; the customer is king.  How is your entire organization, not just sales, not just marketing, your entire organization, focusing on the customer and their changing expectations?  Where does your point of emphasis need to be?

You need to focus on that moment of engagement. 

We will be going into more detail over the next few weeks as we continue our blog series and expand not only on the moment of engagement, but how you can make it memorable for your customers.  Get ready for “The Legend of Mobile Smarter Process”…

To learn more visit our Smarter Process and MobileFirst website or reach out to your IBM representative.

Or contact me via email, twitter, Linkedin or post a comment to this blog.

[1] Digital Reinvention: Preparing for a very different tomorrow. IBM Institute of Business Value, 2013

[2] Digital Reinvention: Preparing for a very different tomorrow. IBM Institute of Business Value, 2013

[3] Digital Reinvention: Preparing for a very different tomorrow. IBM Institute of Business Value, 2013