The best CX leaders understand tomorrows customer

As Steve Jobs once famously advised, “Get closer than ever to your customers. So close that you tell them what they need well before they realize it themselves.”

And to do that, the leading businesses are utilizing deep customer understanding to design tomorrow’s experiences today.

Traditionally, businesses think inside-out; based on existing processes and systems that are static and outdated. While this method may have brought success in the past, the disruptive nature of today’s technology means that this model has become limiting for a company’s growth.

Today, we are seeing a shift to an “outside-in” paradigm, where the focus is more on the customer’s perspectives. Here, the lives and needs of the customer come first and are used to influence business strategy.

But according to KPMG, while these two approaches may be presented as alternatives, leading organizations leverage both lenses simultaneously.

The five ‘MYs’

According to a report by KPMG named Tomorrows Experience, Today, through a multi-dimensional lens called “The Five MYs”, organizations can gain valuable insights that help navigate the complexity of consumer decision making.

Each of the Five MYs give companies a clear picture of the collective influences on today’s consumer, and how these affect their shopping habits.

My motivation

Do you understand me, what drives me, and what motivates me?

Business implications: Having a clear understanding of what customers truly value in an experience can help eliminate wasted efforts, ensuring you focus on ones that can truly make a difference.

My Attention

Break through the noise to build a relationship with me.

Business implications: Knowing how best to capture a customers’ attention can help target investment on things that really matter, which will, in turn, maximize ROI.

My connection

Recognize how I interact digitally with others and help me off-load jobs to technology

Business implications: Generate actionable insights by getting smarter about customers through how they behave online.

My watch

Help me balance the constraints of time and make the most of this resource

Business implications: Identifying the pockets of life events yields new opportunities to build upon customer loyalty.

My wallet

Understand how I make trade-offs between time and money

Business implications: Understanding how customers make trade-offs between time and money can enable you to identify the best future customers and expectations.

Tomorrows experience

For businesses wanting to provide CX excellence, delivering tomorrow’s experience tomorrow is simply too late. In order to stand a chance against competitors and win over today’s customers, you must be future first. And to do this, you must deliver on the needs of customers. KPMG list the following tips:

Know the customer as an individual

Let the customer contribute to your purpose, contribute to their life purpose, and be unforgettable.

Attract and maintain their attention

This refers to the ability to be open, honest and transparent with your customers. It is also important to minimize the social and environmental impact.

Anticipate the customer’s needs

It is important to anticipate and fix the customers problems.

Help customers multitask

Provide a way to shorten the customer journeys. Leverage hidden intelligence technologies to make their lives easier.

Facilitate your customer’s connection to others

Help your customers solve problems through your partner ecosystem, as well as make satisfactory trade-offs between time, money and debt.

Show customers you care

Ensure that your customers feel understood along the journey.

Companies leading the way in delivering CX excellence

QVC UK

According to KPMG research, consumers in the UK now rate QVC UK as the leading brand.

Upgrade your #mani this season, with our brand new @nailsinc Let's Go Flamingo collection! Shop tomorrow's offer early > https://t.co/iUihWScTI9 pic.twitter.com/yrDAPWF03y

— QVC UK (@qvcuk) June 11, 2018

Why? In 2011, the company began to refocus on their customer experience. They placed an internal focus on values such as empathy, from the presenters on TV through to how they delivered digital experiences to customers via new technologies.

QVC UK focused on understanding the expectation of customers and then adapting things such as product range in order to deliver to them.

Navy Federal Credit Union

This financial services company were ranked first in the US in regards to customer experience excellence.

Driven by the core values of integrity, commitment, and service, Navy Federal has a strong focus on creating an emotional link with their customers.

It's Military Appreciation Month, and this week we salute the @usairforce. Thank you for all you do to protect our nation! #HonorAndAppreciate pic.twitter.com/OFSpxftC9s

— Navy Federal (@NavyFederal) May 22, 2018

Moreover, they have a strong commitment to collecting real-time customer feedback, ensuring that any problems are dealt with almost instantly.

The company has also managed to build a high level of public trust by creating an intensive social media presence, with rapid reaction times to Twitter and Facebook posts.