Claiming to be customer-centric is easy, but the pandemic quickly laid bare the customer experience (CX) weaknesses of many companies. Some stumbled as they rushed to pivot to virtual engagement and digital commerce. Transformations that had been on companies’ to-do lists forever were urgently elevated to imperatives.
No wonder, then, that in our 2021 CEO study, 60% of CEOs who lead the most financially successful organizations cite “delivering better customer experiences” among their highest priorities in the next 2 to 3 years.
And it will need to continue to be a priority. As organizations emerge from the pandemic, stabilization is still a long way off—COVID-19’s impact continues to be felt across communities, the workplace, and the marketplace. Meanwhile, as climate change manifests itself in floods, fires, and heat waves, customer demand for sustainability continues to increase, along with a rising consciousness of racial, social, and economic injustices.
To adapt to such seismic shifts, companies need to absorb lessons learned from the last 18 months and ask some tough questions:
—How customer-centric are we, really?
—Are our products, services, and experiences all that differentiating?
—Are our models and operations meeting the needs of our business, as well as the needs of our customers?
—How are our products and services affecting the environment?
Business Design, a discipline that applies a design mindset and principles to solve business problems, may be a critical part of the answer. Our research shows it can not only add structure to this soul searching, but also add significant value to organizations that embrace it. By combining creativity with strategic and technological expertise—and the practices of Design Thinking—Business Design enables organizations to enhance customer and employee experiences and reinvent business models that can create new revenue streams.
Claiming to be customer-centric is easy, but the pandemic quickly laid bare the customer experience (CX) weaknesses of many companies. Some stumbled as they rushed to pivot to virtual engagement and digital commerce. Transformations that had been on companies’ to-do lists forever were urgently elevated to imperatives.
No wonder, then, that in our 2021 CEO study, 60% of CEOs who lead the most financially successful organizations cite “delivering better customer experiences” among their highest priorities in the next 2 to 3 years.
And it will need to continue to be a priority. As organizations emerge from the pandemic, stabilization is still a long way off—COVID-19’s impact continues to be felt across communities, the workplace, and the marketplace. Meanwhile, as climate change manifests itself in floods, fires, and heat waves, customer demand for sustainability continues to increase, along with a rising consciousness of racial, social, and economic injustices.
To adapt to such seismic shifts, companies need to absorb lessons learned from the last 18 months and ask some tough questions:
—How customer-centric are we, really?
—Are our products, services, and experiences all that differentiating?
—Are our models and operations meeting the needs of our business, as well as the needs of our customers?
—How are our products and services affecting the environment?
Business Design, a discipline that applies a design mindset and principles to solve business problems, may be a critical part of the answer. Our research shows it can not only add structure to this soul searching, but also add significant value to organizations that embrace it. By combining creativity with strategic and technological expertise—and the practices of Design Thinking—Business Design enables organizations to enhance customer and employee experiences and reinvent business models that can create new revenue streams.
.webp)