5 Think BIG Disruptions by Thomas Ferleman * [45]

 In the next two years, the most innovative companies will take advantage of 5 THINK BIG disruptions impacting the workplace, consumers, and sellers across nearly every industry. These changes are being played out now, and will reach their zenith by 2025. 

1. Renting Things Instead of Owning Them

Many large value purchases will not be sold as long-term capital expenditures, but rented as operational costs. The automobile and insurance industry will be greatly impacted by this change. Vehicle ownership will move from individuals with long-term bank loans and high insurance premiums to corporation investments. Smart vehicles will become safer and more reliable, thereby reducing the need for repairs, and necessitating changes in traffic laws.

Even home ownership will be impacted, as younger consumers increasingly want to work where they live, instead of being rooted in a cul-de-sac neighborhood. The benefits of a home mortgage as equity may shift to alternative investments with greater liquidity. GenX and GenZ increasingly see retirement as a novelty. They prefer to think of post-work life as an adventure. They will have less need for a fixed location and greater need for rental experiences. 

Computer usage will continue to become a utility. The most innovative companies will not own software, but rent it as-needed. Individual computers will become more standardized and less powerful, as compute power moves to the cloud and consumption is variable. Meanwhile, land-line bandwidth will be obsolete as low-earth orbit internet becomes ubiquitous.

2. Commoditizing Data as Bundled Offerings

With an overwhelming bulge of data from IoT devices, the most innovative companies will harvest targeted segments of information and build data lakes of specialized topics that can be analyzed and re-sold with device level accuracy at the point of presence.

Every transaction made by anyone, at any time, will be available for purchase. Privacy concerns will give way to consumer convenience. Marketers, sellers, and data analysts supported by software developers, will use these data lakes with predictive analytics to influence decision-making on every product, political campaigns, and personal purchases.

The mobility of data means that the consumer's location is no longer relevant. Data bundles will follow the consumer based on device location, and change as vendors earn trust and vie for their attention. Consumers will care less about who makes the product and more about who delivers what they want, when they want it. The postal address will become less important than the consumer's physical location.

3. On-the-Go Consumption

The most innovative companies will find ways to package products and services into smaller-and-smaller form factors. Purchase labeling like QR codes will become obsolete as just-walk-out technology eliminates the need to wait in line to check-out and drone delivery makes its way into our everyday life.

Foods and other ingestible products will move to capsulized form and condensed packaging, where the value is weighted by time and convenience. This change will be felt most acutely at fast-food restaurants, the corner convenience store, and legal psychoactive drugs dispensaries, where consumers just want to get in and out quickly. This change lends itself to automation with the increased use of robotics based on pre-defined and re-sold algorithms that need less customized training.

This, too, will be impacted by the mobility of data. Ordering pizza and beer on the beach will become more common. In fact, the bundling of data will ensure that your favorite New York slice is also available in Malibu; delivered on the sand without even choosing options.

4. Quality of Life 

People will no longer work to achieve a good standard of living; quality of life will be seen as a right, not a privilege to be achieved. The most innovative companies will recognize the value of talent; those that don’t, will struggle to retain top performers and eventually become obsolete. The power of work will continue to move into the hands of the worker. Employment packages, ultimatums, restrictions, contracts, and agreements that control the boundaries of work will no longer ensure talent doesn’t go somewhere else.

Employers that demand butts-in-seats and fixed office locations will be seen as out of touch. People will work where and when they believe it will provide the greatest quality of life. The five days a week, eight-hour work day is dead. Some companies will struggle with time-zone differences, but the most innovative companies will learn to flex worker options and collaborate anywhere and at any time.

Even governments will be forced to adopt flexible work schedules. This will impact the competitive landscape for large, multi-year contracts. With location no longer a requirement, companies will continue to diversify their workforce and leverage regional cost savings. Those that centralize will stagnate. New specializations in human resources and corporate law will emerge to manage employment requirements and taxes at every local level.

5. Automation Everything

Any repetitive task or manual sequence will be a candidate for automation. The most innovative companies will mechanize everything, driving workplace tasks to higher-value outputs and lowering human touch. These companies will dramatically reduce error rates, lower costs, and increase speed to delivery. The smart ones will transfer savings to customers and deepen trust with consumers, resulting in higher profits over extended horizons. Others will look internally to benefit and see only short-term gains that eventually lead to stasis.

Job categories like human resources, legal, administration, manufacturing, and the entire supply chain will become increasingly automated through self-serve functionality at the edge. Quick-click enabled by AI/ML solutions will automate the delivery of a laptop, the selection of benefits, the agreement of a contract, and the movement of goods and services. Human-in-the-loop will move from highly educated subject matter experts, to full-stack software developers able to code and review algorithms that drive high-value, low-cost outputs.

Robotics will become common with modular specialization being rented as commodities. New robotics companies will build specialized platforms for fast food restaurants, big bulk store stocking, last-mile delivery, household services, and medical care. A build once, rent many approach to the use of robotics will drive down costs and make implementation much quicker and easier. The workplace robot will become as standard as the copy machine.

Conclusion

The widely available compute capacity, no-code/low-code development, and AI/ML, Robotics, and Space advancements are making choices more available and easily consumable. The value proposition is now in the hands of the consumer at the edge and not the producer at the build point. From new-venture startups to long-standing big-caps, and from cultural discourse in the public square, to the mom-and-pop shop down the street, we are living in a time of unprecedented change. If you thought the Industrial Revolution was something, just you wait. The band is still warming up.

 

* Dr. Thomas Ferleman is an Enterprise Transformation specialist at Amazon.com, where he leads Digital Innovation engagements using Amazon’s innovation mechanisms like, Culture of Innovation, Working Backwards (Design Thinking), Innovation Pulse Check (Lean Six Sigma/DMAIC) Roadmap, and SMART Solution Design (Agile) to identify specific end-user problems or opportunities and build customer obsessed solutions. He is a Professor, Data Analytics Engineering (DAEN) Master of Science Program, George Mason University College of Engineering and Computing. He specializes in a broad range of data analytics algorithms, tools, and processes for solving a wide range of real-world problems. He holds a Doctor in Strategic Leadership from Regent University, and MBA, MS in Management, and Bachelor of Science from University of Maryland Global Campus. This post was reprinted by permission from the ALL THINGS INNOVATION blog. For more insights from Dr. Ferleman, go to https://ferleman.com

 

Rethinking Customer Experience Management in the Novel Economy by Brian Solis * [24]

New research shows that brands that embrace innovation and agility with an aim on humanizing the customer’s experience, outperform their peers, especially in a global pandemic.

COVID-19 has disrupted markets and lives at levels not seen by many. As cases around the world soared, executives were stunned, unprepared for the rapid shifts that would test even the most experienced of experts. The disruption wreaked by this pandemic was swift, unprecedented, and underestimated. While it largely reset the world we once knew, the term “new normal” became a staple in how we defined these novel times. But the impact on, and shifts in, markets and human behaviors were far from normal and definitely elusive of offering insights necessary to recognize any sense of normalcy or clear path forward.

Businesses that don’t take the time to understand what’s changing and why, as times and trends continue to evolve, will miss their opportunity to earn relevance and thrive in this new world. The most meaningful way forward is to place the customer at the center of your vision and decision-making in two distinct strategic phases: one with-COVID and the other, post-COVID.

Like the Novel Coronavirus, businesses are operating in uncharted territory. I refer to these times as the Novel Economy, a socioeconomic period that is, just like its namesake, new and unusual. Brands don’t have access to a disruption vaccine nor do executives possess a playbook for responding to and thriving in a global pandemic. At the same time, decision-makers are without best practices and case studies to skillfully guide their actions. The most direct source of insights resides in the signals and inputs customers willfully share with those who are willing to pay attention. What executives don’t want to do right now is make assumptions about customer needs and predilections. This was clear in the unanimous customer response to seemingly timed marketing campaigns in the early days of COVID-19. 

This isn’t a time to upset anyone. It is a time to be a light in the lives of consumers, to find ways to add value or remove friction, especially when customers feel overwhelmed and anxious by the impact of the pandemic in their lives. I call this #IgniteMoments. It’s an opportunity to humanize and enliven touchpoints, to touch the customer in a novel and refreshing way that creates memorable experiences.

The digital transformation of legacy marketing to modern, personal customer experiences

With a global pandemic still raging, marketers must operate with compassion and attentiveness led by a “with COVID” mindset. The existing brand style guide and marketing playbooks do not account for these times nor the speed and breadth at which they’re operating. Traditional marketing will no longer have the same effect moving forward. If anything, it will negatively affect customer relationships rather than enhance them. 

In its research, Salesforce learned that 69% of marketers say that today’s traditional marketing roles limit customer engagement — up from 37% in 2018. This sets the stage for more meaningful, personalized engagement now and also in a “post COVID” world aka the next normal. 

As such, customer-centricity, whether you call it CX or marketing or digital transformation, will be rooted in empathy, purpose, and compassion. This means that the next generation of style guides and playbooks need development in real-time.

COVID-19 accelerates digital customer behaviors and amplifies importance of empathetic experiences

A significant majority of customers are more than ready for brand humanization. According to Salesforce research, 84% of customers say the experience a company provides is as important as its products and services — up from 80% in 2018. This means that marketing is evolving from a classical, one-to-many approach, toward delivering customer experiences that connect, build trust, and guide mutually beneficial outcomes. 

In time of a global pandemic, when emotions are running high, experience is personal. That’s what an experience is after all, an emotional, mental and physical reaction to a moment. This is why CX leaders define the customer’s experience as the sum of all experiences a customer has with their business. Each touchpoint counts in their own right, but also are keystones to the bridges that connect entire experiences together. 

Marketing transformation takes on a new sense of urgency, requiring true 360 customer understanding and engagement

It’s critical for marketers to have a real-time 360 view and understanding of a customer’s full journey, at every stage, from discovery to engagement to retention and loyalty to advocacy. Sixty-nine percent of customers are reporting that they expect connected experiences. 

Legacy roles that only focus on stages of the customer journey, in isolation, without coordinating with those who manage other connected touchpoints, will lose favor with customers. By design, the brand message and the experiences they deliver will be disconnected and likely confusing. Said another way, if it’s not complementary, intuitive, and additive, individual experiences are likely taking away from its total potential. 

Data-driven empathy helps marketers deliver personalized and meaningful customer experiences as customer expectations and preferences evolve

Customers are changing as a result of COVID-19 and the emotions and health advisories guiding their well-being. Shelter-in-place, physical distancing, concern for their own health and well-being, as well as for their loved ones, is accelerating digital-first behaviors in every touchpoint across their journey. 

During these times of disruption, data-driven empathy enables empathetic marketing, customer engagement, and genuine experiences. As customers’ circumstances, needs, and sentiments evolve rapidly, accumulating a clear understanding becomes mission critical for AI-powered platforms and CX and marketing strategies.  Marketers are turning to an ever-increasing number of digital signals and data sources to assess transactional data, declared interests and preferences, known digital IDs, offline IDs, second-party data, inferred interests and preferences, and more. In fact, progressive marketers plan to use 60% more data this year than the overall industry average. Combined with AI, marketers can achieve personalization across the journey at scale by distilling insights from data and guiding teams on how best to take action.

The experiences that customers have in each touchpoint must also not only meet their needs, but also strive to surpass their expectations. High performance marketers report that they are increasingly turning to a sophisticated array of modern digital tools and intelligent, connected platforms. Artificial intelligence (AI), for example is helping marketers learn from real-time customer activity and corresponding data signals to personalize engagement with the right context at the right time in the right channel on the right device. Eighty-four percent of marketers report using AI, which is up from 29% in 2018 (an increase of 186% in two years).

Customer-centric metrics matter, count what counts to the brand and to the customer’s experience

CX is dependent on the “customer’s experience and as such, their experience, hence the apostrophe, becomes a key CPI (customer performance indicator). New and upgraded metrics, beyond those of vanity and general engagement, need to demonstrate performance and also customer-centered benefits. 

High performance marketers (72%), for example, are already analyzing performance in real time, versus 49% of underperformers. And, fewer than half (48%) of marketing organizations today track important experience metrics such as customer lifetime value (CLV/LTV).  There’s plenty of room for growth here.

Customer-centric metrics correlate to business performance. Experienced marketers are being more strategic about ways to invest in customer experiences to showcase customer satisfaction and retention in addition to complementing customer acquisition strategies. By measuring the customer’s real-time and aggregated experience, marketers can learn exactly how and where to improve them, in times with-COVID and post-COVID markets.

Innovation is the ability to see change as an opportunity

Innovation is defined as many things. But at its core, innovation is about creating new value that didn’t exist before. This is different than iteration, which incrementally improves existing value. Both are important.

During this pandemic, and even after there’s universal treatment, a vaccine, we establish herd immunity, or all of the above, the customer’s experience is not only an ongoing priority, but also a primary driver of innovation. 

Following the series of disruptive events, shutdowns, impacts on public health and global economies, and waves of setbacks, customer preferences and behaviors evolved rapidly and will continue to evolve as the Novel Economy unfolds. Even as the world starts to open up as it learns to co-exist with a novel coronavirus and even after its eradication, CX must always be human-centered to genuinely and effectively engage customers. The same is true for CX innovation. Research found that 76% of high performers say they do a great job at innovating marketing technology, tactics, and strategies, versus 47% of underperformers. 

Stay alive in an era of disruption, aim to survive in this interim normal, and learn to thrive in the Novel Economy

To thrive in the Novel Economy, during and following COVID-19 disruption, it’s imperative to unlearn BC (legacy) mindsets, learn from the high performers, and most importantly, learn from your customers. Furthermore, embrace a growth mindset and an empathetic heartset to effectively…

1.      Shift from classical marketing to a relentless focus on the customer experience.

2.     Embrace an ethos and commitment to helpfulness, relevancy, and trustworthiness.

3.     Create a culture of innovation in parallel with the continual practice of iteration.

4.     Also create a culture of data-driven empathy.

5.     Empower and incentivize employees to do the right thing while also learning the next thing.

6.     Personalize all forms of engagement and use modern technology to humanize experiences.

7.     Make the offline and online customer journey integrated, intuitive, productive, true, and even joyful.

8.    Transform touchpoints into #IgniteMoments to articulate and project what your brand stands for and empower mutually beneficial, memorable experiences; values beget value.

* Brian Solis studies disruptive technology and its impact on business and society. This post is an excerpt from his recent article in Forbes.com.  He may be reached at brian@briansolis.com and @briansolis (Twitter).