decisions should be collected and operational improvements implemented at the speed needed to compete and retain market relevance. Insightful customer data is the currency that retains this relevance. Speed up the decision-making process. Remember the “change or die” urgency requiring rapid decisions at the onset of the Covid-19 pandemic? That same philosophy is needed in an environment in which customers’ preferences are constantly changing, leading them to always gravitate to something that is better, faster and cheaper. To break down the silos that slow execution, the end-to-end customer experience should be at the heart of the decision-making process. Leaders should encourage processes leading to high-velocity, high-quality decisions that support the dexterity in execution so essential to a customer-centric organization. For example, companies should function like a startup by keeping things simple, avoiding overplanning, resisting delays until “all of the data is in,” taking prudent but necessary risks and listening to feedback. Decision-making should not be a one-size-fits-all process. Some decisions require a formal process, but many can be reached in a relatively unstructured manner. Connect technology to customer process risks tilting the customer interaction to one that is too transactional. It is better to view technology in terms of the customer experience , which means making the interaction customer value. Viewing technology in terms of the
frame a tough environment for strategists and executives tasked to bring a digital mindset to sustaining strategic relevance and continuously improving customer- facing and back-office processes. They rate highly risks relating to economic headwinds, acquiring and retaining top talent, reskilling and upskilling the workforce, and the organization’s agility in meeting performance expectations related to quality, time to market, cost and innovation as well as competitors that are either “born digital” or investing heavily to leverage technology for competitive advantage. Leaders cannot allow the global risk landscape to inhibit the formulation and implementation of innovative, differentiating digital strategies. They need only reflect on the reimagining of business since the turn of this century to gauge the implications of rapid change over the next decade. Greater bandwidth and reduced latency are augmenting speed and scale at lower costs, enabling increased customer connectivity and transformation of how companies and whole industries operate. The buzz about generative AI adds a whole new dimension to this conversation. That is why companies should do everything they can to remain closely connected to the customer experience, invest in growth and position themselves to innovate and compete in the evolving global economy over the longer term. If an economic recession develops, leaders need to keep an eye on the future at the same time they preserve their organization’s
financial health over the near term. So the message is clear:
As markets evolve, so should companies. Given that, what
should leaders do to enable their organizations to function at the speed of the market? The following eight points offer a holistic approach. Focus on improving the customer experience continuously. In inculcating agility into an organization’s culture , this mindset is ground zero. Companies are competing on customer experience both now and in the future. In the marketplace, customer loyalty is fleeting, as it exists until something comes along that is faster, better or comparable at a lower cost. That is why driving value for the customer is at the heart of all decision- making, creating new sources of value for existing customers while opening up new markets to grow the customer base. This never- ending, innovative pursuit is all about reimagining and improving business models and processes continuously. Anything short of that is tantamount to playing to lose, breeding sluggishness,
operational blindspots and strategic error as markets progress. Draw from data-driven customer insights. Leaders
should view their organizations as living organisms. The faster the organization learns, the quicker it evolves. Improvement initiatives are fueled by attention to speed in gathering and learning from continuous feedback loops. The data needed to uncover and connect deep customer insights vital to informed business
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