EDITOR ’ S QUESTION
We live in the age of ‘ experiences ’. A good customer experience can turn a one-off consumer into a loyal brand advocate . Given that we now live in a digital-first world , businesses across the region are investing heavily in building digital capabilities that allow them to adapt quickly to customer demand .
Customers , not competitors
If you can get people talking about a service or product of yours and how it helps their business grow , you have taken an important step .
The first step is to become customer obsessed . Retailers bond with customers through the nuances of psychology that make them choose a brand and remain loyal to it . Consumers are less tantalised by product features than they are by buying experiences and e-tailers have capitalised on that .
In B2B , enterprises should be emulating this . If they can understand the business their customers operate in – the opportunities and challenges – and design solutions and services that meet these needs and solve those challenges , they are within reach of a winning proposition . The need to nurture relationships is vital in the B2B world .
So B2B entities must put customers first and foremost . Similar to the way the designers of the iPhone were obsessed with the user experience and were constantly asking : How can we make the phone more user friendly ? They understood that customers respond to a company that improves their lives in some noticeable fashion . In the age of social media , even for B2B companies , if you can get people talking about a service or product of yours and how it helps their business grow , you have taken an important step . discoveries of wants or problems that your customers have that you can solve . Then you can stop being a link in a supply chain and become an industry hero .
A huge part of that feedback process will involve ease of use . In the new normal , where businesses and consumers have ever-changing needs , products and services that fulfil those needs will only be successful if they are easy to use . Getting bogged down in arduous training courses and endless technical manuals does not make for the best customer experience .
An extension of the ease-of-use element is flexibility . A good customer experience is made better by giving customers options in how they consume a product or service . Indeed the ‘ as-a-Service ’ concept itself is all about turning what used to be products into services and whether it be for security or infrastructure , we are seeing more and more customers pivot to an as-a- Service consumption model that helps to address the delivery of aftersales , because the business remains with its customer throughout the consumption journey . Aftersales is , if you like , baked right into the original sale . p
Focus on ease of use and flexibility
Involving your customer in your product-development cycle is a strong start . Feedback can lead to
JAMES PETTER , GENERAL MANAGER ,
INTERNATIONAL , PURE STORAGE
www . intelligentcio . com INTELLIGENTCIO MIDDLE EAST 35