You may have heard about SoLoMo in recent years in regard to social media and its impact on a number of industries. But what about Big SoMoClo? Okay, that’s not the stage name of the newest star in the WWE; it’s my own acronym. It stands for Big Data, Social media, Mobility and the Cloud.
They’re four powerful technologies that have been hyped so much people wonder if they have any relevance for business today. The fact is most C-level executives discuss these technologies extensively to better understand how they can be used to drive growth.
But executives still struggle with is the fact that these technologies are inextricably connected. Large volumes of customer and sensor data are two of the main ingredients making Big Data so big. Big Data is a driving force behind the demand for Cloud technology because enterprises need a better way to store and gain access to those oceans of data. Social Media further pushes the envelope by driving data growth because today people communicate more often through more channels. And this fueled the Mobility explosion as business leaders demand information on the go in order to manage a business from anywhere.
So what does this have to do with customer experience transformation? Everything. Customers are the common thread that connects the Big Data, Social Media, Mobility and Cloud technologies. The capture of customer interaction and product usage data combined with customer sentiment from social media provides insight into a customer’s wants, needs and expectations. Insights that support better segmentation, treatment strategies and guidance regarding product and service offerings.
Being able to transform the customer experience drives tremendous value and growth for almost every organization. A recent
Harvard Business Review
article illustrates the value of great customer experiences:
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In transaction-based businesses, customers with best past experiences spend 140 percent more than those with poor past experiences.
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In subscription-based businesses, on average customers with low quality experience scores will likely remain a member for only a year, while customers with high quality experience scores will likely remain members for more than six years.
Transforming the customer experience is critical. This is a call to action to start today. Don’t delay.
So, how can leaders use Big Data, Social Media, Mobility and Cloud technologies to improve customer experiences? Developing an analytics strategy is one important option. A 2013
report
by McKinsey & Company and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology shows companies that inject Big Data and analytics into their operations outperform their peers in productivity (by 5 percent) and in profitability (by 6 percent).
Developing an analytics strategy appears to be a daunting task. Data is generated from almost every system used by companies today and is often stored in silos which makes gaining access to the data difficult. But this shouldn’t discourage leaders from developing a strategy that keeps analytics at its heart. A key point to remember is that you don’t need to boil the ocean.
Start small. Focus on one customer segment or one product line or one geographic area. Analyze the attributes of this segment to identify correlations, patterns and trends in relation to your customer’s experiences. That will help identify influencers that drive business performance within the segment. At this point decisions can be made to improve the customer experience and grow the business. Drive value, learn, expand and repeat.
The work is hard, but the rewards are tremendous and they will far outweigh the effort.
Transforming your customers’ experiences is key to long-term enterprise success, and Big SoMoClo is a critical part of that success. Sure, Big SoMoClo might not roll off the tongue like Hulk Hogan or “Stone Cold” Steve Austin, but start incorporating it along with analytics in all business decisions, and you might just give future problems a major beatdown.
Souces:
Harvard Business Review, August 2014 - The Value of Customer Experience - Quantified
https://hbr.org/2014/08/the-value-of-customer-experience-quantified
McKinsey & Company, May 2013 – Applying Advanced Analytics in Consumer Companies
http://www.mckinsey.com/insights/consumer_and_retail/applying_advanced_analytics_in_consumer_companies