.svg){kind=small}
This has been mainly due to the resistance that comes with dramatically changing the status quo of company cultures & organisations – especially in Luxury and Fashion, traditionally used to setting the rules and dictating needs & wants to their customers.
As we experienced over the last 5-7 years, many businesses focused on launching new touch-points and channels to the public, often doing so by building internal functional silos. As a consequence, they implicitly set new promises to their customers without being actually ready to fulfill them due to the lack of integration within the organisation.
Brands are therefore now trying to fit-a-square-peg-in-a-round-hole, struggling to make sense of these divided channels and touch-points in a holistic way, whilst using an obsolete Operating Model (e.g.: departmental division, sales attribution and incentives by final POS, customer ownership, etc..)
It is now imperative to shift the focus of the whole organisation to the Customer Experience by developing a solid Customer-Centric culture and operating model..
..and such a remarkable journey can not but start from truly knowing our customers
Who are they?
How and When do they Engage with our Brand?
How often do they Purchase our products and Where?
Are they Satisfied with our delivery-on-promise?
etc..
However, to answer such questions, an organisation must be ready to challenge pre-existing anecdotal ideas of who the average customer might be by committing to only use substantial data in their analysis.
The truth is that, as sexy as Big-Data is, we believe that the path to creating solid Customer-Centric foundations starts with unlocking the "smart data" often already present within the silos of a business..
..and only then formulating a compelling value proposition able to enhance the Customer Experience and offer the business with a strategic edge over competitors.
That’s why we prefer to Think Customer before thinking Omni-Channel ..and beyond.
