Mack Institute Co-Directors Christian Terwiesch and Nicolaj Siggelkow have published a new article in Harvard Business Review on creating seamless digital customer experiences. In the article, they discuss the biggest myths and pitfalls facing innovative firms today.
From the article:
Over the last couple of years, more and more companies have been trying to fundamentally reshape the way in which they interact with their customers — a trend that has been accelerated by the recent Covid-19 pandemic. Perhaps the biggest change firms have made is that, rather than having a few episodic interactions, they are trying to create a continuous relationship with their customers.
For example, in the past, consumers would only interact with their bank sporadically, when they visited a retail branch. Now, online and mobile banking connect the two parties almost seamlessly, creating a delivery model known as connected banking. Similarly, automotive insurance companies used to interact with the drivers they insured only at predefined touch points, such as policy renewals or claims events, but now sensors and mobile apps can continuously monitor driving behavior. This data can enable a connected insurance business model by providing safety feedback to drivers (and their parents) as well as informing future underwriting decisions. And, in healthcare, it used to be that patients often made decisions related to diet, exercise regimen, or medication adherence without the involvement of care providers. Now, technologies such as the Apple Watch, Fitbit, or WHOOP are collecting health data 24/7, allowing healthcare providers and others to learn about patient behavior and nudge them into making healthy decisions rather than just waiting for the patient to fall ill.
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Right now, many firms are in the process of implementing connected strategies. Decisions need to be made about how to execute these strategies, which customer segments they should target, and what operational capabilities have to be developed — and making these decisions correctly is paramount to reaping the full benefits of connected strategies. But, all too often, firms make avoidable mistakes in the implementation process.
In our research and collaboration with a number of connected strategy leaders, we have observed that companies often fall prey to four myths when implementing a connected strategy.