The following report draws on the results of two North Highland-sponsored surveys conducted in March and September 2018.
Customer Experience (March 2018)
To understand trends, strategic challenges, and opportunities surrounding ways of working in Customer Experience (CX), we surveyed 269 director-level and above employees at organizations with 2017 revenues > $1 billion and that are headquartered in the U.S. or U.K.
North Highland Beacon (September 2018)
To analyze organizational attitudes and determine the most critical strategic priorities for 2019, we surveyed more than 700 senior leaders in seven industries at organizations with 2017 revenues > $1 billion and that are headquartered in the U.S. or U.K.
The industries surveyed:
- Consumer Packaged Goods
- Energy
- Financial Services
- Healthcare
- Life Sciences
- Media, Entertainment, and Communications
- Retail
Key Takeaways
The problem: Transformation is on the docket for business leaders across industries. To successfully transform, organizations are increasingly focused on product/service innovation (66 percent) and customer experience (CX) (56 percent) in their quest for competitive differentiation. Yet by failing to connect customer needs and internal processes, grounded in a shared cross-functional vision, organizations often fail to achieve their transformation objectives.
The analysis: To drive successful customer-focused transformation, leaders must change how work gets done—through an intentional focus on designing a shared vision and associated transformation that affects every function in the organization. This work then quickly turns into the need to define the actionable next steps of that transformation.
The solution: North Highland has developed an Accelerated Service Design (ASD) approach to improve and innovate how businesses get business done on their transformation journeys. It helps align internal services like roles, processes, and the systems and data needed to deliver an orchestrated experience, including all physical and digital touchpoints. From customer-facing features to the back office, it involves reimagining every stage and aspect of an interaction involving a customer or employee, built upon a shared vision. ASD involves five key steps:
- Start in your current state and document what that looks and feels like.
- Map out your desired state and what that needs to be, based on in-depth customer research.
- Prioritize what’s desirable, feasible, and viable.
- Get alignment around your vision.
- Build, iterate, and test with a Minimal Viable Experience.
