To reach consumers today, CX leaders need to expand their understanding of human behaviors to find out how the brand should be designed and implement strategies that connect with individuals in context. Cognizant Interactive is a global digital agency that keeps its eyes on the future so that your business can too.
As you know, the internet enables ideas to spread fast and take on a life of their own. This embeds ideas in the consumer psyche, which then evolves into new behaviors. We’ve now reached a turning point where digital-immersion is default and digital cultures inseparable from consumer behaviors. Humans are social and digital channels enable new forms of expression that offer valuable insight into how humans fit into their environment.
Understand users in a context
Where do brands fit into this new digital-first world? Brands that adapt in line to how these social groups behave, are better positioned to capture the opportunity. The priority is to understand the user in a context. Understanding what’s meaningful to social clusters therefore isn’t about selling a product or service but understanding the moments that matter to customers.
This involves being able to join the dots on a series of data points, supported by behavioral science. The data comes from direct consumer interactions as well as from indirect touchpoints, which highlights the importance of ecosystem design and coordination in enabling visibility and data collection across all points of customer contact.
6 steps to CX excellence
How do you succeed with a human-centric CX strategy then? Following these steps helps:
- Be precise. What consumer thesis are you working to? What data points are you collecting in order to prove or disprove this thesis?
- Define what an impact looks like. What action do you want the consumer to take? What incentives are in place to guide this course of action?
- Employ the right frameworks. Where does your product or service fit in the consumer’s list of needs? Using a framework like Jobs to be Done can help to provide an anchor point for where you can create value.
- Remove fluff. Time is scarce and attention is limited. Make the journey simple. Remove unnecessary steps and strip away engagements that don’t deliver value.
- Make the results measurable. How will you know the engagement strategy is a success? What key indicators are you tracking and why?
- Assess and refine. Just as consumers are dynamic in behavior, your strategy must be too. Use the results and learnings to feedback into the approach and create a virtuous cycle of improvement.
Transforming a Norwegian pension provider
Cognizant has been involved in numerous CX projects and, among other things, we were asked to help Norway’s leading pension provider and 3rd largest insurer to transform into a more customer-centric organization that individual customers would trust to secure their financial future. This meant abandoning the focus on employer-provided pensions in favor of providing a full suite of financial products organized around customer’s life needs.
The idea was to shift from value creation and capture in vertical products, to value creation in horizontal customer journeys and in platforms that bring different parties together towards the fulfillment of customer life goals. This included defining key personas and journeys, interventions and channels around key moments of decision making. We translated the technology ask by introducing and implementing the right enabling technology platform as well as supporting its adoption.
Customer connection is key
There is no emerging technology that will change the importance of forming a solid connection. Creating a more human-centric engagement involves refining your data approach to get a deeper level of understanding into not only what customers are doing, but why they’re doing those things. Then, by blending the art of human understanding with the science of data analysis, brands can deliver experiences that resonate with the individual.
Finally, it is important to not look at a customer experience strategy with short-termism. Building for the long-term involves zooming out from the day-to-day and being ready to adapt to changing consumer behaviors.
If you are curious to learn more about our services and research when it comes to Customer Experience, check out our digital brochure with the latest insights and customer cases.