The single most important job for great businesses in the post-digital world is to reduce friction in customer engagement.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Personalisation means friction is reduced. New technologies mean it is possible to personalise to a degree that can make an experience truly surprising. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Say I\u2019m a male and I wear extra-large in clothing size. You can see that I usually buy blue or black. So next time I\u2019m on your website and you\u2019ve tracked my buying behaviour, you know which clothing to put in front of me in terms of size availability and colours. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
It saves me clicks and prevents the frustration of finding something I like, then realising you don\u2019t have it in my size. You are giving me back my time. The average consumer is unlikely to realise the reason it\u2019s easier and faster to shop on your site than on another, but they will know it\u2019s easier and faster, and for that you will earn their loyalty.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
All transformation in the post-digital economy must begin with the customer in mind. It\u2019s about thinking deeply about where the points of friction are, then getting rid of them.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
What do I mean by post-digital? I\u2019m referring to the immediate need to go beyond the foundational digital capabilities of mobile, social, cloud and analytics, and go beyond incremental digital \u2018transformation\u2019 for the sake of efficiency, for your business to compete and win. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Today, differentiation has to come from the emerging technologies that Accenture has labelled \u2018DARQ\u2019 technologies \u2013 distributed ledger (or blockchain), artificial intelligence, extended reality and quantum computing. Post-digital engagement combines the capabilities of these new technologies built upon the foundational capabilities I mentioned above. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
And while this differentiation will help every part of your business, the real value is improving customer experience.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
When I stay in a Marriott Hotel, I no longer go to the check-in desk. Everything is on my phone. The hotel knows when I\u2019m arriving and my room is ready. I use my phone to unlock the door and the thermostat will be set to my preferred temperature. Tomorrow, the room will be cleaned at the time I have wanted it cleaned in the past.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Friction that used to exist has been removed.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Why is this important? It\u2019s because consumers rate the experience they have with companies and brands as more important than the product and services they receive.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The State of the Connected Customer report from 2018 said 80% of customers globally rated experience as at least as important as product. In 2019, that figure rose to 84%.<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n And what is customer experience? Put simply, it\u2019s your first memory, your last memory and everything in between when you\u2019re engaged with a company or brand. And it\u2019s the basis of loyalty and advocacy \u2013 it\u2019s very easy to lose brand affinity with a customer after even one poor experience.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The idea that we\u2019re already in a post-digital economy might come as a shock to some. But if we take the time to look around, it should be quite obvious.<\/p>\n\n\n\n A few months from now the first person born in the 21st century will no longer be a teenager. Digital natives \u2013 those born into digital, cloud, mobile and social \u2013 are now over 20 years old. Much of that tech is par for the course.<\/p>\n\n\n\n We\u2019re years beyond the age in which Angry Birds \u2013 of all things \u2013 made it to 50 million users in a month. It took television 70 years to get to that point! The pace of adoption is incredible, as is the rate of usage. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Every minute in 2019, 18 million text messages are sent.<\/p>\n\n\n\n One of every five minutes spent online is spent on a social network. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Half a dozen messaging apps boast around a billion multi-active users. <\/p>\n\n\n\n At Salesforce we are providing eight billion AI predictions a day for our customers to help their customers.<\/p>\n\n\n\n For a decade we\u2019ve been talking about the importance of mobile technologies, social networking, cloud computing<\/a> and analytics \u2013 the four foundational blocks for digital transformation. But 10 years into the journey of implementing these four important technologies and most companies now have at least one, and often all four, of those capabilities in play. They, and their customers, are asking \u2018What\u2019s next?\u2019.<\/p>\n\n\n\n In a post-digital economy where mobile, social, cloud, and analytics are foundational, the way to differentiate yourself is to think about how you can use some of the emerging technologies to continue to surprise and delight your customers. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Every company seeking success in a post-digital economy needs to think like a technology company to satisfy their customers, who have very high expectations.<\/p>\n\n\n\nThe new reality<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
So how do you differentiate yourself?<\/h2>\n\n\n\n