How to use CX-led architecture to transform your business

We’ve evolved from “marketing to customers” to”being customer-centric” to the “customer experience (CX).”

Today’s CX terminology reflects the fact that we now recognize it’s no good to simply sell to customers or consider them after the organization has a fairly firm plan in place. The whole concept has been flipped on its head, now starting with the customer and their world from the get-go, and every aspect of their journey thereafter, in both the online and physical world.

It’s now about how we use technology as a means to enhance every step, from end to end.

CX starts with the world and the problems people face, then works out how we harness technology to solve these problems with innovative solutions to improve everyday experiences.

When we talk about digital transformation, it’s not just about putting everything in the cloud and being paperless. It’s about changing digital platforms and making positive changes to the way we do everything, for the greatest positive impact – for our customers, our organizations and even our planet.

The challenge with digital transformation is keeping pace with galloping technological change. It’s hard to know where to begin and how to keep up. The CX-led approach will be the focus of my session, Outside-In, CX-Led Architectures To Drive Digital Transformations, at MarTech East on Sept. 18.

The inconvenient truth is that change is the only marketing constant. Our martech motto could be death and taxes – and endless change. We’ve all witnessed organizations crippled by an unwillingness or inability to adapt.

If we acknowledge and accept our ever-changing fate, the question becomes, how can we make that change matter, for the greatest possible positive impact?

In order to evolve, the changes we make must factor in:

• Immense effort – both human and financial inputs.
• Taking risks – how we can embrace and reduce it.
• The dark side – how to manage a raft of complexities.
• Big-picture focus – to avoid making decisions in a bubble.
• Society –  information overload and shrinking attention spans.

CX is about using technology as a tool for change and CX-led architecture drives digital transformation by embracing:

• Principles – key principles for being a truly customer-focused business.
• Components – six essential parts of the process (customers are only one).
• Concepts – to create customer profiles and definitions for all CX elements. 
• Artifacts – the bones you’d see if you took an x-ray of CX-led architecture.

How we harness martech is the key to making successful change happen – it’s the not-so-secret CX ingredient. We need to figure out how to get from where we are to where we want to be digitally.

Opinions expressed in this article are those of the guest author and not necessarily Marketing Land. Staff authors are listed here.