CUSTOMERS 2020:

A PROGRESS REPORT
MORE INSIGHT FOR A NEW DECADE
 CUSTOMERS 2020: A PROGRESS REPORT

C O NDU CTED IN COLLABOR ATION WITH

2 Copyright ©2017 Walker Information, Inc. All rights reserved.

CUSTOMERS 2020: A PROGRESS REPORT

CUSTOMERS 2020: MORE

INSIGHT FOR A NEW DECADE
In 2013 Walker released an eye-opening preview of B-to-B customer experience
in the year 2020. Arming forward-thinking companies with thought-provoking
insight to plan for the future, Customers 2020 focused on how B-to-B firms
should begin positioning themselves to meet changing customer expectations.
Four years later, “the future of 2020” is almost here. As companies prepare for a new
decade in an increasingly customer-driven world, Walker has gathered fresh feedback
from customer experience (CX) leaders, as well as perspectives from a select CX
advisory group, to update insights and offer proactive recommendations designed to
transform the customer experience. Our follow-up report, Customers 2020: A Progress
Report, answers these key questions:

• What customer expectations and trends are still relevant as 2020 approaches?

• What should B-to-B firms do today to ensure they’re able to win and keep
customers in 2020 and beyond?

• What are the implications for CX professionals?

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 CUSTOMERS 2020: A PROGRESS REPORT

TABLE OF CONTENTS

THE CUSTOMER CONUNDRUM . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6

Customer expectations are increasing as 2020 approaches. This, coupled
with the fact that interactions at every stage of the journey are becoming
more complex, presents a striking conundrum for today’s B-to-B firms.
Learn about the influence of consumer experiences and what’s required
to meet customer expectations surrounding the big three: personalization,
ease, and speed.

IT’S TIME FOR TRANSFORMATIVE CHANGE . . . . . . . . . . . . 14

Meeting customer expectations in the new decade means shifting from
being “customer focused” to “customer committed.” This deliberate
transformation requires fundamental change in how B-to-B companies
think, act, and collaborate. From taking action to embracing change, find
out what’s needed to make the shift.

DO YOU HAVE WHAT IT TAKES? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22

When it comes to helping companies meet 2020 customer expectations,
customer experience professionals have a critical role. From leading the
creation of governance to ensuring the right intelligence exists to make
informed decisions, CX professionals must step up to meet new demands.
Learn the best ways to get started.

ABOUT THE STUDY . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 31

ABOUT WALKER . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 32

4 Copyright ©2017 Walker Information, Inc. All rights reserved.

AT A GLANCE
In a follow up to the groundbreaking Customers 2020 report, Walker gathered
updated feedback and perspectives from business leaders and customer
experience professionals to offer new insights for a new decade. In addition to
overcoming increasing complexity, in 2020 and beyond B-to-B companies will
be challenged to meet the big three of customer expectations: personalization,
ease, and speed.
What companies must do: The need for transformative change means a culture shift
from merely being “customer focused” to becoming “customer committed.” This can
be accomplished when firms commit to:

• Envision, activate, propel – a three-step approach to act more deliberately on

behalf of customers

• Shift focus from silos to journeys – resist silos and prioritize customer interaction
stages

• Embrace and manage change – create and sustain an organization that’s good at
changing

What CX professionals must do: The time is now for CX professionals to lead the way
in preparing for the future. To manage the transformation that’s required to compete
effectively in 2020, CX professionals must:

• Create governance to drive culture

• Expose the value of customer information

• Make CX innovation a priority

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 THE CUSTOMER
CONUNDRUM

COMPLEXITY IS HERE TO STAY.

New technology, innovation’s rapid pace, evolving products and services, and intense competition mean customer interactions
at every stage of the journey are increasingly complex. This reality, during a time when the customer’s desire for more effortless
experiences is heightening, is not lost on those who appreciate irony. Often, the steps companies take to make interactions
easier for customers – creating technologies and processes for customers and employees to use – are the ones that are most
complex and difficult to pull off. Yet, overcoming internal complexity is required to deliver what customers want and expect.

CONSUMER EXPERIENCES MAKE A STRONG IMPRESSION.

There’s no doubt consumer experiences have a profound impact on B-to-B. Business-to-business customers benefit from
personalization and ease in their personal life as retail consumers. Now, they expect similar results when dealing with firms
in the B-to-B sector. B-to-B companies haven’t yet matched the agility and expertise their B-to-C counterparts demonstrate in
designing and integrating personalization into consumer experiences, both online and in store. While business-to-consumer
is admittedly a different market, B-to-B customer expectations will continue to be influenced by transformational consumer
experiences.

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 CUSTOMERS 2020:
A PROGRESS REPORT

MEETING CHANGING EXPECTATIONS: THE BIG THREE

Increasing complexity and the consumer experience create a real conundrum for CX professionals.

In Customers 2020, we predicted a future in which informed, empowered B-to-B customers dictate the
experience. Changing customer expectations, fueled by the internet, technology, and consumer experiences,
affect how B-to-B firms will do business and align with customers.

Today, CX professionals continue to be challenged with three changing customer expectations:

PERSONALIZATION:
There is no average customer. Customers want to do business with companies that know their individual
and company needs and are willing to tailor the experience to meet those needs.

EASE:
An explosion of information, connected networks, and more competitive options lead to little patience for
complexity. Customers don’t have time on their side and place a real premium on simplicity.

SPEED:
The pace of business is accelerating rapidly. Time is of the essence. Customers can’t afford to wait around
while their business issues are being considered. They value companies that provide real-time response
and proactively anticipate their future needs.

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 CUSTOMERS 2020: A PROGRESS REPORT / THE CUSTOMER CONUNDRUM

THERE IS NO AVERAGE
CUSTOMER
PERSONALIZATION
Prolific personalization in the business-to-consumer marketplace shapes
what B-to-B customers want. With tools to customize the product for
everyone, alerts when the product expires, automatic renewals, and product
recommendations based on purchase history, providing a personalized
experience is where business-to-consumer companies have made their mark.
Like consumers, businesses also have unique needs and one thing is certain,
B-to-B companies continue to fall short on identifying and fulfilling
customer needs for a personalized experience.
For many B-to-B firms, the significant cost of personalization is hard to justify.
Offering a personalized experience, whether delivered digitally or through
employees, requires a complete, integrated view of the customer, which is
challenging for most and virtually unimaginable for large, multinational organizations.
Many simply don’t have the data, and for those that do, it’s likely not housed in a way
that supports the integration, analysis, and decision-making required to personalize.

WHAT’S REQUIRED TO MEET THE EXPECTATION?

Understanding that there is no “average” customer is the first step. To meet every
customer’s unique needs, companies must embrace a new level of customer fascination
– one that treats each customer as an individual and seeks an intimate understanding
of needs. To do this companies must:
B-TO-B HAS ALWAYS
• Select a starting point for integration. Be creative and start small by focusing on HAD THE CAPACITY FOR
integration for one customer touchpoint in the journey. Lead work across silos to PERSONALIZATION
expose the broader view necessary to customize the experience.
Historically, B-to-B firms delivered a
• Build transparency with customer-facing employees. Creating a complete view personalized experience through those
of the customer is a daunting task. Whether it’s fulfilled completely or partially, who interacted directly with customers.
Today, through modernization, digitization,
companies need transparency to understand customers. Make customer insights
and growth in B-to-B complexity, there are
readily available so employees have the information they need. now significantly more instances of people
– customers and employees – interacting
• Deliver insights that deepen customer relationships. In sharing insights, focus
with technologies and processes, not
on gathering intelligence that helps the company create deeper relationships humans. B-to-B is being challenged to
with customers. Consider including information such as industry perspectives, the deliver the same level of personalization
competitive landscape of strategic customers, and challenges the customer is through new technologies and processes.
facing.

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 CUSTOMER EXPECTATIONS FOR A PERSONALIZED
EXPERIENCE INCREASE DRAMATICALLY

We asked customer experience

88%
professionals to rate customer
expectations for a personalized
experience along three time
periods: three years ago, today,
and three years from now. The
expectation for personalization
31% 2020
4%
continues to grow, with the gap
between today and the year 2020 TODAY
being the largest gap of all of the 2013
expectations we measured.

WALKER’S TAKE ON PERSONALIZATION

Customer expectations for personalization are accelerating. Business-to-business
companies must make the investments in data, analytics, and technology that are
required to meet this challenge.

“
“We need to know what daily battles our customers must fight and how we can help them. We’ll get this information from a drive
to intelligently use all the big data that we have. It’ll be making this information transparent to the people who deal with these
customers. We’ll need to educate our own people and make sure they understand what customers need. We’ll provide this to our people
proactively. They need it right away; it must be easy for them.”
— Global Client Loyalty Leader, Telecommunications

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 CUSTOMERS 2020: A PROGRESS REPORT / THE CUSTOMER CONUNDRUM

EASE IS ALREADY A
NECESSITY
EASE
New technologies help make things simple, and simplified experiences are
something customers have come to expect. Many B-to-B firms are too
narrowly focused on the digital experience as the way to deliver on this customer
expectation. While the digital experience is critical, B-to-B firms must not lose
sight of the experience that is developed through the relationship between
customers and employees.
The evidence is clear. Customers make financial decisions based on their perception
of how easy it is to do business with their supplier. With customers becoming more
empowered and information about competitors just a click away, B-to-B firms must
invest to ensure there is minimal effort involved in key phases of the journey.

WHAT’S REQUIRED TO MEET THE EXPECTATION?

Complexities are inevitable in the customer experience. The companies that will win
are those who can turn complex approaches into easy and effortless experiences for
customers (and employees). To do this companies must:

• Determine where personal contact adds value. Building and maintaining strong
customer relationships requires a balance between personal interactions and
digital experiences. B-to-B must determine which parts of the journey can be
automated to promote ease and those that still require personal contact.

• Embrace an outside-in approach. Companies must make it a priority to truly

understand and empathize with customers. They must seek an outside-in
approach, with customer intelligence, emotion, and behaviors guiding strategic
LESSONS FROM B-TO-C
priorities throughout the customer journey stages.
While the dynamics of B-to-B are distinct,
• Develop new benchmarks. Often B-to-B companies find themselves benchmarking there are ways B-to-B can learn from
against others in their industry. While relevant, that’s not the comparison customers B-to-C when it comes to simplicity. Hilton,
use. Customers are comparing their business relationships to their experiences as for example, is seeking to revolutionize
the check-in process by eliminating it.
consumers. Companies must look for alternative benchmarks, including B-to-C and
Customers can check-in through their
companies outside their industry, to guide their progress. mobile app and go straight to their room
when they arrive. The company’s targeted
• Help ensure consistency. One way to facilitate ease is to ensure the customer’s
focus on a specific element of the
experience is the same every time. When routine is established, interactions are journey, the check-in experience, allows
inherently viewed as easier. it to reduce complexity and changes the
experience in a transformative way.
• Embrace “smooth” as a CX design principle. Design and create “smooth”
experiences using technologies and processes to remove friction in B-to-B
interactions.
10 Copyright ©2017 Walker Information, Inc. All rights reserved.
 CUSTOMER EXPECTATIONS FOR EASE ARE STRONG
TODAY AND WILL BE EVEN STRONGER IN THE FUTURE

100%

We asked customer experience

90%
professionals to rate customer 75%
expectations for an easy experience
along three time periods: three
years ago, today, and three years 50%
from now. The expectation for ease
is already strong, with nearly 50%
saying this expectation is high 25%
47%
today. The outlook for 2020: nearly 11%
everyone says the expectation will
be high. 0%
2013 TODAY 2020

WALKER’S TAKE ON EASE

In business-to-business customer relationships, delivering “ease” isn’t always easy.
Customer expectations for simplicity are already heightened, and B-to-B needs to
dramatically accelerate its progress. It’s time B-to-B companies make simplicity an
enterprise-wide, strategic initiative.

“
“I see the complexity and dysfunction in large organizations becoming a greater challenge. With more functions involved in decisions,
the complexity seems to be rising. We need to be talking about making it easier for customers to buy – helping them navigate and
making it easy to decide.”
— Vice President, Customer Excellence, Industrial Engineering

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 CUSTOMERS 2020: A PROGRESS REPORT / THE CUSTOMER CONUNDRUM

TIME IS OF
THE ESSENCE
SPEED
Customers rarely, if ever, enjoy the waiting game. In competitive business
environments, they want matters resolved quickly. They also value
proactive responses from companies that are savvy enough to anticipate and
intervene before an issue becomes a problem.
Meeting the expectation for speed can be a challenge in large complex companies
where organizational structures, policies, and procedures generally prevail. Managing
across silos and sifting through data are common barriers to improving customer
response times.

WHAT’S REQUIRED TO MEET THE EXPECTATION?

Customers appreciate companies that demonstrate care and concern for their
time. Realizing that customers require an immediate response to the task at hand,
companies must:

• Focus on personas and predictive analytics. There is no shortage of customer

intelligence, but there is a shortage when it comes to the “art” of analytics.
Companies can leverage advanced analytics, such as predictive analytics and
artificial intelligence, to better understand and provide immediate resolution to
individual customer needs and have the foresight to proactively address future
needs.

“
• Design the customer experiences. While incremental improvements have merit,
they aren’t likely to significantly impact speed. Using design principles to guide “I think time will continue to
customer experience improvements can lead to the transformational change be a huge variable. We don’t
necessary to increase speed and address other key customer expectations.
want to wait for anything. This
• Pilot innovations with diverse customer groups. Don’t overlook how your
customers can contribute to improvements. Engage a diverse group of customers
will be true with our business
in your innovation activities to understand what questions customers ask engagements too.”
themselves regularly and design solutions that meet current and future customer
needs. — Director, Total Customer
Experience and Quality,
• Flatten the organization. Empower employees and embrace a willingness to
Information Technology and
allow decision-making to occur at the lowest possible level of responsibility.
Services

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 THE BIG THREE:
COMPANIES ARE NOT YET PREPARED

29%

62%

9%

PERSONALIZATION

32%
33%
Customer experience professionals
recognize their companies’
shortcomings in the areas of the 61% 59%
big three: personalization, ease,
and speed. Less than 10% consider
7% 8%
their company very effective at
delivering on these critical customer
expectations.

EASE SPEED
Very Effective Somewhat Effective Not Very Effective

WALKER’S TAKE ON THE BIG THREE

The combination of increased complexity and the business-to-consumer experience
create a real conundrum for B-to-B companies. With the year 2020 right around the
corner, B-to-B companies must organize their customer initiatives around delivering
a personalized, easy, and quick experience. While all three are essential, customer
expectations for “ease” are already heightened. If searching for a place to start, B-to-B
companies should start by considering ways to make customer interactions easier.

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 IT’S TIME FOR
TRANSFORMATIVE
CHANGE

PERSONALIZATION, EASE, AND SPEED.

In a competitive business world where stakes are high, customers have clear expectations of what they want and how it
should be delivered. And while it’s hard to predict exactly how expectations may change in the coming years, we know
enough to arm B-to-B companies with the insight and strategies needed to create competitive advantage for 2020 and
beyond. In this section of the report, we provide 20/20 hindsight – today – for how B-to-B firms can and should prepare for
the future.

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 CUSTOMERS 2020:
A PROGRESS REPORT

TRANSFORMING COMPANY CULTURE: FROM

CUSTOMER FOCUSED TO CUSTOMER COMMITTED
Every company focuses on its customers. Without serving customers to some degree, businesses wouldn’t
survive. But saying “we’re focused on customers” and prioritizing that focus to command customer-centric
improvements are two very different things. Moving from being “customer focused” to “customer committed” is
the transformative shift B-to-B firms must make to successfully compete in the future.

This transformation requires fundamental change in how companies think, act, and collaborate. Becoming truly
customer committed, B-to-B enterprises must:

• Envision, activate, propel – adopt a three-step approach to act more deliberately on behalf of customers.

• Shift focus to journeys – prioritize customer interaction stages, not silos.

• Embrace and manage change – create and sustain an organization that’s good at changing.

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 CUSTOMERS 2020: A PROGRESS REPORT / IT’S TIME FOR TRANSFORMATIVE CHANGE

ENVISION, ACTIVATE,
PROPEL
Becoming customer focused – and subsequently customer committed – is
a process that requires motivation, planning, and investment. It’s a pledge
companies make for the long-term. Based on Walker’s 2016 report, The
CEO View of CX, top executives appreciate the significance of customer
experience, citing it as the most important factor driving competitive
advantage. But, even with executive support, transforming a business
culture to focus more intently on customers isn’t easy.
Envision – Take time to evaluate where you are in terms of customer focus and then
envision where you could be. This means gathering the right people to investigate,
fact find, brainstorm, and report about your current reality and what the future could –
and should – look like. Typical activities during this stage:

• Engage in a company-wide CX maturity assessment

• Initiate executive engagement and gain buy-in
• Complete an existing process review, including employee engagement
• Develop a vision, including CX design principles, and accompanying governance
structure

Activate – This stage brings associates together to activate the organization toward
customer-committed change. Activities are aimed at addressing these objectives:

• Create a sense of urgency; “Why does this matter?”

• Embrace discomfort and be ready to act
• Ensure managers understand and embrace the CX design principles
• Identify barriers and ways to address them
CX MATURITY ASSESSMENT
Propel – Once the foundation is formed through vision and action, companies must
Walker’s Accelerate CX™ is a
propel their customer commitment throughout the enterprise, building momentum.
comprehensive program designed to
Activities at this phase center around:
assess, improve, and optimize customer
experience initiatives. It starts with an
• Manager-led launch meetings
assessment of a company’s current
• Ongoing recognition for those demonstrating customer-committed behaviors level of maturity within their customer
experience efforts and includes ways to
• Reinforcing design principles through action and messaging accelerate their level of CX sophistication.
• Consistent tracking of progress and changes

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 WHICH STRATEGIES WILL BEST MEET THE
CHANGING NEEDS OF YOUR CUSTOMERS?

Customer experience DEVELOPING A CUSTOMER CENTRIC CULTURE 46%

professionals were asked to
identify the strategies they
are focused on to meet future
SIMPLIFYING PRODUCTS AND PROCESSES 45%
customer expectations. The top
two items they selected: culture INVESTING IN ADVANCED ANALYTICS 34%
and simplifying products and
processes.
COMBINING DISPARATE SOURCES OF CUSTOMER INFORMATION 33%
UNDERSTANDING INDIVIDUAL CUSTOMER CHARACTERISTICS 30%
DEVELOPING AND EXECUTING A DIGITAL TRANSFORMATION STRATEGY 22%
IMPLEMENTING AN OMNI-CHANNEL STRATEGY 20%

ADAPTING HOW WE COMMUNICATE WITH CUSTOMERS 16%

USING CUSTOMER INTELLIGENCE TO GUIDE PRODUCT INNOVATION 16%

INVOLVING CUSTOMERS IN THE INNOVATION PROCESS 12%
FOCUSING ON AGILE IMPROVEMENT INITIATIVES 12%

ADAPTING OUR SELLING STRUCTURE 10%

0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50%

WALKER’S TAKE
Some might view culture as an employee engagement and retention strategy. While
these are beneficial outcomes, its reach is broader. Its influence on the customer
experience is undeniable. To create a customer-committed culture, B-to-B companies
must be deliberate and intentional in cultural transformation efforts. Creating a culture
that engages employees and helps them empathize with customers’ current and future
needs is an essential first step.

“
“It starts with working to alter the course of our culture. It’s foundational to all the other things we talk about doing. Unless the
organization cares about customers, it won’t matter.”
— Vice President, Marketing and Chief Vision Officer, Insurance Provider

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 CUSTOMERS 2020: A PROGRESS REPORT / IT’S TIME FOR TRANSFORMATIVE CHANGE

SHIFT FOCUS FROM

SILOS TO JOURNEYS
With so many B-to-B companies organized by function, it’s easy for business units
to be lulled into a false sense of security when scores hold steady or show slight
improvement. When companies adopt a silo view of customer experience, it’s
impossible for employees or teams to see the full picture from the customer’s
perspective. Yes, it’s possible that one specific function scores high, but what about
the customer interactions with other areas of the business that take place at similar
times?
Shifting focus from silos to journeys makes it possible for companies to see
where customer pain points emerge and to zero in on key moments of truth. It’s
from this holistic perspective that companies can move away from mere “break-
fix” incremental changes to opportunities for transformational or breakthrough
improvements.

It’s more than merely creating a journey map. While journey mapping isn’t new,
its value in zeroing in on moments of truth in the customer experience is evergreen
and undeniable. The 360-view that journey mapping provides is essential to
customer-committed companies adopting an outside-in approach. But, its value
is more than simply creating a journey map. It must also be a way to ensure
continued focused on journeys.

Customer experience professionals are in a perfect position to expose the flaws

in the silo-based approach and make a case for a stronger, more singular focus on
journeys.
EXAMPLE OF SHIFTING TO
Focus on creating customer empathy. CX professionals can take the lead on JOURNEY FOCUS
journey mapping and other research necessary to create organizational empathy
Customer intelligence may show that
for customers. This will help employees see the broader context of their roles and customers are frustrated with the service
responsibilities. experience. Historically, CX professionals
would go to the service organization and
Organize cross-functional resources around the journey. Using some of the work with them to identify the issues and
change management guidelines included later in this report, CX professionals can corrective actions. Shifting to a journey
develop the partnerships and buy-in required to bring the relevant teams together, focus, CX professionals would foster
inspire collaboration, and instigate action with a specific customer touchpoint. collaboration across all the departments
and functions to resolve the problem.
Start somewhere. For some companies, embracing a journey focus is a seismic Yes, this would include the service
shift. When making change, it doesn’t have to be all or nothing. Prioritize initiatives, organization, but could also include
Human Resources, Product Development,
and pick one or two to get started. If the journey view shows breakdowns in
Account Management, and others.
ordering or support, create a plan and tackle the biggest trouble spots first.

18 Copyright ©2017 Walker Information, Inc. All rights reserved.

 FROM SILOS TO JOURNEYS

TODAY 2020
When faced with a customer When faced with a customer
issue or opportunity we engage issue or opportunity, we will
the respective functional area: organize around the customer
journey:
• Marketing
• Sales • Awareness

• Account Management • Engagement

• Product Development • Decision

• Service/Support • Onboarding

• Delivery • Usage

• Installation • Support

• Human Resources • Renewal

• Finance

WALKER’S TAKE
The focus on functional areas is not moving the needle in a significant way. B-to-B
firms must shift their mindset from functional improvements to journey-based
improvements, bringing together all the functional areas that influence the customer
experience. Employees can no longer see their role aligned with a particular business
function. They must see their role in a broader context recognizing their influence
along the full customer journey.

“
“Line of business (LOB) leaders recognize they won’t be successful unless everyone is on board. We need to create alignment top to
bottom. Our “Bring Your LOB Leader to Work” pilot involves customer profiling on a stage. We have an exec with a front-line employee
present and share how they are making progress. People love the story of how they are breaking down silos.”
— Vice President, Customer & Market Insights, Social and Mobile Cloud Technologies

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 CUSTOMERS 2020: A PROGRESS REPORT / IT’S TIME FOR TRANSFORMATIVE CHANGE

EMBRACE AND
MANAGE CHANGE
Change management for CX guides how we prepare and enable people to
successfully adopt a customer-committed attitude in operations, one initiative
at a time. While change is challenging for any organization, effectively
managing change to drive action and sustain improvements is more about
people than process. Companies have a hard time changing because the
change is often too narrowly defined as a “project.”
Generally, B-to-B firms and customer experience professionals are skilled at planning
and implementing projects, but they fail to see that beyond the core project, there are
people who must understand why, buy in to the benefits, and implement the change
day to day. Without cooperation from colleagues across functions, the progress of
“change making” grinds to a halt because those responsible for carrying out the
change simply aren’t invested – likely because they were never consulted.

ACCOMPLISHING CHANGE: WHAT IT TAKES

Change succeeds when people, employees, and others who may be affected are
adequately motivated and prepared. Effective change management requires:

• Executive sponsorship – Engage a senior executive who prioritizes the change

and is visible during key phases of the change-making process.

• A compelling story – A strong story or argument will go a long way to promote

CONSIDER THESE
full understanding of why change is needed, introduce potential benefits, and
QUESTIONS WHEN
gain all-important buy-in from people charged with making the change.
CREATING YOUR STORY
• A distinction between project execution and change management – Having a
• What happens if we don’t make this
project team isn’t enough; change is easier when a separate team is assigned change?
and responsible for the “people” aspects of the initiative.
• What’s the risk to customers and the
• Preparing the people – Job one for this group is to listen to constituents and company?
others affected by the change. They’ll have concerns, questions, and perhaps
• What’s the value proposition…for
even firsthand insights, that can aid in developing and deploying the new customers and employees?
process.
• How does this change support our CX
• Remaining engaged – Too often CX professionals simply leave improvement up design principles?
to departments or shepherd an initiative through to launch and then step back. • What does success look like?
Continue to use change management principles to carry the project and people
through to implementation and measurable outcomes.

20 Copyright ©2017 Walker Information, Inc. All rights reserved.

 HOW EFFECTIVE IS EACH AREA AT TAKING ACTION?

CUSTOMER SERVICE/SUPPORT 49%

It’s clear, even with a silo focus,
getting organizations to take action MARKET RESEARCH 37%
is a challenge for CX professionals.
When asked how effective different
functions are at using customer MARKETING 35%
intelligence to drive improvements,
the results are disheartening. ACCOUNT MANAGEMENT 33%
PRODUCT DEVELOPMENT 30%

OPERATIONS 29%

EXECUTIVE 26%
BUSINESS DEVELOPMENT/SALES 21%
CHANNEL PARTNERS 16%

HUMAN RESOURCES 13%

0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60% 70% 80% 90% 100%

% Responding Very Effective

WALKER’S TAKE
With customers and employees, getting individuals to change their behavior is a
challenge. To help their organization act on customer intelligence, CX professionals
must: 1) embrace the silo to journey shift discussed in the prior section, particularly
when it comes to identifying and prioritizing improvement initiatives, 2) stay engaged
in initiatives through completion, and 3) prepare the people while letting those
skilled in the business manage the process side of change. At the same time, CX
professionals work alongside others to focus on the people side of change that is
often underestimated.

“
“CX professionals help their organizations look at change in terms of a portfolio – not about a list of projects initiatives. Organizations
need to make decisions holistically - identifying the right things to do based on customer and brand value impact.”

— Diane Magers, CEO, Customer Experience Professionals Association

21
 DO YOU HAVE
WHAT IT TAKES?

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 CUSTOMERS 2020:
A PROGRESS REPORT

For today’s customer experience professionals, there’s no better time to

take a more definitive lead in preparing your company for 2020 and beyond.
Customers want more, but demand experiences that require less time and
effort. B-to-B firms must find new ways to use customer intelligence to
make the sound business decisions that inform action and promote change.
It requires CX professionals to think differently about their role and lead
the way in defining organizational structure, using intelligence to its full
advantage, and finding new ways to innovate.

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 CUSTOMERS 2020: A PROGRESS REPORT / DO YOU HAVE WHAT IT TAKES?

CREATE GOVERNANCE TO
DRIVE THE CULTURE
Governance. It’s not a particularly exciting word, often bringing to mind images
of stalled progress, bureaucracy and red tape. But for companies positioning
themselves to compete in 2020 and beyond, governance of CX resources,
procedures, and cadence is essential. As a way of eliminating role confusion
and duplication, especially in large organizations, the re-engineering benefits
of governance can actually propel crucial initiatives forward.
Determine the right operating model. The kind of governance model you choose
depends largely on your company’s culture and vision of customer experience. The
model could be centralized, with the customer experience team assuming a large
portion of ownership, or enterprise wide, accommodating partnerships between a
smaller customer experience team and employees throughout the company.

Draft a charter. Serving as a guide and go-to resource for how the program will
operate, a charter outlines the governance structure and states goals and objectives.
Program specifics also may be included, such as the cadence of the program,
frequency of meetings, survey deployment and reporting, direction for implementing
the close loop, and integration with existing processes like Six Sigma or Lean.

Secure necessary resources. Alliances with business units are key to the success of
any program. Governance should express the commitment of business unit resources
needed to get the job done. While the resources are still functional in nature, they
must be aligned around the customer journey.

WHEN GOVERNANCE IS MIA: SIGNS AND SYMPTOMS

Data, action, and insights are just some of the specific areas in which establishing clear
governance can be beneficial. Without creating a clearly understood organizational
structure, companies may experience varying degrees of enterprise-wide chaos and
confusion, such as: WHAT IS CX GOVERNANCE?
In the world of customer experience,
Role confusion – With so much emphasis on the customer experience, everyone
governance is about identifying and
is claiming ownership. Without governance, there is no clear understanding
managing the resources that are needed
of who is responsible for the customer experience strategy and its related to drive sustained action, the procedures
responsibilities. that organize the process, and the
cadence for ensuring activities progress
Duplication of effort – Governance prevents duplication of effort when one group to completion.
launches an initiative without knowing that a similar or related project is taking
place in another area.

24
 Rogue surveys – With no governance of contacts, the wrong people may be surveyed,
the right people may be missed, or the same people may be surveyed too often.
Additionally, lack of governance means the customer experience team may be
unaware of surveys being conducted by individual departments or information that
already exists, creating an unnecessary burden on customers.

Unreliable results – Governance on analytics helps ensure customer intelligence

is reliable and that information presented to senior management paints an accurate
picture of the situation.

Inconsistent message – Ever feel like people aren’t in unison? That’s what happens
without CX governance. Having a consistent and uniform message helps ensure
employees are all pointed in the right direction.

CX GOVERNANCE

CX Executive Team: Supports the

CX EXECUTIVE TEAM
CX strategy, identifies success
measures, ensures alignment with
corporate strategy, and tracks the
progress and the impact of CX
initiatives.

CX Leadership: Represents the CX LEADERSHIP

customer voice, coordinates
customer intelligence gathering,
responsible for the CX roadmap,
and keeps employees and
customers up to date via
communication plans.
ENGAGE ONBOARD RENEW
Journey Teams: Cross-functional JOURNEY TEAM JOURNEY TEAM JOURNEY TEAM
teams own the strategy and
execution plan for individual
customer journey improvements,
ensure customer-focused design
principles are implemented, and  Journey teams have a designated leader and
are responsible for monitoring key cross-functional resources
metrics.

 Initiatives for an identified customer journey stage

 End-to-End Initiatives

25
 CUSTOMERS 2020: A PROGRESS REPORT / DO YOU HAVE WHAT IT TAKES?

EXPOSE THE VALUE OF

CUSTOMER INFORMATION
With access to information literally in the palms of their hands, today’s
customers are empowered like never before. To compete in a world that’s
becoming more customer driven every day, companies are forced to learn 95%
more about what their customers want, need, and expect. This new reality INCREASE
5%
has caused many B-to-B firms to focus more deliberately on the customer, and STAY THE SAME

in most cases, those in the C-suite are leading the way.

The push to learn more about customers and personalize the experience is increasing
the demand for customer intelligence. In most large organizations, data and
information are gathered in nearly every part of the business. Not only is the amount of
information increasing, it’s being derived from a record number of sources, including HOW WILL THE DEMAND FOR
relatively new platforms like social media, chat, and communities.
CUSTOMER INTELLIGENCE
While this wealth of information has potential, the reality for CX professionals is that CHANGE IN 2020?
more isn’t better on its own. Exposing the value of customer information means today’s
CX professionals must move beyond serving as a conduit for scores and feedback.
They must be unwavering in their advocacy for the customer and relentless in their
commitment to look outside-in to determine what really matters to customers.

Know what information exists and how it’s used. Customer data and information are
collected throughout the enterprise. Make it a priority to find out where information
already exists and how it’s being used.

Don’t share data, share insights. Growing reservoirs of information can be

overwhelming, but not all sources are created equal. Take the time to analyze and
discern which sources of information will produce the results you’re looking for.

Be the customer advocate. While function-based data may measure progress at

the operational level, ensuring customer intelligence is gathered and used to drive
progress on the design principles and change along the customer journey is the CX
“Well-informed customers will want
professional’s role.
to do business with companies
Distribute insights broadly. When data produces actionable insights, share the that know them and their
findings in a simple way — not only with the affected areas of the business, but more business intimately, have a clear
broadly to the departments that support good customer experiences. understanding of where it’s headed
and can design an experience that
Shift from communicator to coach. Gone are the days of communicating customer
meets their needs.”
intelligence. Today, companies are looking for individuals who can help them “see”
and “feel” the customer. These senses are created when the customer experience – Customers 2020
professional becomes coach.

26
 IMPORTANCE OF CUSTOMER INFORMATION
SOURCES IN 2020

We asked customer experience

professionals how important
different sources of customer PRODUCT OBSERVING CUSTOMER-FACING
USAGE CUSTOMERS EMPLOYEES
intelligence will be in 2020. They CUSTOMER CUSTOMER
indicated that virtually every TRANSACTIONS/ COMPLAINT
PURCHASES SYSTEMS
source will be important in the
future.
CUSTOMER
INFORMATION
WEBSITE
SOURCES TRANSACTION
SURVEYS

RELATIONSHIP CHAT
SURVEYS
SALES CALL CENTER
DATABASE INTERACTIONS SOCIAL MEDIA

WALKER’S TAKE
With more sources of customer intelligence and the amount of information multiplying,
customer experience professionals must determine what information to focus on,
decipher the information, tell the customer story, and guide the organization toward
improvements in the big three – personalization, ease, and speed. While this is no
easy task, the rewards can be immense.

27
 CUSTOMERS 2020: A PROGRESS REPORT / DO YOU HAVE WHAT IT TAKES?

MAKE CX INNOVATION
YOUR PRIORITY
While customer experience professionals anticipate being tested on meeting

16%
customer expectations of personalization, ease, and speed, one topic we
expected to hear, but didn’t is the role innovation will play in the future of
customer experiences. Clearly on the minds of CEOs, based on Walker’s USE IT
2016 report The CEO View of CX, innovation applies to transforming and
revolutionizing customer experiences, and the CX professional is in a
prime position to lead the way.
Innovations most often equate to transformational changes in the way customers
interact or do business with a company. While significant and impactful, CX innovations
don’t necessarily have to be company-wide; they can address a moment of truth in the
journey or be built from an idea or hypothesis resulting from customer feedback.
ONLY 16% OF CX
PROFESSIONALS ARE
WHEN IS INNOVATION OR TRANSFORMATIONAL CHANGE FOCUSED ON USING
NECESSARY? CUSTOMER INTELLIGENCE
Look for these situations to signal opportunities for innovation:
TO GUIDE INNOVATION
• Revelation of a customer pain point
• Inability to move the needle with survey scores, customer feedback, and financial
or operating results CX PROFESSIONALS AREN’T
• Market dynamics and indicators, such as emerging competitive gaps or new FOCUSED ON INNOVATION
players in the marketplace AND SHOULD BE.

According to Walker’s 2016 report,

The CEO View of CX, CEOs see
innovation as both a component
of the customer experience and
necessary to business success. For
CX professionals to be relevant to
company leaders and aligned with
strategic business objectives, they
must prioritize innovation of the
customer experience.

28
 THE CEO PERSPECTIVE –
We asked CEOs what strategies
they are focused on, and we
asked them to evaluate their
COMPARING STRATEGIC INITIATIVES
effectiveness on leveraging the
THE MOST EFFECTIVE AT CX THOSE NOT AS EFFECTIVE AT CX
customer experience to create The most
ARE MORE LIKELYeffective
TO FOCUS ON: AREThose not as TO
MORE LIKELY effective
FOCUS ON:
a competitive advantage. We
compared those who are most
at CX focus on: at CX focus on:
effective to those who aren’t
as effective. We found that
CEOs who primarily focus on
innovating products and services,
and concentrate on employee
morale are the most effective
at leveraging CX to create a
competitive advantage. On the
flip side, companies that focus on
cost-cutting aren’t as effective. INNOVATION EMPLOYEE MORALE COST-CUTTING
The CEO View of CX - Walker 2016

WHAT ROLE CAN CX PROFESSIONALS PLAY?

Successful innovations and transformational change rely on inspired leaders, a
customer-committed culture, and enterprise-wide buy in. Leading the charge,
customer experience professionals play a crucial role in helping B-to-B firms gain
traction in identifying opportunities for CX innovation and bringing them to fruition.

Be the role model for outside-in. Opportunities to innovate present themselves when
companies think like their customers. Customer experience professionals must be
relentless in their advocacy for the customer perspective to guide innovation and
customer-focused improvements.

Engage customers in the process. Input and insights from key customers are a
commonly overlooked source of intelligence for innovation and transformational
change. They can be instrumental in brainstorming, co-creation, prototyping, beta-
testing, and in relaying where trouble spots exist in the journey.

Choose something to focus on. Especially if you’re new to CX innovation, commit

to starting somewhere. It’s likely you have the data and feedback to know where
opportunities exist to improve, so pick a journey stage to concentrate on and then
work your way up.

WALKER’S TAKE
Innovation encompasses far more than product. Innovation exists and is possible
with the customer experience. With access to the gamut of customer intelligence,
CX professionals are well suited to assume a leadership role in customer experience
innovation, which involves changing – even revolutionizing – the ways in which
organizations interact with customers.

29
 CUSTOMERS 2020:
A PROGRESS REPORT

30
 CUSTOMERS 2020: A PROGRESS REPORT / ABOUT THE STUDY

ABOUT
THE STUDY
Customers 2020: A Progress Report was conducted by Walker Information to
OUR SINCERE THANKS
explore the progress B-to-B companies have made on the themes outlined in TO THOSE WHO
the 2013 report Customers 2020. Contributors include the Customer Experience CONTRIBUTED
Professionals Association (CXPA), CustomerThink, and Convince and Convert.
Walker maintains sole responsibility for the research and the recommendations.
Walker executed the information-gathering activities, conducted the analysis, The Customer Experience Professionals
Association is a global, non-profit
and wrote the report. The findings and views expressed in the report are organization dedicated to the
advancement and cultivation of the
Walker’s and do not necessarily reflect the views of the contributors. Customer Experience profession. The
CXPA increases the impact and visibility
of CX professionals, facilitates member-
OUR RESEARCH IS REFLECTIVE OF THREE INITIATIVES: to-member sharing, and establishes
respected standards in the industry. For
1. Our panel of esteemed customer experience leaders. Walker gathered six more information, visit www.cxpa.org.

customer experience professionals who represent a diverse set of business

models. This group influenced the research design and provided tremendous
insight into the understanding and implications of the results. Many thanks to the
following members of our advisory group: Steve Deggendorf (Fannie Mae), Terry CustomerThink is a global online
Dekalb (Agilent), Tracy Devlin (Akamai), Zoe Garbett (Castrol), Surachita Mishra community of business leaders striving
(Sysco), and Kevin Scanlon (Dell). to create profitable customer-centric
enterprises. Main areas of coverage
include Customer Relationship
2. In-depth interviews with 22 executives, including executive vice presidents and
Management, Customer Experience
senior directors. These discussions explored how customer expectations are Management, and Social Business. This
changing, what companies are doing to meet these expectations today, and insight is the place to learn about every facet of
customer-centric business management.
into specific topics such as culture, innovation, and the future role of the customer For more information, visit www.
experience professional. customerthink.com.

3. Quantitative input from more than 400 customer experience leaders and
influencers was gathered using an online survey. This feedback represents a
range of industries, company sizes, and titles. The input focused on measuring
Convince and Convert is a group of
the progress that companies have made and identifying the key initiatives that will strategic advisors who work with world-
drive future customer experiences. class organizations to make digital
marketing and customer experiences
remarkable. For more information, visit
www.convinceandconvert.com.

31
 CUSTOMERS 2020: A PROGRESS REPORT / ABOUT WALKER

ABOUT
WALKER
Walker is a customer experience consulting firm. We specialize in helping today’s business-to-business
companies build and maintain a competitive advantage by delivering an exceptional customer experience.
Our team of senior consultants averages more than 20 years of experience, and they deliver a wide range of
services to meet and exceed our clients’ objectives.

And it works – Walker clients outperform the market by more than six to one!

WALKER’S SOLUTIONS AND SERVICES

No two companies are alike, so we collaborate with each client to understand their business, focus on
their objectives and deliver the right combination of services to accelerate their success. No consulting
firm can match Walker’s focus on customer experience and the broad range of solutions and services we
deliver, which includes:

• Customer experience assessment programs, which result in execution-ready strategic roadmaps.

• Journey mapping services to document the customer touchpoints and focus on “moments of truth.”
• Design of customer “ideal experiences,” targeting problem areas and identifying opportunities for
breakthroughs.
• Collection of customer insights, leveraging a wide range of methods to understand the perspective of
the customer.
• Advanced analytics services to interpret customer intelligence and improve decision-making.
• A full range of technology services to manage customer data and integrate with clients’ existing
systems.
• Action planning and change management services to prompt transformation across the organization.
• Education and training services to engage employees and foster a customer-focused culture.

Learn more about Walker at www.walkerinfo.com.

32 Copyright ©2017 Walker Information, Inc. All rights reserved.

 CUSTOMERS 2020: A PROGRESS REPORT / WALKER RESOURCES

WALKER
RESOURCES
WALKER B-TO-B CX SUMMIT OTHER SPECIAL
REPORTS AVAILABLE
The industry’s only conference focused on the latest and best customer FROM WALKER
experience strategies for B-to-B companies. We feature powerful keynote
presentations, engaging workshops, and valuable networking all aimed at
sharing best practices to improve the way companies drive business success.
Learn more at www.walkercxsummit.com.

WALKER WEBCASTS
We produce a popular series of monthly 30-minute webcasts on a variety
of customer experience topics. Each webcast is hosted by Walker’s thought
leaders. Learn more at www.walkerinfo.com/knowledge-center/webcasts.asp.

KEYNOTE PRESENTATIONS
Walker’s thought leaders deliver excellent keynote presentations on a wide
range of customer experience topics. Consider bringing a Walker executive
to your next big event.

CUSTOMER WORKSHOPS
Walker conducts dozens of workshops for leading companies. Whether
you’re considering a session of two hours or two days, consider hiring the
experts at Walker to help plan and execute your next customer experience
workshop.

WALKER KNOWLEDGE CENTER

Walker’s Knowledge Center is an outstanding resource for customer
experience leaders. You have access to informative webcasts, thought-
provoking white papers, powerful case studies, eBooks, and more. Learn
more at www.walkerinfo.com/knowledge-center.

33
www.walkerinfo.com