Recommendations for decision-makers

Decision-makers in ICT companies and business units need to provide their organizations with strategic guidance to leverage the long-term value of customer experience for differentiation. As differentiation always is about excellence, which can only be achieved with a clear focus, managers need to articulate their specific vision of customer experience – whether it is process- or product-focused, or both. A profound understanding of the underlying economic principles of differentiation helps in building the foundation for an experience-based differentiation strategy. Benchmarking with leading industries to identify the current and aspired set of capabilities should be paired with eagerness across the whole organization to go the extra mile in focusing on the customer. Reaching the highest levels of differentiation will require a close alignment of business-, organizational- and technology strategies. Particularly for industries with IT-focused business models, technology remains a key factor to match or surpass customers’ expectations. The most successful companies display a clear commitment to building-up and maintaining their technology capabilities and focusing them on the market. This enables them to continuously innovate their product and services portfolio towards a highly differentiated strategic positioning.