Leading organisations are embracing customer experience and, when necessary, implementing significant operational changes to deliver good CX, according to Ed Breault VP, Marketing Industry Solutions Aprimo.
“Some of the best marketers out there are moving backwards from the customer touchpoint and making their organisation more customer centric. They’re even redesigning and rebuilding their operating models,” Breault said in an interview with Which-50.
It’s a significant change for many organisations, but Breault said it is a necessary one in order to break down silos, create real culture change and remove legacy impediments. All measures that can help organisations respond to more informed customers with growing expectations.
“Customers have more information available to them at their fingertips. It’s an always on information economy now,” Breault said.
Customer expectations and further digital disruption means marketers are operating in an increasingly complex environment and leaders are innovating new strategies in order to respond, he said.
Iterative and rolling planning allow marketers to set long term goals but also remain agile and ready to respond to market cues throughout campaigns, according to Breault.
“You definitely have to be thinking about what’s next in the market and have your long term plan and strategy, but you have to go into the year with iterative cycles in planning.”
“As you’re executing, results are coming back and you have to be able to implement those indicators of success.”
Enter Operating Platforms
According to Breault keeping plans on track is an area where marketing operations platforms can be useful.
“It’s designed ahead of time, before you go into deployment. It helps keep guard rails in the process and drive accountability in those planning cycles,” he said.
“It keeps you accountable to your plan and your strategy.”
Implementing significant new technology will require a corresponding culture change and “tackling culture through change management needs to be part of your marketing strategy,” Breault said.
“Often I’ll see technology projects can tend to fail if you don’t go out in front and change the culture.”
“You really need to have strong leadership, that is key. Its got to come from the top,” he said.
“You’ve got to have that leader who has the vision, who truly believes and can get the rest of the organisation behind them.”