While its true that companies initially embrace technology because they understand that its time to modernise systems and processes in the business ecosystem and to adapt to compete in the digital economy, theres more that should be understood. A successful transformation must be driven by a clear understanding of the purpose and vision  by motivated people. And this vision should start with the customer journey.

Company change agents cannot inspire change without customer empathy  and the knowledge of how and why new systems, preferences and values are being made.

Companies that succeed in digital transformation often begin by coming to an understanding of the customer, intimately grasping the nuances in their behaviour, expectations and predilections. By focusing on customers, companies get to know their unique customers journey, including what influences their decision-making, and can then go on to improve the experience for all customers.

Companies that succeed in digital transformation often begin by coming to an understanding of the customer, intimately grasping the nuances in their behaviour, expectations and predilections. By focusing on customers, companies get to know their unique customers journey, including what influences their decision-making, and can then go on to improve the experience for all customers.

Putting the customer first is strategically simple, but can be harder to implement in practice. It takes thoughtful coordination of people, technology and processes. To get started you should:

Understand the customer journey

Learn how customers want to interact with you, then optimise for each channel keeping the full journey in mind

Provide a compelling experience

Be prepared to usher each customer through an engaging experience, tracking them across the web, mobile and other touchpoints in a cohesive way

Deliver just-in-time content

Win the battle of pre-purchase analysis by serving the right message, in the right context at the right time

Make informed decisions

Take a lean, iterative approach to your operations by monitoring performance, analysing it, deploying improvements then repeating the whole cycle

Accomplish all that, and youll be able to deliver powerful, fluid, cross-channel experiences that your competition will envy.

Right or wrong, the quality of the digital experience you offer customers will strongly influence how they view your organisation. The totality of their digital interactions with youacross the web, mobile, advertising, sales contacts, etc.will directly affect their purchasing behaviour and attitudes towards your organisation.

Any digital transformation you undertake should start by making the customer journey as effortless as possible. Make it easy for customers to find, research and purchase from you.

Because each journey is unique, your systems, people and processes must align to support personalising customer experiences, and continue to do so over time as circumstances change. This makes your intelligence gathering a key component of sustaining your optimised customer experiences.