How Social Media Affects Democracy. The new year is a time of reflection. We’re still early into 2017, and I keep trying to make sense of the past year. The Year of the Customer In the business world, 2016 was hailed as the Year of the Customer. Yes, a focus on CX delivers real ROI. But more importantly, by caring about customer experience, CX professionals are helping to make the lives of ordinary people better. For the most part, this is a good thing. It’s especially good for consumers because their voices, voices that wouldn’t have mattered much before the digital age, are not only heard, but they have impact. Social Media: CX, Democracy, and What’s to Come I’ve argued here that social media cultivated a more responsive consumer market, making capitalism, in a sense, more democratic. It means that regardless of the form of government, businesses will need to remain responsive to their customers if they want to win in the marketplace.
One trait that sets humans apart is our drive to make sense of things. We do this so we can comprehend our shared history and make plans for the future. As professionals, we do this so we can assess the state of our businesses and strategize for growth.
The new year is a time of reflection. We’re still early into 2017, and I keep trying to make sense of the past year.
The Year of the Customer
In the business world, 2016 was hailed as the Year of the Customer. At MaritzCX, my colleagues and I released a comprehensive, actionable framework called CXEvolution that we leverage to help our clients improve the quality of customer experience (CX) they deliver. Through my consulting engagements and analysis of market data, I’ve witnessed how organizations that focus on CX get big returns on their investments. Doing right by customers isn’t just an altruistic goal – it’s good for the bottom line, too.
I’m proud to be part of the CX trend. Yes, a focus on CX delivers real ROI. But more importantly, by caring about customer experience, CX professionals are helping to make the lives of ordinary people better. Everyone needs to buy products and use services, and companies succeed when they do well in the marketplace. It’s a win-win when businesses are rewarded with increased revenue and greater retention by responding to their customers’ voices.
The Exponential Growth of CX
CX became so important that a new industry began to grow around it. The Customer Experience Professionals Association (CXPA) was founded a little more than five years ago (2011) to help CX professionals improve consumers’ experiences across multiple channels. At the time, these channels ranged from brick and mortar stores to call centers, mobile commerce sites, and the web.
Since then, CX has become a vital part of the marketplace, much faster than we might have expected. That’s because technological innovation, particularly the development of social media, has made sharing customer experiences more ubiquitous, instantaneous, and (as many of us can attest) more gratifying than ever. We’re long past the Mad Men days when a select few decided what to produce and how to get consumers to buy it. Now consumers – really, anyone with access to Wi-Fi – can…
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