For business travelers like myself around the world the idea of getting on a plane every week to travel to customer and internal meetings has become routine. We leave our families, head to the airport, get on a plane, and assume we will be at our destination in a timely manner. As frequent travelers, we all have experienced the occasional flight delay or cancellation due to weather or maintenance. Maybe you have had the experience of losing a bag that you have checked. The airline industry has worked to improve the customer experience by providing applications on your phone to check-in, get your ticket or even track your bag. What happens when something far worse goes wrong? Are there systems and processes in place to assess and assist customers in an efficient, orderly, and timely manner?
Yesterday, I got to experience first-hand what happens, and it made me realize that companies who adopt a "System of Impact" will be industry leaders by improving the customer experience. Yesterday, I was on SWA flight 2123 which was a 6:55PM departure out of SNA to SJC. This is a routine 1 hour flight I had taken many times. Last night it was delayed by 30 minutes due to a late inbound flight which definitely did not concern me. When I boarded the flight, everything seemed normal and we started to back out of the gate. As we backed out of the gate the flight attendants started to share the normal safety announcement when suddenly the power went out and the emergency lights kicked in. The airplane stopped moving and for a moment everyone just stood there wondering what had happened. Did somebody accidentally flip the emergency lights on? Next, thing I saw was the captain coming out of the cockpit to tell everyone to evacuate. The emergency slides were deployed and everyone evacuated the plane off the emergency slides. At this point Southwest Airlines had 139 displaced passengers/customers who all needed assistant, but they had only a few ground crew to assist. In addition, everyone had different needs at this point from medical, rebooking, getting their carry-on luggage from the plane and getting information about next steps.
The industry leaders will leverage the "System of Impact" They will ensure their customers are not left wondering how they are going to get the services and support they need. In addition, they will predict what customers need next. Companies that embrace customer based digital transformation have strategic initiatives around:
- Increased Sales
- Enhanced Customer Experience
- Reduced Cost
- Increased Flexibility and Agility
Embracing digital transformation that leverages a system of engagement that orchestrates response across the enterprise to better understand impact to customers and how best to accommodate and respond to customer needs, "The System of Impact", drives the following business outcomes for a company:
- Increased CSAT
- Higher Customer Retention
- More Receptive Customers to targeted sales campaigns
Most companies that embrace a "System of Impact" will achieve similar business value to what is shown below based on Forrester research:
In the end, although Southwest did not have a "System of Impact" in place, they were able to get me to my destination. However, they really did not capitalize on an opportunity to increase customer retention and entice customers to be more receptive to their next sales campaign like their new routes to Hawaii. Working with Global 2000 accounts on digital transformation has been eye opening. Companies who embrace the "System of Impact" will be industry leaders. Last night's experience was proof to me how important embracing the "System of Impact" is for companies who want to be leaders in their industry.
