Marketing guru Philip Kotler has said that the customer is king, but it's questionable as to whether this has been the case during the COVID-19 pandemic. Having wreaked havoc on a majority of businesses, the pandemic has forced brands to reconsider their business models, and most importantly, the customer experience that they offer. 

Being customer-centric is more than just a statement; it is an ethos that lives within the company and how the business is run. You need to be geared towards the customer in all aspects.

At the height of the pandemic, we saw a mix of reactions: some were retreating, looking internally and not addressing the customer, while others either activated a customer-focused campaign or scrambled to pivot in order to survive.

A good majority of experiences are not informed by actual data. A common thread noted among local business was a lack of an empathetic understanding of the customer.

Many of the larger organisations became change-averse, they stalled several initiatives and seemed to progressively move backwards. There was a natural expectation that the pandemic provided an opportunity to focus on enhancing their customer experience across digital channels, but in reality, the move was slow if there was any move at all.

If 2020 did anything, it definitely forced customers online, even the digital laggards are now shopping online. Despite COVID-19, this transformation has been brewing for some time now.

The inclination to be digitally transformed has always been there, the pandemic just accelerated the timelines. This placed unexpected pressure on the majority of businesses and many, without the required research, scrambled to transform digitally and started to amount significant technical debt, which will not bode well in the future.

Reynhardt Uys, chief experience officer at the Immersion Group, says, "Being forced into a contactless environment meant that many businesses had to completely rethink their model and strategies and in some cases, diversify entirely. They also had to show that they were part of a caring community and address the basic needs of customers, even if it was not a core product."

Servicing clients no longer in-store has proven to be one of the biggest challenges of 2020. This change in outlook and location forced businesses into a digital shift, whether they adequately prepared for it or not.

While this was an immense change, things will not revert to what it was and businesses will need to continue with digital transformation. During the pandemic, we have seen double-laggards shopping online and those who are not attuned to this digital-savvy approach will be left behind.

While the pandemic forced a customer experience focus, a majority of the tools used have existed for some time now and are simply gaining more traction. Technologies such as AI, VRy and the Internet of Things existed before but are now just accelerating as a much bigger focus is placed on digital transformation.

We are seeing the enablement of self-service, for example, as something that was on the cards, but it is now being expedited as a result of COVID-19. Social distancing has also created a gap between the customer and brand. This has left many businesses looking at how to mitigate this social gap, while retaining an important and much-needed connection to the customer.

While the pandemic continues to have a devastating impact on the global economy, there are some key customer experience learnings to be taken from 2020. These include: 
  • becoming more agile to respond quickly, operate as lean as possible to enable the business to pivot when needed
  • not investing in any technology until you have a clearer understanding of what your customers need
  • only making data-defined decisions and researching and designing a solution that speaks to what your customer's context is and what is required
  • being innovative and being on a constant lookout for how to differentiate the business to get ahead of the curve
  • ensuring that you have innovation cycles set up and ensure the strategy is happening concurrently so that change can take place more quickly, and
  • being aware of the employee cycle of change and proactively address it, as well as being sure to create a meaningful and supported work environment.
For more information, visit www.immersion-group.com. You can also follow the Immersion Group on Facebook or on Twitter.