Most business today still lack true customer leadership, allowing customers to be dissected & distributed passively across the company.  Business units, functions or channels battle for “ownership” of the customer or align with one another  in an ad hoc fashion.

The company sees a series of discreet transactions rather than a whole person. It is unable to understand the breadth of the relationship and the threats and opportunities it presents.

Customers have no insight into these internal dynamics and expect a consistent experience regardless of the product, service or channel. But in this disaggregated model, the business presents a schizophrenic offering, that’s short of expectation and undermines engagement.

The Solution:  Develop and direct customer strategy at the enterprise level.

Customer relationships don’t “belong” to any department, they are an enterprise-asset. Appoint a customer leader at the enterprise level. Make them accountable for assessing opportunities, setting long term strategy and ensuring that annual plans across the company address the customer strategy in a coordinated fashion.

Create a cross functional council to oversee delivery of the plan and to orchestrate all touch-points to meet customer needs and preferences in an aligned fashion. Over time, their work will be made easier as staff come to intuitively organize to deliver a consistent experience.