Is Customer Experience the New Differentiator?
Every business needs an edge – an innovative product or a business model that delivers a significant advantage over the competition.
In many areas of commerce, the internet has been a great leveller. It’s easy for customers to compare prices and for brands to price match. Competing on price alone won’t necessarily be an advantage as there are plenty of bargains on offer elsewhere.
Quality is one option for gaining an advantage. Exclusivity is another, if you can find a profitable niche. A Skoda and a Bentley are both cars, but customers have very different expectations about what they are buying and what they will be paying.
Normally though, it comes down to a choice of buying from Company A or Company B, for a similar price, particularly when deliverables are tightly defined as they are in infrastructure projects. What tips the balance one way or the other? More and more it is customer experience – either direct experience from a previous purchase, or indirect experience and reputation.
Customer Experience and Infrastructure Procurement
Procurement for infrastructure projects has arguably focused too much on price (which can be the fault of both contractors and customers). But in a sector that now operates on wafer-thin margins is there much left to cut? How often do realistic bid prices vary significantly from each other?
In any case, the lowest price doesn’t always win. Our customers are increasingly looking for value and simplicity. Time and resources are in short supply. A guarantee of painless project execution and an appreciation of broader strategic priorities often have a greater impact than saving a few percent on the project cost.
Innovative partnership approaches such as One Team Wessex are proving how everyone benefits when the focus shifts from the narrow view of project delivery, to wider customer business objectives and end user needs.
Customers don’t have the time or patience to deal with poor service. Instead they are seeking partners who can give them the confidence that the experience of working together will be harmonious, productive and efficient.
When we focus on the customer experience it has many advantages. For one thing it means that price isn’t the only consideration. The other advantage is that the things we change to improve customer experience are also good for our business. It drives collaboration, innovation and process simplification, which have to be benefits in any organisation.
