Customer focus
Over the past years, the customer has moved to pole position. Customers are no longer passive participants in the sales process but now dictate the rules. Experience creation is the associated buzzword. However, there are also other needs...
The Xpragmatic View #90 - October 10, 2007
Business processes are not your business
If we want to make the effort of having a closer look at our customer's processes we might identify huge opportunities for improvement of our own business processes. Business Process Management (BPM) revisited.
The Xpragmatic View #84 - April 15, 2007
Social bookmarking, tagging, folksonomy... they are all attempts to leverage the wisdom of crowds. However, do we get any wiser or just more confused?
The Xpragmatic View #83 - March 3, 2007
The long-lasting success of companies is fundamentally linked to their ability to know and understand their customers. However, are they any good at it? Do they really try?
The Xpragmatic View #67 - June 2005
A sluggish economy, increased competition, price erosion and lower margins are forcing organisations to look for new and more creative ways to generate additional revenue. Unfortunately, most attempts remain largely focused on the traditional theme of accelerating the introduction of new products or variations of existing products. Today, companies must avoid focusing exclusively on the product itself. Instead, they must focus more on the potential use of their products.
The Xpragmatic View #66 - May 2005
The customer was not surprised
At the start of a new year, most analysts publish their predictions for the trends of the coming year. Very few of them (dare to) look back at their predictions of last year. However, analysts are not the only ones to blame. Every single company should have a closer look at its own performance (or lack of performance) during the past year. And this will not always be a pleasant picture...
The Xpragmatic View #58 - January 2004
The Internet-revolution has created a wealth of new opportunities allowing organisations to interact directly and in a personalised way with their customers. Marketing to the individual, the customer-focused organisation, it all seamed a bit more achievable and affordable. Unfortunately, this remains an unfulfilled promise. Even worse, the customer now understands what is happening.
The Xpragmatic View #56 - August 2003
"Own the total customer experience" is a well-known concept that was already introduced in 1998 in publications such as the bestseller Customers.com of Patricia Seybold. Five years later, it seems that many organisations did not really get the message.
The Xpragmatic View #53 - April 2003
All IT vendors, be it hardware or software vendors, will argue that IT is a key factor for the successful deployment of your business. And most companies will agree to that. However, companies should not overemphasise the importance of IT and certainly not think that it will be the cure for all diseases. IT is only one of the things that matter, even in the Internet space.
The Xpragmatic View #5 - May 1999
